captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> brangham: good evening. i'm william brangham. judy woodruff is away. on the newshour toght: tragedy on the border. a seven-year-old migrant girl dies of dehydration and exhaustion while in u.s. custody. it's friday. mark shields and david brooks analyze what the latest revelations from the mueller investigation mean forrump presidency. plus, join jeffrey brown on arf weird, won trip to a remote town in texas that's now a haven for the arts. >> you're aware of the passage of time by the sun arching across the s. you don't get that in a lot of places. sed i think people who are open to that experiencele into it. and they find the inspiratioof that. >> brangham: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour.

>> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> you can do the thou like to do with a wireless plan designed for you. with talk, text and data.

consumer cellular. learn more at consumercellular.tv >> fincial services firm raymond james. >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. >> 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. >> brangham: president trump may have another legal problem to ponder.

federal prosecutors in new york are reportedly investigating his inaugural committee, and whether it received illegal, foreign donations. the "wall street journal" and the "new york times" say the inquiry is in its earles. meanwhile, president trump's former attorney michael cohen is insisting again that candidate trump directed hush money payments to two women before the 2016ion. cohen spoke in an exclusive interview with abc news' george ephanopoulus. denied acting on his own, as the presidt has repeatedly claimed. >> first of all, nothing at the trump organizion was ever done unless it was run through mr. trump. he directed me, as i said in my allocution, and i said as well in the plea, he directed me to make the payments, he directed me to become involved in tse matters. >> brangham: in response, the white house called cohen a "self-admitted liar," annosaid he shoulbe taken seriously. the president tapped budget chief mick mulney late today,

to be acting white house chief of staff. the announcement came in a tweet. mulvaney will take over when john kelly leaves as chief of staff, at the end ofear. the u.s. border patrol is defending its actions after a seven-year-old guatemalan child died in detention this month. the girl and her father were picked up after crossing therd in new mexico. officials say she did not appear ill at first, but her temperature spiked, and she died within hours. it turned out she'd had no food or water for days. s, as part more on t of a broader update, after the news summary. u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo today condemned china's detention of two canadian. citize the two were picked up after canada arrested chinese teche executng wanzhou. she's accused of violating u.s. trade sanctions on iran. pompeo and defense secretary james mattis met today with their canadian counterparts. the canadians insisted they're ting strictly by the book. >> in canada, there has been top thnt, no political

interference in this issue at all. for canada, th is a question ty living up to our international trbligations and following the rule of law in canada. >> brangham: canadian officialsd have also objeo president trump's saying he might intervene in meng's case, if it helps clinch a trade deal with china. separately, china announced today it will suspend $126 billion worth of tariffs on u.s. autos anduto parts. the moratorium is for 90 days, as trade talks proceed. israeli security forces rounded up dozens of hamas militants in the west bank today. it followed a series of shooting attacks on israelis this week. the crackdown sparked battles between israeli soldiers and palestinians throwing rocks. palestinian officials said a teenager was shot and killed. u.s.-bacd kurdish fighters have captured the last islamic state stronghold in eastern syria. they had battled the militant

group for control of the town of hajin for three months. turkish president recep tayyipen erdogan thre again today to attack the kurdish fighters that he regards as terrorists. turkey said he also discussed the situation with president trump, by phone. in fnce, a fourth person has died from wounds suffered in tuesday's mass shooting in strasbourg. word came as the city's famed christmas market, which was the scene of the attack, reopened for business, wavy security. the suspected gunm killed by police last night in strasbourg. british prime minister theresa may essed on today in her bi to rework a brexit deal. but, leaders from the european union ga her little hope. french president emmanuel macron said it's time for the british parliament to accept the deal, 's not. the european counc president, donald tusk, underscored that point, at meetings in brussels. >> i have no mandate to organize any further negotiations.

we have to exclude any kind of re-opening our negotiations on the withdrawal agreement. but of course, we will stay here in brussels, and i am always at prime minister theresa may's disposal. >> brangham: at one point, may had a heated exchange with european commission president jean-claude juncker. he had dismissed britain's demands as "nebulous and imprecise." negotiators at u.n. climate talks in poland agreed today tom extend thetings through sunday. they're trying to finalize abo "rul" for meeting global warming goals. key sticking points include how c create a global market in carbdits, and whether to compensate countries alreadyda ged by climate change. back in this country, wisconsin's defeated rorublican goveigned legislation that weakens the powers of the ng democratic governor a attorney general. a ott walker dismissed criticism that the move was wer grab

