captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, president trump expels 60 russian diplomats and closes a consulate as part of a worldwide effort to punish moscow for poisoning a former russian sp then, the legality of buying and breaking silence as a growing number of women begin speaking up about alleged affairs with mr. trump. and, we go to nebraska to find how farmers would be affected by a new trade agreement with canada and mexico. >> if we go in there putting tariffs and different things on all these products moving back and forth betwn the borders, who's going to pay for that? the consumer is going to pay for that. >> 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. >> consumer cellular believes that wireless plans should reflect the amount of talk, text and data that you us we offer a variety of no- contract wireless plans for people who use their phone a little, a lot, or anything in between. to learn more, go to consumercellular.tv

>> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> this ogram was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

>> woodruff: the united states and at least 20 other nations have joined in a mass expulsion of russian diplomats. 60 are being kicked out of the u.s. alone, in a bid to punish the kremlin for an attack on a former russian spy. nick schifrin begins our coverage. >> schifrin: from parliament in london... >> it is part of a pattern of increasingly aggressive russianr beha >> schifrin: ...to the european council in brussels... >> we rein critical of the actions of the russian government. >> schifrin: to the white house in washington. >> this is not the type of conduct or allies can accept. >> schifrin: a united attempt to isolate and punish russia for the alleged poisoning of former russian spy sergei skripal, and his daughter yulia. today 18 countries simultaneously announced expulsionsf more than 100 ssian diplomats accused of being intelligence officials. ropean leaders said they wanted to express solidarity with british prime minister teresa may.e >> together,ve sent a message that we will not tolerate russia's continued attempts to flout inional law and undermine our values.

addition to closing the seattle consulate, the trump administration will ex russians accused of spying, the largest number of ruians expelled from the u.s., ever. in response, russia vowed cold- war style, reciprocal retaliation. the ruian embassy in washington trolled with a twitter poll: which s. "consulate general would you close in russia if it was up to you?" russian ambassador to the us anatoly antonov said moscow russia had nothing to do with the former spy's death. >> ( translated ): what the united states of america is doing today, they are destroying what little remained of u.s.- russian ties. i would add that all there onsibility for ruining russian-american relations is on the united states of america. >> russia! russia! >> the u.s.-russia relationship has been deteriorating since the 2014 russian invasion and annexation of crimea. in 2016, in response to election hacking, the obama c administrationsed russian compounds. then moscow limited the number of u.s. staffers in russia.ed then the u.s russia's san francisco consulate. then the trump administration

imposed sanctions. today's announcement is the trump administration's harshest punishment to date. >> i had a call with president putin, and congratuled him on his victory. >> schifrin: president trumps himselnot echoed his admini ration's criticism of russia. today the white house said russia must change i behavior, but said the door to dialogue was still open. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> woodruff: nick will be back, to explore the implications of all of this,neight after the summary. president trump's foreign policy came under aack today from a man who once sat in the oval office. i spoke with former president jimmy carter this moin new york. mr. carter had vowed to work with the white house on noh korea, but took aim at mr. trump's pick for national security advisor. it's been a remaably turbulent, tumultuous, some say, first 14 months in office. how do you think he's doing? >> i don't think he's doing

well. he's made some very serious mistakes. i think the worst mistake he's made so far has been the appointmt of john bolton to be his national security adviser.ow i olton from way back at a distance, i've never met him personally, but he has been very eager to go to war with different people including north korea and iran. he's been in the forefront of every kind of radical enhancement the u.s. can make based on its own military prowess. he's, he's told lies aboutin where i knew the truth. and so, i just have very little. confidence in oodruff: my full intervi with jimmy carter will air tomorrow here on pbs newshour. alin the day's other news, street roared back to life, as fears a u.s.- china trade war eased.

major indexes were up nearly 3% or more. the dow jones industrial average gained 669 pointto close at 24,202. the nasdaq rose nearly28 points, and the s&p 500 jumped 70. in russia, the death toll rose to 64 today in a fire in a siberian shopping mall. crews worked overnight to extinguish the blaze in the city of kemerovo, some 2,000 miles east of mosc. investigators said they found flagrant safety violations. they're asking why fire escapes twere blocked and a movieater was locked shut. >>translated ): the investigators are working round the clock. questioning of eyewitnesses and victims of what happened, including tenants and shop owners are underway. thess ney documentation is being confiscated. forensic examinations have been set up. four suspects have been detained and are being questioned. >> woodruff: investigaave

not yet determined what caused the fire. there's word the unite emirates may have steered money through a top trump fundraiser, to members of congress. the associated press reports elliott broidy received $2.5 million from an adviser to the u.a.e, last april. then, he made donationing a bill to target qatar, the u.a.s main rival. there are strict curbs on foreign political contributions, and broidy denies any wrongdoing. in yemen, shiite houthi rebels launched a new missile assau on saudi arabia overnight. the saudis are backing yemen's exiled government. rebel video showed missiles being fired at radh and other cities. one person was killed as missile fragments rained down. the saudis said they intercepted the missil, but other video showed the interceptors going off course.

