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Ifill wisconsins primary is less than a week away, and the stakes keep getting higher, as Party Divisions appear to grow more deep. John yang is in wisconsin for us, and reports on the days events. The Republican Party hasnt treated me properly. Reporter donald trump started his day in green bay, touting his strength with voters and seeming to warn Party Leaders not to block his nomination. They havent treated me fairly. But i got millions of more votes and weve got a movement going on. Millions of people are voting that didnt vote before. Reporter that followed last nights cnn town hall, where the republicans broke with commitments to support whoever gets nominated. Do you continue to pledge whoever the republican nominee is . No. I dont anymore. You dont . No, well see who it is. Let me tell you my solution to that laughter donald is not going to be the g. O. P. Nominee. Were going to beat him. If the nominee is somebody that i think is really hurting the country, and dividing the country, i cant stand behind them, but we have a ways to go. Reporter today, trump argued that he and not cruz would be the strongest choice against democrat Hillary Clinton, come november. He will not be able to beat with his strident manner. He will not be able to beat hillary. And believe me, the one person she does not want to run and i know this for a fact the one person she does not want to run against is donald trump. Reporter trump also continued defending his campaign manager, whos been charged with misdemeanor battery, for grabbing a reporter, michelle fields. By contrast, cruz was in madison, for what he called a celebration of women, appearing with his wife heidi and former rival carly fiorina. I have news for the Democratic Party women are not a special interest. Women are a majority of the United States of america. This campaign, at its core i believe is about three issues jobs, freedom and security. And women, every bit as much as men, care about jobs, freedom and security. Reporter john kasich stumped in new york state, which votes on april 19, stopping in queens this afternoon. Nobody is going to have enough delegates going into the convention. Ted cruz now needs almost 90 of all the remaining delegates to be the nominee. That is not going to happen. Trump needs about 55 or more; thats not going to happen. Hillary Hillary Hillary reporter clinton was also in new york, which she once represented in the u. S. Senate. She blasted trump for bluster and bigotry as she campaigned in harlem when a candidate for president says we can solve americas problems by building walls, discriminating against people based on their religion and turning against each other, well, new yorkers know better. cheers and applause our diversity is a strength, not a weakness. Reporter back in wisconsin, clintons democratic rival Bernie Sanders insisted hes got the momentum, at a town hall in madison. I think there was a poll that came out today in wisconsin, similar to other polls which had us beating trump by bigtime doubledigit numbers. In every one of these polls virtually every one, not every one almost all of these polls, we do far better against trump and other republican candidates than does Hillary Clinton. cheers and applause reporter sanders continues campaigning tonight in wisconsin. And trump and kasich will appear in a town hall, hosted by msnbc. For pbs newshour, im john yang in milwaukee. Ifill trump pretaped his town hall appearance this afternoon, and caused a new stir over abortion. Well look more closely at how hes managed to keep the spotlight on himself, after the news summary. Woodruff in the days other news, president obama commuted prison sentences for 61 drug offenders highlighting his push to overhaul the criminal justice system. More than a third were serving life sentences most will now be freed at the end of july. After the announcement, mr. Obama lunched with people whove had their sentences commuted before. It is my strong belief that by exercising these president ial powers, i have the chance to show people what a Second Chance can look like. That i can highlight the individuals who are getting these Second Chances and doing extraordinary things with their lives. Woodruff in all, president obama has now commuted the sentences of almost 250 inmates. The white house aid thats more than the previous six president s combined. Ifill the city of newark, new jersey agreed today to reform the way its police treat minorities. Federal investigators found the police made unconstitutional stops and arrests, and resorted to Excessive Force too often. Under a settlement with the justice department, the police will revise its policies, and officers will start wearing body cameras. Woodruff two Minneapolis Police officers will face no charges in the killing of a black suspect that sparked protests. Jamar clark was fatally wounded in a struggle with the officers last november. Today, the county prosecutor said the pair Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze had reason to fear for their lives. In this case, the officer ringgenberg subjectively believed clark had or was in the process of obtaining control