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tv   PBS News Hour  PBS  February 14, 2020 6:00pm-7:01pm PST

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>> good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, crime and punishment. the department of justice declines to charge a former top f.b.i. official. and president trump insists on the right to intervene inal crim cases. a first step towar peace in afghanistan. we are on the ground in munich, germany when.here the u secretaries of state and defense are working on a deal to end america's longest war. and it's friday. we analyze the state o the democratic presidential race going into nevada. and president trump's volatile t relationshipthe department of justice. plus -- ♪ >> the cello hrd around the world after playing for an audience of billions at the
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royal wedding, a classical musician sets time-out inspire thet n generation of virtuosos. >> i can imagine be very difficult seeing yourself if no one like you is doing it. >> all that and more on tonight's pbs newsour. announcer: major funding for pbs wshour has been provided by -- ♪ >> moving our economy for 160
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>> this program is made possible by contributions from your -- to your pbs news station from viers like you. >> president trump dismissed the attorney general's appeal to stop tweeting. he said he has the right tosk the agency to intervene in a criminal case but added tha he has "so far chosen not to." he has revealedhat former acting director andrew mccabe who haseen frequentry criticized by president trump will not be charged with lie to federal officials. mccabe's l said that the justice department has closed the long-running case. nhe was fired 2018. the department's inspector general found h that he lied to investigators about allowing news leaks in a probe of the clinton foundation in 2016. mccabe disputed the finding at
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the time. and today, he weighed in on cnn where he's a paid commentator. >> it is an absolute disgrace th they took two years and put my family through this experience for twoef yearse they finally drew the obvious anclusion and one that -- they could have draw long, long time ago. >> also tod, multiple news outlets reported that attorney general barr has ordered an outside review of the handling of the casegainst former national security advisor michael flynn and attorneys for long time alley president trump rogerudtone have asked the for a new trial days before he is expected to be sentenced. we dig into all of this now with two former officials who know thines side workings o the justice department. -- the inside workingsfhe justice department. thomas dupree who worked during the george w. bush administration he's now an attorney in private
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practice. and mr. geltzer whove sin obama whoice and now runs a l advocacy institute at georgetown university. we welcome you to the newshour. so many moving parts. i hardly nowhere to become. let me begin thomas dupree with what the president tweeted today which is sense erblely that -- essentially that he has the right to enter sflee a criminal case. -- intervene in a criminal case. is this something that this has been de before? >> in a nutshell no. it's not something that is regularly de. i'll s this, look, the president as a constitutional matter is right. he heads the executive hranch and the power to do it. however, there is a very well m established nat governs the justice department where i serve where presidents understand that they can't be seen as politicizing t justice
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department and allowing prosecutorial decisions be determined by partisan decisions. that's whye the presidents h respected the independence of the department of justice. >> what does it say when the president saying this to the world in essence that he has the power to do this? >> i think it speaks to a very different vision of the executive branch that this president holds. it doesn'see theation or the country. it serves him alone. we saw that with the ukraine extortion.re these are dif tools of national power being diverted to help the presidentis and friends and to harm his adversaries. >> what is the danger? there is so much to ask you about th decision that the justice department announced today that they want to look into the michael flynn case which is heading toward a sentencing phase just in the
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coming days. justice announced -- what are they investigating? >> well, it's a great question. what they appear to be investigating is really is facts and circumstances tha led up to the decision to charge flynn with liing to feral investigators. it's possible that what the attorney general wants is to bring in a new team, a new prosecutor who can look over the evidentiary record and potentially second guess the origin decision made b prosecutors. >> at this late hour though? >> what that'what makes this so extraordinary. he already pled guilty he's trying to what his guilty plea and now at the 13th hour, the justice department has announced they're going to be looking a fresh look at it. judy: what would be t rationale? there is some reporting that this was a direct decision on the part of th attorney general. the president doe like the that way the department is being done. but that's rationale that we try
