captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: a wall remains between them. president trump meets again with congressnal leaders at the white house, but no sign of an end to the gernment 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 divided government. td, street symphony. how a violinist fr los angeles philharmonic is bringing music to the homeless and incarcerated. >> the fact that skid row is two miles away from walt disney concert hall is not, in my mindi a matter of twerent worlds, but a master-class in

the way structural violence plays out. >> woodruff: all tt and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> 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 sti no sign that the partial government shutdown will end soon. the president and house 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. >> desjardins: day 14 of the government shutdown... >> we just completedme lengthy and mes contentious conversation with the president. >> i thought it was a very, very good meeting. >>esrdins: ...another meeting at the white house... >> we ld the president we needed the government open. he resisted. in fact, he said he'd keep the government closed for a very long per even years. months, or >> i did say that. absolutely i said that. i don'think it will, but i am prepared-- and i think i can

speak for republicans in theub house, and rcans in the senate. they feel very strongly about having a safe country, havina border that makes sense. >> desjardins: ...and another impasse. >> no, we won't bepening until it's solved. we think this is a much bigger problem. the border is a much more dangerous problem. >> desjardins: in the rose m garden after tting, the president said he wants active negotiations or the weekend, trump says he now wants $5.6 billion for a border wall. democrats say they will not fund a wall at all. instead, 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. >> desjardins: an idea the president today made clear he opposes. can you explain to fed tal employees agencies that are closed, which are not

homeland security, why thosees agenhould stay closed? homeland security is significant in and of itself, if it stays closed. >> because we want to do what's right, and we want to do it all at one time. we don't want to take it in pies. we just don't want to do that. >> desjardins: the president he is considering calling a national emergency to build the wall, if congress doesn't fund it. >> you don't need congressional approval to build that? no, absolutely we can call a national emergency cause because to have the security of our >> this as the effects of >> desjardins: this, as th effects of the shutdown are felt outside of washington, d.c.-- like in joshua tree, california, where a group of volunteers are cleaning up trash at the national park. >> we knew we had to doin somewith the government shutdown. so, we got together right away and started to get folks up there and take care of the bathrooms anthings like that. so, we've been dubbed the toilet paper angel >> desjardins: this, as hundreds of thousands of federal workers are furloughed, ororking without pay.

the president was asked about workers who mabe having trouble paying their rent. >> when you see ththr problems ouere, difficulties out there, you know, the people are all good for e money, they work with people. >> desjardins: meanwhile, the 116th congress has gone home for the weekend, leaving one hope: that actual negotiations will begin in earnest while they're gone. joins meuff: and lis now. lisa, you're just getting off the phone. i know you're still reporting on this right up to the last isnute. one side said therprogress, the white house. the other side said there sn't. what's going on? >> it does not feel there was significt progress today, judy. what i'm told from sources both tpublican and democratic is what happened s, that in that meeting the president weighed e idea of continuing staff level talks, let's keep talking over the weekend. i'm told he did not specifically mention the idea of a kd of task force, but she brought up in this news conference, he'sre appointed vicedent and two

hers to lead the task fce. the news office said this is news for them andt idow the president was going to do this. whether the task force happens or not 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 noreally a change in tms of where the negotiating points are, the president did firmlyy day where he stands, which is something we don't always hear from him. he sid 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 sayinthe past they were willing to go with a lower number. >> thawos correct. >>druff: but let's talk about the president's reasoning here. he did talk a lot about this wall during the campaign. what is driving his determination, saying it's got to be a wal or else? >> you know, it really shocked me today that weidn't hear more from the president on that in the rose garden conenference. heioned, one, a concern for

a number of vehicles crossing the border where there is no fence or wall. now, we spentashet couple of hours since that news conference trying to research if there are atistics on this, where this concern is coming from, how big is tncern, and we have not been able to find anything thato helps this. we've also asked the white house to give us their research. i ink there just hasn'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 terrorists crossing the border, and fielded that question to secretary nielsen. she said -- we heard this concern, like, terrorists crossing the border but we never know exactly why're speaking about. we got specifics today. secretary nielsen said customs and borr patl stopped over i,000 people which we call special interests s. she went on to say those are aliens whom the int community has identified as a concern because of either travel patterns that they he th

