captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> nawaz: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. judy woodruff is away. n on tshour tonight: iran under pressure. the regime cracks down on protests at home, while deepening military tiewioverseas russia and china. then, law and disorder.nm the indian govt shuts down the internet in response to p widespretests over a controversial citizenship law. plus, "the two popes." a new film captures the dynamic drama between popes benedict and francis. >> the stories i'm drawn to are amtimate and epic at the s time. and this is a perfect ample. these themes of, how do we find common ground between two people who are polar opposites? >> nawaz: and, it's friday. so mark ields and david brooks look back on a tumultuous year

l politics, and look ahead to the impeachment trd presidential election. all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs >> major funding for the pbs newsho has been provided by: ♪ ♪ ng mour economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. c >> when ites to wireless, consumer cellular gives itsth customers choice. our no-contract plans give you as much, or as little, talk, y

text and data want, and our u.s.-based customer service tem is on hand to help. to learn more, go to consumercellular.tv >> the john and james l. ight foundation. more at kf.org. >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. >> 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 u. thank you.

>> nawaz: an american civilian contractor died today in a rocket attack on an iraqi military base that houses u.s. forces. u.s. central command alsomu confirmeiple u.s. service members and iraqi personnel were injured. the iraqi military said several rockets hit an arms depot at the so-called k-1 base, northwest of rkuk. there was no immediate word on who carried out the attack. in a sarate development, iraq's president, rham salih, is facing backlash from iranian-backed partieshis refusal to designate their nominee as prime minisctr. salih's ren was in response to months of iraqi protests demanding more independent candidates and political reform. the latest happened today in baghdad's tahrir square, as anti-government demonstrators marched and voiced their support for salih's decision. as ( translated ): as a protester, i see i heroic action by the president, because he rejected one of the candidates by the political

blocs. because he was rejected by the protesters in tahr square. the political elites didn't do anything in the past 16 years, and there won't be anything in the future, if the same names remain. >> nawaz: salih said that because iraq's constitution does not give him the right to reject nominees for prime minister, he was prepared to quit. we'll have more on anti- government unrest in two other countries, iran and india, later in the program.at east 12 people died today after a passenger jet in the central asian cotry of kazakhstan crashed shortly after take-off. the bek ai almaty airport with 98 people d board, before it smashed into a concrete wall building. rescue workers at the scene tended to dozensgef injured pars, and combed through the wreckage looking for more survivorsa official the jetliner had struggled to g off the ground. ( translated ): today, we found two consecutive sets of skid marks from the nd of the plane on the runway, meaning the aircraft touched the runway

ice while taking off. mostly passengers who were in the front part of the aircra died. flight recorders have been found and ve been brought for inspection. >> nawaz: authorities immediately suspendeall bek air flights, as well as all planes of that same model, pending an investigation in hawaii, rescue teams located the wreckage of a tour helicopter that had gone missing with seven people aboard. it wasound in a mountainous area on the island of kauai. the helicopter failed to return from a sightseeing tour of the na pali coast yesterday. coast guard crews are still searching for signs of survivors. the death toll from a devastating typhoon that struck the philippines late tuesday has nearly doubled to 28 people. a dozen others are reportedly still missing. hee typhoon swept across t country's central islands, tearing through buildings and toppling trees. today, families in hard-hit coastal towns sorted through o moundebris as they carried

on their recovery efforts. israeli prime ministermin netanayhu is celebrating a sweeping victory in his likud party's primary election netanyahu defeated his main rival within the right-wing 7party, gideon saar, to w of yesterday's vote. that is in spite of being charged with corruption in three crinal cases. rtoday, the embattled lea hailed his win at the party's campaign headquarters near tel aviv. >> ( translated ): this is a avhuge victory, because we also overcome the fake polls, td the fake news, who are already now tryidwarf the victory. this is a ge victory because almost all the media has rallied against me with the left parties also in this candicy. this is the time to unite, to bring a sweeping victory to the likud and the right knesset elections. >> nawaz: netanyahu now heads toward a national election in march. it will be israel's third national election inthan a year, after failing to form a government in the previous two elections. back in this country, skies cleared up in southern

california today, following a massive winter storm that sparked traffic chaos. heavy snow and icy conditions forced major highways north of los angeles to close, leaving drivers stranded-- including some for hours-- as they headed home after the holiday.to ential rains also prompted more road closures. the storm system, now over arizona, is continuing to move eastward. and stocks were mixed on wall street today. the dow jones industrial average gained nearly 24 points toa finish acord close of 28,645. the nasdaq fell more than 15 points, and the s&p dedon a fractif a point, to record its fifth straight week n gains. still come on tshour: iran cracks down on protests, as it deepens military ties with china and russia. the indian government shuts down the internet in resprose to a contrsial citizenship law. how two life skills programs are helping kids in the dallas juvenile justice system.

