captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on t cutting back.onight, general motors will shutter production at five plants and layoff more than 4,700 employees. then, tension in tijuana: president trump defends borderol pa use of tear gas after a peaceful march veers out of control on the u.s./mexico border. plus another leap for humankinda nasa lands a scraft on mars with a mission to explore if the red planet has ever been hospitable to life. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonht's "pbs newshour." >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

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at www.hewlett.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. wa >> this programade possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. rsd by contributions to your pbs station from vieike you. thank you. >> woodruff: general motors announced today it is slashings rkforce by more than 14,000 employees, including a quarter of its executives, and shuttering several pla north america. mi least five passenger car models will be eted,

resulting in shutdowns next year at three plants in det northeast ohio and ontario p two other u.nts are on notice. this woulde the company's biggest shakeup since it faced bankruptcy a decade ago. last year, on a trip to ohio, president trump assured residents near one g.m. plantwa that hworking to keep jobs and even add more.da he spoke with general motors' c.e.o., mary barra. >> we don't like it. i believe they will be opening up something else. i was very tough. i spoke wither when i heard they were closing and i said, "you know this country has done a lot for general motors, you better get back in there soon." that's ohio. "and you better get n there soon." so, we have a lot of pressure on them. you have senators, you have a lot of other people, a lot of pressure. >> woodruff: david shepardson of "reuters news" is here to help explain what's behind these moves.

welcome back to the "newshour", david. so what is being cut at g.m.? what kinds ofobs? >> there is two parts. one are, as you said, the car production facyotories. have five factories building cars like the sheby volt, impala, cars that are not selling well. acrosshe inustry car sales dramically declined as people buy more suvs,er crossand pickup truck. g.m. will cut about 15% of the salaried workers, about 8,000 jobs, of those roughly 2,000 taken voluntarily, and the other are the production jobs at thent five pplus the two supporting plants, plus two orthr plants outside america that are to be closed and identified sometime in the next year. >> woodruff: so people who work at plants. when you say salaried jobs, white-collar jobs, what do these people do?ng

>>eering, financial, accounting, all sorts of white-collar jobs that are critical to the idustry. >> woodruff: and g.m. said today that, as part of what you just said, that the certain kinds of crs are just not selling anymore. is that the whole story here? >> that is big part, certainly, that people are not buying the smalcars and are buying the bigger cars on the same platforms, but it's also about g.m. moving towardfuhe re. they're going to take a big chunk of money and invest in electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles. g.m. could start as early as next year a self-driving car fleet in san francisco, so part of about addressing this future shift of mobility away from the traditional, you know, human-driven car. but it's also recognition that u.s. car sales are flaeng and potentially declining. we have been in a rising auto market since the great recession. so everybody is nervous. all the companies about thshis t, and no one wants to be

caught flat-footed and what's why you see g.. and oter companies. this is the biggest step taking early cost vings now before there's a recession, a big fall-off in ao demand. >> woodruff: does it represent a miscalculation on g.m.'s part, you have the politicians, democratic shara brown in ohio saying this is the worst kind of corporate greed and politicians on both sides of the aisle criticizing.ot >> there is af anger and g.m. ten years ago got a big bailout and taxpayers are on the hook for about $11 million, but g.m. says we have to be profitable and can't build cars people aren't buying and this is a publicly traded, free economy and tiers cars people don't want to buy. but you're right, given gas prices have been low for t last several years, g.m. didn't mredict quite fast enough the shift away fro cars into these larger vehicles. >> woodruff: so does this represent wh's going on acros

the industry that we're going to see this kind of thing in otheru -makers as well? >> we've seen ford and phiias-chrysler announce they're abandoning nearly all sedans int america. other companies like toyota said they're going to reduce theirar focus ontoward these larger cars. so we've not seen this level of job cuts yet, and it is striking that, given the political ramifications you said in that president trump and others really are attacking g.m. that they would do this given this is certainly to be an issue in thet 2020 en. >> woodruff: so when president trump and others say they need to make up for this by making other kinds of vehicles, is that realistic? >> in an answer, no. not without spending a lot of money. in case of wardstown, the plnt in northeast ohio, you need a new shop because it's not big enough to build the large vehicles, that could cost a billion dollars or more, retrofitting the plants could

