captioning spowsored by ur productions, llc >> yang: good evening. i'm john yang. judy woodruff is away.ou on the newtonight: >> our founders, when they wrote the constitutionthey suspectedhe that could be a rogue president. i don't think they suspected wco d have a rogue president and a rogue leader in the senate at the same time. >> yang: the day after. president trump, questions turnd to how house speaker nancy pelosi may exert leverage over the trial in the sen then, coverage at a crossroads. the affordable care act is back in the courts, as the white hoe moves to change prescription drug rules. and, taking the stage.fo what to watcas democratic presidential hopefuls face newshour/politico .t's pbs all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

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>> this program was madele possy the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> yang: the stage is set the impeachment drxt act in senate trial of president trump. but, there are questions about st when that will happen. those questions arose after house democrats finished their work last night, and the answers remained unclear today. the morning after the house voted to impeach president trump, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell reassured the president's lies. >> the senate exists for moments like this. >> yang: he slammed house speaker nancy pelosi, who has said she may delay sending the articles of impeachment to the senate, a necessary step to

start the president's trial in that chamber. >> house democrats may be too afraid-- too afraid to even transmit their shoddy work product to the senate. looks like the prosecutors are getting cold feet in front of >> yang: today, pelosi said she would not set the wheels in motion for a sate trial-- cluding naming the house "managers" who would prosecute-- until she got assurances thatru ths would be fair. >> the next thing will be when we see the process that is sethe forth inenate. then we' know the number of managers we may haan to go forwarwho we would choose. >> yang: in the oval office, the president blasted house democrats. >> we think that what they did is wrong. we think that what they did is unconstitutional. and the senate is very capable.

great senators. >> yang: the senate is at loggerheads over democratic leader chuck schumer's request to call trial witnesses. >> leader mcconnell is plotting the most rushed, least thorough and most unfair impeachment trial inodern history. >> yang: the president's defenders, like senate judiciary committee chairman lindsey graham of south carolina, rejected that. >> if there's a witness request by the presint, i'm going to say no. if there's a witness request by anybody, i'm going to say no. i want this to enduickly. >> yang: today, the president also got support from another fellow world leader, russian president vladimir putin. >> ( translated ): the senate will be unlikely to remove a representative of their own party from office on what seems an absolutely far-fetche reason.ic

>> a i is adopted. >> yang: last night, as the house impeached him, presidentyi trump was ra his supporters in battle creek, michigan. crowd.ated democra to the >> this lawless, partisan impeachment is a political suicide mah for the democrat party. >> yang: and he sparked controversy by seeming to suggest that the late michigan wmaker john dingell was "looking up" from hell. the president recounted a conversation witderepresentative ie dingell, john dingell's widow, about memorials after his death. she calls me up. "it's the nicest thing that's ever happened. thank you so much. john would be so thrilled. he's looking down, he'd be so thrilled. thank you so much, sir." i said, "that's okay. don't worry about it.ma e he's looking up, i don't know. >> yang: tomorrow, congress begins a two-week holiday recess, returning to the capitol and any future action on impeachment in the new year. >> this eveninmcconnell and

schumer met for an hour to talk about the the impeachment trial. they had a cordial coersation but remained at an impasse. what is nancy pelosi trying to doy delaying theocess and what are the rules about this? michael conway was counsel to the house judiciary committee in the impeachment inquiry to prident nixon in th '70s. mr. conway, thanks for joining us. first of all, what are the rules? does the speaker ever have to transmit these articles of impeachment or could she hold on this themrever? >> she could hold on to them forever at great political risk. the constution says soe power only twice, says the house has the sole power of im,eachme the senate has the sole power of trying the impeachment. until she lets goes to have the articles of impeachment, nancy pelosi can d with them what she wishes. the u.s. supreme court said the courts haveo rule whatsoever in regulating impeachment in the

house or senate. so there is no recrse if ncy pelosi decides tohold on to the articles until there can be a netiation about witnesses in the trial. >> yang: and help us understand the political calculus her what leverage was does this create by holding onto the articles of imachment by not triggering the trial in the senate against the president. >> well, you just played theli clip ofsey graham and mitch mcconnell have also said they want to have a very abbreviated trial, no witnesses, no drama, let's get it over with,ut nancy pelosi and chuck schumer don't want to do that. there are existing rules for prior impeachments. in 1986, the senate had awhole series of rules you can find on senateov about impeachmen and at bill clinton's impeachment, they added two new resolutions. those provided for witnesses. there re witnesses in bill clinton's impeachment. if mitch mcconnell followed unanimously in 1999, there would be witnesses, but the senate haw

absolute to change it. the question is does he have 51 votes to do tha >> yang: is there a potential downside or a risk to what house speaker pelosi is doing?u >> of e, you just heard the republican talking point which is the managers now have cold feet, that they don't want to t se case to the house. but i think one of the real variables here is how is president trump going to react to this. he's already reacted to tissue he's been impeached. he believes and you just heard his words that the senate will, he says, common rate him. that won'tappen, but they n find him not guilty, acquit him. if the trial is prolonged and he doesn't get thatday, he may actually put some pressure on mcconnell to come to some agreement about witnesses, and he famously said he himself nts to call representative schiff and others as witnesses in the trial. >> yang: thidea of withholding the articles from the sene was foated by

