>> last night, at my direction, the united states military sfully executed a flawle precision strike that killed the number one terrorist anywhere in the world. >> woodruff: a u.s. air strike kills one of iran's top military leaders, escalating tensions to a new level. as tehran vows to taliate, we consider what the strike for u.s. interests and allies in the middle east, and around the world i ans friday. mark shields and david brooks are here to analyze today's iran new the democratic presidential campaign, with exactly one month to go before thl iowa caucuses. at and more, on tonight's

pbs newshour. >>ajor funding for the pbs >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine tt nnects us. >> con no-contract wireless plans that are designed to help you do more of the things you enjoy. whether you're a talker, texter, browser, photographer, or a bit of everything, our u.s.-based customer service team is here to

find a plan that fits you. to learn more, go to consumercellular.tv >> american cruise lines. >> fidelity investments. >> the john s. and james l. knight foundation fostering informed and eaged communities. more at kf.org. >> the ford foun. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change wodwide. >> and wh the ongoing support of these institutions: and friends of the nshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs

station from viewers like you. thank yo >> woodruff: an elite iranian general is dead, and the united states and iran are closer to conflict. the u.s. military killed qassem soleimani in iraq today. washington called it self- defense. tehran called it a crime, and vowed vengeance. foreign affairs correspondent nick schifrin begins our coverage. >> schifrin: he was the middle east's most recognized military commande operational chief of iran's militant network, the symbol of 's regional ambitions. and qassam soleimani died last night, when an arican drone fired missiles into his car at baghdad's .srport. today,officials told pbs newshour it was a target the president pre-authorized the strike. military and intelligence officials tracked sole and waited for him to land and meet with this man, abu mahdi al-muhandis, the deputy commander of iraqi militias closely aligned with iran.

the u.s. blames soleimani and those militiasor the siege of the u.s. embassy this week, and for launching nearly aonozen attacks .s. bases, iluding one last friday that killed a u.s. contractor. today, presirump said soleimani's death prevented more attacks. >> solemani was plotting imminent and sinister attacks on american diplomats and personnel. >> schrin: in iran, solemani's death sparked widespread anger. during friday s, congregants chanted "death to outside, they burned u.s. and israeli flags, and a local commander delivered a threat. >> ( translated ): the americans must know now that due to the crime they have committed, they will face no safety or peace anywhere. >> schifrin: but protestors also filed in front of our cameras with less anger, than sorrow. they beat their chests and mourned a man they called a martyr.

>> ( translated ): wn i heard the news of the general's assassination today, i got very sad. i got sad because we lost a blessing, a son of god, a manwo the whold knew so well. >> schifrin: soleimani was o of iran's mostar figures outside the supreme leader, an icon of ruthless resistance. as commaer of the elite, paramilitary quds force, he confronted u.s. allies around the region, and warned u.s. presidents. >> ( translated ): hereby, i tell you, the gambling mr. trump-- be aware that we are near you, where you do not even imagine. >> sch soleimani helped build what he called an axis of resistance: militant shia muslim groups in half a dozen countries or territories across the region. in yemen, shia houthi militants who receive arms fight against a coalition led by iran's longtime enemy, saubia. in syria, soleimani personally helped convince russia to intervene in the war, and today

russia and iranianacked fighters have helped president bashar al-assad largely win the r. every time soleimani arrived in syria, he was greeted as a hero. in lebanon, iranian-founded and backed hezbollah threatens israel with te of thousands iranian-provided rockets and missiles. today, hezbollahrters vowed revenge. ated ): call upon us. we are here to strike the oppressors and to fight. >> schifrin: and in iraq, the u.s. says fighters loyal to seimani killed more than 600 american troops during the iraq war. but despite taing the u.s., in the war on isis, soleimani provided many ofround troops who pushed isis out. those troops are today tegrated into the iraqi military. and, his supporters now fill arliament, and vow to evict u.s. troopfrom the country. but today, longtime soleimani adversary prime minister

benjamin netanyahu praised the u.s. >>dent trump deserves all the credit for acting swiftly, forcefully and decisively. >> schifrin: in washington, the response to the strike fell largely on party lines. senate majority mitch mcconnell: >> for too long, this an operated without constraint, and countless innocent suffered. >> schifrin: top senate democrat chuck schumer: >> this action may well have brought our nation closer to another endless war. >> schifrin: but president trump today described the attack as defensive. >> we took action last night to stop a war. we did not take action to start a war. >> schifrin: for 15 years, u.s. officials have been following soleimani, and accusing him of global terrorism. ay we remember and honor the victims of solemani's many atrocities, and take comfort in at his reign of terror is over. >> schifrin:ay, what was

