captioning sponsored by newsho productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: o,>> i was going to let it because we have bigger fish to fry here-- >> oh, i don't think whave bigger fish to f than picking a president ofhe united states. >> woodruff: democrats take the stage. the leading candidates to allenge 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 thght i would have protection in the u.s.

>> woodruff: and, it's friday. mark shields and david brooks examine a historic week in washington, after president trump becomes only the third american president to be all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been roded by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us.

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station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: in los angeles,ac they off for the final time this year. seven candidates at last nig's pbs newshour/politico debate, nsckeying to become the democrat with a chance tot president trump. they jousted over policy, political influence, and who among them was best equipped 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? warren calling out south bendth indiana mayopete buttigieg, over fundraising. specifically, a fundraiser he attended this past weekend sted by napa valley wine owners. >> t mayor just recently had fundraiser that was held in a

served $900-a-bottle wine.whand atink aboucomes to that. he had promised very fundraiser would be open door. this one was closed door. we made the decision many years ago at rich people in smoke- thlled rooms would not pick the next president ounited states. >> this is the problem with nosuing purity tests you c yourself pass. if i pleed never to be in the company of a progressive democratic donor, i couldn't be up here. senator, your net worth is 100 times mine. >> yang: buttigieg and warren are competing for the same supporters: college-educated white vote. the mayor also clashed with minnesota senator amy klobuchar, successes with his failures. >> we should have someone

heading up this ticket that hasl ac won, and been able to show that theyan 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 together a coalition to bring you back to office with 80% of the vote as a gay dude in mike pence's indiana. >>gain, i would-- mayor, i you had won in indiana, that would be one thing. you tried and you lost by 20 points. >> yang: another fault line: health care. vermont senator bernie sanders while former vice president joe biden wants to expand a "public option." >> 16% of the american public is on medicare now, and everybody has a tax taken out of their paycheck now. tell me you're going tndadd

84% morehere's not going to be higher taxes? at least befe, 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, s,'re elimating co-payme we're eliminating deductibles, we're eliminating all out-of- pocket expenses, and no family in america will spend more than $200 a y prescription drugs. >> yang: two lower-tier candidates who made last night's more select debate stageought to take advantage of the platform. tech entrepreneur andrew yang noted that he was the candidate of color in the debate. >> i grew up the son of immigrants, and i had many racial epiets used against me as a kid. but blacks and latinos have something more powerful workinga against themwords. they have numbers. the average net worth of a black household is only 10% of a white household.th fewe 5% of americans donate to political campaigns. you know what you need to donate to political campaigns?om

disposable i i guarantee if we had a freedom dividend of $1,000 a month, i would not be the only candidate of color on the stage tonight. b >>anlionaire activist tom steyer discussed race, in the context of president trump's immiation policies. >> i think it's important toha notethis president is not agait immigration. he's against immigration by non-white people. this is a racial argumt by a racist president who's trying to divide us and who's vilifying people.'s bsolutely wrong. and it's led him to break the laws of humani in our name. >> 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, as you pointed ou muslims, are in concentration camps. that's where they are right nowh '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 closer to becoming a reality. british lawmakers in the houseve of commons appprime minister boris johnson's bill paving theay for the u.k. to leave the european union. but it still requires the apoval of parliament's upp chamber, the house of lords. johnson'conservative majority in parliament means it is all but certain the bill will become law.

but he still appealed for unity. >> this bill and this juncture in our national story, mr. asspeaker, must not be see victory for one party over another, or one faction over anotr. 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 nationsre lution that would have renewed cross-border humanitarian aid delies into war-torn syria. the u.n. security council failed to get enough votes to pass the resolution, which would have allowed the aid to flough turkey and iraq.ro those borderings have been used since 2014 to provideee urgentlyd aid to millions of syrian civilians. in australia, two firefighters died overnight as they battled flames that have engulfed the

country's east coast.co prime minister morrison, under mounting criticism, cut his hawaiian vacation short to respond to the crisis. martha fairlietef independent levision news narrates our report. >> reporter: with more than 100 wildfires raging across new south wales, a seven-day state of emergcy has been ared. and australia's most populous state is now mourning the losswo ofolunteer firefighters, as they responded 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 while t wildfires burn. he's been forced to cut short his trip and apologize in a radio intervie >> 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 isxpected to return to australia this weekend, just as another warning of catastrophic

bushfire danger is issued for sarday. 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. i had to hide behind the corner as it was comid i just sort of had the hose on me. anli stood up and it was st intensely hot. i sort of burned my arm. >> reporter: and, while authorits in new south walesrn are wag people not to travel until after this weekend, residents living in the path of the wildfires arbeing forced to move out of their homes just before christmas.f: >> woodrhat report from martha fairlie of independent television news. there are new warnings about the devastating imct deforestation has had on the world's largest rainforest. a report in the jourl "science advances" said the amazon has now reached a "tipping point." scientists warned that at the

