♪ welcome to this edition of "amanpour" on pbs. tonight, she rose from poverty to prominence, becoming the first female black chaplain to parliament and to the queen. my conversation with britain's reverend rose hudson wilkins. plus, the year of trump. we look back at the destructor-in-chief's first year in office and look forward to what 2018 could have in store. ♪ "amanpour" on pbs was made possible by the generous support

by rosalyn p. walter. >> good evening, everyone, and welcome to the program. i'm christiane amanpour in london with the global perspective. this time of year, people of many different faiths are celebrating. with the jewish festival of hanukkah over, christians around the world are now awaiting christmas. for many, it's a time of rest with loved ones. but for my next guest, it is the busy season. the reverend rose hudson wilkins has lived an extraordinary life. after a tough start in jamaica, she knew that she wanted to be a reverend from a very young age. she moved to england where she steadily climbed toward the pinnacle of power. she is now chaplain to the speaker of the british parliament, and she's the first black woman to hold that position. she's also a chaplain to the queen. her incredible story is about overcoming poverty and prejudice and sexism. a triple whammy that defines her and her ministry.

reverend rose, welcome to the program. >> thank you. >> so reverend rose, you grew up in jamaica. and you actually have a sad, sad start to your story whereby you talk about being abandoned by your mother at the age of 2. what happened? >> well, i don't know that i would have called it being abandoned, but she wasn't there. it was at the time in the early '60s when a lot of adults were leaving for the united kingdom. so my mother happened to be one of those who left for the uk. >> she skam came to work? >> she came here to work, yes. i knew she wasn't there, i knew she came to england, but that was all until i met her some seven years later when i was approximately 9 years old. >> and she had another family? >> she had another family. i think at the time back then people -- one parent would leave, then another parent would

join them, the children would join. but my father was quite a difficult character. and i suspect that things were already difficult in their relationship, they weren't married. so it meant that she was really free in a sense to start a new family. and she did. >> and how did that impact you? >> well, i think it would be fair to say that because it was a completely new family, you then joined the family, and you are a stranger, and they are strangers. so they're all getting to know each other which was not always a spearing. >> you clearly must have looking. if we read modern psychology today, we see that children who have been in some way or other ripped apart from their mothers, from their primary care-ers, their primary attachment, are always looking for something, always longing for something. did you feel that?

>> i think i was looking and longing for love. that's a strange thing to say. your folks growing up in the caribbean, they weren't necessarily tactile in saying "i love you," "you're a wonderful child," or anything like that. you know, you were fed and watered and clothed. so you know you're loved. i guess there was that -- that something in me that needed more than that. >> do you think looking now 20/20 hindsight and in your career ads a religious, as a chaplain, as a reverend, is it something that filled that gap for you? >> i think faith did make me whole, and there were also the people who i regarded as my adopted mom and adopted dad who for me were gentle and caring and said "i love you," and all those things that made it possible. but definitely my face was the

core of that because at the heart of faith, it's about the god who loves. >> how did that come to you? how old were you when you understood that faith was your future? >> i think i was about 14 years old. so pretty young still. and i just had this overwhelming sense that i was being called and led to a vocation of ministry. but of course it's a weird thing to be called to something that does not exist because women were not being ordained in leadership, being ordained leadership within the church at that time. i had a pact with god, and it was -- i believe you have called me, so it's up to you to make it possible. >> and then he/she did -- >> absolutely. it became possible. >> how did you bring the community around? i mean, there were people in your first church when you came to london -- >> yes -- >> -- who didn't want you there,

didn't think you should be there. >> yes, in all my churches. in the past. but you know what, because i believe that god calls me to be somewhere, i go obediently, and i actually love the people, including the prickly ones. >> and you love them, and you just get on with ministry around them. then they in turn will know hopefully if they are being led by the same spirit that this is of god. and i say, you've been many firsts -- you're the first chaplain to the speaker in the house of commons here in parliament. the first black woman to do that. >> yes. >> were you hurt when there seemed to be an argument about whether you should be chosen and when the press started to talk about tokenism and how the speaker was being politically correc correct? >> i think that was the most painful bit of it all really.

