Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20161007

Candidates prepare for the second president ial debate, we take on this week in politics with mark shields and Michael Gerson. All that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. Lincoln financial is committed to helping you take charge of your future. The ford foundation. Working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. 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 its been a day to hunker down along the Atlantic Shores of florida. Hurricane matthew plowed north with winds of 110 miles an hour, and there were late reports of heavy damage in the states northeastern corner. In the storms wake, the tragedy in haiti only deepened, with more than 800 people dead. Hari sreenivasan is in New Smyrna Beach, florida and begins our coverage. Reporter three days after the hurricane struck haiti, the water is receding, survivors are finding bodies by the hundreds. Ingrid arnesen is a freelance journalist whos been out for a firsthand look. Reporter the death toll is expected to rise sharply as teams enter remote areas of the hardhit southwestern peninsula. For example, one official working in mountainous beaumont, on the outskirts of jeremie says his group found more than 80 bodies that had not yet been recorded by the government. The storm blasted haiti with winds of 145 milesanhour and several feet of rain, and left utter devastation in one of the worlds poorest countries. translated we have big problems here. There are almost no houses left standing. We dont have food, nor a hospital to get healthcare. translated we have nothing left. The hurricane took shirts from our backs. Reporter tens of thousands are now homeless, and their crops have been destroyed. But relief efforts are gearing up. The u. S. Military expects to deliver food and water to hard hit areas. And, International Aid groups are appealing for donations. Margaret traub is with the International Medical corps. Reporter meanwhile, people along Floridas Atlantic coast spent this day waiting out matthew. The eye of the storm stayed just off shore, and may have spared the state a catastrophic blow. Governor rick scott repeatedly made clear the danger had not passed. Theres no victory lap here. The victory lap is when storm leaves our state. And i hope it doesnt hit georgia, north and South Carolina. Reporter the city of jacksonville may get the worst of it, as the hurricane passes this evening. From there, it will push north along georgia and the carolinas, keeping hundreds of miles of coastline under threat for 15 inches of rain and a ninefoot storm surge. The governors of South Carolina and georgia warned today that time is running out. This is the last time you will see me before we are actually in storm mode. So please evacuate. Theres nothing certain about this other than the danger, and we should pay due heed to the warnings that have been given. Reporter in washington, president obama met with the head of the federal Emergency Management agency, and repeated his own warning. The potential for storm surge, flooding, loss of life and severe Property Damage continues to exist, and people continue to need to continue to follow the instructions of their local officials over the next 24, 48, 72 hours. Reporter thousands along the florida coast did heed those warnings from authorities and took refuge in central florida. For them, today was a long day of watching and waiting. Gloria and david floyd live in satellite beach, southeast of orlando. Their home and yard took some damage, but they said it could have been much worse. Even so, they headed to a hotel on higher land. Once it got to be a category four and i knew that it could get really ugly, and that is when i knew that i decided it is better to leave. Reporter the mcchrystal family waited out the storm at the same hotel. Im a little nervous. I think today will be a long day until we can get back tomorrow and see you know what the results are. But most likely a lot of people in the neighborhoods locally are lucky so far. So im gonna feed off the good luck. Reporter others may not be so lucky, and theres economic disruption, as well. Coastal businesses and tourism are shut down, and airlines have canceled thousands of flights through tomorrow. Reporter the entire last half hour on the drive out to New Smyrna Beach here in florida, power has been out, businesses shut down and people are slowly creeping back in, trying to figure out how they will get things back to normal, and thats not even the worst of it. The Northeast Corner of florida has been hit much worse. Woodruff tell us about what youve seen. You started in orlando, you made your way to New Smyrna Beach. Tell us about what youve seen. Reporter well, just a little while ago we were at one of the central park areas in new smyrna. Huge trees. A woman passing by said these trees take 100 years to grow, 100 years to die, and this is an unbelievable sight to see so many trees down. There is a dry dock where people keep boats, the roof peeled off, boats tossed around as if they were toys. The force of this hurricane, depends on which house you look at, which street you look down down, whether there is debris, walls and fences that have been pulled down, whether water is slowly inundating around the lowlying areas. Reporter a lot of people dont appreciate what storm surge means, but the water is lethal in a storm like this. That