judy: gd evening. i'm judy woodruff. tonight, the u.s. versus iran. mourners gather to pay respect to the elite general u.s. kinled n airstrike. a killing to which iran's ambassador to the newshour there would be a serious response. >> when that would happen, how that would happen, where that would happen, tharemains to be en. judy: then, new year, same peachment. as congress starts a new session, questions rainpen for the president sigouin pending senate trial. and, how the city of hawaii helped brighton a path for refugees, creating work far from home. >> when we share ts story,

keep fighting. it is good to have this place. judy: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪ >> moving our economy for 160 years, bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> fidelity investment.

american cruise lines. consumer cellular. the william and flora uhler foundation. for more than years, advancing ideas and suorting institutions to support a better world. and with the ongoing support of these individuals an institutions. this program was madesi pe by the corporation for public broadcasting and by tcontributionyour pbs station from viewers like you. thanyou. judy: in iran today and

outpouring of grief and cries for vengeance. the u.s. killing oiran's best-known military commander brought out vast crowds in tehran as leaders on both sides fired off threats. enforeign affairs correspo nick schifrin begins our coverage. ckniin massive show of unity, hundreds of thousandsf iranians took to the streets today to grieve a man they called a martyr. crowds rallying around trucks carryi remains of major qasem soleimani. >> soleimani was not just an iranian champion or hero. he wasit a hero of all hum nick: iran's supreme leader d funeral prayers, weeping over soleimani's body. >> soleimani's ssn nation has united the country strongly. he didn't belongo any specific political party.

nick: a professor at the university of tehran told us soleani's death had created eunityn among the regime's critics. >> he was a nationalero. evenho those might be critical of iran's policies are very much united. nick: on sunday, iran annouloed it would ner abide by the it15 nuclear deal and sai would continue cooperating with international inspectors. europe is still in the deal and the european commission president pushed for a return to diplomacy. >> we are extremel concerned that iran has announced it no alnger feels bound by the that is why it is so important to break this developing cycle of violence and find room for diplomacy. nick: u.s. officials tell pbs newshour that last monday

president trump hosted a security council meeting in florida and his topis as cited intelligence of what they called an imminent threat. by thursday the pentagon had a plan. on friday, the u.s. drone killed soleimani outside the baghdad airport. president trump delivered a specific threat, tweeting, if iran strikes any americans or american assets, we have target 52 iranian sites, some at a very high level and important to iran and the iranian culture, and those targets in iran itself will be hit very fast anvery hard. international lawyers say targeting cuural sites would illegal under international law, but trump repeated the threat on sunday. ote, they are allowed to kill our people. they are allowed to use roadside bombs. but we are not allowed to touch their cultural sites? it doesn't work that way.

the president also threatened iraq. que, if they do ask us leave, we will charge them sanctions like they'veorever seen bef sthey will make iranictions look somewhat tame. a nonbinding parliamentnding to resolution calling on the iraqi government to avenge -- evict u.s. troops. >> thera government has an obligation to end the presence of for soil.fluences on iraqi nick: the vote leaves the long-term fate of 5000 u.s. troops in iraq in limbo. fightinoops have been isis and training iraqi forces. today they said the troops will be repositioned. unony, the u.s. led coalition said it would pause the fight against isis to ctcus on proteing american troops. tafense officials tell pbs newshour that mi commands around the world are increasinge

u.s. fprotection as they brace for a possible iranian response. for pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. judy:or the iranian vie i'm joined by iran's ambassador to the united nations. mr. ambassador, welcome back to the newshour. as you know, the trump administration and the united states government is saying it was justified in targeting general soleimani because not only dide kill many americans, he was responsible for the grievous wounding of many more, the killing of syrns. they say this was something the americans were justin doing. >> this is the fake information that is being provided by the administration. there is no truth in it. if the administratiohas any proof, they have to providehis information to the general

public and the american people. what i can tell you is that general soleimani was a champion of fighting isis and other terrorist organizations in iraq and syria and today those same terrorists are very happy with what the americans did to general soleiman they are cheering. they are celebrating their demise of soleimani. all the things thatre being said about general soleimani is false. judy: the. uministration is also saying they have evidenceer that g soleimani was planning more attacks tha would have led to the deaths of more americans. do you have proof that he was not doing that? >> is the united states who should provide the proof. if they have any proof that the threat was imminent, they should provide this information to ple american p

