captioning sponsored by ,newshour productllc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. the coming storm.onight: hurricane dorian lays siege to the bahamas it continues its journey closer to the u.s. mainland. then, former secretary of defense james mattis, on leadership, the role of the military and his work in the trump administration. errgeorge washington, the fa of our country, i think put it very well. how you have to listen, learn, help, and then lead. that was his approach and it's one that's served me well.uf >> woo plus, parliament, the prime minister, and the

protests in the street. outrage in the united kingdom as no-deal brexit looms. >> i think this is a british coup. it's very polite, it's very unassuming, and that's the worst thing, it's very quiet. >> woodrf: all that and more on tonht's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the ne that connects .

>> financial services firm raymond james. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> and with the ongoing support of thesed nstitutions: dividuals.al >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by conibutions tyour pbsfr station om viewers like u. thank you.

>> woodruff: hurricane dorian pummeled t bahamas today, leading to several deaths and damage.s called catastrophic officials confirmed at least five people died in the abaco islands. and there are many reports of people in senious distress t. and the prime minister of theth bahamas called the sto "a historic tragedy". the damage was also on the mindt of federal, and local leaders in the u.s. as preparations continued for possible landfall this wk.an john yang reports from florida. a slow, destructive path acrossd the bahamas today. it made landfall yesterday with winds exceeding 185 miles per hour-- a category 5 storm-- the strongest on record to strike the island nation. dorian weakened to a category 4 storm this morning but continued lashing the bahamas. the winds rocked trees.

torrential rains triggered massive flooding. >> some areas you can't tell the difference as to the beginning of the street versus where the ocean begins. >> yang: the current forecast dangerously close theg southeaster u.s. seaboard, dnfshore florida'sast coast tonight through day evening. its expected to pass near thehe carolinas, states of emergency have now been declared. send dorian on shotion could but if it doesn't make landfall it stillas the potential to do major damage. florida governor ron desantis. >> hurricane dorian has shown what it is capable of, it's ablutely battered the bahamas. our ea coast is certainly within the cone stiland people t needremain vigilant, if you're ordered to evacuateou need to do that. >> yang: at the good samaritan

o, kissimmee, outside orlaty a fleet of ambulances transported seniors to a sister facility on higher ground. the community was flooded after hurricane irma in 2017.ri throughout f, past experiences are shaping residents' responses throughout ivette alsina of winter haven, of orlando, stocked up o sandbags, and other emergency supplies you got everything ready here, you're prepared. >> yeah, almost prepared. i think i've got everything. i got the batteries, flashlight, a first d kit. i got food, water, everything is set. >> yang: alsina is among the tens of thousands of puerto t ricans who movflorida caafter rviving 2017's hurricane maria. how did you feel when you heard of this hurricane and that it might be coming towards florida? >> i felt fear, and anxiety. >> yang: anxiety? i was in puerto rin marialy bad.

passed, and thinking that that is coming he now is really bad. >> y cayey, puerto rico, 10 dayste maria to get treatment for high blood pressure. storm warnings this week have put her back on high alert. ee days ago i went to th doctor. he gave me a lot of medicines so i can be calm through these days.an >> other puerto ricans in the area are also feeling tense. ( translated ): i'm not theon one. i've received a lot of callsue from prto rican families whoer ended up he because of maria. they're in critical nervous states. >> yang: millie santiago is another survivor of hurricane maria. f she's helping ilies stayg at an episcopal church conference center outside orlando, where mental health counselors are on hand. yenja krasnow is a university of central florida clinician and social worker. th came to central florida

had some verye traumatic experience, it wasn'tt he storm, there was lossth of live, of house, of pets, of businees. so there was a trauma going on, not just the experience of the hurricane itself. >> yang: in jacksonville, restaurant owner andy zarka is preparing for the possibility his business might end up undeater, as it did during hurricane irma. >> they told us two years ago that irma was a once in a lifetime storm, now here we are two years later and we're getting ready for what could be irma 2.0 >> yang: on jacksonville beach, residents enjoyed the pleasant day while considering their next steps. >> we are going to take our time on making decision to leave. but specially having children, i don't want to make bad decisions.

