to learn more, visit safetyactioncenter.pge.com captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> nawaz: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. judy woodruff is away. on the newshour tonight: boosting the vaccine. the f.d.a. debates which, if any, americans should receive an additional shot. we break down the latest recommendations. then, on the border. a crowd of over 10,000 migrants awaits u.s. processing, while sheltering under a texas bridge. plus, it's friday. david brooks and jonathan capehart discuss politics at the border, and tensions between the u.s. and france. plus, an extraordinary man. the remarkable life and career of muhammad ali, as told by ken burns. >> there's so many layers and subtexts to him. he is an epic, almost mythic figure, in which his life and

his flaws and his strengths play out on a world stage. >> nawaz: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> fidelity wealth management. >> johnson & johnson.

>> financial services firm raymond james. >> the john s. and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> 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 by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> nawaz: a key advisory committee of the food and drug administration overwhelmingly rejected vaccine boosters for the general u.s. population for now. but, it voted unanimously in favor of giving boosters

to those 65 and older, and hi-risk individuals. the recommendations are a pivotal moment in the debate around boosters. president biden and other federal health officials had originally said they believed boosters would be available to the general public later this month. while today's vote is not binding for the f.d.a. or the c.d.c., it is a big blow to the president's original plans. william brangham has been monitoring the committee's deliberations, and joins me now. >> so the panel weighs a bunch of evidence, they decide no for general boosters for everyone. older americans, high-risk individuals, yes for now. what was the evidence they looked at. >> the evidence they heard today was mixed. as you mentioned at the beginning, the whole overarching is are we losing some of the critical protection we think of that the vaccines are giving us. and the evidence was mixed.

the c.d.c. put out a bunch of data today and they presented it to this panel and that was mostly good news. they pointed out while delta was 99% of the cases, all the approved vaccines gave high protection against severe disease, hospitalization, and death. and this is really important. those shots we have taken are keeping, for the most part, people healthy, alive and out of the hospital. the c.d.c. did note that there was some slippage inrotection in infection, meaning the breakthrough cases, people who have been vaccinated. some of those cases people are getting sick. and although most of them are mild and asymptomatic, and this is what has partly been worrying the biden administration. although most of the cases are mild, some are not. people get sick, run high fevers and have to be up on the of work for a few days and the question of long covid has not been addressed. it's the evidence that the vaccine is doing a great job that made critics of the boosters say what's the rusk?

it's protecting us. >> it doesn't sound like emergency around the boosters. but the panel heard about data from israel? >> israel is in some ways a look into the future for us. they started the vaccination project before we did. we can look at what there experience has been and imagine that might be us soon. and the israeli data presented today said it was a waning of the vaccine. they were showing that the longer it's been since your shot, more likely to get infected. the longer-- the older you were, the chances grew for that as well. so israel launched a big booster campaign back in july, based on this data. and they were saying the results were incredibly strong-- a 10-fold boost in protection for that third shot. israel is all pfizer and gave a third dose with strong protection and no adverse events. so they're very confident about it. >> what now in the state?

for anyone eligible when can they expect to get the third shot? the the f.d.a. panel submits and the f.d.a. itself has to decide what they want to do and the c.d.c. weigh in addition and says this is how we actually roll this out. as you mentioned, this is a little bit of a dent in what biden wanted to be able to do. he wanted the general population to be able to do this. right now, it seems those most vulnerable-- 65 and old erdz, people who have comorbidities-- obesity, disease, im immunocompromised-- and frontline medical workers, those are going to start getting boosters some time soon. >> what about the whole global fairness argument, the debate around this, the fact that americans are going to be getting booster shots before millions of people around the world have had their first vaccine shot? what about that? >> yes, this is the krbledy thorny issue, that the w.h.o., the fearkd c.d.c. have been arguing-- in fact one w.h.o. official likened this to us

giving life jackets to people who already have life jackets while you leave other people to drown. that argument has been made repeatedly and it came up again today in this panel. the biden administration argues we can do both. we can give boosters to americans and we can help get vaccines to the world. in fact, today, they announced 500 million new doses purchased by the administration to give out. but this is-- this is no doubt an issue going forward. there are something like 45, i believe it is, million americans who might get these boosters. we have enough of thoseicoses already here in in house. while this has been a concerned that has been raised, for now, that argument didn't win the day. and older americans are going to start getting boosters pretty soon. >> expect we'll hear more on this debate very, very soon.