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 service to disrupt organizers. in northern uttar pradesh, protesters. sticks to beat back and in new delhi, more than 10,000 demonstrators took to the streets to denounce the government for granting citizenship to non-muslim migrants in india illegally. >> ( translated ): you are leaving out people from one religion and including everyone else. what kind of politics is this? i the publnot stupid. we know well what they want to do and what they don't want to do. >> woodruff: at least 11 people have died and 4,000 more have been dained since nationwide demonstrations broke out last week.

back in this country, speaker nancy pelosi invited president trump to deliver his anal state of the union address on february 4. the president accepted the invitation, which came two days after the democratic-led house of representatives voted to impeach him. his prime-time speech will take place a day after the iowa caucusses, 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 fromca th canaveral, florida base, bound for the international space station. but nasa canceled the plan aft seeing the error. the mission is part of boeing's efforts to send astronauts to space for nasa next year.

ford motor company is recalling more than 600,000 mid-size sedans in the u.s. over brake issues. a normally-closed valve in the braking system can stick open, extending the stoppitance and increasing the risk of a crash. the recall affects ford fusions, meury milans and lincoln m.k.z.s from model years 2006 to 2010. and, stocks made broadtrains on wallt today, as the major indexes agaireached record closing highs. the dow jones industrial average surg 78 points to close at 28,455. the nasdaq rose more than 37 points, and the s&p 500 added nearly 16. still to come on the newshour: a new report uncovers alarming details inside immigrant detention facilities across the u.s. a report from the border on the

trump administration's remain ip mexiicy. mark shields 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 investigatioe s the rapid growth of for-profit prisons being used to house immigrants.am as wilrangham explains, ile it has generated tremendous profits for tas industry, itlso caused hundreds of cases of alleged abuse and mistatment in those cilities. >> brangham: that's right, judy. since president trump took office, thbusinessusing immigrants has exploded. 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, e team at "usa today" documented poor conditions, over 400 case of sexual assault or abuse, 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 before we talk about the growth of this industry that you document so clearly in your series, can you tell us a little bit about the people who are being held in these facilities? who are they? >> yeah, the vast majority, to make this point from the very beginning, are not convicted criminals. 67% of theroughly 50,000 people in i.c.e. custody are people who are being held just until they tt eir next immigration court hearing or until th're

deported. those are mostly undocumented immigrants who have been picked up by i.c.e. in the interior of the country or crossed the b southernorder illegally. it's important to note 26% of these people, close to 12,000 of them, are being held solely as ey wait hearing for asylum. they thproached e southern border, requested asylum there and are being detained weeks, months at a tme until their hearing. >> reporter: there arserious accounts of deaths, assaults, mistreatment. can you give us a bigger idea of what you'v found. >> it runs the gamut of what you li every detainee, and we spoke to at least 35, all complained about mistreatment from the guards as beiba very and physically abusive, taunting them with racial slurs. we heard a lot of complaies about edical care they received. i spoke to one woman whose

cancer wahis in remission she was being held in i.c.e. custody anshe said she would go up to two or three weeks without getting her cancer medication. her cany r eventuaturned, and we found a lot of cases of people bei thrown in solitaire y describe as very minorhey violations while they're in thei faes. we found people conducting peaceful sit inns orhunger strikes getting put into solitaire for punishm the reason this is hard to comprehend, so of the conditions shouldn't even billion allowed in a prison, but, again, immigration detention is supposed to be civil in nature, not corrective or punitive, which is whamakes these findings all the more egregious. >> reporter: what about the the is osueffoversight? in your report, your and a government watchdog identified almost 16,000 violations of detention standards and yet you report mre than 90% of those

