captioning snsored by wshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: whcte house legislative dire marc short discusses what's next for the trump agenda. then, the hard rd to peace. colombia's rebel group transitions into a political party, but leaves a dangerous vacuum of control over the cocainindustry. and, it's friday. mark shields and david brooks are here. we talk about the president's decision to cancel the summit with north korea, and more. then, brothers in film. how a quirky filmmaking duo have cultivated their own way through hollywood. >> we watched audiences, like, gasp, and laugh their butts off, and we looked at each other and were like, i gue 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 proded by: >> consumer cellular believes that wireless plans should reflect the amount of talk, text ad data that you use. we offariety of no- contract wireless plans for people who use their phones a little, a lot, or ann.hing in betw to learn more, go to consumercellular.tv >> financial services firm raymond james. >> leidos. >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of cial change worldwide. >> 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 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." hlater, leaving the whitese, 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. we're talking to them now. 'dey very much want to do it.

like to do it. we'll see wher happens. evybody plays games. you know that. you know that better than anybody. ja woodruff: separately, defense secretars mattis said it is "good news" that diplomats are working to get the summit back on trrek. later, thedent touted the u.s. military buildup, in his commencement address at the u.s. naval academy. he told the graduates, "e best way to prevent war, is to 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 rape and felony sex charges, involving two women. accusations against him galvanized the "me too" movement 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 viole young women. his lawyer said 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 intentionally committed criminal act, and mr. weinstein vigorously denies that. on woodruff: weinstein was released on $1 milail. in all, some 75 women have alleged that he commsexual wrongdoing. we will look forther at this later in the program. a federal judge refused today to dismischarges against paul manafort, president trump's one- time campaign manager. is accused of money laundering and making false statements about his work for ukraine. meanwhile, it is widely reported that the president's personal lawyer, michael cohen, met with irussian billionaire 11 days before mr. trumpuguration. a firm tied to the russian later paid cohen $500,000 for consulting.

there is word that the trump administration has reached a deal to help chinese telecom giant z.t.e. at the behest of the chinese government. the "new york 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 in and north korea. iran today demanded tees of economic incentives promised under the 2015 nuclear deal. otherwise, it vowed to withdraw from the agreement, as the un cie demand came as iranian ofs 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. >> ( translatedat ): if intenal agreements are signed and then revised every four years, it would offerr ero horizon anning. it will create the atmosphere of

nervousness and lack of trust. >> woodruff: russia remains a itrty to the iran nuclear agreement, alongbritain, china, france and germany. president putin also rebuffed cas today to acknowledge russian involvement in an airline disasterver ukraine. the malaysian airlines passanger jet was shot down by a missile in 2014, killing 298 people on board. international investigators have now traced the missile to a russian military unit. syrian war monitors report that israeli air strikes hit a military be overnight. the post, south of the city of homs, is controlled by iranian- backed hezbollah fighters from lebanon. siere has been a series of israeli air raids syria, aimed at iran and its allies fighting for the syrian regime. the european union's new data privacy rules took effect today. they curb how companies collect

and sell data, and they require users' consent. the fines could reach 4% of a company's global revenue, or $23 million, whichever is higher. storm has formed in the taribbean, a week before hurricane seasons. alberto is off mexico's yucatan peninsula this evening, with sustainewinds of 40 miles an hour. it is projected to reach the u.s. gulf coast and dumpain on memorial day events. president trump today signed executive orders making easier to fire federal workers he also called for negotiating tougher contracts with federal employee unions. it amounts to the biggest change to civil service protections in a generation. and on wall street, the dow jones industrial average lost 58 points to close at 24,753. the nasdaq rose nine points, and the s&p 500 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 ireland. 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 director of e gislative affairs, marc short. marc short, welcck to the "newshour". >> thanks tore having me. >> woodruff: on the zte story, we're hearing there's been a deal. as you know, when the president rfirst announced te might be accommodation, a lot of pushback from congressmembers especially republicans saying this is the wrong thing to do. we hearmarco rubio, republican from florida, saying this is a company that ignores u.s. laws, ushes u.s. companies wh no

