captioning sponsoreded by newshour productions, llc >> nodawaz: vening, 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 president signs the massive covid relief bill. then, the nashville bomber is named-- authorities identify the man behind the christmas ds bombing, ae investigation turns to possible motives. d, getting the vaccine-- as covid inoculations begin, we report frorethe democratic blic of congo on when developing nations will be able to treat their citizens. >> though the african c.d.c. has promised not to leave them out, african nations do not know when ci how many doses of the v will be available to them. >> nawaz: all that and more on tonight'pbs newshour.

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

>> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> and wh the ongoing support of tse institutions: and individus. >> this program was de possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> nawaz: the showdown is over.

in a surprise move late sunday night, president trump signed the covid relief and government funding bill, after days of delay, demanding last-minute changes.gh william br begins our hverage. >> tse will be in order. >> brangham: lawmakers returned to washington today, after a high-stakes standoff with president trump over coronavirus relief and government funding. .>> it really is a disgra >> brangham: for days, the president refused to sign the $2.3 trillion bill to provide $900 billion in coronavirus relief and fund the federal government through the rest of fiscal year 2021. bu suddenly reversed course. in a statement, the president said he had signed the bill, rescissions" t back what he said was "wasteful" spending. onat's even though his own administraad helped still, his demandsutbacks. are unlikely to go anywhere. congresswoman nita lowey, who chairs the house appropriations committee, said she anr

ecdemocrats "will rejt any rescissions submitted by the present's statement also called for congress to increase the 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 peoe thbigger 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 either approve the spending, or break with the president. ut that measure is unlikely to pass the senate, with majority republicans opposed to suchher relief spending. >> senate democrats arting for $2,000 per person.ra >>ham: today in new york, senate minority leader chuck onhumer called for president trump to leaenate republicans to get those bigger

checks passed. >> today i am telling donald trump don't just talk it, act.se theste republicans have followed you thrgh thick and thin, get them now to act and00 support the $checks. >> brangham: the president's president-elect biden today said he also supports the $2,000 avert the government shutdown that was set to begin tonight. but his 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 little bit because what's goingh pen in the near future >> brangham: shanda mccoy was laid off from her job at the

dayton airport in ohio at the beginning of the pandemic. mee says the bill's unempl benefits can only stretch so far. >> i pay rent, utilities. i have to pay car insurance, a car payment. nohave grandkids. and, you these are young parents that still need some help. i can't help my grandkids as much. the economy crashed.08 when and 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 lastov round of 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.af bur that, i just i don't know. >> brangham: that unrtainty is a reality for millions of americans, still waiting for relief amid this pandemic. for the pbs newshour, i'm lliam brangham. >> to increase stimulus payments from $600 to $2,000.

44 republicans joined the >> nawaz: for more on presidente trump'sion to sign the bill and what comes next, anna palmer joins us now. she's senior washington correspondent for politico. let's start with president trump's decision to sign that relief bill. what do we know about whatim tooko long, and why he finally changed his mind. >> is is reala 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. at the last minute he decided to throw this wrench in it, and for ways everybodin limbo. certainly the people that were expecting and needing these checks, but also fact that it was tied to government funding, which would have really shutdo the government, and there was not a real end game there. we know that several members of congress, senate republicans like lindsey graham, we him and spoke to him, made the case that he needed to support this covid relief bill, that georgia, which

is obviously in play with the two runoffs would be locked by republicans if he shut down the government and they did not get the relief that f was need americans before the end of the year. >> as william brangham just reported in a same, after signing the bill, president trump says he wants less wasteful spending, sending to coress a redline bill, itemizg all of the funds he wants removed. is the president going to get any of that? what is the practical impact of those requests? >> reporr: 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 not be considering any of the recisions that the president would or could give to them bee he leaves office.re but this is ly more of a talking point for the president. it has no basis in reality. >> nawaz: we see now the house has supported that

suggestion to raise the stimulus paymen to 2,000 dollars, but this puts republicans in a pinch, particularly in the senate. what is gog to happ there? are they going to back that increase in stimulus hoyments? >> reporter: the democrats just inked out a two-thirds majority they needed in order for this bill to move forward in.to the sena the critical question is going to be: what, if a, pressure does president trump put on his allies in the senate tactually take this up. there was already some strong objections to it. senator ron johnsoof wisconsin, a key ally of the president, opposed a 200 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. to our knowledge, he has not been on the call trying to preitch mcconnell to actually take this vote up. unless he does that, appears this will pass in house, but it will die in the senate.

