tonight on kqedhonewsroom. e democrats begin drafting articles of impeachment against president trump setting the stage for a showdown with republicans on capitol hill. also, don't let a spark turn io a flame. we talked through the best tactics for diffusing family holiday tension . and pethe nancsi way. from building bridges to tearing down walls. a new book ascribes the leadership style of a political powerhouse. good evening, and welcome to lagos. wsom , i am risa we beginght with the week's top political news. on thursd, speaker nancy pelosi said the house of representatives would begi drafting articles of pr impeachment againsesident trump. a day earlier, four constitutional law scholars testified before the house judiciary committee. pe three of the s testified that the president had

committed impeachable offenses in pressuring a foreign power to open an inveigation into a political rival. also this week, california senator, harr announced she is dropping out of the presidential race. harris had gotten off to a strong start with an impressith performance withfirst presidential debate held in june. since then, her campaign was marred by infighting and muddled messaging key issues such as healthcare. with us now is l.a. times political reporter melanie mason. she joins us via skype from los angeles. thank you for being here, melanie. >> thank you for having me. >> in the studio politica writer carl m iannucci. wa carla, i to start with you. it has been a big week in the impeachment inquiry. we know speaker ncy pelosi announced yesterday she has directed the house committees to draft these articles of impeachment. can you quickly walk us hrough whpens now. >> now wehave got come in the

house judiciary committee, they will take up these articles of impeachment. we y hear from president trump, from some lawyers of the house intelligence committee starting monday. there is an issue with a fedebpl judge and nas up on tuesday. but i think the big news is today, the trump administrationd basically the president is not going to participate in this. >> whicis what we have seen all along, one of the attacks on the process but no eagerness to join the ocess. do you think this decision weekend or strengthened chumps hand in this whole thing. >> i think everything about this impeachment process will be seen rtthrough a an lens. the republicans are going to cheer chump on and say this is a phony process any tchhunt or thdemocrats are going to say there he goes again complaining about a process, but not trng to participate in it. i think we are backwhere we started and this is still going to get more and more dramatic. we will see the house will be able to wrap this up maby

chriwhich is what they want. but who knows how this is going to go. >> i want to turn to the president soon. but before we get there, you have covered nancy pelosi a long lyme. she rehas become the driver of thisprocess. so much control and she really resisted it until the ukraine scandal broke. what political calculations you think the speaker has made in the last few weeks? >> to is point, as you said, she was very careful in the beginning talking about how this is going heto affect members. how devices disive it woul be for the country. that was a blower and the ukraine revelations changed everything for her. as she said this week this is about the constitution, not about the election anymore. it is about protecting congressional rights of oversight and 's also about issues like obstruction of justice. we are going to see how far these impeachment articles go. are they going to ruinclude obion of justice and the corruption, and maybe the russia investigation. we will sehow that goes. but what pelosi is, is now the

driver. >> want to bring melanie in here. we now support for impeachment is really split upon party lines and the country is very split on this. i'm curiou as someone covering the 2020 race and out in districts around the nation, how do you think this pying in for the presidential candidates but also for congressional democrat might be defending their seats against republican attacks essentially. >> i th k to tathe congressional question first. carlin's carla's statement about this being seen throug congressional linens, it has not changed polling very much. even as have seen all of this being done in the house intelligence committee before that. i do think we have seensome outside groups coming in particularly to the aid of president trump and i think trying to scaroff some of these house democrats. particularly if they are in some of these more purple districts. it doest seem like so r anyone has been loosening in

their resolve. i think, on the other side of the ledger, in the presidential race, there is a al practical implication here that if the house decides to impeach the president and it moves over to the senate, thercould be an impeachment trial happening right in the middle of the height of the primary season. so we have a number candidates who are senators who may not be able to be on the trail on the lead up to some these key contest because i ve to be washington dc for an impeachment trial. if you are senator elizabeth warren or bernie sanders or amy klobuchar.you're probably looki and say does my january look substantially different than i thought it would a ntcouple ago? >> a lot of flights. one senator who does not have to make that calculation is, let harnis from cali. she got ouof the race. you have been covering hers and she launched this campaign in january. what went wronta ited off so promising for kamala harris. >> i think those expectations that were set from the very beginning, that's really sort of dazzling lunch rally anin oa really strong rst debate performance against joe uld be high for any that

