captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight... >> you don't want your national security advisor compromised with the russians. >> woodruff: ...former acting attorney general, sally yates, tells the senate how she warned the white house that general michael flynn was at risk of being blackmailed by moscow. then, france's new leader-- centrist emmanuel macron wins a closely watched presidential election by a landslide over far-right candidate marine le pen. plus, more legal challenges for president trump's travel ban. a federal appeals court in virginia hears arguments on the revised executive order. and, bringing the doctor's office to the kitchen-- how health care professionals are focusing on their patient's diet

to prevent diseases on the rise. >> if i teach you how to cook, you're going to improve the types of food you eat and ultimately that is what is going to prevent chronic disease for you. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us.

>> and the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: in the senate, the attention today was on the investigation into the trump administration's relationship with russia, as senators heard from a man who has been in the spotlight for years, and a woman

few had heard of before last fall. lisa desjardins reports. >> desjardins: at the capitol, a swarm of attention at a russia hearing with two high profile witnesses. one was former director of national intelligence james clapper. but attention focused on the other-- former acting attorney general sally yates who first warned the white house that then national security advisor michael flynn had lied about his talks with russian officials. >> the concern first about the underlying conduct itself, that he had lied to the vice president and others, the american public had been misled and then importantly, that every time this lie was repeated and the misrepresentations were getting more and more specific as they were coming out, every time that happened, it increased the compromise and to state the obvious, you don't want your national security advisor compromised with the russians. >> desjardins: yates said she made no recommendations, just relayed information >> that created a compromise

situation-- a situation where the national security advisor could essentially be blackmailed by the russians. finally, we told them that we were giving them all of this information so that they could take action, the action that they deemed appropriate. >> desjardins: 18 days after that private warning, the white house forced out flynn. that was just four days after the news became public. white house press secretary sean spicer said this at the time. >> so just to be clear, the acting attorney general informed the white house counsel that they wanted to give, "a heads- up" to us on some comments that may have seemed in conflict with what he had said to the vice president in particular. >> desjardins: today democrats pressed the witnesses on whether the white house did enough, fast enough. >> if you had the warning from the white house pardon me from the department of justice to the white house about general flynn possibly being compromised here and then these important national security decisions that

followed would you have concerns about that? >> well i would hypothetically. yes. i mean again i was gone from the government as well when this happened. >> desjardins: president trump added his thoughts this morning electronically, tweeting, "ask sally yates, under oath, if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers soon after she explained it to white house counsel." iowa republican senator chuck grassley asked. >> have either of you ever been an anonymous source in any news report relating to mr. trump, his associates or russians attempt to meddle in the election? >> no. >> absolutely not. all this comes as news reports surfaced today president obama warned mr. trump against hiring flynn just days after the election. for his part, spicer said today those comments were expected. >> it's true that the president- -president obama made it known that he was not exactly a fan of general flynn's. which frankly should not come as

a surprise to anyone given that general flynn had worked for president obama, was an outspoken critic of president obama's shortcomings, >> woodruff: lisa is here with me now to dig deeper into what we learned today. we're also joined by julie pace, white house correspondent for the associate press. welcome, of course, to both of you. lisa, quickly off of your report, a lot of accusations flying back and forth between the trump white house and the former obama team. we know one of the things this president trump has said is that president obama's white house had given a security clearance originally to general flynn, who they fired as the head of the defense intelligence a few years ago. where does the driewt in all that delay lye? >> this security clearance is something retired generals have access to. they can ask for it by fact they are retired general.

flynn asked for it in 2016. he was given it by the defense department. the defense department is looking into whether he lied to them during the clearance security review. a security clearance does not take the onus off an incoming administration to do their own vetting and a very important difference about the national security advisor, judy, it's not a senate approved position, it doesn't go through all the ethics checks unnecessarily unless the president forces it to. >to. >> woodruff: one other thing you have been looking into today is the question of president obama, after president trump was elected last november, warning him. what did you find out about that? >> right. this is why we have a source telling us from the obama white house that, in fact, president obama said it was not just about michael flynn being a critic of his, but they saw him as erratic, a bad manager and should not continue in

government. >> woodruff: let's pick up with julie pace. you did reporting going into the weekend about the trump transition team coming to the obama team during the transition last november with questions, and what was the significance of all that? >> right. i think what this shows is just the depths of the concerns about mike flynn. you had people working for the trump transition team after the election who were concerned that mike flynn, who was going to be having a conversation with the russian ambassador that was not unusual, as national security advisor you would be talking to a foreign counterpart, but mike flynn tid not actually understand the motivation of the russian envoy, that he might not understand what ties he had to russian intelligence, to they're seeking a classified c.i.a. biography on the russian ambassador that would give the u.s. intelligence assessments about the envoivment for the

