amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the "newshour" tonight. voters in more than a dozen states cast ballots in super tuesday primary spirit what the results could mean for november's presidential match-up. amna: the families of israelis taken captive by hamas on october 7th offer different perspectives on a potential hostage deal. geoff: what's behind the shocking increase in alcohol-related deaths in the united states and what can be done to counter it. >> those who use it don't think

of themselves as using a drug and therefore they don't worry about it as much as they should. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> these are people who are trying to change the world. start ups have this energy that energizes me. i'm thriving by helping others every day. people who know, know bdo. ♪ >> the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions, and friends of the newshour, including kathy and paul anderson and camila and george smith. >> the john s and james l knight foundation. more at kf.org. ♪

>> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and. -- these individuals and institutions. ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank. geoff: welcome to the newshour. it is the biggest night of the primary election season. voters in 16 states across the country are making their picks for the democratic and republican nominee for president. amna: in a high stakes election year with an array of domestic

and foreign issues at top of mind, voters today were weighing their options carefully. >> i want to vote for trump because i think he is conservative, he was pro-life. >> joe biden. overall i think he has done a great job regardless of what people think of his age. >> i don't want to have donald trump as the option on the republican ticket. >> i'm going to vote for anyone who says they are closing the border. >> noncommitted, yeah. i am very concerned about this election. i don't feel like we have equitable choices. geoff: to help us make sense of it all, we're joined now by republican strategist kevin madden, democratic strategist faiz shakir and amy walter of the cook political report with amy walter. a welcome to all of you. luckily for us this is known as super tuesday and not suspenseful tuesday.

the outcome of these primaries are widely expected to just move joe biden and donald trump closer to november rematch. what are you watching for? amy: what the margins are going to be is it somewhat interesting. we have seen from the beginning on the republican side donald trump go from 51% to 53% to 68% in some polls. in super tuesday states he's getting over 70% of the vote. the consolidation does seem complete. a couple states we are watching are traditionally more blue, where independent voters can show up to vote. and we may see nikki haley has a stronger night there, but not enough to put a meaningful dent in the momentum that trump has built up. amna: let's take a look at the latest delegate count on the republican side. mr. trump is well on his way to securing that 1215 needed to

secure the republican nomination. but he does still face a challenger in nikki haley, one who is not facing 91 charges on four criminal cases. could we see voters concerned over that show up today? kevin: so far we have not seen it. in a primary context, the -- trump's legal problems have had a republican antibody effect in the sense that they rallied the strongest base maga voter to his defense. but that is in a primary context. after tonight we will see donald trump is probably a mathematical certainty will be the nonee and nikki haley will have a mathematical possibility to the nomination. but i think we will also see the continued challenges that donald trump faces in a general election. tonight i will be watching some of these areas in places like virginia and north carolina, places that have traditionally been battleground states. if we still see trump struggle

with those voters, republican leaning, independent-minded republicans, he will need those voters who are now voting for nikki haley in the general election if he's going to win the electoral college to become the next president. geoff: four years ago, now-president biden won 10 out of the 14 contests on super tuesday. today he's expected to sweep the entire thing is the incumbent. what might we learn about his strengths and weaknesses? faiz: we are try to see whether there is voter intensity for joe biden. in order to when he has to have a record turnout like he did in 2020. according to a recent new york times poll you saw some drop off of his own voter base. people indicating according to that poll, 85% are sticking with him, those that voted in 2020 for joe biden. that number has to be much higher. for donald trump it is 97%. those that voted for him are indicating a high intensity of staying with him. the presence of nikki haley

could have some significance. she triggers donald trump. he spent a lot of time calling her birdbrain, attacked her husband, attacked her birth name. i think he has wanted her out of the race and the longer she stays in it, triggers him, and i think in an unhealthy way where he continues to affirm to these voters that he ain't for them. that is the biggest question tonight, doesn't nikki haley choose to stay in? amna: we heard from some of those voters talking about what is animating them to the polls. state-by-state, what will you be watching for in terms of the issue that will drive turnout or keep people on enthused -- unent hused? amy: in these states we have congressional primaries. in alabama the course determined the state will now have two majority black districts. so for the very first time

voters in this one district get their own representative. you may see turnout up in some places because of the competitive races lower on the ballot. usually at is the top of the ticket driving people to vote. we have competitive races in california, in north carolina in primaries. i think those things i am watching as well because it will tell us a lot more about what the next congress could look like. these folks, for them this is the most competitive contest they will have. by november it will be a foregone conclusion they will be coming to congress. we will be getting a pretty good look into what kind of people coming into congress we will be talking about. geoff: we will see how much longer nikki haley stays in this race after tonight. if she drops out soon, where do her voters go? kevin: they park themselves in undecided.

