captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: deadline day. president trump and leading lawmakers scramble to reach a deal to avoid a shutdown of the federal government. then, the complicated war in syria takes on a new dimension. how turkey's stepped-up shelling complicates the u.s. mission to eliminate isis. and, it's friday. mark shields and david brooks on how we got to this 11th hour push to avoid a shutdown. all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

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>> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and friends of the newshour. >> 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: as the hours ticked down to midnight, and a possible federal government shutdown, it was a day of dealing and blaming for politicians on both sides of pennsylvania avenue. lisa desjardins begins our coverage. >> desjardins: the day began with a tweet. president trump writing, senate democrats are needed for a

short-term spending bill, but "want illegal immigration and weak borders." he then asked, "shutdown coming?" however, within hours, it was fellow republican lindsey graham who tweeted that he is not going to support the president's one- month deal, calling the situation a "fiasco." across town, the defense secretary, responsible for roughly two million personnel-- troops and civilian-- stressed a decade of budget crises have choked military planning. >> wasting copious amounts of precious taxpayer dollars. >> desjardins: at 11:00 a.m., the senate was back in session, and in the hallways, rumors were flying of a possible five-day deal. but on the floor, party leaders showed only acrimony. >> now that we are 13 hours away from a government shutdown, that democrats would initiate and democrats would own, the craziness of this seems to be dawning on my friend, the democratic leader.

>> the republican majority in the house and senate, with their president, have failed to come up with a blueprint for spending. for this great nation that we serve. >> desjardins: meanwhile, republicans, including office of management and budget director mick mulvaney, were trying to brand the shutdown with a democratic name... >> preparing for what we're calling the "schumer shutdown." >> desjardins: ...after democratic senate leader chuck schumer. schumer himself was staying quiet behind the scenes, looking for short-term options. but just before noon, a setback: house freedom caucus chair mark meadows told newshour, house leadership rejected a five-day deal. more signs of a shutdown: house members, taking what were supposed to be their last votes of the week, were told not to leave town. and president trump canceled his flight to mar-a-lago. within the hour, mr. trump

called schumer, summoning him to the white house for a one-on-one summit of sorts. schumer returned to the capitol with positive words, but no deal. >> we had a long and detailed meeting. we discussed all of the major outstanding issues. we made some progress, but we still have a good number of disagreements. the discussions will continue. >> desjardins: next, hours of waiting, filled only by speeches on the senate floor that changed nothing-- except passed the shortening time until a shutdown. >> woodruff: so, if congress and the white house do not meet their deadline tonight, hundreds of thousands of federal employees-- almost half of all civilian federal workers-- would not be able to do their jobs. some government functions will not be affected. the postal service will continue to deliver mail. air traffic controllers from the f.a.a. and airport security officers from the t.s.a. will stay on the job. and, the government will keep providing social security, medicare and medicaid benefits.

in addition, the interior department says that it will keep national parks as accessible as possible. that's a shift from previous shutdowns. still, this shutdown could have serious ramifications for many government agencies. more than half of i.r.s. employees would be sent home, even as it gets ready for tax season and adjusts to the new tax law. and it could tie up the department of health and human services, as it grapples with the difficult, ongoing flu season. but, back to the swirl of shutdown politics, ahead of tonight's deadline. lisa desjardins, whose report we just heard, joins us from capitol hill. and, yamiche alcindor, who's been watching this story unfold from the white house today, is with me here. welcome back to both of you. lisa, i feel like i have been asking you this question every night for many, many nights, but where do we stand right now? >> what is going on, yes. actually, judy, in the last half hour, there is a glimmer of

hope. senate majority leader john cornyn, senate whip john cornyn told members of the press that he thinks there will be a vote tonight. we heard from the l.&b director mick mulvaney he thinks there is a potential tonight. this means potentially democrats and republicans are getting closer to having a vote. we don't know if that's going to be a final agreement or not. i e-mailed a top democratic source and they said it's unclear. i think the biggest sign is the silence. the last two or three hours at the capitol have been incredibly quiet and eng we both know actually maybe there is progress behind the scenes. democrats have asked for a shorter term c.r., five days or less. that was rejected i'm told by republicans this morning. now republicans say they will accept something only two weeks or more. maybe they're negotiating somewhere in between, but i think the next few hours will tell us a lot. >> woodruff: so yamiche, we

