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AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.
I'm Amna Nawaz.
Geoff Bennett is away.
On the "NewsHour" tonight: an on-the-ground look at the aftermath of the Israeli raid
that rescued two hostages, but killed dozens of Palestinians.
Former President Trump's positions grow more extreme, advocating for mass deportation and
encouraging Russia to attack NATO allies if they don't pay up.
And both parties work to turn out New York voters to fill the seat of expelled Congressman
George Santos.
(BREAK)
AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "NewsHour."
It's been a day of joy in Israel, a day of dread in Gaza, and a day of warnings in Washington.
Israeli troops last night rescued two hostages from Hamas militants in Rafah in an operation
that Palestinian authorities say killed more than 70.
Israel is now threatening to assault Rafah, where it says Hamas leadership is hiding and
which is hosting more than half of Gaza's 2.3 million residents.
But President Biden today warned Israel that the displaced must be protected.
Nick Schifrin has our report.
NICK SCHIFRIN: As the Israeli military lit the Rafah sky, on the ground, special forces
launched a rescue mission.
Israel said it raided an apartment complex and traded fire with Hamas militants before
it could recover two hostages, 60-year-old Fernando Marman and 7-year-old Louis Har,
reunited with family members after 128 days of captivity.
They're the second and third hostages to be rescued, and Israel called their release proof
that the military needs to maintain pressure.
REAR ADM.
DANIEL HAGARI, Spokesperson, Israeli Defense Forces: This rescue mission underscores the
importance of our ground operation in Gaza.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose brother died freeing kidnapped Israelis
48 years ago, called the rescue historic.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Israeli Prime Minister (through translator): I want to tell you that
the release of Louis and Fernando is one of the most successful rescue operations in the
history of the state of Israel.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Rescue was facilitated by dozens of airstrikes that the Hamas-run Gaza Health
Ministry said killed dozens.
Dr. Jamal al-Hams in blue tried to save the wounded in the only available facility, an
overwhelmed tent.
DR.
JAMAL AL-HAMS, Kuwaiti Hospital: There is no big capacity.
There is no ability of the hospitals because of the shortages.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Today, in the operations aftermath, family homes are reduced to rubble.
"PBS NewsHour" producer Shams Odeh:
SHAMS ODEH: More than 10 houses was demolished, as you see in the pictures.
Here, where the Israeli command said that they released two of the hostages here from
Rafah,if you look around me, you see all of the house had been destroyed completely.
And there's a lot of people killed here and displaced in Rafah.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Hamas said the Israeli operation killed at least three other hostages and wounded
five more.
Israel says it can't confirm that and accuses Hamas of lying about the hostages' fate.
Rafah is home to 1.3 million displaced Gazans.
But Netanyahu has ordered the Israeli military to develop plans to move civilians and besiege
the city, where Israel says Hamas' leadership is hiding.
The international community is pushing back.
Top European Union diplomat Josep Borrell:
JOSEP BORRELL, European Union Minister for Foreign Affairs: Netanyahu have been asking
to the evacuation of 1.7 million people without saying where these people could be evacuated.
NICK SCHIFRIN: The U.N.
RAVINA SHAMSADANI, Spokeswoman, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: A potential
full-fledged military incursion into Rafah, where some 1.5 million Palestinians are packed
against the Egyptian border with nowhere further to flee is terrifying.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Egypt has threatened to suspend its 45-year-old peace treaty with Israel.
And a senior administration official said President Biden told Netanyahu that moving
the population was a -- quote -- "precondition of an operation" and it can't -- quote -- "proceed
without a credible plan."
JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: Many people there have been displaced, displaced
multiple times, fleeing the violence to the north, and now they're packed into Rafah,
exposed and vulnerable.
They need to be protected.
And we have also been clear from the start we oppose any forced displacement of Palestinians
from Gaza.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Israel and the U.S. believe about 100 hostages remain alive in Gaza.
More than 100 gained freedom in November thanks to a diplomatic agreement between Israel and
Hamas.
Progress is being made for another release.
A senior administration official says the framework is -- quote -- "pretty much now
in place" and the initial phase is actually finished, but significant differences remain.
JOE BIDEN: The key elements of the deal are on the table.
There are gaps that remain, but I'm encouraging Israeli leaders to keep working to achieve
the deal.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Tomorrow, CIA Director Bill Burns will resume negotiations in Cairo to
try and maintain diplomatic momentum before Israel follows through on its threat to invade
Rafah.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Nick Schifrin.
AMNA NAWAZ: In the day's other headlines: Houthi rebels in Yemen targeted another ship
in the Red Sea in retaliation for Israel's offensive in Gaza.
The cargo ship was in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait headed for Iran, the rebels' main backer.
Officials reported minor damage and no injuries among the crew.
Houthi attacks have continued despite U.S. and British airstrikes against them.
Former President Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court today to continue a delay in his election
subversion trial in Washington.
The emergency appeal was expected.
It asks to keep the case on hold pending a final ruling on whether Mr. Trump is immune
from prosecution.
The High Court is also considering a separate appeal of efforts to remove him from state
ballots.
It's unclear when decisions might come.
The U.S. Senate is poised to hold two more key procedural votes tonight on $95 billion
in aid for Ukraine and Israel.
The package cleared its first hurdle on Sunday and could reach a final vote by Wednesday.
Most Republicans are still demanding changes in U.S. border policy after blocking a measure
that included border reform provisions.
That was a prominent issue in today's debate.
SEN.
TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-AL): We should not send a dime to Ukraine until our borders are fully
secured.
We have already given Ukraine more than $120 billion.
This is more than enough money to secure every border in our country.
SEN.
CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): These are enormously high stakes of the national security package,
our security, our values, our democracy.
