b captioning sponsoredy newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good eving. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: a reluctant yes-- the senate judiciary committee gives a green light to confirming brett kavanaugh, as the ite house goes along with calls for a new f.b.i. background investigation before a final confirmation vote. then, why the u.s. will be engaged in syria for the foreseeable future. it's friday. mark shields and david brooks consider the kavanaugh nomination process, and yesterday's striking testimony by him and chrtine blasey ford. plus, "murphy brown" returns. i sit down with candice bergen to discuss how the show is handling today's contentious 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.me i , we did a #metoo episode that was very funny and very powerful. >> woodruff: all that anhtmore, on ton 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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station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: dramatic new turns tonight in brett kavanaugh's fight for confirmation to the u.s.upreme court. president trump is now ordering the f.b.i. to investate sexual assault allegations against his nominee, and kavanaugh says he will cooperate. this comes after senate republicans pushed a yes vote tough committee, but also asked for the probe. congressional correspondent lisa desjardins begins our coverage. >> desjardins: in the senate judiciary committee, the time to vote quietly came and went. but, there was action-- a lot of it-- in whispers and side conversations. fen, republican senator j flake took his seat, and announced a major change in his approach. >> i think it would be proper t delay oor vote for up to, but not more than one week,

in order to let f.b.i. doon an investigaimited in time an allegations that are there. > desjardins: flake said n mmittee democrats raised a legitimate issuemanding the f.b.i. investigate sexual misconduct allegationscogainst supremt brett kavanaugh. >> i'm not expecting them to vote yes, bunot to complain that an f.b.i. investigation has not occurred. this country is beinripped apart here. >> desjardins: the 11 republicans on the panel then voted to move the kavanaugh nomination to the senate floor, where flake would want it to wait a week.t ndsey graham pointed out that flake had no guarantee from other republicans. >> senator flake has made clear what it would take to be comfortable on a finalge vote, but it doesn't matter what we say here. this will be up to senator schumer and senator mcconnell. >> desjardins: with that,

chairman chuckrassley 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 an already dramatic day-- which started with flake announcing he would support kavanaugh in committee and on the floor. shortly thereafter, cameras captured 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 got underway, withemocrat richard blumenthal moving to subpoena mark judge. christine blasey ford says he was the friend presen brett kavanaugh allegedly assaulted her in 1982. >> he has never beennterviewed by the f.b.i., he has never been questioned by any member of our

committee. >> desjardins: committee chair chuck grassley read a new letter from judge, maintaining that he did not recall the attack. >> "i told the committee i do not want to comment about these events publicly. i never saw brett act in a manner dr. ford described." >> desjardins: republicans defeated the motion to subpoena judge, and then began 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. at>> desjardins: some demo expressed their anger by amaining silent when their names were calle four democrats walked out of the room. >> i just can't sit here anymorn be a part of this. b >> desjardink inside, democrat dick durbin read aloud a letter from the american bar association urging a del t for the f.b.investigate. >> "deciding to proceed without investigation will have lasting

impact on the senate and negatively affect trust in the supreme court." >> desjardins: but grassley pushed back: >> we're not going to let them dictate committee's business. >> desjardins: there wer greater cultural themes as well. republican lindsey graham said this in anmpassioned defense of kavanaugh. >> i know i'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 also said 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 a

credible claim. the chairman even thanked her for her braver well, where is the bravery in this room?in >> desja even as the f.b.i. investigation goes forward, republicans still hope to startenate debate on vanaugh this weekend. >> woodruff: and lisa joins us now to go over the very latest heists from capitol hill. and, our own yamlcindor is here as well.be she' tracking reaction to all this at the white house. so, lisa, first to you, where does this stand right now with the f.b.i., with what the senat is planning to do? >> just when you thought there weuldn't be more surprises had another one today. the plan right now is for the f.b.i. to begin thisground investigation largely in questioning witnesses, we don't know who they're going to question, anthe deal that has been struck here is that they can do no more than aeekas worth of work before republicans will move toward a final vote on this nominee.rt