the former president of spain's catalonia region is being held in germany, for possible extradition to spain. carlos puigdemont was detained yesterday. he led a catalan drive for independence before the spanish government seized direct control of the region last fall. today, a german prosecutor said puigdemont could be jailed for weeks, whi courts consider his status. ( translated ): extradition procedure is the remit of the higher regional courts and that is where this procedure will be this does not mean that mister puigdemont is going to be extradited. now it will be investigated whether the extradition is lawfulhe >> woodruff:panish supreme court has ruled puigdemont should be trieanfor rebellion misusing public funds. egyptianbegan casting ballots today in a three-day election that president abdel-fistah el- siss certain to win. state television aired video of el-sissi voting at a girls

school in cairo. his sole opponent, moussa mustafa moussa, also voted. el-sissi has jailed thousands of islamists and other opponents and muzzled independent news media. back in this country, facebook now faces multiple investigations after a briti firm allegedly used data fromio mi of facebook users in the 2016 elections. the u.s. federal trade commission confirmed today it's looking into the matter. and, 37 states and territories asked for informatn on when facebook learned of the problems and what actt took. new fallout from the police killing of an unarmed black man in sacramento, california. the grandmother of stephon clark, sequita thompson, said today that police need to use tasers or aim for arms or legs in order to avoid lethal wounds. officers fired at clark 20 times last week. they said they thought he had a gun, but it turned out to be a

cell phone. d d, the kansas woman whose court case overturhool segregation in america, has died in topeka. olinda brown was nine yea when she was barred from attendg a white public school. in 1954, in "brown versus board of education the u.s. supreme court declared the "separate but equal" doctre was unconstitutional. linda brown was 76 years old. still to come on the newshour: relations with the u.s. and russia reach new low. could lawsuits filed by stormy daniels and other women undermine president trump? american farmers' hopes and fears when it comes to renegotiating nafta, and much more. >> woodruff: we return to the u.s. and european expulsion of russian diplomats.ch

nickifrin looks at whether it was an appropriate response.i >> sch an appropraite response with victoria nuland. she had a 32-year career at the state department, seas assistant secretary of state for european and eurasian affairs during the obama administration. she also served as u.s ambassador to nato. she's now chief executive officer of the center for a new american security, a washington, dc think tank.sa and, pauders worked in the state department during the george w. bush administration where he focused on russia, and the former soviet union. he's now executive director of the center for the national intere d.c. think tank.gton, welcome to you both. >> thank you. >> schifrin: paul saunders, wasoday's response appropriate? >> i think it's entirely appropriatif the u.s. government knows what russia is guilty of the poisoning. what is not yet clear from the information, athletes that's been released to the public, is how certain we really are, and i would point by wayf

explanation to actually -- of what iean, a press release from the state department last week about the designation of a french national as a terrorist in syria, and this man was a designat a terrorist because he was allegedly producing and helping i.s.i.s. to use chemical weapons on the bae lefield. we wld for seven years every team chemical weapons were used in syria tat that was dne by the assad regime because no one else had the capability to use chemical weapons now, we're hearing from our own state department that, actuallye people, including i.s.i.s., have the ability in syria to use chemical weapons. the reason i give this long story is just to illustrate that determining who is doing what with some of these agents is not always the easiest thing. we had a very unfortunate

experience, too, with weapons of mass destruction in iraq. f now,ly believe russia is the most likely suspect, don't get me wrong, but tre's a difference between being the most likely suspect and proving the case.ch >>rin: victi victoria nuland, do you share the skepticism of whether russia did this? >> i don't, i don't think 20 government and our ow would have joined in solidarity with the u.k. in sending a very important message to vladimir putin that using a military nerve agent produced in russian labs on civilians in sal is acceptable to the international community. you know, if it can happen inn salisbury, it appen in st. louis, it can happen in seattle. so theresa may spent a number of weeks presenting her deie to

allied goverfrents. it toom the beginning to the end of march to make the case, but it's very important we acted strongly today and stood in solidarity and there are costs for moscow. >> schifrin: paul saunders, you have 18 countries responding, 60 diplomats from russia kicked out today. will russia get the message >> well, look, has russia gotten the message from three pvious steps we've taken in so far it looks like, no. the obama administration imposed a variety of sanctions on russia after russia's annexation of crimea and its interference in eastern ukraine. the trump administration, the congress, there have been a variety of adick additional mea. russia doesn't seem to bege ing the message. then there's the question of is that something uique related to russia that prevents them from getting the messageor do we need to think ourselves a little

