captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. the newshour tonight: a wall remains between them. president trump meets again with congressional leaders at the white house, but no sign of an end to the government shutdown. then, surprisingly strong jobs numbers, and a signal of patience on interest rate hikes from the fed chairman, send stocks higher. plus, it's friday. mark shields and david brooks look ahead to a new era of dided government. and, street symphony. how a violinist from the los angeles philharmonic is bringing music to the homeless and incarcerated. >> the fact that skid row is two miles away fm walt disney concert hall is not, in my mind, -cmatter of two different

worlds, but a mastss in the way structural violence plays out. >> woodruff: all that and more,w on tonight's pour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> text night and day. >> catch it on replay. >> burning some fat.

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thank you. >> woodruff: two full weeks and counting, and there is still no sign that the partial government shutdown will end soon.d the president use and senate leaders did talk again today, but they did not appear even to agree on how the meeting went. congressional correspondent lisa desjardins begins our coverage. he>> desjardins: day 14 of government shutdown... >> we just completed a lengthy d sometimes contentious conversation with the president. >> i thought it was a very, very good meeting >> desjardins: ...another meeting at the white house... >> we told the president we needed the government open. he resisted. in fact, he said he'd keep the government closed for a very long period of time-- morshs, or even y >> i did say that. absolutely i said that. i don't think it will,ut i am

prepared-- and i think i can speak for republicans in the e, and republicans in th senate. they feevery strongly about having a safe country, having a border that makes sense. >> desjardins: ...and another impasse. >> no, we won't be opening until it's solved. we think this is much bigger problem. the border is a much more dangerous problem. >> desjardins: in the rose gard after the meeting, the president said he wants active negotiations over the weekend, trump says he now wants $5.6 billion for a border wall. democrats say they will not fund a wall at all. stead, house democrats last night passed spending bills that would re-open most of the closed government agencies permanently, and fund the department of homeland security for a month. >> the bill is passed.in >> desja an idea the president today made clear he opposes. can you explain to federal emoyees of the agencies th

are closed, which are not homeland security, why those agencies should stay closed? homeland security is significant in and of itlf, if it stays closed. >> because we want to do what's right, and we want to do it all at one tim we don't want to take it in pieces. we just don't want to do that.s: >> desjardhe president also said he is considering calling a national emergency to build the wall, if congress doesn't fund it.d >> you don't nngressional approval to build that? >> no, absolutely we can call a national emergency cause becaus to he security of our country. >> this as the effects of >> desjardins: this, as the effects of the shutdown are felt outside of washington, d.c.- t like in joshe, california, where a group of volunteers are cleaning up trash at the national park. >> we knew we had to do something with the government shutdown. so, we got together right ay and started to get folks up there and take care of the bathrooms and things like that. so, we've been dubbed the toilet paper angels. ds desjardins: this, as hu of thousands of federal workers are furloughed, or working

without pay. the president was asked about workers who may be having trouble paying their rent. >> when you see their problems out there, difficulties out there, you know, the people are yll good for the money, the work with people. >> desjardins: meanwhile, thess 116th congas gone home for the weekend, leaving one hope: that actual negotiations will begin in earnest while they're go. >> woodruff: and lisa joins me now. lisa, you're just getting off the phone. i know you're still reporting on this right up to th minute. one side said there is progress, the white house. e other side said there wasn't. what's going on? >> it does not feel there was significant progress tod, judy. what i'm told from sources both republican and democratic is what hapened is this, that in that meeting the president continuinhe idea of staff level talks, let's keep talking over the weekend. i'm told he did no specifically mention the idea of a kind of task force, but she bro in this news conference, he's appoted vice president and two

others to lead t task force. the news office said this is news for them and didn't know the president was going to do this. whether the task force haporpens ot in the future, judy, is staff are talking over the weekend, leaders are going back to their corners, and staff talks have continued for the past couple of days, so that's not really a change in terms of where the negotiating points are, the president did firmly say today wheree stands, which is something we don't always hear from him. he said he wants $5.6 billion for a wall or steel fence, same with speaker pelosi, she was also firm, she said they will not fund a wall. >> woodruff: that's despite the white house saying in the past they were willing to go with a lower number. >> that's correct. >> woodruff: but let's talk about the president's reasoning he a. he did taot about this wall during the campaign. what is driving his determination, saying it's got lse?e a wall or >> you know, it really shocked me today that we didn'hear more from the president on that n the rose garden conference.