leftif the car where soleiman died sat in the morning sun. the symbol of iran'segional ambitions is dead-- but the erbitions themselves are vy much alive, and unchanged. >> woodruff: and nick joins me here in the studio, along with, from beirut, our special correspondent jane ferguson. jane, i want to come to you first. what are you learning about reaction in the region, especially from the iranian-backed hezbollah? >> well, of course, judy, fromhe ollah, we've seen some of the strongest reacton so far they released a statement earlier on today saying this is a huge crime and "heit will be responsibility, duty and action of all mujadeen brothers throughout the world to take harsh revenge it's worth noting that it's believed soleimani was fleeing back to baghdad from beirut. , of course, had very strong relations here with the iranian proxy hezbollah, and he h been

advising both the iraqi government and the thes lebanee group hezbollah on how to deal with protests that were affecting them, protests that, yes, were about domestic politics, but threatened iranian influence in the region. >> woodruff: and, nick, separately, what are you learning from the administration about the legal justification for what happened? >> white house officials are clear there are two justifications, one, self-dense that they say comes both from the constitution and international law and, two, they say the 2001 post-9/11 authorization to use military rtion, which, of course, judy, was about 9/11, we should note that t quds force in iran ha nothing to do with 9/11, but now presidents trump, obama and bush all used that milary force authorization to pursue military interventions across the world since 9/11. >> woodruff: and, jane, backou to we know iran is involved in so many conflicts around the region. what are you hearing about what

the repercussionfrom this tentacs have spread so far across the region tha the repercussions could be huge. on two sides,oth the conflicts that they are involved in, and that's, of course, in places like syria where the iranian forces as well as soleimani himself were advislpg and g with the syrian government there, and across iraq as ll as here in lebanon, thinking about the reaction that iran could possibly, basically invoke in the coming days and week there are somany possibilities, whether it's hezbollah here inn, lebaere, one of the strongest armed groups in the region, or in iraq in terms of zing politicians who have been, already, calling for.s. troops to be pulled out of iraq. there are about 5,000 troops there at t mom and if politicians were to come to the rare moment of agreement in iraq to vote to push american troops out, then that, in turn, wod

also have a knock-on effect ofca bay making u.s. troops in syria less viable because they, are of course, support bid basei q. >> woodruff: and nick, just finally, you have been talking to officials inside and outside the administrations, what concerns are they expressing? >> one are exactly what jane said iraq will decide to evict u.s. troops from iraq and the council of representatives that will decide that meet this weekend, so there is concern the strik uwill inhibit the. presence in iraq moving forward. escalation, as jane said, across the region absolutely possible. in many ways, the trump administration announced 3,000 more troops to theegion, that's 18,000 troops over the last year or so, quite a ftrew ps for a president who said he wanted to leave the ddle east, and, three, fears of a more extreme successor. jane mentioned soleimani went to

beirut and baghdad, working on government. he was largel dlomat, in addition to being a military commander. there are people eve more extreme behind him. administration officials said we hathe chance, we had to kill this person, he's got too much blood on his hands, we couldn't give the shot up. >> woodruff: so many threads to the story. nick schifrin, jane ferguson, thank you both. >> thank you. >> woodruff: members of congress were quick to respond to the of soleimani's death, a their reactions were mixed. a short time ago, i spoke with twe.key members of the senat first up, senator tim kaine, democrat from virginia. erves on both the foreign relations and the armed services commites. senator tim kaine, thank you very much for joining us. what about the killing of general soleimani? what is this the right thing to do? >> well, look, i think president trump has pushed theun ed states essentially to the brink of an unnecessary war with iran and the killing o general soleimani. is he a despicable killer?

absolutely, he was. is iran a bad actor, absolutely it is,and it remains a bad actor, but the question at we have to grapple with is should the united states be engaged in a war with iran, should we get involved in another war inth middle east, and that's what president trump has pushed us to mth the maximu pressure campaign that he has announced that has involved diplomatic an economic and military pressure against iran. and, so, today, i have filed a resolution to force the debate to the floor of the senat so that the senate can weigh in, because whatever you think about whether the u.s. should be at war with iran or not, that decision should be made by congress, not by a president acting on his own. >> woodruff: before i ask you abt that resoluion, though, what about the administration argument that this was a necessary move because general soleimani,hat he represented was an imminent threat, he was planning me attacks, he had already been responsible for the deaths of many americans, and was plotting more? >> that iswhat the administration says, judy.