politician to hit and particularly someone like kamala harris , she had the kind of raw attributes that should make a strong politician. but the truth is, il ked into gear. i think for those of us, all of us havecovered her in california before she was a presidential candidate. i think we saw some of the tendencies that mpy be ed her career sometimes in california really playing out in the presidential race. i think particularly sometimes this ininct for caution, maybe the senator second- guessing her in thanks for that led to a muddled message that made it hard r her to make a single core pitch about why her in this very crowded presidential field. i think a lot of people i think she made a good impression on democratic primary voters. when you have so many candid es to choose frand so many who had a very clear justification for reason for could not offea counter she argument that swayed enough people. >> carla, i want to bring you in here too.

this was a race where you had mohammed saeed alshamrani harris's sister cochairing the campaign. a lot of upheaval, as melanie th mentioned, within campaign. but also these questions about who kamala harris is. someone who has covered her so long, what doyou think was the biggest challenge here? >> i think she learned that running a aipresidential ca is a whole different thing from running a statewide campaign. i have never seen a campaign that was so focused a circular firing squad. she had internal divisions going on in that campaign that didn't help thher. and her messaging was an issue. she didn't seem to know where she was when it came to major issues like medicare for all. about how stroshe was as a king prosecutor. kamala harris for the people, that was her motto. yet when she took fire from progressive democrats about that role in scrutiny abouat ole, she seemed to back away from it. trying to please everyone, as mel said, sometimes too

cautious. l of those things came together and the coverage covered that. >> we saw castro, another candidate of color really lash out at the media saying that kamala harris was held to a different standard because she úwasofa woman color. i kind of wonder if she held herself to a different standard because she knew how hard, she has known how hard it is to ma run. e that caution, but what do you make of that attack? cannot remember when she came out of the d box she some very glowing coverage all over the country. she did have, there were some hurdles and i ha to say she took some heatthat other candidates didn't take. say with her relationship with willie brown. there were a lot of trolls out negative coverage on that. that is not the kind of coverage that a lot of male candidates get about their dating history. i think on that, yeah. thermay be issue. but with regard to how her campaign fell down. the issues, the ternal debates. i think we were straightforward

in the coverage on that. the l.a. times, other media ga zations looked to this úcampaign in a critical and fairwa >> you are running to for president, you are going to have some tough questions. melanie, i wan you. the l.a. times told us this week with uc berkel saying that th democratic race in california is still very fluid. it did show warren losing some support, bernie sanders now rsi place. pete buttigieg really doubling his support over the last pole. biden still in the mid teens at is it ing to take for something to happen in this race and for someone to break out? it feels it is so up in the air still so late. >> my count, bernie sanders is the fourth person to now ewad in a ste california primary poll which just goes to show the leaderboard really is trading off. i think to the point of what is it going to take? i think there are a coupleof factors here. the first is, as much as we have been following this obsessively for the last year, it still early.

people have not started voting yet, i think there will be a tunie factor after first of the year. i think for california as we keep reminding voters all the time our ieimary is ea this time of round, we can make our voices heard earlier than 2016. i think you might get people firming up a little more of their preferences there. i ink the other ctor is when campaigns really start to flex muscle here in the state. various campaigns have different levels of infrastructure. sanders has 80 paid staff in the state. he hreal baked on california as being crucial to his strategy. joe biden doesn't have any paid staff based in the state at all. even though there are staff focusing on cafornia. i thinyou see that discrepancy. and then there is the question of those who are coming and taking to the airwaves. we all know that california tv is king when it comes to powetical campaigns. ave already seen tom stier out on the airways and michael bloomberg the former new york mayor. he has the resources to blanket the state wid ads that's exactly what he's doing. i think our pulp captured the very beginning of that but i

