david brooks and ruth marcus discuss the president's public spat with the chief justice, the politics of troops on the border and more. and we continue our fall films series with look at the drama "green book"-- a road trip across the racial landscape of the jim crow south. >> when you have two people who are that different and they find themselves in a confed space for a long enough time they can

davidbrooks and ruth marcus break down the week's political news, as a new congress arrives in washington. and, our fall films series continues with "widows," a heist thriller with a big twist, set in chicago. >> i think we're seeing things we havinen't seen beforehis picture. the convention always has to be brokene, because otherwise, see the same film all the time. >> woodruff: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for tas pbs newshoureen provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> consumer cellular understands that not everyone needs an unlimited wireless plan. our u.s.-based customer service reps can help you choose a plan based on how much you use your phone, nothing sre, nothing s. to learn more, go to consumercellular.tv >> financial services firm raymond james. >> the ford foundation. workinthg with visionaries o frontlines of social change worldwide. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. a

david brooks and ruth marcus discuss the president's public spat with the chief justice, the politics of troops on the border and more. and we continue our fall films series with look at the drama "green book"-- a road trip across the racial landscape of the jim crow south. >> when you have two people who are that different and they find themselves in a confed space for a long enough time they can have a positive and evolving effect on one another. >> yang: 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 enginehat connects us. >> consumer cellular believes that wireless pls should reflect the amount of talk, text and data that you use. we offer a variety of no- contract wireless plans for people who use their phone a little, a lot, or anything in between. to learn more, go to consumerllular.tv >> financial services firm raymond james. >> the ford foundation. woeing with visionaries on frontlines of social change worldwide. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >>

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ruth marcus what about the tax cut? he promised that during the campaign. it seemed so real. >> i'm sorry to disappoint you, mika. that tax cut is not happening. it's not happening in the lame duck and it's not happening in the next congress. so i know that you know you can take the president's word to the bank, but don't bank on that one. i do think -- just to be more serious for a second. it's disappointing. the president did a good thing in coming out for this criminal justice reform bill, got the fraternal order of police on board, it's an important change that would allow judges to have much more discretion in imposing these terrible mandatory sentences. it's sad the majority leader can't find time on the legislative calendar to get it done. i hope it gets done in the next congress. >> noah, i saw you nodding your head on that one. that is a loss. there should be some way for both sides to be able to reach out on something. >> yeah. there was a dramatic, actually, in my view, dramatic amount of consensus about the need to begin the process of reforming

daood and ruth marcus break down the week's political news, cas a newgress arrives in washington.our fall films series contin,"ues with "wido a heist thriller with a big twist, set in chicago. >> i think we're seeing things we haven't seen befour, in this pie. the convention always has to be broken, because otherwise, we see the same film all the time. >> woodruff: all on tond more,

davidbrooks and ruth marcus break down the week's political news, as a new congress arrives in washington our fall films series continues with "widows," a heist thriller with a big twist, set in chicago. >> i think we're seeing things we havinen't seen beforehis picture. the convention always has to be brokene, because otherwise, see the same film all the .

so here's what ruth marcus wrote in the "washington post" today, "for any lawyer, certainly for one nowis justice department to disagree with marbury is like a physicist denouncing the laws of gravity." this is just one of many, jaime, concerns about this man. >> this is not credible. the president said over and over again he didn't know him. he has been obsessed with the mueller investigation and russia. that's why jeff sessions is gone. he didn't pick the obvious person or anyone, frankly, in the line that would normally go, rod rosenstein on down, he plucked matt whitaker from chief of staff to make him attorney general. so our reporting and the new york city reporting is that matt whitaker has been the eyes and ears of the white house in the justice department. he is a loyalist. the question is now that he's in the job and let's see how long he's in the job, will he be telling donald trump things about the mueller investigation? will he be slowing the mueller investigation down in any way? these are big concerns? >> why would he say -- and greg, you told our producers that obviously

columnist and deputy editorialal page editor at the "washington post," ruth marcus is with us as wellk you all for being with us. hope you had a great holiday. looking ahead to the lame duck

as ruth marcus pointed out in your last segment, if you're talking about giving a gratuity of $50 million to the russian president, that is not considered illegal. and the other question, what is in that working document? there's probably more than mueller gave out yesterday. the third question is, has everybody been honest about it? we know that the answer in michael cohen's case is no, because michael cohen pled guilty about lying about it yesterday. we know the president was asked about it. we don't know what he said in his written answers so we can't evaluate it yet, and we don't know who else was asked about this in a forum in which they would be obliged to answer and precisely what he said and how it interacts with those facts. i think there's at least three big questions there. >> sarah sanders today talked about a probe she hoped was coming to an end. >> it was supposed to end last thanksgiving, too. >> rudy giuliani has been out there, ty cobb before rudy giuliani, they always talk about, we have another six months, maybe three months, maybe by the end of the year. there is one p