even the members of congress are notatisfied with this information and they are not satisfied with the wayhat these so-called imminent teats was being conveyed to the american people. so there is no justification for that a against general soleimani. gait wasst international law. it was a violation of sovereignty and territorial integrity. there is no justification for that cowardly attackl against geneleimani. judy: what is your government prepared to do now? >> we have said that we have to ke the necessary measure we have to take revenge. where that would happen, how that would happen, that remains to be seen in the future. but we have to emphasize the fact that we are not interested

in war with the united states or with anybody ecee. we are a pl country, but we cannot just remain silent. we have to respond to the general public's demand in iran. i'm sure you have seen the footage today. millions of people were in the streets in tehran. all of them are demanding revenge. we cannot just remain indifferent to the cause. judy: what does revenge mean? is that too after the u.s. government, the u.s. military, american citizens, or what? >> we do not have anything against the american citizens, the people but that remains to be seen, the reaction from tehran.

nothing can be said about the timing or how this is going to happen, but this is something that will be done. judy: put it mean the targeting of an individual? >> i'm not in a position to tell you what exactly iran will do, but that is something that has to be taken, and this is the demand of the iranian people, that the need something done by the government to retaliate the unjustf killinge beloved general. judy: does your government consider u.s. officials now to be legitimate targets? >> as i said, i'm not going to elaborate on thes steps that iran willake, but in general terms, there will be revenge

against the killing of general soleimani. judy:government has announced that it is going to suspend any limits that it had plac on its nuclear weapons production program. why are you ing this, and does this mean nt tur government feels you can move ahead with producing a nuclear weap? >> we are not interested in having a nucleareapon. we have a very clear cut religious addict -- edict for nucleaweapons. at the same time, there is no place fonuclear weapons in iran's defense production. therefore we do not want to have nuclear weapons. he said in the nuclear dea that iran will not have nuclear weapons.

w a give and take. we had been doing our part for some time. and almost nothing in return. unfortunately, the european partners which were supposed to give us the benefit of the nuclear deal, they didn't act in accordance with the deal. in is given the benefits of the deal, we will go back to the full implejuntation of it. : ambassador, thank you very much. >> thank you. judy: and we will have more on iran right after the newshour. good evening. i'm vanessa ruiz in for stephanie sy. we will be back with judy and the full program after these headlines. house speaker ncy pelosi says

mocrats will introduce and vote on a war powers resolution on iran this wk. it requires congressional approval for any further.s military action. the resolution is likely to pass the house, but a similar resolution could stall in the senate. the battle over a sate impeachment trial of president trump has taken a new turn. rmthe national security advisor, john bolton, saihe tody ould testify if subpoenae minar eluded her chuck schumer -- minority leader chuck schumer sa that bolstered democrat demands for officials to testify. >> given that mr. bolton's atwyers have stated he has new and relevant infon to share, if any senate republican opposes issuing eybpoenas, would make it absolutely clear y are participating in a cover-up. nick: vanessa: house speaker pelosi has withheld articles of

impeachment in an effort to the senate to cal witnesses. anrepublic majority leader mitch mcconnel renewed his criticism of that tactic today. >> even with tensions rising in the middle east, house democrats are treating impeachment like a political toy. treating their own effort to remove our commander-in-chief like some frivolous gain. vanessa: weill return to the impeachment fight right after the united states has sent a number of trips to kenya after al-shabaab fighters killed a u.s. soldier and two civilians on s gday. theup stormed the airfield near the border. dark smoke rose during a siege. the pentagon said it does not believe the attack was tied to tensions with iran. ambassador stepped down today after serving two years in

kabul. it comes amipeace talks with the taliban and u. tensions with iran. the state department said the move was part of a normal b rotati there was no word of a normal -- a permanent replacement. wildfire conditions have eased in australia f, bes continue to burn. they killed 25o peopler and hundreds of millions of animals. dan rivers reports from new south wales in australia. >> not even a week into 2020 and already this is a year no australian will forget. this is what they are dealing with all across southeastern australia. they are using every asset they've got. this property at the back is gone. his entire life possessions are inside. wthed suddenly veers to the south. the fire switches direction. our only way out is now a

treacherous gauntlet. they call australia the lucky country. right now it feels cursed. rain has now brought some relief, but the fires might whip up again on thursday. she has come back r the first time to what iseft of her house. >> it is hard, you know. it is just a house at the of the day, but -- >> it is your home. >> yeah, it is a home. >> it is not just the human toll. there's also been a catastrophic ecological price with these fires which have ravaged 60,000 kilometers. the village, they are trying to cope with dozens of burned animals. >> it has significant burns on its feet, its face, its ears.