he mentioned, ona concern for a number of vehicles crossing the border where there is no fence or wall. now, we spent the last couple of hours since that news coerence trying to research if there are statistics on this, where this concern is coming from, how big is this concern, andve not been able to find anything that helps inform this. we've also asked the white house to give us their research. i think there jusasn't been enough time to verify or understand the context here. he said that's summoning his mind. the second thing he brought up was, in fact, the concern of border,ts crossing the and fielded that question to secretary nielsen. she said -- we heard this t concern, likrorists crossing the border but we never know exactly what they're ayeaking about. we got specifics t secretary nielsen said customs and border patrol stopped over 3,000 people which we call special inrests aliens. she went on to say those are aliens whom the intelligences community dentified as a

concern because of either travel patterns that they hav have identified them as terrorist travel patterns, or these are people that have known ties to tear. 3,000 people crossing the border. when you compare that to the number of everyone who was stopped across the border, jy, that's 1%. that 1% is a concern that ises driving ent trump to ask for a wall. >> woodruff: fascinating. so meantime, let's talk again about e practical effect. there were real people, government employees em affected by this government shutdown. you have been looking into how their lives are cha anging result. >> our team of producers have been tacking to doddss and dozens of peo first, let's talk with a federal employee. we've asked people to send i videos of their own stories. this is a woman, a teacher whose husband is a federal prison cord in new jersey. let's hear how she says she's being impacted. >> we have to rework the du budget. we have to recork duties. we've got to negotiate the company. we have to sw that pride and ask for extensions and ask for a little bit of

understanding, knowing full well we're going to be charged extra interest, we're going to bech charged financges, which we're not going to be reimbursed for and don't budget for monthly because we do pay our bells on time normally. we've had to tell our children that we need to cut back on some things- indoor soccer, not happening this year.no youw, it's not fair and not good on them either. it stinks and it needs to stop. >> so it's typical, you don'tt see people's mgages affected quite yet. we have another example of people from falls church, federal workers, they have two children who are special needs and are in therapy, and there skipping therapy next week because they're worried about the salary loss because of the shutdown. they have talked to ool loan, car loan teampeople to say we may not be making the next payment. >> woodruff: and salaries, the president was talking about how top government employees, white house officials were getting pay

race while this was going on. how did he teal with that? >> the president said he was unaware of that but would ask cabinet members to forego the pay rai. vice president pence said he would forego the pay raise. c members ngress are being paid during the shutdown and only a handfuly aid thewould donate their salaries to charity. they can'tfoego it because it's automatic but a few said they would donate it. >> woodruff: i know you will keep watching over the weekend. >> we will. >> woodruff: lisa, thank yo >> woodruff: in the day's other news, the u.s. economyurned in big numbers for december. the labor department reported a net gain of 312,000 jobs--e much man expected. the unemployment rate rose slightly to 3.9%, but that was due to more job seekers lookrkg for and, average hourly pay was up by 3.2% from a year ago. the jobs report touched off a new buying binge for stocks, in another wild day on wall street. the dow jones industverage

gained nearly 750 ints to close at 23,433. the nasdaq rose 275 points, and the s&p 500 added 84. we will take a fresh look at the market's volatility, after the news summary. the federal reserve chairman sought to ease wall street's concerns today about future interest rate hikes. jerome powell spoke at a forum in atlanta. he said the fed wants to be patient, especially given a shaky stock market and its worries that economic growth will slow. >> i'll just say we're listening carefully to that. we're listening with, you know... nsitively, to the message that markets are sending, and we're going to be taking tse downside risks into account as we make policy going forward. >> woodruff: president trump has sharply criticized the re hikes, and has said he is not happy with powell. but the fed chair saidhat if the president asked him to resign, he would refuse.

china announced today that a s. delegation will travel to beijing on monday, to re-start trade talks. it comes amid tensions over tariffs and signs that china's economy is slowing.e o nations agreed last month to delay another round of tariff increases, for now. talk of impeaching president trump blew up today, over remarks by a newly-elected member of the u.s. hf representatives last night, michigan democrat rashida tlaib used an obscenity to refer to mr. trump, i demanding his ouster.es the ent answered this afternoon, in his rose garden news conference. >> you can't impeach someone that's doing a great job. that's the way i view it.gh i ththat was a great dishonor to her and her family. i thought it wasctighly disresl to the united states of america. >> woodruff: house speaker nancy pelosi said she would not have used such language, but thatma tlaib's s were no worse than things mr. trump has said.

