captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> nawaz: good evening, i'm amna nawaz. judy woodruff is off. on the newshour tonight, crisis averted-- economic aid is green- lit and the federal government stays open after the pe sident signs ssive covid relief bill then, the nashville bomber is named-- authorities identify the man behind the christmas day bombing, as the investigation turns to possible motives. and, getting the vaccine-- asco d inoculations begin, we report from the democratic republic of congo on when developing nations will be ablee to their citizens. >> though the african c.d.c. hae promised not te them out, african nations do not know when or how many doses of the vaccine will be available to them. >> nawaz: all that re on tonight's pbs newshour.

>> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> grandparents.nt >> we o put money aside for them, so, change in plans. >> all right, let's see what we can adjust. >> we'd be closer to the twins. >> change in plans. >> okay. >> mom, are you painting again? you could sell these. >> let me guess, change in plans? >> at fidelity, changing plans is always part of the plan.

>> the william and flora hewlett foundation. more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> and with the ongoing support of thesenstitutions: and individuals. >> this ogram was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to ur pbs station from viewers le you. thank you. >> nawaz: the showdown is over.

in a surprise move late sunday nit, president trump signe the covid relief and government funding bill, after days of delay, demanding last-minute changes.ll m brangham begins our coverage. >> the house will be in order. >> brangham: lawmakers returned to washington today, after a high-stakes standoff withes ent trump over coronavirus a lief and government funding. >> it really isgrace. >> brangham: for days, the president refused to sign the $2.3 trillion bill to provide $900 billion in coronaviru lief and fund the federal government through the rest of fiscal year 2021. but then, last nhe suddenly reversed course. in a statement, the president said he had signed the bill" but was "manding many rescissions" to claw back what he said was "wa" spending. that's even though his own administration had helped negotiate the legislat still, his demands for cutbacks are unlikely to go anywhere. congresswoman nita lwho chairs the house appropriations committee, said she and othe"

democrats will reject any rescissions submitted by president trump." the president's statement also thlled for congress to increase e bill's $600 checks for americans earning up to $75,000 a year to $2000. >> republicans have a choice: vote for this legislation or vote to deny the american people the bigger paychecks they need. >> reporter: >> brangham: that gave democrats in the house of representatives the opportunity to vote today on an attempt to push through those $2000 checks, forcing republicans to eitheenapprove the ng, or break with the president. but that measure is unlikely to pass the senate, with majority leader mch mcconnell and other republicans opposed to such relief spending.cr >> senate des are fighting for $2,000 per person. >> brangham: today in new york, senate minority leader chuck schumer called for president trump to lean on senate

republicans to get thoseigger checks passed. >> today i am telling donaldst trump don't alk about it, act. these senate republicans have followed you through thick and thin, get them now trtact and suphe $2,000 checks. 's>> brangham: the preside president-elect biden today said he also supports the $2,000 decision to sign the bill did avert the govement shutdown that was set to begihitonight. but delay of several days cost millions of americans a week of additional $300 in federal unemployment assistance, and delayed the $600 direct payments. >> i'm kind of relieved right now that he signed the bill, but still, you know, kind of worry a to happen in the near futureing with us. >> brangham: shanda mccoy was laid off from her job at their

daytonrt in ohio at the beginning of the pandemic. she says the bill's unemployment benefits can only stretch so far. >> i pay rent, utilities. i have to pay car insurance, a car payment. i have grandkids. and, you know, these are young parents that still need some t lp. i calp my grandkids as much. >> i lost my job in 2008 when the economy crashed.an i did end up being homeless for a while. >> brangham: angela retamoza was laid off from her job as an accounting assistant in march. she says she tried to save what little she could from the lastro d of covid relief knowing it could expire at the end of the year. >> i'm at least able to know that i have enough money to pay rent next month. but after that, i just i don't know. >> brangm: that uncertainty is a reality for millions of americans, still waiting for relief amid this pandemic. for the pbs newshour, i'm william brangham. >> to increase stimulus paymts from $600 to $2,000.