>> nawaz: anna palmer, senior washington correspondent with poliítico. always good to talk to you. >> nawaz: millions of americans' whose unemployment benefitspi d this weekend were watching and waiting to see if president trump would sign the relief bill. one of them is 60-year-old michael west. he joins us now from his home in huntington beach, california. t welcome "newshour," and thanks for making the time. we should fill folks in and tell them you were working as an uber driver before the pandemic hit, and then e pandemic hit and your business dropped, and your doctor told you iabis pr not a good idea to go out and work health contions.underlying give us a sense how hard it is two make ends meet since then and howeou done it? difficult, and i didn'txtremely know what i was going to do and then the cares act program passed, and it allowed me to collect

unemployment, and then the additional $0 a ek allowed me to basically replace what i was making inprior to hto just stop working. and so that got me through the spring and summer, and then at the end of the july, when that program ended, the additional $600, it was really difficult. it was very difficult. i livin 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 was excruciatingly azfficult. >> nlet me ask you this: as you've watched the political back and forth over this latest relief bill, and you sawes the ent say part of the reason he delayed signing it is because he wanted to get more money to people like u, what was your reaction to that? >> quite frankly, it was infuriating. when he finally did sign

ief billd r after the delay, it basically cost the people that are on p.u.a. a week of income which affectively takes away our $600 stimulus check, because that'soughly about how much we lose, or at least i do. so i feel like this has en a political football. i feel like we've been pawns init. and i'm angry. i'm angry that in they richest coun the world, our congress has done so little to help those that are suffering. >> nawaz: mr. west, you shared with us earlier, of course, th you lost family in recent years. under.0-year buness went you've had some tough endured 2020 and all it brought with it. what do you think you need now to get back on to your feet? >> it's difficult for me. i've worked hard my whole life. i've never really asked for anything from the government. i've never had to rely on government assistance.

but, you know, i didn't choose to lose my job. i didn't choose to have all of this happen. this happened through no fault of my own, and the same thing with millionsan of other amerthat were caught in the same situation. we didn't choose this. so what i'd like to see happen is, 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 discussed, and i would like to see the $300 additional unemployment back-dated to be paid retroactively back to the beginning of aust,when the previous program ended. that would help. th would help. otherwise, you know -- it is just a matter of trying to doge the ineevita economic fallout that is coming. and the fear of eviction, not being able toy pa

rent, car payments, all the other expenditures, to have to decide whether you're going to spend your money food or whether you're going to spend it on rent. it is just a very unfair proposition for us to be facing. >> nawaz: mr. west, i ow millions of americans can relate to what you are saying. i'm very grateful to you for joining are your story. that is michael west of huntington beach, california. thank you. >> thank you. i appreciate. tm>> nawaz: now to the chr day bombing that rocked nashville, tennessee."w we now know th". the "why" remains a mystery. stephanie sy has our report. >> sy: investigators are still they did all through christmas weekend. among their discoveries: d.n.a

evidence that linked back to 63q year old anthonn warner. they now say he died in the deplosion, an apparent sui and the only fatality. >> it es appear that the intent was more destruction than death. that's all still speculation at this point as we continue in our investigation with all of our partners. >> sy: authorities made clear .unday that they do believe warner acted alo over the weekend, federal agen searched wner's house in a shville suburb. a google maps image from 2019 showed an r.v. in the backyard. it looks similar to one in a lloto police say was captured on a survce camera on christmas in downtown nashville. the r.v. parked, and a loudspeaker blared a warning to evacuate, along with a minute by minute countdown tthe explosion. the moment of the blast was captured on video. even in the empty earlmorning

streets, chaos erupted. the bomb was so powerful, it damaged more than 40 buildings. jeffrey rasmussen and his family escaped, but felt the bomb's >> as we're driving away, thisma ive explosion, i mean, this i mean, i was lookg forward, driving and i hear the sound and the whole car shifts.ag >> sy: ddone to the at&t building where the explosive- laden r.v. parked, disrupted tennessee and beyo services in as of this morning the company said that "the majority of services have been restored in nashville." feels like there hbe someit connection with the at&t facility and the site of the bombing. that's just local insight, because it's got to have d somethino with the infrastructure. >> sy: the bomber's late father had rked at at&t, and authorities said his mother was cooperating with the

