i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz on the newshour tonight, the senate races to pass a spending package and avoid a government shutdown. geoff: why many americans say they're unhappy about the state of the economy even though indicators say its improving.

>> when you tell them that things are getting cheaper but the rent is not getting cheaper and their food is not getting cheaper, of course they're going to feel bad. amna: and hungary's far-right prime minister viktor orban visits the united states, meeting former president trump but not president biden. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour, including jim and nancy milner, and the robert and virginia schiller foundation. >> along the legendary mississippi read, travelers explore civil war battlefields and historic riverside towns.

a board our fleet of american riverboats, you can experience local culture and cuisine, and discover the music and history of the mighty mississippi. american cruise lines. proud sponsor of pbs newshour. >> the john s. and james l. knight foundation, fostering engaged communities. more at kf.org. ♪ and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪ and friends of the newshour. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you.

thank you. geoff: welcome to the newshour. president biden is on the road tonight, hoping to build momentum for his re-election after last night's state of the union address. amna: first stop this afternoon was philadelphia. his campaign said it's the start of a sweep through the major swing states. the president told supporters he's ready to take the fight to former president trump. tomorrow, he heads south for a campaign appearance in atlanta. former president trump has posted a $92 million bond to cover a defamation judgment in new york. that filing today lets him put off actually paying the penalty while he appeals. a jury found he sexually abused the writer e. jean carroll in 1996, and then falsely accused her of lying about it. the former president also consolidated his grip on the republican party as its national committee approved his leadership team. north carolina party chair michael whatley was voted in as

rnc chair. mr. trump's daughter-in-law, lara trump, will become the national co-chair. the trump team has promised not to use rnc funds to pay his legal bills. the nation's jobs market put up healthy numbers in february. the labor department reports employers added a net of 275,000 positions, up nearly 50,000 from january. at the same time, the unemployment rate hit 3.9% as more people began looking for work. and hourly wages had their smallest gain in more than two years, which could help lower inflation further. efforts to get humanitarian aid into gaza intensified today. the european union announced a ship loaded with supplies could arrive this weekend. the vessel will sail from cyprus in a pilot operation for a maritime corridor extending more than 200 nautical miles. today, the european commission's president ursula von der leyen inspected preparations at larnaca, in cyprus.

she said it's critical to act now. >> the humanitarian situation in cap gaza is dire, with innocent palestinian families and children desperate for basic needs. this is why europe is financing a major humanitarian aid effort for palestinians in gaza and in the region. amna: president biden announced plans last night to build a temporary pier to move more aid into gaza. the pentagon said today it will take several weeks to get the facility up and running. a u.n. report blamed iran today for crimes against humanity in the death of mahsa amini and the unrest it sparked in 2022. the investigation found physical violence led to amini's death for allegedly violating rules on wearing headscarves. nationwide protests erupted as thousands surged into the streets. the report found the ensuing crackdown used everything from shotguns to sexual assaults.

more than 500 people were killed. today's international women's day was marked by celebrations and calls to action. supporters of women's rights in spain and across europe rallied for gender equality, and women in afghanistan staged a rare protest against taliban restrictions. rally-goers in turkey demanded basic rights. >> the pressure on women is not just physical, it is psychological, economic, even digital. we are fighting against all kinds of violence. we still have not gained equal labor and wage rights. we do not have our freedom in this country. amna: in france, supporters marked the day by formally inscribing the right to abortion in its constitution after lawmakers approved it on monday. the biden administration won a round today in a legal fight over immigration. a federal judge in texas upheld a program to admit 30,000 migrants a month from cuba,

haiti, nicaragua, and venezuela on humanitarian grounds. texas and 20 other states argued it's an economic burden on them. they're expected to appeal. a federal jury in new york has convicted the former president of honduras, juan orlando hernandez, of helping to funnel tons of cocaine into the u.s. the verdict came two years after hernandez was extradited to the u.s. prosecutors said he took millions of dollars in bribes from drug traffickers. he could get life in prison when he's sentenced in june. the u.s. military has cleared its workhorse osprey aircraft to return to duty. the entire fleet of several hundred ospreys was grounded in december after a fatal crash in japan. the osprey hovers like a helicoptor and flies like a plane, but it's had a history of deadly crashes. officials say they're imposing new safety measures. on wall street, stocks pulled back as shares in the high-flying chip maker nvidia took a tumble.

