captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> schifrin: good evg. i'm nick schifrin. judy woodruff is away for the holiday. on the newshour tonight: can president trump fire t o chairmanf the federal reserve? "why religion?" the personal story of faith and in overcoming tragedy. t just of the things t amazes me is how resilient human beings are; the things people live through. d schifrin: and, from aro the world, we ask members of the u.s. military to sing a holiday classic. ♪ ♪ >> schifrin: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour.

>> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> kevin. >> kevin! >> kevin? >> advice for life life well-planned. learn more at raymondjames.com. >> bnsf railway. >> consumer cellular. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs statn from viewers like you. thank you. od

>> schifrin:, the confirmed death toll in the indonesian tsunami rose to 429. it struck without ayrning on satuight after a volcano erupted in the sunda strait. search teams spentnother day going through debris, while the hardest-hit areas are still cut off. and, new accounts emerged from survivors, including a woman who lived through the teor in her car. >> ( translated ): there was a blackout, and no sign at all of an incoming tsunami. we were all sitting down outside when a boy arrived and said the anak krakatau volcano was erupting.l so we n away and jumped into a car. we were locked inside and then suddenly the window breaks, and all 11 of us were submerged in water. i was thinking that we would be dead within nutes. >> schifrin: indonesia is majority muslim, but christians there replaced tceir christmas brations with vigils for the victims. in kabul, afghanistan, officials now say 43 people died in yesterday's assault on a pubc welfare building. security forces and emergency personnel were still on the scene today, searching for

bodies. at least four attackers were killed. it's unclear if they were included in the official toll.po ce in khartoum, sudan today clashed with thousands of protestersan they dd president omar bashir resign, after 29 years. the crowds chanted, sang and tried to march on the presidential palace. police answered with rounds of tear gas, and fired bullets into the air. the protests began nearly a week ago, over rising prices and shorges of food and fuel. u.s. immigration officials say an eight-year-old guatemalan bot died earay in government custody, in new mexico. nstoms and border protect says he appeared ill yesterday and was taken to a hospital in alamogordo, with his father. he was medicated a released, but returned later and died just after midnight. it is the second dth of an immigrant child in u.s. custody this month. in washington, president trump sisted again today that won't agree to end a partial

government shutdown unless congress funds a southern border wall. he said his goal is to complete 500 miles of new wl or "renovated" border fencing before election day 2020. and, he claimed federal workers support that goal. >> i can't tell you when the's governmeoing to be opened. i can tell you it's not going to be open until we have a wall, a tonce, whatever they'd lik call it. i'll call it whatever they want but many of thrkers have said to me, and communicated, "sy out until you get mone for the wall." these federal workers want the wall. the only one that doesn't want the wall are the democrats, because they don't mind open borders. >> schifrin: mr. tlso said he would travel to the border in january, to mark what heunalled the "greaking" for a new segment of border wall. wall street was closed christmas, still smarting from heavy losses on monday. buin asia, japan's nikkei index fell 5%, and markets in china anthailand also declined. stock exchanges in europe were closed.

and, christmas day 2018 brght an annual renewal of religious rites, and, in times of turmoil, empathy was uppermost on the minds of my. in st. peter's square, in front of thousands of the faitul, pope francis delivered a message of hope and understanding. >> ( translated ): my wish happy christmas is a wish for fraternity. fraternity among individuals of every nation and culture fraternity among people with different ideas, yet capable of respecting and listening to one another. fraternity among persons of different religions. >> schifrin: that message echoed in mosul, iraq where christians were able to observe openly, including with a traditional bonfire, where the islamic state was defeated a year ago. they also celebrated in damascus. syrian christians lucky enough to live comfortably in the capital said the ongoing war dn't disrupt this year's celebrations. >> ( translated ): for years, we couldn't decorate betiuse of the fi nearby.

we had almost no visitors because people hesitated to comt to this f the city.di but now it is erent. >> schifrin: elsewhere, festivities came in all kinds of weatr. in berlin, santabrat-clad celets took a traditional dip in icy waters. onin sydney, mer-men rollehe sand and beach-goers posed with a christmas tree. >> inow it's a great sacrifi for you to be away from your families. >> schifrin: at the white house, president trump sent christmas greetings via videconference ti u.s. troops around the world. last night at the al cathedral, he and the first lady attended mass. they were heduled to be in florida, but stayed in washington for this year's thcond government shutdown. while in britainqueen celebrated a tradition that's been unbroken for 66 years-- her annual christmas message, an her own appeal for empathy. >> even with the most deeply- held differences, treating the other person with respect and as a fellow hum being is always a good first step towards greater

understanding. >> schifrin: queen elizabeth also reflected on her 92 years, and said, "some cultures believe a long life brings wisdom. i'd like to think so." still to come on the newshour:in uncer abounds, as the e esident publicly mulls firing the chairman of deral reserve bank. protests in iraq, over the lack of services in a resource-rich region. actor kevin spacey is chargeden with indecassault, and he pleads his case on the internet. plus much more >> schifrin: ever since reports this weekend suggested president trump was considering firing federal serve chair jay powell over interest rate hikes, there have been manyuestions about the president heading into what would be uncharted territory. could he? would he and, what kind of impact could firing the fed chair have-- financially,egally, and

