captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc uf >> woo good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: acting secretary of defense patrick shanahan steps down after incidents of domestic violence within his family are exposed. en, as president trump threatens to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, a conver acting director of immigration and customs enforcement. and, we are on the ground in orlando, florida, ahead of the formal launch of president trump's 2020 reelection campaign.on plus, the seasal flu virus kills tens of thousands of americans every year. but, the lurking threat of pandemic flu-- one that would kill millions globally-- has resechers racing to prepare. >> the probability of a pandemic

tomorrow is the same as it was in 2009. so we can't be complacent aboutt oue 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 pbyrovide >> kevin.in >> kev >> kevin? >> advice for life. life well-planned. learn more at raymondjames.com. >> text night and day. >> catch it on replay. >> burning some fat. >>t!haring the latest viral >> you can do the things you like to do with a wireless plan designed f you.

with talk, text and data. consumer cellular. learn more at consumercellular.tvbe >> b a language program 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 pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: actinsecretary of defense patrick shanahan withdrew himself from consideration for that job on a permanent basis, and resigned as deputy secretary of defense today.h he did so as be "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 hitting him. but in 911 aud obtained by "usa today," kimberly shanahan said it was her husband beating her. >> my hulz is throwing punches at me. he's trying to leave in a lexus. >> did he hit m>>? he's been hitting me. i don't snea need a medic. he's swinging punches at me and calling me jerk. and this is not the first time i called the police on him. >> woodruff: that was from a 911 call. >> woodruff: that wa a 911 call. in another, moreicious incident in 2011, shanhan's then-17-year-old son beat his mother with a baseball bat,av g her unconscious with a fractured skull in a pool of blood. patrick shanan then sought to manage the young man's surrender

to police on felony charges. shanahan has served in an acting capacity at the peagon 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 that came up a little bit over the last short period of time, and as you know, pat was "acting," and so "acting" gives you much greer flexibility. lot easier to do things. so that's the way it is. too bad. >> woodruff: in a statement "day, shanahan said it was "unfortunate" thatinful and deeply personal" family incident was "dredged up." hhe also said he never lads on his wife. aaron davis is an investigative repoer for the "washington post," and in a series of conversationover the last 24 hours, he spoke with patricksh ahan about the domestic disputes holding up his

nomination. aaron joins us now. aaron davis joins us now. and welcome to the newshour. quite a story. what is the sum of what ha happened in those two incidents? and were those the only two over the course of this turbulent marriage? >> no, this is a very long, involved divorce fid custody battle. it goes on fo 1500s pages, and there are numerous epides, these being two keystone moments. nobody looks good in s. there are pieces of paper and statemen that the ex-wife hit patrick, that the kids have ll said things that i'm sure that they regret. 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 ivate matter. and i think it became clear to patrick shanahan in the last couple of days, that heeas going to ho address this publicly, that this was going to be something that was likely going to be a televissi

disc. >> woodruff: so was willing to talk and prepared to talk 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 thantt co we do have his word and her word. and she says that hehe puher in the stomach. he says that, "i never laid a hand on herment. her." he said that again to me las night and this morning, absolutely not. 0,is particular episode in 201 he describes as he's laying in bed sleeping or close to it, and she comes in and punches him i the face. he's seeing stars but doe't react. but they kind of know each other-- it seems they know each other's buttons. he lays there trying not to react. she throws clothes out the window, tries to set them on fire. e ese are messy, horrible situations all y through. >> woodruff: and the following year, his children have, as yu

reported, moved in with the former wife. >> right. >> woodruff: in another parto of thentry. and then the son, the 17-year-old son and the wife get into an argument, and the son ends up, as we described beatinh his mo with a baseball bat. patrick shanahan arrives in town soon after at but doesn't help get his son into thefo policr questioning. >> there's a lot going on in this floridt a par the story. we started looking at this because of that, this for-day time period. he flies to florida in the dark of night when he gets a cal fliz son who is leaving the scene of the crime. he gets down there and there's this next four-day period in which he doesn't turn his son over to police. there's an active police search going on for his he says he's unaware of that for ane first several days, calls 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 at time, that four-day period. it was over a thanksgiving

