captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: esite house legislative director marc short discuhat's next tor the trump agenda. then, the hard roaeace. colombia's rebel group transitions into a political errty, but leaves a dangerous vacuum of control he cocaine industry. and, it's friday. mark shields and david brooks are here. we tk about the president's decision to cancel the summit with north korea, and more. then, brothers in film. how a quirky fmmaking duo have ltivated their own way through hollywood. >> we watched audiences, le, gasp, and laugh their butts off, r and we looked at each otd were like, i guess this is

what we uniquely have to offer the world. >> woodruff: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> consumer cellular believes that wireless plans should reflect the amount of talk, text and data that you use. we offer a variety of no- contct wireless plans for people who use their phones a little, a lot, or anything in between. to learn more, go to consumercellular.tv >> financial services firm raymond james. >> leidos. the ford foundation. alrking with visionaries on the frontlines of sohange worldwide. >> and with the ongoing support

of tse institutions: and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by conibutions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: president trump is suggesting a meeting with north korea's kim jong-un might be resurrected. the president called it off just yesterday, but today, he welcomed a statement from the north. in it, the vice foreign minister said pyongyang is ready to hold talks "at any time, at any format." ter, leaving the white house, mr. trump said the statement was "very nice" and he sounded a hopeful note >> we'll see what happens. it could even be the 12th.

're talking to them now. they very much want to do it. at'd like to do it. we'll see happens. everybody plays games. you know that. you know that better than anybody. >> woodruff: separately, defense secretary james mattis said it is "good news" that diplomats k.e working to get the summit back on tr later, the president touted the u.s. military buildup, in his commencementddress at the u.s. naval academy. he told the graduates, "the best way to prevent war, be fully prepared for war." afterward, he shook hands with all of the more than 1,000 new officers. former movie mogul harvey weinstein was arraigned new york today on rapend felony sex charges, involving two women. accusations against him galvanized the "me too" moment last fall. weinstein turned himself in this morning, and was taken to state court in manhattan. a prosecutor accused him of using his money and power to erolate young women. his laaid it was all

consensual. >> mr. weinstein did not invent the casting couch in hollywood, and to the extent that there is bad behavior in that industry, that is not what this is about. bad behavior is not on trial in this case. it's only if you intentionallycr committed inal act, and mr. weinstein vigorously denies f:at. >> woodreinstein was released on $1 million bail. in all, some 75 women have alleged that he committed sexual wrongdoing.th we will look f at this story, later in the program. chfederal judge refused today to dismisges against paul manafort, president trump's one- time cam iign manager. accused of money laundering and making false ents about his work for ukraine. meanwhile, it is widely reported lat the president's perso michael cohen, met with a russian billionaire 11 days before mr. trump's inauguration. a firm tied to the russian later paid coh $500,000 for

consulting. e is word that the trump administration has reached a deal to help chinese telecom giant z.t. at the behest of ye chinese government. the "nk times" and others report that the company will have to pay a substantial fine and hire u.s. compliance officers. last month, the trump administration banned z.t.e. from buying u.s. technology for violating sanctions on iran and north korea. iran today demanded guarantees of economic incentives promised under the 2015 nuclear deal. otherwise, it vowed to withdraw from the agreement, as the united states has done. the demand came as iranian officials met with the nations that are still in the pact. meanwhile, in st. petersburg, russia, president vladimir putin warned that the u.s. is sowing instability by quitting the nuclear deal. >> ( translated ): if siternational agreements are ed and then revised every four years, it would offer zero crrizon for planning.

it wilte the atmosphere of usrvousness and lack of trust. >> woodruff:a remains a party to the iran nuclear rmreement, along with britain, china, france and y. president putin also rebuffed calls today to acknowledge russian involvement in an airline disaster over ukraine.la the ian airlines passanger 2t was shot down by a missile in 2014, killi people on board. international investigators have now tracedhe missile to a russian military unit. syrian war monitors report that israeli air strikes military base overnight. the post, south of the city of homs, is controlled by iranian- backed hezbollah fighters from lebanon. there has been a series of israeli air raids inside syria, aimed at iran and its allies fighting for the syrian regime. the european union's new data privacy rules took effect today.