reporter thats rign st. Augustine and further north in florida and savannah, georgia, and charleston, the big concern is what a twofoot or eightfoot storm surge could do, because so many of the cities are lowlying and the storm surges push like a wave taking the last bit of water right on to land. Reporter hari, from what you can tell, most of the people along the coastal area did evacuate . Yeah, i think a lot of people heeded the warning, didnt put First Responders at risk. Authorities were relatively happy about that. Of course, there were people who decided to try to ride out the hurricane and we wont know till everybody gets back what the damage was, but most people heeded the warnings from the local and National Authorities who said get out of the way and people are now very anxious to see what the state of their property was like and how everything fared through the storm. Woodruff Hari Sreenivasan reporting for us from New Smyrna Beach. We havent you to get someplace where you are dry and safe. Reporter thanks, judy. Woodruff in the days other news the United States formally charged that russia organized the hacking of Democratic Political sites and state election systems. The department of Homeland Security and the director of National Intelligence said its an effort to interfere with the election process. We get more now from david sanger of the new york times. David, thanks for being with us. Whats the significance of this and the fact that it comes, what, almost four months after we first heard about these hacks . Thats right, judy, and we reported in late july that the government and intelligence agencies already had high confidence that it was russia. What was interesting about this statement, sort of three big things. The first is that the white house decided to formally do this. Usually, president obama has been very reluctant to name foreign actors who were believed to be behind big hacks. They named north korea in the sony hack two years ago, but declined to name china in the hack of more than 20 million security files from the office of Personnel Management and didnt name russia when they hacked into the state Department White house and joint chiefs of staff emails, mostly unclassified emails. But in this case, i think they felt it was getting too close and that they had to issue a warning to the russians not the mess around on november 8t november 8th with voter rolls or other elements. I think a second important part of it, judy, is that by naming them, the president has to announce what hes going to do about it. They havent said that. He could do economic sanctions. He could take overt action. But there is always a worry in cyber that you get into an ease escalation issue where we do something, they do Something Back and it can get much bigger. I think a third interesting point is they said the russian leadership itself had to be behind some of the d. N. C. Hacks, it couldnt have been done at a lower level. Woodruff i notice they said they identified most senior officials. So what are the options for the administration to do something in response . There were a few, judy. One is simply to say, by issuing a warning, they put them on notice were watching, we know what youre doing, so dont mess around a month from now. Option number two would be to make the use of new president ial directive president obama signed after the sony hacks signed in april 2013 that basically would allow them to do economic sanctions like you do with terror suspects or nuclear proliferaters. The third option is to issue a president ial intelligence finding which is, p by nature, secret, and authorize the National Security agency and Cyber Command to take countervailing action against win sites or servers inside russia or to do Something Else that would show the russian government and particularly president putin that we can play this game, too. But as i said, thats risky because, you know, you never know where that stops, and youre on the same kind of escalation ladder you in any other conflict or nuclear theory. Theory. Woodruff this signals if the administration believes if the russians have the capacity to do this, they have the capacity to do other damage. Well, they do, and you dont know what other leaks come from the russians, but just this evening as all this was happening, we saw leaked emails posted on wikileaks that were written in communications with john pedeso who helped run mrs. Clintons campaign that, if it turns out to be like the other material given to wikileaks or other groups, could turn out to be that the russians are already spreading more of this around. We dont have the attribution on that yet. Woodruff seems weve reached a new level in outside governments involvement in american politics. We sure have. David sanger, we thank you. Thank you, judy. Woodruff meantime, russia moved today to keep its troops in syria indefinitely. The state duma ratified a treaty with syrian president bashar al assad. It permits russia to use a major air base on syrias coast for as long as it wants. But in washington, secretary of state john kerry said russia and syria should be investigated for war crimes, for attacking hospitals and other civilian targets. Theyre beyond the accidental now. Way beyond. Years beyond the accidental. This is a targeted strategy to terrorize civilians and to kill anybody and everybody whos in the way of their military objectives. Woodruff the u. N. Security