cost hundreds of millions or more, so a large investment king several years, and the problem for auto companies is what is auto manufacturing going to be in the future, more or less, and do you want to invest in more production capity if the market is going down. >> woodruff: in the meantime, represents a lot of pain for these 14,000 people who will be sing jobs. >> and it's remarkable g.m. is taking this ugh stp a month before christmas, the political season, but represts there's a lot of nervousness despite the economy and unemployment beinglo overall, that there are places where the economy may not be as strong as we necessarily believe. >> woodruff: we're all soaking it in now. david shepardson, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: the u.s./mexico border is the focus of our major story tonight. at issue: a confrontation between members of a migrant caravan and pae u.s. border ol. amna nawaz begins our coverage. >> reporter: a march 2,300 miles in the making, rannto a closed

border and tear gas, on sunday, at the san ysidro crossing in tijuana. u.s. border guards fired bhe gas acrossorder into a crowd of thousands seeking asylum in u.s., after hundreds tried to rush the fence to cross. myrna lissette amaya, from honduras, described the scene. >> ( translated ): many young children fainted, my daughter also got gassed, pregnant women and there were many men who also fainted, there were some press members who helped throwing water to the children and there was a child who was hardly breathing and a person from the press grabbed him and took him away. >> reporter: homeland security secretary kirstjen nielsen defended the border patrol's use of force. and, this morning, president trump reatened he might "close the border permanently," and called for mexico to do more about people he callede cold criminals." he followed up this afternoon, outside the >> they had to use because they were being rushed by some veryto h people and they used tear gas. here's the bottom line: nobody is coming into our country unless they come in legally. >> reporter: mexican officials,r

inn, said today that nearly 100 migrants who rushed the border fence are being deported. though border crossings are at historic lows, the number of asylum seekers has been increasing from more than 5,000 in 2007 to over 91,000 in 2016. in response, president trump thsued a new rule this month, saying that while who cross legally can apply for asylum, those wh"enter the united states unlawfully through the southern border will bbe ineligible tranted asylum." a federal judge has suspended ee policy for 30 days, as considers whether it violates existing law. meanwhile, across the border the incoming government of president-elect andres manuel lopez obrador, denied reports that it agreed to hold asylum seekers in mexico, while their claims were assessede u.s. all the confusn means more uncertainty for those awaiting their fate at the border. >> ( translated ): we are desperate, hoping for a positive response. we hope that authorities can

reach an agreement. it's not our intentiono put the mexican people out. our hope is to get news for christmas, good news for my family in honduras. >> reporter: an estimated 5,000 migrants are in tijuana, many hoping for seek asylumn the u.s. u.s. officials, however, are currently processing fewer than 100 applications a day. for the pbs newshour, i'm amna nawaz.uf >> woo amna will be back with a longer look at border enforcement aftey.the news summ in the day's other news: president trumcorejected a key lusion of his administration's climate report. dthe findings were publis friday. they predict dire economic fects from global warmin asked about that today, mr. trump said, "i don't believe it." the u.s. and european allies today condemned russia's seizurr of ukrainian naval vessels. the russian coast guard fired on and then seized the ships on sunday in waters off russian-a. occupied cri moscow says the ships illegally

entered its territorial waters. we'll have a full report later in the program. british prime minister theresa may has begun her final push to sell parliament on a deal to exit the european union. e.u. leaders approved the agreement on sunday. it would keep britain subject to e.u. rules even after leaving the bloc until at least 2020. in the house of commons today, may warned opponents of the agreement that it may be the last, best chance. >> there is a choice which this house will have to make. we can bk this deal, deliver on the vote of the referendum and move brighter future of opportunity and prosperity for all ourpe le, or this house can choose to reject this deal and go back to square one.dr >> wf: president trump wirned today that the deal could hinder u.s. trad britain. parliament is expected to vote on the issue, the week of december 10. back in this country: a winter storm blanketed parts of the midwest with heavy snow for a