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, judy, that's 1%. that 1% is a concern that is driving president trump to ask for a all. >> woouff: fascinating. so meantime, let's talk again about the practical effect. there were real people, government employees employees affected by this government shutdown. you have been looking into how their lives arehanging as a result. >> our team of producers have been tacking to doddss and dozens of people. first, let's talk with a federal employee. we've asked people to send in videos of their own stories. this is a twoman, aeacher whose husband is a federal prison cord in new jersey. t's hear how she says she's being impacted. >> we have to rework the dujt budget. we have to recork duties. we've got to negotiate the vecompany. we ho swallow that pride and ask for extensions and ask for alittle bit of understanding, knowing full well

we're going to be charged extra interest, we're going to be charged finance charges, which we're not gombg to be reised for and don't budget for monthly because we do pay our bells on time nord lly. we've tell our children ocat we need to cut back on some things -- indoorr, not happening this year. you know, it's not fair and not good on them either. it stinks and it needs to stop. >> so it's typical, you don't see people's mortgages affected quite yet.e we haother example of people from falls church, federal workers, they have two children who are special needs and are in therapy, and they're skipping thepy next week because they're worried aut the salary loss because of the shutdown. they have talked to school loan, car loan teaeople to say we may not be making the next payment. druff: 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?t >> the presidid he was unaware of that but would ask cabit members to forego the pay raise. vice president pence saihe would forego the pay raise. members of congress are being paid during the shutdown and iely a handful said they would donate their salto charity. they can't forego it because it's automatic but a few saidth would donate it. >> woodruff: i know you will keep watching over the weekend.. >> we wi >> woodruff: lisa, thank you. >> woodruff: in e day's other news, the u.s. economy turned in big numbers for december. the labor department rorted a net gain of 312,000 jobs-- much more than expected. the unemployment rate rose slightly to 3.9%, but that was due to more job seekers looking for work. 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 dayn wall street. the dow jones industrial average

gained nearly 750 points to close at 23,433. the nasdaq rose 275 points, and we will take a fresh look at the market's volatility, after the news summary. the federal reserve chairman sought to ease wall stet's concerns today about future interest rate hikes. spoke at a forum in atlanta. he said the fed wants to be tient, especially given a miaky stock market and its worries that ecogrowth will slow. >> i'll just say we're listening carefully to that. we're listening with, you know... sensitively, to the message that markets are sending, and we're going to be taking those downside risks into account as we makeolicy going forward. >> woodruff: president trump has sharply criticized the rate hikes, and has said he is not happy with powell. but the fed chair said that if the president asked him to resign, he would refuse. china announced today that a

u.s. delegation will travel to beijing on monday, tre-start trade talks. it comes amid tensions over tariffs and signs that chi's economy is slowing. the two 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-ected member of the u.s. house of representatives last night, michigan democrat rashida tlaib used an obscenity to refer to mr. trump, in demanding his ouster. see president answered this afternoon, in his arden news conference. >> you can't impeach someone that's doing a great job. at's the way i view it. i thought that was a great dishonor to her and her family. i thought it was highly disrespectful to the united states of america. >> woodruff: house speaker nancy pelosi said she would not have used such language, but that tlaib's remarks were no worse than things mr. trump has id. tlaib showed no sign of backing down.he