and, much more >> nawaz: for the first time, iran, russia and china are engaged in joint naval exercises in the indian ocean and the gulf of oman. they are taking place as the united states contins its maximum pressure campaign against iran. the secretary of the u.s. navy told reuters that he was on alert for what he called "provocative actions."ag nst this backdrop, protests inside iran are growing. to discuss how all these events are connected, i'm joined by m ariatabatabai. she's a political scientist at the rand corpor co-author of "triple axis: w iran's relatioh russia and china."

shariane, welcome to the nr. >> thank you for having me. >> nawaz: so we should point ouariane has done ills with russia and china before. this is the first time all three countries are working together. why are we seeing these now? >> well, there are a number of reasons. from iran'sppertive, as you mentioned in the beginning, the united states has been imposing this maximum essure campaign, a policy that is centered around sanctions and trying to isolate iran. so what iran is trying to achieve here is a signal to the united states that it can't be isolated. iraniaofficials have said as much today as the drill has started. they tried tsay, lisn, we have the backing of russia and china two superpowers, and, so, we can't besolated. for both russia and china, it's also a way to flex muscle, to show to the u.s. and their national comaw community that they're key players in the region. >> nawaz: the secretary of the navy also said as iren crates mischief, sometimes the u.s. has to react. they've already sent 14,000

additional troops to the region to deter iran, said they could send another aircraft carrier overif they needed to. how muh of trying to provoke action from the u.s. isan's reasons. >> the united states wit from the nuclear deal in 2018. for a year, iran just sort of sat and waited and negotiated with the europeans to try to fset the cost of the maximum pressure campaign. now, what it's trying to dond what it's been doing since may of this year is to actually show it, too, can take action to poke ethe united states in ye and that, whatever action the u.s. takes, it won't go without a response to iran. >> naz: the statements we've seen publicly from in versus those from russia and cina, there's a little daylight there in how this is being presented. tell me abt that. >> absolutely. it's interesting observing russia and china, trying to downplay what's going on there. they're obviously trying to, again, project power to show they're a force to be reckoned

with in the region. at the same time, they're trying to rassure iranianivals, saudi arabia, israel, that they're not there to take sidesy that te not there to go against israel or saudis. intere also, they're trying to make sure the united states doesn't see this as an offensive action. mean phile, iran islaying it up, saying, look, we have theses pohat are backing us and .e're not isolate as the u.s. claims they are >> nawaz: from iran's perspective, how much is this about building alliances and how much about building leverage against the u.s. >> iould be careful with th world alliance because they don't see their relationship with russia or china as an alliance, they see it as a partnership and want to keep it that way as do moscow d beijing. what the iranians are trying to do is both build leverage and show the united states its actions won't go without response, while at the same time making sure they have ese partnerships with other key powers. >> nawaz: so all of this, we

should note, is unfolding against the bfckdrop protests in iran the biggest since the 1979 revolution. is there a connection betwe what iran is facing at home and what it's facing overseas. >> at the core is the sanctions hurting iran and the regime as well. regime isat t trying to achieve is to build leverage against the u.s., to raise the cost of the maximum pressure campaign and, at home, has to respond to a growing dissent of population that are upset the way things are going -- economic mismanagement, corruption, all of it exacerbated by ths. sanctions. so iran, the regime, is finding itself a litrtle corned at home and abroad and responding to t bothose things. >> nawaz: tell me about the response because they faced similarly large-kale protests in 19 what's different today to the

way they responded back then. >> t protests are not bigger than in 2009. it seems it's more widely dysbutted across the country now than in 2009, but the response has been drastically different. in 2009, it took several months to get to several hundred casualties, whereas, this time around, in november, when the protest started, in the course of two hours, iran shut down the internet and seeded to kill several hundred people. estimates are different but, nonetheless, we got to a higher level of casualty fairly y ickly. the fact theut down the internet completely is also new. that's not something iran had achieved in the past, and now is seems oing to be part of the way to defend at home. >>awaz: ten years later, why are they reacting so differently now? >> well, i think part of it is they do see themselves as cornered. they see sanctions as part of, not just a different policy,

they see it as warfare. they talk about sanctions as economic terrorism or war by economic means. so they see themselves cornered, they see themselves isolated anh 're really concerned about the prospect of the united states helping bring about regiange at home and, so, i thk that's part of what's going on here is thhe concerns, the threat perception, has led them to take this graphic action in aay that we haven't seen in thest. >> nawaz: fascinang. we'll stay ton topf o it. ariane m. tabatabai of the rand corporation. thorchti so much for being here. >> thank your having me. >> nawaz: in india, political rest continues after a tinship law passed parliament earlier this month. it expedites a path to citizenship for ligious minorities living in india, but excludes muslims. today, thousands turd out nationwide to protest the new