Council Votes tomorrow on a resolution urging a truce in aleppo, and an end to all air strikes on the city. Russia signaled it will veto the proposal. The philippines is putting joint military exercises with the u. S. On hold, in the south china sea. The countrys new president Rodrigo Duterte said today he wants a current ongoing exercise to be the last during his six year term. In a speech, he warned washington do not treat us like a doormat because youll be sorry for it. I can always go to china. The pace of hiring in the u. S. Economy slowed in september. Todays Labor Department report tells the story employers added a net of 156,000 jobs, despite the fact manufacturers cut their work force for a second month. The Unemployment Rate ticked up a tenth of a point to 5 , as more people started looking for work. And on wall street the Dow Jones Industrial average lost 28 points to close at 18,240. The nasdaq fell 14 points to close at 5,292. And the s p 500 slipped seven. All three indexes were down for the week, after three straight weeks of gains. Still to come on the newshour the surprising recipient of this years Nobel Peace Prize, iraqi families returning to whats left of their liberated city, setting the stage for the second president ial debate, and much more. Woodruff the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize was announced this morning, its laureate chosen from a record 376 nominees. And as in years past, the Nobel Committee had both a surprise, and a message to convey. Chief Foreign Affairs correspondent Margaret Warner reports. translated i dont receive this in my name, but in the name of all colombians, especially the millions of victims from this conflict we have been suffering for more than 50 years. Reporter the new Nobel Peace Prize laureate colombian president Juan Manuel Santos met the news with a vow to ensure that this hemispheres longest war is finally, officially ended. translated to this cause, i will dedicate my efforts for the remainder of my days. Thanks to god, peace is near. Together, together as a nation, we will construct it. Reporter the nobel announcement came just five days after colombian voters narrowly rejected a peace deal negotiated between santos government and the farc rebel group. But in oslo, norway, the Peace Prize Committee voiced hope. The fact that the majority of the voters said no to the peace accord, does not necessarily mean that the Peace Process is dead. What the no side rejected was not the desire for peace, but a specific Peace Agreement. Reporter in a break with nobel tradition honoring leaders settling conflicts, santos counterpart in the peace talks farc leader Rodrigo Londono was not recognized by the Nobel Committee. On twitter today, he congratulated santos and said a prominent former captive of the farc Ingrid Betancourt said the rebels should share the prize. She was kidnapped in 2002 as she campaigned for the Colombian Presidency herself, and was held hostage for six years. Its hard for me to say it, but i have to be just and, even though they were my captors and i suffered in r hands, i think that its true that they transformed themselves. This wouldnt have been possible eight years ago when i was abducted. Reporter ironically, even as president santos is recognized internationally, he is facing a political headwinds at home. His Approval Ratings plummeted below 30 in recent months, and and it was clear today, the nobel prize may do little to change their minds about santos. Many colombians who lived through a war that claimed over 200,000 lives bridled at the Peace Agreement, as overly generous to the farc. translated i think it is a farce that that man has won the prize, i think it is a farce. Reporter the peace prize appeared to energize those who have backed the colombian president. translated this International Support is going to apply pressure on all involved parties in the negotiation. We think this helps. They all have to understand that the world, too, wants peace in colombia. Reporter when santos himself sat down with the newshour in february, he acknowledged the difficulties ahead especially, reintegrating thousands of former fighters into society. Kids that only know how to shoot. They were born in the guerrilla camps. And these have to be retrained and reeducated. And theres a process. Its cumbersome. Its difficult, but its necessary. Reporter but then, the prospects of an accord were still bright, and the a Peace Agreement is never perfect. Always, you have people from one side or the other criticizing it. Reporter now, both sides have to renegotiate, even as a ceasefire with the farc formally expires at the end of this month. For the pbs newshour, im Margaret Warner. Woodruff now, to the final report in our threepart series this week the fight for iraq. The coming battle to reclaim mosul from isis will be the capstone in the campaign to drive the extremists from iraq. But the hard work after the guns go silent of repairing both the city, and relations with the people there is as important. Tonight, again with the support of the Pulitzer Center on crisis reporting, special correspondent Jane Ferguson and producer jon gerberg report from one city reclaimed from isis where the fighting was only half the battle. Reporter now an empty concrete ghost town, fallujah was once a populous city, just an hours drive west from baghdad. Isis quickly took this city two years ago when they swept into