captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> schifrin: good evening, i'm nick schifrin. judy woodruff is away for the holida on the newshour this christmas eve... (waves crashin ...indonesia searches for hundreds of missing people, following the deadly tsunamiou that struck wiwarning. then, government in limbo. negotiations between the white house and congress connue, as the shutdown threatens to extend into the new year. we look back at this y major moments in movies, and which films are leading the oscars race. and a newshour holiday tradition: u.s. troops around the world sing a christmas classic. all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

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>> and with the ongoing sepport of tnstitutions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcastong. and byibutions to your pbs station from viewers like you.th k you. is schifrin: the official casualty count in eekend's indonesian tsunami, keeps rising. today officials confir least 373 dead, and they said the nuer will likely increase.

in serang, indonesia tonight, the christmas eve mass was traditional, but heavy with tragedy. parishoners prayed for those swept away by the weekend tsunami. >> ( translated ): some ofur church members are also victims of this tragedy. even now, some of them are in the process of burials outside the town. >> schifrin: it was saturday nighwhen the tsunami hit sun strait, between the islands of java and sumatra, with no warning. a local pop band was performing at the moment the waves arrived. multiple band members died, and members of the crowd were swept away. >> ( translated ): when i saw water come in, about knee-high, i tried to run, but suddenly th current drag and i was drifting away. >> schifrin: today, that beach resort is destroyed, as are local villages. and search teams fanned out looking for signs of life. they are getting better organized, says the international red oss' steve

mcandrew. >> so it's getting better every minute as debris is being cleared.rn the govent and the indonesian armed forces are i responding thethe area sort of making access better every minute every hour. t schifrin: and that's allowed those who fled tnami, to return today. but they say they've had to clean up, themselves. >> ( translated ): we're grateful that we're safe now, and aid is coming in from counities and the city central, but we haven't received any from the government yet. i >> schifriall, some 1500 were injured. and health clinics are overwhelmed, family members line up outside, anxiously checking patient lists. it's been just three months since another tsunami caused by an earthquake killed more than 2,000 people. saturday's tsunami is thought to have been triggered by underwater landslides caused by the eruption of the anak krakatoa volcano. that means child of krakatoa volcano, which erupted in the

1880s and kied 36,000 people. today president joko widodo visited the tsunami zone, and acknowledged there is no system to detect a tsunami triggered by a volcano. >> ( translated ): in the future, the government willid prdetection equipment, warning systems that can give warning to everyone. >> schifrin: but for now, people on these islands, are living in erar of another tsunami, especially ahe volcano erupted again yesterday. t the government has recommended peopstay away from the coast at least until 8:00 a.m. on the morning of the 26th, so another two days. >> schifrin: some will spend that time grieving lost loved ones. the lead singer of the b id that was hiapparently its only surviving member., on instagr asked people to pray for his bandmates and wife, all washed away by the waters. a government spokesman today o mitted the country's network of buoys, designedtect tsunamis, haven't worked since 2012 because of vandalism, and budget shortfalls.

it's the third day of a partial government shutdown, and there's no end in sight. our white house correspondent yamiche alcindor is here wh an update. >> schifrin: okay, yamiche, do things stand with the process. >> negotiations have stalled and looking like theñi shutdown is going to last with into 2019, incoming chief of staff nick mulvaney doesn't expect this to be resolved quickly, thehite house is 0 willing to come off the $5 billion amount which is hat the president was wi asking for the border wall, but there is no specific number in sight and they are about least two to $3 billion apart when it comes to democrats andñi republicans on th to read to you a statement that the democratic leaders, senator chuck schumer andñi representate nancy pelosi put out today, doesn't people from the same white house ar saying different things about what the president would accept or not accept to end his trump shutdown making io ible to know where he, we withstand at any moment so we are at a stalate. >> schifrin: so president trump a couple of weeks ago said i will take the blame for thish down but more recently he has blamed the democrats. we are on day three right now, at is he saying today?

>> the president is saying a lot. there was a tweet storm goingon i want to read to you one specific tweet i think encapsulate what theesident >> he said at about, he said this morning on christmas eve i am all alone, poor me in theh whitse waiting for the democrats to come back and makeo a deal on desperately needed border security, at some point the democrats not wanting to make a deal will cost our country moretoney than blb about. crazy. so the presis in fact alone in the white house, the first lady an his barohn are going to be flown or flying back from florida to be with him for christmas, but there is, there was a point today where he was sitting in the white house, while the lawmakers in te senate and house were out, he did meet with secretary of homeland security today, but as of right now, the presidentñi still waiting for shutdown to end. >> schifrin: and you mentioned the law makers are out. in the past we saw law make enters absolutely urgent about responding to the shutdown, why ncyn't we seeing that urge this time? >> well it is only 25 percent of

the government being affected, the other thing is the government workers have been out of work since the shutdown began,t began on midnight on saturday, today which is christmas eve was a federal holiday, that is trump created by executive order, tmas is also an executive order or federal holiday, and then you have wednesday where furloughed workers will start feeling the hin, the other thing isat fhe white house, they are saying the incoming chieftaff is saying that what is going to be impacted isçó january 1 also, museums around the country and in dc are still open so people are able to do that, so i it isa little different than in the past. >> schifrin: it looks like the shut down may last to 2019. >> yes. >> schifrin: yamiche alcindor, thanks so much. >> thank you s >> schifrin: in the days other >> schifrin: in the day's other news, wall street crashed into christmas with another big sell- off, driven in part by president trump's weekend attacks on therv federal re the dow jones industrial averago lost 653 pointlose at 21,792.

