caning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> yang: good evening. i'm john yang. judy woodrf is away. on the newshour tonight: james comey tells all..b the former. director slams the president in a new memoir detailing his meetings with him. then, markhields and david brooks are here. we discuss the fallout from comey's claims, and what speaker paul ryan's departure ans for the g.o.p. plus, what's in a face? a look at david hockney'new series of 82 portraits and why, after all these years, he's still fascinated with capturing the human spirit. >> i know the argument about "painting is dead." but painting can't die, because photography is not good enough. >> yang: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour.

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>> yang: two white house investigations top the news tonight-- onreaching back more than a decade. today, president tmp pardoned "scooter" libby, a former to aide to former vice president dick cheney. it comes 11 years after his conviction for lying to investigators and obstructing justice. we'll have more on that after thnews summary. and in the ongoing russia investigation, details are emerging from fired f.b.i. director james comey's new book, and his scathing views of the president. that's where we begin, withci yamiche or. >> i honestly never thought these words would come out of my mouth. >> reporter: this today, from an abc interview, was one of several first-peeks at what former f.b.i. director james comey is now ready to y about the president who fired him. the interview comes ahead of the release of comey's book, "a higher loyalty," containing new details about his interactions with president trump. he writes that mr. trump's behavi being illegal," but that it is

also "untethered to truth," andl ts "basic norms of ethical leadership." he also compares mr. trump to a mafia boss. comey, who prosecuted mob cases earlier in his career, wrote that with trump, he saw "the silent circle of assent. the boss in complete control. the loyalty oaths. the us-versus-them worldview." there were more personal t comments abouthe president, as well. president trump, comey said, "appeared shorter than he seemed on a debate stage." and says of shaking the president's hand, "it was smaller than mine, but did not seemnusually so." in his abc interview, comey also discussed mr. trump's lack of concern about the threat fromap russia, and hirent fixation on salacious claims made in the now widely-discussed "steele dossier:" >> and then he says-- somethingt istracted me. because he said, you know, "if there's even a 1% chance my wi thinks that's true, that's terrible."

and i-- and i remember thinking, "howould your wife think there's a 1% chance you were with prostitutes, peeing on each other in moscow?" and i said to him, "sir--" when alking about it, "i may order you to investigate that." i said, "sir, that's up to you. but you'd want to be carefulab t that, because it might create a narrative that we're investigating you personally. and second, it's very difficult to prove something didn't happen." >> reporter: still, comey himself said in the interview, that particular claim remained unverified when he was dismissed. the book also mentions the president's aides. comey claims that current chief of staff, john kelly, back when he was secretary of homeland ircurity, called mr. trump "dishonorable" forg comey. and, comey criticizes attorney nogeneral jeff sessions fo doing more to insulate him from mr. trump's pressure. thisorning, president trump responded to all of this, by calling comey "a weak and untruthful sli ball."

y. added, "it was my great honor to fire james come" while briefing reporters tod, press secretary sarah sanders did not mince words. >> i don't think we're surprised by the fact that james comey continues to spread false information. the guy's known to be a liar and a leaker. comey's higher loyalty is pretty clear that it's only to himself. >> reporter: those comments so far are the most visible parts of the republican effort tofe nd the president.ho online, it's ad by this "lyin' comey" website. it highlights past democratic rebukes of comey, and is "paid for by the republican national committee." comey has criticized mr. trump and his administration before. it happened last year, when comey testified before the senate intelligence committee after his firing. >> the administration then chose to defame me, and more importantly, the f.b.i., by saying that the organization was in disarray, that it tas poorly let the workforce had lost

confidence in its leader.s, those were plain and simple. >> reporter: but for all of the attention today on select excerpts, the book itself goes public on tuesday.r it is clesident trump is furious about comey's book. sarah sanders ent much of the briefing criticizing comey, saying he should not be praised but rather, "put down." john, it was one of harshest atecks i've seen, from a wh house known for not holding back. >> yan yamiche, thanks a lot. stay there while we bring in phil rucker, white house bureau chief. phil, you've read this book. what's your takeaway from what you've read? >> yamiche hit some of the high i think it's a scathing portrait of president trump, not only his condt in office butof his character overall. comey describes the presidency as a forest fire that has to be contained and describes trump as an unethical, amoral leader, a