politically? top members of his team have said mr. trump will not attempt it, but the president has been given opportunities to rule out such a move and declinedo take them-- including today in the oval office, when he was asked about powell. >> well, we'll see. they're raising interest rates too fast, that's my inion. but i certainly have confidence. but i think it'll straighten. they areaising rates too fast because they think the economy is so good. but, i think they'll get it pretty soon. >> schifrin: the president has repeatedly targeted powell and the fed rhetorically, over whether interest rate hikes are causing stock markets to dive. yesterday, he tweeted, "the only problem our economy has, is the fed. tthey don't have a feel f market. the fed is like a powerful golfer who can't score b hause no touch-- he can't putt." and, president trump told the soashington post" a few weeks ago,ar, i'm not even a little bit happy with my selection of jay." let's look at the legal questions of whether the president could remove powell,th

as fed chairman or a member of the federal reserve board of governors, and what all of this means, with binyamin appelbaum, who covers the fed for the "new york times." >> schifrin: thank you very much for joining us on the newshour f i guess the s,rst questioncould the president fire fed ca chairman powell legally? >> this is a big a questio there is some disagreement about it. the law says that the presidentm can removember of the federal reserve's board of governor's whichncludes jay powell's quote for cause. and most legal scholars th minks thns the president can't do it just because he doesn't agreement with the fed chairma about policy. he needs to have some grounds beyond that. but there is a separate queson, importantly, of whether the president could remove mr. powell as chairman of thvifed while lea him on the board of governors. >> schifrin: so some kind of demotion almost, is that a separate question? es that have a separate answer? >> so the law doesn't say anything about it, and opinione is mivided. there are some people who think

the president has considerable latitude to do that basilly for any reason that he would like, there are some people who think that there is a similar amount of protection that the president would need to find some cause beyond a policy disagreement, even to remove mr. powell as chairman. that is a much more open question. >> schifrin:o let's keep going with this hypothetical, even if he were to fire powell or somehow to demote powell, could theroth governors intervene somehow? could they resist? >> so it is ay eamportant point that you are raising because the purpose of getting rid of chairman powell presumably would be to instae ll someo would lead the fed in the direction that the president desires. he said repeatedly that h thinks interest rates are rising too quickly and that the fed should stop raising ierest rates. but it is not at all clear that removing chairman powell would accomplish that purpose. in the fst place, the other members of the feds poli-making committee have been voting unanimously to raise rates along with chairman powell, even if werremoved

there is no particular reason to think that they would change their minds. indeed, they could even choose to resist the president bywe retaining mr. as the chairman of the policy-making committee even if the he werree ved as the chairman of the whole fed. >> schifrin: we should just make a point of that. i mean, none of this has ever happened before, right? we really have no idea how these governors would respond? >> completely uncharted waters, no preside has ever tri to remove a member of the federal reserve's board, let alone a chairman for any reason at any time. so this is an incredibly theoretical discussion about what law is, we are in uncharted waters, no one tried it before. >> sifrin: because of how uncharted these waters are, there is already political resistance to some of this talk, how extensive is tt resistance so far? >> it is considerable. and the reson is that the feds' independence is very importante, to many peonvestors value the idea of an independent central bank, they want

technocrats to be determining the level of interest rates, they don't want politicians to decisions.thos the reason that we have an independent central bank is to insulate its decision making from the vague i ares of politi so that politicians like the president can't urge lower interest rates i the short-term to goose economic growth at the expense overheating the economy an and n the longer term. so that structure is very important and we have heard a number of senators from both parties on capitol hill saying very clearly in recent days, actually unusually blunt and mblic terms, keep your hands off the fe president, do not fire mr. powell. leave the fed alone. >> schifri and i wonder jus in the time we have left, all of this talk, even if is here rhett cal is having a big impact on the markets, ire't it? >> itlly, is just the idea that the president is meddling an this is thinking about it, might do it has lly unnerved financial markets. the president has said that he thinks thee ed is only thing

that is causing consternation in financial markets. i have spoken with af investors in recent days who turned that on its head and say you know who icausing problems in financial markets is president aiump. the uncey that he is creating is rapidly becoming the biggest challenge for the economy. >> schifrin: and bin of "the new york times", thank you so much. my pleasure. binyamin appelbaum of "the new york times", thank you so much. >> schifrin: this fall, iraqis in the southern city of basra took to the streets to ptest corrupt leaders and a lack of basic services. special correspondent jane ferguson traveled basra, and in the final story in her series, "deline iraq," she reports how the resource-rich region leaves very little for its residents. >> reporter: heading out to protest ainst his government, th 21-year-old iraqi knows what he doing is dangerous.

