captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, terror strikes paris. multiple coordinated bombings and shootings kill scores; at least 100 are dead at a concert hall that was held hostage; and french president hollande declares a state of emergency. plus, kurdish forces backed by u.s. air strikes declare a victory over isis as they take back the town of sinjar in iraq. then: dissecting strong language from donald trump, anticipating tomorrow's democratic debate, and more. mark shields and michael gerson analyze the week's news. and investigative journalism on the silver screen: we look at the new movie "spotlight."

>> there's something about the blue collar approach to this work, a kind of boots on the ground journalism that's more or less a dying art and why it's important and why this is fascinating. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us.

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engulfed paris tonight, as a wave of terror attacks exploded across the french capital. the deputy mayor said at least 118 people were killed. officials said 140 died, most of them at a concert hall. there was no immediate claim of responsibility. the wave of killing shattered friday night in paris. as police and military raced to stop an all-out assault on the city of lights. at least six sites were hit. from a concert hall to a shopping maul to a restaurant. plus a soccer stadium. the concert hall saw the worst carnage where at least 100 people died after gunman seized hostages, a police assault there killed at least two of the attackers. bomb blasts near the soccer stadium reverberated inside where thousands of fans had gathered to watch france play germany.

>> i heard one bang then ten to 15 minutes later bang-bang. i heard another one outside. it was very now see inside. >> french president francois hollande was at the stadium as well. it was quickly evacuated. moments later 'address dollars the nation declaring a state of emergency and shutting the nation's borders. >> we must make sure that no one can return to carry out such acts. at the same time, that those who have carried out these crimes are also apprehended before trying to leave the country in. >> washington president obama came to the white house briefing room as attacks were still ongoing. >> once again we've seen an outrageous attempt to terrorize innocent civilians. this is an attack not just on paris, it's an attack not just on the people of france. but this is an attack on all of humanity and the universal values that we share.

we stand prepared and ready to provide whatever assistance that the government and people of france need to respond. >> back in paris, investigators began trying to figure out who was behind the worst attack on the city since world war ii. and how they carried it out. here in the u.s., official said there's no creditable threat of an attack, but security as been stepped up at locations in new york, boston and washington, d.c. for more on the attacks we return to reporter kate moody of france 24 television she is in paris. kate moody, tell us the latest you have at this hour? >> well, all eyes are still on the bataclan theater where this dramatic hostage situation has come to an end about two hours ago. we understand that police and forensic investigators are uncovering the bloody screen.

we have been seeing covered bodies coming out of that theater. wounded people being taken to hospitals for treatment. >> and, kate, we know that there were, is it five or six other sites where there were attacks of a different nature? >> yeah, it wasn't just this hostage situation going on although that seems toughie merged as the most high profile. the bloody eve beginning began around 9:00 p.m. local time with series of explosion, is that were heard outside the stade de france stadium. five people were killed outside that have stadium. including potentially two suicide attackers, that is what is being reported that has not been confirmed by the police. these explosions were heard inside the stadium, but no one really realized what it was and game went ahead as normal.

separately a few minutes later there was a series of gunshots and people who were killed outside a cambodian restaurant in paris, really buzzing, hip neighborhood where a lot of people much out on the terraces. then this incident took place at the theater where an american band was actually giving a rock show. hundreds and hundreds of people inside that sold out show and hostage situation then developed there. there were also reports at least four other reports were gunfire in the city throughout the evening, it's not clear whether those were in fact related to this series of attacks although, i think we can say fairly safely the series at the restaurant, the theater and then the stadium do seem to have been related in this sway, that's the impression that authorities have given us. we understand in total, five attackers were involved. and have been neutralized, the words that the french prosecutor. also opened up investigation to find out who these people are,

who they may have been connected w. we have not been givenment all clear signs because there have been these other potentially related incidents, we don't know if the people who were involved have been taken into custody, have been neutralized to use their words. the city still very much on edge this evening. >> kates there any clue at all as to the identity of any of these attackers? >> there is not. we've heard from some people who were inside the bataclan theater who said that they heard the attackers mentioning syria, someone said they heard a cry of alu akbah that is just individuals we heard from. no sense that that could be any kind of motivation. prosecutors have been very, very careful not to make any -- not to point any fingers if you will, yet. because we're really still very, very early stages that have investigation. as i said we're not even sure that everything has been calmed

down for the evening. still very, very much on edge. lot of questions still just beginning to be raised. >> a lot of questions for sure. and given what happened in paris, just months ago with the charlie member bow attack the french newspaper where number of people were killed, security was stepped up in paris clearly not enough to stop something as horrific as this. >> exactly. we've seen fairly -- fairly impressive presence of military personnel and police, just much more visible on the streets of paris in the months since that charlie hebdo shooting posted outside news offices, outside charges, synagogues, templeless. we have seen all that for months a lot of people in paris short of thought after awhile, maybe they're going a little too far, maybe we could dial it down.