the nasdaq fell 140 points, and the s&p 500 shed 65. we'll have a full analysis after the news summary. today, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu agreed to dissolve parliamt and call for early elections, in april. his announcement came amid mounting divisions within his right-wing coalition, including last month's resignation of his defense minister. netanyahu said he made the move after his small parliamentar majority appeared to come up short on a key vote. >> we knew what we were doing, it was right not to go to elections then and i think it's perfectly sensible to go to elections now. we had a complete agreement by the way, of all thpartners, complete unanimity. >> schifrin: netanyahu is heavily favored to win re- election, but he is so facing an ongoing corruption probe.s today, israetorney general said an early vote would not affect the investigation. in afghanistan, at least 29 people died in an hours-long assault on a government building in kabul. it began with a suicide car

bombing, followed by gunmen storming the building. both the taliban and islamic state militants have car similar attacks in the past. the death toll rose today, in somalia, after saturday's twin car bombings in mogadishu. the extremist group al-shabab claimed responsibility for detonating a car bomb near the presidential palace and a smaller one by an underground prison. amid the violence, people the world over marked this christmas eve with prayers for peace. in bethlehem, palestinian scouts paraded in manger square playing bagpipes and drums. pilgrims filed into the "church of nativity," the site revered as the birthplace of jesus. and at the vatican, worshippers filled st. peter's basilica, where pope francis took part in the traditional celeation of midnight mass.on still to comhe newshour: wall street in turmoil-- we examine the causes of the market'sorst month in a decade. how the president's decision to force out defense seetary james mattis will affect u.s.ri policy in and afghanistan. our politics monday team breaks down the impact of the federal a

shutdown more of the latest political news, plus much more. >> schifrin: there was no christmas eve gift for investors, shareholders, retirees and the jittery markets. in fact, today was the worst trading day ever on a christmas eve as indexes plunged yet it comes after the m finished their worst trading week since the 2008 financial crisis. between slower growth, higher interest r shutdown and trade wars, there's plenty on investors' minds. but as william bngham tells us, the president and his team seem to be adding to that anxiety. >> brangham: heading into today, several of the major stockea indexes were a in bear market territory for the first time in a deca. that includes the nasdaq and the standard & poor's 500. a bear market is when an index drops 20% from a recent high. w

then, over tkend, there were new revelations that further unnerved investors. president trumwas reportedly considering firing the chairman of the federal reserve jay powell. administration officials have ince denied the president had any suention. but the president again went after the fed today, tweeting: "the only problem our economy has is the fed. they don't have a feel for the market." on top of that, yesterday, treasury secretary steven mnuchin issued a puzzling statement, saying he'd spoken with the heads of the biggest u.s. banks to reiterate the strength of the financial system and confirm their reserves of cash for lending.y, to mhis harkened back to a concern not seen since the great recession in 2008. annie lowery watches all this for "the atlantic." >> you wrote a column in the atlantic where you were describing this lettat mnuchin put out yesterday and equated it to going to th doctor when you have the of a h

doctor canop talking about cancer. and how alarming that s i mean, what do you think the secretry was up to? >> yes. so it would be quite normal forr the tresecretary to talk to to heads of big banks. this is something thallhappens the time, that isn't surprising, but the treasury put out this press release on a weekend before a holiday assuring market participants that nothing was happening, indicating here was some kind of financial crisis or i will quid at this crisis at the big banks which is not something anybody was ror, worried about. vanilla be market, but there is no signs that the banks are teetering or that we have to have the 2007, 2008 2008 worcester irs against so, again so it was a very weird statement and it franklyunnerved a of market participants who were like the secretary mnuchin see something we don't see? is there something that we are missing? because this just seems like a down market. >> schifrin: i guess that is just a mstery we will have

wait and find out about. what is it do you think is really going on with the market? we have seen this veryec itous drop. what do you think is driving that? >> there are a number of fundamental issues that the market is responding to. so first and perhaps mostan impo the fed is raising interest rates, that is increasing borrowing costs and slowing the economy down, the markets are pricing tha in. and it is starting to show up in terms of, you know, decrmeeasing ales, decreasing car defaults, we have prblems in a number of financial markets, the leveraged loan market finishes h ing some issues where people are losing some money. all of this is somewhat to be expected, though, right? like we were in a bull market ten years and thisxd is seen as being a natural correction, people are also concerned about trump's trade war and concerned about uncertainty emanating from washington, they are concerned about slowing global growth. all of these things are affecting the markets and mighta indi that the u.s. economy might slow dowt again that is very different from being in

a sort of situation that mnuchin was gesuring to where you might have a kind of financial crisis and be worried about, you know, the stability and the safety ofw isn't. and therefore -- and it is deally important to note the l reserve is not responsible for the market going up, it does not see the market going up as being its responsibility, it is responsible for two things. and two things only. price stability and unemployment.