second day and snarled post- thanksgiving travel in the process. hundreds of people were stucvein airports oight, as blizzard conditions grounded more than 1,900 flights in chicago alond. the snow a ice also covered roads from michigan to kansas. jury selection began today fie james alexs junior, accused of killing a wom at a white nationalist rally in charlottesville, virginia. the victim was heather heyer, a counter-protester at last year's evt. fields allegedly drove his car to a crowd, killing heyer and injuring dozens of others. gehe's facing a state charf first-degree murder. the u.s. supreme court heard arguments today over whether apple's "app store" is an illegal monopoly. the dispute stems from a requirement that iphonware applications be purchased directly throug the "app store." developers must pay the tech

giant a 30 sales.sion on all iphone users have sued, arguingh are being overcharged as a result. and, on wall street: bargain hunters help stocks bounce back aft the dow jones industrial average gained 354 points 40 close at 24 the nasdaq rose nearly 143 points. 4d the s&p 500 added almo still to come on the "newshour," an inside look at the trump administration's imm policy from a former homeland security official; russia captures a ukrainin naval vessele most dramatic escalation of the conflict ins years; nasa larobotic spacecraft on mars to researchet r life ever existed there and much more.

>> woodruff: as we reported earlier, thousands of migrants seeking asylum ithe united states were met with tear gas and a closed border as ty attempted to cross into southern california this weekend. amna nawaz is back with a closer look at the trump administration's immigration policies. >> reporter: for that, i'm joined by scott he worked on immigration enforcement for the department of homeland security's office for civil rights and civil liberties during both the obama and trump administrations. welcome to the "newshour". b >> good here. thank you. >> you mentioned your immigration fellow at the c for american progress no longer with the government. i want to ask you about at thee vents over thekend and some of what you saw during your time with the governm you've heard the president refer to what happens at the border as a crisis, cited te caravan a number of times.

you work for the government. is this a crisis? >> well, it's clearly an attempt to manufacture something th would qualify as a crisis. it's not clear to me that it would need to be a crisis if managed appropriately. there have been lines at the ports of entry in times past that can be managed with additional resources in. the past migrants would befo processeasylum at the ports of entry and if they cross over and are apprehend bi border patrol. then the trump administration policy enjoined by thge last week that unlawfully tries to deny asylum to people who try to cross in other ways. so there's been an effort to align policy to drive things in a level that would at least look like a crisis. it seems to coincide with thed election a we are where we are. >> the imaoges ofn, children fleeing the tear gas and the the effects are verdisturbin >> unquestionably. i want to ask you something that an i shall from the bordea patrol earlier today which

was, look, we were being attacked to some degree, that the pictures wermisleading. the vast majority of officials were men and when border patrol officials were having rocks thrown at them they had to act to disburse the crowrd. what's your thought on that. >> there's a lon history o bored patrol using force to deflect what they perceive as threats at the wall. reports of rock throwing met with letl levels of force. so it's consistent with the border patrol's traditional approach to meet a very high level of force to counteract what seems to be civil disobedience. i don't know the particular facts of this encount, but it's certainly the case border patrol has looked to force-related solutions at times to where civil rights officials and others have urged them to look for ways of deescalatingth

conflicts ans doesn't seem the case. >> you've heard the president say again and again the poicies we're seeing now are no different nan thenes under the obama administration. hou worked in bot administrations. is there a difference? >> it's nonsense on stilts. no question that at anyidtime any other administration try to separate parents from children to create a deterrent. it's been clear that's what the administration wanted the do in 2017 and in 2018 what it did when i chose to prosecute parentalas a legay to separate parents from the child because you can't send the child to prison and send the children and parents on different immigration paths and thereby create a deterreth. i believe president tweeted twice about this last night and if the second tweet essentially nceded that that was what they were trying to do, while claiming that it's fake news b to describe it as different kind of policy.

