♪ jeff: good evening. i'm geoff bennet. amna is nawaz have away. congress moves to avoid a shutdown with a few funding bill. top u.s. diplomats meet the new leaders of syria who overthrew the assad regime and are now attempting to rebuild the

wore-torn done terrorism and life in the west bank following the hamas terror attacks has been brutal and predictable. >> we have no future now. even for my daughter. she has no future. they had destroyed the house with us inside, it would have been better. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provide by -- >> the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of the "newshour" including jim and nancy bildner and the robert and virginia shiller foundation, the judy and peter bloom kovlar foundation upholding freedom by strengthen democracies at home and abroad. >> the john s. and james l.

knight foundation fostering communities. more at kf.org. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the "newshour." this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. geoff: welcome to the news hour days of chaos an uncertainty on capitol hill appear to be winding down. a bill backed by president-elect donald trump to keep the government open was rejected by the house last night. but this afternoon, a break-through on a very similar agreement was announce by house

speaker johnson. >> we will not have a government showdown and we will meet our obligation for our farmer's aid, for the disaster victims all over the country and for making sure that the military and essential service and everyone who relies on the federal government is paid over the holidays. geoff: and the house passed pae bill with partisan support. it heads to the senate with just hours until the midnight deadline. lisa desjardins has been track it. lisa, where do things stand right now? lisa: that vote just completed. this could very well be the last house vote of this congress. i want to tell you the vote total. 366 votes for this spending bill that will kick things down the road, i'll talk about the details in a second all of the no-votes were republicans. so democrats really helped get this across the finish line in the house. what's in this exactfully let's take a look. first of all, this bill would extend the funding of -- government funding until mid

march. it has $100 billion about that for disaster aid. it has $10 billion for farmers. there is not an increase in the debt ceiling. you might be wondering doesn't that look like a grabbing you used the other day? yes, it does. this bill is similar to a proposal that failed earlier except for the debt ceiling had been removed. remember, this has been a problem for republicans up and down talking to them this morning coming out of their caucus. they were eager to be unified and positive. >> what did you hear from democrats in terms of how they were able to get to yes? lisa: i want to talk about the democrats say that they want to make sure that government doesn't get shutdown. i think part of this was coming out of that republican meeting. republicans were trying to be unified and to be positive to get democrats onboard. let's listen to what they said. >> i think we came together.

i think speaker johnson did a great job come the end of the day. i think there's very good communication happening with the white house, which is crucial. >> now what's notable here is when they say the white house, house republicans are talking about president-elect trump. so throughout all of, this it was as if trump was already president. but i want a note in tend, he did not -- the end. he did not get what he wanted. he wrote on social media, and i want to show you exactly what he wrote. he wrote, congress must get rid of the ridiculous debt ceiling without. this republicans should never make a deal in the end, they did make a deal. and now part of this deal is a handshake agreement between house republicans and trump to increase the debt ceiling next year by one and a half trillion but have some cuts that would go

along with. that geoff: what does all of this mean for the house speaker, mike johnson, his leadership moving forward? lisa: we're waiting to see what the senate does tonight. i want to update folks on the shutdown itself because that is coming at midnight. the senate could move quickly sit possible the senate could pass the deal by midnight or short will after. it looks like if we have a shu shutdown it could be a technically short one that's if the senate goes along. mike johnson absolutely, he is not out of hot water yet. at least one of his republicans members, tommy massy of kentucky told me, he is a hard no on johnson continuing to be speaker. let's listen to what he said. >> you can change of the name of the speaker's office but until you change the way this place works you're not going to get different results. i have a different operating theory on this speaker's vote, which is -- mike johnson is not qualified to be speaker. lisa: now, with the margin that

