captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: >> the president's counsel keeps saying this was about corruption in ukraine. president trump was notnc ned with fighting corruption. it's difficult to say that with a straight face. >> woodruff: the prosecution prests its final points. democrats conclude their opening arguments agait donald trump, as the president's legal team prepares to mount hidefense. then, "outbreak." china attempts to contain e spread of the coronavirus, locking down cities and barring the movement of more oan 30 million people. then, "merchantspain." the inside story of how one opioid company cheated its way to the top, and how it all came

crashing down. >> the only thing that mattered was a prescription of subsys. and how you got it, what you had to do, what it took, did not matter. >>oodruff: and, it's frida david brooks and karen tumulty are here to analyze the first full week of the impeachment trial of president trump, and to remember jim lehrer. all that and more, on night's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ w >>n it comes to wireless, conser cellular gives its customers the choice our no-contract plans give you as much-- or as little-- talk, text and data as you want, a our u.s.-based customer service team is on hand to help. learn more, go to consumercellular.tv >> bnsf railway.

>> american cruise lines. >> fidelity investments. j >> then s. and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the impeachment trial of president trump is

nearing its halfway point. 100 united states senators listened today to prosecutors from the house of representatives taking turns as they sought to wrap up their case. once again, nick schifrin begins our coverage. >> schifrin: today, house democrats ended their case the way they bpran, portraying ident trump as a clear and present danger. o the president's scheme to pressure ukraine his political dirty work harmed our national security, undermined our free and fair elections, and even today even today-- threatens the foundation of our democracy. >> schifrin: lead hoe manager adam schiff and a half dozen other house managers focused today on their second artie of impeachment, abuse of congress, and that "in the history of the republic, no president has ever uidered the complete defiance of an impeachment i or sought to obstruct and impede so comprehensively the ability of the house of representatives to investigate 'high crimes and misdemeanors'." new york democrat hakeem jeffries. >> president trump tried to

cheat. he got caught. and th he worked hard to cover it up. >> schifrin: on july 10, administration officia u told visitiainian officials that ukraine would have toth investigat2016 election, and joe biden and his son hunter biden, before getting a coveted white house meeting. on july 25, president trump spoke to ukrainian president volodymyr zensky and repeated the investigation requests. official wking awhiteelligence house filed a whistleblower complaint. today, house manager jason crow said the white house covered up each sp. >> it started with the white house's lawyers' failure to stop the scheme after the july 10 meeting was reported to them, continued with attempts to hide the july 25 call summary, andte escawith the white house's illegal concealment of the whistleblower complaint from congress. >> schifrin: during the subpoenaed and asked for

documents from secretary of state mike pompeo, acting white house chief of staff mick mulvaney, and national security council lawyer john eisenberg. all refused to comply, even though eisenberg knew of internal concerns about the president's actions. mr. eisenberg withyident blocked justification, the record is silent as to what, if any, actions he or the white house council took to address president trump's brazen misconduct and abuse of power. >> schifrin: president trump was nogued that ther cover-up, because nearly $400 ukraine was eventually released. but democrats today said it was released only under >>essure. fter the house launched an investigation, and afterss congearned about the existence of a whistleblower complaint, the $391 million in security aid was only releasedum

because presidp was caught red-handed. >> schifrin: today, ent trump portrayed the democrats as dious, writing on twitte "the do nothing democrats just keep repeating and repeating, over and over again, the samehe old 'stuff' onmpeachment hoax. they want to use up all of their time, even thoh it is the wrong thing to do. they ought to go bk to work for our great americaneople!" nebraska republican deb fiscr >> woodruff: it was wrong of the president to ask the president of ukraine to conct an investigation into viceid president and his son. do you accept their premise that s what president trump did? >> i don't. you know, i'm waiting to hear from the defense starting tomorrow. that's what a jury is supposed to do. we don't make decisio based on onside's presentation. we'll hear what thepr esident's counsel says tomorrow. >> schifrin: there are 47

democratic senators. 20 republicans would have to join them to get to two-thirds, remove him from office.ident and but only four republicans would have to switch to get a majority of 51, to allow witnesses and new evidence. today, chuck schumer made thal apersonal.fo >> wil republican senators, just four, rise to thr occasion, do tuty to the constitution, to their country, to seek the truth? >> schifrin: the democra also focused day on former u.s. ambassador to ukraine, marie yavonivitch, who testified how she was dismissed by director general of the foreign service, in a hurry. >> she said i needed to get on the-- ho-- come home immediately. get on the nt plane to the u.s. >> schifrin: and todaypbs newshour learned that one year before she was dismissed, president trump had dinner with lev parnas and igor fruman, associes of rudy giuliani, and

