captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff.he onnewshour" tonight, calling foul. president trump facesti intensified sc afterer admitting that he asked the leader of ukine to investigate joe biden. then: >> you're failing us. >> woodruff: after millions march to demand action on climate change, we are on the ground at the united nations as world leaders grapple with the magnitude of the crisis. plus amy walter and tamara keith are here to analyze the renewe debate in the democratic party over impeaching the president, and 2020 hopeful elizabeth warren's soaring poll numbers in iowa. thd,o the stars with brad pitt.

the actor and producer on his new sciee fiction epic "ad astra" and his award-winning career on both sides of the camera. >> i could be thinking about than what's reallyning inerent the scene. but if i'm feeling that then it reads, it's true and truth reads. it always reads. >> woodruff: all that and moreon onight's "pbnewshour." >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >>his program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs thank you.omiewers like you.

>> woodruff: president trump has spent this day in new york, meeting with world leaders and fending off estions about a possible abusenof power he aedges speaking to ukraine's president. but he denies he threatened to cut u.s.ilitary aid unless kiev investigated vice presidenn biden his son for his business dealings there. white house correspondent yamiche alcondor begins our coverage. >> reporter:ncreased calls for impeachment. and, president trump, at the united nations, seeming unthreatened. >> how seriously are you taking impeachment? >> not at all seriously.ad we perfect phone call with the president of ukraine, everybody knows it.'s it just a democrat witch hunt. here we go again. >> reporter: it's a claim he repeated throughout the day >> it's a great call. it's a very honorable call.

a very nice call.ep >>ter: it's that conversation, and the white house refusal to share with congress an intelligence community whistleblower's concerns about it, that is pushing some democrats wary of impeachment closer to the brink. thlacting director of natio intelligence, joseph maguire, has refused to transmit thegr complaint to cess. speaker of the house nancy t pelosi-- in a weekend letter-- onged the trump administra to hand over that complaint by thursday. she said if the white house doeo comply they will be entering "a grave new chapter of lawlessness which will take us into a whole new stage of investigation." yesterday house intelligence chairman adam schiff told cnn that an impeachment inquiry may be the oy option. >> that may be the only remedy that is coequal to the evil that conduct represents. we're going to hear from the director of national inteigence on thursday on wh withhold a whistlerector to ever complaint, and we are gonna make

sure that we get tt complaint. to may be that we do hav move forward with th extraordinary remedy. >> reporter: the complaint reportedly claims that mr. trump pressured ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskiy to investigate democratic presidential candidate joe biden's son, hunter.un the r biden had business interests ukraine, beginning while his father was vice president. mr. trump admitted that he spoke with zelenskiy over the phone, but denied any wrongdoing. >> it was largely the fact that we don't want our people, like vice president biden and his son, creating to the corruption already in the ukraine. >> if a republican ever did what joe biden did or said, they would be getting rie ele chair by right now. look at the double standards. you people ought to be ashamed of yourself. and noall, we ve some great journalistaround, but you've got a lot of cooked journalists,

you're crooked as hell. >> on the campaign trail this weekend, joe biden didot mince words. >> he's vtilang every basic norm of a president. trump is doing this because he knows i'll beat him like a drum and he's using the and he's using the abuse ofan powethe element of the presidency to try to do something to smear me. >> reporter: but the ukrainian foreign minist said in an interview that the discussion was business as usual between world leaders. >> ( translated ): we're an independent state, we have our own secrets, the president cancr >> woodruff: and yamiche joins me now. so, yamiche, how much is this controversy over whether the president of ukraine?the what effect is it having on hish visit to united nations the

general assembly? >> that question, judy, gets tt the he the challenges that president trump is going to face all week as he visits thnited nations general assembly. this issue ofs whether or not he pushed the president of ukraine r investigate joe biden s own political gain is overshadowing everything thaten the presis doing here in new york. the president was answering question after question during all sorts of meetings about ukraine. he staed off the morning tweeting about ukraine and this controversy with joe biden when he was on his way to the first meetings of the day. he then waski att democrats and the media d really lashing out at anyone asking him questions about this,nd he's efending himself asll. he's talking about the idea of him not wanting to be impeached. what you see the president on his heels as he's trying to meet with these world leaders, but in each meeting he's having to take questions on this. >> woodruff: yamiche, you have been talking to democrats today as well. how do they see all this in

terms of an opportunity to go after the president, investigate the president aer all the mueller report and its aftermath? >> some believe that the democrats really lost moentum after the mueller report andrt after roueller testified before congress, and this is likey breathing new life into the democrats' overall goal of trying to claim that president ump is using the presidency for his own political gain and his ownci fin gain. so we now have three house committees, the house oversite, inrslligence and foreign aff committee sending a letter to secretary of state mikfpompeo sayinge doesn't produce the documents related to the whistleblor complaint that ey will possibly subpoena them. so we see the democrats really ratcheting up theirs.iss we also see new deocrats coming out in favor of impeachment. today angie craig and dean phillips, two democrats that won