and both of those things are looking pretty goodso that happening within the context of a healthy financial sector means the fed is going tonu con probably raising rates. unless we start to see signs of e economy itself slowing down. >> schifrin: but does the president or some of his all who agree with the criticism of the fed that there is, there might be some underlying factor there is is a nse that the global economy is slowing down and that maybe we might see those ripple effects fairly soon rest ratesraising inte is not the best idea. >> certainly, and i think that if you started to see the unemployment rate go up, inflation to drop, growth to slow down, there is those kin of things would absolutely give the fed pause. tt the markets going down in donamp sort of yelling at the he fed is not something that is going tchange their path. right now i think the markets are concerned about instability emanating from washington from the trump administration itself, and one thing that happened wit secretary mnuchin's secretary,

talking to market participants is they wereweirded out by it and felt it was sip boll lick of the kind of shabby state of goernment, inexperience at treasury, and so that statement alone kind of freaked them out, along with all of the twe that donald trump has been making, the government shutdown, this general sense of chaos emanating from washington, so they see the uncertainty as playing into the animal spirits here. >> schifrin: i want to touch on something you referenced before, i am wondering if we are with making too much of the stock market decan klein. as you say we have had ten years of truly incredible market, and now we have had three months of a bad some mart with ten years versus three months, that is unequal ratio. ,> absolutely, markets go up they go down, there is nothing right now to indicate that this is much more than a soft patch, the economy might slow down, we ession.ven enter a rec but right now this is really just bear market, a correction in the market and we wo more data to indicate that there

was sort of a deeper underlying problem, just, you know, stocks kindf selling off and investors losing some money. th schifrin: all right. annie lowery oatlantic, thanks for coming in on christmas eve. >> thanks for having me. >> schifrin: the president's decision to withdraw forces from syria, and order the pentagon to develop plans to withdraw troops from afghanistan ha dramatically changed the path the u.s. was on in both in the northersyrian city of manbij, american soldiers spent sunday with their local allies, and patrolling a loc market. exactly what president trump has o,dered them to stop. a year and a half .s. troops teamed up with syrian kurds to evict isis from manbij and other former strongholds. in total there are 2200

americans in syria. and over the last four years, u.s. support to anti-assad forces and the iraqi government, and a u.s.-led campaign helped eliminate 99% of isis' territory across syria and iraq. but the main u.s. ground ally syrian kurds, are seen by turkey as an enemy. and today, turkishelevision broadcast footage of a military convoy deploying to the syrian border. the syrian kurds warn they may have defend an imminent turkish attack, and stop fighting is terrorists, the head of their political wing, ilham admad, said this weekend. >> ( translated ): we will continue our mission but this b widifficult because our forces will have to withdrawro from the to deploy along the turkish border to repel any attack. >> schifrin: but president trump says the u.s. withdrawal is "slow and highly coordwiated" turkish president reccip tayeb erdogan. and today mr. trump tweeted erdogan promised to "eradicate

whatever is left of isis in syria... and he is aho can do it plus, turkey is right 'next door.' our troops a coming home!" even as the end of theathysical caliis clearly now coming into sight, the end of isis will be a much more long-term initiative. >> schifrin: that was the u.s.' top anti-isis official, bret mcgurk, just last week. this weekend, mcgurk accelerated his february departure to protest the president's decision. he argued the u.s. should stay in syria, and better coordinate with allies, to ensuresis' defeat. >> nobody is declaring a mission accomplished. defeating a physical caliphate is one phase of a much longer- term campaign. >> schifrin: but the president opposes that kind of stabilization campaignn syria and in afghanistan, where u.s. officials say president trump wants to cut the 14,000 troops in half. most u.s. troops help train afghan forces, and serve as a symbol to support the afghan government. others fight isis and the taliban, helping create leverage in nascent peace talks between

the taliban and lead u.s. negotiator zalmay khalilzad. but president trump says theil u.s. wl not support long-term military relationships without something in return.bs "we are ntially subsidizing the militaries ofou many very richries all over the world, while at the same time these countries take total advantage of t., and our taxpayers, on trade," he tweeted today. "general mattis did not see this as a problem. i do, and it is being fixed!" secretary of defense jamesis maanted to stay until february, but this weekend the president said he would leave next week, replaced by deputy secretary of defense patri shanahan. let's explore what all this means for the u.s. going forward with "wall street journal" national security repof.er nancy yous let's let's start with syria, the president used the word slow and coordinate. what does that ook lie, most likely. >> that is usually an issue that is changing even as we speak, because when these talks started the u.s. was with talking about leaving syria in 30 days and noi we areh starting to hare of a timeline as long as 120 days,