facilities received passing grades by vernment inpectors. who is supposed to be the co on the beat here?h >> well,t's one of the major problems that we found in this system. i.c.e. uses -- there areive or six different methods to inspeci the faes, all of wich the department ofomeland security inspectors general have said are defient. they dug't do a good enojob of analyzing the conditions in use facilities, or some of the methods theythat might be up to par aren't done enough.e so you htuations where facilities will check for certain things but, you know, we've looked at inspection reports where they'll show dozens of cases of sexual assault, ofhysical for against detainees, and they get a passing grade and, you know,o laud tore ents from inspectors. one of the problems there we found the mosto have the infections that are done are announced ahead of time. we've spoken with the people who

do the spections who sy unannounced inspections would probably be bette some of the private companies who run the facilities said we'll take unannounced visits, we're confident and will do that, but i.c.e. pushes back. they sayheannounced inspections might cause a disruption to the facities an they want to ensure that the proper people they need to talk to are there on the day they visit. so there are a lot of questions about the inspection process we found throughout this investigation. >> reporter: you touched on this issue of you talked to some of the heads of these companies that have been accused of some of these abuses. what is their reaction to thi are they saying we're trying to do our best and sometimes these accidents occur how do they respond to your reporting? what they say is that, you know, we talked to the head of core civic which is one of thet largmpanies that runs these facilities and the aders at the g.e.o. group and both say

they have been doing this work over 35 years, usually wihout any big problems, but, all of a sudden, now, there's a blowbk against them which they blame on a combination of who's in the white house, a hyperpoliticized climate right now, and the the fact that they say they have been improperly -- that people in the country have improperly attributed what we saw on the southern border last year to these companies. to be clear, they're rigev, ything we saw over the last couple of summers with all ofeo these e in overcrowded border patrol facilities, that separate and apa from what we're talking about here. these folks run detention centers for i.c.e. in the interior of the country and, so, yeah, they say it's a lot of misunderstanding, a t of unfair city on them, but they say they run very efficient, very safe facilities for all these detainees. >> alan gomez ofu "sa today," thank you very much for this really, really interestiri

. >> thanks for having me. >> woodruff: in our second focus on immigration tonight, a new study shows that one in four asylum seekers forced to remain 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.e our whuse correspondent yamiche alcindor traveled to mexico to see firsthande pact the trump administration's asylum poli is having on thousands of migrants applying for ection. >> alcindor: in a two-room shack in mexico, delmary arias is hoping for healing and dreaming of a safer future.ni she and her ne-year-old seek asylum in the uted 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.

immigration system. >> ( translated ): i left because my ex-partner was threateninneme. he threato kill me. and my daughter was at risk because she had been touched by him. i took this decision a left for the u.s. >> alcindor: in may, they traveled by bus through dangerous parts of central america and mexico. they made it to tijuana eight days later, and then crossed into the u.s., where tasy applied foum. >> ( 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 part of thtrump administration's migrant protection procols program. asylum seekers say it offers no protection, since they areit sent to ut 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. she and her daughter wererias.

nddnapped while running er in tijuana. desperate to survive, she gave her abductors her famihone number. >> ( translated ): they told them if they didn't pay $10,000, they were going to cut o parts, starting with my daughter. when 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 kidnappers allaner belongings money that she had in her purse-- a little less than $200. >> thank god i was freed and my daughter too, and they didn't hurt us. 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 rely impacts you, because i arrived fleeing a country, and they put me in a country even worse than i don't have any protection. i thought i would have

protection in the united states, thatt would give me support. >> alcindor: we questioned u.s. customs and rder protection acting commissioner mark morgan about whether the program was exposi asylum seekers to unnecessary risk. >> we're working with the government in mexico. they have promised-- they have coitted that they will do everything they can to provide adequate protection 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 t60,000 asylum seekers ba mexico. according to the u.s. immigration policy cente a one in four lum seekers have been threatened with physical violence wle they wait out their case in mexico. conditions have been so bad that migrants have bloce d bridges on rder and held protests against the trump policy. and, there are mexican officials to deawith, too. an asylum seeker we interviewed in southern mexico said mexican immigration thorities blocked