con congenital liar, someone who would manipulate the norms o washington to play to his personal will and demand loyaltp frople that are not expected to give him loyalty.m >> yang: he, you've given us a lot of public response but have been talking privately to people around the president. what areou hearing? >> most of the people around the president say the things bothering him we the personal attacks comey didn't have to talk aut in hisoks. he talks about the president's hands, hair, orange face. there are all these things that people around the president say are realnoying this president and you can tell they're annoyed becausehey're pulling out kellyanne conway and sarah sanders today and trying to push back and says the president is feeling th real anger that comey wanted him to >> yang: and, yamiche, this is a very well organized coordinated response. you've shown us the web site the

rnc is coordinating. what else are they doing and saying? >> the rnc is essentially using this web site as their number one way ck push ban this. republicans are mount ago full-throated, i would say almost partisan attack on james mey there. they are saying he is someone who is hated in washington, thae the democrats im, they are saying he is someone who is right erghtfully fired. they're going afot just the legal aspects refuting parts to have the books saying comey talked about the reason why he investigated clinton hasn't really been clear. sarah sanders also pusheback on whether or not he had a conversation with president trump about stopping the investigation into michael flynn, so they're pushing back t. tha their not pushing back on the bonversation the president had with james comey the "pee tape." they're not saying that didn't

happen. >> yang: phil, in your story this morning, you talked aboutro comey coing the president with some of these personal remarks. when you read the enthtirety of book, does it feel different? obviously, when you talk about the highlights, him talking about the hands and the cor of his complex -- >> yeah. yang: when you read e entirety of the book does it feel different? >> it does. the book taken ins entirety is a serious book on serious substantive issues. there are a few paragraphs where mey will write about the president's physical appearance in a way that could be seen as a personal attack, but those are just a few paragraphs. most of the book is abo comey's career, his life, his work on the clinton email investigation and, of course, his interactions with president trump. >> yang: he's also critical, ph, as you write, of officials in previous admatinisns like loretta lynch. >> that's right, he was critical of the attorney attorney generaa

lynch in the later half of the obama administration for having beenort ofeak on the clinton email investigation. remember, she got on the airplane in phoenix on the formac in 2016 to have a conversation witmer president bill clinton whose wife was the subject of thein n email investigation. nomey described her as having an awkward half i, half out posture with regard to the clinton investigation, not fully recusing herself but deerring judgment to the f.b.i. and others at the justice department and a portrait of lynch is not favorable. >> yang: phil phil o "the washington post," "newshour's" yamiche thank you very much. >> thank you. >> yang: in the day's other onws, president trump's pe attorney michael cohen went to court today, trying to block federal prosecutors from examining documents the f.b.i. seized earlier this we from his office and hotel room. lawyers for both cohen and the president told a new york federal judge that the material is protected under attorney- client privilege.

meanwhile, the "washington post" reported the f.b.i. may also have seized recordings that cohen made of his conversations. prosecutors said today their criminal pro is focused on cohen's personal business dealings. and the "new york times" reported mr. trump called cohen this morning, before the court hearing.te the united sand russia traded barbs at the u.n. security council today over a suspected chemical attack in syria.s. mbassador nikki haley said the united states, france and britain have proof that syria's military launched the attack, with russian support. haley and the russian ambassador argued over a possible u.s. military strike to retaliate against syria. >> it is russia alone that has stopped at nothing to defend the syrian regime's multiple uses of chemical weapons. should the united states and our allies decide to act in syria, it will be in defens principle on which we all agree. m ( translated ): we continue

to observe dangeroitary preparations. such a development is fraught with grave repercussions for global security, especially in the light ofhe russian military deployment in syria. >> yang: today, russia's military said britain stag the chemical attack. a british envoy called the charge a "blatant lie." it's been another violent friday on the israel-gaza border. gaza's health ministry says israeli forces shot one man dead. nearly 1,000 others were hurt, including more than 220 wounded by live fire. some palestinians burned tires and tried to breach the border fence. they're protesting the decade- old blockade on their territory. members of the trans-pacific rtnership reacted cautiously today to word of president trump's apparent willingness to rejoin the trade group. he withdrew the united states from the deal after taking office, calling it "unfair" and a "disaster." australia's trade minister said t.p.p. members would welcome the united states back, under the existing terms. a