johnson will have in the next session, he really cannot lose any more members and keep the speakership. so over the course of this recess, will will be an important moment for the speaker. i did confirm that in one of the meetings, with his number two, steve scalise, johnson half joked, half didn't joke if anyone else can get 218 votes mean ago majority, god bless them. steve k scalise someone who has eyed the speakership. he's not the only one but there will be a moment a test for him. geoff: help us understand. despite the chaos we've seen, it appears congress has voted and approved -- at least the house has voted and approved, a spending bill that for the most part mirrored what they started with minimi us in this effort to raise the debt ceiling is that right? lisa: that's exactly correct. the house knew this was coming

since september. all of congress knew this was coming since september. so did president-elect trump. what happened here there was a large bill that speaker johnson negotiated with democrats that he presented to his chairman but did not get them to weigh in on. that bill had these items in it. plus, more policy -- a bunch more spending it in and some healthcare policy then, president-elect trump and elon musk weighed in. they wanted the debt ceiling. so speaker johnson outed that. that didn't work. now that's been taken out. essentially we've gone through all of this as a learning curve for speaker johnson and president-elect trump as to how the house can work and how it doesn't work. another thing i want to hit on really quickly here is about the debt itself. this was a pervasive and sub stanive issue to many of the republicans who were negotiating with their own party. looking that debt deal, i want to describe what their handshake deal is with president-elect

trump. they would try by one and a half trillion dollars in the spring or in january or so. and in exchange they want to find $2.5 trillion in mandatory spending cuts. that's a level we've never seen before. that may not be easy to do. and of course, they would need agreement from the senate as well. this is the deal they have with trump. a reminder that the u.s. national debt stands at $36 trillion. and that level is going up and up. the interest on the debt is nearing a trillion dollars a year. that's why this is a concern. it is a substantive issue for many of these republicans. that's not going to go away, nor the complexity of it. it may get harder. geoff: lisa desjardins, our deep thanks to you as always. let's bring in david s. david: lisa is truly one of the

very best of it. geoff: thanks for making note oil you opposed the first two funding billsle but you voted in support of the funding bill tonight. why? david: the debt ceiling was removed from it. we'll be joining the joint economic chair and ways an means, and it said here are some of the modernization and things to move forward. and let's be honest, the previous one were christmas treed in and then functionally, a substantial increase in the debt reeling with no understanding that that's a stress or around here. and we almost always do our work when there's a stressor. >> the version of the bill that failed last night that donald trump support, 38 republicans voted against them. you were one of them. what should we take away from that? does it show the elements of mrr

among the house g.o.p.? >> geoff, i would take you a slightly different direction. in some ways it was less about president trump or even mr mr. musk. it's the fact of the matter that we live in a time that so far this fiscal year, we're 70 days in this fiscal year, we're borrowing $100,000 every second. the interest on the debt is starting to chew us up. and it's constantly this battle of people want things. there's lines of lobbyists and groups in these hallways wanting things and almost no one wants to actually talk about how do we pay for it. geoff: given that you are a vocal fiscal hawk. what you do make of the fact that you have an unelected multimillionaire with conflicts of interests calling the shots

on something that should be the prerogative on elected members of congress? >> i'm actually think it's wonderful -- geoff: really? >> if you have someone with a freaky high i.q. and evangelize saying we need to modernize how we deliver healthcare, how we deliver government. what we do because the fact of the matter is intellectually congress the reporting class others are almost fear to feel tell the public just the scale -- look, we're boar rogue so far this fiscal year $8.7 billion every single day. and yet, the triteness of so many of the solution that is we get -- if this raises the profile -- look, i know people want to take a shot at someone because of what they do and those things. but how much of the public actually understands we're

clicking off $1 trillion about every 118 days. if this sharpens the mind, sharpens the intellect to deal with the reality of or demographics, 100% of the debt today through the next 10 years is interest and healthcare. it's demographics. it's not democrat. it's not republican. it's what we are as a so >> i take your point about shake up the status quo. what about the process? for americans watching this new era of g.o.p. control start with really chaos and manufactured crisis you could argue, what should the american people take away from that? >> in some ways, oh, god -- forgive me when i say this. this is the reality when you don't have bundles of free cash to hand out to people to buy their votes. in a previous era when you had someone that wanted something -- you say already, we'll build

