captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy wooonuff. he newshour tonight: acting secretary of defensek patranahan steps down after incidents of domesticn violence wits family are exposed. then, as president trump threatens to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, nversation with the new acting director of immigration and customs enforcement. and, we are on the ground in orlando, florida, ahead of the formal launch of predent trump's 2020 reelection campaign.e plus, thseasonal flu virus kills tens of thousandof americans every year. but, the lurking threat of pandemic flu-- one that would kill millions globally-- has researchers racing to are. >> the probability of a pandemic

tomorrow is the same as it was in 2009. so we can't be complacent about our state of preparedness. but we can't assume that the next pandemic will be like the last ones. we have to work through the different scenarios. >> woodruff: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> kevin. >> kevin! >> kevin?fe >> advice for life well-planned. daarn more at raymondjames.com. >> text night an >> catch it on replay. >> burning some fat. >> sharing the latest viral cat! >> you can do the thou like to do with a wireless plan designed for you.

wi talk, text and data. consumer cellular. learn more at consumercellular.tv >> babbel. a language progr that teaches spanish, french, italian, german, and more. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbt ion from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: acting secretary of defense patrick shanahan withdrew himse from consideration for that job on a permanent basis, and resigned as deputy secretary of defense today.as he did soth the "washington post" and "usa today" reported allegations of significant violence within shanahan's family early this

decade, incidents that he sought to keep private. in one instance, shanahan's now ex-wife was arrested for hittin. but in 911 audio obtained by "usa today," kimberly shanahans said it r husband beating her. >> my hulz is throwing punches at me. he's trying to leave in a lexus. >> did he hit me? >> he's been hiting me. i don't snea need a medic. he's swinging punches at me ande callin a jerk. and this is not the first time i called the police onim. >> woodruff: that was from a 911 call.t >> woodruff: ts from a 911 call. in anothermore-vicious incident in 2011, shanhan's then-17-year-old son beat his mother with a baseball bat, leaving her unconscious with a fractured skull in a pool of blood. patrick shanahan then sought to manage the young man's surrender

to police on felony charges. shanahan has served in an acting capacity at e pentagon since the end of last year, when james mattis resigned. late this afternoon, president trump spoke at the white house. >> i did not ask him to withdraw. he presented me with a letter this morning. that was his decision. we have a very good vetting process, but this is something erat came up a little bit the last short period of time, and as you know, pat was "acting," and so "acting" gives you mu a lot easier to do things. so that's the way it is. too ba >> woodruff: in a statement today, shanahan said it wasth "unfortunate a "painful and deeply personal" family incident was "dredged up." he also said he never laid hands on his wife. aaron davis is an investigative reporter for the "washington post," and in a series of conversations over the last 24 hours, he spoke with patrick shanahan about the domestic disputes holding uhis

nomination. aaron joins us now. aaron davis joins us now. and welcome to the newshour. quite a story. what is the sum of what had happened in those two inc and were those the only two over the course of this turbulent marriage? >> no, this is a very long, f involved divorle and custody battle. it goes on for 1500s pages, and there are numerousi sodes, these being two keystone moments. nobody looks good in this. there are piecesof paper and statements that the ex-wife hit patrick, that the kids have all said things that i'm sure thatre they re you know, it was a situation i think for a long time they thought maybe they could keep this from becoming a public story, that this was a private matter. and i think it became clear to patrick shanahan in the last couple of days, thatot he was goinave to address this publicly, that this was going to be something that was likely going to be a televised

discussion. >> woodruff: so was willing to talk and prepared to lk to a news reporter. as i just said, aaron davis, patrick shanahan is saying he "never laid a hand on his wife." what information do you have about that? >> on that count, we do have h word and her word. and she says that he punched her in the stomach. he says that, "i never laid a hand on herment. her." he said that again to me st night and this morning, absolutely not. this particular episode in 2010, he describes as he's laying in bed sleeping or close to it, and she comes in and punches himn the face. he's seeing stars but doesn't react. but they kind of know eachr- otit seems they know each other's buttons. he lays there tring not to react. she throws clothes out the window, tries to set them on fire. these are messy, horriblell situationsthe way through. >> woodruff: and the following year, his children have, as you

reported, moved in with the former wife. >> right. >> woodruff: in another part of the country. and then the son, the 17-year-old son and the wife get into an argument, and the son ends up, as we described beating his mother with a basleb bat. patrick shanahan arrives in town soon after that but doesn't help get his son into thle poe for questioning. >> there's a lot going on in this flida part of the story. we started looking at this because of that, this four-day time period. helies to florida in the dark of night when he gets a call fliz son who is leaving the t scene crime. he gets down there and there's this next four-day period in d which esn't turn his son over to police. there's an active police search son. on for his he says he's unaware of that for the first several days, calls an attorney, but holes up in a hotel. his wife, the ex-wife, accuses him of hiding the son at that point in time. we looked at that time, that four-day period. it was over a thanksgiving

holiday. there are a lot of things going on. it's hard toue know, te prosecutors, the judges, nobody that we talked to purposely said he was going over time he should have taken... but that's a big part of it. and secondly, when he's down there, he starts writing a memo, and star starts writing about n my son goes before the judge, this should be self-defense. in the opening lines of these memos he says, while the use of a baseball bat may be vids as an imbalance of force, she had been abusing him for threeho s. >> woodruff: just in our few seconds that we have left, aaron davi what are the main questions that you have coming out of this that are still not? answer >> well, how does an secretarying secretary of defense have this sittog in an opent file that the administration not look at. we know that months ago we briefed them on some of th very issues so the white house knew about this months ago.

