PBS NewsHour full episode, Feb. 28, 2024（PBS NewsHour full episode, Feb. 28, 2024）

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AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.
I'm Amna Nawaz.
GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.
On the "NewsHour" tonight: The U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear arguments on whether
former President Donald Trump is immune from prosecution in the 2020 election interference
case.
AMNA NAWAZ: A Senate shakeup.
Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell announces he's stepping down from leadership after 17
years at the helm.
GEOFF BENNETT: And the results of Michigan's presidential primary and the warning signs
they contain for the leading candidates of both parties.
(BREAK)
AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "NewsHour."
The Supreme Court says it will now hear arguments over whether Donald Trump is immune from prosecution
for his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
GEOFF BENNETT: The justices have set oral arguments for the week of April 22.
Mr. Trump's pending trial in a federal court in Washington will stay on hold until then.
William Brangham has been following all of the Trump legal cases and joins us now.
So, William, what did the justices say?
And how might it affect the potential scheduling of Mr. Trump's January 6 case?
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Well, the justices, as you both just reported, said that they will take
up this question, which has been sort of simmering in the background of the whole January 6 election
interference case.
And it is whether or not Donald Trump is immune from prosecution for any of his activities
leading up to that election.
This is a clear victory for Donald Trump and a clear blow to Jack Smith, the special counsel
in this case.
Donald Trump, as we have reported, had wanted to dismiss that case and/or delay it as long
as possible.
And the Supreme Court taking this up does exactly that.
This decision by the court is something of a surprise, simply because the bipartisan
rigor with which the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Trump's immunity appeal -- and
that's what kicked this up to the Supreme Court -- that seemed like such a strong ruling
that many people thought that the Supreme Court would not take this up.
So, to your question, Geoff, about timing, as you mentioned, hearings at the end of April.
If Trump wins that appeal and the Supreme Court decides that he does have immunity,
then the January 6 case goes away, as do many of other cases against the former president.
If the court rules against him that he does not have immunity, then the January 6 case
in Washington, D.C., could start likely by the end of summertime.
GEOFF BENNETT: And, William, remind us, what is the specific immunity argument that Mr.
Trump's attorneys are making?
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Donald Trump argued, and his lawyers, that all of his behavior leading
up to the 2020 election, in the aftermath of that election, they were all part of his
official duties -- that's the official term there -- and that that is part of what the
president did, and thus he cannot be prosecuted for those acts.
He argues, his lawyers argue, that this would cripple future presidents and make it impossible
for them to make decisions about anything.
Special counsel Jack Smith has rejected that argument, as has the appeals court and the
judge overseeing the January 6 case, saying that, if a president gets complete immunity
for anything that they do while they're president, that just opens the floodgates for any potential
behavior.
They argue that what the president did in all of the fake electors scheme and all of
the attempts to subvert the fact that Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden, that those were clearly
illegal, outside of the responsibilities of a president, and that, if you grant him immunity,
it basically capsizes any sense of accountability, allowing future presidents just endless freedom
to act with impunity.
That's what the court's going to rule on.
GEOFF BENNETT: William Brangham, our thanks to you for that reporting.
We appreciate it.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Thank you.
AMNA NAWAZ: A swirl of news at the U.S. Capitol today, where, this afternoon, the top four
leaders in Congress agreed to a deal to avert a partial government shutdown for at least
a week, that after one of those leaders, Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, announced he
will step down from leadership this fall.
McConnell's news came as Republicans on the other side of the Capitol also made headlines,
questioning President Biden's son Hunter behind closed doors as part of their impeachment
inquiry.
Our Lisa Desjardins has been following it all, and she joins us now.
Lisa, a busy, busy day.
Let's talk about this spending deal first.
What's in it, and has the shutdown now been averted?
LISA DESJARDINS: Yes, with two important caveats, yes, for now.
And, two, this still has to pass through both chambers of Congress.
Let's talk about this deal, what's in it.
Here's a look.
First, the deadline that was coming up the fastest, March 1, that deadline moves to March
8, so buying time to pass the bills that were about to run out of money.
So what this means is, now they're going to try and pass six separate spending bills between
now and March 8.
They basically have those bills ready to go, but they need to kind of -- they need to write
the text, get it out and give members time to read it.
So, the other deadline, the harder one, the March 8 deadline, as it is now, would move
to March 22.
That one is harder, Amna, because, among other things, it includes the Department of Homeland
Security, border spending, those kinds of things.
So that is one we will watch very closely.
This next week will be important to see if we can actually not kick the can down the
road again, at least on half of these bills.
But, basically, they're buying time.
At least they agree on that.
AMNA NAWAZ: At least they agree on that.
Let me ask you now about the news from Leader McConnell, the longest-serving Senate leader
in history.
Why is he stepping down and what does his stepping down mean?
LISA DESJARDINS: McConnell is a historic figure, not just because he's a master strategist.
And you could say he's the reason, for example, that Roe v. Wade was overturned because of
how he handled Supreme Court nominations.
But he is also the most powerful opponent of some of Donald Trump's policies and statements
in the Republican Party.
Why is he stepping down?
He says simply he is in his 80s and he realizes that now it is time for him to hand this over
to a next generation.
SEN.
MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): Father Time remains undefeated.
I'm no longer the young man sitting in the back hoping colleagues would remember my name.
It's time for the next generation of leadership.
LISA DESJARDINS: He was first elected in 1984.
He mentioned that Ronald Reagan in fact got his name wrong when he was first elected.
Now, what's going to happen here is that Senator McConnell will step down from leadership in
November, he says.
