Weakness in the oval office. Gwen and a real fight begins brewing among democrats. Whoa. In case you havent noticed there are a lot of people here. Gwen as we sort through the Confederate Flag to who is cut to lead. Covering the week, peter baker chief White House Correspondent for the new york times. Jeff zeleny senior washington correspondent for cnn and molly Ball NationalPolitical Correspondent for the atlantic. Covering history as it happens. From our Nations Capital this is Washington Week with gwen ifill. Corporate funding for Washington Week is provided by how much money do you have in your pocket right now . 20. 21. Could something that small make an impact on your retirement . Well, if you start putting that money towards your retirement the money will grow over time for 20, 30 years, that retirement challenge might not be seem so big after all. Additional funding is provided by newmans own foundation donating all profits from newmans own Food Products to charity and nourishing the common good, the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your station to viewers like you. Once again moderator gwen ifill. Gwen good evening. We are in different digs this week and ill explain why at the end of the program. The white house victories are beginning to add up a another step toward normalized relations with cuba, same sex marriage and health care and good news on the economy yet another dropotn the unemployment rate. President obama keep in mind when i came in office it was hovering around 10 . Also weve now seen 64 straight months of private sector job growth which is a new record. Gwen but even so when the president was being called a fading lame duck, the challenge is on the flip side of the set starting cuba where the two governments are talking about embassies in each side. Peter it took him six months where they could set dates for the opening of embassies. Its a big deal. We have embassies in a handful of countries around the world. So this is the beginning of something big. What matters is what happens next . The president cant no go any further relaxing on the trade embargo and travel restrictions and people should be watching what happens in havana. Does this opening with the United States change cuban behavior or leave it a pretty tough place for human rights . Gwen 1961 is when eisenhower closed the embassy there and now he wants to use this reopening saying see, this is what change looks like . Peter it does. When he was one of the candidates that we see in iowa and new hampshire. He talked about talking with our enemies. He was mocked by not just republicans but his own democratic opponent Hillary Rodham clinton. He said talk to cuba and talk to iran and see if we cant come into a deal. Gwen i want to talk about the mini victory lap traveling outside of washington grinning to himself it seemed trying to calm it down grinning to himself about everything that hes accomplished. Lets listen to what he had to say in wisconsin when he was talking about what republicans had been saying about his plans before. President obama i have these vague recollections about when they were saying obamacare would crush freedom and bring about death panels and turns out were still celebrating the fourth of july. [cheers and applause] the only difference is another 60 million americans can celebrate it with health care. Gwen when he was asked about this at the white house he was low key about it. By the time he got to lacrosse in front of a crowd no more low key. At times it felt like nothing could go right. So its hard to be grudge him a little satisfaction on those weeks where things seem to be going in the right direction. Not to pour cold water on i. It. He still has to arrange it with 11 other countries and get it back to congress and pass it. Thats only a partial step. He waited until 2012 to endorse samesex marriage. He got in front of a movement that was happening anyway. On the economy yes, he got some good job numbers but with greece on the edge of a precipice we dont know whats about to happen, some terrible things could happen in the future. Enjoy it while you can because i know he knows better. I think this is the end of the story. Gwen we saw his numbers on the economy. But that is right urn the service. Peoples wages are staying still. Theyre not rising with the number of jobs. The Labor Participation rate was concerned with this report. People not getting back into the marketplace at the level we hoped that they will. And the thing i worried about im not an economist but after a certain number of growth when do you hit the National Cycle when you hit a recession . And is there anything he can do to stop that . Gwen his Approval Rating has gone up however. He can say hes doing better than he was at least in the way that hes perceived. Its not fabulous. Its stayed 42, 43, to 52. Hes at the higher end o that band right now. Its not overwhelming but it may be in the polarized time that the president can hope so. George w. Bush didnt get over 50 . He