Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by and by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology, and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. Supported by the rockefeller foundation. Promoting the wellbeing of humanity around the world by building resilience and inclusive economies. More at rockefellerfoundation. Org Carnegie Corporation of new york. Supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of International Peace and security. At carnegie. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Sreenivasan the nations new attorney general has spent this day under growing fire. And now, Jeff Sessions says someone else will oversee an investigation of russian meddling in the election, and of contacts between the Trump Campaign and the russians. Lisa desjardins begins our coverage. Desjardins the new attorney general, three weeks on the job, came to the Justice DepartmentBriefing Room this afternoon to make his statement. My staff recommended recusal. They said that since i had involvement with the campaign, i should not be involved in any campaign investigation. I have studied the rules and considered their comments and evaluation. I believe those recommendations are right and just. Therefore i have recused myself in the matters that deal with Trump Campaign. Desjardins this after the Washington Post reported that last year, when Jeff Sessions was a senator and Trump Campaign advisor, he met with the Russian Ambassador to the u. S. Twice thensenator sessions had more than 25 conversations with foreign ambassadors last year. Two of those were with sergey kislyak, the russian envoy. At his news conference, sessions took issue with any suggestion of impropriety. Let me be clear i never had meetings with russian ops or intermediaries with Trump Campaign part of continuing desjardins he also defended answers he gave during his senate confirmation. Minnesota democrat al franken cited u. S. Intelligence documents. These documents also allegedly say, there was a continuing exchange of information during the campaign between trumps surrogates and intermediaries for the russian government. Senator franken, im not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and i didnt have, did not have communications with the russians. Desjardins this afternoon, sessions said he never meant to be misleading. My reply to the question of senator franken was honest and correct as i understood it at the time. I appreciate that some have taken the view that this was a false comment that is not my intent that is not correct. Desjardins but democrats in congress werent buying it. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer i dont think that is the way most think people would interpret it and thats why we need a thorough investigation. Desjardins instead, schumer and House Minority leader nancy pelosi demanded that sessions resign. The standard for remaining attorney general and certainly for conducting investigations is not just did you break the law. You have to be above reproach. He has proved that he is unqualified and unfit to serve in that position of trust. Desjardins 17 democrats on the House Judiciary Committee formally asked for a criminal investigation of sessions for allegedly lying to congress. Democrats are pushing for a special prosecutor in the case. But there was also pressure from republicans. Several called for sessions to recuse himself from the russia investigation, before he eventually did so. But speaker of the house paul ryan played down such talk. I think he answered that question this morning. We meet with ambassadors all the time. I mean i did a reception about a 100 yards that way with about a hundred ambassadors last years. I dont even remember all the desjardins the attorney desjardins and this afternoon, sessions boss weighed in, in newport news, virginia aboard the Aircraft Carrier gerald r. Ford do you still have confidence in the attorney general . Total. Desjardins the president said he believes sessions probably did speak truthfully to senate. He also said he did not think sessions should recuse himself, but 90 minutes later, the attorney general did just that. The revelations come just two weeks after thenNational Security advisor Michael Flynn was forced out. Hed told Vice President mike pence he didnt meet discuss sanctions with a russian official, when in fact, he had. And, in a further development, the New York Times reported today officials in the Obama Administration rushed to spread intelligence of any contacts between the Trump Campaign and the russians before leaving office. Their goal to ensure a trail remained for investigators. Sreenivasan Lisa Desjardins joins me now. Lisa, this happened late in the afternoon, about a 4 00 press conference. What was the reaction to this from the people on the hill . There was a full spectrum of reaction on capitol hill. There are some republicans who say they do not believe that attorney general sessions should have recused himself. There are colleagues that see him as an honest man. They were saying all day long he shouldnt do anything new, but there are other republicans who will tell you privately they are relieved. They saw this as a problem for their party, especially at a time when theyre trying to focus on other things like, oh, the Affordable Care act. Those republicans, one told me privately hoping that this means there will be a pause in the daily questions theyve been receiving on russia. And that brings us to the third reaction up here, democrats. They have a different plan. They do in the plan on pausing these questions, and house and Senate Minority leaders pelosi and schumer instantly sent out responses saying that they are again demanding a special prosecutor. They say that attorney general sessions recusal just adds to the need for a special prosecutor. And they are still calling for him to resign. Sreenivasan it sounds like some critics are doubling down. What about some reports later this afternoon about more meetings between members of the trump camp and russia . These were new developments today, as well. The New York Times reporting, quoting a white house official hope hicks as confirming that Jared Kushner, pruchs soninlaw and a senior adviser, was at a meeting with the