>> yang: others took advantage t the high waves dorian churned up. w expect the calm to last long. the winds and the waves are already picking up at jacksonville beach, even th gh the brunt rricane dorian won't be feld for another 48 hours or so. orlando airport announced it was suspending operations overnight night which means every major airport on the eastern side of florida from west palm beach to daytona beach is now closed. judy, even if dorian doesn't make landfall, i doesn't mean there won't be damage. the track it's forecast to fake is very similar to hurricane matthew in 2016. that storm, too, stayed off the coast, never made landfall all the way to north carolina. it caused about $3 billion of judy?e and claimed 12 lives. >> woodruff: and we remember that well. so, john, you were telling us you have been talking to a lot of people there in florida about

the decisions they're invest to go, whether to stay. tell us a little bit about what they're saying >> reporter: well, you know, this hurricane has been sort of on the news and in the headlines for about a week now. they started talking about it the good news is that's given a lot of people a lot of time to plan the bad news, it's also give an lot of people time to worry and anxiety levels are high. but i thought that, perhaps, with the storm taking long to get here, wit slowing down over the bahamaso much, that me people might become complacent. but the people i've talked to say they know what storms can do. this is the -- would-be the eighth major hurricane to hit florida since 200. a lot of people say they know what storms can do, they respec thwer, and they also point to andrew, the storm in 1 that did about $27 billion worth of damage, killed 65.si they saye then, they take

every storm seriously. >> woodruff: and, john, they are now issuing, what, evacuation orders in georg and in the carolinas. >> reporter: that's right, up and down the coast, lowying coastal counties -- actually, all the counties along the coase andatory evacuation orders in place. in south carolina, they've begun contraflow, all the interstates going into charleston, all the affic is outbound from charleston to columbia outbound, and the oth parts of the states, the interstates all leading out of charleston. you can't get into charleston, they want people to leave. >> woodruff: even with this hurricane still sitting over the bahamas, so much havoc, it is already creating up and down the john yang reporting for us tonight from jact ksonville bea. thank you, john. back in the >> woouff: back in the bahamas, hurricane dorian spent

much of the day lashing grand expected to hover intods and is tomorrow. the national hurricane center warned this afternoon of ocean storm surges that could be 20 wind gusts were nearly 200 miles an hour at times. phone service has been spotty os disconnected there. so, we checked in this evening with danica coto, who covers the caribbean for "the associated press." she's been reporting with a colleague who is in the bahamasj danins us via skype from n juan, puerto rico. danica, hello ag you, so what are you hearing about what this hurricane has done to the bahamas? >> well there's a lot of out to have islands hit onming sunday but also from grand mahama island, which was affected today on monday, all monday for more than 12 hours. it's a pretty significant amoun of time for anfo island that is

zero to 15 feet above sea level, given the storm surge is expected between 18 and 23 et. >> woodruff: i was seeing in a port you did with your collgue in the bahamas, there distress calls?ike >> correct. for friends and relativesg in relaying messages to a radio station that was then passing on messages to the emergency management agency. a ve-month-old stuck on top ofom a roof to an elderly woman who haa stroke to a pregnant woman to a grandmotherwith six grandchildren who had to literally cut a hole in the roof. many of these people were asking for help, but rescue crews said they were unable to go out, given the currentthwea conditions. so, unfortunately, a lot of e ople were left waiting for hem and, as soon as ather cleared, you know, officials said they could go out and help. most f them went ou the eye passed through grand bahamas.

mostere waiting to be rescued. >> woodruff: you said zero to 15 feet above sea level. how prepared are they to deal with any storm and, in particular, a storm like this one that's just sitting there? >> well, the hamas is pretty used to major storms. from 2015 to 2017, they were hih byee category 4 storms consecutively in those years. the homes are bui to withstand 150-mile-per-hour winds, but rian was no match. dorian was carrying 185-mile-per-hour winds with gusts of up to 220-mile-per-hour winds when ithit the aba eslandss on sunday. >> woodruff: buton't know, is what you're saying the extent of the destorruction. >>ct. officials are saying they are still unable to go to the abaco nday.ds hit on the earliest they would be able to go in and help the communities and nearby keys

would be on 2:0 p.m. tuesday. but a lot remains unknown since the storm hasbasically parked abaco islands for two days. >> woodruff: is it unknown howma people were actually able to leave the bahamas -- i'm assuming not that many -- before the storm hit? >> a lot of people sought shelter, but slaters smany remained -- legislators say many he remained in the tiny keys around grand bahamas and they'r talking abgislation to be able to enforcemandatory ehavg weighs. >> woodruff: but people have to be able to afford to get on a boat or an airplane to do that. >> correct, they provide transportation for many of these people, and ch up to 11:00 a.m. sunday which wa s the last bus leaving for shelters. even then, you know, a couple of shelters in grand bahamas today were reporting problems with flooding.l loporters said children were sitting on laps of adults