obviously those questions resurfacing this evening. other question of course is going to be the issue of counter intelligence, counter terrorism, how can investigators go about stopping these kind of things before they happen without the threat of police on the streets. how can the intelligence community find people who might become perpetrators in the future. the french government has tried to go some way to expanding its own power to try to track down those people. i think in months to come we'll be seeing much more of that. >> kate mad de. we thank you. we're going to continue to follow this paris story throughout the program tonight. in the day's other news, islamic state forces sustained major losses across the territory they control in iraq and syria. they were driven from the northern iraqi town of sinjar, after holding it for more than a year. and there were growing signs that one of the most notorious of the militants was killed in syria. chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner

has the story. >> warner: it was cold, but surprisingly quiet, as the sun rose over sinjar, and kurdish peshmerga fighters waited to advance. but within hours, the calm was broken... ( gunfire ) as the kurds pushed their way into the city center, firing guns in celebration, raising their flag, and unfurling a banner to signify their victory. michael gordon of "the new york times" entered sinjar with them. >> it's american air power that weakened the islamic state over the preceding weeks, and it's american air power that allowed them to take the city today. >> warner: but securing the city will take work. >> all the risks within sinjar are not gone, and it's probably gonna take some time to clear the city of snipers and i.e.d.s, but that said, the major part of the battle appears to have been won. >> warner: kurdish fighters had also taken a vital highway linking islamic state territory in iraq and syria.

the militants suffered a second blow too, in neighboring syria, as a coalition of arab, christian and kurdish rebels took the town of hol, in northern hassakeh province. separately, iraq's defense ministry announced an iraqi military operation in western iraq. to liberate ramadi from islamic state control. but local police and officials said progress was very slow. the militants struck back in baghdad, with a suicide bombing at a shi-ite funeral, killing more than two dozen people and wounding many more. >> we'll begin to slaughter your people on your streets. >> warner: meanwhile, a u.s. drone strike targeted the islamic state executioner known as "jihadi john." u.s. military spokesman steve warren, speaking from baghdad, said the strike hit a car in raqqa, the syrian city that isis calls its capital. >> we know for a fact that the weapon system hit its intended target, and that the personnel who were on the receiving end of

that weapon system were in fact killed. we still have to finalize the verification that those personnel were specifically who we thought they were. >> warner: "jihadi john" was, in fact, a british citizen named mohammed emwazi who'd appeared in videos depicting the beheading of western hostages. they included american journalists james foley and steven sotloff, as well as u.s. aid worker abdul-rahman kassig. two british aid workers and a japanese journalist were beheaded as well. adam goldman has covered that story extensively for "the washington post." >> tactically, i don't think "jihadi john" meant much to the organization itself. he wasn't a battlefield general, but he held great symbolism for that group and i think his demise is a blow to the organization. i think he was a great recruitment tool and he also seemed untouchable, but the u.s. just let isis know that we can reach any of you. >> warner: later, the pentagon said it is "reasonably certain"

that "jihadi john" was indeed killed in the strike. >> woodruff: in tunisia, secretary of state john kerry said the turn of events shows the islamic state's days are numbered. in this country, abortion policy is going back before the u.s. supreme court for the first time since 2007. the nine justices agreed today to consider a texas law that could force most of that state's abortion facilities to shut down. the case turns on whether the law places an undue burden on a woman's constitutional right to seek an abortion. in utah a judge today reversed his decision to take a 9-month- old girl away from a lesbian couple, after sparking a backlash. on tuesday, the judge ruled against foster parents april hoagland and beckie peirce. he said same-sex marriages are, "more unstable." today, the couple's lawyer said they're relieved and "are very optimistic that the child will remain in their care."