every friday, he comes to this spot in basra with whatever friends still dare to. when these demonstrations broke out in september, they were huge-- an explosion of anger at years of poor governance and a lack of basic services for people. peaceful protests turned to riots. municipal buildings were over- run and set on fire. security forces responde with brutality, killing 12 and injuring hundreds, over several days. >> ( translated ): my friends and i came here to protest agndnst corruption and to de our rights. but they are treating us like we are terrists, or isis, just because we are against the government. they shot at us with live ammuniused tear gas. they beat and arresteds s. the arrestare still going on. they take young people and we >> reporter: he's too afraid to share his name, and sleeps at friend houses, fearful of those night-time arrests. for now, the crowds have died down, and the policeon't shoot when the protests are this small. but he is trying to keep the momentum up.

their demands are simple: a reasonable quality of life, and a minimum of government services. >> ( translated ): they call us terrorists and say we will kill thembut we wouldn't do this. we didn't come here to kill them. we came here to ask for water we can drk, decent health care, and an education for our children. we wt basra to be rebuilt. we want the whole of iraq to be rebuilt, and we want our share from the oil. these are not demands. these are rights written in the constitution. >> reporter: iraq's southern city of basra stands as a monument to economic decay: unemployment, power shortages and poverty making life here hell. a shia stronghold, it was neglected under sunni dictator saddam hussein, and since he was overthrown 15 years ago, corruption has plagued the city. throughout saddam hussein's regn, as well as after the 2003 invasion of iraq, basra has suffered from enormous under-funding from itsin astructure. despite the huge oil wealth in the area, the living conditionsf

here are somhe worst in iraq. the people here cannot even rely on clean drinking water. this summer, over 90,000 were hospitalized. treatment facilities and pipelines are in such poor condition that filthy sewage water from the city's shat al arab river contaminated the main water supply.ng even those batn the water were poisoned. on our first day in the city, we come across this charity handia out drinkingter in a poor neighborhood. young and old, desperate to get a safe drink, this most basic of needs. as the sun sets over th city, the coolerir draws people out to street markets. although fewer are protestingno it's hard to find anyone that isn't angry at their failure of leadership here. hassan naif is retired, yet he says it's the young men who struggle the most. finding decent jobs is nearly impossible. >> ( translated ): we have all

kinds of young graduates-- engineers, scientists. you see them with their degrees, sitting on the street without a job. they graduate, they take their degree and put it in their hpocket, and get jobs doid labor. they go and work pushing carts in the souk marketplac they do this, and they are engineers! >> reporter: the majority of iraqi oil wealth com b from basra, pumping oil out of the ground creates few jobs, ana people herthey don't benefit >> (htranslatede): the government, they are thieves, they are bad, and the same people keep getting key positions. there is no electricity, no water and no jobs, and most of us are graduates. we have degrees. at least in saddam's day, you could have something, some of your rights, but now there is nothing. >> reporter: we met basra's deputy governor in his new, temporary office, because the old one was burned down by protestors.

he blames the problems here on the central government in baghdad. >> ( translated ): since the beginning, we have demandedri basra'ts, by asking for a share of the oil profits, petrodollars and the income frts the border pbut the central government hasn't responded to any of those demands. and if they did, we wouldn't have protests. so it was clearly the fault of we central government. if they had given t we deserve from the budget, we wouldn't have reached this point. >> reporter: when protests were at their height in september, iraq's then-prime minister promised to make things better-- jobs for the protestors. those jobs never materialized. >> ( translated ): after thepr ests, representatives from the prime minister's office came to basra.al theyd about giving us 10,000 jobs. so far, we haven't seeof those jobs, of what they toletus we would g >> reporter: but basra's problems a of government neglect.

under the cover of darkness, in ba sa's cafés, young menak cautiously about powerful shia militias competing with the local government for control. hareth mohammed, a 28-ye old telecommunications engineer, will only dare refer to these"o militias aanizations." >> the main problem is the mpetition between the politicians and organizations.us bebasra, the main government in basra, has harbors, oil fields, all the companies competed to get work here. when you have a city that contains all the resources for the country everyone try to take control of the city, try to get a lot from the city, try to get contom harbor and oil fields. so if everyone fighting for this city, and to take all the rich resources, it will never improve.

>> reporter: is it dangerous to talk openly about these things? >> it's very dangerous. not anyone can talk about that.p >> rter: when the sunni iraq in 2014, they easilyross overran the iraqi army. shia religious leadeled on young men to join militias, often funded by iran, to fight against the group. shia heartlands like basra sent thousands of fighters, many dying in battle.s that fightw over, and the militias have returned home, keeping their guns, and refusini to integrao the regular army. their leadership has consolidated power and wealth, determined to get payback for their sacrifices in the war. not everyone is afraid to speak out against the militias. these men waiting by the roadside for laboring work were too desperate to care. haitham mahdi works as a foreman

