captioning snsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: gjud evening. i' woodruff. on the newshour tonight: a turning point in the impeachment. as more senators come out against witnesses, the chamber movetoward an end to the tri of president trump. then, closing doors. the white house expands its controversial travel ban, barring citizens of six more countries from freely entering the u.s. plus, on the ground in iowa, where a single weekend is all that separates democratic contest of the prieason.rst >> i'm undecided, and now that it's coming down to the wire, i would like to see theone could persuade me to have a clear-cut decision. >> woodruff: and, it's fday. david brooks and ruth marcus are

here to analyze the impeachment trial, and the final days before iowans make their choice. all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funng for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> consumer cellular offers no-contract wireless plans that are designed to help you do moof he things you enjoy. whether you're a talker, texter, browser, photographer, or a bit of everything, our used customer service team isere to find a plan that fits you. to lea more, go to consumercellular.tv >> bnsf railway. >> american cruise lines. >> collette. >> fidelity investments. >> the john 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 puic broadcasting. and by contributions to your p station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the united states senate will not call witnesses in his impeachment trial in the united states senate. there have been growing signs that his acquittal will come

very soon as more republican senators confirmed today that they will vote with their partye and democrats' calls to hear new evidence. nick schifrin begins our coverage. >> the senate will convene as a >> schifrin: in this court of impeachment, the fate of the debate on new witnesses and documes was all but certain before preside trump's attorney jay sekulow argued against it. >> so, this idea that they haven't had witnesses-- that's the smoke screen. witnesses.rd from a lot of the problem with the case, the problem with their position is, even with all of those witnesses, it doesn't prove up an impeachable offense. >> schifrin: it was all but certain before house manager val demings pointed out th senate has never held an impeachment trial without witnesses. >> is this a fair trial? without the ability to call documents and witnesses, the answer is unequivocally no. >> schifrin: and it was albut certain before the "new york times" revealed today that former national security advisor john bolton had more first-hand dknowledge to which he co

testify. in an unpublished manuscript, bolton writes that in may, with white house counsel pat president trump to to call ukrainian president lodymyr zelensky, and make sure he met with rudy giuliani, to discuss investigations into the 2016 election, and democratic presidential cdidate joe biden and his son hunter. lead house manager adam schiff used the "times'" report to urge nators to vote to subpoe witnesses and documents. >> the facts will come out. utey will continue to come and the question before you today is, will they come out inf timeor you to make an informed judgment as the guilt or innocence of the president? >> schifrin: today, president trump denied the report, saying, "i never instructed john bolton to set up a meeting for rudy giuliani to meet with presidenty zelens that meeting never happened." >> so here you have theng president sajohn botlon is not telling the truth." let's find out.

let's put john bolton under oath. let's find out who's telling the truth. >> schifrin: senate minority leader chuck schumer argued that a trial without witnesses would lead tan acquittal without meaning. >> if my republican colleagues refuse to even contnsider ses and documents in this trial, this country is headed towards the greatest cover-up since watergate. >> schifrin: but two key republican senors weren't convinced, and are votes against new witnesses. toda lisa murkowski of alask criticized the speed of democrats' case and said, "there will be no fair trial in the senate. i don't believe the continuation of this process will change anything. it is sad for me to admit that, as an institution, congress has failed." late last night, lamarlexander of tennessee wrote, "there is no need for more evidenceo prove something that has already been proven, and that does not meet s the unittes constitution's high bar for an impeachable

offense." went on to write, "it w inappropriate for the president to ask a foreign leader to investigate his political opponent and to withhold states aid to encourage that investigation." democrats seized on that criticis >> senator alexander, a seniorse te republican, a retiring member, said out loud what i think most senate republicans believe in private-- that yes,pr thident did withhold military assistance to try to elections.e to help him in his >> schifrin: democrats have for new witnesses.nly one week the president's lawyers called that unrealistic, and warned they would call all 13 officials who publicly testified during the house investigation. >> you heard from lot of but if we go down road of witnesses, this is not aon e-week process. >> schifrin: at the heart of impeachment's politics is presidenti policy toward ukraine. for five years, ukrainian soldiers have used u.s.-funded weapons antraining to confront

russian-backed separatists and russian soldiers. 14,000 ukrainians have died. today in ukraine's capitalyev, u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo visited a memorialse honoring thoilled. and in a press conference, pompeo and zelensky tried to convey a united front,im unaffected beachment. >> ( translated ): it seems to me this is a new step in our relationship, a new sentiment, a new attitude. we have had multiple meetings,i ann't think that these friendly and warm relations have been influenced by the impeachment trial of president trump. >> schifrin: democrats accuse esident trump of withholing a white house meeting with zelensky until ukraine launched investigations. today, pompeo said there was no such quid pro quo, but still wouldn't set a date for a white house meeting. here's no condition of t nature you described for president zelensky to come to washington and have that visit. it's jt simply not the case. we'll find the right time. we'll find the appropriate

