They can survive through all these changes and, right now, i think they are in the stage when they cant change anymore. And they need our help. Woodruff all that and more, on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. Babbel. A language app that teaches reallife conversations in a new language. Supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the worlds most pressing problems skollfoundation. Org. The lemelson foundation. Committed to improving lives through invention, in the u. S. And developing countries. On the web at lemelson. Org. Supported by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org and with the ongoing support of these institutions this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff the clock is ticking tonight, and it is again unclear if congress will find a way to keep the federal government running past friday night. Lawmakers labored today to deal with demands for more defense spending, and an immigration fix. Lisa desjardins begins our coverage. Desjardins last week, it seemed a deal on immigration was inches away. What i approve is going to be very much reliant on what the people in this room come to me with. Desjardins but today, immigration was anything but simple, and seemed overwhelmed by a swirl of deadlines and conflicting plans to avert a Government Shutdown coming in just 48 hours. One plan from House Republicans a continuing resolution, or c. R. , that would keep the government funded through mid february. The deal would also fund the Childrens HealthInsurance Program for six years and delay some obamacare taxes. But in the house, the conservative Freedom Caucus is threatening to vote against that c. R. Unless they get more military funding. This, as democrats and immigration groups are demanding a fix for the expiring daca program for people brought here illegally as children. But the republican c. R. Doesnt have a fix for daca. Some democrats, like Michelle Lujan grisham, who chairs the congressional hispanic caucus, say either theres a daca fix now, or democrats wont pass a spending bill. We have until friday. That is our opinion. I think thats an opinion thats not just from democrats that this is bipartisan, bicameral that we want this resolved, that we can no longer wait. Desjardins today, House Speaker paul ryan slammed democrats. Real deadlines are occurring this friday. It is unconscionable to me, they would block funding for our military or cut off funding for these states that really will lose their funding for chip, by playing these political games and tying them to unrelated issues. Desjardins meanwhile, Senate Republicans said there will not be a vote on daca this week. Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell said there is one key player here. Im looking for something that President Trump supports, and hes not yet indicated what measure hes willing to sign. As soon as we figure out what he is for, then i would be convinced that we are not spinning our wheels, going to this issue on the floor, but actually dealing with a bill that has a chance to become law, and therefore solve the problem. Desjardins meantime, Democratic Senators like dick durbin, the author of a key daca bill, insisted socalled dreamers need a deal now. It is time for them to include it in any c. R. Deal that is brought before us at this time. We can not postpone any longer this protection for hundreds of thousands of innocent people across america who are simply asking, as dreamers, for a chance to be a part of americas future. Desjardins so where do daca deals stand . Lets clear up the blur. There are three key efforts. The Bipartisan Senate gang of six, which includes a path to citizenship for dreamers, but was rejected by the white house last week. And the bipartisan house bill from representatives will hurd and pete aguilar, which also has a citizenship path, but is more narrow. And, the socalled number twos group the second highestranking republicans and democrats in each chamber. That is the group now most closely working with the white house. But no clear deal from them yet. As for the white house chief of staff john kelly was on the hill all day, negotiating on both immigration and a possible shutdown. Woodruff for more now on the Government Shutdown negotiations in congress, and the fight over what to do with the nations immigration system, lisa is here in the studio, along with a new member of the newshour team. We are so pleased to introduce yamiche alcindor, as our new corespondent covering the white house. She comes to us from the New York Times. Welcome, yamiche. Thank you. Woodruff great to have you here. Im going to go back to the setup story. Where are we on the shutdown . The resolution is headed for a vote likely tomorrow and it seems probable it will pass. The Freedom Caucus wants more for defense but talking to the Freedom Caucus behind the scenes, i think that will pass the house. Probably the only question for a shutdown is if it can get 60 votes in the is that which means, without john mccain in the senate, hes absent this week for health reasons, they would need tentimes, talking to moderate democrats, there are certainly multiple once who say they are a yes. But are there ten . Its not clear. Thats a real question well have to answer in the next day. Could be close. Woodruff could be close. So yamiche we heard Mitch Mcconnell saying we dont know where the president stands on this. What is the White House Position on immigration now . The chief of staff met with the congressional caucus today and said the deal dick durbin and Lindsey Graham worked out is not going