captioning snsored by wshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening.oo i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: a pivotal week for the presidency. the impeachment inquiry intensifies, as a whistleblower's concerns are increasingly verified. then, the road to influence. china's belt and road initiative builds infrastructure around the world, but critics say the cost >> when you start borrowing huge sums of money and asking foreign countries to develop, and then you cannot pay, then viously, you're going to lose that part of the country. >> woodruff: and, it's friday. yzrk shields and david brooks are here to analthe breakneck fallout from the whistleblower complaint, and the opening salvos of the peachment inquiry agains

president trump. all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshourne >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been hoprovid by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, thengine that connects us. >> consumer cellular o no-contract wireless plans that are designed to help you do more of the things you enjoy. whether you're a talker,r texter, browser, photographer, or a bit of everything, our

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home a break tonight, leaving a white house besieged by impeachment revelations. the disclosures-- and president trump's denials-- kept coming today, and the top democrat in congress kept up the pressure. white house correspondent yamiche alcindor begins our coe alge. >> alcindor: a historic week. and, at the end of it, both sides sounding off. house speaker nancy pelosi summed up the tuation from her point of view like this: >> the impeachment of a president is as serious as our congressional responsibilities can be, apart from declaring war or something. and so we have to be very prayerful and we always have to put country before party. the clarity of the president's actions is compelling, and gave us no choice but to move forward. >> alcindor: on monday, president trump started the week in new york upbeat. he was looking forward to lding on the wtage at the u.n. general assembly. but, that visit was quickly upended,hen news broke that there was a whistleblower

complaint from the iunelligence coy against him. onefocused on a july 25 phone call with ukrainian esident volodymyr zelensky. the complaint alleged that president trump pressured ukraine to investigate democratic rival and former vice president joe and his son hunter. and, it accused the president on temporarily withholding military aid, to force ukraine to look into the younger biden's business dealis in ukraine. the whistleblowedid not personally hear the phone call, t said "multiple officials" relayed the facts. reports say the whistleblower is an unidentifd c.i.a. officer. on tuesday, speaker pelosi announced a formal impeachme inquy. she confirmed it would narrowly cus on that call. >> the president of the united states used taxpayer dollars to shake down the leader of anotheo try for his own political gain. >> alcindor: initially, white house officials blocked release of a transcript the call, as well as the whistleblower complaint itself. but by wmpnesday, after bothth e house and senate demanded the transcript, the white house

gave in.is itibuted a memo summarizing the call. it also sent the redacted whistleblower complaint to. congre and yesterday, the house intelligence committee made the. document pub among the revelations, the whistleblower accuses president trump of "using the power of his office to solicit interference country in the 2020 u.s. election." the complaint also saisenior white house officials intervened to "lock down" all records of the ukraine phoncall. and, it alleged that "this was 'not the first time' uer this administration that a presidential transcript was placed into this codord-level system solely for the purpose of protecting politically sensitive... information." to reports surfaced that unnamed white house officials confirmed the attempto "lock down" the zelensky call. minutes after the complaint was released on thursday, acting director of national intelligence joseph maguire testified before the house intelligence committee.

>> we consted with the white house counsel's office, and we were advised that mu of the information in the complaint was in fact subject to executive privilege. a privilege that i do not have the authority to waive. >> alcindor: meanwhile, yesterday, during a ivate event at the umission to the u.n., president trump lashed out at the whistleblower and his sources. "bloomberg news" published video from the event. >> that's close to apy. you know what we used to do in the old days, when we were the spies and trea we used to handle it a little differently than we do now. >> alcindor: today, the president took to twitter, saying it's "sounding more and more like the so-called whistleblower isn't a istleblower at all." back in washington, house democrats are forging ahead on their inquiry, even as they begin a two-week columbus day recess. >> the president of the united states iatening a whistleblower's life. and we have to recognize and see it for what it is.

>> alcindor: but republicansreby and large,till defending the president. >> he had no first-hand knowledge, wasn't on the call, and the inspector general even told us that he had a bias against the president.cr and yet the des are going to move ahead with impeachment? after reading that transcript? it's just ridiculous. >> alcindor: spe pelosi said today there is no timeline for the inquiry, but the chairman of the house intelligence committee, adam schiff, said impeachment hearings could begin as early as next week. >> woodruff: and yamiche joinsac me now with the latest. >> woodruff: yamiche, thin democrats gemore specific about who they want to come testify from the trump administration. owhat are you learning at who all may be implicated in this?t >> the whistleblower's complaint focuses onru president, but, like the mueller report, it also outlines a number of individuals who are trying to mitigate president trump's alleged actions or hlp him. so i want to walk through some of the people mentionofed in the complaint. rudy giuliani, the president's personal lawyer. central figure in calls him a