was recorded saying, "get rid of her! get her out tomorrow. ke her out. okay? do it."ub today, rcans argued ambassadors serve at the s esident's pleasure, and that president trump ll within his power to fire an ambassador, as he had fired would-be "apprentices:" >> you're fired. >> my guess is that we're probably not surprised that a guy who had a tv show about firing people is willing to recall the ambasdor. the president of the united people who will imt the the policies he was put in place to implement, and that's it. >> schifri during this trial, senators are supposed to sit silently at their desks, but in this chamber-turned-courtroom, the days are long, and the chairs are hard. etch artist bill hennessey caught a fidgety senator's desk left empty, a notepad left behind; a fidget spinn another senator's hands, and anher on a nearby desk. during a break, republicans

strategized. the present's side will begin its turn tomrow, when they start their arguements. >> there's a toxic mess at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. and i humbly suggest that it's our collective job, on behf of y the american people, to clean it up. >> woodruff: now to share their reporting on the ongoing trial, own lisa desjardins at t capitol, and yamiche alcindor at the white house. hello to both of you. so lisa, you were watching e all, and youe telling us that you are seeing something new today in terms of how these senators are ting it in. >> that's right. from our spot above the senate amber, generally above the republican side of the chamber, tohave to tell you, i saw for the first timday every single senator taking notes or looking throh the graphic

presentation in paper form that democrats had given out. up until today, republicans had been given thehoice whether to get that presentation in paper form or not.ns some republiave chosen not to look at it, and i had seen several senators who were l watching aistening, but not taking notes, not looking through any paperworkda these desks are full of documents. every single one of them. so you did, did nt see a single senator nodding off. i know that's kind of a funnyto thinalk about, but these are long days, the chairs are hard, as nick wrote, it's very common to see for brief moments senators nodding off did not see that today. i think this is an alert senate. why is this? speaking to senators, two factor i i think the anticipation of the president's side presenting his case, and people areng focun getting ready, preparing for that. i also think there is a lot of consideration of the qstions senators will get to ask once the president rests his case in his opening statement, and senanrs are starting to hone

on that fact that they wi get the chance to ask questions. theyae trying to sort out wt they want to ask. >> woodruff: so yamiche, you have obviously been talking to the white house.how are they...e president responding to what isn on today and in these other days, and there's this new recording of the president? >> that's right, judy. president trump and the president's legal team have spent most of the day la out at democrats, saying they are after the president for thisrt an political act. i have been texting with rudy giuliani again today. he's been telling me this there are too many lies to push become on, so his take is democrats are making things up. of course, democrats disagree with his statements there, but then there's this new recordg of president trump that appears to show him saying a year beforn marie yitch, the former ambassador to ukraine was fired, a year before that saying, "get rid of her." now i have been talking the lev parnas' attorney, an associate of rudy giuliani's who is facing federal charge, his lawyer says

is bolsters his client's claim that president trump was engaged in ascheme taro get yovanovitch out of the way so he could pressure ukraine to inveigate joe biden. the wwyer also says this recording shows that there needs to be more evidence and more witnesses added tthis senate trial. of course, president trump has been pushing back on this. the white house is saying of course the president can do whatevere wants, but the president also attacked marie testifying famously, saying that she was someone who was a bad ambassador and everywhere she went turned bad. >> woodruff: lisa, back to you, this was the day when democrats turned to the second article of impet.achm it really wasn't until mid-to-late afternoon before they got around to the second article, which has to do with obruction of congress. what are you hearing unfold in that rerd we saw this on the floor very clearly. democratsproduced letrs, some from officials within the executive department, somfrom the department of defense specifically, saying to house

impeachment chairman at that ttime that they wantedo comply. they were trying to help them get documents, but eventually eney were ordered not to submit those doc. also they were showing letters that were saying, myclient has no choice but to follow thect dirders of his boss, president trump. and demoats sort of summed it up by saying that the president's ords were indiscriminate, tegorical, and that were wrong, and that show obstruction. another interesting note, zoe lofgren, a lot of times we were talking about saddam hussein, -- adam schiff, but aif senators say zoe lofgren is reaching through in a plain-spoken way that seems to be having an effect on both sides. what will th do the rst of the night, judy? by my calculation as of dinnertime in washington, the democrats have about three hours remaining of that 24 hours.ca you believe we're already nearly at the end of it? and we will see if they coinue th these arguments. i also am looking for the

