amna: thou of revenge for u.s. strikes in bremen in response to repeated attacks in the red sea.

geoff: we examine the critical like evangelical vote ahead of the first official contest in the gop race for the white house. amna: can taiwan prepares to choose a text leader in an election that could have major implications for its alliance in the u.s. and its tense relationship with china. >> they are always worried about losing taiwan. the thing they worry about the most is that the u.s. will encourage taiwan. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> on a voyage with -- the world awaits. a world of flavor, diverse destinations, and experiences.

a world of leisure and british style. all with white stars service. >> the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour. >> the john s and james knight foundation. more at knf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour.

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. amna: welcome to the newshour. houthi militants in yemen fired a missile at a ship today, and promised further retaliation after last night's u.s. and british airstrikes against houthi targets. geoff: u.s. officials say the airstrikes are a bid to stop the houthi disruption of shipping through the red sea, and not intended to widen the war in gaza. as nick schifrin reports, the u.s. warned it will strike again, if the houthi campaign continues. >> for as far as the eye can see, pro-houthi demonstrators today filled the streets of the capital, waving weapons, demanding death to their enemies, a promise repeated by houthi leader mohammed ali al-houthi.

>> did you not hear yesterday, yemeni people, the airstrikes? are they not the same raids we they did not bring anything new. but we are the ones who will bring something new. last night from jets, ships, and a submarine, the u.s. says a first run of strikes targeted 16 locations and later 12 locations with over 150 munitions. that was on the higher end of military options. the u.s. military says it hit more than 60 military targets in mostly unpopulated areas, targeting drones and missiles the houthis have used in recent attacks. including the attack yesterday with more than two dozen drones and missiles aimed at u.s. warships. pres. biden: if they continue to act and behave as they do, we're going to respond. since november, houthis have

seized and targeted 27 commercial ships in the red sea. 30 percent of global container traffic and more than 1 million barrels of crude oil every day sail through the suez canal via the red sea. now, many of those ships are rerouting around africa, driving up consumer prices, and causing supply chain delay. this morning crude oil futures jumped 4%, to more than 80 dollars a barrel. the international reaction was mixed. russia called an emergency security council meeting, and called the strikes "irresponsible." oman denounced the strikes, warning they could escalate conflict in the region. saudi arabia said in a statement it was following the events with "great concern," and called for "self-restraint." for nearly 10 years, houthi rebels, backed by iran, have been fighting a saudi-led coalition. houthis seized the capital sanaa in 2014 from the country's internationally recognized government. the subsequent brutal civil war has killed hundreds of thousands of yemenis. but for the last 20 months, there's been a shaky ceasefire.

houthis and the yemeni government now agree on a road map to peace. and some regional and u.s. officials worry military strikes could reverse political progress. but that could depend on what happens next, and the extent of the expected houthi military response. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. amna: in the day's other headlines, israel rejected allegations that it's committing genocide against palestinians in gaza. instead, it told the world court at the hague that its operation is a legitimate defense after "hamas" attacked israel in october. the israelis responded today to the genocide claim made by south africa, in one of the biggest cases ever brought before an international court. "the attempt to weaponize the term genocide against israel in the present context does more

than tell the court a grossly distorted story. and it does more than empty the word of its unique force and special meaning. it subverts the object and purpose of the convention itself." amna: meanwhile, in southern gaza, fiery explosions rocked the city of khan younis as the israeli bombardment continued. hamas officials said nearly 24,000 people have died, with 60,000 more injured since the war began. a new winter storm is sweeping across the northern u.s. tonight with heavy snow, high winds and brutal cold. dangerous driving conditions across iowa today prompted warnings to stay home. republicans canceled a number of campaign events ahead of monday's presidential caucuses. the storm also grounded hundreds of flights at chicago's o'hare

and midway airports, and 7500 nationwide. arctic air and bitter cold are expected to spread into the deep south this weekend. federal prosecutors in buffalo will seek the death penalty against a gunman who killed 10 black victims in 2022. the attack took place at a supermarket. a white supremacist, payton gendron, pleaded guilty to state murder charges and is serving life without parole. today, the justice department announced it wants gendron executed if he's convicted of federal hate crimes. the government of ukraine got a boost from britain today, a , $73.2 billion in -- a promise of $3.2 billion in military aid over the next fiscal year. prime minister rishi sunak met with president volodymyr zelenskyy and signed a 10-year security deal. zelenskyy celebrated the agreement and voiced hope about more american aid. >> today is the day the history of europe has changed. ukraine and the united kingdom