when they talked about tokenism or political correctness. from my perspective, you know, if all those people who applied, someone sits down and -- a group of eminent people, they sat down and made their short list, if they were short listing me simply out of tokenism, then frankly it says something about their own inadequacies and not about me. but this is how the world is at the moment. every time we say we want more women or want more black people or pink people or blue people, we say, oh, but we need to have people with the skills -- of course we need people with the skills. who would want to? but there are those who feel that they have a right to be in certain positions and in certain

plac places, and if we don't look like you, speak like you, then perhaps you ought not to be in this role. >> and what about the deep abusz bei -- abuses in every walk of life, the #metoo moment? >> this comes from a background where we dehumanize them. whether we dehumanize them in a sexual way or in a way to do with color or ethniciti, it stems from the same thing. it is a failure to understand that we are one human race. actually, i know we talk about racism, and it does exist, but there is only one human race in the world. if we can show the respect to someone as a woman, as a man, as a black person, as a white person, or whatever, various ethnic backgrounds, if we could

just show the respect that is due and not treat someone else like a thing or an object, then we will be doing a good thing. >> this past year has been one in which terrorism came to the streets of london and manchester. it had been france the year before. this past year it was britain's turn. it was very painful. and you were in parliament when that horrendous vehicle and knife attack took place. and also, you were there just a year before when jo cox, the beautiful young british m.p. was murdered by a white nationalist. this was your group of people suffering. how did you deal with that? >> it was very, very painful time, and painful when you are watching colleagues and those who you care for and love in pain. we what we want to do -- what we

want to do, what we need to do is not allow incidents is on pull us apart and set us up against each other either because of religion or color or ethnici ethnicity. and we must -- when those things happen, we must hold together all decent people of whatever color, whatever religious backgrounds, we must stand together because what we see in those incidents is evil. evil being personified. we should never be define d by that evil. we should be defined by acts of love, our acts of forgiveness, and our acts of being able to stand with each other irrespective of our various

backgrounds. >> another one of your accomplishments is that you are chaplain to the queen, as wellment one wellment. one of several chaplains to the queen. >> we're all available to her inking, yes, that's amazing.r then i caught myself saying, well, why are you amazed, rose? you're all praying for her. of course she's good -- >> and you speak to her? >> we speak from time to time in different ways -- whether it's services that we meet her at -- >> she is the head of the church of english. does she have a strong faith? >> she has an amazing faith. her majesty has a deep faith, and i know that that is the faith that has sustained her. i like to think of her as a mother and a grandmother. and a wife, and so a woman. when you are a woman, then you

face all the different travails that life throws at you. i know she's in a particular position as queen of our country and commonwealth, but nevertheless, if we think of her as a woman, then we can respond to her and understand all that she -- you know, the love she has for her family and uphold her in prayers. >> i understand that you are a very good singer. and you will be doing lots of carols during the holiday period. many different religions are celebrating their holidays now. you as a christian, it's about christmas. would you like to serenade us out with any singing? >> oh, my goodness. what can i think of? i have lots of different ones that i really love. ♪ o holy night the stars are brightly shining ♪

♪ it is the night of the dear savior's birth ♪ i think i will stop there. >> that is beautiful. reverend rose, thank you very much. happy holidays to you. >> thank you. harmony and the message of mutual respect. let's hope it's heard in the halls of power everywhere, like washington, which has witnessed a year of bitter political division. president trump has finished 2017 on a high with his first major legislative win. this week the most sweeping overhaul of the u.s. tax system in more than 30 years. with the investigation into alleged links between moscow and trump's campaign team is ongoing, and the president's approval rating has hit a record low last month. what will 2018 bring the trump white house? i spoke to journalist and "daily beast" editor-in-chief john avalon who's been following the year's twists and many turns.

so here we have a year-end legislative victory, a very, very rare one, but nonetheless, a big one for donald trump. this tax reform, first time since ronald reagan in the '80s. how significant is it not just for him, but for his base, his voters? >> from a political standpoint, it's a big win for the president, and he needed it. there had been no major pieces of legislation. republicans were staring the prospects of not having a big legislative win with unified control of government. they got it done in a record amount of time when they focused on politics. that said, the devil's always in the details. this is not a great bill if you line it up with what the president proposed and promised to do. he billed it as a middle-class tax cut. this is not a middle-class tax cut. it's focused overwhelmingly on the wealthy and lowering corporate taxes. he billed it as a tax simplification, something conservatives have held out for a long time with good reason.

