captioning snsored by wshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: crime and punishment. the department of justice declines to arge a forr top f.b.i. official, and president trump insists on the right to intervene in criminal cases. a first step towards peace in afghistan. we are on the ground in munich, germany, where the u.s. secretaries of state and defense are working on a deal to end america's longest war. and, it's friday. mark shields and michael gerson analyze the state of the democratic presidential race going into nevada, and president trump's volatile relationship d with tartment of justice. pl: ♪ ♪ the cello heard 'round the

anrld. after playing foudience of billions at the royal wedding, a classical musician sets out to inspire the next generation of virtuosos. >> i know for a lot of young, peop would be very difficult to see yourself doing something if no one who looks >> woodruff: all tand more,bs on tonight's newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years.

bnsf, the engine that connects >> consumer cellular offers no-contract wireless plans that are designed to help you do more ofhe things you enjoy. whether you're a talker, texter, browser, photographer, or a bit of everything, our u.s.-based customer service team is here to find a plan that fits you. to learn more, go to consumercellular.tv >> american cruise lines. >> collette. >> fidelity investments. >> the john s. and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. a mokf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions:of and friendhe newshour.

>> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by conibutions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: president trump today dismissed the u.s. attorney general's public appeal that he stop tweeting about the justice department. the president wrote that he has the right to ask the agency to intervene in a criminal case, but added, he has "so far chosen not to!" hours later, it was revealed that former acting f.b.i. director andrew mccabe will not be charged with lying to federal officials. mccabe's lawyers said today that the juice department has closed the long-running case. he was fired in 2018. the department's inspector general found that he had lied to investigators about allowing news leaks in a probe of the

clinton foundation in 2016. cabe disputed the finding at the time, and today, he weighed in on cnn, where he is a paid commentator. >> it is an absolute disgrace that they took two years, and put my family through thisor experiencewo years, before they finally drew the obvious conclusion, and one they could have drawn a long, long time ago. >> woodruff: also today, multle news outlets reported that attorney general barr has ordered an outside review of the handling of the case against form national security advis michael flynn. and, attorneys for lg-time ally of president trump, roger stone, have asked a judge r a new trial, days before he is expected to be sentenced. we dig into all of thi with two former officials who know the inside woings of the justice department. thomas dupree oversaw cases on appeal for the partment during the george w. bush administration.

va is now an attorney in p practice. and, joshua geltzer served as counsel in the department's national security division. he also served in the obama white house, and now helps run a legal advocacy institute at georgetown university. and we welcome both of you to the "newshour". so many moving parts here, i hardly know where to begin, but let me ajust strt, thomas dupree, with what the president tweeted today, which isnt eslly that he has the right to ask the justice department to intervene in a criminal case. is this something that presidents have done before? >> no. in a nutshell, no. i mean, you may be able to find one or two instances in our history where esidents have directly intervened, but it certainly is not something thato is regularlye. i will say the president as a constitutional matter is right, he is the executive branch and has the power to exercise if he wants to do it. but there is a establish norl

that presidents can't be seen as politicizing the justice department. that's wouyave separation, that's why presidents have respected the independence of the united states department of justice. >> woodruff: joshua geltzer, what does it say when the president is saying this to the world, in essence, that he has the power to do this? >> i think it speaks to a very o different visi the executive branch this president holds andeth one-run in which the executive branch doesn't serve the interests really of the nation, the collective, of the countr but the executive branch serves him anding him alone. this is the context in which we put this. we saw that with the ukrtoaine ion and we see it here, these are different tools national power to help the president and friends and to harm his adversaries. >>oodruff: what is the danger?c there's so mto ask you about the decision that the justice

department wants to lok into the michael flynn case which is heading towards a sente phase in the coming days. justice announces -- what are they ivestigating? >> well, it' great question. what they appear to be investigating are the fact ad circumstances that led up to the decision to charge flynn with lying to federal invitestigator. possible that what the attorney generalants is to bring in a new team, a new prosecutors who can look over the evident rirecord and etentially second guess original decision made by prosecutors. >> woodruff: at this late hour? >> that's what makes this extraordinary. he already pled guilty. he's ting to withdraw his guilty plea, sentencing may be imminent, an at the eleventh or the twelfth or thirteenth hour the juste department announced it will be taking a second look at it. it's extraordinary. >> woodruff: what would be the rationale? some are reporting this was a direct decision on the part of the attorney general. >> well,he only rationale is the president doe't like how

justice is being done but that's precisely the type of rleatio as thomas said that we tried to tools that are criminal investigation and ultimately criminal prosecution wherepr riate. it's hard to see this as anything other than politics. >> woodruff: as we reported, coming on the same day, thomas dupree, that justice department announced it will not charge andrew mccabe, the former acng f.b.i. diector, this is after more than a year of indicating of the inspector general's reporting and indicating that he would be charged. >> right, and at's yet another very unusual event is they advised him to expect to be indicted. typically, you would only do that when you're poised to go before a grand jury which alost inevitably indicts so that would be a fair infreps to draw that the justice department tried to get an indictment from the grann jury, couldn't spent the sext year reevaluating the ca and today announced they pulled the plug on the whole

