captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good ev i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: >> we've accomplished an economic turnaround of historic. proportion >> woodruff: president trump touts strong economic growth in the u.s., and credits his administration's policies on taxes and trade. then, a potential black eye at cbs. allegations of sexualcl misconduct, ining by its c.e.o. les moonves. and, it's friday. mark shields and david brooks are here to take on another full week of news. plus, hip-hop on display. curating decades of local culture, and the musical impact of oakland's hip-hop scene.f >> for those who are part of the first generation of hip-hop artists, i don't think

any of us ever imagined it in museums. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newr. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> consumer cellular understan 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. >> leidos. >> babbel.ng a lauage app that teaches real-life conversations in a new language. >> 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. pd by contributions to yo station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: a banner economic report out today showed e strongest quarterly growth in the united states since 2014. the commerce department's initial estimate said the u.s. gross domestic product grew 4.1% in the second quarter this

year.up that irom 2.2% last quarter. the president hailed the report standing outside the white house this morning, and insisted the reend would continue. >> these numbersery, very sustainable. this isn't a one-time shot.o i happenink we're going to do extraordinarily well in our next report, next quarter. i think it's going to be outstanding.oo >>uff: many economists, however, question whether that pace is sustaiokble. we will t what is behind the booming growth, and how the pres affect it, right after the news summary. president trump is pushg back against claims that he knew in ad between his son and a russian lawyer. according to cnn, the president's former per attorney, michael cohen, says that then-candidate approved the meeting, for which donald trump jr. had been promised "dirt" on hilla clinton. the president denied the accusations on twitter"ioday, sayingid not know of the meeting," and that cohen was "trying to make up stories."

we will look at what the latest revelations mean for the russia probe, later in the program. president trump and russia's president putin are making plans for round two after last week's explosive helsin summit. putin said this morning that he had invited mr. trump to moscow. the white house responded that the president is "open" to the meeting, and looks forward to hosting putin in washington next year. defense secretary james mattis also said that he is considering talks with his russian counterpart. flying from north to south korea an plane carried precious cargo, said to be the remains of u.s. soldiers killed in the korean war. it coincides with the 65thve anary of the armisticewn drawing hat conflict-- although it never officially ended.ld the transfer cean a major promise delivered by north korean leader kim jong-un. yachime alcindor has report.

mi alcindor: a promise seely kept with 55 boxes. today, at an american airbase ie south service members loaded what are believed to be the missing remains of american soldiers. some 36,000 u. soldiers died in the korean war. the remains returned tre just some of the 5,300 still said to be in north korea. >> these incredible american heroes will soon lay at rest on sacred american soil. >> alcindor: hours later, at the white house, president trump welcomed the move. mr. trump thanked north korean leader kim jong-un. he said kim delived on a commitment he made during their summit in singapore last month. >> i want to thank chairman kim for keeping his word. we have many others coming. but i want to thank chairman kim in front of the media for fulfilling a promise that he made to me, and i'm sure that he will continue to fulfill that promise as they search and

search and search. >> alcindor: earlier this week, secretary of state mikeo said the u.s. believes that north korea is dismantling ail e engine testing site. the administration celebratedo these velopments. they say that it is proof that north korea is turning the page, and that it will hopefully lead to north korea giving up its nuclear weapons. >> this humanitarian act obviously is a step in the right direion. >> alcindor: today, defense secretary james mattis echoed that sentiment. >> so, the singapore agreementfi had only onecommitment from the north korean side, which was to repatriate remains. and so, it's pretty clear to me that they don't want to be responsible for a breakdown in this process. >> alcindo frank jannuzi is a former state department official. he was part of the u.s. delegation during the n administration's talks with north korea. >> it's a good sign of their determination not to see the process fail, that they are now sending these remains home.

however, it may not have any bearing on tir willingness to denuclearize. >> alcindor: following the vietnam war, the return of u.s. soldier remains was key to normalizing u.s.-vietnam relations. that is something the north koreans are well aware of, says januzzi. >> they know that the recovery of the remains of u.s. soldiers was actually the central pillar of the normalization process. >> alcindor: for now, u.s. ifexperts will work to ide the remains. for the pbs newsho yamiche alcindor. >> woodruff: pakistan has officially elected a new primemi ster. de country's election commissilared populist imran khan the winner, after two days of ballot counting andf allegationote rigging. khan's party must now seek partners in order to form a governing coalition. a european monitoring team deemed the elections credible, but said the campaign was riddled with intimidation. althe u.s. state departmen cited "flaws" in the process. on wall street today, markets were down after more signs of