personal stories of thesein managers, taabout why they care so much and their own personal histories. that was one of the most effective parts of the house impeachment hearings back last year. >> woodruff: so interesting.i we'll all bestening for that tonight. iche,eantime, finally, yam starting tomorrow, it's the turn of the president's legal team. h they're going ve up to 24 hours, up to three days. what do we know that we can expect so far? >> well, a source working on the president's legal team says they're eager to present the rebuttal to the democrats' case. a quick note on the president's tweet, a tweet that the president sent out. he said, "my lawyers will beed forco start on saturday, whicais called deth valley in tv." the president is saying i don't our case not in prime time, that said, the president's lawyers say they will take about three hours tomorrow to have what they call a trailer. they say it's a comin attractions trailer, saying they're going to preview some of matheir arguments but noe the bulk of their arguments until monday. on monday they say that's thein

ttraction. they're using these hollywood words, and of course the president had a successful tv, sh we see where that language is coming from, but they will start with rebutting the democrats and talk a lot about joe biden and make the case the presidentas right to bring up joe biden, and they are democrats spent a timeuse defending joe biden. so we'll see a large ande expansive defe the president's attorneys. >> woodruff: we are going to remain on the edge of our seats. yamiche alcindor at the white house, lisa desjardiat the capitol, we'll beseing you tonight.u and n you join our ongoing coverage of the senate trial for the remainder of the evening, reck your local listings that, and online on our websiteu or yoube, and again tomorrow, saturday, when the trial resumes at 10:00 a.m. eastern. >> woodruff: the chinese government is still taruggling

to c a coronavirus outbreak that's killed 26 people and fected over 900 more. officials today expanded a travel bano block the movements of tens of millions in central china. new cases have now appeared in europe and sixther countries, and a second u.s. case was confirmed today. william branam has the latest. >> brangham: hospitals in the city of wuhan, china, the center of this oureak, are jammed to capacity. medical teams are working overtime, dealing with the rush of people worried they're infected with this new coronavirus. hospitals here have issued urgent pleas for additional help and supplies. with the official death toll doubling overnight, and hundreds of new cases emeing, chinese officials have now expanded their travel ban beyond the 11 million in wuhan, into 12 surrounding towns.

that's about 35 million people, roughly the population of canada, semi-lockdown. tom bollky is the director of the global health program at the council on foreign relations, d author of "plagues and the paradox of progress." >> the history of these kinds of travel bans isn't positive. generally speaking, these traven bans are seen that effective.y what tten do is cause people not to report their illness, and try to circumvent gornment and public health officials. and that makes it more likely that t disease will spread. >> brangham: chinese state media released this video of a massive hospital being built, claiming it'll be up aning in a stunning six days me. while chinese health officials have shared genetic and diagnostic information aut this virus, the country's response to the sars viral outbreak 17 years ago-- where the true scale of the outbreak

was hidden for months-- leads some to worry that chinese officials still aren't being fully transparent today. >> concealment is an essential aspect of epidemics of time immemorial. >> brangham: howard markel is a medical historian and author of, among other books, "quarantine"" and "when germs travel." >> most places don't like admit they have a raging fear a quarantine that wouldhey close their port, would close their commerce, would-- would close the flow of money. and, you know, the sars epidemic, which wasn't even a major epidemic, cost the world economy at least $40 billion. we're talking about real dollars and cents. >> brangham: the initial i oun china has now spread to at least six other countriesr includince and the u.s. the centers for disease controld confirmed a se.s. case today-- a chicago woman in her 60s who'd recently traveled to wuhan. a man in his 30s in washington ste is also infected, but now stable. the c.d.c. says they are investigating at least 63 others

in 22 states. e five u.s. airports that are receiving people from affected regions in china are now screening passengersor fevers. the two current u.s. cases arrived before screenings were in place. as china continues to grapple with this outbreak, major questions still need answering: just how contagious is this virus? and how lethal? howard markel says, until those questions swered, banning travel for millions might be counter-productive for a virus that spreads, but perhaps isn't that deadly. >> i think the most concerning thing is this massive quarantine of over 35 million p the largest quarantine ever, ever undertaken in human history. so, you would not use the atomic bomb of public health tools, the quarantine, in the manner thatch a has done, for something that may be quite contagious, that might spread, but doesn't cause death.ng

>> braham: tom bollyky says this novel virus in china is not yet cause for alarm for american there are plenty of other viruses right here to worry about.mi >> we're in tht of a terrible flu season. there is a vaccine that people can actually do something about, if you want. if viewers wanted to be nervous or scared at home about how to protect themselves, rom diseasesis new novel virus is still pretty far down the list, in terms of what they should be doing something about. >> brangham: f the pbs newshour, i'm willm brangham. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, president trump became the first sitting present to address the annual march for life in washington, in person. hepoke to thousands of abortion opponents who flocked to the national mall. mr. trump had once labeled himself "pro-choice," but today, he stressed his opposition to abortion.