they have not briefed congress on that. the leader of the house a the democratic leader of the senate were not briefed about it. they were told after they read about the attack in the newspaper. and the constitutn makes very, very plain that if we're going to be engaged in ai war should be congress making that decision, not the president doing it on his own. so now the president has brought ustho brink of hostilities, our embassy being invaded, an gamerican contractor be killed. the president tore up a diplomatic deal with iran. the president ordered this strike on his own without briefing key congressional leaders. it's time for this president to not just act on his own but to do wt the constitution says, and let's have a debate about whether the u.s. should b engaged in war with iran or not. there may be somwho believe we should. i happen to believe that that war would be unnecessary at this point, but let's at least have a bate in front of the american public and actually have a

debate on it. >> woodruff: what are you concerned about in terms of an r iraniaponse right now, senator? >> beginning last october, judy, october of018, the pentagon started to warn the president that the actions that the president was ordering -- diplomatic, econic and military -- were raising threat of retaliation against the united states. e defense departent warned this president of this now for well over a year and their warnings have proved correct. so when the u.s. takes actions rstrikes that killed 25 iranians last week, obviouslyt level.ised a threa when the u.s. tes action against soleimani, again a despicable killer, but when thac on is taken, it raises the threat level for americans. the embassy ishe closed now, u.s. is telling americans to get out of the country of iraq, and, as you know, if the u.s. presence dwindles inraq, what that means is that iran gets more and more powerful inq. i by taking military strikes in

iraq over the objections of the iraqi government, we are pushing iraq more and more into iran's hands, and we're also pushing our adversaries iran, russia and china, closer and closer together i know you are aware as i was that those nations did joint naval exercises last week. we're hurtr allies, we're pushing our adversaries closer together, and that's because the president acts on his own without meaningfully engaging in congress especially on this matter of war. >> woodruff: and senar, are you saying with this resolution that congress would have to rauthorize any mility action against iran? >> what my resolution makes plain, and it's a resolution that's filed in connection with the r powers act of 1974, is that there would be just two routes for warinst iran, that congress would authorize military action either by a authorization or declaration of war or there would be a demonstrated imminent threat, and the u. can always protect itself against a demonstrated

imminent threat, but the notion coe president can just say that without briefinress and engage in military strikes to have the kind the u.s. has now been engaged in for some time, it's time to put this out on the table, explain the facts to the american public, and have an open discussion about whether we should be in another war in the middle east. i don't think that war is necessary right now. some may disagreebut at least we shouldn't allow this president or any president -- ai you know, i the same thing about president obama as i'm saying about president trump don't startwith war without coming to congress, submitting it for a debate and vote that the american public can see. >> woodruff: senator tim kaine of virginia, we thank you. >> absolutely. >> woodruff: and now for a republican view, we turn to senator risch of idaho. he's the chairman of the senate foreign relations committee. senator, thank you very much for joining us. i know that you agree with the president that this targeted killing of general soleimani was warrante why?

>> this man is as well laden. certainly, the case can be made that he was more dangeus than osama bin laden, if you take just the number of pele that heilled versus what osama bin laden did. s.'s done terrible thing he heads up a terrorist organize, the quds forc. was the person who is responsible for executing the plogram of manufacturing and ing i.e.d.s, the terrible roadside bomb that killed and maimed so my of our thn anwomen who fought in iraq. was a bad person. just recently, there is very rong and clear intelligence information that he was ratcheting up and getting ready to commit some acts that would have resulted and most likely resulted in a loss of very

significt american life. woodruff: and that's what i wanted to ask you about because we just heard senato senator kay there ens no immit threat and what the president has done, in his words,is drive iran to the unnecessary prirchg of a wa now. >> tim is a bright guy and i respect his judgment but tim knows that iran has been doing this for a long time. they shot down the drone just recently, they attacke the saudi arabia oil plant. for the last 60 days, they ve committed a dozen attacks on our troop in iraq by lobbing rockets on to the grounds. they hadn't killed anybody untl just recently and, of course, killed an american and injured four. i think, really, the -- they have been notorious for miscalculating in the past. they looked at what i think was reasonable forebearance on the president's part when he made the decie sion on the dr the

second attack that he would foear at that moment, i think they mistook that for weakness. myself and others have been sending messages to the iranians both publicly and throu the usual backchannels that they should not mistake reasonable forbearance for weakness -- >> woodruff: but senatorif i could just step in. given the fact there is every expectation that iran will now retaliate, was it worth whatever tthey're going to do toe him down? >> well, clearly, this had to be done. but, judy, can you imagine if we were holding this inter after the intelligence information that we had clearly showed that soleimani was going to do thesel attacks and k an american, and then the word got out that the president kew out it and didn't do anything? that would be horrendous. n you imagine what the democrats would be saying under those circumstances? >> senator, one other point senator kaine made had to do