that bridge, deal with that road and that's how you took care of their desires for their vote. today, we don't have that -- that bank account to buy votes. now we have to do with the honor, the facts of the math. and the math will eventually win here. so things are going to be more difficult. but this is the reality of the avoidance of the last decade of telling the truth what our demographics have brought us. geoff: what's your assessment of mike johnson's leadership so far? >> he's done final. look, building -- one of the things -- to me, i might be a bit pathologically optimistic here. what we went through the last 36 hours is building a rhythm of how you deal with very difficult math when you have one or two-vote margin and build the model of how you do you listen to people, someone from a very well-educated district.

i respect the phoenix, scottsdale area compared to someone who might have had a rural district where they haven't had a lot of educated -- >> there's lots of rural educated people -- if you take a look at some of the no-votes it was more we wanted more aid for what's happening in ago cultural america. you had others that it's an issue with what's happening in the middle of the country. so we've got to be very careful that this isn't populist versus conservatives, vs. liberals. it's an understanding that the movement of how we vote is next. geoff: congressman, thank you for being was. >> thank you for having me.

stephanie: i'm stephanie sy with "newshour" west. in germany, a car drove at high speed through a crowd of people at a christmas market in the north eastern city of magdebrg. at least two are debt include ago toddler. and at least 15 people were seriously injured. officials believe this was a deliberate attack and the suspect a 15 year-old -- 50 year-old saudi doctor was the suspect. they called it a dark day for the city. >> we are shake. we are full of sympathy for the relatives. also, we hope that nothing has happened to our relatives, friends and acquaintances. >> this weeks marks the anniversary of a berlin christmas market eight years ago where an extremist drove a truck through the crowd and killed 15 people. ukraine and russia traded deadly strikes today. ukraine struck inside the kurk

border region killing at least six people including a championship eyewitness video caught scenes of destruction and panic. ukrainian soldiers have held part of the area. officials say one person was killed in a russian missile attack during morning rush hour. ukraine's foreign ministry said that they endangered other country's di pro mats -- diplomats. >> as a result of the missile attacks, several embassy were damaged. you can see a car with diplomatic traits that belongs to one of the di plot lowe mattic institution. here's the interior of the embassy. all of these are housed in the same building which was heavily damaged by the russian strike. stephanie: moscow claimed it was retaliation that used

american-made weapons. a missouri judge ruled that the states near total abortion ban is not enforceable. the decision temporarily strikes down a series of laws restricting abortion including a mandatory 72-hour waiting period. this year missouri voters enshrined the right to abortion in the state suit the pentagon announced today that navy and marine v-22 osprey aircraft can resume flight with restrictions. the osprey has faced safety concerns. the most recent grounding came earlier this monday in new mexico. last week, a fatal crash killed eight service members. the v-22 gearbox showed metal defects. under new rules, flights can resume who's box meet or exceed certain flight hour threshold. authorities in co-are preparing

to arrest eight suspects. they include suspected members of a venezuelan gang. the same complex drew national attention several months ago when a video showing armed men became the center of an electioning year debate. one of the suspects take into custody was in the video according to the police chief. the suspects are being held by immigration and customs enfor enforcement. baristas went on a five-day strike today after contract negotiation reached an apparent stand still. >> no contract, no coffee! >> union organizers said the walk-offs happened at about 10 stores in the los angeles, seattle and chicago areas and the strike could expand to hundreds of cafes by christmas eve. the coffee giant said there would be no significant impact to its organization. the biden administration announced today that it would forgive another $4 until student loan debt for roughly 55,000

borrowers who work in public service. the relief is a result of fixes. the education department came to this loan forgiveness program. biden waved 500 million beam student debt. but republican led legal challenges has hinderinged his enever efforts. jonathan and david weigh in on a congressional funding deal. and the court wrangles over who owns it. and after sued another for copying her look. >> this is is from the cbs "newshour." in the west from the waller cronkite school of journalism from arizona state university.