holiloy. there are of things going on. it's hard toue know, the prosecutors, the judges, nobody that we talked to purposely said was going over the te 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 hear starts writing about wn 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 vie awes an imbalance of force, she had been abusing him for three hours. >> woodruff: just in our few seconds that we have left, aaron davis, whaare the mai questions that you have coming out of this that are still not >> well, how does an secretarying secretary of defense have this sitting infn open coure that the administration not look at. we know that moths ago we briefed them on some of these very issues so the white house knew about thimonths ago.

>> woodruff: months ago. >> months ago. second to, that this was something the acting secretarys early trying to keep from becoming public. if this was not brought out, here you have aery sensitive topic he did not want to come out, it is a potential issueor blackmail of the secretary of defense. >> woodruff: very, very difficult topic. h "the washington post," thank you very much. >> woodruff: joining me to tal about the political fallout, our capitol hill correspondent lisa desjardins, and our house correspondent yamiche alcindor, rawho joins us from a trumy in orlando, florida. we have just been talking about the allegations, yamiche. from your reporting, did the white house know about this months ago? anif so what, didhey do about it? >> well, the president says he learned about these domestic violence allegations agains acting secretary shanahan yesterday, but i'm told that it

could be unclear, that the white house might have known even longer tthn that. being said, once the president knew about these domestic violence allegations he continued to support shanahan, he did not see any of the allegations as unm ualifying. ld the president was ready to fight for this nomination and go all the wayrohh for brett calf new york of course now supreme court justice bett kavanaugh. shanahan went to the white house 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 presidenis now ted to nominate marcus berg. and the president is ming on and hopes shanahan takes time with hisamily. >> woodruff: yamiche, competing with the crowd noise. yamiche, we know thatthat this follows the white house firing of rob porter, who was the white house stff secretary. this was in the wake of disclosures viout domestic ence in his baebd, raising questions on the part of some about whether this white house is eitheing enough to vet

the people they nominate, or wwhether they areilling to put forward people who have questionable behaviors an t actions ur past. >> judy, it's a key question, and that was the question i put to a white ho tse aiday. i said, "what do you say to people who say this white house is supporting men who are accused of domese,c viole including rob porter?" that person said it would be diculous to lin rob porter and act secretary shanahan. that person said becau rob porter left the white house last year, it's unfair to do that. the preside also has said in the past because he feels like he was falsely acced of sexual battery and sexual assault, he understands men armetimes falsely accused. the white house 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 from tat. rob porter resigned, but the president has been ctent 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 lisa. you have been talking to a lot of members of congress. what are they saying about 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 arm services committee, james inhofe, told me and other reporters he knew about the allegations for some time. he was waiting to see what else he got about them. there was universal reaction among senators that they like the choice of mike esper, the current army secretary. he is someone who gained a lot of confidence fromm mebers. it's opposite of how shanahan came into the senate. therwere a lot of questions about shanahan, particularly from inhofe. would you describe him as someone with humility. hofe publicly said no, he did not see shanahan with someone heth humility. as gotten on borted shanahan

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

iran president hassan rouhan insisted today that his nation will not wage war. u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo said that sending 1,000 mo troops to the region is esterrent, not an escalation. foreign affairs condent nick schifrin takes it from >> schifrin: in washington today, the u.s. and european top diplomats presented a unite front, but te sharply divided on iran.ei e.u. forgn affairs chief federica mogherini's visit came less than 24 hours after that ikoop announcement, which secretary of statepompeo described as strictly defensive. >> president trump does not want war, and we will continue to whcommunicate that messagee doing the things that are necessary to protect american terests in the region. >> schifrin: but while the administration's policy is maximupressure, mogherini on monday urged maxum 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. blames an 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. inn interview with "time" magazine, president trump called the attacks "very minor," but that he would "certainly" 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 dramatically reducted iranian oil exports, and revenue. economically, iranian president hassan rouhani is publicly defiant. >> ( translated ): despite all of the aricans' efforts in the 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 caps i by the nuclear deal on enrichment and stockpiles if europe can't deliver economic