>> woodruff: months ago. >> months ago. second to, that this was something the acting secretar was clearly trying to keep from becoming public. if this was not brought out, here youave a very sensitive topic he did not want to come out, it is a potential issue for blackmail of t secretary of defense. >> woodruff: very, very difficult topic. aaron davis witoh "the washi post," thank you very much. >> woodruff: joining me talk about the political fallout, our capitol hill correspondent lisa desjardins, and our white house correspondent yamiche alcindor, who joins us from a trump rally in orlando, florida. we have just been talking about these allegations, yamiche. from your reporting, did the white house know about this months ago? and if so what, di they do about it? >> well, the president says he learned about these domestic violence allegations against acting secretary shanaha yesterday, but i'm told that it

could be unear, th the white house might have known even lo that being said, once the president knew about these ormestic violence allegations he continued to su shanahan, he did not see any of the allegations as unqualifying. i'm told the president was ready to fight for this nomination and go all the way through for brett calf new york of course now supreme court justice brett kavanaugh. went to the white hou and told the president he didn't want to be a distraction. the president said he understood that and accepted him withdrawing the nomination. the prident is nowexcited to nominate marcus berg. and the presidentg s movin and hopes shanahan takes time with his family. >> woodruff: yamiche, competing with the crowd noise. yamiche, we know that that this follows the white huse firg of rob porter, who was the white eouse staff secretary. this was in the wa of disclosures about domestic violence in his baebd, raising questions on the part of some about whether this white house is eitr doing enough to vet

the people they nominate, or whether they are willing to put forward people who have questionable behavioon and acin thur past. >> judy, it's a key question, and that was the question i put to a white house aide today. tosaid, "what do you sa people who say this white house is supporting men who are accused of domestic vionce, including rob porter?" that person said it would be ridiculous to lik rob porter and act secretary shanahan. that person said because rob porter left the white house last year, it's unfair to do that. the president also has said in the past because he feels like he was falsely accused of sexual battery and sexual assault, he understands men are sometimes falsely accusus. the white is saying, look, these are people that were accused but we still stand with them. the president says he supports rob porter. he never backed away fromhat. rob porter resigned, but theen president has onsistent even if you have domestic violence allegations against you he is ready to go to bat for

you, mainly because he feels like that's what's happening to him. >> woodruff: let me turn to sa. you have been talking to a lot of members of congress. what are they saying abut this? >> first of all, a number of them knew about these allegations. lindsey graham said he heard these rumor fairs while. he hadn't had it corroborated. but chairman of the armed services committee, james inhofe, told me and other reporters he knew about the allegations for some time. was waiting toee what else he got about them. there was universal reactio among senators that they like the choice of mike esper, the current army secretary. he is someone who gained a lot of confidence from mbers. it's opposite of how shanahan came into the senate. there were a lot of questions about shanahan, particularly from inhofe. would you describe him as someone with humility. inhofe publicly said no, he did not see shanahan with someone with humility. he has gotten on borted shanahan

nomination. here is the awkward position. today inhofe wased asks the shanahan nomination moving forward, she said yes to a reporter. three minutes later the president called him and said it was ofo >> wdruff: these things turning so quickly. what are they saying about the white house vetting process? >> that's right. there are a lot of questions tabout the white house ae f.b.i.'s role, as well as what information has or would have gone to congress. also, judy, there are questions about the difficulties for the military here. the president say that the position of acting gives him flexibility, but fr senators, including inhofe, they say acting actually erhes authority in the military and that no act secretary is sen overseas as someone in charge. we've now been without a full secretary for more than six they say that is a problem. >> woodruff: lisa desjardins, yamiche alcindor, we thank you both. y'>> woodruff: and in the other news, u.s.-iran tensions are still running high, amid new eslitary moves, but both s are playing down a possible

confrontation. uhiran's president hassan i insisted today that his nation will not wage war. u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo said that sending 1,000 more troops to the region is a deterrent, not an escalation. foreign affairs correspondtnickm there. >> schifrin: in washington today, the u.s. and european top diplomats presented a unitet front,hey are sharply divided on iran. e.u. foreign affairs chief federica mogherini's visit came less than 24 hours after that troop announcement, which secretary of state mike pompeo described as strictly defensivet >> presirump does not want sar, and we will continue to communicate that m, while doing the things that are necessary to protect american interests in the reg >> sifrin: but while the administration's policy is onximum pressure, mogherin monday urg maximum restraint. >> what we would not like to see is a military escalation in the region. we think that would be extremely