geoff: american diplomats were in syria for the first time since the u.s. shut its embassy in 2012. they met with serious defacto new ruler, ahmed bashara. and assistant secretary of state told reporters. he was committed to ensuring that terrorist groups cannot pose a threat inside syria or other countries. >> i would characterize the discussion as quite good. very productive detailed. we ranged over a wide set of issues, domestic and external. he came across as prague make it. it was a good first meeting. we will judge by deeds, not just by words. >> u.s. officials also said they're expanding their search for austin theis, the american journalist who was kidnapped 12 years ago. for perspective, we turn during

the george w. bush administration. thanks for coming. >> my pleasure. >> help us understand the u.s. dropping the $10 bounty whose force led to the ouster of al-assad. >> ahmed at one point was an islamic state. at one point he was alaska. he had his own offshoot. but he and the organization seems to have evolved and recognized that they can rule syria. they can't govern syria without changing to some extent, the islamic ideology and being inclusive and much more tolerant because syria is a mosaic of many minorities with the sunnies perhaps being the majority. but within that grouping of

sunni muslims there are many second lairist who don't want islamic rule. >> what is the u.s.'s interest in syria right now? >> well, i think the first interest that it doesn't become a cockpit for exporting terrorism as ask was and the like -- afghanistan was and the lake. syria has isis still out in the denetter the western desert of syria. in and the united states has about 2,000 troops there. we've increased the number of troops and they're there to work with the syrian democratic front. but it's likely a kurdish military organization to root out isis and they guard some very huge prison containing thousands of isis firefighters and their families, >> is it in the u.s. interest then to lift sanctions to

provide more human tear aid and to encourage other countries to do the same. >> i think it is. i'm being -- our assistant secretary who we just heard fr from, it's our job as a diplomat to be positive and hopeful. but in this case i think it's the right case to do because he recognize that is he as a country in ruins. and people are suffering. and he has to deliver for them. he wants to consolidate h.t.s.'s position and stamp out resistance then people have to have hope and that hope will come through the international community first providing humanitarian aid but then reinstruction aid and even help with governance. he's a very astute fellow whose who has learned a lot. and come along way. i'm not saying he couldn't

reverse himself. plenty of leaders have. i'm old enough to remember castro in cuba who told us he was democrat back in 1959 and 1960. and turned out the be a communist leader. so people can say one thing and do another. he has to talk to talk. he's going to have to walk the walk. >> you've articulated one of the immediate wrists that he face. what are some that he has to look forward to? >> there are so many, geoff. you know, the self war is really not over. we have a truce between tucker irk back force and the kirkish force i just referred to and northern eastern syria. but it's although matter of day before that expires. so we could see again fighting in that part -- in that area. not only that but we could see more extremists elements from sham or other allied

organizations trying to push assad because he's too moderate. >> we also have many other things that can happen. >> i meaned isis. and them gain ago bigger foot hole and expanding the reach in syria. and israel has been taking territory. and made an agreement between these and then an interesting government. >> he doesn't want a problem with israel. he doesn't want to have to be a confrontational leader. but they're embarrassing him badly. geoff: this outgoing administration is obtained in the round of diplomasy >> how might his anti-interventionist view look? and what might that mean for

syria. >> first of all, we have been working with the kurds in north eastern syria since about 20123. you have ambassador geofferys who said we never had an agreement with the conserva evey but there was a moral obligation there. the curds have been abandoned more than once in the u.s. and if a slaughter takes place there, their blood is going to be on u.s. hands. and turkey has said, not only is isis a terrible organization, but the syrian horses are also terrorist organization. something we don't agree with our interest is that -- al-qaeda not being able to explorer rim. if he pulls out too quickly.

