captioning sponsored by wshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodrf. for the newshour tonight: after three years of trying, end failing, to lead th united kingdom to quit the european union, british prime minister theresa may steps down. plus, it friday. mark shields and david brooks are here to discuss the war of words between president trump and house speaker nancy pelosi and the latest on the 2020 presidential candidates. and, an unlikely part of hip hop history. members of the 1980s group the astie boys talk about changes in music, and perspective. >> we l hope that, as we get older, we grow a little and we learn. right? learning from mistakes, learning

from friends, all we want to do is learn and grow as people. right? isn't that what we're supposed to do? >> woodruff: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the enne that connects us. >> text night and day.

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public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woouff: today, the trump administration took two significant steps to counter what it says is an escalated threat from iran. the u.s. will deploy additional troops and military eqt to the middle east. and, the administration went around congress to sell additional arms to saudi arabia. ntto put these moves into t, i'm joined by our nick schifrin. so hello, nick. first of all, what are they talking about deploying? >> they're talking about 1,500 additional tops in four categories, an additional fighter squadron t the middle east, e tending the deployment of patriot missile, intelligence and reconnaissance -- dr ies to monitn and proxies -- and engineers to strengthen.

they looked around the region d they say they're actually at a lower posture than a few years ago and iranaghas adva in the region, so they felt they had to rei inforce andist that this is defensive, that they are responding to iranian actions and that their goal is not toa fight n but, instead, to get iran back to the negotiating table. and you talked with senator tim cotton of arkansas -- tom cotton, sorry, of arkansas a few minutes ago and he echoed that statement. >> i believe it's the right steps to increase the force posture in the middle east. the intelligence coming from the middle east and the thsing at iran might take imminent action against u.s. personnel or facilities has been compelling. >> so that's the argument by tom cotton and the pentagon. iran says this is not defensive. a figehter squadron y say is not defensive, and iran and congressional democrats are ying this is unnecessary and increases the chances of some kind of conflict. >> woodruff: so, clearly, nick, there have been questtions

abhat's the intelligence, what's the provocation here. what did the adm today about what actions iran has taken that they're respding to? >> right. they went further today than they have and they said recent attacks by iran in the middle east "stems back to the leadership of ir at the highest levels." so they areg accusan's leaders of attacking u.s. allies in the region over the last two weeks. democrats have said, well, wait a minute, we actually have seen some of that intelligence. we're not sure it says exactly what you think it ds, and some democrats are even saying, hey, thissounds like 200 sounds like the runup of the war to iraq when, of course, the intelligence turned out to be bogus. and we challenged ton pent that reporters from the room said prove all this intelligence is the case and listen to what the director of the joint staff, ayce admiral michael guild had to >> what do you have to back up your case? >> i'm not reverse engineering this. the iranians have said publicly,

you know, we're going to do things. we learned more throug rh intelligenorting. they have acted upon those threats. ,> that's what they said when we asked than we have more intelligence? they said, no, that would imperil their sources.dr >> wf: very interesting. all this on the same day, nick, uncese administration anno it's selling more arms to saudi arabia, the united araemb ates and jordan. >> right, so these are arms sales that have been blocked for months. what bob menendez said was he was worried saudi arabia would use these weapons in yemen in. yemen there are houthi rebels fight saudi arabia and backed by iran, but there are also tens of thousands of civilians who have been caught up in that war and there have been casualties in that war mostly because these bombs dropped by the saudi-ledal ion. what secretary of state mike pompeo said today, he said, no, there's an emergency and we ha to "deter the malign influence

of iran,ck go around the b and sell these arms to congress. those who support these sales say, look, if we sell these weapons to saudi arabia, they will get better at targeting their targets in yemen and, therefore, will avoid civilian casualties. but the ctics say, wait a minute, saudi arabia has these weapons, wre replenishing more of them and more civilians whether die. that's what we saw from senator chris murphy from connecticut in a statement, he said prident trump some using the loophole because he knows congress would disapprove of the sale. there's no emergency reason to sell the bombs to the saudis to drop yemen and doing so will only perpetuate theumanitarian cries there and adds this sets a dangerous precedent that future presidents can sell weapons without a check from congre. bottom lin, two decisions, deployment to the middle east and also arm sales from officers, by the way, that are edt usually coordinated and that iraq conneut the administration made these two

announcements almost simultaneously to make a point we are going to continue to confront iran. they say it's affected the terms. >> woodruff: going around normal congressional prerogative in order to do this. >> woodruff: nick schifrin, thank you. >> thank >> woodruff: in the day's other news, british prime minister theresa may has finally bowed to pressure, and annoatced her resin. she had been besieged on all after failing to push a brexit deal through parliament. her announcement today triggers a battle in the conservative party to become the next prime minister. we will get the details, after the news summary. the president today defended a decision to let attorney general william barr release classified information on how tig russia inveion began. just what gets released will be up to barr, but mr. trump hidered intelligence agencies to cooperate wit investigators.

