captioning sponsored by wshour productions, llc >> sreenivasan: good evening, i'm hari sreenivasan. judy woodruff is away. on the newshour tonight... t >> we'n our grief into action. we have to have action.re >>ivasan: ...president trump puts for gun reform in the wake of the florida school shooting. then, power grab-- china's g mmunist party moves to abolish term limits, allowesident xi jinping to stay in office for life. and,omalia struggles to its miet-- a surge in u.s. military presence pushes thtant group al-shabab out of the east african nation, but not without complications. >> the u.s. military's involvement in the war here in somalia happens in the shadows. that has some people worried about accountability. >> sreenivasan: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

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ith the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public bbyadcasting. anontributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> sreenivasan: from president trump today, more talk of gun control in america, an crossing the n.r.a.

he spoke amid calls for action f at teral and state levels, in the wake of the school shooting in florida. >> and we're going to do veryun strong backgchecks. if we see a sicko, i don't want him having a gun.en >> sreasan: it was another listening session of sorts, this time, president trump with the nation's governors. he called again for banning bump stocks even if it means breaking with the national rifle association. >> don't worry about the n.r.a. they're on our side. you guys, half of you are so afraid of the n.a. there's nothing to be afraid of. and you know what? ha they're not with you, w to fight them every once in a while. that's okay. >> sreenivasan: the president also returned to the idea of arming trained teachers in schools. but washington state's democratic governor jay inslee challenged him. >> i have listened to the people who would be affected by that. i have listened to the biology teachers and they don't want to do t any percentage. i've listened to the first grade teachers that don't want to be pistol-packing teachers. so i just suggest we need a little less tweeting here and a

little more listening and lets just take that off the and move forward. >> sreenivasan: several other governors, including texas republican gregg abbott, spoke in favor of havi armed people on school campuses. this as the gavel echoed in congress for the first time 10 days. west virginia democratic senator joe mahin appealed to republicans to help pass something. >> it would be the president weighing in that would give them the comfort zone, i would think, the republicans in order for them to support something that's reasonable. >> sreenivasan: lawmakers face a host of proposals. they include fes to the instant criminal background system and raising the purchaseg age for longs. but, it's not clear if anything can pass. on sunday, republican congressman brian mast, longtime n.r.a. member, called for a temporary ban on assault rifles. he spoke alongside democraticde counterpart tech. >> i think we can get the president on board and members of congress onboard to say let's put that se kind of pause on onboard right now where we look at who's having access, what do they have access to. >> sreenivasan: the n. dana loesch said her organization does not ba any

ban. >> we're talking about banni firearms and the discussion is about banning all semi-automatic firearms and that's really the. discussi can we actually look at what could have prevented this? that firearm did not walk itself into the school. >> sreenivasan: the n.r.a. also noces an economic backlash. starkey hearing tegies is the latest organization to drop its discount program for n.r.a. members. that makes nearly 20 companies who've cut ties with the group since the florida shootings. the broward county sheriff's department faces its own backlash, amid reports that several deputies waited outside hrjory stoneman douglas h school in parkland, as 17 people were killed. president trump raised it agn today. >> but i really believe i'd run in there even if i didn't have a weapon and i think most of the people would have done that tooa e i know most of you. but they way they performed was really a disgrace. >> sreenivasan: deputy scot person, assigned to the school, said through his

ditorney today that the allegations of cow are "patently untrue." and, broward county sheriff scot israel said sunday he will not step down, despite criticism ofi his depues and reports that his department ignored warnings about accused gunman nikolas cruz. but florida governor rick scott has asked for a state investigation. meanwhile, a parkland survivor, maddy willford, spoke out. she ved, despite being shot three times, and had a presidential visit at the hospital. today, she thanked those who saved her life. >> i would just like to say that i'm so grateful to be here and it wouldn't be possithout those officers and first responders and these amazing doctors and especially all the >> sreenivasan: doctors say she still has bullet fragments in her body and is lucky to be dsive. yesterday, thousan of students and parents returned to douglas high to gather their belongingso >> it'like you're going

back just to see your friends. you're going back to see people that are traumatized for the rest of their lives. >> sreenivasan: the school is set to officially reopenn wednesday. we'll take a closer look at ther lader of the. in florida, after the news summary. in the day's other news, theu. supreme court heard a pivotal case for more than five- million americans in public sector unions across 24 states. at issue: whether workers who are not union members should be required to pay dues to cover the st of collective rgaining. outside the court, the two sides argued about whether the ultimate decision will jeopar speech. i-- or free hink collective bargaining has its place, but let the individual worker choose what they want to do.e don't foem to do something that they may disagree with or they may not want to be involved in. s their purpose is clearly to hurt unions and it give government free reign to act in an authoritarian way wit respect to the workplace. to set wages, terms and conditions without input from workers.

