captioning sponsored by newshour productions, ll >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: >> i was going to let it go, because weave bigger fish to fry here-- >> oh, i don't think we have bigger fish to fry than picking a president of the united states. >> woodruff: democrats take th stage. the leading candidates to challenge president trump clash over corruption, relations with china and more. then, remain in mexico. the trump administration forces asylum seekers to wait in extremely dangerous areas while the u.s. considers their claims. >> ( translated ): psychologically, it really impacts you, because i arrived fleeing a country, and they put me in a country even worse than el salvador. i don't have any protection. i thought i would have protection in the u.s.

>> woodruff: and, it's friday. examine a historic week inoks washington, after president trump becomes only the third erican president to behe impeacd. all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been rovided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us.

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station from viewers like u. thank you. >> woodruff: in los angeles, they faced off for the final me this year. seven candidates at last night's pbs nehour/politico debate, jockeying to become the moe at with a cha unseat president trump. they jousted over pocy, political influence, and who among them was best equipp to take on the president in 2020. john yang begins our look. >> yang: the tone of the pbs newshour/politico debate stage turned on a dime, from civil to contentious. the spark? massachusetts senator elizabeth warren calling out south bend indiana mayor pete buttigieg, over fundraising. specifically, a fundraiser he attended this past weekend hosted by napa vallery owners. h>> the mayor just recent a fundraiser that was held in a

wine cave full of crystals, and served $900-a-bottle wine. think about who comes to that.se he had prothat every fundraiser would be open door. this o was closed door. we made the decision many years e-ago that rich pele in filled rooms would not pick thet next presif the united states. >> this is the problem with issuing purity testsannot yourself pas if i pledged never to be in the company of a progrsive democratic donor, i couldn't be up here. senato your net worth is 100 times mine. >> yang: buttigieg and warren are competing for the same supporters: college-educated whitvoters. the mayor also clashed with minnesota senator amy klobuchar, who contrasted her electio successes with his failures. >> we should have someone

heading up this ticket that has actually won, and been able to show that they can gather the support that you talk about, of moderate republicans and independents, as well as a fired-up democratic base. and not just done it once; i have done it three times. i think winning matters. >> if you want to talk about the capacity to win, try putting you back to office with 80% of mithe vote as a gay dude i pence's indiana. >> again, i would-- mayor, if you had won in indiana, that would be one thing. you tried and you lost by points. >> yang: another fault line: health car vermont senator bernie sanders supports "medicare-for-all," while former vice president joe wants to expand a "publi option." >> 16% of the american public is on medicare now, and everybody has a tax taken out of t.ir paycheck n tell me you're gmong to add

84 and there's not going to be higher taxes? at lea before, he was honest about it. it's going to increase personal taxes. >> that's right, we are going to increase personal taxes. but we're eliminating premiums, we're eliminating co-payments, we're eliminating deductibles, we're eliminating all out-of- pocket expenses, and no family in america will spend more thana $2ear on prescription drugs. >> yang: two lower-tier candidates who made last night's more select debatetage sought to take advantage of the platform. tech entrepreneur andrew yang noted that he was the only candidate of color in the debate >> i grew up the son of immigrants, and i had many raci epithets used against m as a kid. but blacks and latinos have something more powerful workingh agains than words. they have numbers. the average net worth of a black household is only 10% of a white household.fe r than 5% of americans donate to political campaigns. you know what you need to donate to political campaigns?

disposable income.ar i tee if we had a freedom dividend of $1,000 a month, i would not be the only candidate of color on the stage tonight.>> ang: billionaire activist tom steyer discussed race, in the context of president trump's immigration policies. >> i think it's important to te that this president is not against immigration. he's against immigration by non-white people. this is a raci argument by a racist president who's trying to divide us and who's vilifying it's absolutely wrong. and it's led him to break the laws ohumanity in ouname. >> yang: the night also featured the most in-depth discussion of foreign policy so far this cycle, from china's human rights record... >> one million uighurs, you pointed out, muslims, are in concentration camps. that's where they are right now. they're being abused, they are in concentration camps. >> yang: ...to the israeli- palestinian conflict. >> what u.s. foreign policy must be about is not just being pro-israel, we must be

pro-palestinian as well. >> yang: despite lively disagreements on policy, candidates didn't lose sight of one issue that unites them: >> this is our chance. this is our only chance to defeat donald trump. yang: a point that polls show democratic voters also in strong agreement. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, brexit is one step closerc toing a reality. british lawmakers in the house a of commoroved prime minister boris johnson's bill leave the european union. but it still requires the approval of parliamenter chamber, the house of lords. joyson's conservative major in parliament means it is all but certain the bill will become law.