president trump's alleged effort to pressure ukraine. 's said to met personally with ukrainian officials. john blton is implemented because the nional security council is accused of trying to bury the call. barr is accused of pressuring ukraine. president trump talks about barr on the call with the president of ukraine. state department officials are said to be on e call and rudy giuliani claims the state department clled and asked him to get involved with ukraine. kurt walker isa u.s. representative for ukraine notions, a us. ambassador to the european union. both are saying to have given advice to ukraine saying here's how you teal with trump's action. so a lot of people are involved. >> woodruff: you repteadam

schiff is talking about maybe moving as quickly as next week.e what are yoning about how the committee is going to move forwucd? there's soto cover and they want to move quickly. >> democrats have said there going to move quickly with the imachment inquiry expeditiously. they're doing that.te the house igence committee is basically coming back into d.c. friday and early next week at least, and having a hearing with inspector general michael atkinson. he's supposed to be teifying behind closed doors about basically the handling of this call. subpoenaed secretastatees mike pompeo for documents relate to ukraine, the house intelligence comt ttee, oversimmittee and house foreign relations commit where are saying you have till friday to produce the docents. npr surfaced an iterview that happened in march wre mitch mcconnell said if the house voted to impeach pr tesidemp the senate would have no choice

but to hold a trial. woodruff: so much going on. g every week is high pressure at. the white hou this one has been particularly. so how are they doling with e is? >> the white ho in full defense mode and trying to get help from the trump campaign with all of ths. the president has been lashing out but the trump campaign is launching millions of dollars in ads on facebook, social media and cable news outlets and are basically making the baslle the president has been unfairly targeted. the other thsoing, ine ways, the spin will continue from the white house, and that spin is,in heir part, defense of the president. it's also important to note there are 300 former national security officials who released a letter and want to read part of the letter because all of this is going on aseople are sounding the alarm. they say in the letter we to be a protound nationalactio security concern. they also say there's no escaping that what we already know isserious enough to merit

the president is launching his impeachment defense, you ha democrats and republicans bushing back on that. >> woodruff: the ads the white house saying they're going to run will start quickly.t' >> ithe trump campaign running the ad but quickly >> woodruff: thank you. thank you so much. will. >> druff: in the day's other news, democrats in the u.s. house of representatives challenged president trump on another front-- thsouthern border. they voted to end the national emgency declaration that allows military funds be diverted tbuilding a border wall. the nate already approved the resolution, but the president is expected to veto it. congress was not able to override a similar veto last march.last a federal judge in los angeles

today blocked the trump administration's new rules p that couvent indefinite detentions of migrant children. the judge said the rules violate the standards set by the 1997 so-called "flores settlement." it barred indefinite detention. the administration is expected to appeal. iran's president hassaani says that the united states exchange for renegng thetions in 2015 nuclear deal. rouhani turned to tehran today after attendinthe u.n. general assembly in new york. he said eupean leaders there brought him a messag >> ( translated ): they said america was saying it woullift the sanctions. another issue under discussion was which sanctions would be lifted. the americans had clearly stated that we would lift the entire sanctions. >> woodruf hours later, president trump claimed that iran asked for sanctions relief in return for a meeting, but, he tweeted, "i said, of course,

'no!'"'" meanwhile, iran today released a british-flagged tanker that it had detained in july. iranian state tv showed the ship leaving port. it sailed to dubai so the crew could disembark and undergok medical checks. the vessel was seized after british authorities in gibraltar stopped an iranian oil tanker suspected of violating european sanctions. the british released that ship last month.fg innistan, millions of people are preparing for tomorrow's presidential elecdespite taliban threats of violence.od in kabul, armepolice were preemptively deployed to erlling stations. t but, potential vwere divided on whether to risk the taliban's wrath. >> ( translat): if, like previous elections, fingers would be chopped off, no security, i personally will not go to te. >> ( translated ): at any cost, we will go to vote and elect our we support the afgcurity

forces ensuring our security. >> woodruff: president ashraf onghani is seeking re-eleco a second term.se his chief executive, abdullah abdullah, is his main rival. security forces in egypt moved today to prevent new, mass protests against president abdel fattah el-sisi. popular demonstrations in recent daysargeted poor living coitions and corruption. police vehicles took up positions all over central cairo today. protests, but el-sisi dism d them, and the claims of corruption. >> ( translated ): this is an image being painted as was done before, comprised of lies and defamation, and some mediark g to present an image that istrue. we're really strong. the country is really strong so don't worry about anything. >> woodruff: egyptian authorities have carried out mass arrests in recent days. human rights monitors say at1, leas0 people have been detained. hundreds of thousands of youngar

