captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> nawaz: good evening, i'm amna nawain washington. >>oodruff: and i am judy woodruff in new hampshire. on theewshour tonight, we are on the ground in thenite state, where voters in the nation's first primary today arp g re-shape the democratic race for president. >> nawaz: then, a question of justice. roger stone, confidante of president trump and convicted felon, now at the center of a new controversy: how long he should be in jail. and, cleansing the sacred water. on the banks of india's ganga river, where the holy waters grow more polluted by the day. >> by far, the most toxic pollution of this river is probably its least visible unless you happen upon drainage canals like this one. >> nawaz: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

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brhotographer, or a bit learn more, go tos you.e tod consumercellular.tv >> the john s. and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communitie more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. urand by contributions to bs station from viewers like you. thank you. >>rawaz: voting is still un way in new hampshire tonight, in the first primary of thispr idential election year. after the chaotic finish to the iowa caucuses, new hampshire results could begin to clear some confusion irathe democratic

. judy woodruff begins our coverage, reporting from new hampshire. >> woodruff: voting kicked off , e old-fashioned way, at the stroke of midnig places like dixville notch, population five. the first votes went to a candidate not even on the state's ballot: former new york mayor michael bloomberg. >> and now on the democrat side there was one vote for buttigeig and woe vote for sanders and t write-in votes for bloomberg. >> woodruff: but it's vermont senator bernie sanders, followed by former south bend, indiana mayor pete buttigieg who are expected to be the top finishern this unusually large field of democrats.ha voters, more thalf of whom

were undecided as of a few days ago, lined up before the sun rose over the granite state. >> people are really invested and interested and they try to learn what the candidates, tifir sp candidates stand for.he >> woodruff:andidates themselves descended on diners and polling plthes on this eir final, drizzly morning inmp new hashire, for last minute hand-shaking. buttigieg yesterday joined moderates in the party in targeting sanders, who won here in 2016 by 22 points, for being too liberal. >> we have to choose a responsible approach that can actually get big things done. >> woodruff: sanders boasts ange entic base of believers in his progressive message, and when i ran into him this morning at a diner, he pushed back on the chorus of criticism from his opponents.

people of new hampshire, the people of the united states, the thople of this country finally want a governmen represents all of us, not just the one percent. it's going to be grassroots support that is going to win. of course, working people are ing to wle for us, young peo win. we're feeling really good. >> woodruff: for the many undecided like karen bugler, the time had finally come to make a choice.a >> it waugh one. it was very, very tough. i had been a biden person forever and made the decision to vote for bernie. >> woodruff: ariana harris c planned toelebrate her 18th birthday by voting for the first time. she said buttigieg was at e top of her list. >> i feel like he's one of the politicians that says things and means it is not just saying it just to get votes. ge has a little more knowl me being on the sideseople like of, you know, other presidents who have been older. >> woodruff: other candidates want strong showings in new hampshire to stay in the mix. massachusetts senator elizabeth warren vowed to persist as her polling numbers declined in the run-up to primary day. >> i've got the best chance of

beating donald trump, i'm gonna bring this party together. >> woodrf: and former vice president joe biden, whose supporters fear 'll show poorly, shocked democrats here by leaving for south carolin a move to shift his campaign to friendlier terrain. >> the rest of the nion is out there. there's an awful lot of electoral votes to be had. >> are you giving up on new hampshire? >> no i'm not giving up on new hampshire, and don't poke that thing in my face. >> woodruff: meanwhile, minnesota senator amy klobuchar has been gaining traion, following her strong debate performance here last week and biden's weak finish in iow >> something is happening here. and we just want to seize the moment. i actually bring the receipts. i've won in the red and purple districts. >> woodruff: voter dave bugler said klobuchar had swayed him. >> i went for amy, voted for amy. i wanted biden, but i felt that he was getting, you know, really bullied. so amy impressed me the first time she came out. >> woodruff: and other

candidates are still hoping for a breakout moment.en coloradoor michael bennet... >> i hope we surprise folks today. we'll see what happens. gr woodruff: billionaire tom steyer, hawaii cesswoman tulsi gabbard, fmer governor deval patrick, and entrepreneur andrew yang. >> we're going to have a big party and celebrate an historic outcome. >> woodruff: many voters tell us they're picking their candidate with a single, urgent question in mind: who can beat president trump? he was on the ground himself in new hampshire last night rallying his backers amid the democratic tangle. >> we have so much more enthusiasm than that's not even close. they're all fighting each other. they can't even count their votes. w druff: but votes will be cound in the granite state, and the results will set the course for a primary season that's now in full swing. and for more on the candides'

