news productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, 20 days in and no end ht-- president trump travels to the.s southernborder to underscore his demands for a wall. then, how the government shutdown is affecting what we eat, after t f.d.a. is forced to halt food safety inspections. 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 on things that china produchat we can easily buy from somebody else. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

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stwaemate tonight. ington mostly spun its wheels today, while president astrump was wheels up to t white house correspondent yamiche alcindor begins our pverage, from mcallen, texas. >> alcindor: theresident spent this 20th day of the partial government shutdown, not in washington, but in the border city of mclen, 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 is stronger. a fiscal barrier is central for strategy for border security. thr since he kicked off 2015 presidential campaign, he's made that claim over and over a >> i would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls 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. de as he's done repeatedly in the past, the pre met with families whose loved ones werevi ctims of crime carried out by immigrants. he also vised the rio grande. >> where we have a strong barrier, we don't have problems. now they go around the barrier,y so, when fill up the gaps, it's going to be a much diferent 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 number of illegals coming across the border is at historical highs. the reason they're at historical highs is tot becauhave the typical illegal alien who's drugs,in, smuggling wants to commit crimes orme seeking employnt, 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, geing onuses to take them to sister norma pimentel said the migrants are no threat, but are, >> you know the immigrants that to the center,e the border are vulnerable. they are abused and cryin these are people that need to be taken -- need to be protected from others that are wanting to harm them. and, so, i don't see why we should be afraid of them. >> she thinks peolde shot suffer because of washington gridlock. >> i don't understand how we can use people, knfamilies, yo, as a bargaining chip. a family should not be worried about how to feed their family

and live day to day. >> across town, people for and against president trump's wall turned out to protest. >> i'm a federal worker and i will not adjust my life to ts type of shutdown. >> if we don't get that wall built, people will just continue lking across. >> declare a national emergency, yes, t yes, havehe troops here until they build the border wall, until they build it, we need our troops he. >> back in washington, before he left for texas, president trump said he might declare a national emergency. >> i have the absolute right to declare a national i haven't done et yet. i may d it. if this doesn't work out, probably i will do it. >> top democrats pushed >> alcindor: top democrats pushed back on that. illinois senator dick durbin t would verge on abuse of power. >> if any president, this ene or any presdecides they just want to move unilaterally to spend funds, declare a national emergency for atever they find of interest, it goes way beyond what i consider the clear delegation of authority underti the constitu.

>> some republicans do support president trump declaring a 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 thrown ou of court. >> in just one day, federal ployees will miss their first paycheck, as the shutdown begain late december. today that prompted protestsro ss the country. ichicago, dozens of furloughed workers braved the cold. in kentucky others chanted their discontent. ill more gathered steps away from the whiteou h. hundreds of federal employees, labor leaders and democratic

lawmakers urged the president to end the shutdown. >> what myope would be is lettinletrather than this presit getting on tv or taking even what he calls a photo op trip to the bder, let donald trump come out and explain to you, the workers of america, why >> alcindor: on the senate floor, democrats tried to force a vote on legislatioreopen the government. but republican majority leader mitch mcconnell blocked the effort. meanwhile, because of the e utdown. thesident has plans to attend the world economic forum in switzerland. tomorrow the government shutdown reaches three weeks, tying for record.down on >> woodruff: yamiche is in texas on the southern border and lis less iwith me in the studio. yamiche, back you first.

what motivated the president to make t ds trip and how he adjust his message for where he was? >> this isanery show tell for president trump. he wanted to be seen on the border. he wanteto be talking to people on the ground. to make this the point this is crisis in his mind. i'm getting nearby the rder of texas and mexico 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. that's defitely not tru 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, atailleries in meetings with congressional law-makers me saidico will pay for the law. willrump is saying mexico pay for the wall figuratively in trade deals. 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 saidof there's a hop a break thru, particularly dynamics on part oa th of the democrats. >> interesting dynamics breaking from both sides first with the democrats. rising concerns from moderate democrats that are perhaps losing the messaging here. some of thosen swing districts are saying we need to be clear about making an offer, we needho tow we're willing to compromise. this is not a majority of house democrats but we're starting toa se little division in the ranks. at the same time, when you talk to democratic leaders, they sayd have an offer on the table, it's for $1.3 billion to fund a border fence. now, nancy pelosi talked about zero money when he mentioned a wall. last ditch efforts last night rstween lindsey graham and susan collins and otheo come up with a compromise. those have triled. today rdinary tweeting