but he still appealed for unit >> this bill and this juncture speaker, must not n as ar. victory for one party over another, or one faction over another. this is the time when we move on and discard the old labels of "leave" and "remain." >> woodruff: the u.k. is set to leave the e.u. on january 31. envoys from russia and china today blocked a united nations resolution that would have renewed cross-border humanitarian aid deliveries into war-torn syria. the u.n. security council failed resolution, which would havethe allowed the aid to flow through turkey and iraq. those border crossings have been used since 2014 to provide of syrian civilians., millions in australo firefighters died overnight as they battledes flhat have engulfed the

country's east coast. prime minister scott morrison,ng under mounriticism, cut his hawaiian vacation short to respond to the crisis. television news narrates our report. >> reporter: with more than 100 wildfires raging across new south was, a seven-day state of emergency has been declared. and australia's most populous state is now mourng the loss of two volunteer firefighters, as they reonded to the fires. geoffrey keaton and andrew o'dwyer and were killed when a tree fell on their truck. ( protests ) but shock has turned to anger, and now there's added fury, after it was revealed the real prime minister has been on holiday with his family in hawaii wle the wildfires burn. he's been forced to cut short his trip and apologize in arv radio inw. >> i know they want me back, at this time, after these fatalities and so on. i'll happily come back and do that. >> reporter: the prime minister is expected to return to australia this weekend, just as another warning of catastrophic

bushfire danger is issued for saturday. almost a thousand homes have been burned down in the past six weeks, and with record temperatures twice this week, there is little anyone can do to stop the flames. >> yesterday was hell! >> just, a huge wall of flames came.e i had to hhind the corner as it was coming, and i just f had the hose on me. and i stood up and it was still intensely hot. i sort of burned my arm. >> reporter: and, while auesorities in new south walar warning people not to travel until after this weekend, residents living in the path of the wildfires are being forced to move out of their homes just before christmas. w druff: that report from martha fairlie of independent television news. there are new warnings about the devastating impact deforestation has had on the world's largest rainforest. a report in the journal "science advances" said the amazon has now reached a "tipping point." scientists warned that athe

current rate, parts of the rainforest could dry up into a savanna, and release billions of tons of carbon into the atmosphere. in india, thousands defied a government-imposed public assembly ban for another day, to rally against a new citizenship law. indian authorities cut internet in northern uttapradesh,izers. police used sticks to beat back protesters. and in new delhi, more than 10,000 demonstrators took tore thets to denounce the government for granting citizenshito non-musli migrants in india illegally. >> ( translated ): you are leaving out people from one religion and including everyone. el what kind of politics is this? the public is not stupid. we know well wdot they want to nd what they don't want to do. pl woodruff: at least 11 p have died and 4,000 more have been detained since nationwide demonstrations brokeut last week. back in this country, house

speaker nancy peidsi invited prt trump to deliver his annual state of the union address on february the president accepted the invitation, ich came two days aftethe democratic-led house of representatives voted to impeach him. his prime-time speech will take place a day after the io ucusses, and could coincide with the senate's impeachment trial, which has yet to be scheduled. an un-manned boeing space capsule launched into the wrong orbit during a test flight today, after an error with its internal timer charted a wayward course. the "starliner" took off from the cape canaveral, florida base, bound for the international space station. but nasa canceled the plan after seeing the error. g'e mission is part of boe efforts to send astronauts to space for nasa next year.

ford motor company is recalling more than 600,000 mid-size i sedathe u.s. over brake issues. a normally-closed valve in the aking system can stick open, extending the stopping distance and increasing the risk of a crash. the recall affects ford fusions, mercury milans and lincoln m.k.z.s from model years 2006 to 2010. and, stocks made broad gains on wall street today, as the major indexes again reached record closing highs. the dow jones industrial average surged 78 points to close at 28,455. 37 points, and the 500n added nearly 16. still to come on theewshour: a new report uncovers alarming details inside immigrant u.s.ntion facilities across the a report from the border on the

trump administration's remain ie co policy. markhields and david brooks analyse a historic week in washington. and, director greta gerwig discusses the latest film adaptation of the classic novel "little women." >> woodruff: a new investigation reveals the rapid growth of for-profit prisons being used to house immigrants. w liam brangham explains, while it has generat tremendous profits, or the indust has also caus hundreds of cases of alleged abuse and mistreatment in those facilities.m: >> branghat's right, judy. since president trump took office, the business of housings immigrantsxploded. according to a new investigation

