captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: president trump says the meeting with kim jong-un will take place, after a senior north korean official visits the white house for the first time in almost two decades. also ahead, the strengthening u.s. economy. unemployment falls to the lowest rate in 18 years, as the president breaks protocol with an early hint of a good jobs report. and, it's friday. mark shields and david brooks are here. we discuss the trump administration's controversial trade moves, and whether coarse and even racist language is finding a new place in american life. then, reviving a town with a painful past. how montgomery, alabama, is

moving forward, without completely erasing its history of segregation. >> it just reminds us of the battle and the struggles that we have to continue to fight, for equality and for equal justice, and that narrative needs to be told. >> woodruff: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> consumer cellular understands that not everyone needs an unlimited wireless plan. our u.s.-based customer service reps can help you choose a plan based on how much you use your phone, nothing more, nothing less. to learn more, go to consumercellular.tv >> financial services firm raymond james.

>> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social 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: the on-again, off-again u.s. summit with north korea is back on, again. the announcement came today after talks at the white house. nick schifrin begins our coverage.

>> reporter: in a manhattan high-rise, the u.s.' top diplomat and north korea's top envoy began the day with a historic handshake. >> you'll be in singapore on june 12th. and i think it will be a process. it's not... i... i never said it goes in one meeting. i think it's going to be a process. >> that word process a shift. in the past, the administration insisted kim jong-un and the north koreans immediately give up their nuclear program the north koreans step-by-step denuclearization with incentives. president trump used process about ten times today indicating he's okay with staged denuclearization. >> we're not going to go in and sign something on june 12th. we never were. we're going to start a process. is and i told him today, take your time. we can go fast. we can go slowly. >> by only bracing a process, i think the president has

basically decided that he cannot resolve a conflict of 70 years in the making overnight. and he also is embracing a pragmatic approach to trust-building on the peace side and dismantling north korea's nuclear establishment step by step. so it's a big shift. >> reporter: frank supported the 2004 talks with north korea and was a state department and congressional korean policy analyst. he's president of the mansfield foundation. >> i know that denuclearization of north korea will take years at best. so the president is staking his future now this process on a step-by-step process. it's a very good thing because it actually gives him the opportunity for success at the end of the road. >> until now, the administration has claimed its maximum sanctions pressure brought the discussions to this point. today, president trump said he didn't like that term anymore. >> i don't even want to use the term maximum pressure anymore because i don't want to use that term. >> well, the president, by

taking that term off the table, is signalg good will to north korea, which he hopes will be resipcated by the sustained missile test, nuclear test freeze by the north. but he is essentially saying, while we're talking, unless this breaks down, we're not going to enact any new measures against each other. >> reporter: 70 years ago, the korean war devastated the peninsula. the us north korea and china signed an arm stis. today, president trump said the summit might produce peace treaty. >> can you believe we're talking about the ending of the korean war? you're talking about 70 years. that's something that could come out of the meeting. >> it's historic. kim jong-un wants to sit down with president trump, shake hands and declare an end to the hostilities that have been on the peninsula for 70 years. if kim jong-un can pull that off, then he will do something that his father and his grandfather had failed to do. and he himself will go down in the north korean history books as a great leader. >> reporter: this was the highest level meeting between a

sitting us president and north korean officials since 2000 when bill clinton met marshall in the white house. today president trump said he'd gone farther than any of his predecessors. >> i think the relationship we have right now with north korea is as good as it's been in a long time. >> reporter: and as left for a weekend of summit preparations, president trump said he had faith that the process rerestarted would yield a deal, quote, or not good of millions of people. for the "pbs newshour," i'm nick schiffrin. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, the may jobs report is in, and it appears to show america's economic engine firing on all cylinders. the labor department reported today that 223,000 new jobs were added last month. and the unemployment rate dropped to 3.8%, the lowest since the year 2000. we will look into what's driving these and other economic numbers, after the news summary. the jobs report gave a boost to wall street. the dow jones industrial average gained 219 points to close at

24,635. the nasdaq rose 112, and the s&p 500 added 29. president trump today kept up the pressure on trade, one day after imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum from canada, mexico and the european union. all three have rejected the levies, and canada filed a challenge with the world trade organization today. but the president argued again that they have been taking advantage of the u.s. >> i want fair trade. i like free trade. but at a minimum, i want fair trade, and we are going to have it for our workers and our companies. and you know what? the other side understands it. to be honest with you, they cannot believe they've gotten away with this for so many decades. >> woodruff: the president also floated the idea of replacing the "north american free trade agreement," or nafta, with