know the president tweeted, but he's been unusually quiet on that front today. what's is he saying? >> he has stepped up efforts in that he's summoning people the white house and sending out mark short the legislative director and mick mulvaney to publicly speak about this and sending mark short to the hill, he's there now meeting with lawmakers. the idea is president trump is saying he had an excellent meeting with chuck schumer, they're making progress on twitter and he's wanting a forum extension which is probably not going to happen but the idea he's saying and being clear about what he wants which mitch mcconnell said in the past was a real problem that lawmakers said he didn't want. >> woodruff: the four-week extension is what is in the proposal right now. lisa, let's talk about the pressure open both sides. what are these -- what are the democrats and the republicans dealing with right now? >> a shutdown usually happens when one or both sides believe

it's in their favor. sources outside the capitollics lobbyist sources on the left, some progressive groups believe a shutdown would help negotiations over daca. but an earnest conversation is happening on the left on whether they've overplayed that and the momentum is going to the other way. on the right some conservatives think a shutdown would help them because they believe democrats would be blamed. however, polling in "the washington post" show more americans blame republicans. so there are republicans worried they would be gained movement who would gain from a shutdown? right now pressure on both parties starting to believe both would be blamed. the smartest people i was talking to today were the tourist ms. the capitol not just because of the march of life but several conventions are in town.

americans with read in on this situation and democrats and republican said they would in fact blame both sides. >> woodruff: yamiche, if they don't get it if i could out tonight, what does that mean for the federal workers? >> mick mulvaney said there are going to be fed workers that will have to go to work and not get paid. military workers, post office workers, people patrolling the borders, they will have to show up and not get a paycheck. when reporters started shouting are they going to get backpay, and reporters and workers have essentially within able to get backpay, he wouldn't answer the question. i e-mailed the office to ask and i still have not gotten an answer. so it's a real question mark. the contingency plans put on line by the federal government illustrate they are likely going to pay people if they don't get paid. but part of the other issue that's going on is military families will be impacted by the services they receive, something people are very familiar with, which is commissaries, subsidized grocery for military

families, would be closed down, so potentially people would have not being paid for the work they do and paying more for their grocery. >> woodruff: lisa, you have been looking for the effects on federal agents requests taking a look at what it means for individual government workers. >> i think one thing, you covered it so well earlier, is people don't realize there are many agencies that in large part have the vast a majority of their staff remain, that is defense and homeland security have hundreds of thousands of people stay on the job. the smaller agency ares are affected the most and usually shut down the most. at the capitol, one of the door keepers, whose job it is, to unsung hearos hang around outside and protect the members of the senate, told me they wish someone was handing out free tylenol. there is a stress about the whole situation. >> woodruff: and for the press, the reporters. >> yes.

>> woodruff: lisa desjardins, we'll see how long you have to stay there. same with you yamiche, thank you very much. >> thanks. and in the day's other news, secretary of defense jim mattis insisted that the u.s. military must focus more on opposing china and russia's growing influence. he outlined a new "national defnse strategy" that would prioritize preparing for war against major world powers, over fighting terrorism. mattis vowed that the pentagon would restore its competitive edge that had "eroded in every domain of warfare." >> we face growing threats from revisionist powers as different as china and russia are from each other. nations that do seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models pursing veto authority over other nations' economic, diplomatic and security decisions. >> woodruff: mattis also called out iran and north korea for threatening "regional and global stability." clashes between indian and

pakistani forces flared for a third day in disputed kashmir. villages and border posts in the himalayan region came under heavy shelling from both sides. three civilians and two soldiers died, and at least two dozen civilians were wounded. schools were forced to close, and local officials urged residents to stay indoors. back in this country, the supreme court agreed to hear a challenge to president trump's travel ban. earlier versions of the ban were blocked by lower courts. the latest version bans travelers from six muslim majority countries. the justices are expected to hear arguments in april, and issue a ruling by late june. today marked the 45th annual "march for life" in washington. thousands of anti-abortion activists marched through the streets of the capital, carrying signs and chanting pro-life slogans. before the march got underway, president trump pledged his

support to their cause, addressing the rally via satellite from less than two miles away, at the white house rose garden. >> you love every child, born and unborn, because you believe that every life is sacred. that every child is a precious gift from god. under my administration, we will always defend the very first right in the declaration of independence, and that is the right to life. >> woodruff: the trump administration used this day to take two more steps today in its anti-abortion fight. the department of health and human services issued a new regulation to protect medical providers who refuse to perform abortions over moral or religious objections. the agency also rolled back obama-era legal guidance that made it harder for states trying to defund planned parenthood.