by republicans. and, he sparred, long distance, with incoming governor tony evers. >> these bills don't fundamentally change the power of, not st the next governor, but any governor thereafter, going forward. they just make sure that we have transparency, accountability, that we always look to protect the taxpayers and that we have a sense of stability going forward in state government. >> this legislation was created without accountability and transparency. so what i've said all along is still true-- the will of the people was ignored. >> brangham: the new laws restrict early voting and limit the new governor's ability to enact certain administrative rules. democrats and advocacy groups are expected to challenge the laws in court. also today, michigan's g republicernor rick snyder signed bills to scale back laws on the state minimum wage and paid sick leave.an republpassed the bills in a lame-duck session before

snyder leaves office. he, too, is being succeeded by a democrat. general motors has announced it's adding 2,700 jobs planned layoffs. the automaker said last monthth 3,300 factory workers would be let different u.s. plants. now, g.m. says most of thosell employees e offered one of the new jobs-- but some will have to relocate. president trump and lawmakers have sharply cricized the plant closings. and, on wall street, weak economic figures from china and europe sent stocks tumbling agn. the dow jones industrial average lost nearly 500 points to ose at 24,10 the nasdaq fell 159 points, and the s&p 500 slipped 50 still to come on the newshour: a young child's death draws heightened attention to the u.s.-mexico border. a look at why enrollment in the affordable care act is down. and, much more.

>> brangham: today, the department of homeland security confirmed the death of a seven-year-old guatemalan girl who last week was apprehended after crossing the border illegally with her father. na nawaz is here to walk us through what happened, and what this story can tell us about the government's border patrol policies. amna, what can you tell us about what happened to this poor girl? >> we have details. officials today held a call andr d to answer reporters questions then. we know she was seven years old, traveling from guatemala with her father. she made the 3,000-mile-plus journey with about 300-plus people and they were apprehended on the night of december 6, 9:1d antelope wells, new mexico, by bored control agents. the crucial part of the

oumeline, now talking athe next morning, december 7, 4:30 a.m., the first time abus had been available to transport this little girl named jack lean with her father. 5:00 a.m. before the bus leaves, the father tells he agent she is sick and vomiting. the bus continues to move toth what iclosest border patrol station, an hour and a half away. at 6:30, s a arriv received medical care for the first time since arriving in the u.s. at 7:45, and she's no longer breathing by the time she gets to the border patrol station. 7:45, an air ambulance is called to transfer her to a trauma unit in el paso. she arrives, was dehydrated, swelling aund the brain relying on a ventilator by that point. the next mornin decber 8, this 7-year-old girl dice. why did it take so long to get her medical attenon? this is why a map is useful to

sewhat we're talking ut. the base, antelope wells, w mexico, is in a remote part of the country. there is water on site. we don't know if jacqueline had any. there is no medical staff there. fr the base they have to drive 95 miles to the closest brder patrol station, 95 miles of no fa tilts, towns or medical support along the way. d.h.s. says everyone got initially screened, she wasn't sick at the time, the father didn't flag she was unwell. ryen they got on the bus, one bus to shuttle ee, they did all they could with the resources they had, they said. >> brahgham: it seems a relatively small respoe knowing d.h.s. knows people are coming in places like this. is d.h.s. saying we know more because we know these peop are arriving? >> not really. in terms of resource were four border agents there, one bus we mentioned. we know they regularly handled

groups this size. they sayhey ge around 100 to 300 people ata time. the numbers of children they renne countering are going up. take a look at the other graphi we'll show yw. this is what they call family unit app hedges, adults c aarriving wildren, that's been going up steadily in the last four months. last month, 52, that's been going up since 2012. basically, they say whenh te threats changed in central america, so did the demographics of he group arrivire. the difference is we as a government, with we as a country haven't been doing anything to change how we're receiving them and caring for them, even though we know that they are comin if you want to understand how the administration is viewing this, ke a listen to how deputy white house press secretary hogan responded earlier today when he was asked about jacqueline's death. >> the southern border is an horrific situation, no two ways about it, and it's a sad time but it's also senseles it's a

needless death and it's 100%ev tible. >> does the administration take responsibility for a parent taking a child on a trek through mexico to get to this count? >> no. they made dealer responsibility is not with them for failing to provide adequate care, but to the parent for brig them to forward to in the first place. >> brahgham: separate from this twrearnlingsd know there are lots of conllcerns about the other young people kept in u.s. cu btody. you han doing so much reporting on this. what is the status of those other peoplou >> we mention there's an investigation into this young girl's death led by the inspector general. we also have more migrant children in u.s. government care than ever before inistory, ability 15,000, and we also know they're staying in our care longer, and that's because this administration has put into place les that prevent them and slow their release to family members who usually have been q coming forckly to get them. children stay in our care and

