wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. the xfinity 10g network. made for streaming. >> good evening. i'm geoff bennett. on the newshour tonight, israel prepares for a possible attack from iran in retaliation for israel strike on iran's consulate in damascus. a preview of former president trump's criminal hush money trial. an robert macneil who cofounded and was a longtime coanchor of

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broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. geoff: welcome to the newshour. we begin with some news of our own tonight. robert met neil, cofounder and longtime coanchor of this program passed away earlier today at the age of 93. mcneil -- robert macneil cofounded alongside the late jim lehrer. we will have a conversation about him tonight. but first as he would have insisted, the news. israel and the u.s. away to a possible iranian response to the attack on its consulate last week in damascus. the israeli airstrike killed one of iran's senior military leaders and the republic has vowed vengeance.

nick schifrin joins us now. have great is the concern and what are the u.s. and israel bracing for? >> a senior official tells me tonight that concern is very high. u.s. and israeli officials are preparing for strikes by iran and its proxies inside israel. iran has never attacked israel with kinetic weapons before. one u.s. official tells me the attack is likely to be bigger than usual. another tells me the timing of the attack could be by the end of the weekend. another official from a different branch of government is telling me the assessment is more that iranian proxies by themselves would attack israel or its assets in the region so clearly there are ongoing assessments of what could happen. all the officials agree the most likely scenario is iranian missiles and drones attacking inside israel and attacks

outside of israel proper. the u.s. embassy in israel yesterday announced that u.s. government employees and their families would be restricted from traveling outside of jerusalem, tel aviv or the southern city, those are the places that israeli iron dome and missile defense are strongest. president biden said that an attack would be sooner than later. >> don't. we are devoted to the defense of israel. we will support and help defend israel and iran will not succeed. >> the show of u.s. military support came from the commander of u.s. central command. he oversees all u.s. troops in the region. he met with the israeli defense minister and he said they

discussed readiness for an iranian attack against the state of israel. iran has made very clear it will respond to israel's attack on damascus including a threat posted on the website of the supreme leader. >> attacking our consulate is like attacking our soil. this is commonly agreed around the world. the malicious regime has made a wrong move in this case. it should be punished and it will be punished. >> it all adds up to a very tense moment in the region. jeffcoat does the u.s. expect an attack -- geoff: does the u.s. expect an attack on u.s. assets? >> no. they expect a calibrated attack not to draw the u.s. into war.

the u.s. is preparing defenses and has moved additional military assets in the region. the u.s. and its allies are also emphasizing that they are trying their best to use diplomacy in this moment. the u.s. has indirect channels with around mostly through the swiss embassy in tehran and it can pass messages that way and british, german and french officials have all met with senior iranian leaders just in the last few days and each of those countries officials are saying to reporters here in washington that they have sent messages of restraint. ever since the damascus strike, u.s. and israeli officials have said that the iranian response is all but inevitable. they have to respond given that the targets that officials believe israel killed were so senior in the iranian revolutionary guard corps, it's

just a question of how far iran goes and how far israel responds to what iran does. geoff: thanks for that great reporting. >> i'm vanessa ruiz with newshour west. here are the latest headlines. house lawmakers have approved the reauthorization of the foreign intelligence surveillance act for two years. today's vote comes after an earlier version of the bill that called for a five-year extension failed in the house but the measure won't head to the senate for approval just yet. opponents scheduled a reconsideration vote next week. the surveillance program is set to expire april 19. biden administration announced a new wave of student loan cancellations today. they are forgiving $7.4 billion in debt for 277,000 more

borrowers. the administration has provided loan relief 4.3 one million people totaling more than $150 billion in aid. last year the supreme court walked the president's broader debt cancellation plan, saying he lacked the authority to do so without congressional approval. officials in belgium are looking into whether russia is meddling in upcoming european parliament elections. authorities say that russian agents in brussels are promoting pro-moscow candidates to try to undermine the eu support for ukraine. they have allegedly even tried to bribe some lawmakers. belgium's prime minister announced the probe today. >> belgian intelligence services have confirmed the existence of pro-russian interference networks with activities in several european countries had also here in belgium. the goal is very clear. a weakened european support for