if he throws out his hands and say i'm not giving any i'd. wow the u.s. leadership things could deteriorate very quickly >> i'm hoping his advisers can talk him into -- let's say a more moderate withdraw. we shouldn't rebound that. >> thank you so much for your insights. >> thank you, sir. >> other night in the northern reaches of the occupied west bank, a mosque was vandalized and set on fire by israeli settlers. who's attacks have increased since the october 7 per rory attacks. >> it's stoked by iranian support. on a recent pick.

nick shiffrin traveled to the janet camp and begins hi story in a near-bi-village. >> it is a win into the life. what was once sanction nair reduced to rubble. >> i've been building this house for 15 years. it took them 45 minutes to demolish it and leave. >> they assistant at the wreckage he spent half a life to firn it. >> family dancing in the kitchen. >> but in september, an israeli bulldozerrer to it down. israel told him he didn't have a construction permit. which they say is nearly impossible obtain. >> if i wanted to building build a house like that, it would take me 100 years. the family says it's leveled on this land for 100 years. lived in this land for 100 yea

years. but the u.n. says this year, his real demolish, the longest structure since is became 15 years ago. >> trail has blocked hey hasan's and 1507,000ing palestinian's livelihood but suspending their work program. they gave them to israel just beyond the wall. >> before ok 7, i used to work in israel. i used to work construction there. and they knew who i was. and they liked me. but since october 7, if i said hi, they don't respond. they shoot at me. we have no future now. even for my daughter, she has no future. i asked what happened to the house. and she said the army flattened it if they had to address it with azine side it would have been better. >> that defeatism is

responsible. >> we're both living and we're not. you don't know if your child leaves the house if they'll be back safe or even if i leave the house, you never know what could happen. >> he has been a par metric in nine for 18 years. he and n.g.o.'s accuse him of targeting healthcare facilities, workers and am blue lances. >> before october 7, the stop and searching were fewer. today, they have no problem shooting at anyone. they'll skill anyone. it has been the djere few gee carp. israel calls the camp the crucible of palestinian militantancy. >> another round, targeted what he argued strifts. urban warfare. because militants are embedded

in the city. >> the really military company here has intensified using tactics that wouldn't be unheard of. hit by israeli jets. and locals tell me they're not going to rebuild it because they fear that if they did, israel would hit it again. the u.n. establish the camp and others during israel estoppeds in 1948. but first, it's been joined by jordan since 1967. some 14,000 of their desen dents live here. le across the west bank. >> the people are living in a sort of tough situation, a stressful situation. there's been increasing pressure on people during this time. >> he's one of the i mans at the mox. he said the toll of west banksia

vinvilleians has been eye. the u.s. said 730 have been killed including three children every week. vealy recent jeanine graves left bullet marks and they said it's no place to grow up. >> of course, they're going to grow up abnormally with abnormal thoughts where the army came around 118. i had to pull myself out. and the scene was there was terrified partses. when the army comes in it's intentional to terrorize people. >> israel argues that the terrorism is palestinian. last week, they held a funeral for a 12 year-old killed by a palestinian at a bus station. and in early october, palestinians from the west bank attacked this strange station and killed their bodies left on

the side walk. >> west bank is one of the seven fronts that israel fights against access of reassistance. israeli whose last job was leading his strategic planning. >> he's a fellow with the washington international piece. we spoke when i returned to the best bank. >> the job is to keep it relatively stable and keep it down. so a famous israeli term for that was mowing the lawn since the tall grass allows the snakes to pro-life rate. and -- explosive laboratories. you go after bands of armed gunman. >> gee anyone's arm groups are supplied including these by

iran. that governs part of the west bank. this past weekend, palestinian police fought militants in jay not. called an attempt to re-establish law and order. >> this is to save the people in jeannine and to save the nation. west bank chaos also comes from violent launched by jewish residents who knew what the international community called illegal settlements. this year they've had the highest in the years. >> i would say it's an express of their feeling that the government is supportive. and at the same time, the huge weakening of police and the law enforcement >> the israeli army is responsible for them. but the rest settlers is the responsibility of the-place