peopleed in cities terldwide today in a second wave of worldwide clirotests. the rallies began in new aland, where donstrato crowded filled streets outside the parliament in auckland. sewhere, there were abou 180 protests in italy alone, wi more than 10,000 people marching in rome. back in is country, federal immigration judges accused the u.s. justice deptment of unfair labor practices. a union representing t more than 400 judges alleged that a racist, anti-immigration blogst ppeared in a briefing. the union also said judges are sinking under ge case loads, anthat the department is challenging their right to have a union. president trump tonight hasng sgned a spenill to keep the federal government open. it will fund federal agencies through november 21. it gives lawmakers more time to

ofotiate money for poin disagreement, like funds for mr. trump's border wall. and, on wall street, stocks finished the week on a down note. the dow jones industrial average lost 70 points to close at 26,820.sd th fell 91 points, and the s&p 500 was nts, 15. still to come on the newshour: "building the future." chinese construction and the global balance of power.oc 2020 dtic hopefuls vie for the crucial support of blackh voters in soutrolina. mark shields and david brooks break down a week that may be destined for the history books., udy garland, back on screen. a new film dep the last year in the life of the hoywood legend. >> woodruff: china's belt andti road iive is the most expensive infrastructure project in history.

chinese companies are building roads, pipelin, and railroads but, the initiativ also building chi's influence. with the support of the pulitzer center, nick schifrin has theco installment in our series, "china: power and prosperity." he begins from a recipient off belt and road investments: indonesia. >> schifrin:n the middle of west java, indonesia, fishermen drop nets from bamboo poles, and a tea plantaon fills rollingat hills ead to a major highway and indonesia's fourth largest city. here on the outskirts of bandung, the commuter train is old and slow. but now, cutting through the hills that lead to indonesia's capital, jakta, there's a nnel for a high-speed train, and the engineers and managers$6 who lead this billion project are chinese. they construct railway that wil cae fastest train in soutsia, able to travel 215 miles an hour. xiao songxin leads the

consortium of indonend chinese companies building the railroad. >> ( translated ): the two countries' companies can complement each other,h upport each oand develop together. it's fundamentally a win-win project. >> schifrin: 2,000 years ago, the ancient silk road helped dina spread goods, ideas culture all the way to europe. today, china aspires to create a "maritime silk road" of ports and an "economic belt" of roads, pipelines, and railways acrosscl 70 countries, ing a network of railroads in indonesia. that's where, in 2013, president xi jinping debuted the belt and road initiative a a signature foreign policy. >> ( anslated ): only with high ambition and hard work can one make great achievements. we have the confidence, conditions and capabilities to obtain our goals. >> schifrin: for indonesia, the goal is to collaborate with china on belt and road projects to lift millions of its citizens out of poverty.

at this construction yard, manyo lower-skilled sians, in the yellow hats, have been trained by chinese workers, in the white hats. belt and road projects create joys and spark development, indonesian minister luhut findjaitan. >> this beus very much, you know. we are going to have also like a new cities, suburbs, so then we can spread out people to the area, you know. >> with new industry, new employment, new production? >> yes, yes, indeed.s, s ifrin: indonesia needs improved infrastructure. right now, the road from jakarta to bandung weaves through the edges forest, where constant traffic means the 90-mile trip takes five hours. on the new raiwioad, the trip take 45 minutes. luhut dreams of indonesians traveling like the chinese. >> i experienced that when i was in beijing. you know, i we from beijing to what name of the cit only one hour by speed train, you know. very comfortable. >> schifrin: like the train we rode from ng kong to the city

of shenzhen, on the chinese mainland. welcome to china! in 20 years, china has gone from no high-speed rail-- ( train whistle ) --to the longest high-speed rail network in the world, thanks to state-owned enterprises. the ra the electricity, the telecommunications-- all produced by majority state-owned enterprises. and much of the steel comes from companies like the majority state-owned baosteel. the company is now so large, it has its own ports-- four of them on the outskirts of shanghai.ak baosteeles as much steel as the entire u.s. it's actually too much.ne excess c steel capacity weighs down the economy. the belt and road initiativeel gives baosew markets. huan weiliang directs baosteel's strategic planning and technology. >> ( translated ): for the steel industry, the belt and road roitiative will generate direct demand for steelcts.

with the economic development in those belt and road countries, their people's living standards will improve, and thus the demand for dable consumer goods will increase.reas >> schifrin: and cltna says the nd road initiative also improves chinese living standards, by connecting ral, previously unconnected areas, such as this future high-speed rail site in sichuan. the government argues more rail access produces perity, and stability. >> ( translated ): we encourage chinese companies to go out of china to enhance their production capability. in return, we can use theve increased ment revenue to improve the income level of somn poor areas. this is important. >> schifrin: xiao weiming leads the office in the chinese ministry that oversees the belt and road initiative. he describes the initiative as helping china to develop internally, and expand externally.>> translated ): china has entered a new era. the belt and road initiative isn the banner of s new round of reform and opening up, as well as a general plan ofon ic cooperation wh foreign countries.

