PBS NewsHour full episode August 11, 2017

JUDY WOODRUFF: Good evening.
I'm Judy Woodruff.
On the "NewsHour" tonight:
DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: He will truly regret it, and he will regret
it fast.
JUDY WOODRUFF: For the third time this week, President Trump warns North Korea that the
U.S. military is ready to strike.
We get reaction from the North Korean capital and from a leading Republican U.S. senator.
And it's Friday.
David Brooks and Ruth Marcus weigh in on the escalating war of words, as Mr. Trump targets
both Pyongyang and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Plus: when art transforms lives.
A new documentary, "Step," captures the hopes, fears and triumphs of young women in Baltimore.
BLESSIN GIRALDO, Student: Believing in someone plays a huge part of confidence and performance
and the outcome of the common goal, which for us is to go to college.
JUDY WOODRUFF: All that and more on tonight's "PBS NewsHour."
(BREAK)
JUDY WOODRUFF: President Trump again denounced North Korea today, saying that the U.S. and
its military was ready to deal with any provocation by the Pyongyang regime.
Special correspondent Nick Schifrin starts us off.
NICK SCHIFRIN: The U.S. military calls Guam the tip of its Pacific spear, and, today,
it showed off bombers that carry more conventional weapons than any other plane.
From Guam, B-1 bombers can reach North Korea in only a few hours.
LT.
COL.
CHRISTOPHER OCCHIUZZO, U.S. Air Force: And that's what this continuous bomber presence
does.
It assures our allies and deters our adversaries.
NICK SCHIFRIN: The military wouldn't detail the bombers' mission, but the message was
clear, as President Trump tweeted this morning: "Military solutions are now fully in place,
locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely.
Hopefully, Kim Jong-un will find another path."
Late this afternoon, he repeated his warning.
DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: I hope that they are going to fully understand
the gravity of what I said.
And what I said is what I mean.
If he does anything with respect to Guam, or anyplace else that's an American territory
or an American ally, he will truly regret it, and he will regret it fast.
NICK SCHIFRIN: On Guam, authorities are taking no chances.
They distributed a fact sheet in case of imminent missile threat.
Instructions include make a list of potential concrete shelters, and do not look at the
flash or fireball.
It can blind you.
In Japan, the military deployed Patriot interceptors in the districts that North Korea promised
its missiles would overfly.
An alarmed world is urging calm.
From German Chancellor Angela Merkel:
ANGELA MERKEL, German Chancellor (through translator): I am firmly convinced that an
escalation of rhetoric will not contribute to a solution of this conflict.
NICK SCHIFRIN: To Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
He called U.S. and North Korean rhetoric over the top, and the risk of conflict high.
SERGEI LAVROV, Russian Foreign Minister (through translator): When you get close to the point
of a fight, the one who is stronger and wiser should be the first to step back from the
brink.
NICK SCHIFRIN: In China, a state-owned newspaper urged both sides to step back.
But it delivered a warning to North Korea, when it wrote, if North Korea attacked first,
China will stay neutral.
Despite the tensions, we learned today that U.S. and North Korean diplomats have had back-channel
discussions that continued after the June release of a comatose American college student
from North Korean custody.
He later died.
Those talks obviously haven't calmed tensions, but they could become a foundation for more
serious negotiations.
We turn now for a view from North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, and Associated Press correspondent
Rafael Wober.
Rafael, thank you very much.
Rafael, during past points of tension, we have seen things like air raid drills, camouflaged
cars in the streets of Pyongyang.
But, today, it's actually quiet.
Why is that?
RAFAEL WOBER, Associated Press: I think that here people in the DPRK, people have lived
with this threat of war for decades.
So, on the streets of Pyongyang, it is still calm.
There isn't preparation that is visible here for war.
But the statement which came from the general in charge of the DPRK's strategic forces -- that's
its missile forces -- that came from him this week is something new, and it sets a bar,
it sets a kind of -- something to try to focus U.S. attention on making steps towards negotiations
sooner, rather than later.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Rafael, here in the U.S., Kim Jong-un is often disparaged.
And I just want to play some sound for you, two pieces, one, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.
Nikki Haley and Senator John McCain.
NIKKI HALEY, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations: This is not a rational person, who
has not had rational acts, who is not thinking clearly.
SEN.
JOHN MCCAIN (R), Arizona: China is the one that can -- the only one that can control
Kim Jong-un, this crazy fat kid that's running North Korea.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Is the U.S. underestimating Kim Jong-un, and what's the impact if it is?
RAFAEL WOBER: I think that foreign analysts have often said that the DPRK, North Korea,
is a country which plays a weak hand very strongly.
So, it is in a difficult position, and the leadership is often characterized in this
way.
Plus, of course, the previous leader of the DPRK, North Korea, Kim Jong Il, the man in
charge before the current leader, Kim Jong-un, he was remembered as saying that one of the
best ways to keep a strong hand is to try to keep things under wraps and not let -- not
give away anything.
And, in fact, there's often the feeling that the Koreans here want to keep the world guessing,
and that's the best way to make a strong position out of not very much.
So, I think that these kinds of assessments from the outside world, the throwaway comments
made often are not really accurate, and I think there's plenty of analysis from experts
over the past weeks, months and years, even going back to the early 1990s, which suggests
that, because, after all, it was back in the early '90s that people thought that the country
would collapse following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
And, in fact, here we are in 2017, and it is still here.
NICK SCHIFRIN: And, Rafael, quickly, can you describe how Kim is different from his predecessors,
who really emphasized the military aspect?
But he has emphasized both the military nuclear program and the economy.