that will be the big challenge donald trump has from here to november. can he turn those voters, who right now are registering support for nikki haley as a protest against donald trump, and whether he can eventually by november get them to say, i don't necessarily like donald trump, but he's better than joe biden. that will be the challenge for him from here to november. amna: speaking of the protest vote, we saw that when it came to president biden in michigan. over 100,000 people showing up to vote uncommitted in protest of president biden's mishandling of israel's war in gaza. do we expect to see more of that today? faiz: for sure, in minnesota and other places where people will be casting this uncommitted vote. we should understand a couple things. in a democracy we want people to be expressing their pain annexed. right now it gives joe biden time to address it. the only way he can is by changing policy.

he has an opportunity to do that on thursday. he has a state of the union. he's trying to get a cease-fire deal that could be game changing for at least trying to move toward some resolution of the conflict and end it. nothing will change for joe biden until he can show a policy change. they are breaking their necks to figure that out. meanwhile voters are continually going to put political pressure on the system to see a change happen. geoff: unrelated to super tuesday, arizona senator kyrsten sinema stated she's not seeking reelection. what does that do to the senate landscape? amy: the seat was already going to be very competitive. what we have seen is a battleground state with clear democrat and republican, but those are very different from the types that have come before them. they don't come from the moderately, they come -- the moderate lane, they come from the more progressive and conservative lane.

winning independent voters will be a challenge for them for different reasons. geoff: her exit is the democrat's gain? amy: sinema was also taking a lot of republican votes as well from those kinds of voters that kevin was talking about, who in the era of trump, feel like they don't have a home. sinema's independence was attractive to them. geoff: our thanks to all three of you. amna: one of the most-watched non-presidential races of the day is in california. geoff: voters there are deciding who should fill a u.s. senate seat. and as laura barron lopez explains, today's primary will determine whether the race is just beginning or essentially the end. laura: super tuesday's blockbuster drama will be in california, where 11 democrats and 10 republicans are competing for the states open senate seat. only the top two finishers, regardless of party, will remain in the race. >> i am doing my homework, not

completely ready to decide who my next senator is going to be. laura: for democrats there are three leading contenders, all self-described progressives already serving in the house. >> this will set a new president. laura: best known for trying former president trump's first impeachment trial. >> i think californians are looking for a senator who leads in the big fights. when our democracy was at risk, i was in the center of that fight protecting our institutions. >> this all totals up to -- laura: katie porter became a viral sensation with her poignant whiteboard interrogations in committee. katie: i went and prepared, asking tough questions of big ceos about why their workers could not put food on the table, asking tough questions and getting answers. i think that is an important part of the senate and house that frankly we are not saying democrats or republicans to enough of.

>> i rise today with a heavy heart. laura: barbara lee's national profile dates back to about she cast within 22 years ago. >> this unspeakable act on the united states has really forced me to rely on my moral compass, my conscience, and my god. laura: the only lawmaker who opposed authorizing military force in the days immediately following 9/11. >> i voted against that. i said it could escalate out of control, and it did. laura: democrats outnumber republicans 2:1 in california but the vote split between three candidates, a republican could make it through to november. >> we need to build consensus more than ever. hasn't anybody played a team sport in congress? laura: former l.a. doctor and republican front-runner steve garvey leans on sports metaphors while claiming moderate conservative principles. the first time candidate offers few specifics or a concrete policy platform, saying he's

just trying to listen right now. >> we are in a time when people are angry with the issues, about homelessness, crime, the economy, and the border. that creates an environment where an outsider with commonsense solutions can be heard and be an effective candidate. laura: the former republican mayor of newport beach is backing garvey. >> there is no doubt it is difficult for a republican running statewide in california. laura: he says star power can elevate california republicans like it did for ronald reagan and arnold schwarzenegger. but curry never supported donald trump. garvey will not say who he is backing for president this year. >> steve garvey voted for trump twice. is that a problem for you? >> most republicans voted for donald trump. he will probably be the nominee this year. he's not popular in california but he will be the nominee. laura: garvey did not respond to our request for interview. over the weekend he surged in a

