♪ amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff bennett is away. on the "newshour" tonight, an on-the-ground look at the aftermath of the israeli raid that rescued two hostages, but killed dozens of palestinians. former president trump's positions grow more extreme, advocating for mass deportation and encouraging russia to attack nato allies if they don't pay up. and both parties work to turn out new york voters to fill the

seat of expelled congressman george santos. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour been provided by. ♪ the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions, and friends of the newshour, including leonard and norma, and judy and peter. the william and flora and. advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. and with the ongoing support of these instant solutions -- 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. it has been a day of joy in israel, a day of dread in gaza, and a day of warnings in washington. israeli troops last night rescued 2 hostages from hamas militants in rafah, in an operation that palestinian authorities say killed more than 70. israel is now threatening to assault rafah, where it says hamas leadership is hiding, and which is hosting more than half of gaza's 2.3 million residents. but president biden today warned israel that the displaced must be protected.

nick schifrin has our report. nick: as the israeli military lit the rafah sky, on the ground, special forces launched a rescue mission. israel says it raided an apartment complex, and traded fire with hamas militants, before it could recover two hostages. 60-year-old fernando marman and 70-year-old louis har, reunited with family members after 128 days of captivity. they're the second and third hostages to be rescued, and israel called their release proof the military needs to maintain pressure. >> this rescue mission underscores the importance of our ground operation in gaza. nick: prime minister benjamin netanyahu, whose brother died freeing kidnapped israelis 48 years ago, called the rescue historic. >> i want to tell you that the release of louis and fernando is one of the most successful rescue operations in the history of the state of israel.

nick: the rescue was facilitated by dozens of airstrikes that the hamas-run gaza health ministry said killed dozens. dr. jamal al-hams, in blue, tries to save the wounded in the only available facility, an overwhelmed tent. >> there is no capacity, there is no ability of the hospitals because of the shortages. nick: today, in the operation's aftermath, family homes are reduced to rubble. pbs newshour producer shams odeh. >> more than ten houses were demolished, as you see in the pictures. here, where the israeli commander said that, there is two of the hostage here from rafah. if you look around me, you see all the houses have been destroyed completely, and there is a lot of people killed here in this place in rafah. nick: hamas said the israeli operation killed at least 3 other hostages, and wounded 5 more. israel says it can't confirm that, and accuses hamas of lying

about the hostages' fate. rafah is home to 1.3 million displaced gazans, but netanyahu has ordered the israeli military to develop plans to move civilians and besiege the city, where israel says hamas leadership is hiding. the international community is pushing back. top european union diplomat josep borrell. >> netanyahu has been asking for the evacuation of 1.7 million people, without saying where these people could be evacuated. >> a potential full-fledged military incursion into rafah, where some 1.5 million palestinians are packed against the egyptian border with no where further to flee, is terrifying. nick: egypt has threatened to suspend its 45-year-old peace treaty with israel. and a senior administration official said president biden told netanyahu moving the population was a, quote, "precondition" of an operation, and it, quote, "can't proceed" without a credible plan. >> many people there have been displaced, displaced multiple

times fleeing the violence to the north and now, they're packed into rafah, exposed and vulnerable. they need to be protected. and we have also been clear from the start. we oppose any forced displacement of palestinians from gaza. nick: israel and the u.s. believe about 100 hostages remain alive in gaza. more than 100 gained freedom in november, thanks to a diplomatic agreement between israel and hamas. progress is being made for another release. a senior administration official says the framework is "pretty much now in place," and the initial phase is actually finished, but significant differences remain. >> the key elements of the deal are on the table. there are gaps that remain. but i'm encouraging israeli leaders to keep working to achieve the deal. nick: tomorrow, cia director bill burns will resume negotiations in cairo to try and maintain diplomatic momentum, before israel follows through on its threat to invade rafah.

for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. ♪ amna: in the days other headlines, with the rebels targeted another ship in the red sea. the cargo ship was headed for iran, the rebels main backer. officials reported minor damage and no injuries among the krill. houthi attacks have continued despite airstrikes against them. former president trump asked the u.s. supreme court today to continue a delay in his election subversion trial in washington. the emergency appeal was expected. it asks to keep the case on hold, pending a final ruling on whether mr. trump is immune from prosecution. the high court is also considering a separate appeal of efforts to remove him from state ballots. it's unclear when decisions might come.