trouble at tech companies like twitter and intel overadowed riomising economic growth. the dow jones indu average lost 75 points to close at 2551. the nasdaq fell 114 points, and the s&p 500 dropped 18. still to come on the newshour: the strong u.s. economic growth over the past three months. we break down these latest numbers. what president trump says he knew about his son's meeting pwih west. and, much more. >> woodruff: today, the commerce department released its latest snapshot of the american economy. as amna nawaz explains, the report showed that the u.s economy-- measured by the country's growth domestic product, or g.d.p.-- grew at anu

rate of 4.1% from april to june of this year, thequ strongester of growth since 2014. >> nawaz: judy, that growth camt as the presias threatening to impose more tariffs and in the wake of tax cutsthe past year. joining this all means and why it is happening is david wessel. he is the director of the hutchins center on fiscal and monetary policy at the broings institution. he is also a contributing correspondt the "wall street journal." welcome back to the "newshour". put that number into context. we heard the president touting it earlier. 4.1 g.d.p. growth. what does it mean? >> it means we produced a lot more stuff and there was a lot more income in the second quarter. et's a very good quarter. almost everythingcare about in this report was pointing up with the only exception of housing construction. it's not quite as unprecedented as the president likes to suggest. we actually had four quarters in the obama administration where growth was mre than 4.5%, but it's undoubtedly good news.

>> so presidents before have hit nit past administrations but this time let's talk about contributing factors. trade. we've heard a lot about the president's trade wars. exports surged up 9.3%. how should we underand that? >> presidents always get more credit or blame for the economy than they derve. in this case i think the president gets credit for two parts, one the taxs are boosting spending in the economy, maybe boosting business investment, that's what you expect. but you're absolutely right, looks like there was a big surge in u.s. exports, particularly soybeans to china because importers there are trying avoid the tariffs china's imposing tcounterrump's tariffs. so this was an unsustainable quarter boost in exports particularly fm that won't repeat. >> china placed a 25% tariff on soybeans, 50% u may of this year from the previous year. is there a counterbalancing dip

on the back end. >> absolutely. it's heil likely that will not continue, the trade will be a drag in the third quarter. >> talk to me about the tax sts. governmending was also up in this last quarter. what kind of factor did that ay? >> the tax cuts play some factor. we know when you cut people's taxes, they spend more money. business investment spending has not been great but it's up a little bit and probably in part because of the tax cuts. federal government spending is up, you're right.o that wastly defense, and defense tends to bounce around quarter to quarter what's interesting, state and local government spendings, mohe money than federal government, is not increasing.it very sluggish. >> household savings, we know these are estimates we get when we get the g.d.p. numbers, they often revise the household savings is something we've had a recent revision on. what does that tell us? >> i think that may be one ofst the triking things in the report. the government reestimated a lot of numbers over the past couple

of years as they get more data from tax returns. they say americans saved twice as much in 2017 as previously estpate. and that means there wasa lot of concern if consumers of households hadn't saved much money, they would be reluctant to spend in the next six months or fear. but that's gone away. households have built up their savings a little bit, upper end households, and that gives us confidence consumer spending could continue. >> for the households. the gapped conversation can be so abstrafnlgt what are these new numbers, this 4.1%?at oes it mean? >> when the economy grows strongly, businesses tend to hire, meaning more people get jobs, and the uneloyment rate has some down to a 17-year low. but the g.d.p. report des not tell us how the pie is sliced. it tell us the pie is getting higger, if pies can get bigger, but doesn't tell uow it's being sliced wearntiond know from other data it's not sliced

evenly. most of the growth recently has disproportionately gone o people at the top and wages of average people are not keeping up with inflation. >> at the same time the president deserves credit for this strong growth so far. > no, i would stay president gets credit for itnd the perverse reaction to his tradebo wat r, boosted growth in the second quarter and the tax ts probably helped. >> david wessel, thank you so much for your time. >> you're welcome. >> woodruff: there were more qutions today about what president trump knew about alleged russian involvement in the 2016 election, and newt details ablnerabilities in our election systems ahead of this fall's midterms. ck schiffrin joins me to discuss what we know. hello, nick. so the president's former attorney, former -called fixer, mike colin, is ported -- michael cohen is

