captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, the u.s. justice department moves to block at&t's $85 billion attempt to merge with time warner. also ahead, as republicans push their tax reform bill in the senate, a look at how the overhaul will affect the middle class and businesses. and, it's politics monday-- we talk new sexual assault allegations against senator al franken and the fallout of accusations against senate candidate roy moore. and, a look at the artwork of guantanamo bay prisoners, and what it can teach us about the importance of expression. >> what hit me at first was how normal they seem. shouldn't their drawings be so

much more angry? it took me a long time to realize that they, that these artists want to show beauty. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us.

>> and the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. >> 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: new allegations of sexual misconduct tonight against high-profile figures. "the washington post" reports eight women are accusing veteran

pbs journalist charlie rose. they tell of lewd phone calls, displays of nudity and groping aimed at employees and interns from the late 1990's to 2011. and late this evening, cbs said they are suspending him and pbs said it would halt distribution of "the charlie rose show." joining us now is the reporter who helped break this story for "the washington post," irin carmon. irin, thank you for joining us. what are these women alleging? >> judy, the eight women we spoke to describe a range of behaviors that va lot in common. in many cases the behaviors began with a happened on their leg, perhaps mid thigh, and in some cases it escalate to walking around naked during the course of their employment at his apartment from which he often worked. one woman described lewd phone calls in which one woman said he

would describe his sexual fantasies about her and ask her intimate details about her private life. two of the women described sexual contact with mr. rose, touching their private areas, one woman said she we want through the entire encounter in an interview for the "charlie rose" show. >> woodruff: how did you go about confirming any of these allegations? >> judy, i first became aware of this story in 2010, when i was a reporter at the web site jezebel, and i attempted to report on them, but, unfortunately, i hit a wall and was not able to confirm the story. people were not ready to talk, frankly. it occurred to me now in the last few weeks because to have the amazing report -- because of the amazing reporting that's been done on sexual misconduct and abuse that perhaps the women who were worried about retaliation, who were afraid of mr. rose's power in the industry, about his wealthy

friends, famous sit-down interviews with world leaders that, perhaps, they were ready to talk. amy britain, a reporter in the investigative unit at th "the washington post" and i started contacting the women i had heard allegations about as well as people who worked on the show and, honestly, we have a lot more reporting that we would like to do on this story, but, at this point, we could say there are eight women who have alleged what could constitute sexual harassment and sexual assaults. >> woodruff: free 3:00 opened record. >> three gave their names at enormous personal sacrifice and i want to thank them for their courage because even in this moment of curlture change, it is not easy to put your name on something this independen -- ind one described it as one of the most degrading experiences in their life. what is charlie rose saying. >> charlie rose issued a statement this afternoon which he provided to "the washington post."

he says that he does not confirm all the statements made by the women. he mentions he believes there were "shared feelings" or believed at the the time there were shared feelings in these instances which disputes what these women have told us. he says we're at a new cultural moment. >> woodruff: irin carmon, again, saying there is more reporting being done on this story with "the washington post." thank you very much. >> thank you, judy. >> woodruff: also today, a second woman has come forward to accuse senator all franken of sexual misconduct. lindsay menz says the minnesota democrat grabbed her bottom during a picture-pose in 2010. by then, franken was serving in the senate. meanwhile, one of the women accusing alabama's republican senate candidate roy moore, leigh corfman says she was 14 when it happened. >> he removed my clothing. he left the room and came back

in, wearing his white underwear. and he touched me over my clothing, what was left of it. and he tried to get me to touch him. >> woodruff: corfman said she was paid no money for speaking publicly. for his part, president trump has criticized franken, but said nothing about moore. and, "the new york times" suspended white house reporter glenn thrush over allegations he's made unwanted advances toward several women. regulators in nebraska gave the green light today for construction of the keystone xl pipeline across the state. that was the last major regulatory hurdle for the long- delayed project. but, the regulators approved an alternate route, and opponents, including environmental groups and american indians, say that could open new legal issues. the true cost of the opioid drug epidemic may be far more than anyone thought.

the white house today put the cost at $504 billion in 2015. that's more than six times greater than any previous estimate. the report cites overdose deaths and law enforcement costs. in zimbabwe, the military announced president robert mugabe is working toward what it calls "a definitive solution" for the country. but the ruling party said it's starting proceedings to impeach mugabe, ending his 37-year rule. john ray of independent television news is in zimbabwe. he reports from the capital city, harare. >> reporter: as their president plays for time, so his peoples' patience's breaking point. this is generation mugabe. students who've known only one man's rule their entire lives. >> whether he wants to or not it's time now for robert gabriel mugabe, and it's time for us the younger generation to take over. >> reporter: harare is full of opponents plotting feverishly to force him from power.