>> schifrin: but for some countries, that cooperation led to a loss of control.un inan, malaysia, a state- building this indu park was and port. but the construction is frozen,i stopped by an ly critic. >> ( translated ): china is a big power now. and big powers normant to pand their influence. >> schifrin: mahatir mohamad served as malaysian pr minister from 1981 to 2003.ib he used to desthe u.s. as "the colonizer." but last year, at the e of 92, he came out of retirement and was re-elected. his opponent was accused os op siphoning off chinese money connected to belt and road contracts. mahathir called china the "new colonizer," and belt and road projects "predatory." >> everything is imported, mostly from china. workers were from china. all of the parts and materials were from china.

and the payment for the maderacts were also to b in china. that means that malaysia doesn't get any benefit at all. >> schifrin: the original ntracts called for chinese- built ports along malaysia's east coast.es chbuilt pipelines. a $20 billion chinese-built rai link. and the malacca gateway, a chinese-financed development project on the malacca strait, through which almost all chinese oil flows. mahathir accused the chinese to taking advantage of a corrupt. governme >> the whole thing w done in a hurry, by the previoth government, t due regard for the interest of malaysia. >> schifrin: in belt and road deals, countries can sovereignty and china can gain assets. sri lanka had to hand over a rdport when it couldn't af debt payments to a chinese bank. to build this belt and road s,railroad with chinese lo kenya agreed to apply chinese law inside kenya, and give up itst africa's largest port couldn't repay its debts. and to pay for south america's

largest dam, ecuador is selling 80% its most valuable asset oil, to china at a discount. mahathir says he too feared thaa loss of control. >> when you start borrowing huge eims of money and asking f countries to develop, and then you cannot pay, then obviouslyu you're going to lose that part of the country. >> schifrin:hat warning is echoed by the u.s.'s most senior officials. >> we don't drown our partners in a sea of debt. we don't coerce or compromise your independence.ta the uniteds deals openly and fairly. we do not offer a constrictinglt r a one-way road. >> schifrin: the u.s. argues, china's version of belt and road fosters corruption. the state-owned china communications constn company alononhas been accused of bribery across ur countries. the u.s. also warns, china's ports could one day hohinese warships. last year, secretary of statern mike pompeo that could lead to a chinese empire.

>> when china shows up with countries in exchange forin infrastructure projects that then this idea of a treasury-run empire build is something that i think would be bad for each of those countries, and certainly presents risk to american interests. >> schifrin: the united states government describes the beltad and nitiative as a way for chinese to exert control and to increase chinese power around te world. >> ( translated ): we chinese do not have what you call ambition or a grand vision to change the world order. only want to promote more economic cooperation. >> schifrin: what's ur reonse to that criticism, that the belt road initiative contracts are debt traps and aren't transparent? >> ( translated ): chinese companies won the bidding, and other foreign companies did not win, and the rean is simple. foreign companies and workers are not as harrking as the chinese. >> schifrin: but don't those chinese compans get advantages? not because they are just hard workers, but because they are

protected by the chinese state? >> ( translated ): i cannot say it's the chinese government's support. china's financial institutions will provide financing only if they deem the projects areit profle. we do not make investment blindly. we chinese are not stupid. schifrin: and some of the countries with belt and road investments say they're not e stupher. malaysia renegotiated with china, and in late july-- ( train horn ) r schifrin: --the cstruction of the rail linktarted, in a joint indonesian/chinese ceremony. china agreed to redu price tag for construction by 20%, and .low more malaysian worke >> they are willing to listen to our vis, and in the end, they accommodated our problems. >> schifrin: u.s. officials say they're tryial to develop an rnative. the leaders of a new $60 billion agency that will launch next month have been visiting countries where china is covesting. the u.s. is pitching public- private deals to counter belt and road investments.

and, the u.s. advocates japanese investment as an alternative. japan built jakarta, indonesia's local subway. but, the chinese deals are better, indonesian minister pandjaitan told the japanese. >> i said to them, okay, look, your term, you know, on the previous proje, you know, i think too tit for us. the chinese offer us now the term much better. >> schifrin: and countries that receive belt and road investmenh satrump administration is difficult to deal with, compared to the chinese. >> ty've got this belt and road initiative.tiat does the united states offer anything like that? n er, you know. to reach washington is very hard, you know. we don't know to whom to talk in in china, we have so many peoplr here. >> ( translated ): the u.s. approach is always with a big stick and very little carrot. this has not happened with the chinese. that's not the chinese way. >> schifrin: but the chinese way is to increase its presence and find allies all over the worlds to increase influence.

