captioningponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, 20 days in and no end in sight-- president trump travels to the southern u.s. border to underscore his demands for wall. then, how the government shutdown is affecting what we ead after the f.d.a. is for to halt food safety insptions. plus, making sense of "trumponomics": a wide-ranging conversation with the president's top economic advisor on the first two years of the administration. >> for the most part the tariffs were chosen to be placed ona things that choduces that we can easily buy from somebody else. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

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>> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and proved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> carnegie corporation of new york.at supporting innns in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the fight over the federal shutdown is still at

stalemate tonight. washington mostly spun itsay wheels twhile president trump was wheels up to texas. whe house correspondent yamiche alcindor begins our coverage, from mcallen, texas. >> alcindor: the president spent this 20th day of the partial government shutdown, not in washington, but in the border cityf mcallen, texas. he used the local "border patrol" station as a backdrop for that message. >> we're going to build a powerful steel barrier. they said i don't want concrete. i said steel istrger. r fiscal barri is central for strategy for bor security. ever since he kicked off the o15 presidential campaign, he's made that claimr and over a >> i would build a great wall,s and nobody buills better than me, believe me, and i'll

build them very inexpensively. i will build a great, great wall this barrier is absolutely critical to border security. >> as he's done repeatedly in the past, the president met with families whose loved ones were victims of ocrime carried by immigrants. he also visited the rio grande. >> where we have a strg barrier, we don't have problems. now they go around thearrier, , when you fill up the gaps, g it'sng to be a much different day. >> jim darling, the mayor of mcallen says he appreciates president trump visiting. he does not think there should be a wall, what's directed the attention to the wall is the number of illegals coming across the border is at historical highs. the on they're at historical highs is not because to have the tycal illegal alien who's coming in, smuggling drugs, wants to commit crimes orin seemployment, but coming across to seek asylum. a wall will not stop those

people. >> each day, the local catholic charities organization says there are 500 immigrants, getting on buses to take them to sister norma pimentel said the migrants are no threat, but are, >> you know the immigrants that i see, that me to the center, the border a vulnerable. they are abused andrying. these are people that need to bo taken -- neede protected from others that are wanting to harm them. and, so, i don't see why we should be afraid of them. >> she th ks peopleshould not suffer because of washington gridlock. >> i don't understande can use people, families, you know, as a bargaining chip. a family should not be worried about how to feed their family

and live day to day. >> adoss town, people for against president trump's wall turned out to protest. >> i'm a federal worke and i will not adjust my life to this type of shutdown. >> if we don't get that wall built, people will just continue walking acro ass. >> declaational emergency, yes, yes, have the troops here until they build the border wall, until they bud it, we need our troops here. >> back in washington, before he left for texas, president trump said e might decl a national emergency. >> i have the absolute right to clare a national emergency. i haven't done et yet. i may do it. if this doesn't wo out, probably i will do it. >> top democrats pushed >> alcindor: top bemocrats pushk on that. illinois senator dick durbin argued it would verge on abuse of power. >> if any presidant, this one or president decides they just want to move unilaterally to spend funds, declare a national goerncy for whatever they fi of interest, it es way beyond what i consider the clear delegation of authority undeco the titution.

>> some republicans do support pr aident trump declaring national emergency. >> it is ludikrus. saints nonsense. it is nonsense on a stick. it is laughable. it is laughable to think that you can seal a 1900-mile border without some sort of barrier. based on what i have seen and read and researched, his lawyers are not going to get town out of court. >> in just one day, feder employees will miss their first paycheck, as the shutdown begain late december. today that prompted protests across the country. in chicago, dozens of furloughed workers braved the cold. in kentucky others chanted their discontent. still more gathered steps away from the whi house. hundreds of federal employees, labor leaders and democratic

lawmakers urged the president to end the shutdown. >> what my hope would be is lettinletrather than this presit getting on tv or taking even what he calls a photo op trip to the border, let donald trump come out and explain to you, the workers of america, why >> alcindor: on the senate floor, democrats tried to forcel a vote on leion to reopen the government. but republican majority leader mitch mcconnell blocked the effort. meanwhile, because of the shutdown. attend the worum economic f in switzerland. tomorrow the government shutdow reacree weeks, tying for the shutdown on record. >> woodruff: yamiche is ins te the southern border and lis less is with me in the studio. yamiche, back you first.

