judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff on "the newshour." the wrath of winter. an unusually large storm causes freezing temperatures, power outages and extreme weather across the u.s. then, getting to zero. we discuss general motors' big push towards zero emission vehicles. and the crackdown continues. the chinese government uses the controversial nation security law to overhaul hong kong's education system. >> the courts will have to decide whether this national security law trumps basic rights. judy: all that and more on

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thank you. judy: the winter of 2021 is writing itself into the record books tonight. large swaths of the nation are seeing the coldest weather in memory. and many thousands of homes are enduring it without power. ana navaz reports. reporter: over 150 million americans under winter and ice storm warnings today as historically low temperatures blanket much of the u.s. including areas not accustomed to extreme conditions. >> our bedroom measured at 42 degrees. so it's cold in our house. >> in seattle this weekend almost nine inches of snow in a city that hasn't seen that much snow since 1969. in oklahoma, icy roads have led to fiery crashes. and in nashville home security video capture as track sliding sideways down a residential street. >> in kentucky, the governor

urged the residents to travel. >> we did not make it through almost a year of the pandemic to lose people to a snow and ice orm. please, don't let the next couple of days or this week be what injures you or ultimately causes the loss of a loved one. >> the winter and ice storm advisory stretched from america's gulf coast to new england. among the hardest hit so far, the state of texas where president biden approved an emergency declaration on sunday. the deep freeze has led to ice coated branches breaking an wreaking havoc and dangerously low temperatures have triggered rotating back -- black outs leaving two million people without power at a time. amid the outages, it surged by more than 10%. >> it's a system-wide failure

across the state. >> in houston today, the mayor with a grim update. >> these are not rolling black outs. these are power outages at a huge unprecedented scale. if you are without power right now, it is very considerable that you could be without power throughout the rest of today and possibly even going into tomorrow. >> officials are warning of storm conditions travel disruption and power outages continuing along the storm's path aleast through tuesday. >> so is the country in the middle of a particularly severe phase of winter? or is it more to that than that? we turn to the professor of geo sciences and engineer at the university of texas at austin. and he joins us tonight from indiana where he's waiting out the storm before traveling back

to texas. welcome to the newshour. thank you for making the time. i really appreciate it. i want to start with texas even though you're not there. you know it well. we're hearing the phrase "unprecedented" a lot. texas is no strange to severe weather, but when it comes to this kind of extreme weather how unusual is it? >> i tell you, this is -- we are in uncharted territory again and again. the fact that we are getting snow and we are having some cold weather in texas is not unusual. i mean, we have it perhaps every few years. what is really remarkable is the spread, the extent, the severity with which this is happening. and certainly by that standard it is an event that has been quite unprecedented in that regards. >> so why are we seeing those kind of severe temperatures now? >> well, there are a number of

questions and options that will start emerging and it will start from being bad weather, this is what happens to issues related to la nina which has been inactive and perhaps this is the harbinger of what we've all been talking about with regard to climate changes. and the onset is going to be all of the -- the answer is going to be all of the above. weather is impacted by what is happening with the season. the season is being affected by what is happening with the ocean. what is happening in the season is also a signature of what is happening in the long run. so it is a combination of everything that we have to understand that is where our challenge and unfortunately, lies at this point. >> one of the arguments is that it's been making winters milder. so how would it be leading to these severe temperatures? >> great point on that.

we talk about climate change and global warming and that means our temperatures will be warmer and warmer. one factor that we will be seeing are these wild swings both in terms of temperature, rainfall, also in terms of the manner in which storms are coming. so this kind of weather event which is unprecedented in the context of how things are being spanning, spatially as well as in time is the kind of thing that unfortunately, a change in climate has been predicted. whether this is climate change or whether this is seasonal interactions, a weather event, that will be a topic that will be debated. but what is really important is to understand that this is happening now. >> whenou look at the resources, i want to ask you about what this has done to our energy resources. because you've seen massive outages. millions of people in texas left without power as whelm can your

energy infrastructure handle these kind of extreme events especially if we have to deal with more of them? >> we have to think of this as a hammer and a chisel. we cannot control the storms. we cannot control whether that's hurricane or a heat wave or whether it's going to be a cold snap such as this. what we can control is what can we do in terms of the insfra chuck chure re-- infrastructure and the cities that take care of it. and that's where we are at this point that translation into that last mile. and we are certainly seeing right now that the energy grid has been stretched to its limit. and looking forward, i'm sure there's going to be a tremendous planning to improve the city on that. we have have -- been doing this plan at texas 2050.

