captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonigh a reluctant yes-- the senate judiciary committee gives a green light to confirming brett kavanaugh, as the white house goes along wh calls for a new f.b.i. background investigation before a final confirmn vote. then, why the u.s. will be engaged in syria for the foreseeable future. it's friday. mark shields and david boks consider the kavanaugh nomination process, and yestery's striking testimony by him and christine blasey ford. plus, "murphy brown" returns. i sit down with candice bergen to discuss how the show is ushandling today's content politics. >> that's the gift of being on this show, is that you get to do comedy and you get to tackle

really major issues. i mean, we did a #metoo episode that was very funny and very powerful. >> woodruff: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us.

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and by contributions to your pbs stion from viewers like yo thank you. >> woodrf: dramatic new turns tonight in brett kavanaugh's fight for confirmation to the u.s. supreme court. president trumis now ordering the f.b.i. to investigate sexual assault allegaons against his nominee, and kavanaugh says he will cooperate. this comes after senate republicans pushed a yes vote through committee, but also asked for the probe. congressional correspondent lisa desjardins begins our coverage. >> desjardins: in the nate diciary committee, the time to vote quietly came and went. st, there was action-- a lot of it-- in whispers ae conversations. then, republican senator jeff flake ok his seat, and announced a major change in his approach. >> i think it would be proper to delay the floor vote for up to,

but not more than one week, in order to let f.b.i. do an investigation limited in time and scope to the current allegations that are there. > desjardins: flake said committee democrats raised a legitimate issue in demanding the f.b.i. investigate sexual misconduct allegations against supreme court brett kavanaugh.ti >> i'm not exp them to vote yes, but not to complain i that an f.b.estigation has not occurred. this country is being ripped apart here. >> desjardins: the 1 republicans on the panel then ted to move the kavanaug nomination to the senate floor, where flake uld want it to wait a week. but lindsey graham pointed out that flake had no guarretee from otheblicans. >> senator flake has made clear whatt would take to be comfortable on a final passage vote, but it doesn't matter what we sayere. this will be up to senator schumer and senator mcconnell. >> desjardins: with that,

chairman chuck grassley abruptly adjourned the meeting. an open mic between grassely and democrat dianne feinstein picked up the confusion over what had happened. >> no, we didn't have a motion. this is all a gentlemen and women's agreement. >> desjardins: all this after am already ic day-- which started with flake announcing he would support kavanaugh in committee and on the floor. shortly thereafter, cameras ca,ured the arizona senator hidden by a half-closed elevator door, being confronted by protesters. >> do you think he is telling the truth? >> desjardins: flake stayed silent there-- >> how can you be speechless? >> desjardins: meanwhile, the judiciary committee meeting gotd underway, wiocrat richard blumenthal moving to subpoena mark judge. christine blasey ford says he was the friend present when brett kavanaugh allegedly assaulted her in 1982. >> he has never been interviewed by t f.b.i., he has never be

questioned by any member of our committee. >> desjardins: committee chair chuck grassley read a new letter from judgemaintaining that he did not recall the attack. >> "i told the committee i do not want to commt about these events publicly. i never saw brett act in a manner d ford described." >> desjardins: republicans defeated the motion to subpoena judge, and then ben quickly moving to vote before democrats could object or speak. >> no, because it violates the customs of this committee. >> my answer is no, no, no. >> desjardins: some democrats expressed their anger by remaining silent when their names were called, and four democrats walked out of the room. >> i just can't sit here anymore and be a part of this. >> desjardins: back inside, democrat dick durbin read aloud a letter from the american bar association urging a delay for the f.b.i. to investigate. >> "deciding to proceed without

conducting additional investigation will have lastinga on the senate and negatively affect trusprin the e court." >> desjardins: but grassleyac pushed >> we're not going to let them dictate committee's business. >> desjardins: there wereur greater cu themes as well. republican lindsey graham said this in an impassioned defense of kavanaugh. >> i know m a single white male, and i've been told i should shut up, but i won't. this has never been about the truth. this has been about delay and destruction. >> desjardins: republicans alsoa they believe something happened to dr. ford, but that it didn't involve kavanaugh. democrats urged republicans to

not dismiss ford. >> we have someone who made ale credlaim. the chairman even thanked her for her bravery. well, where is the bravery in this room? >> desjardins: even as the f.b.i. investigation goes forward, republicans still hope to start senate debate on kavanaugh this weekend. lisa joins us now to go over the very latest twists from capitol hill. and, our own yamiche alcindor is here as well. she's been tracking reaction tol this at the white house. so, lisa, rst to you, where does this stand right now with the f.b.i., with what the senate is planning to do? >> just when you thought there couldn't be more surprises, we had another one today. the pl right now is for the f.b.i. to begin thisground investigation largely in equestioning witnesses, don't know who they're going to question, and the deal that has beenstruck here is that they can do no more than a weekas worth of worbefore republicans will move toward a final vote on