mercy, spies and steals. >> i think there's no president who's going to be tough on china than this president, he's going to make sure they're no longer stealing the property. secretary ross will be making an announcement in the coming days. here's two different tracks here, one is tommerce department on the civil side, one is the d.o.j. investigation on the criminal side. malot more to happen but this administration wil sure they're held accountable and making sure there's no more intellectual property theft. >> woodruff: talking about trade, letns t 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 about, as i understand it, making a middle class tax cut permanent. omat i want to ask you, marc short is, "brg news" is reporting today the corporate

tax cut that was passed last december has led to something like companies in the s&p 500 saving $30 blion in the first three quarters of this year is the projection. almost 50% ofhe total growth in these companies, in other words, anenmous growth in the profit margins of these companies, at the same time, individuals haven't seen a lot of change. >> actually, we're very comfortable with the growth we're seeing. we think it's benefit ago loft americans. when you have unemployment at 3.9%, t e lowes 18 years, n-e lowest historic number for afrierican unemployment, the lowest ever for hispanic unemployment. i think the lowet 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. we're coident that the beneficiaries of the plan knowis s benefiting the economy

and helping the economy grow. last april we had thee largst surplus in american history as a result of the revenue coming into the federal government because to have the tax plan. >> woodruff: was administration's intention that companies get such a huge boostt out of t tax cut and are you concerned about republicans saying they're worried about t what as does to the deficit? >> keep in mind the reason for the rporate tax relief is countries across the globe were reduce their corporate rates significantly below 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 countcories we'reting with are lower than the corporate rate of 21% we now have the united states. so it was absolutely part of our plan and we think it's producing the growth we wanted. >> woodruff: let's turn to imgration. a couple of measures have been moving through congress, keep running into stumng blocks, the house of representatives failed to move ahead on a farm

bill that included some immigration proposals,ttle complicated to explain. but has the white house taken a position on one of the immigration proposals that republicans are looking at? judy, we've taken pretty vocal positions about what we want to see on the immigraon front. the president's been clear, he wants to find a permanent solution for the daca population. he believes they're working. obviously getting a daca permit, they have to be abiding by the law in this country and projective and we should provide a permanent solutionor them at the same time we're trying to get security for the border. that's the mriage weneed to get to make sure there's a plan. ep continue to work with the house ofesentatives, we try to plan in the united states senate. i think immigration isn incredibly political issue and often not driven p by what's in the best interest of the country. >> woodruff: you mentioned buca, children of undocumented immigrants in connection with that there is stepped-up enforcemt of people coming across the bored and prosecution, families coming across, children separated from

parents, reporting some of the ildren are being treated very badly, abused. is the administration comfortable with what the department of homeland security, the department of justice are doing and how they address, how they treat these famlies? >> we believe that secretary doelsen and the attorney general arg a great job on helping us secure the border with the limitations they have on them. d many cases the separation of the child e parents is something that's produced because the loses are so bad they tie the hands of the secretary of homeland security. asen you have catch and rel that force you, when someone comes in our country and is apprehended, you release them with the sufferings they willco show up for t date at a later time. the laws are ridiculous. you've heard the president makee a or them. if you're coming from mexico, or el salvador, the are different rules on asylum. we need to fix the rules.

u woodruff: people say this onscionable the way the children are treated. >> in many cases these stoies 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 se it's done as humanely as possible. >> woodruff: i want to come back to the trump agenda in the congress. house of representatives having a lot of difficulty passing the farm bill a few days ago under the leadership of prine who indicated he's retiring, he's a lame duck, essentially. are you concerned the president's agenda, that you cat get ng through in these divide times among republicans in the congre's? >> judy,e actually had an historic record over the last 17 months. it's not only the tax relief, it's repealing the mandate. it's providing the largest military increase in the history of the count, providing additional funding for border

security, first new funding for a wall in ten years. 10 percent increase, there's been quite a bit of legislative accomplishment that's achieved. unfortunely 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 getti accomplishments once prine leaves? >> i think the president has a terrific reltionship with kevi mccarthy and also a good relationship with speaker ryan.d we'll e for the american people either way. marc short, white house legislative director, so much t ask you about. >> thanks for having me open. > -- meon. >> woodruff: thank you.