2016 that they won in 2018, they're coming out for e peachment. soave democrats changing saw initially as a risky move.me >> woodruff: finally, yamhe, ll us what the main issues are confronting the president has he write ands u.n. ge how does the white house see its priorities there? >> the presidentwpts get a lot of things done. tomorrow he's going to be givin speech in front of the united nations, general assembly, and he is going to bbl talkingbout an and the economy. there are also issues about climate change. he held a religious freedom event today where he talkedou religious persecution around the world. he didn't mention he was backing all muslims from entering the people who don't support him are disloy. but he case uk praine andhing the president for political gaii will be loo all over that. >> woodruff: yamiche alcindor

reporting for us all week frorkm new thank you, yamiche. >> thanks, judy. >> woodruff: and in fact-- just days after global protests calling for action oanclimate -- there was a special u.n. climate summit today where a number of leaders gathered to hammer out specific s from their nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. william brgham is he to look at some of the pledges and the realities of wre things stand. lliam, remind us of thehe o, william. so remind us again of what is the climate science that the driving all this? >> the u.n. put science very prominent in advance of this meeting. in fact, they put out a new report yesterday that tried to summceize all of the sci that we know today, and none of it is really good news.oo let's take aat the key fiends here. the world is quickly getting we just had the warmest five-year period in recorded human history.w the planet nrmed over 1 degree celsius din since the industrial area and the climate impacts are hitting harder,e

duner -- ger and longer droughts, intensified storms, crop failures, species threatened with extinction, and the emissions driving all this are driving this an there's no end in sight. the report said to limitma waing to just 2 degrees celsius which is a threshold rmany scientists have ned about for a long time, that global policies have to triple in scasole. his report comes out. today the secretary general antongood gutierrez, to emphasie the impact, said thecience is clear, the action is needed. >> science tell us that we face at least 3 degreeslsius of global heating he the end of the century. someone asked mether day, doesn't all of this make you despair?

my answer was a clear and resounding "no." i am hopeful a i am hopeful because of you. d is is not a climate talk summit, we have ough talk. this is not a climate negotiating summit because we don't gotiate with nature. this is a climate action summit. >> reporter: this was the message all day today. time is not on our side, the time for action is now. >> woodruff: so hodid all these countries around the world respond in are they coming together today, making pledges that will get to these goals? >> woodruff: in short, they're not. there were a lot of intermittent promises mde. for instance, china, the world's largest emitter of carbo emissions, they said we are currently meeting our goals as many people point out those were we're hitting those and didn'td offer anything bolder. india is ramping up renewable energy but didn't talk aboutli they're t on dirty coal energy. germany said it would spend

$60 million to ramp up, renewabllot of the other countries were not there partly because they were not invited unless they were willing to come forward and make a big announcement. many smaller nations did say we will take steps to get towds net zero emissions which is what the science seems to beth indicating, buy contribute a very small slice of the pie. some of the interesting pdges made were made by cities, made agriculture companies and big transportation companies. but still, an eormous way to go. >> woodruff: what about the united states government? what role is the u.s. playing in all thi were they present? >> they were present in the sense that, ridprgy, ident trump was not going to show up. he did surprisingly show up and he sat in on thtalks for about 10 to 15 minutes and then left.i largelterms of leadership on this issue, the united states is a wall.w we knat president trump has said he has no interest in the paris accords. he is actively embd ralicies

that cut emissions, an his leadership, the u.s.'s leadership which was so central, especially with regards tohina and getting them to sign on to the paris accords, is larly absent. >> woodruff: and finally, william, these global protests we have been watchg over the last couple of days, last week, more today, led by so many of these remarkable young people, you spoke just a few days ago with greta thunberg, t 16-year-old swedish activist, what role are they playing in all this? >> you're right, judy, all of that action we saw an estimated 4 million young people taking to the streetall over he world last week, those were largely driven, intending to make leaders today step up ad take action. and greta thunberg, this young swthish activists 16-year-old who is largely credited with being the voice on this movemand the genesis of this movement, she spoke today, and i have to say you have seen her talk in man many different kinds of venues, never have i