new uc berkeley poll from a virtual tie with katie porter to a statistical dead heat for first with adam schiff. >> two leading candidates for senate. laura: garvey's rise came from massive ad buys, painting adam schiff as his main competitor. >> he has attacked me repeatedly on fox and you cannot ignore one of your leading opponents attacking you. >> this is a huge choice for californians. laura: porter believes adam schiff is boosting garvey to guarantee a win for himself in november. she's buying ads that say another republican is the true maga threat. >> i don't think anyone should think garvey will be california's next senator, but having him in this race november is a huge gift to republicans. laura: for most democratic voters the candidates differ more in personality than policy. >> it will be hard for me to

differentiate. a lot of the times it feels like i'm tossing a coin in the bucket. >> picking the right person feels important and it is tough to narrow it down. >> many of their policies are the same. it is hard sometimes to tell where they overlap and don't. laura: all three candidates support medicare for all, have proposals to reduce the cost of housing, support abolishing the filibuster, and all three are worried about young voter's disillusionment with joe biden and their party. >> i want to make sure young people know their voices are being heard. >> right now in our u.s. senate we don't have nearly enough younger voices. >> if i have a concern it is about the youth vote. laura: in the final stretch, they are fighting to separate themselves from the pack. >> i am drawing the contrast with my democratic colleagues based on leadership and effectiveness. laura: porter said she is immune to big money's influence, refusing to accept cash from corporations or lobbyists. >> and my five years i have done

progress differently. laura: lee had to fight her high school's administration before earning a spot as the first black woman on the cheerleading team. and unlike her opponents, she's experienced living unhoused. >> we have families that can't afford childcare. i have lived that. laura: if democrats finish in first and second place, the race to november will be competitive. >> i would vote for steve garvey. laura: why? >> i am really tired of the democratic policies. >> but if voters pick a democrat and republican, november will be almost certainly sewn up for the democrat that makes it through. for the pbs newshour, i'm laura barron-lopez. amna: and we'll have more live coverage of super tuesday online and later tonight beginning at 11:00 p.m. eastern, right here on pbs. ♪ geoff: in the day's other

headlines, ukraine claimed it sank a russian warship, the third in recent weeks, with a high-tech sea drone. kyiv's military intelligence agency said it happened in the kerch strait -- linking russia to the crimean peninsula. ukrainian video purportedly showed an explosion tearing into a russian patrol ship. the vessel was part of russian defenses against drone attacks. the international criminal court issued arrest warrants for two top russian commanders today for their actions in ukraine. the warrants charge sergei kobylash and viktor sokolov with directing attacks on electric power sites, and with crimes against humanity. ukrainian officials welcomed the move. >> it's not only about war crimes, it's about crimes against humanity. because these crimes were committed on a massive scale, and these attacks were committed far beyond the frontline with no any potential military reason. geoff: moscow does not recognize the court's jurisdiction, and is

not expected to hand over the generals for trial. china has set an ambitious economic growth target of 5% this year. it comes despite lagging demand, deflation and a real estate debt crisis. congress, the country's rubber-stamp legislature, listened today the chinese premier laid out the spending plan and acknowledged the difficulties ahead. >> the complexity, severity and uncertainty of the external environment are increasing. the foundation for china's sustained economic recovery is not yet stable, with insufficient effective demand, overcapacity in some industries, weak social expectations and still many risks and hidden dangers. geoff: the budget also includes a 7% hike in defense spending. china's overall military budget has more than doubled in the last decade. back in this country, liberty university will pay a $14 million federal fine for not reporting data about crimes on its lynchburg, virginia campus. it's the largest fine ever under

a law that mandates collecting crime information and alerting students. liberty is one of the world's largest christian schools with more than 15,000 students. the men's basketball team at dartmouth voted today to form the first labor union for college athletes. players said the age of amateurism is over. the schools that academics, not athletics, are paramount for ivy league students, so there's no cause to unionize. dartmouth could file a legal challenge to the move. the biden administration is proposing a new ceiling for credit card late fees. the president announced it today as he met with his competition counsel. fees would be topped at $8 per transaction. currently they average $32 dollars. the chamber of commerce said it will sue to block the rule. and on wall street, weak economic data and a slide in big tech stocks drove the market downward. the dow jones industrial average was down 404 points to close at 38,585. the nasdaq fell 268 points.