. >> a lot of questions raised and thank you for your best judgments on this, ruth marcus, and harry litman and chrkristen welker and all. let e's hope we take a break fr the courts. >>> and the are response of the president to the murder of journalist jamal khashoggi is sparking outrage and even within his own political party. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports." tylenol, he'de stopping for more pills right now. only aleve has the strength stop tough pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill. tylenol can't do that. aleve. all day strong. all day long. now introducing aleve back and muscle pain, for up to 12 hours of pain relief with just one pill. this is moving day with the best in-home wifi experience and millions of wifi hotspots to help you stay connected. and this is moving day with reliable service appointments in a two-hour window so you're up and running in no time. show me decorating shows. this is staying connected with xfinity to make moving... simple. easy. awesome. stay connected while you move with the best wifi experience and two-hour appointment windows. clic

join us online and again here tomorrow evening where david brooks and ruth marcus will be here to analyze the weeks' news. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> kev. >> kevin! >> kevin. >> advice for life. life well-planned. learn more at raymondjames.com. >> and with the ongoing support of the institutions >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. ank you. caedtioning sponsy newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >>> this is america. >> he reshaped the americandi and politics. fox news founder roger ailes. i'll speak with the director of a new documentary and an anchor that worked closely with him. plus theoe pfor a generation, a musical shape shifter. up close and psonal with paul simon. >> i had to let go of the god i waen to find the god that i needed. >neikneeling at the alter of th american dream only to see that the gods were dead. he spoke about his amaz

join us online and again here tomorrow evening where dav brooks and ruth marcus will be here to analyze the weeks' news. for all of us at the pbs neyohour, thank you and se soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> kevin. >> kevin! >> kevin. >> advice for life. life well-planned. learn more at raymondjames.com. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. ibd by conions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org of our nation's most treasured recipes from coast to coast. join me in my kitchen as i teach you the best techniques for making pies, c from midwestern sourrry pie pl to new england custard pie, baking iconic treats from mid-atlantic baltimore peach cake to pennsylvania dutchpump. and all the secrets behind those show-stopping layer cakes on "martha bakes." "martha bakes" is made possible by... for more than 200 years, domino and c&h sugars have been u

. >> political reporter for the washington post, ruth marcus, columnist for the washington post, and msnbc contributor, and michael steele, former rnc chairman and msnbc political analyst. i do want to get you first, eugene, on this. the president continues to drag us farther and farther down. this is just one of many times where we've -- the rhetoric has just been lower. there's nobody that he will not pick a fight with either a war veteran, a gold star family, a political opponent, a journalist, a regular american, a fire marshal, supreme court justice. >> indeed, i think we see a president who deals in sides. you are either on his side or you're not. and if you are even in his party or even of his political leanings, but disagree with him on one single thing, you are at jeopardy of having him attack you and attack you publicly. no matter whether he's actually right or wrong, and he does that because he knows that he has so many americans who will vouch for him. the base, very often congress, and quite frankly in this situation, some more conservative members of the legal community

. >> ruth marcus, your take on that? >> well, i >> i wanted to pick up on something else mentioned earlier which is this extraordinary statement to "the new york post" that manafort pardon is on the table. >> the president also repeated that on the south lawn today. >> i've really liked their take on this. that to me is extraordinary to signal to a potentially serious, potentially fatal witness against you. maybe not fatal but serious witness against you. that he could be in line for a pardon that to me is close to obstruction in plain sight. >> let me also say the president today again said that michael cohen is weak and a liar, unlike other people. clearly he means somebody else. we can infer manafort. >> somebody else, to ruth's point, is probably manafort. on one hand, the president has unfettered power under the constitution to pardon whoever he wants for any federal crime. on the other hand, it's actually not completely unfeathered. here's why, if he's doing it for a corrupt purpose, then it could be obstruction of

and ruth marcus is with us as well. >> ac, are we seeing an uptick in membership of white supremacistcal environment is more inviting for them to express their twisted view of reality? >> what if i told you it was both? we started seeing people who track these movements, 2015-2016 we started seeing a massive uptick in this area, new groups, new publications, new energy, people taking to the streets. i think a lot of those people were emboldened by a political moment. we have people in power or people moving toward power who are giving us possibly the opportunity to realize our goals. we have achievable goals in sight now. i think it's a combination of both. >> jonathan weissman, obviously hate crimes against jews and other members of american society have spiked over the past year, year and a half since donald trump became president of the united states. i ask you the same question, though. are we actually seeing an expansion of these groups, an expansion of membership? or are they just feeling more bold because they believe, if you believe what david duke and others post on social me

. >> ruth marcus. >> a little bit more downbead. about rigged elections and not talking about democratic mobs. but i'm looking for the elected official who is willing to separate himself or herself from trump, not somebody who's a lame duck but somebody who is elected -- martha mcsally could have ran differently, but ran closely to trump, mimicking his style. want to see the new republican party. not sure it's there yet. >> mika, final thoughts? >> former head mistress of the school had a motto, function in disaster, finish in style. martha mcsally did that. she finished in style. great for the republican party in my opinion. that does it for us this morning. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage. >> finish in style. i'll going to take that one with me. starting of course in california where 44 people now dead and so many people still missing in what has become the most destructive wildfire in california history. >> i just wanted to say bye or i love them one last time because i didn't know if i would ever see them