designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we are your retirement company. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. from the tisch wnet studios at lincoln center in new york, hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: good evening and thanks for joining us. as about 5,000 delegates are descending on philadelphia for the democratic national convention that starts tomorrow, the party is experiencing a change in leadership. florida congresswoman debbie wasserman-schultz the chair of the democratic national committee quit her post today following the leak of embarrassing e-mails. wasserman-schultz who just yesterday introa geus-- hillary clinton an tim kaine at the party, had succeeded kaine as the party chair five years ago. her resignation came two days after wikileaks released 19,000 e-mails some suggests officials worked to undermine the campaign of vermont senator bernie sanders in one wasserman-schultz called sander's campaign manager a liar. in another party officials suggested questioning sanders jewish faith as a wedge with southern voters. doon brazil long time political strategist who ran al gore's campaign in 2 thousand will serve as interim party chair. earlier today hillary clinton's campaign manager blamed russian hackers for the e-mail breach. >> experts are telling us that russian state actors broke into the dnc, stole these e-mails and other experts are now saying that the russians are releasing these e-mails for the purpose of actually helping donald trump. >> sreenivasan: the trump campaign spokesman tells the newshour the clinton campaign's time would be better spent apologizing to bernie sanders for the mistreatment he received at the hands of the democratic national committee. joining us to talk about the implications of debbie wasser machine schultz strepping down is jeff greenfield. put this in context for us at the eve of the major event for the political party, the leadership changes? >> yeah, like they say about the secret of good comedy, timing is everything. there is a heat wave hitting here but that is nothing compared to the political heat that was rising around the dnc and the clinton campaign in the wake of those revelations from wikileaks. the sanders people had long suspected that the dnc was in league with the clintons and these leaked documents seem to undermine that or support it there was no way the democrats could conduct a week long convention with the constant drum beat of anger and did he manneds that debbie wasserman-schultz step down, so she fell on her sword. >> sreenivasan: we know the intent of the party's decision here, to try to make this perhaps a healing moment where they can get over this z but does this potentially add more fuel to those bernie sanders who feel slighted throughout the entire process? >> look, it's possible that they think that having scored one kill, they may start ratcheting up demands, maybe trying to refocus on the superdelegate issue. but the other part is that the democrats have made much sport out of all the stumbles on the republican campaign, the plagiarism, the ted cruz blowup, all that stuff. it's very hard for the democrats to argue, we know how to run a campaign. we know how to run a convention, therefore we know how to run the country. so i think we're not likely to see the end of the turmoil but at least the most vessable-- visible target has now been removed. >> sreenivasan: what are the practical implications, does it affect the speaker line-up. is there likely to be a change thalt audience at home sees? >> no. i think the convention will go on as planned. they've got their 60 plus speakers. there is no reason why the removal of schultz should cause any change in that. the question, and you raised it earlier, is this going to embolden the sanders people to try to make floor fights out of issues that they in the past have said okay, we'll settle this in committee. i wish i could till the answer to that but as i often said, if i could see the future, i would buy the powerball ticket. >> people forget sometimes that not only is this a place for speeches, but this is actually the place where the party platform gets hammered out. whether bernie sanders has some influence on this entire process, it's actually happening in committee meetings that are very boring and long and don't really get national prime time trvetion attention. >> that's right. unless the sanders people decide to take the power they have and now force a floor fight. it is possible that on a couple of these issues which sometimes do make the eyes glaze over, they will have that power. the ime now is is the resignation of schultz enough for them to say let's move on or whether there are, we won't call them never trumpers or never clintonites but the kind of hard-biten opponents of the establishment democrats, are they going to say you know what, let's go for another kill. and that's not what secretary clinton or the democrat national committee wants to hear. >> sreenivasan: jeff greenfield, jinking us from philadelphia tonight. thanks so much. >> nice to be here. >> sreenivasan: this week's democratic national convention will have a "back to the future" feel as another clinton becomes a presidential nominee. but the party of today is not the same as the party of the 1990s. once again, jeff greenfield. >> in the name of the hard- working americans who make up our forgotten middle class, i proudly accept your nomination for president of the united states. >> when i look out at all of you, you know what i see? i see america's future! >> reporter: 100 miles and 24 years separates the 1992 convention in new york from the one that open here in philadelphia on monday. but the distance is far greater than a matter of miles or years. despite the familial link, the democratic party that will nominate the second clinton is sharply different in makeup and philosophy from the one that nominated the first. d not trust the democrats with their safety or their money. he promised a different agenda; middle class tax