captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for saturday, april 21: family members and dignitaries pay their respects to former first lady barbara bush. north korea says it will stop nuclear tests and launches of ballistic missiles. and in our signature segment, more republican women, running for office for the first time next on "pbs newshour weekend." >> "pbs newshouend" is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. i.e and edgar wachenheim, os and diana t. vagelos. the j.p.b. foundation. rs the an family fund. rosalind p. walter z barbara hokerberg. corporate funding is provided

by mutual america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. re that's why wour retirement company. >> additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. from the tisch wnet studios at lincoln center in new york, hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasa good evening and thank you for joining us. former presidents and first ladies joined mourners at the funeral of former first lady barbara bush today in houston, texas. mrs. bush died tuesday at the age of 92. this morning her husband of 73 years, former president george h.w. bush, arrived in a wheelchair tended to by their son, former president george w. bush. former presidents barack obama andto bill cl and former first ladies laura bush, mic hhelle obama, alary clinton attended the services at saint martin's episcopal church alonadg with current first melania trump.

according to a white house statement president trump di not attend, "to avoid disruptions due to added security." t the president did tweet a photo of the former first lady's white use portrait, saying," today, my thoughts and prayers are with the entire bushmi ." e s. bush's twin granddaughter's participated in rvice, and she chose her close friend susan baker, historian jon meacham and her son jeb to diver the eulogies. the former florida governor remembered his mother as strict, but with a sense of humor. >> mom got us through difficult times with consistent, take it to the bank, unconditional, but tough love. she called her style a benevolent dictatorship. bu honestly, it wasn't always benevolent. ( laughter ) >> sreenivasan: susan bakelr, wife of former secretary james baker and a personal friend, recalled the first lady's passion for books and literacy. >> the world respects barbara

bush's deep passion and great fectiveness in equipping those who cannot read with the skill to do so. llweelebrate her vision and tenacious dedication to literacy >> sreenivasan: and author jon temeacham, who w 2015 biography of george h.w. bush, reminded the world of barbara bush's place iory. >> as the wife of one president and mother of anothe holds a distinction that belongs to nge other american in the history of the republic-- abigail adams who was present at the creation. >> sreenivasan: in a private ceremony mrs. bush was buried at the george h.w. lsh presidentirary in college station, texas next to her daught robin, who died from leukemia in 1953 at age 3. for more on the life of barbara bush, i am joined from houston ary kate cary, a former speechwriter for president

george h.w. bu and executive producer of "41 on 41," a documentary about his life. thanks for joining us. you're just coming from the funeral this afternoon. what was it like? it was really a spectacular sendoff for her. everybody had their barbara bush pearls on, like i do, and itwas just a joyful celebration of a great, great lif. it was plenty of celebrities, all kinds of people from of, from, you know, rissy everett and phil mickelson and world leads, john major and brian mulroney. people like that. but then, also, the home health aids and all of the women who were mrs. bush's personal aids over the years were right up front th all the famous and powerful people, which tells you volumes, you know. all the altar servers on the altar were females. you saw her young grandughters ading from proverbs. you saw the grandsons aspa bearers. so it was a great statement that

she made-- she madae lot of the choices for the funeral itself. and it really came through that her touch was there because it was all about the next generation, and just the joy of living a faithful life. >> sreenivasan: youorked closely with the president, but you knot to know both of them quite well. how did your friendship develop? >> so, i first met barbara bush right after left offe. i was writing speeches for the president, for his postpresidential speaking tour. and i went up to walkers point for a day to work on speeches where some of the other writers, and president bush surprised us and announced we were all going for a swim in the oalings. when we said, "sir, we didn't bring our bathing suits," he gave the guys bathing suits, he had spares, and he gave me mrs. bush's bathing suit. asd we went. it very cold day in may-- in june, i guess it was. and in maine, that was som cold water. that's how i first met her, is she found me in her bathing suit