Russian Ambassador and Michael Flynn, the former National Security adviser, at trump tower. This gets confusing because now were seeing more and more players here, but this is significant because now were adding more members of the trump team who were meeting with this Russian Ambassador. At that point it was kushner, flynn and the ambassador at trump tower in december. Thats when the Obama Administration was working on ramping up sanctions, a very critical time line there, and i think overall it just adds to the map in this entire russiatrump situation. But i will say the white house says that mr. Kushner met with Many International dignitaries and the Russian Ambassador was just one. Sreenivasan all right. Lisa desjardins joining us from capitol hill. Thanks so much. In the days other news, the president carried his call for a Major Military buildup to a u. S. Navy audience. Mr. Trump spoke aboard the newly built Aircraft Carrier gerald r. Ford in newport news, virginia, and touted his plan for naval expansion. After years of endless budget cuts, that have impaired our defenses, i am calling for one of the largest defense spending increases in history. Our military requires sustained, Stable Funding to meet our growing needs. Sreenivasan the president s draft budget calls for boosting overall defense spending by 54 billion, or 10 . The u. S. Struck hard at alqaeda militants today in yemen, with more than 20 air strikes. Local officials reported at least nine suspected militants were killed. The pentagon says the strikes targeted fighters, weapons and equipment in a remote, mountainous region. It follows a raid in january when a u. S. Navy seal died and a number of yemeni civilians were killed. Meanwhile, alqaeda confirmed today that a u. S. Drone strike killed its secondin command, abu alkhayr almasri, in syria, last sunday. A suspected u. S. Drone strike killed two taliban militants in northwest pakistan today. They were hit in a tribal region near the afghan border. It would be the first such strike ordered since President Trump took office. In syria, the government announced it has fully recaptured the ancient city of palmyra from the Islamic State group, again. Syrian army troops drove out the militants for the second time in a year. They were backed by hezbollah fighters from lebanon and russian air strikes. Isis fighters have already destroyed many of palmyras ancient roman sites. An International Family planning conference raised nearly 200 million today for Family Planning initiatives. Thats after President Trump re instated a ban on u. S. Funding for organizations with any link to abortion. Representatives from some 50 nations met in brussels, at a conference dubbed she decides. I think the Trump Administration decision is a wrong decision and i have never seen any evidence that supports that decision, but we have a voice and we have a choice sreenivasan conference organizers say the u. S. Funding cutoff left a global shortfall of about 600 million for Family Planning efforts. Back in this country, the Environmental Protection agency dropped a requirement that oil and gas interests report information on methane emissions. The Obama Administration issued that rule in november. In a statement, the new e. P. A. Administrator, scott pruitt, said withdrawing the rule will ease burdens on business, while he conducts a full review. Two more cabinet officers took their seats. The Senate Confirmed ben carson to be secretary of housing and urban development, and rick perry to be energy secretary. They were sworn in this afternoon by Vice President pence. Carson is a retired neurosurgeon who ran for president last year. Perry is a former governor of texas. The new interior secretary, ryan zinke, made a memorable entrance today, for his first day on the job. The former montana congressman rode a National ParkService Horse several blocks to department headquarters. Once there, he dismounted to greet hundreds of staffers. And, on wall street, stocks gave back a big chunk of yesterdays big gains, as investors took profits. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost 112 points but still managed to stay above 21,000. The nasdaq fell nearly 43 points, and the s p 500 slipped 14. Still to come on the newshour a closer look at the implications of Jeff Sessions meeting with the Russian Ambassador. A shoe company upending the traditional Business Model with a little fun, and much more. Sreenivasan the reaction to attorney general Jeff Sessions announcement late this afternoon was swift. Critics say his decision to recuse himself from any current and future investigations into the Trump Campaigns dealings with russia doesnt go far enough. One of those critics democratic senator Richard Blumenthal of connecticut. He serves on the judiciary and Armed Service committees and joins us now. Senator blumenthal, why isnt it far enough . It is nowhere near far enough, because he owes an explanation to the judiciary committee. He should be brought back to the judiciary committee. And give an explanation as to why he omitted and denied key relevant facts in the course of our hearings on his nomination. If he fails to provide a credible explanation, he should resign. And its also nowhere near enough because the scope of his recusal is still somewhat undefined. He referred to the campaign, but really the investigation from which he should recuse himself relates to the entire cyber attack and act of cyber warfare on our Democratic Institutions and the potential complicity, connection, contact between the trump transition as well as the campaign and the Administration Since the inaugural with the russians. And as more news develops, the Jared Kushner meeting, for example, the need for that broader recusal becomes all the more necessary. Sreenivasan senator, if you could get the attorney general back in front of your committee, what more do you hope to learn from him . First and foremost why he denied meetings that clearly he recalled and that were relevant to the investigation. What was said during those meetings . What does his staff recall, and what do their notes reflect, and what connection was to the russians involving those conversations involving the cyber attack on the United States, our Democratic Institutions . Make no mistakes, this cyber attack was an act of warfare on the United States. And the potential complicity of trumps organization or campaign or Administration Officials is very, very serious, and the American People deserve the truth. It needs to be uncovered. The coverup, if there is one, would be as bad or worse than the crime itself, because we need to deter this kind of attack going forward. Woodruff what. Sreenivasan what about the attorney generals defense that he was answering the question asked and nothing more. Looking at the record he was asked that question not just once but several times during his testimony. He was asked that question not just once but several times in writing. And to say that he may have misunderstood the question when, in fact, Everybody Knows he had to have been prepped for that question. It was an obvious and challenging question that had to be briefed to him, and he had to go through that preparation, and remember also, Jeff Sessions is a prosecutor, as i was United States attorney for connecticut, the chief federal prosecutor, state attorney general of connecticut, we know the importance of every word under oath. And so i find that explanation inadequate. Sreenivasan if the recusal is not enough, is a special counsel necessary . A special prosecutor is absolutely necessary. That raises another question how will that special counsel or prosecutor be chosen, and it should be someone who is completely independent, impartial, objective, a professional who can uncover the truth and follow the facts and the evidence wherever they lead. And they may lead to the attorney general. They could lead higher and to other Administration Officials. That appointment or designation will be critical to the trust and credibility of the department of justice. Remember, the attorney general of the United States and the department of justice are not just any cabinet position or agency in the government. They are responsible for law enforcement. They are the legal conscience and moral compass of our federal enforcement establishment. And even of the nation in many respects. They need to be beyond doubt or reproach. Sreenivasan should there be an investigation into perjury of your former colleague . The investigation should be into any violation of law that has occurred by anyone, and it should be by a special prosecutor who will uncover the truth so that the American People know about the Cyber Attacks on this nation and know about any cooperation or complicity or support the russians received from anybody in the United States. Sreenivasan the attorney ral today along with speaker ryan and others said this is part of the job as a Senior Member of the senate Armed Services committee. They meet with ambassadors all the time. This ambassador was from russia at the height of the Political Campaign and of the russian interference and cyber attack on this nation through not only hacking into the democratic and Republican National committees, but also the Campaign Propaganda and misinformation and fake news, so the contacts with the ambassador in terms of timing, who it was, what country and what was going on, is certainly more than just routine. I have never met with the Russian Ambassador. And the meeting here is certainly more than just a passing occurrence. Sreenivasan how do you fix this in the future if members of congress should be meeting with diplomats or foreign dignitaries, when theyre interested or in the interest of their constituents, should there be a Public Record of every one of these meetings . The safer course might have been to have a Public Record or to postpone the meeting. One of the questions to be asked of attorney general sessions is why then, what was discussed, if it was as a member of the Armed Services committee, what purpose was there in the discussion . Was it to discuss the russians violation of the 1987 Ballistic Missile treaty, which they are doing now . Was it to discuss other acts of aggression in ukraine and elsewhere in the world . What was discussed . We have a right to those explanations. Sreenivasan senator Richard Blumenthal of connecticut, thank you very much. Thank you. Sreenivasan questions about attorney general sessions meetings with the Russian Ambassador arent limited to capitol hill. We explore some of those now with john mclaughlin, a career intelligence official. He was a former Deputy Director of the c. I. A. He was also acting director of the agency in 2004. And michael mukasay. He served as president george w. Bushs attorney general from 2007 to 2009. Mr. Mukasay, i want the start with you. At those hearings, at the confirmation hearings for Jeff Sessions, i noticed you sat right behind him. I am assuming you are in support of his recusal today. Yes. I think that the step he took was quite routine. What he said is if there is a criminal investigation, then i should recuse myself, and i do recuse myself. And he pointed out that there is. There are more regulations and theres law on that subject as contained in the code of federal regulations, and that was quite supportable and quite routine. Sreenivasan staying with you for a second, attorney general sessions is somebody who is known for his specificity of word choice and he expects that, especially of the people testifying in front of him, so what do you think accounts for either the forgetfulness or not answering the question . Really whats gotten us into this . There was neither forgetfulness or not answering at question. If senator blumenthal is looking for an excla nation of the response, he ought to look in the transcript of the hearing before his committee. I hope he was paying attention. The question that was asked by senator franken was related to contacts between the russians and the Trump Campaign relating to the campaign. And i have the paper in front of me. He, among other things, quoted a report that said there was a continuing exchange of information during the campaign between trump surrogates and intermediaries of the russian government. Now again, im telling you this pas its coming out, so you kno, but if its true, its obviously extremely serious, and if there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump Campaign communicated with the russian government in the