relief, ending welfare as we knew it, tougher on crime, pro-death penalty. bill galston was a key architect of that agenda. >> the move towards fiscal restraint and a balanced budget, which yielded four years of surpluses. a focus on education reform, not just education investment. welfare reform. the trade agenda, which included not just nafta, but also the w.t.o. >> reporter: the democrats in philadelphia are striking sharply different notes. the platform calls for: ending mass incarceration, abolishing the death penalty, free college tuition for millions, cracking down on big banks, a public option for healthcare, and the right to an abortion without restrictions. instead of bill clinton's "wall of blue," mothers whose sons and daughters were killed by police will speak here. >> certainly, a bill clinton convention would never have thought of having those type of speakers. >> reporter: ed rendell, former philadelphia mayor, pennsylvania governor, and national party chair. >> there's no question the left reporter: i remember billen.o clinton saying endlessly, and hillary too, abortion should be safe, legal and rare. that's not in the platform. rare is out. >> we've become, the progressive wing of the party is more dominant than it's been. >> reporter: one reason is demographics. racial minorities, voters under 40, and college-educated whites are an increasingly dominant force. when bill clinton won reelection in 1996, he lost the white vote to bob dole by just three percentage points. barack obama won reelection in 2012 despite losing the white vote by 20 points to mitt romney. obama won with huge majorities of blacks, hispanics, and asians, who are now a bigger slice of the electorate. >> and now we are the big-tent party and we represent the breadth and the diversity of this country, and here i am, an african-american woman from c.e.o. brooklyn, new york, as the c.e.o. >> reporter: convention c.e.o. leah daughtry say the changing approach to an issue like crime reflects a changing reality. >> in those days when president clinton was advancing the crime bill, everybody was in an uproar about the crack epidemic that was sweeping across the country, and everybody wanted something done about it. and so, you know, i think it's, it is a mark of the clintons to say, you know, looking back, no it was not the right thing. >> reporter: there is, of course, another reason why the democrats have moved left. >> this type of rigged economy is not what america is supposed to be about. >> reporter: vermont's bernie sanders, the only avowed socialist in senate, mounted a surprisingly strong primary challenge to clinton, winning 12 million votes and more than 1,800 convention delegates. colorado delegate terry tucker was one of them. >> the democratic party was always a party of the people. it's become so much like the other party in many respects-- the way you chase the big money, the way the establishment, the elite, choose which candidates are going to be put forward. we lost our roots, and we need to get back there. >> reporter: bill galston says hillary clinton is walking a tightrope between the past and the present. >> she understands that the party is nothing like the party that nominated and then helped to elect her husband. >> reporter: her challenge is crystallized by sanders supporters like terry tucker. so if i could get you in a time machine, and you somehow could travel back to 1992, what would you tell them was going to happen to their party 24 years later when there's another clinton up? >> i believe there were some people that were trying to tell them that you're shutting out a huge part of the party, and it's going to have consequences. >> reporter: but if they say to you know what, we did put a two- term democrat in the white house, so maybe bill clinton was onto something? >> you've got winning elections down. but when did winning elections mean that as a political party we don't do the right thing? >> sreenivasan: pennsylvania is a perennial battleground state, but also one that has ended up in the democratic column every presidential election since 1992. this november, donald trump sees an opening in pennsylvania's coal country-- the state's western counties where unemployment is a few percentage points above the national average, and where many coal miners and their families feel their way of life and standard of living is under siege. as special correspondent, chris bury reports in tonight's signature segment, coal country voters want to know whether either candidate can ever bring those jobs back. >> reporter: dave whipkey, now 64 and retired, spent much of his life working at a pennsylvania coal mine. it was difficult, dangerous work, but in 38 years at the mine, whipkey was able to provide well for his family. with overtime, he was earning close to $75,000 a year when he retired in 2014. >> when you're first hired in the mine, you go underground, and it's different, it's neat. after you're there a month, you look around and you think, "what am i doing here?" if you can get past that phase of it, then you're okay. >> reporter: the emerald mine, where whipkey worked, lies in nearby waynesburg, a coal town tucked in the appalachian mountains of western pennsylvania. last year emerald's owner, alpha natural resources, filed for bankruptcy and then shut down the mine, one of five mines in the area to close recently. to make matters worse, whipkey and his wife just found out their health insurance will expire next year. >> we were promised health care from cradle to grave. and now you have to wonder, ¡how much longer am i going to have medical and what happens after that?' and it's a worry, it really is. >> reporter: he's worried the pension the company promised him could be in jeopardy, too. >> all the years that you work to build your pension. and then they're going to cut it. it's not fair. >> reporter: in places like greene county, one of the nation's biggest coal producers, the economic damage has been profound and painful. when the emerald mine closed last november, more than 230 union