>> sreenivasan: separately, the court declined to hear the trump administration's appeal to end the daca progr as of march 5. it protects immigrants brought to the u.s. illegally as children. lower courts have blocked the president's attempt to abolish the program. he had wanted the supreme court to intervene, without waitingfe for ral appeals court to rule. in syria, a government air assault intensified outside damascus, despite the u.n.se rity council's call for a 30-day cease-fire. u.n. officials reported at least 30 people killed in the last 48- hoand more than 500 in the last week. today, rescue workers in eastern ghouta pulled injured from the rubble. local heal officials say some were victims of a chemical attack. and, in geneva, the u.n. secretary general demanded action. >> eastern ghouta cannot wait,e it is high t stop this hell on earth. and i remind all parties of their absolute obligation under international humanitarian and

human rights law to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure at all times.en >> sasan: later, moscow announced that russian president vladimir putin has ordered a daily five-hour humani pause in the attacks. russia has been a key military ally of syria. meanwhile, turkish president recep tayyip erdogan ull sides in syria to honor a cease- fire in eastern ghouta, but he insistedt does not apply to turkey's assault on syria's afrin region, where it's targeting u.s.-backed kurdish ghters. president trump suggested today he would be open to tas with north korea. it came a day after pyongyang id it is ready for such talks. the trump administration has said the north must first bere y to give up its nuclear and missile programs. today, at a meeting th governors, the president said talks are possible "under the right conditions >> talking about tremendous potential loss of lives, numbers nobody'sver contemplated, never thought of. so they want to talk, first

time, they want to talk. and we'll see what happens, that's my attitude, we'll see what happens. but something has to be done. >> sreenivasan: the president also lauded china for doing more rein in north korea, but he called out russia for, "behaving badly."m an arctic stralyzed parts of europe today with record cold. the frigid front blew out of siberia with drivilo snow and thst temperatures of the season. several inches of snowreven hed rome-- a rarity that cled schools, disrupted flights and covered roads. elsewhere, blizzard conditions dumped five feet of snow in the balkans. back ithis country: the company co-founded by harvey weinstein said it will file for federal bankruptcy ptatection, aftes to sell the studio fell apart. weinstein was fired as chairmanf r he was accused of sexual harassment and abuse by dozens of women. he denies the allegations. the trump organization says it has donated its hotel profits from busins with foreign governments to the u.s. treasury. the company said today it includes profits from all of last year. it would not say exactly how

much that was. watchdog groups saidthe lack of any details leaves key ethics questions unanswered. and on wall street stocks surged as interest rates baed down a bit from the four-year highs they set last week. the dow jones instrial average gained nearly 400 points to close at 25,709. the nasdaq rose 84oints, and the s&p 500 picked up 32. still to come on the newshour: how the n.r.a. shaped florida's gun laws. china moves to eliminate it's president's term limits. american forces aiding somalia's fight against the militant group al shabaab, and much more. >> sreenivasan: in florida, state legislators are about to begin the final weeks of tgiir ative session and several proposals on guns and weapons are on the table. republican governor ri h scott has sanow backs raising the age to purchase a firearm

from 18 to 2 state legislators are considering a law that would require a new three-iting period for the purchase of firearms. but will these changes pass? the n.r.a. has been a powerful voice in that state. e latest issue of the ne yorker focuses on the n.r.a.'s past succees in florida, and the lobbyist behind it, marion hammer. she represents the n.r.a. there and is a past national president of the n.r.a. mike sties wrote the piece and he joins me now. mike sties, why ascribe so much woman?o this one tell us a little about her accomplishments. l, she's been around fo nearly four decades in the florida gislator or tallahassee, rather, and has accomplished truly amazing things that havfoe traed not just florida but the country.