instead,weeted, "i will ouways speak truth to power." the u.s. supreme will take up the issue of congrel gerrymandering again in march. two casethare at issue. allege that democrats in massachusetts and republicans in northarolina drew congressional district maps that were so partisan, they violated the constitution. a federal appeals court in washington has upheld the trump administration's restrictions on transgender people serving in the military. today's announcement overruled a lower court judge. t stil policy remains on hold because several other judges have issued injunctions against it. the democrats' new house tijority unveiled sweeping anti- corruption legis today. 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, democrats said 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 om them. we must demonstrate to the american public that we e willing to police ourselves, in order to build the big projectsa and dreamsthey have for our country. >> woodruff: the house could vote on the measure by early next month. but in the senate, majority leader mitch mcconnell has said the bill will be dead on arrival. veteran u.s. senator pat roberts is calling it quits. the four-term kansas republican is 82. sehe said today he will no re-election in 2020. roberts complained of a loss 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 guestds than first feared. but, the company confirmed today that the hackers did access more than five million unencrypted passport numbers. the f.b.i. is investigating whether china was behind the hack. and, herb kelleher, who co-founded southwest airlines and helped revolutionize air travel, has died. he led the way in creating low- cost air travel, and helped fuel airline de-regulation. he also had a flair for wacky marketing antics-- from posing with planes, to dressing as elvi herb kelleher retired in 2008. he was 87 years old. still to come the newshour: what is driving the surprisingly strong growth in u.s. jobs. how climate change is impacting water rights in new mexico.ds mark shielnd 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 news about jobs, the fed, interest rates, china and a big jump on stock exanges. amna nawaz speaks with someone who will try to explain what it all adds up to. >> nawaz: stocks did surge on at very strong jobs report and the comments by federal reserve chairman jay powell. the economy added more thanmi 2.ion jobs in 2018. 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 hed earlier, 312,000

new jobs added in december. this all good news in this report? s pretty good news, yeah. that's a lot of jobs. we also got revisions to previous months and perhaps the best news was rage groroh. wageh accelerated and we're seeing the strongest wage gains in over ade de. this report had nothing but good news in it. we, athe same time, saw 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 the workforce looking for work.t they know thre are a lot of job opportunities. in fact, there are a record number of open job positions day, and wages are up, so it's a good time to go out there and look for a job. so we have more people looking upr work, that pushes the unemployment rat so it rose but it rose for the right reasons. >> so together all these concerns over the last few months, concerns about trade tensions, that interest rates going up could slow the economy down, did this last report quiet those fears? >> no, those are still very much

fears and i think there are red flags. the president's trade war is certainly doing economic damage. china, the rest of the globe and it's reverberating back on us. the government shutdown, if thas on, that's going to be an issue. all the political discord in washington at some point i think will be applied to the food and job market. and the tax cut we gotst year, the benefits are now starting to fade, so we'lsee slower growth going forward, and there are a significant number of riskse.ut th >> so let me ask you about we heard from the federal reserve chairman today. hee aid he's going to btient with another interest rate hike. what effect will that language have in the immediate future?ha >> ia big effect today. the stock market was way up today in part beause of the wrong job numbers because it dispels the fears l 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 wilstop raising interest rates. of course, that's music to investors' ears and that's why the stock prices ros so it's already had some benefit. so the fed chair is oocus making sure that stock investors don't lose faith and cause this economy -- get into a self-fulfilling prophecy where stock investors take the economy down. i> i've got to ask you about something else he he responded to repeated criticism from the president himself and said he would not resi, even if the president 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 with rate hikes or to come out and say something so expressly about his potential resignatio't? >> no, i dee that at all. the president's comments and his threats to fire the fed chair are very counterproductive. a pillar o a well-functioning economy is anndependent central bank, something we've learned from time in memorial,

and for the predent to attack the fed chair in this way is really not innyone's best interests. so i don't think the fed chair is going to be swayed by these 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 the context of our conversation today and that's the focus on apple and what we saw from them. cethey sparked cons by downgrading their revenue estimates and looks like this one unshakeable giant was shaken by those same 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 earnings were hurt becaus ioffpoorer saln china. of course, china is struggling because of thiwas trad. so here's the thing, the u.s.

and chinese econo were tethered at the hip, so if the chinese economy struggles, we struggle, and you can see that with apple's earnings. it's not just apple. ti-nationalul corporations in the united states do big business in china and the rest of the world, andna if cis struggling, we're going to struggle, so apple's problems are symptomatic of he ill effects of this ill-timed and ill conceived trade war. >> 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. >> woodruff: tension between ranchers and envirotmentalists isng new, but climate change could be exacerbating one particar issue: water rights. from iowa public tv, josh buettner reports about one decades-long dispute in new mexico.