he discussed it before leaving the white house for a state visit to japan. >> everythinthat they need is declassified, and they'll be able to see how this hoax or witch hunt started, and why it started. it was an attempted coup or an attempted takedown of the president of the united states. it should never ever happen to anybodelse. >> woodruff: the chair of the house intelligence committee, democrat adam schiff, called the president's deci "un-american." fellow democrat mark warner, chairing the senate intelligence committee, tweeted that barr no problem selectively toleasing information in order islead the american people." in russia, a court in moscow today ordered former u.s. marine paul whelan to be held for another three months. he was arrested last december on suspicion of spying. in has denied the charges. todaourt, whelan claimed that he has been mistreated, and that he is being held as

>>taliation for u.s. sanctions. have been threatened. my personal safety has been threatened. there are abuses and harassment ctthat i am constantly sub to. there's a case for isolation. i have not had a shower in two weeks. this is typical prisoner of war, chapter one isolation technique. >> woodruff: whelan could face up to 20 years in a russian prison, if he is convicted. to u.s. embassy in moscow thid again toda there is no evidence of any wrongdoing by whelan. north korea is warning that nuclear talks with the u.s. will never resume unls washington backs off its demands. pyongyang charged today that u.s. is essentially asrtng the to disarm. to trump administration says north korea is making excessive demands for sanctions relief in exchange for only partial de-nuclearization. back in this country, floodwaters kept rising in pwets of the m and south, following days of severe storms.

in jefferson city, miseduri, crews woo restore power after a tornado carved a three-mile path through the city late wednesday. at the same time, the missouri river flooded streetsn jefferson city. parts of kansas and western arkansas also braced for new ooding. a long-awaited disaster aid package stalled agaiy in congress. it includes $19 billion for states hit by wildfires, hurricanes and floods. the senate passed it yesterday, after stripping out border security money, but president ttrump said he would sign anyway. earlier, though, texas republican chip roy blocked a final vote in the house, with most lawmakers already gone for memorial day. >> if i do not object, congress will have passed into law a bill that spends $19 billion of taxpayer money, without members of congress being present here in our nation's capital to vote on it. o condly, it's a bill that includes nothingdress the clear national emergency and

humanitarian crisis we face at our southe border. >> woodruff: house speaker nancy pelo blasted the move, calling it "sabotage." the house could try again next week. otherwise, it will have to wait until it returns to work on june 4. there has been new action in the fight over a raft of tou new abortion measures. in mississippi, a federal judge onday blocked a state law that bans most abortion a fetal heartbeat is detected. in alabama, opponents of a law banning nearly all abortions asked another federal court to strike it down. plus, the governor of missouri signed a bill to ban abortions after eight weeks of pgnancy, with no exceptions for rape or incest. hollywood producer harvey weinstein has reportedly reach an agreement to resolve sexual misconduct lawsuits against hims to "waeet journal" reports a $44 million civil settlement

lawyers for at least one of the baintiffs disputed the report. celebrity chef marali pleaded not guilty today celebrity chef mario batali pl teaded not guilay to indecent assault and battery. she is accused of forcibly n kissing and groping a wo a boston restaurant in 2017. it is the first criminal chargei t him after a series of sexual misconduct allegations. and, on wall street today, gains by financial companies helped the broader market. to dow jones industrial average gained 9points to close at 25,585. the nasdaq rose eight points, d the s&p 500 added three. still to come on the newe our: after thars without a brexit deal, prime minister theresa may steps down. otests and concern as some transgender americans are targeted in a series of killings. democratic presidential candidate eric swalwell gives his pitch on why he wants to be president. and, much more.

>> woodruff: with prime minister theresa may's fall from powe britain now faces a central question: who, if anyone, can lead the country out of its morass over qu european union? to search for an answer began this morning in london. the prime minister emerged from 10 downing street, acknowledging that her time trying to deliver veexit is over: >> i have donething i can to convince m.p.s to back that deal.no sadly, i have t been able to do so. but it is now clear to me that in the best interests of the country for a new prime minister to lead that effort. >> woodrf: it was an emotional moment for the conservative party leaderstepping aside after less than three years as prime minister. >> i do so with no ill-will,