don't think thwe have fully seen what the impact of this deluge of ads will be. >> of urse apple did not show a lot of lovefor michael bloomberg in this state. but we will see, like you said wet have time and people are just beginning to watch. m millon from political, thank you very much. >> thank you. democratic house speaker nancy pelosi is the most powerful woman in america. in january, she became speaker a second time after democrats flipped control of the house and set a record nuer of women to congress in recent weeks, nancy pelosi has championed house democrats president trump d made a case to it to a skeptical public. a new book by her daughter christine, describes the ills i have made speaker pelosi such a formidable leader. joining me now is author and chair of thdecalifornia cratic party women's caucus christine pelosi. thank you so muchfor coming in. >> my pleasure, thank you.

>> this book is aimed at givingh young women choice to become leaders. one chapter is entitled to claim your seat at the table. you talk about what your mom arrived in washington in the latesi80s that lly she was asked to give a list of priorities to the male congressman and told to step aside. how does she react that and what do you take from how she handled that nd of thing? >> nancy pelosi was first elected to congress there were 12 democratic women and 11 in republican wome the entire 435 member congress. imagine 23 women in a field of 435 . so she and barbara boxer were two of the 12 and they were , they became very close quickly realized whenthey y would have conversations with men, they were never asked their opinion. even one night when the men were talking out childbirth. surely you're going to ask us now and they ill didn't. women at the table, we need more people of color at the table and now with nancy pelosi

as speaker there are 90 democratic women, only 15 republican women so ey've got some work to do. but the idea being that not only do you claim yourseat at the table but you bring other people with you and in nancy pelosi's congress who are not ly a head of the table, you are at the head of the table with the gavel. ex >> tly. how she handled and how she has brought in women anymore diverse democratic caucus had a set attrack with she learned early in her career. both as party leader here in san francisco amma but also as a mom. >> will, nancy pelosi raised five kids. we were born six years apart so there were lot of us. a lot of logistics. a lot of every day, every night maki sure that we were prepared for school. four of us went to the sacred heart for a combined years. that meant every night our homework, making sure our everything prepared the e had

next day. every morning making sure we had our bus fare. >> organizational skills. naturally, he had to be organized every day. she would say proper preparation prevents poor performance. but when you are raising a child you know if every morning they d to befed and clothed and off to school and prepared, it's the same thing when you are a member of congress. you know there is an election seasonona transition sea budget season, and appropriation season. you have to be ready for all those things. they are not surprises and they should not be surprises and that is why she is able to deliver so much of san e francisco becae knows the rhythm of the congress and how to get things done. a photo of speaker pelosi. the book opens with the story of that photo which is now thist infamous 2018 g where the speaker pushed back to presidrat trump on ca just yesterday we saw some of that personality on display again in washington where the speaker was asked by a reporter if she quote hits president trump. let's take a look at how she >> do you hate the president, speaker? >> i don't hate anybody. i resent u using the word hate

in a sentence that addresses me. i don't hate anyone. i was raised in a way that is a heart full of love and always pray for the president and i still pray for the president. i pray for the president all the time. so don't mess with me when it comes words like that. >> said nancy pelosi saying i pray for dothe president,t mess with me. what was your reaction and what does that tell you about, as he daughter, as somekne who s well the way she reacted to that? >> i would not mess with nancy pelosi. i learned the hard way that is not a smart thing to do. t so, nancy pelosi was raised in baltimore maryland in a little italy community, saintly roast parish. she was rais by nuns. in fact when she was growing up she had these brothers that were groomed for politics and mi they thought she t be a non- which would make this conversation impossible. but the fact of the matter is, she doch go to chevery a person offaith, a woman of h

faith. so for someone to imply that nc stdevout catholic by nancy pelosi is motivated out deeply, deeply offensive to her and that is what you saw yesterdayat. and is what we constantly see. we are the city of st. francis, when she isattacked for having san francisco values she said the city of saint francis, the values of healthcare for the values of peace, the value of mmunity that she is ry proud to represent you and we saw some of that yesterday and we saw a little bit of righteous anger when she puts up that finger. at mom fingerkn, you >> i know you talk to your mom every day or almost every day. this is nounusual for her to be attacked. we saw tens of thousands of ads run against her. somemes by people in her own party in the 2018 cycle. republicans, the president often takes to twitter in the rways to attackher.