ndey curb how companies collect and sell data,hey require users' consent. the fines could reach 4% of a company's global revenue, or 3 million, whichever is higher. a storm has formed in the caribbean, a week before hurricane season starts. peberto is off mexico's yucatan nsula this evening, with sustained winds of 40 miles an prur. it iected to reach the u.s. gulf coast and dump rain on memorial day events. exesident trump today signed utive orders making it fosier to fire federal workers poor performance. he also called for negotiating tougher contracts with federal employee unions. it amounts to the biggest change service protections in a generation. and on wall reet, the dow jones industrial average lost 58 points to close at 24,753. the nasdaq rose nine points, and the s&p 0 slipped six. still to come on the newshour: a top white house official

discusses the trump agenda. harvey weinstein arrested in new york on rape charges. an historic vote in ireld. will abortion become legal? and, much more. >> woodruff: as we reported earlier, the trump administration has reportedly told members of congress that it has reached a deal with the huge chinese tech firm, z.t.e. for more on that, and the rest of the trump agenda, i'm joined by the white house directoof legislative affairs, marc short. marc short, welcome back to the "newshour". >> thanks tore havdng me. >> wuff: on the zte story, we're hearing there's been a deal. as you know, when the presirsdet announced there might be accommodation, a lot of pushback from congressmembers especially republicans saying this is the wrong thing too. we hear marco rubio, republican from florida, saying this is a company that ignores u.s. laws,

srushes u.s. companies with no mercy, spind steals. >> i think there's no president who's going to be tough on china than this president, he's going to make sure theyre no longer stealing the property. secrety ross will be making an announcement in the coming days. there's two different tracks here, one is the commerce department on the civil side, one is the. dj. investigation on the criminal side. a lot more to happen but this administration will make sure they're held accountable and making sure there's no more intellectual property theft. >> woodruff: talking about trade, let' turn to economy and the taxes. you and others briefed reporters today on plans for a potential tax cut proposal later this year. it's all abou, as i understand it, making a middle class tax cut permanent. what i want to ask you, marc

short is, "bloomberg news" is reporting today the corporate tax cut that was passd last december has led to something onke companies in the s&p 500 saving $30 biln the first three quarters of this year is the projection. almost 50% of the total growtsh in t companies, in other words, an enormous growth in the profit margins of these companies, at the same time, individuals haveoft seen a lot hange. >> actually, we're very comfortable with the growth we're seeing. we think it'sof benefit ago americans. loen you have unemployment at 3.9%, thst in 18 years, the lowest historic number for african-american unemployment, the lowest ever for hisanic unemployment. i think the lowest unemployment claims in 44 years, a lot driven by the growth of the tax plan. over 5 million americans have either received a bonus or wage increase since the tax law was passed just six months ago. so we're confident that the

beneficiaries of the plan know this is benefiting the economyth and helpineconomy grow. s st april we had the largest surp american history as a result of the revenue coming into the federal goverusent beto have the tax plan. >> woodruff: was administration's intention that companies get such a huge boost out of that tax cut and are you concerned about republicans saying they're worried about what all this does to the deficit? >> keep in mind the reason for the corporate tax relief is countries across thelobeere reduce their corporate rates significantlbelow the united states. therefore, jobs were leaving. we are now basically the median average, we're not that much lower than most countries. in many cases the countries we're competing with are lowerp than the cate rate of 21% we now have the united states. ko it was absolutely part of our plan and we thint's producing the growth we wanted. gr woodruff: let's turn to imion. a couple of measures have been moving through congress, keep running into stumling blocks,

the house of representatives failed to move ahead on a farm bill that included some immigration proposals, a little complicated to e.la but has the white house taken a position on one of the immigration proposals republicans are looking at? >> judy, we've taken pretty vocal positions about what we want to see on theon immigra front. the president's been clear, he wants to find a permanent solution for the daca population. he believes they're working. obviously getting daca permit, they have to be abiding by the law in this country and projective and we should provide a permanent solution for them. at the same time we'rerying to get security for the border. that's the marriage we need to get to make sure there's a plan. we continue to work with the house of representatives, we try to plan in the united states senate. ni think immigration is incredibly political issue and often not driven p by what'thin best interest of the country. >> woodruff: you mentioned daca, children of undcumented immigrants, but in connection with that there is steppedp enforcement of people coming across the bored and

prosecution, families coming across, children separated from parents, reporting some of the children are being treated very badly, abused. is the administration comfortable with what the departmentf homeland security, the department of justice are doing and how they address, how ey treat these families? >> we believe that secretary nielsen and the attorneyeneral are doing a great job on helping us secure the border with the limitations they have on them. in many cases the separation of the child and the parents is something that's produced because the loses are so bad they tie the hands of the secretary of homeland security. when you have catch and release that force you, when someo comes in our country and is apprehended, you release them with the sufferings th show up for a court date at a later time. the laws are ridiculous. you've heard the president make a case for them. if you're coming from mexic or el salvador, there are different rules on asylum.

