[music] moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf. The engine that connects us. Consumer cellular. The william and flora hewlett foundation. For more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting instit pions tomote a better world at hewlett. Org. And with the ongoi supportf these individuals and institutions. [music] this program was made possible by the corporationor public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you police in hong kong tightened their seize of a University Campus tonight where hundreds of protesters remain trapped inside. Its the latestnc bout of vio the city has seen in nearly six months of protests. In other parts of the city, protests fueled by the standoff ckcontinue. Ni has the latest. Reporter overnight and through the morning darkness, the streets of hong kdg remai a battlefield. Police pushed to retake the h campus oong kongs Polytechnic University and students and demonstrators used any means necessary to hold their ground. Throh masks that prote them from tear gas, they plead for help. Someonelly hope tha could give a helping hand. Reporter in a predawn raid, Hong Kong Police arrested a student journalist andly repeatedsked the student to stop recording. So students fled on motorcycles. Protestersripped over barricades and were tackled to the ground. This is the cscendo of six months of protests that startede against th law that would have extradited criminal suspects to Mainland China. But today demonstrators are calling for fundamental reform and Mainland China is threatening to escalate. For the First Time Since the protests began, this weekend chinese Soldiers Left their hong kong barracks and cleaned up debriswearing tshirts and shorts. Today chinas ambassador to the united kingdomlamed the west for instigating the protests and warned the protesters. To restore law and order, violence must end. And the violence perpetrators must be brought to justice. Safeguard the interests of public and secure a Better Future for hong kong. And cement the foundation of one country, two systems. Reporter the two sides are on a cycle of escalation. Police say theyre defendingth selves and warn they could begin using live ammunition. Protesters s theyre responding to Police Brutality and demand the city give in to their demands. We wantl a peaceng kong to be back. But i think before that, theo government has listen to the people and the police have to stop whatever theyre doing. And i hope that hong kong can go back to the previous hong kong as soon as possible. Reporter for more on what this a man who just spent 29 years in the state department. He serd the from 2016 to july 2019. Hes now a partner at the asia group, an internation Business Consulting firm. Welcome to newshour. Cawhat is the signie of what were looking at right now, the standoff in this university . One of the fir times where weve seen protesters actually try and hold a little bit of ground. I think thats right. Its a departure in strategy by th protesters to establish essentially a situation where theyre under siege rather thanh usinr old philosophy of move like water, have a protest and then leaveefore they can get arrested. I think it creates new risks both for t protesters but also for how the police handle it. So the Police Handling of not throughoutoment but this process, the protesters Police Brutality. Things like thats the language that they use. We do see videos of Police Beating up protesters f sure. Do you believe that some of the Police Actions over the last fee months hueled the protesters . I think thats right. I think that the police have been under intense pressure. Personally i dont think that they were particularly welltrained for this kind of circumstance. Response to people coming atal them violently and in some instances responding inappropriately. Inappropriate, responding violently in ways that they shouldnt have. That is something that the protesters are now calling for an investigation of. And that probably it is important to remember, at the same time, that the protesters have, if you will, taken first blood in terms of making this a violent situation. Of course, behind the police, literally in a garrisonn the middle of hong kong are chinese soldiers. We saw them out in tshirts and shorts. Right. Se in respo this in the last day or so. We talked to some people who fear it could be some kind of test run of some sort. Do you share that tear that, Chinese Military could respond in some wayhi if violence continues . The fact of the matter is that there is a significant military presence in hong kong, which is not designed for crowdl cont or for police activity. China, of course, h immense Police Resources across the border that are not, again, prepared for working in the hong kong environment under hong kong law. Sohink that the options for the mainland in terms of direct intervention are limited and bad and so i dont anticate that happening. But they have, from time to time, for example, earlier this fall, they released a video of them practicing this kd of activity. And weve seen the rhetoric increase from chinese officials, including xi jinping. And thats intended to scare people. As a level of deterrence . Hi you dont tnk it will go beyond that . I certainly hope not. I think it would be a mistake if it did. The u. S. Has in fact warned china not to go further than it has gone. We saw secretary of state mike pompeo today in the state department say two things. One, he endorsed the idea of that police investigation. And