ukraine serves russia on the battlefield. >> russian authorities have repeatedly denied the accusations. the elections are slated for june. in russia, authorities ordered thousands more residents to evacuate today has floodwaters rise even higher. the day lose started last week. the water level is more than 6 feet above what is deemed safe. 360 additional homes were flooded last night. >> this is how high the water level got over the last 30 days. we never expected it to rise so high. we lifted all the furniture up but as you can see, it's all floating now. everything we've worked for is gone. >> more than 120,000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes.

the national weather service has issued flood warnings for parts of the northeast as severe weather makes its way through the region. storms had already knocked out power for thousands and the virginias and southeastern new york. heavy rains brought flash floods to west virginia overnight. today streets in washington county pennsylvania were underwater. in texas, one person has died and 13 others are injured after a driver intentionally drove a semi trailer truck into a public safety office. the 18 wheeler left a hole in the side of a building about 75 miles west of houston. the driver was taken into custody. authorities say the renewal for a commercial drivers license was rejected. former diplomat manwell rocha was sentenced for acting as a

secret agent for cuba. his spying went undetected for decades. federal investigators say a damage assessment will take years to complete. many details of the case remain classified. a federal judge denied efforts to dismiss hunter biden's federal gun case. his lawyers had argued he is being prosecuted for political purposes. prosecutors allege he lied about his drug use on a form required to buy a gun. former interpreter for baseball player shohei ohtani made his first court appearance today for allegedly stealing millions of dollars from otani to cover gambling debts. ippei mizuhara submitted to authorities. the judge ordered him to undergo treatment for gambling addiction before releasing him on bond. stocks closed sharply lower to end the week amid ongoing inflation worries.

the dow jones dropped 475 points. the nasdaq lost 267 points. the s&p 500 gave back 70 five. still to come on the newshour, david brooks and ruth marcus weigh in on this week's political headlines. and we remember our cofounder and longtime coanchor robert macneil. ♪ >> this is the pbs newshour from weta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of realism at arizona state university. geoff: on monday for the first time in american history, a former president will be tried in a court of law. it follows the judge in donald's new york hush money trial again denying his request for a delay. mr. trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business

records to prevent news of an extramarital affair from becoming public. >> we will make america great again. >> eight years ago, donald trump, the real estate mogul turned presidential candidate, was about to deliver a titanic political upset. it was the fall of 2016 and despite trailing in the polls hillary clinton, the republican nominee was all confidence. >> when we win on november 8. we are going to washington, d.c. and we will drain the swamp. >> but a month before election day, his campaign was sent to railing when the washington post published this more than 10-year-old videotape. >> i just start kissing them.

it's like a magnet. and when you are a star, they let you do it. you can do anything. >> making vulgar comments about women. >> in full damage control mode, another lurking scandal suddenly seemed more ominous. for months, stephanie clifford had been trying unsuccessfully to sell her story about one time decade old sexual liaison with donald trump. but just a few weeks after the excess hollywood tape came out, trump's lawyer and fixer michael cohen used a shell company to pay stormy daniels 130 $1000 of his own money to stay quiet. then when trump became president, he repaired michael cohen with a series of checks categorized as legal fees.

the details of those transactions will be at the center of trump's trial. >> allegations that someone lied again and again to protect their interest and evade the laws to which we all held accountable. >> manhattan district attorney alvin bragg has charged donald trump with 34 counts fabricating financial records to conceal damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election. >> unfortunately the way the media has presented it is it's a hush money case. it's about falsifying business records. >> jeremy gold federer is a senior partner and expert in campaign law. >> that is a crime but it's only a misdemeanor. it's a felony one falsifying business records is done for the

purpose of concealing or committing another crime and that's what district attorney alvin bragg has charged. but trump falsified all these business records because what he really wanted to do was to hide these facts to win the election. >> even though he's not being charged for that secondary crime, that is all it takes to move it from a misdemeanor to a felony. while the indictment is full of examples of allegedly false retainer agreements and legal expenses, he clearly wants this case seen as an attempt to subvert an election. but the law is complicated. >> if these payments to daniels were in fact campaign related and they weren't disclosed willfully, that could be a crime. >> record is an election law scholar at ucla law school.