the belt and roathinitiative is engine to power that expansion, and it's full speed ahea for e pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin in bandung, indonesia. >> woodruff: south carolina's primarisn early and critical test of support with black voters. that is why demoatic presidential candidates have already held more than 400 events in the palmetto state. yamiche alcind is back to report on how the 2020 hopefuls still have a lot of voters to win over. ♪ ♪ >> alcindor: in north charon, south carolina, royal missionary baptist church has seen its fair share of presidentialandidates. >> some people say we need a change in the highest office.

amen! >> alcindor: reverend isaac holt isn't making a endorsements. his members decide who toor help suppt is to give them options. so, he's welcoming the candidates to show up in person and speak to his more an 3,000 parishioners. >> good morning, royal. >> alcindor: today, california senator kamala harris is taking a turn. >> we must love thy neighbor.s but lefi and be clear about who is our neighbor. our neighbor is not just who lives xt door. we learn and know everybody is our neighborincluding that man by the side of the road who may be affcted, who may have been rejected. >> alcindor: black voters, like those at church this morning, made up mo than 60% of the soutcarolina democratic primary electorate in 2016. that means the path to the presidential nomination runs straig through communities like this one. but harris is still struggling

to break through here.s shuck in single gits in recent polls. she trails former vice president joe biden, as well as ntnars bernie sanders and elizabeth warren. but, she is ahead of south bend indiana mayor pete buttigieg and new rsey senator cory booker >> what do you make of the fact that there are two white male candidates, both joe biden and, bernie sandeo have more support in the african american community than you? >> a lot of it has to do with the fact that they are known, ngd we are still introdu ourselves. and there is still a long way to go in this campaign, to be able to do that.that >> alcindor: for a number of the senator's alpha kappa alpha sorority sisters, many sittingin he front row of church, the candidate showing up here is an important step. >> you need to start grassroots, and i think her infusion into the community like whis is the be to go. >> alcindor: but she has some work to do?do >> she has some work ttodo. she neednterface more, be it in this community, the african american community, the hispanic community, wherever. in alcindor: the south car primary is just five months away. that ges candidates precious little time to make in-roads with the biggest voting bloc in

the democratic party here. coming to a historically black community like liberty hill in north charleston is a prime r,portunity.port after the civil ed african americans founded this neighborhood. today, it's holding its first annual reunion. hester mcfadden helped plan the celebration. we thought it was necessary to bring together folks so that they could learn about theldor hiof this community. all too often in this country, a lot of the african american communities are fading away for whatever reasons, gentrification and for a lot of other reasons. >> alcindor: in this neighborhood, politics and fellowship are intertwined. >> you got like 20 candidates running at this point. to read up on 20 different people, that's too many people at this point. >> alcindor: tell me a littleme biabout who you're thinkin you like for the 2020 election? >> i like biden. >> alcindor: why? >> i like biden because i think he'll still have a lot of what ama did. well, i'm hoping elizabeth

warren a her bid for the nomination. you know, actually, i like quite a few of i think we've got a great team. biden is all right, but i think he's a little past, biden and bernie, a little past the lifespan, you know. cory booker, he's, y know, i mean, he's, he's pretty good. >> talking about harris, i'm just not concting with her at all. >> alcindor: some black voters said tdon't trust harris because of herprackground as a ecutor. >> from what i've read so far about her, they were saying that she was kind of harsfrican americans, especially on drug charges and things like that. >> alcindor: so how is she trying to change thatt perception? >> look, first of all, let's just back up, because here's t thing. i am the only one on the stage who decided to jump inhe fire at a very young age in my life and do what i could to refor the systemrom the inside. >> alcindor: hester and he daughter, stephanie, represent a generational divide that is showing up in polls.

like most older black voters, hester is strongly in the joe biden camp. she likes his connection to former president barack obama. stephanie likes biden, but she also likes sanders, and her mind isn't quite made up yet. there are times when african americans are given this message of criminal justice, i want to cona to your church and talk about these other things. is there pandering that you >> absolutely, yes. most definitely. >> we don't need a candidateplo on ouemotions. we just want someone to get the job done.do >> alc as african americanerican women, what are your concerns when you think about your race and your gen >> i'm concerned about equity in the job market, and housing, as my dahter said earlier, housing. and to make sure that our children are not saddled with debt >> alcindor: hester mcfadden thinks the still-crowded democratic field could learn from her reunion. >> the candidates need to sit down and say, look, let's, let's work together collectively, let's work together as united front. >> alcindor: meanwhile,>> a libey hill has already started thinking about itsext reunion in 2021.

