captioning sponsored byro newshour pductions, llc >> nawaz: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. judy woodruff is awa on the newshour tonight: the next wave of wireless technology. i sit do with the chairman of the f.c.c., ajit pai, on the future of 5g communition in the united states. then, as students at geoetown university vote to start a fund for the descendants of slaves, a look at where 2020 democratic presidential candidates stand on reparations. and, it's friday. mark shields and david brooks pr the latest controversial statements by thident on immigration. f us, celebrating loretta lynn. an all-star castuntry musicians pay tribute to thesi legendarer, who at 87, reflects on how she got to the top. >> you have to be smart. hard work, and smart.th

's all it takes. if you've got a little talent, you can go a long way if you're smart, and put the work in it. >> nawaz: all thattond more, on ght's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years.gi bnsf, the enne that connects us. >> text night and day. >> catch it on replay. >> burning some fat.

>> sharing the latest viral cat! >> you can do the things you like to do with a wireless plan designed for you. with talk, text and data. consumer cellular. learn more at consumercellular.tv >> babbel. a language program that teaches spanish, french, italian, german, and more. >> financial services firm raymond james. the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social changedw woe. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possle by the corporation fo public broadcasting.

pd by contributions to yo station from viewers like you. thank you. >> nawaz: president trump says he is "strongly" considering a plan to move detained migrants into so-called sanctuary cities, to punish political rivals who've opposed his immigration policies. the president-- who spoke to reporterduring an event at the white house-- had this message for leaders who buck his policies: >> they want more peop their sanctuary cities? well, we'll give them more people. we we can give them an unlimited supply. and let's see if they're so happy. they say "we have open arms." they're always saying "we have open arms." let's see if they have open arms. >> nawaz: earlier, house speaker nancy pelosi cdemned the president's idea. >> it's just another notion that is unworthy of the presidency of the united states, and disrespectful of the challenges that we face as a country, as a people, to address who we are: a nation of immigrants. >> nawaz: there are also newre rts involving the new acting

homeland security secretary, kevin mcaleenan. the "new york times" reported thesident trump urged him to close the u.s. sn border sooner than the president had said he might, during a trip there last week. the "times" and cnn both say the pronident then offered to pa mcaleenan if he ran into legal trouble or was jailed because of the move. separately, nbc news reported administrationfficials have discussed a plan to send more u.s. troops to the border to build tent city detention camps for migrants. some 5,000 troops are already deployed there, mainly to reforce existing barriers. the fight over the extradition of wikileaks founder julian assange has intensified.ng aswas arrested yesterday in london on u.s. charges of conspiring to break into a peagon computer. today, britain's opposition labour party urged its government not to extradite him to the u.s. on twitter, labour leader jeremy corbyn said assange is being targeted for "exposing evidence of u.s. atrocitiesn iraq and afghanistan." his party's spokeswoman forff

domesticrs echoed those concerns before parliament. >> it is this whtle-blowing activity into illegal wars, mass murder, murder of civilians and corruption on a grand scale that has put julian assange in the crosshairs of the u.s. administration. >> nawaz: assange had lived in ecuador's embassy in london since 2012, until the country revoked his asylum yesterday. in a washington federal court today, former obama white house counsel greg craig pled not guilty to lying about his lobbying work in ukraine. the investigation stemmed from special counsel robert mueller's probe into former trump campaign eair paul manafort's ukra lobbying. in thasame probe, political consultant samuel patten was sentenced today to three years probation r helping steer funds from a pro-russian ukrainian politician to president trump's augural mmittee. he pled guilty last august for failing to register as aoreign agent. in sudan, the ruling military council announced today that it

will not extradite deposed leader omar al-bashir, but will try him at home instead. the military council plans to run the country for the next two pears. but, thousands of le demonstrated in khartoum today, to reject the military's ruling authority and demand a civilian government. >> ( translated ): the head of the military is acting under which nstitution? we don't know what this constitution is, because they canceled the constitution, and they stopped all the government sectors. >> nawaz: later in the day, sudan's defense minister announced on television that hee agreed to step down as country's transitional leader. demonstrators also took to the streets of algeria todayafter that country's president, abdelaziz bouteflika, stepped down last week after ruling for 20 years. thousands of protesters marched in the capital city of algiers for an eighth straight week,ig carrying s and chanting slogans demanding political change.oo florida prep s administrator mark riddell pled guilty today in boston federal court to taktrance

exams for students in a massive college admissions bribery scheme. prosecutors said the 36-year-old harvard graduate was typically paid $10,000 per test. riddell could face up to 20 years in prisonnd a $250,000 fine. georgetown university could become the first college in thei to mandate reparations for descendants of former slaves sold to pay off the school's debts. its undergraduate students voted yesterday to increase tuition by about $27 per semester for the fund. the referendum still requires the approval of the university's board of directors before it'll take effect. we'll have a look at thenv political sation around reparations, later in the program. general electric will pay a $1.5 billion fine to settle an investigation into defective subprime mortgages it offered before the 2008 financial crisis.f the departmentstice announced that today. the move resolves claims that g.e. hid t poor quality of the loans from investors. nge company did not admit to any

