captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good wening, i'm judruff. on the newshour tonight, the president meets with congressiol leaders at the white house with no signd of a deal to government shutdown stretching into a third week. then, the situation on the u.s.- mexico border grows more violent as border patrol agents again fire tear gas at rock-throwing migrants.us pl, a medical mystery: an update as researchers scramble to figure out what's driving the polio-like condition that has spiked among children in the past year. >> we feel a responsibility to the public, to the mothers, to the children, that even though it is rare, we feel a responsibility that we're going to figure it out. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. or

>> majunding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> babbeng a ge app that teaches real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more. babbel's 10-15 minute lessons are available li an app, or . more information on babbel.com. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing prondems-- skollfion.org. >> the lemelson foundation. committed to improving livio through inve in the u.s. and developing countries. on the web at lemelson.org.

>> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and rlaceful more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. c and tributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: from president ump today, a new warning. he says the partial governmentdo sh will last as long as it takes to get funding for a oungressional correspondent lisa desjardins begincoverage. >> desjardins: public trash cans spilling onto national parks, as the government shutdown

spills into its twelfth day. national park services can't clean up the mess until congress and the president reach a spenng deal. president donald trump started the day meing with his cabinet and indicating no change in his demand from democrats. >> the uted states needs a >> desjardins: hours later, he hosted a meeting with top congressional leader including democrats, in the white house situation room. afterward, it was clear theyre not changing position either. >> we want strong border security, we believe ours are owtter. but to use the shuas hostage is wrong. >> desjardins: congressman kevin mccarthy, who will be the top republican in the house starting tomorrow told reporters the group of leaders will next meet friday. this as the effects of the partial shutdown widen. today, smithsonian museums

locked their doors and furloughed workers after burning through surplus funding that allowed them to stay or nearly two weeks. disappointed visitors were left in the cold. >> amazing! it's closed! we knew about the shutdown, but we thought it might be open even tapay. it's a dintment. of course it is. >> not necessary, really just all about posturing, this could be worked on a whole different way, sensible nds will prevail eventually, we like to think. >> desjardins: the next move is expected from democrats, who will take over t house of representatives tomorrow. within hours, they are expected to try a new tack, isolating the wall issue, by passing one bill dealing with the border funding security fight. and a separate bill that would reopen every other currently shuttered agency. but neither none of those spending bills includes moneyr e wall, a position the white house said in a statement yesterday, was a "non-starter."

the president wants $5 billion for a wall or steel slat fence at the border. the democrats' now offer $1.3 billiofor border fencing, and another 300 million for other security installments. meantime, at the quiet capitol, on the last full day of the outgoing congress, senate chaplain barry black opened with an unusually blunt prayer. >> rise mercifullypon our darkened hearts, and deliver us from the trench warfare of yet another government shutdown.es >> djardins: each day of the shutdown, stakes and politicalre presise, with 800,000 federal employees unsure if ther will get text paycheck. >> woodruff: and lisa is here now with more details. so we just heard the chaplain say, tree -- trnch warfare. democrats doing

>> they are testing the president's resolve. they will pass one fill bl that will fund most of the government that is shut down, putting almost 500,000 federal workers back to work immediately r.r the rest of the yea then a second bill would fundth department of hoacialght for only a month, democrats say that towill allow tim debate whether wall money should happen or not. the prident has nod said he'll support this. we got a readout from the democrats who said chuck schumer asked if the president would support the bill to allow most of government to reopen and the president said i would look i foolish id that. this is what democrats say happened in th meeting. didn't hear from the white house. >> woodruff: i taped an interview with the white hou communications director who said they wouldn't go along with that. wh's a sense of when nd whether a breakthrough could be possible? >> next week will be key as whether this could end before

workers lose pay or whether it will be a long one. the sense we get fro top republicans and democrats at congress is they think both sides are digging in. they think this could last quit a few more daf not more weeks, and we're hearing those words "weeks," now, from some of ouers. >> woodruff: and, so, at this point, we saw who's being afxtcted to some eent, but when are more government employees going to be affected, where and whore they? >> i think a key date to watch is january 8, or about a week from now. t that is the day on which most of tse affected actsies, right around that day, they have to notify payroll, and if they don't have funding by that day around a week from now, that next paycheck, which is due in two fridays, will be delayed or frozen. so that is where the pressure can mount on congress. about a week from now, we'll see if workers will get their pay or not. ose who are federal workers, git contractors, judy, as we have been porting, have already been affected by this, some of them losing their payan