it pbably has smoke halation. >> sadly, this young possum i didn't ma another victim that has succumbed to australia's bushfire crisis. vanessa: that report coming from dan rivers. the trump administration will now include asylum-seekers from mexico among those being deported to guatemala. reports today say they will have to wait there for their claims to be processed and the deporting will now include families. it is part of an agreement emgned last year with gua. a 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit puerto rico today causing power outages and damaging homes. ther were no immediate reports of casualties. all this coming after a week of smaller tremors. former movie producer harvey weinsteinch facinges of rape and sexual assault. he arrived at court in new york using a walker after rent surgery.

outside, some of weinstein's 75 accusers andye a defense l speaking on the eve of jury selection. >> the eyes ofhe world are on this trial. women's hopes and dreams of every time they've been assaulted and hurt and never had their day in court because 90% of rate convictions -- rape trials do not end with convictions for a critor. >> the government doesn't want our side to have a voice. they believe their side is the only one that matters. that is what this trial is for. to show theheury,tate of new york, and the world that there is more to this. vanessa: weinstein was indicted in los angeles today on charges of rape and sexual assault. a company filing for bankruptcy protection today. it i the second major u.s. t dairy productake the step in the last two months.

they cited rising costs and changing consumption habitas the company founded in 1857. still to come, senate leader mcconnell, speaker pelosi, and the battle over the impeachment trial of president trump. bak down the primary race with less than one month before voting begins, and much more. >> this is the pbs newshour from washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona s.te university judy: now we return to our top story, the ongoing tensions th nick schifrin is back with a look at where this stands three daysng after the kilf general soleimani. nick: we look at how the killing has impacted the region. vwe get tws.

ryan crocker had an almost 40 year career as an american diplomat. he served as ambassador to iraq, syria, and lebanon. he was unable to make it to the studio tonight. he joins us on the phone. andor a profef middle east studies at johns hopkins school of advanced international studies. bwelcome to yh. thanks very much. let me start with you. we heard from the iranian ambassador to the u.n. earlier. he is blaming european partners for not delivering enough for them to stay in the nuclear de. is this iran closing the door on the clear deal? i actually thought that aftin the assaion of soleimani that they would completely pull out of the deal. what they announced on sunday was interesting. thf haven't pulled oute deal.

what they have decided to dosts within the framework of the deal and make it so that if other parties to the deal come back to the table, mostly the united states, and lift sanctions, they would be willing to go back to the full framework. the reason that he's blaming the europeans is that once the trump administration began to iose maximum pressure and economic sanctions, they were hoping the europeans would come to their aid and relieve some of the sanctions. even though euro has tried to create a special purpose vehicle to get aroundt, it has not really taken off. i think that is part of the reason. nick ambassador crocker, a little bit of ambiguity in how iran is approaching this moment, but what are theli itions of further eroding the commitments they once agreed to? >> i think that if iran were to

pursue its desire to pull out of the deal completely, they would egicaking a major str mistake. that will alienate the and any other countries around the world and further isolate iran at a time when they have said they are seeking international support against the united states for the killing of general soleimani. to draw negati attention to them on this matter, they are doin dress -- just the right thing. nick: in terms of drawing negative attention as the ambassador jus said, iran has been trying to have some positive attention, accusing the u.s. of annlful assassination, and they have been trying to rally their supporters across the region. what is the impact of soleimeai's on iran across

the region and iranian allies? >> i think the united states could not have made bigger mistake. the symbol ofat soleimani, e represented inside irans and communitross the middle east is something that is extremely important. th is one of the reasons that other american administrations did t assassinate soleimani. espeally since 2013, it is important to remember that ther very large media campaign in iran sort of lionize and soleimani and his fight against isis. it must b' reiterated that isis' main goals during its fight, one of its main enemies was the shieh. soleimani was seen as this national figure who stayed above the p even when iranians were very

