♪ judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, in the. hot se senato grill the department of justice top watchdog over his report on the russia probe. then, the jersey city shooting. what we know so far about yesterday's hours-long gun battle between two attackers and the police. plus, britain and the ballot. ahead of tomorrow's general election, citizens of a divided kingdom weigh their options as brexit looms. >> i just feel that it's probably o of the worst times ever in british polics, and we're at a situation where, you know, everyone just seems to be ves insteadr thems of working collectively to do the best thing for the country.u : all that and more, on tonight's "pbs newshour." ♪

>> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by bnsf railway. consumer cellular. warner bros. pictures. >> supporting social wtrepreneurs and their solutions to theld's most pressing pblems. skoll foundation.org. >> the lemelson foundation, committed to improving the lives in the u.s. and developing countries. supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation.ld committed to bg a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information atacfound. org. and with the ongoing support of

these institutions. ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station i viewers like you. thank you. investigation into president trump's campaign and russia were under the microscope today on capitol hill. the inspector general for the bopartment of justice sat for a day-long hearing his recent report examining accusations of political bias in the fbi, and how the bureau conducted itself in the early months of the probe. william brangham reports. william: before the senate judiciary committee today, diametrically opposed views about one of the most controversial and sensitive fbit investns in recent history. >> there is no deep state. simply p, the fbi investigation was motivated by n

fact bias. >> the system failed. people at the highest level of our government took the law into their own hands. william: the sole witness today was michael horowitz, the department of justice's inspector general, who detailed the findings of his overxa 0-pagenation of "crossfire hurricane," the initial fbi investigation into russian election meddling, and what role the trump campaign may have been playing. horowitz quickly dispelled one of president trump's main theories, that the fbi launched the probe to derail his campaign. >> we did not find anyme doary or testimonial evidence that political bias or improper motivation influenced the fbi's decision to conduct these operations. william: horowitz also said that text messas from peter strzok, a key fbi official in the probe who repeatedly wrote derogatory things about candidate trump, also had no bearing.

>> based on your investigation, personal political views expressed in text messages did not motivate the openi of the investigatn of ties between trump campaign advisers and russia, is that correct? >> ultimately, we concluded that those texts messages, which we found last year, were entirely inappropriate, didn't ultimately play a role in mr. priestap's decision to open an vestigation. >> thank you. william: but horowitz went on ta detail numerous of errors and omissions by fbi officials, paicular with regards to so-called fisa warrants used to surveil trump campaign aideag carter >> nevertheless, we founthat investigators failed to meet the basic obligation to ensure that the fisa applications weresc pulously accurate. we identified significant inaccuracies and omissions in each of the four application 7

in the airstlication and a total of 17 by the final renewal application. william: horowitz testified thas applications relied heavily on the controversial steele dossier, a set of unproven allegations compiled by former british spy christopher steele, and paid for, in part, by lawyers working for hillary clinton's mpaign. horowitz said his investigation showed tt fbi agents had evidence that steele's information was questionable, ngbut they hid those findi >> we are deeply concerned that errors were made by threental separate, hand-picked investigative teams on one of the most sensitive fbi investigations. the circumstance reflects a failure not just by those who prepared the applications but also by the managers andor supervin the crossfire hurricane chain of command, including fbi senior officials who were briefed as theve igation progressed. >> former fbi director james comey said this week that your

report vindicates him. is that a fair assessment of your report? >> i think the activwe found here don't vindicate anybody who touched this >> every american rehould be terrified by this report. william: republicans continually portrayed horowitz's vestigation as a deeper, damning indictment of the fbi and the doj. >> these are not typos, these are not small, inadvertent errors. these are grotesque abuse of power. that these actionst betrayessed a larger culture within the agency, and that the broader russia investigation f extensive wrongdoing. >> i thought it was worth repeating that the mueller investigation produced 37 inctments, guilty pleas, a convictions, and none of those are called into question by your report. that correct? >> we don't address that at all. >> i didn't find any conclusion that the fbi meddled or interfered in the election to affect the outcome. >> we did not reh that

conclusion. william: given that there's a separate, ongoing investigation into the russia probe being run by u.s. attorney john durham, it's clear that the scrutiny of the fbi is nowhere near over. for the pbs newshour, i'm william brangham. story after the news summary. ♪ stephanie: good evening, i'm stephanie sy with newshour west. od'll return to judy ff and the full program right after these headlines.e this evening, use judiciary committee is debating the case for impeachment againsd prt trump. the articles being considered are abuse of power and obstruction of justice over the president's dealings with ukraine. committee votes could come tomorrow, sending the articles to the full house for possibleac on next week. a sweeping defense policy bill passed the house this evening, and headed tthe senate.