police ago argue others the security official. >> if they are this inclined showing its weak-hand against those aggressors. so there's no enforcements. we can add to that that recently the newly appointed minister of defense just said that the administrative arrests for jews will not be there. that's a big step backwards. of when you try to deter jewish terrorism. >> those of arrest hold suspects without charged has helped push the number of detainees from 50,000 to 17,000. >> the arrests were different affects 7. arreste and the arrest became more violent. >> you've been a lawyer for so

years -- 10 years. >> he and the u.n. human rights office accuse him of ash tear and commune punitive arrests. a healthy body builder before he was detained. >> the u.n. says at least 53,000 died while in custody including terror who is serve ago 20-year sentence for attempting to bomb at check-point. [speaking foreign language] >> without a doubt, the israelis are using torchers in their prince even leading to the deaths of detainee. mattress were taken away. leaving them in the cold. they were staying in the dark and lesssonning the amount of food. over seen like ben. he said repeatedly goat.

but they have publically phutted with thm which has criticized conditions. >> i i am surprised with my fortune. if palestinian. and i said palestinian visitors must be killed. >> all of this adds up to tensions remaining lie. >> the israeli-palestinian conflict is a pass. it's not a political process inside. so the cycles of violence will continue. for the pbs newshour i'm nick shiffrin, in jeannine. yes: congress spent the week in another funding battle.

we turn to the analysis of books and capehart that's "new york times" column kniess david brooks and jonathan capehart, associate editor for "the washington post." what's orassessment of the drama surrounding this battle? keeping the government funded is the basic function of congress. it should be this straightforward process. not the source of political brinksmanship and not controversial. i love that distribution because it has been that way since kevin mccarthy was speaker of the house. look, you had speaker johnson negotiating in good faith. if you listen to congressional democrats to come up what we can now come up with plan a. >> it wasn't what speaker johnson was promised. it was more than 1,000-page bill. had lots of stuff in it. it did a bunch of things. what was it? monday, early in theen mooing,'

long musks starts tweeting against it. >> you can't expect anything to get passed if you swoop in at the last minute and blow up the deal. then you blow up the second deal. you've got people in your own who ran on cutting the debt and things like that. to mor mors it's not surprising. they going to past with a lot of votes. geoff: by take aim at the washington status quo that donald trump did exactly what he said he would do on the campaign trail especially since the government is viewed with such distrust by those on the populist wright. >> , yeah i had a positive week with this. i thought all parties had a

piece of the truth. so donald trump was absolutely right. we should get rid of this debt ceiling. we should do it during the appreciations process or the authorization process not with this weird thing called the debt ceiling. the second people who were right were the 38 republicans who defied donald trump who said if we're going to get rid of the debt ceiling, we should actually cut spending. and we were right about that. but speaker johnson was also right that this was not the time. that hours before a government shutdown you cut $1.2 trillion out of the budget. speaker johnson did the right thing. and donald trump learned a lesson, which is there are realities. you can say things on the campaign trail but there are realities in governments. and the realities have to do with the timetable. donald trump weighed in at the right time. he's on the right course on this. he can't just do it just at the last minute when you're not etch president yet.