wrongdoing in agreo the settlement. and, banks pushed stocks higher on wall street today, erasing much of the week's losses.th dow jones industrial average soared 269 points to close at. 26,4 the nasdaq rose 37 points, andde the s&p 500 d 19. still to come on the newshour: f.c.c. chairman ajit pai on what 5g technology will mean for the u.s. where the 2020 democratic presidential candidates onand on reparafor slavery. mark shields and david brooks on the present's latest stand on immigration. and, much more >> nawaz: president trump today announced a series of moves to boost thdevelopment of next generation, high-speed mobile networks in the u.s., known as 5g. 5g, which stands for the fifth generation of cellular

networks, could eventually work1 as much times faster than current networks. as its reach grows, 5g would weave its way into an ever wider swath of the economy including health care, energy, transportation such as self- iving cars, and much mor many experts say the u.s. has been slow to get into the game. but the president said the f.c.c. wld work to make it easier for companies to do so. includes freeing up hig frequency airwaves, or spectrum, to carry 5g.an the f.c.c. plans to spend $20 billion over ten years on expanding 5g broadband for rural communities who don't have access to high-speed internet. ajit pai is the chair of the f.c.c., and he joins me now. >> welcome to the "newshour". thank you for having me on. b i want to ask youout what one of your democratic colleagues on the f.c.c. said about our efforts to get in 5g. she said we have done more harm

than good.sa we need to expand the network. how do those things expand your ability? >> the independent obserthrs believ the united stated is is in the lead when it comes to 5 cysco put out a report sayamg nortica led by the united states would have twice as many 5g connections as asia by 2022. the research said the united states is in the lead in 5g.ov the last week, ctia pointed out the united states will have 92 pe de ploiments in the united states by end of 2019, which ist almoice as many as any country in the world. on tuesday, a report pointed out 5g job litings in the united states increased 12% in the last three weeks. these are indie sha that we are in the lead of 5g butto we wan maintain the lead. >> nawaz: deployment with is one thing, consumer use is

another. we have no nestic manufacturers of theto equipmenead 5g. we're holding the line on foreign equipment and the u.s. won't allaw faway, which is a serious concern. don't those stand in your way? >> not at all. rher suppliers in the wold don't present the same security challenges as certain companies do, s d thart of the reason we are in the lead despite there are countries and companies that may poseecurity risks. we have made sure our supply chain has integrity and thas why going forward and working unterparts,f our co we've emphasized the choice on 5g is not one between security and deployment. you can have the two go together. >> nawaz: the costs, at&t and verizon have rolled out 5g in me select cities. verizon is going to charge customers more to upgrade the phone and have a more expensive plan to use the service. when you rolled back net neutrality rules you saidot her

service providers would be able toffer cheaper internet. was rolling back a call? y >> n couldn't have 5g if you had heavy handed pogulations. tht was to make sure everybody got the same service. 5g promises faster services, 100 times faster speeds. many morepplications and services, the likes of which wet can't conceiay. we want a market based approach that 3r0e79s wireless own vairks we want it to hapen here in the united states. you can't have it if you have the government sitting in charge of how they operate. >> nawaz: it's going to co more. how is that bet around cheaper? >> i disagree.s the early sta 5g, we'll see different types of business models and especially in rural areas where we're talking about precisioagriculture, fixed wireless services for parts to have the country where you can't get a fiber line, these are

applications that will be tremendously beneficial for consumers and part of the reason why we want to maintain u.s. leadership we want our consumers to be able to benefit first from that innovation. nawaz: you mentioned reaching some rural communities. that $20 billion will go to extend broadband services to those communities, but why will it take $20 billion of basically government subsidy to do something the intnet service provider should have been doing already? >> unfortunately the reality in the country is many places with sparse popatations, relely lower incomes, were the business case deployment for a pvate business might not be there, and that's part of the reason why, many deccoades ago, ngress made rustpartisan decision to ent the f.c.c. with a universal service fund, a fund that promotes capitalnd operational expenditures to small companies looking to build out broadband he country.ts of i said this has to be the top priority in closing the digital

divide. i have been to very remote places in this country and i can tell you there isa lot of human capital on the shelf in these small towns and part of e reason i made the announcement today. i want them to be participants t in as oppos spectators of the digital economy. >> nawaz: a broader concern about ag, the internet isn't all good are there concerns about hacking, security and privacy. so in the rush to bud and be the leader in this space and expand this network here in the united states, what are you ing now, what specific steps are you taking to safeguard against those concerns? >> many steps. first and foremost, we are working with other federalne pa. the cybersecurity and infrastructure security agents of the department of homeland security which leads in some of tissues, we're also participating in technical standard setting bodies. 5g will incorporate the otocols for security as opposed to the 4g where we tried to backfill in terms of security