bit more aboutur policies about the message that we're tryi s tod, how clear strks how strong is it, how effective is it. >> schifrin: victoria, is the ssage strong enoh to deter russia from doing something like this again or changing russian behavior? >> keking out 60 members of t russian staff in the united states and closing another one of their consulates effectively meaning they have no diplomac esence on the u.s. coast is not a small thing, but i don't disagree with paul tht it's relatively easy to reconstitute the intelligence presence in thn ed states in other ways or when they replace these folks. if you really want to get president putin's attention as we ultimately did during the ukraine chicies when it looked like he was going to drive all the way to kiev, you have to hit

him where it hus, which is in his pocketbook. you have to hit him with economic sanctions. hau have to make it mucrder for russia to get credit, float bonds, ts kind of thing, in the united states or in europe. so i'm glad, nvw, that we hae a concerted, coordinated policy with some of our key allies on russia. this is the first time i think the trump administration has been able to coordinate with allies. now we nd to continue the pressure across the board on all of the things of concern, including russian continued manipulation of democratic processes, our own 2018 elections and 2020. >> schifrin: paul saunders, what happens if u.shits russia where it hurts and goes after some of its lieu tenan and some of its money in the west? >> we have tried to do some of that, already. it really hasn't made too ch of a difference. what i think we're really doing in this situationisctuall preventing people in russia whoo want to seee reform -- and

there certainly are more people in russia who wan see more reform -- we're preventing them from playing any meaningful role in the process.rs economic reforin russia at this point have no case to make to putin, because their entire seof policy proposals, you know, it's built around integrating into the international economy, investment, cooperation with thd united states the west, they've got nothing. >> schifrin: victoria land, i'll give you the last word. we've heard from the administration today making a relatively strong stance, but we haven't heard from the president. >> yeah. >> schifrin: is the president the wildcard and how muccan be affected without the president coming out and saying some of the same things themi stration is saying? >> well, the only way to have a coherent, comprehensive policy towards moscow that president putin will pay attention to is if we are all on the same page leading with the president, so the fact that he din't say anything about this when he made his congratulatory phoneall to

president putin could lead putin to conclude, well, he's jusun hamsby his bureaucracy, he had to do something for tsa may, he's still my bud. frankly, the administration's response won't be cohter unless the president leads it as we saw in 2016 when we lked at how the russians manipulated the elections, we didn't fully comprehend until president obama ordered a full look. so we need a unified free-world response to this kind of aggressive behavior and the united states needs to lead it t.d the u.s. president needs to lead t >> schifrin: paul saunders, victoria nuland, thank you very much. >> thank y. >> woodruff: an adult film actress, a "playboy" mod and a reality tv star are adding to

president trump's legal problems. the trio of women allege three separate sex scandals, all of which he denies. but their lawsuits, at the very least, threaten the prident with years of litigation. >> and you had sex with him. >> y. >> woodruff: stephanie clifford's claim finally aired last night on "60 minutes." the porn film actress known as stormy daniels said it was consensual, and happened one time, at a celebrity golf tournament in lake tahoe, in 2006. clifford says she tried to sell r story to a tabloid in 2011, but a trump lawyer got it suppressed. and, she says there was a threat, a few weeks later in las gas.nd >> guy walked up on me and said to me, "leave trump alone. forget the story." and then he leaned around and looked at my daughter and said,u "that's a beaulittle girl. it'd be a shame if something happened to her mom." ad then he was gone. >> woodruff: five years later,

efore the 2016 election, mr. trump's long-time personal attorney, michael cohen, paid onniels $130,000 to sign a disclore agreement. >> if it was untruthful, why did you sign it? >> because they made it sound like i had no choice. sentence used was, "they can make y different ways."any >> they being...? >> i'm not exactly sure who they were. i believe it to be michael cohen. >> woodruff: but clifford is now suing the president, saying that the contract is void, since mr. trump is named as a party but never signed it. >> the president watches "60 minutes," if he's watchingwo tonight, whad you say to him? >> he knows i'm telling the truth. >> woodruff: cohen has said he "facilitated" the payment of $130,000 out of his own pocket. he claims that neither the trump organization nor the campaign were party to the deal. after the "60 minutes"