beginning in the 1980s, she was responsible for pushingt throug country's first conceal carry law which fectively allows people to carry concealed handguns iny public if tn satisfy a basic criteria to get a permit, and that law has been replicated virtually in every state in some form. fore that, it was very rare for someone to carry concealed weapon in public and it's now normalized. 108 million concealed carriers in florida alone, by the most in the country. going forward, herher major accomplishments, the creation and enactment of ndard ground in 2005. people are familiar with that law because a lot of cotroversy susurrounding it in 2012 because treyvon martin's death and an arrest delayed by the law and

also figured in the jury instructions in zimmerman's trial. standard ground is a -stand your ground is the defense law in the country, saying you cann engagelmost preemptive self-defense. >> sreenivasan: you looked through thousands of e-mails by request. what was the kind of influence she and by extension the n.r.a. had in the legislave process in florida? >> in every part of the process, she has a han she ultimately oversees the development of legislation, creates it with her n.r.a. lawyers andhepherds it through the legislature. that means there are government stafrs who help make sure language an in bills chord withe constitution. she's a lobbyist. what winds up happening is legislators ultimately abdicate their responsibility to her, so

she efctively acts as ifshe were a legislator, though she's more powerful than they are, and then does things like, you know, as the peace detail does, sets up her own bill signing ceremonies once the bill gets to e government. >> sreenivasan: a quote in ur article says if you're a governor and won by a handfulf votes and have a shandful of ambitions you take marn's call in the middle of the night. if she needs something you do it yoand if you don't thincan do it you try anyway. given the florida leadership has beenan the hands of one prty at least 20 years and the influence of the n.r.a. has been fairly strong, what's the loll something changes, if it didn't change after tretiyvon m or the orlando pulsshooting? >> this is a very rare moment and i sort of think we'rin uncharted territory right now. to be clear, what's being oposed right now, raising the age limit buying rifles from 18

to 21, expanding the thrpeee-day waitinriod for all gun purchases made at pris,vate dealhese are still modest proposal despite the fact thatro the n.r.a.ses them. what happened recently, when there was a proposal nto ba assault assault weapons in florida, for instance, that does gotten anyere. that's jst a non-starter. in this case, it seems like there's wide republican support, not jut with rick scott but across the legislature in bothd chambers, i think, in this case, there is some cover in numbers. marian is very good -- marion is very good at punishing people and getting retribution against those who violate her position, but in this case you can't likely punish everyone if everyone's going to go along with the proposals. so there is just not reaanlly

precedent for this. nhat said, it still doesn't mea she's not going to be able to strip the provisions out of the bill or get at least one stripped out of the bill before it arrives on governor scott's desk. >> svasan: we reached out to marijuan marion hammer and st coopere in the profile. mike sties, thanks so much for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> sreenasan: china's ruling communist party proposed sunday to remove term limits on the fice of president. that means xi jinping, who heads the party and the military, may never have to leave office. as william brangham tells us now, it sets xi up to be t most powerful leader of china since mao zedong. >> brangham: the surprise proposal to amend china's constitution would eliminate the

current limit of two-terms for china's presidents. that limit was designed to avoid a cult of personaly developing, similar what grew around mao zedong, the founder of the modern chinese state. with us now to unpack what this mes for china, the u.s., a the wider world is christopher johnson. he served as a top china analyst at the c.i.a., and he's now the freeman chair in china studies at the center for strategic and international studies, a washington think tank. welcome. >> thanks. good to be here. >> brangham: how significant a move is this in china? >> iryhink it's ve significant. basically, what we see here is a bending of 30 years ofic pra in the chinese system and overturning really theegacy of the last great paramount leader who was in charge of deconstructing the dangerous setup that hapned under mao zedong. >> brangham: you were saying earlier this move confirms me of the worst fears we have about xi. what are the worst fears? what can we see with this?

>> i think it confirms a lot of worst fears of people in the system which ise is a power galomaniac like mao and is not the pragmatist he said he was. i think the jury is still out on at. the key question is he has all the power, so what is he going to do with it?he on economy, for example, he can taken to the tough reforms and make the economy more open, or he can move toward the status model that we've seen increasingly under his leadership which has been a real problem especially in trad relations with the united states. >> brangham: which direction combin wg diewng? wi see more so-called liberal reformists or the opposite? >> my own sense is, in this case, probably the past will be prologue, and the last five years whichrdas been toa more repressive state oriented system will be the direction of travel. >> brangham: do you think the u.s. is ready and able to handle a surge in china economically, litically?