>> nawaz: well, the u.s. military today acknowledged that a drone strike in kabul, that the military initially said killed an isis suicide bomber, in fact killed only civilians. the strike took place three weeks ago, as the u.s. and allies were evacuating following the taliban take-over. the head of u.s. central command, general kenneth mckenzie, spoke to reporters this afternoon. >> having thoroughly reviewed the findings of the investigation in the supporting analysis by interagency partners, i am now convinced that as many as ten civilians, including up to seven children, were tragically killed in that strike. moreover, we now assess that it is unlikely that the vehicle and those who died were associated with isis-k, or were a direct threat to u.s. forces. i offer my profound condolences to the family and friends of those who were killed. >> nawaz: and we turn to our foreign affairs and defense correspondent, nick schifrin. >> the big question, how did this happen? >> the military got the intelligence horribly and tragically wrong.

general makenzie, who we just saw, said following the august 26 attack that killed almost 200 afghans and 13 u.s. service members, the military had 60 pieces of intelligence, both intercepts and human intelligence, that indicated imminent attack, including with a white toyota corolla with a car bomb. that morning, of this attack, a white toyota corolla pulled up to what the military believed was an isis safehou. in fact, the next day, there were isis rockets fired nearby. but back to the day, makenzie provided this map to reporters. he said the military followed the car all up and down those lines for six hours with six drones, watched the driver put jugs in the truck, and parked less than two miles from the airport. makenzie said the strike was not rushed. they chose a location they thought was isolated and even had the missile timed so it would go off inside the car to try and minimize civilian

casualties. and, yet, despite all of those safeguards, what they thought was the right target was the wrong one, and they missed the fact there was an entire family nearby. we now know the driver was 43-year-old zamari amadi, a longtime worker for a u.s. funded aid group. the strike killed his children, nephews and nieces. and the u.s. is considering reparations for the family. >> this is beyond tragic. what does it say about the future of these kinds of air strikes. >> these are the so-called "over the horizon air strikes" counterterrorism air strikes the u.s. has been talking about. makenzie said this was an imminent threat, and future threats would have more time to surveill and establish what the military calls a pattern of life. officials say these strikes will have a very high bar. they will only target people inside afghanistan planning attacks on the u.s. and its allies. amna, the fact is, previous

counterterrorism airstrikes with that extra time, with what the military believed at the time of the strikes, was the established pattern of life, they believed they were hitting terrorists -- en those strikes have caused civilian casualties. some officials are joking to me what the military calls "over the horizon "is in fact over the rainbow. and the fact that the end of this, the investigation revealed the final action the u.s. military took offensive in afghanistan, after 20 years of war, killed an aid worker, u.s.-funded aid worker trying to develop afghanistan. >> just incredible and incredible reporting. thank you for making sense of it all. anick schifrin schiff rin. >> thank you upon >> nawaz: in the day's other

news, a qatar airways flight left kabul with more than 170 people on board, including american citizens. it is the third such flight since the u.s.-led airlift ended at the afghan capital. meanwhile, the taliban ordered classes to resume for grades 6 through 12-- but only for boys and male teachers. workers also hung a banner renaming the women's ministry as the new home of the morals police. former female employees of the ministry said they have been locked out. france is recalling its ambassadors from the u.s. and australia, in a fury over a submarine deal. australia has canceled a huge contract for french diesel-electric subs in favor of nuclear-powered subs built in the u.s. it's part of a new pacific alliance involving the u.s., britain, and australia. u.s. capitol police warned there have been threats of violence ahead of tomorrow's rally by trump supporters. it's being staged to support more than 600 people charged in the january 6th assault on the capitol. capitol police chief thomas

manger says it's unclear how many people will show up or just how serious the threats are. >> we would be foolish not to take seriously the intelligence that we have at our disposal. how credible it is, how likely it is, people can make those judgements. but the fact of the matter is that we are hearing some chatter, and i think it would be responsible for us to plan the way we've been planning and put the precautions in place. >> nawaz: the national guard has placed 100 unarmed troops on standby in case there is any trouble. we'll return to this, later in the program. republican congressman anthony gonzalez says he won't run again, after voting to impeach then-president trump over the january assault. the two-term lawmaker was one of ten house republicans who backed impeachment. he cited family needs today, and he called mr. trump "a cancer for the country." the ex-president shot back in a statement, saying "o down, nine to go." the top u.s. military officer, general mark milley, has offered

his first public defense today of his actions in the final months of donald trump's presidency. milley has faced a firestorm over news that he called his chinese counterpart, twice, to assure him that the u.s. would not attack. hepoke today to reporters traveling with him to europe. >> these are routine calls in order to discuss issues of the day, to reassure both allies and adversaries, in this case, in order to ensure strategic stability. and these are perfectly within the duties and responsibilities of the chairman. >> nawaz: milley said he'll have much more to say at a u.s. senate hearing later this month. a newly released u.n. report finds greenhouse gas emissions worldwide are set to rise 16% so far, world commitments at a climate summit in glasgow ve fallen short, and would only