he a ao gav little bit of a reference to one of the protesters key demands lets take a listen. We call on chief executive carrie lam to promote accountability byti supplem the review with an independent investigation into the protestrelated incidents. As the United States government has said repeatedly, the Chinese Communist party must honor its promises to the hong kong ople, who only want the freedoms and liberties that they have been promised in the joint declaration. Must honor its promises and police investigation. Is that an adequate u. S. Response . I think thats a good response. Certainly i think what secretary pompeo said is right. And, you know, we need to keep in mind that there are some limits t the reach of the United States to influence events within hong kong. Bu certainly calling for a thorough investigation of what has taken place is a natural thing to do in this circumstance and an important thing do. And the reference to the 1984 is spoton. I think its really importanter for ne in this circumstance to really think carefully about what are we trying to achieve. What are they trying to achieveh are the protesters trying to achieve, what does china want, what does hong kong want, what does the United States want. And quickly, u. S. Officials are weighing even more drastic options, for example, even removing diplomats from hong kong, some kind of sanctions. Os would moves be positive, do you think . Ihi that it depends on who the sanctions are on. Removing diplomats i dont think is necessary unless its unsafe. Could it signal to remove diplomats . It could, but would it be effective . I would question that. I think the biggeruestion here is, whatever the u. S. Does, as a matter of u. S. Policy, should be carefully designed to really has an impact onti sit in a positive way, not an emotional response to shortterm xi gen sis but how do we reinforce this hong kong thats a part of the rest of china. Different from to be specific, its important that the united stes not do something that actually ends up hurting the hong kong people morehan the intended target, which in the case of a bad situation there, would be the beijing government. If hong kong is no longer if they no l hgere autonomy, we should treat it like it no longer has autonomy. But if it has autonomy, i dont think we should take away our recognition of that autonomy because of a shortterm situation. Its a great place to doss busind a communication point for dealing with china. Seven millionple live, most of whom we like, and we dont want to take away their livelihood just to spite beijing. July, thank, until you very much. Thank you. [music] good evening from newshour west. Im stephanie. An update to our top story. It is Tuesday Morning in hongng and beijing has taken two actions to try and regain control of the streets. It is of ruling Hong Kongs High Court on the issue of whether protesters can wr face masks. The court had earlier ruled that a ban on the masks was unconstitutional. And now chinas communist government says the court doesnt have the power to decide that. Also today, a new Hong Kong Police commissioner appointed by beijing was sworn in. He in iran, powerful revolutionary gua warned protesters they will face Decisive Action if nationwide unrest does not stop. People occupied streets and set fire to cars, banks and other buildings over the weekend. They were angered by aar 50 hiery in gasoline prices hike in gasoline prices. He today situation was calmer. More than 80 , compared to yesterda only some minor problems remain. By tomorrow, and the day after, there will be n rise. The protests took place in dozens of cities. In iraq, antigovernment protesters again seized a majori bridge baghdad, burning tires to block traffic. They also held a funeral procession for a protester killedy security forces. More than 320 demonstrates have been killed in recent weeks as they demand a new gernment and reforms. The Trump Administration is softening its policy on israeli settlements in the west bank. Mike pompeo announced he will abandon a 1978 legal finding that the settlements are w inconsisteh international law. Pompeo said the finding had hindered the path to peace. Weve had a long time with the policy, the legal interpretation announced the other way and it didnt work. Thats a fact in evidence. We believe that what weve done today, is weve recognized the reality on the ground. We think in fact weve increased the likelihood that the vision for peace thats administration has, we think weve createdpace for that to be successful. Series of Trump Administration decisions that weaken palestinian claims to statehood. North koreared today it does not want meaningless clear talks with the u. S. President trump had hinted at a third summit with kim jongun but north koreas foreign mistry says kim reject any summit unless he gets something tangible. A senio, official said, quo we will no longer gift the u. S. President with something he can boast of. Kim has demanded that the u. S. Offer acceptable terms by the end of the year in return for him e north Koreas Nuclear program. Back in this country, aio congrel watch dog group says at least 60 f superfund sites are prone to flooding or other effects of climateng c those sites contain hazardous industrial wnmte. The govt Accountable Office called for theot environmental tion agency to state specifically that it will focus on the problem. Seven people are deaer a two shootings in different parts of the country. In duncan, oklahoma, three people were killed today outside a walmart. Shot twoy the gunman people in a car before killing himself. Meanwhile, a manhunts i under way in fresno, california, for two men who shot andd kil four people sunday evening. It happened at a backyard gathering. Six more peoe were woundedn the shooting. They walked into the backyard. And began immediately firing into the crowd. 