obama administration, this raised red flags because it oashowed been trump's own team there were concerns about flynn's ability to handle what's an incredibly sensitive and high pressure job which involves enormous contact with foreign initials, both friendly and adversaries. >> woodruff: julie, you've learned how r what the obama team was thinking during the transition around grew concerned about what they were learning. >> the growing concern within the obama administration on a number of fronts. you had mike flynn who was going in for his meetings with the counterparts in the obama administration and they'd talk about russia and he would essentially dismiss russia as a threat to the united states. that raids concerns. you had worries about handling sensitive administration, documents the obama administration was turning over to the trump team, there was concern those were being cop

idea and removed from secure rooms, you saw the obama team limiting the information going outside the white house. it also comes at a time when u.s. intelligence is starting to gather more information that some officials believe shows more ties between the trump campaign and trump associates and russia's meddling in the elections. so taken together from the perspective of obama officials, this created a troubling picture of the trump team's ties to russia. >> woodruff: the ending of the obama administration and a pretty fraught frame of mind over all this? >> absolutely. and you've seen that almost continue particularly when it comes to mike flynn. the revelations today i don't think are coincidental that the obama team felt the need to get out there, that the outgoing president was delivering a personal warning to his successor about his likely choice for national security advisor. when you think about that, that's quite extraordinary. you would expect presidents to be giving their successors

advice perhaps on policy but to give a specific warning about a potential personnel pick really is extraordinary. >> woodruff: remarkable regarding. julie pace of the a.p. and our lisa desjardins, we thank you both. >> woodruff: we'll discuss russia's meddling with a former justice department official, right after our news summary. in the day's other news, a federal appeals court in richmond, virginia heard arguments over president trump's revised travel ban. it's the first time it's been scrutinized at the appellate level since the ban was reworked in march. the judges are examining a ruling that blocks the administration from suspending new visas for people from six muslim-majority countries. meanwhile at today's senate hearing in washington, former acting attorney general sally yates took heat for refusing to enforce the president's executive order. the move ultimately led to her firing. >> i find it enormously disappointing that you somehow

and decided instead you would countermand the executive order of the president because you happened to disagree with it as a policy matter. >> i looked at this. i made a determination that i believed it was unlawful. i also thought it was inconsistent with the principles of the department of justice, and i said no. and that's what i promised you i would do. and that's what i did. >> woodruff: we'll have excerpts from today's hearing in richmond later in the program. president trump is now working to put his own stamp on the nation's federal court system. today he released a slate of 10 conservative judicial nominees. more will be announced in the months to come, since over 120 vacancies still need to be filled. all of his judicial nominees will require senate confirmation. in france, president-elect emmanuel macron appeared alongside the outgoing president a day after his resounding victory over rival marine le pen. macron and françois hollande presented a united front at a ceremony marking the end of world war ii, at the tomb of the

unknown soldier in paris. we'll take a closer look at the election, and what a macron presidency may mean for europe, later in the program. pentagon officials have confirmed that a military raid last month killed the leader of the islamic state's affiliate in afghanistan. the joint afghan and u.s. operation targeted the eastern province of nangarhar. two u.s. army rangers also died. the pentagon said abdul haseeb logari ordered a march attack on a military hospital in kabul, that killed or wounded more than 100 people. former president obama is urging members of congress to look beyond party lines when it comes to the future of health care. mr. obama weighed in on the issue last night, after receiving the john f. kennedy profile in courage award in boston. it's the first time he's spoken out since the republican-led house voted thursday to repeal his affordable care act.