her from returning to the u.s. for a hearing. >> ( translated ): they detained us and told us our va wasn't valid. we went to immigration and they said what mexico wanted was to get rid of people. they destroyed our papers, and thlaid if we tried to trave again, they would detain us again. >> alcindor: mexican immigration officials did not spond to repeated requests for an interview. president trump rose to power on promises to build a wall on the southern border. a wall would theoretically keep some people out-- but not those who apply for asylum. that's where the new policy comes in. >> it's an admistrative wall. it's a bureaucratic wall. it-- it denies people the ability to legally seek asylum. >> alcindor: kelly overton heads border kindness, a non-profit that provides supporfor migrants. >> so when they do seek asylum, when they present themselves at a point of entry, they almost immediatelor within days are sent back to mexico to wait for hearings. shelter in mexicali near the

u.s. border that the organization helps fund. many of the people we met are cakht in a loop, shuttled b and forth over the border. this dance of hearings and court dates and such, in different cations far away, that basically allows the united to stall. these people, >> alcindor:arents told us conditions are extremely stressful. a family of six we met couldn't tolerate life in a shelter. s th they now rent a small room from a mexican woman. but overton says he has en them sleeping on the streets. this is where the mother, hilda agustin, spends much of her time: on the border, sellingle snacks to peopeaded to the place she wants to go to most, the u.s. she is from a small indigenous village in guatemala. both she and her husbandpeak a mayan dialect and struggle to communicate in spanish. like many we spoke to, agustin is fleeing violence. >> ( translated ): i was worried for my kids.

my oldest was shaking with fear. these bad men came into ouror home, askingoney. they threatened to kill my this went on for a them threatening us. they told me if we didn't give m themey they would kill us. >> alcindor: agustin and her family traveled by bus from guatemala. they turned themselves in when 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 to take m w kids, the going to kidnap them. so i never leave them alone, and my husband helps watch them. >> alcindor: the day after we met her, agustmi and other grants took an early bus to ke it back to their next hearing in san diego, more than 120 miles away. we're about two hours from san diego on the way to tijuana. people take charter buses likero this hoping the will be safer than other routes where people have been attacked and the next day's heaas all agustin could think about. >> ( translated ): i 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 them and taking the bus again. a indor: most of the passengers were returning to san diego for their asylum hearings, too. after spending a night in a mexican hotel, paid for by a non-profit, the 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. the judge 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.y advocates st migrants can't afford to hire an atorney. they also say maorneys who

might help for free are too scared to travel to the dangerous parts of mico where migrants wt out their cases. according to an a.c. feral lawsuit, the trump administtion is impeding asylum seekers from exercising their right to counsel. the families whave been following have been told they have to come back for yet more hearings in january. this means they'll be sent back to mexico yet again. someill likely give up. one of the most vulnerable people we met, kidnapping victim delmary arias, was actually granted ylum. she is now living in the washington, d.c. area. activists and immigration lawyersay she is a rare case, even if she doesn't feel particularly lucky. >> ( translated ): only those who have experienc it know what someone suffers here with their children. >> alcindor: for the pbs newshour, i'm yamiche alcindor on the u.s.-mexico border.

ik woodruff: it was a week of political news uany other in recent years. the impeachment of an american president, one day.a debate fean rivals, the next. thas t is what brings the analysis of shields and brooks this week. that's syndicated columnist mark shields, and "new york times" columnist david brooks. hello to both of you. so historic, yes. mark, as we have been sayingov over andr, only the third american president to be impeached. what did y make to have the 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 two pa arties hadittle different approach. the democrats were there to sow sort of the extent and breadth

and width of thir biography and what brought them to this point. the republicans seem to have the consistent thesis of simply going after the pross itself, president, because unlike either president clinton or president nixon, president trump is uncontrite. he acknowledges doi nthing wrong. nixon said i let my people down and bill clinton being humiliated and embarrassed at what he'nd doe. but as far as eloquence is concerned, very few moments. but high drama. nancy pelosi was very much in charge. some democratsinthe vote came started to cheer, applaud. she middle eas -- she immediates this is ser this isn't a football rally, this is history. it and see it, david?ou her >> i wish the republicans put up what i think is their best case which ishis esn'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 level of imeachment, or make the case if we set this standard, pretty much evy president could come under impeachment for this. the believed say almost every president messes up in a serious way and if we set this standard, we'll be impeaching people for years and years. lyndon johnson, if he was heldf to this kind standard, if we go down the list, a lot o presidents, would be impeached. that's their best argument. as for the vote, i was suprised how party line it was. extremely few defections, and i think, for the democrats, some for whom it's a togh vote, i think, one, the conviction he really did do it, he deserves to be impeach second, the impeachment is probably not the top issue inis their homeicts so they can probably get away wit.

