captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: abortion battle. the supreme court allows health clinics to challenge texas' near-total ban on the procedure, but leaves the law in place, setting up another legal showdown. then, rising prices. inflation grows at its fastest rate in nearly 40 years, complicating the president's agenda. plus, democracy in crisis. personal freedoms and representative government decline worldwide, as the shadow of authoritarianism grows ever larger. >> these authoritarian trends are being promoted from within. parties inside democratic systems that are pushing their own countries against the will of the people.

>> woodruff: and it's friday. david brooks and jonathan capehart reflect on the legacy of former senator bob dole. 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. >> jnson & 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 ing 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. >> woodruff: abortion has been front and center at the supreme court this term. today, the justices issued

their opinion on a restrictive texas law. they are allowing abortion providers to continue challenging the measure in lower courts, but the law stays in place for now. john yang picks up the story. >> yang: judy, this is about texas s.b.-8, the law that effectively bans abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy by allowing private citizens to sue people who help a woman get an abortion. for reaction, we went back to two advocates on both sides of the debate in texas whom we've talked with before-- marva sadler at whole woman's health in austin, which is an abortion provider; and rebecca parma, from texas right to life. >> i was hoping for the opportunity today to be able to tell the woman yes, and not have to tell her no. the bright spot, and where i'm feeling hope, is that the fight is not over. we do still have a chance to go-- go back, and to rectify it, to fix this horrible thing that has happened. >> we're celebrating the fact that the texas heartbeat act is still going to be saving about

100 pre-born children and their mothers from abortion every day. we'll continue to fight for the law at the lower court. but today, we are-- we're celeating, and we're grateful the law's still in effect. >> yang: for what this all means and what comes next, we're joined by marcia coyle, chief shington correspondent for the "national law journal." marcia, this was a procedural issue, as justice gorsuch noted in the court's opinion. he wrote, the ultimate merits question whether sb8 is consistent with the federal constitution is not before the court, nor is the wisdom of sb8 as a matter of public policy. so what was at stake here and what happens next? >> well, john, the real question before the court, boiling it down, was a procedural question about who can these abortion providers sue in order to block the law if not permanently temporarily while their

constitutional challenge goes forward. and, so, that's what the court had to decide today and did decide. it narrowed who the abortion providers wanted to sue down to roughly just four people who have licensing authority over doctors and others who might be accused of violating the ban. >> reporter: so what's next now? they said this case can go forward. >> that's right. it goes back to the federal district court that initially was trying to hear it before the u.s. court of appeals for the firth circuit stepped in and stopped everything. the abortion provide, and others who sued to challenge the law now know who they can sue, and the federal district court will hear their challenge and decide what kind of relief they should get, if any. >> reporter: and even though the basic constitutional question wasn't at stake here, chief justice john roberts joint by the three liberal justices

seemed to telegraph their position on this. he wrote, the clear purpose and actual effect of sb8 has been to full fy'the court's rulings. the nature of the federal right infringe does not matter. it is the role of the supreme court in our constitutional system that is at stake. now, back in september, this same set of four justices said they would have blocked the law from taking effect. why did the five other justices keep it in effect, keep this law in effect? >> well, back in accept, they said it was because it presented complex procedural questions about who can be sued, who the abortion providers could get an injunction against, but they resolve that today. so i'm not sure. i have no special insight into their thinking why they'd not block it right now, except maybe on the mississippi abortion case, which they heard on

december 1. mississippi bans abortion after 15 weeks, and perhaps those five conservative justices think, once that case is resolved, it will have an impact on the texas case. then if you want to be totally cynical, you might think these five justices don't place a very high value on the particular constitutional right at issue here, women's right to an abortion. >> reporter: as a matter of fact, some of the conservative justices have talked about the abortion distortion that they feel that abortion rights gets special attention sometimes. >> yes, they have said that over the years. we're going to have to wait and see how the mississippi case prays out. that, as you know, john, is a direct challenge to roe v. wade and planned parenthood versus casey, the landmark abortion rights

rulings. but the tenor of the arguments on december 1 don't bode well for maintaining the abortion right, triste as it now exists -- at least as it now exists. we'll have to wait and see. >> reporter: tell us how the court works. after those oral arguments last week, do they have a sense of where each other stand on this? >> oh, i'm sure they did. the usual practices, depending on which day they hear the argument, is to vote almost immediately after the oral argument, and that can be a very tentative vote on how the case should come out. much can be done during the drafting of the opinions and whoever was in the majority in that first vote who writes the opinion. so, y you know, i think it was justice ruth baird's ginsburg who said back before the affordable care act, it isn't over till the fat lady sings. so we'll have to wait to see how