what motivated the president to make this trip and h did he adjust his message for where he was? >>his is very show and tell for president trump. he wanted to be seen on the border. wanted to be talking t people on the ground. to make this the point this i a crisis in his mind. i'm getting nearby the border of texas and mexo where people are crossing behind me. p president said i want to come and show people, this is a real problem. the president didn't always tell the truth the president said apprehensions on the border are higher than ever. th's definitely notrue, the numbers have been decreasing over the years. the president also said he never said mexico would pay for the wall. we know in chants, at railleries in meetings with congressional law-makers he said mexico will pay for the law. now trump is saying mexico will pay for the wall figuratively id tradeals. before the president came on the trip, he said he didn't think the trip would make much of a

different. he might be right because washington gridlock continues. >> woodruff: lisa, you saida there'ope of a break thru, particularly dynamics on part of the part of the democrats. >> interesgng dynamics break from both sides first with the democrats. rising conrns from moderate democrats that are perhaps losing the messaging here. some of those in swing districts are saying we need to be clear about making an offer, we need to show we're willing to compromise. this is not a majority of house democrats but we're starting to see a little division in the ranks. at the same time, when you talk to democratic leaders, they say we do have an offer on the n toe, it's for $1.3 bill fund a border fence. now, nancy pelosi talked about zero money when he mentioned a wall last ditch efforts last night between lindsey graham and susan collins and others to come up with a compromise. those have tofailed. y extraordinary tweeting

from senator lindsey hilsum who says it's time pore the president to declare an emers ncy but it sure if it will work. so conflicting ideas from single people themselves like the senator here. >> woodruff: stillid f yamiche, when you were on the oround in the mcallen area, you have been talkingeople who live there, how is this government shutdown being rece ted bym? >> well, people are really divided in mcallen texas and really all across the border in texas here. t there we large groups of protesters when the president touched down in texas today. o there wa group that was anti-trump, anti-the wall, ying the walwas going to be a racist political tool to have the president.er on the o side, pem were welcoming president trump and cheering him on and saying ade wall nto be built. one woman suppowall. she said she actually found people in her backyd running from the cartel and mexico so she's fearful for her own safety. another man said he's 71 years old and never protested until

today and wanted to come out because he thinksis president trum liar and thinks president trump is using fear to demand his all. of cours the end of the day, it's up to washington what endsth up happening with wall, but people are feeling the strains of the shutdown. >> woodruff: as you're saying, much division as we're seeing across the rest of the country. lisa, you have beenlo fng this, what's happening with federal workers? their paychecks coming due, there are lawsuits out there. what are ?you learni >> four points quickly. first, that's right, tomorrow will be a missed paycheck for most to have the federal workers affecnted. the un for federal employees has filed to expand their lawsuit so every federal worker who has been forced to workt pay will get paid, that is pending in federal courts anhad the lawsui been expanded. second point, t.s.a., a lot of stories about t.s.a. workers calling in sick, that kind of thing. i spoke to t.s.a.he workers on job today, they say those are

overblown. there is concern if the shutdown continues, maybe next week, the week after that, we could see bigger probl ts for.a. workers not showing up. the third point, there are banks like the navy federal credit union that are ng no or low-interest loans to fedal employees. 6,000 federal workers have taken then up on the deal so far. finally, in congress, seeingto various se and house members to propose a bill saying let's bay the coast grd, or garage sale ideas. homeland security wkers, those jobs don't seem to be going anywhere now but this is a sign building on congress fr various interests. >> woodruff: yamiche alcindor joining us from mcallen texas on the border. lisa desrdins here in the studio. thank you both. we will talk to the head of the u.s. house homeland security

committee and track what thens shutdown mor food safety in a moment. in the day's other news, president trump denied knowing that his former campaign chair paul manafort allegedly shared polling data with a russianas ciate, in 2016. the associate is accused of having ties to russian intelligence. separately, mr. trump's former lawyer, michaecohen, agreed to testify next month, before the house oversight committee. it's now run by democrats, and they're looking at russia and the trump campaign, and hush money payments to women linked to mr. trump. in egypt today, secretary of state mike pompeo declared president trump is reasserting american power in the middle east. in a cairo speech, pompeo sought peace at any price,tion allowing the islamic state groua to grow, andto spread its influence. >> so today what do we learn from all of this? we learned that when america

retrea chaos often follows, when we neglect our friends resentment builds. and when we partner with our hiemies, they advance. the good news is the age of self inflicted american shame is over and so are those policies that produce so much needless suffering. >> woodruff: pompeo has been trying to reassure middle ea allies about president trump's decision to withdraw from syria. today, the secretary met with egyptian president el-sisi and said u.s. forces will finish the fight withsis even after leaving syria. secretary pompeo made no reference today to the killing w jamal khashoggi. the saudi journalis murdered at saudi arabia's consulate in istanbul, turkey, 100 ds ago. the u.s. senate has blamed crown prince mohammed bin sultan for the crime, which the saudis deny. rebels in yemen attacked saudi coalition troops today with a