law. newshour correspondent lisaar dens takes a closer look at the rule opnents say discriminates against muslims. >> desjardins: acrs indiaca today, a pl and digital clampdown. in new delhi, scenes opolice beatings and phback as officers tried to contain protests against the natn's new citizenship law. elsewhere, mass demonstrations, like this one in kolkata, were largely peaceful. though communications are spotty-- the government again shut down all mobile internet rvices in several citi. all of this is a clash over the identity, and a citizenship law the government says protectsmm non-muslim irants. but to opponents, the law is a thinly-veiled attack on muslims, and a move toward making india a religious, hindu state. >> ( translated ): until they withdraw the citizenship amendment act, the rallies will continue to take place these protests will continue. this is our right. the constitution of the country

is impartial, there is tolerance >> desjardins: the new law focuses on india's muslim neighbors-- afghanistan, anbangladesh and pakistan- non-muslim immigrants from those countries. it protects six religious groups. importantly, this comes as india is undergoing a national registration, as tng every persprove citizenship. that means non-muslims without paperwork can get citinship, but muslims without documents may be in gal trouble. the resulting prests have left at least 23 people dead, thousands arrested, and now, more charges of police violence. in northern india, the bbc reports that muslim families in several tos say police attacked their homes, destroying cars, smashing property and beating teenage boys. security video in that region last week shows indian police smashing cameras during protests. india's popular prime minister,

narendra modi, is known as a hindu nationalist, and defends the law as protecting his country, but opponents say it rips india's multicultural fabric. ( translated ): our country has unity in diversity. people of different religions live here together, and it is known for this in the world. >> desjardins: india, home to 1.4 billion peopleis wrestling with its own power, and people. let's take a closer look at the issue now with alyssa ayres. she's a senior fellow at the council on foreign relations, and served as deputy assistant secretary of state for south asia during the obama administration. you know, i want to first start by gauging this momentndia. as we just had in our story, we are now seeing reports that police themselves may be attacking muslim homes, particularly in the province of utar, many know that as the home to have the taj mahal. what do you make of reports of

perhaps police violence? is this a new phase or concern? what does this mean? >> it is concerning. this is inia's most populous state, size of a country, about 200 million people, as a larger murms population, aboutte 20% of the sand the reports coming out over the past couple of days with video suggest police are overstepping the bounds of mere crowd control. we're seeing reports of property destruction, that police aream destroyingas so they can't be seen. again, there may be cases crowds that get unruly, but police should be in the business of crowd control, not trying to damage homes as individuals. so this is a real eye opener, i think, for a lot of people. >> nawaz: you've recent been in india. what is your sense of the state of tension there. india is known a multicultural but is also highly flammable, the faurric. what is ense of the tensions between hindu and muslims there?

>> think what we've seen happen with the potests that have taken place across the country in many different cities across the country, very peaceful potests, as your package showed. we are really seeing indians, in fact, lagely young indians, stand up and say here's who we are and whwe do't want to be. people are standing up for a constitutional principle of secularism, in some of thees pr that we've seen in india. people are reading out parts to have the constitution.at an incredible thing. you see crowds of tens of thousands ofal peopll together focusing on the constitutional principle oful secism and equality before the law. so there are tensions in ind, there have been long-standing tensions in india between hindus and muslims, but what this particular issue has highlighted is there ara large part of people in india who want to see s cultural secularism >> nawaz: how significant are

these protests? ve's not the first time we' seen large protests in india over issues, but what's e significance of the scale of these and the involvement of young people? >> i think this is the history of the present at the moment. maybe we'll know more out the scale once we've passethrough this moment, but it seems these protests are being located in -liversies, being stude, student-organid in many cases, and it's quite inspirational to see young indians standing up and saying that they want to see eir country evolve in a particular direction and remain true tots constitution. >> and secular.me >> nawaz: pinister modi is at the center of all. this he ran and won in rt on his economic and jobs agenda but is also known as a hindu nationalist, he talks about having sort of hindu pride and wanting the identity of in be hindu. what do you think these protests do for him or do they cause

