captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, a dangerous search for answers among the blackened ruins of a warehouse fire in oakland, california where at least 36 people died, and digging for more remains goes on. then, president-elect donald trump's team expands as dr. ben carson is tapped for secretary of housing and urban development. our politics monday team on the latest in the transition plus, questions about the trump approach to china. and, we sit down with former british prime minister tony blair, to ask why he's pushing a movement in the political center. >> it's really about linking up people who look at the world and

know the world needs change and not the status quo, don't want the center to be a place where just managing the status quo and instead where we're really articulating change. >> woodruff: and... >> this is more art than the human mind could possibly perceive. >> woodruff: as art basel kicks off in miami, jeffrey brown offers a look inside the nation's largest art fair. all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪

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>> supported by the rockefeller foundation. promoting the well-being of humanity around the world by building resilience and inclusive economies. more at rockefellerfoundation.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the death toll keeps rising in that warehouse fire in oakland, california, to at least 36. the building erupted into flames friday night during a dance party.

search efforts resumed today amid charred debris, after workers were given time to shore up one of the weakened walls. >> the search resumed approximately 9:00 a.m. this morning, yes, so work does continue inside the building. they continue to be very careful, very tedious, very mindful. this scene is being managed with a lot of care and a lot of thought. >> woodruff: the oakland fire is now the deadliest building fire in the u.s. in more than 10 years. we'll take a closer look at how the community is coping with the disaster, right after the news summary. "team trump" has added another cabinet nominee: dr. ben carson will be the nominee to preside over the department of housing and urban development. lisa desjardins begins our coverage of today's transition news. >> reporter: early in the g.o.p. primaries, at one point in the primary, ben carson was once donald trump's closest competition. now he's the his pick as housing

chief. >> it's a good house. >> the house looks beautiful. >> reporter: the two became allies after carson left the race, and in september, with carson showed the nominee trump the detroit home where he was raised by a single mom. last month carson said that background would inform his work, should he become housing and urban development secretary: >> well, i know that i grew up, in the inner city and have spent a lot of time there, and have dealt with a lot of patients, from that area, and recognize that we cannot have a strong nation if we have weak inner cities, and we have to get >> reporter: carson, of course, is known as a former neurosurgeon. he has no government experience but has commented on housing policy before, including criticism of an obama-era requirement that cities report racial bias in public housing. and, he's slammed public assistance programs in general. >> i'm interested in getting rid of dependency, and i want us to

find a way to allow people to excel in our society, and as >> reporter: today, president- elect trump called carson "a brilliant mind... passionate about strengthening communities..." but the democratic minority leader in the house, nancy pelosi, called him a "disconcerting and disturbingly unqualified choice." also today, a surprise face at trump tower: former vice president al gore. he was scheduled to discuss climate change with ivanka trump but her newly-elected father joined in: >> the bulk of the time was with the president-elect donald trump. i found it an extremely interesting conversation, and to be continued. >> reporter: contrast that with tomorrow, when the president- elect trump is scheduled to meet with rex tillerson. c.e.o. of exxon-mobil, has been a target of climate change activists over the year.

>> reporter: in the meantime, some changes for the president- elect's family. cnn reports that ivanka trump and her husband, jared kushner, both members of the transition team, are planning to move to washington. and that's where green party nominee jill stein was today, opposing mr. trump and speaking in favor of recounts in key states. overnight, a judge ordered stein's michigan recount to start today. for the pbs newshour, i'm lisa desjardins. >> woodruff: there was also more fallout from the president- elect's phone call with the president of taiwan. the white house reaffirmed u.s. support for the one china policy that says taiwan is part of china. in the day's other news, a south carolina judge declared a mistrial in a dramatic police killing, after the jury deadlocked. north charleston officer michael slager was charged with murdering an unarmed black man. walter scott was shot as he ran from a traffic stop, in an incident captured on cellphone video. his brother today urged calm:

we are not going to tear up this city. we are going to, we are going to keep it just the way it is. and we are going to believe in peaceful protest, because it didn't turn out the way we feel but we feel like our voices need to be heard. >> woodruff: prosecutors said they'll try slager again. he also faces federal civil rights charges. in italy, prime minister matteo renzi handed in his resignation today, the latest victim of a populist wave across europe. renzi met with the country's president, a day after voters soundly rejected constitutional reforms. earlier, he said has no regrets. >> ( translated ): we have not been convincing, i am sorry. but we are leaving without remorse. because, as i said clearly from the beginning, if 'no' wins, my experience of government ends here. >> woodruff: sunday's outcome boosted anti-establishment and anti-immigrant parties in italy. meanwhile, moderate leaders across europe welcomed the

