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

front of us. at mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most o today. mutual of america financial agrp, retirement servic investments. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your ikpbs station from viewers you. nfrom the tischstudios at lincoln ceer in new york, hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: good evening and thanks for joining us. mme chair of the house judiciary tee, democrat jerry nadler, said the committee is eneparing to bring articles of impeacto a vote this week. on the political talk shows this morning, nadler expressed confidence that coe democrat-led ittee has collected enough evidence to impeach president trump, even as republiave criticized the inquiry for having onl"hearsay evidence." >> we have a very rock-solid case. i think the case we have if

presented to a jily would be a verdict in about three minutes flat. all this nonsense about "hearsay evidence," there's considerable direct evidence. and it ill-behooves a president or his partisans to say, "you don't have enough direct evidence," when threason we don't have even more direct evidence is the president has ordered everybody in the executive branch not to cooperate with congress ac the iment inquiry, something that is unprecedented in american history and is a contempt of congress by itself. >> sreenivasan: the judiciary committee will hear testimony about the investigation of president trp's dealings with ukraine tomorrow. we will have more on the impeachment hearings and what's next coming upsufter the news ary. national security advisor roberr n said today that the shooting at the pensacola naval air station on friday "appears to be a terrorist attack."ai o'brien alsoit is unclear if the gunman had any ties to terror groups. at a news conference today the killed three sailors and wounded eight other people at the navalb

air station ieved to have been the only shooter on friday. officials would not call it ant terrorism, but did say they are investigating using that presumption.e, >> we s we do in most active shooter investigations, work with the presumption that this was an act of terrorism. nvis allows us to take advantage oftigative techniques that can help us more quickly identify and then eliminate any additional potential threats to the rest of oucommunity. >> sreenivasan: at a news conference this morning, officials said the saudi air force second lieutant who was killed in the attack purchased his handgulegally and that other saudi studentsre currently confined to the base and cooperating. collectively focused on conducting additional interviews of witnesses, base personnel,oo and the r's friends, classmates and other associates.

our main goal right now is to confirm whether he acted alone oras he a part of a larger network. >> sreenivasan: the special agent in charge would not answer questions about reports that the attacker watched videos of mass shootings or if other students videotaped the attack. and late yesterday the navy officially released the names of the three sailors killed in the attack. all were students in theaval aviation schools command. 23-year-old ensign joshua kalebc watson, was frfee, alabama. airman mohammed sameh haitham,s -years-old and from st. petersburg, florida. and airman apprentice cameron scott walters, 21, was fromil richmond georgia. in north korea today, officials taid the military has completed a "very imp test" at a long-range missi site. the tests were conducted at a launch facility that was paially dismantled followi denuclearization talks with the united states last year-- but it was rebuilt after. north korea says that the future of its nuclear and long-range missile program depends on

concessions from the u.s. more than 40 people di andor dozenswere injured in a handbag factory fire in new delhi early this morning. an electrical short circuit reportedly started the blaze in an area with narrow paageways and crowded residential buildings.fi fighters had to battle the flames from more than 300 feet not enter the alles.ankers could workers in the factory were sleeping in the building.ma were carried out one by one through smoke-filled streets. this was theecond major fire in new delhi's karol bagh neighborhood. in february, 17 people were killed in a blaze that started in an illegal rooftop kitchen. in hong kong, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators packed the streetso mark six nths of anti-government protests. chants of "fight for freedom" and "stand th hong kong" rang out during the mostly peaceful protest that was one of the est rallies in months. oue marchers said that they hope today's large tuwill help convince hong kong's government to give in to their key demandsn whicude democratic elections and an investigation

into police brutality. for live coverage of the impeachment hearings and the inquiry, visit pbsewshour. >> sreenivasan: for more on the where the road leadsrom here and a look at the 2020 democratic race, special correspondent jeff greenfield joins us now from santa barbara. tomorrow is, well, i guessan her biggish day. i mean, we've had a lot of big days in the past couple of weeks. what happens? constitutional scholars wereen frbating the law, we're going to hear from lawyer the intelligence committee and from the judiciary committee of the democratic lawyers wilsepresent the thfactual case that they assert for impeachnt, abuse of power, possibly bribery. and tlihe repn lawyers will present the counter argument that the president did nothing untoward.y he was simercising his legitimate authority to look at corruption.an >> sreenivand what about other witnesses? i me, this seems to be one ofe the things that publicans