the u.s. senate is poised to hold two more key procedural votes tonight on $95 billion in aid for ukraine and israel. the package cleared its first hurdle on sunday, and could reach a final vote by wednesday. most republicans are still demanding changes in u.s. border policy, after blocking a measure that included border reform provisions. that was a prominent issue in today's debate. >> we should not send a dime to ukraine until our borders are fully secured. we've already given ukraine more than $120 billion. this is more than enough money to secure every border in our country. >> these are enormously high stakes of the national security package. our security, our values, our democracy. it's a down payment for the survival of western democracy, and the survival of american values.

stephanie: the aid bill faces an uncertain fate in the republican-controlled house. defense secretary lloyd austin has canceled a trip to brussels tomorrow, to meet with nato ministers on ukraine aid. pentagon officials say he was hospitalized on sunday with bladder complications from prostate cancer surgery. austin's doctors said today he had non-surgical procedures to correct the problem, and is expected to recover fully. in pakistan, thousands of supporters of former prime minister imran khan protested last week's parliamentary elections. he is jailed, but his loyalists ran as independents and won the most seats. in protests over the weekend and again today, they claimed they might have won an outright majority in parliament, but they charged the outcome was rigged. instead, two other parties are in talks to form a government a u.n. report today offers a grim assessment of the world's migratory species. the authors studied nearly 1,200 species, from songbirds to whales to sea turtles.

they concluded that about 44% of the species are declining in population. they also assessed that more than one-fifth are threatened with extinction. the report blamed habitat loss, illegal hunting, climate change, and other factors. back in this country, the kansas city chiefs are celebrating their third super bowl win in five years. they beat the san francisco 49ers in las vegas last night, nfl title for a second straight year. quarterback patrick mahomes won his third super bowl mvp award, and he was already looking ahead. >> i'm going to celebrate at the parade, and then i'm going to do whatever i can to be back in this game next year and try and go for that 3-peat. i'm going to celebrate with my guys 'cause of how we done this, but then we're going to work our way to get back to this game next year. stephanie: no team has ever won the nfl championship three years in a row. on wall street, stocks stayed near record levels despite losses in the tech sector. the dow jones industrial average

gained 125 points to close at 38,797. the nasdaq fell 48 points. the s&p 500 slipped 4. and, a passing of note. former longtime npr broadcaster bob edwards died over the weekend, of bladder cancer and heart trouble. he started with npr in 1974, and co-hosted "all things considered" for five years. then, he spent nearly 25 years anchoring "morning edition." bob edwards was 76 years old. still to come on the "newshour," tamara keith and amy walter break down the latest political headlines. a new documentary explores black astronauts' efforts to overcome injustice. why some communities of color are embracing youth tackle football, despite safety concerns. plus much more. >> this is the pbs newshour from w bta studios in washington and

in the west, from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: former president trump -- amna: made clear if elected again he would pursue more extreme immigration policies including mass deportations of millions of people. >> on day one i will terminate every open border policy of the biden administration and we will begin the largest domestic deportation operation that america -- in american history. amna: the breakdown and impact. what has the former president laid out in terms of his immigration plan? >> that mass deportation plan that trump has talked about, including this weekend, we know some details of how it would be carried out from stephen miller, the architect of trump's first term immigration policy who remains a close ally and advisor

. stephen miller talked about how they would carry out that type of deportation plan to right wing personality charlie kirk. >> in terms of personnel, you go to the resident governors and you say give us your national guard. we will deputize them as immigration enforcement officers. the alabama national guard will arrest illegal aliens in alabama . if you go into an unfriendly state like maryland, it would be virginia doing arrests in maryland. very nearby. >> he is talking about how they would federalize the national guard to carry out the deportation plan. through comments from stephen miller and the former president, reports as well as aligned policy groups, we have the picture of the type of the immigration policies trump would implement. the list is not exhaustive but