iraq from syria and seized land across the country. They ruled the city and its people until the iraqi army pushed them out in june. In order to take back fallujah city, the Iraqi Military had to completely empty the city, and the fighting that happened afterwards destroyed everything that the eye can see. Now the atmosphere in this still largely empty city is incredibly eerie. Khalil abbass is looking forward to rebuilding. He is getting his family ready to go back to their village on the outskirts of fallujah. All their belongings have been onceagain packed, including even chickens for food. He is optimistic. translated im happy im going back to my home with my family to live a stable, normal life. If god wills it, we will get our old lives back. Reporter not everyone can do that. Only a small handful of families have been able to return to fallujah city so far. Thousands of others are crammed into camps like this one, not yet allowed to return. Many have not been cleared by the security forces. These people are trying to get home. They ran from the intense fighting when the iraqi army recaptured fallujah city from isis. And now they want to return. At a sorting center outside the city, they hope to be given government permission to go home. But first they will have to persuade the men inside here they are not isis members in disguise. translated all of the Government Security branches are here National Security, intelligence, antiterrorism, military intelligence and police intelligence. Reporter each of those groups has a list of suspected isis members, and everyone who applies to return to fallujah has to be checked they are not wanted. When names are read out, the men here answer black, or white. Anyone on the black list, is arrested. translated this is a family that wants to return to fallujah. This family is under the name of someone, right . His name is ahmad. White . We screened the name of the head of the family. The rest are women and children. Reporter the word in arabic for white, abyad, means they are free to go. Only then are they given the permit to return home. They are also given a free sim card with some credit and then they head up the road to fallujah. For those who do return, this is what greets them. The streets are now silent. By the time the gunfire finally finished in fallujah city, most of those living here had fled. Every highway, avenue and neighborhood is now smashed and scarred by war. There are few signs of life. According to the local government, only about 5 of the preisis population has so far returned to the city. Many houses are still booby trapped, says the government. It will take a huge cleanup effort to make every street safe again. Some families are missing relatives, picked up by the army as they fled the city. Security forces detained fallujans as they evacuated, checking for isis fighters. Those they let go were sent to camps like this. Hamad khalaf was detained with his four grown sons, but only he and two of them were released. That was four months ago and he has heard nothing of his other two sons. translated they kept them. Someone came and said, i saw this one with isis. My son is normal, he is not with isis. Reporter in many cases, he says, this came down to personal grudges. The process was often arbitrary, as neighbor turned on neighbor. translated it happened to thousands of people, not just my sons. They are innocent, i know they are innocent. They are being held without explanation. If a person hates another he will tell the police that this person is with isis. Reporter hamads wife, fatima, is distraught at not knowing where they are. translated i feel that they might not release them to me. Or they might keep them for another month or two. I might not see them, i might die and never see them again. Reporter americans fought two battles for fallujah in 2004, and were never able to free the city from the grip of the sunni extremists al qaeda in iraq. Sunnis here rejected the toppling of Saddam Hussein and the rise of a shia government in baghdad, and many welcomed al qaeda in iraq as their defenders. The legacy of that bloodshed means some people in this camp still hold bitter memories of american involvement in their country. translated i lost 31 family members to the americans. Of them, my sisters son was four months old. My sisters son, his sister and their father, they were all killed. What more can i say . Reporter after the u. S. Military withdrawal from iraq, policies of the shialed baghdad government became more sectarian. Sunni people in areas like fallujah were left feeling disenfranchised. Many initially welcomed isis a new, more ambitious version of al qaeda in iraq. Sohaib alrawi, governor of fallujahs anbar province, and a sunni himself, saw that sectarian strife firsthand. translated the Sunni Community faced injustice. Many leaders were killed or driven from the country. So the Community Feels oppressed. I do not excuse the sunni extremists. But this is what inflamed the political and security situation in the sunni provinces. Reporter today, the iraqi rnments attempts to restore fallujah include mass security and intelligence screening of all of its residents. But that wont give fallujans back the lives they once had, which now only live in memory. translated what else can we say about fallujah . We used to have livestock and tasty food, and now we eat the food of livestock. Fallujah is gone. Its lost. Fallujah