final sprints to win new hampshire, i am joined here in manchester by adam reilly, political reporter for wgbh, our partner public media station. adam reilly, great to have you with us. >> thank you for havg me. judy >> woodruff: you've been covering politics in newa hampshire foile. you'll spent last day, actually weeks, out there talking to voters. tell us what you're feeling aou whate hearing from them in these final days? >> i'd say at the outsend that i think the reports that we've heard of a split in the democratic party and among the democratic base between people who want to trackeft and people who skew to the center, that's a very real thing. i was in derry today, a town that went for tru in 2016, and a lot of deiocrats there sad they wanted a more reasonable moderate approach. they were voting for buttigieg and klobuchar, a gu w is voting for biden but he wants to vote for yang but he thinks biden are the best bet. but there are plenty of people even in a town like that where democrats struggled last time

around who see sanders as their best hope. this is not a media narrative. the party is in the dst of an identity crisis. >> woodruff: this is a town that went big r donald trump >> by a solid margin, more than new hampshire as a whole >> woodruff: and still there >> still there we sanders supporters. one woman i spoke to who is supporting sanders told ma decade ago i couldn't have imagined supporting bernie sanders. he's so far lef but donald trump's presidency has pushed me further to the left.y the couns gone so far to the right they feel we need a course correction. he otheruff: interesting thing we're seeing is after iowa, joe biden notdo g as well as people thought. people rethinking their vote. what are you picking up about that? >>well, i a little surprised given the results that 've seen for biden recently and the conventional wiz demeanor around his campaign that one ntleman i talked to said he's voted for republicans, democrats, and independents in thhtpast. he thohat biden was still the democrats best bet.

so there i some residual loyalty there. but that being said, i think all the signs point to him having a disappointing finish. you mentioned him getting out of town. it also worth mentioning, another candidate who has not gotten os of town but who taking steps to preempt negative coverage this evening is elizabeth warr. her campaign manager sent out a memo to supportersa couple hours ago saying, whatever happens tonight, re's why we're going to continue organizing in all 50 states, here's why she, whatever happens tonight, is the candidate bested positio become the nominee and why you shouldn't put toot much stop a buttigieg surge or a klobuchar surge. i feel like she's trying to get ah things. >> woodruff: it's almost as if the other candidates expect or ink that pete buttigieg, maybe amy klobuchar are going to do well. >> buttigieg and klobuchar and i think also sanders. one striking thing i should highlight, when you go around and talk tsanders supporters, i spent the weekend talking wite

pet sanders events and warren events. i wanted to get a sense for how they were choosing between the two, for the die-hard, isnt wa a choice as all. as soon as he was in the race, they we going to be with him. they see him as this rock of ideolo>>cal purity. oodruff: that bernie sanders loyalty. >> yeah. and conversely, warr supporters i think also were not rs.rly enticed by san they see him as maybe overly rigid. they like the idea of electing the first female candidate. ieey're two distinct camps. let's say if beanders becomes the nominee, would elizeth warren warren supporters wore for him they t candidate?ould for their >> brangham: hanging over them, they're agonizing over the choice bechey're worried about donald trump. this is a state that donald trump won by ten points. o a state that hillary clinton won in the primary >> woodruff: exactly. >> sanders won and thent

presidump almost won in the general and has continued to here. it's a false insistence that voter fraucost him the electi >> woodruff: but the president had 12,000 fans here last night >> right. he had 1000 fans. and i saw a lot of trump supporters turning out at thepo s in derry to make a good showing for him. and the thag that relly -- two things that struck me talking to the trump supporters, didn't meet any weld supporters.tr they were almp voters. i don't detect a whiff of uncertainty on their part tha wt l be reelected in november. beat him, can the right person beat him? the republicans are flush with confidence.the other thing thatp on is early on in the rise of trump, there was a lot of hedging from republicans when you would talk to them about him. i don't like the way he tweets, but he doeshis thing well. or i wish he would be nicer to people. as dropped. you still hear it a little bit, board with his way of doing on

business m>> woodruff: that's whkes democrats worried. adam reilly with wgbh, thank you very much. >> thank you, judy. >> nawaz: please join us tonight at 11:00 p.m. eastern for special live coverage of the results in the new hampshire primary. >> nawaz: we get more insight no ofrom the field and oun lisa desjardins. she joins us from a bernie sanders campaign event in lisa, good to see you. since you're there with team there.ht let's sta he's had some of the state's largest rallies. you have been covering them.en we've eeing them become here. do you know so far if those a crowthe rallies translate into actual votes? >> such a good question, amna. is crowd is hoping this is a victory party tonight. the mood is very high among nders supporters, and even some non-sanders supporters right now, amna, expect he be the man to win tonight. that doesn't translate into votes necessarily. but one thing that does translate into votes is this idea ogetting out the vote