i think we certainly have the tools. one of the things that's intere'ring for example is about to enter dicey territory with the chinese trade. i think there is a general vi in the administration which agree with that we have a lot of leverage ini ths but what is it went from china out of this in term of free trade and fairr environment fo? i'm not sure we have a plan and strategy for that. the real story is it's clear with xi jinping's latest move that he's going to be around for a while. he has plan. we need toet aan. >> brangham: we tend to think of china as a one-party stte but there are some who are not xi-accolites in exine. >> true. >> brangham: are there is in china with auitthto challenge this? >> since he came into power and started attackople who put him in power, i think there is a generasense this is going to create an immune response of some sort. i think what we've seen is through political shock and awe, he has so outmaneuvered these

people in the system that there is nothing they can do about it and we don't see any visible signs of opposition and probably the key area we should see this is the taming of the militaryf which,urse, in the past has been a tool within the system for changing leaderships. >> brangham: taming of the military, meaning ty are completely responsive just to him and not independent on their own? >> historically the role in the military system has been to defend china and keep the party in power, and therefore have been a political actor in the system.vi through orous anti-corruption campaign and changes to the forestructure he's brought them under his trol. >> brangham: a lot of the talk about xi is his desire to return china its greatness in the past. >> correct. >> brangham: in the 21s 21st century, what does that mean today? >> i think first and foremost of retuiting china to a posn of

power in asia and whatever oader global pow aspirations they have we'll have to see. but under xi jinping's leadership, it's a desire to thow china has discovered wha we call a third way between communism and capitism, a state' led capitalism that works for them and delivers results. >> brangham: chris chris, thank you ver -- chrisjohnson, . >> thank you very much, nice to be here. >> sreenivasan: stay with us, coming up on the newshour: what's in the democratic memoan and what it s for the russia investigation. and the female dirtor behind the hit tv drama "homeland." tt first, the last time m americans thought of the east african nation of somalia was a quarter century ago, when u.s. troops died fighting in the capital, mogadishu. now, after years of civil war and upheaval, the country is struggling to its feet. and the u.s. is back in somalia, with boots on the ground and

u.ones in the skies. just last week, th launched more air strikes against the islamist militant group, al shabab. they then struck mogadishu n fridht with suicide bombers and gunmen. more than 40 people died in that attack.as pecial correspondent jane ferguson and videographer alessandro pavone found, thend u.s.frican partner nations are helping somali forces fightc that insuron a very complex battlefield.te >> repor the soldiers patrolling this dangerous road are a long way from home. they are ugandans, stationed here in somalia as part of an african union peacekeeping force. they look for bombs hidden under the dirt. somalia's powerful islamist militant group. allied with al qaeda, al shabab gunmen have enjoyed a freedom here few armed groups have had anywhere in the world, ring over swathes of this country for years, attacking the central government's security forces, and even making videos to celebrate their attack

the african union troops have been here for 12 years, and aren't alone in this fight. they work alongside the somali national army, local militias, and increasily, americans. the u.s. military began conducting drone strikes and special forces raids here under the obama administration. since president trump entered the white house,he drone strikes have more than doubled - from 14 in 2016 to at least 34 in 2017. last november december, u.s. boots on the ground officially increased from 50 to 500. american commanders say they t waprevent somalia from becoming a hub for other groups like isis. in may 2017 us navy seal kyle milliken was killed during an operation against al shabab. his was the first u.s. military death in somalia since the black hawk down incident in 1993 where 18 us soldiers were killed in

clashes with local fighters. it is believed that at least hundreds of somalis died also that day. >> i started personally seeing them in and around june. there were some special forceh moving theirle. and these strikes we could hear, even beyond across river abelle where we are not present, we could hear bombs, during the day, during the night and reports come. >> reporter: do you feel in the field here that american drone strikes targeting their leadership, special forces raids, does that help weaken them? have you seen a difference? >> absolutely. and that is what has caused a lot of fear in them these days. because at times we hearhe drones moving around and we hear bombs.or >> repr: that fear has activeal shabab from army into shadow, from controlling towns and cities,

into an insurgency, hiding in rural areas. n every time they move from one place to another theyth believ we are doing an air strike so they are more cautious. s reporter: somalia's information minists his government has watched its enemy weaken under u.s. military pressure. >> we fully appreciate the otpport that we get from the americans in tharwise we would not have enjoyed the peace that we are enjoying in mogadishu. >> reporter: you think the drone orikes have them on the run? >> absolutely, ny on the run but also they believe they cannot hide anymor >> reporter: the capital city mogadishu, for decades stsynonymous with war, is ting to know peace again. on patrol with african union soldiers, the danger of an ambush or hidden roadbside bom is always there, but so too are

surreal moments of calm. stopping to get out of our armored vehicles, we found a park. no guns allowed here, just bird song and families enjoying the cooler, wint weather, and these teenagers hanging out.ne evere spoke with said they feel safe. "there are no problems here, the situation is very good," 19- year-old najma told me. down the road at liido beach, we found joyful scenes, and somalis mpger to chat with us. life seems to haveved here? >> yeah, a lot. a lot. it's like, the risk is minimized and the somali security apparatus can do their part. >> reporter: you are confident in that? >> yeah, yeah. we are confident in that. >> reporter: although securityor has improved fome, somalisin he capital, al shabab are still able to strike weaker, softer targets through suicide bombings. in october last year, a truck