custody about 60 days in a system not designed to keep children long term. the administration requires fingerprints and background checks for people stepping forward and then arrest a lot of those people on the basis ofr thmigration status. >> brahgham: the people coming forward to saying they want to sponsor the child aretting arrestedo >> yes, basetheir immigration status even though they have no criminal history. and it's happened again and again. we know more children will be arriving and we're not prepared to hand them. a story i heard from the advocate on the border interviewing migrant children talked to a someone fro guatemala and said why do you do this? the girl said they were going to kill me. if i died, i was going to die trying to live. that little girl was nine years old. the she said if she had to make the journey agaldin, she wou

>> brahgham: amna, thank you very much. >> brangham: for most americans, the enrollment period to sign up for insurance plans under the affordable ct ends tomorrow. john yang has a look at the numbers so far. >> yang: william, the latest govement figures show that as of last saturday, more than 4.1 million people had signed up for a.c.a. coverage. that's downearly 12% from last n ar, and the number of new enrollments is dmost 20%. this, despite stable premiums and more plans availab now, millions more are expecr d to sign up re-enrolled by tomorrow's deadline. to discusshat's going on, we're joined by julie rovner, chief washingtonorrespondent for kaiser health news. julie, thanks and welcom why is enrollment down from last year? >> well, there are a lot of aren't. a big one, of course, is tta congress last year repealed what's called the mandate

penalty, so if you don't hav health insurance, you will no longer have to pay a tax penalty for not having it,h tholot of people don't even know that. the economy is bert.e more peohave jobs. they don't need their own health insurance. there are smallethings in virginia, they're expanding medicaid, so you've got tens of thousands, more than 100,000 ople who were getti aca coverage who will now be able to get medicaid, and the trumpti administ allowed these short-term plans, these alternative kinds of plans thate mighheaper if you're healthy, and there are some number of people who are probably going to sigup for those plans instead, so there are a lot of things contributing to this. >> so even though enrollment is down, it doesn't mean necessarily that coverage is down. >> we won't find that out for several months but, yes, enrollment is down and some people could be getting alternate coverage. >> brahgham: what does this tules about the health of the aca? >> it's more resilient than people thought. it was predicted when congress

got rid of the penalty for not hatong insurance, the bot would fall out of the market. and while enrollment is down, the bottom is not falling out of the market, which comes as a bit of a surprise to people. it seems more the subsidies that n help people buy insurance that are keeping people there rather than the possibility of a tax penalty if they don't buy it. s brahgham: the bottom not falling out, dothat mean the marketplace are stabilizing. >> yes, dsurers are starting to raise money, and this year some ddn't raise premiums and more insurers are coming into the market, so there are more choices at sort of less rapidly rising prices. so, yes, the market is in better shape, certainly than iwas last year. >> and the deadline tomorrow is for the federal mketplace. >> that's right, for the states, the federal rketplace. there are very large states including california, new york, massachusetts, where the deadline is in january, so, in most states tomorrow, is the deadline, but in about half a dozen states in washington, d.c., it is later. so you will still have a chance

to sign up. >> brahgham: won't know final numbers for a while. >> no, we won't know final numbers for a while. some millions of people will ll reen at some point if they don't come to the marketplace and choose a new plan, they will be renewed into the old plan. >> brahgham: people who want to fenew in tederal marketplace before tomorrow's .eadline go to -- >> health care.g if you get in the line, you will be able to enroll even after the deadline. >> brahgham: julie rovner of kaiser health news, thank you very much. >> you're very welcome. >> brangham: stay with us. coming up on the newshour: a recent investigation reveals troubling details about the sandy hook shooting. representatives carlos curbelo and mark sanford reflect on their time in congress. and, how a remote texas town transformed in an artist colony.th

today mark6th anniversary of the massacre at the sandy hook elementary school in newtown, connecticut. 20 children and six adults were murdered. it was an especially tough day there today, since the school had to be evacuated this mornine r receiving a bomb threat. officials later said it was not credible, but children were sent home out of caution and sensitivity. this week, the "hart courant" newspaper published a report about more than 1,000 documents related to the killings and the killer, adam lanza. the story paints an eve chilling picture than we knew,y a rigid and andividual struggling with loneliness, disdain for others and multiple psychiatric problems. pulitzer-prize wning reporter josh kovner wrote some of the "courant's" coverage, and he joins us now. josh, thank you very very much for being here. this report that you have put out is just a harrowing read, detailing the extent of the

