captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: president-elect trump announces his pick for secretary of defense. we take a close look at retired marine general mattis's background. then, as a deadline looms for protestors, pressure mounts at the site of the dakota pipeline, where clashes with police have been ongoing. >> the way i look at it is, as long as the pipeline isn't under the river, there's still a chance, there's still hope. >> woodruff: and, it's friday. mark shields and david brooks analyze this week's trump transition moves, and the democrats' discontent. all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour.

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three states. the newshour's john yang has our report. >> we are going to appoint "mad dog" mattis as our secretary of defense. but we're not announcing it until monday, so don't tell anybody. >> reporter: president-elect trump scooped himself thursday night, making his choice public in cincinnati, the first stop of his "thank you" tour. he met with retired general james mattis last month in new jersey. >> he is the real deal. he is the real deal. >> reporter: mattis retired as a four-star general three years ago, after four decades as a marine. he headed u.s. central command until 2013, in charge of operations in iraq and afghanistan. he would need a special

congressional waiver, because federal law says a defense secretary has be out of uniform for at least seven years. in cincinnati, mr. trump pledged to ease still simmering post- election tensions. >> we're going to bring our country together. all of our country. we're going to find common ground and we will get the job done properly. >> reporter: but at harvard university, top officials of his campaign clashed with clinton campaign managers at a normally civil, post-election review. clinton aides said the trump campaign fueled racism. >> i would rather lose than win the way you guys did. >> do you think i ran a campaign where white supremacists had a platform? you're going to look me in the face and tell me that? >> it did, kellyanne; it did. >> really? and that's how you lost? do you think you could've just had a decent message for white working-class voters? >> reporter: there were also sparks when clinton aides noted that their candidate won more votes than the president-elect. >> you guys won.

that's clear. you won the electoral college. that's the currency. let's also be honest. don't act as if you have some popular mandate for your message. the fact of the matter is that more americans voted for hillary clinton than donald trump. >> hey guys, we won. you don't have to respond. i mean, seriously? >> reporter: today, trump supporters moved to block recounts in wisconsin, pennsylvania and michigan. the president-elect was in new york today, meeting with longtime supporters republican senator david perdue of georgia and former u.n. ambassador john bolton. his schedule also included an unusual suspect: senator heidi heitkamp of north dakota-- a democrat. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang. >> woodruff: we'll have much more on the mattis pick right, after this news summary. late today the transition team reported president-elect trump spoke by phone with the president of taiwan. it is a highly unusual move. the u.s. cut formal diplomatic

ties with taiwan in 1979. in the day's other news, the economy posted solid job growth for november, with the unemployment rate hitting a nine-year low. the labor department reported u.s. employers added about 178,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate dropped to 4.6%, largely because many people stopped looking for work. stocks were mostly flat on wall street today, in spite of that better-than-expected jobs report, but crude oil prices posted their biggest weekly gain since february of 2011. the dow jones industrial average lost 21 points to close at 19,170. the nasdaq rose four points, and the s&p 500 added less than a point. for the week, the dow gained a fraction of a percent, the nasdaq fell nearly 3%, and the s&p 500 slipped 1%. house lawmakers overwhelmingly backed a nearly $619 billion bipartisan defense bill today. it will give u.s. troops their biggest pay raise since 2010.

it also prohibits the pentagon from closing military bases, and the prison at guantanamo bay. while most members of congress supported the bill, some criticized it for including over $3 billion more in war funding than last year's budget. >> it stops the troop reductions in our armed forces, thereby increasing readiness while reducing stress and strain on our force and the families. >> instead of writing blank checks to the pentagon, congress needs to live up to its constitutional obligation to debate matters of war and peace. we need to rip up the 2001 blank check for endless war, we need to stop funding wars without end with no debate on the cost and consequences to our troops or the american people. >> woodruff: the senate is expected to vote on the bill next week. officials in gatlinburg, tennessee raised the death toll from days of fierce wildfires to