doesnt yet have the kind of numbers that would help him Push Congress and do things that congress doesnt want to do. Gwen you guys think it resonated on the campaign trail . Sure, the person whos most excite about his excited about his Approval Rating is Hillary Clinton. Thats the third democrat in arrow depends upon his Approval Rating. Theyre watching this carefully. A lot of her advisors was his advisors. Her advisor was trying to keep things on track. And they do gwen they have the meetings a the white house. Heres the thing the white house that we know is clearly watching the politics but theyre mostly kind of pleased with what republicans are trying to do. To hear what the president had to say about the republican field. Once again yesterday before a very supportive crowd in wisconsin. President obama we got some healthy competition in the Democratic Party. But ive lost count how many republicans are running. Theyll have enough for an actual hunger games. That is that is an interesting bunch. Gwen later on he said they were on a bus. I think he wanted to say clown bus. Is he watching this carefully . Usually theyre the punching bag, right . Bernie sanders and a couple of others trying to get attention. On the republicans side youve got 14, and maybe 20 candidates an theyre going to plug these shows on sundays. A lot of the conversation is how obama is failing. When you have a moment to say hey, im actually doing ok, dont worry about me, i think it was good. Gwen he was shaking hands with scott walker. Whos certainly one of the front runners in iowa at this point who has also run into a lot of roadblocks back home in wisconsin. Theres a bipartisan loathing for the budget that he proposed in madison. And his Approval Rating has dropped precipitously. Its as low as 41 since he started going out on the campaign trail not spending a lot of time back home in wisconsin. Hes talking a lot on the National Stage about issues he deemphasized to win reelection in 2014 especially the social issues that hes talking about to win over the voters in iowa. Theres some nervousness among the republican establishment and how thats going to play for when he becomes the nominee. Gwen lets back up on what peter is talking about what the white house is doing. Everybody said they were lame ducks. They were in the last quarter as many met forces. Are they thinking they can turn the corner and they have a lot to show . They definitely have potential there. Can he get an iran deal with these world powers that he can bring back to congress an defend and push without any rejection by lawmaker who is were very skeptical . Cubas a big step toward a legacy. Theyre heading towards a december conference on climate change. For him who dealt with drones and death and war and pretty bad setbacks in places like syria and iraq, that will be a pretty positive thing for him to talk about. Gwen ok. Thanks, peter. As we promised now to 2016 politics. The field continued to expand this week as Chris Christie joined the republican field and former virginia senator jim webb on the democratic side. I am not running for president of the United States as a surrogate for being elected prom king of america. When i stand up on a stage like this in front of all of you there is one thing you will know for sure. I mean what i say and i say what i mean and thats what America Needs right now gwen jim webbs announcement was more low key. He wrote, our country needs a fresh approach for solving the problems that confront us and too often unnecessarily divide us. We need to shake the hold of these shattered elites on our process. It is the very nature of the competition to argue for change. Louisiana governor bobby jindal aim his fire at Hillary Clinton who released another batch of personal emails. Bobby america may be the last super power to see these emails. Its ridiculous that we have to ask them to actually see those emails. Gwen Bernie Sanders is running against clinton. Hes attracting huge crowds wherever he goes. This campaign is not about Bernie Sanders. It is not about Hillary Clinton. It is not about anybody else. It is about you. It is about putting together a Grass Roots Movement of millions and millions of people who stand together and make it clear that we need fundamental changes in the economic and politics of this country so the Government Works for all of us and not a handful of wealthy campaign contributors. Gwen and all of the candidates are being sucked to samesex marriage to the future of the Confederate Flags. The symbols that have divided the south in many way, the symbols that were used in most recent modern history not at the beginning of the time but the symbols were racist. And if youre trying to lean forward rather than live in the past, you want to eliminate the barriers that create this agreement. Gwen and then there is donald trump. But first lets walk our way through the new kids on the block. What is the governors plan . Governor christie still hopes theres a path for him on this republican