wow, you get to watch alyour 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. ♪ amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff bennet is away. on the "newshour" tonight -- president biden pushes back at the special counsel's comments on his mental fitness, that the white house calls “gratuitous.” a climate scientist's million dollar legal victory shines a light on conservatives' attacks on science. and the father of a palestinian-american teenager killed in the west bank remembers his son. >> my son was full of life.

17 years old. always happy and smiles. never say anything to hurt anybody's feeling. he had dreams. they took all that away from him. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour been provided by -- >> qnod it's a proud supporter of public television. on a voyage, the world awaits. a world of labor, diverse destinations, and immersive experiences. a world of leisure and british style all with qnod's white star service. >> the ongoing support of these

individuals and institutions, and friends of the newshour including jim and nancy doveman. >> the john's as an james knight foundation. more atkf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪ and friends of the newshour. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. geoff: --

amna: welcome to the newshour. on thursday, special counsel robert hur's report concluded that “no criminal charges” were warranted against president biden for his handling of classified documents. however, the report made several references to president biden's age and called his memory into question. the president shot back last night. pres. biden: i'm well meaning, and i'm an elderly man, and i know what the hell i'm doing. i've been president. i put this country back on its feet. geoff: -- amna: white house correspondent laura barron-lopez has been following what this may mean for the 2024 election and joins me now. the president spoke directly to the nation during a heated press conference. correspondent: sources tell me the president felt compelled to respond, want to do i like there were no charges, remind people of that and point out differences between the way he handled classified documents in the way former president donald trump handled classified documents, basically that he cooperated and immediately gave them back. former president trump did not.

they wanted to dispute editorializing about what they called his memory and age. amna: he has not been criminally charged? what did the president highlight from the report and what is the white house challenging there? >> the president wanted to talk about parts of the report were he did not willfully retain classified documents, talking about classified afghanistan documents as well as others and that they felt as though there was no real evidence to say that the president intentionally did this. he also got emotional about the parts of the work that had to do with his son, beau biden, specifically the report said the president did not remember even within several years when his son died, and so the white house was really angered by that. the president was angered by that. he saw that in his remarks. the white house universally felt everyone in their -- the white house offial that i spoke to told me that the special counsel

was performing for maga republicans and it was time for the president to respond to that. amna: a strong emotional response when the president. the white house continued to respond today and they are announcing a test scores. >> the white house were reviewed the presidential transition process and specifically our classified documents are handled during that transition. transitions can get messy, speedy, people can make mistakes, so biden for appoint a senior government official to oversee that new task force. amna: what about thewider democratic party? >> democrats were quick to point out that mental fitness and misspeaking is not just a president biden problem. it is also a president -- problem for former president donald trump who is frequently mixed up foreign leaders. >> victor orban, one of the

strongest leaders in the world. he is the leader of turkey, france on both russia. amna: viktor orban is not the leader of turkey but the leader of hungary, and former president trump is mixed up nikki haley a nancy pelosi. democrats were upset about this report. i spoke to a congresswoman from michigan who said she was so upset that she wanted to share with me this personal detail that president biden always checks it with her this week every year, because it is the anniversary of her husband's death. she now occupies his seat in congress and it is close to beau biden's birthday. >> this is an issue that will likely continue to plague the presidential campaign. >> this is something that will have to confront head-on. i spoke to john messina, and he said voters need to see more of biden. >> americans are going to have

questions about this. age is an issue for both candidates, and part of how you address it as a former presidential campaign manager, my devices transparency is important to. people need to see the president doing his job. where joe biden is the best is talking to average americans, and the more he can do that the better off he is, and i think some of the problem is been it is always these kind of scripted moments or these white house moments, and voters went to see him out with them talking about these things, and the campaign is got to do more of that. >> i also spoke to a democratic state party chair who told me every time they talk on doors to talk to voters, voters ask them questions like why didn't joe biden retire and pass the torch to the younger generation? across-the-board voters said they need to take on the president's age, and they tend to pivot with age comes