so an extremely different kind of policy. there ve been issues with processing families coming to the border seeking asytolum ther is a logistical and legal challenge in lots of ways and some of the challenges have continued, but the idea you would separate children from parents to prove a point, to create a deterrent, to use the potential for trauma to the children as part of a policy genderis completely new with e administration. >> one thing we've heard from the administration is the are national security interests at play. a your role in the government, your job is to protect the civil sughts liberties making e the policies put in place didn't violate those, but w've come into the this conflict before. after 9/11, a lot of policies would argueolating civil rights and civil liberties with the japane interment of thousands of americans, why do you say thiis keeping us

safer? >> the point of government is te us safe and protect our constitutional way of life. following 9/11, there was a recognition of civil rights abuses in response to that. a civil rights office wasur created to psue exactly that, gcause the idea was what we are making safe when tvernment uses force, when we invest in bored security and everythins elser way of life that goes along with our constitutional values, it's noto just life and property, it's also about the kind of people we want to be and the place we want to live. so if we give all that up to keep a couple thound women and children on one side of the fence rather than the other, what if we acomplished? >> scott shuchart, thank you for being here. >> thank you very much. >> woodruff: the men, women and children in tijuana started their journeys thousands of miles to the south we wanted to understand their motivations and see what it has been like along the route. producer julia galiano-rios followed one member of the caravan all the way to the u.s.

border, starting in a mexican city 70 miles from the guatela border. here's nick schifrin: ce reporter: one month ago yesterday, in thral square of mapastepec, we met 23-year- old karla cruz. her and her friends' ses were worn from the 500 miles they'dal ady walked, but she joked anffsmiled, even as they set at 3:00 a.m. to beat the heat. like so many along this migranto mad refugeute, cruz's dreams were born of nigs. to the south is home, one of as' most violent cities. to the north is texas, where her mother fled 15 years ago- leasing cruz behind when she just eight-years-old. ( spking spanish ) t'>> ( translated ): terrible, how parents abandon their children for a better future. the truth is, i will be content with just seeing my mom, even if rs means i will get deported. well, after 15 ydon't you think i deserve a smile?

>> reporter: at first, the journey provided hope, through temporary shelters wheants wear their american icons and dreams arod their necks, and where these migrants and asylum seekers had messages for president trump. ( speaking spanish ) >> ( translated ): i want to get ahead. i want to maybe finish university. i want to maybe learn his language, so he understands that we're not criminals. we're people who want to better. ourselve >> reporter: that was october 25. as cruz traveled north, homeland security secretary kirsten nielsen inaugurated a new section of the border wall, and announced 800 additional service members would deploy to protect it. we do not have any intention right now to shoot at people. they will be apprehended,ve piwe >> reporter: deste the threat, cruz kept going, trying to hitcr a ride froucks whose flatbeds were already full. all theyecould provide was us drinking water. heey walked through tapanatepec on october 27, andjuchitan on october 29.

s e shows off facebook pho her family, including the mother and step-father she longs to join. she traveled with her cousin, omd made friends along the road for security and cnionship, through mexican towns she'd already seen on prious attempts to go north. and when our camerawoman jokes the ride was romantic.ug ( lahs ) ...her laugh still came naturally. that same night, president trump spoke on fox nlos. >> when yo at that caravan, and you look at largely, very, you know, big percentage of men-- young, strong, a lot of bad people, a lot bad people in there. >> reporter: the next day, the trump administration announced it would deploy 5,000 additional service members to the border. >> the predent has made it clear that border security is national security. >> reporter: but cruz kept walking, for seven days, to mexico city where thousands set up temporary lives in a converted soccer sta and by then, they were weary. she visited doctors provided by the mexican government who said she had a feveprand low blood sure.

she admitted the closer she got to the u.s., the harsher the rhetoric, the more difficult the ality. she admitted, she might not make it. >>translated ): because of how protected the borders are now. i think it's going to be a bit hard-- and to be caught and be locked up for six months, i don't think i'm willing to do that yet. i don't understand why they treat us badly, why they don't want us in their country. >> reporter: but on that day, the pull of a better life eclipsed fear. aneventually she hitched a ride for the last stretch-- all the way to tijuana. she arriveon november 20 on a gove took comfort from a newly acquired stuffed bear. and then she watched this weekend as hundreds-r including usin-- tried to rush the border, and the border patrol sponded with tear gas. and on the side of the road, we asked one last time about her plans. >> ( translated ): i'm scared. i don't want to be here anymore. >> reporter: after traveling so far, she finally felt resignation. >> ( translated ): maybe this was not what i was expecting. i thought that when we got here