by "usa today," 24 centers and 17,000 new beds have been added in the last three years. while these private companies are meant to save money and operate more efficiently, the team at "usa today" documented poor conditions, over 400 cases of sexual assault or abu, and at least 29 deaths, including seven suicides. alan gomez is one of the many reporters who worked on the series, and he joins me now. alan, welcome back to the "newshour". before we talk about the growth of this industry that u document so clearyour series, can you tell us a little bit about the people who are being held in the facilities? who are they? >> yeah, the vast majority, to make this point from the very criminals. are not convicted in i.c.e. custody are people who are being held just until they get to their next immigration courheari or util they're

deported. those e mostly undocumente immigrants who have been picked the country or crossed theut of rn border illegally. it's important to note 26% of these people, close to 12,000 og them, are beeld solely as they wait hearing for asylum. they approached the southn border, requested asylum there and are being detained weeks, months at a time until their hearing. >> rorter: there are ious accounts of deaths, assaults, mistreatment. can you give us a bigger idea of what you've found. >> it runs the gamut of what you listed. every detainee, and we spoke to at least 35, all complained about mistreatment fom the guards as being verbally and phically abusive, taunting them with racial slurs. we heard a lot of complaints about the medical care they rece oed. i spoke e woman whose

cancer was in remission while she was being held in i.c.e.d custody e said she would go up to two or three weeks withougetting her cancer medication. her cancer eventually returned, and we found lot of cases of people being thrown in solitairy nfinement for what they describe as very minor violations while they're in the facilities. we found people conducting peaceful sit inns or hunger strikes getting put ito solitaire for punishment. the reason this is hard to comprehend, some o the billion allowed in a prison, but, again, immigration civil in nature, not corrective or punitive, which is what makes these findings all the more egregious. >> reporter: what about the the issue offoversight? in your report,our and a government wtchdog identified almost 16,0 violations of detention standards and yet you report more than 90% of those

facilities received passing grades by government inspectors. who is supposed to be the cop on the beat here? >> well, that's one of th majort problet we found in this system. i.c.e. uses -- there are five or six diffent methods to inspect the facilities, all of which the department of homeland security inspectors general have said are deficient. they don't do a good enough job of analyzing theonditions the facilities, or some of the methods they use that might be up to pa aren't done enough. so you have situations where facilitiesill check for certain things but, you know, we've looked at inspection reports where they'll showf dozensses of sexual assault, of physical force against detainees, ad they get a passing grade and, you know, laud tore comments from inspectors. one of the probls there we found the most to have the infections that are done are announced ahead of time. we've spoken with the people who

the inspections who say unannounced inspections would probly be better. some of the private companies who run the facilities saidk we'll e unannounced visits, we're confident and will do i that, buc.e. pushes back. caey say the unannounced inspections mighe a disruption to the facilities and they want to ensure that the proper people they need to talk to are there on theay they visit. so there are a lot of questions thout the inspection process we found throughous investigation. >> reporter: you touched on this issue of you talked to some ofds the hf these companies that have been accused of some of these abuses. what is their action to this? are they saying we're trying to our best and sometimes these accidents occur? how do they respond to your >> what they say at, you know, we talked to the head of core civic which is one of the rgest companies that runs these facilities and the leaders at the g.e.o. group and both say

they have been doinghis work over 35 years, usually without any big problems, but, all of a sudden, now, there's a blowback against them which they blame on a combination of who's in the white house, a hyperpoliticized imate right now, and the the fact that they say they have been improperly -- that people in the country have impyrope attributed what we saw on the southern border last year to these companies.e to be clear, re right, evything we saw over the last couple of smmers with all of these people in overcroboed er patrol facilities, that is separate and apart from what we're talking about here. these folks run detenti centers for i.c.e. in the interior of the country and, sos yeah, th it's a lot of misunderstanfang, a lot of publicity on them, but they say they run very efficient, very safe facities for all these detainees. >> alan gomez of "usa today," thank you very much for thi really, really interesting

series. >> thanks for having me. f: >> woodrn our second focus on immigration tonight, a new study shows that one in four asyl seekers forced to remai in mexico while their cases are considered have been threatened with physical violence. that is according to the u.s. immigration policy center at u.c.-san diego.r ite house correspondent yamiche alcindor traveled to mexico to see firsthand the impact the trump administration's asylum policy is having on thousands of migrants applying for protection. >> alcindor: in a two-room shack in mexico, delmary arias is hoping for healing and dreaming of a safer future. she and her nine-year-old daughterllison are trying to seek asylum in the united states, but the process has been deeply traumatic. the two fled el salvador and now live with fellow asylum seekers. they are navigating an increasingly difficult u.s.im