the s&p 500 dropped 52. still on the newshour, journalist kara swisher discusses her new book on her life and complicated relationship with the tech industry. and a theater company in texas that's promoting and preserving latin american culture and history. ♪ >> this is the pbs newshour from weta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. amna: israeli war cabinet member benny gantz is still in washington today meeting with top u.s. officials, including secretary of defense lloyd austin. his trip comes as negotiators met for a second day in cairo, working towards a deal between israel and hamas, to pause fighting in gaza and free israeli hostages. but so far there's been no breakthrough. nick schifrin looks at the status of talks and speaks to two hostage family members. nick: negotiations between

israel and hamas are at a cortical moment. u.s. officials tell me that hamas has responded to the most recent outline that would pause the war for 6 weeks for the release of 35 to 40 hostages, but it will take some time for israel and international mediators to reply. the u.s. had hoped to secure a deal before the islamic holy month of ramadan begins next week. today, once again, president biden put the onus on hamas. pres. biden: it is in the hands of hamas right now. the israelis have been cooperating. there's an offer out there that is rational. we will know in a couple days if it is going to happen. but we need the ceasefire. nick: central to that ceasefire are the lives of 100 or so israeli hostages who've been held in gaza for nearly 5 months and their families, waiting for their release. but not all the families agree on how to bring their loved ones back home. i'm first joined by yair glick, the cousin of eitan mor, who was a security guard at the nova

film festival when hamas terrorists launched their assault. thank you very much. well come to the newshour. do you believe bottom line that if a deal is possible this week, the israeli government should accept it? yair: thank you for having me. no. i think we should not have a deal with terrorists. we should not negotiate with them. we want them all back, we want all our families to come back, but we think we need to do it in a different way. nick: what is that different way? what do you believe is the best way? yair: we need to make hamas, the terrorist that attack israel, torture, murder people, we need to give all -- we need to force them to give all the people back. we cannot let these terrorists get what they want and what they did for it. nick: do you believe the way the israeli government is going

about the campaign and gaza, that that is beginning to force hamas to do as you say, to avoid giving into hamas demands? yair: yes. we can see we continue to fight hamas and we are winning. we are forcing them to go back and hide. we need just to continue it. we don't want the terrorists to be able to do again this terrible attacks. and we can continue doing it and trying all the time of course to take care of the people in gaza. nick: what do you say to the people that point out that the idf has managed to release a few hostages but the vast majority of hostages who have been released came during a cease-fire that the israeli government accepted back in november when more than 100 hostages were released? yair: first i think we should

look on the differences between the deals. during november, we get one week of cease-fire. now they are offering six weeks to give us less people. during this time, they have time to get more weapons, more ammo this kind of deals. we just give them more will to do it again and again. nick: the argument you are making is echoed by a group of families that was created by eitan's father. many believe the prime minister is not doing enough to prioritize the securing of hostages. do you believe you are in the minority? yair: yes, because when you are talking about families of hostages, i think the rationale -- the rational and normal reaction will be to do whatever they need to get them back. i cannot judge them.

i really understand them. but i'm not talking about the families, i'm talking about our decision-makers. they need to think in a different way, rational, not emotional. we need to think about the future. we need to think what will happen next time. nick: eitan mor your cousin is 23 years old. what should we know about him? yair: he's really a young man that is just starting his life. he is turning from teenage to a man. he moved to his own apartment and started thinking about learning what to do. now this terrible thing happened. we need to talk about how to get him out of there. nick: yair glick, thank you very much. yair: thank you. nick: now we turn to jonathan

dekel-chen, his son sagui was kidnapped by hamas terrorists from kibbutz nir oz, where one in four people were either killed or kidnapped on october 7. jonathan, welcome back to the newshour. there is a deal that israel and hamas are negotiating that would stop the war for about six weeks, at least in the first round for the release of 35 to 40 hostages. do you believe the israeli government should accept that deal? jonathan: i believe the israeli government should be doing its job in returning as many of the hostages as possible in as early timeframe as possible. right now we don't know how many are still alive. every day, every hour the possibility increases that there are fewer of them to return alive. yes, i am in favor of it. nick: do you believe the israeli government is doing all it can to release your son and the remaining hostages? jonathan: it is hard for me to give you a solid answer on that. we will only know that they have done everything they must do

when all of the hostages that are alive in the bodies -- that are alive, and the bodies that we unfortunately no hamas is holding, when they return home. that is when we know the israeli government has decided to not sacrifice them a second time. nick: the israeli government and its supporters have argued that military pressure needs to increase in order to convince hamas to release the hostages. do you agree? jonathan: unfortunately i don't. the israeli soldiers, these are my brothers, my sons, and i completely support what they are trying to do, however there is no proof of concept that military action is going to get any of the hostages home alive. the three hostages that were rescued by the idf are the exception that proves the rule. the rest of the, we hope 130- something hostages, are being held closely by hamas in the tunnels.