RAFAEL WOBER: I think that, since 2012, which was the first full year that the new leader,
Kim Jong-un, has been in charge, there's certainly been a change.
We have seen it here in discussions with economists here, as well as out and about in farms and
factories, businesses and shops.
And that's called here new economic management methods.
The leadership here, the North Korean government, calls it a dual-track policy (INAUDIBLE) and
Korean, which is developing the national defense industry at the same time as the economy.
Essentially, what has happened is, as economists here have told us, a new method of trying
to free up people in the country to trade and do business and to become more productive
economically.
So, we have seen there is definitely a big increase in economic activity within the country.
Of course, the international sanctions most recently this past weekend, those are having
an effect on the country's ability to trade with the outside world.
But, since 2012, there has been a major step-up in economic activity, people doing business,
trading with each other, being more productive inside the country.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Rafael Wober with the Associated Press in Pyongyang, thank you very much.
RAFAEL WOBER: Thank you very much.
JUDY WOODRUFF: In the day's other news: Kenya's election commission says that President Uhuru
Kenyatta has won a second term.
It follows days of protests by backers of opposition leader Raila Odinga, who claimed
that the vote was rigged.
The commission said Kenyatta won 54 percent of the vote, which it called credible and
fair.
Afterwards, Kenyatta spoke in Nairobi and appealed for unity.
UHURU KENYATTA, Kenyan President: To my worthy competitor, especially the Honorable Raila
Odinga, I reach out to you.
I reach out to all your supporters.
I reach out to all who are elected or are now the opposition ventures.
We shall work together.
JUDY WOODRUFF: But just minutes after the results were announced, there were reports
of protesters clashing with police in opposition strongholds.
Witnesses say they heard gunshots and screaming.
At least 43 people are dead after two passenger trains collided in Egypt today.
It happened just outside the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, and is the country's
deadliest rail accident in over a decade.
More than 120 people were injured.
A train traveling to Cairo crashed into the back of another train, which was waiting at
a station.
It's not clear what caused the accident.
In Venezuela, embattled President Nicolas Maduro now says that he wants a meeting with
President Trump.
It comes amid the country's deepening political crisis and after the U.S. sanctioned the socialist
leader and his allies.
Maduro spoke before members of the new all-powerful Constitutional Assembly, and called for something
to be arranged.
NICOLAS MADURO, Venezuelan President (through translator): Initiate negotiations, so I can
have a personal conversation with Donald Trump.
If you are so interested in Venezuela, here I am.
Here is the chief of your interest, Nicolas Maduro, constitutional president of the Bolivarian
Republic of Venezuela.
Mr. Donald Trump, here is my hand.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Maduro suggested the two could meet at next month's United Nations General
Assembly.
But in the same speech, Maduro ranted against President Trump, calling him -- quote -- "an
emperor."
And late today, Peru expelled Venezuela's ambassador to protest what it sees as a power
grab by Maduro.
The head of the Senate Judiciary Committee said that he no longer expects an imminent
vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court.
There had been speculation in recent months that 81-year-old Justice Anthony Kennedy was
considering retirement.
But Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley, whose committee handles court nominees, said today
-- quote -- "Evidently, that is not going to happen."
There is word that congressional investigators now want to question President Trump's longtime
personal secretary.
ABC News reports that it is part of the probe into last year's meeting between Trump campaign
officials and a Russian lawyer.
The assistant, Rhona Graff, was mentioned in an e-mail exchange between Donald Trump
Jr. and a British publicist who helped set up the meeting.
On Wall Street today, stocks turned slightly higher, after days of jitters over North Korea.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 14 points to close at 21858.
The Nasdaq rose 39.
And the S&P 500 added three.
For the week, the Dow lost about 1 percent.
The Nasdaq and the S&P dropped about 1.5 percent.
Still to come on the "NewsHour": what is the Trump administration's plan for North Korea?;
David Brooks and Ruth Marcus on the escalating war of words from the White House; how an
art program is helping young women in Baltimore go to college; and much more.
We return to our lead story, North Korea.
We want to explore what options are before the Trump administration, and get some insights
into the reclusive North Korean regime.
That comes from retired U.S. Navy Admiral Dennis Blair.
He served as commander of American forces in the Pacific, and later as President Obama's
first director of national intelligence.
And Sue Mi Terry, she spent seven years as a senior Korea analyst at the CIA, and later
as a director on the National Security Council.
And we welcome both of you back to the "NewsHour."
I'm going to start with you, Admiral Blair.
More tough language just in the last few hours from President Trump.
How do you size up where this situation stands right now?
ADM.
DENNIS BLAIR (RET.), Former Commander, U.S. Pacific Command: Well, like many administrations,
this administration believes that when it becomes aware of a problem, it's the first
time that the problem ever existed.
And those of us who have been dealing with North Korea for many years know that its hyperbolic,
threat-laced language, it's nothing new.
That's simply the way it talks.
It has a very small military capability, with -- and talks loud, for both deterrence and
to try to intimidate.
And the military facts are that it's very limited in what it can do.
So, I am unimpressed by this level of talk.
You have to look at the underlying military situations, which hasn't changed, which is
very much in the American and South Korean and Japanese favor.
This is not new, Judy.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, Sue Mi Terry, how are things different this time?
SUE MI TERRY, Former CIA Analyst: Well, I think, honestly, the wild card here is Mr.
Trump, because, as Admiral Blair said, those of us who have been following North Korean
issues for a very long time, we understand that this is how North Korea behaves, Kim
Jong Il and Kim Jong-un, and before that Kim Il-Sung.
This is how North Koreans behave.