unborn children have ne had a stronger defender in the white house. they are coming after me, because i am fighting for you, and we are fighting for those who have no voice. and we will win because we know how to win. actions backed by socialnt cited conservatives, including gettin 187 fededges confirmed just since he took office. in a related development, the threatening to cut federal health care funds for california.th at issue istate's mandate that all insurance plans cover federal officials oday the mandate discriminates against ioproviders who oppose abo coverage, and it gave california 30 ds to reconsider. the pentagon now says 34 u.s. troops suffered traumatic brain injuries when iran fired missiles at their base in iraq this month. duties.ve returned to their

17 are being treated in the u.s. and germany. president trump said this week the injuries were "mostly just headaches" and not very serious. in iraq, followers of a shiite cleric turned out today to protest the presence of u.s. troops. it followed the u.s. killing of iranian general qassem soleimani near baghdad's airport earlier this month. thousands rallied peacefully in central baghdad, calling for the government to expel all >> (itranslated.): we are asking america to leave peacefully, through the parliament andfo political s. but the last option will be military resistance. if not in an agreement, america will be out with force. >> woodruff: shiite cleric muqtada al-sadr had called for a million people to rally, but the numbers fell well sh that mark. later, a few miles away,se rity forces killed two protesters and wounded 25 at ate separotest against the iraqi government. the president has name new chief for the u.s. border

eetrol. rodney scott haswith the agency for 27 years, and backs the trump agenda of curbing migration and limiting legal asylum for foreiers. his appointment is not subject toenate confirmation. scott replaces carla provost, who is retiring. houstonexplosion i killed two people and destroyed a warehouse early this morning. the blast erupted at an industrial company and blew nearby homes off their foundations. police opened an investigation, but said they do not suspect foul play. >> this will be a multi-agency, multi-disciplinary investigation. but let me just say right off the bat-- we have no reason to believe, we have no evidence at this point, that terrorism was involved. we don't have any evidence that a criminal, an intentional act was involved. >> woodruff: the explosion was loud enough to be heard across the city, but officials said there were no signs of any

hazardous releases into the airn on wall street today, a sell-off swept the market, over growing concerns abo the viral outbreak in china. the dow jones industrial average lost 170 points to close below 28,990. e nasdaq fell 87 points, andp th500 gave up 30 points. c still e on the newshour: how an opioid company cheated its way to millions, as the overdoses rose david brooks and karulty consider the latest from the ndstoric impeachment trial. and, our staff aewshour family remember jim lehrer. >> woodruff: yesterday saw a landmark moment in the push to

hold opioid manufacturers legally accountable for their role in fueling e addiction epidemic that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. now, thanks to laws designed to catch mob bosses, executives at one company will go to prison for years. our partners at "frontline," working collaboration with the "financial times," gained unique access to the witness at the very center wi this case. lliam brangham is back and has more on this monumental case. b ngham: in a discreet location in boston, under the supervision of federal prosecutors, salesman and star prosecution witns alec burlakoff spoke for the first time to our colleagues at "frontline" about his role in paying doctors to write prescriptions. w >> tle company is premised on incentivizing doctors to prescribe our medicahaon. the taskdr. kapoor is tking me to pull off, one, bribe doctors, an two, dictate w they actually prescribe the medication, it's not an easy one.

>> brangham: the task he saysor c.e.o. john kasked him to pull off led to the meteoric rise of pharmaceutical company called insys therapeutics, and its primary pruct, an extremely strong and expensive painkiller called suys. the drug was designed specifically for end-stage cancer patients. the main ingredient? fentanyl, which is 50 to 100 times stroer than morphine. the company wanted doctors to write as many prescriptions as possible, and for as high a dose as possible. in his job interview in 2012, burlakoff told kapoor he could get the job done, because he'd done it at a prior company. >> and i told him flat out, we were successful because we put money in doctor's pockets, and the doctors that accepted the money, it was like pavlov's law. pay them, they write more, pay them, they write more. >> brangham: with burlakoff on

board, business began booming.e mpany was an american success story, with a personal note. kapoor had made a prto his dying wife that he'd help create a new drug to alleviate seriousp cancerain. journalist roddy boyd haska covered or and insys extensively for the southern investigative reporting >> john kapoor put about $60, maybe $65 million of his own money into this compan he wanted that money back, with interest. >> brangham: assistant u.s. attorney nhaniel yeager is a prosecutor on the federal case against insys, kapoor, and other employees. >> john kapoor ia control freak, controlled every aspect of the corporation. every single decision abt money and strategy went through him. >> brangham: the key way the company made mon was through its speaker program. speaker programs allow doctors to educate other medical professionals about drug uses, and they typically get paid for it.