It's a down payment for the survival of Western democracy and the survival of American values.
AMNA NAWAZ: The aid bill faces an uncertain fate in the Republican-controlled House.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has canceled a trip to Brussels tomorrow to meet with NATO
ministers on Ukraine aid.
Pentagon officials say that follows his hospitalization Sunday with bladder complications from prostate
cancer surgery.
Austin's doctor said today he had non-surgical procedures to correct the problem and is expected
to recover fully.
In Pakistan, thousands of supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan protested last week's
parliamentary elections.
He is jailed, but his loyalists ran as independents and won the most seats.
In protests over the weekend and again today, they claim they might have won an outright
majority in Parliament, but they charged that the outcome was rigged.
Instead, two other parties are now in talks to form a government.
A U.N. report today offers a grim assessment of the world's migratory species.
The authors studied nearly 1,200 species, from songbirds to whales to sea turtles.
They concluded that about 44 percent of the species are declining in population.
They also assessed that more than one-fifth are threatened with extinction.
The report blamed habitat loss, illegal hunting, climate change and other factors.
Back in this country, the Kansas City Chiefs are celebrating their third Super Bowl win
in five years.
They beat the San Francisco 49ers in Las Vegas last night 25-22, claiming the NFL title for
a second straight year.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes won his third Super Bowl MVP award, and he was already looking
ahead.
PATRICK MAHOMES, Kansas City Chiefs: I'm going to celebrate at the parade, and then I'm going
to do whatever I can to be back in this game next year and try to go for that three-peat.
I'm going to celebrate with my guys because of how we have done this, but then we're going
to work our way to get back to this game next year.
AMNA NAWAZ: No team has ever won the NFL championship three years in a row.
And on Wall Street, stocks stayed near record levels, despite losses in the tech sector.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 125 points to close at 38797.
The Nasdaq fell 48 points and the S&P 500 slipped four.
And a passing of note: Former longtime NPR broadcaster Bob Edwards died over the weekend
of bladder cancer and heart trouble.
He started with NPR in 1974 and co-hosted "All Things Considered" for five years.
Then he spent nearly 25 years anchoring "Morning Edition."
Bob Edwards was 76 years old.
Still to come on the "NewsHour": Tamara Keith and Amy Walter break down the latest political
headlines; a new documentary explores Black astronauts' efforts to overcome injustice;
why some communities of color are embracing youth tackle football, despite safety concerns;
plus much more.
On the campaign trail this weekend, former President Donald Trump made clear that, if
elected again, he'd pursue more extreme immigration policies, including mass deportations of millions
of people.
DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate:
On day one, I will terminate every open border policy of the Biden administration, and we
will begin the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
DONALD TRUMP: We have no choice.
AMNA NAWAZ: To break down the potential impact of Trump's agenda, Laura Barron-Lopez joins
us now.
So, Laura, what has the former president laid out in terms of his immigration plan if he
were to win this year?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: So, Amna, that mass deportation plan that Trump has talked about, including
this weekend, we know some details of how it would be carried out from Stephen Miller,
the architect of Trump's first-term immigration policies, who remains a close ally and adviser
to the president.
Stephen Miller talked about how they would carry out that type of deportation plan to
right-wing personality Charlie Kirk last fall.
STEPHEN MILLER, Former Senior White House Adviser: Then, in terms of personnel, you
go to the red state governors and you say, give us your National Guard.
We will deputize them as immigration enforcement officers.
The Alabama National Guard is going to arrest illegal aliens in Alabama and the Virginia
National Guard in Virginia.
And if you're going to go into an unfriendly state like Maryland, well, there would just
be Virginia doing the arrest in Maryland right, very close, very nearby.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: So, there, Stephen Miller is talking about how they would federalize
the National Guard to carry out the mass deportation plan.
Through comments from Stephen Miller, through comments from the former president himself,
reports, as well as aligned policy groups, we have a picture of the type of immigration
policies that the former president would implement if he were to win a second term.
And so the list that we have is not an exhaustive list, but it includes building large-scale
camps near the southern border, a renewed Muslim travel ban, the end of birthright citizenship
for U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants, and creating a federalized army of red state
National Guards like Stephen Miller referenced.
AMNA NAWAZ: Is that legally possible, even federalizing red state National Guard?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: So, technically, yes, it is.
I spoke to Joseph Nunn.
He is from the Brennan Center for Justice and he is a legal expert on U.S. military
activities domestically.
And he said that this is legally possible for the president to do.
JOSEPH NUNN, Brennan Center for Justice: Donald Trump's proposal to send the National Guard
from red states into blue states in order to enforce this deportation program could
only be accomplished through invoking the Insurrection Act.
But the Insurrection Act makes the president the sole judge of whether a given situation
warrants invoking the act.
In other words, an insurrection is whatever the president says is an insurrection.
That's why it's so important for Congress to reform the Insurrection Act to put in place
safeguards against abuse, because, as things stand, there are quite literally no guardrails.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: So, as Joseph Nunn said there, former President Trump has pretty wide
authority to institute the Insurrection Act in order to federalize National Guards And
be able to send them into other states to round up migrants.
And the last time, Amna, that the Insurrection Act was invoked was 1992.
It's rarely used.
And before that, the only time it was ever invoked over the objection of states and state
leaders was in the 1960s.
AMNA NAWAZ: Laura, what would something like that mean for the military?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Joseph Nunn of the Brennan Center told me that to even do something like
that, you would have to have wide mobilization, large-scale mobilization of military, of the
National Guard.
And it would require these members of the military, who have other duties, mind you,
and the National Guard is key in helping with duties abroad, that they would then be taken
away from that in order to carry this out.
I also spoke to a former commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, who said that National
Guard are not trained in the way that border agents, in the way that ICE agents are trained
to be able to tell what people's status are, whether someone can be detained.