result in a 12% decrease in emissions by the end of this decade. firefighters in northern california are working to save some 2,000 giant trees in sequoia national park. crews have wrapped the base of the general sherman tree-- the world's largest-- in a fire-resistant aluminum blanket. they've also cleared out brush that could act as fuel. at least two fires could reach the area within days. last year, a fire killed up to 10,000 sequoias. state judges in north carolina today struck down the latest version of a voter identification law. republicans passed the measure in 2018 to implement a photo i.d. requirement. but, the panel of judges found the law was motivated, at least in part, by bias against black voters. and on wall street today, stocks ended the week with a broad sell-off. the dow jones industrial average lost 166 points to close below 34,585. the nasdaq fell 138 points-- nearly 1%. the s&p 500 slipped 40 points-- also about 1%.

and, starting tomorrow, the famed arc de triomphe in paris becomes an art exhibit for the next three weeks. crews have covered the napoleonic arch in blue and silver fabric, and visitors will be able to view it and touch it. the installation was conceived by the late artist christo. still to come on the newshour: u.s. capitol police prepare for tomorrow's far-right rally in support of january 6th insurrectionists. russia holds a parliamentary election amid an unprecedented crackdown on opposition. david brooks and jonathan capehart break down the week's political news. and much more. >> naz: over the last several

days, a crowd of migrants awaiting u.s. processing outside a texas border community has grown to more than 10,000. the migrants, who are mostly from haiti, have been sheltering under a major bridge there. and, while the biden administration has been trying to speed up processing, officials are also expecting the crowd to grow further in coming days. for more on this, we're joined by arelis hernandez, who's reporting on the ground in del rio, texas for the "washington post areliswelcome to the newshour. thank you for making the time. if you've been following your reporting and others, there are some horrific conditions on the ground there. just scribe for us what it is yo're seal in john delaney. >> so, i'm in the car, because i got a glimpse of what the improvised encampment looks like. you can't see that much. what you see are people sort of huddled beneath this bridge because it offers some shade from the sun out here. and there's just shndz of people there. some people have made shelters

out of cane that line the river. some people have brought blankets over and make little shelters there. it's overcrowded. there's human refuse, i'm told, by people close to the area,nd the sheriff did not take us closer because of what he described-- in his words-- third-world country conditions and it being pretty dangerous. >> we know that customs and border protection says they're surging personnel to try to deal with it. can you tell from your reporting and what you have seen what is needed and how much support is actually being given for this community? >> at last count, i just heard from border patrol, there are 13,700 people there, and you have no idea whether they've been tested for covid, whether they've had any interaction with the virus. that's one thing. a public health thing. they have portable totals. they're passing out waer.

it looked like d.h.s. is clearing out some land to create some sort of processing center. but in terms of the needs, i mean, people are hungry. people need shelter from the sun, bathing facilities to keep clean in that environment and just space, honestly. it's sort of a confined space that they' being relegated to right now, or that they're pushing themselves into right now. >> it's also been reported they are mostly from haiti. i wonder if you can confirm that, based on officials or anyone you have talked to. and what can you tell us why they've come down and why to del rio. >> reporter: when i spoke to some of the migrants yesterday on the mexican side, people are crossing back and forth pretty regularly to get things that they need. it's a mix of folks who have left in recent months or recent weeks from haiti and other countries, and other people who have been migrating for years and have spent years, and

decided to make the trip north now. and there are all kinds of different reasones yes they're coming. you know, they're hearing that the opportunity is there through their own community networks and social media networks. someplace them have run out of money or have finally built enough cash to make the trip. the conditions in their home countries might have reached a head in which pushed them out and made the urgency that much greater. there are all kinds of reasons. when i spoke to this one father, he's a computer engineer back in haiti, and he crossed over to the mexican side to cry. he didn't want his wife and his three-year-old daughter to see him cry. and he went over to the mexican side to do that because the situation has been so overwhelming, and his reason being that he has family in the united states, and the opportunity that he seeks is here. >> arelis, is there any sense of what happens next with these thousands of migrants?