solutions. ewe want it fast and scure. >> nawaz: you've said you hoped the private sector would step in and serve some of the underserved communities, and not just in rural areas, but also in urban communities. what are you doing to make sure that happens? >> we have a loft different initiatis to make sure lower income areas even urban aren't left on the wrong side oe digital divide -- >> nawaz: what about th private sector? >> we adopted one-touch make redsy too allowmpetitive fiber providers to gain cheaper access to utility polls which is one of the biggest cost elements o building ought broadband in urban areas. three years ag i proposed and bipartisan members of congress proposed tax incveenfor companies to build infrastructure in unserved urban areas. i truly bel ove there's a l human cal tall, entrepreneurship and innovation that canappe but can't if there isn't a digital connection. we want to change that, and

that's why working with congress and intererested stakehowe are taking action. >> nawaz: ajit pai, thank you for being here today. >> thanks for having >> nawaz: as we reported earlier, undergraduates at georgetown university voted to create a reparations fund that, if approved, would be the first of its kind. as yamiche alcindor reports,'s lso become an issue on the campaign trail, where it hasn't always been front and center. >> america was founded on principles of liberty and freedom, and on the backs of slave labor. >> alcindor: an unexpected 2020 topic: reparations. >> until that original sin isy addressed, we ink that t 're moving forward as one nation, but i don'think we ever really will. >> alcindor: now, on campaign trail, there are repeated questions about how to deal with the lasting impact of slavery. >> do you think there should be actual monetary payments to

descendants of slaves? >> do you support reparations for slavery? >> about reparations. >> alcindor: from progressives to moderates, democratic candidates are jumping into this decades-long debate. columbia university's john mcwhorter: >> what they're doing is sayinge inay that it happens to be the fashion in 2019, rather than 2009, of saying, "i am concerned with the plight of black america," and i'm glad that they are. >> what i'm tired of doing is admiring the problem. >> alcindor: the issue has become a hot topic, buthere's no agreement on a solution, or even a definition of the term itself. eva paterson is a founder of the equal justice society. >> for centuries, kidnapped africans worked r free to make america great, and to make businesses very wealthy, and we recouped none of the bs. inddition, centuries of discrimination and bias have also put african americans in a very untenable situation, and so reparations are a way to make us whole. >> alcindor: some candidates

want to study the issue. hawaii congresswoman tulsi gabbard is a co-sponr of a house bill that would look into and come up with suggestions for reparations. senator elizabeth warren of massachusetts is backing that legislation. and senator cory booker recentln oduced a senate version of that bill. >> this conversation cannot juso a political box-checking exercise, or a litmus test, without meaning. noe boldest policies we're talking about righcan't just be about sentiment or about acknowdging the past. they need to be about actually balancing the economic scales and confronting the biases that exist right now, ithe present. >> alcindor: if elected, former housing secretary julianastro plans to create a task force. >> if, under the constitution, we compensate people because we take their property, why wouldn't you compensate people who actually were property? >> alcindor: other presidentialu ho are talking cash. >> one school of thought is to amass all that money and put itn

housing, education, health and the like. another school of thought has the whole idea of "40 acres and a mule," which would now i think translate into 40 acres and a tea-- which would mean tha individual black people who could show they were the descendents of enslaved people would get checks. >> alcindor: candidate marianne williamson is an author and spiritual adviser. she wants to appoint a council that would allocate $100 billion to projects that would help african americans over ten years. >> it's a moral argument. if i take $1,000 from you and then i apologize to you, wouldn't you ao feel... "thank u, i appreciate the apology, and i'd like my money back." >> alcindor: entrepreneur andrew yang wants to create a universal basic income. every american, regardless of race or income, would get $1,000 per mont >> the best way we can empower

african american businesses is to put money into afe hands of can american consumers. >> alcindor: he believes that money, or dividends, could help move the country toward reparations. california senator kamala harris is also pushing a plan that would benefit people of all races. her bill gives a tax credit to middle class americans. >> people aren't starting out on the same base, in terms their ability to succeed. ogd so, we have got to recze that and give people a lift up. >> alcindor: then there is senator bernie sanders of veont. he rejects the idea of direct payments to descendents of slaves. >> what about straight cash payouts? >> no.>> lcindor: sanders says he will help all oppressed communities by taking on big banks and other entities he argues hurt those groups. >> i thinkhat we have got to do is pay attention to distressed communities: black communities, latino communies d white communities, all over this country. >> alcindor: mcwhorter believes policies like that have beenen happg, and are already a form of reparations. >> affirmative action in all of its ef black history month is reparations. the fact that we're having tnvs sation and taking reparations seriously can be