we need to fix the rules. >> woodruff: people say this is unconscionable the way the children are treated. >> in many cases thesei stores are investigated and i think so what secretary nielsen and h.h.s. has a role in making sure they're provided with the right protection particularly for the children, we're taking every deep stope make sure it's done as humanely asbl possi >> woodruff: i want to come back to the trump agenda in the congress. house of representatives having a lot of difficulty passng the farm bill a few days ago under the leadership of prine who indicated he's retiring, he's a lame ducesntially. are you concerned the president's agenda, that you can get anything through in these divide times among republicans in the congress? >> judy, we've actually had an historic record over the last 17 months. it's notnly the tax relief, it's repealing the manditate. providing the largest military increase in the history

of the countprryoviding additional funding for border security, first new funding for a wall in ten years. 10 percent increase, there's lati quite a bit of legis accomplishment that's achieved. unfortunately the media is often covering the ups and downs in the white house and not accomplishing what we've focused on for the american people. >> woodruff: do you think you will have a better shot getting accomplishments once prine leaves? >> i think the president has a terrific relationship with kevin mccarthy and als a good relationship with speaker ryan. we'll produce for the american people either way. marc short, white house legislate director, so much to ngk you about. >> thanks for hae open. > -- meon. >> woodruff: thank you.

>> woodruff: today, authorities filed criminal charges against filmmaker harvey weinstein. na nawas has more on the story. >> reporter: judy, weinstein was charged with rape, in one case, and first-deee criminal sex act, in another. the charges come on the heels of a seven-month police investigation, and are based on allegations made by two women, one of whom first shared her story with ronan farrow, a iter for "the new yorker" magazine. ronan continues to follow this story today, and is in new york. nan, thanks for making the time. i want to ask you now the first story in october when you reported about this, you had the stories of multiple women, many accusations over many years. your latest nory lastht talked about how those allegations and accusations turned into charges. how did that happen? >> good to be here. the day after that story that you just dcribed ran, as it turns out, members to have the

nypd -- members of the nypd cold case squad reached out to one of the women with an assault allegation in it, lucia evans who did an incredibly brave thing in speaking out in the she then, in the ensuing months, faced yet another still more difficult decision, whether to-e her life for years, potentially, as a star witness in this se. >> you spoke to lucia evans and 12 other women as part of tt report. did you or any of the women you spoke to believe at anytime tha hose conversations could turn into criminal arges down the line? >> i think, overall, the feeling was that this was adistant near impossibility. time and time again, i had conversations with these women contemplating taking thisly incredrave step, facing retaliation and caree annihilation. they said even if we do this, will it makeny difference?

it was hard for many of them to envision a universe in which they might be heard but ensure ago key part of accou intabilit. hink today is an unexpected moment, a wrenching moment in a lot ofhiays, ik it brings up a lot of feelings for a lot of the womebe who have reaching out to me over the course of the day, but a fulfilling moment, the first time stories like this have been heard in a lon time. >> what have been the women been saying to you? what was it like for th after many, many years in some cases to see a man like harvey weinstein in handcuffs on his way to the courtroom? >> it's emotional for a lot of them. many have spoken out on social media d other forums to say thw much this means to them and k to many survivors around the world, some of whom are still struggling with this decision as to whether to speak. again, i want to call special attention to women like lucia evans who, on top of that, have made the additional choice to

put themselves on the line and in the crosshairs of an aggressive legal team that will seek to dcredit them to be a dirt of these criminal procs. >> you wrote since the s tablishment of the first studcentury ago there have been few movie executives as dominant and domineering as harvey weinstein. talk to me about the significance of a day like today, given the national arconversation sparked ine part by your reporting last year. >> well, you know, have to say there are activists doing this hard work long before this most recent reporting by m and a lot of other reporters who banged their head against the walls trying to get thes stories about sexual violence out. but there was a succession of pieces of reporting that i think chipped away at a culture of silence, and thatoes back to the accusers of bill cosby grepping forward, it goes back to whatchen carlson did in exposing a culture of harassment

at fox news. these were all in remental steps that allowed me in my conversations with sources in the weinstein story to say, hey, as hard ait is to envision, maybe you will be heard because people are starting to speak about this. so i think what we're witnessing is a transformation right now in our culture around this issue and our ility toonfront it head on. >> ronan farrow, thanks foryour reporting and thanks for your time. >> thank you, pleasure to be here. >> woodrf: stay with us. coming up on the newshour: afe hard road to peace. colombia's journeyr 50 years of war. mark shields and david brooks analyze the decision to cancel the north korea summit, and all the week's political news. and, brothers in film. mark and jay duplass document their hollywood careers in a new memoir.