prosecution. woodruff: and this, joshua geltzer, again, after more than two years or more of thet presidblicly and relentlessly criticizing andrew mccabe for the origins of the russia investigation. >> right. what's abnormal here is not the result of declining to prosecute, when career prosecutors apparently saw nothing there. what's abnormal is the months and months andonths of delay before getting to this point int whiceems that there was political prssure to try to find somhing, anything, to charge somebody with, that that should not be the basis forke eping an investigation open. >> woodruff: to back off again, this all comes -- and geltzer -- on the heels of a remarkable few days where youe had ttorney general say that -- move in to reduce the sentence of roger stone, after the president tweeted at 2:00 a.m. on monday that these ence that he was hearing about, six to nine years, was unfair. it's hard to know how to read

all of this >> it's concerning to read all of thibecause those whom the president likes -- stone, flynn, they appear to be inne category -- they're getting special treatment. it's taking di.ferent for one is a revised recommendation for a sentence, one is basically to investigate the investigators, and those whom trump doesn't like -- mccabe, comey, apparently -- reports say he is pushing prosecutors to try to find something to charge them with. >> woodruff: and then you have the remarkable moment yesterday, thomas dupree, where the attorney general in a television interview tat, no, there hadn't beennterference but it was making it impossie for him to do his job with the president tweeting about all this. >> yesand my first thought when i saw this, judy, is, oh, my god we're going sowndown the jeff sessions thiang agin. i hope this sn't complete dysfunction. the president's reaction was, at

least for thsie prent, muted. he acknowledged the attorney general's point. he says i have the poer to do it, i just haven't chosen to exercise it yet. i think itill be iteresting in the days ahead to see if this was a one-time only thing, whethes barr sponding to the immediacy of the roger stone situation, or if he really willing to take a stand and stanpublicly for the independence of the justice department. >> woodruff: what's at stake here, joshua geltzer? why does all this matter? >> it matters because, under the rule of law, as we know it, the formidable, powerful, often intimidating tools of law enforcement ve been kept out of politics. that's not something you can use if you're a president or anyone else to pursue political ambition, pernal advancement. this is changing that. this is a president, and it seeman attorney general, wh are willing to take those norms, shatter them and take thewer to have the justice department, extraordinary power, to investigate citens, change their lives and ultimately put them behind bars if they can find a crimeo charge theith and use that for political ends.

>> woodruff: is it a matter of interpretation to have the law that we're talking about here or something else? >> well, i think the difficulty is we're at a point now where every decision mailed by the justice department, whether stone, flynn, mcc babe, ing viewed through a political lens. edthe president superchahe atmosphere with the politics and when barr makes the decision to advice the stone memorandum dumb y look at fl, you can't help but think are there political considerations at work here and so much of what is happening is behind the scenes of the justice department, it's hard to disentangle what might be political considerations to a legitimate legal judgment. we it's unfortunate we're at that point. >> woodruff: to any of you know through talking to forme colleagues at the the department of justice how they're absorbing this, whether they're concerned at all abut it or not? >> i do talk to people there. certainly within the ranks of career staff, line attorneys,

people who served throughout administratis, there is a lot toafntion, to say the least, between the political officials and the line attorneys. there's always a bit of tension, it's probably healthy to have reached a new level in thiss administration. i think that the attorney general would be well advised tl basido what he can to restore morale, assuage people th the judgments made are legitimate law enforcementno judgments an political judgments. >> i would echo that. those trying to do their jobs as e law,servants, enforce th whatever that means for the part of the justice department they are serving in, are finding it very hard to separate that job which they want to do regardless of who happens to be in thee whuse from the way attorney general barr is approaching the ruing of the justice department. ond ultimately, that can lead t the dramatic step of taking your name off a case, as we saw thfore prosecutors do ine stone case, or even leaving the justice department entirely as one of the prosecutors apparently has done >> woodruff: a remarkable moment.

we'll see what happens. thank you very much, joshua geltzer, thomas dupree. thank you. >> thank you. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, army lieutenannel alexander vindman will not be investigated over his imachment testimony agains president trump. secretary of the army ryan mccarthyismissed the idea today. vindman had alady lost his job with the national security council-- president umhad ggested that he might also face disciplinary action. there is word that the u.s. and the taban have agreed on a precursor to a possible peacean deal in aftan. a senior american official said today it callsor a one-week reduction in violence. all-afghan peace talks would follow, and ultimately, withdrawals of foreign troops. we will take a closer look, after the news summary.

