captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc : >> nawod evening. i'm amna nawaz. judy woodruff is away. on the newshour tonight: president trump directly questions christine blasey ford's claims of sexual assault by supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh. 's friday. mark shields and ramesh ponnuru break down the fallout from ford's accusations, the president's move to declassify certain russia investigation documents, and more. plus, screen legends robert redford and sissy spacek discuss their new film, "the old man and the gun," and their approach to acting. >> being in the moment is part of what being an actor is. if you're really in the moment, that means things are going to be just loose enough for you to improvise if you have to. you know, if you're in the moment. as long as the moment's real.l >> nawaz: that and more, ont' tonighpbs newshour.

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>> financial services firm onymond james. >> the ford founda 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 madess le by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thk you. >> nawaz: the struggle over supreme court nonee brett vanaugh, and sexual assault allegations, is intensifying on two fronts tonight.vo

one es when and how to hold a public hearing. the second involves the presidenchallenging kavanaugh's accuser. congressional correspondent lisa desjardins begins our coverage. >> desjardins: after measut d talk for m the week, president trump today fired out sharp words about accusations fm christine blasey ford that kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in the 1980s, in high school. today, on twitter, the president went after ford by name, writing, "if the attack on dr. ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed." also on twitter today, and at a rally in las vegas last night, the president stepped up his defense of kavanaugh. >> brett kavanaugh is one of the finest human beings you wier ave the privilege of knowing or meeting. >> desjardinen but the uness challenge to ford's credibility ttled at least one key republican. maine senator susan collins told reporters in her home state that she s "appalled by the

president's tweet." she no sexual assault are often unreported, and called the tweet "completely inappropriate." asked about the president's eet on msnbc, secretary state mike pompeo defended the president and lashed out at >> i regret that this rose at the end. this was unfortunately sat on by a united states senator for weeks, as best i understand that. the president has said pretty clearly, we hope the process will move forwd fairly and efficiently. >> desjardins: mr. trump's shift came as ford's lawyers began negotiating with the senate erdiciary committee on whe she'll testify, and under what conditions. her lawyers said ford wants to testify no sooner than thursday, and that she does not want to be in the same room as kavanaugh, and she wants him to testify first. they also want senats-- not- lawyer do the questioning. sources tell newshour that

senate republicans today issued counter-offer to ford: she would testify on wednesday, speaking first, with kavanaugh to follow in separate session. and, republicans would like an independent lawyer, not repuican senators, to questi her. n ats conference, 75 women who knew kavanaugh in high school, in college and sionally, rallied in his defense: >> the acts of which brett is accused represent a starkhe departure fromehavior my friends and i have witnessed for more than four decades. >> it seems anyone can launch an tilegation without corrobo or evidence and dismantle a person's career and their life and the lives of their family members. this is wrg. >> desjarins: in washington, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell made a definitive statement of confidence.n >>e very near future, judge kavanaugh will be on the unitedtates supreme court. so, my friends, keep the faith. don't get rattled by all of is, we're going to plow right

through it and do our job. >> desjardins: but democrats, fke senator maggie hassan new hampshire, fired back. >> it doesn't matt to him or to the senate republicans whether judge kavanaugh assaulted a woman-- a crime. committed a crime. it doesn't matter to them what happened. you know, nobody has a right to a united states supreme court appointment. >> desjardins: former vice presidentn, joe biden said agai he hopes the committee treats ford better than when he chaire it and anita hpeared in 1991. she accused supreme court nominee clarence thomas of sexual harassment.no >> she shoulhave to go through the things anita hill went through. should be given the beneant of the doubnot be, you know, abused again by the system. told is talkinged to f.b.i., but

not abouher accusations against jung kavanaugh, instead about the threats she herself has been receiving. and we have late-breaking news. this republican offer we madto her, i was just told by a top republican source, that her team has said they will notndes by the deadline, which was clos of businday. they may not respond tonight. that's very frustrating for republicans, so still all this is in limbo. >> nawaz: the time line taking, too. you mentioned that republican offer. what exaarly is it thate offering ford in. >> what they like about this offer is they want just twoes wis. they want chance to hear her story and that want judge kavanaugh to be able to respond. however, they're noing a lot of ground on the tougher points. she wants more witnesses, for example, and they don't se will willing to go that direction.a they want a serate independent counsel, one of which is optics. the senatrepublicans are all white men, and if a woman attorney was asking those questions, they think it might be more positive for them.a