>> but leto be clear, i think there's very little appetite among the t.p.p. 11 countries for there to bein any meul re-negotiation or indeed any substantial re-negt.iation of the p. 11 at all. c yang: the president tweeted today that he'd onsider re-joining the trade pact if there was a "substantial better" deal. in a pennsvania courtroom, bill cosby's chief accuser testified that he drugged and sexually asslted her in 2004 at his suburban philadelphia home. andrea constand took the stand in day five the cosby re-trial. she is the sixthoman to testifagainst the 80-year-old comedian. cosby's first trial ended with a hung jury in june 2017. president trump has ordered a task force to review the u.s. postal service and its finances. while the executive ordedoes not mention amazon, for weeks he's been complaining that price breaks for amazon are hurting the post service's bottom line. federal regulators have found

that the arrangements are ttofitable. mr. trump has alsoacked amazon's owner jeff bezos and another of his properties, the "washington post." and, wall street finished theot week on a down the dow jones industrial average lost nearly 123 points to close6 at 2 the nasdaq fell 33 pois, and the s&p 500 slipped seven. still to come on the newshour: b ak down president trump'sf pardonce president dick cheney aide, "scooter" libby. why are teachers in severalin states protenow for higher wages and improved school conditions? d mark shields aid brooks break down a packed week of politics. and, much more. >> yang: now back to president trump's pard of a bush administration official. in a statement, thpresident

said he doesn't know "scooter" libby, but "heard for years" that he had been mistreated. i. lewis libby, better known aer "scooter," sd as former vice president cheney's chief of staff. libby came under investigation in 2003, after speculation that he leaked the identity of a.a secret coperative, valerie plame, to newspaper reporters. plame's husband, former ambassador joseph wilson, had criticized the bush administration's rationale fordi in iraq. in 2007, a federal court found him guty of four felonies, including lying to investigators and a grand jury, and obstructing justice. libby was sentenced to 2.5 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. before he went to prison, president george w. bush commuted his sentence, but rejected pleas from viceid prt cheney to pardon him. for her part, plame todayru questioned mr.'s

motivations for libby's pardon. >> this is definitely not about no. it's absolutely about scooter libby. it's is about donald trump and his future. the message being sent is, "you lln commit perjury, and i pardon you if it protects me, and i deem that you are loyal me." >> yang: to discuss thepo pardon, and itible implications for the russia investigation, we're joined ni richard ben-e, a partner in the washington office of mayer brown. he served on t 9/11 commission and was chief of the special prosecutor's watergate task force. mr. ben-veniste, thanks and welcome. first of all, what's your p reaction to thdon? >> i think it's the president flexing his pardon power.se it alsves to poke a finger in the eye of the intelligence community. the disclosures relating to valerie plain tht ended her career, he effectively as an

undercover officer, case w,ficer, c.i.a., was a big blo and they're feeling it. >>ang: there was a lo made at the time during the trial that libbey s protecting the vice president. is this -- is a message beingpl sent to pein the russia investigation? >> i think the message the there and it has been repeated often before this pardon that the president miht exercise his pardon power with respect toin viduals such as mr. flynn, such as, mr. manafod such as perhaps others who are caught up in the investigation of the russiant inerference in the 2016 election. it's interesting to note that, in watergate, the offers of presidential clemency that wereo secretly mad watergate

burglars were a part of the conspiracy to obstruct jutice. here in right lights, there is w discussion oether individuals who may have damaging information about the president will be pardoned or subject to clemency. >> yang: so could you make an obstruction of justice case, do you think? >> well, it's a tter of the president's intent in exeising a constitutionallygi ven power, the power of the pardon, which is explicit, only if it is exercised for corrupt purposes and with a corrupt intent would there be a violation of lw. >> yang: there's been a lot of talk about the president threatening or talking about firing the deputy attorney general rosenstein as a waof getting someone who might fire robert mueller the specialse

co it reminds a lot of people of the saturday night mssacre during watergate. could you make an obstruction of justice case out of that? >> you could, again, if there was evidence at the intention, if such a firing were to take place, was crupt, whether it was for the purpose ofob ructing the investigation. >> yang: we don't know what's going on inside the special counsel's investigation. you have been inside a special counsel's investigation. it seems like a big week this week when we had the raids on michael cohen's office and residence and the pre'sside personal attorney. does it feel to you, given your experience, that we're at an important point in this investigation? >> well, now we have tapes, johnthat are aeged to have been made by mr. cohen. we don't know wha on them,

and we understand they have been . we have new information as a result of the u.s. attorney's office filing a response to mr. cohen's attorneys' attempt to freeze the material and it from the hands to have the u.s. attorney's -- from the hands s. the u.ttorney's office, and there are so manyel parato watergate now. we've had hush-money tapes, electronic interference with the opposition party, now we have russia involved, so there's so much here to unpack, and theu special nsel is doing exactly what he should be doing in maintaining silence. there have been no leaks, justre as tere no leaks in losiveate where we had exp information on the secret tapes