dangerous. >> schifrin: the u.s. bl iran for the most recent escalation by attacking oil tankers in the gulf of oman. the military released these photos it says showing iranian revolutionary guard corps sailors removing an unexploded iranian mine from one of the tankers. in an interview with" magazine, president trump called ine attacks "very minor," but that he would "cer" go to war to prevent iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. in 2018, president trump abandoned the deal limiting iran's nuclear program. today, u.s. sanctions have dramaticallyeducted iranian oil exports, and revenue. under essure economically, iranian president hassan rouhani is publicly defiant. >> ( translated ): despite all ofhehe americans' efforts in region and their desire to cut off our ties with all of the world and their desire to keep iran secluded, they have been unsuccessful. >> schifrin: iran vows to excees mposed by the nuclear dealen on enrichmt and stockpiles if europe can't deliver economic

benefits. european diplomats, who met twsterday in luxembourg, say they are caught n the u.s. pressure campaign, and trying to pressure iran to stay in the deal, as german chancellor angela merl said yesterday. >> ( translated ): in regard to the nuclear deal, we are pushing iran to abe by it. if that is not the case, there will of course be consequences. >> schifrin: but analysts say europe will struggle to fulfilds iran's deman and more u.s. troops will soon arrive in the region, as tensions continue to escalate.ws for the pbs ur, i'm nick schifrin. >> woodruff: we will get perspectives on the shanahan matter and on iran from sides of the political aisle, after the news summary. in hong kong, chief executive carrie lam issued a new apology today, but stopped short of saying she will permanently withdraw an unpopular extradition bill. it would allow mainland china to extradite criminal suspects from hong kong. the measure has sparkeeks of mass protests and clashes with police, and pro-democracy activists said thegy is

not enough. >> all of our demands-- carrie lam spping down, withdrawal of the bill, and also holding the police accountable, are all ignored by carrie lam. therefore, the civil human rights front do not accept at all carrie lam's so-called apology. carrie lam can no longer effectively govern hong kong. >> woodruff: chief executive lam also insisted today that she will finish out her five-year term. the ousted former president ofme egypt, mohmorsi, was buried today, under heavy security. that came as the u.n. human rits office called for a prompt investigation of his death. the islast leader collapsed and died in a cairo court on monday. international groups and morsi's now-banned muslim brotherhood charged that prison nditions ruined his health. back in this country, a court martial began in san today for a u.s. navy seal charged with war crimes while serving in

iraq. taward gallagher is accused of killing an islamic prisoner and shooting unarmed civilian president trump now says he will hold trade talks with chinese president xi jinping at a g-20 mmit in japan next week. he tweeted today that he spoke to xi by phone, and said they will have what he called "an extended meeng." but at a senate hearing, u.s. trade representative robert lighthizer said tariffbe the only real hope. >> i don't know if it'll get them to stop cheating, tariffs alone. i think you don't have any other i know one thing that won't work, and that is talking to them, because we've done that for 20 years-- and i know youwi agre me on that. so if we don't get an agreement, then we have to do something. and if there's a better idea than tariffs, i'd like to hear it. i haven't heard it. >> woodruff: negotiations with

beijing have largely stalled, and mr. trump is preparing to place tariffs on all of china's remaining exports to the u.s. in california, pacific gas and electric has agreed to pay s billion to local governments for wildfire losused by its equipment. today's settlement coverfires from 2015, 2017 and last year. the utility already filed for federal bankruptcy protection, facing lawsuits seeking billions in damages. boeing today announced its first deal for a 737 max jet since two fatal crashes. the parent company of british airways and other carriers signed a letter of intent to buy 200 of thetilanes. all ex 737 max's are now grounded, while boeing works o problems linked to crashes in indonesia and ethiopia that killed 346 people. the father oa child killed in

a 2012 school massacre has won a defamation suit against the authors of a book th claimed it never happened. 20 children and six teachers died in the attack on sandy hook elementary school in newtown, connecticut. lenny pozner won a summary judgment on monday, in wisconsin, where one of the book dthors lives. a later trial wiide monetary damages. facebook is moving into digital currency. the social media giant rolled out plans today for its own perrency, called "libra." it is being devein partnership with paypal, uber, visa and others. facebook aims to launch the currency in six 12 months. and, on wall street, stocks jumped after the presint said he will hold trade talks with china's president. the dow jones industrial average gained 353 points to close at 26,465. the nasdaq rose 109 points, and 500 added 28. still to come on the newshour:

what the sta shakeup at the top of the pentagon means during rising tensions with iran. a conversation with the new enting director of immigrations and customs enforc on the ground in orlando, umflorida, as president tr formally kicks off his reelection campaign. and, much more. woodruff: senator tim kaine serves on the armed services committee, which would have held a confirmation hearing had shanahan been nominated as secretary defense. i spoke to him earlier to get his reaction to today's news, and that, until today, presideni trump waing to stick with him. >> well, judy, here's a real serious problem: we have not had a confirmed secretary of defense since the end of 201 we're living in a very challenging time right now.