There will be a fight among Senate Republicans to replace him.
He, it sounds like right now, will stay in the Senate itself.
But, Amna, this is also meaningful because what we're seeing here with Senate Republicans,
that group that really has been sort of a traditional Republican force, that's changing,
as we saw in the Ukraine vote.
More than 20 Republicans voted against Ukraine funding.
Those are the younger members.
Those are the folks who are more Trump, more hard right.
Mitch McConnell stepping aside changes some dynamics there.
AMNA NAWAZ: OK, what about news on the other side?
LISA DESJARDINS: Right.
AMNA NAWAZ: In the House, meanwhile, we know the president's son Hunter Biden spent some
seven hours testifying behind closed doors today.
What did we learn?
LISA DESJARDINS: We need to wait for the transcript.
It's going to be a long one after seven hours of questioning, but a couple of things.
Hunter Biden did not plead the Fifth at all, even though, of course, he faces criminal
charges.
He's in the midst of his own criminal proceedings.
He was responsive.
Even Republicans said he responded to most questions that they asked him.
However, it was highly contentious.
It was even messy at the beginning, both sides interrupting each other.
And Democrats say that part of the problem here was that Republicans were asking personal
questions.
As for Hunter Biden, I want to read you part of his opening statement.
This is what he says his message was all day today.
He told members that he was here "today to provide the committee with the one uncontestable
fact that should end the false premise of this inquiry.
I did not involve my father in my business."
And Democrats say, in fact, that's what happened all day long, that Republicans sometimes brought
on personal attacks against him, but nothing against former President -- or President Biden.
Here's what Democrats said to the cameras.
REP.
ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): What we just witnessed over the last hour was, I think,
a deep sea fishing expedition, because the Republican case has completely fallen apart
over the last several weeks.
REP.
JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): This whole thing really has been a tremendous waste of our legislative
time and the people's resources.
REP.
VERONICA ESCOBAR (D-TX): This is nothing more than a distraction from what Republicans don't
want us to pay attention to.
They don't want us to pay attention to the fact that they cannot govern.
LISA DESJARDINS: That was across the board from Democrats.
And when you talk to staffers behind the scenes, they say they felt like there was nothing
new here from Hunter Biden.
Republicans saw something a little differently.
Here's Republican Nancy Mace of South Carolina.
REP.
NANCY MACE (R-SC): Hunter Biden is being defiant and also dishonest.
And his testimony, some of it, is in direct conflict with other witnesses.
And so the transcripts will be out.
I won't go into detail.
You will be able to see it for yourself.
But it's no surprise.
It's no shock that he is being that way.
And, in some cases, he doesn't recall.
He said that multiple times this morning, which, again, is not a shocker either.
LISA DESJARDINS: Here's the thing.
We
definitely do want to see this for ourselves, whether there are inconsistencies or not.
Now, we know that there is very little direct evidence that Republicans have presented that
President Biden knew anything about Hunter Biden's business deals.
There are two witnesses that say they think perhaps Joe Biden was going to get a cut of
profits.
But today in testimony, Hunter Biden said, no, the people who said that were out of their
minds for thinking that.
We will watch that.
But, right now, we don't know that there is that direct evidence right now of Joe Biden
being involved in anything that was a problem.
We may find out more ourselves, because one thing we heard today was that they expect
to have public hearings now with Hunter Biden.
That is the next step, as folks might remember, when we went through Trump impeachment proceedings.
Public hearings are the next step before potential articles of impeachment against Joe Biden.
AMNA NAWAZ: Lisa Desjardins quite literally covering it all on Capitol Hill.
Lisa, thank you so much.
LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.
GEOFF BENNETT: In the day's other news: High winds pushed wildfires across the Texas Panhandle,
and one grew into the second largest in that state's history.
The fire has charred more than 1,300 square miles and destroyed homes around the towns
of Canadian and Fritch.
Disaster declarations covered dozens of counties, and officials said the burned areas now look
like moonscapes.
Hundreds of people were urged to evacuate.
The U.S. Supreme Court will also decide whether to uphold a ban on bump stocks that let semiautomatic
weapons fire like machine guns.
Arguments today centered on whether the devices fall under laws against machine guns dating
back to the 1930s.
A decision is expected by summer.
An appeals judge in New York refused today to let former President Donald Trump delay
paying a huge civil fraud penalty.
Instead, he will have to post a bond worth $454 million while his appeal continues.
But the judge also lifted for now a ban on letting Mr. Trump seek bank loans in New York.
Trump lawyers argued he will need the loans to cover the bond.
In the Middle East, the leader of Hamas says his group will consider making concessions
in the Gaza cease-fire and hostage talks.
But he added that Hamas is equally ready to continue fighting.
ISMAIL HANIYEH, Chairman, Hamas Political Bureau (through translator): Any flexibility
we are showing in the negotiations is to protect the blood of our people and to put an end
to their huge pains and sacrifices in the brutal war of extermination against it.
In parallel, we are ready to defend our people.
GEOFF BENNETT: Meantime, families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza began a four-day march
from Southern Israel to Jerusalem.
They carried signs and pictures demanding that their loved ones be released.
Loved ones and supporters of Alexei Navalny now say they will hold a funeral for him on
Friday at a church in Moscow.
The Russian opposition leader died this month at a prison in the Arctic.
In France today, Navalny's widow told the European Parliament that she's worried about
arrests at the funeral.
She also warned against negotiating with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
YULIA NAVALNAYA, Widow of Alexei Navalny: Putin must answer for what he has done with
my country.