is lost. Reporter fallujah has been destroyed by war before, and rebuilt. The repeated explosions of violence here are unlikely to end until its people feel like a real part of todays iraq. For the pbs newshour, im Jane Ferguson, in fallujah, iraq. Woodruff stay with us. Coming up on the newshour how georgias changing demographics are also changing elections, plus, mark shields and Michael Gerson analyze the weeks news. But first, the twists and turns keep coming in the race for the white house just two days before donald trump and Hillary Clinton meet in their second president ial debate. John yang reports. Reporter late today, a new storm around trump. And when they let you do it, you can do anything. Grab them by the bleep . You can do anything. It comes as Hillary Clinton has been blasting trump for his treatment of women and trump has been threatening to make an issue out of bill clintons infidelities in. A statement trump apologized and said the tape was locker room banter, a private conversation. Bill clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course. Not even close. Campaigning in las vegas, democratic running mate tim kaine reacted to the tape. It makes me sick to my stomach. I dont like to even say the words that hes used in the past when he calls women these things. I should be surprised and shocked but im sad to say im not. Reporter earlier trump fired on a significant issue immigration as he met with a Border Patrol unit who endorsed him. The agents are being told to in effect look the other way as election day approaches. Theyre letting people pour into the country so they can go and vote. They want to hurry up and fast track em so they can go ahead and be able to vote for these elections. And these are the professionals. These are the people that are on the border. You hear a thing like that its a its a disgrace. Reporter running mate mike pence vowed he and trump will end illegal immigration once and for all. Meanwhile, trump made headlines of another sort about a notorious 1989 rape in central park. Five black teenagers were initially convicted, then exonerated and paid 41 million, when another man confessed in 2002. But trump told cnn clinton was off the tray today preparing for sundays debate. The campaigns are also watching the impact of Hurricane Matthew. Florida governor rick scott, a republican who is backing trump, rejected a Clinton Campaign request to extend Voter Registration beyond next tuesdays deadline. In addition, there could be troubles with the millions of mailin ballots that went out this week, just as hundreds of thousands of voters in that tossup state were told to evacuate. Meanwhile, president obama took advantage of a fundraising trip to chicago to cast his vote. Despite prodding from report, he wouldnt violate the sanctity of his secret ballot, but the expression on his face left little doubt who he voted for. For the pbs newshour, im john yang. Woodruff well, youve heard a lot in this Election Year about changing demographics in some states, rising numbers of minority voters, who are scrambling the calculus for the candidates and the parties. One of the places with the most dramatic change underway is georgia, it hasnt voted democratic in 24 years, but is giving Hillary Clinton reason to hope this year. I flew there this past weekend. At the sweet auburn festival on saturday, neighbors and tourists showed up to eat, drink, and enjoy local musicians. In this atlanta neighborhood, known as the historic heart of the Civil Rights Movement here, some are clear who theyre voting for. Im looking forward to having a female president , and also i like the way her campaign is run and i like the way she speaks. I think shell do well to getting this world back into the order. Woodruff voters like this are exactly what Hillary Clinton must have to turn georgia blue for the First Time Since 1992, says emory universitys andra gillespie. You need African Americans to turn out in record numbers, just as they did in 2008 and 2012. I suspect that Hillary Clinton is going to do extremely well in the state amongst blacks who do turn out to vote. We should expect that theyre going to make up about 30 of the electorate here in georgia. Woodruff in fact, due to dramatic demographic changes, growing numbers of blacks and other minorities, clinton is relying on voters like 33year old charisse price. Im voting for her because i feel that shes the candidate that most aligns with my values and the issues that are important to me. And im excited about what she offers as the most qualified candidate in history. Woodruff democrats also hope to capitalize on negative feelings toward donald trump among the Latino Community that has more than doubled since 2000. Latinos make up just under 10 of the population in georgia, but they are now less than 3 of registered voters. Omar rodriguez esparza is a naturalized u. S. Citizen from mexico, who says he cannot support trump. It really did bother me when he started to offend my community, calling us Different Things that were obscene and derogatory. For me, to stand behind a person that speaks that way about my community, i just cant do it. Thats like turning my back against my own community. Woodruff but Georgia Republicans say they are not ready to simply cede minority voters to the democrats. I think what theyre underestimating is the number of African Americans who are now saying, i am independent in my thinking