course of this campaign, what will you do . Its all related to that kind of communication. His response was, senator franken, im not aware of any of these activities. Ive been called a sure got a time or two in that campaign, and i did not have communications with the russians. Im unable to comment on it. The kind of communication that senator franken was asked about that other members of the committee asked about he did not have. He had a meeting in september with not only the Russian Ambassador but with about 20 or 21 other ambassadors from other countries, all discussing what the possible Foreign Relations of the United States would be in the Trump Administration going forward. This is only one of a number of meetings. And if he wants the find out what the content of that meeting was, maybe he can get a transcript of the attorney generals press Conference Today where he disclosed that he had an argument with the Russian Ambassador about russian activities in the ukraine. Sreenivasan john mclaghlin, was this recusal enough . I think its the minimum that the attorney general can do in this circumstance. And i think it was the right thing to do. Sreenivasan should there be more . At this point i wouldnt recommend more. I think attorney general sessions is an honorable man. I think he made a mistake here. One can argue endlessly about whether it was really a mistake or not. The point is the perception has taken root, and i think he had no choice but to do a recusal. I dont think that that is the end of this story. And i dont think that the administration can investigate itself on this issue. Sreenivasan michael mukasay, i want to ask you, thensenator sessions was one of a group of Trump Supporters who took out an oped who wanted thenattorney general Loretta Lynch investigated for her conversation on the tarmac with president clinton during the campaign. Why is this different . Its different for a couple reasons. Number one, her conversation was anything but routine. He got on to her plane i date of birth know how and had a conversation to which there were no witnesses at a time when his wife was under investigation. This is light years from that. Sreenivasan mr. Mclaghlin, its common place for senators to meet with ambassadors. Why should this be treated differently . I think this is entirely about context. Theyre right. People meet with ambassadors all the time and all over washington, and certainly senators do. The context here is one of a president who has been elected in an environment where he clearly spoke favorably often about russia where there are questions that remain about his relationship with russia. Those questions are there. Theres an Evidentiary Base for raising them. And its in that context that the meeting with ambassador kislyak gained prominence and stands out and is worth talking about. I think its entirely that. And i think ultimately we will need either a special prosecutor or a 9 11type commission to get to the bottom of this. And i think those options would be ones that would actually favor the fortunes of the Republican Party and the nation as a whole. Sreenivasan how so . Well, i think, you know, this is going to hang around the partys neck and around the president s neck unless there is an absolutely certain dispassionate view by independent observers of what happened here, a determination. Among other things, at some point, and i think the president has the right idea when he says, our relationship with russia needs to be improved, i was in russia in october, and i saw just how bad it is. It really is very close to a second cold war. At that time i came back and said, look, were only one miscalculation away from a shooting war somewhere with these people. Its that tense. So the problem is for the president , though, in trying to maneuver into a different kind of relationship, a more effective, cooperative relationship with russia, its going to hang around his neck and people will not trust whatever he comes up with in that relationship with russia unless this is all put to rest. And i doubt personally that the congress can do this. Because its too politically hot. Sreenivasan michael mukasay, what about that point, for the good of the party, for the integrity of the office, should there be an independent counsel or a special prosecutor assigned to this . A special prosecutor would have to specially prosecute a crime. So far nobody has identified any crime that was committed here that im aware. We dont have people independent of a government. We have a constitution that establishes three branches of government. One is article one, thats the congress. Article two is the executive. Article three is the judiciary. You have to be in one or the other. You can have an investigation thats conducted by a special counsel if thats warranted, but first somebody has to identify the commission of a crime and evidence of 2 crime. So far that hasnt happened. The only crime that was committed here was the hacking by the russians. Nobody is denying that. But thats not the subject, as i understand it, of the current dispute. Sreenivasan mr. Mukasay, staying with you for a second, something they sort of asked mr. Mclaghlin, as well. The Washington Post reached all 26 members of the senate Armed Services committee and sexes was the only one that met with kislyak from russia. Does that raise any flags . No, because he met also with 20 or 25 other ambassadors. I think the reason they sought out those meetings and it was kislyak who sought out the meeting, as did the other ambassadors, because that time senator sessions was involved in the campaign. They wanted to know what the American Foreign policy would be, and all of those ambassadors met sequentially one after another with senator sessions to scope out what the Foreign Policy of a Trump Administration would be if mr. Trump were elected and to see if they could press their points of view. Apparently kislyak pressed his point of view on the subject of ukraine with in great success, as was reported today by the attorney general. Sreenivasan mr. Mclaghlin, i want to ask you, what about reports that members of the Obama Administration made sure that certain matters were at Different Levels of clearance so they could be accessed later on. I heard that