in syriaturkish-backed rebels shot down a syrian helicopter today near aleppo, in the country's northwest. it happened as government rces are pressing an ofnsive. the violence has created a new wave of refugees-- more than 800,000 since december. many are living in makeshift camps, enduring sub-zero conditions. an international team is head c na to begin investigating the coronavirus outbreak. the world health organization reported nearly 64,000 cases toa date, with ny 1,400 deaths. the chinese also said more than 1,700 health workers have been who officials said they need to know how that happened. >> our understanding is that the cases amongst health workers i peakthe 3rd and 4th weeks of january. and there's been a rapid fall- off the number of cases tha have occurred on health workers this may reflect increased levels of training, increased levels of protection, and also

increased levels of awareness. >> woodruff: the chinese have sealed off cities containing some 60 million people. the who says it wants to kno how the quarantine measures are working. back in this country, a second wave of the flu is hitting children especially hard. u.s. health officials said today that 92 children have died so fathis season-- the most in ten years. overall, some 26 milon americans have caught the flu, and about 14,000 have died. those numbers are not especially high, compar with other years. a federal appeals court has struck down a trump administration mandate that loincome people do paid work in order to receive "medicaid" benefits. a three-judg a lower court's ruling, calling the requirement "arbitrary and pricious." the ruling is expected to be appealed to the u.s. supreme court. the attorney who once pressed an adult film star's lawsuits

against president trump, was convicted today of trying to extort nik a federal jury in new york found mieael avenatti threatened sportswear giant's reputation unless it paid him $25 million. he could get 42 years in prison. a rmer michigan state university gymnastics coach has been found guilty of lying to police. athletes told her isgracedtwo former sports doctor larry nasser sexually abused the she is the second person other than nasser to face charges related to his mestation. klages now faces up to four years in prison. and on wall street this friday, the dow jones industrial avege lost 25 points to close at 29,398. the nasdaq rose 19 points, and the s&p 500 added six. still to come on the newshour: looking for a path to peace in america's longest war.

mark shields and michael gerson analyze a week of turbulent political headlines. disturbing new details of the conditions migrants face while southern border. the u.s. and, much more. he >> woodruff:nited states reached an agreement today with the insurgent group in afghanistan, the taliban, that could pave the way for ending e war in that country. our foreign affairs correspondent nick schifrin joins us from munich, germany, where senior administration officials made the annouement. hello, nick. so, tell us, what you have learned about whatems in this agt? >> it's important to say this agreement is seven days.

the clock hasn't started. ane u.s. wilunce when the clock starts, but there are a lot of details in this agreement. what has to happen in te seven days? a couple of details, one, it covers all the country, the taliban are not to launch any attacks across the cou intry. tw's violence against both afghans d americans, and it covers in writingll types of violence, roadside imoms, suicide attacks and rockets, and both sides acknowledge that some violence in afghanistan is not entirely directed by the taliban, so, in order to deal with that, they've cated a way so that the taliban and the u.s. military in kabul can spak to each other, a kind of dispute mechanism whereby if there's some violence, the u.military can pick up the phone and call the taliban and ask, hey, was this you, and the u.s. is fearful that there are ciminalrs groups and acutside afghanistan who will continue some of this violence and that's whg judy, they're not use word "truce." they do acknowledge that this io

going to be a reduction of violence all the way to zero, but, if it happens, once this ock started and they go seven days, then if there's no violence during that time, then they can actually get to te full peace agreement. >> woodruff: and what is known about that longer-term agreement? >> yeah, so the agreement it covers four major parts, the first part is about terrorism, the taliban has agreed not to recruit, fund raise or train international terrorists in areas they control. number two, the taliban and afghan gernment will begin to talk directly right after the u.s. ad the tliban makes its deal and, number three, they're going to discuss, quo, a permanent and comprehensive cease fire. in exchange, the u.s. will withdraw its troops and the stated aim is to withdraw u.s. troops to zero, in phasesne conditon progress in those first three aspects. but, judy, u.s. officials are also ackwledging that there

could be a residual force, a kind of counterterrorism force left in afghanistan. woe asked the senior administration official about e that. ficial said we're not looking to be there just to be there but are looking to go t completely zero conditions in afghanistan need to improve. >>oodruff: if that's where the united states and taliban are, what about the the government of afghanistan? >> i think that's a crucial question, judy because, of course, it is the government of afghanistan and the taliban who will ultimately have to make the deal that integrates thetaliban into the government and really is the political end to this war. we asked the senior administration officia twice, does asher afghani, the president of afghanistan, support this deal, and twice all the official could say is they had a good meeting beten president ghani and secretary of state mike pompeo here in munich earlier today, so the official could not acknowledge that the