the president announced his intention tocominate retary shanahan, and he made them-- he made him an actg secretary, but up until this morning, we still didn't actually have the nomination. the nomination paps had been sent over. we department have the f.b.i. report, which is standard for a. nomi we were seeing press reports that the president was rethinking and neighbor deciding not to nominate secretary today, the president said that he's going to ask secretary of the army maro k esperbe the acting secretary of defense. secretary esper has been on th b for a long time. doesn't the president know whether or not he would like to nominate him for the job? an acting is no substitute for a confirmed secretary in terms of both the gravitas they gain within the organization once they're confirmed, and also the degree which congress can exercise oversight in that confirmation process. and it's almost like the president would rather have actings at he can kind of

control, rather than have confirmed by the senate cabinet secretaries. that's no way to run a defense oopartment. >>uff: well, a lot of questions coming out of this. but one of them is what do you make of the fact that there are these domestic incidents in mr. shanahan's past, and the fact that the president was hicking with him untils morning? >> it's troubling. many of us voted for secretary shanahan to be in aey position in the pentagon over acquisitions. we thoug he was very qualified for that. i don't think anyone when they cast that vote thought that he would soon be suggested as theet sey of defense over the entire d.o.d. these are troubling allegations, but in some way, the allegations tare now kind of moved he side because the president has announced he's not going to be nominated, and he we are as a nation still waiting to find out when will we have a nominee to be secretary of defense seven months now after secretary maedis steown?

>> woodruff: do you have concerns about the >>ministration's vetting process? have concerns about the vetting process. i will tell yo, juy, my more significant concern as a member of the armed sercvicemittee is this tendency to be very cavalier about, "well, we don't need to send you a nominee. let's just have actingar secrs." that suggests to me that the poite house likes to run the defense operatioitically out of the white house. john bolten and others, and "and we don't care whether there's an acting actually at the panther." we have seen a number of instances during the trump administration where we be the solid judgment of the military professionals at the pentagon ovr matters like whether transgender folks can serve in the military, or whether we should stay in the iranian deal, the solid advice of the pentagon professionals have been overruled by politic political, you know, judgment and sometimes even political

hacks in the white house whoo not have the gravitas that our professionals have. so that is what worries me the most because we are a very challenging global situation right now. there's no substitute for a confirmed secretary of defense. >> woodruff: something else very serious to ask you about, senator, and that is iran. what do you believe ishe administration's iran policy? the president has said he doesn't want to go to war with iran, but he is sending 1,000 or more troops, additionoops to the region in the wake of the attacks on the oil tankers last week. p judy, theresident's policy has been pretty clear. he tore up a diplomatic al with iran that put a cap on their nuclear program. it wasn't iran that walked away from diplomacy. it was the united states. and i'm not aware f another instance in our history where it was the united states that backed out of a diplomatic deal. his secretary of defense at the time, secretary of state at ther time, chn of the joint chiefs of staff at the time, national security adv

time all told the president, "you should stay in this deal because it is making gion and the united states safer." our allies said stay in the deal. the international atoij energy y in the deal when you walk away from diplomacy, you raise the risk of unnecessarewar. and thnts that have happened since the president pulled out of a diplomatic deal are entirely pre.dictab military, economic, diplomatic, rhetorical provocationrd iran that are responded in kind, and then that raises the risk oi esca violence, including military action or war, in aus very dangeegion, and it's harmful to the united states' erests.y int >> woodruff: do you think the president does want war? >> my gut is i think the president is more naturally an isolationist who campaigned and told the american pubc that he doesn't want to be involve invon more wars in the mideast, that that's not the right thing to do. but the president does have

people around him who have fo years spoke ben their desire to do regiminchangran, or even to be engaged in military action againstnkran. and i thome of the president's advisers, frankly, buffaloed him into a position where he backed out of the iran uffaloing they are him into a position where we could be in an unnecessary war. and i'll make tht aplain: there is no reason for the united states to be in a war with iran right now, but the preussident moveown a path toward an unnecessary war when he canceled diplomacy. >> woodruff: senator tim kaine, and we know you and othee tors have introduced legislation to ask the president to seek congressional authorizatn for sending those troops to iran. >> if he thinks we need to be in a war, he should least make that case to congress and let us have a debate and a vote.'t he shoule doing this on his own. >> woodruff: senator cae, we ank you. >> thanks, judy.

>> woodruff: and now for another view, we turn to dov zakheim. he was theentagon comptroller, the department of defense's chief financial officer, under president george w. bush, cud is ently a senior advisor to the center for strategic and international studies. welcome back to the newshour. >> thank you. >> woodruff: so let's start by talking about iran. you just hea senator tim kain say he thinks the president's advisers have buffaloed him into getting into a poition where we may be at war with iran. what do you believe should be? done by the u. >> well, he's not going to be buffaloed. this president doesn't get buffaloed. ht's running for office rig now. he likes to check off all the promises he made last time miaround. he ped no war. he'll do whatever he can to avoid it. hending troops, but i think what he could do more isto probably tryully the allies into not trying evade the sanctions. there are a bunch of countries that we're friendly with that are sellinoil toran. try to avoid that, squeeze the iranians more, but i don't think heants to go to war. >> woodruff: do you think it