on construction tes. >> ( translated ): we blame the militia parties, the government, th are the same. islamic parties, sunni and shi'a. they are all the same. in saddam's day, we were in a river of corruption, and now we are in a sea of corruption. we are walking towards the unknown. basra a disaster. we have diseases. we have environmental issues. we don't have safe drinking water. wateis the minimum of human rights, and we don't have it. can you believe it? the government cannot even keep a fish alive in the water.ho do you expect me to live? >> reporter: not far away sit the charred remains of militia headquarters, torched by protestors just as angry at armed groups as theyt the government. in their rage, they also burned down the iranian consulate, too. for now, protests have died down, but anger lingre, anr at abuses of power and the neglect of millions. for thpbs newshour, i'm jane i

fergusonbasra, iraq. >> schifrin: stay with us. coming up on the newshour: how personal tragedy led a scholar to question religious faith, and then nd the answers. why norwegians are leading the world in electric vehicles. author alice stephens on becoming the subject, not the object, of her adoption. and, we ask the military around the world to sing a christma classic. actor kevin spacey will face a judge over allegations of assault.n more than a don, some anonymously, have accused spacey of misconduct, harassment, or assault. now, he's facing his first criminal charge when he goes to court next month. the charges against the two-time oscar winner stem from an alleged incident in july 2016. spacey is accused of groping the 18-year-old son of a boston tv

anchor. heather unruh came forward in november 2017, saying spacey stuck his hand down her son's pants at a restaurant in nantucket. >> kevin spacey bought him drink after drink, after drink, and my son was drunk. spacey made his move and t xually assaulted him. i want to make iclear, this was a criminal act. >> schifrin: spacey faces charges of indecent assault and battery, and is due in court on january 7. but yesterday, shortly after the charge became public, spacey posted video on youtube. >> so, we're not done, no matter what anyone says. you want me back. >> schifrin: that's the language of his character frank underwood, from e netflix political thriller "house of cards."

underwood was killed off the show after allegations against spacey began in late 2017, and this is the first time he's appeared as the character since. >> despite all the poppycock, the animosity, the headlines, the impeachment without a triali despite everyt, despite even my own death, i feel surprisingly good. st>> schifrin: spacey's la public comments were in october 2017, after his first accuser, 47-year-old actor anthony rapp, said spacey climbed on top of yehim when rapp was just 1s old. ime, spacey tweeted, "i honestly do not remember the encounter, but if i did behave then as he describes, i owe him the sincerest apology. this story has encouraged me to address other things about my life. i choose now to live as a gay man. i want to deal with this honestly and openly, and that starts with amining my own behavior." spacey also restins under ination for sexual assault in los angeles over an alleged incident in 2016, anfaces accusations from his time as

artistic director of london's old vic theatre. and to talk about spacey's unusual response, and how other accused men are atte come- backs, we turn to alissa wilkinson, a film critic for vox who has been watching a number of these cases, and joins me via skype from albany, new york. >> schifrin: thank you very much for joining us on the newshour. i will be honest, i am a little baffled when i watch this video. what was your response to it? >> i was also baffled, i couldn't figure out what he was tryingo, why he was doing it, as frank underwood notorious lying and murdering character or what the purpose wes at all. >> schifrin: dave any idea whether this is some kind of comeback? >> well,t is hard to say, what we do know is that netflix, which carried "house of cards" declined to comment and made it clear ny times that they don't want to work with him again, "house of cards" is not coming back. but what he could be trying to

do isveyance certain number of his fans that he is trying to ste a comeback anyhow, that they shouldn't judge him based on these allegations or other accu coming forward over the past year, and that they should do this beause of the kind of character that he has played in the past. >> schifrin: could that kind of mes rge beeceived well by his fans? >> i think it is avermall number of people who would receive it well. you know,f you have watched "house of cards" you know this character is, again, a chea a liar, he never says anything truthful unless it benefits him. he murders people to get his way, so most people i think who watch the show kw tht this character, even if they kind of admire him a little, he is not someone you are supposed to trust, but with most tv shows abouti-ntroes there is a group of people who watch them and think that is someone to em hate, and you manage people, imagine people finding something kind of interesting or intriguing or honest about this character.

>> schifrin: you have been writing not only about this but also other men who have been accused of misconduct or harassment or assault in the last year and a half or so, how does this moment that it seems as though spacey is trying to seize compare to some of the other men who have been accused in their attempts to try to get back into the pubeli? >> yes, it is really interesting to look at this. so for instance, spacey himself wh allegations firstme out against him a year ago he tried to deflect tm by coming out at the same time and saying he wanted to be honest and open ad live as a gay man which was not anything anyone was talking about.in they were taabout him making unwanted sexual advances towards a mior but you can als look at men for instance like harvey weinstein when allegations came out against him in october of 2017, his response was to issue a letter that seemed to te them very lightly and say he was going to spend his time fighting the national rifle association, which is not related in any way, again or you

can re about someone likloe s ck who has a the very different set of allegations against him but he is making a comeback in new york doing setss at comedy cnd in his first set that kind of announced he de jokes about rape whistles which seems like an unforcedid error, whyou do that? so we kind of see this over andw ovre men who have been powerful, maybe they have been celebrities, maybe the tsth i they just have been used to kind of not really being connected to reality in a way with that had d don't knowdled them or given a different sense of who they are and h people respond to them than is actually the case. >> schifrin: so tamire has somehow allowed them to deflect in the past or somehow thi they can get away with this conduct, but is there any senseg that they c away with it? that haven't we changed? haven't weone beyd the point where the game allows them to do what they have been doing? >> right. well, this is kind of what we