gration system. >> ( translated ): i lef because my ex-partner was threatening me. he threatened to kill me. and my daughter was at risk because she had been touch by him. i took this desion and left for the u.s. >> alcindor: in may, they traveled by bus thugh dangerous parts of central america and mexico. days later, and then crossed into the u.s., where they applied for asylum. >> ( translated ): i jumped the fence and turned myself in. they detained us, then they sent us to mexico. >> alcindor: like tens of thousands of other migrants, she was forced to return to mexico as pa of the trump administration's migrant protection protocols program. asylum seekers say it offers no protection, since they are sent to wait out their cases in cities that even the state department considers some of the most dangerous in the world. often, these are places where drug cartels and violent gangs prey on vulnerable migrants. that's what happened to arias. she and her daughter were

kidnapped while runnrands in tijuana. fasperate to survive, she gave her abductors hely's phone number. >> ( translated ): they toldth if they didn't pay $10,000, they were going to cutff body parts, starting with my daughter. my family said "no," they hit me, because they thought i was lying. >> alcindor: she was freed after two days by giving one of the kidnap and money that she had in her purse-- a little less than $200. >> thank god i was freed and my hurt us. too, and they didn't it's something traumatic and psychological. i can't get over it. i don't go out anywhere. i stay shut in. >> alcindor: you fled violence in one country and experienced it in another. what is that like? >> ( translated ): psychologically, it really impacts you,ecause i arrived fleeing a country, and they put me in a country even worse than el salvador. i don't have any protection. i thought i would have

protection in the united states, that it would give me support. >> alcindor: we questioned u.s. customs and border protection acting cmissioner mark morgan about whetr the program was exposing asylum seekers to unnecessary risk. w >> we're workih the government in mexico. they have promised-- they have committed that they will do everything they can to providete adequate pion and shelter for those individuals waiting in mexico under the m.p.p. program. >> alcindor: since launching the program in january, the administration has sent roughly 60,000 asylum seekers back to mexico. according to the u.s. immigration poli f center, one r of asylum seekers have been threatened with physical their case in mexico.out conditions have been so bad that migrants havblocked bridges on the border and held protests against the trump policy. and, there are mexican officials deal with, too. an asylum seeker we interviewed in southern mexico said mexican immigrion authorities blocked

her from returning to the u.s. for a hearing. >> ( translated ): they detained us and told us our visa wasn't valid. we went to immigration and they said what mexico wanted was to get rid of people. they destroyed our papers, and they said if we tried to travel again, they would detain us again. >> alcindor: mexican immigration officialdid not respond to repeated requests for an interview. president trump rose to wer on promises to build a wall on the southern border. a wall would theoretally keep some people out-- but not those whapply for asylum. that's where the new policy comes in. >> it's an administrative wall. it's a bureaucratic wall. it-- it denies people th ability to legally seek asylum. >> alcindor: kelly overton heads border kindness, a non-profit that provides support for migrants. >> so when they do seek asylum, when they present themselves att a point of, they almost immediately or within days are sent back to mexico to wait for hearings. >> alcindor: we visited a

shelter in mexicali near the u.s. border that the organization helps fund. many of the people we met are caught in a loop, shuttled back and forth over the border. >> and then this dance begins. dates and such, in differentourt locations far away, that basically allows the united states to outwait these people, to stall. >> alcindor: parents told us conditions are extremely stressful.a family of six we met tolerate life in a shelter. ey say they now rent a small room from a mexican woman. but overton says hhas seen them sleeping on the streets. this is where the mother, hilda agustin, spends much of her time: on the border, selling t snackspeople headed to the place she wants to go to most, thu.s. she is from a small indigenous village in guatemala. both she and her husband speak a mayan dialect and struggle to communicate in spanish. like many we spoke to, agustin is fleeing violence. as ( translated ): iorried for my kids.

my oldest was shaking with fear. these bad men came into ourki home, for money. they threatened to kill my husband.or this went on year, them threatening us. they told me if we didn't gi them moneyhey would kill us. >> alcindor: agustin and her family traveled by bus from guatemala.they turned themselven they arrived at the u.s. border and applied for asylum. when they were sent back to mexico, they faced more threats. >> ( translated ): a man here said they were going tdstake my they were going to kidnap them. so i never leave them alone, and d husband helps watch them. >> alcindor: theay after we met her, astin and other eigrants took an early bus to make it back to nextg hearinin san diego, more than 120 miles away. we're about two hours from san diego on the way to tijuana. lipeople take charter buse this hoping the route will be safer than other routes where people have been attacked and even kidnapped. the next day's hearing was allag tin could think about. >> ( translated ): i'm worried