we were going to try to cross right away, not to park here, like, to live. because that's what the majority is doing here-- living. >> reporter: she traled 2,700a miles for nth and a half. but tonight she's considering giving up, and turning herself into mexican authorities, so they can deport her back home. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> woodruff: a confrontation between ukrainian and russian vessels on the high as has launched a new and unpredictablr phase in tonflict. acretary of state mike pompeo condemned russiaions, saying they represent "a dangerous escalation." john yang has the story. >> reporter: from above-- what appears to be a naval battle. up close-- russian ships close in on a ukrainian tugboat headed for a nearby pt.

the video-- released by russia's government-- then shows one russian ship ramming the tugboat, cutting it off from two ukrainian gunboats.na the ukrainvy said six of its sailors were wounded when russian coast guards later opened fire and then seized all three ships and the ukrainian crews. the ukrainian boats were sailing through the kerch strait off the coast of the crimean peninsula-- which russia annexed in 2014. the aggrsion was a new flashpoint in a nearly five- year-old crisis: ongoing fighting between russian-backed rebels and ukrainian troops in eastern ukraine has claimed some 10,000 lives. today, russia's government said the ukrainians illegally entered the strait, and then ignored warning shots.>> translated ): it is a very dangerous provocation, so it requires special attention and special proceedings. >> reporter: both countries gularly use the strait under a 2003 agreement. ukraine says it gave advance notice of the ship movement.

ukraine's president petro poroshenko said earlier today he had asked parliament for a 30- day period of martial law to begin this week. >> ( translated ): but by attacking ukrainian military boats, it moved onto a new stage of aggression. >> reporter: ukraine's parliament quickly approved, giving poroshepoo wide-ranging rs to seize assets and control the media and other measures. poroshenko said he would only use the authorities in regions that border russia. in brussels, nato secretary taneral jens stoltenberg said the alliance would firmly behind non-member ukraine. >> there is no justification for the use of military force against ukrainian ships and naval personnel. >> reporter: president trump weighed in as he left the white house. >> we do not like what's happening either way. we don't like what'sappening. pefully get straightened out. europe is working on it too. they're all working on it together. >> reporter: and at an eme tency meeting united nations security council u.s. ambassador

nikki haley condemned, "reckless russian aggression." russia's ambassador said the u.s. and nato were giving cover. poll numbers before next year's presidential election. >> ( translated ): how can he maintain power in these circumstances? it's clear: organize provocation and once again accuse russia of everything. infle his own ratings, and p himself forward as the savior of the nation >> reporter: matthew rojansky is director of the kennan institute woodrow wilson center i washington, d.c. >> there's a real question as to whether he can succeed in the elecons so he may be looking for any opportunity he can now to remind ukrainian voters of the one big advantage that he has which that he is the defender of the country, he is the commander and chief of the >> reporter: rojansky says russian esident vladimir putin-- also losing popularity at home-- is using the incident to his advantage as well:th >> the morconflict in ukraine creates chaos in the

european security theater, chaos between europe and us, chaos between ukraine and the wider west including nato and the e.u. and chaos in american arlitics. thesall to putin's advantage, right, because he plays on that chaos. >> reporter: as right-wing activists and milita members in kiev today called for ukraine's government to do more to deter russian aggression, poroshenko assured that his martial law decree did not include postponing elections slated for next march or a declaration of war-- for now. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang. >> woodruff: after travelingre han 300 million miles over six months, nasa's newest mars lander, the "insight," touched down on the red planet this afternoon.it ay be the eighth time nasa has landed a probe on mars, but

that didn't diminish the celebration today. >> touchdown confirmed. ( cheers ) >> woodruff: its descent from the martian atmosphere has been descrid as "seven minutes of terror," as the spacecraft has to slow from 12,000-plus miles an hour to just five miles an. ho this probe is focused on learning more about the interior and history of the planet. our resident space observer,mi s o'brien, has been preparing for this moment as well and joins me now from boston. miles, welcome back. tell us. terror? just how difficult was this? >> well, judy, imagine seven years of work all being distilled down to seven minutes. you know, the people who were in that room when they erupt with joy, kind of likre erboat gamblers of science. they put all their chips on the