And they are trained, ICE and Border Patrol agents, in the civil and criminal laws that
enable them to carry out immigration law.
And that's not something that National Guard is prepared for.
AMNA NAWAZ: Laura, Mr. Trump also made some rather eye-popping statements about America's
commitment to NATO allies.
What did he say and what has the response been like?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Amna, his statements were pretty in form with the former president.
We have heard him in the past say that he isn't always -- doesn't always want to be
aligned with NATO and the commitment that America has made to NATO, but he went further
this weekend.
DONALD TRUMP: One of the presidents of a big country stood up said: "Well, sir, if we don't
pay, and we're attacked by Russia, will you protect us?"
I said: "You didn't pay?
You're delinquent?"
He said: "Yes.
Let's say that happened."
"No, I would not protect you.
In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want."
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
DONALD TRUMP: "You got to pay.
You got to pay your bills."
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Going further there, Amna, by outright encouraging an adversary like
Russia to invade NATO allies and that he would encourage them to do so, the White House almost
immediately responded, calling it unhinged comments, saying that it threatened not just
national security, but also global stability.
And I spoke to a former ambassador to NATO, Ivo Daalder, who said that his phone was almost
immediately blinking red after those comments hearing from counterparts in Europe and saying
that now allies in Europe are essentially considering the unthinkable, which is that
the U.S. may no longer be willing to play a leadership role in NATO.
And this all comes, Amna, as Vice President Kamala Harris is about to head to the Munich
Security Conference to address allies.
AMNA NAWAZ: Laura Barron-Lopez with some insight into what another Trump presidency could look
like.
Laura, thank you.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Thank you.
AMNA NAWAZ: European leaders have widely condemned those comments by Mr. Trump as reckless and
dangerous.
And in a meeting focused on Ukraine today, Germany, France, and Poland express solidarity
with one another, saying Europe must be ready to defend itself and its allies.
For more on the implications for the U.S. and the world, we turn now to Kurt Volker.
He was U.S. ambassador to NATO during the George W. Bush administration and U.S. special
representative for Ukraine negotiations during the Trump administration.
Ambassador Volker, welcome, sir.
Thank you so much for joining us.
KURT VOLKER, Former U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine: Thank you for having me.
AMNA NAWAZ: I want to begin with your reaction to those comments from former President Trump,
saying he would encourage Russia to attack a NATO ally if they didn't pay their dues.
What did you think when you heard that?
KURT VOLKER: It's really an outrageous comment.
I mean, if you look at what Russia is doing to Ukraine right now, killings, bombing cities,
civilians, civilian deaths, torture, rape as a weapon of war, you shouldn't wish this
on anybody.
And to say that we would encourage Putin to attack one of our allies is really too much.
Now, to be clear, what President Trump was doing, he was at a campaign rally, and he
was bragging about having said this in the past.
It wasn't a comment about the future.
But even so, it is nothing to brag about.
It is not the kind of leadership that America should be showing in the world.
And I would add that NATO was created to prevent war.
NATO was created so that, by banding together and countries pledging to defend each other,
we would dissuade anybody from attacking.
And here we have a suggestion that someone should attack.
That's exactly the opposite of what we should be trying to do.
We don't want to see a war.
AMNA NAWAZ: What do you believe that the U.S. relationship with NATO would look like under
another Trump presidency?
KURT VOLKER: Well, it's hard to know, because President Trump says a lot of things.
Remember, during the first -- President Trump's first term as president, he had a lot of warm
words for Vladimir Putin, and, at the same time, he threw the Russian Consulate out of
San Francisco.
He provided arms for Ukraine.
He rounded up and arrested and deported a lot of Russian intelligence officers.
So there are things that were done under the Trump administration that were sound policy,
even though the rhetoric coming from the president sometimes is in the opposite direction.
AMNA NAWAZ: Do you believe that he would try to pull the U.S. out of the alliance, as he
said he would?
KURT VOLKER: I don't know.
The most recent thing he said, that I heard anyway, was that he would want NATO to be
in kind of a dormant position.
I don't know what that means.
NATO is a defensive alliance and is, by definition, almost in a dormant position until attacked.
But the point is that, if attacked, there needs to be a certain and substantial response,
so that it serves its role of deterring such an attack.
And I think that he would be unlikely to try to pull the U.S. out of NATO.
And even if he tried, I think it would be unlikely to be successful, because there would
be substantial resistance within the Senate.
And it would certainly go to the courts to see whether he even had the authority to do
that.
AMNA NAWAZ: Ambassador, I want to put to you a statement from Trump senior adviser Jason
Miller in response to some of the coverage around Mr. Trump's comments.
He said this in part.
He said: "Democrat and media pearl-clutches seem to have forgotten that we had four years
of peace and prosperity under President Trump, but Europe saw death and destruction under
Obama/Biden and now more death and destruction under Biden.
When you don't pay your defense spending, you can't be surprised that you get more war."
Ambassador, his claim is basically that, because President Trump publicly pressured people
to increase their defense spending, the world was safer.
What do you make of that argument?
KURT VOLKER: Well, there are several things that are wrapped up there and I think we have
to pull them apart.
The first thing is that he's absolutely right.
European allies do need to spend more on defense.
Every U.S. president that I have worked with ever since Reagan has said European allies
need to do more on defense.
President Trump was more direct about it, more forceful about it, and allies did spend
more on defense under his watch, but they have spent even more under President Biden,
and it's not because of Biden.
It's because of Putin.
Putin is -- has launched a war in Europe the likes of which we have not seen since World
War II, and this has caused European allies to genuinely fear for their security and to
begin doing much more for defense than they had been.