separate deals-- one for canada, and one for mexico. a judge in iowa has blocked the country's most restrictive abortion law from taking effect. he acted today after the republican governor and opponents of the law agreed to a process to expedite the case. the law would ban most abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, about six weeks into pregnancy. there is new legal turmoil in puerto rico, over deaths caused by hurricane maria. the u.s. territory's institute of statistics sued its health department on thursday, demanding full data. a harvard study out this week estimated that more than 4,600 people died in the three months after the storm. the official toll remains at 64. the threat of a strike against las vegas hotel and casino workers receded today. existing contracts expired at midnight, but negotiators announced a new agreement with caesars entertainment. it covers one-fourth of the 50,000 workers at nine casinos

along the strip. and, a new champion spelled his way to victory last night at the scripps national spelling bee. 14-year-old karthik nemanni beat out more than 500 competitors. in the end, he faced off against a competitor from his home county in texas, 12-year-old naysa modi. she was tripped up by an unwieldy german word, and nemanni seized his moment. >> k-o-i-n-o-n-i-a. ( cheers and applause ) >> it seemed like most of the words you got, you knew right away. what about that last word, "koinonia?" when did you have that idea, this is it? >> when i heard it. >> woodruff: congrats. the victor's winnings include a trophy, $40,000 and a set of encyclopedias. still to come on the newshour:

did the president go too far when he tweeted about the jobs report? italy ends a political stalemate, while spain sees an upheaval of its own. and, much more. >> woodruff: may marked a record 92nd straight month of job growth in the u.s. we also see better than expected wage growth. job openings are now at a two-decade high. this all comes as trade tensions and uncertainty are rising. the president has been engaged in tough trade talk, of course, and the imposition today of new tariffs, even among allies. neil irwin of the "new york times;" and diane swonk, who is chief economist at grant thornton in chicago. what is driving these good jobs numbers? >> well, we've got an economy that's secretary-general related in the second court.

that's the good news. it's like a summer block bust ef. we've got a nice warming trend out there. we saw retail employment really pick up. we also saw strong gains coming back from some very lackluster weather. we had earlier in the year that we saw a snap-back, everything from building and materials, garden supplies stores and construction employment picked up. we really saw those specialty contractors pick up as well. so it was a really nice solid jobs report with broad-based gains, gain gains in things like manufacturing most notably, machinery. this is an area that's really important because it reflects an investment trend in the us economy that's been absent much of the expansion. unfortunately, things like machine entry mining na also picked up this month are also most subject to the tariffs that we see on the horizon. >> and we're going to get to that in just a moment. but neil, you wrote in "the new york times" today, we ran out of words how good these numbers are are they really that fabulous? >> look, i went to the that sorus to find some alternatives to these are good numbers but

the last several months these are good numbers. nine years in, steady job growth despite being nine years in the did pangs. the unemployment rate back to the levels it was in the year 2000. there's nothing not to like in these numbers. we just hope they can keep up this way. >> woodruff: diane you pointed out -- i know because i saw you quoted in some places about wages and i think people are woning, yes, they went up 2.7 per cent last month compared to a year ago. but some people are still asking why is wage growth so slow? >> exactly. one the things is i said it's like a summer blockbuster but like many summer blockbusters the sequel is not as good as the riftnal. wages were growing very rapidly. what we're seeing out there, 2.7 per cent is warming trond but not a heatwave in wages and we really want a heatwave. that's something the federal reserve want to the see. unfortunately we're seeing a little heat in inflation instead of wage wages wages and we'd lif the other way around.

everything from skills are eroded. we haven't much productivity growth. it's been a really long time since employers have actually had to look at workers other than commodities instead of thinking of them as diamonds in the rough, invest in them and let them sparkle. we are seeing many employers put more money into training workers but back in april 2008 -- april 2000, when the last time we saw this kind of unemployment rate, there were help wanted sign nas literally read "now hiring pulse required." >> woodruff: a remarkable moment. neil, i want to turn to some, i guess, controversy today. the president himself tweeted this morning at 7:21 a.m. this was a little more than an hour before these numbers came out. and i'm going to quote. he said, looking forward to seeing the un-- the employment numbers at 8:30 this morning. this has caused quite a stir among economists. why? >> these numbers, it takes weeks to prepare them.

they're kept under lock and key. they move markets. the dollar, the bond market, the stock market all swing tradramaticly when these numbers are released so they're kept confidential, locked doors, not spread widely. the president does get a chance to learn about them the evening before. the problem is, if this becomes routine if the president hints about what's going to col, it could be destabilizing to markets. the idea there wouldn't be this predictable at 8:30 a.m., everybody gets the numbers at the same time, knows exactly how to interpret them, we want that predictability, especially if we find ourselves in a crisis or recess session when these market turn on every decimal point. >> woodruff: diane, there are even some critics saying the president broke the law when he did this. what is the rule? >> well, the rule is that we don't see any government agencies talk about the numbers at all an hour around the numbers. and i think that's really important is because i work with the national association for business economics, the statistics committee. i work with these institutions

and part of the reason for keeping that sort of timeframe out there, not having advanced information, all the reasons that neil suggested are absolutely true, but also very important is the integrity and credibility of the data. the data gets politicized once it comes out. there's just -- no matter who's going to be running, if it's a bad number, people are running against that person are going to talk about the bad number. if it's a good number, they're going to talk about it's a good number. and take credit for it. but to feed this idea that the data is somehow influenced by an administration, any administration, is something you want to really stay away from. so the credibility and integrity of the data and the institutions that produce it are also being -- coming under question when this is done. and i think that's incredibly important because we already see all these conspiracy theories. i spent a the love time with these statisticians you got to drink when you're with them because they're really that nerdy. >> woodruff: neil, i want to come back to trade. yes, there are going to be tariffs, no, they're aren't.