opportity. we want toake sure that it happens at a time when there are substantial progress, thingsat e can deliver between the two of us, and there's a lot of work. >> schifrin: but the senate's work is nding down.na rs and white house officials predict president trump will be acquitted by the middle of xt week. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> woodruff: after today's vote, senate minority leader chuck schumer reactedtoo the mov deny any further witnesses or evidence. >> do not allow a witness, a doment, no witnesses, no documents, in an impeachment trial is a grand tragedy, one of the worst tragedies that the america will rem this day, unfortunately, where the senate did not live to its sponsibilities, where the senate turned away from truth and went along with a sham trial. with no witnesses, no documents,

the acquittal will have no >> woodruff: we turn now to our lisa desjardins and yamiche alcindor. lisa, to you, this vote, 51 against witnesses and 4 for. tell us about the swing senators we wer keeping an eye on and d theision to swing against this. what went into their thinking? >> the two decisive votes for the president were those of senators lisa murkowski and mar alexander. if you dig deeper into the statements, nick posted good parts of those statements, you see they had very serious problems with the house process, that's what lisa murkowski wrotn er statement. she wrote the house chose to send articles of impeachment th are rushed and flawed and continue, it has also been cleared some of my collendues ino further politicize this process and drive the supreme court into the fray by attackinattacking the chief jus. that seems to be a reference to senator elizabeth warren who asked the question of the chief

justice yesterday or the c parties, but tef justice was at the heart. the question was whether the chief justice himselfas compromised and whether the confidence in the supreme court was underminedy him presing er this trial. that was somethingha rubbed lisa murkowski the wrong way so much she talked about it. on the topic of partisanship, la lamar said ilif the pent were to proceed, it would rip this country apart. this is the whitehouse pounding argument that the white house is moving in a partisan way, and i was rebuk of adam schiff who apparently was not able defend himself against those arguments with these two senators. >> woodruff: yamiche, one of the witnesses the democrats wanted to hear from, the national security john bolton "new york times" reporting joday, new information from this book tha bolton has written. what about that and what is the

white house saying aboutt? >> the white house is celebrating the fact that republicans were able to bloc witnesses, new witnesses from being called to testify,pahat of the senate impeachment trial, whether or not to remove president trump from office. president trump is denying this drip, drip, drip, of new informatiocoming out to have the manuscript written by john bolton. the white hse is putting out as well as the vice president and mick mulvaney.be th hav saying whatever john bolton is writing about is not threw true.ho ver, the white house is happy john bolton will not be testifying at the senate and, as a result,hey're really celebrating the fact that no other people in the white house, ask whether or not what johnl bolton allegedly wrote about is true. the other thing to know, the white house is already in some ways feeling likehey're celebrating the fact that the president being acquitted. the vote hasn' happened yet but we have someone including rudy giuliani, the president's personal attorney saying senate had rendered justice,

he's also saying it would prove that democrats weaponized t impeachment process and made it a partisan pro>>ss. oodruff: and, yamiche, i know you have been talking to me president's legal t about how they see this coming to a conclusion. feat are they telling you you about the next days? where do they see this going, exacary? >> thing very fluid at this hour. president's team as well as the white house legal team is stressing that they want the president to be soon as possible, but a little bit about the calendar, the president could be acquitted lit as wednesday or early as tonight. what i clear is that the white house is pushing for an accelerated calendar. they wanthe presidebe able to deliver the state of the union onesday and be able to say i was acquitted, the democrats lost. will do that. not clear the other thing to note is even on a busy day like today, the white house is stressing the president n't focused onlyon impeachment. today the president has a travea where he added six countries and put new restrictions including the largest country in

africa, nigeria.e theyying the president is focused on the signature issue, immigration, and swohes presidend like to be acquitted, he's not waiting to be acquitted to do other things. >> woodruff: sa, what about in the senate in whats the thinking there about how this wraps up? >> right now, judy, it's completely unclear. i had one source text me back "chaos." both parties now are meetin separaly in their luncheon and dinner rooms, trying to figure out the way fward. it does not look like sator mcconnell has 51 votes for any one path forwa among his republicans only, or it's also possible senator mcconnell understands that democrats can just keeis process going as long as they want because the motion to acquit the presidentnt on impeach judy, democrats can amend that motion, and they caan propose as amendments as they like for as long as they like. m democrats tolde or senator schumer's office that they feel like they have a lot o leverage because of that, that they can keep this process going as long