outcome of austria's presidential vote. a left-leaning candidate, alexander van der bellen, won sunday's election. he campaigned heavily to maintain stronger ties with europe. his far-right opponent talked of leaving the e.u. and barring migrants. russia and china today vetoed a u.n. security council resolution, calling for a seven- day truce in the syrian city of aleppo. eleven nations supported the measure. the u.s. deputy ambassador spoke after the vote. >> we had a chance not to end, but to briefly stop the ongoing butchery in eastern aleppo. we have failed because of a cynical act. with a wave of their hands, russia, china and venezuela showed that they don't want the suffering in eastern aleppo to end. >> woodruff: fierce fighting

continues in aleppo, with government forces closing in on rebel sections. the war in syria is driving a record united nations appeal for humanitarian aid. the world body asked today for more than $22 billion for 2017. roughly a third would go to help displaced people inside syria and those who've fled to other lands. back in this country, north carolina's republican governor pat mccrory conceded defeat in his re-election bid, after a month of counting absentee and provisional ballots. democratic state attorney general roy cooper won by just over 10,000 votes, out of 4.7 million cast. and, on wall street today, the dow jones industrial average gained nearly 46 points to close at 19,216. the nasdaq rose 53 points, and the s&p 500 added 12. still to come on the newshour: voices from oakland on the warehouse fire. tony blair's efforts to encourage centrist politics

around the world. global implications as the trump team breaks from tradition, and much more. >> woodruff: as rescue workers in oakland are continuing the >> woodruff: prosecutors said murder charges are possible if the case but did not indicate who could be charge. as rescue workers continue the task of recovering bodies and investigating past concerns about the warehouse that was consumed by fire, members of the city's artistic community are grieving and searching for a way forward. special correspondent joanne jennings reports from california. >> reporter: 24-year-old seung lee had never been to an art warehouse party before. so, when the freelance writer arrived at ghost ship, around 11:00 p.m. on friday night, he was immediately drawn into the scene.

>> it was all antique furnitures and lumber. it was almost like being in the forest, and it was really there were corridors on the first floor where you could sneak into little hideaways where people could lounge in chairs. i thought this would be a good place to hang out on a friday night. >> reporter: since there was no bar at the venue, lee and his friends decided to make a run to a nearby liquor store. >> i left and could not have taken more than seven minutes to go down and come back. through the front window, i saw thick black smoke coming out, and on the side, i saw a huge flame on the back of the second floor. and that was the fire. i think, "what did i do to deserve this side of the coin and not the other?" that's the hardest part, kind of processing that if i stayed three minutes longer, if i checked out the scene a little longer, if i didn't want liquor

at the time, if i didn't go, all those what-ifs are there. >> i've been in buildings like that. i've been at parties like that and it just crushes you to think about all these young people that were in there on friday night. >> reporter: nick miller is editor of the "east bay express," oakland's alternative paper. >> we've discovered that on november 13, the code enforcement department had documented numerous complaints, at least 10. >> reporter: while safety violations at ghost ship were unusually egregious, miller estimates there are dozens of underground art warehouses in oakland. >> more than hundreds, potentially. there's no proper plumbing. there's no smoke alarm or sprinkler system.

>> reporter: as the death toll continues to mount, the loss is felt throughout oakland's vast, yet tight knit artistic community. >> as soon as the fire happened, it was obviously a dialogue about who was there and which members of our community are accounted for and not accounted for and immediately thinking about what can be done for the victims and the victims' families. >> reporter: lara edge, an industrial art entrepreneur, works out of american steel the sprawling six- acre property provides work space for a collective of artists and entrepreneurs working on anything from large scale burning man style industrial art, to fashion, and architecture. >> and what's really needed right now is not blame but a way to work with city officials and not risk losing tenancy or being evicted by wanting to come forward and talk about safety upgrades that need to be made.