as flood waters rose in at least two shelters. some are describing the airport in freeport in grand baham looking like an ocean. people are in second floorof their homes filming videos with waters rising.uf >> woo it's a terrible situation and, of course, we're all waiting to see what more is learned. danica coto with the associated press. thank yo >> woodruff: in the day's other news, four peopldied and another 29 a missing and feared dead after a dive boat sank off the coast of southern california.ve the 75-fooel caught fire before sinking near santa cruz island. the ventura county fire departme the boat engulfed in flames before dawn. all five crew members survived by jumping into the water. c but the u.st guard is for missing passensite looking >> presently the coast guard has

full efforts in a resp posture right now, we are currently still in the response phase. right now they are conducting shoreline searches for any available survivors. >> woodrf: it's still unclear what caused the fire. federal transportation authorities ha sent a team to the scene to investigate. authorities in odessa, texas say the gunman who killed seven in a mass shooting this weekend was the attack.on the day of the shooter wounded at least 22 people before he was killed by police. authorities said he madels rambling co 911 and the f.b.i. before the attack. >> he was on a long spiral of going do. he didn't wake up saturday

morning and go into his company d then it happened. he went to that company in trouble. he's probably been in trouble for a while, which is why we've been reaching out. i talked to some of you yesterday, about we really need the public's help to reach out to us when they see people in that downward spiral that may bd on that o violence. on the latest froma, latereport in the program. in afghanistan, the taliban claimed responsiivlity for a maexplosion that rocked the capital city kabul today, killing at least five civilians. more than 50 others were wounded. it targeted the heavily secured "greenillage" compound that's home to several aid agencies and ternational organizations. the attack happed hours after u.s. envoy zalmay khalilzad briefed the afghan government about a draft peace deal with the taliban. special correspondent jane ferguson is in kabul, and ins us now. hi, judy. this is just the latest of a series of escalating attacks by the taliban in recent days. designed to keep up pressure on both the united states and the e timing is very significant. the u.s. special envoy to those peace talks between the united states government and the taliban that have been taking

place in qatar, zalmay khalilzad justa arrived this weekend back to kabul where he is presenting president afghani with initial details of a proposed agreement between the unitedtates and theaiban. it's believed they are close to agreeing on a u.s. drwdown in afghanistan but have yet to finalize that agreement. in the meantime, the taliban have marched on two major cities in the north ofafghanistan just over the weekend as well. >> woodruff: that's specialco espondent jane ferguson reporting from kabul. thank you, jane. >> woodruff: in ng kong, tens of thousands of students boycotted their first day of class to join anti-government demonstrations. their peaceful rallies followed a weekend of violent clashes with police that resulted in today, high schoolollege school uniforms asy demanded democratic change and an inquiry into police conduct.

>> ( translated ): i think that secondary school students are part of society,nd if we secondary school students decide to boycott classes, that shows that part of societylready stopped functioning. >> woodruff: the mass pro-democracy protests in the semi-autonomous chines territory began in june. police officials havsted more than a thousand people since then. medics in yemen pulled 88 bodies from a demolished detentionun centery houthi rebels. the building was targeted yesterday byaudi-led coalition air strikes. in all, the strikes killed over a hundred people and wounded dozens more. auit was the deadliest ass there so far this ar. and, the trump administration said today it's reconsidering its decision to force immigrants with life-threatening illnesses to return to tir home countries. u.s. immigration and citizenship services abruptly ended theth program last month, sparking

widespread condemnation from the medical community. the policy had allowed immigrants to avoid deportion as they or relatives underwent hefe-saving medical treatment. still to come onewshour: former secretary of defense general james mattis speaks about his decades of s in the marines before he workedor president trump. an uate form odessa texas after a gunman kills at n ast sevein deadly drive by shootings. protestors in the u.k. angry over the prospect ofeaving the european union without a deal. and much more. >> woodruff: now to my interview with former secretary defense, retired marine corps general james mattis. he resigned in protest just nofore christmas last year after president trump ced he

would pull american forces out of syria. the u.s. and its allie trying to finish off theis remnants of th caliphate, and mattis wrote in his resignation letter that he believed mr. trump deserved a secretary of defense whose "views are better aligned with yours." the decorated marine served more than four decades in uniform, including commands in th iraq and afhganistan. he left the corps in 2013 after a tumultuous 2urn running u.s. central command under president obama. secretary mattis has w a new book called "find chaos" learning to lead, andi sat dn with him this morning in new york city. thank you very much r talking with us. >> pleasure to be here this morning. >> woodruff: so the book is called "find chaos," it's about yo 40 years in the maines, it's also about your philosophy

of leadership and there's a lot of advice in here with regard leadership. what does it boil dn ? di well, i think leadership, whether you're l a parish or a school district, your business or you're in the milita or politics, george washington, the father of ourt country t very well. >> woodruff: the book is full of so many stories of your lif among other things how you thought the troops and thean people out on the front lines were not being listened to by people in wahington, and one of those examples was1, in 200 when you thought osama bin laden, you hahim cornered in afghanistan, but the bush administration, in effect, pulled the rug out in front of you. >> the marine corps requir you to read a lot of history, and when our intelligence services