seen as reparations. welfare reform, which enabled more poor people, and it was aiod mainly at black people take advantage of welfare in the late 1960s. that was reparations. the only thing is, those things weren't officially titled reparations for slavery and jim crow. >> alcindor: others argue t policit are not race- specific can't be called reparations. again, eva paterson: >> i think it is foolish to say that if we help all people, we'll help africanmericans. if you look at any programs that have been instituted in our country, when you lump erybody in, white people get a leg up. it's just the way it is. it doesn't mean they're evil. the system is set up to privilege and favowhite people. >> alcindor: minnesota senator amy klobuchar argues, reparations can be done without exchanging money.ve >> i bele have to invest in those communities that have been so hurt by racism. n. doesn't have to be a direct pay for each per but what we can do is invest in

ose communities, acknowledge what's happened. >> alcindor: as an alternative, she points to investments in community college, childcare and a higher minimum wage. fellow midwesterner pete buttigieg also doesn't back giving out cash. he does think policies should address inequities created by slavery. >> i absolutely believe that we need to have some kind of accounting for the persiraent al inequities today that are there by design because of pasts and t racism. and so, it means our policiescy and our ponterventions on everything from criminal justice to housing need to be designed in such a way, they're targeting those areas in our economy and our society. >> alcindor: former texas congressman beto o'rourke is also against cash handouts, t told iowa voters recently it's important to "confront the truth" about how black americans are treated. washington governor jay inslee does not have a pocy prescription, but he told the newshour last month, something should be done to make up for

the history of slavery. ngs we the kind of t should do, i think, should focus on ending inter-generational poverty. >> alcindor: some, like mcwhorter, don't think reparations will be enough to remedy that history. >> unless a person could, after reparations happened, look america in the eye; and say, "america has turned a corner on race. serious progress has been made." the second shoe has dropped. if people couldn't be comfortable saying that and really sitting in it and feeling it, then i'm not sure should go through trying to get reparations at all. >> alcindor: one veteran politician, still weighing whether to run for the democratic nomination, is facing criticism for past statements. in 1975, then-setor joe biden told a delaware newspaper, "i don't feel responsible for the sins of my father and grandfather. i feel responsible for what the situation is today, for the sins of my own generation. and i'll be damned if i feel responsible to pay for what happened 300 years ago." for democrats running in 2020, remains to be seen whether

reparations will become a litmus test. >> nawaz: stay wh us. coming up on the newshour: a conversation with susan page, on her new biography obarbara bush. and, country legend loretta lynn celebrates her 87th birthday in nashville style. and now, to the analysis of shields and brooks. that's syndicated columnist mark shields, and "new york times" columst david brooks. >> nawaz: i want to pick up where yamiche's report left off. you've had your own evolution in your views on reparations. how should people today look at commen made by mr. biden years ago. >> i think it's ridiculous to

judge somebody by a statement in 1975. i was in junior high school. people change their minds and people should be alowed to. i support repnsaratbut it's not an act of guilt, it's a show of respect that injunctiontieses that minorities of the african-american people in our society have suffered for hundreds of years, not just? slavery or red lining, but respect. and we do it as an act of resetting and regard. the practice qualities of doing that areard, but i changed my mind about it because it feels like we're in a makeup on race. the actfionstrump has created a movement which says agressive measures have to be take ton make sure we're all part of a country. >> i think it's a non-starter, an issue in 020.

i think david makes a legitimatp point, a mornt, an ethical point. i think politically, you have a, choiespecially beginning with joe biden. you either have converts or yous have her tin politics. you say that person was wrong and, therefore, they are doomed to perdition and keep them away from me, converts those who coe and join our side and are welcome and sit in the front row. and joe biden's record oncivil rights, i think, speaks louder than the one quote fro ym rs ago. and you have a choice in politics, you can look forwardac orard. and i think, in 2020, this is art issue that comes up voluntarily on theof voters. i think david rai question it is next to i mean, the african-american girl who graduated from citadel sho's father is a dentist and

mother is a lawyer not in the same position as somebody who is a direct lineal descendent of discrimination and servitude. it is -- what works in this country is whene conclude -- include everybody in a program, and there's no question that african-americans have suffered economically, socially and politically, but it ought to be a poicy that's directed to lifting up all those who lag behind, who have been, through no fault of their own, left behind and hurt and i think that means spending more money, it means an ivestment in city schools. there's no reason, as john mccain said, that a bad congressman should earn more than a good school teacher and i think that's a good place to start. >> we' seen it coming up on the campaign trail. i want to ask you about some of the people who make the decision about who makes their way. there is a fascinating analysis in the "new york times" loo at who those democratic voters