we're not living in spaces that are dangerous because we're negligent people. it costs a lot of money to do these upgrades and also raising the red flag means a potential for being booted. >> reporter: oakland's rapid gentrification has hit the city's artists particularly hard. >> during the first cycle of the tech boom years ago, artists got pushed out of san francisco into oakland. now oakland's increasingly unaffordable and there are many >> reporter: the 200 artists who work out of american steel studios were faced with the very real possibility of eviction when the property was put on the market in 2014. last month, a new owner purchased the compound, and promised to preserve it for artists. but with one condition: >> safety upgrades had to be made and they're primarily related to fire. this building is not sprinkled and it has a steel ceiling, there were gates that didn't have manned doors or easy

egresses and so all these changes had to be made before the new owners would buy the building. given everything that happened with the fire, i'm thankful that we did that and we do have proper exits now. >> reporter: thankful to have an thankful that this kind of fire is unlikely to happen. for the pbs newshour, i'm joanne jennings in oakland, california. >> woodruff: this year has marked a rise in partisan divides the world over. but former british prime minister, tony blair, is on a mission to spur citizens across the globe to move toward the middle. i spoke with him earlier this evening and began by asking about building an agenda for what he calls "the center ground." >> what it means is, as you can see, from here and europe at the

moment, from britain, there's a huge wave of anti-establishment feeling, there are enormous amounts of anger, and it's collapsing governments and movements across the world right now. my view is we're entering into a situation of enormous instability, insecurity, fragility, and because i happen to believe that the best policy solutions lie in the center ground, that i want to see how does the center revitalize itself, how does it develop the policy agenda for the future, and how do we link up people who have the same basic ideas and attachments to the same basic values across the world. >> woodruff: so when you're talking about creating new political parties in the middle? >> no, it's really about linking up people who look at what's

happening in the world, know world needs change and not the status quo, don't want the stb to just manage the status quo, but articulate change and developing a policy agenda that's going to alhow us to address the concerns of people left behind by globalization and, you know, communities that are fragmented and allows us, also, to address it in a way which provides answers and not just anger. i mean, what we see in the united states is both political parties pretty fiercely jealously guard their own territory. >> yeah. >> reporter: the republicans don't want to give up any ground, the democrats don't want to give up any ground. is there room left for something in the middle? >> well, there's a necessity, i think. the trouble for today's politics and is exactly the same on the other side of the atlantic, is people, and this is partly, as a result of social media interacting with conventional media and people divide into

groups where they talk to each other but don't talk across the divide, yet most of the challenges we face in the world today are challenges that are to do with trade, technology and how you make sure people are properly educated, reform your healthcare system, these are challenges that we all share in common and they require practical solutions. i mean, they may be radical and in many circumstances should be, but need to be practical, evidence-based and capable of not just exploiting people's anger or riding their anger, but saying this is something that's going to improve your life. i mean, we've taken a situation in the u.k. because of concerns, for example, over immigration and other things, so britain now is out of europe. i hope we'll still ultimately change our mind about that. >> woodruff: you nope it will be reversed? >> i think as people see what it really means and as we see the

alternative offer on the table, then i think people may think again. but i can't tell that at the moment. the likelihood is we proceed with brexit. this is a huge desays that's going to isolate us as a country the very point in time the world is moving closer together. i've always been in the center ground -- in my case the center-left -- in politics. ingt right now there is an urnlings where about -- an urgency about it. you look, for example, what happened in italy. in austria, people say it's great because the more moderate person won. someone with a neo-nazi battleground got almost 46% of the vote. >> woodruff: right. so this is serious. >> woodruff: but what we're looking at in europe is a move away from what was the traditional center of politics to the right.

why isn't that -- why isn't the right ascendent? >> it may be ascendent in political terms but the question is whether they have answers to the problems people face. if you're living in a community that's become fragmented, left behind, not proper investment in it, so on, in the end, the answer is to make sure that we go and we help those communities, we educate the people, we build the infrastructure and support for the people. it's not in the end stopping a process of globalization that isn't ultimately a policy of government. it's drive i by people, technology, migration and the way the world's changed. the risk we have is that we close down in the face of this and then, of course, all the history demonstrates, you end up becoming protectionest, isolationist and have bigger problems. >> woodruff: i want so ask you about that. we've just elected in the united states donald trump who would

argue he's somewhere in the center. he's not far right and certainly not far left and i want to ask you about his foreign policy moves. he made a phone call with the president of taiwan which is raising questions about the u.s. relationship with china. he had friendly phone calls with the prime minister of pakistan. do you have any observations to make about his early moves and what he said about foreign policy? >> no. i mean, the reason for that is i think what -- in this period of time, i would virtually discount everything. let's wait and see what actually happens. >> woodruff: do you have concerns, though? i mean, he talked in the campaign about whether n.a.t.o. is necessary. >> i think it's really important that we -- n.a.t.o.'s got a vital role to play. it's very important we protect n.a.t.o. but i'm one of these people that, once you've had your election and you've elected your candidate, let's see what