the dow jones industrial average lost 68 points to close at 38,722. the nasdaq fell 188 points. the s&p 500 dropped 33. and a passing of note. the japanese anime artist who created the hugely popular "dragon ball" has died after suffering a cerebral blood clot. akira toriyama began the "dragon ball" manga, or comic, series in 1984. it grew into video games, films, and television adaptations, and heavily influenced japanese anime. akira toriyama was 68 years old. still to come on the newshour, david brooks and jonathan capehart weigh in on the week's political headlines. the sound designer of "the zone of interest" discusses his oscar-nominated work on the film. plus, much more. >> this is the pbs newshour from weta studios in washington, and

in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: today's latest jobs report is proof again of a labor market that has been resilient and often stronger than expected. that was part of the president's message during the state of the union last night as well. but many americans don't feel the economy is strong overall, or helping them or their families. a number of polls have shown this, including one from "the new york times" this week that found 51% of americans believe the country's economic conditions are poor right now. so, why the disconnect? there seem to be quite a few reasons. economics correspondent paul solman explains. >> i think if you talk to the average person on the street, they will say the economy is not doing well. and i tend to agree. paul: seth reed is a teacher in northern virginia. >> i am doing fine, but still living paycheck-to-paycheck. paul: alyssa gonzalez has the

tree like lori in denver. >> iave accepted more of a realistic view of the world where things are not going to get better. paul: nonprofit organizer ari hanks was mostly synced. >> i don't feel great. paul: but how can they say that if the economy has been doing so well? low unemployment, inflation easing. >> there are social media videos every day. paul: kyla scanlon is a writer, social media personality, and demystify or of economics. >> i am getting hundreds of comments a day asking about how people are perceiving the economy because i will do a video like inflation is going down, the market is ok, and people are like, i feel really bad. paul: the word she coined for what she was hearing, vibecession. >> it is a disconnect between consumer sentiment and economic data, and why people feel bad

about the economy despite the metrics telling them the economy is doing ok. paul: in fact, the consumer sentiment index has noticeably improved, says one economist. >> people seem more willing to admit that that long nightmare of the post-pandemic recession and hard times and recovery behind us, and people seem more willing to accept that people are -- that things are doing ok. paul: but many americans say they are unhappy with the economy. why the disconnect? the key reason for a lot of people, prices are still higher than they were pre-covid. seth reed used to shop at safeway right next to his apartment. now he drives to aldi for less expensive groceries. >> everything is going up in price. paul: but lower inflation doesn't mean lower prices. it just means prices are rising more slowly than they were, scanlon explains. >> if you are thinking that inflation going down means prices are going down, you're

going to be very confused when you go to the store and your box of cereal is not cheaper. but i heard on the media that inflation is going down. what is going on? paul: well, cereal prices barely budged this past year but rose more than 25% during the pandemic, and still are not back to where they were pre-covid. same for eggs, which nearly tripled, but at today's average of $2.50 a dozen, double what they were pre-covid. alyssa gonzalez looks at cheaper items. >> canned foods, boxed foods. 12 pack of ramen noodles because it gets the job done. paul: and food manufacturers themselves have pushed prices higher than their costs, says scanlon. >> they are out there raising prices and they are telling you that, in their earnings reports. we are going to expand our profits. paul: this is so-called greatflation, firms -- greedflation. >> duh, they are going to do

that. they are companies. that is their goal, to make a bunch of money. paul: then there is shrinkflation, firms charging the same for what is a lesser quantity. here are recent examples flagged by consumer world. >> you are getting less and paying more. the debit at the bottom of sauce containers is becoming more so you're getting less sauce. it is ridiculous, to be honest. paul: there is one group especially sensitive to food prices, the least well off, who spend more of their budget on food. >> they are not able to make ends meet. paul: eric hicks runs a denver area food bank. >> there are members coming to services who are not able to pay for the rising prices in groceries and food and other resources. paul: get this -- cheaper food went up at twice the rate of premium foods during the pandemic. but to scanlon, the real killer is housing. house prices have gone up,

