judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff, on the next newshour... tragic collapse -- emergency crews continue searching for those still missing in the rubble as a community grieves lives lost. then, leaving afghanistan. the withdrawal of u.s. troops troops paints a grim and uncertain future for the country. afghan leaders meet with president biden. we talk to a taliban spokesperson. plus... >> i want to give my condolences to the floyd family. judy: sentenced -- derek chauvin is given 22 and a half years in prison for george floyd's murder as the country continues to grapple with a racial reckoning.

>> my family and i have been given a life sentence. we will never be able to get george back. and it is -- judy: and it is friday. david brooks and jonathan capehart consider the administration's push to curtail violent crime and the future of the bipartisan infrastructure deal. all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour.” ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- bnsf railway. consumer cellular. johnson & johnson. financial services firm raymond james.

>> fostering informed and engaged communities. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions. ♪ and friends of the newshour. ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. judy: it's been another long day of watching and waiting, just outside miami beach, where a residential building collapsed early thursday. officials have now confirmed four are dead with 159 still unaccounted for -- leaving families clinging to hope. stephanie sy has our report.

stephanie: it's been over 24 hours since part of the 12-story champlain towers condominium llapsed in surfside, florida. search and rescue crews spent last night and all day today methodically combing through concrete and twisted metal, eyes and ears alert for potential survivors. miami dade county mayor daniella levine cava says it's risky work. >> we are going to work as hard as we can to continue our search and rescue effort. that is our priority. that is where we're focused and protecting our first responders who are on the scene. stephanie: the crews started in the flooded basement parking garage of the building -- trying to tunnel upward, into the wreckage. the disaster has touched people from many countries and communities, united by hope that missing relatives will be found alive. >> it's unbelievable. everything comes to your mind, except positive things. you just believe in god and let

god guide to this. >> it's a struggle. we are praying every minute. we are hopeful that she's there alive and we're going to see her soon, be able to hold her hand and kiss her. and we love her so much and we're going to see her soon. stephanie: president biden commented on the situation before commemorating pride month at the white house. pres. biden: we sent the best people from fema down there. we're going to stay with them whether the disaster declaration we made provide, for everything from housing, to god forbid, whether there is a need for a moritoria, for the bodies to be placed, everything in between. it's a tough, tough time. there are so many people waiting. are they alive? what will happen? so our hearts go out to them. stephanie: back in surfside, florida, governor ron desantis promised the cause of the building's collapse will be identified. gov. desantis: we need a

definitive explanation for how this could have happened. and that's an explanation that needs to be an accurate explanation. it's an explanation that we don't want to get wrong obviously, but at the same time i do think it's important that it's timely. stephanie: mayor charles burkett said they need answers -- but the more urgent priority is getting to possible survivors. mayor burkett: those buildings should have never fallen down. buildings like that don't fall down in america. this is a first world country. that doesn't happen here. there is something very wrong, but that's for another day. today we are going to save lives, that's what we are going to do. stephanie: and for the latest, i'm joined by patricia mazzei, miami bureau chief for the new york times. she's in surfside, florida covering the ongoing search and rescue operation. patricia, thank you for being with us. governor desantis described the scene as "traumatic." you're on the ground -- how would you describe it? patricia: it is devastating to

see. you don't expect a building to have half of its apartments sheared off. it looks like an earthquake or a bomb, not the sort of thing you expect to happen, as one survivor put it, just a building. the lady saw the apartment next to her was gone. she said everything up to my apartment was gone. when they left the building, they realized part of their building had fallen down. they were really shocked. stephanie: fema -- federal rescue workers -- were called in. what is currently going on with the search and rescue effort? how intense is it? patricia: it is massive in terms of the number of people we have seen role in here -- roll in here.

convoys, emergency workers from miami and every local unison pali. -- local municipality. when you're working in tunnels and underground, only small teams can go in at a time and a drill into the concrete. and see how much more you can drill, using specialized cameras , shoring up the area using special equipment. the movement of metal. then you have to battle the elements. it is not easy, there have been thunderstorms that have hampered the crews. every time there is a fire, you have to shift around.