we've seen his enormous rally crowds, amna, but the truth is much of those rally crwds, lking to them have, been people from out of state who arn sanders fans. that has translated into a large number of volunteers, and today volunteers have been knocking on doors, getting out the vote, and i'll tell you, i talked to many voters at the poll today, bernie sanders voters are two kinds, amna. one, voting for him because they say he's a cosistent politician fighting for working people, and two, those who say they're working for him, amna, interestingly, i heard this a lot today, even though they're not sure he can beat president-b trump, bcause they believe in him. >> nawaz: lisa, what aboutf somehese undeded voters you've been reporting on? we know a large numneber of hampshire democratic primary voters were undecided until the very last minute. do you have a sense of which way they were swinging when they filly went to cast their ballots? >> new hampshire voters are famous for making decisions even if they're surprising and

unpredictable. i have been tracking two dozen person after person told me, i'm still died desiding. i have two who are going into a vetting booth right now telling me they're in the sure how they're going to vote. high know by the end of this live shot. but when i speak to some of them, i -- serially, watching them type right now, it looks like the undecided e splitting, a large amount for pete buttigieg, but i will tell you, i heard more aboutrr elizabeth today than i expected from some undecided voters, and as judy has been report, amy klobuchar is on thea lips of many people here in new hampshire. >> nawaz: another thing we h sve been tracking is thheer number of candidates. there has been an intense c campaigninle there. we know people in new hampshire take pride in being some of the first in the country tot cas these ballots, help the rest of the country decide which way to go. what are they telling you about all the attention they've been receiving so far? >> this campaign has been exaordinary even by new hampshire standds, because of cell phos, amna.

voters tell me there getting crushed by cell phone calls and text messages and so many knocks at their door. sanders tell me they think it's dog more harm than good. one ing to keep in mind is how this state is split. look at a graphic of who the vote are in this stat look at this: there are almost as many who are declared as republic and aswo"ratic, but there are many more voters here who are undecled. they're independent, and amna, those are vote, being targeted by all these campaign, and they tell me that frankly they neited o stop. and it's moving them the other way. >> nawaz: lisa, we should mention last nightou covered that rally that judy was lporting on a little while ago of president trut night in new hampshire. he's the man all of these candidates say they want to be in novembe y wh were talking to people there in new hampshire who like and support this president, what are they telling you right now? >> ths ere iimmense support for donald trump. remember, this is a swstate in november. amna, at that rally, there were

such roars of approval. when you talk to trump voterswh here they like about this president, they say he's getting things done and almost to aha person theye all told me we think he may not be the smoothest. some people say we think he's rude. one man told me today, i don't mwant him asbest friend, but i think he's getting things done and i will support him. for the president's support this this state, no question it's strong. >> nawaz: very briefly,ere we let you go, we talk a lot about people on the democratic side of things who are leading the polls, who are you watchifo whom tonight is a make-or-break moment when it comes to their campaign? >> well, i think colorado senator michael bennet no doubt. he's goto perform. he told me in the top three or four. he's made that public. that would be a great stretch for him. i think he may not have much further to go unless he can have a commanding surprise tonight. i think also a lot of eyes patrick. these are candidate don't have a lot of money to continue going forwd. tulsi gabbard, we're watching her closely. i think the two businessmen,

andrew yang and tom steyer, thes have fo go forward, but they need to place higher. making the debate stage is not enough. you have to in the top three to really have a shot at keeping going. >> woodruff: that's our ownrd lisa dess reporting on the new hampshire primary taking place today in maernche lisa, good to talk to you. >> nawaz: in the day's other news, the potential prison sentence for president trump's phiend and adviser roger stone has triggered anval at the justice department. four federal prosetors resigned after the department criticized their call for a ven to nine-year sentence as "excessive and unwarranted." stone was convicted of obstructing congress and witness tampering in the russia investigation. we'll take a closer look, after the rest of today's helines. the president suggested today that the pentagon may puni

army lieutenant colonel alexander vindman, a key impeachment witness against him. vindman and his twin brother were ousted from the national security council staff lastwe . mr. trump also said he expects other departures from the white house. the world health organization warned today that china's coronavirus outbreak pos a very grave threat to the world. china reported new totals of 1100 deaths and 44,000 cases. in geneva, the head of w.h.o. urged nations to get their health systems ready. >> a virus can have more powerful consequences than any terrorist tion, and if the world doesn't want to wake up and consider this enemy virus as public enemy number one, ion't think we will learn from our lessons. >> nawaz: the agency also convened more than 400 scientists to focus on speeding up drug treatments for the virus.