professor harvard, law school professor tribe. he got the idea that you essentially indict the esident, charge him with the articles of impeachment and you never give him the opptunity r the acquittal in the senate. is that viable? >>ell, it may be viable, but the public may not think it's ir. in robert mueller's report, he id, hefootnote, what he sa couldn't take any action or recommend whether there should be criminal charges, and he sa that would be decided in impeachment, and one of the rationales was the president had no opportunity to vindicate himself. so i think if the president had no opportunity to vindicate himself, there was never a trial, i think that would backfire on the democrats. one other thing to think about, the democrats have been in court, they have a hearing on january 3rd on two lawsuits in the court of appeals in washington, one for don mcdwaun to testify, onfor the grand jury mater their whole rationale is it's part of an impeachment inquiry.

to say on january 3, is theoing impeachment inquiry still going on or is it over? >> yang: people will hear a lot of trms they haven't heard before. we heard speaker pelosi talkab t appointing house managers. who are the house managers and why is that important? >> the house managers are essentially the prosecutors, they're very important, they're members of congress, they will go to the senate, they ll service the prosecutors in the trial. you know, i beflieve a lot democrats would like to have the designation and the status of being a house maager, butt's really a job, it's not an honorary position. they'rntgoing to have to pre the evidence in the trial, whether there are witnesses or not, and the ct that they may not subpoena new witnesses, they can still briesng the witne who appeared before the intelligence committee. yovanovitch, vindm t and others. y should be skilled prosecutors and questioners and i think nancy pelosi understands

that. >> yang: you also said that the speaker and also senator schumer, the democratic leader in the senate, want to slow this process down. they seem to be racing to get the impeachment done in the house, but why wouly want to slow things down now? >> well, they want a set of ground rules. they want witnesses, and i think some republican members of the senate are going to be under some polit hal pressue. if senator schumer asks these wants john bolton, chief ofe staff mulvaney to be witnesses, and two others.hi they can ask justice roberts, who will be presiding over the senate trialto subpoena them, and the rule provide for subpoenas i.the sena that can be overruled. chief justice roberts, in a normal trial, at he says goes, but not in the senate. the senate, by a majority vote, can overrule him. but let's take republican senaers up for relection in hotly contested tates like colorado or mai, the questio is going to be do you want witnesses or not. a recent poll shows that 71% of

the american public want the witnesses to testify, so they're going to have a to agh vot whether mitch mcconnell can keep his 53 republicans in line will bthe question. >> yang: michael conway, a lot of issues, we're going to be talking about it for weeks to come. thanks a lot. >> you're more than welcome. thk you. >> yang: in the day's other news, the house approved one of less than 24 hourstop priorities impeaching him. the u.s.-mexico-canada tde agreement modernizes the "nafta"-- the "north american free trade agreement." it won overwhelming bipartisan support, plus the backing ofnd labor unionsusiness. >> trade agreements can achieve broad bipartisan support if they empower workers, protect patients, provide access to affordable health care and improve oushared environment. i'm proud of what we did here. 14 months of negiating!

>> it's not a perfect agreement. no trade agreements are. and we'll continue to work to improve the areas th we think can be in future agreements. but in any event, american workers have a major victory in u.s.m.c.a. a i'm proud to support it. >> yang: theepublican-led senate is expected to take up the trade agreement next year.te today the seoved to fund the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year, and avert a partial shutdownekhis d. the package totals some increases for bothticajor and defense programs. it also includes another $1.4 bilon for a southern border wall. house and now goesesidentd the trump for his signature. one of president trump's biggest allies in the congress, publican representative mark meadows of north carolina, said today he won't run for re-election. instead, he said he's open to taking a role in the trump

campaign or white use. meadows helped found the he is the 25th house republican not seeking another term. in britain, conservative prime minister boris johnson and his new majorityn parliament laid out their agenda, headlined by leaving the european union on january 31. lawmakers gathered in the house of lords, for parliament's official opening and queen elizabeth's traditional speech, spelling out the government's priorities. johnson spoke later, in the house of commons, and said the british people expect action. >> if there was one resounding lesson of this election campaign, one message i heard in every corner of these islands,ot it'sust that the british people want their governments to get brexit done-- though they do. they want to move politics on. t >> yang: ty agenda also includes a new immigration system and increased spending ot n's "national health service," after ten years of a funding squeeze. lebanon's political stalemate.

