captiong sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour toght, one-on- one with john kerry: the former secretary of state reflects on america's role in the world and takeaim at president trump. >> you have a president united states about whom everybody knows there is a disdain for facts. there is almost no truth coming out on a daily basis. >> woodruff: then, aon sexual misconduct-- the head of cbs is out after new reports of harassment and even assault. and, big game-- a new book goes inside thecandals and challenges lining up for professional football. all that and more on tonight's pbs newsur.

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gearing up tonight, as hurricane "florence" turns into a majorme ce to the mid atlantic and southern u.s. it powered up today to category 4, out of 5, with winds of 140 miles an hour. the storm is on track to make rdndfall by friday, and south carolina has nowed a million people off the state's coast. people in north rolina and elsewhere stocked up on groceries and supplies today. governor roy cooper warned against ignoring the danger. >> the storm is strong and getting stronger. the best safety plan is preparation and common sense. we are taking florence seriously and you shld too. get ready now. >> woodruff: the storm could be the strongest to hit north carolina since 1954. the states of virginia and maryland have also dec emergencies.

aithe white house pressed today for a federal ivestigation into who wrote that anonymous ess"the new york times." the writer, said to be a seniorf administrationial, claimed top trump appointees are working to thwart his worst impulses. press secretary sarah sanders defended the president's demands for the justice department to get involved. >> i'm not an attorney. it's the department of justice to make that determination and we're asking them to look into it and make that determination and they certainly are fully capable of doing that. but somebody actively trng to undermine the duly elected president and the executive branch of governme that seems ite problematic to me and something they should take a look at. >> woodruff: meanwhile, president trump called veteran journalist bob woodward "a liar," over allegations his new book. it quotes chief of staff john kelly and defense secretary g james mattis as disparage president. bothen denied making the comments, woodward said sunday

they are not telling the t in northwest syria, the united nations reports more30,000 people have fled their homes, as russian and syrian air strikes intensify. the assault began last week in idlib province. it's the opening phase of a campaign to recapture the country's last rebel stronghold. taliban insurgents in northern afghanistan kept up a wave of attacks today, with multipleri s at police and soldiers.d they kil least 52 people, and seized weapons and military equipment. a provincial governor said nearly 40 taliban fighters also died in the fighting. swed uncertainty after sunday's elections. no par won a clear majority in parliament, but a far-right anti-immigration party captured nearly 18% support. the ruling center-left bloc los ground, s leader, the prime minister, dismissed the far-right group.

>> ( translated ): of course iam isappointed by the fact that the party with nazi roots could gain so much ground. they have no budget that will work, no improvements that will make life easier for people. the only thing they could offer is a widening gap in society and growing hatred. >> woodruff: it could take, weeks, or mont form a new governing coalition. north korea wound up its 70th anniversary celebrations today, with thousands taking part. the festivities culminated in a night-time rally in pyongyang's centl square. crowds of students carried torches spelling out slogans. this year's anniversary promoted economic growth and kept long- range missiles out of sight. in washington, the whi house called the change a sign of good faith. human rights groups in russia say more than 1,000 protesters were detained nationn sunday. from moscow to the russian far east, riot police rod up

protesters, and beat some with batons. the demonstrations were aimed an unpopular penss. back in this country, the "miss america" pageant has a new representative, after a year cethat saw its leaders ford out over sexist comments. miss new york, nia franklin, won the title lastight in atlantic city, new jersey. there was no swimsuit competition for the first time in the pageant's 98 years. and, on wall street, the dow jones industrial average lost 59 points to close at 25,857. the nasdaq rose more than 21 points, and the s&p 500 added five. still to come on the newshour: former secretary of state john kerry on foreign policy in the trump presidency and his own new book. a wave of sexual misconduct allegations forces out the chairman of cbs. why thu.s. is taking aim at the international criminal court, and much more.

>> woodruff: john kerry has led many lives over a five decade career in public service. he enlisted in the navy in 1966d and sen vietnam after graduating from yale. a highly decorated officer, he then famously spoke out against that war upon his return. he would go on to serve in the u.s. senate for nearyears; in 2004, he was the democratic minee for president. and in january 2017, he compled four years as secretary of state under, barack obama. he recounts those years, and those lives, in a new tobiography: "every day extra." and john kerry joins me again. welcome back tthe newshour. >> thank you so much. happy to be here. >> so th book is about your life, your public life, younnr

life. i want to back into though. by looking at shington right now. a lot of news about disarray, confusion inside the white house. eaestions about president trump's ldership. in all your time in this city, have you ever seen anything like this? >> never. >> woodruff: and is there anything you can compare it to? >> well, obviously the closest i comparisthe years of richard nixon, richard nixon taped himdoself. ld trump had omarosa so there is a little more spice to it bu'what were seeing, judy, i regret to say, is simply not rising to the level of concern publicly or in choices that are being ma by people in washington who have an ability to have an and i particularly think the

