captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: gd evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight, the u.s. versus iran. mourners gather across iran to y respect to the general the u.s. killed in an air strike, >> we have to take revenge.d when that woppen, how that would happen, where that would happen, that remains seen in the future. woodruff: then, new yea same impeachment. as congress starts a new sessn, questions remain open for the president's impending senate trial. and artists in exile: how the city of light helps brighten the

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thank you. >> woodruff: in iran today, an outpouring of grief-- and cries for vengeance. the u.s. killing of iran's besti knowtary commander brought out vast crowds in tehran as leaders on both sides fired off threats. foreign affairs correspondent nick schifribegins our coverage. >> reporter: in a massive show of mourning and unity, hundreds to thousands of iranians took to the streets todaourn a man they call a martyr. crowds rallied around trucks carrying the remains of iranian major general qassim soleimani, killed in a u.s. air strike last friday. >> soleimani was not just an iranian champion or hero. he was a hero of all humanity. >> reporter: iran supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenie led funeral prayers, weeping over soleimani's body. >> ( translated ): soleimani's assassination has united the country very, very strongly in a

sense because he was-- he didn't belong to any specific political party. >> reporter: zeinab ghasemi is a professor at the university of tehran. she told us soleimani's death has created unity, even among the regime's critics. >> he was a national hero who enught isis so effectively, and even among my stud and colleagues, those o might be very critical of iran's foreign policy. they are very much united again over the issue of soleimani's sassination. >> reporter: on sunday, iran announced it would no longer abide by the 2015 nuclear deal's limits, but it said it would continue cooperating with international inectors. europe is still in the deal, and today european commission president ursula von der leyen pushed for a return to diplomacy. >> ( translated ): we ar extremely concerned that iran has announced it no longer feels bound by the deal. so see escalating violence, and that is why it important to break this developing cycle of violence and find room for

diplomacy. last monday, president trump hosted a national security council meeting in florida and his top military and diplomatic advisors cited intensehat they called an imminent threat and pushed a morge ressive option. by thursday the pentagon had a fan. by friday a u.s. drone killed soleimani outside a baghtd airport. over the weekend with president trump delivered a specific threat tweeting let this serve as a warning that if iran strikes any americans or american assets, we have targeted 512 iranian sites, some at ary high level and important to iran and the iranan culture those targets and iran itself will be hit very fast and very hard. international lawyers say targeting cultural sites would be illegal under international law, but president trump repeated the threat on sunday. "they're allowed to kill our people. they're allowed toorture and maim our people. they're allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people. and we're not allowed to touch

their cultural sites? it doesn't work at way." the president also threatened iraq." if they dosk us to leave, if we don't do it in a very friendly basis, we will charge them sanctions like they've never seen before. it'll make iranian sanctions look somewhat tame." the president was responding to a non-binding iri parliament resolution passed sunday calling on the iraqi government to evict u.s. troops. >> ( translated ): the iraqi government has an obligationo end the presence of all foreign forces on iraqi soil and prevent it from using iraqi lands, waters, and airspace or any other reason. >> reporter: the vote leaves the long fate of 5,000 u.s. troops in iraq in limbo. irose troops have been fighting isis and trainini forces, but even that mission is on in a statement on sunday, the u.s.-led coalitionaid it would pause the fight against isis to focus on protecting american troops. defense officials tell pbs

newshour that the militaryro commandsd the world are increasing u.s. forces'ey protection as race for a possible iranian response. >> woodruff: for the iranian view of this crisis i'm joined now by iran's ambassador to the united nations, majid takht ravanchi, from new york city. mr. ambassador, welcome back to the newshour. as you know, the trump administration and the united states government is saying it was justified in targetingei general soni because not only had he killed many americans, he was responsible for the grievous wounding of many more, the killing of many syrians. they say that this was something the americans were completel justified in doing. >> this is fake information that is being provided by the administration. in fact, there is no truth in it. if the administration has any

proof, they have to provide this formation to the general public, to the american people, what i can tell you ithat general soleimani was a champion of fighting i.s.i.s. and other terrorist organizations in iraq and syria, and, today, thoseis same terr are very happy with what the americans did to general soleimani. they are cheeringthey are celebrating the demise of soleimani, and all the things that are being said about general soleimani is false. >> woodruff: the u.s. adminiration, mr. address, is also saying they have evidence that general soleimani was planning more attacks imminently that wld have led to the deaths of more americans. do y have proof that he wa not doing that? >> i mean, it is the united states w should provide th proof. if they have any proof that the

