captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newsrsur tonight, en nielsen is out as secretary o homeland security. what this means for the department and the trump administration's actions on immigration. then, we are on the ground in israel, as prime minister benjamin netanyahu seeks a record fifth term in the face of legal troubles. and, one of america's leading historians, robert caro, on the four decades of work he's done on the multi-volume biography "the years of lyndon johnson." >> you know, when i was a newspaper man, i remember i hao ted havingite an article while there was still questions i wanted to ask. when i started to do books, i just started to say, i don't

want to start writing until i've got all my questions answered, and it takes a long time. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> babbel. a language app that teaches real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, utrman, italian, and more.

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>> wthdruff: the shakeup i trump administration continues with the latest departure of a cabinet member, leaving a number of key ciagen with acting leaders. amna nawaz reports. st nawaz: with president trump increasingly frurated at growing numbers of families and children crossing the border, homeland security secretary kirstjen nielsen, department of often on the receiving end of that frustration, resigned from her role sunday evening. today, she spoke briefly outside her virginia home. >> i just want to thank the president again for the tremendous opportunity. >> nawaz: in a statement yesterday, nielsen said she hopes her successe "will have pport of congress and the courts in fixing laws which have impeded our ability to fully rssecure america's borde..."

nielsen had helmed some of the trump administti's most artressive immigration effos, ligike separatingnt children from their families under the "zero tolerance" policy. an estimated 2700 children were separated between october 2017 and may 2018. the president ended zero tolerance by executive order that june. but it was nielsen who fielded questions about the policy in a december 2018 house judicia hearing. >> i'm not a liar. we've never had a policy for family separation. t picy of family separation would mean that any family that i encountered in the interior i would sep it would mean any family i encountered at a port of entry i would separate. it would mean every single family i would have found illegally crossing the border we would separatofe. we did nonhose. >> nawaz: three months later, before a house homeland security hearing, nielsen's answer had evolved. >> it's not a policy, it's the law. we enforce the law. >> nawaz: a number of legal challenges, including e federal judge ordering and overseeing family reunifications, are still

folding, and the full scope of separations is still unknown. nielsen's d.h.s. tenure also comprised a "hardening" of the u.s. southern border, requesting thousands of national guard troops as back-up in 2018, and billions in eme frgends for the border wall, also forcing legal asylum seekers to wait in mexico while their cases unfold inin the u.s., and limthe number who can legally enter in the first place, leaving hundreds of falies sleeping on e streets as they wait their turns outsidports of entry. also on her watch? a novembe2018 incident in which border patrol agents fired tear gas into a group of migrants in mexico. just last week, president trump joined nielsen as she caed off a three-day bor still pushing the administration's hardline immigration policies. after her sunday resignation, the president announced sunday that customs and border protectonion commis kevin mcaleenan will become the acting d.h.s. secretary. mcaleenan spent years on the operational side of america's

immigration debates. his selection to run the entire agency now puts a sharper focus on a key priority for president trump. >> woodruff: and amna nawaz ns me now with our white house correspondent yamiche alcindor. hello to both of you. so, amna, we just got news, a federal district judge in california h ruled that the president's asylum policy, which you referred to in that piece, is not going forward, he's going to issue anjunction friday. what does this mean? >> it means the president's policy called the migrant protection protocol forceges il asylum seekers to wait in mexico while their case unfolds in the u.s. they wanted to rollt out athacross the rest of the border in addition to the three pots of entry. >> woodruff: one more legal wrirchg fortunately them. yamiche, it is clear, the resignation of the homeland security secretary comes at a time with a lot of turil,

gal challenges. what does her forced leaving me for immigration policy? >> well, for months, president trump was signaling that he was not happy with the leadershipof secretary neilson. she was seen as someone who did not havef a lot olies in the white house. former head of d.h.s. general john kelly is the person who recommended her for the job. but a top aide to the president said she wasn't forcibly talking about theresident's administration well enough and someone as not seen as sounding the alarm of this law as a national ecy. a larger picture is this trump administration, sources tell me, is pushing the limits on what's legal for immigration policy. so a source within d.h.s. told me todayhe president wants do things that are simply illegal, that's why nhe's hag the courtroom set bavjts there is the family separation of immigrant, the denying f asylum