>> one big question is whether these payments are campaign related as opposed to related to trump's personal life. these payments were made solely so he wouldn't face embarrassment with his family, that wouldn't be related. >> could trump have been trying to stop him, his wife getting upset about an alleged affair and could it also be a campaign violation because he was trying to stop voters from finding out? >> sure, i think the question would be a causation question. would he still have made these payments if he were not a candidate. >> he points to the similar case of democrat john edwards,

solicited -- indicted for soliciting money to pay his mistress. in court, he argued the money was gifts from friends, not campaign donations, because they were meant to hide the affair from his cancer stricken wife elizabeth, not voters. >> he was acquitted with the finding that this was mostly about his personal life. these can be tricky questions. >> the prosecution's key witness , the one that will testify about the origin of those payments, how they were accounted for and who knew what is michael cohen. >> michael cohen is a very problematic witness for the prosecution. first, he has pled guilty to crimes involving deception and deceit including tax fraud, bank fraud and lying to congress.

those crimes go to his truthfulness as a witness. secondly, he has been inconsistent in terms of what he has said about trump's involvement in this scheme. he previously said that trump was uninvolved in the payments to stormy daniels and then finally he has a biased witness in the sense that it's quite clear and he's been quite explicit about the fact that he harbors significant animosity toward the former president. they are no longer. the defense will be able to point to that bias and suggest to the jury that it is coloring his testimony. >> potential jurors will be questioned about their political allegiances, knowledge about the case, and whether they are able to render fair judgment in this historic first of its kind trial.

geoff: sadly tonight, we remember our cofounder and longtime coanchor robert neil. his partnership with his close friend jim lehrer who died in 2020 led to the creation of this program you are watching today. he died early this morning at the age of 93. jeffrey brown looks back at his life and many contributions. >> what actions or deeds are you prepared to make to improve relations between cuba and the united states? >> robert macneil had a knack for being where the action was. he covered major stories around the world, entitled his 1982 memoir, the right place at the right time. >> i am a wordsmith. that is my trade. >> he was a lifelong lover of language, literature and the arts, who called himself in a later memoir word struck.

and he was the visionary and driving force in the creation of the institution that with jim lehrer became the newshour. he described their approach this way. >> of fundamental fairness and objectivity and also the idea that the american public is smarter than they are often given credit for on television. they don't all need things in little bite sized candy sized mcnuggets of news. how can we add a respect for complexity to the news that was already there. and that's how our concept was born. >> robert macneil known to his friends as robin was born in montreal and raised in halifax, nova scotia. his canadian roots and remain reporting to him -- important to him. his love of the sea came from

his parents. his father robert in the royal canadian navy. his mother margaret who also instilled in him his love of poetry and language. he set out first to be an actor after graduating from carleton university in iowa, turned to journalism. he worked for reuters. he covered the assassination of john f. kennedy in dallas, he may have run into lee harvey oswald. >> i heard this guy called oswald had been arrested who worked at the book department. i said isn't that odd, he must have been coming out at the time i went in. >> he would cover a wide range of stories both abroad and at home.

in 1963 on meet the press, he talked with martin luther king jr. and roger wilkins. his connection to pbs began in 1971 when he was hired to coanchor impact, a national public affairs center for television. at the time public broadcasting's unit in washington responsible for news related programming. >> butterfield revealed that all of president nixon's conversations have been tape-recorded for the past two years. >> the breakthrough for robin and with the news on pbs came with gavel-to-gavel prime time coverage of the watergate hearings. >> how high did the scandals reach and was president nixon himself involved? >> it was here that mcneal was first teamed up with jim lehrer. they would rebroadcast the hearings with analysis late into the night, 250 hours in all.