mortgage rates, and people's rents. >> when you tell them that things are getting cheaper but their rent is not getting cheaper and their food is not getting cheaper, of course they are going to feel that. >> it feels a little daunting to know i will be renting for a while and renting price is going up so much every year. paul: for alyssa gonzalez, home is out of the question. >> i don't believe i will be able to buy a house. it is something i have just accepted. paul: so many face a discharge -- additional stressors, with the end of covid checks and a higher cost of borrowing. then, there is the renewal of student debt payments. gonzalez has over $100,000 worth. >> if i factor that into my normal bills of close to $2000 a month for just rent, then groceries and all the other things, it is not feasible. paul: not feasible for gonzalez to pay back her student loans. >> it sucks because i am not ever going to be able to pay off

that debt, and it is one of the things that impacts me with my credit and being a business owner and being able to apply for loans or get cars or it kind of feels unsolvable, but it is so big of a problem there is nothing i feel like i can do about it. paul: even yuppies feel worse than they did during covid. >> the yuppie lifestyle subsidy was in full force. airbnb was cheap, food delivery apps were cheap. paul: but not anymore, so brett mead's fellow yuppies feel worse off. >> i think they feel worse because th their cost-of-living has gone up. paul: but others think something else is driving the pessimism. >> the way people answer these public opinion poll questions has fundamentally changed. what they tend to say instead of, here are what i have read and what i have seen around me, they think, is my team winning right now? my team being republicans or

democrats. those who lean republican reliably now are more optimistic under trump and pessimistic hunter biden, and democrats are the opposite. what that tells us is less about the reality of the economy and more about how polarized views have become. paul: even so, the economic reality for seth reed, compared to that of his parents at his age, is kind of a bummer. >> they had a house, two cars, a stable income. they were definitely much more stable than i feel. rising costs of childcare care are the number one reason why my fiance and i haven't even thought about having kids in the near future. paul: so, maybe it should come as no surprise that statistically good economy for many, but for more than a few americans, bad economic vibe. ♪ geoff: funding the government is down to the wire. senate lawmakers are cutting

this close, running up to a midnight deadline to pass a major spending bill and prevent a partial government shutdown. lisa desjardins has been following the latest. lisa, here we are again on the brink of another federal government shutdown. the most pressing question, are they going to get this done? lisa: let's take a look at the u.s. floor, shall we? hear is what lawmakers are doing, who don't normally meet on friday. there they are taking a vote. if you are ours ago, it was not clear they would be doing this. they finally made a deal on how to vote for the spending package that would avoid a partial shutdown. to sum up where we are, it looks like we will get this spending package through the congress probably in the next couple hours or so, just barely in time for president biden to sign it before midnight. geoff: walk us through this spending deal that the senate is debating today. lisa: it is significant in a few ways but let me give you the broad outline.

it is $460 billion. it covers a c quarter of discretionary spending. housing, interior, national parks, department of justice, veterans. one thing i want to point out, it fully funds wick, a program for m vents and women and children. millions more will get benefits because of this deal. it holds most funding flat for federal government. that is one reason it is significant. we have seen huge increases in spending in recent years. we still have a deficit problem, but this cuts that down. one reason, spending cuts. here is who is getting cut in this deal. the fbi, a 6% cut. the atf, 7% cut. the epa. republicans have bragged about getting a 10% cut out of this deal. you know we like to do the math. at the truth is, it is a 4% cut

for most of the apa once you take out the super funds. geoff: this bill has also received attention because of a provision about guns and veterans. what is the controversy there? lisa: this is a provision that has been hotly debated but was put in here as a compromise. conservatives wanted it. let's look at with the policy is for veterans when it comes to guns. veterans who are declared mentally incompetent by the v.a. are referred to the department of justice. the department of justice then puts them on the list where they will be blocked from gun ownership. that is the current policy. but this deal would reverse that. i have to tell you, of course this is very controversial. veterans especially are a group that we know have higher rates of suicide, it has been rising, and they are more likely to use firearms if they do turn to suicide. this is an instance where we talked to advocates on both sides who see this provision differently. >> well, veteran goes gets their benefits.