terview, cohen's lawyer accused clifford of lying, and sent her a cease-and-desist letter. mr. trump and the white house deny the alleged affair. >> the president strongly, clearly and consistently denied the claims. the only one who's been inconsistent is the one making the claims. >> woodruff: but it doesn't end there: >> so, dozens of times you were together. >> many dozens of times, yes. >> and you were intimate? >> yes. >> many dozens of times? >> yes. f >> woodrufmer playboy model karen mcdougal claims she also had an affair wit president trump, one more long- lasting. she told cnn last week that she began 10-month relationship with him in june, 2006, and that initially, hoffered her money. >> well, after we had been intimate, he, tried to pay me. and i actually didn't know how to takthat. >> did he actually try to hand you money? >> he did. he did. >> woodruff: this was at the same time as clifford's alleged encounter with mr. trump, whose wife, melaa, had given birth

to their son a few months earlier. >> mr. president, is karen mcdougal telling the truth?uf >> woof: mr. trump alsode es this affair. but mcdougal insists it happen, and like clifford, she says trump allies tried to cover it up. just before the 2016 election, mcdougal says she sold her story for $150,000 to the "national enquirer." but it never ran. >> you're pretty cvinced-- you're convinced now this was an effort to do a favor for donald trump in the last few months of the presidential race? >> unfortunately, yes.>> oodruff: now, she is suing the "national enquirer's" paren, compmerican media inc., to void her deal. i she arguwas in fact an illegal, corporate donation to the trump campaign.e, meanwhil judge in new york rvhas ruled that summer ze, a former contestant on "the aiprentice," may pursue her defamation suit agnst the president.

in october of 2016, zervos ,aimed mr. trump groped h twice, in 2007. >> he began thrusting his genitals. he tried to kisse again with my hands still on his chest and ngsaid, "dude, you're tripping right now," attempo make >> all of these liars will be sued after the election is or. >> woodruff: zervos says the president defamed her when he said she, and other women accusing him, were lying. >> woodruff: mr. trump's legal team says it will appeal the new york judge's ruling. to walk us through the legal word stephanie clifford is suing michael ehn for defamation for calling her a liar. to walk us through the legal guments i'm joined by kimberly wehle, a former federal prosecutor, now teaching at the university of baltimore school of law. kimberly, welcome to theog m. let's look more closely at what these three women are staying, starting with stephanie

clifford, her name as an actor stormy daniels. she has filed suit to invalidate that agreement that she signed back in 2016, giving up th rights to her story. how strong a case does sheave? what kind of case does it look like to you? >> well, her claim is that the contract is invalid because it was not signed, but as a matter of contract law, the signature itself is not really a magical ement of every contract. so the question really comeso downether the other signatory to theontract, promptively an org related to or mr. trump, that they can impose sanctionons her at $1 million per violation for telling her story in vio lation e agreement, and the law looks to what a reasonable amount of dam wagld be. that million-dollar number is not likely to hold either in

arbitration or in a courtca e the arbitrator is bound by the same law. so i d'think queer going to see as we've heard in the media or other places a $20 million judgment against her in light of ghthis. there be very little damages that will flow from this violation. >> woodruff: that's the effort by the trump representatives to come back at her. but what about her case to get out of that reement and go out and h tell her story which sheo isng? >> she is doing it so her case to invalidate the agreements probably not very strong in that i think looking at the complaint or the agreement it's probably likely any judge is going to see through andidentify mr trump as party of the agreement, number one. number two is there's beena performance int on the agreement meaning she's kept silent and she got the money. so arguably,hat is probably valid itself. the question en is it enforceable, can the other side get money from her for vilating

it, and again because there's not a lot of damage to his reputation arguably, it's probably hard to see those numbers flowing against her. >> woodruff: so you also have this lawsuit by karen mcougal who is seeking to invalidate the agreement she signed with american media, incorpy ated the comphat owns the national inquiring and we've read about that. essentially, she's saying they paid me for my exclusive rights to the story but never ran it, the so-called catch and kill ngocess. how stoes that case look to you. >> is this that case is different from the other case ir that she en into what she understood to be money for actual work and, ngin exc she was going to keep -- basically sell the rights to he story about anmarried man to the "national enquirer," and re's really asking declaration, we call it, a statement by the judge saying the agreement sin valid. at this point she's telling her story. it's hard to see what actually

will flow from tht lawsuit either direction. >> woodruff: so we may not learn that much more as the lawsuit moves forward. >> correct. >> woodruff: summer zervos, the e on the president's show "apprentice," "celebrity "apprentice"," she is now accusing the presidentf defamation because she said she and other women, what they said l lies. what about her? >> that's a more interesting case for a number of. reaso first of all, the president came in in that case and said, listen, you cannot sue me because i am the president of the united states. i need to spend my time doing presidential things. anthe court overruled or rejected that argument, which means two things, one, the court looked at clithnton vs. jonese supreme court decision where bill clinton raised a similar argument a the court said, no, you can actually be subject to civil litigation as a settle president. the court id, in this instance, look, what's good for mr. clinton is good r

