OPINION - Shields and Brooks 3/1/2019

"Shields and Brooks on Cohen testimony, North Korea summit" PBS NewsHour 3/1/2019

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to analyze the week in politics, including reverberations from Michael Cohen’s appearance before the House Oversight Committee and conclusions from the Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi.

Judy Woodruff (NewsHour):  It has been a turbulent week in the Trump administration, from hours of damning testimony from the President's former personal lawyer, to the collapse of nuclear talks with North Korea.

To help navigate the different twists and turns, we turn to Shields and Brooks.  That is syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks.

Welcome to both of you.  Are you ready to navigate the twists and turns?

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

David Brooks, New York Times:  Just another week in Caligula's Rome.

(LAUGHTER)

Mark Shields, syndicated columnist:  Ooh.

Judy Woodruff:  Ooh.

All right, on that note, we're going to talk about Michael Cohen's testimony all day long this Wednesday, David, before the House Oversight Committee, Government Oversight Committee.

What was your main takeaway from it?

David Brooks:  There were some things we learned.

We learned that Trump asked about the Moscow building project all the way through the campaign.  We learned about the $35,000 check.  We learned a few things.

But, to me, it was more of a moral occasion, more than anything else.

Judy Woodruff:  A moral occasion?

David Brooks:  A moral occasion.

What it illustrates is a President and, frankly, Michael Cohen who long ago decided that celebrity and wealth is more important than being a good person.  And they have dragged us all down there with us.

And the people they have dragged most effectively are the House Republicans, a lot of them on that committee, who decided that they were completely incurious about whether Donald Trump was a good guy or a bad guy or a really awful guy, that — their own leader, they didn't seem to care about that, but they were going to rip the skin off Michael Cohen.

And so they attacked him.  And what struck me is how moral corrosion happens, that you decide you're going to defend or ignore Trump, and then to do that, you have to morally distance yourself from him.  And then you have to morally distance yourself from him every day.

And, eventually, you just get numb to everything.  And so Jim Jordan and other people on the committee were saying, oh, we all knew this, like, it's all unremarkable.  And so that's — that's how moral corrosion happens.

Judy Woodruff:  How did you see the — I mean, was it — what role did the Republican questioning take, when most of them went after Michael Cohen, as David was saying, rather than talking about President Trump?

Mark Shields:  They took the old attack route, Judy, which is, if you can't argue the substance, you go after the source.  If you can't deal with the message, you shoot the messenger.

And that's what their whole strategy was.  The very fact that not a single member of the Republican committee defended Donald Trump or what he was charged or alleged to have done, to me, was revealing.  They just decided to go after Michael Cohen.

Now, it was — Michael Cohen's defects are there.  They're on the record.  He's going to pay for them, the legal defects in particular.  But there was no payoff for him to lie.  I mean, the Mueller crowd was sitting there, the Mueller, special counsel office.

They know exactly what he said.  If he said anything that was false or perjured himself, he faced further problems from them.  So there was a strong incentive for him not to lie.

And, to me, it reminded me of scripture's injunction that the meek will inherit the earth.  If that's the case, then the congressional Republicans someday will be land barons, because they are the meekest, most docile, most submissive group of people when it comes to any judgment at all, any opinion on what Donald Trump does.

Judy Woodruff:  Well, David — go ahead, David.

David Brooks:  What strikes me is that they don't fear final judgment.

I don't mean that in the ultimate sense, just like…

Mark Shields:  Primary judgment.

David Brooks:  Primary judgment.

The idea that you can side and suborn your soul to someone who lies constantly, and that you won't ultimately pay for that, how does that work?  Michael Cohen ultimately paid.  In my suspicion, Donald Trump will ultimately pay.  Most people who lie and cheat their way through life ultimately pay.  Maybe some get away from it.

But why you would want to hitch your career to that kind of wagon is just a mystery to me, because that's just not the way the law of the universe works.

Judy Woodruff:  But, of course, the Republican argument, Mark, is that Michael Cohen is a flawed character, that he's lied before, he's lied a lot.  Why should we believe him now?

Mark Shields:  Well, I mean, I just come back to the — there was no incentive and there was a strong disincentive for him to lie on — in his appearance under oath on television before the world.

So, I mean, everybody in the world could hear what he was saying.  And it could be stacked up to what he had — he had previously said and sworn to.  So, no.  And he acknowledged the fact.

I mean, you spend 10 years with Donald Trump, and it's going to come at a moral cost.  I'm sorry.  I mean, that is the lesson we have learned.  The one person in this entire administration that has gotten away with a reputation enhanced seems to be Nikki Haley.  Everybody else who's near him [Trump] is somehow tarnished, diminished, hurt, wounded by that association.

It is absolutely remarkable.  I think…

(CROSSTALK)

David Brooks:  Dan Coats.  You can think of a few.

(CROSSTALK)

Mark Shields:  Yes, Dan Coats.  Yes, Dan Coats.  You're Right.

David Brooks:  He's the Director of National Intelligence.

Judy Woodruff:  Yes.

David Brooks:  The thing that got me about Cohen is, how many times did you become a thug to small businessmen to stiff them for dealing with the Trump administration?

Mark Shields:  Yes.

David Brooks:  Five hundred times.

Mark Shields:  Yes.

David Brooks:  And so that's — I don't know if it's illegal or what.

But it's unbecoming in the extreme.  And so I don't treat Michael Cohen as sort of the repented Chuck Colson.  I mean, he — I think he didn't have any the air of someone who's really repented or really faced the spiritual music.  He's just decided one side is against his interest, which is Donald Trump, and now the other side is for his interest, so he will say things that are nice for his interests.

I don't think he lied.  I think what he told was basically the truth, but he was basically catering now to the left and some sort of GoFundMe campaign that will help pay his legal bills.

Judy Woodruff:  But does this advance…

(CROSSTALK)

Mark Shields:  I don't know.  I don't have that kind of moral X-Ray.

(LAUGHTER)

Mark Shields:  I mean, I don't know if he was a sinner and became a saint.

I will say this.  The story of 500 people did you threaten or entities, did you threaten on Donald Trump's behalf, it was a good question asked by Congresswoman Speier from California.  And it was a — and he said 500 — 50, 100, 200, 500.  Let's say 500.

And — but the thing about it is, when he stiffed those small business — the plumbers and the electricians who did the work in the Trump projects, and he came back, and Donald Trump loved to hear about it, I mean, reveled in it.

Now, I mean, at what point do you say that there's no honor here?  I mean, there's nothing to admire.