problems, questions about what he's doing in terms of his political strengths inndia? >> he enjoys a single partyty majon the lower house of indian parliament, sohe protests don't affect his single party majority. however, it has now -- we have seen at the state level hislo party hat several elections recently. so they are no longer dominant, both at the federal government, as well asro hout many states of ippeddia as well. so we're seeing people makend different kof choices in the parties that they want to lead at the center of the country for their own states and in some cases they are opting against the b.j.p. at the state level. >> nawaz: which is modi's party. >> exactly. so the other thing i would note is the first government prime minister modi led, he was elected in 20 -rbgs his platform in 2014 was focused on

economic growth, good governance in contrast to a series of corrupon scandals taking blais from 2011 forward to the previous government, and his economic plans haven't ped out in terms of india's downturn, they're not seeing the growth they've need to employ the youth graphic. india is facing seve issues economically in the financial sector that's trickling throughout the economy. what you've seen is nethmodi government is a shift of emphasis toward thel, cultu the religious nationalist agenda, and i think what these protests show us isn that may young people in india are saying this is too much, this is not who we want to be. >> alyssa ayres of the council of foreign relations, also author, former state department, thank you very much. >> thank yo. ay

>> nawaz: ith us. coming up on the newshour: mark shields and david brooks reflect on a packed year of political news. a new film dramatizes the relationship between the twong liopes. and, poet ada limon reminds us of language's capacity for nuance, mystery, and radical hope. in dallas, two programs are trying to shift the conversation around juvenile justice. as john ya reported this summer, one brings young people into theheitchen. the aims to address trauma through art. here's a reprise now of that story, which is rt of our occasional series, "chasing the dream," on poverty and opportunity in america >> yang: it's a friday night in downtown dallas, and cafe momentum is buzzing. in the dining room, waiters abthread their way betweens. in the kitchen, workers churn out dishes. watching over it all, executive chef and founder chad houser.

>> say, "you know, we will have a table for you in about 15 minutes." >> yang: but cafe momentum is far from an ordinary restaurant. all the waiters, and a lot of the kitchen staff, havrecently been released fr juvenile detention in dallas county. they're here on year-long paid internships. >> you guys come in, you guys helping us. we feed you guys, you guys go home happy.ye >> yang: 1-old de'monica dean, who goes by dee, first got in trouble in 2014 for stealing her sister's car. at cafe momentum, she does a bit of everything. >> most people didn't get a second chance. and the fact that i'm able toco get a chance, i got to do it right. >> the most important ing that t we do s physical restaurant is prove to our kidsu and to the cty that these young men and young women can and will rise to whatever level of expectation is set for them.r >> yang:s town, another program, with a similar mission, but a very different approach.

this is creative solutions, a seven-week summer arts program for dallas juveniles on probation. ron sanders is the presi and c.e.o. of big thout, the non-profit that runsreative solutions. >> what's needed is, yes, work for skills, job skills, academics. but you can't dohat if you haven't been able to go through and deal with the hurt, deal with the pain, deal with the lack of trust, deal with the things tt ve been barriers to empathy, deal with your own self-worth. arts allows us to do that. >> yang: in texas, more than 60% of juvenile offenders end up in trouble again within three yearp ofbation or release. for creative solutions, that number is just 13%. for cafe momentum, 15%. here in dallas and across texas, juvenile justice officials are rethinking the system. since reforms in 2007, the number of young offenders sent

to big state-run deten centers has plummeted. the focus has shifted to local programs closer to home. university of texas at dallas criminologist alex piquero. >> people were really concerned at the beginning of that, because, oh, crime's going to skyrocket. ople we know-- all these kids are going to be on the street. you know, you're letting out all keese kids who should be l up forever. and we didn't see that. in fact, just the opposite.d at i think is what we call the texas miracle. >> yan darryl beatty directs the dallas county juvenile department. >> we, as a department, you know, we have our funds that we can do things wi. but it's really the community and community programs that are vital to provide the nessary services that sometimes we as a department can't. >> yang: hours before cafe momentum opens, interns sit down for family dinner, a staple in restaurants. here, though, they usually begin with an activity led by a staff member. today, it's a game of telephone to show the importance of communication.

laughter ) the seeds of cafe momentum were planted more than a decade ago, when houser taught eight kids in the dallas juvenile justice system how to make ice cream. >> that experience was very humbling for me.le ned that the difference between their lives and my life at their age was literally the dieerence in choices that w made for them and made for me before any of us were ever born. >> yang: he launched a series of pop-up dinners and then, in 2015, opened cafe momentum. the program has worked with more than 750 kids-- each, houserth says, heir own unique starting line.ca >> welcome t momentum. ( laughs ) >> yang: server mar'twan darden, now 20, first got caught shoplifting when he was just 13. upe last time he was locke he came to a realization. >> i just remember s at the ceiling, and just thinking, like, do you want to live like this for the rest oflife? and, no.no i was likeman.

