Financial meltdown seven years ago, and who should have taken the fall. Corporations are legal fictions. They dont themselves take legal or illegal actions, its individuals who make those decisions and i would have preferred to have seen the strategy to determine who and what individuals were responsible. Woodruff all that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by bnsf. And by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology, and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. Support also comes from Carnegie Corporation of new york. Supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of International Peace and security. At carnegie. Org. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff the political bombshell burst at the u. S. Capitol, just after midday. House Majority Leader Kevin Mccarthy abruptly withdrew from the race for speaker, a contest he had once been favored to win. Political director Lisa Desjardins has spent the day at the capitol, and she begins our reporting. I think i shocked some of you, huh . Reporter with that understatement, Kevin Mccarthy shook the corridors of congress today. House republicans had gathered to choose their nominee for speaker when the majority leader stunned them. He said later the party is simply too divided. I think theres something to be said, for us to unite we probably need a fresh face. Ill stay on a majority leader, but the one thing ive found talking with everybody if were going to unite and be strong we need a new face to help do that. Reporter the news set off a scramble in the hallways. The fiveterm california congressman was the frontrunner for speaker, but seemed to be short the 218 votes needed in a full house vote. Reporter mccarthy ran afoul of the same conservatives, the House Freedom caucus, who helped push out Speaker John Boehner. Yesterday, the groups roughly 40 members endorsed Daniel Webster of florida. Congressman Tim Huelskamp of kansas is a Freedom Caucus member. Clearly the establishment lost today. 80 of americans republicans wanted to get a new speaker and so thats whats going to happen. K streets got to be shaking now. Theyve lost two speakers in two weeks. Reporter the decision leaves an already fractious House Republican party even deeper in disarray. Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz is also in the speakers race. I really do believe its time for a fresh start. That was the whole genesis for my campaign. But we need to have a lot more family discussion, because we need to find somebody that our whole body can unite behind and do what we were elected to do. Reporter some centrist republicans whod backed boehner and then mccarthy, now say finding the next speaker may even require reaching across the aisle to secure democratic votes. Woodruff and lisa is on capitol hill with the latest. Woodruff lisa is on capitol hill now with the latest. What a day. What are you hearing about how this all gets resolved . Well, the next thing everyone set your watches, 9 00 a. M. House republicans are set to meet again tomorrow. A new name is emerging tonight, paul ryan, republican of wisconsin, chairman of the house ways and means committee. There is tremendous pressure on him tonight including perhaps from Speaker Boehners house to get into the race. So far, he has not done that. But in talking to conservative and moderate forces in the Republican Party, its thought he might be able to be the only House Republican to get the votes to be speaker. If ryan doesnt do it, perhaps Speaker Boehner stays on the job. Then plan c, where we are, there is talk of perhaps nominate ago carcaretaker speaker who does te job short term until the next speaker is elected. Then there is truck of perhaps getting someone outside of congress to come in as a caretaker speaker. Some are musing about mitt romney. I dont know if thats feasible. But seems its romneys runningmate paul ryan whos getting the attention. Woodruff sounds like something from a hollywood movie. Lisa desjardins. Thank you. Well explore the political dynamics of what happened today, and what comes next, after the news summary. On another front, members of Congress Went after volkswagen today over the way it rigged diesel models to cheat on emissions tests. Statements at a house hearing ranged from fury, to apology. William brangham has the story. Brangham the Opening Statements were full of indignation from both sides of the aisle. V. W. Has betrayed a nation, a nation of regulators, loyalists, suppliers and innocent customers. The american people, the e. P. A. And their counterparts around the world have been defrauded by volkswagen. Brangham michael horn, the automakers top u. S. Executive, answered with a corporate mea culpa. On behalf of our company and my colleagues in germany and me personally, i would like to offer a sincere apology, sincere apology for volkswagens use of a Software Program that served to defeat the emissions testing regime. Brangham horn also said he believes there was never a corporate decision to cheat. To my best knowledge today the corporation in no board meeting, no supervisor report meeting has authorized this. But this was a couple of Software Engineers who put this in for whatever reasons. Brangham but republican Chris Collins of new york was having none of that. V. W. s trying to get the United States of america to believe these are a couple rogue engineers . I categorically reject that. Either your entire organization is