So, the wild card here is Mr. Trump, with his rhetoric, very increased rhetoric.
But, honestly, at the end of the day, I'm not sure, even though we say military option
is on the table, if that is something that is really realistic at this juncture, because
North Korea is a nuclear power already.
And they have conventional artillery forces -- I mean, artillery pieces over 10,000 within
60 seconds of Seoul.
And there are 22 million people living in Seoul.
We have 300,000 Americans living in South Korea, never mind 28,5000 American soldiers
in Korea and Japan and so on.
So, I think Mr. Trump putting himself out there on ledge like this just really increases
the risk of, you know, blundering into a conflict that no one really wants.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Is that what you see, Admiral Blair, that could happen?
You said a minute ago the North Koreans have a small capability.
What do you think the prospects are for a conflict?
ADM.
DENNIS BLAIR: I think the prospects for a conflict are really very low.
The facts are known by both the United States and Korea are that if Korea starts a conventional
military conflict, they lose, they lose -- North Korea loses.
The regime -- dictator loses his life.
If they were to use a nuclear weapon against Korea -- or South Korea or Japan, much less
the United States, we would retaliate with nuclear weapons.
They may have 15 or 20.
We have about 2,000.
And it's the end of the regime.
And this is not a suicidal regime.
They operate very cleverly, just below the level of major war or major provocation, which
they know they would lose, and we are seeing more of that now.
So I don't rate the chances of conflict as high.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Sue Mi Terry, you met recently with representatives of North Korea, the DPRK.
What is your assessment of them and their attitude right now, even though you obviously
can't talk to them this minute?
SUE MI TERRY: Right.
No, I think North Koreans are bent on completing their nuclear program.
Kim Jong-un is bent on completing his nuclear arsenal that his father and grandfather had
pursued, at the cost of millions of dollars and billions of lives.
And that, I don't think North Koreans are ready to give up.
They're not going to give up nuclear weapons.
They have said over and over explicitly they are not going to give it up.
It's not up for negotiation anymore.
Maybe Kim Jong Il, his father, was willing to negotiate to get some concessions, but
I don't think that's not longer the case.
I think Kim Jong-un will complete the program.
They said that they are going to continue with testing, even an ICBM test, which they
have followed through with that threat.
So, I think they will continue with this path.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Given that, Admiral Blair, do you see a way out?
ADM.
DENNIS BLAIR: I see the way out as intensification of the current set of measures we're taking
with North Korea.
We don't accept them as a threat, as a nuclear state, despite the reality of their having
a nuclear capability.
We squeeze them very hard economically.
And the new set of U.N. sanctions are good.
We're always ready to talk to them in case they want to actually change the course of
their policy.
We keep our military defenses, both conventional and nuclear, strong, and we wait for this
terrible, brutal dictator, who has oppressed his people, his family has oppressed the people,
to fall, which he eventually will, as other dictators have.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Sue Mi Terry, how do you see this playing out?
SUE MI TERRY: I agree with Admiral Blair's assessment completely.
I think we need to continue with our pressure, our sanctions, even if we have to go after
a secondary boycott against Chinese banks and entities that do illicit business with
North Korea to keep on the pressure on the Chinese.
We have to do that.
And I would just add, I think, also, information warfare against the North Korean regime is
very important, because, at the end of the day, under this regime, not much is going
to change.
And we need a different regime coming into North Korea.
And when we say regime change, I'm not talking about a military strike or decapitation at
the head.
I'm talking about helping North Korean people bring about the change that we need.
And that should be the long-term gain.
And, before that, its should be containment, deterrence, and pressure.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And just quickly, Admiral Blair, any doubt in your mind that the U.S. and its
allies can deter the North Koreans before they do serious damage, wreak serious havoc
on the region or on the U.S.?
ADM.
DENNIS BLAIR: I'm very confident of that, Judy.
This dictatorship has a highly refined sense of self-preservation.
And attacking the United -- conducting a major attack on the United States is a recipe for
the end of the regime, not for the continuation.
And if this regime can do anything, it can do what's necessary to survive.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Admiral Dennis Blair, Sue Mi Terry, we thank you both.
SUE MI TERRY: Thank you for having us on.
Thank you.
ADM.
DENNIS BLAIR: You're welcome, Judy.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And just moments ago, President Trump addressed cameras again.
He said he plans -- he said there is a military option to solve the current crisis in Venezuela.
Mr. Trump also indicated that, by September 1, the U.S. will have a response to Russia
for expelling diplomats, American diplomats.
And on North Korea, he said he plans to call the president of China tonight to discuss
it.
Standing with the members of his national security team, the president responded when
asked if his team is all on the same page regarding his strategy and rhetoric about
North Korea.
DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: Totally.
I can tell you totally on the same page.
And, Secretary, maybe you would like to make a statement?
REX TILLERSON, U.S. Secretary of State: Well, I think it takes a combined message there
if we're going to get effective movement out of the regime in North Korea.
I think the president has made it clear he prefers a diplomatic solution.
I think he responded to that, in effect, just a moment ago.
So, I think what the president is doing is trying to support our efforts by ensuring
North Korea understands what the stakes are.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And that was the president and the secretary of state just moments ago.
Now we turn to a lawmaker's perspective.
Last night, we heard from Democratic Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland.
Tonight, we get a Republican take from Senator James Risch of Idaho.
He is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committees, and he joins
us now from Boise.
Senator, welcome back to the program.
You just heard the president, and I believe you also heard our guests just before that,
who both said that the president's heated rhetoric over North Korea is making this situation
more unpredictable and potentially more dangerous.
How do you feel about that?
Do you agree with that?