that turns out. >> reporter: the "newshour's" very own chief justice, marcia coyle, thank you very much. >> thank you, john. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, inflation in the u.s. has surged to its highest point in nearly four decades. the bureau of labor statistics reported that consumer prices jumped 6.8% last month compared over what they were a year earlier. at an afternoon event, president biden acknowledged the toll that's taken on many americans. >> it's a real bump in the road. it does affect families. when you walk in the grocery store and you're paying more for whatever you're purchasing, it matters. it matters to people. when you're paying more for gas-- although in some states, we've got the price down below three bucks a gallon-- but the point is, it's not gone down quickly enough. but i think it will. >> woodruff: we will have more

on this after the news summary. stocks rose on wall street today, despite today's inflation report, which analysts said was on track with expectations. the dow jones industrial average climbed 216 points to close at ,971. the nasdaq rose 113 points. and the s&p 500 added 44, to close at a record high. covid-19 cases in the u.s. climbed 37% this week, with at least 25 states confirming omicron variant infections. c.d.c. director rochelle walensky reported that the number of daily deaths was also up 28%. even so, she expressed optimism that the numbers will improve. >> we do have increasing cases-- we're at 118,000 a day-- but we also have many more readily- available tools than we had

earlier this year. and it is the collection of all those things together-- vaccinations, boosters, and preventive measures-- that really gives me a lot more faith in our-- where we are currently. >> woodruff: new york is tightening its covid restrictions even more, amid a surge in infections. starting monday, the state will require masks in all indoor public spaces, unless businesses or venues require proof of vaccination. at least 54 people have died in mexico after a tractor-trailer packed with roughly 200 migrants crashed into a steel bridge. the incident-- which happened yesterday evening in the southern part of the country-- injured at least 53 others. survivors recalled how the crash played out. >> ( translated ): it caught the curve, and because of the weight of the people inside, we all fell into the curve. clearly, the trailer could not contain the people because of the weight, and it toppled over. >> woodrf: most of the migrants aboard the tractor- trailer were coming from

guatemala and honduras. wikileaks founder julian assange is one step closer today to being extradited to the u.s. for publishing secret military documents a decade ago. a london high court overturned a lower court's ruling that assange's mental health was too fragile for the american criminal justice system. assange, who is currently being held in london on spying charges, plans to appeal. and, three passings to note tonight. auto-racing legend al unser, sr. died last night in new mexico, after a long battle with cancer. unser won his first indianapolis 500 in 1970, and went on to win three more times. he holds the record for most laps led in the indy 500-- 644. he is also the only driver ever to have a sibling and a child also win the race. al unser was 82 years old. former national football league

wide receiver demaryius thomas died at his home in georgia last night, from what his family said was most likely a seizure. thomas played most of his ten-season career with the denver broncos. he earned five straight pro-bowl honors, and was a super bowl champion. demaryius thomas was 33 years old. and, michael nesmith, the singer-songwriter and lead guitarist for "the monkees," died of heart failure today in california. he starred in the 1960s television sitcom about a rock band modeled after the beatles, which led to a string of hit songs. he later went on to have a successful career in songwriting, television, and film production. michael nesmith was 78 years old. still to come on the newshour: nobel prize winner maria ressa discusses the need for a free press worldwide. former senator bob dole is remembered, during a ceremony at the national cathedral.

plus, much more. >> woodruff: as we reported, new data released by the labor department today show consumer prices are surging at a rate not seen in almost four decades. inflation is up 6.8% since this time last year, due in large part to rising food and energy prices. i spoke a short time ago with jared bernstein, a member of president biden's council of economic advisers. jared bernstein, welcome back to the newshour. so, prices climbing at their fastest rate since 1982. how big a problem for the country is this? >> well, this is something that the president considers a real challenge to family budgets. even a moderate amount of