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to keep awayhat are the tools of criminal prosecution where it's appropriate. it's hard to see this other than politics. judy: the justitm depart announced that it will not go ahead and charge andrew mccabe, a former acting f.b.i. director, this is a after a year of indicating the inspector general's reporic and ied that he would be charged. >> right, and that's yet anoer usual event. is they advised him to expect to be indicted. typically they advise to do that when you're poised to go barore aprand jury. that would be a fair inference that they tried to get anct innt. couldn't. and then spent the next year re-evaluating the case wont wondering if there was a dierent way forward. ulled the day they plug on the whole prosecution. >> this again after more than a year two years or more of the esident publicly and
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relentlesslyci cring andrew mccabe for the origins of the russia investigation. >> right. what's abnormal is no the result ofeclining to pross -- prosecute. what's abnormal is the months and months of delay before tting to this point and there something anythin to charge d somebody with. but that shod not be the basis to keep an investigation open. therare all comes and i'll this heels of a remarkable for days where you had the attorney general say -- move in to reduce the sentence of roger stone after the president tweeted at 2:00 a.m. on monday that the sentence that he was hearing about six to nine years was unfair. it's hardo know how to read all of this. it's concerning to read all of this because those whom the
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president likes, stone, flynn, they appear to be o in category. they're getting special treatment. one is a revised recommendation for one is investigate the investigators and those who the president doesn't lik mccabe, comey, he is pushing prosecutors to tryo find something to >> and you the remarkable moment where the attorney general in aelevision interview said that no, there hadn't been interference -- but as making it impossible with him to do his job with the president tweeting.>> y first thought is, oh, my god, we're going down the jeff sessions route again. harold: this is not the fir ste of a long deer yation with the president with thene attorn l which we saw in jeff session's case which was a complete dysfunction. >> who was fired. right. he acknowledged the attorney general's point.
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i have the power to do it. i haven't chosen to exercise it yet. we'll see if he was responding stone situation or whether he will take a stand independently justice department. judy: what's at stake, jossa? what dll this matter? >> it matters because under the rule of law as we know it, the formidable, the powerful, the intimidating rules of law enforcement have been kept out of politics. that's not something you can use if you're aredent or anyone else to pursue political ambition or personalad ncement. this is changing that. this is a president -- and it seems an attorney general who arak willing tothose norms, shatter them and take the power of the justice department, extraordinary power to investigate citizens, change their lives and put them behind bars if they can find a crime to charge them with. judy: but is it an
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interpretation of t law or something else? >> the difficult is where we to int that where every decision whether it's stone, flip, mccabe is being viewed through a political lens. the president has superharged the atmosphere with politics. wh he makes a decision to go back and look at flynn, you can help but think are there political considerations at work here? and because so much of this was happening is behind the scenes at thet'ustice department impossible to disintangible what might be political considerations from what might be a legal judgment. it'snfortunate,e're at that point. judy: from talking to former colleagues, po you knowple you know inside justice how they are absorbing all of this whether they're concerned or not? >> well, do i talk with people there. think it's fair to say that certainly in the ranks of the career staff, attorneys people who serve throughout administrations, there's a lot of tension to t s least between the political officials
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and the lion attorneys. s there's alw a bit of tension. it's probably healthy to visit to some extent. but it's reached a new level in this administration. the attorney general will be well-advised to do what he can to restore the morale to assuage people that the judents being made are from the judge and not politicalgm jts. >> those who are trying to do their job as civil servants, enforce the law whatever that means for the justice department are finding it very hard to separate that job which they want to do regardless of who happens to be in the white house from the way attorney general barr is approaching the running of the justice department. and ultimately, that can lead to the dramatic step of y takingr name off a case as we saw the four prosecutor doss in stone's case or even leaving the justice department entirely as one of those prosecutors apparentlyas done. judy: a remarkable moment. and we will see wha happens. thank you very much joshua meltser. to dupree.