zimbabwe's war veterans set him a noon deadline that came and went. >> so we want to make sure that he leaves now. we want to see his back now. mugabe your rule is over. the emperor has no clothes. >> reporter: late last night africa's oldest leader confounded the hopes of his country and the generals who have him under house arrest, by refusing to resign. >> however we cannot be guided by bitterness or vengefulness. >> reporter: so tomorrow the drama shifts to parliament, and a plan to impeach him. hatched today by his former comrades in zanu-pf. so you want him gone? >> of course. >> reporter: is president mugabe fit to be the president of zimbabwe? >> no, no. that's the reason why we have called on the members of parliament of our party to appreciate the seriousness of the matter. >> reporter: the very people who helped him rule now accuse him of ruining the country's

economy. they're not the tyranny of which many of them would say they too were apart. these people are giving up their president but they're not giving up their power, though power has not yet en transferred. this past week zimbabwe felt transformed. the power has not yet been transferred. >> woodruff: that report from john ray of independent television news. the supreme court of kenya today upheld president uhuru kenyatta's disputed re-election. the decision touched off violent protests, leaving at least two people dead. the opposition had boycotted last month's election, and charged it was rigged. the court ordered that vote after it nullified the original election, in august, over irregularities. the u.s. is putting north korea back on a list of state sponsors of terror. it was removed from the list under president george w. bush, in hopes of ending the north's nuclear program.

president trump announced the new policy today during a cabinet meeting. he said it's part of his "maximum pressure campaign." >> it should have happened a long time ago. it should have happened years ago. in addition to threatening the world by nuclear devastation, north korea has repeatedly supported acts of international terrorism, including assassinations on foreign soil. >> woodruff: north korea already faces a number of sanctions, but the president says this new designation allows additional penalties. argentina's navy says it's now analyzing sounds that could have come from a missing submarine. it disappeared last wednesday after reporting an electrical malfunction, more than 270 miles out in the south atlantic. 44 crew members were on board. an international rescue effort is under way, including ships and aircraft. their work has been hampered by 20-foot waves and strong winds. charles manson, who masterminded

gruesome murders in los angeles, nearly half a century ago, died sunday night. he drove his followers to butcher seven people with knives, over two nights in 1969. among them, the pregnant actress sharon tate. the crimes horrified the nation, manson was ultimately captured, and convicted. he spent the rest of his life in prison. charles manson was 83 years old. federal reserve chair janet yellen formally submitted her resignation today. she said she'll stay on until jerome powell, nominated to succeed her, is confirmed and sworn in. on wall street today, the dow jones industrial average gained 72 points to close at 23,430. the nasdaq rose nearly eight points, and the s&p 500 added three. and, britain's queen elizabeth the second and her husband prince philip celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary today. they were married on november 20, 1947, when she was still a princess and he was a naval

officer. elizabeth became queen in 1952. she is now 91. prince philip is 96. still to come on the newshour: the justice department blocks at&t's proposed merger with time warner. who the republican tax proposal benefits and hurts. global implications as germany fails to form a government, and much more. >> woodruff: the department of justice announced it is suing to block a $85 billion merger between media/telecom giants at&t and time warner. it is the first major anti-trust case taken up by the trump administration. lisa desjardins has the story. >> desjardins: the justice department said the merger would

have harmed consumers. at&t will challenge the government's move in court. some observers have openly wondered if the decisions is influenced by the president's continuing battle with cnn, which is owned by time warner. david shepardson of reuters has been covering the story and he joins me now. david, wow, what a story. let's start with these two companies. at their core, they don't compete, they're related businesses, but why is d.o.j. arguing they violate antitrust laws? >> you're right, these typical vertical mergers, companies which don't directly overlap generally go through, but in this case the justice department says the combined company would have too much power. they would be able to use the content to charge its rival

distributors like comcast hundreds of millions of dollars more per year as well as pass the costs on to consumers. so the big argument is going to be will a judge buy that a larger vertically consolidated company pose as threat or is it a better competitor to new companies like netflix and amazon? >> at&t fired out a very fiery statement that called this a radical and inexplicable departure in the law. is this unprecedented as far as the justice department goes and what did at&t say in response? >> so it is that unprecedented but it's been about 50 years since the government took a vertical merger to court and, certainly, by comparison in 2011, the obama administration allowed comcast to acquire u.s. universal a similar vertical merger. but a lot has changed. there are serious concerns about will companies get too large, have too much market power. but, oarntiond at&t says, look, this is civil law, looking at