13 people today. thousands of residents also returned home for the first time to survey the extent of the devastation. officials said the number of damaged homes and buildings is now close to a thousand. in indonesia, 200,000 people flooded jakarta today to protest against the city's christian governor, who is being prosecuted for allegedly insulting the koran. the sea of conservative muslim demonstrators gathered peacefully to demand the governor be jailed for blasphemy. ten people were arrested by police, who accused the dissenters of using the protest to overthrow the government. and, ford motor company is recalling more than 680,000 vehicles for potentially-faulty seat belts. the recall affects its mid-size sedans, like the ford fusion and lincoln mkz, that were mostly sold in the u.s. the automaker says the seat belts might not restrain

passengers in a crash. still to come on the newshour: who is "mad dog" mattis? trump's choice to head the defense department; dakota pipeline protestors facing a deadline to clear out; cubans think back on fidel castro's legacy, and much more. >> woodruff: so, who is the man president-elect trump has picked to be his secretary of defense? what's his track record, and how does he think the united states should confront the threats it faces? for that, we turn to two who know retired general james mattis well. steve simon was the senior director for middle eastern and north african affairs on the national security council staff during the obama administration. he's now a visiting professor of history at amherst college; and

michael gordon has covered general mattis as a reporter at "the new york times." for years, gordon covered the pentagon, and now the state department. and we welcome both of you to the "newshour". let me start with you, michael gordon. tell us what you know about james mattis beyond what we reported a moment ago. >> well, he's certainly an unconventional choice for secretary of defense simply because he's only been out of the military for three a marinee commander in the hottest wars that we've had over the past ten years -- iraq, afghanistan -- and ran the central command which oversees both those wars, and that's a position that also involved him with a lot of diplomacy in the region, i think. but he's famous for a lot of his mattis-isms. his sayings. when i was in iraq, there was a sign on one of the outposts that said, be polite, be

professional, have a plan to kill everyone you meet. i mean, that pretty much expresses mattis' approach. he was prepared to use violence to achieve ends in war but also sought to work with the population and to, you know, constrain the violence as much as possible, which wasn't always easy in an environment like iraq. >> woodruff: steve simon, what would you add to that and where did the nickname "mad dog" come from? >> well, i've never seen him in combat so i don't know how mad a dog he can be, but certainly in his capacity as commander and seen your u.s. official dealing with national security issues, i never saw him than anything less than self-possessed and having a cool head. i'm not sure where that epithet comes from. he's also known by soldiers who work with him and for him as the warrior monk because he does have a somewhat monkish temperament. you know, he's in some ways really into, you know,

self-denial and focusing on his troops, and that has won him a dwreel of loyalty, which will stand him in good stead if he's confirmed by congress as doctors of se de fence. >> woodruff: -- secretary of defense. >> woodruff: michael gordon, you said as the leader he would be prepared for violence but what is his view of the role of military in carrying out foreign policy? >> well, as steve pointed out, he's not a one-sided person. every military person has to execute military operations, which means you have to fight, and fight to baghdad or in afghanistan and all these environments wasn't easy. he's also famous of his study of military history, his thousands of books, the fact he claims not to own a television, that's where the warrior monk comes from. but he has views on foreign policy that really put him i think in the mainstream. for example, he doesn't want to rip up the iran agreement.

he's criticized the agreement. he said he wished it would impose stricter constraints on iran's nuclear program. he said just walking away from it would work against american interests and the allies would never go along with that. he's against torture and president-elect trump remarked on that. he argued against using that. he argues it's simply not effective. and he's wary of russia, which, you know, president-elect trump, at times, has implied that he's sympathetic with vladimir putin or might want to work together with vladimir putin and sir. i can't i think mattis would be extremely skeptical of that kind of approach. >> woodruff: fill in more of that picture, steve simon. how do you see mattis aligning with what we know of what donald trump thinks. >> well, he's a bit of an awkward fit primarily, i think, because he does support u.s.