said they believed osama bin laden was in one of two valleys in an area nar torah bora, having studied the geronimo campaign and how you could put in outposts that would cut himpr off, i essed very hard to move against him. the challenge we face -- and you're right to bring it up the way you did, --judis, oftentimes, we have 19 and 25-year-olds out there giving 100% rigorously learning their jobs and carrying them out, but i'm not sure we have been as rigorous in setting poic and this isn't about republicans or democrats or partisan, this goes across party lines, it evn goes throughout the westeie democrright now that seem seem to be stumbling in protection of democratic values and what we ll stand or. >> woodruff: i want to ask you about the few issues touching on , american leadership todd start with russia. you write at the end of the book especially about the critical importance of alliances,am ica's allies. is it a good or bad idea to let

russia back goo the h , whis what the preside has suggested? >> women answer that inwo ways, judy. first, i believe that, when someone departs an administration over policy differences, you have what the french call a duty of reserve. i don't want to, on theoutside, be making it more difficult forf our secretarefense, secretary of state and president who have to deal with this very complex world. there will be time when it'i right for me to come out on strategy and policy disagreements, but i was clear in my letter of resignation that i believed in having alliances and staying true to alliances, and i think that, as we look at the importance of alliances, this is critical that we work with our allies. for example, when this town was attacked on 11, i was joined on the battlefield very quickly by tros from canada and the united kingdom, norway, germany,

austranew zealand, jordan and turkey, not because their city h been attacked, but because we had been attacked. so we need to hold our allies close. in this world, if you study history, nations with allie thrive, and nations without allies wither, and that's a reality. druff: and what about russia joining the g-7? >> yeah, i think i maintain my quiet right now. i don't wa to speak to things things that i'm no longer responsible for. >> woodruff: saudi arabia, thgiven what we know about murder ofmu journalisi,jamal khashos it inthe long-term interest of the u.s. to be working with crown mince mohamed bin salman? >> i think what we have to look about the lessons learned about how do you lead, and pist of is, at times, you have don't share everything in common with, no doubt about that. but when you get into current atsot of and th

keep quiet right now is we have troops all around the world engaged in operations. we have diplomats all around the world engaged in very sensitive negotiations, and, for a former sitting secretary of defense to come out with criticism, w especialn i'm not completely current, i don't know all the backchannel things going on, i think it'unshelpful, especially when i'm contributin to political assessments at a time when the political discussions in this country are so corsive, i think it's better we all, at least the majority of us, leow to roll up our sleeves, listen and work together and try to suprt sound policy that answers the questions you asked. >> woodruff: i hear what you're saying but your book is full of decisions made for. ethical reaso this is an ethical decision, is

it not, given edat mohbin salman is accused of?ve >> i belt would be an ethical decision about working with him. i think you can see arat decision from working with saudi arabia, and that's tilt to -- difficult to do, but ts is sometimes the case that those in have to make accommodations to things, where you take the least of two badns opt >> woodruff: north korea, president trump has praised kimo un as a great leader wiatth "a beautiful vision," and that, due to the president's personal diplomasy,e says he's changed his behavior. how do you assess kim jong un and the success at this point of u. policy the north korea? >> i'm going to frustrate you here, ju, becse i don't believe, now in the cheap seats, is what i would call myself, that i'moing to ngage in political assessment of something like that. there will come a point where want to talk about strablg and policy. eth not yet, but there will come

a time. >> woodruff: but as you know, the election comming up in november of next year, americans will be making a ver vymportant decision about in whom to place ormous decision-making power over the future of this country and the world. are you saying you don't th it's your responsibility to speak up before the election? >> that's exactly what i'm saying. i come from the department ofusefense, and this isn't about me. secretary ash carter, the secretary of defense under president obama, mae very clear that the defense of this cosunty a nonpartisan issue, and that was our area of expertise. he studiously avoided politicalt ents in that, so this is not just me trying to be protective of tre adminion that i just left over policy diff.ences, i might add this is a standing tradition of the american military and the american defense establishment that goes back two centuries,

rnow, and, in the rent corrosive political debates, it can get submerged where everybody thinks it's all about political assessments all the time. that does not have to be the case when it comes to the u.s military. they prospect the experiment, and it's a pretty raucoupe ment right now. >> woodruff: but you also served as a secretary of defense, a inet position in the government with immense responsibility. and i just want to ask you more about that because you spent a lot of h me withe editor of th"the atfantic," frey goldberg. about him is a man of libilityd cognitive ability and a man of generally dubious chacter. number one, i never said that and i'm not going to comment on wht might have said it, bi would not tolerate, when i was