the marketplace, given the competitors, people are limited in raising prices in this marketplace. they deny the government's allegations but goes back to the question of whether then candidate donald trump and the opposition to the merger and cnn were in opposition. >> the scope of these two companies, they have massive influence and u.s. and global life. why did they want to get together in the first place and what effect would it be if they did? >> this is a huge company beyond direct tv and at&t's mobile service. time warner owns at&t, cnn, a lot of studios that make a lot of content. at&t's argument has been to compete with facebook and google, the companies getting huge control of the advertising market and internet, that they need to build used data from these three different companies in order to compete with these

other rivals. so, you know, their argument is we have to get bigger in order to compete and the government's argument is if you allow them to get this big, they will be able to deny that content to a rival and you can only get hbo potentially on direct tv versus comcast if they didn't agree to pay higher prices. >> what this would mean for consumers, this might be oversimplifying but it's like if wal-mart would want to buy legos and control the market, how would this affect consumers who get their entertainment not through time warner? >> what would happen at comcast-at&t universal is the government asked for conditions, comcast had to agree not to treat how it used that differently and other rival distributors. at&t raised questions about that

in 2011. so, you know, the difference is here is the government is not seeking behavioral condition but rath tore sell off certain assets. they asked at&t to sell off direct tv or turner broadcasting which includes cnn so they get smaller rather than agree to behavioral changes. >> have the opportunity to affect the marketplaces. you talk about the cnn factor here and the timing of that. >> last week the president was criticizing cnn. as a candidate in 2016, then candidate trump said he would not allow the merger to go through. since then he's not directly commented but at&t will clearly make whether the president exercised influence over the justice department as a result of the anger with cnn as part of the case, that's an open question whether the judge will agree. >> what a case. thank you for joining us. >> thank you.

>> woodruff: congress may have gone home for the holiday, but republicans are working during the break to get a tax bill on the president's desk before the end of the year. one of the big questions surrounding the battle over a tax overhaul: who's benefiting from the changes? lisa desjardins begins with this report. >> desjardins: from the negotiator-in-chief today, his summary of the end game on tax cuts. >> it's up to the senate. and if they approve it, the house and the senate will get together. i'll be there right in the middle of it. >> desjardins: president trump's words followed a weekend where indeed one senator stood out. >> i don't think that provision should be in the bill. >> desjardins: senator and key vote susan collins of maine said she's against the current idea of using tax reform to repeal the individual mandate to buy health care. >> the fact is that if you do pll this piece of the affordable care act out, for

some middle-income families, the increased premium is going to cancel out the tax cut that they would get. >> desjardins: sure enough, president trump's budget director said he is open to dropping the repeal. >> if it becomes an impediment to getting the best tax bill we can, then we're ok with taking it out. >> desjardins: a quick reminder: republicans tax plans would lower individual and corporate tax rates, while also ending the personal exemption and cutting some popular deductions, like those for high medical costs or state and local taxes. democrats have decried it a giveaway to the rich, especially big corporations. but g.o.p. defenders insist it will cut most-- most-- middle class taxes and boost jobs. the argument became agitated at the senate finance committee last week, between democrat sherrod brown and republican chairman orrin hatch. >> this tax cut really isn't for the middle class, it's for the rich. spare us the bank shots, spare us the sarcasm and the satire, and let's... >> i come from the poor people

and i've been here working my whole stinking career for people who don't have a chance and i really resent anyone saying i'm doing this for the rich. >> desjardins: that debate, and the final bill, are still fluid, even as the senate hopes to vote on its version next week. for the pbs newshour, i'm lisa desjardins. >> woodruff: let's focus on how the benefits are distributed in these tax bills. the senate bill, for example, would make the corporate tax rate cut permanent. but benefits for individuals and families would expire after 2025. that led congress' bipartisan joint committee on taxation to conclude that, by 2027, most americans earning under $70,000 would pay more in taxes. we turn to two economists, from the left and the right, who study these issues. jared bernstein, of the center on budget and policy priorities.