experience. amna: thank you as always. ♪ today, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu ordered the military to develop plans to evacuate rafah, the southernmost city in gaza. it's pre-october 7th population was 100,000. today, gazans from all over the strip have filled tent cities there. more than half of gaza's 2.3 million people have fled to rafah. and even before today's order, israel has been maintaining pressure on rafah, launching dozens of airstrikes. at the same time, there is progress on talks that would pause the fighting. nick schifrin is here with that. you have new details on the hostage negotiations? >> a u.s. official tonight confirms bill burns, the director of the cia, will head to cairo to participate in another round of negotiations a

a hostage a deal, and he has been the crucial u.s. official leading those negotiations. as a reminder, two weeks ago israel agreed to a plan negotiated by the u.s., qatar, and egypt to a six week pause that would be extended in three phases of hostage releases. hamas's counterproposal required an israeli withdrawal and israel interpreted that as hamas remaining in power after the war. u.s. officials told me there is been progress in those negotiations just in the last few days despite netanyahu's public statements. he called the counterproposal delusional and threatening to expand the war into rafah, so burns is hoping to maintain that progress officials tell me has been made but also keep pressure on netanyahu to take these

negotiations seriously. the question for netanyahu is will he allow his spy chief it was been leading to gets really -- the israeli negiations to cairo to keep the negotiations going. the u.s. believes even a temporary pause is the key to trying to unlock its broader goals across the region. gaza reconstruction, governance after the war, and the big goals, a two state solution and normalization between saudi arabia and israel. amna: netyahu is threatening to expand the war, deposit, let alone stop it, so how difficult will that be? >> more than one million people are living in rafah, that is 10 times the pre-october 7 population, and u.s. officials insist that israel does not have any military plans ready for rafah let love any plans to do with the civilians as a deputy

spokesperson said yesterday. >> we have yet to see any evidence of serious planning for such an operation and to conduct such an operation right now with no planning and little thought in an area where there is a sheltering of one million people would be a disaster. >> you can see patel referring to his notes. that is a shift for the administration. it is not usually worn israel to conduct an operation that does not yet launched, and that is what we suffer multiple u.s. officials. we heard president biden last night making his most pointed critique of how israel has launched this war. pres. biden: the conduct of the response in the gaza strip has been over the top. initially, the president of mexico did not want to open up the gate to allow humanitarian

material to get in. i talked to him. i convinced him to open the gate. innocent people who are badly in need of help. >> part of that sound but was president biden mixing up the president of mexico for the president of egypt, but people believe netanyahu is serious about going into rafah and they want to make the point that it was a bad idea, but they also make the point that netanyahu behind the point that netanyahu behind-the-scenes is negotiating , is making progress for the pause in gaza to release the hostages, so they say there is some bluster in what netanyahu is doing,ecause he is trying to maintain his coalition that includes far right politicians were threatened to leave the coalition and bring down the government if he presses pause on the war. the question we have tonight is will netanyahu try to achieve his military goals in the coming years it weeks or will he embrace the possibility that

this work in pause, and that is what the u.s. wants to open up larger negotiations across the region. amna: we will see with us negotiations lead. nick schifrin with the latest, thank you. ♪ in other headlines, president biden huddled with the german chancellor olaf scholz on getting military aid to ukraine. he said it would be close to criminal the correct -- criminal neglect if the u.s. fails to react. u.s. support is vital to let ukraine defend itself from russia. this evidence working in a package for ukraine and israel after republicans blocked a separate bill this week. russian president vladimir putin urged the u.s. to get ukraine to agree to peace talks. he spoke in an interview with former fox host tucker carlson that aired last night on the “tucker carlson network” website

. putin also suggested a possible prisoner swap for evan gershkovich, the “wall street journal” reporter jailed in russia. putin's remarks were dubbed into english. translator: at the end of the day, it does not make any sense to keep him in prison in russia. we want the u.s. special services to think about how they can contribute to achieving the goals our special services are pursuing. we are ready to talk. amna: gershkovich has been held since last march on espionage charges, which he denies. in pakistan, independent candidates backed by former prime minister imran khan took a surprisingly strong lead today in elections for parliament. khan himself is in prison and banned from running, but allies claimed 95 of 235 seats with most of thursday's results reported. as the outcome became clear, former prime minister nawaz sharif reversed course and called for a coalition government. back in this country, former president trump is celebrating more election wins as he works

