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JUDY WOODRUFF: Good evening.
I'm Judy Woodruff.
On the "NewsHour" tonight: The counting continues.
Poll workers tally away, as critical House and Senate races that will decide control
of Congress remain undecided.
Then: the climate crisis.
At a gathering of world leaders, President Biden announces new efforts to cut methane
emissions, as vulnerable low-income nations demand more aid.
SALEEMUL HUQ, Director, International Center For Climate Change and Development: The developing
countries have really been suffering from the impacts of climate change and feel that
the developed world, in particular, has not been doing enough to reduce their emissions.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And it's Friday.
David Brooks and Jonathan Capehart weigh in on the red wave that failed to materialize
and what it portends for former President Trump's role in the Republican Party.
All that and more on tonight's "PBS NewsHour."
(BREAK)
JUDY WOODRUFF: Close key races in the U.S. House of Representatives and in the Senate
remain uncalled tonight, as election workers continue their count through the Veterans
Day holiday today.
Lisa Desjardins and Amna Nawaz have our update on where things stand.
AMNA NAWAZ: That's right, Judy.
We here at "NewsHour" are relying on the Associated Press to make those calls before we report
them.
But we have had a few more filled in over the last day.
LISA DESJARDINS: Right.
AMNA NAWAZ: Let's take a look at where the balance of power stands in the House of Representatives.
LISA DESJARDINS: Here we are; 211 of the seats called are going to Republicans at this time,
194 for Democrats.
And here's everybody in between.
Amna, I'm still watching about 23 seats.
I will say, just in the last day, there's only been three or four races that have been
called.
It is slow.
And half of those races, Amna, are in two states, California and Nevada.
AMNA NAWAZ: Let's take a closer look at some of those key races that could help fill in
the rest of that balance of power.
Let's go to Nevada first.
LISA DESJARDINS: This is sort of one of our weather checks here in Nevada.
Susie Lee is gaining more points.
This is a Democrat here.
And it looks like she's doing better there in Las Vegas, but Clark County still has some
ballots remaining.
Let's move on to the next race, some races we haven't talked about as much.
Here we go in California, House District 13.
This is a seat Republican John Duarte is up ahead.
He is a pistachio and almond farmer up against Democrat Adam Gray, whose family runs a dairy
farm supply business.
This is a battle of farmers right now, the Republican just a little bit ahead.
Another race I want to look at here in California, this is a Republican incumbent, Ken Calvert.
Right now, it looks like he is just ahead by 1,100 points.
This is Laura Barron-Lopez territory.
This is where she is from.
But, look, it's only 53 percent of the vote.
If the Democrat, Will Rollins, former prosecutor who said he's running because of January 6,
by the way, if he's able to make up this distance, this is one of those races that allows the
Democrats still the remote possibility of taking -- keeping control of the House.
It's a long shot.
This race would have to flip, right now, the Republican winning.
One more race to look at where Democrats are doing well, this is Washington state.
This is Jaime Herrera Beutler, the Republican's former seat.
She was beat out in the primary by Joe Kent.
He is someone who is an election generic.
He's a former Army Ranger.
His wife was killed by an ISIS terrorism bomb.
He has blamed the establishment for that.
But he has run on a platform of denying the election and January 6 itself.
This is Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.
She's an auto body shop mechanic and owner.
She's winning.
This is a surprise for a lot of Democrats, but we still have 30 percent of the vote left
in that race to go there.
AMNA NAWAZ: Still a ways to go there.
Also, we should note, a ways to go in a few key statewide races in a few states you have
been keeping track of.
Where are those ballots that are still being counted?
LISA DESJARDINS: Let's run through these key states.
Clark County, Nevada, 50,000 mail ballots still out.
We expect an update tonight.
Los Angeles County, California, oh, just 800,083 ballots left.
AMNA NAWAZ: That's it?
LISA DESJARDINS: Mostly mail ballots there.
Maricopa County, Arizona, 400,000 ballots, an update expected tonight.
Now, how much of an update will we get with these races?
We don't know.
Will we know the fate of the House of Representatives tonight, tomorrow, Sunday?
We don't know.
It could be a few more days still.
Or we will see.
AMNA NAWAZ: The counting continues.
This is the process.
Patience is key.
LISA DESJARDINS: Yes.
Patience, everyone.
AMNA NAWAZ: Lisa Desjardins, thank you so much.
LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.
JUDY WOODRUFF: In the day's other news: President Biden called on world leaders to take decisive
steps against the climate crisis in his opening address at the COP 27 conference in Sharm
el-Sheikh, Egypt.
He also pledged that the U.S., one of the world's biggest polluters, would meet its
target for reducing emissions by 2030.
We will have more on this after the new summary.
Ukrainian forces swept into the southern city of Kherson today, dealing a major blow to
Moscow's war effort.
The liberation came after Russia completed its retreat from the region.
In the city center, crowds cheered and waved flags as they greeted the incoming Ukrainian
troops after months of Russian occupation.
YURII NEVOLCHUK, Kherson Resident (through translator): I'm just excited, excited.
We knew this day would come that our boys would liberate us.
We're very grateful to them.
These were nine months of horror.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the day historic and said
that his first focus was to de-mine the region.
Tropical Storm Nicole has now weakened to a depression, dumping heavy rain from Georgia
on up to Southern Canada.
The storm claimed at least three lives in Florida after making landfall yesterday near
Vero Beach.
Dozens of hotels and condos northeast of Orlando were forced to evacuate after being deemed
unsafe.