as they want. rightsn now, it d look like the two sides are really talking with each other. the democrats are seeing if mcconnell canet 51 votes for any one way forward, and there's pressure onne mcc upand allies of the president yamiche is talking about tohi move along as quickly as possible. the democrats want to ta longer, they want the vote aer the state of the union. it's a friday night cliffhanger, i suppose. >> woodruff: both of you will continue to watch this very closely. be reporting on it here and online as soon as we know anything. thank you, yamiche, thank you, lisa. >> you're welcome. and one other note: a key figure in the impeachment story, marie yovanovitch, has retired from the state department. she was forced out of her post as u.s. ambassador to ukraine by the white house last year. our special live coverage of the impeachment is continuing on air and online tonight. check your local pbs station or join uonline at

pbs.org/newshour or on our youtube pages. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, the united states has declared a public health emergency over the coronavirus outbreak. china has now confirmed more than 9,700 cases, and more than 200 deaths. the u.s. has six confirmed cases. health and human services, alex azar, said the u.s. is barring foreigners who recently traveled to china, and is worng to corral the outbreak. >> the most important thing that we could be doing is what we arh doing, ws offering to help the chinese government and assist them in helping them control the spread of the coronavirus in china. working with them closely as possible, as well as the world health organization. low.s isthe risk to am

>> woodruff: nearly 200 americans who were flown back from china this week will stay quarantined at a military base in southern california for two weeks. the state department also warned ericans not to travel to china. and, delta and american airlines thave susnded all fligh and from china. fears of economic fallout from the virus sparked a new sell-off on wall street. the dow jones industrial average slumped more than 600 points to close at 28,256, down 2%. the nasdaq fell 148 points, ande the s&p 500 p 58 points. the trump administration added six countries today to its list of nations subject to travel restrictions to the u.s. they are eritrea, kyan, myanmar, nigeria, sudan and tanzania. citizens of those natiolns w face new requirements on entering the u.s. we get the details, after the news summary. britain has officially left

the european union tonight,ar after 3.5 of political wrangling. prime minister boris johnson celebrated the event, amid continuing questions about the fallout from brexit. gary gibbon of independent television news has our report. >>eporter: have you split the country into a brerkts prime minister? >> prime minister, if you could lean in a little bit. >> reporter: a symbolic cabinet meeting where lead triumphed andt bre swung votes last month. minister will say he wants a trade deal like canada has with the e.u., opening acknowledging for the firsttime that approach means expensive delays as products are checked aterthe boo the e.u. the government'sstimates and consens amongst the columnists, that will hurt areas like the northeast. ♪ in brussels, the u.k.'s e.u. office lowered its e.u. flag. its staff members now go up with

the extra pressure of being that club showing chin-up unity. >> -- as the sun morises ow, a new chapter for our union of 27 will start. >> reporter: the hall was lit up this evening. the day of the referendum, civil servants spoke of stressnd despair. back then, nearly three-quarters of allac.p.sd remain. >> we're one of the biggest economies in the world, per ips the bigge the world. we can make a success of the choice that we can make, and i'm sure that's exactly we will do, and i wish the government well in all their endeavors to ke sure that happens. (singing) >> reportera couple of hundred pro-remain demonstrators serenaded the e.u.'s office in london. one said "we'll be back." the e.u. officials lood touched, notonnced. >> woodruff: that report >> woodruff: that rert from gary gibbon of independent

television news. israeli troops clashed with palestinians today, y protested the trump administration's peace plan that heavily favors israel. in the west bank, soldiers fired tear gas and stugrenades at protesters w threw stones. in gaza, thousands of palestinians took to the streets and burned israeli flags. in australia, the nation capital region around canberra has declared an emergency, as a major wildfire burns out of control. it is the first fire ergency for the area since 2003. since monday, e fire on the city's southern fringe has charred more than 53,000 acres, scorching plant and wildlife. officials say the situation is >> the fire activi. increasing. it has been unpredictable. it remains challenging. it is difficult to access. this fire could create i own weather system. >> woodruff: extreme heat and drought have fed one of

australia's worst fire seasonsor on r. at least 33 people have been killed, and morehan 3,000 homes destroyed since september. back in this country, president trump ended limits on the use of land mines outside the korean peninsula. the policy dated from th obama era. u.s. officials said the move addresses a potential conflict with china or russia.ad cacy groups cited the long history of landmines killing and maiming civilians, even after wars end. a woman accusing harvey weinstein of rape testified today at his trial in new york. actress jessica mann cried as she said theormer movie mogulhe rapein a new york hotel room in 2013. she said if he heard the word "no," it was like a trigger. weinstein's lawyers say the surelationship was cons. and, another democrat has quit r the presidentie just ahead of the iowa caucuses on monday. formerongressman john delaney