dat first, voters in ireland went to the polls for an important vote. the irish constitution bans raortions, even in cases o ad incest. a new constitutionndment up for vote today would allowga parliament to ze abortion, and according to initial exit polls, it seems to have succeeded. foreign affairs correspondent nick schifrin has our story. ly reporter: in this historiconservative and religious society, the voting booths are in churches, and some of the voters show up in habits. tht old irish habits are dying, an is not the same country once dominated by the catholic church. >> i woke up at 6:00 this morning. aim not usually an early riser, but i couldn'tto get down here to vote. >> reporter: women like teresa sweeney are trying to replace a law that can currently send ymen who get abortions to rs in prison, with a law that would allow unrestricted abortions r the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. ae campaign has been painful,

and divided famili friends. e my son's godmother and i actually had a hlling out, we haven't spoken a year, because she's a nurse and she is voting "yes" and i ve "no." and i think, literally, it has actually divided us. we are not speaking at all. >> reporter: both sides have made their cas with personal stories. amy callahan has a new son, but f another pregnancy, her fetus was diagnosed withal condition. she couldn't have an abortion in toeland, so she and her husband connor flehe u.k. >>. didn't want to leave ni and the next day, we flew back to irela, and as we were walking in the airport, i turned to connor-- we were walking through security, and i turned to connor and i was like, are they going to ask us to open the

box? >> reporter: "yes" campaigners citehe case of savita halappanavar, who in 2012 died after her fetus became stillborn, but the hospital refused to give her an abortion. shona murray is a special correspoent with the irish independent. >> she died as airect consequence of the 8th amendment. >> reporter: the catholic church stills runs the majori of schools here, and influences most of society, but scandals have eroded its influence, especially among a younger generation. >> you also have a very young country, a young population, .uthat has grown up in the and has engaged in progressive aberalism and traveled the worl that's the other side of this. o reporter: but no campaigners have their stories to tell. vicky wall chose to give birth to her daughter liadan, en

though she was born at 32 weeks with a fatal syndrome, and died shortly after. >> liadan died at home surrounded by her thmily, and wiove and with care, and most of all with dignity. we have look at what the choice entails. what are we saying we have the choice to do? we're looking to have the choice to end a unique human life. sam extremely pro-life, and i think liuld be protected. >> reporter: 24-year-old campaigner abigail malone fears en with healthy fetuses would choose to have an abortion. >> ireland needs to remain a s lture and remain a country that vale right to life of every unborn child. e, reporter: this is a once-in- a-generation vnd both sides admit it's not just about abortion, but also about thetr soul of a stilitional country, now transforming. for the pbs newshour, i'nick schifrin >> woodruff: this sunday, in

colombia, voters will elect a new president to replace jua manuel santos, who forged a ntroversial peace accord 18 months ago that ended more than 50 years of w. he struck that deal with the lurgest rebel group, the reonary armed forces of colombia, known as the "farc." s part of the deal, farc membve given up their guns to pursue politics they are still known as the farc, but that now means "common alternative revolutionary force," and they've chosen a new symbol: a rose. but, as special correspondent nadja drost and videographer bruno federico report-- with the suppt of the pulitzer center on crisis reporting-- the hard road to peace in colombia is having deadly side effects. >> reporter: in southern bogotá, a scene in march that was unthinkable until recent-- former farc rebels running for legislative office.

>> ( translated ): we are at a historic moment, and we can't let it go. e at victory is what we need for the peacagreement to be fulfilled. be>> reporter: one of the negotiators of the fraught peace deal with colombia's government, victoria sandino has kept her nom de guerre as she enters a new, political, battle. the farc agreed to lay down arms in exchange for being able to participate in pitics.gn their campaias a test of the peace process, and also a real-time barometer of just how ready the colombian pus to accept them as legal, political actors. on election day, when the farc made its first appearance on the ballot, it was a histoc moment, but not necessarily celebrated by voters. >> ( translated ): it's the cost of peace, to have them there doing potics instead of them being in the mountains killing people. i think that, like me, nobody >> reporter: the farc ended up getting a mere 0.35% of the vote, and even though the peace deal guarantees the farc ten seats in congress, sanno was,

regardless, disappointed their poor results didn't help legitimize that presence. >> ( translated ): of course, we would have liked to have gotten more votes, but we knew we were starting with nothing. >> reporter: despite their poor showing, the farc's transformation from armed gritp to pal party has been one of the most evident results of the peace oocess. but mathe legislative reforms called for by the peace accords have nob materialized, ructed by a congress largely hostile to the deal, and which has blocked or delayed the esrequired legislative cha jean arneault is head of the u.n. verification mission in colombia, tasked with monitoring the peace deal. >> the process was too unpopular, in a way, to allow the president that drove it to i the same time drive that enormous effort th investing major resources,

money, efforts, into changing the situation. >> reporter: the peace accords are designed to address deep- seated problems and inequalities in the countryside and within marginalized communities, that drove and perpetuated the conflict. they aim to resolve land issues, bring rural development, and fight narco-trafficking with promises of subsidies and training programs for ers to switch from growing coca, the raw material in cocaine, to alternative crops. colombia's high commissioner for peace, rodrigo rivera, says the government has already fulfilled nearly0% of its peace commments. >> we are trying to go faster, and better, in this process. it is not an easy task, but this first year has been dedicated almost totally to lay down the foundation of this building. f theporter: ariel avila, o peace and reconciliation foundation, says slow progress could jeopardize the possibility