>> so it looks as though federal authorities are ramping up the amount of personnel and resources. all day we've seen trucks coming in and out of this particular area with food, with portable toilets, with more troops that are coming down here. i think probablilet next step for d.h.s. is to surge personnel to figure out a way to quickly process these individuals, some of of which might be eligible for release into the country. we will probably also see deportation flights begin. some of those flights had started in the nearby air force base here in del rio. we'll probably sees those ramp up here in the next several days. >> that is arelis hernandez of of "the washington post" reporting to us from del rio, texas, tonight. arelis, thank you for your time. >> reporter: thank you. >> nawaz: it's been a little over eight months since the january 6th insurrection rocked the nation's capitol. tomorrow, conservative

protesters will gather again, not far from the walls of congress, to rally in support of those charged with crimes from that attack. we turn to our congressional correspondent, lisa desjardins. lisa,ed any to see you. >> good to be here. >> capitol officials, we all remember last time, were roundly criticized for how unprepared they were for january 6. how are they prepared this time? >> you know, it's completely different. i'll say i don't always have to do illiteration, but it helped me focus that there is a difference in strength in the numbers of people that they will have at the ready. there is a difference in strategy. they have been briefing police officers in a way that's different than last time. and there is a very clear difference in structure. i want to show you what i mean. the cap capitol policeave erectd fencing just put up in the last 24-30 hours. so they've proven they can do this quickly. this was up for months and months after january 6. they hope to take this down in the next couple of days but this is the main barrier between the capitol itself and the protests.

there is something else i want to make people understand, where this is happening exactly. let's look at a map, an overview of the capitol. the area in yellow, that is the protest area just to the left of the west of the reflecting pool. as we're looking at this here, to help orient people, the washington monument is to the left. the mall goesal the way down to the left. you see it's very close to the capitol. the security fence is tight fence. it is not the wide perimeter. it is the perimeter that hugs the capitol exactly. they feel they don't have reason too a wider perimeter. that's a sign of their security stance, and i also want to point out at the top of the photo is the supreme court, which has a separate fence from the one at the capitol also potected tomorrow. >> a lot of fencing. that seems they're expecting some coined of violence. what about the threat level? what are they concerned about? >> as you reported, there is chatter, and officials are making it clear there is chatter from some who want to threaten the capitol, want to threaten

some people there. but capitol police are signaling they don't think it's at the level they saw january 6, but they're being carefu they do say they think the things they're most concerned about is interactions between protesters and counterprotesters. we reached out to talk to people who know about the militia community, and i want to play this bite from jerold holt with the atlantic council. >> overhearing from a lot of the extremist knrups that have reached national prominence for their roles in the attacks on january 6, is a resounding and almost uniform discouragement of their followers and supporters to attend the rally on saturday. a lot of them are fearful that by doing so, people who go will put themselves on the radar of federal intelligence or law enforcement. >> so that's one reason that law officials are hopeful people will not come who wanted to be violent. but, of course, perhaps it's

also that people are in the shadows and don't want to communicate right now. we have to wait and see. >> so this is a rally in summit of the people who led the insurrection on january 6. many have been arrested and tried. what is the latest on them? >> yeah, it's a good time to update. let's look at those arrests and all of thse cases. as you reported, there are hundreds. there have been 40 misdemeanor guilty pleas, nine guilty pleas for felony cases, largely involving assault on a police officer. there have been only six trials, six of those have gone to sentencing at this point. to put this in perspective. we're talking roughly 60 cases out of more than 600 arrests. while some of the cases have proceeded quickly, all of this will move slowly. we will have many, many months, perhaps another year, of learning about those who were involved and seeing their court case plays out. >> hard to believe it's been eight months. >> it has. it is hard to believe. >> you'll be covering the rally tomorrow as well. >> yes. >> we hope for a quiet day.

lisa, thanks for being here. you're welcome. >> nawaz: well, today, russians began three days of voting to determine their next parliament, or duma. the outcome is largely preordained. but there was an unexpected development today, when google and apple blocked russians from downloading the main opposition party's app. nick schifrin is back with how it's just the latest successful attempt by the russian government to silence its rivals. >> schifrin: in russia's far east today, it looked like a parliamentary election. candidates on a poster. voting booths. ballot boxes. in moscow, the patriarch considered his options, and used a ballot box for one. even president putin himself voted from his office. but what preceded today? months of unprecedented

crackdown. the authoritarian state targeted dissent, banned protests, and labeled the chief opposition party, led by alexei navalny, the "equivalent of al qaeda." to evade government censorship, navalny's campaign created an app that endorsed independent candidates. but today, apple and google removed the app from their russian stores. the kremlin had pressured the companies and labeled the app“ extremist,” as the leader of the pro-kremlin liberal democratic party said today: >> diktat. extremism. >> ( translated ): it's dictatorship and extremism. they don't have a right to interfere. it's a manipulation. you violate the democracy, you should be arrested. >> we've been very disappointed. and indeed, i have to admit that it's quite a blow to-- to our campaign. >> schifrin: leonid volkov is navalny's chief of staff, and a mainstay of his online campaigns. we first met him on the campaign trail in 2017, when navalny was running for president. >> what happened today is that google and apple for the first time caved to censorship demands