they may or may not be having any mental health issues, but they're put in a position where their guns can be taken away. and many times, that alone, the idea that that can happen is what stops veterans from either going to the va or stops them from asking for mental health from the va. >> this is a system that has been in place for 30 years already. is it perfect? absolutely not. no government system is perfect, but it is a system that has been working. and so, again, to the point that this was unnecessarily reckless. we're going to stand behind that because it just didn't need to be touched. and again, the fallacies that this is taking something away from veterans is not true. lisa: so, what you heard is on the one side people say, veterans are being dinged for minor financial incompetency and their rights taken away, but the other, you're hearing the danger

from those gun control groups. one issue in particular that has been brought up is the shooting in lewiston, maine, in october. 18 people were killed by a veteran. it has been found just this week by boston university, they looked at his brain and they found damage consistent with grenade injuries, heavy impact. his job was being a grenade trainer. they have found, the conclusion was that impacted his symptoms. so, that was a veteran who was not flagged and was able to get a firearm. 18 people were killed. this is right in the middle of that debate. right now, congress is deciding to release, take out this restraint on veterans, at least for the foreseeable future. geoff: meantime, it looks like we have another funding deadline just a few weeks away, and that is going to include more hard to agree upon issues like border security. how is this shaping up? amna: i don't love ending -- lisa: i don't love ending on

this note because we have been through quite a week. but people have to be aware that a much harder deadline is coming up on march 22. that includes the defense spending contentions, possibly, health, border, immigration, all of that wrapped up in this much harder deadline, march 22. i don't know if lawmakers will be able to come out with an agreement or not. they are optimistic, but we will see. so we will be back here talking about it. geoff: lisa desjardins, thanks as always. appreciate it. ♪ amna: hungarian prime minister viktor orban is meeting with former president donald trump today after a visit to washington yesterday, where he met with no one from the biden administration. orban delayed both european aid to ukraine and sweden's bid to join nato.

nick schifrin examines orban's relationship with global conservatives, and why he has resisted some of the biden administration's top priorities in europe. [applause] nick: from turkey to texas. >> my country, hungary, is the lone star state of europe. [applause] nick: from moscow to mar-a-lago. >> there is a great man, great leader in europe, victor or bond. nick: a gadfly to what he calls globalists. >> there is ukraine fatigue, for sure. nick: cherished by conservatives. >> he thinks families are more important than banks. he believes countries need borders. >> they slander me and my country as they hate you and slander you and america you stand for. we don't have same-sex marriage.

nick: this week, victor o --viktor orban visited his american supporters. he met no biden administration officials. today's meeting with former president donald trump comes one month after orban effectively gave trump his endorsement. >> make america great again. >> more and more, we have seen the liberal international agenda has been pushed everywhere. so, hungary decided to push back. >> he is the president of the hungarian institute of international affairs, a research institution attached to the prime ministers office. >> after president trump lost in 2020 a lot of american conservatives, myself included at the time, were looking around, to see what a successful, form of conservative government looked like. conservatives cannot just stand in opposition. they have to offer something. they cannot just be antigovernment. they have to offer a version of

governing. that is available in hungary. it is different and distinct. nick: domestically, orban supporters say he and the governing party support families and their version of family values, including defining marriage between a man and a woman. and they have achieved nearly full employment and offered citizens cheap energy by relying on russia. >> he is showing that a more conservative alternative in government is not only possible, but can be very successful. nick: but orban's critics accuse orban of snuffing out free speech, silencing independent media, and neutering the judicial branch to create what orban himself called and a state based on national values. >> orban is modeling for the republican party in the u.s. how you can actually lead with culture wars and wind up with dictatorship. nick: she is a princeton professor who worked and studied hungarian constitutional law

ever since. she says orban may be europe's longest serving head of state but did so by changing the constitution and gerrymandering districts to ensure one-party control. >> the last free and fair election in hungary was in 2010. he has since rigged all the other elections. so he does not have the whole country behind him, but he will look like a great success because he wins elections overwhelmingly, which he does because he got to write all the rules. nick: most worrying for the u.s., hungary resisted approving sweden's bid to join nato and european union's support for ukraine. in each case, orban got what he wanted. swedish jets and 10 billion euros the eu had frozen over hungary's violations of the rule of law. >> orban is trying to rattle the institutions on which america has really relied in europe. the eu, nato, the council of europe, that network is

threatened when you have a dictatorship in the midst using this veto power to transactionally change the policies of all those organizations. >> i think he is trying to defend the interest of his own country. nick: and he says europe is threatened by an ideological alternative. >> i think there is a battle for the heart of the european union and western civilization itself, and i think sometimes the pressure that is put on hungary's because it is within the last, it is within europe, but it represents an alternative way, this more conservative approach, which is still very successful. nick: orban provides a roadmap. his allies believe that road leads right. >> a little controversial, but that is ok. nick: his critics think the road falls off the cliff. >> he has outsized influence among people who really have the aspiration to stay in power forever, who need to win elections, and want to do it

through whipping up culture wars. this is the recipe that can come to a country near you. nick: and whether any of that recipe is served up in the u.s. could hinge on the november election. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. ♪ amna: an impassioned state of the union address by president biden served as an unofficial kickoff to the general election. on that and what lies ahead in the race for the white house, we turn to the analysis of brooks and capehart. that's "new york times" columnist david brooks, and jonathan capehart, associate editor for "the washington post." thank you for joining us from philadelphia. let's talk about that speech last night because the numbers are in. according toielsen, huge numbers for president biden.