but with enormous and endung gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country i love. >> woodruff: may's turbulent term was defined by bxit, the deal she negotiated with the european union, and her ultimate failure in parliament. she took over in july of 2016, having opposed brexit, after her predecessor, david cameron, resigned. he had campaigned against leaving the e.u., but it won 52% of the vote in a referendum. >> the british people have made a very clear decision to take a different path. and as such, i think the country requires fresh leadership to take it in this direction. >> woodruff: and when may began her brexit negotiations, many conservatives had high hopes. >> ts no one who is going to be able to negotiate the right deal for britainter than theresa may. she is battling for britain. >> woodruff: last july, may and her cabinet finally reached a

deal with the e.u., sp out the terms of brexit. >> mr. speaker, this is the ght brexit, leaving the european union on the 29th of march, 2019. >> woodruff: but leading brexit advocates, like secretary david davis and foreign secretary ris johnson, resigned over that deal almost immediately. they charged it could keep britain tied to the e.u. for years to come. despite may's pleas, parliament rejected the deal three times-- finally pushing back the brexit date to october 31 of this year. this delay is a matter of great personal regret for me, and of this, i am absolutely sure: you, the public, have had enough. >> woodruff: today, the opposition labour leader jeremy corbyn said, the truth is, supporte and opponents alike have had enough of theresa may. >> she clearly cannot command a majority in parliament.

she clearly has lost the confidence of her own m.p.s, and in all the discussions she's been having with her m.p.s, they've all said onehing to her, that they don't support her strategy. >> woodruff: now, leading exiteers in conservative party ranks are former foreign secretary boris johnson is the early favorite. former brexit secretary dominic raab and former leader of the house of commons andrea leadsom are seen as likely contenders. >> woodruff: leadsom quit just this week, finally tipping the balance against may. moderate conservatives, like foreign secretary jeremy hunt may step forward, too. but, after recens local electiw heavy losses by the conservatives, the opposition is calling r a new, general election. >> there has to be anotherit opportfor the people of this country to decide who they want to be in their government, how they want the government tot be run, he long-term

strategy is of that government. i think we need a general election. we don't need another tory leader installed by tory m.p.s. >> woodrf: theresa may formally sps down as conservative party leader on june 7. but, she will remain as a caretaker prime minister, until the party chooses its new leader. >> woodruff: there is growing concern and fear about deadly attacks against transgender americans-- particularly trans women of color. as amna nawaz tells us, a series of murders in different cities in just one week has underscored a larger pattern of violence y over severrs. and yet it comes at a time when trans celebrities are re accepted and more prominent in pop culture. >> nawaz: judy, the most recent killing took place last sunday

inorth philadelphia. michelle "tamika" washington, 40 years old and a longtime advocate for the l.g.b.t.q. community, was shot several times. her death camu one day after aysia booker was found dead in dallas. booker was 23, and just weeks before her death, was attacked in a mob-like beating after a minor traffic accident. one week before those murders, 21-year-old claire legato was shot in the head in cleveland. she was killed after an argument between her mother and the suspected shooter. earlier this year, two more black transgender women, ashanti carmon and dana martin, were also killed. last year, more than two dozenop transgender were killed. d according to a 2018 human rights campaign report, there were at least 128 trans pele killed in 32 states since 2013. 80% of them were people of color.lo let's take ar look at this

orw with beverly tillery, executive diref the anti-violence project, an anti-violence organization. beverly, welcome to the "newshour". thank you for being with us. i want to start by ayoin about the recent state of killings. they happened across the country, the circumstances fe all very ferent in each case. do you know or believe they were targeted because they were transgender? >> you know, i don't know all of the specifics of each of these murders, but what we know is, you really just showed already, that we are seeing a tremendous number of homicides of trans women of codlor. over aver for the past several years this has been consistent, and we need to pay attention as a society. this is something thangt's happeo our community members who are constantly under threat, experiencing other kinds

of hate violence in our society, and we need to step up and come together and really do something to stop it. >> beverly, your organization trac numbers. you have been tracking them for 20 years. when you look at the numbers as we know them this year as compared to last, there appears to be a ruction in the violence. do you trust those numbers? >> well, what we always say is that, even what we report, we know is an underreporting of the violence that's happening and the homs icides thappening. a number of homicides, and, of course, we can't tell you how many, don't eveepr getorted for a number of reasons. in some cases, we know that transgender non-cong folks are misgenderred by the police. they may not have community members who -- and friends andfa ly members who will step up and say this is who this person really was, and we just know that a lot of this goes under

the radar, unfortunately. really, we shouldn't get into a game of trying to compare this year to last year, when did the homicides happen. n't know, it really does matter. this is a huge crisis, and we have to take action now. we've known about thifo years now, and we should have taken action last year and the year before, but it's not too late now. >> let's talk about the action we have seen. in dallas alone, right, there were three brutal attacks in the last several months, two fatal. >> yes. the mayor came out and said this is unacceptable. he called it mob violence, the attack against muhlaysia booker. what you have seen in law en response and are you satisfied with what you're seeing? >> well, we're not satisfied. we don'y t necessare a response this is saying this is -- this is more than just a

