geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on the “newshour” tonight, a bipartisan senate deal to fund border security, israel, and ukraine, looks like a no-go after house speaker johnson says it's dead on arrival. geoff: secretary of state blinken returns to the middle east to push for a cease fire and the release of hostages held

in gaza. can diplomacy prevail? >> i think it's possible you may get a break. how long that break will be and whether it can be turned into something more permanent is another matter entirely. amna: and delays in former president trump's insurrection case push his court dates further into election season. the consequences for this year's presidential contest. ♪ >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by. the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions, and friends of the "newshour," including leonard and norma klorfine, and the judy and peter blum kovler foundation. the william and flora hewlett foundation, for more than 50 years advancing ideas and supporting instituations to promote a better world.

at hewlett.org. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. amna: welcome to the "newshour." the most significant immigration reform proposal in a generation is now in the hands of the u.s. senate, after negotiators unveiled their compromise deal. the bipartisan deal would tighten asylum rules and allow

for partial border shutdowns, while increasing enforcement, and opening some new avenues for legal migration. geoff: the measure would also offer billions of dollars in assistance to ukraine, israel, and taiwan for the defense of their respective borders. congressional correspondent lisa desjardins has been digging into the bill text and the immediate reactions to it. it is good to see you. this is a significant bill, 370 pages as you well know, because i know you read through the entire thing. lisa: a lot to talk about here. there are two pieces to the bell. a very big policy on asylum and big dollars when it comes to security here and abroad. let's look at the overview. let's talk about the immigration policy. there is an overall of the asylum system and it also expands ice detention in general. it would also allow for border closures of some sorts, meeting stop and processing asylum

claims under certain circumstances. as for the national security peace, $60 billion for ukraine, $14 billion or israel. it adds up to over $115 billion. that is essentially what president biden initially requested. so the focus at the moment is on the immigration policy part. the senators who negotiated this says it was extraordinary that they were even able to get to this point. but they now have critics from both sides and are stressing to them that they see this as a once in a generation bill. >> this week the senate will begin to take action on a national security package that includes a realistic, pragmatic, and the strongest solution to the border crisis in my lifetime. >> are we as republicans going to have press conferences and complaint the border is bad and then intentionally leave it open after the worst month in american history? lisa: those were two senators

along with chris murphy of connecticut, the ones who have been behind closed doors weekends and nights for the past few wants to negotiate this out, also with the biden team on board. now they have to convince 60 senators. by my count there is just 12, with most senators not saying how they feel. geoff: president biden back when he was trying to salvage this deal said he would shut the border down using the authority granted to the president in theb -- the bill. lisa: this gets complex but think about the problems this bill is aiming to solve. the huge group of people massing at the border, many of them have crossed the border through our asylum policy, which has meant that because of a lack of detention space and the way our asylum policy works, they have entered the country almost automatically. and waited processing sometimes for years. so what this bill has done to try and address that is a few things, with this shutting down the border concept.

this would be a new authority given to dhs. under this authority, dhs could immediately deport most of the migrants encountered at the border as opposed to now, where the migrants are generally allowed in the country to wait processing. this would go into effect optionally for the dhs secretary at 4000 migrants a day. it would be mandatory at 5000 migrants a day. some conservatives have a big problem with those numbers but that is much lower than the numbers that we saw in the past few weeks for sure. i also want to mention that is a policy closure of the border. the border still has open land. this does allow the dhs secretary to continue building a border wall if they choose. geoff: what is clear is the legislation dramatically reimagines the asylum system in this country. tell us more about that. lisa: i was texting with all kinds of people last night who did not believe me in terms of what is in this.

let's go through that. the asylum proposals in here, there would be a tougher standard for people to enter the country in the first screening. the standard would move to clear and convincing. right now you just have to show convincing probability. a fraction of the people would pass that screening. if very small fraction. most would probably be denied and put into removal processing and deportation. here is a big change. right now immigration judges are making most of the decisions. it would take the immigration judge completely out of the asylum process and instead asylum officers would make that decision. it is not even clear they would be a full interview or lawyers would be present. finally this goal from the system is to do all of this. in 180 days, the entire process. while some on the left like that shortened process, some of them are highly critical saying this is so limiting that it means

very few people who are really fleeing persecution would make it through. >> i think it's a good call to reduce the amount of time it takes to review a claim. unfortunately, this bill really goes overboard and making it even harder to get an already hard benefit. so it's adding a new asylum bar that would impact many of the people who otherwise might be able to, you know, qualify for protection. lisa: that is a concern that this is really limiting and maybe a human rights concern from the left. senators who put this together say no. geoff: there is pushback from the left and the right. the gop friendly u.s. chamber of commerce came out today and said they support the legislation saying it has desperately needed reforms. why are republicans opposed to what? lisa: at least one rder patrol organization as well. they say while they like the increase in detention, that does not end catch and release.