this nominee. process marts here and we're going to talk a little bit out that. but first i want to mention the key witness democrats want be swear viewed is mark judge. she put out a statement saying he wants to corporate cooperate but he wants it to be a matter of can have detention aality. we have to find out what that means. so he still has a lieutenant of questions about that. let's talk about what happens now. the f.b.i. starts investigating tomorrow. the senate is expecting to take a vote to begin the debate on judge kavanaugh, it's procedural. the next debate won't happen till the f.b.i. finiss next week and late next week conceivably a final vote. >> woodruff: so, yamiche, the white house said the president didn't think this was, necessa this investigation, how are they responding to all this? the president has given the go ahead and how are they dealing with the delay?>> he president is going along with the senate but is

frustrated with it. the president wants this to be over as quickly as possible. today at the white house he said watching brett kavanaugh, he anund someone who was really acting i incredible way, but he was really impressed by all that he sad. he also said dr. ford is a very crinible, fine woman, but reality, he still sides with brett kavanaugh and all the things that he said. and i want to read to you really quicktybeck's statement. he said, i answered questions under oath about every topic the senators and theelir cousked me. i've done everything that they've requested and will continue to cooperate. not soon after that, dr. also had her own statement, i'll read a part of it, it said, thorough f.b.i. investigation is critical to developing all the relevant facts. no artificial limits as to time or scope should be imposed on this investigationpp so she's hthe investigation is happening but is not happy with the fact that there'sen only aweek to do ths. >> woodruff: so, lisa, a little more background from the hill. we know senator jeff flake was

key as we saw earlier but others as well. >> there was a clear cast of characters. done flake could not have this alone because republicans can spare a vote, remove one vote and still confirm judge kavanaugh. inters collins and murkowski have come out and supported this ideaf a delay i was standing outside the office with the ree of them were meeting last night, they were meeting not just witpu icans but with one gimocrat last night, senator joe manchin of west va. let's look at the key democrats who are involved. he is also supporting this idea of a delay, as is senator heidi seitkamp. what's interestingsenator joe donnelly, ulefor reeion this year in indiana, a vulnerable democrat, came out today as a firm no on judge kavanaugh and referenced the hearings because as much as the white house may be happy with what judge kavanaugh said, there are democrats like joe donnelly whohi think performance actually harmed him. >> woodruff: finally, yamiche, what is the presint doing to continue to push brett

kavanaugh? >> today at the white house, the ulpresident was very caro not twist the arms publicly of any senators that are still waiting to make their decision. he said h had no specific dessage but he said he home they do what's right he expects them to do that. however, president trump is known to call senators personally, and he's also, from the sources i have been talking toorallowed sento call him directly. so if you're a senator like senator collins and you call the white house, you can get through pretty quickly to presidet trump. soentially, he really wants to be able to talk to these senators but doesn't want to badger them. a source told me today that the white house has bn continuing to engage the senate and will continue to do so. so essentially, they are pushing the senate. >> you're saying that's l happening when the president is frustrated with the process.es >> lisa desjardins, yamiche alcindor, thank you both. in the day's other news, the u.s. state department ordered

the evacuation of the american consulat iraq.sra, in southern secretary of state mike pompeo blamed rocket attacks by anian-backed militias. he warned that the u.s. "will respond promptly and appropriately to any such attacks." a tsunami in indonesia washed away homes today and left an unknown number of people missing. an earthquake sent a wave of up to ten feet high crashing into the coast of sulawesi, striking the city of palu and a smaller town. we have a report from geraint vincent of independent television news. >> rorter: the sun is settin on a seaside town on the island of sulawesi, but the ocean is about to shatter the evening's calm. a wave starts to roll across the sand. in the places where people have sought refuge, there's panic. the water crashes through the beach-side cafes and onto the streets, into the grounds of a mosque, where the earlier earthquake has already caused the roof to collapse. after nightfall, on the other