the administration has imposed tariffs on american allies on european union, canada, mexico, aluminum and steel. what does that represent actually? >> look, what's worrying about these tariffs is -- it's not the direct economic effects. stl and aluminum imports aren't that high. it's what cig signals us trade policy. the us is a place do business. with europe, with canada and mexico, with china, with japan and korea. it's thoord go to war with the entire world at one time. and this lack of predictability of what is american trade policy going to look like? what is the business environment is very risky and damaging for businesses that have to expand and think about things for the long run. >> woodruff: you wrote today, neil, that it's the unpredictability of it in the long run can do more damage than the tariffs themselves. >> right. we don't know what the regime is going to be five years from now with trade with mexico and canada and the european union. that's not something you would

have said in the last 50 years. that's a difficult moment for businesses. >> woodruff: so much to follow today. neiler wynn of the -- neil irwynn of the "new york times," and diane swonk. thank you both. >> woodruff: the political earthquakes in europe continue to rumble, this time in italy and spain. as william brangham reports, it is a mixed bag with the rise of both populist and centrist leaders. >> brangham: nearly three months of post-election turmoil ended today in italy, with a quiet swearing-in, as western europe's first populist government took power. the new premier, giuseppe conte, is a little-known law professor and political novice. the real power may lie with his deputies. >> ( translated ): we say that italians come first, then the

rest of the world! >> brangham: one of the deputy premiers, matteo salvini, heads the anti-immigrant "league" party and favors quitting the euro zone. the other deputy is luigi de maio, who leads the "five-star" party, founded just nine years ago by a former comedian. their election victory was fueled by a sluggish italian economy, anger at the e.u. over austerity measures and an influx of migrants. some italians today said they're wary of the new government's ability to lead... >> ( translated ): i'll give them the benefit of the doubt, but some of the ministers worry me. i think they are a bit embarrassing. >> brangham: ...while others expressed optimism at the shakeup. >> ( translated ): i am very happy because i am excited to see them making the attempt. >> brangham: today's events came after italy's president, sergio mattarella, had vetoed euroskeptic paolo savona to be economic minister earlier this week. that touched off a new crisis,

and talk of new elections that shook world financial markets. even with the crisis now past, european union leaders say they fear the new italian government could be a disruptive force. but today, they cautiously sent congratulations, including a spokesperson for e.u. president jean-claude juncker. >> president juncker is committed to work with the new italian government, to tackle the many common challenges that italy and europe are facing from trade to migration and many more. >> brangham: meanwhile in spain, more political upheaval today. cheers rang out inside parliament, after lawmakers voted to oust conservative prime minister mariano rajoy. protesters hurled taunts at the deposed leader, who been caught up in a wide-reaching corruption scandal. they accused him of running the country like the mafia. voted in to replace rajoy, spain's former opposition leader and 46-year-old socialist, pedro sanchez. >> i will attend the urgent social matters of many people living in precarious conditions and suffering from inequality. >> brangham: sanchez's sudden

rise is a rare success for a center-left party in recent european politics. but he now leads a minority government that's likely to face challenges to its hold on power. we explore these political shifts now with heather conley, who studies europe and european politics for the center for strategic and international studies. so this election brings two populist parties to power in italy. help us understand what -- how they got there and what this means. >> well, this was an election -- the last time the italian people went to the polls was 2011, so this was a pent-up expression of frustration, frustration with economic growth. it's been very anemic, rising migration and just frustration with the elite. so you had the league previously known as the northern league, which was a very xenophobic far-right group based in northern italy. and the populist five-star movement, which was more of a southern italian-based group

that looked more at the center left and more populist, more fiscally spending for those groups. and so these two unlikely parties eventually came together. and now we have a very populist, i would argue very xenophobic government platform that is going to be quite a handful for the european union in the days and weeks to come. >> before we get to their concerns about the e.u., let's talk a little bit about this -- the migration into italy. explain why that's such difficult issue for the italians. >> well, i think that's a difficult issue for european countries. it's a difficult issue for the united states. i mean, it comes through several ways. obviously, the instability from the arab spring and north africa, the sahel, the middle east, syria has caused people to flee their homes, some for economic reasons, some for conflict, environment, climate issues. and unfortunately, being in