d rather than just precipitous withdrawal or drawdown, we are starting to hear talks about marine general joseph dunford, the joint chief of staffs meeting with the turkish counterparts, we are hng about ways of possibly the u.s. amn continue some form of its air strikeign in support of the coalition and really coming up with a specific plan which woulallow potentially for u.s. troops to go in temporarily rather than picking up and leaving, so the plan would be such that the u.s. cann ome way support its kurdish partners on the ground and try to protect its gains against the islamic, islamic statement stats and finoff in last remnants in the days and weeks ahead. t> schifrin: not it is tha the u.s. will finish off isis but turkey is going to finish off isis, he id thatn a couple of tweets. but is there any evidence thaty turkey actuatends to do that or wants with to target isis rather than what it considers its enemy, the syrian? ku >> the challenge for the dierks even before that it is not clear they have the mitary

capability to go down where isis is nearly 200 miles from the turkish border when they were much closer they were really challenged by some of the logistics of conducting such a military oarms operatiha so there isand as you point out even if then able to do it is not clear they see s as a preeminent threat, they stated they see the u.s. kurdish partners and members of the syrian dependent forces as a terrorist group d so the idea they would come in and work hand in hand the way the u.s. has with the kurdish partners seems very unlikely, these people, they have literally called terrorists. >> >> schifrin: and the u.s. has required the kurds, they needed the kur and allied absolutely with the kurds, what the syrian kurds ations right now is cn they turn to the assad government and form some sort of alliance there? >> we are starting to hearing,me letart by saying they are still fighting isis and they are not fighting neessarily out of loyalty to the united states but to protect themselves because they are on the front lines ofar thatand started to hear they are talking to the assad

regimes and members oe syrian democratic forces in moscow and paris trying to negotiate and what the saying is we are working with anybody we can with to fill the vacuum that will be created when the americans leave to protect our own interests, and so there is a scenario where they reach a deal with the assae d regand the assad regime reaches a deal with partners like russia to come up with some sort of exit and plan for what northeast syria looks like, who is whe and who controls what. >> schifrin: all right, we have to do syria and unless afghanistan. >>rih-huh. >> sch so we have about 14,000 troops right there right now. u.s. officials talking about cutting them in halfto 7,000, what kind of talk is there if any yet about the specifics of that withdrawal? >> so it is interesting, as we have heard from a long time the trump administration was looking for some kind of withdrawal plan out of haferg but in cord nation with the ongoing peace talks being led by -- what happened now the united states is sort of jumped ahead of the peace talks snd said it has plans to withdraw half of troops.

there are plans that could start that withdrawal as early as january. the problem is, one of the ke components of the peace talks for the taliban was coming up with some sortfoof number u.s. troops heaving, and the u.s. is now essentially said w are going to give a path without having gotten anything out of the taliban so reall raises question if we are already down by t,000 could theliban negotiate something, were, where that number drops further? >> schifrin: and lastly we ve a new acting secretary of defense, deputy secretary of defense shanahan, very little government experience, was at boeing. more aligned perhaps with the presidenn' >> we with dknow, because he really is a businessman. he has runay theo-day operation it is, he is focused on business and the relationship between the busuniness coy and the pentagon, and even in this confirmation hearing he said am here to complement the secretary of defense mattis who will take care of policy, i will take care of business. and, in fact, stumbled a little bit when answering policy questions during his confirmation hearings about ukraine so we don't know.

with that said, he has supported the resident in his effort to create a space force and in line with the president in terms of fixing things financially and putting a focus back on budget and not on putting treoops on front line. >> schifrin: and very quickly in the time we have left, secretary mattis is tryingo be professional at this moment even though this is not a normal moment for the white house and the department of defense.at bout his staff? is there a level of anger and will they stick around to help secretary shanahan? >> the indications right now are not. there are a lot of people said th would join the department when they did to work with for secretary mattis and thereasre indicationany as a dozen could be gone in the week ahead, and so that is a real challengea e as we have discussed, secretary shanahan doesn't have policy experience and he will lose a lot of experience with secretary mattis's departure. >> schifrin: man than of the wall street journal, thank you so much. >> my pleasure. >>