he's worked in the white house as an adviser to former vice president joe biden. and douglas holtz-eakin of the american action forum. he served as an adviser to john mccain during his presidential run. and we welcome both of you back to the program. i want to ask both of you, just give us your overall view, is this proposal as it's come out of the house, jared bernstein, good for americans or not? >> certainly not for those in the middle class or moderate income. you reported findings from the committee on taxation, and they said by the time this fully phases in taxes increase on average for families below 75,000. that seems uncanncanny given wht we're heard about tax cuts. the reason is because the tax benefits on the individual side of the code phase out to pay for very large corporate reductions, and i think that's just a very

misguided architecture. >> woodruff: douglas mcarthur, i -- dougholtz-eakin, how can oy there is tax cuts with those phased out in the middle? >> the main problem to be solved is in 2016 the households where people work full time full year saw zero i crease in their real inic and to change the poor performance in raising real wages, the standard of living, you have to attack the foundations of what businesses do by giving better incentives. so the status quo us a you should take your intellectual property, production, earnings offshore, eventually the headquarters go offshore, that can't continue. we have to have a change in the status quo so when you look at corporate incentives for better investment, that brings higher wages. so all of those reforms are targeted at solving fundamental problem in the u.s. economy, and the middle class lives in that economy and needs to live

better. >> woodruff: why isn't that an argument that people could accept, jared bernstein, that you're helping big businesses and small businesses grow, they'll hire more people and pay higher wages? >> so that is fundamentally a trickle-down kind of argument that we've heard for decades in efforts to sell tax cuts structured exactly like this one, and the story that doug tells is a chain with a lot of links, and every one of those links is probabl problematic. it is true the tax cut will increase profitability of corporations and multi-nationals. that profitability is already near historical high. when i make out my list of who needs help in this economy, multi-national corporations don't make the list, but this tax cut does wonderful things for them in the hope they will invest more and that did will be good for productivity growth and lift the wages of middle and low income workers. it hasn't happened in every

experiment we've done of this sort. >> woodruff: what makes you believe it's going to happen now, dug holtz-eakin, especially when corporations are already doing well? >> two things i disagree with. we haven't done this before. this isn't 1986. 1986 was a tax increase on corporations to finance large reductions on the individual side. we'll see better tax policy and higher rates on the individuals in the house bill. this isn't your father's tax cut. i think it's fundamentally structured differently. secondly, you don't want to evaluate what is intend to be a tax reform, something that's good today, five years from now and ten years from now on the basis of current conditions. what do you want the tax base to incentivize and not? we don't want it to incentivize not investing. i think that's what this is structured to do. i think it puts too much weight on corporate tax cuts. no question if you cut corporate taxes from 35 to 20%, we're

going to have a much more profitable corporate sector. but we already have a highly profitable corporate sector and if they wanted to invest more thousand they could. they're not doing. so the cost of capital is extremely cheap. so this is kind of pressing on the wrong button. if we want to help the middle class, let's help the middle class but not try to do the trickle down. >> woodruff: what about the point corporations are profits now. >> this is not about tax cuts. this is about fundamental tax reforms. the reason it's important for business inceptives to be permanent though it forces the individual ones to sunset because they can't run more than $1.5 trillion deficit, the reason that's important is you want to keep the production jobs in the u.s., you want people who operate outside the u.s. to come to the u.s. and do that on a permanent meter incentives. 20% cut is driven which th.

changing taxes gives them an incentive to raise productivity in the u.s. >> woodruff: and that should mean fit works out as doug is describing more jobs created in the u.s., better wages. >> right. so ut should mean that, i'm afraid it doesn't. we've tried these experiments before. we've had tax repatriateiations, the tax holidays where corporations were able to bring foreign earnings back, they didn't create jobs, they did diff did buyouts. they took their profits from abroad, brought them back in a favorable tax rate which is much like what we're talking about now, a similar kind of struck chiewrks an instead of creating new employment, they increased the prices of their stocks by buying back shares and they paid out more dividends. so the problem isn't -- and this is not just my opinion. these are the scores we have been talking about. they all show that the benefits go to the top because that's who benefits from corporate

profitability. it doesn't trickle down and help wage earners. this is a great story and jared is one of the world's best story tellers but that's not what's in the bill. in the bill is whether this is a good test of a reform. in the bill, every dollar currently abroad will have been deemed to come back. this comes back, you must pay taxes. every dollar has to come back, not voluntary. at that point, and this is the key, at that point firms face a real choice, not bring it ac or bring it back, the taxes are the same. so if it's a good reform, the money will come back, show up in wetter factories and plants in the u.s. and help american work,. >> woodruff: probably 30 seconds left but i do want to get an answer from both you have. the proposal to do away, doug holtz-eakin, with the deductions from medical expenses. my understanding is this will hit middle income families with serious needs for a family member. >> you have to broaden the base to lower the rates.

