congressional correspondent lisa desjardins is here now to fill us in significance of all this. so, lisa, explain what exactly t e the democrats doing? how is it differom what they've done before? >> this is different and significant because, now, house leadership jerry nadler and nancy pelosi are on board with this as well are saying we are launching an impeachment investigation. they are formally declaring> woodruff: so why are they doing this and why now? >> it helps them in court say we need to exercise a very prominent constitutional authority because we believe the esident may have done something impeachable. that has made a difference in the past cour hearings. we have known democrats for weeks have been in favor or not in favor of an impeachment inquiry, the semantics have been a problem for democrats. nothey're trying to wash away by saying we have been investigating and

republicans feel this was a win for them and that democrats did not get what they wanted. >> woodruff: lisa desjardinsthe capitol, thank you, lisa. >> you're welcome. >> woodruff: at the table with inme herur studio for the hearings and remaining with me now: joh tcarlin. he r justice department's national security division from 2013 to 2016. before that, he served as chief of staff to then f.b.i. director and, mary mccord was acting head seof the nationarity division in 2016 and '17. tishe is med in mueller's report, as part of the team that went to the white house to voice warnings about formenational security adviser michael flynn. eyoth have worked at justice in both democratic and republican administrations. hello to both of you. we have been together all day long, but let's try to sum it all up. john carlin, what, for you, is the main takeawa? we heard robert mueller saying, at several points today,t's not normal for a prosecutor to be testifying before congress. >> tt's right, and you saw different agendas. i think you saw the democrats trying to use this moment to make the american people more

. >> woodruff: our lisa desjardins was in the hearing room today and been following the response on capitoll. lisa, in general, what are democrats saying, first of all? >> well, democrats sathey feel that their members prepare and that that preparation really married, that they were able to focus mr. mueller in a way that they think helps. they alslike the mantra of no one is above the law, of course, talkinprabout the the ident at that point. it's interesting that there's a divide among democrats whenou speak to them privately over how mr. mueller did.ny ays this was a huge report, 448 pages long, she shouldn't be expected to know every detail, but others admit the democrats involved in the investigation that they felt. eller was not quite as sharp that as they expected himo i. the reactithe caucus is interesting as well, they just had aemocratics-only meeting and i'm told it wasn't especially lively. the were a lot of thanks to thmmittee chairman but not overall iasm. the caucuses are still momentsing what this means. >> woodruff: lisa, we just heard speaker pelosi said they're not ready

plus, amna nawaz, and lisa desjardins. the studio. yamiche, let me come to you. the president had been, it ems, determined to add this citizenship question one way ort thr to the census. now he's backed down. why? >> this is a big loss to president trump and he's esntially admitting he ca't argue for the citizenship question to be added to the nsus without jeopardizing the census itself. the supreme courruled the administration's reasoning was essentially contriefd and they were arguing theoting rights act needed to be betr enforced, the voting right that's supposed to prevent discrimination in voting. the president is now saying they can't do it without essentially putting at risk the census. the census is already being sresented. critics say this chilling effect because the census is tied directly to how weri dite money, how we draw congressional lines and tied to the electoral college. so there is already som people fear an effect where immigrants won't want to fill out the census. but the president is saying he can't get done what he wanted to do. >> woodruff

our own lisa desjardins, as always, is here to break it all down for u break it down for us. what's in the deal, and what's not? >> l numbers. with the big first of all, amna, this does raise the debt ceiling for two years. f that's ocal crisis averred for now. that's good. also, right now in the law there are ab bt 10%get cuts that were going to hit most of government, the military antad non-mi alike this. deal removes those budget cuts altogether. t me show youhat it does instead. let's look at current spending right now broken down by defense and non-defense. defense, more spending now. here is what this budget deal does. it increases bh of those just a little bit. but that matters,be amna, use right now we are in a time of deficits some what this is ade l so that republicans get more money for defense. democrats get more money forno defense. but it does add a lot of red ink to the picture for everyone. it does mean a shutdown isen ember is less likely, but it is still possible. >> nawaz:o not totally averted but less likely. so a lot reof numbers in t remind us, why does

i'm lisa desjardins. >> woodruff: and that brings us to the analysis of shields and cooks. that's syndicatumnist mark shields and "new york times" columnist david brooks.h hello to b you. >> thank you, judy. >> woodruff: so let's go back to these attacks by the president. they've now lasted a full week onnkth the democratic congresswomen, all members, alls women of color. he has called them aof variety names and he's told them, david, to go back to their countries. their home countries. of course,ou they're all u.s.ns citithree of them were born in the united states.un what does all this tell us abou president trump, about thesef women memberngress, about our country and what does it say about racism? >> well, it's racist.t. let's get that off the top, an examplef it. trump has a certain vision of what america is, and in his vision america is yiewn phobic -- xenophobic.op the people of the heartland are threatened by monals and people that don't look like them. t is a vision that is nostalgic, lookick to the past, and a vision of white america that whites created this count