>> nawaz: about the democrats? they want a full investigation, they want dr. ford to be heard. are they coordinati l with fordyers? >> a top source tells me, no, they are not in very much eontact. the messages you from democrats are political. they are not coming from dr. ford's camp. i think overall, amna, that's something to keep in mind. this hasurned into a political battle. >> nawaz: you mentioned the questions with the time line. republicans are already off the time line they wanted. what's next. >> let's think about. this we could have hearing wednesday or thursday of next week. thursday was supposed to be thee finate vote for this nominee. instead we're delayed. that's something democrats want. they seem to have achieved it. we'll see how far republicans let that go. >> nawaz: you have been talking to your sources all week, all day day. tell me about the atmosphere on capitol hill right now. >> even for the y pastr and a half, which has been a very intense year, this is the most toxic environment that i have sensed on the hill. we have seen not just kind ofan parthetoric, but real threats, death threats to susan collins, threats toor sen

dianne feinstein to, judge kavanaugh's family, also to dr. ford. we're also seeing this spillom into howe candidates in the field are speaking about this.v sometimes too ierly. i think it's a very dangerous and risky atmosphere for everyone. >> nawaz: a very dangerous atmosphere. a lot at stake, as we lisa desjardins, thanks for staying on top of this for us. >> you're welcome. >> nawaz: in the day's other news, the ood disaster deepened across the carolinas in the wake of hurricane florence. duke energy said surging water breached a dam at a closed power plant near wilmington, north carolina, and could be spilling toxic coal ash into the cape fear river. meanwhile, the governor warned that for some communities, the worst is yet to come. >> some locations won't see rivers crest until late in thed. week and flooding will continue well into next week. this means that lives are still at risk, and people need to stay alert for local evacuation orders. >> nawaz: rivers are also rising in eastern southarolina,

prompting a new wave of evacuations today. and, thetorm's overall death toll has now climbed to at least 42. in tanzania, officials say at least 136 people died when a a ferry capsiz sank on thursday. it happened on lake victoria, just off a dock, as the ferry was making its way between two islands.se today, the veslay overturned with its hull exposed. crews pulled bodies from the water, as hundreds of people watched from the shore. officials estimate there were close to 300 people abod, three times the ferry's capacity. brexit negotiations between britain and the european union are "at an impasse that word today from british prime minister theresa may. on thursday, in austria, e.u. officials rejected may's blueprint for leaving the bloc. today, in a televised statement, allenged them to offer their own plan. >> i have worked to bring people with me, even when that has not always seemed possible. no one wants a good deal more

than me. but the e.u. should be clear, i will not overturn the result of the referendum, nor will i break up my country. >> nawaz: later, the pnt of t e.u. council, donald tusk, said compromise is "still possible." the two sis meet again in mid-october, in what could be a make-or-break back in this country, president trump today walked back his order to declassify unredacted documents from the russia investigation. he said the justice department and u.s. allies raised security concerns, so the department's inspector general will review the material first. mr. trump added on twitter, "in the end, i can always classify if it proves necessary." there's word the president's former personal lawyer, john dowd, offered to pay legal feesp for two trump gn officials. pa manafort and rick gates were charged in connection with

the special counsel's russia probe. the "wall street journal" and others report dowd wanted to use the white house legal fund, white house aides said "no." meanwhile, another former trump lawyer, michael cohen, confirms he's been interviewed in the russia probe. his lawyer says cohen provided "critical information." an independent investigation has found the university of maryland responsible in the death of football player jordan mcnair. the -year-old died of heat stroke after a grueling practice in june. the report blamed athletic trainers for failing to identify symptoms and aggressively treat them. on wall street today, the dow jones industrial average gained 86 points to close at 26,743. the nasdaq fell 41 points, and the s&p 500 slipped one point. for the week, the dow gained 2%. the nasdaq and the s&p gained a fraction of 1%. and, in one western greek town, it looks like halloween came early. spiderwebs spanning nearly 1,00t re blanketing trees and low-lying vegetation along the coastline of aitoliko. experts say unusual heat and l

humidi to huge numbers of lake flies, the spiders' favorite food, and that in turn fuooed a spider population b still to come on the newshour: the complex and difficult process many women go through to report sexual assault. how abortion politics are limiting american women's actiss to contrac. mark shields and ramesh ponnuru break do the week's political news. plus, film legends robert redford and sissy spacek discuss their new film. >> nawaz: we want to take a stea now from the specifics of the allegations against brett kavanaugh, and look at what webo know how survivors of sexual assault cope with the trauma. president trump's tweet questioning christinblasey ford's claims because if it was "as bad as she says," she would have reporteit at the time, set off alarms for survivors and their advocates.