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thank you. >> thank you. >> good evening. i'm stephanie sy at newshour west. we'll return to judyoodruff after the latest headlines. army lot colonel alexander vindman will not be investigated overis impeachment testimony. ryan mccarthy dismissed the idea. h already lost job with the white house national security council. president trump had sugsted he might also face disciplinary action. the u.s. and the talib have agreed on a precursor to a possible peace deal inn. afghanis a senior american official said today it calls for a one-week reduction in violence. afghan peace talksould follow and ultimately withdrawa of foreig troops. we'll take a closer look. rebels shot down a syrian
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helicopter near aleppo.pe it hapn as government forces are pressing an offensive. the violence has created a new wave of refugees. more than 800,000 since december. camps an during subzero ift conditions. the world health organization announced today that an international team is headed to china to begin iestigating the coronavirus including latest cases reported out of china saturday morning. there are now nearly 66,500 cases and more than 1,500 deaths. the chinese also sai more than been ealth workers have you infected. they need to know how that >> our understanding is that the cases amongst health workers peaked in the third week in january. and this may reflect increased levels of training, increased levels of protection and increased levels of awareness. >> the chinese haveff sealed
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cities containing some 60 million people. the w.h.o. says it wants to know how the quarantine measure.are wo >> back in the country, a second wave of the flu submitting children especially hard. u.s. health officials said said that 92 children have died so t fas season the most so far. over all 26 million americat have cau the flu. and about 14,000 have died. those numbers are eotecially high compared with other years. a federal appealsourt has struck down a trump administration mandate that low income people do paid work in order t receive medicaid benefits. a three-judge panel upheld a c lowert's ruling calling the requirement "arbitrary and capricious." the administration is expected to appeal to t u.s. supre court. the attorney who respected -- represented an adult film star against president trump was convicted in trying to extort nike. a federal jury in new york found
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michael avenue nat threatened the sports world reputation unless it paid him $25 million. he could get 24 years in prison. a former michigan sta gymnastic coach has been found guilty of liing to police. kathy klagis denied two athletes told her that larry nassar sexually abused them. she's the second person to be con sflic the scandal. and now faces up to four years in prison. >> still to come, looking for a path to peace in america's longest w. mark shields and michael gersen analyze a week of turbulent political headlines. disturbing new details of how migrants are waiting to enter the southern border and much more. >> this is the pbs newshour froe studios in washington and in the west from the walter
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cronkite school ofatournalism arizona state university. >> the united statesed rean agreement twode the insgent grp in afghanistan, the taliban that could fave way with ending the war in tt country. nick schiff rinne joins us from munich,wh germany e officials made the announcement. hello, nick. so tell us what have you learned about what is in this agreement? >> yeah, judy, it's important to sagr that thisment is seven days. the clock hasn't startedet. the u.s. will announce when the clock starts. but there are a lot of details e in this agr. what has to nap those seven days. couple of details. one. it covers the whole country, the taliba s are notposed to launch any attacks across the country. two, it's violence againsth b afghans and americans. and it cers in writing all types of violence, roadside bombs, suicide attacks.
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and some acknowledge that some violence is not entirely direct by the taliban. in order to deal with that the taliban and the u.s. y military in kabul can speak to each other, a kindpu of d mechanism whereby for example if there's some t violenc u.s. military can pick up the phone and call the taliban and ask, hey what, was this you? and the u.s. is fearful that there are criminal groups that will contie this violence. that'shy they're not using the word truce. they do acknowledge that this is not going to beuc a ron of violence all the way to zero. but if it happenss once t clock has started and they go seven days, in there's no violence during time, then they can go get the full peace agreement. jid and what is known about that -- that longer term agreement? >>th yeah, s agreement it covers four major parts. the first part is about terrorism. the taliban has agreed not to
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international trysts in areas they control. number two, the taliban and the afghan government will continue to talk directly right after the u.s. and the taliban make this deal. and number three, they're going to discuss "a permanent and comprehensive cease in exchange the u.s. will withdraw its troops and the stated aim is to withdraw u.s. troops to zero in phases, conditioned on progress in those first three aspects. but judy, u.s. officials a also acknowledging that there could, could be a residual force a counterterrorism force left ia afghan we asked a senior administration official. the official said we're note looking tohere just to be there but for the u.s. to go completely to zero conditions in afghanistan do need tomprove. judy: so nick, if that is where the united states and the taban are, what about the gornment of afghanistan? crucial quest judy because
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of course, it is the government of afghanistan and the taliban who will ultimately have to make the deal thatte integthe taliban into the government and really is the political end to this war. we asked the senior administration official twice. does thesi pnt afghanistan support this deal? and all the official could say is tha they had a good meeting secretary of state mike pompeo here in munich earlier today. so the official could not acknowledge that the afghan government supports the deal. and forth m afghan officials have been saying that they want a comprehensive cease fire up and they've b worried that the u.s. wants to withdraw u.s. yoops more than t 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 that th isn't a peace agreement but actually a
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withdraw agreement. >> and nick you were telng, it's so important to put this in historical perspective. >> yeah, this is the u.s.'s longest war. about 10 years ago,he u.s. did launch an effort to try and get it to a political deal th the taliban. but the u.s. wasn't united, thee pentagon, military was not united with the intelligence community, not united with the white house. the effort largely failed. this administration got the int last fall where they actually had these details agree d but after a u.s soldier believed to be backed b ira president trump pulled the deal amongio que about whether the taliban should be invited to camp david and resistance from john bolton. but the u.s. has unity between the pengon, the military, the intelligence services and most president trump who wants to withdraw from afghanistan. this is the most serious ahettet and closest attempt the u.s.