some 32 million americans tuned in to watch. that is 18% higher than last year. as we noted, it was a pretty fiery delivery. some unscripted back and forth, we will call them, including moments like this unfolding. >> we have two ways to go. republicans can cut social security and give more tax breaks to the wealthy. well, that's the proposal. [jeering] oh, no. you guys don't want another $2 trillion tax cut. i kind of thought that's what your plan was. well, that's good to hear. you're not going to cut another $2 trillion for the super well, that's good to hear. amna: going into the speech, you said you were looking for poetry. geoff: i said-- david: i said feudalism. on a day's reflection, two thoughts come to mind. the first is that the democrats

have had trouble digging out how to respond to the trump era, so thfirst response was the michelle obama monday go low, we go high. that has clearly gone. they are going super partisan and they are going super strong with the fight. a lot of democrats just want to see the fight. he has come out as a pretty partisan fighter, and i think a lot of democrats will be very pleased by that. the second is reflecting on the moving pieces in that speech and how they touch a lot of basis to reassure democrats. i am most struck by the fact that he led with ukraine. it is so unusual to begin a state of the union speech with one issue, then one issue that frankly turns around the whole political universe. i was looking at these liberal democrats on the f floor thinking, more defense spending. what world am i in? in my world, the republican party is for more aggressive foreign policy. but we have seen a reversion of the political universe.

on social security, he is kind of wrong. donald trump said explicitly no cuts to social security. it was kind of unfair. but he clearly wanted that fight and enjoyed that fight. amna: it was the same moment last year that goaded marjorie taylor greene into a back and forth. jonathan, the president did have lingering concerns he was trying to address going into the state. did he do what he needed to do in those remarks? nick: -- jonathan: yes, he absolutely dead. not only democrats wanted to see the president fight, i think lots of americans wanted to see, is this guy really alive, as the republicans keep saying he is practically dead, that he is senile. the man who showed up yesterday was decidedly not. in that clip you played, it was reminiscent of last year. he was negotiating in real time, trying to paint them into a

corner in real time. sorry, but someone who is not all there can't do that in front of a crowd of people on live television in a high-stakes address. what he did overall i think was reassure the country and reassure democrats that not only is he willing to fight but he is willing to fight for the things that he has accomplished. he is willing to fight for the things he wants to try to do and that he is willing to fight for them in the same way that republicans or maga folks view donald trump is fighting for them. amna: he didn't mention donald trump once by name. should he have? jonathan: no. i think that was on purpose because even though david says last night was a very partisan speech, he didn't mention donald trump's name until today. his rally here in pennsylvania

wrapped up about 20 minutes before this segment, and he used donald trump's name a lot. he is not shying away from the fight at all. amna: i want to ask you about the republican response delivered by katie britt. much of her remarks focused on immigration and crime, but part of her message was on the economy. here's what she had to say. >> the american people are scraping by while president biden proudly proclaims that bidenomics is working. goodness, y'all. bless his heart. amna: david, she is 42 years old. she is accomplished in her own right, but unique among senate republicans because she is also a mother to two school-aged children. who are republicans hoping to reach? david: i am her last defender. i thought she did an adequate job. i expect to do this segment from my kitchen from now on to stay tuned. thmost of the country, you

show that you are concerned about your family, you are equal and nobody is better than me, i am no better than anybody else. i thought she example fight a style of communication that may not be popular in the media world but is popular in most of the country. most can say, maybe she overacted a little, but i thought she was compassionate, smart, effective. she happens to be completely wrong on what we just showed. we just had 275 thousand new jobs. we have the greatest economy in the world of any major economy. the idea that people, that joe biden is puffing up the economy is just completely wrong. it is true the american people are in a bad mood. i call that a pessimism bubble. but i thought she was completely fine and will appeal to a lot of moms, a lot of suburbanites who are just not super into politics, but they sense that something is wrong with the