trend, this is an epidemic in our society that needs to be addressed and taken seriously. frankly, yomou know and more community members are reluctant to turn law enforcement because members of the transgender non-conforming community and members of tmhe lgbtqunity have experienced violence from the police. they don't trust the police.it >> beverly worth noting we are speaking on the same day nie trump adration has rolled back some healthcare protections for trans people earlier this week. another rule they put in place lterwing federal she receiving funds to turn away trans people seeking services there. ere's also the efforts to push a transgender military ban here. what effect have all of these, even just proposals, had on the trans community? >> yeah.ut i mean, talk a a complete slap in the fe. you know, the timing is really important to note here because, on the heels of these homicides

where the community is already reeling, for the administration to, one after the other, release these proposed guidelines andle this week, it's clear that they do not care about the transgender non-conforming community and, in fact, in the work that we ve been doing in the city of new york and across the country, when we've brought together transgender non-conforming folkslk about what are the ways we need our cities and our states and the estion toond to this violence and to help prevent violence, people over and ove again have told us we need housing, we needccess to employment, we need better healthcare so tt we can put ourselves in safer circumstancet and so we're as vulnerablee to violeat's happening in our community. and what does the administration

do? seek to strip away access to healthcare, to housing, to employment you know, all of the things that people have actually articulated that they need toddress the violence, the administration is trying to take away. >> beverlyer tilly, executive o rector of the anti-violence project, thank youch for being with us today. >> thank you so much for having me. >> woodruff: there areat now 23 cand in the 2020 presidential race, and among smthem is california congr eric swalwell. at 38, he is one of the youngest candidates running in themo atic primary, and has made gun control the key issue of his campaign.to i spokongressman swalwell yesterday about his run foy.the preside so why should voters support a four-term coressman from the

ate of california for president of the united states? >> well, first, i know how hard people work and what they i was the first of my family to go to college, i have two kids under two i'm paying off student loans, so i see the promise for geny americans broken, you work harder, dream biand do better. i've stood firmly for theule oflaw. i've gone to the war zones, i've met with foreign leaders and taken the classified briefing, so on day one, i'll be ready to know who we need as friends in this wor and who thethreats are. but also to bring generational optimism that's eded, fresh ideas on the issues of healthcare, education access and, of course, the centerpiece of our platform being safe in your schools and rcing gun violence. >> woodruff: you've emphasized youth anyou are 38 years old. one candidate is younger, pete buttigieg, he's 37. he has executive experience,

mayor of a small city in indiana why. are you mor qualified? >> i like mayor pete, tulsi, others in this millennialne tion. it's being connected to folks, knowing why they work hard in grassroots. knowing healthcare is not just coverage but seeking cures to bring down cost. having college bargains. you go to college, do work study, serve a community and adds up to a debt-free education. finally, the experience of being day-one ready while our democracy has gone into a deep dark hole. i'm on the judiciary and inteigence committee. we're not rolling the dice with someone who doesn't know how the federal government works like the last one. >> woldruff: gun contyou are making it the centerpiece of your campaign, but other candidates in the race have been on this issue for years. joe biden worked for years on an anti-crime bill, kamala harris, her work in california, she's

talking about using executive thority. how are your views in a nutshell different from all the others? >> i was a prosetor, worked in oakland as a prosecutor, so i saw what gun violence does to our cities. went to chicago yesterday, similar issues there. so from the ties, to suburbs to rule areas, it's access to firearms, investing in mental health services in our schools, d i'm the only candidate calling for a ban and buy-back of the 15 million assault rifles on our streets today. i came to congress when sandy hook happened and demoralized as we wentro mass shooting to mass shooting. i sat for 26 hours onhe floor after orlando in protest. i want to see the momentum that the moms and students and community activist haves done to take out 17n.r.a. endoforsed memberongress. i want to see them negotiate up not down on the problem of gun violence. >> woodruff: and this is an issue you see to galvanize voters. in the past, it hasn gotten

voters to energize enough to er.e one way or the oth >> in fairfold, iowa, this week, i did a gun violence town hall, over 125 people showed up. i asked on woman, i said i know why i'm here, this issue i ca about a lot. i said, in this community, why are you here? she said, i don't want ao shootingppen at our church. it's also about our kids. i took my son to his pre-school orientation last week and i thought about something i didn' have to think about when i was going school, is he safe in this building. the issue of safety in our schools and churches and the places we gather it's top of mind for voters. >> woodruff: turning a corner fohisomet on people's minds, the trade war with china. you've said you don't think the trade war is ben efficient. again, what would you do differently from what president trump is doing specifically? would you go back to the obama-biden trade pol ficy? >> im a class action.