tlaib showed no sign of backing down. instead, she tweeted, "i will always speak truth to power." the u.s. supreme court will take up the issuef congressional gerrymandering again in march. two cases are at issue. d they allege thocrats in massachusetts and republicans in north carolina drew congressional district maps that were so partisan, they violate the constitution. a federal appeals court in washington has upheld the trump administration's restrictions on transgender peop serving in the military. today's announcement overruled a lower court judge. still, the policy reon hold because several other judges have issued injunctions agnst it. the democrats' new house majority unveiled sweeping anti- corrup the bill aims to make it easier to register and vote, and to curb lobbying by former lawmakers. it would also force president trump to disclose his tax returns. at a capitol news conference,at

demosaid it is part of a mandate they won in the midterm elections. >> we heard directly from our citizens about their disappointment with washington, d.c. at the very same time, we received our marching orders from them. we must demonstrate to the american public that we are willing to police ourselves, in order to build the big projects and dreams that they have for hr country. >> woodruff: tse could vote on the measure by early next month. but in the senat majority leader mitch mcconnell has said the bill will be dea arrival. veteran u.s. senator pat roberts is calling it quits. the four-term kansas republican is 82. he said today he will not seek re-election in 2020. roberts complained of a lo of comity in the senate, and appealed for "more work horses and less show horses." hotel conglomerate marriott now says that a huge data breach

affected fewer guest records than first feared.om but, theny confirmed today that the hackers did access more than five million unencrypted passport num irs. the f.b.investigating whether china was behind the hack. std, herb kelleher, who co-founded southirlines and helped revolutionize air travelhas died. he led the way in creating low- cost air travel, and helpefuel airline de-regulation. he also had a flair for wacky marketing antics-- from posing with planes, to dressing as elvis. herb kelleher retired in 2008. he was 87 years old. still to come on the newshour: what is driving the surprisingly s rong growth in u.s. jobs. how climate changepacting water rights in new mexico. mark shields and david brooks analyze the latest news on the shutdown. and, a violinist brings the symphony to the homeless population of los angeles.

>> woodruff: it has been a big day-- and a big week-- with economic news that has led to some wild swings in the financial markets. today alone was full of newsth about jobsfed, interest rates, china and a big jump on stock exchanges. amna nawaz speaks with someone who will try to explain what it all adds up to. >> nawaz: stocks did surge on that very strong jobs report and the comments by federal reserve chairman jay powell. the economy added more than 2.6 million jobs in that makes it the third-best year for job growth since the recession. and dating back to 2000, only 2014 and 2015 were higher. we dive into all of this with mark zandi, chief economist at moody's analytics. mark zandi, welcome back to the "newshour".

so you heard earlier, 312,000 new jobs added in december. this all good news iis report? >> it's pretty good news, yeah. that's a lot ojobs. we also got revisions to previous months and perhaps the best news was rage growth. wage growth accelerated and we're seeing the strongest wage gains in over a. decade this report had nothing but good news in it. we, at the same time,aw unemployment kick up just slightly to 3.9%. how do you factor that? >> well, that's only because we saw a lot of people come into theorkforce looking r work. they know that there are a lot of job opportunities. in fact, there are a record number of open job positions today, and wages are up, so it's a good time to go out there and look for a jo. so we havere people looking for work, that pushes the unemplment rate up. it rose but it rose for the right reasons. >> so together all thencse ns over the last few months, concerns about trade tensions, that interest rat going up could slow the economy down, did this last report uiet those fears?

>> no, those are still very much ars and i think there ad flags. the president's trade war is certainly doing economic damage. china, the rest of theglobe and it's reverberating back on us. s e government shutdown, if that goes on, thaing to be an issue. all the political discord inon washint some point i think will be applied to the food and job market. and the tax cuts we got last year, the benefits are now starting to fade, so we'll see slower growth going forward, and there are a sinigcant number of risks out there. >> so let me ask you about we heard from the federal reserve chairman today. he said he's goi to be patient with another interest rate hik what effect will that language have in the immediate future? >> it had a big effect today. the stock mart was way up today in aurt becse of the strong job numbers because it dispels thfears we will be in a recession soon, but we also got comments from federal reserve chairman powell which

are, look, if the economy is going to weaken, i'm not on auto pilot, i will stop raising interest rates. of course, that's music to investors' ears and that's why the stock prices rose.al so it'ady had some benefit. so the fed chair is focmaused on ng sure that stock investors don't lose faith and cause thi economy -- get into a self-fulfilling prophecy where stock investors take the economy down. >> i've got to ask you about something else he said. he responded to repeated criticism from the president himself and said he would not resign, even if theresident asked him to. do we have any indication that there is any political pressure at all for fed chairman powell to say he's going to be patient th rate hikes or to come out and say something so expressly about his potential resignations? >> no, i don't see that at all. the president's comments and h threats to fire the fed chair are very counterproductive. a pillar of a well-functioning economy is an independent central bank, something we've