includes building large-scale camps near the southern border, a renewed muslim travel ban, the end of birthright citizenship for u.s. born children of undocumented immigrants and creating a federalized army of red state national guards. amna: is that legal? >> technically yes. i spoke to joseph nunn from the brennan center, and he is an expert on military activity domestically. he said this is legally possible for the president to do. >> if donald's proposal to spend -- send the national guard from red states to blue states to enforce the deportation program could only be accomplished through the insurrection act, which makes the president the sole judge of whether a situation warrants invoking the act. an insurrection is whatever the president says is an

insurrection. that is why it is imptant for congress to reform the insurrection act to put in place safeguards against abuse because there are literally no guard rails. amna: as he said, former president trump has pretty wide authority to institute the insurrection act to federalize national guards and be able to send them to other states to round up migrants. the last time the insurrection act was invoked was 1992. it is rarely used. before then, it was only object -- invoked over objection of states in the 1960's. amna: what would this mean for the military? >> joseph nunn told me to even do something like that, you would have to have wide mobilization, large-scale mobilization of military of the national guard. it would require members of the military who have other duties, and the national guard is key in

helping with duties abroad, that they would be taken away from that and -- in order to carry this out. i spoke to a former commissioner of customs and border protection who said national guard are not trained in the way that border agents and ice agents are trained, to be able to tell what people's status are, whether someone can be detained. ice and border patrol are trained in civil -- civil and criminal laws. that is not something national guard is prepared for. amna: trump also made eye-popping statements about america's commitment to nato allies. what is the response like? >> his statements were pretty in form with the former president. in the past he has said he isn't , does not always want to be aligned with nato and the commitment america made to nato, but he went further this weekend. >> one of the presidents of a

big country said, if we don't pay and we are attacked by russia, will you protect us? i said, you did pay? you are delinquent? he said yes. let's say that happened. no, i would not protect you. i would encourage them to do whatever they want. you have to pay your bills. >> going further, by encouraging an adversary like russia to invade nato allies, the white house almost immediately responded, calling it unhinged, saying it threatened not just national security but global stability. i spoke to a former ambassador to nato who said his phone was almost immediately blinking after the comments, hearing from counterparts in europe and saying that allies in europe are essentially considering the unthinkable, which is that the u.s. may no longer be willing to play a leadership role in nato.

this comes as, the about to head to the munich security conference to address allies. amna: laura berlin lopez, thank you. european leaders have widely condemed those comments by mr. trump as reckless and dangerous. and in a meeting focused on ukraine today, germany, france and poland expressed solidarity with one another, saying europe must be ready to defend itself and its allies. for more on the implications for the u.s. and the world, we turn to kurt volker, who was u.s. ambassador to nato during the george w. bush administration, and u.s. special representative for ukraine negotiations during the trump administration. ambassador, welcome and thanks for joining us. >> thank you for having me. amna: i want to begin with your reaction from the comments from former president trump, saying he would encourage russia to tack a nato ally. what did you think?

>> it is an outrageous comment. if you look at what is rush -- russia doing to ukraine, bombing cities, civilians, torture, rape as a weapon of war, you shouldn't wish this on anybody. to say that we would encourage putin to attack one of our allies is really too much. to be clear, what president trump was doing was at a campaign rally. he was bragging about having said this in the past. it wasn't a comment about the future, but even so it is nothing to brag about. it is not the kind of leadership america should be showing in the world. nato was created to prevent war, so that by banding together and pledging to defend each other, we would dissuade anybody from attacking. here we have a suggestion that someone should attack. that is the opposite of what you should be trying to do. amna: what do you believe the

u.s.-nato relationship would look like under another trump presidency? >> it is hard to know. president trump says a lot of things. during the first term, he had a lot of warm words for vladimir putin and through the russian consulate out of san francisco, provided arms for ukraine, deported a lot of russian intelligence officers. so there are things that were done under the trump administration that were sound policy even though the rhetoric coming from the president sometimes went in the opposite direction. amna: what he try to pull the u.s. out of the alliance as he said he would? >> i don't know. the most recent thing he said that i heard was that he wants nato to be in a dormant position. i don't know what that means. nato is a defensive alliance, by definition in a dormant position until attacked. but if attacked there needs to