investigation. and while the question of motive remains unanswered, a neighbor recounted the suspect saying less than a week ago that the world would not forget him. warner was a computer consultant with a scant criminal record-- a single marijua possession charge dated back to 1978. he had not been on law enforcement's radar. for the pbs newshour, i'm 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 mutations of the virus in britain and south africa. inld geneva, the wealth organization called this moment a wake-up call for a wearyic pu >> i know everyone is tired. i know that, you know, we're al kind of with this and wants this to be over, but this should push us even further to have even more resolve to end this pandemic. >> nawaz: meanwhile, south ramaphosa re-imposed a ban on alcohol sales and ordered all

rs closed. as of nday, the country had topped one million infections. holiday travel fueled concerns, as nearly 1.3 million people passed through u.s. aiorts on sunday, the most since march. logan airp of many still packed this morning. a chinese court handed down a four-year prison sentence today for a citizen journalist who reported on the initial covid-19 outbreak. zhang zhan posted vide from wuhan disputing the government narrative that the situation was under control. china has denied cover the initial outbreak and delaying release of vital information. president-elect joe bidenge chtoday 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 appointees at the pentagon and the budget office refuse to p give a cleture of the situation. >> right now we just aren't

getting all information that we need for the ongoing, outgoing and from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. it's nothing short in my view of irresponsibility. >> nawaz: pentagon officials have denied earlier complaints from the biden team that they c were not gettiperation. the u.s. house of representatives moved this ntening to override presi trump's veto of the annual nse policy bill. it totals $740 billion in spending, including pay raises for the military. mr. trump had demanded an unrelated provion that would strip social media companies of liability protection. the senate votes tomorrow on overriding the veto. in saudi arabia, a criminal women's rights activist tog nearly six years in prison. loujain al-hathloul was charged with undermining the kingdom.e otested the ban on women driving and called for repealing male guardiansd p laws. she en jailed since 2018,

and today's verdict suspended part of her sentence, and backdated her term, meaning she could be released in march. a white policeman in columbus, ohio was fired today after body- cam footage showed him killing a black man and then, refusing to give first aid for several minutes. the victim, andre hill, was came out of a garage holding up a cell-phone. officer was fired after as the disciplinary hearing. back in this country, the environmental protection agency finalized the first regulations of greenhouse gas emissions from airliners and large busine jets. they apply immediately to planeg of new d, and to earlier models starting in 2028. the rules don't apply to military aircraft. some environmental groups, plus 11 states and the di of columbia, have said the rule does not go r enough. and, on wall street, indexes all finished at record highs, after president trumphe signedovid relief bill. the dow jones industrial average

gained 204 points to close near 30,404. the nasdaq rose 94 points, and, the s&p 500 added 32. still to come on the newshour: a look back on mistakes made tearly in the u.s. respon the pandemic. a frontline report from theep democraticlic of congo on vaccine equity.ou 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 this year.s a somber occasion une coronavirus pandemic brought ld hardship and suffering that in one way or another touched nearly every american in d.20, and millions more around

the wo the "new yorker" magazine devoted nearly its entire current issue to the subject this week. piece, "the plague year," author lawrence wrward-winning chronicles some of the principal events and people of the pandemic and the eff contain it, and points to three al moments when he says events might have turned out differently. >> lawrence wright, welcome back to the "newshou" and thanks for joing us. those three critical moments, those mistakes, as you called them in your piece, they are basicallyam a u.s. being denied entry to china early in the pandemic, the lure of the u.s. government to have a testing plan, and flawed tests beingnt, and then the failure to support mask use. p your reorting, and everyone you talk to, how 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 tragedy or so much greatere in ca than anywhere else. ne're really an outlia outlyer i the rest of the world. had we taken advantage of the opportun ties we had fr beginning, we would be in a lot better shape. there would be many more alive now.who would be tarting with the very first thing, when redfield, the director of the center for disease control on january 3rd, called his counterpart in china, georgia gou, gou to him there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission. but the main thing was these biet that we didn't understand was that this was not like a flu. yhis was something that spread mai asymptomaticly. >> nawaz: the two other things you identified a mistakes were really strictly within the whi house and the administration's control, and that was a failure to

get out real tests, flawed tests they sent out, around the country, and are faio support mask 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 housit >> well,as a very divided white house. and, younow, matt potenger was the deput national security advisor, and he was the main advocate all along, n before the public health people got on board. a the treasud office of management and budget, they were all frightened of doing anything that would disrupt the economy and so . but matt was pushing for travel bans and for mask us and these were the two things that we could do before a vacne arrived, or any kind of realeu therc. matt put on a mask -- he was the first person to put on a mask in the white house. and he said it felt like wearing a clown nose. anpeople gawked at him.