actually happens. there's no point and certainly not for me as an outsider giving a running commentary on the president-elect. >> woodruff: but as somebody who's been at the center of policymaking in the west to have a president coming in who's already stirring this kind of comment and controversy. >> it depends on what happens in the end. look, ultimately, this will be decided by what policies are adopted by the new administration. the president-elect has not chosen yet his secretary of state. >> woodruff: right. actually, the choice on the fence is dr. . >> woodruff: general mattis. -- yes, most people would have a high regard for. for me, let's wait and see what actually happens. in a sense, what is more motivating to me is not a result in the particular case, it's what are these practical solutions that are going to

allow us to develop our countries in the way that protects the basic liberal democratic values, the values that are dear to me and of the essence of the success of our countries, in my view. >> woodruff: tony blair joining us to talk about the center ground and waiting and seeing on the president-elect. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: stay with us, coming up on the newshour, how egypt's foreign minister views the future trump administration. what the halting of the dakota access pipeline means long-term. and a look inside the nation's largest art fair. but first, for more on the president-elect's call with the taiwanese president and the latest from the transition, it's time for politics monday. joining us are amy walter of the "cook political report," karen tumulty of the "washington post"

and geoff dyer, diplomatic correspondent for the "financial times." he has served as the paper's beijing bureau chief, and broke the story of mr. trump's call with the taiwanese president. and we welcome all of you to the program. so a little bit of news before we talk about this. we've just seen on the wire services that henry kissinger, former secretary of state, in beijing to meet with the leadership there is saying he's impressed by the "calm reaction" of the chinese leaders to the trump phone call with the president of taiwan. but walte amy walter, why is ths causing such a stir? >> this is an unconventional president doing unconventional things and this is not something the traditional establishment would see as a good idea to do, especially when there's not necessarily a policy behind it. i think tony blair raised this

issue, too, we don't really know what this actually means, the call in and of itself, as henry kissinger said, hasn't created some tremendous trouble in china. but we don't know whether this is just posturing or policy change. we've heard from the trump transition both sides. one side said no, this is not, the vice president went on television. kellyanne conway, his campaign manager, went on television said this is just a courty call, no change in policy. other accounts suggest this is a change in policy, the president-elect had been very tough on china during the campaign, we're going to see a more aggressive trump administration in dealing with china, but we don't have an answer for that yet and that's why i think there is all the consternation going around. >> woodruff: geoff, how much is planned and how much is happenstance on the part of trump? >> hard to time mike pence said this was a courtesy call, seemed

a small gesture they're planning to do. but donned trump a few hours later went on twitter and essentially linked the call to taiwan with a whole series of things he doesn't like about chinese fps and implied views of the u.s. observe taiwan as an alternate negotiation, wants them to be a broader negotiation with china and the issues. was it just about taiwan or because they want to push back a bit on taiwan or do we see this as getting leverage for all other issues on currency, tariffs. it's unclear. >> woodruff: karen tumulty, read the tea leaves a little more. what do you see? >> donald trump, how many times during the campaign tell us his plan for dealing with foreign policy is to be unpredictable? well, there we have it. increasingly, the evidence does look like this was not just a casual -- world leaders don't just pick up the phone and call

each other. it does appear that this was a deliberate move, a deliberately provocative move, and seems very much in line with his rhetoric during the campaign that he intended to be tough on china and, don't forget, we've seen a lot of presidential candidates, memorably bill clinton who used to criticize george h.w. bush for coddling dictators and took a softer line once in office. i think donald trump is signaling that's not going to be his way of doing business. >> woodruff: it plays into the other phone calls that were reported overseas, calls, for example, with the prime minister of pakistan whether he was apparently overly complimentary in the words of one observer who seemed to know abit, and the -- to know about it, and the broadening search apparently now for the secretary of state. how are we to understand what's happening? >> well, the other thing that the vice president elect said