we are preparing the world into the future. what we need is this last mile that what would be the tools? what could be the ways by which we could invest into now such that we have a better future? and it is that investment, the mand ron: directly in the face and say, this is a priority. and this is how we're going back science into our investment. that would be the option to go ahead now. >> professo, from the university of texas at austin. thank you so much for your time. >> thank you. it's a pleasure. >> i'm stephanie sy. we'll return to the full show after the latest headlines. an update to the storms. in texas, the dallas stars hockey game has been postponed in part due to power grid concerns. the houston airport remains

closed until at least 1:00 p.m. central tuesday. and the san antonio airport announced it was canceling all flights tomorrow. >> fallout is growing in republican ranks after former president trump was acquitted at his impeachment trial. this evening, senator richard burr was the latest republicans to be censured by hi own state party for voting to convict mr. trump. the north carolina g.o.p. was unanimous in adopting the resolution. senator cassidy also voted to convict and was censured by g.o.p. leaders in l.a. meanwhile house speaker, nancy pelosi announced an independent commission will investigate the u.s. capitol riot. will psue that later in the program. average daily covid-19 infections in the u.s. have fallen below 100,000 for the first time since november. the number of average daily deaths is also dropping even as the overall u.s. death toll nears 490,000.

and in europe today, germany's new border controls triggered massive backups between the austrian and czech frontiers. they are trying to slow the variants of the virus. rockets struck near a u.s. base in northern iraq killing one u.s.-led coalition contractor. five people were wounded. they targeted an area outside urbil international airport. there fs no immediate claim of responsible. in myanmar protestors and the military coup. police rolled down the streets in yong gong. they confronted the crowd with sling shots and rubber bullets. >> the number of protestors reduced yesterday so the junta brought military vehicles on the streets to intimidate the people. we are taking serious care not to sfwool those traps.

>> also, today the ruling junta extended the detention of the leader when she is to have a court hearing. the russian government backing alexei navalny. his supporters used cell phone flashlights to light up the evening sky in a display of unity. the kremlin claimed today that only small numbers took pard. the federal online insurance marketplace has reopened for a new enrollment period. healthcare.gov will accept applications from people in most states. president biden ordered the market to open after the initial enrollment periodened in december. still to come, general motors on it big promises to transition to zero emissions vehicles. the chinese government and the

system. we will talk about the impeachment vote and 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. judy: one of the main causes of carbon emissions that drive climate change is automobiles. and general motors made big waves in its industry by announcing a dramatic ramp up in electric vehicle production and plans to be carbon neutral by 2040. william bringham talks with a senior executive about the challenges of meeting those goals. >> that's right, jude -- judy. to many it was a message that gas powered vehicles are on their way out. >> norway. i won't stand for it.

>> in this super bowl ad g.m., one of the biggest auto make ners the world announced in four years it will have 30 new electric car models for sale. but there are many hurdles ahead before we can fully electrify our transportation. joining me now is dane parker. great to have you on "the newshour." some of the initial press was that the g. smmplet fully phasing out gas powered vehicles. that's not totally the case. can you give us the sense? what are g.m.'s plans for electric vehicles? >> sure, thank you. we have an aspiration to eliminate tail pipe emissions by 2035. and to be fully carbon neutral by 2040. so it is a pretty aggressive plan to shift in all of our markets and all of our segments to electric vehicles. >> it is a very ambitious goal

if you can atan tain it. there are challenges amade. consumers don't seem to be there for electric vehicles. i the it's a percentage of the marketplace. >> we also need a huge network of charges stations to basically take the role of gas stations for all those electric vehicles. how much of an impediment be? >> those are questions that come up a lot. we're getting close to a tipping point. those with have experienced electric vehicles almost to a person say they wouldn't go back. the driving experience, the technology, the acceleration, all the elements of a great product in an electric vehicle, i think are going to bring consumers really rapidly. we're reaching that classic tipping point. and that's going to move quickly. the current data that we have says more than 80% of charging happens at home. and there's a large number of