so this idea that israeli soldiers will go knocking on his door and he will then turn over the hostages, it's fantasy. there is absolutely no proof. on the contrary, there is proof that before giving them up, the hamas leadership will in all probability execute them. so no, absolutely i do not support that idea that military action on its own is going to get even one hostage home alive. nick: do you believe you represent the vast majority of the families of those being held in gaza? jonathan: absolutely, no question. also the vast majority of the people of israel, we see that industries, we see -- that in the streets, we see that in the press. we cannot be whole again after the disaster of october 7 overseen by our own government. we can only be whole again when the hostages come home.

we will not be able to look at each other if god for bid the hostages are not returned alive , or those whose bodies remain in gaza, for to be returned. nick: on october 7 your son fought off hamas terrorists trying to protect his wife and two daughters. your daughter-in-law has subsequently had a baby, she was pregnant on october 7. what do you want people to know about your son? jonathan: my son is the kind of guy where, not just our kibbutz community, not just our country, but i believe large parts of the world can benefit from people like that being active of two and good, of creating -- of doing good, of creating. the time has come for him to be reunited with his three daughters and wife. his wife is truly the hero of our families story, both

surviving an impossible ordeal on october 7 and keeping the lives of her daughters moving forward, despite this impossible situation we find ourselves in. nick: thank you very much. jonathan: thank you. ♪ amna: few journalists have been covering silicon valley as long as kara swisher. and, even fewer are as respected, like command feared by the tech industry and its most iconic leaders. for the first time, she's opening up about her own life, in her latest book, which we recently discussed, entitled "burn book: a tech love story." kara swisher, welcome back to the newshour. thanks so much for joining us. kara: thanks for having me. amna: so i think it's fair to say that you don't mince words and you don't suffer fools. kara: i don't. that is correct. [laughter] check -- check.

amna: in particular with people in positions of power. and in your memoir, it seems like you've always been that way. even when you were a kid, you were unafraid to question authority. i'm wondering where that comes from, but also how you hang on to that over the years, in a world that often kind of squashes that in women. kara: it does. i don't know what has happened here. it just won't stop. i was like this as a kid. my nickname as a baby was tempesta, you know? and of course, that's the name they would put on a woman, right? like, ooh, difficult. bossy. i used to get bossy all the time, and i was like, i'm just have executive function, you know? i don't know what to tell you. i just am the way i i kind of am. get irked when people just tell you or explain things. i'm not one that's easily mansplained, that kind of thing. and so i just was always like, why, why, why was my favorite word. and over the years, you know, persistent obnoxiousness has been a career highlight for me. amna: well, it's a good question to be asking in journalism in particular. you joined the journalism world early. i do want to point out journalism was not your first choice for careers, right?

kara: no, i wanted to be in the military. my dad was in the military who had died many years before, and i unusually wanted to do that. i thought it was important to serve your country. i want to do military intelligence. i thought about the cia. i thought about state department, all those places. but i was really oriented toward the military. but i was gay. and at the time, you could not be gay and be in the military. and it took a very long time, and a ridiculous amount of so many good people could have served. i would have been an admiral, and i think i would have done a very nice job. amna: you mentioned your father, you are just five years old -- you were just five years old. how do you look back on that now, the impact of losing your father that early on, who you are now, on how you live now, on how you parent now? kara: well you know there's not a day that goes by i don't think about my dad. this is some, you know 50 some years hence. and i think about him all the time. when a parent dies at a young age half your life goes away, right? if you have two parents, many

people, not everybody does. it's a real blow. and i didn't realize the disaster of it for me at least, because what happens is you often get very highly functional. and you're like, i can do it. everything bad happened and i'm fine. and so you get really good at running over, running through roadblocks, essentially. but when i had my first kid, i have four kids now, but when i had my first, my son and i remember when he turned five, which is around the age my dad died, he knew me so well and i was like, oh my god, it really was someone i was very close to died. and you don't have memories or your ability to express things as well at five. so it's informed everything i've done, and it's made me realize more than most people that life is too short. that's a cliche, but i don't got any kind of time for nonsense. i think that's what it brings to me. amna: i was interested to learn in your academic career when you were studying at georgetown. your focus in history classes in particular was on nazi propaganda. he wrote in your book, what --