signed a new and unprecedented security agreement. regarding washington's help, i am viewing this with more positivity than in december. amna: a package of $60 billion dollars in u-s assistance is being held up in congress. republicans are demanding major changes in the u.s. border policy before they'll green-light aid for ukraine. china has announced a cease-fire in northeastern myanmar. beijing mediated the agreement between myanmar's military and guerrillas that have seized towns and military posts along the country's border with china. a previous agreement failed to hold. the biden administration is taking texas to the supreme court in a new standoff over migrants. this week, the state fenced off a public park in eagle pass to stop illegal crossings, and the texas national guard barred the federal border patrol from the site. today, the justice department asked the high court to restore federal access to the park. and on wall street, stocks had a mixed finish to the week. the dow jones industrial average

lost 118 points to close below 37,593. the nasdaq rose 2 points. the s&p 500 added 3. but for the week, the nasdaq was up 3%, the s&p rose nearly 2%, and the dow added a fraction. still to come, a representative from the united nations relief agency details the dire situation in gaza. a new variant of covid-19 poses an increased risk of widespread infection. david brooks and jonathan capehart weigh in on the week's political headlines. plus, much more. >> this is the pbs newshour. from weta studios in washington, and from the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. >> the u.s. strikes against the houthis in yemen marks a significant escalation of tensions in the middle east. the world is now waiting to see

whether the strikes will accomplish their goal, to stop the houthis from harassing ships in the red sea or raise the risk of an even wider conflict. nadwa al-daw-sari was born and raised in yemen and is a nonresident scholar at the middle east institute in washington, d.c. washington dc. how will the strikes in yemen affect the militant group's strategy moving forward? >> the houthis have survived years of airstrikes and survived. they emerged stronger than before. airstrikes might neutralize the houthi threat on the red sea shipping, but that would be temporarily. >> when impact with these airstrikes have on the houthi's standing in yemen? would they welcome these? >> they have lived to be horrors of airstrikes -- lived the horrors of airstrikes for eight

years and they have caused a lot of civilian casualties, a lot of destruction, but also they made the houthis stronger. yemenis do not want to go through another episode of airstrikes that only benefit the houthis at the expense of yemenis. houthis are extremely unpopular but are using the gaza war and the war with israel and america to oppress the population and silence critics. they are using metaphors families to send their children to indoctrination camps, to recruit fighters, to recruit children at a mass scale. these airstrikes could be very good for the houthis. houthi thehouthi -- the houthis want confrontation with israel. that is why they continue to attack the ships in the red sea. that is how they make an excuse

to oppress the population. this would be good for the houthis if it is only airstrikes. >> in order for the goal to be on a more permanent basis -- for the goal of deterrence to be effective on a more permanent basis, what kind of approach would be required? >> well, the u.s., the houthis have proven to be a strategic threat to security, regional security and international shipping. and so only a strategic approach will well mitigate the threat. now airstrikes by the u.s. and the u.k. are not going to address that. the u.s. and the international community need to support the yemeni government forces, to weaken the houthis militarily and rebuild yemen. geoff: the houthis, as you well know, are also backed by iran, which has supplied militias across the middle east as a way of stepping up its own influence. how independent are the houthis from iran? are they acting on

their own or are they following iran's instructions right now? >> it's both. so the houthis are not iran puppets. they don't carry iran orders. having said that, the houthis are very strong allies with iran and they both have long term goals in the region, which is iran's expansionist agenda. and that includes weakening saudi arabia, taking mecca and eventually liberating jerusalem in their own words, and destroying israel. more importantly, also pushing the u.s. and the west out of the region. the houthis also are capable of acting on their own. iran has empowered the houthis, strengthened them. and i'm not even sure if iran decided that the houthis need to de-escalate, that the houthis would do that. geoff: the white house says the