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has been made -- has need ending the war. judy: clearly would be breakthrough if it -- if it happens. nickchiff rinne reporting for us from munich. thank you, nick. dy: the race for the democratic presidential nomination is hitting full s ied todayo new terrain. and candidates and their operatio arexpanding in the southeast and the western u.s.sa desjardins has our report. isa: the 2020 race and the leading democrats are moving south. bernie: if we stand together as one people, we will not only defeat trump. we will transfo this country. the in a sweep through super tuesday state of north rolina today, senator bernie sanders of vermont aimed to spring board off his win in new
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hampshire. bernie: this is a campaign, which uniquely is prepared to ta on wall street, the insurance industry, the drug companies, the fossil fuel industry, the military industrial complex, the prison industrial complex, and the whole damn 1%! lisa: shaking hands in neighboring south carolina was senator elizabeth warren of massachusetts. absentee voting is already underway there. she launched in charleston with berny star. sanders plans to be in texas a big super tuesday state tonight. but most 2020 hopefuls are farther west in nevada. today drew an all-star lineup of former south benday indiana pete buttigieg and amy
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klobachar, former vice president joe biden and billionaire activist tom steyer. buttigieg is hoping to maintain the momentum he got in the iowa wh he narrowly edged out sanders and he trailed in second. in las vegas, klobachar criticized ideas b sanders and warren as too far left. 2/3 of t democrats in the u.s. senate are not on that bill. the sanders-warren bill. and so that's another reason. we're not going to pass it. and since we're in vegas, i'dou say if number is not on the wheel, maybe you don't want to ent on that number. >> cr is driving the campaigns. the nevada caucuses are just in one week on the 22nd. then south carina's primary is the saturday after that. then comes a kind of big bang for the democratic map. super tuesday when democrats hold 16 contests an decide on a
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third of their convention delegates. that is the central foc for former new york mayor michael bloomberg. now thirdom in national polls. bloomberg is pointed leites lini president trump in back and forth tweets an at his campaign events like this in houston last night. >> now, the president attacked me in person in twitter and he attacked me this aftnnoon in a interview. so let me say this, mr. president, you can't bully me. and i won't let you bully the american people. >> he has his eye on a big map. next week, he begins a campaign swing through arizona, colorado, nevada, and california. for the pbs newshour, i'm lisa desjardins. judy: and that brings us tohe analysises of mark shields and michael gersen. david brooks is away. hello to both of you. >> judy.
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judy: so we've had a primary, new hampshire. first in the nation contest the after iowa where there was some confusion about the results. mark, what do wehe make of >> judy, here's the bright side for the broke the turnout record after a disappointing turnout in yeah yea theeek before among democrats, there was a new turnout record. asso enthusiasm up. bernie sanders got half as man votes as he got four yearsgo i guess to hillary clinton. he beat clinton by 57,000 and beat buttigieg by 37,000. winning is coming in first. bernie coming out of a popular vote the- if not a delegate wi and he has to be considered the frontrunner. >> has to be considered theon unner. any doubt about that? >> no. i think the biggest results of
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new hampshire were results of exclusion. i thinkn that war is now not competing very effectively for the left lane the democratic party. sanders really solidifie that. i think biden took a real blow in thets res coming in fifth. fifth that for the former vice president to do that. so you have clarity on the left in the democratic party. but you do not have bernie sanders proving yet that he can go beyond his traditional coalition of young people and liberals. these results did not prove he can move beyond that. and if h's going to unite the party, he's going to need to do that. judy: and can he do that? i mean, that's the big -- that's the que>>ion. well, i'm not sure he can. but i think it's also -- let me spleast mention the other candidates quickly. amy klobachar after really having a disappointing showing in iowa in her next to
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state of minnesota with 1/5 had a stronghird surprising third and did it on the -- those whod sparged debates as being important events. i mean, it was a friday night debate and performance there that probably saved bernie because joe biden was collapsing as michael pointed out. d biden votes were up for grabs. they were going to go to buttieg or to -- to amy klobachar. amy klobachar got the lion share based upon in my meju her peormance. and buttigieg less than spectacular performance of the .ebates he has exceeded expectations more than anybody else in this race has -- has pete buttigieg. but now, we go from what's called retile wholesale. d retail i yeah and new hampshire you can meet enough voters. you can talk withhem. judy: coffee shop.