many migrants through the system will give an alternative to detention with ankle bracelets. some say that is not enough and that this would leave people in this country able to at will move around which is something conservatives don't like but democrats say there is not proof that has been a significant problem. i spoke to a former secretary. >> i don't think it ends catch and release. you know, they talk about single adults being, being detained. well, they only have 50,000 beds. and i can guarantee you there is a lot more single adults coming across that border that need to be apprehended before they can be removed than 50,000. lisa: conservatives also wanted more limits on humanitarian parole. that is a win for the biden white house there are no limits on that in this bill. in addition to that expedited removal, fasttrack deportations, conservatives wanted that and that is also not in the bill. geoff: where is all this headed?

lisa: it is tricky. we expect a vote on this in the senate on wednesday. the three senators i talked about her moving hard to try and get those votes. it is uphill even in the senate is amazing because this is the most conservative immigration legislation we have seen in decades. but they are having to convince republicans. here is what mike johnson tweeted. he said the bill is even worse than we expected. if the bill reaches the house it will be dead on arrival. we hope from senators behind this is they can turn it around by getting a big senate vote but right now it looks pretty rough. at the same time we know there is political influence from donald trump and others. geoff: lisa desjardins, thank you very much for that great reporting. ♪ amna: in the day's other headlines, a state of emergency

covered much of southern california as a giant storm dumped a deluge. the same storm had already swamped northern california and was blamed for two deaths. stephanie sy has our report. stephanie: it's the second so-called atmospheric river to churn its way across the state in a matter of days, bringing record rainfall, life-threatening floods, and mudslides. >> i never imagined it would be this bad. stephanie: stan lathan lives in studio city. a mudslide damaged two of his neighbors' homes. >> it was very, very loud. sounded like some sort of explosion or something. the rain was very loud. we were just pretty scared. stephanie: the back-to-back storms have been fueled by moisture from the pacific says daniel swain, a climate scientist at ucla. >> an atmospheric river is, in a certain literal sense, exactly

what it sounds like, which is a highly concentrated plume or a river of atmospheric water vapor in the air above your head being pushed quickly by the winds. stephanie: those powerful winds were on full display, whipping up seafoam around the santa cruz wharf. the national weather service issued a rare hurricane force wind warning for the central coast, with gusts topping 80 miles per hour. evacuation orders and warnings were posted for santa barbara, monterey, ventura, and los angeles counties. teresa rees was one of those residents ordered to evacuate. >> i'm not sure how i'm going to handle it, so i'm just in a wait and see kind of position. i've got my sandbags. stephanie: officials were especially concerned about canyon communities that had burned in recent wildfires, putting them at high risk for flooding and mudslides. a month's worth of rain has inundated southern california in the last day alone. and more than a million people

in and around los angeles were under a flash flood warning today. as of this morning, about half a million customers across the state were still without power. daniel swain says climate change is playing a role in the severity and frequency of these storms. >> i think we can really expect to see more intense atmospheric rivers in a warming climate and more extreme precipitation events falling from them. stephanie: forecasters expect heavy to moderate rain to continue to fall on southern california until tomorrow. for the "pbs newshour," i'm stephanie sy. amna: before the back-to-back storms, california had seen below-average precipitation since october, and snowpack was just 30% of its historic average. an official mourning period began today in chile after weekend wildfires killed at least 122 people, with hundreds more missing. wind-driven flames tore through the valparaiso region.

the city of viña del mar suffered some of the worst damage. aerial footage there showed entire neighborhoods reduced to ash. officials warned the death toll is likely to rise as rescuers search homes. buckingham palace announced today britain's king charles has been diagnosed with cancer, but gave no details on which type. the king is undergoing treatment as an outpatient, and will, quote, continue to undertake state business and official paperwork as usual. but he will not make public appearances. the king is 75 years old. he ascended to the throne in september of 2022. in el salvador, the incumbent president, nayib bukele, appeared to be the landslide winner in his bid for re-election. in his first term, bukele launched a sweeping crackdown on gangs, concentrating power in his own hands. supporters poured into a plaza near the presidential palace last night as bukele claimed victory, without waiting for the official results.