threat was imminent, they should provide this information to the american people. even the members of congress are not satisfied that this information is being related to them, and they are not satisfied with the very -- thathese so-called imminent threat was being, younow, conyed to the american people. so there is no justification for the attack against general soleimani, it wasgainst the international law, it was the violation of sovereignty and integrity to name of iraq, so stthere was no juication for the cowardly attack against genera>>soleimani. oodruff: what is your government prepared to do now? >> we have said that we have to take e necessary measures, we have to take revenge. when that would happen, how that would happen, where that would happen, that remains to be seen

in the future. but we have to emphasize the fact that we are not interested in a war with the united states or with anybodylse, that we are a peaceful country, but, at the same time, we cannotust remain silent. we have to respond to general public's demand in iran. i'm re you have seen the footages today, the funeral, the ceremony in iran for general soleimani. millions of people in the streets in tehran, and all of them are demanding revge. we cannotust remain indifferent to the call by our public. >> woodruff: and what does revenge mean? what is the goal of that? is that to go after the u.s. government, to go after the u.s. military, to go after amrin citizens, or what? >>o, we do not have any -- anything against the american citizens, the people, but tat remains to be seen what would be

the reaction from tehran. as i said, there is -- nothing can be said about the timin about the place or how this is going to happen, but this is something that will be dooe. >>ruff: but could it mean the targeting of an individual? >> i'm not in aition to tell you exactly what iran will do, but that is something that has to be taken,nd this is by the iranian people that they need someneing to be doy the government in order to retaliate their unjust killing of our beloved general. >> but does your government consider american officials, n u.s. officiaw to be legitimate targets? >> as i said, i'm not going to elaborate on the steps that iran will take, but, inneral

terms, there will be revenge against the killing of neral soleimani. >> woodruff: the government announce it would spend limits n. would place on its nuclear weapon product does that mean now your government feels you can movewi ahea producing a nuclear weapon? >> no, we are not interested in having a nuclear weapon because we have very clear-cut, religious eedict by our supreme venting nuclear weapons. at the same time, there is no place for nuclear weapons in iran's defensive doctrine, therefore, we do not want to have nuclear weapons. we are a member of mpt. we have said in the jcp or the

nuclear deal that iran whther not have nuclear weapons, but, at the sameime, the deal was a give and take. we had been doing our part for some time with almost nothing in return. unfortunately, the europeanrt rs which were supposed to give us the benefit of the nuclear deal, thedidn't ac in accordance with the deal. if iran has given the benefits of the dea you can goback to the full implementation it. >> ambassador majid takht ravanchi, the ambassador to the united nations, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff:on more on iran right afterehews summary. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, house speaker nancy pelosi

says democrats will introduce aa powers resolution this week it would require congressional approval for any further u.s. military action. pelosi says the democratic- lled house will vote thi week. but a similar resolution faces republican opposition in the senate. the national security john bolton said he would testify if. subpoena he said the statement bolsters democrats demands for currentr and forite house officials to testify. >> giv mr. bolton's lawyers stated he has new and >> given that mr. bolton's lawyers have stated he has new and relevant information to share, if any senate republican opposes issuing subpoenas to the four witnesses and docents we've requested they would make it absolutely clear they're participating in a cover up. >> woodruff: house speaker

pelosi has withheld the articles of impeachment, hoping to force the senate to call witnesses. but republican majority leader mitch mcconnl renewed his criticism of that tactic today. >> even with a process this cotitutionally serious, ev with tensions rising ithe middle east, house democrats are treating impeachment like a political toy by treating their own effort to remove our mmanr in chief like some frivolous oome. >>uff: we'll return to the impeachment fight right after this news summary. the u.s. has sent an unspecified number of ditional troops to kenya after al-shabab fighters killed a u.s. soldier and two american civilians on sunday. the somali group, linked to al- qaeda, stormed the manda bay airfield near the kenya-somalia border. dark smoke rose during an hours- long siege. the pentagon said it does not believe the attack wd to tensions with iran.