current consumers who are able to charge at home. and for them this will be seamless because the range of these electric vehicles is going to be sufficient for the vast majority of use cases for those who can't is where we need help in developing that infrastructure. there's plenty of momentum we can build with those who are able to charge easily and give us time to build the infrastructure out for those who are in areas where they can't charge in their housing or their work so we can get retail options available for them. >> let's talk a little bit about the challenge of battery technology. we've seen incredible growth so far. but we've got to improve their charging how long they can drive these vehicles and securing enough lithium to put in all of those battery. what role do you see for the federal government to help incentivize that technology? >> batteries are the component to this mission.

and whether it's lithium or cobalt or the production of those batteries, i think the government will play an important role in incentivize the technology that's needed like lithium or cobalt. and alternative materials. but also to encourage the production of those batteries in the united states, which certainly is important from an energy security perspective and simply from a supply chain perspective. >> if g.m. is going to be continuing to sell in part gas-driven vehicles, how will you achieve carbon neutrality by 2040? >> 75% of our footprint is tail pipe emissions. and so ife can eliminate those and all of our light duty vehicles by 2035, in our opations through the use of renewable energy and increeding energy efficiency, we get to a point by 2035 and beyond where we're pretty close on our own.

and so the few -- the few remaining tons that we'll have that might relate to heating, industrial heating and things like that, we feel we'll be able to off set by the carbon credits. but we'll be changing our products and changing the energy footprint used to charge those products as well as run our own operations. >> certainly, this news has been cheered by many environmental groups. there's been some skepticism who point out that for many years g.m. was trying to get them dial back. that makes them question whether this commitmen is for real. i want to read you a quote from dan becker. he's at the center for biological diversety. it is he wroteer. given g.m.'s polluting track reco, they want you to plan to make is just smoke in mirrors.

what is your reaction to that? >> i think there's been unvarious comments, questions about how we would use offsets. and part of what we did was to use the science-based target methodology to get there. that doesn't allow you to use off sets. and so that requires you to actually reduce your direct footprint. that's why this commitment to be covering -- is a commitment. and it was exclusive of carbon credit and off-setting. in this five years to do exactly that. rollout these products faster than we ever have before. >> dane park, officer for again motors. thank you for joining us. >> thank you, william for the time.

judy: the lunar new year celebration has begun in china but it comes as hong kong security forces continue to prosecute those it has swept up in a wave of arrests under the new national security law that mainland china imposed. even as pro democracy members of hong kong's legislative body were arrested last month when they held an informal primary election, the education curriculum is being overhalled. and judges are facing increasing pressure to issue harsher sentences on activists. newshour special correspondent divea reports. >> praying for good fortune and better days. as hong kong people start their new year, many wi be relieved to stay goodbye to the year of the rat. it took love one's jobs and

businesses. but for hong kong it has brought down some of the biggest cramp downs. the national securit law. the wide ranging law imposed by beijing opens the door for china's communist government to intervene in all aspects of of the autonomous affair. they include secessions, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign or external forces. but there is one institution seen as the last hold out at beat shing's increasing assertive rule. >> it is my mission to do my utmost, to uphold the independence and impartiality of this -- of the honkong district. >> he was sworn in at the city's top judge. taking the helm in unprecedented

times, he admitted he has his work cut out for him. >> political pressure is one form of pressure. and have to -- has to deal with. so we do -- we all do our best to deal with these pressures. >> it's a situation that american lawyer john clancy is familiar with. on january 6th, he was caught up in the biggest sweep yet under the national security law. >> it is a work for democracy and human rights in hong kong. >> clancy was among 583 opposition activists arrested for subversion for taking part in an unofficial primary poll to choose the best democratic candidate f the leglative elections. >>e came to the city in 1968 as a cholic priest when it was still a british colony.