from the russian government. the only thing that the application does, it actually delivers alexei navalny's endorsements about the candidates in the upcoming election. so it's a pure censorship, because, i mean, there is nothing that could be extremist about that list of endorsements. >> schifrin: what does that say about american tech companies adhering to, or as you put it, caving to russian government demands? >> they have been blackmailed by state terrorists. so, putin reportedly was demanding them to delete our application from the stores, threatening, like, physical harassment, like, arrests of google and apple's employees in russia. you just can't appease terrorists this way. so only that the appetite of the terrorists will grow and their next demands will be even more ambitious. >> schifrin: putin's critics accuse him of manipulating the

election to ensure he can control parliament when his term expires in 2024. >> if he decides to run again, or if he decides to-- to choose some-- some puppet-- his so-called successor-- it will be very challenging for 2024. so he needs the duma, the parliament, be completely like sterile, completely under his control. this is not a fair election. this is not an election at all. still, it's some procedure which allows us to put stress on putin to create problems for-- for united russia, his party. >> schifrin: what is your message to the west, to the biden administration, to european officials who are watching this election and trying to decide how to respond? >> putin is playing the game of chicken with you, and this situation with google and apple has shown at he once again outplayed you. the world needs those

technological platforms don't become regimes' little helpers. >> schifrin: navalny's campaign has documented what they call putin's secret wealth, and urge the west to target his billionaire loyalists. >> you could hardly find a bank account labeled vladimir putin anywhere. but we pretty much know, and we have a lot of proof that the bank accounts of those 35 people are actually, effectively, putin's accounts. >> schifrin: but the west hasn't agreed to target putin's riches. and there's little preventing the result of a preordained election. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> nawaz: as record-high numbers of migrants wait at the southern border, and a rally planned in support of insurrectionists is

taking place in our nation's capitol, and new questions have beenaised about our current world standing. luckily, to help us understand all sides of these arguments, we are joined by brooks and capehart. that's "new york times" columnist david brooks and jonathan capehart, columnist for the "washington post." good to see both. i want to to talk about of immigration. there was a reporter on the border. and i want to look at biden's approval on immigration. if you look at latest poll numbers we have, not surprisingly there's a huge divide between democrats and republicans how they look at this issue. democrats support how he's handling this issue-- 65% of them-- independents at 38%. only 10% of republicans back how the president is handling immigration. is this the koond of issue because it's not getting fixed any time soon that will come back to haunt him again and again? >> it's come back to haunt him. this is, the second surge on the

border or third since he has been inaugurated. this is an issue that bedevilledly president trump, president obama, president bush, that this is something that is bipartisan in the terms of the inability to do something about immigration. also, let's not just focus on the presint. let's focus on congress, and the house and senate, and their inability to get anything done about our immigration policies, doing anything that would make, at a minimum, what's happening down at the border move faster. that's one-- that's one of the oblems. so i think, you know, those numbers-- those numbers are coming out before folks have focused on what's happening down at the border right now. and if there's anything-- covid's hitting the president's numbers, president biden's numbers. but if this keeps going the way it's going on the southern border, immigration is going to factor into the president's approval raings, or

disapproval. >> david, it is an easy political football. again and again it comes up. is this going to be one of the main republican talking points at the midterms. >> of course. trump won on immation more than any other issue. 10% of republicans you expect. 65% of your party, that's bad. these are real negative numbers for him. and i guess the question i would ask is trump had a strategy. i didn't particularly like the strategy, but it was a strategy, and it was a strategy of cruelty and deterrence. "don't come here, we're going to treat you badly. don't come, it will be very painful for you." i don't think it was line with our values, but it was a strategy. what has been the biden strategy-- we welcome you, don't come. the strategy has been hodgepodge. and when you look at the picture weaves seen they look ad hoc. over and over again when we see these images-- and granted, it's a long border-- why does it it always seem like year trying to

play catch-up and people are jammed in under a bridge. there should be facilities, there should be procedurals. >> what about that? biden did say safe, orderly, humane. >> that's why i think he stands to take a big hit in the overall poll numbers. the other thing we have to keep in mind should-- and this, i think, explains why, no matter the president, no matter the congress, people keep coming, even if the president says, "don't come." and that is america remains a beacon. people want to come here because they see it as a place of opportunity. and in "the washington post" today on this story about what's happening on the border, there is this key quote from this person from haiti wo said, "i have many dreams and don't give up easily," he said. holding a ticket that, by his estimation, but his family 2,000th in line to be processed border patrol. this is a person for whom america is a destination because he wants a better life.