maryland dropped out today. he had campaigned as a moderate, warning that promising "medicare for all" amounts to political icide. but, he failed to gain any traction. 11 democrats are still running. still to come on the newshour: the trump administration expands the reach of its controversial on the ground in ihere caucus-goers are gearing up to make a choice. david brooks and ruth marcus break down the latest from the senate impeachment trial. plus, remembering jim. memories of our friend and co-founder, as we say bye. >> woodruff: as we reported, the trump administration announced that it will extend the travel ban to six new countries. the latest iteration oban will suspend immigrant visas for

citizens from four countries: nigeria, myanmar, eritrea and kyrgyztan; and it would bar from the u.s. diversity visaia program, which awards green cards to immignts. our amna nawaz has the story. >> nawaz: that's right, judy. and to talk out what this means we're joined by farhana khera. she's the president and executive director of muslim advocates. the group has filed ten lawsuits against previous iteratioba of the trave and is the driving force behind the no ban act in congress. the act would rescind the travel ban, and require the president to meet a more strinangent rd to enact a travel ban in the future. welcome to the "newshour". >> thank you. thank you fo having me. >> reporter: let me put to you what the adminisation said to me. senior homeland security and state department officials and let's take you to theap to understand what we're talking about. the seven natio are the existing travel ban.

iran, somalia, libya, yemen, and north korea. this is the updatedap, ifand when the new travel ban goes into place as they said at the end of february, that's what the expanded map looks lthe countries we just heard there. they say the administration, this is about security,hat when these countries meet a higher standard of vetting and administration will reassess. what do you say like that? >> i'd say thatis like p lipstick on a pig, frankly. this is, unforounately, bigotry. the president made very clear wen he was running for president that ted a total anmpd te shutdown of muslims entering the country. in more recent years, he's spokenfu disday about african immigrants, even saying nigerians, onco they came t america would not want to return to their huts. i think what we see today, w can dispense with this notion once and for all, frankly, this is a travel bec,se what

today's ban clearly is on enimmigrants, basically ps who want to be reunited with their children, fianceés wanting to reunited with a spouse who might be married to a green card holder, an american citizen. thban today does not ban visitors. so what the president is saying, oh, ce, we want your money, we want your labor, come visit here, be a student, we want those resources, buton't make america your home. >> reporter: let me ask you about thi because as was reported earlier, only a sma portions of visas are affected, you're talking about people who ant want t theo immigrate here and stay. people, after the first travel ban was enacted days after president trump wa in office, days after in airports, it thene trump administration worked

through multiple it regulations remeheld up by the s cour so they will say this is legal. you have the right to be able to national security.e of u.s. >> but here's thet thing, w we know, the policies are aually ripping familiars will apart. we seethrough the eyes of community. and our where literally tens of thousands of americans are hurting today because they are not being allowed to be reunited with their family members and their loved ones, and it's not rooted in any ki of national security justification at all. you know, we have not yet seen the administration really kind of justify or explain exactly how banning babies and grdmothers makes us safer. a blanket ban country make us safer at all. the other thing i will add on that point, too, amna, is if there truly was a natl security justification, if there truly was a concern about identity management and passport control, then why would you say it's okay for tourists to come?

right? >> tourists and visas go through lower vetdsting standar >> reporter: it's anti-intuitive. it belies the fact that fundamentally this is about bigotry and it's about the presiden as ultimatenda is frankly a white nationalist agenda to restrict entry into the united states of non-europeans. he's made that clear. >> reporter: let me ask you about something else, the original ban included one country, when it met the standards, it was improved and people can apply for waiver. this was not an all-out ban on citizens. what has been the impact and do the waiverset processed? >> we have found the waiver process is a sham, so family members are supposed to be able to get an exception through waiver, but, in reality, the government actually hasn't even been clear with the public ability how you eve apply for a waiver and the reality is those peop who are requesting waivers, they're being reviewed and approved inly an extre slow manner. there are people who have been

waiting literally three years to be reunited with a fianceé, to e reunited with an infant child. that is way too long, and, now, by adding these additional countries, we'rect infg harm on literally tens of thousands more americans. if i could add, we believe, according to censusdata na the united states, based on the 13 thuntries on the ban list, involves at least a million americans, million americans have their place of birth in these 13 countries, and they obviously have family members, some ofto whom they wan be reunited with. so this is inflicting harm on people, and this is not about national security at all. >> reporter: fra farhana khera f the noms advocate group, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: and now we turn to