>> it actually doesn't take a lot of courage to aid those who are already powerful, already comfortable, already influential. but it does require some courage to champion the vulnerable and the sick. >> woodruff: the g.o.p.'s obamacare replacement faces a more uncertain fate in the senate, where it's expected to undergo major revisions. texas governor greg abbott has signed a law banning so-called "sanctuary city" policies in his state. the measure allows texas police officers to question the legal status of anyone they stop. sheriffs who don't comply with federal immigration agents could face jail time. abbott gave no advance notice before signing the bill on "facebook live" last night. it goes into effect september 1. >> elected officials and law enforcement agencies don't get to pick and choose which laws they will obey.

there are consequences-- deadly consequences-- to not enforcing the law. >> woodruff: the trump administration has threatened to withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities. sinclair broadcast group, the country's largest local tv station operator, has agreed to buy rival tribune media. the deal is valued at $3.9 billion, but is still subject to regulatory approval. if approved, sinclair would own over 200 stations nationwide. and trading was light on wall street today. the dow jones industrial average gained five points to close at 21,012. the nasdaq rose nearly two points and the s&p 500 added a fraction of a point. still to come on the newshour: a former justice department official weighs in on the russia investigation hearing. a tough road ahead for france's newly elected president. arguments for and against president trump's travel ban in

court, and much more. >> woodruff: with us tonight to discuss today's congressional testimonies and the ongoing investigation into russia's interference in november's presidential election is john carlin. he served as assistant attorney general for national security from 2014 until october of last year. he's now an attorney in private practice, specializing in cybersecurity and national security matters. is john carlin, welcome to the "newshour". >> thank you. >> woodruff: so you listened to much of today's hearing, the senators questioning the former acting attorney general sally yates, the former head of national intelligence, director of national intelligence mr. clapper. what did you mainly take away from today? >> well, this one thing i heard was a career department official describing handling a situation

exactly the way it was handled numerous other counterintelligence investigations. that said, highly unusual the individual having secret with russians and intentionally not telling his bosses is the act actual national security advisor, and you can see why we take that type of situation very secialtion even when it's a much lower-ranking official that possesses access to our nation's secrets, but for the national security advisor to be secretly having conversations with russian officials, not telling the vice president of the united states, i can't imagine the situation which would cause more alarm for the career counterintelligence officials. >> woodruff: it's just a natural question, how unusual is a situation like this? >> well, in some ways, it's usual insofar as the russians are constantly trying to compromise officials, even businessmen, in order to gain access and be able to gain secrets.

they think years in advance. think about one of the cases we prosecuted, the russian illegal case, these are people here under non-official cover, growing families inside the united states to maybe be used at some later date. but what's incredibly unusual here is it's one of the most important if not the most important national security figure in ou -- the national security advisor. >> woodruff: i know former attorney general yates and director clapper couldn't answer some of these questions in a public setting but how much can be said about how much actual proof there is that there was collusion between the trump campaign and what the russians were up to? >> that's not something i can talk about here. i think it's important it's being investigated by those trained and sworn to do those investigations without fear or favor in a non-partisan ways. i have trusted the f.b.i. agents

for years. >> woodruff: you trust them. yes, woirkd with those folks at the f.b.i. and as a prosecutor at the justice department and the career prosecutors there that these are people that don't care about politics, they're going to follow the evidence where it leads and take it where it needs to go. we've got to look forward. one reason it's important to learn lessons about what exactly it is russia did in our prior election is we heard two more officials along with the current director of the f.b.i. and the leader of the national security agency say russia is going to do this again in 2020, maybe as soon as next year. we just saw the massive hacking attacks on the french elections. they're doing it now in europe. we have to change our policy. >> woodruff: so what does it say that the -- i mean, we're going back over what they talked about today but, then the acting attorney general goes to the white house to the president's legal counsel and says this is what we believe is going on, we believe general flynn has had they contacts with the russians,

we think he hasn't told the truth to the vice president, and then the white house's reaction after a day or so is to say you're fired. what does that tell you? >> well, i can't talk about what was going on north dakota in the minds of the white house when they got there extraordinary briefing that said their national security advisor was compromised by the russians, but the fact is he was fired several weeks later. >> woodruff: after that. and the other thing that came up today that i wanted to ask you about is the questions from several senators to the acting sally yates, then acting attorney general, about why it would matter that someone in the white house -- one white house official didn't tell the truth to another white house official? >> well, you know, they're new in their positions. i guess it's good that they asked the questions and received the answers from the career la3 enforcement national security officials about why that is important, at least when the issue is that someone is lying

about contacts with the russians and what russian intelligence service have done with that type of information in the past and how they used it to compromise individuals. >> woodruff: final question. if there were an instance ongoing today -- and we don't know this at all to be the case -- of someone in the administration talking to trungses, the intelligence community finds out about it, tries to warn the white house, is it possible for the white house to ignore it and to say we don't want the hear that information, you're fired? or is it going to get the attention of the people it needs to? >> well, the only hope it will get the attention it needs to but it is why it's important in a nonpartisan way while we have senators like graham and the white house working together, senator grassley asked t appropriately the questions, what are the lessons, are they coming again? the answer is yes they're coming again. we need to harden our state