Poland is going to spend 4 percent of GDP on defense this year, 40 billion euros, Estonia
also 4 percent.
These countries are ramping up their defense spending because of what they see happening
in Europe, and that's why it's so important that the U.S., as the leader of NATO, be supporting
and encouraging that and sending a message to any aggressor that there would be a collective
response if attacked.
AMNA NAWAZ: Before we go, I need to ask you, Ambassador, about the immigration piece of
Mr. Trump's plans that my colleague Laura Barron-Lopez just reported on.
The idea that a U.S. president says he would deploy red state National Guard troops to
go into blue states to remove undocumented migrants, what's your reaction to that?
What would be the impact of something like that?
KURT VOLKER: Well, let's first say I don't think that this is something that's actually
possible.
The governors and the National Guards of the states where this would take place would not
want this.
They would resist it.
I can't see states going to put their militias up against each other.
This would be a civil war.
I really don't see this happening.
AMNA NAWAZ: That is former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker joining us tonight.
Ambassador, thank you so much for your time.
Appreciate it.
KURT VOLKER: Thank you.
AMNA NAWAZ: House Republican leaders continue to struggle to conduct the basic functions
of government, hindered by a razor-thin majority and infighting within their ranks.
This Congress has witnessed failed floor votes, two extended battles for the speaker's gavel,
and the booting of former Congressman George Santos late last year.
As Lisa Desjardins explains, the latest wrinkle will come tomorrow, when Santos' district
gets its congressional voice back.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
LISA DESJARDINS: At the base of Long Island, a race for Congress with a New York persona,
fast, massive stakes, and quite a backstory; 73 days ago, House members ousted serial fabulist
George Santos.
That empty seat has been the difference in some key votes...
REP.
MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): The resolution is not adopted.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
LISA DESJARDINS: ... including last week's attempt to impeach Homeland Security Secretary
Alejandro Mayorkas, which failed in the House by one vote.
Democratic hopes in the race are pinned on Tom Suozzi messaging seriousness.
FMR.
REP.
TOM SUOZZI (D-NY): This is not a game.
This is not about tweets.
This is not about press conferences.
This is about real people's lives.
LISA DESJARDINS: Suozzi is a moderate Democrat who held the seat for six years, before falling
short in his 2022 bid for governor.
Facing him...
MAZI PILIP (R), New York Congressional Candidate: You are a talker.
I am the person who will deliver.
When I promise, I will deliver.
LISA DESJARDINS: ... is Mazi Pilip, an Ethiopian-born Israeli-American who served in the Israeli
Defense Forces and is a county lawmaker elected to office as a Republican, but still registered
to vote as a Democrat.
GRANT LALLY, Publisher, The North Shore Leader: She sits and caucuses and votes with the Republicans.
LISA DESJARDINS: Grant Lally, publisher of The North Shore Leader, has a unique vantage
point.
His small paper first exposed George Santos' lies and now is covering his replacement.
GRANT LALLY: It's a special election, and it's a nationally famous special election.
People are watching it.
The big issue here is migrants, migration, the border crisis, because there are tent
cities now in this congressional district holding thousands of migrants.
LISA DESJARDINS: The months of migrant crisis in New Yorkers' turf has dominated the campaign,
and it's why Lally's newspaper endorsed Pilip, though it endorsed Suozzi in past years.
GRANT LALLY: The immigration issue is so important and the migrant issue is such a crisis, particularly
locally, that we felt that her election would send the right signal in dealing with it seriously.
LISA DESJARDINS: And she is signaling that she's in line with most House Republicans,
including on Mayorkas.
MAZI PILIP: Yes, absolutely, I would vote to impeach.
Mayorkas, he failed to protect the American people.
He should not be there.
And this is why this election is so important.
We have to have a strong majority to start to do the right things.
LISA DESJARDINS: But same issue and a different local newspaper, Newsday, sees Suozzi as the
solution, writing that he would work across the aisle to find real border solutions.
That's Suozzi's message, that he's tough, but not partisan on the border.
FMR.
REP.
TOM SUOZZI: She says she's concerned about the border, but she opposes the bipartisan
solution that would actually close the border.
LISA DESJARDINS: Meanwhile, both candidates tiptoe around their presumed tops of the ticket
in November, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Emily Ngo covers New York state politics for Politico.
EMILY NGO, Politico: A lot of local seats have flipped red since Joe Biden won this
district in 2020.
Suozzi doesn't want to be closely affiliated with Joe Biden because he's so unpopular in
the district.
LISA DESJARDINS: Pilip had praised Trump, but until this weekend wouldn't say she voted
for him in 2020.
And when it comes to his legal problems...
QUESTION: Just so I'm clear, if he is convicted of a crime, you will not support him?
MAZI PILIP: I'm not going to support.
Nobody is above the law.
LISA DESJARDINS: The race has brought an avalanche of ads.
FMR.
REP.
TOM SUOZZI: I'm Tom Suozzi, and I approve this message.
MAZI PILIP: I'm Mazi Pilip, and I approve this message.
LISA DESJARDINS: But as they play, an actual storm, a snowstorm, is brewing that could
make early voting critical.
EMILY NGO: Normally, it favors Democrats, who like to turn out early, versus Republicans
who come on Election Day, but both parties, both candidates really pushing their supporters
to bank their votes and come out before the storm hits.
LISA DESJARDINS: New York Democrats are in the process of redrawing the state's congressional
battle lines, presumably in their party's favor.
And this district's lines will be closely watched.
EMILY NGO: The path to the gavel in the House most likely runs through about half-a-dozen
seats in New York state in the suburbs.
LISA DESJARDINS: Meaning, in Long Island, tomorrow, we have a race that could preview
how suburbs will break this fall and also how the House will operate next week.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Lisa Desjardins.