Judy Woodruff:  And he made a point of telling that — of sharing that…

(CROSSTALK)

Mark Shields:  He did.  He was not — he did not set out to flatter…

(CROSSTALK)

Judy Woodruff:  But quickly, to both of you, does this advance the case against Donald Trump, advance the case of impeachment, David?

David Brooks:  I think a little.

We know the Trump Tower stuff in Moscow, the hush money.  I tend to think there's much more — and, actually, everybody agrees, and I agree too, that AOC, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, did a very good job of laying down specific questions for specific predicates.

And she focused quite a lot on the business side of the Trump empire.  And if I'm a Republican, I'm thinking there's a lot of bad news to come from there, and just whether it's taxes for all — whether it's other things.

And that's what the Southern District of New York is looking into.  And so I think I'm less concerned that — there seems to be less to the Russia collusion and a lot more to everything else.

Mark Shields:  I agree.

I mean, he advanced the collusion case not at all, but he certainly laid out — I mean, he gave them leads, suggestions, people to talk to, to interview, and I would say enough stuff to keep several committees going.

I did want to give a shout-out to Elijah Cummings, the chairman of the committee.

Judy Woodruff:  The chair.

Mark Shields:  I thought he did a good job.

I mean, I thought there was an earnestness and a directness about him.  And I thought his summation is worth repeating and thinking about for all Americans, that this is important and we have got to return to normal.  This is not normal.

TRUMP FAILURE - North Korean Summit

The build-up:

"Can U.S. post-war relationship with Vietnam serve as a model for North Korea?" PBS NewsHour 2/26/2019

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SUMMARY:  In Vietnam, President Trump is preparing to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un -- and the summit's location isn't a mere coincidence.  Indeed, U.S. officials are touting the rapprochement and economic ties that now exist between the U.S. and Vietnam, only decades after brutal warfare divided them.  Nick Schifrin reports on whether U.S.-Vietnam relations can serve as a model for North Korea.

"In Hanoi, Trump looks to develop a ‘phased’ North Korean denuclearization" PBS NewsHour 2/27/2019

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SUMMARY:  Last June's summit between President Trump and Kim Jong Un marked the first time a sitting U.S. President met a North Korean leader.  Now the two are convening in Vietnam, whose economic resurgence U.S. officials hope can serve as an incentive for North Korea to prioritize cooperation with the U.S.  Judy Woodruff talks to Nick Schifrin, who is reporting from Hanoi, about the summit's policy goals.

"What Trump’s personal relationship with Kim Jong Un means for U.S. policy" PBS NewsHour 2/27/2019

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SUMMARY:  Last June, President Trump called his first meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a new chapter in the historically adversarial relationship between the two nations.  Since then, American policy toward North Korea has evolved from demanding complete denuclearization to emphasizing peace on the Korean peninsula.  Nick Schifrin reports from Hanoi on how and why that change has taken place.

The collapse:

Kim sucker-punches Trump, again.  So much for the 'good relationship.'
Trump does not understand Kim.  Kim does NOT care about money issues, he ONLY cares about his personal power at home and the world, which overrides all other considerations.  Kim is not about to give up his ONLY negotiating tool, Nuclear Weapons.  After all, the only reason for the summit was Kim's Nuclear Weapons.

"After months of buildup, Hanoi talks conclude early — with no deal" PBS NewsHour 2/28/2019

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SUMMARY:  After 8,000 miles of travel and hours of high-stakes discussion, President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walked away from the Hanoi summit without a deal.  U.S. officials said that while North Korea agreed to reduce its nuclear facilities, their concessions didn't warrant the requested lifting of U.S. sanctions.  Nick Schifrin reports on the much-anticipated meeting's abrupt conclusion.

TRUMP DIPLOMACY - Disaster in the Making?

"‘Fear not,’ Pompeo reassures as senators raise foreign policy concerns" PBS NewsHour 7/25/2018

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SUMMARY:  Two months, two summits, two mysteries: What did President Trump promise in his meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un?  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo faced the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to defend the administration and reassure lawmakers, while both Republicans and Democrats repeatedly expressed concerns.  Nick Schifrin reports.

"Risch: Give Trump credit on North Korea and ‘be a little patient’" PBS NewsHour 7/25/2018

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SUMMARY:  Did Secretary of State Mike Pompeo successfully address the Senate’s concerns about President Trump's approach to dealing with Russia and North Korea?  Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho) tells Nick Schifrin that Pompeo did an excellent job putting those worries to rest, making an excellent case for the ways the administration has been tough on Russia.

"Merkley: We need a tough President, not weak repetition of Russian talking points" PBS NewsHour 7/25/2018

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SUMMARY:  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told senators that the Trump administration has been tougher on Russia than its predecessor, and that the President has the prerogative to have private conversations with his Cabinet and with other leaders.  Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore) tells Nick Schifrin that Trump has actually been very slow to act, and has had to be “dragged, screaming” into taking any firm stand.

OPINION - Shields and Salam 7/20/2018

"Shields and Salam on Trump-Putin summit aftershocks" PBS NewsHour 7/20/2018

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SUMMARY:  Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and National Review Executive Editor Reihan Salam join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week’s news, including the fallout from President Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in U.S. politics and the NATO alliance, plus news that the President has raised almost $90 million toward his re-election.

Judy Woodruff (NewsHour):  We return now to the turbulent aftermath of President Trump’s meeting with Vladimir Putin.

For more, we have the analysis of Shields and Salam.  That’s syndicated columnist Mark Shields and “National Review” executive editor Reihan Salam.  David Brooks is away.

Welcome to both of you.

Mark, it has been a turbulent, turmoilish week, from NATO to Great Britain, to the meeting with Vladimir Putin, back to Washington.

What are we left with?

Mark Shields, syndicated columnist:  We’re left with, Judy, a week of — I think a blow to the United States of America.

I don’t think there’s any question about it, to our leadership, the fraying of the relations with our longtime allies, a dismissal, almost a disparagement by the American President of democratically elected leaders, and the messy problems that democracy requires, an adulation, a flattery, a giant sucking sound in the company of the Russian dictator by the President’s part.

And Dan Balz, perhaps as respected writer as there is on politics in America, wrote:  “When the setting called for a show of strength and resolve, Trump instead offered deference, defensiveness, equivocation and weakness.”

And I think that’s fair.

Judy Woodruff:  Do you have as dark an assessment, Reihan?

Reihan Salam, National Review:  Well, I think it’s helpful to take some perspective.

Consider President Trump’s meeting with Kim Jong-un of North Korea.  Kim Jong-un is an absolutely brutal, awful dictator.  Donald Trump had very warm words for him.