are figuring out right now. we are a little over year out from when the big #metoo, movement begen all of these allegations against famous people started to sort omble out. and we are starting to see right now people hike louis ck, like perhaps kevin spacey seems to be doing, trying to make a comeback into the public eye, the question is whether the public is accepting of that andlso i think whether people are loo for true sense of honesty or self awareness or sometng like repentance before they are willing to bring that person back and say, you know, we love you like we used to, and heunfortunately in some ofse cases both weinstein and spacey, for instance, you know, they were kind of open secrets in hollywood, a lot of people knew these sort of things were going on for a long time so it wasn't a shocker, and they are very rious allegations. >> schifrin: yes, they are, alissa wilkinson, with fox, thank you, vox, thank you verymu

ch. >> thank you. >> >> schifrin: why do people with faith, believe? and how can they hold onto their faith? jeffrey brown recently spokeon with princniversity professor elaine pagels at the miami book fair about her newel book, "whyion?" it's a personal story of faith overcoming tragedy. e what is this book? how do you descrbmit because you are a well-known for scholarly books, this isen something diff >> this is something i never thought i would do. and i don't think thre is a genre for it. some people call it memoir because it is first person buit eally isn't just that. i didn't want to do just that. >> yes. >> i wanted to interweave the life and the work and show how the work comes out of very specific issues, and just talking very much in a personal way. >> that's why i ask bec iau is memoir like. nd very much so, i always have

written history love to do that it has been really fun and i am still doing it, but this was an attempt to go back and deal witissues that i had to deal with personally, you know,. >> yes. >> personal losses that ead c up so intensely that i couldn't deal with them at the time. and the way that they are really a part of the story. >> part of the story in your early years is of you coming from a more secular background. >> yes. >> discovering religion .. in an old-fashiod traditional way, through billy graham, right, going to hear him speak.t >> well, that would surprise people. ngelicale some eva groups who have called me elaine pagan, because they think i don't really engage that kd of thing, but, you know, the tradition my parents -- well, it was kind of culturally protestant but my father had no use for religion and we sometimes went to a church that was essentially boring, but the encounterwith a billy graham

crusade was powerful emotionally. >> yes. >> and also it was vertall helped so i found it like a i breakthroughort of plunged at that point at the age of 14, going i on o an evangelical group briefly because it wasie powerful expe, and then i left it after a year. one just thought well i am d with that. and years later, maybe four or ffive years, ielt, wait a minute, what was it about that that was so powerful? so i went back and i wanted to find out how the christian movement started and who was jesus. and then of course the story ts much more complicated and interesting, because all of these secret gospels we never knew about emerged. >> which is the subjecthat you came out to the world with, and we got to know you. >> yesd does make us all aware, much more cri ttically kind of teachings you find in various churches because now you know that that is only a small streaf of christianitm a much wider range of sources. >> another part of theernal

story, though, that comes along the way is the up froisnt sex in the university you encountered, you know, the criticism 0 of course even disdain for some of the original work. >> it is a minor note in the story, but it is part of what anyone would have encountered at that point in graduate schooy man. >> yes. >> let me correct that, any woman would have encountered and many did. so it is just not that it is unique, it was just typical. >> so in the most personal sections of the book, the tragedy of a ls of your son -- >> yes. >> -- born with a rare ndition, so that you knew he would die early only. >> uh-huh. we did, well from thege of two, i mean he was born with a heart condition. we thought that was repaired. but from the time of two we ew that he wouldn't live long. >> yes. >> and that's very har to live with. he was our only child. >> how hard was it tobao and write? >> excruciating, that's why it took me 28 yeadors to t. i never thought i would.

but, you know, there i something about those experiences that they don't just go away unless you enge them and allow them to emerge, so finally when my children were out of the house because we adopted two chldren, i had to go back and look at it. >> soon after your son's death your husband is killed in an accint. >> yes. it was. >> climbing. >> it was a mountain climbing accident and he had climb for all the 22 years we were married so i never thought about it. >> yes. >> but it was .- it was traumatic. >> you are writing about at that time not feeling sclose to any sense of particular faith that might help you but you clearly lpd to look for what could he you. >> i was thinking of william james and his famous book the varieties of religious experience, and how he went into deep depression. >> i wasn't in that depression, at a certain point he would cling to sings like the lord is my refuge like a drowning man in the ocean clinging to a log,

he said i didn't believe it at ie time but it kind of kept me from drowning, aad to keep exploring and the work became a kind of yoga that i love, and that i engage in now in so many ways. rn?well, what did you lea and how long did it take you to learn it? >> well, i wouldn't have written a book if i could answer that a sense. >> right. t> but one of the things tha just amazes me is how resilient human beings are, the peopleth things livugh, that they think they can't, and what happened here is unusual, but what happens to many other people is even more, you know, excruciang when they deal for example with violence which i didn't, so i am amazed at how we do those things the and the question is how, i mean how do we hea and this is what the book is about. ri do you get the idea of getting past the or is it