>> in all of the history of the world, since the existence of democracy, never has a project won with the quantity of votes that we have won. the media says that salvadorans are oppressed, don't want emergency measures, and are afraid of the government. let god show the journalists this night of total freedom and total security. amna: el salvador's constitution bars presidents from holding consecutive terms, but a court allied with bukele re-interpreted that ban, allowing him to run again. back in this country, an oversight board called out meta today over manipulated media on facebook and its potential effects on elections. the panel said an altered video of president biden showed the platform's current rules don't work. in a statement, it said meta's policy is, quote, incoherent and confusing to users, and fails to clearly specify the harms it is seeking to prevent. there's yet more trouble for boeing. the company says a supplier has found improperly drilled holes

in some undelivered 737 max jetliners. boeing says the holes do not pose a safety issue, but deliveries of about 50 planes may be delayed. it's the latest red flag after a door plug blew off a 737 max last month. and on wall street, stocks gave ground over fears that the economy is still too strong to allow for lower interest rates. the dow jones industrial average lost 274 points to close at 38,380. the nasdaq fell 31 points. and the s&p 500 was down 15. and this year's grammy awards winners are in the books, with women leading the way. taylor swift set a record last night, taking home album of the year for the fourth time. miley cyrus earned her first grammys, including record of the year. and tracy chapman and luke combs performed a duet of "fast car," her hit from 1988 that he covered last year. overnight, the original shot to number one on the i-tunes charts.

still to come on the "newshour," tamara keith and amy walter break down the latest political headlines. a look at the overlap between former president trump's court and election calendars. a poet turned author discusses his new novel about a young iranian-american struggling with survivor's guilt. plus much more. >> this is the "pbs newshour" from weta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: secretary of state antony blinken began a four-day tour of the middle east today, hoping to make progress on a deal to pause the war in gaza and release israeli hostages. the biden administration hopes that deal could lead to larger diplomatic initiatives across the region. but how realistic is that? nick schifrin takes a closer look.

nick: in the heart of gaza city, in neighborhoods they thought they'd cleared, israeli soldiers fight courtyard, to courtyard, and floor, by floor. the've been assaulting this city for months, but hamas militants still fight back. the fiercest combat is in the south in khan younis, a city of half a million that is increasingly filled with smoke, and destruction. israel's defense forces said soldiers raided a booby trapped training facility for hamas' october 7 terrorist attacks. israel says it has now destroyed 18 of hamas' 24 battalions, on its way to what prime minister netanyahu called israel's unchangeable military goal. >> total victory is the only way -- nick: but the first agreement has to be between israel and hamas. israel has agreed to stop the

war for six weeks, in exchange for hamas' releasing 30 to 35 older women and children. the other 100 or so hostages would be released over at least two more phases. hamas says it is considering the outline, and would respond soon. until the guns stop, back in khan younis, palestinians such as hussam ahmed abu-haitham return home, despite the risk of being shot. he salvages what he can. >> we came here yesterday and came here today to get what is left over from our homes. of course, it's total destruction, as you can see. nick: local hospitals are mostly destroyed. so palestinian red crescent workers operate out of tents, doing what they can to treat injuries. ibrahim abu-alkas is a paramedic. >> the free people of the world need to come up with an instant solution to end the struggle of the palestinian population as a collective, and especially the medical teams that are daily subjected to murder or injury. nick: and gazans do not have

enough humanitarian aid. rafah now hosts than a million people, nearly half the gaza strip. at this charity kitchen, the lines are long and supply is limited. we ask the president of the united states to help the people of gaza. instead of helping israel with rockets and bombardments, he should look at how much the people are struggling to get a plate of food or a loaf of bread. nick: increasing aid to gaza is one of secretary of state antony blinken's goals on his fifth trip to the middle east since october. he met for nearly two hours saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman, who still holds out the promise of diplomatic normalization with israel. but saudi leaders have made clear that normalization isn't possible without quote, irrevocable steps toward a palestinian state. u.s. officials hope a pause in the fighting and hostage deal could lead to progress on larger issues, reconstructing gaza, reforming the palestinian authority, developing gaza governance, and, finally,

normalization and two states. now we get two perspectives. aaron david miller is a senior fellow at the carnegie endowment for international peace and a longtime state department official in both democratic and republican administrations. and khaled elgindy is a senior fellow at the middle east institute where he also directs the program on palestine and israeli-palestinian affairs. he has participated in previous israeli palestinian negotiations. thank you very much to both of you. let's start with what's on the table right now. and this is the hamas hostage deal. so far, hamas has refused any deal that doesn't say the words permanent cease fire. this deal does not have that. is it still possible, do you think, to get a hamas-israel hostage for a pause deal? khaled: i think it's possible. i think what hamas will look for, short of exactly those words, will be some assurances that a temporary pause would be

treated as an effective cease fire. so if they can get those kinds of assurances, from the united states in particular, then i think hamas could be persuaded to go along. nick: aaron david miller, this is a longer pause in the american nomenclature than we've had in the past. could that six week pause become effectively a cease fire? aaron: frankly, i think the israelis will be operating in gaza for months to come, even if this hostage deal actually materializes. and whatever commitments the israeli make to a permanent, quote-unquote, cease fire, i think all bets are off. they're determined, i think, to identify, find, and eliminate key hamas leaders that were responsible for october 7. so i think it's possible you make it a break. how long that break will be and whether it could be turned into something more permanent is another matter entirely. nick: let us zoom all the way out.