country may be spiritually, morally, relationally, and think, i know people like her. amna: many of those voters are the same voters, the former haley voters that president biden was making an appeal to himself. could he reach some of them? jonathan: maybe. maybe she can. maybe those are voters who are up for grabs, but maybe she is from the maga wing of the republican party and those voting for haley may not like her. i think david is being charitable saying she may be overacted a bit. it made it difficult to watch, between the range in her octaves and how she was saying what she was saying and performing what she was saying was kind of hard to hear what she was saying. the other thing is, i know if hugh hewitt, one of the most conservative thinkers out there,

a fellow columnist at "the washington post," if he and i are in agreement about how bad the republican response is, that tells me she was bad. [laughter] amna: i think it is safe to say we are in general election mode right now. and if that is the case, what does what was said last night and how it was said, what does that tell us about what we are going to see for the next eight months? david: one of the nice things i loved about last night is we were talking about policy. biden crammed that speech full of policy. early childhood education, whatever. student loan forgiveness. and one of the problems with the anti-trump world has been too much reliance on this. trump says some horrible things, we react, that is so horrible. we watch our favorite commentators who say that was horrible, then we expect there to be some massive moral turn on him. we expect the indictments.

we expect something that will wipe them off the face of the earth so we can feel vindicated. it feels good, this exercise. it has been a total failure because we have been doing it for six years and donald trump is politically in a better spot now than he has ever before. to me, if biden is going to beat him, it has to be reminding people, this policy, i like that, i like that. most people are not looking for moral leadership from politicians anymore. they are looking for who will make my life a little better? amna: do you agree with that? jonathan: i absolutely agree with it. actually, it is sort of a vindication of what the biden white house has been saying from the very beginning. if we focus on getting legislative accomplishments, if we focus on getting winds on the board, if we focus on getting things into law that will then start making people's lives better that we can then turn around and go back to the american people and say, look what we've done, not what we promised to do, but what we've

done, then that is half the battle. and what we saw last night, i think david is absolutely right, that speech was crammed with all sorts of things he has done and things he wants to do, right down to the billions of dollars over 10 years. i think we are going to see the president talk about those things, both what he has done and what he wants to do, as he goes on the campaign trail. like i said before, i just watched the rally. it is it a state of the union speech with donald trump's name and it. amna: do you think mr. trump and mr. biden will debate, and should they? jonathan: yes, they should debate. i don't know whether they will debate. but i do know this, i think president biden absolutely wants to debate. the question is, does donald trump? i am not convinced he does. david: he said he does.

it is a presidential campaign. all of our lifetimes, they have debated. i don't know when it started, but certainly nixon and kennedy, so there should be a debate. whether it will be useful, eh. it doesn't lead to who wins the elections. president obama had a terrible debate. president bush didn't do well in debates and won twice. but it should be fun for us. amna: i have to ask you, the no label third-party group said they will be fielding a defending candidate. what impact will that have? david: it could have an impact. the former dallas mayor, i know him. he has a very serious guy. so these are not half-baked people. but i have long thought looking at the data, whoever they put up, it will hurt biden more than trump. amna: we will see. always great to see you both. thank you so much. ♪

geoff: the academy awards are being held in los angeles sunday. "oppenheimer" is getting much of the buzz, but there's also excitement surrounding a film called "zone of interest" with its remarkable soundscape, evoking the worst of the holocaust. special correspondent malcolm brabant visited oscar-nominated sound designer johnnie burn at his studio, as part of our arts and culture series, "canvas." malcolm: at an arts cinema in southern england, 5500 miles from hollywood, the audience is preparing to be assailed by the sonic genius of johnnie burn. box i can't say i hope you enjoy it because that might not be the right word, but i hope you appreciate it. malcolm: "zone of interest" chronicles the mundane existence of a nazi family living next to auschwitz, while more than a million people are being murdered just over the garden wall. for his depiction of the

banality of evil, director jonathan glazer has earned multiple oscar nominations. >> jonathan glazer's very clever. he draws upon the collective knowledge that we all have of that period of time in history to paint pictures in your head. malcolm: and while the torment and genocide of auschwitz is ever present, the audience never casts eyes on it. >> i think sound is an extraordinary phenomenon. for me, i believe that we react to it, immediately you hear something, your subconscious and your primal brain starts appending history and artifacts and nouns to that in a way that with visual images you process it with sound. you react to it. [shouting] malcolm: this garden was a haven for the man in the white suit. rudolf hoss on the right, was the commandant of auschwitz. hoss was captured after the war and executed in auschwitz in 1947, not far from this backyard. >> [speaking german]