and so i think what we learned is that at first 38 and then hundreds of republicans defied donald trump in order to deal with the reality. geoff: what about elon musk? he led the rebellion against initial bill as you mentioned. and "the post" >> ed that his swift accumulation has sparked criticism at the in-coming trump administration will function as an oligarch. >> remember, this got started not because donald trump weighed in first. elon musk weighed in. and he's the -- i just start calling him the first buddy. he's in on all the phone calls, all the meetings. no one elected to anything, no one. and yet republicans on the hill listened to what he had to say. donald trump listened to what he had to say. there's a reason why democrats -- this week were calling him president musk and then calling

donald trump, donald trump. what we saw this week is prologue for what the trump administration is going to be like with the 119th congress is going to be like, we should be prepared for continual weeks like the one we've had now. geoff: what does this suggest about what we can expect move forgot ward especially as donald trump will have to renew his tax cut plan, and he says he wants to embark on this mass deportation of undocumented immigrants? that's going to take coordinating with congress to a certain degree. >> again, it's reality. first time elon musk, donald trump has been against the debt ceiling for a long time. he didn't need elon musk. this bromance is going to end in tears. i give it 30 days, maybe 60 days, something like. that we're all going to be crying as they part ways and they start taking shots at each other. i don't expect elon musk to be around for very long. presidents get to have advisers.

and if he can do some good, then maybe he can do some good. i mean, one of the things that -- that even democrats are saying is that they missed a chance when they were in office to reform government if you're trying to improve medicare and veteran services, there are government rules and regulations that impip -- impinge and block you the way it works. if elon musk some billionaire walks in and can reform some of the rules that are impinging the way the government works, i don't expect it to happen but donald trump does not know anything about the reality of governance. my posture is let him try. he's got som -- some instinct that is is good and terrible. you have know what you're doing.

neither donald trump or elon musk know how the game? played. geoff: at one point donald trump posted on social media, if there's going to ba shutdown let it begin under the biden administration. and no response from president biden he seems have abdicated the bully pulpit. >> no, no, no, no. why should he get in the middle of a republican-on-republican food fight melee? why should he? if this were any other time, any other president, we'd be saying the president is staying out of it because when you're opponent is digging the hole, just let them dig the hole. so that's what i think was up with president biden as for elon musk just to go back, david, i will not be crying when the bromance -- when the bromance implodes. and while i understand that government needs be reformed and regulations need to be tight tightened, the thing that

concerns me the most is about the world's richest person being in charge of an agency that doesn't have -- really have any -- any power. it's going to be congress that has to do something. i don't really know what his values are. david's values are right and true. fix medicaid, mix med care. fix social security. i don't know if that's what elon musk will be focused on. geoff: this has been quite quite a year, gentlemen. so much tumult in the world, so mump much uncertainty. but i want to ask you the one thing you find yourself most gratele for. david, i'll start with you. david: i'm in new york right now. i'm a few blocks away from the christmas tree. and this hollywood -- hollywood, this holiday season -- [laughter] is, you know, it's a time that's more alive. we all remember this as kids. we're just more alive. there was a second century saint

who said the glory of god a human being fully alive. you walk up 5th avenue and you watch the children with the glory in their eyes and you can't help to think that this is a magical season. if those of us who are believers, it's a season where the lord is more present in the world just because the radical reality of god coming down and being born in a manger that smells like dunk, that's just magical. you see it on the streets, right all around me. geoff: how about you, jonathan? jonathan: i can't etch top. that look, i don't know about grateful. i answered this question during thanksgiving. i guess my answer is a little more political. and i don't think of it as grateful as what brings me optimism inner the new year. what brings me optimism is the

50.1% of the american people who voted for something other than donald trump. and that brings me optimism because after he's inaugurated on january 20, it will be those americans who will be called upon to defend american values, to defend their communities, and to defend their loved ones for whatever may come their way from a new trump administration. geoff: optimism seems to be in short supply, what can we look to feel better about the current state of our politics? >> postponement. i decided to postpone my panic. terrible things may happen. i'm going wait firm i'm not going to react to everything donald trump says. i'm not going panic until there's time to panic. maybe there will come time in january and february -- things be really harsh. but right now i'm just going to enjoy the holiday season.