needs to be done. this doesn't do that. this is basically about cutting the corporate rate without closing any loopholes. there are cuts across the board, but they will expire in a few years' time. the net effect is a massive trillion-dollar ballooning in the deficit and the debt. all those fiscal hawks who have been fighting and finding comfort in the republican party waved the white flag on this one. i think the question is, what does this bill promise in terms of relief on main street? it's been celebrated on wall street. there's been quite a run. and that's where the real problem lies. trump and the republicans basically believe that if you cut corporate taxes dramatically, that that will necessarily have a knock-on effect. that there will be more employment, more hiring, more manufacturing, more building of factories. that really is a wish and a prayer and a hope. we'll have to see if that begins to materialize. this bill seems more geared to wall street than main street. that's going to be a political calculation they're going to have to confront come the midterms in november. >> even the conservative think tank has said, i'll name it, the

nonprofit group called the 45 committee, shows that 40% support the republican tax plan. less than 49% that oppose it, of course. that's not good, is it, for an election that's coming up. and already you see the other side, not a single democrat voted for it, is planning to use it as fodder in the midterms. >> no question about it. it's yet another example of thesis partisan line votes on major -- on these partisan line votes on major bills. the reagan cut had over 30 democrat senators voting for it. but we have -- and it was true for the aca, obamacare, these party-line votes on major legislation that i think the canary in the coal mine about just how corrosive hyper-partisanship has been. republicans are hoping they'll be able to point to the economy and say, see, it had a positive effect. the long-term danger, of course, is that it exacerbates income inequality. that was one of the risks trump

hit over the campaign effectively. the system is rigged against you, those forgotten americans, and that he would somehow do something about it. but a lot of the structural issues here promise to exacerbate income inequality. that's bad for society as well as republicans in the upcoming election. >> indeed. and around the world. by and large, around the world, most people are kind of drawing a sigh of relief that it hasn't been as disruptive or as completely chaotic as was promised during the campaign. there have been significant areas of withdrawal. the u.s. signaling from, you know, asia to the climate to other places that its traditional leadership role is being rethought. how -- i mean, how is that going down with his voters? >> well, you know, the president campaigned on america first, which is a slogan that is resident with an iesolationist impulse in america. what's fascinating is he has a national security team which has

been playing a game of contain the president, trying to restrain him from his worst impulses. these are people who are more internationalist than the president. secretary of defense mattis, for example, national security adviser mcmasterment they've been trying to reframe it as america first doesn't mean america alone. that said, america is the only country in the world now not supporting the paris climate accords. that's not leadership, that's an outlier. the president abandoned tpp, the transpacific partnership. at the same time, while he's trying to get tough on china, those two things are contradictory. he's trying to form a broader coalition against north korea, ratcheting up rhetoric, that's something, unfortunately, i think we'll see more of in 2018. from a global perspective, i mean, president trump isn't just has warmed up to sort of the . soft authoritarian generation of leaders from duterte to others. that's not a good sign of a

pillar of liberal democracy that america has been, the broader coalitions that helped have a half century of peace in the second world war. it hasn't fallen apart yet. there are powerful forces constraining the president, but his impulses are outside the historic norms. >> to get back to the united states, apart from the tax victory, he has had success, hasn't he, quietly and sort of under the radar of rolling back regulations in the united states, the whole regulatory system covering many, many issues, and of having his own judges and others confirm that we'll have, you know, their lifetimes of effect on the benches. how much of an impact will all of that have for the people of america? >> well, the judges are significant. republicans have unified pushed forward a record number of federal judges. in the last few weeks, a couple have fallen apart and had to withdraw because of withering questions from fellow republicans in the senate. basically asking do you have any experience at all?