you wrote in your book "what struck me was how easily people could be manipulated by fear and rage, and how facts could be destroyed without repercussions. " how much of a parallel do you see between what we are living today and what you were studying back then? kara: it is the same thing. they call it misinformation, disinformation, digital, you know, all kinds of bots. it's propaganda. and so now with it, especially since we're addicted to these devices, it gets even worse. i say this a lot, hitler didn't need instagram, right? or mussolini didn't need, you know, snapchat. but can you imagine if they had these devices? very problematic. and they did fine with just paper or radio or whatever. so did many other, you know, terrible leaders over the course of history. but this presents tools to people who are bad on a global level, you know, at a scale that is unprecedented. amna: in your career you've covered, gotten to know and interviewed some of the world's most powerful tech leaders, mostly men. i'm curious over time, if you have found that they all have

one thing in common. is there something that stood out to you? kara: besides being straight white men. let's see. they have different versions of this but persistence, the ability to persist despite mistakes. to be able to pivot, very quickly, to be able to sort of believe the unbelievable in a -- that's a good part. but it can also be a bad part, right? if you are like, i'm going to do it anyway. the really good ones, they have that ability to keep going no matter what and believe the unbelievable, but then pivot when they need to. amna: your book is, as you say, a tech love story, and i think tech has undoubtedly made our lives better in so many ways. but there are so many risks and dangers, and those are real. and i wonder what you make of the efforts to try to control those. lawmakers, in particular trying to regulate them, pressure on tech leaders to have moral or morality infused in their decisions. i mean, how do we get rid of the risks and dangers and still have the benefits? kara: well, we haven't tried because it hasn't worked. we haven't done anything. so, i mean, if there was one law, if you could name a law for

me that protects us against technology specifically, you can't find it. the law that exists actually benefits them. section 230. it gives them broad immunity. they can't be sued. you know, you can't have the biggest industry in the world in terms of value and power, not have any liability. it would be unimaginable if it was pharmaceuticals or insurance or wall street. but here we are. amna: you quote the line in your book, babylon was, meaning every major power at some point will meet its end. do you think the same was going to happen to the giants and tech? kara: one of the things about tech is the young tends to eat its old. although in this new shift to agi, artificial general intelligence, it's dominated by big companies and companies that have been around, whether it's microsoft or meta or amazon, and of course alphabet, google. so it's still dominated by the big players because it'so costly. the cost of compute here is so high. and so right now it's kind of an interesting shift. the younger companies, of which they're getting funded, a ton of

them, none of them has broken through to beat the bigger companies. and i doubt they will in this in this particular era. amna: all right. the book is burn book: a tech love story. the author is kara swisher. kara, thank you so much. great to talk to you. kara: thank you. ♪ geoff: one of the most commonly used drugs in the u.s. is also the deadliest, alcohol. over the last 20 years, more and more americans have died from alcohol-related causes. and a new study reveals those deaths have surged recently. william brangham takes a closer look. william: the cdc issued this new report, and it looks at both deaths directly tied to alcohol like cirrhosis of the liver as well as indirect death, like certain injuries and kinds of cancers. it found that in just five

years, alcohol-related deaths rose by 29%. by 2021, alcohol contributed to the deaths of more than 178,000 americans that year. that's about 500 people a day, lost, because of consuming wine, beer or other alcohol. for a broader look at these findings we're joined again by keith humphreys, he's a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at stanford university. very good to have you back on the newshour. were you surprised? this was your field of study. were you surprised by how much these numbers had ticked upwards? keith: sadly i am not. we noticed during the pandemic that certain groups were increasing their drinking, including drinking alone and in large amounts, and also there has been a long-term trend, alcohol is very cheap in the united states in historical terms, and when it is cheap americans tend to drink more. that is where you get these tragic numbers.

william: are those the principal drivers, low price and all the stresses associated with the pandemic? keith: those two things are articled to producing this kind of increase. federal alcohol taxes were last increased in 1991. they have been declining in real terms ever since. alcohol taxes on craft beer and spirits were cut before the pandemic. that has historically driven more consumption. alcohol is a legal product and therefore one that is heavily advertised. we know the promotion of alcohol, which anyone who has watched a football game is aware of, helps keep the business flowing and keeps people drinking, unfortunately sometimes too much. william: you and i talkd many times over the years, but we are always talking about illegal drugs and policies to address those, never about alcohol. is that as orwell says, the

struggle is constantly to see the thing in front of us? keith: it is a huge blind spot in american drug policy. you can talk about drugs for hours and people will mention fentanyl and meth and cocaine, and they do a lot of harm, but no one will bring up alcohol. at the end afterwards they may get a drink together. that is what the risk of alcohol comes from, those who use it don't of themselves as using a drug and therefore they don't worry about it as much as they should. william: one of the things, back into the cdc's data, while more men died of alcohol-related deaths, the death rate increased for women quite dramatically. why do you think that is? keith: very tragic to see this increase among women debt, and it is -- deaths, and it is enraging to know where it comes from. 25 years ago the alcohol industry realized women were getting more disposable income but were nondrinking as much.