college pressor hassan diab was tapped tod to be prime ianister, backed by hezbollah, the shiite militllied with iran. the former education minister arrived at the presiial onpalace and said he wouldlt both politicians and protest leaders to form a new government. protesters are demanding that political elites give way andt enonomic reforms. police across india detained more than 1,200 protesters today, after a ban on demonstrations ainst a new citizenship law. at least three people died in the protests. the police crackdown intensifi as thousands took to the streets. they are protesting a law that favors non-muslim migrants, saying it's part of a push to make india a hindu state. australia shows no sign of endi. scores of fires were burning today, putting new pressure onco prime minister morrison, to act on climate change, as he vacationed in hawaii. alex thomson of independent

television news reports. >> reporter: the fire service said "we can't put them out." and they haven't.si weeks now, and record temperatures across australia twice in a week. two more people killed today. that's eight now. close on a thousand homesye destrod, and we are barely into the fire season. >> reporter: the austr government insists mr. morrison is receiving hourly updates on the fire crisis, and his deputy is in place handling the situatn. in the east, hectares turn to ash hour by hour. in the interior, indigenous leaders in ausalia say their ancient homelands are becoming inhabitable. >> we want to be listened to. we want a future.fi >> our bus season is creeping into spring and winter.

we are riffing in a dangerous climate, and it is time for ou prime minister to get out of the pocket of theo gas lbby groups inand start thiabout the future of australians. >> reporter: fire chiefs want a summit with the prime minister to address the climate emergency. he's declined to meet. sydney stands today wreathed in shfire smog. the economic cost for australia mounts daily.po >> yang: that from alex thomson of independent television news. back in this country, the ntagon saitoday it finished a review of saudi arabian military trainees in the u.s., and found no additionaats. nearly two weeks ago, a saudi officer killed three american sailors at the naval air statiop sacola, florida. some 850 other saudis have been grounded ever since, pending the security review. prosecutors in california have finished reviewing a spate of horse deaths at santa anita race track. they found no evidence of animal cruelty or other crimes.

in all, 49 horses died at santa anita in the 12 months ending last june.th the report say was more than the national average, but fewer than in some other recent years. general motors is recalling more than 900,000 pickup trucks and cars, nearly all of them in the u.s. it involves problems with brakes and battery cables. the affected vehicles ar chevrolet silverados and gmc sierrafrom the last two model years, plus cadillac ct6 sedans from 2019. and, on wall street, upbeat earnings reports pushed stocks higher. the dow jones industrial average gained 137 points to close near 28,377. the nasdaq rose 59 points, and the s&p 500 added 14. still to come on the newshour: uncertainty returns for the affordable care act, and the president moves to rewrite theru s on prescription drugs. and, on the ground in

pbs newshour/politicot's democratic debate. >> yang: since it was first created in the obama wouse and debated in congress, there's been no letup in the fight over the health care acw known as obe. the battle has played out on urts.ampai trail, and in the and now, as william brangham reports, a federal appeals court has likely ensured it will be an issue in the 2020 campaign and beyond. >> brangham: that's right, john. a federal appeals court struck down the individual insuranc mandate that was a key part of thaffordable care act. but the court avoided making a ioader decision on whethe the absence of the individual mandate, the entire law should be invalidated. instead, the judges kicked it back to a lower court in texas most observers believe obamacare will eventually make its way

back to the supreme court for a third ti, but likely not before the coming presidential election. julie vner of kaiser health news is here to help us understand what this all means. so what does all of this mean? the court says, okay, the mandate is a no-go. what does this men? >> well, what it means now for people who are covered under thl federal heal is not very much because everybody says that it will continue to be enforced until this is resolved. basically what it does, though, as you say, ita createt more uncertainty for the law. it is possible that the law could be struck down in part or in its entirety. what the judge basically found that the lower court had found is that when congress changed the law in the 2017 tax bill, it reduced the penalty for not having insurance to zero. what the republican atorneys general who brought the suit argued is without that penalty, it was no longea tax a, therefore, it was no longer constitutional because that'su how it was fnd constitutional in 2012 and, therefore, this

part isut unconstnal. the lower court judge said, if this part is unconstitutional, the whole law is, unconstitutiono. this court said we're not sure about that, you go back, lower cour judge, and domore careful recrewview of what might be allowed to stay d what would have to go. >> yang: remind us again, this obviously cast a huge cloud of uncertainty over the law itself, but it's not just the 20 million pele who rely on getting their insurance direcy through thei aca,ht? >> right, the aca touched all parts to have the u.s. healthcare system. yes, it's directly sponsib for about 20 million people who buy their insurance through the marketplaces or get the expanded medicaid coverage, but it also creates a lot of new benits for pople on medice, for people on medicaid, for people with private insurance, nowt their adildren can stay on their health plans, they can get free preventative care, so e the ts of pieces of the health the health systemembedded into if you tried to take it away,