with hothisushes, in his words, iraq into the arms of iran, th carrying this out on iraqi soil, the iraqi prime minister has criticized thes. u. for doing this, is that another repercussion the u.s. would rather not have seen?ge >> easy cho make. the difficulty is that the ltrating have been infi iraq for a long time. soleimani was commanding iranian troops that were present in iraq. there is no pushing needed. he shia, w liven iraq, are perfectly happy in bed with the iranians, the sunnis not so much. as with most of these conflicts in the middle east, it is very, very deeply tied to the ligious difference betwe ose two sects. >> woodruff: and finally, senator, what about the role of congress in this? should congress be reired to have an authorization, a sign-off before the presint takes this kind of military

action in the future? >> you know, we have the war powers act that the president has, and the p hsident also powers under article two of the constitution. this was not a political action. this was a military actiothat the president took to protect ameran peole and american interests. under the law, he is required to report to congress within 48 hours of the action he took and the basis for it, and i he been assured in the numerous calls i've had, including talking with the president this morning, that report will be coming, and this was a militaryw action, not a legislative action. >> woodruff: and going forward? >> same thing. ihik that the -- there's not going to be anyac militaron on our part at this point, unless, of course, more -- we get information or the president gets information from the intelligence community that we have an imminent attack. he will defend american troops, i'm absolutely coinced of it he hates doing this.

he does not like using kinetic action, but he is deeply committed to protecting american t> woodruff: chairman james risch of the senae foreign relations committee, thank you, sehator. >> judy, you very much for having me. >>oodruff: one question now-- how may iran respond to the american military stand how well prepared is the u.s. military to withstand iran's staliation? niifrin is back with more on that. >> schifrin: we now get twofr view people who watch or have dealt with iran. e tired admiral michael mullen was chairman of int chiefs of staff from 2007 to 2011. at a time when the u.s. significantly increased ,e number of troops in ir and the war intensified. and here with me, karim sadjapour, an iran expert at the caegie endowment for

international peace, a globa bipartisan think tank. welcome back to you both to the "newshour". thank you very much. karisadjapour, let me star with you. how irrlaceable is qasem soleimani? >> well, iran subpoena the only country in the world simultaneously fighting three proxy wars with the united states, israel and saudi arabia, and soleani has been managing these proxy wars for the last two decades. he has been ls ving iran'ght in places like syria, iraq, afghanistan a yemen, and he had very effectively built up a shiite foreign legion to project anian power throughout the middle east. he was a figure who was widely respected within the iranian regime and withran's regional allies. if you talk to u.s. military commanders, they would say he's enemy number one for the united stes, far greater than al quaida, osama bin laden, baghdadi and others. so i would say he's as close to being irplacable to iran as any other individual in that regime.

>> reporter: add miller mullen, do you believe he's irreplaceable ais anyone outsde the leaders of the country itself? >> well, it's not a perfect fomparison, nick, but i agree, i think the loss soleimani is bie equivalent of the loss of laden or baghdadi to the ofntiontheorganization in which them represents. soleimani has been a brilliant strategist, the contrtiolling inside iran for two decades, and this is a huge loss for the national security ap i know we often talk -- someone will come in behind him, i'm re of that, but it will not be cmebody that has the same kind ofapability as soleimani. so it's good riddance to him after a long period of time. >> reporter: i'm reminded leimani could go to moscow, beirut, damascus, karim sadjapour. the fact that he could do that means that iran has the ability

to respond across theregion, as up said, a foreign legion of shia militia g what's the most likely iranian response, given how highn profile, givw important he was to the country? >> well, the regime has to ilspond or else they lose face, but if they respond kcessively, they could ri losing their heads, and for iranian regime,hat's paramount is their own survival. the supreme leader is 80 years old, he has been ruling for 30 years, he's not a gambler. i think that iran has pleny of llans at its disposal to respond both regioand internationally. they like to operate via proxy , the to have plausible deniability in these days of the area of drones and cyber attacks, they will be sure to employ that a revenge is dish best served cold. i don't think they're likely to launch all hell in the next 48 hours, but this will be a

sustained proxy were against the united states and u.s. allie the coming months. >> reporter: and even more intense. >> certainly. >> reporter: airal mullen, i want to come back to the fact, you said, solimani has been the controlling entity for two decades in some of these inerts iran. you served in the bush administration attend of it and at the end of the obama administration. in both of those administrations,rthere were opities to kill soleimani. why were those opportunities not taken back then? >> i think the target list, if mau will, in those tes, did not include sole, and that's different from the terrorist organizations al quaida in iraq and i.s.i.s. overime. that said, he was somebody tha we kept aery close eye on and knew where he was and still felt the sooner he was gone, the better. i think the fact that he's a

