captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. >> sreenivasan: and i'm hari sreenivasan. >> woodruff: on the newshour tonight, president trump touts the g.o.p.'s new health care bill, as republicans wrangle over how to replace obamacare. >> sreenivasan: also ahead, mirrors and lights-- a travelling art exhibit that pushes boundaries out to infinity. >> it's about filling a void that she has experienced, the trauma she's experienced and that incessant energy. >> woodruff: and, it's friday. mark shields and michael gerson are here to take on the week's news. >> sreenivasan: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

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>> woodruff: president trump is warning that congress must act on a republican health care bill, to head off a crisis with obamacare. he called in key house committee chairs today to praise their work, despite opposition from democrats, medical groups and some conservatives. >> we must act now to save americans from the imploding obamacare disaster. premiums have skyrocketed by double digits, and triple digits in some cases. this is the time we're going to get it done. we're working together, we have some great results. we have tremendous spirit and i think it's something that's just going to happen very shortly. >> sreenivasan: joining me to discuss the american health care act are newshour's white house correspondent john yang, and congressional correspondent lisa desjardins. let's start with the resistance in congress. the president in his tweet says everything is going smoothly but on capitol hill not so much. >> it's real and significant. right now, the house can spare 21 republican votes and still pass this.

but by my count there are 40 republicans who are unsure or expressed clear doubts or even no votes. they have a lot of reasons for concern. one of the tax credits we've talked on the show before to some conservatives, that's just another government entitlement program. they're hoping there are negotiations ahead but it's not clear if there are. >> sreenivasan: what does the white house do to make sure the 40 republicans stay in line? >> the president said, in meeting with the house whips the other day, he pointed out his margins of victory in the districts of the recalcitrant house republicans. he's going to go out on a full-court press to sell this, but what he's selling is repealing the current law. that's what he h's tight make this vote, not a vote for the -- so much for the proposal that they've got on the table now, but a vote for repealing obamacare. so the question is do you want to go home and say you voted

against repealing for obamacare. >> sreenivasan: besides the tax credits, what's making the republicans hesitant? >> another matter for moderate republicans. the republican from pennsylvania who has many constituents on the medicaid expansion, they're worried about coornlg and whether many constituents are going to lose coverage. this is a wild moment where people are deciding which way will the wind go. cbo will have an effect on that. >> sreenivasan: the white house went out of its way to discredit the cbo. >> they're already preparing for a bad score. sean spicer said if you're looking for accuracy, the cbo is the wrong place to look. so they're already discrediting it before it comes out. >> sreenivasan: mixed messages. we see paul ryan saying this is the final thing.

sometimes we also hear from other people that this is open to negotiation, this is a process. which is it? >> curious. behind closed doors, conservatives say the president told them in meetings this week with people like jim jordan that he is listening and willing to change some things they don't like, but publicly that's not what the message is. paul ryan used an important word yesterday, he said this is a binary decision. translation, ultimatum. just like john was saying, if you vote for this or no is a vote for obamacare. that drives conservatives a crazy because they don't see things that way. >> sean spicer said in his briefings it's not so much the details the president is looking at. he laid out five principles in his speech to congress. as long as the five prince becomes are met, he doesn't care what the details are. >> sreenivasan: john yang, lisa desjardins, thank you both.

>> woodruff: in the day's other news, the u.s. economy cranked out more jobs in february. the labor department reports that u.s. employers added a net of 235,000 new positions. the unemployment rate dipped slightly to 4.7% as more people began looking for work. during the campaign, then- candidate trump dismissed the jobs data as "phony." today, a white house spokesman said, "they may have been phony in the past, but they're very real now." >> sreenivasan: it turns out lawyers for former national security advisor michael flynn told the trump transition team-- before the inauguration-- that he might have to register as a foreign agent. that's because flynn had lobbied for the turkish government during the campaign, before he joined the trump administration. white house press secretary sean spicer said today that flynn's lawyers spoke to transition lawyers, and he defended the vetting process. >> he was also the head of the department-- the defense intelligence agency. unbelievably qualified, 40 years in the military with impeccable

credentials. so, what is it, that he-- what is-- exactly are you getting at? because so far, he has impeccable credentials, he had a stellar career in the military, widely respected. >> sreenivasan: flynn was fired last month, when it came out that he had had contacts with the russian ambassador to the u.s., but misled the vice president and others about it. >> woodruff: native americans and their supporters rallied outside the white house today against the dakota access oil pipeline. their march started at the army corps of engineers headquarters and culminated with a gathering next to the executive mansion. they've also been staging protests on the national mall this week. the final phase of the pipeline is under construction in north dakota. >> sreenivasan: volkswagen has pleaded guilty to conspiracy and obstruction of justice, in its emissions cheating scandal. the german auto-maker entered the plea in federal court in detroit. it agreed to pay $4.3 billion in penalties. the case involved nearly 600,000 diesel vehicles sold in the u.s.