you could make a big mess.ai >> so we'reng to see what this court in texas does.e, meanwhhe attorney general of california is part of this multi-state sort of protection effort to keep the aca in tact. they're trying to push this through the supreme court quickly. explain. >> this is attorney general javier becerra from california who said he planned to go straight to the supreme court. it's not a suhre thingat the supreme court could take this case at this point becauset hasn't finished in the lower courts, but he'll argue the uncertainty is untenable an that the court needs to take it up right away, and it is possible f the court take it up right away, perhaps as soon as before the election, although that would seem to be kind of a long shot. >> yang: so te idea, is though, if they thhat they have a better shot, the supreme court, now, because is supreme court thus for, has, for the most part, upheld the aca. >> well, they're the four, you know, liberal justices who they

clearly would have, and then held the law twice, now, he wasp the deciding vote in the 2012 case thatays ause it's a tax, it's constitutional. they would get the four liberals ynd john roberts and if th wait a couple of years who knows what the court would look like. >> yang: weove talking to you because you know the policies but also the politics of all this so well. fthis seems toorce this rig back into the presidential election. how long this shakes out? is this a positive for the republicans, democrats or both is this. >> it's a little bit of a draw. had the judge agreed fully with the lower court judgend said that the entire law is unconstitutional, thhink the republicans would have had a big problem, even though it uldn't have ken effect until it goes to the superior courts that would have been a muchfo easier casthe democrats to make that republicans are trying to get rid of this law. they cas still make that e to some extent, but this is a little bit muddier. i think it still will be an

issue going into the general election, regardless of whether s casereme court has thi before it this year. >> we are seeing the democrats debating not just the protection but the expansion of the affordable care act. let's turn to another issue, which is the concern over theof high cosprescription drugs. the h.h.s. secretary just announced that they a going to start allowing states and some pharmacies and some other groups to import drugs from canada. what's thproposal and wht's the idea? >> this is a 20-year fight, and it's been biphartisan theole time. republicans -- some republicans wanted to do it, some democrats wanted to so it. the idea is tays bastecally import other countries' price you get cheaper drugs from other countries who have price controls. bipartisio commirs, the food and drug administration said, not safe, we don't really know where the drugs come from. if you go into a pharmacy in canada and buy drugs, it's going to be e, but if you're importing it through the mail, you don't really know what

you're getting. this is the first tim administration said we're going to see if we can try this, but it's very early, it's not cear whether canada would go along with this. >> yang: thery're not eago be our drugstore. >> they're not. they don't have enough drugs to supply the united states, but it's definitely one of thes s that both sides are trying to court voters on and drug prices are a big political issue going into 2020. >> yang: is it a function of courting voters or will this realistically mean cheaper drugs for more people soon?ul >> if you make it work but there are obviously not enough drugs in canada to splay tun ed states. we're a much larger country. >> yang: so i've heard. julie rovner ofi kaser health news, thank you. >> thank you. >> yang: the pbs newshour/ politico democratic debate starts at 8:00 p.m. eastern tonight. for a preview, let's go out to the debate site and three of tonight's moderators: newshour anchor judy woodruff,

senior national correspondent amna nawaz, and white housede corres yamiche alcindor. preparation, the big night is here at last. the big night is here at last. woodruff: it is here at last, john. we are so glad to be here at los angeles.nt university in third moderator will join us along wi amna and yamiche. first of all, we're glad it's happeninbecause there was a labor dispute, we're happy to report that's been resolved. the rules are straightforward. the candidates will ve 1 minute and 15 to answer the the questions, about 45 seconds for follow-ups and so on. so pretty typical in terms of how the debate goes, but there are some differences tonight. amna, this is the first debatese with jusn of the democratic candidates. >> just seven, right? that's still a lot of candidates but is the smallest debate stage so fa.

that has caused controversy as you know because there were questions rsed by senator cory booker who is not on the stage tonight about some of the rules to qualify, but it is raising controversy because it is the lightest stage so far, just one person of color despite an hiss tore schi diverse candidate field r the democrats, but it's worth noting it's the last chance in this calendar year for the candidates to make their case to some of the earlyic democrrimary voters, they have a lot of stake tonight. >> the one candidate of color being andrew mong ng the seven. >> right. >> woodruff: the fact the that's a first.lif we usually don't see the democratic or the repbaublican s out here and it has to do with when their primary is.s >> thaght, judy, and the date california is voting got moved up in the process, sore there a lot of candidates vying for california, looking at the delegatesa i have beenking to aides close to joe biden, he might lose iowa and new hampshire which might be a big deal because he had a lot of name

recognition, but his aides said they're look for more diverse states, nevada and cal sifornia, th this as the states that represent the future of the majority of teampeople of color living in it, so this is a very important state for democrats and in some cases why we're here today. >> wooinuff: and it rem us every one of these debates have been important, they've held them in georgia and been indi erent parts of the country. i think it says something to the country that the debates are held everywhere. the democratic party very much wanting to speak to amecan voters. amna, we're not going to share, or yamiche, what our questions are tonight. tonight. it's fair to say we've spent ati good bit o looking at what tissues are and where the candidates stand. >> i think it's fair to say we'll feature a rnge of topics like the other debate stages. polling shows there are a lot of early voters who haven't made up what the issue will be to help

which candidate they will vote for when the voting starts. the iowa caucuses are not tha far away. >> they are not, starting february 3. quickly, yamiche, the fact that we don't know what issue is going to affect how the voters make up their minds means that we've had to go through, sift through a lot of suggestions from viewers and followers of these candidas, which is a healthy thing. >> it's a very healthy thing and also shows that there are a lote ofmocratic candidates that are still really trying to make their case and introduce themselves to of voters. a lot of voters we talked to say we rat to seeem get down to three or four people and what the differences are becausthey agree on a lot of things, frankly. we got the list, cn't share it but it's a good list. >> woodruff: fingers cssed yamiche, amna, we are so excited tonight the debate is happening.