Putin must answer for what he has done to a neighboring peaceful country.
And Putin must answer for everything he has done to Alexei.
GEOFF BENNETT: The head of Navalny's foundation said today the funeral was originally planned
for tomorrow, when Putin makes his annual address to Russian lawmakers, but no venue
would host the service on that day.
Back in this country, President Biden had his annual physical and his doctor reported
that he's in good health.
A summary described Mr. Biden as -- quote -- "a healthy, active, robust 81-year-old
male who remains fit to execute his duties."
The physical did not include a cognitive test.
White House officials said his neurologist did not believe one was necessary.
The president signed an executive order today to block China and Russia, in particular,
from gaining access to Americans' personal data.
The goal is to prevent so-called data brokers from selling information to so-called countries
of concern.
It could take months to set up enforcement mechanisms.
And dreams took flight in Dubai today as the Persian Gulf city-state held its first-ever
jet suit race.
Pilots zoomed around the marina, controlling jet engines attached to their backs and hands.
The suits, with 1,500 horsepower, were capable of doing 80 miles an hour.
One flier ended up in the water, but he was not hurt.
On Wall Street, stocks edged lower.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 23 points to close at 38949.
The Nasdaq fell 87 points.
The S&P 500 was down eight.
And comedian Richard Lewis has died in Los Angeles after battling Parkinson's disease.
For years, he starred on HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and performed in clubs and on
late-night TV for decades.
His self-proclaimed paranoia about everything earned him the nickname the Prince of Pain.
Richard Lewis was 76 years old.
And still to come on the "NewsHour": we speak with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in an
exclusive interview about the congressional funding deal and the state of the economy;
and how some governors are trying to solve their states' problems at a time of intense
political polarization.
President Biden and former President Trump both secured victories in Michigan's primaries
last night.
Mr. Trump claimed 68 percent of the Republican vote over challenger Nikki Haley, and President
Biden won 81 percent of the Democratic vote in that state, with over 100,000 voters casting
uncommitted ballots in protest of the president's approach toward the Israel-Hamas war.
For analysis, we turn to Republican strategist Kevin Madden, who advised Mitt Romney's presidential
campaign, and Democratic strategist Faiz Shakir, who served as campaign manager for Bernie
Sanders' presidential campaign.
It's great to have you both here.
And, Faiz, we will start with you and talk about the number of uncommitted ballots in
the Michigan primary.
I have been talking and texting with Democratic officials and campaign hands today, and there
are those who say that, look, this really shows that President Biden has to really fight
to keep his coalition together heading into November.
And there are other Democrats who say Michigan has a tradition of these -- sort of these
ballot protests.
Yes, the campaign needs to be aware of it, but they have eight months to turn it around.
When you look at these numbers, what do you see?
FAIZ SHAKIR, Democratic Strategist: I see that there are people who, because of American
democracy, were able to express their hurt and their pain about the Middle East war through
the ballot box, right, not only just in a protest, but also to vote.
And I think, for President Biden, he's got good information now, right?
He's not only in strong standing with Democrats, but he knows that he's got some issues with
young people, with Arab and Muslim Americans, with a progressive left that he can fix and
cure and heal.
To his credit, you could imagine a different candidate who gave the stiff-arm to the -- hey,
if you don't like me, then go vote for Trump.
He didn't do that.
What he's maintained, I think, as a posture, said, I want you in this coalition.
Even if you didn't might disagree with where I'm at right now on this policy, I want you
to know that I am values-aligned with you.
So he's got some time and period.
Ultimately, his biggest problem is fixing the policy.
So he's going to the State of the Union.
He's working -- as you know, working his brains out with the secretary of state trying to
get a six week cease-fire and a hostage release.
If he can do it, I do think it'll help so much.
And that's what people are asking, because it's not as if the movement has, like, specific,
concrete solutions attached.
They're saying, do something.
Hold Netanyahu accountable.
Show us that you hear and feel our pain.
GEOFF BENNETT: And, Kevin, let's talk about Nikki Haley, because she is still in this
race after suffering six stinging defeats.
What's her endgame at this point?
KEVIN MADDEN, Republican Strategist: Well, I think the endgame is actually a long game
for Nikki Haley.
There is a great value, I think, if you look at the trajectory of where the party is going,
in Nikki Haley being the presumptive front-runner for 2028.
And that's, I think, where her campaign is actually going now.
They spent a lot of time investing in the infrastructure and growing her national profile.
And campaigns never really run out of reasons to run.
They only run out of money.
Her donors have actually still stepped up and funded her campaign to this part -- to
this point.
And I think that's one of the things that she's going to continue to do, to try to be
a voice in the party and also set herself up for a potential 2028 run.
GEOFF BENNETT: Could she stay in this all the way to the convention?
Because there are Republicans now who say that, look, if she shows up with a certain
number of delegates, that allows her to exert more power on the convention floor?
KEVIN MADDEN: It's hard to see,because I think the resource question gets more and more difficult
when you don't have any really delegates to show for your work and a real path to victory
at a convention.
So I think that's become -- that will become a difficult sort of consideration with Haley
and her supporters and her donors over the next few weeks.
GEOFF BENNETT: Meantime, Faiz, the super PAC that supports Robert F. Kennedy Jr., they
say they now have enough signatures to get him on the ballot in Arizona and Georgia.
And Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and Wisconsin were states that Joe Biden won by a narrow
margin, I think less than 30,000 votes, if memory serves.
What does that do to his campaign, to Biden's campaign?