compliance with the deal negotiated with iran to contain its nuclear program and to block it's pathway towards a bomb. he has referred to it as providing what he's called a nuclear pause, but not a nuclear halt, and said, effect, a pause is better than nothing. where he does differ, i think, from the outgoing administration is his view that, even as the united states maintains its commitment to the deal it negotiated, that it pushes back on iran's regional maneuvers, and i think, by that, jim mattis would point to do things, one is syria where the iranians are very deeply involved, and the other is in iraq where the iranians gained a great deal of influence after the u.s. overthrew the regime of saddam hussein. and i think as center of central

command, james mattis is aware of the fact many deaths of u.s. servicemen in iraq were attributable to weapons designed or provided by iran. >> woodruff: michael gordon, people are talking about the fact that, if he's confirmed, he's going to have to have this exemption from the law which says military people who are few than seven years out of the military can't be secretary of defense. how do you see him running that department, coming from the military? >> well, first of all, i think the waiver will go through senator mccain who chairs the armearmed services committee, ss he supports it. senator hill brando poses it but thinks he has enough support. i think he has enough experience running the large organizations, ranking the central command, the joint forces command. that requires a certain amount of bureaucratic capability and finesse. so i think he, in his own mind,

understands -- i mean, he would be the first person since george marshall to do this -- that there is a responsibility on him to try to run the department as a civilian that he's only been for three years and not as a military man. >> woodruff: steve simon, how do you see that, because there has been this tradition that is in law that somebody who's been in the military recently shouldn't be running the pentagon, how do you see him fitting into that? >> well, look, he's going to have to deal with issues he hasn't had to deal with as a combatant or unified commander. r&d, weapons acquisition, large-scale budget issues, you know, personnel issues of an immense scale, in addition to being a politician in his dealing with congress in particular, he's going to have to learn how to deal effectively with a white house staff. that can be a challenge, especially in an administration

like the one that's shaping up, i think. and he's going to have to be a diplomat as well. now, i've seen him work in a diplomatic mode, and i think he's gifted in that domain. i don't think he's going to have a problem there. so, all in all, you know, i would say that he has good prospects for success. >> woodruff: steve simon, michael gordon, as we learn who general james mattis is and he has confirmation. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: even as temperatures in north dakota are plunging into the single digits, the fight over the dakota access oil pipeline is only intensifying. william brangham is here with more. so, william, i understand there's a deadline coming? >> brangham: that's right. starting on monday, anyone at the large protest camp in north

dakota will be considered trespassers and could be arrested. that's according to the u.s. army corps of engineers. for months now, thousands of people calling themselves "water protectors" have gathered to stop the pipeline. they say it's destroying lands that are sacred to the standing rock sioux, and that a leak could threaten the tribe's water. despite the army corps order, and a similar one from the governor, protestors say they're not going anywhere. david archambault ii is the chairman of the standing rock sioux. i spoke with him earlier today, and i asked: with the deadline looming, and reports of 2,000 veterans traveling to north dakota to support the protestors, did he fear monday could get out of hand? no, i don't. i don't believe that anything will happen. i believe that the corps of engineers is not going to come in with force, and i don't think the state government is going to come with force, and i know that the veterans are coming to stand with peace and prayer. their presence is symbolic. it's representing the men and

women who fought for this nation's freedom, and they're coming here to let the nation know that it's not right to treat indigenous peoples, to treat tribes in this way. we have to start listening to tribes. that's very symbolic for us to know that our veterans, the ones who fought for this nation, are coming. they're not coming to start a war. they're coming to let the world know that they, too, stand with us. december 5th, it's not going to be a showdown. it's just going to be another day. >> brangham: so if protesters do stay there, i mean, the governor and many others have said it is just not safe with subzero temperatures out there to sleep out on the plains like this. >> my comment to that is it's not safe for law enforcement to spray water on water protectors