strikes last night were not intended to ignite a wider regional war. you can argue that with the us led attacks against u.s. targets in yemen, the israel-hamas war has already escalated into a regional conflict. the question is whether or not it can be contained. how do you view it? >> if things could spiral out of control, the risk is high. having said that, i think it's important for the u.s. and the west to address the problem, and that's not going to happen with airstrikes. and also it's not going to happen with putting boots on the ground. a more sustainable solution would be to work with the government and strengthen yemeni forces so that they can weaken the houthis, iran and other proxies. but the houthis have proven to be the most strategic threat to everyone basically in the region. geoff: ndaw al-sware is is a non-resident scholar at the middle east institute in

washington. >> thank you for having me. ♪ amna: today marks 97 days of the war in gaza and the humanitarian toll on its population has been devastating. according to the un, 90 percent of gazans are displaced. more than one in four are starving. there's not a single hospital there that is fully functional. communications are severely limited. earlier today, ali rogin was able to speak with a representative from the un's relief agency through a shaky internet connection for an update about what's happening on the ground. >> the world food program recently tweeted that everyone in gaza is hungry. can you give us a sense of how

dire the situation is right now? >> there are proximlly 1.4 million currently displaced people here. the only food most people have is what comes in through crossing over, not enough to accommodate the basic needs for this many people. i have seen a convoy where people are chasing the convoy down the street because they are desperate to get any food they can. we did have a convoy that managed north a few days ago with trucks of flour. you could see how happy they were. but the situation really is quite desperate. children need food because they don't have any. it is a difficult situation for them. i can't imagine how their parents feel not being able to provide for them. overall, we need to be more -- we need to get more food in. >>'s possibilities to the various stakeholders in this conflict have? >> first we should ask that all

the parties do everything they can to protect the civilian population that is here in gaza. we have had great difficulty accessing northern gaza. there is a checkpoint we are required to go through to take eight to the north. only eight of that when he formations we have requested have been approved. they are very hungry, cold, and in need, and we would like to get our convoys to the north to help deliver aid to those people. >> the united nations has called gaza a graveyard for children. can you talk about the situation for children right now? >> children bear the brunt of this. they are younger, less resilient. their bodies are smaller. the trauma everybody has suffered, one in every 100 gazans has been killed during this point of the conflict. they need support and normalcy. i fear we are in danger of

losing a generation, with covid, the whole impact that had, and that we are likely losing a whole school he during this conflict -- school year during this conflict. the impact is negative. ali: as the operation continues, what does that mean for your operations as more and more people are crowding into a smaller area? >> there is not sufficient water, hygiene, or for people to clean themselves, nor is there sufficient water to drink. people live in close proximity, so we are worried about any disease that could spread quickly. women have borne the brunt of hygiene here. there's not enough feminine hygiene kits. women do not eat or drink because they do not -- do not need or drink. they do not want to visit shelters because they do not want to wait in line to go to the bathroom. it is something we are working hard to correct. ali: you have lost colleagues.

146 workers have been killed since this conflict began. can you describe the tallest war is having on your colleagues, humanitarian workers, and the work that you do? >> we say that nowhere is safe in gaza, which is true. even the house i live in has received fire from israeli forces. you cannot talk to any staff or families that have not been impacted by the loss of loved ones for a severe injury of loved ones -- for the severe injury of loved ones. they are trying to help their fellow gazans. we have one staff member that works in a cross-border operation. both brothers lost their families. despite that, he was at the crossing the next day to make sure aid was flowing in. i think the resilience and bravery and courage they show is incredible, and it also has to be very heavy on their heart

that they do not know sometimes when they leave that their family will be there when they go home. ali: israel has long been critical of unwra. it accuses them of not being hard enough on hamas. how do you manage those criticisms? >> we operate on neutrality. i am not anti-israel in any way, shape, or form. we are here to do a job with neutrality, one of our core principles. that sometimes means we say things that people don't like to hear. we are pro-humanity. what to do everything we can to keep people as safe as possible -- we want to do everything we can to keep people as safe as possible. ali: scott, thank you so much for joining us. scott: thank you, ali. ♪

amna: the iowa caucuses are now just three days away, which means the candidates are making their final pitches to voters, including one coveted group -- white evangelicals. lisa desjardins is in des moines and sat down with perhaps iowa's most recognizable and influential evangelical leader. lisa: bob vander plaats is often called a kingmaker in iowa politics. since 2010, he's directed the conservative christian group the family leader, which advocates for what they see as biblical values in government, opposing abortion and gay marriage. vander plaats has endorsed the eventual winner in every iowa republican caucus since 2008. in november, he announced his support for florida governor ron desantis. i began by asking him why he made that decision -- and about polls that show most iowa evangelicals support former president donald trump. >> well, first of all, why desantis -- uh, he caught my attention right away when he won