of peace. >> ( translated ): the problem is that if we don't build rural roads for peasants, if we don't formalize property, if we don't createroductive projects for the people, that population will have no other opti than the illegal economy, cultivating coca leaves to make cocaine, or legal mining. so in ten years, we're going to see a new wave of violence-- >> reporter: but it would seem that deadly future is now. many areas of the country, mostly those once under farc ncntrol, have been hit with new waves of v and in a morbid irony, it's affecting those the peace deal was supposed to make safer. ritivists and social leaders have hislly been targets in colombia's violence, but since the peace deal-signing, they're suffering a surge of threats and murders. according to the united nations, m 1 were murdered last year, double fe year before. almost half of those killed were working on implementinrdthe peace ac the numbers continue to climb,

especially in coca-growing ofeas, like the nortrn state ckórdoba, a long-time drug- traffig corridor used by guerrillas, paramilitary groups and drug gangs. luis suarez, a leader of a peasant association, took us t his hometown of abbit 10,000 inhatants, san josé de ure. >> ( translated ): there's been at least six assassinations reported this year. o reporter: suarez has tw bodyguards assigned to him by a government protection program, following a death threat a year suarez's group had been organizing families ready to abandon their coca bushes and join the government program to grow alternative crops, when one member was warneby an armed group to stop his work. then he was murdered. then suarez got a call, with instructions to drop his work. >> ( translated ): thedidn't say what it was about. they used very heavy words: "we're going to fill you with bullets, we're going to kill you."

then they asked me if they had made themselves ear, and i said "yes." they hung up. >> reporter: violence has ngopped in many parts of colombia follohe peace process, but where the farc once trled, paramilitary and drug- afficking groups have rushed in to fill the power vacuum and fight for control over crops and drug-trafficking. ms ( translated ): the farc dropped their nd the conflict hasn't ended here. that's why we don't call this post-conflict, we call it post- accord. >> reporter: upriver from here, the fighting between armed s oups over territory and vast crops of coca tensified over the last few months. locals from some of the more t olated hamlets have ld us of almily combat. violence from outlying hamlets has displaced hundreds of people to san josé de ure. wnmany have moved in with residents, like belarmino miguel vargas, who is living with his pregnant wife in a pexstic- sheetension of a home. vargas fled the farm where he worked with his brother antonio. vargas and his brother antonio had joined the government's program to substitute illicit crops.

his brother was adicating the last of his coca plants when two men appeared in the field. >> ( translated ): one took out a revolver and shot at my brother. and my brother, down on his knees, opened up his arms and prayed to god, gave himself up to god. they finished him off with seven bullets. >> reporter: vargas says his brotheled efforts to get the community to sign up with the government's coca replacement ogram. >> reporter: vargas says the message of the drug gangs is clear: >> ( translated "if you eradicate, we'll kill you. nobody pulls out even one bush because they'll die." >> reporter: the u.n.'s arneault says the cartels saw an opportunity when the farc left. >> those cartels got busy very quickly, trying to make sure that the exit of farc from the battlefielwould not entail a decrease in the quality, quantity and timing of the coca business. >> reporter: whether peace will inhabit land vacated by the farc largely depends on who will ultimately occupy them: the state, or crimin groups? following decades of absence, rivera, the peace commissioner, knows the stateds to replace the authority of armed groups,

and bring in roads, schools, health and rural development, but says that's a big challenge right now. >> because in those areas, we are till fighting, and the priority is still a al security priority. so the exp in those areas is kind of, "we don't see any peace here, we don't see peace in these towns." we've even h very high challenges in termof protecting social leaders in those areas. >> reporter: as we were leaving the river, peasant leader suarez received a message on his cell phone about a community leader and coca farmer in the neighbing state. >> ( translated ): he disappeared in puerto valdivia on tuesday, and there's the epssibility he's been killed. >>ter: a couple days later, his body was found. niter that week, another two nearby com leaders were lilled, raising the number of social leaders these,

killed across the country this year to at least a chilling 50. in cordobá,é de ure colombia, reporting with bruno federico, i'm nadja drost for the pbs newshour. >> woodruff: now, back to tie pol news of this week, with the analysis of shields and diooks. that's sted columnist mark shields, and "new york times" columnist davidrooks. welcome to you both. so let's talk first about this on again, off again summit with the north korean leader, david. it came about very quickly. it seemeto spring out of the e esident's mind on his own. a lot of peore skeptical it was ever going to happen. it's off again, but the epresident said today mat's not off. what do you make of his diplomacy? >> when i went to buy my first car somebody gave me advice you've got to walk out.