a lot of them very nervous. also, one thing to rep, this isw hitting federrkers harder now because the medical deductibles are restting now. so anyone with medical expenses starting at zero with thousands of dollars of medical costs and no paycheck now. >> woodruff: a lot of people familiar with having to think about thhi. all ofs is happening in a transfer of power, the house of representatives goi from republican to democratic control. >> that's fascinating. this is an historic first. we've not had a shutdown in between comings and a transfer of power like. this i think we're seeing this is lengthening the shutdown because the two sides are testing each other. this is facecally a game of chicken between the democrats an the republican president. one other thing, amng those agencies affected, not congress, not the white house, con has funded itself, all of its staff, fully paid, the same f the white house, and by, law,

cabinet officers and anyone appoted by thehite house, they are put during a shurnt. so as much as they control what happens to federal workers, none of the worke directly under them are affected. >> woodruff: wonder what the public thinks about allhat. >> i think i can guess. lisa desjardins, thank you. >> you're welcome. >> woodruff: we will continue our look at e shutdown with views from the white house and a leading democrat in congress after the news summary. in the day's other news, president hoump said he's ngfor a second meeting, soon, with north korean leader kim jong un. on new year's day, kim had said he, too, would like to meetis again ear. he also said he is still committed to denuclearizing the koreas. u.s. talks with the north have inalled, but mr. trump argued today that good are happening. >> we'll probably now have anher meeting. he's like to meet. i'd like to meet. but we've established a very good relationship. we're given no credit for it. i you know frankthis administration didn't take place, if another administration came in instead of this

administration mainly mike ae myself you'dving a war right now; you'd be having a big fawar in asia. >> woodruff: the president also defended his decision to withdrawroops from syria, but he suggested he's in no hurry. instead, he said it would be "over a period of time." utah's incoming republican senator mitt romney spoke out day against mr. trump's performance as a moral leader. romney wrote in "the washington post" that, "the president has tnot risen to the mantle office." and, he went on: "presidential leadership in qualities of character is indispensable. and it is in this province where the incumbent's shortfall has been most glaring." the president fired back on twitter, saying, "would much prefer that mitt focus on border security" and "be a team player." the united states is pressing russia to free a former u.s.

marine accused of espionage. russian authorities arrested paul whelan last week,nd today, they allowed the u.s. ambassador to visit him. in brazil, u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo said he wants more information. >> we've made clear to the russians our expectation that we will learn more about the charges. i come to understand what it is he's been accused and if the detention is not appropriate we will demand his immediate turn. >> woodruff: whelan received a bad conduct discharge from the marine corps 10 years ago. fhe is now head of securi a u.s.ased auto parts supplier his brother says whelan was in moscow for a wedding when he was arrested. in russia, the dea toll climbed to 33, after an explosion destroyed partf a 10-story apartment building in the western city of magnitogorsk.ke crew digging into a huge mound of rubble today, and found 14 more bodies.

yesterday, they rescued a baby boy, still alive despite freezing temperatures. officials have said monday's explosion was apparently caused by a gas leak. chinese president xi jinping called today for unification talks with taiwan. he also warned that independence for taiwan is "a dead end." in a beijing speech, the chinese leader said re-unification must come one way or the other, including military means. >> ( translated ): we are willing to try our hardest with ththe biggest sincerity fo peaceful reunification of the motherland, because it serves the best interest of the compatriots across the straits and the whole nation. but we will not rule out the use of force and will reserve all options of necessary measures. en woodruff: taiwan's pres rejected xi's call for reunification, but did not rule out talks. taiwan split from china after n the communists won powere mainland in 1949.

beijing still considers it a renede province. japan's aging emperor akihito has de his final new year's appearance, before he abdicates in april. an estimated 150,000 well- wishers gathered outside the imperial palace in tokyo today. akihito greeted them as he has every year since assuming the throne in 1989. his eldest son, the current crown prince, will take his place. and, back in this country: wall street started the new year with another bumpy ride. the dow jones industrial average gained 18 points, after dropping nearly 400 in the opening minutes. it closed at 23,346. the nasdaq rose 30 points, and the s&p 500 edged up three. still to come on the newshour: the president meets with congressional leaders to discuss the ongoing government shutdown. tensions rise on the u.s.-mexico gborder as agents fire te

at rock throwing migrants. brazil's new f-right president kes control as the u.s. looks to transform its south americagy stra and researchers scramble to m understandterious polio- like condition that has spiked among children in the past year. >> woouff: let's return to the government shutdown and the failed attempts toeach a deal. we start with the white holae. mercedes s is president trump's director for strategic communications. i spoke with her a short time ago about the president's high stakeseeting to re-open the government. >> well, at this point, as the president talked with these members and listened to the democrats today in the congressional meeting, theb presidenically doesn't -- will not move forward unless