process here and we're going to talk a little bit about that. but first i want to mention the key witness democrats want to be swear viewed is mark judge. she put out a statementaying wants to corporate cooperate but he wants it to be a matter y. can have detention aal 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. finishes next week and late next week conceivably a final vote. >> woodruff: so, yamiche, the white house said the president didn't think this was necessaig, this inveion, how are they responding to all this? the president has given the go ahead and how are they dealing with the delay? al>> the president is goinng 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 found someone who was really acting in an incredible way, but he was really impressed by all that he sad. he also said dr. ford is a very credible, fine woman, butin 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 thn senators their counsel asked me. i've done everything that they've requted and will continue to cooperate. not soon after that, dr. ford also had her own statement, i'll read a part of it, it said, a thorough f.b.i. investigation is critical to deeloping all the relevant facts. im artificial limits as to time or scope should besed on this investigation. so she's happy the investigation happypening but is not with the fact that there'sen only a week to do this. >> woodruff: so, lisa, a little more background from the hill. we know senator jeff flake was key as we s earlier but others

as well. >> there was a clear cast of characters. jeff flake could not have done this alone beause republicans can spare a voe, remove one vote and still confirm judge kavanaugh. inters collins and murkowskive ome out and supported this idea of a delay. i was standing outside the office with the three of thm were meeting last night, they were meeting not just with reblicans but with one democratseast nightnator joe manchin of west virginia. let's look at the key democrats who ar he is also supporting this idea of a delay, as is senator heidi heitkamp. what's interesting is senator joe donnelly, up for reelection this year in indiana, a vulnerable democrat, came ou 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 lke joe donnelly who thinks his performance actually harmed him. >>aloodruff: fin, yamiche, what is the president doing to continue to push brett vanaugh? >> today at the white house, the

president was very careful to not twist the arms publicly of any senators that are still waiting to make their decision. he said he had no specific message but he said home they do what's right and he expects ruem to do that. however, president is known to call senators bersonally, and he's also, from the sources i havn talking to, allowed senators to call him directly. so if you're ae snator like senator collins and you call the white house, you can get through pretty quickly to president trump. so, essentially, he really wants to be able to talk to these senators but doesn't want to badger them.o a source me today that the white house has been continuing to engage the senate and will ntinue to do so. so essentially, they are pushing the senate. >> you're saying that's all happening when the president is ustrated with the process. >> yes. lisa desjardins, yamthhe alcindork you both. in the day's other news, the u.s. state department ordered the evaction of the american consulate in basra, in southern iraq.

secretary of state me pompeo blamed rocket attacks by iranian-backed militias. nd warned that the u.s. "will respond promptly a 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 intoco tht of sulawesi, striking the city of palu and a smaller town. we have a report from geraint vincent of independent television news. >> reporter: 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.al peter nigh on the other

side of the islandle who were injured in the quake made it to hospital, but the fear of aftershocks and anotheapbuilding coll meant that they were treated outside. the sa out in the open.p was indonesianfficials say the power cutsave made it difficult to assess the scale of the damage, but that houses were swept away by thtidal wave, and that families have been reported missing. along the many faultlines that stretch across this part of the earth, counting the cost of the latest quake will have to wait until daylight returns. ro>> woodruff: that report geraint vincent of independent television news. a former vatican diplomat accused pope francis today of waging a "subtle slander" campaign against him. archbishop carlo maria vigano has claimed a cover-up iolving 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, he

said, vatican silence about a cover-up only confirms it. iran's government fired back today at israeli accusations i thhas a "secret atomic warehouse." israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu made the cla at the u.n. today, iran's foreign minister mohammad javad zarif dismissed the presentation as an "arts ans crafw." rsck in this country, facebook reports that hacave compromised 50 million user accounts. the tech giant said toat the attackers found a bug in a function that lets users see how their priles appear to others. facebook said it does not know who was behind the cyber attack, or if any hacked accounts were misused. a federal judge today allowed a lawsuit to proceed against president trump, over the so-called "emoluments clause" in the constituon. some 200 congressional democrats had filed the suit.

it alleges that mr. trump is illegally taking payments from foreign entities, especially through his washington d.c. hotel. on wall street today, the dow jones industrial average gained 18 points to close at 26,458. the nasdaq rose four, and 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 angles. the asteroid is 170 million miles from earth. the rovers are about the size of cookie tins. they were dropped to the surfacy a japanese probe. still to come on the newshour: how brett kavanaugh's testimonyr differ 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.n the senate heus, candice bergen, on t "return of "murphy brown.