SEN.
JAMES RISCH (R), Idaho: Well, no, I don't agree with that.
I know the media wants to make all this about Donald Trump, as they do everything these
days, but the fact of the matter is, this is all about North Korea.
Donald Trump is going to do nothing but react to whatever North Korea does.
The fate of this whole scenario is not in the hands of Donald Trump.
It's in the hands of the North Koreans.
As far as the -- his statements in that regard, I know a lot of people don't like the way
he talks, don't like his adjectives, don't like his attitude or anything else, but the
only thing more dangerous than what the situation is for him to say nothing about what's on
his mind.
He's very good at conveying exactly what's on his mind.
And in this situation, dealing with North Korea, it is extremely important that those
people understand how strongly he feels about this, what is on his mind and his commitment
to defending America.
I have spoken with the president about this.
No one should underestimate his commitment to defending this country.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, you don't think the president's rhetoric increases the chances of a misunderstanding,
a miscalculation?
SEN.
JAMES RISCH: I don't think it -- I think it does just the opposite.
Whatever North Korea does now, they know and they have heard directly from the president
what he's thinking and what he's going to do to respond.
It's extremely important, because they're the ones that are taking the action, not us.
Everything here is in reaction to what the North Koreans do.
So, I can't underscore enough how important it is that the North Koreans know exactly
what's on Donald Trump's mind and what he's thinking and what he's going to do.
Look, this is a president that's pulled the trigger twice the first six months that he's
been in office.
He's not a ditherer.
We have had ditherers before, if that's a word.
He is not.
He's action-oriented, and he's committed to respond, and I have every belief that he will
respond.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And is it your expectation, then, that there is a likelihood of some sort
of military action?
SEN.
JAMES RISCH: I wouldn't say likelihood.
I don't share the same optimism that your prior two guests had about, oh, this is all
going to be all right.
I agree with them that this is nothing new.
This has been going on for a long time.
But one thing is different, very different, and that is Kim Jong-un is entirely different
than his father and his grandfather.
Both of them had good relations with China.
They got along.
They liked each other.
China had good control over them.
They have no control over this gentleman.
And you heard today China, in a remarkable reversal, said that they'd do nothing to respond
or to protect North Korea if indeed North Korea took kinetic action first.
That is absolutely stunning to hear them say that, when they have -- for decades, they
have taken a different position, although not surprising after last Saturday, when they
voted with us for the first time and the Russians voted with us for the first time condemning
what North Korea is doing.
That was probably one of the most under-reported stories I have seen this year.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Just very quickly, Senator, are you saying that you see there's a -- if
there were a conflict, a military conflict between the U.S. and North Korea, that could
take place without a huge loss of life on the part of American allies, if not Americans
themselves?
SEN.
JAMES RISCH: No.
I'm very concerned about that, as is everyone.
Look, we have got 30,000 troops in South Korea.
There's 22 million, 23 million people living in Seoul, which is reachable by artillery
fire from the DMZ.
This -- there would be loss, there's no question, on our part.
On the other hand, if there were -- if that happened, North Korea would cease to exist
within moments after the conflict started.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Very quick final question.
The president has been very critical of the Senate majority leader this week for failing
to pass health care reform.
Do you think the president is right to criticize and to hold -- and to blame Senator McConnell?
SEN.
JAMES RISCH: Look, both of those -- I know both of the gentlemen very well.
I have been a leader.
I led our state Senate for 20 years.
Leadership is a very, very difficult task.
When you succeed, everything is wonderful.
When you're struggling a bit, things aren't quite as good.
So, Mitch is, in my judgment, doing the best he can under very, very difficult circumstances.
And I think his position is very safe where he is.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Senator James Risch of Idaho, we thank you.
SEN.
JAMES RISCH: Judy, good to be with you.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And to the analysis of Brooks and Marcus.
That's New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post deputy editorial page
editor Ruth Marcus.
Mark Shields is away.
And we welcome both of you.
So, you just heard two very different views from our earlier expert guests on North Korea.
You heard the president again commenting, David, and now Senator Risch.
How do you assess the president's management of this North Korea situation?
DAVID BROOKS: Unusual, I guess.
(LAUGHTER)
DAVID BROOKS: It will come after the war in Venezuela, apparently, we just learned.
I don't know what that was all about.
Listen, there's been a consensus of how to deal with this extremely knotty problem.
And that is, at least on the rhetorical level, the North Korean regime is extremely fiery,
extremely insecure, sometimes hysterical.
And when you're around somebody who's screaming and unstable, the last thing you want to do
is add to the instability with your own unstable, hysterical rhetoric.
And so most administrations, Republican and Democrats, when the North Koreans say they're
going to Seoul into a lake of fire, whatever their rhetoric is, have just ignored it and
relied on some underlying sense that the North Koreans don't want to commit national suicide.
Donald Trump has gone the other way.
Now, I think that is still -- that sense that neither party wants to go into a war is still
there.
But the psychological probabilities that you're going to enter into some August 1914 miscalculation
certainly go up when both people are screaming at the top of their lungs.
JUDY WOODRUFF: But, Ruth, you Justice Department heard Senator Risch, who says he talks to
the White House.
And he said: I have talked to the president, and we think being very clear with North Korea
is the best way to go.
RUTH MARCUS: Yes.
Well, David used the term unusual.
I think it's just absolutely scary.
And I didn't feel calmed down listening to Senator Risch, I have to say.
But there's a couple of positive things to say about President Trump here, just to surprise
people for a second.
One is that this situation with North Korea is not his fault.
In other words, we were going to get to this.