>> woodruff: today, authorities filed criminal charges against filmmaker harvey weinstein. amna nawas has more on thest y. >> reporter: judy, wgenstein was chwith rape, in one case, and first-degree criminal sex cot, in another. the charge on the heels of a seven-month police s vestigation, and are based on allegatide by two women, one of whom first shared her story with ronan farrow, a writer for "the new yo magazine. ronan continues to follow this story today, and is in new york. ronan, thanks for mahe time. i want to ask you now the first story in october when you reported about this, you had the stories o multiple women, many accusations over many years. your latest story last night talked about how those allegations and accusations how did that happen? >> good to be here. the day aer that story that you just described ran, as it turns out, members to have the

nypd -- members of the nypd cold mese squad reached out to one of the with an assault allegation in it, lucia evans, who did an incredibly brave thing in speaking out in the press. she then, in the ensuing months, icced yet another still more dit decision, whether to up-end her life for years, potentially, aa star witne in this case. >> you spoke to lucia evans and 12 other women as part of that report. did you or any of the women you spoke to believe at anytime that those conversations could turn into criminal charges down the line? >> i think, overall, the feeling was that this s a distant near impossibility. time and tme again, i had conversations with these women contemplating taking this incribly brave step, facing retaliation and career annihilation. they said even if we do this, will it make any difrence? a was hard for many of them to

envisi universe in which they might be heard but ensure ago key part of accountability. so i think today is an unexpected moment, a wrenching moment in a lot of ways, i think it brings up a lot of feelings for a lot of the women who have been reacht to me over the course of the day, but a fulfilling moment, the first time stories likehave been heard in a long time. >> what have been the women been to you? what was it like for them after many, many years in some cases to see a man like harvey weinstein in handcuffs on histo wahe courtroom? >> it's emotional for a lot of many have spoken out on social media and other forums to say how much thieans to them and i think to many survivors around the world, some of whom are still struggling with this decision as tohether to spea. again, i want to call special attention to women like lia evans who, on top of that, have made the additional choice to put themselves onhe line and in the crosshairs of an

aggressive legal team that will seek to discredit them to be a rt of these criminal proceedings. t you wrote since the establishment e first studios a century ago there have been few moviea executives dominant and domineering as harvey weinstein. talk to me about theic signce of a day like today, given the national conversation sparked in large part by your reporting last year. >> well, you know, i have to say therare activists doing this hard work long before this most recent reporting by me and a lot of other reporters who banged eir head against the walls trying to get these stories about sexual violence out. but there was a succession of pieces of reporting that i think chipped awafat a culture silence, and that goes back to the accusers of bill cosby stepping forward, i goes back to what gretchen carlson did in exposi h a culture ofassment at fox news. these were all in remental step that allowed me in my

conversations with sources in the weinstein story to say, hey, as hard as it is to envision, usebe you will be heard bec people are starting to speak about this. so i think what we're witnessing us a transformation right now in our culture and this issue and our ability to confront it on. >> ronan farrow, thanks for your reporting and thanks for your time. >> thank you, pleasure to be here. >> woodruff: stay with us. coming up on the newshour: the hard road to peace. colombia's journeyrsafter 50 yeaf war. mark shields and david brooks analyze the decision to cancel the north korea summit, and all e week's political news. and, brothers in film. mark and j duplass document their hollywood careers in a new memoir. but first, voters in ireland went to the polls today for an

important vote. the irish constitution bans abortions, even in cases of rape and incest. a new constitutional amendment up for vote today would allow parliament to legalize abortion, and according to initial exit polls, it seems to have afcceeded. foreign fairs correspondent nick schifrin has our story. >> reporter: in this historically conservative and religious society, the voting booths are in churches, and some of the voters show up in habits. but old irish habits are dying, anrythis is not the same cou once dominated by the catholic church >> i woke up at 6:00 this morning. i'm not usually an early riser, but i couldn wait to get down here to vote. ng reporter: womenike teresa sweeney are tro replace a law that can currently send women who get abortions to aw years in prison, with a that would allow unrestricted abortions for the first 12 weeks of preancy. the campaign has been painful, and divided families and friends.