mr. trump, number one. number two, it's unl'sikely -- nlikely that will be reversed on appeal, i thi. numberywo, it's unlik the case will go to discovery, the fact gathering process, meaning interviewing people which includes a deposition, pobably mr. trump, means gettingdo ments, electronic information, and the defense the trut so in that instance, the case's will be whoelling truth with respect to that relationship and that could be problematic bot in terms of the public relations element of it and, recall, i worked on whitewater, mr. clinton was impeached for statements he made in connection with a civil deposition. >> woodruff: ath you saying the third lawsuit by summer zervos could potentially pos the greatest threat? >> i believe so both in terms of the facts that cou come and, also, i think the ruling on

saying that this esident can be held civilly liable is relevant relly to his liability for indictment as well because there's a number of legal documents or arguments that go both ways in terms of whether a sitting president could be indicted by mr. mueller. the document that says that he cannot is an opinion from the office of legal counsel which is kind of t supreme court of the department of justice and that decision came before the supreme court decisions in the paula jones case. so i think it has to be read light of that and this is kind of putting that a little bit on the front burner. >> woodruff: i think it's fascinating people hadn't thought about the c between what these women are alleging abouthe robert mueller special counsel investigation, but you're saying there could be links.ld >> there ce links from a legal standpoint in terms of if that were ever to turn into an indictment, president trump would say, listen, i'm the esident, you can't indict me,

i think that precedent will bear on that particularly question. >> woouff: squirm squirm, former federal prosecutor. we thank you very much. >> thanks for having me. >> woodruff: stay with us, comingp on the newshour: the shifting political stakes after thousands of students march against gun violence. inside the yemen conflict at's entering its fourth year. and rethinking what it means to live every day like it's your last. but first, we turn to trade. president trump's tarriffs on steel and aluminum angered allies around the globe. here at home, his efforts to change the terms of the north american free trade agreement or nafta, have divided farmers and ranchers. from pbs station net in nebraska, grant gerlock looks at how it might affect their income

and livelihoods. >> reporter: alan tiemann farms corn andoybeans in eastern nebraska. but like many farmers, when it comes to his business, he keeps a global perspective. >> 95% of the world's population lives outside the u.s. so, it's a huge factor in that we're not just producing for ourselves, we've producing for the r:rld. >> reporxports are a necessity, tiemann says. and america's two closest neighbors are big clients.de canada is a toination for prepared foods and fresh prode. mexico is the number one export market for corn, $2.6 billion worth in 27. where does that leave farmers? what do you do wh all that grain if nafta falls through?s >> if nafta farough that's just a scary thought. up to one-third of my income comes from exports. so nafta plays a huge part in that and they're the largest trading partner we have. we need trade. >> reporter: for farmers,

exports are an outlet for the extra grain raised in the united states. without trade, there would be an oversupply and the prices psfarmers earn for their c would fall. in the beef industry, trade has beco part of a border- blurring, multinational production system. >> when you process one of these animals, it doesn't go to the same place. you have pieces that go everywhere, okay? >> reporter: craig uden operates darr feedlot in central nebraska where cattle put on weight before they go to market. meat companies sl cuts of beef ere they bring the best prices. steaks and hamburger derwell in grstores and restaurants in the u.s. but other cuts sell better overseas. >> the tongues maybe to go japan. m and the oxtabe goes to europe. orter: nafta is part of how this works. cattle from mexico and canada are often imported, tariff free, to feedlots and packing plants in the u.s.

from therehey become part of the beef supply parceled out on the export market. just as corn farrs fear an oversupply if nafta were terminated, uden fearshe u.s. would be saddled with more beef than americans could eat. >> and once it's disruptive to the livestock sector particularly in nebraska, then it presses back down to the grain markets and the hay markets and the ethanol production. >> reporter: that's what uden worries about if nafta goes away, but there are some in the cattle business who believe nafta has already done more harm than good. david wright operates a ranch in north centranebraska where he raises calves that eventually grow up to go to feedlots. wright agrees with president trump that the current version of nafta doesn't work and supports efforts to reform it. his argument sounds like the recent debates over steel and solar panels. he says cheap cattle from canada d mexico undercut his business. >> the cost of livin production in other countries if

