captioning sponsored by wnet on this edition for sunday, november 27: >> stewart: assessing the impact of the presidential election vote recount efforts in wisconsin and elsewhere. and in our signature segment, singer-songwriter norah jones talks with the newshour's jeffrey brown about her new work. >> reporter: everything i see about this new album, says," norah jones is returning to her jazz roots." do you buy that? >> i feel like i'm moving forward, as i do with every album. i don't know. music, man, it's just music, just listen to it. >> stewart: next on "pbs newshour weekend." >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. judy and josh weston. the cheryl and philip milstein family.

the john and helen glessner family trust-- supporting trustworthy journalism that informs and inspires. sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. barbara hope zuckerberg. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. from the tisch wnet studios at lincoln center in new york, alison stewart. this is pbs newshour weekend. >> stewart: good evening and thanks for joining us. republican president-elect donald trump and his top advisers are lambasting hillary clinton and the democrats for participating in a recount in wisconsin and possibly two other states where the vote was close. the response followed the announcement by the clinton campaign's general counsel

yesterday that although the campaign has no evidence of foul play with electronic voting machines it will have attorneys present at legal proceedings surrounding the recounts initiated by green party presidential candidate jill stein. dr. stein says she has raised more than $6 million to pay for recounts in wisconsin, michigan, and pennsylvania. from his home in west palm beach, florida, mister trump took to twitter to call the recount effort "a scam" designed to fill green party coffers and to label the democratic party" badly defeated and demoralized." he criticized democrats for not accepting the election results; a point emphasized in interviews today by his advisor and campaign manager, kellyanne conway. >> their president, barack obama, is going to be in office eight more weeks, and they have to decide if they're going to interfere with the transition, transfer of power to president- elect trump and vice president- elect mike pence, or if they're going to be a bunch of crybabies and sore losers about an

election they can't turn around. >> stewart: incoming white house chief of staff reince priebus is from the first state scheduled to conduct a recount, wisconsin. >> it is a total and complete hypocritical joke that the people that were nervous about president-elect trump not conceding are the people conducting recounts in states where we've won by over 68,000 votes. >> stewart: noting hillary clinton's november 9 concession speech and phone call to him, mister trump predicted: "nothing will change." joining me now for more analysis of the recount efforts brewing in three states is npr political reporter tamara keith. it says the recount is needed in quote three states where there is a significant need to verify machine counted vote totals end quote. so there are two notable things about that sentence. significant is underlined and the man counted votes. what is the sub text here?

she is definitely out to prove whether or not there was any tampering with the vote process. the clinton campaign has looked into these things as well and they concluded that there wasn't any sort of wide spread evidence of tampering or hacking or rigging or any of those words that were thrown around leading into the election. the clinton campaign's conclusion was that they would not ask for a recount. jill stein though felt that a recount was in order to verify the integrity of the voting process and the voting system. >> as you mentioned the clinton campaign's general counsel wrote in a lengthy post that they have done their own foreignence-- forencic a sal-- a

fall sis and stand by the results but are sending a lawyer to be present. >> i think any reasonable campaign would do that it is possible donald trump's campaign will send lawyers as well. because if there is a recount happening and your candidate is on the ballot then it makes sense for the campaign if they have the funds to do it to send lawyers to be in court for hearings that may relate to how votes are recounted or processed. >> can you walk us through the nuts and bolts process of this, what will happen in wisconsin, possibly michigan and pennsylvania? yns yeah, so what is happening right now is the elections commission in wisconsin has reached out to-- there are hundreds of local municipal and county elections officials, registrars who are being asked to kal clart the cost for this process -- calculate the cost for this because it is going to be an expensive process. then when the cost is figured out, both jill stein and rocky did la feunte who is another