nomination. I cant no think of a candidate who diminished himself as much as Chris Christie. Eighth months republican governors swept across the country. He was the chairman of the National Governors association. He was a straight talker. Maybe he should have ron in 2012. Now hes diminished in a sense of what went on in new jersey. The fiscal condition of the state is very tough. He has a crowded sort of field. Hes going to try to get through this crowded field one town hall after another at after another. Its such a wide open field that it could. He is diminished in a lot of ways compared to what he used to be here. The question is for what is his lane . His lane is straight talk. It worked for john mccain. Hesn not quite john mccain. Its a very complicated path for him to win the nomination. Gwen but he has a path whether its plausible or not. Lets talk about jim webb, molly, former senator from virginia vietnam veteran, kind of taking this middle of the road world view. He defended the Confederate Flag. Molly jim webb has always been a maverick. Turned against the iraq war and that spurred him to run as a democrat. You know how much he hated it. He hated politics. He didnt really like being a senator and thats why he quit. So to see him come back is a little bit puzzling. The case for how he could how to pass the nomination is actually quite puzzling. Most democrats dont really understand what hes up to. Its not much of a campaign juggernaut. I dont think he can say that theres a real hunger in the Democratic Base for a candidate to hillarys right. You see a lot of hunger to the left and Hillary Clinton has emerged very strongly. Gwen is there just room for someone whs not hillary and thats why he sees theres room in it . A few weeks ago there were rumors he one going to run at all. You know, hes written and spoken a lot about this idea of bringing the White Working Class back into the Democratic Party and the sort of, you no the world, scotch irish, the other members of yor. Im not sure that anybody wants a democrat who will stick up for the Confederate Flag but is against affirmative action but hes more liberal than hillary on foreign policy. He certainly speaks for that. Gwen bernie sand sers running to the left of Hillary Clinton and looking fairly well. Does this make him the big howard dean . It could be. Remember back to howard dean in 2003, he was the candidate of the summer into the fall. And the other his other challengers at the time were very worried about him. They started taking him on bernie is sort of combining even if hes been in washington longer than most anyone else in the field. Hes the oldest candidate in the field. Hes drawing the youngest voters. I asked him why are you in madison as opposed to iowa city with 2,000 people because they can caucus for you. And he said because this is how hes going to get the attention and the buzz and to make money by doing all these big rallies an it certainly has gotten a lot of attention. He raised 15 million. And that to me is worth more in three months worth more than Hillary Clintons 45 million because theyre all small donation, average of 33. 51. That means they can give and give and give again. He didnt hold a single fundraiser. Thats interesting. Gwen are the clinton people worried about this . They are not worried because they like to see an alternative like Bernie Sanders they much rather be an alternative to be Bernie Sanders or mark omalley taking her on. They are like oh, isnt he cute . Arent those crowds cute . I think theyll find him less cute. Theres more enthusiasm for Bernie Sanders than i think they would like to admit. Molly absolutely. Hillarys people know she has an enthusiasm problem. You can see that going to her events there. There are a lot of people in the crowd who are openly skeptical of her. Bernie sanders said this is not about me. This is not about Hillary Clinton. Well, it is about Hillary Clinton but its also about Bernie Sanders because these other alternatives are not catching on the way he is. I wonder if there are some people in the clinton camp who worry that the success that sanders has experienced might draw in joe biden who is not ruled out a campaign. Most people dont think hes going to do it. And i dont think hes given up completely the temptation. Hes run twice before. Hes way behind hillary in any matchup. He could pose a significant threat. I dont think hes going to. Gwen the fact that people arent ruling it out tells you something about the contentment level of the field. But lets step back from the horse race for a second whos in and whos out and talk about the policy issues which keep polluting or enhancing the campaign. Gay marriage decision last week from the supreme court. Molly, youve written about this. What extent do they feel they have to respond to this and did they . Molly they all had to take a position. They had to respond. For all of the buzz there has been even within the r. N. C. About how republicans need to sort of get with the future when it comes