that isn't illegal. but prosecutors say insys broke the law by tying speaker payments to the number of prescriptions doctors wrote. fred wyshak is also a prosecutor on the case. >> kapoor decided that, "if i'm paying doctors to speak, i'm also paying them to write." and that's not supposed to be the way it works. >> brangham: insys took a legal industry practice to the prosecutors, corrupted it even further, sometimes paying doctors thousands of dollars for programs they didn't even speak at moctors pocketed the cash and promised to writ prescriptions for new patients. with kapoor's encouragement, s alec burlakos they went all in on the scheme. draw a direct correlation tbetween the dollars we p spker and the number of dollars we received back via prescriptis that they prescred. >> brangham: in 2014, insys increased its speaker ogram

budg to $10 million. according court documents, top "speakers" were each making $200,000 per year. one of burlakoff's key tas was finding doctors who'd be open to participating in the scheme. >> this is how small of a percentage of a number of doctors we're talking. we're talking about a needle in a haystack. you've got to find their hot m button, whateves them tick. you have to vestigate and find out what those are, if you want to pull this off. >> brangham: he says he looked for ways to exploit their vulnerabilities, play on their weaknesses. >> he created a culturthat the only thing that mattered was a prescription of subsys. and how you got it, what you had to do, what it took, did not matter. you should go out with your doctors.ou you ld go to strip clubs with them. he encouraged, or at least hetolerated, tse doctors and female staff having affairs.

>> a lot of people would've been a lot more discreet about it, a lot more careful how they did things.c that's not arlakoff. >> we don't want to be average. average does nothing average does not get the job done-- it gets you fired. ♪ ♪ >> brangham: burlakoff's saleteam even created this music video celebrsting their be-selling drug. within a year of the drug's launch, insytherapeutics was named i.p.o. of the year in 2013 by cnbc. but while insys was profiting from its powerful pain killer, patients were becoming addicted. rodney moreau suffered from back painfter years of working a physically demanding job. he was referred to dr. jerrold rosenberg, a pain specialist, who also happened to be a speaker for insys.

years of painkillers and surgeries had left moreau with little long-term relief. dr. rosenberg prescribed subsys for his back. it helped, but moreau need increasingly higher doses. >> i seen him for nine months. but every month, he would up tho , up the dose, every month. f untially, you know, near the end, i didn't even kw d-- what day it was.n i was justfog all the time. >> he would start dr cigarettes and-- fall asleep sitting up. antei was like, "wait a minu how much othis is he giving you now?" >> brangham: finally, one day, susan moreau had to drive her unresponve husband to the e.r. doctors revived moreau, who had accidentally overdosed on too much subsys.

dr. rosenberg ended up pleading guilty to health care fraud and conspiracy to receive kickbacks, and he was sentenced to more than four years in prison. moreau was lucky enough to survive. there's no official tally, but there are reports of hundreds of deaths linked to subsys. at its peak, sales of subys reached more than $300 million. but, the company had a big oblem. former employees began coming forward as whistleblowers, and doctors who'd been some of the most prolific prescribers of the drug were arrested. federal prosecutors were building their case. >> with publicly-traded, fortune hard to get to the top.it's very i want an insider who can provide evidence about the activities of the people at the. >> brangham: the one insider prosecutors knew would be keyla was alec burff. by december 2016, prosecutors

had enough to bring conspiracy and fraud charges against him,be ann working to turn him against kapoor. >> and it took time anita lot of workmy attorney. and he looked at me and he said, "you're going to plead guilty. you're going to tell the trutho you're goinggin to make amends, and you' going to begito change your life for the better." >> brangham: in a dealith federal prosecutors, burlakoff would plead guilty and agree to testify against his former employer in the hopes of receiving a reduced sentence.r. >>apoor fod the perfect guy in me. he found the guy who would follow him blindly, blind faith anywhere. that was me.>> rangham: john kapoor's lawyers denied he was involved in any of the illegal schemes at insys, and accused burlakoff of lying to protect himse. but last may, kapoor was fnd guilty of racketeering charges, along with four other insys executives.