seen her so upset and emotional. let's take a listen to >> this is all wrong. what she had to say today. i shouldn't be up here. i should be in school on the yet you all come toungn. people for hope. how dare you? you ve stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words, d yet i'm one of the lucky ones. s people afering, pele are dying. entire ecosystems are collapsing.ll we are in the beginning of a mass extinction and all you cano talk about is y and fairytales of eternal economic growth. how dare you? >> reporter: this is the challenge of this movement. you have a moal voice lie thunberg and all of these

action is required.eople saying does that movement have the sustaining power move against what are the well-defined and well-established and very entrenched interests of a lot of nations who havell sorts o reasons for not acting? here, does that moral call sway these very, very big forces in society? that's the essential question. >> woodruff: it feels so much like a generational conflict,es dot it? >> reporter: it does. >> woodruff: william br>>angham, thank you so much. >> reporter: you're welcome. >> woodruff: in the day's other tyws, at least 40 civilians died at a wedding parn afghanistan, in a raid by afghan special forces. it happened in helmand province, as troops attacked a taliban hideout, next to the bde's home. in the aftermath, the wounded were pulled from the rubble,

while relatives waited outsidee spital. officials said 22 taliban fighters were killed as well. in hong kong, transit systems returned to normal and cre cleaned upafter weekend demonstrations once again turned violent.cl hes broke out last night at subway stations, where protesters damaged ticket machines and vandalized wall outside, they rricaded streets and lit fires. riot police charged with tear gas to disperse the crowds. it marked a 16th week of unrest by pro-democracy demonstrators. thousands of travelers worldwide were left looking for new arrangements today, when the british travel firm "thomas cook" shut down without warning. the firm halted flights and canceled bookings afr failing to secure $250 million in rescue funding. around the world, anxious passengers scrambled to get to their destinations.sk sue s was stranded on the greek island of corfu.

>> we've been given no information at all by anybody. we've just been brought to the airport late and we're now told we might not even get a se on the plane, so i think it's really bad that no one is here to help. >> woodruff: in all, "thomas cook" canceled more than 600,00e bookings world the company had been in business for 178 years, but had struggled for years against budget airlines and low-cost online booking sites. puerto rico is shuttering schools and closing public agencies as tropical depressionn epapproaches. the storm could hit the u.s. territory with winds of 40 miles-an-hour and up to eightom inches of rainrow. to the north, tropical storm "jerry" moved toward bermuda today with sustainle winds of 65 an hour. amber guyger, ont on trial today for killing iblack neighbhis own apartment. prosecutors said guyger was

upset and distracted when she entered what she thoughtas h apartment and then shot a manas she believed burglar. the defense said she made understandable mistakes. the jury will decidehether she is glty of murder or a lesse the strike against general. motors is now in its second week. e auto maker and the united auto workers bargained through the weekend. there were reports of progress, but no sign that the end of the walkout is near. some 49,000 workers are on the pick lines, paralyzing 30 g- sites in nine states. on wall street the dow jones industrial average gained about 15 points to close at 26,950. the nasdaq fell five points. and the s&p 500 was virtually unchanged. and the best in television were crowned last night at the "emmy" awards, and "game of thrones" ruled again.

ale "hbo" fantasy epic won "best drama" for its feason, while amazon's "fleabag" took home the "best comedy" honors. and billy porter became the first openly gay man to win besd actor in arama series for his"p role ie." still to come on the "newshour," will a federal court decide to cut off government funng f planned parenthood? amy walter and tamara keith consider elizabeth warren's improving political fortunes. plus, brad pitt on his storied career in front of and behind the camera. >> woodruff: the fight over family planning takes to the cots. earlier this summer, the tru administration won an important victory for its new rule ending federal fuing to clinics that make abortion referrals.ha the rule placed new

restrictions on a program known asitle ten used by taxpaye funded clinics. today, the case went trger panel of federal appellate judges in san francisco. john yg gets an update on the case and the arguments. >> reporter: judy, more than 900 clinics-- just under half of them run by planned parenthood-- and several states have pulled out of the program, giving up federal funds rather than complying with the new regulations. the money goes to pay for such reproductive health services as birth control, s.t.d. testing and treatment and screenings foe ical and breast cancer for low-income people. the issue in today's hearing before an 11-judge p is whether the new federal rule may remain in plche while legal lenges work their way through the courts. special correspondenh varney of "kaiser health news" was in the san francisco courtroom this afternoon t we should not "kaiser health news" is not affiliated with kaiser permanente.