there is some border security funding. it's very clear he and his team sent out of a good-faith of -- offer tohe democrats practically one or two weeks ago and the deremocratsed to negotiate. so we want to get to the point where there's aa negotiati the table. it's why the president said he want to reconvene a meeting on friday with the democratic and republican leadership to help solve this problem and come to a conclusion. >> woodruff: let's talk about the amount because the number 5-plus billion has certainly been thrown out. that's on the table. you yourself said in an interview last week, the white house is looking for something between 1.5 and 5. vice president in a meeting on the hill last week apparently said we're prepared to look at lf of 5 biion. is the president prepared to move below that 5 billion number in? >> look, i think this is part of the negotiations that we're not

going to negotiate in public right now. we know that the vice president as well as the president presented an offer to the democrats. e democrats saido. democrats are stuck on the $1.3 billion figure. that's obviously not going to be enough, and what they'r proposing right now, there is absolutely nothing, there is no fundalg for the border, and we're talking about a physical barrier. as we know, when it came out of committee, it was 1.6 bth that both democrats and republicans passed, and now they're saying 1.3, and now they're saying zero. >> woodruff: let's talk about what it boans ber security, because the president keeps saying it's a wall, but so many rublicans we talked to, even other administration officials say what this really iis secity, electronics and other items, and it's not entirely a physical wall. >> well, this one in particular is the physical barrier. we're looking at steel flaps, for example, as b one of the types of fencing that we're

looking at.id the prt has actually tweeted out a photo about that and actually it is a wall that we have built. the democrats actually made an interesting point where they're, like, we don't want a concrete wall, and we responded in sayin it's notncrete wall, it's steel flaps, it's a physical barrier. we want to get to the point -- we know the steel flaps work along the borr and that'hat we're asking for in terms of what we need to build the hundds of miles left that we need to do for the wall. >> woodruff: so the president behieves that ts physical barrier is worth the disruption that this is causing800,000 government employees, people not getting their paychecks, ayingnment facilities st closed? >> well, i think the president has made it very clear that he wants to see border security funding included, and what happened is that we in with a good-faith offer, the democrats refused to negotiate.

at this point, we want to be able to for theenm to lio the facts. secretary nielsen made a great point during the meeting where she said that right now it's t about a status quo situation, it is about a krypses situation, and we cannot expect status quo funding. >> woodruff: let me ask you two quick questions about syria. the president originally, a few weeks ago, id he wanted to pull out of syria quickly. now he's sayin bit coulde four months. which is it? >> we have to follow th the leaf the department of defense, they understandhe operations and logistics. as we know, the president has made a commitment back in theys f his campaign that he was going to bring the troops home. we have accomplished t needed to do in syria, which is destroying the terliritorial ate. we did that, now it's time to bring our troops home, and that is what the preside promis and that is what he has committed to do and he is going to move toward a withdrawal frou syria and, of e, it's going

to logistically led by the partment of defense. >> woodruff: and we are told there are still 10,000 i.s.i.s. fightersson syria, the president believes they can be eliminated in four months? >> aga, as weiscussed, it's not just the united states that important rolery there, but you also have syria and russia that are fighting i.s.i.s.t they don't we i.s.i.s. territories in syria, so that will be a continued fight. >> woodruff: in othe mercedes ss so much to dison this wednesday afternoon. thank you so much. >> thank you so much. >> woodruff: and n a democrat's take, we turn to the incoming house majority leader steny hoyer, a democrat from maryland.ns he js now from capitol hill. leader hoyer, first of all, tell is about that meeting at the white house late fternoon. what came of it? l, i don't think there w in the product of the meeting. i think positions were rtated. very frankly, we said, look, we are forit border sec

the objective is not the issue. the means of assuring border security is what we are debating abouho but what we d not do is shut down government during the course of our discussions. reasonab people can discuss how best to secure the border without taking hostage 800,000 people and, frankly, the millions of people who rely on the dailoperations of government. >> woodruff: as you know, president trump has been talking a long time about ting border security, want ago border wall. he is now saying, the white house is saying, we t heard from mercedes schlapp, the president is prepared to negotiate on the wall, but they say democrats are t. >> well, i don't think it's accurate. when he sayl,"the walwe are prepared to negotiate on border security. we want to make sure that the borders are, in fact, secure. we've said that. ricans safe,eep ame we want to keep our country safe, and, at the ntme time, we to follow the law, making

inge those who are seek asylum from danger to themselves and to their families, under american law, get heard and get adjudicated properly. but our presentation to the esident was, mr. president, don't polerrize -- penalize 800,000 people or the country while we negotiate. we're prepared to neg. we will have discussions with you, but understand, we compromised very greatly, judy -- after all, these ell republican bills. these are not our bills. these are not our bills that we passed out of committee or on the floor of the house and the senate, that doesn't mean we didn't vote for them, we compromised, as is the legislative process. so the deals we're suggestingen the pressign are all products of the house and the senate, and the senate, frankly, has almo unanimously voted for all of these bills, not

