PBS NewsHour full episode, Feb. 26, 2024（PBS NewsHour full episode, Feb. 26, 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 latest on hostage negotiations and Israel's plan to evacuate
Palestinian civilians before full-scale operations to eliminate Hamas and Rafah get under way.
AMNA NAWAZ: The Supreme Court hears arguments on whether social media platforms have First
Amendment free speech rights.
GEOFF BENNETT: And relief for food allergy sufferers after trials show an asthma drug
reduces dangerous reactions to certain foods.
DR. ROBERT WOOD, Johns Hopkins Children's Center: It's been approved now for 21 years to treat asthma.
So a lot of the safety, as we face with any drug, has been sorted out over those 21 years.
(BREAK)
GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "NewsHour."
President Biden this evening said it's his hope that, by next Monday, a deal could be
struck to implement a cease-fire in Gaza and start an exchange of Israeli hostages for
Palestinian prisoners.
Meantime, Jordan's King Abdullah warned against an Israeli invasion plan for Rafah in Southern
Gaza.
AMNA NAWAZ: Rafah is now home to many of Gaza's 2.3 million Palestinians who fled fighting
in other parts of the strip.
Following this all is our Nick Schifrin and he joins me now.
So, Nick, let's begin with this hostage deal President Biden says he hopes will be implemented
by Monday.
What do we know about that?
NICK SCHIFRIN: U.S. and Israeli officials tell me that they have a new outline of a
deal that would stop the war for about six weeks and lead to the release of 35 to 45
hostages.
That includes women, the elderly and the wounded.
Now, one of the obstacles still is female Israeli soldiers, believed to be five of them,
whether Hamas will release them.
And there's still no agreement right now as to how many Palestinian prisoners being held
by Israel would be released.
Now, the goal of this would be to implement this before Ramadan, which begins around March
11.
Today, on "FOX & Friends," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his criticism
that he's made multiple times about Hamas' negotiating stance, but also said something
he doesn't usually say, that he personally wants a deal.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Israeli Prime Minister: I'm not sure Hamas is there.
They have what I'd call outlandish demands that's like in another orbit, in another planet.
They have to come down to reality.
And I think that, if that's the case, we will be able to have a deal.
We certainly want it.
I want it.
NICK SCHIFRIN: But he also said that he would or is committed to going into Rafah, as he
has threatened.
And, as you said, Hamas, some half of Gaza's population, 1.2, 1.3 million people, are in
Rafah today, massive tent cities, the city closest to Egypt right there.
The Israeli Defense Forces have presented a plan to evacuate all of those tents that
you see, more than a million people, and then assault the city.
But this afternoon, U.S. officials say that they have not received any details of that
plan and, frankly, are skeptical that Israel would be able to execute that plan, at least
on an Israeli timeline.
AMNA NAWAZ: Nick, I know you have been reporting on the unimaginable conditions on the ground
there in Rafah, but the humanitarian concerns extend far beyond that one city, right?
NICK SCHIFRIN: Up and down Gaza, absolutely.
And some of the focus right now is on the quantity of aid that is or is not going into
Gaza.
Today, Human Rights Watch accused Israel of not living up to its promises under the International
Court of Justice ruling that required Israel to actually deliver as much aid as possible
into Gaza.
We also saw an extraordinary scene right there, so many Gazans filling the beach that's on
the Mediterranean Sea after Jordan airdropped humanitarian aid.
Jordan has been airdropping aid, but clearly not designed to be in the sea, but that aid
is in the sea.
And so many people so desperate for that aid, today, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency cited
a report that a two-month-old baby actually died of hunger and said that one in six children
in Northern Gaza are -- quote -- "severely malnourished."
AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile, I should ask you about news out of the West Bank.
The Palestinian Authority prime minister resigned today.
What should we understand about that?
NICK SCHIFRIN: Yes, so the U.S. hopes that a hostage deal and a temporary pause, as the
U.S. calls it, would lead to a cease-fire, and that that can unlock more regional goals,
Gaza governance, how to reconstruct Gaza, and then the larger goal of Israel-Saudi normalization.
And the U.S. hopes that this resignation today is the first step in leading towards some
kind of deal over the future of Gaza governance.
So, the prime minister, Mohammad Shtayyeh, resigned.
And Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to replace him with Mohammad Mustafa.
Mohammad Mustafa, there he is there, is an economist.
He is close to Abbas.
He has been the chairman of the Palestine Investment Fund.
But, look, the expectations are very low here.
Mustafa is not seen as someone who will change the Palestinian Authority in any fundamental
way.
And, of course, Israel has already rejected the Palestinian Authority playing a part in
Gaza.
This is really about U.S. credibility and U.S. and its Arab allies being able to coordinate
for these larger regional goals that they have.
AMNA NAWAZ: And also another story here in Washington, D.C., I know you have been following
related to all of this, on Sunday, there was a U.S. Air Force service member who, in protest
of the U.S. policy towards the war in Israel, lit himself on fire outside of the Israeli
Embassy.
What should we know about him and what happened?
NICK SCHIFRIN: His is Aaron Bushnell.
He was an active-duty airman.
According to reports, he's 25 from San Antonio, Texas.
The Air Force has confirmed that he died of those wounds last night.
And this is him introducing himself outside the embassy in Washington livestreaming on
Twitch, which is a social media platform.
He says -- quote -- "I will no longer be complicit in genocide."
And he called what he was about to do -- quote -- "an extreme act of protest, but compared
to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it's not
extreme at all."
That is the end of the quote there.
He wrote on his LinkedIn page he wanted to be a software engineer and was taking classes
in an online university.
The Air Force, as I said, has not confirmed his name, but they have confirmed that he
died of his wounds.
Senior defense officials do not believe that he represents some kind of trend inside the
military.
But the fact is that this is an extraordinarily rare, very public protest that ended in one
airman's death.
AMNA NAWAZ: Nick Schifrin, thank you, as always, for all your reporting.
Appreciate it.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Thank you.