benefits. european diplomats, who met yesterday in luxembourg, say they are caught between the u.s. pressure campaign, and trying to pressure iran to stay in the deal, as german chancellor angela merkel sa ( yesterday. translated ): in regard to the nuclear deal, we are pushing iran to abide byt. if that is not the case, there will of course be consequences. >> schifrin: but anasts say europe will struggle to fulfill iran's demands. and more u.s. troops will soon arrive in the region, as , nsions continue to escalate. for the pbs newshom 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 sparked weeks of mass protests and clashes with police, and pro-democracy iactivists said the apolo

not enough. >> all of our demands-- carrie lam steppindown, 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. rse ousted former president of egypt, mohammed was buried today, under heavy security. that came as the u.n. human rights office called for a prompt investigation of his death. the islamist lder collapsed and died in a cairo court on monday. international groups and morsi's now-banned muslim brotherhood charged that prison condit ruined his health. back in this country, a court odrtial began in san diego for a u.s. navy seal charged with war crimes while serving in

iraq. edward gallagher is accused of killing an islamic state prisoner and shooting unarmed civilians. president trump now says he will hold trade talks with chinese president xi jinping at a g-20 summitn japan next week. he tweeted today that he spoke xi by phone, and said they will have what he called "an extended meeting." but at a senate hearing, u.s. trade representative robert lithizer said tariffs may the only real hope. i on't know if it'll get them to stop cheating, tariffs alone. i think you don't have any other option. know one thing that won't work, and that is talking to them, because we've done that for 20 years-- and i know youe agree with 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 . 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 $1 billion to local governments for wildfire losses cay its equipment. today's settlement covers fire from 2015, 2017 and last year. the utility already filed for federal bankruptcy protection,ci 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 the plane37 all existingax's are now grounded, while boeing works on problems linked to crashes in indonesia and ethiopia that killed 346 people. the father of a chd killed in

a 2012 school massacre has won a defamation suit against the authors of a book that claed 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 authors lives. a later trial will dec monetary damages. facebook is moving into digital currency. the social media giant rolled out plans today for its own currency, called "libra." it is being developed partnership with paypal, uber, visa and others. facebook aims to launch the currency in six to 12 nths. and, on wall street, stocks jumped after the president sd he will hold trade talks with china's president. the dow jones industrial average gained 353 points to close at26 65. the nasdaq rose 109 points, andd the s&p 50ded 28. still to come on the newshour:

what the staff shaup at the top of the pentagon means during rising tensions with iran. a conversation with the new acting director of immigrations and customs enforcement. on the ground in orlando, flida, as president trump formally kicks off his reelecti campaign. and, much more. oo >>uff: senator tim kaine serves on the armed services committee, which would have heli a confir 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, presiden trump was will stick with him. >> well, judy, here's a real serious problem: we have not had a confirmed secretary of defense since the end of 2018. we're living in a very challenging time right now. the president announced his

intention to nominate secretary shanahan, and he made them-- he made him an actseincretary, but up until this morning, we still didn't actually have the nomination. the nomination papers hadn't been sent over. we department have the f.b.i. report, which is standard for a we were seeing press reports that the president was rethinking and neighbor dectoidg no nominate secretary shanahan. today, the president said that he's going to ask secretary of the army mar tk esper to e acting secretary of defense. secretary esper has been on theo joa long time. doesn't the president know whether or not he wouldike to nominate him for the job? an acting is no substitute for a confirmed secretary in terms of th the gravitas they gain within the organization once th're confirmed, and als the degree which congress can exercise oversight in that confirtion process. and it's almost like the president would rather have actings that hcan kind of