united states senate was design for moments le this that is why people have six year terms that is why ste oprated under different rules but one party appears to have decided that their loyty to party, president and po ber is greater than theiraloy to upholding the constitution and preserving the institution itelf. i think is stunning to me y that-- loo have a president of the united statest abom everybody knows. there is a disdain for facts. there is almost no truth coming out on a daily t basat major media documented, you know, almost 5,00lives now. you have a document being taken off the desk of thedent so that a policy isn't put in place. >> what effect d you think is having on the united stays'

position in the world. >> horrible effect. it's not what i think is happening, it is what iknow is happening. there are certain people who are readily and happily tking advantage of this president. and u have seen that, i think, with what china is doing right now in certain plu aces. ave seen that with president putin in some many ways. what happened in helsinki is a hetotal disgrace whe met with president putin. and he came out of a meeting with president putin and ratified, seem to take president putin's position on how we could get to the bottom of the russia investigation, by having mike mcfall, the former ambassador be subbjtted-- be ted to coming over to russia, to have to be intergrated by the russias. he ga tve up idea after 24 hours but it shouldn't have lasted for 24 seconds. i mean this is the kind of thing that i think people all over the world are holding their breathed and ing what is next. >> woodruff: well, let me ask

you about some spcific places, parts of american foreign policy where we are watching problems right now, syria. this is a place, it has been in the middle of the civil war. right now they are on the cusp of what appears to be a humanitarian disastego the syrvernment w the backing of russia and iran, about to go in andtack the last holdout of rebels. this has happened, built up over a course of years in which the u.s. has not played the role that many thought it had. you tried in your time in the obama administration to get the u.s. more involved. is what we are seg eday honestly the fruit of decisions made during the obama administration not to get more inelved? >> st treuts-- fruits of a long period of unfortunately the entire international community, failing to do what the ity shouldnal comm do. but i write in the book,here's a chapter on syrleia cald the open wound789?wh

because it is a opened festering wound. because we didn't my judgement make the moves we should have made to leverage a sad to the-- sa assad to the table. i thought there were things we could have done. i lost that arument. >> woodruff: why do you think president obama didn't go along with you? >> he had a perception and a different conclusion to his thinking process. and his judgement was that it t carried rist were not worth taking. that it also would probably drag us in even more at a time when we were trying to get out of several other wars. i didn't crry the argument. the president is the decider. and i backed the dec i mean he makes those decisions. >> woodruff: i want to move you through sevtheral elements of american foreign policy. north kore, you have ben very critical of president trump but he did extud an otreach to leader kim, north korea, they had a summit.

there are me signs that the north koreans may be slowing down. don't know what me they are doing, their nuclear-- they haven't been any more. >> they our intelligence communy says they are continuing. >> woodruff: so you don't believe there's been any positive move toward an agreement on nuclear, denuclearization? >> i believe that z it is good to talk. i supported the president in his effort to try to reach outt . don't support the policy that has not been thought through sufficiently to have a clear, preseation process for a summit. and a clear understanding wh you can get out of that summit 6789 but the truth is there is no understanding onwh denuclearization means. there is no understanding for how you move to aclltaccount for the current weaponry they have. there has to be a declaratn of what they have.

then there has to bed an ads quait process of access to determine whether tis deck laration is truthful and how you manage that, none of that is happening. druff: so you done see anything pos 2eu6. >> i see positive that they reached out and positive that they are wik.lling to ta i see its positive for at least .his period of time he is not firing a miss i but what we hear were our intel community is ththat theey are continuing the production behind the scey nes quieder the table, and there are great indications that, in fact, that in fact chairman kim is playing ropea dope. >> woodruff: very quickly through some other points because i do want to get to the bok . i want to u about the iran nuclear deal. you may it clear you think it was a huge mistake for the trump administration to withdraw the u.s. from that nuclear deal. y think, just very quickly, do you think the europeans can hold that t bogether, a an what do you think the trump administration's goal is.