GEOFF BENNETT: In the day's other headlines: Former President Trump appealed a $454 million
judgment in his New York civil fraud case.
Judge Arthur Engoron ruled Mr. Trump lied about his financials as he built his real
estate business.
The former president's lawyers contend that the judge may have made errors or exceeded
his jurisdiction.
The appeals process could take months and could temporarily halt any collection of funds
from Mr. Trump.
In Ukraine, government troops have retreated again in the east as Russian forces push forward.
The Ukrainians pulled back today from the village of Lastochkyne.
It's just outside of Avdiivka, which the Russians captured earlier this month.
Ukrainian officials say their soldiers face superior Russian firepower, while additional
U.S. aid is blocked in Congress.
A spokeswoman for Alexei Navalny says supporters may try to hold a farewell event in Moscow
this week.
The Russian opposition leader died earlier this month in prison.
Another associate claimed today that talks had been under way on a prisoner swap for
Navalny.
The U.S. State Department declined to comment.
Sweden cleared the final hurdle to NATO membership today, as Hungary's Parliament voted to ratify
its bid.
After 18 months of delays, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban acknowledged Sweden's
criticism of his right-wing government.
Still, he urged lawmakers to put aside any resentment.
VIKTOR ORBAN, Prime Minister of Hungary (through translator): There will continue to be differences
of opinion because Swedes and Hungarians are not the same.
But we look at our differences with understanding, because that is how serious nations behave.
The Swedish-Hungarian military cooperation and Sweden's accession to NATO will strengthen
Hungary's security.
GEOFF BENNETT: Finland also applied to join NATO after Russia invaded Ukraine and won
the needed unanimous consent from alliance members nearly a year ago.
Here at home, President Biden and former President Donald Trump now plan visits to the Texas
border on Thursday, as the immigration issue intensifies.
Mr. Biden will be in Brownsville, Texas, while Mr. Trump is in Eagle Pass.
That's about 325 miles away.
Both areas have seen a surge in illegal border crossings.
A former FBI informant charged with inventing a bribery scheme about the president and his
son Hunter Biden will stay jailed for now.
A federal judge in California ruled today that Alexander Smirnov might flee if he's
released.
Smirnov's accusations against Hunter Biden and President Biden were at the heart of a
House Republican impeachment inquiry, which Democrats say has now been proven baseless.
The Biden administration is moving to block a proposed merger between grocery giants Kroger
and Albertsons.
The deal, valued at $24.6 billion, would be the largest supermarket merger in U.S. history.
The Federal Trade Commission filed suit today, saying it would eliminate competition and
drive up prices.
On Wall Street, stocks lost a little ground to start the week.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 62 points to close at 39069.
The Nasdaq fell 20 points.
The S&P 500 slipped 19.
And the first U.S. moon lander in more than 50 years is expected to go dark tomorrow.
Intuitive Machines says its Odysseus craft, seen in this fish-eye view, landed sideways,
so it can't operate for a week, as planned.
Meantime, Japan says its moon lander, also resting on its side following a rough landing
last month, survived the weeks-long lunar night and is operating again.
Still to come on the "NewsHour": Tamara Keith and Amy Walter look ahead to Michigan's presidential
primary; an Afghan activist's memoir details her inspirational fight to educate women;
and artificial intelligence helps decipher ancient scrolls buried in volcanic ash.
AMNA NAWAZ: The Supreme Court heard arguments today in a highly consequential case navigating
First Amendment protections on social media.
Tech companies are taking on state laws, decrying conservative censorship online.
A decision here could fundamentally change the use of speech on the Internet.
The Supreme Court is wading into a digital age First Amendment battle.
Do social media companies have the right to decide what appears on and what's removed
from their own platforms?
That is the question at the heart of two major cases heard today by the justices.
A decision here could give government the power to change what millions of people see online.
After sites like Twitter and Facebook removed former President Donald Trump following the
January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Texas and Florida passed laws restricting how these
platforms moderate and remove content and users from their Web sites.
But tech industry groups sued the states.
ALAN GURA, Vice President for Litigation, Institute for Free Speech: Whether it happens
to a conservative group or to a liberal group or to any other kind of group, OK, people
in America should be able to access the modern public square to express themselves.
It does tend to be conservative groups that are under the thumb more of some of these
social media sites.
AMNA NAWAZ: Alan Gura with the Institute for Free Speech filed an amicus brief with conservative
activist group Moms for Liberty in support of the states.
ALAN GURA: Moms for Liberty had a problem.
The teachers union, their sort of traditional political adversary, went to Facebook and
put pressure on Facebook and said, look, the people who are promoting disinformation, and,
instead, Moms' chapters saw all kinds of post blocked, things that were very innocuous,
things like, are you ready to run for school board or questions about, hey, does anybody
know what curriculum is being used by a school district?
DAVID GREENE, Electronic Frontier Foundation: I think we can all agree that content moderation
is a process is really problematic.
I don't think the right solution to that is to give the government the ability to impose
its own editorial viewpoints on private actors.
I think that's a dangerous power to hand the government.
AMNA NAWAZ: David Greene is with the Electronic Frontier Foundation and filed a brief opposing
the states.
DAVID GREENE: Social media sites have a First Amendment right to curate and edit their sites
according to their own curatorial and editorial philosophies and policies.
That is a right that others in their position have, whether they be art curators or parade
organizers.
AMNA NAWAZ: But are tech companies publishers.
Gura and the states don't think so.
ALAN GURA: Whose speech is it?
And nobody thinks that your speech is the company's speeches.
Obviously, your speech, if I pick up the phone and talk to you today, it won't be AT&T's
speech, and AT&T can't unplug me because they don't like my politics.
AMNA NAWAZ: That back-and-forth is what the justices themselves navigated today.
Marcia Coyle was in the courtroom and joins us now.
Marcia, it's great to see you.
MARCIA COYLE: Good to see you.
AMNA NAWAZ: These are big issues here, free speech and content moderation and social media
platforms.
How did the justices seem to be navigating and examining these issues today?
