Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour Weekend 20160221

Corporate funding is provided by mutual of america designing customized individual and Group Retirement products. Thats 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, alison stewart. Stewart good evening, and thanks for joining us. We now have the results from two president ial nominating contests in South Carolina and nevada. We begin with the republicans in South Carolina where Businessman Donald Trump is the projected winners, the early returns show the candidates finishing in the two tiers. Trump is in the top tier and marco rubio and ted cruz is in second tier. South carolina officials Election Officials say there was a strong, possibly record voter turnout for the primary. The state is important for republicans for several reasons, it is the first this the south, a reliably republican state, and except for 2012, the winner of this primary has gone on to be the partys nominee. Lisa desjardins. Lisa, second primary win, what from the exit polls tells us that donald trump won . The largest segment of republicans, republicans angry with the frerl government, anecdotally thats completely what we heard from republicans, they see in South Carolina donald trump as the leading antibowx voice in their obama voition in their primary. One thing to note about Donald Trumps win tonight, alison, he did well in the coast ever the state, horry county is a mix from inside and outside of the state, retirees as well as long time South Carolinaians. That might be speaking to his appeal not just to southerners but maybe to the rust belt which is ahead in elections. One thing in exit polls that donald trump might want to worry about, it turns out that voters who decided in the last week, they chose trawz and marco rubio. They did not choose donald trump. He was third with voters who decided in the last week. Thats the first time weve seen that. That loses the appeal, he isnt gaining voters as he was. Donald trump is the uncontested front runner. Lets talk about cruz and rubio, so close what did they do in the last hour to make this so close for the two of them . Isnt this incredible . What a vote. We saw rubio possibly gain from the endorsement of nikki haley. He has worked very hard, tirelessly flying around the state of South Carolina. That seemed to help him. He seemed to benefit from donald trump american losing system in the maybe losing steam. And he has done incredibly well with evangelicals, we know from the exit polls that three quarters of the voters in the republican primary alison, were evangelical and many vote for ted cruz. Jeb bush finishing with a fifth place finish, is this the end of the road for governor bush . This is certainly, i spoke to several bush advisors, they have to admit that this is a matter they have to discuss. They want to get to florida but thats not until the middle of march it will fourth may be the lowest, its hard to get there. The wave of fear running through republican establishment types that they think donald trump will continue to grow, continue to lead, unless they consolidate the rest of the candidate. Jeb bush, ben carson even john kasich would have to get out of the race for a ted cruz or marco rubio to gain from those votes. Its a question of the good of the party. Im sure the Bush Campaign is dealing with. If he gets second tonight, that would be massive, if rubio is a little bit behind ted cruz he has to show he can finish above third. Lisa desjardins. Thank you. We now turn to nevada and the democrats. Form he secretary of state Hillary Clinton was the winner there. 55 of the vote. Bernie sanders had a little more than 47 . In the proportional allocation of delegates, clinton is expected to earn 19, and sanders, 14, according to the associated press. This is a rebound from her loss to sanders 11 days ago in the New Hampshire primary. According to entrance polls, in nevada, a majority of women, College Educated and those above 55,000 a year backed clinton. It is a campaign to break down every barrier that holds you back. We are going to build ladders of opportunity in their place so everywhere american can go as far as your hard work can take you. Now both candidates turn their attention to the democratic South Carolina primary a week from today and the many voters expected in march. I believe on supertuesday we have an excellent chance to win many of those things. Npr reporter tamera keith is covering the Nevada Democratic caucuses and she joins me from las vegas, from cesarce, as a matter of fact. Is this a moment of victory for Clinton Campaign or a moment of re leaf . I think you can call it both. Definitely a moment of relief. The polls show it tight heading into it and they absolutely needed this victory and now they have a win. It may not be aa landslide win buttists a win and its something that theyre going to head into South Carolina next. Where polls show clinton way ahead. And they feel like they have been able to stop or slow down, Bernie Sanders momentum or bernementum if you