captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for sunday january 21: republicans and democrats remain far apart on any agreement to reopen the government. on a weekend of marches and protests, women launch a voter registration tour in swing states. and, a married couple, separated by thousands of miles, and by america's new refugee policies. next on pbs newshour weekend. >> "pbs newshour weekend" is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. dr. p. roy vagelos and diana t. vagelos. the j.p.b. foundation. the anderson family fund. rosalind p. walter. barbara hope zuckerberg.

corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. >> additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. from the tisch wnet studios at lincoln center in new york, hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: good evening, and thanks for joining us. it is day two of the government shutdown. and both sides appear to be at a stalemate, this afternoon a bipartisan group of more than 20 senators met to come up with a deal to fund the government for at least three more weeks and address immigration. but as hundreds of thousands of federal workers from almost every agency wait for word on whether to show up for work tomorrow, at this hour there is still no deal.

both the house and the senate were in session today and leaders from both parties say they wanted the shutdown to end, but each continued to direct blame squarely at each other. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell called for an overnight vote, on a three-week budget extension that would happen at 1:00 a.m. >> now the democratic leader could end this today. we can get past this manufactured crisis and get on to a host of serious issues that require thoughtful, serious, bipartisan negotiations. >> so mr. president, i'm willing to seal the deal to sit and work right now with the president or anyone he designates. let's get it done. >> sreenivasan: earlier today, representatives from the trump administration acknowledged they were making progress towards a deal, but the acrimony between the two sides is clear. >> i think there's a chance it gets solved before monday. i really do believe that at heart, here, there was an interest by the some folks in

the democrat party to deny the president sort of the victory lap of the anniversary of his inauguration. >> sreenivasan: house speaker paul ryan said the house could accept a deal to reopen the government for three weeks, but reiterated the position the republicans won't negotiate on immigration until the government reopens. >> so we should open the government back up and resume negotiations, which were going on in earnest, in good faith before they blew things up and shut down the government. >> sreenivasan: senate minority whip dick durbin said democrats have been willing to make concessions on immigration, but president trump has to be a willing partner in negotiations. >> chuck schumer went down there in good faith and made what i consider a significant concession to this president for this quixotic quest he has for this wall on the border of mexico. >> sreenivasan: last night the president's reelection campaign released a web ad that tied democrats to violent crime committed by illegal immigrants. >> democrats who stand in our way will be complicit in every murder committed by illegal

immigrants. >> sreenivasan: and this morning trump added to the criticism on twitter, saying "the dems just want illegal immigrants to pour into our nation unchecked." adding, "if the stalemate continues, republicans should go to 51% (nuclear option) and vote on real, long term budget, no continuing resolutions." but fellow republicans were quick to back-off from that proposal. a spokesperson for senate majority leader mcconnell said he "opposes changing the rules of legislation." for some analysis i am joined from santa barbara california by newshour weekend special correspondent jeff greenfield. jeff, the parties have sment so much time trying to make theur-- sure that this sticks on the other guy, so to speak, that it seems both of them have something to pay mere. let's start with the republicans, what is the cost to them? >> well, they are in charge of everything. the house, the senate, presidency, and so the normal reaction would be that if something goes blewy the party

in power would get blamed. and also broadly speaking the issue that is hanging this whole shut down up, the daca program, that is supported in general by a massive majorities of americans. in both parties. and so their fear might be that in not exceeding to what the dreamers need, and tieing up the government, they'll look like despite all pot we are that they now have, that they are simply unable to govern. and that's, i think, one of their big concerns. >> despite the framing by republicans, that this might be about the dreamers, but that kind of attack ad that comes out of the campaign ad really paints the democrats as complicit, i think is their word, from all future murders from illegal immigrants. >> that is a startling ad. what is so start elling about it is the head-snapping turn that it required from what the president has been saying all along. you know, i want a bill of love, we really don't want to punish those people who came here as children. and periodically during this

whole run-up, telling first senators durbin and graham and then senator schumer, yeah, we can work out a deal am and now basically saying if there is anybody who dies at the hands of any illegal immigrant you blame the democrats. and that is cranking it up to 11 if i can put it that way. >> let's talk about the cost to democrats here, what do they have to lose? >> this is a really interesting delima i think the party finds it self in. nationally the party has moved relative to the left not just on social issues but on immigration, there was a time when a lot of democrats sided with labor unions and say we don't want a lot of low skilled immigrants to come here. but now the democrats and the senate who were thinking of running for president, it looks like half of them, but corey booker and gill he brand and harris and others are saying no, no, we have to make protection of the immigrants the absolute red line here that we can't cross. but you also have five senate democrats running for re-election in very red states. we where immigration is a lot