sarah, in order to prevail the opponents of this rule have got to convince the juds thadt irreparable damage harm would be done by this rule going into effect while it's still being challenged. how'd they try to argue that? >> -- question, some of the justices did ask are we allowed tookssentlly lot news reports that we're seeing now that are showing us that some on e predicfrom the secretary of health and human hn services, when they were promulgating these rules, said this rule will not have deleterious effect on title 10 services, so they seem to be wondering whether or not they should look at this rule while in effect. there arle 109 cinics closed, so we know half to he the people who used title ten services have been affected. it wasn't until the end of the argument that they were able toi

get into t the government said, well, if you look at it in a different way, just a small pecentage of the over all clinics have actually closed so we're still in the ball gme he e. >> reporter: you said these clinics have closed. did theyctuay shut down or just withdrawn from the program. m> they've just withdrawn fro the program. >> reporter: some have closed, though. but a smaller numbe >> most of these clinics are still open, but if you are a title ten patient, when you goa into these clinics now you may be is e asked to pay a co-pay. some of the clinics are scaling back on staff andrs hou i spoke to a woman who runs the planned parenthood in utah, they're a state with three planned parenthood clinics in the title ten program, all of them are no longer participating and last months had about $30000 in unreimbursed medicalns ex. so it's unclear how long some of these clinics will be able to stay open.t >> reporter: ws the government's response to that? how did they countert?hese

arguments? >>hey say it's still not a a majority of clinics in the program that have pulled out and that they are going to be issue additional supplemental grants. so for all the money that's been refused and turned back to the government, they're going b take thck and issue it to provide serviceand be able to >> reporter: you were saying earlier there was pretty livesy oning from the judges toto lawyers on both sides. what sorts of questions werek they aing? >> well, the main challenge for the government seemed to be this question of, you know, justices seemed eager to get into the merits of this kay so this -- of this case. so this hearing today was about whether the rules can stay in effect until lower courts consider the merits of the case, but a number of judges said let's just talk about the merits to have the case. but the government's attorney, the eestions got were you're telling people can counciln abortion but can't refer for

abortion one counsel said if goi o the doctor and need a referral that my doctor gives me a referral. t e justices seemed eager to have the government defend these changes to the rule. they also seemed to be interested in the question ofor whetheot the authority -- the government had the authority to make these kinds of changes, and, you know, one of the justices did say, lok, elections have consequences. we understand that when a new administration comes in, they can change environmental policyn they can c policy around reproductive family planning, but they needome reson the do it and it can't be captrriciousr ary. >> reporter: and there's a bigger deadline coming upe on this nexmarch in march 2020 another rule comis effect which is part of larger title ten change which ic says anic that offers abortion has to be a physically separate building and be a financially parate entity from one just providing the

counseling or services for cervical cancer screening, for so, already, thislready a huge issue for planned geparenthood, they're no lin the program, but there are a number of other clinics, hundreds of clinics and also offer abortion services, so they will have to deercide wher not they can stand a whole separate facility. in the initial asstion side, the gonment said this will cost perhaps around $30,000, soi toda court, that number came up, and the plaintiff wsaid there's y you could stand up a new medical clinic for $30,000. so march 2020, a number of clinics will withdraw fromhe program and the government will have to find other clinics wiing to step in to fill the gap. >> reporter: sarah varney of kaer health news, thank you very muc. >>hank yo

>> woodruff: voters in the hawkeye state are narrowing team political sites on the race for the white house. iowa will once againay an outsized role in a presidential. electi when in a lit moral than four months it will host the first nominating contest ofhe season. lisa desjardins reports on the latest sprint among the democratic hopefuls. >> reporter: in iowa, the pressure and the stakes couldn't be higher. saturday, democratic candidates angled for attention at the annu ia steak fry-- grilli meat and veggie burgers. >> in this unprecedented moment in american history, we need to an unprecedented campaig >> reporter: and it comes as the presidential pack faces some shifting realities. the new iowa poll from the

des moines register and cnn shows a change. massachusetts senator elizabeth warren has stepped into first place in t hawkeye state, two points ahead of former vice president joe biden. vermont senator bernie sanders, wh 1e still in third, is now1 points behind the lead.wa en played down the results sunday while picketing with striking auto workers in detroit >> i don't do polls. we are still months away from the iowa caucuses and the first primary elections. we are on this picket line today to say we're gonna make this american work for everyone. >> rorter: but iowa numbers are clearly on others' minds. senator kamala harris, running in fifth in the poll, is changing gears, announcing more focus , the hawkeye state. in south carolina sunday, our yamiche alcindor spoke to harris about the iowa shift. >> i am really excited about where we are. lyr strategy was always to invest in iowa ewhich we d, and to ramp up after labor day, which we're doi.