systems. we need to educate the american people on how the russians are using fake news to try to influence elections and need to do more to deter them working with our allies to cause pain to them to make them re-think this tactic of trying to undermine democracy. >> woodruff: john carlin, former assistant attorney general, we thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: now, france elects a new president, after the most- closely watched and divisive campaign there in decades. special correspondent malcolm brabant reports from paris. >> reporter: emmanuel macron left his home in paris this morning, absorbing the reality that he is france's youngest national leader since napoleon. >> ( translated ): i will serve you with humility, with force. i will serve you in the name of our motto: liberty, equality, fraternity. >> reporter: macron overcame

marine le pen's brand of nationalist populism and weathered a suspected russian hacking attack on his campaign that dumped reams of internal email hours before voting began. he'll be inaugurated as france's 25th president on sunday. but even though he won 66% of the vote, analysts said it could not be regarded as an overwhelming mandate out of a possible electorate of 47 million, only 20 million people voted for emmanuel macron. many of those did so tactically just to keep le pen out. macron could face a highly troublesome five years in the presidential palace. analyst pascal boniface says the struggles could start early, if macron fails to get a majority in the french national assembly. >> and he has to create very soon, a huge movement and to find a majority. if there is no majority in the national assembly, he will be a president, but a president with few power.

>> reporter: congratulatory messages came from across europe today. russian president vladimir putin offered his, calling on macron to "overcome mutual mistrust." members of the european union expressed relief. german chancellor angela merkel said she was "delighted": >> ( translated ): he ran a courageous pro-european campaign. he stands for openness to the world. >> reporter: boniface says macron has to deal with the fact that 40% of the french electorate are dissatisfied with the e.u. >> if macron wants to succeed if he wants to make good reforms he must avoid to have demonstrations in the streets. there is a psychological and political walk to do to show that europe is not only for the elite but also for ordinary people. >> reporter: but there were demonstrations in the streets even today. activists and union members protested in paris, against macron's proposed labor reforms. some clashed with police, who made a number of arrests. it was a starkly different scene yesterday, as macron supporters

sprinted towards the louvre to catch the announcement of his victory. france's ethnic minorities, who feared the anti-immigrant le pen, were jubilant. this macron supporter repeated "thank god" in arabic. "marine le pen is a dinosaur," this woman chanted. >> in terms of economy, social cohesion, everything. i mean she was bad. so we're really happy today. >> and there is so many people who didn't know emmanuel macron since one year and now he's president of the republic. >> reporter: macron's win was particularly sweet for the avaaz internet based advocacy group which has been campaigning in europe against right wing nationalists. avaaz member joseph huff hannon points to the effect of president trump, who only called to congratulate macron this morning.

>> the past 100 days or so has probably been a pretty incredible cautionary tale from what french people could come to expect from a faux populist, somebody who you know kind of says i'm going to transform the country and improve your lives without offering any specific policies. you know i can only >> reporter: hannon also believes macron's victory signals that right wing nationalism is on the wane in europe, and portends well for the election later this year in germany, where an anti immigrant >> reporter: france's new president, a man with precious little experience of government inherits a country under a state of emergency. although he has tapped into a rich seam of enthusiasm amongst young french people, his victory has brought little joy to much of the nation. and he now has to deliver on his promise to unite the country. for the pbs newshour, i'm malcolm brabant in paris. >> woodruff: for more on the election of emmanuel macron, and where he hopes to lead france, i spoke a short time ago with the french ambassador to the united states, gerard araud. ambassador araud, thank you very much for joining us. so even though we know

mr. macron won 66% of the vote, we also know turnout was down slightly from before, that many french citizens either stayed home or didn't express a preference. just what is the support for mr. macron right now? >> so we have to understand that this situation was totally unprecedented. the two main parties, the socialist on the one side and the conservative party on the orthoside, actually had been defeated in the first round of the election, which means that in the second round you had basically madam le pen and mr. macron. it was the first time for mr. macron running for office. so they decided either they were going to stay home or they were going to not express a

preference. >> woodruff: and so how divided is france still? you were telling me with the parliamentary elections coming, it's really unclear if mr. macron is going to have a majority. >> well, we have never had such a situation, i guess, in the french political life. you have mr. macron basically didn't have a political party a few months ago, yet has created one, who didn't have any member of the parliament supporting him, and we have the general elections coming on june 17t june 17th and 18th. so for him it will be quite a challenge to get a majority in a new parliament. >> woodruff: so where is france left, then, with the marine le pen brand of populist nationalism? is it gone? has it just receded for a short time? how do you see that? >> no, actually, we are facing the same populist outburst that you have been facing during the last presidential election in the u.s. or that our british