table, theynvest a lot of time, then they hope all these things have to go right. the spacecraft has to separate, the back shell has to come off, the parachute mas to deploy, the landing gear has to go down, the radar has to work, the engenerals have to is that right, the heat shield has to go ll, all has to happen in seven minutes. nothing they can do about it, ae eight-mielay, things getting back from mars, all of it has to work out, so definitely a moment to savor. >> 300 million miles, we can't imagine how far that is except we can see mars someset technically, it's just as hard as it was the first time? >> yeah, there's nothing easy about this. they kind of make it look easy, they're kind of ah shucks about it, calm, but when you see the joy erupt, a lot of rusness going on because they've wsoked hard for this moment and now

the science begins. >> woodruff: so, miles, how can they tell it worked? how do they observe it? >> well, they have -- of course, the spacecraft it wasself has the about the to transmits it goes down, and it is able to relay informaon to orbiting n.a.s.a. spacecraft already in orbit arou t mars, andhis time something a little bit different, it had two briefcase-spied spacec flying in formation with it, the first time they've tried this, and they served as a relay, sending information back to earth. that's an idea which was kind od an-on to this particular mission, wasn't a metric for success or failure, but expect to see more of that in the. futu >> so literally the size of a briefcase? >> yeah, which ihard to imagine 300 million miles, sending a briefcase out theres and it e in the right place. it's kind of mind boggling stuff. >> they want to learn more about the interior of mars, what do w tht to find out. >> well, if you think this is

the eighth successful landing ny s.a. on mars, the seven previous ones have looked at the surface, they've looked at the atmosphere, the ions sphere, we look at what we see on or about mars. they're going below the surface. bruce banner. >> the basic idea of insight is to map out te deep structure of mars. we know a lot about the surface of mars, we know a lot about the atmosphere, even about its ionssphere, but we don't know what goion goes on a while, much less two miles below th surface to the center. >> 2,000 miles a big distance, not ing that far, however, will be using a seismometer chich will measure mars quakes and by doing so yon actually tell a lot about the layers that ce. beneath the sur they also have a prot be thall go down about 15 feet, not quite

2,000 miles, but i doing so they will be able to tell how much the heat changes, the temperature changes and can interpolate that, they think, all the way down to the core of the planet. speaking of the core, the big question among scientists, is it a solid core, a liquid core? they actually have a radio transmitter attached to thisac raft that will be able to determine how the planet wobbles, and if it's got a c lique and will actually slosh around a little bit and lob a little more, soy the will be able to determine that as. we all of this comes out over the next year or so on mars. >> woodruff: fascinating stuff. and, miles, from this, you were tell it helps them decide what they will do in the future as they study mars.e >> yeah, ian, ultimately, the idea is to put human footprints on mares. the ou know about the place, the better you can think about where to go, what the do and how to sustain life. this and there's one other thing, when you think about mars now, it's really what earth looked like 4.5 billion years

ago. a we've hot of things happened on our planet, plate tectonics, that have changed the surface and buried the evidence, well the received on ms and gives us information ability how ouplanet has evolved. >> woodruff: miles o'brien, thank you >> you're welcome, buddy. >> woodruff: there remains one last election in this 2018 midterm cycle: a runoff election tomorrow for one of thu.s. senate seats in mississippi. race has become a major issue in this contest. and, as lisa desthrdins reports, runoff has also drawn a ieat deal of attention from president trump, wholding two events in the state tonight. a republican victory there would give the party a 53rd vote in the nate come january. >> reporter: forresident trump today, one last midterm election push in tupelo, mississippi to help republican nator cindy

hyde-smith, who is in a run-off tomorrow. >> i'm here to ask the people to send hk to the senate >> reporter: this contest in republican deep red mississippi has made headlines for being competitive and raising issues nfrelated to the state's pul history with race. first: a video showed hyde-smith praising a supporter by saying, "if he invited me to a public hanging, i'd be on the front row." last week, she apolozed. >> for anyone that was offded by my comment, i certainly apologize. there was no ill will, no intent whatsoever in my statements. >> reporter: but her democratic opponent-- mike espy, who is black-- said the remark had consequences. >> it's caused our state harm, it's given our state another black eye that we don't need. >> reporter: next came facebook photos hyde-smith apparently