>> reporter:thers are more blunt about their situations. like new jersey senator cory booker. his campaign released a memo it said told the unvarnished truth, that he needs to raise $1.7-million by the end of the month. booker has the most endorsementb in iowa, his team said without the cash, he will have to leave the race. >> reporter: this, all in the shadow of allegations that president trump pressedes ukraine's prent to investigate biden. a chorus of mr. trump's opponents criticized him over that, this weekend. south bend mayor pete buttig g: >> it's extremely disturbing, in fact, true they represent a betrayal of the united states.me >> reporter: fhud secretary julian castro: its job and impeach donald trump >> reporter: and biden himself:a >>erial abuser. that's what this guy is. he abuses power everywhere he can. and if he sees any threat to his staying in power, he'll doe whateverto do. but this crosses the line.

>> reporter: from the right, republican opponent and former g.o.p. massachusetts governorbi weld went even further. >> that is not just undermining democratic institutisos, that is tr >> reporter: still, the campaign goes on. the weekend included an l.g.b.t.q. forum in iowa, more striking auto workers-- biden joined this group in kansas city-- and yterday sanders showed he wants a broad map, meeting with the comanche ibe and holding a rally in oklahoma. for the pbs newshour, i'lisa tosjardins. >> woodruff: herreak down what those new numbers from iowa mean for the 2020 democratic presidential candidates, i'm joined by longtime iowa pollster ann selzer whose group "selzer and company" conducted the poll. the selzer, welc"ne back t shour". so let's look again at those numbers, the main story line elizabeth warren at 22%, joe biden at 20%, bernie sanders at 11, everybody else in single

nggits. how much of a chis this supporting elizabeth warren? is >> well, it's a nice jump fo elizabeth warren, if you're up with of her supporters you would see it hat way. what she has tone is really begun to ild a coalition, and that includes women and college-educated, likely rsucusgoers, and for the time she is now leading with the under 35 age group.n that's encroachment into territory that was held by s bernders almost exclusively. so she's eating into the support that he used to have there. >> woodruff:nd you looked at enthusiasm as well. you had a categor are you extremely enthusiastic about a candidate, very enthusiastic. ehat did you see thre? >> you see two things. first of all, warren and biden are at the top of the leaderboard and the advantage to elizabeth warren with slightlymo

saying they are extremely enthusiastic about that by 10 points, 32% versus 22% for joe biden. but really, if you look at the other twcontenders -- an that would be bernie sanders and pete buttigieg -- it's almost half oh r supporters who say they feel extremely enthusiastic. so it gives you a sense that there are other coalitions building that could pop another candidrward. >> woodruff: you also looked i think you're calling it the footprint of who was a voter's first and second cho se. what did ye? >> well, it's first and second choice, and then are you actively considering them. there, alstho, elizaarren jumped about 10 points. she now as 61% of likely democrat caucus-goers saying they're actively considering he or placed her first or second on their list. e biden did not mve, stayed

about where he was. you have three other candidates who ossed the 50% mark, that's n rnie sanders, tht's pete buttigieg, and tunding out that team is kamala harris. so i look the rest of those with some upside potential.ge they'vt enough people who are interested in them to make potentially a forward move, and owe saw elizabeth warrensed in our last poll to do exactly that. >> reporter:. >> woodruff: and i want to ask you about that, ann selzer, because some folks would look at this and say, well, this iso rely good news for people polling in single digits, but i hearou saing there's still a movement. a large percentage of iowa voters are telng you they are democratic voters, are saying, you know, they may change their mind about who they're going toe for. >> well, that's exactly right, and there are two numbers i would pot you . first of all, the top three in single digits, that's 53% of the vote, so there's a lot of vote left to be had.o

condly, we asked, if you had a first choice, is your mind made up, and that accounts for 20% of rll of the likely voters say i have a fist choice, and my mind is made up. so they either don't have a first choice reor thepen to considering other possibilities, and anybody who knows iowa would know that sounds just like iowa in caucus season. >> woodruff: well, we are still several months awaynd, ann selzer, i know you're going to keep on polling. thank you very much. >> my pleasure, judy. now let's turno politics monday. i'm with our regular duo, amy walter of the "cook " litical repod host of public radio's "the politics with amy walter." and tamara keith from npr. she also co-hosts the "npr politics podcast." hello to both of you. it is "politics monday," sout let's talk abhis iowa poll we were just discussing. amy, what do y make of it? >> well, elizabeth warren has had a great summer, and it shows. whu talk to folks in and

around iowa, that's what you were hearing aat the iowa state fair this summer, allhe buzz was about elizabeth warren and now it's borne itself out ia this pold i do think it's important, yes, as ann selzer points out, that these things are fluid, everything is fluid in iowa. in fact, i remember ing back to other democratic primaries whe, at this point, aft a very good summer, looks liket howard dean ly was going to win iowa but was going to be the nominee. so was hillarclinton in 2008 who was doing well in the september des moines regisr poll. but iowa, it tends to be that, voters, even though they'reowa paying a whole lot of o attenti, erreally get it into ano gear. what's different this year is i feel like iowa has taken on another nedimension. it's always important and sets the pace for the campaign. but this year was the issue of, electabili important in the minds of the voters.