the president asked if he was sick. and he said, no, i just want to not be the guy th goes down history for knocking off the president with covid-19. on nawaz: you chrle in a number of different ways, and it is striking to see how many of these antidotes there were over the last year, the number of times that president trump publicwnplayed the threat, said masks are vol tory tory -- voluntary, and i don't think i'm going to be wearing one. is it fair, though, because this is a once in a century pandemic, and a lot of people point the blame towards the whit house and president trump. is it fair to do that? >> there are things that he should be given crdit for. i think "operation warped speed" was a great success. getting these vaccines out in record time, this is something th we should be thankful for, especially for the scientists who developed that. and i think, also, we should give him credit for the travel bans, which were not part of the orthodox of public health at the t but i fault him on two

things: one was the politicization of our health institus.ti essentially, the c.d.c. an f.d.a. became captive agencies of the propaganda wingof the trump administration. and the other thing that is really -- that you thelly have to lay at feet of the president, there is no national plan, even to this day. on march 11th, i think it was, the president was in a conversation with the 50 u.s. governors, and he said, you know, we'll be standing behd you. but he didn't explain what that meant. if you want to get p.p.e., that sort of thing, do it yourself. suddenly the governors realized it wasn't a national pooivelg. pandemic. ey were unprepared for this. >> nawaz: you tell a narrative about people at every stage, and how theywe affected, including

the frontline workers who didn't have enough p.p.e., who remain on the frontlines trying to save people's lives today. what stood out in your conversations with them? >> it is so touching. because in the midst of this catastrophe, it has country and our spirit, there have been a number of heros. and i was privileged to have the opportunity to write about -- starting with the people on the frontline in thealth industry. ebony, a young black anesthesiologist at the university of virginia, who is advocating so strongly for better outcomes in ethnic disparities in health care. you know, it is hard forme to even begin, but barney graham was the one who developed the actual vaccine that we're now tting into our arms, the

vaccine that is both pfizernd moderna who contain the same vital protein that was designed tu barney graham at the national ins of allergies and infectious diseases. >> nawaz: lawrench it is realld for many people to remember what the early weeks of 2020 re even like. you call your piece the plague yr, but we're still in it. the virus isn't done with us yet. so after looking at all of the strands of this, theli cal, the social, the medical, and so on, what do you think we can learn from all of those thatings ell us about what our next year could look like? >> well, think this virus has been like an x-ray onieour soc. and it allows us to see all of the broken places. and it could that now that we're so aware of them, we'll do something to mend them. health care, for instance, you know, we're the ony country in the world that separates clinical health care from blic health.

and it's lunacy to separate them. wehould have a system that is unified. we should have people being able to turn getot medical care as soon as symptoms at all.y kind of also, i 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 ove us further apart. >> nawaz: there are biges challehead for us as a nation, for sure. lawrence wright, your new piece "the plague" year is tion oflatest edi "the new yorker". thank you so much for joining us today. >> thank you very much. >> nawaz: the development of covid-19 vaccines is raising questions about their roll-out

across the world; questions as the world's rhest nations buy up the lion's share of the doses, that leaves poorer that sets up a challenge in a untry like the democrati 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 capital of e democratic republic of congo. patients come here with all with types of ailments. this school girl is here for a fever, in the midst of a power hackout. the doctor althcare 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. se government should support us wie equipment.

>> reporter: but the democratic republic of congo is one of the poorest countries in the world. decades of conflict and corruption have blighted 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 helped the 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 northwestern province last month. that outbreak was the 11th to occur in the d.r.c. since 1976. the world health orgization says vaccines and treatments played a role in fighting the outbreaks, as did the d.r.c.'s success in mobilizing health workers and educating the public. 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 helped us a lot to organize fighting this pandemic crisis. >> reporter: but there's a long way to go.he whenandemic broke out in march, many congolese suspected the government made the announcement just to get funding from donors. they ignored the health measures aimed at liming its spread. and the d.r.c. is now experienng a secctd wave of inns, with over 14,000 cases recorded. -1d health autrities are eager >> there is a specoup of scientists and public health 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. b