>> schifrin: it may be chritsmas eve, but that does it mean politiwashington has any plans of slowing down. from the departure of secretary mattis to the government shutdownour politics monday duo is here to break it all down for us. that is tamara keiy of npr and lter of the "cook political report." >> schifrin: all right, tamara keith, we have just been talking about the policy of afghanistan, 0 of syria of this moment with secretary mattis's departure. what are the politics of this moment? es it matter that secrtary mattis wanted to stay until february but will be leaving next week? >> so he reigned in protest. that matters. and talking to sara sanders at the white house she said the president didn't want a long drawnout transition with someone who he clearly disagreesit w who wrote a resignation letter that was pretty damning of thepr ident and his policies. and then you also have the possibility that mattis would be like a good-bye tour, receiving love and sort with the

president watching and potentially even being called to testify before congress. so president trump according to sanders said, hey, i likey his o is the deputy let's make him the acting defenseet sey. it is not -- just to be clear it is not normal foran there to bcting defense secretary. typically, defense secretaries wait until theiracement is confirmed, this is a very big, important position in the federal government. >> yes, we are on our fifth cabinet level position now tt will have an acting secretary, so that's obviously not particularly normal either. you know, it seemed this week as if we hit this new place with republicans, with republicans in e senate, particularly, many of whom came out over the weekend, expressing disy about mattis's departure, expressing dismay about potentially new syria policy, and it seems hike this is the place that many people have thought w we were

going to see earlier in the president's tenure with the party splitting from the president, openly actively as he goes againstraditional republican orthodoxy, chained about tariffs, not really done anything. they have complained about his behavior, not really done rnything. when it comes to fgn policy, though, we are going to see if this is the breaking point or whether it is just anoer example, or we will see just another example orf ublicans hand wringing but when asked there is nothing we can do.es he senate want to prove it is a coequal part of government or falhein line? >>it comes do military decisions it is difficult for the senate to prove it wants to be aua coeqbranch of government, they haven't been able to pass an authorization use to use military 0 force since 2002, 2003. >> schifrin: a new one -- >> they tak about it, but they also can decide whether there is going to be money spent on certain decisions. >> schifri but the obviously, obvious rejoinedder here is yes some in congress

have objected to this, some senators or representatives have hand understanding when it comes to the president but th line is they have not really pushed barb back on the president and not pushed back on foreign policy. >> on foreign policy. there is the diffilty on tht. and the president's overall broader argument about theve americans' invnt in these seemingly never ending quagmires is one in which there is a broad agreement, but. >> schifrin: military cause of wars >> yes. there is some agreement there. but i will be fascinated to see whawhat the confirmation process going to look like for this newe etary of defense and once again -- >> schifrin: if there is one. >> if there is one or can we continue to exist with -- >> schifrin: having an active secretary of defense for quite a long time, actually. let's switch over to the shutdown. and let's listen to nick a

mulvanyou know is the dearkt of the office of management and budget and thhie acting of staff speaking this weekend. >> he is afraid to have this fight as to where we are in the back and forth, again, the ball right now is in thirorner, we have made them an offer yesterday afternoon,o the senate democrats have the ability right now to open the government and agree to the deal. >> schifrin: so tamara keith he is prudo be in this place? and it is all up to the democrats is the message we are hearing from the white house, ght? >> and the democrats in the house and senate will say it is a trump shutdown and they have a great surrogate for them, that wod be the president himself, not two weeks ago in the oval office saying he is proud of it. they put out a statement today essentially saying we don't even know who to talk to because we get a different answer from every person we talk to in th white house. that is not the sign of a shutdown coming to an end. that is a sign of an impse. and like how do they get out of submit well, one way, the mos

likely way is that maybe democrats come up in the dollar amount, the white house comes down in the dollar amount. that seems hike an outline of where they are going. the problem though then is democrats say whatever the dollar amount c 't be spent on the wall and the president says whatever the dollar amount it must be ent on the wall. so then you are still stuck. >> and i thought it was so appropriate that mulvaney used the term fight, that's what the president is interested in here, this isn't about having a prolonged debate overborder policy or immigration, this is about i want to have an actual opponent, when i have an nponent and the focus i't on me, it is on how bad the other side is, then i lookd better i thrive in that kind of environment. that ireally, that really has been on display obviously for the entirety of his presidency. but thfact that he sees this is a, this as a winning stratego ha lived up to his billing.

we just had an electionot that long ago where it was a referendum on thaexact strategy, on that -- on the way he has run the presidency, and democrats had a very big night, they won house popular vote by almost nine points and picked up 40 seats, even in places that republicans traditionally do ll, republicans lost. in and this is the message going forward, i am most going to do of what i did for the 0 first two years because the american public likes at they are seeing? well, theyertainly didn't say .at in novemb >> and in the midterms, in these rallies leading up to the voting he talked about a wall a lot. he made it all about immigration. a remember the caravan, it was all about the care ran is, caravan and the wall and then immigratght. >> schifrin: i want to go back to something you said. about the republican party and the infighting. i want to shodithe last etion of the weekly standard, which is publishing t way. this wh a primary voice of conservative washington for so many years, obviously problems