44 republicans joined the >> nawaz: for more on prident trump's decision to sign the bill and what comes next, anna palmer joins us now. she's senior washington correspondent fopolitico. let's start with president trump's decision to sign that relief bill. what do we know about what took him so long, and why he finally changed his >> this is really a crisis of the president's own making. the bill was on its way to being signed. it had been negotiated by the white house and both houses of congress. th the last minute he decided tow this wrench in it, and for days everybody was in limbo. were expecting and needing those checks, but also the fact that it was tied to government funding, which utuld have really sh down the government, and there was not a real end game there. we know that several members of congress, senate republicans like lindsegraham, went to him and spoke to him, made the case that he eded tois support covid relief bill, that georgia, which

is obviously h play w the two runoffs would be locked by republicansif he shut down thent governnd they did not get the relief that was needed for americans before the end of the year. >>s ailliam brangham just reported in a same, after signing theill, president trump says he wants less wasteful spending, sending to congress a redline bill, itemizing all of theds he wants removed. is the president going to get any of that? what is thpractica impact of those requests? >> reporter: just to give the president a way of saying he had a win in terms of what he wanted to happen with funding. this is not a reality. both houses have moved on from this spending bill. the house appropriators, the power of the purse, has said they will t be considering any of the recisions that the president would or could give to th before he leaves offe. but this is really more of a talking point for the president. it has no basis in reality. >> nawaz: we see now the suggestion to raise the

stimulus payments to 2,000 dollars, but this puts republicans in a pinch, particularly in the senate. at is going to happen there? are they going to back that increase in stimulus pateents? >> rep the house democrats just ink ou a two-thirds majority they needed in order for this bill to move forward inthto senate. the critical question is going to be: what, if any, pressure does presid trump put on his allies in the senate to actually take this up. there waalready some strong objections to it. senator ron jhnson of wisconsin, a key ally of the president, opposed a $1200 check bill before this. so it is hard to see where he would be running for support. and in particular because he isn't making those calls.ur toknowledge, he has not been on the call trying to press mitch mcconnell to actually take this te up. unless h does that, it appears this will ps in house, but it will die in the senate.

>> nawaz: anna palmer, senior washington correspondent with poliítico. always good toalk to you. >> nawaz: millions of americans' expired this weekend werets watching and waiting to see if president trump would sign the relief bill. michael west.s 60-year-old he joins us now from his home in huntington beach, california. welcome to the "newshour," and thanks for making the time. should fill folks in and tell them you were working as an uber driver before the pandemic hit, and then the pandemic hit ed, your business drop and your doctor told you it is probably not a good idea to goout and work because of your underlying health conditions. give us a sense ho hard it is two make ends meet since then and how you've done it? >> it sha it has been extremely difficult, and i didn't iknow wh was goin to do and then the cares act program passed, and it allowed me to collect

unemployment, and then the additional $600 a week allowed me to basically replace what i was making prior to having to just stop working. and so that got me through the spring an summer, and a ththe end of the july, when that program ended, the additional $600, it was really difficult. it was very difficult. i live in southern california. it is one of the most expensive places in the world to live. and trying to make ends meet on $300 a week s excruciatingly difficult. >> nawaz: let me ask you this: as you've watched the political back ands forth over tatest relief bill, and you saw the president say part of the reason he delayed signing it is because heed wao get more money to people like you, what was your reaction to that? >> quite frankly, it was infuriating.fi when helly did sign

the covid relief bill basically cost the people that are on p.u.a. a week of income, which affectively takes away our $600 stimulucheck, because that's roughly about how much we lose, or at let i do. so i feel like this has been a political footba. i feel like we've been pawns in it. i'm angry that in the richest country in the world, our congresshas done so little to help those that are suffering. >> nawaz: mr. west, you w sharth us earlier, of course, that you lost family in recent years. your 20-year business went under. you've had some toughe years, and you endured 2020 and all it what do you think you need now to get back on to your feet? >> it's difficult f me. i've worked hard my whole life. i've never really asked for anything from the government i've never h to rely on government assistance.

but, you knowi didn't choose to lose my job. all of this happen.hav this happened through no fault of my, and the same thing with millions of other americans that situation.t in the same we didn't choose this. so what i'd like to see i happ i would like to see them increase the amount that they give us in the way of that stimulus payment, to the $2,000 that has been like to see the $300on addi unemployment back-dated to be paid retroactively back to the beginning of august, when the previous prgram ended. that would help. that would help. otherwise, you know -- it is just a matter of trying to dodge the inevitable economic fallout that is coming. and the fear of eviction,

not being able to payr rent, payments, all the other expenditures, to ide whether you're going to spend your money on food or whether you're going to spend it on rent. it is just a very unfair proposion for us to be facing. >> nawaz: mr. west, i know millions of americans can relate to what you are .i i'm very grateful to you for joining us to share your story. that is michael west of huntington beach, california. thank you. >> thank yo i appreciate. t >> nawaz: now christmas day bombing that rocked nashville, tennessee. k we nw the "who". the "w" remains a mystery. stephanie sy has our report. >> sy: investigators are still going through the wrec, as they did all through christmas weekend.on their discoveries: d.n.a.