third, pty loyalty and party line spirit is a dominant force. surprised so few democratic defections? >> i was. it was a tough vote especially for a lot of the districts that the president won. i thought tat the republicans arguments were not flawed simply. vid, i think -- this was talking about an election.a there wasn'ting about doing deals or something of the sort. this was talking about tamperini the american electoral process, and what it was doing. and i just thoug the republicans falsely argng that the democrats were doing this because they couldn't beat donald trumpn 2020. i think when "wall street journal" nbc poll comes out this week andys 34% american voters say they will vote for him regardless of who the democrats runs against him, and 48% said they would vote again him regardless of whom the

democrats run. so he's just in terrible sha. this was not -- nancy pelosi came to this quite reluctantly. she was not an enthusiastic supporter, but i jthsink -- >> woodruff: many months ago. but she just realized that not to do it in the face to have the evidence would have been worse than ari tere president. >> something mark said, a lot of democrats, i think, and i spoke to this week, thiunk tr will win. i look at the evidence and i do not see that. the former republican political consultant mcmurphy said there have been elections since trumpr took ov and republicans have been slaughtered in almost all of th wm. why think when he's losing by 7 or 8 percentage points to almost every potential democratic nominee. so i don't understand the sense ofh pessimism onaccepts of the democratic party or the strength of the argument. >> woodruff: i'm marking this down, december 20, 2019, david. >> you got it. >> woodruff: david, at about

the president's reaction, though? on the night of the vote and had some pretty beyond tough, ugly things to say about people, including the late john dingell. >> what he said there was late john dingell is wifethe debbie dingell and that was sepulsive and it never ceases to amaze me and supporters doesn't even say that's awful. they don't seem to rpond. he revels in anger and in the he whips up that atmosphere in the rallies when he won the first time, and this is ct nip to him, whether his base is big enough. but they're certain riled up and this impeachment process certainly gives them fuel to rile each other up. >> yeah, there's sort of a phony, false bravado about thei whole . i mean, the day that the house

judiciary commite voted to impeach, rudy giuliani comes to the white house with new information, i got new iformationt the day he gis get out of jail card from robert mueller, the vehement testimony at th mueller mmission, that's the day he picks up the phone and calls presidenzelensky, sorto of i got show 'em. every president, every candidate who does welhas something he or she does well. jimmy carter did small groupsan better thaybody i've ever seen. richard necksen was veryn compellingquestion and answer situation. ronald reagan did the auditorium speech. donald trump mastered the rally 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 johh dingell, defended the awe do industry in michigan and hisc widow,ally got public

rebuke from other republicans. what about speaker pelosi's, move, david, and then, mark, to hold back on sending these articles over to the senate? >> yeah, i think it's very risky. you know, as mitch mcconnell said, why is withholding somethini don't want todo leverage? it was always going to be aat reality nce 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 reublican senate majority. they can try to use withholding to leverage over mcconnell, i don't think it's very powerful levege, i think it delays what essentially will be a trial pushing it, frankly, back tohe primary season, 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 question about it, but when i see joe manchin, probably the most threatened democrat in the

country from west virginia say the whole process is preempted by mitch mcconnell colluding with the defendant, to go public like that idicates to me that there are votes to bring witnesses, and if joe manchin is saying that, then there are a number of republicans. this islitical hard ball, make no mistake about it, and donald trump is playing aga a real pro. >> woodruff: all right, to the debate, to the sven people on the stage in los angeles last night. david, the "newshour" was honored to be hosting that along with politico, but yu watched it. whatid you think of them? >> well, it was the best debate and probably because it wa smaller and probably because of the moderators, of course.as >> woodruff: iaiting for you to say that! (laughter) >> no, the wain cave momt was the most interesting moment, going taf the billionais that supported buttigieg, or at least millionaires we presume, and i confess, i justhink it's -- i'm on buttigieg's side on this. i think it's a purity testato

think th somebody who started a company and had some success can't support a democratic candidate and that candidate is somehow tainted. you look at butigieg's policies, they're clearly not the policies of the corporate fat cats, you're poicies that would be tough on corporations. so if there was evidence that ney was actually buying anything for any of these people, maybe it's a good argument, but it's simply an attempt to take a stereotype of a hated figure, called the billionaire, and tar a perfectly acceptable candidate,ou want fireworks, high drama, realre ity, come to pbs. it started off like a seminar. it was thoughtful, reflective. then, boy, they really got into it. and david was right there. it reminded us of the caldar, judy. iowa is coming up, pete buttigieg is leading in iowa, and elizabeth warren was slipping, and she went aft him, and i thought pete buttigieg showed the ability top takench.