but officis said it could take 18 months before the first vaccine is ready. we'll have a report from beijing later in tsa program. ths of palestinians took to the streets in the west bank and ga today, protesting against president trump's middle east peace plan. in downtown mallah, crowds waved flags and chanted against mr. trump. outside a nearby jewish settlement, israeli forces fired tear gas at palestinians throwing rocks. meanwhile, palestinian president mahmoud abbas went before the u.n. security council in new york, and condemned the peace plan. >> ( translated ): it leaves palestine fragmented without an cont our land, air and sea. it would put an end to the refugees. palestinian it means a rejection to all agreements and obligions to establish two states along the pre-1967 lines. this plan will not brice or stability, and therefore we will not accept th plan. >> nawaz: the trump plan allows israel to annex large parts of the west bank, including jewish

by most of the world's illegal governments. back in this country, the defense rested its case in harvey weinstein's rape trial in new york today. the hollywood producer's lawyers opted not to have weinstein testify, shielding him from a potentially aggressive cross- examination. closing arguments are set for thursday and friday. actor jussie smollett is facing new charges for allegedly aging an attack on himse last january. a grand jury in chicago today returned a six-count indictment accusing smollett of lo police, after he insisted he was the target of a racist and the actor, who is black and gay, was originally charged with disorderly conduct. but those charges were later dropped. a federal judge in new york has cleared a major obstacle to t- mobile's teover of sprint. today's ruling rejects a lawsuia from 14 statuing the deal would mean less competition and higher phone bills. the merger totals $26.5 billion and would cut the number of major u.s. wireless carriers from four to three.

the de om another federal judge and a state board in california. the head of the federal reserve reaffirmed today that noad tional interest rate cuts are in the works, unless the economy suddenly sours. jerome powell told a house hearing that three rate cuts last year have helped growth and job creation. >>s long as incoming information about the economy remains broadly consistent wh this outlook, the current stance of monetary policy will likely remain appropriate. of course policy is not on a pre-set course. if developments emer that cause a material reassessment of our outlook, we will respond accordingly. >> nawaz: during the hearing president trump again complained that the central bank should do moreur the economy. he tweeted, "the fed rate is too high." seattle is now the first people from their duringcting the winter-- between december and februanc. the city c adopted the ban last night, in a bid to help low- and moderate-income tenas.

seattle has some of the nation's highest rents, and widespread homelessness. the bill faces a possiblveto by the mayor, plus a likely court challenge. and wall street had a relatively quiet day. the dow jones industrial average lost a fraction to close at 29,276. the nasdaq rose 10 points, and the s&p 500 added five. south africa today celebrated the 30-year anversary of nelson mandela's rease from prison. he walked free in 1990 after 2 years behind bars under apartheid. mandela led the fight to dismantle the racist system of oppression. in cape town today, a crowd gathered to honor mandela at city hall, where he first spoke after his release. maelela ultimately won the n peace prize, and was elected president of south africa. he died in 2013. south africa is also in mournin today for musieat joseph shabalala, who passed away in pretoria.he he createdhoral group

ladysmith black mambazo and led them to global fame and multiple grams over five decades. they collaborated with paulon simohe "graceland" album in 1986, and performed togethern in zimbabw987, with shabalala singing the lead on a signature song. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> nawaz: joseph shabalala was 78 years old. and, grammy-nning jazz keyboardist lyle mays has died in los angeles after a long illness. he co-founded the pat metheny group in the 1970's and alsork with the likes of joni mitchell and earth, wind and fire. lyle mays was 66 years old. still to come on the newshour: a new twist in the saga of

convicted felon and friend of the president roger stone. the view from beijing as the ath toll from coronaviru shows no signs of slowing. to the hague: dan's former dictator will be handed over to the international criminal court. and much more. >> nawaz: roger stone is again at the center of controversy. this time it is causing a shakeup at the department of justice.ix stone is the former associate of president trump to be convicted on cases stemming from the mueller investigation. federal prosecutors recommended in a monday night ling that stone be sentenced to seven to to congress and wion for lying tampering, but senior justice department officials intervened. john yang explores how there is now a fight over how long stone

should spend in jail. >> yang: amna, the new filing makes no recommendation for stone's sentence, deferring to the judge inhe case. it comes hours after a middle- of-the-night presidential tweet calling the original recommendation "a horrible andai very usituation. cannot allow this miscarriage of justice." short time ago, presiden trump said the change was not made at his request. >> no, i didn't speak to the judge. i'd be able to do it, wanted, i have the absolute right to do it. i stay out of things to a degree that people wouldn't believe. but i didn't speak to him. i ought that the recommendation was ridiculous. i thought the whole prosecution was ridiculous. >> yang: and now at least one of of>> yang: and now all fouhe attorneys prosecuting stone has tt zapotosky covers the justice department for the "washington post" and joins us from their newsroom.