evidence that linked back to 63- year old anthony quinn warner. they now say he died in the alplosion, an apparent suicide, and the only fy. >> it does appear that the intent was more destction than ath. that's all still speculation at this point as we continue in our investigation with all of our partners. >> sy: authoriti made clear sunday that they do ctlieve warner alone. over the weekend, feral agents ed warner's house in a nashville suburb. a google maps image from 2019 showed an r.v. in the backyard. it looks similar to one in a photo police say was cd on a surveillance camera on christmas in downtown nashville. the r.v. parked, and a loudspeaker blared a warning to evacuate, along with a minute by minu countdown to the explosion. the moment of the blast was captured on video. even in the empty early morning

streets, chaos erupted.mb the as so powerful, it damaged more than 40 buildings. jeffrey rasmussen and his family escaped, but felt the bomb's force. >> as we're driving away, this massive explosion, i mean, this is huge.i i means looking forward, driving and i hear the sound and the whole car shifts. sy: damage done to the at&t building where the explosive- laden r.v. parked, disrupted phone and internet services inan tennessebeyond. as of this morning the company said that "the majority of services have been restored in nashville." to all of us locally, i feels like there has to be some facility and the te of the bombing. that's juscal insight, because it's got to have something to do with the infrastructure. >> sy: the bomber's late father had worked at at&t, and authorities said his mother was

veoperating with the igation. and while the question of motive remains unanswered, neighbor recounted the suspect saying less than a week ago that the world woulnot forget him. warner was a computer constant with a scant criminal record-- a single marijuana possession chadargd back to 1978. he had not been on law enforcement's radar. for the pbs newshour, stephanie sy. >> nawaz: in the day's other news, health officials sounded new warnings about surging covid-19 infections. that's due in part to the rise of new, more contagious mutations of the virus in britain and south africa. in geneva, the world health organization called this moment a wake-up call for a weary public. >> i know everyone is tired. i know that, you know, we're all wants this to be over, but this should push us even further to have even more resolve to end this pandemic.: >> nawanwhile, south africa's president cyril ramaphosa re-imposed a ban onan alcohol saleordered all

as of sunday, the y had topped one million infectiavs. holiday tr fueled concerns, as nearly 1.3 million people passed through u.s. airports on sunday, the most since march. logan airport in boston was one of many still packed this morning. a chinese court handedeaown a fourprison sentence today r a citizen journalist who reported on the initial covid-19 outbreak. zhang zhan posted videos from wuhan disputing the government narstive that the situation under control. china has denied covering up the initial outbreak and delaying release of vital information. presidt-elect joe biden charged today that president trump's administration has damaged national security agencies. in a speech in wilmington, delaware, he said many have agencies been "hollowed out". and, he said political appointe at the pentagon and the budget office refuse to give a clear picture of the situation. >> right now we just aren't

getting all information that we need for the ongoing, outgoing administration in key national hicurity areas. it's n short in my view of irresponsibility. >> nawaz: pentagon officials have denied earlier complaints from the biden team that they were not getting cooperation. o the u.s. hou representatives moved this evening to override presidenttr p's veto of the annual defense policy bill. it totals $740 billion i spending, including pay raises for the military. mr. trump had demanded an unrelated provision that would strip social mediaompanies of liability protection. the senate votes tomorrow on overriding the veto. in saudi araa, a criminal court has sentenced a leading women's rights activist to nearly six years in prison. loujain al-hathloul was charged with underming the kingdom. she protested the ban on women driving and called for repealing male guardianship laws. she had been jailed since 2018,

and today's verdict suspended part of her sentence, and backdated her term, meang she could be released in march. a white policeman in columbus, ohio wasired today after body- cam footage showed him killing black man en, refusing to give first aid for several minutes.dr the victim, hill, was fatally shot last tuesday as he came out of a garage holding up a cell-phone. a police union official says the officer was fired after a disciplinary hearing. back in this country, the environmental protection agency finalized the first regulations of greenhouse gas emissions from airliners and large business jets. they apply immediately to planes of new designs, and to earlier models starting in 2028. the rules don't apply to military aircraft. some environmental groups, plus 11 states and the district of columbia, have sd the rule does not go far enough. and, on wall street, major indexes all finished at record highs, after president trump signed the covid relief bill. the dow jones industrial average