Some weeks later, Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, then met with the North Korean regime.  And then the North Korean regime responded by saying, they’re making gangster-like demands, they’re taking this much more hard-line position.

Donald Trump, when it comes to offering warm words for authoritarian leaders, does a lot, goes a long way in ways that other Republicans feel makes them very uncomfortable.  But he is a minority of one in his own administration when it comes to those warm words.  And when it comes to actual substance, you see a much tougher line.

If you look at Pompeo, if you look at Jim Mattis, if you look at John Bolton, these are all people who have taken a consistently hawkish line.

And the President himself, he reversed himself.  Again, that’s quite unusual, for him to have reversed himself so quickly, because Republicans were foursquare behind this idea that, no, in fact, they also — Republicans in Congress passed legislation, bipartisan legislation, keep in mind, that says that they can impose sanctions that the President of the United States can’t reverse.

That is legislation that Donald Trump signed in 2017.  So that’s important background to keep in mind.

Judy Woodruff:  So, Mark Shields, are we making too much of the — too much of the words of President Trump?

Mark Shields:  No.

I mean, he is the policy-maker.  He is the face and the voice of the United States of America.  Every President has been.  Ronald Reagan was when he said, tear down that wall and called the Soviet Union an evil empire.  Donald Trump is when he stands there and contradicts the unanimous judgment of all the men and women who are professionals in the United States intelligence services, who have concluded unanimously that Russia, Russia was behind the meddling, cyber-attacks, and continues to be at this time, and stands there and says — pays the ultimate compliment.

You can talk about his words.  We know his words.  In his lexicon, the lexicon of Donald Trump, there are no greater compliments than to say strong and powerful.  And what did he — whom did he call?  To call anybody weak is the ultimate insult.

And he paid the ultimate compliment to Mr. Putin, as he stood there, in refusing to endorse and support the work of the American intelligence professionals in public.

We have never seen a situation like that before.  No American President has ever done it.

Reihan Salam:  There was a fascinating moment during that press conference, where President Putin had to say, President Trump continues to say that the annexation of Crimea was illegal.

President Putin actually reminded the global public of this.  Why did he do that?  That’s a really puzzling question.  Right?  You would think that would be President Trump who would be saying that, who would be taking that kind of stern step of reminding the wider global audience of the differences between them.

Judy Woodruff:  I think that got overlooked.

Reihan Salam:  And one of the reasons why President Putin did that is because he recognizes that Donald Trump alone doesn’t represent the American government in its entirety.

What has happened is that Republicans are more unified against Vladimir Putin.  Democrats are far more inclined to take a hard line against Russia than they had been before Donald Trump came into office.

Vladimir Putin knows that, for his purposes, this wasn’t a victory.  It was in fact a defeat, because Donald Trump, his style of negotiating is, regrettably, one in which he says a lot at one point, but then his administration takes very sharply different action.

If anything, we’re going to get a more hawkish line on Russia in the months to come.

Judy Woodruff:  So, Mark, I mean, I will ask it again.

(CROSSTALK)

Judy Woodruff:  Go ahead.

Mark Shields:  Where was the defeat?  Where was the — it was a defeat for Putin?

Reihan Salam:  Absolutely.  Absolutely, because what Vladimir Putin wants is to get some component of the bipartisan establishment reconciled to the idea of a warmer relation with Russia.

In fact, we got the exact opposite.  Donald Trump himself on the flight on Air Force One back home from Helsinki realized that this didn’t play especially well with the people he depends on to shield him from investigations and much else.

He understood the tremendous vulnerability.  He understands that there are people in his own administration who may well leave that administration and leave him in a more vulnerable position if he moves in that direction.

And, again, look to North Korea.

Judy Woodruff:  That says — but what you’re saying is that — is that there was a mass created that required a lot of cleaning up.

Reihan Salam:  And, also, remember the North Korea precedent.

Remember the fact that these — we’re talking about this as though it’s unprecedented.  Donald Trump praised the North Korean dictator.  And then North Korea suddenly realized, wait a second, that doesn’t amount to us getting everything we want.

Mark Shields:  Donald Trump has told us that nuclear arms are gone from the Korean Peninsula.

Reihan Salam:  Which is nonsensical.

Mark Shields:  Nonsensical, nonsensical.

Reihan Salam:  But, of course, that’s not what he said, right?  He didn’t say the weapons are gone.

What he says, I’m committed to denuclearization.  Now, that doesn’t mean what the North Koreans believe it means, right?  There’s room for interpretation.  And what we have seen is actually a more hawkish posture in the weeks since then.

So it’s very important to keep these precedents in mind before we claim that this is going to be some grand breakthrough.

Mark Shields:  At what point do we get this seismograph or this magic detector that — with two box tops and a coupon, that allows us to tell when he’s telling the truth?

When he stands there and says Kim Jong-un loves his people, loves his people, this is a man who has killed thousands of Koreans, who has starved…

(CROSSTALK)

Reihan Salam:  It’s absolutely appalling.

And it’s also the case that the U.S. government and the Trump administration didn’t, in fact, give away the store.

This is absolutely rattling.  It is wrong for the President of the United States to appear to the be kowtowing to the Russian president.  It’s also important to recognize, however, that Donald Trump styles himself as an unconventional figure, someone who is actually seeking diplomatic break breakthroughs, diplomatic breakthroughs that I do not believe are going to materialize.

Judy Woodruff:  But, Reihan, you’re saying, for all the fuss we’re making over the behavior, the words of President Trump, in the end, the policy is going to turn out all right?  Is that what you’re saying?

Reihan Salam:  What I’m saying is that the words are dangerous.  It is wrong.  It is disorienting.  And it’s something that is actually sapping some of the trust that people have in him.

I think that that’s not a good thing.  But the policy is moving in a different direction.

Mark Shields:  There’s no question that he was overmatched with Putin.  I mean, there’s no question who was the supplicant in that relationship.

There’s no question who was the big dog and who was the puppy seeking the approval.  And the reality, when you come back — and I don’t know when this epiphany occurred, that he realized things hadn’t worked out, because it didn’t occur — they had to sit down with him.  They had to confront him in his own administration before he would even acknowledge, begrudgingly, two letters.

That didn’t change that the United States was at fault, that he blamed his own country, that he blamed America first.  No American President has ever done that before.

But when you get verbs like revise, revamp, contradict, change, modify, those are not the words of a thoughtful leader or a strong leader, or a principled leader.

Those are the words of somebody who really is overmatched in a public situation.

Reihan Salam:  What they might also be, however, are the words of someone who has promised diplomatic breakthroughs and change.