bomb killed over 500 civilians in madishu. it was one of the deadliest terrorist bombings anyere, ever. despite this, everyone we spokci with in the said life is much less dangerous than it has been iyears. the newfound security is welcome even though some question the methods used to provide it. the u.s. military's involvement in the war here in somalia happens in the shadows. drone strikes and special forces operations take place inside al shabab territory. that has some people worried about accountability. >> the government officials do not have access to assess theo damage and and so forth. so the public is not aware of the collateral damage. >> reporter: until last year, dirizaq omar mohamed was somalia's internal security minister. he suspects that civilian deaths

ne strikes are being kep a secret. >> basically we have to believea what the ame tell us, that haey have shot and killed al shabab leaders, sos where we are. >> reporter: conrn is also owing over how the us decides who to h with each attack. in targeting al shabab, the u.s. military is taking on a dangerous militant organization. the social landscape within t which that figes place however is extremely complicated, and avoiding getting involved in local ndmed disputesivalries very important. somalia's conflict is not simply a matter of al shabab versus the government. at the same time, there are many clans-- somalia's version of tribes-- fighting each other all across the country. in somalia, even farmers carry guns to protect their property, so american forces need local informants to identify who is al shabab and who is not.

the enemy. in august of last year, a joint u.s. special forces and somali forces raid on the town of bariire, killed eight people. outraged family members took these pictures, insisting the victims were just farmers, including young boys. clan leader from the area abdalh ilsan spoke with the newshour about the incident. he says a rival clan trying to push them off their land lied to the american special forces, telling th shabab.ople were al >> ( translated ): some clan men edcalled us and said, "we he americans against you and will use them again, so leave the area." >> reporter: the u.s. military in africa would not speak to the newshour on camera, but have insistedhe men and boys killed that day were enemy combatants. the bitterness left behind is clear. >> ( translated ): the americans came here to support the people but the people ended up hating them because of that misinformation. i wish they would be more

careful about any information they are given. they suld not be drawn into a conflict among clans. i honestly don't think the americans have any interest in killing any clan or civilians, but the wrong information being given to them causes this. >> reporter: somalia's future dends on reconciling the warring ans. since the government collapsed in 1991, fighting between them has made building a functioning state near impossible. the current governme is often ineffective as a result of in- fighting amongst the clans. it's those divisions that al shabab feeds off. we met with this defector from the group, who said the weaker clans are more likely to join with al shabab while there is ne e. >> ( translated ): the minority clans are oppressed by the main clans.pr their erties are taken and there is no justice for them. these people join voluntarily to get justice. th shabab are the only people who can give the.

>> reporter: it's a cyat has been going on here for decades. the lack of a state means people ofn turn to armed groups f protection, strengthening the militas, which makes building any state with the power to enforce law and order all the more difficult. every night in mogadishu now, african union troo supervise the somali police at checkpoints, looking out for al shabab bombs and fighters slipping into the city under darkness. these soldiers won't be here forever. they are planning to leave in 2020 and have already started a slow drawdown. when they are gone, the weak somali forces will be ft to face al shabab by themselves, with only their american partners fighting with them. for the pbs newshour, i'm jane ferguson, in mogadishu, somalia.

>> sreenivasan: we turn now to part two of the fight over a controversial, and once classified, memo. earlier this month house intelligence chairman devin nunes released a republican memo about the handling of one piece de the russia investigation. over the weekendcrats served up their own version of the document. lisa desjardins takes a closer look. jardins: this memo, ten pages-long and partially redacted, rebuts a key claim thmade by the previous one federal law enforcement abused its powers wn it sought to so- called fisa wiretaps on former trump campaign aide carter page in late 2016 in a weekend tweet, the president called this latest memo, epared by the top democrat on house intelligence, representative adam schiff, a "tot political and legal bust." semil jaffer was senior co for the house intelligence committee from 2011 to 2013. also served at the justice typartment's national secu division during the george w.