MARCIA COYLE: Well, I think it's a difficult one.
Just as you said, for many levels, they're having trouble.
And -- but they asked good questions.
Most of the arguments focused on, as one of your speakers just said, whether social media
platforms fall into a category of newspaper publishers, where they can pretty much determine
how they use the content they have, or are they more like common carriers, such as a
telegraph or anything that carries a message from point A to B, but doesn't do anything
else?
So they also struggled with language.
Justice Alito asked at one point, well, what is content moderation?
Is it just another way of saying censorship?
And there were other words, too, that created problems.
So this is a difficult case for them on more levels than just determining which category
to put social media platforms into.
AMNA NAWAZ: I mean, the concerns around censorship online have long been more of a conservative
issue.
Did we hear questions from the conservative justices that seemed to align with that view
or to challenge it?
MARCIA COYLE: No, not at all.
And it seemed as though, as they struggled with the categories of newspapers versus common
carriers, that they weren't focused at all on politics or ideology.
This is clearly an attempt to become very familiar with what social media does, what
these platforms do.
And that's one of the problems that they're having in the case.
They didn't know how broadly these laws sweep.
Justice Barrett, for example, pointed out, well, some say these laws could cover Venmo,
Uber, e-mail.
AMNA NAWAZ: Not just limited to social media platforms.
MARCIA COYLE: Exactly, e-mail, direct messaging.
And they don't know.
In fact, as they asked the lawyers, they said, well, they might -- it might cover them.
And why don't they know?
Because the way the case came to the Supreme Court, there was no trial below on the merits
to flesh all this out through discovery.
AMNA NAWAZ: Well, I want to ask you about the arguments on both sides of the debate
here.
And we did speak earlier with Jameel Jaffer of The Knight Institute, who argues that actually
both sides of the debate have some merit to their arguments.
Take a listen.
JAMEEL JAFFER, Knight First Amendment Institute: Everybody involved in it claims to be a champion
of free speech and the First Amendment.
You have the social media platforms claiming that they are speakers and editors here and
that these laws are a form of censorship of their First Amendment-protected activity.
And on the other side, then you have the states arguing that these laws are intended to protect
the free speech rights of social media platforms' users.
The truth is that everybody has a point.
You need to find a way of accounting for all of the First Amendment interests in play here.
AMNA NAWAZ: Marcia, for an issue as core as free speech, we're talking about the First
Amendment here, and as broad and influential as these social media platforms, what are
the implications of a decision like this?
MARCIA COYLE: Well, it depends on who wins and who loses.
If the platforms lose, they claim that they will have to put all kind of speech on their
platforms, the good, the bad, and the ugly.
And their desire, their rules that they have to try to get a handle on hate speech, on
bullying, they will have to also put up pro-bullying and pro-hate speech, that they just will not
be able to exercise the editorial discretion they have.
On the other hand, the states don't think that there's going to be a parade of horribles,
that there are other ways to deal with that kind of bad speech.
AMNA NAWAZ: So does all of this say to you that the justices are more likely to try to
keep this as narrow as possible?
MARCIA COYLE: Yes, it does.
In fact, I think, because they don't know how broadly the law sweeps, they did talk
-- I will say, though, that it seemed to me they were more inclined to view platforms
as closer to newspapers and publishers than to common carriers.
But because they don't know how broad the law sweeps, they did talk about keeping injunctions
that are in place right now that temporarily keep the laws on hold, but sending the cases
back to the lower court in order to flesh out a lot of these issues.
AMNA NAWAZ: We should mention too this is one of a handful of cases the justices are
considering about social media.
Precedent here is hard, right?
A lot of it predates the Internet era.
What should we understand about why the justices are taking up these cases and how they're
viewing them?
MARCIA COYLE: Amna, I think this is just the inevitability of how things have changed and
there are challenges and they come to the court.
So I'm not surprised that they're getting more and more into this and having more and
more cases come to them.
Just this term, not only do we have the two cases from Florida and Texas, but there are
two additional cases that they already heard arguments in that really involve public officials
and how they use their Web sites and whether they can block commenters on their Web sites.
So, I think we're going to see these cases come in a variety of situations.
And it's a new world for the justices.
For many of them, it's a new world.
AMNA NAWAZ: A lot to make sense of at the Supreme Court.
We're so glad you're here to help us do it all
(LAUGHTER)
AMNA NAWAZ: Marcia Coyle, thank you so much.
Great to see you.
MARCIA COYLE: My pleasure, Amna.
GEOFF BENNETT: There's some relief for the 20-million-plus people in the U.S. who have
food allergies, many of whom face severe dangers.
A new study in "The New England Journal of Medicine" reports that the drug known as Xolair
allows people to tolerate higher doses of allergenic foods before developing a reaction
after an accidental exposure.
The FDA earlier this month expanded approval of Xolair to include treatment for anyone
1 year or older.
We're joined now by the study's principal investigator, Dr. Robert Wood of the Johns
Hopkins Children's Center.
Thanks so much for being with us.
And we should say that there is no cure for food allergies, but how much of a game changer
is this, especially for children?
DR.
ROBERT WOOD, Johns Hopkins Children's Center: Yes.
We have gone from essentially having no treatment for food allergy, literally just telling people
to avoid what you're allergic to and carry your emergency medicines if you have an accidental
exposure.
So going from there to here is really an enormous change for the world of food allergy.
GEOFF BENNETT: And for people with severe food allergies, there's so much fear and anxiety.
I know you say you have teenage patients who've never been to a restaurant because their families
are concerned about exposure.
They don't take trips on airplanes for the same reason.
How might this improve quality of life for people?
DR.
ROBERT WOOD: Yes, that's really one of the big issues.
Reactions happen.
They can be really dangerous, but a lot of the burden of having a food allergy does relate
to that day-to-day fear of, is this the day that he or she is going to have that accidental
exposure at school, and is this the day they're going to die?
Now, those things are not that common, but the anxiety that people live with is very
real and really a daily burden.