afghan govnment supports the deal. han, judy, for months, af officials have been saying that they want a comseprehensive c fire up front, and they've also been worried that the u.s. wants to withdraw u.s. trps more than they actually want to bring peace. you have to remember, this is a fragile government in a country with still a lot of violence, judy, and as one official has been saying, they fear this isn't a peace agreement but actually a withdrawal agreement. >> woodruff: nick, you were telling us, it's so important to put this in historical perspective. >> yeah, this is the u.s.'s longest war. about ten years ago, the u.s. did launch an effort to try to get it to a political deal with the taliban,ut the u.s. wasn't united. the pentagon, the military was not united with the intelligence community, not united wth the white house. the effort largely faitrd. this adminion got to the point last fall where they actually had ese detls agreed but, after a u.s. soldier was killed by an attack, believed to be backed iran,

president trump pulled the deal among quesons about whether the taliban should be invited to camp david and resistance from the then national surity advisor john bolton. but, judy, today, the u.s. has unity between the petagon, the military, the intelligence services and most importantly of course president trump who wants to withdraw from afghanistan. this is the mosusserttempt and the closest attempt the u.s. has made to ending the war. >> woodruff: clearly would be a brethrough, if it hppens. nick schrin reporting for us from munich, thank you, nick. t >> woodruf race to be the democratic nominee for president went full speed today into new terrain-- with candidates and their operations out and about, in the southeastern andst n u.s. lisa desjardins has our report.s

>>rdins: the 2020 race, and the leadg democrats, are moving south. >> if we stand together as one, we will not only defeat trump, we will transform this country. >> desjardins: in a through the super tuesday state of north carolina today, senator bernie sanders of vermont aimed to springboard of his win in new hampshire. >> this is a campaign which uniquely is prepared to take on wall street, the insurance industry, the drug com, the fossil fuel industry, th military industrial complex, the prison industrial complex, and the whole damn 1%. >>esjardins: shaking hands in neighboring south carolina was

senator elizabeth warren of massachusetts. absentee voting is already underway there. warren lunched in charleston with hip hop artist benny starr. the map is quickly expanding. warren and sanders started the e day in tt, and sandersin plans to bexas, a big super tuesday state, tonight. but most 2020 hopefuls are farther west, in nevada. today, the next state ide drew an all-star lineup of former indiana mayor pete orbuttigieg, minnesota sen amy klobuchar, former vice president biden and billionaire activist tom steyer. klobuchar criticized ideas for buttigieg is hoping to maintain the momentum from the iowa caucuses, where hearrowly came out on top over sanders, and in new hampshire, trailed just behind in second. in vegas, klobuchar criticized ideas for government-run healthcare by sanders and warren as too far left. >> two-thirds of the democrats oin the u.s. senate are n board with that bill, the sanders-warren bill.

so, that's another reason. we're not going to pass it. since we're in vegas: if your number is not on the wheel, maybe don't bet on that number. >> desjardins: the calendar is driving the campaigns. the nevada caucuses are in just over one week, on the 22nd, then south carolina's primaries are the saturday after that.in then comes aof big bang for the democratic map-- super tuesday-- when democrats hold 16 contests, and decide on a third of their convention legates. that is the central focus for foer new york mayor michae bloomberg. now third in some national polls, bloomberg is pointedly tussling with president trump, in back-and-forth tweets, and at one in houston last night.this this morning on twitter, and he attacked me again this afternoon in an interview. so let me say this, mr. president-- you n't bully me,

american people.you bully the >> desjardins: president trump also has his eye on a big map. next week, he begins a cpaign swing through arizona, colorado, nevada, and california. for the pbs newshour, i'm lisa desjardins. >> woodruff: and that brin us to the analysis of shields and gerson. that is syndicated col mark shields, and "washington times" columnist michael gerson. david brooks is away. hello to both of you. so we've had a primary, new hampshire. we now know what happened in the first in the nation contest after iowa, where there was some confusion about the results. mark, what do we make of it? >> judy, here's the bright side for the democrats. both the turnout record, after a disappointing turnout in iowa, the week before, among democrats, there was a new turnout record. so enthusiasm was up. votes as he got four years agoy against hillary clinton. he bid hillary clinton -- he beat hillary clinton by 50,000

votea he bet pete buttigieg by 3900 votes, andi yet wnning is coming in first and bernie won. so bernie coming out of a popular vote, if not a delegate vote, win in iowa and a popular vote win in new hampshire has to this point.ed the frontrunne >> woodruff: any doubt about that? >> no. i thi the biggest results in new hampshire were as a result wa exclusion. i think tharren is now not competing very effectively for the left wing to have themo atic party. sanders really solidified that. i thk biden took a real blow in the results coinin fifth, it was. >> woodruff: fifth. that, you know, for the former vice president to o that. so, you know, you have clarity on the leftn the democratic party, but you do not have bernie sanders y provit he can go beyond his traditional coalition of young people and