it authorizes nearly $740 billion for the fiscal year that began 2 months ago. major provisions include a 3% military pay raise, creation of a space force, and paid parental leave for federal workers.so the house pened debate on a democratic bill aimed at lowering the cost of prescription drugs. it cal for the government to directly negotiaterices of at least 50 medicines a year. democratic leaders agreed to that number after party progressives demandeit be increased from 35. appealed today for supportin across party les. >> the burden touches every family, hurting not only their health, but their financial health. there is every reason in the world for republicans to join us to pass ill, even the president has supported these key provisions. stephanie: in the senate, republican majority leader mitch mcconnell has said he will not bring the bill up for a vote. the u.s. justice department is

appealing a federal judge's ruling that bars using pentagon funds for a southern border wall. the judge, in texas,locked$3 billion in military construction money from being beverted because it has no approved by congress. the u.s. supreme court has allowed other pentagon funds to be spent on the wall, pending a. legal challe the senate has confirmed two more conservatives nomined by president trump for seats on the ninth circuit court of appeals, bringing the total number of hir appellate appointments to 50. former justice department lawyers patrick bumatay and lawerence vandyke were confirmed, despite oppition from california and nevada lawmakers. the liberal-leaning court cors western states from alaska to arizona. new disclosures tonight about the deadly crashes of boeing 73 ts. it turns out the federal aviation administration had predicted up to 15 more crashes unless flight-control software

was fixed. that was after the first crash in indonesia last year. the faa did not ground the planes until a second crash last march in ethiopia. at a house hearing today, the agency's new head, stephen dickson, declined to pla blame. >> there wasnfmation out there, but it was difficult to put the whole piure together to make a sound decision, that's absolutely somethi that we need to address going forward. stephanie: a retired boeing m productiager testified today that the company put production speed over safety. in new zealand, two more people died of injuries from a volcanic eruption that caught tourists by surprise. h toll is nowe 16. the volcano, on white island, has continued to spurt steam, mud, andsh since monday's eruption. 28 people remain hospitalized,th most of badly burned. thousands of people marched in algeria'capital today, calling for a boycott of tomorrow's presidential election.ed

the crowds chas security forces struggled to block them. they demanded thathe ruling elite quit, and the military gel out of pics. longtime president abdelazizus bouteflika wasd in april. all 5 candidates running tomorrow a linked to him. a united nations report finds protesrs in iraq are facing abduction, arbitrary detention, and outright murder. the report comes amid a string of targeted assassinations and journalists. vil activists and just today, 31 more protesters were wounded by security forces in central baghdad. back in this country, the federal reserve left its benchmark interest rate unchanged today, and it indicated there might be no changes through next year. sees little risk that low rates will lead to an overheated economy. >> we can sustn much lower levels of unemployment than we thought. and that's a good thing, because

that means we don't have to worry so much about inflation and that, it -- and you see the benefits of that in today's labor market. stephanie: the fed raised rates 4 times last year before cuttiim them 3 this year. in other business news, stock in the state-owned oil giant saudi aramco went public on the saudi exchange, and jumped 10%. that made it the world's most p valuablicly traded hampany, passing apple. there's wordhollywood producer harvey weinstein and his movie studio will settlele tions of sexual misconduct. the new york times reports $25 million would be divided among weinstein still faces criminal charges of rape and sexual assault. today, a judge in new york increased his bail five-fold, to $5 milli, for leaving h ankle monitor de-activated. and 25 films, spanning 100 years, are this year's additions to the national film registry of the library of congress. oliver stone's vietnam war story

"platoon" is on the list. so are the disney assics "old yeller" and "sleeping beauty". still to come on the "newshour," with judy woodruff, further analysis of the justice depaement's findings on russia investigation. the deadly shooting in jersey city. a day later, what we know aboutk the at a nobel peace prize winner, the hague, and charges of genocide.. myanmar on tri plus, much more. ♪ >> this is the n pbsshour from weta studios in washington and ki the west, from the walter cron school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: 434 pages and more than 5 hours of live testimony. the justice department's internal watchdog, its inspector general, has now weighed in fully, with his perspective on how the fbi conducted in investigation intodente

trump. the inspector general's senate testimony today comes hourstr after presidenp reacted to the report at a campaign rally .last night in pennsylvan >> the justice department's inspector general released a report detailing the outrageous, scandalous, and unprecedented abuses of power. folks, they spied on our campaign, they spied. the inspector general found that the fbi spying application e contained ors and omissions, commonly known as lies and deceit. judy: the president, speaking at a rally last n and now, two more perspectives. how serious are s findings? and what now for the the fbi and the partment of justice? sermer federal prosecutor james trusty previousled as chief of the justice department's organized crime section. he is now an attorney