>> my son's godmother and i actually had a huge falling out, ca haven't spoken a year, e she's a nurse and she is voting "yes" and i vote "no." asd i think, literally, it actually divided us. we are not speaking at all. >> reporter: both sides have made their cases with personal stories. amy callahan has a new son, but in another pregnancy, her fetus was diagnosed with a fatal condition. she couldn't have an abortion in aneland, so she and her hu connor fw to the u.k. xt i didn't want to leave co. and the ay, we flew back ir ireland, and as we were walking in thert, 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 cite the case of savita halappanavar, who in 2012 died after her fetus became stillborn, but the hospital refused to give her an abortion. ona murray is a special correspondent with the irish independent. >> she died as a direct consequence of the 8th >>endment. eporter: the catholic church stills runs the majority of schools here, and influences rost of society, but scandals haved its influence, especially among a younger generation. >> you also have a very young country, a young population, that has grown up in the.u. and has engaged in progressive liberalism and traveled the world, and that's the other side of this. >> reporter: but no campaigners have their own stories to tell. vicky wall chose to give birth to her daughter liadan, even though she was born at 32 weeks with a fatal syndrome, and di

shortly after. >> liadan died at home surrounded by her family, and with love and with care, and most of all with dignity. we have to look at what the choice entails. what are we saying we have the looice to do? we'ring to have the choice to end a unique human life. i am extremely pro-life, and i fe should be protected. >> reporter: 24-year-old campaigner abigail malone fears that women with healthy fetuses would choose to have an iortion. land needs to remain a culture and remain a country that values the right to life of every unborn child. >> reporter: this is a once-in- a-generationote, and both sides admit it's not just about abortion, but also about the soul of a stl traditional country, now transforming. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> woodruff: this sunday, in colombia, voters will elect a new president to replace juan

manuel santos, who forged a controversial peace accord 18 months ago that ended more than 50 years of war. he struck that deal with the largest rebel group, the revolutionary armed forces of colombia, known as the "farc." as part of the deal, farc mensers have given up their to pursue politi. they are still known as the alrc, but that now means "common rnative revolutionary force," and they've chosen a new symbol: a rose. but, as special correspondent nadja drost and videographfe brunrico report-- with the support of the pulitzer center on crisis reporting-- thachard road to in colombia is having deadly side effects. >> reporter: in southern bogotá, a scene in march that was unthinkable until recently-- former farc rebels running for legislative office. ic ( translated ): we are at a

histoment, and we can't let it go. that victory is what we need for the peace agreement to be fulfilled. >> reporter: one of thorrebel negotiof 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 a in exchange for being able to participate in politics. their campaign was a test of the peace process, and also a real-time barometer of just how ready the colombian ptblic is to achem as legal, political actors. on election day, when the farc de its first appearance on the ballot, it was a historic moment, but t necessarily celebrated by voters. >>th translated ): it'cost of peace, to have them there doing politics instead of them being in the mountains killing people. tethink that, like me, nobody >> rep the farc ended up getting a mere 0.35% of the vote, and even though the peace deal grantees the farc ten seats in congress, sandino was, regardless, disappointed their poor results didn't help

legitimize that presence. >> ( translated ): of course, ed neuld have lo have gotten more votes, but wewe were starting with nothing. th reporter: despite their poor showingfarc's transformation from armed group to political party has been one of the most evident results of the peace process. but ny of the legislative reforms called for by the peace accords have not materialized, obstructed by a congregely hostile to the deal, and which has blocked or delayed the required legislative cnges 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 at the same time drive that enormous effort g at is investjor resources, money, efforts, into changing