geoff: our best to you both and your families this holiday season. >> same to you. >> same to you, geoff. ♪ >> are geoff who own as vibe? one online influencer is suing another for copyright infringement. alyssa shield, a 21 year-old fellow influencers -- is alleged that knowingly replicated her as thicket. we spoke to sandra e. garcia who who has been covering this story extensively. thanks for being was. >> nice to be here. >> sydney gifford and alyssa shield. tell us a little bit more about who they are. >> alyssa shield is a 21

year-old influencer who, you know, use her time to suggest things that her followers should buy off of her amazon marketplace. sidney gifford is similar. they're both young women looking for items for people to buy on their social media accounts. >> how would you describe that they're putting out to their followers? >> the way they would describe it themselveses is very minimalistic. not very busy, cool girl, oversized sweaters, chunky things and amazon basics. they like things to look clean and net >> what are the relationships between these two women? they've collaborated before, is that right? >> they were influencer that is followed each other at one point. and they met up to hang out. and they took some pictures of

themselves to post and to brainstorm things they could post on their social media accounts. and then their relationship sort of dissolved when alyssa shield unfollowed sidney gifford. >> so the idea that you can sue someone over an's netting. what is the case being made in federal court right now? >> sidney gifford noticed that alyssa's post started looking a lot like hers a year after their initial hang-out. whether that's the's thicket, the style -- that's the aesthetic or the vibe, the law basically says that she got her vibe, her whole look from sidney gifford. and sidney is saying she infridged on her profit.

they can influence people to buy things off of amazon and amazon pays them a notion do so. and because of that -- pays them a commission to do so. and because of that sidney has brought a lawsuit against alyssa. >> you quote a professor who explains that in this whole online space there's an idea that you are both a create or and a borrower. so how hard is it to lay claim to an aesthetic? >> it's a layered issue. the algorithm feeds you similar ninerses. if i see a rug and i take a picture on that rug and it just so happen that is another influencer took a picture on the rug a similar way we could have reached that last photograph by following a lot of different influencers, celebrities and so it's hard to say that an aesthetic was

reached because of one other influencer especially when it's such a popular as thicket, the minimalistic beige, con career, neat clean girl look is very popular right now. and t the algorithm feeding followers and influencers the same kind of post. s. it's hard to say that this one influencer copied another as opposed the algorithm fed her a million other posts that got her to that end point. >> there's an entire economy built around this kind of content creation. when it comes to this legal case, what's at stake here? what's the potential impact of how this case goes? >> it's an unprecedented case, and it could change the content createor world and the economy because influencers can now be beholdenen to copyright law and they would have to be careful how they arrange things. if one person owns an aesthetic,

then another person can say they own another aesthetic and suddenly we're not building on these different vibes and social media looks. we are sort of stifling the content create or world if this case moves forward and its fluid favor of ms. gifford. >> it's a fascinating case. andre e. garcia of the "new york post." thank you for your time. >> thank you. ♪ >> there's a lot more online including a story about a push to finalize compensation for veterans a debilitating lung condition before the end of the biden administrationful that's at pbs.org/newshour. be sure to watch "washington week" on pbs. moderator jeffery goldberg and

his panel discuss elon pucks influence over president-elect donald trump. and on pbs news weekend, a humanitarian aid work recounts the need of children who have been affected in a year marred by multiple wars. and that is the "newshour" for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. for al of us here at the "newshour," thanks for spending part of your evening with us. amna and i will see you after the holidays. have a great weekend. >> major funding for the pbs newshour, has been provided by -- and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of the "newshour" including kathy and paul anderson and camilla and george smith. the walton family foundation, working for solutions to protect water during climate change, so people and nature can thrive together. the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years advancing

ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world at hewlett.org. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the "newshour." ♪ >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcast and by contributions to your pbs news station from viewers like you. thank you. this is pbs newshour west from the david m. rubinstein studio in washington and from our bureau at the waller cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university.

♪

>> joe biden is still president, but you would not really know it. elon musk and donald trump are making it clear that they are already in charge. the world's richest man is the most powerful in washington right now. we will explain how this came to be, next.