And how do they have to sort of course-correct for this?
FAIZ SHAKIR: It's unclear exactly where RFK's votes will come from.
I do think it's a hurt to Joe Biden, because my impression coming into this election is,
people know where they stand with Donald Trump.
I think he's got a hard cap on the amount of support that exists for him out there.
And if you're in the Trump campaign, what you're trying to do is peel off the votes
from Joe Biden.
So you look at -- we were talking about Michigan, for instance.
Last time, Biden got 2.8 million votes in Michigan.
Trump got about 2.6 million.
So if you're going in here now in Michigan, again, Georgia, Arizona -- you mentioned those
states, those critical battlegrounds, where the margin was even thinner.
They know that they probably can count on some enthusiasm for Trump to reach that same
number or around that same number.
What they need to do is drag down Biden's number.
And each of these third-party candidates' efforts is, I think, going to dilute and hurt
Joe Biden.
And so my impression coming into this is, the more that RFK is out there on ballots,
it's going to hurt our side and I'm concerned about it.
GEOFF BENNETT: And, Kevin, Faiz raises the point about enthusiasm.
Let's talk about enthusiasm for Donald Trump, because if you look at Iowa and track all
the way to Michigan, Donald Trump is losing somewhere between 20 to 40 percent of the
Republican base, who say they're not going to vote for him or that they're not entirely
won over just yet.
What does that say about his strength as a candidate heading into a general election?
KEVIN MADDEN: Well, I think, in a primary perspective, he's still actually running one
of the more dominant primary campaigns that I have ever witnessed in my time in politics.
And we also -- if we look back to 2016, Donald Trump won the Republican nomination by winning
only 44 percent of the popular vote inside that fight.
So he's in a much better position than he was in 2016, and he won in 2016.
But there's still a but here, which is the profile of the Nikki Haley voter is crucial
to Donald Trump winning in November.
Those -- that Nikki Haley voter right now is more moderate, more pragmatic, probably
more likely to come from these suburb areas.
If you look at the Michigan results, a lot of Nikki Haley's stronger counties were those
collar counties around Detroit or around Grand Rapids.
Those are the crucial areas for winning that state in November.
So Donald Trump has some work to do.
He can't let those voters stay home.
He can't let them become never-Trumpers.
He has to get them to the point where they're going to essentially be nose-holders.
They may not like Donald Trump, but he's better than the alternative.
He's better than Joe Biden.
That's going to be the charge and the challenge for the Trump campaign from here -- all the
way from here to November.
GEOFF BENNETT: And looking ahead to tomorrow, there's going to be quite the split screen
with both President Trump and Donald Trump at the southern border on separate trips aimed
at sort of touting their different views on immigration and their solutions for the southern
border.
Can Democrats in this election cycle, do you think, really chip into the polling advantage
that Republicans have on handling border security?
FAIZ SHAKIR: I mean, if it's an immigration election, I think it won't go well for Joe
Biden.
I mean, one of the things he's trying to do with this visit, I think, is to decrease the
salience of the issue.
It is increasing in salience.
The Gallup polls indicate that this is becoming a greater concern for people of both parties,
partly because of reality.
I mean, as more and more mayors across America are dealing with it and trying to figure out
housing and all kinds of employment practices and how you would have the funds and resources
to deal with them, it's becoming a serious problem.
It also is an economic problem.
One thing that Democrats haven't often talked about is the corporate exploitation of the
low-wage worker.
I think it is a message that could resonate with a lot of people.
However, if you think about this split screen, they're trying to decrease the issue salience.
What Biden wants is this election to be fought on democracy, on abortion rights, on maybe
even core economic issues that distinguish him and Trump.
And I think, by going to the border, he's saying, hey, don't -- know that if you -- this
is a major issue.
I'm on it too.
GEOFF BENNETT: Yes.
And as Georgia Governor Brian Kemp says, every state now is a border state.
How is this manifesting in the election?
KEVIN MADDEN: Well, it's the number one issue right now.
That's one of the things that's interesting, is how much it's surged to the top of the
issue priorities for many Americans, an eight-point surge.
Gallup came out with a poll yesterday.
It was an eight-point surge just over the last month.
So I think you're right that, if it becomes an -- if this becomes -- immigration is a
top issue like that, and it becomes a referendum on the Biden record on immigration, it's going
to be a very, very difficult challenge for Biden to overcome a lot of the negative views
that many voters have about this, and I think particularly in these swing areas of battleground
states around the country.
If you think about the suburbs of Atlanta, the Maricopa County in Arizona, even as far
north as in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, those suburbs, border security is a huge issue
for those voters.
So I think it's an advantage Trump on that.
GEOFF BENNETT: Kevin McCarthy, Faiz Shakir, thank you both.
Great conversation.
Appreciate it.
AMNA NAWAZ: As Lisa reported, a government shutdown appears to be averted for now.
Earlier today, I spoke with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and I asked her for her response
to the news.
JANET YELLEN, U.S. Treasury Secretary: Well, I'm pleased with the news.
I think the -- shutting down the government at this point would be extremely disruptive.
It would deprive the American public of services that they rely on day in and day out.
And our economy is doing so well with low unemployment, inflation coming down, strong
growth, that it's really important to avoid a needless threat to our economic prospects.
AMNA NAWAZ: As you know, there are more funding deadlines ahead, though, and it seems like
the threat of a shutdown has now become part of the process.
Are you worried that that continually coming close to the brink of a shutdown, as we seem
to be, is having a long-term, damaging effect on the American economy?