iowa, just three ds out from monday's first-in-the-nation presidential caucus. remaining.still 11 democra polls show many likely democratic caucus-goers are still decided. and as national correspondent stephanie sy reports, in a state that is edominantly white, candidates in this tight race are trying to tap into the growing minority popul >> so can i look to you to spread this as a hope that is needed in order to bring aboutch ge in this country? >> this is our time to dream big. >> iowa started threvolution. in iowa, let's complete the revolution >> the character of the nation >> reporter: in this crowded democratic field, nodidate has broken away from the pack, and a lot of iowans we spoke to haven't made up their minds. >> i'm undecided, and now that it's coming down to the wire, i would like to see that someone could persuade me to have ar- clt decision. >> reporter: but there's no lack of enthusiasm here. >> this is actually the first time i'm actually going to participate.

so i'm looking forward to it. doesn't matter, but our votes matter. >> reporter: for many iowans, the stakes have never been higher. veteran iowa political journalist o. kay henderson: >> they sort of feel the weight of the world on their shoulders. you know, i've had peoe tell me they lay in bed at night thinking about the candites and which one they think they should choose. so they'reeally, really wrestling with this choice. >> reporter: and candidates only have a couple days left to convince them. >> i'm going to council bluffs! ( applause ) >> repter: engaging voters is so essential that minnesota senator amy klobhar took advantage of a break in the president's impeachment trial to dash to council bluffs, iowa for a trip lasting less than a day. >> you have five leadinge, candidates hf you include amy klobuchar in that mix. and they're all drawing, sometimes hundds and sometimes

over a thousand people, at events here in iowa, which shows you, there is interest, there is enthusia. >> reporter: henderson says the nearly 1,700 precincts are preparing for a record turnout, driven partly by new efforts to engage iowans, like the ones at this mock caucus, that might not normally turn out.ri that includes ng number of non-white voters. more than eight in 10 iowans are white, but the number of bla, latino, and asian sidents have multiplied in the last ten years.t do you think twa should have as much leverage as it do in choosing the democratic nominee? >> yeah, it's a difficult one to ask an iowan. i would say, it seems a little odd to me. i enjoy it because for many years i've gotten to see these candidates come through. but in reality, perhaps we aren't as representative as some other areas of the cou

>> reporter: alba perez, a u.s. citizen who immigrated from honduras nearly 40 years ago, is trying to engage potential ucus-goers that are new to the process, holding a sort of cauc 101 session in des moines. >> i want the country that adopted me and that i've seen to be welcoming to me in many ways, that changed dramatically during the 2016 ections, and a lot of the conversations changed. i don't want to feel id. i don't want to feel attacked. >> reporter: perez, who is backing massachusettsenator candidates can no longer ignore minority voters here. >> they may not be significant w, but will beme significant. >> reporter: and these campaigns know, a tight race, every vo counts. whether it's volunteers making calls at warren's ioy headquarters, or organizing

canvassers, like at this field office for vermont senatorrn sanders, in a predominantly black neighborhood. >> turnout is evything. and we've done a number of great things, too, to make sure that our diverse coalition tus out. >> reporter: just across the cedar river, pastor frantz whitfield, the influential head of the mount carmel baptist church is an outspoken advocatet for vice presioe biden. >> i think it's crucial you have to have the african american vote, if you're planning on winning the ite house. >> reporter: in 2016, pastor whitfield endorsed sanders, but this electio his priorities have shifted. >> one of the reasons why i decided to cnge my mind this go around is because we need somebody in the white house who' knows what t doing. someone o doesn't need on-the- job training, and i feel, again, that joe biden is that best choice. >> reporter: for whitfield and many democrats across the one priority numbe is beating trump.

>> i'll accept any democratic selection, period. >> i will vote blue no matter who. >> i want whoever islectable. i want somebody who can beat donald trump. >> reporter: the problem is, no one really knows who that is. that's why many of this year iowa's caucus-goers are scared to commit. they're lookg beyond this state, stuck in the impossible calculus of figung out who can win in november. judy? >> woodruff:hank you, stephanie, and that brings us to the analysis of brooks and marcus. that is "new york times" columnist david brooks, and "washington post" columnist th marcus. mark shields is away.al we're going toabout iowa in just a moment. we're going to talk about it this evening. just before 6:00 eastern time, david, that the senate did take was1 against and 49 for.re how do you sump what's been