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door to door. >> and you do i and you have the time to do it. that's what the premium's upon. it's landing on tar max. it's landing on tv studios. 14 states in one day on supertuesday. it changes. and the premium becomes money and resources aot more than it does time and effort and human energy. >> i agree with that except for one thing. i think buttigieg and klobachar need to prove they can go to minority communities and get significant amount of support if i were buttigieg i would have his supporters in indiana d sn inth carolina right now spreading the word that this guy is acceptable. judy: do you think that's his main challenge? buttigieg's main challenge. >> the challenge is that he was the of this small town and has to keep proving that he can eaplay in thate. so he has to keep winning in order to do that. he's going to have to show that
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he can appeal to hispanic and s. black vot requirement.that's a judy: and nevada coming up a week from tomorrow on the 22nd of february. there's a powerful culinary workers union tomorrow that is not endorsing -- >> did take a shot at bernie judy: they don't l his single payer -- i interviewed him on the program yesterday, and he says he does protect their workers but he didn't get that boost thate would have liked. >> nor did joe biden no. but y're right. and that is -- that is the latino, hispanic constuency largely. judy: but coming back to klobachar quick there, mark, pete buttigieg h a lot t prove. she has a lot to prove, doesn't she? >> aolutely. michael spoke of elizabeth warren andrs bernie san for liberal vote. for the woman alley she seems
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have prevaileder over elizabeth warren at this point. what she has too is put a national campaign on the fly. you don't have time. it's your enemy. she doesn't have the resources.m raiseey. hire people and campaign in places all at the same time. she's got to do is figure out picking one or two states on super tuesday and figure i'm going to make my fight here challenging bernie and buletjedge has to do the -- buttigieg has to do th same thing. there are going to be two orat three re going to emerge in the battleground. and it's going to be strategic convincing the press and the public that these are the t o three states and i think that's where buttigieg and klobachar's chances lie. judy: so we have a week from tomorrow is nevada. and then in the saturday after th y is south carolina whe do have a different electorate something0%ore than of the
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democratic vote there is african-amejecan. so bule has his work cut out for him. so does sanders for that matte k andbachar. but let's not forget, i do want to come back to biden and elizabeth warren who faded. she ce in ahead of joe biden but far back, i think where some thought she might be. >> yeah, i agree with thaut carolina is joe biden's last stand. i think that warren has investe some time and attention in nevada. she's going to need to show some strength there in order to feel ke that she can move along. but there isoing to be a fight for that moderate liberal lane right now. biden seems out of the running. buttigieg and klobachar seem in yhe running. but the have bloomberg in th wings essentially beat -- betting that all of them will fail. and that he will t be ultimate alternative to bernie sanders.