im reporter: like generations beforespike goss runs cattle in new mexico's sacramento mountains. >> my rights come long before new mexico became a state. long before there was a u.s. forest service. >> forest service says wteare a permite. we're not permittees. we're allotment owners. we own our allotments. we bought it. and then we pay 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 allowances by granting settlers property known as allotments to encouragest werd expansion, but, over decades, the shifting government

policies and court chaenges have left land and water rights undealer. >> they want our water. if they 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 threatened under the endangered species act. soon after two plants, the sacramento mountain thtle and brickly poppy, joined the list. the forest service rect fences to protect critical string bank habitat. environmentalists say they gather around waterways an upset ecosystems. goss sued the federal government was itook 13 years before the judge ruled against the forest service, saying the gency violated the fifth amendment by blocking goss' access to natural water sources for his herd. fosse says rather than all the fenc coming down, he's seen more added. >> they just staed putting the

fences in,c the ex sures, the fuel fences in the exclosures. >> every drop is appreciated. beth, a retired ranger, says the force verned by a policy that requires input from akeholders like fire prevention and wildlifent manage >> in general, if we fenced out a piece of ground, it's tore protect for ened and endangered species, or, we will fence off an area to protect erosive soils. >> reporter: in 2014, another threatened species, the new mexico meadow jumping mouse, was grted endangered species protection-- further deadlocking rangers and ranchers over water rights a habitat. and in a meeting between the forest service and goss' sacramento grazing association,d his wife expreheir frustration. >> this is wasting our time. it's wasting your time. if youant this damn water, pay for it! >> reporter: the dispute reflects the larger debate over land use and water rights.

rural ranchers fear their interests are losing out to environmental concer championed by people from urban areas. patrick lan is a member of friends of organ mountains- desert 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 toe. >> reporter: but amidst new mexico's harsh cyclicaought, water rights are critical for ranchers like the gosses. and they say they'll continue to fight against an agenda intent on disrupting their viability.>> hey just continue to takeke and nd take. >> reporter: and with presidento trump now ice, they hope their voices will be amplified. >>,e haven't seen it yet, b we hope. we hope soon. we would like for somebody back there to come out here and take

esgood hard look at our is and listen to some stuff that's been going on d look at some of our documtation. then, mostly follow the law. i don't believe they're folling the law at all. >> because of that the agency said it ca't comment on the case. for theo "pbs newshour"sh >> 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, were trying to give you a sense of some of the many ways it is directly affecting people. american farmers are starting to feel the hit at a crucial timeea of the that's because many of the u.s.d.a.'s offices around the

country are closed. but this is also when farmers go to those same offices to applyr foloans to pay some of last year's bills, or to plan on loans for this year's plantings. if the shutdown drags on, lyat's tit the ig hit. the trump administ pledged $12 billion in direct aid to soy, pork and dairy farmers to he deal with some of 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-januthy. and again-e offices are closed. the u.s.d.a. says it will decide later whether to extend the deadline the partial shutdown is also temporarily stopping private companies from moving forward with an initial public offing, or ipo, this month. that's where a privately held company starts selling stock toe

other ors. 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 deaines. and that brings us to the analysis of shields and brooks. that's syndicated columnist mark shields, and "new york times" columnist david brooks.to helloth of you. so topic a, david, is what we were just talking about, the showdown, the government remainm governmentains closed, the democrats and the white house don't seem to agree. i mean, here we are. what are we, now two weeks into this. what are we learninout our leaders? >> well, i've talked myself int deranged by minimal optimism. (laughter) i think there's a -- substantively, i think there's a solution here, and people in the senate are talking about it,is whicthat they exchanged some money for a wall of some sort in exchpaange for ath of

citizenship for the dreamers, r the daca kids. that's something that was talked about last years at much higher rates than $25 billion for thell not $5 billion, and there was a lot of momentum for it then. st i think, antively, that would be a good deal. donald trump can get money for the wall, democrats feel strongly about the dreamers and and the can make progress on the dreamers. seems like that's deal and including a lot more in the immigration package as part ofth it. problem is no one wants to be seen as giving in. both sides kind of enjoyp standingo the others. getting past the optics and getting to substance turns out to be a major challenge. >> wdruff: mark, are we closer to a solution than it looks 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 being felt by real people. i mean, there are no clinicaltr ls that nationalists do to help when sick children are