government represeative and official, spent a lot of time, obviousl in iran, so it's a different approach in terms of a fascinating -- assassinating somebody. in this case, he's a military commander on the groin iraq with what appears to be exquisite inlligence on o part, and he's planning to kill more americans. he's a legitimate target now, and for those reasons, actually, i'm very supportive of taking him out. i recognize there is significant risk here. i think the trump administration, since it left the nuclear deal, has been ratcheting it up. i worry there is no off-ramp for iran and no off-ramp for the u.s. for a diplomatic solution, so the risks are high. i just thik, from the standpoint of eliminating somebody who really was the strategic link for iraus national sty, was, at this particular point, worth that

risk. >> repor,ter: karim sadjapo there are critics of this strike and, as admiral mullen says, o is about escalation, but he also brought up the nuclear deal. on monday, iran has promised to step away a little bit more from the iran nuclear deal. could they actually do even something more dramatic when it comes to nuclear for a respons? >> well, i will expect iran to put its foot on the accelerator again in the nuclear context. they're very careful not to go from zero to 100. they will try to go from zero to 20. ioe goal is to split the internl community. they're not going to announce they are moving full speedhead for a bomb, something that would unit chierntion russia and europe with the trump administration. they want to move in a way that the world will blame the trump administration for provoking iran rather than blaming iran, so they will restart the nuclear program and they will continue to launch proxy attacks on the region and, pretty soon, there will be pressure from israel, as

iran is inching towards nuclear weapons capability, you know, there will be pressure from isel on the united states take preemptive military action. >> reporter: and admiral mullen, you mentioned no off-ramp. in the time we have left, howne concare you about cha chances and cycle of escalation and theact you put it there is no off-ramp thescalation now. >> it's difficult to see the end game to have trump administration with respect to iran and, specifically, the diplomatic channel that needs to be created so that we can both step down from this ladder, if you will, before something really bad happens. we are in a situation where eslation hasaken place and, in thatal misclation can take reace, in which case it could really realllt in a disastrous outcome and another war in the middle east, which is the last thing in thworld we need. >> reporter: and a war that president trump has promised not to actually get into, right?

>> he has, but it's very clear, and this strike is an example, that he will take action to defend u.s. interests and u.s. citizens. so, i mean, the options or the space to maneuver here is just getting smaller and smaller. someone needs to take a steto get us off this path before something really bad happe. >> reporter: michael mullen, former chairman to have the joint chiefs of staff, karim sadjapour, carnegie endownt, with me here. thank you so much to you both. >> thank you. e woodruff: in the day's other news, nfrontation with iran sent u.s. oil prices surging 3%. but, stock prices sank as investors sought safety in u.s. government bonds. the dow jones industrial average

ellost 234 points to close 28,635. the nasdaq fell 71 points, and the s&p 500 slipped 23. the u.s. senate returned to business today, stiow at odds overo run an impeachment trial of president trump. republican majority leader mitse mcconnell reagain to commit to calling additional witnesses, but democratic minori leader chuck schumer insisted that hearing from top white house aides is critical. they spoke on the senaor. >> impartial justice means making up our minds on t right basis. it means seeing clearly, not what some might wish the house had oven, but what they actually have or have not proven. >> leader mcconnell habeen clear and vocal that he has no intention to be impartial in this pcess. leader mcconnell reminds us today, and in previous days, that rather than acting as a

judge ana juror, he intends to act as the executioner of a fair trial. >> woodruff: house speaker nancy pelosi has balked at submitting the impeachment articles until the senate decides if it will hear from more witnesses. ara federal appeals court arguments today onhether white house officials have total immunity against testifying before congress. former white house counsel don mcgahn was subpoenaed last april about the special counsel's russia investigation, but he was directed not to tomply from above. in washingtoy, judges pressed the issue. >> has there ever been an instan of such a broad-scale defiance of a congress request for information, in the history of the republic? >> never before in history has thrtcongress engaged in the of illegitimate inquiry that it's doing. i don't nt to get into that fight, precisely because that is the sort of political dispute that this court should not be

engaged in. >> woodruff: the outcome of the mcgahn case could have implications for other trump aides who refused to testify at impeachment hearings. the arguments today over a congressional subpoena for grand jury materials fm the russia investigation. in australia, officials rushed hiday to complete a mass evacuation ooric scope, before wildfire conditions worsen again. several coastal towns faced imminent danger. dan rivers of independent television news reports from moruya, in new southes. >> reporter: the edge of this town used to be a green calm wildlife refuge-- but not anymore. now, it is thick with smoke, eid constantly patrolled by pilots who risk lives to save others. they are throwing everything they have at this disaster, but the wall of flames k thvancing. is town, like so many others down the coast, is literally in the line of fire, with very