of his weapon. Were clark able to remove the weapon from his holster, both ringgenberg and shwartze likely would be shot. Ringgenbergs subjective belief is also objectively reasonable. Woodruff some Community Activists decried the decision and called for new protests. Ifill the governor of virginia has vetoed a bill that would allow clergy and others refuse to marry samesex couples on the basis of religious beliefs. The Republicancontrolled Legislature approved the bill, but democratic Governor Terry mcauliffe said its unconstitutional. Earlier this week, the republican governor of georgia vetoed a similar bill. Woodruff in iran today, the Supreme Leader defended test firing Ballistic Missiles and warned against weakening that effort. Ayatollah ali khamenei posted a statement online, saying those who say the future is in negotiations, not in missiles, are either ignorant or traitors. That was seen as a slap at former president Akbar Rafsanjani whod called for dialogue, not missiles. Ifill migrant sailings from turkey to greece surged today just before officials begin enforcing an agreement to send them back. Nearly 770 people arrived in the last 24 hours, and as greek authorities dealt with them, the u. N. s refugee chief made a fresh appeal in geneva. We must find a way to manage this crisis in a more humane, organized and equitable manner, and this is only possible if the International Community is united and in agreement on how to move forward. Ifill meanwhile, as the weather warms, the migrant flow from north africa is also picking up. The Italian Coast Guard and navy rescued more than 1,300 people today. Woodruff japanese government regulators approved plans today to activate an ice wall around the wrecked Fukushima Nuclear plant. The underground structure is supposed to freeze the ground surrounding the facility. In an attempt to contain radioactive water from leaking into the pacific ocean. After the massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011, the plant has roughly 800,000 tons of contaminated water. Ifill Taiwanese Company foxconn has agreed to buy japans struggling Electronics Brand sharp, for 3. 5 billion. Its the first foreign takeover of a major Japanese Electronics producer. Foxconn also assembles apples iphones. Woodruff back in this country, the food and Drug Administration eased the rules for the abortioninducing drug mifeprex, to expand access. Women may now take the drug later in pregnancy and make fewer doctors visits. The f. D. A. s changes are expected to undermine existing restrictions in several states. Ifill wall street managed to keep its rally going today. The Dow Jones Industrial average was up 83 points to close at 17,716. The nasdaq rose 22 points, and the s p 500 added nearly nine. Woodruff and, prominent m. I. T. Economist Lester Thurow has died. He focused on Income Distribution early in his career, then turned to the challenges of globalization. And in recent years, warned of the gap between rich and poor. He also wrote several best selling books on Economic Policy for general audiences. Lester thurow was 77 years old. Still to come on the newshour why trumps rhetoric is appealing to millions of voters; Madeline Albright and Stephen Hadley discuss the u. S. Role in the mideast; a peace deal that could change colombias cocaine trade, and much more. Ifill donald trump has now been leading in the polls for eight months, making him the prohibitive favorite to win the Republican Party nomination this summer. His celebrity has driven Media Coverage, which in turn has boosted his celebrity. The result . The New York Times found trump has received nearly 2 billion of free Media Attention during the campaign, nearly twice as much as the original entire 17member field. Today, he once again demonstrated one of his greatest skills hijacking the news cycle with a provocative comment this one about abortion. Do you believe in punishment for abortion . Yes or no, as a principle. The answer is that, there has to be some form of punishment. For the woman . Yes. There has to be some sort of punishment. Ten cents . Ten years . What . That i dont know. That i dont know. Well why not . You take positions on everything else. I dont know. Frankly, i do take positions on everything else. Its a very complicated position. Ifill so why does trump survive . And how has he upended politics . Lets zero on whats behind trumps appeal and whats changed about the electorate with Stuart Stevens is a consultant and served as mitt romneys chief political strategist in the 2012 election. Mckay coppins is a Senior Writer for Buzzfeed News who has covered trump closely; hes the author of a book on the Republican Partys efforts to take back the white house called the wilderness. And Kathleen Hall jameison is professor of communications and director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the university of pennsylvania. Kathleen hall jameison, how much has donald trump exploded politics as usual . Donald trump has changed the way we talk about politics, the kinds of things that are covered in news, and the ways in which politicians gain access. Essentially, his free air time is what anybody else in an earlier campaign would