still, state officials said the judge's latest ruling could be temporary. back in the middle east, this was another deadly day in a two month surge of violence between palestinians and israelis. israeli officials said at least two jewish settlers were killed when a palestinian opened fire on their van near hebron, in the west bank. police launched a manhunt for the shooter. elsewhere, at least two palestinians were shot and killed by israeli security forces in separate clashes near hebron and ramallah. the national election commission in myanmar has confirmed the opposition party's historic win in parliamentary elections. the "national league for democracy," led by aung san suu kyi, captured a majority of seats in sunday's voting. supporters celebrated today by buying up campaign buttons and stickers as mementos. and the party's spokesman welcomed the formal announcement. >> ( translated ): according to our tally, we already knew that

we won. but as the election commission lists are official, we had to wait for it. now that the commission announced what we expected, we'll be able to work freely, and i'm so happy about that. >> woodruff: under myanmar's constitution, suu kyi is barred from becoming president. but she has said whoever holds that office will be a figurehead, while she will wield actual power. back in this country, the state of alabama has agreed to change its voter registration system after a finding of "widespread noncompliance" with federal law. the u.s. justice department says the state failed to let people register to vote when they get driver's licenses or similar documents. the two giants in daily fantasy sports, "draft-kings" and "fan-duel," went to court today to keep their gaming websites operating in new york state. the state's attorney general had ordered both companies to shut down, after ruling they're engaged in illegal gambling. but in lawsuits today, the firms argued they're running skill-based games.

the centers for disease control and prevention now estimates one in 45 american children has autism. that figure, in a new report today, is significantly higher than the previous estimate of one in 68. researchers say a change in the wording of survey questions could be a factor. the cause or causes of autism are still unknown. and on wall street, stocks slumped again over growing concerns that the holiday shopping season will be disappointing. the dow jones industrial average lost more than 200 points to close at 17,245. the nasdaq fell 77 points, and the s&p 500 dropped 23. for the week, both the dow and the s&p 500 lost roughly 3.5%. the nasdaq fell more than 4%. still to come on the newshour: more on the attacks that rocked paris; how every day acts of

racism can build to a tipping point, and much more. >> woodruff: now a look at what questions authorities are asking in paris tonight. we turn to lorenzo vidino, he is the director of the program on extremism at george washington university here in washington. mr. vidino, thank you for being with us. so, somebody who studies terrorism what do you make of what we're hearing? >> we are seeing an attack that is seem quite well coordinated. over the last couple of years we've seen a lot of attacks which were carried out by lone actors, more groups of people, quite unsophisticated. this seems very different. multiple locations, automatic weapons, probably suicide belts and suicide actions, all at the same time. very high number of casualties,

seems quite sophisticated. likely of course we don't know a lot of things at this point but likely the action of a group, of a sophisticated network. >> what do you make, we heard kate moody say, that one witness heard one of the attackers use the word say "syria" may have been someone who heard an attacker say "ala akbar" just little hits of backs? >> we have to be very cautious. in the middle of attack they could have misheard. obviously these are potential indication of what is the most likely suspicious group, al qaeda or isis inspired form of terrorism if they are talking about seary say that god to great in arabic. that would be indication that individuals inspired by that, whether they are linked or not to those groups again prima tour

say. obviously the most likely stereo but one of the two groups. but let's remember few years ago when those attacks in norway took place, we all thought it was islamic inspired terrorism it was not. the most likely scenario is that , i think it would be silly for anybody to assume that is what it is. i think also french investigators are making that assumes from the beginning. >> is there anything we can make of the methodology, the fact that they did simultaneous attacks at one time. that they went into a concert hall and apparently just picked people off one by one by one. >> very soft targets. i think was saying that these are the places where people go on a friday night to have fun. soccer games, the concert then brutally, extremely brutally kill people one by one obviously this is to make a statement, which is not -- to kill

brutally. again, it's the methodology that we have seen with isis and related groups. >> i was just reading the news wires that department of homeland security saying once again, they still have no reason, no credible threat that the -- that there's attack being directed at the u.s. my question is, why france? why paris? what makes that the target tonight? >> difficult to say again. because we don't know the facts and who is behind this. if it's indeed an isis inspired, al qaeda inspired attack, france has a very, very large number of individuals who have gone to syria, we are talking more of 1,000 people that went from france to fight with isis in syria. few hundred of those have come back, we have even larger number of sympathizers in france, lot of networks, jihaddists activities, authorities are overwhelmed. this is auto problem that is common to most western countries including the united states. but the size, the magnitude of the problem in france is so much