was right to send the 1,000 or dditional troops? >> well, you know, what's 1,000 troops? frankly, if we start anything with the iranians, they're not going to retaliate directly. they never do. they blew up the marine barracks. that was hezbollah. that's how they operate.an >> woodruff: ito turn to-- so much to ask you dov zakheim-- but on anpatrick shan we saw him withdraw his nomination today. he did have extensive experienc in the last few years in the pentagon. how was see heene there?h and now tat this information has come out about his past, does thae t chaat you believe would have been his qualifications? >> well, he had some other issues. for a start, he wasn't terribly popular. he was not seen as a particularly decisive person. he was noseen asomebody who was ready to fight back with the white house. i worked for a guy named don rumsfeldoand heught whenever he felt he needed to fight. that wasn't the perception of

pat shanahan. in addition there were some other issues. there was tis incident where the department of defense, the navy, seemed to hear somebody from somewhere ine th white house to cover up the joh mccain-- the warship because ate president was going to be in japan. aused a stir. there was a stir over boeing, and the fact that it was a boeing official. there was a lot going on. >> wdruff: that you're saying were problematic with his nomination which the pent was going to go forward with. >> well, you know, for a start, it would have been a very, very rough confirmatn, number one. and, number two, again, does the president really wantsort of thing to happen when he's just launched his campaign? >> wlydruff: just quio button that part of this up, do you think the white house vetting process i sufficient? is it what it should be? >> it's terrible. and not ony is it terrible, but they don't realize that all this stuff comes out because th senate staff also does their

work. and they talk to the f.b.i. and they'll keep digging and dig till they find something, and it's not just the majority staff. it's the minority staff. so that the democrats could have found this out and made a fuss about it. >> woodruff: and we heard our congressional correspondent lisa desjardins say that meenbers of the e have known about some of these incidents for some let's tast very quickly, jme. though, finally about army secretary mark esper. the president has now nminat him. how do you view his qualifications and how does he compare anahan? >> well, mark, in a way is the onti-shanahan. he's very, verypular. he served. he's an armyfficer. he gets along brilliantly with general millie, the chief ofst f, who is going to become the chairman of the joint chief of staff of staff. popular on the hill, just very well liked, seems to be capable. and i know him personally, and think very highly of him. >> woodruff: and so likely to get through the conrmation process. >> if the president nominates him. big if, you just heard.

>> woodruff: dov zakheim, thank you for joini. >> thank you for having me. >> woodruff: president trump revealed plans on twitter last night for u.s. immigration and customs forcement, known as ice, to begin removing "millions of illegal aliens, as fast as they can," next week. amna nawaz spoke to the top ice administration official earlier today. >> nawaz: here with f is former ch u.s. border patrol under the obama administration and current acting director of ice, mark morgan. director morgan, welcome to the newshour. >> thank you. >> nawaz: so we heard there the president tweeted about this launch of mass arrests next week. he repeated that on the white house lawn just a little while ago. is your agency launching mass arrests beginning next week?ro >>a law enforcement perspective, i'm not going to confirm our operation

activities for i think obvious reasons. but what i can say is the tpresident is very clear h what he's tweeting out is that he wants to maintain the integritof the system, and he wants to make sure that we're supporting and enforcing the rule of law and that's really what this is about. that's really what the tweet is about, is that if you are here in viation of federal immigration law, regardless of alat classification or demographic you fwithin, that law is going to be applied to you fairly and stice across the board. >> nawaz: but the president is saying tghese will bein next week. you can't confirm if what the president is saying is tnoe? >> i't going to confirm from an operational capacity and stance when we are going to dois >> nawaz: in the process of launch something mass arrests if you do so moving before, we've seen this happen in the past where ice agents will arrest are while a child is being dropped off at school or while children are in daycare. what will you do soi the chldren aren't left behind? >> let me tell you what we've

done ae conti do specifically with families. we've geffen them a tremendous amount of due process. we have made sure they hav access to attorneys. we have made sure they have access to legal counsel, interpreters. we maid sure they new and and where they were supposed to go h the department of justice so families were put at the head of the line. when we did that, over 90 failed to show up. >> nawaz: it's interesting you mention that, though,iehere were stback in january about fake dates being provided by ice agents, meaning there was mass miscommunication families showed up, thousands of families showed up on a date they weren't supposed t get. that was ice's fault. how do you know the same thing isn't happening today? >> i would have to look at the data. i'm not sure thers numre correct that you're telling me. let me say due process has been we have sent out over 2,000 letters once they receive a final order of removal and we said, "hey, come in. ur family. work with ice. we'll give you 30 days to get your affairs in order, ande'

help return you to your country." so right now what, i would tell these individuals thate had final orders, come to ice. turn yourself in. work with ice. and we'll help remove balko your country of origin, rather than ice having to come out, y tots having to come and t track you down to enforce the rule of law. i would tell these families come work with ice. don't make us go after you and get you. >> nawaz: are the worried that the president's tweet or public statement in any way endangers safety of ice agents? >> i think that's always a concern. but right now, the message we're trying to get out there is to really make them awat we are going to enforce the rule of law. what we hope is go happen is just what i said, that they're actually going to work e th us. theying to come and turn themselveses into ice agents and we will work with them to remove them to their countrie we don't want to have to go and track them down in the neighborhoods and the positive. we don't want what and i don't want that for themily.