the u.s. justice department says that it plans to re-try new jersey senator bob menendez. the democrat was charged in a federal court in newark with bribery and corruption for allegedly trading political favors for gifts and campaign donations. his first trial ended in a hung jury, and prosecutors say they want a retrial "at the earliest possible date." menendez said that he expects to be "vindicated again." a former gymnastics doctor faced more of his accusers during an emotional fourth day in a lansing, michigan court. larry nassar has plead guilty to sexually abusing patients, while working at michigan state university, under the guise of medical treatment. he was also a team doctor for u.s.a. gymnastics. olympic gold medalist aly raisman was among some 80 victims who addressed nassar in to his face. >> abusers, your time is up. the survivors are here standing tall, and we are not going anywhere. and please, your honor, stress

the need to investigate how this happened, so that we can hold accountable those who empowered and enabled larry nassar. so we can repair and once again believe in this wonderful sport. my dream is that one day, everyone will knows what the words "me too" signify, so they can educate and protect themselves from people like larry. so they will never have to say the words, me too. >> woodruff: nassar has already been sentenced to 60 years in prison on separate federal charges of child pornography. and, stocks closed higher on wall street today. the dow jones industrial average gained nearly 54 points to close above 26,071. the nasdaq rose 40 points, and the s&p 500 added 12. both of those closed at record highs. for the week, the dow, nasdaq, and the s&p 500 rose around 1%. still to come on the newshour: what is at stake for senate democrats in the finding fight? no end in sight in the brutal

war in syria. mark shields and david brooks on who's responsible for this round of washington brinkmanship. plus, much more. >> woodruff: we return now to the top story of the day: the 11th hour push to fund the government and avoid a shutdown. we get two takes from senate democrats about the way forward. i spoke first with senator jeff merkley of oregon, on the senate budget committee, about any possible deal. we're all waiting to hear the details of the conversation between senator schumer and president trump. hopefully, this is going to shine a light on the path. >> woodruff: what we're hearing is very skimpy but we're told that senator schumer did present some ideas to the president, and we're separately told that the republican leadership in the senate is saying the minimum time they'd

agree for an extension is two weeks. does that shed any light on anything? >> well, it just shows how unprepared the republican leadership is for this dialogue. i mean, these are issues that have been there going back into july and august in preparation for the next fiscal year, but they set aside the fundamental work of governance in order to pursue a healthcare plan that would rip healthcare from 30 million americans and a tax plan designed to deliver a trillion dollars to richest americans and let the basic issues of governance, children's healthcare and opening our clinics and what the spending bill should look like for fiscal year 2018, they left all these things untended, and, so, here we are. so we want a short continuing resolution, a day, two days, short in order to hold their feet to the fire and say get serious, get in the room and let's start resolving these issues. we have bipartisan proposals sitting right in front of us

ready to adopt. >> woodruff: senators, i'm sure you know the white house republicans say they are taking care of children's health insurance, that they're saying the issue is democrats holding this up over daca, these young people who came to this country from mexico and other countries without documentation, and they're saying democrats are making that more important than even children's health insurance, which, i know, in your state, is particularly important. >> let's be clear. the children's health insurance expire at the end of september. we were pushing through the summer to get this bill done. here we are almost into the spring of 2018. feels like we're headed that direction, and they're just getting to it and doing it in a fashion to turn one group of children into a bargaining chip against another group of children. that's so unnecessary and it's wrong. the dreamers are members of our community who have been there virtually their entire life. they contribute to our communities. we are going to make sure they

are treated decently and get a foundation. but a foundation for having a solid, if p you will, sense of their legal status, and that should have been done long ago. the president says he wants to get this done. republicans have said they want to get this done, there is a bipartisan bill ready to adopt so let's do it. >> woodruff: that's what i want to ask you about as well because the white house legislative affairs director mark short said today there is no legislation that could be voted on right now. >> well, that's simply not the case. we have a proposal that three democrats and three republican senators worked out. the president said bring this compromise over to the white house. they did last thursday. since then, wie had, as various points, up to seven republicans say we're ready to agree with this the just voluntarily saying they were on board for it. clearly, you have the makings of a bipartisan deal. >> woodruff: senator, you're not worried democrats will get the blame if the government shuts down? >> not at all, for two

reasons -- one, we've proposed a short c.r. to keep the government open that keeps the negotiating at high speed. i think american people want negotiating on high speed. they don't want what the republicans have done and just kick it down the road. furthermore, as we're offering to keep it open and republicans are saying no, that's the second reason the republicans are who are at fault here and the second is they control every bit of both houses of congress and the presidency, so they're clearly in charge. in fact, mitch mcconnell even blocked the ability for the democrats to put a bipartisan proposal on the floor last night. >> woodruff: senator jeff merkley of oregon, thank you very much. >> good to be with you, judy. >> woodruff: now for another perspective from capitol hill on the government funding fight, i'm joined now by democratic senator catherine cortez masto. she is the freshman senator from nevada, where she served as that