that one won't be overshadowed by presidential potics for the pbs newshour, i'm yamiche alcindor in north charleston, south carolina. >> wdruff: and now, to help break down aistoric week in washington, i am joined by shields and brooks. that's syndicated columnist mark shields, and "new yorkd times" columnist david brooks. hello to both of you. so much going on, his weut i think we know where to start, and that is, david, oking back at this conversation that tookio place in july between presidt trump, theesident of ukraine, the white house continues to say this is a perfectly appropriate -- the esident said perfect -- conversation with the leader of

another country. democrats are saying it's aat vin hoifs oathe. impeacha >> they thought it was exculpatory. i don't see how they could think that the thing to do with the transcript is to look at the trump says we have been generous to you, you haven't been jefferson to us, we have been more generous than others, and that follows maybe you can do us a favor and that favor is to look into the bidens. so the chain is we did this for can do for us.s, here's what you it's not explicit quid pro quom but close. >> are there shades of questions about what happened in thatco ersation, mark, or clear cut for you? >> it's clear cut, judy. what it puat rest is the lie about the confidence of the trump campaign. we're ahead.g in all polls where he was so terrified and ftimidated, the president the united states got on the phone with the leader of ukraine to get dirt on the one democrat

who, in every major pol was beating him, and that candidate's son. this shows the t terrohe bravado.tion and the false totally exposed. it is -- i think david was mores than kind. it is totally explicit. this is a rycoujudy, that has a smaller army than that of thsri lanka. it is sitting o doorstep of russia which has only shown bad impulses toward it, we're holding $451 million and the president, it's the boss to the lowest employee. the power is totally to acknowledge thand anybody has >> woodruff: you have republicans saying entirely appropriate for the president of e united states to be saerng to the leof ukraine, we

want you to clean up corruption in your country? >> that is appropriate, i suppose, to say, but the republicans are not going to break on this. as we look at impeachment, i vaguely remember watergate, i was young, but i remember a sens oof gravity and a sen we're stepping outside our pasty lines. we didat, howard baker, and we're going to weigh the etched and this is so serious we just can't play normal politics. this is not going t happen, this is feling like normal politics, where the democrats are here, the republicans here and the idea of stepping out your party for the sake of the truth is not here. >> woodruff: theeal to have the whistleblower, we learned several days ago this was someone in the intelligence community in the last few days reporting it's a analyst at the c.i.a. we're not supposed to have a nameecause this person's identity is supposed to be

esotected, but the prent is calling this individual a spy, in effect, saying this is somebody who's disloyal to the country. >> last wek, the president planned the person apartisan hack, it's gone to stretc trech. the person had to know what he or she was putting at risk. in the hot house in which weve n washington, the identity will eventually be made public,a and i think it canonly be revealed and described as an act of great courage to do so. >> woodruff: pulling in david, a number of other administration officials which is whawhict's launching the -- >> that's what i took away from the report is it's bigger than one phone call. it's probably the coverup, but he said over a series of, mont

a lot of people are in a panic about this. n so itt just the one phone call and he heard about it, buts ther process, people are freaked out about it, so it's more than jute person who will be involved. >> david's right, he ltd ou a a interview.to investiga >> woodruff: aintehe fact that talked to a number of different people, didn't just rashly set thisut there and throw it out. but the question them comes down to, is, david, th, e impeachment inquiry. the use is doubling down. we had adam schiff, chairman of the house intelligence on the program last night saying this is more sern ious thasere muellr report which they spent months and months. >> it's cleaner. you can understand russia was

much more complicated. to me the decision to dimo achment is a m istake. i agree he did something impeachable, but theo obligation to prosecute. impeachment doesn't get donald trump out of the white house. the chance you wilget 20 republican senators to vote donald trump out of office seemo e so remote it's minuscule. so the likely outcome ofhis is donald trump will be saying, see, i was acquitted inhe senate, i was vindicated and beat these people. so he'll get victory and both parties wi i gonto revolt. so that's the way it likely looks to end up. in the meantime yore trampling er your democratic season, you're not having the conversation voters want whitech islihange and all that, you're focusing the attention on the democratic sidthe congress, not to the

presidential candidates. position that has ry lowken a e ance of succeeding o get him out of offd has hugue risks. >> woodruff: do you think the thing or not? doing the right >> democrats are doing to only thing they can. do what this present has done is not outrageous or indefensible, it's crimal, and at's what he has done. he has totally abdicatedro ted and corrupted his oath of office. when it coes to making this cision, i think the preeminent national, the american political leader of the 20th century is the speaker of the house more so than any other presidentingle ndily passed the affordable care act, she is the one major figure of any other president candidate that opposed the debacle and tragedy of war in iraq, she put inr jority to