independent candidate without also filed for a recount, they will be asked to split the cost if they have the funds which they say they do, to move forward with paying for the recount, then the recount would begin. it's likely to take several weeks and the elections commission in wisconsin has already told local officials that they should be prepared to work nights and weekend-- weekends to get this done. >> there could be legal hearings, disputes about exactly how the counting takes place and that will all play out in the coming days. and then there are deadlines coming up in michigan and pennsylvania. stein said she will file in those states as well. she even tweeted that she would look to file for recount physician the funds are available in any state that has a deadline left to come. so this could be a big thing but here's the important part. it is highly unlikely to change

the results of the election. >> so what does jill stein get out of all of this? >> well, jill stein is drawing attention to the election process, to the green party. the green party and jill stein now has a much bigger list of gy to this effort. what they would do with is unclear but lists are very valuable in politics. >> pla keith >> stewart: the streets of havana were nearly empty today, as cubans came to grips with the death of fidel castro, the man who ruled for almost half a century, until his brother, raul, took over in 2008. this was the second of nine days of national mourning following castro's death friday at the age of 90. thousands are expected to pay their respects tomorrow in revolution plaza where a mass public ceremony is planned for tuesday. a man who made headlines as a

young boy when he was returned to cuba after a long and political fight, now 22 elian gonzalez, appeared on cuban state television today to say castro was a friend to his family. >> he taught us to fly. he taught us to dream. and now it is up to us alone, now without him by our side, it is up to us to open a path forward. it is up to us to execute that concept of revolution. >> stewart: in 1999, the then five-year old elian was at the center of a custody battle when he and his mother fled to florida from cuba by boat. his mother died in the attempt, and after a lengthy legal battle in 2000 a u.s. federal court ordered him to be sent back to his father in cuba. israel engaged in a rare military clash with isis- affiliated militants today, inside syria. prime minister benjamin netanyahu says israeli warplanes killed four militants after the militants fired on an israeli soldiers patrolling the golan heights area near israel's northern border with syria. in syria's six year civil war

government troops said today they've gained control of a second neighborhood in as many days in the rebel-held eastern half of besieged aleppo. hundreds of residents fled the neighborhood, with rebels saying they fear the government forces, backed by russian air power, are trying to cut their sector in half. the united nations says half a million children are trapped either in aleppo or other besieged cities, and they are almost completely cut off from humanitarian aid. in france today, two former prime ministers competed in a runoff to become the conservative nominee for president in next year's election. with almost all the vote counted, francois fillon has easily beaten rival alain juppe, who conceded defeat tonight. fillon wants to reduce immigration to a minimum, slash public sector spending, raise the retirement age from 62 to 65, and extend the standard 35- hour work week. marine le pen, of the far righ"" national front" party, is also running. but incumbent president francois hollande has not said yet if

he'll seek a second five-year term on the socialist ticket. >> new york state could soon expand medicaid coverage for treatments specific to transgender youth under 18. read more at pbs.org/newshour. >> stewart: just back from europe, this week singer- songwriter norah jones begins the east coast leg of a tour in support of her latest album. the new songs find her once again at the piano, reminiscent of the work that first propelled her to stardom in 2002. but this time around, jones adds some jazz to the mix. in tonight's signature segment, the newshour's jeffrey brown has this profile. >> ♪ it's a tragedy. ♪ it's a tragedy. >> reporter: norah jones has said when she decided to be a jazz singer, she knew she'd never be famous.

well, she got that wrong. whatever you call her, she's been one of the best-selling american recording artists of the past 15 years. >> ♪ he was only 25, had an open ♪ heart and tender mind >> reporter: her blockbuster 2002 debut album, "come away with me," has sold 26 million copies worldwide, and her total album sales are nearing 50 million. jones' new album, "day breaks," reprises the style and atmosphere of her first record, but more than anything her voice remains her signature sound. >> ♪ the babies and a patient ♪ wife, they just weren't enough ♪ to keep him high. ♪ so he gave them up just to ♪ fill his cup >> reporter: everything i see about this new album, including in the publicity, it says," norah jones is finding her way, returning to her jazz roots." do you buy that, or what do you think is going on here?