in sub freezing temperatures. that's not safe. it's not safe to fire concussion grenades at crowds. it's not safe to fire rubber bullets and target people's heads, that's not safe. people are there, and they are ready for this. they knew that winter was coming. they have some temporary shelters that are very insulated and warm, and they are taking care of each other. they know how to check on each other, and they know what to do in case of an emergency. so it is a safe place for individuals to gather and pray. what is not safe is the way law enforcement has been using aggression and weapons on unarmed people. >> we spoke a few weeks ago with the c.e.o. of the company building this pipeline and he argues that your concerns over a

leak into your water supply are over when. he says this will be brand-new pipeline, state of the art, all safety measures and you need not be as concerned as you are. >> i understand, and then why not put it north of bismarck? >> brangham: that's where it originally would go. >> he'll say it can't go there because to have the population of the community, the environmental impacts, the sacred sites that are there, the wetlands it has to cross. these are all the same concerns we have, it's just that we are -- the numbers show that we're a lot fewer, so if the pipeline and if there is no worry, if the safeguards are there, then relocate it to that location. that's okay. >> brangham: but the company says the pipeline is not going to be rerouted, the governor says the pipeline won't be

rerouted, president obama will soon be out of office and president-elect trump made it very clear this pipeline will be built. >> as long as i look at it, as long as the pipeline is not under the river, there is still hope. it's unfortunate this nation continues to treat our tribe and tribal nations around this country in this manner. we have every right to protest this pipeline. we have indigenous lands, we have ancestral lands, we have treaty lands. the pipeline is 500 feet from our reservation border, and history will show that the federal government, the state government has always built the economy, has secured energy independence and has secured national security off the backs of our nations, and this is another example. and whether the governor of north dakota says it's not going

to be rerouted, the energy transfer partners say it won't be rerouted and whether the president-elect says it won't be rerouted, we still want to build awareness on the treatment of our nations, the first people of this nation, and how everybody benefits from the costs that we paid over history. >> brangham: david archambault david archambault, chairman of the standing rock sioux, thank you so much for being here. >> you're welcome. >> brangham: you can find all the newshour's coverage of the dakota standoff on our website, www.pbs.org/newshour. >> woodruff: stay with us. coming up on the newshour: mark shields and david brooks on trump's cabinet picks; and, is it time to end youth football? but first, in cuba, fidel

castro's ashes are approaching the city of santiago, where the dictator-- who died last friday-- began his revolutionary journey nearly 60 years ago. in partnership with the pulitzer center on crisis reporting, special correspondent nick schifrin and producer zach fannin look at castro's legacy and the future of the island, starting along the route of his final journey. >> reporter: the road to fidel castro's final resting place was lined with the revolution's faithful, for whom it's never too early to be wrapped in the flag. with the military that castro created circling overhead and leading the way, his ashes drove by into the morning sun. for more than 55 years, castro was cuba's indispensable force, and many here expressed a sense of loss. 93-year-old zoila andreu saín needed help from her 66-year-old daughter ailsa. they live together on the parade

route. they were joined by a third generation, 23-year-old giselle gallego. this family's revolutionary faith hasn't faltered. >> ( translated ): my admiration for fidel comes above everything. he wasn't just a leader for the cuban revolution, but a leader for the world. >> reporter: the two matriarchs show off their favorite photos: a younger son, eugenio, at the commander's side-- fidel made him the head of a housing development program, and provided the family with opportunities they've never forgotten. >> ( translated ): women stopped being domestic objects and were given the chance to work. all thanks to the revolution, and to fidel. >> ( translated ): i love fidel. i love him very, very, very much. he fought for cuba. >> they had marched right across the island in a triumphant progress, joyfully acclaimed all the way. >> reporter: january, 1959, castro and his men seized havana and overthrew the batista dictatorship.