in prite practice. and frank montoya has served in several high-level posts in theb including in posts overseeing counterintelligence investigations. we welcome you both to the newshour. thanks for being here. to both of you, what do you make of the horowitz findings, the inspector general findings that despite errors and mistakes that shouldn't have been made, in the fbi, there was no political bias behind the decision to launch the investigation deck of frank, you first. t >> i thoughts a thorough, complete, comprehensive investigation. i think it points out it is not a crime to have an opinion. this idea about bias is a hollow aim in the sense that people are going to have opinions. even in the fbi, it is not going to stop them from being able to

do their jobs successfully. >> i disagree pretty strongly. this is an extremely sensitive public corruption probe. we a talking about informants and a wiretaps in around the press -- the periphery of a presidenti campaign and we should have fbi agents who are professional, have integty, fbi lawyers who aren't doctoring documents to get what they once. it is a baday for the fbi but i would say thatic is spec individuals that were part of a culture that was a little reckless with their political :ambitions. ju what is it you are saying ecifically, these agents did that was not acceptable and should not have ha iened? >> theevidence within here of a referral, itriminal referral based on an fbi general coun lying, changing in the mail. this is not error, changing an email's substance so this fisa get through the court.that is a horrific moment.

there are also moments where it --hey talk about insurance policies and information that suggests that even mccabe knew there a w anair between the case agent a the former lawyer, william mccabe, or andrew mccabe, and let these things happen. there are horrible judgment brought to bear on an important investigation. >> can i add to that? judy: remind us what the fisa court is and why it matters. >> there were clearly some issues in term of misbehavior, inpropriate behavior or misconduct. those things need to be addressed. but i would add that that has nothing to do with bias, it has everything to do with how they did not, what jim says is a sensive investigation, handle it as properly as they should.

th needs to be addressed appropriately and i think what the director said a couple days agoin an interview, that he set forth a bunch of different activities to reform the procths and improv process, it is important to do. that regard, this is not the first time we have facedubc accounting like this and won't be the last. when you think about the woods e procedures, thme about precisely because there was public accounting like this ago couple decades it is important to note that there was some misbehavio at the very least and it needs to be addressed. as far as the importance of fisa , it is a huge investigative tool wn it comes to national security investigations. a lot of that depends on public trust in terms of how effective we are at usg it. in terms ofaintaining the public trust, everything we can do to follow the rules bo do everythithe book, to make sure we are doing this in

accordan with the law, is essential. judy: what you are hearing, akjames, is that mi were corrected and they don't change the fundamental finding, that hhis was undertaken intentionally w bias, political leaning one way or the other. middle ground between sayinga this is a horrible report and a full some report, which is to point out the inspeeneral by definition has kind of a limit to his reach. it doesn't circumstantial evidence. it uses precise words. th report says we don't find based on testimony and emails, bias or yoting on bias. have very nuanced limits to how far they reach. this is why the durham probe willdye important. that is a reference to theos utor in connecticut who still hasn't made his report

public although he had a .statement the other d >> durham and william barr taking offense to the inspector general report tells me ty are tting on important information. they have more access to information and the inspector general. we know the attorney general reacted with his own inspector gdieral said and issed it and said it is wrong. es still finds probl with the russia igation and mr. durham, we are waiting to see what he has to say. >> i thought what the ig said today was important. he was surprised that durham even issued a statement and it whether or not the cases thats were opened, four or five cases, were either, should have been preliminary invtions versus full investigations. if that's the issue that very substandard. in a counterintelligence investigation there isn'ent much diff between a preliminary

and a full, other than what type can use.titive techniques you judy: what about james' points, that there was limits to what the inspector general could do? x -- >> he is referring to what kin of information the inspector general could look at. he made that point today that he could'tnvestigate attorneys, for instance. at the same time in the criminal irin they have the ability to go outside the department of justice and the fbi. in terms of what information they might be collecting from other government agencies and what they may have collected from foreign partners,nt it will beesting to see what information that is and how it might substantiate or not, the dispute between whether or not this was a valid investigation. dy: james, you say you want to semore, you want to see the durham report. he is a criminal prosecutor, he wion be able to get informa you believe, that the inspector