southern europe, when you're greece, italy, even spain, are you the first port of entry for those migrants seeking safety in & a better way of life. normally, italy has allowed those migsrants once they've arrived in italy sort of a close your eyes, let them continue on through europe, but what's happened since the 2015 migration crisis, europe even countries want those migration flows to stop. so they're putting informal borders between austria and italy, italy and france, and now those -- >> migrants land and they're stuck. >> they're stuck. yes. and they're seeing this rising in urban areas, many tal dwrans associate more -- italians associate more crime and lawlessness with this migrant population. it just builds on the frustration of the economics of migration. it's really becoming an existential challenge for many europeans that see a shrinking demographic. these incredible winds of change of globalism and social change ad now you put a migration

challenge, and it's just -- it's the straw that broke the camel's back. now they really -- they are really angry. they want to see dramatic change. and the new interior minister, ma today's sal veny, the head of the league has said he will expel immediately 500,000 migrants from italy. so we could see some pretty bold action really at the beginning of this new italian government. >> this was also a vote against the e.u. and the rule from brussels as the italians see it. what is thei concern? and does this make you worried about the larger european union project as a whole? >> so i think when things have gone well for the european project, national leaders have excepted that as their success. when things haven't been going well, boy, it is so easy to blame this large bureaucratic very far away distanced brussels. there's always someone to blame. and that's where think we see

this frustration. can you blame immigrants. you can blame the european union. you can blame your political leaders. but it's really hard to look at yourself and say, we have got to change. we have to reform. we can't continue to do what we've been doing. it's not working. so brussels has become this in some ways faceless bureaucracy that's so easy to blame. the problem is it's sort of the glue that binds 28 countries together. italy has benefited from the european union certainly greatly but right now it's just become the point of frustration where everything is wrong because -- because of the e.u., which is not necessarily true. >> heather conley. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: stay with us. coming up on the newshour: mark shields and david brooks but we turn first to politics. military veterans are running for congress this year in record

numbers, many for the first time. lisa desjardins traveled to northern new jersey to see how this national phenomenon/trend is playing out in one competitive house district. >> reporter: on memorial day... ♪ ♪ ( drums ) >> reporter: ...in northern new jersey, retired first sergeant amery vasso is leading the remembrance. >> today, we are taking time to ensure the nation remembers the sacrifices of america's fallen. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: the event is a calm, profound statement of service and gratitude. amery served 23 years in the army, including in desert storm and iraqi freedom. he's also a voter, who values veterans' principles. >> they swore an oath to uphold and defend the constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic, and all that. i think they hold that still to this day, even if they're out. >> reporter: amery lives in a closely-watched, unique district-- the open congressional seat in new

jersey's 11th district. among the crowded field are no fewer than four veterans, two in each party, all first-time candidates. >> come on, what's up, boy? >> reporter: amery is undecided, but gives one of the most often- heard arguments in favor of electing veterans. >> they understand putting the country before themselves is important. i'm not sure that all of the representatives in washington feel that way and believe that. >> reporter: the four veterans running in this new jersey race are part of a national trend: hundreds of veterans running for congress this year. it is a modern-day record. >> tony ghee! >> reporter: among the first- time hopefuls in new jersey, republican antony ghee. the investment banker and army reservist is a natural at parade politics. he thinks vets are critical now because of global tensions. >> every time we send troops into harm's way, right, there are bodies.

there are families that stand behind those soldiers. sometimes the art of avoiding conflict or by, quite frankly, ending conflict, is by making peace. >> somebody was asking me, "mikie, can you still fly a helicopter?" >> reporter: mikie sherrill is another rookie candidate who doesn't seem to show it. the retired navy helicopter pilot and prosecutor is part of an influx of democratic veterans running. democrats estimate nearly one-third of their top-tier congressional candidates have served in the military. >> i went to the naval academy. >> reporter: why the sudden surge in veteran candidates? well, consider the current trust gap. in a recent pbs newshour-npr- marist poll, just 25% of adults had any confidence in congress, 43% in the presidency. but the military? twice that, holding the confidence of a sweeping 88% of american adults. at a local street fair, sherrill talks about her service.

it's part of her argument for democrats in general. >> we have got to provide new leadership in congress. we've got to make sure that we can provide a check on this chaotic and reckless presidency. and so, the task right now is to flip the house of representatives and ensure that we promote the values that this country has always stood for. >> reporter: this surge of veterans isn't happening by accident. >> she's in a really strong position for june 5. >> reporter: recently, several outside groups have formed to help veterans run for office, like this one, called new politics. the group's founder, emily cherniack, wants to reverse the shift in congress. >> historically before 1975, over 70% of congress had served. and you know, now we're less than 18%. >> reporter: is this a historic low? >> it's an historic low. yep, the lowest in history. >> reporter: but do voters care if a candidate is a veteran? we asked at the street fair. >> absolutely not. why? why would that matter?