about politics. Reporter leo smith is the georgia g. O. P. s minority engagement director. The Georgia Republican party decided in 2013 that we would embrace a strategy that target microtarget demographics that we have not been successful with. And so we developed a strategy to make sure that were connected with blacks, that we connected with latinamericans, latino americans, that were connected with asian americans. Woodruff in 2008, 98 of blacks who voted, went obama. But this year democrats say the key is not the percentage, but the number of africanamericans who vote. Democrat Stacey Abrams is the minority leader in the Georgia State house of representatives. Most of the prework that happens in elections is persuading people to believe that your candidate has the right belief set. That they are the right person. Where we are now is convincing people that they need to turn out and do something about it. We have six weeks. Its a heavy lift, but its a very doable lift. Woodruff doable, but with a special challenge among younger voters. She has a problem particularly amongst young African Americans who appear to be soft on her. It doesnt mean that theyre going to defect and vote for donald trump. I think the questions is do they stay home or do they vote for somebody else . For me, voting for her would be like settling. I dont want to settle. Id rather stay single, right . Woodruff Shaidah Ehehosi a sophomore at Georgia State University Says she feels pressure to back clinton, but as of now, doesnt think she can do that. Shes so sneaky, and shes just not honest. Donald trump is openly racist, you know . Openly ridiculous, basically, but hillary is so covert with her actions that that scares me as well. Its just so. Its tough. Woodruff in this state with a population in transition, clintons challenge is not only to turn out the Democratic Base especially African Americans, but also to turn out more white voters than democrats have won in the past five president ial elections. Thanks to the controversial candidacy of donald trump, the key could be white women like jessica mayer, who voted for mitt romney last time, but says trump is out of the question. Shes considering clinton. I dont know if i want to vote for her or not. I like her. I dont dislike her, but i like gary johnson a lot, too. I dont want to vote for it just because shes a woman. Even though i feel like im leaning that way because itd be nice to have a woman in the white house. Woodruff the support of voters like jessica is essential to a longshot Democratic Victory here, says strategist gordon giffin. To win a state like georgia, youve got to appeal to a broad crosssection of genders, you cant just go after one gender, broad crosssection of all parts of our citizenry. To win here, Hillary Clinton would have to get a substantial part of the white vote, not just the minority vote. Woodruff again, andra gillespie. In the context of the first debate performance, and Donald Trumps lashing out at Alicia Machado for her weight and other kinds of things, these are the kinds of messages that could play well to suburban white voters who are on the fence about trump, and maybe she can convince them to come to her side. Woodruff young Georgia Republicans like jake evans acknowledge trumps weakness among women who would normally lean right. Millennials overall are a generation of equality on the gender side, on the race side, and he undoubtedly leads some people to believe that he doesnt fully further gender equality motives. Woodruff even so, evans himself backs trump albeit without enthusiasm. Ill vote for donald trump because i think he aligns more with my personal ideologies less government, lower taxes, less regulation. I believe, personally, thats whats best for the country, but i will do it reluctantly. I think its an election of the lesser of two evils, to be honest with you, for a lot of millennials. Woodruff clinton supporters say she can win that argument, if her Campaign Targets all the voters who are turned off by trump. If 30 of the white vote in georgia votes for Hillary Clinton, shell carry the state of georgia. Woodruff we also found that, even among clinton backers here, there is concern that the deep divisions in the country will undermine her, if shes elected. I think that she is going to have as difficult a time as president obama had as far as congressional support. I hope that they do not meet secretly the night that she is elected and decide that they are going to vote no for everything that she may present to congress. Woodruff and thats a snapshot of georgia, where new Voter Registration ends next tuesday, october 11th. Its also the moment we turn to the analysis of shields and gerson. Thats syndicated columnist mark shields and Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson. David brooks is away. Gentlemen, welcome. So there was a lot of news that we learned about late this afternoon that has to do with this campaign. But, mark, i want to start with a question about georgia. You heard to some of the voters, the fact that a state where mitt romney won by 8 points four years ago, where its close, but uphill for Hillary Clinton, but close because of what we talked about. The interviews defined the enthusiasm gap. It isnt just on one side. Its both sides. Its minimal excitement. And for Hillary Clinton, i think what came through in your piece is its not a question of the percentage of the