have paid for and called advertising. Ifill mckay coppins, has he changed inherently the way the g. O. P. Is formulated, the way it functions, the kinds of candidates it will nominate in the future . I think hes exploited a shift in the g. O. P. Over the past eight years or so in the obama era which is basically the crumbling of the traditional g. O. P. Establishments, the parties, the fundraisers, donors who used to wield all the influence and has taken advantage of the right wing counterestablishment made up of new right wing media outfits and pressure groups and really figured out how to court them and ride a wave of influence into becoming basically, you know, the six, seven, eightmonth frontrunner of the Republican Party nomination fight. Ifill Stuart Stevens, it hasnt been four years since you were helping to run mitt romneys come pain yet so much changed. You have been pretty outspoken in your criticism of donald trump. Take a step back as an analyst and tell me why you think this is right now. Well, i think there is two ways to look at donald trump. One is that hes a function of a weak field that miscalculated what i would call the guns of august, the great book about world war i, no one wanted it to happen but yet its happening. The other thing would be something not unusual in a crowded field where a crowded electorate will nominate somebody who will make him unelectable in the fall. Todd akin in the Missouri Senate race, cheryl ingle in nevada. What might be happening here is whats happening on a National Scale played out in states which can s not that crazy because a primary is a series of states thats playing out. Its the same people voting in the states, we just havent seen it in aptle primary. Ifill one of the things, Kathleen Hall jameison, that seems different about donald trump is he has great skill at changing the topic and stealing the headline from somebody who seems to be having a good day. Is that part of what you think is different. Yes, vulnerability opens up for mr. Trump and the news cycle features the vulnerability, he changes the topic by attacking, doing something outrageous and eccentric and suddenly the entire news agenda shifts and instead of focusing on the serious potential exchange and the vulnerability initially exposed, were galloping in some other direction and the electorate isnt informed about the substantive that might have been concerned about the original statement. Ifill we watched the coverage on his statement about abortion. He since put out a statement saying thats not exactly what he meant. Is that an example of what kathleen is talking about . Yeah, i do think trump has a remarkable skill for hijacking news cycles. I also think its what drives him more than almost anything else. I remember i spent time with him in 2014, and i ended up on his plane, you know, the massive 757 trump jet, and i remember watching him. He had just given a speech that morning in new hampshire. I remember watching him spend 20, 30 minutes changing the channel back from msnbc, cnn, fox news, searching for coverage of the speech. The thing that struck me was how much he cared about Media Coverage and attention. In a sense, his entire president ial campaign has been one long media spectacle. I dont know how much it appraiser him or shows prepares him or shows whether hes ready to be president but it certainly shoals off his skills as a marketer and he really has unparalleled tall minute that regard. Ifill Stuart Stevens, lets pivot back to what you said a moment ago as to what happens in the fall campaign. We have seen polls in wisconsin today, a new one, that shows donald trump is at 70 unpopularity. Weve also seen national polls, we show him as unpopular as well. What does that mean about the g. O. P. s chances in the fall . Well, i think that we shouldnt talk about donald trump as a success. Hes running the Worst Campaign weve ever seen in modern history. The reason hes able to hijack news cycles is he doesnt care what he says and he doesnt care about the ramifications about it. When youre willing to do that, when youre willing to put on a suicide vest and pull the cord, you will get attention but you will lose a general election. Hes going to get killed in the general election, absolutely slaughtered and it will be a disaster for the Republican Party. Ifill Kathleen Hall jameison, the trump voters we have seen are loyal and steadfast, even if they are presented with evidence that what he is saying is not true. So is that the brand that we see at work . What we see, i think, is a candidate who artfully has capitalized on a large scale sentiment in the american electorate that says government doesnt appear to be working well, politicians have promised and not delivered, and heres someone who comes outside the political establishment, outside any political background and argues i have a different kind of competence that will let us win again, the first part of his brand, that is demonstrated by what ive already done as a businessman, highly successful, second part of the brand, hence all the photo ops hes build and third, im uncorruptable because im financing myself. If you assume everybody else signals politics as usual, then