do you think it is regime change? >> i do. i think that fundamentally, they e reaching for regime change strategy but i think that they have, in fact, made a decision which is extraordinarily dangerous. and counter productive for ourco try. so let me ask you a question. what countries are with us? i mean a couple of countries in the middle east who have alwaysa d iran, their focus is iran am but the countries that resol involved in the negotiation, china, russia, germany, frans, britain are all supportive of the agreement today, trying to keep the agreement and what is interesting is iran is supportive of the agrngment and tro keep the agreement. now president trump by pulling out has abandoned our allies, actually infuriated them. he has also broken apart the capacity of a moderate president of iran, moderate by their st, dard. i'm non't qualify it here. frt to try to begin the to move this country awam where they were heading and embrace

change and an opening to the world. now the hard-liners in iran have abeen empowered by what hatched. and the president has made it harder for anya irnian leader to sit down and negotiate with an american because the hard-liners that don't negotiaam with icans because you can't trust them-- . >> woodruff: to the book. or more on the back and more on your life. how do he see your role in howta the uniteds looks back on theat nam? >> well, i hope, i mean john mccain and i defined that role to aetdegree togr. and john and i didn't know each other well. he was the president of war, spent five and a half years in jail, i was a protester who came back after the war hi seen. so so we went back to vet nam. we created an enormous process ry which we account for those missing and deada prisoner. and i write in the book that one of the most profound moments of my public cars standing in the jail cell in hanoi in the hanoi hilton where john mccain

spent some of those years with him, just the two of . and it struck me, if john mccain d john kerry can come together and find common grounds in a jail cell in hanoi, we can solve any problem here in america. >> woodruff:nd that is what i want to ask you about. because you do write about your time in the senate in the 19 '80s and '90s, the 2 thousand when even though there wasgr clearly diment between republicans and democrats, they were able to work together on some important issues. is this country ever going back to a time like this or are we permently changed? >> depends on the leaders. the rule of the senate, i tell people, are only marginally, tiny little here or there thnue ear piece obviously. but basically the rules of the senate are the same they were when it, wod. >> is the people who have changed. oodruff: you have been talking in talking about this book, about the importance for democrats of the mterms, of showing up, voaght, what is it

that democrats should be saying the american people. >> i think democrats are saying it to the american people, they t swallowed up in daily tweets and other things that are happening. but it's very, very clear, only one party in this country made a point nominating a candidate who didn't believe the president of the united states was born in america or was american. on one party in this country has been willing to walk back from teir constitutional responsibility when you look at what shaping in the white house today. but e democratic party, i believe, wants to make sure that theyyre not going to take aw health care from americans because of preexisting conditions. i think the democratic party is very clear about climate changwe ant to be the people who brg the energy revolutio that is millions of jobs, cleaner, saves liv, and makes america a leader in the world. >> you have referred several times to the need for presidential leader shirp. you haven't ruled out yourself

running in 2020. >> have i not been thinking of doing it. my entire effort right now is focused on 2018 because in two monthse have anpportunity to make our democracy work. and it is a great course correction. the difference in donald trump's presidency is not the people who voted for him, its the people without didn't vote at all. >> but you haven't ruled it out, 2020.g >> you keep goere, you guys, huh? >> woodruff: former secretary of state john kerry, and the book is "every day is extra" thank you. >> thank you. appreciate it. >> woodruff: the chairman and chief executive of cbs, leslie moonves, is stepping down as several more women aame forward use him of sexual harassment or assault. as amna nawaz reports, his departure marks a dramatic downfall for one of the

industry's most powerful men. >> nawaz: the 68-year-oldbe moonves ha at cbs since 1995, and chairman and c.e.o. since 2003. the accusations against him cover a 20-year span-- from the 1980's to the 2000's. moonves reportedly began negotiatinthe terms of his departure weeks ago, after a "new yorker" report earlier this summer featuring accusations made against him by six separate ubmen. the "new yorker"shed a second report this weekend with six new allegations of misconduct or assault by moonves. within hours of the story's publication, the company announced his depaure. the reporter behind both of those reports, ronan farrow, joins me now. welcome back to i want to begin by asking you about thoses dozen women across both reports. give me sense of what stood out to you by their stories ande consies you saw across what they told you. >> well, often in a body of reporting like this there is a w

point ch you realize there are too many stories with too many similarities in the facts pattern for it to be coincidental. hhese are not women that were in touch with each o, there was no coordination, and yet they were producing uncannily slar details about molestation by less moonves. the other thing lking with them is how serious the misconduct was. we are talking abeout multi alleges that would meet the department of jtice's definition of rape, multiple allegations of serious sexual sault, forced oral sex and finally there is a theme running through these stories ofta ation. women claiming that their careers were destroyed after they rejected less man ves. >> st worth mentioning, of course, in response to your report late on suny mr. moonves released a statement. i want to read that in part. the untrue allegations of from decades ago are now being made against me that are not consistent with who i am. i am deeply sadenned to be aving the company. i wsh nothing but the best for the organization. i want to ask yoabout t cds