unanimously but almost unanimously. >> woodruff: but m hoyer, to e public, what it looks like is the president is saying, okay, i'd likeon $5 bilgive or take, for this boarpd. i'm willing to take less than that, buttimes are sayinge're not going to give you anything for the wall. so, to many in the public, this may look like the democrats are the ones who are not prepared tn do give. >> jud who said i would be glad to shut down this government? who said, i will take ful responsibility for shutting down this government? eho for months and, frankly, more than a yar has said a shutdown may be good for our cot try? no democid that, no democrat wants to see the government shut down, and we re prepared to negotiate and discuss. i will say this, we voted for a nyhomeland security bill, f us, believe that homelandcu ty is important but disagree that the wall is the means to achieve that, and that does not mean that we are not prepared to negotiate on how to mae our borders more secnd

our country safer. we want to do that. we think that's proper to do, but this president isaying take all of our republican bills g d then, by the way, i've got somethse i want, too. that's not negotiation, that's ultimatum. >> woodruff: so the democrats' position, then, is we're not going to spend a penny for a physical barrier at the border. that's correct d >> no,'t think that's our position at all. as a matter of fact, we've supported fencing in the past. >> woodruf but then why -- if you look at the record -- >> woodruff: why isn't thereo roomcompromise on this, then? >> i didn't say there wasn't .oom for compromi i said we are prepared to negotiate and compromise, judy, on making the boarecure, and we're prepared to listen to experts. as a matter of fac as you know, there was a comprehensive onimmigration bill that wahe floor in the senate passed in a bipartisan vote, sent to the house, and we asked theea republicanrship, put it on the floor, let us vote on it, and provided for over

$40 billion fors bordeurity, but asked the experts to tell us how best to accomplish that e. we asked people ton -- it be put on the flooyer fivs ago and the republicans refused. we think while discussing, the best way to accomplishhe objective, we ought not to shut down the parts of government that have noing to do with the wall or border security, per se, and negotie and make itnly till february 8th, or we'll shut down gwen the -- again the homeland security department. hopefully in the next five weeks, we can reach an agreement. >> woodruff: there's ce in between the two positions, there is somesort of ngotiated settlement here. >> i hope we do. there's a basis f an aement to achieve border security. >> woodruff: let's wait.do let's hope wt wait too many. >> woodruff: incoming how to

majority leader steny hoyer.ve thank yo much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: let's look arw at those g the brunt of the shutdown. the country's largest union for federal workers is suing the trp administration over th shutdown saying the government owes damages to the 400,000 federal employees working without pay.pr j. david cox iident of the american federation of government employees, who filed the complaint. mr. cox, thank you very much for joining us. eo, before i ask you about th lawsuit, what do you make of this back and forth between the white house aatnd demo >> part of it, clearly, there are 800,000 federal employees who are being held hostage who, january 11, will not receive a paycheck. 420,000 of them are being required to go to work every day, do their job, and will not get paid on payday. the other have been sent home, furloughed, without pay at the current time. that touches the lives of at

least 2.5 million people. that's unconscionable. >> woodruff: you're talking about the tangible effects of this. >> yes. >> woodruff: so the it was filed, your organization filed this lawsuit yesterday on what grounds? >> on the grounds of the federal fair labor standards act which says tt the government or any employeras to pay its employees at least a minimal amount of money. this lawsuit was filed during the lat government shutdown and as won. and it goes back depression era law where it says even t federal government has to pay its employees at least a minimal amount of money, thewa minimu, and i'm not an absolute expert on all the technical laws of it, but, ill, yet, clearly, it was won in the last government shutdownn no other employer in this country is allowed to require s employees to go to work and refuse to pay them on payday.

>> woodruff: what you're saying, basically, is it's okay if you continue to argue aboute vernment and whether it's shut down or not but you need to empay thesoyees? >> you need to pay the employees. you need to fund the people's government. the government belongs to all the citize of thiuntry. right now, border patrol ages are on the border, patrolling the border, correctional officers are in prison garding us against some very harmful people. other folks, theoast guard, are doing their job. loans can't get processed for people of df asters othe floods and fema, all these type things are being held up because these employs are ether furloughed or required to go to work. that is no way to run a country. what if google or amazon did this to their employees? everybody would be on t news continuously. only the federal government does