these results did not prove he could move beyond that, and if he'soing to unit the party, he's going to need to do that. >> woodruff: and can he that? that's the big -- that's thees on. >> well, i'm not sure he can, ought to at least make sure the other candidates, quickly -- >> woodruff: for surkl amuchar, after really having a disappointing showing in iowa in her next to home state of new hampsre with a fifth, had a strong third, surprising third, and did it on those whosparaged debates as being important events. i mean, it was her friday-night debate and her performance there that probably saved bernie sanders, iyou think about it, because joe biden was collapsing, as michael pointed out, and the biden votes were up for grabs. they either have to probably go to buttigieg or to amy klobuchar. amy klobuchar got the lions share based upon, in my

judgment, her performance that nigh and buttigieg's les than spectacular performance in the debate. he did very well. he had a strong second. he's been exceeding expectations mo than anybody else in this rate, has pete buttigieg. but now we go from what's called retail to wholesale. in retail, in iowa, new hampshire, by effort and energy, you can meet enough votersnd talk with them. >> woodruff: coffee shops. coffee shops, exactly, and u do it and you have e time to do it, and that's what the itium is upon. now, judy's landing on tar max, going to tv studios, 14 ates in one day on supertews, it changes, and the premium becomes money, and resources, a lot more than it does time and effort and hum >> i agree with that except for >> okay.g. ink buttigieg and klobuchar need to frv they can go to minority communities and get a significant amount of support. if i were buttigieg, i would

have his supporters from indiana down in south carolina right now spreading the wod this guy is acceptable. >> woodruff: you think that's his main challenge, buttigieg'sa main cllenge? >> well, his main challenge is that he's the mayor oa smll town and was the mayor of a small town and has to keep proving that he can play in that league. so he has to keep wnning in order to do that. but i think, in order to do that, he's going to have to show that he can appeal to hispanic and black voters and i think that's the reqrement. >> woodruff: and nevada coming up a week from tomorrow, the 22nd of february, mark, there's a powerful culinary workers union thre which said it's not endorsing. >> take a shot at bernie sanders. >> woodruff: did take a shot. they put out a flyer saying they don't like his single-payer. i interviewed him on the pogram yesterday and he said he does protect their work, but the point is he didn't get the bass he would havliked. >> neither did joe biden.

>> woodruff: neither did joe biden. >> and you're right, that is a latino, hispanic conrgstituency, y. >> woodruff: but coming back to klobuchar, quickly. s e. >> woodruff: pete buttigieg has a lot to prove. she has something to prove, >> oh, absolutely. no, i mean, michael spoke o elizabeth warren and bernie sander for the woman alley, she seems to have prevailed overwalizabeth en at this point. what she has to do, judy, is put together a natiol campaign on e fly. you know, time is your enemy. >> woodruff: klobuchar. she doesn't have the resources. she's got to raise money, hire people and campaign inla ss all at te time, which she's got to go isigure out picking one or two states on supe'tuesday and figuring, im going to make my fight here, challenging bernie, and buttigieg, to the same degree, has to do the same thing, and making thse -- we can't cover 14 states at once.

there's going too e three that are going to emerge to the battlegrnd and it's going to be strategic convincing the press and public that these are the two or three states and that's where, i think, buttigieg and klobuchar's chances lie. >> woodruff: so we have a week from tomorrow is nevada and the saturday after that is south carolina. >> that's right. >> woodruff: where you do have than 50% of the democratic vote there is african-american. so buttigieg has his work cut t for him, so does sanders, for that matter, and klobuchar. but let's not forget, i do wanto ome back to biden and elizabeth warrenawho fded. she came in ahead of jobs joeden but far back from where some thought she might be. >> joe biden's last stand. i think warren invested time and attention in nevada and i think she's gog to need to show strength there in order to feel

like she can move along g but there ng to be a fight for thatet modeiberal lane right now. biden seems out of the running. buttigieg and klobuchar seem in the runni. but then you have bloomberg in the wings, essentially betting that all of them will fail, a that he will be the ultimate alternative t bernie sanders. and i don't know if that strategy works or not, but so far it's coming -- some to have the steps ey can play. >> woodruff: before we t bloomberg, and i want to ask you about that, mark, joe biden, he has come in a distant, what, fourth in iowa, fifth in new hampshire. he argues he can come back. that's only two states out of 50. >> only two states out of 50. >> woodruff: has that been done before? >> they're the two thaget the most attention every four years. i agree with michael, south carolina is it. there are no morees victon