you have a choice. do you take the 6% of people who have a medical deduction, averaging about $9,000, and preserve their break or do you increase the standard deduction by $9,000 for everybody? >> 70% of folks who take the deductions have incomes below 70,000. it is another what can on the middle class. why? to pay for a massive tax cut for multi-national corporationsch it's not fair. >> woodruff: gentlemen, i know we're coming back to. this thank you very much. jared bernstein, doug holtz-eakin. thanks. >> woodruff: germany descended into political crisis today, as chancellor angela merkel called for new elections after talks to form a coalition government collapsed. john yang has more. >> yang: thanks, judy. chancellor angela merkel's 12

years in office have cemented germany as europe's backbone of stability. but her political future is now in jeopardy. she was weakened in national elections two months ago by a new and strong challenge from the far right. overhanging it all: merkel's open-door immigration policy of the last two years. for what all this means for germany, europe, and the united states, we turn to ian bremmer, the founder and president of the eurasia group. ian bremmer, thanks for joining us. germany for so long has been sort of the rock of stability in europe, politically and economically. how did we get to this place? >> well, that's right, and circle since the financial crisis in 2008, the one thing that everyone could count on in europe was a strong german chancellor in angela merkel. but, you know, this last election did not go well for her. it was the worst performance of her party in decades, and it's not because the economy was

doing badly indeed, well over 80% of germans were optimistic about the future of the german economy and the middle around working class unlike france or the united states felt pretty good but hated her migration policy. you remember when merkel said we can do this, and they allowed in a million refugees from syria to come into germany. it was incredibly unpopular. she had to back away from the policy pretty quickly. she didn't get support from other european nations, certainly not from president obama or later trump or from the germans. that hurt her. it opened the door for the far right alternatives from germany's party. >> how does this play into the story, the narrative of these far right parties across europe gaining strength and hurting the established parties? >> it's very much of a piece. to be clear, there's no remote

conversation about germany leaving the eurozone. everyone in germany understands it keeps the cost of german exports low, it benefits them. there are structural beneficiary of staying in. it's not euro skepticism, but it is about building walls. it's about keeping germany more german, and the fact that 13% of the population voted for this party, the alternatives for deutschland. it's the first time a nationalist party has been in since world war ii. you only needed 5% to get in. they got 13%. that's extraordinary, and it really points to farmer east germany, which feels kind of like rust belt or appalachia but in germany, 50% of voting age people in former east germany say they don't believe reunification worked, that they were left behind, and 27% of the

population voted for the a.f.d. in recent elections. that trend will only grow and one of the reasons why if you were to have new early elections in germany, the potential for outcome will be worse for merkel than the last election she had is very real. >> the possibility of new elections, mrs. merkel said she doesn't like the idea of a minority government, soon to be opening the door to new elections, but you say the outcome is likely to hurt her even more? >> it could easily. there niece good outcome for merkel. this clearly weakens her significantly. it means that the ability of the germans to act as a real partner for emmanuel macron in france and strengthen european institutions really off the table now. it's up to the german president to decide how he wants to respond now. does he want to put merkel forward or someone else as chancellor and have a vote in parliament and then, after that

process, you can have early elections, or force angela merkel to try to work harded to put a coalition together. but, you know, i think even if they try to put together another grand coalition it's very unlikely that would cohere into a government. so whether sooner or later, i think we're likely heading for another round of elections and, as you just suggested, the outcome is not going to return a strong germany. i do believe merkel is ultimately likely to still get another term out of this, but it's very different than the merkel-driven germany that we've seen in previous years. >> yang: ian bremmer of the eurasia group, thanks for helping us understand this. >> my pleasure. >> woodruff: for more on the political fallout of new sexual harassment allegations and the

battle over the republican tax plan, i'm joined by our politics monday team: tamara keith of npr and amy walter of the "cook political report." welcome to you both. so let's start with the story that we are coming back to tonight because of new allegations, as you heard at the top of the show, new allegations just out late today about journalist charlie rose, pbs cbs bloomberg and glenn thrush of the "new york times" sexual allegations. we're here to talk about politics. >> right. >> woodruff: we have this new -- another new allegation now against bob franken -- i'm sorry -- al franken. >> al franken. >> woodruff: who had one woman state that he sexually harassed and worse with her. >> right. >> woodruff: but now you have a new one. does this change? because this one involves him,