learned from time in memorial, and for the president to attack the fed chair in thiway is really not in anyone's best interests. so i n'think the fed chair se going to be swayed by the comments. that's that was basically the mention he's sending. he said if the president asked me to resign, i'm not doing it. he's stating his independence. i want to put this in te context of our conversation today and that's the focus on apple d what we saw from them. they sparked concerns by downgrading their revenue estimates and looks like this one unshakeable giant was shaan by thoseme troubles in china. is that indicative to you of something broader that could happen across markets? >> that goes to the red flag that's the president's trade war. it really is doing damage. apple is the iconic american company. apple said it's earneings w hurt because offpoorer sales in china. of coue, china is struggling because of this trade war.

so here's the thing, the u. and chinese economy were hethered at the hip, so if t chinese economy struggles, we struggle, and you can see that with apple's earnings. it's not just apple. all large multi-national corporations in the united states do big business in china and the rest of the world, and if china is struggling, we're going to struggle, so ple's problems are symptomatic of the ill effects of this ill-timed d ill conceived tradear. >> all right, a lot to watch moving forward in the markets. mark zandi from moody analytics. thank you so much for your time. >> thank you so much. en>> woodruff: tension bet ranchers and environmentalists is nothing new, but climate ngchange could be exacerbane particular issue: water rights. from iowa public tv, josh buettner reports about one decades-long dispute in new mexico.

>> reporter: like generations before him, spike goss runs cattle in new mexico's sacramento mountains. >> my rights come long before new mexico became a state. long befe there was a u.s. forest service. >> forest service says we are a permittee. we're not permittees. we're allotment owners. we own our allotments. we bought it. w and thpay a grazing fee on top of that. and yes, in 1978, the u.s. supreme court ruled that we own the water rights. struck a unique set of land, water and grazing allowan ss by grantingtlers property known as allotments to encourage westward expansionut, over

decades, the shifting government policies and court challenges have left land and water rights undealer. >> they want our water. t y can get the water, they can control us, they have us. i mean, we're finished without water. >> in 1993, the mexican spotted owl was listed as thrdeeatened the endangered species act. soon after two plants, the sacramento mountain thistle and brickly poppy, joined the list. the forest service erected fences to protect critical string bank habitat. environmentalists say they gather around watways and upset ecosystems. goss sued the federal government was it took 13 yrs before the judge ruled against the forest service, saying the agency violated the fifth amendment by blocking goss' access to natural water sources for his herd. fosse says rather than all the fences con,ng dowhe's seen more added. >> they just started putting t

fences in, the ex closures, the fuel fences in the exclosures. >> every drop is appreciated. beth, a retired ranger, says the force governed by a policy that requires input from stakeholders like fire prevention and wildlife management. >> in general, if we fenced out a piece of ground, it's to prect for threatened and endangered species, or, we will fence off an area to protect erosive soils.>> eporter: in 2014, another threatened species, the new mexico meadow jumping mouse, was granted endangered species protection-- further deadlocking rangers and ranchers over water rights and habitat. and in a meeting between the forest service and goss' sacramento grazing association, his fe expressed their frustration. >> this is wasting our time. it's wasting your time. if you want this damn water, pay for it! d >> reporter: tpute reflects the larger debate over

land use and water rights.rs rural rancear their interests are losing out to environmental concerns championed by people from urban areas. patrick nolan is a member of friends of organ mountains- dese peaks. >> i think we need to be honest and say that the land here has been over-grazed. and we need to really figure out a way to bring it back to its glory, and what it used to be.>> reporter: but amidst new mexico's harsh cyclical drought, water rights are critical for ranchers like the gosses. and they say they'll continue t fight agains agenda intent on disrupting their viability. >> they just continue to take and take and take. >> reporter: and with president trump now in office, they hope their voices will be amplified. >> we haven't seen it yet, but, we hope. we hope soon. r somebody back

there to come out here and take a good hard look aour issues and listen to some stuff that's been going on and look at so of our documentation. then, mostly follow the law. i don't believe they're following the law at all. >> because of that the agency said it can't comthmente case. for the "pbs newshour" josh >> reporter: for the pbs newshour, i'm josh buettner, in cloudcroft, new mexico. >> woodruff: as we reported earlier, the partial government shutdown is now two weeks old, and its impact is growing. each night, we are trying to give you a sense of some of the many ways it is rectly affecting people. american farmers are starting to feel the hit at a crucial time of the year. 's because many of the