reelection in 2022. he took a tossup state like florida and turned it deep red, won by 20 points. and he did that after leading on things that are very important to us. well, it's the sanctity of human life, parental rights, taking on the woke agenda in schools and big corporations, keeping florida open during covid, challenging all the mandates during covid. you mentioned the evangelical support. my pulse does not line up with the polls. we have a large base here. every other person should be telling me they are voting for trump. they are not saying that. they are appreciative for what he did, but they believe we need to turn the page to the next generation leader. they believe we need to find somebody who can win and lead. and i think they're skeptical that he's just not the same guy that he was in 2016. lisa: how well does governor

desantis or nikki haley have to do in order to really make this a race, have a chance at beating donald trump? [00:02:38][6.5] >> well, i think it's all an expectations game right now. i believe governor desantis will way outperform his expectations, which will give him momentum moving forward. i'm even bullish enough to believe he has a shot to win the iowa caucuses on monday night. lisa: should former president trump prevail because he is leading right now, it seems, um, could you support him? do you think he is a moral man? >> elections come down to choices. and so the trump administration versus the biden administration, uh, i'd be in that camp of the trump administration was way better for families and for our issues. god has always use flawed people throughout scripture, whether it was david or moses or abraham. they all had significant flaws, and he used them for his

purposes. so that would may be above my pay grade. but if it's a trump administration versus a biden administration, uh, i don't see that's going to be a choice for me. lisa: you could choose not to vote at all. >> no, i would choose trump. i would choose the trump administration over the biden administration every day that ends in y and twice on sunday. lisa: trump is someone who you yourself have said, um, parents. grandparents generally don't want him to be a role model for their children. >> that's a big hurdle, there's no doubt. lisa: i know you've said that the bible says god uses flawed people. you know, donald trump, as you say, someone who doesn't want to be a role model. i think there's just a disconnect between evangelical movement that says it's about family values and supporting. and in this case, you said if there's no other choice, you

would support him, someone who you don't think should be a role model for your children. >> i mean, there's no doubt i've said that that, uh, one of the biggest hurdles that donald trump has is i have not met a parent or grandparent yet who has said they want to have their son, daughter, grand grandchild grow up to be like him. that said, i haven't heard anybody say that about joe biden either. and joe biden's policies are way more detrimental to the family than, say, donald trump's record has been for the family. so it comes down to a choice. and in this situation, it's going to be a flawed choice. you have 75% of americans who are saying they don't want the choice between biden and trump. they want somebody different. even heard somebody say, the first party that runs to the next generation leader wins. and so i just think, again, let iowa do its job. present an alternative, the former president. and now let america choose. but i think what i can do as a faith leader as well as a parent, by maintaining my testimony to the gospel, is by calling balls and strikes. donald trump is not my savior. can god use donald trump to accomplish good things? yes, he's always used flawed people to accomplish good, good things for him. lisa: trump also tapped into

something else, which is anger. >> sure. lisa: right? and i want to ask you what you think of evangelicals expressing anger, which is something in the bible. jesus was angry, sure. but do you think that evangelicals have changed politics? or are you concerned that politics is changing them? >> i think where some of the evangelicals even say resonate to a trump and his disruptive behavior. lisa: anger, sometimes hate? >> sure. but they kind of believe they need somebody to be a disrupter right now. the reason is they're concerned is governments tell them that these aren't your children, these are our children. and if you don't believe in gender transitioning, or if you don't believe in the lgbtq movement, or if you don't believe in whatever else we believe in, you may not be able to raise your children. that scares a lot of evangelicals.