state's attorney general for eight years. senator cortez masto, thank you for being with us. what a way to begin your second year in the senate. >> i'm happy to be here, judy. you're absolutely right. this has been an incredible yar so far, definitely exciting. >> woodruff: listening now to senator merkley, i taped that interview about an hour and a half ago, he made a very valid argument but we now know in the last couple of hours, two more democratic senators from red states, states that voted for president trump, have said they will go along with the republican proposal. are democratic ranks now basically crum crumbling and dou now see movement toward enough democrats supporting this republican government funding bill? >> no, not at all. they need 60 votes to move forward. but, judy, here's the deal at the end of the day, not only do democrats have concerns about moving forward with this continuing resolution that's been put before us, as you know republicans do as well. and now we have time to come

together, negotiate, figure out how we address all of the issues we have concerns about because we're all representing constituents from our states, we're all representing the united states, so now it's time to come together and, really, it's time for this leadership here in congress to start working with everyone. this isn't about politics, this isn't about a win. this is about finding solutions for the people across the country, and that's what they expect us to do. >> woodruff: what do you think is going to happen? because as you know, this measure says let's wait another month and we'll try to work on daca, the measure to help the young people who came here without documentation from other countries. democrats are saying, no, no, no, we don't want to go for a month. are we talking about a matter of days? is that the difference? >> well, yes. the difference is this, judy, we've already gone -- this would be the fourth continuing resolution. there's a tendency for the leadership to just kick the can down the road every 30 days and

nothing happens. so now it's time to hold their feet to the fire and if we have to stay here tomorrow and the next day and the next day to say let's get in a room, let's figure this out, we have an obligation to come up with a budget. we have an obligation to protect dreamers, we have an obligation to fund our military. we have an obligation for our veterans, retirees, communities, health centers, centers for our children, that's what we should be doing. i think that's what you're hearing from the democrats is enough time frame moving every 30 days and letting the republican leadership pick who wins and loses. now it's time to fight for everyone. >> do i hear you saying you and other democrats are prepared to see the government shut down tonight because this proposal by the republicans doesn't include the immigration language? >> the current resolution that's before us now i would not support for that very reason. you know, and my colleague has said et, you've heard senator merkley -- and i feel the same

way. these dreamers in my country, i have met with them. we have teachers who are dreamers. not only are we telling them we're going to take you out of the classrooms and the communities, we'll take you away from your families and the students you work with and send you back to a country you do not even know. that's why 80% of the country supports dreamers and protecting and passing something. we have something before us right now, bipartisan work, but we could work on and actually move forward and get something done. >> woodruff: but senator, you republicans are in charge of the senate. if they call a vote on the measure that passed the house, you're saying enough democrats are not going to support it and the government will shut down at midnight? >> i can't speak for my colleagues. i can tell you what i'm doing in fighting for everyone. it's time we stand up for everyone and not pick and choose who wins add loses every time we

have a resolution on the floor. i was on the floor in 2014 and 2016 to pass chip then. it expired in my state and we only had a few months to cover it, and i didn't hear the republicans saying it was important and brit up, we're hearing from them the first time because they're using it as bargaining chip and picking and choosing who winds. i am here to fight for everyone. it's important we hold out and continue this fight, and if it means that we have to negotiate every single day and we have to stay here, then that's what we should be doing because that's what the american public respects. >> woodruff: even through a shutdown? >> stay here and get it done. stay here, negotiate and get things done, and that's what i can tell you is so important. that to me is our priority. >> woodruff: senator catherine cortez masto from nevada, we thank you very much. >> thank you.

>> woodruff: turkish forces appeared ready to invade a kurdish area of syria today, and attack a force backed by the united states. this comes as syria's near- seven-year war grinds on, with the assad regime and its russian allies hammering opposition areas. so, as nick schifrin reports, an already-complex battlefield might soon become more so. >> reporter: on the turkish, syrian border, the turkish military appears ready for battle. they're amassing tanks, and firing artillery into syria. today turkish media said a hospital was targeted and destroyed. this is syria's northwest corner, controlled mostly by kurds. these are the same u.s.-backed kurds who helped liberate former isis headquarters raqqa. the u.s. wants to convert them to a 30,000-strong stabilization force. but turkish president recep tayyip erdogan told a raucous rally, the u.s.-backed group was a grave threat. >> ( translated ): a country that we call our ally insists on