bigger than in the u.s. most european countries. >> does this represent, again, it's early, but does this represent possibly some kind of turning point in that it is believed before there were going to be these kind of attacks they were going to step up security. but there was security, yet they were able to pull this off. >> it's almost edge possible to stop this kind of attacks. keep in mind that on a monthly basis, authorities in most western countries including the united states, for everyone that does take place, we have seen dozens of attacks over the last couple of months that have been thwarted but you can't stop everything. in a free society, you cannot secure every restaurant, every concert venue, every football game. and if we have thousands of people that are inspired by certain methodology are going to do an act of violence, just the capabilities of resources one cannot monitor all these people

24/7. it's impossible to secure a country in every single soft target in it. >> many, many questions raised by what's happened, by what's led to this horrific series of events. from george washington university. we thank you. >> thank you. >> woodruff: tonight we bring you another conversation in our series, "race matters- solutions," during a week when racial tensions on campus have led to protests and high profile resignations. special correspondent charlayne hunter gault sat down with columbia university teachers college professor gerald sue to learn more about the small slights that some say are more insidious than the overt racial tensions that can be seen and observed by all. here's that conversation.

>> professor sue, thank you for joining us. so tell me, what exactly is micro-aggression? >> well, micro-aggressions are varying from being conscious, deliberate, on a continuum, to being outside one's level of awareness and unintentional. micro-aggressions really are reflections of world views of inclusion, exclusion, superiority, inferiority, and they come out in ways that are outside the level of conscious awareness of an individual. when i'm asked, "where were you born?," and i say, "i was born in portland, oregon" and persist by saying, "no, no, no, where were you really born?" and i'll say, "portland, oregon?" and they'll say, "no, what country were you born in?" and i'll say, "the united states." they get very embarrassed. now this is an example that they are intending to make a personal connection, but the hidden

communication, the true world view is that i am a perpetual alien or foreigner in my country. i am not a true american because true americans only look the following way, and that's what generates these behaviors that are micro-aggressions. >> reporter: but you describe it as unintentional, and yet we've seen at the university of missouri very blatant examples of racism. >> you're right about that. micro-aggressions vary from being conscious, deliberate, intentional, from old-fashioned racism and biased statements to the unintended consequences. and our studies do indicate that it's the hidden, unintentional forms of bias that are most damaging to people of color. and that like at the university of missouri where you have

people being called racial epithets or behaviors that are going on, it actually is only the tip of the iceberg. the reason why i believe students of color, faculty of color are reacting is such a major way is that they are experiencing a climate that is hostile, that is full of aggressions. these hate incidents on campus are triggering off this discontent, pain and feeling of being silenced. >> reporter: but there are critics of your studies and the notion even of micro-aggression, which they say have morphed from 1970 when it was unintentional to now everything that happens, and that people are just being overly sensitive. they say, "if you coddle these students on campus, how does that prepare them to live in the real world?" >> you know, the problem is that

believe people micro-aggressions are very similar to the everyday in-civility and rudeness that individuals, white americans, experience in their day to day lives. they are quite different. micro-aggressions for people of color are constant, continual and cumulative. they occur to people of color from the moment of birth to when they die, and, as a result, any one micro-aggression in isolation may represent the feather that breaks the camel's back. and people who don't see the lived experience of people of color and the daily onslaught that they experience, tend not to believe that is a major event. >> reporter: you know there is another criticism because this has been called, some of the things that people have called, now they say the n-word and

other things like that, is hate speech, and that it's protected by the first amendment. so, isn't that okay, given that kind of reasoning? >> i think that people who say that we are preventing individuals from free speech don't realize, ironically, that it is people of color that, historically, have not been able to express themselves openly or freely without punitive actions being directed at them. and so, there has to be this balance, but, at the same time, an understanding that there are limits to free speech when it harms and hurts people. >> reporter: why do you think that students commit micro-aggressions, or adults for that matter? >> that's a good question, and i think it goes to the heart of the matter-- that none of us are immune from inheriting the racial biases of our forbears. we have attitudes and biases

that are delivered through micro-aggressions. >> reporter: but when some of these micro-aggressions come out in the form of real hatred, is that solvable? >> we can deal with that deliberately, but the subtle forms of micro-aggressions are hard to prove, hard to quantify in some way, and very difficult for us to take actions against because people oftentimes don't perceive it as harmful and significant. you know, people often-times tell me that white americans are the enemy. i say, "no, white americans aren't the enemy. white supremacy is." it's the social conditioning of the superiority of one group over another. and many white americans are equally victimized because they have been socialized into a society that tends to view them