troubled mind of this killer. can you just give us a snapshot of the things that youd? fo >> it was a sense of a greater, deeper extent of his obsessiond mpulsive disorder, his crippling problems that he noted just living eevery day. his meticulous fascination with mass murder and gun play, a very detailed spread sheath that he put together. we hadn't seen that before. his feeling, his ambivalent sex wall. his feeling about ped feelia he had a soft spot about thafet. hiing if a doctor touched him during a physical, it was tantamount to rape.th expression of surprise and

concern froma psychiatrist who interviewed him when he was 14, the psychiatrist seemed to be saying, what are you doing being homebound with homebound instruction, you're not i school? this is a catastrophe for you. you need to be in the main stream. and adam, his remarks as captured in that report, were, as he said, rigid, robotic. he was asked about friends. he said, what culture are you talkg about? what 14-year-old would say that? he said outright that he had scorn forhumanity, he had no use for relationships. it was the extent of the darkness and the darwor view. >> it really is the whole thing t harrowing chronicle tha you've reported. after these kinds of tragedies, we as a society always look for

the red flags that could have been missed. what people might have noticed to say, you know what, thi really is a danger, this person really is a potential danger. and i think it's important to say, too, that we know that many people who suffer from mental illness, the vast majority wilr necome violent. but in the case of this young man, were there warning signs oking back, now, that could have tipped people off to what was coming? >> well, some of the signs uld have tipped people off and motivated them to get him more help, maybe an in-paent situation coupled by meaningful outpatient, and things hav grown up in the mental health field since in the last six years. peer advocacy, people helping people who have been through it, trauma-informed therapy. they used to tiptoe around trauma, now they confront it directly. if you had any trauma from the divorce of his parents, some of

these things could have been addressed. but through no fault of anyone's own, schools, counselors, parents, psychiatrists operate in silos, and wasn't doesn't always talk with the other, and he excised between them, among them, and nobody nailed the whole picture. and maybe that's impossible, but that could be something to aspire to is better communicatioamong good-intentioned, smart people who are trying to help youngsters. everyone has to communicate. >> some in the newtownyo community, au know, are distressed that you guys put out this rert in the way th you did and when you did. and i know you and your colleagues talked a hot about this anthought -- talked a lot about this and thought about this long and hardyo. caexplain why you felt this was important to do? >> epfully, there's -- hopefully there are some recognition and prevention aspects of this once you get beyond the emotional

core. my heart goes out to those parent you know, they have been very brave, they've done a lot of good things, brought a lot of add value tthat community and the gun debate. but once y get beyond and start to reach out to the lighter audience, there was some fairly positive feedback about providing some kind of a roamad for, perhaps, to prevent the next adam lanza. you know, hopefully we created a body of knowledge about this shooter, and the next one won't come up the same way he did. >> brahgham: josh kovner ofe rtford, courant. thank you very much. >> you're more than welcome. >> brangham: on capitol hill this month, dozens of lawmakers are packing up their offices, including more than 70 house

republicans who are either retiring or were voted out in this year's midterm elections. our lisa desjardins sat down with a pair of those departing members. two very different types ofre blicans, whose seats will now both be blue. mark sanford represents charleston, south caro he's a member of the conservative freedom caucus.ar and,s curbelo is a moderate who represents southern florida. have both spoken with the republican president, an yoinitiative from both ou who have been opposed and also attacked by this president. how privately do other members of congress see this president, what are ty saying in private? >> if you're committed to the truth, if you are committed to being sincere, that means you're going to disagree with people, and sometimes it mean'r you going to disagree with the president of your own party. now, the problem is, these das, that's viewed as unacceptable. you either have to be 100% with someone or you're an enemy.

d we're seeing that across our politics, by the way, not just in the republican party, not st with this president, and that's very dangerous. >> it's as polarized as i've ever seen. s have been involved in polit in south carolina for a long while, what he said about one camp versus the other camp is al and dangerous. so, when an issue is hot or popular, you can't push politicians away from the microphone, but when i not -- and this is one of those times that would fit in that category -- people are reticent about speaking out. is there a courage issue about republicans speaking up for what they think the truth is? >> i think there is a courage issue in congress. pele are more and more risk averse e. people are more and more in is for a career and not service, so they treat this as a job they have to protect, no matter what, and i think that distorts your ability to make sound decisions. it certainly makes it harr for you to be sincere and honest and transparent about what you think