Now, this something that is very rattling for those of us, myself very much included, who believe that the architecture of our existing alliances is enormously valuable.  But, again, Donald Trump believes that, by shaking things up, he is going to bring us to a better place.

Now, it happens that members of his own administration are deeply skeptical about that posture.  And that is actually the substance of what we’re getting.

President Trump doesn’t have the power to reverse sanctions.  That is exactly what Putin wants.  And he’s not going to get it.  And he’s less likely to get it now than two weeks ago.

Mark Shields:  Let me just ask one question.

Reihan Salam:  Please.

Mark Shields:  Do you think that, after 9/11, when Dan Coats was the United States Ambassador to Germany, and he stood with Gerhard Schroeder, the chancellor of Germany, at the Brandenburg Gate, and thanked 200,000 Germans for their supporting the United States in its hour of need after the 9/11 attack, and invoked — in voting to invoke Article 5 of NATO to support United States and its attack, do you think Donald Trump has any idea that happened?

Reihan Salam:  I think…

Mark Shields:  Do you think he any idea that Dan Coats even was there?

I mean, this is a man who…

Reihan Salam:  I believe it’s worth mentioning that Gerhard Schroeder ran an explicitly anti-American political campaign that, during that time, members of the NATO alliance, including Turkey, said that we will not allow the United States to enter Iraq via our territory.

That was a period of enormous fractiousness within the NATO alliance.  And NATO survived and proved resilient.  That is also important to remember.

Dan Coats is a loyal public servant who deserves a great deal of credit, but let’s not forget history.

Mark Shields:  Do you think Donald Trump is aware of any of this?

Reihan Salam:  I can’t say, Mark.

(CROSSTALK)

Mark Shields:  You’re an informed person, Reihan.

Reihan Salam:  What I can say is that the NATO alliance has survived much worse than that.

Judy Woodruff:  I think — I think temperatures are rising all around this week.

Mark Shields:  OK.  All right.

TRUMP - Betraying America, Putin Summit

"Trump’s siding with Russia draws condemnation and concern from both parties" PBS NewsHour 7/16/2018

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SUMMARY:  In a stunning moment in Helsinki, the president of the United States again dismissed American intelligence findings that Vladimir Putin ordered Russian meddling in the 2016 election, while Putin acknowledged he wanted President Trump to win.  Fallout from the news conference came swiftly, as Washington reacted to the historic summit.  Yamiche Alcindor and Ryan Chilcote join Judy Woodruff.

"Paul: Trump has ‘healthy dose of skepticism’ for U.S. intelligence on Russian interference" PBS NewsHour 7/16/2018

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SUMMARY:  As President Trump returns from a Helsinki summit with Vladimir Putin, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky) says the U.S. and Russia “won't have any progress if we don't have any conversations.”  While acknowledging that it’s likely that Russia meddled in the 2016 election, the senator says the U.S. also intervenes in foreign politics.  Paul joins Judy Woodruff to share his reaction.

"Menendez: Putin must be thinking his 2016 investment paid off" PBS NewsHour 7/16/2018

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SUMMARY:  Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) says President Trump acted more like “a supplicant than the leader of the free world” at a news conference with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki.  Menendez joins Judy Woodruff to share his reaction to what might transpire after the summit.

"The consequences of Trump turning against his intelligence community" PBS NewsHour 7/16/2018

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SUMMARY:  When President Trump dismisses U.S. intelligence and says he takes Vladimir Putin at his word that Russia did not meddle in the 2016 election, what’s the long-lasting effect?  Judy Woodruff gets analysis from former CIA officer John Sipher, who says Trump’s comments about Putin were “very troubling.”

"Trump playing into Putin’s plan ‘either on purpose or by accident,’ Albright says" PBS NewsHour 7/17/2018

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SUMMARY:  Russian President Vladimir Putin has a plan to divide the U.S. from its allies, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Tuesday, and President Donald Trump is “playing into that plan either on purpose or by accident.”

In an interview with PBS NewsHour anchor and managing editor Judy Woodruff, Albright said that “President Putin is a KGB agent and he’s very smart and he has played a weak hand well.”

“There are a number of things that were said that I think really make us wonder what [Trump’s] role is with the Russians and frankly what the Russians expect out of him,” Albright said.  To Putin, she added, “Trump is the gift that keeps on giving.”

"How Russia is trying to disrupt the 2018 election" PBS NewsHour 7/18/2018

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SUMMARY:  U.S. intelligence agencies are unanimous in their assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, and senior officials warn of ongoing efforts to do it again in 2018.  Judy Woodruff talks with former Department of Homeland Security official Juliette Kayyem and Laura Rosenberger of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, to examine the threat.

"Trump says Russia summit was ‘great success,’ leaving U.S. officials in the dark" PBS NewsHour 7/19/2018

aka Trump, "Didn't I look great at the press conference.  Yuge success." (it's all about ME)

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  President Vladimir Putin received a warm reception from Russian lawmakers as he celebrated the results of the Helsinki summit.  What exactly are the results?  There's been no formal announcement, and the U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats says he's not sure.  Yamiche Alcindor and Nick Schifrin discuss the day’s developments with Judy Woodruff.

"Michael McFaul: Calling Putin ‘sincere’ suggests White House equating Americans with criminals" PBS NewsHour 7/19/2018

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SUMMARY:  President Trump called it an "incredible offer" from Vladimir Putin: The U.S. could question 12 Russians indicted for 2016 election interference in exchange for specific Americans being interrogated by Moscow.  Now White House officials say they reject the idea.  Judy Woodruff talks with former Ambassador Michael McFaul, one of Russia’s targets, and former Acting Director of the CIA John McLaughlin.

"How will the Trump-Putin summit affect U.S.-Russian relations?" PBS NewsHour 7/20/2018

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SUMMARY:  Beyond the uproar over President Trump's comments about Russian election meddling, what are the global policy implications of his Helsinki summit with Vladimir Putin?  Nick Schifrin examines what's at stake, from Eastern Ukraine to NATO to Syria, and Judy Woodruff talks with Dimitri Simes of the Center for the National Interest, and Andrew Weiss of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

"What did Russians think of the Trump-Putin summit?" PBS NewsHour 7/21/2018

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SUMMARY:  New threats from U.S. politicians to hit Russia with sanctions for meddling in U.S. elections has Russians unsure whether President Donald Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladmir Putin was really a success.  As reality sets in, Kimberly Marten, the director of a program on U.S.-Russia relations at Columbia University, says now, Russians are concerned.  Marten joins Hari Sreenivasan.