>> woodruff: the drama unfolding in the united states senate reflects a much larger debate taking place across the nation: how we see gender and power in this #metoo moment. it all adds up to uncharted waters, and amna nawaz examines how this week stands in sharp contrast to confirmations in the past. >> nawaz: in key moments this week, it was the tone that mattered. aside from the specifics of the sexual assault allegations, there were questions about ford's composure compared to kavanaugh's 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 journal." and, deborah tannen, a linguistics professor at georgetown university.

welcome to you both. marcia coyle, i could like to start with you. you watcd a lot of confirmation processes, tracked them over the years, a lot has been said about the demeanor of judge kavanaugh yesterday. have you eve 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 the senate judiciary committee in 1991. i was thinking last night, as i was watching judge kavanaugh, of the old cliche that the best offense -- the best defense is a good offense, and just as clarence tmas in '91, he spoke first before anita hill, and then he was given rebuttal time, and on his rebuttal time, he came out with e now phrase that hasslingerred in so many memories of that period in wi he called the confirmation process a national disgrace but a high-tech lynching for uppity

blacks and, that ment, you could tell that the atmosphere in the room and on the committee had changed. last night with judge kavanaugh, he didn't have race 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 search and destroy him, and he said that heaw this as revenge for the 2016 presidential election, his own ineology, and the work he did for theependent counsel who had investigated the clinton white house. so this was being done on behalf of the clintons. it was such a stark partisan kind of atack, and it is something that i've never seen before, noufrom a jdicial

nominee. >> deborah tanen, i'd love to get your take on this. you've studied language, how people use it, how it's perceived. belligerent, angry, a lot of the words used to describe the way judge kavanaugh defended himself. how do you taken 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 in that context. he was interrupting the senators. he was disrespectfulo the senators, the democratic senators. he turned the questions back on them. i like beer. do you like beer? d whyou like to drink? the interruptions, the overlapped speaking along with them when he was suppo answer a question. he really never answered the questions, but he ner said -- i'm sorry, i can't answer you question, he certainly didn't say "sorry" about anything, butt simpk the floor and went on repeating the things he said inis opening satement.

and the contrast with dr. ford was really quite striking.o she gized when she had nothing to apologize for and, 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 saying on t other person. so trying to be helpful. so it's pretty normal women sayi i'm sorry. and we did once hear judge kavanaugh apologize to senatorar klobubut it was after a recess, and you kind of had the feeling somebody pointe out he hne a bit too far. >> sorry to interrupt. let s ask you abomething you just mentioned, the difference between the two testimonies. this is something you've heard a lot today. was there a gender dynamic ate play, ore 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 expected to present

themselves and to behave. so he was blustery, he was taking up as much taspace as possible. the anger is an emotion that is approved in men and oft see as positive in men. she could not be angry, she had much bason to be,ut she didn't show anger, and it would be very unacceptable for a woman to show anger. so everything about r self-presentation was self-effacing, deferential. what's interesting is that mosts people, meell as womennics would be deferential to thea senators itting like that. he threw all that to the wind and wasy actuat only fulfilling our expectations of men but not fulfilling our expectations of the person who was presenting himself before a body that was going to judge >> and i would like to ask marcia coyle about the impact os that be as we know, this is part of an interview process,

yn assessment process for a ver big, important job. i want to show a graphic, now, that talks a little bit andit shows clearly sort of the partisan nature of this process over the years.as thistarting two tom paul stephens in 1975 showing the senate confirmation votes, in '98, the votes, margins tighter and tighter unt judge nel gorsuch's year last year 54 to 45. you mentioned the nature of the vote, mase, but judge kavanaugh delving into that partisan conversation. does that impact, you think, hoi he doess job moving forward? >> moving forward, i think if hi is coed, 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 ct itself, i think most of the justices know judge kavanaugh, like him, respect him, they've hired many of his former clerks for their own chambers, but i have tolieve there was a certain amount of cringing going on last night. i was thinking she didn't say this in the context of theon nominaearings, but judge kagan recently said in a public conversation that the court relies on for its legitimacy that the american pple believe that its decisions are made with a certain amount ofntegrity. so anytime there is a partisan cast to any cases thme to the court, they worry about this, and thy worry that they will be viewed as a partisan institution. 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 still do believe 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 appncea on fox television which is basociated with a certain political view py is a little worrisome in terms of how some people will view him if he is confirmed. >> we'll see if he is, indeed. marcia coyle, deborah tannen, thank you very much for your time. >> pleasure. he >> woodruff:rump administration is making a renewed push to find a solution to the war in syria. the man at the center of that effort is newly-appointed special representative for syria engagement, ambaador james jeffrey. he sat down with foreign affairs