be a substantial and certain response so it serves its role of determining such an attack. i think he would be unlikely to try to pull the u.s. out of nato and even if he tried, he would be unlikely to be successful because there would be substantial resistance within the senate and it would certainly go to the courts to see if he had the authority to do that. amna: jason miller in response to some of the coverage around mr. trump's comments said, democrat and media pearl-clutchers seem to have forgotten that we had four years of peace and prosperity under president trump, but europe saw death and destruction under obama-biden and now more death and destruction under biden. when you don't pay your defense spending, you can't be surprised that you get more war. his claim is basically because president trump publicly pressured people to increase defense spending the world was safer. what do you make of that? >> there are several things

wrapped up their. we have to pull them apart. the first thing is that he is right, european allies need to spend more on defense. every u.s. president i have worked with since reagan has said european allies need to do more on defense. president trump was more direct about it and forceful about it and allies did spend more on defense under his watch, but they spent even more under president biden and it is not because of biden, it is because of putin, who launched a war in europe the likes of which we haven't seen since world war ii. this caused european allies to fear for their security and begin doing more for defense than they had been. poland will spend 4% of gdp on defense this year, 40 billion euros. estonia, also 4%. these countries are ramping up their defense spending because of what they see happening in europe. that is why it is important u.s.

as a leader of nato, to support and encourage that and send a message to any aggressor that there would be a collective response if attacked. amna: i need to ask about the immigration peace of trump's plans that my colleague just reported on. the idea that the u.s. president said he would deploy red state national guard troops to go into blue states to remove undocumented migrants, what would be the impact of something like that? >> let's first say i don't think this is something that is actually possible. the governors and national guards of the states where this would take place would not want this. they would resist it. i can see states putting their militias up against each other. this would be a civil war. i don't see this happening. amna: former u.s. ambassador to nadal kurt volker joining us tonight. appreciate your time. >> thank you.

♪ amna: house republican leaders continue to struggle to conduct the basic functions of government, hindered by a razor-thin majority and infighting within their ranks. this congress has witnessed failed floor votes, two extended battles for the speaker's gavel, and the booting of former congressman george santos late last year. as lisa desjardins explains, the latest wrinkle will come tomorrow, when santos' district gets its congressional voice back. lisa: at the base of long island, a race of congress. fast, massive steaks and quite a back story. 73 days ago house members ousted george santos. the empty seat has been the difference in some key boats.

including last week's attempt to impeach alejandro mayorkas, which failed in the house by one vote. democratic hopes in the race are pinned on tom. >> this is not a game. this is not about tweets or press conferences. this is about real people's lives. lisa: he is a moderate democrat who held the seat for six years before falling short in his 2020 for governor. facing him -- >> i am the person who will deliver when i promise i will deliver. lisa: she is an ethiopian born israeli american who served in the israeli defense forces and is a county lawmaker elected to office as a republican, still registered to vote as a democrat. >> she votes with republicans and caucuses. >> the publisher has a unique vantage point. his paper exposed santos' lies and is covering his replacement.

>> it is a famous election. people are watching it. the big issue is the border crisis because there are tent cities in this congressional district holding thousands of migrants. lisa: months of the migrant crisis in new york dominated the campaign and it is why the newspaper endorsed this candidate, -- >> the immigration issue is so important. it is such a crisis. he felt her election would send the right signal in dealing with it seriously. lisa: she is signaling she is in line with house republicans including on may arcus. -- mayorkas. >> he should not be there. this is why this election is important. we have to have a majority to start to do the right thing. lisa: same issue and a different local newspaper sees this candidate does the solution,

writing that he would work across the aisle to find solutions. that is his message, but he is tough but not partisan on the border. >> she says she is concerned about the border but opposes the bipartisan solution that would close the border. lisa: both candidates tiptoed around their produced -- presumed top of the ticket. biden and trump. emily covers politics for political. >> they seal -- see sense of dread since joe biden won the district. she doesn't want to be affiliated with biden because he is unpopular. >> until this weekend she wouldn't say she voted for him and 2020. when it comes to his legal problems -- >> if he is convicted, you will not support him? >> i will not support that. >> the race brought an avalanche of ads. >> i'm tom swazi and i approve this message.