Some president was going to end up in the terrible situation we have with the progress
that North Korea has made with nuclear weapons.
He just happens to be the president.
Number two, they were doing a very good job, until this latest eruptions of kind of bullying
testosterone this week, in terms of pursuing what needs to be done, which is the diplomatic
sanctions.
Senator Risch is right about the achievement in the Security Council.
But, all of a sudden, we saw this week these statements, and you would have thought Tuesday
that maybe it was an eruption and they'd tamp it down.
And, instead, day after day after day, he's coming out saying more scary and dangerous
things.
And I do not understand how that is anything but destabilizing, and with a very already
unstable ally.
JUDY WOODRUFF: I mean, David, people are -- we have heard from world leaders, the Russians,
the Chinese.
We heard from Angela Merkel today.
We hear from U.S. politicians.
Not all Republicans, but some Republicans, are joining the Democrats in saying, tone
this down.
But the president, no sign that he's going to do that.
DAVID BROOKS: Yes.
Well, it could be that he thinks the North Koreans are undeterrable, and that this is
not a usual regime, maybe because they have this new leader, and that you actually do
have to take action.
He could be -- he believes that.
It could be he just likes to blunder.
It's always dangerous to overinterpret what Donald Trump says at any one moment.
And it could be he thinks the madman theory is right theory here.
And the madman...
JUDY WOODRUFF: Remind everybody what the madman -- because it sounds scary.
(LAUGHTER)
DAVID BROOKS: The madman theory is that you can be a successful deterrer if you -- if
they think you could be crazy.
And so I think it can be very effective, so long as you're not actually crazy.
And so we have a North Korean, we're not really sure.
We have a president who has his moments.
And so the madman theory, when both people could actually be crazy, is actually a very
dangerous situation.
RUTH MARCUS: Right.
There's two problems with the madman theory.
Richard Nixon was a proponent of it, but that was kind of strategic and thought out.
Donald Trump is no Richard Nixon.
And is he going to really out-crazy -- who's going to out-crazy who here?
That's a scary thing.
There's one other potential argument for what Trump is doing.
And, as I say, I do not think this is the right way to go.
The right way to go is quiet, determined diplomacy.
But he may not be trying to rattle the North Koreans and send a message to the North Koreans,
as much as he's trying to send a message to the Chinese, like, hey, I'm serious, you guys
better get your act together here, or things are going to really escalate.
But this is way too high-stakes to be performing this way.
DAVID BROOKS: Yes, the only thing I would say to that is, we have all been -- and interviewed
or been around people who have been in combat.
They never actually raise their voice.
If they have a message to send to the Chinese of that sort, they do it in a calm, serious
way: I have been through this.
I know what it is.
You know who I am.
The people who raise their voices and say lock and load and say fire and fury, those
are the people who have never actually been in combat.
And he just reminds you so much of one of those people.
RUTH MARCUS: And speaking of combat, we really need to be clear, as you asked the senator.
The military option is catastrophic.
It's just a question of how catastrophic.
That's why no president has done it previously.
Others have considered it and even come close.
So, there are two options, pursue -- two sensible options -- pursue diplomacy or learn to live
with the situation.
We should be pursuing diplomacy.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Which is what all the -- quote, unquote -- "experts" are saying, just calm
the rhetoric down and start thinking about how we have this dialogue that's already been
started.
It's still there.
The president's going to hold a news conference, David, they just announced, on Monday.
But he's already been talking to the press.
Yesterday, he made some statements that I guess are still being dissected, one of them
about President Putin of Russia, thanking him for kicking out over 700 U.S. diplomats
and saying, this is going to save the United States taxpayers money.
This is something -- what Putin did has been criticized by everybody else we have heard
of, including Republicans.
How do we read this?
DAVID BROOKS: Yes.
And, of course, the White House press office said it was sarcasm.
Whenever Trump says something unusual, it's always a joke.
RUTH MARCUS: And the president kind of repeated that in his last -- his latest press conference.
JUDY WOODRUFF: He did.
DAVID BROOKS: Yes.
Right.
JUDY WOODRUFF: He did.
DAVID BROOKS: And the -- I think the significant thing here is that Russians monkeyed with
our election.
And a lot of people in Congress, even Republicans, are upset by this.
A lot of people around the country are upset by this have done -- the Russians have done
a lot of things to threaten the world order.
And at every step along the way, including this little comment, Donald Trump always wants
to walk that back, always wants to ratchet it back.
He's willing to tweet angrily about members of his own party, about members of his own
government, about anybody around the world, except for one person.
And we can all either...
JUDY WOODRUFF: And that's Putin.
DAVID BROOKS: And that's Putin -- and psychoanalyze or maybe political analyze.
But it's a consistent pattern with this guy.
JUDY WOODRUFF: It's -- it's -- what's the word?
(LAUGHTER)
RUTH MARCUS: Well, continuing my effort to find some theory here, you could argue that
perhaps President Trump was trying to show that Putin, uniquely among people, was not
getting under his skin, that his little sanctions weren't bothering him.
So, if we didn't have -- if it was just this one episode, I don't think it would have had
the kind of global response of, oh, my lord, what's going on here that it did.
It's the broader setting of all the ways in which Trump has consistently failed to stand
up to Putin, or to stand up to Russian meddling, or to even actually assert that he acknowledges
that it existed in the election.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, someone who has gotten under his skin is the Senate majority leader,
as we just mentioned.
I just asked Senator Risch about it, David.
The president has gone out of his way three or four times in a row now to go after the
majority leader, the Republican leader in the Senate, for failing to get health care
reform passed.
Does he -- he's venting.
He's clearly unhappy and frustrated.