general couldn't. >> a couplele exa lisa page messages on their fbi devices that we horrifying. they sent these things on fbi phones. the inspector general was powerless to oain more. glen simpson from fusion gps, which funded the initiation of the steele dossier, says i am not talking to you. the inspector general has to walk away from that. durham h many more, much more the information. down a whether we see an actual report will be interesting. he is not bob mueller. how much daylight his findings receive is the big mystery that will resolve next year. judy: frank, how much confidence should the american peave now in the fbi and the department of justice > ies in moments like this, it is a difficult question to answer. the vast majority of folks are

doing what the american public expects, following the rules, doing what they need to do to protect this country. is is a unique and extraordinary time in our country's herstory -- our country's history to have questions about it i appropriate, but i would also say that the things that the the problem, people should take faith in the fac that we are the ones that do these kinds of investigations and they should rely on us to do them properly and correctly and trust in us that we will fix the problems that have been uncovered by the inspector general's report. judy: should the american people have trust? >> i think so but they should recognize when there is an elite culture that creates problems ia leadership and is what i think we had in the fbi. judy: thank you bh. ♪

judy: a day after a shoot-out p wiice left 6 dead in northern new jersey, law enforcement officials say they are still trying to work out just what happened and why. as john yangeports, among the considerations is whether anti-semitism motivated the shooters. john: today, new jersey governor phil murphy sought to assure jersey city residents that the danger is over. >> based on everytng we know, there is no ongoing security concern related to the events of yesterday. are still asking why the kosher market was targeted. leading the investigation is state attorney general, and jersey city native, gurbir grewal. >> as we speak, right now, we are working to understand the shooters motivatio and whether anybody besides the two gunmen

may have been involved. john: officials say yesterday's violence began at a cemetery, where jersey city police detective joseph seals was killed in a confrontation with two people.s the killove a stolen u-haul van, believed linked to a weekend homicide, about a mile to the kosher market, where they immediately opened fire with two long rifles. >> [gunfire] john: for nearly three hours, they engaged police in a fierce gun battle, making the neighborhood look like a war zone. swat officers in tactial gearar swarmed the . schools were put on lockdown. it ended nearly three hours later, when an armored police vehicle rammed the store entrance. inside, authorities found the bodies of the killers and three people who happened to be in the store at the time. officis said a fourth bystander was wounded andes caped. the ctims in the store have been identified as 32-year-old mindy ferencz, who owned the store with her husband, moshe deutsch, 24, a rabbinicalok student from bn who was shopping in the store, and miquel douglas, 49, said to be a

worker in the store.n the sllice officer, joseph seals, was 40 years old and the father of five children, the youngest just two years old. ersteven fulop is mayor ofy city, and joins us from the scene of yesterday's shoot ou thank you very much for joining us. our condolences for what the city is going through. officials earlier in the news conference were careful to say they don't know the motivation for this. but are you calling this a hate crime? >> iant to speak for a second from the information we have seen in jerseyity. as the grandson of holocaust survivors that immigrated to this country because it was a place of tolerance and acceptance, i think it is important you call out anti-semitism for what it is and youy do it quicd aggressively. if you look at the facts am yesterday, we know the people poed on social media favorable

sentiment towards groups that showed anti-semitic sentiment. we know they drove deliberately to the kosher supermarket. we know they bypassed a lot of targets on the way. we know they bypassed targets right next to the kosher supermarket. they took out long rifles across the street and commencedad to fe whilncing into the supermarket. when you think about all of those facts on top of the fact that they had a pipe bomb in the trk, showing they had sentiment to do more damage, it is difficult to arguthanything othe anti-semitic sentiment. it is important to be aggressive and deliberate when you call that out. john: do you have any sense why they targeted this particular neighborhood and market? >> this is the areahat has an ultra-orthodox jewish community. r is a growing community that started ocate from brooklyn about three years ago. that supermarket was directly next to theeshiva, which had

50-70 children in it. had the policeot responded as ickly as they did, there was a walking post a block away and they respoed and engaged the perpetrators andept them inside the store. it is fair to say the tragedy could have been far worse. my standpoint, the facts speak to what it is regarding a hate crime and it is important to call out hataggressively and rmly. john: you talk about the growing population of orthodox jews. it wasibed by the aorney general, the market across from a catholic school, down the block from a dominican began on it street -- on a street named after martin luther king jr. have there been tensions in the neighborhood? predominantly afrierican going back sometimes end it has been changing. a growing jewish community, a