so began the hero's myth. he'd descended from the mountains and convinced people he was cuba's destined savior. for his fans, that origin story still holds. >> ( translated ): he took everything that was bad, and made it better. he will continue to do so from the cemetery where he'll rest. >> reporter: but 30 miles outside of havana, fidel castro's legacy is not as universally positive. this is hershey, built by the american chocolate baron, and today, population about 3,000. castro's 1959 revolution promised a better future. here, as in many towns like this, the economic promises of the revolution have not been fulfilled. the train used to arrive here with cubans from many towns. today it brings only a few locals, just enough to keep 29- year-old carlos gonzalez afloat. he sells tiny, folded pizzas for 20 cents. the profit on each is 5-10 >> ( translated ): we struggle every day.

i wake up at 3:00 a.m. to be able to afford food, afford clothes, and keep on going. >> reporter: garcia's oldest client is the city's oldest resident. 92-year-old amparo dejongh was the first person born here. quien es eso? who's this? >> yo. >> reporter: that's you? wow, wonderful. and what kind of town was hershey? >> ( translated ): it was conceived to be perfect. in housing, in education, in social order. >> reporter: her photos show a model town created exactly a century ago. hershey's sugar mill was one of the world's most modern. after the revolution, castro nationalized the factory and all other american property. eventually, the economy collapsed. today the factory is a heap of rust. >> ( translated ): the political machine is very big. here, they appoint a leader and he does whatever he wants.

>> reporter: residents here are thankful for the revolution's positive advances. the racial segregation that hershey imposed on its workers has been replaced with apparent racial equality. residents receive free health care, and students get free education. but for many, the economic future remains bleak. when you think about 1959 and you think about what this country has been through since then, do you view the legacy positively or negatively? he didn't want to answer that question. his fear, says dissident carlos millares falcon, is widespread. what would happen to you if you criticized the government publicly? >> ( translated ): automatically, they would drive me to the headquarters of internal security. very fast. >> reporter: in his living room, falcon keeps american and european flags. he says cuba lacks western freedoms of speech, participation, and multiple political parties. that keeps criticism rare and the opposition fractured. in march in havana, president

obama spoke alongside current president raul castro. obama argued normalizing relations would force the cuban government to liberalize. but from january to october this year, the government is reported to have detained 9,125 people, more than quadruple the 2010 number. >> ( translated ): the pressure on us has increased. i don't think fidel's death will create any policy change. the government will maintain the same policy of zero tolerance. >> reporter: but 22-year-old alejandro rodriguez says zero tolerance doesn't mean zero evolution. >> ( translated ): for us young people, we do need a change. we're tired of the same old, same old. >> reporter: in cuba, the internet is rare and expensive. so he collects the entertainment people can't get, and copies it onto hard drives, called packets. they're full of local musicians who pay to be in the packet, alongside illegally copied tv shows, and bad shark movies. the packets are delivered by bike messenger. unless the internet opens, the

packet will only get more popular, and rodriguez predicts that's not coming anytime soon. >> ( translated ): the packet will last. i don't see an end to it right now. >> reporter: in many ways, cuba's stuck in the past. but people seize whatever openings they can find. 80% of the country works for the government, but in the last decade, jesus reyes and half a million others have been allowed to go private. he's trained as a nuclear physicist. his wife's a biologist, and together, their job was finding a cure for cancer, but that only paid each of them $40 a month. so while she stayed in science, he's driving a taxi. >> unfortunately, we have an inverted pyramid here. the people who give more to society make less money, and those who give less, make more. >> reporter: he and his 1957 chevrolet bel air can make four or five times what he made as a government-paid physicist. he wishes that wasn't the case. he still believes in the revolution's principles, but he believes cuba needs to change.