and people. >> in the past few days, we've seen a jury convict a white nationalist of murder for when he drove into a crowd of protesters inot chasville last year. following these stories, talked to republicans who say they think the idea of racism overblown, some think white nationalism doesn't exist. where is your party on ce and hatred right now? >> there are in the jobs oth e in i've which part of the country and every part of the world. i don't think, in any w, the republican party endorses, supports or condones the work of whe nationalists or any other nut job group out there. >> but the question is, is the republican party doing enough to stand up to it and prevent it and stop it >> again, i've got sphere of influence and it only goes so far. all i know ise i'v spoken out

vociferously on thispic in as much as it's arisen. if you look at the healing tat took place in chartse charts -- sharlston where a white nationalist type came into ah church and down a number of parishioners, what he intended for that turned out to be an embrace for good for community, black, white, all, who came together. >> it's a large party of men, especially for those returning to congress. why is that? >> clearly, oe party needs t do a better job to welcome in people from all over america who look like america looks. i'm a conservative-leaning republican hispanic, so that earned me getting rejected by ssional hispanic caucus. i applied to join and they said

i wasn't welcomed there. >> because it's all dvrntle dem. right. you think that's what it was. eir bylaws said they're bipartisan. i think they didn't want to incle me because, for them, diversity is only important in some cases, not when it applies to them. but the truth is that there are a lot of hispanic-americans who are center-right wh believe in the republican party's message of growth and prsperity and small, responsible government. a lot of these are people fled big, oppressive governments, yet they don't feel welcome by the party because some, like the president and some of our colleagues, use rhetoric that is reallyiv ofto some people, that diminies people. >> you have advocated for a carbon tax. you want acaton on cl change.

that puts you in the minority in your party. why is it nkdo you thi republicans have really moved more away, even, from discussi climate change? is this a policy debate? is it politics? is it both? >> this is an issue that, sadly, has been demagogued, like so many others, and a lot of republicans back when al gore opted this cause just assumed they must be opposed to it, and some spegrial interesups seized on that to really widene the divetween republicans and democrats. what i've tried to do here in congress over the lour years is undo that process and just have a rational conversation. t's look at the facts, let's look at the science. >> congress passed two of the largest spending bills in history. republicans used to be the party that was all about cutti the deficit. as a deficit hawk, what has happened to the republican party on this issue? >> i think the president's been

particularly destructive on this issu when, during the presidential primaries, he basically said we're not going to deal th entitlements which is the real driver of spending at the federal level, and when people see it now, they see there's not ing to be any presidential support, they leave it alone because they know it's a political impossibility, at that point. we do so at our owner pil. i believe that we're walking away towards the largest financial crisis in the historyy of our cou i think it will parallel the great depression. >> and here's anoth issue where i think there's a lack of honesty in politics. the truth, is from what i can tell and from my time here, that the party that cares about deficits and debt is the mirity party. no matter which one it might be. >> you've talked a lot about truth and honesty. honestly, is this it for olitics for the two of you? >> if there's every who's learned never to say never, it's

me. (laughter) d 's something of a lazarus, dead and over, dd over, dead and over. but i believe so, is the answer to the question. >> i think there will be another political chapter in my life. i don't know when will be, but i do sense that i have it me, i have the passion for it, the love for it and, even now as a private citizen, i'm going to continue affecting for the issues -- advocating for the issues that are important to me, whetr climate, immigration, this issue of sustainable government and the deb so i'll louis my vote but not my loice. >> congressman ccurbelo, congressman mark sanford, thank you very much. >> brangham: from the political fallout of robert eller's investigation to the senate sending a strong message to

saudi arabia, it has been a busy week here in washington. to help us understand it all, we turn to the analysis of shields and brooks. that's syndicated columnist mark shields, and "new york times" columnist david brooks. gentlemen, nice to see you bhah. so w, according to the president's tweet, a new acting chief of staff, mick mulvaneyy. that means certainly the storm isvaver on pennsa avenue, right? >> yeah, i don't know why he was acting. he was the budget director, meter of congress before th from south carolina. he was on the super fiscal hawk side of the ideological sperum sth and generally well regarded in the house, around the house, in washington, knows th players p in washington. >> brahgham: he's the guy.se s like a solid pick. the question is can this person protnald trump from himself, and i would say that's an open question. you have to see. u have john kelly, a big tough guy who had the general gravidas and sometimes trump would defer

but even at great personal cost to general kelly. we'll see if mulvaney has that. >> brahgham: mark, what do you think? >> he wore two hats. he was budget management omb director and also took over the consumer protection finanal bureau. two things, would seem the largest growth in the national debt in a time of prosperity in the world's history.en usually he debt goes down, it's a time of economic retraction and things aren't going well, government spends, we've had wa, peace, prosperity, and the debt reach historic highs, even moreis torque highs. that's the first plus. the second is the consumer mansion protection buhich mr. mulvaney was wearing the seco hat, had the largest drop in morale in any government institution. this is the bureau that's supposed to protect from predatory bhaincht predatory lenders, student loan expd loits