>> i mean i definitely think it's accurate. that's not how i'd describe what i'm doing, because i feel like i'm moving forward, as i do with every album. i've definitely been playing more piano again, and i don't know. music, man, it's just music, just listen to it. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: the pulse of "day breaks" is set by her piano, the instrument she studied growing up in dallas, texas. her father, indian musician ravi shankar, was largely absent during her childhood. jones credits her mother, sue jones, a concert promoter, for exposing her to the music that set her on her way. what are your musical roots when you look back? >> definitely jazz. bill evans and billie holiday and miles davis. stuff i still love to listen to today. you know, i was playing piano in a church choir, and i kind of

didn't want to practice scales. my mom took me to this big band concert, and then she found me this jazz piano teacher, and then we got all these old recordings, and i fell in love with this music. ♪ i tried to get high, but you wanted me low. ♪ good things are happening, but happening slow. ♪ it's some kind of mystery from long ago. >> reporter: this song," flipside," is one of eight originals jones wrote or co- wrote for her new album. and how do you know when you've sort of nailed the song? >> i don't know. sometimes you want to tweak it after you've recorded it and put it on an album sometimes. songs are kind of alive, i think; once you finish writing them, that doesn't mean that that's it for the song. it can have its own little life, i think. >> reporter: that's, of course, also part of performing, right? do you like performing? >> yeah, i think playing music is one of my great joys in life.

i had success early on where i'm able to try to keep it fun, and i don't have to do things just for the sake of making a living, which a lot of my musician friends don't have that luxury of course. but i remember early on, for instance, having to play wedding gigs, that i hated playing the music. now i don't have to play music that i don't like. i only get to do what i enjoy, so that's pretty lucky. >> reporter: lucky that when she was 24, she essentially swept the 2003 grammy awards, winning best new artist, record of the year for "don't know why," and beating the likes of bruce springsteen for album of the year. suddenly you were an overnight star, right? does that, in retrospect, was that, was it too much to happen too soon for you? >> i think i handled it pretty well. there was a lot of points during those couple years where i was pretty overwhelmed by it for sure. it's funny how you realize what's important, and it's not fame and money, even though it

can be really nice. it's happiness and whatever it takes to make you feel happy. >> reporter: jones was at ease as we talked recently at the brooklyn conservatory of music, not far from where she lives now with a family of her own. in recent years, marriage and motherhood, right, no doubt changes your life. does it change your music? >> i don't necessarily think that my music has-- i don't go about playing music differently. it changes my sleeping schedule and my drinking habits, that's what i like to say. ♪ no, i won't go for any of those things. >> reporter: two years ago, jones played with the jazz musicians who ended up backing her on "day breaks" at a washington concert celebrating the 75th anniversary of her label, blue note records. the performance, recorded by npr, included saxophonist wayne shorter.

>> he's a legend. he doesn't play notes, he just plays what he's feeling. if something's not moving him, he doesn't come in yet. i think playing with people like that is incredible, people who just kind of breathe music. >> reporter: this recent performance of new songs was taped in santa monica, california, by the kcrw progra"" morning becomes eclectic." >> ♪ day breaks in your head. ♪ and you're finally alone. ♪ i'll find a way to make it through. ♪ but it keeps raining in your heart >> reporter: jones says after her smash hit breakthrough, blue note never pressured her to put out the same kind of album over and over. and she didn't. she wrote more songs with guitars, she made two albums with her country band, "the little willies," and sang an album of everly brothers duets

with "green day" front-man billie joe armstrong. >> ♪ maybe you should go away. ♪ if the love we have is meant to stay. >> reporter: she says her approach has not changed since that day in 2000 when she first met blue note records president bruce lundvall with a demo tape of three songs: two jazz standards and one original pop song. >> and bruce listens to the demo right in front of me; and he says, "so, this song is different from the first two. so what do you want to do, be a jazz singer or pop singer?" and i was like, uh, i'm at blue note records, he might give me a record deal, "jazz singer." ♪ raining in my heart. >> reporter: after completing her "day breaks" shows in early december, jones has concert dates booked next spring throughout the u.s. and japan. >> i'm super-fortunate to have any fans still.