JANET YELLEN: Well, I -- it is disturbing.
We also lived through an episode where -- of the willingness of Congress to raise the debt
ceiling was in doubt.
And I think it is important to investors around the world to know that we have a wealth-functioning
government.
So my hope is that Congress will pass a series of appropriation bills and also provide Ukraine
with the money that they so desperately need.
AMNA NAWAZ: Let me ask you about some of the strong economic indicators we do see right
now in the U.S.
Unemployment is at its lowest levels in about 50 years.
Inflation has been coming down, is now around 3 percent.
The U.S. economy has been outperforming many others.
But, still, as you know, Americans are still down on the economy.
Consumer confidence fell again in February.
How do you view that pessimism among Americans right now?
What do you think is behind that?
JANET YELLEN: Well, Americans lived through a lot.
The pandemic had very significant and lasting impacts, I think, on their lifestyles and
attitudes.
Importantly, although inflation has come way down, some prices that are important to so
many Americans, like the cost of rent or the cost of electricity, food, they're higher
than -- those costs are higher than they were before the pandemic.
And now wages are rising more rapidly than prices.
So Americans are getting ahead.
But, nevertheless, people remember that prices were lower.
And we're trying to do everything we can to bring down health care costs and other costs
that are definite strains on Americans' budgets.
AMNA NAWAZ: We should mention you are at the G20 Summit.
You're meeting with a number of officials from around the world.
And, of course, support for Ukraine is high on the agenda.
We know the White House is struggling to get Ukraine aid through Republican resistance
in Congress right now.
And this week, you suggested something we hadn't heard before, which was unfreezing
about $300 billion of assets from the Russian Central Bank and getting that money to Ukraine.
Does that speak to your doubt in America's ability to move more aid through Congress
for Ukraine?
JANET YELLEN: Well, it's critically important that Congress approve of the aid that we have
requested to Ukraine, and no action concerning these sovereign assets can substitute for
that.
And I can't overemphasize the importance, the urgency that attaches to the House passing
the Ukraine package that the Senate passed.
With respect to the Russian assets, we're looking at options.
Taking the Russian assets is -- that's only one possible strategy.
We're looking at a number of different strategies by which we could leverage those assets for
Ukraine's benefit.
And I think what that would say to Putin is, I think Putin maybe feels that he can outlast
us, that our will is faltering when it comes to supporting Ukraine.
And if we can use these assets to provide a stream of financing for Ukraine, I think
it says to Putin that we're in this for the long haul and not about to fold.
AMNA NAWAZ: If I may, Madam Secretary, based on what you have seen back here in the United
States unfolding in Congress, and the fact that we are in an election year, and Republicans
seem largely resistant to push more Ukraine aid through, are you confident that the U.S.
will approve more aid for Ukraine?
JANET YELLEN: We're certainly making the case as strongly as we possibly can.
And what we saw is that, in the Senate, there was strong bipartisan support for aid to Ukraine.
I believe exactly the same thing is true in the House.
But we have a problem that this speaker has been unwilling to allow this to come up for
a vote.
But we need to find a way to have that enacted through the House.
I strongly urge the House to pass this bill.
AMNA NAWAZ: As you speak with officials from around the world there, what are they telling
you about how they're watching congressional gridlock here in the U.S., the upcoming presidential
election?
What do they tell you about their worries or concerns?
JANET YELLEN: Well, I can see that they are very concerned.
We have banded together as a coalition to provide support to Ukraine right from the
moment the invasion occurred.
But they can't fill the hole that would be left, both in terms of military equipment
and financial support, if we don't do our share.
And I have emphasized the president's commitment, my commitment to do everything conceivable
to get Congress to provide this aid, strongly believe that it's in the national interest.
And, without it, we expect Ukraine will make further losses and fall further behind.
AMNA NAWAZ: That is the United States treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, joining us tonight.
Madam Secretary, thank you so much for making the time to speak with us.
Always a pleasure.
JANET YELLEN: Thank you.
My pleasure.
GEOFF BENNETT: At a time of intense polarization across the country and bitter partisan battles
in Washington, some of the nation's governors are attempting to find a way forward to solve
their own state's problems.
Judy Woodruff recently sat down with two governors from opposing sides to talk about their call
to disagree better.
It's part of her ongoing series America at a Crossroads.
GOV.
ERIC HOLCOMB (R-IN): Hello.
I'm Eric Holcomb, Republican governor of Indiana.
CLINT LAMB (D), Former Mayor of Sullivan, Indiana: And I'm Clint Lamb, Democratic mayor
of the city of Sullivan.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Republican and Democratic leaders sitting down for a meal.
GOV.
MIKE PARSON (R-MO): And like any good neighbor, we will continue to disagree on plenty of
things.
GOV.
LAURA KELLY (D-KS): Like barbecue, tax policy, or who's the bigger Chiefs fan.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Encouraging Americans to engage in respectful dialogue.
GOV.
WES MOORE (D-MD): But we can have our differences without being divisive or hateful.
JUDY WOODRUFF: This series from the National Governors Association is the brainchild of
NGA President Spencer Cox.
GOV.
SPENCER COX (R-UT): You and I probably disagree on a few things.
And that's OK.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The first-term Republican governor from Utah wants to show Americans how to disagree
better.
GOV.
SPENCER COX: Our country is deeply divided.
And most Americans are tired of the division.
We see dysfunction in Congress.
We see this deep polarization that's happening all across the country.