saying the president knew ahead of time that this meeting thatb took place ween donald trump, jr. and a russian lawyer in the month leading up to the election in 2016, the president knew about it, the resident is saying today it didn't happen, he didn't know. so, if it's true, what's the significance of it? >> this goeso the heart of whether the president knew or did not know that russia wanted to get him elected and his actually meddling in the election, and that is something he specifically said he did not. know at all ab so this meeting took place, as you said, in july 2016, between the president's son, donald trump, jr., the preident' an-in-law jared kushner, the campaign managthe time, paul manafort, and a russian lawyer natalia veselnitskaya, and we know veselnitskaya hadon connec to senior russian government officials and russian intelligence anwas offering "dirt" on hillary clinton. fast forward to last sum when were this meeting was revealed and donald trump, jr. spvifically said that he er

told his father of the events. >> a lot of people are going to want to kno about your father. u mm-hmm. did ll your father anything about this? >> no. it was such a nothing, there was nothing to tell. i wouldn't even remember it until you scoured true the uff. it was literally a waste of 20 minutes, which is a shame. >> now koehn is saying donald trump, jr. did let his father know about that meeting in advance, and that could mean that the president knew russia was trying to help him get elected and he consistently deniat, and that direct eine of russian interference and the president haser been proved before. the president denied it in a tweet todayaying i did not know of the meeting with my son don, jr., goes on in that tweet to accuse cohen of lyintg to out of considerable legal trouble, and we should understand that cohen is in legal trouble. he's under investigation by f.b.i. and the u.s. attorney'sce

ofso he does have incentive to play nice with prosecutors, he has not introduced any evidence and said in the past that the president didn't know about this meeti. so he said-he said, but at the least a big break betwn the president and a long-time fixer and someone who frankly knows a lot about his history. he>> of course, the part of this investigation going on that the special prosecutor is looking at is the role russia played in the 2016 election. the intelligence agencies in this country say that interference is ongoing right now and, today, yesterday, we got our first confirmation that russians are still interfering. >> absolutely. russian intelligence has always tried to do a fewthings in the u.s. -- one, sow discord, two, assist actors russia believes it can help, and, three, oppose actors who oppose russia. so 2016, helping donald trump and hacking in order to discredit hillary clinton. one of the first targets in 2018

is claire mccaskill. she's close with hillary clton, very anti-donald trump, and she's vulnerable, one of ten democrats who are running in states that elected donald trump and, fr, she is vociferously anti-vladimir putin and, today, acknowledged that, yes, her office was hacked and targeted and put out this statement -- she says russicontinues tone gauge in cyber warfare against our demcy. while this attack was not successful, it is outoura they think they can get away with this. i will not be intimidated, i wi say it before and again, putin is a thug and bully. what happened her, mccaskill received e-mails that looked gitimate from hike soft, they were fake, told to insert passwords on a separate page, called fishing. last week microsoft reale that the very hackers doing this were the same hackers tied to

russian intelligence. >> that organization was registering fake microsoft domains and using them for a variety of prposes, anby csing fake microsoft domains, it made the wholeam that they used to infiltrate and controlei targets look more legitimate. >> and this is one technique that worked in 2016 but, as we ow this time, didn't work, but nuesoes prove russia conti its efforts to hack and influence the 2018 elections. >> woodruff: quickck, we know monday, connected to all this, the presfoidenrmer campaign manager paul manafort goes on try. s at should we be looking for? >> so thisthe first court test for special council robert mueller, he accused manafort making millions as registered t,ent of ukraine, hinding i laundering in the u.s. and lying about it to f.b.i. ngdoing. denied wro

miewrt miewrt says he will have 35 witnesses including bill gates. the special counsel is putting pressure on maninort hopg perhaps in the future that he will provide information on the larger investigation. woodruff: because he worked so closely with pesident trump. >> absolutely. >> woodruff: nick schifrin, thank you very much. >> tnk you. >> woodruff: stay with us. coming up on the newshour:ex allegations ofl misconduct at cbs. mark shieldsnd david brooks take on another busy week of news. and, hip-hop culture where you don't often see it: in a museum. but first, wildfires are burning across a big section of the country and have been for weeks. fires are a problem, as we know, most summers, but the severity and scope of what is happening in the west and southwest this

year is posing big problems for officials, for residents and for firefighters on the line. and as miles o'brien reports, climate change may be magnifying the problem in california and elsewhere. >> o'brien: firefighters are battling rapidly expanding wildfires across california, facing high winds and triple digit temperatures as authorities race against the clock, while mass evacuations are underway in some areas. anchors at a local television in wrthern california were evacuated on the ale reporting on the fires. >> we've been here live, and right now, we are be evacuated. that why we are kind of closing out right now. we are going to leave the statiobecause it is now unsafe to be here. >> o'brien: one big blaze, known as the carr re, crossed over the sacramento river into redding, a city of 91,000 residents. two firefighters were killed.