u.s.d.a.'s offices around thee country osed. but this is also when farmers go om those same offices to apply for loans to paye of last year's bills, or to plan on loans for this year's plantings. if the shutdown drags on, that's not the only big hit. the trump ministration pledged $12 billion in direct aid to soy, pork and dairy farmers to help deal with some the losses they are suffering as a result of the trade war with china. but farmers must apply at u.s.d.a. offices by mid-january. and again-- those offices are closed. l the u.s.d.a. says it wcide later whether to extend the adline. the partial shutdown is also temporarily stopping private companies from moving forward with an initial public offeringr po, this month. that's where a privately held

company starts selling stock to other investors. but companies must get guidance and advice from the securities and exchange commission before going public. with the s.e.c. at minimal staff, those deals will have to wait, and companies may miss filing deadlines. and that brings us to theal is of shields and brooks. that's syndicated columnist mark shields, and "new york times" columnist david brooks. hello to both of you. so topic a, david, is what we were just talking about, the showdown, the government remagie government remains closed, the democrats anthe white house don't seem to agree. i mean, here we ar what are we, now two weeks into this. what are we larning about our leaders? >> well, i've talked myself inta ed by minimal optimism. (laughter) i think there's a --y, substantiv think there's a solution here, and people in the senate are talking about it, which is that they exchanged some money for a wall of some

sort in exchange for a path of citizenship for the dreamers, for the daca kids. that's something that was talked about last years at much higher rates than $25 billion for the wall, not $5 billion, and there wat of momentum for it then. so i think, substantively, that would be a good deal. y donald trump can get monor the wall, democrats feel strongly about the dreamers and anthcan make progress on the dreamers. seems like that's a deal and including a lot more in the immigration package as part of ot. the problem is n wants to be seen as giving in. both sides kind of enjoy anding up to the others. getting past the optics and getting to the substance turns out to be a major challenge. >> woodruff: mark, are we closer to a solution than it oks like we are? >> i'm not sure, judy, but i will say that the closing of the sizable faction of the united states government is bng felt by real people. onmean, there are no clinical trials that naists do to

help when sick children are being adb.itted. the which is involved in the safety of the country, the s.a., the air traffic control, i mean, all depleted, and we're seeing people being forced to go into jobs in the private sector or to leave thseir post. i mean, the public service, the country is less safety, whether oeecking food safety, whatever, and government s matter, it touches people's lives. there will be a human tragedy. there will be a human tragedy, and it will be directly traceable to this slowdown, shutdown of the federal government. just on a political note, it's paralyzed the immitsgration co so you have undocumented immigrants who are scheduled to be deported, now that's no longer the case. so, you know, what will happen, i think david has proatposed is a sensible, rational

alternative and compromiseit's being considered, but i will be very frank, dealing with donalds trump right noot seen as a starter. i mean, he's a man who broke his word on the closing of thern gont. hhe agreed to defer the issue till february 6, and criticism from ann coulter and rush liaugh and he caved like a $2 suitcase.k >> woodruff: m saying the president is the problem. does one side tore the other bear most of the responsibility? >> plenty to go around. i don't know see why nancy pelosi says there can't beoney for a wall. in% of the border has some sort of fenc if it goes to 40, it doesn't seem like a moral issue. i don't ink the wall is a particularly wise investment and it's really not where illegal migration comes from, not where drugs come from, it comes from people overstaying their visas, but it's what donald trump wants, he runs on it.

giving him a lit of what h wants doesn't seem like to be a moral issue, building a little more fence on the southern border doesn't seem to be a moral crime, so i don't see whey the democrats are so ringed on that -- rigid on that. i think they could make a call,t can we deal wis guy on anything. if they feel donald trump is not a functional player, we're in for a world of hurt. they may be right about tt, but i think schumer and pelosi have to feel each other out which is what they're doing and saying is this a man we can do business with. that's a character jud have to make and will make big implications the next two yea. >> nancy pelosi is a grownup. nancy pelosi came as the office of the speaker of the house and was faced with a republican president george w. bush with whom she disagreed on the war and she provided the votes to keep the country's econy from absolutely going off the cliff. she absolutely submerged. the republicans couldn't do it, john boehner tried mightily and

failed, nancy pelosi did it. nancy pelosi saved the le industry in this country and saved wall street. i mean, she's done this. i mean, donald tru, the toughest thing he's ever done is ask republicans to vote for a tax cut. the people who give most money to the campaign, give them a tax cut, we vote fort. we will. we likely stand for tax cuts. so i just think with daca, one person who's arofessional who stood up in the last campaign,or sud members of her own party who refused tpo suport her for speaker and she backed themn usiastically and wanted them to wifnlt donald trump, the slightest criticism and he goes ever mark sanford and beats then puts terror and tremor into the republican ranks to this day when mitch mcconnell is paralyzed too anything. >> woodruff: to david'sponent at the because trump ran on this, it was a central point of his campaign democrats just say, okay, we're