the situation. >> reporter: the peace accords are designed to address deep- seesed problems and inequali in the countryside and within marginalized communities, that drove and perpetuated the conflict. ruey aim to resolve land issues, brinl development, and fight narco-trafficking with promises of subsidies and training programs fofarmers 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 nearly 20% of its peace commitments. >> we are trying to go faster, and better, in this process. it is not an easy task, but this firsyear has been dedicated almost totally to lay down the foundation of this building. >> reporter: ariel avila, of e peace and reconciliation ulundation, says slow progress 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 opeate productive projects for the people, thatation will have no other option than the illegal economy, cultivating coca leaves to make cocaine, or illegal mining. so in ten years, we're going to see a new wave of violence-- >> reporter: but it would seem coat deadly future is now. many areas of thtry, mostly those once under farc control, have been hit with new waves of violence. and in a morbid irony, it's affecting those the peace deal was supposed to make safer. activists and social leaders have historically been targets in colombia's violence, but since the peace deal-signing, they're suffering a threats and murders. according to the united nations, 121 were murdered last year, double from the year before. almost half of those killed were working on implementing the e ace accords. mbers continue to climb, especially in coca-growing areas, like the northern state

of córdoba, a long-time drug- trafficking corridor used by gserrillas, paramilitary groups and drug gan luis suaz, a leader of a peasant association, took us to his hometown of about 10,000 urhabitants, san josée. >> ( translated ): there's been ed least six assassinations repohis year. >> reporter: suarez has two bodyguards assigned to him by a vernment protection program, following a death threat a year ago. 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 warned by an armed e oup to stop his work. thens murdered. inen suarez got a call, with ructions to drop his work. >> ( translated ): they didn't say what it was about. they used very heavy w "we're going to fill you with bullets, we're going to kill you." then they asked me if they had made themselves clear, and i

said "yes." they hung up. >> reporter: violence has dropped in many parts of colombia following the peace process, but where the farc once ruled, paramilitary and drug- trafficking groups have rushed in to fill the power vacuum and fight for control overoca crops and drug-trafficking. >> ( translated ): the farc dropped their arms and the conflict hasn't ended here. that's why we dot call this post-conflict, we call it post- ercord. >> reporter: uprrom here, the fighting between armed groups over territory and vast crops of coca ovs intensified the last few months. locals from some of the more isolated hamlets have told us of almost daily combat. violence from outlying hamlets has displaced hundreds of people to san josé de ure. many have moved in wittown residents, like belarmino miguel vargas, who is living with his pregnant wife in a plastic- sheeted extension of a home. vargas fled the farm whe he worked with his brother antonio. vargas and his brother antonio had joined the government's m to substitute illicit crops. his brother was eradicating the last of his coca plants when two

men appeared in the field. >> ( translated ): one took out a volver and shot at my brother. and my brother, down on his avees, opened up his arms and prayed to god,himself up to god. they finished him off with seven arllets. >> reporter:s says his brother led efforts to get the community to sign up with the government's coca replacement program. >> reporter: vargas says the ssage of the drug gangs clear: >> ( translated ): "if you eradicate, we'll kill you. 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 battlefield would not entail a tycrease in the quality, quannd timing of the coca business. >> reporter: whether peace will inhabit land vacated by the farc largely depends on who will ultimately occupy them: the ofate, or criminal groups? following decades bsence, rivera, the peace commissioner, knows the ste needs to replace the authority of armed groups, and bring in roads, schools, health and rural development,

but says that's a big challenge right no >> because in those areas, we are till fightg, and the tionalty is still a security priority. nd the experience of the people in those areas is f, "we don't see any peace here, we don't see peace in these towns." we've even had very high challenges in terms of osotecting social leaders in areas. >> reporter: as we were leaving the river, peasant leader suarez received a message on his cellt phone aboua community leader and coca farmer in the neighboring state. >> ( translated ): he disappeared in puerto valdivia on tuesday, and there's the possibility he's been killed. reporter: a couple days later, his body was found. later that week, another two nearby community leaders were killed, raising the number of social leaders, like these, killed across the country this