NORTH KOREA - Trump Got Snookered at Summit

"What do recent satellite images suggest about North Korea nuclear capabilities?" PBS NewsHour 7/5/2018

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SUMMARY:  Recent reports are casting doubt on North Korea's intentions.  Analysis of satellite photos of the country's facilities have led some to infer that the North is continuing to improve its capabilities.  In addition, the U.S. intelligence community has reportedly concluded that they have no intention of giving up their nuclear weapons.  John Yang talks with former State Department official Joel Wit
[38 North].

OPINION - Shields and Brooks 6/15/2018

"Shields and Brooks on North Korea summit takeaways, Trump’s family separation policy" PBS NewsHour 6/15/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week’s news, including President Trump’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the conclusions of a watchdog report into the FBI’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe, the politics of the Trump administration separating families at the U.S. border, and more.

Judy Woodruff (NewsHour):  And now to the analysis of Shields and Brooks.  That’s syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks.

Welcome to both of you.

Let’s start with what happened this week on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

David, the President met, historic meeting, Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea.  The President comes away saying there’s no more nuclear threat, he’s got very good personal chemistry, personal relationship with Mr. Kim.

What’s your take?

David Brooks, New York Times:  I read a joke this week that the lion can lie down with the lamb, but you got to get a new lamb each day.

So, I give him more credit than a lot other people that I’m reading.  We were — and people who really knew the North Korean situation were terrified six, eight, 10 months ago that we were really heading in a bad direction and things — there was some danger of things spinning out of control.

And now that doesn’t seem to be the case.  Now, there’s — tensions have settled.  There seems to be no risk of any confrontation or war.  And so, to me, that’s the big story, and that’s the lead and that’s a good thing.

Now, once you get down to the second and third paragraph, it begins to deteriorate quickly.  And the things Trump said about the regime, calling a murderous dictator a tough guy, that’s horrific.

The way human rights are treated, the way he just flippantly tossed off the practice, the war games, is horrific.  But, to me, those are serious deficits.  He did a good thing in the worst possible way.

Judy Woodruff:  What’s your take, Mark?

Mark Shields, syndicated columnist:  Well, Judy, quite frankly, a few months ago, you had two major powers flexing their nuclear biceps and issuing threats, serious threats, to each other, and we thought we were on the edge of war.

We’re not today.  That’s good.  I have no idea what’s in it — I don’t know anybody else who does — in the agreement.  The President has assured us there’s no longer…

Judy Woodruff:  Well, there’s not an agreement yet.

Mark Shields:  There’s not an agreement, but in the documents.

But to treat North Korea as this — this is a regime that stands alone in the world, for hundreds of thousands of people being exterminated, that has consistently, as a matter of policy, used rape and forcible abortions and starvation on its own people.  Hundreds of thousands of people have been exterminated.

And for the President to blithely — I’m not, you know, insisting that human rights be the centerpiece, but it has been important in every American element of foreign policy over the last generations.  I mean, from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan, it’s been central.

And human rights — the United States didn’t invent human rights, but, as Carter said, human rights, to a great degree, did invent America.  And the President is blithely indifferent to that…

(CROSSTALK)

David Brooks:  It’s also as a foil to what happened in Europe or in Quebec with the G7 the week before.

And you see him with two different sorts of relationships.  With somebody like Putin or with somebody like Kim Jong Un, it’s like dictator to dictator.  It’s like, we understand how to deal with power relationships.  He feels comfortable in that kind of thing.

When he’s dealing with Trudeau or Merkel, it should be friends, and it should be a relationship on affection and mutual trust and reciprocity.  And he’s a little uncomfortable in those circumstances.

Judy Woodruff:  How do you explain that?

David Brooks:  Well, I think, through his business life, he’s not had a series of relationships based on friendship, trust, and reciprocity, and affection.

He’s had relationships based strictly on self-interest and the urge to dominate.  And he just feels comfortable in one kind of relationship.  And, frankly, that’s even true within his White House.  He has relationships based on who’s useful to who, not we are a band of brothers in this together.

Judy Woodruff:  But, at this point, Mark, your point is that at least we’re not — we don’t think we’re on the verge of war.

Mark Shields:  No, we aren’t.  And I think that’s good.  I think that’s a positive.

Churchill said it far better and shorter, that jaw, jaw, jaw is better than war, war, war.  And I think that’s true.

KOREA SUMMIT - The Trump Giveaway

Trump gives Kim recognition and no more joint military exercises with South Korea, and Kim promises nothing (no verifiable, complete nuclear disarmament) in return.  This was a Trump ego trip.

"Trump and Kim begin historic summit with cordial greeting" PBS NewsHour 6/11/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un met for the first time at a resort off Singapore's coast, the first time a U.S. President has been face-to-face with a leader of North Korea.  Nick Schifrin joins Judy Woodruff from on the ground in Singapore.

"What’s up for negotiation at the North Korea summit?" PBS NewsHour 6/11/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  In Singapore, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo offered optimism that a Tuesday summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would set conditions "for future, productive talks."  Nick Schifrin joins Judy Woodruff from on the ground in Singapore to offer a preview of the meeting and what’s at stake.

"Why previous North Korea negotiations have failed" PBS NewsHour 6/11/2018

HINT:  Dictators are even bigger liars than Trump.

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The road to Tuesday's summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore has been long and dangerous, littered with fraught diplomacy, broken agreements, and threats of war.  Nick Schifrin looks back at how we got here.

"Why Kim leaves Singapore with real achievements" PBS NewsHour 6/12/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  President Trump and Kim Jong Un held a whirlwind summit in Singapore and set lofty goals, but provided few details on how to achieve them.  From Singapore, Nick Schifrin joins Judy Woodruff to outline the agreement and discuss whether each side got what they wanted.

"Sen. Risch: North Korea diplomacy going in the right direction" PBS NewsHour 6/11/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  President Trump deserves credit for turning relations with North Korea around, says Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho) but more work needs to be done and more nuance is needed on the issue of the future of military exercises with South Korea.  Risch joins Judy Woodruff to discuss first steps in North Korea diplomacy, the issue of human rights, plus Trump pulling the U.S. out of the G-7 joint communique.

"Sen. Cardin: U.S. can’t make concessions without North Korea action" PBS NewsHour 6/12/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md) says that he's pleased that President Trump used diplomacy to meet face-to-face with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but now it's necessary to see North Korea implement changes to show it's serious about eliminating its nuclear weapons program.  Cardin joins Judy Woodruff to discuss the issue of human rights and Trump’s controversial treatment of allies at the G-7.