But does he run the risk of jeopardizing some of the other things he wants to get done this
year?
DAVID BROOKS: Well, clearly, politics is a team sport.
Trump is not so much of a team player.
Politically, I think it helps him.
Republicans really do not like Republican leaders in Congress.
So I understand, politically, why he's doing it.
But if he wants a legislative agenda, it's crazy.
To me, the interesting question is...
(CROSSTALK)
JUDY WOODRUFF: Wait a minute.
I want to go back.
You said Republicans do not like Republican leaders, meaning Republican voters?
DAVID BROOKS: If you talk to Trump voters around the country, they're not...
(CROSSTALK)
RUTH MARCUS: Right.
Right.
Certainly his base.
DAVID BROOKS: His base, yes.
RUTH MARCUS: Right.
Right.
DAVID BROOKS: But the question for me is, how is McConnell going to respond?
You don't want to get in a Twitter war with this guy, clearly.
I think what you want to do is ratchet up some of the cost.
Like, some of the other bad leaders around the world, Trump responds to pressure.
And can McConnell say, hey, I'm not going to get in a war with you, but if you do this,
we will hold up your nominees, if you do this, we will start an investigation into this or
that
I think that you have got -- McConnell has to defend his institution.
He has to defend the Republicans in the Senate, who are extremely annoyed at Donald Trump.
He's got to defend his own standing.
And he can't let the leader of his own party walk all over him without some kind of actual
response.
RUTH MARCUS: And it was clear from Senator Risch, if you ask Republican senators, who
are increasingly concerned about -- and I'm understanding it -- President Trump, what
they're going to be -- they're on team McConnell, not team Trump, from Senator Risch to Senator
Collins and everybody in between, if they had to choose sides.
This is not smart, OK?
The president needs to have -- first of all, he's not taking any responsibility for the
failure of his health care plan.
Yes, he's right that they voted umpty ump times to pass it, and then, when their bluff
was called, they were unwilling to do it.
But Senator McConnell is working with a very slim majority.
It's not surprising that he was unable to get it across the line.
He worked really hard at it.
Now he needs Senator McConnell's help on other things.
He should be sending Senator McConnell a thank you note, because he's the one who gave him
his one big legislative win, which is the Supreme Court justice.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Supreme Court, right, the justice.
RUTH MARCUS: So, I don't understand picking this fight.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And, David, you hear from Republicans that the White House wasn't engaged in this
health care -- we talked about it on this program -- in the health care...
DAVID BROOKS: Look at how Obama worked to pass Obamacare, what, 28 national speeches,
touring around the country.
Look at 1986 tax reform, which was also a major legislative accomplishment.
The Reagan White House was involved in that for two years, closely aligned.
You have got -- this really is a team sport.
You really have to work the whole system to get somewhere down the road.
And from what I heard when the senators were going to the White House, they would meet
with Vice President Pence, and they would be having a normal conversation.
Trump would walk in the room and set them back hours, just because of -- his interventions
were so irrelevant or unhelpful.
So, casting aspersions to others is probably not good history of him.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Fifteen seconds.
RUTH MARCUS: Senators don't think, even of the same party, that they work for the president.
And even though Trump's base might enjoy this fight, I don't think others are.
They want to see something get done.
JUDY WOODRUFF: OK.
On that note, David Brooks, Ruth Marcus, thank you both.
Next: A new documentary captures the power of art to change lives.
"Step" follows students from the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women, or BLSYW.
It's a middle and high school.
As an art form, step started in Africa and became popular in the United States as it
was adopted and transformed by members of predominantly African-American fraternities
and sororities.
BLSYW has one primary goal for its students: 100 percent college acceptance.
But you will see, that wasn't the only success.
Have a look.
PAULA DOFAT, Director of College Counseling, Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women:
Step is not dance.
Dancing or step dancing or a dance number?
No, it's step.
BLESSIN GIRALDO, Student: Step is life because it taught me a lot about myself.
PAULA DOFAT: Making good use of your body.
Your body makes the percussion.
Clapping, stomping, military movement, the spoken word, gymnastics, cheerleading, making
literally music with your bodies.
BLESSIN GIRALDO: That was the first place where I could practice my natural abilities,
being a leader, teaching discipline, learning how to be disciplined.
I'm Blessin Giraldo.
I'm the captain of the BLSYW step team, also the founder.
PAULA DOFAT: I was their first step team adviser, not their coach, but their adviser.
My name is Paula Dofat.
I'm the director of college counseling for the Baltimore Leadership School for Young
Women.
GARI MCINTYRE, Coach: I was hired just to coach the ladies.
My hidden agenda was to mentor them.
My name is Gari McIntyre, also known as Coach G.
BLESSIN GIRALDO: She wanted us to use our voice, black women, not only a minority, but
from an urban community like Baltimore.
PAULA DOFAT: I want to have three main principles that we follow, solidarity, discipline and
self-esteem.
STUDENT: I like the step because it's empowering.
STUDENT: It's a form of art that brings us all together.
BLESSIN GIRALDO: Believing in someone plays a huge part of confidence and performance
and the outcome of the common goal, which for us is to go to college.
PAULA DOFAT: I was put on earth to do this kind of work, to be a college counselor, to
help students to get from point A to point B on their success plan.
GARI MCINTYRE: I have a purpose.
And no matter what you're doing, when people show your appreciation, you feel refueled
and you feel like your purpose has been met.
BLESSIN GIRALDO: It kind of makes me really emotional, because I don't know where I would
be without my school.
And I feel like I was put in this predicament.
I would consider myself one of the lucky ones from our city.