he was known for his work championing democracy and human rights. >> there's going to be a need for the courts to deal with two con flicting things hitting on one another. on the one hand we have the basic law which entrenches these basic human rights, freedom of speech, voting. on the other hand, there's a new national security law which unlike most other laws in hong kong it is drafted in china. it is very vague. and it seems to be having a lot of implications what it could be. the courts will have to decide whether this national security law trumps basic rights. >> beijing says it's nose make scenes like in the anti-government protest of 2019 a thing of the past. >> almost 100 people have been arrested since it took effect on july 1th. >> while most of the focus is on

national security law caseses, the legal system is being tested regularly. almost every day there are cases going through the city's courtses related to the 2019 protest and other demonstrations calling for demock sit. those being prt include former protestors, human rights and democracy activists and even journalists. >> according to official figures, around 1/5 of the people connected with the social unrest have been prosecuted. and roughly 200 have been sentenced to prison. >> they said reforms were needed for the city's judiciary. saying that it needs to be increases in the reforms. hold in chow. and o vice president of hong ko's biggest probating political party agrees that challenges are needed. he is calling for the you dish

area to set up. >> all for the past two years we've seen the violent protest in hong kong. and went the right ortes are brought to the court, when they -- when the verdict is being handed down by the court, it seems that on my occasions, the sentence is too lenient. i'm very concerned about the impact with that is you are simply encouraging people to quhit that sort of crime. >> the protestors were university and students. they laid teachers in the curriculum inner theocial unrest. >> when the latt effort came to unleash it through the populations. >> what is national security? >> witheaching material that includes animation to help younger children, the new

national education clerk william brings hong kong classics. teachers will be forced to warn students as young as 6:00 of se situation, inverse and many interference. it's come come as a shock to student who is have enjoyed where free thinking have been incurged. >> i'm a hong konger. i believe my identity as a hongcorninge -- hong konger. this is very important for us to review the truth of what is happening in hong kong not the public. not the way the central government wants to tiningt its control over us. >> regardless of which subject 16-year-old angel and her classmates huge, they are be ex-fodse the new curriculum. almost every sidget whethert's biology, jeolji and even mean sick will neeto irp corporate

the ten then in si. she sfeelsfeels it's the next generation. >> if they would just change and thk in the way that the government wants them to think because they only process the invest that's given directly by the government. >> they cannot decide whether the news is right or wrong. and this was definitely affects the charge of for many in hongquong new avenue for decent anymore and no power to resist challenges. there is a sense that the writing is on the wall. many fee if they want a glimpse of what the year of the ox holte holds for the city. all you to do look s look across the border. for the nbc newshour, i've divic pollen.

judy: although former president trump's second impeachment trial concluded over the weekend, many questions remain surrounding the events during and leading up to the leading 6th in january's insurrection. nance yes pelosi announced her plan to form an outside, independent 9/11 style commission to as she says get to the bottom of how this happened. tom cable shared the 9/11 commission and he joins us now. we know that you and your vice chair former kongman lee hamilton sent a letter to president biden urging them to consider the idea of a commission. some people are going to look at this and say great idea. and other people are going to say, oh, no, why is that a good

idea. the british invaded the cap no 1812. for idea of a mob invite vading the u.s. capitol. which is the center of demock sit. not only for us, but for the world. >> so doing it is so publicly is -- i mean i was brought up to venerate the place. in those gays. the family moved in. so i was taken out of the capital. and it was where john quincy adams gave his speech. and then died minutes later. i knew rejection. i -- i -- i know nue sam raburn. the idea that a mob could invade the center of democracy while the legislators were doing their

job is -- is so terrible that i think now who is behind us. we better find out why it happened. how it happened. how security he was bretched. >> so we can make sure it that never ever happens again. >> how do you assure the american people that commission can get to the bottom of this. . with the accurate truthful accounting of what happens. >> i think we can do it because it's been done. our report has not been looked at it. it does depend on the opponents. i mean, the people who are appointing the people in the don gress have got to make sure these are people who have not --

who can reach ape cross the aisle. and have the confidence baunsed on their own records of the american people. i came up with something that is useful, proper and prevent it will ever hapn again. >> and that's a question i have. governor kane because we are in a much more politically polar i.e.d.'s time as you know than it was nevin 2000 after 20001 or 2002 whe your commission got to work. how do we know that he side. or one sidor the other. people that are so set in their views that you can't come up with a unanimous luss. view of what happened. a reporting of what happened. >> i think tes, you know, again, we're going to be dependent on our election officials that's who we are. and i think the idea -- i have