africanamerican vote, trying to get 30 of the white vote, its numbers. You can get high percentages but if you dont get numbers in the turnout, georgia could move, if not this time, eventually into the category of virginia, north carolina, state states the changed, colorado, nevada. Woodruff michael. I think republican furor is the exact example. When barack obama won the first term, its the first time virginia went democratic since 1964, and now its not even close. Hillary clinton is ahead by about 8 points in virginia. The state has gotten more diverse, more hispanics and asians, more collegeeducated people, and i think its gone a different direction for reasons republicans fear in that region. Woodruff a blizzard of news late this afternoon. Mark, starting with the obama administration, naming russia, saying high officials in russia were behind the hacks against the Democratic Party and other figures. Then you had wikileaks come out soon after with information about john podesta, news about nuclear energy, and the Washington Post story, which i think ill start with that, essentially releasing the audiotape and you heard it in john yangs report showing videotape showing Donald Trumps lewd remarks about women about ten years ago. Judy, lets get one thing straight this is not locker room talk. This is not preteen, adolescent finding dirty words. This is a 60yearold man being obscene obscene in discussing women, boasting and bragging in the worst and most offensive way and i think the political implications are profound. Senator kelly ayote, republican in New Hampshire, said she will vote for donald trump but not endorse him. In a debate this this past week she was asked do you consider donald trump to be an appropriate role model for the children of New Hampshire, absolutely was the end of her answer, was immediately pounced on, she apologized. Every republican in a competitive race in the country will be asked in the next week in a debate whether bioponents tore the press, do you consider donald trump to be an appropriate role model for the children of our state . As far as the womens vote you just reported on in georgia, it makes it so not simply difficult, it makes it almost impossible for somebody with selfrespect who is a mother or sister or daughter, you know, somebody like this in abraham lincolns chair. Woodruff michael, how do you assess this . I think the problem is not just bad language, but its predatory language, abusive and demeaning language. That indicates something about someones character that is frankly disturbing in a case like this, and i think evangelicals have a particular problem right now. I mean, they are the people who argued, many of leaders who argued that Character Counts during the bill clinton years, and now character apparently doesnt count at all. So i think theres a deep tension. Woodruff and trumps response was bill clinton used far worse language than you heard here, on the golf course. Yeah, the disparaging remarks he made earlier that it was just intertairching or amusing. With some pride, george w. Bush won the white house by promising to restore dignity to the oval office, and they presented themselves as a family, the party of family values. It is possible to say that today about the republicans standard bearer in any way, and i will have to say, forgetting moral values, were talking about the supreme court. Character doesnt count, the only thing that counts is the supreme court. Sunday night, certainly women in the audience will be asking questions during the debate. There will be a question, why should i support this disgusting boor . Woodruff were told today we learned this is a group of uncommitted voters in the st. Louis area put together by the gallup organization. Michael, turning to one of the other stories of this afternoon, the administration announcing after four months of saying they werent ready to say whether it was russia officially behind these hacks. Theyre now saying it was russian top russian officials who were hacking the Democratic National committee. Yeah, this has all the appearance of a foreign power trying to undermine structures of legitimacy of an learn election. That is a serious matter. If i were the media, i would be wary of using anything that came out of these document dumps which service the purpose of a foreign power, but at the very least americans have to discount this. This is an attempt to hijack and change american democracy by a foreign power. It cant be accepted. I agree. The president ial option of economic sanctions are on the table. You know, what the retaliation will take. But i would say its the end of the reset with china thats certain and the conclusion, the statement woodruff with russia. Ith russia, excuse me. Only russias seniormost officials could authorized said the director of intelligence and Homeland Security department. This is pretty profoundly serious. Woodruff and seemingly hand in hand or at least the timing may be more than coincidental, wikileaks released the john podeso emails. Hes Hillary Clintons campaign chairman. Hes run his own lobbying firm in washington for a number of years, and we havent seen much of that yet but its supposed to be having to do with nuclear energy. New york times had a big frontpage story last year about the sale of that Uranium Company that was authorized by the United States government to russia, with russia controlling it, and the allegations are that