reporting. Of course, we dont know from the reporting precisely what they were leaving, the nature of the reports, other than the allegation by i guess Anonymous Sources again that they somehow showed a relationship between Campaign Officials of Trumps Campaign and the russians. I think what the Obama Administration was doing here is. I dont think, this is my view, i dont think theyd come to a firm conclusion that there was complicity, but they saw enough to raise the question in their minds and to convince them that some further investigation was required. And i suspect they believed once again in that context that i described that should trump be elected, someone would have an impulse to not pursue this. So i think they were trying the guarantee that it would continue to be pursued. Sreenivasan john mclaghlin, michael mukasay, thank you both. Sreenivasan stay with us, coming up on the newshour why the stock market just keeps going up. Seeing world war one through the lens of art. And a brief take on what its like to be a female comedian. But first, you might know retailer zappos for the shoes it sells and its emphasis on Customer Service. What you may not know about is its quirky corporate culture, and why the company is banking on that for its longterm success. Our economics correspondent paul solman reports, as part of his weekly Series Making sense which airs every thursday. Definitely the best porta potty experience ive ever had reporter from its porta party p. R. To its campus in downtown vegas, zappos, the online shoe monger, is devoted to different. Let me give you these three rules about wearing wallflowers, as we like to call them. Reporter wallflowers. Wallflowers, because you see weve got the wall and we call them wallflowers. Reporter front desk dress code enforcer jason brown gives visitors three options. First one is to take it off if it holds sentimental value to you, the next one is to wear it around your head in a bandana, john rambo style, and then the last one is to cut and it becomes part of the collection. Reporter thankfully my tie was deemed passably peculiar and thus spared a spot on the wall, amidst decor both seasonal, lanterns for chinese new year, and longstanding, like the shoe zaphone. It came from the Blue Man Group actually. Reporter btony hsieh took over zappos 17 years ago after selling his online ad network, Link Exchange to microsoft for a cool 265 million. What a lot of people actually dont know is the real reason why we ended up selling the company. Reporter and that is . And its because the Company Culture just ended up going completely downhill. I myself dreaded getting out of bed in the morning to go to my own company. Reporter history would not repeat itself, hsieh vowed. So at zappos, culture comes first. And that starts with hiring people wholl fit. I remember coming in and one of the things was were not trying to hire based off of your education. We want to hire based off of someone i would want to go have a beer with after lunch. Reporter well, i would want to have a beer with you and i barely know you. I wouldnt have a beer. We could have a shot. Reporter zappos core values are an obsession embrace change, be humble create fun and a little weirdness. Its a family that loves to play. Reporter musician Tyler Williams heard it was harder to get into zappos than harvard. So to be more than a face in the crowd, he sent a video valentine. And when it earned him an interview. I think one of the craziest questions is they asked on a scale of one to ten, how weird are you . So im a definitely a ten on that scale, so i was worried i was a little too weird for zappos. Reporter nope, williams, is now a fungineer, the brains behind company galas and other socalled experiences, like tutu tuesdays. We probably at the pinnacle of its popularity we had 50, 60 people that would wear tutus on tuesday. Reporter another core valu build a positive team and family spirit. So we put these games on the elevator. Reporter ahhh that was good. To hopefully stop and play the game, have collisions, have conversations and get off on the wrong floor so people would visit different areas that they normally wouldnt. Reporter zappos invests lavishly in morale. Impress a colleague and hr will pay you zollars to redeem for zappos swag. Each month employees can reward a coworker with a 50 Company Bonus for going above and beyond. And company largesse begets acts of random kindness. I took a picture of a particular bouquet that i liked and i posted on facebook i love flowers. Reporter letha myles started in Customer Service nine years ago. The next day, there was a bouquet of flowers sitting on my desk, along with a note saying you make us smile, so we thought we would make you smile. Reporter birthday balloons abound; cubicle selfexpression is de rigueur. But what can the business rationale be for all this . Why would amazon pay more than a billion dollars for zappos in 2009 and then let it spend so generously for so long to make its employees happy . I think its pretty hard to give great, Amazing Service if youre an unhappy employee. Reporter turns out zappos business is service. It started with shoes, as amazon did with books, aims to branch out. Weve talked about one day there could be a zappos airlines or a zappos hotel thats just about the very best Customer Service and customer experience. Reporter wellknown service like the 365day Free Shipping return policy, managed by Customer Service reps who start at 14 an hour and comprise a third of all employees. And aboveandbeyond service. Two flight attendants told me zappos, when asked, sent pizza to an auditorium full of new jetblue hires. In fact we just had our longest phone call ever, which was well over 10 hours long. Reporter 10 hours . What were they talking about . I was not there, but i think they bonded. Reporter so for you, to hear that somebody spent 10 hours on the phone with a customer bonding, thats a good thing, not a waste of time. Thats an amazing thing. Reporter but whats the payoff . 