t at we obtained. yet, none of thaked out, bd that's just the way mr. mueller shou conducting his investigation. >> yang: richard ben-veniste, former watergate prosecutor, thank you so much. >> thank you, john. >> yang: for the better part of two months now, teachers strikes and walkouts have been spreading from west virginia to arizona. today, in kentucky, thousands of teachers rallied at the state capitol in frankfort, over school spending and to protest a new pension law. it comes just as another walkout is ending in oklahoma. william brangham takes a deeper look at what's behind these strikes. >> brangham: oklahoma's educators and staff will return to school, after the state's lllargest teachers' union for an end to their nine-day walkout. rs and support staff wil get raises-- but that legislation was already signed before the wkouts began.

and there will not be additional school funding. instead, the uni urged members to support pro-school-spending candidates in the fall elections. ntwave of teacher demonstrations there, as well as ky and arizona came after west virginia teachers won raises, follong a nine-day walkout there. sarah jaffee is an author and labor journalist, and she joins me now. a let's taittle bit about oklahoma first. what is it that the teachers and staff have now agreed to. >> so the teachers, most of the teachers -- i should say there were still teachers at the capitol today who did agree they should noto go back work -- most of the teachers agreed to i that was already signed before the strike began that will give them about a $6, w0 raise thatll come up wit some $400 million-something in extra school funding which is a lot but still ao shrtfall.

this will still be an ongoing struggle in the state offoklahoma, but it's important to note we're seeing renewed militancy in a time when labor unions are under attac and struggling, when austerity has been sort of the rule of the game in red awell as blue states across the country. >> yang: we've seen this in oklahoma, kntucky, west virginia, arizona. >> yeah. >> yang: what's driving this? when we talk about this stuff, i have to go back to wisconsin in 20 is 1 when you look at the pictures of the state ste capitols flooded with teachers in red t-shirts, you have to remember an attempt to take away collective bargaining rights from employees many whom are teachers. when we see the fits, for instance, west virginia, they won raises for all the public employees of the state of west virginia, not just teachers. there is very strong echoes of what h.p.d. in wisnsin in

2011. also chicago in1 202 --. that really changed. the chicago teachers went on strike and in e that stey went up against a democrat mayor rahm emanuel who worked in the white house, they wanted signifant changes, had massive support from the families and the students in the area, and that spurred militancy across the teachers union movement in particul, and we've seen a lot of victories, a lot of potential strikes that didn't get to a strike because people have realized, state and local governments have realized they don't actually want a big teachers strike. so the week befre west virginia went out, there was a strike deadline, and they went right up to the deadline and then cal off the strike when they got an agreement in st. paul, minnesota. eso things like that haven happening between now and in chicago, in particular, buts

what's new nowese are places where there are not strong unions at all. we're seeing something new i west virginia and if oklahoma and arizona, in particular, whe there's not been a lot of strong union activity in many sars. >> yang: we weying before that some of these largely have been happening in red ates but blue states as well. do you think there is significance that way, what the political leadership of the state is? is there any overlap tere is this. >> so what's happened in west virginia and obama obamacare, in particular, i would say, is that these are teachers who, a, they' winning significant concessions from a gifecta red government, rht, this is all republican dominance in every part of the governance in these states, and they're still managing to get significant funding commitments out of these people. they got in oklahoma an oil and gas tax will y for some of this. oklahoma is a big, big oil

extraction state. it's significant these are teachers challenging those industries at the same time they're challenging a republican dominancin the other tthat's significant, again, these are not places where the teachers unions are particularly strong. these are place where is teachers unions don't have bargaining rights written into the law, when there are mostly lobbying associations. en you hear the teachers leadership in oklahoma say they're going to call off the strike and go back to lobbying, that's how themostly exert the power. they don't exert it at a bargaing table because the don't have the right to do that at all. >> yang: sarah jaffee, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> yang: stay with us. coming up on the newshour: a conversation with author david pepper on his politically prophetic writings. and, an intimate look at the work of painter david hockney.