And so we had this crazy idea that we could focus on disagreeing better, reminding Americans
how to disagree without hating each other and how to try to actually find solutions
to some of our biggest problems.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Last week, as governors from across the country gathered in Washington
for their winter summit, I met Governors Cox and Wes Moore, the first-term Democrat from
Maryland, at an event hosted by the Economic Club of Washington to talk about why they're
pushing this initiative now.
GOV.
SPENCER COX: It's been a fantastic opportunity for us to remember that there's nothing more
un-American than hating our fellow Americans.
GOV.
WES MOORE: We are not going to get anything done if we just simply scream into a wind
or if we're just talking to an echo chamber.
Our ability to be able to be productive, our ability to be able to be effective means that
we have to work across the aisle.
It means that we have to be able to meet with people who, even if you at the end of the
process disagree with the conclusion, they will at least respect the process, that you
heard them, that they understood where you came from, and that you understood where they
came from.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Governor Moore, I want to ask you about how you work through some of the
most difficult, most divisive issues of our time.
One of them is immigration.
What's an example of a way to even talk about immigration that would be productive?
GOV.
WES MOORE: Yes.
I think the thing that we can all fundamentally agree to is that the system that we have in
place right now, it does not work.
And so the reason that I signed a letter with eight other governors saying that we are urging
Congress to move on this, what was so frustrating watching a bill that was literally worked
on with the president, Democrats, and even conservative Republicans, like Senator Lankford,
to go down in flames, why it was so frustrating is that the consequences fall on our shoulders.
And that's why we need a measurement of action.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So could you, Governor Cox -- you're a Republican.
You have seen what's happened.
You heard -- you know that it's the Republicans in the House who are saying, we're not going
to go along with this.
What's a way through this?
GOV.
SPENCER COX: Well, the way through is, unfortunately, we need Congress to start doing their job
and the president to enforce the laws.
Those -- it's really that simple.
This is the least divisive of the most divisive issues.
If you poll Republicans and Democrats, everyone agrees.
They just do.
Democrats believe we need to secure the border and Republicans believe we need to fix illegal
immigration.
I can tell you right now, if Governor Moore and I were asked to solve this problem, even
if you just had all 50 governors solve this problem, we could sit down and do it in a
weekend.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Of course, there are real and substantive differences over how to move forward
on divisive issues like reproductive rights, transgender policy, and diversity, equity
and inclusion initiatives.
Just recently, Governor Cox signed legislation in Utah banning DEI programs in state government
and universities, prohibiting gender-affirming care and surgery for minors, and mandating
that trans people use the bathrooms that correspond with their gender assigned at birth in public
schools and state-owned buildings.
Both Cox and Moore emphasize that disagree better doesn't mean there won't be real disagreements
at the end of the day.
GOV.
SPENCER COX: The process matters.
I think the process is really important and the way we treat each other.
And the way we have approached DEI is a little different than other states.
We're trying to focus on government not discriminating on the basis of color, but helping everyone
who's struggling.
We want everyone to feel included.
We think inclusiveness is very important.
We think diversity is very important.
And how we do that, how we use the power of the state to do that is also really important.
And that's where there is definitely some disagreement.
Sometimes, too much gets lumped into DEI that really isn't DEI.
And understanding what the philosophy is behind it is really important.
And so, yes, there are major disagreements when it comes to DEI, but, at the end of the
day, I think we're seeking the same thing.
And that is that everyone feels included, that everyone has the same opportunity, that
we're -- the deck is not stacked against anyone.
That really matters to me and I think it matters to most Americans.
GOV.
WES MOORE: And I think there -- that's exactly right that we want to make sure that everyone
is just getting a fair shot at open success.
We know that a lot of the discrepancies and a lot of the disparities that we have seen
in our society, that we still see to this day, everything from wealth gaps, to housing
gaps, to educational gaps, they haven't been by accident.
There have been government policies that have helped to create that.
The reason that we look at things like a racial wealth gap, for example, you can't understand
that without understanding things like the Homestead Act, the unequal application of
the G.I.
Bill, historic redlining.
You can't understand how the racial wealth gap has ballooned to 10-1 in this country
without understanding that it's been government policies that have helped to create that level
of gap.
What is government's role to help to address the inequities that government helped to create?
GOV.
SPENCER COX: I'm Spencer Cox, your Republican candidate for Utah governor.
CHRIS PETERSON (D), Former Utah Gubernatorial Candidate: And I'm Chris Peterson, your Democratic
candidate for governor.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Yet another issue starkly dividing the country is trust in elections.
In 2020, as he ran for his first term as governor, Governor Cox joined his Democratic competitor
in a pledge to honor the outcome of the election, whatever the results.
CHRIS PETERSON: And whether you vote by mail or in person, we will fully support the results
of the upcoming presidential election, regardless of the outcome.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Researchers at Stanford studying polarization told me last year that this kind
of public act by leaders can make a real difference in ratcheting down partisan animosity.
And yet, right now, the latest poll shows 69 percent of Republicans say they don't believe
Joe Biden legitimately won the election in 2020 to be president.
How do we move forward when there's a disagreement on something as fundamental as that?
GOV.
SPENCER COX: Yes, that's a tough one, for sure, there's no question.
And I'm very fascinated about how and why that's been able to happen, that myth has
been perpetuated so much, when we have had legal proceeding after legal proceeding that
has shown that none of those allegations were true.
And it's difficult in this new era, where we have social media and we can surround ourselves
with information that just confirms whatever we want to believe, our biases, instead of
actual truth and seeking for truth.
And that deeply concerns me as a nation.
We need good people who are willing to stand up and speak the truth, even if it's unpopular.