from senatorindsey hilsum who says it's time pore the presidento declare an emergency but is not sure if it will work. so conflicting ideas fromingle people themselves like the senator here. >> woodruff: still fluid. yamiche, when you were on the ground in the mcallen area, you eve been talking to peo who live there, how is this government shutdown being received by them? >> well, people are really divided in mcallen texas and really aell across border in texas here. there were two large groups of protesters when the president touched down in texas today. there was one group that was anti-trump, anti-the wall, saying tgo wall wag to be a racist political tool to have the president. on the other side, pem were welcoming president trump and cheering him on and saying ae wall needed to built. one woman supports building the wall. she said she actually fou people in her backyard 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 thinks president trump is a l and thinks president trump is using fear to demand his wall. of course, at e end of the day, it's up to washington what ends up ha,ening with the wa 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 been following this, what's happening with federal workers? their paychecks coming due, there are lawsuits out there. what are you learning? >> four points quickly. first, that's right, tomorrow will be a missed paycheck for most to have the federal workers affected. the union for federal employees has filed to expand their lawsuit so every federal worker who has been forced to work out pay will get paid,hat is pending in federal courts and the lawsuit has been expanded. second point, t.s.a., a lot of stories about.s.a. workers calling in sick, that kind of thing. i spoke to t.s.a. job today, they say those are

overblown. there is concern if the shutdown continues, maybe next weeth week after that, we could see bigger problems for t.s.a. workers not showingp. the third point, there are banks like the navy federal credit unn that are offering no or ederalterest loans to f employees. 6,000 federal workers have taken then up on the deal so far. finally, in congress, seeing various senators aouse members to propose aill saying let's bayheoast guard, or garage sale ideas. hoseland security workers, jobs don't seem to be going anywhere now but this is a sign buildi on congress from various interests. >> woodruff: yamiche alcindor joining us from mcallen texas on the border. lisa desjardins here in the studio. thank you both. we will talk to the head of the u.s.ouse homeland security

committee and track what the shutdown means for food safety in a moment. in the day's oer news, president trump denied knowing that his former campaign chair paul manafort allegedly sharedit polling dataa russian associate, in 2016.th associate is accused of having ties to russian intelligence.tr separately, mrp's former lawyer, michael cohen, agreed to testify next mont before the house oversight committee. it's now run by democrat and they're looking at russia and the trump campaign, and hush money payments to women linked to mr.rump. in egypt today, secretary of p state mipeo declared thesident trump is reasserting american power imiddle east. in a cairo speech, pompeo charged the obama administration sought peace at any pr ie, allowing tamic state group to grow, and iran to spread its influence. >> so today what do we learn enom all of this? we learned that merica

retreats chaos often follows, when we neglect our friends resentment builds. and when we partner with oury enemies, tvance. ame good news is this, the age of self inflicteican shame is over and so are those policies that prode so much needless suffering. >> woodruff: pompeo has been trying to reassure middle east allies about president trump's decision to withdraw from syria. today, the secretary mh egyptian president el-sisi and.s saidforces will finish the fight with isis even after leaving syria. secretary pompeo made no reference today to the killingha of jamaloggi. the saudi journalist was murdered at saudi arabia's consulate in istanbul, turkey, 100 days 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. at least six soldiers were killed. the drone detonated at an air base outside aden.de military l of the saudi- led coalition were attending a parade there. the rebels in yemen are aligned with iran, but the iranians have ed giving them drone technology. in afghanistan, a series of taliban attacks killed at least 30 police and pro-governments. militia memb officials say the militants struck at security checkpoints across four northern and western provinces. the attacks have come on almost a daily basis, but this week, the taliban called off thepe latest round oe talks with u.s. officials. new developmentsoday on the u.s./north korea front. thinese reports say nor korea's kim jong un told president xi jinping this week h thwants to achieve results on denuclearization, in a second 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.n ang should take firmer disarmament measures. as soon as it takes such measures, there should also be reciprocal measures to expedite and encourage the continued disarmamen korea.s of north >> woodruff: there's been little headway in nuclear talks since president trump and xi met last year in singapore. elections ofcials in congo have declared a surprise winner edin last month's long-del presidential vote. felix tshisekedi was a long-shot opposition candidate. e ws of his victory triggered celebrations in threets of capital city kinshasa. but a rival opposition candidate, martin fayulu, cried foul. >>no translated ): you 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 chthat will provoke generas across the country. >> woodruff: fayulu claims outgoing president joseph kabila struck a deal with the winner to ward off corruption probes.e untry's influential catholic church also rejected the resus, but it warned against any violence that would endanger congo's first peaceful transfer of power. back in this country, democratic liberals in congress unveiled legislation to slash the cost of escription drugs. they want to link the price in thu.s. to lower prices in other countries, but the drug industry says the plan would cause havoc in the health care stem. the bills stand little chance of getting through the republican-. controlled sen and, on wall street, stocks rosi for a fth day; the longest ray since september. the dow jones industrial average