side of the island, people who were injured in the quake made it to hospital, but the fear of aftershocks and another building collapse meant that they wereea trted outside.st the salace to sleep was out in the open. indonesian officials say the thwer cuts have made it difficult to assesscale of the damage, but that houses were swept away by the tidal wave, and that famils have been reported missing. along the many faultlines that f stretch across this parte earth, counting the cost of the late quake will have to wait until daylight returns. >> woodruff: that report from geraint vincent of independes. television n a former vatican diplomat accused pope francis today of waging a "subtle snder" campaign against him. archbishop carlo maria vano has claimed a cover-up involving former u.s. cardinal theodore mccarrick and alleged sexual misconduct. in a new letter today, vigano said the pope compared him to

satan in recent remarks, and, hd vatican silence about a cover-up only confirms it. iran's government fired back today at israeli accusations that it has a "secret atomic warehouse." israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu made the claim at the u.n. today, iran's foreign minister mohammad javad zarif dismissed the presentation as an "arts and crafts show." back in this country, facebook reports that hackers havemp mised 50 million user accounts. the tech giant said today that inthe attackers found a bu function that lets users see how their profiles appear to others. facebook said it does not know who was behind the cyber attack, or if any hacked accounts were misused. wea federal judge today al a lawsuit to proceed against president trump, over the seso-called "emoluments clin the constitution. ocsome 200 congressional dts had filed the suit.

it alleges that mr. trump is illegally taking payments from lyforeign entities, especi through his washington d.c. hotel. on wall street today, the dow jones industrial average gaine 18 points to close at 26,458. the nasdaq rose fourand the s&p 500 added a fraction. and, two robotic rovers, hopping across the surface of an asteroid, have now sent back images. the pictures show a rocky surface taken from slightly different gles. the asteroid is 170 million miles from earth. the rovers are about the size of cookie tins. they were dropped to the surface by a japanese probe. still to come on the newshour: how brett kavanaugh's testimony differs from previous supreme court nominees. we discuss the trump administration's strategy in syria with envoy jim jeffrey. mark shields and david brooks break down a dramatic week in the senate. us, candice bergen, on the

return of "murphy brown." t >> woodruf drama unfolding in the united states s reflects a much larger debate taking place across thon: how we see gender and power in this #metoo moment.o it all adds upcharted waters, and amna nawaz examines how this week stands in sharp contrast to coirmations in the past. >> nawaz: in key moments this week, it was the tone at mattered. aside from the specifics of the sexual asslt allegations, there were questions about ford's composure compared to kavanaugh'anger, and if the same rules applied to both witnesses. the overt politics of the hearing were also a departure from precedent. here to help make sense of it all, marcia coyle of the "national law journa" and, deborah tannen, a linguistics professor at georgetown university.

welcome to you both. marcia coyle, i could like to start with you.he you waa lot of confirmation processes, tracked them over the years, a lot has beenaid about the demeanor of judge kavanaugh yesterday. have you ever seen someone deliver a speech, remarks, a response in a similar demeanor in past years? >> amna, i think the closest that i've seen come to judge kavanaugh was justice clarence thomas, when he went before theenate judiciary committee in 1991. i was thinking last night, as iw waatching judge kavanaugh, of the old cliche that the best offense -- the best defense is a good offense, andu as clarence thomas in '91, he spoke first before anita hill, and then he wagiven rebuttal time, and on his rebuttal time, heth came out wit now phrase that hasslingerred in so many memories of thaht period inich he called the confirmation process a nae tional disgrt

a high-tech lynr ching pity blacks and, at that moment, you could tell that the atmosphere in the room and on the committee had changed. last night with judge kavanaugh, he didn't have rae to use like clarence thomas did but, what he did have was partisanship, and his emotional, angry, often belligerent delivery focused on what he felt was a conspiracy on the left to sarch and destroy him, and he said that he saw this as revenge for the 2016 presidential election, his ow ideology, and the work he did for the independent counsel who had investigated the clinton white hous so this was being done on behalf of the clintons. it wasuch stark partisan kind of attack, and it is something that i've never seen before, not from a judicial

nominee.n >> deborah tn, i'd love to get your take on this. you've studied language, how people usit, how its perceived. belligerent, angry, a lot of the wos used to describe the way judge kanaugh defended himself. how do you take in what you saw yesterday from an academic viewpoint. >> i would add to that so many aspects of his self presentation that were completely out of place inthat context. he was interrupting the senators. t was disrespectf the senators, the democratic senators. heturned the questions back on them. i like beer. do you like beer? what do you like to drink? ine interruptions, the overlapped spealong with them when he was supposed to answer a question. he really never ansthe questions, but he never said -- i'm sorry, i can't ansr your question, he certainly didn't say "sorry" about anything, but simply took the floor and went on repeating the things he saidh