going towards the ocean and i had to explain what i was doing in it. so i told her that her husband had loaned it to me. i didn't just go into her closet and help mysed lf. e was unfailingly graceful to me ever after that. she was always verin. jeb was making jokes today about the benevolent dictator. and i never saw that side of her. she was always very, very kind to me.a so i tsure her friendship. >> sreenivasan: what's her legacy going to be? as you mentioned,here were other world leaders who came for her funeral. this was a sendoff that you could say was worthy of a president. >> yeah, it was remarkable. i thinkll she'be remembered for her deep faith and her compassion. the stories that were told today did not surprise me one bit i've heard them for years about all of the kind things she has done. for example, you know, when they were running for senate in 1964, i think it w when president bush was running for senate, ther vwas a campaiunteer

who arrived. he worked the night shift in a 7-eleven a worked e days at the campaign, and he was half deaf and an orphan with no family. he was in his 20s, and the bushes took him in as their own, and cement hip on their family payroluntil he died in his 70s, a few years ago. and it was this gene generous gesture of theirs to open their family to him. tnd yet, they never talked abou it. they never bragged about it. so many times like that. there are many stories. but never from the bushes. they would never talk about it themselves. so that's the kind of thing that i think people will remember because it'sso unusual. there was one-- one line that susan baker said that she felt, that barra bush felt the greatest yardstick of your otccess in life is hoyou treat rs. and, boy, we could use more of that in the world today. i think that's what she'll be membered for. >> sreenivasan: all right, mary kate cary, thank you for joining us tod. >> thank you for having me.

>> sreenivasan: in a surprise move, rth korea announced that starting immediately, it will close its only known nuclear test site and suspend long-range missile tests. in a speech to the rulin worker's party, north korean leader kim jong un said the country had achieved its goal of building a nuclear arsenal and declared it, "a miraculous victory." he also said the country would now focus on developing its economy. kim's announcement comes in the run-up to meeting next week with south korea's president and a possible summit with president trump later this year. the presidencelebrated the announcement in a tweet yesterday, writing, "this is very good news for north korea and the world-- big progress! look forward to our summit." a spokesperson for south korean president, moon jae-in also praised the decision, calling it, "meaningful progress for the denuclearization of the korean peninsula, which the world wishes for." japanese prime minister shinzo abe was more cautious. >> ( translated ): what's important is that this motion leads to complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement orth korea's nuclear and missile programs. i want to take a close look at it.

>> sreenivasan: to help make sense of north korea's ents and motivations in the upcoming summits we turn to jean lee, director of the korea program at the wilson center in washington d.c. she was also the former bureau chief for the associress in pyongyang. so let's first start talking little bit about definitions here. there seems to be different definitions of denuclearization for the united states versus north korea. what do they mean by it? f them, they've been talking about denuclearization fair long time, and they mean denuclearization of the entire korean peninsula, nothe just giving up their nuclear weapons, but the united states also removing its nuclear umbrella over the south korean region, as well as northeast asia. >> sreenivasan: so they're not necessarily saying that they are going to stop all of their nuclear programs. it's just specific to the nuclear test site and the missiles at this point. >> exactly. and we need to remember that even though this is such a dramatic statement, the north s before.ave said thi

it's not the first time they've agreed to suspend nuclear weapons and ballistic missile testing. just a reminder, it was only six years ago that the north koreans agreed with the united states to place a moratorium on this type of testing, in exchangeor significant aid and concessions, and then just a few weeks later, test launched a long-range rocket. and so that certainly-- thatl deal fpart. so it's not new. it may seem dramatic.on buttime north korea watchers will tell you that we've heard this before. >> sreenivasan: well, how does this factor into north korea's long-term plan? >> what w rre seeiht now is really strategic messaging on the part ofn the north kor leader kim jong-un, to his own people. what we saw with e news that came out of north korea just the past day was a significan moment in the making of this north korean leader.is s going to be a treatise that is going to go down in

history in north korea. he's telling his people, listen, we are done with this phase of nuclear testaing for now buse i have done what i set out to accomplish, which was to prove to you that i can defend you with nuclear weapons that are proven to be aba glothreat, and that means that makes us untouchable. so he's telling his people, notw only aree untouchable because we've reached this point withr our nuclapons program, but also that it makes us a world power, and we see that in the language of that treatise. it also positions him to sit eaders of south korea and the united states in a very different posnition th had he done this years ago. he is trying tof portray hims as a rational world leader who embraces the coepof a nuclear weapons-free world, so he'll win simply byitting dow at that table, even if he gets nothing out of it.