friends have been facing during the brexit referendum. and this is not going to fade away if mr. macron and his government are not responding to the concerns of these voters. so, in a sense, we have five years left to avoid a final victory of populism. >> woodruff: what do these voters want and what does it mean for the european union? for now france stays in the european union but do you think so that's a secure decision? >> age lot of french feel frightened by globalization and, in this country, globalization basically is put in the eyes of the voters the responsibility of wall street or washington, d.c. it is seen as the fact of brussels of the european union, so fighting for globalization means for a lot of french

fighting against a european union. so if a sense if you reassure the french voters that their life in the global world, you know, really i think that the question of the european union will be solved. >> woodruff: so we know president trump was saying pretty favorable things about marine le pen during the campaign b hays now called mr. macron to congratulate him. how would you describe the relationship right now between the u.s. and france with mr. macron? >> for the moment, the relationship between our two countries is excellent for the simple reason is that once more or soldiers are fighting together side by side against international terrorism, in africa or in lebanon against i.s.i.s. when i met mr. mattis he immediately told me the french are our best allies, and i think that is the most important. >> woodruff: finally, mr. ambassador, mr. macron had

relatively little during the campaign to say about foreign policy, about his view of the world. what is is known about that? how does he see france's role? >> first, i think that is quite important in our times of universal skepticism, he wants in a sense to move forward into europe integration. so his first visit will be berlin where he will meet chancellor merkel, and i am quite sure they are going to speak about the next steps in our european endeavor. >> woodruff: and a visit to the u.s.? >> actually, he will meet president trump o at the n.a.t.. summit on may 25th in a few weeks because they will be in brussels and agree to the meetings in brussels. >> woodruff: there is reporting you will be called to serve in the macron administration. >> my fate is in the hands of

god. >> woodruff: ambassador gerard araud, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: president trump's travel ban got its first federal appeals court review today. the arguments mark the biggest test yet for the president's revised executive order to suspend travel to the u.s. for people from six majority-muslim countries. william brangham has that story. >> brangham: at the center of today's arguments before the fourth circuit is whether the president's second executive order is motivated by national security concerns, or whether it discriminates against muslims, which would be unconstitutional. among other issues, the judges will decide whether the president's own words about muslims can be used against him. here's an example from a campaign rally in december of 2015. donald j. trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states until our

country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on. >> brangham: to go through today's arguments i'm joined by marcia coyle, chief washington correspondent for the "national law journal," and a newshour regular. welcome back. >> thank you. >> brangham: so you heard what i said at the introduction. is that roughly the contours of this, the president arguing this is all about national security, his critics saying no, it's religious discrimination. >> in fact not just his critics but the lower federal district court in this particular case found that the primary purpose of the order was not national security, that was his secondary purpose, that this was a muslim ban and that thi -- there was a violation of the first amendment establishment clause. so as we go into the federal appellate court here today, the argument breaks down in two ways. the government is still going to argue it's national security and it's relying heavily on a supreme court case from a number

of years back in which the court said, if the president has a legitimate and bona fide reason for his or her decision about how to permit or disallow the entry of aliens into this country, that's it, that's sufficient, and the government's lawyer said that there is a legitimate and bona fide reason here, national security, and, so, court, your job ends basically there. >> brangham: let's listen. this is judge keannan having a discussion with jeffery wall in the trump strainchts what in the next of executive order number two supports the conclusion these aliens from these countries, these 82 million people, would be detrimental to the interests of the united states? >> i don't think what the president was saying was i know them all to be dangerous. he is saying i'm not certain. what he said is, i find it would

be detrimental to little people from countries we know to be dangerous, that have deteriorated over time, until i have had a chance working with my cabinet officials to assess the vetting procedures for those countries. he said it would be detriment knoll the face offuncertainty, a reasonable finding, one an executive official could draw. i think there is no question it would survive review. >> brangham: that's the argument all along, the president has authority and this is in the interest of the country. >> that's right and the government doesn't see any violation of the establishment clause, and we know the establishment clause does not permit the government to disfavor religion. the government's attorney today said there was nothing in this order that had anything to do with religion and the president, even though he earlier made statements about a muslim ban, clarified his position later after he took the oath of office