are quite aggrieved by. hey, we have all these suggestions. if this is trial, we definitely want to have our folks in there. >> there are two parts of the republican argument. one is ty want to hear from adam schiff. they want to hear from the anonymoowus whistle, they want to hear from joe biden and hunter biden so they can pummel them on alleged corruption. they've also argued that the democrats case is based on hearsay, no firsand witnesses to what trump may have done.wh but the house has said absolutely no witnesses from uso no documentsothing. um, and that's where the democrats have said we're not gonna wait for months for the courts to decide whether these witnesses have to comear fo we're moving ahead because we think we have the case now strong enough to propose impeachment. >> sreenivasan: yeah, that timing becomes more important a we keep gore into a presidential cycle. so where do we go from here? >> well, by the end of the week the democratic majority will almost certainly draw up articles of impeachment. abuse of power will almost certainly be one. they may assert bribery, which is a trickier one, and jerry

nadler, the chairman, has suggested they may go back to e muller report and see if they can find examples of either obstruction of justice or abuse of power. though there will be articles drawn and they'll, i promise you, it will be a straight party line vote. i would bet whatever i had on that, and we'll find out what those articles are by the end of the week, and then it goes to the full house. >> sreenivasan: so how does it specifically play out? i mean, consering that we almost know where the uptes are lineased on what party a members in?is >> yeah, thilmost like kabuki theater, where we all we know it's supposed to be said before it's goine to be said. estion is, will any republican house member vote for impeachment? so far the answer's no. one republican said he'd vote for impeachment and thenth promptly lefparty. there may be a few house democrats from strongly pro trump districts who may have a problem, but i'm guessing that will be at most in low single digits. and so, by year's end, the president will be impeached, which is an indictment, and next nuary, the rlican

ntrolled senate will take up the case to see whether he should be removed. >> sreenivasan: how does the lack of kamala harris in the presidential race perhaps play into some of this? because the senators have to be watching all of this.h, >> yhe senators who will remain in the race sort of have to be there for the impeachment trial. they don't really ve to be there every minute, it turns out, but what you're talking about is that, that the absence of kamala harris and the castro to qualify for the debate next week means that the debate will be all white. and that's in a party that is increasingly diverse, where minority voters are increasingly critical. now, the counter argument that is, look, this isn't anything untord. the fact is, joe biden has an otormous share of the african americanright now. and,nd that's why harris, and to some exte booker are struggling. but it's awkward at most for a party that insists on diversity to have a debate where nobody of color is gonnae on it. >> sreenivasan: the conseqnces

of what's happening in the g peachment, what's happen the debates, how much does that still resonate with voters, well, six months from now, eight months from now, when they actually have to go to the polls? >> you know, the way that events speed up in our age, the wayat that, ews sort of comes and goes so swiftly could well mean that by the time voters actually make a decision, certnly by november, impeachment will be a fuzzy memory. unless you're expecting a kind of aaron sorkin amazing moment where suddenly the scales fall from the eyes of certain people who say, h, my heavens, this is just gonna be a i think footnote. it sounds odd becae impeachment sounds so critical. but, but i think it's just another litical event that will have much less impact then, say, the economy. >> sreenivasan: yeah, juxtapose that with the economy, which is doing quite well. quarter of a million new jobs, real wages up, 3.5% unemployment. the only thing that's different from the late nineties as we

the deficit and this againhows you the weirdness of the political world war. i don't think there's ever been a case where a president's approval ratlogs are so much r than what they should be given the state of the economy, which is really all about trump and his character an temperament.e and the questions we are going to find out is if, in fact, his trade policies result in a manufacturing contraction, which would hit those states where blue collar workers are in great numbers. that could really have a more devastating impact on trump than impeachment, and conversely, if the economy stays strong, you have to bet based on history, that puts the president in pretty good shape next november. >> sreenivasan: all right, jeff greenfield joinirb us in santa a. heanks so much >> nice to be re. >> sreenivasan: thousands demand that their president volodymyr zelensky defend them during tomorrow's face-to-face meeting with russian preside