2008 was the first year we hit a billion dollars in gross merchandise sales. Were doing several times that now. And the number one driver through all that history has been through repeat customers and word of mouth. Reporter so amazon has kept hands off while zappos proselytizes its happy weird ways, offering daily tours and advising companies that want to emulate it. Now c. E. O. Hsieh can be impish. Rachel do you want me to leave . Leave . Get it . Reporter but he can also be seriously controversial. Hes introduced a system called holacracy that among other things does away with bosses entirely. All zappos 1,500 employees now belong to some 500 self governing teams called circles. Were going to start like we do every holacracy meeting with a checkin round. Just call out your distractions. Get here, get ready to process some tensions today and share what you know with others. Im only distracted because i have a super long day of meetings. Im super, super distracted because the Application Window is open again for intern candidates again for the summer which means we have thousands and thousands of applicants. In the span of a week were up to like 5,000. Reporter socalled tactical meetings are run by a facilitator according to a rigid format, using holacratic lingo. Lets move on to triage you guys. You can go ahead and just yell those tensions out and then rachel, as our secretary, will go ahead and capture those items for you. Reporter in the closing round, kudos for efficiency. A ton of actions. We covered seven items in less than a half an hour and we have like a zillion outputs which is really great but with that everyone have a great day. Reporter chris peake helped with the holacracy rollout. I would say the best thing about this process is the commitment to action and projects and the transparency to those. I would say probably the most challenging with zappos culture, you introduced a really rigid process within meeting spaces. Reporter hsieh believes selfmanagement is key to zappos longevity, allowing it to grow not like a topdown corporation, but a city. Most companies, as they get bigger, they become less nimble, less innovative, less productive. Every time the size of a city doubles, innovation or productivity per resident increases by 15 . When you get more people in a relatively smaller area in a city, then you get this crossover of ideas from different creative types and entrepreneurs and businesses. Reporter but Self Organization wasnt for everyone, so two years ago hsieh offered a liberal severance package to those not sold on the new structure in fact, to everyone. 18 took buyouts, hiking the firms yearly turnover rate for 2015 to almost 30 , though theres plenty of turnover at Customer Service firms, and plenty in las vegas. But letha myles is sticking with it. The people who stayed are pretty much saying that theyre willing to commit to learning it and practicing it. You know, lets still remember, were friends, were family and i think that helps us stay true to the process. It felt like it took the humanity out of it. But weve worked that back into the process, i feel. And everybodys voice gets heard, which usually in the past it was just the loudest person in the room, right. Reporter williams points out that zappos is now canine friendly because it was deemed safe enough to try, a key idea in holacracy. In the past that had been shut down multiple times and through holacracy we were able to push that through. I know thats not a huge deal, but its a big deal to our employees. Reporter but hsieh thinks self management will accomplish something much bigger saving zappos from the fate of most large companies. If you look at the fortune 500 list, which i think came out in 1955 originally, Something Like 85 maybe more are no longer on that list. The default fate for most companies is actually death. I want this company to still be around 500 years from now. Reporter this is economics correspondent paul solman, still wearing my tie, reporting from las vegas. Sreenivasan now, lets turn to the markets and the remarkable rally of late, one thats led to new records since President Trump was elected. William brangham has the story. Brangham the dow jones and other indexes were already doing well when donald trump won the president ial election. In fact, from the lows during the 2008 financial crisis, through president obamas time in office, the dow climbed back by about 150 . And while markets closed lower today, the overall jump of recent weeks has accelerated mightily, rising from just over 18,000 on election day, to breaking 21,000 this week. In fact, it jumped by 1,000 points in just 24 days. Thats the quickest rise since 1999. For some analysis of whats happening, im joined by neil irwin. Hes an Economics Writer for the New York Times. Welcome. Thanks. Brangham Pretty Amazing market out there right now. Can you explain, what is going on . The simplest version is donald trump is president , his agenda is to cut corporate taxes. His agenda is to deregulate. These are things that are good for the bottom line for major companies. Throw in some more military spending, maybe some Infrastructure Spending, thats good for the bottom line of corporate america. And this is a Global Economy getting on its feet after a rough couple years. You combine those things into one period of a few months, and thats how you get these kinds of rallies weve seen. Brangham as you say, donald trump would like the take credit and has taken credit for. This does he deserve credit for . There is no question the trump agenda is something thats making stock investors confident, thats leading them the leave aftertax profits which is what matters, will be on the rise in the years ahead. The math is simple if youre a bank and your capital gets dropped, if youre a military contractor and your military spending gets increased, that goes to the bottom line. Thats all good for stocks. Thats part of the trump agenda. That said, most of those policies havent happened yet. So there is still the question, will the trump deliver the things wall street is now expecting. An anticipatory effect. Exactly. Brangham you wrote recently, how many slack is there in the economy. What do you mean by slack . Every country has a economic speed limit. Theres only so many people. They can only produce so much stuff. How low can the Unemployment Rate go . How many more. How much unused capacity is there in the manufacturing seconder . Thats the big question . Is there room for the economy to grow 