south carolina. joe biden has to win. he's basing his confidence on his strong support in the we saw the afican-american. community turn on a dime in 2008 when they were going fo hillary clinton until barack obama won nn iowa, and once he won i iowa, the african-american community in south carolina said, my goodness, this fellow really does have a chance and they switched. i think joe biden now who is running on electability on a no longer relevant thesis has to bank on the loyalty of the african-american community and his ng service anddentity there and his service with barack obama. but that's it. i mean, that's it for him. judy, when hed sai the beginning of the debate, we too a nch in iowa and we're probably going to lose here, anybody who will go door to door for him on that wellekend way wait a minute. >> woodruff: and left new hampshire. d and left new hampshire said maybe i ought to lookt at klobuchar and buttigieg. >> woodruff: so let's come

back to michael bloomberg, because you're right, michael, he does seem to be othere spendive $300,000 on ising. >> 350. >> woodruff: a modest amount. is he in a position to benefit this race remains muddled? >> he has stop and frisk bagga baggage, baggage as the mayor, he had a few botched commercials at least where i am virginia. you see him with barack obama all the time. he's trying to establish he's cooperating with him. and, so, i think he's trying to, i think he's going to have a unique advtage, completely tested with those 15 or 16 states on super tuesday, he's going to be able to spend a lot on each one of them. >> woodruff: and he suggests, mark, that he's in his -- whenever you see him making a tspeech, every time he's there, he's prepared to go toe to toe with president trump. >> yes. in a strange way, i think that'd one to have the fewer mistakes

he's made. vs. trump ra.not want a trump they don't want an insult race. i think one of the greater appeals of pete buttigieg in this entire campaign is he lowers the emotional thermostat in the room, that he speaks reasonably. coming back to michael bloomberg, judy, you're absolutely right, i've never seen anybody spin like this before, but his campaign has been totally controlled. he's never mixed it up. now he might not even go to the debates. when you get a covens people and how you feel about them, andin americanhe final analysis, michl worked with george w. bush, of the last seven nominees, the only one to win a popular majority of a vote in a presidential election in 2004, why did they vote for george w.o bush oven kerry, who by debates before the two men? because they prefer i like ove

i.q. ey were more comfortable with george w. there's no comfort level withbl michaemberg at this point. no one knows him. no one knows if he has a temper, a sense of humor, self-deprecating, he never nixed it up in a debate in iowa or new hampshire and i think that's what we're going have to find out. talking about his ing and're his ideas and how he's different and what he's going to do differently, we know where h he on climate change and gun control, then i think his campaign will be in trouble. >> woodruff: th man they al want to remove fromhe white house donald trump has had quite a week or so, michael. his campaign raised $60 million nuary. month of i know we talked about bloomberg money, but for the predent, sweeping all the other democratic candidates, and he's embroiled right now in this larger than life sort of contest, whatever you want to call it, with the justice department. you put that together with

his -- the way he's come after people who were critical of him during the impeachment process. is he building the casthat is going to keep his supporters behind him and push him back to the white house? push him back to a second term in the white house?k >> well, i th this campaign retributions against his enemies, he has an enemies lists that hublic about unlike richard nixon, does, in fact, fit in to his campaign strategy. his argument is us them and them is the deep states, the democrats and the media. so wn he pic these fights over the stone trial or whatever, it is feeding into his narrative, which is really disrupt everything, you kow, and i think that he feels it's working for himwight no. >> woodruff: mark, just a few seconds. >> a few seconds, judy. here's a man who's pushing prosecutors torosecute james comey and andrew mccabe and

intervenes for michael flynn and roger stone. why roger stone? i think this open speculation and very plausible, roger stone's the one person that could die donald trump to wikileaks and to the russians in 2016. >> woodruff: after all that investigation? >> after all that investigation. that's what he did that's what he was lying about. he was the intermediary. and i think it's not out of nkyalty or affection, i thi it's out of vulnerabiity. he's still concerned with tha20t election rather than worrying about 2020.dy how about -- how do you feel if you're susan collins, if joni earnest and yd, oh,ou're yes, we voted to acquit, but he's going to change, he will be chastened. he will be chastened -- i mean, this is the new chstened trump, i mean, he's unburned and unfetterednd sca.ry >> woodruff: mark shields,

michael gerson, thank you both. >> woodrf: the fallout and the real life implications of president trump's immigration policies are now coming into clearer view. amna nawaz explains the findings of an alarming nma report from rights watch. >> nawaz: judy, investigators found that the controversialme u.s. "remain ico" policy forces asylum seekers at the southern border to wait in unsafeoften crowded, unhealthy conditions. someeported being beaten, sexually assaulted, even abducted for ransom. most said they lived in constant fear, and were easy targets for violence. michael garcia bochenek of human rights watch was part of the investigative team that filed the report. he joins me now. michael, welcome to the "newshour". i want to start about what we