about the answer the judge will decide. we're nervous and afraid to talk to the judge again. it's very difficult to travel back and forth with the kids, walking with tand taking the bus again. >> alcindor: most of the passenge were returning to san diego for their asylum hearings, too. after spending a night in a mexican hotel, paid for by ath non-profit, migrants we followed went to the border. they have to cross on foot and wait for u.s. immigration authorities to take them to their hearings. armed guards direct them on and off of buses with metal screens and bars. we couldn't film inside the court, but we were able to sit in on agustin's hearing.ju the e said her application was still incomplete and suggested she get legal help. only about 1% of those seeking asylum have legal representation the u.s. does not offer free legal assistance to asylum seekers. advocates say most migrants can't afford to hire an attorney. they also say many attorneys whf

might help fe are too scared to travel to thes dangerrts of mexico where migrants wait out their cases. according to an a.c.l.u. federal lawsuit, therump administration is impeding asylum seeke from exercising eir right to counsel. the families we have been following have been told they have to come back for yet more hearings in january.y' this means the be sent back to mexico yet agai me will likely give up. one of theost vulnerable people we met, kidnapping vict delmary arias, was actually granted asylum. she is now living in the washington, d.c. area. activists and immigration lawyers sashe is a rare case, even if she doesn't feel particularly lucky. >> ( translated ): only those who have experienced it know whatomeone suffers here with their children. >> alcindor: for the pbs newshour, i'm yamiche alcindor on the u.s.-mexico border.

>> woodruff: it was a week ofne politica unlike any other in recent years. the impeachment of an american d president, o. a debate featuring his election rivals, the next. thabrt is whags us to the analysis of shields and brooks th's week. thyndicated columnist mark shields, and "new york times"da columnisd brooks. llo to both of you. so historic, yes. mark, as we have been sayinger nd over, only the third american president to be impeached. whe did you make to have debate in the house of representatives and how the vote emerged? >> the day itself, there weren't individual moments, i didn't think, that were spectacular. it was pretty obvious that the o parties had a little different approach. the democrats were there to show sort of the extent and breadth

and widtof their biography and what brought them to this point. the republicans seem to have the consistent thesis of simply going after the process itself,e r really defending the president, because unlike either president clinton or prentsi nixon, president trump is uncontrite. he acknowledges doing nothing wrong. nixon said i let my people down and bill clinton being humiliated and embarrassed at what he'd done. concerned, very few moments. but high drama. nancy pelosi was very much in charge. some democrats, the vote came in, started to cheer, applaud. she middle e -- she immediately, this is serious. this isn't a football rally, this is history. >> woodruff: how did you hear he and see it, david? >> i wish t republicans put up what i think is their best case whh is thidoesn't rise to

the level of impeachment. they couldn't make the case it didn't happen but, they could make the case it doesn't rise to the lev of ipeachment, or ke the case if we set this stanrd, pretty much every president could come under impeachment for this. president messes up in a serious way and if we set this standard, we'll be impeachg people for years and years. lyndon johnson, if he was heldki to thi of standard, if we go down the list, aot of presidents, would be impeached. that's their best argument. as for the vote, ias srprised how party line it was. extremely few defections, and i think, for the desomocratse for whom it's a tough vote, i think, one, the cohenvictio eaally did do it, he deserves to be imped. second, the impeachment is probably not the top issue inho thei districts so they can probably get away wit.

thd, party loyalty and party line spirit is a dominant force. >> woodruff: were you defections?o few dem >> i was. it was a tough vote especially for a lot of thhe districtsat the president won. i thought that the repubcans argument were not flawed david, i think -- this was talking about an election.sn there talking about doing deals or something of the sort. with the american electoralering process, and what it was doing. and i just thought thean republfalsely arguing that the democrats were doing this because they couldn't beat donald trmp in 2020. i think when "wall street journal" nbc poll comes out this week and says 34% american ters say they will vote for him regardless of who th democrats runs against him, and 48% said they would vote against him regardless of whom the

democrats run so he's just in terrible shape. this was n not cy pelosi came to this quite reluctantly. she was not an enthusiastic supporter, but i just think -- >> woodruff: many months ago. but she just realized that not to do it in the face have the evidence would have been worse than a terrible president. >> something mark said, a lot of mocrats, i think, and i spoke to this week, think trump will win.i look at the evidence and o not see that. the former republican political consultant mcmurphy said there have been elections since trump took over and republicans havgh been slred in almost all of them. why do we think when he's losing by 7 or 8 percentage points to almost every potential democrat i nominee. don't understand the sense of pessimism on the accepts of the democratic party or the strength of the argument. >> woodruff: i'm marking this down, december 20, 2019, david. >> you got it. the president's reaction,

though? he had that pretty angry rally on the night of thean votd had some pretty beyond tough, ugy things to say about people, including the late john dingell. >> what he said there was repulsive, talking about theel late john diand his wife debbie dingell and that was repulsive and it never ceases to ame me and his supportsev doesn' say that's awful. they don't seem to respond. he revels in a angd in the angry confrontation.h he whips upt atmosphere in the rallies when he won the first time, and this isp cat ni to him, whether his base is big enough. but they're ctainly riled up and this impeachment process certainly gives them fuel to rile each oth.er up >> yeah, there's sort of a phony, false bravado about the whole thing. i mean, the day thathe house