it is a complicated scene and not the optimal conditions to be working in. stephanie: hmm. what is the mood there, and as more time passes without more survivors being rescued, have you seen that change? patricia: the relatives of the people missing have grown increasingly frustrated. at first they seemed frustrated because they could not see the movement of the crew with the naked eye because they were working underground. now they are working above ground. but people are desperate, they wanted to go in their cells -- themselves. but it is precarious and dangerous work, and has to be done fully and methodically.

but of course as every hour passes, people are less and less hopeful. stephanie: we should say that the medical examiner has identified the first victim, 54-year-old stacie fang. patricia, thank you for joining us with the latest. patricia: thank you. ♪ judy: in the day's other news: former minneapolis police officer derek chauvin is now facing 22 and a half years in prison for the murder of george floyd. the 45-year-old chauvin was sentenced today in state court. he still faces a federal trial on charges he violated floyd's civil rights. we will return to this later in the program. the u.s. justice department has gone to court, charging that georgia's new election law denies equal access to black voters. attorney general merrick garland announced a federal lawsuit today.

he said officials are also analyzing similar laws being passed in republican-led states that tighten voting rules. ag garland: this lawsuit is the first of many steps we are taking to ensure that all eligible voters can cast a vote, that all lawful votes are counted, and that every voter has access to accurate information. judy: georgia's republican governor brian kemp accused the biden administration of pushing "lies and misinformation." the u.s. supreme court ruled today that alaska natives are eligible for federal pandemic relief funds. some $8 billion dollars has been earmarked for tribal governments. the court found alaskan native corporations do qualify as indian tribes. they provide benefits and services to more than 100,000 people. a bipartisan infrastructure deal has hit a serious road hazard. republicans doubled down today on charges that president biden reneged on the nearly $1 trillion compromise after he

announced it. that's because he insisted he won't sign anything unless congress also passes his other priorities, worth $6 trillion. the white house says mr. biden always made clear he wants both bills. vice president harris visited the the u.s. southern border today for the first time since taking office. she is overseeing the migrant issue, and has drawn criticism for not going to the border sooner. today, she toured a border patrol facility in el paso, texas. later, she argued the problem goes far beyond politics. vice president harris: we're talking about children, we're talking about families, we're talking about suffering, and our approach has to be thoughtful and effective and we can take all of these perspectives into account and have meaningful, good public policy if we just stop the rhetoric and the finger-pointing and do what we need to do.

judy: also today, reuters reported more than one million arrests of migrants at the border since last october. at that pace, the tally for this fiscal year would be the most since 2000. president biden marked pride month with initiatives on lgbtq rights today. he named a special diplomatic envoy on the issue and he signed a bill designating the pulse -- a gay nightclub in orlando, florida -- as a national memorial. 49 people died there in a mass shooting in 2016. congress has approved reinstating limits on methane emissions from oil and gas drilling. democrats pushed it through the u.s. house of representatives today. it overturns president trump's roll-back of a 2016 regulation. president biden is expected to sign the measure. a record-breaking heat wave hit the pacific northwest today. washington state and oregon could see temperatures 30 degrees above normal this weekend -- including 100 in -- 106 in seattle and 108 in

portland. cooling centers are open as many braced for power outages. many in the region lack air conditioning because summers are usually mild. still to come, the withdrawal of u.s. troops paints a grim and uncertain future for afghanistan . what derek chauvin's sentencing means for this moment of racial reckoning. the pentagon releases a long-awaited report on unidentified aerial phenomena , and more. ♪ >> this is the pbs newshour from weta studios in washington, and arizona state university. judy: today at the white house, president biden met with afghanistan's leaders, just weeks before the u.s. completes withdrawing almost all of its forces. there was a lot on the agenda -- finalizing plans on how many