it wiped out at least 65 homes chris anthony is a division chief with cal fire. >> we're going to contue to see these large and very damaging fires that travel extremely fast and have huge impacts on communities throughout the state. the trends are clear that fires are increasing in size andse verity, as well as with the destructive nature of the fires as well. >> o'brien: mandatory evacuations expanded as high temperatures andry conditions made it easier for wildfires to spread across the central and sorn sections of the state. poor air quality and visibility have limited the ability of helicopters toelp fight the flames in valleys and low-lying areas. earlier this week, the ferguson fire even shut down yosemite na >> this is a full suppression fire and we are fully engaged. we have even authorized dozer line inside yosemite, ich is hardly ever done.

d o'brien: it was the first time the park habeen shut down since 1990. >> get yourself out of here if u can. >> o'brien: 3,400 firefighters are working to contain the blaze just two miles outside the park. >> we're very, very dependent on tourism, just like the rest of the community, and this is our peak season. >> o'brien: and the re fntless cranste, which started on wednesday, also exploded overnight in southern california, forcing thousands to flee mountain towns 100 miles t st of los angeles. >> when we left,s last minute yesterday, around 1:00, that we nally left. and my husband was taking pictures of the planes and said, it is time to go. >> o'brien: california has gotten much of the national attention, with five large fires at the moment, but there are other states facing even more severe situations. there are 89 large fires burning more than 870,000 acres across 13 states, mostly in the american west. oregon and alaska are each

dealing with 15 fires. larry sutton is with the u.s. forest service and part of the national interagency fire center. well, so, usually, for us, when we have a lieutenant of fires all over the country and all over the landscape, the exercise is a little bit like spreading not enough peanut butter on too much bread. you know, we h a lot of resources to commit, but, once we have a certain level of activity, it becomes all about prioritization of resource allocation. >> scientists say there are many factors in play including human encroach meant deep into fost prone to grow naturally and fire ppression that greatly

increased the fuel. researchers say climate change is part of the picture, hotter and dryer conditions make fires more likely. they say as a perfect storm that leads to bigger fairs that are harder to conta. park williams studies climatology at columa park williams studies climate and ecology at lamont dohertyor earth observof columbia university. >> the place where we really see n climatelink betw change and increase fires is in forests. and the reason for that is because in forests, there's plenty to burn, so all you need il do is dry that stuff out and itburn more. what we've seen especially in forested areas is that as we turn up the temperature even by one or two degrees, then fire responds and it pretty-- in a large and measurable way, because the vegetation dries out. >> o'brien: and the impact of

clate change can be seen i active firessuch as in the swedish and greek wildfires that continue to spread amibrutal temperatures. but for now, fire officials in california say, this is the new normal. i'm miles o'brien, with the pbs nehour. >> woodruff: now, new allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct at cbs highest levels, and the culture that allowed the behavior. that is the focus of an investigation by the "new yorker" magazine that is out this evening. it reports that leslie moonves, the c.e.o. of cbs and one of the most powerful people in entertainment, allegedly kissed and touched women against their will. the cases go back to the 1980s.

the article also alleges that moonves physically intimidated two women, or threatened to derail their careers. the article also alleges sexual harassment at its famed program, "60 minutes," and said that its executive producer, jeff fager,o allowed it tn there and at cbs news. moonves has deed any assault, d said he never misused his position to harm anyone's career. s said there had been no misconduct claims or settlements againsmoonves. ronan farrow, the writer, is again the reporter on the story, and he joins me now. ronan, spell out for us, what are the main allegations against les moonves?co >> over thse of eight months, judy, six women did an credibly tough thing overcoming what they described as profound fear of retaliationb to tell meut a range of sexual misconduct up to and including two cases at both of those women described as sexual assault in which they both said they were pinned down and hato struggle to escape an encounter.

what's important her, e, judyis they're speaking about this because they are concerned there was a culture of impunity around les moonves and dozs of other employees, former and current across cbs, backed up that account and said that company knew about charges of harassment and retaliation and from moonves continued to promote some of the men at the heart of thosele negotiations. >> woodruff: what can you tell us about who is making these charges? >> so these are obviouslywh sourcewent through a long process of struggling of whether to come forwardnd what t ramifications would be for their careers. they include for the women king allegations aganst mr. moonves specifically, the actress and writer illiana douglas, writer janet jones, the producer christine peters, you know, people with prominent careers in hollywood who are formidable in their own rights, but aey all said tht they feared that their careers had afbeen profoundly damager