less popular. those national numbers don't play there. and that's one of the reasons why four of those incumbent democrats voted with the republicans to keep the government open. there is some concern among democrats that if they are seen to be shutting down the government simply to protect undocumented or if you prefer illegal immigrants, that may be a political cost. >> all right what about the president? >> how many times have we sat here and said this is not normal? what you have here is a president who claims to be the great deal maker, who on repeated o he kaitions has set forth-- occasions has set forth the idea of a deal that then has been pulled back. both with senators lindsey and graham, they came to the white house, the president said come, let's talk. they found themselves surrounded by very hard line anti-immigrant staff members and a couple of hard line senators, chuck schumer went down, noasht negotiated over cheeseburgers, was told fore bet it that is why

you have mitch mcconnell saying we need to no know where the president stands before we can come to an agreement. >> sreenivasan: jeff greenfield, thanks so much. >> okay. >> sreenivasan: las vegas is the site of today's massive women's rally, dubbed "power to the polls". organizers say they want to turn the energy and activism from the women's marches into action at the voting booth. this weekend, women rallied across the country and around the world. many voiced their anger at president trump and called out sexual misconduct, taking the online "me too" movement to the streets. the goal of today's event in las vegas is to flip swing states and register new voters. npr's layla fadel is in las vegas and joins me now via skype. first of all, leila, why las vegas is the place to kick off this particular campaign? >> well, organizers say that this is an example of a

battleground state that has had successful grass roots organizing. it went to hillary clinton in 2016. it elected its first female latina senator, there are a lot of races involving women including the governorship here, so they said they wanted to highlight this place on a national stage as an example of that. >> sreenivasan: last year it was specifically to protest president donald trump. this year is there-- are there different reasons? >> well, it's still a protest against this administration for sure, and a lot of conservative women say they don't really feel welcome at these marchs, but it's also not just about protest, it's about telling people to get to the polls and to turn it into political power, to take the momentum and energy of the marchs we saw yesterday across the country and last year, and make that into something at the polls. there is a record number of women running for office this year, groups like emily's list which trains in progressive

women to run for office, say that more than 26,000 have signed up a dros-- across the country. >> sreenivasan: there has been a lot over the past year on exactly who exrieses these women's marchs and this resistance what have organizers done to deal with that? >> well, you know, last year one of the big criticisms was that these marchs exries mostly white liberal women. so when we spoke to the organizers this year they said diversity doesn't come without intention. they said over the last year they've been reaching out to marginalized communities, to minorities, to the disenfranchised, to those who often don't feel they have a voice and try to make sure they are represented. so today's rally, for example, was opened by a native american speaker who spoke about the issues that plague native american women including the number of women being murdered among native american women, one of the highest rates in the country. and so that is the intention it is a pretty diverse crowd here today. mostly local. and the marchs in general have been more localized this year.

>> sreenivasan: nbr's leila fada from las vegas tonight, thanks so much. >> thank you. >> sreenivasan: for more on today's rally in las vegas, read our coverage at pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: refugees leave their home countries due to war, political persecution and ethnic violence. according to the united nations refugee agency, there are now more than 22 million of them around the globe, and the wait can be decades before a new country takes them in. the united states has accepted three million refugees since 1980, more than any other country. but now it is reversing course, setting the lowest cap on refugees in almost 40 years. in tonight's signature segment, produced in partnership with public radio station wnyc, correspondent matt katz reports on a love story-- that of a married refugee couple separated by nearly 8,000 miles-- and by america's new refugee policies. this report is part of "chasing the dream," our series on poverty and economic opportunity in america.

>> reporter: andre twendele's journey from congo to the united states began in 2005. as a student, he joined an opposition political party that resisted the rule of president joseph kabila, who has ruled the democratic republic of congo autocratically for the past 17 years. andre says kabila's troops arrested him and seven classmates for leading an anti- government protest. for three days, they were detained and beaten and eventually marched into a forest. andre had become friendly with a guard, who told him what was going to happen next. >> so he told me that what we are going to do is to kill you, but you will be in front of us, but i will do like i shoot you, but i will not shoot you. but when you hear only the shoot, you have to fall down as others. so it's what i did that day. >> reporter: andre watched as his seven friends were executed

in front of him, one by one. when it was his turn, andre played dead. the guards left the bodies in a ditch and fled. >> i was crying, i was crying, what happened? >> reporter: did you check to see if they were alive? >> yeah, i checked but nothing. >> reporter: you touched them? >> yes, i touched them, but all of them they were killed. >> reporter: andre escaped congo and ended up two countries away, in malawi, at the dzaleka refugee camp, part of his 11- year saga as a refugee. the camp is run by the government of malawi and the united nations refugee agency, the u.n.h.c.r. there's little electricity, refugees have no indoor plumbing, and food rations are limited. the numbers here have swelled in recent months to more than 33,000 people, because resettlement to other countries has slowed to a trickle. there used to be more than 1,000 people a year resettled around the globe, mostly to the u.s., but that has dropped dramatically.