it's been almost 15 years since my first album. i'm happy. i feel good about music. music is fun. it should be fun. and that's the key, i think. keep it as the thing you love. it's not like once you achieve success, you're done, you know? it's like, still enjoy doing what you're doing, that's the key for me. >> stewart: this week a new, nationwide rule on overtime pay was supposed to take effect, but last week, in response to a legal challenge, a federal judge in texas issued a preliminary injunction blocking the change. the obama administration sought to raise the salary cap for workers eligible for overtime pay to $47,500 a year; about

double the current cap. the rule would affect 4-million workers, requiring employers to pay them "time-and-a-half" for every hour exceeding 40 hours in a given week. and company payroll departments are already prepared for the change. joining me now to discuss the ramifications of the rule and its status is npr business correspondent yuki noguchi. >> your background. why did the labor department issue this rule and why that number? >> their argument was that they were trying to modernize the rules and increase the salary to a level that would be relevant, that is, what most people might consider white collar jobs. >> how did this move or the attempt for this move play into the overall discussion about living wage and raising the federal mirm wage which has also not been changed in many years? >> i think argument the obama administration was trying to make was trying to address this issue of forcing employers to either pay overtime or to raise

the salaries of workers who are making just over $23,000 a year to a much higher level in order to exempt them from the overtime rules. this would affect retail workers store managers, restaurant managers and a lot of nonprofits too, where salary levels might be lower but they might be required to work odd hours or extra hours. >> so this judge in texas i believe his name is amos mazant iii, nevada's attorney generals, one of the attorney general suing to stop this, said they sent it to texas because they had a fast docket. >> what is the issue here? >> rules would take effect december 1 and reversing that would be difficult. the fact is allison that a lot of businesses were already preparing for this to take place. december 1 happens to fall mid week and most payroll systems as

you know close at the end of the week. so as a practical matter there are probably many, many employers that have already instituted changes, that they will either have to choose to unwind or just keep in place. >> stewart: there were two headlines that really spoke to how people were receiving this information. one was from an idaho paper that said you're not going to get that pay raise you expected and one of the business news cable news network it said small businesses receive a reprieve. are both true? >> i think both are true, it might be disappointing news for workers. i don't think it's true that all employers will choose to unwind any changes that they may have made. because we are in a relatively low unemployment situation. we're talking about employers having increasing problems attracting and retaining talents. you know, it sends a very potentially negative signal to workers who might have benefited

from these changes. but there are also workers who polite have been bumped down from salaried to hourly, and perhaps, if the employer decides that, for the morale of the company it would be better to unwind the rule that does give them the flexibility to could that. >> stewart: yuki noguchi from npr, thank you for sharing your reporting. >> thank you. >> stewart: and finally tonight, police in new orleans say they don't know what caused a mass shooting early this morning in the tourist heavy french quarter. ten people were struck with bullets, two women and eight men between ages of 20 and 37. the bullets sent panicked bystanders from running in the streets. the incident remains under investigation. that is all for this edition of

pbs newshour weekend. i'm alison stewart, good night. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. judy and josh weston. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the john and helen glessner family trust-- supporting trustworthy journalism that informs and inspires. sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. barbara hope zuckerberg. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for

public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

[announcer] explore new worlds and new ideas through programs like this made available for everyone through contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [music] [announcer 2] known for its beauty, art and architecture, st. petersburg is one of europe's most beautiful cities. tonight, the winter palace comes alive with music and lights for an unforgettable concert. emin, one of europe's most exciting new artists, is joined on the stage by the legendary music hit man, david foster. emin live from russia with david foster is next. [music and applause] good evening, ladies and gentlemen. [music]