10 of those 16eople at that event. Were hit, suck by bullets. The unknown suspects fled the scene on foot. What i can tell you is this was noa random act. Supreme court chief Justice Ron Roberts has john roberts has ordered a hold oetting House Democrats see trumps tax records. A federal court had ordered in favor of subpoenaing thent docu there is an unspecified time to give the high court time to issue a dinitive ruling. President trump is backing away from a plan to bar sales of most flavored ecigarette product. He said in september heould announce a ban to try and curb teenage vaping but it was widely reported today that he changed his mind after being warned that a crackdown could cost jobs and votes. Sttl to come, the lat on the impeachment inquiry and what to expect in the second week of public hrings. How President Trumps latest pardons raise concerns about military justice. Down the latest from thereaks campaign trail. Plus, a new exhibit of paintings by Winslow Homer examines the artists fascination with the sea. This is the pbs newshour from weta studios in washington and in the west from the Walter Cronkite school af journalismt Arizona State university. The stage is set on capitol hill for the second week of public hearings in the impeachment inquiry tnto presidenmp. And as white house correspondene rts, there is word today he may testify on his own behalf. On cbss face the natio sunday, House Speaker nancy pelosi invited President Trump to testify. If he has information that is taking away culpa, blame, we look forward to seeing it. The president could come before the committee and speak all the truth, if he wants to take the oath of office, or he could do it in writing. Reporter today trump responded on twitter. He said, i like the idea and will stronglyonsider it. President trump is accused of with holding almost400 million if military aid fm ukraine in exchange for probes into his political opponents over the weekend, republicans continued to defend the prdaident. Jim j of ohio, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, said democrats donte case because ukraine never followed through with any of the investiga aons. O appeared on face the nation. The ukrainians did nothing a as farinvestigations goes, to get the aid release. Quo that the democrats allid pro promise existed before President Trump released the phone call. Todayer in an interview th Judy Woodruff at a cancer fundraisern san antonio, former secretary of state Rex Tillerson criticized the president s actions. Proper in the role of ad diplomat . Well andme incan foreign policy. Clearly asking for personal favors and using the United States assets as collateral is wrong. Theres just no two ways about it. Reporter meanwhile, House Democrats on saturday released two moreranscripts from closeddoor testimony. They came from tim morriso a departing n. S. C National Securiy council and jennifer williams, who was an aid to Vice President pence. Both were on the july 25 call between President Trump and ukraian prident volodymyr zelensky. On it, trump pressed zelensky to investigate democrats he also was concerned about how its release might affect the ukrainian perceptions of the u. S. Ukraine relationship but he said, quote, i was not concerned that anything illegal was scussed. Williams testified the call seemed, quote, unusual and inappropriate. S she said itd light on possible other motivations behind a Security Assistance hold. In a tweet on saturday, esident trump went after williams. He called her a trumper and accused her and other witnesses of attacking him. Williams and morrison plan to testify publicly along with Army Lieutenant colonel alexander vindman. National Security Council director for Current Affairs as well as kurt volker. They will all appear before the House Intelligence Committee tomorrow. Now to break all of this down, good to see you. Great to be here. Week. s start with the s a big one. Weve got three days of public hearings. A number of officials coming before congress to testify. Walk us through who we going to hear from and why they matter. We have a packed schedule this week. Democrats want to do this to make sure theyre basically laying out their there are a number of officials who are serving in the Trump Administration or who hav served in the Trump Administration. There are three key people that im going to p tnt the first is Lieutenant Colonel alexander vindman. He is someone still working at the national Security Council. Hes their ukraine expert and someone who has h purplert. Hes the one that democrats point to and say, this is someone with very good character. Theyre going to point out that he is someone who had conceims in rea with the july 25 phone call between President Trump and the president of the ukraine. Vindman listened into that call, then went to his superiors and said, i have concerns awaut the that the president is asking for investigations into joe biden and hishu soner biden. Republicans, though, say that vindman has been inconsistent they also say hes someone who cant really speak to whether or thats impeachable he something shouldnt essentially be coming before con