bomb attached to a drone. least six soldiers were killed. the drone detonated at an air a base outden.ta ttry leaders of the saudi- led coalition wereding a parade there. the rebels in yemen are aligd with iran, but the iranians have denied giving them drone technology. in afghanistan, a series of taliban attacks killed at least 30 police and pro-government militia members. officials sathe militants struck at security checkpoints across four northern and western provinces. the attacks have come on almost a dasis, but this week, the taliban called off the latest round of peace talks with s. officials. new developments today on the u.s./north korea front. chinese reports say north korea's kim jong un told president xi jinping this week that he wants to achieve results nd denuclearization, in a seco summit with president trump. meanwhile, in seoul, south

korean president moon jae-in said both north korea and the u.s. should do more. >> ( translated ): ultimately, resolving the issue of north korean sanctions hinges on how fast north korea denuclearizes. pyongyang should take firmer disarmament measures. as soon as it takes such measures, there should also be cociprocal measures to expedite and encourage thinued disarmament efforts of north korea. >> woodrf: there's been little headway in nuclear talks since president trump and xi met last year in singapore. eltions officials in congo have declared a surprise winnero in last month'-delayed presidential vote. felix tshisekedi was a long-shot ndidate.on ca news of his victory triggered aslebrations in the streets of capital city kinsh. but a rival opposition candide, martin fayulu, cried foul. >> ( translated ou know better than anyone that this

proclamation is based on rigged, invented and fabricated results. they do not reflect the truth of the ballots. this is obviously an unacceptable electoral fraud that will provoke general chaos across the country. >> woodruff: fayulu claims outgoing president joseph kabila struck a deal with the winner to ward off corruption probes. the country's influential catholic church also rejected e results, but it warned against any violence that would endanger congo's first peacel transfer of power. back in this country, democratic liberals in congress unveiled legislation to slash the cost of prescription drugs. they want link the price in the u.s. to lower prices in other untries, but the drug industry says the plan would cause havoc in the health care system. the bills stand little chance of getting through the republican-d controenate. and, on wall street, stocks rose for a fifth day; the longest rally since september. vethe dow jones industrialge

,0ined more than 122 points to close at nearly . the nasdaq rose 29 points, and e s&p 500 added 11. still to come on the newshou what might it take to reopen the government? the shutdown shutters food safety inspections. venezuelan president colas maduro is reinaugurated, and much more. >> woodruff: we will continue to document what thshutdown means for the functions of american life and how the impacts are felt acrosthe country. now let's look at national security. okthis evening i with representative bennie thompson of mississippi. he is the new democratic chairman of the house homeland security committee.by i startesking whether the country is less safe result of

the shutdown. >> well, you know, the men and women who perform the job every day do a t good job, think it's a bit much to ask them to work and not be paid. i have talked to them, i've talked to the t.s.a. administrator, a number of other individuals, and they've all assured me that the standards will continue to met, but i know it's a problem if mortgages are due, if utility bills are due. it's a problem when you don't have the money to do it. d.h.s.of our employees at work from check to check because some of them, likeur t.s.o.s at airports, are some of the lowest paid federal employees.% >> woodruff: one of the arguments the administration is making, and i know you've heard it because they've said it over and over again came yesterday again from the secretary ofla ho security kiirston

nielsen. she said the smug lick taking -- the smuggling taking place, emphasis on security unless there is a physical barrier along th bsouthernder. >> well, i've heard the secretar and a lot of people talk about that, but when you look at thedata in terms of people crossing th border. the data does no support what she's saying. when you look at the numbers that they are pushing out. ane numbers they are pushing out, as far as we tell, are inaccurate. i wish the secretary wld give us real numbers. i have c.b.p. numbers that say only six people were caught, not 4,000. but if you're trying to scare pecole, then you wil up with numbers that can't be verified. so it's unfortunate that

employees and the numbers have caught up in this notion of trying to scare people and to -- nto supporting the border wall. >> woodruff: do yobelieve, chairman thompson, speaker pelosi was right yestday when she talked to the president in the white house meeting. he asked herf the government were reopened, after 30 days, would she be willing to sit down and talk about money for border security or a border wall, and she said no. was that the right answer? >> well, i think border security, the speaker has always supported border security. it's the borde wall. those of us who work in this space every day, we understand security is important, but the lowest pnt that we see is a wall. so what we are saying to the president, set the wall aside, let's talk about border w security, anll get there, but if you s areing i'm not going to do any engagement unless you giveme a wall, then

speaker pelosi was. rig >> woodruff: is there a sentiment among democrats that th g shoue some on this? lisa desjardins reported some moderate democrats are saying democrats need to put sething on the table now. >> well, independence and the i think you will see that over the next few day if you look at the history of funding border security, we've haways done. we've put moneys in for fencwei, ut money in for additionalce surveill equipment, we've supported more custom border e protectiloyees. so we are doing everything that comes to us thatkes sense. it's just a physical wall in the united states of america is not who we are,t's not our value system. if we can see people 500,