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and i don't know if that strtji worksr not. but so fart's coming -- some of the steps that they can play. >> before we get to bloomberg, mark, joe biden, i mean, he has come in a distant what fourth in re. , fifth in new hamps he -- he argues he can come back. that's only twotases out of 50. has that been done before? >>wohey're the that gets the most attention every four years. i agree with. micha south carolina is it. there are no moral victories in south carolina. joe biden hs to win. and he was basing -- his confidence on his stronghe suppt in african-american commune e sm we saw the african-american turn on a d 2008 when they were going for hillary clinton until barack obama won in iowa. once he won in iowa, the african-american community said, my goodness, this fellow really does have a chance. and they switched. i think joe bid now who was
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running on electbility no longer relevant thesis has to bank on l theoyalty of the african-american and his long service and identndy there his service with barack obama. but that's it. i that' it for him. judy, when he said at the -- benning ofhe debate, we took a gut punch in iowa and i'm probably goingo lose here. anybody who is going to go door to door that weekend just said wait a minute. judy: and left new hampshire -- >> well, maybe i ought to look at klobacharnd buttigieg. judy: let's come back to michael bloomberg. he is spending $300 million on advertising, a modest amount. is he in a position to benefit if -- if this race remains muddled? >> well,he as focus comes to him, he has baggage. baggage as the mayor. he -- if you watch commercials at least where i was in virginia, you s him with barack obama all the time.
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he's trying to establish with him -- exactly. i think he's trying to take care of that. t and he's goi have a unique advantage. completely untested with those tuesday. states on -- on ser he's going to be able to spend a lot in each one of them. >> and he -- and hege ss, mark that -- whenever you see him making a speech every time he's out the he's prepared to go toe-to-toe with president trump. >> in a strange way, i think that's a mistake. one of the few mistakes he made. americans do not want a trumptr vsp race. they don't want an insult race. one of the appeals of pete buttigieg is that he lowers the emotional therm stat in the room. that he speaks reasonably. coming back to michael bloomberg, you're absolutely right, i've never seen anybodyi spend this before. but his campaign has been totally controlled. he's never plicksed it up.
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now they're even some mention they might not even go to enbates. where you get a of people and how you feel about them. and americans in the final analysis, michael worked wor geor bush, of the last seven republicans nominees, the only one to win a popular majority of the vote in -- in a presidential election in 2004 -- why did they vote for george w. bush over john kerry who by most esmates won the three debates between the two men? because they prefer the i.q. they were more comfortable with george bush. we don't knowel bloomberg. we don't know if he has a temper. can he mix it up in a debate in iowa or new hamhire? theus what we're going to have to find out. if in a month from now, we're talking about his spending rathern his ideas and how he's different and wha he's going to differently, we
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where he is on climate change and gun control, then i think his campaign wil be in tuble. >> well, the man they all want to remove from the white house, donald tas had quite a week or so michael. and just a little bit of time we have lt. his campaign raised $60 million just in the month of january. i know we talked aut bloomberg money. but for the president, sweeping all the other democratic candidates and he's embroiled right now in this lger than life sort of contest, whatever you want to call it with the justice department, you put that together with his -- the way - he he's come after people who were critical of him during the impeachment process. is heuilding the case that is behind him andh him back to the white house. push him bacon to a s nerm the white house? >> i think this campaign retributions against his enemies. he has a enemies list unlike
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richard nixon does, in fact, fi into his campaign strategy. his strategy is us senior -- -- his strategy is us vs. them. so when hene picks this s trial, he feels it's working for him right now. judy: mark, just a few seconds. >> i mean, here'sho man is pushing prosecutors to prosecute james comey and andrewccabe, enter convenience for mike flynn and for roger stone. why rog stone? i think there's open speculation and very plausible, roger stone is the one person that can tie donald trump to wikileaks and to the russians in the016 -- judy: you mean after all that investigation? >> after all that investigation. that's what he did. that's what.e was lying abo he was the enter immediate area.