Some communities in the storm's path were still recovering from Hurricane Ian.
KENDRA DOWLING GOODRICH, Property Manager: This was not an area that has ever even flooded.
It was a trifecta of Ian, and then a king tide, and then Nicole.
And we just didn't have a chance to recover.
The tide never relaxed.
And so it just compromised every seawall, every dune.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The National Hurricane Center also warned that the Blue Ridge Mountains
Could see as much as eight inches of rainfall from the storm.
There's also a chance of flash flooding as far north as New England.
The head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection is being pressured to resign over his handling
of the influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Chris Magnus told The Los Angeles Times that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas
asked him to step down or be fired.
He has refused to resign.
Sources familiar with the Homeland Security Department's discussions confirmed the demand
to the "PBS NewsHour."
They told us that there has been dissatisfaction with Magnus' leadership in the post that he
has held for less than a year, particularly in the role of law enforcement and border
protection.
The Biden administration has stopped taking applications for student loan forgiveness
a day after a federal judge in Texas blocked the president's debt relief program.
The Justice Department has filed an appeal against the ruling.
The program was already on hold while a federal appeals court reviews a separate lawsuit filed
by six states.
The world's third largest cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, filed for bankruptcy today.
Its CEO and founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, also resigned.
Earlier this week, FTX agreed to sell itself to rival Binance to avoid collapse, but Binance
backed out of the deal.
All this comes as several federal regulators have reportedly launched probes into FTX over
its business practices.
On Wall Street today, stocks extended their gains to close out a strong week of trading.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 32 points to close at 33748.
The Nasdaq climbed 209 points, and the S&P 500 added 36.
And the nation honored its military veterans today.
Parades, celebrations and solemn ceremonies paid tribute to the men and women who have
served our country.
At Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, Vice President Kamala Harris laid a wreath
at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and spoke of the sacrifices that generations of veterans
have made.
KAMALA HARRIS, Vice President of the United States: American service members have sworn
an oath not to a person, not to a party, but to the Constitution of the United States to
support and defend the principles of liberty, equality, and justice, to preserve and protect
our democracy.
JUDY WOODRUFF: This also marks the first Veterans Day since President Biden signed legislation
expanding health care for service members exposed to toxic burn pits.
The White House says more than 137,000 claims have already been filed.
Still to come on the "NewsHour": more LGBTQ candidates win office than ever before in
the midterm elections; the departure of Twitter executives exacerbate worries over the company's
future; younger generations push to preserve a disappearing indigenous language in rural
Alaska; plus much more.
As we reported, President Biden is at the so-called COP 27 U.N. climate talks in Egypt
today.
The president pledged new money for renewable energy projects around the world and a greater
push to cut emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas methane.
But he also is hearing a plea from the developing nations that are suffering the worst damage
from climate change.
William Brangham has the latest.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: This is the image industrialized nations want the world to see, hundreds of
world leaders gathering to discuss critical action to head off the worst potential future
of a warming planet.
JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: We see our mission to avert climate catastrophe
and seize a new clean energy economy not only as an imperative for our present and future,
but through the eyes of history.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: But developing nations want the world to focus on a different picture,
a picture of devastation happening here and now, like tropical cyclones in Bangladesh,
sending already rising sea levels rushing into communities, an ongoing deluge that could
force tens of millions of people to move, or this in Pakistan earlier this year, a long
deadly heat wave and drought that left farmers desperate for water.
But then, in a brutal turn, came a catastrophic monsoon season, where rains flooded roughly
a third of the country and killed at least 1,700 people.
Roads and bridges were lost, farms submerged, over two million homes gone, the price tag
estimated at $30 billion.
These countries and many others say they did little to cause the pollution that's exacerbating
these disasters and they are owed some compensation for this destruction.
At this year's COP 27 conference, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres echoed
this plea for what's called loss and damage.
ANTONIO GUTERRES, United Nations Secretary-General: Loss and damage can no longer be swept under
the rug.
It is a moral imperative.
It is a fundamental question of international solidarity and climate justice.
Those who contributed least to the climate crisis are reaping the whirlwind sown by others.
SALEEMUL HUQ, Director, International Center For Climate Change and Development: The developing
countries have really been suffering from the impacts of climate change and feel that
the developed world, in particular, has not been doing enough to reduce their emissions,
pay the money that they promised and now provide additional funding for the impacts that are
now happening.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Saleemul Huq, a veteran of these U.N. climate meetings, is the director
of the International Center for Climate Change and Development in Bangladesh.
SALEEMUL HUQ: In the past, the argument was, it's going to happen.
We need to prepare for it.
And, to some extent, we did, but we didn't do enough.
Now it's already happened, so it's become an emergency.
We have to deal with it, whether we like it or not.
People are losing their lives.
They're losing their livelihoods.
They're losing their homes.
They need to be compensated.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: It's an argument that's been made all this week in Egypt from leaders
of small and large countries.
MIA MOTTLEY, Prime Minister of Barbados: The addition of loss and damage on the agenda
is a significant achievement and one that we have been fighting for, for many years.
PHILIP DAVIS, Prime Minister of the Bahamas: I'm asking, what is it worth to you to prevent
millions of climate refugees from turning into tens of millions, and then hundreds of
millions, putting pressure on borders and security and political systems across the
world?
SHEHBAZ SHARIF, Pakistani Prime Minister: We became a victim of something with which
we had nothing to do.