>> they would walk people into the gas chamber, and they believed they were going for a shower, but obviously they were not. and that would create quite a noise. malcolm: johnnie burn worked his alchemy at home, to the alarm of his family. >> i've worked on many films in that back room, and some very loud, grisly monsters and all sorts. and it's never a problem. but for this, i had to buy a soundproof door because it really is the most violent film i've ever worked on. and yet, you don't see any violence. malcolm: in your drive to be authentic, how important was it for you at the same time, to respect the sanctity of auschwitz, and also to honor the memory of the people who died there? >> i knew there was great responsibility not only to make the film work through sound, but to make sure that the sound we were using was historically accurate and as faithful as possible to the atrocities that happened there, without going to the point of sensationalizing. >> [speaking german]

malcolm: in this scene, it's the wife of the commandant and her mother's come to visit. >> there's obviously all the sounthat's in the garden, but the sound that's telling the other story is what you're hearing from the other side of the wall. what it actually is is a collection of sounds i recorded over a period of a year, of finding things from research that represent what happened, then. malcolm: heavy industry, soldiers, the echo of the orchestra that played inside auschwitz, and riots in paris. >> i wanted to go out into the world and find where screaming actually exists. and given the context of, you know, what you're watching in the film, placing those sounds in the background very quietly is an awful lot more convincing than having a sort of actor recreate it. malcolm: talk us through what's happening here. >> so, this is the boys in their bedroom at night. the elder boy is on the top bunk looking at some teeth.

malcolm: gold teeth. extracted from corpses in the gas chamber, before they were incinerated. >> there's a particular sound here that the boy hears. [rumbling] >> it's a rhythm of his daily life. [rumbling] malcolm: the suggestion, that is the sound of the furnaces working overtime to eviscerate evidence of the nazis' crimes. >> i made something here with my fireplace and some tubes to fan the flames in a microphone, and i layered that up to become a thicker, bigger sound. malcolm: which provides the backdrop to one of the movie's most powerful scenes. >> it's the end of the day and he's in his garden having a cigarette. this is the sound of, you know, what happened afterwards. this is, i think, just over the

garden wall with the crematoria and the gas chambers. malcolm: burn had to track down a vintage nazi motorcycle to add one key detail. >> they used to run motorbikes at auschwitz in order to preserve the sanity of the guards, can you believe? malcolm: to drown out the screams. >> absolutely, yes. malcolm: as awards season reaches its zenith, the accolades keeping coming. >> the bafta goes to "the zone of interest." [applause] >> good evening. yeah, it's funny to be standing here. my mother wouldn't have understood this. she always said to me, what do you mean? you do the sound on films. they sound all right to me. [laughter] [applause] malcolm: johnny byrne and his sound team may have won britain's highest film award, but the oscars are a much

tougher prospect. as always, there's a very strong field, but it appeaars that -- it appears that "zone of interest"'s main competitor is "oppenheimer," the film about the father of the atomic bomb. >> i've had it said to me by many of my, you know, very illustrious peers that what you've made here is one of the most significant pieces of sound design in cinema, you know, ever, potentially. so, great. and that's jonathan glazer's vision, really. more than anything else. malcolm: burn only has two days to wait to discover whether the academy feels the same way. for the pbs newshour, i'm malcolm brabant in brighton. ♪ amna: and we'll be back shortly. but first, take a moment to hear from your local pbs station. geoff: it's a chance to offer your support, which helps to keep programs

like the newshour on the air. ♪ geoff: for those of you staying with us, the band the goo goo dolls is on tour again, playing favorites and new songs, all while celebrating the 25th anniversary of their breakthrough album "dizzy up the girl." in this encore feature, i spoke with the lead band members about innovating while preserving their classic sound. ♪ >> ♪ and i'd give up forever to touch you 'cause i know that you feel me somehow ♪ ♪ geoff: iris, the enduring power about wand off of their album, "dizzy up the girl." the song skyrocketed the band to fame. the album sold over 4 million copies.