andre opened his application to enter the u.s. in 2012, when refugee admissions were still high. officials from u.n.h.c.r. and the u.s. government interviewed him and vetted his story of t took andre nearly four years but finally, in 2016, 13 days before president trump's election, he was resettled in elizabeth, new jersey. he now works the overnight shift packaging seafood for high-end sushi restaurants. the work is physical, cold, and exhausting. >> my experience is normally you have to be strong. because i've seen many people coming there, after three days they run away. >> reporter: the night shift at true world foods is made up almost entirely of refugees and immigrants. andre makes $11 an hour. >> what i've seen here in u.s.a. is when you are alone, it's not easy. especially when you have a job and that job, the wage is not too much.

you feel like what you get, you spend it, and you have nothing at all. >> reporter: but andre is grateful to be supporting himself. back at the refugee camp, where i visited this past fall, andre wasn't allowed to work. malawi forbids it. but there's a thriving underground economy in the camp, and andre sold homemade charcoal to buy food to supplement the meager rations provided. the camp is also where andre learned english, and where he earned a college equivalency degree with a near 4.0 g.p.a., taking classes in international studies and economics. the camp is also where andre met lisette lukoji. lisette's story is also one of political persecution in congo. she says government officials arrested her five years ago because her uncle had opposed president kabila. she was home at the time with her then-two-year-old daughter, lorette. she has not seen or heard any

news about her daughter since that day. >> ( translated ): i don't even know where she is. i don't know. >> reporter: lisette says after she was locked up in solitary confinement, three guards sexually assaulted her. >> ( translated ): they were planning on killing me, they raped me, i didn't have a choice. all three raped me and left me in the night. >> reporter: they then gave her a little bit of money and released her. she escaped congo, barefoot, and eventually made her way to the refugee camp in malawi, where she met andre. >> ( translated ): he asked about me and where i was from. and my friend said, "she's from congo" and gave him my full story. he asked if he could leave her with his number. and i said no, i don't want a number. >> reporter: lisette just wasn't into him, at first. why didn't you give him your telephone number? >> ( translated ): i didn't even know him! >> reporter: but he seemed interested in you?

charming and handsome, no? >> ( translated ): even so, i didn't feel like it. >> reporter: playing hard to get? >> uh huh. like she doesn't like to talk to me, something like that. >> ( translated ): he was always asking my friend, ¡give me lisette's number, i need to talk to that girl! i like her a lot, i want to marry her. >> reporter: soon enough they became friends. and then something more. >> something strange comes. some feelings of love, or something like that. >> reporter: they got married in the camp in 2015. his church bought him a suit. she borrowed a dress. 200 guests attended. but andre thought if he amended his application to the u.s. to include his new wife, it would delay his arrival. >> i was just crying. it was like a mix of feelings at that time. i want to go, and my wife is

there, so i was confused. >> reporter: the newlyweds assumed that she could come quickly once he was settled in new jersey. >> ( translated ): well, he asked and he was told there was no way to do this and in six to seven months it would be easy to get me there. but now it's been almost a year and i don't know if i'll ever be able to join my husband. >> reporter: that's because donald trump has dramatically changed u.s. refugee policy, effectively delaying andre and lisette's reunion. first, trump enacted a 120-day ban on most refugee arrivals so new security protocols could be implemented. the ban and new vetting requirements have clogged the pipeline for new admissions like lisette. second, citing concerns that terrorists could enter the country through the refugee program, president trump capped the number of entering refugees at 45,000, the lowest level since before the 1980 refugee act. in his last year in office, president obama had set the cap at 110,000.

third, the administration reassigned some american officials who handled overseas refugee admissions, adding to an already massive backlog on the waiting list. so in the meantime, andre tries to settle into elizabeth, new jersey, across the hudson river from new york city. andre's been living here in this neighborhood for more than a year now, wondering if and when his wife, lisette, will ever be able to join him here in the united states. elizabeth has been a portal for immigrants for centuries. it's where jared kushner's grandparents sought refuge after the holocaust, where cubans immigrated in the '70s and '80s. and more recently, where the congolese refugee community in new jersey is centered. andre lives in a one-bedroom apartment with two other congolese refugees. he gets together with others at occasional gatherings, for prayers, singing and food from home. like at this congolese independence day party last summer. elizabeth has become the de facto capital for refugees in