GARI MCINTYRE: I think without the structure of BLSYW, step, and Paula Dofat, a lot of
these girls would be lost, as I was when I graduated high school.
PAULA DOFAT: From the time they come in, in sixth grade, they're taught about self-advocacy,
they're taught about the support of their sisters, they're taught about taking responsibility
for their actions.
BLESSIN GIRALDO: I wouldn't blame anyone else but myself, but it was somebody that I had
to battle with every day to not be defeated, not having the best amount of support in my
immediate environment, which wasn't at BLSYW, or maybe not having food in our refrigerator,
or not having the lights.
GARI MCINTYRE: Step, I truly think, is what gave them the discipline, what gives them
the drive to keep on going academically, because you can't be on the step team if your grades
are not right.
BLESSIN GIRALDO: Being a subject of a documentary, signing up for that, it wasn't easy.
It was really hard.
You want to inspire, but, in order to do that, you have to be honest.
And that's how you lead with integrity.
PAULA DOFAT: Most people, the first thing they -- the word that comes to mind when they
have seen the film and their reaction is that it's inspiring, not just their struggles,
but how they triumph over their struggles.
BLESSIN GIRALDO: It's not brave if you're not afraid.
There were moments when I felt like I did want to cut the camera off.
I knew that that moment was probably a moment of where I might have felt embarrassed or
had to take a double-take of if I wanted somebody to see this.
PAULA DOFAT: We are absolutely exceptional, but I don't think we are the exception.
We did it in year two, class of 2017, 100 percent college acceptance, and we took it
up one notch.
Ten percent of that graduating class are on full-ride scholarships.
BLESSIN GIRALDO: The day the documentary premiered in Baltimore, there was no murders that day,
August 4.
And, to me, I felt like that was a symbol of how much this movie can unite people and
change people's perceptions of Baltimore.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Powerful.
And we will be back shortly with how parents can respond to racism found in classic children's
stories.
But, first, take a moment to hear from your local PBS station.
It's a chance to offer your support, which helps to keep programs like ours on the air.
FOR THOSE STATIONS STILL WITH US, WE TAKE A SECOND LOOK AT THE HISTORY AND CULTURE IN
TUNISIA, THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE ARAB SPRING.
ITS DEMOCRACY IS NEW AND FRAGILE, AND ITS ECONOMY HAS BEEN HURT BY TERRORIST ACTS THAT
HAVE SCARED AWAY TOURISTS.
BUT AMONG THE SIGNS OF HOPE, A RISE IN CITIZEN EFFORTS TO TAKE PART IN THE NATION'S POLITICAL
AND CULTURAL LIFE.
JEFFREY BROWN HAS OUR STORY, WHICH ORIGINALLY AIRED THIS SPRING.
JEFFREY BROWN: The Medina of Tunis, the old center of the city, dating back to the seventh
century, its narrow walkways, vibrant colors, and grand architecture evoke a rich past.
Now nestled within a sprawling modern city, the Medina remains a home to some 100,000
residents, 15,000 homes, 700 monuments, and abundant commerce within its sprawling souks,
or markets.
For hundreds of years, places like this were the heart of life in the Arab world.
The question today is how to preserve something of that old character, even as the society
around them changes.
Architect Zoubeir Mouhli grew up here in the Medina, and now heads an organization to preserve
it.
ZOUBEIR MOUHLI, Association for the Preservation of the Medina (through interpreter): When
I was a student, I dreamed of working in the Medina because I knew there were so many hidden
things people didn’t know about that are incredibly valuable.
JEFFREY BROWN: For him, this place represents a way of life, an alternative to the modern
city.
ZOUBEIR MOUHLI (through interpreter): There is no soul there.
Everything is done for the cars, not for the people, not for the pedestrians, not for the
people who want to see each other, to talk to each other, to go and have a coffee together.
All this is so important to me.
JEFFREY BROWN: Dramatic change came to the Medina starting in the 1950s, as the era of
French rule ended.
Many laborers from the countryside moved in seeking work, while elites and those with
means left for the new suburbs, which continue to develop today.
The Medina was ignored, and slowly decayed.
ZOUBEIR MOUHLI (through interpreter): The Medina was considered an archaic space that
was contrary to the country’s modernization, and even the cause of our underdevelopment
and the reason for the French protectorate.
JEFFREY BROWN: By the time the Medina was added to a U.N. list of places of special
cultural importance in 1979, more than half its buildings were in disrepair or ruins.
But changes in the country are also changing the Medina.
In late 2010, a Tunisian fruit vendor set himself ablaze, setting off a chain of protests
that overturned the country’s dictator, Abidine Ben Ali, and spread across the region
as the Arab Spring.
Tunisia has been the only country thus far to successfully transition out of protests
into a democracy.
Among much else, that unleashed new civic pride and an interest in preserving the country’s
culture, one influenced by Roman, Ottoman, Arabic and European traditions.
LEILA BEN GACEM, Hotel Owner: This house was on sale in 2006.
I bought it from a family that lived here for 300 years.
JEFFREY BROWN: Three hundred?
LEILA BEN GACEM: Yes.
JEFFREY BROWN: For Leila Ben Gacem, that meant rehabilitating an old home to turn it into
a boutique hotel, a project that required working with local artisans, tile specialists,
woodworkers, gypsum carvers, who understood the materials and artistic styles.
LEILA BEN GACEM: These stones could be recycled from the destroyed site of Carthage.
JEFFREY BROWN: You mean the ancient archaeological site of Carthage, yes, not far from us.
LEILA BEN GACEM: Yes.
The tiles could have came with the Andalusians.