growing latino community, and the city predominantly has had this part, this part of the city has had a gun violence issue datingeaack several. we made progress in the last two years. if you come into this year, hs -- homicides and jersey city were down dramatically. a city iobably isn' the country that could point to crime reductions like we were. it is not perfect but we are making progress. it is really dishearteningnd sat on so many fronts to see t city going through this in such a public way. john: with the holidays coming up, this has raised lots of concerns, may be and fears. as youk w the streets of your city, what are you hearing and what are you telling people? >> t community as a loving community, and inclusive communy and most people understand that. i don't think the actions of yesterdayre rnt the sentiment in the city and everybody understands that. we will pull together and be

supportive of the jewish community and all communities here andll we et through it. the city has gone through hardship before and we will have to do it again but we will get through it. jo: thanks for joining us. ♪ judy: stay with us. coming up on the "newshour," divided times in the united exngdom. britain votes as looms. and,e hat's driving the sp vaping-related lung injuries? a woman known as a champion of human rights spent the day in the dock, defending her nation t fr most heinous and ephumane of charges. as nick schifrints, it is a moment of reckoning for aung san suu kyi and her southeast asian nation of myanmar. nick: today, a beacon of human rights defended those accused of genocide. >> surely under the

circumstances, genocidal intenon cannot be th hypothesis. nick: nobel peace prize laureate and myanmar civilian leader aung sang suu kyi rejected charges brought by the gambia, that the myanmar military committed genocide against rohingya muslims in northern myanmar. in august 2017, the myanr military unleashed a reign of terror. s,e u.n. says soldiers torched rohingya villagend in the aftermath, tortured men, killed indiscriminately, and carried out systematic sexual violence, creating an untold number of victims of gang rape. of persecution at the hands ofs the myanmar military, but never on this scale. hundreds of thousands refugees have fled to neighboring bangladesh. refugee camps house alst one million people in flimsy tents. yesterday, the gambia's lawyer, philippe sands, called the case stark. >> the evidence before you, frankly speaking, is overwhelming. the risk of destruction of the

rohingya group, in part or in whole, is very real. in light of that evidence, it cannot reasonably be argued that there is no further risk of genocidal acts. nick: the myanmar military's operation began response to an armed rohingya group's attack. today, suu kyi blamed militas for starting the conflict, but did admit the military couldrs have opped. >> it cannot be ruled out that disproportionate fce was used by members of the defence services, in some cases in sregard of international humanitarian law. failures to prevent civilians from looting or destroying property after fighting or in abandoned villes. nick: but she said the international criminal court had -- should defer to myanmar's veign courts.

>> under its 2008 constitution, myanmar has a military justice system. criminal cases against soldiers or officers for possible war crimes committed in rakhine must be investigated and prosecuted by that system. >> the suffering of the rohingya has been unspeakable. i nick: i nu is a rohingya activist who was thrown in jail by myanmar's military. today, she joined other protesters at the hague, and called the proceedings restorative. >> it's been very long time, and there is a moment of and knowledge meant -- of acknowledgement that presenting it to the court, and it does actually mean a lot to the nick: but as she watched suu kyi leave the court, she says the woman whom she once supported had let her down. >> well, it's very painful to watch a leader that we respect, the leer that used to be our role model, the democracy icon, the nobel peace laureate, defending the perpetrators of genocide.k,

nick: this whe international court of justice will decide whether the crimes are plausible and if it has jurisdiction, and ly then will the court launch a full trial, which could take years. so why is an suu kyi at the hague? to answer that i'm joined bye. john de's a professor at george mason university, fellow at the wilson center. and an expert on thpolitics and human rights of myanmar. thank you and welcome. most of us -- to most ofs, she is an icon of democracy. some people expressed horror about what she is doing. sh is als a politician. what considerations do she have motivating her to do what she has done? >> she is walking through a political minefield. her three concerns, the world court, then myanmar's military the general electi2020 ine. myanmar, she has to figure out how to differentiate herself in

the national league for democracy party from the military's political party, the union solidarity development party. this decision to go to th icj is something that the military didn't wa to see. they preferred to take an isolationist position ignore the icj. the fact that she decided to engage the icj createse olitical spacr her to distinguish yourself from the military. nick: does that mean she wants to gain more popularity so next year, after the election, she can try and enact reforms by winning the election? >> she has already gotten a little bit of support. we have seen pple shown at the airport -- was leaving for the hague. she suggeed constitutional reform is necessary to further democracy

in myanmar. i don't think much of the ectorate is buying that at this point. they have a long way to go. we heard her admitting some soiers could have used disproportionate force, is what she said. nick: what she trying toalk the line between criticizing and exonerating? >> she is trying to buy some room, sometime, really, for the military to go through the process o trying these cases. she is trying to defend the idea that they derve time to try these cases in their own courts first. nick: the person who testified after that, one of the world's leading experts on genocide, argued thisa't genocide because even if there were 10,000 deaths, h says that is not a high enough percentage of one million rohingya muslims to inprove the military was t to destroy the rohingy'. >> i'not a legal expert on