8:00 eastern tonight. you can watch it on your local public television station, check your listings and follow it online.uf i'm judy woo we'll see you tonight. >> yang: a growing number of working americans are saving early and living frugally in r order ire young. our economics correspondent paul solman has our encore look at the so-called "fire" movement. it's part of our series, "making sense. >> reporter: pete adey almost always leaves his longmont, colorado, home on two wheels, instead of f'sr. it lot cheaper. for seven years, pete, akamu mr. money stache, has beenon preaching parsy on his popular blog.ra and, he sureices what he preaches. how much do you spend a year? >> we don't budget, bu seems to always end up around $25,000 to $27,000 per year for the family of three. >> reporter: plus, health insurance in the low 30s. adeney and his followerstaknown as muschians, are key players

in the f.i.r.e., or fire, movement--finaial independence, retire early." and we do mean ear. adeney and his wife left their engineering jobs in 2005. >> so, we were 30 at the tim >> reporter: mark and sinaer le no longer have to work either. and how old are you? >> 37. >> 35. >> reporter: micha and ellen robinson, both 38, stopped >> i had this concept thats ago. saving as much as we could, as early as we could, would allow mpound interest more time to do the work. >> reporter: how do they all do it? adeney saved 50% to 75% of his income over nine years as an engineer >> we just did a little bit less than most people of our income level, and that was enough to save it. the u.s. tradition is to spend pretty much everything we earn. we only have like a 3% savings rate.ju yo don't do that, and you always have a choice. >> reporter: how much did you

wind up saving? $1.1 million, or a little bit less. that was what we decas enough to live on forever. >> reporter: on his blog, adeney ndpouses the so-called 4% rule: if you salt awaynvest in stocks 25 times your annual spending, you can then withdrawr 4% of avings each year of retirement. but isn't the market risky? >> put the money in the broad economy through index funds, where you own thsands of companies, very conservative, and it's going to uctuate just because the stock market fluctuates. but if you're just takina small amount each year, you don't care at all about that. like, the stock market crashes, ityou're still taking youre 4%. your-- the stock market goes up, ovu're still only taking 4%, so that averages ou time. >> reporter: don't spend money on things you don't actually need, he says. and don't drive so much. >> that's my biggest winning secret to a wealthy life, is little bit.ut of the car a driving is way, way more

expensive than what most people think. most people think about gasoline as the cost of driving. really, it's about five times higher than that.so retend gas is $15 a gallon. then you're starting to get an estimate of how expensive driving really ito you. >> reporter: due to depreciation, maintenance, insurance. adeney also saves so much because he's a do-it-yourselfer. take his house. >> the one that we live in now, i built almost entirely fromra h. >> reporter: so you put in your own plumbing? >> yea >> reporter:ou did your own flooring? >> yes, that's part ofse. >> reporter: you did your own electricity? >> i would do myy wn heart surg it was safe. ( laughter ) >> reporter: last year, adeney renovated a dilapidated building on longmont's main streeto create a co-working space for fellow mtachians, and he added what he called a tiny house conference room. >> it was just $3,000 in materials, partially froman craigslistthen we get a dedicated office that's year- round, insulated.

>> reporter: on top of the tinyt house, nourishhat costs even less. i just call these ous free, but apples. >> rorter: delicious free. ( laughter ) >> so, cheers. >> reporter: cheers. >> so, one of the ways we save money is by only spping at thrift stores. >> reporter: adeney has acolytes aplenty. 38-year-old retired teacher ellen robinson's trick? don't buy new anything. >> this is from the loft, and you can buy that for closer to $8, itead of buying it for $50. >> reporter: as for the furniture in the home ellen shares with husband michael and their two young children? >> pretty ch all hand-me- downs. the couch was a hand-me-downdp from my granents. these pieces of furniture right here were hand-me-downs from when the office that michaeln workedd to downsize. the lamp, a friend from my work gave that to me.>> eporter: the coffee table? >> this is actually something i bought at a resale shop.te >> r by now, it will not surprise you that the family car is also secondhand. >> we bought this 2007 prius used for $000 about four years