posted in 2014 showing her wearing a confederate cap. the post read, in part,ip "missi history at its best!" and last week, the "jackson free press" reported that the senator graduated from a so-call "segregation academy," set up by white parents to avoid integrated schools. the hyde-smith campaign says democrats ha twisted her words. she argues espy is too liberal democrat for the state. and on top of all that, she has attacked him for lobhaing on of a deposed african leader now charged with war crimes. espy has sainthe ended the ct early. for the "pbs newshour," i'm lisa desjardins. >> woodruff: for more on the special election in mississippi it's time for politics monday with amy walter of the "cookre politicart" and tamara keith of npr. welcome to you both after this thanksgiving weekend. let's talk about mississippi, tam.

so much controversy around cindy hyde-smith. she says a lot of it's unnecessary, but where does that race stand right now? >> it's going to a vote tomorrow. one of the major x factors is this is a runoff, this is the tuesday after thanksgiving. it's not clear who will be all that excited about voting, one reason why president tru is holding two rallies there today to try to remind people, hey, gus what, there's an election. you know, just by the numanbers, amy can get into this more than i can, but just by the numbers, in the first vote, in november, there were o republicans on the ballot, and, a, cindy hyde-smith didn't get 50%, but she go big share, and if you were to add all the people who voted forepublicans up, it's a much bigger share than voted for espy in that first round. >> woodruff: yet, amy, there has been a lot, as we said, controversy over comments she's rade, information that's come

out about . >> and this race wasn't supposed to get this much attention, gespecially on election n when we learned republicans were going to retain control of the senate. if this with were a seat where tthe senate control were stake, i think we would have seen even more nationaln attentry quickly here. , but what really brought attention to this contest weree thmarks of cindy hyde-smith there. think million -- i think missisi is one of these states, tam is right, don't have to be it mr.le analyst, it's been a long time since the democrats won statewide there. but the challen for docrats, much like the challenge they had in alabama, isut pting together a coalition, a very -- it has to be perfectly precise coalitionge to barel over the finish line of tremendous turnout among african-american voters. web mississippi has the largest percentage of eligibl voters.

>> who are african-american? yep. and as well as getting some white voters, but really fundamentally what a lot of democrats were hoping was that those voters who traditionally turn out to support republicsts homics maybe they supported the other republican in the first round of votinybe they just weren't paying as much attention because the senate wasn't at stake, donald trump coming in to remind them that his name is not on the ballot, but he is on the ballot.s >> so, tam, ing there, two rallies tonight, one in tupelo, one in biloxi, this can help cindy hyde-smith? >> yeah, there are two ways of ehinking about it. one way is prsident trump is having to go in and hold rallies to help pull her over the finish line. the other way of thinking about it is there's nothing you could do to prevent president trump from holding a rally if there's an opportunity for him to hold a rally.

>> this is exactly what he wants to do. he loves, loves it. and the ra is what e heard from operatives going into the thanksgiving holiday was, yes, the race had tightened up a little bit after those remarks and there were some high profile companies that said we wnt our money back who had given money to cindy hyde-smith, like wal-mart, major league baseball, but it's still not as close as, saw, the alabama senate race was going into that election. >> and what i hadnd in looking at president trump's endorsements in the earlier midterm races is his rallies and endorsements helped where there were red states where republicans have a lot strength and where his base is. mississippi is a base state. >> his approval rating is around 56% there, so one of the st states for donald trump. >> so a up with of days after thanksgiving, not unwise on their part to try to get their vo out. so let's bring it back to