really are, and i think somele peight be surprised at what was in there. some of the loudest voices on social med, the vy progressive voices are not necessarily representative of the whole. >> yay! (laughter) >> nawaz: one number that stood out, among docrats who self-identify as moderate or conservative, 29% of those democrats are on social media, 53% of other democrats identify did that surprise you? >> no, it really doesn't. i thought it was a great pieced od for the "times" for putting that on the front page. we're forcing people who read the "times" "times," including myself, to address this reality. the loudest voices are not necessarily representative and,s in many , as those who read twitter, no, there's no satisfying them. so, you know, you give nine, wait a minute, what about nine more? so i think the problem for th democrats, as charlie cook put it very well, the analyst, he said 45% of the people are

against donald trump. 35% are for hi. there's 20% who are out there. if you win 10% of them, yo won a landslide, you get 55% of the vote, but those pople are not on twitter, that 20%, and they're not into the exotic, erotic issues that excite so many of the activist democrats. >> nawaz: you looked at the numbers, david. what did you make of them? >> it's true. twitter is not reality, we pray that to be the case. n az: you. but i guess i think two things, the people on twitter, the hard co people, they wa a culture war. a lot of democrats want a lot of economic chang policy changes, but a lot on twittish want culture wars. nso a coservative that was big was chick-fil-a getting disinvited from some airports because the owner ofhick-fil-a gave money to the salvation army being progressively incorrects because it's a religious

organization. that's what drives conservatives up the wall is because they can't practice their faith, andm mostrats don't care about that iue. just because social media are ae minority't mean they can't drive the train, and if ndidates are afraid of angering them and feel they hav to tow certain lines because of abuse, then the passionate minority drives the train. >> nawaz: social media, the presidenbwas talkingut an issue key to his he rtd campaign moving forward for 2020 as well, and that's immntigrati. i o show you the tweet from this morning, he was talking about a proposal to bu detained migrants into sanctuars ci he said we are indeed as reported giving strong consideration to pacing illegal aliens into sanctuary cities. this was a proposal the white house said they floated, nsidered and rejected it. the president is still talking

about it. what do you mangehf tat? >> he confused twitter with reality that you can do a twitter prank and own libs ande forget tct there are human beings at stake here. he's further insulting a group he'sulnsng consecutivively for three or four years. we have chaos on the border and could place a system in place so we actually have the borderde control. we could expand the detention centers, send more judges to take care the backlog, give counselors to the people so they know how to work the system, we could do a lot of things to make the situation on the bordefu tioning and that's what a normal president would be focused on, what a governor would be doing and mayor is doing. instead ofoing actual policy, he's treating it all as a twitter game to make his base feel good about themselves. >> nawaz: we know th reasons it was pushed back on is because it was illegal. when the president was on the

border with kevin mcaleenan, hel asked kevin tose the border earlier than expected and said ee would pardon him if he wer to act illegally and prevent migrants from entering, all reports th came out late this afternoon. just weigh in on this. orts do you make of this rep and the allegations made here? >> from all we know about kevin aleenan, he's talking to the wrong guy, donald trump, when he makes that sort of an offer. he's a law-abiding law person. as far as president trump is concerned, i mean, david's righs in the sthat the presidency and the white house is above all else a place of pr moral leadership, and there has been none. david pointed out the democrats have an obligation, which tey do, to help formulate that new policy of immigration. ypoint out that twice in the last tenars passed in the

senate overwhelmingly atcomprehensive immin reform. we passed it with 80% of the votes being for democrats and the 14 republicans who dared tor votet in the senate, john mccain is gone, jeff flake is gone, dean heller is gone, lee ayot is gone, bob corker is gone. they haven't been released by pro consensus, pro-compromise immigration supporters. so i raise that, that the democrats do have a spoois t, but, i mean, when you don't even get a vote in the h republicse under george w. bush who pushed for it, to his credit, and for barack obama who pushed for it through the senate in both cases, you know, we've t a problem in this country and it's a moral problem, a political problem as w don't think we should hide from that. >> when you look to what's happened at d.h.s., immigration is a big part of what they do.

you take a look at the shakeup of it's easy to forget these things happen. this was just this week onsu ay the homeland security cretary was out. tuesday the acting deputy of homeland security, wednesday the immigration and customs enforcement acting director. what does the shakeup mean? >> the president adopted a policy on immigrants in central america based on cruelty and deterrence. if we're cruel enough, it will deter them from coming and that the not the case. weve 700,000 or 800,000 people seeking asylum. they were trying to lve for the wrong problem. the idea of deterrence failed, the situation isorse. the president first blames the people in the agency for not carrying out his cruelty and then blames them for the situation being worse. you have a lot ofpl peo some cooperated with the cruel policy, some didn't want to, anh at the end oday they couldn't take it and he was sick of them, so you have a failed