genocide but the evidence that to intentions on the pa of, the communications coming from above, would still be enough to push forth with a case like that. nick: the u.s. sanctioned the burmese commander in chief and chief commander in can the u.s. punishment like that change myanmar's military? >> to address the genocide taking place in myanmar, we need a variety of tools the case that is before the international criminal court, the new case in the international court of justice, sanctions, not only by the united states buy, internationa think all of those tools are important and really takes all of them working gether to have a shot at trying to change behavior in myanmar. i would welcome those sanctions. those sanctions by themselves, not so much but i would say that is true of anyne of these.

nick: john dalef george mason university, thank you very much. >> thank you. ♪ judy: britain goes to the polls tomorrow in what's billed as the most important general election since the end of world war ii, and brexit is at the heart of the election. conservative prime minister boris johnson needs a majority in parliament to force through a deal which will enable britain to leave the european union at the end of next month. but as special correspondent malcolm brabant reports, doubts about johnson's ter, and that of his main opponent, jeremy corbyn, are troubling british voters. awmalcolm: never one to sh from an eye-catching stunt, borijohnson rammed home hisdg core p he's appealing for a parliamentary majority to honour the 2016 referendum on european membership, which narrowly

favoured leaving the eu. against expectations, in the fall, johnson reached a de with the european union. it's designed to avoid a chaotic brexit. but he fears the election tomorrow may not yield the nuers needed to push the agreement through. >> we've just got to get brexit done. to contemplate something pretty appalling, in my view. i don't see any alternative but a working majority to, to deliver . malcolm: johnson's chief opponent, labour leader jeremy corbyn, is promising the most rarcal socialist programme generations. corbyn insists johnson can't get brexit done. >> that claim is a fraud on the brith people. his sell-out deal will be just the beginning of years of drawn-out, bogged-down negotiations and broken promises.

malcolm: if johnson is to succeed, h party must win districts like canterbury, south east of london. for nearly 200 years, this was a conservative stronghold. but in the referendum, the district voted to remain in the eu, and at the last election two years ago, the fortress fell to the labour party. attorney anna firth is fightingo restle back control of canterbury. >> what mosteople, the vast majority are saying to me on the doorstep, whether they voted leave emain is, they just lont us to move on. they want the gr to be finished, they want the agony to be finished, they want some resolution. malcolm: the incumbent is labour's rosie duffield, who believes brexit would be disastrous. >> we're right next to europe. we're closer to europe than some english cities. and we're dependent on our relationship with europe, for our tourist trade, for the university, for our research programmes, all kinds of things, and it's really important for me to keep fightingor that. malcolm: duffield is benefitting from the breakdown of

traditional triballlegiances. lifelong conservative joe egerton has switched sides. he complains the party no longer represents a more benevolent, tolerant conservatism. >> the conservative party today has become the brexit party. it is not the party i joined. it is a strongly anti-european party. malcolm: opinion polls have consistently given boris johnson's conservatives a significant lead. complacent. is not being in the last few days, johnson has been fishing for in traditional labour party constituencies that are now play because they favour brexit. he's promising to upgrade public services to win over people who would never normally vote conservative. >> we have a vision of a united kingdom. jeremy corbyn would divide our kingdom. and i can tell you this. we can do all of this as one nation conservatives whilst not putting up your taxes.lc m: jeremy corbyn's key

emotional weapon is britain's free national health service. its stresses were emphasised this week, with a story about a four-year-old boy being treated on a hospital floor. despite repeated denials, corbyo has accused thervatives of plotting to sell off the health service to american big phma companies. >> boris johnson really wants a no-deal brexit straight into the arms of donald trump, and a trade deal with them. and it's very clear to me that trade deal with the united states, that trade deal would put all of our public services at risk. malcolm: political analysts like jo phillips believe this is the most crucial election since world war ii. >> i think trust is the biggest single issue in this election, above anbeyond brexit. it's one of the most divisive and bitter elections, i think, that we've ever seen in this country. malcol in a series of campaign heartstrings. is tugging at the >> there's so much poverty and

suffering. and our society's crumbling. malcolm: labour is planning renationalise britain's railways, along with utilities like water and power. it's promising to bridge the gap between prosperous and poor by extracting more tax from society's upper echelons. but the institutfor fiscal studies has dismissed the christmas gifts of both laur and conservative as not credible. >> jeremy corbyn comes across as a rather avuncular, pleasant, elderly gentleman you could trust with your life. >>eremy corbyn isn't some kind of kindly magic grandpa. quite the opposite, in fact. wow. >> unfortunately, we knothat the people who are pulling his ppet strings are extreme hard left militants. boris johnson ia showman, that's why he's attractive to very many people. he's got a good turn of phrase, rumbustious. he doesn't want to be held to account.