far enough, but the people he wants included are hard line immigration substance people like tom cotton and others who essentially want more than what the democrats are offering. So essentially john kelly has a background, and hes not seen as someone who softens donald trump. To have him meeting with the congressional spanish caucus, the people i talked to said really worried a let of people. People are not feeling good about whether or not there can be a deal. Woodruff lisa, we know the white house hasnt signed on to anything yet. Democrats say they want something this week. What is the story on daca . Right. Well, i think we know the end game this week from a republican perspective. Senator john cornyn, number two in the senate, told me there will not be a vote on daca this week, full stop. He and senator mcconnell are in charge of those votes and there wont be a vote this week. Democrats have to make a decision do they swallow this c. R. Or do they try and shut down government to force a vote . Thats where you get in the question the moderates will vote for the c. R. Daca, the solution is weeks away. This would push the solution into february, that february 16th spending deadline, that becomes the big date for the dreamers and daca and because its closer to the march deadline democrats feel they have more momentum. This group with john kelly, john cornyn and the seconds in command, whats interesting is the white house says it want more conservatives in the mix. That group is still five white men. One woman from the span, caucus joins them today. Woodruff there is a contradiction. On the one hand were seeing the president say he wants to be compassionate toward the younger immigrants who came to this country with their parents without documentation but is taking a hard line in the last few days. The back and forth is what Donald Trumps personality is about. Theres the idea that the person who spoke to him last is the person who had at least if a fleeting influence at the moment. On the one hand you had President Trump whos seen dreamers protest and get arrested who feels compassionate as a human being to do something for the immigrants. Theyre people who came to this country through no fault of their own so he doesnt see them as criminals. However he han a campaign built on antiimmigration policies so you have someone who promised millions of people who voted for him that he was going to take a hard line on immigration and now hes looking at the people surrounding him talking about steve miller, other people like tom cotton, people who are his allies saying you have to keep your promise. So i think thats why you see this back and forth and in these meetings you see him going back and forth. LindseLindsey Graham says wheree trump i golfed with saying he loved dreamers. Woodruff so much still unclear. Thank you both. Youre welcome. Woodruff we will discuss all of this with senator dick durbin, who was in that now much discussed oval office meeting, after the news summary. In the days other news, wall street stormed past another milestone, led by tech and healthcare stocks. The dow soared 322 points to close well over 26,000, just eight days after it first passed 25,000. The nasdaq rose 74 points, and the s p 500 added 26. Republican senator jeff flake of arizona denounced President Trump today for his attacks on the news media. On the senate floor, flake said using terms like fake news and enemy of the people recalls the stalinist era in the soviet union. It is a testament to the condition of our democracy that our own president uses words infamously spoken by Joseph Stalin to describe his enemies. This alone should be the source of great shame for us in this body, especially for those of us in the president s party. For they are shameful, repulsive statements. Woodruff the white house dismissed flakes criticism, and said that he is just looking for some attention. It turns out the white house directed its former chief strategist steve bannon not to answer various questions yesterday before the House Intelligence Committee. The focus was possible collusion between russia officials and the trump campaign. The Associated Press reports bannons attorney relayed the questions on his phone, in real time to the white house counsels office. President ial press secretary Sarah Sanders said today, it is all part of exercising executive privilege. This time it was something that was relayed via phone, and again, was following standard procedure for an instance like this. And something that will likely happen again on any other number of occasions, not just within this administrations, but future administrations. Woodruff the House Intelligence Committee is now moving to subpoena bannon, and compel his testimony. It is also reported that bannon has now agreed to be interviewed by special counsel robert mueller, without a subpoena. President trump charged today that russia is helping north korea obtain crucial supplies and evade sanctions. In an interview with reuters, he said, what china is helping us with, russia is denting. The president also warned the north is closer every day to being able to fire a Nuclear Tipped Missile that can reach the u. S. North and south korea have agreed to form a unified team for next months winter olympics, hosted by the south. Their athletes will march together during the opening cereony, and form a joint womens ice hockey team. The two nations have been holding highlevel talks to ease tensions. Today, the president of south korea hailed the developments. translated if the south and north form a unitary team and participate in