happening in this the arguments that both sides have made. >> yeah, wl, my view to hav the whole affair hasn't changed since we read the first anscript of the first call lo these many monthiss ago e certainly did it and, over the last however months it's been, we've had evidence after evidence that, yes, he certainly did , and whether john bolton wrote it in his book, he would be witness 937 that it certaly happened. my reaction all along has been that this probably meritsnd removal, have to say right now sitting here tonight, i'm very glad he's not being removed on wednesday. if they took a vote and removed theresidentics with the country split, with no public minds having been made up, with anything trump rising in approval a little bit, i believe it would be a cataclysm for the country. thousand can ies hold views? i have no idea. but these three things are in my

head. >> woodruff: how do you look at this? >> well, a couple of things. on this vote on witnesses. i've seen we've all seen a lot of dispiriting votes in the united states senate, this is one of the most appalling to me because i have some of the same reservations, so not quite to the extent that david has, abouv the y of removing a president from office especially with a country split like this, especially with a country placing an e-- facing an election in november, though i woed, in fact, v to convict him and think he should be we moved from office, t, at the ry least, let's get the witnesses out whether we have known it from the start, he has denied it from the start, there has been dispute, including from his own lawyers about whether or not this happened, and it's a bizarre situation because they're engaging in a coverup they know wille exposed in a matter of months if not weeks

and daysecse more information is coming out, bolton's book is coming out, so at least have the witnesses. >> what would we learn? i could see if you don't know if the crime occurred, if a burgla occurred, but we know the burglary occurred, so i'm just playing devils advocate here, do we expect the witnesses to change any minds? ioubt any republicans' minds would change. do we expect them to give us afe very dnt picture of what happen? i doubt that would happen >> the newspaper reported today that john bolton tell us that the conversations including directly with the presidnt, urging him to reach out to zelensky, the president ukraine, something we had not known before, boltoneclined to do it. because this is not aboutne perfe wct conversation, whi not perfect, which was a very disturbing conversation on its own -- we've read that transcript taskehe president us to do -- this is part of a long-term effort on the part of president to use his

power as president t damage a political opponent, that is as serious as it gets. as we learn more details about but at least we'll know whatge, we're dealing with. >> i think since the first transcript appeared, we learned over the course of all these testimonies, it wasnt one call, it was an extended campaign. we have one more chapter in tha extended campaign with bolton. to me, it's diminishing returns. >> well,nk that arguing about diminishing returns, vid, and i'm saying this with all the affection i have for you, is a likely od argument for a journalist to make. we want to get to the facts. >> right. d we should make decisions based on the facts. position sit can't to hear what john bolton has to say. there's no down side. i probably would have ted for witnesses. i'm just trying to annoy ruth. (laughter) woodruff: let me come back to the lamar alexander, he said we understand this is what the

president did but he shouldn't be removed over it. tackle that. >> i think the way you cou a make thatument is that this is not beautiful a criminal trial, this is political thing, and you have to take into account the larger context. vote to remove, it would make me very nervous if we had persuaded nobody in the amecan public, and this body rests within the larger realm of the americanpu ic, and maybe america is not persuadable my facts anymore. in that case, we have a problem, but if the p aple saying he should be removed are not changing a single mind and there's any evidence they've t go opposite way and we have a society where everything is delegitimized, i think this would massively delegitimize washington. the trump voters are not the fault of washington, but it's a reality.

>> so lamar alexander use add milk toast adjective to describe the president's behavr, he said it was "inappropriate." and i agree if you think this mhavior waserely inappropriate, that's a very gravstate to oust a duly elected president as the president'sawyers kept telling but this was not just inappropriate, this was at the heart of what the framers consider to be an impeachable offense, and the reason we know that isha that jon turley, who was a republican's witness, writing for "the washington post," said in the hoe tha if proven, this would be an he didn't say must convict and remove, but it's veryerious. >> woodruff: where does it leave us? they haven't had t finalote but we expect they will be in acquittal the coming noys, they'r saying maybe the middle of next week, but, david, wherdoes it leave the government in this country that we have been through this now? >> well, it's been a wrenches period, and it's been a

wrenching period for the republican party, who really did not, as the republican party did rt watergate days, step back from their isan affiliation and seem to be fair-minded jurors. i tught,rankly, they did better than we expected them, but my expectations were fox news level, so they actually, i think, did some wrestling. but we did not have what you would call a fair even explanation ofhat they were really thinking. you just had the sense of massivbad faith whicis now three years old in the republican minds where they're thinking one thing inside and e.uth ago bunch of party spokens on the outs >> one of the really thing come will be the on oft will whether the republicans become la czar alexander republicans and least rate the president about whether his conduct was perfect, or whether they will buy into a different argument, i whic it just country rise to