>> woodruff: in south korea, president park geun-hye was officially ousted today, by the nation's highest court. chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner has the story. >> reporter: the constitutional court's verdict, announced in seoul, was unanimous. upholding the impeachment of south korea's president park, it removed her from office-- a stunning fall from power. streets overflowed with demonstrators, many celebrating the ouster of the country's first female leader. >> ( translated ): the people gave her the power to serve. but she filled her own pocket, disrupted social order and undermined democracy. >> reporter: others protested the verdict, saying park's removal leaves south korea at risk. >> ( translated ): we should be thankful to president park for protecting our nation. young people these days don't know that. it's only been 67 years since the korean war erupted. we could soon see another

similar tragedy happen. >> reporter: two people died during today's protests, and at least 30 were hurt. all of this follows park's suspension from office in december. now, she may face criminal charges of conspiring to let childhood friend choi soon-sil meddle in state affairs, and extort money from businesses, including samsung, whose own chief is now on trial for bribery. the political turmoil in south korea comes at a moment of high tensions in the region. north korea test-fired a barrage of long-range missiles this week, as the u.s. and south korea conducted annual joint military exercises. and, china is protesting u.s. plans to deploy a new missile defense system in the south. the pentagon shipped components of the so-called "thaad" defense system to south korea this week. washington says it's designed to protect against a north korean attack-- not to threaten china.

secretary of state rex tillerson is likely to reinforce that message, as he visits south korea next week. meanwhile, a caretaker president is in place while the country gets ready to hold elections in the next 60 days. for the pbs newshour, i'm margaret warner. >> woodruff: the white house said today the u.s. expects to continue to work with south korea as a friend and ally. >> sreenivasan: the president of guatemala called today for reforms after a deadly fire at a crowded shelter for abused teens. meanwhile, the death toll in wednesday's deadly blaze rose to 37. police say some of the girls set fire to mattresses to protest abuses. families of victims held a candlelight vigil and protest last night to call for an investigation. they also demanded the president's resignation. >> woodruff: the u.n. human rights office accused turkey today of widespread killings and other abuses, mostly against minority kurds. investigators said roughly 2,000 people died during security operations in southeastern

turkey, over 18 months. the u.n. told of entire neighborhoods destroyed, displacing several hundred thousand people. in geneva, a u.n. spokesman said turkey is hindering a thorough investigation. >> it appears that not a single suspect was apprehended and not a single individual was prosecuted for violations that occurred during this period. the government of turkey has repeatedly failed to grant us access, but has nevertheless contested the veracity of the very serious allegations made in this report. >> woodruff: the turkish government says that 800 of the dead were troops, and that many others were kurdish rebels. >> sreenivasan: pope francis has now signaled that he'd consider letting some married men become priests-- but within strict limits. he told a german newspaper the men would have to be older, with proven character. and, they'd serve only where there's a shortage of clergy. >> woodruff: back in this country, there's word that the death of russia's u.n.

ambassador was due to a heart attack. vitaly churkin collapsed in his office last month. the "associated press" cites a senior new york city official who says there was no sign of foul play. the state department has asked the city not to release the autopsy results, in accordance with diplomatic protocol. >> sreenivasan: house republicans pushed through legislation today to sanction lawyers and others who file frivolous lawsuits in federal courts. it does not change the standard for determining whether a suit is frivolous, but it does require judges to impose penalties. and on wall street today, the dow jones industrial average gained 44 points to close near 20,903.

the nasdaq rose almost 23 points, and the s&p 500 added seven. for the week, all three indexes were down slightly. >> sreenivasan: still to come on the newshour: perspective on the replacement healthcare plan from a key g.o.p. committee chair; conduct unbecoming in the u.s. armed forces; mark shields and michael gerson take on the week's political news, and much more. >> woodruff: before the congressional republican's health care plan can get a final vote in the house of representatives, it needs to clear one more hurdle: the house budget committee. we turn now to the chairman of that committee, representative diane black. she was among a handful of republican leaders who met with the president at the white house today, and she joins us from nashville, tennessee. chairman black, thank you very

much for talking with us. so when this bill went through the other two committees in the house ways and means, energy and commerce, vote was along party lines, all voted for it. is that going to happen on the budget committee next week? >> i think we'll see a similar thing. i don't anticipate we'll have democrat votes with us, but we'll continue to move along in the process and give them the opportunity to vote with us. >> woodruff: do you expect defections from republicans? >> i anticipate we'll have good conversation as we have in the ways and means smitty as i am a member after 18 hours of good dialogue and making a lot of good points, i anticipate we'll have all members of our committee supporting this measure. >> woodruff: what is your answer to the conservative complaint or concern at this point that what you have in this legislation, among other things, is what they call a new entitlement program with these refundable tax credits?