just walk out. i'm not that kind of guy, so i didn't walk out. but donald trump sort of walked out. he does everything in public ane rts pressure, he flatters, he threatens war, he doeser hing in public, so i sort of sympathize with the idea to see if thereould be some breakthrough with north korea. i don't blame him for going in and out and exerting whatever pressure he can. the problem is it's not real diplomasy. in real diplomacy you have your sherpa's build up some agreement, gather your allies, don't burn them with trade deals, and you exert real pressure. but donald trump is a lone wolf, he's doing it on his own, basically, without allies, without too much help with the u.s. government, and it's all by tweet and publicity. i'm skeptical you can get a break through wulithout a thack and military effort, ugh at least threats and

pressure, and i don't blame him for trying or going in and out. anything that can dislodge something that's stuck. >> woodruff: how do you size this up? >> well, judy, it'seen 65 years since president eisenhower on his promise to g to korea a gotiated a truce between north kod zeke. since then we've had ten presidents, five democrats, five republicans, with varying degrees of intensity, all tried to deal with resolving korea they've spent time, used learned professionals, wise academics, businessmen and business persokn wh the area. even after that, there are no major breakthroughs that'san happeneddonald trump, with no preparation, no knowledge, no background -- i agreed with david. i cheered the hope -- only a hope -- that we might have a breakthrough, but e idea tha this was going to happen and somehow kim jong un who has gottenlonow, l respect

because he's got nuclear arms was just going to say, well, that's it, thank you so much. you know, i think that was unrealistic. the fact that secrmaetary is says there's a possibility the summit will occu gr, thates me pause. i mean, i give a lot more credence to wh secretary mattis says than the white ho te. >> woodruf president clearly seemed to believe, david, unpredictability can pay off sometimes. >> well, sometimes it can. if you have a crazy person as president, may as well take advantage. but as i say, why should they give up nuclear weapons? theye seen the libya example and saw what happened to gadhafi. nt at some point i history, and i don't know if it will be en our lifetimes, they say would rather have a middle class, we would rather have avat they in south korea. eventually, somebody will make the call, i don't know if is this guy, that guy, his son, grandson, whatever. but as long as we keep knocking on the door, that's fine, and as

long as we don't disrupt the allies in the area, which we seem to have terrified the south koreans and the japanese, then the door shld be open and the pressure on. but sometimes you don't have good solutions and that's why we've had ten presidents without much progress. >> that's it. this isn't is cityn council atlantic city, the zoning commission where you're trying to get a deal for the casino and better parking or a large parking lot or to evoke eminent domain in your behalf. this is really significance. ci's the difference between braggaand style and flash and substance. john kennedy, who was far more a student of foreign affairs than donald trump, at his first encounter with khrushchev came

away humbled and contributed historians a many in the kennedy administration agree to the emboldened soviet union in both berlin and in cuba. so these don't come without some cost and pri and especially, as david pointed out, the rupture with our allies.f: >> woodret's bring it back home. primary elections this week, that is the season we're in now. david, democrats cheered a number of these results. women seemed to do parcuirly well in a number of states. some firsts for women. how did you read these results? are you seeing something hereiv that you a sense of what's going to take place in november? >> the prominence of the women candidates is o thing. it's more likely we'll have political campaignthat will be more about race. the republicans have become a prty white party, pretty out front on their views on immigration. what we've seen among the democrats is they're saying, yeah, there is also going be our issue. in the last couple of years, if

you poll democrats, are racial issues, are they structural problems or individl problems in american society? eyst democrats say, no, individual, an overcome racial barriers. now it's structural, a very big,cies tink problem. used to be a lot of democrats didn't want to get into close with the racial issue or immigration, but they're they'ru embracing the and the party is more a party of intersectionality. cemocrats will now also put immigratioral and that is honest on the one hand. i'm a little nervous about it, frankly. race is the big divide in our country's histoa rysty divide, and if our politicalov dividelap with this racial nightmare we've had for 250 years, you can get pretty bad things. >> woodruff: is that what you think, mark? >> well, when you get the leader of onearty calling people animals, it's tough to say race is not going to be a factor i

american politics. it's an enduring factr. >> woodruff: in reference to immigrants. >> immigrants, that's right. i will say this, judy, about women, the presumption, the prejudice voters have had historically toward women candidates is, a, they're more honest than men and, b, more mpassionate. they have questions about their toughness. but there's no tuestiont, in t18, women are doing very well at polls, and this goes back to a poll that was done at the end of las year, asked both -- both partieasked would we be better off as a country with more women in office? 36% of republicans said yes,we would. 83% of democrats did. even though these are won many cases that don't have experience which i thought after the amateur hour we have been through over the past 18 months in washington, the executive level, i thought voters would