>> nawaz: but you are concerned your agents will be put at risk. >> no, i'm not worried. naey're profess. they know exactly what they need to do and have the tools and training to make sure they conduct these operation within safety for themselves as well as the individuals that they're trying to apprehend. >> nawaz: last year when the oakland mayor publicized to hert comman impending raid the trump administration said she was putting ice agents' lives at risk. >> you're scwg me to give specifics and i'm not giving specific.my ecollection is the mayor gave specifics. right now, those specificaren't out there. >> nawaz: senator lindsey gram said today we ne to prioritize people here illegally that present a security threat at some kind. are you already over the congressionally funded limit of people in detention. you are at a record high 52, detainees on any given day. if you were to prioritize people object wouldn't that lessen distress stres on the system and

improve conditions for detainees. >> hardworking men and women of ice every day prioritize, and our priorll be to remove those individuals that pose a violent threat to this country-- rapists, pedophiles, murderers. that h been and always will b our priority. but having a priority doesn't mean then you ignore and exemptc otherongratulations. priority does not mean you ignore certain cond atulations, at's what we're doing right now. we need to make sure that we send the right message that if you come here, you receive due process, and you receive an order of removal, that you can should bemoved. the rule of law should be applied to you eqally. >> nawaz: of the nearly 160,000 arrested by ice last year only 3% have final deportation orders. over 54,000 had absolutely no criminal record. how is that a safety and security priority? >> again, i'll reiterate tht the threat priority will always be the same. sof you look at those numbers, the majority of them were criminals, though. so through our criminal

apprehension program, working with our sheriffs' offices, the majority of people that were removing, are arrested are criminal alien. >> nawaz: 34% were not and are going intoacilities that are near or past capacity. 24 people have died in ice detention the trump administration, three since april alone. so if you were to lessen the number of people in custody, would that not help to make sure no one else dies on your watch? >> no, think you're mixing two things that are completely unrelated. again, we have to focus about the rule of law and the integrity of the system. if you come here in violation of federal law, you should have consequences applied. the rule of law should be enforced. and just because you're not a criminal alien, doesn't mean we shouldn't enforce th. if we do that, the integrity has no system. if we do, that thentire fros include a removal order by a judge is meaningless if we never apply. ask that's what they understand. if you come here way child, that's a passport into the united states. and wowns get here, if smoght ever happens to you, the pull

factor is unbelievable. they're going to keep come waig child, get in here, nothing happens you. that's a slippery slope. and no integrity in the system. and the rule of law is being eroded if we don't apply consequences. >> nawaz: none of that changes in the fact in your detention centers right now, watchdog groups have found egregious violations, inadequate medicare and 24 people dying in your detention centers over the past year. what are you doing to stop that? >> every single day we're trying to improve what we do. if you look nationally the statistics on the facities we have we are trying to improve. the i.g. came out way report that nlked about conditions 2018. we've met every single one of those conditions. and think we can always get better, and we are striving to get better. but that's a differe issue than the issue of enforcing the rule of law and making se there's integrity in the system. >> nawaz: another investigation found ice has been improperly depilortingary veterans. one immigration advocate said there could be as many as 2,000. do youan know howmilitary veterans you have deported? >> i don't have that level of

detail at ts point >> nawaz: do you intend to find out? >> of course. i've been on the job three weeks and i'll continue to go everything i can to get better at what we do. but that still does not remove the need to enforce the law rainst people that are e illegally and to try to stop the humanitarian crisis. and the best way we can do thato ispply consequences that those who have final removal orders. ifo that, we'll send a message to stop coming to stop k.king that dangerous tre right now we have children that are being bought. they are being rented and bru braut across the borders, fake families, and being recycled and represented again. that's something we should all be concerned about. ifhe apply te rule of law and consequences, that will stop happening. all americans should concerned about that and get behinding that. >> nawaz: acting director of ice, marnkk morgan, tou for being here. > thank you.

>> woodruff: president trump is in orlando tonight, and so is our own yamiche alci reporting on the second bige whithouse story of the day. ♪ ♪ >> there was live music, food truck, and lots of trump swag. devoted supporters also lined up overnight and wait hours to get event.e if these scenes feel frnlg it's because they are. rynce taking office in jan 2017, the president has held dozens of rallies across the country. ur more years! >> reporter: still, mr. trump dubbed this stop in flrida his official 2020 campaign aannouncement. >> the president is laying doto ay we're looking at 2020 and let's go. >> the venue f the reallies

it, orlando's amway cen see the 20,000. 53-year-old alfred drake vote forward the president in 2016 and plans to do it again. >> i'm just looking fo everything to go the way it's going right now. there are a lot of jbs. i hope the-- he can get... change the congress to republicans so he can get more done so they work with him instead of against him. >> elizabeth williamson is also sticking with the pent in 2020, despite disagreeing with some of his immigration policies. what do you make of the administration's child separation polic does that at all give you pause with the pesident or what do you make of it? >> a bit with that point. i don't believe they shld be held too long apart. they don't think they should be separad, though. these are innocent children. it's a really terrible situation. but here i am, i support our president, and i h wope-- iish him well for another four years. >> of course, not everyone indn orcheered the president's