bush administration. thank you. there's much to say and a lot of friendly here but let's cut to the main point. the original memo charged that the.b.i. an d.o.j. put a hand on the scale earlyn in this russia investigation by not disclosing that one of their key sources had political motivation. what did this new democratic memo add to that? >> i think it's pretty clear now thathe justice deptment did in fact disclose to the court that there were political motivations behind the steele dossier. the only question now is did they use the words hillary clinton and democratic campaign? the answer is nobut they did redact osot u.s. pe and entities. should they sai have said more in that's the debate. we know they did tell the court there were pooitical etions behind it. >> desjardins: the steele dossier because it has scent lating information alleged

against the president, some debunked, and at information original was gathered by a conservative funding source. later democrats paid for that and ended up in the f.b.i. hands. you're saying this memo today tell us while the f.b.i. disclosed there was a political motivation but not exactly who it came from? >> exactly. it says people who want to disthe trump campaign were gathering this information and paid the source for this information. so, you know, from th context, it's fairly clear, i mean the court could easily sume who was paying for this, but they weren't exactly transatrent about xact point as to which campaign it was and who was involved. the republican memo suggests they should have been. democratic memo says they told the american people now have an honest debate between the two about who's got it right here. >> desjardins: help us what's normal procedure. you have been on the oversight side and thepl filing ation side. is it normal to say there was someone i political motivated,

not saying from which party, involved here, or is it more the common procedure to say democrats or republicans were doing this? v >> well, iries, when it comes to f.i.s.a.s. you want to give the court enough information about the context and the information so the court can judge is this reliablenformation on which to depend when it's making its decision on whegrther to t the court order. now, at the same time, depchding on wide of that debate you tall on, might want to give the court more or less information. the goal is to gev themheno to make a judgment. they were clear about the political motivations behind the memo but not clear about which side. that's because they take efforts to protect privacy of the persons involved and put u.s. person one or u.s. entity one, that's not unuessual. >>rdins: does today's memo shed any light on what we know about russian meding and

whether any contacts or collusions between russian officials and the trump campaign or the trump white house? >> we knorter page, there were a lot of reasons to surveil him beyond the doser. >> desjardins: he was a foreign policy advisor to theum campaign for a few months. >> yes, and the f.i.s.a. tooke place aftereft the campaign but there were good reasons to sur vairl carter pae. looks like the investigation hasn't come to anything but there were good reasons to do that. what we eknow abt the larger context is there was a russian effort to infence ourec ons, and continues to inclunes the trust in our system. the information about carter page's memos is playing into the russians hands so we need to say this is a real threat and we need to respond aggressively. >> desjardins: people trying to pay attentiono the investigation, would you

recommend what matters andhat is distraction? >> i think what matters is if you believe there is a problem at tue f.b.i. or issgoing on, what's the evidence of that and if it's there let's figure t how to fix it. but let's not get caut p between the fight between democrats and democrats andn schiff nunes, and focus on was there a problem or political influence here, if there was let's fix it. if there wasn't, it speaks to the larger f.i.s.a. process because it's effective at combating for us on national ercurity. and is a real threat on national security which is the russian fort to influence. >> desjardins: thank you for joining us. >> thanks for having me. tamera keith and amy walter, thank you very much. just heard a lot, of course.

in terms of coverage and rhetoric, democrats on capitol hill says this kind of bill they were going to support, they say it's too watered down that it thst supports the current background check want more. what can happen on guns in congress? o>> it's a very god question and it's one that we don't fully have the answer to yet. there does seem to be someco escing on the republican side around something related to scale safety but it'lnotear what that would be exactly and this smaller more narrow fixix n bill which requires state, federal, local agencies to put people into the background check system as they are currently requiredo do, give incentives for that. that had been a problem in thes

texaoting, that church shooting several months ago. >> desjardins: in the midst of all this, as congress is returning to town, i think i can hear their planes landing at washington international airplane, president trump has done something different and gotten out in front. he's had more republican leaders on this. he tweeted last week he wanted an age limit, now it's not clear, today back and forth on the n.r.a. what does president trump want and how does that matter? >> exactly: what the president wants sun clear because, asen we've n almost any major issue that hats gone in front of congress, whether it's healthcare or the daca issue or now on guns, the president takes ltiple positions in twitter, in front of the press, privatel to membersngress, privately to cost, and then it leaves folks on capitol hill, especially republican allies on

capitol hill, really wondering what the marching orders are at are we supposed to advocate for, because we don't quite know where the presidents. and i think tam is exactly right. what's clear that's hapening on capitol hill now is democrats feel emboldened by the energy and enthusiasm from more gun control folks, you know, pople who are really energized and engaged in the wayhey haven't before. there is a new polling out showing a new energy on this issue. people like chuck schumer, thede minority le think we need to go farther. we don't need just to get half the loaf, we can get the full loaf. meanwhile, a bunch of republicans say, no, no, this goes much too far, that's ne going to fly in our red states. it's not just that much that the n.r.a. is popular but the issue of guns ined states even among democrats is still one that's very important. so ihink you're going to se that getting something that's a compromise once again become difficult. >> here's a thought experiment,