sreenivasan: what are costs for north korea to continue a nui ear program? an, this is a very poor country. >> and this is partly why he's teing his people, look, i know that we've sacrificed a lot by pouring our meager resources into this extremely costly nuclear weapons program that has taken quite a toll economically-- not only in terms of the costs bun terms of sanctions as well. the north koreans have been s living with sanctifor decades, but they've certainly been spped up. the elites of pyongyang know that sanctions are going to start takinnta signifiite in theiry and and their way of life. so that's something he's telling his people as well, i did this as an investment in our defense and non step back from that and refocus those resources into themy eco >> sreenivasan: all right, jean lee of the wilson center joining us from washington.h. thanks so mu >> thank you for having me.

>> sreenivasan: watch jeb bush's eulogy for his mother, former first lady barbara bush. visit pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: there are a reco women running for office this campaign season. a majority are democrats, many iven by opposition to th trump presidency. but more republican women are a runninwell. we decided to follow one who is running for state senate in the very red state of indiana. it's a local race, but, as megan thompson finds, it reflects a divided republican party and a divided nation. >> oh, i can see him. he working in the kitchen. my name's corrie meyer. i'm running for state senate. >> uh-huh. >> reporter: on a recent cold and rainy afternoon, corrie meyer walked door to door in zionsville, a suburb of indianapolis. >> i'm a first-time ndidate. i'm a small business owner. >> reporter: meyer is an urban planner and runs a consultg business. she's worked in city government but has never held elected office. >> i want to focus the policies that i work on, on workforce and

economic legislati. >> reporter: meyer wants a seat in the indiana state senate, which will decide the state budget next ar and could reform the way congressional districts are drawn. she's running in the may 8 republican primarygainst mike delph, a 12-year incumbent who's never had a primary challenge. meyer says knocking on doors is her favorite part of campaigning. >> i'd love to have your support t may 8. t sounds cool. thanks for coming by in the rain. >> yeah, no problem. >> all right? good luck. >> thank you. good to see you. >> all right, thank you. >> reporter: you are a republican challenging a republican incumnt. >> yeah. >> reporter: why did you decide to run? >> i got frustrated with our age of turbulent politics, and i decided that i was goiget in the game. we will leave them a note saying, "sorry we mi you." >> reporter: meyer is one of 75 women running for the indiana state legislature, double the number of four years ago. f in the rest of the country,

this surgemen is mostly on the democratic side, but the number of republican women running here is up, too-- 23 compared to in 2014. >> we're fortunate to ve five of our seven statewide offices held by women, republican women. >> reporter: g.o.p. strategist jennifer hallowell says it's a point pride that republican women hold so many state offices here-- lieutenant governor, auditor, secretary of state, treasurer and school superintendent. >> also, the two women who serve indiana in the congressional delegation are republican women. and so, we're well represented in a lot of ways, but we need to keep striving for more women to run for office. >> reporter: so, what motivates republican women to run for office? >> i think that women are motivated by issues similar to men. you know, it's whether it's taxes or the economy, jobs. but i reject this whole notion of women's issues because every issue is a woman's issue.