And, of course, it was a manmade disaster.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif argued the drought and floods
in his country are made worse because of pollution that his country barely emits.
Pakistan contributes under 1 percent of global carbon emissions, and is now one of the nation's
leading the call for loss and damage compensation.
SHEHBAZ SHARIF: It is now or never.
For us, there is indeed no planet B.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: At last year's U.N. meeting in Glasgow, establishing a fund for loss and
damage was rejected by world leaders.
But this week, for the first time ever, leaders have formally agreed to discuss the issue.
America's climate envoy, John Kerry, has been hesitant about the idea, saying it could interfere
with other vital climate action.
But, this week, several European nations did pledge for the first time ever tens of millions
of dollars for a fledgling fund to compensate nations for past damages and losses.
But those totals pale in comparison to the need.
Studies have estimated that the developing world is facing climate-related damages in
the hundreds of billions of dollars now, a total that could rise to a trillion or more
by 2050.
SALEEMUL HUQ: The price tag is many orders of magnitude bigger than what is being offered.
But what was being offered yesterday was zero.
What is being offered today is a few tens of millions, which is a hell of a lot better
than zero.
Then we can argue about how much we can up the ante in terms of reaching the requirements
that are in the many billions.
JOE BIDEN: This gathering must be the moment to recommit our future and our shared capacity
to write a better story for the world.
(APPLAUSE)
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: President Biden, in his comments today, stressed again the need to
cut emissions and boost renewable energy projects going forward.
But he made only passing mention of compensation for climate change's present-day impacts.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm William Brangham.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The brief reign so far of billionaire Elon Musk at Twitter has unleashed a wave
of tumult throughout the company.
As John Yang reports, firing, resignations and policy reversals leave the social media
giant facing an uncertain future and have many worried about growing risks of misinformation.
JOHN YANG: Judy, chaotic may be a mild description of Elon Musk's first week as CEO of Twitter.
In just the last week, the company laid off half its 7,500 employees, key privacy and
compliance officers quit, and Musk reportedly told employees that bankruptcy isn't out of
the question.
Just today, Twitter put its $8 subscription for a blue verified check mark on hold, as
fake accounts using that badge mushroomed.
Mike Isaac is a tech reporter for The New York Times.
He's been covering all of this.
Mike, thanks for joining us.
This -- Elon Musk started buying Twitter stock in January.
He announced his bid in April.
This was not an impulse buy.
Did he have a plan going in, and he just collided with reality, or is he making this up as he
goes along?
(LAUGHTER)
MIKE ISAAC, The New York Times: I think a little bit of both, to be honest.
For a while, in between that April to the close of the deal, he did try to back out
of it.
And I think that was because unforeseen economic conditions and sort of how it would hammer
his Tesla stock over time.
But, basically, he -- I think he's a person who has a lot of ideas about how to change
the service that he really enjoyed using and spent a lot of his time on, but didn't -- didn't
seem to have a real action plan the first days he got in there, and is now relying on
a handful of really close advisers who he trusts, while cutting out a lot of people
who have been at Twitter for years and have really studied how people use the product.
JOHN YANG: For better or worse, Twitter has become a key part of the -- sort of the global
news cycle.
Are the -- this chaos, this sort of roiling of the waters at Twitter, are there repercussions
for people who aren't on Twitter?
MIKE ISAAC: Yes, 100 percent.
I think Twitter is -- like you say, it's small in terms of its social use by, let's say,
everyday people.
It's only 200 million, compared to Facebook and Instagram's multiple billion people.
But all the news that hits on Twitter trickles down to other networks.
It flies out to Facebook.
It hits on news networks.
We talk about tweets and things in the newspaper and on TV all the time.
And now he's implemented systems that make it more difficult to really immediately understand
whether or not tweets or accounts are actually real, verified people.
For instance, Eli Lilly's stock started bouncing around when a fake account said that they
would now be giving away insulin for free, basically, so they had to do damage control
really quickly.
JOHN YANG: And also, he sort of -- there's a little whiplash with this policy of now
was saying that the subscription is going away.
People can't buy that check mark anymore.
MIKE ISAAC: Yes, I think -- I think it's -- Elon -- Elon did a tweet about this, actually.
He said, we will continue to do a lot of dumb things at Twitter as we experiment and try
to figure out our ideas.
And, look, I think that's the way he runs companies.
He's very experimental and entrepreneurial in some ways.
And many folks in Silicon Valley would call that a pro, rather than a con, and why they
find him such an innovator.
But it's also -- this is a very different company than Tesla or SpaceX or any of the
other things he's done.
And it has a really wide-ranging repercussions for how you and I just consume media on a
daily basis.
JOHN YANG: Twitter's operating under a consent decree from the Federal Trade Commission over
security issues.
And, this week, an agency spokesman said that it's watching developments with deep concern.
Could the FTC step in?
MIKE ISAAC: I think it's absolutely the right question to be asking.
Elon has had run-ins with the SEC in the past.
And different government agencies like the FTC keep a pretty close eye on his businesses.
They particularly raised their eyebrows when a few of Twitter's top lawyers and sort of
compliance officers quit and posted an internal sort of message to folks saying, don't cross
any red lines and do anything illegal.
And that definitely got the FTC's attention.
So I think they're going to be watching very closely.
Twitter pushed back saying, of course, it would comply with everything, but they are
under the spotlight right now.
JOHN YANG: Twitter was already sort of financially struggling before Musk took over.
And now advertisers are staying away.
They have lost -- they're losing advertising revenue.