on active duy or as secretary of defense, any condeation or characterization like that of any elected commander-in-chief.s >> woodrufto those who would -- and some are wring this right now -- who say you have a responsibility because you have worked so closely with this president to k eandidly about what you've seen, and some of them are saying you're tryin to have iboth ways, that you both enjoyed this position of enormous influence inside the administration, but now you're out, you don't have that responsibility anymore, and you're not speaking to the american people about what you know. and allies of this country could be asking the same question. >> well, frankly, i determine my own responsibilities and i've lived what i believe is a responsible li the area of expertisthat i've had had to do with the protection of this experiment that you and i l america. it's the protection of it, and

at times it's very raucous, bute i lot of confidence in the american pele that they can select who is bet fort president without me coming in from the outside as a defensefi al, whether active or former or whatever, and start sounding like i'm the one who is able to evaluate those who hav >> woodruff: are you confident this is the president who can be trustewith the nuclear codes, the fateful resonsibility? >> yes. >> woodruff: you want to expand on that, why you believe that? >> you know, the respoibility that lies -- and that's a very gre one -- i have not heard anything that would indicate there was some irrponsibility there. you know, the thing is, judy, that we live in a time where every word is taken apart -- and i realize we have an unusualpr ident, and he talks openly

about many things, bu, at the same time, in the privacy of the offit, he has to deal withe reality of competing factors, and i would bring t grim realities of war into that fice at the same time political leaders are elected to try to bring human aspirations to bear of a tter economy, of pulling troops out of wars. this is th normal -- to me, this is the normal tension between human as -- aspnsirat and war as realities, those grim realities. it's somhing, like being hard on the issues, i don't believe being hard on the people. >> woodruff: if tu believe ths president or any presprent was not a fit commander-in-chief, would you say so? >> yes.uf >> woo in other words, you think he's fit? >> no, i'm not saying th i don't make political assessments one y tore the other -- one ey or other. i come from the defense

department, we protect is experiment in democracy. we don't make assessments of the people's choice to serve as the ected charged in chief. >> woodruff: former secretary ofdefense james mattis, we thank you for talking with us.ou >>e welcome, judy. >> woodruff: the weekend shooting rampage in west texas has left two more american communities in mourning. seven people were killed in odessa a w nearby midland on saturday, and another 22 people were injured, including a 17-ol montgirl. it came after state troopers stopped the alleged shooter for failing to use his signal. he shot one of the troopers and then sped away, firing at people randomly. william brangham gets an update. >> brangham: judy, there was an emotional vigil last night for victims of the shooting. the gunman's motive is still unknn. he was apparently fired from his

job just before the traffic stop that started thehootings. this of course all comes less than a month since the massacr at the walmart in el paso that killed 22 people.rd mitch of marfa public radio joins me from odessa by skype. mitch, thank you very much for doing this. could you just tell me, first off, what we knw abut the seven victims who were killed in this rampage? >> we know they ranged in age by quite a bit, the youngest being 57 and the oldest being 57 -- being 15 and the oldest being 57. thest was a sophomore at a loca odessa hhool. other than that, information is coming out slowly about the victims. there are fundraisers, but so far, at least from what i've seen, they haven't released a complete list of the names ofe ad. >> reporter: this is such a strange type of mass shooting where it's going sort of between these two cities fromlocation to location. how are the two communities of midland and odessa doing,

grappling with all othis? >> just to clear things up, the traffic stop probably started in midland county but mostly took place in odessa. the shooter never went to the ty limits of midland. both communities i think are in shock after being at thvie gil last night. people are ready to al but people are scared. this happened in so many places, so quickly, so many people were affected that, you know, it's only, what, two days later, like, people are trying to still just understand how this ppened. >> reporter: and governor abbott today said we still don't nything about the motive of what drove this man to acti this way, but he said something about they found out something about him failing background checks for purchasing guns. to you tell us more about that? >> yes, they came prt in ess held earlier today about law henforcement offials thin the past failed a background

check. they did not release any more formation. i they also said they didn't know how he observe signed the assault-style weapon he used in the shooting. other than that, we'll have toit or more information on the shooting. fo reporter: so this massacre following el paslows a veed of new state laws that will go t into efto loosen prior gun laws. >> whaeight laws ame into effecs on september 1 but a lot of thee make it easier to carry guns in houses of worship, during a disaster, one increed th fire marshals that can carry a firearm. at a press releaseyesterday, governor abbott addressed a crowd and talk about aedctions neut did not specify what type of action. when askbout the regulations, he stated some make situations safer like the schooh onesre more school marshals can be armed.he so didn't really want to