than election year. november 2018, all of these republican congress people are going to be for reelection. they're gointo run on the tax bill they passed last year. are they also going to say, and we went up against the n.r we went further nan the florida wanted us to go and furtherno than, you our voters wanted us to go, and we did all of this stuff on gun control? it'sard to imagine republican elected officials running on gun control. >> but it is to imagine i think some democrats ru on that. >> yes. and i kind of want to get beyond the politics here. it feels lika very us versus them momentum is building. r almominds me of the abortion debate, the passion of the energy and the sharp divide. you wrote a great piece last week saying it's not just about the n.r.a. can you take us on what's going on with the motivation? >> yes, i thinthere's a cultural motivation. as you pointed out, i think

abortion is a good opposite of that, as you can think about it. but we talk so much abouthe n.r.a. when we talk about guns. we spend not as mch time about people who are gun owners, may not be part of the n.r.a., or people who live in areas or are a part of a cohort that believe guns are fundantal to their safety and sense of freedom. it's a core value seto them. i think when it gets into the debate about the florida is manipulating people and is all powerful and controlling the legislative agen, it misses the fact that there are real people out there who hold these views that are vey passionate about these views and in fact the challenge for gun rightss fos been the intensity on gu issues -- has been on the gun rights side not the gun control side almost by a two to one margin pew found in asking

people who own and don't own guns, haveou ever contacted an official and talk to about this specifically, 21% of owners said yes and 1% of nongun owners said yes. is that number going to change because of what we saw in florida is the question. >> allhis is hapening in an election year. tamera keith, you just me back from fresno, california, where something interesting happened to the state's longest serving democratic official, dianne feinstein, her party voted not to endorse her. why is that?a can we rd anything more into this. >> it's that they couldn't coalesce behind a candidate. she has a challger in the primary, kevin deleon, who is al a democrat, and got more support than she did from theat party at the state party convention. he didn't get the 60% to get the

endorsement. but dianne feinstein has long had the issue in california where she has been seen more moderate tn her veryli bright-blural state, and that energy is reflected in the activists that are part of the state democratic party. >> got it. amy, quickly, democra sa they're targeting 100 seats. is that realistic? >> they have intensity and they want to take advantage of that. intensity is a terrible th waste. democrats have it in fundraising, candidate recruitment and they're spoing it in ths, so why not spread it as far and wide, if you're not going to win all the districts, you're probably not going to be able to invest in all the districts,ut you might get a surprise or two. we need 24 seats. it's easier to get 24 seutts of 100 than trying to win 24 out 40 seats. >> you can miss when you apple

wide. thank you both very much. >> you're welcome. >> sreenivasan: finally tonight, we continue ouesoccasional sebout women helping to bring equity and change to the workplace in this time#tf #me too anes up. jeffrey brown paid a visit to the set of aeteran director o's been hard at work at this for years. >> rolling, rollin >> brown: at a cemetery in richmond, virginia, actors claire danes and mandy patinkin shoot a scene at a funeral. we can't tell you who's died this time-- you'll have to wait until lar in this 7th season of the acclaimed showtime series "homeland." behind the sces, lesli linka glatter, one of television's most respected and prolific directors, who knows what it takes to do the job well.

>> certainly tenacity. it only takes e person to say... >> brown: tenacity, which means don't give up. >> don't give up, no matter how difficult it is. and wear comfortable shoes. >> brown: tenacity one, comfortable shoes two. >> yes, and don't pretend to know something you don't. because you will get caught, someone will know, and then you won't learn. d learn everyone's name on the first day of shooting, because >> brown: it's a philosophy that's taken linka-glatter, now 64, to the top of her profession, directing more than urs of tv, including suc shows as "e.r.," "the west wing," "mad men," as well as "homeland," where shalso serves as an executive producer. the show, created and led by alex gsa, has been shot on locations around the world, as c.i.a. agent carrie mathisona played bnes, battles terrorists in the middle east and europe. and, these days, dark forces within the american governnt.