ent than it is here. so, as long as we're one of thec highesomies in the world, i don't see a lot of advantage in us trading for something thau we already p. >> reporter: the u.s. typically ddbut wright says when youn foreign cattle imported to the real estate g t trying to ke town open as opposed to the guy in canada who are not. the number of large ctle feed lots declined by more than 50% since the agreement was signed. fears are if nafta remainsan und, that will continue. >> if anything, they've kept us in the game. >> craig doesn't think there are fewer cattle producers in the u.s. because of canada and

mexico. he blames the cost of labor and keeping up with environmental rules. dee direction nafta turns the trump administration is not the only issue on farmers' and ranchers' minds. some 60% of rural voters went for trump in 2016. and that includes many farmers like alan tiemann who says he's been happy with the tax cuts that were passed, and regulations that have been rolled back, such as the waters but nafta cuts straight to the bottom line of his business. >> if we go in tffre putting ovand different things on all these productsg back and forth between the borders, who's going to pay for that? the consumer is going to pay for that. >> reporter: dave wright has been encouraged by ec growth and new jobs created so far under trump. he says putting protections in nafta to protect ame workers, and cattle ranchers, umuld reinforce that. >> i need the co to have money in his pocket so he can purchase my beef that's put out for market. and if we're sending jobs over to other countries, then what rne our citizens doing to living?

because if they don't ha revenue to spend on the product that i'm trying to sell, then i guess i don't have a product to sell, you know?sa >> reporter: h that's what's in the balance as the trump administration continues talks on trade. for the pbs newshour, i'm grant gerlock in lincoln, nebraska. >> woodruff: hundreds of thousands of people marched in washington and around the country this weekend to push for tougher gun laws. onll the student-led march for our lives motivateess to take action? our politics monday team is here to weigh in. that's amy walter of the "cook political report" and tamara keith of npr. welcome to both of you,

"politics monday." i know you watched as i sid did some of the extraordinary outpouring on saturday, amy. we've talked about guns time and again. is this going to make ff ence with the people who make the decisions in coming and elsewhere? >> i think it's cleae're talking about this congress at this time, we'relmost definitely not going to see we'rgoing to see anything noything. happening in in congress at this time. is this going to be an issue going to forward for the midterm elections as a more powerful motivator for voters potentially especially when we think about where the battleground for house control is for 2018, it's in the suburbs, and i think this issue has always plad to the benefit oftimeoftimes or dr. -- to demos or people who want to see more restrictions on guns come to the

foreont. i think the issue is enthusiasm, whetr the march or cities and towns across america, the intensity and enthusiasm from younger voiters to make their voices heard and say they're interested in voting in this election. even before march in the pew organization asked young people if they were interested to evote, 62% said they we interested to vote or at least in the midterm elections, .ompare that to 2010, when it was 39% so that level of intense phi is a big problem for republicans because younger voters are people who dislike the president almost more than any othergr dehic group. >> woodruff: you're nodding. those marchs were about guns but as an embodiment on the energy that exists on the left and among young people and the other thing to point out is there were a whole lot of people out at those events all over the

country registering people to vote, and, so, as amy says, there's not really legislative path right now in congress for gun control legislation of the likes that these rallies were calling for. there wee small items put into that big omnibus spending bil that congress passed and the president signed and the white house was today basically saying we've done this, mission accomplished, and that big spending bill was likely the last major traut of the station for legislation in congress this year. >> woodruff: tightening of the background check process. >> but it doesn't expand background c tecks. >> a bump stocks. it certainly doesn't address the onds of guns peple can buy which was really a major piece of the rally and the speakers at those rallies. >> the other thing we had going on separate from this buyou did -- we are talking about the spending bill, amy, is a lot of

drama around whether the esident was going to sign that huge mega piece of legislation, $1.3 trillion we can barely conceive of it. what was all that about? >> i tnk it was about the that the president saw a negative reaction coming from conservative commentators, specifically conservative commentators on tell investigation saying, whoa, wait a minute, i thought we elected the great negotiate, i thought were going to get somebody who was going to reduce the size rf government and get the wall built and make that he got the best deals in this bill, instead it looked like he got rolled, by democrats and by his own party, and that is the rel danger for republicans going into this midterm electiorethat what thesident does when he's confronted is he says, oh, no, no, thimisn't abou this isn't my fault, this is congressional leaders and even his own leadership, he's willing to throw under the bus to protect his own brand at the expense of his party.

they're the ones up for reelection in 2018. he's not. >> right. and, so, 4.5 hours after all this susepense began, th president admitted he signed the bill and expressed separation with basically the separation of powers and the way congress works and the whole concept of negotiation that hay had to give things up to get what they hewanted. analled for an end to the line item vetochhihat would be -- or he wants a line item veto.at ould be unconstitutional and is not going to happen, and other changes that are simply not going to happen. >> woodruff: amy mentioned danger to the president, the other thing we haveeen talking about is the three lawsuits which women who alleged they have had some either affair with the president or in the case this one on "the apprentice" ate the presidenamed her by saying she lied about his tbroaping her.