AMNA NAWAZ: For more on the impact of that special election, as well as some congressional
retirements, it's time for Politics Monday with Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report
With Amy Walter and Tamara Keith of NPR.
Great to see you both, as always.
So let's pick up where Lisa left off there.
What stands out to you, Amy, about this special election, and, also, what are you going to
be watching for?
AMY WALTER, The Cook Political Report: That's right.
I mean, special elections are special.
They are unique.
So I don't want to overgeneralize.
But Lisa's piece was really spot on, which is it's getting national attention because
of two reasons.
One, it's a swing seat.
And, two, it's a district in which the migrant crisis is literally in its backyard.
So the debate over what to do about it is actually playing out politically in real time.
And while, again, this is a unique -- we're in a unique period of time in one unique district,
I do think for folks in Congress looking at this race, the decision by the Democrat in
the race to talk about wanting to have something like border security bill, like the bipartisan
bill in the Senate, and the Republicans saying no, what that will tell leaders in Congress
going forward, I think will be very important.
And this is one of those very important swing seats that will determine who controls the
House in 2024.
Not saying, if Democrats win, it means they win the House, Republicans win, they win the
House.
But it's the kind of place that actually is going to be critical.
AMNA NAWAZ: What about you, Tam?
What are you watching?
TAMARA KEITH, National Public Radio: Well, it is a rare election year trial run early
in an election year, where various groups and the parties...
AMY WALTER: Yes.
Yes.
TAMARA KEITH: ... are trying things out that we might see later in the election year in
other congressional races or even in the presidential race in terms of on-the-ground tactics.
So, watching to see how those experiments that are happening turn out, and then also
just, what's up with the weather?
It's supposed to snow tomorrow.
(CROSSTALK)
TAMARA KEITH: There's this sort of raging debate in the Republican Party about whether
you bank your vote or whether you always vote on Election Day.
And snowstorms are the kind of things that are why parties try to bank their votes.
So seeing how that plays out in this race will also be...
(CROSSTALK)
AMNA NAWAZ: I love when election coverage also becomes weather coverage.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile, in the House, I want to talk about some other shifts we're seeing,the
fact that Wisconsin Congressman Mike Gallagher, who's been a rising star in the Republican
Party, a leading national security voice as well, announced he will not run for reelection.
Here is what he said in part in a statement.
He said: "The framers intended citizens to serve in Congress for a season and then return
to their private lives.
Electoral politics was never supposed to be a career.
And, trust me, Congress is no place to grow old."
Amy, he's in its fourth term.
He's only 39 years old.
What does his departure say to you?
AMY WALTER: Listen, we have seen Republicans especially who have gone up against the status
quo, whether that's Donald Trump himself or things that the Donald Trump wing of the party
would like to see passed.
If they have gone up against that, they have usually been on the losing end, either losing
a primary or realizing the writing's on the wall, they may lose a primary, and so deciding
to retire.
He's also unique, in that he is a conservative Republican who really does believe in working
across party lines, on the China Committee, for example.
Remember, this, right now, if you look at recent pew polling, what we see, the difference
between how Republicans and Democratic voters see the issue of compromise is very different.
Republicans see this as something that shows basically a sign of weakness.
Democrats don't see that similarly.
AMNA NAWAZ: Tam, it's also, as Amy mentioned, he's done a lot of bipartisan work to counter
China's influence.
We also have the fact that future funding for Ukraine is very uncertain in the House
right now.
Are we seeing a more isolationist stance already take hold in the House as we move towards
an all-but-certain Trump nomination?
TAMARA KEITH: Former President Trump is making foreign policy a place where he is exerting
his power over the party and exerting his power over members of his own party who are
in Congress.
Now, part of that is because this supplemental for funding for Ukraine and Israel and countering
China and all of this is basically the only thing happening right now in Congress.
And so this is where Trump is able to try to influence the party.
But, also, this is where he has taken the party.
It is a much more isolationist party under him.
And you can see the split.
The split is playing out in the Republican primary, where there is Donald Trump, and
then there's Nikki Haley.
And Nikki Haley's ceiling is somewhere around 30 percent.
And many of those voters are the voters that are -- continue to be more traditional Republicans
who are more concerned about America's place in the world.
She's out there talking about how you need to fund Ukraine.
That is not a popular view in Trump's Republican Party.
And so you're seeing that split out on the campaign trail, where she is really struggling,
and where Trump Republicans are like, why would we support someone like that?
She's just like George W. Bush, who was his party's standard-bearer for a long time.
AMNA NAWAZ: Right.
AMY WALTER: But the one thing to say, while I do think the ranks have been thinning in
Congress of Republican internationalists, there were still 18 Republicans who supported
the supplemental funding in the Senate.
So it's not an insignificant...
AMNA NAWAZ: That wing is not gone.
AMY WALTER: Right.
It's not an insignificant number, but it's certainly not as large as it was 20 years
ago.
AMNA NAWAZ: Yes.
Meanwhile, in the potential rematch between President Biden and former President Trump,
we should note the headlines that have really dominated since last week's special counsel
report from Robert Hur was released about -- have really been about President Biden's
memory function, about his age after special counsel Hur included his own assessment in
that report.
Former President Trump, meanwhile, continues to mix up world leaders, even U.S. leaders,
often over the course of his long speeches.
He often veers in and out of coherence.
It doesn't generate the same headlines, though, Tam.
So is there sort of an asymmetry of expectations at play here?
TAMARA KEITH: Well, there is an asymmetry.
Part of that is that one of these people is the current president of the United States.
And so President Biden gives a speech.
Typically, his speeches are bite-sized enough to be carried live on television, and they
are carried live on television.
People see the president when he speaks because he's the president of the United States.