3 or 4 like donald trump said he wanted to see, or are we growing as fast as we can, Something Like 2 . Thats the big question of whether this kind of outstanding growth has been priced into Financial Markets can be delivered in years ahead. Brangham do you know the answer the that question . If you had to guess, where are we . Were getting close. Were under 5 unemployment. People outside the labor market might come back in. So there is slack out there. There is room to grow, but probably not as much as a year or two ago. That will become the binding constraint in the next couple years. Brangham a booming market is certainly great if youre in that market, but not all seconders are booming equally. How does this booming market translate for people. Does it add to growth that makes a real impact . Stock wealth is held predemeanor manly by the affluent, so the distributional effects of a higher stock market are definitely not even across the population. That said, to the degree that a higher stock market, a rising sense of confidence leads to more hiring, more capital expenditures, so that can have broad impact. If these numbers hold up, if what markets are pricing in the Trump Administration actually happen, thats a good sign for growth, for job growth, for expansion of all kinds of businesses. Given this economy and what you know of trumps proposed policies, what specifically about those policies are you looking most closely at . I think its execution is. This big Corporate Income tax cut the president says he wants to see, is that going to happen, how soon will it happen . How big will it be . On the regulatory front, how much of the shift away from regulation will be things that benefit dorm rat america . Is there going to be new Infrastructure Spending . Is that going to happen. Congress isnt so sure. So seeing if some of these things go from an idea on a chalkboard to actual legislation, actual policy, thats the big question right now. I know youre an analyst and an Economics Writer and you buy and sell stocks, so if you had to be advising me, do you think this rally will continue . Can it keep up . Stocks are priced for protection. Theyre highly priced relative to earnings. Youre not buying current earn,ings. Youre buying the future. That said, is there plenty of reason to think earnings could grow as the market is now predicting . Certainly. Count on it. Its assured. It makes a bit of a risky investment. Sreenivasan brangham neie New York Times, thank you very much. Thank you. Sreenivasan this april marks 100 years since the United States joined the side of the allies in world war one. The great war was not only joined in the trenches, but in the culture in different ways as well. An exhibit in philadelphia explores how american artists grappled with a divisive conflict that produced powerful images for and against it. Jeffrey brown has the story. Brown i want you about as direct as it gets. An iconic image from world war one. The flower of death an evocative title for a painting by an american soldier named claggett wilson, that captures some of the closeup horror of the war. Just one of the many ways american artists responded to a cataclysmic worldshattering and shaping event. The subject of a major new exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of fine arts in philadelphia titled world war one and american art. I think that at heart this is a Human Interest story. Brown you mean, the whole war . As big as it was . You have these artists who are thinking basically, heres this huge global conflict going on. How do i make sense of it . How do i also bring it down to a human level and express either dissent, an urgency for america to take part in it or to just express whats at stake in the brown the great war began in europe in 1914. The u. S. Didnt join until three years later, after an intense public debate over entering a foreign conflict. Artists weighed in on both sides. John sloans after the war, a medal a maybe a job in 1914 was one of the earliest antiwar drawings. Marsden hartley was conflicted he lived in germany and fell in love with a German Military officer, killed in the war, who hartley depicted in a series of paintings. Childe hassam on the other hand, active in the pro Interventionist Movement in new york, streamed flags across his canvasses in support of the allies. And george bellows, an early opponent of the war, was moved to support it by a u. S. Government report, later disputed, of german atrocities. Hes swayed big time. This is an atrocity painting on a large scale. Yeah, he makes these history paintings about this contemporary event and hes showing the brutality of these atrocities being committed to citizens, kids, women. Hes showing it at its most visceral. Brown more directly, the u. S. Government commissioned artists to create propaganda posters as part of an agency to influence public opinion. Calls to enlist in the military, and invest in the war effort. Questioning the masculinity of fighting age men, and the consequences of inaction. Anne classen knutson is another of the shows curators. Youve seen this image a hundred different times, and this is where it begins. James montgomery flagg, a famous illustrator, created uncle sam. He loved himself so much, he created uncle sam in his own visage, so this is James Montgomery flagg as uncle sam and it was so well known it was reused over and over again in the 20th century. Brown right next to it, though, a very different kind of image. One of the subtexts of this, people before the war were very worried that immigrants were going to come and, these are their words, and dilute our White American bloodlines so this is an image of that, that fear of immigrants. Brown immigrants, and also africanamericans . Also using, tarzan was a hot topic at the time, the novels were coming out, and he was using caricatures of African Americans as well, and they were very feared during the war and not treated well. Brown other work from the era countered that imagery, showing a normalized, patriotic black life in a culture that continued to discriminate against it. Kelly morgan is a curatorial fellow with academy. To say that we have families. African American People are, like i said, a very integral piece of the american fabric. That