thousands of people shared their own experiences on twitter, using the hashtag "why i didn'" report we begin with one woman's story. chessy prout was a freshman in high school when she was raped by an older classmate. she spoke to authorities, brought charges, and suffered a backlash. the case drew national attention. she went on to write a memoir about her experience and started a support network for survivors and their families. she joins me now. chessy prout, welcome to the "newshour". thanks for being with us. we want to ask you about your decision to write about your story in the first place. it must have been iredibly difficult to relive some of those moments. why did you do it? >> first of all, thank you so much for having me here today. telling your story can be realy difficult in the first place, even writing it down, acknledging that you lost control, that somebody took tdvantage of you in a really personal and hl way can be hard to even admit to yourself, but following in -- in the days following my assault, i just

couldn't keep it in any longer. i knew that something really, really wrong happened to me and i needed to get it out. my i told my mom, my mom told counselor, and my counselor was mandated to report it to the police. so in writing my memoir, i really wanted to show what was going on insi mind, inside my brain as a sexual assault survivor. too often people don't affect on the aftereffects of the sexual assault on the survivor and how much it really takes from a survivor to survive and then keep on living life an d keep on pursuing juscen the aftermath. >> io wrote about this moment in the book immediately after your assault, and i wonder if you could elaborate on it a little. you said the firscouple of things you felt were shame and humiliation, those were among the first two things. why do you think that's what you felt? >> shad guilt are really common responses to a sexual assaul t

i didn't wan admit to myself that i had lost control of my body. and after my assault, i was immediately greeted by friends from the stairwell when i was leaving the mechanical room, and that kind of put -- shocked me into this mindset that i had to pretend everything was okay. it was graduation weekend for m older sister and i didn't want to make a big deal about what had happened to me. i didn't want to make the weekend about me because it was a weekend about my sisterand my family was there, and, so, i felt i had to keep this to myself, and i felt that it was my fault. >> you mentioned your mother was the first person you decided ton say someto. we hear a lot about people's decisions, why they do and don't report similar kinds of situations. what was that decision-making process likeor you? how did you weigh whether or not to say anything? ds at first, i did tell a couple of close girlfrin my dorm, and then i told --

hypothetically, i told the situation hypothetically to an advisor in my dorm when she heard me have a a panack next door and she was the one who told me i should call my mother. my mom and dad had always been open with me and my yonger and older sister about anything, that we could come to them about anything but we never had aif sp talk about consent or soalthy relationships in that sense. i had a healthy, interesting relationship with my mom and i was able to talk to hoar about at because of that. >> as word spread you made this allegation, you went to a small school, called an elite institution in new hampshire, what was the reaction like among the rest of the school and the rest of the community >> i mean, immediately after the assault when i told my clos friends, they were all extremely concerned for my well being. they noticed that something wa wrong, but in the months after when i went home for the summer and talked with thpolice and

the case kind of moved forward into something like a criminal case, something very serious, i think the community took a step back and wanted to support my perpetrator instead of me because it's so much easier to believe that a young woman is capable of lying than it is to believe that a young man who is held at such a high standard is capable of something so horrific and disgusting. >> what was it like for you to get that kind of reaction? >> it was credibly painful and hurtful and really confusing for me because i constantly wondered, this is not right, i am a victimf a crime and, yet, nobody seems to see it that way. i mean, the fatct tha alumni and students and parents at the school decided to raise -- or chose to raise $100,000 for my perpetrator's defense fund, i mean, that showed a lot about how the st. paul's community reacted to my sexual assault.

>> the case that you mention moved forward, it got a lot of national attention, but this all sort of appened before what we are calling the "me too" movementegan. i'm curious, as you watched the news unfold the last year or , tuning it's any easier for people now to come forward as you did? >> i think the "me too" movement kind of makes it easier for certain groupsf people to come forward and disclose their stories. it only makes it easier for a certain cultural group. 've seen this blow up in hollywood and lots of people of privilege be a be able to share their stories, but the "me too" movement hasn't gotten to a lot of different communities who have many cultural barriers to reporting s sexualault. just in the last couple of months, i was speaking to just some students from a public school in washington tee see and we asked them how has th the met "me too" movement changed the way you and your friends talk about these isss? they said, we don't talk about the "me too" movement, that's not applicable to us.an >> ito ask you, because

your attacker was eventually acquitted on rape, convicted on the counts of misdemeanor assaults. with the trial behind you and the convictions, do you have any sense of closure? >> that is a tough question. i mean, i feel as though i did all i could and what i could to help myself seek justice and that i had the sup,port netwo ective, supportive det prosecuting attorney and family who helped me find and seek justice in at way. i mean, i did what i could and i r it,a little bit safer knowing i used my voice and my privilege to use my voice to help make sure he never does this again. >> chessy prout, thks for sharing your story with us. >> thank you so much for having. >> nawaz: we continue our look now at the complexities ofg reportxual violence with veronique valliere, a clinical and forensic psychologist who works with victims and