>> some of these things came out quite unexpectedly in a very casual almost offhand manner. everything is underlined nowadays. we didn't have any of that kind of buildup. the hearings spoke for themselves. >> the success of the coverage led to the creation of the robert macneil report with jim lehrer first as its washington correspondent and soon a full partner. in 2016, they looked back at their beginnings. >> many people in public television had thought we should be doing sophisticated entertainment and education and cultin 2016, they looked back at

their beginnings. >> many people in public television had thought we should be doing sophisticated entertainment and education and cultin 2016, they looked back at their beginnings. >> many people in public television had thought we should be doing sophisticated entertainment and education and cult therefore its

uniqueness is more apparent now than it was when we started 30 years ago. >> the hour-long program became noted for its civil tone. through the years, robin conducted interviews with numerous world leaders. >> i would like to grow up a little further. >> he explored a wide array of issues as the day -- of the day. >> still to come, what is ahead in bosnia and rethinking affirmative action. >> he insisted on the importance of including the arts in the newshour's reporting. he regularly talked with writers in this country and abroad. he gained the attention of cartoonists. 1980 one doonesbury cartoon had robin saying, i'll be asking

smooth the urbain questions from new york, jim lehrer will handle the earnest plainspoken questions from washington. jim and the new yorker poked fun at the way they were occasionally mixed up by viewers. i never knew who was who until the other one left. the pair also enjoyed being part of the public television family including the gang on sesame street, which robin visited to interview a certain well-known grouch. >> our cameras are on sesame street where oscar the grouch is ready, willing and crazy to talk to us. i see that you are in the ice cream business. >> even while coanchor in the nightly program, he took on other projects especially focused on his passion for language. his 1986 around the world nine part series the story of english broadcast on ppc -- pbs and the

bbc explored the history and development of the language. later came a sequel on language in this country, do you speak american. >> there is nothing more enjoyable than going around the country and just talking to people. i've always been fascinated by the way people talk. >> he was also pursuing his own writing, nonfiction first. in 1995, he decided to step away from daily journalism to focus on writing fiction. his first novel followed the impact of the famous world war i explosion in halifax harbour on the lives of its fictional

characters. other novels would follow. as he made his last appearance in the anchor chair, his long-time partner and close friend had this to say. >> he's leaving permanent tracks along the way he traveled, worked and created. they are tracts of courage from what he knew to be right and to do it with grace and class. >> hey, robin. >> i guess that's it. >> good night. >> he and jim headed mcneal lehrer productions. he pursued other projects, continuing his deep connection to the arts. he served as chairman of the mcdowell artists colony in new hampshire for 17 years. we spoke in 2007 during the centennial celebration.

>> the way you -- real importance of art is it's the greatest expression of american freedom. artists are intellectually and creatively for your than anybody. -- freer than anybody. >> your understanding as expressing american freedom has been lost? >> i don't know if it is seen as acutely in the public consciousness. winston churchill said in the late 40's, the empires of the future are going to be empires of the mind. and so much of the face this country presents to the world is the face that expresses its idea and its ideals. >> he continued to make documentaries including the 2000 seven pbs series, america at a crossroads about the war on terror.

and a 2011 series for the newshour titled autism now. a very personal project that included the story of his grandson. in 1997, he became an american citizen and roads of the love he had come to feel for his adopted land in the last of his three memoirs, looking for my country. he spoke of it in 2000 three on c-span. >> all the years i was becoming embedded so to speak in this country literally and figuratively, and living throughout the traumas of america both personally with alongside americans and covering them as a journalist, there was in my being a disconnect between the country i inhabited and the country that inhabited me. i was a man with a nationality but without a psychic country so to speak.