with these images that they believe in, but it's no fault of their own. if you really reach white americans, they can become valuable allies. one of the reasons why our research concentrates on the unintentional forms of micro-aggressions is very much what maya angelou said, "it's the unintentional bias, that does the greatest harm to people of color." and i often-times use the example that when you look the disparities and inequities we have in education, employment and healthcare, it is not due to the overt racist, or the white supremacist. it is due to the well-intentioned teachers who educate our children, employers who decide who to hire, who to retain and who to promote. and it is those individuals who

are unaware of their hidden biases, that are having the major impact on our standard of living. >> reporter: well, professor sue, thank you for joining us. >> well, thank you. >> woodruff: you can find more about micro-aggressions, including a video made by professor sue explaining how they have impacted his life, on the race matters section of our website, www.pbs.org/newshour. >> woodruff: stay with us. coming up on the newshour: mark shields and michael gerson's take on the week's news; and an on-screen portrayal of the investigation that uncovered the catholic child abuse scandal. >> woodruff: but first, this week we've seen shifts in the 2016 race in both parties. we start with the left. political director lisa

desjardins reports on the next phase for bernie sanders. >> reporter: the summer for sanders was a wave of big crowd, topping 2016 turnout records for people so far. 28,000 in portland, oregon, according to sanders' campaign. >> whoa! (cheers and applause) unbelievable! >> reporter: he centers on a different set of numbers, the polling. let's take a look at iowa. in september, sanders was on the rise, but he had ups and downs since then. meantime, hillary clinton is pulling far ahead, now by more than 20 points, according to poll averages there. and in new hampshire, right next door to sanders' home state of vermont, he had a 10-point lead in september, now he and clinton are virtually tied. as sanders' numbers shift, no accident, so does his strategy. >> it's true, we have been through a different phase of the campaign. >> reporter: that's the

strategist behind bernie sanders' campaign. he says the campaign needs to get beyond the big crowd energy. >> we have to balance it with the need particularly in the early states for him to be accessible, talk to voters and deliver the message to people whom we can persuade. >> reporter: one way, go traditional, spend money on tv. this month sanders launched his first tv ad campaign, $2 million on this 60-second spot, including a biographical touch that is not in his stump speech. >> the son of a polish immigrant who grew up in a brooklyn tenement -- >> reporter: it came three months after clinton launched her first tv spot in iowa. speaking of clinton, sanders is doing more of that, too, once he was a no-attacks candidate. >> this campaign i am running, let me reiterate, is not against hillary clinton or anybody else. >> reporter: even avoided take a shot in their october debate. >> i think the secretary is right, and that is that the

american people are sick and tired of hearing about the damn e-mails! >> reporter: now he's getting more aggressive and more critical. >> there are real differences between hillary clinton and myself. in terms of disagreeing with hillary clinton, yeah, i do, on many, many issues. >> reporter: as his campaign tries to find the right formula, some political observers points out sanders has two goals, the white house and his agenda. lara brown is a professor at george washington university. >> the real thing for sanders is not that he personally wins, it's that his ideas become more accepted and diffused across the democratic party. he really wants voters to appreciate who he is, what he believes and why it is important for them. >> reporter: sanders has two and a half months before the iowa caucuses when voters will weigh in and if his strategy is

working. for the pbs "newshour", i'm lisa desjardins. >> woodruff: republican donald trump made news last night for a 95-minute long speech in fort dodge, iowa that was full of attacks, including on voters. here are a few excerpts, starting with trump's words about rival ben carson-- and carson's claim that he once tried to stab someone but hit the person's belt. >> i have a belt. somebody hits me with a belt is going in because the belt moves this way! it moves this way! it moves that way! he hit the belt buckle! carson's an enigma. he wrote a book, doing great in iowa, second in the polls. with all these professional politicians, i'm first, carson's second. and i don't understand it. i really don't understand it. i know more about i.s.i.s. than