muchst agahe islamic republic, he was sort of seen as being above that d protecting the homeland from isis. nick: ambassador crocker, soleimani did te on isis and was seen as a national figure inside iran, but the americans had a different view of him and those americanros, but also diplomat who served in iraq had a different view of him. >> the war between iran and iraq did not start with the killing of soleimani. it started in the early 80's with his predecessors and their proxies. i was in leban at the time and got to see up close and peromnal theng of the embassy. itas brought to us by a predecessor of soleimani and the

ecmilitia thate hezbollah. general soleima has been heading one of the most operating arms of the state we have ever seen. he h the blood of hundreds of american troopers in iraq on his hands. there is non quest that he was a blood enemy, if you will. all that said, we have to have a strate here. this is a long war. itrs has gone on for y the administration has to have a game plan and that game plan needs to involve allies, the utilization of some very smart people in the u.s., and none of these are hallmarks of this administration.

i worry very much that while taking a very bad actor off the field, now what? i'm not seeing any clea nick: what about iran? rhow might thpond? >> crowds like we saw in iran were unthinkable because people were so angry at the state inno mber. what the killing of soleimani has done is, it has brought together the population, in addition to not just his assassination, but also trump's tweets about targeting iranian cultural sites. this has been aif to the survival of the islamic republic. what we will see inhe future is that the revolutionary guard will focus its mission on trying to get the u.s. forces out of the middle east, and it has rallied forces both within iran and outside to do so. nick:mbassador, there have

been some fears within administration officials even, not only fr of unity within iran, but also fear of u.s. troops getting ected from iraq because of this strike. how concerned are you athut ? >> i think the question of the u.s. presence in iraq has a ways to play. sothe parliamentary tion was not binding. there is no unanimity on.s the issue ofpresence in iraq, partly because they know how crucial we were in the eviction of islamic state. i think it is time for a pause. take a deep breath and see where we can go with this diplomatically. it is also important to take iraq o of the middle. ck: ambassador, ic'm sorry to

you off, but i'm told we are out of time. baador ryan, crockerthank you very much. judy: for two andee a half, the impeachment process has remained for the most part ozen in place. among the open questions, whether theer senate will witness testimony. john bolton's statement today signaling his willingness to testify under subpoena. all this even as washington grapples with other serious foreigpolicy matters. lisa de chardin and yamiche ncindor are here to break down where we are rig. hello to both of you. it is a jampacked time for news.

yamiche, we did learn day that the for advisor put out a statement himself, i'm willing to testify under subpoena. how much does that matter and how much does it affect the call by many democrats for there to be more witnesses testifying? yamiche: john bolton saying he's willing to testify is pontially a huge development, but potentiallbecause we are not sure if we are going to see john bolton subpoenaed by the senate. the senate is controlled by republicans. democrats said this puts more pressure on mitch mcconnell to come forward because john bolton had a front seat on many actions. but there are republicawo who say thed be interested in seeing john bolton testify, senator mitt romney being one, but he stopped short of saying he would vote to subpoena john bolton. i want r toind people what

john bolton might be able to say if he was subpoenaed. he objected very strongly to ukraine being pusheddeo investigatcrats. he told an aide to alert white house lawye to say gordon sondland and mick mulvaney are trying to get this done and he said no. he also called the push to have esukraine do investigations a drug deal and called rudy giuliani a hand grenade. he met personally with president trump sometime in august to urg the president to let go of thisd aidive it to ukraine. hat moment he w unsuccessful. that is just three things thatta john bolton ca about. judy: lisa, you have been talking to peoe. what do we know about when this trial could start, assuming there's going to be o? lisa: family members,

crmembers, everyone is asking when will this trial start. we only know one thi. it will start one day after speakeri pel transmits the articles of impeachment and the list of house managers. that could happen as soon as this week. however, pelosi's office, talking to them today, they do not seem like they wanto do that this week. they think this john bston n adds to the pressure to try and push witnesses before the ial starts. we talk sometimes about an audience of one. pelosi has an audience of four, four senators who will determine whether there are witnesses or not. they are all senators who some have said they are interested in hearing from john bolton. they say they want more information. but they have saidhe are ok