little left to protect it. y the hands of these pilots, the fate of so mpends. in mallacoota, it felt like the fire was winning this war. tourists turned into evacuees, rescued by the australian navy. aboard, a heing hand, a hot- meal and a huge sense of relief. h.m.a.s. "choules" usually accommodates 700 troops, but its commander said it can cope worh manyevacuees. up in the hills of victoria, the tourist town of bright is just one of dozens left almost deserted by the hasty mass evacuation. >> there's tents and caravans and all sorts of things sctered around. there's a lot of food in all the villas happenedver the coast and they've said, "okay, we're out of here." >> reporter: now, those who are left are braced for the worst. winds of more than 90 miles an hour tomorrow and temperatures soaring to more than 40 degrees

celsius threaten to ke saturday the most dangerous day so far, with three separate fires all possibly converging into one potentially deadly ponflagration. >> woodruff: that from dan rivers of independent television news. the death toll has reached 43 in monsoon flooding indonesia's capital, with nearly 400,000 people forced to flee. today, just outside jakarta, stters receded to reveal streets turned to ands. residents struggled to push damaged vehicles off muddy s, littered with debris. back in this country, downpours across the deep south put parts of five states under flo warnings and watches. the naonal weather service said flood aisories covered parts of louisiana, mississippi, alabama, tenness and georgia as the storm system moved east. the region faced flooded rerds and owing rivers. wnnessee congressman phil roe

has joinede of house republicans who are retiring at y e end of this year. he said toat he always planned to serve only five or six terms, after his initial eltion in 2008. 25 other hse republicans have already decided not to run for re-election. and, leaders of the united methodist church say that they are splitting in two, over allowing gay marriage and gay clergy. they announced today that one branch will endorse both practices. the ot a church conference will vote on the plan in may. still to come on the newshour: a doctored video of joe biden goes viral, drawing attention to the threat of disinformation on use 2020 campaign trail. mark shields and david brooks break down the top headlines from the first week of the new year.

>> woodruff: as the 2020 campaign heats up, candidates are facing an historic challenge-- an unprecedented ale and variety of disinformation online. john yang has that story. >> hey, folks. >> yang: the latesample: this selectively edited, 19-second viral video of former vice president joe biden. >> our culture, our culture. it's not imported from some african nation or some asian nation. it's our english jurisprudential culture, our european culture. >> yang: an anonymous twitter user posted the video, saying "biden proclaims 'european' identity of america: 'our culture is not imported from some african nation'." >> could you speak to your work

th women and sexual assault, domestic violence-- ? >> yes. eo yang: but missing from the edited v the context of biden's full enmarks. in his more thaninute answer, biden called domestic violence a "cultural problem" from english common law of the 1300s that allowed menuse their wives. then, biden said this: >> folks, this is about changing the culture, our culture, our culture. it's not imported from some african nation or some asian nation it's our english jurisprudential culture, our european culture,'s that says ll right. >> right now, we're in no way prepared for what's abouto happen. >> yang: the ease of creating this kind of misinformation is the scariest part, says joan donovan of the harvard kennedy school. >> it's easy to see why this would be a problem. not using anything fancy, just

real speech from his speech. but, enormous reach. >> yg: biden later responded at a campaign event in iowa, partly blaming president trump >> because that's how this guy operates. >> yang: while the president didn't share the video of biden, he's shared similar edited videos-- including of biden >> when someone who is a newsworthy individual, be it the aesident or someone from his cabinet, as weother political candidates, shares anfferent pieces of media-- some of these are decontextualized videos or other kinds of rumors and scandals-- weulave to be especially car as both experts and journalists not take the bait.

>> yang: other examples of misinformation seeping into 2020? a doctored photo from a supporter of massachusetts senator elizabeth warren that accused her campaign of editing the photo-- replacing a "black ves matters" sign with o reading "african americans with warren." >> first, we need comprehensive immigration refo. >> yang: and in march, the republican national committee posted a video of new rk senator and then-presidential candidate kirsten gillibrand touting comprehensive immigration reform, with the misleading headline: "senator gillibrand: expand social security to all illegal immigrants." misinformation comes from both sides. this clip of president trump telling a story about a world war ii soldier on veterans' day was taken out of context. >> roddie responded, "majo you can shoot me, but you'll have to kill us all." that's something. yang: a journalist at the media outlet vox clipped that sound bite, to: >>lou can shoot me, but you have to kill us all.