we are meant to be here. This is our country just as much as it is anybody elses. Also to really show or to play up that narrative of these are americas sons. These are americas husbands. These are americas fathers just like their white counterparts. Brown blacks served with distinction abroad, but faced renewed discrimination back home. And soon after the war, race riots broke out around the country a kind of backlash, says morgan. There was a sense that African American men, particularly veterans, had kind of gotten out of their place. This idea of bravery and subjectivity and autonomy in particular couldnt stand. Brown the war would be represented in numerous other ways georgia okeefe, conflicted about the u. S. Role and worried about a brother about to be sent to fight, painted this red flag enveloped in smoke. Official artists, including george harding, were embedded in the fighting, a first for the u. S. Military in a foreign war. You get this heightened sense of what it must have felt like to have a tank moving towards the trench youre in. Brown Edward Steichen served as an aerial photographer, as planes were used on a wide scale in war for the first time. Photographs like these, shown in newspapers, influenced abstract paintings by the likes of john marin. One strikingly direct and haunting use of art in the war masks made by sculptor Anna Coleman Ladd for disfigured soldiers. The painter Horace Pippin fought, was injured, and wrestled with the aftermath of his experience for years to come. An africanamerican, he served with the famed harlem hellfighters, a renowned infantry of black soldiers. The war has these echoes for all the people who lived through it into the 1920s and 30s, it stays with them and it becomes an integral part to the kinds of art that theyre making, even brown perhaps the most famous artistic image of world war one is the epic, 20 foot long painting by John Singer Sargent titled gassed a line of Wounded Soldiers blinded in a gas attack. A mustard yellow pallor. A game of soccer in the background, as life goes on. While figures writhe in the foreground. It seemed to him the perfect analogy for the way people have been talking about the first world war, the blind leading the blind. Brown sargent, who everybody in all, some 17 million soldiers and civilians would die in the war, including more than 100,000 American Military personnel. It brought huge changes, but wasnt, as first claimed, the war to end all wars. the exhibitions final room shows work from its aftermath, and two that bookend its heights and depths the flag waving celebration of George Benjamin luks, armistice night. And john steuart currys parade to war, allegory from 1938, as soldiers again march toward a great foreign war, their faces already becoming skeletons. Images of war that reverberate to today. From the Pennsylvania Academy of fine arts, im Jeffrey Brown for the pbs newshour. Sreenivasan the world war one exhibition will travel next to new york in the spring and then to nashville in the fall. Sreenivasan finally, our brief but spectacular series where we ask interesting people to share their passions. Tonight comedian Michelle Collins on the abundance of white men hosting late night talk shows. Im tall. I come from tallish people. Im 6 foot 1. In roller blades im like 6 foot 9. Its great for dating i just find a lot of guys who are like we love that shes so big . What if i just had a meltdown and went Barbara Walters started sobbing i am so happy with how life turned out for me its great. I found a place that sells long jeans, you know ever since then its been really, really wonderful. I love all cbs reality shows. I love makeup, im a Sephora Rouge member that means they just take it directly out of my paycheck always when people are like whats your look. I always say slutty panda. Like smoke me out here to the the nose up and do like a poppa gloss amadeus style center of the lips and just push me into traffic. I love a contour. Men are very unlucky because if you look like a bloated man well youre pretty much bleep . You have to bleep it its pbs. Women we can paint a day of the dead skull on top of our own face and pretend that is what we look like. My mom is my biggest publicist she lives in miami she used to work at j crew. Her names judy. They used to call her judy crew. Every time people came into j crew shed with their pants like submit a headshot of mine enjoy your cashmeres this is my daughter she lives in new york shes very successful. The big picture for me has always been having my own late night show. Let me do that again late nighty. Its all white guys hosting late night shows right now. Its fine. I dont think its a problem. I love that samantha bee is hosting full frontal on t. B. S. I have to be honest i just feel like talking about white guys in late night is the new white guy on late night its so boring its so played out we all know whats happening lets just move on and change it. If youre a really funny woman of course its a great time right now. I think it was a great time ten years ago when you had tina and amy Kathy Griffen then 20 years ago you had joan rivers there can i be honest i find it annoying that funny women always have to talk about being a funny woman. Its frustrating to be because i feel like im above that im a funny person like why do i have to harp on how many funny women there are were not charity cases were talented its like done. My name is Michelle Collins and this is my brief but spectacular take on stop asking me what it feels like to be a woman in comedy. Sreenivasan you can find more brief but spectacular videos on our website. Thats at pbs. Org newshour brief. On the newshour online right now, with an historic rise in fatal drug overdoses and a new president in the white house, the future is uncertain for programs trying to combat a growing Public Health crisis. We offer an overview of how the Trump Administration might change the war on opioids. On our web site, pbs org newshour. Im hari sreenivassan. Join us online, and again here tomorrow evening with mark shields and david brooks. For all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by and with the ongoing support of these institutions this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org