ago. and it's pushing about 195,000 miles, but it still works just ne for our family. >> reporter: one common feature of the fire movement? credit cards ud strategically. we use this card.roceries if so 6% back, 3% on gas, and 3% on department stores. >> reporter: michaelrmer salesman who still enjoys putting in one to two days a week as a consultant, says the family could spend lesthan the $44,500 they spent last year. >> there's some cushion inur budget. we're not down to the bone right now, by any means. >> reporter: do you feel at all deprived? >> no, i do not feel deprived. do you feel deprived? >> no, we don't. >> i am not above the temptation. if i walk into the mall, i am just as drawn to all things as anybody else. t i just have a dialogue in my head about the decision to very intentionally not buy those things, and also just very intentionally not going to the ll. >> reporter: restaurant visits are rare.in ead, the retired robinsons spend their ample free time

cooking and eating at home with their kids. but, wait a second.he aren't many americans who simply don't earn enough to save anything, let alone thnts pete adeney promotes? >> i'm sure there are, but i also would say that almost everybody can do better. and the lower yourncome level, the grter the benefit is of figuring out where your money is so, the median inc $60,000 or whatever in the u.s. for a household. and what's the best-selling vehicle? a $30,00plus f-150 pickup truck.'s thathe problem. we all scale everything up just a bit more than we can afford. >> reporter: but cleot everyone can do what adeney has done. even in retiment, he has earned enough from his blog that he doesn't need to stick to his $25,000-a-year budt. but he does because, he argues, cutting consumption isn't just aboucost-saving. >> i would say it's immoral to pickup truck, compared to ringl a bike or just picking the most

practical car for whatever your needs ar >> reporter: immoral because it's polluting t atmosphere? >> yes, it's because of your effect on other people and other living things. so, like, you're going to consume a lot more metal and a lot more fossil fuels just to carry your tiny self around. >> reporter: adeney does have followers who can't afford to stash away at mustachian levels. michelle jackson turned out for a pop-up business school held at mr. mustache's co-working space to learn how to earn more, so she could save more and retire early-ish. would like to attain that, but maybe they have to pay off debt first in order to get to the point to invest and focus onhi those kinds ofs. >> reporter: how much do you owe right now? >> the amount onat i'm focused ow, minus the students loans... ( laughs ) is about $11,000. >> reporter: and even for debt-

free higher earners like mark and sina ebersole, becoming financially independent began as a heavy li. >> it was pretty hard at the beginning for me, paring it down, and saving, saving, saving, saving. that w a very foreign concept for me. >> reporter: did you like it? >> no. it felt a little bit like, are we wasting away our good yea? >> reporter: ten years later, the former dance instructor is grateful that she and mark, an engineer, work only when they want to. >> we're working on opening a ballroom dance hall. >> it's kind of like a dance-- ballroom dance studio, but more. social-focus >> reporter: ellen robinson relishes the reward of scrimpind thves the fire men and women seeking financial independence. >> so, it's not necessarily about not working, but it's the freedom th comes with not having to work. right now, my kidsre four and two, and i'm home with them all day everyday, and not worrying about whether or not we can buy our groceries. >> reporter: as for mr. money stache himself? >> the gl is just to live a happy existence and maybe leave the world better than when you started. so, i have done small businesses

like carpentry, and a lot of dad work has been my biggest occupation, a bit of writing, some music. so, i still have, if i'm lucky, another 55 yrs of retirement to go. and i will let you know how that turns out. a >> reporte for as long as i can, will be all ears. this is economics coespondent paul solman at mr. money mustache headquarters in lomont, colorado. >> yang: we are just over an hour away. the pbs newshour/politico debate starts at 8:00 p.m. eastern. for preview, newshour political correspondent lisa desjardins is in los angeles with a roundtable of guests. and lisa, it seems like i was

just talking to you at 9:00 p.m. last night in washington about impeachment. now you're on the west coast? now, you couldn't wait to get town after last night? >> well, you can't accuse pbs "newshour" of being on just one coast. we hit both coasts within 12 hours. as the viewers know,that's how the news is these days. you're the same way. how many topics are youin cov in a single show? we have to travel and the stories are moving faster than we can, almos >> yang: absolutely, but you keep up with them, lisa, that's me, and sometimes you keep ahead of them. >> we try. but i'm also very fortunate toug help us ththis debate, we have an esteemed panel to be with me through the entire debate. i'm joined by our pbs newshour west anchor stephani next to her, amy walter of the cook political report. ryan lizza, chief washington

correspondent for politico. and, laura barron-lopez, national politicaleporter at politico. ladies and gtlemen, i have a estion for you. with all of this news, how do any of these candidates stand out, get any attention tonht? stephanie, what could happen here that could get some voters' attention?ou >>now, i think a lot of voters are actually paying attention to these debates because a lot of them are undecided, so i think really for these candidates to stand out, it has to be about policy, and it has to be about personality. i mean, let's not kid ourselves, the first of the voting is less than two months away. there are still so many people voting for, so ink theey are candidates that really resonate are the ones that can connect on a deeper level. you know, i think they want to last week that showed mostar about the ate that can most beat president trump versus the candidate that they identify