entrance at ports of entry and saying you can't come, returning asylum seekers to mexico and sometimes native countries.f not all ese policies have been rolled out, but i have been at the table wn secretary nielsen and vice president pencb have talkedout these things and think these are the best ways to protcact ame the white house says these are league bull that's not what the courts are saying. >> woodruff: with secretary nielsen gone, how does that affect the administration's ability to do what the president wants? >> i think it will come down to whether or not the person who takes secretary's niels job will go farther. nielsen becam ballgame the face controversialof immigration policies. we'll see if her replacement is more well liked than she was. >> woodruff: back o you, amna, the president is saying things like the country is full, that we don't need any more immigrants. what kind of policy are we lking about? >> yeah, look, there's a number

of policies the administration colld segally pursue if they wanted. they could go back to family separation. they were still separating with a lower bar than prosecuted for immigration violations. they keep ringing the bell, saying something has to chge because it's so bad, the situation going to get worse and worse. it's already very bad. we he to remember detention facilities are overcrowded, conditions e bad for vulnerable families and children. we haven't been too far ay from the date when two migrant children died in u.s. government custody. we have women giving birth in u.s. government custody. the number ocaf miages have gone up. the situation is actually still very bad and if we continue t push some of these policies, if the administration says we're going to push back some of the vulnerable communities, the argument is you're making them more vulnerable in the process. >> woodruff: i want to aab you

t the man the president says he wants to take over for the time being as the head of homeland security. there's a question about whether tt can happen, kevin mcaleenan. what do we know? >> kevikv kevin mcaleenan is a 47-year-old, came p through the bored agency, worked under the obama administration, highly decorated, respected, well liked, all my sources say he knows what he's talking about. he has operational experience. i hear t phrase "he's a good guy" a lot. but this good guy, let's not forget, was basically the tip of the spheres when it cameo a lot of the policies we saw kirstjen nielsen as the face of. family spray, those were his agents doing the spraight. in el paso last week, he held a press conference with a group oi families and ldren behind a razor wire fence and sleeping od rocks an overpass. he is saying i can be tougher when i need to be the question is can he be tough enough the president continues

to like him w druff: we'll see whether that nomination or appointment goes forward, i ssahoul. amna nawaz, yamiche alcindor, the story keeps going. thank you both. there still anothre major departn the trump administration today: u.s. secret service director randolph "tex" aes is leaving his post. alles is a former marine general who previously served in cu poms and bordtection. president trump has picked career secret service officialja s murray as his replacement. the white house said alles willi be l shortly, though the agency said later he would leave in may. the trump administration has designated iran's revolutionary guard as a "foreign terrorist organization." it's the first time the u.s. has branded partthf a government in that way. the i.r.g.c. is a paramilitary group formed after iran's 1979 revolution to fend the government. by ut u.s. secret state mike pompeo said it has a long

history of terror. >> for 40 years the islamic republic's revolutionary guard corps has actively engaged in errorism and created, supported and directed other terrorist groups. the i.r.g.c. masquerades as a legitimate military organization, but none of us should be fooled. >> woodruff: the classification cludes u.s. sanctions that will take effect in one week. in turn, iran's security council today put u.s. forces on iran's list of terrorist groups. we'll take hea deeper look at significance of today's move later in the program. three u.s. service members and an amerin contractor died today in afghanistan. pentagon officials said they nere killed by an improvised explosive devic bagram air base, north of kabul. three other u. service members were wounded. the taliban claimed responsibility. activists in sudan say attempts by security forces to quash a

sit-in protest set off widespread violence today. protesters wereng deman president omar al-bashir step down. soldier was killed trying to protect them. it happened in khartoum, where at least six people have died in clashes since saturday. online video from the weekend showed thndous massed outside the defense ministry, one of tha est rallies since they began in december. in libya, the death toll from anghting between rival li factions topped 5erpeople, as ealibyan forces struck tripoli's only functioning .irport they're battling troops aligned with the u.n.-backed government to take control of the capital city. the u.n. appealed fortrn "immediate", while the european union's top diplomat admitted the situationas deteriorat >>efinitely not going in the right direction. the responsibility that lies on our shoulders on showing unity

a responsibility in this moment in suprt to the u.n. efforts is extreme. >> woodruff: the u.n. estimates have been,800 peop forced to flee the violence in tripoli. the u.s. also temporarily withdrew some american troops amid the fighting. back in this country, 13 parents ensnared in a nationwide college admissions bribery caese h agreed to plead guilty. that includes former "desperate housewives" actress felicity huffman. she's accused of paying a consultant $15,000 to boost her daughter's s.a.t. score. 33 parents are charged in th multi-million dollar scheme to get their children into selective universities. stocks were eexed on wall s today. the dow jones industrial average lost 84 points to close at 26,341.