it produced three additional top 40 hits. >> ♪ so why don't you slide ♪ ♪ geoff: 25 years later, johnny resnick and base guitar player robbie take eric are still performing to sold-out crowds. it is the 25th anniversary of "dizzy up the girl." how does it strike you? >> it is like, wow, where did a quarter of a century ago? i think we lost sight of how fast we were moving because as soon it came out, that was when we boom had this big explosion of success. geoff: they formed what started off as a punk band under a different name in the late 1980's in buffalo, new york. by the late 1990's, their unique sound and rock hits made the goo goo dolls a household name. now the band is back in a big way with their up all night

tour, hitting 45 cities in support of their newest album, "chaos in bloom.' and debuting a new song. ♪ your new song "run all night" is about trying to escape your circumstances and not giving up hope. >> i think you pretty much nailed it. ♪ >> that song is very much about not giving up and not letting the terror of the world stop you from being human. geoff: despite drastic changes in the music industry, with streaming and new technology, the googler dolls say they are still writing songs the same way they always have. >> ♪ and i want to get free ♪ ♪ >> ♪ picking up the pieces out there left you and again ♪ ♪ geoff: they are connecting new favorites with a new audience.

>> there are a lot of younger kids, twentysomethings, which is light, that is cool. and people our age and older. it is pretty much like a couple of generations of people coming out. to seeit now and of the tour 's have been getting incrementally bigger. it has been really gratifying. it is fun to see a young kid singing your song. the other night, this kid, i think he was 19. >> what is your name? >> jake. >> he held up this big song, can i play guitar on "name"? >> wow. >> we were a three piece band at first, so i started detuning the guitar because i had to play a solo and keep the rhythm going at the same time. so, it was a way to fill it up so it didn't drop out when i was

playing a guitar solo. so i would have these droney strings playing while i was like -- ♪ geoff: an approach that resulted in a string of mega hits with memorable opening cords. ♪ a number of the songs open with a simple guitar riff, then the beat drops in. was that intentional? >> yeah. i guess that was a little bit of a coincidence, too. "slide" does not come up -- it does it, iris does it. i think you notice something. [laughter] geoff: i am a bit of a fan. >> i am a guitar player. i like to start songs with the top line. some signature thing that is a little hook that says, i know this song. here comes that song. and that is how "iris" is, and all those other songs you mentioned.

i have to look into this now. geoff: you are in a groove and it just feels right, any songs you need to perform? >> to me, "slide" is always a win. we always play that early. the first song everybody knows is that one. geoff: you started playing the guitar riff at the top of the song, which apparently you do in every song. [laughter] >> maybe this is why. i know where you are going. [laughter] geoff: because you play ding-ding-ding. ♪ >> yeah. [laughter] >> yes! geoff: did you envision that for yourself 25 years ago that you would reach this level of success and it would be enduring? >> it is like any relationship. it is going to do what it does. but if it is important enough, you will figure out how to get to the next day. people ask how you get a band to stay together for decades like this. i can't answer that.

but i can tell you how to do it for a few days, and you just need to keep doing that. you can't stop doing that. all of a sudden, it is 40 years. >> it is definitely a day at a time. if you are focused on the work, which is the creative part of it. ♪ >> learning the idea of do what is best for the song. i am just lucky we have been able to saw last -- been able to last so long. it is being consistent and working. geoff: when people think of the goo goo dolls, what do you want people to think the message is? >> i think the overarching message in all the songs is, wow, everything is really screwed up, but it's going to be ok. [laughter] ♪ ♪

geoff: online right now, or pbs digital news weekly show looks back at a big week in politics, from a contentious election season to president biden's state of the union address. that's on our youtube at newshour. and be sure to tune into "washington week with the atlantic" tonight on pbs. moderator jeffrey goldberg and his panel will discuss the president's fiery state of the union address and the 2024 presidential rematch. amna: and on pbs news weekend, as former president trump cements his hold on the gop, we look at the future of the republican party. and that is the newshour. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. have a great weekend. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪ >> it was like an aha moment. this is what i love doing. early companies have this energy

that energizes me. these are people who are trying to change the world. when i volunteer with women entrepreneurs, it is the same thing. i am helping people reach their dreams. i am thriving by helping others every day. people who know, know bdo. ♪ >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour. including kathy and paul anderson, and camilla and george smith. the walton family foundation. working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people and nature can thrive together. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at hewlett.org. and with the ongoing support of

these individuals and institutions. ♪ and friends of the newshour. ♪ 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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