te yang: harvard's joan donovan. >> unfortu, the onus falls on aiences to be careful sharers and think about, "wh about this is appealing to me? what is making me feel compelled to share it with friends or family?" in most cases, waiting is the bestay to think about it. >> yang: valuable advice for 2020. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang. ti woodruff: between the esca conflict with iran and the race for the democratic presidential nomination, 2020 has already been a busyear for american politics. here to help us make sense of it all are shields and brooks. that's syndicated columnist mark shields, and "new york times" columnist david brooks. hello to both of you and happy new year. although as we have been

porting, the new year h gotten off to a sobering start. thmark, what do you make o trump administration decision to target and kill this senior iranian general? >> i don't know. every act like this has risk and reward, and i don't know anybody hao can predictwill happen, judy. s mean, it violates all of the ruhat we have about going into armed conflict with disproportionate force and with fully understood objectives and with an exit strategy and with backing of our allies and so forth, none of those was met,e and esident does not have the benefit of the doubt. he treats uth like a second home. he only lives there occasionally, and, therefore, he doesn't have the naral credibility of an amerind president has been hurt. the afghan papers and most

recently "the washington post" revealed 18 years of deception and deceit and self-delusion about the united states and afghanistan, the lying that we've had and the evasion. so, you know, i don't see it -- i see it more impulsive than strategic, just likeentire trump administration doesn't appear to be thought out. hi woodruff: how do you we respond is. >> first like the other 7.5 billion inhabitants ofhis earth, i don't know either, but i see it on sort of three levels, first on the near term, the immediate term, which i think it's a reasonably good thing that somebody responsible for the deaths of 600 americans and hundreds of thousands of ddle east meet some justice, i do think that's a good thing, the fact that there wereie rallaround the middle east celebrating his death is a sign of the destruction he has wrougth. there is the middle term, and that's somewhere in between anxiety inducen and terrifying because i don't think iraq os. iran or the ant to have a

war, but they've got to show they do something and w do something and it could escalate into something. i think it's extremely unlikely. i ve been covering the middle east for 30 years, and they play this game, and sometimes it goes fine and somebody quietly walks away, and sometimes it doesn't. so in the middle term, we have an overall righto be worried about that. in the long term, talent doesn't grow on trees, and this guy was their best guy, so getting rid of your enemy's best y probably in the long term yields some benefit and, second, hissi signature move was to create militias around the middle east, extra-governmental militias in a sometimes hostile country, and to the extent we can weaken their minerals around the middle east, we've stabilized the middle east long term. the middle term is what we're worried about. >> woodruff: mark, do you get the idea the administration is prepared for what may come as a

result of this? >> no, and i guess where i depart from dave from this, we have been down this road before. we've had a major republicaner leveterans of foreign wars convention and assures the foreigleader has weapons of mass destruction, there's no doubt he's amassing them to use against us and our allies and ofnfident they're on the verge aving nuclear weapons, that was dick cheney, that was 18 years ago, and that wased hundr of thousands of deaths ago. you know, it was a consequence of this act, the iraqi parliament may very well do wt it hasn't done and that is act in concert and ask us to leave. if they avk us to e, now, what does that mean for our troops in syria? what doefthat mean for any o our influence in the area? i do not see any coherent, thoughtful policy emanating from this. it's almoslike the administration has been scrambling to come up with a rationalizatio

they did it and now we're going to brief you onuesday, we're going to brief you 120 hours after the event as to what happened, we're going to do it from a resort in florida. i mean, suggesting the gravity of the moment, l of that, i mean, for a man who's sensi to theatrics and optics like donald trump, is none of this makes any sense. >> yeah, i guess the first thing i would say is what mark raised, all those are real ssibilitie and, frankly, it's above my p grade to know all the different details of this, but all the people i admire like mike mullen we've had on the show and general bchrystal who ranpecial yoore the afghan war they say it's worth the risk. these are profssional operators, so you have to have some respect for that. as for the trump administration, sort of agree. i often ask administration officials from past adminirations, what did you learn inside that you didn't outside and how is it going to

affect your career's pundit afterwards, and this they always say you never know the actual information going on inside. in most administratio there is back signals they're sending etch to their adversaries. so you should have confidence these people know what they're doing. i don't have that confidence now. i gray with mark, i don't think there is a policy process in the trump administration, so the thought th've sketched out scenarios b, c, d and q, thoughts probably not happe sne, an, that's where the anside comes from. >> judy, on the eve of going to war in iraq, jim webb, then secretary of the native and senator from -- to have the - of the navy asked a question, are we as a nation prepared to be a occupying country andid force in thee east for the next 30 to 50 years,