600 miles away, why would we need to put a wall when they get here? all we have to do is move assets that we have available to us to the area where we see them coming. we do it now. d all we have is just continue it. i have been engaging the tec community. they are telling me that they are developing modern technology that will help us identify those vulnerabilities. i would like for us to g in that direction. the physical wall sends a bad impression for the united states of america, our value system. we encourage people to come if they are being persecuted, they have a righto come and declare their -- and we work o asylum processing, but just to say to people we don't want you becau u don't look like me is not who we are as a country. >> woodruff: very quickly, finally, it is looking as if the president is seriously considering declari a national

emergency to get the wall built ffd the government reopened. whatt would that have on all this? >> again, we're work on a manufactured crisis. this national ergency is just expanding the manufactured crisis. it's unfortunate that the department of defense assets will continue to be used to fight this manufactured crisis. i'hope the president doesn't do et, but i'm convinced, if he cides to do it, then we do have a system a judicial system in this country, and i am convinced it will be tested. >> woodruff: chairman bennie thompson, newly elected chair of the house homeland security committee, thank you very much. >> thank you for havge.

>> woodruff: many federal oremployees will feel even pain from this partial shutdown beginning tomorrow. that's because hundreds of thousands will not get their arrst paycheck of the new count f.b.i. agents among that group. the agents are working without pay and will miss their first paychecks tomorrow.i. the f.gents association, which represents fbi field officers, called for the shutdown to end. tdownroup warned the s could indirectly jeopardize security clearances for some agents. if some f.b.i. employees are unable to pay bills, their personal credit could take a hit and delay or block a clearance check. if the shutdown continues, the agents association warned it could affect critical operations thgroup said it could keep some agents off active duty and warned it could also affect the f.b.i.'s ability to recruit andn rehe nation's top talent.

before that statement was issued, we spoke with the wife of an f.b.i. agent in his 17th year on the job. omhe's nearing retirement he bureau. >> we're definitely in a savings mode right now. so no extra expenses. i'veancelled some sucriptions to things like our son colin who is 14 is supposed to have braces and we d to postpone that a month because who knows where that down payment might need to be used at a later ti. or that, yeah, eventually they will get paid so why are you complaining? but it's terrifying not knowingt when you're goo get paid. >> woodruff: here's another consequence: the national transportation safh ety board, whvestigates accidents

around the country soon after they happen, has had to indefinitely delay a number of those investigations. because ma n.t.s.b. workers are furloughed, the agency has not yet investigated 10 recent crashes in which 22 people died. that includes two fatal raroad accidents, a higay accident that killed ven people and crashes with smaller planes. the agency says it will investigate those acdents, but only after the shutdown ends. a let's taloser look at another impact of tis shutdown that hits close to home and got a loof attention in the past 24 hours. what this means for food safety and government inspect amna nawaz is here with a breakdown of what we know. >> nawaz: the food and drug administration announcedat yesterday t stopped routine food safety inspections in many cases. that includes checking fruits, vegetables, some seafood and many other foods. that's a big part of food safety in this country. however, nearly all inspectors

at the u.s. department of agriculte, which oversees meat and poultry production, are still on the job, working without pay, and overseas inspections ntinue. sarah sorscher is the deputy director of regulatory affairs at the center for science in the public interest, a consumer advocacy organization focused on food safety and healthy eating. and sheoins me now. >> thank you, glad to be here. e f.d.a. overlooks and oversees the vast majority of the food fly when not in shutwn mode. at does that mean? regularly what are they doing to protect our food supply? >> well, generally speaking, they are out there doing a little over 000 routine unannounced inspections a year where they're going into facilies that make foodnd looking around for potential food safety issues, they're looking for pests, to make surem oyees are following a proper hygiene and have a food safety plann place and generally trying to identify the kind of