this to its employees. >> woodruff: do you believe this could be settled, this lawsrdt could be heand decided on in the next few days? riwe're hea -- >> we don't believe it will be heard in the next few days. anything with the court system, right now the departmentot of justice is funded, and, so -- >> wf: so they can't hear the suit. >> they can't hear it, but the procs will go forward with the lawsuit, as was the case in the last government shutdown. but the real issue right now is funding the federal government, paying federal employees, and st of our members take-home pay is $500 a week. that is not a lot of money. eek. a they are not going to be able to put a roof over their head, feed their children, all the things that are necessary. they are becoming very, very scared and concerned. >> woodruff: and that was my question. for people watching wh may not

know anyone who works for the federal government, you're saying they are real people with real needs. >> yes, ma'am. real peole. right now, these are cooks who cook the food in federal pen -- pepenitentiaries. not high-paying jobs, but they're required to go to work and quook the food but don't get paid on payday. no federal employer. the government is the only entity that exempts itself from paying its employees twhain don't have an appropriation, but there is this on process in the law where it says that they have to pay a minimal amount that goes back to a depression era stance in the law. >> woodruff: j.david cox, the president of the american federation of government employees, we thank you. >> thank you so much. let's brit this shutdown o an end and put federal employees wack to work caring for the american people. we want to go to work and do or jobs. >> woodruff: thank you.

thank you. f: >> woodror the second time in recent weeks, u.scustoms and border protection officers fired tear gas yesterday into a crowd of migra mexico. the group of about 150 were trying to cross into the u, . from tijuaar san diego. u.s. officials say some were throwing rocks. authorities in mexico have been struggling to accommodate the thousands of people awaiting entry into the u.s., after fleeing violence and unrest in central america.cl for er look at our southern border, amna nawaz joins me now.k so, amna, thu. what exactly happened at the border yesterday? >> right. so this is actually late monday, early tuesday. 're just getting details last night, but this is what u.cis. ofs say happened there. one group tried to illegally

enter the u.he. by making ir way over concertina wire, another group officials say were throwing rocks at officials on the other side. officials say they fired tear gas at rock throwers, not the migrants trying toake their way, they were using pepper spray, tear gas and smoke and they say using minimum force necessary to defend the border and restore order. they say no children were affected by the chemical agencies. there was discrepancy aut that by reporters on the ground. we don know about the folks trying to make their way across the bored. we know the folkfare part o the bigger group. the president tweeted about the caravan. hthey made their way to e border, denied entry, they have to wait in mexico now, and thatt led clashes in november of last year, that was the first time that tear gas had been usd against these folks, some of those iconic ims, moms fleeing with kids in diapers away from g the te. hard to imagine those things are happening on our own border.

which are so hard to wach. so this use of tear gas is not something that hpens often. it's happened, you were telling me today, some times before. but why are we seeing it now twice within a short period of time? >> it's important to point ou it's not uncommon. law enforcement uses it regularly here, border patrol used it did beforen under previous administration, what's unusual is to use it aganst t folks seeking protection at air border and firing into another country to do that. there is legal questions about that and just about the appropriate use of for response to the seriousness of the threat, and threat is sortor of the keyd here because the administration views what's happening down there as a threat, as a crisis. we hear this word agn and again. we heard the president today say the border is a ziff, really true, border crossings are at historic lows. we heathe president saying w have to shut down the crossings to stop drones across the border.

most illicit drugs come at legal ports of entry. there's a crisisnd the administration has been responding to it like a crisis. >> woodruff: so what are the options for the government and border agents? what do we see happening here? >> next it looks like the folks on the other side of thdee bor will continue to be held there. they're sort of in limbo. they're stuck in mexico where asylum claims processed. we've heard reports of 40 to 100 a day. you're talking about thousands of people who don't know whato the futures for them, who don't have unlimited funds, who are in a dangeron border tow and don't know what the future will hold. >> woodruff: and in ter of administration policy, any sign that there is any give there? >> well, you've seen the administration make efforts to narrow some of the asylum paths. they are trying to say if you cross illegally you are not alload loud make an asylum claim. the courts pushed back againstem that becauseber, whether you cross legally or illegally,

you have a legal right under u.s. international law to make an asylum claim and have it heard bn our legal framework, whether or not it gets granted in the end. >> woodruff: right. amna nawaz, thank you so much for following this story. >> of course. >> woodruff: brazil celebrated the inauguration of a new president on new year's day, and jair bolsonaro was greeted with open arms by the trumpst admition. foreign affairs correspondent nick schifrin tells us who he is, and why he has sparked equal amounts of hope and fear. >> schifrin: jair bolsonaro rode into office in the back of a rolls royce, nd on the back of widespread anger at brazil's elite. and with the help of pomp and circumstance, the former army captain became brazil's first modern right-wing leader, as an unabasd nationalist. >> ( translated ): this is our