anybody who can do the job well and get it done and help the people is, gets my vote. >> i'm more likely to support someone who's supported our country in the past. >> they're less likely to be a politician. they'll be more of a citizen and for america than a politician. >> you ready, kiddo? >> reporter: back at the memorial, amery vasso shares the family's history of service with his granddaughter. but, he says, it'll take more than a military record to get his vote. >> i want the one that's going to serve the country best, serve my community best, solve what needs to be solved. if that's a veteran? excellent. if it's not, excellent, too. >> reporter: one thing pulling for veterans though-- he thinks they're more likely to see politics as a temporary job. >> i think that's how the framers intended it, not for people to be in washington d.c. for an eternity. >> reporter: not career politicians? >> not career politicians. so i think the vet, a veteran has that idea of serving and >> reporter: they served. this year, voters decide if more

veterans will govern. for the pbs newshour, i'm lisa desjardins in woodland park, new jersey. >> woodruff: and that bring us to the analysis of shields and brooks. that's syndicated columnist mark shields and "new york times" columnist david brooks. so, mark, do we believe that being a veteran this year is going to help these candidates? >> i think it will, judy. and i'll tell you why. why i think that. and i thought lisa's piece captured it, but particularly with mr. avery there. we now are in an era irrespective of how you feel about parties, of the era of self politically, the self of me, and it's -- i was thinking how out of sync this era is with john mccain. john mccain's message until 2000, 2008 was to serve a cause greater than yourself and my cause, my country, which i've served in perfectly -- him

perfectly. well, i think voters crave people who do have a sense of service, whether military service certainly but the peace corps, americorps, that they've had a cause greater than themselves. and i think we're yearning for that in the country and i -- it's missing in our national leadership. it's missing in the white house. and i think it's prized by voters. i truly do. >> woodruff: how do you see this? >> it's always the case that voters want to know how a person's character is formed before poll tiths. so strong candidates have military, maybe business background, faith background, something that may say this is who i am, not just being a politician. i think particularly this year the veterans are surging in parm through group called with honor. and what strikes me is when you meet them, they bring that can-do attitude they all learned in iraq or afghanistan or elsewhere and they bring that to office. i would say party identification is smaller pat of their personal identity. they are running as republicans

and democrats but that's not quite the same team they grew up with which is not the case for others moving up ranks and so they want to come to congress and be less partisan. whether that can actually happen is another question. once you get here, you know, the fundraising takes a ton of time. the party -- the team spirit takes a lot out of you. so we'll see if they can actually do it. but it's -- they're certainly all amazingly impressive people that you meet through this. so far their win/loss record is not perfect. a bunch of them are losing too which is what you'd expect. so it's not a lock-in as we heard from lisa's piece. >> i will say the democratic nominee in that race that lisa just reported on will almost surely be mikey cheryl, the former helicopter poilt and -- pilot and amy mcgrath, jet fighter pilot, and i think do think, judy that the reason that veterans are sort of prized is that at a time of universal

draft, when four out of five senators that served now we're down to 7% of americans who have ever worn the uniform and just very few in the congress. >> woodruff: we'll we're going to continue to watch and see how they do as the year goes on. so much to ask you both about on this friday. david, trade. after weeks of i guess on again/off again, are we or aren't we going to impose tariffs on aluminum and steel from our allies, the european union, canada and mexico. the president yes, yes, we are. the reaction has been very loud and very angry. what do we see at this point about the president's trade policy? >> well, the trade taris are almost always a bad idea. the other side -- they end up hurting each other. we're well down that spiral of hurting ourselves. but what strikes me is donald trump's capacity or incapacity for relationship. most of us when we have a

relationship, it's built on trust, predictability, reciprocity. we are friends with canada. we are prends with europe. we are friends with mexico. does he ever have a relationship built on trust, reciprocity and predictability? the exact opposite. and so we are treating our friends like enemies, which is bad for our relationships. it's also just bad for our economy. and so he just has a mentality that sees the world as me and enemies. and sometimes that's okay. if he wants to treat iran and north korea like an enemy, that's fine. but when you're dealing with your friends, your employees, the people around you, to treat everyone like an enemy is just ruinous. this is not going to destroy the economy, but it's just a bad way for america to be in the world. >> every president opposes -- imposes his values upon the country at some point either consciously or unconsciously and sometimes permanently. and donald trump is a man without friends. whatever anybody says. any biographer could not find a friend. he doesn't understand the relationship like that of the