going to give you some of what you're askin>>for. hey did, judy, and he reneged on it, and they've gone to 2.6. i don't know. you had a deal with h, you had it in writing, would you get it from mitch mcconnell on daca, as saved suggests? kevin mccarthy shows no -- he's an invertat. he's critizing the new congressman from michigan who you alluded to earlier, he was mute when trump attacked the khan fily, mute when trump suggested barack obama does -- >> the demrats have to make a decision. either it's we can't deal with this guy or maybe we can deal with this guy, and they have to make that call. s tryingally think i to work out a deal, given we'ren a government shutdown and this can't last forever. >> i'm not working with him, you have to have it in writing and in public.

because we saw what he did, david. >> woodruff: he backed down. he backed wn completely. i agree. >> woodruff: let's talk about the new cones david, mark mentioned nancy pelosi, the leader of the democrats. we've got a new reality in washington. how different is it going to be? is there a message coming clearly from the democrats now? >> well, i mean, wheether you'r a democrat or a republican, the congress should look like the couny. it's calle the house of representatives. it should be representative. so the ft that the house looks largely more like the country is a good thing. you've gotomeople frdifferent perspectives, from different points of view andeople can look at the u.s. coming and say that looks more like me, so tha by itself is a good thing. i think we're going to see a lot more attention paid to certain issues, which i think the coreis es of american life. i spent a lot of time over the r trying toy car get senators and members of the

lyuse to talk about ear childhood education which i think is a major issue for this country, andould get a pat on the head by, frankly, the older males,se beche real issues are defense and banking and tang, and dealing with childhood education is a second-rate issue. now at we have a more representative congress, there will be more attention paid tols country. so i'm hopeful about that it w will things change, mark? >> they will. i think david makes a good point. in 1989, there were 29 women in the house of representatives, 16 democrats, 13 republican who were women. today there are 102. 13 republican women, 89 democratic women. the republican party is a hemorrhage of defecting groups. r more republicans voted fhe civil rights act of 1964 on a percentage basis than di

democrats, yet, today, the republican party isbsent any -- there's one woman of color in the entire republican congress. it's a party that all white, increasingly male. it's a party that is not welcoming to immigrants or immigrants' families, d that's a real problem for our country and our two-m.party sys you know, and the democrats are guilty of and he yielded too often to identi litics and trimpting their differences,, but i mean, the point is, if you're talking about the face of amica and the reality of america, one party does represent it and the other part. does >> woodruff: and indianapolis, who you both have referred to here, is dealing with a democratic caucus, david, in the use, that they supported her, she got all but 15 democrat voted for her, but there are some of them who are in a hurry, who want things to happen very -- theyant them to happen

now. how is she going to deal with that? >> as mark said, shealified to do this. she's qualified to do this. she does bang heogads ether. but as mark said, it's more of a reverse party that's ne an extremely good job of driving away a lot of people, which is a tyy the republican pais still a viable party. if there are a lot of democrats who saye're going to r tax rates to 70%, that's a problt for a moderate voters. so it will be very interesting to see whether she can exercise any message of discipline about the party. she's already facing the challenge about impeachment, but there are more serious issues are some of the policies and a lot ofhe people who call themselves socialists, if they d,go down that rohat will have a destabilizing effect on the party, they ill say, i didn't want trump but i'm not sure i wanted a 70% tax rate. >> woodruff: nancy pelosi is dealing with a --

>> handsful of -- >> woodruff: members who want things to happen. >> and celebrated by the press and had access to cable television and noebw ceties in their own right. i mn, usual deferential role of freshmen historically andin kind of coand waiting months before they make a speech. i agree th david that nancy is the one person who could do this. jim wright forpemer aker of the house said of the democratic party then and i think it's true todas the democratic party mosaic, amalgam, let's call it fruitcake. the republicans have the strength of homogeneity and the weakness of homogeneity. but there's no question. thiss going to be a shakedown cruise for democrats. >>oodruff: republicans. big change that the democrats have taken over the house, david, but this is a new time for republicans as well. they've picked up a couple of new seats in the senate, but now some republicans wilspeak up against president trump. we saw the comen tash from mitt