how do you think she feels about those attacks? how does she talk to u guys , as growing up, how to deal wi criticism? >> she always had, and we talk way. this the ncy pelosi criticism and effectiveness go hand-in-hand. when you go out there and are effective they criticize you. and yoare not affected they don't care and will ignore you. rather than empower you to do things yourself. when she first ran for congress viciously attacked by some of the other candidates. she would say they can't take my children from me so they can't give me any harm. now, when you look at the 2018 campaign cycle, ad7,000 negative including a handful by democrats, most by the republicans. buher focu is the one to five children in america who live in poverty and the parents of children who were murdered e to gun violence. his children were taken away from them. you can't really look apparent in the haeye that a sick child who has lost a child and say well, trum treated me mean

today so i can to work for you. >> from all the lessons you have learned from your now very famous mother, what is thmost valuable on a professional and personal level? >> to have your own authentic self. as nancy pelosi always says edw taabout in the bookno and show your wife. you have to know your call to service, your purpose. why are atyou there, are you doing, how are you there to help people? ing it to help other people. a lot of people have tremendous problems in politics by the hazing, e bullying, very active in fighting sexual harassment in politics. people think that the trappings of power are such that they allow you to lord it over other people. nancy pelosi yowould tell that the way to have power isn't to have the trappings of power but to constantly give away empowering other people and using your power toprmake ogress in the lives of ot r people. >> we will have to leave it there. christina pelosi, thank you so much. >> my pleasure, thank you. we are well in holiday season. a time of year when we gather

with friends and family to enjoy good food and good times. but we l are not alike. family members come in all stripes. how do we stay connected with those we love despite gilitical and res differences? here to help us now is marriage and family therapist daniel ellenberg. thank you for coming in >> my pleasure. >> let's start with a look at the problem. you conduct workshops in dealing with difficult conversations. one of the toughest topics politics. honestly is how cawe have conversations about things like the impeachment inquiry and democratic primary without making it so personal? it >> nearly impossible to not make it personal because of how we are mawired as beings. when you think about it, the whole believes you shouldn't talk aboligion or politics , that has been around for many, many decadeif not centuries. >> before this time right now. >> way before, way before. if you look at how the brain forms, it forms around our identity and people identified there are certain values and

visions about if you are democratic or republican. whic is not tosay there are just two camp thre is a wide pathway there. the people believe that's who they are. so when you question someone's beliefs about you believe this? there is a sense of what is wrong with you? pe >> it feels onal. >> it is personal. so we have to really step away. instead of saying it's just politucs, it is ly very personal. so that is part of the problem because people do tend to take things personally. when they are questioned about something with a look why would you believe something idiotic like that? then they tend to feel threatened. >> that feels like, maybe not the best way to frame something , but yeah, are there better ways to talk about these evitably these conversations do come up. even if you try to avoid them. >> i have changed my tune about

this. i tend tobe an outlier in terms of my willingness to bring things up and i encourage úpeople to be open and direct. what i have seen in the last three year frankly has me far more circumspect. my approach right now is like if you really want to have a gryot time at christmas dinner, there is a hohigh likeliod that talking about you there. not going lead >> what is the strategy for not feeling attacked yourself, not getting defensive if other people are not taking your advice and are bringing it up. isere a way we can check ourselves to think about how we react? >> there are two different parts of this. one of them has to do with how you look inside yourself. are wired for a survive state or should thrive straight thrive state. when you feel threatened you tend to become defensive. when i got is something you can feel sometimes, right? >> absolutely. you just need to tune into urself about that. you notice your heart is racing, your throat has gotten try. you can start to speak lfto