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or affection. ot out i think it's out out vu serability. hell concerned with that 2016 election rather than worried about 2020. judy, how about -- how do you if you're rob portman? if you're joanie ernst oh, yeah, we voted to acquit. but he's going to be chaissonned. th is the new chaissonned trump? i mean, he's unburdened and unfettered and scary. judy: thank you, both. the fallout and the real-life plication of president trump's immigration policies are now coming into clearer view. amna nawaz reporteds from human
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rights watch. on >> theoversial u.s. remain in mexico policy forces asylum seekers to wait an unsafe often crowded and unhealthy conditions. some reported being beaten, sex ally salted. most said they lived in constant feary and were e targets. michael garcia was part of thea investe team that filed the report. and he joins me now. welcome to the newshour. i want to start with what we know abo these family who are waiting in these mexican towns well. kn the policy is to remain in mexico. they call it the migrant protection protocols program. these are officials who say mexican authorities will take care of a provide food. is that what you found on the ground? >> well, there's really no parallel to this anywhere in tha world one country where people go to seek protection would send people to another country w. t the mexican government is doing is a very credible
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effort and trying to make sure that people have the basics, food, shelter, a bit of clothing. but it's nowhere near what they need. and it's certainly not sufficient for people who are waiting foronths and months for their asylum cases to be heard. really, the i problems the u.s. side of things not so much what mexican authorities are doing or not doing, although, it is of course, the case that these not necessarily sanitary, overcrowded and hugely problematicy for reang periods of time. amna: so 65,000 people have been forced to wait under ts u.s. program. you have note at least 16,000 of those are children. describe for me if you can, what some of those conditions are like? we listed very shortly people being abducted or sexually assaulted, how rare are those storys? >> these stories are all too common. nearly evebody is talking aboutg harassment or be
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targeted for crime -- for another with the effect that a lot of peoplere afraid to leave the shelters where they're staying. in some extreme cases we heardr re of much worse behavior, rape in some cases, sexl assault of other kinds. and what's really disturbing are officials that t afraid ofd u.s. those very things were told to go ton mexico any event regardless of their fierce and then describe being raped or being attacked as soon or almost as soon as they cross the border intomexico. >> and we should know people are waiting there for weeks at a ime. others you spoke to six, seven, eight months they have been waiting. those thousands of children who are there, and i a how do you because you work in the children's rights division of human rights watch, what specific concerns do you have about the potential impact on the children in this case who have no agency over where they are or how they live? >> it is deeply traumatic.
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i was clear in talking to the children themselves or talking to the parents. and i think what's reall happening is the combination of factors. children are gone through really traumati experiences in their home countries. these are the things that cause them and their familiar throice flee in -- family to flee in the first place.ta eted attacks all kinds of violence for who they are for theiror beliefs, refusal to join a gang. there ye circumstances t could change or should have to change. they went through really difficult journeys through mexico to rch the border often suffering many -- many acts of violence, many difficulties along the way. and then t ty'red by u.s. authorities that they have to return to mexico, wait in really precarus conditions i shelters that may or may not have space for them in situation where is they're often afraid to leave the place where they're
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staying and whendo the go to their court appointments, they're describing processes taken hours and hours, sometimes involving detention over night and it's the sum total of all of this that's really, really devastating for children. so one mother told me that her son, her young son visibly starts to shake as soon as he gets close to the shake that crss the border between mexico and the u.s. a they have to do this once month for their court hearings. they've been to four of them alread and there'so end in sight. the uncertainty as well is >> the administration has said this is what we found to the most efficient way to process them to make sure that onl those with a valid asylum claim. they argue this is ptf border enforcement and those dramatically in pa because of programs like this. what do you say to that? >> this is the most damaging way possible that ma couldne to
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run an asylum system. it's certainly not efficient. it'sot certainly humane. it's certainly not anything like what u.s. law requires in our what really we need to see is a syst that processes cases with the appropriate amount of speed, with the appropria support and information in the united states like every other country ihen t world or nearly every other country in the world so tt people who are seeking protection in the united states have access in the united states to u.s. lawyers to support meanisms to families which in many cases people do have and are able to -- to proceed with humane and fair and safe. >> michail garcia senior cou of the children's rights divisions of ue - human rights watch. thank you for being with us. >> thank you.