l sorts of other people, and his job the was basically to dismantle it. so, you know, based upon that performance, so far, it's perfect for e trump administration. >> so maybe you would like to keep him in the white house. >> f think it's a good. i mean, i would say if you'rea expectinfe expecty slightly shorter of that n ha second lieutenant in combat, it's not a job of lon>>gevity. rahgham: this week we saw, the tail-end of last week and this week, a greater wederstanding of these hush money payments tha made to these two women so they wouldn't talk until the somewhat troubling stories abo intersections with donald trump. we now have two people who were tn the room who say tha candidate trump were there and they were clearly paying this moy to direct these women to be quiet to protect the campaign. david, the collective response from the g.o.p. seems to have been a collective shrug of the

shoulders. is that what we are to expect now?es >>these are felonies. they are felonies, so the they e to be taken seriously.st characteally, i spent a lot of time with republicans on capitol hill this week and they are keeping their head down. the senate has become the think tank they sit round, not pass a lot of legislation, they are thinking about the future of the republican party and policy so they are probably trying to plan the fut post-president trump, and they're probably trying to come up with policies bout foreign policy, the things government usethto do, and all press wants to ask about is trump and i think they're frustrated. collectively, you think they decided to think through policy and decide what conservatism means and will talk about trump when forced to but try to do other things in the mean time. >> brahgham: sit okay for the

president's party teput ir heads down when talking about potential felonies? >> i think it'fair to say there is no republican party, it's a trump party, a you have 95% of self-identifying republicans say they approve of the president's job, theayy that's what their loyalty is. a political party is a coalition of peoe who -- you know, disagree on some issues butag e on more, and they organized these winning elections, and the passing policy or establishing policy, changing policy, and this isnotl party. i mean,we saw it this week with the weekly standard in business, we see it with republicans on capitol hillyou do no dissent. there is no g. mccarthy in there blican party. >> from within. there is no movement within the republican party. they keep their heads down. they are not part of us. i'm dinking beyond, the

fact is that it's now a republican trump cu, is what it is, and they're not looking for converts, they're not tryini to a coalition larger, they're looking for heratic and they're drumming people out of the ranks, khether m sanford we saw earlier tonight, whether the weekly standard magazine. you know, if you don't buy into the program, you can't even be a part of the team. >> to mark's point for those people who are not aware of this, you re one of the founding members of the weekly standard. this was the magazine ofve conservahought, and, for many, there were many writers within that magazine who were very critical of the president. is mark right that this is yet another sign of the implosion of the conservative party? >> yeah, i think so. you know, the standard was the greatest collection of talent, concentrated collection i've ever been around. when we started with charles, wg

had bob , a prominent foreign policy writer, we had ao great collectipeople but what defined it is we were not team players. so there was a random fluorescencef opinion, a lot were very good, and the standard was killed this week for three reasons, i think. first, because it was not a trp and that hurt is with subscribers, second the owner't dinderstand what opinion magazine is and they were trying to get it to hiring a.m. ra rado jocks. they were getting stiffed by the editor and past editor and current editor saying that's not who we are. so they didn't understand what an opinion organization is. there's sie poslity people were buying and serious possibilities and that was prevented by the owner so in a sense they've murdered it tentionally partly because

they want to keep the list and partly maybe out of vengeance or something. e death of it is a blow to the idea that you go into this businessot to be a party player and a cheerleader for a party, but you go because you value a set of ideas. so i fd inmyself angry about it, and i think it's a great loss for america. >> brahgham: mark, let's shift to theemocrat. there's been a loof questions about how the republicans are responding to the president.qu there is also tion of are the democrats responding effectively. we saw nancy pelosi secured her position as the speaker, and a lot cof democrats weheered on this week when they saw her performance with the psident and chuck schumer in that remarkable scene in the oval office where they had this fight about the border wall. do you think the democrats are ring to the occasion? >> rising to the occasion of -- of -- >> brahgham: the trump moment. certainly based upon the unprecedented and unorthodox