as lisa desjardins reports, that battle is also playing out inside the democratic-controlled .house of representatives >> desjardins: for the house speaker, a difficult issue: >> i said what i'm going to say on thejaubject. >> dins: that was icsterday, when nancy pelosi was asked about the puiring of what had been mostly private frustrations in her caucus. those began months ago, as a group of new members, including new york's alexandria ocasio-sh cortez, openly for the party to move more to the left. at one point, she protested in pelosi's oeeice for her ng, progressive "green new deal." pelosi reached out, offering ocasio-cortea spot on a new climate change committee. but she told her no, pointin out that temporary committee had fewer powers than others. soon, ocasio-cortez and three other freshmen women of color emerged as a tight, vocal group of activist members. but they did not openly break with pelos.. until this month. >> this is bigger than a funding debate. >> that's rit. >> desjardins: as congress heard more news of child deaths and poor treatment of migrants at the border,

for the pbs newshour, i'm lisa desjardins. >> woodruff: and thabrings us to our weekly politics analysis with shields and ponnuru. that is syndicated columnist mark shields, and ramesh ponnuru of the "national review." david brooks is away. >> hello to both of you. >> hello judy. >> in lisrea'port, what's been going on, this series of agreements between speaker pelosi and newly elected women, democratic members of the house. they have been called the quad squad. what do you make of this? how serious isis th >> it's serious judy in that it represents a profound change in our politics. there was a rule you didn't getn to l any freshman member's name until he or she had won a serk term because that was what their first term was about, arning the place, learni what they are supposed to do and then getting reelected. that is no longer the case. i mean, aoc comes inith 4.7 million at which timer followers. so she doesn't need the traditional means of communicating going to press release or talking on television. she's just available. so it's a ream -- i mean it's not politics is the most imita

as lisa desjardins reports, there are echoes of attacks on t urban areas united states, and their leaders. >> reporter: in baltimore today, condemnation of president trump's words about the city, seen there as stokg racial divide. from the left, civil rights activist reverend al sharpton: >> he has a particular venom for blacks and people of color. >> reporter: and right: former republican national chairman and former maryld lieutenant governor michael steele. >> mr. president, your reprehensible comments are like water off a duck's back when it comes to this community. it just washes over them. >> reporter: this, after the esident fired off over a dozen weekend tweets criticizing maryland congressmanjah cummings and his baltimore-area district. he called cummings a "brutal bully" and said his district is onsidered the worst in t u.s.a." adding "the district," which includes part of baltimore and its suburbs is "a ding, rat and rodent inf bted mess." "ttimore sun" defended its city with an op ed blasting the president as "returning to an old standby using the most emotional and bigoted of

as lisa desjardins reports, o more membecongress are stepping into these facilities and sharing their accounts of the conditions. >> desjardins: across the country today, dozens of protests-- like in austin,di inapolis, and outside senator lindsey graham's office in south carolina-- all demanding better treatment for migrts in u.s. custody and closure of what the left-leaning groups behind the event call "camps." a different outcry came from within the department of homeland security itself. its inspector general released another alert, the second since may, about dangerous overcrowding. photos taken in june show adults and children packed into fenced cages-- like the toddler held on the left here-- or in rooms, forced to lay nearly on top of one another. the inspector general wrot "some adults were in standing- room-only space for over a week and could not change clothes for at least a month." at least one manager called the situation a "ticking time bomb." and more news-- last night, we learned that a 30-year-old immigrant in this houston-area detention facility was found unresponsi

i'm lisa desjardins, for the pbs newshour. >> nawaz: let's examine how theg white house ting ready for mueller's testimony tomorrow with yamiche alcindor. yamiche, let's jump right in. there's been a lot of talk about the potential impact of imat mueller tey. what do we expect im to say? >> in his testimony before the house, robert mueller wants to stick to the confines of the 448-page report that he and his team compiled. a spokespersot for rob mueller told me he wants the stay within "the four walls of the report." he is also -- robert mueller is also going to be wanting to enter to the congressional record the actual report to really underline and double down that point. thatsaid, i'm told he will have a short opening statement. he's been preparing with people th worked for him at the special counsel's office to really figure out and hone in on at he can and can't talk about in this setting. he also wants to really be thinking about how to not g yond the report. and as a result, what's going to be interesting is after that short opening statement, democrats and republicans are going

and as lisa desjardins reports, the debate on healthcare >> reporter: the 2020 democratic candidates are trying to run on thn terms. >> starting over makes no sense at all. eporter: for former vice president joe biden, today that meant releasing his health care plan.dd it would so-called public- option, allowing all americans to buy into a medicare-like program run by the government. he previewed the plan this weekend in new hampshire >> i admire the rest of the field, from bernie to elizabeth to kamala, who want me- for-all. and i would build on the affordable care act and i would make sure there was a public option. >> reporter: tt drew ire from vermont senator bernie sanders. in a tweet today, sanders knocked the former v.p., pointing to his former boss, presipodent obamating out how obama called sanders' "medicare for all" a good idea. he trail, this weekend a tale of key states. ten 2020 hopefuls addressed a friendly crowd in iowa sunday >> we can do better america when it comes to infrastructure! >> reporter: more than 1,000 caucus-goers turned out in balm weather for nual iowa