policy being blmed on the enactors, basically. >> nawaz: another list goes beyond d.h.s. there are currently s agencies with acting leaders. we talk a lot about the stability and the chaos within inistration, mark. what does this mean for an administration? does it mat iter? means two things. first of all, it means this administration of donaldtr p -- that's what it is, i mean, it's his will, his whim, his predilections, and the attention span that he has, that's what it is. as far as acting secretaries, they don't have the full legal authority of a confirmed secretary. there is logic to our system, when somebody is confirmed by s the unittes senate after hearings and a vote in the senate and, as consequence, they are limited. so power is thhe president, but, at the same time, amna, what it means is, ironically,

that the power likely devolves to senior prfessional public servants, civil servants, which is the last thing in the world that donald trump or, you know, most elected icials of conservatives want and, you know, they are making decisions, they are the decision-makers. but it's a terrible way to run a company, a basell team, or the united states of america. >> nawaz: we don't have much time. i want to get your take on one last thing. looking ahead to next wee the partment of justice said we should probably expect some version of special counselbe mueller's report. that's, of course, in the handsf ttorney general william barr right now. he had this to say on capitol hill earlier this week. >> i think spying d occur. well, let me ask -- the question is whether it was adequately predicated, and i'm not suggesting it wasn't needuately predicated but to explore that. i'm not talking about the f.b.i., necessarily, but

intelligence agencies more broadly. >> nawaz: mark, he was talking about spying on the trump what did you make of that statement by a.g. barr? dm based upon his record in the george h.w. bushistration and conversations with him, i heve him the benefit of the doubt. as surrendered that benefit of the doubt. when you start talk about spying and you give a green ght to donald trump to start into his conspiracy theories again, you have been irresponsible. i thought his answer, in particular on the affordable care act and its su suspension - or elimination, actually, byon court decihich he is now advocating as attorney general of the united states in carrying out the 19.9 million people would lose their health insurance, he says, oh, no, he president has a great plan to include pre i'm sorry, it was irresponsible to use the term pying" and

"unfair" and "inaccurate," and think ally has hurt his case and made himself a t spokesman foe white house. >> nawaz: 30 seconds, david, has he lost his credibility? >> not entirely. he is one for dropping tidbits and not explaining. it was wrong to make thasit de. we'll know a lot more in a week, and if he release as pretty full report, we'll say he seems sort of objective. we have to hope for that. >> hope, hope, hope -- >> nawaz: we're going to end this conversation. >> on hope. >> nawaz: i'll take that. >. this place called hope. >> nawaz: i will take that. mark shields, david brooks, thank you. >> thank you. >> nawaz: next week marks a year since the death of barbara bush. a new biography, "the matriach" by susan page of "usa today," reveals the hearche and happiness that shaped the life of a woman who left on indelible

mark on modern american history. judy woodruff talked with page recently, for our "newshour bookshelf." >> woodruff: susan page, the triarch barba bush and the making of an american dynasty. thank you for talking with us. what a personal biography this is. i think this is the most personal i've ever read of a first lady. you say she was probably thema most underesd first lady of our prornd era. what did you mean? >> people thought they knew barbara bush. shey thought she wa approachable, warm, and a grandmother with the cloud of white hair, and she was all those things, but she was more than that, in ways i think most americans didn't realize. she was a hugely influential political advisor to her husband and to her son. ehe spoke with them behind th scenes on issues like confronting the aids crisis or haling with the end ofcold war. there are ways in which she set a standard for her famy, led

this remarkable american family that i thought was a story th ought to be told. >> woodruff: you write she was raised in a family of privilege, but she had a difficult relationship with her mother that had an effect on her the rest of her life. >> she had a tough relationship with her mother. her mother would make fun of her reight and comer to her older sister martha who was very pretty, on the cover of the college issue of "vogue," and i think this left a wound on rbara bush she had for her whole life. >> woodruff: and that stayed with her. lwhat about her ationship with her husband? they were 16 and 17 years old when they met, they married just three years later, and it was ar marriagehe ages. >> they met at this high school da the greenwich country club. i asked george h.w. bush, do you remember what caught your eye that night? and he said, she was so beautiful. they had a long marriage, 73 tars, ups and downs, buy were fiercely devoted the one another at the end, and in the interviews i did with her,

clearly, her health was failing. she was not afraid of death. the only thing that worried her, i thought, was the idea she wod die before he di and he would be left alone. >>oodruff: a woman oftrong personality and, yet, for much of his career, she followed him. went along on the assignments or appointment and took care of the children. >>he was a woman of her generation and she did follow. when he decided to move tos, tehe said i always wanted to live in odessa, which i suspect was not entirely true, but over time, they became equal partners. time, he came to trust her voice and judgment, and even when facing the biggest decisions, for instance what to do after the iraqi inasion of kuwait, she would be one of five or six people in the room with him as he debated what to do.>> oodruff: and, susan, you had remarkable access to her. you interviewed or a numbef times. you covered her years ago and close to her death had access to