over the weekend, is look, you're going to know about our policy once we are in office. what's happening right now in the transition shouldn't be read too deeply into. there are a lot of these calls we're taking. he's reaching out to a lot of folks. if you watch the trump cam that is positioned in the trump tower, watching people go up and down the escalator, you saw these with al gore. a lot of people coming in and out, not necessarily indicative of his policies. al gore one day, the next day the head of exxonmobil, his stance on climate change. so, again, i think the actions he take will be significant, and the people he's putting around him on the cabinet suggest he's putting together a very conservative, almost traditionally conservative republican group around him. >> woodruff: and geoff geoff, geoff -- geoff dyer, before we leave fps, how are the folks in

the capitals read tholing when we read about the folks in taiwan and the ongoing secretary of state search? >> in discussion during the campaign and after the election about whether to take trump literally or seriously. in foreign countries, seeing what he's saying on twitter and calls with foreign leaders, they take things seriously and literally. so foreign governments will be poring through the tweets to see what it means for foreign policy. so if you think by being unpredictable somehow he can have an impact but not necessarily commit himself. that's not the way it will be read in foreign capitals. they will take it seriously and literally. >> woodruff: meeting with al gore, former vice president, ran for president unsuccessfully. again, what are we to think about all of this? >> other than they may or may not have discussed the merits of the electoral college versus the popular vote, what i am told by

sources close to gore is this was at the instigation of i ranka trump, that she reached out to the former vice president recently to discuss climate change and that he was really impressed the way she was thinking about the issue, framing the issue. he had to be in new york, anyway, and the original idea was this meeting was to be between al gore and ivanka trump and turns out it was with the president-elect and it was interesting, too, al gore on his way out said it was a very thoughtful discussion and will be continued. >> woodruff: donald trump, amy, is meeting with democrats as well as republicans. >> right. >> woodruff: he's picked a very clear republican in ben carson to run the housing department. but you alluded to this a moment ago, we are, frankly, kept on guard right now -- caught offguard, i guess you could say, by the variety of people. >> by the variety of people he's bringing in, but when you look

at the people he's put around him on his cabinet, this is a very conservative cabinet, and whether on issues of immigration, his pick for the attorney general, very conservative on that issue. on education, betsy devos, somebody who has supported school vouchers. and even on ben carson, he's not exactly steeped in housing policy, but his statements on the issue have also been very conservative, and looking back on something he wrote in 2015 talking about programs within h.u.d., mandated social engineering schemes, very critical of some of the issues that h.u.d. would try to put forward. he's been critical of other programs, government programs, and, so, this is a cabinet right now, especially when you look at domestic social policy or domestic policy in general, this is a very conservative group of people that he's put around him despite the fact he's bringing all kinds of people into trump

tower. >> woodruff: i posed the question to you a minute ago, geoff dyer, about the array of people he's talking about regarding secretary of state. yesterday we heard of rex tilson, head of exxonmobil. if you're foreign government, are you seeing this as a typical process for choosing somebody in that position? >> it's not so typical but it's been done publicly and they have to turn up for these positions at trump tower. but it's typical for him to cast a wide net and talk to a lot of people and mostly the people are very serious individuals, credible candidates. on the foreign policy side, the one thing that units them, circle mattis of the pentagon, mike pompeo of the c.i.a., even mitt romney to be secretary of state, very hawkish on th -- on

iran. >> woodruff: karen, more names for secretary of state? >> we've heard today what jon huntsman, barack obama's former ambassador to china, far more moderate figure politically than we've seen, although, again, very much in agreement with what donald trump has to say on china. the other thing is that trump does not seem to feel in a great hurry to make this decision. >> woodruff: no, he doesn't. he seems to be enjoying the drama, enjoying the suspense, but also willing to let this kind of play out. >> woodruff: karen tumulty, amy walter, geoff dyer, thank you all. >> woodruff: the first foreign leader to call president-elect trump after his victory was egypt's president abdel fattah al-sisi.

the arab world's most-populous nation has had turbulent relations with the obama white house since the 2011 revolution, and the subsequent 2013 coup that first brought sisi to power. egypt's foreign minister, sami shoukry, has been in washington meeting with secretary of state kerry, with key leaders on capitol hill, and, last week, with vice president-elect mike pence. this morning, he sat down with chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner. >> reporter: mr. sand shoukry, thank you so much for joining us. your own embassy put out a statement that are looking forward to better ties with the new administration, are you looking forward to turning the page on this u.s.-egypt relationship which has had its ups and downs over the last few years? >> we're looking forward to consolidating and strengthening the u.s.-egypt relationship.