united states and canada. canada has been at the united states' side at every major conflict, at every major international agreement. it's been there, and the idea of making canada hostile, the object of -- the scorn is just -- is just unacceptable. it's not how you treat your friends. that is not how you forge alliances. it is not how you sustain an eye liance. and i can understand the feeling toward china. but china if anything has been a favor. i mean where did the president make his greatest effort to save jobs in china for zte after our intelligence forces said it was a security risk to the united states and trading with iran against the protocols. so i mean, this is a unpredictability may be very interesting in the real estate business. it's quite frankly reckless and dangerous in international relations, especially with those allies. >> woodruff: well, speaking of friends and values, david, there

are a lot of the attention in the last couple of days about the president's pardon. one pardon he's done for sure, and that is conservative writer dinesh d d'souza who was convicd for campaign finance violation but he's also talking about pardoning martha stewart who was involved in a stock trade and then a commutation of the sentence the former illinois governor rob blah guy vich. this has come out of nowhere apparently. >> usually there's a process where you decide some injustice or someone's exemplary and they deserve a pardon. now it's just pardons for friends and so he should just do the extreme right-wing swamp and pardon them all at once because he seems to be doing them one by one. judge arpayo and now dinesh. and so you know, it's just -- it's so political. and it's of a nature of taking systems of our government, which are ideally nonpolitical, the justice system, and making it i reward my friends. obviously, bill clinton did the same with mark rich but that was a low moment.

and now it almost has become routinized. >> woodruff: and, mark, there's speculation this is maybe sending a signal to the -- to are upper mueller -- >> -- robert mueller -- no. woodruff: to federal prosecutors to say whatever you do, i have the ultimate power to pardon these people. >> this is not a dog whistle. this is a canine symphony. anybody who's been interviewed and embarrassed found on the offensive thinking about copping a plea by robert mueller's special counsel and his colleagues, this is a way of saying, stick with me. don't turn. and it will be okay. david's right. i think of gerald ford and the presidential pardon. he saved the nation. strife and division and hate and enmity with trial of richard nixon. and he paid an enormous price for it. he was casstygateed by editorial pages, by both parties and in his own lifetime, he lived to be vindicated but it cost him the

presidency. and you contrast that, of course, with bill clinton and mark rich, an expate rate who told arms to our enemies, a sleaze, and it's stained the bill clinton presidency. but david's right. this is early pops and this is blatant. and this is unsubtle what the president's doing. >> woodruff: we're a year and a half in. you used term sleaze and stain, and that brings me to the -- david, the -- i guess -- i don't know -- conversation this week about what initially started as roseanne bar tweeting something racist toward president obama's former top aide valerie jarret, roseanne barr was fired by her note work pand then you had samantha bee -- then you had the white house saying -- well, there have been all these insults directed at the president. where's our apology? where are the firings there? samantha bee, the comedian, had

something pretty awful to say about the president's daughter, ivanka, so bad we can't repeat it here on the "newshour." are we in some kind of muck and mud in this country now in terms of our language and course racist and the rest of it? >> i hope we're trying to drag ourselves out of the muck. we've been in the muck for a while. the caused by social media. it's caused by different standards on tv than used to exist. it's caused had part by donald trump setting new norms about what can be said and then trump's critics matching them so when you see a punishment for roseanne or see the criticism for samantha bee, it's a society trying to re-establish some norms and manners. my hero a edmond burk, famous philosopher and parliamentarian -- >> you're right. you're right. >> and he said manners are more important than laws because manners touch us every day. it's manners that either degrade us or uplift us. and so establishing the manners of a society is just super

important. and when i see the firing, when i see the punishment for samantha bee and for others, to me it's a society saying, no, there are limits. and it's important to emphasize that the word samantha bee used, you don't just walk through a door from cleanliness and then use that word the next day. you've got to walk through a lot of the doors to degrade urself to that level where you think that acceptable ways of speaking. and so i think as a society, we're trying to close that -- back those doors, set some new rules, set some norms, because without the norms of manners and civilility, life is just dog eat dog. so i sort of see it as good news that at least the reaction is coming. the lines are being redrawn. >> david is truly an incurable optimist. [ laughter ] he sees good news -- no, really, i mean it. i stand in aw, because i mean, i've just seen a debasement of our national conversation, vulgarity ascendent and compensated and rewarded in the marketplace. and i just look at it -- >> woodruff: because of roseanne

barr's show was top in the ratings. >> roseanne but her show was an example i think of where the market is driving this. that's why samantha bee has survived to this point in a strange way is that she's a niche, a niche figure. her people haven't turned on her. we'll see if the advertisers do. it is -- what she did -- samantha bee did was nuclear. nuclear word. this is a -- this is the universal most offensive word to women that i -- i -- i know of. and the idea that this was not simply out of the spontaneous monologue. this was taped. it was looked at. and it was distributed. it wasn't a tweet. and i don't know about -- i just found incredible hypocrisy on the part of the #metoo movement on the part of a lot of feminists and liberals that they have not been as harsh on samantha bee as they were