u.s. troops to keep in the country, how to continue training afghan troops, and how to safely evacuate afghans who worked for the u.s. nick schifrin reports. nick: today at the white house, president biden vowed to keep fighting america's longest war -- just without u.s. troops. president biden: the partnership between afghanistan and the united states is not ending, it's going to be sustained. nick: flanked by afghan president ashraf ghani, and high council for national reconciliation chairman dr. abdullah abdullah, president biden promised to confront afghanistan's third covid wave, by donating 3 million doses of johnson & johnson vaccine, and badly needed oxygen. and he pledged support for afghanistan's government, but with what an administration official called “tough love.” president biden: the afghans are going to have to decide for the future, what they want. nick: president ghani compared today in afghanistan, to the u.s. >> the afghan nation is an 1861

moment. like president lincoln. rallying to the defense of the republic, determined that the republic is defended. nick: but that's not going well. this week, afghan soldiers in multiple districts surrendered to the taliban, and taliban fighters have threatened two provincial capitals. the taliban also captured the tajikistan border crossing, and districts that could allow them to cut off the sole roads to kabul. on wednesday, the taliban released a statement declaring “manifest victory and triumph.” we interviewed taliban spokesman, sohail shaheen, earlier this week. do you believe that you've achieved victory? >> we are ending the war and the afghans become as one, as one nation. so i think that is victory for the nation. but if you see at the angle that we and the united states achieved a solution through

talks in the negotiation, that is, i think, a success for both sides. nick: the taliban say they still want a political settlement in talks in doha. but the afghan government accuses the taliban of stalling, to try and win on the battlefield. there are taliban forces that got to the edge of kunduz city and maymana -- two provincial capitals. do the taliban plan to try and seize those provincial capitals? >> right now, we do not have any intention of running those capitals and taking them. a military takeover is not our policy. our policy is reaching a solution through talks and negotiation. nick: but afghan government members of the negotiating team whom i speak to, accuse you of largely abandoning the talks and not taking them seriously. >> we say, come and please talk about the road map, political road map first in order to reach a permanent solution.

but they say we first, we want a cease fire. they are rather interested in surrendering our side to them. but that is not a reconciliation. nick: are you willing to entertain a humanitarian cease fire, especially with the third wave of covid? >> it is it up to the negotiation team on both sides. nick: are you ready and willing to share power? >> any solution can reach by both sides, they will be acceptable, acceptable to us. we want to enter a new phase of friendly relations with the u.s.a in the reconstruction of afghanistan, and the reinvestment in the country. but if they still insist continuing the military approach, if they give them, this moribund administration,

more money and ammunition, weapons, that means it will continue, will prolong the war. nick: why, if foreign forces have agreed to leave, do the taliban continue to attack and kill your fellow afghans? >> those districts which have been falling to our forces in the last few weeks, are they falling through negotiations, not through fighting. nick: but that's not true in all areas. just in the last few weeks, the tele-have killed dozens of u.s.-trained afghan commandos. when the taliban ruled afghanistan, they destroyed historic buddhist art, and hunted and executed minorities and women who didn't adhere to their version of islam. if the taliban were to come back into power, would you do that again? >> that is something for future,

for the religious scholars. nick: and so that punishment could include public execution? >> so that will be seen. nick: you said you will allow girls to go to school. what reassurance can you give the that you will follow through on that promise when in the past you haven't? >> all schools, that also includes girls schools and all universities and offices, they should remain open. so, that it's clear they will have access to education. nick: the administration is currently negotiating with turkey, for turkish troops to secure the airport, initially with the assistance of u.s. soldiers. u.s. service members will also remain to guard the embassy. and the u.s. is completing plans on how to keep training afghan soldiers, and whether u.s. contractors will continue to help the afghan air force. the taliban reject the presence of all u.s. forces and contractors. >> if they remain or leave behind some forces, some