with starting the trial without an agreement on witnesses. that is what mitch mcconnell wants. e mitch mcconnell has the cards to start. judy: we only have about 45 seconds. war powers, conversation about tcongress wantinglimit the president's ability to take military action. lisa: there will be a vote in the house this week. expected to go to the senate. there will be a briefing for the senate. judy: where does that stand? yamiche: talking to the white house, this is about the president not wanting to be hamstrung by congress. but democrats say he doesn't want people talking about the impeachment trial. lisa:we 45 secondsid it. judy: you are right. we are not talki about impeachment as much as we were.u it is important.

yamiche alcindor, lisa desjardins, thank you both. judy: stay with us. coming up, crisisn i caracas. venezuela's president's attempt to capture control of the legislature. plus, paris' storied past and presen has aen for immigrant artists. they are some of the gravest questions candidates have to confront. questions about the use of military force and how and when they would deploy if they become president. this weekend, the democrats hoping to unseat the current commander-in-chief have been weighing in on his decision to strike a top inian commander. >> in a democratic priry race domited by domestic issues, it

was issues of war and peace overseas this weekend thated deepltlines in the field. >> war is the last response to international cflict, >> not the first. senator bern sanders has been the sharpe critic so far of the airstrike that killed top irann military leader qasem soleimani. an iraq war veteran asked sanders how he would prevent another war in the region as president. sanders highlighted his own record on these issues. >> i not only voted against the war in iraq, i led the oppositi >> a difference with former vice president joe biden. biden has been stressing his foreign policy experience on the campaign trail. this weekend, he claimed he opposed the iraq war from the very moment the bush administration that campaign. >> i opposed what he was doing

and spoke to it. >> in 2002, biden voted for the war in iraq, voicing his opposition in the years that followed. bideagreed that soleimani's alleged crimes warranted the u.s. targeting him. still, biden questioned the administration's long-term strategy. foer mayor pete buttigieg, a former naval intelligence officer, took a similar approach. >> qasem soleimani was a bad figure. he hasis american blood on hands. none of us should shed a tear for his death. but just because he deserved it doesn't mean it was the right strategic move. >> massachusetts senator elizabeth warren walked back her initial strong support for the airstrike. in an nbc interview, she suggested the president was trying to distract from other sues. >> we are not safer because

donald trump had soleimani kill. we arege much closer to the of war. i think the question people ask is, next week, donald trump faces the start potentially of an impeachment trial. and why now? i think people are starting to >> new questions about force in foreign, less than one month before the iowa caucuses. a new poll shows a three way tie in iowa among sanders, biden, and buttigieg. warren got a boost today from a former primary rival. >> there is one candidate io see s unafraid to fight le hell. >> an endorsement from julian castro, who was the only latino candidate before leavg the race last week. he is scheduled to joinmo warren ow in new york city. for the pbs newshour, i'amna

nawaz. judy: that brings us to politics monday. here to analyze all this is tamra keith of npr. andic lisa, a polreporter for the new york times. s let'art with the story h that dlines everywhere still. that is the esident's move to strike and kill a leading figure in iran. from a political standpoint, what does this tell the american people about the president's foreign policy? because he was saying we need to get out of endless wars, get out of the mdle east, and yet this move to escalate. >> his position on iran has been to have every position on iran. he's gone from saber rattling language to saying that he wan a deal, maybe we can talk.

edand then this happ he has truly been all over the place. one tng, i went back over years of his statements, and his general view is that if america isoing to be involved in foreign ws, they should get paid for it essentially. america ould get the oil, america should get the money. it is a view that has towards iraq policy and syria and other countries. it is a very transactional view of foreign policy. it colors this as well. judy: standing politically? >>hi i voters know where he is. they know that he is someone who does not want foreign wars but also wants to bb the expletive out of isis. that ability to move between

those two messages is a core part of his appeal. he can appeal to very different elements of the republican party base. i don't think this necessarily damages his standing. but we don't know how this is going to play out. what happens next and how the iranians respond, the mide east, if that conflict gets reshaped will matter immensely to this election. judy:t is point, republicans seem to be backing the president. >> they split with him on his move to let turkey go into syria and have an initiative against the kurds, but when it comes to this, having a hard line against iran is very much in line with republican orthodoxy. a lot of trump's foreign policy is outside republican ot hodoxy and t why he's gotten so much pushback. re he is very much in line with the way republicans have