the pot at the end of this rainbow, as i said, is saudi israel normalization. what the saudis are now calling irrevocable steps toward a two-state solution. is that possible with the biden administration as mediator and this israeli government? khaled: i think it is certainly possible that the parties, the saudis, the israelis, the americans, could strike a formula that works for the three of them. i'm not sure that it will be meaningful in the end, but it might be enough to persuade all sides to attach their names to it. i think the problem isn't with getting people to accept a state. you know, even donald trump had a plan for a palestinian state. as devoid of meaning and sovereignty as it was. i think what would be far more useful is if the united states in particular were talking about laying out a clear plan for ending israel's occupation, both in gaza but also in the west bank and jerusalem.

if the plan were focused on ending israel's occupation, then it would be much more meaningful. but as it stands, sure, statehood, a palestinian state, a two-state solution, these are throwaway lines that have been agreed to and ignored in the past. nick: aaron david miller, should the u.s. be more focused on israeli occupation than talking about two states? aaron: well, any meaningful commitment to palestinian statehood by the israeli government that we're serious about negotiating a deal and a palestinian partner that was serious well is going to bring about, must bring about the end of israel's occupation. i do agree with khaled that i think such a deal as possible. i'm concerned by it. i think we risk overpaying the saudis in bilateral mutual defense treaty. i think we've concluded one with any country since the 1960 u.s.-japan treaty was revised. giving the saudis access to

american tech nuclear technology without allowing them to control the fuel cycle, that's a huge blow to our proliferation policy. and i also worry that in the i don't think israeli-saudi normalization is the key to ending the israeli-palestinian conflict. nick: that outside to in policy was started by the trump administration and was continued by the biden administration. is there a palestinian partner and is there a quote unquote, revitalize, to use blinken's word, revitalize palestinian authority? khaled: what's more important than a revitalized palestinian authority is to have a revitalized palestinian leadership. whether it's the palestinian authority is irrelevant. what palestinians need is a national leadership. and that speaks for all palestinians, both inside and

outside the occupied territories. that we don't have. mahmoud abbas is not that leader. he's been parochial, he's been ineffective, he's been weak. i think it is possible to imagine a different palestinian internal political configuration, but it's something that palestinians have to do. they're on their own. but i would add to that leadership equation, the united states. the united states has not been an effective broker. it has not managed this crisis well. it has actually taken, i think, very reckless decisions from the get go, giving israel a green light with no red lines of any sort. and we are now four months into this horror in gaza and they sort of painted themselves into a corner. and the ability to connect with people on both sides. right now, the biden be less, quote, reckless, less painted into a corner and more empathetic? aaron: it would be really,

really difficult. the empathy part, i think, is sadly lacking. but i think that lack of empathy is important. as to whether the united states could be a credible broker, we're facing probably among the most consequential elections in american history. the real question, i think, for the administration, since governing is about choosing, is whether in this kind of an election year, this administration is prepared to be risk ready when it comes to israeli-palestinian peacemaking, not risk averse. the israeli side, peace is the easy part. it's whether or not the united states will be a credible mediator if in fact -- and i don't think we are talking about happening anytime soon -- if you ended up with an israeli-palestinian negotiations -- last time, camp david, i was there, didn't succeed. we were facing gaps that were way, way, way too large. but we also didn't take charge of the summit. we need to be credible.

we need to apply honey when it counts, assurances to both parties. we also have to apply plenty of vinegar, disincentives. nobody is going to plant a tree in your honor if you make peace between israelis and palestinians, it's a tough lift. nick: is there not an advantage to having an administration that is talking to the palestinians, unlike the trump administration, and at least saying to the region, this is where we're going? this is, as i said earlier, the pot of the end of the rainbow? khaled: yeah, if we're looking at things in absolute minimalist terms, sure. i mean, that's that's the bare minimum required is the ability to talk to both sides. but it's more important to go beyond that and actually understand where the two sides are coming from. the united states has always struggled with trying to connect, with, understand, have empathy for palestinians. but this administration, i think, has a much bigger blindspot than any previous administration that i've ever seen.