ar to at least a chilling 50. wiom san josé de ure in cordobá, colombia, reportin bruno federico, i'm nadja drost for the pbs newshour. >> woodruff: now, back to the litical news of this wee with the analysis of shields and brooks. that'syndicated columnist mark shields, and "new york times" columnist david brooks. 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 seemed to spring out of the president's mind on his own. a lot of peope were stical it was ever going to happen. it's off again, but the president said today maybe it's not off. what do you make ofhis diplomacy? >> when i went to buy my first car someody 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. dt donald trump sort of walked out. s everything in public and he exerts pressure, he flatters, he threatens war, he does everything in public, so i sort of sympathize with the idea to see if there could be some breakthrough with nortdoh korea. 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 rea pressure. but donald trump is a lone wolf, onhe's doing it is own, basically, without allies, without too much help with the u.s. government, and it's all by tweet and publicity. i'mn skeptical you cat a break through without a full stack and military effort, through at least threats and pressure, and i don't blam 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's been 65 years since president eisenhower on his promise to go to korea negotiated a truce between north korea and zeke. south korea. since then we've had ten presidents, five democrats, five ipublicans, with varying degrees ensity, all tried to deal with resolving korea. they've spent time, used learned professionals, wise academics, businessmeand business persons who know the area. r en after that, there are no maeakthroughs that's happened, and donald trump, with no preparation, no knowledge, no background -- i agreed with davi i cheered the hope -- only a hope -- that we might have a breakthrough, but the idea that meis was going to happen and w kim jong un who has gotten, now, global respect because he's got nuclear arm

was just going to say, well, that's it, thank you so much. you know, i think that was unrealistic. the fact that secretary mattis says there's a possibility e summit will occur, that gives me pause. i mean, i ve a lot more credence to what secretary mattis says than the white house. >> woodruff: the president clearly seemed to believe, david, unpredictability can pay off sometimes. >> well, sometimes i. c if you have a crazy person as president, may as well take advantage. but as i say, why should they give up nuclear weapons? they've seen the libya example and saw whatappened to gadhafi. but at some point in history, and i don't know if it will be in our lifetimes, they say we would rather have a midle class, we would rather have what they have in southtu korea. evly, somebody will make the call, i don't know if it's this guy, that guy, his son, grandson, whatver. 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 should be open and the pressure on. but sometimes you don'have good solutions and that's why we've had ten presidents without much progr >> that's it. this isn't is city council in atlantic city, the zoning commission where you're trying to get a deal for the casino and otter parking or a large parking loto evoke eminent behalfin your this is really significance. it's the difference betwn anaggadocio and style and flash 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 and many in the kennedy administration agree to the emboldened soviet union in both berlin and in cuba. so these don't come witout some cost and price and especially, as david pointed out, the rupture with our allies. >> woodruff: let'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 parti well in a number of states. some firsts for women. how did you read these results? are you seeing something here th gives you a sense of what's going to take place in november? >> the prominence of the women candidates is one thing. it's more likely we'll have political campaigns that will be more about race. the republicans have become a pretty white party, pretty out front on their views on immigratio what we've seen among the democrats is they're saying, yeah, there is also gointo be our issue. in the last couple of years, if

you poll democrats, are racial issues, are they structural problems or individual problems in american society? most democrats say, no, individualthey can overcome racial barriers. biw it's structural, a very 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're embracing th party is more a party of ntersectionality. democrats wi also put immigration central and that is honest on the one hand. i'm a little nervous about it, frankly. ce is the big divide in our country's histo, a nasty divide, and if our political divis overlap with this racial cghtmare we've had for 250 years, y get pretty bad things. >> woodruff: is that what you elink, mark? >> when you get the leader of one party calling people beimals, it's tough to say race is not going t a factor in

american politics. it's an enduring faor. >> woodruff: in reference to ntmigrants. >> immig 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 compassionate. they have questions about their toughness. but there's no questio that, in 2018, women are doing very well at p thels, and this goes back to a poll that was done at the end of lt year, asked both -- both parties asked would we better off as a country with more women in office? 36% of republicans said yes, we would. 83% of democrats di even though these are women in 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 the fact that candidates with interesting resumes like amy grath in kentucky,ormer jet pilot who fought combat missions, moth of three, won a race, a unique e experience whee both candidates were both viewed positively by voteus. you talk aa model that we would hope would catch on in the so i think that's an important fevelopment as we head into the fall 2018. >> certainly changing landscape. but we've got a few months to see what happns. last thing i want to ask you about is what the president's ,een talking about sort of relentlessavid, and that is these attacks on the department of justice, critism of the department of justice, the f.b.i., he's now come up with the term spygate in his words to describe what went on when the f.b.i. was investigating as part of the russia investigation his cakaign.