OPINION - Shields and Ponnuru 6/8/2018

"Shields and Ponnuru on G7 trade tensions, Trump-Kim summit expectations" PBS NewsHour 6/8/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and Ramesh Ponnuru of The National Review join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week’s news, including tensions between the U.S. and allies at the G7 summit, as well as President Trump’s comments that Russia should be welcomed back, the upcoming North Korea summit between Trump and Kim Jong Un, and takeaways from the biggest primary night of the year.

Judy Woodruff (NewsHour):  Now, from the words of a former President to news of the current President abroad.

We get the analysis of Shields and Ponnuru.  That’s syndicated columnist Mark Shields and Ramesh Ponnuru of “The National Review.”  David Brooks is away.

And it’s great to see both of you.  Thank you for being here.

I want to ask you about something we just heard from James Patterson, the writer.

And that is, Mark, he was talking about we need to take the people we elect to office seriously.  There is so much criticism of them.  They have been run down by all the — just the flood of criticism that they get.  He said, when you go to the polls to vote, remember, they’re not silly, they’re not villains.

What do you make of that?

Mark Shields, syndicated columnist:  Well, they have been run down in large part by people who have replaced them.  That’s been a recurring theme, particularly among conservative insurgents, but not exclusively, running against Washington, running against politicians.

I think Mr.  Patterson’s exposure to President Clinton is probably, in part — I mean, Bill Clinton, let it be noted, came to office at the time with the steepest budget deficits in the history of the country, and courageously raised taxes on the richest 1.4 percent of Americans, and produced an economy that produced 22 million new jobs, after we had the lowest economic growth in 50 years when he came in.

So, and then he left at 65 percent approval.  And today he’s way below that.  So there’s a certain lack of appreciation, you could say, of certainly…

Judy Woodruff:  For Bill Clinton.

Mark Shields:  For Bill Clinton.  And I think that may be reflected in Mr. Patterson’s exposure to him.  And it’s certainly expressed in the President’s own behavior and speeches.

Judy Woodruff:  Ramesh, is it possible to get people to think differently about politicians?

Ramesh Ponnuru, The National Review:  I think it is going to be tricky.

I think what James Patterson was getting at was the distinction between the job or institution of the Presidency, and our fixation on the personality and the pageantry of the Presidency.

The Presidency has gotten more and more powerful in American government, and we depend much more than we used to on the professionalism and competence of the President fulfilling the job.

But, at the same time, the cultural footprint’s gotten bigger, too, and that has made us more interested in all of the drama of the Presidency.  That’s what Presidents are rewarded these days for playing to.

OPINION - Bill Clinton on North Korea Summit

"Bill Clinton says America should be rooting for Trump’s success on North Korea" PBS NewsHour 6/8/2018

IMHO:  Of course Clinton is assuming that Trump isn't going to screw-up the any 'deal.'

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Americans should “be rooting” for President Donald Trump at next week’s U.S.-North Korea summit on denuclearization, former President Bill Clinton said Thursday.

“I think we should be rooting for [Trump] to succeed with the North Korea negotiations,” Clinton said in an interview with PBS NewsHour managing editor and anchor Judy Woodruff.

NORTH KOREA - Off /On Summit

"U.S. is still trying to revive talks with North Korea.  Here’s how" PBS NewsHour 5/28/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The pace of diplomacy with North Korea picked up over the weekend in an effort to revive the summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.  What goes into the preparation for such a moment and can the meeting be resurrected in time?  Nick Schifrin talks with Patrick McEachern of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

"Can U.S. and North Korea bridge fundamental disagreements?" PBS NewsHour 5/31/2018

IMHO:  Only IF Trump's ego, and lack of real preparation, does not end up with a bad deal just to allow him to boast.

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  America's top diplomat and North Korea's top envoy began Thursday with a historic handshake.  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said their talks were positive but sometimes difficult and that their teams made quick headway in setting the right conditions for a summit between President Trump and Kim Jong Un.  Nick Schifrin and Yamiche Alcindor talk with Judy Woodruff.

"On-again North Korea summit ‘will be a process,’ Trump says" PBS NewsHour 6/1/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  A sitting U.S. President and senior North Korean envoy in the Oval Office?  That's a scene that hasn't happened in almost 20 years.  President Trump relaunched the summit he canceled only a week ago, signaling a shift in the administration's willingness to make denuclearization a staged process.  Nick Schifrin reports.

OPINION - Shields and Brooks 5/25/2018

"Shields and Brooks on North Korea summit canceled, Trump’s attacks on Russia probe" PBS NewsHour 5/25/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week’s news, including President Trump calling off his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the outcome of Tuesday’s primaries for Democrats, and the effects of the President stirring controversy with claims of FBI spying on his campaign.

Judy Woodruff (NewsHour):  Now back to the political news of this week with the analysis of Shields and Brooks.  That’s syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks.

Welcome to you both.

So, let’s talk first about this on-again/off-again summit with the North Korean leader.

David, it came about very quickly.  It seemed to spring out of the President’s mind on his own.  We didn’t — a lot of people were skeptical it was ever going to happen.  It’s off again, but the President said today, maybe it’s not off.

What do you make of his diplomacy?

David Brooks, New York Times:  When I went to buy my first car, somebody gave me advice.  You have got to walk out.  Walk out.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

David Brooks:  Walk out.

And I never — I’m not that kind of guy, so I didn’t walk out.  But Donald Trump sort of walked out.  And so he does everything in public.  And he exerts pressure, he flatters, he threatens war.  He does everything in public.

And so I sort of sympathize with the idea to see if there can be some breakthrough with North Korea.  And I don’t blame him for going in and going out, trying to exert whatever pressure he can.

The problem is, it’s not real diplomacy.  In real diplomacy, you have your sherpas, your lower-level people sort of build up some sense of agreements.  You gather your allies.  You don’t burn them with trade deals, the Chinese just South Koreans.  You gather — and you exert real pressure.

But Donald Trump is a lone wolf, and so he’s doing it all on his own, basically, without allies, without too much help from the U.S. government, and it’s all by tweet and publicity.

And so I’m skeptical that you can get a real breakthrough without a full, stacked diplomatic and military effort, but — or at least sort of threats and pressure.  But I don’t totally blame him for trying.  Or, frankly, I don’t blame him for going in and out.

Anything that can dislodge something that’s stuck.

Judy Woodruff:  How do you size this up?

Mark Shields, syndicated columnist:  Well, Judy, it’s been 65 years since President Eisenhower on his promise to go to Korea negotiated a truce between North Korea and South Korea.