nick: aaron david miller, quickly, would benjamin netanyahu be willing to jettison his right wing coalition if offered a deal that would end with normalization with saudi arabia? aaron: i'm betting he's going to rely on what he knows, a right wing israeli government. if he goes for the deal, he's going to end up with new partners. and those partners don't have much trust for mr. netanyahu on trial for bribery, fraud, breach of trust in jerusalem, district court. i suspect if he goes through this deal, far from this being his legacy, i think it's going to number his days. nick: aaron david miller, khalid elgindy, thank you very much to you both. khaled: thank you. aaron: thank you. ♪ amna: we return now to the immigration and national security bill. democrat chris murphy of

connecticut is one of the three negotiators of the agreement and he joins we now from capitol hill. my colleague reported earlier on some of the details in the bill. also reported that house speaker johnson says the bill is dead on arrival. where is the path forward now and what is your understanding of what house republicans would agree to at this point? sen. murphy: let's go back and understand why we are here. last fall democrats try to pass funding for ukraine necessary in order to stop russia from succeeding in their invasion. senate republicans said to us we are not willing to support ukraine funding without border provisions. we engaged for four months in a good-faith negotiation on the border in part because we know the president needs new authorities to control the number of people who are crossing. and we achieved that agreement to allow the president to shut down the border when crossings get very high, that dramatically reforms the asylum system so it doesn't take 10 years any longer

to get a claim process. and lets more people into the country legally with an expansion of family and employment visas. but now republicans seem to be getting cold feet because donald trump and his allies in the house have said we don't want to pass any bipartisan border reform. we would rather leave the border open in chaotic because it will help president trump his upcoming reelection. i still believe there are enough republicans in good faith in the senate that we can get this past, and if we do then i think that show of bipartisan support for the border, fixing the border in ukraine, can maybe unlock a pathway forward in the house. amna: you have faced criticism from your fellow democrats, progressives in particular, saying democrats are giving into extremist views. president biden and summit -- and senate democrats have fallen into the same trap again. are you worried the bill can alienate your progressive base?

sen. murphy: there has been nothing done on immigration in washington in 40 years because both parties have refused to come to the middle and try to find some common ground. this is an old-fashioned compromise, one we do not often see in washington these days in which there will be some democrats that vote no and a lot more republicans that vote no. what we have achieved i think is important. the reality is this country cannot handle 10,000 people coming every day to our southern border with the resources that we have. we should not be ok with an asylum claim taking a decade before it is ultimately processed. so the reforms we are making here are going to make more sense than a broken immigration system. it is not everything that the left or the right wants but i think our job is to come here and find these tough compromises. amna: the bill has some $20 billion for the border but the bulk of the money is for ukraine, some $60 billion of

critical funding for their war against russia. if there is no path forward for this particular bill, how else could you move that aid in some kind of expedited way to ukraine? sen. murphy: right now republicans have not identified any other path. the reason why we are talking about these provisions being put together is because republicans demanded it. and so we cannot forget the reason why we are at this moment. but i think we need to call speaker johnson's bluff. i think he does not want the senate bill to succeed because he knows they will be enormous pressure from some elements of his own caucus that supported ukraine funding to bring it up for a vote in the house. i think the senate needs to do the right thing. the right thing is to support this bipartisan compromise that fixes are border and gets funding to ukraine. and then hopefully that changes some realities in the house. i have not heard at better plan from any republicans who right now seem content to sit on the

sidelines and complain but not actually get in the room. amna: to be clear, you think if this is able to pass in a senate, that creates enough pressure to change the dynamics in the house? what have you seen that leads you to believe that will be true? sen. murphy: i am saying i do not know what the alternative plan is. speaker johnson right now is just offering complaints. he is not actually proposing any bipartisan solution to fund ukraine and fix the border. in the reality is there are two parties in washington. republicans do not get to dictate everything that happens here. that is why i reached out to senator langford and why he reached out to me and why we have forged this bipartisan compromise. until i hear a better idea on how to get a bipartisan compromise, the one we have achieved is the only one to pass into law. amna: i have to ask about another provision in the bill that includes aid for gaza among

other places. but it strips funding for the u.n. agency operating inside of gaza. we have heard they are the only group of actually capable of delivering aid on the ground. is there any group on the ground that can get the aid where it needs to go? sen. murphy: i do. unrwa has been a very effective group in getting aid to people. we are also learning that groups -- elements of unrwa was compromised. this was a demand of republicans, the only way they were able to support any humanitarian aid into gaza was to strip out that money. we did not feel it was the responsible thing to abandon humanitarian aid completely. and we know that groups like the red crescent and the world food program, other smaller not-for-profit actors on the ground can get this key