but first to the analysis of shields and brooks. that's syndicated columnist mark shields, and "new york times" columnist david brooks, who joins us from san francisco. elcome to you both. a lot of talk about the new book by jamesomey. he describes the president as being unethical, untethered to the truth, and describes his presidency as a forest fire.d, daet me start with you. from what you've read of thed reporting e excerpts, what's your takeaway? >> well, i think president trump has done a pretty good job ofng confireverything comey said by his tweets today. slime ball shldn't become head of the white house. what we see is a lot ofpeople who work in government in washington as part of career oyaltyservice that their is not to red and blue and we're used to covering politics as a red and blue tribal war but

their loyalty is to their profession, institution and they get in the middle of red-blue fights and have teir own personal opinions, but comey has loyalties to other things.f he'sended the democrats and the republican president mightily and i think he psses the smell test by and large. i think he's hont that it's quite possible donald trump did not do anything criminal here but did do something mafioso-like and that's, frankly, not a completely new revelation. >> yang: mark? think david makes a very good point about jim comey who has been a rather remarkable public servant for a long time and found himself, in 2016, on the ceiving end of vilification from both candidates, from the clinton people for his handling of the email matter right up to the election day, and by the trump people since and his firing and the president's addingi to ths

sort of the annals of american presidential rhetoric this week with malice toward none and charity toward all and the only thing we have to fear is fear itself to a weak and untruthfulm ball is what he's called james comey i think this is not to be confused with the fire and fury book which was great gossip and great anecdotage. this is thes tetimony straightforwardly on the record of a rather remarkable public servant who kept notes on everything and gives hiss own testimony. this is not hearsay. this is what he says. i think it will be given greatio atte it's already gottennen great sales. of the become pa national dialogue much to the consternation of the president.v >> yang:, i've got to ask you, there is so much of what has been said about this in the press tatlking ab the

personal comments and personal observations about theen pres-- the size of his hands, the complexion, orange-tone hue to his face.e does itel to you that comey is goading the president in a way? >> not reall that reads to me like a novelistic detail. one of the things we know about comey is he's a serious reader, a big fan of ronald nabor, as am i, and he wanted to write a back in literary detail that you were there. it passes the smell test. an important moment was his description of h handling of the clinton e-mails.d he say goal consciously was not to let politics influence my decision, but he allows -- and this is him showing vulnerability -- he allows the possibility the thought of her winning an election and having the email situation come out might seem suspect toople.

he thought it might hurt the institution of the presidency. so he allows that possibility could have had some unconscious influence on himnd that strikes me as a man looking at himself and saying is it possible i messed up and was influenced in ways i wasn't consciously aware of that strikes me by washington memoirs as a re hasonabgh level of honesty. >> we'll see he a's an effective witneson his own bealf. it's full-court press. this will be media coverage, he'll be on the "newshour", the networks, he'll be everywhere, and he will be answering all the questions, anl he influence if not drive much of the conversation for th next couple of weeks. >> yang: david, we've started the week with the f.b.i. raid oi ael cohen's office in new york and his hotel residence and that spark to the president's ire, he talked about

rica.being an attack on ame e president keeps talking about mueller and rosenstein. sarah huckabee sanders doesn't add the usual caveats. she says the president does have power to fire mueller, but she doesn't add the phrase butst ot going to do it, he not thinking about it. does this feel like we' reached an important point, maybe a flex point in this investigation? >> yeah, iu not so sre. this is where trump likes to be. he likes to be in the man omano feud. someone hits him, he his back. it's a way he's shown he can paint the drama to his supporters it's me against the p washingtitical class. that's been an effective drama for him. when berlusconi won the election, italian economist said if you want to attack a guy lck berlusconi or trump, don't go

after their person, it becomes him versus the political class, you have to go after them on policy. this distracts from the poly fights. if anyone's going to best trump in a popularity contest, it not because they're going to win sne of these matches, it because they will say to trump supporters, i've got a betteror dealou, a deal on policy, and we're all being distracted away from that. >> one point i didn't make on the comey book which ithink wa important and that is where was the sense of outrage? where was the sense of upset that an american citizen, an adversary nation was trying tobv t our process, our sacrament of deram, the free and fair election of the president and sabotaged it andt out doing that, and all the president and the president's men wereterested in was that the didn't affect the outcome of the election.

it was, to me, revel - reveal vealatory and upsetting. as far as the president's reaction, u know, i think michael cohen is not the roy cohen he was looking for. roy coen's defects of character and morality were, and i think ey were manifest, was compensated for with a towerin intellect and guile. and michael cohen, he's got going the grt loyalty and i think that right now is a weak link in the president's situation. >> yang: one person who had a turning point this week was paul ryan, saying he was going to leave the hou aset this term and retire. what does this say and bode for the midterms and for the future of the republican party, the future direction of the

republican party? >> in the near te'rrm, if you trying to raise money for republican candidates, when your speaker steps down, that's not a great way to raise money, it's not something you brag about and say it's important you invest here. the bigger story, a lot of us goto know paul ryan as an intern for power america with jack kemp, and bill bennette and gene kirkpatrick and others in the '80s, reaganism at its high water mark, and he more or less carried the 1980s ad 1990s, he more or less carried that creed and gospel up to y018, and i think this is donald trump was able to take over the republican party and make it his own, it was because reaganism was never updated and nhe republican establishment never developed economic model or a domestic policy model that was fit forn america where inequality was widening,i anxiety wasening, where rural america was getting hit hard. they stayed with the gospel of,