to insist he's talking about terrorism and territories, not religion. >> brangham: in fact, there was an interesting moment today in the hearing where the judge asked, let's just say the president had taken back some of those comments about muslims would this be allowable. >> the president repudiated his statements in campaign and post-election about the muslim ban, what if he repudiated them all? >> i think it would be a significant fact. i don't know whether -- >> would that change the result? i think that simple repudiation might not -- no, would not change the result. >> let me follow up, then. what if he says he's sorry every day for a year. would that do it for you. >> is this here's thish ershoe, your honor, what establishment ( applause ) prohibits is targeting and denigrating a religion at a minimum, that's what it prohibits. the question is would reasonable

people see what he was doing in total as achieving that effect. >> so you say reasonable people today would say he doesn't really mean it when he says he's sorry? >> your honor, i think it's possible that saying sorry is not enough. >> this, again, is an exchange between judges, but this time, with the lawyer for the challengers to the order, the aclu's lawyer, and he is saying, basically, look, you have to look at the evidence in this particular case. the aclu believes that this was not a national security purpose, that this was a muslim ban, and because of that, a violation of the establishment clause, to the aclu lawyer told the judges there are really three categories of evidence you should be looking at here. first there is the order on its face. it's not facially legitimate he

argues because, even though it names just six countries, there are other countries that have been found to be associated with terrorism by the united states that are not on that list. this is just muslim countries. secondly, there are the president's statements, and as the aclu lawyer said, sometimes saying you're sorry is not enough. these statements, he claims, continued after the president took the oath of office. so it's not just campaign statements. then the final category of evidence, the lawyer said, had to do with some reports that were leaked or released by the department of homeland security, that basically said that the order itself would not prevent terrorism in the united states. >> brangham: how unusual is this, marcia, to have the words of the president and his own administration come back to be used as evidence against them in court? >> i think it's quite unusual and it obviously is an issue of contention among the various

judges that have had to deal with this executive order, and i think, going forward, whoever loses either in this particular case or in a case in hawaii that will be heard in another week, and there are many other challenges pending around the country, will take the case to the supreme court, and there the supreme court will, again, have to deal with the relevance and weight of the president's statements. ultimately, i think it will be the supreme court that will have to resolve this tension. is this just to be judged on the basis of national security, or does the religion clause jurisprudence come in as well. >> brangham: marcia coyle, as always, thank you so much. >> my pleasure. >> woodruff: when you go to the doctor, it's not unusual to leave with a prescription for medicine. but some doctors are experimenting with a new kind of

prescription: one for fresh, healthy food and as the movement grows, more doctors and health professionals are getting more training-- in the kitchen. special correspondent allison aubrey of npr news has the story. >> we have the minerals and grains that are going to lower blood pressure. >> reporter: at casey health institute in gaithersburg, maryland the doctor is in. but your appointment might just be in the kitchen. this is called the physician's kitchen and tonight primary care doctor nicole farmer is prescribing food. >> so as you can see eating whole grains you can control diabetes and blood pressure, but also prevent heart disease. >> reporter: this doesn't mean giving up favorites like pancakes instead the goal here is to make breakfast foods healthier using grains like buckwheat and millet. >> i feel like it's important for me to spend my time here in addition to the exam room.

if i teach you how to cook, you're going to improve the types of food you eat and ultimately that is what is going to prevent chronic disease for you. >> reporter: the most recent evidence comes from a study published in the journal of the american medical association, researchers found that here in the united states about one out of every two deaths from heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes is linked to a poor diet in the united states. that's 1,000 deaths every day. paula fischthal knows that all too well, her dad died early of a heart attack and her mom had diabetes, with this strong family history, she was really concerned. that's how she ended up here. >> when i first came here dr. farmer diagnosed me with pre- diabetes. and i really didn't want to be on medication. >> reporter: fischthal has changed her whole relationship to food. she tossed out processed snacks and she's cooking with fresh ingredients. >> i've gradually, gotten rid of the starch that goes with dinner and it's more vegetables and protein. >> reporter: she also started yoga classes and over the last

year she's lost weight, now her blood sugar has returned to normal and this means she's no longer considered to have pre- diabetes. her story fits with the conclusion of the most comprehensive study ever on diabetes prevention. it was a federally funded study carried out by the national institutes of health with collaborators at 27 sites across the country they found when people change their diet to lose weight and become more active it can be more effective than medication in preventing the disease. doctor farmer tells all her patients about the study. >> the diabetes prevention program study taught medical science that we don't need to jump the gun when it comes to prescribing medications to prevent diabetes and that the most effective thing we can do is to promote a healthier diet and to promote them to engage in regular exercise. >> reporter: and meeting patients here in the kitchen, farmer says, is the best promotion. the idea that you can bring