i me war begins with unintended consequences. miral mullen referred to that. ta the eve of world war i, the german generalf was absolutely convinced 42 days to france's army, andere we have 75 years after the victory in europe day and we have troops in europe and american s in japan, and 67 years after the congress is in korea, we're on the front lines in korea. i mean, you know, so -- >> i don't think anyone wants boots on the ground. i certainly would find that t appalling. e middle east fights their wars differently. n 's a little shot there and there,'s choreographed, you go up here, you go there, so theydave been doing this, they're professionals at it, and we're not, so that should be faced. >> woodruff: a lot of conversation around it, and 020ction, david, by the 2 democratic presidential candidates. we are, today, exactly o month away from the rst votes beg

cast, the iowa caucuses. do you see this iran event having a real effect in se way on the presidential contest? does it favor one candidate? us you would through it would favor biden becahe's been there on foreign policy and barely any of the others have spoken on foreign policy. i think it favors them all. to some degree i believe it hurts donald trump. i ink the idea we may get sucked into a war in the middle east is something nobody wants and i think a lot of people, in my texting early this morning, said are we g?ing to w ,here' a, a sense of great danger a, no faith we can conduct this. that'sallout from the iraq war. but on the general election, the democrats have to come up with a defense policy. it's nots enough to say we're set going to have a war beca every president in all our lifetimes has had to conductr military otions, so you have to give a sense of when you

would and wouldn't use military force. it just enough to say no wars, which is all they're falling back to no >> woodruff: how do you see the candidates? >> i think the beneficiary -- initially, is joe biden. the question is, i the united states four years into this a more respected, a more trusted and safer nation than it was four years ago? ened i think biden can make the case that it is not,but the case makes itself that it is d t, under donald trump, think he offers stability and maturity and knowledge. i mean, for one thing, we're dealing with someone who his arrogance me matched by his lack of information, and that -- so i think -- >> woodruff: speaking about the president? >> speaking of the president, the commander-in-chief. so i do think that it benefits biden. bernie sanders has obviously

trumpeted the fact he was andosed initially in 2002, that's the card he'll placement i don't see how the others tbenefit, quite frankly,his point. >> woodruff: it's war and pears and i hate to bring up mething crass, but money is n mething that makes wheels turn in amerilitics and, david, this week was the end of december or the end of the last cycle of accounting how much money, and we can show our audience and you just quickly, here is what iooked like, president trump hauling in 46 million. but right behi himbernie sanders 34.5 million. pete buttigieg more than 24.5. joe biden 22. we learned today elizabeth warren coming in behind. she didn't rais as much as sh had the previous quarter. then you see amy klobuchar, cory booker and others. what is this telling us about the race, if anything? >> i think very well, there's a lot of money the. evenanders didn't go down, she

does usually. >> woodruff: yomean warren. arren. sanders is the most impressive of the group. the one thing is the amount of money yang and klobuchar raised which is very high. for the big candidates, theyinre gea lot of free media, they're sort of established, but this kind of money means yang and klobuchar cabe in the claim. >> yeah. >. and, to me, money diminislus the more that you have, you need a lot to be in the game but after that doesn matter much. >> woodruff: in manet, what do you say? >>n a minute, what i do thk is the two beneficiaries were the two who had bad news this past q srter. bernders had a heart attack and raised $36 million. it's a greaitribute to hs support and the intensity of it, achedonald trump was im and he got small contributions. whatgou have to have is enoh to get through iowa and

new hampshire and to do it comfortably and competitively, and ery one of the people on that list does have that money, and if they finish second in new hampshire, ithe top three iowa, they'll go on. if they don't, they can say goou night and rern to their day job. >> woodruff: and i think they're all listening to you right now and they know what feifuture is. fourth-quartdraising and so much more. mark shields, david brooks, thank you. >> thank you. >> woodruff: and we will be back, right here, on mday. we hope you'll join us. toat is the newshour for ght. i'm judy woodruff. have a great weekend. thank you, and good night.>> ajor funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> fidelity investments.

>> bnsf railway. >> consumer cellular. >> american cruise l >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressi pblems-- skollfoundation.org. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting ions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> and with the ongoing supptit of these itions and friends of the newshour.

b this program was made possibthe corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs n from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productionsllc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> you're wating pbs.

♪, >> helloeveryone, and welcome to "amanpour & co." this holiday season, we're pping into the archives and looking back at some of our favorite interviews from theye . so, here's what's coming up. backlash continues against this year's nobel winnerli forature. peter handke, the austrian playwright and novelist, accused of being an apologist for violent natialism. i speak to his biograp malte herwig, and to europe historian peter frankopan about why this argument matters especially today. and... >> "an artist's job is to bite the hand that feeds him, but not too hard." >> ...contemporary artist grayson perry on his journ from provocateur to national treasure. en... >> ♪ i'm watching from my omndow ♪ ♪ the curtaining down >> ...our walter isaacsotalks to rhiannon giddens, the grammy