humanitarian aid out. so we believe that we can find good and responsible vetted partners. we also believe some of our allies in and around the region and europe be able to help uwa keep their operations up and running. amna: thank you for your time. good to speak with you. sen. murphy: thank you. ♪ geoff: former president donald trump's legal battles have reached a critical moment, as two upcoming court decisions could shape his campaign, and his businesses. in washington, the former president's federal trial for election interference has been delayed while an appeals court rules on donald trump's argument that he's immune from prosecution. and a verdict in the new york civil fraud trial has been pushed back. our william brangham has been following the latest developments, and joins us now. it's always good to see you. so we've been waiting on this appeals court to rule on donald

trump's claim of immunity. what's the latest with that? william: that's right. as you just said, jack smith, special counsel jack smith's election subversion case is completely frozen waiting for this immunity ruling. and the d.c. circuit court of appeals initially is set this on an expedited path. fast hearings, fast briefs, and so everyone thought a ruling would happen quickly, but it hasn't. it's been four weeks now and near radio silence. and it's all the more striking because in the hearing that they held the three judges on this panel -- seemed very skeptical of trump's immunity argument, which if you remember, the president and his legal team, the former president argued that because these alleged election crimes occurred while he was president. he shouldn't be immune from prosecution from them completely. and this led one of the judges

florence pan to sort of stretched this hypothetical to its extreme and she asked trump's lawyers so if the former president had ordered seal team six to execute a political rival, and congress didn't impeach trump for that, he would be immune from prosecution, she asked, and trump's lawyers eventually admitted, yes, that is what we mean. so a great deal of skepticism towards this case. geoff: so if donald trump loses that case, what that what does that mean for the overall january 6 case? william: well, he most likely would appeal to the appeals court to have the entire court all 11 judges, not the three hear it. you could also appeal to the supreme court to listen to this case. if either of those courts took that up, that would further delay the january 6 case, to the point where we can be in a

position where this case doesn't start till summer, fall. and then you have the former president campaigning for president when he's required to be in court on this major federal case. i mean, it's a very, very complicated situation. a lot of pressure would be brought on judge tanya chutkan, who's overseeing this case, to postpone or to push it off. she has so far shown no interest in doing that. but the flip side of that is that many people argue that it is simply unacceptable for voters to go into a presidential election, not knowing the innocence or the guilt of donald trump as to whether he tried to subvert the previous election. geoff: and then add to all of that william, the new york civil fraud trial. what's the latest there? william: last week we were supposed to have heard from trump judge arthur about that case. he then said at the end of the week that he needs a little bit more time to make his ruling. this case as we have reported in the past is about whether or not what penalty donald trump and his associates should be getting for this decade-long fraud that

they committed, that the judge has ruled that they did commit. and so this is a penalty phase. the attorney general in new york wants hundreds of millions of dollars from former president and his business associates and wants him banned from doing work in new york. that ruling is coming any day now. but again, could be a major, major blow to the former president. geoff: william, thank you so much. william: my pleasure. ♪ amna: how will immigration affect the 2024 presidential election? time for some analysis from our politics monday team. that's amy walter of "the cook political report with amy walter." and tamara keith of npr. good to see you both. you heard the reporting from lisa earlier and saw the interview with senator murphy. what this bill proposes is incredibly consequential, one of the biggest pieces of legislation for immigration in three decades. the fact that the president is willing to go as far as he was,

what does that say to you? amy: i think it says that democrats know including the president how problematic this issue is for their party going into an election year. what i find even more interesting, and it will be a really interesting test for the issue of immigration, is next week there is a special election in a congressional district, george santos's seat on long island. the issue of immigration is playing a starring role with the democrat there taking a position that sounds very much like joe biden. talking about being able to have more border security, supporting this plan that was just released by the senate. theepublican candidate and republicans in general attacking the plan. she has not supported the plan. and attacking the democrats including this one as being part of the open border party. in other words, by the time next tuesday comes around, and by wednesday when we have the results of the election, we will

have at least our very first test for whether this issue anyway democrats are talking about it, the way republicans are talking about it, which side can claim some sort of political victory. again, it is a special to be kindred -- so we cannot draw too many conclusions. but we can get a sense that, if republicans lose, this strategy of just blaming every thing on biden may not work. amna: republicans have probably their best shot at immigration reform that they have been clamoring for for years. if this fails to go through, does that blow on them from their base? tamara not from their base. there is this argument that if this is the crisis they say it is, that it has to be dealt with right now -- and this isn't argument you are hearing from people like langford -- if it has to be dealt with right now, then why wait until after the election? why wait until in theory trump is in office?