doctors and other health care professionals into the kitchen to teach people that changing their diets can actually help them prevent disease, is starting to catch on. inside this stone fortress is the culinary institute of america's napa valley campus. here some 500 doctors and health professionals recently got a crash course in how to build food and nutrition into their medical practices. they spent four days sautéing, slicing and tasting. it's put on by the harvard school of public health and the culinary institute and a few dozen food service companies who sponsor the event. >> at this conference, we bring in some of the top nutrition scientists in the world to say look here's the evidence that eating these foods keeps you healthy or reduces your risk of disease, whereas eating these foods really speeds up your risk of heart disease cancer

diabetes. second the chefs at the culinary institute who are not just great chefs, but great teachers say let me show you how to do that. >> reporter: doctor david eisenberg from harvard's school of public health is master of ceremonies and founder of this event, it's called healthy kitchens healthy lives. one thing he's trying to change may be surprising. most doctors, he says, aren't taught much at all about nutrition. >> today most medical schools in the united states teach less than 25 hours a of nutrition in four years. the fact that less than 20% of medical schools have a single required course in nutrition it's a scandal, it's outrageous it's obscene. >> reporter: primary care doctor helen delichatsios is speaking at the event. she's been teaching her patients about nutrition and cooking for seven years now, at massachusetts general hospital in boston. >> many people come to their doctor and have high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

one somewhat easy answer is to send them away with one prescription for their blood pressure and one prescription for their diabetes, one prescription for their cholesterol when in reality if you work on the underlying root problem which may be poor diet and physical inactivity that fixing those may address all of the concerns at once. >> reporter: delichatsios has figured out how her practice can get reimbursed for all the cooking and nutrition instruction. and she's sharing this information with other doctors at the conference. doctor joseph wetterhahn's hospital just installed a teaching kitchen. he's a primary care doctor in a rural area of upstate new york, this with the proper billing and coding so you can do this to break even. >> reporter: after attending this conference a few years back, sanjeet badwain was so inspired she convinced yale medical school to let her teach a new class called culinary medicine. she's a primary care doctor at yale's medical center in new haven connecticut. >> when dealing with medical school residents, i often felt

that residents were ill equipped they would say to me, well i don't know that maybe we should send them to a nutritionist or uh would kind of give some really broad stroke nutrition information like off the cuff a lot of patients really come in just really desperate for like good information and good direction. >> reporter: eisenberg's vision goes way beyond just doctors in the office. >> if we're going to build teaching kitchens in hospitals, maybe we should also think about building them in k-12 schools, and why stop there how about corporate places and retirement communities. >> reporter: one of the largest food service companies in the world is already on board. compass group u.s.a. runs food services at schools, nursing homes and corporate offices. they're planning to build 20 teaching kitchens this year. >> we have the polyphenols in grains that are going to lower pressure. >> reporter: back in gaithersburg, maryland, physician nicole farmer says one stumbling block for her patients can be cost.

but she shows them that healthy choices aren't necessarily more expensive. >> we got a whole bag of millet for less than two dollars, this contains about three to four servings about enough for three to four meals. >> reporter: so what about some of these others farrow for instance? >> so farro, farro will cost about the same as a good quality brown rice. >> reporter: farmer says you may have to shop around a little bit or go online to buy these grains, but they are available including in stores that accept snap benefits foods she introduces patients to can also over the last decade eisenberg says watched as this movement has started to take off. >> there are now hundreds of teaching kitchens across the country. i realized we'd reached a tipping point, we've now got cleveland clinic, kaiser permanente, harvard, princeton and the university of texas and 20 other university systems making this available to their trainees.