residual forces, that means continuation of the occupation. nick: meanwhile, thousands of afghans who have helped translate for and facilitate the u.s. war, are applying for u.s. visas. senior administration and congressional officials tell pbs newshour they are planning on evacuating some 17,000 -- and perhaps more -- to u.s. territory. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. judy: after president biden's meeting today with afghan leaders in the oval office, we turn to our amna nawaz, who is reporting from the white house. amna, what more can you tell us about the president's meeting with afghan leaders, and how this administration is working through security issues? amna: it seems that the meeting was all smiles, a very friendly atmosphere. president biden welcoming, as he called them, old friends to the white house. but it was a tough meeting

because of those underlying issues. the u.s. negotiated their withdrawal from afghanistan not with the government, but with the taliban. the white house wanted to focus on the continuing support, the enduring friendship. they pointed to humanitarian assistance, security assistance and 3 million doses of the covid-19 vaccine going to afghanistan. but the shadow over all of this, the meeting at the white house, is the deteriorating situation on the ground and government forces on the back foot and dire predictions about what could be had for the afghan government. i asked the press secretary about the reporting in the conversation we just saw with the taliban spokesman, and the repeated message from the taliban that any continued u.s. presence would be seen as a violation of the u.s. commitment to them. we also know a taliban spokesman said in a text message that even a diplomatic presence of the u.s. would be seen as a violation of the agreement.

jen psaki said negotiators have been clear with the taliban and private that the u.s. intends to have an ongoing diplomatic presence and they will do whatever is necessary to secure it. judy: you are following another strike, vice president, harris -- vice president harris and her trip to the border, this after being criticized for not going. how has the trip gone? amna: part of her portfolio is to see the root causes and address those. she has been feeling a lot of questions since getting the portfolio, when she would go to the border, and criticism from republicans about what she had not been. the harris office told us she always planned to go but because her portfolio has a foreign policy lens, she wanted to go to guatemala and mexico first look at the causes. the trip to the border looks closer at the effects. she visited the port of entry, central processing center, one

of the busiest ports of entry in the country in el paso. she did not visit fort bliss, one of the emergency intake shelters set up quickly to address the influx of unaccompanied children coming across the border. the facility can hold up to 5000 children and was subject of concerns because of disturbing reports about conditions. i asked the white house about this and an official told me she might not have visited the facility but she did with the managing attorney who oversees legal services for children, and this remains a concern for them. the shelter is getting more resources. i also spoke with veronica escobar, who accompanied harris on the trip, and congresswoman representing the district. she invited harris after they spoke. she published an op-ed earlier in the year saying this is what we need to do on the border, and that's part of the back story about how this trip came to be. judy: quickly back to

afghanistan, the other issue is what will happen to american hostages who are still being held in afghanistan? amna: i asked the white house press secretary about the case we reported on. a man held for over a year by the taliban. jen psaki said the president's message is she will continue -- he will continue to release any americans held overseas. an official i spoke to said mark's name has been mentioned by the leading u.s. negotiator to the taliban in recent discussions, but the family, who i spoke with today, a source close themselves remain concerned. that as u.s. sources continue to leave, they will lose leverage. judy: all right, thank you. we turn now to a man at the center of negotiations for afghanistan, both with the u.s. and the taliban. dr. abdullah abdullah is chairman of the high council for national reconciliation. thank you for joining us.

did you here today from president biden -- you have just come from the white house -- what you wanted to hear? >> absolutely. we are grateful the president of the united states told us, to the president of afghanistan, that the troops are withdrawing and that decision has been made, but the commitment of the united states and the enduring partnership with afghanistan in terms of supporting the afghan people, supporting afghanistan with $3.3 billion of assistance for the security forces, humanitarian assistance, diplomatic support and all of that, will continue. meanwhile, on our part, we honor the sacrifices the united states

has made alongside our people, with us, and remember those fallen, and we express our gratitude for those who have served in afghanistan. meanwhile, i think it is good news. we knew it, but we had it from the restriction today, we had it from the congress today and yesterday. that will be good news for the people of afghanistan. judy: i am asking because the word from the white house to reporters was president biden would deliver what they call tough love, that he was going to say there is not enough unity in your government right now. how do you see that? can you unify? >> absolutely. that is the moment for afghanistan, wherefore the allies and our partnership with allies transitions into a new chapter, and we as afghans, we