this w he pulled congress into it. where do you see this going? hodo you size up what te president is doing is this. >> well, he realized that theve mueller igation is not a bad thing for him but a good thing for him, that if he can create a narrative that it's him versus the swamp and that all the arms of the u.s. government are really politicized, things controlled by the democrats or ites or whoever, then he can use the soap open remarks give it a new plot twist every single day which is what he's been doing all week, new set of tweets to get us talking about it andt reinforces the idea he's the the brave outsider fightinfighting the swamp and te all a bunch of animals and he's the brave one and it's working for him. i'm sick of all the daily stories about it. i think we overplay t. when the mueller report comes out, that will be a big deal. but who goes to what meeting, frankly, i find less importhtant the way he's able to

manipulate it into a so app ray benefiting himself. >> woodruff: didn'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 briefing. at didn't strike me as a big deal. every day we get new driblet. we got the driblet cohen's lawyer was paid by a russian oligarch, and always driblets, but what's struck me is the way the esident controlled the narrative and even those criticizing him fall into the narrative and he's perfectly fappy to do it. >> if, i, the president's premise were valid, that 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,

then why did they sit on the information that his people, those closest to him, were meeting with russians, were meeting with foreign interests, very seeking information wh iever they couldn violation of american law? why didn't they reveal hisca aign chairman and his deputy were deep into business with vladimir putin's closest associates and allies? why? because it's a totalbr ation. the only person i've heard use the perm spygate is donald trump. it really isn't -- he has moved republicans on the f.b.i., republican voters we far more favorable toward the f.b.i. before he started hisarangue and his canard, and -- >> woodruff: you're saying he's been successful? >> by moving him, but i don't think he's moved publiopinion, i really don't. i mean, the idea that rudy giuliani was boasting about

f.b.i. agents talking and revealing things about the clintons to em and 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 and what they trieo do to our election as he has been of dedicated career puc employees who work hard, who protect us, you kw, and t does denigrate public service as a calling. >> i agreatwith the problem is there was a book in 1962 that said you can't beat a pseudostory with facts we have facts. this didn't happen. he has a story and somehow he'st tsin a story where trumps thoure facts. e> i argue with that. we wait toe what robert mueller produces.

>> woodruff: to be continued. mark shields, david brooks, have a great weekend. >> thank you. > >> woodruf finally, brothers in film mark and jay duplass chronicle their directing and careers in a new book. they sat down with jeffrey brown recently, in the latest edition of the "newshour bookshelf." >> something's wrong, guys. >> brown: in 2005, a film called "puffy chair" both perplexed and transfixed t sundance film festival. em's about two brothers who rk on a road trip to pick up a chair from ebay as a present ver their father. >> i'll you $2,000 if you keep your mouth shut. >> it helped introduce a wider filmudience to the quirky, low-budget movie-making of the writer-director team of mark and jay duotass. the two rs from the suburbs of new orleans have made anmore than two dozen film television shows together, and largely on their own terms.

>> have you worked harder on atur calibrations. >> my calibrions are flipping pinpoint, okay? >> brown: they not only write, direct and act in their own projects, but ,also fund other low-budg independent filmmakers and television projects, including the recent documentary series eiild, wild country." among r recent work: the hbo tv series, "togetherness," fbout marriageriendship. >> all right, you see? you're a mess. >> brown: as j actor appeared in "transparent" and mark in "the league." now, they've collaborated on a new work-- a book about 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 cently, and i asked them about thriving outside the hollywood system. >> i really feel like we have carved a tiny little corner of the sandbox that is uniquely our own. if we stay there, we really stay

happy. but it was not part of our plan. i think the could 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 career in the arts was beyond consideration. 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 to be 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 supposed to know everything right away.