our diaries and came across the remarkable personal information. the feud she had ongoing with former first lady nancy reagan. >> all these years later, 92 years old and failing health, she became very animated when she talked about her views of nancy reagan. they had a terrible relationship. they were very different women, very different priorities, and she kind of bit her tongue, i think for years, with nancy reagan, when nancy reagan was first lady and she was second lady. when the bushes moved out of the white house, evied by bill clinton, came back to houston, two days lat called to try to explain away an interview in which she explained how hee bushad treated ronald reagan after he left the white house. barbara bush had enough and said, to na nance, i'm tired of hearing from you, don't call me again, and said she heard another phone ringing and hung up. >> woodruff: she raised her children, was a staome

mother. she had conflicted feelings about the women's movement. >> the early days of the women's movement raised questions aboute the value of t choices that she had made. she walked the walk of a feminist, strong-minded, independent, not a frayedo speak up, but she refused totalk the talk. we have one interview where i said i think you're a feinist, don't you? and she refused to say that and i finally gave up and said you're being very slippery about this. and she said, yes, i am. d woodruff: she was a republican, married to george h.w. bush, and, y, susan, you write she had views about in a surprising way. >> you know, when i was going through her diaries, i hopped her diaries from 1980 when her husband was making his first bid for presidency. in the diary i found four pages, folded over, yell ld, tucked inside, i pulled them out. in the top was written i her hand thoughts about abortion. this was in essence a letter to

herself as sied to sort out nsr views on abortion, and she drew les fro for this from the life and death of her daughter robin. she said when she was born i felt her soul enter her body, and when she died i felt her soul leavher body, and, therefore, abortion isn't murder and should be lefto the mother, father and doctor. at the bottom to have the four pages, she wrote, needs lots more thought. >> woodruff: but it was one way in which se did g against republican orthodoxy. she was a supporter of republicans until theast president -- republican president of her lifetime, donald trump n >> she wt a supporter of donald trump. for one thing, donald trump had defeated her son for the nomination in 2016, but she also had wrten years earlier that donald trump was a symbol of the greed of the 199sa0s. sh that in her diary at the time. she worried, i think, about thei ction of the party and about

the quality of the american political debate and, in the last intview i did with he in do youy of 2018, i sai still think you're a republican? and she said, no, i would probably say not>> woodruff: talk to us, finally, susan, about her husband. he did outlive her ba nuber of months, but he never got over her death, did he? >> no, and he wanted to go back to kennebunkport, i think, one ware summer and hs able to do that. an aide told me he was sitting on the pomp at kennebunkport that last summer er barbara had gone and remembered when t they agre get married paulk walking up the driveway, two teenagers with an understanding they were going to be together forever. >> woo said i didn't get down on my knee but we knew we would be married. susan page, a wonderful book, "the matriarch: barbara bush and the making of an american dynasty." thank you. >> thank you, judy.

>> nawaz: the songs of loretta lynn have spanned generations of country music fans. millions more came to know her story through the 19m, "coal miner's daughter." this sunday, one of the greast figures in american music turns 87, and loretta lynn is a woman who knows how to celebrate. jeffrey brown joined her in nashville. it's part of our ongoing coverage of arts and culture series, "canvas." ♪ yeah, i'm proud to be a coal miner's daughter ♪ >> brown: it was a birthday baso unlike aer, as the matriarch of country music was feted for a career that's already spanned six decades. >> happy birthday. b >> hapthday, ms. loretta. >> happy birthday. ♪ happy birthday to you >> brown: but this year, loretta t nn claimed, marked a first. >> this is my firthday party i ever had. >> brown: oh really?

>> yeah. i whas a little girl, mommy would say, "well, today, you're five years old."xt ime, "today you're six." i never had a birthday. >> brown: well, now you deesrve it, i ♪ you've come to tell me something you say ♪ i ought to know >> brown: who's who of country music, and 12,000 fans, filled nashville's bridstone arena in early april, to mark lynn's 87th birthday. it was her first public appearance since suffering a20 stroke in . ♪ i'm here to tell ya, gal to lay offf my man >> brown: serenading her, stars like miranda lambert... ♪ amarillo >> brown: ...and all-time greats george strait... ♪ and there's nothing cold as ashes after the fire is gone ♪ >> brown: ...trisha yearwood,

and garth brooks. talking with us backstage before the show, lynn said all this wa beyond imaginien she was growing up in the tiny coal- mining cmunity of butcher holler, kentucky. what was the hope, what was theh dream, what waambition back then? >> younow, you never dare to dream big, because, where haveen you o dream? how could you dream when you've never seen nothing, or never? been nowhe never been to town, so you didn't dare dream.ap >> brown: as cred in a pbs "american masters documentary," at 15, loretta married oliver lynn, known as "doolittle." she had four children by age 22, and twins ten years later. it was a marriage of professional partnership, great love and plenty of turmoil. ♪ lyin', cheatin', woman- chasin', honky-tonkin', whiskey- drinkin' you ♪ >> brown: and she put it all in