to clinch the republican presidential nomination. he swept all the delegates in last night's gop caucuses in nevada as the only major candidate taking part. he also won caucuses in the u.s. virgin islands. earthquakes shook millions of people across hawaii and southern california today. the first struck the big island of hawaii -- on the southern flank of mauna loa. the second hit near malibu and sent shock waves across the los angeles region. there were no reports of major damage or injuries. on wall street, big tech stocks led much of the market higher, but blue chips lagged behind. the dow jones industrial average lost 54 points to close at 38,671. the nasdaq rose 197 points, 1%. the s & p 500 added 28 and closed above 5,000 for the first time. and, a passing of note in the arts -- famed japanese conductor seiji ozawa has died in tokyo, after suffering heart failure.

he led the boston symphony orchestra for 29 years, until 2002. his animated style captivated crowds, and he broke barriers for east-asian musicians. here he is in 1975, conducting the boston symphony in mahler's symphony number two. ♪ seiji ozawa was 88 years old. still to come on the newshour -- multiple governors turn down a summer food assistance program -- putting millions of children at risk. david brooks and jonathan capehart weigh in on the week's political headlines. best selling author kwame alexander on his new collection of black poets work -- poems of hope, heart, and heritage. plus much more. ♪ >> this is the pbs newshour from

weta studios in washington and in the west from the walter ron kind school of journalism at arizona state diversity. amna: a long legal battle ended yesterday, when a jury found that two conservative writers had defamed the prominent climate scientist michael mann, awarding him $1 million in damages. amid increasing attacks on science, william brangham looks at what this verdict means. correspondent: amna, over his long career, michael mann has been an influential contributor to climate research, as well as becoming one of the most effective communicators about climate change's impact. but he has also faced considerable backlash. in 2012, a conservative policy analyst compared mann to a child sex abuser, saying that instead of molesting children, he molested and tortured data. another called his work “fraudulent.” mann sued them both, and yesterday -- after 12 years -- won his case.

we turn now to another prominent scientist who's also endured this kind of vitriol -- dr. peter hotez is the dean of the national school of tropical medicine at baylor college of medicine, and co-director of the texas children's hospital center for vaccine development. dr. hotez, great to see you again. i know you are in very different fields. but i have to imagine there was a small sense of victory that you must have felt seeing michael mann win this defamation case. >> well, absolutely, and remember the attacks. now there's somewhat of a convergence of the attacks on climate science with the attacks on biomedicine, and it's in some cases. it's coming from the identical forces. i think the message for this week is remember the attacks, denigrating science and trying to undercut science, both for climate science and biomedicine is not just about the science. it's now gone the next step to

attack the scientist and portray us as public enemies and that's where it really starts to get dangerous. so both michael and i are stalked regularly -- we're we receive threats, online phone calls to the office, sometimes physical confrontations, so it's gone out to that new level. and so i think the reason the court victories important sentenced to signal that well, it's certainly fine to disagree with the science and expressed skepticism. it's crosses a line when you're attacking scientists and putting us in danger. correspondent: can i just ask you what that is like? i mean, you spend a career as michael mann did in a very different field. but you spend a career trying to create medicines to help people and to help humanity which you have clearly done. and then to be attacked like that and to, b, to worry about threats to your life, just wondering what that is like as a professional. >> well, it can be demoralizing at times. remember, i did my md and phd 40

years ago to make vaccines for global health to make low cost affordable vaccines for the world that the big pharma companies wouldn't make. and we've made vaccines for parasitic infections. low cost covid vaccines reaching 100 million people are more and -- i always considered that something you know, important and meaningful and to make the world better, and so the idea now that you'd be attacked for it, first of all, it can be demoralizing, but second, to actually feel like you're in danger and some level your family's in danger. that's what's really worrisome. and so i think that's a reason why, you know, the court ruling this week is kind of a line in the sand that say stop you know, you cannot -- it's fine to disagree. but when you attack scientists, you're affecting not only the scientific field, but sending chilling messages to future generations of scientists that