control, rather than have confirmed by the senate cabinet secretaries. that's no way to run a defense departf:nt. >> woodrell, a lot of questions coming out of this. but one of them is what do you ma of the fact that there are these domestic incidents in mr. shanahan's past, and the fact that the president was sticki with him until this morning? >> it's troubling. many of us voted for secretary shanahan to be in a keyosition in the pentagon over acquisitions. we thought he s very qualified for that. i don't think anyone when they cast that vote thought that he would soon be suggested as theof secretarefense over the entire d.o.d. these are troatling allns, but in some way, the allegations are w kind of moved to the side because the president has announced he's not to be nominated, and here we are as a nation still waiting to find out when will we have a nomee to be secretary of defense seven months now after secretary mattis sepped dn?

>> woodruff: do you have concerns about the administration's vetting process? >> i have concerns about the vetting process. i will tell you, judy, my more significant concern as a member of the armed services committee is this tendency to be very cavalier about, "well, we don't need to send you a nominee. let's just have acting" secretarie that suggests to me that the white house likes to run the defense operation polly 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 duing the trump administration where we believe the solid judgment of the military professionals at the pentagon over matters like whether transgender folks can serve in the military, or whether we should stay in the iranian deal, the soliddvice of the pentagon professionals have been overruled by politic political, you know, judgment and sometimes even political

hacks in the white house who do not have the gravitas that our professional ihave. so ths what worries me the most because we are in 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 aout, senator, and that is iran. what do you believe is the 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 tros, additional troops to the region in the wake of the attacks on the oil tankers last week. >> juy, the pesident's policy has been pretty clear. he tore up a diplomatic de with iran that put a cap on theinuclear program. it wasn't iran that walked away from diplomacy. it was the united states. and m not aware of another instance in our history where it was the united states that back out of aiplomatic deal. his secretary of defense at the ti, secretary of state at the time, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff at the time, national security advtiiser at e

all told the president, "you should stay in this deal beiouse it is making the re and the united states safer." our allies said stay in the deal. the international atoij energy said sta when you walk away from diplomacy, you raise the risk of unnecessary wars and the eveat have happened since the president pulled out of a diplomatic deal are entirely predictable. military, economic, diplomatic, rhdorical provocations towa iran that are responded in kind, and then that raises theisk ofio escalatinglence, including gilitary action or war, in a very dangerous rn, and it's harmful to the united states' security interes. >> woodruff: do you think the president does want war? >> my gut is i think the president is mornaturally an isolationist who campaigned and told the american public that he doesn't want to be involve invon more wars in the middlea est, that that's not the right thing to do. but the president does have

people around him who hve for years spoke ben their desire to do regime change in i or even to be engaged in military action against iran.e and i think s the president's advisers, frankly, buffaloed him into a position where he backed out of the iran keel, and they are buffaloing him into a position where we could be in an unnecessary war. and i'll make that in: there is no reason for the united states to be in a war with iran right now, but the presidewn moved us d path toward an unnecessary war when he canceled diplomacy. >> woodruff: senator tim kaine, and we know you and other senators have introduced legislation to ask the president to seek congressional authorization frending 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 ddebate and a vote. he shouldn't bing this on his own. >> woodruff: senator cane, wk thu. >> thanks, judy.

>> woodruff: and now for another view, we turn to dov zakheim. he was the pentan comptroller, the department of defense's chief financial officer, under president george w. bush, and il curra 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 heard setor tim kaine say he thinks the president's advisers have buffaloed him into where weinto a positio may be at war with iran. what do you believe should be >> well, he's not going to be buffaloed. this president doesn't get buffaloed. he's running for office right now. he likes to check off all the promises he made last time arou n. he promis war. he'll do whatever he can to avoid it. he's seding troops, but i think lhat he could do more is probably try to b the allies into not trying evade the sanctions. there are a bunch of countries that were friendly with that are selling oil to iran. try to avoid that, squeeze the iranians more, but i don't think he wantto go to war. >> woodruff: do you think it