they rebuffed mr. moonves'ad nces. >> woodruff: let me share with our audience a statement that we just received from les moonves and i believe we're going to put it up on the screen. he said, i recognize that there were times decaens ago wh i may have made some women uncomfortable by making advances. those were mistakes and i regret them mmensely, but always understood and respected and and abided by the principlethat no means no, and i have never misused my position to harm or hinder anyone's career. so he is saying, yes, that there may have been actions that were risunderstood, but not what yo reporting suggests. >> and, obviously, anytime there's a story liks, the commitment here is to fairness, and that statement fro mr. moonves is prominently in ecat article and, you know, we explored every aof his response to this and cbs's response. these are won backed by, n some cases, multiple

eyewitnesses accounts, multiple people they told at the time,tr ls of paper. th illiana douglas' case, there was a settlement cbs after thithis incident. she said she was fired for the incident. so this does appear to be and is described by sources as a pattern and expends to mr. moonves and some of his executives he championed and promoted like jeff fager who now runs "60 minutes." >> woodruff: in the acialtion you say 30 cur are former cbs staffers said the behavior tended beyond moonves te corporation including cbs news and "6 minutes" and, of course, its executive producer was jeff fager. so what did you findabout the corporate culture, the culture at cbs news? >> oover and over again, in assistance up to -- assistants up to powerful executives at the company said they knew of instances in whi hch peopad complained of harassment and there had been nnegative

repercussions for powerful men s who were tbject of the allegations and the women making the allegations were managed out their jobs. so when you talk to dozen and dozens and dozens of peo around a corporation, you get all the sides of the story, and there are certainly peep at this mpany who have had good experiences and divisions not affected by these kinds of allegations, but there are significant number of occurrences here and manifested in litigation and internal atocesses and a string of n.d.a.s th we obtained and recruit that suggests that at every level of th company people were complaining about a culture of impunity. >> woodruff: so what doat say? what are you saying you believe, based open your reporting, was going on there? that the word was going out from people at the very topthat this kind of behavior is acceptable? >> i think, you know, you and i both worked in largeon organizain the news business and in media. ,t is rarely that overt, judy

but, certainly, people said that, byxample, there were powerful men who were engaged in avior, who wereh subjecto allegations widely known and who were continually promoted in spite othat, and that does have a powerful effecc on corporateture. we talked to multiple experts and lawyers who try sexualme hara cases who said, you know, the culture at the top really does set the tone and really can have echoes even throughout a large corporation suchs cbs. we're careful not to draw speculative infences, but i can say there are a large number of cases across this country and it apordz us to look not just as a fallen pro ducer likeharvey weinstein, someone who used to be in a position of apex power,m but a ny that still is in a orsition of primesy and is a really impnt institution, judy. >> woodruff: finally, ronan, i see that cbs corporate put out a

statement th the independent directors have committed to investigating these claims. is it your understanding that they ae going to follow up on your reporting? >> they say that in that statement, and i think that thab wi a source of cautious optimism for a lot of th sources in the this story, but also the source of some skepticism because these are claims that in some casepeople have been trying to report within this company and without for years. >> woodruff: right now les onves occupies the position of c.e.o., is that right? >> that's correct. >> woodruff: all right, fonan er."oronanfarrow with the "new k thank you very much. >> thank you, judy, always a pleasure. dr

>> wf: so, from the russia investigation right to the strong economy, it's been a busy week for the president. we turn now to the analysis ofsh lds and brooks. that is syndicated columnist mark shields, and "new york times" columnist david brooks. it is so good to see both of you together! >> thank you. >> woodruff: sometime in the summer -- >> i have been here, judy. ng.aven't been mis (laughter) >> woodruff: so, david, we're going to start with you, because you have been away with theec omy, our lead story tonight, blockbuster numbers for the past second quarter of the year, growth off the charts. the president said today several mes that he deserves the credit for this, his policies have led to a turnaround in the american economy. does he deserve the credit? what's the signifance for them? >> we would be back in medievaln y if not for donald trump. (laughter) no, it's just a truism that presidents get the blame when it's going down and the credit whent's gong up, but their affect on the economy is generally inhe long tm, not

short term or a quarter by quarter thing.th if you look ate economic data, there is a lot of consumer spending and that probably is ccause to have the taxuts, as david wessel said earlier in the program. i think the business i aestment is nhigh as you think it would be. the whole idea of the corporates rate cutou hand ago lot of money back to corporations and they're going to blow out the ceiling. it's fine, but not what you would expect. earlier, you know, i thought t tax cut lly was having an effect in inducing corporations to invest. that seems not to be the case. nobad, but not fantastic. so i would say the tax cut gets some credit, but not a lot. >> mark, how do you look at these numbers in the president's role in all that? >> i look at it, judy, that donald trump is capable convincing people of just about anything. i mean, recall, if you will, november 2016 when he got elected, he convinced enough voters that country was at the brink of desolation and destruction. we, at that point, were in a