correspondent nick schifrin, who sets the scene at a possible turning point for u. policy. >> schifrin: for months, president trump has warned he would leave syria. >> i want to get out. i want to bring our troops back home. i want to start rebuilding our nation. >> schifrin: but now, president trump has authorized an open- ended deployment and a more assertive strategy. u.s. troops and allied syrian forces are fighting the final battle in syria against isis. following a russian-turkish agreement to pause the battle for idlib, the rebels' final stronghold in the northwest, the u.s. is pushg a political lution. and it's adding a difficult, new goal-- evict tens of thousands of iranian-backed troops inside syria-- as ambassar james jeffrey reluctantly acknowledged i new york. will the u.s. stsyria until iranian troops leave syria, and is that an expansion of the mission of defeating isis? >> the mission to defeat isis by the u.s. military remains-- the

whenduring defeat of isis- our u.s. military forces are in syria. but we, the united states, are in syria, with our allies, with our local forces, to try to do three things tt the president laid out here. de-escalate this conflict, and first of all, we want to we were really encouraged by the turkish-russian agreement that stopped the march on idlib by the syrian forces, backed by the russians. you will remember two wes ago, the president declared publicly that this would be a reckless escalation of the conflict... >> if it's a slaughter, th t world is goiget very, very angry. and the united states is going to get very angry, 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 leave until iran leave syria.proxies is that an expansion of the mission for u.s. troops in syri >> i'm not going to contradict te national security adviser. >> schifrin: so dot mean that u.s. troops will remain in syria? .s. troops right now hav the mission of defeating, and ensuring the enduring defeat of isis. the u.s. as a whole will be staying on in one or another way. there are many examples of how p you can sent-- including present with somebody's military forces-- without having american boots on the ground, and in som cases, you herican boots. >> schifrin: and regardless of whether it's boots, one of their missions-- whether it's diplomats or whether it's oproxies that the u.s. us allies-- 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 doing there. second, the removal of all

iranian-commanded forces from the entirety of syria. third, an irreversible politica, prochich is what we've, really, we think, been advancing here with the entire international mmunity, with this u.n. process under stefan de mistura, the u.n. envoy >> schifrin: can there be an irreversible political process with bashar al-assad staying in power? >> we are not in the business of regime change, we're in thett business of g 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 population that's been driven out of syria, and what they conclude, we don't know, but it's hard for us to imagine that it would be a l regie that bashar al-assad currently is in charge of.

schifrin: and one of th conditions, of course, that you want, is for refugees to feel free to go home.th ca really feel free to go home if assad is still the president? well, most of them have already voted with their feet, or voted with their posteriors, by sitting exactly where they are, because nobody-- de>> schifrin: meaning outf syria. >> right, outside of syria, because no one wants to retu to be subject to the extraordinary torture chambers, poison gas, and absolute disgraceful barrel bombing oppression of that regime. >> schifrin: and there have been peace talks, of course, as you know, in geneva for many years. how do you get syria and russia acto take serious these pe talks, and the momentum toward a political solution that you're talking about, when frankly they haven't taken it seriously in the past? >> you'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 stalemateh thanks tidlib 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 we see a political process in place. and thirdly, you've got these five outside military forcesg rubbainst each other with risk of escalation, as we saw with the shodown of the russian aircraft by syrian forces, trying to go after the israelis, who had just bombed an iranian target. that's a nightmare scenario that i think encourages everybody to turn to the political procs that we are reinvigorating here this week in new york. >> schifn: ambassador james jeffrey, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: from the stock market floor on wall street to barber shops on main street, chthe nation tuned in to w series of riveting moments

unfold in the u. senate this week. thankfully, we have the analysis of shields and brooks. that is syndicated columnist mark shields, and "new yorkni times" col 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 ext of the hearing, and the news today that the republicans in the senate agreed to go aong with an f.b.i. investigation and a vote. in a week, i have bee tn tole senate has just formally gone deinto a session to conthe vote. we're still talking about a week, but what do you make of the tuaround byepublicans in the senate and the president? >> first, independent to say a word about jf flake. jeff flake's a senator from arizona.e when tim kaas nominated for president by the democrats in

