. >> woodruff: and our ngressional corresponden lisa desjardins, is here with me now. so, lisa, we've just heard what speaker pelosi is saying. so tell us what exactly are the house democrats doing or not doing today. >> well, let's talk about the resolution that the house passed toddes this is a rlution that democrats refer to as "civil contempt," but what it really does is itgives democrats house hommittee chair men the power to move forward w civil lawsuits. they want to do that in order to try to compel testimony from court from the witnesses who have so far refused to talk to them. on that list, at the top of that list, is former white house counsel, don mcgahn, but also on tst is the current attorney general himself, bill barr. and basically, judy, dlimocrats this because it will give this power to committee chairman. publicans say that's exactly the problem-- that it's too much power incommittee chairmen hands. it's not clear when the committee chairmen will file the lawsuits, but i'm sold they're interested in doing klit quic >> woodruff: what's the plan the dem

for the "pbs newshour," i'm lisa desjardins. >> yang: and now politics monday with amy walter of the "cook political report" and host of "the politics with amy walter" podcast from w-nyc. and tamara keith from npr.e lso co-hosts the "npr politics podcast." y, tam, welcome tam, let me start with you. lisa told us in the report thegs findrom the iowa poll where you have two groupings, four candidates in double digit and then a big dropoff, is thata likely to be tt -- have we already divided this field up? ti>> the inter thing is that some of the candidates who are in the 1% and 2% were higher up in people's minds and in voters minds a few months ago. ha amonghe top five -- like if you add kamalris into the group that includes pete buttigieg, joe biden, elizabeth warren and bernie sandersfi you dig into this poll a little bit deeper and you look at who is a second coice, who is actively being considered, then even though kamala harris is only at 7% of the max -- in sort of the main poll, if you add those others items in, she moves up and she's part of that group, thand it really sayat t

they say that is a problem. >> woodruff: lisa desjardins, yamiche alcindor,thank you both. >> wdruff: and in the day's other news, u.s.-iran tensions are still running high, amid new milita are playing down a possible confrontation. iran president hassan rouhan insisted today that his nation will not wage war. u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo said that sending 1,000 mo troops to the region is esterrent, not an escalation. foreign affairs condent nick schifrin takes it from >> schifrin: in washington today, the u.s. and european top diplomats presented a unite front, but te sharply divided on iran.ei e.u. forgn affairs chief federica mogherini's visit came less than 24 hours after that ikoop announcement, which secretary of statepompeo described as strictly defensive. >> president trump does not want war, and we will continue to whcommunicate that messagee doing the things that are necessary to protect american terests in the region. >> schifrin: but while the administration's policy is maximupressure, mogherini on monday urged maxum restraint. >> what we would not like to see is a

. >> woodruff: joining me talk about the political fallout, our capitol hill correspondent lisa desjardins, and our white house correspondent yamiche alcindor, who joins us from a trump rally in orlando, florida. we have just been talking about these allegations, yamiche. from your reporting, did the white house know about this months ago? and if so what, di they do about it? >> well, the president says he learned about these domestic violence allegations against acting secretary shanaha yesterday, but i'm told that it could be unear, th the white house might have known even lo that being said, once the president knew about these ormestic violence allegations he continued to su shanahan, he did not see any of the allegations as unqualifying. i'm told the president was ready to fight for this nomination and go all the way through for brett calf new york of course now supreme court justice brett kavanaugh. went to the white hou and told the president he didn't want to be a distraction. the president said he understood that and accepted him withdrawing the nomination. the prident is nowexcite

our lisa desjardins is there. >> desjardins: in miami, the very crowded stage is set, with spots for tonight.es another ten will be here tomorrow. in tonight's face-off, just one candidate on the stage is polling in double-digits: massachusetts senator elizabeth warren. as we reported earlier, she spent part of debate day observing a temporary shelter for migrant children inri homestead, flo. >> my message to this little girl is she is not alone, that we are h aere with her,d we a will fightngside her, that she has to be brave, that we all have to be brave. >> desjardins: several other candidates visited or plan to visit homestead this week while nearby for the debates, as immigration has become a resonant issue in the 2020 fight. for many of the candidates, tonight's two hourin primetime is thei introduce themselves to a national audience. progressive warren will be joined center stage by former texas congressman beto o'rourke and fellow senators cory booker of new jersey and amy klobuchar of mnesota. klobuchar has carved out a space in the field as a centrist, who can appeal to mod

lisa desjardins in miami, thank you. n and online rig, take a deep dive to learn more about the democratic contenders on our new caidate page, where you can find the interviews we have done with 17, so far, of the two-dozen hopefuls for the democratic nomination. that is on our website, www.pbs.org/newshour. and stay with us. coming up on the newshour: how a matchmaking service for small businesses keeps money invested in rural america. e author of this month's newshour/"new york times" booke club pick, "fth season." and, a photojournalist gives his "brief but spectacular" take on ircovering the unknown. >> woodruff: it's o say the trump administration, with the trump campaign before it, has had its share of controversies and even e legations of scandal. few seem to erode yal support of the president's base of voters. but, this week saw news that has to concern the white house, including the eatment of children in u.s. immigration detention facilities. we will get to that oment. first, we want to look at a new allegation