great confidence. nancy pelosi, kongman mccoffey. they know who my -- they were. >> lee miltonned to a record of bipartisan and doing what was shipped with the country. >> >> anything else? >> always political light. oy know -- when and people you know. some of them were tied. and and some of them are moving goveors. there are's number of these people who's only bottom line is service to the united states of america. >> look at this and those have to be appointed. >> to make sure those are the people who get on the commission. jude does getting to the bottom of foreman president trump's environmentment in this roll, in

this is that essential to the work of -- of -- of a commission? >> it's part "on the fly." but to me it's not the bottom line. you there were there were commissioned to find out the facts of how something happened. how did this mob that created -- we don't know still -- whether they planned it all the way inside. >> we don't know that yet. >> find out how it happens. try to find out the fact that everybody agrees on on. >> you can make the recommendation to insure it never ever could happen again. you have to have the bats first in order to make those kind of recommendations. judy: we went back and looked at some of the reporting at the time. you're -- the 9/11 commission issued its report in 2004. and the jarts. they praced the work that you did.

there were some that you were trying to reach a unanimous view meant that you in the end i had to soften the edges in so in words. how do you see that? >> well, you know, we didn't. i don't think we saw from it at all. we had a lot of debates. were -- we had a lot of debates, we got to know each other first. so republicans and democrats came to nietzsche other. had private dinners together. and then once we agreed to trust each other and then the public hearings and all of that. the report came quite natchry after this. we did not soften the edges. weaid what we thought we had to say. and i was -- i didn't know until two days before theeport whether we had elt report. and one thing we saw by the way, we took out the adjectives.

once you remove the ajew vent then a lot of people who were curious signed on. >> and in the end erkts governor kaine -- how much does a thorough report like this matter? how much difference does it makes for our country, for our people, for our system of government. the for 1 -- 41 were the basis of drafting whole juretigs. she went to the base safely. if they can knock on in the front. , this they can do this right. we can make the kong stronger. we can make national security stronger. and we can make sure as i say that nobody -- nobody in 10 or 20 years, how did this happen again. >> there shouldn't be a mob to disrupt the -- the best of this

democracy. it's gone. >> former governor tom kean of new mexico. fred: it looks as if it certainly did play into the thinking here. >> we had a very nice -- judy: we so appreciate you joining us. rp >> thank you for having me. judy: and for the seven republicans senator who is voted to convict former president trump, the backlash from inside their own party has been swift and severe. censures for two of those senators. louisiana's bill cassidy and pat too manyy by state or local officials. party officials. tonight, senator richard burr mathe be the third to face that failt. >> here to analyze the fallout.

amy walter and tamera keith of n. p.r. hello to both of you on this monday night. it's so good to see you amy, we've now had, what, 46 represent -- rents of the united states. and only one of them had to go through a trail try. when he was out of office. so donald trump has made history in every rich way here. but in the end after it ended up over the weekend in an acquital. ? where are we? >> where's the republican party? right? that seems to be the question that i continue to grapple with. really since it seemed that so many times during his time as mt. that the party was going to break up over donald trump. and yet, when all is said and done, the party continues to rally around him. in this case on the boat over

the weekend to convict the president was no different, in some ways, you said this was a historic moment. this is the most bipartisan impeoplement. in the senate. at the same time, it doesn't tell us anything about trump's inability to keep ahold of the party. in fact, what it tells us that he has a pretty good hold on the party. >> as you pointed. ok. a number of those senators have since ben censured. we know members of the house who have haven't impeefwment. >> and well know that even in a vote, it was still 10 short of a convection. >> we knee the seven republicans who voted. those are. no convictions. these a folks in who you're going to see on the back lat

running for president. only one of them is up for relix. two of them are retiring. . byrd from north carolina. too manyy that you pointed out from pennsylvania also been sense chured. the rest are either up in 20216. so they were drent. one of them, mitt romney up in 2014. there's no meet repercussions for those of knees senators. but at the end of the day, i think what's been made very clear is that this is still the pay of donald trump, the local grassroots activist who are sense churing these members from other electric officials down the road in 2022 and beyond. judy: and pick up on that. how much does this trial verdict tell us.