the u.s. ambassador to afghanistan, john ba, stepped down today, after serving two years in kabul. it came amid peace talks wite liban and u.s. tensions with neighboring iran. the state department said the move was part of a normal rotation, t there was no word of a permanent replacement. wildfire conditions have eased a bit in australia after intense weekend heat, but scores of fires continue burning. all told, they've killed 25 people, and hundreds of millions of animals. dan rivers of independent television news, reports from new south wales, iaustralia. >> reporter: not even a week into 2020 and already this is a year no australian will forget. this is what they're dealing all across southeastern australia. they're using every asset they've got: planes, helicopters, fire engines. the fire has ripped through here.e operty here is gone. we've just talked to the owner.h he's distraut. he doesn't know what's saved and what hasn't. his entire life possessions are

inside. the wind suddenly veers to the south. the fire switched direction and our only way out is now a treacherous gauntlet of fallen trees and flames. they call australia "the lucky country." righnow, it feels cursed. rain hasrought some relief, but the fires might be whipped up again on thursday. cathie bleher has come back for the first time to what's left of her house. >> it's hard, you know. i mean, it is just a house at the end of the day, but when you see it like this, you know, it's where you lived... >> reporter: it's your home. >> yeah. it's a home. you make it a home. >> reporter: it's not just the human toll which is still being assessed here. there's also been a catastrophic ecological price for these fires, which have ravaged 60,000 kilometers. at the village vet in milton, they're tryi to cope with dozens of burnt animals, like

this brush tail possum. >> it's got significant burns on all its feet, its face. its ears are crinkled. probably got smoke inhalation. it's in a bad way. >> reporter: sadly, this young possum didn't make it. another victim that has succumbed to australia's bushfire crisis.>> oodruff: that report from dan riversf independent television news. the united states will now include mexicans among asylum seekers being deported to guatemala. reports today say they will wait there, along with migrants from el salvador and honduras, for their claims to be processed. and the deportees will now include families. it's part of an agreement signed last year with guatemala. former movie producer harvey weinstein made ready today to face trial on charges of rape and sexual assault. he arrived at court in new york-- using a walker after rent back surgery-- for a hearing on pre-trial motions. outside, some of weins's

75 accusers, and lat a defense lawyer, spoke on the eve of jury selection. >> the eyes of the world are ons rial, you know, and women's hopes and dreams of every time they'd been assaul hurt and never had their voices heard, and never d their day in court because 98% of rape convictions-- of rape tals-- do not end with a conviction of the predator. >> the government doesn't want our side to have a voice. i think they believe that their side of this story is the only one that matters and t only one that counts. and that's what this trial's for. this trial is to show the jury, the state of new york and the world, that there's more to this than they would like everyone to believe. >> woodruff: meanwhile, prosecutors in los angeles announced a new indictmentei against wein also for rape and sexual assault. d bordry company filed for federal bankruptcy protection today. it is the second major u.s. dairy to take that step in the last two months.

borden cited rising costs and changing consumption habits. the mpany was founded in 185 and employs 3,300 people nationwide. and,n wall street, stocks shook of jitters over ran to make a modest comeback. the dow jones industrial average gained 68 points to close at 28,703. the nasdaq rose 50 points. and the s&p 500 added 11. still to come on the "newshour," senate leader mcconnell, speaker pelosi, and the battle over the trial of president trump. our politics monday team breaks down the primary race th less than one month before voting begins. and much more. this is the "pbs newshour"a from wapstudios in wshington and from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona

state university. >> reporter: judy we look at how the killing impacted the gion specifically in iran, iraq and the u.s. we have is w two vews. ryan crocker almost 40 years as as american diplomat, is a diplomat at princeton university. he was unable to make it to the studio tonight and joins on the phone. passenger passenger is a professor of middle east studies at johns hopkins of advancedst internationadies, the author of iran, refrain a anxieties. we heard from iran ambassador to the u.n. earlier,udy's interview, talking about how he's blaming european partners for t delivering enough for

them to stay in the nuclear deal. remind us, is this iran closing the door on the nuclear deal? >> i think it's important. ithctually thoughtat after the assassination of soleimani that they would potentially completely pull out of the deal. what they announced sunday was teresting because they haven't pulled out of the deal and what they have decided to do is stay within the framework of t and make it so that as actually the ambassador said, if othieer pato the deal come back to the table,e means most the united states and lift sanctns to iran they will be able to go back to the full framework of the poa. the reason he's blaming the europeans in this is once the trump administration began to impo maximum pressure and especially the maximum sanctions againsy iran theuld hope the europeans would come to their aid and rel.se sanctions even though europe has done this ecialrd to create a sp purpose vehicle to get around it it still has not taken off. i tt'ink thas part of the

reason they have beeblaming the europeans for this. >> reporter: so a little bit of ambiguity, ambassador crocker, in how iran isin approathe moment but what are the implications of their further eroding the commitments they once agreed to? >> i think that if iran were to pursue its stated deire to pull out to have the deal completely or start violang all of its terms, they would be making a major strategic mtake that will alienate the europeans ando maer countries around the world and serve to isolate iran at a time when they have said they are seking international support against the united states for the killing of general soleimani. so, from an american perspective, if they want to draw negative attention to them on this important nuclear matter, they're doing just the right thing.