covering 17 million persons,t 2 million of whom who have losti their pol due to donald trump's policies in the last year alone. she hask.ome bac she aborted the rush to join the pound of flesh club, let's get him for double parking outside on chrisas eve. eth too serious. you can't turn your back on it. it may not be good timing, expedient,t would be an act of total irresponsibility not to act when you have the evidencen gi the democrats. >> there's the thing called the ethic of sponl responsibility. what's the outcome. she said i will not doun impeachmenss there's a bipartisan upswell of support for this and that will never happen now. i think she was forced into it by the pressure of hern partyn and her own caucus. but the house is not the central qution, the senate is the central question and it's the senate thas going to give

trump his victory and, in the meantime, i think she's giving trump the ght he wants whch is against the congressional democrats, not about policy or things that actually affect people's livesbut just a personality reality tv brawl within side the beltway. to me that's the fight he wants. i don't know where it will go. it will spin out of control in thnext several months, but the ethic of responsibility is what can i do to get donald trumput to have the white house and this is not the right path, in my view. >> i would say unlike david and rhaps president clint, i do not believe people are unredeemable. we have seen just the beginning, this i t the tip ofe t camel's nose that we've seen. >> woodruff: you meain terms -- >> of what's gone on. i think wheoe testify, we'll find more,nd i think

republicans are americans before republicans, a, yes, there's a herd mentality and silo attitude now, but i do think, when the evidence becos overwhelming, which i think it will be, i think they'll act. >> woodruff: what do you think, dade, i not an democrats do?nquiry, what sho >> they could have censured him let's have an election about this, and then they can american people everything that happened. fine, but let's nove thistally process swallow up an election year. we have eleyectns for a reason, we have an exciting election for the democratic party, and to overshadow that, to me, a lot of people are going to take a look at this and say, well, we could have settled tis with 100 million voters around the country or 100 millionres in the senate. who should have the power here? >> this is the question, judy, of he is asifkin not demanding

and coarsing an ally -- coarsing a subservient ally, let's be frank -- in the relation betwee the united states and ukraine, ukraine is sbservient to the united states, in al candor -- he's asking them to interfere ia rican election, to spill dirt on an opponent. i mean, we can't have that. we can't pretend that's till the iowa caucuses andait new hampshire primary. it's ju too grave. >> woodruff: is there something, david, that would make an impeachment inquiry the right thing to do? or -- i hian, is there an the president can do? i mean, are you saying ere's knotting? >> no, i'm not saying that, but i agree with mark on the severity of what he did. i'm not saying -- i think he did an impeachable offense, i'm just saook at our context, and

the context is we'ere in aiddle of an election year and we should not walk down the path that will led to failure? 99%. i do not think that the republicans who hung with nald trump through charlottesville, moral turpitude,nd a thousand outrages on evry friday, i don't think they'll break with him and wrong the republican voters will break with him. they'll find some way. confidence ina republicans than david, but i don't car dou yo, it's totally disruptive to the process, david's right.ot itly intrudes and puts everything else aside, but i will say iou're picking sides in the democrats, you want the telligence committee, you want adam schiff against devin nunes. >> woodruff: you're saying it's worth it even if g thenat

does not convict? >> yes. happen.ot pretend it didn't what this president has done ould be disqualifying. >> woodruff: mark shields, david brooks, thank you. >> woodruff: we are still monte arway from awards season in hollywood, but one film already getting buzz is "judy," a bio-pic about legendary actress judy garland. from the recent toronto international film festival, jeffrey brown takes a lookke at the movie and its star, asrt pa of our "canvas" series on arts and culture. >> brown: in the new film, udy," we meet one of thery 20th cen greatest entertainers, in free-fall nearf the end of her i can't!

>> you'll be fine. s >> brown: it'sdy of hollywood both magic and tragic. ♪ ♪ the girl who is forethr dorothy inwizard of oz;" the woman who dazzled with her singing and screen performances. the great judy garland, played by renee zellweger. >> it's impossible not to appreciate just how truly extraordinary she was. >> brown: what did she have? what did you see in her? >> hope, joy, tenacity, and just raw, god-given talent. her ability to transcend. you know, she gets ia song, she breaks it apart. she lives and feels the contenti of whatever it is that's speaking to human emotion. and every person who sees her, feels that she's singing to me. the new film.ert goold directed he's best known for his work in >> i spent my life in rehearsal rooms, and had the privilege of being incredibly close to all sorts of actors and singers. and i was just really interested in trying to capture what it is to perform, sort of intuitively