with policy-wise. so i know a lot of the democratic voters i spoke to recently, they are picturing which these cdidates looks presidential, and they can picture on a debate stage, ifis ther debate, with president trump. >> yeah. i saayou nodding about tht. you know these elections in and out.as we're 46 days stephanie alluded to, from the iowa caucuses. believe it or not, pple, we're there. where is the voter mindset, the udecided voter mindset now? >> the undece voter mindset is thinking about shopping which i've not done yet, sorry m everyone o list. >> come on. i know. it's a difficult time for theat cand. not just a deluge of news, but their focus on family andgetting holidays. but, look, this is the last time that these presidential candidates are going to have a tional audience before we hit the iowa debate this the middle of janua, which is only a couple of weeks before the iowa

caucuses, and the other thing, lisa, as you very well know, as lot of the foo are sitting on the stage may be spending some of their jnuary, a lot of their january stuck in washington at an impeachment tria, and, she fact that this may be the last time for a while that we'll see all of them together, and i thinkmatephanie s a good point, as they're all -- these are the top -to these are th candidates all in one place. the fact that it's a smallerme fiels that we could get probably more of a robust discussion than you could get with 10 or 12 candidates on stage. >> and look at the small field tonight, the smallest field on stage, seven candidates tonight down from ten in the last one. look at the the lineup. order roughly by polling withn the highest polling candidates in the center, that is former vice president joe biden, vermont start rnie sanders and massachusetts senator elizabeth warren. they will be flanked by the other candidates who met the tougher qualifications for the debate left to right an do you

yang, pete buttigieg and then on the other side another senatory obuchar of minnesota and another businessman tom steyer.y lizza, what lineup are you interested in looking at? who will engage with the other toni it? what are tportant points of differentiating that we could see? the two early states with the four candidates in the center,ll basibunched up very close to each other. you could make a case for any o our winning iowa, winning new hampshire. i remember covering the 2004 primary and general kelly who went on to win -- and john kerry who went to win iowa in 200ll3. i e looking for how the two candidates on the left, warren a sanders, do they start to differentiate themselves a little bit? they have the funy non-aggression pact between the two of them.

does biden, the naional frontrunner take some incoming? do people feel like they need to start dragging him down? bernie sanders back in secd place nationally, he' no really been the subject of much criticm a the debate stges, does he start to take some fire? and finally, pete buttigieg, who has been the aggressor in the very gifted debater, ry gifted communicator. if the past is any -- isic prble, he will go after someone tonight. we will be biden, we will be nders, will he continue on his sort of jihad against warren?ar thosthe main things. >> does pete buttigieg have much to lose? he's in the top in iowa. >> i think he dseo differentiate himself,

especially from biden. they're trying to both carry is moderate mantle all the way through. what i'm wa sting for is toe if buttigieg and warren get into it becausein the last monst, they havted to attack each other more directly, warre specifically, who liza mentioned the non-aggreion pact. warren had a rule she would not name, she would draw subtlets by chcontrasts. shged that last month by directly naming buttigieg and bidehe and, so, whor not she's attacked on the debate stage, she decides to very directly draw the contrasts. i don't necessarily thinkhe and sanders are going to go after each other. she has sworn consistently that she will not go after sanders directly at all >> yeah, amy. i just want to bring up something that stephanie talkedi about e, this idea about right, who's the strongestmp,

candidate there. if you look at the the polling we've seen come in this last we, really as impeachment is coming to a vote, what you fnd is that the president's job approval rating has actually picked up a bit. now, it's still not great. he went from averaging 41 to, averaging 43 this is very minor. >> it's not going down. f you're making the case that the most important thing for those folks on thstage t prove is that they can beat candidate who is a president in a good ecnomy, another pol that came out this week showed that the president's handling of the economy, job approval on economy, highest it's been since going back to the beginning of the yar. so i think this case to be mad about -- for these candidates tonight, the case to be made about, look, he's going to be tough to beat, this is a sitting president, sitting presidents 'e difficult to beat, is

difficult to beat sitting presidents when people feel that president is doing a good job on the economy, optimism about the economy is as strong as it's been in ten or 15 yers, maya little bit longer. who's going to be the one to have the discipline and the strength to go one on one with him? yo>> another difference about tonight's debate, not only the fewest number of candidates on the state. but this is the "pbs newshour" politico debate and we know judy woodruff said she wants this to be aanout sub. you hear that a lot, but, to me, that means issue i'm wondering, stephanie, you voters, howu think voters of feel the chi, especially democratic voters, climate change, what issues do voters care about right no >> well, i think the economy is always tops with all vote'ers. if going to look at what change, especially -- climates,

change, especially in california, factor high on the list. darches differ on the issue. several candidates adopted the basic green new deal policies. is that a p tace wheey will be able to differentiate themselves. one of my questions, as wall know, even if the democrats are able to win the white house and th houses of congress, and we're looking at probably whoever is president getting through one major piece ofio legisl-- obama chose to do healthcare, he was not able t deliver cap and trade. so for a lot of california voters, i think climate change is their number one isue, but when i was going around talking to voters in the last few days, they always talk about how expensive their healthcare b and that wila major issue i think we'll see delineated betwen these candidates is t question of the private option versus medicare for all.l i stink that is a major