we hope for close ties with the united states. we're at a transitional period offin our history and on the road to reform. >> reporter: how do you expect the trump administration to be different with the obama administration when it comes to dealing dealing with egypt? >> we look forward from what we've heard from president-elect trump a clear vision relating to the conditions and challenges in the middle east and a great deal of parallelty regarding how to regain stability in the region. >> reporter: are you expecting more cooperation on fighting terrorism and less toward human rights in egypt? >> the issue that concerns us is certainly regaining stability, but issues of human rights are an intelling rail part of our new constitution. >> reporter: did mr. trump or

pence on their own raise the issue of human rights with you? >> on the occasion with my meeting, it was to convey a message from president sisi and the importance of the strategic relationship that's binds the united states and egypt. >> woodruff: what about human rights? >> it wasn't raised specifically. >> reporter: there is one case getting attention, of a young woman who came to work with her husband in a center for street kids, and then she's been arrested and held for months and months on what everyone here says is bogus charges, that they were abusing the children. what is the status of that case? >> well, i think it's a very serious accusation that's been made, and i think anyone would be interested to get to the bottom of accusations related to minors and abuse.

so i would challenge the issue of a bogus accusations, and i think it's important to recognize the impartiality of the egyptian judicial system. >> reporter: your parliament last week passed another law for the restrictions of the activities of n.g.o.s. will presiden president preside? >> the elected officials have their own vision of what they consider in the best interest of the public. this was just before i left so i don't have information related to the president's position on it. >> reporter: as you know hiewrgt are a deep concern in the united states and what's going on in egypt. it is hard for people to understand how so many nonviolent people, n.g.o.s, have been rounded up, are

detained, are having their rights redistrict ied. why, for people who speak out and want to common strainchtseth not a matter of people speaking out. there's nobody who's been ac cued of anything related to freedom of expression or undertaking activities of civic responsibility. all those who have been subjected to a judicial inquiry and trials have been accused of criminal activity, whether in demonstrating the necessary permits and violent activity during administrations and issues penalized under the code. >> reporter: the government of egypt opposed bashar al-assad. there are signs the egyptian government are going closer to him and more supportive.

president sisi said he thought the assad army was best equipped to fight terrorism. you have also voted with russia and the security council on issues related to syria. in the syrian government asked egypt to also send forces of any kind, and there have been rumors to this effect, would egypt send some to help him? >> definitely not. let me collar the president when he made the statements was not referring to syria, he was referring to the fact that we consider it is the national armies of the nation state which are responsible to fight terrorism, that is their primary responsibility, they have the better ability rather than relying on any form of foreign intervention in this regard. so we believe that a political solution should be underway and that which is necessarily inclusive of all political factions in syria. so there is no commitment towards any specific political entity in syria.

there hasn't been any reference to the current syrian government. >> woodruff: so would you say your position is closer to that of the united states right now or to russia? >> we have been cooperating with both the united states and rug and have been actively supporting a greater understanding between them because of the ability to impact the situation. we have been it is intolerable that the current level of violence that we continue after five years of half a million loss of life, that this situation should continue. >> reporter: let me ask about a couple of campaign promises. president-elect trump said he was going to push to renegotiate the entire iran nuclear deal. do you think that's a good idea? >> the issue is very important, and we must guarantee that the region remains free of nuclear weapons. >> reporter: so do you think the iran nuclear deal furthers that aim? >> we believe that the deal can -- has room for improvement,

definitely, in terms of the time and in terms of the guarantees to prevent any proliferation of nuclear weapons. >> reporter: then, finally, he promised to move the u.s. embassy -- this is an old issue -- from tel aviv to jerusalem. was that -- would that be on your list? >> no, we would oppose any movement in that direction as to intervening in international law and legitimacy. >> reporter: thank you very much, sir. >> thank you. >> woodruff: protesters won a big eleventh-hour victory from the obama administration yesterday that prevents the completion of the dakota access pipeline. but is it just a temporary delay until president-elect trump takes office? the nearly 1,200-mile pipeline was almost complete before this weekend's announcement. one of the last stretches is a single-mile segment that goes under the missouri river. the battle has been raging for