Former President Trump is a former president.
He's running for -- running again.
He's a candidate.
He's basically his party's presumptive nominee.
He gives these two-hour speeches that go on forever and ever and ever, veer off in all
kinds of wild directions, include things that you can't put on television because the FCC
would come after you.
And people aren't seeing it.
Former President Trump is putting out massive amounts of content that no one is seeing.
Current President Biden is not putting out a lot of content.
He is pretty limited in his public engagements, and everybody sees it.
And so it gets a different level of focus, in part because he's the president.
AMY WALTER: Yes, I absolutely agree.
And what you're seeing too in the polling is, there's a reason I think Democrats are
not as engaged in the election as they were, say, going into 2020.
Some of that is, there's reticence among Democrats about the president's age and his ability
to do his job because of that.
But the other is that, when Donald Trump was in the White House, he was in your face every
day, all the time.
And that is what motivated those voters to show up and vote in 2020, more than it was
a sign of their sort of enthusiasm for Biden.
I was looking at polling recently, and the percentage of people who say they're voting
for Biden because they don't like Trump isn't much different than what it was in 2020.
So that has always been the underlying sort of energy behind the Biden campaign.
But you need Trump to be more in focus, which is why the campaign is going to try to make
that clearer.
AMNA NAWAZ: Tam, Republicans do jump on any Biden misstatement, though, and will fund-raise
off it immediately.
And Democrats and the Biden campaign don't do the same.
Is that a deliberate attempt?
TAMARA KEITH: They actually are doing a fair bit of it, and they are ramping up more.
They have Twitter accounts.
President Biden is suddenly on TikTok, though with a firewalled phone that is not his.
But there -- in the sort of conservative world, there are memes born every second that go
out on social media, memes about Biden being old, meme, meme, meme, meme, meme.
There isn't the same culture of just like putting all that content out by average Democratic
voters.
AMNA NAWAZ: All right, well, we will wait and see.
Amy Walter, Tamara Keith, always great to see you both.
Thank you so much.
TAMARA KEITH: Good to see you.
AMNA NAWAZ: A new documentary explores the little known stories of the first Black pilots
and engineers who became astronauts, pioneers of NASA's space program.
Geoff Bennett has this look at the film "The Space Race," which airs tonight on the National
Geographic Channel and is streaming starting tomorrow on Disney+ and Hulu.
It's part of our arts and culture series, Canvas.
MAN: Very few people today even have a clue about Black people's contribution to human
spaceflight, because they weren't written in history books.
GEOFF BENNETT: To tell us more, we're joined now by one of the directors of the film, Lisa
Cortes, and retired Major General Charles Bolden, an astronaut and former NASA administrator
who's featured in the documentary.
It's so great to have you both here.
MAJ.
GEN.
CHARLES BOLDEN (RET.), Former NASA Administrator: Great to be here.
Thank you.
And, Charlie Bolden, it's always an honor to get to speak with you, in large part because
you have had such a distinguished career in the military and in the space program, retired
Marine Corps major general, NASA administrator during the Obama administration.
You flew on four space shuttle missions.
MAJ.
GEN.
CHARLES BOLDEN: Yes.
GEOFF BENNETT: It's hard to believe you didn't set out to be an aviator.
MAJ.
GEN.
CHARLES BOLDEN: I did not that.
(LAUGHTER)
MAJ.
GEN.
CHARLES BOLDEN: And that is not something I wanted to be.
In fact, that was one of the things I swore I would never do was fly an airplane.
GEOFF BENNETT: Really?
MAJ.
GEN.
CHARLES BOLDEN: Oh, yes.
GEOFF BENNETT: Yes.
MAJ.
GEN.
CHARLES BOLDEN: No way.
GEOFF BENNETT: Tell me about some of the obstacles and challenges you faced in being a pioneering
astronaut.
MAJ.
GEN.
CHARLES BOLDEN: I came from the segregated South, so I grew up in Columbia, South Carolina,
my wife and me.
And at the age of 12, I saw a program called "Men of Annapolis" about life at the Naval
Academy, decided that's where I wanted to go to school, so that was my goal and life
from then on, and met with the obstacle when I was finally at the high school and I could
apply that nobody in the South Carolina delegation was going to appoint a Black to any service
academy.
And so I was just overwhelmed by disappointment.
But I learned that the vice president of the United States can make an appointment of anybody.
And that was Lyndon Johnson at the time.
So I began to write him over years, never heard from him, but subsequently got a visit
from a Navy recruiter, and then a retired federal judge from right here in D.C., Judge
Bennett, who came around at the behest of President Johnson looking for qualified young
men, only men back then, to go to the service academies.
I ended up getting an appointment from Congressman William Dawson in Chicago, Illinois, and I
was off to the Naval Academy.
GEOFF BENNETT: Wow.
MAJ.
GEN.
CHARLES BOLDEN: But I came out of there saying, no Marine Corps, no aviation.
GEOFF BENNETT: Lisa Cortes, there are any number of stories you could tell as an award-winning
producer and director.
Why tell this one?
LISA CORTES, Director, "The Space Race": I am always intrigued by the hidden figures,
people and stories that we think we know about.
But, actually, when you start to pull back the layers, you discover the contributors
who have not had their time in the spotlight.
And to be able to focus on the beginning of the program and Ed Dwight's journey as we
trace it then to the shuttle era men and to the present was something that was missing
in the popular narratives being told and just so rich in detail and legacy.
GEOFF BENNETT: Guy Bluford was the first Black American to go into space as an astronaut.
That was in 1983, but Lisa mentioned Ed Dwight.
MAJ.
GEN.
CHARLES BOLDEN: Yes.
GEOFF BENNETT: He was set to do that some 20 years earlier.
MAJ.
GEN.