his former number two also pled guilty and testified against him, along with burlakoff.f >> the realitye matter is, is i made terrible mistakes. i'm in trouble for it. are there other people doing the exact same thing i'm doing rig now? absolutely.ra >> bham: in late november, the trl judge dismissed some of the charges, but upheld the racketeering convictions, sayine kapoorhis business was run" through bribes and fraud." beyond insys, there are several thousand ooing criminal and civil cases against other phmaceutical companies and distributors, and 130 americans overdose every day from opioids. that sws no sign of slowing down for now. yesterday, c.e.o. john kapoor was sentenced to 5.5 years in prison for his role in that scheme. several other executives were also sentenced to prison. among them, star witness alec burlakoff, who pled guilty and 2

was sentenced months. prosecutors told "frontline" executives to see ase as aical warning, that they too could be held criminally liable for any illegal conduct that's fling america's opioid epidemic. "frontline" will have a mo in-depth look at this story later this year. >> woodruff: it has been a historic week. here to weigh what we heard as democrats make their case to office, the analysis of brooks and tumulty. that's "new yorkcoimes" mnist david brooks and "washington post" columnisty. karen tumu mark shields is away. hello to both of you. it has been an his or the, week, and it still going on. the senate is in session tonight. it will be tomorrow. david, look back at the week. what do you make of what the democrats have pre, how they framed the case against the president? >> wely'l, the certainly

exhaustive. there's been a lot of talk and -- >> woodruff: you say exhaustive. >> well, both, ive and ing. adam schiff ris a vey clear prosecutor. he knows when to hmmer a point home.i would give them an a on g that trump did it. i think the evidence was overwhelming. i would give them a lower grade on should he be removed for office. for doubting republicans, that' the more important argument to make. i thought they hid that less hrd and less well. all my friends loved his closing comments. i was less impressed. that's when he directly addressed why this is worth removing. and not h own intelligenceuliani agencies. that strikes me as true, not a

crime. he said you can't trust trump in 2020and what if china interferes, but you can't remove him for something that hasn't happened. re are honest brokers, they're probably alittle doubtful about removal. >> woodruff: karenwhat do you make of this week? >> i think just by the accumulation of material that they have put outhere, i do think the democrats have done a sood job in proving that th was not a frivolous exercise, that this was not some sort of doing as the republicans keepe saying to overturn e results of the last election. and the other thing is theline ot of schiff's closing argument that really struck me, and people keep talking about the institutional imperatives here where he said the framers couldn't protect us from ourselves if right and truth don't matter. well, i think that does sort osf

k to where we findwh ourselves,rehe thing thefr ers worried about the most is factionalism trumps everything else. >> i agree with karen. it's a moral critique, and doesn't matter, dos ournesty constitution work? and if loyalty to the cou doesn't outweigh loyalty to party, does our constitution work? >> woodruff: they kept coming back to that. >> that's the moral case. the question is how much do we think of this as a legal thiannk how much do we think it's a moral thing? would be a little wary of find him morally objectionable. these are all great arguments not vote for they, but to do a legal process of removal. >> except the outcome is preordained. >> woodruff: because they have the majority. >> right. not even going to get any, you know, republican votes, enough of them,in to brwitnesses in,

so i think the house managers are not making this argument because they think that they are somehow going to change what everybody knows the outcome of this is going to be. >> woodruff: but you still have -- back to your point earlier david, you still have public senators, i interviewed deb fisher of nebraska who are saying they're not ready to accept the prese that the president tried to persuade the president of ukraine to investigate joe biden. she said that hasn't been proven yet. if that's the case, tit see me they still have a way to go. >> this is the intesng counter-factual. suppose they had a president who was a reasonable human being who could say, i messed i apologized, i will make it up to ukraine, but is not worth removing. this was sort of the clint approach during that impeachment process, but trump's laid down the law that it's going to be all or not.hi and that requires a massive denial of reality on behalf of all republicans. >> woodruff: is it enough, karen, for the republica to

come become and say this is... basically repeat what theis presidenaying, this is a hoax, there'sing in here, let's move on? >> i wonder. they're also likely to say there has to be, as keep hearing the phrase "underlying crime" beneath these impeachment articles i'm not sure constitutional scholars would necessarily agree think that is argument that we're going to hear a lot of from the president's team. >> woodruff: over the next few days. >> and there was a "wall street journal"editorial todaywhich said this is etting the wrong standard for removing a president because he did something in his n polical interest. all presidents this that. that seemed to foreshadow the r.gument that we'll hea >> woodruff: you're saying they're going to have to mount some kind of defense here, that they can't just dismiss it all as waste of our time. >> woodruff:hhardest thing for them to do is to deny the facts of what the president actually said in that phone call, what deb fisher told you. it's very clear what the president ice intent was in that

phone call. >> woodruff: well, while all the is going on, thre are four senators, david, who are running for presidentwewho if iren't for this impeachment trial would be campaigning in iowa and new hampshire, and by the way, we are today i think ten days away from theiowa caucuses. what do we know about the race right now to the extent we know anything? there's clearly some polls, but how does that race look? >> i think both sanders and biden are lookingronger and stronger by the day. somehow there seems to be a alition around those two senators. i think the senators that are now forced to bein washington are going to suffer because of this. it's a small electorate in iowa. last minute really changes things and actual rallies abencounters actually do change things in iowa. and so i think it's a serious didvantage for klobuchar, warren, and sders in particular, and they will have to struggle with it. >>nd this year potentially more so in these final days than if you look at the polling, you