forming a terror army along our border, despite all our objections, warnings and well- meant advice. do you think a terrorist organization formed along the turkish border has a target other than turkey? >> reporter: the u.s. insists the force poses no threat to turkey. but the u.s. will support them for years, as part of a long- term military commitment designed to prevent isis from returning, says secretary of state rex tillerson. >> isis presently has one foot in the grave. and, by maintaining an american military presence in syria until the full and complete defeat of isis is achieved, it will soon have two. >> reporter: the 2,000 american troops in syria are a mix of trainers, marines, and frontline special operations forces. they will target isis and al qaeda, but also have other goals: eliminating the chemical weapons that the syrian regime has used against its own people; diminishing iran's influence and iranian-backed hezbollah fighters; and helping the 11.5 million refugees and internally displaced. that's a huge order after seven

years of war. it could mean u.s. troops are in syria indefinitely. >> responsible change may not come as immediate as some hope for, but rather through an incremental process of constitutional reform, unsupervised elections. but that change will come. >> reporter: but today, what's coming is still assad-regime bombardment. syria obliterated buildings in idlib province, the largest area still held by rebels. the war has killed as many as half a million, and counting. for more on syria, the u.s., turkey, and the kurds, i'm joined by andrew exum. he's a former army ranger and served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for the middle east under president obama. he's now a contributing editor to "the atlantic." and, mona yacoubian. she is the senior advisor for syria, middle east and north africa at the united states institute of peace, here in washington. welcome to you both. thank you very much. andrew exum, let's start with turkey and the border in the northwest right now.

you face this under the obama administration. the trump administration has also found that these kurdish forces are the most effective against i.s.i.s. but turkey seize them as terrorists. so how big of a threat is it when turkey starts talking about invading northwest syria? >> yeah, turkey has been very transparent and what about their interests are in syria. they don't like the islamic state, nusra or the sunni militants. they also don't like the assad regime, but their primary concern is the kurdish forces that are in mostly northeast but also some in northwest syria. they are petrified that there is going to be some sort of semiautonomous kurdish region. they view the kurdish factions in control in northern syria as being one in the same as thepark kk terrorists waging concerns against the united states. so they're at odds with the united states of using the forces as proxies to carry out

interests on the ground. we had to deal with this in the obama administration and the trump administration is dealing with it as well. for a long while the turks talked a lot about what they might do. however, a little over a year, year and a half ago they actually went into syria so they've shown a willingness to intervene militarily in northern syria in way that can complicate efforts against the islamic state. now the good news is war against the islamic state has largely been won at this point. however, that does not mean that the war in syria might continue for quite some time. >> let's talk about that more strategic motion of where syria is. a map of the various factions in syria. kurdish forces in yellow, the regime. the majority in red of forces, in green and orange the

anti-assad forces, various groups and where we talked about fighting in idlib, are we lookinger at the end game for syria now? >> i think we are in the sense it's clear the assad regime consolidated its control certainly over damascus and the main parts of syria. but at the same time there is going to be a very protracted and messy end game. i think many of the conflicts and the sub conflicts that have already been referenced, the turks staking their claim and what the red lines are, the regime looking to regain control of idlib which is as you see on the map very centrally located. the kurds attempting to stake their claim. it is an end game but it will be long, it will be messy and it will be, unfortunately, rife with conflict. >> for a lot of conflict, long and messy which andrew exum is the war stege steekly over, did the syrians win is this. >> the war strategically for all intents and purposes over, the syrian regime did win.

we often pressed the russians and others about, hey, if you're in syria to go after the islamic state or the islamist militants, why aren't you in idlib now? but of course they went to aleppo and the strategically important areas in 2016 to try to consolidate their victory and now they're more or less mopping up against some of the islamic militants. strategically it's over, however the conflict could last and be suffering especially in places like idlib. but as we see in every civil war, the region and elsewhere, all the factions are fight with an eye towards the post-war settlement and who gets to be in control of what areas so i think it's likely you will see fighting for some time. >> and fighting for some time and mona yacoubian, we heard rex tillerson try to lay out what the u.s. strategies or goals, perhaps, were including not only against i.s.i.s. and al quaida but removing weapons of mass destruction, helping refugees,

diminishing iranian influence, we solving conflict, a long list, is this a forever war for the snus. >> i think the secretary laid out a very ambitious plan. i think the reality the priority remains defeating i.s.i.s. and stabilizing the areas being liberated from ice. i.s.i.s. i don't know this is a forever war, but it is important to note the secretary staked the u.s. military presence on the enturing defeat of i.s.i.s. and on a sort of settle and peaceful sir. i can't that's going to, of course, as we both noted, that's a long ways away. >> and, so, andrew exum, is it really feasible to talk about all of these things when the goal is still to defeat i.s.i.s., i.s.i.s. is still there, it won't be there forever, can the u.s. stay there long enough to accomplish these goals? >> i think if i were to give the post charitable rendition of