they released female focused advertising, creating mommy wine culture. it worked broadly speaking. we saw an increase in women stricking, -- in women's drinking. biologically the same amount of alcohol in general is more damaging to women than men, partly for reasons of metabolism, partly of reasons for body size. we are seeing the awful outcome of a 25 year campaign to get women to drink more heavily. william: in terms of solutions, what works on a policy level? you touched on some of these things, price being one of them, but what can we do as a society to ameliorate these ills? keith: sometimes the simple answer is the right one. people use less when it is more expensive. raising alcohol taxes for inflation would reduce people's drinking. we have good demonstrations in

states that have done it. william: what about individuals, if someone personally feels like i am concerned about this, what do we know works? keith: one thing i can say with optimism for anyone struggling with a drinking problem is there is about 24 million americans who had a serious problem with alcohol and other drugs and are in recovery. recovery is a realistic aspiration. it happens every day. there is no one right pathway to it. there are people who benefit from alcoholics anonymous. there are people who benefit from treatment, counseling, from medications. there are also people who are able to change without any of those things, usually with some reorientation in their life like engaging with people who do not drink. so there is every reason to believe that you can recover, and there is no reason to feel ashamed if you have a drinking problem. it is something millions will go through. william: keith, always so

interesting to talk with you. thank you very much. keith: thank you. amna: and we'll be back shortly with a look at an austin, texas theater company that's working to promote and preserve latin american culture. geoff: but first, take a moment to hear from your local pbs station. it's a chance to offer your support which helps keep programs like ours on the air. ♪ amna: for those stations staying with us, off-the-shelf drones have proved to be a transformational technology. and now, they're helping reunite us with man's best friend, as special correspondent malcolm brabant saw in southern england in this encore report.

>> we drove 2.5 hours across the english countryside to a town in the county of hampshire and we are joining people looking for a black labrador called xena who is one-year-old and he has been missing for a few days. the drone pilots have been up. xena is a bit nervous and took flight and disappeared. there is only about an hour to go before nightfall. we are following an actress who became xena's owner a year ago after the young labrador was rejected as a gun dog because she was easily spooked. >> unfortunately someone came around to visit and they had a very high-pitched voice, a very bumpxious dog. i think it was the last straw for. i turned around and went where is the dog? >> earlier the area was scanned by a drone that could detect a

puppy or invading infantryman. >> the ukrainian government bought this because of its thermal capabilities. i was lucky to get one a year ago. >> shane phillips is a commercial drone pilot who normally makes films but voluntrs for search-and-rescue when the time comes. >> dogs tend to hide in quite dense undergrowth. they are usually never out in the open. with drones with thermal capabilities you can scan this whole field area in a matter of seconds, and at least we can say there is no dog here and you can focus your efforts elsewhere. >> i am frightened for her, really, because she does not know this part of the country at all. she is only one. this is the perfect place for her to be because there are no main roads around here, but if she was to stray further, we have got really busy roads, the railway line. >> as the light fades fast, a

farmer is convinced he spotted labrador, but the animal was a small deer about the same size as a dog. xena faced her third night alone while her owner endured a tumult of zaidi and hope. similar emotions flowed through the biggest reservoir in north wales, when the dog walker's idyllic stroll went pear-shaped. her spaniel vanished. >> we became more interest that we were not going to find charlie. >> charlie is the best friend olivia david will ever have. >> there was no way we were leaving that night without him. it was an awful experience to go through, one i would not wish on anyone. we just wanted to get him back to where he belonged, back to the people that left him, back to safety. >> tim smith spotted lydia's sos

post in a facebook dog search-and-rescue group. a lot of people consider drones to be a nuisance but we use them to find lost dogs. and around here, particularly in the weather conditions in north wales, a lost dog can be in a lot of trouble. >> the odds were not encouraging. >> charlie was deaf, blind, and almost lame, so very elderly dog to start with. no one could understand what happened because we covered the land and we flew over where charlie was and nobody saw him. >> then the dog walker pointed to the place where charlie disappeared. tim reached for his thermal camera. the white dot in the middle shows charlie trapped on the water's edge. >> i have got him. >> we are so incredibly lucky that tim saw that post that night, that he was able and happy to help us.