perpetrators of sexual violence. thanks for being we h us. weving this conversation here and as a country around an allegation made by christine blase ford about something that happened 30 plus yearsasgo and thatgive an lot of people reason to cast doubt among its veracity. what do we know statistically about when people choose or don't choose to come forward? >> well, what we know is that most peop never ce forward when it comes to our definition of coming forward or disclosure, which means to law enforcement. most victims never re port tolaw enforcement or pursue any kind of legal solution or official reporting to the sexual assault. it's one of the most underreported crimes that we have. >> you just heard chessy prout there share her story. she's 19 years old now. she was 14 at the time of her assault. is there any correlati that we

know of between the age of an alleged victim and whether or not they choose to share what happened to them witthhers or report it? s> i'm not sure there probably some corps lag -- rrelations with age beuse, when you're assaulted as a child, as you become an adult, you may choose to te because you're more empowered, you have a greater support system, you're not racked bythe feelings of help lessness, and you cognitively and emotionally understand your assault more adily and thoroughly, but the rappings with the perp -- the relationship and status with tht petor have a lot more to do with the choices of reporting the than age. a child who may be sexual a assaulted tranger may report more quickly than someone sexual assaulted by a familyve member or a one or someone trusted in their famy or community. >> i want to be clear, of

course, the proceeding between aldge kavanaugh and blase ford is not crimbut if there is a hearing to testify and take questions, thealre bas will be two conflicting accounts from what we know so far. from your experience, is that soars of a productive way to move things for what can be the conclusion at the end of the hearing like that? >>ell, in a positive way, if the hearers of the accountsnd undersexual assault, understand victim behavior and understandpe peator behavior withoutt being clouded and mudded by misinformation, like if it was that d it would have been reported, or ideas that minimize or diffuse what sexua assault is and that, when we carry a narrative of sexual assault that includes pen treation and vilation and

weapons -- penetration and violation and weapons, that'se r we define sexual assault with, if we understand that non-penetrative offenses can be frightening, attempts can be frightening, any violation ofdy some physical integrity can have profound and long-term effects, and perpetrators don't appear like a certain type, they don't seem like a certain way. the assumption that we know people around usst because we've had interactions is false and offenders tend to rely on the idea that we can know somebody or what they're like in private or behind closed doors, so they build a public persona ofniceness, politeness and integrity while they may be doing all kinds of thaiption in their private life whe other people don't know. so if we allow information to guide our ecisions based on that kind of really common sense that people have private selves, then something can come out of a

hearing. but if we judge people' "credibility" on misinformation, faulty expectations of victim response and behavior and a denial that nice looking people with status or power could be bad people orto perpet, then we're going to have reiteration of theess and misinformation that has effectively failitated sexual assault for decades and deca >> veronique valliere, thank you so much for your time. thank you. >> nawaz: and of course, most the attention around judge kavanaugh is focused on the allegations of assault. but, his views on other issues will return front and center if his confirmation goes forward. during his confirmation hearings, kavanaugh was questioned about prior cases he

dealt with when it comes to the question of birth control. his vote is considered pivotal to future supreme court rulings on the subject. as special correspondent sarah varney reports, there's already a major push at the state level to limit or restrict access to contraception. some conservatives are now hoping to take it further at the mederal level with a supreme court moreble to their views. this story was produced in collaboration with our partner kaiser health news. >> reporter: 23-year old nikia jackson came to this clinic run by the obria group in lawrenceville, georgia, outside atlanta, to get tested for ara sexually tmitted infection. >> s.t.i.s. >> well, let me tell you what we have to offer here.ep >>ter: millions of women like jackson could soon get their medical care at obria clinics, if c.e.o. kathleen bravo has her way. bravo is positioning her growing company to become a nationwide alternative to planned parenthood, but with one key difference-- obria doesn't offer abortion, condoms or any kind of except fertility

awareness methods that many call natural family planning. >> she can setp her account. >> reporter: she's a devout catholic opposed to contraception, whose own abortion decades ago shaped her anti-abortion position. the company so far has clinics in six states.tr women can get ounds and prenatal care, as well as tests for pregnancy, h.i.v. and cervical cancer. it>> our ultrasound is a l ultrasound. there's a $20 fee. >> reporter: but if a patient wants to prevent pregnancy, thri only option offers is natural family planning, which requires women track their periods and refrain from sex when most feile. the centers for disease control and prevention says when followed exactly, the method is 76% effective. bravo says more young women today are looking for an alternative to cli control.h >> we're a holistic clinic. we do holistic care. we offer alternatives to the pill, and i.u.d.s. i think that women feel very