>> well, this is a way in which we can give people an opportunity, it's a very small portion of our popation, you knw most people have their insurance through their employer. but we've got about 4 to 5% of our population who doesn't have that opportunity, so this gives them, as those who have insurance through their employer, that is a tax-free benefit that they have, and for those who aren't as fortunate to have an imhoir that provides that insurance, this gives them an opportunity to be in the marketplace. the important part of this is they are in the marketplace where they can make a decision about who it is they would like to get their insurance through so we believe this is a fairness issue. >> woodruff: as you know your conservative colleagues are saying they see it's a government guarantee and they don't like it. >> well, they have that opportunity to make those comments and make their points. that's what the whole process is about. that's the great thing about being in the legislature is a lot of good discussion and sometimes really heavy

conversations, but i think at the end of the day that you're going to see that this bill is going to be successful, and that's because our healthcare gym right now is failing. here in the state of tennessee, my great state, we actually have parts of our state that have no insurers left in the marketplace. we have to rescue people. we have calls in our office about premiums going up, co-pays and people saying i can't afford this anymore, please help us out. so we're attempting to rescue people so they can get patient care or patient-centered health insurance that will be what they want at a price they can afford. >> woodruff: let me ask you about the complaints on the other side from democrats and moderates in your own party saying people who can barely afford health coverage now won't be able to afford it, with the medicaid changes, changing the way medicaid is handled, by year 2020, there is even conversation

about moving that earlier in your own state of tennessee. there was a state today from the hospital association saying they're concerned about what they say are 230,000 tennesseans who depend on the kind of coverage and the existing law. how will you deal with that? >> well, first of all, we want to make sure everyone knows that we're not going to pull the rug out from underneath of them. but what we want to to is open the marketplace back up again and allow more competition. insurance companies, and look at the co-opens, out of 23, 18 are gone, which meant, here in my state whrks enwe lost that co-op, over 20,000 people that were in that healthcare policy lost their insurance because you just can't afford it when it is government-run, and there are so many requirements put on it, it drives the cost of the policy up. >> woodruff: what about the 30,0030,000 tennesseans cited be hospital association in your state as standing to lose

coverage? >> well, they're not going to lose coverage. that's what i want people to know. i want people to understand we are not pulling the rug out. we are still going to have medicaid there for them, but it is going to be changed in the way it's done where it's more patient-centered. we're also going to give states an opportunity to make the decision about how they best can use those dollars. what's good for new york around california is not necessarily what's good for here in the state of tennessee, and we'll allow the governor here in our state to make the decision about how best to spend those dollars sent down from washington for medicaid and for those that are in that space. >> woodruff: quick final question, chairman black, and that is on the congressional budget office expected to put out its projections on how many people will be covered, how many will lose coverage. will your committee look at that information, take it seriously, or, tas white house is suggesting, that it really doesn't matter what the congressional budget office says? >> we always take what the

congressional budget office gives us very seriously and we will look at that. it may be when we get the scores back that we tweak things one way or another. it will not be done in the house budget committee. it will be done through another process once it gets into the rules, but we do take that seriously and we will be looking at that and i making decisions about whether there needs to be some adjustments. >> woodruff: chairman diane black, chairman of the house budget committee, thank you for talking with us. >> you're welcome, thank you for having me. >> sreenivasan: we turn now to a growing scandal in the u.s. marine corps, where male marines have been caught sharing sexually explicit photos of female marines, without their consent. william brangham has the story. >> brangham: it started on a private facebook page called "marines united;" hundreds of explicit photographs of female marines, followed by endless obscene, degrading comments.