incompetent when it comes to trying to come up with intellectual property and i dont believe that for a second or they are complicit at the highest levels in a massive coverup that continues today. Brangham horn was also challenged over v. W. s plans to fix the estimated 500,000 affected vehicles in the u. S. He suggested it could take one to two years, and said the fixes might affect engine performance, but not fuel efficiency. New york democrat paul tonko complained thats cold comfort to v. W. Owners. People in my district purchased a car believing it will be a clean and environmentally friendly choice. These vehicles, which im sure was a selling point, has certainly been destroyed. Brangham for now, volkswagen has stopped selling the affected models and has withdrawn applications to certify that the companys 2016 versions meet u. S. Standards. Woodruff the volkswagen c. E. O. Also said the auto maker will compensate u. S. Dealers for any losses they incur. Russia fired more cruise missiles into syria today, and said they hit Islamic State targets. The Russian Military released new video of the strikes, and it denied u. S. Reports that several missiles crashed in iran. Meanwhile, in brussels, at a nato meeting, u. S. Defense secretary Ashton Carter complained moscow is acting recklessly, in a variety of ways. Theyve shot cruise missiles from a ship in caspian sea without warning. Theyve come within just a few miles of one of our unmanned aerial vehicles. They have initiated a joint ground offensive with the syrian regime, shattering the facade they are there to fight isil. Woodruff at the nato meeting, turkey called russias buildup in syria unacceptable, and nato agreed to send troops to defend turkey, if asked. The European Union moved today toward a tougher approach to its migrant crisis. E. U. Interior ministers agreed on steppedup deportations of those who dont quality for asylum. They also discussed creating a new force to police europes external borders. Well hear how sweden is coping with the influx later in the program. The american commander in afghanistan has told congress that most taliban militants are open to making peace with the afghan government. Army general John Campbell offered that assessment today at a hearing of the House Armed Services committee. Woodruff current plans call for withdrawing all but about 1,000 u. S. Troops from afghanistan by years end. Campbell warned that would limit any capability to train afghan forces, but he declined to say what hes recommending to the president. The stampede at last months muslim pilgrimage to mecca may have killed far more people than saudi arabia has acknowledged. The Associated Press reports data from 18 countries shows more than 1,360 dead. The saudis have maintained the official toll is 769. The head of soccers International Governing Body will face a 90day suspension. Fifa imposed that penalty today on longtime president sepp blatter. He is at the center of a corruption probe and had already planned to step down next february. Michael plantini, head of european soccers governing group, was also suspended. An investigative journalist and author from belarus has won this years nobel prize for literature. Svetlana alexievich was honored for her portrayal of life in the former soviet union, including world war two, the soviet invasion of afghanistan and the Chernobyl Nuclear disaster. Alexievich learned of her selection today in minsk, the capital of belarussia. translated this is not only a prize for me, but a prize i think as a whole for our culture, for our small country, which all the time, throughout its history and now as well, has been between some millstones. It always has been pressed from all sides. Woodruff alexievich is only the 14th woman to win the literature award since 1901. Wall street kept up its week long advance today, as Oil Prices Rose again. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 138 points to close at 17,050. The nasdaq rose 19 points, and the s p 500 added 17. And, renowned cajun chef Paul Prudhomme has died. He achieved national, then global, fame in the 1980s and popularized spicy louisiana cuisine, including gumbo and jambalaya. At one point, his kpauls louisiana kitchen was the most popular restaurant in new orleans. Paul prudhomme was 75 years old. Still to come on the newshour more on Kevin Mccarthys decision to bow out of the race for speaker of the u. S. House. Gwens conversation with attorney general, Loretta Lynch. Ben bernanke on who should have taken the fall for the financial crisis. And much more. Woodruff we take a deeper look now at todays surprise shakeup on capitol hill with former Republican House member vin weber of minnesota and Washington Post reporter mike debonis. Gentlemen, welcome. Mike debonis, to you first. Anything to add about why Kevin Mccarthy pulled out . Really, right now, you know, it was a matter of pure politics within the House Republican conference. It became clear that his path to the speakership was going to be very narrow and that his ascending to that post would do little if anything to solve the internal problems and the divides within the conference. He said it himself in his press conference earlier today when he today before the microphone, he said we need a fresh face. The question is he was the fresh face to have the republican for at least the last five years. He was one of the young guns in a class with peoplereich eric cantor and paul ryan. Eric cantor was