maybe this is not something you want to go into. michael mann said after this verdict that he hopes that this sends a message that falsely attacking a scientist is not protected speech. is it your sense that this kind of a victory will serve to blunt that army of people out there who are sniping at you all? >> i don't know. you know, is this a one off thing or is it -- will it be more enduring? i think it's -- it's too soon to tell. first of all, remember resorting to the courts is something that's nobody's first choice. look at michael's case -- he had to go through 12 years of this. i mean, who wants to do that? i mean, if you -- if you gave me the choice, do i want to spend my day developing a new human hookworm vaccine that's looking promising to benefit the hundreds of millions of people who suffer from hookworm anemia on the african continent, asia, and latin america or do i want to make cold calls to plaintiff

attorneys? it's no contest, right? i mean, this i want -- i want to be a scientist and so does michael, so this is -- this actually says something else that we don't have the systems in place right now to protect scientists. and too often we're on our own and -- and having to find plaintiff attorneys and think about suing people is nobody's first choice, nobody's first option. correspondent: and i have to imagine that a lot of these attacks now that come driven by bots now by ai has got to make it even harder to defend yourself. i mean, michael mann at least had two people who signed their names to the vitriol they spewed at him. >> yeah, it's -- it's coming from all sectors. it's -- it's coming from foreign -- foreign actors. we know that there are bots and trolls coming from putin's russia. that's -- that's really disturbing. in some cases, it's coming anonymously, often cases it's coming from, from bloggers and

podcasters who are actually making a living, targeting science and scientists. and now it's even gone the next level we're actually seeing at least two us senators boasting about how they target scientists. same with some, some members of congress from the house freedom caucus, and there's a whole system in place at fox news to amplify this. so it's, the point is there's an entire ecosystem of attacks on science, which i kind of understand but also the scientists and when they start portraying us as public enemies that puts us in danger. correspondent: all right, dr. peter hotez, always good to talk to you. thank you so much for being here. >> thanks so much. ♪ amna: a new federal food assistance program is aiming to reduce child hunger by giving low-income families money for summer groceries. but only those who live in certain states will have access

to that relief. john yang explains. correspondent: many children who qualify for free or reduced school lunches would lose that benefit when the school year ended, but now a new program aims to bridge that gap by giving needy families $40 a month for each child who is eligible while the school is not in session, money to buy food at grocery stores, farmers markets, or other approved outlets. it is called summer etf for electronic benefits transfer and the money will benefit 21 million children, but 15 other states have said no excluding 8 million children. mr. for is director for an advocacy group that works to reduce poverty related hunger. crystal, how big is it for needy families to lose that benefit

when school is not in session? >> we have millions of families who rely on free and reduced lunch during the school year, and when the school bell rings they lose access to the meals, and during the summer we see an increase in insecurity, kids getting more weight, and there was a tremendous amount of stress on families when they need to replace breakfast and lunch they could rely on during the school year, so it is a huge hardship, and the summer ebt program is an amazing opportunity to make sure kids are knuckling hungry during the summer. correspondent: before this program was there any way for children to get free or reduced price lunches? >> we have a summers meals program, and that will continue, and in a lot of ways it is an amazing program. often times it combines activities along with the meals, and it served on the a fraction of the kids relied on free and reduced price meals during the school year, and as a result we saw food insecurity go up. summer ebt is designed to bridge

that gap. correspondent: in some programs they have to go to the location rather than have the money go directly to the parents. >> it is great when there was a site in the community and families will be able to pick up meals too in rural areas the summer, but summer ebt is the easiest way to get resources to families to purchase food. correspondent: the 15 states that opted out of this program, what reasons did they give for doing that? >> there are a lot of reasons, and they can come to the program during 2025. the doors open and we encourage them to consider it, but it is a relatively new program, so states are implementing it for the first time this summer, and some states needed a little more time. states have to provide 50% of the administrative cost, so it is taking states more time to figure that money is coming from , but we are hopeful that by 2025 all of the states will be in the program. correspondent: did some governor

have philosophical differences with this? >> there were a couple of governors that did come on expressed concern about the program. iowa and nebraska, but we are hopeful when they take another look at the program they will reconsider it, because some of the things that they said, that it was a pandemic a rep program, that is not true. we have had an issue with the summer hunger since i started working 25 years ago, and it continues every summer where families lose access to the meals, so hopefully in 2025 those states will take advantage of this tool to make sure the kids and their schools are knuckling hungry. correspondent: for this summer there are 15 states that opted out, the millions of children beyond the reach of this program. what are your concerns? >> the concern is food insecurity will go up during the summer, but we encourage families to access the summer meals program. it does are accessible and they are provide an important resource.