some of the photos appear to have been taken consensually, but others were not. none of the women identified so far said they had agreed to their photos being posted this way. the facebook page is gone, but many of the photos have now been uploaded to other websites. military officials have launched an investigation, and today, defense secretary james mattis, a former marine himself, called these acts "egregious violations of the fundamental values." the commandant of the marine corps, general robert neller, also expressed his dismay: >> these allegations themselves, they undermine everything that we stand for as a marine corp and as marines: discipline, honor, professionalism, and respect and trust amongst each other. >> brangham: for more on this, i'm joined by retired marine colonel mary reinwald. she spent 27 years in the corps and now edits "leatherneck magazine," written for marine corps community. nice to see you again. sorry it's under these

circumstances. tell me, when you first heard about this, what was your reaction? >> i was absolutely angry because, you know, both general neller and general mattis mentioned in their comments, you know, this is about honor, and the marines who did these type of things they don't have the honor we value as marines. i was ashamed for my marine corps and i was mad at my fellow male marines, because the vast majority of the male marines don't do this type of behavior, they are honorable and decent and the type of humans everybody should aspire to. now there is a whole segment of our country that will believe this is what marines do and it's absolutely not. >> brangham: what do you hear from other marines? >> i have many friends still on active duty. i also talked to a female marine whose picture was posted on her web site. it was an innocuous picture from her instagram of her and other female marines, nothing wrongy with it, they were out in

public, and the picture was posted and they asked in terms of her attractiveness in much cruder terms i would use. she is a marine, an exemplary record and a future leader of the corps, and we have these individuals who are disrespectful and sriios and not upholding our ethos. i believe or culture has a role to play in this. >> brangham: american culture. american culture broadly. it's easy to get on social media and be anonymous. i hesitate to call them marines -- if these individuals were proud, they would be putting their names out there. but this gang mentality on whatever social media account where they feed off each other, i have no respect for them, because they wouldn't do it in public, in front of the commandant, but they do it

behind the anonymity of facebook and the web. >> brangham: the ma roan corps and other branches of services are integrating women into combat roles. it's the reason i spoke to you several months ago. do you think it's coincidental the corps is moving women into these more forward roles at the same time this kind of a scandal breaks out? >> i don't know it's necessarily coincidental. there is probably an element of that. it's brought out more of the individuals who think back, you know, have the mentality from 50 years ago, women don't belong in the infantry so we'll be disrespectful to all of them. you cannot dispute the timing in manyways. but i think these guys were always there. there was always a very small element who had no problem saying these things and now it's just easier to say. >> brangham: it's amplified. it's amplified. once one makes a comment, the others say i can say it because he said it, hey, everybody feels this way. everybody doesn't feel this way. this is not the majority of

marines. >> brangham: you're a great champion of women going into the marine corps. >> absolutely. >> brangham: what do you think this does to the women who aspire to enter the corps? >> i wouldn't doubt it make them pause and say, hey, is this the organization i want to join, is this who i want to be? i would reassure them, again, this is not the majority of the marines. i was the united states naval academy last night speaking with future marines. i was heartened by what i heard, i was thrilled by what not only major general reynolds said but the other female marines on active duty with me who you will echo in many ways what i said, our good experiences in the marine corps vast outweigh the bad. we would encourage any young lady today to enjoy the marine corps. >> brangham: mary reinwald, thanks so much for being here. >> thank you.

>> sreenivasan: stay with us. coming up on the newshour: a new art exhibit creates a never- ending world; and, why the pursuit for happiness might be better thought of as a search for meaning. >> woodruff: now to the analysis of shields and gerson. that's syndicated columnist mark shields, and "washington post" columnist michael gerson. david brooks is away. welcome to both of you. a lot going on this week, mark and michael. let's start, mark, though. we got a really good sense or better sense of what it is that republicans in the house and the white house want to do in terms of replacing the affordable care act, obamacare. what do we make of this? is this something that has the elements of a piece of legislation that can survive? >> i don't think so, judy. i guess the one point i disagree with is agreement between the

white house and the republicans in congress to listen to speaker paul ryan, this is the last stage out of dodge. this is the best and only chance the republicans will have to repeal, fulfill that pledge they've made now for seven years to repeal obamacare and come up with their own plan, whereas the white house, and the word from the president is i'm for it but we can deal, we can negotiate. so i'm not sure they're on the same page or have basically the same commitment to this legislation. i think in a precarious position now. >> woodruff: even though it's moved through the procommittees and we spoke to the chairman of the budget committee and she expects it to fly through. >> she does, but the question was how many hundreds of thousands tennesseans will lose healthcare? the estimates, judy, quite frankly range from 10 million to 15 million now. all the promises of transparency