mineworkers lost good paying jobs with generous benefits. and the impact is cascading around the region. in just the last five years, more than 30,000 mine workers nationwide have seen their jobs disappear. >> back in the early days, coal mining was just everywhere. >> reporter: miners like 41 year old brian schaum lost their jobs at emerald mine as u.s. coal production was falling to its lowest level in 35 years. he grew up in greene county, a coal miner like his father, uncle, and brother. when he lost his job, he lost a nearly six figure income. >> when they laid off up there, i was at like $29 an hour. the overtime was just as much as i wanted. i mean i could write my own check. >> reporter: now he's getting by doing odd jobs and remodeling homes. does it pay anything like what you were used to in the mine? >> no, but it helps put a little bit of food on the table. so i mean, it's a real adjustment right now. >> reporter: the adjustment comes at a time when the industry is fighting proposed regulations by the obama administration. the president has asked the environmental protection agency to implement a "clean power plan" to reduce earth-warming carbon gas emissions from coal fired power plants. over the last six years, electricity produced by coal has fallen from 45% to 31% of the nation's power generation. >> the coal companies blamed this totally and completely on obama and the epa. >> reporter: ed yankovich, who heads the regional district of the united mine workers of america union says stricter epa rules have played a role in coal's decline, but believes that market forces, including cheap natural gas and a drop in coal demand from china, are also a factor. yankovich says coal companies scapegoat the president. >> the coal operators themselves did a very good job of making people, you know, labeling him as anti-coal, war on coal. >> reporter: has that resonated here? >> yes, it's resonated here. sure it's resonated here. people want an enemy. they want someone to point a finger to." you're the reason why this all happened." >> reporter: the mine workers union endorsed barack obama in 2008, but did not back obama in 2012, and a top union official says the union is not likely to endorse any presidential candidate this year. >> if they don't want to back somebody, that's their opinion. i know who i'm backing, and i know a lot of coal miner brothers out there, and i know who they're backing. >> reporter: trump? >> trump. at least he's giving me a glimmer of hope right now that to where democrats ain't even. giving me a glimmer of hope. it's just we're out, and that's it. >> reporter: by not saying they endorse a candidate, what does that tell you? >> that they're not endorsing the democratic party, which means they're leaning towards the republican party by not saying it. >> reporter: in greene county, where the population is 95% white, registered democrats still outnumber registered republicans, but that advantage is shrinking. voters here have favored the republican presidential candidate in the last three elections, but the democrat carried pennsylvania every time. for donald trump to reverse that result, he will need to run up the vote in white, working class counties in coal country. >> we're going to put the miners back to work. we're going to put the miners back to work! >> reporter: at the republican national convention, delegates approved a platform calling co"" an abundant, clean, affordable, reliable domestic energy resource." and, in his first speech as trump's running mate, indiana governor mike pence attacked hillary clinton's stance on coal. >> where donald trump supports an all of the above strategy and will end the war on coal, hillary clinton actually promised an energy plan that would close american coal mines and put coal miners out of work. >> reporter: clinton has promised to spend $30 billion dollars for retraining displaced coal miners and other energy workers. but this comment at a march town hall was taken as a threat. >> i'm the only candidate which has a policy about bringing opportunity using clean renewable energy as the key into coal country, because we're going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business. >> reporter: did she shoot herself in the foot with that comment? >> well, yeah, yes. she did. she hurt herself significantly. that's true. >> reporter: union leaders like yankovich are also wary of trump because, they say, he offers few details to back up his vague promises about revitalizing the coal industry. can trump bring that back? >> i don't believe he can. i don't know what plan he has. if he's going to do it, i'd like to see that plan. >> reporter: unemployed coal miner brian schaum, who has traditionally voted democratic, believes trump's word. >> i'm leaning towards republicans simply because he's my only hope to bring back good wage jobs here. that's been his thing, get the coal industry up and running again. so i got to go with what he's saying. >> remember that job you applied for, that truck driving job? >> reporter: the obama administration is offering some assistance with more than $30 million in grants to help former coal and power workers in twelve states since last year. dave serock, a local union leader who lost his job at the emerald mine, now works as a counselor for an organization helping former coal workers find, and train for, new jobs. serock's says he's taken a $70,000 pay cut. >> the biggest thing is, i think, the pressure that it puts on the individual knowing that it went from here, and now you're here, and there's not a whole lot you can do about it. >> reporter: your standard of living has changed? >> oh, definitely. >> reporter: re-training is a tough sell to unemployed miners who cannot afford to spend one or two years learning a new trade: their unemployment benefits end after six months. >> how do you pay your bills in the meantime while you're going? part-time job is just not going to be enough to support them, even if they make cuts. >> reporter: the new jobs, like driving trucks, pay far less