the winner gets to make the case that they are a winner. you can't say just because you win a primary yu'll beat donald trump, but folks are looking for a winner and will take cuefrom iowa in a way more we've seen >>oodruff: and elizabeth warren gets more than a bump out of this. >> yes, and if you have been out talking to voters, you have been hearing shme is, at the eent, the excitement candidate. and part of the way her campaign shas been showing thathey don't want to talk about polls, you know, they don't want to talk about horse race, but then they hold a really big rally in new yorkand that is sort of another way that they are making an lectn't argent which is to say, look, elizabeth warren can get a really big crowd in a very liberal urban place. you know who else di.that in 2016? bernie sanders actually went to a rally in the very same parer thate sanders held that rally, and elizabarren ishat sort of capturing that mood at this time in theampaign in a

time.ernie sanders did last >> woodruff: huge crowds bernie sanders was getting. at the same time we know that there are a number of chants who are struggling. those are the es who are in the single digits in iowa and in otr polls, amy, an, in fact, onof them, cory booker said it in the last few days, openly, if i don't raise $1.8 million in the next few dayys, i can't sta in this race because of the pressure to do beter. >> the pressure to do better plus, you know, no campaigns died because the member 's running or the candidate decides, you know what, i guess i didn't want to be president, they always runn out of ey, and it's hard to sustain money when you're not either moving in the polls or making any change, it lo, oks li the other dynamic. he's been on the stage in all the de i think personally he's done a very good job. he's been very effective as a debater, but it hasn't seemed to really translate and, i think for so many voters now, they like basically the known brand,

and they're choosing between the known brands of bid enrren and sanders, and ty haven't been interested as much in they don't know so well e. gole ahead, tam. >> one of the challenges coryee booker hasfacing and several of the candidates have faced the s th cost ofof acquisitioonors. >> woodruff: right. and that is a very technical thing that i'm saing, but it's a real issue. they are having topend a lot of money on facebook ads and other ways of going outr and getting more individual donors, an that is all related to the democratic party's qualifications f the debate. it's really creating a dynamic that hasn't exin past primars. >> i've heard the same grumbling from campaigns you had sang, boy, if we didn't spend all that money getting donors -- >> t woodrufre's a story in politico today quoting the former iowa state democratic

national primary based on the worst foundation, name, i.d. and money. he sa'id we supposed to be the party of ideas. is doing.icizing what the party he's squeezing these candidates. >> some ways. t i would argue part of the reason elizabeth warren has been so successfuis she has been the candidate of ideas, she has been the one candidate to really brake through not just wit have a plan, but she has a narrative. she has a narrative and ae cas that she's making for i not just her but her entire presidency that people are really attaching to, she's made itna per she's very much connecting witho people be just -- it's not just, like, a shiny object kind of attachment. >> woodruff: but we could be headg for debates in the coming months with many fewer ndidates on the stage. >> right, and when you talk to voters, they are overwhelmed by the nuanber of cdidates and, certainly, these debates hy,e been overwhelming in that, when there are teneople on stage,

even, you know, like we try to talk about it on our pd kansas afterwards, and you can't even fit all of the candidates into theodcast afterwards. it's very difficult to manage, d, so, tat's part of what the d.m.c. is doing, but then you have candidates whsay, but, wait, this is my only shot to get in front of people. >> wodruff: completely different subject. all the news of the last few daysbout the whistle blower and the intelligence community, talking about the president having a conversation with the president of ukraine in which thermay have been a promise, ieved to have been about presring the president of ukraine to investigate joe biden. >> right. >> woodruff: so the question i have oor the two you is this, o leading so the democrats who have been goinfor full-blown impchment, sit changing some minds? >> i think that's the question tam and i were serching around for today, making calls and trying to figure out if it's

really changed the dynamic. my accepts from talking to folks is this is a newrinkle because it's no longer about mueller. the mueller report played itsy t and they continued to have more hearings about som the characters there, but this we don't have the cts yet, so what they were telling me is we trscript and uerstand what was said before they were coming out but this is open ago new territory. >> woodruff: there was a member of congress, tam, i guess learned this afternoon freshman, democrat from minnesota, dean phillips, who had en in the camp of "no" on impeachment proceedings is no moving in that direction because of all of this. >> and there has been a slow movement of democrats. the numbers do continue growing, and this is another thing that is weighing on some of them. nancy pelosi, i believe it was yesterday, used stronr language than she's used before in referring to the way the

administration is stonewalling investigations. you ow, i think we will know more by the end of this week whether the wblhister complaint will be seen by the relevant congressional committees o whether this is ing to be that same dynic that's played out over any number offissues that democrats in congress have been trying to investigate, and in somvee ways and if repubcans don't move, then the dynamics remain the same, too, right. if there's no movement either from republicans in the house oe a shat republicans in the senate want to push this forward, then we're ck at square one, to your point. >> and one tweet from mitt romney, the senator fr utah not really a big movement th er. >> woodruff: all right. we heard it here. tamera keith, amy walter, thank you. >> you're welcome f:

>> woodre is one of the world's biggest and best-known movie stars. but these days brad pitt is spending as much time helping get films made as acting in th. he is both the star and producer of the new movie, "ad astra", whicopened this weekend. pitt recently spoke about his various roles with our jeffrey brown it's part of 'nvas' our arts and culture series. i do what i do. the film is called an astray, platen for a phrase into the stars, andut is a jorney about the far reaches intourar s system >> reporter: but for the tortured soul at its heart,ro majomcbride, this journey is also very much inward. brad pitt says his friend,

director james gray, pulled himg into the role by quoting a line from the man who wrote an earlier mix of since epic and oversion, "2001: a space odyssey". >> he pulled out this arclur arke quote that said, "either we're not alone in the universe, or we are alone, but either outcome is equally terrifying." and that was a very interesting stting pnt.ng i never thought about, what if we're alone here, and then what? >> reporter: is at what this became for you? en certainly as far as the was concerned, i mean we're alwa fighting aliens to save ourselves they're imparting some benevolent wisdom on us. and this idea that, whoa! what if it's that we are alone here, then are we focusing on the righthings? >> we have an unidentified approaching our system. >>hed astra has its sar of

>> reporter: set in what it calls "the neare," "ad astra" has its share of fast- paced action, includg a car- chase on the moon. and it has more than its share of breathtaking beauty-- this is a film to savor on a big screen. but it's mostly concerned with a middle-aged man. pitt's "mcbride," with a hole at his core, now in search of his lost father clifford, played by tommy lee jones, seemingly himself a space hero who disappeared 30 years earlierin while lean expedition to neptune. clifford, we learn, may be alive >> my father's alive, sir? i believe so. >> reporter: and in a further twist, blind aew threat to the and, in a further twist, behind a new threat to the ea pitt who grew up in springfield, missouri, son of a man who ran a trucking company, took the father-son issues in the film to heart. >> we often discussed growing up with ts kind of marlboro man image of, you know, don't show weakness.ow

certainly where i grew up, we didn't, you know, you didn't colain if you broke your a or you cut yourself. you just dealt with it. you move on and you almost denied it. but then we've started questioning-- ll, are we doing the same with our, you know, with how we really feel? is that being cut f? and is there something more to look at and embrace here? would we be better fathers and sons, better partners, better lovers, better friends? if we were more-- would we be w mole? >> reporter: it's interesting because you get to sort of actt e.it out on screen in a mo >> yeah. >> reporter: and then apply it to your life. >> it's a bit of a luxury what we do because we get to spend months really dissecting that idea. i think of my dad who worked eight to six, five days a week and then a sixth day on saturday a half a day, he wouldn't have that kind of luxury. he'd just be tired! dsd then have to take the out for a baseball game or

something. ma>> reporter: pitt's perfe in "ad astra" is utterly restrained and internalized--" so understated," one reviewer wrote, "it hardly looks like acting at all." >> this is roy mcride. i am attempting to reach dr. clifford mcbride. i >> reporter: a's different than his other big film this year and very different fs other g film this year, in quentin tarantino's "once upon a bome in hollywood." he says it's all "tone." >> tone is that thing that's not understood. >> reporter: yeah? what does it mean? and you could playy or youcript could play horror. it just depends on howr.ou shoot it and how you play the scenes. i mean, it's wide open and in i think this one's going to be really, really contained and really simple. i and the dangthat always is that it's boring and flat. >> reporter: so how do you do

it? >> i have nothing else to say to you. >> congratulations. >> reporter: so how do you do it? how do you show that much it?tion without really showing >> it's an amazing thing about the camera. it's like when you watch a news it's like when you watch a news report and you're really moved by someone experiencing something in real time. it's robl. and so ours to interpret whatever is seen, as something that's real for us. and i mean i could be thinking about some completely different than what's really happening in the scene.t i'm feeling that then it reads, it's true and truth reads. it always reads. acting means sometind ofe say phony, right? that.ah, i've always objected to because it's the antithesis of at when it's good. >> reporter: these days, pitt is en much producer as actor-- his "plan b entertai company produced "ad astra" and has been