need to do what we can do. president biden promised support and support for allies, but at the same time, he expressed a need for unity, which is what the people of afghanistan expect. judy: my colleague spoke to a taliban spokesman, who denied the taliban are attacking afghan military forces. he said the afghan forces are surrendering to them. he also said that taliban intends to treat women and minorities with respect. do you take them at their word? >> i wish those were true, especially treatment of the women. no, unfortunately. it is obvious the taliban had thought in their thinking they can take advantage of the situation, and that is a miscalculation. if they think that is not true,

let's get serious about the negotiating table. put everything on the table, and by learning from the history of afghanistan, you could not impose a military solution upon the people. the taliban should know there is an opportunity to talk, and they macy's it -- may seize it. why not get serious around the negotiating table? judy: can your government survive after most u.s. troops are out of the country? >> god willing, absolutely. it is the people of afghanistan, the absolute majority want peace, and the taliban has been the obstacle. we have called upon them time and again to return to the negotiating table with a clear determination.

and a sense of getting to an inclusive political settlement. from the other side, the people of afghanistan don't want to return to the old ways. we have not just the institutions, the afghanistan national security forces, the people in afghanistan are standing by their own forces. judy: quickly, of the u.s. pledge to help thousands of afghan citizens who helped u.s. troops during the war get out of the country, is that something you welcome? >> that is something that is in the policy of the united states. i am not aware of the details. the solution is not to get out, but to stand there. if there are situations we cannot address or protect some individuals and there is an opportunity for them, i think that is ok. judy: doctor, thank you for

speaking with us today. >> you are welcome. ♪ more than a year after george floyd's murder set off national protests and a reckoning, the former police officer found guilty in his death, derek chauvin, was sentenced by a minnesota judge today to 22.5 years in prison. in a moment, we look at the sentence in the continuing reverberations of the case. first, our special correspondent reports from minneapolis. >> i'm not going to attempt to be profound or clever because it's not the appropriate time. fred: judge peter cahill said his sentence was based strictly on specific facts of the case and the law -- not on public opinion not to send any message -- though he had a personal one.

>> i want to acknowledge the deep and tremendous pain that all the families are feeling, especially the floyd family. you have our sympathies. fred: that pain was emotionally on display as proceedings began this afternoon, with victim statements from george floyd's family, recalling the impact of his death. in video captured by a bystander, derek chauvin held his knee on torch floyd's neck for more than nine minutes as floyd waited he could not -- pleaded he could not breathe. >> if you could say anything to your daddy, what would it be? >> iove you. fred: following 7 year old daughter gianna, the court heard from his brothers, terrance and philonise floyd. >> i wanted to know from the man himself -- why? what were you thinking? what was going through your head, when you had your knee on my brother's neck?

when you knew that he posed no threat anymore, that he was handcuffed. why you didn't at least get up? why you stayed there? >> my family and i have been given a life sentence. we will never be able to get george back. daddys are a daughter's first love. he will never be able to walk gianna down the aisle at her wedding, attend the magical moments of her life. fred: for the first time in this case, the court heard also from a member of chauvin's family. >> when you sentence my son, you'll also be sentencing me. fred: carolyn pawlenty called her son a good man dedicated to his work. >> derek is a quiet, thoughtful, honorable and selfless man. he has a big heart and he has

always put others before his own. the public will never know the loving and caring man he is. fred: that theme was picked up by chauvin's attorney eric nelson. >> he was a solid police officer that he did his job. ,he was decorated as a police officer, multiple life saving awards. he was decorated for valor. he too is is a son, brother, father, and a friend. >> as to count 1 -- fred: cahill's sentence of 22 and a half years is ten years more than state guidelines, the judge citing several aggravating factors, including particular cruelty shown to floyd. in a brief statement, chauvin himself stopped short of an apology. >> at this time, due to some additional legal matters at hand, i'm not able to give a full formal statement at this time.