response though, not to this story, ronan but the first one. back then they said there were no settle ams or claims ofat misconduct they gnaw about during mr. moonves' time with them, inhis report you talk about a criminal complaint that was filed by one woman last rdar. did the cbs bot know about that? >> we reported in this latestat article a portion of the cbs board knew about that dating back to late janua >> so they did, in fact, know about that onement but tell me t little bit athe investigation now. there are two law firms that ve been appointed to both conduct investigations, you've been talking to folks inside cbs. what do they make about how these investigations might turn out? >> you know, it's worthinpoi out that these investigations are being lead by reputable law firms and bywo attorneys at each firm there is a woman in charge of this that i think commands respect. that said, there are significant questions from these sources in

the stories about the impartial nature of the investigation. as long as the board was in place as it wa a few days ago, with a majority of its members very chredisposed to be in favor of mr. moonves, peopleny within the comsaid we are not prepared to speak to these investigators in a lot of cess because they felt that there was no universe in which there would be an outcome that actually held anyone to account am and they feared they might be retaliated against for speaking. and that is partly because this is not just less moonves therey omplaining about. this is a broader culture and a story of men aegllly protecting each other within the company.at ncludes jeff feiger, women wiin cbs news that are still relax tenant. so too that point about thatur broader cuwe reported on both times, do you get the sense that the investigation is looking into those possibilities into the broader culture? do you think that there could be

similar additional behavior hncovered? >> if the firm, two frms are doing their jobs, then that is exactly what they are loong at. it's been stated publicly that they are looking at the problems of cs news. we spoke to an executive on one of these stori who said that the writ of these includes those against feiger as well as moonves. there is cautious optimism now that the board hasi changed, members replaced, now that moonves is out of power but there are still of questions for a lot of employees at cbs who are frightened to speak. >> ronan farrow reporting on inis conti and congratulations on your report, thanks as always for making t y time. >> thau, amna. to learn morabout what cbs's reaction has been and what lies ahead for the media giant, i'm joined by meg james of the "los angeles times." welcome to the newshour. i want to ask you about the timing of what we have seen frm cbs. it wasn't really until the

second report from ronan that deciave action was taken, has been happening in the cbs board room for the last several weeknssince the allegat first surfaced? >> well, the cbs board room has been very frauer the last few weeks. some of the board members were quite taken aback by the charges that ronan's first article back in july exposed. i thit nk a lo the board members, some more older gentleman gentlemen, felt like these were going to be just casual flings and that the alegations thmselves want back decades. so they weren't really that concerned or at least it dnt appear they were tha concerned until after the first story hit. and then a few daybs later cs said like yes, we're taking these allegatis very seriously. and then a few days after that they hired two very prominent plaw firms to investigate, not only the charges agast mr. moonves but the culture at cbs. cbs news and al l cbs korp.

>> theres with an sec filing yesterday as cbsp at of an another. i will read it but my readinis unless the board decides pends investigation results to fire mr. moonves for cause, is he now and will continue to work for them for up to a rear in an advisory capacity. he also stands to get paid $120 million. you can explain to us how that would work? >> yes, mr. moonves had renegotiated his contract more than a year ago. so there are provisions in place for him to be paid a prett lucrative settlement when he left cbs. he has been in charge of the company for more than 12 years. he's beean incredibly successful, one of the the most successful executives in all of hollywoowand the board rearded him way very lucrative contract, which allowed a production deal d considerable stock and options and other compensation when he left. the ard isnow in a very uncomfortable position.

they have a contract wher mr. moonves that requires them to pay him out. they have not fired him yet, they want to wait until after this investigation is completed and then they'll decide what portion of that 120 million if any will be paid to mr. moonves. now the 20 million dollars tha has been a go to group sorting metoo and wen's equality in the workplace, that money is going to come right out of what ey would may mr. moorch moonves. it will likely be negotinted. i suspeche coming weeks when the findings are complete and cbs can really look at the totality of the charges. so there is a lot of legal implications that comes from this review. and i think cbs and the filing early this morning or late last night just made that clear, that they going to put 120 million in trust account and that, you know, will be sealed up until they can figure out how much if any moonves is entitled to. >> there was another legal battle playing out in the

background. this one involving the former parent company viacom, sort of a battleor control there. that was settled this weveend. do we hny sense that the board's foot dragging in dealing with mr. moonves and these specific allations, was any of that wrapped up ovethat battle? >> a little bit it was separate from the sexual harassment arges. but last fall sherry redstone who is none ofhe olling shareholders of cbs as wel as viacom, the her media copany, started making-- for chappings on the board. and i feel like she felt the cbs board needed a refresh. it needed new board members with different experience. and that is what was the compromise they came to ovethe weekend. was that they would install six new board members in an attempt to ensure the board would have independence, not only for miss redstone but also from cbs management. i think that there was a feeling that thprevious board, the one