the nasdaq rose 15 pointsand the s&p 500 added three. and the baylor lady bears are celebrheing n.c.a.a. women's basketball championship win. they narrowly beat out defending champions notre dame last night, inic an 82 to 81ry. baylor's chloe jack-wn drove the inning layup with just 3.9 seco s left on the clock, earning the team its first championship title in seven years. still to come on the newshour: the airman of the u.s. hous homeland security committee on kirstjen nielsen's resnation. the u.s. designates a branch of iran's military as a terrorist organization. a report from israel ahead of tomorrow's election, and much more.

>> woodruff: we return now to our top story: secretary kirstjen nielsen's resignation and the fallout. reprentative bennie thompson of mississippi is the chairman of the u.shouse homeland security committee and he joins us now. chairman, welcome. what is your reaction to her departure? >> well, it was not totall unexpected. a lot of us had lost confidence in secretary nielsen's leadership. we understand. it's a icdit job. but she asked for it, she had an opd.portunity, and she fai >> woodruff: you said yesterday in a tweet that her ten your at homeland security -- tenure at homeland security had been a disaster. what would you you add to that now? >well, i would say, if you consider putting children in ges, if you consider separating children from families, if you consider not

recognizing the asylum laws that congress has passed here in the united states, and a lot ohef things that go against the values of who we are as americans, then i would say that it was time for her to go. but, you know, it's not soleen secretary nie. this has to go to the white house. president trump's administration has picked on immigrants from day one. he con nues todo that. we can't tell people we are full, go back. that's not who we are as americans. >> woodruff: how do you think this move, briing someone else, whoever it is, in to be theermanent replacement, or as long as they'll stay, for her is going tohange administration policy? and i want to ask you that, chairman thompson,n the context of this federal judge ruling late today out of california that the asylum policy that the trump

administrationte wan wherein people seeking asylum had to wait inexico, the jud is saying that's not going to take p.la >> well -- >> woodruff: go ahead. thank you very much. well, this is ather trump interpretation of the law. the law is very clear with spect to how we treat people who get to our borders. our law does not say, go back in mexico and wait. our laws ay we have to acknowledge you when you get here and we put youin a process to make sure we examine, whin the fullest extent of the law, exactly what is being considered. so i'm not surprised at the judge's decision, in america, the three branches of government are co-equal. anytime there is a dispute, we take them to the courts. it just appears that every time we go to court,hallenges some of these policies, the peopwle

, and that's why we are a trmocracy. this is nopville. this is the united states of america. >> woodruff: well, the president continues, as you know, he wants toughe p immigratiicies. he says the country is full. he said, over the last few day,n he's calling ngress to tightton laws further. what's going to happen? i mean, if the democratic majority in the house is ere you are, the president is where pen?s, what's going to hap >> well, my invitation to the president is, if you genuiwanely t to work out a bipaisan solutio to this immigration problem, let's sit down an.d ta we shouldn't be tweeting to each other, you shouldn't be firing your leaders becau they won't do what you say, even if it's against the law.t' sit down and talk. as a democratic chair of dymeland security, i'm rto talk. but we can talk together.

buthe thinks he can just come and lecture democrats and go nohome, that'st how a bill becomes law. you have to engage each. oth we have to share our differences. we have to share what our beliefs are, and then e work together on that. so i encourage the president to come forward with whatever issues he might have, and we'll work on that. >> woodruff: as you know, now there are a number of vacancies, people in acting positions. the president is moving the head of customs and boarder patrol over into the secretary role of the short term that adds to the vacancies there. is all this going to have an effect on the policies of the country? >> not only wi it have impact on the policies of the country, but can you imane, from a leadership perspective, those 220,000 employees of the department of homeland security, they don't know from one day to

the next, now, who's in charge. now, there's a question about the president's appointment to be the temporary head of the department, whether or not that's consistent with our law. o still might have somebody else in charge on wednesday. as, clearly, the president h to exhibit real leadership and not st throwing fits because he's not getting his way. that's not ho you govern. >> woodruff: representative bennie th opson, chairmanf the house homeland security committee, thank you very >> thank you. >> woodruff: we return to the designationy the u.s. of iran's revolutionary guard as a foreign terrorist organization. as nick schifrin reports, it's