how much political jeopardy does this represent for the president? >> it's a good question and it's not clear in terms of polling that these questions are registering with his base in any way. pew polling looked at whitevo evangelicaers who supped him overwhelmingly in the election, and they wnew what the getting, the access hollywood video had already come out in. january when the story first broke, there was a little dip in his support but in march he's back up to 78% support among white evangelicals. so it's not clear it's registering th the people who support the president. >> i argue his bigger legalal nge is the fact his legal team around him continues to be cies array, either people coming or going or he's firing, whatevt, while he's going i a critical moment in this mueller investigation, he's saying out loud, sure, i'll get tterviewed, sure, i'll down

with mueller, when you know his ticularly excited about this idea and this sort of winging it on something asit al as sitting down with the specl counsel seems to be, to me, the most problematic piece for his legal standing right now, the jeopardy. >> woodruff: the law as we just hea our guest who's a former federal prosecutor say, tam, the concern may come with discovery with mmer zervos. >> exactly, with her case, but they could ultimately get a deposition with the president of the united states among many things, and president trump, i have been reading a lot of his depositions today for some work i'm doing at npr -- >> woodruff: really? i have, going back a number of years.wa >> woodruff: h involved in other legal cases, a lot of them? ac yes, a lot of them, in and in cases there are themes that come out including ack of preparation and a lack of

really paying attention to detail. >> woodruff: we will look for that report. tamera keith, amy walter, "politics monday." thank you both. >> thank you, judy. you're welcome. >> woodruff: we reported earlier on last night's missile launch by houthi rebels in yemen that targeted the saudi capital, riyadh.ta the coincided with today's third, bloody rabia'ssary of saudi involvement in yemen's civil war. hari senivasan recently spoke with a journalist who has reported for years on yemen, its many conflicts, and the people caught in between. >> sreenivasan: thousands of civilians have died and more than three millionave been displaced in the war between a u.s. backed saudi coalition and houthi rebels. yemen was also the scene of the first commando raid directly ordered by president trump 2017

id ended in the death of u.s. navy seal and yemeni civilians. iona craig is a freelance journalist who has just won a polk award for her investigation of this raid.ha shdeep experience reporting in yemen. thanks for joining us. first, tell us you've lived there for five years you've been on multiple reporting trips. how has yemen changed in the y that you first started reporting in and now through the civil war? it's a depressing place to go back to and i have a number oed friends affey the conflict and the humanitarian crisis. yemenis are very resilient butnc that resilis worn down. every time i go back, i see more peop struggling to live day to day. >> sreenasan: we hear about 22.2 million yemenis to need humanitarian assistance, children under age of 5 acutely

malnourished. cholera, tens of thousandsed ki what does that do to is a society and economy? how do people function? >> whether in the north where houthi ebbles control, or in the terrory controlled by the saudi-led conflict, the children on both sides are suffering. and to sit and spoeak to wmen as their children are literally dying of starvation in their arms is really, really not any tragic -- but hard to get your head around to see th repeatedly in the hundreds of thousands going across the country and to see people so helpless, not able to get to medical care because they can't afford bt, not able the food available in the markets ot thee they haven't money to do so. >> sreenivasan: we've heard about the difficulty of trying to gehumanitarian aid in there but i think it's important to clarify the role that the.s., the west and the u.k. are playing in the fight though not directly., >> exactly, wee u.s. made isvolvement in supporting the

saudi-led coalitio assisting them, really, in the air war and, certainly according to u.n figures, the majority of the casualties in the conflict have beenaused by saudi-led coalition r strikes and the u.s.'s involvement in s they're doingidair refueling, so the fighters carrying out the raids in northern yemen and center of the country as welas providing intelligence and targeting assistance and that's realll cruccause much of the civilian infrastructure has been hit in addition to the high number of civilian casualties. so water supply lines, for example, hospitals have been hit, schools have been hit, farms have been targeted, and that all comes with the u.s. involvement, and in addition to that the fishermen on the red sea coast have also been targeted more than 250 boats and fishermen have been eitherde royed or damaged and more than 152 killed as well.een