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 ischris coons, the democrat from delaware, and these are two people who are senators, they treat each other as human beings and treat other senators as human beings. jeff flake did the senate a favor, he did the supreme court a favor, he did the entire country a favor, not the least of which his own -- judge kavanaugh, did a favor, too, and he did his party a favor. if this nomination he had bee railroaded through, strong armed through, outmuscled and all thee of it, it would have left

an aftertaste, bitterness, more bitterness than there alrsdy i and, most of all, 27 years after tiita hill tesed, there's still a cloud of controversy and doubt over justice j-ustice clarence thomas, and to me it was ical and almost inevitable to 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 of semipolitical hiss tearia and confrontati over that. i was hearing e-mails from frtnds who were wondering would turn to violence, would lead to such civic breakdown and tional anger it would spill over into something completely ugly, and that was a plausible conversation and may still be. we had a compelling witness in dr. ford, also a compelling witness in kavanaugh, a man who clearly believes what he's

saying, and there's no eidence corroborating the other, basically, so we had a cntry breaking down on tribal lines, determined by who party you supported. people were making an ava of bad arguments to support their side, passions were going up as people egged each other on and mybe this will allow us to step back. frankly, the were questions i wanted answere so to have judge interviewed, to have kaiser interviewed -- >> the woman, then girriend. who was allegedly at the party. maybe there will be more information, maybe we nd the house where it happened and can provoke more facts. to me, to brick the bub of hss tearia sweeping around this whole thing was a very important thing. f woodruff: mark, what about yesterday, did ynd one more credible than the other? what did you make of herte imony? >> it was the first time we had met her. all i know is what we heard and

read about her. i thought compelling was an understatement. she was believable, she was -- what she wasn't, i think, was almost as impressive as what she was. e wasn't brutal, vengeful, there was nothing mean spie rit, ths an openness about her, a naturalness. she was not affected. she was totally be.elieva i mean, i thought she came across as, you know, an appealing human being, and i would say, aftaer tht, after her appearance, the republicans were despondent, and i think brett kavanaugh probably, shrewdly, changed his testimony. i mean, he relized he had to go cans and rewin the repub beginning with 1600 pennsylvanir avenue, they openly expressed doubts about his appearance.

i think the wisdom of his pearance on fox news became the first, i think, supreme court nominee to discuss his loss o virginity. i don't hink warren didhat. so he riled up the base. >> woodruff: by beingngry? by being angry. and democrats gave him a legitimate case. i mean, when cory booker said anybody who supports kavanaugh is complicitly evil, that just changes our politics. i mean, not thavid's wrong or made a mistake or -- you'reso evilehow morally unacceptable, that just chnges the entire conversation. w druff: david, you're saying this whole thing yesterday was moving in a partist direction, tha matter what they were saying, you're saying, i mea neither story was -- i mean, she

gave, as both of you said, an incredible, compelling performance, but you're saying it's still hge at the prty line. >> i looked at my twitter feed, the commentarythe political reactions, and 100% correlated. if you supported clnton in the impeachment thing, you were ouainst kavanaugh, if you were against clintonere 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 st back. this is about the truth. ore of my rules is truth bef justice. if we don't know what the truth, is we can't fight for justice. you can nev put justice before truth. you have to figure out what actually h people were not doing that, and we look at these two people, and i found them both ry compelling. now, my interpretation,

psychological from the tv screen, is she suffered a traumaa and has been dealing witht for a long time and something probably happened. kavanaugh, i think he's probabl in tddle of the traumaa. i thk feels completely innocent, the h democrave staged a hit on him. when hes drink water and chokes sobs, i sort of get that. but o would think is true. i don't think any of us have any concrete evidence to make a judgment on that. i'm hoping it will come in the next week. i don't know. >> woodrf: mark, what about kavanaugh's decision to take hi annd basically take it right back to demtsoc to challenge amy klobuchar how much do you drink? >> that was a mistake, no question about it. he apologized. it was dumb. it was rude to dod that, anhe

republicans made a mistake coming into kavangh. they introduced brett kavanaugh who was a widely respected judge, a widely respected public figure. they introduce him as a norn rockwell good boy. he judded hard, he helped the poor, he was an athlete, he was, you know, just kind of a admirable citizen. george w. bush, when he ran for president in 2000, had a far more checkered personal ckground than kavanaugh, personal embarrassment, drinking and misdmaifer, and they id, when i was young and foolish, i was young and foolish, and it became the answer. when kavanaugh was confrontedst with qns about his misbehavior, he secure idea back and go, t defensiere's no doubt about it. but i think he achieved what he felt he ha to achieve. he stayed alive. i think they were ready to cute him loter her testimony.