correspondent: one of the governors that said no was kim reynolds. she said rather than creating a new program with the new bureaucracy, she thought the administration should give the states flexibility under current programs so they could do this on their own. do you say to that? >> the summer ebt program has been piloted for more than a decade, and the pilots show food insecurity goes down when families have access to it, and nutrition goes up. it is technically a new program and that it is available to all states nationwide the summer, but it has been piloted because we knew that there was a problem during the summer, and congress did act 10 to 12 years ago to pilot it and those evaluations show what an amazing program it is. correspondent: earlier you said during the summer children gain weight. is that because they are eating unheathiliy. >> --

during the summer kids get be less active. i know a lot of people think kids are out of the park and we have these visions of what it dislike for the summer for kids, but they may be less active, and their families are struggling to put food on the table, if you provide more resources to them that they are likely going to spend it on healthier food too. correspondent: looking more broadly just be schoolchildren, where do we stand on food insecurity in this country for the general population? >> food insecurity did go up in 20, the most recent data that we have. it continues to stay with us, and there are a lot of ways to combat it, but one of the easiest ways to combat it is to give families more resources to purchase food. correspondent: crystal, thank you very much. >> thank you for having me. ♪

amna: the new orleans community is mourning the loss of a palestinian-american teenager, killed in the west bank last month. 17-year-old tawfic abdel jabbar is one of the 94 children among the 370 palestinians killed in clashes on the west bank since october 7th, according to the united nations. in late january over a hundred cars formed a motorcade in his memory along a new orleans highway. i spoke with his father, hafeth abdel jabbar, earlier this week from the west bank. and i asked him what happened to his son. >> what i know and what happened is my son was traveling from one piece of property to another piece of property with a friend, meeting with other friends so they can do a barbecue. and, as he was traveling, he was, i think, ambushed by, settler retired police officer.

a soldier. we're not sure. there was three different weapons used. the truck was hit with ten bullets. four of them is very clear to the driver's side, and, two of them to the passenger side. but luckily. and thanks god, the passenger had ducked, and, he's 16 years old. also, he's american citizen. and, he was traveling, towards the village, on a dirt road, from the mountain. and that's when he was stopped and, lost control of the car and, flipped three times or four times, and it came to stop. amna: how did you learn that your son had been killed? >> one of my friends called me and said, your son truck had flipped on the, dirt road. no, i said, where? and he told me where. so we watched over there. and that's how i find my son in the car. shot in the head. amna: israeli officials say that they have launched an investigation. are they sharing any of that investigation or the findings

with you? >> they have not shared anything with me personally. no, they said they did, but they have not shared. they know who did it. they said they made comments to me that they know who did it. but he's not under arrest until they finish their investigation. i'm not sure why. amna: do you trust the results of the investigation when they'll be complete? >> i do not trust them. i don't trust anything that they do. i hope my government can step in and, do their own investigation so we can come to a conclusion. who shot my son? amna: when you say your government, you're referring to the american government. is that right? >> yes, ma'am. i am american citizen. been there since 1996. five of my kids was born in the us, in greater louisiana. my wife is american citizen. so my government is the american. my son was born and raised for 16 years in gretna, louisiana. so, i'm seeking help from my government, from my president,

to seek justice for tawfik. help me understand so people understand your family's story as well. you moved your family to the west bank in may of last year. tell us a little bit about why. >> it's, it's, we've been. i was born here in palestine, in mazar sharqiya, about 25 miles away from jerusalem. my dad was born here. the whole family. i can go back to 1870, 1880's. and i wanted to bring my kids so they can spend a little bit of time here. this happened in the first nine months. amna: can you tell us who you will been in touch with. can you tell us about who you've been in touch with, who has reached out to you, or what you've heard from the american government? >> i just been getting calls from the, from the, from the consulate here, in the, in jerusalem, george noll he came and visited here and, they're trying to get, seek the government, the senators, i'm trying to reach to senators, congressmen trying to put pressure on, on the israeli government to allow us to do an investigation, to see who did, who did that. there was no movement. amna: can i ask about your

family? i know that tawfic has several siblings as well. how are they doing? >> it is a bit tough for my wife. i have two daughters. and six years old. eight and i have a 12 year old boy and a 21 years old boy. it is a bit tough. my eight years old. she kept asking me, i don't understand what happened to him. so i kept telling him what happened, and in a polite way trying to explain to her that he is in heaven. but she still says, i just don't understand. can you explain it to me? i don't know the answer to that. amna: my colleague has been reporting on your son's death from normans and spoke to the vice principal of the school there, who said he was larger than life. he called him a big teddy bear and said that the school was absolutely reeling after his death. what do you want us to know about your son? >> my son was full of life.