or it's not about religious liberty. you have freedom of worship inside your four walls, but keep it inside your four walls. we're saying religious liberty is about living out my faith. and now i've got a government saying i can't live out my faith. okay, so that's why i think some evangelicals are going, listen, they're weaponizing against trump, but they're also weaponizing against us. i'm going to stand with him. but i'm saying we have a choice right now. >> there is a phrase i'm campaigning with ron desantis postponing events for today, nikki haley moving to all virtual events, and vivek ramaswamy doing one town hall from inside a car as he was trying to get through this weather. jack: lisa, weise -- amna: lisa, we see you standing out in the middle of the weather. that is going to make it tough to travel. how could this impact mondays

caucuses? lisa: we always wonder about the weather, but this is bad news for anyone who is not donald trump, because everyone else needs to make up ground against him, and they are not campaigning, not able to meet as many voters as they would have during these two last critical days. i think today and tomorrow would be harder to get back to a full campaign as you normally see. and it would be even more difficult because there are still a few undecided voters. we met one last night, somebody who was a chris christie supporter. >> i like that he was a republican who governed a democratic state, so he can reach across iowa and get things done. that is what i want. recently we moved here from arizona, and the border is an issue, so i want somebody who can work with the other side to get something done that is reasonable. lisa: he told me he has not decided yet. he was at the desantis event. we are going to keep track of

where he goes monday night. meantime, these candidates are looking for every vote they can get. i do think is will change on sunday, monday once this storm system clears. what you see behind me is actually plowed. cars are going to get back on the roads. the question monday night will be cold weather, a test of enthusiasm for trump voters. does he have a lead? do they stay home rather than show up? that is the hope of some of his opponents. amna: that is lisa desjardins, just outside des moines for us, days ahead of the iowa caucuses. be sure to join us for live coverage of the 2024 iowa caucases on monday night starting at 11:00 p.m. eastern right here on pbs. ♪ geoff: the u.s. and other parts of the world are in the midst of another covid-19 wave.

infections and hospitalizations are on the rise this winter, and a new variant is responsible for a majority of those cases. john yang has the latest, and a look at whether we need to change our approach to the virus. john: geoff, the world health organization said yesterday that december nearly 10,000 covid deaths were reported in europe and the americas. in the united states, hospital admissions are on the rise, but still far lower than previous years. in europe and the americas, icu admissions are up 62% from the month before. the director general of the w.h.o. said public health officials need to be vigilant. >> although covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency, the virus is still circulating, changing, and still killing. data from various sources indicate increasing transmission during december, fuelled by gatherings over the

holiday period, and by the jn.1 variant, which is now the most commonly reported variant globally. john: so, what do these current trends mean? dr. eric topol is the founder and director of the scripps research translational institute. he's been warning about the risks of the new variant. how concerned are you about this uptick? >> we are seeing a massive number of infections, second-most throughout the pandemic after omicron. while the hospitalizations are not as bad, and you mentioned already that death toll, that is reassuring because of some of the immunity we have built up, but this virus has evolved and is markedly different than previous versions we have seen, and that is a challenge for the spread and infections and the potential of long covid in many of those people as well. john: talk about that evolution,

the new variant, jn.1, is it more dangerous, more infectious? tell us about it. dr. topol: over the course of the pandemic, beginning our fifth year here, there's only two times that the variant came along with more than 30 new mutations in a spike protein. usually a variant has a couple, a few, but this one we call an omicron event, because that was the first time we saw one. back in the fall, we got to see a rise to the precursor for jn.1, with 30 mutations in the spike protein. when you have this many mutations, the virus is able to bypass our normal immune response, so it gets to be very infectious, easily getting people who have already been

getting infected, no less those who have not had covid four. before. -- have not had covid before. it is bad that this virus is relentless in finding ways to basically reinvent itself and to get into our upper airway and all of the other potential things that can happen after that. john: you mentioned long covid. you have been very vocal about the need to understand long covid, to understand who is at risk for long covid. express your concerns and whether or not repeated infections play any role. dr. topol: there is no question that repeated infections introduce a higher risk of long covid. the problem with long covid is we do not know who is going to get this. over time, since the beginning of the pandemic, it looks like the incidence has dropped some, and that is partly because vaccinations are quite protective, 40% or 50% reduction

of long covid, as well as with boosters, but the problem is, even with vaccinations or without, some people can have this terrible, long-term problem of their immune system getting totally out of sorts and having self-directed antibodies and so many markers of inflammation across the body throughout every organ system, no less a disabling set of symptoms. even if that is just a couple percent of people in this current wave, this big, global serves, that is still a lot of people who have added to the tens of millions of people currently suffering from long covid around the world, and we don't have any treatment for it. we know some things that can prevent it, but we have nothing yet that has been substantiated to treat long covid. john: you had an op-ed column in