GEOFF BENNETT: How does Xolair work for people with severe food allergies?
DR.
ROBERT WOOD: What it's basically doing is blocking the antibodies that our immune systems
make if you're going to develop an allergy.
And that's called an IgE antibody, and Xolair is called anti-IgE.
So it literally acts to bind, to sort of mop up all the IgE in your system so that you're
going to be less prone to have a reaction, especially with a small exposure.
GEOFF BENNETT: Is this a lifelong commitment for people who choose this treatment?
And I ask the question, one, because of the cost.
The list price is as high as $5,000 a month for adults, typically lower based on insurance,
obviously.
And it's not a really easy drug to take.
It's taken by injection every two to four weeks, which might be tough for children who
don't like getting shots.
DR.
ROBERT WOOD: Yes, it's not perfect, but the benefits for those people who really need
it will certainly outweigh the risks.
Lifetime or not, it is a medicine that is only going to work while you're on it.
So, once you stop the medicine, it will wear off, but people don't necessarily need to
be on it for life.
Some may choose -- and we have had a lot of conversations with patients saying, I'm doing
OK right now, but the day I leave for college, I want to be on this medicine because so much
of my food will be less under my control.
They may take it for those four years.
They may take it for 10.
There may be far better treatments in 10 or 15 years.
So it's not a lifetime commitment, by any means.
GEOFF BENNETT: How safe is it?
DR.
ROBERT WOOD: It's very safe.
And one of the neat things about this drug is that it's been approved now for 21 years
to treat asthma.
So, a lot of the safety as we face with any drug has been sorted out over those 21 years.
There's a warning on the drug that it could cause an allergic reaction.
Some people are actually allergic to the drug itself, but that's a fairly unusual circumstance
and we think can be managed just by careful observation.
GEOFF BENNETT: And, Dr. Wood, lastly, food allergies have been increasing in prevalence
over the last 20 years.
Do we know exactly why?
DR.
ROBERT WOOD: We do not know exactly why.
We have a lot of theories.
A lot of them relate back to this thing called the hygiene theory, saying we live in too
clean an environment.
But there are clearly many factors that go into this that may relate to our diet, other
things in our environment.
And we're still quite a ways away from really understanding this quite incredible rise in
the prevalence of food allergy.
GEOFF BENNETT: Dr. Robert Wood with the Johns Hopkins Children's Center, thanks so much
for your time this evening.
DR.
ROBERT WOOD: You're welcome.
Thanks.
GEOFF BENNETT: A campaign for Michigan voters to boycott President Biden in Tuesday's primary
has picked up momentum.
Some Muslim and Arab Americans are hoping to send a clear message to the president after
months of frustration, they say, with the administration's handling of the war in Gaza.
In Michigan, a winter of political discontent.
PROTESTERS: Free, free Palestine!
GEOFF BENNETT: Ahead of that state's presidential primary, President Biden's handling of the
Israel-Hamas war is top of mind for many Democratic voters.
Now some Democratic activists and local leaders are organizing a protest vote against the
president, encouraging voters to tick uncommitted on their ballots.
MOHAMMAD ALAM, National Chair, American Muslim Political Action Committee: Joe Biden failed
himself.
Joe Biden failed the humanity.
So Muslim American community, our message, yes, indeed, February 27 in Michigan, we are
voting uncommitted.
MAHMOUDA CHOWDHURI, Michigan Resident: We need to show President Biden and all the other
candidates that we support Palestine.
We don't support our U.S. tax dollars going towards Israel to ethnically cleanse Palestine.
GEOFF BENNETT: With more than 200,000 Muslim and Arab American voters in Michigan, their
message remains clear.
Without them, there's no winning the state.
Over the weekend, Democratic leaders like Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer urged voters
to think about what a protest vote might yield.
GOV.
GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): It's important not to lose sight of the fact that any vote that's
not cast for Joe Biden supports a second Trump term.
I am encouraging people to cast an affirmative vote for President Biden.
I understand the pain that people are feeling and I will continue to work to build bridges
with folks in all of these communities.
GEOFF BENNETT: As a Biden-Trump rematch becomes more of a reality after a 20-point victory
for Mr. Trump in South Carolina...
DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate:
That is really something.
This was a little sooner that we anticipated.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
DONALD TRUMP: It was an even bigger win than we anticipated.
GEOFF BENNETT: ... it hasn't deterred South Carolina's former Governor Nikki Haley from
forging ahead to Michigan.
NIKKI HALEY (R), Presidential Candidate: I said earlier this week that, no matter what
happens in South Carolina, I would continue to run for president.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
NIKKI HALEY: I'm a woman of my word.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
GEOFF BENNETT: Haley's still trying to carve out a lane of her own.
NIKKI HALEY: It is why we must have a new generational leader.
And you're not going to get peace if you're like Joe Biden putting your head in the sand
or if you're like Donald Trump, where he's saying don't pay attention to the rest of
the world, just live in our own little bubble.
GEOFF BENNETT: And while some Haley supporters in Michigan say they're hopeful...
JESSICA MCATEE, Michigan Voter: I really hope that more voters come out and really support
her, because I think that she really represents the new way that we need to go, instead of
just going back to what we did with Trump.
GEOFF BENNETT: ... they're not necessarily optimistic.
SCOTT TOWNSEND, Michigan Voter: So I'm happy to hear what she has to say, but I think,
from a numbers perspective, very basic straw poll, for myself, it doesn't seem like the
support is there.
GEOFF BENNETT: For the political stakes of South Carolina, Michigan and beyond, we turn
to our Politics Monday team.
That's Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report With Amy Walter and Tamara Keith of NPR.
So, lots to discuss.
I'm very glad you both are here.
Let's start with this protest vote against President Biden in Michigan.
The organizers say it's not an anti-Biden effort.
They say it's a protest vote on humanitarian grounds.
How do you see this playing out politically?
AMY WALTER, The Cook Political Report: This is going to be very interesting as we go forward,
because in Michigan we know that this group in particular is aiming to get at least 10,000
people to vote uncommitted.