Is the company's future in danger?
MIKE ISAAC: I think they're really hemorrhaging cash and ad commitments much faster than I
would have suspected, I think, than most industry watchers would have suspected.
Twitter is an advertising business and has been for a long time.
It's not been a great business.
It's been unprofitable for eight out of the past 10 years as a public company, but it
has been run by ads.
And Elon is trying to rapidly shift it to a -- as you said, a -- pay for -- an $8 subscription
business.
But he's doing it very quickly and bleeding money as he turns off advertisers, which I
think is very dangerous in the long term.
JOHN YANG: You talked about his reputation for innovation at Tesla, at SpaceX.
He took a lot of risks that so far have been paying off in those companies.
But you say that Twitter is a very different animal.
Is it unlikely that he's going to be doing the same thing, that these risks are going
to pay off at Twitter?
MIKE ISAAC: See, here's the thing.
I think the reason you have at least some people still at Twitter right now and at his
other companies is that people who meets or are in Elon's orbit really do believe in the
guy.
They really are inspired by him and appreciate that entrepreneurial spirit that Silicon Valley
celebrates and doles out venture capital to new start-up founders and things like that.
And so I think there are still a lot of people out here in the Valley that believe he can
do it.
But his first two weeks, if we're grading -- we're not exactly grading on a curve, and
he's having some very high-profile stumbles.
So, we will see if he starts learning quickly from those sort of very difficult beginnings
that he's had.
JOHN YANG: Mike Isaac of The New York Times on Elon Musk's learning curve at Twitter,
thank you very much.
MIKE ISAAC: Thank you for having me.
JUDY WOODRUFF: As results of the 2022 midterm elections continue to come in, one trend is
clear.
It was an historic year for LGBTQ candidates vying for state and federal office.
Laura Barron-Lopez has our report.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: It's been dubbed the rainbow wave.
TINA KOTEK (D), Oregon Gubernatorial Candidate: I want to thank my family, especially my wife,
Aimee.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Oregon governor elect Tina Kotek one of a record number of LGBTQ
candidates winning up and down the ballot this year, more than 430, according to the
LGBTQ Victory Fund, an organization working to elect these candidates.
Kotek and Maura Healey in Massachusetts will be the first two lesbian governors in history,
shattering the so-called lavender ceiling.
MAURA HEALEY (D), Massachusetts Governor-Elect: Tonight, I want to say something to every
little girl and every young LGBTQ person out there.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
MAURA HEALEY: I hope, I hope tonight shows you that you can be whatever, whoever you
want to be.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
GOV.
JARED POLIS (D-CO): When we fight for our freedoms...
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: With the reelection of Jared Polis in Colorado, three states will
be led by LGBTQ chief executives, the highest number ever.
GOV.
JARED POLIS: A Colorado for all, where there is room and a place for everybody to be themselves.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: And another milestone, 2022 marked the first time there were queer
candidates on the ballot in all 50 states, including in New York's Third District, which
featured two gay candidates in a head-to-head race.
Republican George Santos defeated Robert Zimmerman and will be the first openly gay Republican
elected to a first term in Congress.
BECCA BALINT (D), Vermont Congresswoman-Elect: I will not back down from hard fights.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: There are at least four new LGBTQ representatives heading to Washington,
including Vermont's Becca Balint, a Democrat, who is the first woman elected to represent
the state.
BECCA BALINT: And I will work for our most vulnerable neighbors every single day.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Plus, Democrat Robert Garcia of California, who will be the first
gay immigrant in Congress, and Eric Sorensen, the first openly gay person to represent Illinois.
ZOOEY ZEPHYR (D), Montana State Representative-Elect: My name is Zooey Zephyr.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: It was also a history-making election for transgender candidates running
for state legislatures.
ZOOEY ZEPHYR: The first thing that came to mind when I saw this legislation was the direct
impact it would have on me.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Including Zooey Zephyr in Montana, who once testified against anti-trans
legislation, and will now be able to vote against it.
In Minnesota, Leigh Finke will be the first trans person in the state legislature.
And, in New Hampshire, James Roesener became the first trans man elected to a us statehouse.
It all comes is anti-LGBTQ legislation remains on the rise in states, with more than 150
anti-trans bills introduced this year alone, according to the ACLU.
And there's no sign of it slowing down.
Celebrating his own reelection Tuesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was cheered as he defended
his record in office, including signing the so-called don't say gay bill earlier this
year.
GOV.
RON DESANTIS (R-FL): We will never, ever surrender to the woke mob.
Florida is where woke goes to die!
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: But, for now, LGBTQ candidates are celebrating their wins and preparing to
get to work when new legislative sessions begin early next year.
And one of those newly elected state lawmakers, Zooey Zephyr of Montana, joins me now.
Representative-elect Zephyr, congratulations on your win.
You testified in 2021 before the Montana Senate Judiciary Committee against a bill that blocked
trans girls and women from playing in sports.
That bill was passed and signed into law, but was ultimately blocked in the court's
this fall.
Did that push you to run for office?
ZOOEY ZEPHYR: Absolutely.
Watching and testifying so emotionally about an issue dear to me, meeting with the governor's
office, with trans teenagers who just wanted to play sports,and then watching several of
the anti-LGBTQ bills pass by one vote in the legislature was the impetus for me.
I said, we have to have trans voices in these rooms if we're going to change what kind of
bills Montana's passing.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Speaking of anti-trans legislation, you have been elected for the
new legislative session that starts in January.