gained 204 points to close near 30,404. the s&p 500 added 32.ts, and, still to come on the newshour: a look back on mistakes made. early in the usponse to the pandemic. a frontline report from themo atic republic of congo on r politics monday team breaks down the president's decision to sign the covid relief bill. and more. >> nawaz: the time-honored tradition of casting back on the past 12 months at the close of the year is a somber occasion this year. the coronavirus pandemic broug untold hardship and suffering that in one way or another touched nearly every american in 2020, and millions more around

the world. the "new yorker" magazine current issue to the subject this week. in his piece, "the plague year," staff writer and award-winning author lawrence wrig chronicles some of the principal events and people nd the pandemiche effort to critical moments w saysto three events might have turned out differently. >> lawrence wright, welcome back to the "newshour," and thanks joining us. those three critical moments, those mistakes, as you called them in yor piece, they are basically entry to china early ind the pandemic, the failure of the u.s. government to have a testing plan, andts flawed tebeing sent, and then the failure to support mask use. in youreporting, and everyone you talk to, how differently do you nk things would be today if those three things had been done differently? >> well, it still would have been a tragedy. it has been for every

country, really. but the dimensions of the in america than anywhereer else. we're really an outlia outly in the rest of the world. had we taken advantage of from the beginning, we would be in a lot better shape. there would be many more americans who would be alive now. starting with the very first thing, wen redfield, the director of the center for disease control on january 3rd,ca ed his counterpart in nina, georgia gou, gou told him there w evidence of human-to-human transmission but the main thing was the big secret that we didn't understand was that this was not like a flu. this was something that asymptomaticly. >> nawaz: the two other things you identified as mistakes were really strictly within theus white and the administration's control,

and that was a failure to get out retests, flawed tests they sent out, failure to support mask a use. you talked to a number of white house insiders, and what did they tell you about what led to those decisions and those failures? what was happening inside the white house? >> well, it was a dery diwhite house. and, you know, matt potenger was the deputy and he was the maindvisor, advocate all along, even before the public health people got ard. the treasury and office of management adget, they were all frightened of doing anything that would disrupt the economy and so on. but matt was pushing for travel bans and for mask use. and these were the two thin that we could do before a vaccine arrived, or any kind of real therapeutic. was the first person toe put on a mask in the white house. and he said it felt like wearing a clown nose. and people gawked at him.

the president asked if he was sick. want to not be the guy that goes down in history for knocking off the president with covid-19. >> nawaz: you chronicle in a number of different ways, and it is striking to see how many of these antidotes there were over the last year, the r of times that president trump publicly downplayed the threat, saidasks are i don't think i'm going to, d be wearing one. is it fair, though, because this is a once in a century pandemie and a lot ofople point the blame towards the white house and president trump. >> the are things that he should be given credit for.op i thinkation warped speed" was a great success.c getting these nes out in record time, this is something that we should be thankful for, especially for the scientists who developed that. ani think, also, we should give him credit for the travel bans, which were not part of the orthodox of public health at the time. but i fault him on t

things: one was the politicization of our health institutions. essentially, the c.d.c. and f.d.a. became captive agencies of the propaganda wing of the trump administration. and the other thing thatll is re-- that you really have to lay at th feet of the president, there is nonational plan, even to this day. on march 11th, ihink it was, the president was in a conversation with the 50 u.s. governors, and h id, you know, we'll be standing behind you. but he didn't explain what that meant. if you want to getp.e., that sort of thing, do it yourself. sursenly the gover realized it wasn't a national pooivelg. pandemic. and they were unpdrepa for this. >> nawaz: you tell a narrative about people at every stage, and how they

were affected, includingin the fronworkers who didn't have enough p.p.e., who remaion the frontlines trying to save people's lives today. what stood out in your conversations >>th them? t is so touching. because in the midst of this catastrophe, it has taken such a toll on our country and our spirit, nuere have been a mber of heros. and i was privileged to have the opportunit write about -- starting wi the people on the frontline in the health industry. ioony, a young black anesthgist at the university of virginia, who is advocating so strongly for better disparities in hea care. you know, it is hard for me to even begin, but barney graham was the one who develod the actual vaccine that we're now getting into our arms, thecc

e that is both contain the same vital protein that was designed by barne graham at the national institute of allergies and fectious diseases. >> nawaz: lawrence, it is really hard for many people to remember whthat early weeks of 2020 were even like. you call your piece th plague year, but we're still in it. the virus isn't done with us yet. so after looking at all of the strands of this, the political, the social, the medical, and so on, wh do you think we can learn from all of those things at tell us about what our nextear could look like? >> well, i think this virusen has belike an x-ray on our society. and it allows us to see all of the broken places. and it could be that now that we're so aware of them, we'll do something to mend them. r health care, foinstance, you know, we're the only country in the world that separates clinical health care from public health.