And I will certainly continue to do that.
GOV.
WES MOORE: I ran against an election denier, where, when asked the question, would he accept
the results of the election, his answer literally was, it depends on the results of the election.
And so it's a very difficult baseline.
Let's just start that conversation with that.
But I think the thing that we continue to have to do is understand why that exists.
And for a lot of people, it is a lack of trust.
It's a lack of trust in institutions.
That statistic is something -- it's actually saying something much bigger.
It's not just about elections.
It's not about an election.
Do we trust our institutions to actually make our lives better?
JUDY WOODRUFF: You're all about trying to get people to listen to the other side.
And yet the person who is the likely Republican nominee for president this year is someone
who seems to pride himself, Governor Moore, on being a divider, rather than a uniter.
And that is former President Trump.
How do you do this work under those circumstances?
GOV.
WES MOORE: Because I'm not doing this work because I'm pushing against Donald Trump.
I'm doing this work because there was over a million Marylanders who said, we want you
to do the job and remember us.
I don't get up in the morning and think to myself, what do I have to do to combat the
ills of Donald Trump, or his vitriolic language, or the absurdity of some of the things that
he says on a repeated basis.
I'm doing this work because there are 6.3 million people who are asking me every single
day to remember them, not him.
GOV.
SPENCER COX: When we elevate kind of a single election, it leads to more problematic behavior.
If this really is the most important election in the history of the United States, then
every side should be doing everything possible to win, even if it's maybe not legitimate,
right?
And that's a dangerous way to look at things.
Our country is bigger and better than any single person or any single president.
We have 50 states, 50 states where we're innovating, where we're stealing ideas from each other,
where we're fixing actual problems.
America is so much better and more resilient than Joe Biden or Donald Trump.
And thank goodness we are because that's how we have made it through the last eight years
and it's how we're going to make it through the next four no matter who gets elected.
And so I just -- I believe in us.
I believe in the American people, and I believe that we should be engaging with the American
people to find out why they feel so attacked all of the time and to try to make life better
for them.
JUDY WOODRUFF: A call to all Americans to focus on finding solutions, compromise and
listening to each other.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Judy Woodruff in Washington.
GEOFF BENNETT: And we will be back shortly for a look at a music teacher in Austin who
celebrates Mexican culture by incorporating mariachi music into her classes.
AMNA NAWAZ: But, first, take a moment to hear from your local PBS station.
It's a chance to offer your support, which helps keep programs like ours on the air.
GEOFF BENNETT: For those of you staying with us, we often talk about human origins as the
evolution of man, but what if we saw it as the evolution of woman?
A new book argues for a better understanding of our beginnings.
Jeffrey Brown has this encore report.
JEFFREY BROWN: Where do we come from and how did we evolve into the beings and bodies we
are today?
It's a story that continues to fascinate at the American Museum of Natural History in
New York.
Human origins.
CAT BOHANNON, Author, "Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution":
Yes, here we are.
JEFFREY BROWN: Where Cat Bohannon first came as a child and now with a call for a new way
of looking at human development.
CAT BOHANNON: We have a lot of stories about the evolution of mammals.
We especially have a lot of stories about the evolution of humanity and its possible
past.
But, weirdly, in so many of these stories, the female is at best a side character.
You know what I mean?
But, increasingly, in many different disciplines, whether it's anthropology or in biology, we're
putting that female back in the picture.
And that actually changes how we tell that story.
JEFFREY BROWN: Bohannon tells the story in "Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million
Years of Human Evolution."
In fact, with personal whimsy as well as scientific data, she writes of many Eves, starting with
a creature she nicknames Morgie, perhaps the first ever breast-feeder.
CAT BOHANNON: It's delightful that the reason someone like me might have breasts is because
there is this little weaselly creature 200 million years ago living under the literal
feet of dinosaurs and she starts lactating.
And that's why, right?
So that's just fun.
JEFFREY BROWN: And she gives us other Eves who bring tools, language and a whole lot
more into the tale of the human species as a whole.
CAT BOHANNON: It's really rewarding to remember how deeply ancient these things are, that
the body is in many ways a unit of time, right, with different things that arrive at different
points in time, that this human brain is incredibly recent, right, and that my digestive system
is incredibly ancient.
These Eves are meant to give us a way into where these features of our bodies might have
come from and how that story still shapes how we live in them today.
JEFFREY BROWN: For Bohannon, whose Ph.D. research was in cognitive psychology and literature,
a fundamental problem, an example of how hominins and early humans learned to problem-solve,
is in childbirth.
You say we're one of the worst.
We are terrible at it.
CAT BOHANNON: Oh, yes.
Yes.
JEFFREY BROWN: And yet, yes, we populate the globe.
CAT BOHANNON: Absolutely.
And we do that by having behavioral work-arounds, which is that deep human story.
It's kind of what we're always doing.
We're always finding behavioral work-arounds for the limitations of our body.
JEFFREY BROWN: She took us a long way back.
CAT BOHANNON: How you doing, Luce?
How's it hanging?
JEFFREY BROWN: To Lucy, the version of her on display.
All bones here are actually casts.
The actual Lucy of the species Australopithecus afarensis was discovered in present day Ethiopia
in 1967.
Bohannon's focus, Lucy's pelvis.
CAT BOHANNON: The pelvic opening has narrowed, which is part of what enables us to be up
here, instead of down here.
And some really, really good scientists have determined that she had a similar problem
as we do.
She had the obstetric dilemma.
She had big babies and had a hard time getting out of, well, a small pelvic opening.