stand up for at we believe in and take it from there.te >> reporr: for the pbs newshour, i'm lisa desjardins. >> woodruff: and here to break down the day's political news, our politics monday team. that's amy walter of the "cook opolitical report" and ho "politics with amy walter" on w- nyc radio. and tamara keith from npr. she also co-hosts the "npr politics podcast." welcome to you both. good to e you, happy monday. tam, i want to start with you. let's pick upsa where li started her report, joe biden's healthcare plan. we heard him there sum up his plan to presidentil ctenders. this is a total sh?ift what do you make of him hitting at the other contenders? >> bernie sanders has been hitting at some of his opponents as well, and there's somethingoi else on -- bernie sanders and joe biden no longer have a o lothe top of the democratic race. it would be difficult now to ca them either f them frontrunners because there are footsteps at their heels and, in me cases, in fact, they're rris or behind kamala ha elizabeth warren. so part of what's happening here is these candidates need to fight. th

lisa desjardins begins with how the day's events unfolded. >> desjards: two days after the president's initial tweets, today, senate majority leader mitch mcconnelresponded. >> i do not think the president he a racist. >> desjardins: y republican leader did noter exe the president, he choose to blame him and democrats both. >> i think there's been a consensus that political rhetoric has really gotten way, way overheated. thom the president to speaker to freshmen members ohouse, all of us have a responsibility to elevate public discourse. our words do matter. we all know politics is a contact sport. >> desjardins: from fellow republican and house minority leader kevin mccarthy, a different tact-- changing the subject to broader themes. >> i believe this is about ideology. this is about socialism versus freedom. i think this party has been very clear, we are the party of lincoln. this party believes in the content of thendividual. >> desjardins: indeed, there was ideological divide, as democrats like pmily jayapal were happy to point out as well. >> dissent is patriotic. the thing that h

lisa desjardins has th tlatest ay's developments. >> desjardins: last december, marshae jones was shot in ami fight near bham, alabama. she was five months pregnant at the time.or jones's became national last week when a grand jury for the loss of her own fetus, but did not indict the woman who shot her. that altercation happened outside a dollar general store, where police say jones started the fight. there's no indication that she had a weapon. the other woman involved fired a bullet thahit jones' abdomen and she lost the fetus in a miscarriage. the policeaid the shooter acted in self-defense and pointed criminal blame oy at jones, indicting her for manslaughter for endangering her fetus. but today, the district attorney overseeing the case said she would not prosecute ms. jones. an unborn child was tragically lost, and families on both sides of this matter have suffered. nothing, nothing, nothing we do today or ithe fuure will change that reality. the issue before us is whether it's appropriate to try t hold someone legally culpable for th actiat led to the death of the unborn child

thcharges were announced a part of an indictment unsealed today by federal prosecutors in new york as lisa desjardins tells us, epstein has plreded guilty beo lesser charges and has more on this story. >> reporter: epstein allegedly abused dozens of minors at his homes in manhattan and palm ach, florida. he enlisted girls to recruit other minors to his trafficking ring. and prosecutors said they seized scores of photos of fully or partlly nude girls. epstein, who has been seen in the past as a friend of president trump and former president clinton, first faced other sex crime charges back in 2007. at the time, he could have faced life in prison for allegations with underage girls. but the prosecutor in the case-- alex acosta, now president trump's labor secretary---struck a more lenient deal. epstein served just 13 months in a county jail fothese crimes. a "miami herald" investigation earlier this year raised new questions about this deal andd brought forww victims. u.s. attorney geoffrey berman of the southern district of new rk said it was important tone brincharges now. iminning in 2002 and contin

lisa desjardins explores the ope of the problem. >> desjardins: thanks, judy. sex trafficking is a crime that happens across the country, in cases that don't always receive this much attention from the media. here to explain this troubling criminal underground is yasmin vafa. she's executive rector of rights4girls, a human rights group dedicated to ending violence against young women and girls. thank you for joining us. let's start first of all with this epstein case. his lawyers are saying their client believed these girls were over 1wa years old and thi not child trafficking because in their words there was no coercion or violence. i want to ask you you're also an attorney. legally what is child erafficking. >> so under the fe law, there is no need to show force, fraud or coerciowhen it coes to the issue of minors. under the federal law, anyone o recruits patronizes, solicits a minor under the age of 18 for the purposes of a commercial sex act can be found guilty ofrafficking. a commercial sex act is actually really broadly defined under the federal law. it e