and it's lunacy to separate them. we should have a system that is unified. we should ve people being able to turn to get medical care as soon as they start to any kind of symptoms at all. also, think a big part of what we have to fix is the disunity in our country. it is a sad commentary that something like this, which should have brought us together, only drovus further apart. >> nawaz: there are big challenges ahead for usas a nation, for sure. lawrence wright, your new piece "the playegue" ar is in the latest edition of "the new yorker". thank you so much for joining us day. >> thank you very much. >> nawaz: the development of covid-19 vaccines is raising questions about their roll-out

across the world; questions as t world's richest nations buy up the lion's share of the doses, that leaves poorer that sets up a challenge in a country like the democratic republic of congo, a nation with plenty of recent experience dealing with epidemics. chris ocamringa has more from kinshasa. >> reporter: it's a typical private clinic on the outskirts of kinshasa, the cital of the democratic republic of cgo. patients come here with all with types of ailments. this school girl is here for a fever, in the midst of power blackout. the doctor and healthcare workers here are used to making do with the little they have. >> ( translated ): we have no medical supplies to prevent the spread of covid-19 here. there's no disinfectant to sanitize the clnic or masks to give our patients. we are exposed to the disease. the government should support us with some equipment.

>> reporter: but the democrati republic of congo is one of the poorest countries in the world. decades of conflict and corruption have bliged its health care system. even so the d.r.c. has learned how to win wars against epidemics. a campaign to vaccinate 18 million children here helpedhe d.r.c. overcome the world's largest measles epidemic in the last two years. the government declared the end of an ebola outbreak in a rthwestern province last month. that outbreak was the 11th to occur in the d.r.c. since 1976. the world health organization says vaccines and treatments played a role in fighting the outbreaks, as did the d.r.c.'s success in mobilizinhealth workers and educating the blic. the d.r.c. is now trying to use that hard-won experience. >> our previous fightings against infectious diseases, not only ebola but measles, yellow fever and other epidemic

diseases helpeorus a lot to nize fighting this pandemic crisis >> reporter: but there's a long way to go. esen the pandemic broke out in march, many congsuspected the government made the annguncement just to get fun from donors. they ignored the health measures aid at limiting its spread and the d.r.c. is now infections, with over 14,000 cases recorded. and health authoriti are eager to use the covid-19 vaccine.s >> therespecial group of scientists and public health specialists who are discussing on all those issues related to covid-19. but definitely i think our country is committed to use a covid-19 vaccine as a tool. r

orter: but the government doesn't have the money to procure the vaccines its healthcare system grappng with other diseases like cholera, polio and monkeypox. even if it did have the funds. world's most trustcinesiling the buying up doses that outnumber their populations. that leaves most of africa scrambling for options. >> we have developed a strategy for the continent which we call the whole of africa strategy to access vaccines in a timely, fair and equitable manner. r reporter: the africa centers fosease control and prevention and its director, dr john nkengasong, are working with a global initiative known as covax to ensure that countries like the d.r.c. get acce to the covid-19 vaccine and are not left behind. the program's own promoters reportedly indates it's struggling from a anck of funds d faces a high risk of failure

leaving billions of peoplece without to vaccines for years. but as the richenations ndserve more doses than they need of the u.s.uropean- made vaccines, africa may have little choice than to turn to the russian or chinese vaccines. >> africa c.d.c. is watching over all vaccines that are being trailed, we are analyzing the results and only the most effective and efficacious vaccines will be allowed to be used on the continent of africa. >> reporter: but it may be years before any of the vaccines are available for many africans. and though some african countries are already preparing to supply coolers for the covid- 19 vaccines across the continent. a recent study conducted by the world health organization found that only 40% of african countries are prepared to roll out a vaccine. poor infrastructure, frequent power outages, roads in disrepair, all will be challeng for the d.r.c. when planning how to store and distribute the vaccines.