And 10,000, by the way, is the margin by which Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton in 2016,
in what was a very big surprise on election night.
So it is both showing their displeasure with what is happening in Gaza, but also saying,
do not ignore us or our concerns, and don't take us for granted.
In fact, when I was talking to some folks over the weekend in Michigan, they said, a
lot of what's happening in Michigan with this frustration has been building for a lot longer
than just the time of the war in Gaza, that -- the sense that these communities have been
taken for granted by Democrats, they aren't doing the sort of caring and watering and
feeding of them that they should do.
And it is also about the fact that in these states, whether it is -- I know we're going
to talk about South Carolina a minute -- whether it's losing voters to, in South Carolina,
those who didn't vote for Trump, but voted for Haley, or getting these uncommitted voters,
these are the kinds of margins that can determine whether you win or lose.
And it is for Biden a group of voters that nationally are worrisome in terms of keeping
into his coalition, particularly voters of color and younger voters.
GEOFF BENNETT: Tam, how worried is the Biden campaign about this?
I mean, what are they telling you?
TAMARA KEITH, National Public Radio: They're saying they're going to keep fighting for
these voters, that they are not going to give up on their votes.
And they also do point to numbers that say that 10,000 is really unambitious.
It is highly likely that more than 10,000 people will vote uncommitted, because go back
cycle after cycle after cycle, and way more than 10,000, something like 20,000 people
have voted uncommitted going back years and years and years.
However, the president does have a problem.
The White House and the Biden campaign acknowledge that there's a group of voters, a significant
group of voters that is really upset.
And the president is in a difficult position because he has made a calculation based on
global alliances and history and his experience and all of these other things related to Israel.
He held Netanyahu close initially.
Literally, I watched him hug him on the tarmac in Tel Aviv right after October 7.
And that worked very well for President Biden with Jewish voters, who are also a very important
constituency.
And also Biden believed it was the right move politically, hug him close in public, privately
push for better policy outcomes.
Well, President Biden really badly wants a cease-fire or -- they won't use that term,
but a significant pause.
They want the hostages back.
They need this situation to move to a better place for humanitarian reasons, for policy
reasons, but also for political reasons, because it is a big, gaping sore for President Biden
with key voters, younger voters and voters of color, and particularly Muslim American
voters.
GEOFF BENNETT: Let's talk about South Carolina, because Nikki Haley finished 20 points behind
Donald Trump.
As we saw in the piece, she's still vowing to stay in the race.
Her campaign says she raised $1 million the day after the loss, but she, as we all know,
lost the financial backing of that super PAC that's backed by the Koch brothers, that powerful
donor network.
What is her endgame?
What's her strategy moving forward?
AMY WALTER: I know.
GEOFF BENNETT: Just amass as many delegates and see what happens?
AMY WALTER: Yes, that seems to be part of it.
And, also, when you talk to folks who are either involved or watching from the periphery,
there is a sense that she's just enjoying herself, enjoying this moment.
She is getting national attention.
To me, the biggest question going forward is whether she, at the end, will endorse Donald
Trump, whether what we're seeing right now is actually a movement to take away a constituency
from Donald Trump.
If she's going to say, I'm here to tell these voters, the ones who showed up for me in November,
do not go and rally behind Donald Trump, that would be incredibly significant.
What we also know, much like we do in Michigan, is the kinds of people who are showing up
for Nikki Haley are the kinds of voters that Republicans have been bleeding in the era
of Trump, pretty significantly, white college-educated suburban voters.
Now, we don't know that all of these voters who voted for Nikki Haley were ever thinking
about voting for Trump.
Maybe they voted for Biden last time around.
But, again, that's why Michigan and South Carolina are really fascinating, because they
both highlight the challenges that these two men have in what we know will be a very, very
close contest in the fall of keeping every member of their coalition their team.
They can't afford for them to defect, or stay home, or vote third party.
GEOFF BENNETT: And, Tam, on that point, going back and looking at my notes from this election
cycle, 49 percent of Republican caucus-goers didn't support Donald Trump in Iowa, 45 percent
of New Hampshire Republican primary voters didn't vote for him, and then you have 40
percent of Republican voters in South Carolina who supported Nikki Haley.
What does that say about Donald Trump's weaknesses as a candidate?
TAMARA KEITH: Well, Nikki Haley would tell you it says a lot about Donald Trump's weaknesses
as a candidate.
And those weaknesses are real and they are there.
But the issue for Republican voters and for the Republican primary is, there isn't an
alternative that is more popular than former President Trump.
So, Nikki Haley is not going to win the primary.
It's just not going to happen.
And, yes, there are very real concerns among Republicans about what happens in the general
election.
It's a big part of Nikki Haley's stump speech that Biden polls better against Trump than
he does against her.
But the reality is that, once former President Trump really is the nominee, there will be
a lot of consolidation.
Those 40 percent, some large share of them are Republican voters who are going to return
home.
Some share of them are not.
Some of them are Democrats voting in open primaries.
And some of them are never-Trump Republicans who are trying to find a home.
And it's not clear whether the Biden campaign, which has their eyes on them, will be able
to persuade them to vote for him, or whether they will stay home or vote for Mike Pence
or Mickey Mouse.
GEOFF BENNETT: Well, in the meantime, Donald Trump wants a leadership change at the Republican
National Committee in an effort to install loyalists, including potentially his daughter-in-law.
Ronna McDaniel, the current chair, says she's stepping down effective March 8.
This will be after a Super Tuesday.
What's the significance of this, Amy?
AMY WALTER: We have been talking about this now for so long, but the party is Donald Trump
and Donald Trump is the party, and this is just the latest example of this.
It's not just that it is his daughter-in-law taking over, but it's loyalists with his campaign
who will also be installed over at the RNC.
We're seeing at the state party level loyalists to Donald Trump who are running the party.
In some cases, there's friction between those loyalists and others in the party that has
led to complete paralysis in the state -- in a like Michigan for example.