was right to send the 1,000 or more additional 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 thearine barracks. that was hezbollah. that's how they operate. >> woodruff: i want n to-- so much to ask you dov kakheim-- but on patr shanahan. we saw him withdraw his nomination today. he did have extensive experience in the last few years in the pentagon. how was see heene there? and now that this information has come out about his past, does that yange wh 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 not seon as smebody who was ready to fight back with the white house. i worked for a guy named don rumsfeld, and he foght whenever he felt he needed to fight. that wasn't the perceptn of

pat shanahan. in addition there were some other issues. there was this incident where the department of defense, the navy, seemed to hear somebody from somewhere in the white house to cover up the johmc in-- the warship because the president was going to be in sejapan. that ca stir. there was a stir over boeing, and the fact that it was a boeing official. there was a lot going on. >> woodruf that you're saying were problematic with his notnation which the presid was going to go forward with. >> well, you know, for a start, it would have been a very, very rough confirmation, nber one and, number two, again, does the prrident really want that of thing to happen when he's just launched his campaign? >> woodruf just quickly t button that part of this up, do you think the white house vetting process is sufficient? is it what it should be? >> it's terrible. and not only ist terrible, but they don't realize that all this stuff comes out because the senate staff also does their

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 maj staff. it's the minority staff. so that the democrats could have found this out and made a fus about it. >> woodruff: and we heard our congressional correspondent lisa desjardins say that members hf the senatve known about some of these incidents for some time. let's talk jury quickly, though, finally about army secretary mark esper. the president has now nominated him. how do you view his qualifications and how does hena compare to shn? >> well, mark, in a way is the anti-shanahan. he's very, very popular. he served. he's an armyf oficer. he gets along brilliantly with general millie, the chief of w stafo is going to become the chairman of the joint chief of staff of staff. po jlar on the hill, andust very well liked, seems to be capable. and i know him personally, and i think very highly of him. >> woodruff: and so likely to get through the conatfin process. >> if the president nominates him. big if, you just heard.

>> woodruff: dov zakheim, thanyou for joining us >> thank you for having me. >> woodruff: president trump revealed plans on twitter last night for u.s. immigration and customs enforcement, known as icns to begin removing "mill of illegal aliens, as fast as they can," next week. amna nawaz spoke to the top ice administration official earlier today. >> nawaz: here with me is former chief of u.s. border patrol under the obama administration and current acting director of ice, mark morgan. director morgan, welcome to the newshour. hank 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 is your agency launching mass arrests beginning next week?aw >> from a nforcement perspective, i'm not going to confirm our operational

activities for i think obvious reasons. but what i can say is the president is very clear with what he's tweeting out is that he wants to maintain the integrity of the system, and he wants to make sure that we're supporting and enforcing the rule of law. and that's really what this ist. ab that's really what the tweet is about, is that if you are here in violation federal immigration law, regardless of what classification or tmographic you fall wihin, that law is going to be applied to you fairly and justice across the board. >> nawaz: but the president is saying these will begin next week. you canco'tnfirm if what the president is saying is true? >> i'm not going to confirm from an operational capacity and stance when we are going to do >> nawaz: in the process of launch something mass arrests if you do so moving before, we' seen this happen in the past where ice agents will arrest a parent while a child is being dropped off at shool while children are inca day. what will you do so the children aren't left behind?e >> letell you what we've

done and continue to do s.ecifically with famil we've geffen them a tremendous amount of due process. we have made surthey have access to attorneys. we have made sure they have access to legal counsel, interpreters. we maid sure they new and andsu where they werosed to go and worked with the department of justice so families were put at the head of th line. when we did that, over 90% failed to show up. >> naaz: it's interesting yu mention that, though, there were stories back in january about fake dates bey g providede agents, meaning there was mass miscommunication. families showed up, thousands of families showed up on a date they weren't supposed to 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 the numbers are correct that you're telling me. let say du process has been provided. we have sent out over 2,000 letters once they reeive a final order of removal and we said, "hey, come in. bring yo family. rk with ice. we'll give you 30 days to get 'llr affairs in order, and we