session in the white house where the president invites in t cameras, doesn't tell anybody, h d all of a sudden you're sitting there whe leader of the democrats in the house and the senate and you'reo ging against donald trump, who's a master of that forum, and i thought nancy pelosi won two out of three. she pinned him. she had him on facts. she said you've got the house, you've got the senate, let's vote on it right now, mr. president. you really think -- you don't have the votes, mr. president. and she corrected him on tax, which, of course, you know, is, i guess, very few people -- he doesn't take crection well, he doesn't take correction from a woman well, but i thought she did it with great respect. it's always mr. president. he's calling her nancy. yoknow, it's sort of a arm over the shlder, thone of the guys. but democrats are in a pol quandary. i mean, i think david mentioned earlier the evidence is pilg

up against donald trump, but tha poli-- donald trump had a very low level of expectation coming in. unlike jimmy carr, he didn't say i'll never lie to you, integrity was not his strong suit. it was dismay but not total astonishment abouthese revelations about him. it started out you will have to ask michael cohen about these payments, then really preserving family sanity and well being. then w's michael cohen? then michael cohen was doing wis on his on. then there's nothing wrong wit. >> brahgham: the presideer's lahen this week saying it wasn't a crime, no one got killed or hurt. >> really, we reduced it to the most elementary of new york street crimes. so that, to me, the democrats, there is not the will, i don't think, in the country now to impeach them and i don't thiprnk therably is evidence, but there is certainly mounting

circle sense that this is not missing the tip of the icebe. >> brahgham: david, what do you make of the democratic response to the presint. i don't know if they're strong enough, but the republicans are organizing at that moment of how were going to handle the showdown and call schumer showdown and pin it on the democrats, but the president said, no it's mine and understood cut the message of his own party. >> brahgham: mark shields, broodavid brooks, thank you very much. >> thank you. ow d brangham: andwe take a look at how art anculture has brought new wealth, and new challenges, to a tiny town in west texas. jeffrey brown has this report. it's part of our series, "amerin creators." >> brown: welcome to marfa, texas. dusty ranchlands surrounding a tiny rural town near the mexican border.

and, an internationally-renowned art mecca. it's sometimes werrd, often wol, definitely far off the beaten path, some three hours from the nearest maj airport. >> you can get from new york to paris, seated and eating dinner, faster than you can get from new york to marfa. so you got to make the commitment to come here. >> brown: jenny moore is director of the chinati sefoundation, a sprawling created from an old army fort on 340 acres. >> you have time here. you're aware of the passage of time by the sun arching across the sky. you don't get that in a lot of places. and i think people who are open to that experience, settle into it. and they find the inspiration of that. >> brown: chinati, and the whole marfa phenomenon, began with the arrival here in the 1970s of artist donald judd, a leading figure in what became known as "minimalism," art stripped down

to basic forms. judd wanted out of what he saw as the stifling new york art e scene, as lained in an 1983 newshour interview. >> for many years, i've beenok g for empty land that had not been damaged or destroyed, and didn't have too many people. and i finally realized that there was a large space in west texas. >> brown: that space-- and the laescape itself-- would bec the inspiration and home to large works by judd and other noted artists, including robert irwin and dan flavin. >> look at what humans can do. they can come to an environment like this, which people assume is sort of harsh, and look at the incredible beautand potential here, and manifest it in a way that you can alwaysco back to and think about what the art means, what the experience means, what it means to have land and spa and time. i think that's what's so significant about it. >> brown: judd also bought up once-grand buildings in downtown marfa-- vestiges of an earlier, boom era for the town, when

ranching and agriculture thrived. these, too, became work, l exhibition aing spaces, all part of a vision that artists could create their own world. judd's daughter, rainer.y >> he felt vrongly that the idea of seeing one artist's single work makes it hard to comprehend what the artist is working on, or thinking about. that you actually need to see art in multiples, in aworeat number os in one space. >> brown: rainer and her brother flavin now head the judd foundation, which oversees theia er's work and legacy, and is now renovating the original spes for public visits.wa >> his idethat when you want to know about art of that time, of his time, then you can actually come to marfa, and see his work in a situation that he wanted it seen. judd foundation was born out of a sense of being empowered aan artist, that "i can do this, i can have spaces, and i can put

my art up." >> brown: donald judd died in 1994. his vision grew in something he might not recognize, a "new marfa," as artists and n- profits moved in. tourists came from all over the globe, hip restaurants, galleries, and hotels opened. fashion and travel magazines featured it. celebrities posted instagrams. and maa became the very model of the arts as economic engine in ruralmerica. in new marfa, even the mayor, ann marie nafziger, is an artist. >> the economic impact of tourism on marfa is enormous. and the outgrowth of that, having a large creative culture here, has also changed the community and some of the ways that some of the activities that e e available. >> brown: and thmovies came back. marfa had once been best known as the setting for the 1956