al franken, as a senator. does this change, in a way, what -- the seriousness of all this is this. >> well, i think, already, even at the very beginning, democrats were including senator franken said we need an ethics investigation to get exactly at things like this. was this a one-time event that happened during the u.s. other ray with this -- this u.s.o. era with this one woman or frequently as a senator? we have one woman coming forward, an investigation would unleash more. the real question is how much time do we have before we start to see groups or individuals comout calling for al franken's resignation? already just watching twitter today, you could see liberal voices, some groups saying it's time for al franken to step down. let's see what happens, especially in minnesota over the next few weeks. is there a building cry for his

resignation? >> woodruff: there have been calls, of course, almost immediately when these allegations came out, tamara, from the right and the left, and al franken himself said there should be an ethics investigation. but how -- you know, how much of a platform or leg does he have to stand on now? >> an ethics investigation, how serious is that, how long does it last? >> woodruff: right. and, in the mean time, what else comes out? eng there are a lot of people in washington and beyond holding they are breath, not knowing where this goes, whether there are more names that will come out, out of congress or elsewhere. and there's a very palpable sense that this is not the end, and we don't know whether it's at the begin org the middle of these revelations and this cultural moment, an sort of where that did ends up, and, you know, al franken right now is standing alone. will he continue to stand alone?

>> i think that's a very big piece of this. every day, we have a new name coming out and different businesses. obviously, today, a big focus on journalists, but we will have it back on to politics. >> woodruff: and jackie spear, the congressman from california, who has been outfront in speaking of her own experience said days ago there are two sitting members of congress now who have allegations against them but hasn't said who they are. there is a nondisclosure freedom signed under congressional rules. >> right, but will someone go on the record? this is quite a moment we're in. >> woodruff: the other name, of course, the other person we're watching the roy moore, the senate candidate -- republican senate candidate of alabama. amy, the president has gone after al franken but not said anything about roy moore. the white house said let the voters of alabama decide. i guess can the white house stand on that position? >> right. i mean, to say that the president is doing something

that's contradictory is not new, all right, that he's saying one thing about one person and has another rule for another person is totally within keeping with the way the president has behaved, including the fact that one is a republican and one is a democrat. so in that accepts, i think, you know, we have long understood that the way that the president sees the world in the terms of putting people who are on his side and people who are on the other side, this sort of fits into that. >> woodruff: meantime, amy, you have the allegations resurfacing or i should say conversation resurfacing about president bill clinton and whether he should have done something, he should have stepped down. senator crirtsen gillibrand of new york made that comment last week, a lot of pushback from the clinton camp. >> certainly was.

when bill clinton was running for president, there was a different default setting. the default setting was to criticize the women, in part, led by people who were affiliated with bill clinton. the default setting now is to believe the women. it's like a hashtag. the default setting has completely changed. but in the meantime, since bill clinton, you had arnold schwarzenegger get elected shortly after there were groping allegations in california, and you had the president of the united states donald j. trump get elected after some very serious allegations that remain outstanding. it's not like anyone has recanted those allegations. >> i think it's an interesting discussions when we talk about the clintons. when you go back to 2016 and look at how much of the clinton legacy was being -- how many documents were already distancing themselves from clinton ideologically, on trade, defense of marriage, crime bill, welfare reform. it's a reminder how a democratic

party who is moving away of the legacy left by bill clinton specifically and i think this is one case where we'll see both the party but also society moving on from what was acceptable back then. >> woodruff: well, what we know is all of this is moving very fast and new allegations coming out. feels to me almost hourly. >> like our phones keep buzzing. >> woodruff: is thathat's.>> wo. it's been going on all day. >> the floodgates have opened, there is a bunch of water flowing through and we don't know what to do with all the water now and that's what's going to take a long time. >> woodruff: amy walter, tamera keith, politics monday, thank you both. >> you're welcome. >> woodruff: and now, a look at the intersection of race, sports, and politics. this morning, president trump took to twitter to criticize oakland raiders player marshawn

lynch for sitting as the national anthem played before his game on sunday. and it's not the first time he's butted heads with athletes. how does that criticism impact players on the football field, to the basketball court and beyond? newshour special correspondent charlayne hunter-gault sat down with an n.b.a. hall-of-famer to talk about just that. >> reporter: you see it at every sporting event: teammates giving each other some love. there's football. also baseball. and then there's basketball. one of those who gave and got love is alonzo mourning, who spent most of his stellar career as a center for the miami heat. and he went on to be inducted into basketball's hall of fame. mourning retired as a player in 2009, and for the past eight years has served as the miami