vladimir putin. tomorrow's summit in paris will will focus on ending the warnd with russia in eastern ukraine. the marchers fear that zelensky, a political newcomer, will be oumaneuvered by the more experienced putin. a spokesperson for zelensky said the president plans to demand the return of captured ukrainians, a total cease-fire, and the withdrawal of foreign troops. ukraine's nearly six-year old war with russia has reached a stalemate.or in a mest of his diplomatic mettle, ukraine's comedian-turned-president volodymyr zelenskiy will sit down with russian president vladimir putin for the first time. meanwhile, those in the conflict zone itself can only await the outcome. newshour weekend special correspondent simon ostrovsky visited them this week and has our report, produced with support from ter pulitzer ce. >> reporter: this is how the battle lines in the war in ukraine are being redrawn ahead of peace talks between mcow and kyiv, tomorrow.th

e trenches are freshly dug and there is a reason for that. they're part of a set of that both sides have bnres enacting ahead of the peace talks. it might sound strange that making new trenches b a confidenceuilding measure, but dethe idea is that both sis are abandoning old trenches that were very close to each other erd now they're moving fur apart to de-escalate hostilies. these new fortifications are part of an effort championed by draine's present volodymyr zelensky to tampown hostilities in a conflict thatak has not onlyen more than 13,000 lives but has bome the focus of a domestic, american political fight. the background is this: in 2014 russia invaded ukraine's crimea peninsula without muchst rece and declared it a part of russia. then tether with local separatist forces it began to battle ukrainian troops for

control over a large chunk of eastern ukraine. thatight continues iis area to this day. since the start of the war, its battle with it moreraine in powerful neighbor. but this summe- as an array of american diplomats and trump associates pressured ukraine to open an investigatio son of trump's political rival joe biden-- the white house nsidered withholding its military aid. the commanr at this new position told newshour weekend how he felt when he heard that his country's main military alli >> (dtranslat our men were saddened by this, it's bad news. especially since we participates in joint exe with canadian and american instructors last spring and there was this spirit of brotherod with them. >> reporter: so do you think that it influences zelensky's position in the gotiations

with putin, the fact that now the russians knothat american assistance isn't guaranteed 100%? >> ( translated ): i'm no diplomat, so i can't say, but it certainly doesn't strengthen our hand. >> reporter: the peace talks, which are to be held in paris will feature zelensky's first ever face-to-face meeting with russian president vladimirho putin, spokesman lowered expectations for the summit earlier this week saying he didn't expect itago result in an ement. >> ( translated ): it's obvious that there will be no agreement and no one expects any agreement. >> reporter: the ukrainian well.er has low expectations as >> ( translated ): since the arof this conflict, there have been so many negotiations with russia, i don't feel that something will come t of it. i hope something good will come of it, but i don't have an illusions. we don't trust the other side at all because this isn't the fst cease-fire and i can't recall an instance where a cse-fire ended in peace.

>> reporter: besides an end to hostilities, ukrainian officials have said they want a prisoner exchange and crucily, their territories returned. t ukraine's faltering relationship with the united states is making those goals rder to achieve, as several career u.s. diplomats pointed out during the impeachme hearings currently roiling washington. >> part of the ability of the ukrainians to negotiate against iathe russians with the ru for an end to the war in donbass depends on the united stat and other international support. if we withdraw, or suspend, or threatened to withdraw our security assistance, that's a message to the russians who are looking for any sign of weakness pp any sign that we are withdrawing our t for ukraine. reporter: ukrainian inn

rudyuk's home was once on the ukraian side of the frontline. now her village has ended up in one of the newly establishedde litarized zones, hemmed in andeen ukrainian troo russia-aligned forces. thaoutcome of the talks is matter of life and death for her town.e ukrainian troops pull back from their forward positions a few weeks ago. slatedr): personally was worried. i was afraid. our defenders were pulling outy. so i was une the most important thing is that it's quiet and there's no shooting. we hope that it stays that way, thathe peace talks are enrced and result in something. >> reporter: although the fighti has quimoed in recent hs, the war is far from over. since july 18 when it beca known throughout the trump administration that the president had ordered a halt on military aid at least 46