opening statement. and the contrast with dr. ford was really quite striking. she apologized when she had rnothing to apologize nd, by the way, i would point out, for women, i don't think that real sly an apology, it's just a way of being -- taking into account the effect of what you're sayine onther person. so trying to be helpful. so it's pretty normal womenng sa'm sorry. and we did once hear judge kavanaugh apologize to senator klobuchar, but it was ter a recess, and you kind of had the feeling somebody pointed out he had gone a bit too far. >> sorry to meterrupt. leask you about something you just mentioned, the difference between the two testimonies. this is something you've heard a lot today. was there a gender dynamic at play, or were we just watching two different personalities make their cases? >> yes, of course. it was almost like stereotypical representations of how women and

men would be eected to present themselves and to behave. so he was blustery, he was takil up as much tak space as possible. thanger is an emotion that is approved ienmen and ofteen as positive in men. she could not be angry, she hade muchon to be, but she didn't show anger, and it would be very umacceptable for a woan to show anger. so everything about her self-psentation was self-effacing, deferential. what's interesting is that most people, men as well as womennics would be deferential to the senators in a setting like that. he threw all that to the wind and was actually not only fulfilling our expectations of men but nt fulfilling our expectations of the person who was presenting himself before a body that was going to judge him. >> and i would like to as marcia coyle about the impact of

t at because, as we know, this is parof an interview process, an assessment process for a very big, important job. i want to show a graic, now, that talks a little bit and shows quite clearly sort of the partisan nature of this process over the years. this was starting two tom paul stephens in 1975 showing the senate confirmation votes, in '98, the votes, margins tighter and tighter untiludge neil gorsuch's year last yer 54 to 45. you mentioned the nature of the vote, marse, but judge kavanaugh delving into that partisan convon. does that impact, you think, how he does his job movg forward? >> moving forward, i think if he is confirmed, he is the only one who would be able to tell if he takes on to the court a bitterness and anger towards any groups on the left, any parties on the left, -- on the left that

would come before him, i can't answer that for him. i think, in terms of the court itself, i think most of the justices know judge kavanaugh, like him, respect hi, they've hired many of his former clerks for their own chambers, but i have to believe there was a certain amount of cringing going on last night. i was thinking she didn't say this in the context of the nomination hearings, but judge kagan recently said in a public nversation that the court f relies on r its legitimacy that the american people believe at its decisions are made with egrity.in amount of int so anytime there is a partisan st to any cases that come to the court, they worry about this, nd thy worry that they will be viewed as a partisan stitution. and i'm sure many people probably believe the court

practices politics, not law, but, as she said, you know, you have to look at the institution and the american people do respect it because they stilbedo eve that there is a certain amount of integrity in the decision-making. i think probably justice -- judge kavanaugh's comments last night as well as his appearance on fox television which is associated with a certain political view probably is a little worsome in terms of how some people will view him if hed is co. >> we'll see if he is, indeema ia coyle, deborah tannen, thank you very much for your time. >> pleasure. >> woodruff: the trumps administrationking a renewed push to find a solution to the war in syria. the man at the center t effort is newly-appointed adecial representative for syria engagement, amba james

jeffrey. he sat dn with foreign affairs correspondent nick schifrin, who sets the scene at a possible turning point for u.icy. >> schifrin: for months, president trump has warned he utuld leave syria. >> i want to get i want to bring our troops back home. i want to start rebuilding our nation. >> schifrin: but now, prident trump has authorized an open- ended deployment and a more assertive strategy. u.s. troops and allied syrian nsrces are fighting the final battle in syria agisis. following a russian-turkish agreement to pause the battle for idlib, the rebels' final stronghold in the northwest, the u.s. is pushing a political solution. and it's adding a difficult, new goal-- evict tens of thousands of iranian-backed troops inside syria-- as ambassador james jeffrey reluctantly acknowledged in new york. will the u.s. stay in syrial unanian troops leave syria, and is that an expansion of the mission of defeating isis?

>> the mission to defeat isis bh u.s. military remains-- the enduring defeat of isis-- why our u.s. militarsyforces are in a. but we, the united states, are in syria, with our allies, with our local forces, to try to do three things that the president laid out here. de-escalate this conflict, and first of all, we want toly we were rencouraged by the turkish-russian agreement that stopped the march on idlib byce the syrian f backed by the russians. you will remember two weeks ago, the esident declared publicl that this would be a reckless escalation of the conflict... >> if it's a slaughter, the world is going to get very, very angry. and the united states is goigr to get very too. >> everybody took that seriously. de-escalate the military conflict, while we reinvigorate the political process. that will bring this war to a close and allow the half the population driven from their homes to come back and have some