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judy: it's been called the shaiku effects the rise of young people in britain signing up for classical musical lessons to play the cello. we met the young man behind the phenomenon on tour. it is forur arts and culture se series "canvass." ♪ >> at the marianne winterlingen elry school it was cellos in the round a students learning to play the instrument was there to hear conor mason. later that night he performed with a o different groupf musicians. the baltimore symphony orchestra. >> do y love performing? >> i love performing. just being able to share yr thoughts about it i guess with
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an audience. the feeli of happening live in the moment is very exciting. ♪ ♪ >> you may well have seen him perform yourself.il nearly 2on did in the planet i2018 at the royal weing of pnce harry and meghan markle. >> it was very different than what i'm used to, of course. ♪ but it was really an enjoyable exrience. like, most top musicians, shaiku began playing very young. bit s experience was a different. he's the third of seven children who all took up classical music ♪ elder sister started it on piano. the others followed choosing their instrument. piano, violin, cello. they grew up inng notm, engelland with two music-loving
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parents. his mother from sierra leone is a former lecturer at university of birmingham and his father from antigua, a luxl y honager. >> my parents definitely love classical music and we were taken to many live concerts when we were young. and that was definitely very inoiring t see these great recordings of classical music this style ew me to of muesifpblg >> but you didn't see many people look like you playing classical music? >> no, i s my siblings but other than that not really. forase i w inspired by other things. i was not conscious. but for young people i could imagine doing something i no e that looks like you is doing it. >> in 2015, the sixth oldest children made it to the semifinals of britain's got talent. a year later, shaiku was named year.ung music of the
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the first black musician ever to win the competition. ♪ >> >> and last december he performed with isedah who put out an acclaimed recording of piano music. shaikus still a student at the london royal academy of music. and he recorded theost famous piece of the cello concerto. he's very much in demand. >> i had to get on the waiting list, you will know? >> -- you know? because he's in demand. >> i'm so happy for him. that's the way it should be for a young artist. he's a modest and a beautiful musician andep really rresents the future. >> he knows something herself about blazing trailnd classical music having scored many first as a womanon cductor and orchestra leader. in 2008, she started a program
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called or kids to bring music education into baltimore public schools. ♪ >> i started thinking about how -- how canen i infhe landscape for the future, make the landscapeook lik our community? >> especially in a city -- >> in a city lik baltimore, yeah? and i realize that it's just because kids don't have equal access, this is the issue. and to play i orchestra like the baltimore symphony you have to sumrt an inst very early. i justet thought l's experiment. >> program started with 30 students.an now has 2,000. and on this day, a group of them had shaiku. ♪ he played a bit of bach. and bob marly. -- marley. and all together a boogie woogy
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by an improvization of the star visitor. afterwar t, iked with 10-year-old cameron henderson y yeah year-o a sample. >> i liked him. >> you liked him? >> why? ♪ >> his facial expressions. help wasn't just -- he wasn't just blank with his emotions. ♪ >> what id -- else did you learn from him >> i learned to express yourself. >> he waselng us like how we should train some things. i think we should practice more in our classes. ♪ >> and is i a concert we can remember how he told us to do it because we don't kw when he might come back and visit us and play for us again. but next time, we should have >> say cheese!r him. >> say cello. cello! >> and there was one other
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lesson in inspira ton here, when i asked cameron why he first wanted to play the cello. >> i picked the cello because i amay yeah playing it. playing boogie woogy and i i wanted to leat for myself. >> you were the inspiration for him? >> he asked me to teach him how to play it. [laughter] >> how does that make you feel? >> important >> as for shaiku kani mason h seems like a very humble role model. >> i see myself still learning. i wouldn't say that i'm someone that everyone should look up. to but i would definitely be that for some people and also to introduce people to lots of other amazing musicians. ♪ >> for him that means continuing to perfect his trument and perform at the highest level while also playing around, soccer, football to him is his game. inase you hadn't noticed, he's
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a rabid arsenal fan. >> in anoth life i would have been a footballer, i think. >> but in this one -- cello is also amazing. ♪ jeffrey brown in baltimore. judy: it'shau now, but watch out, cameron is coming right blind you. ituneo pbs later tonight. robert costa breaks down this tumultuous week in politics. and our amna nawaz joinshe panel. that's the news. have a great weekend. valentine's weekend. and good night. announcer: major funding for the pbs newshoro has beended by -- >>ollette guides travelers to perience the world in more than 160 destinations across five travel styles like small group explorations.
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andriends of the newshour. ♪ this program was made possible the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs ns ation from viewers like you. thank you. this is pbs newshour west. from weta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state univerty. ♪
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tonit on kqed, with the new hampshire primary out-of-theway the presidential candidates stump for votes in key states to help them clinch the nomination. >> plus a new memoir about working in silicon valley. we will talk with the author al about the y of the startup culture. >> why not skip that champagne and chocolate on s valentin day? fun alternatives to save her with your valentine. good evening and welcome. would begin tonight with the state of the democratic presidentialrace. this week bernie sanders was declared the winner in the new hampshire primarngnarrowly edout pete buttigieg and klobuchar finished third after a stro debate performance last week.