matt, we just heard the what's your reporting tell youo about how this happened and what the sequence of events was? >> the justice department also denies that there was any contact between the white house and them in the last day or two when this all transpired. here's our best understanding so far: in rent days there had been great argument internally about what to do with the stone sentencing recommendation kind of these line prosecutors, these guys who tried to withdraw froc the case today ading for a guideline sentence, seven to nine years, and their supervisors pushing back. we don't know exactly why they were pushing back. si think it's fair to ase now was probably because of pressure from justice department leadership. what happens then is very unclear. the justice department claims that they were sort of blind sided by the recommendation that is filed. there's a lot of reason to be sceptical about that given that they presumably would be engaged in discussions about what was about to filed, but they

claim they're blind sided by this sevento nine-year recommendation that was filed yesterday. so then today they say publicly, a senior justice department official says to a lot of reporters, we're going to undo this. we were surprised by this recommendation. we're ing to do undo it. as you reported, that's exactly what they did. they didn't say specifically we ink it should be half of seven to nine years, we think it they said they think it should be less. but it's a remarkable, stu rebuke of the career prosecutors who by that point had all moved to withdraw themselves from the case. >> yang: how unusual is it to completely rever the recommendation entirely? >> back and forth over a sentencing recommendation are not that unusual. it's very typical for prosecutors to want to bend aggressiveither their bosses or even political leaders to say, well, i think you're

taking this too personal. i think you', going to do but that's not exactly what we seem to have here. i can't say that i haer seen a case where the department has made a recommendation and then not 24 hours later reversed itself. that's just so unusual, and given that there was such debate, you would think tht justice department leaders would be paying close attention to what was filed and would want to sign off on what was about to be filed. we still have a lot of questions there, but sufficed to say, this is all vey unusual. while debate about what should be recommended is not unuomal, we havehing much more than that in this case.li >> yang: thee prosecutors, the prosecutors who know the details of the case ininvolved, it day-to-day, the assistant u.s. attorneys who appear in cot as opposed to the u.s. attorney who sort of supervises the ffice, the four line attorneys in this case have now left t case, one of them quitting the justice department altogether. what's the message there? what do you make of that? >> they ha not given reason

for, that but again the implication seems clear. it's only hours afterhe justice department says publicly it's going to reverse their recommdation that all this happened. and it's so unusual for prosecors to withdraw from a case. when they do it, it's because they can't ethically attach thr name to filingings if that case. people might remember you saw that in the case when attorneys lt they couldn't get behind the trump administration's position on that. u saw kind of a similar thing in the census case when careerre attorneys eplaced on that by the justice department after possibly voicing some objecti some that seems to be what you have here. again, the career prosecutors, guys who weren't politically appointed by president trump, resigning from the case, onede from the partment entirely, one from his post in the dc. u.s. attorney's office after the department undercut them and said they're going in a differentirection. >> yang: matt, thanks so much. >> thank you. ch

>> nawaza continues to struggle against the viral outbreak of this newna corus, and is only now starting to allow scientists and public health officials from the outside to assist their efforts. william brangham takes a look at how the country is coping. >> brangham: while the vast majority of infections and fatalities are centered in eastern-central china, in hubei province, this outbreak is increasinglyeing felt across china. for a look at how things are on the ground hundreds of miles from hubei, i'm joined by david rennie.ei he's theng bureau chief for "the economist." david, thank you very much for being here. could you just give us a sense right now, what is it lie many beijing? >> today in beijing where i am would normally be absolutely packed. it's the end of this very long extended lunar new year holiday. literally millions of migrant comings are due to be

back to the big city here from their homes in the countryside where they went to see their families. factories should be starting up. shops should be starting up. h none of that ipening. it's still unbelievably quiet. this is a city of 22 million people, and most small shops are closed, restaurts are closed, schools are closed. no p kents will put theirids out on the playground or in the park. it really is a ghost towit a huge city. it's really extraordinary how this ensrmous city t feels completely, comy pletad. >> brangham: i understand that people have basically been ordered to qrantine themselves inside their homes. how are people reacting to those kind of orderers from theme gove? >> it's a mixed picture. if you're asking how do the chinese take the idea of being told to stay home and effectively cancel the biggest holiday of the year, there's a acceptance. a dozen or so people werelo literalled into their bedrooms for the chinese

christmas. of thanksgiving and they had come from jobs in wuhan, the worst-affected city, and they were told they couldn't even see their own families, that kind of quarantine, there is amazing acceptance. people use these propaganda phrases that you see on red banners hung around the street the party saying that this is a war, this is a people's war, a battle. foot soldier centers thatike battle. that's one side of it. there is anoer side of it, which is how much people trust the government's assurances tha this under control and how they seem to have really covered this up for several weeks at the start and has that made this a bigger crisis than it needed to be. that's where we're seeing a aremendous, unusual aim of very unusual politicager on chinese social media. >> brangham: what about the onomic impacts? we've seen some car manufacturers outside of china cally stop productio because they're saying they can't get parts from china.