And there are already some pre-filed anti-trans bills, one in particular that would restrict
transgender surgery on minors.
What's your message to your new colleagues about legislation like that?
ZOOEY ZEPHYR: My message is simple.
We see all of the elections across the country where LGBTQ people have been elected, a wave
of trans people being elected.
When you take away the larger media narrative that the right is pushing and you get down
to my, like, local communities like mine here in Missoula, trans people are accepted, we
are loved and we are cared about.
And you're never far away from someone who cares deeply about us.
And pushing anti-trans issues isn't what my community wants, isn't what Montana wants.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: We have seen a number of those anti-trans messages on the campaign
trail this cycle, in particular, a number of Republican candidates that have falsely
accused LGBTQ teachers of -- quote -- "trying to groom students," as well as there was a
New Hampshire Republican candidate that lost, but said falsely that teachers were trying
to put litter boxes in classes, so students could identify as cats, and also accusing
Democrats of trying to put drag queens in every classroom.
What's your response to this growing anti-LGBTQ sentiment on the right?
ZOOEY ZEPHYR: My response would be that hate can only stoke fear for so long.
And the people who know trans people in their lives know that we are just like anyone else,
worthy of love, and we bring a ton of joy into the world.
And if the right continues to push these kinds of anti-LGBTQ attacks that we're seeing, as
you say, pre-filed already here in '22, looking forward, what's going to happen is, ultimately,
they're going to continue to lose, because our community has the backing of the people,
of our neighbors, our friends.
And when we get to the legislature, we will fight like hell to make sure that they know
that.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Are there any protections for LGBTQ or for transgender people that you're
hoping to propose in your new position?
ZOOEY ZEPHYR: I would like to see a ban on conversion therapy.
I would like to see an end to the gay trans panic laws that there -- since there has not
yet been a federal ban for that.
And, obviously, I am looking towards the court's in Montana to strike down the anti-LGBTQ laws
that went through in the 2021 session.
And if those are not struck down, ultimately, repealing those would be on the docket as
well.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: And, as we mentioned, this has been a historic year for LGBTQ candidates,
the most ever elected, with 436 who have won so far.
They're at all levels, from neighborhood advisory council all the way up to governors.
And what does that representation mean to you?
ZOOEY ZEPHYR: You know, it's less about what it means for me.
And it more so means that, when these attacks are being made in the legislature, they will
have to be made next to LGBTQ people.
When the states that have LGBTQ governors are facing attacks, there will be someone
in the community to stop it.
There -- representation matters, not theoretically, but it is the best defense we have against
hate.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: You made history in your election in Montana, but to reach parity,
the LGBTQ Victory Institute says that some 35,000 more LGBTQ people would have to be
elected.
What do you say to others who might be thinking about running?
And what are your future ambitions?
ZOOEY ZEPHYR: To others who are interested in running, I would say the first step is
to ground yourself in your community.
Do work in your community, and you will find that they love you and support you.
And if you do that work, then look forward and try to get into the rooms where you think
you can make a difference.
It is all about finding the spaces where your voice can have impact.
As for my future ambitions, all I want is to be in the rooms where I can do the most
good.
And, right now, the fights are at state level.
And that's where I want to be.
It's why I moved from working on drafting legislation behind the scenes at the city
level to stepping forward to the state level, because this is the room where the laws -- where
the biggest attacks are happening and where we need representation the most.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Representative-elect Zooey Zephyr of Montana, thank you for joining the
"NewsHour."
ZOOEY ZEPHYR: Thank you so much for having me.
JUDY WOODRUFF: It's been a long week in politics after a historic midterm election night.
To dive into what we can glean so far from voters' choices, we turn to the analysis of
Brooks and Capehart.
That's New York Times columnist David Brooks and Jonathan Capehart, columnist for The Washington
Post.
Hello to both of you.
I guess you could call it an historic week, but they are still counting.
We don't know all the numbers.
But I -- one thing we do know, Jonathan, is, President Biden did better than any president
in terms of midterm vote in the last 20 years.
How do you explain it?
What do you think voters were trying to say?
JONATHAN CAPEHART: Simple message.
Voters are trying to say, we can walk and chew gum at the same time.
We are more nuanced than you give us credit for.
Yes, the economy is bad.
We're not happy about it.
But we're also not happy about the potential of a national abortion ban.
We're not happy about the threats to democracy.
I think that the American electorate chose democracy in this election.
And I think the candidates who ran in their respective races ran the races that they needed
to run in order to be successful.
And in order for them to be successful, they had to pay attention to the people they wanted
to represent.
JUDY WOODRUFF: What do you think the voters were saying?
DAVID BROOKS: Yes, and I -- over the last, I don't know how long, 10 years, we have seen
a rise of global populism, both across Europe, I think in the form of Vladimir Putin and
maybe Xi Jinping, and in this country in the form of Donald Trump.
And I think what we have saw Tuesday night was the emergence of an anti-authoritarian
populism majority; 60 percent of voters, roughly 60 percent said they have a low opinion of
Donald Trump; 58 percent said they think MAGA is a threat to democracy.
And so we now have a group.
There's still going to be that MAGA movement.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Right.
DAVID BROOKS: But, in my view, the electorate has built a wall around them, and one hopes
in the -- and with effect of making sure they will never get the kind of power they enjoyed
under Donald Trump when he was in the White House.
What struck me also -- and this is related -- was that performative populism, where everything
is just a show, which Trump embodies, those kinds of candidates did poorly.