he doesn't have a glass jar, and i thought his counterpunch w enormously effective. >> woodruff: you think h lped himself? >> he wasn't hurt by it in the sense -- and he probably did heimself in the sense that she did say i take only pure money, by ignoring she rolled over money from our senate campaign where she had taken st like buttigieg i think the wine cave thing is bad image for booming. then when amy klobuchar jumped in and preempted t entire central time zone as her home -- >> woodruff: flyover country. i am the midwest, nobody's going to flye ovr as long as amy is there. when she we want outf buttigieg that he never had won people that in the last 80 years, other than barack obama, oneemocrat has carried indiana for president, lyndon johon in

19, it's a very republican state, and the democrats have won the lst 11 presidential elections in minnesota. so if you're going to eliminate statewide, abraham lincoln is 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 >> woodruff: having fewer candidates. >> it really does. thought the experience tack was more forceful and does sort of raise tissue and ihought 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 propositionan gong yong if he continues to debate that well, then i do think the affection most people have for him will carry on. >> woodruff: about 20econds.

andrew yang. >> can't go thout mentioning andrew yang.ve you gim the sucker question, the tough question. ologized werewho a the women, the men who were going to give out their books. i thoughtndrew yang was spontaneous and talks about his opponents like they're people.he missing cory booker and kamala, like they're real people, not like senate issues walking around and a vting record. >> woodruff: a new side of him. >> a good side. >> woodruff: mark shie, s, david brooank you. >> thank you. >> woodruff: for generations, the classic book "little women" has enchanted readerg and old. it has been brght to the movi and now, on christmas day, a new version hits theaters nationwide, one withfall the liar touches, along with

some very modern ones. john yang sat down with theor dirend screenwriter, greta 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 face l, e and heartbasing their dreams in cil war-era new england.er annational cast portrays these quintessenally american characters. emma watson as m, the eldest, the romantic. beth, played by eliza scanlon, the shy musici. 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, you see yourself in different characters at different points. >> yang: greta gerwig retells"tt women" for a new generation.st

it is a dream and in the scenes with the sisters together, it feels so spontaneous. it feels so natural. and i'm sure that that's the result oa lot of hard work. >> well, i wanted all of these lines, which are so famous, to be said just lightning-quick, with the energy of youth andxu with therance of sisterhood. so, one of the things that i wanted to do was have a veryll contro cacophony of sound and movement, and i wanted it to feel like a ballet that was kind of violent. that was the sisterhood, was these couple of weeks we spent in rehearsal, just drilling all of that and spending time working on it. sot's the thing that brougem thogether. >> yang: at first, gerwig was hired 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 "i've been asking for five like years. i would love to." >> yang: the film reunites her with "la timothee chalamet. and >> they're two of my favorite younactors. saoirse told me she was going to play jo.id she sahe knew i was working w on "littomen" and she wanted k play jo. and as soon as iw it was saoirse, i knew i wanted it to be timothee, because ty're just so exciting to watch on screen together. >> yang: talk a little bit about the relationship, the working relationship between saoirse and timothee. because i'm thinking, in ♪ ♪icular, the dance scene. >> i think with period pieces, sometimes you end up feeling verything's just so, and everything's so perfect, and everybody's waiting politely for some.e else to finish talking i wanted to bring that feeling of reverence for the text, but irreverence for the joy...