help return you to your country." so right now what, i would tell these individuals that have had finalrd oers, come to ice. rself in. work with ice. and we'll help remove balk to your country of origin, rather than ice having to cot, agents having to come and try to track you down to enforce the rule of law. i would tell these families come workt ith ice. doke us go after you and get you. >> nawaz: are the worried that the president's tweet or publiem stt 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 outre thes to really make them aware that we are going to enforce the rul of law. what we hope is going to happen is just what i said, thatal they're acy going to work with us. they're going to come and turn themlveses into ice agents and we will work with them to remove them to their countries. we don't want to have to go and track them down in the neigorhoods and the city positive. we don't want what and i don't want that for the fily.

>> nawaz: but you are concerned your agents will be put at ri>>sk. no, i'm not worried. they're professionals. they know exactly what they need to do and have the tools and training to make sure they conduct these operation within safety for temselves as well as the individuals that they're trying to apprehend. >> nawaz: last year when the oakland mayor publicized to her community an impending raid the trump administration said she was putting ice agents' lives at tsk. >> you're scwg m give specifics and i'm not giving specific. my recollection is the mayor gave specifics. right now, those specificaren't out there. >> nawaz: senator lindsey graham sd today we needo 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,de00 inees 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 ou bpriority wi to remove those individuals that pose a violent threat to this country-- rapists, pedophiles, murderers. that has beeand always will be our priority. but having a priority doesn't mean then you ignore and exempt other cgratulations. priority does not mean you ignore certain congratul'sions, and thhat we're doing right now. we need to make sure that we send the right messagehat i you come here, you receive due process, and you receive an order of removal, that you can should bem reoved. the rule of law should be applied to youly equ >> 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 that the threat priority will always be the same. so if yolook 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 we ae removing, are arrested are criminal alien. an>> nawaz: 34% were notd are going into facilities that are near or past capacity. 24 people have died in ice detention in therump administration, three since april alone. so if you were to lessen the number of people idyn cus would that not help to make sure no one else dies on your watch? >> no, i think you're mixing two things that are completely unrelated. again, we have to f the rule of law and the integrity of the system. on ofu come here in viola 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 ouldn't enforce the law if we do that, the integrity has no system. if we do, that the enostire fr include a removal order by a judge is meaningless if wenever 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 er happens to you, the pull

factor is unbelievable. they're going to keep come waig child, get in here, nothing .appens to yo that's a slippery slope. and no integrity in the system. and the rule of law isngei eroded if we don't apply consequences. >> nawaz: none of that changes in t fact in your detention centers right now, watchdog groups have fou egregious violations, inadequate medicald care, 4 people dying in your detention centers over the past year. at are you doing to stp that? >> every single day we're trying to improve what we do. if you look nationally the statistics on the facilitie have we are trying to improve. the i.g. came out way report that talkedbout conditions in 2018. we've met every single one of those conditions. and i thinwe can always get better, and we are striving to get better. uet that's a different is than the issue of enforcing the rule of law and making sure there's integrity in the system. >> nawaz: another investigation found ice has been improperly depyorting milit veterans. one immigration advocate said there could be as many as 2,000. do youm know how many ilitary veterans you have deported? >> i don't have that level of

detail at this 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 hat still does not remove the need to enforce the law againspeople that are here illegally and to try to stop the humanitarian crisis. and the best way we can do thatp is to aly consequences that those who have final removal or trs. if we dat, we'll send a message to stop coming to stop taking that dangerous tre right now we have children that are being bought. they are being rented uand bra braut across the borders, fake families, and being recycled and represented again. that's something we shll be concerned about. if we apply the rule of law and consequences, that will stop happening. all amricans should be concerned about that and get behinding that. >> nawaz: acting director of ice, marumorgan, thank yor being here. > thank you