being admitted. the f.b.i. which is involved in the safety of the country, the t.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 thr posts. i mean, the public service, the country is less safety, whether checking food safety,anhatever, government does matter, it touches people's lives. there will be a hum.an trage there will be a human tragedy, and it will be directly traceable to this slowdown, shutdown of the federal stgovernment. n a political note, it's grationed the immi courts. so you have undocumented immigrants who are scheduled to be deported, now that's longer the case. so, you now, what will happen, i think david has proposed what is a senble, rational alternative and compromise, it's

being considered, but i will be very frank, dealing with donaldr p right now is not seen as a starter. i mean, he's a man who broke his word on the closing of the government. hhe agreed to defer the issue till february 6, d criticism from ann coulter and r hh limbaugh acaved like a $2 suitcase. woodruff: mark is saying the president is the problem. do one side tore the othr bear most of the responsibility? >> plenty to go around. i dot know see why nancy pelosi says there can't be money for a wall. 30% of the border has some so f cing. if it goes to 40, it doesn't wem like a moral issue. i don't think thll is a particularly wise investment and it's really not where illegal immigration comes from, not where drugs come from, it comes from peoplest overing their visas, but it's what donald trump wants, he r iuns ont. giving him a lit of what he

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, n we deal with this 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 that, but i think schumer and pelosi have to feel each oer out which is what they're doing and saying is this a man we can do business with. that's a caracter judgment th have to make and will make big implications the next two years. >> nancy pelosi is a grownup. nancy pelosi came as the office of the speaker of the house and was faced with raepublican president george w. bush with whom she disagreed on the war and she prtovided the voteo keep the country's economy from absolutely going off the cliff. she absolutely submerged. the republicans couldn't do it, john bhner tried mightily and failed, nancy pelosi did it.

nancy pelosi saved thetr automobile indin this country and saved wall street. i mean, she's done this. i ean, donald trump, 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 thm a tax cut, we vote for it. we will. we likely stand for tax cuts. so i just think with daca, one person who'a professional who stood up in the last campaign, supported members of her own party who refused to support her for speaker and she backed them enthusiastically and wanted them wifnlt donald trump, the slightest criticism and he goes ever mark sanford and beats them and puts terror and tremor into the republican ranks tohis day when mitch mcconnell is paralyzed to do anything. >> woodruff: to david'sponent at the because trump ran on this, it w a central point of his campaign, why can't the democrats just say, okay, we'g go give you some of what

you're asking for. >> they did, judy, and he reneged on it, and they've gone to 2.6. i don't know. you had a deal with him, you had it in wring, would you get it from mitch mcconnell on daca, as saved suggests? kevin mccarthy shows no --in he's art brat. he's criewticizing the congressman from michigan who you alluded to earlier, he was mute wn trump attacked the khan family, mute wh trump suggested barack obama does -- >> the democrats have to make a decision. either it's we can't deal with this guy or may we can deal with this guy, and they have to make that call. i persyially think it's to work out a deal, given we' in a government shutdown and this can't last for.ev >> i'm not working with him, you have to have it in writing and in public. e we saw what he did,

david. >> woodruff: he backed down. he backed down completely. i agree. >> woodruff: let's talk about the new congress. 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 m n, whethu're a democrat or a republican, the congress should look like the country. it's called the house of representatives. it should be representative. so the fact thhe house looks largely more like the country is a good thing. you've got people from different perspectives, from different points of view and people canu look at th. coming and say that looks more like me, so that by itself is a good thing. i think we're going to see lot more attention paid to certain issues, which i think the cor issues of american life. i spent a lot of time over the course of my caroeer trying get senators and members of the house to talk about early

childhood education which i thinis a major issue for this country, and i would get a pat on the head by, frankly, the older males, because the re issues are defense and banking and taxing, and dealing with childhood education is a second-rate issue.e now that we h more representative congress, there will be more attention paid to issues that are relational and the social fabric of this country. so i'm hopeful about that it was will things cnge, mark? >> they will. i think david makes a good poin 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 ofefecting groups. more republicans votedcior the l rights act of 1964 on a percentage basis than did democrats, yet, today, the