gained more than 122 points to close at nearly 24,002. the nasdaq rose 29 points, and the s&500 added 11. still to come on the newshour: what might it take to reopen the government? the shutdown shutters tyfood sanspections. venezuelan president nicolas maduro is reinaugurated, and much more. >> woodruff: we will continue to document what the shutdowneans for the functions of american life and how the impacts are felt across the couny. now let's look at national security. this eveng i spoke with representative bennie thompson .f mississippi he is the new democratic chairman of the house homeland security committee. i started by asking whether the fountry is less safe result o

the shutdown. >> well, you know, the men and women who perform the job every day do a goodob, but ithink it's a bit much to ask them to work and t be paid. i have talked to them, i've talked to the t.s.a. administrator, a nber of other individuals, and they've all assured me that the standards will continue to be 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. a lot of our employees at wod.h. from check to check because some of them, like our t.s.o.s at airports, are some of the lowest paid federal employees.% >> woodruff: one of theme ars the administration is making, and i know you've heard ovbecause they've said it and over again came yesterday again from the secretary ofit homeland secy kiirston

nielsen. she said the smug lick taking -- the smuggling taking place, the emphasis on security unless there is ica ph barrier along the southern border. >> wel i've heard the secretary and a lot of people talk about that, but when u look at thedata in terms of people crossing the border. the data does not support what she's saying. when you look at the numbers that they are pushing out. the numbey are pushing out, as far as we can tell, are inccurate. i wish the secretary would give us realumrs. i have c.b.p. numbers that say only six people were caught, not 4,000. but if you'rtrying to scare people, then you will come up with numbers that can't be verified. so it's unfortunate that

employees and the numbers have caught up in this notion ofyi to scare people and to -- into supportg the border wall. >> woodruff: do you believe, chairman thompson, speak pelosi was right yesterday when she talked to the president in the white house meeting. he asked her if the government nere reo 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 thinkorder curity, the speaker has always supported border security. 's the border wall. those of us who work in this space every day, we understand security is importat the lowest point that we see is a wall. so what we are saying to the all aside, set the let's talk about border security, and we'll get there, but if you are saying i'm not going to do anyngagement unless you give me a wall, then

speaker pelosi was right. >> woodruff: is there a sentiment among democrats that they should give some on this? lisa desjardins reported some moderate democrats saying democrats need to put something e the table now. >> well, independed the i think you will see that over the next few days. if you look at the history ofrd funding security, we've always done that. we've put moneys in for fencing, we put money in for additiona surveillance t,equipme've supported more custom border protection employees. so we are doing everything comes to us that makes sense j. itt a physical wall in the united stateof america is not who we are, it's not our value system. if w 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 w have available to us to the area where we see them coming. we do it now. all we have to do is just continue it. i have been engaging the tech community. they are telling me that they are developing modern technology that wlelp us identify those vulnerabilities. i would like for us to go 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 right to come and declare their -- and we work on asylum processi, but just to say to people we don't want you because you don't look like me is not who we are as a country. >> woodruff: very quickly, finally, it is looking as if the president iseriously considering declaring a national

emergency to get the wall built and the government reopened. wh effect would that have on all this?>> gain, we're work on a manufactured crisis. this national emergency is just expanding the manufactured isis. it's unfortunate that the department of defensessets will continue to be used to fight this manufactured crisis. i'd hopesi the pnt doesn't do et, but i'm convinced, if he decides too it, then we do have a system -- a judicial system in this country, and i am tested.d it will be >> woodruff: chairman bennie thompson, newly elected chair of theouse homeland security committee, thank you very much. >> thank you for having me. f:

>> woodrany federal employees will feel even more pain from this partialhutdown beginning tomorrow. that's because hundreds ofs thousall not get their first paycheck of the new year.a count f.b.nts among that group. eie agents are working without pay and will miss first paychecks tomorrow. the f.b.i. agents association, which represents fbi field ofcers,alled for the shutdown to end. the group warned the shutdown could indirectly jeopardize curity clearances for so 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 the group said it could keep some agents off active duty and warned it could so affect the f.b.i.'s ability to recruit and retain the 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. ng retirement from the bureau. >> we're definitely in a savings mode right now. so no extra expenses. i've cancell some subscriptis to things like, our son colin who is 14 is supposed to have braces and we p had tpone that a month because who knows where that down payment might need to be used at a later time. or that, yeah, eventually thso will get paihy are you complaining? but it's terrifying not knowing when you're going to get paid. >> woodruff: here's another consequence: the nationa transportation safety board, which investigates accidents

around the country soon after they happen, has had to indefinitely delay a number of those investigations. because many n.t.s.b. workers are furloughed, the agas not yet investigated 10 recent crashes in which 22 people died. that includes two fatal railroad accidents, a highway accident that killed seven people and crashes with smallers. the agency says it will investigate those accidents, but only after the shutdown ends. let's take a closer look at another impact of tis shutdown that hits close to home and got a lot of attention in the past 24 hours. afwhat this means for foody and government inspections. amna nawaz is re with a breakdown of what we know. >> nawaz: the adod and drug nistration announced yesterday that it stopped routine food safety inspections in many cases. that includes checki fruits, vegetables, some seafood and many other foods.t that's a big p food safety in this country. ntwever, nearly all inspectors

at the u.s. departf agriculture, which oversees meat and poultry production, are still on the job, working without pay, and overseas inspections continue. sarah sorscher is the dety director of regulatory affairs at the center for science in the public interest, a consumer advocacy organization focused ot food sand healthy eating. and she joins me now. >> thank you, glad to be here. e f.d.a. overlooks and oversees the vast majority of e food fly when not in shutdown mode. what does that mean? regularly what are they ing to protect our food supply? >> well, generally speaking, aey are out there doing little over 8,000 routine unannounced inspections a year where they'reoing into facilities that make food and looking around for potential food safety issues, they're oking for pests, to make sure amployees are following a proper hygiene and hav food safety plan in place and generally trying to identify the kind of

issues that are will cause food-borne illness before they lead to complaints and issues with consumers. >> tins the shutdown, what changed? >> the f.d.a. announced yeerday 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 outbreaor recall and only taking action in those cases. so what we've learned yestersy is that,f next week, hopefully they will start again on the highest risk foods, which includes cheeses, seafoods, unpaeurized juice, the kin of things that go in the refrigerator because it'ssh pele are the foods f.d.a. will focus on. >> could the be lapses without oversight? >> it's better to have the inspections, but i think part of the problem is food-borne illnesses can come from anywher, flour, boxed cake mix -- so it'd

important for. to be out there resuming the work it does everywhere on all the foods that we eat. that being said, they're doing the high-risk foods and irould cover a of the establishments. workers could be unpa which could affect morale but they will be doing the job they did before the shutdown. >> a lot of pele saw headlines g out food safety inspections behalted because to have the shutdown. is there any reason for the consumer to be concerned? >> ire think ts still a reason for consumers to be concerned and that concern should be greater the longer the shutdown goes on. since they do a little over 8,000 inspections a year, there ngare hundreds not b done during the shutdown and the more that happens, the more we are at risk. >> woodruff: athatuming it could go on longer. so far, it's had a minimal impact right? about 8400 inspections a yar? >> yeah, about 160 a week, and