but, briefly though, i want to give my condolences to the floyd family. fred: the 45-year-old former officer faces more legal challenges, including federal civil rights charges in this and another case from 2017. his next trial as well as state and federal proceedings against three other former officers charged in the floyd case will begin in coming months. for the pbs newshour, i'm fred de sam lazaro in minneapolis. william: we get reaction and insight into today's sentencing from tracey meares. she is a professor of law and co-founder of the justice collaboratory at yale law school. great to have you back on the newshour. 22 years-plus for derek chauvin for the murder of george floyd. given this crime, what is your reaction to the sentence? tracey: my reaction when

watching the hearing was that the judge landed on a sentence many of us expected, given the average sentence was 12.5 years. 18 year upward departure based on a finding of two aggravated circumstances was basically what i was expecting, even though it wasn't the 30 years the prosecution asked for. william: is it your sense -- we knew the maximum was possibly 40, and many people felt there should have been even more of a sentence -- is it your sense this was the right and fair decision? tracey: i think -- attempt to shape a judges decision. the judge relied on the aggravating factors, two of them, abuse of authority and abusive -- excessive cruelty.

at least, that is what the judge said, i haven't read the memorandum. i think those watching or reading that sentence should understand it is a very serious sentence for there to be 10 years above a 12 15 year average -- 12.5 year average sentence. william: going forward, i think the larger question is does derek chauvin's conviction and sentence change police behavior going forward? tracey: that's a question everybody is thinking about. i think it was incredibly important for the judge to listen to people who have said that in the past, courts have not taken this behavior seriously, by imposing a serious sentence, 10 years above the 12 when five-year average. -- 12.5 year average. i think folks are also right that an opinion, just looking at

an individual case, even in an egregious circumstance like this, is not going to buy itself --by itself the a signal that is going to change policing as a whole, or it is and to the kind of support for safety that many people are asking for that looks beyond the approach that police take today. william: tracey, thank you for joining us tonight. tracey: i welcome the opportunity, william. ♪ judy: it is one of the most enduring questions of humanity -- are we alone in the universe? today, a highly anticipated report from u.s. intelligence

community zeros in on unidentified aerial phenomenon or uap's, commonly known as ufo's. it comes from the office of the director of national intelligence. it concludes these unidentified objects clearly pose a risk to flight and a national security threat to the u.s. but the larger question is, is this alien life, remains unanswered. john yang has the story. john: there's not enough here to draw a conclusion about the source of these uap's. here to discuss is democratic congressman andre carson of indiana. he serves on the u.s. house intelligence committee. they commissioned the report. you said in a statement this represents a much-needed shift on this issue -- what do you mean by that >> this leaves a

lot of us with unanswered questions. it does not rule out that many potential scenarios we have come up with. when we are talking aboutuap's, we could be dealing with varying scenarios. the report goes a long way in terms of prior tours asian -- prior tours asian -- priorities. since i came to congress, i've been fascinated by the issue and i am pleased that the approach has been taken more seriously. it is a taboo talking -- topic and there is more work to do. john: clearly there is a belief that there could be a national security threat? >> i think that is always a consideration. the immediate concern is twofold -- one, this is a technology we don't completely understand, and it seems to be defining our

understanding of physics. it appears to be more advanced than our own technology that is never a good thing from a strategic point of view. there is an expectation among americans that we stay on top of advancements in technology. secondly, whoever is operating it or behind this aerial phenomenon, seems to be keenly interested in our military capabilities. john: is that why the intelligence committee -- it was the intelligence committee that asked for this report? >> certainly, but it is effectively a response to the scores of inquiries we get daily not only from our offices, but that the committee gets. there is a tendency for the uap sidings to occur around military assets, especially naval assets. that's enough to know we need more information and a better understanding.