flag, which will never be red. >> schifrin: red as in socialism, and red as in the party of his political opponents, former president luiz inacio lula da silva, who is in prison, his successor, who was impeached, and most recent president michel temer, who was accused of corruption and embraced bolsonaro before he spoke. ( translated ): i stand before the nation today, on the day the people became free from socialism... ...free from the gigantic statel from theically correct. the elections gave voice to those who have not been heard. >> schifrin: his suppos call him myth, a reference to the almost mythical status bolsonaro achieved after surviving a septber stabbing, and to hisdd mi name: messias. they expect him to save a country by fighting corrupngon, enecession, and ruling conservatively. >> ( translated ): family values, no corruption, no

robbery. this is what i expect from him in the next four years. >> schifrin: today bolsonaro presented his cabinet and quickly followed through on a campaign promise. these farmlands are on the edge of the brazilian rain forest. in the past, farmers that wanted to clear forest, had to get permission froa group that considers the rights of the indigenous, like these members of the munduruku tre. but bolsonaro ordered farmers' requests would now go through a pro-business agriculture ministry. bolsonaro also promises to end brazil's left-leaning foreign policy, and embrace conservative leaders. secretary of state mike pompeo is in brasilia, as is israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, and hungarian prime minister viktor orban. today in a press conference with brazil's foreign minister, pompeo described bolsonaro asli -minded. >> we think the people of america and the people of brazil have a set of shared values in democracy and liberty and freedom. >> schifrin: but bolsonaro's long been accused of sexism and authoritarianism. in 2014, after pushing a lawmaker, he yelled, "i wouldau not rape you b you are not

worthy of it." and last week his son posted a profanity-laced video of his father promising to make it easier for police to kill suspected criminals. but the u.s. wants bolsonaro's help. >> wknow too, we will have t opportunity to work alongside of each other against auts ritarian regiound the world. >> schifrin: that's a reference to ending president obama's engagement with cuba, and confronting nicaraguan president daniel ortega, and venezuelan president nicolas maduro, hose governme overseen economic catastrophe, causing millions of venezuelans to become refugees. bolsinaro was elected to fix domestic problems, and couldfa internal resistance to foreign intervention with the substance and style of the trump administration. as president trump tweeted: "congratulations to president jair bolsonaro who just mara a great inauon speech. the u.s.a. is with you!" to understand what this means

for brazil and the region we get two views from: fernando cutz. he was director for south america on the national security council staff during the trump administration. he's now a senior associate at the cohen group, a consulting firm. and, elizabeth leeds is a senior fellow at the washington office on latin america where shecu s on brazil.u thank ry much. fernando cutz, let me start with you. jair bolsonaro, is he the rig man for this moment? >> you know, i think, overall, he is. i think that he certainly will have some inhallenges. i he's said some things that are certainly, you know,me offensive to si think certain things he said are certainly more to have the populist side of,you know, any candidacy, but, in bigpicture, i think he's got the right things down. brazil right now needs tee things -- an economic boost, it freeze corruption to end, and it needs crime tost severely go down. and i think bolsonaro came in and made a point of promising and hammering these three things

down. now is the tough part, he has to deliver on these three things. if hel can, althings point to he at least has the right team around him, i think he w truly lead where siliin the right direction. >> can he tackle all three things, perhaps despite some of the human rights concerns that people have? >> well, i think the human rights concerns are certainly a serious issue to be considered in this new atrdminion. let me focus a little bit on the crime.on this i of the major issues that the population has beend concerout, but the proposals that h, at least initially, has put forth, i think, will only increase the crimand vionce. he's proposing essentially u liberating t of guns by civilian population who do not have criminal backgrounds. he's also almost given

carte blanche to police to ll almost with impunity. and it's been shown in the past at violence generates violence. so i think, at least on that particular set of issues, he will be going at it in the wrong way. >> fernando cutz, there was a twitter video, as we just saw, in the piece before we started talking, where he talks about 200,000 killed, meaning police can kill 200,000 would-be criminals. doesn't that concern you? >> of course. so far, it's only rhetoric, though, and i think that's the key differn,ce. i meahere's a giant leap that goes from the rhetoric phase tthe duterte phase in the fill bones where he starts to actually massacre people. i think congress would certainly not buy it and american businesses would certainly not buy it so it goes back to policies on boosting economy.