the shutdown is coming up on three wees now, so it's a number in the hundreds. >> commissioner gottledb poi out a few dozen that had bheeen led would have been missed so far in the shutdown mainly because of holiday scheduling and so on, and insisted the effect is mimal. political food and agriculture reporter wasenoning, yes, the f.d.a. does 50 high-riskee inspections a for soft cheeses, seafoods, that category, 160 low-ryzik inspections a week, but points out there are tens of thousands of food facilities that exist in the u.s. saying our foodfa lities aren't inspected as much as we think. >> a good even under the best of circumstances f.d.a. struggles workload. with the they regulate 80% of the food ousupply with very few res 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 rules on our food system. unfortunately that stalled as well. >> the minimal impact as a result of the shutdown. what are the concerns some. >> i think the fact the shutdown started over the holidays means a lot of the inspections wouldn't have been done in any as the sn goes on, the tdse. inspections that are not done means inspectors are not flagging issues they otherwiseve would een. they're looking for vermin, they're lookingor potenti filth in our food. they're looking for the types of things that could cause contamination that could lead to food-borne illness. so we ould all be think about our food supply under the shutdown and actively working t get our public officials to come to the solution so we can get inspectors back ton job and paid for the work.f: >> woodroncern immediately? >> we don't think consumers

should change their practicesct with reso food. you shouldn't switch the foods you eat. esere are no reason to think your foods are safe under the shutdown. but as the shutdown drags on, it could have an impact food safety and we need to make sure it ends viftly. >> sarahsc sr, at "the center for science in the public interestbe thank you fog 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 jerrl k's brief but spectacularda take on the ngers of criminalizing ment illness. venezuela's present nicolas maduro was inaugurated today for a six-year term.ow he's been in since 2013, sd, as foreign affairs correspondent niifrin reports, maduro has presided over an economic catastrophe.

>> schifrin: inside venezuela's supreme court today, president nicolas maduro walked into a hero's welcome, greeted by a phalanx of patriotic children. and as seen on state tv, he swore to build what he calledtu 21st c socialism. but while he flashed the sign of a victorious nation,is critics say he's cated a failed state. t in what usbe latin america's wealthiest country, citizens lack basic necessities. venezuelans in caracas have demanded access to a supermarket, even if the shelves were empty because of a shortage of food. medical patientsa ave protested ortage of medicine. children play in the 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 country's lost hopes. heas the son of a farmer and

successful, until hyperinflation and governmentegulations raised costs above renue. now, he grows only enough for his family to survive. >> ( translated ): we are working in vain, wasting our youth. h e no future here. ng schifrin: the economic free- fall is from faloil 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.an that's howbolivars it costs to buy a chicken. it takes a stack of almost worthless paper, to buy topailet r. all of it sparked the region's largest ever exodus. more than three milln venezuelans have fled their homes and created a humanitarian crisis, says woodrow wilson center senior advisor ben gedan. >> the conditions in venezuelae heartbreaking, in terms of the collapse of the medical system, the extraordinary levels of violence. it's become apocalyptic to live in that untry. and then the conditions that these migrants find themselves in neighbong countries. >> schifrin: maduro was re-

elected la may in a presidential election the u.s. called un-free and unfair. he's maintained power through s,corruption and ruthlessn says gedan, who was president obama's national security council uth america director. >> the president of venezuela has been willing to repress dissent ruthlessly and relentlessly, in terms of attacking the political opposition, dismantlingve zuelan democracy, destroying what had been the wealthiest country in latin arica, 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. e u.s. has also imposed sanctions on maduro, his wife, a vice president, and a foreign minisanter. 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 restoration of venezuelan democracy." >> the troika of tyranny in this hemisphere: cuba, venezuela, and

nicaragua-- has finally met its match. >> schifrin: the administration has l.de the criticism regiona in november, national securiol advisor johnon aimed his sights at maduro and nicaraguan president daniel ortega, andsi cuba's new pnt miguel diaz-canel, as the u.s.' ideological opponents. >> they are clownish pitiful figures more akin to larry, curly and moe. the three stooges of socialism are true believers, but they worship a false god.n: >> schifesterday, maduro accused the u.s. and an informal regional alliance known as the lima group of plotting to overthrow him. >> ( translated ): a coup d'état ordered by washingtothe lima cartel is underway against the legitimate andtu consonal government over which i preside. >> schifrin: the u.s. has consided imposing more pain through an oil embargo, but the state would likely collapse,cr sing the humanitarian crisis. gedan and others want venezuela's neighbors to supply that pressure. >> there are a whole series

measures you can do 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 partf the decision to be part of the solution in venezuela. latin american countries simply have not taken those steps. >>chifrin: maduro faces some internal opposition, and no latin american leader has ever survived this level of hyperinftion. 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 shutdown and the battle over a border wall is the central story of the moment. but this all happening at a time of some portant economic developments. on the one hand, the year closed out with aunexpectedly strong jobs report. on the other, we're in thele mif a trade war and tough negotiations with china.

the markets ve been volatile 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 froms president trumonomic team. it's part of our weekly series "making sense." >> reporter: kevin hassett is the aggressively good natud chairman of president trump's council of economic advisors. we sat down with him at the recent annual meeting of pdowntn atlanta.nomists in our first question: what's making the sck market do loop- de-loops, and stomachs drop? >> there are really two big changes in the global economy since last summer or last spring. one is that china's economy is looking like it's what, for them, you would call a recession. it's really headed south. and in europe, it's not quite that bad, but the european economy has really turned as well.

and so u.s. multinationals en maybe about 40% of their profits outside e u.s., and so since their sales are going to be wer in europe and in asi then that's bad news for profits, and that's one of the things that marks have been digesting. >> reporter: if we're tough on china, we, the united states, and now they're experiencing a slow down, and that's hurting our companies, then does our strategy with respect to china make sense? >> 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 theirreat ideas and so on. and so we've started this negotiation, and to show that we're really serious, that we need to get the chine to change their behavior, then we put tariffs on their products,os and tariffs on their products have put a lot of pressure on chinese firms and the chinese economy. >> reporter: but does it hurt american firms in the short term? that seems to be the case.

>> apple, i think is the firm that has the biggest exposure tn but in the short run, it's the slower chinese economy, not the tariffs that are causing profits to go do >> reporter: but the slower chinese economy is at least in part a function of the tariffs. >> yes, it is. yes, it is. that's right. >> reporter: so we are anadvertently, in the short term, hurting amerirms for a larger purpose. >> for a larger purpose, that's right.e but for st part what's happened is that the tariffs were, for the most part, chosen to be pled on things that china produces that we can easily buy from somebody else. t >> reporter: bn why hasn't our trade deficit with china gone down? >> well, the trade deficit self 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 trade deficit could go up. the other thing is that there's aren some uncertainty about whether we put tfs on the rest of the things that come from chinaand for sure, there would be some anticipatory purchasing. t: reporter: another issue we asked hassett abhe federal reserve, in light of president trump's sharp public criticism of fed policy and fed chairman jay powell. .a i think my job at the c is to respect the independence of the fed and to not attribute near-term fluctuations to near- term changes in policy and even to avoid discussing fed policy altogether. reporter: does it make you feel funny when the president talks about thfed, and talks about what chairman powell should or shouldn't do and he'ts doinwrong thing and knocking the stock market down? >> he wants to talk about his views about policy, and that's something that i think it's what people expect 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 few weeks ago.

and it is, it is. >> reporter: yeah, no, no, i was going to ask you, if you could guantee me now that three months from now, he'll be there. >> jay powell is 100% safe that e president has no intention of firing jay powell. >> reporter: let's go on a couple of other topics. mp the government shutdown going to have a negativet on the economy, particularly if it drags on? >> workers are furloughed, and right now it's about 25% of government workers are furloughed, which means that go toare not allowed t work. but then when the shutdown ends, they go back to work and theyge their back pay. a huge share of government workers were going to take vacation days, say between christmas and new year's, andha then w a shutdown, and so they can't go to work, and so then they have the vacation, but they don't have to use their vacation days, and then they come back, and then they g their back pay, then in some sense, they're better off. >> reporter: ec no long term omic effect? >> long term, but short term we can definitely see it in the thmbers. but in terms of sog 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 would cost the economy some $20 biion in output, and $10 billion for every shut down week thereafter. let's talk about the tax cut. you said the average american household will get $a year at some point. it's a year in now, that hasn't happened yet for sure, right? >> the $4000 number was something based on a big peer- reviewed literature that would give you $4000 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, one percentbout $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, continuing, and finally, finally, you'll get to that $4,000. >> in three to five years juste likeid, but the point is that there's nothing that suggests that we're not on track to do at. >> reporter: now since previous members of the council of economic advisors were alsat the convention, we asked betsey stevenson, who served during the obama administration, to respd. >> 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 smaller than your $600 per year. hopefully, even kevin hassett woulagree that it's smaller. we can debate how much smaller, i think substantlly smaller. so do i think it's ever going to hit $4,000? no. >> reporter: austan ee chaired the council under obama. >> if what you wanwas to help working people or to increase

investment, you can find far cheaper and more effective ways to do that than giving a twor trillion dolx cut to high income people. that's what we did and the bang e buck, in my view, is not there. >> reporter: and so, a final question for c.e.a. chair hassett. are you worried at all about th deficit, or you really think that the president-- >> the president is as well. the president told the cabineto agenciest forward budgets that cut spending by five percent. economist will tell you is a serious policy challenge going forward, and progress to be made, that's for sure. >> reporter: for the pbs newshour, this is economics correspondent paul solman in atlanta. >> woodruff: mtal illness is one of the most difficult issuei to dea, especially on a personal level. in a special episode of brief but spectacular, jerri clark,

founder of the group "mothers of the mentally ill," tells the story about her son, who failed to receive adequate support after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. >> my son calvin is 22. he was very smart from a young age. in high scol he got hooked into the speech and debate club, and immediately started winning awards. he was also really athletic and we were so proud of him. during my son's freshman year of college, he was very confused, so we took him home, and he was talking and talking and talking in circles, when it suddenly occurred to me that this was probably mental illness. he was running around the hd oue became very concerned that our downstairs baomthad been possessed. he did some kind of ceremony in there, he closed the door and asked me to never ever that room again because 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. cmy son said he thought t would run off of his own energy. drugs were suspected, so the officer took my son toa hospital for a drug test.he becausashed out at the security guards at the hospital he was determined to be a danger to others and so he was detained, under the involuntary treatment act. in the state of washington, and this is true in moste states of the country, an individual in a mental illness crisis has to meet the criteria of imminent threat. while he was there, the initial

hearing for his d.u.i. charge came up, and so called the courthouse and said he won't bea able to attendhearing 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 office, and explained that i feared for my son's safety, and i said i can't call the police cause there's a bench warrant for his arrest they said, call the police, go ahead and let him get arrested and then we'll get him some help. they took him to jail and booked him on the bench warrant, and i immediately started calling to

try to figure out how they were aoing to now divert him into the hospital as crisis explained. there was no legal pathway to do that, i had been misled. the next time i saw myon, he was on a video monitor from jail. i could tell by his eyes that my son was out of his mind.as hen a suicide vest, and he had a black eye, and a f lip. and he was talking in a robotic voice, thasounded almost like a computer. n it w 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. pushed past me and locked me

and my husband out of our house. believed that my son had finally met the threshold for involuntary treatment, so i called 911, and said we had a medical emergency, and the police officer who talked to me sneered at me and said, your son wi be taken into care for a non-existent mental health condition. i got a call the next morning stom police who had found him in the middle of thet wandering in traffic and he said he was going to ki himself by lighting himself on fire. he finally met the iusive threshold of the involuntary treatment act, and he s taken to a hospital, but washington state didn't have an, so the ambulance took him across the river into portland, oregon. but 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 shelter, got 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 aer my son was dumped at a homeless shelter by a mental hospital, he was arrested. i s deeply afraid for his safety. because i knew how ill he was and i knew that he would be suicidal, the director of the jail was kind to me andnn ted 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 thatin udes housing and wraparound support.

they are entagsiastic, encog, and amazing supports to my son. they assertively help him with putting his life back together.s right now is doing amazing, and i'm so proud of him. he wants to make his life workts and he wo make his life meaningful. my name is jerri clark, and this is my brief but spectacular takw mental illness should never be a crime. >> woodruff: tonight's brief bu spectacus produced in collaboration with olympia-based political reporter austin ewjenkins of the northwest network. you can find a bonus episode with jenkins on our e at

pbs.org/newshour/brief. and that's the newt.our for toni i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening when mark shields and davibrooks analyze what is looking to be the longest shutdown in u.s. history. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: t t 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 wireless plan designed for you. with talk, text and data. nsumer cellular. vearn more at consumercellular.t >> babbel. a language app that teaches real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more.

>> and with the ongoing support of these institution 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. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access raccess.wgbh.org results are only as good

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