JEFFREY BROWN: Yes, in Spain.
LEILA BEN GACEM: In Spain.
The arches could have came from the Ottomans.
So it’s the blend that makes Tunisia today.
JEFFREY BROWN: It was difficult work.
The house had to be entirely retrofitted with modern plumbing and electricity.
Not a good place for a car.
LEILA BEN GACEM: No, that’s why taxi drivers hate to drive in here.
JEFFREY BROWN: And the area faces all kinds of challenges, including maintaining enough
infrastructure to hold onto old businesses and attract new investment.
LEILA BEN GACEM: Since the birth of the Medina in the seventh century, eighth century, there
always been an ecosystem of traders, of artisans, of businesses.
So the trading sectors change with time.
And I think to convert the Medina into a cultural artistic destination, that needs a whole new
ecosystem to be developed now.
On Saturday mornings, there’s a calligraphy class and next door a workshop on bookbinding,
taught by Mohamed Ben Sassi, whose shop is just down the street.
He’s thought to be the last bookbinder working in the Medina, and is eager to reach a new
generation.
MOHAMED BEN SASSI, Master Bookbinder (through interpreter): There is nobody, no one left.
For 40 years, I worked in the national library, and there was nobody to do this job, 40 years.
The book will never go away.
It has witnessed many gales and thunderbolts and disasters.
It is still here.
JEFFREY BROWN: Up the street is a beautiful, but dilapidated building called La Rachidia,
opened in the 1930s and once one of the most famous concert venues in North Africa.
Here, volunteers are digitizing sheet music, historical documents, concert posters and
photographs found sitting in boxes, saving traditional Tunisian music known as malouf.
And then there’s a project called MedinaPedia in the belly of an old Christian church, where
another group of volunteers is documenting every building and monument in the area, researching
famous residents, and uploading that information to Wikipedia, a variety of projects, committed
people, young and old.
Everyone we spoke to said it will be important to move forward in a way that maintains the
character and the inhabitants of the Medina, even while trying to attract tourists to a
country in desperate need of the economic boost they bring.
Despite the many challenges the government here faces, Leila Ben Gacem says cultural
heritage should continue to be one of its priorities.
LEILA BEN GACEM: The government underestimates the potential of heritage and culture in creating
opportunities, and maybe they even think of it as something for elite or something as
a luxury.
In the meantime, civil society is very active today in investing, investing time, money,
energy, advocacy to restore such beautiful spaces and bring back the magic to the Medina.
JEFFREY BROWN: A magic found in every tile and stone.
For the PBS NewsHour, I’m Jeffrey Brown in the Medina of Tunis.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Hopefully, summer vacation has allowed many of you to catch up on your
reading.
Tonight, beloved children's book author Grace Lin asks us to think back on the books we
read as children and are still reading today.
She offers her Humble Opinion on how some of our favorite characters may need some reconsideration.
GRACE LIN, Children's Author: Do you have an old children's book you love, one of those
classic books that you read with your kids because your parents read it with you, and
so on?
Well, there's a good chance that it might be racist.
Whenever I say this, people get so offended, and I'm always a little surprised.
You do realize that these books were written 60, 70, maybe 100 years ago?
Don't you think the world was a little more prejudiced back then?
So, why wouldn't the books be too?
Here's an example.
When I was about 8, all my friends were reading "Little House on the Prairie."
Do you remember it?
Well, one of the lines repeated throughout the series is, "Ma hates Indians."
Anytime Pa tries to say something good about Indians, Ma bristles.
She just hates them that much.
I never really thought about that, until one day, a friend and I decided to play "Little
House on the Prairie."
My friend said to me: "You be Ma, and I will be Laura.
I'm going out, and you're worried about Indians, because Ma hates Indians."
So, my friend leaves, and I am all alone, telling myself, I'm worried because Ma hates
Indians.
Ma hates Indians.
And as I repeat these words, suddenly, it hits me.
If Ma hates Indians, what would she think of me, an Asian-American girl?
If Ma hates Indians, wouldn't she probably hate me too?
And, at 8 years old, I felt the impact of that racism.
It was a horrible feeling.
In that instant, I realized I might always be a foreigner in my own country, and that
people could hate me just because of the way I looked.
But here's the flip side.
A few years later, I heard my uncle say that he didn't want my cousin to be friends with
another kid because he was black.
I did a double-take.
How could my dear uncle say something like that?
But then I remembered "Little House on the Prairie," and how Ma, loving, kind Ma, hated
Indians.
And I suddenly understood.
Sometimes, good people, people you love, aren't always right.
And that is how I feel about these classic books.
I'm not saying we should ban them.
I'm saying we should treat them like out-of-touch relatives.
We all have that aunt or uncle, or maybe even a parent, who believes in things you don't
agree with.
You can still love that relative, and you can still let them be a part of your child's
life.
But because you know they might say something you don't like, don't you try to keep an extra
ear open, in case they say something in front of your child?
And then, don't you explain afterwards?
That's what I'm saying about these classic children's books.
Read them, share them, even love them, but make sure you talk to your kids about them,
too.
JUDY WOODRUFF: On the "NewsHour" online right now: There were new developments this week
in three cases of police misconduct around the country, all of them involving body cameras.
We take a look at what happened and what's next for the families of the victims, as well
as the officers.
That and more is on our Web site, PBS.org/NewsHour.
And tune in later tonight to "Washington Week," where Robert Costa and guests break down President
Trump's fighting words.
And that's the "NewsHour" for tonight.
I'm Judy Woodruff.
Have a great weekend.
Thank you, and we will see you soon.

PBS NewsHour full episode August 11, 2017

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