the los angeles times last week. he wrote, "it's crickets from the white house on covid now, with no update on an updated booster or masking. the biden administration has done too little." what would you like to see the administration do? dr. topol: a lot more than it is doing. in the first year of the pandemic, we saw operation warp speed and took this virus as an existential threat and pulled out all the stops. but right now we need oral or nasal vaccines to stop infections, to stop spread, to be variant proof, whatever this virus mutates to in the times ahead. we have a small amount of funding towards that end, but not enough. the messaging has been poor. even the people at highest risk, about 35% of them have had the updated booster that has been available since september. that is the highest risk people, of advanced age.

we had 95% of those same high-risk people getting the initial primary series of the vaccine. we are not doing enough. we've known this was coming. we have seen countries in europe that had wastewater levels of the virus that were unprecedented, even exceeding omicron. it's not like the virus was going to stay there. we knew it was coming since september, october, and only in recent weeks have health systems started to get masking back as a policy. we are not doing enough to prepare or manage this big surge. amna: dr. eric topol, thank you very much. dr. topol: thank you, john. ♪ amna: in taiwan, voters head to the polls tomorrow for presidential and parliamentary

elections. the results will be as closely watched in beijing and washington as they will in taipei. china considers taiwan a breakaway republic, and president xi jinping often speaks of reunification with the island. nick schifrin looks at the candidates, and the stakes for tomorrow's vote. ♪ nick: taiwan's election is cacophonous, colorful, and a little chaotic. it's also critical to the future of the region. the leading candidate is lai ching-te, known as william lai, the current vice president from the democratic progressive party, or dpp. he vows to continue taiwan's current de-facto independence, and uses more moderate language about taiwan's relationship with mainland china then he used to. >> i will maintain the status quo and continue to bring society together. our door will always be open to

engagements with beijing. nick: but the people's republic of china, or prc, appears to be keeping the door shut tight. recent military exercises have helped deliver beijing's election warning. it will be more tension, more satellite launches, more balloons flying over taiwan like the one that flew over the us last year, if you choose william lai. wang wenbin is the foreign ministry spokesman. >> lai ching-te clings stubbornly to the separatist position for taiwan independence. he is a troublemaker through and through. >> sometimes people describe him as a pro-independence leader, but that's not really the position he's he's taking in this election. [8.8] nick: shelley rigger is the

faculty dean and professor of east asian studies at davidson college. she spoke to us from a campaign office in taipei. >> his mandate if he wins is to maintain the current status quo across the taiwan strait, which is taiwan as a self-governing, democratic entity that hasn't fully separated itself from its history as a chinese place. the main opposition candidate, hou yu-ih, is from the kuomintang party, or kmt, historically less antagonistic toward beijing. >> for the dpp, the path to preserving the status quo is to remain close to the u.s. for the kmt candidate, hou yu-ih, taiwan needs to engage with beijing more actively in order to preserve its security and autonomy. nick: this election also features for the first time a third-party candidate, former

taipei mayor ko wen-je, popular among young voters. >> he's not that different on the major policy areas. his position on cross-strait relations is a little bit hard to discern. but i think his appeal is that he's a new face. the prc doesn't like any of these candidates, but they dislike lai ching-te the most. >> that's led to what taiwan calls beijing's unprecedented election interference. including lai deepfakes. that's the real lai on the left, right. -- that's the real lai on the left, manipulated lai on the right. and what the us and taiwan call disinformation about labs with dangerous viruses, and bioweapons. independent researchers have also found a campaign of fake online accounts, disparaging lai and promoting the kmt. taipei accuses beijing of cyber attacks, co-opting local officials, and increasing economic pressure. >> china has intervened in every major taiwanese election, but this time it is the most severe. it can be said that they are

leaving no stone unturned. >> so you're saying the united states would come to taiwan's defense if china was attacked? pres. biden: yes. we have a commitment to do that. nick: looming behind taipei-beijing relations is washington's relationship with beijing. the u.s. has expanded its military presence in the pacific, especially in japan. and the u.s. has worked to improve taiwan's military. but the administration says it's policy hasn't changed, including that taiwan should not declare independence. pres. biden: we maintain the agreement that there is a one china policy. >> the prc is really always worried about somehow losing taiwan. and the thing that they worry about the most, honestly, is that the u.s. will encourage taiwan or somehow give taiwan a blank check to bust a move and do something that will force the prc to respond militarily. nick: on new year's day, chinese communist party general