fisher among these candidates.>> alk a little bit about elizabeth warren and the needle she is trying to thread now. >> completely agree, healthcare is always at the top of issue polleof democrats, it has n for the last couple of years. so healthcare, i know a lot of people who watch the debates, some reportersave been frustrated by huge chunks of time spent on healthcare but that is the issue ats say they care about. i think if you look at the arc of these debates from the summer until november, you started with this sort of consensus on f medica all. that looked like it was the sweet spot in the democprtic ary and slowly the arguments from the more moderate candidates have started to resonate. the polls of sileayer among democrats, not just the broader public, has started to look a lot more favab for the petebu igieg-biden version of medicare for all.

>> explain tt to viewers. right. so the bernie option would be everyoneould go into medicare, which is right now just for adults over 65, right. >> yeah. warren adopld that poicy early in the campaign, famously said "i'm with bernie." she struggled a little bit to put out a plan detailing how she would pay for ithe did that. then she added a little bit of a wrinkle recently where she said, in the first year if she was w president, sld just have a public option -- in other words, anyone who wanted the buny ito medicare could do that, but, in resident, sher as p would do a full single payer plan transition to everyone in america would be in the medicare ogram. she's now on the campaign trail, started to talk about that, arted to talk about the public option, started to talk about sounds a little bit more where pete buttigieg has been. i would be surprised if that

difference did not come up tonight, where if warren is likely to be challenged tonight on whether that's a shift or not. >> this is the kind of substance i'm talk about, everyone. this is awesome. there is also an issue that is about what america looks like,i annt to talk to you about that laura barron-lopez. the candidates on these stage will not affect what america eooks like. there is only oerson of color on this sage, andrew yang. the moderators actually have more people of color. what does that mean for democrats? is that a potential problem for the party, for the candidate they select, and what do we knou why that may be? >> compared to july's presidential debate, it is a striking visual difference, which was that was the moste diveesidential debate in history, five monthslater, tooled's debate, the majority of candidates on stage are white. so in my reporting last week, one thing i heard a lot

especially from democrats of color, whether house memrs back in washington or ones that e local-elected across the country, is that they started to reflect a bite on how democrats got to this point, and there's a bit of a fear a some democrats have which is what if barack obama country just the first black man to be elected to the presidency but what if he was the only peo rson not white to make it through that door for years toan comewhether or not the nominating process leads to that.e there's been aate that's flared up about whether or not iowa and new hampshire should continue to first anymore in the nominating process and how that potentially favors white candidates because of the fact that tse staare 90% white, both of them, and the first diverse state isevada, goes third. so it also raises a question about california's placement, right, which is that california moved their primary up to be

super tuesday and how much impact does that have. latinos are the biggest ethnic group in calornia and that is a place where i think a candidate like bernie sanders it veryong and he could potentially win a state here because he's doing so well with voters like at. you know, taking to voters in california, one thing we have to remember is the absence of senator kamala harris on stage. senator kamala harris is someone who ostensibly would hav appealed to the diverse electorate like a state of neda or califr nia. she ned a boatload ofif support in cania. sanders has the edge in california and else. where eve to talk about the candidates on the stage talking to african-american isss. african-americans, as we know, are so important within the democratic electorate. none of these candidates are going to be able to make it to the nomination without that support. obviously, we're seeing

vice president biden has a lot offrican-american support in the crucial state of south carolina, but i would like to listen to whether they are going to speak to isues that are important to those voters. >> and that's something that, yeah, quickly, something that deval patrick, who is, along with cory booker, thing on two black candidates in this racee and i sp him last week and he said the big question he has for this debatage is whether or not issues important to black and brown voters will be ra by the white candidates. >> okay. thank you all. the smallest debate field and the nation's mostsopul state, the debate starts in about app hour. our preshow starts in about half an hour. we're looking forward to a good night. back to you, john. >> yang: looking forward tois ort of stuff from you and your guests all night long. you just said the p-debate show at 7:30 eastern, the debate at 8:00 p.m. eastern on the pbs station. and for now, that's the newshour

for tonight. i'm john yang. join us online, and again here tomorrow evening.s for all of the pbs newshour, thank you, and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs >> bnsf railway.n provided by: >> consumer cellular. >> and with the ongoing support of these institution and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by conibutions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. cnewshour produns, llcby captioned by media acce hello, everyone

to amanpour and company. here's what's coming up. as speaker of the house i sadly open the debate o the impeachment of the president of the united states. >> a dark day in washington as congress votes on impeaching an american president. analis with our panel of experts. plus wisconsin's former republican governor scott walker. we talk politics and voter purges. >> i'm going to fight for him up until the moment that y stick that needle in his arm. >> the story of a death row prison warden. they join us to talk about