much empowered by undetanding how beautiful their body is made. i mean, it's exciting to know that"wow, i understand now h my cycle works! i understand what's going on in my body." >> reporter: n, bravo is taking her vision to washington, meeting with federal officials who she hopes can help ramp up her company's expansion. >> life is winning again in america! >> reporter: with vice president mike pence, an evangelical christian, as a key ally, religious conservatives say this is their moment to spe women's sexual health care. >> there is not a scienceok textn any of our schools that does not say that when the ererm joins with the egg, is a unique human being that is formed, and that is a different person. >> reporter: a former c.e.o. of a christian anti-abortion group, dr. diane foley is now deputy assistant secretary for the office of population affair which distributes federal family planning funds to health clinics. as the politics of abortion and contraception have converged,

foley is one of several anti- abortion and abstinence education advocates in key federal positions. together, they've made fast work rolling back an obama-era rule that required employers to cover birth control in their health insurance plans. and they've proposed new restrictions aimed at closing planned parenthood clinics and promoting clinics that do not offer the full range of contraception or abortionse ices. in many ways, those ideas have ooready been tested in texas. when planned parenclinics like this one became a target in texas, more than 80 family planning clinics around the state-- and not just planned parenthoods-- were forced to close, and contraception became much harder to get. women across tex suddenly found their birth control needs caught up amid the fight against abortion. >> the state of texas really cut the family planning program, really slashed it, and changed a lot of rules and those rules led to clinic closures. like, this center ght here used to be the site of one of our part-time clinics. >> reporter: kathryn hea, of

access esperanza, says after texas lawmakers slashed state funding by 66% in 2011, four of her organization's eight sites closed, even though they never offered abortion care. the impact was swift and widespread. researchers found the number of won on the most effective forms of birth control-- i.u.d.s, implants and injections-- plunged by a third, and births by poor women onme caid increased 27% between 2011 and 2014. hearns says 13,000 of her patients lost medical care. in the aftermath, clinics hereme belmost entirely dependent on a program called title x, which pays for birth control and sexual health care for low- income women. but now, they're bracingpror new ruleosed by the trump administration that would diverx some titoney to clinics that only offer natural family tanning, and would make i

nearly impossible for those getting federal title x money to refer patients to abortion providers. hearsays clinics like access esperanza that offer the full range of f.a.-approved birth control could be replaced by those like obria. >> so today, a wan can come into a title x clinic, any clinic in the united stes, in texas, and be offered a wide range of contraceptive methods. with these proposed rules, she i could wao a title x clinic and only be offered abstinence. "well," she says, "i'm married." or "i'm in a relationship. that does not work for me. i need real contraceptive care, i need real help." and so with these new rules, those are the changes. >> reporter: ofelia alonso says it's already difficult for many young women in texas to tell the difference between so-called crisis pregnancy centers and medical clinics. the 22-year-old community organizer with texas rising says young texans don't have all the

information they need toake informed decisions. >> abstinence only, and then, crisis pregnancy cente, anti- adabortion propagdefunding t r family clinics, you know? so like, what is lr us? what are we going to do? we're going to have these, like, weird centers, where you can't get anything? >> reporter: but women seekingn contraceptiohave to go somewhere, and one alternative, she says, is to cross the nearby border into mexico to buy birth control. >> but it shouldn't have to be that way. like, we shouldn't have to travel to another country to get what we need. >> reporter: so some patients, like claire hammons, have looked for other alternatives. she runs a hotel in llano, a small city with full-service women's health clinic. the vast geography here, combined with widespread clinic closures, has led to so-called contraception deserts. as this map shows in blue, some ten million texans live at least half an hour from a clinic, a e mmon standard used to

determine health cortages. hammons lives in one of these contraception deserts, and when she couldn't afford health tinsurance, she turned toel internet for and now, she gets her birth control straight from the mailbox from a san francisco- based company called nurx, and pays about $15 a month. >> so, pretty much every three months, they send this to me in the mail, this package. >> reporter: she can message with her nurx doctor, jessica rubino, who sits in austin. rubino reviews hammons' medical history, and renews her prescription without any additional cost.ha she sees whaens to women who live in contraception deserts. >> i'm also an abortion provider, and i do that outside of nurx, at another facility.ha and patients, i had one last week who drove to see me, five hours. and the entire reason that she came to see me for the abortion is because she didn't have any access to contraception. >> reporter: that lack of acces worriephysicians in many clinics, like the people's community clinic, that receive title x funding. kami geoffray has been meeting

them. she runs the group that decides veich clinics in texas rec federal money. she says if the trump administrati's overhaul of title x succeeds, it will undermine the goal othe program that the federal government has operated since the 1970s. >> so we know that every dollar we spend on title x saves $7 across other government programs, including medicaid. we avert medicaid births very frequently by contracepting clients and preventing unplanned pregnancies. t reporter: but back in suburban atlantae obria medical clinic, kathleen bravo says it's time for comnies like hers to put a bigger mark on reproductive health care, and the company is launching a $240 million capital campaign to open morclinics. >> if obria is a comprehensive c primary canic for women, that is an alternative model to haanned parenthood, that w a choice, we're in! we're all for it. >> reporter: but exactly what "comprehensive" means, and the re women can receive at title