heat's vice president of player programs and development, responsible for community outreach and mentoring young players. i began by asking alonzo about his playing days. if the diversity on the court extends into his personal life. >> let me tell you what, winning has no color whatsoever. if you want to be successful, you've got to have a relationship with your teammates. it's not a temporary relationship. it's a full time relationship. so, the year that we won it, if one of our teammates children had a birthday party, we all brought our kids to the birthday party. if i'm not connecting with you off the court, then i can't expect to connect with you on the court. the stronger my relationship with you off the court, the better it is going to be on the court because i'm not going to think twice about our relationship when i've got to swing that ball to you because i know it's there already. it's together already. we're already together.

we already have a bond based on our friendship and the time that we spend together off the court. >> reporter: you told me several months ago, when i saw you on vacation, that these younger players have even more of a relationship. what is it like? >> and it's funny-- it's amazing. you'll see some guys, they'll be in the same room, or on the bus, or in the same locker room with each other and they're communicating by text-- >> reporter: to each other? >> to each other. it's ridiculous. these millennials are different from that perspective. >> reporter: but it's not racially based? >> but it's not. no, not at all. >> reporter: but we live in some very toxic times. how do they keep that together? what is the secret to that, you think? >> the beauty of sports is that it has an affect on all races. globally, sports brings people of all races together in arenas together where they cheer for one team. when you think about these

racial issues that are in our society right now-- the veil has just been pulled back a little bit more than ever. because of social media, you're able to magnify these issues even more, to where they're not as hidden as they were back in the '50's and '60's. a lot of those things were hidden. when i think about society, i think about how frustrated, how angry people are with the direction that our country is going in. and it's kind of disappointing to watch. i think about our elected officials. they're put there to do a job, okay? i guess some personal agendas get in the way of the whole process, but the long and short of it-- it comes down to-- we put our elected officials in office to serve us and to pass laws and to unite the country and we just don't see that happening.

>> reporter: how does that translate when you have differences of opinion about politics or about race? >> you know what, to each his own. that's the constitution that we live by-- freedom of speech and belief and religion, thought, whatever. that's your business as long as it doesn't affect us winning together. >> reporter: but that's what i'm trying to understand. are there lessons that come out of your experience with team sports and sportsmanship that could apply in the larger society? >> when the astros won, they had black, latino, and white players on that houston astros team. did you see the parade and the people that came out to celebrate the astros? it was absolutely breathtaking to see all of those people come together. it was an amazing celebration of success.

people of all races were out there having a great time, and it gave the city of houston an opportunity to take their mind off of the strain and the stress of what they've had to go through, if we want to win. if we want to see improvements in our different communities, we've got to support one another. >> reporter: even when you have different political positions? >> even though you have different beliefs and positions and what have you. it is what it is. >> reporter: if there's a lesson from the sports world, and what you know about sportsmanship, how do you apply that to the larger society-- particularly because you're involved in mentoring young people. >> there's so many connections to life with team sports. responsibility, accountability, hard work, dedication,

sacrifice-- >> reporter: tolerance. >> there's tolerance. there's a whole lot. there's so much that goes into team sports that these young people can kind of use to help them with real life experiences. >> reporter: one of the things-- you mentioned lebron james, one of your former teammates, now your opposition--but still a friend, i gather-- >> yes. >> reporter: he said that sports brings people together like no other-- >> oh, for sure. >> reporter: do you agree that sports has a way of bringing people of different opinions together that can help create a more cohesive, less toxic society? >> i totally agree. lebron put it perfectly. without sport, i don't know where our country would be, really, because it provides an outlet and it's a form of therapy for a lot of people. >> reporter: is the political environment from the field to

the courts to the wherever-- is it affected by how the sportsmen react? >> they're able to voice their opinion, using sport as a platform, because people follow it so much. so they use this as a platform to voice their opinion about certain issues that go on in society that might help improve those issues. >> reporter: are you optimistic that we can get past this little moment that we're in? >> i'm optimistic about it simply because, just like anything in life, if we prioritize it, just like in the morning, you prioritize getting up in the morning, brushing your teeth, having coffee, getting your kids ready for school, what have you. if we prioritize something, it will get done. we're given the same 24 hours. we all have the same twenty-four hours. it's what you do with those 24 hours will determine the success in what you do. >> reporter: alonzo mourning, thank you. >> thank you so much. thanks for having me.