one more step in the trump administration's ongoing p aressure campaigninst the islamic republic. >> schifrin: the islamic revolutionary guard corps is iran's most elite and inflntial military force. it describes itself as the cu istodian of tamic revolution, and has strong connections with iran's regime. and today the u.s.id something it's never done before: designate the i.r.g.c., an entity of another government, a terrorist organization. >> we're doing it because the iranian regime's use of terrorism as a tool of statecraft makes it fundamentally different from any other gornment. this historic step will deprive the world'leading state sponsor of terror the financial means to spread misery and death around the world. >> schifrin: the u.s. accc.es the i.r.g. and its quds force of supporting iranian proxies such as hbollah, that have launched terrorist attacks across the region, overseeing iran's ballistic missile program, the largest in the

region, and supporting groups at the height of the iraq war that killed more than 600 u.s. troops. but the i.r.g.c. is already one of t world's most heavily sanctioned entities. the i.r.g.c. is intertwined in iran's ony, and today's designation increases the punishment for anyone doi t business wim, says special representative for iran brian hook. >> we e trying to make the i.r.g.c. and the quds force radioactive for any company around the world that's thinking a material support to the i.r.g.c. or the quds force faces criminal prosecution and a jail sentenceo f up to 20 years. >> schifrin: today iran responded in kind. its supreme natial security council called the move "illegal" and desntnated u.s. cel command, which oversees all troops in the middle east, a "supporter of terrorism." centcom deploys tens of thousands of troops, including those currently in afghistan and iraq. and critics of today's

declaration say those troops could be at greater risk. >> botthe obama administration as well as the bush administration toward the endua were ay trying to find a way to reduce the risk of any confrontation with iran in ir, or afghanistan. now we've taken a significant step toward making it more likely. >> schifrin: trita parsi is a georgetown adjunct professor ane was the prsident of the nationalranian american council. he argues that in iraq since 2011, iranian troops worked near u.s. troops, against a mutual enemy: isis. hefears today's declaration reduces chances for cooperatione and increaseshances of conflict in the present and future. >> what trump is doing now, which will have long-term national interests, is that he's for diplomacy with iran, that future administrations will then

suffer from, because when they >> schifrin: but the trump administration blames iranian behavior for the tensions, and has pu pued a maximssure campaign, pulling out of t iran nuclear deal, and sanctioning nearly 1000 iranian people and corporations. >> there's already conflict. this regime, for 40 years, has been in conflict withhe united states. we are not changing anything in that equation. we are hoping to get a new and better deal to replacr the iran nucldeal. t appeal for iran to negotiate under u.s. pre-condition digsings haecomes er to swallow. >> an action like today makes next to impoible to pursue diplomacy with iran at least by the administration that putths decision into place. thinking that one can go at it

using this path and then making it possible to diplomacy is somewhat ludikrus. >> in iran, the hard linersre gaining strength. the u.s. vows pore pressure. the two sides face a cycle of escalation and tension. for the "pbs >> schifrin: for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schrin. >> woodruff: israel and iran are long-time foes, and netanyahu tweeted to president trump in hebrew, thank you for sponding to another important request of mierntion which serves the interests of our countries and countriesof the region. as it happens, israel holds hotly contested elections tomorrow that will decide whether netanyahu wins another term as we sent john yang to find out what's at stake for the nation, and for the political and

personal fortunues of netany himself. >> yang: less than 24 hours before israeli polls open, prime minister benjamin netanyahu greeted vors in jerusalem's main market. in the campaign's closing days, he has made full use of the stature and perks of his office, meeting with russia president vladimir putin in moscow, helping lay to rest the returned remains of an israeli soldier kied in lebanon in 1982, and, just this weekend, reversing course to say that the time is right for israel to annex parts the west bank. israelis have a term for netanyahu's last-minute pre- election surprises: they call it his "gevalt campaiyi," using the ddish expression of alarm. netanyahu and his ceer-right likud party have dominated israeli politics during his ten straight yea in office. now he faces his toughest re- election challenger yet.