>> ( translated ): it's one thing to hold static, like we are today, without perfecting or improving, and it's another thing to slowly improve. that's what people like me aspire to, where we can acknowledge our individual values. >> reporter: castro always said revolution was a process, and that change was inevitable. but holding onto the revolution's principles means that whatever change does come, is likely going to come slowly. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin in havana. >> woodruff: now, back to politics, and a whole week full of cabinet picks. time to turn to the analysis of shields and brooks: that's syndicated columnist mark shields and "new york times" columnist dvid brooks. welcome, gentlemen, and i know you have been paying very close attention to every one of these nominations, mark. david archambault, so it's james mattis the to defense this week,

tom price to health and human services, mnuchin. what do you think trump is doing? >> i would have the say he's exceeding expectations. sometimes in the campaign he seemed to be actively misgovern, and here he seems to be having a successful administration. some of them are genuinely good picks. general mattis i would say is one of those, a man with good foreign policy views. other people are experienced legislators. so they're people who know their way around washington while representing the trump world view. so for those skeptical of trump, i would say it's exceeding expectations. >> woodruff: exceeding expectations? >> a little skeptical? wow! that's dialing it back. judy, i am pleased, relieved,

and almost thrilled with the appointment of james mattis, the secretary of defense. >> woodruff: wow. general joe dunnford is chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, marine, former commandant, and now general mattis, former marine, so you can be sure there will be a lot of sniping from the army, navy, marines, the smallest force. but why am i pleased? everything david archambault said about general mattis is true. he is a scholar, he's independent, thoughtful, smart, he's a great leader. the marines have a rule, unlike any other military branch i know, officers eat last, okay. that is, no officer eats until the sergeants, the corporals, the privates under his command have first been fed. >> woodruff: and you speak from personal experience. >> nobody embodied that more than jim mattis. he's very much an enlisted man's

general. quick anecdote, when general charles kulack was commanding the marine corps, he and his wife would bake cookies before christmas and he would get up and deliver them to the packages to the marines standing duty that day because every marine post has to have someone standing duty. he showed up at quantico and asked the lance corporal on duty, where is the officer on day and who it is? he said general mattis. no, no, i mean, he said, who is the officer of the day. he said general mattis. and here comes the brigadier general and he has his sword and the commandant said what are you doing here? he said, a young lieutenant was on duty today and he has a wife and children and i thought it important he have christmas with his family. that's the find skinned of man

he is. independent, strong and will be good for the country. >> woodruff: we're off to some high praise here. let's talk about something else donald trump did this week. that is, the first public speech he made since the election, he went to indianapolis, and announced a deal that he's cut with the carrier corporation, air conditioners, furnaces, to save a thousand jobs, not all the jobs that were going to mexico, but a lot of them. what kind of precedent does this set? what do we make of it? >> i agree with sarah palin on this one. she wrote an op-ed today where she called it crony capitalism and source of corruption and i think that's true. the job of government is to be a level playing field where companies compete and make money honestly. by rewarding one company over another, by getting involved in these sort of petty deals, the first thing you're doing is encouraging rent seeking for companies to make money off government rather than the honest way, and especially in this administration it's an

insri case to corruption. if you're cutting deals with company after company, doing this and that kind of deal, inevitably there will be under-the-table lobbying, and it's a terrible precedent for the economy and the administration. >> woodruff: even with 1,000 jobs? >> first of all, it's a very expensive way to save a thousand jobs. carrier is a defense contractor totally dependent on u.s. government interests for their well being. if we can't negotiate a good deal with them, where we have to pay $700,000 in tax credits to save a thousand jobs, it's a bad deal even from that perspective. >> woodruff: are you as worried about it? >> no, i'm not as worried about it. i think it is bad public policy. i think it's a political master stroke. i think donald trump raised this issue during the campaign, when it first appeared, when carrier showed the gross innocence, where it was on youtube where they went in and told a thousand workers that their jobs were leaving, that the company was leaving, and it was just -- it

was abjectly insensitive to the workers, and donald trump picked that up. it was part of his prairie populism of the time, unlike his cabinet appointments to treasury and commerce. but i think, judy, there is 1,000 people who are going to have christmas who weren't going to have christmas. were the deals cut? sure. have deals been cut on crony capitalism in the past? yeah. it's gone to the company. i give barack obama credit for rescuing the automobile industry, saved hundreds of thousands of jobs. but the fact is we've had deals cut and the jobs have ended up going elsewhere. i think donald trump, this is a master stroke eh said he would do something, he did it and it's been a long time since the president to have the united states has made that kind of announcement. >> woodruff: what would you say back? >> first of all, there will be a thousand people who have christmas, that's true, but there will be a lot of people who will be paying for that. second out of all, you will have