republican party is absent any -- there's one woman of color in the entire republican congress. it's a party that is all white, increasie.ly mal it's a party that is not welcoming to immigrants or immigrants' famili, and that's a real problem for our country and our two-party system. you know, and the democrats are guilty of andave yielded too often to identity politics and trimpting their differences,, but i mean, the point is, ifyo re talking about the face of america and the reality of america, one party does represent it and the other party doesn't. >> woodruff: and indianapolis, who you both have referred tohe , is dealing with a democratic caucus, david, in the house, that they suorted her, ats got all but 15 demo voted for her, but there are some of them who are in a hurry, who want things to appen very -- they want them to happen now. how is she going to deal with

that? >> as mark said, she's qualified to do this. she's qualified to do this. she does bang heads together. but as mark said, it's more of a reverse party that's done an vingemely good job of dri away a lot of people, which is a why the republican party is still a viable party. if there are a lot ofocrats who say we're going to raise tax rates to 70%, that's a problem for a lot of moderate voters. so it will be very interesting to swhether she can exercise any message of discipline about the party. she's already facing thea challengut impeachment, but there are more serious issues are some of the policies and a lot of the people who call themselves socialist if they go down that roild, that w have a destabilizing effect on the party, they will say, i didn't want trump but i'm not sure i wanted a 70% tax re. >> woodruff: nancy pelosi is dealing with a -- >> handsful of -- >> woodruff: memhobersant

things to happen. >> and celebrated by the press and had access to cable television and now celebrities in their own right. i mean, usual deferential role of freshmen historically and kind ofoming and waiting months before they make a speech. i agree with david that nancy is the one person who could do this jim wright former speaker of the thuse said of the democratic party then and ik it's true today, the democratic party is a mosaic, amalgam, let's call it a the republicans have the strength of homogeneity and the weakness of homogeneity. but there's no question. this is going to be a shakedown cruise for democrats. >> woodruff: republicansge big chhat the democrats have taken over the house, david, but this is a new t for republicans as well. they've picked up a couple of new seats in the senate, but now some republicans will be speak up against president trump. we saw the comen tash from mitt romney, a few of them say they

don't like what the president is doing in the shutdown. how much opposition may he confront within his own party? >> my opinion 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 going to be a lot of mitt romneys out there right now. but the way the rnc reacte t which try to tie down the primary process and make it vern hard to cha trump in the primary, that reflected real anxiety, because if there's another conservative altnave and 2019 turns into ase augly a year as i think it will be, he won't have the attachments. >> when mitt romney said russiat is the ued states' largest geopolitical force, he was right. and press and poll degrees deride him. i think that mitt romney is not

jeff flake, not bob corker. he's going to be here after donald trump has bee on the ballot again, and what he's done is week is give legitimacy to pollsters putting him in the polls against democratic candidates in 2020. he runsis conently better than donald trump against hypothetical democratic nominees, at 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 nner who's creating a new musical life to help others. >> brown: 31-year-old violinist vijay gupta, rehearsing onstage at walt disney concert hall as a member of the los angelesil rmonic.

world-class orchestra. top-level musician.r but not ay, gupta also makes a life as musician here, an area that many in his usual audience rarely if ever see: los angeles' skid row. a downtown neighborhood, home to thousands of the homeless, the battered, the strugglingliving in shelters or on the streets, often ignored, even forgotten. >> the fact that skid row is two miles away fm walt disney concert hall is not, in my mind, a matter of two different worlds, but a master-cn the way structural violence plays out. that is a predominantly poor community of color, that has been historically and presently 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 in new 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 orcstra at 11. by 17, he had an undergraduate degree in biology, then worked in a harvard neurological lab. >> those were incredible opportunities, but they myren't hoices. >> brown: you've used the word "dysfunction," you've used the word "abuse." what does abuse mean? >> it was physical abuse often. it was psychological and emotional. and it was sort of compounded into this feeling that i would never be enough,nd that everything would always be my hiult. >> brown: music wachoice, in the end.

he was just 19 when accepted into the l.a. philharmonic as its youngest member. two years later came a life- changing event-- meeting and then giving lessons to nathaniel ayers, a juilliard-trained musician who suffered fromhi phrenia and fell into homelessness.t the subjec 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 angeles? >> brown: gupta began to learn more about skid row's residents with the help of people like christopher mack, who once lived on these streets and noworks r a community improvement group. >> helping people out of love, you know, not out of despair, is the key. because you don't make something of their condition.