engage on the idea that maybe these regulations maybe things unsafe, and, so far, re hasn't been in more comment around oessa on this matter. >> reporter: calls for new gunl contasures always follow shootings. we saw that after el paso, daytonand saw ihere. i know former congressman beto i o'rourke wathe region. he has made much of his presidential campaign based on gun control. he's called for some very aggressive measures, like mandatory buybacks of assault-style weaponab did he talkut that today and, if so, how does that ply in texas, to texas ears? >> you know, when i saw him, he was visiting a labor-day celebratio a potluck at a union hall or ebration by unions and he was there trying to spread support fro of

test wks, the shooting paso happened less than 30 days ago. so it was just about trying to iting the comms together. he also said action needed to be taken. he didn't go into, like -- during the speech, he didn't go into cerin poicies but exessed, like, yes, morese things need to be done in a e he wasn't shyik about that. i don't think he's usually shy about that. how that will play in teixas think texas is a red state. i think a lot of peoloplve guns in this, you know, state and are very protective of their second amendment rights.ti at the sam, two mass shootings in less than 30 days, i think some people do want change, and i think, when you can get really granular when you go into what type of ch people want, but i think people are getting to their wits' end with this violence. >> reporter: mitch borden of marfa publ radio. thank you very much for yo time and yor reporting.

>> thank you. >> woodruff: britain has begun a critical week in the battle over its planned roit from the an union.an prime minister boris johnson has ordered members of his governing consvative party to back his efforts to secure the best possible brexit deal. the state of britain's democracy is under severe scrutiny after johnson obtained the queen's permission to suspend parliament in an apparent attemptlt debate over brexit.ci as s correspondent malcolm brabant reports, that move led to dozens of demonstrations over the weekend. >> reporter: members of boris johnson's cabinet were summoned for an emergency session. he told them he's optimistic of getting concessions from europe so that britain can leave on october 31st with a deal. but his plans are threatened byo

an opposbill due to bell tbled by the labour leader jeremy corbyn tomorrow.rs with demonstraeering in the background, the prime minister urged his party to back him. >> but if there's one thing that can hold us back in these talks it is the sense in brussels that m.p.s may find some way to cancel the referendum or that tomorrow m.p will vote with jeremy corbyn for yet another i don't think they will, i hope that they won't. but if they do, they will plainly chop the legs out from under the uk ps ition and make any further negotiation absolutely impossible. >> reporter: the implied threat was that if the government fails to defeat the bill in parliament tomorrow, he will seek a general election. >> i don't want an election. you don't want an election. let's agenda.th the people's

>> reporter: johnson spent the weekend war gang with closest advisors at his official retreat, chequers, after he decided, conoversially, to suspend parliament for five weeks. his ultimatum is a response to plans outlined by labour's brexit spokesman sir keir starmer. >> theegislation is simple and strahtforward, the purpose of which is to ensure that if we get to the 31st of october without a deal, we do not crash out. there's no mandate from the referendum for crashing out without a deal, nor is there a mandate from parliament for that. actually boris johnson has no mandate for this at all. conducted in recenpinion polls indicate that boris johnson is gaining support for his tough stce. despite the resistance to the suspension of parliamee of those polls suggests that johnson would win a general election. he's buoyed by reactions like this from business woman kindi kaur, a conservative suprter. she's from gravesend, a district east of london that voted

overwhelmingly for brexi >> i think boris has done a fantastic tactical move here. to make everyone pull their acta togeth give us a good deal. otherwise, thank you very much, we're leaving whether you like it or not.d are strong enough to survive this. >> reporter: the shock waves of boris johnson's nuclear option to suspend parliament have reverberated nationwide. there may t have been doorstep at windsostle but the symbolism was obvious. >> i think this is a british coup. it's very polite, it's very assuming. and that's the worst thing, it's very quiet. they slip things through the door.ce we've ed things, we didn't acrealize were going to happen. >> reporter: therecise verb to suspend parliament is prorogue. the prime minister insists it's a standard procedure, leaving ample time for lawmakers to debate brexit. but protestors don't believe him. >> it's the most vital time in our recent history and he's just shut everybody up. he's shut everybody out, so he