>> reporter: similarly, corrie meyer,year-old mother of two, said she doesn't feel the izneed to emphthe fact that she's a woman when she's campaigning door-to-door. wo>> i figure my facd tell them that. ( laughs ) but believe it or not, th bring i have had 70-year-old men say to me, "you're a woman. women are going to make the difference. they're going to create change, and'll vote for you because you are a woman." s while i don't necessary carry that banner, the voters e carrying that banner. >> reporter: why don't you necessarily carry th banner? >> because i... i'm qualified for this position. and i think that, regardless of my gender, i know that i can succeed. >> reporter: laura wilson is an assistant professor of political science at the university of indianapolis. >> the gendered aspect, especially for the more conservative women, isn't going

to play the same kind of role that it would elsewhere, or certainly for a more liberal woman. eally with voters, i'm n sure that that would really resonate with your average hoosier voter. ( >> reporter: with the republican primary just a few weeks away, corrie meyer is focused on raising money. she spends several hours a week making calls with the helpf a professional fundraiser. >> how much do i ask him for? >> $0. >> hi, nate. th mis is correr calling. would you consider supporting tht e campaign00? >> reporter: there are no polls on this local race, but meyer's pindcked up some bigsements. two firefighters unions, the district's four republican mayors, and the indianapolis chamber of commerce all support her. andtt she'sding fundraisers across the district, which covers a portion of indianapolit ansuburbs. >> hi. corrie meyer. nice to see you. corrie meyer. very ncae to meet you. we put a sign in your yard? >> i'd be happy to do that.

>> all right. >> reporter: about 30 supporters cker lives, to hand over c and hear her pitch. ic i am running for effective workforce and econ legislation. >> reporter: as of the last campaign finance filing in january, meyer's opponent had $200,000 on hand. meyer had $60,000 but says she's doubled that since. er opponent, mike delph, is a lawyer and a major in the army reserve. he's developed a reputation in the local media as a socially cseative and sometimes controversial republican. known for a bill to cra down on illegal immigration, aspects of which some in his own party opposed. and he pushed contentious bills requiring abortion doctors to tell women that life begins at conception and a fetus may feel pain. in 2014, delph led a controversial fight to ban gay when the bill didn't pass, he launched an overnight twitter barrage that made headlines. in a statement to newshour weekend, delph said his focus

"has always been to apply conservative principles" to his work. e highlighted his work to cap property taxes, pass an income tax cut and an initiative to raiseoney for veterans. and he said he's taking his primary challenge "very seriously." >> well, i'll just close with one question that i wht a lot is makes you different? you know, how are you diffent from senator delph? >> reporter: corrie meyer doesn't attack her opponent onth e issues, but she does draw a contrast. >> i would use three words to dilffferentiate my "effectiveness," "collaboration," that's just in my soul; and then, "inclusion." >> reporter: and meyers pointedly not focusing on the hot-button social issues that have been divisive in indiana and across the nation. in her literature, she touts herself as a pro-life coservative, but... >> my focus is really going to be around busines, and it will not focus on abortion. >> reporter: she's a strong supporter of the second amendment, but... >> there's a balance between

having the right to own a gun and creating a safe environment. >> reporter: and she's turned off by efforts to ban gay mrriage. >> i think that our obligation as aocty to love... is to love on each other and not to place judgment. reporter: this isn't surprising to professor laura wilson. she spuays while ican women fall all along the philosophical spectrum, for many, socialt issues areat drives them. >> a number of them, you know, really do stand in... in the more moderate wings of the republ and i... i see them as, kind of, the new... the new republicans where ty. they may have been involved in the party for a really long time, but they're looking atconomic, fiscal responsibility. >> reporter: wilson says, gender aside, the mike delph/corrie meyer racis also a case study of the wider battle within the republican party, between its more conservative and moderate wings. >> where you have someone like delph who's more extreme, more outspoken within the party, even in indiana; and then, you have

someone like mey, who's, you know, a new voice. >> reporter: yet another issue at play here: president trump lost this district in 2016. all across the nation, democrats targeting republican incumbents in moderate districts like this, looking to pick up se as in both the u.s. house state legislatures. g.o.p. insiders in indiana fear y,at if the more moderate corrie meyer loses the prhis seat could flip democratic in vember. >> that's a good boy! >> reporter: so, how do republican canditalk about president trump in districts he lost? it turns out, not easily. >> hi! my name's corrie meyer. i'm running for state senate. >> you are? are you a trump supporter? >> i believe... well, i respect re you a trump supporter? >> well, he's done a lot of good things. he's done our... >> wait a minute, are you a trump supporter? >> okay, yes, i like t policies; no, i don't like his... no, i don't like his twitter. >> you don't lise his manner... >> yes, i...