rightly on roseanne who has been the godmother of every conspiracy theory in the world, attacking -- i mean, this was not an isolated incident, her -- her berating and abusing of valerie jarret, she did the same thing to susan rice. she did the same thing to huma abedin. that was her modus op rande. >> woodruff: samantha bee still has her job as of tonight. i don't know if we want to end it this way but we're going to have to end this way in next friday. mark shields, david brooks. thanks. >> thanks. >> woodruff: let's be honest. hockey often doesn't get the same respect in the u.s. that the other major leagues get. but, the stanley cup finals provide a different level of intensity that attract more fans. and, as amna nawz tells us,

there are two great stories behind this year's face-off. >> reporter: judy, the las vegas golden knights may be the most successful expansion team ever in north america. in their very first season as a team, they made it to the finals, and they did it by scooping up talent that was basically unprotected by rival teams. the washington capitals, on the other hand, have knocked on the door of the finals a few times. but even with one of the league's best players, they've come up short every time. in fact, since 1984, they've blown a big lead in a playoff series ten times. this year, the battle for lord stanley's cup is tied at one game apiece, and tomorrow night the caps and the knights face off for game three in washington d.c. joining us now is greg wyshynski. he is espn's senior n.h.l. writer, creator of the "puck daddy" hockey blog at yahoo, and co-host of the hockey podcast, "puck soup." thanks for making the time. >> my pleasure. listen, let me ask but this now perspective on this matchu just when you're looking at

lden cy intos, they weren't even a team a year ago. how crazy is it that we're talking about them as a potential championship winner? >> everybody you talk to now will say, oh, we saw it coming. but of course, no one saw it coming. no one thought there -- they would be a playoff team or a championship. you can see the roots for this in the expansion draft in the sense that they were given, unlike the other expansion teams for the last 30 years, a better cut of player, the nhl made the rules a little bit tighter on teams so not only did the golden knights get better players for the draft, but the teams were then leveraged into trading players to make sure that certain guys weren't taken. so the top line for the golden caknights, their three best players, carlson, smith and jonathan all acquired via trade versus being drafted. >> now we're looking at las vegas being a championship sports town. it's not exactly one with a supportied sports -- storied sports history. what does it mean for you that folks there haven't had that.

they've had a run with college basketballs. they could have va championship on their hand. >> i'm somebody who thinks that it's too much too soon. i think they should lose and then be hungrier for the win next time. i talk to a lot of the vegas locals when i was there. and they made it clear, we are long suffering. we've waited decades for a item to come here professionally. it's just that leagues were worried about match fixing and things like that so they never had a team put there. but the other important thing is how bonded the golden knights are with the city after the shooting tragedy on 1 october. their first home game was several days after the shooting. the their first home game featured players walking out on the ice with first responders. a player by the name of derrick engler a resident of vegas gave an impassioned speech about what the city means to him and what the team wants to mean to the city. after where you go around the arena, you see vegas strong things. first responders and victims' families are hon ored at games. there's is a bond between the

city and this team that no one could have anticipated because of this tragedy and there's no question that the motivation to play for that city and that community has been one of the reasons they've thrived this year. >> so folks in vegas have been waiting a while for an opportunity like this. fairo say for folks in washington, d.c., right? the last time they were playing for the cup it was 1998? >> yep. right? they got swept by detroit. it was not a good time for them. what would that mean to the folks in d.c. to actually win? >> it would be tremendous. the drought in d.c. sports-wise goes well beyond that, back to the redskins last super bowl as far as the last championship they've had here. but the amazing thing about the capitals' run is for year after year after year with alex ovechkin, they were always predicted for big things, to win the cup maybe. and they never would. they would always lose in the second round, usually to the pittsburgh penguins. this year there were no expectations. the window of opportunity looked like it was closed. they were going to go with a younger team, a less proven team. and no one really expected them to win. so, of course what do they do? they start winning. they get past pittsburgh for the

first time in ovechkin's tenure with the team. now they're playing for the cup a year after everybody assumed their window to win was closed. and it just goes to show, you never know. you never know what's going to hoop for your team. >> you never know. game three will be one to watch. that's tomorrow night. greg wyshynski, thanks for your time. >> thanks for having me. >> woodruff: now, to a story about history and change. montgomery, alabama is a city of monuments and markers of its conflicted past-- the confederacy, segregation and the civil rights movement. jeffrey brown looks at a project to rebuild dntown whe maintaining a sense of its heritage. it's part of his ongoing series, "culture at risk." >> brown: "colored" and "white": inscribed on two stones that

once stood in a kress department store in the heart of downtown montgomery, alabama, where everyone knew their place. >> you knew where you could and could not go. >> brown: valda harris montgomery used to go to kress as a young girl. >> it was just the unfairness and the inequality that you sensed that was so strong, you could sense that that you're not welcome. >> i think it is a vestige of truth. >> brown: now, those old stones are part of an effort by new york-based entrepreneur sarah beatty buller to revitalize a building and downtown that had fallen on hard times. >> it really started very pragmatically with, "wow, those are some spectacular buildings, and they're not really being loved. do you think that we could do something maybe about buying those buildings and helping to restore them?" >> brown: but then it went further. buller, and her husband mark,