But we also, I think, can look at this as a reality check to what a Trump 2.0 presidency
would look like, which is, whether it is at the RNC or it will be in government positions
or at the White House, only those who are the most loyal to Donald Trump will get those
positions.
Remember, back in 2016 and when he was in the White House in 2017, he kind of was working
with the establishment.
It's also true that the establishment now is more Trumpy than ever when you look at
what Congress looks like.
The folks who have come in since Trump's election in 2017 look a lot more like him than those
-- quote, unquote -- "traditional Republicans" who were around before he was elected.
GEOFF BENNETT: And McDaniel put out a statement, part of which reads: "The RNC has historically
undergone change once we have a nominee, and it has always been my intention to honor that
tradition."
Donald Trump is trying to make these changes before he is the nominee.
TAMARA KEITH: Well, yes, but he also has already stacked the deck in a way that it's basically
inevitable that he will be the nominee.
He will go into California, he will go into Michigan, a bunch of these states that are
coming up, and he will get basically all the delegates, if not all of the delegates, and
the math is just completely and totally in his favor, in part because of his sway over
various state parties.
GEOFF BENNETT: And it was designed that way.
TAMARA KEITH: And it was by design.
GEOFF BENNETT: Yes.
Tamara Keith and Amy Walter, thanks so much.
TAMARA KEITH: You're welcome.
AMY WALTER: You're welcome.
AMNA NAWAZ: When the Taliban roared back to power in Afghanistan in 2021, education activist
Pashtana Durrani, then just 24 years old, already had some 7,000 girls enrolled in her
organization called LEARN Afghanistan.
The schools were shuttered.
Pashtana was forced to flee.
And she's now living in exile here in the U.S., still working to educate girls in secret
back home.
I spoke with Pashtana earlier today about her remarkable life story told in her new
book, "Last to Eat, Last to Learn."
And I began by asking her about the title.
PASHTANA DURRANI, Author, "Last to Eat, Last to Learn: My Life in Afghanistan Fighting
to Educate Women": It's basically about the daughters or the first daughters who are always
choosing the last ones to be the ones who eat the last because they have to do all the
chores.
They have to pick up after everyone and they have to take care of everyone.
And then the same methodology with me and my co-author, we thought about it, and we
were like, they're also chosen the last ones to actually learn, because they have to take
care of everyone before they choose themselves to learn.
So it's basically a dedication to all of them, especially girls, young girls, because they're
chosen last to do everything.
So it's last to eat, last to learn.
AMNA NAWAZ: This is your message to all of them out there in Afghanistan.
PASHTANA DURRANI: Yes.
Yes.
AMNA NAWAZ: But that wasn't how you were raised.
Your father made sure you were raised very differently.
PASHTANA DURRANI: Yes.
AMNA NAWAZ: Why?
PASHTANA DURRANI: I mean, because that's, again, the thing.
I was -- the day I was born, my dad was like, oh, no, this is going to be my son.
So I had all the privilege as a son.
If I was raised as an elder daughter, I would have definitely been one of those girls.
So, for me, it was very different.
But, then again, I witnessed all of that throughout my life.
And, consciously, I had to make that choice to make sure that this is talked about.
But, personally, I was raised in a very privileged life, and I was raised very nicely, and I
talked over everyone, and I was pretty loud, yes.
I was a very spoiled kid, yes, definitely.
AMNA NAWAZ: Even though you spent much of your life growing up in a refugee camp in
Pakistan, you made the decision to go back to Afghanistan.
Your father had been going back and forth.
And you started an organization so that other girls could learn, the same way you did.
Tell me about that organization and why that was important.
PASHTANA DURRANI: When I was in high school, that was the first time I realized that we
are in a refugee camp.
Like, this is not the country that we were supposed to be in, you know?
And the discrimination came with it and everything came with it.
And we were seen differently, wearing a scarf, or the way my father used to dress up in a
turban or something.
That was all seen differently.
And then, most importantly, it was probably me following him wanting to go back to Afghanistan.
But, at that point, I was so crazily in love with Afghanistan, I was like, I need to go
back.
Like, I want to go back.
Then, at the same time, when I ended up in Afghanistan, the first thing I saw was like,
even in our own country, we didn't have access to the rights that we are entitled to, that
the Constitution entitled us to.
So, for me, the most important thing was with that group that I resonated most with was
those young girls, my own cousins.
And we say in Pashto or in Islam that charity begins at home.
So we had to start at home with all the efforts.
And that's how LEARN came into being, because I really wanted my cousins to go to school.
I wanted my family members to end up accessing the same education that I had or the people
in refugee camp had.
So that's why.
AMNA NAWAZ: And when the Taliban reclaimed power in 2021, you had to shut down your schools.
They banned most girls from going to school after a certain grade.
You had to flee because you yourself were targeted.
But you're still running the organization from afar.
How?
How many girls are you still able to teach and how are they able to study?
PASHTANA DURRANI: Oh, it's an effort.
(LAUGHTER)
PASHTANA DURRANI: It's an effort.
I -- in the middle of the night, we're sometimes talking to the students.
Sometimes, we have to do meetings at 3:00 a.m. even today.
But at the same time, I think it's so rewarding.
It's so rewarding.
We do a lot of our work in person.
More than 300 girls go to school every day, walk to school every day.
So that's a big thing.
More than 30 teachers every day teach in person.
So that's a big deal for me.
And then more than 40 people are employed right now who are doing something amazing
like this, which is banned in Afghanistan, but whatever.
But...
AMNA NAWAZ: But it is banned.
PASHTANA DURRANI: Yes.
AMNA NAWAZ: I mean, are you worried for their safety?
PASHTANA DURRANI: Most of the time, yes.
I get extremely worried and paranoid sometimes, and I cannot sleep.
But then, other times, like, I just call them and I talk to them, and they have become part
of the family.
But then, at the same time, it's important for me because, in the next 10 years, there
might be not a person, or even if I am, might not be this young to be able to do everything.