viewed iran. judy: let's talk about the 2020 democrats. is this likely to -- we are less than a month from the iowa caucuses -- to have an effect on the race? >> it is hard to say. there's just so much going on. before iran we were talking about impeachment. these things are moving so quickly. you don't hear a ton of questions about impeachment, about iran. the questions remain largely pastthey have been for the year or so, health care, college, climate change, and electabi,ty which is the main thing for a lot of democratic i do think this could strengthen the hand of two men that have been rising since the holidays, which is joe ben, who can run strongly on his experience in foren policy, and senator bernie sanders, who has staked

out ground as the liberal mentionr -- messenger. judy: distinct views on this. >> and one other person in that recent poll who was at the top, tied with the 23%, 25%, is pet buttigieg, afghanistan war veteran,g ho has been try use this moment to boost himself. judy: what do you make of this iowa pl that you now have threels individno longer elizabeth warren interestingly -- what do we make of this? >> the race remains unbelievably fluid. you have these three guys at the top. elizabeth warren is still in the mix. amy klobuchar may be in the mix in iowa. a lot can change in a month. it could go on for quite a while.

we could have different winners in the early voting states. we are a month out from iowa and it remains very unsettled. >> then you have michael bloomberg who has invested massive amounts of money. it isn't a clear decision, when you head into super when there's a huge number of people voting, and you haverg michael bloom who has invested a lot of money. whether you can actually sk those early states is a very open question, but republicans and the trump looking at this and hoping that it turns into this extended fight. judy: the bloomberg ads have been running everywhere. he's spending millions of dollars. theyd are going after don trump. >> in some ways that has been helpful for thparty. it allows them to really target donald trump at a time when they have a messy primary going on.

we've just never seen anyone spend as much money. he will have spent by super tuesday the same amount that barack obama spent in his entire general election on traditionally entering the race late is a bad idea. but we don't know how this is going to play out. judy: and we shoulday, super tuesday, we know when it is, but it is early march. notwo months fro he's spenng more than president obama spent in the entire campaign. just a quick note that i want to point out for our viewers. we did learn that secretary of state pompeo in a meeting today with mitch mcconnell announced is not going to run fo the senate, something mand republicans en urging him to do. so much to watch. thank you both.

politics monday, thank you. judy: as venezuela's steep slide into economic disaster accelerates, major political upheaval continues the opposition to president nicolas maduro took another hit in the national assembly yesterday. the leading opposition figure found himself literally on the outside looking in. with support from the pulitzer center, special corsespondent ma bigs reports from caracas. >> chaos in venezuela's national assembly for a vote that was supposed to be a foregone conclusion. lawmakers have ganhered for the al election of new leadership in parliament. the projected favorite, incumbent speaker juan guaido, who last year declared the presidency of nicolas maduro

illegi constitution he called his re as de facto president and won support of countries around the world, including the u.s. but he's failed to take control of the country. the vote stalled for hours yesterday and tempers flared as members apartment waited for his arrival as national guard troops blocked his entrance. a faction of supporters loyal to maduro seized the floor and buy a quick show of hands and no formal vote declared a winner. that is when the chaos erupted, both inside and out. we >> >> are standing out in front of the national assembly palace where juan guaido was just voted out but only because he was stuck outside the gate with h supporters unable to get into vote. the national guard holding him back. >> supporters rushed the gate,

screaming that the country had become a dictatorship. wide-out himself empn tried to ju fence. meanwhile, the nationalists re-dispersed with their newly elected leader, an opposition member willi to negotiate with maduro. the u.s. was quick to condemn the election. president maduro seized on the results. >> the national assembly has made ad decision there is a new leadership group from the opposition. >> outside the palace, maduro pporters rallied. but that wasn't the end. across town, guaido held his own vote, bringing together enough members of parliament to garner the votes required to win ection. >> i swear,efore g before

the venezuelan people, to fulfill this constitution. toce enfor the rights of our venezuelan brothers and sisters. >> big promises for a countryst which day had two competing presidents. now today, dueling parliaments as well. heand all this asountry spirals further into failed state. for the pbs newshour, i'm marsha bigs in caracas. judy: refugee from the middle east and africa have been settling in eyeope in recent s, igniting anti-immigrant tensions. but one program in paris is helping some refugees find a new community in france through art. jeffrey brown reports from paris s , part of our ongoing ad culture coverage.