prize thefact that candidates with interesting resumes like amy grath in kentucky, former jet pilot wcoho foughat missions, mother of three, won a race, a unique exprience where s.th candidates were both viewed positively by vote you talk about a model that we would hope would catch on inre e of the country. so i think that's an important development as we head into th fall of 2018. >> certainly changing landscape. buwe've go a few months to see what happens. last thing i want to ask yout ab what the president's been talking about sort of relentlessly, david, and that it thesacks on the department of justice, criticism of the departmentj oustice, the f.b.i., he's now come up with the term i spyga his words to describe what went on when the f.b.i. was investigating as part of the russia investigation hisn

camp this week he pulled congress into it. where do you see this going y? how size up what the president is doing is this. >> well, he realized that the mueller investigation is not a bad thing for him but a good thing for him, that if he can create a narrative that it' him versus the swamp and that all the arms of t.s ugovernment are really politicized, things controlled by the democra or elites or whoever, then he can use the soap open remarks give a ew plot twist every single day which is what he's been doing all week, a new set of tweets to get us talking about it and it reinrces the idea he's the the brave outsider reghtinfighting the swamp and t' l a bunch of animals and he's the brave one and it's worki for him. i'm sick of all the daily i ories about it. ink we overplay it. when the mueller report comes out, that will be a big de but who goes to what meeting, frankly, i find less important

than the way he'sble to manipulate it into a soap app idy benefiting himself. >> woodruff:'t bother you the president wanted republican members of congress briefed by the d.o.j. and the f.b.i.? >> yes, trr violations of etiquette. the chief of staff went to the dbriefing. thn't strike me as a big deal. every day we get new driblet. we got the driblet cohen's lawyer was paidby a russian oligarch, andlways driblets, but what's struck me is the wayi the prnt controlled the narrative and even those criticizing him fall into the narrative and he's perfectly happy to do it. >> if, in fact, the president's premise were valid, t the f.b.i. and the government were conspiring against him, that they planted people in the campaign and they were doing all the believed to prevent a

sinister effort to prevent donald trump's being elected, th s why did they on the information that his people, those closest toer him, meeting with russians, were meeting with foreign interests, very seeking information wherever they could in violation of american law? why didn't they reveal his campaign chairman and his deputy wereeep into business with vladimir putin's closest associates and allies? why? because it's a total fabrication. the only person i've heard use the perm spygate is dald trump. it really isn't -- he has moved republicans on the fre.i., blican voters were far more favorable toward the f.b.i. bere he started his harangue and his canard,- and - >> woodruff: you're saying he's been successful?, >> by moving hut i don't think he's moved public opinion, i really don't. t

i mean idea that rudy giuliani was boastabing out f.b.i. agents talking and avealing things about the clintons to th how close they were, now they've turned into storm troopers and rudy who's the minidonald. so i think if he had been one-tenth as critical of vladimir putin and the russians d what they tried to do to our election as he has been of dicated career public employees who work hard, who protect us,,ou kno and it does denigrate public service as a calling.th >> i agree that. the problem is there was a book in 1962 that sd you can't beat a pseudostory with facts. we have facts. this didn't happen. he has a story and somehow he's stuck in a story where trumps thoughts are facts. >> i argue with that.

we wait to see what robert mueller produces. >> woodruff: to be continued. mark shieloods, david s, have a great weekend. >> thank you. > in >> woodruff:ly, brothers in film mark and jay duplass arronicle their directing and actingrs in a new book. they sat down with jeffrey brown recently, in the latest edition of the "newshour bookshelf." >> something's wrong, guys. >> bro: in 2005, a film called "puffy chair" both perplexed and transfixed the sundance film festival. it's about two brothers who embark on a road trip to pick up a chair from ebay a present for their father. >> i'll give you $2,000 if you keep your mouth shut. >> it helped introduceie wider film ae to the quirky, low-budget movie-making of the s.iter-director team of mark and jay dupl the two brothers from the reburbs of new orleans have made han two dozen films and

television shows together, and largely on their own terms. >> have you worked harder on your calibrations. >> my calibrations are flipping pinpoint, okay?e >> brown: th not only write, direct and act in their own projects, but also fund other low-budget, independent filmmakers and television projects,rencluding the cent documentary series "wild, wild country." among their recent work: the hbo tvuteries, "togetherness," a marriage and friendship. >> all right, you see? you're a mess. >> brown: as actors, jay appeared in "transparent" and mark in "the league." abw, they've collaborated on a new work-- a boot making it as independent filmmakers in hollywood, and trying not to kill each other along the way. it's called "like brothers." mark and jay duplass joined me recently, and i asked them about thriving outside the hollywood system. >> i really feel like we have carved a tiny lie le corner of ndbox that is uniquely our own. if we stay there, we really stay