a less efficient economy, so less job creation. thirdly, when companies shift jobs overseas, they just don't take the factory and move it abroad, they scale back production here or flat line it and scale it up there. if the economics is still favoring a job in mexico over a job in indiana, carrier will be doing it but they will be getting taxpayer money and a sludge on economy. >> woodruff: this is a drop in the bucket in the face of enormous economic change. >> of course it is, but did he do something that positively affected people's lives? yes. is it a coherent national macro policy? no. but as a micro-act, it's a very positive act politically, and i think it reflects better upon him and his commitment to these people and their well being and their survival than an awful lot

that's happened in the past. >> woodruff: we have been talking a lot about donald trump. do i want to bring up the democrats today because this week in the house, david archambault, they voted on their leadership. nancy pelosi reelected to be the minority leader, but not with as large a vote as last time. she won two-thirds against a challenge ohio congressman tim ryan. what's going on with the democrats? you're hearing them speaking out saying we don't like the campaign hillary clinton ran and we have to be worried about things in this election. >> the republicans were preparing for defeat and reorganization, democrats were preparing for victory, so quonk the democrats are far apart on where the party should go. the top three leaders in the house,domes, all in their '70s. nancy pelosi, a fresh face for the party in an era of change? no, but she's a good tactician

and legislative leader and i can see why she ended up winning because it's a local race and they probably wanted someone who could craft the master of legislation and they all owe her. soist a testimony to her, even in adverse climate, it's a testament to what people think of our skills that she ended up winning by a comfortable margin. >> woodruff: what do you think? >> i think david archambault is right in his assessment of leader pelosi. the fact she's from san francisco, if anything, is a help, in the sense you want a leader that can take tough positions and not jeopardize their own survival. that's one of the things you want in a leader. she has been a very formidable leader. she was a great speaker. but i think for people -- and it was a considerable vote. a third of her caucus voted against her. only 12 people came out publicly and were willing to stand up with tim ryan, but privately, 60 came out and voted in the secret

ballot. if 35 had comout, maybe 75 or 80 would have been emboldened to vote outside. to put the folks on nancy pelosi is ludicrous. the democrats have an enormous problem. today as we sit here, there are five states in the united states that have a democratic governor and two houses of the legislature controlled by democrats. that's the lowest in the history. there are 12 fewer democratic senators than there were the day barack obama was sworn in. there were 16 fewer democratic governors than there were the day. nobody restricted state lines than the day barack obama was sworn in, 63 fewer house members, fewer democratic state legislators today in the 50 states than any time in history. so -- or since 1900, i should say. but i look at this and say the democratic party is

noncompetitive west of new jersey all the way to carson city, nevada, with the exception of the blue island of illinois and latino strengthened states of new mexico and colorado. to say it's nancy pelosi's fault and her replacement would solve their problems is self deception. >> woodruff: are there solutions out there? >> it's not her fault. i wouldn't say she's the solution, though. which way will the democratic party go? likely in the elizabeth warren direction. that may not be stupid. there way be a way to tap into what trump tapped into. but when they've gone left, whether howard dean or jesse jackson, they've lost the heartland. they've lost people who are angry at government but don't seem to be angry at business. so going to the center would violate all the momentum you feel on the left but i do think

there is a case to be made for it. >> woodruff: are you saying that's what happened in this election? >> democrats as individuals are moving to very few places rand clustering, and that's just a democrat graphic problem for the party. >> when barack obama was reelected in 2012 with the majority of the vote in the country, first president science eisenhower to win a popular majority in consecutive elections, he failed to carry a majority of congressional districts. halt hasn't happened since 1960. so the democrats are not competitive in wide swaths of the country. they're a coastal party. i think they've become -- and nancy pelosi bears some of the burden on this -- i think they have become too culturally liberal a party. i think there's been a willingness to emphasize lgbtq issues rather than working class issues of people and declining incomes and families falling behind and carrier jobs leaving.