that was just replaced, was a little too close to moonves. and that was part of the rough-and-tumble brrween she redstone and less moonves. and he had had the intort of the board, of course, until-- the support of the board until yesterday. >> until yesterday wh everything changed there, media giant has now forever changed. meg james of the los angeles e.mes, thanks for your tim >> thank you very much. >> woodruff: today, ambassador john bolton gave his first official speech as president trump's national security advisor. bolton spoke to the federalist society, the conservative and libearian organization, and took aim at the international criminal court. but bolton also targeted the palestine liberationor nization, and announced the

closure of the p.l.o.'s office in washington, d.c.re our n affairs correspondent nick schifrin was in the room and joins us now. nick, why are they closing its plo office? >> the main reason thabat ador bolton and the state department said today was palestinians use of international criminal clip, the icc. the icc is based in the haue and designed to tackle some ofhu nitarianities toughest war crimes, crimes against humanities. the palestinian said theythwould go t icc over israeli settlements in the west bank, over seizure of israeli property, over whniat pales officials call israeli use of force inside of the west banu that'ser one. number two reason why the u.s. says that it is closing the plo office here is that the palestinians aren't going helpful when it comes to peace talks and peace efforts. jason greenblat and jared kushner, the two advisors to president trump who are creating a peace plan, the palestinians have rfused to met them since the u.s. moved the embassy from

tel aviv to swrers lem a few months ago. and they have also been disparaging. o of of the work that the them have done even though that work isn't done. so what you heard bolton say today is tat one, the icc, the international criminal court, should not beti investi what he called israeli housing pojects, not settlements. >> and, two that the office here in washington had blocked efforts toward peace. >> t trump admistration will not keep the office open when e palestinians refuse to take steps to start direct and meaningful negotiations with israeli-- israel. bhe united states supports a direct and roust peace process. and we will not allow the icc or any other organization to constrain its rhe ralht to self-defense. >> i talked to the ambassador to the u.s. for the palestinians. he sai look, this inot going to change our behavior. we are going to take the israelis to the icc and we're going to continue not to help jar ead kushner and jason

greenblat peace effort. he later released a statement saying we stand firm in our decision not to cooperate in this ongoi camign to liquidate our rights and cause. our rights are not forale. we will block any attempts at bullying and black mailing us. >> woodruff: so nick, this reveals not ju frustration about what is going on right now but long-standing frustration r the palestinians. >> long-standing frustrations and real frustrations with the trump administration over the last few months. one, the removal of the embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem. president saying we took jerusalem off the tale, plirns want east jerusalem as a future capital. number two, 200 million humanitarian made being ncelled by the u.s. administration that was for ethings like hospitals ist jerusalem that provided cancer treatment, for example. the palestinian authority can't provide that treatment and those hospitals have lost that money. number three, $300 million for the u.n. agy at helps plirn refugees, again providing

ingsols, health care, t that no one else in the west banker or gaza can provide. now u.s. will say that those u.n. schools were being used by hamas to house rokets. and also that that organization was kind of skewing the definition of a refugee. in the past the.s. has provided aid and separately hoped for a political solution. plirns believe that this is the u.s. taking away aid t black mail them and force them toward a political solution. >> woodruff: so where does n thotiation stand? we haven't seen any peace plan, have we? >> we have not seen any peace plan. u.s. officials are hoping to releases something by the end of the year. and they describe a different approach. ntther than the blue pror talks that the negotiation between two sides, they reallygo arg to release a robust, significant long peace plan and a lot of it has to do with r onomic incentives for the palestinians ratan necessarily answering every palestinian and grievinwe

>> so yo saying that bolton spent most of his time talking about the international criminal court, the icc. what is this, what is behind this? >> this is part ofohn bolton's worldview. e really is. that states are st important body in the international arena. and states should ner give up any sovereignty, ever, especially to any kind of international organization. and the way to havuee ine in the world is not through alliesl not throughnces, it's not through influence and multilateral institutions but as we put it toyed, power. >> the >> the hard men of history are not terred by fantasies of international law such as the i.c.c. time and again, history has provenhat the only deterrent to evil and atrocity is what franklin rooseve once called "the righteous might" of the united states and its allies, a pree direct, so how does that play out in policy. >> it hasn't changed policy dramically yet.

but we are seeg bolton's ideology play out across the administration's foreign policy priorities. reatening use of force against syrian president assad, and his ally ru tssia. re is another chemical weapons attack inside of syria. threatening european countries, european allies f they try and help iran, basally calling their bluff saying that they don't have the military, economic or political weght to convince iran to stay inside the nuclear dealment and in north korea, north korea needs to give up all of its nuclear weapons before the u.s. gives in very much. that is bolton's philosophy. thrth korea, and frankly sou korean officials say that is not how it should work. takell take steps if you steps that is what the koreans said, that is not a philosophy john bolton adheres to. >> woodruff: nic skchifrin, we thank you. >> thank you.