the president reportedly said, according to two of my sourc after her, why didn't anybody tell me she was that good? land gave the highest sute you can give afterwards, but kavanaugh showed the nation why i it always does come back to donald. >> woodruff: and david, what about the reaction ofo wmen? i just read there were 88 more people arrested at the cpal today, women were call in yesterday to hot lines, tal about their own experiences, that they hadn't been comfortable talking ab before. nhis is intersected with the "me too" movement, people keep talking about the comparisons to arence thomas and anita hill 27 years ago, but we're in a different time now, aren't we? ut frankly, this week, i have been thinking abmillions of women over 20 centuries who, you know, we have a wrld history, world literature going back 20ce uries and presumably sexual

abuse has been part of human civilization all that time and ?ow many stories have come ou so to me it's finally an unveiling of stories that have been hidden for 4,000 years. they come out in ltlitbits of literature, but not really. to me that's one of thei hstoric things of this horrible moment that athletes 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 cotme ou. to me that's the one good thing coming out of tht this week. >> politically, donald trump did carry women who had not gone to college by 27 points, 61 to 34.o that's hocould say he got elected. they were 17% of the electorate in 2016. he lost college-educated women to hillary clinton.t unw, republicans, generically, arening 5 to 6% behind among non-college women and 22% behind among college

women, so, yes, i mean, trump set the table for theic repus to be in trouble on this issue, and -- go ahead, i'm sorry. >> i just think the republican intensity is up,nd the early polling indications, democratic intensity has been up and is. coming u i happen to be in texas, minnesota and aplachia and southeastern ohio this week and, so, in the context of that and what struck me is, in 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. theit wasn't like, oh, republicans are good, the democrats are bad, it's washington is asconce. e conversation is wh a mess that is, so glad you're out of there. so to me the bihwinners of te week politically are trump because he wanhts to blow upe system and some democratic version of trump who also wants

to blow up the system. >> i disagree. i think its a referendum on trump, and tere's nouestion that voters do want a check. they don't want donald trump with a blank cheick, and i thnk that's what we're going to see in 2018. wing we're head. to it the republicans i talked to report basically nothing butad news from races. >> i don't disagree with that, but i think there's a rec from washington. washington is some hostile thing that we can't affect and can affect us. hit's just get away two from the whole washington. >> not to get on a trump die tribe, but there's a sense of exhaustion that voters are really -- somebody who just says, loooik, i'm to bring tranquility to the country, with we're going to get along, move ahead, bring justice. it's a winning message. the idea that eerything halls to be chaotic, everything has to be a crisis isat seems the watch word of this administration. >> woodruff: we had some

crisis moments this week, for. su thank you both. mark shields, david brooks, thank you. >> woodruff: last night, the hit comedy "murphy brown" of the late '80s and '90s came backboo life in a . during its original run, one ha-hour episode drew 70 million viewers. i visited their "washington d.c. cable newsroom" in a new york city studio last week to see how times have chaed-- and how some things are still the same. >> this is the bullpen of their morning show, called "murphy in the morning." >> woodruff: touring the new "murphy brow set in queens with 72 year-old candice bergen, i saw w her defining role as straight-talking tv newswoman "murphy brown" has stayed with her all these years, and how today's storline is written to be on top of the news.

there are some things that are exactly like what they were? >> they have gotten as close as possible to the original set. that was 3,000 miles away, and 30 years ago. >> woodruff: it s clear that murphy brown's "georgetown living room" had been updated with the times, too, complete with journalist bob woodward's latest bestseller about the trump white house: "fear." i sat down there with bergen-- who received five emmy awards for her role-- and creator, writer, producer diane english.t so, ade you think bringing it back was a great idea? where did this come from? >> it came from hillary losing. >> yeah. we would not have really entertained thidea of coming back, if she won the election. >> woodruff: and, last night the program brought on a surprise guest-- >> hello, i'm here trview for the secretarial position. >> hillary? yes, hilary clendon.