secretary tillerson's wish list, i think he's trying to preserve options for the united states in syria. he's not going to say we don't care about the assad regime or bashar al-assad stepping away from power, even though we know the trajectory of the campaign is largely set in those terms. also keeping u.s. forms on the ground that also preserves options in terms of pushing back against iranian influence. it gives you the option of projecting how we are for the foreseeable future. >> the humanitarian aspect of the war, idlib is going to be very bloody. are we looking at another humanitarian disaster. >> yes, idlib has a billion civilians, millions displaced and ended up there. more than 100,000 civilians displaced further north in the

midst of winter conditions, no shelter. unfortunately, i think we are going to see more displacement and suffering as a result of the ongoing violence. >> mona yacoubian, andrew exum, thank you very much. >> woodruff: now, on the eve of the anniversary of his first year in office, the president faces the possibility of a domestic crisis: a midnight deadline to keep the federal government open. and with fears of a shutdown growing, both parties are pointing fingers at each other. that brings us to the analysis of shields and brooks. that's syndicated columnist mark shields, and "new york times" columnist david brooks. welcome, gentlemen, on this deadline night. so, david, where is your finger pointing? >> i really don't know. i'm embarrassed for my country.

we've gotten used to the shutdowns but we shouldn't ever. it's all so stupid. if we had a dwight eisenhower or franklin roosevelt they would say let's figure ut out, act like grownups and feel demind to go through the rituals of condemnation. so it shouldents be like this. the second thing, the way i think this is a significant moment, sit represents the parties defining themselves in the middle of a big demographic shift in the country. this is funneling down to a debate about immigration. we used to have the debate about the size of government or war and peace, but immigration is one of the central issues in american life and really at the core of this thing, and the republicans clearly feel especially in red states, they can go to red states and say, you know, we want to keep government open for americans, we want to keep healthcare for americans, the army for americans and they want to hold it up for a bunch of illegal americans, so which party do you support? and that's what the republicans

are going to hang their hat on in a country that's rapidly diversifying. >> woodruff: how do you size all this? >> i disagree in that republicans don't say illegal americans. they say illegals. like everybody else, like david and i and i'm sure you, we made a decision at the age of six or eight where we were going to live, where we were going to go to school and what country we were -- whose flag we were going to honor and overwhelmingly this is app issue on which the republicans are on the short side. americans of both parties, independents believe people who have been brought here had no decision and illegal entry who've gone up here, worked, an contributed to the country are entitled to legal status. the problem is quite frankly the democrats have chosen this as the one issue to make a fight on, which does echo not simply the cause itself but the

politics of 2016, and identity politics. and of all the targets of opportunity that donald trump and these republicans have given them from knocking people off health carry to attacking widows and orphans, they've chosen this one. it is one, quite frankly, this issue, that the democrats prevail on overwhelmingly across the country. what mitch mcconnell and republicans in the senate are playing right now is state by state politics that put democrats in red states on the defensive, whether joe manchin in west virginia, joe donnelly -- >> woodruff: but it sounds like you're saying the democrats are making the wrong call about hanging the argument on whether to keep the government open on immigration? >> i would say it depends on the time frame. in the short term it's down to both parties' ill will.

polls say who's to blame, republicans say democrats are, democrats say republicans are. this is not an issue where people are persuaded by evidence. they just go to the partisan camp. if ut matters in 018, i agree with mark, it's bad, if uh you're a red state senator trying to hold on to your seat this is a bad posture for you. it's just not good in. the longer term, of course, in the republicans maintain the party not only of donald trump but they turn into the party of tom cotton who wants to cut legal immigration by 50%, then that to me is ruinous for the party. one of the things that's fascinating, one of the reasons there is so much confusion is this is a party who had a strong lindsey graham, john mccain, george w. bush wing, and suddenly that's shifted, and how far has it shifted? 5u89 way to tom cotton? a lot further than a lot of us thought. people are trying to catch up to where the party has shifted and

donald trump has mud idea the waters by being here, being there, being there, but mostly pretty restrictionist. >> woodruff: mark, you're saying the democrats had a choice. they didn't have to make this about daca and immigration but they chose to do that and are taking a risk. >> let me be clear. i think democrats are on the right side of history and morally. i'm talking about the political judgment and assessment that's made. will it work for democrats across the country, yes, the democrats to advantage and republicans to disadvantage, but when you're mhmitch trying to hold on to the senate you're trying to figure out how to put heidi heitkamp in north dakota on the defensive. republicans can't find anybody to run against her. everybody's passed on it. how to take on claire mccaskill in missouri, joe donnelly in indiana, both of whom proved themselves to be formidable in red states in

winning elections. so i think that's really where it is. i just think there are more opportunities for the democrats who, in 2016, were -- and i think rightly targeted as a party of identity politics. so reaching out to constituency by constituency. >> i would say one thing, the tide has been swinging looks like in the democratic direction in 2018 and the only way they could mess it up that i could imagine so far is if they have a base election, if they go -- if they make their voters in new york, san francisco and l.a. super happy but make the voters in indiana and tennessee and missouri super unhappy, and they risk that sort of fissure with this. >> woodruff: so that's the state by state or district by district political calculus but, david, is there a price to pay from standing back and looking at this from the way washington runs standpoint, from the fact it just looks, again, like it's a place where they can't get the job done?