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

>> she could be quite bloodless her piety. when i went back to the book, and i was reading it, and the >> i'm angry nearly every day of my life. >> you are? >> i not patient by nature. but with nearly 40 years ofho >> iht, "that's not true. marmee's not angry." and i'm like, "oh my god, she'sr been angry50 years. we've ner noticed." >> yang: at the heart of the story: women and tir 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. i'm so sick of it. >> yang: in earlier adaptations, like the 1994 version starring winona ryder, the happy endingfi is jo ing 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 carriage in the rain. and i got to do the camera on the crane and i did all these sort obells and whistles of what we think of as movie romance. but for me, it was never where thheart of it was. the heart of it was about what it means to have authorship and ownershi and i wanted to have that emotionaimpact come around jo and her book. >> yang: gerwig's jo defies society's expectationsembodied by her dowager aunt, played by meryl streep...ou >> y'll haveo marry well. >> but you didn't, aunt marc >> well, that's because i'm rich. >> yang: ...and stands up to her nablisher. how does that re with what's going on now in hollywood?

so the push for genderity? >> 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%,hich is how much louisa may alcott got, which was higher than peop usually got. but honestly, the publisher gave her 6.6% because 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 things iwante idea of louisa may alcott herself as the author of "little women," and i wanted too apse the space between louisa may alcott, the writer, and jo march, the character. >> yang: the modern-day struggle for recognition for women is fflected in the dearth of award nominations so f this critically-acclaimed film-- just two from the golden globes and none from the screors guild. oscar nominations come next month. it's sll notable that there is a movie written by a woman,

directed by a woman, starring roles, the lead characters, are women, produced by a woman. what does that say?do ou think we would've been beyond this by now, or?io >> ppieces are seen as risky, or that people won't go.o so, that is already a hurdle, and then you add on top of it, it's all about women. it's written and directeby a woma it's produced by a woman. so, in some ways, it feels like a micle that this movie was made at all. and i can't help but be just complete gteful that it happed, because it continues to feel unlikely. >> make it srt and spicy, and 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 rising staer behind the c for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang in new york. o >> woodrufine, we have more from our interview with she shares which march sister from the story she most identifies with. that's our website,s.

www.g/newshour. >> woodruff: tonight's "brief but spectacular" looks at claude kelly and chuck harmony. the two musicians spent over a decade making hits for blocuster artists like mary blige, bruno mars and rhianna. but they yearned to be more than just hired guns for big-name acts. so, they started their own group, louis york. >> the most common thi that i, personally, chuck harmony, have heard from a music executive is that i was "too musical." "dumb your stuff down so tant the massesigest it." and as a creative, tjail to me. ♪ ♪ >> everyone we dreamed of working with as songwriter and writing very big records for.f

michael. >> janet. >> whitney. >> bruno. >> celine. >> rihanna. >> you get known for this one big thing yodid. it's like, "chuck, give me another ussian roulette'," or "claude, give me another 'party in the.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 to quit our passion because of that. seminary, he was going to go to... >> get a master's degree in worl hreligion. this conversation about the music business, and what was on the radio and what was missing. big voices, original voices,s, horn breakdond live strings, 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 notbe g said in pop culture? and we discovered the's a lot. >>meouis york, which is the of our band, was the last thing came up with. our original name was melancholy. 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 om new york.

♪ ♪ >> as the lyricist and the guy that'shinking about telling the story, i just don't believe 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 essential for eativity. i don't think no man is an island, especially wheit comes to being their best selves. you need a person that you can 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 this is our "brief but spectacular" take on... >> rediscovering our passionor music. >> woodruff: and you can watch

additional "brief but spectacular" episodes on our website, pbs.org/newshour/brief. "night on "washington wee 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 standoff with republicans and senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. what happens next? and that is the newshour for tonight.oo i'm judyuff. d ve a great weekend. thank you, and gght. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> bnsf railway. >> consur cellular. >> supporting cial entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> the william and flora hewlett

foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> and with the ongoing support 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 station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc roaptioned by media accessup at wgbh access.wgbh.org

tonight on kqed newsroom, donald trump becomes the third u.s. president in history to be impeached by congress. will democrats face the backlash next year at the polls. also, a controversial navigation center fothe homeless is set to open here soon in san francisc. we'll talk with the mayor about the center and other efforts ton combat homels in the city. >> and the holidays are around we'll hear from food experts onn fud tasty ways ma savors c of the season. good evening, welcome to ed newsroom. we begin with impeachment and the latest presidential debate. on wednesday night, after hours of empassioned appeals, the house of reesentatives passed two esarticlof impeachment against president trump charging him with abuse of power and