issues that are will cause food-borne illness before they lead to complaints and isss with consumers. >> tins the shutdown, what chand? >> the f.d. announced yesterday they will be starting some of the routine inspections, but originally the shutdown would mean they would end the routine work and focus on emergencies, going in when there's an outbreak or recall and only taking action in those cases. so what we've learned yesterday is that, as of next week, hopefully they will start again on the highest risk foods, which includes cheeses, seafood unpasteurized juice, the kinds of things that go in the refrigerator because it's perishable are the foods.d.a. will focus on. >> could there be lapses without oversight? >> it's better to have the inspections, but i think part of the problem is food-borne illne ses can come from anywh p,

flour, boxed cake mix -- so it's important for f.d.a. to be out there resumg the work it does everywhere on all the foods that we eat. that being said, they're doing the high-risk foods and should cover a third of e establishments. workers could be unpaid which could affect morale but will be doing the job they did before the shutdown. >> a lotf people saw headlines about food safety inspections being halted because to have the shutdown. is there any reason for the consumer to be concerned? hi i there is still a reason for consumers to be concerned and thatce c should be greater the longer the shutdown goes on. since they do a little over00 inspections a year, there are hundreds not being done during the shutdown and the mo that happens, the more we are at risk. >> woodruff: at's assuming it could go on longer. so far, it's had a minimalim ct, right? about 8400 inspections a year? >> yeah, about 160 a week, and

the shutdown is coming up on ths e weeks now, so it' number in the hundreds. >> commissioner gottlieb pointed out a f dozen that had been scheduled would have been missed so far in the shutwn mainly because of holiday scheduling and so on, and insisted the effect is minimal. political food and agriculture reporter was mentioning, yes, the f.d.a. does 50 high-riskti insps a week for soft cheeses, seafoods, tha category, 160 low-ryzik inspections a week, butoints out there are tens of thousands of food facilities that exist is the. saying our food facilities aren't inspected as mu as we think. >> a good point. even under the best of circumstances f.d.a. struggles to keep up with thed. workl they regulate 80% of the foody supply with vew resources to do the work. one of the things they were doing before the shutdown was to

implement the food modernization safety act and improve the ruler onood system. unfortunately that stalled as well. >> the minimal impact as a result of the shutdown. wh are the concerns some. >> i think the fact the shutdown started over the holays means lot of the inspections asuldn't have been done in any case. he shutdown goes on, the inspections that are not done means inspectors are notss flaggings they otherwise would have seen. they're looking for vermin, they're looking for potential filth in our food. they're looking for the types of things that couldause contamination that could lead to food-borne illness. so we should all behinking about our food supply under the shutdown and actively working to iot our public officials to come to the sol so we can get inspectors back ton job and paid for the work. >> woodruff: concern immediately? >> we don't think consumers

should change their practices with respect to food. you shouldn't swch the foods u eat. there are no reason to think your foods are less safe under owe shutdown. but as the shu drags on, it could have an impact on food safety and we need to make sure it ends viftly. >> sarah sorscher, a "the center for science in the public interest." thank you for being here. >> thank you for inviting me. >> woodruff: stay with us, coming up on the newshour: making sense of the economy under president trump. and mental health activist jerri clark's brief but spectacular o taken the dangers of criminalizing mental illness. venezuela's president nicolas maduro was inaugurated today fot a six-yem. he's been in power since 2013, and, as foreign affairs correspondent nick schifrin reports, madurhas presided over an economic catastrophe.

>> schifrin: inside venezuela's supreme court today, president nicolas maduro walked into a w hero'selcome, greeted by a phalanof patriotic children. and as seen on state tv, he swore to build what he called 21st century socialism. t while he flashed the sign of a victorious nation, his critics say e's created a failed stat. w t used to be latin america's wealthiest country, citizens lack basic necessities. venezuelans in caracas have demanded access to a supermarket,ven if the shelves were empty because of a shortage of food. patients have protested a shortage of medicine. children play in the dark because of a shortage of power. and a shortage of water means venezuelans bathe with runoff from a mountain. 170 miles southwest of caracas, in the farmland of cojedes state, 32-year-old luis cortes otaiza represents the countr lost hopes. he's the son of a farmer and was

successful, until hyrinflation and vernment regulations raised costsbove revenue. now, he grows only enough for his family to survive. >> ( translated ): we are working in vain, wasting our youth. we have no future here. >> schifrin: the economic free-r fall i falling oil prices, and failed economic policies. the government printed more money and bills became so worthless, women turned them into art. inflation could hit 10 million percent. that's how many bolivars it costs to buy a chicken. it takes a stack of almost worthless paper, to buy to paper. all of it sparked the region's largest ever exodus. more than the million venezuelans have fled their homes and created a humanitarian crisis, says woodrow wilson center senior advisor ben gedan. >> the conditions in venezuela are heartbreaking, in terms of the collapse of the dical system, the extraordinary levels of violence. it's become apocalyptic to live in that country. and then the conditions that these migrants find themselves in neighboring countries. >> schifrin: maduro was re-