>> woodruff: and finally tonight, a look at works of art from an unlikely source: the guantanamo bay detention camp. a new exhibit in new york hosts art made by current and former detainees. special correspondent arun rath has this story. >> reporter: the artwork at the john jay college of criminal justice in manhattan reflects what is studied here. galleries take on themes related to crime and the law, human rights and dissent. art that reflects justice and injustice. the entrance is lined with work depicting 9/11 first responders. upstairs, in another exhibit: a piece of art from a man who's on trial for his alleged role in supporting the attack." vertigo" by ammar al baluchi is not about 9/11. it reflects his torture at the

hands of the c.i.a., which was documented in a senate report >> it's just a swirl of lines and dots, and he drew it to show his lawyers what happens when he experiences vertigo, when he can no longer see, which is the result of a traumatic brain injury he suffered during interrogation. >> reporter: erin thompson is an art professor at john jay, and she's studied the strange intersections of criminality and art-but art from gitmo detainees was a surprise. >> one of the lawyers for detainees approached me and said, "i want my clients' art to be exhibited." i said, "what do you mean? there's art made at guantanamo." what hit me at first was how normal they seem. shouldn't their drawings be so much more angry? it took me a long time to realize that they, that these artists want to show beauty. >> reporter: there's art from 12 gitmo detainees in the exhibit, baluchi is the only one of them who's been charged with a crime. the rest are ambiguous cases.

ahmed rabbani claims to be a victim of mistaken identity. he was tortured by the c.i.a., and his supporters claim his confessions of ties to al qaeda were a product of that torture. he's spent years hunger striking to protest in guantanamo and has been subjected to force feedings. his painting-- a scene of empty plates and glasses. >> to me, the show is of interest no matter what side you fall on, no matter what you believe about these men. is it that you want to see the humanity of them as victims or do you want to understand better the enemy? you can do either by looking at these works. >> reporter: the artwork had to pass through a security review, to make sure there were no coded messages. security restrictions on guantanamo also limit art making material-- to get creative, prisoners have to improvise. >> he created his own surfaces by picking up rocks and gravel from the surface of the exercise yard. >> reporter: two of the artists are now former detainees- abdulmalik al-rahabi was in the

first group of prisoners sent from afghanistan to guantanamo in 2002. >> i hope that people think about other people. because they give us bad reputation about us there, all of us there, i don't know are terrorists or criminal, but we are human beings. w have feelings. we have family. we have wife. we have daughters. all of us. i hope people think about that. there is no difference between us. >> reporter: a review board deemed him suitable for release in 2014, and he's been living in montenegro since 2016. we spoke over skype. he asked that we not show his face. he doesn't want the stigma of guantanamo to follow him to his new community. i took him, virtually, on his first tour of the gallery where his art is on display. he is barred from visiting the united states. he showed me dozens of other

paintings he still holds onto. there is a common theme in the art from the seaside facility. >> i think about the sea, big sea. and i imagine one day the boats will come. and i imagine my life in guantanamo, like i am in the sea, in the middle of the sea. one day, i will go out. >> reporter: moath al-alwi, a detainee from yemen, has actually been building ships. these extraordinary miniatures made from cardboard, painted with stains made from coffee grounds. sails from old shirts rigging from unravelled prayer caps. al-alwi and al-rahabi were friends inside the prison. have you seen the ship models before? >> oh, this for moath, yes. he's a good one. i hope someday he will be released. >> reporter: al alwi has made another ship, he says, even more impressive-but it may be destroyed before anyone else

gets to see it. the base has now suspended all transfers of detainee art pending further review. detainees were informed that they could keep a limited number of pieces, and that excess art would be, "discarded." the exhibit, ¡art from guantanamo,' will run through january. for the pbs newshour, i'm arun rath in new york. >> woodruff: 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 see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial

literacy in the 21st century. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> 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

[ bells play tune ] [ theme music plays ] -♪ i think i'm home ♪ i think i'm home ♪ how nice to look at you again ♪ ♪ along the road ♪ along the road ♪ anytime you want me ♪ you can find me living right between your eyes, yeah ♪ ♪ oh, i think i'm home ♪ oh, i think i'm home -today on "cook's country," ashley makes bridget the ultimate pasta with sausage ragu, jack challenges bridget to a tasting of fettuccine,