but i'm curious, how is the local economy in china holding up? >> i think itu next cople of weeks that will tell us a tremendous amount about public morale inside china, because people will either not be able to come back the their jobs at o altens of millions of people are expected to come back and pick up that job a waiter or as a cleaner in an office building or working in anai ort, but all the flights are canceled. all the restaurants are closed. all the ofce buildings are telling people to work from home. so if you were counting on that income, it's not going to be there.ec if the inon numbers keep climbing, that will become a serious doe pest inissue. in as much as factories that are part of global supply chains are also not able to get up and running, at the moment the chinese domestic worry is very quickly going to become a worry for the whole global commerce. w >> branghat is your nmnse about how president xi and

the central govt are being perceived in this crisis this has to be an enormous test fr them. >> president xi had been presented for the last several years as the supreme leader, the man withll of the wisto run this country. but right new he's clearly the we're seeing propaganda machine pushing this familiar narrative that if there had been of baapples at the local level who will be sort of rooted out by the central government, investigated, and ti-corruption kind of detected. in the meantime, president xi, as you say, has been touring hospitals and medical facilities here in beijing. he was called the commander of the people's war against the epidemic today by the state media. they're very much pleg him as the general in chbue. there is that tremendous distrust of a lot of what the government is telling people, and people can see image, particularly from the worst-affected areas like the ci of wuhan, where the are a lot of frightened, sick people,

tho think they might have the virus, but when y get to hospital, they're completely overwhelmed. a lot of doctors and nurses are getting sick. so in as much as things are going wrong, an it's massive challenge for any country, that is a very hard thing to manage if you have team around president xi who really presented hitas this uterly infallible, benevolent, kind of imperial figure that. raises thetakes for him when a big crisis like this needs managing. >> woodrf: all right, david rennie, beijing bureau chief for the economist, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> nawaz: ay with us, coming up on the newshour: how to clean a sacred warway. e difficulty of washing away the pollution of india's ganga rive the former president of sudan is one step closer to fr ing justice e most egregious

of the crimes he allegedly committed. during the mt violent of omar al-bashir's 30 years in power, sudan descended into civil war. now as the government conducts peace talks with rebel lders, they have agreed to send bashir to trial. for more than a decade, omar al- bashir has been wanted by the international criminal court for mass killings and other war crimes in the darfur region. today, sudan's transitnal government and rebel groups in darfur announced the deposed leader will be handed over to the court, at thhague, in the netherlands. >> ( translated ): we agreed on the appearance of those whose arrests have been ordered, in front of the international criminal court, and i'll say that clearly. we cannot achieve justice unless we heal the wounds wstice itself. we cannot, under any condition, flee from facing these crimes against humanity and crimes of war which were committed against >> nawaz: bashir has been jailed in khartoum under corruption charges since mass protests and

a military coup forced him from power last april his 30-year regime was marked by the darfur conflict that began 2003, when rebels launched an insurgency. bashir responded with a brutal crackdown that killed more than 300,000 people and drove some 2.5 million others from their homes.e c.c. issued an arrest warrant for bashir in 2009; its first sitting president. another warrant came the following year. but for years, the sudanese strongman continued to travel across africa, dismigaing the alleons as western conspiracy. itiremains unclear when bash will be handed over, but he would be only the second foreign ader to face the i.c.c. the other, former ivory coast president laurent gbagbo, was acquitted last year of crimes against humanity. joining me now is salih booker. he is the president and c.e.o. of the center for international policy, a nonpartisan foreign policy research and cy group. he has extensive experience advising u.s. government

officials on africa policy. mr. booker, welcome back to the newshour. >> thank you for having me. >> nawaz: so just when wemook at the ine, bashir was indicted by the icc over a decade ago. >> that's right. >> nawaz: ousted from power a year ago almost. why is th happening now? >> well, initially the transitional government thought they could deal wits domestically within sudan, but as their negotiations with th rebels in darfur and other southern rgions, that has to this decision that they have to release him to the icc. so it's the demands of the rebels that th're trying to end the civil war that has made this happen. many people forget, sudan, while it's ovthrown bashir, it has a transitional gernment, a hybrid military-civilian rule, it's still facing multiple civil wars, and it's serious about ending those civil wars. the demands of theebs are for justice first and foremost, and that means making sure al-bashir faces justice. >> nawaz: the decision to hanov

hi is sort of a reversal of the council's previous position is. there chance it doesn't happen?t re is that chance. in fact, what they've said is ohat they intend to create some kind of specialrt in sudan to try those alleged to have committed war crimes in darfur and elsewhere during the civil wars. but the pressure will continue to be there to release him to the inernational criminal court. that's largely because the justice system in sudan is not really able to handle this kind of tri, impartially and fairlily, largely because the justice system was just designated during the 30-year dictatorship of al-bashir. >> nawaz: could other people that face charges in sudan? there are three other leaders and jana weed lisha leoaders

are wanted in the hague. >> nawaz: when those arrest warrants were issued by the ic, bashir became a paria. few heads of state in other hations would actually meet wit him. what would this mean if he does go through to the icc the face justice there r the place of sudan in the rest of the world? >> i think it's very important for the o tthe world and forhe rule of law and the winternational rule of . when he had the arrest warrant issued in 2009/2010, yes, he was to be a pariah, but mny countries did receive him, not anly in africa but in the middle east and russiachina. and so i think finally facing justice in the hague will ow that countries have an obligation, particularly thosere thatignatoriesed to international criminal court, but also the u.n. security council and the u.n. system, to make sure those who face arrest warrants have their day in court in the hague.