ected last may in a presidential election the u.s. called un-free and unfair. he's maintained power throughut corruption andessness, says gedan, who was president obama's national security ctcouncil south america di. >> the president of venezuela has been willing to repress dissent ruthlessly and relentlessly, in terms of attacking the politil opposition, dismantling venezuelan democracy, destroying what had been the wealthiest country in latin america, dismantling every democratic institution under the sun in order to stay in power. >> schifrin: this week the u.s. imposed sanctions on venezuelans involved in what it called corrupt currency exchange. the u.s. has also imposed sanctions on maduro, hisife, a vice president, and a foreign minister. and today in a statement, secretary of state mike pompeo said the u.s. "will continue to use the full weight of u.s. economic and diplomatic power to press for the restorat venezuelan democracy." the troika of tyranny in this hemisphere: cuba, venezuela, and

nicaragu match.finally met its >> schifrin: the administration has made the criticism regional. in november, national security advisor john bolton aimed hisro sights at madund nicaraguan president daniel ortega, and cuba's new president miguel diaz-canel, as the u.s.' ideolocal opponents. >> they are clownish pitiful figures more akin to larry, curly and moe. the three stooges of socialism are true believers, but theyrs p a false god. >> schifrin: yesterday, maduro accused the u.s. and armal regional alliance known as the lima group of plotting to overthrow him.ed >> ( transl ): a coup d'état ordered by washington and the lima cartel is undway against the legitimate and constitutional government over which i preside. >> schifrin: the u.s. has considered imposing more pain through an oil embargo, but the state would likely collapse, increasing the humanitarian crisis. gedan and others wantel venezus neighbors to supply that pressure. d there are a whole series

measures you cano to increase the diplomatic isolation and the economic pressure on venezuelan elites and to encourage some of those elites to break with the regime and make a moral decision to be part of the decision to be part of the solution in latin american countries simply have not taken those steps. >> schifrin: maduro faces some internal opposition, and no latin american leader has ever survived this level of hyperinflation. but for now, senior u.s. officials say he can likely resist external pressure and stay in power, despite the pain inflicted on his people . for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> woodruff: the shutdn and the battle over a border wall is the central story of the moment. t this all happening at a time of some important economic developments. on the one hand, the year closed ot with an unexpectedly s jobs report. on the other, we're in the middle of a trade war and tough negotiations with china.

thmarkets have been volati for weeks with wild swings. and the shutdown itself poses its own problems. all of this coming about one year after the tax cuts were passed. that made it the right time for our economics correspondent to speak with a key voice from president trump's economic team. it's part of our weekly series "making sense." >> reporter: kevin hassett is the aggressivelyood natured chairman of president trump's council of economic ad we sat down with him at the recent annual meeting of pdowntown atlanta.mists in our first question: what's makinghe stock market do loop- de-loops, and stomachs drop? >> there are really two bi changes in the global economyr since last sum last spring. one is that china's economy is looking like it's whyo, for themwould call a recession. it's really headed south. and in europe, it's not quite that bad, but the european omy has really turned as well.

and so u.s. multinationals earn maybe out 40% of their profits outside the u.s., and so since their sales are going to be lower in europe and in asia, then that's bad news fo profits, and that's one of the things that markets have beendi sting. >> reporter: if we're tough on china, we, the united states, and now they're experienng a slow down, and that's hurting our companies, then does our strategy with respect to chinaen make? >> last year, we put out a report on chinese trade behaviors, and in particular, their forced technology transfer, theft of intellectual property hacking our firms and stealing their great ideas and so on. and so we've started this negotiation, and to show that we're really serious, that we need to gethe chinese to change their behavior, then we put tariffs on their products, and those tariffs on their products have put a lot of anpressure on chinese firm the chinese economy. >> reporter: but does it hurt erican firms in the shor term?