kind of regional peace order again. so, that's what we're working on now. >> schifrin: but if i could ask again, the national security advisor came out this week and said u.s. troops won't leavens until iranr their proxies leave syria. is that an expansion of the mission for u.s. troops in syria? >> i'm not going to contradict the national security adviser. >> schifrin: so does that mean that u.s. troops will remain in syria?.s >>troops right now have the mission of defeating, and ensuring the enduring defeat of isis. the u.s. as a whole will be staying on in one or a way.e there ny examples of how you can be present-- including present with sebody's military rces-- without having american boots on the ground, and in some cases, you have american boots. >> schifrin: and regardless of whether it's boots, one of their missions-- whether it's diplomats or whether it's proxies that the u.s. uses or lies-- will be to evict iran from syria, is that right? >> the goal of the united states in syria, as the president laid out, is first, the enduring defeat of isil-- what our troops

are doinththere. secondremoval of all iranian-commanded forces from the entirety of syria. third, an irreversible political process, which is what we've, really, we think, been advanci here with the entire international community, with this u.n. process under stefan de mistura, the u.n. envoy. >> schifrin: can there be an irreversle political process with bashar al-assad staying in power? >> we are not in the business of regime change, we're in the business of setting conditions. first of all, it has to be a syrian process. the enduring political solution under the u.n. process and the u.n. resolution calls for the syrian people to make that decision, including by a free election that the u.n. would supervise and ensure is fair and free, including the diaspora. a good third of the populationth 's been driven out of syria, and what they conclude, we don't oow, but it's hard for us imagine that it would be a

regime like that bashar al-assai currently charge of. >> schifrin: and one of the conditions, of course, t ft you want, refugees to feel free to go home. can they really feel free to go me if assad is still the president? >> well, most of them have ready vod with their fee or voted with their posteriors, by sitting exactly where they are, b>>ause nobody-- chifrin: meaning outside of syria. >> right, outside of syria, beuse no one wants to retu to be subject to the extraordinary torturchambers, poison gas, and absolute disgraceful barrel bombing oppression of that regime. >>enchifrin: and there have peace talks, of course, as you know, in geneva for many years. how do you get syria and russia take serious these peace talks, and the momentum toward a frlitical solution that you're talking about, whekly they haven't taken it seriously in the past? y 're right. first of all, we now have, at least for the moment, with the idlib agreement between turkey and russia, you now have what

amounts to a military stalemate thanks to the idlib situation. that's something new. secondly, we have said no reconstruction assistance, no assistance to encourage or force refugees back and help rebuild the regime of assad until we see a political process in place. and thirdly, you've got these five outside military forces rubbing against each other withs risk olation, as we saw with the shootdown of the russian aircrcft by syrian , trying to go after the israelis, who had just bombed an iranian target. that's a nightmare scenario that i think encourages everybody to srn to the political proc that we are reinvigorating here this week in nri york. >> schn: ambassador james jeffrey, tha you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: from the stock market floor on wall street

to barber shops th main street, nation tuned in to watch a sries of riveting moments unfold in the u.ate this week. thankfully, we have the analysis of shields and brooks. that is syndicated columnist mark shields, and "new york times" columnist david brooks. we are so glad to see both of you tonight. yes, what are we going to talk about? mark, yes, it was the kavanaugh hearing yesterday, the extension of the hearing, and thews today thaet th republicans in the senate agreed to go along with an f.b a.i. investigati a vote. in a week, i have been told, tht senate has formally gone into a session to consider the we're talking about a ilvote. week, but what do you make of the turnaround by republicans in the senate and the presint? >> first, independent to say a word about jeff flake. jeff flake's a senor from arizona. when tim kaine was nominated for

president by the democrats i 2016, he middle east tweeted the statement, can't count the ways i hate tim kaine, coming up with a blank, good man and a good friend, and that's jeff flake, h he has friendships and one of the friendships is chris coons,r the democratm delaware, and these are two people who are senators, they treat each other as human bengs and treat oter senators as human bei fngs. jeake did the senate a favor, he did the supreme court a favor, he did the entire country a favor, nothe least of which his own -- judge kavanaugh, did a favor, too, and he did his party a favor. if this nomination he had been railroaded through, strg armed through, outmuscled and all the

rest of it, it would have left an aftertaste, bitterness, more bitterness than there already is and, most of all, 27 aeater anita hill testified, there's still a cloud of controversy and doubt over justice -- justice clarence thomas, and to me it was logical and almlet inevito have it done. >> woodruff: looked as if the republicans were moving through the kavanaugh nomination, regardless, no f.b.i. investigation. >> yeah, but we're entering a period ofemipolitical hiss tearia and confrontation over that. i was hearing e-mails from friends who were wondering it would turn to violence, would lead to such civic breakdown and national anger it would spill ovto something completely ugly, and that was a plusible conversation and may still be. we had a compelling witness in dr. ford, also a compelling