he's benny gantz, who led supporters on motorcycles on his final day of campaigning. gantz is a retired israeli armya geand served as army chief of staff the 2014 gaza war.ing >> after ten yddrs, there is ly an alternative. >> yang: dana weiss is chief political corrpondent for israel's channel 12. >> when people are asking approval rates, whot to be prime minister, for the first time there is a tie tween prime minister netanyahu and the person who is standing against him. >> yang: gantz leads a center- right coalition that includes two other former army chiefs of staff: gabi ashkenazi and moshe ya'alon, who also served as netas nyahu'defense minister. they hope their combined military experience offsets netanyahu's reputation as israel's "ecmisterity." >> on my watch, iran will not threovaten israel by takin sryia, lebanon or the gaza strip. nor will it undermine pragmatic

regime in the middle east. on my watch, iran will not have uclear weapons. >> yang: netanyahu trumpets his close alliance with president trump. the president has boosted his israeli counterpart's standing by moving the u.s. embassy to jerusalem, cutting aid to the painlens. g and, durina white house visit just two weeks before the election, recognizing israeli sovereignty over the golan heights, which israel seized from syria in the 1967 war. the white house even agreed to release it's likely controversial middle east peace plan after the election so it would not become an issue.r >>. president, over the years isra has been blessed to hav many friends who sat in the oval ofce, but israel has never had a better friend than you. : but analysts s tomorrow's vote could be and

refere on the effect on the nation of netanyahu's policies and politics, which some call divisive. >> it's not security, it's not international relationveip, it's notthe economy. it's what he is doing to society inside israel-- us against them, against the elites, against the left, against the ltherals, againsarabs-- in order to stay in power. >> yang: listen to these anti- netanyahu voters at jerusalem's main market. rael ben-schlomo is a physical therapist, and undecided, except about netanyahu. >> i want a change and wanting to be something that will contribute to the society living. not only the security all the time. >> yang: rochali kashivitsky says she will vote for the once powerful left-wing labor party. she used netanyahu's nickname >> no, no, no, no, not bibi. i want somebody that think aboup the , that take care about the people.

>> yang: netanyahu supporters say they're better off now than befos re he ime minister, when the economy was slumping and palestinian suicide bombers were attackinisraeli buses-- e issue responsible for his first, narrow 1996 election as pr meister. >> ( translated ): i don't eve that someone else ca come in and improve. in my opinion, bibi is the right man in the right place. >> yang: in this campaign season, the market sees some good-natured debates. dozens of parties are fielding candidates for the 120-seat legislature, called the knesset. some are very small andery extreme. itamar ben-gvir, leader of the far-right, anti-arab party called "jewish power," did a little retail politicking at the market. the minor parties' results could be very important. polls show voters closely divided betweenantz and netanyahu.

both parties could end up with rough oly the same numbseats in the knesset, which would give small parties an outsized influence in forming a clition governent. analysts say netanyahu's task of ion building could be complicated by looming corruption indictments. in february, the attorne general, a netanyahu appointee, said he imintends chargeith trading official favors for positive news coverege and for hu of thousands of dollars of cigars, jewelry and champagne. >> ( translated ): i intend to serve you and the country as prime minister for mmore years. don't believe all the spin. >> yang: netanyahu denies the charges and says it's a left- wing "political persecution." whle the announcement did not move netanyahu's poll numbers, gant mz is trying e it an issue. >> ( translated ): the mere notion that in israel a prime minister can remain in office while under indictment is ridiculous in my view - it won't happen.

>> yang: re-election could be netanyahu's stroest protection from prosecution and he would demand that coalition partners help him, suggests dana weiss >> this coalition is what we call tictment coalition because prime minister netanyahu is going to make sure, "you want to join my party? please give me your promise that you're going to give me what it takes to make sure i don't have to go through my legal procedures." >> yang: and netanyahu refuses to rule out seeking legislation inat would outlaw the indictment of a sitting primeter. >> this is going to be very complicated. >> yang: ronen bergman writes for israel's largest newspaper uthor of "rise and kill first," about the country's history of targeting killings. >> not all of these parties, maybe not even one of them, gwould agree for something that would be even by their base, by their constituency, as a break of any kind of lawful

legal persecution of the law. >> yang: while the campaign is the subject of intense interest in israel, jt a short drive away, it is largely ignored. in the past, israeli elections were closely watched on the streets of the palestinian west utbank for clues about thee of the peace process. but not this time. >> there is no partner for the peace process with the palestinians in israel. >> yang: ghassan khatib is a political scientist at birzeit ersity in the west bank and a former palestinian peace negotiator. >> the issue of the palestinian- israeli relations is not a major issue in this election at all because the major parties in this election are in agreement over the need to continue the israeli occupation over the palestinian territories, west bank. it's wise to expect that the current stuoatuss going to continue for a long while.