point of 89 csecutive months of economic growth, 80 months historic high in the coury of job growth consecutivively. >> woodruff: when he was elected. >> when ct was ele in november 2016. he somehow was able, a at time when longevity were at an all-time high, graduation rates were at an all-time high,n, pollutreenhouse gases were at an all-time low, it was a good ert he's able to say it was the darkest time in america, the darkest moment. and david's right, the president does either t credit or blame. >> woodruff: point out, as a cautionary note, the st tim the economy grew at a faster rate was third quarter of 2014 when barack obama was president, grew at 5.2%, and that election of 2014, the democrats' numbers in the house of representatives lost to the point where they had their lowest number since 1928,

held fewer state legislators than at antime prior to the civil war. so, you know, when the economy is bad, the economis the only issue. when the economy is, goe elections are oftentimes about other issues. >> woodruff: well, while the economy has been doing what it' been doivid, the president has been stirring up trade policy, he's been getting into -- he doesn't want to call it a trade r but trade dispute with china and the european union and now we see some of the consequences. , 's shaken up much of the agriculture sectere are farmers complaining. he went out and talked to some of them this week, made speeches, said just be patient, it's all going to be okay. how patulient sthey be? >> i think they should be upset right now. this is one of those cases where 90% of economists sort of think what donald trump is doing is wrong, probably 99.9%, and no one seems to defer to the economists. we're in an era where deferring

to expertise is not what one does so whether climate, trade, anything else, experts say we don't care about that stuff. when you ask the donald trump voters what's causingthe economic stagnation, they give two answners, immigration trade. i feel that's wrong bans that i their belief. and so when donald trump declares a trade war a lot of voters say, hey, it's going hurt me, i'm a farmer, working in a factory in indiana, it will hurt me, but i am willing to take the hit for the country, because they believe that's the froblem. he's right to goer china, they're unfair, but the way he's doing it in an ner while attacking every other ally we have also with a trade war with canada and the the european ion is just craziness. >> woodruff: and as david said, mark, he's going against the republican orthodoxy, that free trade is a good thing.

>> he's repealed the republican orthodoxy, let's give him credit. there's nor lonpublican orthodoxy, it's what donald trump says the republic party stands for, and repubcans jen you neglect ijen -- genuflect if him. i think he feltessure from hill republicans. i had a leading rublican say to me today exactly what david said, a war or contest with china, totally understandable, justifiable politically, not unwise at all, but to take on the world... so the problem is donald trump is putting at risk republican majorities in both the house and the senate, and that's what he was persuaded this week. and i asked the republican wise man why can't he understand this? hedonald trump has spent

72 years thinking uninterruptedly only abo donald trump, and the idea that miraculously at the age of 72 h would now start thinking of others, but he's been persuaded it's in his stoelf-interest back off on the wall and others. >> youal noticeng to people in the business community from around the world, the first is the u.s. is nobecoming li this black hole they just don't want to get involved, and there is plenty of wa to invest in china, africa, asia, so why get involved in the u.s.? as a result, foreign direct investment is plummeting. >> because to rsve the contro >> they just don't want to be involved with trump. they get th sense america is noo er the central nation, u.s. is imploding, and we shoule seeing surges of people wanting to invest in our economy bu we haven't seen it. and we've seen trump making an n attack, then backtrack and have a peace deal. that's the drama he likes.

it means you canever count on him. if he does good or bad, there will always be a backtrack, so permanent instability in the u.s. presidency. >> even if he cuts a deal with the e.u., which he says he's done to come up with some trade agreement, it may not allofeviae some these hard feelings that have already built out. >> the hard feelon't go away, judy. obviously, his attacks on political leaders of indendent e.u. countries and n.a.t.o. countries, it has re repercussis for them at their own political constituencies. they then have to establish their independence from h and their unwilling necessary to cooperate with everything he wants. it robs america of its leadership role, robs america of its coalition power that it's had. but, no, don't think there is any question that the anxiety -- i mean, we began the week, the