her songs. good and bad, huh? >> oh yeah, and you know, it didn't make no difference what i wrote. if it was about him, he would say, "it's a hit, honey." the last song i sung him, when he died, and he said, "honey, it's a hit." ni brown: what do you think he would be saying t? >> he would be so proud of me. oh yeah, he'd be partying, man, he would be down here raisingec all kinds of ( ♪ "honky tonk girl" ) >> brown: her first hit, "i'm a honky tonk girl" came in 1960, and set her on a trailblazing path--irst woman in country music to write a number one hit song, "you ain't woman enough to take my man."fi rst to be named country music association entertainer of, he yed to have more than 50

top-ten countrhehits. what'sey to writing a good song, what does it have to have? >> it's got to have the heart, and soul, of a person that's writing it. >> brown: that sounds simple, but it can't be mple to capture the real person. >> it's not simple, because it's hard on the writer. i used to lock myself up, shut myself in a room, before i would get through with a song. i wouldn't come out i got it wrote. >> brown: and when did you know that you had it, that it was done? >> well, i would know when i had it done. if you don't know when you have it done, you shouldn't be writing. ♪ oh, but i don't think you can but you ain't womaenough ♪ to take my man >> brown: she was a strong voice for women in a conservative adustry, a powerhouse in business run by men, making herself a multi-millionaire.ow you we all know you as a great artist, but i understand you've always been a great a businesswomawell. >> pretty good. >> brown: you took care of

things? >> yes, i did. >> brown: because you had to? did you have to learn how to do that? >> if you're hungry, yeah. you learn how to make a living, if you're hungry. ♪ i've lo everything in this world, and ♪ now'm a honky tonk girl ♪ >> brown: it was an inspiration to women who followed, like martina mcbride. >> she was really one of the first, if not the first woman that sang about stuff other than just being somebody's love interest. she sang about her as a woman, and the things that she was going through, and the things that she was facing, and living with a man, a not-perfect relationship, and songs like "the pill," and just really groundbreaking stuff. >> brown: and it reached to the other side of rld, where a young keith urban played lynn's songs in cover bandsrowing in australia. >> she's talking about home, and she's talking about dreams, and

she's talking about heartbreak, and she's talking about desire and love, and just destruction, and all of it. it's global. >> brown: but urban had a slightly more direct reason for being here tonight. >> hey keith, this is loretta. and i'm having a birthday, and i want to see your butt there! >> brown: you get that call, ant you're in, r you got no choice. ♪ oh! louisiana woman ♪ ♪ mississippi man! >> brown: onstage, there were duets made famous by ld conway twitty. ♪ ♪ >> brownand a version of controversial 1975 song, "th pill," about birth control. ♪ ♪ >> i love her songs because she bleeds her heart out of her songs. .like, you feel that's re she felt that. she knows that. she's telling you that.

you can believe that or not, she doesn't give a ( bleep ). but it's real. ik because she was kind of living her whole truth in the fullest space she could, meant that the rest of us in her wake could be ourselves., i mean's just, i owe her the space i stand . ♪ ♪ >> brown: lynn herself told us she's not done-- she's working on her next album. so what's been the key to surviving and thriving for so long in this business, as a songwriter, as a star, as a businesswoman?>> ard work, and smart. that's all it takes. if you've got a little talent, you can go a long way if you're smart, and put the work in it. >> brown: the night's grand finale? "coal's miners daughter," of course, with the star stars joining in. at first she seemed to have forgotten her own words, but a few lines in, she was ready, and

♪ ♪ she sang it through to the end.n coall day in the field hoein >> brown: for the pbs newshour... ( cheersnd applause ) >> brown: ...i'm jeffrey brown in nashville. >> nawaz: and onne, we have more from loretta lynn and the standout moments at her birthday bash. that's on our website, www.pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm anma nawaz. have a great weekend. thank you, and good night. >> major fundingwsor the pbs

neur has been provided by: >> kevin.in >> kev >> kevin? >> advice for life. life well-planned. learn more at raymondjames.com. bnsf railway. >> consumer cellular. >> bbel. a language program that teaches spanish, french, italian, german, and more. >> supporting socialtr reneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems--at skollfoundion.org. >> the william and flora hlett foundation. for more than 50 years,id advancins and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions

and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporaon for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc by captione media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> you're watching pbs.

. from immigration to cyber security. former homeland security chief, janet napolitano talks with us about how to keep america safe. also, physicians at the border. a court ruling asylum seekers deals another blow to the trump administration's immigration policies. and valerie jarrett. former senior adviser to president obama shares her journey from seegated chicago to the white house. hello and welcome to kqed newsroom. we begin with homeland curity. janet napolitano headed the department of homeland security under president obama from 2009 two 2013. when she took over, the l agenc wass than a decade old but responsible for a vast range of security challenges, including immigration, terrorism