the republicans made about going to have open hearings, open votes, they will not vote -- the budget committee headed by congresswoman black -- until they have released the budget office storing, tell you how many people will lose it and watt it's going to cost till that happens. it's being railroaded through the republican house but i don't see it surviving. >> woodruff: how do you see it on the substance, michael? >> there are a set of conservative reform ideas that have been developing but this isn't it. this is a jerry rigged gym to achieve the results of obamacare by changing that. it alienated the left because of the number of people off the system. alienated the right because there are people whopped a true repeal. this isn't that type of approach. so i think, right now, you know,

as the virtue or the drawback of pleasing no one, actually, in this system left to right. >> woodruff: why, after all the talk throughout the campaign, before anything else, you knew that this president was going to be -- he said, we're going to deal with obamacare, we're going to get rid of it. why has it come to this, then? >> well, i think president trump said it when he acted shocked that healthcare is complex. you remember him saying that? this is difficult. i mean, obamacare has many faults and many problems, but it has succeeded in creating a set of expectations about pre-existing conditions and coverage that republicans are now having to respond to, and their response, i think, is kind of a makeshift response right now, but i think obamacare, in at the way, has triumphed. it has created a set of expectations republicans have to meet, and it's very difficult to do to structure a system to do

that. >> woodruff: but you still have republicans, mark, who rare do youing the whole thing needs to be completely thrown out. the freedom caucus group came out this week and said throw the whole thing out and start from scratch. >> the freedom caucus, that's how they won the majority in 2010 on a pledge to do that to repeal completely obamacare. i agree with michael. two of the things i would add -- joe manchin, democratic senator from west virginia, in a difficult red-leaning state now, made an observation that is so fundamentally true. he said american voters may not remember who gave you something but they will remember who took it away, and i think this is the problem the republicans are facing. the second point is, judy, what's holding this together right now is that it's not really a healthcare plan. it's not really a repeal. what it is is a tax cut. the top 9/10 of 1% of americans

will receive $267 billion in tax cuts over the next ten years, and, quite bluntly put, when this is scored, when the numbers come out from the congressional budget office, all you have to do is go to the testimony at the hearings of betsy devos and steve mnuchin and wilbur ross and gary cohn and all the wealthy and exactly what this tax cut will mean for them individually, as single moms with two kids lose their medicaid coverage under it. >> woodruff: but sounds like, michael, the white house is prepared to dismiss the cbo numbers or at least to discount them. >> this is a actually a difference in strategy. there has been a conflict between the house leadership and the administration on whether to attack cbo or not as an authority in this. this is a tendency of this administration, to attack institutions, to undermine the credibility of institutions that

are independent sources of truth and analysis. i think that would be a terrible mistake in this case. cbo is a fairly respected approach, not perfect, but i think going after it would indicate a kind of disturbing tendency to try to undermine other institutions in our system for their own benefit. >> woodruff: where do we see this headed, mark, politically? >> i think it's going to founder, i really to. we're already getting the signals from the republicans in the senate, both for the reasons michael cited on the loss of coverage. the state of alaska will take an enormous hit. even from tom cotton, the young conservative rising star from arkansas saying slow down, it couldn't pass the senate. signing there are problems. you don't get mitch mcconnell, the sense that he's waiting for it and impatient to get it over there to pass it because i don't think he thinks he can. >> woodruff: what do you see as the prospects?

>> i think it had a rocky start and will get rockier particularly because of the cbo estimates mark is right could show-up wards of 12 million people losing coverage and that will dominate discussion of this bill in the next stage, and it gets very unfavorable to the administration. >> woodruff: you don't think the administration will be able to, again, discount, dismiss and say, well, you know, they were wrong before? we heard that from the white house press secretary. >> well, they could try to conduct a campaign, go to the districts of members, pressure them, call out their internet legions. they could try to press on this, but if it happens that way, it will only happen through pressure and not through enthusiasm. we're not seeing much enthusiasm. >> woodruff: let's turn to the other big story of the week. russia in all its different forms. mark, you had the president tweeting last saturday morning that president obama was behind a wiretap as, evidently, part of

the russia investigation. you have stories -- we know just yesterday the f.b.i. director met with republican leaders on the hill to brief them on the latest. we don't know what was said. in the "new york times" today, said the f.b.i. doesn't see a clear connection between the trump campaign and russia, yet all these bits and pieces keep coming. do we have any more clarity on russia and the trump campaign and transition today than we did a month ago? >> i don't see it, judy. i mean, i think the circumstantial evidence of contacts or relationships certainly of those within the trump world throughout the campaign, but there isn't a gun let alone a smoking gun. but we do have as a consequence of what the president did last saturday. we've got pressure for greater, more intense and more public hearings and investigations, and