>> nawazthwhat about foe trial?y, how they perceive this goes through to the trial and he is not convicted, does th undermine the same forces that ousted him from power in the first place? >> there's that risk, but i think the evidence isnd ovwhelminghere's, you know, loads of evidence in terms with, genocide, war crime,arged crimes againste humanity, investigations by others, ngos, jrnalists, have all led and helped the icc develop the case against him. they began investigating thi case in 2005 and didn't issue the arrest warrantuntil four years later. so there is sufficient evidence i think to convict him as well as hiscrolleagues in thimes that he committed. people of sudan?is mean for the we mentioned the hundreds of thousands who were killed at that time, te millions who were displaced. you mentioned the ongoing displace and cnflict and how does this all resolve for the

future and the stability of people therewe >>l, sudan is a big d important country. it used to be africa's largest country until south sudan split away in 2011. it is an african country at the crossroadse middle east and africa. it's a country that has seen the civilian uprising in non-violent protests leading to democrati change, overthrowing a military dictatorship. algeria is attempting too the same, also after 30 years, so developments.y important but they need justice. they need to be able to demonstrate that those who are responsible for the massive d gross human rights abuses for the destruction of the economy, for all the wars in the country are held accountable. they need to end the wars. they need to restore the econwy, and they need to sh that they can deliver a they have two and a half years left in this interim period for-to-prepare for theions that will,er in the truly democratic government for the first time in over three decades. >> nawaz: a critical time for

sudan >> brangham: yes, indeed. >> nawaz: ore wld will be watching. salih booker, always good to have you here. >> thank you so much. >> nawaz: the ganga river, known as the ganges under british rule, is one of the most revered waterways in the world, and also one of the most polluted. it provides water for nearly half a billion people, more than any other ver in the world stretching from the foothills of the himalayas to the bay of bengal. special correspondent fred de tm lazaro reports from varanasi, india latest efforts to help clean the river. >> reporter: in hinduism, the ganges, or ganga, is sacred: a river that has nourished an ancient civilization since its beginning. today, the ganges basin, the river and its tributaries, takes in 11 stateslus the capital region of delhi.me

in all, so00 million people, on farms, in factories and in livelihood and spialit for life, sustenance. in theoly city of varanasi, temples draw throngs of and marigolds.float oil lamps >> ( translated ): it's our faith that brings us herit like nectar to me. >> reporter: thetake ritual baths, dips, even small sips,ng while recirayers to heal the body, to clean the soul. vishambhar nath mishra is an engineer by traiadng. he also the 500 year old sankat mochan temple. >> whatever suffering we have she just take away all the suffering. >> reporter: so the river can be the source of happiness and contentment. >> definitely. >> reporter: many believers seek to have their ashes sprinkled in the river. thousands of bodies are burned here.

many, however, are not all are fully cremated. river, but they are only a small part of what it endures. by far, the most toxic pollution of this river is probably its least visible unless you happen upon drainage canals like this one, which discharge millions of llons of raw, untreated sewage every day. experts link pollution in theth ganges and o rivers to india's high rate of water borne illnesse which kill an estimated 1.5 million children each year. researchers have also discovered the emergence of so-called superbugs in ganges water samples, bacteria resistant to most commonly used aibiotics. >> ( translated ): i am the human race a you are my holy ther, ma ganga. >> reporter: prime minister narendra modi, devoutly hindu and allied with hindu nationalist grou, represents varanasi in parliament and has made the river clean up a signature issue for s government. in this video posted online by

his office, modi vows to jump start the effort, which has languished for decades. >> rejuvenation of the river. >> reporter: the $3 billion dollar clean up program began in 2015, but mishra, citing the continued pollution among other thgs, says it's shown litt progress. >> it is not happening. now, i think red tapism. >> reporter: red tape-ism? >> is the biggest cause. on>> reporter: pollution col ofcials in varanasi say new capacity is coming on-line that will treat mucof the daily effluent. but rajiv mishra, who heads the prime minister's national clean ganga project says there is no quick solution. >> it's a very long-term thing.y people athink that: when it will be clean? i mean, that question has no meaning. >> reporter: he say it will take years to bring together the competing interests andsd jutions across an area one and a half times the size of texas.

clean up, mishra sny don'trts a perceive a grave threat to a river that they feel can withstand anything >> people will say, there can be some dirty things in the rer, bere may be some pollutior the rivemains pure, so that's a strength as well as a challenge for us. >> reporter: he says there needs to be a shift in perception and even in some rituals. electric crematoria have been built as an alternative to the traditional and less efficient wood-burning pyres. and there also are smaller mpaigns another effort aims to raise public awareness of pollution like one effort which recyes flowers. direct or indirectly, tons of these chemically treated flowers find their way into the river. n they a turned into incense sticks, and sold near the temples. however, the most effective way to cleanse the riverlso the biggest challenge-would be to restore its natural flow. after dams, irrigation canals, industrial and agricultural use, mishra says there's a lot lessr waft for cities like varanasi