>> the d.r.c. is among theat countries re not yet ready to roll out the covid-19 vaccine. health experts here sa are still discussing the modalities of introducing a distributing foa vaccine that's suitabl their environment. and ough the african c.d.c. has promised not to leave them when or how many doses of thew vaccine will be available to them. the incident manager of the d.r.c.'s covid-19 pandemic team told us they have no idea yet when a finalecision will be made. >> reporter: and when the d.oec. governmentget the vaccines in hand, it will face resistance from some congolese cizens in the roll out. >> ( translated ): i'm n sure about what was used in making that covid-19 vaccine by foreigners. accept it if they bring it here. congo has a lot of plants with medicinal properties that can cure that disease. >> ( translated ): i reject that vaccine becae i know jesus is

much bigger than any medication. he has kept me alive for so long and only he will decide when i die. i'm not worried about covid-19. >> ( translated if that vaccine will really save lives then it's ok for our leaders to approve it and start vaccinatine le. >> reporter: the epicenter of the d.r.c.'s covid-19 pandemic is in the capital kinshasa, hom to 12 millople. the vast majority have to hit the streets daily to put food on the table. the lockdown restrictions imposed by the government to curb t spread of covid-19 earlier this year had a devastating impact on their lives. it will take a lot of convincing from the government for the population to turn u large numbers to get vaccinated once it's approved. but it's the key to solving the crisis here, a nightmare many are longing to wake up from. for the pbs newshour, i'm chris ocamringa, in kinshasa,ub democratic rc of congo.

>> nawaz: it's the last monday of 2020.ea here to down the week's political news, from the covid reliefill to the georgia senate races, amy walter of the cook political report and host of public radio's "politics with amy walter." and rin haines of the 19th news. tamara keith is away. >> nawaz: welcome to you both. congratulations for making icit to the final pol monday of 2020. let's jump right in and talk about this latest bitof haos in the covid-19 relief bill. amy,e heard the reporting earlier today. of course the president has been involved. the white house has been involvn these negotiations for months. the president signed it the last minute with some last-minute demands, and

as anna palmer reported, it doesn't look like he'll be getting any of the revisions. what was accomplished in this? >> amy: it looks like the house was able to pass the $2,000 bill, and what happens now is what happens in the senate, whent is the replicans in charge, not the democrats, like in the house where it is nancy pelosi.th bu bigger point, you're right, wasn't really about policy as much as it was about branding a messaging. donald trump's message from the very beginning of his ti as a candidate to the end of his presidency has been about, you know, i'm thonly one who can fix this. i, alone, can do this.th that eveg else is sort of rigged against me. hetalks, of course, a lot about the fact, unfounded, that the election was rigged againstim, that the media is rigged against him. in this case, it isng ss, right? he wants to keep making the claim that washington is so dysfunctional, they can't help you.

i can help you. and so he will leave not necessarily with getting an accomplishmt -- a policy accomplishment -- but he has his message he is going tocontinue to put forward for the foreseeable future, which is to continue to destabilize an already dy and to make that where he spends so much histime in the next few -- well, we don't know how l he is going to keep doing. cot it is certainly the way he seesng back into the conversation post-presidency. >> nawaz: one of theny things ww in the days, weeks, and months ahead. errin, what do you make of this? what does presiden trump get out of this? >> errin: like amy said, that is definily on clear, this kind of game of will he or won't he, it has refocused the press' attention on him. we hav't seen much from

the president, except for him to continue to insist he won the election. when we know he lost. in 22 days, joe biden will be inaugurated as president, and kamala harris will be sworn in as vice president. and,ou kn, he just resurfaces to continue to assert that he does not accept the results of the eltion, that he is challenging those results. this is a probm, particular in georgia, in these consequential senate runoffs that are going to decide the balance of power in that chamber. you have two incumbent because of a president raising the level of aio rigged eleand making pandemic relief so difficult for so many of the georgia voters, for whom the reality of the pandemic from a public health and economic standpoint is very front and center for them,ci esly over these

holidays, as benefits are expiring. and they are seeing the real-life stakes of policy and legislation in their lives, and wondering why congress is not responsive, and why th president has been playing politics with real life and death issues for so many americans. >> nawaz: amy, what about that? what about georgia?es we know prent trump has said in a recent tweet, he plans on heading down there. going on behalf of two be great senators, as he sa, senator david perdue and senator loeffler. he is going to go for a big and wonderful rally, he says all capd s. what kf position did the president put his own party in, by demanding that the stimulus payments are increased from $60to0 $2,000. we don't know what the future will be in the but we know the democratic challenges are calling on perdue and loeffle to back that $2,000 increase.