and, you know, quite frankly, as an american, i'm-- i am happy poem see this as a place where they can live out their dreams. unfortunately, we do not have a government that can keep up, or a government that has the political will to fix the problems that make it possible for people to come in legally and safely. >> jonathan, you mentioned where this fits into the overall picture for from president biden is. i want to take a look at that overall job approval number. when you look at those right now, david, i'm going to turn to you on this, here's where he is. 44% approve overall of president biden the way he's doing his job, 50% disapprove. what's feeding those numbers? >> a lot of things. covid is number one. that's not really in his control. it's probably in the peoplwho didn't get vaccinated control. i think pulling out of afghanistan the the way he did. not to pull out, but the way it was done. the underlying issue is jimmy

carter. the underlying issue is incompetence. i thoughthe guys were the pros and the experts. but they don't see as professional as i thought the were. it's a little ideological, people decide the democrats are too far left. but if he gets the reputation that they can't pull off operations. if i were a democrat and look at my president with a 44% approval going into midterms, that's bad. you want him to be up at least at 48. that's a very good predictor of how your party will be in the midterms. >> is this a failure to live up to expectations? >> i think it is concern about the evacuation from afghanistan. but i think overall it's covid. we started the summer with we're free. we can take our masks will off. we can get together for fourth of july, and then the delta variant comes in and it's no, you have to put your mask back on. and it belies what the president had promised. on the approval rating, one thing i take from president

trump is he was so focused on his support in the republican party. nothing else mattered to him. so i-- i'm going to do the reverse. let's see where democrats are with president biden because democrats are, you know, naturally skittish about everything. but his approval rating in that same-- in that same poll among democrats is 81%. that's not-- that's not bad for a democratic president to have that kind of support within his party. however, covid, immigration, and the economy are the-- those are the three things that, to david's point, the president needs to be mindful of how that's going to hit-- it could send that 44% even lower. >> and what about this question of america's place in the world? i mean, afghanistan is the other big issue. we're on the day when the french just recalled their ambassador from the united states. they are up on the wardly and openly mad at the united states. with we okay with our allies? >> we are not. i saw on twitter a reporter

saying, "i can't believe i'm writing this. the french was recalled their ambassador." it seems like overkill, but we have to understand something: this is happening almost three months to the day when french president macron and president biden at the g7 were sitting together at the picturesque spot, and macron said, "america is back." and now look where we are. i would love to hear what david has to say about this. i don't know what any of ths means. >> david brooks. >>irst about the deal, which set this off, our deal with australia. i happen to think it's a good deal. it's strong against china. it hits them on their weak spot, submarines. it creates a strong american presence in the pacific. for people saying we're a declining power. i don't believe that for a second. and i don't blie the chinese believe it opinion the way it was done, why not call france?

theye really strong allies. i had a friend who was in a republican administration, a really right-wing guy, when they got to work together with france on an issue, he was like,"these guys are great." we don't call them. we didn't call our allies before the afghan pullout. i read a german diplomat saying the trump administration consulted with us more than the biden administration. thawhat's that all about given t we know about joe biden and blinken. these are internationalists and globalists and they're not tbe heat waving that way. >> i have to ask about another big story, anthony gonzalez announcing he is not going to run for reelection. he voted to impeach former president trump. president trump happy about that. are there going to be other republicans who follow his path? >> possibly. liz cheney said, "bring it on." but it's still trump's party.

if you're in a republican area, there are a lot of people who say, i follow my president. we're in a war with those fties and i follow my president." it was a politically courageous vote gonzalez took. the fact that he's endorsing people running for staten island bureau president, state senator, he's going after people up and down the ballot trying to enforce discipline. >> also, look how republicans are treating this weekend's rally which is in support of the people who stormed the capitol and in support of then-president trump. i should say backing away. >> right. this is donald trump's party. the fact that that there aren't more people like congressman gonzalez who aren't willing to stand up and, one, call trump what he is, which is a cancer on the country, if not the the republican party. when it comes to this rally tomorrow, in support of the january 6 insurrectionists, i am

still bewildered by the fact that the house minority leader, kevin mccarthy, republican leader in the house, hasn't come out and said something about this. speaking of members of congress who are running away from this. you know where congresswoman marjorie taylor green is? she's on her way to italy. a friend of mine is on that flight and took a picture and tweeted it out, on first class. >> excellent reporting, thank you. >> you are welcome. here is a person spending her entire career railing against elites and railing against a.o.c. for wearing a dress that says, "tax the risk," and there she is sitting in first class on her way to rome. >> david, does it surprise you the way the republicans have handled the rally tomorrow? >> i wish they would kiss deign it. i think it's a nothing burger from what i read and from what lisa was reporting they don't the proud boys don't want their