witness in kavanaugh, a man whoi clearly es what he's saying, and there's no evidencen corroborthe other, basically, so we had a country breaking dowon tribal lines, determined by who party you supported. people were making an avalanche of bad arguments to support their sie, passions were going up as people egged each other on and maybe this will allow us to step back. frankly, there were questions i wanted answered. so to have judge interviewed, to have kaiser interviewed -- >> the woman, then girlfriend. who was allegedly at the party. maybe there will be more information, maybe we can find the house where it happened and can provoke more facts. to me, to brick the bub of hiss tearia sweeping aound this whole thing was a very important thing. >> woodruff: mark, what about yesterday, did you find one more credible than the other? what did you make of her testimony? >> it was the first time we had

met her. all i knoatw is e heard and read about her. i thought compelling was a understatement. she was believable, she was -- what she wasn't, i think, was most as impressive as what she was. she wasn't brtal, vengeful, there was nothing mean spirited, there was an openness about her a naturalness. she was not affecwad. sh totally believable. i mean, i thught she came across as, you knw, an appealing human being, and i would say, after that, aft her appearance, the republicans were despondent, and i think brett kavanaugh probably, shrewdly, changed his testimony. i mean, he realized he had to go back and rewin the republicans beginning with 1600 pennsylvania avenue, where they openly expressed doubts about his

appearance. i think the wisdom of his appearance on fox news becamet, the fi think, supreme court nominee to discuss his loss of virginity. i don't think warren did that. h riled up the base. >> woodruff: by being angry? byeing angry. and democrats gave him a legitimate case. d mean, when cory booker sai anybody who supports kavanaugh is complicitly evil, that just changes our politics. i mean, not that david's wrong or made a mistake or -- you're evil, somehow morly unacceptable, that just changes the entire conversation. >> woodruff: david, you're saying thiwhole thing yesterday was moving in a d partisanirection, that no matter what theyere saying,

you're saying, i mean, that neitherory was -- i mean, she gave, as both of you said, an incredible, comgpell performance, but you're saying it's still huge at the party line. >> i looked at my twitter feed, the commentary, the political reactions, and 100 correlated. if you supported clinton in them achment thing, you were against kavanaugh, if you were against clinton you were for kavanaugh. you get wrapped up in the emotion and you begin to want to fight, but, you know, i think you've got to step back. this is about the truth m one rules is truth before justice. if we don't know what the tuth, is we can't fight for justice. you can never put justice before truth. have to figure out what actually happened, and a lot of people were not doing that, anwd ook at these two people, and i found them both very

compelling. now, my interpretation, psychological from the tsc en, is she suffered a traumaa and has been dealing with it for a long time and mething probably happened. kavanaugh, i think he's probably in the middle of the traumaa. i think he feels completely innocent, the democrats have staged a hit on him. when he drinks water and chokes sobs, i sort of get that. but who would think is true. i don't think any of us have ane concredence to make a judgment on that. i'm hoping e will come in t next week. i don't know. >> woodruff: mark, what abo kavanaugh's decision to take his anger and basically take it right back to democrats?to challenge amy klobuchar how much do you drias? >> that a mistake, no question about it. he apologized. it was dumb. it was rude to do that, and the

republicans made a mistake coming into kavanaugh.th introduced brett kavanaugh who was a widely respectju e, a widely respected public figure. they introduce him as a norman rockwell good boy. he judded hard, he held the poor, he was an athlete, he was, you know, just kind of an admirable cizen. orge w. bush, when he ran for president in 2000, had a far more checkered personal background than kavanaugh, personal embarrassment, drinking and misdmaifer, and they id, when i was young and foolish, i was young andoolish, and it became the answer. when kavanaugh was confronted with questions about his misbehavior, he secure idea back and got defensive, there's no doubt about it. but i think he achieved what he felt he hao achieve. he stayed alive.