lisa desjardin yamiche alcindor, thanks. >> you're wee.lcom >> woodruff: stay with us. coming up on the newshou mark shields and david brooks on how the first democratic debates affect the race for e white house. and, an inside look at the best of contemporary art. the sexual assault allegatio made by writer e. jean carroll against president tre raising questions again about what women face when they go public. carroll has said the president assaulted her in the 1990s in the dressing room of a new york city department ste. her description meets the legal definition of rape. at the time, carll told friends, but got conflicting advice about whether to speak up and file charges. she says she didn't because she was fearful. her story, and others, are prompting questions about the choices women make after these incidents. we look at this with emily bazelon, an author and staff writer for thenew york times" magazine.so anya chemaly, who's a writer and media critic. she's the author of "rager. becomes and we welcome both of you to the "newshour". emily bazelon, i've interviewe

as lisa desjardins reports, this will be a cisive week in the 2020 campaign. >> reporter: in iowa thisek a sft into high gear. the campaign signs, the colors, the chants, all of it cresting-- and competing-- in cedar rapids. >> j.k.d. is the candidate for me! >> reporter: 19 presidential candidates were there for the state democratic party hall of fame dinner-- but first, they faced off in mini-rallies outside.en new jerseyor cory booker: >> we've got the determination, we have the love that it takes to win the nomination and beat donald trump! >> reporter: it was a fight for visuals. south bend indiana mayor peteie bttigplayed the keyboard, and many campaigtled on social media to prove they are organized and, above all, excited. >> i-o-w-a! elizabeth warren all the way! >> reporter: inside the dinner, the long line of candidates wae limited to fnutes each. some, like californisenator kamala harris, came with a broad campaign message. >> i am here to ask for your support, because i am here to make the case for america, and totrosecute the case agains donaldrump. >> reporter: others focus

highlight russia's contacts with the trump campaign ind what the special counsel's office could not lisa desjardins and william brangham are again o guides. co robert mueller lays out scores of russiaacts. from the start, mueller is frank about why-- to see whether those contacts constituted attempted russian interference or influence on the eletion. and whether these contacts resulted in coordination or conspiracy with the trump campaign. >>he conclusion abou this conspiracy comes right away. in the very next line mueller writes: mueller reached that conclusion, even though he writes there were numerous links and the the campaig russians that several people connected to the campaign lied to his team and tried to obstruct their investigation into their contacts with the russians. >> let's talk about specifics with these contacts, starting with the trump business and a big event in russia. in 2013, donald trump takes his miss universeitage tonight moscow. the mueller report points out this is how the trumps got alow a russian billionaire and of vladimir putin. he owned the event hall where the pagea

lisa desjardins and william brangham are again ours. >> special counsel robert mueller investigated somedifferent acts by the president for potential obstruction of justice. some of these overlap. >> in each instance, mueller lays out thres:thiwhat the president did, what may have been obstructed by those actions, and wt the president's intent was. mueller'mueller's conclusions rd from a clear no evidence ofru obion to cases with substantial evidence. those cases, those with the most evidence, center on the rresident's attempts to fire o limit special counsel mueller himself. >> the report begins this segment with an eye-popping statement. page 77ll, mue writes: >> mueller reounts a scene in the oval office that day where attorney general jeff sessions tells the president that mueller's been appointed and the president says, "oh, my god. this is terrible. this is the end of my presidency. i'm (bleep)." top aide hope hick testifies later that she had only seen thn preslike that one other hollywoodthe "access tape came out during the campaign. >> the next day, the president was asked about

lisa desjardins and william brangham are our guides. report is unique in american history. at times i reads like novel, a thriller, the other times, dense legal opinion. >>o what did it find? first that the russians attacked the 2016-election. the mueller report is rodadloade with examples of how russian t eratives launched whaey call information warfare on the u.s. they wanted to distract d inflame voters to benefit donald trump's candidacy and damage hillary clnton's. >> and while mueller shows the trump campaign worked with individual rufosians, heund the evidence did not show conspiracy or co the trump campaign. >> there was no collusion with russia. there waso obstruction, none whatsoever. >> that's been the president's mantra ever since the mueller report came out like lisa said, on the conspiracy issue, the president is right, the does not establish any such wrongdoing. but on the issue of obstruction, mural does not agree with the president. >> to mural, obstruction is a crime of paramount importanc w nt out of his way to say th