>> woodruff: this week marks the last week of primary voting before the midterm elections. it comes on the heels of former president obama making his presence felt on the campaign. lisa desjardins is here for this week's politics monday. >> desjardins: the early rounds are ending. it's a good time to get ready for the finals of this key midterm year. csand a good time for poli monday. here to bring us up to speed: hiawna thomas, d.c. bureauef of vice news. and amy walter of the "cook political report." thank you, let's just jump right into where we are. we have new york gualernato primary on thursday. we've got tomorrow, delaware and new hampshire which is strangely the last primary in the nation, i guess they could say now. but let's go big, why not.te amy, ll us what this means and what are the expected real battleines for november riht now. >> i think the one theme that has been apparent through out ll these primaries in al different kinds of states and districts is the number of women rewho we successful as

candidates on the democratic side. my colleague lookeo all the races for a the house and whathe found is all the candidates anidemocratic prries, these are without incumbents, so open, se woman who was running against at least one other man, won 69% of the time. w so womre winning a disproportionatemoumber on the atic side, the number on the republican side, much, much, much lower. but that is one key variable. and i think that is going to be obviously a very big talking point on election night to see if we do hit and excds the march hit in 1992 which was the mirst year of a woman when a record number of en where elected to congress. >> what do you see here, what are the two battle lines here what are the two parties tryin sell and where do they conflict in november? >> i think the key battle line and other big theme other than women and maybe because of women is president trump. anthere is no way to around that. as many mid terms are, they usually are about the pern who

in the white house. this one is no different. this one is even more powsoerfuy bout the person in the white house. i think we saw examples of that and i am sure we will get to this aeut former prsident obama being on the campaign trail. li we will, i promise. >> in ilis wheeling directly against president trump but also in california striking a slightly different te in california. but still making sure people know this is about fliing the house of representatives for democrats, and flipping the houspr of reentatives is in some ways a code is of saying a way to put a check on the president. >> the other main story line too for these elections is just the difference in the maps for ther house and e senate. the battle for the senate runs through red, rural states that president trump is stillul relatively po, in some cases still very popular in. the battle for the house runs through purple, suburban america where the president is not very popular. so we could have and election night where democrats actually do very well in the house but trug el?

the senate. >> what's interesting, this is in part a test at least inam so places of president trump, but we have former president obama out there.lo let' at, first of all, let's listen what he has been saying from this weekend. play the tae. >> we have the chance to flip the house of representatives an mike sue real checks and balances are in washington. and i cannot tell you all acros the counu can feel the energy. you can feel people saying oh, enough is enough. we're going to kick off oursl bedrooppers, we're putting on our marching shoes. are going to go up and we're going to start taking some clips bout. i want you to start knocking on some doors. we're going to art making some calls. we're going to volunteer. >> kicking off the bedroomk slippers, meme calls, whatever people do, shawna, my

question is what does pre obama do for democrats. what might he do for republicans. >> well, like president trump, president obama comes with his flaws and his positives. the positives are when it is all said andone the prson the head of the democratic party still, despite the fact he isn't in the white house is president nobody ever talked to has had a better answer for the question who is the heads of the party.he one ofthings our correspondent on vice news tonight saw when he was out there in california were pe were driving miles and miles and hours and hours to be part of this event.th ane were hard-core democrats. that weaptd necessarily independents and other people. hard-core democrats. coming to see him. he is able to-- able to get that kind of rally and energy that president trump can get on the other side to a certain extent. so that is a positive, great the other thing is in sm ways hs bltion the example of what people were rallying against when they voted forsi prent trump. so they will, and so their republicans will say look, they're going to go bak to

barack obama. ismebody he didn't like in the white house, thatill the head of your party, come out and vote, those are the people who sport president trump. he is he thead of the democratic party? >> you probably rember this, i remember those speeches that he eade saying those exact sam things. you guys need to am could out and vote. oou need to do this for my legacy, whateveru do. apathy is our biggest problem. he sd that in 20 10rbgs he said it in 2014, those voters still dinot turn out for democrats. they turned out for him, but never his party. i still believe the bigvast mor for democrats is doned a trump. and he is still the biggest, 800 pound gor la is he the biggest factder in 2018. i do think yes, republicans aren to try to use obama but mostly use nancy pelosis a the person to say if you elect democrat they will just follow the liberal marching orders from their leaders.