Since then, we have had 10 Presidents of both parties, five Democrats, five Republicans.  With varying degrees of commitment and intensity, they have all tried to deal with resolving Korea.  They have spent time.  They have used learned professionals, wise academics, businessmen who know, and business persons who know the area.

And even after that, there are no major breakthroughs that’s happened.  And Donald Trump, with no preparation, no knowledge, no background — I agree with David.  I cheered the hope — and it was only a hope — that we might have a breakthrough.

But the idea that this was going to happen, and that somehow Kim Jong-un, who has gotten now global respect because he’s got nuclear arms, was just going to say, well, that’s it, thank you so much, you know, I think, was unrealistic.

Now, the fact that Secretary Mattis says that there’s a possibility that the summit will occur, that gives me pause.  I mean, I give a lot more credence to what Secretary Mattis says than I do to the White House.

Judy Woodruff:  The President clearly — or seems, David, to believe that unpredictability can pay off sometimes.

David Brooks:  Well, sometimes, it can.

If we got a crazy person who is President, you may as well take advantage.  But, as I say, why should they give up nuclear weapons?  They have seen the Libya example and they saw what happened to Gadhafi.

The only — but at some point in history, and I don’t know if it will be in our lifetimes, they will say, we would rather have a middle-class lifestyle.  We would rather have what they have in South Korea.  I think, eventually, somebody is going to make that call.  I don’t know if it will be this guy, or his son, or grandson, or whatever.

But, eventually, that’s going to happen.  So, as long as we can keep knocking on the door, that seems fine.  And as long as we don’t disrupt our allies in the area, which we seem to have terrified the South Koreans…

Mark Shields:  And the Japanese.

David Brooks:  And the Japanese — then the door should always be open, the pressure should always be on.

But sometimes you don’t just have any good solutions.  And that’s why we have had 10 Presidents without much progress.

Mark Shields:  Yes, that’s it.

This isn’t the city council in Atlantic City or the zoning commission, where you’re trying to get a deal for the casino and better parking or a large parking lot or to invoke eminent domain on your behalf.

This is really — really — significance.  And it’s the difference between braggadocio and style and flash and substance.  And if you look at everybody — I mean, John Kennedy, who was far more a student of foreign affairs than Donald Trump, at his first encounter with Khrushchev came away humbled, came away — and, in retrospect, contributed, historians and I think many in the Kennedy administration agree, to the emboldened Soviet Union in both Berlin and in Cuba.

So these don’t come without some cost and without some price and especially, as David pointed out, the rupture with our allies.

TRUMP AGENDA - It Starts Falling Apart, North Korea Summit

aka "Another North Korean Monkey Wrench"

Once North Korea had missiles that could hit the United States they are NOT going to give that up.  It was their primary goal.

"North Korea casts doubt on Kim-Trump summit, rejects total disarmament" PBS NewsHour 5/16/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  North Korea upset months of thawing relations on Wednesday by threatening to cancel the June summit with President Trump if the U.S. continues to push Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons.  Judy Woodruff reports on the response from the White House.

"Why North Korea is threatening to pull out of the U.S. summit" PBS NewsHour 5/16/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  What seemed like a sure thing a week ago in now up in the air.  A top North Korean official released a statement saying that they are not interested if the U.S. insists on complete nuclear disarmament.  Judy Woodruff talks with former State Department official Joel Wit about the recent back and forth and the prospects for productive talks.

KOREA - North Meets South

"North and South Korea make concessions toward ending hostilities" PBS NewsHour 4/30/2018

COMMENT:  This situation reminds me of something, the Cuban Missile Crisis.  Nuclear Weapons that could target the U.S. that leads to a pledge that the U.S. will not invade Cuba.  Did Kim Jong-un out diplomacy us.

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Days after a historic summit, there are signs of progress from both North and South Korea.  Pyongyang announced it will re-sync its time zone with South Korea's starting Saturday, while the South said it will remove the loudspeakers that blast propaganda into the North.  John Yang reports on the first steps both sides seem to be taking, and what U.S. officials are saying about the American role.

OPINION - Shields and Charen 4/27/2018

"Shields and Charen on North Korea peace prospects, Ronny Jackson VA vetting" PBS NewsHour 4/27/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Syndicated columnists Mark Shields and Mona Charen join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week’s news, including the historic summit between the leaders of North Korea and South Korea, French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit, Dr. Ronny Jackson’s decision to withdraw as the Veterans Affairs nominee, and controversy surrounding Mick Mulvaney’s comments about lobbyists.

Judy Woodruff (NewsHour):  This week in Washington has been consumed by talks of deals, a possible peace deal for the Korean Peninsula, and discussions with European leaders about the Iran nuclear deal.

That brings us to the analysis of Shields and Charen.  That is syndicated columnist Mark Shields and syndicated columnist Mona Charen.  David Brooks is away.

And we welcome both of you here on this Friday.

So, we have had this backdrop of a cliffhanger of a relationship between the United States and North Korea.  Mark, a lot of tough language shared.  But then, this week, we see this remarkable yesterday coming together — early this morning, coming together at the border, the North and South Korean leader.

How do you read this, and how do you see President Trump’s role in it?

Mark Shields, syndicated columnist:  I read it quite superficially, because, unlike our earlier scholars and analysts, I’m not an authority on Korean politics.

But just looking at it politically, it’s a dramatic improvement.  Just a few months ago, we were talking about the possibility of a million people being killed on the Korean Peninsula in a war which people feared in some cases was only weeks away.

And here we are talking about blood relatives reaching across the 38th Parallel, reconnecting, reconciliation between North and South, ending formally 65 years of war between the two.

And so you ask about President Trump.  You know, I think you have to say that, while his unorthodoxy, his inflammatory rhetoric, his unpredictability has been in many cases an impediment to thoughtful and positive relations, actually, here it may have worked.  It may be working.

This is a positive development, an encouraging development.  It’s not the resolution, but I think this is one case where Donald Trump’s style may have worked for positive results.

Judy Woodruff:  And we will see what happens, Mona, but at this point, what do you see?

Mona Charen, syndicated columnist:  Well, the optics, as we would put it in Washington, were terrific, stepping across the barrier, both of them and so forth, and making a lot of promises.

But I think skepticism, deep skepticism is in order.  Look, what does Kim Jong-un want?  He wants to remain in power.  Nuclear weapons are the key to — they’re his insurance policy.  And he has devoted tremendous effort and tremendous expense to obtain them.