has this become sort of a loyalty test for republicans? >> amy: well, we've seen in the house many of thes republicted against this $2,000 bill. it looks like about 44 republicans ultimately voted for it. so in that sense, this is one place where ongress did not vote in lock stepe with t desires of the president. ha large part because they know howlenging this will be for kelly loeffler and david perdue inheir senate race. but it goes back to what i said at the beginning here, amona, which is, it is never for donald trump, h about wh can do to help his party. it is much more about helping this and. and his brand is disruption, and his brand is sowing discontent and undermining much of whaten hain washington. and so i think what we're going to e -- the good news, if you're loeffler

and rdue, is the fact that a bill was signed. there will be money going out to people who need it. the government will not shut down. that's also pretty god news if you're campaigning as a republican, and it' the president of your party who has made that shutdown enha and the next question, of course, becomes: how does senate majority leader mitch mcconnell deal with this new wrinkle, which is, does he make his senators vote on somethingem that many of to not want to do? there are ways that he could slow-walk this. we'll see if umesident really puts the pressure on mcconnell and his republican colleagues in the senate. >> nawaz: errin, as i mentioned, it is the last monday of 2020. we have an outgoing president who is still very much pusng the balance of orthodoxy, courting contrnaersy in the weeks of his presidency, with who he pardons, the way he deals

with congress, insisting that the election wasry rigged anding to overturn the results. are you looking at theseow final weeks of the trump presidency when it comes to the totality of his time in office? >> errin: well,amna, i think what we've seen is a president who, for him, has acted presidential in these past four years. this is prsidential for donald trump. he certainly redefined the presidency as we know it i these past four years. anink that as we look at the last 22 days of hiess ency, what we are seeing is a president whis finishing much as he started. raing the stor of the integry of our election system in his own victory. and in his final year of being president, his response to bothe pandemic and theti

symptoinequality that was laid bare in this pandemic, he wanot responsive to either of those thgs. we do not hear very much to those things now. he continues to tal about voter fraud that was in, you know, his memo before he signed at bill. he is headed to georgia, as you mentioned, allegedly on the eve of the election. the last time he was in georgia for an election rally, he was, again, talking about a rigged election even as he was asking georgia republicat to caeir ballots for kelly loeffler and david perdue. i think what we're eeing is really just a full circle moment for this president. you know, his legacy is the -- the final chapter of his legy is being written now. and, frankly, ithas been, if nothing else, consistent with what we've seen since 2017.

>> nawaz: errin mentions the word legacy. amy, these are the final weeks that usually end up solidifycyg the presid how are you doing during these last weeks of the trump presidency? >> amy: i think what isrin laid out pretty much on the mark: he is leaving as hecame in. there were forces that conspired against him, that only he can fix this,d rt of setting himself up for two things, either to be a 2024 candidate for president, or to be a king-maker. he could do both, t i think we're going to see, at least in the next couple of months, the roles he plays e face of the republican party, and the one who can make or break candidates. and that's where he is the most comfortable. not necessarily inic pursuing po but in pursuing the message that nse system itself rema broken and people should continue to be upset at it. >> nawaz: that is amy

aines onnd errin h this, the last politics nday of 2020. always good to talk to you both. thctthanksfor your ime. >> thank you, amna. >> happy new year. >> nawaz: the pandemic shut down theaters across the country. but, some relief cou come to iatndependent ts under the new covid relief package, which includes a $15 billion grant fon some culturaitutions. even though most theaters remain closed, a consistent lockdown conversation starter has been, "so what are you watching?" while we're apart, and as we cope ithis year that's unlike any other, shows and movies have offered some kind of shared experience. two critics help jeffrey brown look at some of the ows and movies helping us to get through it all. it's part of our ongoing arts and culture series, canvas. >> brown: the cineplex was closed, but more and more, the

wodd of entertainment strea into our homes. lorraine ali is a television critic at the los anveles times >>ll what stands out the most is television. thank god we had so much content because i think the id before now, it was like thankfully we had it because we didn't have films, we didn't have theater, we didn't have music ccerts. >> brown: what we did have: attention-getting shows like" the queen's gambit"... >> chess can also be... beautiful. >> bro: "the crown," hulu's adaptation o"little fires everywhere" and there were also new >> i think streaming is the model now, and i think, you the question this year was we have so many more streers coming in, will netflix be knocked off its throne. no, at didn't happen. but we did see, you know, apple tv plus come in. we did see disney plus come in with the mandalorian and big things like that.

you know, now you have hbo and it the game and peacock and so treaming is it. al brown: what about your persist of favorites? give us a few of your give us a few of your top beis picks for th year. >> you're a little weird. >> yes, yes i am. i think the whole immigrant aspect to it, you don't see enough of that on television. t may destroy you, which is a british series ts on hbo. it is a drama millennial drama, you could almost say was a little hipstery, butit just dealt with sexual assault in the aftermath of that and also with gender identity and ce. and it's just brilliant. it was really well done. switching gears totally was a series called upload on azon, and it was essentially an afterlife comedy about when you die, you can have your soul uploaded or essentially your consciousness uploaded into a cloud where the living can talk to you.