>> well, i think the big story there is a lot of people around the country look at washington and say why would i ever want to go there? why would i ever want to pay attention to that stuff? why would i ever believe in that system. and that's a problem for the country as a whole. it's just government is observes lessens. if we're going to -- observes ie specific problem for democrats because the party of government has to live with the discrediting of government. in the long term as people become more disgusted and distrustful of the government it served the republican party politically reasonably well. >> woodruff: this coincides, mark, as we have been saying with the one-year anniversary of president trump's year in office, time in office. how does he come through this? i mean, how is he looking right now? does he come out of this looking stronger? what? >> well, i want to take a step back so i talked today about peter hart, a democratic

pollster, the "wall street journal" nbc poll and they did a year-end assessment. peter said the most common word used to describe voters feeling a year ago about donald trump after the election is hopeful. the most common word used now is disgust. he called it the year o ageiati. there were presidents where people had a personal relation. lyndon johnson and richard nsikan didn't have it. so when they hit rough patches politically they didn't have the core of affection feeling confidence that voters extended to them and gave them the benefit of the doubt, and donald trump does not have it. he lacks it. voters don't think he has

temperament, maturity, judgment or selflessness. >> woodruff: but he has the core of the voters. >> no question about it. but, judy, think about it -- we now have the best economic times since the late 1990's tech boom, really just phenomenal times economically. the stock market is going through the ceiling and he's still, you know, mid 30s? i mean, orde ordinarily any pret would be 60% favorable in this economic -- >> and it's a slower erosion, i decided several weeks ago, the fox news voters are less pro trump than they were. i saw a poll among white evangelicals, favorability for trump has dropped 17% from 83%. so that's an erosion of this porn star stuff, this stuff he says about the country, this has

this slow erosion. it doesn't mean they're fleeing because what we have in this country is negative polarization, nobody likes their party but hate the other party, so that inhibits it but we're seeing a slow drip, drip. >> woodruff: but you look at the polls and the interviews done with the voters, i've seen some in the last few days, that people have done these one year in interviews, the people who liked him, many of them are still saying i just like the fact that he's standing up to the establishment, that he's telling everybody to jump in a lake. >> it's this aesthetic mode of talk, the things he said about el salvador, haiti and the other countries, a lot of us find it offensive. but a lot of people whether they think anything of those countries think he's talking straight, that's the way we talk in the bar here. that was never going to hurt him. straight talk even though vial, that doesn't hurt him because people see it as he's like me and he's sticking it in their

eye those people who i dislike. >> woodruff: and, mark, you brought up the economy. in the end, the old saying the people vote their pocketbooks, their wallets. >> you know, from all available evidence at this point, i mean, it's having to be a -- it's heading to be a bad republican year across the board in the base of the economic tailwinds that should be helping the party in the majority. i just point out one thing, judy. we go through this about the closing of the government. in both '96 and '13, bill clinton was president in '96, barack obama in 2013, both cases folks are blaming therooms. the republicans maintained their majority in the congress though closed down the government in '96, they picked up dozens of seats in 2014 even though they were regarded as the villains in closing down the government and depriving people of public services. this has never been an issue on

which voters have voters in an election. >> there's a lot of news between now and 2018 to come. the fact that democrats said we can pin trump racism, that's what we're going to run on, and the republicans said we're going to pin american identity versus the aliens, that's what we're going to run on, it shows this is not a normal economic era, a peace and war era, it's an identity err ray and even a government shutdown revolves around fundamental issues of race and -- >> and donald trump's despicable and loathsome remarks about people and the countries they came from gives the democrats an opening and advantage if not a challenge to raise this issue. >> woodruff: something that will be remembered. we'll know in a few hours what happens. mark shields, david brooks, thank you both.

>> woodruff: finally tonight, have you ever had trouble getting ketchup out of a bottle? how about stopping an oil rig from exploding? a lab in boston has developed a slick solution for both problems. our science producer, nsikan akpan, reports about this new coating, in our latest episode of "sciencscope." >> look at this ketchup sliding. so smooth and easy. back in the day using condiments tended to end with a cave man style mess. but not with these high-tech bottles. the insides are coated with something called liquiglide. >> it's a coating technology that can basically get every last bit to have the product out so you can save on billions of tons of product that's wasted. what liquiglide does is fundamentally changes how liquids and solids interact.