we're in a significant trade deficit with china. the w the presidentis prosecuting it is incompetent. they're a bad actor o intellectual property, dumping steel and manipulating currisen. but the is can you ban together with australia, japan, south korea, other victims of what china is doing to prosecute the case against them. our president has alienated us from our traditional. alli i would know who our friends are and go to them to mae the case against china to protect ourrk farmers, steelrs and intellectual innovators. >> woodruff: and on the subject on the minds of democrats and republicans right now, that is impeachment, a few nights ago, you said in an interview that tesidemp is giving congress no option, butf speaker pelosi is right, she's sayingeth betr to wait, see, when you get the facts, let's keep stdying and trying to gather information. do you believe she sin

evitablely going to have to change her position and that there will be impeachment proceedings? >> i don't question the wisdom of.enator pleas i think we are on the road to impeachment. she like myself believes yhaou to exhaust all other remedies to show the american people that you're following the rule of law, thawe're not going to do donald trump justice. the first medy was american people. they voted him in. we respected that. then we but a balance o on his abuse of power in the midterms. he has not respected that. i think he's backing us into the only other most extraordinary remedy which similar people. i want to make sure we do everything else first before we get there i think we're pretty close. >> woodruff: do you think you're giving in some way the president a boost as democrats, the more there's even talk aut impeachment much less moving to tlpeachment proceedings? >> hon i try not to think about it that way because that means i'm not looking at the evidence, and the eve is you have a lawless president who is telling his administration

officials not to comply with the law. he's been characterized with double digit obstructer in the mueller report. no one's above the law in this country. no one could get away what hs get away with and that's what i have to focus on. >> woodruff: speakg of president trump, you announced you have family members, your own parents, who are supportersi of predent trump. they have a magnet on thet refrigerator tys trump-pence. is that still there? >> i hope it's not i may have to go into the voting booth with my parents if i me it to the general election. my parents are strong ronald reagan rublicans, and i was raised in the '80s, and they wanted us to be strong in the world and not waste the taxpayers' dollars. i think i can win over people my parent i was born in the midwest, have that fiscrualence, american values, and we see a president who has rackedp tax cuts for the wealthiest and alienated us in the world and drawn us closer to vladimir putin than the brit and the australians and people that we need.

i thinkmp these t voters will need a place to go and the son ofepublicans might be tha candidate. >> woodruff: you have no doubt your parents wilfovote you? >> of course, they will. my wife is from southern indiana. we didn indiana town hall in columbus, indiana, over the dreds ofand saw hun people show up there, many republicans. so born in iowa, married to a hoosier, educated in the south, elected in diverse part of california, i can add states in the general election. >> woodruff: congressman eric swallwell, running for the democratic nomination, we thank you. >> thank you, judy. >> woouff: and to the analysis of shields and brooks. that's syndicatecolumnist mark shields, and "new york times" columnist david brooks. hello to both of you. urso we are trying to workay through a conversation with each one of these candidates. mark, there are, now, as we said, 23 of them. we talked to eric swallwell

tonight, kirsten gillibrand last night. i'm not going to say they are one issue candidates, but in his case you heard hi talk abo gun control, kirsten gillibrand emfa sighs women's issues. what are you hearing fro is it smart for them to easy on one issue or not?ll >> wind out whether it is. it just strikes me that abortion as an issue has been -- kirsten gillibrands probably most prominently identified -- is an issue where those who seek serious and large change find themselves on the political defensive, and i think it's fair to say that it's hard to imagine anybody running a winningon na campaign on enlarging and making statutory abortion legal in all circumstances or, for that matter, a democratic

party which is essentially unwelcoming to those people who have reservations or are pro-life, but agree on every other issue. essentially bob casey in his term from pennsylvania, the united states senator, would not be welcome and receive party backing, basically. >> woodruff: what do you think? >> i'm struck about how the self-esteem movement was very effective. look at the presidents, i've looked at the presidents since reagan and the one thing i come away with after ever interview is i could never do that job. after eisenhower, i thought, i could run a war. franklin roosevelt was governor of new york, ronald reagan was governor of california, george h.w. bush served in evertiy poon almost imaginable, but why these people think they could be president is mistfying to me but maybe they're right. the second thing i look for is a unique sellingroposition, like