i have got to get it together. so when i got released, i made a promise to myself, like, you know, i'm going to value my freedom. >> yang: creative solutions has worked with some 14,000 dallas youth over almost a quarter- century, and since 2007, southern methodist university has hosted the summer program, where participants choose between creating art for an exhibit or performing in front iv an audience. sasha davis is cre solutions' theater director. >> they will come in. oftentimes, there's a brick wall, not ready to quite say or experience whatever that thing is in their past or whatever led them to this moment, and then they will take a poetry class td write it all down, andn something clicks. >> yang: frankie zuniga had been incarcerated for more than ahe year whe entered creative solutions, very reluctantly. at first, he didn't trust the instructors. >> in my mind, they're like, "oh, you're just here to get a paycheck." and, yeah, i don't care. i

but over time, like, dang, upke, they do care. i learned to opeand then they're like, here, just try trthis, do this dance move- write this, perform. and, little by little, it, like, helped me open up. >> yang: zuniga, who now works at big thought, recently got his associate's degree, and wants to be a nurse or a physical therapist. while both big thought's sanders and cafe momentum'houser are focusing on getting juvenile offenders back on track, they say their ultimate goa keeping young people out of trouble in the first place. >> i have got to continue to push as hard as i can, to push that conversation further, so that we as a whole country are talking about these injustices that we are forcing on a population of children. i think about that every day. >> we had one of our alumni ask a really strong question, which is actually guiding a lot of our work moving forward. he said,why did i have to go

to jail before i got somethingng that would cmy life?" that's the question we should all be asking ourselves. and then we need to act. >> yang: action that may start with a work of art or a good meal. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang in dallas. n az: from the impeachment trial of president trump, to the race for the democratic presidential nomination, the end of 2019 leaves a lot of unanswered questions heading into the new year. foea little perspective, we got the analysis of shields and brooks. that syndicated columnist mark shields, and "new york times" columnist davidrooks. good to see you both. . >> nawaz: the two biggest stories of 2019 will carry over

into 2020, the impeachment and the race. we were still talking about impeachment because o comments by senator lisa murkowski who said she was disturbed b mitch mcconnell saying he tas in coordination with the white house. does her remarks surprise you? >> no, agree, but i couldn't tell how disturbed she was. shwas in an interview and i didn't know whether it wai have a flee under my ankle or i have to do something about t disturbed. so when i covered the senate, you had senars bike bird or specter, some of who loved the senate more than the party and the institutions anced prores to the them were very valued and they were always quoting the obles. mitch mcconnell'ss to be

an objective arbiter and he's saying, forget tat, we're siding with the white house. it shoulbe disturbing to a lot of other people. >> nawaz: ew york times" editorial board published the editorial today and called ate stirring of conscience in the senate. they said lisa murkowski wants the trial to be less party loyalty and others should follow. do you think they wi >> i think other attempted tofo ow. lisa murkowski is unique. in the past 65 years exactly one united states senator has won as write-in candidate. she did that in 2010 after she st the republican primary to tea party candidate backed by sarah palin and laura laura inm and mike leven and other distinguished americans and came back and won as a write-in. itical stared into a i pol grave, already. she's not a bed wetter or a nerves nellie or whatever you

call it when it comes to anxiety, so i think that gives her a certain independence that many of her colleagues and both parties don't have, and i think it's significant. i think david's point about ttch mcconnell is an important ont mitch mcconnell is strictly an inside player. he can't take it outside. in other words, if there is a debate about outside, mitcs. mcconnell lo he's a very formidable operator inside the senate sort of when nobody's looking, you know, in procedures and this and that. but, i mean, thiss a question, are they going to rush to judgment, ignore witnees and testimony, and live by the lie which the president is telling thse is i want theeople to testify, i've forbiddem to testify but i want them to testify because i want it out in the open. well, yount have it both. >> i think he's helping the democrats. it's personally in the democrats' best interest thatd they get rf this and move on to the campaign and in perversel waysng them.