to issues of gay rights every single republican candidate said they disagree with the decision and they personally dislike samesex marriage. You have Mike Huckabee actually and i think ted cruz actually advocating civil disobedience. Gwen bobby jindal saying we might want to get rid of the court. Molly you have rand paul saying lets government out of marriage whatsoever. Hes the only one taking that libertarian. But then you had others saying the court has ruled and weve got to go along with the decision. So but you dont see any republican candidate sort of potioning himself as the one who can get ahead of these issues. Gwen you know, before this happened, the trade issue was the big dividing issue among democrats. Its now law. And the president can go off to negotiate this deal. Have the bad feelings gone away . Did we hear from Hillary Clinton about it. We she didnt want to get squarely involved. This was finally an issue where she was probably relieved in the fact that she did not have to take a vote on it. She was stung in 2007, of course by having to sflote the iraq wars an barack obama never had to. So why should she way in. That gets to Bernie Sanders enthusiasm. He genuinely came out so hard and said she should have more. But peter pointed out this still is not done. Once we get to the substance of this matter shell have to comment on this again. And that will put her against me. Heres another issue that has percolated and thats immigration this time because of the wonderful or whatever you would describe it infrut donald trump. He, of course, would famously announce and part of his announcement he discussed how mexicans were rapists. This is what he said when he was asked this week about it. Donald people coming into our country, we have no idea and theyre have all over the world. We have no idea who they are. We have to have strong borders. If we dont have strong borders you dont have a country anymore. Gwen hes not backing away and its making it very difficult for some republicans who have been trying to tread a path. No question. I was watching all weekday by day by day weve seen different republicans saying we dont need this kind of rhetoric. This is not what were about. I think donald trump has managed to diminish himself in the course of one week never mind his business. A lot of companies have thrown his products overboard saying were not going do do business with you. But theyre saying, whoa, whoa, whoa rick perry was the latest this week. We dont need gwen Mike Huckabee has not done that. I wonder if this kind of rhetoric or belief system puts them between a rock and a hard place. And jeb bush you expected him to come out earl yip and try to distinguish himself since hes taken a moderate stance on immigration. Hes taken a nice stands on trump. More candidates could have stood up and said i dont want anything to do with that kind of rhetoric. If thats what it takes, i dont want anything to do with it. I think part of the problem is theyve gotten used to taking trump ice money. Youve had a few people who have criticized trump. I got a fundraising letter where you found it nicer. Gwen sounds like its in everyones interest to change the subject whenever his name comes up at least for the short term and then well see what theyre going to talk about. Thank you all very much for coming in our holiday to help us figure this week out. If we look a little different tonight its because we are temporarily out of or normal studio while theres a new renovation goingn. And it looks really, really cool. The conversations too short but it will continue online. You can catch a holiday day edition of Washington Week. Were going to discuss mollys deep dive into the 45year fight that made same sex marriage constitutional. Also online we reflect on 10 years of the roberts supreme court. Keep up with daily developments on the pbs news hour and well see you right here next week on Washington Week. Have a wonderful fourth. Good night. Corporate funding for Washington Week is provided by prudential. Additional funding is provided by newmans own foundation donating all profits from newmans own Food Products to charity and nourishing the common good, the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Narrator tonight on spark, arts and social issues. Bay area artists and designers breathe new life into San Franciscos neglected urban corridor. Cullinan what if you walked to work every day . And it was fun . I mean, why not . Right . Narrator with spellbinding views from the sky a bay area photographer reveals mankinds scars on the land. Hundreds of thousands of people experience chinese artist ai weiweis groundbreaking installation on alcatraz. [ wood blocks tapping rhythmically ] an experimental setting for new music and classical greats. Inside San Francisco symphonys soundbox. Thomas extraordinary to think that something 400 years old could have that powerful effect on someone whos a 21stcentury person. Narrator its all ahead on spark. Funding for kqed arts is provided by