judiciary committee voted to impeach, rudy giuliani comes tot the house with new information, i got new iforhetion. the daot his get out of jail card from rober mueller, the vehement testimony at the muthler commission, that's day picks up the phone and calls president zelensky, sort of i got to show 'em. every president, evy candidate who does well has something he or she does wel jimmy carter did small groups better than anybody i've ever seen. chard necksen was very compelling in a question and answer situation. ronald reagan did the auditorium speech. donald trump mastered ally of raw meat to the true believers, and it did not work, it was out of sync, he was sit of sync, the crowd didn't get it behind him, and to go after john dingell, who defended th industry in michigan and his widow, actually got public

rebuke from other republicans. >> woodruff: to both of you, what about speaker pelosi's n,ve, david, and thark, to hold back on sending these articles over t the senate? >> yeah, i think it's very risky. you know, as mitch mcconnell said, why is withholding something i don't want to doge leve it was always going to be a reality that once the house voted to impeach they're going to lose control of the process. they've essentially lost control of the process. that's the republican senate majority.they can try to use wig to leverage over mcconnell, i don't think it's very powerful leverage, i think it delays what essentially will be a trial pushing it, frankly, back to the primary seon, and makes it look a little more political. so i get the frustration we don't want to hand this to a process we don't like, but i think it's very risky to withhold. >> it's a bargaining device, no qution about it, but when i see joe manchin, probably the nest threademocrat in the

country from west virginia say the whole process is preempted mitch mcconnell colludi with the defendant, to go public like that indicates to me that there ae votes to bring witnesses, and if joe chin is saying that, then there are a number of repubns. this is political hard ball, make no mistake about it, and donald trump is playinagainst a real pro. >> woodruff: all right, to the debate, to the seven people on the stage in los angeles last night. david, the "newshour" wasto honoree hosting that along with politico, but you watched t. what did yink of them? >> well, it was the best debate and probably because it was smaller and probably because of the moderators, of course.f: >> woodr was waiting for you to say that! (laughter) >> no, the wain cave moment was the most interesting moment, going taf the billionaires that supported buttigieg, or at leas millionaires we presume, and i confess, i just think it's -- i'm on buttigieg's side on this. i think it's a purity testk to

that somebody who started m company and had se success can't support a ocratic candidate and that candidate is somehow tainted. you look at bttigieg's policies, they're clearly not the policies of the corporate fat cato you'relicies that would be tough on corporations. so if there was evidence that money was actually buying ything for any of these people, maybe it's a good argument, but it'simply an attempt to take a steotype of a hated figure, called the billionair and tar a perfectly acceptable candidate, you wat reality, come to pbs., real it started off like a seminar. it was thoughtful, reflective. then, boy, they really got into it. and dad was right there. it reminded us of the calendar, judy. iowa is coming up, pete buttigieg is leading in iowa, and elizabeth warren was slipping, and she we after him, and i thought pete buttigieg showed the ability toa a punch.

he doesn't have a glass jar, and thoughtchis counterpas enormously effective. >> woodruff: you think he helped himself? >> he wasn't hurt by itin the sense -- and he probably did help himself in the sense that she did say take only pure over money from our senateled campaign where she had taken monegijust like but. i think the wine cave thing is bad image for booming. then when amy klobuchar jumped in and preempted the entire ceral time zone as her home -- >> woodruff: flyover country. i am the midwest, nobody's going to flyer as long as amy is there. when she we want out of buttigieg that he never had won a state-wide race, i remind people that in the last 80 years, other than barack obama, one democrat has carried indiana for president, lyndon johnson in

1964, it's a very republicane state, and t democrats have won the last 11 presidential nnesota.s in m so if you're going to eliminate statewide, abraham lincoln is. go george h.w. bush couldn't win a state race, ions hear. to me, that was a little silly. seven makes a lot different than 12 or 13. >> woodruff: having fewer candidates. >> it really does. thought the experience tack was more forceful and does sort of raise tissue and i thought klobuchar was effective. it sort of reminds you why biden is still the frontrunner. he was stronger than in any debate, he's likable, low drama, not a high risk proposition, gong yong, and if he continues to debate that well, then i do think the affection most peoplef har him will carry on. >> woodruff: about 20 seconds.