>> he was a fellow of the academy of arts and sciences and gained many honors over the years, including induction into the television academy hall of fame in 1999. >> we demonstrated that we could do it in a different and more comprehensive and analytical way and suddenly the argument had been won over whether there was a role for public broadcasting in this area. >> robert macneil is remembered by those of us who worked with him with respect, gratitude and love. he was an extraordinary man who guarded millions through extraordinary times with his intelligent, passionate and humane journalism. he had this to say when he signed off from the newshour in 1995. >> i could be proud of when i went home every night. that applies equally to our viewers. there are now some 5 million of you a night and you express loyalty to this program.

thank you for understanding what we do. you will find all the same values on monday night and in the years ahead. thanks and good night. geoff: robert macneil was married for 30 years to donna mcneal who died in 2015. he had four children and five grandchildren. joining is now to reflect on his life are judy woodruff, jeffrey brown and linda winslow, former executive producer of this program. they all worked with robin over many years. my sympathies to each of you on the loss of your dear friend. i know judy was not just -- for you he was not just a treasured colleague. he was also an inspiration. >> he was and i have to say i'm heartbroken. he was not only one of the most important mentors in my life, he was a dear friend. i talked to his son who said

right up until the end of his life, robin was following the news. he insisted on talking about what was in the news literally right up until the very last day he was alive. that was the consummate news man. he's the reason i joined the newshour. when they made it the newshour in 1983, they had this amazing chemistry. they had this kind of magic between the two of them and i can tell you that it was so much so that when just a few months into the newshour and i was still getting my feet wet, jim had a heart attack and i was asked to fill in for just a few months and i could not have done it without robin. robin gave me the confidence to sit at the desk and keep going. so yes, he was a mentor and an inspiration for his entire life.

geoff: how did robin influence you as a journalist and leave a real imprint on your work? >> profoundly. i've been hearing from colleagues all day long who recall stories and the gratitude we all feel. for me it is simple but profound. he was the exemplar. he was the model. i met him when i was young and you are trying to figure out what you are trying to do and in this case what kind of journalist could i be and what kind of journalism could i do. there was robin. i distinctly remember and this goes back more than 30 years sitting at the table with him for editorial meeting and thinking to myself, where else would i want to be but listening to him talk about the news, think about what we would be doing that night. he had the most capacious mind.

he was interested in everything. world affairs, literature. and he brought all of that to bear on the news and it had an incredible impact on all of us. you are lucky in life to know a few people without any question, i would not be sitting here today without the influence of robert macneil. today without the influence of robert macneil. i dearly admired and loved him. >> does that resonate with you? was an awful lot of interviewing to be done about submarine launched ballistic missiles. but he insisted at one point that we were going to go in and interview the soviet russian poet because that's the kind of

guy he was and that's who he was most interested in talking to as long as he was in russia. and he did a spectacular interview but he also stuck to his guns on the other stuff. we had some colleagues at nbc having a much more lavish meal than we were having an robin managed to go up and catch some free caviar for all of us which i will always be grateful to him for. >> help us understand the working relationship and the friendship he shared with jim lehrer. >> it was truly unique. because of their friendship, they created an atmosphere of respect for each other and having each other's backs. there was never any concern about being knifed in the back by your colleagues and as a result we worked in an environment where we respected the audience as he said in that

piece, respected each other and respected the staff as well as the news and the newsmakers and guests who came on the program. everyone was treated equally. geoff: tell us about the early days. >> the thing that really strikes me and i want to refer to that memoir that he wrote called words struck. that was robin. he was words struck. it was even his email address. the man was besotted with words. he loved writing them, he loved speaking them. he loved the history and geography of them. therefore things wonderful documentaries who did about the story of english and american. that showed up in the journalism. if you are a person who loves to

go out into the world and you are interested in all kinds of things, and want to tell stories and then you have this capacity to use words to write them until those stories and then you have this incredible voice, he would always say that he could read the phone book and make it sound like great literature which was true, that he could also use words to practically turn journalism into a kind of literature and you ask about what it was like working with him, that is what it was like. because he saw the interest in the world but also the ability to convey it. when i think about the impact on my own life and work, that is what comes through. that love of telling stories and using words and the love of reaching out to talk to people that way. geoff: amna is on assignment