will. Hillary Clintons Campaign was here in april they started and they did all kinds of activities, resume workshops with young people, politics, womens groups where they would meet and talk with politics. And they did that early and often. Sanders campaign really didnt show up until november and much of their staff came even later than that. And i think that you can see that. You could see the difference in the organization on the ground and in a caucus state, especially organization matters. Stewart Bernie Sanders concession speech wasnt much of a concession. He said he would win the states ahead. What evidences is there that that will happen given the states coming up in the next two weeks . There are states that he will have trouble with South Carolina for instance and other states, supertuesday there are a number of caucus states and there are also states in new england where he likely has that same base of support that he showed in New Hampshire. So to think that it is over tonight would be wrong. Hillary clinton is still going to have a fight on her hands. But she certainly has to be relieved. And sanders is looking at this and saying, look, hes raising a ton of money. He has the money to keep going and keep going strong. He has the energy of his young supporters and his supporters would say, lea in nevada he was able to show that he could get the support of the minority voters. Not as much as Hillary Clinton but an able to gain support. I want to pick up what you mentioned about him imlossing over South Carolina and headed to supertuesday with laserfocus, what is the calculation there . Why . He is on his way to South Carolina right now but definitely looking ahead to supertuesday. There are a ton of states voting on super tuesday on march 1st and far more favorable to him. He has not been able to chip away very well at her support with African American voters. Polls show that she is absolutely dominating with African American voters in South Carolina. And sanders is theres a big map out there and a lot more delegates to be won and lost, and hes going for those. Stewart tamera keith from npr, thanks for sharing. Youre welcome. Stewart the funeral mass for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was held today in washington, d. C. Pallbearers carried scalias flagdraped coffin into the basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception this morning. This was the first funeral for a Supreme Court justice to be held in the nations largest catholic church. Scalia died one week ago at the age of 79, after 30 years on the high court. One of his nine children, the reverend paul scalia, presided over the ceremony attended by an estimated 4,000 mourners, including Vice President joe biden, former Vice President dick cheney, all eight current Supreme Court justices, and two retired justices. Following greetings by Cardinal Donald wuerl, the archbishop of washington, Supreme Court Justice Clarence thomas read a passage from the new testament book of romans hope does not disappoint because the love of god has been poured out into our hearts through the holy spirit that has been given to us. Stewart there was no formal eulogy, but reverend scalia talked about his father with warmth and humor and shared a memory of a time when his father realized he was on his sons confession line. As he put it later, like heck if im confessing to you. laughter stewart president and mrs. Obama did not attend the funeral but were among more than 6,000 people who paid tribute to scalia as he lay in repose at the Supreme Court yesterday. Reverend scalia said there would be a secular memorial for his father on march 1. Stay up to date on 2016 campaign events, debates and voting with our online election calendar. Visit www. Pbs. Org newshour. South carolina is not only the site of todays important president ial primary. It is also one of the states where walmart recently closed one of its supercenter stores. The closure was unusual for the company that is both the nations largest retailer and largest private employer. A lot has been said over the years about walmarts impact on small communities when its stores arrive, but less is known about what happens when those stores close. In tonights signature segment, the newshours Christopher Booker visits the South Carolina community where walmart shut its doors last month. Reporter the only way you can see inside the recently closed winnsboro, South Carolina, walmart is through a small hole torn into the cloth of the sliding front doors. The opening offers a surprisingly wide glimpse of a store that once sold almost everything the 3,500 residents of this town might need. The quiet, former cotton Mill Community 30 miles from South Carolinas capital, columbia, saw its walmart open in 1998. Now, these bare shelves reflect the consequences of a restructuring effort that walmart described in a press release as necessary to keep the Company Strong and positioned for the future. This winter, walmart is closing 154 stores in the u. S. And 115 outside the country, about 2 of