And the kinds of candidates who did really well are just people who get stuff done.
So, Mike DeWine in Ohio did very well, Josh Shapiro, Democrat.
For me, the quote of the evening was from the guy who was elected -- reelected governor
of Wisconsin, Tony Evers.
I think he said, boring wins.
(LAUGHTER)
DAVID BROOKS: And boring has not been winning much in American politics.
But I'm happy to see, personally, boring winning.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Voters -- did the voters surprises once again, Jonathan?
JONATHAN CAPEHART: Oh, they certainly surprised me, but in a good way.
I mean, in this business, we have been talking, because history shows that the party -- the
party in power of the president loses seats in the midterm elections.
Everything was going that way.
But every week, when there's a new poll came out, the one -- and we talked about it around
this table.
I always went to the generic ballot.
And that generic ballot seesawed one point to the Democrats or one point to the Republicans.
JUDY WOODRUFF: This is, are you likely to vote for a Democrat or a Republican?
JONATHAN CAPEHART: Right.
Who do you want to have it -- who do you want to have in control?
And for that to be so consistent for two years gave me the sense that this might not be the
midterm election that we think it is.
And what we ended up finding out, that it most certainly wasn't, and that, again, the
American people are saying, we can walk and chew gum at the same time, and that those
of us who do this for a living and including those armchair pundits out there, need to
show some humility.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Yes.
That's always the case for some of us.
(LAUGHTER)
JONATHAN CAPEHART: Yes.
JUDY WOODRUFF: But, David, were you surprised, when it came down to it?
DAVID BROOKS: I think I was.
Well, what had happened was, two weeks before the race, or three weeks, the generic ballot
really did move in favor of the Republicans.
And there was a moment when it looked like, if that was going to continue to move, then
Republicans will have a good night.
But then, in the last two weeks, it just sort of -- as Jonathan said, it just flatlined.
And so the Republicans did not continue to make gains on that thing.
And I think that was voters saying, we don't like the Democrats, but we -- there was a
good summary.
They preferred a party that was sort of out of touch to a party that was out of their
minds.
(LAUGHTER)
DAVID BROOKS: And so I was surprised, because, historically, when the when the president's
approval is low, the party loses.
But these were exceptional circumstances because of this authoritarian threat.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, Jonathan, I mean, talking about Republicans, they now -- it now looks
as if they're all but certain to take control of the House, not by a big margin, but by
at least a few seats.
We still don't know about the Senate.
That's right on the edge.
What sort of a mandate the Republicans have in the House?
JONATHAN CAPEHART: I'm not sure.
If they do get the majority, it could be as small as two seats.
And then how does the Republican leader govern?
And I'm wondering, what is their mandate exactly to do?
Make permanent the Trump tax cuts?
A national abortion ban?
Any number -- let's see.
There's one more thing.
Oh, take a hammer to Social Security, which is what Democrats were hammering them with
in the closing weeks of the campaign.
If that's what they -- what their mandate, is that really what the country wants?
And I don't think that, given the results we have seen, that that's what the country
is looking for.
JUDY WOODRUFF: What do you -- how do you see what the Republicans have been told by the
voters?
DAVID BROOKS: Yes.
I sort of think mandates went out the window some decades ago.
Nancy Pelosi had a five-seat majority.
Did she try any less hard than if she had had a 100-seat majority?
No.
She's the speaker.
So she gets to be the speaker.
And if Kevin McCarthy is the speaker, he gets to be the speaker.
What can they do and how will they behave?
I think they want to do something on immigration.
And it wouldn't be crazy for Democrats, if they can find something to pass, to take -- that
issue off the table a bit for them.
Other than that, the investigations, which everyone is talking about, I think they'd
be utterly crazy to have investigations first.
There's one thing which is accountability.
That's fine.
What's happening on the border?
What can HHS, should they be doing?
But if they're just going to go after Hunter Biden, if there's one thing we have learned
over the last 10 years, the American people are just sick of everything turning into scandal
investigation.
If Donald Trump is not laid low by scandal, then nobody's going to get laid low.
And so I think that would just be a catastrophic mistake.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Immigration?
Were you going to say...
JONATHAN CAPEHART: No, I -- you reminded me.
Immigration would be a great thing, if Republicans and Democrats could come together and do something
about it.
But the problem will be -- and this all centers on who -- let's say -- let's just assume,
just for this conversation, that Republicans regain the majority.
The real contest will be, well, who's that leader?
If it is -- if it is current House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, in order to get the
gavel, what concessions will he give to the House Freedom Caucus in order to secure enough
votes?
And the House Freedom Caucus is way out there.
They're the ones who want to do these investigations.
And so will Kevin McCarthy say yes to investigations in order to get the gavel?
And that -- that will tell us what the priorities are for a Republican-led House if he becomes
the speaker.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And some of that's tied to the fortunes of Donald Trump, former President
Trump, because, if he is seen -- and some are saying he was hurt by these results, that
a lot of his candidates didn't win.
DAVID BROOKS: Yes.
I have had...
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, where do you see that going?
DAVID BROOKS: ... many, many conversations over the last three days about Trump and DeSantis
with Republicans.
Will Republicans finally break with Trump?
Do they see DeSantis as a brighter object?
I still think Donald Trump is going to get the nomination, for this reason.
If there are five other competitors, he only needs to get 33 percent in the primaries,
and he will win it, which I think is -- that's the most likely outcome.
But you do -- his decision this week to really take on DeSanct -- calling him sanctimonious
already -- DeSantis.