>> a snow storm is brewing that could make early voting critical . >> it favors democrats who turn out early versus republicans who come on election day. both candidates really pushing their supporters to make their votes and come out before the stor hits. >> new york democrats are in the process of redrawing the bash -- the battle lines. this district's lines will be closely watched. >> the path to the gavel in the house most likely runs through about half a dozen seats in new york state in the suburbs. >> meeting in long island, we have a race that could preview how the suburbs will break this fall and how the house will operate next week. for the pbs newshour i'm lisa desjardins. amna: for more on the impact of the special election, it is time for politics monday with amy walter and tamra keith. good to see you both.

let's pick up where lisa left off. what stands out to you about the special election? what will you be watching? >> special elections are unique. lisa's peace is getting national attention because it is a swing state and district in which the migrant crisis is in its backyard. the debate over what to do is playing out politically in real time. while this is a unique period of time in one unique district, the folks in congress looking at the race, the decision by the democrat to talk about wanting to have something like border security, like the bipartisan bill in the senate and the republicans saying no, what that would tell leaders in congress going forward i think will be

important. this is one of those very important swing seats that will determine who controls the house in 2024. not saying if democrats when they win the house or vice versa, but this will be critical. amna: what are you watching? >> it is a rare election year trial run early in an election year. various groups and the parties are trying things out that we might see later in the election year and in other congressional races are the presidential race in terms of on the ground tactics. watching to see how the experiments that are happening turnout. also, what is up with the weather? it is supposed to snow tomorrow. there is this raging debate in the republican party about whether you bank your vote or you always vote on election day and snow storms are why parties try two their votes. we will see how that plays out. amna: election coverage and

whether coverage. in the house i want to talk about other shifts. wisconsin congress and mike gallagher has been a rising star in the republican party, and has announced he won't run for reelection. here is what he said. the framers intended citizens to serve in congress for a season, and then return to their private lives. electoral politics was never supposed to be a career, and trust me, congress is no place to grow old. he is in his fourth term, 39 years old. what does this say to you? >> we have seen republicans especially who have gone up against the status quo, whether that is donald trump himself or things that donald trump's wing of the party would like to see past, if they have gone up against that, they have usually been on the losing end either losing a primary, or realizing

the writing is on the wall, they may lose our primary and deciding to retire. he is unique in that he is a conservative republican who really does believe in working across party lines on the china committee, for example. right now, if you look at recent polling, what we see the difference between rebecca -- republicans and democrats on compromise, republicans see it as something that shows weakness. democrats don't see that. amna: you mentioned he had done a lot of bipartisan work to counter china's influence. future funding for ukraine is uncertain in the house right now . are we seeing a more isolationist stance take hold in the house as we move towards an all but certain trump nomination? >> former president trump is making foreign policy a place where he is exerting his power over the party and exerting his party -- power over members of

his own party in congress. part of that is because this supplemental for funding for ukraine and israel and countering china is basically the only thing happening right now in congress, so this is where trump is able to try to influence the party. but also, this is where he is taking the party. it is a more isolationist party under him and you can see the split. the split is playing out in the republican primary, where there is donald trump and then there is nikki haley. nikki haley's ceiling is around 30% and many of those voters are continuing to be more traditional republicans, who are more concerned about america's place in the world. she is out there talking about how you need to fund ukraine. that is not a popular view in trumps republican party. you are seeing the split on the campaign trail where she is

struggling. trump republicans are like, why would we support someone like that? she is just like george w. bush, who was his standardbearer for a long time. >> the ranks have been pending in congress of republican internationalists but there were 18 republicans who supported the supplemental funding in the senate. not an insignificant number but it is certainly not as large as it was 20 years ago. >> and the potential rematch between biden and trump, the hired lines -- the headlines that dominated since the special counsel report released have been about president biden's memory function and his age after the special counsel included his assessment in the report. former president trump continues to mix up world leaders and u.s. leaders over the course of his long speech. he veers in and out of

coherence. it doesn't generate the same headlines. is there an asymmetry of expectations? >> there is. part of that is that one of these people is the current president of the united states, so president biden gives a speech, typically his speeches are bite sized enough to be carried live on television and they are carried live on television. people see the president when he speaks because he is the president of the united states. former is a former president. he is running again, he is a candidate, he is the presumptive nominee. he gives two hour speeches that go on forever. they veer off in all kinds of wild directions. they include things you can't put on television because the fcc would come after you. you aren't seeing it. former president trump is putting up massive amounts of content that nobody is seeing. biden is not putting out a lot