i just say on this, the tweet last saturday was so grave -- i mean, this is the 45t 45th president of the united states accusing the 44t 44th president of the united states of criminal activity with no basis, no evidence, no context, no witnesses, nothing, and, 30 minutes later, he tweets again about arnold schwarzenegger's ratings on celebrity apprentice. he has just jeopardized the relationship between the president who preceded him. every president needs other presidents. they need relationship. but he's just done something so grave and it's, like, a major wound on the body politic. it won't heal -- >> i think there are billows of smoke here. i mean, i think -- >> woodruff: what do you mean? i think there are lots of ties that are being discovered between the trump inner circle and russia and, in fact, the attorney general had to recuse

himself because of unreported contact, and we have learned that flynn, the former national security advisor, was doing work on behalf of individuals associated with the turkish government. so you're creating the impression of a foreign policy bought and sold by dictators. this is quite serious. this is an unfolding, ongoing ethics disaster at the highest levels i think we're seeing. >> woodruff: mark. just one thing i want to point out, judy. at the time of the cuban missile crisis, when the world stood at the brink, the soviets and america, over the cuban missiles in cuba, president kennedy sent dean acheson to see charles de gaulle to brief him as to what was going on. at the end, he said to general de gaulle, i have been authorized by the president to show you the photographic evidence we have for your eyes

only. general de gaulle said, to, that's not necessary, all i need is the word of the president in the united states. there comes a time in every administration where you need the president to be credible, the president to have the trust and confidence of leaders around the world in a time of crisis, and i can see no reason that anybody would ever say this about donald trump, all i need is the word of the president of the united states. >> woodruff: michael, how does this administration get beyond this? are we looking now at something that is just going to go on for months and months if not years? >> i think we're seeing self-investigation for the attorney general is not going to be useful in this case. someone is going to have to have a real inquiry here. you could do a select committee, you could do a preciously prosecutor, you do some other voice of authority here. the f.b.i. doesn't have a huge amount of credibility, particularly given what comey did in the election which may have helped trump more than the russians did. i think the administration,

whenever you hear the phrase sean spicer says, it makes the statement more incredible not more credible. i think that we have a congress that's quite politicized on this set of issues. we're going to need some type of independent voice to determine what's happening in this case. >> woodruff: and on that note, we shake our heads. michael gerson, mark shields, thank you both. >> thank you, judy. . >> sreenivasan: there's a lot going on in the political world of washington these days, but the hottest ticket in town may be for a museum exhibition by a japanese artist, exploring worlds well beyond today's headlines. jeffrey brown has our story. >> reporter: it's called an "infinity mirror room," and the stretching out of time

and space, an effect created through the use of lights, reflection and objects, is one of the obsessions of artist yayoi kusama. right now at washington's hirshhorn museum, people are lining up to experience her world of whimsy, color, shapes, and peeks into the beyond. >> there are fewer and fewer moments today, though, that you're alone in something that feels sort of, it feels universal, you know? you are there in amongst the cosmos and wannabes. it's just light and it's a kind of-- it's very pointed and, very compelling. >> reporter: even as the wider public has caught on, kusama has in fact been a much-loved star in the art world since the early 1960s, after coming to new york from her native japan. her earliest works, ink on paper drawings, already displayed motifs that remain, to this day, notable in the repetition of forms, especially simple marks and polka dots that kusama gave

a more cosmic significance-- as in her series of paintings called "infinity nets." in an interview with hirshhorn curators in december, the 87-year-old artist-- as colorful as her work-- spoke of her attempt to reach the infinite through the repetition of images. >> ( translated ): the same things piled one on top of another creates an expanding world that reaches out to the edges of the universe. this is the simple image i have. this effect of continual repetition calls out to the human senses, and in return, deep inside of our hearts we yearn for true amazement. this is what i am portraying. >> reporter: curator mika yoshitake put together the exhibition. >> you could see that her work is very process-oriented, meaning that there is a very lengthy, you know, physical labor that goes on that the repetition of certain motifs like the nets or the polka-dots, and they, it kind of expands