the generals do, believe me. i would bomb the (bleep) out of 'em. (cheers and applause) she's going to run. she's going to be the candidate, and she's going to lose. how stupid are the people of iowa? how stupid are the people of the country to believe this crap? we now turn to shields and gerson, whom i spoke with earlier tonight. that's syndicated columnist mark shields and washington post columnist michael gerson. david brooks is away. >> woodruff: gentlemen, this is a fast-moving story. still very much we know president hollande closed the borders of france and called emergency. even though foreign defense policy has not been front in the minds of americans but something could change in an instance. >> no question, and this is a shock, but increasing awareness of vulnerability, and i think

that's the reaction and understandable reaction is of most people. beyond the sympathy and sense of outrage and people have done it, and the simple thing for those who are suffering. but it does remind us of her vulnerability. >> woodruff: and it's clear at this point that president obama and administration officials have said there is no indication of an immediate threat to the united states but, of course, that's where your thinking goes. >> this is one of the strategies of al quaida-like organizations, spectacular attacks designed to demoralize countries. this is true of the u.s., true in britain in 2005 with the underground attack and true in france now. but it doesn't work. it actually hardens resolve and, you know, france is playing an important role in the middle east. i think they're not going to be deterred from that. >> woodruff: well, we will continue to monitor it, but it's

disturbing at the very least horrific as the scale of it unfolds. let's turn back to the campaign, mark. we've heard a little bit of what donald trump had to say in that really surprising speech that he made last night in iowa. what are we to make of this? he went after ben carson, he went after many of the other candidates. used some very, very tough language. >> judy, i don't know what to make of it. in 48 hours, he went from the milwaukee debate where he was subdued, repetitive, uninteresting. i mean, not donald trump at all, the man who had generated such great audience numbers for these debates, to the 95 minutes in fort dodge, iowa in which he berated, savaged dr. carson. every other candidate, george pataki, lindsey graham, marco rubio, john kasich, everybody, basically, except ted cruz, who

was spared. for the first time, he had a sense of he wasn't just talking about perceived short coming to whether low energy or sweat glands of the candidate and people could kind of giggle, the mischievous giggle. watching it, i think he made people uncomfortable in that room and especially going after ben carson who is the best liked and the most popular. >> woodruff: you mean based on the reactions of people. >> of people and the reports i have read and talking to people who were there. i do think that there is an uncomfortableness about it, and i don't know which donald trump it's going to be, whether the milwaukee donald trump which is sort of a presidential in quotes that he didn't go after everybody, the question was it was an elegant evening to this person who really is a vandal and basically accused ben carson of being a psychopath --

pathological, i guess, excuse me. >> woodruff: michael, what do you make of it? >> there are a lot of problems with our presidential nomination process, but it does over time reveal candidates, reveals them under pressure, and this was very revealing. i think that people have a democratic duty to watch what took place in those 95 minutes, as much of it as you can stomach. you know, trump was vile and vulgar and vicious and morally deformed. this was an unbelievable performance. you know, i think conservatives just have to have a tough time defending this. if this isn't the line, there is no line. this was really the worst type of politics. you know, we'll see what the effect is. he has jumped the shark so many times and avoided the consequences, but this really struck me as something different.

>> woodruff: is it worth even speculating about why or there is just no way to know, i mean, why he would do that? >> i don't pretend to know, i really don't. it appears that ben carson bothers him, and the fact ben carson is ahead of him. >> woodruff: the two are leading in the polls in iowa. >> i think ben carson is ahead in iowa, at least in the register poll which is the gold standard. i think that's part of donald trump's introduction of himself every time, i'm leading in all the polls. i don't know if he's bothered by that or just what it is. >> trump's biggest strategic failure in this speech, he actually attacked carson's religious conversion, so this isn't the way things happen. that is a central tenant of evangelical belief, the possibility of redemption and conversion -- i once was blind and now i see. by attacking that, in a very

religious state, iowa, i can't imagine what reason there could be. this was religious illiteracy, it also showed a hostility toward the evangelical tradition. i can't explain that at all. >> woodruff: we just heard the really good report from lisa desjardins -- political director, about bernie sanders. he's trying a different tack. does he feel his message isn't getting across? what do you feel is behind this? >> bernie sanders' problem has always been the same. hillary clinton, while she's a polarizing figure nationally and has a ceiling pollsters say of how far she would go is enormously popular with democratic primary voters and has a big lead. bernie sanders' best bet has always been a two-stage strategy.