>> narges bajoghli, iran has been trying to have positive attention on it accusing the u.s. of an unlawful assassination nd they have been trying to rally their supporters across the region. what's the impact of soleimani's death on iran across the region and on iranian allies? >> yeah, i think the united states could not havmade a bigger mistake as part of the person. the syol of soleimani, what he represented inside iran and what he represented to shiaac communitieross the middle east, i think, is something that is extmely important, and that's one of the reasons i thinkt that other americanra adminions, when they had the chance, did not assassinateo imani. but especially since 2013 in the fight against i.s.i.s., it's imartant to remember theres a very large media campaign created in iran sort of lionizing soleimani and his fight against i.s.i.s. because,i

it must be reiterated that i.s.i.s.'s main goal during its fight was to -- and one of its main enemies was the shi so soleimani was seen as this national figure o stayed abo the politics of the country so, even when iranians were very much against the islamic republic and against many to have the policies they had don he was sort of seen as being above that and protecting the homeland from i.s.i.s. coming in. i reporter: ambassador crocker, soleimd the take on i.s.i.s. and was seen as a national figure inside iran but the americans had a very fferent view of him and certainly those american troops, but also diplomats who served in iraq had a different view of him, i take. >>he war between iran and iraq, if that's how we're styling it, did not start with the killi of qasem soleimani, it started ages ago in the early '80s with his predecessors and

their proxies. i was in lebmanon at the e and got to see up close and personal the bombing of the embassy. i was in it, the 1983, again brought to ushby te -- a predecessor of soleimani and the militia that beame hezbollah. so general soleima, for two decades, has been heading one of the st lehal operating arms of the state we have ever seen. he s the blod of hundreds of american troopers in iraq on his hands. again, i have to stand at those ramp ceremonies, as we said a final goodbye to dead soldiers.o so there'suestion that he was a blood enemy, if you will. all of that said, we have to have a strategy here. this is a lone war. it's gone itn for yearswill go on for years more at an increased level, i think, after the soleimani assassination. so the administration halls to ve a game plan, and that game

plan will need to invve allies, a great deal of strategic patience, the utilization of some very smart people in the u.. that know iran and know how to work with others, none of these are hallmarks of this administration, so i worryery much, while taking a very bad acr off the field is not, in my view, at least, inherently a bad thing, now what? and i'm not seeing y clear answers. >> reporter: narges narges, what about forr ian? how a might they respond? in iran are unbelievable because peoplengry about november. what the killing of soleimani pas done is it has brought together the poulation in addition to not just his assassination but also trump's tweets about targeting iranian cultural sites. so what are we seeing from

i.s.i.s. in the future? this haseen a gift to the survival of the islamic republic. i think what we will see ie future is that the rev guard will bolster its mission of trying to get the u.s. force out to have ddle east and it has rallied forces both within iran and outerside the boto do so. >> ambassador, to you quickly in the time we have left, there have been some fears within the administration officials even that i've how could you to, not only fear of w uniithin iran, but also fear of u.s. troops getting evicted from iraq because of this strike. how concerned are you abou that >> i think the question of the u.s. presence in iraq has was to play. the parliamenioresolwas not binding and the session was boycotted by most sunni and kurdish deputies. there is no unanimity on the issue of u.s. presence in iraq partly because they know how crucial we were to the eviction of the islamic state.

so i think it's timfoa pause, everybody take a deep breath, and see where we can go with this diplomatically. i also think it's very imortant for the administration to, again, take iraq out of the middle. their president has -- the iraqi president has -- >> reporte i'm sorry, ambassador, i'm told we're out of time, so i'll just have to thank you there. ambassador ryan crocker, narges bajoghli, thank you very much. two and a half weeks the impeachment process against pruch has mained in the most part frozen in place. among the open questions, whether the senate will hearte witnestimony, despite john bolton's statement today signalg his willingness to

testify under subpoena, all of this even as washington grapples with oth serious foreign policy matters, as we have been hearing, our own lisa desjardins and yamiche alcindor are here to break down where we are rht now on so much of this. hello to both of you. as always, it's a jm-packed time for news. yamiche, i want to start with you. we did learn today the president's former national security advisor john bolton put out the the statement himself, he said i'm willing to testify under subpoena. so the question is how much does that matter and how much does it affect the call by many democrats for there to be more witnesses testifying? >> well, former national security advisor john bolton sayingse's willing to tetify if subpoenaed by the senate is potentially a huge development, 's potentially because we're not sure if we're actually going t see john bolton subpoenaed by the senate. this is a senate controlled by the republicans. some democratic aidesoday said this puts more pressure on mitch mcconnell to come forward because john bolton d a frnt