1984 an this day, paul ryan has stayed with that gospel. his story is one of someone not changing with thme ties, i think. >> when i started in this business shortly after the cooling of thearth, i was smitten by a celebrity candidate on his way to the white house and e of the grizzled veterans in the press said, hey, kid, he said always check one thing, they get a bigger hand on the way in ot? in other words, after you've spoken to the crowd or just wh you're introduced. paul ryan is in the category of getting the bigger hand on the way in. heewas the bigger wonde he wa the independent lek chiewld force, he was the guy wh now, bold ideas. he leaves as a mucish dimd figure for not meetinghe margaret smith test of standing up to the demagogue she did to joe mccarthy in saying she didn't want the party to ride to victory on the four horsemen of

bigotry smanr and fead ignorance. he said the man was aan of exquisite leadership. i think he leaves with a tax bill that notth onlye country with a debt of a trillions doll year as long as the eye can see according to thel congressiodget office, but a bill seen by voters in 2018 as written bychhe rior the rich, and, so, it's a political -- it's no political asset going in. i will say if his defense, the all purpose one size fits all cuse for leaving, i want to spend more time with my family, i think paul ryan does know th names of his children and does really care about his family. i think ty are tenagers and anybody who's had teenagers knoa that ters aren't interested in spending much time with their parents or as much time asirhe parents did, so i wish him luck. >> yang: david, quickly, as we run out of time here, turn to

the scooter libby pardon. is this something that the president says he doesn't know the guy but heard for a longe time he was ated infairly. is there anything more to this that meats the eye >> people say he's trying to set a precedent so people will purger t temselves ump's behalf. i'm dubious about that. there are a lot of people in the republican party and the press including me who think scooter libby got a bit of a wrol dea that richard leaked valerie plame's name and not him ands seike people have been hang around this administration t asking f pardon. one ardent about this is john bolton, the national security advisor, so it seems to me it was that intervention and not any broader trying t send signal. >> i sound cynical, and i have great respect for dav's point, but donald trump is not somebody with an established track record

of acing spontaneously and altruistically for other donald trump thought scooter libby was a shortstop for th houston astros until this week when somebody made the point to him that this would be helpful ine snding word to those now being questioned and interrogated by robert mueller's investigation that i do pardon and that i don't think there's any question about that. this wa -- scooter libby was the issue that broke permanently the relationshipe btween dick cheney and george w. bush on tha out. bush refused to do it, partly probably self-interest, he didn't want it to be his mak rich pardon upas it had been for bill clinton he did get two and a half years in jail, that was the sentence, which was, in factor commuted. >> yang: mar, shielvid brooks, another week down and more to come. see you next week. thanks.

>> yang: back in 2012, years before russian meddling in u.s. elections dominated headlines, ohio democratic party chairman david pepper began writing a novel about a foreign country's attempts to influence the outcome of an american election. that book, "the people's house" was released in august 2016. now, he's out with a secondok "the wingman," which picks up where "the people's house" left off. judy spoke with him recently, and asked how a politician came to write political thrillers. it was after an election gycle where i hadn't won and i just had this g to try and tell a good political story and i just started writing and i just kept writing, so it was not something i had planned on doing and i had not de creative writing before but it was a nice outlet for me, and i've always thought there are not a lot ofes mout there or books that

really capture the day-to-day realy of politics, a lot of the most famous ones who knows a lot arerealistic, so my goal was to tell a political story that was based on how things really work. >> woodruff: so your firsteo back, "thee's house" comes out if 2016. >> right. >> woodruff: it's all about the russis trying to -- and succeeding in turning a congressional mid-term election. >> right. >> woodruff: you didn't have an,, inkling something like that was going to hpen? >> no, i put it to bed in the summer. i got it out there and later on meople wrote my that, my gosh, your story keeps cing true. i didn't write it to predict, my goal was to capture the deepest problems in our system, things like gerrymandering, weak political systems. i happened to have worked russia years ago and i had a russian oligarch who plays the role, but mytogoal was actually expose through a thriller a lot of the deepest