people to go. to me they're publicity pounds. and i hope it turns out to be a nothing burger. >> we hope for a quiet weekend. david brooks, jonathan capehart, always good to see you. >> thanks, have a good weekend. >> nawaz: and now, a behind-the- scenes look at how documentarian ken burns makes his films, and a look at the place where he's been doing that work for four decades. jeffrey brown visited burns at his studio to talk about his latest documentary, "muhammad ali"-- which premieres this sunday on pbs and airs over four nights-- and the larger context and conflicts now in telling america's story in a time of racial reckoning. this report is part of our arts and culture series, "canvas." >> brown: so, 42 years? i mean, was the original idea just to escape? >> just go where i could live for nothing.

i thought that becoming a documentary filmmaker in american history on pbs was taking a vow of anonymity and poverty. >> brown: it's worked out a bit differently for ken burns. and many years later, he's still at work at his home-office production house in rural walpole, new hampshire. a typical day here includes a walk with dog chester, on this day joined by willa and lilly, the youngest of his four daughters. in pandemic times, most of his staff is remote, working on multiple films, an ever-growing story of american history and culture. the latest: a major 20th century figure who not only changed sportsistory, but transcended it in ways few, if any, athletes ever have-- muhammad ali. >> there's so many layers and subtexts to him. he is an epic, almost mythic

figure, in which his life and his flaws and his strengths play out on a world stage. >> mr. clay. >> muhammed ali, s. >> mr. clay. >> muhammed ali, sir. >> mr. clay. >> muhammed ali, sir. >> do you think you're acting like a people's champion? >> yes sir. >> brown: what does a subject have to have for you to want to take it on? >> you know, all of the subjects have been in american history. but i'm only a filmmaker. i'm interested in stories. and sometimes it takes me ten years to go, "yup," to something i'm thinking about. with something like muhammad ali, it's a nanosecond. >> brown: the louisville childhood of cassius clay and almost accidental introduction to boxing... >> brown: ...the brash young man-- talking, talking, talking of his looks and talents--

the champion who joined the nation of islam, refused to fight in vietnam, was stripped of his crown and faced jail until the u.s. supreme court eventually overturned his conviction for evading the draft. it can be hard to remember how despised he was. >> i think it was important to understand what a divisive character he was, and what-- i mean, he was redefining black manhood for a new generation. cassius clay, and then muhammad ali, burst on the scene, driving everyone crazy because he wasn't behaving the way a black man was supposed to behave. and that's part of his genius and his gift. >> i fit my religion to do whatever i wanted. i did things that were wrong. >> brown: the flaws are on display-- including at times his treatment of women, and cruelty to several of his opponents. but he is here, as he called himself, "the greatest"-- not only as a boxer fighting epic battles with joe frazier

and george foreman, but as a religious man and citizen deeply engaged with the biggest issues of his day. >> daddy said... >> reporter: for his daughter rasheda ali, who appears throughout the film, the key was capturing her father in full, including his own evolution. >> my dad was not just a boxer. we all know he did other things. but this was a documentarian that wanted to really address his whole, entire life. and those features as a father, as a muslim, as a civil rights activist, as a humanitarian. those were important to me because those are the features that are going to transcend into history as part of my dad's legacy. >> muhammad ali was an activist who tried to reach and move in a certain way. "i am going to take this path

that i am going to take, an think is right, and even if i'm not right, i'm still me." >> brown: that sense of ali being so tied to complex issues of american life is clearly what most appealed to burns. >> it is hard to wrestle a complex sty to the ground. in fact, in my editing house, which has been closed since covid, i have a neon sign in cursive, lowercase that says, "it's complicated." there's not a filmmaker on earth that, when the scene works, you don't want to touch it, it's fine, leave it alone. but we're always finding contradictory information. we're finding new information. >> brown: just one of the many complexities in ali's life: his islamic faith and loyalty to the controversial nation of islam. >> the nuances of his joining the nation of islam, trying to distinguish it from islam, see it as a sect, understand his relationship to it, understand its flaws, the things that were attractive to him, the way in which it operated in opposition to a civil rights movement, sort