>> reporter: i'm allison aubrey of npr news for the pbs newshour in napa valley, california. >> woodruff: if you're looking for healthy recipes, you can find five ideas at pbs.org/"newshour". >> woodruff: finally tonight, our politics monday duo is here to unpack the aftermath of the republican healthcare plan passing the house, new concerns about possible conflicts of interest in the trump white house, and former president obama speaks up about his signature legislation. for all that, tamara keith of npr and amy walter of the cook political report. and welcome to both of you. and before we talk about that, we are just literally in the last minute or two watching some

new tweets from president trump. amy, he is essentially saying that today's hearing on capitol hill about the russia investigation, what the white house was told by the then acting attorney general, he's saying it's all old news, that the fake news had to be disappointed. he is calling the entire investigation a hoax. he said when will this taxpayer funded charade end. i guess it's not surprising. >> it's not surprising and the short answer for when it will end is not anytime soon. in fact, it's more likely we are talking about tease issues well into 2018, and that is the reality of how much staff that the house and the senate still have to get to that they haven't begun. the sally yates story today did not produce any bomb shells, but that doesn't mean this is now going to go away in the near future. >future.

>> woodruff: and the former assistant attorney general said it's pretty clear the russians not only felt they were successful this time, they are going to keep trying in 2020. >> yes, and that is why -- that sort of concern is why members of congress are going to keep investigating this, whether president trump wants them to or not. president trump often takes these sorts of investigations or hearings as coming after him, where many members of congress see this as going for information and not necessarily trying to undermine him, but, of course, the resistance does see it as a chance towndz mine him. >> woodruff: it seems like a hundred years ago that the house of representatives finally unvoted to undo, at least to pass a replacement bill for obamacare. there's already been ads run in congressional districts around the country for and against

republican members depending on how they voted. do we know whether this is a plus or minus politically for these house members? >> if you're sitting in one of these competitive congressional districts, you might think we're already deep into the middle of a midterm election. the number of ads running now and will continue to run. democrats believe this is a potent issue for them in the election, and they remember what it was like when they were on the other side. that's the reason why think it's going to be so powerful. back in 2010, when they were the ones voting for a bill that was controversial, pushing it through on a party line only vote, they suffered the consequences. it was a toxic vote for them, they lost 63 seats that controlled the house. democrats are convinced this will be that kind of issue for republicans. there is not a lot of polling out. one poll that came out today showed 31% of americans supporting it. compare that to how americans feel wasn't the obamacare which is now at about 48%, so

that's not great. the best news for republicans is that republicans are supportive of it, about 75% supportive of it, but the intensity on the other side, people who say they oppose it, are much higher. >> woodruff: we are months away from the midterms, it's november of next year, tam, and you still don't know what the senate will do. >> the senate will take their time. they are waiting for the congressional budget office to come back with a score of the house bill, that's something that the house didn't wait for. they're also saying they're basically starting fresh and doing something on their own. there is a deadline here. the way they're trying to do this is through this budget reconciliation process. that's why they don't need any democratic votes in the snrat, but that turns into a pumpkin at the end of september. so there isn't much time, and there is a big challenge here. on the house side they need thread and need toll get the

number of votes they needed, the to get the freedom caucus and the moderates to come along. the needle is different on the senate side they need to thread, and how they combine those things if the senate is able to get things done with a much tighter margin than they had in the house is unclear it was it is a different calculus in the senate. >> it is. >> woodruff: the thing to remember is no matter if we see the senate bill on the president's desk and it looks different than the one they voted on, they own that vote they cast the other week and all that went along wit. that's why when we talked about these ads as a preview for 2018, for those people sitting in this district, what they are watching are images of a baby with a respirator, a pregnant woman who's looking distraught, talk about the fact that there are costs that are going to go up,

seniors are going to pay more, pre-existing conditions will exist, those ads will run throughout 2018, regardless of what the final bill looks like. >> woodruff: something completely separate i want to ask you both about and you have been doing reporting on this, the president's son-in-law jared kushner has separated himself from the family business, a successful real estate business. his sister was in china over the last few days talking about special treatment possibly for people seeking the eb5 visas. it's complicated but matters in terms of people looking at whether there is any conflict of interest here. >> that's right and the kushner organization pol apologized fory misunderstanding or impression at the could be left that she was trying to use her brother's position. jared kushner said he will not involve himself in these visas as they're considered. this is a controversial visa

program for as little as $500,000, investors, foreign nationals, can invest in the project, a real estate project typically and get a visa that a gets them on the path to citizenship to become a citizen of the united states. >> woodruff: well, we're only a little bit of time left here, but it's just another case of what the trump white house has to be on the lookout for. >> yeah, right, and here's an opportunity, it's a president who wants to push for immigration reform who could have talked about reforming this very issue. >> woodruff: "politics monday." thank you both. i'm judy woodruff for all of us at the pbs "newshour", thank you, and we'll see you soon. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> and by the alfred p. sloan

foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> 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 access.wgbh.org ♪

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