he could be keeping the democratic candidates in washington in january and february and he seems not to want to do that. >> nawaz: the senate trials, the riewcialtion senator scher said they want to call witnesses and have additional testimony. mitch mcconnell is saying absolutely not. nancy pesi has not yet transmitted the articles of impeachment, they cannot begin the work in the seate tilthat happens. does that benefit the democrats, too? >> no, i think the rules favor the republicans in the circumstance and the majority sort of rules this thing, and ey have very little leverage. as we discussed last week, it's not leverage ttell somebody who doesn't want to do something they can't do something, so that's basically that nancy pelosi is doing now. nawaz: can you make a prediction for what's going to happen next in 2020 he impeachment trial? >> i thought it was clear he uld get imimpeached and acquitted by the senate. nothing's changed. >> i diffein this sense, i think testimony only hurts, and to the degree that there is pressure for testimony and that people are unwilling -- whether

repuicans in tough raes in 2020 to say they want to rush to judgment without hearing testony, i think anytime it opens up -- if mike pompeo the secretary of state had somethiny good to that common rated ukes cull pated the president in any way, he would have said it. he cer tainlyne everything else. he's done it in every other respect for the president. he would be shouting m the rooftops, but he hasn't said anything. i think it's lies an -- it's lid real. >> nawaz: it's live and real and will dominate the headlines in 2020 as well. let's talk about tra 202e, we have been talking about this since 2016. we're come offering the last debate of the year, weeks away from the first ballots being cast i in the early states. mark, when you look at the the lay of the land in the democratic field now, how do you assess the candidates going into the new year?

>> alphabetically. (laughter) we have to remind ourselves of history's mandate and that is that there are only three tickets out of iowa. we can look at it and say meone says i'm going to run a really strong fifth in iowa byce boack in florida, no, you're not. if you're not in the top three in iowa, history tellu' us yo in the going to continue. if you're not in the top two in new hampshire, you're not going to be nominated. nominees only me from those select groups, so there will be an incredible pairing in a g big hurry. i guess, if you look at it, one of the things that surprised me is bernie nders' staying power. bernie sanders has raised more money ionn tributions than donald trump, and donald trump's raised a lot of moey. so, you know, it shows that warmth and personality aren't everything. (laughter) , but i mean, a lot of democrats are interested in ideas, ideology, positions, and bernie's got a lot of all those things.

>> nawaz: yeah, david, he consistently stayed towards the top of the pack in all o polls, right, and in looking at the last debate, it was the smallest debate field in terms of who ma it to the stage, but aery crowded total candidate field. >> he's got 18 to 20% of democrats, an his supporters are more likely to say i'm decided, i'm going with bernie. a lot of them decided four yeo s d have stayed decided, so he's got a very solid base of m suppore than any other candates, at least more solidly loyal. the question is does he have any of the othe supporters from the other current candidates. are people out there thinking buttigieg or sanders, and th evidence so far is he has fewer of those people. there are a lot of peonopl thinking about him at all. they have people they may pport but bernie is nt one of them. so he has a solid core and the question is the he ge anybody else to join the core and i think that's y its unlikely

he'll get the nomination. a ripple of panic has gone through the deshcratic estab meant this week and said it might be him and what e going to do then? >> nawaz: the minor candidates have been picking up, amy klobuchar, pete buttigieg, what do you think their futurehold? >> buttigieg understands history. i mean, he's running first in the wa -- according to the iowa/des moines register poll which is the gold standard of polling over the years, in the last one, and that's why the fire is on him. i think there's a fear amonga sanders,rren, biden, whoever, that if buttigieg becomes the pressure new face and s iniowa and then vaults into new hampshire, it could be touga toch him. so they're trying to knock him down to size before that. i mean, that was with the last debate in which you played such a prominent role -- >> i have been struck about the

animosity toward buttigiegly especialmong younger voters. for a certain class of people that went to ceootain sch, they don't like the kid who got the rhodes scholship, and hes like that kid. >> bill clinton. yeah, he was more friendly. second, he is, as somewho wrote this and i've forgotten, who he provides illusion of generational change without the substance of generational change. so he is an old pson's idea of a young person and doesn't really represent a radical brean third, the is tacked to the senator and is now a moderate and the left is out to get him for that reason. the debate between the moderate wing, what we call moderate, they're dl liberals pretty progressive. the most moderate person in this race is way to left of barack obama, but them versus the bernie-warren, that is the crucial debate of next yearbe use the debates on the left are more important than on the.

rght no >> a lot of those major issues, healthcare and the econo, those have been built along the fault lines. has the democratindparty fou its way forward yet? >> no, it's still wrest ring. we heard them arguing about straight tuition. i mean, theemocratic party, somehow it feeds a dose of i practicality. an, there are 2 million fewer americans today withth healthcarean when donald trump became president because of donald trump's policies because of the administration's policies. specifically, the democrats just won major, the biggest midterm election ctory in their history in 2018. i looked at it about 15 months ago. so what do democrats want the do? you know, give upe advantage? my goodness great lakes no, wen' need that. we're going to scrap this. and, to me, it makes no sense practically when you have them on the defensive, and you're on