visit. undocument immigrants who say they worked at the president's properties and others gathered to criticize him on immigration. >> this is the one story the administration doesn't talk aout: the undocumented immigrants who wok r donald trump in his house for many, many years. these ae the same people he vilifies. >> and next week,lorida will again be in the spotlight, democratic candidates will travel to miami for the first presidential primary debates. lld today, judy, there was a large opposition r thousands of democrats gathered to protest the president seek a second term. >> woodruff: yamiche, thanks. that's quite a crowd there. we know theesident has been holding campaign rallies virtually throughout his time in office. what's different about this one? >> well, of course, uike any other president, the president has been crisscrossing the country, talking to hissu orters since the beginning of his presidency. the campaign tells me that this campaign rally is going to be a little bit ditch because, one, he's going to have the first

lady, melania trump with him. heceill also have the president, mike pence with him. but they say this is a reset for him to make the case that he's ready for the 2020 campaign, that he's assemblan his team d wants to talk about the economy but also talk about health care and immigration and all the issues he's been talking about at other rallies. >> woodruff: and, yamiche, hau been talking to a number of these supporters. what are they saying to you about his last few years in office, and what are inhey say about what they think his chances are? >> well, the presi supporters are more devoted than ever, at least the ones that are coming to this really. i have been talk to people about the mueller report better, haesident's internal polling possibly showinghe might be trailing joe biden in key states. they all said they want the presid at not to change . they want him to keep talking about the economy, keep talking about immigration, pursuing those had-line policies that he's of course been known for. and they also say they like his brash brand of politics. they want him to keep tweeting. people at least in twdhis cro are very happy with what the president has been doing and they want him to keep doing that.

they think that will guarantee him a second term. >>, oodruff: and, yamic know florida say swing state. both parties very much want to win florida. democrats have been down there protesting the president's really today. they've been out on the street. what is theiressage? >> well, there's really been a key issue here. they have democrats gathering just a few blocks away from the president coming here in florida. so the message of democrats has been this president is unqualified. they have also been making the casee employed undocumented immigrants at his policy and is being hypocrital when shhe pu for hard-line immigration policies. they also say democrats will be better on health care, better on ee economy,ven. and they say the president is someone who shouldn't number office, pointing to the mue, er repolking a little bit abt impeachment. they're saying the president shouldn't number office anymore and they have a better plan for the counoy. >> wdruff: yamiche alcindor, there to watch the president's campaign rally toight in orlando. thank you, yamiche. >> thanks so much.

>> woodruff: tonight, we begin a special series about the threat from influenza. every year, the seasonal flu emerges and kills tensf thousands of americans, and hundreds of thousands globally. but, there is an even graver concern: public health officials fear the emergence of a new, previously unknown flu virus that could be far more letl, and become a pandemic by spreading across the world. w liam brangham reports, it's happened before. >> the heart and my heartbeat, because of course i didn't have a beating heart for a little bit.ix >> brangham:ears ago, autumn reddinger started feeling sick. but she was a 33-year-old mom, she was really healthy, so she didn't think much of it. >> it was two days after

christmas, and i just kind of felt a little junky, you know. little cough here and there, bu. nothing horrib i had texted my fiance, and it was a big jumbled mess, and that's when he pretty much... >> brangham: the words you texted didn't make sense. >> they di't make sense. and honestly, i don't even remember him coming to pick me up. >> braham: reddinger was rushed to her local hospital in punxsutawney, pennsylvania, where doctors diagnosed her with the flu.ng >> my started to feel on fire. >> brangham: meaning, when you would breathe in, it would burn, >> breathereathe out. it just, it burned. >> brangham: the flu was attacking her lungs, fling them with fluid. she was then medevaced to university of pittsburgh medical center, where she was eventually put under the care of dr. holt murray. >> the lungs become very boggy. they fill with water, and yomore not able t oxygen from the outside world into your bloodstream. >> brangham: you can't bathe. >> you can't breathe. >> brangham: it kept getting worse. her lungs were failing. she was put on a ventilator, but even that couldn't get enough oxygen into her. >> it was a nurse who slipped up and made a comment about me

dying, and i was just like, what? oh yeah, you died, like, tcewi >> it runs through the pump and oxygenator and comes out cherry red. >> brangham: that is a very intensive intervention to try and save someone's life. >> it's as intensive as it gets. fwe're taking five liters blood a minute, taking it out of the body and returning it.t >> brangham: jregular trip to the doctor. >> it was a long day. >> brangham: days like that are whateep dr. anthony fauci up at night. >> in 2017, 2018, we had the rst seasonal flu in recent memory. about 80,000 deaths, and almost a million hospitalizations. you do that every year for 20, 30, 40 years... l. brangham: it's a huge t >> at the end of that time, that's a huge toll in illness and death. >> brangham: fauci is the

director of the national institute ofllergy and infectious diseases at the national institutes of health. he says while manyake the so-called seasonal flu for granted, it still kills tens of thousands in the u.s. every year. >> so this is the flu virus, and these are the inner core. >> brangham: but the seasonal flu isn't really what fauci loses sleep over. it's the concern that a new flu strain emerges-- a virus we've never seen before, and have no protections against. like what happened in 1918. >> in 1918, we were swimming in the dark, as it were. ne>> brangham: that year, virus emerged, triggering one of the worst pandemics in humanhi ory. often called the spanish flu,il this virusd at least 50 million people worldwide, and reached almost every nation on earth. about 675,000 people died in th. lone. >> you had this disease that was spread very quickly across the world, that was killing millions