and then you might still have a divided government and you might not get this. so at the best case scenario you are pushing this a year out in worst case scenario potentially way more gridlock. but trump has made it abundantly clear that he does not want this. he was back out on the air today saying it is terrible, it is amnesty, which it is not. but it is a compromise. it is not a bill that former president trump would want to sign. it is not the bill that the speaker of the house would author. but it is something that in theory, if it actually could to a floor vote, which it may not get in the senate and it is even likely less to get in the house, it is something that could pass. it would be a coalition of moderates and national security hawks and kind of a random coalition. he would lose all the people on the left and the far right but it could potentially pass.

it may not get a chance to have that audition. amna: speaking of the national security hawks, the biggest piece of the bill is the ukraine funding. republicans largely remain opposed to it in the house. are there enough national security hawks to get this across the finish line? amy: no, because the debate is really now about the border and that national security piece of it has been sort of separated out. the fact that the speaker is saying we are looking to do a standalone bill on israel, not on ukraine, tells you where the republicans are. they do not see that holding up funding for ukraine is a political problem for them. with their base. for that it is a priority issue. amna: 2024 i mary season rolls on. president biden now has his first primary win. it's what you would call a decisive win, 96% of the vote to marianne williamson's 2% to dean

philip's just under 2%. we know black voters there really resurrected his campaign in 2020. where they still out there? tamara: it is very hard to get people to show up in a race that is not competitive. i know biden campaign wants to point to that 6% number and to the turnout insert numbers of the state that have significant african american population. it's to tamp down the handwringing among the democrats that the campaign has a base problem, a problem especially with african-american voters. i do not think this is going to make that case because as i said, it is not a real race. it was a race against candidates who did not campaign. where it did make a case though is against the idea that dean

phillips, one of the candidates, has been raising for a while now, that voters want a younger alternative to joe biden. clearly, they do not, or at the very least, they do not want him to be the alternative. amna: there are also concerns more broadly about the biden coalition after there was this opinion headline in the wall street journal that called dearborn, michigan america's jihad capital. president biden said we have to condemn hate in all forms. how critical are the young voters, the arab voters, voters of color, especially in michigan? tamara: every voter matters, especially in a state like michigan, georgia, wisconsin, nevada, the key swing states that will decide this election. in nevada for instance it was very narrowly divided -- decided. president biden won by very few votes, same i georgian. michigan he actually won by a

bit more. but he had these very narrow victories in several key states, which means every little piece of margin matters. yes, the young voters are a challenge that the biden campaign is trying to figure out how to address. but they face all kind of challenges. like, young voters are not watching tv, they are not watching ads on cable, they are not consuming their news in a way that is easy to find them. and so, there are a lot of barriers that are facing that they are trying to figure out out to deal with. but absolutely they have a problem with young voters, they have a problem with voters of color, and they are trying to work on it. amy: when i talked to a democrat a couple weeks ago that is the point he made. one of these groups alone would not be enough to sink's biden's fortunes in the state. but if you combine all three of those into one, that is where it

turns michigan from a state that leans a little bit democratic to an absolute tossup, to maybe even going to trump. amna: you mentioned the republican side. tuesday there will be a presidential primary. tuesday there'll be a party run presidential caucus. what is happening? amy: it is a messy and confusing to voters and many of them have already early voted in this primary which will not matter in the republican primary. the caucus is where it is at in terms of delegates and trump is largely unopposed there because nikki haley is not on the primary ballot. it is a big mess. but what is most interesting to me though is this is one of those key swing states, and neither trump nor haley spending any time there. trump has not spent one dollar on ads in this state. and this is a state that will matter later, but right now it is revealing that everything is kind of a mess. amna: tamara keith, amy walter,

always good to see you both. thank you. ♪ a young iranian-american poet considers life, death, the simpsons, rumi, and a whole lot more. it's all part of a new novel by a young iranian-american poet named kaveh akbar. jeffrey brown has the story for our arts and culture series, canvas. >> good evening. jeffrey: in 1988, in the midst of the iran-iraq war, the u.s. military accidentally shot down an iranian commercial passenger jet, killing all 290 people aboard. that real-life tragedy sets in motion the fictional events in the new novel "martyr!" by kaveh akbar. kaveh: i've always been fascinated by this event, and nobody in america knows about it.