i think they were ready to cut him loose after her testimony. the president reportedly said, according to two of myources after her, why didn't anybody tell me she was that good? and gave the highest salute you can gi b afterwardt kavanaugh showed the nation why i picked him. it always does come ba to donald. >> woodruff: and david, what about the reaction of women? i just read there were 88 more people arrested at the cital today, women were call in yesterday to hot linkies, tal about their own experiences, that they hadn't been mfortable talking about before. this is intersected with the "me too" movement, and peopleng keep talbout the comparisons to clarence thomas and anita hill 27 years ago, but we're in a different time now, aren't we? >> frank been thinking about millions of women over 20 centuries who, yon , we have a world history, world literature going back 20 centuries and presumably sexual

abuse has en part ofuman civilization all that time and how many stories have come out? so to me it's finally an unveiling of stories that have been hidden for 4,000 years. they come out in lttle bits of literature, but not really. to me that's one of the historic things of this horrible moment that athtes these sorts of stories are coming out and it's part of the invaling we have to -- unveiling we have to go through just like racial stories have to come out. to me that the one goothing coming out of that this week. >> politically, donald trump did carry women who had not gone to college by 27 points, 61 to 34 that's how you could say he got elected. they wer17% of the electorate in 2016. he lost college-educated women to hillary clinton. right now, republicans, generically, are running 5 to 6% behind among non-college women

and 22% behind among college women, so, yes, i mean, trump set the table for the republicans to be in trouble on this issue, and -- go ahad, i'm sorry. >> i just think the republican intensity is upnd, ahe early polling indications, democratic intensity has been up and is coming up. i happen to be in texas, minnesota and appalachia and soheastern ohio this week and, so, in the context of that and what struck me is,n washington, we think it's right-left, but with the conversations i had this week, maybe 150, a lot of people, it was in, out, they just wanted to recoil. and it wasn't like, oh, the republicans are good, thear democratbad, it's washington is asconce.th conversation is what a mess that is, so glad you're out of there.g so to me the bnners of the week politically are trump because he wants to blow up the

system and some democratic version of trump who also wants to b the system. >> i disagree. i think it's a trump, and there's no question that voters do want a check. they don't want donald trump with a blank chck, and i think that's what we're going to see in 2018.ed wing we're heo it. the republicans i talked to report basically nothg but bad news from races. >> i don'tisagree with that, but i think there's a recoil from washington. washingtons some hstile thing that we can't affect and can affects. let's just get away two from the whole washington thing. >> not to get on a trump die tribe, but there's a sense of exhaustion that voters are really -- somebody who just says, look, i'm going to bring t tranquility e country, with we're going to get along, move ahead, bring justice. it's a winning message. the idea that everything halls toe chaotic, everything has to be a crisis is what seems the

watch word of this administration. >> woodruff: we had some crisis mts this week, for sure. thank you both. mark shields, david bros, thank you. >> woodruff: last night, the hit comedy "murphy brown" of the late '80s and '90s came back to life in a reboot. during its original run, one half-hour episode drew 70 million viewers. i visited their "washington d.c. cable newsroom" in a new york city studio last week to see hoa times have ced-- and how some things are still the same. >> this is the bullpen of their morning show, called "murphy in the morning." ew woodruff: touring the n "murphy brown" set in queens with 72 year-old candice bw gen, i saw hoher defining role as straight-talking tv newswoman "murphy brn" has stayed with her all these years, and how

today's story line is written to be on top of theews. there are some things that a w exactly liket they were? >> they have gotten as close as possible to the original set. ndat was 3,000 miles away, 30 years ago. >> woodruff: it was clear that murphy brown's "georgetown lidng room" had been update with the times, too, complete with journalist bob woodward's latest bestseller about the trump white hous "fear." i sat down there with bergen-- who received five emmy awards for her role-- and creator, writer, producer diane english. so, what made you think bringing it back was a greaidea? where did this come from? >> it came from hillary losing. >> yeah. we would not have really entertained the idea of coming back, if she won the election. >> woodruff: and, last night the program brought on a surprise guest-- >> hello, i'm here to interview for the secretarial position. h illary?

>> yes, hilary clendon. >> i assume you've had previous secretarial experience?ur >> yes, for ears, i was the secretary of... a very large organization. oud here's my card. >> "hillary at you have had me, dot com. >> woodruff: do you feel you have a mission in what you're doing? >> we're not fanatics, if that's what you're getting at. i think that america would welcome hearing another point of view. >> we're living in a cntry right now that is so divided. and it's not our intention to you know, cause more division. but i think that facts really go missing, and that's a lot of what we're doing on the show, is really kind of presenting the facts. >> woodruff: how has murphy changed over these 20 years after? >> as news and entertainment