i think that's been that the democrats have become a party that quite honestly is more emphasizing the cultural issues, and i think that's been to their disadvantage in the national appeal. >> woodruff: on that note, maybe the democrats will have an autopsy like the reps. >> it certainly helped them. >> woodruff: it did! it was a good autopsy. >> woodruff: mark shields, david brooks, thank you. >> woodruff: we'll be back in a moment, with one view on why children should stop playing football. but first, take a moment to hear from your local pbs station. it's a chance to offer your support, which helps keep

>> woodruff: finally, as the college football season comes to an end, keith strudler, director

of marist college's center of sports communication, shares his ideas about children on the field. it's another in our regular friday series, "i.m.h.o.: in my humble opinion." >> i think it's time we end youth football altogether. i'm not talking about the n.f.l., or college football, or even high school and middle school. i'm talking about five- through ten-year-olds. grade school kids. the kids that, when they put on shoulder pads, they're wider than they are tall. let me be clear. i like youth sports, and i watch a lot of football. i embrace the positive virtues kids can get from organized athletics. so why get rid of kids' football? i've got three reasons, and none of them have anything to do with concussions, although that's a fine reason as well. for starters, young kids playing football is about as natural as pigs playing piano. they can do it, but it's forced. kids that age barely understand

simple concepts, like how mom is related to cousin jacob or why you can't have cotton candy for dinner. but, we're trying to teach them how the left tackle covers the blind side in an i-formation. for young kids with developing minds and bodies, moving and exploring should come before memorizing playbooks. next, when most kids sign up for sports, they want to do two things: touch the ball and score. in youth football, the first thing coach tells most of the team is that you will never do either of those things, and if you try, someone's going to throw a yellow flag, which gets the whole team in trouble. it's like making the whole office work late because frank from accounting faked a sick day. finally, what kinds of lessons do young kids learn from playing football? that boys compete and girls cheer? that success comes through brute force? or that life's work is to take someone's property, known here as field possession? i hope that these are fading

constructs in a collaborative, idea-based society. you could argue these are problems for older kids in football as well. but with age comes cognitive development, and a more nuanced understanding of the differences between sports and reality. a six-year-old may not realize that football is not a metaphor for life. now, this doesn't mean i could never get behind youth football. imagine football if everyone touched the ball, and most people had a shot at scoring, where kids move all game, and boys and girls play together. that's a football i could put my kids in. funny thing, that football already exists-- only, in america, we call it soccer. >> woodruff: first lady jacqueline kennedy was known for guarding her private life while serving as the public face of the white house.

online, we look at the new film, "jackie," that aims to shed light on this elusive figure. all that and more is on our website, www.pbs.org/newshour. on "washington week" tonight, a roundtable discussion looking at the trump cabinet so far; what and a look at challenges the democrats, who just re-elected nancy pelosi minority leader, face in a republican-led congress. that's tonight on most pbs stations. and we'll be back, right here, on monday, with a look at the phenomenon behind art basel, the enormous, high-end art fair in miami. 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: >> lincoln financial-- committed to helping you take charge of your financial future. >> bnsf railway. >> xq institute.

>> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> and 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

♪ this is "nightly business report" with tyler mathisen and sue herera. help wanted. companies are hiring, the unemployment rate is falling. but not everything is going gangbuster. strategic advice. donald trump picks a who's who of corporate america to advise him on the economy. but there's one group noticeably missing. girl power. female action figures are invading the toy aisle, thanks to the bright idea of a mom turned entrepreneur. those stories and more tonight on "nightly business report." for friday, december 2nd. good evening, everyone. and welcome. 74 straight months of job creation. employers continue to add workers at a steady clip last month, and the unemployment rate dropped to a nine-year low. according to the labor