can you ask basic questions about the law? and what it exposed is a lot of the vetting process to date coming out of the white house has been focusing almost exclusively on ideology, not experience. that also is outside our traditions as a country, where the judiciary is supposed to be beyond partisanship. but there's starting to be scrutiny. even if you approach things from a partisan perspective, you can't accuse fundamental incompetence in the name of ideology. that's the danger. with the regulations, the president famously saying he's trying to remove two regulations for every one he puts in place. we'll see what the long-term knock-on effects are. the president's view of, for example, environmentalism is out of step with the vast majority of americans as we see in many cases. his politics and policy have been preoccupied with playing to the base which may be why he comes out of his first year historically unpopular. the history of polling, we've never had a approximately this unpopular. >> you can imagine president trump's longevity preoccupies much of the rest of the world, as well. and not just about the russia investigation, but about the

#metoo movement. i ask because recently some 50 congresswomen have asked for a committee to investigate allegations of president trump's alleged sexual abuse. those people came out, the ladies, in a press conference not long ago to reiterate their allegations. do you think that has any legs in congress? will the president's conduct be investigated like other congressional, you know -- like other people in congress have been? >> at the moment, it seems unlikely. but the whole #metoo movement has been a wave washing through industries and displacing powerful people at an unbelievable pace. what's different about this -- we have more than a dozen accusers against the president. and the white house line has been the american people decided they didn't care after the election. i mean, the american people spoke, the accusations were out there, let aep's move on. if an inquiry is held, they can

compel -- the primary focus of congressional investigations to date has been exclusively on the influence of russia on the election and what the president knew and when he knew it. this is a new line of inquiry. democrats are taking it seriously despite the albatross of bill clinton's presidency two decades ago, a very different time. if it goes forward, it will be fascinating to see what happens with testimony and subpoena power. it's definitely a second-tier priority at the moment. this is happening quickly, and calculus can change in a second. at the end of the day, politics should be all about the people. this year, londoners suffered the most devastating fire since the blitz when a highrise apartment block known as grenfeld tower went up in flames sparked by a faulty fridge. 71 people, mostly low-income families and immigrants, were incinerated. it happened in one of the richest neighborhoods in one of the richest cities in the world.

food for thought and prayers this holiday season as we see now from phil black. >> reporter: christmas in london is for most a truly joyful time, but not here. in this area of west london, you'll find some efforts to mark the season, but they're rare. overwhelmed by an monstrous, dark presence. the black husk of grenfell tower looms over streets where there are no decorations, just memorials to 71 people taken in one horrific night six months ago. photos, messages, and tributes to people whose families must endure their first christmas without them. the tabernacle christian church is one of the places the survivors come to collect donated clothes. volunteers here are making a real effort with the

decorations. they haven't given up on trying to make people feel some happiness. their expectations are modest. >> a lot of peasants will try and make it for the sake of it -- but the elders like me, i ain't got no christmas this year of anything. >> reporter: clary mendy lost two cousins, mary and her daughter. >> i miss the gentleness, the smile, the warmness. >> reporter: for this family, christmas is special, but it's never been about faith. they're devout muslims who fled afghanistan and lived in grenfell for more than 15 years. fatima escaped the fire, and she's cried every day since. her husband ali was overcome by smoke as the family fled.

>> couldn't be saved. my dad used to celebrate with my brother -- i was born on christmas. >> you were born on christmas. >> yeah, and my dad was born on the 1st of january. we used to celebrate. >> reporter: he stood outside as fire consumed the building, helpless, desperate, knowing his father was somewhere inside. this 33-year-old man is now two to be traumatized to sleep in the dark. his mother is terrified of tall buildings. his young son is scared of birthday candles. for some, there is solace in community. on the 14th of the month, they walk around grenfell. december's turnout was the biggest yet. the quiet power is a demand for justice from ongoing investigations. a respectful tribute and act of

mutual support. he's grateful, but it can't fill the absence left by his father. >> no, one hour, two hour. 24 hours, i just miss him. >> and as phil black says, grenfell still stands above the london skyline as a monument to suffering. many who survived still have no permanent new home. we hope that 2018 brings better times for those who have lost s. thanks for watching this edition of "amanpour" on pbs, and see you again next time. ♪ >> "amanpour" on pbs was made possible by the generous support of rosalyn p. walter. ♪

>> on story is brought to you in part by thal police kleberg reynolds foundation, a texas family providing innovative funding since 1979. ♪