and one of the projects of the book is to give texture to, you know, you hear a number like 290 people were killed on board. if that number was 289 or 291, it wouldn't make a difference intellectually, right? for me, you know. 290 is a middle-large number. it's more than five, it's less than 10,000, right? every character in the book, their life is shaped by this event. their life is completely constructed around this event. jeffrey: akbar, whom we met at an event at a brooklyn public library, was himself born in iran to an iranian father and american mother and came to this country at age two, his family eventually settling in wisconsin. he teaches creative writing at the university of iowa, and has made a name for himself as a poet and poetry editor, including at "the nation" magazine. but a longer story began to swirl around in his head, and he gave himself a crash course in writing narrative. kaveh: and just through the process of doing this for months and months and then years and

years and constantly feeding it narrative, you know, i'm consuming narrative voraciously while i'm doing this in the form of two novels a week and a movie a day was the sort of silly diet that i put myself on. jeffrey: what do you mean, to study narrative? kaveh: yes, of course. to study narrative, absolutely, kleptomaniacally. i would read morrison and nabokov and tolstoy and also agatha christie and also old pulp science fiction and just everything that i could find and get my hands on. i just wanted to understand how an author moves the reader through beats of narrative without making it feel super heavy-handed, without making it feel just like a cudgel of exposition. jeffrey: the result is "martyr!" and that exclamation point is important. kaveh: i think it would be a pretty dour-sounding title if it had just been martyr without an exclamation point, i think it would have felt kind of joyless, maybe relentlessly sad or relentlessly somber. and that's not the sort of book that it it. i think that it is often times funny, hopefully. and oftentimes it is quite joyful and it is quite ecstatic,

even. jeffrey: it's a mash-up romp whose protagonist is an iranian-american midwesterner would-be poet named cyrus whose head bursts with contemporary pop culture and medieval persian classics. is that you too? kaveh: of course, of course. i was born there, raised here. i love ferdowsi, i love the shahnameh, i love hafez, i love islam. but i also love erykah badu, i love epmd and vogue and sonic youth. and it has shaped the person that i am, and shaped the identity that i walk through world, just as yours has you and everyone's has them. jeffrey: another theme in the novel also links to akbar's personal experience. in his 20's he became addicted to alcohol and drugs, a self-destructive period that nearly did destroy him. kaveh: i am in recovery. i'm 10 years and some change sober. jeffrey: so, it's personal. kaveh: it's absolutely personal.

it's very, very personal. and all of my work orbits recovery in one way or another, explicitly or implicitly. and every experience of my life, every interaction that i have -- my spouse, my dog, my teaching position, the fact that we're sat here right now -- is predicated on the fact of my recovery, right? had i not recovered, i wouldn't have any of this. jeffrey: but that stays with you, i mean, that doesn't go away. kaveh: of course, i'm no less an addict today than i was 11 years ago. i just have better tools with which to cope with it. you learn techniques, you gain a community upon which you can draw. and so it's not like i'm walking around white-knuckling it today. i have resources, i have community. but i'm no less an addict. you know, if i take the first drink or if i snort the first line or whatever that thing is today, all bets are off, right? the partition between and an early preventable death is a little bit thinner than it is for a lot of people. and that is true for cyrus.

that is something that the addict thinks about all the time. i've been thinking about dying, cyrus shams said. jeffrey: for his character, a quest for survival and meaning. for the author, years into his own recovery, something similar, but now bringing his first novel into the world. did you have fun writing it? kaveh: it was thrilling. it's among the most fun i've ever had writing. you know, there are extended conversations with lisa simpson and kareem abdul-jabbar and rumi and, you know, the dead are talking and deliberating and, it's just, it's such a strange thing to be putting into the world, and i hope it coheres, i hope that it makes narrative sense and doesn't seem too wacky. but it was absolutely thrilling to write. jeffrey: alright, the book is "martyr!," with an exclamation point. kaveh: with an exclamation point. jeffrey: kaveh akbar, thank you very much. kaveh: that you so much, jeff. my luck to be here. ♪

geoff: and join us again here tomorrow night. i speak with joy-ann reid about her new book on the extraordinary lives and love of civil rights icons medgar and myrlie evers. and that's the "newshour" for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire "newshour" team, thank you for jining us. >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by. >> cunard is a proud supporter of public television. on a voyage with cunard, the world awaits. a world of flavor, diverse destinations, and immersive experiences. a world of leisure, and british style. all with cunard's white star service.

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wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. the xfinity 10g network. made for streaming. hello, everyone. welcome to "amanpour & company." here's what's coming up. >> biden steps up pressure on netanyahu. this time sanctioning violent settlers in the west bank. former u.s. middle east gotiator aaron david miller joins me. ukraine says it sunk a russian ship as its embattled army chief breaks his silence. we bring the latest on kyiv's

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