an actual root to the white house, why yourall is to run, not just you'ruse famo. elizabeth warren has a set of policies and plans that are unique selling proposition, biden has broad experience, bernie sanders has outlook. with a lot of the candidates, i don't see a selling proposition or even a root to victory. >> i don't argue with that. i just say the uneasy consensus on abortion in this country seems to me to be in favor to have the status quo -- in favor of the status quo, which is in instces of rape and life of the mother. when you start to change that, when you haveheepublican national chair disavowing it and the republican senate majority leader disavowing the latest change, the most zealous changes that the republicans are making, i think it tell us something about the politics then. >> it's weird that 50% of the country is sort of in the middle

on abortion, and gillibrand says no democratic candida should t support if they're in the 50%, which is like a guarofantee permanent minority. >> woodruff: let's talk about something that's consumed us for the last couple of days and that is what was a fight, battle between the preside and democrats in the congress over subpoenas and documents and has turned into aso perl feud between speaker pelosi and president trump, and here's a little of what the two of them have been sayih about eac other in the last two days. >> we believe that the president of the united states is engaged in a coverup. >> i don't do covups. i'm the most transparent president probably in the history of this untry. so get these phony investigatio over with. >> i pray for the president of the united states. i wish that his family or his administration or his staff would have an intervention for the good of the country. >> the white house is just crying out for impeachme. that's why he slipped yestery.

>> i'm an extremely stable genius. she's a mess, look, let'face it. crazy nancy. i tell you what, i have been watching her, and i have been watching her for a long period of time. she's not the same person. she's lost it. i think nancy pelosi is not helping this country -- >> woodruff: so, mark, it'er gotten verynal. >> it has gotten very personal, particularly on the president's part. it just strucncme when pelosi used the term "intervention," that'a serious -- that's a collective, cooperative, collaborative attempt on the part ofily and friends to intercede and to present to a person they think is suffering from addiction or some sort of condition that that ndition is out of control, and with the idea of seeking remedy and seeking repair. and i don't think she used the term lightly. and i would add tohe that,n you get general james mattis,

who has bn totally silent -- >> woodruff: formseer defense etary. >> -- former defense secretary -- he left and is now cautioning this president on iran, cautioning the united states on the use ofilitary power and arguing diplomacy is important. we have the former secretary of defense whom the president upbraided and insulted, rex tillerson, going to the congrs and really raising serious questions about the president -- >> woodruff: he testified -- -- testified test the ent was unprepared, ill prepared for the summit in hamburg with mr. putin and let the united states at a disadvantage. i think there's larger message i an just political back and forth. ink there's a serious concern about this president and this presidency, and, judy,he first rule i learned governing american politics is beware to have the presidential candidate who does not have friends of his or her own age who canell him when he's wrong and to go to

hell, and right now there are grownups left in the white house. donald trump has mr. kushner and mr. miller as his two confidants. >> woodruff: how serio you see this? >> it irks me they're both questioning eh other's mental competence. you can question politics and a lot of things, but to say someone is basically in mental decline, it just strikes me as a little too persuonal. know, donald trump is in thef hall of famee world wrestling federation and is take it to the world wrestling federation levels of confrontation. do think he knows what he's doing? i think he does. when he confronted the democrats, is it him going crazy because he' self-obsessed? yes, but craftiness to it? yes. what's rising is hostility to elites around the wod. modi gets elected, australia, brexit, netanyahu, it's just all er the world, and you can be

forgive an t of sins you oppose coasting and urban elites in our country, and he's riding that train, and nancy pelo is good foil for that. politilly, i think it's not crazy what he's doing. >> can i just disagree th david? okay, that's this, i don't think it is food -- >> woodruff: you don't think -- >> i don't ihis shrewd or clever. they were discussing the infrastructure of the united states. hf there's one issue on whic there is agreement that the country that was number one, all infrastructure, roads, highways, airports, ports, rail, justag5 year and is now number 9, ng apart. falli we have $836 billion back-load. we haven't raised the gasoline tax in 26 years, and there something with the economy just well needing a boost very next year.

i mean, this begs to be done. it's something the country december pat praty needs and he walks away from it and ignores it, when, in fact, he could have a political and public success. >> i would say, first of all, the ct he walked away from it shows he cares more about mself than the country. but i don't think it's wrong to think voters are driven more by animosity than what you've done fome. if you can whip up animosity among some voters, off root to victory, rather than saying i'v done something good for you and you should reward me. those softif uting emotion as little alienated from ploik polc now. >> woodruff: the president s eeted a version of this. rsonal lawyer rudy giuliani spread this on twitter and pulled it back. this is a dockelted and a r version of nancy pelosi speaking this week. i want to show you a bit of it. >> -- and then he had a press