>> woodruff: president trump is in orlando tonight, and so is r own yamiche alcindor, reporting on the second bige white hostory of the day. ♪ ♪ >> there was live music, food uck, and lots of trump swag. devoted supporters also lined up overnight and wait hours to get into the ent. if these scenes feel frnlg it's iecause they are. since taking off in january 2017, the president has held dozens of rallies acrosthe counmoy. >> four re years! >> reporter: still, mr. trump dubb this stop in florida his official 2020 campaign aannouncement. >> the president is laying downw to s're looking at 2020 and let's go. >> the venue for reallies

it, orlando's amway center can e the 20,000. 53-year-old alfred drake vote forward the president in 2016 and plans to do it again. >> i'm just looking for everything to go the way it's going right now. there are a lot of jobs. 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 t icking with the presidn 2020, despite disagreeing with some of his imm policies. what do you make of the administration's child does that at all give you pause with the presi nt or what do you make of it? >> a bit with that point. i don't believe they should b held too long apart. they don't think they should be separated, tesugh. are innocent children. it's a really terrible situation. but here i am, i support our president, and i hoe-- i wh him well for another four years. >> of course, not everyone iee orlando d the president's

visit. undocument immigrants who say ey 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 wor dk foald trump in his house for many, many years. these are t same people he vilifies. >> and next week, florida will again be in the spotlight, democratic candidates will travel to miami for the first presidential primary debates. and today, judy, there was a large opposition really. thousands of democrats gathered to protest the president seek a second term. >> woodruff: yamiche, thanks. esat's quite a crowd there. we know the prent has been holding campaign rallies virtually throughout his timin office. what's different about this one? >> well, of course, unlike any other president, the president has been crisscrossing the country, talking to histe supp since the beginning of his presidency. the campaign tells me that thi s campaily is going to be a little bit ditch because, one, he's going to have the first lady, melania trump with him.

he will also have the vice president, mike pence with him. forthey say this is a res him to make the case that he's ready for the 2020 campaign, that he's assembled hiseam an 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, youee havetalking to a number of these supporters. what are they saying to you about his last few years in ayinge, and what are they about what they think his chances are? >> well, the president's pporters are more devoted than ever, at least the ones that are coming to this really. phave been talk toeople about the mueller report better, president's internal polling possibly showing that might be trailing joe biden in key states. they all said they want the president noto change at all. they want him to keep talking t out the economy, keep talking abmigration, pursuing those hard-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. s crowdat least in th 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. >> woodrf: and, yamiche, we 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 be out on the street. what is their message? >> 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 case he emlod undocumented immigrants at his policy and is being hypocrital when heushes for hard-line immigration policies. they also say democrats will be better on health care, better on the ecnomy, een. and they say the president is someone who shouldn't number office, pointing to the muellern report, taa little bit about impeachment. they're sayi the president shouldn't number office anymore and they have a better plan for the country. >> woodruff: yamiche alcindor, there to watch the president's campaign rally tonight 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 tens of thousands of americans, and hundreds of thousands globally. but, there is an even graver concern: public health officials fear the emergencef a new, previously unknown flu virus that could be far more lethal, and become a pandemic by spreading across the world.am as wilrangham reports, it's happened before. >> the heart and my heartbeat, because of course i didn't have a beating heart for a little rs >> brangham: six ygo, 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, but nothing horrible. i had texted my fiance, and it was a big jumbled mess, and at's when he pretty much... >> brangham: the words you texted didn't make sense. >> they didn't me sense. and honestly, i don't even remember him coming to pick me up. >> brangham:eddinger was rushed to her local hospital in punxsutawney, pennsylvania, where doctors diagnosed her with the flu.ar >> my lungs d to feel on fire. >> brangham: meaning, when you atuld breathe in, it would burn? >> breathe in, b out. it just, it burned. >> brangham: the flu was attacking her lungs, filling 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. xyey fill with water, and you're not able to moven from the outside world into your bloodstream. >> brangham: you can't breathe >> 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 ygen 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, twice. you were on a machine to keep you alive. >> brangham: that machine, called an ecmo, took out her dark, depleted blood, pumped it full of oxygen and fed it back h in body. >> 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. we'r blood a minute, taking it out of the body and returning it. >> brangham: just a r trip to the doctor. >> it was a long day. >> brangham: days like that are what keep . anthony fauci up at night. >> in 2017, 2018, we had thet woasonal flu in recent memory. about 80,000 deaths, and almost a million hospitalizations. you do that every year for 20, 30, 40 years... >> braham: it's a huge toll. >> at the end of that time, that's a huge toll in illness and death. >> brangham: fauci is the