So I would want more girls to get that empowerment and have that sort of access to opportunities
and become the people that they are.
My goal is, by the end of like 2030, we have more than 3,400 leaders who are all young
girls, who are all in those provinces, and they lead a movement that could hopefully
rebuild Afghanistan from where it has been destroyed.
AMNA NAWAZ: What about your goals for yourself?
And then we should disclose here, I was actually part of the team that did help you to evacuate.
It took months to get you out of Afghanistan.
PASHTANA DURRANI: Yes.
AMNA NAWAZ: I met you at the airport in Boston when you arrived, help you get settled at
Wellesley College, where you have built a life.
You have graduated.
You're getting your master's degree from Harvard.
You continue your work.
I mean, what does the future hold for you?
PASHTANA DURRANI: Immediately, I want to get graduated from Harvard immediately.
(LAUGHTER)
PASHTANA DURRANI: But also, at the same time, I want to build 34 schools by the end of 2025,
which is a personal goal.
AMNA NAWAZ: OK.
PASHTANA DURRANI: Big personal.
I'm also working on this nonprofit incubator that is supposed to sustain humanitarian efforts
and educational efforts in conflict zones in all different regions of the world, especially
Middle East and Central Asia and South Asia.
So, I have been working with that, at Wellesley on that, especially focusing on women.
And then, hopefully, I will continue doing what I do.
And I love what I do, so yes.
AMNA NAWAZ: What do you think your father, who I know you lost a few years ago, what
do you think he would say if he could see you now?
PASHTANA DURRANI: I think he would be extremely proud.
Like, I can say that now confidently.
But then, at the same time, I'm like, I hope -- I wish he could see it, and I hope he could
see it now.
But he definitely would be proud, yes.
AMNA NAWAZ: The author is Pashtana Durrani.
The book is "Last to Eat, Last to Learn."
Pashtana, always a pleasure to see you.
Thank you for being here.
PASHTANA DURRANI: Thank you for having me.
Thank you.
GEOFF BENNETT: And we will be back shortly to take a look at how researchers are using
A.I. to decipher previously unreadable ancient scrolls.
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 hear from the man who to the world
is known simply as Ringo.
Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr is on tour after putting out a new recording.
Jeffrey Brown spoke with him last fall for our arts and culture series, Canvas.
JEFFREY BROWN: He's youthful and fit, as recognizable as when the Beatles first took the world by
storm nearly 60 years ago, performing with his own All-Starr Band, which he's led in
various forms since 1989 and now releasing a new E.P.
titled "Rewind Forward."
For Ringo Starr the music has always been there.
RINGO STARR, Musician: That's what I do?
That's why I had a dream of 13 to be a drummer, and I hit that drum, and I knew immediately
I wanted to be a drummer.
JEFFREY BROWN: What did you hear?
I mean, what happened?
RINGO STARR: I don't know.
It's like magic.
Oh, yes, I just love music.
I love -- and I wanted to play.
And there's not a lot of point being the drummer if you have no one else.
What would you do, just me and the drums?
(LAUGHTER)
RINGO STARR: Yes, it doesn't work.
You need the others.
JEFFREY BROWN: The others would become John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison,
together, The Beatles, the most, beloved important and influential band in rock 'n' roll history.
By his mid-20s, Ringo was world-famous, giving the Beatles a backbeat and a whole lot of
personality.
But he started life as Richard Starkey, a sickly child in and out of hospitals, a poor
kid trying to make his way in working-class Liverpool, England.
We talked about it recently at the Sunset Marquis, a famed Hollywood hotel, complete
with its own NightBird recording studio in the basement.
RINGO STARR: I was always working on the railways, on the boats, in the factory forever.
JEFFREY BROWN: What was that young boy's, your hopes and dreams at that time?
And what could you imagine?
RINGO STARR: Well, it all felt like it was something I was doing until I could do what
I wanted to do, which was play.
And the first band I was in was a factory band.
We used to play at the -- in the lunch hour to the men.
And they'd all be telling us to leave, in not quite a nice way.
(LAUGHTER)
JEFFREY BROWN: He eventually joined Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, one of the top bands in
Liverpool, then got to know another up-and-coming group with a different drummer at the time,
The Beatles, up close when both bands were booked into the same Hamburg, Germany, club.
RINGO STARR: It was 12 hours at the weekend between two bands, so you get to know your
own band.
But we would try and top them.
They would try and top us.
And the top wasn't very high then, but we were still -- we want the crowd, and they
want the crowd.
So it was a great learning space.
JEFFREY BROWN: The Beatles asked Ringo to join them, and the rest, of course, is history.
And what history, especially if you were on the inside.
In the hotel's photo gallery, Ringo noticed a 1964 shot of the group with Muhammad Ali,
then still Cassius Clay.
RINGO STARR: This was, like, early and first time in America.
Like, when we flew over New York, I felt New York saying, come on down.
JEFFREY BROWN: Yes.
RINGO STARR: And we were finally in America, the land of all our music that we loved.
JEFFREY BROWN: Because you had listened to American music, I know, as a kid.
RINGO STARR: Yes.
Yes.
And I come from a port where every other house had someone who was in the merchant navy.
And they would bring records over.
And so we heard a lot of sort of country and blues and stuff that England wasn't getting
first.
JEFFREY BROWN: Yes.
And are the personalities coming out?
RINGO STARR: Yes, I think so.
(LAUGHTER)
RINGO STARR: What?
JEFFREY BROWN: Is that you?
(LAUGHTER)
RINGO STARR: Yes.
JEFFREY BROWN: They would have nearly eight years together, countless hit songs, epic
changing albums.
RINGO STARR: Someone's got hold of me finger.
JOHN LENNON, Musician: Are you trying to attract attention again?
JEFFREY BROWN: Fun-filled films.
Everyone knew The Beatles, the music and the individuals.
For Ringo, who grew up an only child, it was as personal as could be.
RINGO STARR: Got three brothers, and we were very close.
And besides the touring, when -- we always shared a room.