can force through what the vocal minority of people want, which is a no deal brexit. >> reporter: architect matthew taylor is concerned that johnson is flouting the conventions of britain's unwritten constitution. >> in the past it's relied on a lot of trust and good faith, a belief that the people in charge are doing the right thing. but if they switch to ing it, it's very easy to start abusing a system like that because there aren't enough checks and balances in place. >> reporter: another rean for staging the protest here. just opposite the queen'ss favorite pad in windsor lies eton. the very name exudes privilege in class-obsessed britain. that iviest of ivy league schools, eton collegai is where brs royals and upper crust send their heirs to learn about gaining and using power. it's produced 20 british prime ministers,ncluding the latest, boris johnson. >> hey ho, boris johnson has to go! >> the idiot that got schooled just down the road has in one or

two weeks destroyed everything. we are supposed to be the home place of democracy. okay?o hah,nger. >> this has got nothing to do with outrage about democracy.s all to do with trying to stop brexit. and it's not going to work. >> reporter: craig mackinlay is a leading memb of a hardcore conservative group of lawmakers? known th the spartans. ey helped depose the previous primminister theresa may because they thought she wasn't tough enough on brexit. mackinlay defends parliament's suspsion as normal, andno applauds jnson's push for a better brexit deal from europe. >> everybody goes to look at new houses, new cars. you don't go into that showroom to buy a new car and saying i'm not leg here until i buy it. if you're not getting the deal you want, the price you want and the extras you want, you walk away. so what prime minister johnson has done is trying to get that no deal threat back on the table because only if you have that no al threat in my view have you got any chance of getting a deal

that wou be acceptable. >> reporter: there are fears that a no deal brexit would cause hold ups at ports like dover. the government has promised there will be no food shortages. but matthew taylor is not convinced. >> if anything, civil unrest is likely to start when there are food shortages and s only a few months ago we had people phoning the police because k.f.c. ran out of chicken.op so if are going to react like that about that their idea of this blitz spirit where they all survive on htae grown vegees, it's not going to happen. >> repter: they're not starving just yet, but there's increasing worry in picture postcard britatr that the cos destiny is about to change, forever. for the pbs newshour, i'm malcolbrabant in eton. >> woodruff: from coast to coast, 2020 candidates cebrated labor day.

but after a ekend of breaking news, they had larger questions to address. lisa desjains brings us this campaign update. >> desjardins: there they were, at work today among the crowds and parades, charming rstential vote. but listen closely: on this labor day, democratic candidates for president focused less on jobs and wages, and more on thea gun debate, after odes texas became the latest site of a mass shooting on saturday. take former vice president joe biden, in iowa. s d the constitution does noprotect semi-automatic rifles, like the one used insa od >> having assault weapons on the street, or magazines carrying there is no need f andrrational. your second amendment rights are in no way violated. >> desjardins: minnesota senator amy klobuchar, singled out senate republican leader mitch mcconnell on guns. >> mitch mcconnell is going to have to decide what sis on. so he's gointo have to explahe toeople of this country why he wouldn't let that bill that just passed the house come up for a vote.>>

esjardins: and all this follows the comments from former texas congressman beto o'rourke, who used an expletive on cnn, sunday while reaing to another mass shooting in his home state. >> so, yes, this is ( bleep ) . and if we don't call it out for what it is, if we're not able to teak clearly, if we're not able to act decisiveln we will continue to have this kind of bloodshed in america. and i cannot accept that. desjardins: in los angeles, california senator kamala hais hit several notes, vowing executive action on ns if congress doesn't act, while commemorating the hoday. >> i think of it as a moment where we are celebrating the leadership of organized bor that brought all of us, whether memberion or not, better conditions, wages, benefits. >> desjardins: mas senator elizabeth warren sent out a labor day deo to supporters. while for another candidate, labor daalso was about their workforce: south bend, indiana, mayor pete buttigieg is panding in iowa. >> that starts with the folks who are gathered here in

attendance today, and it starts in this, the first of 20 field offices th we're going to be opening in the next few days. be desjardins: in the meantime, rmont senator ie sanders, focused on new england, stumping in the "first in the nation" primary state of new hampshire. >> woodruff: and that brings us to politics monday. our potics monday team is back. amwalter of "the cook political report" and host of pheublic radio's olitics with amy walter." and tamara keith from r. e also co-hosts the "npr politics podcast." longtime media women. thank you for working labor dar we appreciate it. let's start with unions on the labor fathers' day. tam, what do we know about president trump's relationship with yiewn once? he keeping the voters? he tals a lot about them. >> he does talk a lot about what he talks about is how he really identifies with the rank and file and he is constantlyly saying, well, you know, the me, but the ran file,n't like they're my people. the numbers don't exactly bear