there were contributions made to the Clinton Foundation which were kept if the from the obama white house. Whether or not thats confirmed, thats pretty serious. Thats going to cause real tensions, if thats the case, within the democratic family. Woodruff and im sure reporters will continue to pore over this. Exactly. Woodruff michael, we have the second president ial debate sunday night in st. Louis. As different format. Does this format benefit one or the other of these two people . I think so. This is a format that does not reward aggression. It rewards empathy, explanation. Those are not trump strong points. He has not done a full runthrough of this, according to his own campaign, i mean private. He had an event in New Hampshire last night which was supposed to be like this sort of event and he did terribly. It is quite possible that he will have a second miserable performance, and i dont think that will make republicans denounce him broadly. It will mean just that the balloon is out of republican morale completely. And start looking at 2020, knowing they dont have a competent candidate. Woodruff how do you see this debate . Half the questions will be from the audience and half from the moderator, and from people. The problem with these debates like this is that you cant really prepare for them because the questions are so individual and personal, are even idiosyncratic. Secretary clinton has richer and keifer experience in doing these, obviously, than donald trump. But people at home, i cant attack you, michael, if were doing a town meeting. You have to answer the question asked. What people at home are gauging, judy, is how does this candidate respond to the question. Do they show respect to the questionnaire . Do they try to understand the question and respond to the question . Is there empathy . Is there a Human Connection between the two . Its where barack obama beat mitt romney in 2012. He lost the voters who was a stronger leader, who had a vision for the future, but on who cares about people like me, he trounced mitt romney, and i think that will be a gauge of this sunday night. Woodruff it sort of faded into the back of the news today, michael, but it was just three or four night ago that we had the Vice President ial debate between mike pence and tim kaine, a lot of conversation about it and the day after, did that have a lingering effect . The republicans looking for any good news after a pretty disastrous week, but when you analyze id, mike pence could only defend donald trump by projecting an image of himself, that trump held his views on russia or syria and thats really not true. So it was a weird way to defend the person at the top of your ticket and i think that was noticed. Thats a good point. I thought mike pence, upon reflection to me, came across a little bit like your favorite aunt who refuses in spate of firstperson evidence that grandpa has been drunk and disorderly in public, says grandpa would never do that, even though grandpa is being taken off in handcuffs. Donald would never say that about our neighbors, about our good religious muslim friends. And i think the democrats, the Clinton Campaign, did a terrible disservice to tim kaine. Tim kaine was well liked and they turned him into an attack dog. It wasnt good and, for shortterm benefit, i think then awfully good brand. Woodruff last thing i want to ask you two about quickly is the libertarian candidate for president gary johnson, if this is a close election, michael and mark, he could whatever he gets could make a difference. Weve seen him this week talking more about Foreign Policy and saying its okay not to have an opinion about it, just in ten seconds, how much of a factor is he . Marginally hurlts Hillary Clinton but probably not a big factor. Less today than he did last week and perhaps less tomorrow than he did today. Woodruff mark shields, Michael Gerson, we thank you both. And be sure to join us right here this sunday for live coverage of the president ial debate starting at 9 00 p. M. Eastern. Woodruff gwen ifill is preparing for washington week. Which airs later this evening. Gwen . Ifill we are in the middle of debate season, as the candidates take each other on up close, as well as from a distance. Its also the season of real life consequences as voters begin to decide how to pick not only a president , but also senators and members of the house. We assess the choices, and preview sundays second president ial face off, tonight on washington week. Judy . Woodruff and well be watching. On pbs newshour saturday hari continues our ontheground coverage of Hurricane Matthew and its aftermath. Sreenivasan tonight we brought you information from New Smyrna Beach, florida, but as you know, Hurricane Matthew is working its way up the eastern seaboard from florida across georgia and South Carolina. We will continue to provide the latest information on this hurricane and the damage its causing all weekend long. You can watch on the broadcast on newshour weekend. You can follow on our social channels. Thanks for watching. Woodruff and well be following all of that. Thanks, hari. And well be back, right here, on sunday at 9 00 p. M. Eastern with special live coverage of the second president ial debate between donald trump and Hillary Clinton. 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 is committed to helping you take charge of your future. 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