psychologically.tionally, holo you know, garland was like an incredible performer, and in some senses, this film is a study of what that means. and the cost of that. >> brown: the film shows flashbacks to the teenaged frances gumm-- her given name--g from a small town in minnesota, as she becomes the national darling judy garland, part ofg the star-makm studio machine. groomed for fame, but fed pills stay im, others to stay awake for grueling 18-hour shoots, still others to sleep. >> judy garland literally grew up on camera. she was the first person who had that experience. her tire life was in the public eye and she was incubatew by the studio, and i'm sure thap had lots of tr and joys. there were also a lot of very punishing difficult times fo rer, particularly in her youth. here is much later, in 1969, the final year of her life, when all but broke, homeless,

and unemployable in hollywood, garland took on a series of stage performances in a london night club.ge zellsays that while much has changed in the film world, she found ways to connect. >> well, i probably understand a little bit of it, from personal experience. there's an awareness among most we're lucky to be doing what we're doing. so there's a certain level of gratite that then translatesto sense of responsibility, that you want to hold up your end of the deal. and foone like judy, for example, who is made to feel constantly that she was lucky, but lucky and replaceable, and that there's a million girls who can take your place-- what uldn't you do in order to hold onto your place, when this is tur joy? >> brown: you hamake a decision about how to play her, an iconic person. did you end up coming to feel that you were impersonating her, playing her? >> oh, i hope not.

no, i hope not. no, it felt-- i don't know-- i e just wanted toress what it was i was feelg. it was a search for finding that momentthat opportunity to tell that point of that emotional experience, and a celebration. >> it was funny. i remember in the early part of the shoot, we talked about whether we'd refer t"judy" or "renee" in between takes, or in the filming. and i think as it went on, which often happens with actors in a role, it just becomes a "she." "she's this," "she's that." and the "she," of course, is judy garland, but of cours it's also what wre doing on the day, in the performance. and the "she" becomes sort of like a dreamtate which hopefully, if you've done the work beforehand, theenough "judy" in there. >> brown: oh, goodness, were you in this dream stat too? "judy-renee," "renee-judy?" >> hopefully not cognizant of what's happening in the moment, in the surroundings. but trying to stay connected to whatever it was that we had collected and discussed and

conjured. bring this energy, bring this emotion, bring this moment in the telling of her story. >> brown: some of the interest in this film, too, is seeing zellweger herself, now 50, return to the screen. a star since her 20s in fi like "jerry maguire," "chicago," "bridget jon," and "cold mountain," for which she won an oscar for best suprting actress, she stee ed away from vies for six years, andix has spoken openly of the emotional stss and depression she battled. part of it, she told me in toronto, was her own hollywood bubble, estranged from life itself. >> and i'd learned about this process, but i don't think that you can authentically tell stories when you don't have authentic exchanges with people. and most of my exchanges were as a different character, or talking about the character that i had played.ow

so, you where's home? and who are your friends? and what do you like to do now, and why don't you learn something new, and why don't you grow as a person? it just seemed essential to me, or i was boring myself. you know, i could hear myself speaking the lines. that's no good. brown: "judy," one of today's stars taking on one of thest greate ever, is quite a comeback performance.lw and, zeleger did her own singing and dancing. ♪ ♪ >> that's his fault. >> brown: at's his fault? >> i wasn't the one singing! >> brown: what do you mean? he made you do it? i >> welidn't show up going, "hey, guys, i have a good idea!" ( laughs ) u she's great singer. >> brown: but yont for it? >> and then some.

>> you won't forget me, will you? >> brown: judy garland was just 47 when she died. the new film, "judy" opens this weekend. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown at the toronto international film festival. >> woodruff: that'll be quite a film. and on the newshour online, medicare for all has become a central tenet of some democratsa esidential campaigns. but 40% of u.s. adults say they still do not know enough about the insurance proposal to offer an opinion on it. that is according to a survey fromhe commonwealth fund, released yesterday. we take a look at where americans ston healt ahead of the 2020 election. all that and more is on our website, www.pbs.org/newshour. our china series continues on tomorrow's edition of pbs newshour weekend. ck schifrin and special correspondent katrina yu examine the trade war, and the winners and losers on both sides. and that is the newshour forni t.

i'm judy woodruff. have a great weekend. a g thank you, and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> kevin. >> kevin! >> kevin? >> advice for life life well-planned. learn more at ymondjames.com. >> bnsf railway. >> consumer cellular. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org.sk >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, institutions to promote a better world. >> and with the onsupport of these institutions

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tonight on kqed newsroom. the impeachment proceedingid against the prt get underway in california lawmakers are leading the charge. also we will talk with oakland school chief kyla johnson challenges from funding the charter schools. plus a new book by a national geographic photographer reveals the sacred rituals and transformative power behind masks. good evening and welcome to the newsroom. battle over impeaching president trump. follow continues over the made by a legati whistleblower that trump