organically. >> reporter: that compulsiveness is there in sculptures of phallic forms: a rowboat titled "violet obsession;" furniture that you might not want to sit in. but kusama herself was happy to, and happy to be photographed in. fact, she often brought herself into the picture-- a polka-dotted, kimono-wearing, downtown '60s art world figure known for creating "happenings" on the streets, sometimes with nudes, sometimes protesting the vietnam war. she also began to make the "infinity mirror rooms"-- eventually 20 in all-- six at the center of this new exhibition, the most ever gathered together. part of the attraction of kusama's work clearly is the fun-house effect. i mean, here i am, with cameraman malcolm, in a field of pumpkins that stretches on, yes, to infinity. >> it's about life, it's about confronting our mortality, it's about filling a void that she

has experienced, the trauma she's experienced, and that incessant energy or desire to connect with people. >> reporter: but kusama's story is more complicated. she suffered from hallucinations from childhood, and experienced early trauma from being forced by her mother to spy on her father as he had affairs. she had a breakdown in the 1970s that forced her to return to japan, and for more than 40 years, she's voluntarily lived in a psychiatric hospital, even as she's continued to work in a studio a block away, making what she's referred to as "art-medicine." >> art for her is a form of therapy. so she needs the art, or else she will probably not survive. she is somebody who needs to have a ritual every day, of, you know, painting. >> reporter: certainly, her work brought a good deal of pleasure at the hirshhorn exhibition,

especially in the "obliteration room," a pristine white-walled space in which visitors were invited to join in the art- making by adding dots of their own. captured in time-lapse video, the room was being transformed just as kusama intended, according to museum director chiu. >> obliteration has a very harsh kind of meaning, but for her this was, in a way, how she thinks about her art, that her art is transforming her own life, helping her to deal with life but also potentially allowing others to interact with it here in this room. >> reporter: museum-goers couldn't resist-- and neither could i. >> so, balancing. see how he's balancing? all bets are off. you can do whatever you like. >> reporter: there's a lot of

humor, and a lot of pain in the work of yayoi kusama, who continues to put in full days at her studio creating new paintings and sculptures, even as record crowds here flock to see the results. from the hirshhorn museum in washington d.c., i'm jeffrey brown for the pbs newshour. >> sreenivasan: the exhibition is in washington through may 14. it then travels for the next two years to seattle, los angeles, toronto, cleveland and atlanta. >> woodruff: and we'll be back shortly with a look at the meaning of happiness with a newshour essay. but first, take a moment to hear from your local pbs station. it's a chance to offer your support, which helps keep programs like ours on the air. >> woodruff: for those stations still with us: how passion for improvisation can make good music. josh redmond is a noted saxaphonist; his partner, brad meldau, plays the piano.

the pair first crossed paths at new york city's village vanguard. here now, a second look at the collaboration between these great jazz icons. jeffrey brown has our story. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: the song, hoagy carmichael's 1938 ballad "the nearness of you," performed as a kind of conversation between two master musicians who happen to be peers and friends: ♪ ♪ saxophonist joshua redman, pianist brad mehldau. >> if you're going to play a ballad with someone, and you want it to be anything deeper than this just sort of surface, you're going to have to be vulnerable for the other person. and that's what the audience wants to see, too. >> yes. jazz is all about vulnerability. >> so, you got to-- >> reporter: vulnerability?

>> yes. >> i think so, yes, because we're improvising, you know? and we're not coming to the bandstand with a preconceived notion of what we're going to play. we have to be open and available and vulnerable, to really make that connection with ourselves and with the other musician. >> reporter: redman, 47, and mehldau, 46, have been filling concert halls and jazz clubs, on their own, as band leaders, and together, for more than 20 years. this fall, they have joined forces again in a recent performance at new york's jazz at lincoln center, and on a newly-released album titled "nearness," a mix of original material and jazz standards recorded live on tour in 2011. >> i feel so fortunate to be able to make the music that i believe in, and to get up there every night and just play from the soul and go for it. >> as an improvising musician, i

really feel committed to not going out there and playing some nonsense for people, you know? ( laughter ) there's a bit of a script. we have some plan, but what they want to hear is, they really want to hear us try to be creative. >> reporter: both men came to music early. redman, in california, was raised by his dancer mother, and is the son of well-known saxophonist dewey redman; mehldau, in florida and connecticut, in a family home never without a piano. they arrived separately in new york in the early 1990s, where each found his own early success. we spoke recently at the steinway piano showroom in manhattan just before a concert. >> even when i'm ostensibly accompanying him, and he's ostensibly taking the solo, we're still having this conversation. so it may mean, for instance, that he plays a melodic idea, and then i respond to it sort of in real time, and i might even give him something back, that then he responds to again. >> i'm always looking for something. >> and he's kind of waiting for

it. he's like, come on, what do you got? >> reporter: what do you got? >> yes. >> well, and often because i don't have anything. i mean, i always feel like i'm-- as an improviser. i feel a little hamstrung by this instrument and its role in jazz, because it's basically a soloist instrument. you know, i play melodies, maybe some accompanying harmonies if there's another horn player, and then i will take a solo, and then i have to go stand at the side of the stage. you know, i have rhythm section envy because they get to, like, be in there, and always - you know, they're always listening, always reacting. but i feel like my best ideas often don't come from me. they come from the other musicians that i'm playing with, and especially when i'm playing with someone like brad. >> reporter: i asked for a demonstration, and the two launched into some blues.