but i think the bigger risk right now from republicans is that trump is taking all the oxygen and all of not kus that they would rather be spendingab talkinut the economy, seregulation and anything that they are doing in washington. they don't want donald trump to .e making it all about him >> i want to talk about the u.s. senate and something that might be going on. i saw video of the el pas congressman o rocker, lighting a fire for many progressives, doing things like skateboarding in parking lots, uncon vek al, something the liberal left is loving. something that some people think might be a problem for ted cruzl there sa showing he is within four points. what is going on in texas. does this manva actuall chance of becoming a senators from texas? have i to admit i saw the polls and also wike oh, okay, okay, so maybe he has a chance, there say possibility he has a chance, in the reorting done

when it comes to beto, he has gone to a lot ofe parts of t state that usually democrats have ignored. he has made it his duty to g to every single county with the idea that if you know you can win houston, dallas, austin, major cities, if you can pick up a another thousand votes w oy west or somewhere else, perhaps this is something that actually possible. i'm still saying perhaps because i still think texas is still solidly red state. >> okay. >> i think the bigger challenge rate now for republicans in holding a seat is tennessee, a deep red state where the candidate on the democratic side is actually a little bit ahead of the rep >> but the senate is getting interesting. thank you amy walter, shawna thomas, wonderful heving you heor politics monday. >> of course. >> woodruff: the long-running feud between president trump and e national football leag over players taking a knee for

the national anthem bubbled up yestday. even before players took to the offield for the first gamehe regular season, mr. trump tweeted: "if the players stood for our flag and anthem, and it is all shown on broadcast, maybe ratings could comeack." william brangham explores theon monthsdispute. >> brangham: by some measures,in the n.f.l. ireat shape-- football games are consistently the most popular events on tv and owners are making millions. but the n.f.l. is also wrestling with multiple scandals: horrible violence committed off the field by players; the growing awareness that players bodies and brains can be irreparably damaged by the game; and of course, the political protests by some players that are amplified and attacked by president trump. "new york times" political reporter mark leibovich spent four years amongst owners and players of pro football and he's out with a new book, "the big game: the n.f.l. in dangerous times." welcome to the newshour.

>> good to be with you. >> so many people going to knee you as a political reporter, they will remember your last book, this town which was allt abshington d.c. i'm just curious what it was like tor you spending all of these yeahrsronicling and covering washington and thn now immersing yourself in what to eye feels like a very different world. >> to my eyes it did too, i wanted a respiterom politics, i needed a break, and as it turned out i jumped to the nfl swamp and the arrest from politics lasted about two thminutes or so. e was no escape from politics in the nfl and that inudes league politics and getting immersed with the owners, commissioners and a bunch of payers, you realize the back biting and elbowing inn washins comparable to what you see in this organization. but then donald trump got involved and nfl has become this hobby horse of hisnd he thinks is a political winning issue for him and he jumped on it. >> you uncovered a tape ofne talking about the deficit they were having. what did you finned. >> this was during the height of e national anthem crsis last

october. there was a private meeting between a group of players and a oup of owners that roger goodell, theommissioner con seened-- convened at the park avenue headquarters. it was a private meeght. and one of the partiapates in thisnice enough to share an audio recording of this with me and ken bellson my colleague at the "new york times." to be able to listen to how the owners talk about this issue and really the kind of primal fear they have of donald trump was very reminiscent, some what, of listening to u.s. senators or congressman, especially republicans living in fear of sidential tweet. it is like you have a sense of someone who is kind of manipulati events from aware. and i was amazed at how scared they sounded. how confused they sounded. and also how short sighted they sounded. they are sitting at the top of a multibillion dollar empire. they can just print money. i mean it's nogoing to go away any time soon and yet they're just worried about the next tweet. you also spend a lot of time in the book and personally with

tom brae dy, l's golden boy.yo an admit heavily in the book that you are a diehard patriot fan. i think you referred to it as the disease yoteu contrearly on, what was that like for you. i> tom brady was a good guy, able to wrte a profile for the time magazine a few years ago. i have interviewed psidents app all kinds of c.e.o., celebrity types, i don't think i have ever been as nervous as when i got to be a fan boy, it is kind of a pathetic thing to admit but it's kind of true. >> in the book you dony go eas on him. are you tough on him, you do point out, especially with regards to this holistic mind body thib he is doing with his guru. >> look, i mean, this is an absurd world we are talking about. these are worlds of incredible wealth, incredible ego, .ncredible accomplishment, incredible succe but also incredible insularity and it is incumbent upon me to tell what this anthropology is like and how it is different from what you and i are used to. >> the subtitle ofook as we described is the nfl in