>> reporte the government doesn't have the money to procure the vaccines its healthcare system is grappling with other diseases like cholera, polio and monkeypox. even if it did have the funds. rich nations are stockpiling the world's most trusted vaccines buying up doses that outnumber their populatis. that leaves most of africa scrambling for options.e >>ve developed a strategynt for the ent which we call the whole of africa strategy to access vaccines in a timely, fair and equitable manner. >> reporter: the aica centers for disease control and pr dention and its director, john nkengasong, are working with a global initiative known as covax to ensure tha countries like the d.r.c. get access to the cod-19 vaccines, and are not left behind. but an internal ine stigation by ogram's own promoters reportedly indicates it's struggling from a lack of funds and faces a high risk of failure

without access to es forle years. but as the richer nations reserve more doses than they n-ed of the u.s. and europ 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 analing 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 afrin countries are already preparing to supply coolerthe covid- 19 vaccines across the continent. a recent study conducted by the world health organization found that only 40% of africantr counies are prepared to roll out a vaccine.ru poor infracture, frequent ilwer outages, roads in disrepair, all wbe challenges for the d.c. when planning how to store and >> the d.r.c. is among the

countries that are not yet ready vaccine.out the covid-19 health experts here say they are still discussing the modalities of introducing and distributing a vaccinthat's suitable for their environment. and though thefrican c.d.c. has promised not to leave them out, african nationso not know when or how many doses of the vaccine will be available to them. the incident manager of the d.r.c.'s covid-19 pandemic tm told us theyave no idea yet when a final decision will be made. >> reporter: and when the d.r.c. vernment does get the vaccines in hand, it will face resistance from some congolese citizens in the roll out. >> ( translated ): i'm not sure about what was used in making that covid-19 vaccine by foreigners. i won't accept iif they bring it here. congo has a lot of plants with medicinal properties that can cure that disease. >> ( translated ): i reject that vaccine because i knowesus 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 approve it and start vaccinating people. >> reporter: the epicenter of the d.r.c.'s covid-19 pandemic is in the capital kinshasa, home to 12 million people. the vast majority have to hit the streets daily to put food on the table. the lockdown restrictions imposed by the government to curb the spread ofovid-19 earlier this year had a devastating impact on their lives. it will take a lot of convincing from the government for the 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, democratic republic of congo.

>> nawaz: it's the last monday of 2020. here to break down the week's political news, from the covid relief bill to the georgia senate races, amy walter of the eport and host of public radio's "politics with amy walter." and errin haines of the 19th news. tamara keith is away.: >> nawlcome to you both. congratulations for making it to the final politics monday of 2020.gh let's jump in and talk about this latest bit of chaos in the covi-19 relief bill. amy, we heard the reporting earlier today. has been involved.ident the white house has been involved in these negotiations for months. the president signed it at the last minute with some last-minute demands, and as anna palmer reported,

it doesn't look likehe'll be getting any of the revisions. what was accomplished this? >> amy: it looks like the house was able toss the $2,000 bill, and what happens now is wha happens in the senate, when it is the republicans in charge, not the democrats, like in the house where it is nancy pelosi. but the bigger point, you're right, it wasn'tbo really policy as much as it was about branding and messaging. donald trump's mesage from the very beginning of his time as a candidate to the end of his presidency has been about, you know, i'm the only one who can fix this one, can do this. that everything else is sort of gged against me. he talks, of course, a lot about the fact, unfounded, that the election was rigged against him, that the media is rigged against him. in this case, it is congress, right? he wants to keep making the claim thshington is so dysfunctional, they can't help you.yo

i can hel and so he will leave not necessarily withgetting an accomplishment -- a policy accomplie ment -- but s his message he is going to continue to put forward for the foreseeable future, ich is to continue to destabilize an aready dysfunctional washington, and to make that where he spends so much of his time in the next few -- well, we don't know how long he is going to keepdoing. but it is certainly the way he sees coming back into the conversation post-presidency. >> nawaz: one of the many things we do not know in the days, weeks, and months ahead. errin, wt do you make of this? wh does president trump get out of this? >> errin: li amy said, that is definitely on clear, this kind of game of will he or won't he, it has refocused theress' attention on him. we haven't seen much from

the president, except foto hicontinue to insist he won the election. when we know he lost. in 22 daysjoe biden will be inaugurated as president, and kamala harris will be sworn in as vice president. and, you know, he just resurfaces to continuto assert that he does not accept the resus ofhe election, that he is challenging those results. thiss a problem, particular in georgia, inti these consequ senate runoffs that are going to decide the balance of power in that chamber. you havine twocumbent senators on the ropes because of a presidentve raising the of a rigged election and 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 ntandpoint is very fro and center for them, especially over these