of subscription, of revenue, but iominant organ of neoconservative ing, a few years ago, very critical of trump. isn't thisa sign, the trumpian sidebas winning the de? again, let's look at what they actually have won. the president now has 89 percent approval rating the among republicans. it is remarkable given that three years ago he wasn't really running as a republican to be president of the united states, right? he was running as oside of this. he goes against so much of the, orthodox at thaditional orthodoxy of the republican party, at the same time, we have se parties splitting apart, at least among the traditional coalition when you look at the 2018 results. the fact thatrange county, california like the weekly standard -- >> schifrin: where i grew up yes. >> is a bastion of traditional conservative everythinghas now flipped to democrats, there is not one republican whoe represents oraunty in

congress, so the party has been redefined and reoriented in trump's image. the question really that is scinating and i think a lot of republicans are thinking forward to this, what happens when there is no trump to define trumpianism, will it go bac to the weekly standard days or going to stay in the trump direction. >> schifrin: we with will leave it there, amy walter, tamara kiet, thank you to you both. >> you're welcome. > k >> schifrin: christmas w a time when many of us catch up on movies, either on our couches, or in the theaters. so, we turn to our jeffrey brown, who kicks off aeek-long look at some of the year's best art, starting today with the silver screen. >> brown: the past year was as always a big one for blockbusters but it was also notable for a number of cially relevant films and movies with a greater sense of diversity and inclusion.

the biggest hit of the year in fact was "black panther." we look at other notable offerings with a pair of film critics who we often check in with: ann hornaday of the "washingn post" and mike sargent, chief film critic for wbay and co-president of the black film critics circle. welcome back to th of you. i want to start with the one sat you both had on your list it was "if beaeet could talk" and why that one. >> this is just an exquisite movie. it's an adaptation of the james baldwin novel by barry jenkins onlight" won best picture a couple of years ago. td i think what i love ab barry jenkins is working and it's exemplified in this movie is that. it's not just about plot. it's not just about characters even though this story is deeply meaningful and the characters are vivid. but this movie is told in such a rich way so visually and so emotionally that it just becomes an exercise almost in visual poetry and feeling.

i mean the ultimate takeaway is one of feeling rather than a story and i and >> brown: okay, we've got a short clip of that. let's take a look. > we arein drng new life. -- ♪ ♪ >> brown: mike sergeant why did you pick this film. >> why i picked this film for a number of reasons and like and said you know he has the abilit to mmething very emotional almost visceral. and he also can take material that you may have seen before a movie a story like beale street. we've seen a lot of the them that are on beale street have been done before but barryin

jecan really cast a spell as you're watching the film you're swept up in the feelingin ahe music in the similar targeting the acti the characters and it literally cast a spell and it makes sense thata you coy with a few if you've just gone through something.ie so this is a mhat should have been made a long time ago but i'm glad it is now made by this filmmaker. >> brown: okay, glad it's now around to ann. give us a couple. give us .o more brief >> to that i'm just that i love. one is called "roma" by alfonso cuaron, very similar to beale street in a way in terms of just the cinematography and the acting and the way t structures the narrative is jusn lfing it's just an immersive experience and a really grand one and another one cathe rider" which came out earlier this year by chloe zhao. she had a reimagines american or western using an entire cast of non-professional actors, most of them real life cowys.

so it nages to sort of merge the mythic american west with something much more. kind of daily and gritty and real. and i just i just loved the vision of it. >> i really have to say "a quiet place." i don't know if you know the premise of the quiet places it's the future aliens have come they've killed most human but they realize that the aliens can't see but they can hear you. if you stay quiet you can live. and there's a film directed by john krasinski. it stars him and his wife emily blst movies and good storie are about set up and pay off. this movie set so many things up so wef ll and pays well. completely made me look at john krasinski differently ild the secondi may get killed for this because most of my colleagues a black ft m critics doree. but greenbook i loved griebler. i thought it was a great fil and a lot of the criticism is that you know the magical negro and the tropes is that it brings out lidster. bui mean hollywood makes hollywood movies. it's a road movie. it's a buddy movie it's a movie about two people's lives who were changed by the fact that they connected.

and i think that's what it is and i think it does it very, very well.wn >> bwe asked you both to pick out a performance that stood out for you and ann you chose ethan hawke playing a pastor in the film."first refo let's take a look. >> courage is the solution to despair. reason is the way it says i can't know what the future will bring. we have to choose despite uncertainty and tell us about >> this is an extraordinary performance by ethan hawke who has been so good in so many movies the last few years. i feel like we've almost wched een, hew up on s started as that cute young guy in the rom coms and he is aging e as autifully in this r troubled priest trying to pastor to his community while he's undergoing his own crisis of faith. it's all there on his face. i mean he's great with the alogue this is written and directed by paul schrader andn

etwke really commands all of the feeling and the verbiagen of that scay but it's thally his face and the expressiveness oage lines on his face and the expression in his eyes that i think is just overwhelming. it's just 's just a tour de force for him. >> brown: and mike sargeant you pick christian bale doing an uncanny dick cheney in the film. vice, let's watch that. >> vice president is mostly symbolic job. however we came to a understanding that can handle the more mundane jobs. we're seeing bureaucracy. >> right. i like that. >> brown: all right well that one brings a smile i can't help but smile at that one.