we tried to bethe cohen brothers. we're not as smart or funny as lhey are. >> a smaiece of advice, only the cohen brothers can be the cohen brothers. >> we had a long period of time when we were trying to be like other filmmakers and it wasn't until we had nervous breakdowns and accidtally made a $3 short film that was something we had gone through, a guy trying to perfect a personal greeting of his personal awering machine, fails to do so, and it was this hiladous, tragic, weir little almost home movie. ed hey, it'sgon, sorry i mis your call. save me your number, i'll get back to you n as i can. thanks. (been hi, it's j ashford, hello! >> we took the movie to sundance and saw audience gasp and laugh their butts off and said i guess

this is what we uniquely have to offer the world, making fun of our own quie and pathetic andme someloud desperation. >> brown: it sounds like an accidental life, in a way, or career. yeah, is it hard to find the voice that you did, was hard to s nd. >> it tooknestly about ten to 12 years of floundering around as young artists in austin, texas. you could live00n $6 year and make weird, art not be a total ttlier. we had a communit was supportive now, and that's what we're trying to do now for younger filmmakers, or appearance filmmakers, you know, where we try and 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, because we suffered for so long trying to figure out, r.u know, what it was that we uniquely had to of and what we always tell artists, and part of this and the book is, you know, the strange

conversations you have with your ndbling or your loved one or your best frn the middle of the night, where you're giggng 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. that's where it all started for us. brown: you write about being offered, like, marvel, and a big budget film, rejected because you want smaller budgets. you want...t >> that's r currency. we're not suited to serve that. i think they would be disappointed in us and we would be frustrated because we like to make ten to 15 projects a year. you have to ha a unilateral focus for three years. that wouldn'make us happy. made a superhero movie. i think we'd spend, like. 12 minutes on the scene where the guys put the suit on and you as low fat it a little self-conscious about it and then you have to talk to hi about it and they have to work up, like, a level of confidence

for him so that he can go out wearing that skintht suit. >> brown: and the audience would be saying, what's going on? put the su on. >> or maybe they love it. the climax is she's willing to have sex with him without the suit on. she accepts him, 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 coaninue, is the >> i think so. i think we're changing now and we're realizing at this insular, two-person co-dependent collaboration of writing, directing movies into lockstep doesn't work for us right now, and we're expanding tt circle, not only socially, 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, and get a little breath air that doesn't exactly smell like the other one's breath every time all right. >> brown: the book is "like brothers." 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. so, over on our facebook page: as we approach the unofficial start of summer, many public pools will open soon. but how safe and clean a they? 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 facebook.com/newshour. k,tonight on "washington w robert costa's roundtable of ouporters discuss the diplomacy and drama suing president trump's standoff with north

korea. plus, the latest on the russia probe, and the justice department's dispute with congressional republicans. and we will be back, right here, on memial day monday, with the profile of the efforts to commemorate the nation's women veterans. that is the newshour for ufnight. i'm judy woo have a great weekend. thank you, and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> kevin. >> kin! >> kevin >> advice for life. life well-planned. learn more at raymondjames.com. >> consumer llular. >> leidos. an supporting social entrepreneurs their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org.

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vu: next, a "kqed newsroom" special...ar rich: my motto now is, "start before you're ready." whatever new opportunity comes your way, jump at it. vu: ...authors speaking about everything from sexismil icon valley... chang: the women sort of feel like, "this is where powerful people are, but they're damned if dey do and damned if th't." vu: ...to the role of religion in today's turbulent political climate. aslan: evangelicalism and the republican party have been married as a single force, and this is the culmination of that marriage, and perhaps it's time for a divorce. vu: hello. i'm thuy vu. welcome to a special edition of "kqed newsroom." on this program, we're revising interviews from our archives with dynamic, provocative authors. b in with the politics of health care. cecile richards has be the presidentla and ceo of pnned parenthood for more than a decade.er the organization olow-coste the presidentla reproductive health-care services