william brangham and lisa desjardins will be our guides.througtwo years of this investigation, through the indictment of 34 individuals and then spelled out clearly inis final report, robert mueller made one thing crystal clear,tt russiapted to interfere with our 2016 election. here's the last thing mueller said last week -- reiteratinose by the central allegation of our indictments that there were multiple systematic efforts to interfere in our election, and that allegation deservethe attention of every amecan. >> and, so, that's where we will start. tolume one of his report, just over half of thl report, and it deals exclusively with what the russians d. >> mueller lays this out like the entire report, essentially a large outline saying russia attacked in two ways. he writes, first, that it carried out a social media timpaign that faiferred presid candidate donald j. trump, and second a russian intelligence service conducted computer intrusion incidentsns agemployees and volunteers working on the clinton campaign. translation, russia used

problem is a focus for even more candidates andth it's one ocentral issues being discussed.li lisa desjardins helps break down some of the key dividing linesof of what the candidates would dor >> reporter: how many of you ala have student loan debt? .you all look kind of you >> anybody in here have studento loan debt? >> how many of you are dealing>i with student debt? >> desjardins: this has become m common sight on the campaign trail. in 2019, private and federalst student loan debt holders owed o collective $1.5 trillion. prree democratic candidates for president would ao raise theirha hands-- each is currently payino themselvtheir spouse. off student loan debts for themselves or their spouse.>> >> i was the first in my family to go to college, i have two kids under two, m paying offtu my student loans. >> this is kind of a personalis issue for us because chasten and udi live with six figure t debt.de>> >> desjardins: 2020 candidates'd ideas divide in a few ways--ar primarily, some would cutll college costs-- with differentmo for of free tuition. others tackle the debt end wi plans to eras

lisa desjardins and william brangham are our guides. >> brangham: did president trump commit obstructionice? that's the question that takes al, roughly 200 pages of the mueller report. last week, mueller made headlines saying this about the president's actions. >> if we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime we would have said so. we did not, however, make a determination as to whether the president did commit a crime. >> desjardins: that conclusion, with no conclusion on whether the president is guilty or stnocent, is where mueller ts this part of the report. he explains his lack of action by invoking an overridin question: can a sitting president be indicted? on page one, his answer is no. deeller points to justice rtment policy that "the indictment or criminal prosecution of a sitting tyesident would... undermine the capaf the executive branch ns perform its constitutionally assigned funct he put this in more plain language when he spoke last week. >> under longstanding department policy, a president cannot be charged with a federme while he is in office.

and, as lisa desjardins report congress continues to struggle with how they should be compensated. >> reporter: covered in a thick smoke, rescue and police workers were the first on the scene after the 9/11 attacks. in the days after, thousands more responders and vonteers came... digging through rubble. also surrounding them: toxic air full of chemicals and dust... that decades later, s left disease and disability. the federal government is responsible, in part, because the e.p.a. at the time declared the area safe, even asires burned at ground zero.ma the who headed the e.p.a. then, christine todd whitman, defended tt declaration six years later-- pointing to a lack of information. >> i do not recall any e.p.a. expert or scientist responsible for reviewing this data ever advising me that the test data from lower manhattan showed that the air or water proposed long- term health risks for the general public. >> reporter: soon the longtime health risks were obvious, as respiratory illness and cancer appeared in thousands of responders. congress first set up a temporary fund, but did no

as capitol hill correspondent lisa desjardins reports, the news comes as lawmakers are scrambling to reach a deal to fund government border operations. >> desjardins: today, more turbulence for the men and women who patrol and monitor u.s. borders, as the acting head of u.s. customs and border protection resigned, after roughly two months in the position. this, as border patrol agents remain overwhelmed by a surge in migrants, especially children ded families, who are now spending days in bpatrol processing stations meant to hold them for just hours. and, the agency caring for the kids says it will run out of funding for them in a few days. at the capitol, all of this is sparking a furious fight over an emergency funding bill. >> there is absolutely ndoubt that the numbers of families and children who are arriving at our frt door, those numbers ha increased. >> desjardins: house democrats, like el paso congresswoman veronica escobar want requirements, like bedding, toothbrushes and translators, to go along with nde additional >> putting small children and t eir families and individua

as lisa desjardins reports, it all capped off a weekend spent appealing to voters of color. >> we have a generation of aople who are drowning in debt. >> desjardinambitious plan to forgive $1.6 trillion in student debt. vermont senator and democratic presidential candidate bernie sanders today unveiled new legislation that he says would pay off the loans of 45 million americans, by taxing wall street transactions. also today, former texas congressman beto o'rourke unveiled a plan of his own-- to boost funding for veterans health care, by applying what he a "war tax" on wealthy, non-military households. >> we the veterans who have served ais country. >> desjardin, in a "miami enrald" op-ed, former vice presjoe biden outlined a broad vision for general immigration reformi' >> so, folkshere to tell you, i hope to be your nominee. i'm going to wk as hard as i can to get your support. >> desjardins: this weekend, biden enjoyed a warm welcome by the crowd in sth carolina, where polls show him at the top of the field. he and nearly every other 2020 democratic candidate attended a must-visit f