CHARLES BOLDEN: Exactly.
GEOFF BENNETT: But it didn't work out.
Tell us about him and tell us his story.
MAJ.
GEN.
CHARLES BOLDEN: He did not work out very simply because he was the dream of one person, and
that was President Kennedy.
When President Kennedy was assassinated, within weeks, if not days, any dream of him becoming
an astronaut was gone, because they just took him out of the line of people who were potential
astronauts.
NASA went through a selection that year, and he was not among those that was selected,
although everybody had given him the expectation that he would be.
And the explanations -- the funny thing is, there are no explanations.
So even to this day, you have his story from him, but there is no one on the other side
to tell the opposing story.
It's just everybody says, no, we have never heard of that.
GEOFF BENNETT: And Ed Dwight has since become a prolific artist and sculptor.
MAJ.
GEN.
CHARLES BOLDEN: I tell people that the greatest gift to the world was Ed Dwight not being
selected as an astronaut.
Now, that may sound strange.
He is one of the most prolific sculptors today.
The one that I love is his Emancipation sculpture, which is a life-size -- I mean, it's huge,
that stretches across the front of the state capitol in Austin, Texas.
And I think it's appropriate for today that Ed Dwight's work going from slavery all the
way up to the modern time titled Emancipation, is on display in front of the Texas Statehouse.
GEOFF BENNETT: Lisa, let's talk about the pioneering Black women astronauts, Mae Jemison,
Stephanie Wilson, Joan Higginbotham, Sian Proctor.
How do their stories figure into the larger story of racial progress in the space program?
LISA CORTES: Well, one of the things that's interesting about our film is, we look at
how the program changes with the introduction of the shuttle, because the shuttle allows
for people who are not going to be pilots.
And so we first see this expansion in '83 with the group that includes Ron and Guy and
Fred.
And then shortly afterwards, we see Mae Jemison and other women who are scientists, who are
geologists, who are able to then become a part of this expansion.
GEOFF BENNETT: And, Charlie, you have logged more than 680 hours in space.
MAJ.
GEN.
CHARLES BOLDEN: Not a lot of time.
Not a lot of time.
GEOFF BENNETT: Not a lot of time?
MAJ.
GEN.
CHARLES BOLDEN: Not -- it's -- I love to hear it.
(LAUGHTER)
MAJ.
GEN.
CHARLES BOLDEN: And it sounds like a lot, but, in relative terms, that's about a month
in space.
GEOFF BENNETT: OK.
MAJ.
GEN.
CHARLES BOLDEN: Victor Glover, on his first flight, spent six months in space, you know.
So, he..
GEOFF BENNETT: And he's the first Black astronaut to go to the International Space Station.
MAJ.
GEN.
CHARLES BOLDEN: He's the first Black astronaut to go to the International Space Station.
So that will tell you.
And Victor and I have this thing that there was, I want to say, a 20-year gap between
when I became the second Black pilot to fly in space, to get into NASA's astronaut program,
and Victor became the third.
So we seem to go in these decadal upgrades to the system, which just tells you that,
in this kind of activity, you have got to be persistent and you have got to have a pipeline
through which people go.
And that -- Lisa's movie, hopefully, this is the right time for it because you're hearing
a lot of ridiculous stuff about the lack of qualifications of Blacks and women in fields
like aviation and everything else, which is absolutely absurd.
So you can't argue with what is documented in this particular movie.
GEOFF BENNETT: Lisa, there's such power and poignancy in letting the astronauts tell their
own stories in the way that you do in this film.
What conversations do you hope this documentary will inspire?
LISA CORTES: Well, increasingly, we live in a time where there are many factors who are
trying to tell us that the teaching of Black history is not necessary, or they are trying
to recreate the contributions of African Americans to our great country.
And Charlie Bolden has one of my favorite quotes, which is -- Charlie, actually, if
you will share it about our history, I think it is the perfect thing that people need to
understand about the film.
MAJ.
GEN.
CHARLES BOLDEN: No, I -- what I have always said is that Black history is American history,
and we all play a role in the history of this country.
We're on this constant march toward a more perfect union.
And my point to everyone, and I think what Lisa is saying is what this movie will hopefully
portray is, we deny Black history, American history, at our own peril.
If we choose to ignore it and choose to pretend that you and I don't exist or you and I didn't
contribute to this phenomenal country that remains the greatest country on the planet,
you do that at your own peril.
We have been through this once.
We have been through this game.
We have been to this show.
The scary part about what we're going through today is the fact that we know the end if
we keep going down this road of trying to pretend that people who played one of the
most important roles in the space program, if you're talking about people like Katherine
Johnson, the hidden figures, you cannot eradicate them from the story, because there are too
many people who participated in that story.
John Glenn, when he was here on the planet, would tell you, that was the difference in
him saying, I'm going and I'm not going was this young Black woman who had done the math
and told him that everything was going to be OK.
You can deny that, you can pretend it didn't happen, but you have got other people who
are around who will tell you, no, buddy, we weren't going had it not been for Katherine
Johnson.
And that's important.
It's important for young kids to understand that.
GEOFF BENNETT: Well, the film is "The Space Race."
Lisa Cortes, we appreciate you.
And Major General Charlie Bolden, thank you so much, sir, for your service, your sacrifice
and your example.
MAJ.
GEN.
CHARLES BOLDEN: It's always good to be with you and Lisa.
You're two phenomenal people that I love dearly.
And I watch you all the time, so thanks very much for this opportunity.
MAJ.
GEN.
CHARLES BOLDEN: Thank you.
LISA CORTES: Thank you.
AMNA NAWAZ: And, online, you can hear more from Charles Bolden on how space changed his
perspective of the world.
That's on our YouTube channel.