of focused on integration and expansion of rights, rather than separation and kind of "do for self." and these are nuances of just one of the many threads and storylines that operate in his life. >> brown: in "muhammad ali," race is inevitably at the heart of the story. many of the on-camera scholars and commentators, as well as members of the production team, are black. the three lead filmmakers-- burns, his daughter sarah, and her husband david mcmahon-- are white. we are in a time, as you know, where people are questioning who tells the stories, what stories get told. "can a white man"-- you, in this case-- "tell a black story?" muhammad ali or others. >> i have been interested in american history since i was a little boy, passionately

interested, and i have been trying to investigate all of its aspects. inevitably, i come upon the question of race. i can't avoid it. it has to be part of the story. but let's also say that what we have to do is set up a situation in which there are lots of different perspectives. lots of different voices get to tell lots of different stories. and the more stories we have-- i mean, think about the reverse of that. if you were to prescribe that, then that would also resegregate the telling of stories in a way that we wouldn't want to do. >> brown: but the critique has gone further. last year a much-publicized essay by filmmaker grace lee called for more diversity of stories and storytellers at pbs, citing its dependence on "one white male filmmaker" and the amount of hours, financial support, and marketing devoted to "one man's lens on america." a prominent group of filmmakers supported lee with its own letter to pbs president paula

kerger this spring, again highlighting burns' prominence. >> i think it's because the films that we've done have been so popular and so visible. we also agree with the intentions of that protest, and we know our network does, too, and we want to work with them and have worked within our own team and with the network to help. so, you know, we all have to do the task, we all have an obligation to be better. and i want to be part of that. and let's just remember that when you look at me, you're looking at a team that, say for the muhammad a film, is 40% african american and 54% women on the main nucleus of the team that actually made this film. >> brown: has the criticism, so personal, bothered you? >> not at all. i didn't take it personally at all. i understood that it was a "for example." and given the fact that the portion of pbs money in my budgets is relatively small, i'm making room for them to be able to fund others.

and that i go out and fund from individuals and corporations and foundations, all of whom are helping us now address that situation. so this, to me, has been a network that's always been a little bit better than any other place, and can get even that much better. and i want to be part of that effort to be better. >> brown: for her part, pbs c.e.o. and president paula kerger told the television critics association in august, pbs has fallen short in some aspects of diversity. she announced the hiring of a new executive to oversee change, and unveiled a multi-year $11 million commitment to "support the work of under- represented filmmakers." at 68, burns and his team are currently at work on seven films on the pbs schedule through 2027. he showed us the script for a work-in-progress on ben franklin. >> my corrections are in red, finally. and then you're getting to the place where there's very few

things, and then you look at each other, and what's so nice is, usually you hand the youngest intern the bell-- ( bell rings ) after each reel is done. >> brown: actor mandy patinkin is the "voice" of franklin. >> brown: also in the works? "the holocaust and the united states." that's burns' voice at this early stage of production. >> you know, i'm greedy for the experience of working on a film. if i were given a thousand years to live,hich i won't, i would never run out of topics. i cannot not be rushing as i approach my 70s to make films about, not just the u.s., but about "us." that is to say, the lowercase,

two-letter, plural pronoun. all of the intimacy of that and all the majesty, the complexity, the contradiction and the contversy of the us. >> brown: and when you're looking at this long arc of your own career, where does muhammad ali, where does that story fit into it? >> he's the guy i want to go out to dinner with. >> brown: he is? >> he's the guy. you know, i'd take abraham lincoln, i love elizabeth cady stanton, ida b. wells is a hero-- i'm working on another project, i love her. obviously, harriet tubman. louis armstrong. but i just added to that ever-expanding dinner table, muhammad ali. >> brown: that's a good dinner party. >> oh, my god! and you just shut up and listen. >> brown: muhammad ali, who battled parkinsons in his last decades, died in 2016. the new series on his life and legacyremieres this weekend. fothe pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown in walpole, new hampshire.

>> nawaz: on the newshour online right now, we visit a small louisiana fishing village where hundreds of homes were destroyed by hurricane ida, leaving residents to take shelter in tents and cars when the next tropical storm hit. read more about the growing housing crisis there on our website, www.pbs.org/newshour. stay with pbs tonight: how the white house is navigating covid and divides among democrats, while pro-trump supporters rally in washington. join yamiche alcindor and her panel tonight on "washington week." and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. join us online, and again here on monday evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and have a great weekend. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

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♪ hello, everyone. and welcome to "amanpour and company." here'shat's coming up. they allowed a child molester to go free for more than a year. >> how the fbi failed u.s. gymnasts. i talk to the attorney who prosecuted team usa doctor larry nassar. and social media's toxic side effects. we dig into a stunning new report that says facebook researchers new instagram could hurt teen girls and didn't share it. then -- >> hang on, atlanta! >> hungry and helpless. exiled opposition leader lopez joins me to discuss the new film