(LAUGHTER)
JONATHAN CAPEHART: It worked.
DAVID BROOKS: Yes.
No.
(LAUGHTER)
JUDY WOODRUFF: Yes.
DAVID BROOKS: I think that's just very foolish of Trump, because he's just elevating DeSantis.
The final thing I will say is, we have the 2016 model in our mind that, if there's a
normie Republican, they get crushed by Donald Trump.
Why should a Mike DeWine, not that he's going to run, but why -- normie Republicans did
way better than the performative Republicans.
So why should we always assume that a moderate, normal Republican has no shot at beating Donald
Trump?
I hope one of them gets in and tests this proposition.
JONATHAN CAPEHART: And speaking of normie Republicans, or Virginia Governor Ralph Northam,
he's someone who could will most likely run, simply because he can't run for reelection
to governor...
(CROSSTALK)
JUDY WOODRUFF: You mean Glenn Youngkin.
Glenn Youngkin.
(CROSSTALK)
DAVID BROOKS: Glenn Youngkin.
JONATHAN CAPEHART: Glenn Youngkin.
Who did I say?
DAVID BROOKS: The last governor.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The last governor.
(LAUGHTER)
JUDY WOODRUFF: Ralph Northam.
It's OK.
(CROSSTALK)
JONATHAN CAPEHART: My apologies, Governor Youngkin.
But Governor Youngkin is one of those normie Republicans who will most likely run and,
to my mind, might be a better candidate than Governor DeSantis.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, I just want to be clear.
We're using the word normie, as in -- this is a David Brooks word, right?
(LAUGHTER)
DAVID BROOKS: No, this -- I did not invent this.
I think two generations below me invented that word.
(LAUGHTER)
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, just quickly, if we still think Donald Trump's going to run, what about
Joe Biden, after these elections?
JONATHAN CAPEHART: Oh, he's totally running.
JUDY WOODRUFF: OK.
JONATHAN CAPEHART: I was convinced that he was going to run before the midterms.
But if you're the president of the United States who is coming out of midterms with
this result, with your party in this strong a opposition, why wouldn't you run again?
DAVID BROOKS: Yes, I agree.
He sort of expressed this to you a couple of weeks ago.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Yes.
DAVID BROOKS: And then he was even more blatant, I think, this week, where he said, we want
to run, and we -- me and Jill want to run.
So, yes, I can expect Joe Biden to run.
JUDY WOODRUFF: He was sounding pretty confident at that news conference on Wednesday.
So, just last thing.
I want to bring up the election deniers.
They did well -- I think we have -- you have talked about this -- in some parts of the
country, but not everywhere.
But we did see many losing candidates in both parties be gracious in their concession remarks.
And I want to point both of you to -- this was, notably, Ohio.
This is Republican Steve Chabot, who has served many terms in Congress, defeated by a Democrat.
And also in Ohio, Tim Ryan, the congressman who was running for senator, he lost to the
Republican.
But here's what both of them said.
REP.
TIM RYAN (D-OH), Senatorial Candidate: I have the privilege I have to concede this race
to J.D.
Vance, because the way this country operates is that, when you lose an election, you concede.
(APPLAUSE)
REP.
TIM RYAN: You respect the will of the people, right?
We can't have a system where, if you win, it's a legitimate election, and, if you lose,
someone stole it.
REP.
STEVE CHABOT (R-OH): I'm just really very honored to have been able to serve this community
as long as I did.
It was the toughest Republican-held seat in the entire country outside of California.
There were three tougher seats in California, but the other 49 states, this was the toughest.
I thought we could overcome that.
And we almost did.
But we didn't.
Mr. Landsman won fair and square.
JUDY WOODRUFF: David, that tells us something about maybe we're headed in a good direction.
DAVID BROOKS: Yes, a return to normalcy, people being gracious and patriotic.
I would say one of the big things about this election was, it really made it much less
likely we will have electoral crisis in 2024.
The -- I saw a release from the Election Reformers Network of all the secretaries of state.
And they're -- with the notable exception of Arizona, where we don't know, it seems
likely that people running the next elections will not be election deniers in almost every
state -- of the swing states, of the marginal states.
That's just super important.
And then Democrats did well in a lot of the -- those Midwestern states in the state legislatures
that could also be swing.
So the elections look a lot safer right now.
JUDY WOODRUFF: How do you -- I mean, after listening to those speeches, especially coming
out of 2020, what does it say to you it?
JONATHAN CAPEHART: It -- I feel relieved.
It is a return to normalcy, but it's also a return to decency, and to hear Congressman
Ryan say, it's a privilege to be able to concede.
I ran.
I lost.
Congratulations to the victor.
So that makes me happy.
But I want to add one more, and I'm going to get it right this time.
Governor Youngkin sent a handwritten note to Speaker Pelosi apologizing to her for what
he said on the campaign trail in the closing days of the midterm elections after the attack
on her husband.
Who writes handwritten notes anymore?
(LAUGHTER)
JONATHAN CAPEHART: I do.
But it is a sign that -- again, another sign to me that decency is making a comeback.
And I hope more people who are in elective life follow those three examples.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, when -- so, what we have been talking about here at this table, there
weren't as many election deniers elected as won, but some of them are going to be serving
in office, David.
And you -- if you are right, and former President Trump's running for president the next time,
then where does this...
(CROSSTALK)
DAVID BROOKS: Well, a lot of really matters whether Kari Lake wins in Arizona, because
Arizona is a state where the governor has tremendous power over elections.