its stores worldwide. Despite lowering its Sales Forecast for the year in the past week, the closures do not signal a company on the brink. Walmart plans on opening at least 135 new stores in the u. S. , including 50 to 60 supercenters like the one it just closed in winnsboro. Winnsboros walmart was one of 12 supercenters to close across osing the doors, rapidlyrethe removing what had become a commercial center for this small, Rural Community for the past 18 years. In its closing, walmart could potentially transform the town as much as when it opened. Residents say the Big Box Stores rock bottom pricing made it difficult for the towns smaller businesses to compete, striking a direct hit on downtown winnsboro. In 1998, the town had three grocery stores; today only this bilo remains. The town once had two department stores; both are now closed. But this Hardware Store managed to stay open. Store manager William Broome has worked here for the past 38 years. How did you guys stay in business . Trimmed our inventory to cater to more of what we specialize in, and kind of let them have the nonbuilding material, nonhome repair products, and just dealt in things that they didnt have. And of course, you had to cut some of your staff. Reporter and now, here we are 18 years later. Walmarts closed down . Its a problem that nobodys dealt with that we know of. Everybodys had to deal with when they move in, nobodys had to really deal with the what do you do when they move out . Reporter walmarts departure presents an opportunity for broome. He is restocking products the store has not sold in years and probably will hire additional employees. Despite the unexpected opportunity, broome isnt celebrating. You feel like they used the town when they came in and used you up to, you know, what they could get out of you, and then just pull out and leave on them. Reporter for independently owned prices drug, walmarts departure has resulted in a flood of new customers. Weve got a lot more business. laughs reporter carrie baker is the pharmacist in charge. I think people panicked at first. And so, we were transferring their prescriptions before walmart even closed. And were trying to do our very best. Reporter baker says the store is receiving nearly 150 more prescription orders every day, but matching walmarts prices is difficult. Since 2006, walmart has offered customers prescriptions as low as 4 for a 30day supply for some generic drugs. We never have offered the 4 generic plan that they have offered, but we did try to be competitive, and weve offered a 6 plan. We just explained to them that we never could offer it because it costs us much more. How you doing, buddy . Doing fine. Reporter roger gaddy is a doctor at Fairfield Medical associates in winnsboro. Hes also been the towns mayor for 11 years, and he worries about the Tax Implications of the walmart closure. We have a onecent added sales tax that the citizens voted on about ten years ago. Walmart was probably our biggest contributor of that onecent sales tax because it was the biggest retail entity we had in the town. Reporter gaddy says the loss of the total sales tax, previously paid by the Winnsboro Walmart, will be substantial. Walmart leaving is devastating to the community, but weve been here a long time and were going to be fine without it. And there may be some benefits of not having a walmart here. I would like to think that you would see a revitalization of downtown. Youll see more people shopping downtown. Reporter while chamber of commerce president Terry Vickers shares the mayors optimism, she says she is still struggling to understand walmarts decision. The employee meeting that was called on that thursday morning they thought was going to be great news about maybe some increases in wage, and unfortunately it was the announcement that the store would close in two weeks. Reporter but at the same time, you were getting reports from the manager that the store was profitable. Everything seemed fine. Right. Well, and there is local profitability, and there is corporate profitability. So, unfortunately, he had a profit over last years christmas season, but that still did not get that store to the corporate expectation. It might be profitable, but its not enough. Reporter Marianne Bickle is a university of South Carolina professor in the college of hospitality, retail and sports management. She says with increasing pressure in the retail space, walmart has to pay close attention to stores that may not be meeting profit expectations. By pulling out of winnsboro, walmart is saying, this store, this location is not doing financially what we need it to do. Theyre being responsible to their stakeholders. Reporter bickle says that Stores Like Walmart must diversify the ways they reach customers, sometimes closing a brick and mortar store in one area to expand to another or focusing on boosting online sales. Do you think walmart owes the Community Anything . They do owe the community. They owe the community honesty. They owe the community forthright communication. And it would