if you want foreign direct investment from the esunited stamericans aren't going to jump in with a country thatma acres its people. >> secretary pompeo called poll bolsonaro like minded, the national security advisor john n bolton said the same. is the u.s. on the right track to ally with this scenario? >> well, i think in terms ofg dealth these regional problems andfl conts, the correct way to go about it, at least initiall is to not do it in a bilateral way or a a trilateral way but to use institutions such as the organization of american states which exists for dealing in part with regional conflicts. so i do not agree with this tro cay mentality. >> i totally agree that in an

ideal world the u.n. would be taking up this situation. t unfortunately've proven themselves to not be willing to take this up or to be incapableh of takin up time and again. and when i was at the white house, one of the things weur reallyd for was for oas action against venezuela and to pass resolutions. so i think we need regional leadership. the problem of venezuela is a regional cries. if you look at the migras, the refugees, they're streaming into lombia, brazil, ecuador, peru, and it's a regional problem and calls for a regional solution, it's not u.s. bilateral problem. ol i think it's time for the region and i thinksonaro might be the right guy to do this to take this issue up and address it on their own and show leadership. the united states has taken a lot of actions against venezuela. i think it's time for bolsonaro and the region to take their own actions. >> can u.s. and bolsonaro be --

brazil be the leaders? >> i still maintain the leadership has to come in a more regional way. i do not feel that this is bilateral efforts will do anything i think, in terms of venezuela, it will make the situation even worse. >> so, fernando cutz, the criticism is you increase the pressure on venezue, that might actually hit the venezuelan people more and cause more refugees than there already are. >> absolutely, and i think that's a key reason w we haven't gone after, for example, an oil embargo. the united states consumes 95% of venezuelan oil that is actually sold, south a significant part of their oud.p., and if we were to cut that off, ofrse we could effectively shut down their economy. but we have to look at the other side of it which is what happens to te venezuelan people? essentially we would create in

humanitarian disaster within venezuela and it's our mess at that point. so i think we very much haveo think carefully about the ramifications for the people o venezuela. having said that, i think there are a lot of steps that can be taken by pre bsidelsonaro and others in the region to isolate diplomaticly maduro to put pressure on him and inner circle without harming the people of venezuela, filing individual sanctions against individual regime members, gog after the narcostate that is venezuela, making sure drugs aren'touring in or out of their bored, and indicting folks, to be honest.es go after people, put them in the interpol list, don't let them leave their country, don't let them spend their corrupt money, and i think that will shake that regime to its core. >> last words, are you worried u.s. and perhs brazil will take on venezuela and other countries and increase rather than decrease instability? >> i do worry. i think that's a distinct

possibility. to what extent these actions will affect brazil in particular, i know that fernando mentioned the venezuelans pouring in to the where zillion borders in the north, so we're getting back to the violence issue. there has been a tremendous amount of violence against venezuelans coming into te border. so i think brazil is being afected personally by thd i do hope that the kindsf reactions that the bolsonaro government will take will not incrwise the violencthin venezuela. >> elizabeth warren, fernando -e s, fernando cutz, thank you both. >> thank you. >> woodruff: for the past few years, a mysterious polio-like illness has been paralyzing children in the united states, often striking after a mild illness, peaking eved other

year, aching record highs in 2018. it's called acute flaccid myelitis, or a.f.m. while it's extremely rare, cases were reported in 39 states last year. but dcotors and researchers say they still don't know what causes it or how to stop it. amna is back with that story for our weekly segment on the "leading edge" of scie technology and medicine. >> will you hold my head? >> i am holding ur head. >> nawaz: four-year-old camdyn carr begins every day like this. >> push, push, push! >> i can't! >> you can! >> nawaz: hours of therapy at baltimore's kennedy krieger institute. is do you remember what does >> nawaz: camdyn is relearning what, his dad chris carr says, he knew just weeks ago. what else do you remember about him? before he got sick? what was he like? >> oh, he was just, hell on wheels, can i say that?! (laughter) >> nawaz: i think you just did! >> i mean, as soon aits the floor, he's nonstop until he goes to bed. in late august, caa yn developed

nus infection, nothing major. but when he woke up one day dizzy with a swollen face and s having trouble walking, m and dad took him to the hospital. within days, camdyn's body began to shut down. for a brief moment, his heart stopped. what went through your mind at that moment? >> i thought i was going to lose-- it was hard. but, you know, i had to be strong for him and show him everything would be alright, hard as it was. but, like, i asked the doctors, "is this going to kill my child?" >> nawaz: camdyn was revived, but spent weeks in a medically- induced coma. when he woke up, he was paralyzed. unable to even talk. tests confirmed he'd developed a.f.m. when it strikes, a.f.m. attacks parts of the spinal cord that control movement, sometimes paralyzing arms, legs, shoulders, hips and facial muscles. in severe cases, the respiratory

system is also affected, making it hard to breathe. but strangely, feeling and sensation remain and cognitive functioning is unaffected. day by day, millimeter by millimeter, camdyn is slowly regaining movement, starti in his toes. researchers say the chances of getting a.f.m. are just one in a million. in 2014, when the centers for disease control and prevention.f began tracking., there were 120 confirmed cases i the next sur2016 saw 149 cases. in018, that went up to 186 scattered across the country. the c.d.c. has now launched a task force to focus like a laser na the illness and the nat institutes of health, or n.i.h., an underwriter of the newshour, has ramped up their research too. but so far, very little is conclusive. >> its either a brand new virus, it's an enterovirus or it's an immune response. >> nawaz: dr. anthony fauci is the direor of the national