seat on many of the actions and meetings that led up to the peachment of president trump, but also republicans said they would be interested ing see john bolton testify, senator mitt romney being one of them, but stopped short asany senators have to say he would vote to subpoena john bolton. that sai want to remind people what john bolton might be able to say if he was subpoenaed and testified before the senate, so here's f the things. first, he objected very strongly to the ukraine being pushed to invest an aide to alert white house lawyers to say, hey, gordon sondland, the european ambassador and mick mulvaney,f acting chiefaff, they're trying to get this done, and he said, no, we shouldn't be dong that. he also called to push ukraine to do these investigations a drug deal and calnid rudy giul hand grenade to get everyone blown up. he met personally wit president trump in august to urge the president personally to let o of this aid and give it to ukraine.

en, at that mo he was unsuccessful and con -- in convincing presint trump to do that. that's three things john bolton is talking about including much, much more. a>> woodruff: lisa, wt do we know about when senate trial could start and whether there will be any witnesses. >> eveone, family members and crew members at "newshour" is asking when will this trial start, and the truth is we oly know one thing, it will start exactly one day after sprea pelosi transmits the articles of impeachment and the list ofe honagers. that could happen as soon as this week, if she chooses to do that. however, pelosi's office talking to them toay, and yamiche is talking to demratic aidess well, they do not f seem theyeel tey want to do that this week. they fee john bolton news adds to the pressure to try tone push wes or an agreement for witnesses before the trial starts it's interesting, sometimes we talk about an audience of one, the president. pelosi has an audience four

u.s. senators to determine whether witnesses are testifying or not. mitt romney, murkowski and cory booker are all senators who some said they are interested in hearing frn om jlton, swing senators and want more information, but notably they all said they're okay wi starting the trial without an hareement on witnesses. that's wmitch mcconnell wants. it looks like mitch mcconnell has the cards to start, ju a matter of when nancy pelosi wants to make her move. >> woodruff: big question her, war powers, conversation about congress wanting to limit the president's ility to take military action. where does that stand? >> there will be a vote in the seuse this week that we will have to watch cl. it's not expected to go through the senate, but that convertion be will b important, a briefing on wednesday for the senat >> woodruff: where does that stand talking to the white house? >> tking to the whitse is about the president not wanting him to be by congress.

he wants people not talking about the impeachment trial and all the things going on so he talks about iran. >> woodruff: 45 secon. you're right, yamiche, we're not talking about impeachment as much as we were. it's certainly not the lead tonight but it's important we're following t. yamiche alcinr, lisa desjardins, thank you both. >> you're welcome. >> woodruff: stay with us. coming up on the "newshour," crisis in caracas-- venezuealan president nicolas maduro's attempt to capture control of the legislature. plus, paris's storied past and present as a haven for immigrant artists. they are some of the gravest questions a candidate will have to confront: questions about the use of military force-- and how and when they would deploy it, if they become president.

sthis weekend, the democr hoping to unseat the current commander-in-chief have been weighing in on his pivotal decision to strike out at a top iranian commander. amna nawaz begins there. >> reporter: in a democratic primary race dominated by domestic issues, it waissues of war and peace overseas this weekend that deepened faul lines in the field. >> war is the last response toat internnal conflictnot the first. >> reporter: vermont senator bernie sanders has been the sharpest critic so far of the trump-directed air strike that killed top iranian military leader qassim soleimani. an iraq war veteran in dubuque, wa, asked sanders how he prevent another war in the regions president. sanders-- in warning against future u.s. involvement in the middle east-highlighted his own record on these issues. >> i not only voteagainst the war in iraq, i helped lead the opposition to the war inraq.

>> reporter: in particular, a difference with former vice president joe biden, who did candidate biden has been stressing his foreign policy expeence on the campaign trail. in des moines this weekend, hed falsely claiat he opposed the iraq war "from the very moment" the bush administration started that military campaign. >> i opposed what he was doing, and spoke to h. >> reporter: biden agreed that soleimani's alleged crimes warranted the airstrike. still, he questied the trump administration's long-term middle east strategy. >> this is a crisis totally of donald trump's making. >> reporter: former mayor pete buttigieg, a former naval intelligence officer who served in afghanistan, took a similar proach. >> now, let's be clear: qass suleimani was a bad figure he has american blood on his hands. s none of uld shed a tear for his death. but just because he det rved it doesan it was the right