be dishonest to the community to say everything is fine and well be here a long time and then to pull out. But the bottom line is, they are a business, and they have to stay in business accordingly. Reporter walmart says there is no single factor like profit or location that determines which stores close and which remain open. In a telephone interview, spokesman brian nick told me store closures are rare, and the company is in growth mode. We dont typically close stores, and we announced these stores at the same time because, you know, it was part of a very hard portfolio review and something that we needed to do that made sense for the business overall. Just in january, we opened 69 stores. Well continue to open dozens more throughout the year. And, you know, 90 of americans are within ten miles of a walmart. Reporter just five days after announcing the store closures last month, walmart announced it would raise its u. S. Minimum wage to 10 an hour and give raises to 1. 2 million of its hourly workers. Those raises took effect today. As for the 10,000 employees laid off nationwide, walmart says it is trying to place them in its other stores. The company says twothirds of the 160plus employees in winnsboro have been transferred to jobs at Walmart Stores that are a 30to40 minute drive from winnsboro. Its a big difference. You can feel the emptiness in winnsboro. Reporter Casanova Moore worked at the Winnsboro Walmart for nearly a year before it closed. Its a lot of jobs. And a lot of us, like, are close to each other, and, like, it was a family. We were, like, really a family. So, now that the family is broken up, we all going our separate ways. I was born and raised here. Reporter winnsboros walmart was more than a shopping space; it was a gathering place. If you wanted to see anybody, just come to walmart. Reporter . Where retirees herbert and Nancy Mcclurkin picked up their prescriptions, shopped for groceries and caught up on the latest town gossip. A big surprise because we been over there early in the week, and our cousin called and said walmarts getting ready to close. It was kind of hard to believe. We thought it was a prankster at first. I said, walmarts closing . Thats the only store we have around here. Reporter at the Fairfield Central High School Basketball game, jimmy dorsey and Miriam Woodward were trying to understand why walmart left. And it was a joyful place. It was like home or like a church or something. And im praying that Something Else comes and takes its place because we really need it. I think that the customers deserve to know something, you know . I spent a lot of money at walmart. Reporter besides helping place employees in other stores, walmart did leave another parting gift. Its Foundation Contributed 30,000 to the towns Economic Development effort. Were we disappointed that it could not be a lifelong endeavor . Yes. But, winnsboros been around since 1784, and there is a survival attitude here. And we will survive. Joining knee from clinton, South Carolina, lisa desjardins. Lisa i i theres been some big news. There has been. Jeb bush has suspended his campaign for president. This obviously has great consequences for the future of the republican race. For one thing it freeze up large donors who have backed bush for many months. Remember, bush was the man to beat after after he entered the race but he leaves the contest after just three primaries, alison. One wonders, will it be mr. Trump, mr. Rubio or mr. Cruz. This was jeb bushs decision, of course, it was, but i think whats interesting here is, this is a man whose brother won South Carolina alison by 30 points, a massive win. Tonight he is down by some 25 points. A mere opposite of his brothers performance. This seems to be the end of this bush political era, at least this generation of bushes. But it shows something about how republicans are look at their candidates. Remember whether governors used to be that outside of washington, not so political politician, the one that voters related to . This race began with some 22 candidates and of those just one governor remains, thats john kasich. He has an uphill climb after tonights performance but likely to stay in the race at least for a minute but with jeb bush exiting, we have five candidates. Certainly youre right, marco rubio and ted cruz would love to get the bush endorsement. Stay with us for more on the republican primary in South Carolina. Join us onlt, pbs. Org. Im alison stewart, have a good night. Night. Captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org pbs newshour weekend is made possible by Corporate Funding is provided by mutual of america designing customized individual and Group Retirement products. Thats 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. Momma my daddy work themselves to the bone momma my daddy work themselves to the bone now the man from the bank wants to foreclose their home momma my daddy will give you anything you need momma my daddy will give you everything you need now the man from the bank wants to bring em to their knees