the right on thissue. so, no, the logic is all to stay where they are. david, i think, puts it well, whether it's moderate or not. i mean, the problem with buttigieg is tt he looks too practical to many people, but there is a nerational. i mean, older people like him more than to his contemporaries which, you kn-- >> well, you should know, gentlemen, this is the last conversation we get to have with you in the year 2019. so i'm going to ask the dangerouhi question,ch is, sometimes, when you look back over the last 12 months, it can feel like we fit three years into one. is there anything that stands out to you as a greater consequence, something you never thought that you would see that happened this past year? >> my standout is everything happened but nothing changed. donald trump's numbers are just what they were,e political landscape is basically where it was, he has not really fered a loss in his base particularly

targe, and, so, my view is tha events are not really changing politics and partisan cffiliation the way they used to, that sology is driving events, and that if you're an urban blrson you're proa democrat, if you're a rural person, you're probably a repu vican. and weote according to our sociological categories these days andevents don't kno us off the categories. >> nawaz: mark, a minute and a half left, what do you think?um >> donald -- and this is a visual that is probably not terribly appealing -- but when it came to political coattails came out tbe wearing a tank top in 2018.d he mit about his presidency. states that won by 25 points and 20 points, said his presidency was at stake, he had towin backing republican candidates, most of whom st. john bel edwards, the democratic governor of louisiana, eeked out a victory, but an impressive victory, nevertheless, after he

expanded medicaid coverage, after he increased teachers' salaries and after he bathlanced state budget, $2 billion deficit it injertd from jindal, and the best attitude against trump who salvaged him in themp gn. the president of the united states,less his heart, i thought it was a brilliant way of doing it. the biggest promise to me was seeing the president booed at the the only president not throwingb out the openiseball of the season. and everybody understands why people who go to the world series, as david can attest, is t the top 1%, it's the top 5%. this is app exnpensive ticket, expensive proposition, and the spontaneous lock him up, lock him upwas a shock me and i know it was to the presint. >> nawaz: a packed, packed

year in 2019. a packed year ahead, too. so grateful to both of you for being here. david brooks, mark shields, thank you. >> thank you. >> nawaz: there had not been a papal resignation since 1415, but pope benedict did just that in 2013. at the time, his pope francis, could not have been more different. no popes," imagines theo relationship between the two mere jeffbrown has a preview, part of our regular arts and culture series, "canvas." >> brown: rome 2013: a new pope is elected. but the previous pope was still alive-- he'startled the world by resigning. and so, for the first time since 1415, there were two living popes. the film "the two popes" takes those basic cts, and some of the known details, and imagines

the relationsh and interactionbe tween the two men: the older german, pope benedict, played by anthony pkins... >> brown: the younger argentinian cardinal bergoglio, who would become pope francis, played by jonathan pryce. >> brown: frans captured the imagination of many around the world, who wondered if thisrs pope from latin america might move the church in a new direction.em

among brazilian director fernando meirelles. >> i wanted to know more about him. i think he's one of e most portant voices in the world today, because he sees the planet as a whole thing. he sees us as a brotherhood and not as different nationalities. everyby's trying to build walls. ea's trying to build bridges. and i love that >> brown: meirelles, who received an oscar nomination for best director of the 2004 film, "city of god," worked from a script by anthony mccarten, o'd conceived the idea f "the two popes," and knew he would have to-- in his wds-- "tread carefully." you felt that? >> well, yeah! i was raised catholic. fernando, also. we're not-- we wouldn't profess to be tremendous catholics, but it's in the bloodstream. and so i knew of the delicacies of the issues. i grew up with them. >> brown: you tells at the beginning, "inspired by true events." so what does that mean? how much is fact? how much is speculation? >> what this film reallys,

is that we know the stated positions on both popes on variouissues. my conceit was to then put that into the form of dialogue or debate, of an intellectual theological confrontation. and thatas the sort of eureka moment: let's bring these two together, because they did come together. >> brown: benedict was the conservative, and one whose papacy became mired in scandals both in and outside the vatican. soancis was seen as a reformer, open to change oal issues. >> when i first read the script, for me, pope benedict was theop bad guy, andfrancis was the good guy, maybe because i like pope francis. but th, working on the process of the film and reading more about benedicti just started seeing gray areas, and i start to understand-- i don't agree muchith pope benedict, the traditional point of view of the church, but i understand his point.

and so, the film is not black and white. >> on one level, this movie is >> on one level, this movie is about that debate which is larger than the catholic church, which is raging around the globe btween the conservative approach and the progressive one. how i began to see them over time, however, is, i started to see the similarities, the points of commonality between them.h they bew up under dictatorships. they both had to work a path through it. >> brown: and so we see the ung bergoglio, played by juan minujin, trying to steer au clean course t argentina's military dictatorship. his failure to protect his priests om torture and prison director meirelles saw the parallels in neighboring brazil. >> this is a very sensitive all of us have friends that, i mean, lost friends or parents o relatives beca the dictatorship.