x clinics, will likely be decided by the trump administration in the coming months. sr the pbs newshour and kaiser health news, i'mah varney in mcallen, texas. to nawaz: now, we turn bac the controversy surrounding the confirmation of supreme court nominebrett kavanaugh. d, to the analysis of shields and ponnuru. that's syndited columnist mark shields, and ramesh ponnuru of the "national review." david brooks is away. gentlemen, welcome. let'jump right in. e biggest story of the week in washington judge kavanaugh. we're having this conversation at the unfortunate of high stakes politics and how we handle sexual violencen america. ramesh, republicans are in charge, running the show. how arthey handling it? >> i would say things took a

marked turn for the worst when president trump decided he was tired of being responsible and sober mined, which must have chafed, and, instead, decided to attack professor blase ford, saying that, this is a real thing, she should have come forward decades ago whi anybody who's familiar with these cases ups is not the wayr these things w so i think that's a real black mark on the republicans and i know a lot of republicans including senator collins werale smarting over that remark and wanting to distance themselves from it.th on the hand, you look at the democrats, and they haven't been covering themselvein glory either. senator feinstein's handling of the allegatn, sitting on it for two months, essentially, was yoalmost inexplicable, anu've got various senate democrats who are prejudging the case, as som senate republicans are, too, saying they already believe thee

tions. >> what do you think? if you're a republican in 2018 and in the eve of an electi that is increasingly looking pessimistic by numbers r the relicans, the last thing you want to be talking about is women and sexuala buses and recalling of the anita hill hearings and having as your spokesman a man who has been 19 times accused of sexual abuse, sexual harassment, the president donald trump. it's not a message you want ands ot a messenger. this is more than abo kavanaugh, this hearing that's coming up is essentially about david against goliath. we're going to hear from profsor ford for the first time, and that will determine how the country resbuponds. before then, i thinthe

line indicated that hit me is polls that suggest that women are more upset about the charges and the response of the republicans than any othe group, and you recall, in the 2016 election, donald trump rried women who had not been to college by a 1 to 34 marginci vely. hillary clinton carried the majority of women who went to college. if non-college educated women are responding to this charge in the sense th something is wrong and that this is a society that is indifferent and intolerant of women d the abuse they've suffered, this is nothing but bad news for thebl reans. it's not where they want to be. >> so how do they handle this? part of this is about optics, we're talking about there could be a hearing next week, we don't knhi wherestands. we have three men who could be questioning dr. ford who were there in 1991, right, questioning anita hill and did not handle it well back then.

how did they move forward? how can the hearing they will be moving forward to come degreed ot alienate this group. >> we have to remember the optics have to take a back seato the facts, and it's going to be very hard to determine the facts, but the senators need to go and we seem to be going in,ye but mostly to actually going in trying to determine the facts. have sworn statements from judge kavanaugh, from mark judge, from an unnapamed third y. we will presumably get a sworn statement from the accuser a well, professor blase ford, and then we will have to do what we e can to figt who's telling the truth. >> do you think the way they presented it so far enforces the message that we take it seriously and have an intention to get to the bottom f othis? we heard mitch mcconnell say earlier today judge katonaugh is goinbe confirmed. >> right. i think it's one thing to say that, based on the evidence you've heard so far you are inclined to go with one or the

other, but i think it's a mistake to close your mind toto the possibility you will get more information. if that's the case, you havto ask why the hearings at all. >> we have a poll, shws publicly, look, there has been an actual increase in opposition to judge kavanaugh over the last month, up 9 ponts. at some point, does he become a political liability? >>'m not sure political liability. i think the subject is ait political liabfor republicans and, obviously, if he's stayed with it, yes, he becomes a political liability. i think the hearing - irame right, the republicans and the democrats have basically tsiaken their on, put on their uniforms, at least the partisans have. the group yet to make a decion on this will look at the hearings and the hearings will be determinate. it really isn't as much about judge kavanaugh as professor ford. is she believable, sympathetic

is she convincing? you know, and the president saying why didnt she come forward, why didn't she go to the f.b.i. when she's 15 years old. first of all, i'm not sure we're talking aboua feder offense, but, secondly, if anything we'vr d through the pain and torment of the catholic clergy sexual abuse is people out of the pain and embrrassment and humiliation and sense of fear don't come forward. the department of justice' own knurls say 22% of rain victims ever come -- re victims ev come forward. really it is david against culiath. the is on her. the question is, is she believable, is she convincing? i wasn't sure mark judge had signed a sworn statement. >> he made a statement to the judiciary so that's a potentially legally actionable