>> so actually, you will imagine 50% of the blood from someone's body, what will happen to it? >> reporter: restoring the river's natural flow will require sacrifice from as, usishra says. it's a political challengehat ll become even more difficult given climate change. himalayan glaciers that feed receding.on's major rivers are rainy seasons are getting shorter and dry spells longer. for now,nurabha ghosh, who heada delhi-based think tank, gives the government's effort a >> you have a financing problem, you have manpower problem. and most importantly, i would say you ill have a governanceec archre problem. and if we don't fix those basicy things, th won't be able to truly transrm because the ,ea was if you can fix th you know, which because what happens to the ganga has a kind of also social resonance.

>> reporter: fixing the ganga's for now, many eyes are on varanasi, from the prime minister to the canoeing balladeer who shuttles tourists along the ganga. she is sacred, he sings, stop throwing trash into her! in varanasi, this is fred de sam lazaro for the pbs newshour. >> nawaz: fred's reporting is in partnership with the under-told stories project at the university of st. thomas in minnesota : >> nawom star wars to 1970s tv shows, the promise of a bionic limb was always the stuff of science fiction. now it's real. from pbs station wgbh in boston, uscristina quinn introduceo a woman who's helping local

researchers perfect the technogy. >> reporter: morgan stickney approaches physical therapy atld spg rehab like everything in life: with her eyes on the prize. ike to treat pt and ot a if it's a workout. so i go down there and give it my all. >> reporter: she's a pre-med student, an elite swimmer and a one timolympic hopeful. but she has suffered for years from an extremy rare vascular sease that went undiagnosed. it restricts blood flow to lower limbs resulting in brittle bones. >> i was trying to take my classes on opioids because i was suffering and in so much pain and my bones in my feet were dying. i couldn't walk.or >> rr: facing amputation, she learned about an experimental surgery happening at brigham and women'sospital in boston. after the firspatoion," named undergo the procedure, reconnects the muscles and nerveshat communicate with the brain. it's a major advancement compared to a standard amputation, which severs theseay connections,surgeon matthew carty. >> when a patient with a standard amputation thinks about

moving their ale, which is no longer there, for example, they only get half the information. and so the brain searches for a way to process that incomplete equation. >> reporter: the ewing amputation closes the loop, sopu when an ampute on a prosthetic limb, the brain knows exactly where that leg is becausthe muscles and nerves are still intact. >> and the idea is that once they've healed, when they fire off those muscles and think about moving their ankle, their body basically thinks it'slo moving a bcal ankle still. >> reporter: carty has been working with researchers at the m.i.t. media l who are developing what is essentially a bionic leg. and stickney, who underwent her first ewing amputationlf year and a go, is among the first to help m.i.t. researchers otst it out. she's moving a r ankle just by thinking about it. it's a potential game-r for anyone using a prosthetic limb. but for stickney, the immediate payoff of the surgery was being in-freand returning to competitive swimming. months after her amputation,

stkney won two national championships and was training for the 2020 tokyo paralympics. but a few months later, the rare vascular disease affected her other leg. >> i was recoverg in the cold tub and i got out and hopped three steps and my foot fractured. si reporter: stickney has nce become the first person to undergo a bilateral, or double, ewing amputation. she's part of a small but growing group of pioneers helping perfect this new technology. in the meantime, though, she's already thinking about restarting her training regiment >> nothing wil me from getting in the pool. my goal is to go to the 2024 paralympic games. i'll be in a different classificatibu this time. that doesn't change anything. whether i'm going to be working just as hard in the pool, ifot harder. >> reporter: proving loss can fuel one's competitive spirit.e for thpbs newshour, i'm cristina quinn iboston.

>> woodruff: and that is the htwshour for now. please join us rere starting at 11:00 p.m. eastern for special live coverage of the prary. we will have up to the minute results and livetreams of speeches online and on our social pages. stay with us. >> nawaz: and i'm amna nawaz in washington. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. f >> majding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> collette guides travelers to experience the world in more than 160 destinations, across five travel styles, like small group explorations. their inclusive tours featurees local gucultural experiences, meals and accommodations. since 1918, colette has guided avelers around the world. learn more at collette.com/smallgroup

>> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace security. at carnegie.org. of these institutionsrt and individuals. >> this prram was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

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hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & co." with the u.s. in r, up. syria's regime pounds the rebels' last holdout. we talk toop humanitarian jan egeland about the civilian exodus. and "parasite" was the movie that made history at the oscars. we talk to film critics. and plus -- >> i saw a tweethat i thought was about me, but it wasn't. it was about a guy who had my same name and it turned out that guy was detainee 244 at guantanamo bay. >> a bizarre coincidence. a prisoner with the same name inside