know about t families waiting in these mexican towns. we know the policy colloquially remained in mexico. the government calls it the migrant cootection pro program, but these are people u.s. officials say that mexican authorities will ta care of and provide food and shelter for. is that what you found on the ground? >> well, the's likely no parallel to this anywhere in the world. one country where people go to seek protection would send people to another country. m so what theexican government is doing is a very credible effort at tryingtho make sure people have the basics -- od, shelter, a bit of clothing e neart what they need and it's certainly not sufficient for ople who are waiting for months and month for their asylum cases to be heard.al , the problem is the u.s. side of things not so much wat mexican authorities are doing or not doing, although it is, of course, the cese that thse places are very, very unsafe, not necessarily sanitary, overcrowded, and hugely problematic for likely long

periods of time. >> so far, we think there are about 60,000 people forced toth wait omexican side to have the border under this mexican program. you ha noted at least 16,000 of those are children. describe for me if you can what some of the conditions are like. we listed shortly people being reported abducted, beaten or sexual assaulted. how rare were thosstories? >> these stories are all too common nearly everybody is talka about hament or being targeted for ordinary crime in some form or another with the effect that aotf people are afraid to lose their shelters where they're staying. in some extreme cases, we heard reports of much worse behavior -- rape in some cases, sexual assault of other kinds -- and whllat's readisturbing are people who told u.s. officials a that they weraid of those very things were told to go to mexico, in any event, regardless of their fears, and then describe being raped or being attacked as soon or almost as soon as they cross the border

into mxico. >> we should know people are waiting there for weeks at a time. others you spoke to, six, seven, eight months theyave been waiting. those thousands of children who are there, and i ask you because you work in the children's rights division of human rights watch, what specific concerns do you have about the potential case?t on the children this yothey have no agency over where they are or how they live. >> it is deeply traumatic and that was clear from talking to the children thmselves an their parents, and i think what's really happening is the combination of factors, children have gone through really traumati texperiences inheir home countries. these are the things that caused them and their families to flee in the first place, targeted attacks, all kinds of violence that really was directed at the for who they are, for their beliefs, for refusal to join a gang, for a variety of other theymstances like this, s really are not circumstances they could change or should have tohange. they've then gone through really

difficult journeys through mexico to reach the border. violence, many difficultiesf along the way, and then they are told by u.s. authorities that they have to return toexico, wait in really precarious conditions, in shelter or may not have space for them, in situations where they are often afraid to leathe place where they are staying, and, when they do go to their court appointmts, they are describing processes, taking involving detentioernight in very cold cells, and it's the sum total of all this that's really devastating for children. so one motherold me that her young son visibly starts to shake as soon as he gets close to the bridge that crosses the border between mexico and the u.s., and they have to do this ce a month for their court hearings. they have been to four of them, nready, and there's no in sight. so, of course, the uncertainty as well is taking a toll on

them. >> michael, i have to ask you, the administration will say, look, this is what we have found to be the most efficient way to screen people, to process them, to make sure that only those with a valid i asylum claim are allowed entry. they argue this is part of numbers have been coming down dramatically in the last several months in part due to programs like this. tat do you say tohat? >> this is the most damaging way i can think of to runn a asylum system. it's certainly not efficient or mew main or anythinlike what u.s. law requires, in our opinion. what really we need to see is a system that processes cases wit e appropriate amount of speed, with the appropriate support anm inion. in the united states, like every other country in the world, or nearly every other country in the world, so that people who are seerkingotection in the united states have access in the united states to u.. lawyers, to support mechanisms, toin families, whicmany cases

people do have, and are abl to proceed with their claims in a way that's humane and fair and safe. >> michael garcia bochenek, from human rights watch, thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> woodruff: it's being called the "sheku effe-- the rise of young people in britain signing up for classical music lessons, to play the cello. jeffrey brown recently met the young man behind the phenomenon, on tour in baltimore, for our arts and culture series, "canvas." >> brown: at the mary ann winterling elementary school in west baltimore, it was "cellosin he round," as children still learning their instrent came to hear and play with g man who's well on the way with mason.0-year-old sheku kanneh-

♪ ♪ later that night, he performed with a different group of musicians: the baltimore symphony orchestra. do you like perforpeng? >> i lovorming, yes. >> brown: you're even smiling as you say it. >> yeah, i just love the feeling of having spent a lot a time thinkiut this music and then just being able to share your thoughts about it with an audience, and the feeling of it happ kind of live in the moment, is very exciting. ♪ ♪ >> brown: you may well have seen him perform yourself. nearly two billion around the planet did in 2018, at the royal wedding of prince harry and meghan markle. >> yeah, it was very different to what i'm usedo, ocourse. >> brown: from what anyone is used to. >> yeah, exactly, but it was really an enjoyable experience. >> brown: like most top musicians, sheku began playing very young.