oblems in our political system that do make us vulnerable to this type of inerference. so i think by trying to be very realistic in the plot i end up capturing obviously what ultimately ended up happening to some degree. >> you sure did. it turned a t of heads. the second book which we're showing herhee,ing -- >> "the wingman" is a follow on to that whue thessians try greater mischief and get away with a lot of it. >> the second book gets into dark money and tries to show th kind of mischief you can cause that dark money allows you to do for the most part legally.an so it'ther plot that i think frankly will feel parallel to some of the things happening today because it again tries tor casome of the weaknesses in the system and what they allow for in our campaigns a elections. >> woodruff: the things you portray in these books, you they lot of that could really happen?

>> yeah, so when my first book was finished, the first readersl before ittimately started to look like reality, would say to me, your book really scared me because it felt so real. do you really think this could happen? and so there is some dra license in these books but my point in the end was to actually capture the political system as it currently exists, cature the laws that exist and show that, yes, again, there is more drama in the books tan probably real life but show that what we've allowed to get into our political systems, dark money, nerrymandering -- >> woodruff: dark ey -- the ability to spend money not disclosed oftenhrough nonprofits that are perfectly legal, by e way the hyperpartisan environment that has people no wanng to crack down on things because it may help them, that all of these add up to a huge weakness that, as i show in the first book and as we're seeing, other countries

can see that may we don't see as clearly as they do and all of a sudden those weaknesses open up pretty dark pockets in our election cycles. >> woodruff: so you see the dark possibilities and continue to work inlitics. >> yeah. that's your day job. yeah, i'm very passionate about politics. if you watch me closely in politics, in addition to writing these books about these issues, i'm very pasonate about ending gerrymandering. one thing we're very proud of n ohioe last couple of years, we've put measures forward and worked withoth sides and citizen groups to try end gerrymandering in ohio. yeah, i stay involved but would call myself a reformer, but ifon sowants to get hints about the things i'm most passionate about, it's some of the central aspects of the books. >> wearing with your day job hat on the director of the ohi democratic party, let me just ask you a couple of questions about that. how much do you think ohte care or are interested in the russia investigation which is getting so much attention in

washington? >> so interestingly, given that i wrote these boks, i think they care but i don't think that's the winning message of candidates this year. i think to respond to everything trump doeers day, it would be only anti-trump. so talabout russia and comey all day, i think that is a trap, and if democratic candidates get caught up on that every day i think they will not do as well in elections as if they stay disciplined and focused on the kind of issues people worry eabout every day around kitchen table. >> woodruff: david pepper the chair to have the democratic party in the state of ohio and author of two political thrillers, thank you very much. >> thank you so much, great to be here >> yang: finally tonight: a new look at work from one of the world's most renowned living artists. painter david hockne 80 years old, but he shows few

signs of slowing down. jeffrey brown spoke with him in los angeles, where an exhibition that opens this weekend presents an intimate take on some of the people he knows best. >>rown: it's a kind of alb of family and friends-- but these are large paintings on the walls of an enorms gallery at the los angeles county museum of art. the work of david hockney, an artist renowned for capturing the world around him.pe >> mosle don't look much. i mean, they scan the ground in front of them so they can move around, but they don't really look at much. oowell, i've spent my lifeng >> brown: the british-born hockney, now 80, recently showed me around his light-filled stud in the hills above los angeles, where he's lived and worked off and on since the 1960s. small reproductions of his portraits line one wall. hockney's been an art star since

his 20s, first as part of the london art scene. a figurative painter of color, often of scenes of the life he found in l.a., and always coming back to portraits, including of himself. i whabout the human face? why is that endlessly interesting to you?h >> how mn you see in them? i mean, how you can really see a person.ou i'm looking atow, and i think, "well, how woknow if i'd got you really well, when i do not really know you?" >> brown: for the l.a. exhibition, titled "82 portraits and one still life," hockneypa ted people he does know: family members and friends, some of whom he's been painting for decades. there are also people in his life now in a variety s, including a housekeeper and his dentist. >> i'm trying to get the personality. i mean, you're trying to capture

something of them. i mean, and i thought i did get something, if not a lot. >> brown: the first portrait in this series was of his studio assistant, known as j.p., mourning the death of friend. hockney did it in the style of van gogh's painting "sorrowing old man." but every other portrait followed a strict format-- the subject sitting in a chair on a raised platform in hockney's studio, with a curtain as background. the sittings lasted 20 hours over three days.pe >> most le haven't had this done to them before. stst people. i mean, it is a binge, somebody peering, looking. >> brown: looking at different parts for hours. >> it's an odd thing to do. ( laughs ) >> brown: as it happens, oneisf