about the hold that do thaled trump still has. >> as amy mansioned. the local party apparatuses were con soul dated. >> his company was very concerned about a primary challenge potentially in 2020. >> they made sure that every state and local party operation was controlled by president trump. and those lowellist are still in play. >> so fast and and so -- so strongly. what does that mean in terms of primaries? what does that mean in terms of senate races? you know, i think that we can look at what kevin mccarthy, the republicans leader in the house and mitch mcconnell the republican leader in the senate how they are charting their path trying to sort of have it both ways wanting the tmp base but also trying to figure out how to keep republicans who were

completely and totally outraged by what happened on january 6th and didn't see that violent mob as being part of their party. and so you had mcconnell give this absolutely scorching floor speech about president trump after, of course, voting to acquit and saying that it wasn't constitution nal. they -- constitutional. but he prevented the trial before he left office. and mccarthy was critical but before long he was down at mara lago chrising president trump's ring not technically but trying to get trmp's support in primaries to get republicans who can win in 2022. judy: amy, is there anybody in the republican -- there's somebody -- but who has enough influence in the republican party to counter what's going on with those who are so loyal to

donald trump? amy: we're going to learn a lot, i think in these next couple of years as we watch these primaries unfold and senate races and oers. we're going to see for example, even this -- this year in a state like virginia where you have a governor's race. what kind of candidate comes out of their process. they have a convention not a primary. virginia's a place where normally, historically whichever party is in the white house at that time loses the governor's race in virginia. but virginia has gotten a lot bluer in the last few years and the backlash t trump was pretty significant. i think we're going to have see it just how invested donald trump is in being with the party in terms of its daily dealings.

is he going to raise the money and plow into local parties? is he going to use it as a way to punish those rublicans who he thinks have wronged him like respective liz chaney from wyoming or maybe he sits on it and doesn't use any of it for any other candidate. so there are still a lot of unknowns. and we don't know what we're talking about in terms of the political environment, a year or two from now. i think that sets the tone more than anything else in terms of the kinds of candidates that become successful are the candidates that fit that moment. judy: well, we like you both to know exactly what's going to happen here in a year or two but we'll wait until next week. i do want to turn you both here in the minutes we have left to -- to what's happening with covid relief. the house was moving ahead with -- with some of president bind's

proposal on covid relief. how much does it matter whether he is able to get republican votes or not? whether this ends up being and all-democratic measure? >> i'm not sure it ultimately does matter. will voters hold it again him that their unemployment benefits last. if the covidaccine rollout goes well. or if their kids are actually in school. i think the big test for biden is, and he and his administration believe they need this covid package to make this happen. but come 2022, the question is do you feel better today than when people are going to vote? and that's going to depend when they handle their pandemic. i think a lot is going to depend on whether their lives are back to normal.

and a big part of that isoing to be the schools. there are those who are saying he needs to show early on that is going to live up to this unity promise that he campaigned on. and others are saying, look, that was never going to happen. it's going to have to be democrats all the way. amy: well, there's another unity challenge and that's keeping democrats unified. we've been keeping these last few weeks focused on the divisions within the republican party. but democrats in order to get this package through, they can't afford to lose any senator. we've seen some splits on issues within the democratic party on issues inclung $15 minimum wage in this package. some consternation about the price tag on certain things.

and pelosi can only afford to lose, you know, four or five votes there. so keeping the party united on this same page again, it's a lot easier when you're the one in charge and, you know, that ultimately, this is -- you know, going define your party. at the same time, you know, it's a real test for team biden and democrats and leadership t be able to get this through. and the clock is ticking. the unemployment benefits, that tam pointed through, this is the beginning of march where they're going toeed to make sure that this money is going out the door and that people are getting these checks. judy: and the calendar is flying along. no question about it. that's the serious -- that's the most serious deadline out there. amy walter, tamera keith. next week we'll ask you about 2024, 2028. we lonet let you off -- we won't let you off the hook.