that out. certainly, some rank and file union members and union households did support president trump and, no doubt, but he's really -- he's really pushing the idea. and his idea, i think the image in his mind of a union worker is somebody with a hard hat and lunn offpail who takeswea sho at the end of the day. that isn't necessarily reflective of union workers as a whole in america. >> that's what i want to talk to you about, amy. in your podcast, politics with amy walter, the takeaway, you t face of union voters is not what people think it is. >> tam is rig at trump has made inroads with rank and file members, especially aces that we know are key to the presidential election, in those battleground states. in ohio, according to the exit poldz, he won unionwo household1 13 points. this is a group of voters that

inrlier obama had won by 20. so there is some going on there. he did ate beth were union household than romney did four years earlier, so, yes, he's bee able to makroads, but tam is also correct that this image of the hard hat, and really we're talking about a white guy with a hard hat or a white guy coming out of e minus, doesn't relect, i think, where labor currently is in terms of its membership. it's becoming much more female centered, certainly fopeoe of color are much more significant influence and force or movement than they have been ever before, and think about where, i you're profile union organizing org labor issues have been in the st year orso, it's been the's teacher strikes, again, a profession that's heavily female and the fight for 15, the organizing of fast food workers

for minimum wage of $15 an hourh so service industry also very influential. we know in 2018, women were a very big source of democratic votes and emergency, and ihink those women who are part ofo labor as another piece of this. one more thing about the labupor mahat's interesting. i think part of the reason that joe biden has done as well or w doing ll in the democratic primary is that he's seen as the candidate, the one candidate who can win back those guys with lunch pails and hard hats in pennsylvania, michigan, in ohio, and that has, i think, heped cement his frontrunner status. >> and he obviously pushes that image. >> absolutely. scranton joe, middle class joe, that is part of his pitch. >> absolutely. nd, in part, that pitch isn't just to white voters who fit the image. he's also pitching that to voters of color who just want to beat president trump.

>> that's right, he's saying this isnow we win, i can get these voters. >> right. another way democrats are trying to get attention and energize their base, at least some suburban women voters is guns. we're here after ther weekend of more gun deaths in this country.sex tam, wherectly do you think the white house really is on wanting to get legislation through congress of any kind? house is stillg to figurehite that out. i know that they -- and i've spoken to people whhave been in meetings. the white house, at a staffe level, hen having meetings with gun rights people but als with victims' families and other advocates, staffs ofmember of congress from both sides of the aisle. but what they think they can actually do, what they think the president will actually get behind is not cle. there's sort of a disconnect now between the president and is it staff and sort of a disconnect between the president from one ment to the next. what i mean by that is he keeps

saying diffent things that are seemingly quite contradictory, saying, well, we dwant to do background checks, t then background checks n't have prevent anything of the recent shootings, so i guess maybe,, well, you kn need to protect the second amendment. it's not clear exactly where e stands. the issue right now is that the white house keeps saying we need to know what is politically feasible and what is pass congress you talk to people in congress and they're saying we need to know what the president would tually support. doesn't that sound familiar? we've -- we have this conversation a lot. the other interesting emmeant is what's happening on the democratic side. period of time whou havea unique all the democratic candidates running for president kind of that's brand new. issuof guns, but now you see beto o'rourke from texas who has retooled thi campaign since the el paso shooting and is running esseunially on the issue of

control, moving outer r evenve father and this we've heard previous democratic candidates on issues lie having buybacks for assault weapons. with this become part of the debate? he's no longer in congress, but are there other membew of congress say we should put that into the mix, too? that icertainly too far fo republicans, the question is will it be too far for many democrats, too? >> this is a good transition to another thing we've seen in the past week which is more retired members of congress. especially republicans. lightning round ladies, will we see another record year of retirements from congress or no? >> some of these retirements ara d on personal factors, other retirements appear to be based on it's just not that fun to be in the minity. >> i think that's true. we will know if there's another slew of retirements. there's a special election in north carolina in a very

republican districon september 10 next week. >> right. it's already coming up. i think, should demtsulocin there, that would be another alarm bell and worry spot for republicans, maybe another incentive to pck it in. >> amy walter, tamera keith, enjoy the rest of your holiday. . tyou, too. >> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> financial services firm raymond james. >> and by the alfred p. sloan undation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century.

>> supported by the john d. and catherine t. mac.thur foundati committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these instutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captiong sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by mea access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> you're watching pbs.

llo, everye, and welco to "amanpour & co." today we're looking back at some of our favorite interviews from this year, so here's what's coming up. >> 10,000 people are scramblingo et to the top of structures like trees and roof tost. >> africa's killer cyclone idai leaves inland oceans. a thousand fearedead in month mozambique and neighbors o are affected too. we get an update from ground zero and the climate change connection. plus. >> there's something -- >> the ugly reality of terrorism as n zealand mournrn we look back at the deadly attacon mumbai's palace hotel in a