>> portraits of migration, the troubles faced along the way, the trauma of makg a new home. photographer abdul experienced it himself. in afghanistan he says he worked in transportation, but fled when the taliban behin threatening and his family. during a harrowing journey of it spent in an abandoned train station in serbia, he gan taking pictures. >> when i showed it to the people, they said, that is not normal. >> his photographs became a bridge to overcome languagend other barriers and raise awareness about the plight of refugees, which he continues to do in paris. >> after the people publishedpe their picturesle were asking what you need, and they were sending some support. >> is one of some 200 refugee

thartists from mor 40 countries now getting support a from tncy of artists in exile. on our visit to its meshift office on the river,ia an ethi man belted out a traditional song with accompaniment fromssis phone. ache hall, a yemeni woman used her trail of a social -- official asylum sereing papers toe an art installation. >> it was my first week in france and the first day without documents. >> and a kurdish actorractice a monologue about his first days in paris. >>o leave your countrow tomo >> director of the studio, which opened in 2017 with funding from the french ministry of culture. >> it is like a state of shock.

>> when you i arrive, you a shock. >> yes. you have to do a lot of papers. you don't understand nothing. it is like panic. >> like many countries in the west in recent years, france has strugg over the 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 a h long tradition of being a sanctuary for artists, including pablo picasso and james baldwin. the idea here was to give artists a place to conct with one another, to work on an exhibit their crafts help with all the practical challenges of living as a refugee. >> they helped us find a place to live.

they helpedk us get a worsa. some people needed psychologists. >> d a kurdish actor ama lateer fled turkey in 2017 why did you leave turkey? >> because it is complicated living there. i am a conscientious objector. an-military. i try to make art and theater in the kurdish language but when we make kurdish art or ytheater, t say it is terrorist propaganda. how can lanage the terrorist propaganda? >> in 2018, a graffiti artist and painter fled her native yemen and its years long civil war. she says she faced added persecution for her family's roots. and for her wanting to be an artist as a woman. she left everyone and everying behind and says she still doesn't know if it was the right decision. >> all of us are without our

family. so we feel there's a lot of problems. keep fighting. so it is good to have this place. >> this place, the agency of artists in exile, is experiencing its own problems. it depends on the city government for free workspacey and has alread to move twice. the building we visited is small and temporary in the future is uncertain. >> to find a place now is a very real problem. >> to showcase its artist, the agency recently presented its third long festival, visions of exile. am the national and global fights over immigration, this is

a small project. th think art can change the way people think. >> when they see our artwork, they don't see it as refugee. they see it as artist. we do this to be something. to know w we have hope aare human before we are refugees. for the pbs newshour, i'o'm jeffrey in paris. judy: wonderful story. on the newshour online right now , as the fires continue to rage in australia, nonprofitroups are stepping into help the firefighters, evacuees, and wilife. find out how you can support theiefforts pbs.org. that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by --

>> on a cruise with american cruise lines, travelers experience the maritime heritage and culture of new england. our cruise sps explore american landscapes. seaside villages and historic harbors. you ca experience local customs and cuisine. erican cruise lines. proud sponsors of pbs newshour. >> fidelity investment. sfailway. consumer cellular. and by the alfred p sloan foundation, supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance andfi nancial literacy in the 21st century. supportedy b the john t and catherine t macarthur foundation , committed to building a me

just and peacefuworld. more information at -- and with the ongoing support of these institutions. this program was made possible by the corpotion for public broadcasting andony contributito your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. this is pbs newshour west from weta studios in washington and from our beau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. in[captiong performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible forts caption content and accuracy.]

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ay on "america's test kitchen"... julia makes bridget a showstopping pavlova, jack challenges julia to a taste test of vanilla, lisa reviews cocktail gadgets, and bridget makes julia the perfect holiday eggnog. it's all coming up right here on "america's st kitchen."