living with the grief? >> people say how did you ever get over it? >> and i say what makes you think i am over it?.yo i thinget through it but that doesn't mean it is over, but it also means that you are not clinging to it or stuck and that is a big hel >> you probably have people often asking you for advicha likeshould i do? what should i practice? what should i -- what do you tell them? >> well, i think they should go to some practitioner of this, of this various traditions. i mean, i think about the gospel of thomas, which says if you bring forth what is within you, what you bng forth will save you, if you do not bring forth what is within you what you do not bring forth will destr you. i don't think there is a single answer to that. some people find their home in some deeply orthodox traditional, russianrthodox, greek orthodox or ethiopian orthodox and others would find that stifling and would rather

be christian scientists or jews or whatever. >> what do you hope people will take from your bok as they read your personal story? >> two things. one is that we can li a lot more than we can possibly imagine we can survive. i never thought iould survive what happened. i wasn't sure i wanted to. but it is amazing to be able to do that and second that these religious traditions may have some deepvalues that you don't have to throw it all away because you disagree with certain seideas, becou don't believe in x, y, and z. not dash but i do think fore it is enormously important to have a sense of a spiritual dimension in life. >> all right, the new book is why religion? a personal story, elaine pagels, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> schifri and you can find all of jeff's conversation

all of jeff's conversations during theiami book fair online. search "book view" at pbs.org. >> schifrin: and now, a second look at norway's growing reliance on electric cars. the country's trying to reduce fossil fuels and carbon emissions. last year, before president trump pulled the u.s. out of the paris climate agreement, special correspondent malcolm brabant reported on the world's fastest- growing electric car market. >> reporter: norway prides itself on being one of the world's most pristine countries. yet, amid the stunning scenery, there are reminders that its vast wealth comes from decades a of g oil production. but norwegians are turning theii backs on ffuels and embracing electric cars like nowhere else. ann kunish, who moved from wisconsin 30 years ago, is one of the new converts. >> this car is a no-brainer. there's no question about it.

it's very, very easy to chooseec eltric cars. the norwegiagovernment has ma it much more financiall feasible to buy them. they don't have the same fees, free parking in municipaspots. more and more charging stations are being built, lower yearly fee to use the roadsno tolls. >> reporter: new electric car sales in norway have now passed sh0,000, giving it the hhest per capita ownerip level in the world. in comparison, there are over half a million ectric cars in the u.s. to have the same percentage as norway, america would require 6.25 million electric ca on the road. this is oslo's rush hour, as electric car drivers hunt a parking spot at the city's biggest charging station. the energy is almost completely renewable energy, as 98% of the country's power comes from hydroelectric plants. norwegians endure some of the

world's heaviest taxes, and removing sales tariffs from electric cars has been irresistible. the government aims to end sales of gasoline and diesel vehicles by h025. >> thereas to be a big difference whether you choose a zero emission car or a polluting car when you b it on the tax system. >>teeporter: industry advoca petter haugneland argues taxes on fossil fuel vehicles should be increased to speed up the process. >> in norway, transport sector is a key ement to lower the emissions. we need to cut our emissions very fast if we'reoing to do something about the climate problem. >> reporter: in march, president trump canceled a fuel econom ruling put in place by the obama administration requiring automakers to achieve 54 miles a gallon by 2025, double the present level. environmentalists claimed higher standards would boost sales of hybrid and electric cars. >> the assault on the america

auto industry, bieve me, is over. it's over. >> reporter: norway's environment minister, vidar helgesen, belongs to a center- right party that once aligned with the republicans. it now has more in common with the democrats. helgesen didn't criticize nesident trump directly, but sent a clear messa to turn back the clock. >> our position is very much that we very much need to build competitiveness for the future. we also need to care about the jobs that don't exist today that need to exist in the future. we know that the chinese are investing massively in r energy. we know the chinese and other major upcoming economies are investing a lot in electric vehicles. i think they're building green competitiveness for the future. >> reporter: and this is precisely what the minis talking about: an electric car stt-up in southern sweden which is reinventing the steeringheel to be more like a game console. >> this is not how we will mechanically aieve it in the

car, because this is not very nice for the user. there are different ways we wily mechanicchieve it, which will be unveiled later this year. >> reporter: the c.o., lewis horne, has taken on 30 engineers and hopes to employ 1,000 people once production begins in early 2019 on a compact car that's still under wraps. >> so, you can see a little hint of two models, which are the result of a lot of research and design. in the future, the jobs are just different. historically, when we have had an industry that's so damaging to our health now, that's not a place where you should be creating more jobs. we should be creating more jobs in the future of these industries. >> there is no more beautiful sight than an american-made care >> rep the owner of this '56 chevy bel air couldn't agree more. henning kjensli works for the american car club of norway. but while he's sympathetic toed the neor job creation, he'svo