>> brown: gupta gave his first skid row concert, withup of professional friends, at this shelter 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 comi in to do something, and then leaving? >> we thought it was one-off. totally. and we were functioning from a place of outreach. we justhought, well, okay, we're not here to change, we're here to give you something... >> brown: but what happened? w >> welt happened is that when people in the audience started to ask, "who are you?" my colleaguestarted to share abreally vulnerable storiet their own histories of abuse, so their own histories of mental illness, in their families or in their lives. and i sort of looked at the entire situation differently, because we werinactually recesomething back from

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

music, all after hpering gupta orm. >> i was trying to reconnect with, my inspiration, the hope i have and that childlike quality of wanting to be happy. >> brown: at a time you were not. >> at a time when i was, like, really struggling with accepting a lot of dreary truths, and wondering if i would ever be able to get back to that. and also, not knowing if anyone really appreciated that i had that in me. >> brown: also 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.ed >> i just wao enlighten the community and say, hey man, i'm not just a d.j., i'm here to rske you feel good. >> brown: in a reh room in tosney hall, gupta said an artistim, 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? h >> there's a point at wh can never get used to seeing skid row. there's a part of my stomach that always turns, and i've knowledged that as grief thers 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. philharmonic, to work full time on his street symphony and other activism. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown in los angeles. >> woodruff: astrophysicist dr. jedidah isler has been focusing her studies on esazars-- these are super- masssive black hn space. in tonight's "brief but spectacular" episode, she emphasizes diversi and clusion in science, technology, engineering and math, or stem. l >>e space, period. hands-down, i think the night sky is one of the most beautiful things in the universe.

>> learning about space was sort of the tng that i did when i was a kid. and then i found black holes, and life was different. ( laughs )th 's now my area of expertise. i study black holes. i study super-massive black holes, the os that are, like, millions to billions of times the mass of our own sun. and they are marvelous. etey have a way of forming very, very fast-movingvery near them. the way the universe is be-- is able to be a particle accelerator, i think that's really amazing. when i say to people, "i'm an astrhysicist," i can tell th extent to which they're surprised by that by their response to me. "you're an astrophysicist?" when i was sort of earlier coming up, felt uncomfortable about that.

like, i felt like i should apologize that i dotr hysics. 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. i was probably eight or nine when i started realizing that i loved the sky. i was 12 when i found out that you could do something calledro "aysics." and i marched all along just knowing i wanted to do it, and had support frmy my family and riends. and it wasn't until i got later sc in my career, high school, college, graduatol, where it became obvious to me that there weren't very many people who looked like me-- t, a black woman-- interested, n astrophysiat i knew. but when i graduated from yale with my .d in astrophysics, studying these blazars-- which you all should study-- when i did that, i unwittingly became e first black woman to do so. there are so many barriers that still remain in the way of students, access and achievement.fo anme, 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 tho next person't have to make that same choice, that any person from any background,wh her marginalized or not, can say, "i love astrophysics and i want to do this thing." my main intervention right now is an online web series called "vanguard's stem." it's conversations with women of color in stem. the idea is that going through this experience, being a black woman in astroysics, is unique. and so, there are different challenges, there are different goals, all kinds of wi losses that i go through, just being in this body, doing this work. and i want to makeure 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 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 spectacular" take on astrophysics and inclusion in stem.

>> woodruff: and you can find ditional "brief but spectacular" episodes on our website, that's www.pbs.org/wshour/brief. on the newshour onne 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, wsw.pbs.org/newshour. and that is the ur for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. have a great w. thank you, and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> on a cruise with american cruise lines, you can orperience hist destinations along the mississippi river, the columbia river and across the united states. american cruise lines fleet of small ships exore american landmarks, local cultures and calm waterways.

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when a judge saidunishable by death, i lost it. >> they're moving, funny, and surprising. inmates perform their own stories. >> when you're in prison for so long, you're used to one costume. blue.t's we all look like smurfs in here. >>ello and welcome. i'm thuy vu. tonight we bring you a kqed newsroom special. "stand up san quentin." inmates here are doing timeor crimes like murder and assault.k onwn for violence, today san quentin has one of the most rebilitative programs in the prison system. later we'll talk to a