film, "giant." 2007, the oscar-winning "no country for old men" waser filmed h and chip le, a local rancher baand head of marfa's one , had a bit part. th what i learned about the whole experience i acting is best left to the professionals. >> brown: love, whose familyas had a ranch here forne tions, remembers when judd first came to town. despite some initial skepticism from so-called "old marfa," he says, for the most part, the changes have been good. >> my texas pride, i can never admit to needing to be saved. but i shudder to think what it might be like if judd hadn't come along. it has certainly enhanced the cultural lifestyle here, and all the things that go along with the cultural life. the restaurants, the music events. i mean, it's made living here cher than it has been in the past. >> brown: but while life may be richer, it's also far more expensive, and marfa's art-led

growth has brought unintended consequences. housing prices have skyrocketed, as demand from wlthy newcomers has soared.in town where the median income sits around $40,000, it's caused major problems.pe >> whele talk about gentrification, you're thinking usually of an urban setting. now we're seeing it in the middle of rural texas. >> brown: sandro canovas has worked in west texas more than a decade, building and repairing homes made of adobe,ly historical owned by marfa's majorityispanic population. as adobes gained popularity with outsiders, the county raised property taxes on the homes, a move canovas says hits the wrong people. a>> it's displacing mexic mexican-american families. the loss is not only that these people leave. it's also the cultural loss of the place. >> brown: the effects are felt elsewhere as well. oscar aguero is superintendent of the marfa independent school district, with around

340 students, more than % hispanic. >> i have several teachers that nve, you know, 30 miles d the road in alpine, where it's a little more affordable. i did have one teacher living in presidio driving the hour drive. so for us, the housing of teachers has been a problem. >> brown: moreover, with marfa real estate prices so high, the school district is now classified by the state as being "wealthy." >> we're paying nearly about a half a million dollars back to the state. that's coming out of our local nds that i could be using for our students. >> brown: yeah, i mean, because you don't have a rich population. >> no, we don't, you know. 76% of our students are economically disadvantaged. so, which under the free and reduced lunches. so, you know, half a million dollars that give th educations could go a long way. >> brown: still, ascero says, hiols also benefit from the art boom here-- a partnership with the c foundation brings artists into

the classrooms. his own daughtwa, in fact, now s to be an artist. >> for the younger generation, you know, they're geing to grow up with this culture that is world-known and is amazing, and they're able to see things and hear things that you wouldn't see in a small, rural town. >> brown: for the residents here: an unusual mix and a delicate balance of what art cad do for-- a to-- a small town. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown in marfa, texas. >> brangham: finally tonight, we close with a remembrance of the great singer nancy wilson, who died yesterday. wilson was a legend who crossed so many different styles and won over a generation of fans. wilson released more than 60 albums, in a career spanning five decades. she won three grammys, and had

many hits. she was a civil rights activista whhed in selma. she hosted her own tv variety shown the 1970s. but, it was her ability to dazzle audiences across so many musical genres-- jazz, pop, broadway standards or ballads--e that really seapart. in fact, she called herself a s solist. in 2004, when jeffrey brown interviewed her, he asked what she meant by that. >> give me the freedom to be a pop singer, r&b singer, jazz singer. it's really about e lyric, as opposed to the melody. and that's my approach to the music, is lyrically. i love the song, i love what it says. and i think "song stylist" gives me the freedom to sing all kinds of things and not be put in a box, necessarily. >> brown: what makes a great song? >> i want to tell you a story. i want the song to have legs i want it to mean something to you ten years from now. it's kind of like acng.

you know, you go there.u little vignettes, each song is a play. that's always been my approa to it, you know. i can close my eyes and go where that song goes.♪ ♪ (singing) ♪ ♪ s brangham: nancy wilson years old. on the newshour online right now, across the country, but especily in rural regions, having a reliable vehicle can make or break your health. in kentucky, we me patients who depend on the transportation

from medicaid to get their essential care, and how a possible change could affect them. that andore is on our website, www.pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm william brangham. have a great weekend. thank you, and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> financial services firm raymond james. >> bnsf railway. >> consumer cellular. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutionto 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. s >> this program de possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ns captioning sed by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> you're watching pbs.

>> welcome to "ammanpour and company" western democracies besieged by extremes, from violence on the streets of france toin paral political infighting in britain to divided government in the unitestates. can the center hold against this rising tide of nationalism? former greek finance minister tells m about his plan to build a progressive wave. then iconic fashion designer stella mccartney who says luxury designers and fast fashion must unite to save the environment. plus, shell shock,he emotional war that soldiers face even after coming home from