new jersey in part because the international rescue committee has its state office here. the nonprofit helps refugees like andre adapt to their new lives from the minute they land in america. alison millan is the agency's new jersey resettlement director. >> it means everything from picking them up at newark airport, bringing them back to a furnished apartment, providing them their first hot meal in the country and connecting them with key services and systems here in the united states. >> reporter: the agency runs english language classes and cultural orientation courses, and helps refugees find jobs, sometimes accompanying them on job interviews. is your task kind of helping turn these refugees into americans? >> i wouldn't say it's turning them into americans. i think our job is to both celebrate the diversity that refugees bring and the experiences they bring and help them integrate into their new communities, as well as educating the communities where we're resettling them in about

who refugees are. >> reporter: the i.r.c. helped andre find his job at the seafood distributor. andre sends part of his $440 a week salary to lisette. and he tries to save for their future. but mostly he just pays his bills. >> i know that this one is for rent, this one is for food, this one is for clothes, this one is for electricity, for gas, and this one is also for my wife. >> reporter: yeah, mm-hmm. >> if she comes here, i'm working, she's also working, i think it will be better. u.s.a. is a nice country. >> to get lisette here, through the refugee program. >> reporter: andre is working with the i.r.c. to try and get lisette here amid the new restrictions on refugee admissions. >> i think there's just, there's still a lot of uncertainty and questions. a lot of people asking if they do have petitions like andre does for reunifying with family, or their family have cases in the pipeline for resettlement in the u.s., will they be able to come, when will they be able to

come? and unfortunately most of the time it's more questions than answers that we have. >> hello lisette. >> reporter: for now, andre has to settle for phone calls. he used his first paychecks to buy lisette a phone. he even skipped some meals to save the money. now, they speak multiple times a day. during breaks at work, and back home on the weekends. >> one day lisette will come here. i'm sure. >> reporter: you're confident of it? >> yes, i'm confident she will come. with god's help my wife will be here, maybe we can also buy a house. yeah, and i hope so that one day we'll have kids. i-- i cannot say that my dream, my dream becomes reality now, because my wife is not yet here. but i have that chance to live a good, a better life.

>> sreenivasan: turkish ground forces crossed the border into syria in an offensive aimed at pushing back a kurdish group. the turks joined with factions of the free syrian army in operation olive branch, in what they say is an effort to create a 19-mile safe zone along the turkey-syria border. it has drawn criticism from the syrian government, iran and egypt. france called for an emergency u.n. security council meeting on the matter. the kurds are allied with the u.s. in the fight against isis militants in syria. the u.s. has stated their concerns for the safety of civilians. the deadly siege of the intercontinental hotel in kabul, afghanistan is over after a 12- hour standoff. afghanistan's interior ministry says that at least 14 foreigners were killed in the attack, along with four afghan civilians. authorities also say the country's security forces killed all of the gunmen involved. 160 people were rescued from the hotel. the taliban is claiming responsibility for the attack, while the afghan government is

specifically blaming the taliban affiliated haqqani network. president trump's decision to recognize jerusalem as israel's capital topped the agenda during vice president pence's meeting with jordan's king abdullah ii in amman today. the king reminded mr. pence that he had warned the white house about the impact of the administration's decision on the region, while the vice president stressed his administration's commitment to the peace process. >> i have made clear to you and the president made clear to the world, the united states of america remains committed if the parties agree to a two-state solution, we are committed to restarting the peace process. >> sreenivasan: the vice president is now in israel for two-days, where palestinian officials are boycotting his visit over the jerusalem decision. >> sreenivasan: finally tonight, you can call it pop star di plom seerks the lead singer of one of north korea's

most popular girl groups visited the music venues ahead of olympics. her appearance set off a media frenzy in her upcoming performance with an art troupe during the games will be the first by a north korean group there since 2002. tomorrow on the newshour, one year in, we take stock of how the trump presidency has changed the country. that's all for this edition of pbs newshour weekend, i'm hari sreenivasan, have a good night. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by:

bernard and irene schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. dr. p. roy vagelos and diana t. vagelos. the j.p.b. foundation. the anderson family fund. rosalind p. walter. barbara hope zuckerberg. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. so did you grow up around livestock and farming?

no, and, you know, some of the best farmers can be those people who didn't grow up with it. right. ed kenney: returning home can reveal memories from your past that you have lost but never truly forgot. food brings people together and has the power to conjure up cherished memories. jack johnson: ♪ oh, you're such a pretty thing ♪ ♪ i'll take you, and i'll make you all mine ♪ ed: i was born and raised in the hawaiian islands, one of the most diverse communities in the world. johnson: ♪ we could watch it from the clouds ♪ ♪ we can't stop it anyhow, it's not ours ♪ ed: in this show, we'll meet a guest from hawaii, learn about their favorite dish, trace it back to its origins, and have some fun along the way. johnson: ♪ oh, you're such a pretty thing ♪ ♪ i'll take you, and i'll make you all mine ♪