17 years old, always happy and smiles. never say anything to hurt anybody's feeling no matter who it is. no matter what color he is, no matter what religion is. he plays football. he is full of life. he went to muslim academy schools. she went to christian, brother martin school. he had dreams of engineering. it took all of that away. amna: what does justice look like for you right now? >> there is no justice. i think we lost humanity. my government, we claim democracy, we claim human rights, and we claimed that nothing should be done against humanity. and now our own guns is killing our own children. and my son, it is a big example. and it should not matter if he is an american citizen or he is

from mexico or he is latin or he is chinese or he is white or jewish or muslim. children should not be killed. people should not be killed for no reason like my son did. amna: thank you so much for your time and for joining us and for sharing the memory of your son. thank you. ♪ the special counsel's report on president biden's handling of classified documents draws a spotlight on concerns about his reelection campaign. on that, and the other major political stories shaping the week we turn to the analysis of brooks and capehart. that's new york times columnist david brooks and jonathan capehart, associate editor for the washington post.

the special counsel released its report on the president's handling of that's classified documents. the investigation did find some classified documents during their search at president biden's delaware home. but do did conclude the evidence was not sufficient for criminal charges. jonathan, what was your reaction to that decision and how it is being received? correspondent: great that the decision, not charging the president, terrific. the other thing about the report that is good is it compared and contrasted. president biden versus what former president trump did, and that is the thing i think everything needs to remember, when classified documents were found at the home and altogether places are president biden, president biden, president biden and his administration cooperated, gave them back, and had authorities do searches. when documents were found or believed to of been at the former president residences, he

stonewalled, he lied about handing them all over, and that is why he was indicted. and so every one trying to conflate the two situations is being disingenuous. that is what i have to say about that. amna: the special counsel went to great lengths saying there were several material distinctions between the two cases. it is not resonating with the public? >> i think people know the mar-a-lago cases more serious, but biden was sloppy. he did share material with the ghost writer apparently. i think it was unattractive of him to blame it all on staff. i do not think that is what leaders do, but nonetheless, she cooperated. he said let's rectify this, and if donald trump when they came to him about his documents said, yeah, i cooperate he would not be in the mess that he is in. amna: special counsel chose to

comment on biden's memory function sankey had significant problems. he wrote mr. biden would likely present himself to a jury as he did during our interview with him as a sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory. what did you make of that inclusion in the report? [laughter] >> and that was not the only place where he talked about the president's age. i thought those reports were supposed to be just the facts. that was gratuitous. a lot of the other ones were gratuitous. we have spent way too much time talking about this president's age, and i will say it again. when ronald reagan was the oldest person to ever be in the white house and run for reelection i do not recall a lot of people within his own party talking about the fact that we need to get another person. he is too old. and what counsel hur did is feed

lines to republicans who want to make the president's memory and capabilities and whether he is senile a talking point, it gives them some fodder, but with the council has also done is given bedwetting democrats under the reason to complain about the president's age. meanwhile they are not focused on the fact that the 82-year-old resident of the united states as an incredible record in the three years he has been president. i wish people would focus on that, and the fact that he mixed up the president of egypt with the president of mexico, i did the same thing around this table when talking about the governor of virginia. remember when i said governor northam. a former governor. amna: to be fair, you are not president of the united states. >> not yet, one can dream. amna: we did see president

biden, that a fiery press conference he referenced specifically one of the mentions that the council made about his failure to remember when his son beau died. pres. biden: how in the hell dare he raise that? frankly, when i was asked the question, i thought to myself, was none of their damn business. amna: the white house use the word gratuitous? was it? >> two thirds. the special counsel's job was to think how a jury would think. nonetheless, prosecutors are also not allowed to insult people they do not charge, because the people they are insulting did not get their day in court to fight back, and so these are prosecutorial standards, and very much flirted or whatever the line on that. on the age issue, he is not as