we know enough now but that is not necessarily important. there are still many unknowns, but we are homing in on the issue rapidly. john: you talk about needing more information, the report sets goals about more research, more gathering of information about uap. what is the next step? >> compared to other national security issues and issues critical to our defense, we suffer from a limited understanding of these phenomenon. a part of that is we have a limited data set. there's only a number of observable phenomena. also, the quality can sometimes be sub part. the next part will be breaking down the stigma that exists, especially amongst legislators and pilots outside of congress. the next step is to do a deeper dive.

i want to hold a public hearing as well but we will not get the information we really need initially until we have a classified briefing. my hope is it is not another nation who has a strategic or technological advance, and it is not from the private sector, and my hope is we can contain the matter and hopefully it stays in the united states of america. john: and you are going to get more briefings from the intelligence community? >> without question. as the chairman of that committee, my hope is to have a series of hearing, and one of them being a public hearing so we can at least provide the information to the american public to the degree that will not compromise our national security, to give them some kind of resolve and well the thirst -- quell the thirst about this phenomenon. john: representative, thank you very much. >> thank you.

♪ judy: now at the end of a full week of news, we are fortunate to have the analysis of brooks and capehart. that is new york times columnist david brooks and jonathan capehart, columnist for the washington post. very good to see both of you, as it is every friday. a lot happened this week in washington, but i want to start with do we or do we not have an infrastructure deal? yesterday, the president made the unprecedented move of coming out on the driveway with a group of democrats and republicans and announced an agreement, but a couple of hours later, he said there's only an agreement if i get from congress my spending. >> there's a lot of consternation clearly right now within the republican party, and particularly among those senators about what happened.

but the deal, such as it is, last i saw, is still holding and it is still there. i think you have a senators like senator blunt and portman, even mitch mcconnell, who in the past said we want a hard infrastructure deal, but we see the president will probably go a reconciliation for these other things and that is fine. the rub is the president and speaker of the house both saying we will go for this deal, but you've got to do reconciliation also. that's why the republicans are angry. but everybody needs a deal. the president wants one, the republicans want one because they need something to go back to their constituents and say look, this is what we delivered for you. judy: and the white house saying the president made it clear all along he would want this, but it seems a little fuzzy. >> sort of. everyone knew there would be two bills. while we did not know, but the

white house worked really hard to get this bipartisan compromise. the calls and meetings, and look like real legislation, the kind of stuff joe biden was born for. we get this deal against all of the odds, unexpected. republicans knew there would be a reconciliation deal. i think what they didn't know is that he would threatened to veto the compromise if he did not get the second. it is that linkage i think took republicans by surprise. the ones who really believe in the deal, rob portmans of the world. from what we know, they are right to feel a little aggrieved. will they walk out on this? senator kunz from delaware told politico that so far they have had bipartisan discussions and have not walked out. a couple of others have shown willingness to walk out on the deal, and if they do that, you don't have republicans in this in this and and can't pass the deal. but as jonathan said, they are

hanging in there and there is a lot of strategy about how they will sink the reconciliation later, i imagine. it is a strategist dream, but so far i think they have damaged the deal but not killed it. judy: do you think it will hold? >> i think it will hold, and does anybody think republicans are going to vote in favor of a reconciliation deal? it is a given that the 50 republicans are not going to vote for it. what it is really about is trying to hold senators mansion -- joe manchin and kyrsten sinema, to make sure they vote for reconciliation so everybody is happy. >> the republicans are trying to get e manchin and kristen seminar to break the linkage, saying we won't sign on and less do this alone. to me, the fun will be when the democrats start fighting amongst themselves. say the compromise passes, then we've got reconciliation and

progresses want this big trillion dollar thing, joe manchin probably wants less than $2 trillion. they agree on the taxes but not where the spending should go. that is how the bigger think of fall apart. judy: speaking of joe manchin, he played a critical role on another issue we saw this week must seems like a long time ago but only monday when voting rights came up in the senate and the republicans blocked what the democrats are trying to do, this is after senator joe manchin said he was on board with a kind of compromise. i guess my question is here today, you have the department of justice announcing it is going to sue the state of georgia over its newoting laws -- where are we on voting rights in this country? >> i think right now where we are on voting rights is there is not going to be any quick slate of fix. everyone was focused on the for the people act as the immediate thing that could be done to stop or blunt what was happening in