strategic move. >> we don't need more er in the middt. >> reporter: massachusetts senator elizabeth warren-- who walked back her initial strong support for the air strike-- this weekend questioned its timing. in an nbc interview, suggested the president was trying to distract from other issues. >> we are not safer because donald trump had soleimani killed. we are much closer to the edge of war. i think the question people reasonably ask is, "next week donald trump faces the start poentially of an impeachment trial. and why now? i think people are starting to ask, "why now did he do this?"r: >> reporte the new questions about force and foreign affairs come less than one month before the iowa caucuses. a new cbs news poll shows a three-way tie among sanders, biden and buttgieg-- with warren lagging in fourth. but she also got a boost today, from a former primary rival: >> there's one candidate i see

who's unafra to fight like hell to make sure america's >> reporter: an endorsement froh formsing secretary julian castro, who was the primary field's only latino candidate before leaving the race last week. he is scheduled to join warren on the trail tomorrow in new york city. for the "pbs newshour," i'm amna nawaz. >> woodruff: and that brings us to politics monday. here to analyze the state of the 2020 race and more, tamara keith of npr and co-host of "the npr politics podcast." and lisa lerer, a politics reporter for "the new york times." you. it is "politics monday," butwi let's star the story that, of course, is headlinesll everywhere s it's still very much our lead, tam, and that is theesident's move to strike and kill a leading figure in iran. from a poltiticalndpoint, what does this tell the american people about the president's foreign policy, his strategy? because he's someone who was saying we need to get out of

endless wars and the middle east, and, yet, tis move to escalate. how is it being seen?i >> well, inposition on iran, even, has been to have every position on iran. he's gone from, you know, saber rattling language to saying that he wants a deal, iran wants a deal, maybe we can talk, anden his happened. he has truly been all over the place about foreign ctanglements. though one thing insistent, i wentack over years of his statements and his general view is that if america is going to be involved in foreign wars or other entanglements that they should get paid for it, essentially. th america should get the oil and the money. it's a view that he has toward iraq policy and toward syria ane countries, and that colors -- iy transactional view of foreign policy, and it colors this as well, the decisions.

>> woodruff: doeit have an effect on his standing politically erong vot do you think? >> i think voters know where he is. they know that he's run both as someone who does not want to end foreign wars but also wants bomb the expletive of i.s.i.s. in fact, i think that ability to move between those two messages is really a core part of his appeal. he can appeal to, you know, twoe different elements of the republican party base, so i don't think this cessarily damages his standing, but, look, we don't know how this is all going to playthut. e are a lot of uncertainties here, and what happens next andh hoiranians respond, how the middle east is, you know, if that conflict gets reshaped will matter immensely to his reelection. druff: and interesting, at this point, tam, republicans seem to be backing the president. >> you know, they spmt with on his move to let turkey go into syria and have an initiative against hoe kurds are long-time u.s. allies, but, when it comes to this, you know,

having a hard line against iran is very much in line with republican orthodo a lot of president trump's foreign policy is outside of republican orthodoxy and that's why he's gotten so much pushback things like russia and syria, but here he's very much in line with thway republicans have viewed iran. >> woodruff: lisa, let's talk about thets 2020 democand we just heard some of that in amna's report, wre the ming down on this. is this likely to, in any way, shape -- we are less than a month from the iowa caucus, first vote -- to have an effecta on thee, to reshape this race somehow? >> well, it's really hard to say, right, because there is just so much going on. remember, before, we were talking about iran, we were talking about impeachment, and we are likely to come back to that this week. these things are moving so quickly and you don't hear a ton of questions when you're out with the candidates about impeachment, about iran, and the questions are largely what they have been in the past year,wh h is healthcare, cost ofma college, c change and eelectability, which is the main

thing for a lot of democratic voters, but i do think this could strengthen the hand of tw men that have been leading the polls for a while, that have been rising inithe lim data we have since the holidays which is joe biden, who can run very strongly on his experience in foreign policy, and senator asrnie sanders, who's really staked out grounhe liberal messger, sort of the anti-interventionist face of the party, so this could give a boost to either one of thm. >> woodruff: with distinct views on this. >> right. and one other person in the recent poll was up there at the top all sort of tied with the te%, 25%, is uttigieg, who is an afghanistan war veteran and has been tryinto use ths moment to boost himself and to argue r his electability. >> woodruff: what do you make of this iowa poll that we were st reporting that you now have three individuals, no longer elizabeth warren, interestingly, she's lost a little bit of ground there, tam and lisa. i mean, what do we make of thi