andrew yang. >> can't go without mentioning andrew yang.u ave him the sucker question, the tough question. the only two who apologized we the women, the men who were going to give out their boks. i thought andrew yang was spontaneous and talks about s opponents like they're people. he's missing cory booker and kamala, like they're real people, not like senate issues walking around and a voting record. >> woodruff: a new side of him. >> a good side. >> woodruff: mark shields, david brooks, thank you. >> thank you. >> woodruff: for generations, omthe classic book "little" has enchanted readers young and old. it has been brought to the movie screen many times. and now, on christmas day, a new version hits theers nationwide, one with all the familiar touches, along with

some very modern ones. john yang sat down with the director and screenwriter,et gerwig. it's part of our ongoing coverage of arts and culture, "canvas." >> yang: it's louisa may alcott's beloved 150-year-old story of the four march sisters. >> this is meg, amy, beth and jo. >> yang: they facetbove and hearreak, chasing their dreams in civil war-era new e an international cast portrays these quintessentially american characters. emma watsoas meg, the eldest, the romantic. beth, played by eliza scanlon, the shy sician. florence pugh plays amy, the boisterous youngest. and at the center of it all: saoirse ronan as jo, the impassioned writer who tells their tale. >> the truth is, i saw myself in all of them. and i think that's something about a book you grow up with, i you see yoursedifferent characters at different points. >> yang: greta gerwig retells" little women" for a new generation.ea

it is a cast, and in the scenes with the sisters together, it feels so spontaneous. it feels so natural. and i'm sure that that's the >> well, i wanted thesework. lines, which are so famous, to with the energy of youth and, with the exuberance of sisterhood. so, one of the things that i wanted to do was have a very controlled cacophony of sound and movement, and i wantedt to feel like a ballet that was kind of violent. s that was tterhood, was dese couple of weeks we spent in rehearsal, julling all of that and spending time working on it. so it's the thing thatht them together. >> yang: at first, gerwig was hid only to write the screenplay.

but then came "lady bird," her 2017 breakthrough directing debut. >> they came back and said, "would you like to direct 'little women'?" and i was le "i've been asking for five years. i would love to." >> yang: the film reunites her wind "lady bird" stars ronan timothee chalamet. >> they're two of my favorite young actors. saoirse told me she was going to play jo.sh e said she knew i was working " ttle women" and she wanted to play jo.n and as soo i knew it was saoirse, i knew i wanted it to be timothee, because they're just so exciting to watch on screen together. >> yang: talk a little bit about the relationship, the working relationshipetween saoirse and timothee. because i'm thinking, in particular, the dance scene. ♪ ♪ w >> i thih period pieces, sometimes you end up feeling like everything's just so, and everything's so perfect, and everybody's waiting politely for someone else to finialking. i wanted to bring that feeling of reverence for the text, butth irreverence fojoy.

allowing it to be spontaneous. and i wanted to create a dance that was both a nod to the formalitof the time and then had that bursting-out-at-the- seams feeling. the dance that laurie and jo do really brings that across. i actually hadn't read the book again until i was around 30, and then i read it ain and i was gobsmacked by it. i thought it was completely modern and fresh and strange and spiky. one of the things that wonderful to do as an artist is that i'm allowed to take thi iconography of "litt women," of these famous moments and these famous scenes, and i'm allowed to deliver on them and give you those things, and then so subvert it. >> yang: cpared with earlier film versions, gerwig adds dept mension to characters, like march family matriarch marmee, portrayed by laura dern. marmees a character who, in previous tellings, is sort of a plaster saint.

>> she could be quite bloodless in her piety. when i went back to the book, and i was reading it, and th line-- >> i'm angry nearly every day of my life. >> you are? re>> i'm not patient by na but with nearly 40 years of >> i thought, "that's not true. marmee's not angry." and i'm like, "oh my god, she's been angry for 150 years. >> yang: at the heart of the story: women and their aspirations. >> women... they have minds and they have souls, as well as just hearts, and they've got ambition and they've got talent, as well as just beauty. and i'm so sick of people saying that love is just all women are fit for. >> yang: in earlietations, like the 1994 version starring winona ryder, the happy ending j o finding a husband and also publishing a book. but in gerwig's telling? >> it's the book.

the happy ending is the book. i think there aren't enough movie romances between women and their books. and i got to do all of the cliches of a movie romance chase, of the girls in the carria in the rain. d i got to do the camera ond the crane did all these sort of bells and whistles of what we think of as movie romance. but for me, it was never where the heart of it was. the heart of it was about what it means to have authorship and nership. ani wanted to have that emotiol impact come around jo and her book. >> yang: gerwig's jo defies society's expectations, embodied by her dowager aunt, played by meryl streep... >> you'll have to marry well. >> but you didn't, aunt march. rich.ll, that's because i'm ang: ...and stands up to her publisher.t how does tsonate with what's going on now in ndllywood? so the push for equality?