today, but we traded messages about robin's influence and how that is really evident in the work that we do. i'd like you to weigh in on that. how is his legacy manifested in this program even today? >> and so many ways. i'm not at all surprised to hear it that you were traded messages about it as she is overseas. robin just exuded the kind of excellence in journalism, the belief that journalism can make a difference, the belief that journalists shouldn't take ourselves too seriously. i can't tell you the number of times i would be talking to him and he would remind me that journalism is about the stories we are covering and not about the person doing the reporting. and that has been such an

important part of the newshour ethos, that we are about, the newshour is about reporting on the most important things that are happening and sharing that with the american people and our audience. robin believed that his very core. she had the kind of integrity that you just have to imagine in many ways today. he set an example that just by being there and doing his job, the rest of us knew that was the gold standard. and he was supportive always of the rest of us. i always knew that robin had my back. the chemistry that he and jim had together was kind of a magic pixie dust that made the program what it is and will make sure that this is a program that endures for a long time to come.

geoff: judy woodruff, jeffrey brown, linda winslow, thanks to each of you for sharing your memories and special connections to ruffin mcneil. -- robert macneil. as we mourn his lost, we invite you to share your memories at pbs.org/newshour. a busy week in politics as a major abortion decision out of arizona ways on the minds of some voters and republicans on capitol hill navigate their agenda with influence from donald trump. we are joined by new york times columnist david brooks and ruth marcus, associate editor for the washington post. vice president kamala harris is in arizona tonight days after the supreme court ruled that a near total abortion ban from 1864 is enforceable.

>> turning roe was just the opening act of a larger strategy to take women's rights and freedoms. part of the full on attack state by state on reproductive freedom. and we all must who is to blame. former president donald trump did this. geoff: what do you make of this aggressive strategy by the biden campaign to keep the abortion issue in the spotlight and pinned donald trump as the architect of restrictions and bands? >> i think it's doubly smart. it's gift the keeps on giving politically for democrats. removing abortion rights from american women has affected many women's lives and caused a lot of damage.

politically for democrats it has been beyond their wildest dreams and they keep getting help from states who do crazy things, in particular from conservative state supreme court's like we saw in alabama and florida when they cleared the way for a six week ban and like we saw with arizona and a very draconian ban. it is clear that voters are not happy with things this extreme and it is perfectly fair to put a lot of this on donald trump's lap and if i were democrats, i would be asking him questions like ok, if you are president will you enforce the comstock act and stop abortion that way? will you remove mifepristone from being marketed? those are really good questions and hard for him to answer. geoff: even donald trump is

implicitly good -- acknowledging that this is a problem. he said the court went too far and the law needs to be straightened out. >> since reagan, the republican party has been a pro-life party. it's been based on the conviction that from conception, it's a human life. and then you get donald trump and he's been floating the idea that we should have a 15 week ban or a 20 week ban. in other words he's for allowing a law that has 90% of abortions would go forward and he's allegedly pro-life. now he has sort of backed off that position but he won't tell people how they should vote. he says follow your heart. this is literally the most pro-choice position of republican has taken going back to jerry ford maybe. you are seeing the party bend to the political winds. the thing that astonishes me,

the pro-life groups should be raising holy hell. they are sort of going along with it. it shows the power of trump, let's protect donald trump even above the core convictions. will it shift the presidential election? i'm not so sure. it has definitely helped democrats and every ballot initiative since jobs. if you look at people in arizona, the issues they care about our inflation and immigration and they vastly prefer donald trump. it will drive democratic turnout, but will it shift towards donald trump? i'm not sure about that. >> two words, suburban women. this is going to be a game of inches in the presidential election. when you have young people who might not be that enthusiastic about getting out to vote, this could gift them -- get them off

their couches. i want to say about the concept of the 15 or 16 week ban, this is a crock. you couldn't have abortion after that, but it would still leave arizona to arizona and south dakota to south dakota and have complete bands. so that sounds a lot better than it is in practice it from my point of view. geoff: house speaker mike johnson who is trying to save his job which is under threat from trump aligned members of congress was at mar-a-lago's alongside the former president. they are teaming up to keep noncitizens from voting in federal elections, although that is already illegal. what do you make of this? >> they kind of need each other, but johnson needs trump more than he needs johnson. he is in a very shaky situation.