also in far of going green.an >> developd researching new technology costs tons of money. and right now, the best earnings in the american automobile market is in the full-size pickup and s.u.v. segm they should still make those ca and sell them and make money off of them, but they need to sort reinvest the profits from those cars into new and modern technolog >> reporter: fuel prices are the crucial difference between theu. and norway. norwegians pay about $7 a gallon. gas is roughly $5 cheaper in america, reducing the financl incentive to drive electric. this is a partially american- made electric car, the $35,000 ampera-e. it's a collaboration between general motors and south korea's l.g. g.m.'s european arm, opel, launched the car in norway iny. ma impressed by its range of more than 300 miles on a single charge, so many norwegians have

been ordering the ampera-e that there's now a 15-month waiting list. >> we are not going back. we are heading into the future. i think, in ten years, we will see that at least half of the sale from opel is electric, if things are moving in the direction we are seeing right now. >> reporter: norway may be a world leader when it comes to electric cars, but its environmental cord is far from perfect. its greenhouse gas emissions are increasing. most of those are coming from oil and gas production, which provides norway with its wealth. d critics are very unhap that norway is pushing to expand fossil fuel production in the tsarctic, and believe that climate change policies are inconsistent. >> is schizophrenic, because norway is a nice little country of petroholics. >> reporte this top-of-the- range electric s.u.v. is the pride and joy of fderic hauge, a veteran eco-warrior who was a pioneer of electric cars in norway. >> you can say maybe that the electric car is a trojan horse ltowards the norwegian oi

industry. the battery revolution will bring down the oil price to $20 to $25 a barrel before 2030. and then the stupid things norway is doing in the arctic, the oil drilling, will also be stopped because of economic reasons. >> we're setting up a task force in every federal agency to identify and remove any regulation that undermines american auto production and any other kind of production. >> reporter: such statements alarm environmentalists in denmark 300 miles to the south. denmark generates about 40% of its electricity from wind power and is on track to hit its target of 50% by 2020. but these and other renewable energy efforts need to be increased, according to danish climate scientist sebastian mernild. r arding this green development, we can hardly see any impact so far,ntecause the amf co2 in the atmosphere is increasing year by year.he we are for suring the environment, but not enough. and we need to speed up this green development.

>> reporter: the european union, whe environment agency is based in copenhagen, is fully committed to the paris climate agreent, which requires signatories to tighten up emissions 2020 and beyond. its dismayed that the president may leave the accord. climate change specialist magda jozwicka. >> it is, of course,ery important that countries around the world stick to the par agreement, because, overall, we need to work on our long-term de-carbonization goals and the long-term well-being. >> reporter: the scandinavians haubt that environmental arguments will cnge the president's mind, but they hope the economic case for electric cars will have more success. for the pbs newshour, i'm malcolm brabant in norway. >> schifrin: on this christmas, many of us reflect on family.

and tonight, writer alice stephens, who is adopted, shares her "humble opinion" on the importance of not being what she calls the object of her adoption, but the subject.at i was told was abandoned on a doorstep in my birth country of korea and for years i pictured myself curled up in a cardboard box waiting for someone to discover me. parent narratives dominate the memoirs how to manuals, resource books and blow-by-blow accounts of the adoption process. a relegating tptee to little more than an idealized representationf the parts future happiness. most of them end just when an adoptee story truly begins with the arrival into their forever

homes. as adoptees our challenge is to become the subject of our ownti ad stories and not the object. we know that there is no happily ever after. know that we grow up face challenges and struggle to establish our own identities. we know that adoption is fraught with complexities that touch upon the most primal of uman social traditions. we know the best and wor of adoption. while most children look to their parents and familto answer such fundamental questions as who am i and where do i comrom? the adoptee must find those answers from within. where others are born with certnsnty of their orind their place in the world, adoptees have to construct our own origin stories and search out where we must feel at homeu so next time nt to learn more about adoption, i suggest that you skip over the books and blogs by adaptive parents and nonadoed novelists and seek out the stories of adoptees themselves. hatrs later, i found out the story of being left on a

doorstep wasn't true but rather was a simple way to explain to e young me how i ended up as the youngest and only adopted child of a white american family. birth motr hadn't abandoned me as i always believed by actually delivered me to the adoption agency. knowing that fact made a huge differenceghn my life and tau me that the only person who could be trusted to tell my story was me >> >> schifrin: andy puddicome is the co-founder of the popular mindfulness app, headspace-- something we could all use this holiday season. and this week, we feature him in "that moment when...", newshour's weekly program on facebook watch. ub it was christmas eve, we had been to a nightwe were standing outside the nightclub early christmas morning and ash drunk driver c can into the group and sadly killed a

couple of people and injured a lot of others a i think for myself that was a real moment, it started an inquiry, an internal inquiry sort o questioning, if you like, the meaning of life, you know. it was really that that led me to deciding to go away and become a monk. >> it is a really interesting kind of journeyoing into a realization there is no distraction and nowhere to go, you can't get away from yourself and you have to sit with yourself. there was a point in time where something changed where i didt really feel like i was searching anymore and i just lt a greater inner sense of peace o content. and i would say it is something that has really kind of changed since then. the environment changes, the situation changes, but that feeling inside, that never goes. >> find all episodes of our series on