secretary xi jinping reiterated his promise that taiwan and beijing will one day fly the same flag. >> the reunification of china is a historical inevitability. nick: of course, all politics are local. voters have economic concerns and are exhausted of same-party rule. >> okay, and then my taiwan-style pork chop. nick: but beijing is on their mind. and young taiwanese are increasingly proud to identify themselves as from taiwan, not china, with taiwanese food, taiwanese music, including by bands banned in mainland china, and perhaps most of all, taiwanese democracy. >> they are going to show with their votes their determination to sustain a democratic system and to preserve their freedom. nick: democracy here is only 35 years old, but tomorrow the

people of taiwan will choose their next leader, something the people of mainland china are not able to do. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. ♪ geoff: with just days to go until the iowa caucuses, presidential politics are taking center stage. let's discuss that and more with brooks and capehart. that's "new york times" columnist david brooks and jonathan capehart, associate editor for "the washington post." in iowa, the latest poll finds donald trump as a dominant lead, but this is the first hole that shows nikki haley is opening up a real lead over ron desantis. her leaders outside of the poll's margin of error. how do you interpret these numbers? >> that a lot iowa.

he has invested billions of dollars -- ron desantis has run a big ground game in iowa. he has invested billions of dollars in a human. i don't see how he recovers from a showing that bad when he has invested this much time and effort. as for nikki haley, very good number for her. she is kind of late in the game, less organized on the ground. on the other hand, there is a ceiling on her because if you look at who is voting for her, it is college-educated republicans. this is a working-class party. she has done very poorly trying to crack into that in class group. she has done very poorly trying to crack into that evangelical group. trump has great organization, great presence. people are willing to wait around. i have read for five or six hours, when he shows up late, they will stick around. they want to see donald trump. all indications are trump is

sitting pretty. geoff: there are two ways to look at this, one, nikki haley is better positioned in new hampshire, especially if she has a strong showing in iowa, or two, this is meaningless if the front runner is 30 plus points ahead. how do you see it? >> exactly, i keep wondering, why are these people in the race? the front runner is 34 points ahead in that suffolk university poll you just showed. but also he is ahead in all of the polls. they have not taken the gloves off against him, except for i think nikki haley took the gloves off this week. ron desantis in some way took the gloves off. but they should have been doing that from the moment they got into the campaign. as i have said on friday nights now for at least a month, maybe two, when it comes to the iowa caucuses, i will be curious to see if that 34 point spread

suffolk university poll shows up in actual votes. if donald trump does not wipe the floor with haley or desantis, whoever comes in number two, we have to start to wonder, can he make it through new hampshire, and does that provide an opportunity for nikki haley to win new hampshire but then get obliterated in her home state of south carolina? geoff: how can nikki haley capitalize on chris christie's exit? his campaign proved there is no nationwide constituency for a republican who is willing to break with donald trump in the way he did. >> let me go to my traditional role as the irrational optimist. there is a scenario for haley. she does well in iowa, better-than-expected, maybe within 25 points of trump. she goes to new hampshire, christie is gone, desantis is out of it, and with christie out

, she is in the realm of tying trump, that would be big news. he is basically a sitting incumbent president. if a sitting incumbent president loses new hampshire, that is big. i agree she will go on to lose her home state, but then we have michigan, an open primary where independence can vote in it. that looks better for her, and after that we have a whole lot of states. there is a plausible scenario, the way things are breaking, to haley-trump, and she has a short chance. geoff: do you think chris christie's exit changes the dynamics in any meaningful way? >> no, unfortunately. i don't agree with governor christie on a whole lot of things, but i thought his role as a candidate was important, because he was fearless in taking the argument to the party against donald trump. the fact that a person who is telling the truth about a four