if donald trump were to cast a baleful eye on him and want him out, he would be gone in a nanosecond. you can see this in the impact on the fisa bill which limped across the finish line. you can see it with ukraine id. this is a silly dog and pony show to suggest that first of all there is some huge problem of people who aren't authorized to vote voting. people just want to make it harder to vote who don't think voters are going to go in their direction. this is a team that will last together as long as it is in donald trump's interest for it to last and no longer. geoff: the former president seemed to nod to speaker johnson's political problems. >> we are getting on very well with the speaker. it's not an easy situation for

any speaker. he's doing a very good job. i'm sure that marjorie understands that. she's a very good friend of mine. i know she has a lot of respect for the speaker. geoff: he's referring to marjorie taylor greene, the congresswoman who issued that motion to vacate. politico reported that it was speaker johnson's office that requested this appearance, not the trump team. >> i think they understand you have to massage donald trump and be nice to him so he will be nice to you. but their interests are fundamentally misaligned. trump benefits every time something goes bad in washington and its to his detriment every time something goes nicely in washington. johnson wants to pass stuff and so they are fundamentally misaligned. i have to give him credit, he is still hanging in there on ukraine. and he is still working with the

biden administration and i think they are going to get there. i give him credit and respect for doing that. geoff: i was texting with some republican sources who said that standing next to donald trump give him cover to bring ukraine to the floor and also keep his job. do buy that? >> may be. marjorie has a lot of respect for him. i think there is one way in which they are algned in the right way, which is if donald trump comes president, he needs to have a republican house. i take your point about chaos in washington is good for donald trump, but too much chaos in the house is not so good for a future president trump. geoff: there could be some chaos in new york city on monday for the start of trump's trial.

what will you be watching for as this case progresses? >> i guess donald trump's prefrontal cortex. i want to know how much self-control he has. a lot of people he doesn't like will be testifying in front of him. he's going to be tempted to storm out and scream and that will alienate the jury and the judge. geoff: we have seen donald trump benefit logically from all these legal troubles. will the residence and the impact change now that this is a criminal trial? >> this is the case that makes me the most nervous. it is the shaky asked case legally. it's about falsification of business records. that doesn't quite have the residence of interfering with an election or obstructing justice and mishandling classified information.

it involves serious things. trump tried to keep salient information from voters at a time when he was in potential trouble because of the access hollywood tape. if we do see a criminal conviction which is more likely than not, this is a manhattan jury, that really could have impact in a way that trump has not been used too. the criminal charges against him, he won't look as much of a victim as he will look if he's convicted like a felon. >> i wish this case were not going first because the stronger cases are more down the line. the polls clearly show, people say if he's convicted, significant chunk will not vote for him. i will believe it when i see it. geoff: david brooks and ruth marcus, appreciate you both. ♪

geoff: remember there is much more online including a roundup this week's political headlines on our youtube page and be sure to tune into washington week with the atlantic for analysis of how abortion politics is dominating the 20 24 election cycle and how republicans are never getting the supreme court ruling. and on pbs news week and as the world's top golfers tee off at the masters, a look at the first african-american golfer to play on the pga tour. that's the newshour for tonight i'm geoff bennett. let's let robin and jim do it. >> hey robin. >> i guess that's it. >> good night. >> good night, jim. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by.

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arizona state university. ♪ >> you're watch

wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. the xfinity 10g network. made for streaming. franklin: arizona's supreme court reinstates a 160-year-old abortion ban. republicans, including donald trump, scramble to insulate themselves from potential political backlash. meanwhile, mike