>> that's a mechanical engineer at the massachusetts institute of technology who co-created liquiglide to battle the nefarious issue of interfaces. an interface is any spot or surface where two things meet. you're familiar with the physical forces creating friction and solid phases, like when a tire skids on a road. but a liquid sliding across a solid also experience this is friction in tension. it's part of what makes some liquid sticky such as maple syrup. >> a ubiquitous problem, whether personal problems to chemical industry to energy industry. >> liquid guide came about due to an infamous interface problem in the oil industry. drilling oil unerst all types of crud, mucky settlement and minerals which make crystals and can form molasses goop and plug a pipe. >> if they form it's catastrophic because if you

release this methane plug the methane can come out and essentially lead to an explosion. >> he was mulling how to prevent the plugs from forming when a similar problem sprouted at home. >> that too many my son was about a year old, my wife was trying to get honey out of a bottle and, you know, she said, you know, why don't you apply this technology to bottles. >> the plastic, glass, any solid surface isn't truly smooth. it's covered with microscopic ridges and gaps that cause friction at interspaces. so they chemically designed a liquid to intentionally exterrence so much friction that get stuck in the pockets. this embedded liquid acts as a lubricant, put ketchup in the bottle and collides against the lubricant never coming in physical contact with the glass. get it? liquiglide. >> we thought about how can we

make it easy and spreadable. >> smith developed a formula to protect coatings for any solid surface. once sprayed, it adheres to firmly to the bottle that it can't seep into the container's contents. as a precaution, the applications are edible and f.d.a. approved. they founded a startup in 2012 and the spreadable coatings help get out the sticky stuff. even el merits glue. liquiglide won't work for every pocket book. it's tricky for larger containers and materials like plain old glass. liquiglide is best suited for smaller containers or situations where you can easy respray it like industrial bins. at the lab, a new legion of grad students are congress kerring other interfaces. tired of flight delays due to ice-covered planes? >> if you have icing on a wing,

the time it will spend on the surface will determine whether it's or doesn't. so we want to minimize the time it spends on the surface. we create microscopic ridges on the surface and if we imact on the middle of the ridge we can see it breaks up in two parts that will bounce off independently and because the two parts are smaller than the initial draft they bounce off faster and this is because when it bounces it actually acts like a spring and gets compressed when it expands and retracts. and smaller drops act like smaller springs that actually stiffer than the larger drop and stiffer springs will drop off fasters. >> if smaller drops bounce off faster water is less likely to stick so it could eliminate toxic chemicals other airlines use. >> clogs are being sopped at water facilities by observing how saltwater evaporates or

creeping water from condensing on steam turbines to improve energy efficiency at power plants or a pesticide spray that sticks to plant leaves more effectively rather than washing away into the environment. that's all from now. i'm nsikan akpan, sciencescope from the pbs "newshour". >> woodruff: fascinating stuff. >> woodruff: fascinating stuff. on the newshour online right now: in a shifting health insurance landscape, a growing number of americans have turned to health care sharing, where members pool money to pay for medical expenses. but while religiously-affiliated sharing ministries have boomed, they don't come with the same consumer protections as traditional insurance. you can learn more on our website, www.pbs.org/newshour. and, tune in later tonight. on "washington week," robert costa will have more on the push to strike a deal to fund the federal government and avoid a shutdown. on tomorrow's edition of pbs newshour, jeff greenfield

reports on the conservative split over president trump's first year in office. and that is the newshour for this friday night. i'm judy woodruff. we will have updates online of the last minute negotiations in the senate. have a great weekend. thank you, and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> babbel. a language app that teaches real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more. babbel's 10-15 minute lessons are available as an app, or online. more information on babbel.com. >> bnsf railway. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better

world. at www.hewlett.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour. >> 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 media access group at wgbh access.wgbhtukufu: this week on history detectives,

what can this curious artwork tell us about the beginnings of some of our most beloved cartoon characters? so what you're telling me is that buddy was going head-to-head with mickey mouse. elyse: what stories do these faded legal pages reveal about a revolutionary war hero's role in an unexpected love affair? wes: and in an encore presentation, why would an american army captain have ended up with mussolini's dagger? elvis costello: ♪ watchin' the detectives ♪ i get so angry when the teardrops start ♪ ♪ but he can't be wounded 'cause he's got no heart ♪ ♪ watchin' the detectives ♪ it's just like watchin' the detectives ♪