but his experience was a bit different: he's the third of seven childr who all took up classical music. eldest sister isata started it, on piano. the others followed, choosing their instrument: piano, violin, cello. ey grew up in nottingham, england, with two music-loving parents. his mother, originally fromra sieone, is a former lecturer at the university of birmingham, and his father, fr l antigua, auxury hotel manager. >> my parents deficltely loved sical music, and we were taken to lots of live concerts iten we wereoung. and that was defy inspiring. listening to cds of great recordings of classical music >> brown: but you see a music. lot of people who look like you playing classical music when you were grong up, did you? no. i saw my siblings, but other , an that, not really. for me, growing was inspired by lots of other

things, and i was never kind of conscious of tha but i know for a lot of young people, i can imagine it would be ve difficult to see yourself doing something if no one who looks like you is doing it >> brown: in 2015, the six oldest children made it to the smi-finals of "britain's got talent," where poply reigns. a year later, sheku was named" bbc young musician of the year," the first black musiciano ever to win thetition. and last december, he performed at carnegie ll with isata, who recently put out an acclaimed recording of piano music. sheku is still a student at london's royal academy of music, but his career is well-launched, including a new recording ofs perhe most famous piece in the repertoire: edward elgar's "cello concerto." and, he's much in demand. just ask balmore symphony tnductor marin alsop. >> i had to get waiting list, you know? >> brown: yeah, because he's in demand.

>> he's in demand,pput i'm so for him. that's how it should be for a yog artist. he's so modest-- to me anyway,t, seems so modes and a beautiful musician, d really represents the future. >> brown: alsop knows ing herself about blazing trails in clsical music, having scorir many fsts as a woman conductor and orchestra leader. in 2008, she started a pgram called "orch-kids," to bring music education into baltimore public schools. >> i started thinking about, how can i influence the landscape for the future? how can make the landscape look different and look like our community? >> brown: especiallyn a city. >> in a city like baltimore, yeah. and i realized that it's just because kids don't all have equal access. this is the issue. and to play in an orchestra like the baltimore symphony, u have to start an instrument very so i just thought, let's experiment.

♪ ♪ >> brown: the program, she says, started with 30 students and now has 2,000. and on this day, a group of them had sheku kanneh-mason. he played a bit of b ♪ ♪ and bob marley. ♪ and all together, a boogie- woogie, with improvisation by the star visitor. ♪ ♪ afterwards, i talked with ten- year-old camren henderson and 12-year-old amya sample. >> i led him. >>rown: you liked him? why? >> i like him because, well, hie faciressions, he's showing with emotion. it wasn't just... ♪ ♪ he wasn't just all blank wh his emotions. i learned to express yourself. >> sheku was telli us, like, like how we should change some

things. i think we should practiceore in our classes. and if it's a concert, we can perform and we can remember how he told us to do it. because we don't know when he might come back and visit us and play for us again. t next time, we should have, we should the concert for him. >> brownand there was one other lesson in inspiration here, too-- when i asked camren why he'd first wanted to play the cello. >> i picked the cello because i saw amarya playing it. playing boogie-woogie, and i wanted to learn it for myself. >> brown: oh, you re the inspiration to him? >> he kept asking me to teachto him holay it. >> brown: how does that make you feel? >> important. brown: as for sheku kanneh- mason, he seems the humblest roleodel you'll find. >> i see myself very much still someone learning and beingle inspired by peho have gone before me. so i wouldn't say that i amry

someone that ee should look up to, but would definitely be happy to be that for some people, and al to introduce people to lots of other amazing musicians as well. s brown: for him, that me continuing to perfect his instrunt and perform at the highest level, while also playing around. soccer... "football" to him-- is his game. in ce you hadn't noticed, sheku is a rabid arsenal fan. >> in an been a footballer, i think. >> brown: but in this one? >> oh, cello is also amazing. ♪ ♪ >> brown: for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown in baltimore. >> woodruff: tune in to pbs later tonight. robert costa breaks down this tumultuous week in politics. and, our amna nawaz joins the nel on "washington week."

and that is the newshour for tonight. have a great weekend. thank you, and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> collette guides travelersheo experienceorld in more than 160 destinations, across five travel yles, like small oup explorations their inclusive tours feature local guides, cultural experiences, meals and accommodatio. since 1918, colette has guided travelers arlend the world. n more at collette.com/smallgroup >> fidelity investments. >> bnsf railway. >> consumer cellular. >> american cruise lines. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation.

for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions annds of the newshour. >> this program was made public broadcastinrporation for and by contributions to your pbs stu.ion from viewers like yo thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc

hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & co." here's what's coming up. >> should the present stay out of cases? yeah, absolutely. he shouldn't be commenting on cases in the system, i've said that a bunch. t >> b president intervene for his friend roger stone. did acquittal on impeachment embolden him? andrew mccabe joins me. most of the victims have at one point or another broken down into tears. >> closing arguments in the weinstein case, the attorney foi one woman test against him takes us inside the courtroom. plus.e >> no comes a racist or an anti-racist, it's a reflection of what each person is doing in each moment. >> how his battle with cancer

shaped his view on racism.