conference in the rose garden th all of this sort of visuals thatbviously were planned, and then he had a press conference r inose garden with all this sort of visuals that obviously were plan: d. >> woodru, i mean, we've seen this happen in social media, it' comates goi on right now, but to know that the president's lawyer, the president was pushing another another version of pelosi. they pulled together clips where pelosi was speaking i in a sortf halting way and had it on fox business channel. i mean, what are we seeing here? >> we're seeing, judy, the lack of any moral center or compass in a president and a presidency. ok, when the grandchildren are going to ask what did you stand for, grandpa? what did you do?a i n, when roosevelt brought a

country on its knees and wk ll be right b its feet, when ronald reagan won the cold war, when lyndon johnson brought civil rights to the country, this is what he's going to say -- i docketed up, made mynt oppolook bad, i put out phony tapes on them. i mean, this is an indignity to the office and it's a disgrace really to the country. >> yeah, i agree with that, but it's sort of of the times. we're the old legacy media. the "new york times," "newshour", "the washington post," we're legacy media, but we have basic standards below which it unimaginable to think, like making up stuff. and if you make an erro correct it. that's the normal part of our world. the internet comes in and there are someth things o internet that are great, that live up to the standards we're used to as ofessionals, and some things are not, and you've got to make the distinction of those above and below the line. but that distinction above and below the line seems to get washed away on the internet and

it doesn't help that theid prt doesn't even seem to acknowledge the idea of the line. >> woodruff: it's the internet in social med w andk being done on cable news. i want to quickly finally come back tohat has apparently gotten under the president's skin, david, and that is the ngress under pelosi, the house, she's saying we're not to anyto move directl sort of impeachment breeding, but we are going toontinue to gather facts. ite we seeing the train move inly down the track? >> i think we are. i think she's right to slow walk it. if you look to the shift where democratic voters are, the democratic voters in recent polls have shied much more so we need to impeach. that's certainly the basis of the democrats candidates, the presidential hopefuls in the fieldefield are moving that dir, so i think we're probably going to move in that direction. i worry it gives trump his only argument they're out to get me andist wrong and hyperpartisan. it's the argumlit hs to have and i think he is building

>>to it. oodruff: can the house stop what's going on right now? i mean, are we inevitably moving in the direction -- >> i don't think inevitably. i think those who were sure were inevitably moving, were sure r report were going to do it, that michael avenatti who has his own serious problems now was going to with a the witnessbrought everything down, that michael cohen,god bless hisoul, now in federal detention, correction, was going to do it. i'm not sure the inevitability ofhease against president trump. i will say thi ncy pelosi's been vindicated by two court decisions this week that required deutsch bank to tu over its financial records and, so, maybe those who say tha the courts were too slow were wrong. you have new york state which will make available the tax

returns to the u.s. house. so a number of fronts. if the president, in fact,on alls these decisions and refuses to do it, then i think he makes -- starts to make the case himself. >> woodruff: shoes are dropping. maybe more. >> maybe as many as imelda marcos' shoes. >> woodruff: mark shields, david brooks, thank you. >> woodruff: t beastie boys: the rap trio sold millions of albums, and the two surviving members have now written a book about their experience jeffrey brown spoke with them recently at this year's south by southwest festival in austin, texas. it's part of our ongng coverage of arts and culture, "canvas." ♪ ♪ >> brown: they're part of hip hop history.

an unlikely part: three white kids from brooklyn, teenagers when they first met in high school, and combined rock, rap, and humor in a way that wouldon speak to milli ♪ you gotta fight for your right to party ♪ >> i don't know how to describe that feeling that you have towards that thing thor what tht ing is, that reaches inside of you. it spoke to us as kids, just, it seemed attaihible. >> i t all of us just felt ike, "wait, this is for us." ♪ >> one of the reasons i lovedbe rap music wause i knew nobody else at school would possibly mess with it. there was no way other kids at shool were going to love it. which is obviouslycontrary to existence now.♪ ♪ >> brown: things certainly changed for rap, as it movedns from its origi in the south bronx ton international phenomenon, and the beastie boys: adam "m.c.a." yauch,

mike "mike d" diamond, and adam "ad-rock" horovitz, helped make that happen. ♪ ♪ >> brown: beginning in 1986 with "licensed to ill", they madet eight albums tsold more than 40 million rords. ♪ ♪ >> brownthe last came out in 2011, a year before adam yauch died of cancer at age 47. mike diamond and adam horovitz have now told the band's story a book that takes us back to new york in the late '70s. >> it was this place where i feel like, if you were the weirdo in whatever part of the world that you were from, yo could move to new york without having a plan. you could just have this ambition that, "okay, i'm going teto woetry or i'm going to be a painter or i'm going to make some kind of weird noise, music that nobody's ever made or heard before." ♪ >> brown: rap music was still in