>> the saudis are going to say, listen, this is the hou fault, anybody in a war will say it's the other person's fau. they're saying 100 rockets are launched inside the kingdom, we are primarily trying to defend our calf. is the new crown prince's stake in this? just recently fired his chief of staff of his army and ta over. is this a crucial part of saudi foreign policy? >> it became so. before crown prince, he was also the minister of dfense when the war started so he led the war and the saudi involvement in it. their reason for becoming involved is is they eve seen the houthis as a proxy for iran, which is very much a sort of state of paranoia ofhe saudis. there is political alignment between houthis and iran and it has in some way almost self-fulfilling. there has been some anian involvement and certainly doing small amounts ofraing of houthi fighters but not of the

scale you will see in syria and elsewhe in the region and sterile not of the level of the houthis being a proxy for iran or answering iran. >> goingack to the raid in early 2017, the whi house called it highly successful. the military commanders came oun said they gathered lots of important intelligence. you were really the only reporter actually able to go to the villages and verify what happened on the ground that really changed our understanding of the entire situation that's what the polk award was for but tell us what kind of update that story. what's happened since then? >> the area of al-da, which is the name of the government or the province where it happened is repeatedly targeted since then. this is on the front lines of where the tribesmen areghting against the houthis and where there has been an al presence who have been fighting on the side of the saudi-led coalition that the u.s. is supporting. so, really, for the people in at area, the storyid not end when i left that village and did that story.

it's really continued, and i've kept in contact wihem actually quite regularly. many of those families were t displaced frt area but caused the repeated air strikese they could gback to their homes, many living in tents on the side of the mountain for many months because of the risk ofheing killed in teir own homes after that raid. and, s, al-beda has been really sort of at the heart of a lot of the u.s. airstrikes that have been carried out, drone strikes over the last year, over a year now and the first year of the trump campaign, that has been on area they have specifically targeted repeatedly. reenivasan: i iona craig, thanks very much for reporting. >> thanks very much foaving me.

>> woodruff: "new york times" reporter john leland began following a group of men andn womeo ranged in age from 87 to 92. and what he learned shattered his expectations about aging and death, as he explains in his humble opinion. >> people are always telling us s live each day as if it's our last, but few oftually do this, for two good reasons. the first is that if ylly thought today was your last day, you wouldn't pay the utility billr save for retirement, a pretty soon you're in the dark eating cned beans over an open flame. and the secondeason is that we n't like to think about death or dying, except as something that happens to other ople. a few years ago i met a man named john sorensen, who taught me how to think about death, and it changed my life. he was 91 and he missed his partner of 60 years, and every ti i visited him he said h wanted to die. he wasn't depressed or even sad. in fact, talking about dyingal

ys got him in a good mood. wanting to die was the best reason to live. what i mean is this. john loved opera and he loved old movie musicals. wanting to die meant noting that this might be the last time he heard jonas kaufmann sing wagner or watched gene kelly singing in the rain. they became more worthy of his attention. the same went for vits from friends. it's a classic economy of scarcity. his days weren't fleeting, they were supersaturated with chosenu pls. in our culture we've come ea think of as a kind of failure, whether of medicine or survival instinct, rather than seeing mortality as built into all of our daymu the first as as the last. viing death as unrelated t life, or antithetical it, does a disservi to the days we have, because we don't know how to value them. we enjoy a movie more knowing it's going to end in a couple

hours. that ski run in the swiss alps? it's only fun because you know there's a bottom. the end of the run givesach curve meaning, even when you're still near the top of the motain. i've heard this acceptance of from most of the older people i've spent time with. but we don't have to wait until we're 91 to enjoy it.re we shoulhink what it means to live every day as if it's your last. the way i learned it from john, it means embracing that part of the end that ests in this qument, and then in the next. you don't have t your job or stop paying your utility bill. there's enough to live for in the things you're already doing. brush with a stranger, eachmo nt with friends, each kiss or caress. there's a little bit of mortality in all of them. and that, i learned, is reason to be happy. >> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight.

on tuesday, i sit down with former president jimmy carter to talk north korea and the trump white house. i'm ju u woodruff. joonline and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, soon.ou and see you >> major fundingwsor the pbs nehour has been provided by: >> my dad once said to me, tragedy has a way of defining people. >> what the hell happened, teddy? >> they're treating this like a ime scene. >> we tell the truth-- or at least, our version of it. c >> senator, whan we expect some answers? >> we're in this deeper than i thought. >> these theatrics are not going to hold up in a court of law. >> what have i done? >> chappaquiddick, rated pg-13. april 6.

>> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financl literacy in the 21st century. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peacef world. more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing supportu of these insons captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc caioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

♪ ♪ ♪ -today on "america's test kitche... we're cooking under pressure. becky makes julia the best farmhouse chicken noodle soup, jack challenges bridget to a tasting of gruyère, ern dives into pressure co science, and elle makes bridget the ultimate pressure cooker pot roast. it's all coming up right her k on "america's techen." "america'st kitchen" is brought to you by the following. -i've always been a big believer