>> i think the race remains unbelievably fluid.se you have thhree guys at the top, elizabeth warren, while she's falling s still in the mix. amy klobuchar, by some accounts may be in theix m in iowa. this is a race from that poll, and a lot can chnge in a months, of course, could go on for qu you could have different winners from the first four voting states and we're a month outw from ia and remains unsettled. >> and bloomberg who has massive ounts of moey looking past the early states. if it isn't a clear decision coming out of the early states you head into super tuesday when there's a huge number of people voting around bloomberg who's invested a lot of money. whether you can actually skip the early states and not be overtaken by moentum is a very open question, but republicans, the trump campaign, is looking at this and just sort of, like, hoping that it turns into this extended fight. >> woodruff: with the bloomberg ads he's running which

we're seeing everywhere because he's spending millions of dollars, they're going after donald trump, many of them. >> right. it's in some ways hel the party because it allows them get out there and really target donald trump aa time when they have a very sort of messy primary going on. what's unbelievable, though, what michael bloomberg said, we've never seen anyone spend this much money.pe by suesday, if he continues, he will have spent the same amount barack obama spent i his entire general election on ads. so, yeah, entering the race late is a bad idea, but we don't know how this is going to play out because we haven't seen it before, an that's a lot of what we've seen in this race, very unpredictable. >> woodruff: supertuesday is early march, two months from now, and he's spending more tham president spent in the entire campaign. >> yeah. >> woodruff: just a quick note i want to po out for our viewers at the end.

we did learn today secretary of state mike pompeo in a meetle today with senate majority leader mitch mcconnell announced he is not going to run for senate in kansas which so many urged him to do, pa roberts stepping back from the senate. much to watch. lisa lerer, tamera kei you.thank "politics monday." >> you're welcome. thanks. >> woodruff: venezuela was once the wealthiest country in latin america, but as it has slid into economic disaster, major political upheaval has roiled the nation in the last year. sibut that opposition to pnt nicolas maduro took another hit on sunday. special correspondent marcia biggs reports from caracas, with support from the pulitzer center >> reporter: chaos in venezuela's national assembly, for a vote thawas supposed to

be a foregone conclusion. lawmakers had gatheredor the annual election of new leadership in parliament. the projected favorite? inmbent speaker juan guaido, who last year declared the presidency of nicolas maduro illegitimate. invoking the constitution, he toclaimed his role as de f president-- and won the support of 58 countries around the world, including the. but he's failed to take control of the country. the vote stalled for hours yesterday and tempers flared as members of guaido's arrival-- as national guards troops blocked his entrance. then, without hi a faction of supporters loyal to maduro seized the floor. and by a quick show of hords-- and nol vote-- they declared a winner.n and that's waos erupted blth inside and out. it's been an increscene here.

we're stanng out in front of the national assembly palace, d where guaido was just vot. but only because he was stuck outside the gate with his supporters, unable to get in to vote. atpporters of guaidoushed the gate, screaming thhe country had become a dictatorshi guaido himself even tried to jump the fence, troopsting him back. meanwhile, the national assembly dispersed, with their newly elected leader, this m parra. an opposition member willing to negotiate with maduro. the u.s. was quick to ndemn the election, but president maduro seized on the results. >> ( translated ): the national assembly has made a decision and there is a new leadership group from the opposition headed by congressman luis parra from the first justice party. >> reporter: outside the palace, maduro' supporters rallied.

but that wasn't the end. across town later that evening, guaido held his own vote, bringing together enough members of parliament toarner the 84 votes required to win re-election. >> ( translated re i swear beod, before the venezuelan people to fulfillit this conion, the inherent duties of the position of president of the parlim ent and inteesident of venezuela, to enforce the rights of our venezuelan brothers and sists. >> reporter: big promises for a twuntry which yesterday ha competing presidents. now toy, dueling parliaments as well. and all this as the country spirals further into a failed state. for the pbs newshour, i'm marcia biggs, in caracas dr >> wf: refugees from the middle east and africa have long

soughthelter in europe, igniting debates around immigration, asylum and anging cultur but one program in paris is now using the lens of art to help some of these refugees find a new community in france. jeffrey brown reports from paris-- part of "canvas," our ongoing arts and culture coverage. >> reporter: portraits migration: the troubles faced along the way, the trauma of making a new home. >> i'm from afghanistan but sometimes i say i'm from nowhere. >> reporter: abdul saboor, experienced it himlf. n afghanistan," he says, "he worked in transportation for the u.s. army, but fled en the taliban began threatening himmi and his fa." during a harrowing two year y, part of it spent in a abandoned train station in serbia, he began taking pictures with a donated camera. >> when i show to the people, i say that's nonormal, how we ve. >> reporter: his photographs beca a bridge to overcome

