captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc i>> woodruff: good evenin judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight... >> i can truly be independent. >> woodruff: ...confirmation hearings beginor attorney general nominee william barr. he faces scrutiny over his viewv on the muellertigation, which he would oversee if confirmed. plus, prime minister theresa may's brexit plan loses a critical vote in britain's parliament. then, iowa republican congressman steve king is stripped of his committee assignments, after thet in a series of remarks seen as racist. and, we travel to florida, to e how the government shutdown is affecting people living outside of washington. >> i have a 15 year old and a 10 year old. and it's hard to explain to gem that i'm nting a paycheck cause they see you go to work.

>> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbsewshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> our fleet of small cruise ships explores american landscapes, seaside villages, and historbric s, where you can experience local customs and cuisine. american cruise lis: proud sponsor of pbs newshour. >> text night and day. >> cch 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. arn more at nsumercellular.tv >> 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 institutions: >> this program was made possibley the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: parts of the united states government main shut down tonight, after 25 days. president trump met with congressional republicans today, but the white house said democrats declined to attend. at the capitol, a group of bipartisan lawmakers said they mpe trying to work on a

mise. >> there's a group. everybody's talking. hierybody wants to find a way out of last night, i can just tell you, when they walked out, i think unanimously everybody said, "let's get back. let's open up government. let's basically talk about our differces. i'm not asking the president to stand down on his priority for border security, but i am asking him to recognize that in order hr him to get some or a portion or all of whis asking for, he is going to deal with a mongress that is now led on the house side by at-led congress. >> woodruff: meanwle, democratic freshmen members of the house marched to the senate side of the capitol this afternoon. they danded that republicans pass bills to reopen the government. also today, the federal aviation administration called another 2,200 aviation safety inspectors back to work. and, the i.r.s. recalled to work

46,000 furloughed employees, 60 percent of its work force, to handle tax returns and refunds. none of the workers in either agency will be paid. y esident trump pointed to a new caravan of migrants from honduras, to bolster his demds for a border wall. at least 600 people carrying backpacks started out from a bus station late monday. some were on foot, others boarded trucks and buses. the british house of commons, tonight, has defeated prime minister theresa may's plan for vaving the european union. the outcome of te was overwhelming: 432 to 202. 's sets the stage for a vote of no-confidence in m government, tomorrow. we'll have a report from london, later inhe program. in kenya, explosions and gunfire rocked an upscale hotel and office complexn nairobi today,

killing at least 15 people. the islamist group al-shabab, based in neighboring somalia, claimed responsibility. tack left cars burning a sent hotel workers fleeing for their lives. kenyan security forces rushed in, hunting the gunmen, and survivors toldf terror and confusion. >> by the time we rehed the last entrance to come out then gunshots are being aimed at us, ro we could not tell where they are coming who is shooting them, so we just retreated and went back. >> woodruff: just yesterday, a kenyan magistrate ordered three men to stand trial for killing 67 people at a nairobi mall, in 2013. al-shabab carried out that attack as well. in southern africa, a second day of violent protests erupted, after the government doubled fuel prices. soldiers intvened to disperse crowds in harare, the capital. demonstrators burned tires and blocked roads. ble broke out in at leas

one other city as well. "amnesty international eight people were killed in monday's violence. the government says the number was three. the international criminal court acquitted the former presidentoa of ivory today, of crimes against humanity. t-year-old laurent gbagbo was accused deaths of more than 3,000 people, after he refused to accept defeat in the 2010 election. this was the court's first attempt to prosecute a former president. back in this country, a string of storms has prompted evacuations for parts of euthern california that w burned bare by wildfires. officials fe heavy snow and rain across the loangeles area and surrounding mountains could trigger mudslides. area residents say they're doing their best to get ready. >> i am going to put my sandbags directly, probably a line by the driveway and then the side of my

house where mud came through last time. >> are you in the order? >> i am, yeah. right in the red. right in the heart of it. >> woodruff: a year ago, mudslides killed 23 people in the city of montecito, and dgstroyed more than 100 homes. a federal in new york has blocked the 2020 census from adding a citizenship question. s coalition of states and cities had argued ideliberate attempt to discourage immigrants from taking part. the judge, today, found the question is constituti but he said commerce secretary wilbur ross added it arbiarily, and was not candi about white house involvement. the u.s. supreme court is slated to address the issue in february. there's word that the u.s. 30vironmental protection agency hit ear low last year for prosecuting pollution crimes. the 166 cases referred to the justice department was the fewest since 1988.

in a statement, the e.p.a. said it is focused on the significant cases. and, on wall street, stocks rallied after china announced plans to cut taxes and boost its economy. the dow jones industrial average tined 155 points to close 24,065. the nasdaq rose nearly 118 points, and, the s&p 500 added 27. still to come on the newshour: confirmation hearings begin for a new attorney general. britain's prime minister theresa may suffers a key vote on her brexit plan. congressman steve king loses committee appointments after ch more. uf >> woo william barr, president trump's nominee to be

rney general, testified before the senate judiciary 'smmittee today. oping to win confirmation for a job he first held nearly white house correspondent yamiche alcindor reports on the questions he faced about ongoing investigations into the president. >> alcindor: william barr sted no time declaring independence from the president who nominated him. >> i will not be bullied into aything that i think is wrong. indor: barr vowed not fire without just cause special counsel robert mueller. he also pledged not to interfere with mueller's ivestigation into russian meddlithe 2016 election. >> if confirmed, i will not permit partisan politics, otheral interests, or a improper consideration to interfere with this or any oth investigation. i will follow the special counsel regulations scrupulously and in good faith, and on my watch, bob will be allowed to complete his work. >> alcindor: barr also rejected

president trump's repeated claim that the investigation is all a hoax. >> do you believe mr. mueller would be involved in a witch hunt against anybody? >> i don't believe mr. mueller would be involved in a witch hunt. >> alcindor: he also went one step further. in contrast to the president, he praised both mueller personally htd the d.o.j. at large. >> bob is a strahooter and should be dealt with as such. i love the department and all its components including the f.b.i. i think they are critical institutions that are essential to preserving the rule of law which is the heart beat of this country. >> alcindor: barr was already as attorney general once under president george h. bush. if confirmed again this time, ill replace jeff session who, right after the mid-term elections, was fired. mr. trump was livid with sessions for recusing himself from the russia investigation. as attorney general, barr would oversee the special counsel's probe. today, democrats pressed him about his decision last june to send to the justice department it unsolicited memo. riticized mueller's focus on

president trump's alleged obstruction of justice. >> my memo was narrow in scope, explaining my thinking on a specific obstruction-of-justice theory under a single statute that i thought, based on media reports, the special counsel might be considering. >> alcindor: barr admitted that he'd had reservations about accepting the a.g. nomination. he also said he turned down an offer to join the president's own legal team dealing with the russia probe. >> i didn't want to stick my head into that meat grinder. >> alcindor: meanwhile, barr faced other questions about thef st step" act-- the recently signed law cutting back on mandatory minimum pr sentences. he once opposed sentencing reforms. but today, he promised to enforce the new law. >> so will you commit to me mr. barr, that you will appoint people to that independent horeview commission who arst brokers to decide which offenders should be eligible and eligible to participate? >> yes, senator. lcindor: on immigration, barr expressed support for the trump administration's policies.

>> i feel it is a critical part of border security that we need to have barriers on the border. >> alcindor: the once and possibly future attorney general will be ba before the committee tomorrow, for a second day of questions. for the pbs newshour, i'm yamiche alcindor. >> woodruff: amy klobuchar is a democrat on the senate judiciary committee and she questioned .william barr earlier tod she joins us now from capitol hill. welcome back to the newshour. your overall impression of mr. barr? >> well, i think, first of all, he clearly has e theerience from the past of being the attorney general, but the question is not just that experience. what's he going to do with that experience? and that's why i was so focused on the fact tha he wouldn't really commit to follow the advi of the career eths lawyers in the department about whether or not he should recus unmself from supervising the independent el's investigation on russia.

and, in fact, i asked him that a number of times, and so did other people, and he said, well, u know, i will-- they can give me their opinion, but i'm in the going to say if i'm going to follow it." and it'sa ironic, be he actually commended attorney ssions for followi the advice of the independent counsel and recusinsohimself. that's very concerning to me. >> woodruff: so even though ahe sa one point-- or maybe at other points as well-- that he wi not be bulied by the president, he said, intooing anything. he talked about being independent of the president. you're saying that was not enough for you.ut >> no, will say that it was positive that he said that would let the investigation run its course. that was really important. of course, the i devilthe details in terms of a budget and the scope of it. and, also, that idhe hat he would release whatever he could to the publi again, he equivocated some of on that, both in my private meeting with him, as well as publicly

today, in terms of what he would allow to be released. and so there are questions that still remain. i'm going to be looking at the llanscript, but the overa demeanor, at least he answered nur questions. i think there are er of senators that still want to meet with him who he hasn't met with yet what are on the committ before the hearing. i did convince him to meet with me throu ogh a seri tweets offering hot coffee because he wasn't going to meet with hardly any of us. bui think everyone should able to meet with him before making a decision. justodruff: so let me ask you, if he were to serve and not recuse himself fr overseeing the mueller investigation, could you be comfortable that he would be independent of the president? >> i am very concerned about it because of the 19-page memo he wrote back in jun where he literally undermined an important part, a part of the investigation, and that is obstruction to justice. any i went through with him a number of things that he

did say was obstruction of justice, but he said the firing of someone like jim comey was not obstruction of justice because it was an official act of the presin,nt. and, agahis concerns me, because i believe you should let director mueller do his job. >> woodruff: did you come away with an undetanding of why he wrote that memo? it was not a solicited memo. wrote it on his own. >> yeah, he has said to me personally that he just wro this memo on his own, 19 pages. i noted that most people just don't do that as private citizens, send a memo of 19 pages with legal citations. but one of the things we learned last night that was very encourage because senator grairm got a all right that explained this and that is he sent this to an amazing mber of people it's lawyers for the president-- partial lawyers-- the federalist

society. to me it looked like he was doing an essay for a job application. >> woodruff: do you think that's what it was? >> yes, i do, but i have no ono proof of it. it was just a hunch. >> woodruff: you ask questions about voting rights, other issues-- immigration. did yoficome away sati or not on those questions? w well, on the voting issues, i'm glad that ts to work with us on the secure elections act to build it-- we talked to you about before, senaor lankford and i-- that we really need to getu backp paper ballots going, as well as audits. tsd then on the voting rig issues, i wasn't as convinced. more questio as on the record. the justice department has been, you know, flip-flopped a number of positions, including the texas voting rights case. so that is a problem. and then, also, you have on the criminal justice bill, he did assert in his opening and in some discussions with senator booker that he was going to implement that bill.od that's g but when you look at his past record, he was the opposite of

that bill. so those are things. and then i think the final they think bothered ot and aof the members was just his general rhetoric when it came io immigr when we're dealing at a moment in time when immigrants are getting attacked every day by the white house, i eyrkened back to his first boss when he was attoeneral, george h.w. bush, who once said that immigrapas were ou to the past but also to the future, who said that seven- and eight-year-olds shouldn't live in this country in fear of being deported. so those are things that i think we're going to ask more about. but again, i didn't like his answers on immigration. r> woodruff: bottom line, yes or no-- ae you still open to voting for him? lo i have serious concerns. i want t at the record one more time but as i said i have serious concerns based on what i heard today. i do appreciate that he said he would allow thenvestigation to be completed. that's a good thing. td he also has kids that have worked inhe justice system and

seemed devoteed to the integrity of the justice system. >> woodruff: senkltor amy uchar, thank you. >> thank you, judy. >> woodruff: now, for a perspective om a former justice department official who used to work closely with the nominee. george terwilliger served as william barr's deputy attorney general, and was in the hearing room today forbarr's testimony. george terwilliger, welcome back to the program. >> thank u, judy. dr's good to be with you. >> wf: you heard some of senator klobuchar's concerns, in the end, immigration. but her concern whether bill barr could be an independe overseer of the mueller investigation? what did you hear? >> i heard the same things that senator klobuchar and other senatorseard today in the hearing room, judy, and i think they should be very much reassured about his independence. he made it very clear that he woed follow the law bd on the facts of whatever the situation was in front of him. re this issue of recusal, i think it's herring, because nobody's pointed out any

eeal basis upon which bill shouldse himself. and all he said about that was, ,ook, at the end of the day it's the attorney general's decision whether or not he should recuse, because it's a different alleged type of reason for recusal than jeff ssions, whose recrewsal was almost automatic. >> woodruff: bause of his-- involvement in the campaign. >> woodruff: he was involved in the campaign. at the same time, he did-- mr. barr-- did send this memo, unsolicited, to a number of individuals, including the justice deparent, justice department officials, saying there were certain grounds on which he thought the mueller rsvestigation were unfounded, in particular, puuing an obstruction of justice case. how do you thrad? exain, you heard senator klobuchaessing concerns. >> first of all, let me say, i

think the hearing today was refreshingly civil. there were tough questions asked. there were probing questions asked. but the entire atmosphere was civil in the way nmy view, those hearings should be. on that particular issue, judy, i haink it's very clear we-- maybe we separate that into-- into two rts. first, lots of lawyers have thoughts about the muellerin stigation and aspects of the nuclear investigation. ss thoselawyers discu thing among themselves. i'm one of the people named iner bill's letith whom he discussed these matters -- not the memo per say, but the subject matter. the fact that bill took his thoughts and put them into a memo and then sent them to the people who he thought might be interested to hear them, to whom - ey might be relevant, i don't think thaere was anything really unusual about that or disqualifying? >> woodruff: that wasnjob signal that he was interested in the job. >> i can tell you that as

definitely not. the furthest thing from his mind was the idea that height take any job in government again, let alone be attorneyeneral. it had nothing to do with it. >> woodruff: the big question people have, of course, r any attorney general, is how independent from the white house, from the president, that that persocan be? what gives you confidence that bill barr would not be subject to influence from the white house? >> simple: bill barr's integrity, his professional integrity, his personal integrity. and he said it today. he said, "i'm not going to be bullied by anyone." i've worked very closely with bill in very difficicult umstances. he will not be bullied by everyone. the thing that i thought came through today in the hearing and the bill they know is his commitment to the rule of law and to the prns importance to te american pple of the integrity of the justice department isra unt to him. >> woodruff: one other thing i

want to ask you about is migration. he said in a series of question-and-answer exchanges that he essentially supportthe etty position, that more needs to be done to shore up the southern border of the united states. >> yes. >> woodruff:o you know-- i an, you know him well. how far do you think he's prepared to go on that? do you tenk he agrs with the government shutdown, that the government should stay shut down until there's more money for abo er wall? >> well, he pressed today, a great deal ofna conston with the shutdown, and the effect that it has on the men and women er the justice department and elsein government. i don't know what his view is on lew far it should go in terms of thth and so forth. on the question of immigration generally, i know exactly what he thinks. we both went to the border when he was the a i was the deputy attorney general. i was an important pf putting together an immigration initiative durig his tenure as attorney general. there is no doubt-- and it's

just common sense--hat barriers of various types-- and i think this is exactly what bill said today-- technological barriers, physicabarriers, human barriers, are important to securing the border. the fact thathe rhetoric has devolved to the wall, i'm not sure how much bill st of buys into that and how unforhatunatet is it's come can to that. but the most important point he made today was he believes in the importance of immigration and legal immigration an separating that from-- we just cannot have the chaos of people letting them in-- letting themselves in, as he putth it, ugh the back door, while people wait in line to come in through the front dooroo. >>ruff: one more in a series of truly important issues that came up today. >> indeed. >> woodruff: george illiger, thank you very much. >> thank you, judy.

>> woodruff: as we reported earlier, british prime minister theresa may's plan for brexit, the united kingdom's withdrawal from the european unio was soundly rejected in parliament today. now, the prospect of the u.k. leaving the e.u. with no deal in place becomes more real. hed tonight, amid political chaos in.k., the leader of ndotland's government has called for a serexit referendum. special correspondent ryan chilcote reports from london. >> the ayes to the right: 202, the no's to the left: 432, so the no's have it. ter: the vote came just 10 weeks before britain is due to leave the european union. but despite the overwhelming rejection in parliament, prime er theresa may vowed to press ahead. >> i believe we have a dutto deliver on the democratic

decision of the british people and to do so in a way that brings our country together. >> reporter: today's vote, dubbed "the meaningful vote," came after two long years of bitter negotiations in brussels, the seat of the e.u. it's also another jor blow to may's leadership, one of the biggest defeats a brith prime minister has endured in modern history, and comes just a month after heown party tried but failed to oust her. she had postponed this vote from december, to try to drum up more support; but, the month didn't matter, in the end. critics from may's own conservative party argued the divorce agreement falls short of implementing britain'svote to withdraw from the bloc. >> people voted to leave. didn't vote for a deal; they voted to leave. and this deal doesn't actually make us leave cleanly. >> reporter: the main sticking point of brexit has been the so- called irish "backstop." it aims to prevent the reintroduction of border controls between northern ireland, which is part of the

united kingdom, and thblic of ireland, which is part of the e.u. right now, vehicles and goods can crs freely. arlene foster is the leader of northern ireland's democratic unionists, a key part of mal's governing ion. >> the backstop mething that we could not accept. it does violence to the union. it separates us from the rest of bve united kingdom in a very, veryus way. >> reporter: there are also fears may's brexit deal could actually bind britain to the e.u.y, trade rules indefinitel and constrain it from forging its own lateral deals. >> i wish there was a political declaration that actually did point a way to a future that secured our economy, our jobs d our futures, and wasn't the meaningless text, the leap in the dark thait actually is. the country deserves so much better than this totally inadequate agreement! >> reporter: passions ran high ring today's debate in t

run-up to the vote. >> all they're doing by causing me to intervene is taking ti away, not necessary, totally >> reporter: followi vote, labour leader jeremy corbyn filed a no confidence motion. >> the pple need to be able to take back control and a general election would give them the opportunity to decide who their p.s were, who their government was, and who was negotiating on their behalf. and it would give that new goernment a mandate, a mand that is needed to break deadlock that has been brought to this house by this government. >> reporter: if britain leaves the e.u. on march 29th without an agreement, many wry it could plunge the economy into recession, or worse. supermarkets across the u.k. a already stockpiling goods and raising prices amid the growing uncertainty. e.u. leaders insist they will not renegotiate any part of the

nearly 600-page exit deal. after the historic drubbing, prime minister may again said 's was parliameob to make good on brexit. >> i ask members on all des of the house to listen to the british people who want this issue settled and to work with the government do just that. >> reporter: prime minister may now has until monday to devise a "plan b" proposal to bring back to parliament. but that would appears -- eunlikely to happn as >> woodruff: so, ryan, does she have a plan "b"? >> not really. i think going into this vote, her idea was to push through this, go back to brussels and say, "look, they didn't support this. let's make-- make some concessions." but given the margn of defeat here, maybe she won't race back to brussels. she's talked about after-- after

the vote, she talked about reaching out to the parliament, ha all parties in the parliament, to seecould be done-- done-- ie maybe reallyevising her proposal from what it is now to somet.ng entirely differe maybe a norway-style relationshipith the european union. so the answer real quickly is, no, she esn't. >> woodruff: so what is the alternative then? so she comes-- is she going to have to scramble then and come up with something to present? is that what it adds up to? >> well, thte very fi thing she has to do is keep her job because the leader of the opposition has tabled this motion of no confidence, and if she doesn't survve, that she is no longer prime minister. she has to spend the next two weeks trying to keep her job, end if she fails that, there could be aral election. she couldn't even go to brussels, if she wants. the alternatives after that aren't good ones.ca shtry and forge a new deal. given the margin, again, not so easy. or she could-- but a lot of people have really advised

against within her own evernment-- she could sug a referendum, a second vote, fut to the british peoe and say, "okay this is the deal on the table. do you support this?" that would be a really risky move, but that would be one way to find out what the british people support, and possibly a way to break the deadlock here in the parliament. >> woodruff: wellya,, is it known what a ma jompt british public would support?t >> no, we donnow what they want. we know that two years ago, they voted to exit the european union, but we don't know how theyeel about this parcular deal or what they would like to see? we know that they don't like that was put forward to them today. e have been polls that heowed that if this was put in front of them, they, too, would vote it down. we know that the parliament doesn't like it. but what they're for isn't clear. that's one of theeasons wh people say there should be this

second vote, where people have an opportunity to weig in on what's in front of them. >> woodruff: well, it is quite a spectacle, and i knowou're going to continue to report on it. ryan chilcote, outside the parliament in london, thank you, ryan. >> thank you. >> woodruff: rep congressman steve king has been a fixture in iowa politics for nearly two decades, but he has come under new scrutiny after he questioned, in an interview last week, why the term "white aftionalism" is offensive. just thirnoon, the "des moines register's" editorial board called on king to resign. congressional correspondent lisa isjardins reports on how the republican pardistancing itself from a representative iath a long history of controvestatements.

>> desjardins: this mornreg, at a housblican news conference... >> open it up to questions. >> desjardins: the quey ions were mosout leader kevin mccarthy's decision to strip committe year-congressman steve king. >> we believe the base of our country is fundamentally different than what he talksf. >> desjardins: the rebuke comes after king told the "new york times," as part of a lengthy interview last week, "white nationalist, white supremacist, western vilization, how did that language become offensive?" on the house floor friday, king said his thoughts were misrepresented and cherry- cked. >> the "new york times" is suggesting i'm an advocate for white nationalism and white supremacy. i want to make one thing abundantly clear: i reject those labels and the evil ideology that they define. >> desjardins: but republicans were not swayed. today g.o.p. conference chairwoman liz cheney said king should not just be penalized, he should go. >> his language questioning whether or not the notion of white supremacy is offensive is absolutely abhorrent. it's racist. we do not support it or agree

sth it. and asd i think he should find another line of work. de desjardins: this after nearly two deof controversy from king, with a history of comments the critics see as anti- immigrant, anti-minority and anti-muslim. just one example: in 2013, the congressman argued illegal ngimmigrants were "undermi american culture. >> for everyone who's a ctorian, there's another 100 out there that weigh 130 peuds and they've got calves the size of cantalbecause they're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert. ca>> desjardins: but repub pronidential hopefuls have lg sought king's endorsement. pin october, president tr showed his support. >> we are rilled to be joined tonight by a number of terrific republican leaders, io congressman steve king! >> desjardins: on monday, he refused to weigh in on king's latest headline. >> i don't-- i haven't been following it. i really haven't beefollowing it. >> desjardins: last night however, majority leader

mccarthy clearly was paying attention, and saiking has shown a pattern. >> these are not the first time we've heard these comments. but it's not the party of lincoln, it's definitely not america. all people are created equal in america and we want to take a very strong stance about that. >> desjardins: for more on the fallout over the controversial congressman, we are joined by o. kay henderson, news director at radio iowa. and asma khalid, who covers the tersection of politics and demographics for npr. kay, i want to start with you. tell us, how do voters and politicians see king's remarks, and also the actions against hi by republicans? li this is a split decision among repuns. there are republicans among the conservative base that very much think steve king is being thrown under the bus. those were the words that were used by the former republican national committee woman from iowa on twitter this morning. whereas, there are other republicans who have sort of run out of pairks.

in the word of one, they're just weary of defending congressman king. the reason this is sort of risen to the fore is because he did not perform as well as epected in the 2018 election, and looking forward to 2020, republicans here on the ground are worried about their prospects if he is on the ballot. >> asmarx of course, late today, e house of representatives passed a resolution that recognized or talked about steve king's comments, anthen smndemned white supremacy and white nationa though didn't specifically condemn him. my question to you is these are het the first controversial remark made, not even the first controversial remarks ebout the phrase "whit supremacy." why, politically, do you think this is happening now? >> ii meanink that kay is correct in sort of pointing out the politicareality on the ground there in the district of iowa that made this rise up. also think to some degrees there are republicans in the

party increasingly frustrated with the tone the party standard bearer donald trump has taken, and they can'continuously call him out on things, nor do they feel like that's a political plea lee expedient thing to do so it's easier to publicly rebuke and reprimand a sitting >> interesting. way, which i have been reporting on politics in iowa, voters tolerate. some said he questions multiculturalismis not sure mixing cultures is a good idea. why is it voters keep electing him? what do they see in hi >> i talked to a well-known conservative in the district w today, and td they used is "loyalty." e king has been lal to him and the district and they feel if return they should be loyal , him. newscahen king has been rebuked as he was by jown

boehner for comments king made about the so-called dreamers, residents inhat district rose up and defenmded . i think one of the things that steve king has said that may be resonating with hibase i that district is that this is an attack on him by the establishment of the party. and back to my first point, when you look at tt,hat distr donald trump won that district by 27 points in the 2016 election. so there is a large swath of voters in there who are anti-establishment, and so that is gng to resonate with them. >> asma, let's ke a bigger view, how is the republican party generally dealing with race rightow? is this a sea change today? is it something less? what is this? where are they? >> i think that's excellent question. >> and don't know what the answer is entirely npart because if w look at t party's standard bearer, it's donald trump. and, you kw, kay was talki about how well he did in steve king's district.

i mean, a lot of thet or quantitative analysis that we've seen since the 2016 e really does show that a number of people who were president obama supporters who then became donald trump suprters did switch because of identity politics or race-based issue this is not just me talking off the cuff on anecdotal interviews we've done. s have researchers who have looked at thially analytically and have found that a number of people, sort of one of the most consistent reasons pe saw the shift was largely because of pe who identified with what we call a white grievance, right, this idea that folks feel that white people have it worse than anybody else in society. and so when you have the of the republican party as it is, in the form of donald trump right now,ho is really capitalizing on that sentiment, i think it's really hard seto what's happening below, whether it's in the form of congress or evenat a local republican club member that's different because whate hearing from the president

doesn't necessarily support the idea of a sea change. >> asma let me stay and finish with you and talk about the stake here's. i'm curious, we seem to have one party that believes racism is a core and significant problem in our socity we have another party that believes that it is exag and racism is being used as a political foil. what are the risks of that divide? what's at stake in this debate? >> oh, gosh. i mean, i think that as we see both parties really identify more with sort of race-based ideologies or identity politics, as you could say. that's kind of dangerous, because to some degree then what ends up happening is people feel far more personally attacked when their party loses. and there ar sentiments that we saw among some folks who really identified more with a white nationalist vision, who felt that way when president obama was elected. and we certainly saw that many folks of miffereority groups felt personally attacked when donald trump was elected. i mean, i thinkhat the difficulty both parties have as

we move forward is it's really hardit's very difficult to discuss public policy issues, independent of race or culture because that's just become a cort of so much of this ersation at this point. >> and it's a conversation we will continue. asma khalid of npr, o. kay henderson of radio iowa, thank you bo. you're welcome 2 >> woodrufdays and counting into the government shutdown, the imltct is being ar and wide. ch florida, john yang found the ripple effects rg the swamps of the everglades, their tourist packedrts and even future weather forecasts. >> you guys are okay to get a little wet? >> yang: for 17 years, nature guide garl harrold has been making a living leading tours through everglades national park. >> it's dropping three inches a day, if you look on the trals you can ac see the

watermark. >> yang: ...taking people from around the world, like this couple from germany, slogging through cypress swamps for up- close encounters with alligators, snakesand an array of other wildlife. >> we got red shouldered hawks up here, there's actually a nest around the corne >> yang: but the government shutdown is taking a big bite out of his business. >> it's slowing down. it's really slowing down. >> yang: how slow? >> pretty slow. i mean our numbers are down and we're getting cancellations. especially in europe and abroad because they don't want to come here. >> yang: while the gates are open, there's no one to collect entry fees, and some apparently uslieve the park is closed. as a result,ess is drying up for harrold and other guides. how squeezed are you right now financially? >> pretty tight. , ry tight. actualve gone through most of my savings to just make my mortgage and the car payments and insurance. >> yang: it would likely be even worse if it weren't for people

li peter campbell. he does the daily chores that ernational park service wo did before the shutdown: staffing the main visitor center's information desk, taking out the trash, ev cleaning the men's room. >> being a former school principal, it's not unusual for me to have to clean restrooms. >> yang: campbell's work is being funded by the non-profit florida national parks association. jim sutton runs the group. he says it's literally paying to keep the lights on. so you're paying for the electricity. >> yes >> yang: who's paying for the toilet paper? >> i am. >> yang: who's paying for the soap? >> i am. >> yang: some of the money comes from the park's gift shops, where business has also dropped during the shutdown. spending more to maintain the park now could mean tough decisions in the future. but sutton doesn¡t see any other choice. >> my logic is it's much easier to maintain it now than it is to

catch up later whenever the government does reopen to pick >> yang: this couldn't come at a worse time for the everglades ped the businesses around the park that on tourists. this is when they make their money. and once it's lost, it's lost forever. r garl harrold, it's the second bad season in a row. last winter, the park was recovering from category five atrricane irma. how much of ou make in a year, how much do you make in this period? >> most of it. >> yang: so if you lose business now... >> then it's hard to catch back up. we're already suffering from irma. >> yang: how worried are you? >> pretty worrd. >> yang: worry is something cassandra blackmon kws well. she's a t.s.a. officer at the otrt lauderdale airport, a single mom who'setting a paycheck. >> i have a 15 year old and a 10 year old. ngd it's hard to explain to them that i'm not get paycheck

because they see you go to work. 0>> yang: nationwide, 51, t.s.a. agents are on the job without pay during the shutdown. miami international airport is one of several where officer are calling out sick. so many that, this past weekend, one concourse closed early. blackmon says morale is so low that some of her t.s.a. colleagues may quit. if president trump or members of congress were here, what would you say to them? i >> what ay to them? you know, i don't even think i can say that on tv. f 's disgusting. it's very immaturee whole it's like, "i'm not getting what i want, so i'm going to whine "bout it and make poor people suffer m >> yan eric blake's family is down to one paycheck-- his wife, suzana's. he's a meteorologist at the nation miami, working without pay.

if he misses another paycheck, their financial foreca bleak. >> right now i'm staring at a host of christmas bills, not really knowing how to em. i pay the minimum on all my credit cards. i've cut the non-essential purposes. >> yang: blake's work is considered essential, but nearly 200 scientists who would be aseparing for the next hurricane are furloughed. >> we really focus our efforts on making better hurri forecasts for intensity and track. we really pride ourselves on it. and right now we're just unable to do it. we have a list of dozens of things we' trying to do. we're not going to doing any of them. an yang: and the center has had tol the first of three training classes for emergency managers from hurricane prone areas. the other two are in doubt. it too much of a stretch to say that the furloughs the center is seeing now cou cost lives in the hurricane center later this summer? >> it's really not that much of you know, if i were moving to toorida i would want my

emergency manageave the best possible information to make their decision and without the training and outreat the hurricane center does with fema, it just isn't possible. >> yang: while blake worries about the hurricane season ahead, cassandra blackmon, the t.s.a. officeris just trying to weather the shutdown. >> i think it's crazy, it's it's ridiculous. it's not fair to the middle e ass and the poor people. becalot of federal employees are middle class you don't qualify for anything. you make too much or you don't make enough. so we're stuck in the middle. >> yang: and nature guide garl harrold is slogging through, one step at a time. >> just keep in mind, if it wasn't for the volunteers that are keeping the bathrooms clean and doing the stuff they're doing, we wouldn't have been able to do this. >> yang: as he and others search for ways to survive the government shutdown. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang in everglades national

park. >> woodruff: idaho republican james risch is the new chair of the senate foreign relations smmittee. niifrin sat down with him today to discuss how he views >> schifrin: mr. chairman, it's a pleasure. thank you very much. let me start with the news. the president felt compelled yesterday to come hot of the white and say, "i am not a russian agent." the president's rhetoric is often defensive of president vl president of the united states often reflects russian priorities. rhetorically. do you believe the president of the united states acts in ways that helps russia? >> you know, i really don't. he has a list of things that he's done, as far as russia is concerned. these are not good peoe that we're dealing with, and we know we're dealing with, and we know en. the presknows it. we put sanctions on them.

we're going to continue to do that. is as far as russia is concerned thero feeling in this town by anybody that i know of that we're dealing with human beings that can be trusted or that we should be embracing. >> schifri president trump has parroted russian propaganda about the soviet invasion into tghanistan, about montenegro, even calli u.s. military exercises asia "war games," whercises asia "war games," h is what vladimir putin calls them. >> i've talked to the president about russia on a number of occasions, and he's fully aware of the issues there and the kind of people that we're dealing with. we're spending an inordinate amount of time now talking about russia simply, simply because of the factors that they have done lately. the largest concern of ours should be china. if they continue to n ways t at are not in keeping with the rule of law, thais a serious, serious problem that we've got e counter. a gomple of that, the

poster child of that, is probably the south china sea. i mean, that's a very aggressive by china to expand their geographic influence and control. the way that they have misappropriated evything we've got, from patents to artistic tlent and everything else, causes you to harethink the kinds of things that you're doing. >> schifrin: was reading a o ory by the "post register" about idtato farmers and the story said potato exports and values have dropped because of retaliatory tariffs imposed in response to president tariffs. so is the president's confrontational stance on trade worth it if it causes short-term pain for your constituents? >> well, there's always short term pain when your elbowing to get a leg up on the opposition. look, my family is on the ag business. we're in the same position. and the markets in agriculture wax and wane.

in this particular che pain that's being felt is significantly more in china than it is in the united states right now. >> schifrin: i want toto the middle east. drould the united states wi from northern or olrtheastern syria? >> i think theut of this was done on twitter as opposed to a deep, in-depth paper on the hosition. >> schifrin:d it have been done differently? >> but , derstands that we can't leave the kurds behid he's been very vocal on that in recent days. he also understands that in syria, we're going to havery situations we ell may have to respond to. we have to have platforms to respond to it from. and we have those platfos-- >> schifrin: outside of syria. >> in adjacent countries, that's correct, and that will wor schifrin: the number one goal has been to destroy isis. >> correct. dr schifrin: and the wial plan requires turkey to go in and help with that effort, or complete that effort. turkey has called syrian kurds, the u.s. partner whom you

mentioned, terrorists. is turkey focused on destroying isis, rather than attacking the syrian kurds, and is it capofble oing that by itself? >> the tur, in my judgment, are not as sophisticated as they should be in dealing with the kurds.ig paint all the kurds with the same brush. with the turks, they are allies of ours but we cannot condone nor will we condone them goin in and doing atrocities against the kurds >> schrin: one of the ministration's goals in syria is to evict iran. that doesn't necessarily have to thppen with u.s. troops, but do you worr the removal of u.s. troops from northern syria reduces the leverage of diplomatic efforts and economic effort to try to evict iran from syria? d >> i woubt that you can argue, 2,000 troops there we ifuld get that job done. >> sn: secretary of state pompeo delivered a

comprehensive criticism of president obama's middle east policy last week. obama pivod away from saudi arabia-- >> he tried to-- >> schifrin: tried to pivot away from saudi arabia toward iran. do you fear at all that the administration has gone too far in other direction and defended saudi crown prince mohammad bin salman d the war in yemen, which has killed tens of thousands of civilians, and dpite jamal khashoggi's murder? >> you've touched on the problem em the region, and the pro in the region is iran. every time we have a problem in the region, they've got their fingerprints in it. the iran regime is not a regime to be embraced. the great hope there is the iranian people. they're a proud people with a long history, they don't want what they've got going in there either, and we ought to do everything we can to help them get to where they want to be. >> schifrin: but does confronting iran require backing a young crown prince in saudi tabia? >>nk what you need to focus on is iran. that whole thing in yemen could end tomorrow if iran would just wash their hands of it and step away. >> schifrin: you're an ally of e president. your predecessor was more critical of the president.

do you see your role as conducting oversight on the president's foreign policy or enacting some of the president's agenda? >> look, i want to work with the president. if the president is successful, yoerica will be successful. ev in america should wish the president success. like all things, some thingsone agreother things we don't agree on. when you have issues on these kinds of this, they are best resolved one on one, and not arguing on the front page of the newspaper. grw, your colleagues in the media would di with that. but we've been very successful in idaho, as far as operating our state, and wve done it by trying to resolve thin, personald i will work on that with the president of the united states. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: broadway legend

carol channing passed away earli todarancho mirage, california. channing won fame as "dolly levi" in "hello, dolly!", and performed it more than 5,000 times over the years. at the 1971 tony awards, in character, she sang "before th parade passes by." >> ♪ before the parade passes by i'm going to get some life back ♪ into my life i'm ready to move out in front ini've had enough of just paby life ♪ with the rest of the them, with the best of them, i can ♪ hold my head up high for i've got to go again ♪ i've got to drive again i'ng got to feel my heart co

♪ alive again before the parade passes by ♪ >> woodruff: "hello, dolero" channing was 97 years old. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here s morrow evening. for all of the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> babbel. a language app that teaches real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more. >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. >> carnegie corporation of new

york. orting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and gicurity. at carorg. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and individual >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contribions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access groupt wgbh access.wgbh.org

♪ ♪ - welcome to downtown dakar. m this is the tileket. it is the most amazing place i've ever seen in my life. fresh fish, smoked fish, avocado, mango, parsley, garlic, scotch bonnet peppers. almost anything nsu want-- rice, gret cetera, et cetera. we're going to do a little bit of shoppinganere d then we're going to bring all those ingredients to see a friend of mine, pierre thiam. w as born in dakar, he moved to new york years ago he's a well-known chef and cookbook author. he flew back to dakar a few days ago to meet us