seven months now. and to hari sreenivasan for our update. >> sreenivasan: thousands of protesters celebrated the announcement. on sunday, the u.s. army corps of engineers said it would not grant the final easement to allow the pipeline to be drilled. instead, the corps said it would begin exploring alternative routes. the standing rock sioux tribe and others say the pipeline will destroy sacred lands and are worried an oil leak could threaten the tribe's water supply. north dakota's governor, the company and members of the state's congressional delegation all denounced the decision. william brangham has been covering the story for months and is with us again tonight. william, this doesn't seem to be over. i don't see the protesters breaking camp. i don't see anybody jumping for joy. >> brangham: no, there was some joy, certainly yesterday, and i think, obviously, some

spillover in today because, for many people, this was considered an enormous victory. this is what the standing rock tribe and all of its thousands of supporters wanted for months which was to stop the pipeline from going under the missouri river right next to the tribe. now, whether this is over or not is still an issue. the army corps did not cancel the pipeline, they did not say it's definitely not going in. they said let's take a longer review, talk to the tribes and consider alternate routes. so it's not clear if this is, in fact, a done deal. >> sreenivasan: and the alternate route idea does not sit well with the local authorities and company. >> no, the company has been beginning that they will not move this pipeline. the governor of north dakota said the pipeline is not going to be moved. now, the army corps of engineers could and has in the past looked at other routes, there are multiple ways to cross the missouri river, but right now the army corps of engineers are saying all options are open and they're going back to the

drawing board, in essence. >> sreenivasan: what happens to to the protesters in the coldest part of the area heading into the winter? >> brangham: we don't know yesterday, the head of the standing rock sioux declared this as a victory and said, people, you can go home now, things are safe. i think in the back of their minds they know just as the obama administration made this happen, a trump administration might reverse course. i think everyone is recognizing subzero temperatures. this is a hard place to live out in the open on the prayeries of north dakota. it's freezing. everyone go home. rest. that's what the chairman is saying. if we need to call on you again, we'll do so. >> sreenivasan: could the policy change after the inauguration of donald trump? >> certainly, this was brought to bear after pressure on the obama administration and asking the corps to take a second look. what the obama administration

has done, the trump administration could undo. trump has been clear he wants the pipeline to be built. >> sreenivasan: and the tribe has had a complicated relationship with the army corps. this position they support but a lot of positions in the last they have not. >> that's correct, a lot of instances where the tribe has said we have not been consulted on many of these events in the past. kevin cramer from north dakota, congressman, points out good luck on trying to do any infrastructure projects in the u.s. if you can simply overturn it like this. he says on the very same land, natural gas pliens have been put through, lerkt cal tension lines have gone through and the tribe was not happy but said they didn't have the power to do anything about it, which this pipeline they did. >> sreenivasan: recently, there was audio on the conversations taking place. one of the contention was the tribe said we were not part of

the process. >> brangham: the audio you're referring to is an instance of several years ago where the tribe made it clear they did not want this pipeline coming near them. the problem with that is, in subsequent meetings, the army corps has been saying we've asked for the tribe to continue to offer further input and they argue they simply did not respond or come to subsequent meetings. but i think it's been clear the tribe has been against this from the get-go. >> sreenivasan: william brangham, thank you so much. >> brangham: thanks, hari. >> woodruff: finally tonight, it's north america's biggest art fair, with big money at stake. but who is it for and how does it work? jeffrey brown visited miami beach to find out what art basel is all about, which just wrapped up this weekend.

>> brown: a "family reunion" for the international art tribe. a trade show. but one that includes some up- to-the-moment political commentary. art basel miami beach is all of that and more: art of all shapes and sizes and colors and kinds. and all for sale. it can be head spinning, or, if you're a prominent gallery owner like jack shainman, nightmare- inducing: >> a lot happens the first days, or the first few hours. in fact, one of my anxiety dreams that i have when i travel is that all these collectors show up at my booth at the same time at an art fair, and i can't talk to all of them at once. >> brown: here at the miami beach convention center: 269 high-end galleries from 29 countries around the world take part in the main art fair, last year attracting 95,000 viewers and collectors over six days. fred bidwell was back this year: >> this is crazy. this is more art than the human mind could possibly perceive.