We only ever got two rooms.
It was important, and I think part of our makeup, that we stayed together and closeness,
and we really got to know each other and knew where we're coming from.
And that certainly happened.
JEFFREY BROWN: Ringo, behind his drum kit, sang several songs written by the others,
including this one.
(MUSIC)
JEFFREY BROWN: And though far overshadowed by his songwriting partners, he did write
a few himself.
That helped later in his post-Beatles career.
RINGO STARR: The interesting thing that not a lot of people know is that, when I'd first
present my songs, the rest of the band would be rolling on the floor laughing, because
I'd really just rewritten some other song.
It wasn't my song at all.
I just, like, reworded it.
And they would say, yes, sure.
(LAUGHTER)
RINGO STARR: But that's how I started.
I got out of that and started making my own moves.
But George was really helpful.
He produced the first couple of singles that I put out.
And God bless him.
JEFFREY BROWN: The Beatles' end in 1970 is much discussed, much debated.
Peter Jackson's 2021 documentary series "The Beatles Get Back" focused on a key final period.
Most important to Ringo, who says he loved the film, capturing their closeness, as well
as the tensions.
RINGO STARR: Peter Jackson was going to do it.
We would hook up in L.A. several times.
And we'd find parts.
And I kept telling him, we were laughing.
We were brothers.
We had arguments.
We had fun.
And we're playing with each other.
And I have -- it's not all that dark.
JEFFREY BROWN: And you wanted that to come through.
RINGO STARR: And I want it to come through, like it's a real band.
JEFFREY BROWN: After the breakup, each Beatle went solo.
Ringo, now his own front man, had a string of hits, including "It Don't Come Easy."
In fact, he says it didn't.
You have also talked about some of the difficulties there, including struggles.
RINGO STARR: Well, the first -- when it was first split up, I sat in the garden, wondering
what to do.
It was like, that's it now.
What -- you're so used to that job.
And we worked a lot.
But then, suddenly, well, it's over.
And it's really over.
Yes, I had a moment of, like, reflection.
And I started to play with other artists.
JEFFREY BROWN: And that's what he's continued to do, along with a few other things, including
acting.
He met his wife, Barbara Bach, while working together on the 1981 movie "Caveman."
RINGO STARR: This new train schedule is tommyrot, balderdash, and cuckoo.
JEFFREY BROWN: And he played Mr. Conductor on the children's series "Shining Time Station."
He marks his birthday every year with a peace and love celebration.
That, he says, is his one birthday wish.
And, most of all, the music endures.
RINGO STARR: Our audiences are bigger than they were and younger than they were.
It's really weird, far out.
And we will see.
There's no guarantee, but we're doing it with our heart a blazing.
JEFFREY BROWN: And we started talking about that young boy back in Liverpool.
RINGO STARR: It's far out, isn't it?
JEFFREY BROWN: And here -- it is, but here you are.
RINGO STARR: I live in L.A. You know how far out that is, you know?
It's weird.
JEFFREY BROWN: It's weird, but you're still going.
RINGO STARR: I'm still going, yes.
(LAUGHTER)
JEFFREY BROWN: For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jeffrey Brown in Los Angeles.
AMNA NAWAZ: Ancient scrolls that were buried in volcanic ash during the eruption of Mount
Vesuvius are now being deciphered 2,000 years later thanks in part to artificial intelligence.
Martin Stew of Independent Television News reports from Oxfordshire, England, on the
scientific effort of researchers from around the world.
MARTIN STEW: Buried under the volcanic ash from Vesuvius, Herculaneum, like Pompeii,
is a perfectly preserved time capsule of Roman life.
Some of its secrets were burnt to a crisp, scorched scrolls indecipherable, until now.
Unraveling the hidden history of these 2,000-year-old scrolls has required 21st century technology
here, a Wembley Stadium-sized synchrotron called Diamond Light Source which fires beams
of light 10 billion times brighter than the sun.
ADRIAN MANCUSO, Director of Physical Sciences, Diamond Light Source: We have a bright beam
of X-rays that comes out of the Diamond synchrotron.
They travel downstream and hit a sample.
That makes a picture.
MARTIN STEW: The team started by scanning loose fragments.
ADRIAN MANCUSO: So, the scroll looks like something you might put on your barbecue,
it's so light and burnt.
But the ink and the papyrus are almost made out of the same stuff.
So you need a bright, very brilliant X-ray beam to be able to tell the difference.
MARTIN STEW: So it's like an extreme C.T.
scan?
ADRIAN MANCUSO: It is like a C.T.
scan off on a very, very, very other level.
MARTIN STEW: Because the scrolls are too fragile to physically unroll, the unwrapping was done
digitally.
Scientists then set about decoding ink patterns using readings they'd taken from the fragments
as a kind of cipher.
To process so many images, teams around the world joined in, running A.I.-powered programs.
And Youssef was the first person to reveal a word: purple.
YOUSSEF NADER, Vesuvius Challenge Winner: I was really excited and just, like, zooming
around the apartment while waiting for the experiments to finish.
And, yes, it felt really, really amazing to actually be one of the first people to actually
do this.
MARTIN STEW: So far, only a tiny portion of the scrolls have been deciphered.
It's believed they belong to a Roman statesman, potentially Julius Caesar's father-in-law.
BRENT SEALES, University of Kentucky: We as humans are going to reconnect with a part
of our history that's incredibly difficult to connect to.
And what I would like the scrolls to reveal is something surprising or even controversial
that we don't already know about that period.
MARTIN STEW: This project has taken decades, but has proven futuristic technology can give
us a glimpse of our forgotten past.
GEOFF BENNETT: And, as always, there is more online, including a look at how the costs
of clinical trials disproportionately affects low-income communities.
AMNA NAWAZ: And join us again here tomorrow night, when we will hear from Michigan's Democratic
Party chair, as voters head to the polls for the state's presidential primaries.
And that is the "NewsHour" for tonight.
I'm Amna Nawaz.
GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.
Thanks for spending part of your evening with us.