quick as he was. the gauges of factor. 86 he will be if he gets reelected. a totally legitimate issue. his staff seems to think it is a legitimate issue because they act like it is a big problem. i was stunned he turned on the super bowl interview for the second year in a row. your guy is behind. you have a chance for an easy interview and you turn it down because they are so cautious? my own personal opinion based on my own direct contact in my direct reporting is that his memory may sometimes slip, but his judgment is good and he actually runs the white house. he is completely sharp enough to do that, but will he be able to do that in five years? it is a legitimate issue. amna: i want to get your take on another issue, because the supreme court to hear arguments related to the colorado case of it is seeking to remove former president trump from their

primary ballot. it does not seem they are likely to do that based on the concerns we had from the justices, what is your take away, jonathan, from how the justices are looking at it? >> if we had judge with the arguments on their face, it seems like we are headed to 8-1 or unanimous decision to keep his name on colorado's republican primary ballot. this might be the one and only time we get a unanimous decision especially when we think about the fact that this is a 6-3 conservative super majority where the pendulum swings from justice ketanji brown jackson all the weight to the six conservatives on the far right, and get it seems like they are all pretty much in agreement here. that is the most amazing take away i took from the hearings. >> there was no way the supreme court was going to want to get involved in the middle of an

election, and i was comforted by the lines of questioning, particularly the idea that justice roberts said that the 14th amendment is not there to empower states. the 14th amendment is there to take power away from the states and give it a federal government, and guide to get that each state can get to choose you can be president does not seem like a smart argument, so i am relieved that this whole issue seems to be about to go away. amna: i need to ask you both about the year that was this week in congress. we came as close as we ever had in decades to having actual immigration reform, failed when republicans backed away from a deal after four months of negotiating. what is your takeaway? >> it just says to me once again speaker johnson is not in control. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell is not in control. senator langford, the republican who negotiated with murphy and

sinema is not in control. donald trump is in control. donald trump signaled before the text was even overdue not do this a bill. even though it got 67 votes on the procedural, even if it gets out of the senate it is not going anywhere in the house. that is what is so unfortunate about what is happening, and leave aside the competence of speaker johnson and the mess he had to deal within his own chamber. nothing is going to get done. amna: get a republicans missed their best chance for some kind of order bill? >> for sure for a generation. i wish it was just trump said i need an election issue so do pass this bill. republicans are not only bowing to trump. they are thinking like trump, so on a couple of things. how does democracy work? two sides meet, you have a

negotiation. this was the most one-sided compromise i've ever seen. the republicans got everything they wanted and democrats got nothing, and republicans' argument is i cannot support this because it does not have everything that i want. that is the myth of the dictator. they are beginning to think like trump, and on foreign policy, i am a conservative. i rooted for republicans for decades. these were internationalists. they believe america has a role in trying to preserve a stable order. we have a majority of republicans in the senate and the house who want to cut the ukraine funding bill, the ultimate isolationist act which would destroy american credibility and sentence a nation to servitude. i remain profoundly shocked this week. amna: were you shocked the same way? >> i saw this coming, but the thing that worries me the most

is what happens on march 1, the first funding deadline. what happens on march 8. if we are going down the road where we are going to a government shutdown, that could be a government shutdown we cannot get out of. amna: great to see you. ♪ amna: kwame alexander, an award-winning author and producer, has just released his latest work -- it's an anthology by black poets called, "this is the honey," i spoke to him earlier as part of our arts and culture series, canvas. welcome to the newshour. >> it is good to be here. amna: this new book is a collection. the title comes from a poem included by mahogany brown. the first lines read there is no room on this planet for anything less than a miracle.

we gather here today together in the rebel of a rebellion of a silent tone. what did you want to put out into the world? >> the idea that we deal with drama and trauma, but there was also triumph. we deal with woe, but there is also wonder. amidst all of the divisiveness and uncertainty in this world, i wanted to give us something that would uplift us, give us hope and us together. amna: how did you invite people to be a part of this? >> i view this book like you would a day in your life. you wake up in the morning, the sun is out, it is promise. the first section will be poems of hope, promise, and joy. you greet your family, the people you love and the people who love you, so the next exit will be a love poem. you go out into the world and deal with the craziness, so you have poems that will challenge us and our obstacles.