♪ ♪ >> one thing that josh does that's very exciting for me, as an accompanist, is that i throw him a curve in the middle of his phrase. so, he was starting to start a phrase that was a little more conventional. and he was going to kind of wrap it up, okay, we gave you an illustration, by returning to the melody. and then i-- in the middle of that phrase, i sort of went-- and i harmonically went off the chart of what would be the normal harmony there, in this 12-bar blues we're playing. ♪ ♪

in real time, somehow, he heard me doing that and adjusted his phrase in the middle of the phrase. >> reporter: is that an intellectual process that he just described, where he switches and you have to react quickly, or it just happens? >> that's an excellent question. whatever it is, if i feel like it's an intellectual process, then i'm not successful. >> reporter: it's not going to work. >> it's an emotional, it's an intuitive process. i mean, of course it's happening in the brain, right, but if i'm thinking about responding in that way, then i'm overthinking it, and i probably won't do it well. >> it's very exciting to really improvise, and to have that moment. and it's also very social music. a lot of times, you're with other people. and to have that white-heat kind of communication between another musician, it's very-- it's pretty exciting. >> it's a great time to be a jazz musician. >> reporter: after our talk,

joshua redman and brad mehldau set off on a european tour, and the two continue to perform their separate gigs. from new york, i'm jeffrey brown for the "pbs newshour." >> sreenivasan: finally, an essay from emily esfahani smith. she is trained in psychology, and the author of the recent book, "the power of meaning." an editor at stanford university's hoover institution, tonight, emily offers her humble opinion on the search for meaning over happiness. >> in recent years, psychologists have started

looking more closely at how the single-minded pursuit of happiness affects us, and they have come to what seems like a counter-intuitive conclusion: chasing happiness and obsessing over it, the way our culture encourages us to do, can actually make people unhappy and lonely. but it's different when we set another goal for ourselves, when we search for and pursue meaning in life. human beings are creatures that yearn for meaning. when we look up at the stars, for example, we don't see random balls of fire. we see swans and bears, we tell stories and myths, and we wonder about where we came from, our place in the universe, and how we can make our lives count. the same questions lie at the center of much great art, literature, and philosophy. the first great work of human literature, the epic of gilgamesh, is about a hero's quest to figure out how to live, given the fact that he will die. and in the centuries since gilgamesh's tale was told, that quest has remained as urgent as

ever. we all want to know that our lives amount to more than the sum of our experiences. we all need a why to help us get through the good and the bad of life. so what is a meaningful life? there is one defining feature. you connect and contribute to something beyond yourself. that could be your family, your work, nature, or god. when people say their lives are meaningful, it's because three conditions have been satisfied: they believe their lives matter; they have a sense of purpose that drives them forward; and they think their lives are coherent and make sense. it sounds like a lot, but that last point is something you can do right now. people tell me the simple act of storytelling gives meaning, or can at least clear the path to it. that, i think, might explain the rise of rap and hip-hop and the popularity of the radio series "storycorps" and "the moth." making a narrative out of the

events in your life provides clarity. it offers a framework that goes beyond the day-to-day. it's the act itself, and not necessarily sharing their story with others, that helps people make sense of themselves and their lives. and we all have the power to tell or to re-tell our life story in more positive ways. >> woodruff: on the newshour online right now: why do humans have abnormally large brains? it's a mystery, but a new mathematical model may help scientists solve that question. also, for the first time, a major sports gear company has designed a sporty hijab. you can read more about how they created their design with feedback from athletes who wear a headscarf on our website, www.pbs.org/newshour.

that is tomorrow night on pbs newshour weekend. and we'll be back, right here, on monday, with former vice president al gore, who looks at "the assault on reason" in the wake of the 2016 presidential election and the beginning of the trump presidency. that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. >> sreenivasan: and i'm hari sreenivasan. have a great weekend. thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> patagonia. >> bnsf railway. >> xq institute. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org.

>> and the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. >> 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. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh