captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: >> i didn't need to do this.ra but i'er do it much faster. >> woodruff: president trump declares a national emergency to spend more government money on a border wall. democrats vow to fight theex aordinary move "in the congress, in the courts and in the public." it's friday. we examine the legal questions surrounding the move with california's attorney general, and kansas' former secretary of state. plus, mark shields and dav ooks analyze the politics at play. a anress regina king speaks with us about portraying ae mother in lm "if beale street could talk." her performance has been a nominated for demy award. >> the hardest tng about

parenting is holding on tight and letting go. so i can relate to that, from an experiential place. it was just applying all of these experiences into t performance. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs nshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. an

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possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs ation from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the battle over security at the u.s. souther border is heading to the courts. it began today, when president trump proclaimed a national emergency. he said that clears the way for spending $8 billion on a southern border wall-- much ofen it trom military accounts. mr. trump said the governmentnd g measure that he signed today came up short. >> i went through congress. a i maeal. i got almost1.4 billion, when i wasn't supposed to get $1. not $1. ile's not going to get $1." well, i got $1.4on. but i'm not happy with it. druff: top democrats in washington denounced the president's move. house speaker nancy pelosi and senate minority leader schumer called it "an unlawful

declaration er a crisis that does not exist." the american civil liberties union said that itill file suit, and several states said they are likely to do the samee our white horrespondent, yamiche alcindor, was in the rose garden for the announcement and joins me now. so, yamiche, let's listen, first, to a little bit more of president's explanation today. >> i could do the waldorf a longer period of time. i didn't need to do this, but i.d. rather do it much faster. we had cein funds that are being used at the discretion of generals, at the discretion of the military. some of them haven't been allocated yet, and some of the generals think that this is more important. i was speaking to a couple of, thhey think this is far more important than what they were going to use it for. i said what were you going to use it for, and i won't go into details, but it didn'sound too important to me. >> woodruff: so, yamiche, hearing that, where exactly is

the president pulling this from? >> the president is sayingig h know know bew to use the military funds to keep americs safe. so i'll walk you through the $8 billion initially used fund a border wall. $1.375 billion from the congressional deal css passed this week to avert a government shutdown. ro00 million fm the department of treasury forfeiture fund, money from seized and foafortd assets. $2 billion from department of defenseounterdrug activities, $3.6 from military construction moneyand that's defense money from the department of defense, and all of this is to fund an initial 234 miles of walton the southern boer. the white house stressed today this is just the beginning, they could ask for morey. they wanted to make it clear none of this money is coming from disaster relief funds. there was some worry there was going to be money taken fromrr

ane relief funds, that's not happening. >> woodruff: how does hest y this? what is his rationale for doing isthi? >> the president is saying this is something that needs to happen and that there is a crisis on the southern border and that he understands it more than anyone else. i want to play sound of whatng he's uss his sourcing for this. >> it's all a big lie. it's a big con game. i get me numobers frm a lot of sources like homeland security, primarily, and the numbers that i havlae from ho security are a disaster. you know what else is a disaster? the numbers that come out of homeland secury, kirstjen, for the cost ofoney we spend and what we lose becausef illegal immigration, billions and billions of dollars a month. >> the president's statistics contradict the president's claims. two things are false. first, the president said take a

look at our federal ison population. see how many are illal aliens percentagewise. according to the bureau of prisons 2019, 80% of federal inmates were u.s. citizens, 19% other nationalities, about 12%x were micans, but doesn't mean they're undocumented. another fact, the president said we're declaring this, of course being the national emergency, because of a virtual invasion purposes, drugs, traffickers and gangs, the facts are no data shows undocumented immigrants comm more crimes, a study by the catthe cato institute, anor nization based in washington d.c., found u.s. citizens are conducted at double the rate of undocumented imogrants texas, a study ne in 2015. last government data show the majority of drgs come through legal portof entry. e president is making claims that simplaren't true. finally, the president was asked how much he pays attention to

and is influenced by conservative media. what did the president say about that? >> the president said the conservave news media doesn't dictate white house policy, but he also very much praised a lot of people that are in theer cotive media. listen to what he had to sea. >> sean hannity has been a rrific supporter of what i do. not of me. if i changed my views, he wouldn't be with me. rush limbaugh, i think he's a great guy, and hs got an audience that's fantastic. wait. they don't decide policy. in fact, if i went oppite-- they have somebody, ann coulter. i don't know her. i rdly know her. i haven't spoken to her in way over a year. laura's been great, laura ingraham. tucker carlson's been great. >> now, ann coulter saidohe president uldn't sign this congressional deal to avert a government shutdown. he did do that so he didn't listen completely to what conservative media said. the president said he's up for

challenge in the house judiciary committee that's launching an investigation into this and the house can approve or try to sto a national emergency or file a lawsuit which is what you sai e aclu does, but the president is ready to fight to the supreme court and thinks h will wi. >> woodruff: looks like he's getting a fight. yamiche alcindor, thank you. >> thanks. s woodruff: and in the da other news, stocks surged on hopes for an end to the u.s.- seinese trade war. the u.s. trade repative, robert lighthizer, reporwad making "he at talks that wrapped up in beijing today. the news sent the dow jones industrial average up nearly 444 points, to close at 25,883. the nasdaqose 45 points, and the s&p 500 added almost 30. the u.s. immigraon and customs enforcement agency-- oice-- has stopped force-feeding a group of detainees in el paso, texas. the men, from india, have been on a hunger strike while seeking asylum.

federal judges initially approved the feeding, but on wednesday, one of the judges ordered a halt for two of e men. the top man at the pentagon says the u.s. will not abandon the fight against islamic state forcesespite withdrawing from syria. acting defense secretary patrick shanahan spoke in germany today. he said the u.s. will keep up its counter-terrorism capabilities, and recruit an even stronger coalition. >> we will continue to support our local partners' ability to stand up to the remnants of isis. there is no one-size-fits-all approach to permanently defeating isis's influence across the globe. our coalition is addressing the reat in each region and what is required from us to meet those threats. >> woodruff: we will have a report on the collapse of the islamic state's caliphate, later in the program. venezuela's president nicolas maduro says his government has held secret talks with.s.,

even as washington seeks his ouster. heade the claim to the associated press in caracas, and said he willing to meet with president trump. >> ( transled ): i can tell you that we have had two meetings already with mr. elliott abrams-- t u.s. special envoy to venezuela-- in new york. our chancellor has met twice with elliott abrams. i invited elliott abrams to come to venezue, in private, in public, or in secret. or if he wants to meet, let himn say how, where, and i will be there. >> woodruff: the u.s. has publicly rognized opposition leader juan guaido as venezuela's rightful leader. back in this country, the u.s. supreme court will hear aarguments about includin citizenship question on the 2020 census. the court today scheduled the case for late april. the commerce department wants to add the citizenship question for the first time since 1950. opponents say it would cause undercounts of hispanics. justice ruth bader ginsburg returned to work at the high

court today. she had been working from homee siving lung cancer surgery in december. ginsburg turns 86 in march. former massachusetts governor william weld is the first republican to move toward challenging president trump in 2020.ou he aed an exploratory committee today in new hampshire, and accused mr. trump of promoting himself over the go of the nation. weld ran for president as a libertarian in 2016. there is a new turn jussie smollett case. the black, openly gay actor says he was assaulted in chicago last month by two men who shouted racial, homophobic slurs andis tied a rope oneck. today, chicago police said that they have arrested two black mer from n as suspects. one worked on the "empire" tv drama that features smollett. and, the nationafootball league today settled collusion

lawsuits by colin kaepernick and eric reid. they say they were blacklisted for kneeling during the national anthem, to protest police brutality. kaepernick has not played since 2016. reid missed three games last season. no details of the settlement were released. still to come on the newshour: the legal challenges aor president trump's emergency declaration. what happen to members of isis, as its territorial claims erode? i sit down with possiblede cratic presidential candidate pete buttigieg. m anh more. >> woodruff: as we h president trump's declaration of a national emergency is provoking considerabutiny. even within his own party, opinion is split, and much of cothe talk now is about tht

battles to com amna nawaz starts there. >> nawaz: there are expected to be aumber of legal challenge to the declaration, including from the state of california. the man who leadhat suit, xavier becerra, is the attorney general of california, and a former member of house democratic leadership. mr. attorney general, thank bau and welcom to the "newshour". when you gave a press conference earlier, you said you would be challenging the declaration in some way after you reviewed the texts thatteou have sis states filing with you. now that you've read the texts, what do you plan to do, when do you plan to do it and who's with you? >> we arstill reviewing but we are prepared to move. we do believe the president's actions are ot only reckless but unlawful, and, so, we will move but will have other states that are joining with and working with us throughout this whole process. we will be ready to because it's important to make sure that whenever americans in whatever state send their tax dollars to the federal government that they know they will be used for the right purpose and the purpose

congress said, not because some presidys all of a sudden he's unhappy and wants toal declare a natimergency. >> i know you're still reviewing texts, but based on what the president has laid out, what do you think thfolegal basir that challenge will be? >> the president tried and filed ofailed to get more mon of congress. as he said in his press conference, he as noppy, and he said it's a great thing do to declare a national emergency and admitted this is not something he needs to. do those are not the words of a president who is about tona declaronal emergency. think 9/11 with president bush, think president jim carter with the iran hostage crisis. in those cases the presidents we're not happy wasn't what they were doing and neither wouldi have sthis is something i don't need to do. understand he's limited like any other american in how he tries ab comply with the law. he is note the law, and, so, in this particular place

under the constitution, separa'ton of powers, he doe have the authority to redirect dollars that congress has allocated to the various states. >> the president's supporters will say, look, some of what he said is absolutely truthe. e have been increasing numbers of family units taxing our system in various ways, an enormous immigration backlog, there's a crisis in degree and in the absence of congressso dointhing about it, this is the president taking drastic measure to dmeo soing. what do you say of that? >> we certainly have challenges on the border and many challenges are manufactured by the president when he treats individuals who artrying to apply for asylum against the law, when he tries to use force on peaceful individua who are crossing the u.s. border, so,s ther doubt there's a challenge but it's not a national emergency, and for him to try toeyrob monhat's been allocated for good purposes throughout thcountry is to deny taxpayers of their

constitutional rights to make' sure that tha clear separation of powers between an executive and the legislative branch, which is the branch thao has thwer to direct dollars. >> mr. attorney general, brier y bit you go, we should point out in the past you haveal supported le executive orders and actions take bin epresident, for example t daca program created by executive order under president obama and filed a number of lawsuits against this admn,inistrato a lot of people will ask is your objection to this legal or political? >> remember t at presidama acted in executive action based on his authority as sident. he didn't change laws, he didn't try to dismisssaws, he wa simply trying to work within the framework of our immigration laws in dealing with daca and gram.apa pro here president trump is not simply trying to work within the framework of our existing laws, he's trying to undermine them and cancel them in order to tak

money from other purposes that have been allocated by congress, and, so it's a clear violation not only just of laws and the propriations done by congress, it's a violation of the separati of powers to have the constitution. >> attorney general mr. xavier becerra of the state of california. thank you very much for your time. >> thank you. >> nawaz: now, persptive from someone who advocates for stricter policies on immigration and a vocal advocate for expandinthe border wall. kris kobach is kansas's former secretary of state.lc mr. kobach, e back to the "newshour". the president said earlier in the rose garden, i don't need to this, mening declare a national emergency, he said he just wanted to get the wallfa builter, so help us understand, what is the emergency here? >> well, you know, listening to attorney general becerra talk, you know, i think t pointed o that reasonable people can disagree as to how urgent any emergencies is and reasonable people can disagree on whether the national emergencies act

should be big enough to encompass at's going on tod with president trump's declaration, but the law is really clear basically, the law says that a national emergency is something that the president deems ae national eency, and that's why it's been used 58 times. 31ational emergencies ar still in effect. did you know there is aner ncy still in effect bush put in blase place for the belanss objectnd for burundi. so it's a batad ste the congress wrote in 1976. i believe what president trump did today clearly fits within the national emergcy also act because it's so bro. >> he's legally, of course, allowed to but, by declaring an emergency, there is an insinuation there's an urgent need or crisis i somway. i'm asking you to explain what that emergency is, why this needed to be done now. >> now. h, okay.

rtainly, certainly. well, as the president illustrated with the presence of the angel families with him, you know, we've hadultiple thousands of americans killed in the last decade by illegal aliens who commit homicide or are drunk driving and accidentally kill an american, every one of the deaths could have been prevented if the wal had been place, f our border ure. more sec in addition, you have the many deaths from the drug smuggling th a's occurrid then you also have multiple terrorists coming across the southern bordernto the united states and that's well documented, there have been prosecutions of th >> i've got to push back on this. those criminal numbers you'reab talkint are statistically insignificant. there's no evidence a wall would have stopped any of them. the drug traffic, the vast majority comes through legal ports of entry. therrorists deemed by the own state department last year was zero at the southern border. >> no, the numbers of terroriste that we aught -- we

actually don't catch them coming across the border, we actually catch them in other ctextings and the justice department prosecute them and we find oun they camehat way. because of the majority of drugs that we apprehended in the pass year came in at the ports of entry, therefore the majority of drugs do come in at the port of entrip. thatth incorrect. pormt of entry we inspect every vehicle coming in, we have ug sniffing dogs, a far greater sum, we don't know what its is, because we only intercept a third in the ports of entry. in 1998, weeployed drones and aerial surveillance along the southern border. the apprehensions oug smuggling between the ports of entry went up 45%.s at because drug smuggling went you have 45%? no, it's because we caught a larger number. it's a general consensus there is at least as much as coming in at the ports of entry than we've

apprehended at the ports of entry. >> the majority of americans do not want to see a wall built.0 more than of americans are opposed to a law in any form. is it woh the president diverting billions of taxpayer dollars totay for a wall tha maybe only a third of americans even want to see? >> i disagree a little bit with ur polling, in the sense that i've seen a zillion polls on this question and it reay depends on how you frame the question. you can get 60% opposed, you can get 70%-plus in fav ifyou frame it in a way. it's a question that you can frame in a million different ways. suffice it to say americans do nt this. sucsuffice it to say if you askm icans want a border where drugs and illegalliens can't enter easily, they will say yes. imagine you have te boarder

agents and they have no wall in 30 miles, they will have a hard time patrolling it. but you have 20 miles that stops traffic, the agents only have 10 miles to pursue in an aggressive way. i was in arizona last week, that's what's happening. the agents are able to use the barrier seconand deploy fewer agents so they can take the majority of agents and put them where there's no wall. >> i appreciate your time. former secretary of stabate kris . thanks for being with us. >> woodruff: nearly five years ago, isis self-declared a caliphate, a historic term foram an i state that leads the muslim world. that so-called calipdete is nearinruction, after a brutal war that stretched across

iraq and syria, killing tens of thousands. but what now for those fleng and those who used to run that state, now detained by american allies? here's nick schifrin. >> schifrin: they escape with only what they can carry. ( child crying ) and their children carry the weight of war. entire families are winding their way out of isis' fal stronghold. syria's been at war longer tha these children have been alive. their parents say they've escaped isis, and consider themselves lucky. >> ( translated ): the elderly women couldn't walk or climb the mountain, so we fled, and hato leave them behind. ( gunfire ) >> schifrin: left them behind in baghouz, syria. u.s.-backed kurdish forces are trying to recapture the final square mile of what was once isis' caliphate. ( gunfire ) isis released this propaganda video of fighters' last stand. ugthe fighting has been to and made more difficult by all the people fleeing-- many of whom arforeign. this iraqi woman says she is fleeing with her husband.

this ukrainian woman admits inhe broken arabic decision to travel to isis-held territory with her husband was "madness." >> we have people from all over the world. we have brothers from bangladesh, from iraq, cambodia, australia, u.k. >> schifrin: tse women's husbands were among the 1,000 foreign fighters who, back ins 2014, joined iery month. >> i'm your brother shoaib from south africa! schifrin: at its peak, isis propaganda celebrated 40,000 foreign fighters from 40 countries. they proudly ripped up the home countries' passports. admany of these men are de. but many others, like this irishman, have been captured, and the u.s. is calling on those 40 countries to repatriate them. >> 40,000 foren fighters showed up in syria and iraq, and those countries have the responsibility to ta back their citizens and prosecute them to the full extent of the law. >> schifrin: seamus hughes is a former intelligence officer who warns, the 1,000 foreign fighters currently detained are a security risk unless transferred and prosecuted to their home couries.

>> if they don't step up right now, it allows to isis toco titute themselves. you are going to have individuals who had experience in the islamic state, who are going to have military experience and an ability to be in a terrorist organization, and they're going to spread outor across the. >> schifrin: for the last month, u.s.-backed kurdish forces have released photos of foreign isis fighters. but, repatriating them will not be easy to countries where law enforcement is weak, such as tunisia, or even to western europe. in 2014, then-15-year-old shamima begun was captured on cctv leaving london to j isis. this week, she told a "times of london" reporter about life inside the caliphate. >> it was like a normal life. the life that thop show in the anda videos. >> schifrin: those propaganda videos depicted the caliphate as family-friendly, but they also showed isis' brutality. and even today, begun told the "times'" anthony lloyd she didn't regret fleeing to syria, and wasn't disturb violence. >> did you ever see executions? >> no, no, i never. tt i saw a beheaded head bin.

>> in the bins? >> yeah, in e bin. it didn't faze me at all. >> schifrin: that attitude led british security minister ben wallace to tell sky news today, if she managed to return toe london, shuld be charged by authorities. >> anyone who goes out to fight or support organizations such as isis-- dreadful, horrendous terrorist organizations-- should expect to be investigated, should expect to be interviewed, and should at the very leastct exo be prosecuted. >> schifrin: but there's no guarantee of that, says hughes. >> in the u.s. context, it relatively easy to build a legal case against an isis fighter. in great britain, france, you won't have the same strong legal frameworks that yod have, that you'd be able to arrest somebody for joining the islamic state. you need to put it in context of the legal frameworks in 2013, 2014. w n't illegal for a british citizen to go to syria and iraq in 2014. >> schifrin: there's also humanitarian concerns g out sendtainees to states with poor human rights records, and to states without reintegration programs. and there is the huge question

offhat to do with thousands children born inside the caliphate. >> i don't think the sins of the mother or father should be the sins of the child. anso it will be incumbent the state to create programs to deal with, let's be fair, p.t.s.d.and other things they witnessed. >> schifrin: what they witnessed s s unspeakable violence committed by fightw in detention. but it's unclear who will celiver those fighters jus for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> woodruff: stay with us. the race for the white house in 2020 is in full swing, and ten democrats so far have declared their candidacy for the party's nomination. with just four months to go before the first democratic presidential debate in june, pete buttigieg, the mayor of south bend, indiana, receny announced he formed an exploratory committee. if he wins his party's nomination, he will be the first

openly gay candidate of a major party to run for the white house. mayor buttigieg joins us now to discuss his book, "shortest way home," and why he could be a mayor buttgieg, thanks for being with us. >> thanks for having me. >.>>rs woodruff: fobvious question, why would a 37-year-old mayor of a small city in thmidwestern part of the u.s. be running for president? >> i believe we're in a llment that for something completely new and, among other things, i think it calls for voices from the industrial midwest, a plahat, in particular, my party, to its detriment, largelignored in past election cycles. i think it also calls for somebody from a neer generation. you know, as a millennial, i'm ju old enough or young enough to qualify as an older m millennial. om the generation that, for one thing, grew up experiencing school shootings as the norm. i was in high school whenha columbinpened. we are the generation that's going to be on the business end of climate change, tha ht's goig

ve to pick up the pieces to have the fiscal mess that will be made by current potalicy, and economically, we could be the first generation in amerin story to make less than our parents if nothing is done. so i think that those kinds of scroises have been missing from the debate and it's time to step forward. i get that it's a non-traditional path compared to, let's say, being in the congress, but, answer executive, with on the ground experience in government, i would also argue nat the more congre starts looking or washington starts looking like our best-run citieo ans instead of the other way around, the better off we'll be. >> woouff: you mentioned t policy. that's one of the issues that we're already heang the early announced candidates talk about. where do you put yourself on thp spectrum ople who have expressed an interest in d. j. nonomination? there is kama harris,. >> warner:elizabethwarr, bernieg in. what do you think about taxing

the wealthy? >> i think it's clear there are plenty of people in america that are not paying ir fair share, it's almost incompatible with democracy when it steams dollaro cavote people sometimes. i think we need to tax wealth more than work, we need to coider anancial transactions tax, and we need to ask whether the top marginal ta rates are really appropriate, given that the effective tax rates paid by athe wealte often actually lower than those paid by the rest of us. >> woodruff: let's tak abou something that's been before the congress just in the last few days. yesterday, the congress, democrats and republicans, came together in support of this spending proposal, including language about border security. speaker nay pelosi, a democrat, was for it, but thene y-elected congresswoman from new york, alexaria ocasio-cortez, was against i want. what would you have done. >> i don't have a problem with enhanced border security perhaps to include fencing. i believe the mistake in believing border security is as

simple as putting up a wall from sea to shining sea. by the way, i think it's alo a mistake to think that security in general in the 21st century is as siple as mtary and border security matters. in a moment like this en 21st century threats from cyber security to climate security are demanding action, as many theajority in the senate don't seem to have any interest in tackling that at all. >> woodrf: the president looked at that and said it's still not enough money. today hela decd a national emergency so he can get more money taken from other places in the government to go toward a border wall. should he have done that?o you said think climate change is a national emergency. could you see yourself declaring an emergencyver that? >> i may be the youngest person in the 2020 conversation, but i'm old enough to remember when conservatives and liberals alike were skeptical of presidential power grabs.

the idea he can assert additional pow we bed on an emergency that's not a true itergency, to the extent that there is a humian crisis, it's one of his own making because to have the cruel policies implemented at the bored and, in the mean time, some something that has the destructive power of perhaps a depression or a world war that is a much more real emergency is demanding our attention. does that mean a futurecr deic president ought to take a page out of prident trump's book and declare an emergency? i would rather see this resolved rin regular legislativecess where congress funds national priorities largely set by the president. it's just it doesn't seem to be a priority by those in leadership who seem to regard change and other issues as somebody else's problem. >> woodruff: on healthcare, you said yoolu're for a sin' payer system. there'a lot of conversation thout medicare for all. where are you ot spectrum? >> most citizens think we should

enjoy healthcare as enjoyed by most citizens of most cou there are questions about the pathway to medicare for all. the flavor i prefer is medicare for all who want it. in oth words, take a version of medicare, make it available as a public option on t exchange, and if people like me are right that this will become the most proficient and preferred means, this will be the glide path to a single pair environment. >> woodruff: different you said you would be if you ran on the democratic ticket the first openly gay person to seek the presidency in a major party. do you think that would end up, in 2020, wou that n asset for you or could it be a liability? >> maybe it ll be both. it's hard to say. i'm certainly conscious of the historic nature of a candidacy of the first out elected official to ever seek ts office. at the same time, when i think of my own life, my marriage is probably the most normal thing in my life. it holds me down to earth. i have a husband who wants to know if i did the cs as well as how i did on television, and

helps me tot relate ther people, most who are straight and also married. >> woodruff: dtiyou think the is coming when we won't be asking that question? >> i hope we will get to a day when it is not newsworthy. i thought about this a lot when i was getting ready t come out, and i thought about the fact that straight people don't have to come out. so some day i would like somebody in a position i was in, in a election year, that i would show up at a social function that my date would be the same sex, people would look, shrug and go about their bus but we're not in that reality. in many parts to have the u.s. people can still be fred for being gay and we know there'sca bay an assault on the rights and dignity of trans people in this country, too. so the journey is in progress,t also believe, especially somebody who came out when mike pence wagovernor of iiana and got reelected with 80% of the vote, i blieve the progress

is accelerating. >> woodruff: mayor pete buttigieg of south bend, indiana, the book is "shortest way home." thank you for stopping binchts glad to be here. oo >>uff: from a growing 2020 presidential field, to the fight over the president's national emergency declaration, it's time for shields and brooks.ic that is syed columnist mark shields, and "new york times" columnist david brooks. hello to both of you. we are goi mayor in just a moment, but i do want to start, david, with the president's announcement today that he didn't enough money to that he can spend up to's $8 billion on it. >> yeah, well this is awful. you know, i don't think it has anything to do with any invasion, as he claimed. i think he lost theovernment shutdown so he's giving himself a performance trophy to say i'm

a winner. i think it's more about his psyche than anything in the country, ad it is a complete violation of any constitutional position that any liberal or conservative should believe in. the constitution clearly states that allocations and apprriations are the job of congress, and congress has been ceding power time and time again, presidents have been grabbing it, and this is by far the most egregious grab. once you walk down this line, then the constitutional order begins to frameworks and we've seen the fraying of socialre norms, now weeing the fraying of constitutional norms. >> woodruff: mark, the president says it's enthtirely his right to do this and points out other presidents have done similar things. >> not really similar things in this snse after they have been rejected by the lgislative process immediately upon following that rejection. i think, judy, that you have to say a nationa emergency ithe great depression, the polio epidemic, the firing of fort sumpter, you know, something

that we can agree is an emergency. this is a political emergency. it's a political emergency as david described, not just the stinging rebuke of congress, but by actual count 200 times donald trump candidate and then president has pomised that this wall, this tall, unscalable wall will be built and paid for completely by the mexican government, and he obviously has not delivered on that. i just point out that, in 2000, bill clinton's last year in the white house, there were 1.6 million illegal entries stopped by the uthorities at the border. in 2017, donald trump's first year, there were fewer than 400,000. i mean, it's not an insvasion, david said. i mean, it's not an emergr cy otan a political emergency. >> woodruff: and it's going to be challenged in the courts. we were hearing some of that earlier in the pro. david, what about the fact that republicans in congress didn't

go along, there weren't enough of them to go along with what the president wated in terms of money, and now some are saying ehat you two are saying, that they don't like th fact he's declaring an emergency. >> this is an interesting thing that within negotiations in the last week, there were republicans and specifically mitch mcconnell basically said they were writing the white house out of the negotiations and they sidelined them. so theyt basically - deal mcconnoil said was we're g to cut them out to have the megotiations, we'll give the nothing, but i'll support this chance to have an emergency, not as a bad deal. violating the conutstn is worse. i think they should have a vote, the congress should assert itself for once in a lifetime for the sake of our country. a few republicans have come and criticized the president, ben sasse an rd marbio, but a lot have not. some who warned him not to do that are suddenly on board. an so, you're seeing rank open

opportunism. a few years ago barack obama did something i thought was egregious and every republican include meg had their hair on fire, and now suddenly they're fine with an even more egregious grab of white house power. >> woodruff: is it a significant division in the republican party? >> no, it isn't, judy. the republican party needs a vertebrae transplant. it has no backbone. mitch mcconnell is terfied of a primary challenge in 2020, and that's the power donald trump wields. donald trumpas always, in his arsenal, the mark sanford rperience, the for governor and congressman of south carolisa, donald trump good words about his opponent and bad words about markranford and mak sanford's career came to a crashing end in the republican prmary. and virtually every republican

who's up in 2020 isai afrthat donald trump -- to get on the reong side of donald trump. i don't think t any question about it. i think susan collins has said some questionable things about -- questioning the president, so has mike lee from utah. it's a small group.al lamaander has. he's retiring in 2020. so i don't expect any great resistance on the g.o.p. side. >> woodruff: let's broaden the talk to 2020. you both just heard a conversation with the mayor of south bend, indiana. i struggle with his name but i think pete buttigieg is close. david, what did you make of him? >> i had a dimner with hi a couple of months ago and i found him very impressive. i alde think the prey is a really hard job, and we shouldn't define it to trump-level competence. not saying that aboutayor buttigieg. he's mayor of south bend and a lot of people have gone through south bend and their lives have

been trnsformed by it, and when i met him i t'ought hs a transforming mayor, butt's not preference for the presidenty. we have to realize how difficult you can't just walk out of , where and do it in. my beli like governors. they've run big thiongs andne big things and not just run committee hearings. as voters, i think we should establish a high standard for what takes to be thought of as a presidential candidate. >> woodruff: mark? i disagree. i think a mayor, a governor is a far better testing ground for somebody to be president of the united states. i don't think it's any accident that both rosevelts were governors, and some of or great presidents. the only two presidents to lead with 65% approval bill clinton and ronald reagan were boh governors. i point that out because what a senator does is make tough speeches, issue scaldinpress

releases, ask penetrating questions at hearings and has totally shared responsibility, one of 100. i'm not responsible for anything the senate s. i voted -- or actually voted to reco much, senator.you very mayors, governors have to deal ith real life. i mean, they ha deal with teacher strikes, they have to deal with tax kes, they ha to deal with traffic, they have to deal with trash collection, and they have to deal with -- >>oodruff: snow removal. -- snow removal, all kinds ofeo problemse have in their daily lives. mayor pete has been a very goode mayor of southd, and i can say that. south bend was not anasy place to hold together, put together, and, so, i have a bias in favors of mayors and governors. t o, am a fan of his. i think he's smart and bright and i think he's not afraid to say something diffewhich, in itself, is just encouraging and refreshing. >> woodruff: he's coming down on the progressive end of the

spectrt'. i think thfair to say, david. he talked about the green new deal, he talked a little bit about taxing the rich, which obviously hsn't come upmong the democrats. medicare for all, how to deal with healthcare. where do you see the democratic field sortuf shakingt in that way and does it -- i mean is it shaking in a direction that helps the party or not? >> somewhere it's akeout, i guess. as donald trump makes it extremely hard to think of supporting someone like that, i think the democrats have done an outstanding job to make it hard for moderates to support anything. the idea that i could ever thpport a candidat would support a green new deal, that could never happen. the green new deal cosncentra power in the hands of the washington elite in a way nothing has done since world war ii. would have washington planners taking over the energy and transportation business so

no planes are necessary, taking over healthcare. it reallis a centralization of power in a way we haven't seen and doesn't exist in scandinavia. used to be democrats wanted to shift the tax code, shift the regulations in order to steer the market in a more humane direction, and i get that. being that kind of democrat, you would be for a carbon taxo t address global warming. this is not that. this is theta governmening control of large swaths of the american economy, something i don't think the government is capable of doing >> woodruff: how do you feel. i think david has set up a strong man farce the new green deal is concerned. it hasn't been endorsed by te democratic party. it's gotten a lot of attention, publicity and buzz but it is not the democratic platform by any means. i think the democrats, quite bluntly, have made the traditional mistake of a party that wins a midterm. it wins a midterm election because voters thought the party in power and the president was

overreaching, overreacting, and theant party leaves an affirmative mandate to them and for their fondest illusioiary dreams and i think that the what happened i 1970, in richard nixon's first midterm, he went on to win 49 states. two years later, it happened with the democrats in h1982 wit rothenberg an1982ronald reagan . it happened with barack obama in 2010 with the repub. what the democrats have to understand is they won onal care because donald trump and the republicans were going to abolish pre-existing condition coverage for people and the democrats were going to protect it, not because the americans wanted a mandated medicare for all and the abo legs of al private insurance coverage. >> does it feel like anything will pull that back? are the horses ourof the ban?

>> times the want to win, when asked a question. that's what they're interested in winning. whether the candidates, you know, will offer that to them, t the democratic rank and file by actual measurement and polling, that's their priority is to win.t >> well,ould be, and nancy pelosi ab-- >> nancy pelosi -- but five presidential candidates and people cory booker embraced it. if you come in and sayrn gont will give everybody a job. d whatemocrat will go against me? dy has to say no, we believe in helping people, we do not believe govternmen takeover. >> woodruff: david brooks, mark shields, to be continued. >> woodruff: now let's step back anigcontinue our look at the screen. this week, we are siting down with oscar contender a veteran of films and tv, regina king is up for best

supporting actress for her work in "if beale sjeeet could talk." ffrey brown met her recently in new york to discuss bringing a renownedovel to life, for part our series on arts and culture, "canvas."be >> rem love is what brought you here and if you've trusted love this far, don't pac now. >> brown: in "if beale street could talk," regina king playss, sharon riverhe mother of two daughters, including tish, who falls in love with her childhood friend fonny. when tish becomes egnant, her mother shares the news. >> what's going on? >> this is a sacrament, and no, i ain't lost my mind. we are drinking to new life. tish gonna have fonny's baby. drink!

>> brown: set in the 1970s new york city, "beale street" isnn oscar award-g director barry jenkins' adaptation of the james baldwin novel of the same name. it's a love story, but one almost destroyed by racism and hatred, as police frame fonny with a rape charge. i asked regina king wh saw as >> it is, as a black american, just a rinder of how resilient, you know, we are. when you look at our htory and that love is a universal thing. love pushing through trauma. asile this can be looked a an urban tragedy. surviving tragedy usually is because of love that has surrounded you, support, and all

of us know what that looks like, no matter what we look like in. our exteri >> brown: even in the face of trauma? >> yeah, yeah. so i feel like, while this is a story with the black family, a black couple, in the center, it's an american story. >> brown: she says she found inspiration from strong women in her own life, and as a single mother raising her son.>> he hardest thing about parenting is holding on tight, and letting go, and knowing when right time to do either so i can relate to that, from an experiential place.wa so ijust applying all of these experiences into the performance. >> brown: king has enjoyed a long career on the screen, from tv sitco and films in the early 1990s:

♪ ♪ >> brown: ...to the ray charles biopic "ray: ♪ ♪ >> stop talking. >> brown: ...and most recently, back on television, ing emmy awards for work on abc's "american crime" and nonflix's "7 sec." >> god didn't run my son down in the street and leave him to die. >> brown: "beale street," she says, offers a portrait of american life not often accurately captured by hollywood. >> i feel like, even, not just with, black matriarchs. you don't get to see it. we don't reflect, in film and television, how our mothers or our fathers care for us so deeply. we sometimes get caricatures of that. what i hear from people, no matter what cowhr they are and gender they are, they, yeah, you know, "sharon reminds me of my mother."

>> the child is coming. it's your grandchild. >> brown: in perhaps the tlm's most powerful scen >> brown: in perha film's most powerful scene, king's character defends her daughter fonny's mother.ou >>ave an example of two women that are very, very, very strong, and you have one mother who's... her strength is led and motivateby fear. and then another mothewhose strength is motivated by love. it's fire in both of our eye when we're looking at each other. we are both fully... our conviction is so strong, our beliefs are so strong. >> brown: is it fun to do a scene like that? or hard? >> yes, all of the above. hard, fun, rewarding. because when you have an exercise like that, you sleep

so well that night. >> brown: in recent years, king has begun to direct tv shows, and has her own production company. she's been a prominent voice for gender equity in hollywood. ( applau) and last month, winning a golden globe for best supporting actress,he made a pledge. >> in the next two years, everything that i produce, i am making a vow, and it is going te ough to make sure that everything that i produce is 50% women. >> brown: is this something you feel you can achieve? >> absolutely. i have to believe it. i mean, i challenge myself to do it i've been successful at the things that i've challenged myself ithe past. you know, one would ve said that, oh, really, you want to be a director, and you haven't gone to film school?

well, film school has been my life. i've been learning, i've been on the set, you know, most of myre life, ears than i haven't. so i know that. so, yes, i know that i can do it. it's not going to easy. didni say that. buow that i can do it. >> brown: regina king, thank you very much. congratulations. >> woodruff: please in aurora, illinois, say five people were killed and five police officerst injured in a sg in a suburban, chicago business. ked at the who wor company was shot and killed by police. and that is th tonight. for i'm judy woodruff. have a great weekend. thank you, and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> on a cruise with american cruise lines, you can experience historic destinations along the thssissippi river, the columbia

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president trump forges ahead with building a border wall by declaring a national emergency. as govern gavin newsom accuses him of manufacturing a legal crisis ask ows legal action. the fight to protect americans with preexisting conditions under the affordable care act. we'll hear from palo alto congresswoman anna eshoo. an inside look at the company tells us why he thinks the platform presentsa, quote, clear and present danger to democracy. hello and welcome to "kqed newsroom." i'm thuy vu. we begin with aotntial constitutional crisis over the border walrl eaier today president trump issued a national emergency to circumvent congress to fund building a wallth