happy. but it was not part of our pe n. i think thuld be no plan for us. we came from the suburbs of new orleans with no connections rigid catholic schools, and the idea of having a carr in the arts was beyond consideratn. and when we decided to do it, we sort of locked arms and spirits, souls, and we sort of began that sisyphean journey pushing the boulder up the mountain. and i think what happened is that we realized halfway there that if we were going able to make the kinds of things we wanted to make, we weren't going to be able to do them with othe people's money. >> brown: how do you define, at this point in your lifetime, define what you've been doing? >> we're taught as film makers to be an auteur, we're supposed to be dictators, and we're ripposed to know everything

t away.e >>ied to be the cohen brothers. we're not as smart or funny as th are. >> a small piece of advice, only the cohen brothers can be the cohen brothers. >>e had a long period of time when we were trying to be like other filmmakers and it wasn't lltil we had nervous breakdowns and accidenmade a $3 short film that was something we had gone through, a guy trying to werfect a personal greeting of his personal ang machine, fails to do so, and it was thisu hila tragic, weird little almost home movie. >> hey, it'sgon, isrry ied your call. leave me your number, i'll get back to you as soon as i can. thanks. (bee hi, it's john ashford, hello! >> we took the movie to sundance and saw audience gasp a laugh

their butts off and said i guess this is what we uniquely have to offer the world, making fun of our own quiet and pathetic and sometimes loud desperation. >> brown: it sounds ke an accidental life, in a way, or career. yeah, is it hard to find the voice that you did, was hard to find. >> it took us honestly about ten to 12 years of floundering around as young artists in austin, texas. you could live on $6,200 a year and make weird, art not be a tot we had a community that was supportive now, and that's what we're trying to do now for younger filmmakers, or appearance filmmakers, you know, where we trynd foster them and create the environment where they can create and get some of the help that, honestly, we never got. because i think we have survivor's guilt. >> brown: survivor's guilt? >> yeah, becausee suffered for so long trying to figure out, you know, what it was that we uniquely had to offer. and what we always tell artists,

kd part of this and the b is, you know, the strange conversations you have with your orsibling or your loved on your best friend in the middle of the night, where you're giggling uncontrollably or you're crying about something so personal to your experience. that is probably what you uniquely have to offer, and that's, that's where you have to start. thr's where it all started us. >> brown: you write about being offered, like, marvel, and a big budget film, rejected because you want smaller budgets. you want... >> that's not our curency. we're not suited to serve that. i think they would be disappointed in us and we wo be frustrated because we like to make ten to 15 projects a year. you have to have a unilateral focus for three years. that wouldn't make us happy. >> if we made a superhero movie. i think we'd spend, like. 12 minutes othe scene where e guys put the suit on and you as low fat it a little self-conscious about it and then

you have to talk to his wife about it and they have to work up, like, a vel of confidence for him so that he can go out wearing that skintight suit. >> brown: and the audience would be saying, what's going on? put the suit on. >> or maybe they love it. the climax is she's willing to have sex with him without the suit on. she accepthim, as we would. love it. >> that's the breakthrough we're looking for. >> is a billion dollar box office gross or every good that. okay. >> brown: so the partnership and the approach will continue, is the plan? >> i think so. i think we're changing now and we're realizing that this insular, two-person co-dependent collaboration of writing, directing movies into lockstep doesn't work for ud right now, lye expanding that circle, not ocially, so that we can have wives and children, but creatively. those are important. but creatively and professionally, you know, we can go out and produce things for younger brother filmmakers like "wild, wild country."

and that feels very right to us in a way that feels like we can still be close and support each other, a get a little breath of air that doesn't exactly smell like the other one breath every time all right. br brown: the book is "like hers." mark and jay duplass, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: you have to laugh. online, the duplass brothers shared three documentaries that touched or inspired them. find that at our website, www.pbs.org/newshour. also, over on our facebook page: as we approach the unoicial start of summer, many public pools will open soon. het how safe and clean are our own amna nawaz and laura santhanam have been looking at that and they discussed it during a facebook live today. you can join the conversation at tocebook.com/newshour. ght on "washington week," robert costa's roundtable of reporters discuss the diplomacy and drama surrounding president

trump's standoff with north korea. plus, the latest on the russia ntobe, and the justice depart dispute with congressional republicans. and we will be back, right here, on memorial day monday, with the profile of the efforts to commemorate the nation's women veterans. that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. have a great weekend. thank you, and good night. >> major funding for the pbs inwshour has been provided by: >> kev >> kevin! >> kevin. li advice for fe. well-planned. learn more at raymondjames.com. >> consumer cellular. ci leidos. >> supporting so entrepreneurs and their

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tufu: we're the history detectives and we're going to investigate some untold stories from america's past. elyse: this week, could this rusting wreck t be the lmains of the ss portland, the ship that started the klondike gold rush? wes: did this civil war saddle carry confederate cavalry rg commander john hunt mo ondeep into union territory? gwen: and was this striking old banner carried t he head of a 1966 civil rights march that changed the face of u.s. labor history? ♪ watchin' the detectives ♪en i get so angry he teardrops start ♪