the level -i'msorry, whether it will stay with the president is perfect, or they'll say it doesn't rise to the level. >> woodruff: well, we are watching in thdays to come and waiting to find out right now when this -- at least this piece is going to be resolleved. bus quickly turn to iowa. we heard stephanie sy report, david. we sound, we don't know, but berniede s, joe biden have been doing well, we don't know about pete buttigieg, elizabeth warren. what is your sense iowa. >> i would say in the last week, ten days, it would ke sense to pay attention to the vectors, which way are things moving, and sanders direction. moving he has a surge going on. sanders is really surging, andut what's interesting to me is warren is falling, but not as much as sanders is surging. so it's not just he's takingte from her, he's taking votes from somebody else, and the otr surge worth mentioning

is amy klobuchar, who is also surging, and she's within a shot of overtakingwarren or even buttigieg now. these things, when they start moving in the final days, they tend to go further than youin and, so, i take sanders and evenno klobucha winning but moving up, i would take that seriously. >> to underscore david's point and to agree with him, for a change, that is ratified and underscored by the fact that only 60% of people say they've definitivelyade up their mind. i think that sanders is a serious threat to win, both in iowa and in new hampshir and that would be -- and this is not just the sort o usualrgument about in the democratic party, this is a st huggle for thert and soul of the party. and old.argument between yng it's an argument between left and center moderate, and it's much more than last time around,

which was the first chapter of this, between hillary clinton and bernie sanrs. there is really a surging wing of the democratic party that i way left. the latest s nbc-"waeet journal" poll had just 12% of sanders voters supporting capitalism, having a positive view of capitalism, so that's a really big deal. 60% had a positive view ofm. social >> woodruff: we heard in stephanie's report, david -- i mean, this is a state that is clearly bi majority white, what does it say about the democratic party overall and where this goes from here. >> i don't think kamala harris east or cory booker's chances were killed by iowa isge l white. they weren't getting pickup for whatever reason nationally. so i d't think iowa fair place to bin because the tyke take it too seriously. they tend to be too social

conservative, but on the democratic side they've done a reasonable job of pecking. one thing ability sands that's obsessing me, if yourounty is the democratic nominee, for warren it's 90%, bernie it's i 52%, a you look at the margins of 2016 in pennsylvania, michigan and wisconsin, margins were dominated by people whode voted for s in the primary and trump in the general. so the democrats may be in a position because they can't nomate sanders because he's too far left and cant not will vote, that would be an argument. >> there's one other vector that is not an iowa effect, but i think we need to start paying some serious attention to, and that's michael bloomberg who has spent close to $300 million, ism aling up in the polls, especially if sanders performance very well as may be expected thugh iowa and new hampshire.

there's going to be a lot attention t bloomberg through the sanders alternative. >> woodruff: and they're easing up rules on contributions fromch supporters w will make it possible for bloomberg to qualify for the debate. >> which will be a good thing for everybody. >> woodruff: which will make it more interesting. >> orore panic on the upper west side of manhattan. >> woodruff: ruth marcus, david brooks, thank you both. >> woodruff: today, family, friends and our newshour family past and present said goodbye to our co-founder, jim lehrer. he died last week at age 85. there was a memorial held today at the national united methodist church in washington, d.c. it was a lovely and touching service. here are just a few moments.

>> of course, erybved jim lehrer, we all loved him, and i think the reason is this: he confirmed for me something i've always believed, and that is that nice guys finish first. let's just say he was disciplined without overdoing it. he was ambitious, gifted without self-made, never snscious.s >> he loved the lives of others. he was devoted to the lives of strangers. if you heard jim end the conversation with someone, you couldn't tell whether was speaking to a supreme court justice or kids who parked caurs at a rest, so democratic was his mind and soul, so genuine was his terest in others. >> we were all sitting in the kitcheand he got up and told my brother, sister, and i that

he was going to teach us how to march as marin. we jumped up immediately and started to follow him. he shouted out his march cadence as we traveled behind him in as straight a line as three kids could manage, which isn't very straight. being seven years old, when i realized i couldn't match hi perfectly, i started jumping around and fell out of line. he continued tmarch with my siblings icircles until i fell back into step. while this may feel like a small moment, as i look back, it exemplifies perfectly how nerous my grandfather was with his time. >> each jim decision was a family decision. time to buy a house? a family consensus would required. moderate a presidential debate? wah a day until i consult w kate and the girls. this is a side of jim the worldh didn't seecreative work

that mattered most to him, as kate's partner, in building this strong and enduring family. ♪ amazing graceth how sweesound ♪ that saved a wretch like me ♪ >> woodruff: and before we go tonight, we also wanted to take a little te to hear from some of the producers and correspondents who worked alongside jim for decades, andat he earliest stages of this program. here are a few of their thoughts about jim, his values and his legacy. i >> i met j1972, and the first thing i noticed about him were his eyes.ey i think hi were the secret to his success. they were honest eyes, and they said, "you can trust me." d