Last night's Super Bowl, with more than 100 million viewers expected, capped a major year
for the NFL.
In 2023, NFL games accounted for 93 of the 100 most watched TV programs.
But the risks of the game have been well-documented.
And, for some, that's changed how they see kids tackle football.
For others, including in the town of Lexington, Mississippi, the commitment to youth football
remains high.
This report comes to us from and Shirley Povich and Howard Centers of Journalism at the University
of Maryland, and the student correspondent is Sapna Bansil.
SAPNA BANSIL: Like many kids in Lexington, Mississippi, R.J. and Mason Redmond have been
playing tackle football on this field since they were 5.
It's a place that fosters big dreams.
You know what you want to be, both of you, when you grow up?
BOY: Yes, ma'am.
SAPNA BANSIL: What do you want to be?
BOY: An NFL player.
SAPNA BANSIL: You want to be an NFL player when you grow up, huh?
How about you?
BOY: An NFL player.
SAPNA BANSIL: Really?
Parents enroll their kids on teams like the Lexington Colts by the time they reach kindergarten,
with an eye on where the sport can take them.
Currently, one in every 385 Lexington residents plays football at a Power Five school, considered
part of the most prominent conferences in college athletics.
It's one of the best rates of any town in the country.
And it inspires Mason and R.J.'s father to imagine what's possible for his sons.
RONALD REDMOND, Father: When we're watching the NFL games on Sundays or Saturdays or whatever
the case may be, I tell them that that can be you out there on that field.
It all boils down to what you want.
If you want it, you can get it.
SAPNA BANSIL: Lexington, a town of nearly 1,200 people, is 77 percent Black.
It's in the second poorest county in the nation's poorest state.
Nearly 35 percent of people live in poverty.
RONALD REDMOND: We live in here in Lexington, Mississippi, which is Holmes County, a small
population.
And the opportunity for kids is at a bare minimum.
We have no swimming pool here.
We have no community swimming pool.
We have no tennis court.
The basketball court is bare minimum.
SAPNA BANSIL: In a place like Lexington, football doesn't just benefit the few who become stars.
It helps open doors, according to Marcus Rogers, the head football coach at Holmes County Central
High School.
MARCUS ROGERS, Head Football Coach, Holmes County Central High School: Football, it will
teach you about life.
It's like now I'm not playing football anymore, and I tell the kids all the time, football
set me up to do what I'm doing today.
And I didn't play in the NFL.
I played high-never college football, but it set me up with relationships with people.
SAPNA BANSIL: A 2023 Boston University study found that those who start playing tackle
football at an early age or play it for more than 11 years are at greater risk of cognitive
and behavioral problems.
As a result, many communities around the country are turning away from youth football programs
amid health and safety concerns.
Tackle football participation is down 13.2 percent from 2019 to 2022 among kids 6 through
12.
But communities of color have a higher tendency to stick with the sport.
Some, including Marcus Rogers, say safety around the sport has improved.
MARCUS ROGERS: In these times, football is as safe as it's ever been.
I don't force it on anyone because it has to be something you want to do because it's
tough -- tough personal sport, whether you're a female or male trying to play.
SAPNA BANSIL: But that's not the only reason communities of color are sticking with football.
A Povich and Howard center poll found that Black and Hispanic parents are nearly twice
as likely as white parents to see youth football as a path to college scholarships and even
the NFL.
RONALD REDMOND: Out of all these kids over the state of Mississippi starting out at 5
and 6 and 7 or 8 years old, now somebody is going to end up in the NFL.
It's going to happen.
Somebody is going to push it to the screen and they're going to end up in the NFL somewhere.
SAPNA BANSIL: Last season, nearly 40 children ages five through 12 played for the Colts.
All were Black.
Since the Colts were founded in 1999, only two white players have ever enrolled.
Colts CEO Sherri Reeves said a big part of the reason for that is white and Black students
in the town don't attend school together.
SHERRI REEVES, CEO, Lexington Colts: There's really very little intermingling socially
among the kids that are black and white in this community.
It's rooted and grounded in a mentality that has been and overshadowing, and I'm going
to say Mississippi in general.
SAPNA BANSIL: Lexington itself is still dealing with the consequences of a long racial divide.
A Confederate monument stands in the town square.
The town's police department remains under investigation by the Department of Justice
for alleged civil rights violations.
Some families say the path to a better future may involve tackle football.
And some of those success stories began with the Lexington Colts, as well as nearby teams
in Durant and Tchula.
But football can't keep every kid on the right path.
MARCUS ROGERS: I have lost a couple of football players in the last few years, more than a
couple, you know?
We have lost a few students per year, gun violence, drive-by shootings, stuff like that.
So, we will continue to work with these guys and try to get them to have a different mentality.
SAPNA BANSIL: For the "PBS NewsHour" and the Povich and Howard Centers at the University
of Maryland, this is Sapna Bansil reporting from Lexington, Mississippi.
AMNA NAWAZ: Later tonight here on PBS, a new docuseries hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr.
delves into the power of African American gospel music, exploring the rich history of
Black spirituality through sermon and song.
WOMAN: The Black preaching tradition is deeply connected to gospel music.
Our singers preach and our preachers sing.
WOMAN: God, we ask that you reinvigorate somebody.
WOMAN: You feel it deep down in your soul.
It makes you want to shout.
It makes you want to sing.
MAN: That's beautiful.
AMNA NAWAZ: "Gospel" airs tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern on PBS stations and at PBS.org.
And join us again here tomorrow for our report from the streets of El Salvador, where a crackdown
on gang violence has made neighborhoods safer, but also put democratic values at risk.
And that is the "NewsHour" for tonight.
I'm Amna Nawaz.
On behalf of the entire "NewsHour" team, thank you for joining us.