of content. he is limited in his public engagements. everybody sees it. so it gets a different level of focus in part because he is the president. >> i agree. what you are seeing in the polling is that there is a reason i think democrats are not as engaged in this election as they were going into 2020. some of that is reticence among democrats about the president's age. and his ability to do his job because of that. the other is when donald trump was in the white house, he was in your face every day, all the time. that is what motivated those voters to show up and vote in 2020, more than it was a sign of their sort of enthusiasm for biden. i looked at polling recently and the percentage of people who say they are voting for biden because they don't like trump isn't much different than what it was in 2020. so that has always been the

underlying sort of energy behind the biden campaign, but you need trump to be more in focus which is why the campaign will try to make that. >> republicans jump on any biden misstatement and will fundraiser off it immediately. democrats and the biden campaign don't do the same. is that deliberate? >> they are doing a fair bit of it and ramping up more. they have twitter accounts, president biden is on tiktok although with a fire walled phone. in the conservative world, there are memes born every second that go out on social media about biden being old. there isn't the same culture of just putting all of that content out by average democratic voters. >> we will wait and see. amy, tamra keith, great to see you. ♪

amna: a new documentary explores the little-known stories of the first black pilots and engineers who became astronauts. pioneers of the space program. geoff bennett has a look at the film "the space race," which airs tomorrow on the national geographic channel. it is parts of our arts and culture series, canvas. >> very few people today even have a clue about black people'' contribution to human space flight because they weren't written in history books. geoff: the tell us more, we're joined now by one of the directors of the film, lisa cortes, and retired major general charles bolden, an astronaut and former nasa administrator who's featured in the documentary. it's so great to have you both here. >> great to be here. thank you. geoff: and charlie bolden, it's always an honor to get to speak with you, in large part because you've had such a distinguished career in the military and in

the space program. retired marine corps major general, nasa administrator during the obama administration. you flew on four space shuttle missions. it's hard to believe you didn't set out to be an aviator. >> i did not. that is not something i wanted to be. in fact, that was one of the things i swore i would never do was fly an airplane. yeah. no way. geoff: tell me about some of the obstacles and challenges you faced in being a pioneering astronaut. >> i came from the segregated south, so i grew up in columbia, south carolina, my wife and me. and, at the age of 12, i saw a program called men of annapolis about life at the naval academy. decided that's where i wanted to go to school. so that was my goal in life from then on. and, met with the obstacles when i was finally at the high school and i could apply that nobody in the south carolina delegation was going to appoint a black to any service academy. and so i was just overwhelmed by disappointment. but i learned that the vice president of the united states

can make an appointment of anybody. and that was lyndon johnson at the time. so i began to write him over years. never heard from him, but subsequently got a visit from a navy recruiter, and then a retired federal judge from right here in d.c., judge bennett, who came around, at the behest of president johnson, looking for qualified young men, only men back then, to to go to the service academies. and i ended up getting an appointment from congressman william dawson in chicago, illinois. and i was off to the naval academy. but i came out of there saying, no marine corps, no aviation. geoff: lisa cortes, there are any number of stories you could tell as an award winning producer and director. why tell this one? >> i am always intrigued by the hidden figures, people, and stories that we think we know about. but actually, when you start to pull back the layers, you discover the contributors who have not had their time in the spotlight, and to be able to focus on the beginning of the

program and ed dwight's journey, as we trace it then to the shuttle era and to the present, was something that was missing in the popular narratives being told, and just so rich in detail and legacy. geoff: guy bluford was the first black american to go into outer space as an astronaut. that was in 1983. but lisa mentioned ed dwight. he was set to do that some 20 years earlier, but it didn't work out. tell us about him and tell us this story. >> he did not work out very simply because he was, he was the dream of one person, and that was president kennedy. when president kennedy was assassinated, within weeks, if not days, any dream of him becoming an astronaut was gone, because they just took him out of the the line of people who were potential astronauts. nasa went through a selection that year, and he was not among those that was selected, although everybody had given him