war with iran was in the offing. he almost invented, again, to diverse attention from what was and continues to be a negative story on helsinki. >> but it's a distant memory now. >> i guess. so russia, i would have to ask yoboboth ut, i guess, a number of developments in the russia investigation this week., da guess the one getting all the attention now is the report that the president knew before donald trump, jr. met with that russian layer at trump tower in the middle of 2016the. 's denying it. we talked to nick schifrin about it earlier, but arewe looking at serious political jeopardy? the meme who believe the president are sti believing him, everybody else is saying ah-ha? how do we loat this? >> i'm looking at the allegations against michael cohen, whether he'slievable, if youe you were a journalist yu

wouldn't want say it definitely was true. on the other hand i have been a skeptic of the russia thing, so from 0 to 10 i have been a 3 because i think there was no campaign to collude, and i'm moving up to 5 or 6 these days just because there have been clouds of behavior that does begin to sisell fhy, clouds of behavior surrounding whetheria ru actually got analytics from the democrat's computer and handed it therump campaign, weird timings with the russian at all times connected to the trump tweets and statements. then on the obstruction of justice side, mueller looking over the tweets and constellation of things. so there's no one thing where you can say they clued, that seems to elude us, but thecl are ds of behavior that make it seem more plausible. >> woodruff: clouds of behavior, mark? >> i would say so. faceoff beween donald trump and michael cohen is not to be confused with mother thedresa an

abraham lincoln. both starts with obstacles and impediments to believability. but the man former rudy giuliani who has become the flack for donald trumpsaid last night -- i said actually earlier that miael cohen is an horable man, a man of integrity and an honest lawyer, and last nightn he's bing for years, lying all his life, according to mr. giuliani. this is from mr. trump who said he was going to bring nothing but the best people, at least half of whom have left sce they got here. most of all, judy, i think theon quesbout russia remains why is donald trump this assertive alpha male turned into this submissive cloying, almost eager to please person, a suiter around the real -- a suitor

around the real alpha male putin. why, if you're a repic in a year where republicans are very much on the defensive, four dozens republicans running in a house district up for grabs turning democrat from republican, why -- you want to talk ab yout the econom want to talk about that and why donald trump wants to have other summit meeting where it gets nothing but bad press. >> woodruff: well,what about that, david? >> it's the axis of test t testosterone they're the same kind of guys. some people think putin must have something uon tr, black male, something like that. maybe that's true. so me it totally makes sense that trump admires the cut of putin's jib and he has a long history of business ties with russia, ideologically they ha some similarities, if you look at the european like trump, they all are pro putin, they just think i likest ng men, that guy's a strong

man, my kind of guy, and bullies can be sycophantic toward better bullies. i take the psychological cultural more than black male. >> i'm more base. the "wall street journal" poll says do we have favorable or unfavorable feelings in july of this year toward major individuals d institutions. vladimir putin, 2% very favorable among the american voters, 3%vorable, 65% unfavorable, 46% very unfavorable. so ba margin of23 to 1, his very unfavorables to very favorables. why the donald trump hangingwi aroundh him? david, i have been suspicious ell the way through. he must have sing, there's some reason. donald trump is not a man given to great loyalty to individuals. you know, his hero worship is finite.

it does raise serious questions about what's going one. her >> woodruff: it's the cut of his jib. >> it's the cut of his jib. bat poll numbers. >> do jibs even havute s? i've never seen an uncut jib. >> woodruff: well have the answer to that question next iday. mark shields, david brooks, thank you. >> woodruff: finally tonight, hip-hop goes high art, and gets the full museum treatmen jeffrey brown takes us on a trip to oakland, california for an exhibition that captur the local, and now international, spirit of the music, and much more. >> brown: sounds, colors, fashions of the street: it's where hip-hop has always lived. but now, it's also in a museum. rene de guzman is curator of the

exhibition, "respect: hip-hop style and wisdom," at the oakland museum of california. >> it's a culture that's been around, approaching 50 years, and it's established a centrality not only in american culture but world culture. you can't think of any culture, o gh or low or in-between, that isrvasive. s brown: and therefore it belo a museum. se yeah, well, it belongs in a museum bect's reached this status where it's a mature,mp sophisticated x culture, if you think about it. >> brown: the exhibition traces decades of history: artifacts, tike handbills for block p in the bronx in the late '70s, and a handwritten essay by a young tupac shakur, cotoaring black american revolutionaries. we see hip-hop's entry into

mainstream tv shows. djear, including this turntable used by grandmaster flash.is and graffiti'sfrom underground to art galleries. and, of course, music everywhere, including in a large first room that offers y,nds-onxperience. tof course, hip-hop is a global industry and culture-- rgbut one, this exhibitions, still rooted in the local. eric arnold is a longtime bay area music journalist and writer. >> place is kind of vetral to hip-hop. i mean, hip-hop in general is about identity. it's about establishing, kind of like an alternate identity, that if you think of hip-hop as a nation comprised of thousands of