[laughter] amy walter. tamera keith. ♪ judy: finally tonight, a new four-part series, the black church, this is our story, this is our song premiers on pbs tomorrow night. it's a sweeping history of religion, politics and culture. jeffrey brown has a preview for our arts and culture series "canvass." >> in the time of slavery, it was a source of strength and survival. in the 20th century which spear headed a drive toward political an economic equality. >> the church is the oldest, the most continuous and most important institution ever created by the african-american people. >> henry lewis gates jr., host

of "finding your roots" has been telling the story. this may be the most important of all. >> it was a laboratory for the formation both of the identity of a new world african people after all there were 50 ethnic groups represented in the slave trade from africa to north america and they had to forge and form into one new people. the first truly pan-african people. and secondly, it was a laboratory for the creation of black culture. it's where people learn to read and write, because it was illegal to read and write. through the king james bible people would memorize passages and repeat those passages >> there's a kind of tension in the begin of the story you're telling about about christianity

being the religion of the enslavers and then becoming the religion of the slaves but also a means towards their liberation. >> absolutely. african-american created a form of christianity with a liberating god at it center who's original sin was slavery. what black people did is take the forms of christianity available to them and refashion them in their own image. >> the story through several centuries is told by leading cultural figures, pastors and historians. >> what enslaved people did is they attempted to merge and you know, fuse these different worlds that they lived in. >> at every point, the sacred mixes with the secular. you can see it in the struggle for legal rights and pitical power. from richard allen founder of

the african methodist episcopal church to reverend martin luther king jr. >> nonviolence resistance is the most potent weapon. >> and today pastor rafael warnock. >> here's the most recent example. politics and religion have inextricably been 2009ed in the history of the -- been enter t wined in the history of the -- america. we would be able to progress within american society. ♪ sweet chariot ♪ >> central to that experience, music. early spirituals to the popular

ization of gospel music. >> it's one of the great gifts to the collective corpus of world literature. you can't beatt. i mean, i'm old school. i like new church music. i do my best to appreciate it. but you can't beat the spirituals, ezekiel saw the wheel way up in the middle of air ezekiel saw the wheel way in the middle of the air ♪ they did that over and over. >> they pointed to their own failures and discrimination including homophobia and sexism. it highlights the undertold role of women. >> the backbone of the church has been black women almost from the very beginning. but their role has been suppressed. one of my favorite examples in the story we tell of gerina lee.

and she said i've been called to preach. and he said, i don't think so. there's no role for women in the pulpit. she just stands up in her pew and delivers a sermon and it blows everybody's mind. and richard allen said, you know what, i guess you were called to preach. >> black lives on the forefront! >> in our time as many young people move away from organized religion and protestors again demand justice, the church face as new challenge of relevance and vitalty. >> there was a very moving moment in there to me when reverend tracy blackmon is telling you about going into the streets in ferguson during the protest and she talks about holding a prayer vigil. and she says that halfway through some of the young people said that's enough praying. >> well, i love that story. this is what she said in response. and i "the ferguson uprising was

church." and think what we're seeing in each historical period in history, the church has been refashioned not only in the broader image of black people but in the image of black people in that specific time and place across generations. and despite all the trials and tribulations that black people have had to suffer, t church has survived. it's grown. it's morphed, it's transformed. and we're still here. >> the black church, this is our story, this is our song. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown. judy: so look forgot ward to watching that. and we have more online where you can find the stories of two more women who played vital roles in both the black church as well as the fight for several rights in america. that's on our website, pbs.org/newshour.

and that is "the newshour" for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us again here tomorrow evening. for all of us here at the pbs newshour, thank you. please stay safe. and we'll see you soon. announcer: major funding if the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> consumer cellular. johnson & johnson. bnsf railway. the kendida fund, meaning work through investment and transformative leaders. mored a kendidafund.org. >> the alfred p. sloan foundation driven by the promise of great ideas. announcer: supported be the john d. and katharine t. macarthur

foundation committed to building a more just and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org. and with the ongoing support of these institutions. announcer: this programs was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs news station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ >> this is pbs newshour west from weta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ -welcome to "america's test kitchen" at home. today, i'm frying a batch of super-crisp karaage, jack's going to tell us all about shopping for soba noodles,