of>> well this is the stor dick cheney and how he ended up becoming the vice president. and in a linf othagsthdt tle we all know you really forget that you're watching christian bale. i mean the makeup helps but he'e role. it erreally makes you uand dick cheney as a man. and i was never clearly a fan ow dick cheney, bching it you kind of go oh i get dick cheney now. and i understand him. and it's really largely due to the performance that christian bale gave him. and i have to say adam mckay his take on things his fractured narrative, the humor. it's a really surprisingly gfad movie and astic performance. >> brown: i want to ask you both. you know we've asked you this in st something that got lo or overlooked that that one film that you tl your loved ones or best friends you know you got to see ts and one that i wish more people were seen as the "first man" with ryan gosling playing neil armstrong.

it's a masterful movie and it's a very patriotic movie. and another deeply emotional movie about a man processing his own grief by isolating himself in space and the visceral kind of verité style really puts you right into that capsule with him i thought it was a thrilling experience. >> bro: mike sargent what do you got. >> mine is a film that came out towards the end of the year and it just did a limited run and it's the "making of the five heartbeats" by robert townsend. this is a film that looks back on this. it's kind of a seminal filis way ahead of its time didn't do idll at the box office but seeing what hes he looks back all the auditions he had what he went through with the studios how they told him it wouldn't work how you know the racism he experienced all of that. it really brings you back to that time here in america. but it makes you any artist anybody who has anything tily want to dobe inspired by this film. it could be subtitled persistence of vision. it's really one do not miss it. wherever you can see it.ri >> brown: alt some of the best of 2018, ann hornaday, mike

sergeant, thank you both again. >> thank you. >> you're welcome. >> schifrin: this season is a time to reflect on the things that bind us together, the things that matter most. judy woodruff recently spoke to a man who combines religious faith and the secular power of inspiration and love. as the presiding leader of the episcopal united states, hele s one of one of the nation's oldest denominations. he participated a state funeral of former presiden george h.w. bush at washington's national cathedral but more for, much more weekly, widely known for the sermon he livered last may in the marriage ceremony for britain a's duke and duchess of sussex, prince harry and meghan markle. >> when love is the way, then no ahild will go to bed hungry in

this world ever . >> when love is the way we willu leice roll down like a mighty stream and righteousness like an ever owing river. love is the way, poverty will become history. when love is the way, the earth will be a sanctuary. >> that sermemon forthe basis of the latest book, the power of love, welcome with back to the newshour. >> thank you. go >> so you threw yourself into that sermon but in the book that when theabapproached youout preaching, at first you thought they weren't serious. >> well, yes, i remember the archbishop of canterbury called a member of my staff se i was traveling somewhere and when with the staff member talkedwi me i said, look, it is not april fools, april fools', what do you really want?co dn't believe it and had to convince me it was for real. decidinid you go about what to say in that sermon? >> you know,, the truth, is i had waiuntil i knew what

the bible passage that was going to be terhe ceiece if you will of the service, and the couple and their staff and archbishop and the dean of the chaplain were all involved in conversations about what instrument picture passage would they use, when they landed on song of solomon or song of psalms then i ew wha trajectory to take because ectually if you look at th psalms of songs it actually is love poetry between couple and they are talking about their love for each other and they are going back andforth and there is the jerusalem color irs kind of like in thho greek crus and this background, almost sort olf gladys knight and the pins, they are the pips in the background, them after they talk about why they love each othe er man, it is almost as though she really stopped, like st place and saying wait a minute, we didn't generate this love. we are not the sourcehis love. it are experiencing it. ans as though she begins to point to the transcendent urce of that love which

ultimately is god, the source of all love. and that is where the text took its clue and thesermon evolved from there. >> and it grew naturally, bishop curry, out of many sermons you have given, before, obvious this one with is unique but you have been preaching about love, the power of love which is the title of the book for a long time. >> yes. you kno w, i reallydo eelieve, certainly as a christian clergyon that heart and soul of the christian message and the great tradition of religious trions of the world is that the key to life is loving god and loving each other, that's the key. i mean the there is a lot of complexity of how you do it and work it oupractically but if you start from that core inciple of unselfish, sacrificial, unconditional loven you wivigate your way through life even its mostle cohandy sides and dimensions. >> why do people like you have to keep preaching that sermon? why is that message, why has it been shard for that message to

sink in, do you think? >>, you know, i have a theory and that's all it is, it is my theory, but i used to think of the opposite of love is hate. and on some levels that makes sense, but what i am beginning to see is that if yo au look love as the new testament talks about, as jesus ofnazareth talked about it, he talked lovel most consistas h he he is about to give up his life and at one pot he says greater love has no one greater than this that they give up their life for friend. the opposite of love is not simply hatred, the opposite of love is selfishness, self centeredness which the religfins iden as the root source of all of the dilemmas that are created by human beings, this selfishness, love is the opposite of that, the antidote to that if you will, and the reason it is difficult fous is, healthy self respect and self-love can request quickly become selfisess if we let it, you need healthy self respect