samney, a few of them y they don't like what the president is doing in the shutdown. how much oppition may he y nfront within his own party? >>inion is it will be strong till it's not. modifies leaders have affection to draw on when times are tough. donald trump does not have that. once it goes, eng it will go all at once. so mitt romney, they're not a going to bot of mitt romneys out there right now. but the way the rnc reacted, which is to try to tie down the primary process and make it v hard to challenge trump in the primary, that reflected real anxiety, because if there's another conservative alternative and 2019 turns into ase as uglyh year as k it will h be,e won't have the attachments. >> when mitt romney said russia is the united states' largest geopolitic force, he was right. and press and poll degrees

deride him. i think that mitt romney is t jeff flake, not bob corker. he's going to be here after nald trump has been on the ballot again, and what he' done this week is give legitimacy to pollsters putting him in the polls against democratic candidates in 2020. he runs consistently better than donald trump against hypothetical democrathc nominees, is trouble for donald trump. >> woodruff: watch this space. mark shields, david brooks, thank you. >> woodruff: now: taking it to the streets. jeffrey brown visits a violinist and macarthur genius award winner who's creating a new musical life to help others. >> brown: 31-year-old violinist vijay gupta, rehearsing onstagen at walt concert hall as a member of the los angeles

philharmonic. world-class orchestra. top-level musician. but not far away, gupta also makes a life as a musician here, an area that many in h usual audience rarely if ever see: los angeles' skid row. a downtown neighborhood, home to thousands of the homeless, the battered, the struggling, living in shelters or on the streets, e often ignored,n forgotten. >> the fact that skid row is two miles away from isney concert hall is not, in my mind, a matter of two different worlds, but a master-class in the way structural violence plays out. that is a predominantly poor community of color, that has been historically anpresently oppressed for a long time. engaging these two worlds and being a bridge is exactly the role of the artist today.

>> brown: gupta grew up inne york state, the child of indian immigrants. pushed almost to a breaking point, he complied: he entered a pre-college program at juilliard at age seven, and performed with an orchestra at 11. by 17, he had an undergraduate degree in biology, then worked in a harvard neurological lab. >> those were incredible n'portunities, but they we my choices. >> bro: you've used the word "dysfunction," you've used the word "abuse." what does abuse mean? >> it was physical a it was psychological and emotional. and it was sort ofompounded into this feeling that i would never be enough, and that everything would always be my fault. >> brown: music was his choice, in the end.

he was just 19 when accepted into the l.a. philharmonic as its youngest member. two yearlater came a life- toanging event-- meeting and then giving lessonathaniel ayers, a juilliard-trained musician who suffered from schizophrenia and fell into homelessness. the subject of a book and 2009 film, "the soloist." >> so the question became, well, how many more nathaniels are out here, in a community of over 58,000 people, who are unhoused or at risk of homelessness in downtown los begeles? >> brown: gupta n to learn more about skid row's residents kewith the help of people christopher mack, who once lived onkshese streets and now wor for a community improvement group. >> helpi people out of love, you know, noout of despair, is the key. because you don't of their condition.

>> brown: gupta gave his firstsk row concert, with a group of professional friends, at thil r in 2010. ♪ ♪ >> the thing that blew us away was the fact that these audiences were some of the most engaged, empathic, wise people we had ever met, and we had ever played for. >> brown: at that point, were you thinking you're coming in to s something, and then leaving? >> we thought it e-off. totally. and we were functioning from a place of outreghh. we just th well, okay, we're not here to change, we're here to give you something... >> brown: but what happened? >> well, what happened is that when people in the audience started to ask, "who are you?" my colleagues started to share really vulnerable stories about their own histories of abuse, so their own histories of mental illness, in their families or in their lives. and sort of looked at the entire situation differently, because we were actually receiving something back from

our audience. , brown: in the years sin gupta's "street symphony" has performed a variety of music, monthly, in shelters, clinics, transitional housing and, more recently, in all los angeles county jails. an annual performae of handel's "messiah" features both professional musicians, students and people from the community. ♪ ♪ and "street symphony" hasch ged lives, like that of malek vussough, whom we met in a space run by a non-profit community arts group called "l.a.p.d."-- in this case, the los angeles poverty department. the 46-year-old vussough is a longtime musician who fell into addiction and homelessness, and ys lived in skid row shelters and housing for fors. he's now back in school and back to taking lessons and playing

music, all after hearita perform. >> i was trying to reconnect the hope inspiration have and that childlike quality of wanting to be happy. >> brown: at a time you were >> at a time when i was, like, really struggling with acceptin t of dreary truths, andin wondif i would ever be able to get back to that. and also, not knowing if anyone really appreciated that i had that in me. >> brownalso now affiliated with "street symphony:" a d.j. who goes by the name "sir oliver." he puts on music shows, including an annual reggae festival. >> i just wanted to enlighten the communitand say, hey man, i'm not just a d.j., i'm here to make you feel good >> brown: in a rehearsal room in disney hall, gupta said artist, to him, is also a social justice advocate.