>> sure, i had wanted to include this whole story of her negotiating her copyright and also her back-end deal that she gets 6.6%, which is how much louisa may alcott got, which was higher than people usually got. but honestly, the publisher gave her 6.6% bause he didn't think it was going to do very well, and he was wrong. it sold out in two weeks and then it subsequently has never been out of print. and so, one of the this i wanted to do was introduce the idea of louisa may alcott herself as the author of "little women," and i wanted to collapse the space between louisa may alcott, the writer, and jo march, the character. for recognition for women isggle reflected in the dearth of award nominations so far for this critically-acclaimed film-- scst two from the golden globes and none from then actors guild. oscar nonations come next month. it's still notable that there it a vie n by a woman,

directed by a woman, starring women, produced by a woman. what does that say? do you think we would've been beyond this byow, or? >> period pieces are seen as risky, or that people won't go. so, that alone is already a hurdle, and then you add on top of it, it's all about women. it's written and directed by a woman. it's produced by a woman. so, in some ways, it feels like a miracle that this movie was made at all. and i can't help but be just completely grateful that it happened, because it continues to feel unlikely. >> me it short and spicy, an if the main character's a girl, make sure she's married by the end. >> yang: a fresh take on an old favorite from a ri tng star behi camera. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang in new york. >> woodruff: online, we have more from our interview with director greta gerwig. she shares which march sister from the story she most identifies with. that's our website,

w.pbs.org/newshour. >> woodruff: tonight's "brief but spectacular" looks at claud kelly and chrmony. the two musicians spenover a decade making hits for blockbuster artists like mary j. blige, bruno mars and rhianna. but they yearned to be more than just hired guns for big-name ts. so, they started their own group, louis york. >> the most coon thing that i, personally, chuck harmony, have heard from a music executive is that i was "too musical." "dumb your stuff down so that the masses can digest it." and as a creative, that's jail to me. ♪ ♪ >> everyone we dreamed of working with as songwriter and producer, we've had the honor of

writing very big records for. michael. >> janet. >> whitney. >> bruno. >> celine. >> rihanna. >> you get known for this one big ing you did. it's like, "chuck, give me another 'russian roulette'," or "claude, give me another 'party in the u.s.a.'." and if you're always growing and wanting to learn, then that becomes your prison. >> it literally drove us crazy. so, to the point we were going ssion because of that. >> i was going to go to seminary, he was going to go to... >> get a master's degree in wod religion. we had this conversation about the music business, and what was on the radio and what was missing. big voices, original voices, horn breakdowns, and liveng st and bridges, and modulations, and all these things that make music exciting and passionate. what can two black men get together and say that is not being said in pop culture? and we discovered there's a lot. >> louis york, whiche name we came up with. the last thing our original name was melancly. it shows you how sad we were at the time. ran that by a couple people and they laughed at us. he's from east saint louis, and i'm from new york.

♪ ♪ >> as the lyricith and the guy at's thinking about telling the story, i just don't believ that people are stupid and they want to be told stories, "repeat this over and over" or "say what you said yesterday" or "that little story works, so repeat it again" is jail, is jail. ♪ ♪ >> for me, collaboration is i don't think no man is an island, especially when it comes to being their best selves. you need a person that you can bounce ideas off of. you need a person that you can see yourself in. you need a person that can be your muse. ♪ ♪ >> i'm claude kelly. >> and i'm chuck harmony. >> and we are louis and this is our "brief but spectacular" take on... >> rediscovering our passion for music. >> woodruff: and you can watch

additional "brief but spectacular" episodes on our website, pbs.org/newshour/brief. tonight on "washingtk," robert costa will be discussing the impeachment of president trump. as congress left for winter break, speaker of the house nancy pelosi delayed setting up an unprecedented stando with republicans and senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. what happens next? and that is the newshour for tonight.ju i' woodruff. have a great weekend.nd thank you,ood night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> bnsf railway. >> consumer cellular. >> suprting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing proems-- skollfoundation.org. >> the william and flora hewtt

foundation for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutionso promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. or and with the ongoing su of these institutions and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs stion from viewers like yo thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioneceby access.wgbh.orgat wgbh

hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & co. here's what's coming up.in >> it's to happen now. i mean, it was tragic. we should never have agreed to e brexit generction, by the way, it's crazy to mix the two issues up. >> former prime minister tony blair bows to the inevitable, populist partisan times?rd in plus -- >> oh, my goodness. i did not think that that was going to be the first question. >> oscar tip director greta gerwig on her film "american classic "little women. > then, why politicians attack the media and the dark thnsequences. i'm joined by auor ann applebaum and veteran british journalist michael crick. ♪ "amanpour & co." imade