its early years,enut the three s liked what they heard, and started plliing around-- rally. ♪ ♪ >> when we started rapping, we were trible, like, really bad. we're having funoing this. let's do it." never thinking that anything would come of it. >> brown: but they caught on. and soon enough, they wepe recording anorming, and then had a new realization. >> we were playing with all these other groups, u.t.f.o., kurtis blow. it wasn't until we all of a sudden got on stage in a room like this, packed with an audience and we were-- i was like, "oh, wait. we're kind of like the only 'tite people here." we had no, we didnnow that that was all sort of what that was leading up to. ♪ ♪ >> brown: early on, they recorded with def jam, one of the most important labels in hip hop, along with groups like

run-d.m.c., and they helped bring in white audiences as hip hop continued to gro they told me of the good, and sometimes, bad ways that race came up. >> it's happened a lot of times over the years, where a white person will come up or b talking to us, a white person will be like, "you know, i don't really like rap music, but i like you guys." >> brown: what does thn? >> that means, like, "you know i don't really like those black people doing that thing, but you guys are white, so that's cool." >> like, so, yeah, somehow we're supposed to sign off on that racism. >> brown: and your reaction is? >> okay... >> yeah, what are you going to say, at that point? >> brown: another issue in their story: their own sexis, misogyny and homophobia. it was all over their early work, in words, onstage antics and videos. the group, in fact, originally included a young woman-- kate schellenbach. she was kicked o, as the

so-called "boys," by their own reckoning, acted out in ways they came to regret. by the early '90s, they were rhyming verses about respecting women. ♪ ♪ha >> we all hope as we get older, we grow a little and we learn. right? learning from mistakes, learning from friends, all we want to d is learn and grow as people. right? isn't that what we're supposed to do? >> brown: not only did you stop doing that, but you even made a message in another direction, right? >> well, i mean, it's obvious, take the opportunity to change and be the example of change, that's the opportunity thatex ts there and be open to that in your actions. >> we played in this festival a while ag one of the bands on the bill was lle band called the prodigy, and

they had a song "smack my ( bleep ) up," which was a big song. and we had contacted the earlier before the show and was like, "hey, you guys, what would happen if you guys didn't play that song tonight? because we feel like we might have to say something about that song, because we feel like that's a messed-up song, right? the message it sends out there, right?" and they were like, "you gofs are a buncypocrites. look what you said in the '80s." and we're like, "okay, then we're hypocrites. but we're going to say something anyway. so maybe that reached a couple people. >> brown: the group got involved in other causes, including independence for tibet, but they were always about fun and friendship, even as they and rap music continued to evolve into a lasting international culture. ♪ ♪ >> as much as we never saw it going awaylso didn't see it being the absolute dominant pop music that it is now. >> rap's always going to be relevant, going to the future, because it's always evolving a changing. >> brown: you guys have been

friends, you're still together, and you've lost adam. how have you done that? i mean, it is anonest story of friendship? >> yeah, we did make a kind of decision, sort of, in the '80s. we had the typical thing with a record label in the '80s where t erything fell apart. we didn't id, suing and all that stuff you hear about with bands. that happened to us. and so, it could have gone this way, where we never sp each other again. but we decided-- actually, we d this thing as friends, so we're going to end this thing t friends. >> yeah, somehow is a very adult decisions, and we weren't adults at the time. but we made that decion. but i thit served us well. >> brown: after the death of adam yauch, there would will be no new more beastie boy music, but mike diamond and adam horovitz are telling their story in a series of public appearances this spring. for the pbs newshour, i'm

jeffrey brown in austin texas. >> woodruff: that takes us bk. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. have a great weekend. thank you, and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> kevin. >> kevin! >> kevin? dvice for life. life well-planned. learn more at raymondjames.com. >> bnsf railway. >> consumer cellular. >> home advisor. >> babbel. a language program that teaches spanish, french, italian, german, and more. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their

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♪ -next, a "kqed newsroom" special, revisiting some of our favorite conversations with authors... -each step along the way, they compromised the safety of the people using the product. -...from an insider's account of facebook's privacy scandals to the most documented undocumented immigrant. -i thought i wanted to exist. i didn't want to just be invisible. -most people you know... -plus, a journalist exposes what he says are the hiddenotivations of wealthy philanthropists out to change the world... -those very same people are monopolizing progress in america. -...while the man behind "the onion" uses satire to poke fun at tech billionaires. hello. i'm thuy vu. welcome to a special edition of "kqed newsroom" featuring authoredwhose writings have spaebate, discussion, and, at times, controversy. one local company that's no stranger to controversy is facebook.