dangerous times. i mentioned a few of the things that might be icebergs in the water. what do you see as the most daerous things for the nf. >> well, i mean i think the two things are one, definitely health and safety and the realization that the nfl is tbnsg to be uelf at any speed, players keep getting bigger, faster, stronger. and you can probably influence it arounthe margins witsome rule changes or equipment chans but ultimately that is not goihg toe in any big way except that the research will keep showing us that it is veryda erous and the more dead players brains become available, the more awareness i will be and people are going to make hopefully informed decisions about whether they want to be a thpart of this. other thing i think is just technological and cultural cord cutting and technology change, an ao just the idof people have so many more optionsd an entertainment. there is no sense that football has the room to grow that they mi >> on the issue of the concussions and the degenerative brain dsease, your bok is still with examples of players and ownersnd people on the

margin saying i don't want to tawng about concussions am i t.n't want to address tha but it really is potentially an existential threat. if the talent pool dries up, if enough kids ad pents say i'm not doing that, i don't know how the game survis. >> look, for like a viewer of this, i like to think a thoughtful viewer there is a lot of cognitive disonance that goe into watching and loving football. i experience it i'm sure other people who watch football experience it. there is this comingling of just loving the sport, loving what is on tv, thep greatectacle that football presents, a lot of 9 nostalgia i grew up watching football with the adult realizations of what this sport is doing to people. >> of course we have also been seeing this recent controversy with the n, ke ads and colin testsrnick and ongoing pro of players betweens police violence and racial injustice. president trump as you mentioned has clearly believed that the antagonism against those guys ssay winning political iue for him. what are the owners reactions to

that? >> i mean a lot of them have personal history with donald trump arc lot gave money to his campaign, donald trump himself has been trying to get in the nfl over four cades and wouldn't give the time of day, this is driven insome ways by personal grieveance. moos of them know him sort in that rich guy circle. and they want nothing to do with him. and yet now they have to deal with hm because he is in the white house and decided to heckel fromhe bully pulpit, i assume we will be hearing more from him as we get closer to the mid term election. >> your book also spinsd a good deal of time disecting the career of nfl comitionzer roger goodell. how much of the problems of the nfl do you put at his feet, could he have a meal yor yaited a ofhem. >> he could have mated them better, in the last ten years which mimics his commissionership, the league has gone from one of the most yun fying institutions i america to probly the most polarizing sports brand we have. i asked him flat out lasnut y, do you bear any responsibility for. this and he punted, good football melt metaphor.

he said i think that is more to do witthe political times we are living through than anything else. and it is probably true, but it is also, i don't think it is a healthy thing for the league to vay comitionz thary is des piesed as widely as he is by th fans of the nfl and a lot of the players. yes, he makes people a lot money but this is 32 really rich guys and i think the rest is sort of a drain on the brand in some ways. >> the book is big game, the nfl in dangerous times. mark leibovich, thank you.ha >> thanks fong me. >> woodruff: as students across olthe country return to sc how can they can best prepare r the academic year ahea daniel levitin i author, neuroscientist, and teacher. every september he tells his students something they would never expect, revealed in tonight's in mhumble opinion. >> it ain't what you don't kw

that gets you into trouble. it's what you know for sure that just ain't so. you may be familiar with this mark twain quote-- it was used in the film "the big short," and in al gore's film "an inconvenient truth." n is saying that if you' sure you know something, you act on it with the strength of convicon, never considering you might be wrong. if you're sure that this alternative treatment will help cure you better than "western endicine" you'll forego the traditional trea two-thirds of cancer patients belie that alternative medicine will prolong their lives, but in fact patients whoa turn to twice as likely to die of their cancers. if you're sure that your choice of political candidate is right, you're not going to be open- minded about anyew evidence that might come in that could, or should, cause you to change your mind. i am a college professor, and i train phd students for careers as neuroscientists. they come into my laboratory fullf confidence. they have been at the top of

every class they've ever taken. i spend most of my time trying to teach them that they don't know everything they think they do my job as a teacher is to unteach i'm always asking, "why do you think that? what's the evidence?" these lessons take four to eight years. knowledge can only bcreated in an environment where we're open to the possibility that we're wrong. you may recognize the zen connection, the wisdom of insecurity. if you think you know everything, you can't learn anything. i think that all of us are capable of this kind of critical thinking. ever-year old asks a series of incessant "why" questions. we have this beaten out of us early on by worn-down parents and teachers. but this "why" mode is the key ye critical thinking. think like a fou old. ask "why" and "how." ask them often. this attitude allows us to navigate the world mor effectively, choosing among

options, or political candidates, or medical treatments, that arelikely to maximize our success and well-being. by the way, mark twain is widely cited for the quote we began with. but there is no evidence that he ever said it or anything like it. the source of it is unknown. sometimes you don't know what you think you do. >> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight. gam judy woodruff. join us online and here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you on. major funding for the p newshour has been provided by: >> and by the alfrda p. sloan foon. supporting science, technology, and improved economic rformance and financial literacy in the 21st century.

. >> supported by the johnd catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> 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 dia access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

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