the sitterlso the senior curator here at the museum, stephanie barron. who's known and worked with hockney for decades. >> i fnd that it was exhausting. to be the subject of the gaze ot ant who is concentrating ly can be a bit daunting. >> brown: intimidating? >> intimidating, and after the first few hours, i kind of relaxed into it. but it was hard work. these are not portraits that are meant to flatter people. these are portraits where he really manages to get the essence of the person. >> brown: meaning what? >> people's character. i mean, i think even in my portrait, he gets at sense of kind of being quizzical, being interested in the process of what he's doing. i was super alert during this sitting. i mean, i was a curator, watc portrait.ist paint a >> brown: i see your head is

kind of tied. >> i was really studying what he was doing. >> brown: personalities do come through. two brothers-- the one on the right, hockney said, seemed to dare him to "paint me like this." art dealer larry gagosian, with his watch showing, was perhaps a bit impatient. he in fact only sat for two days. the sitters chose their own clothing-- some elegant, others rather informal. >> i'd have thought, if you were going to have your portrait inted, you'd dress up. ( laughs ) >> brown: the youngest of the sitters, 11-year-old rufus hale was quite well-dressed andmp ed, though a photo taken during the process shows histo curiosity et a peak at the work in progress. comparing the work to photographs, the time put in by potter and artist is crucial. hockney calls thesraits" 20-hour exposures." >> photographs have a fraction of a second in them. drawings and paintings, of course, have more time because

it takes time to do it. >> brown: a lot of people would think of this as an old-fashioned idea, right? painting's old-fashioned, portrait painting even more. >> yeah, but it's not rely.ow i mean, i he arguments about "painting is dead." but painting can't die, becausea photy is not good enough actually. >> brown: it'sot good enough? no. it's just a snap. but i mean, why not look longer at something? look longer and you maybe see more. >> brown: that is not to say that hockney is a luddite or technophobe-- to the contrary. he's studied old light boxes-- early cameras-- and exhibited works composed on an ipad and printed out in large

format.>> 'm interested in using technology that's about pictures, anything that's about pictures. >> brown: and his latest work, airger still, is a computer- manipulated "por of the artist in his studio, made from some 3,000 digital photos of recent paintings, objects and hockney himself. whether the altered photos or the painted portraits, hockney says for him it's about capturing what he calls "figures in space:" >> how do we see them, and how do we then make the marks? >> brown: you clearly like the fact that you're doing somethins thateen done for a long, long time. >> ( laughs ) well, what is "new," really? new. is there anything new under the sun? i mean, i love painting. i love it. i've lots more to do.

>> brown: the exhition, "82 portraits and one still t life," continuough the end of july. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown in los angeles. >> yang: on the newshour online right now: author meg wolitzer has long written about female power and how we make meaning in the sked her to share three of her favorite books about women. find her recommendations on our website, www.pbs.org/newshour. tonight on "washington week," more on the firestorm from former f.b.i. director james comey's tell-all book, and theil possy of u.s.-led strikes in syria. and later tonight, stick around for the premiere of a new pbs program, "in principle." hosts michael gerson and amy holmes speak with talk show host glenn beck and conservative book publisher marji ross about how to bridge the current political divide. watch "in principle," coonng up tonighbs. on pbs newshour weekend saturday, what's driving a

growing number of blacfamilies to educate their children at home.om that'srow night on pbs newshour weekend. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm john yang. have a greateekend. thank you, and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> kevin. evin! >> kevin. >> financial services firm raymond james. >> babbel. a language program that teaches realewife conversations in a n language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more. >> consumer ceular. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation.

for more than 50 years,an advancing ideasupporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs statn from viewers like you. thank you. s captioningponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by group at wgbh access.w

after two days of lengthy testimonybo by fack ceo mark zuckerberg, calls intensify for greater regulation of tech companies. as tensions over sanctuary policies remain high, we talked to oakland mayor libby schaaf about the challenges and opportunities facing her city. plus, planned parenthood fterident is stepping down more than a decade at the helm. she talks about her new book and the fight over womens health. i'm thuy vu. we begin with facebook and its efforts to r tain therust of not only its users, but also wmakers. this week facebook ceo mark zuckerberg began two days of l congressionestimony before dozens of skeptical lawmakers,g appear for 44 senators in a joint hearing of the judia