holidays, as benefits are. expiri and they are seeing the real-life stakes of policy and legislation in their lives, and wondering why congress is no responsive, and why the president has been playg politics with real life and death issues for so many amans. >> nawaz: amy, what about that? what about georgia? we know president trump has said in a recent tweet, he plans on heading down there. he said he is going to beg go behalf of two great senators, as he said, senatr david perdue and senator loeffler. he is going to go for a ul rally,onde he says all caps. what kind of position did the president put his own rty in, bymanding that the stimulus payments are increased from $600 to $2,000. we don't know what the future will be in the senate.we buknow the democratic challenges are calling on perdue and loeffler to back that $2,000 increase.

has this become sort of a loyalty test for republicans? >> amy: well, we've seen in theouse many of the republicans voted against this $2,000 bill. it looks like about 44 republicans ultimately voted for it. so in that sense, this is one place where congress did not vote in lock step with the desires of the president. know how challengisse they will be for kelly loeffler and david perdue in their senate race. but it goes back to what said at the beginning here, amona, which is, it about what he cao totrump, help his party. it is much more about helping this bran and his brand is disruption, and his brand is sowing discontent anrmd uning much of what happens in washington. going to see -- the good news, if you're loeffler

the factue, i that a bill was signed. there will be money going out to people who need it. the government will not shut down. that's aldo pretty goo news if you're campaigning as a republican, and its the president of your party who has made that shutdown 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 something that many of them do not want to do? there are ys thahe could slow-walk this. we'll see if president trump reay puts the pressure on mcconll and his republican colleagues in the senate. >> nawaz: errin, as i mentioned, it is the last monday o202 we have an outgoing president who is still very much pushing the balance of orthodoxy, courting controversy in the final weeks of his presidency, with who heon pa the way he deals

with congress, insisting that the election was rigged and trying to overturn the results. errin, at this moment, uhow are ooking at these final weeks of the trump presidency when it comes to the ality of his time in office? >> errin: well, amna, i think what we've seen is ena preswho, for him, has acted presidential inr these past fears. this is presidential for donald trump. he cenetainly redethe presidency as we know it in these past four years. and i thinthat as we look at the last 22 days of hisat presidency, we are seeing is a president who is finisng much as he started. he came into office raising the spector of the integrity of our election system in his own victory. and in his final year of being president, his responseo both the symptomatic iney

that was laid bare in this pandemic, he was not responsive to either of those things. we do not hear very much to those things n. he continues to talk about voter fraud that ws in, you know, his memo before he signed that bill. he is headed to georgia, as you mentioned, allegedly on the eve of the election. the last time he was in orgia for an election rally, he was, again, talking about a rigged election even as he was asking georgia republicans to cast their ballots for ke ay loeffl david perdue. i think what we're seeing is really just a full circle moment for this president. you know, his legacy is the -- the final chapter of his legacy is being written now. and, frankly, it has bee if nothing else, consistent with what we've seen since 2017. >> nawaz: erin menions

the word legacy. amy, these are the final weeks that ually end up presidency. the how are you doing during these last weeks of the trump presidency? >> amy: i think what errin laid o is pretty much on the mark: he is leaving as he came in. there were forces that conspired against him, that only he can fix this, and sort of setting himself up for two things, either to be a 2024 candidate forsi prent, or to be a king-maker. he could do both, but i ink we're going to see, at least in the next couplef months, the role he plays as the fa the republican party, and the one who can make or break candidates. and that's where he is the most comfortable t necessarily in pursuing policy, but in pursuing the message that the system itself remains broken and people should continue to e upset at it. >> nawaz: that is amy

walter and errin haines on this, the last politics monday of 2020. always good to talk to you both. thctthanks f your time. >> thank you, amna. >> happy new year. >> nawaz: the pandemic shut down theaters across the country. but, some relief coue to independent theaters under the new covid relief packaich includes a $15 billion grant for some cultural institutions. even though most theaters remain osed, a consistent lockdown conversation starter has been, "so what are you watching?" while we're apart, and as we cope in this yeathat's unlike any other, shows and movies have offered some kind of shared experience. two critics help jeffrey brown movies helping us to get through it all. it's part of our ongoing arts and culture series, canvas. >> brown: the cineplex was heosed, but more and more,