the expectation that he would be. and the explanations, the funny thing is, there are no explanations. even to this day, you have history from him but there is no one on the other side to tell the opposing story. it's just everybody says, no, we never heard of that. geoff: and then dwight has since become a prolific artist and sculptor. >> i tell people that the greatest gift to the world was ed dwight not being selected as an astronaut. now, that may sound strange. he is one of the most prolific sculptors today. the one that i love is his "emancipation" sculpture, which is a life size, i mean, it's huge, that stretches across the front of the the state capitol in austin, texas. and i think it's appropriate for today, that ed dwight's work, going from slavery all the way up to the modern time, you know,

titled "emancipation," is on display in front of the texas statehouse. geoff: lisa, let's talk about the pioneering black women astronauts mae jemison, stephanie wilson, joan higginbotham, sian proctor. how do their stories figure into the larger story of racial progress in the space program? >> well, one of the things that's interesting about our film is we look at how the program changes with the introduction of the shuttle, because the shuttle allows for people who are not going to be pilots. and so we first see this expansion in 1983, with the group that includes, you know, fred and guy and ron. and then shortly afterwards, we see mae jamison and other women who are scientists, who are geologists, who are able to then become a part of this expansion. geoff: and charlie, you have logged more than 680 hours in

space. >> not a lot of time. geoff: not a lot of time? >> not a lot. i love to hear it. it sounds like a lot, but in relative terms, that's about a month in space. geoff: okay. >> victor glover, on his first flight, spent six months in space, you know, so. geoff: he's the first black astronaut to go to the international space station. >> first black astronaut to go to the international space station. so that'll tell you. and victor and i have this thing that, there was a 20 year, i want to say, a 20 year gap between when i became the second black pilot to fly in space to get into nasa's astronaut program, and victor became the third. so we seem to go in these decadal upgrades to the system, which just tells you that in this kind of activity, you've got to be persistent and you've got to have a pipeline through which people go and that, you know -- lisa's movie, hopefully this is the right time for it. because you're hearing a lot of

ridiculous stuff about the lack of qualifications of blacks and women in fields like aviation and everything else. which is absolutely absurd. so you can't argue with what is documented in, you know, in this particular movie. yeah. geoff: lisa, there's such power and poignancy and letting the astronauts tell their own stories in the way that you do in this film. what conversations do you hope this documentary will inspire? >> well. increasingly, we live in a time where there are many factors who are trying to tell us that the teaching of black history is not necessary, or they are trying to recreate the contributions of african-americans to our great country. and charlie bolden has one of my favorite quotes, which is, charlie, actually, if you will share it about history, i think it is the perfect thing that people need to understand about the film. >> what i have always said is

that black history is american history, and we all play a role in the history of this country where, you know, we're on this constant march toward a more perfect union. and my point to everyone, and i think what lisa is saying and what this movie will hopefully portray is, we deny black history, american history, at our own peril. you know, if we choose to ignore it and choose to pretend that you and i don't exist, or you and i didn't contribute to this phenomenal country that remains the greatest country on the planet, you do that at your own peril. we've been through this once. we've been through this game. you know, we've been to this show. the scary part about what we're going through today is the fact that we know the end, if we keep going down this road, of trying to pretend that people who played one of the most important roles in the space program, if you're talking about people like katherine johnson, the hidden figures, you cannot eradicate them from the story, because

there are too many people who participated in that story. john glenn, when he was here on the planet, would tell you, that was the difference in him saying, i'm gonna go in and i'm not going, was this young black woman who had done the math and told him that everything was going to be okay. you can deny that, you can pretend it didn't happen, but you've got other people who are around who will tell you, no, buddy, we weren't going. had it not been for katherine johnson. and that's important. it's important for young kids to understand that. yeah. geoff: well, the film is the space race. lisa cortes, we appreciate you and major general charlie bolden, thank you so much, sir, for your for your service, your sacrifice and your example. >> it's always good to be with you and lisa, you're two phenomenal people that i love dearly. you know, i watch all the time. so thanks very much for this opportunity. >> thank you. >> thanks, lisa. amna: online, you can hear more from charles bolden on how space changed his perspective of the world. that's on our youtube channel.