that seems to be the case. >> apple, i think is the firmig that has thest exposure to china. but in the short run, it's the slower chinese economy, not the tariffs that are causing profits mto go down for some us f >> reporter: but the slower chinese economy is at least in part a function of the tariffs. >> yes, it i yes, it is. that's right. >> reporter: so we are tinadvertently, in the sh term, hurting american firms for a larger purpose. >> for a larger purpose, that's right.fo but r the most part what's happened is that the tariffs were, for the most part, chosen be placed on things tha china produces that we can easily buy from somebody else.te >> rep but then why hasn't our trade deficit with china gone down? >> well, the trade deficit itself is kind of an interesting thing because it depends a lot on consumption. if the u.s. economy booms, say, and the chinese economy doesn't, then our consumers will be buying lots of chinese products, their consumers won't be buying

many of our products, and so therefore the trad deficit uld go up. the other thing is that thers been some uncertainty about whether we put tariffs on the rest of the things tme from china, and for sure, there would be some anticipatory purchasing. >> reporter: another issue we asked hassett about: the federa reserve, in li president trump's sharp public criticism of fed policy and fed chairman jay powell. >> i think my job at the c.e.a. is to respt the independence of the fed and to not attribute near-term fluctuations to near- term changes in policy and even to avoidiscussing fed policy altogether. >> reporter: does it make you feel funny when the esident talks about the fed, and talks about what chairman powell should or shouldn't do and he's ing the wrong thing and knocking the stock market down? >> he wants to talk about his views about policy, and that'sso thing that i think it's what people expect of him. but i also went out, with the president's approval, and said that jay powell's job is 100% safe, you might recall a fe weeks ago.

and it is, it is. >> reporter: yeah, no, no, i was going to ask you, if you could guarantee me now thathree months from now, he'll be there. i jay powell is 100% safe that the president has ention of firing jay powell. >> reporter: let's go on a couple of other topics. is the government shutoing to have a negative impact on the econom particularly if it drags on? ut workers are furloughed, and right now it's a5% of government workers are furloughed, which means that they are not aowed to go to work. but then when the shutdown ends, they go back to work and they get their back pay. a huge share of government workers were going to take vacation days, say between christmas and new year's, and then we have a shutdown, and son they go to work, and so then they have the vacation, buh don't have to use their vacation days, and then they come back, and thethey get their back pay, then in some sense, they're better off. >> reporter economic effect?m >> long term, but short term we can definitely see it in the numbers o. but in tersomething that viewers should be nervous about, no, there's not going to be a

negative effect. >> reporter: but if it weren't resolved by today, and right now it isn't, hassett said it woulde cost tconomy some $20 billion in output, and $10 billion for every shut down week thereafter. let's talk about the tax cut. you said the average americanll household et $4,000 a year at some point. ur's a year in now, that hasn't happened yet for right? >> the $4000 number was something based on a b peer- reviewed literature that would40 give you to the typical household over three to five years. and wages are actually one of those things that adjust slowly. >> reporter: well, wage growth is about 3.1 >> 3.2 actually. >> reporter: 3.2%. >> sorry, it was >> reporter: but inflation is 2.2, so you're talking about a one percent real growth in wages which is, if you think about the

average household income, a median household income of $60,000, o percent about $600. >> and multiply that by five, because we said three to five years. and then assuming that happens again next year, because we stay on the trajectory that we're currently on. >> reporter: and so you're counting on growth, continuing, ntinuing, and finally, finally, you'll get to that $4,000. >> in three to five years just ke we said, but the point is that there's nothing that suggests that we're not on track to do that. >> reporter: now since previous members of the council of economic advisors werelso at the convention, we asked betsey stevenson, who served during the obama administration, to respond. >> so what is the increase in real wages that we got because of the tax cut that we wouldn't have gotten without it? that's way sller than your $600 per year. hopefully, even kevin hassett would agree that it'ler. we can debate how much smaller, i thinsubstantially smaller. so do i think it's ever going to hit $4,000? no. >> reporter: austan goolsbee chaired the council under obama. >> if wh you want was to help working people or to increase

vestment, you can find far cheaper and more effective ways to do that than giving a two trillion dollar tax cut to high income people. that's what we did and the bang for the buck, in my view, is not there. >> reporter: and s a final question for c.e.a. chair hassett. are you worried at all about the deficit, or you really think that the president-- >> the president is as well. the president told the cabinet agencies to put forward budgets that cut spending byt. five perc economist will tell you is a serious policy challenge going forward, andot there's af progress to be made, that's for sure. >> reporter: for the pbs newshour, this is economics correspondent paul solman in atlanta. >> woodruff: mental illnesosis one of thedifficult issues to deal with, especially on a personal level. in a special episodef brief but spectacular, jerri clark,