document. >> he didn't want to talk about it. >> this is the other >>individual -- is not testifying to me is absolutely irrational. >> one of tht'things thamost dismaying about this entire debate is almosst everybod views about what did or didn't happen 36 years ago lines up perfectly with what they think ought to happen to roe v. wade now and that's not the way it should be. >> nawaz: you're saying it's too political to have a discussion about it. moving on, monday president trump said he's going to be identifyindocument related to the russia probe. today he backtracked, punted to the department of justice, saying they're going to review it before we take any action here. ramesh, what happened over the last week? >> well, there's a lot of pshback against the idea of declassificationticularly the idea of a kind of

unselectived indiscriminate declt,sification. look, the president has a dysfunctional relationship with his justice department. we know that, we've known that for some time, and i think this is just one more instance of that happening. and another instance of his making a grand statement and not following through. >> viewing publicly the limited education of donald trump. i mean, he learned is week from allies, from very importt sources within the united states government, whom he has t trust, that this is bad policy, that what you're doing is not simply revealing secrets, you'ri compng sources, and the collection of intelligence is dependent on a network of relationships of trust, of belief, of confidence that you're not goi to be made public, and allies, among others, just told donald trump, this is just an absolute reckless risk within his own

administration important figures stood up on this and i thinkat that's wh happened. >> so president trump will loom large over the midterms just weeks now. things have shifted dramatically in the last few weeks. what's it looking like now for republicans? >> i think it's bleaker for republicans than it was a week ago, and this is in spite of the fact that the stock market is at an all-time high, among other factors. the lowest number of people in america applied tore employment benefits in any year since 1968, when the economy was one-half its size in number of jobs. but donald tru is toxic. american voters do not like him. when asked a very simple estion, i like blank and agree mostly with his policies, ei lik and don't agree with policies, i dislike blank and dislike him and agree with his policies, 70

of americans say they do not like donald trump. i contrast ths with ronald reagan who had far worse economic conditions in 1982, whenaprime interest was at .5%, unemployment, highest dins the great depression, and nald reagan, 70% of aricans liked him, and that is what they're finding. this is a referendum, the midterm election is a referendum on the president, on his performance and the man himself. that's why are ronald reagan had republicans like him and truisp problem for republicans this year. they have to defend him. three-quarters of republican candidates running for reection have never with a republican in the white house, a,ways run against barack obam and that's a liberating thing. you'reery defensive whe trying to defend what donald trump did, for example, on

tweets. >> bad for republicans? midterm elections usually go badly for the party who has the white house because the opposition is revved up and you side is complacent. president trump has revved up the opposition and telling his side this is all propaganda, the elections are going swimmingly, don't worry about it. the combination is very damaging. if they allow kavanaugh to go down to defeat, the demoralization could get worse. >> support him? if i were arepublican running for office, what i would want to do is talk about the economic conditions, talk about controversies that plaou and try to keep trump out of the conversation as much as possible because you ace theconstant problem which he's still an unpopular. preside >> ramesh ponnuru, mark shields, good to talk to you. >> nawaz: now to a new film

opening that features some legends of the screen. jeffrey brown got a previe earlier this month at the toronto international film festival. >> brown: in what he says will >> robert redford is for resttu er, red of what becomes dubbed the over the hill gang. was that irresistible to you? >> yes, because i'm over the hill. i was veria tracted to the idea that a guy robbed banks. somebody said do you rob banks to mak a living? he said, no, i rob banks that ving. li he just loved his life. >> brown: "the old man and the regun" is dicted by david lowery and features casey affleck as a

small-time detective eager to nab the elusive bank robber. it's based on the true tory first told by author david graham in the "new yorgaker" ne. >> i don't believe a word you say. >> also open word another acting great sissy spacek. >> i'm the only thing in it's that not true.ek >> brown: sp is known for numerous performances over the years including "carrie" in 1976, and loretta lynn in "coal miner'sda ghter." ♪ ♪ >> excuse me, need some help?no w 68, she plays jewel who recently lost her husband, meets dford's forrest tucker by accident and isn't sure what to make o him. >> the thing i needed to make sure of is did i believe he b robbnks.