of people. and yet, people didn't know what it was that was killing them. >> brangham: dr. jeremn directs the office of emergency care research at the national institutes of health, and wrote the book, "influenza: the 100- year hunt to cure the deadliest disease in histo." brown says, not only did doctors not understand this was a virus sickening people, but they had no antibiotics to treat the secondary,eadly pneumonia that often accompanies flu. the treatments they did have often made thingworse: >> you had blood-letting. you had enemas. everybody seemed to get enema back then. >> brangham: exactly at the moment when you're incredibly dehydred because of the pneumonia. >> and then, whiskey and champagne. >> brangham: all this led to a higher than normal death rate among 20- to 40-year-olds, the people typically much less susceptible to flu. more soldiers were killed by 1918's flu than died in battle during world war i.an >> anfluenza spreads rapidly.

brangham: since 1918, the world has seen three flu pandemics. thankfully, none has been as deadly as the first. ere was the 1957 asian flu. 11 years later, the hong kong flu. and, most recently, the 2009u. swin >> it wasn't particularly virulent, so that the number of deaths in 2009 among the general population was even less than a regular seasonal flu. even though there were many more infections. >> brangham: the concern, of course, is that the next pandemic would be both contagious and deadly. that's what has public health officials worried today. if, or when, that next new virus emerges, it will be there researchers t the centers for disease control in atlanta who will try and spot it, and identi it as quickly as possible. >> it's not an earthquake or a hurricane, with just one geography affeed. the whole world is vulnerable. >> brangham: when a new strain emerges, it's up to dr. anne schuchat and her colleagues

help identify the virus, monitor its spread and help coornate treatment of the sick. she's the principal deputy director of the c.d.c. >> you don't want to have a plan that assumes things are going like this wh your early observations point in another direction. so the better the working relationships are, the more quickly you can adapt, the morei le the response. >> brangham: schuchat stresses the importance of early detection. even two weeks can make an immense difference in vaccineve pment and saving lives. >> we know we will have more pandemics of influenza. it's not if, it's when. >> brangham: you're confident of that.>> bsolutely. the probability of a pandemic tomorrow is the same as it was in 2009. so we can't be complacent about our state of preparedness. but we can't assume that the next pandemic will be like the last ones. we have to work through the different scenarios.ng >> bm: and the c.d.c. are not the only ones gaming out those scen nios. >> we ha given it all the

attention it deserves. >> brangham: last may, johns hopkins iversity put together an exercise to simulate whatd coppen in the next flu pandemic.sa congresswoman brooks of indiana, who has co-sponsored legislation to bolster the nation's preparedness blic health emergencies, was part ofi the ex. >> every time you do an exercise you realize where the gaps are. if large numbers of people begin to get sick-- actually, your economy is impacted, our national security can be impacted, there are so many things that people ju don't realize. >> brangham: in this scenario, a year and a half into t pandemic, the hypothetical clade x flu had killed 150 million people worldwide. a vaccine was still stuck in development phase. the u.s. president and vice president were both sickened, as was a third of congress. the u.s. government nationalize the entire heare system to coordinate its response.al

anof these were considered realistic projections. a >> the the types of things that most citizens don't think about. we don't want to thinkbout them. but yet, we expect the systems to be in pla to take care of em. ni expect the medical community, pharmaceutical com, diagnostic community, everyone to be ready. that's not how it works. >> brangham: years later, much of autumn reddinger's experience is still a mystery. you have no idea how you g the flu. >> no idea, no clue, no idea. >> brangham: she carries a few lingering traces of her brush with influenza-- some scars, a few side effects. >> i just kept telling myself, it's okay. you're a miracle, you' alive. yeah, your toes might not bend. yeah, your lungs act a little funny. yeah, your memoris shot, you have a few scars, but you're alive.

>> brangham: her case remains a striking reminder of just how serious this virus can be. for the pbs newshour, i'm william brangham. >> woodruff: in the next installment of william's series, he will zero in on how the flu can jump from animals to human, and the intense detective work being done to make sure that a new strain doesn't spread and become a deadly pandemic. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online, and again here tomorrow evening. r all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, and we'll see you so. >> 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,l german, itn, and more. >> consumer cellular. >> financial services firm raymond james. >> the ford foundation.is working with vionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. >> carnegie corporation ofew york.

supporting innovations in education, democratic engament, and the advancemen of international peace and security.

hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & company. here's what' coming up. >> we always have the authorization to defend american interests. >> as iran threatens tore out of uranium limits set by the nuclear deal, america considers a full range of options in response to attacks on shipping. where will this current standoff end? iran ambassador to britain joins me for an exclusive interview. and top u.s. diplomat william burns weighs in. in hong kong, protesters won't back down. even after the chief executive suspends that controversial extradition law. her to resign. i'll speak to pro- mocracy activist nathan law. also, america's poet