and i thi t palestinians are learning that there is no solution in the horizon. >> yang: in israel, despite netanyngahu's stann the polls, few are counting him out. >mp> he's the best gner and the best spinner and the best politician in israel by far. he understands the system. he understands israeli .lectorate he understands the public. he understands israeli psyche and israeli mindset. he understands what he needs to do in the last few weeks, the last few days, in order to get these small fractions of votes that will give him the next coation. >> yang: and he may need all those skills in order to fend off benny gantz and win a fourth consecutive term leading israel. for the pbs nehour, i'm john yang in jerusalem.

>> ,woodruff: stay with coming up on the newshour: amy walter and tamara keith analyze thrace for 2020. and chronicling political power. it was another busy weekend on e campaign trail with candidates criss-crossing the nation to pitch themselves as the one person who can beat president trump. sa desjardins brings us up to speed. >> we are going to bring the american people together: >> desjardins: in their effort to push back against president trump, 2020 democratsg are tryin out a simple message: all are weome. including e newest entrant, t belt territory of youngstown.

>> because a divided country is a weak country and we have politicians and leaders in america today that want divide us. >> desja for pete buttigieg, the outreach was a challenge to discrimination. at an l.g.b.t.q. community event in washington, d.c., heri descd coming out as gay while running for reelection as mayor of south bend indiana, and >> i can tell you that if me being gay was a choice, it was a ce hoat was made far, far above my paygrade. and that's the thing i wish the mike pences of the world would understand. that if you've got a problem with who i am, your problem is not with me. your quarrel, sir, is with my creator. >> desjardins: meantime, president and ndidate trump is reaching out too, to jewish americans. he -itouted his prosrael actions at the republican jewi alition in las vegas saturday. but immi asylum laws, were also on the

president's mind. >> and grthe asylum p is a scam. me of the roughest people you've ever seen. >> desjardins: mr. trump went on to imitate a hypothetical attorney seeking asylum for an immigrant at the southern bord >> asylum, oh, give him asylum, he's afraid. he's afraid. we don't love the fact that he's got tattoos on his face. that's not a good sign. we don't love the fact that he's carrying the flag of honduras or guatemala or el salvador, only to s he'petrified to be in his country. >> desjardins: combined with the resignation of homeland security secretary kirstjen nielsen has proven quick fodder for the democratic hopefuls. massachusetts senator elizabeth warren said nielsen should be ashamed for sepasrating famil one of the sharpest reactions came from former hud secretary

julian castro who e that trump wants to illegally end the ylum system. the dispute at and over the border conties to rise in the fight for the white house itself. for the pbs newshour, i'm lisa desjardins. >> woodruff: and that brings us to politics monday. i'm back with our regular duo, amy walter of the cook political report and host of "politics with amy walter" on wnyc radio. std tamara keith of npr, co- of "npr politics." hello, duo. >> hi. ello. >> woodruff: how do you like that? >> i like it a lot. >> woodruff: let's talk about, interesting what we hea, tam, from pete buttigieg, talking openly for the first time we've seen in this season about his decision to come out as gays a young person and making thn religious ction. what do we make of that? >> he as a candidate has und

to a way to present himself as non-threatening, to present his religion in a way that comes off as non-threatening and to couch his gay marriage with his husband in religious terms, to say that it broughhim closer to god. he's not a very well known guy. he is the mayor of south bend, indiana, and he has gotten a lot of attention, though. as i have been traveling around the country, the candidate that peoput ask me abohe most is pete buttigieg.ou what dohink of this mayor pete guy, again, again i keep hearing it. >> the democrats want to fall in love with someone, be inspired by somebody and don't know who, but pete buttis capturing their attention in part because, like the speech, the authenticity is palpab. here he is not just discussing an openlyt, running as gay candidate, in the speech he

talks about being a young person and saying i could have take an pill to get rid of whatever gay was in there, i would have done it that's w sort of ashamed i was of who i am. so there is this realness you don't hear from candidates. it also speaks to where we are at this point in politics and what certain voters are looking for on the democratic side, someone not to say i'm a demi god, i'm so impressive, that's why you should elect me, i'm so much better than everybody else, it's i'm so much about you. the final thing about the values argument, judy, is this is the other piece of the argument he makes, not just in this speech but every other, which is republicans have been on the offense of values, democrats have been on t defense. we need to take the issue back. we have been playing on trump ouand the republicans' too long, we need to be the party of values. >> woodruff: it's a theme he has been brig up. >> that's right. >> woodruff: tam, you were with a group of voters in iow talking to them about the 2020