>> prove it? yeah. ou want me to prove it? eah. i just ought that was a line. i just thought he was trying to be cute and funny, which he was >> kind a weird pickup line but a charmer. >> it worked. >> brown: also in s film, a lot, especially your character, about getting away with something. >> that's always beeappealing toe. >> brown: why? it's just fun to try to get away with something. it's a fun concept. >> brown: yeah. particularly if it doesn't get dark or harsh. the whole idea of this film is whatever these characters were doing, they had fun. i like that idea, particularlyti in these dares that we're living in. we're living in such dark times. and e of the other appealing parts of this film was it's a film that, during these dark times, brings a nice light into something, it's very ueat and i think that's pretty healthy right now. >> brown: this movieis a real meditation on aging, is it not?h both of yourracters, how to

age gracefully, what to do as you age? >> i don't spend a lot of time thinking about that. >> brown: you don't? not about aging.a whether i'm ful or not, i just don't want to think about it. >> brown: but when you have to play a character. >> i think the character doesn't think about it either. he just goes about what he loves doing. ou brown: do you think it? >> i'm a woman. of course i think about it. it's a bummer. (laughter) no, actually, i think this is just up with of my favorite times of e.my lif you know, you get respect, it's amazing. >> isn't that nice? t is nice. getting old is not so bad. >> brown: in fact, the two have never before acted together. >> what i do when the door i jump out the window. >> brown: on screen under director david lowery, they havo an easg, natural chemistry and egg each other on. i>> we had so much fun d the scene in the diner. tell me what that is, then.

>> this? yeah. lepls take thiace. this place is not my style. >> the first day we worked on it, we did it n little tiny pieces, an it was just kind of driving us cra we came back to that and finally said, david, can we do it alin one? >> yeah. and when we did it all in one, it just went to new places, don't you think? >> oh, absolutely. you're right, the timing has to feelr ht. >> you could improvise what you were doing as long as you stayed th the context of the characters in the story. >> cut, nailed it. >> brown: is acting easr, harder, having done it so long, having de so many -- >> well, it's always been hard but you want to make it look .a that's the objective, you want to make it look easy. >> and sometimes you just get swept away and i think 's like when the scene plac plays you. then when you finish, they say, let's do it again, do the same thing. what happened?

>> i don't know what do. you live for those moments where you're swept away and you lose yourself in the moment and in the scene brown: along that line -- along that line, being intthe mos part of what an actor is, to be in the moment. r if you'rally in the moment, it means things will be loose enough for you to improvise if you have to, if you're in the moment. as long as the moment's real,u st walk in, real calm. >> in the old than and the gun, robert redford the actor plays a man who just can't stop doing the one thing that gives him life, even if it is something that lands him in jail every so often. but redford the man announced this will be his final role. he's going to stop. we'll have that part of the conversation in our next report. for now, i'm jeffrey brown from the toronto international film festival.

>> breaking news late this evening with a new statement from the senate judiciary chairman. lisa desja update.here with the lisa, what do we know? >> more political drama, chuck grassley extended the deaedl for the dr. blase ford team to respond to his o aice for wh hearing should look like. ade had not responded by the earlier ne today. they have till 10:00 tonight and, if they do not respond, what's interesting, chuck said he has set a possible vote for monday on jud kanaugh's nomination. he's upping the stakes and putting more pressure on blazey ford's team to respond. we will see what they do. >> that is then seate judiciary drawing a firm line in the sand. >> that's right. i think it's a gae to see if a hearing happens and if it doesn't who gets the blame.no >> do weanything else about if ford's team will respond? >> no, yamiche alcindor has reached out to her team and we have not receed a response yet. >> lisa desjardins staying on top of this fast-moving story.

and finally tonight, hpiness in honduras, and an update to ae story eported on tuesday. tonight, marianita ponce herrera is back home with herents. these pictures are from the airport in san pedro sula, honduras, late this afternoon, where six-year-old marianita was gathered up in her fher's arms. she was reunited with her familf ter spending the last 3.5 months detained in the u.s.,s one of hundrof children held under the trump administration family separation policy. she and her father, misael, crossed illegally into south texas this past june, where they were separated. yo was deported; she was sent to a facility in new . her father told the newshour that there is a long road of healing ahead r the family, but that "everything is left to ld-- god's time is perfect." the american civerties union told the newshour that nothing had changed legally is week to compel her return. we will keep you updated asei story continues.

and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. have a great weekend.e thank you and u soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> kevin. >> kevin! >>evin? >> advice for life. life well-planned. learn mo at raymondjames.com. >> bnsf railway. >> consumer cellular. >> supporting soci entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems--ol skoundation.org. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> and with the ongopport of these institutions

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on tight on "kqed newsroom," a supreme courtmi tion in jeopardy as kavanaugh faces sexual assault accusations. we'll talk with the bay area lawmakers who was the first member of congre to hear about the sexual assault allegation from christineey bl ford. research reveals an alarms achievement gaph starts at a young age. >>weome to "kqed newsroom." we begin with the high court anl ics. trump nominee r the supreme court irett kavanaug being accused of physical and sexual assault. ford said he assaulted her at a high school p 3tyyears ago. ? july ford described details of the alleged attack to her