erfounder of the group "moof the mentally ill," tells the story about her son, who failed receive adequate support after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. my son calvin is 22. he was very smart from a young age. in high school he got hooked into the speh and debate club, and immediately started winning awards. he was also really athletic and we were so proud of him. m durison's freshman year of college, he was very confus, so we took him home, and he was talking and taing and talking in circles, when it suddenly occurred to me that this was probably mental illness. a he was runniund the house and he became very concerned that our downstairs bathroom had been possessed. s he de kind of ceremony in there, he closed the door and asked me to never ever go in

that room again beuse it wasn't safe, and that's when i knew we were in real trouble. my husband got a call that my son had been found by highway patrol on the side of the highway, and he wasn't making much sense. my son said he thought the carul run off of his own energy. drugs were suspected, so the officer took my son to a hospital for a drug test. because he lashed out at the security guards at the hospil he was determined to be a danger to others and so he was detained, under the involuntary treatment act.ta in the of washington, and this is true in most of the states of the country, an individual in a mental illness crisis has to meet the criteria of imminent threat. while he was there, the inial

hearing for his d.u.i. charge came up, and so i called the urthouse and said he won't be able to attend that hearing because he's being detained. the court said that an arraignment for a d.u.i. charge was non-negotiable and that a bench warrant would automatically be issued for his arrest. within a day of leaving that two-week hospitalization, he was as psychotic and manic as he had been before he went into the hospital. i called the county crisis office, and explained that i feared for my son's safety, and i said i can't call the police because there's a bench warrant for his arrest they said, call n e police, go ahead and let him get arrested and t'll get him some help. they took him to jail anbooked him on the bench warrant, and i

immediately started calling to try to figure out how they were going to now divert him into thr hospital ais had explained. there was no legal pathway to do that, i had been misled. the next time i saw my son, he was on a vid monitor from jail. i could tell by his eyes that my son was out of his mind. he was in a suicide vest, and he had a black eye,nd a fat lip. and he was talking in a robotic voee, that sounded almost l a computer. it was not my son. he came out of the system much sicker. up until that time, we had been terribly afraid for our son. during that time, we became afraid of our son. he came and banged on the door. he pushed past me and locked me

and my husband out of our house. i believed that my son had finally met the threshold for involuntary treatment, so i called 911, and said we had a medical emergency, a the police officer who talked to me sneered at me and saidyour son will not be taken into care for a non-existent mental health condition. i got a call the next morning from police who had found him io the middthe street wandering in traffic and he said he was goi to kill himself by lighting himself on fire. he finally m the illusive threshold of the involuntary treatment act,nd he was taken to a hospital, but washington state didn't have any beds, so the ambulance took him across the river into portland, oregon. t after five days, my son no longer met the threshold of imminent threat. they put him in a cab, and dropped him off at a homeless shelter.

my son spent one night in that homeless sheer, got up the next morning, and jumped off the highway bridge into the columbia river, to kill himself. my son is a really good swimmer, and he told me later that when he hit the water he realized that it had been a mistake and that he had other things to do in this life one week after my son was dumped at a homeless shelter by a mental hospital, he was forested. i was deeply afraihis safety. because i knew how ill he was and i knew that he would be suicid, the director of the jail was kind to me and connected me to the director of psychiatric services. the social worker who is working through the public defender's office was able to arrange a release plan for my son that includes housing and wraparound support.

they are enthusiastic, encouraging, and amazing suppor to my son. they assertively help him with putting his life back together. my son right now is doing amazing, and i'm so proud of him. he wants to make his life work and he wants to make his life. rkaningf my name is jerri cand this is my brief but spectacular take on why mental illness should never be a crime. >> woodruff: tonight's brief but spectacular was produced in allaboration with olympia-based political reporttin jenkins of the northwest news networkn . you nd a bonus episode with jenkins on our website at

pbs.org/newshour/brief. and that the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening when mark shieldand david brooks analyze what is looking to be the longest shutdown in u.s. histor for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> text night and day. >> catch it on replay. >> burning some fat. >> sharing the latest viral cat! >> you can do the things you like to do with a wireess plan desifor you. with talk, text and data. nsumer cellular. learn more at consumercellular.tv >> babbel. a language app that teaches real-life conversations ge a new langualike spanish, french, german, italian, and more.

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. hello, everyone. welcome to "amanpour & company." here is what's coming up -- >> my fellow americans. ra trump makes a case for a border wall dem say is full of holes. the o impactf the shutdown mounts. what areat the nnal security facts. former defense secretary and republican senator chuck hagel tells me. plus -- >> tumultuous times, america through the great lens-of-james baldwi i speak with oscar winning director barry jenkins about if beal street could talk. and a new voiceor that endangered species, thepo litical senator. stepha