necessity being the mother of invention, but to compete where he can, whether resources would be of some parody in iowa and new hampshire where he can have a chance, and to make the case, judy, basically not against her but a case of whom do you believe, whom do you trust? i mean, who do you think the 1% are most against? who stood up on the war in iraq? who stood up against wall street? >> woodruff: remind people. who is really against the trade pacts that cost americans jobs? i think that is probably his best strategy. to make it a case of -- he's not been a candidate of convenience, he's been a candidate of conviction. >> it's also a reflection that, in the last couple of weeks, hillary clinton has essentially sewn up the democratic nomination. when joe biden gave in, he did well in the states and

polarizing numbers went up. i don't think hillary clinton's campaign is afraid of sanders. i think it's afraid of the f.b.i. director because that's where the real threat comes from. that looks like an expanding investigation over the possibility of, you know, hindering an investigation and that, i think, is the real source of concern. >> i'll just add one thing, judy, and that is if, in fact, bernie sanders were to win iowa and new hampshire, that changes the dynamic of the race. the inevitability of hillary clinton or anybody who just has taken a licking in the first two contests, the dynamic changes and that sense of inevitability is frayed if not eroded. >> woodruff: that's where he's pressing a lot of the focus now. i wanted to ask you both about

really one of the things i think emerged from that republican debate and that is on immigration, michael. you saw a clear split between those republicans who are arguing like donald trump, do everything you can to keep -- to get those who are here undocumented immigrants out of the country and those in the party who are saying, wait a minute, that doesn't make sense. >> yeah, i think clearly for republicans we'll have a chance going forward, not just this election but future elections, the nature of demographics. the candidate that comes out of this is going to have to repudiate the idea of mass deportations. they're going to have to positively distance themselves from this and win. so it's someone like rubio or john kasich that can play the role. the question is whether the forces of negativism in the party can defeat them and make it impossible for a viable

republican to get the nomination, and i think that's the main issue we're going to see. >> woodruff: mark, but are we now seeing a situation where if you're a moderate republican and you say just enough to appeal to hispanic voters that maybe republicans have a chance on the immigration issue that we didn't see. >> this, to me, is suicidal on the part of republicans. i mean, we have an increasingly minority america. the republican primary electorate, judy, is 6% minority and 92% white. the general election in the country in 2012 -- i think they're playing to an older, whiter, more conservative electorate the republican candidates are. and i say if immigration -- that

is opposition to immigration, categorically just outspoken, untrammelled opposition to immigration becomes the decider of who wins, the republicans will lose. one place i disagree with michael is i think marco rubio faces a test. but i think ted cruz -- >> he was burned in that process. >> i agree, but i thought ted cruz had the best night when he made the economic populous argument. if those were lawyers and bankers and journalists coming across the rio grande, there would be a concern that we would have our jobs taken. >> woodruff: mark shields, michael gerson, thank you both. >> thank you. >> woodruff: finally tonight, one of the year's most acclaimed movies and the journalism behind it.

reporters frequently don't come off well in the movies these days. but the new film-- opening in many cities this weekend-- is built around the investigative journalism that uncovered a major scandal in the archdiocese of boston. the fallout of that report, in turn, triggered numerous other investigations and revelations in other archdioceses. jeffrey brown has the story. >> the numbers clearly indicate there were senior clergy involved. >> reporter: it was one major institution, the hometown newspaper, taking on another, the catholic church. >> show me it's systemic. >> reporter: the new film, "spotlight," recounts the "boston globe's" investigation revealing that the church knew about sexual abuse of children by priests and covered it up, even allowing guilty priests to keep their jobs. the film is, in that sense, the story of the story.

director tom mccarthy: >> we became fascinated with the minutiae, with the procedure, with the craft of journalism. and i think early on we committed to not only writing but portraying that accurately as possible. and i think we felt that, and the rest of my creative team felt that if we found it exciting, hopefully our audience would. >> reporter: the newshour was there in boston in the spring of 2002, covering the case as it unfolded. the "globe's" efforts were led by then-editor martin baron, who was new to the city and the paper. he'd read a column by a "globe" writer about one case of abuse that was under a court seal. >> i thought it was an extraordinary story. here was a priest who had been accused by 130 people of having abused them as minors. that was just an extraordinary number in and of itself. and i was just struck by the fact that i haven't heard of the case. i said, "have we considered challenging that confidentiality order? maybe we should do that."