have spent the last five-plus years renovating this building. the goal: to create new commercial space that turns a profit and preserves a sense of sometimes painful ory. >> i don't want to recreata time in history that isn't a very proud one. i do also think that i have a responsibility to show a vestige of history, so that people understand that that had an impact for how people behaved and how they connected, so that we can come up with something that's better. >> brown: in montgomery, as in other cities, street names and neighborhoods were markers of racial divisions: dexter avenue was a largely white shopping area. when businesses and people began to move to the suburbs in the 1960s and '70s, many buildings were left in disrepair-- paint peeling, windows boarded up. the kress building was one of them. it was originally built in 1898, restored in 1929 after a fire, and finally shuttered in 1981.

a so-called "five and dime store," it was a destination for montgomery shoppers. but the block-wide kress also opened onto monroe street, a once-bustling black business area. >> that was exciting to go to the five and dimes-- kress included-- because you could buy your popcorn as a child. if you had a dollar or so, you could really spend it on just junk. >> brown: valda harris montgomery's father and grandfather owned and ran a drugstore for decades on monroe street. her father later moved the lunch counter from the store into their family home. there were many good memories, she told us, but she also witnessed the segregation imposed at kress and other stores: separate dining areas, restrooms, even a separate staircase that led to the african american shopping area downstairs. in the restoration, buller kept some of these features-- but in a new context.

>> if we took them out of this space, it would almost be like pretending this never happened. it would be wiping it away. that was not my place to do that. >> brown: buller reached out to local residents, including montgomery, for input. >> when we were doing a brainstorming session in the building, and she spoke of the water fountains, it was a little visceral feeling there of discomfort. >> brown: things came back. >> things came back, came back quickly. >> brown: so what's the value in keeping, in restoring them? >> well, you saw the younger people that have come down, that are really interested in learning the history because they've only read about this. they grew up in an integrated

times. and how so many of the young whites that are coming in that are waing to lea about this history as well. i think it's going to be very, very, very beneficial. >> brown: so does michelle browder. ♪ ♪ she runs a tour company, more than tours, and was one of the first business owners to move into the new kress building. >> when i was shown the stones, the "colored" and "white" only water fountain signs, it was a no-brainer. i had to be here. >> brown: why? >> it just reminds us of the battle and the struggles that we have to continue to fight, for equality and for equal justice. and so basically, i thought it was important to be the keepers of the stone. you know, i just thought that narrative needs to be told. >> brown: she's also part of a new generation of african american entrepreneurs, and

takes inspiration from being on the same street where black- owned businesses once thrived. >> for so long we've been groomed to go to college to work for someone else. no, we can own our own. there are people that are smart enough here to be able to do that and offer a product that works. >> brown: the legacy browder looks to is on display throughout the new kress building. as part of the "remembering monroe" project, residents brought in photographs of the historic block. and downstairs, there's a space to record and share memories of the store and neighborhood. there's also an art studio containing works from alabama artists, including bill traylor, a self-taught illustrator, born into slavery, who gained fame drawing on monroe street. there's plenty of space for new businesses, and two floors above are 23 luxury apartments, all quickly rented, for $900 to $1,200 a month. this is, remember, a business,

one created by outsiders. >> i think, for us especially, because we don't live here, to make sure that we could link arms with people in the local community who had and understood that our visions were aligned for what we wanted. and what we all did share was an interest in really trying to bring downtown montgomery back. >> brown: making money while doing this. there's no shame in that. >> there's so no shame in that. i hope that every single square foot is rented, is leased, and it's a combination of local businesses and multinational businesses involved with conversations as it relates to their customers and social justice. >> brown: it's a big idea, combining history and profit, old stones and new money. buller and her husband have purchased several other buildings nearby, some in very raw condition. they plan to renovate them just

as with kress. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown in montgomery, alabama. >> woodruff: and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. have a great weekend. thank you, and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> kevin. >> kevin! >> kevin. >> advice for life. life well-planned. learn more at raymondjames.com. >> consumer cellular. >> leidos. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> the william and flora hewlett

foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org tukufu: this week on history detectives...

eduardo: what role did this map play in one of world war ii's fiercest battles? one battalion had over 100% casualties. wes: how was this cane used to inspire a fiery political movement that threatened lincoln's presidency? elyse: and how did this strange instrument help spark a rock-and-roll revolution? elvis costello: ♪ watchin' the detectives ♪ i get so angry when the teardrops start ♪ ♪ but he can't be wounded 'cause he's got no heart ♪ ♪ watchin' the detectives ♪ it's just like watchin' the detectives ♪