director of the national institute of aller and infectious diseases at the national institutes of health. he says while many take e 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. >> bngham: that year, a new virus emerged, triggering one of the worst pandemics in humany. hist atten called the spanish flu, this virus killeeast 50 million people worldwide, and reached almost every nation on earth. about 675,000 people died in tho u.s.. >> you had this disease that was spread very quwokly across the d, that was killing millions

't people. and yet, people dinow what it was that was killing them. >> brangham: dr. jeremy brownce directs the off emergency care research at the national institut of health, and wrote the book, "influenza: the 100- esar hunt to cure the dead disease in history." brown says, not only did doctors not understand this was a virus sickening people, but they had t no antibiotitreat the secondary, deadly pneumonia that often accompanies flu. the treatments they did have often made things worse: >> you h blood-letting. you had enemas. everybody seemed to get an enema back then. >> brangham: exactlye moment when you're incredibly dehydrated 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. >> asian influenza spreads rapidly.

>> brangham: since 1918, the world has seen three flu pandemics. thankfully, none has been as deadly as the first.er was the 1957 asian flu. 11 years later, the hong kong flu. and, most recently, the 2009 swine flu. p >> it wasn'tticularly virulent, so that the number of deaths in 2009 among the general population was even less than a regular seasonal flu. ev though there were many, 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 therges, it will be the researchers here acenters for disease control in atlanta who will try and spot it, and identify it quickly as possible. >> it's not an earthquake or a hurricane, with just one geography affected. the whole world is vulnerable. >> brangham: when a new strain emerges, it's up to dr. anne schuchat and her colleagues to

help intify the virus, monitor its spread and help coordinate 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 when youearly observations point in another direction. so the better the working relationships are, the more quickly you can adapt, the moret nimb response. >> brangham: schuchat stresses the importance of early deteion. even two weeks can make an immense difference in vaccine development and saving lives. >> we know we will have more pandemics of influenza.it not if, it's when. >> brangham: you're confident of that.ol >> aely. 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 xt pandemic will be like the last ones. we have to work through the fferent scenarios. >> brangham: and the c.d.c. are not the only ones gaming out those scenarios.iv >> we have not it all the

attention it deserves. >> brangham: last may, hopkins university put together an exercise to simulate whaten could han the next flu pandemic. congresswoman susan of indiana, who has co-sponsored legislation to bolster the naicon's preparedness for pu health emergencies, was part of the exercise >> 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 just don't realize. >> brangham: in this scenario, a year and a half into the 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 nationalized the entire health catem to coordinate its response.he

and all of t were considered realistic projections.he >> these areypes of things that most citizens don't think about. we don't want to think about them. but yet, we expect the systems to be in place to .ke care of th we expect the medical community, pharmaceutical community 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 got 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're ali. yeah, your toes might not bend. yeah, your lungs act a little funny. yeah, your memory is st, 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 toght. i'm judy woodruff. join us online, and again here tomorrow evening. for al pbs newshour, thank you, and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:l. >> babbe a language app that teaches real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more.me >> concellular. >> financial services firm raymond james. >> the ford foundation. working with visionari on the frontlines of social change worldwide. >> carnegie corporation of new york.

supportingnnovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and secuty. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of thesenstitutions and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning snsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> you're watching pbs.

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