behind a number of recent acclaimed films, including "12 years a slave" and "moonlight," amovies outde the megaplex box. why is that important to y? what do you get out of it? >> storytelling. i mean, i'm a kid, i've always loved films. i love films now.. and in that we get to be a part of stories, really butiful important powerful stories that i wouldn't be right for as an actor. so in that sense it's still, it's still storytelling, and i'm really proud of what my partners and i have been able to put out into the world. >> reporter: are these stories that you think otherwisewo dn't get told? >> it's often the case, you know?ve that film needs some champion behind it to get it no question.inish line. >> reporter: you're what, 55? >> yup. >> reporter: do you feel like you've been building a career on yo terms, making it work? or is it something that just

happened to you? >> it's all those things it's like winning a game show to be let inside the doors of the studio and given this shot. >> reporter: you still feel that? >> oh, in the beginning, noth question. it's like hitting a lottery in some way. i think it's different-- more talents getting opportunities now with streaming, k u know. thand. but what you see is there was this tremendous talent that's been there all along. but it's been both. i've been pushed to do things i didn't feel right about. i did them and i learned, okay, always do the things you do feel right about. and then you find out some work, some don't. so it's all these things. it's by design and it's by, by fate and many factors beyo, beyond me. >> reporter: brad pitt takes off to the stars-- "ad astra," now playing nationwide. for the pbs newshour i'm jeffrey

own in washington. >> woodruff: and finally, our newshour shares-- something that caught our eye we thought mightn be orest to you, too. old age can often lead to isolation or scaled-back lives, but n wants tohow senior citizens when it comes to having goals, the sky's the limit. the newshour's julia griffin explains. >> reporter: on a bright, sunny at skydive tecumseackson,ionals michigan readied their next pair of jumpers. >> not 20 seconds 60 seconds! >> what? no! >> freefall. that's what they said. >> reporter: a78 years old, brenda sutton and beverly mylek re gearing up to take one giant leap out of a plane. >> o i got the cute one! >> reporter: it was a once in a

lifetime opportunity provid by" my jump," a non-profit that provides seniors the opportuty to cross goals, no matter how outlandish, oftheir bucket lists. television producer webb weiman founded the organization in 2011. >> the idea of jump came to me after my mother died and my father refused to leave his bedroom. i wanted to prove to him that there is life beyond the rocking chair aninspire others living in isolation that it's never too late to achieve your dreams. >> reporter: after his father found love again, weiman wanted to embolden other seniors to e stay active later in life. >> everyone should have something on their bucket list and there are no bad bucket list items. >> reporter: skydiving tops the list of requests, but fulfilled dreams have run the gamut. myjump has helped seniors drivee 18-wheelers, ride in the goodyear blimp, and get behindrahe wheel of cecars. but there are less pulse-racinge requests too, ow renewals, first-time train rides or

veterans' trips to war memorials any senior can apply to have a myjump wish fulfilled. the organization selects experiences based on t applicant's health, cost feasibilits and the story behind theirequest. sutton had wanted to skydive earlier in life but never found the opportity. and for mylek, the jump was a rare chance to do something for herself after running a family- owned staunt for 36 years and now caring for her husband, who can no longer work. >> i was excited because i've never won anything in my life so i didn't expecto win anything. and so i juslike excitement. but maybe i'm a little too excited. >> reporter: bucketlistie butterflor not, the moment of truth ultimately arrived, at 14,000 feet. >> what mas me most proud about this organization are the moments.th e moment a participant steps out of a plane, a train, an 18 wheeler. it's seeing the passn in their

eye. it's feeling the gratitude in thlir heart. this is truly one of the greatest chapters of my life.hi >>marked one of the greatest days of their lives. >> yay! r th "pbs newshour," i'm julia griffin. >> woodruff: i'm not trying it, but i he others will. >> woodruff: on the newshour online rightow, what does it mean to be an environmentally sustainable business? there's no one definition, and yet committing to greener practices are vital to the wworld's ability to conteh the climate crisis. learn more about what companies are doing on our web site,ws pbs.org/ur. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff.-l join us onine and again here tomorrow evening. for l of us at the p newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

>> consumer cellular. >> and by the alfred p. foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financiall literacy in the 21st century. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more world.rdant and peaceful more information at macfound.org >> 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 n from viewers like you. thank you.

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[ theme music plays ] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ -today on "cook's country," brian and julia make a foolproof version of a bn classic, prosciutto bread. jack challenges bridget to a tasting of provolone. e ultimate drop meatballs. that's all right here on "cook's country."