>> i assume you've had previous secretarial experience? >> yes, for fo years, i was the secretary of... a very large organization. and here's my card. >> "hillary at you could 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 other point of view. >> we're living in a country enght now that is so divided. and it's not our ion 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 reallyind of presenting the facts. >> woodruff: how has murphy changed over these 20 years after?ne >> a and entertainment began to merge, i think she felt 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 here to get up inarkness and go to bed in blazing sunlight. but, she just hated being out of the game. >> woodruff: and the game today has-- it's similar in some ways, but it's also very different, isn't it? inhe news environment. >> the press wasthery revered at time. and our aracters are members of the press. and now, they're just being"f assaulted, wite news" and "enemy of the people." i mean, it's kind of horrifying that the press is polling lowert than the presi >> woodruff: do you feel you can make these serious points and do it in a funny way? >> we have. >> woouff: 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 get tackle 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 awaref what's happening in the world, o er to even participate. >> woodruff: you're going to be reaching out to people who ares on both si this divide. how do you think it's going to be received? y 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, youss know, not neily providing any kind of false equivalency, wobut avery, her grown sons for the wolf network. ke's got a show on the wolf network, which is he fox network. he's the liberal voice. but he's a character who spent a lot of time in the heartland, covering the presidential campai, and he understands people who feel like they've been left behind.

>> woodruff: but you're taking on some of the really ho nissues of rig. you mentioned #metoo. we're in 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 until well into that. >> i was. up until the second time, 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

at we stand with all tho women. >> woodruff: is there anything you won't touch? >> i don't think anything is off limits. n the criteria for us is, walk that tightrope with an issue that is serious, but still make comedy out of it? it was kinof our hallmark in the old days. you know, we never shied away from just having a very seriouid scene that dn't have any laughs in itt all. >> woodruff: the midterm elections are front and center in the early episodes, and a w an immigratinkle to the storyline: >> "whatever your party is, use your rht to vote." and it's said by a mexican immigrant in the show. >> a dreamer, who can't vote. >> woodruff: there are six returing writers and some producers from the original crew. >> and i still get tears in my eyes every time i'm introduced in curtain calls, because it's just so much. >> woodruff: and it took two

months to reconstruct the sets ewd now, as some producers call it, "the oldest n show business" is back. and so is the studio audience. mainstays of the original murphy brown newsroom have also returned: faith ford as corky,t grshaud 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 the r what everyboembers about this show-- they may remember a lot, but one thing they definitely remember is murphy deciding to have a baby. it was 1992. and the united states then, dan quayle, made a speech and went after

murphy brown: >> it doesn't help matters when primetime tv has murphy brown, a character who supposed epitomizes today's intelligent, highly paid pressional, mocks the importance of american father and makes it just another lifestyle choice. >> woodruff: dismissing the importance of fathers. >>nd calling it just anoth lifestyle choice. >> woodruff: you became a lightning rod in 1992. >> i just stayed in. it was overwhelming for me. i, on the show, we, in a very short form, debated whether she would keep the child, whether she would abort the child. o 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 me're expecting it. you know, just because of the,,

you kne mood of the country right now. and we know our president likes to tweet, and so we areg expectat 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. >> woodruff: thank you. ro >> woodruff: toms edition of pbs newshour weekend looks at part one of our two-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. di >> major f for the pbs newshour has been provided by: k

>>evin. >> kevin! >> kevin? >> advice for life. fe well-planned. learn more at raymondjames.com.s >> brailway. >> consumer cellular. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's mostes ng problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.o. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour.

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congre adam schiff joins us to discuss the supreme court nomina news from capito califo voters will be choosi a new governor. we will talk to gavin newsom about had his mission. the journalism start up is aiming to hold big tech compan accountable. hello and welcome to kqed newsro newsro we begin with the bitter fight over the u.s. supremecourt. today the senate judiciary commit voted along party les to advance brett kavana nomination to the floor.enate althou republican arizona senato jeff flake voted yes, he called for the fbi to look into gae alons. the gop leader agree and presid ordered an