next he will take that lunch break. i would go to the restroom and chill just to get my bearings and say a prayer, so you have got to have your devotions. the last part of the book is you come home. you eat food and you share and you were grateful. i thought about that is the metaphor and started looking for problems and poets that fit. amna: there is a column from morrison shire. ruth foreman as an eight line problem that is so powerful. you have an original poem as well called "how we made you." >> stephanie my wife and i were together for 23 years, and when the uncoupling happened i did not want my daughter to think it was the divorce that defined as or it was the things that did not go right. i wanted to let her know it was not about the storm, but what the rainbow. we are very good friends and we

built a lot together. we built a business, a beautiful daughter, so i want to focus on that. it is really all about love. amna: what was it like after she read the poem, your daughter? >> has she read it yet? when i worked at memoir i had to go on the counter. and my kid is 15 and she said we are studying more in school right now. how cool would you be if i read your memoir. i am not going to do it but how cool would it be? amna: it has been about a year now since it is been out. that was an intensely personal blend of poetry and prose that you put out in the memoir called my father's great night. what is it like for you to have that out in the world? >> that is a great question. i have wrestled with a realizing that this book is out in the

world still, because it is somewhere more -- it is a memoir where my mother passed, my marriage started breaking down my oldest daughter and i had an argument that blew up into an extremely -- an estrangement. the book allowed me to heal from it and given on a path to figure it out. now that the book is out i am a better person, but the book is still out. hopefully it offers inspiration. amna: you are nothing if not prolific. your award-winning new york times book was made into a disney+ series that won you your first emmy. what was that like? >> [laughter] somebody asked me was it a dream come true to win in any, and i said no, because it was never dream. i wanted to write good books. the fact that this book that got

rejected by 22 publishers, this book which cannot six years, seven years ago when being an emmy award for a tv speaks to the power of poetry. how we can translate and transfer across different mediums, and i think poetry is about us feeling better, and hopefully the tv show did that. amna: you have been carrying that around everywhere. a photo of you with the emmy on your lap. >> they made me check the bag. i wanted to put it into the overhead and it would not fit. i said let me take something out. amna: that is a flex. >> it didn't fit. amna: all of your work is grounded into we are as a country, who we are as a people. i remember reading this op-ed you wrote for the new york times, and you wrote about the

first protester went to back in 1978 in new york. you wrote about studying dr. king's famous selma speech and you said there was hope embedded in those words. you wrote this, in the war room of our red, white, and gray blues we become red light by awakening are conscious, treading the stony road through a tunnel of hope. where do you find that help? -- hope? >> i still find it in words. i still find a world of possibility and language and literature. i think when a child sees themselves in a book, the book is a mirror. it shows them who they are and what they are capable of and gives them some joy of experience outside of what we are thinking. when you show a child the book, a book can be a window, and it can show a kid somewhere else or

someone else or a community. it can connect us to each other and allow us to become better human beings because we are empathetic and we are connected, so for me that is where the hope comes from. it comes through the power of words to make us imagine a better world or a different world. amna: the book is "this is the honey." great to see you. >> thank you very much, amna. ♪ be sure to tune into washington week with the atlantic tonight on pbs. i will be joining moderator jeffrey goldberg and his panel to discuss donald trump's influence on the collapse of the bipartisan border bill and the latest concerns about president biden's age. and don't forget to watch saturday's pbs news weekend for a look at the increased role of tech companies and social media in this year's election. and that is the newshour for tonight.

i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire newshour team, thank you for joining us. have a great weekend. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪ and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of the newshour, including kathy and paul anderson and camilla and george smith. the walton famy foundation, working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people and nature can thrive together. the william and fluorite you it, for more than 50 years at events and ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world at hewlett.org. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪ and friends of the newshour.

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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. jeffrey: it has been a hugely consequence consequential week in washington. donald trump the de facto leader of the party. and the trump campaign catches a lucky break as a justice department report raises questions about joe biden's memory and age. next. announcer: this is "washington week" with the atlantic. corporate funding provided by --