democrats. at are you hearing? >> yeah, and these were young voters, sat down th nine of them for an extended conversation, to really understand where their minds are. in iowa, they've already met numerous presidential candidates, all of them, because that's what happens when you're a voter iowa. and, you know, the fascinating thing was that five of them had said that, in 2016, they gave money to bernie nders. now, some of that was they wanted to get a sticker, they were too young to vote, but they were bernie fans. this timethey aren't planning to caucus for bernie at this point. only one person said that she planned to caucus for sanders. they were excited about o'rourke, they were excited about buttigieg. the other thing that was fascinating is most of the people we were talking to were young women, yt, the female iondidates were not getting attein this conversation. only one was saying she was thinking of caucusesfo harris.

>> woodruff: a desiesh for something new and something ndmale. >>his is the challenge for bernie sanders going forward. he was contrast between he and hillary clinton was so sharp in 2016. >> woodruff: with just the two of them. >> just the two of th now many people are trying to get that mantle. the one differentween bernie sanders and everybody else in the field, maybe with the exception of elizabeth warren, is he is running as a revolutionary, and the others are running really sort of as restorative candidates. u hear this from j biden, buttigieg, others, the stale of talking about gock to the place where we could care about each other, where we are willing to look beyondur differences, versus we want to upend the entire system which is the warren, bernie sanders, the system in itself is corrupted and must be replaced, and that

tension, i think,is a nkgnificant one, but i do thi that part of the party that wants a real revolution, they're going to stick wth bernie sanders. the question is how big of a universe is that, and if that core that he has sticks with him, that he has right now in polling sticks with him enough so that he builds up egh delegates especially early in the game that he remains a factor. >> woodruff: and interesting p ntrast in their approach to president trnd his own kind is revolutionary. wa exactly. >> woodruff: do yo the emulate that or go in a kinder, gentler direction. >> do you want to knock the house down or gut it and kp the frame or do you want to just do the bathroom. >> woodruff: or something. yes. >> woodruff: tam, quickly, to the president and speing of blowing things up, immigration policy, the president's on a tear, he wants a tougher tmigration policy, he's getting rid of second homeland

security secret aary ow. clearly, this appeals to, he thinks, his base of supporters, is it going to appeal to anybody else? >> not necessarily, but i don't ink he's worried about anybody else. he's worried about a bad number coming out fr march that sys something like 100,000 border edcrossers occuand the trend not going in the direction that he wants to go. ran on i'm going to fix this thing and, at the moment, it dofisn't lookd. so he's doing a lot of things where he's signalin, yes, the numbers do not look good but i'm on it. he st the government down over it, did the emergency declaration over thell, and now we don't know whether it was a firing or resignation under ntre or whatever you wao call it, but his homeland security secretary is gone and he is shaking things up in that department signaling, yes, he knows he de the prome and it's not looking like it's going

to be kept but he can rn on it anyway. >> woodruff: smart pohaitically? >>democrats will argue is, you know, we would be happy to ma the case in 2020 that his immigration policilyes, especi separating families, are a topic, right. it's the president wants to talk about he is fulfilling his promises or he won in 2016ve because he belin immigration, he is going to lose in 2020 by the way he has gne about trying to implement his policies. >> woodruff: we don't want to wait to find out what the answer is. you want the answer now, to know whether it's going to work or not. so much time. so much time. we do, amy walter, tamera keith, the duo. thu. >> thank you. >> woodruff: now jeffreyrown sits down with one of the nation's preeminent biographers, the fifth and final volume of

his massive series, "the years of lyndon johnson," focuses on l.b.j.'s presidency and the vietnam war. but it's publication is not expected for at least another year. in the meantime, caro has written a memoir about what he does. it's simply titled, "working."

hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & company." here's what's coming up. at 83, legenry biographer robert caro has written a new book, and it's not his long awaited final volume on lyndon johnson. i'll ask him why this book now. and another writer who owobes the consequences of on the psyche. i speak with israeli author anye psychologistt gundar-goshen. who is us? >> then america's forgotten poor rise up in "the publ new movie by actor, director, and writer