tribes, then you're kind of getting the idea. >> brown: for the exhibition, arnold created a hip-hop "atlas" of the bay area, showing key sites in local history. lanearby are tributes to o- based art"s like "too short,"e photos of thscene here. and a 1964 chevy impala representing california's car culture, and its impact on hip- hop music. another local figure the museum worked with to shape the exhibition is mandolyn ludlum, better known as "mystic," a grammy-nominated hip-hop artist who's long worked with young

people and is now about to begin a masters program at oxford university. >> for those of us who are part of the first generation of hop artists, i don't any of us ever imagined it in museums. my interest was immediate. and also wanting to be part of making sure that, as a woman, that the exhibit would be inclusive to some degree of women's roles within hip-hop. >> brown: that role has been an uneasy one. she says she had to fi t hard for her own place, and she's very aware of the violence and misogyny in much of rap music. >> iexists, right. >> brown: it exists. >> i've always said hip-hop is a microcosm of the world. that does not justify what we hear and the demeani of women. but when we talk about whe demeaning en, do we also emphasize and promote artists that help pa the way? like queen latifah, right? do we talk about the art that

they were creating? and also, do we amplify the male artists, the male hip-hop artists who are eating music that honors women?>> rown: accentuating the positive is very much the focus here, including one perhaps lesser-known aspect of hip-hop culture. >> when you look at young black males in the inner city, one of the last things you think about is that these dudes will wreck you on a chessboard. >> brown: adisa banjoko heads the hip-hop chess federation, an non-profit aimed at empowering young people through music, martial arts aay chess. the connections are longstanding, dating back to 1970s heroes bruce lee on filmer and bobby fishn the chessboard.s >> chessgame of life for hip-hop people. we're looking at risk'r assessment, looking at sacrifice. what am i willing to give up to get what i want?

and all of these thi ds are going tate how i live on the actual block. >> brown: is is a niche within a community, the hip-hop community? you're not telng me everybody in hip-hop is... >> i'll say, the best. not everybody. i'll say, the best. s so, with is a chess player. rizza from wu tang clan is a chess pl cer. jay-z isss player. his picture is right behind you sitting with ks at marcy projects. but this is why hip-hop continues to be successful irrespective of whether the mainstream is into them or not. like, hip-hop finds a way to be successful because, at the top level, these chess players are making deals, becoming entrepreneurs, creating businesses and thinking strategically. >> brown: big money is certainly a big part of global hip-hop culture today, but music journalist eric arnold says there's plenty more. >> on one hand, it has become a multibillion-dollar industry very commercially commodified, and hollywood is in it, d the

major record labels are in it, and the fashion industry is in t . the other hand, it's still underground and it's still grassroots. >> brown: are you worried about sert of codifying hip-hop by putting it in a and sort of, you know, killing it? >> no, not at all. i mean, yo that can't die, you know? and it can't die by being placed in a meum when it's still vibrant, when it's still active. you know, hip-p started as an alternative to the museum experience, so it really shows that's it's really come a very long way. >>rown: the exhibition" respect: hip-hop style and wisdom" runs through august 12. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown in oakland, california.

>> woodruff: and on the newshour online right now many americans are not getting screened for cancer, putting them at risk of missing out on earlier medical intervention, that's according ta recent federal report. you can read more about those findings on our website, www.pbs.org/newshour. tonight on "washington week," on pbs, robert costa reports on today's robust economic report, and why some critics say the growth is not sustainable. plus, the latest on mr. trump'st formerney and confidante, michael cohen. that's later tonight, on "washington week." and on a special pbs newshour weekend saturday, puerto rico in crisis. after suffering economic turmoil and a weather disaster, what's next for puerto ricans on the island and here on the mainland? and that's t newshour for tonight. we will be back, right here, on monday, with our "now read this" book club pick for august. i'm judy woodruff. a havereat weekend.

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. tonight on kqed newsroom, a horrifying stabbing on b.a.r.t. left a teenager dead. we'll talk to b.a.r.t.'s policet chief about s on the region ap transit system. former cia director joins us to discuss russia, tensions with iran, and other national security concerns. plus the week's top political developments including the latest deadline toreunify families separated at the border. hello and welcome to kqed newsroom. we begin with security on the bay area's rapid transit system lb.a.r.t. jo cowell has been charged with murder in last sunday's fatal stabbing of 18 mia wilson and the attempted murder of her older sister. police are still investigating the motive behind the attack ich took place at the b.a.r.t.

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