last night's super bowl, with more than 100 million viewers expected, capped a major year for the nfl. in 2023, nfl games accounted for 93 of the 100 most watched tv programs. but the risks of the game have been well documented, and for some, that's changed how they see kids' tackle football. for others, including in the town of lexington, mississippi, the commitment to youth football remains high. this report comes to us from the shirley povich and howard centers of journalism at the university of maryland, and the student correspondent is sapna bansil. >> like many kids in lexington, rj and mason have been playing tackle football on this field they were five. it is a place that fosters big dreams. >> do you know what you want to

be when you grow up? >> a football player. >> and nfl player? >> yes. >> how about you? >> parents enrolled their kids on teams by the time they reach kindergarten. with an ion where the sport can take them. currently, one out of every three lexington residents plays football at a power five school, considered a prominent conference. it is one of the best rates of any town in the country. it inspires mason and rj's father to imagine what is possible for his sons. >> when we watch the nfl games on sundays and saturdays or whatever the case may be, i tell them that can be you out there on the field. it is all boiling down to what you want. if you wanted enough. >> lexington, a town of nearly 1200, is 77% black. it is in the second poorest county in the nation's poorest state. nearly 35% of people live in poverty. >> living in lexington, small

population, the opportunity for kids is at a bare minimum. we have no swimming pool, no tennis court. the basketball court is bad enough. >> in lexington, football doesn't just benefit the few who becomes stars. it opens doors, according to the head coach at the high school. >> football teaches you about life. it is like now, i'm not playing football anymore and i tell kids all the time, football set me up to do what i do today. i didn't play in the nfl, i played high-level college football but it set me up with relationships with people. >> a 2023 study found those who start playing tackle football at an early age or play it for more than 11 years are at greater risk of cognitive and behavioral

problems. as a result, many communities around the country are turning away from youth football program submit health and safety concerns. tackle football participation is down 13 .2% from 2019 to 2022 among kids six-12. communities of color have a higher tendency to stick with the sport. some, including marcus, say safety has improved. >> in these times, football is as safe as it has ever been. i don't force it on anyone. it has to be something you want to do. it is a tough sport. whether you are female or male. >> that is not the only reason communities of color are sticking with football. a poll found black and hispanic parents are nearly twice as likely as white parents to see youth football as a path to college scholarshi and even the nfl. >> kids from the state of mississippi started out at 5, 6,

7 years old and somebody will end up in the nfl. it is going to happen. somebody will push it and they will wind up in the nfl. >> last season nearly 40 kids ages 5-12 played for the colts. all were black. since the colts were founded in 1999, only two white players have ever enrolled. the ceo said a big part of the reason for that is white on black students in the town don't attend school together. >> there is little intermingling socially among the kids that are black-and-white. it is rooted and grounded in a mentality that has been overshadowing, and i'm going to say mississippi in general. >> lexington is dealing with the consequences of along racial divide. confederate monuments stand in the town square. the police department remains under investigation by the department of justice for

alleged civil rights violations. some families say the path to a better future may involve tackle football. some of those success stories began with the lexington colts and nearby teams in durant and other towns. football can keep every kid on the right path. >> i have lost a couple players in the last few years. more than a couple. we have lost a few students per year. gun violence. drive-by shootings. stuff like that. we will continue to work with these guys and try to get them to have a different mentality. >> for the pbs newshour and povich and howard centre, this is sapna bansil. ♪ amna: later tonight here on pbs, a new docuseries hosted by henry louis gates, jr. delves into the

power of african american gospel music, exploring the rich history of black spirituality through sermon andong. >> the black preaching tradition is deeply connected to gospel music. our singers preach and our preachers sitting. -- sing. you feel it deep down in your soul. it makes you want to shout, makes you want to sing. ♪ >> that is beautiful. amna: "gospel" airs tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern, on pbs stations and at pbs.org. and join us again here tomorrow for our report from the streets of el salvador, where a crackdown on gang violence has made neighborhoods safer, but also put democratic values at risk. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire newshour

team, thank you for joining 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. the world of leisure, and british style. all with cunard's white star service. ♪ >> the kendeda fund. committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through investments and transformative leaders and ideas. more at kendeda fund.org.

supported by the john d cap -- and catherine t macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. and with the ongoing support of these 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. ♪

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