>> ...but you like the results. >> yes. orter: while meyer's negotiating her public position on trump, she's also personally conflicted. on one hand, there are all the issues with women, from the alleged affairs to the "access hollywood" tape. how do you view all that? >> that is disturbing to , as a woman. i wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that type of behavior. >> reporter: but, there's a lot she likes, too. >> i think that he's made some strong business decisions for the united states. i think that he's taking a hard stance on north korea. that's probably a great decision. reporter: and she took a lesson from his improbable win. >> he was a candidate that had never run for office before, and he won. he bucked the system. >> well, i've got to give you credit. anybody who'd come out on a lousy day like this deserves to be voted for. >> ( laughs ) wenkl, tha >> reporter: and so, meyers continuegoing door to door, asking for votes... >> i can count him aa vote. >> reporter: ...hoping she, too, can buck the system. >> see you later, buddy! >> this is "pbs newshour

weekend," saturday. >> sreenivasan: in a series of tweets this morning, president trump attacked a "new york times" reporter for story about his relationship with his long-time personal lawyer, michael cohen. in the article, the "times" cited interviews with half a dozen people familiar with trump and cohen's relationship. trump advisor roger stone was quoted as saying the president treated co", "like garbage." the article also suggested that trump's lawyerstre concerned t cohen-- whose office and hotel room werraided by the f.b.i. on april 9-- may provide incriminating evidence against the president in the russia investigation. on that point, mr. trump tweet"" most people will flip if the gornment lets them out of trouble, even if it means lying or making up stories. sorry, don't see michael doing that despite the horrible witch hunt and the dishonest media." and "the washington post" is reporting jeff sessions told white house counsel don mcgahn last weekend he may resign if the president

fires deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. rosenstein is overseeing the investigation. in another tweet, mr. trump again questioned the legitimacy of russia investigation, claiming it is "an illegal act" started when former f.b.i. director james comey leaked documents to the press. one week after u.s., french and brtaitish air-strikeeted syrian facilities in retaliation for a suspected chemical weapons atck, international inspectors are headed to the site of that at otack in the todouma. government forces now control douma, and today syrian state television rebels and their families evacuating three more towns near damascus. the centers for disease control and prevention has expanded an e. coli warning to include all types of romaine lettuce. at least 53 people in 16 states have fallen ill after consuming romaine lettuce grown in the yumarona area. since most packaging does not specify the growing region, the warning now includes not only chopped romaine lettuce, but whole heads, and hearts of

romaine. no deaths have been repted. f >> sreenivasaally tonight, amnesty international honored former n.f.l. quarterback colin kaepernick today givinhim its ambassador of conscience award for his kneeling protests while the national anthem played at n.f.l. games. at the ceremony in amsteam kaepernick described police killings of blacks and latinos as "lawful lynchings." and added "how can you stand for the national anthem of a nation hethat preand propagates freedom and justice for all that is so unjust to so many of the people living there?" perrevious wiof the award include nelson mandela, the band u2, and musician peter gabriel. that's all for this edition of" pbs newshour weekend." i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for watching. have a good night. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein

family. asuedgar wachenheim, iii. elos and diana t. vagelos. the j.p.b. foundation. the anderson famsay fund. nd p. walter. barbara hope zuckerberg. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- delgning customized individ and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. additional support has bee provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by tions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. be more. pbs. be more.

- would you like to be mentally sharper and prevent memory loss? well, now you can. i'm dr. stasley, and up next i'll share an easy-to-follow program with special foods, nutrients, and activities that will dramatinally improve your bunction, so don't go away. i'll be right back. male announcer: this program is made possible in part by designs for health. - in reality, as people age, on occasion taking longer to remember a name or a fact is pretty common, but being disabled by memory loss is not normal. [upbeat music] with memory loss, we lose our independence, our identity, and even worse, towe become a burden he people we love. ♪ no matter what your age,