kicked unceremoniously out of Congress Last year by tea Party Challenges and now people are looking to paul ryan. So who is going to step up in the next generation . Thats what were looking at now. Woodruff it is the case. He was the fresh face. Something changed in the last 12, 24 hours. Well, something changed. I think the main thing as we talked about is the fact they didnt kevin could have won the nomination of our caucus. We were nominate ago candidate, not choosing a speaker. Woodruff right. The question then proceeded to the full house of representatives, would he get the majority necessary to be elected speaker. He wasnt sure he could get to the majority to be elected speaker and, most important, there was no plan b. If he failed to get to the majority, who would be on the next ballot . Would they go outside the congress . Try to call a coalition of the democrats . There is no plan b and would have resulted in chaos so they decided to put it off. Woodruff it was an issue with the most conservative members, the socalled Freedom Caucus, those are the votes he needed and were not sure. Thats true. The only addition i would put on that is weve redefined what it means to be conservative, there are not big ideological, issueoriented differences between those folks and the establishment. Its about strategy, tactics, are we willing to shut down the government, going to confront the president more directly . You think about battles in the past, the democrats in the 70s over the cement war, tax cuts, those are big philosophical issues. There is one philosophical divide in the Republican Party now, the frustration in their inability to change things with barack obama opened the white house. Woodruff how do they get around that, mike debonis . You mentioned Speaker John Boehner is trying to get paul ryan to run. How do they get around it if its not about strategy or philosophy . Theyre looking at this hail mary pass and hoping that paul ryan agrees, under immense pressure from all sides of his party, to come in and bring everybody together and move forward. Paul ryan, his refusal citing his young family and desire to stay as ways and means chairman, its hard to see what happens next. You know, one of the possibilities is that, you know, john boehner is basically forced to stay on the post because there is nobody willing to replace him. There has been talk of some sort of caretaker speaker, a man who perhaps is retiring, or is in his or her twilight years. Their service in congress who can there are servants in congress who can come in and do that. But the same people who arent excited about Kevin Mccarthy arent going to be excited by somebody like john klein or tom coal or somebody like that coming in and playing that role. So its hard to see how this ends. Woodruff vin weber, can you imagine Something Like that, somebody from the outside coming in . Its highly unlikely. Its never happened. The message from john klein is different, hes a sitting member of congress, announced hes not going to run again, so it would allow us to have a respected man in the speakers chair for the next year or so while they sorted all this out. I still think its unlikely. I think they will find somebody to be elected speaker, but its an unusual time. Paul ryan seems to be the one person that could unite the conference. I know him well. Hes been a close friend for over 20 years. He doesnt want to do it for all the best reasons. He wants to be chairman of the ways and Means Community and all other sorts of issues he cares about. In his mind, its giving up something very, very important, and people who appeal to him based on his own self interest and ambitions are singing the wrong tune for paul ryan, thats not why he would do this. Woodruff he would do it why is this. If he is convinced that the institution of the house of representatives, the republican and ultimately the country are hurting by the chaos in the house and hes the only person who can mend the fences. Woodruff vin weber, broaden this out, what does this say about the health of the future and the Republican Party . The party is in a certain degree of chaos now and there is a similar later between what we see in the president ial nominating process and what we see going on in the house of representatives today. I think it extends beyond the Republican Party, the broader electorate. People are angry, not happy with the status quo. They want to change but theyre not sure what the change should be. Thats what i see in the house of representatives. Its what i see in the donald trump candidacy who has all sorts of people that are angry and wanting to go in a different direction, but trump s, no disrespect to him, but he doesnt identify any clear direction of the country, hes just got a series of attitudes. That reflects where the country is now. Let me make one more point. At the moment, its not good for the republicans, its chaos in the house and unpredictability in the president ial race, but the notion the country is mad about the status quo and direction were headed ultimately isnt good for the democrats either. They have the white house. They are the status quo. Woodruff well, it certainly is a day thats left everybody stunned. Its a day unprecedented, least in my lifetime. Woodruff vin weber, former member of congress, thanks for joining us. Mike debonis from the Washington Post. We thank you both. Thank you. Woodruff Loretta Lynch is the countrys top Law Enforcement official. S