everyone did as much as they could, and that is what got charlie back home to us. >> i came away on an incredible high. i'm still buzzing. >> these are some of the dogs who have gone missing in the past couple weeks. every day there are 10 new appeals to track down a four-legged friend. the group can call on 2500 drone pilots and today they reunited nearly 3000 dogs with their families. the landscape pitted with abandoned tin and copper mines. douglas went missing after his owner went for a run. >> i had him since i was 10 years old and he was basically growing up with us as kids. >> a student of mandarin, and bereft. >> he has been through hard times in our life and he has been such a comfort and he's been a big part of the family. >> this is douglas in happier times. >> he is a 12-year-old cocker

spaniel and he is quite infirm and he's blind and probably hard of hearing. >> john davis is a former police dog handler who takes to the air when the ground trail goes cold. >> they are hiding probably in feral dog syndrome that they go into after a time of being out of their family, they are scared, frightened. alas at this point we have not found douglas. >> it feels strange not to have him with us, but it's horrible to worry about what could have happened to him. >> back in hampshire after missing four 3.5 days, xena made her own way back home, lured by a pile of scented clothes, including errol's husband's dirty underwear. >> we have xena home at last. very tired. she's had a good meal. now she is just nodding off on

her favorite sofa. >> thank you. >> no problem at all. >> thank you so much, honestly. brilliant. >> hopefully never again. >> yes, hopefully. >> as xena luxuriate in home comforts, spare a thought for those lost forever. for the pbs newshour in southern england. ♪ >> the austin, texas theater company aims to promote and preserve latin american culture. and its latest project is helping redefine latin american history. journey love taylor of our student reporting labs academy shares the story as part of our arts and culture series, canvas. [speaking spanish]

journey: at the vortex theater in austin, texas proyecto teatro is getting ready for the second installment of a trilogy of stage plays that explore latin american history from the times before the arrival of columbus all the way through to an imagined future. luis gutierrez is the long-time artistic director for the company. >> we are wanting to use this show to raise awareness of what we can do as a local community to take back our culture, to take back our artform and our identity. journey: but this is not just a play, it is a cabaret and is performed completely in spanish. >> this type of work, you don't really see it so much in spanish and you don't see this type of work in the latino community because cabaret is derived from european art forms, and so it is a little odd and a little different and new to see it in the context of our culture.

and so when people saw it, they were so happy to be able to see their stories, their people, their characters in the lens of cabaret with the musical numbers and the dance sequences and jazzy music. ♪ >> my favorite part about being involved in this production specifically i think would be the dances. there is one with chairs, you do a little chair dance routine. i love that. ♪ >> being a part of something so impactful in my community feels like a great responsibility, especially since i feel like i am a leader and someone who creates something for other people to see and other people that are not part of my culture to see, to make sure that what i

am doing always carries that intention that i want it to carry, and the intention of respecting and honoring my culture. [laughter] >> i really don't get a chance to connect with my roots, so being here and rachel teaching us these indigenous dances, just learning about the history, it is a really beautiful thing. journey: for the pbs newshour student reporting labs, i'm journey love taylor. amna: don't forget to join us later tonight for our live super tuesday special. we'll have the latest results and analysis from today's republican and democratic presidential primaries. that's at 11:00 p.m. eastern, right here on pbs. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. thanks for joining us and we will see you later this evening. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> on an american cruise line's

journey, travelers experience the maritime heritage and culture of the maine coast and new england islands. our fleet of small cruise ships explore american landscapes, seaside villages, and historic harbors. where you can experience local customs and cuisine. american cruise lines, proud sponsor of pbs newshour. >> consumer cellular, this is sam, how may i help you? this is a pocket dial. well, somebody's pocket, thought i would let you know with consumer cellular you get nationwide coverage with no contract. that is kind of our thing. have a nice day. ♪ >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security, at carnegie.org.

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wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. the xfinity 10g network. made for streaming. ♪ hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour and company." here's what's coming up. for gaza, another day in hell. the u.s. now joins emergency air drops of food. the israeli government skips cease-fire talks. and the former prime minister ahue ehud barak joins me. >> it is crucial for that aid to be sent to gaza. there's no excuse why it is still in our warehouse. >> correspondent nima el bagir