langge and other barriers, and raise awareness about e plight of refugees, which he continues to do in paris. >> after the people publish the pictures and they did some exhibitions, and then think it's really important because i and people was asking what you guys need. and they were sending some support. and then i say, it's really isportant. >> reporter: saboone of some 200 refugee artists from more than 40 countries now getting support from the agency of artists in exile. ♪ ♪ on our visit to its makeshift building off the seine, anop etn man belted out a traditional song with accompaniment from this phone. ♪ ♪ across the hall, a yemeni woman used her vast trail of official asylum-seeking papers, accumulated over two years of navigating france's legal press, to create an art installation. >> it was my first week in france and the first day without

documents. >> reporter: and awhurdish actor fled turkey practiced a monologue about his first days in paris. >> can you imagine, to leave your country tomorrow and to leave everything? >> reporter: judith depaule is icdirector of the studio, opened in 2017 with funding from the ench ministry of cultureif >> it's verycult to decide to go out from your country, to >> reporter: like many countries w the west in recent years, france has strugglh rising tensions over an influx of refugees. president emmanuel macron has sought to criminalize illegal border crossings while tightening restrictions on asylum, even as far-right parties in the country call for more. but france also has a long tradition of being a sanctuary bar artists, including pablo

picasso and james win. the idea here was to give artists a place to connect with one another, to work on and exhibit their crafts-- and to help with all the practical challenges of living as a refugee. >> ( translated ): firstf all, th helped us find a place to live, they gave us various options. secondly, they helped us get a work visa, find a lawyer, some people needed psychologists,e things lat. >> reporter: kurdish actor and drama teacher aram tastekin fled turkey in late 2017. d so w you leave turkey? >> ( translated ): because it'sg complicated lihere. i'm a conscientious objector. i am anti-military. i'm an artt who tries to make art and theatre in the kurdish language to protect the kurdish language.wh bu we make kurdish art or theatre, they always say that it is terrorist propaganda. and that really hurts.a how canguage be terrorist propaganda? >> reporter: in 2018, graffiti artist and pnter ahlam jarban fled her native yemen amid its years-long civil w. she says she faced added

persecution for her family's somali and ethiopian roo-- and for wanting to be an artist as a woman. she left everyone and everything behind, and says s still doesn't know if it was he right decision. >> because, all of u we are-- we are without our families. so we feel lonely.we eel depression. you feel there is a lot of problem. but when we are together, we speak, we share this story. it makes us a little less stressed, make us little, keep fiting. so it is good to have this place. >> reporter: "this place though-- the agency of artists in exile-- is experiencing its own problems. it depends on paris' city government for free work space, and has already had to move twice. the ilding we visited is sma and temporary, and the future it unn.

>> lot of things to , to find the place. it's the very real concrete oblem now. >> reporter: to further make its case and showcase its artists, the agency recently presented its third annual month-long festival, titled "visions of exile." amid the national and even global fights over immigration, this is a small project. but those being helped think art can change the way people think. >> because when they see our, our artwork, my worknd the other work, they don't see it as a refugee. this see it as artist, and tre is artist make this thing. we do all these journeys to, to be someone to be something where we have a hope and we are human before we become, we are refugees. >> reporter: for the pbsne hour, i'm jeffrey brown in paris. >> woodruff: as the fires continue to rage in australia, nprofit groups are stepping in to help the firefighters,

evacuees and wildli find out how you can suprt their efforts at pbs.org/newshour. " and that's thewshour" for tonight. i'm judy woodruff for all of us at theew "pbsour," thank you and we'll see for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> on a cruise with american cruise lines, you can experience historic destinations e mississippi river, the columa river and across the united ates. american cise lines fleet of american cruise lines.of proud sponsor bs newshour. >> bnsf railway.

>> consumer cellular. >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved ecomic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of thesenstitutions >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadsting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc ioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

♪ >> hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & company." this holiday season, we're dipping back into the archives and looking at some of our favorite interviews from the year, so here's what's coming up. >> wve endowed a psident, especially in the foreign-affairs area -- he's most unchecked there. that's where he has most free rein. >> he led the office of legal counsel under president george w. bush. jack goldsmith talks to me about executive overreach then and nownd about living in the shadow of jimmy hoffa. plus... >> my motive was to stop a war and save lives. >> in the u.k., istleblower katharine gun's story is the subject of the new film "official secrets." she joins me to talk about the price she paidg for raisinthe alarm about the iraq war. and... >> ♪ take a load off, fanny

♪ak