malcolm: unlike every other political leader, johnson refused to submit to a grilling from one of british levision's toughest interviewers. johnson's bid for a majority is threatened by britain's former attorney general, dominic grieve. he was one of 21 conservative lawmakers purged from the party for rebelling over brexit. at his riverside constituency, grieve is relying on voters like this academic, who was unwilling to give his surname. >> you only ve to go back through, how shall i call it, mr johnson's colourful career, and u'll find that i'd sooner trust al capone. i afraid i find him completely untrustworthy. he has a long and very detailed record of telling outright lies whenever it suits him. malcolm: jeremy corbyn is also distrusted. he's been accused of sympathising with terrorist groups sh as the ira and hamas. britain's chief rabb ephraim mirvis, has condemned corbyn as unfit for high office.

the labour party is being investigated by britain's equality and human rig commission over allegations of institutional antisemitism. one complainant from the jewishn labour movemreportedly listed 22 examples of abuse at a party meeting, where he was called a cld killer, zio scum, and a tory jew. in johnson's district west of edndon, one voice encapsul the national air of fatigue. >> just feel it's one of the worst times in british politics, and wee at a situation where everyone seems to be fighting for themselves instead ofti working collly to do the best thing for the country. undoubtedly punch drunk frome politics and three and a half years of waiting for brexit. the big question is whethe despite his flaws, they'll back johnson sufficiently to deliver a knockout blow. for the pbs newshour, i'm malcolm brabant inouthern england. ♪

judy: states around the country continue to crack down on flavored e-cigarettes and other. vaping produ much of that is in response to the deaths and illnesses that began coming to light this suer. but even as lawmakers are trying to determine what to do, resechers are still trying t better understand the cause of these illnesses. les o'brien has been looking into that very question, for our regular series on "the leading edge" of science. miles: like at least five million young americans,d 18-year-am hergenred started vaping electronic cigaretteswo years ago because everyone else was doing it. ll he lovedhe flavors. >> mint tasted just like a mint, mango tasted just like a mango, cucumber tasted just like a cucumber. i mean, i didn't reaow that it had nicotine in it. miles: it is an extremely potent trnch of nicotine.

he preferred theg pods made by juul. each carries as much of the highly addictive drug as a pack of cigarettes. e-cigarettes, or vape pens, use a battery to heat a coil, which turns a nicotine-infused liquid into an aerosol. before too long, adam was inhaling a pod and a half a day. >> i was hooked. i knew i was addicted, but i just couldn't quit. miles: eventlly, the nicotine rush from juul was not enough for him. ng he bought some black market vape pens contaiannabis oil. and soon he was enjoying head rushes from both nicotd thc, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. >> the juul lasted about 10 seconds, the thc product lasteds about an hour,once, when -- that's why i switched over to that. miles: but at the end of august, he got sick, very sick.

>> i start to experience some tremors, and then, that was for out a day. and in the next three days, i again, throughout the whole day. miles: he ended up here, at the advocate condell medical cter in libertyville, illinois. pulmonologist stephen ambury showed me adam's initial chest x-ray. all that haziness is inflammation. when you see a 17 or an 18-year-old with a chest x-rayis like that, whahe next step?yo what do u do as a doctor? >> many months agothe consideration would primarily be pneumonia or some possible toxin, if they've taken some drugs. nowadays, in light of all the vaping illnesses, that's one of the rst questions we ask you people when they come in with breathing problems. miles: adam had evali, or e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung . the condition emerged in illinois and wisconsin in april. as of december 3rd, it had sickened nearly 2300 mostly

young people nationwide. half of them, likedam, end up in intensive care, many attached to ventilators. one young person reqred a lung transplant. and 48 have died. adam came close. i me, it's kild some peopl could it have killed him? >> if he hadn't come in and just tried to stick it out at home a, few mo dbsolutely. miles: all those young people with very sick lungs triggered n series ostigations by state health authorities and the centers for disease control and prevtion. >> what we know now is that the vast majority of individualsis have ary of using vaping products that contain thc. miles: anne schuchat is the principal deputy director.or >> our labortested 29 samples from 29 patients, from 10 different states arhe country, and looked at 12 different chemical tests. we found 29 of 29 patient