the states like georgia. the john lewis voting rights act hasn't even been introduced. that is way down the road. right now, the focus is going to be on what can the justice department do? what can the administration due to blunt the impact of georgia and these other states? that's what we saw today, the justice department suing georgia to stop its law. i think that's where the action is. until the filibuster is done away with, and senate majority leader chuck schumer comes along and says here is the for the people act again, passed by a simple majority, the bill will not go anywhere. it is imperative for the justice department to weigh in. >> i guess i see it that way, that it is not clear to me why people in congress cannot scale back. some of the voting acts seemed very broad. joe manchin had a proposal,

maybe something can be scaled back, but nobody seems to be talking that way, so we are going to the courts. i guess there will be a supreme court ruling on the arizona voting sometime next week. i am fine with that. we heard such different things about georgia, joe biden called it the new jim crow, brad raffensperger disagree. if the courts decide, does this discriminate against african americans, i am happy to make that decision. i hate having the federal government involved in state voting procedures, but if one party is trying to disenfranchise a race of people, american history has established this is when the federal government is involved, so i am happy to see -- let the courts make a determination, was their intent to discriminate? judy: and democrats are arguing republicans are trying to deny people on a massive scale. >> on a massive scale.

which is why attorney general merrick garland and the justice department is taking the action it took today. judy: i guess my question is, whatever the supreme court rules , it looks like this is something that is frozen in congress, it is not going anywhere. >> is completely frozen, until something is done about the filibuster. judy: our favorite senate maneuver, the filibuster. >> right. until it is removed or altered, before the people act is not going anywhere. judy: this was also the week president biden rolled out a plan for addressing, and a number of different ways, gun crime. violent crime, the homicide rate way up. does this look like -- it is a multipronged approach, a lot of different initiatives they are laying out, but does it look like something that could make a

difference? >> it's tough for a president to control crime. but it will be a big voting issue, we've already seen that in new york, crime was the issue. voters especially in places like annapolis and portland, they are saying this is a level -- this is crisis level. there are different reasons for that. i think these things make it imperative to act. i would give the biden administration may be a b-. four police were forming, some are using covid money to increase the number of officers. there is clear evidence that if you increase the number of police, you get less crime but it has to be accompanied by police reform. you have to do a bunch of things at once to have a just way to reduce crime that is not a penalty on local communities. i thought this was a vague

gesture more than that kind of intent. >> i don't know about a vague gesture. you are right, presidents have no impact whatsoever on state and local crime issues, but people look to the president to do something, and i agree with david, the $350 billion from the america cares act to localities to do something with crime is a good thing, but we have to remember, yes, crime has picked up, but we are way, way down from the bad years of the 1990's. let me give you quickly, new york city murders in 1990, 2262. in 2020, 468. robberies are also way down.

and 86.9% reduction. yes, crime is ticking up, but we are nowhere near where we were 30 years ago when it was really bad. judy: homicides are way up, violent crimes. other crime, it's more of a mixed picture. people keep asking, as you say, even though the president cannot reach in and control what goes on in handling the crime in individual cities. what example is he setting? >> i think he's made some progress. i think we both lived in new york in that period, and crime was terrible. it was something we all lived with. i think one of the things he has done, at least to take us from last summer's belief that there was such a thing as a free month -- free lunch, you could fund the police and not have

aftereffect. when a party tells you there is a free lunch, they are almost always wrong. if you let the police a pullback and not get involved, you will get more crime. judy: we are going to leave it there. come back and see you guys next friday. david brooks and jonathan capehart, thank you. be sure to tune in later tonight to beyond the canvas, the episode features common, gary clark junior and more musicians. that is tonight on pbs. that is the newshour for tonight. i am judy woodruff. have a good weekend, thank you and please stay safe. we will see you on monday. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- consumer cellular. johnson & johnson.

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like you. thank you. this is pbs news are west, from weta studios in washington, and the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪

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