JEFFREY BROWN: Right, which a lot of women will relate to.
CAT BOHANNON: Yes, I did that twice.
I'm good.
Yes.
So, but the thing is that means that story, the it-being-hard story, starts at least 3.2
million years ago.
And the current theory is that actually Lucy probably had a midwife.
JEFFREY BROWN: Lucy had a midwife?
CAT BOHANNON: Lucy had a midwife.
She was small.
She was furry.
She was very chimpy.
But she had a midwife, because she had difficult births that needed help, and in that moment
of vulnerability, to get them out.
Yes.
Yes, yes, yes.
And that's a big part of our success story, which we don't normally talk about, but yes.
JEFFREY BROWN: Bohannon loves that famous first scene of Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A
Space Odyssey."
But she wants us to focus less on conflict, more on gynecology, and how a focus on evolution
of the female body can change how we think of the development of other traits, such as
language.
CAT BOHANNON: We assume there are these grand moments where language arrives, usually about
hunting, shouting directions across...
JEFFREY BROWN: Yes, of course.
Isn't that the standard story about...
CAT BOHANNON: It's a common story.
JEFFREY BROWN: OK.
CAT BOHANNON: It's a common story.
But remember that all of these are language users, because all of these communicate, all
of these mixed-sex members of a group.
And when you look at the evolution of language in terms of its developmental path, it becomes
a childhood story very quickly.
And, frankly, most of the time that's happening with the mother, in part because breast-feeding.
This is when -- you're connected, literally connected, many hours a day to a face which
is communicating with you at those critical moments of brain development.
JEFFREY BROWN: Bohannon's book, which synthesizes the work of hundreds of scientists, many of
them women, raises numerous such examples.
But it also raises critical implications for women's health today and addresses the so-called
male norm that has traditionally guided medical science.
CAT BOHANNON: That, for a very long time in biology and in biomedical research, we're
mostly studying male subjects.
That's how we control for estrus, the messiness of that hormonal cycle, was just taking them
literally out of the equation.
And we're only just starting to finally rectify that.
This is kind of a paradigm shift, kind of a sea change.
And we don't entirely know what biological sex differences are going to deeply matter,
yet we will know the more we study it.
JEFFREY BROWN: We still don't know?
CAT BOHANNON: Absolutely not, but excellent scientists all around the world are doing
that work right now, which is why this book can even exist.
JEFFREY BROWN: She points to the growing awareness of different responses by men and women to
opioids, for example, and the need for better guidelines to distinguish between them.
CAT BOHANNON: Because we live in the bodies we do that have this deep evolutionary time,
our health is affected by how well we understand that history.
Our medicine is shaped by how well we're able to incorporate better knowledge about literally
what these things are.
And what we are is made of where we came from, because that's how evolution works.
JEFFREY BROWN: Deep time down to the present day in a still-developing story of evolution.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jeffrey Brown at the American Museum of Natural History
in New York.
AMNA NAWAZ: Though its roots are in Mexico, mariachi music has become widely popular across
the United States as well.
Music teacher Susana Diaz-Lopez shares her insights on its growth and impact in the Austin
area.
Our Student Reporting Labs Academy fellows produced this story as part of our arts and
culture series, Canvas.
SUSANA DIAZ-LOPEZ, Mariachi Music Instructor: Mariachi music is folk music.
(MUSIC)
SUSANA DIAZ-LOPEZ: You got to stand up, feet apart, strong confident.
I think mariachi music in Austin is very small.
I think it's growing, but I think it still has a long ways to go.
I noticed that our population at our school was mostly Hispanic and Latino students, who
were literally -- some of them are immigrants that come from all over.
Sometimes, they don't fit in.
We have always tried to make them feel comfortable and welcome and just connected to some type
of program, even if it's an after-school program.
APRIL SALDANA, Mariachi Band Member: I knew more about mariachi by just family culture,
me going to Mexico listening to mariachi music all the time, my mom cleaning with Mexican
music, mariachi music all the time, waking up, mariachi music, going to sleep, mariachi
music.
It's something that's going to always be a core memory for me.
SUSANA DIAZ-LOPEZ: I started teaching mariachi at Soundwaves.
I learned more about what they do and the program that they have had so far.
And so that just spiked an interest, so I decided to go for it.
I do have some students that do not have a background in mariachi at all or that don't
speak the language, and they still sing.
They learn by just listening to the songs.
ADAN SANCHEZ, Austin Soundwaves: Austin Soundwaves is a nonprofit organization.
They specialize in teaching students who don't have a good -- like, good access to music.
SUSANA DIAZ-LOPEZ: It's a big family to them.
It's something that, even though they weren't born into, they feel very connected to.
A.J.
MARKS, Austin Soundwaves: I never got to experience any conjunto or mariachi music.
I don't have any heritage to a Mexico that I know of.
So getting to experience this music with people is really, really, really fascinating.
SUSANA DIAZ-LOPEZ: Even if you're not a part of the Mexican culture or Hispanic culture,
I feel like mariachi music is recognized by anybody.
And so I think it does in some form bridge that gap between cultures.
And it also brings a lot of cultural awareness in the U.S. as well.
(MUSIC)
(APPLAUSE)
AMNA NAWAZ: And you can find more stories from our Student Academy at StudentReportingLabs.org.
And join us again here tomorrow night, as President Biden and former President Trump
hold dueling events at the Texas border.
And that is the "NewsHour" for tonight.
I'm Amna Nawaz.
GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.
Thanks for joining us, and have a good evening.