n't matter who jim was interviewing. it didn't matter what the color of their skin was. it didn't matter where they wenh tol. it didn't matter how much money was in their bank account. what mattered was what that person, that unique individual, had to say. and when he turned tho big brown eyes on you and asked you what w usually a very simple question, you tried very hard to be as open and honest with him as he had been with you. i think that's why he was such a great interviewer, and also such a great friend. eh>> good evening, i'm jimr. on the newshour tonight... so i learned to watch him. and one of the things i learned from him was tu could have a list of prepared questions, but you have to listen to theas person whoeing interviewed. and so, if they said something a you hadnicipated, you had to figure out how to pick up on that, because it might have been you asked.tant than the question

>> it was our job to present all sides of the issue, even the shades of gray. he taught me the objectivity of not picking a horse race. sometimes when i was with friends, they would mock me, saying, you treat journalism as some kind of priesthood.ou i thought that and i said they were right, because i learned from the high priest himself. >> jim lehrer knew what he wanted, and the newshour was a reflection of what he wanted and who he was. jim wasn't going to ything get in the way of his journalism, as he defined it, as he wanted to do it for the american people. >> jim was a hard man to

persuade. but if you've earned his trust, he was willing to roll the dice. >> one of jim's great gifts as h newsman was thknew when a story was right. and when it wasn't, in early january '11, when prot started breang out in the arab world, our overseas isporting unit was totally out of money for thel year. nevertheless, i walk down the hallway to his office a few dayo t, and i said, jim, i know we're short of money. i think these protests jus starting out could really transform, certainly the middleo east, and thd as we know it. he asked a couple of questions and then he gave his characteristic, "i hear you." i went back to my office and, halfour later, word came. "get ready to leave r egypt in the next 36 hours." >> the one time i got a little nervous about jim's reaction was when f.w. de klerk announced he was going to release nelson

mandela. this was back in 1990.y and i had alrede reservations to go to south africa. jim said, well, the only way 'd approve it is if we could guarantee an interview with mandela. well, i guess it was jim lehrer in my blood, because i said, i will get it. and sure enough, we flew to south africa and we got the only one of two half-hour interviews with mandela. >> did they do tngs to you to make it el like a prison? >> oh, yes. >> house speaker foley predicted a budget deae l... >> wlled ourselves the "newshour family and it really was a family. and in a time of personal crisis for any ofs, there was no more empathetic friend than jim. >> jim cared about me, he cared about my family. i took sick early in the 1990s, and he visited me almost every day in the hospital.n >> w husband was diagnosed in the early stages of a crippling disease, i was devastated.

i went to see him and he said, first, take all the time you now, let's see whaan do to he you. within day i was connected to some of the top medical people >> and to our new correspondent, gwe ifill. welcome, gwen. >> thanks, jim. >> he wasn't afraid of strong women. he was surrounded by them at home-- his wife kate and their ree beautiful daughters. and he actually pushed very hard to add more women and people of color to the newshour te, whcause he believed strongly that diversity i makes the world go around. >> he and robin used to y, we do news that can be used by people to make their own decisions. he trusted people's intelligence and inteect. and i think that's something we need to learn from, even today. >> jim was a great friend to have. he's exceedingly smart and very funny. fii know how lucky i was t a boss and a friend like jim so

early in life. it was a rare and precious gift. >> woodruff: we arso thankful to hear all this. we miss him so much.l and we bk, right here, here, there is a deal to bak for the weekend. resume monday and hold a final vote on wednesday. plus, we would ask that you keep watching our special live coverage of the impeachmentho trial thro tonight. that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruf have a great weekend. thank you, and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: t velers, experience the world in more than 160

destinations, acrossive trave styles like small group explorations. their inclusive tours feature local guides, cultural experiences, meals and accommodations. since 1918, colette has guided travelers around the world.t learn more colette.co >> fidelity investments. >> bnsf railway. >> consumer cellular. >> american cruise lines. >> the william and flora hewlet foundation.n for more t years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. >> supporting soci. 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 was made possible by the corporation for public broadcastingut and by contrns to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc d captio media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> you're watching pbs.

hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & mpy." here is what's coming up. >> folks, every four years, democracy begins in iowa. >> countdown to the caucuses. former democratic presidential contenderary hart joins me. he helped make this first coest sovital. we have fwhnot seen the pea. >> the global struggle to contain the coronavirus. we're going to fail if we do not become more incluve and we don't say, enough is enough. >> the first african-american chief prosecutor in st. louis suing her own city. our michelle martinalks to kim gardner.