specimens had vitamin e acetate. miles: vitamin e acetate. the nutritional supplement isin pensive, unregulated, and widely available.'s it fine to ingest or use topically, but when inhaled, tht ky substance interferes with normal lung functions. it nevertheless became a favored choice in the black market as a way to dilute pure cannabis oil, which has a similar color and viscosity. testing labs in states whereab ca use is legal analyze marijuana for its potency, and vyreen for contaminants, h metals, pesticides and mold. but before this crisis, they weren't looking for vitamin e acetate. >> we don't have a screen for everything. we're not star trek, we can't screen for specific -- we can screen for specific compounds. miles: michael kahn is president and founder of mcr labs in

framingham, massachutts. as evali emerged, he and his team quickly developed a way to screen for vitamin e acetate. >> it was anmmediate public health concern to us so, we offered it for free, and we still do to anybody who needs to bring in samples just to make sure they're safe.'v wee received 56 samples from-i regular wacitizens, miles: they found ninef those cannabis oil samples were tainted with vitamin e acetate. >> every instance of vitamin e acetate was from somwho marijuana establishmentthe regulated market. miles: but the evali case is still not closed. 20% of patients afflicted do not admit vapi thc. there is evidence other substances could pose a danger, as well. and so some urgent research continues. pulmonologist jeff gotts is an assistant professor at the university of californ francisco. he has built a device that

systematically exposes the aerosols from e-cigarettes to cells cultured from donor human lungs rejected for transplantation. the work is ongoing, but so far, cells exposed for an hour a day, 3 days in a row, to the chemicals used to dissolve nicotine in juul e-ctes show preliminary signs of damage. >> it may the case that this had been going on for a while in different forms in a low level, and we're going to be able to resee a lot better what th incidence of disease from all of these exposures is nowhat we have everybody's attention. miles: first touted as assmoking ceation tool, e-cigarettes got very popular very quickly, with virtually no regulatory oversight, and no research on its implications to human health. >> in many senses, it is a horrifying experiment that people are performing on themselves with these different inhalational exposures that we have absolutelno sense of their long-term safety.

miles: with thc vaping oil, not only is there the same lack of safety data, but there are extra, daunting hurdles to filling the research gap. the federal government still considers marijuana a controlled bstance, in the same leg category as heroin and lsd. it means scientists can only procure marijuana for research from one federally-sanctioned i simississippi. of cannabis oil pr peoplehe sort are inhaling. to what extent is this a result of the confusion and the discontinuity in all the laws and regulations across this couny? >> oh, i think it's a direct result. miles: kate illips is director of education for the cannabis community care and research network in massachusetts. >> we have an instry that's supported by the state, and then everything after that's hands up. so, when a problem like this happens, everyone's scattered,no andy really knows who's

the point person to go to, who needs to collaborate, who needs. to lead on tnd again, it's up to the companies, it's up tot the public hofficials on each state, and that's where we got to where we are today.le miles: meanwhithe vaping trend keeps growing, especially among teens. public health experts worry if no action is taken, this health crisis will only get worse, in the short and long term. for the pbs newshour, i'm miles o'brien in gurney, illinois. judy:uch important rs orting. thate newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow morning. for all of uneat the pbs hour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding has been provided by -- >> a right, richard. this might be the only way to clear your name. there is a bomb in centennia park?

tu have 30 minutes. >> my son is not bomber. you saved people's lives. >> there is a bomb in centennial park. you have 30 minutes. >> the fbi is looking at richard jewell. >> this kid is getting railroaded. >> [-- "richard jewell." rated r. >> consumer cellular allowso yu toat you enjoy, whether you are a talker, texture or browser. our stomer service plan is here to help you find a plan that fits you. >> bnsf railway. and witthe ongoing support of institutions.uals and ♪

>> this program was made possible by the corporation for publicg broadcastnd contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ >> this is pbs newshour west from weta studios in washington and fr ourureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪

lidia: buon giorno. i'm lidia bastianich, and teaching ybout italian food has always been my passion. i want to taste it. assaggiare. it's all about cooking together... -hello. -...as i recreate childhood memories... -good to the last drop. -...restaurant cssics, childhood memories... and new family favorites. dy isn't that everybo favorite pt? whatever you'rbaking, lick the spoon. tutti a tavola a mangiare. finite. funding provided by... we're dedicated to preserving linary heritage of authentic italian foods by offering over 100 specialty italian products for the american kitchen. cento, "trust yoy. family with our fam ch in traditionn, yet contemporary.