world of entertainment streamed into our homes lorraine ali is a television critic at the los angeles timest >> overall whads out the most is television. thank god we had so much content because i think the idea 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 concerts. >> brown: what we did have: attention-getting sws like" the queen's gambit"... >> chess can also be... beautiful. >> brown: "the cwn," hulu's adaptation of "little fires everywhere" and ere were also new platforms presenting shows.hi >> i streaming is the model now, and i think, you the question this year was we have so many more streamers coming in, will netflix be knocked off its throne. no, that didn' dhappen. but id see, you know, apple tv plus come in.ne we did see dplus come in with the mandalorian and big things like that.yo

you know, nohave hbo and on the game and peacock and so it streaming is it. >> brown: what about your personal list of favorites? give us a few of your give us a few of your top best picks f this year. >> you'ra little weird. >> yes, yes i am. i think the whole immigrant aspect to it, you don't see onenough of that on televi i may destroy you, which is a british series that was on hbo. it is a drama millennial drama, you could almost say was a little hipstery, but then ith just dealt witxual assault in the aftermath of that andge also witer identity and race. and it's just brilliant. it was really well done. switching gears totally was a series called upload on amazon, and it was essentially an afterle comedy about when you die, you can have your soul uploaded or essentially your consciousness uploaded into a cloud where the living c talk to you.

>> brown: in the meantime, big- budget movie releases, like"gu to maverick" and james bond's "no time to die" were delayed throughout the year." tenet" eventually was released in theaters, but other films further blurring the linesrms, between the big and small screens. and earlier is month, warner brothers took the next step: announcing that all its 2021 films will be released on hbo max and in theaters simultaneously, including the highly anticipated "wonder woman 1984" and "dune"et. the movelenty of resistance. >> in some quarters, that is seen as a fatal blow to theaters, because now we're all on the streaming habit. >> brown: ann hornaday is a film critic at the "washington post.a >> buttells 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 so give me a few of your top picks then.

>> what my top pick is, is actually kind of representative of this year because it's not just one movie, it'sthat 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, but also portraits of great joy and resilience. >> i've met hundreds of people out here and they don't say ana figoodbye.>> my number two is a terrific movie called nomadland, starring frances mcdormand in an indomitable role. and she's a real sr in funny. 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 fir 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 north dealing with kind of the the great western expansion, the definition of what it means to be an american. >> brown: hollywood also faced a renewed reckoning in the wake of the killing of george floyd and the protests for social ced racial jus this summer the cars announced new rules for eligibility surrounding diversity and inclusion. >> lip service has been paid in the past, but i think actually people are more serious to which these new rules at the academy about best picture attached. i think people are now they got it. they're getting it. but it's even re important to 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 what we were seeing in terms of saults on black bodies with the with the covid-19 t epidemic a disproportionate effect of that on people of color.

there's these were these multi- balanced portraits of black life trauma, yes, suffering. yes. but also joy, sensualict, the full sm of experience. tnd so i i waseally heartened by t >> brown: what's next for tv, itmovies and our viewing h both ali and hornaday see continuing evolution, but also some things that won'te. >> now, that line is blurring and that line, i think, is going to blur even more as we ve forward. everything's been on what you would think of as a television screen or yo 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 ha an enduring and continual need to 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 yet or write their obituaries yet. >> brown: on one screen or another, 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 and devastating year and compiled them in playlist that offer an escape; a little bit of pensive we've been asking artists what songs helped them survive 2020, and dozens of you have shared your own picks, too.th we put all ofe songs into one powerful play list, for whenever you need a moment of joy or inspiration or reflection. you can you can listen at pbs.org/newshour, and you're there, share what song helped get you through 2020, too.ew and that's theour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. t for all ofs pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and see you soon. ajor funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

>> architect. bee-keeper. mentor. a raymond jamesofinancial adtailors advice to help you live your life. life, well-planned. >> the kendeda fund. committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work thntugh investmein transformative leaders and ideas. more at kendedafund.org. >> and by the alfred p. sloan fountion.

>> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a moan just, verdanpeaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these ins >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station fromiewers like you. ank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ -today on "america's test kitchen," becky cooks julia the ultimate roasted chicken with harissa-mint carrots, jackllenges bridget to a taste test of sriracha, lisa reviews healthy gadgets all under $20, and dan makes bridget a picture-worthy brown rice bowl