washington. and, so, these hf representatives, it was only seven days ago, amy, we were talking abouttyace for speaker, nancy cordes clearly running, but getting a challenge, gting oposition from newly election and existing democrats in the house that now seems to be melting away.p what hned? >> well, the biggest thing that happened is something that didn't happen which is woe don't actually have a chncllenger to pelosi. what we saw the last time we were here, there was a letter signed by about 16 democrats, some returning, some new members, that said we're not supporting nancy pelosi on the floor or in caucus, andt ha think they had hoped with you by sending this let tter outhat somebody would emerge in the democratic caucus to say, oh, i'll runi'll take ths mantel and this challenge. instead, what happened was that, you know, they ranrdorit's like watching military, right, where the generals run forward, look behind and there's nobody behind them, and that's left i

nancy peloa very strong position right now. we've also seen a number of those members who signed that letter now have actually come out and said, ah, okay, i think maybe i'm going to vote for pelosi now. >> one of her leading critics from massachusetts said he was willing to talk with her. >> that was mind blio. marsha fudge is the only name who ever came up asmeone who could potentially shall pelosi. she never said for sure she s going to do it, didn't sign the letter, then she met with nancy pelosi and now nancy pelosi is restarting a committee on elections and voting and who will be the chair oat committee? mar slay fudge. >> woodruff: so restructuring. nancy pelosi has proven over time that is one of the levers she has worked very well over. the yea she knows how to give out ft to get what she needs and how to get people to do things they don't necessarily want to do.

>> woodruff: esta testament, even saying this, amy, it's a testament to her skill as to what we call an indoor politician, somewho knows how to work the system and make people feel -- >> especially since this is a change election, so many new members and running against the establishment, this was going to with a significant challenge to somebody who's been part of the establishment for so long. first of all, she did not taket for granted she was going to have the votes and, second, every day since the election, democrats picked up more sea almost 40 seats now gained in the midterm, th attacks on ancy pelosi didn't really seem to hurt democrad i think it made it much harder for the democrats who were opp sosed to her y you bet gert on board because she's an anchor and she's going to take us all down. >> woodrf: fascinating t watch. >> it is. >> woodruff: amy walter, tamera keith, thank you bot

>> you're welcome. >> woodruff: and wll be back shortly with a look at the life of groundbreaking italian filmaker, rnardo bertolucci. but first, take a moment to hear from your local pbs station.

>> woodruff: the italian filmmaker bernardo bertolucci died at his home in rome earlier today. jeffrey brown has this look back at his career anning more than 50 years.: >> brornardo bertolucci made films that both followed and defied the conventions of his times andwon the praise usom many in the film world. >> you're pushin to the edge. that's what filmmaking is all about.

>> this is a joy that's is impossible to put into words. >> brown: born into an affluent, artistic family,ed bertolucci staaking short films as a teenager in rome. his early work catured th politically, culturally and the mull courthousely sexual spirit of the '60s and '70s, sims future as "before the revolution" in 1964 and his breakthrough "the conformist" in 1970. international name and controversy came i1972 with the release of "last tango in paris." its graphic depiction of a sexual relationship between an older man played by marlon brando and a young french woman 19-year-old actress maria xchneider earned the film an rating in the united states and an obscenity trial in italy where bertolucci received a four-month suspended sentence. the film was heralded by some for its frao eroticism,

criticized by others for tones of female nudity and emotional abuse. maria schneider said she felt ae littained by marlon and bertolucci. the director'is admon the scenes were a surprise i hs young actress drew condemnation. in 1976, 1900, featuring an international cast including robert de niro was a massive mui-generational epic exploring questions of class and family. in his biggestollywood acclaim came in 1987 with the last emper. >> you will be the new lord of ten thousand yers. >> brown: it won nine academy

awards including best film and director for a lush biopic about the child who became china's final imperial ruler ahead of the mast revolution. with 2003's "the dreamrns" he re to the revolutionary politics of his early works with the story of two chaerrawho sealed themselves off from student riots in the streets outside. >> it's about thet spiri of those times, a hope of changing the world, of changing the relationship between human beings. >> and he kept working in his later years, directing his final film, me and you, released in 2012 from a wheelchair. bernardo bertolucci died today at his home in rome, he was years old. >> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. rein us on-line and again tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. f >> majding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

>> bnsf railway. >> consumer cellular. >> financial services raymond james. >> and by the alfred ponsloan founda supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to buildg a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.o >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by p newshoductions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

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