>> brown: with billions of dollars on the line, including new money from abroad, new york gallery owners james and jane cohan have a lot at stake. >> we really know the kinds of things our clients are looking for. when we have something that's spectacular, they've been interested in a certain artist, we have a spectacular work, we're going to let them know that we're bringing it to the fair, and then they can come and see it. >> brown: so a little bit of this is sort of pre-cooked. >> absolutely. i still really believe that you have to see a work of art in person fall in love. >> brown: collectors come in all forms: trophy hunters, speculators, and actual lovers of art. this fair, an offshoot of one in basel, switzerland, is known for attracting latin american art and collectors including tiqui atencio, who's just written a book about collecting art. >> i walked into a gallery that i love, which is the, uh, a brazilian gallery from sao paulo, fontes de deloya. and i started looking around and i saw these two wonderful latin

american artists. from brazil. in their twenties. >> brown: and did you buy? >> i'm thinking of it. >> brown: 15 years in, art basel miami has spawned more than 20 additional local fairs catering to different styles and wallets, including one titled, "untitled." with so much to see, art advisors have become big players here and elsewhere in the art world-- counseling individual, corporate and institutional clients. kerri hurtado is an advisor with san francisco's, "art source". at "untitled" she showed works to jayah kay-der, a miami-based architect who designs homes with contemporary art in mind. >> you get exposed to so much. there's no way that it would take you a whole year to get to see as much as you get to see in

a few days in miami. and i like to work with art source because the art world is so vast. >> brown: art everywhere; but also other kinds of excess. art journalist janelle zara. >> because we're in miami, things sometimes get a little out of hand. there's a lot of showiness, you know? everyone in the world is here. and, so that involves a lot of fancy cars, a lot of dressing up, you know, a lot of hopping from party to party. and, increasingly, people who are not in the art world want to participate and it's great. >> brown: but even in what zara described as a subdued year, possibly owing to the zika scare, the spectacle went on: a psychedelic electronic dance party in collins park, complete with a robot bouncer. droning guitars played by women standing on amplifiers. and burgers grilled under the hood of a limousine. there are the quieter behind-

the-scenes dinners and parties galore. also on display: the rise of homegrown museums and collectors like the rubell family, who during the art basel fair held an opening in their own enormous private collection space. you're market makers in a sense, right. if you choose an artist that artist becomes... >> i know people say that all the time. we make markets. i can tell you that's not the way we live our life. the inside world is very basic, it's a family that is constantly talking about the art. we have the privilege to curate it and hang it. the market is not interesting. >> brown: the growth of art fairs has given more buyers access to the art world, less power to auction houses. but there's a strict hierarchy here: several tiers of v.i.p.'s who get in first, ahead of the general public.

most of the work here is actually sold before the fair opens to the public. clare mcandrew is a cultural economist who studies the art market. >> the high end has done extremely well. i mean i looked at auction sales, for example, and the segment over a million has grown about 400% over the last ten years. if you look at the segment over 10 million, it's grown at over 1,000%. and if you look at the lower end segments, they've grown very slowly. so it's really become, in terms of sales growth, it's a very top-heavy marketplace and i >> brown: that sort of fits with the whole inequality discussion we have politically. >> it's parallelling, yeah. no, it's exact. it's exactly paralleling what's happening in the wider economy and in wealth distribution. >> brown: and as with other markets, those with the best information gain advantage. josh baer is an art advisor who writes the industry newsletter, "baer faxt." >> having more information about who's doing the show at the tate or who's going to be in the whitney biennial or who's work is sold out and who's buying it

or what's going on, gives you momentum information. >> brown: momentum, which you can take to clients or others and say... >> time to buy now because next year it's going to be twice as much and there's going to be something else going on. art fairs are like auctions, they're about forced urgency. they're about the illusion of you-better-decide-in-the-next-20 seconds, because some billionaire from china is coming in two minutes and he may take what you want, so, you know, >> brown: amid all the buying and selling, what's an up and coming artist to do? especially one like hank willis thomas, who works in many different media, often tackling difficult political issues of the moment. he says artists need to imagine a better future for society, even if part of the present deal here is lucrative >> so, there's no way to get out of this system. i don't want to alienate myself from anyone.

>> brown: a bit more politics, and smaller crowds this year. but sales-- the true bottom line -- were said to be holding steady. from miami beach, i'm jeffrey brown for the pbs newshour. >> woodruff: you can read about another artist, mozart, online, where medical historian howard markel examines the potential causes of the great composer's death 225 years ago today. all that and more is on our web site, pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

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>> this is "bbc world news america." funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation. newman's own foundation, giving all profits from newman's own to charity and pursuing the common good. kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and aruba tourism authority. >> planning a vacation escape that is relaxing, inviting, and exciting is a lot easier than you think. you can find it here in aruba. families, couples, and friends can all find their escape on the island with warm, sunny days, cooling trade winds, t