of our series on facebook at @thatmomentwhenshow. finally tonight, an annual newshour christmas tradition. last night we brought you american troops around the world singing "rudolph the red-nosed reindeer." tonight, we bring you one of our most popular songs, prepared by the military and the defense media activity agency. here are american servicemen and women from around the world, singing "carol of the bells." ( ♪ "carol of the bells" ) ♪ hark how the bellsi sweeer bells ♪ all seem to say rerow cares away ♪ christmas is bringing good cheer ♪ to young and old ngek and the bold ♪ ding-dong, ong that is their song ♪ with joyful ring all caroling ♪ one seems to hear words of good cheer ♪ from evere here filling r ♪ oh how they pound raising the sound ♪ o'er hill and dale lylling their tale ♪ ghey ring while people sing ♪ songs of good cheer ristmas is here ♪ merry, merry, merry, merry christmas

♪ merry, merry, merry, merry christmas ♪ on, on they send ♪ hark how the bells sweet silver bells ♪ all seem to say throw cares away ♪ christmas is here bringing good cheer ♪ to young and old meek and the bold ♪ ding-dong, ding-dong at is their song ♪ with joyful ring all caroling ♪ one seems to hearch words of goor ♪ from everywhere filling the air ♪ oh how they pound raising the sound ♪ o'er hill and dale telling their tale ♪ gaily they ring while people sing ♪ songs of good cheer christmas is here rr♪ merry, merry, merry, christmas ♪ merry, merry, merry, merry christmas ♪ hark how the bells sweet silver bells ♪ all seem to say throw cares away ♪ christmas is here bringing good cheer ♪ to young and old meek and the bd ♪ ding-dong, ding-dong that is their song ♪ with joyful ring ♪ one seems to hear words of good cheer ♪ from everywheree filling r ♪ oh how they pound

raising the sound ♪ o'er hill and dale telling their ta ♪ gaily they ring while people sing ♪ songs of good cheer christmas is here ♪ merry, merry, merry, merry christmaer ♪, merry, merry, merry christmas ♪ hark how the bells sweet silver bells ♪ all seem to say throw cares away♪ christmas is here bringing good cheer ♪ to young and old meek and the bold ♪ ding-dong, ding-don that is their song ♪ with joyful ring all caroling ♪ one seems to hear words of good cheer ♪ from everywhere olling the air ♪how they pound raising the sound ♪ o'er hill and dale telling their tale ♪ gaily they ring while people sing ♪ songs of good cheer christmas is here ♪ merry, merry, merry, merry christmaser ♪, merry, merry, merry christmas ♪ hark how the bells sweet silver bells ♪ all seem to say throw cares away ♪ christmas is here bringing good chee ♪ to young and old meek and the bold ♪ ding-dong, ding-dong that is their song ♪ with joyful ring all caroling ♪ one seems to hear words of good cheerm ♪ ferywhere filling the air ♪ oh how they pound raising the sound ll and dale

telling their tale ♪ gaily they ringle while peoping ♪ songs of good cheer christmas is here ♪ merry, merry, merry, merry christmas ♪ merry, merry, merry, merry christmask ♪ hw the bells sweet silver bells ♪ all seem to say throw cares away ♪ christmas is here bringing good cheer ♪ to young and old meek and the bold d ♪g-dong, ding-dong that is their song ♪ with joyful ring all caroling ♪ one seems to hear g words d cheer ♪ from everywhere filling the air ♪ oh hothey pound raising the sound ♪ o'er hill and dale telling their tale while people sing ♪ songs of good cheer christmas is here ♪ merry, merry, mmerry christmas ♪ merry, merry, merry, merry christmas ♪ on, on they send on without end ♪ their joyful tone to every home ♪ ding-dong, ding-dong ding-dong, ding-do ♪ on, on they send on without end ♪ their joyful tone to every home ♪ ding-dong, ding-dong

ding-dong, ding-dong >> schifrin: and that's the newshour for tonight. on wednesday, the catholic church in crisis over the clergy abuse scandal. i'm nick schifrin. join us online, and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, i hope you've had a good christmas. have a good night. thank you, and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> bnsf railway. >> consumer cellular. >> financial services rm raymond james. >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwid >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations education, democratic

engagement, and the advancementi ernational peace and security. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of tse institutions and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs yostation from viewers lik thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org ♪

♪ >> hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & co." during the christmas holidays, we're dipping into the archive and looking back at some of this year's highlights, so here's what's coming up. two comic geniuses who share a rare ability to mine hope in these troubled times. a thoughtful and surprising, funny conversation with ren stewart and daveelle. plus, our hari senivasan looks on the bright side with comedy great eric ide founding member of "monty python's flying circus." ♪ >> uniworld is a proud sponsor of "amanpour & co." when bea tollman founded a collection of boutique hotels, she had bigger dreams, andhose dreams were on the water --