>> i'd like to challenge the protective order in the geoghan case. >> you want to sue the catholic church? >> we're just filing a motion, but, yes. >> reporter: in the film, baron is played by actor liev schreiber. today, martin baron is editor of the "washington post." he talked at length to the filmmakers about his experience in boston and told us of seeing the results. >> i think this movie is quite authentic. they got the outlines of the story right. they really understood the subject matter. they understood how newsrooms work. and i think that's one thing that's impressed a lot of journalists is that they get the workaday life of journalists so right. it's incredible. we're not used to seeing that in movies. >> got cover-up stories on 20 priests, but the boss isn't going to run it unless i get confirmation from your side. >> are you out of your mind? >> reporter: the film has an ensemble cast that includes michael keaton, mark ruffalo and rachel mcadams. it closely follows the "globe's"

investigative "spotlight" team as it slowly unwinds the story, including the actions of a priest named paul geoghan, implicated in many abuse cases, and his ultimate superior, cardinal bernard law, then the very prominent leader of the catholic church in boston. the "spotlight" reporters culled 18 years of church directories to track over 900 active and retired priests. the team then created a database which allowed it to match a target list of 100 priests with allegations of abuse. they homed in on priests who had been moved from a parish, sent on sick leave or otherwise removed from active service and left "unassigned." in 2002, the newshour talked to walter robinson, who headed up the "spotlight" unit. >> the documents to me were breathtaking in the extent to which they knew the cordiality of the correspondence between the cardinal and father geoghan and the other bishops and father

geoghan. here's a fellow who they knew was accused of and had committed these acts against scores of kids, and the letters were, "dear jack, we hope you're coping with your problem." >> boom, and then connect their thoughts. >> reporter: director mccarthy says he and his team took great care in how they would tell such a raw story. >> i think we were very careful not to sensationalize the story, not to be gratuitous with the telling-- again, to approach it as the reporters did. we had the great good fortune of sitting down with several survivors of abuse-- namely the two depicted in the film, joe crawley and phil saviano. these men and the courage they exemplify in talking with us and dealing with this every day of their lives and becoming advocates for survivors, it's hard not to be greatly impressed by it. >> reporter: the scandal began to snowball even as the church vehemently pushed back.

story on january 6, 2002, with the headline "church allowed abuse by priest for years." it also printed the phone number of a confidential call-in line, bringing in many new allegations from victims. >> why does it take us so long to see that something in hindsight seems so obvious? there was a lot of talk about this. >> reporter: in portraying the process of investigative journalism, the film has drawn comparison to "all the president's men," which documented the washington post's pursuit of the watergate scandal 40 years ago. inevitably, that means also capturing the changing world of newspapers at a time of cutbacks, layoffs and closures. today, martin baron says this: >> well, we're a profession that's under tremendous pressure, a lot of financial pressure. so, clearly, it's going to be more difficult given that there are fewer resources to do it. this is very expensive work to do, and yet we have to commit

ourselves to doing it. somebody needs to hold powerful institutions and individuals accountable, and we're the ones who have that particular role in our society. >> reporter: the "boston globe" would win a pulitzer prize for its coverage of the church sexual abuse cases. >> they knew, and they let it happen. >> reporter: "spotlight" is receiving early critical praise, including some from high reaches of the catholic church. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown. >> woodruff: before we go, an update on the attacks in paris. at this moment we know: all of the attackers who carried out coordinated assaults across the city are now dead. they struck at least six sites and officials say they killed 140 people or more. 100 of the victims died when

attackers opened fire at concert hall took as stages they blew themselves up. french president declared an emergency closing the country's borders. we will continue our coverage of the paris attacks online. find at pds.org/newshours. >> woodruff: and later this evening, gwen ifill also looks at today's wave of violence in paris on "washington week." and we'll be back, right here, on monday, with the latest information. that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. have a great weekend. thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> bnsf railway >> the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. >> 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

>> announcer: this is "nightly business report," with tyler mathisen and sue herera. terror in paris. multiple attacks leave more than three dozen dead in the french capital. we'll have a report and discuss these new destabilizing events. equities have their worst week since the summer. and oil falls toward $40 a barrel. we'll look at the week just passed and look ahead in light of tonight's development. and search for a treatment. the fate of two drugs and one mother's hope for her two sons. all that and more tonight on "nightly business report" for friday november 13th. good evening, everyone. paris is a city under siege tonight. multiple attacks involving gunfire and explosions across the french capital have left more than three dozen dead. the situation isti