♪ ♪ >> brown: the macarthur prize comes with a large financial award. and for gupta, it also signals a trust and belief in his "street symphony" work. and for you personally, are you healed, yourself?he >>'s a point at which i can never get used to seeing skid row. there's a part of my stomach that always turns, and i'vele ackned that as grief. there's fear and sadness there. so for me, art has become my lifeline.

as the year came to an end, he performed his final concert with the l.a. plharmonic, to ork full time on his street symphony and otheactivism. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown in los angeles. >> woodruff: astrophysicist dr. jedidah isler has focusing her studies on blazars-- these are super- masssive black holes in space. in tonight's "brief but spectacur" episode, she emphasizes diversity and inclusion in science,te nology, engineering and math, or stem. >> i love space, period. monds-down, i think the night sky is one of th beautiful things in the universe.

>> learning about space was sort of the thing that i did when i ens a kid. and found black holes, and life was different.ug ( ) that's now my area of expertise. i study black holes. i study super-massive black holes, the ones that are, like, millions to billions of times the mass of our own sun. and they are marvelous. they have a way of forming very, very fast-moving jets very near them. the way the universe is be-- is able to be a particle accelerator, i think that's really azing. when i say to people, "i'm an astrophysicist," i can tell the extent to which they'red surpri that by their response to me. "you're an astrophysicist?" when i was sort of earliert

coming up, i fcomfortable about that. like, i felt like i should apologize that i do astrophysics. but now, it's something that i sort of like, to stand into. "yes, yes, let's-- let's feel what it feels like to talk to a black woman astrophysicist." it's awesome.pr i waably eight or nine when i started realizing that i loved the sky. i was 12 when i found oudothat you coulomething called "astrophysics." and i marched all along just faowing i wanted to do it, and had support from mly and my friends. and it wasn't until i got later on in my career, high school, college, graduate school, where it became obvious to me that there weren't very many peopleo oked like me-- that is, a black woman-- interested in astrophysics, that i knew. but when i graduated from yale with my ph.d in astrophysics, studying these blazars-- which you all should study-- when i did that, i unwittingly became the first black woman to do so. there are so many barriers that still remain in the way of students, access and achievement. and for me, i pushed through. i let my passion lead and i said, "i'm going do

astrophysics, no matter what." but i want to make sure that the next person doesn't have to make that same choice, at any person from any background, whether marginalized or not, can say, "i love astrophysicand i want to do this thing." my main intervention right now is an online web series called wanguard's stem." it's conversatioh women of color in stem. the idea is that going through this experience, being a black woman in astrophysics, is unique. and so, there are differen challenges, there are different goals, all kinds of wins and losses that i go through, justs being in tdy, doing this work. and i want to make sure that we're having conversation around that. i want to make sure that the support and culture and community is there to support one another, because often, we're one or a few in every-- in any individual location, but we are actually pretty numerous across the country and across the world. so, the goal of "vanguard's stem" is to bring women of color in particular together once a month, have conversations about mental health, about being free, about being healthy, as they're pursuing their stem interests and identities. my name is dr. jedidah isler, and this is my "brief, but t spectaculae on astrophysics and inclusion in

stem.oo >>uff: and you can find additional "brief but spectacular" episodes on our website, that's www.pbs.org/newshour/brief. on the newshour online right now-- we have catalogued the many kinds of vital work and research that grinded to a halt once the government shutdown began weeks ago. that is on our website, www.pbs.org/newshour. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. have a great weekend. thank you, and good night. >> major funng for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> on a cruise with american cruise lines, you can experience historic destinations along the mississippriver, the columbia river and across the united states. american cruise lines fleet of small ships explore american landmarks, local cultures and calm waterways.

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♪ >> hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & co." during the holiday season,we re dipping into the archive and looking back at some of this year's highlights so here's what's coming up. an urgent call to action on climate change from the unstoppable david attenborough. >> right now, we're cing a manmade disaster of global scale. co also ahead, legendary correspondent mariin gave her life in syria now the hollywood actress rosamund pike plays her in a new film. she joins us, along with marie's friend and fellow journalist nendsey hilsum, who has written a w biography about colvin's remarkable life. plus, wh nearly dying ves you new life. "the good place" actress nsd jackie of all trades jameela jamil expl how getting hit by a car was the best thing that ever happened to her.