but the selfishness when i become the center of the universe and you are theer periit is all about me and the heck about you and that even includes god, if i am ther cen of the universe, well god is on the periphery too, it is kind of a reverse copernicus revolution so that's why it is so difficult because we always live in the tension between healthy self-esteem and ceself eredness. >> and you, in the sermons that are excerpted in te book, you rake that concept of love as you did, when you e preaching at the wedding, and you talk about how it relates the problems we faces a a people, as aty humawhether it is immigration in this country right now, the plight of migrants, whether it is racial a injustic you talk about making it a practical thing that people live beyond just what they think about in church every sunday >> yes. the truth is, love is not at. sentim

it is a commitment. it is a decision and a commitment to seek the good an the well with fair and the well-being of others, sometimesa evve my own unenlightened self-interest, from the philosophers, and the truth is, that you can't bu society, there is no social conract, there is no functioning democratic society, there is noe freedom, tr freedom when everybody is functioning solely only on their unenlightened aclf-interest, if it is all about me we aretually tearing ourselves apart, somehow we have to look for common good, for the good of others, if the samaritan road, the pair balance of thes goodaritan in the new testament about the one who with is willing to risk to save another person's risk to save another person's life, selfishness is the most destructive force in all of creation, selflessness is the most creative power that actually exists, because that is the nature of god.

>> and how are we doing as a country right now when it cops to selfishness? >> well, we are struggling but it is a mix, it is a mix. but we are struggling, we are in the midst of a greglat str and i think some of our identity as a nation, if you will,s really rooted in the result of that struggle, wether immigration and the migration of peoples, our capacity -- >> schifrin: and in one of the sermons you preach in here is at a detention center where families are being kept apart from one another. >> yes. and that sermon actually was an example of how you put love in action, and in this sermon i said we do not comin hatred, we do not come in anger or ause wy, we come be believe what jesus taught us, you shall love your neighbor as yourself and we come with love for those who are detained here and wolyen, especiwomen's detention center, women who had been separated from their e ildren. we c love for the prison guards who have to do their job here, whether we agree or. disagr we come can in love for our nation, but because we truly love our nation we will not sit

idly by and allow our nation to do wrong because we are bet than that. if you love somebody you want the best for them, for them, ane we cecause we love our country and we want our country to look like that lady in the new york harbor, the statue of liberty, the give us your tired, your hungry, your ddled masses, yearning to be free, that is america, that is america, that is the soul of america. and we went to that detention centerntecause we wa america to find its soul again. >> bishop michael cuiny, writg about love and relating it to so many rger questions our country is dealing with right now. the power of love sermons reflections and wisdom to uplift and inspire, right now this holiday season and throughout, throughout the year. thank you very much. >> thank you, god bless y. >>

>> schifrin: finally tonight, we continue a newshour tradition.e there 3 million active duty u.s. military service members. about 200,000 are based overseas and spend the holidays away from home. each we've asked the department of defense and its defense media activity agency, to spread a little holiday rieer, and record service members singing a mas song. tonight, "rudolph the red-nosed reindeer." >> ♪ you know dasher, and dancer, and prancer, and vixen, ♪ comet, and cupid, and donder and blitzen ♪ but do you recall the most famous reindeer of all >> ♪ rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer ♪ had a very shiny nose and if you ever saw it >> ♪ you would even say it glows.

>> all of the other reindeer ♪ used to laugh and call him names >> ♪ they never let poor rudolph play in any reindeer games. >> ♪ then one foggstmas eve santa came to say: >> ♪ "rudolph with your nose so bright, ♪ won't you guide my sleigh tonight?" >> ♪ then all the reindeer loved him >> ♪ as they shouted out with glee, >> rudolph the red-nosed reiner, n in history! you'll go down in history! ♪ >> schrin: and in case your cooking isn't going down in history, we spoke to scientists and baking experts to find out the chemistry and physics behind the baking techniques that can take your favorite holiday treats to the next level. find those tips and more on our web site, pbs.org/newshour. that's the newshour for tonight.

i'm nick schifrin. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, i hope you had a gooda have a good night, and merry christmas. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, ncd improved economic performance and fil literacy in the 21st century. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a moan just, verdanpeaceful world. more information at macfound.org

>> and with the ongoing support outf these instns >> this program was madeib po by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour and company." here's wt's coming p. >> from syr to theungle to the theaters of london and new york, the searing, humanizing story of refugees, brilliant in stage. plus, president trump has embraced saudi arabia and its crowprince, come what may. we do the deep dive on the kingdom's controversial projection of islam abroad. and awardeason is upon us. we get the inside view from a woman who's not your average hollywood stylist.