>> brown: in the meantime, big budget movie releases, like" top gun: maverick" and jamesno bond's "ime to die" were delayed throughout the year." tenet" eventually was released in theaters, but other films came out ostreaming platforms, further blurring the lines between the bienand small sc erd earlier this month, wa brothers took the next step: announcing that all its 2021 films will be released on hbo max and in theaters simultaneouslyincluding the highly anticipated "wonder woman 1984" and "dune". the move met plenty of resistance. >> in some quarters, that is seen as a fatal bl to theaters, because now we're all on the streaming habit. >> bwn: ann hornaday is a film critic at the "washington post." but that tells me that visual storytelling is alive and as crucial as ever. and i really do think that we will have pent up demand to get out of the house and go back to theaters as soon as it's safe. >> brown: so give me s me a few of your top picks then.

>> what my top pick is, is actually kind of representative of this year because it's iet just one mit's five that are being shown on amazon. it's called small axe. it's an anthology of these films by steve mcqueen, each of which deals with the west indian community in london in the '60s, '70s and '80s, often dealing with real life situations of police brutality and inequality, jot also portraits of grea and resilience. >> i've met hundreds of people out here and they don't say a final goodbye. >> my number two is a terrific movie called nomadland, starring frances mcdormand in an indomitable role. she just is plenty and funny. and she's a real survivor in this movie about a woman who goes on the road to some kind of an itinerant twenty first century worker, beautifully directed by chloe zhao. and then my number three is called first cow. this was the last movie i saw in a proper theater. the movie by kelly reichardt takes place in the 19th century

in the pacific northwest, dealing with kind ofhe the great western expansion, the amfinition of what it means to be aican. >> brown: hollywood also faced a renewed reckoning in theake of the killing of george floyd and the protests fci social and justice. this summer the oscars announced new rules for eligibility surroundg diversity and inclusion. i lip service has been paid in the past, buink actually people are more serious to which these new rules at the academy about best picture attached. i think people are now they got. they're getting it. but o's even more important t then do something about it. >> brown: some films this year, hornaday says, offered hope of what could be. >> uncannily, i feel that the movies provided this really fascinating and i think restorative counter-narrative to the assaults on black bodies of with the with the covid-19ep emic and the disproportionate effect of that on people of color.

there's these were these multi-p balanctraits of black life that got to trauma, yes, suffering. yes. but also j, sensuality, the full spectrum of experience. by thati i was really heartened >>rown: what's next for tv movies and our viewing habits? both ali and hornaday see continuing evolution, but also >> now, that line rringchange. and that line, i think, is going to blur even more as we move forward. everything's been on what you would think of as a tevision screen or your streaming scheme or however you watched television. that's how you're watching films now. >> that is the question, did it change it forever? it certainly changed the economic model for now. but i do think people have an want to get out of the house and do something, including going to a movie. it's just a time-honored ritual.

i wouldn't underplay theaters quite t or write their obituaries yet. >> brown: on one screen or anher, we'll be watching. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown. >> nawaz: and on the pbs newshour online, we've been asking artists and our audience which songs helped them survive a strange andevastating year and compiled them into a playlist that offer an escape; a little bit of pensive we've been asking artistsd what songs helem survive 2020, and dozens of you have shared your own picks, too. we put all of those songs into one powerful play st, for whenever you need a moment of joy or inspiration or reflection. you can you can listen at pbs.org/newshour, and while you're there, share what song helped get you through 2020, too.at and the newshour for tonight. i'm amna naw. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please st safe, and see you soon. >> major funding fhe pbs newshour has been provided by:

>> archierct. bee-keep. mentor. a advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life, we-planned. >> the kendeda fund. committed to advancing restorative justice and meangful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. more at kendedafund.org. >> and by the alfred p. oan foundation.

>> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to bstlding a more verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs u.ation from viewers like thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

[upbeat music] - hello everyone and welcome to amanpour & company. it been an extraordinary year that's changed the world as we know it from alobal pandemic that ifted the way we live, work and interact with each otr, to the most consequential us election in modern history, to a moral reckoning with racism around the world. so this holiday season, we're bringing you some of ouravorite interviews from this year on all of this anmore. co here's what'ng up. looking ahead to life after lockdown, whmy exclusive jointar puinterview with two of the greatest sporting champions, spanning generat ns of billie jean king andand andy murray. then. - you live and die by metrics, just as we did in the combat zone. - david petraeus on how a clear strategy and clear communication can lead us through this crisis.