so this was another f this script that i liked very much, iring able to revisit the in argentina. same tng was happening in brazil. >> brown: inner struggles and verbal jousting. a gorgeous setting, including a full recreation of the sistine chapel. and in hopkins and pryce, two supremely talented aors offering a lesson in their craft. so what do you do as a dirtor when you have actors like that? what is the direction? >> try not to bother them and let them do what they knew how do better than me. they're very different in the way they approach the part. tony-- anthony hopkins is very technical. he studies the part and the lines for months before he is on set. he's really obsessed with the lines, with each word. he changes the words.ng he chaes the pause in the line.

and jonathan is very-- for me, i felt that his preparation is more trying to understand the character, to get the feeling, the smile, the movement.s so it seemhe's incorporating pope francis. >> >> brown: i can't remember a film where i saw so many tight close-ups. heis that because you love faces? >> because ty're so good. itd amazing how you can rea what they're thinking by their eyes, and by their little movements. and so, i love to read faces. i always pay attention to faces and i wanted to read their thoughts. >> brown: in the end, both director and writer of "the two popes" felt they we dealing with a bigger story >> the stories i'm drawn to are intimate and ec at the same

time. and this is a perfect example. these themes of, how do we find common ground between two people who are polar opposites? and i think the fate of the world at any given moment relies upon the fact that there must be common ground found. >> brown: "the two popes" is streaming now on netflix. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown, from the toronto international film festival. nawaz: we close on this last friday of the year with reflections from wrimor ada on how there may be better ways to communicate beyond texts and emails.en tonight, are of limon's inumble opinion" about the radical hope she in poetry. >> these days, it seems like d all is read and write, or should i say, scroll and post. and while some people have

rigorously stuck to the model on sharin perfectly-framed photos of peach bellinis or pictures of homemade posole, for the most part, iseems that the one thing we consistently share is our outrage. now, i'm not saying rage can't be useful, healthy, even necessary-- but it is not lost on me that at the same time we're inundated with diatribes and rants on our newsfds, on our televisions, people have been turning, more and more, to poetry. at a time when languagis often used only as a blunt tool, poery reminds us that langu can also be used for nuance, mystery, and even radical hope. poetry is a place where both erief and grace can live, rage can be explored and examined, not simply exploited. like the lines from one of terrance hayes's poems called "american sonnet for my past and future assassin":pe

"something h everywhere in this country every day. someone is praying. someone is prey." or how josé olivarez explores the danger of his own anger in the lines of his poem, "poem in which i become wolverine:" "i know my rage is poison. i ow it kills me first." and still i love it and feed it." poetry isn't a place of answers and easy solutions it's a place where we can admit to an unknowing, own our private despair, and still, sometimes, practice beauty. in my own work, i'm always trying to lean toward the al questions, as in my poem "dead stars:" "look, we are not unspectacula things. we've come this far, survivedis uch.

what would happen if we decided to survive more?"li i e people are reading more poetry because we distrust the diatribe, the easy answer, the argument that holds only one note. poetry makes its music from specificity and empathy. it speaks to the whole complex notion of what it means to be human. and that is exactly what we need more of these days-- chance to be seen fully in both our rage and our humanity. >> nawaz: on the newshour online right now, black holes are some of the most mysterious objects in the universe, but researchers have made huge strides over the past 10 years in understanding them learn why scientists say we've been living in "a goen age of black holes" on our website, www.pbs.org/newshour. and coming up on "washington week:" as impeachment enters a new phase, wl any senators break ranks with their parties?

and with 2020 finally upon us, what issues will shape t elections? that's all on the next "washington week." and that is the newshour for tonight. i'amna nawaz. join us again here monday evening. for all of us at t yo see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs wshour has been provided by: >> bnsf railway. >> consumer cellular. >> supporting social 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 byontributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productionsllc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> you're watching pbs.

♪ >> hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & co." this holiday season, we're dipping back into the archives and looking atf somer favorite interviews from the year. so, here's what's coming up. >> we're bringing you therem into the r we're having our final confrontation with harvey weinstein. >> the journalists who brought down harvey instein join us with their new book. "she said" takes us behi the scenes that sparked a global revolution against sexual assault. then... >> you feel dismay, disbelief, rage, guilt, confusion, self-doubt. >> another journalist's battle for social change and justice, the bbc'carrie gracie and her brave fight for equal pay for women. plus... >> my dad, over the phone, said to me, "please, please just surve." >> 18 years since 9/11, w