have a really large number of iowans who have not really nailed down their candidate choice. up to 60% are saying they eithet havemade up their minds at ntl or they sort of have in mind who they might wo vote for, by they can be talked out of it. that's what these last days are for. so i agree with you. i think the person who may be most hurt by this is amy klobuchar, because hers has been such an iowa-centric strategy. she is really looking for a breakthrough there. >> woodruff: and i think the about maybe a week and a half ago, you were in iowa. do you pick up on the ground talking to people why it is tha bid sanders are the most appealing? is there a -- these are two men with very different approhes to government. >> i think it's the hearts h versus tds. people who are in this for bernie sanders are extremely -- they are passte about their

decision. and the people who are coming around to the vice president are pragmatic in their decision. they just think that he's the guy who can go theistance with trump. >> woodruff: and defeat him. david, we're watching. i don'tnow. we are all hoping to get to iowa at some point before the caucuses, but we'll see what happens with the impeachment trial. the last thing i want to bring up is somebody david knows veryl very wl, and karen you knew jim lehrer, as well. but david, you came this program when jim was the anchor, and we lost him yesterday. he died in his slep. it's a huge loss for all of us at the newshour. tell us a little bit about the jim lehrer you knew. >> well, i did ten years inshi building with him face the face and with mark. the story i always tell is i was a budding young version of this, and when i wouletsay somng that he thought he liked, that met the standards of the newshour, his eyes would crinkle

in pleasure. i'd see this little twinkle. when i would see something crass and not wortfhy the newshour, i would see his mouth turn down. so for ten years i chased the crinkle. but in that subtle way, without ever saying a word, he taught me how to do this, and he set standard of exceseence. of coit wasn't just me. it was all of us who worked in is building some he crated this moral ecology where we understood what was the right way to do this. and that lives on today, and whatould be dwreatder than passing down a moral ecology that defines what excellence is. the final thg i just would like to say is off the air he was way wilder than he was on the air. >> woodruff: thaanybody ever knew by watching him on tv. >> much fun, a very big person. >> woodruff: that's funny that you use the word "ecology. " because last night i interviewed robert macneill, an he says he had a moral

intelligence. he alied what was right to everything he did. karen, you followed his careerrn as another jist. >> i did. i admired him as a fellow san antonioian. it is sort of a wonderful almost historical coincidence that he and the newshour came along when they did, right before the at vent of the 24-hour news cycle accelerate even so much more with social media. i mean, what hae relly understood is that you need them take you need to sometimes pause. you need to go deeper into a this is what relly would be subject. lost these days if it weren't for people like what jim lef:er. >> woodrnd it's something there's a lot of discuss right now, david, about what happened to the news media. we're being challenged by the president and others who sa we are, you know, we are biased, should be doing, and that the

news is flying by too fast. so it seems t mee principles that jim laid down are really important. parties i went to in my life is with jim, his wife, kate, robin, an bob schieffer. and they talked about dallas, november 22, 1963. there dan rather was there. you realize they covered all those events from dallas to obama. it was a generation of journalism at its finest. some people say it's the passing of an era. in some ways it is, but we're still here, an we try to carry dition.hat tra >> woodruff: quite a remarkable history. well, we will carry on the newshour, but it's truly a loss that we mark. david brooks, thank you. very f:

>> woodrs we continue to grieve the loss of our co-founder and former anchor, jim lehrer, we want to closet tonith the voices of our own staff and newshour family. k w he touched so many lives, and the outpouring from you, our viewers, has touched us all. for those of us lucky enough to know jim personally, hes an indelible imprint on our hearts. >> he cared about us. he cared about the viewers. and he cared about the news. and all of those things together are a rare commodity in this day and age. >> it's ben 28 years since i lehrer, and still every singlem time i write a sentence, i still it correct, is it fair, and are possible? as few words as >> i remember i would go down to the control room and watch the ostories that i had prced as they aired, and one of the screens up on the walwel sho jim lehrer sitting at the an