than mining and often lack the health care and other benefits earned by union coal miners. >> most of our jobs that we're finding for our guys that were laid off, you're looking at $10 to $20 an hour, and $20 an hour is on the high side. rippling through greene county, which depends on mining and related industries for nearly a third of its tax revenue. ed hinerman owns the local napa auto parts dealership. what are you down here? >> okay, well up to 30% off, our business is off by 30%. >> reporter: mines are still producing coal in greene county, and some miners hope to get their jobs back. brian schaum isn't waiting for that to happen. he's gotten a crane operator license and is thinking of moving his family to florida. >> i just don't see it all rebounding. the mining industry always has its ups and downs, but this is probably the worst it's come across. and once it all dies off here, this place, there ain't going to be nothing left here. >> reporter: for dave whipkey, the secure retirement he spent four decades building-- with that pension and lifetime health care--- is suddenly on shaky ground. >> the house that we just bought two years ago, if they cut all that, we're probably putting our house up for sale. because we just can't-- we're getting by now, but we're sure not getting rich. >> reporter: do you see coal ever coming back here? >> yes. yes i do. they closed emerald mine down, they said there was no more coal. i don't believe that. there's coal. >> sreenivasan: this couple started a nonprofit in pennsylvania that teaches laid- off coal miners and others how to code. learn more about their story at pbs.org/newshour. the los angeles fire department says about 1,500 homes and 100 commercial buildings are threatened by a three-day old wildfire in the hills north of the city. more than 1,000 firefighters have battled the blaze hat has burned more than 30 square miles of bone-dry brush and forced thousands of people to evacuate. high winds and temperatures around 100 degrees making the fire near santa clarita hard to control. officials say it is only 10% contained. health officials are warning people with respiratory problems to stay indoors because of the black smoke and ash spreading over los angeles. >> german officials say the 18 year old gunman who killed nine people and then him scefer on friday may have been been planning his attack since last summer. following a search of the parmtd with ali lived with his parents, the police chief said he vitsed and took picks are teurs of a school in other german city where a mass shooter quilled 16 people in 2009. they say he probably purchased his 9 mill meter glok on the dark net, only-- germany vines chancellor an interior minister called for tightening the country's already strict gun control laws to require psychiatric evaluations of buyers under ta. >> the islamic state group where isis is claiming responsible for a suicide bombing today in iraq's capital, at least 14 people killed and another 30 wounded in the attack. at a security checkpoint in northern baghdad. in the online statement isis said it targeted a gathering of securitying officers at a busy entrance to a shiite neighborhood. the boomer arrived on foot and killed both officers and civilians. syrian government warplanes bombed five hospitals in and around the rebel held city of aleppo. the british-based syrian observatory for human rights said the air strikes killed five people and forced the hospitals to suspend their services. according to physicians for human rights, 750 medical personnel have been killed in attacks on medical facilities in syria's five year civil war. there will be russian athletes at the summer olympic games after all, just two weeks before the games begin in rio, brazil, the international olympic committee rejected a proposed total ban of russian athletes over a doping scandal. instead the ioc will let each of the 28 federations for different sports decide which russian athletes may compete. ioc chief batch said an-- bach said an athelete should not suffer from a system in which he was not implicated. the vote came after a investigation confirmed pervasive doping of athletes from russia in winter and summer sports from 2011 to last year. any russian athlete previously sanctioned won't be allowed to compete. the head of the u.s. anti-doping agency who had been calling for a complete ban said the ioc decision is a significant blow to the rights of clean athletes. >> finally after months of speculation, yahoo has been sold. verizon communications, the largest wireless carrier in the u.s. has agreed to buy yahoo's internet business and land holdings for $4.8 billion. verizon is expected to announce details of the sale tomorrow. yahoo pioneered the internet search engine business and was once valued at more than $125 billion. but the company struggled amidst the rise of google and facebook causing yahoo's ad revenue to plunge. stay with the newshour starting tomorrow for continuing coverage of the democratic national convention from philadelphia lead by g-wen ifill and judy woodruff, that's it for this edition of pbs newshour, i'm vari sreenivasan. thanks for watching. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. judy and josh weston. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the john and helen glessner family trust. supporting trustworthy journalism that informs and inspires. sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we are your retirement company. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. announcer: major funding for almost there was provided by the corporation for public broadcasting. additional funding was provided by the puffin foundation, the city of chicago, the indiana arts council, columbia college chicago and others. elelelelelelelelelelelelele. [music] peter: the year, 2005. not since 1968 did a year leave me with such precipitous doom and frustration. [music] i almost died after eating what i believe was a tainted cheeseburger. i was lied to by local authorities. they sent me to a homeless shelter.