The idea that he would now wake up one morning and say, you know, forget all that, I actually want to live in peace and I want to denuclearize.  And, by the way, as your previous guests said, a lot of dispute about what that means to the two different parties.

But we have seen over the years the North Koreans.  The Kim family has made promises, has made overtures, have promised even to give up their quest for nuclear weapons.  And they have never done it.  They constantly renege.

So, I’m deeply skeptical that anything has really changed, except the optics.

Judy Woodruff:  And so meantime, Mark, the nuclear deal that exists now between Iran and several other countries, including the U.S., President Trump keeps saying that he doesn’t like it, and there is every indication he’s going to pull out.

He’s met this week with the leader of — President of France, Emmanuel Macron, then just today with Chancellor Merkel of Germany.  Does it look like the President is going to go through with this deal, and how do you see the President as diplomat this week?

Mark Shields:  Well, just to respond to Mona’s point, all of that is true, the history of relations between North Korea and the rest of the world, the six-nation parlance, under four different American Presidents.

This is different.  This raising the stakes by the part of the President himself.

Judy Woodruff:  In Korea?

Mark Shields:  In Korea.

And the reality — the reality is, Judy, that the per capita income in North Korea is $1,800.  And it’s $33,200 in South Korea.  And I think there is pressure there.  I’m not saying that he’s the avenging angel of piece.

As far as keeping the word, and being trust and verify and skeptical, all of a sudden, the shoe is on the other foot.  Are we — is our word reliable?

Judy Woodruff:  With regard to the Iran…

(CROSSTALK)

Mark Shields:  Iran.  Are we going to keep our promise made just three short years ago?  Are we going to pull out?

And right now, I think you would have to say the betting is that that’s what the President is going to do.  As far as President Macron’s visit this week, I think, besides the heavy necking and the light petting that we saw in public between these two grown and married men in our liberalized area here, I don’t think there’s any question that he absolutely dazzled, and for home consumption and playing to positive reviews in Paris before the Congress.

And his message was unalloyed and direct and candid to the President about isolationism and its costs.

Judy Woodruff:  A direct message to the Congress from Emmanuel Macron, Mona, but it doesn’t appear to have changed the President’s mind when it comes to this Iran nuclear deal.

Mona Charen:  Yes.

It’s hard to understand the position that we should tear up the Iran deal.  As somebody who was deeply opposed to the original deal, it just strikes me that once you have given away all the money, which is what we did — we gave them back their $100 million — we have lost all of our negotiating leverage.

How is it that we are going to get the Iranians to give up something more, when we have already given them what they were after?  It seems to me that we don’t have the leverage we think we do with this — with the Iran deal.

Regarding Macron, I think he did the star turn this week.  He rally did, because he managed Trump.  He flattered him.  He got along with Trump and all of that, which isn’t the easiest thing to do.  And then, when he spoke to Congress, he sounded like the leader of the Western world.

He was talking about the importance of our obligations and freedom and that we shouldn’t retreat into nationalism and protectionism.  I thought it was a real star turn.  And I thought he did himself a lot of good.

Mark Shields:  Let me just agree that I hadn’t heard a President with such command of the English language speak to Congress since Barack Obama.

(LAUGHTER)

Mark Shields:  And I just — I was very impressed by Macron’s performance.

KOREA - The North-South Summit

"At summit, Kim Jong Un pledges to not repeat ‘unfortunate history’" PBS NewsHour 4/27/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Kim Jong Un became the first North Korean leader to set foot in South Korea since the Korean War 65 years ago.  The official talks focused heavily on North Korea's nuclear weapons program.  President Moon Jae-in said that he and Kim shared the goal of ridding “the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons through complete denuclearization."  Judy Woodruff reports.

"Does denuclearization mean the same thing to North and South Korea?" PBS NewsHour 4/27/2018

Short answer, NO.

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The meeting between the leaders of the two Koreas along the heavily fortified border marked a day of diplomacy after months of war talk.  Judy Woodruff talks to former State Department official Frank Jannuzi, and Victor Cha of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, about the significance of the meeting and how it sets up the summit between Kim Jong Un and President Trump.

NORTH KOREA - The Meeting

I trust Kim Jong Un about as far as I can pickup Trump and throw him.

"Pompeo mum on Kim Jong Un meeting amid confirmation process" PBS NewsHour 4/18/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  CIA director and secretary of state-designate Mike Pompeo met secretly with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un over Easter weekend, President Trump confirmed on Wednesday.  At his recent confirmation hearing, Pompeo spoke hopefully about the upcoming Trump-Kim summit, never mentioning in public or behind closed doors that he had personally already met with Kim.  William Brangham reports.

"Trump strikes optimistic tone on North Korea, thanks Japan’s Abe for his role" PBS NewsHour 4/18/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met reporters at Mar-a-Lago Wednesday evening, where Trump said that he would be doing everything possible to make his anticipated meeting with the leader of North Korea "a worldwide success."  Yamiche Alcindor joins Judy Woodruff to discuss the President’s remarks and the relationship between Trump and Abe.

"North Korea willing to discuss dismantling nuclear program, says Trump official" PBS NewsHour 4/18/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  There’s no doubt that President Trump and Kim Jong Un intend to meet, said Victoria Coates, special assistant to the President, who noted that the tone coming out of North Korea is making the Trump administration “very hopeful.”  Coates joins Judy Woodruff to discuss the meeting between CIA Director Mike Pompeo and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the potential for denuclearization and more.

DIPLOMACY - China White House Summit

"What did and didn’t get done at the U.S.-China White House summit" PBS NewsHour 9/25/2015

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Climate change was one area of agreement between President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping, but the leaders made little headway on human rights and a South China Sea territory dispute.  Judy Woodruff talks with Christopher Johnson of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Susan Shirk of University of California, San Diego.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  For more on what they might and might not be discussing at that dinner, I’m joined by John Mearsheimer, a professor at the University of Chicago and former Air Force officer.  Susan Shirk, she was a deputy assistant secretary of state for China in the Clinton administration.  She now chairs the 21st Century China Program at the University of California, San Diego.  And Christopher Johnson, a senior adviser who closely watches China at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Welcome, all three, to the program.

Let’s talk first about what was accomplished, China signing on to this climate change agreement, so-called cap-and-trade system, Susan Shirk, wherein they limit how much an industry can pollute.  How significant is this?

SUSAN SHIRK, University of California, San Diego:  Well, it’s very significant because air pollution has become a domestic political problem in China.

And the Chinese leadership has, therefore, gotten very serious about its commitments on climate change, because these two issues are very much related.  And to see China and the United States both making strong commitments on climate change going into the U.N. climate summit…