yourand say it's okay, you are going to get through this. and breathing, as much as we hear it is good to take a long, full breath, actually it is. because that tends to trigger rasympathetic nervous system which tends to make us feel more calmer and moreconnected. rather being in the fight or flight reactiof the sympathetic nervous system. ot thr part of it, when someone blindside to you, you have come in their, you've got a m great plan, not going to go there, absolutely no way i'm going there. sh, what about at trump or what about pelosi or what about whoever. why would you believe something like that. they come up ina very comfortable way confrontational way to you. i think it's good to ve a plan going in. if you decided you are not going to go there, you say hey, i want have a good time and i'm sure you want to have a good

time, this is probably not a ad us into feeling s ing to particularly connected. maybe another time we can talk about this, but probably not around the christmas table. >> with everybody else. what is it you think, because it's not just polics. there's a lot about the holidays that are very stressful for people getting together with their families, is it the holidays or is it just that extended exposure to the people in your life? yes. >> alof it? >> i think it's all of it. if you think about families they have all kinds of issues and dynamics that have been going on foyears, ifnot decades. so it looked like john and mary had figh as a kid and there is a four year difference and john is always critical of sh mary. and is distrustful of him in some ways, doesn't feel safe with him. doesn't feel like she can rs really express f and he will be criticizing or sarcastic with her. it's not like that suddenly a holidaytable. ou arsitting all of those dynamics are there . and some people we turally know we fesafer with and more connected with. other people we are are more suspiciousabout because we

felt threatened by them and felt pain in relation to them. ú>> rights, and thyou have úi want to ask too, when you have kids the calculation changes around some of those. maybe something you are willing to take from a parent or a relative, you don't want to expose your child to. but i alwonder if there is a value to your kid saying you have difficult conversations and actually comingto resolution how do you think about that balance? >> there huis a value to that. when it comes to having difficult conversations, the most important part to feel at least relatively safe yourself. and part of that has to do with how curious are you to really understand t other person? if you can really step back and go how is it that you've come to that position? i really want to understand. it's what my wife and i called the listener inquirer position as opposed to the listener defender position. which is how most people listen. >> said to come with an open

heart and mind. maybinput yourself someone else's shoes. i want to talk about something a little more tricky tacky which is physically sharing space. i live in a two bedroom apartment, my parents were in town for an extended period of time and i love them dear . but ithard to figure out a way to get people to fit into your life when it's already so crowded. how do you talk about broaching the issue of boundari whether they be physical or even tied to emotional? >> what would be an ample? are yosaying on some level your mother coming into the bathroom when you are in the bathroom? or brging too much stuff with her, packing my refrigerator full of things. yeah, just literally physically sharing the space can be hard sometimes. >> absolutely. i think the clarity is the beginning of tiit, just ng something is not quite working for you. sometimes it is really helpful to have these conversations in advance. you know, so if you want your parentto bring lebe stuff use it's going to crowd, probably good to tell them

before they pack. obviously, when you have a good relation with your parents you have sense of what their defensive patterns are. so, unsettles on some levels you can give ttthem a crumb. i love you so much, love you being close. but can you give me a little t more space rinow? the main thing is hokind and compassionate you can be. >> having kids is a vepe different ence. i think sometimes relative have raise your children. uld how do you protect your kids from that kind of thing? >> protecting your kids or protecting yourself? >> maybe both. [ laughter ] >> veon some you are a rome model with your kids. you can say we don't speak exactly like that. and ofcourse every time you step out and you express yourself in a wa that is creating a boundary, you are taking a risk. on some level, it really taps into our willingness to courageous. because courage is something showing up all the time in relationsps and there

is always some level of risk when you arsetting a boundary. but what i found, the more people practice that and the more changes it brings, that over time shockingly enough, ite easier. not easy, but easier. >> all right, we will have to leave it anthere. you so much daniel. that will fodo it us. as always, you can find more our coverage at kqed.org/newsroom. i am alicia lagos. thaninyou for g us.

captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for sunday, december 8: next roeps in the impeachment pbe, see investigation into the pensacola naval hooting continues, and in our signature segment: new battle lines in ukraine ahead of peace talks with moscow. wxt on "pbs newshoureekend." >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. sue and gar wachenheim iii. the cheryl and philip milstein family. rosalind p. walter, in memory of george o'neil. barbara hope zuckerberg. charles rosenbm. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in