the olympic games, i think it will become an historic moment. Not only koreans, but people from all over the world, will be moved to see such an historic moment. It will be a great start to resolve interkorean issues. Woodruff the korean agreement must still be approved by the International Olympic committee. A former c. I. A. Officer is being linked to a major loss of u. S. Informants inside china. Jerry chun shing lee was arrested monday night in new york. He is officially charged with having names and phone numbers of c. I. A. Informants, and other secrets. The New York Times reports that china began hunting down u. S. Informants in 2010. In syria, the leading Kurdish Party appealed to the u. N. Security council today to prevent an attack by turkey. That came as turkish tanks deployed along the syrian border. The turks insist a Syrian Kurdish militia, backed by the u. S. , is linked to kurdish rebels inside turkey. Meanwhile, secretary of state Rex Tillerson said today that the u. S. Military will remain in syria for some time to come. Back in this country, the aftermath of a winter storm paralyzed parts of the deep south again today. A thin layer of snow and ice wreaked havoc on the regions roads, and louisiana, georgia, and North Carolina all declared emergencies. Western North Carolina got eight inches of snow. Snows pretty, but dont be fooled. You dont have to brave the roads if you dont have to. We dont want people to get in trouble. We know from our state troopers that accidents can happen when we have snow and ice on the road. Woodruff in louisiana, new orleans had a record low of 21 degrees. Hattiesburg, mississippi also broke a record, with 13 degrees. At least five deaths are being at least ten deaths are being blamed on the storm. The state of michigan has awarded 1 Million Dollars to a detroit man wrongfully convicted of murder. Desmond ricks spent 25 years in prison. He was released last may after new tests showed the bullets from the victims body did not come from ricks gun. He accused Detroit Police of switching the bullets. Democrats have scored another election upset in a republican stronghold. It happened tuesday in wisconsin. Patty schachtner beat out republican adam jarchow in a special election for a state senate seat. President trump won the district by 17 points in 2016. Former Senate Majority leader bob dole has been awarded the congressional gold medal today, congress highest honor. House and Senate Leaders presented the medal to the longtime member of congress and republican president ial candidate at the capitol. Dole, in turn, gave the credit to those who worked for him. Ive always said that youre no better than your staff, and i thank them for all theyve done for me over the years. Woodruff dole is 94. He represented kansas for 35 years, first in the house and then in the senate. And, one of the worlds leading aids researchers, Mathilde Krim, died on monday at her home in new york state. Krim was a geneticist who led the drive against aids when it surfaced in the 1980s. She warned against hysteria over how the aids virus spreads, as in this newshour interview from 1985. It is not contagious at all through casual interaction with people in normal social conditions, such as living in a household with a patient, or meeting patients on the bus, or on the working place, or in school. Woodruff Mathilde Krim was 91 years old. Still to come on the newshour i speak to the senator who called out President Trumps remarks about african countries. Navy officers facing homicide charges in deadly ship collisions. Shining a spotlight on sexual abuse against people with disabilities. And, much more. Woodruff we return now to the battle over Immigration Reform. Earlier, i spoke with a man at the center of the fight, senator dick durbin of illinois, the senates number two democrat. He met with President Trumps chief of staff today, along with leaders of both parties. I asked if lawmakers were any closer to a deal. Senator durbin gave a one word answer. No. Woodruff can you tell us whether there was any breakthrough at all in the conversation . Not really. This was the fifth meeting of this group. The first meeting, the second of the principals, the staff has been meeting, and we have been attending and trying to move this along. But the difficulty is this is a contentious, complicated issue. There are many aspects of it. Thats why its taken us four months in the senate to come up with a bipartisan agreement on how to move forward. This effort which congressman mccarthy, whom i respect, is trying to initiate has a long way to go. Woodruff senator, as you know, the republican leader in the senate Mitch Mcconnell, his number two john cornyn, they are both saying they dont plan to bring anything up on the senate floor that the president wont sign, including this bipartisan measure that you and senator graham have proposed. So where do you go from here if theyre not going to bring it up . This is an odd situation, isnt it . The president eliminates the daca program september 5 of last year and says to Congress Pass the law, make it a law of the land, and send it back to me. I met with the president last tuesday in the white house, he told a group of us, 26 of us, you pass the bill, send it to me and ill sign it. Thats what he said, and he said it in a televised reporting. And here we are with a bill which has growing republican support and senator mcconnell has said never mind, were not going to take up this bill unless we get advanced approval from President Trump. Woodruff but the republicans are also saying that the daca, the deadline for