And so she would be the epicenter of trouble if there was going to be trouble in 2024.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, we are watching Arizona.
We're watching Nevada.
And we will be, in early December, watching the state of Georgia.
Thank you both, after this wild week.
(LAUGHTER)
JUDY WOODRUFF: Jonathan Capehart, David Brooks, thank you.
DAVID BROOKS: Thank you.
JONATHAN CAPEHART: Thanks, Judy.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Half of the people whose first language is Kodiak Alutiiq have died over
the last few years.
The Alaska Native Sun'aq Tribe estimates fewer than 20 members remain.
But that is not stopping new speakers from learning the endangered language and passing
along a distinct culture and world view to the next generations.
KTOO Public Media's Claire Stremple reports from Kodiak, Alaska, for our arts and culture
series, Canvas.
CLAIRE STREMPLE: If you don't speak Alutiiq, you won't get the jokes that the language
house.
It's a place where everything is a lesson, catching up on gossip, washing the dishes
or making a grocery list.
Kodiak is known for bears and fish.
But it's also the home of a powerful movement to bring the Alutiiq language back into daily
use.
For about 100 years, American schools taught English only and punished children for speaking
Alutiiq.
Now the last people who remember it as the language of use are almost gone.
Stevi Frets works for the tribe and as a language mentor at the house.
STEVI ANI FRETS, Alutiiq Language Mentor: Heritage languages are so important.
And you're like, oh, my gosh, my language, I have to save it.
I have to do everything I can.
CLAIRE STREMPLE: The tribe has estimates there are now only about 17 elders who are fluent
Alutiiq speakers left.
It's a turning point.
The stakes are high, but the rewards are immense.
Frets and the others are building fluency to be able to teach the next generation of
Alutiiq speakers.
WOMAN: I would like you to pull one of your Alutiiq (INAUDIBLE).
Turn your little Alutiiq ears up.
Turn your Alutiiq voices up.
CLAIRE STREMPLE: About a dozen preschoolers are enrolled in the Alutiingcut Child Care
Center.
They learn numbers in Alutiiq and Alutiiq versions of popular kids songs.
There probably won't be any people who spoke the language from birth left by the time these
kids are older.
But the language movement is working to ensure they will have teachers.
The tribe hopes to put 18 people through the intensive program over the course of its three-year
grant.
Dehrich Chya is the Alutiiq language and living culture director at the Alutiiq Museum, as
well as a mentor at the language house.
DEHRICH ISUWIQ CHYA, Language and Living Culture director, Alutiiq Museum: And then can you
say (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
CLAIRE STREMPLE: He leads a session with apprentice speakers and elders.
DEHRICH ISUWIQ CHYA: The most rewarding moments for me are when I can have conversations with
elders and first language speakers.
CLAIRE STREMPLE: And he's been recording, so new learners and descendants can hear their
stories.
Florence Pestrikoff didn't grow up speaking Alutiiq, even though most people in her village
did.
Her parents encouraged her to speak English instead.
FLORENCE PESTRIKOFF, Elder and Alutiiq Language Mentor: In the past, it was, people were ashamed
of the language.
CLAIRE STREMPLE: She understood the language and began to speak in the first wave of language
revitalization.
In the last couple of decades, she has been an active speaker and teacher.
FLORENCE PESTRIKOFF: Oh, I love speaking my language.
I really do.
I feel complete.
CLAIRE STREMPLE: She answers her cell phone in Alutiiq and speaks it with their husband.
And that's the vision of the language movement, to have the language be in use, at home, in
the grocery store, on the street, and to carry the values that are embedded in the words.
FLORENCE PESTRIKOFF: We never say goodbye.
There is no goodbye in Alutiiq.
You say thanks (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
I will see you (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) later.
I like that.
CLAIRE STREMPLE: For "PBS NewsHour," I'm Claire Stremple in Kodiak.
JUDY WOODRUFF: I'm so glad we can do this kind of reporting.
And at the end of this very newsy week, I have some news of my own to share.
After a decade as anchor of this extraordinary program, I have decided that the end of 2022
is the right time to turn this incredibly important job over to someone else.
I am then going to undertake a very exciting new project with the "NewsHour" for the next
couple of years, one we are calling America at a Crossroads.
Being the anchor has been the honor of a lifetime every single day, to follow in the footsteps
of two iconic journalists, Robert MacNeil and Jim Lehrer, and you have sat alongside
the incomparable Gwen Ifill.
I mean it when I say I cannot believe they pay me to do this work that I absolutely love.
But, on December 30, I will say thank you, and then I will transition to a new role at
the "NewsHour" as a correspondent taking on a big new project to try to understand America
at this very divided moment in our country.
I will travel around, talk with ordinary Americans, maybe some of you who are watching, and put
together a series of reports that we hope will add up to a better understanding of what
the American people want and especially, how do we repair this deep divide?
Reports will show up regularly on the "NewsHour."
And we will have more on that later.
And more to come soon on who will be sitting at this desk after I step away.
But, for now, I have a heart full of thanks to each of you who watch and follow the "NewsHour."
You are the reason we do what we do, and always to the utterly amazing "NewsHour" staff.
And that is the "NewsHour" for tonight.
I'm Judy Woodruff.
Don't forget to tune in to "Washington Week" later tonight and to "PBS News Weekend" tomorrow.
From all of us at the "PBS NewsHour," thank you, please stay safe, and we'll see you soon.