began to merge, i think she fe it was time to step down. but retirement didn't really sit well with her, so she got back in the game. >> she doesn't like the hours of her new show, which require her to get up in the darkness and go to bed in blazing sunlight. but, she just hated out of the game. to>> woodruff: and the gamy has-- it's similar in some ways, but it's also very different, isn't it? in the news environment. >> the press was very revered at that time.r and ouaracters are members of the pressre and now, theust being assaulted, with "fake news" and "enemy of the people i mean, it's kind of horrifying that the press is polling lower than the president. >> woodruff: do you feel you can make these serious points and d? it in a funny >> we have. >> woodruff: how do you do that? that's a real balancing act, isn't it >> well that's the gift of being on this show, is that you get to

do comedy and you geackle really major issues. i mean, we did a #metoo episode that was very funny and very powerful. you have to come to this show socially engaged and aware of what's happeni in the world, in order to even participate. >> woodruff: you're going to be reaching out to people w are on both sides of this divide. how do you think it's going to be received? >> you know, laughter reaches every demographic, you know. i'm kind of counting on that. but my whole family voted for trump. so i'm very sensitive to, you know, not necessarily providing any kind of false equivalency,bu avery, her grown son, works for the wolf network. he's got a show on the wolf network, which is like the fox network.'s he liberal voice. but he's a chacter who spent a t of time in the heartland, covering the pregndential campand he understands

people who feel like they've been left behind. >> woodruff: but you're taking ison some of the really hoes of right now. you mentioned #metoo. we'rin the middle of it. your own network, cbs, has had its issues with the c.e.o. leaving. and candice bergen, you were defending les moonves up untilll nto that. >> i was. up until the second ti, was it the second "new yorker" piece? i had great respect for les and liked him very much. it's new ground, and we haven't really walked much on this ground before. and so, the boundaries are being defined as we speak. >> he was a great executive. and he turned this network around. so we both had a lot of respect for him in that regard.

but there's no question for us that we stand with all those women. >> woodruff: is there anything you won't touch? >> i don't think anything is off limits.th criteria for us is, can we walk that tightrope with an issue that is serious, but stilc makeedy out of it?of it was kinur hallmark in the old days. you know, we never shied away from just having a very serious scene that didn't have any a laughs in itall. >> woodruff: the midterm elections are front and center dd the early episodes, and an immigration wrinkle to the storyline: >> "whatever your party is, useg your to vote." and it's said by a mexican n'migrant in the show. >> a dreamer, who vote. >> woodruff: there are six turing writers and some producers from the original crew. >> and i still get tears in my eyes every time i'm introduced in curtain calls, beuse it's

just so much. >> woodruff: and it took two .nths to reconstruct the and now, as some producers call it, "the oldest crew in show business" is back. and so is the studio audience. mainstays of the original murphy brown newsroom have also returned: faith ford as corky, grant shaud as miles silverberg, joe regalbuto as frank fontana. there are occasional appearances from charlie kimbraugh as jim dial. veteran actress tyne daly joins as a familiar bartender. one original "murphy brown" episode is still talked about today, and landed bergen on the cover of "time" magazine then. what everybody remembers about s thw-- they may remember a lot, but one thing they definitely remember is murphy deciding to have a baby. it was 1992.

and the vice president of the united states then, dan quayle, made speech and went after murphy brown: >> it doesn't help matters when primetime tvas murphy brown, a character who supposedly epitomizes today'sntelligent, highly paid professional, mocks the importance of american fathernd makes it just another lifestyle choice. >> woodruff: dismissing the importance of fathers.nd >>alling it just another lifestyle choice. >> woodruff: you became a lighing rod in 1992. >> i just stayed in. it was overwhelming for me. i, on the show, we, in aery short form, debated whether she would keep the child, whether she would abort the child. and, so it was not introduced casually in any way. and we really gave it its weight. >> woodruff: are you prepared to face that kind of political blowback now over other issues? >> yeah.

i mean, we're expecting it. you know, just because of the, you know, the mood of the country right now. and we know our president likes to tweet, and so we are expecting that maybe that will happen as well. >> woodruff: so you kind of feel like you're home with this? i mean, back home. >> oh, totally. between the sets and the cast, goodbye. >> thank you very much, it's a wrap. >> woodrf: thank you. >> woodruff: tomorrow's edition of pbs newshour weekend lookouat part one otwo-part series on the resurgence of isis in libya. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. have a great weekend. thank you, and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs

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hello, everyone and welcome to "amanpour & co." here is what's coming up. harrowing testimony on capitol hill. a woman's right to be heard against the highest level of power at the height of the me too movement appeal it thec cout of pub opinion. with me to discuss is the former clinton campaign managerti p solis doyle. d john avlon. plus, we get a reality check on president trump's jaw dropping press conference at the united nations from bob kagan and