this season, much of the action is set in washington, d.c.el >> wme to our situation room. >> brown: but the shooti is being done in nearby richmond, indoors in a large warehouse transformed into the white house and other government settings. once again, "homeland's" plot has a ripped-from-the-headlines feel. >> we're in a very divided, unstable world, you know. >> brown: imagine that. >> i know. we have a president of the united states, a president at odds with her intelligence community, in a world that's kind of a post-truth world.bu >> brownfor linka-glatter, there's another pressing issue of the moment, in her own field. for while she's made it as a director, too many other women have not had the opportuniw,. >> you kno started directing a while ago, and if you wouldul

have asked me we be discussing this in 2018. i would have said, "absolutely not, jeff. no way. this will be a non-issue, nothing to dfcuss." and thact that we are still having to talk about that is very surprising to me. >> brown: she points to a survey by the directors guild of america showg just 21% of tv episodes in 2016 t'17 season were directed by women. >> i don't think anyone is sitting an office and twirling a moustache and going, "ehh, no women, let's not hire the women." i think it's deeper than that. i think it's, you know, in that land of unconscious bias, where women are still all lumped together, and i've had it said to me, you know, "we hired a woman once and it didn't work." >> brown: you've literally had that said toou? >> oh yeah, multiple times. >> brown: you think about arguments you might hear, like k f qualified women. >> yes, that's so not true. >> brown: not true but you still hear that? >> you still hear that, because it's easy. the handful of women that are working all the time, okay yes,

they're qualified because they work all the time, but there are so many women who are definitely qualified that are not, you know. so it's just not an equal playing field yet. it comes up often that a young director, a male director, will do a small indie film and the next movie they're doing is a huge, hundred million dollar movie. that has not happened for women. it would be said, oh, she doesn't have enough experience. but somehow a man has enough experience. uut in some sort of position where you can't e believe this is happening. now, there are levels to that. whether you're talking about sexual harassment or, you know, hstile work envknonment, you , there are degrees of all

of that, but i think it's coming out becausit's been unspoken, and the need to speak and feelt that okay to finally speak is huge, and no one should ever be in a position where they're, you know, harassed or abused. it should never happen, and you shouldn't create an environment ere that can happen. >> brown: >> brown: back at the cemetery, mandy patinkin, who plays veteran c.i.a. operative snsl be, spoke of working with linka glatter. >> lesli wants as much input from the people that are there. and in my opinion, that's a smart director, because that's a collaborive effort, it's a collaborative game, and you're foolish not to ask the other people what they feel, what they would do. and to liste and to be ruthless in terms of making sure that they are telling wne story. >> bwhy do you think there are so few women directors,

still? >> ihink there are so few women directors because the world has been run by men, and the world n't doing so well. the world certainly is not doing very well now. >> brown: duringhe break at ansite, claire danes shared her experience. s our show is surprisingly diverse, and in ll part because of lesli's involvement. you know, she's our producing eorector and she really makes it a priority to hiree who are not sufficiently represented. so we have more female directors than most productions. but it's still not enough. >> brown: it's not enough? has that been true cor you in yoeer? something you notice? >> yes. i mean it's impossible not to. but i think it's starting to change. it's a powerful phenomenon that's occurring right now and it seems to be having a real impact and lasting consequences. >> brown: linka-glatter credits her rise in large part tthe support she got from powerful

male mentors, including steven spielberg, for whom she worked during his 1980's tv series, "amazing stories." >> my first day of sg on that "amazing story," i ended up doing three of them, sscit was my filol on every level. there were 200 guys storming a beach in world war ii, with 12 cameras, so you know, is that a gender thing? i don't know. it was a filmmaking thing, it was a story thing. brown: she's made it he business to mentor women ever since, having them shadow her while shworks.s >> tharilling to me. >> brown: many she says, now with strong careers themselves. >> i should also say, jeff, i was told when i first started doing this, by other women, you know, "why are you doing this, you're going to make it harder for yourself." >> brown: really, you mean as in rocking the at. >> no, not rocking the boat, just like there's only room for one us, and it better be me and if you are bringing all oing toomen in, it's affect your career. and i can tell you, categorically, that has never

happened. it certainly didn't, by helping other women direct, nevehurt me as a director. i'm still here, you know, tough old broad. >> brown: now, she's involved in a new push aimed at gender parity: working with nbc on the "female forward" initiative. enginning in the fall, ten w will shadow directors on an nbc series, and then direct at least one episode themselves. "homeland" of course also features strong women in frontam of the cera, including elizabeth marvel playing theas presidenell as danes. while the show continues to explore the adowy world of secret intelligence, while lesli linka glatter and others aim for more women in positions of power in their world. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown on the set of "homeland" in richmond,

virginia. >> sreenivasan: and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm hari sreenivasan. 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, technolo e, and improvnomic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. rt >> sup by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org n pofs >> this program was made possible by e 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 dia access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org ♪

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