consider's desk. he would watch t pieces as they aired, and sometimes he would look disinterested, which was not good, but sometimes he would get rlly interested and he would lean forward and smile, and that was always t goal. >> jim was like your best but hardest teacher, the one you wanted to do your beswk for. he held you to a very high standard, and he let you know whentou didn't get i right, but when you did get it right, he also let you knoanw. he made sure that others knew, as well. >> jim lehrer will always represent for our students the best of jouisrn he'll always be the guiding light for the students doing wo that is accurate, that is fair, and has integrity above all.>> integrity was the key wo, and it still is. that was jim's gift to all of us, and he should be remembered for it. >> watching m as a d growing up, you knew that you were tching the standard. it was what journalism can be

and what it should b you saw that you could be sceptical but civil. you could be tough but you could be fair. and all of those things are still at the core of what we do r. the newsh >> jim leaves behind a corset of principles. you, our viewers russia just as smart if n smarter than we are. it's our job to present the news, and you can make up your >> when hused to come in and call me his friend, it would usee me feel real good, beca it felt like i was a part of the newshour family. >> a lot of peopleed lop to jim as the reference of what for us here at the newshour, we. are and will be semper fi for the standards he set. >> he senit an e-mail sng good job, it really meant a lot, and i cherish each one of those. there weren't that money, but each and everone were appreciated and you knew heem meant th. his office.having a meeting in

he was giving us advice about what it took to become a journalist. he said, if you hear a fire siren or a police siren and you don't wonder where it'going or what it's going for, then you be a journalist.ave the drive to >> my grandfather started going around introducing mes julia, my granddaughter, who works for the newshour with jim lhrer, and i think that is a testament to the legacy of at jim did and this organization. it has launched careers of hundreds of journalist, and wext taller saying that we worked here. >> while the other annels made a business out of people yelling at each other all day long, he showed us night after night and showed me that it was, in fact, possible to create a program where people could disagree agreebly about mathat matters, so, jim, thanks for taking chance on me. >> he always felthaforeign stories were important and had to be told. and i remember that in the

morning meetings if somebody suggested a story that maybe nobody had heard anything abot that was a really important foreign story, jim would say, who else will do it if we don't. >> jim was sentimental, jim was tough. robin's last night on the show, in, good night, jim, and then in the control room, you saw the camera ion jm, and he buried his head in his hands and sobbed. >> about 19 years ago, i was diagnosed with cancer. it was very scary for me and i was verier nervous, and jim lehr found me wking in the hall one day and he said to me, "your job is to tevel me whait is you need, because whatever you need, i will make su you ge it." -he loved his newshour family, and he loved the news, and for that we're all the better. >> it wasn't the slightest bit of falseness or fakery in him. he was completely authent when it came to the screen.

i'm convinced that's why he connected with millions and was so good at what he did. news copy i'll often think inng the back of my head, what would m do? i know his journalistist standards will always stay engrained ine for the rest of my life. here are the rules he had for journalism as read by our stat. >> rule number one, do nothing i cannot defend. >> number two, cover, write and present every story with the care i would want if the story were about me. >> number thee, assume there is at least one other de or version to every story. >> number four, assume that all viewers are as smart and caring and od a i rson as am. and number five, assume the same about all people on whom i report. >> number six, personal lives are a private matter until a turn in the story absolutely mandates otherwise. >> number seven, carseully rate opinion analysis from news stories anb clearly lel

everything. >> number eight, do in the use anonymous sources or blind quotes except on rare and monumental occasions. no one should be allowed to attack another anonymously. >> number nine, i am not in the entertainment business. >> woodruff: it'been said 100 times, journalism matters in a democracy. jim believed that with every fiber of his body. and we carry that with us every day, every hour in what we do as the ur. so jim, you left us a gift that will be around forever. our thank you and our love is endless. we miss you so much. >> woodruff: and online, we've and he was and is our north star. and online, we gather some of our favorite jim sayings and observations.'v and online, gathered some of our favorite jim sayings and observations.

own tribute to jim. your leave your memories and comments, and we'll are them th jim's family. that's on our website, www.pbs.org/newshour.pl anse stay with us as we continue our special coverage of the impeachment trial tonight,to and join urrow morning starting at 10:00 a.m. as president trump's legal team begins their defense. kem judy woodruff. have a great wee. thank you, and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs neur has been provided by: >>idelity investments. >> bnsrailway. >> consumer cellular. >> american cruise lines. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their

solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour. >> this program wa possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. station from viewers like you.bs thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc

captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> yore watching pbs.

nd welcome everyone to "amanpour and "compan here is what's coming up. >> we are ready to present our case. we are ready to call our witnesses. the question is, will you let us? >> democrats continue building their casest aga the president ith no new evidence witnesses. former federal prosecutor ann m mms milgram breown the argument. if i change my mind and i don't believe i can win, i will get out. >> as primary season heats up, tomse steyer makes his or becoming commander in chief. this is not human. this is some hell. >> a new play about a courier whex