ukrainian soldiers have died. and althou aid was reinstated after congress opened its investigation the politicalo damagee u.s.-ukraine alliance had already been done. on the other side of this bridge are areas occupied by russia and its separatist proxies known as rthe "luhansk peopleublic." like many western journalists, i'm not allowed to go on the other side. but i've come to this crossing point today to speak with people living under the oupation to find out what their hopes are for the talks between lodymyr zelensky and vladimir putin. this crossing is located in another currently demilitarized zone, and the bridge which was opened lasmonth, is another confidence building measure enacted ahead of negotiations. if both sides are able to respect a cease-fire here and in two other locations there are f ans to extend the neutral zone

along moste 250-mile long frtline. >> ( translated ): we want to be back in ukraine, what is there to say? everyone wants peace and quiet. we are not enemies. >> ( translated ): federalization. that means in ukraine but with self-rule. >> reporter: life is difficult in the self-declared "people's republic." it's a military-run areahere aders are appointed, not elected. since russia established separatist entities in the occupied territories it has introduced the russian currency, the ruble, blocked ukrainian language broadcasts and quashed any form of dissent. ukraine still considers the population there to be its own citizens. in order for them to receive social secity payments and pensions they must cross through the demilitarized zone on foot and stand in long lines like

of all the people i spoke with only this man told us he wanted re see the occupied territories in outside of ukrainian jurisdiction permanently. >> ( translated ): who the hell wants to walk back and forth like this with bad legs? i should be able to get my pension at home. we wanto separate and that's it. we can't live together anymore. >> reporter: because reprisals are a fact of life in a conflict zone, only a few people agreed to speak on camera. >> ( translated ): i'm hoping th the donbas returns to ukraine. i liked living in ukraine. i don't ke it in luhansk. there's food and everything, but eit's not like it used to before the war. i don't like the way they treat people. let's be honest, things were much better under ukraine. >> reporter: ukraine's president won an election earlier this year on a platform of ending the war and has made it hisst admition's top priority. >> ( translated ): we need

peace! >> ( translated ): we're working on it. >> ( translated ): we want a peaceful life. >> reporter: zelensky, a former tv star, took to social media this week in a video filmed on a kieadmill touting the mere fact that talks were place. >> ( translated ): this meeting is already a victory for us. >> reporter: but with approval ratings slipping, some observers worry his enthusiasm for results means he's willing to recognize russia's claims to territory in he's repeatedly denied.ething at the end of the day, the cards are in this man's hands. after all, it's men loyal to him that ukraine has been unable to push off of its territory inea nearly six of war. has he tired of shedding blood on the other side of his southern border? so far, he's kept quiet on that question

>> sreenivasan: finally tonight, caroll spinney-- the "sesame street" puppeteer o was big bird and oscar the grouch died today. look at that, it has letters on it. >> voiced and separate >> sreenivasan: spinney voed and operated the twoharacters from their debut on pbtiin 1969 he retired in 2018 after the program had moved to hbo. in a memoir, snney said "i may be the most unknown famous person in america. it's the bird that's famous" carroll spinney was 85. newshour will have live coverage of tomorrow's house ary committee hearing on impeachment beginning at 9:00 a.m. you can watch online at s.org/newshour or on tv- check your local listi that's all for this edition of" pbnewshour weekend." i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for watching. have a good night. captioning sponsored by wnet pt ned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

s pbs newshour weekendde possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. sue and edgar wachenheim iii. the cheryl and philip milstein family. rosalind p. walter, in memory of george o'neil. barbara hope zuckerberg. charles rosenblum. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual ofbemerica, we eve taking care of tomorrow can help you make thmost of today. mutual of america financial group, retirement services and investments. additional support has been provided by:

and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private american peoplnded by the and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank yo you're watching pbs.

narrator: many of the world's best-known landmarks have been spired by faith. and today, more worshippers than ever are flocking to these sacred places. but why do they continue to provoke such passion? [people shoutingndistinctly] hundreds of years after they werfirst built, many of them remain places of deep spiritual significance and controversy. for some people, they are sanctuaries n. for quiet contemplat r others... [bell rings] they are sites of astonishing acts of worship, dangerous challenges, and extraordinary deeds of devotion rarely seen by outsiders.