times indicted on 91 counts former president should not be the standardbearer of their party, the party rejected him by not supporting him, meaning chris christie. so, it is unfortunate that he had to get out of the race, but it is also unfortunate that there is no constituency for the truth showing that he has. geoff: let's talk about the biden campaign, because "the washington post" reported president barack obama has concerns about president biden's reelection campaign and has discussed this with biden himself. david axelrod, the former obama strategist, has been very public with his own criticisms about the campaign. to be clear, they are not criticizing president biden, they are criticizing the effectiveness and messaging of the campaign. is that reason for worry? >> there is, because if the election were held today, donald trump would be president. in my conversation with democrats around the country, i have noticed there are now 85

million political consultants. every democrat i know has got some words of advice on how biden can do a lot better. i happen to agree with the obama people, and by the way, the biden people hate it when the obama people judge them. i do think axelrod and obama are essentially correct. of course he had to do a january 6 speech. of course going to mother emanuel church was important. but he has to show how he can make your life better. the reason trump is doing ok is because a lot of americans thought their lives were better underhand than hunter biden. he has to look at the rating campaign of 1980, an old guy who said here's what i can do for you. donald trump is a lawbreaker. for a democrat to be a persuasive law and order candidate in a time of global chaos, that would be a good thing. i think he has to somehow get into the working class. you can't give away that many votes, especially among the hispanic working class.

he has to champion small business and show he is for enterprise and aspiration. these are not the usual democratic names, but i think he really needs to do it to claw back some of that working-class. geoff: jonathan, i know you are deeply sourced in both biden world and obama world. what do you think of this sense among some democrats that the campaign is not as nimble or as effective as it needs to be to meet the moment? >> i would file this under the, it's like a filed fuller -- file folder within the democratic bedwetting folder that i keep. that being said, i do think democrats should be running scared. i do think it is important that former president obama is talking to the current president and say you need to take this seriously. but i also confident that the biden campaign absolutely are taking the threat of donald trump seriously and taking seriously that their message is

not getting through. i take david, everything he just said is right and true, but as he was talking about the things that the president should be doing, or the campaign should be doing, i was thinking back to last fall when the president was doing, and the campaign and the administration was doing exactly that. i think we have to not look at this campaign as -- from the snapshot of one week and oh my god, because they did not talk about this or did not have a message on that this particular week, that they are not going to talk about it or have been talking about it. i am not worried, but i do think that democrats need to give the administration, give the president, give the campaign the room to let its campaign unfold. and rest assured that they take the threat of donald trump, but also the republican party seriously, because thing about this -- if donald trump, through

some miracle is not the republican nominee, trumpism is still abroad in the land. other trump is the nominee or not, there still will be an alternative for biden to run against. geoff: it raises a question and the minute and a half i have left. i was going to move to another topic, but i will stay on this one. what is the future of the republican party? donald trump will say as the head. what is left? >> it is going to be a different party, a working-class party. we too often work at -- too often look at america only. every country has a right wing populist party. it is going to be suspicious of foreign interventions, unlike the earlier republican party. it is going to be suspicious of international trade. represent the help of the republicans that we are going to be a multiracial working-class party. they are not far away.

the hispanic movement to working-class voters has been very significant. even some of the black working-class has moved a little, not much, but the multiracial working-class party is what they are hoping for, and it is not impossible. geoff: great to see you both. have a good weekend. ♪ amna: be sure to tune into "washington week" tonight on pbs. jeffrey goldberg and his panel will discuss the escalating conflict with yemen's houthi rebels, the countdown to the iowa caucuses, and donald trump's week in court. geoff: two new studies find we are eating and drinking more micro plastics than previously thought. that is the newshour for tonight. amna: on behalf of the entire newshour team, thank you for joining us, and have a great weekend. >> major funding for the pbs

newshour has been provided by -- ♪ >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions, and friends of the newshour, including kathy and paul anderson and camilla and george smith. the walton family foundation. working for solutions to protect water during climate change, so people and nature can thrive together. the william and flora hewlett foundation, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at new lynn.org. -- hewlett.org. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour.

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> i am terribly excited to be the anchor of pbs news weekend. we have become known for independent, fact-based reporting. we are challenging viewers to understand the world better. we present all sides of the story. we take the time to put them in context. when viewers watch pbs news weekend, i hope they come away informed and perhaps with a different perspective than they had thought of before. good. i'm john yang. tonight on pbs news weekend. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.]

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. hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & company." here's what's coming up. israel stands accused of genocide in the international court of justice as south africa lays out its argument, i'm joined by omer bartov, a professor ofoc