institute of allergy and infectious diseases athe n.i.h. >> it's frustrating that we don't have the answers, but we feel a degree of urgency here. we feel a responsibility to the public, to the mothers, to the children, that even thou it is rare, we feel a responsibility that this is a mystery and we've got to tackle it. we're going to figure it out. >> nawaz: another mystery? some develop a.f.m. after an illness, while others don't. >> in a community you may have hundreds and hundreds of children who get infected andon a rare one will get it. >> nawaz: more than 90% of a.f.m. victims are children. the average age of those affected?r justyears old. back at kennedy krieger, just next door to camdyn carr, is four-year-old ava janeski. always the performer was ava and her twin brother just weeks ago. on a sunday in october, she imbed statues in a park.

monday morning, she had a fever. tuesday afternoon, she couldn't move her legs. by wednesday, she was on a ventilator, fighting to breathe. >> it's very scary. especially at this age, she just turned four, you know,rshey don't unnd and they turn to you and give you that look tt fiand when you can't, it's, it's, you feel very helpless. >> will you holdy hand? >> i'll hold your hand. and that's what we've been trying tdo a lot of. just a lot of hand-holding and trying to reassure her. >> nawaz: ava must now re-train her atrophied muscles how to move in very basic ways. the work can be painful, but in the absence of a cure for a.f.m., therapy is all that can be done. ava's doctor, cristina sadowsky. >> if you want to be a really good pitcher, you're going to practice pitching, over and over and over again. so, that's one of the things that we can tell the parent is that if you practice, if your

child practices this specific movement, hundreds, thousands o times,ve the chance of getting you there. >> nawaz: among the most severe cases of a.f.m., experts say they have yet to see a child make a full recovery. ert with early intervention and ongoing intensive y, they have seen patients make incredible progress. >> help the family has a good day. nawaz: in 2016, the entire outtomley family in york cy, pennsylvania, came down with severe col. got only sebastian got a.f.m. >> this is when sick. >> nawaz: when he started stuming as he walked, his mo christa, knew something was terribly wrong. >> basti more, most coordinated, athletic child. he's always been very vigorous, veryild, high energy. and for him to do anything uncoordinated was out of the ordinary. >> nawaz: more than 2,000 hours of physical therapy later, sebastian can move his hands and

arms more. and $100,000 worth of special equipment, about half covered by insurance, have helped him regain some hip and leg muscle. t his mom says some things will never be the same. >> it was very hard to watch me see my child's personality change before my eyes. and sometimes i would watch and be like, do i even know my own child? he was going through a huge trauma. to me, it was surreal. but to him, he was very much living this as a disaster second byco . >> this is chicky the chipmunk. >> nawaz: chicky the chipmunk? >> yeah, it's a hilarious name. >> nawaz: buexperts sayil en's resilience after the initial disaster is what makes their recovery possible. kennedy krieger physical therapist, courtney . >> i find that kids are still really motivated. ky way that you can teach to do what he wanted to do, whether it's, yoa know, pick up y from across the room or just go visit a friend across the room? like, they'll nt to do it?

whether that means they walked to, or weke they us put them in a wheelchair and they drove ove i find they're still just super motivated to do it, and they're gonna figure out a new way. >> nawaz: do you have any doubt that sebastianonill walk again day? >> of course i do. of course i do! that's not something i tell him, though. everybody has doubts. but, what, if i had, if i had to put my money on it? no. he is going to walk someday. that's something that i, i need to believe that in order to push this har so my official answer is i have no dbt he is going to walk someday. l >> nawaz: withittle assistance, and a lot of grit, sebastian continues to move forward.p >> kgoing, sebastian! >> nawaz: his mom hopes for more awareness and information about a.f.m., so that other kids won't have to follow in sebastian's footsteps. >> nawaz: for the pbs newshour, i'm amna nawaz in york,

pennsylvania. >> woodruff: on th online right now, our january pick for the pbs newshour-"new york times" book club "now read this" is called "heart: a history." read along and find our discussion questions to guide you.e that and m on our web site, pbs.org/newshour. rand that's the newshour tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs wshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major fundingor the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> you can do the things you like to do with a wireless plan designed for you. with talk, text and data consumer cellular. learn more at consumercellular.tv

>> babbel. a language app that teaches real-life conversations in a new language. >> and with the ongoinort of these institutions and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viers like you. thank you. s captioninsored by newshour productions, c

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