inflation, he's mentioned, can be a challenge. however, we also have to recognize that we are in the midst of one of the strongest labor market recoveries on record. that's certainly helping to lift people's job opportunities and lift their paychecks. we're talking about unemployment claims that are down to a level we haven't seen since 1969. that's this falling unemployment rates, on record, six million jobs since we've gotten here. but at the same time, price pressures. you're absolutely right. and we are doing everything we can-- many more levers actually, that we're trying to pull, than i even envisioned. and i've been in this business a long time. fr the white house, having to do with-- with our work on the courts, having to do with taking down the price of gas, which actually has come down a bit in the past few weeks, didn't make it into this inflation report. and to make-- make sure that there's enough competition between companies, that savings

are being passed forward to consumers. >> woodruff: you mentioned jobs, and there's no question there is some good news on the jobs front-- wages are up. but we now see that these inflation numbers are-- are overwhelming wage increases. they've outpaced them. so what do you say to people out there who-- i mean, polls show people pay more attention to inflation, frankly, than they do to a few more dollars in the paycheck? >> well, a couple of things. first of all, again, this is precisely the kind of challenge that we are focused on with laser energy. the president is instructing his team to do all we can to help ameliorate these pressures. now when you're talking on the wage side, if you look at the wages of hotel workers and restaurant workers and workers and warehousing and transportation, key sectors right now where labor demand is particularly strong? those wages are beating inflation. consistently saw they've done so for a number of months now. they are growing faster than inflation. so, real wage gains in those sectors. same for the bottom 25%.

this is part of the biden jobs boom. workers, particularly low wage sectors, have a real bargaining power. that's core provide now that's something this president believes he came here to help make happen. so that's part of what's happening here. at the same time, we have to make sure that those broad base wage gains evolved for all americans. and that means we have to try to again-- unsnarl the chains in the supply chains, so that the logistics can flow more smoothly that goods can flow through the system more quickly. now, we are having some success there. judy, i don't think i've ever thought more about dwell time in my career, which is the amount of time that a container spends on the port. it's down about a third since we started working with some of the ports in l.a. and long beach. to help get things from ship to shelf more quickly. we talked about some of the gains on the gasoline side that has our fingerprints on it as well, through the release ofhe strategic petroleum reserve. so there are things we can do. we're doing them. we're going to relentlessly be

attacking this problem. >> woodruff: just one of the thing i do want to ask you about to come back to-- you mentioned build back better that's sitting in the senate right now, the president says inflation doesn't undercut the need for that. but you know, there are plenty of critics out there and both parties who are saying do we really need to spend trillions more at a time when inflation is rising, even people who are on your side, who worked with you in the obama administration, saying is that the administration has just ignored inflation too long? >> well, i hope that you have captured from our discussion today that we're doing anything but ignoring. we're working as hard as we can to loosen these pressures on american families and on their budgets. but, i want to unequivocally say here, for the record, that building back better ameliorates price pressures in the long run by helping to build up the economy's capacity for greater labor supply on the infrastructure plan, through

investments and infrastructure. and these will ease long-term inflationary pressures in the in the near term, building back better does nothing to the current inflation that the things that we're talking about now these month to month. prints that we're describing today. what it does do is help cut costs for middle class and lower income families-- costs of prescription drugs, costs in childcare costs and education, costs of housing. some of the most challenging aspects of family budgets, building back better helps to ameliorate those costs. it ameliorates near term costs, it lowers inflationary pressures over the longer term. >> woodruff: jared bernstein with president biden's council of economic advisers, thank you very much. >> my pleasure. >> woodruff: today at a u.s.-led summit on democracy, president biden announced initiatives designed to bolster democracy

around the world, from election integrity, to independent media, to fighting corruption. but the president and democracy advocates admit that freedoms are eroding, and authoritarianism is rising. here's nick schifrin. >> reporter: this week, president biden hosted leaders from over 100 countries and territories for a virtual summit for democracy. the president called safeguarding rights and freedoms in the face of authoritarianism the defining challenge of our time. >> government of the people, by the people, for the people, can at times be fragile but also is inherently resilient. will we allow the backwards slide of rights and democracy to continue unchecked? >> reporter: as the president said, the state of democracy around the world is not good. the nonprofit freedom house is tracked 15 consecutive jeers of decline in political rights and civil liberties worldwide, only 39 countries are fully free.

i'm joined by three experts, miriam kornblith, senior director for latin america and the caribbean at the national endowment for democracy, a foundation promoting democratic institutions, helen kezie-nwoha is an activist in uganda and executive director of the woman's international pears center an organization that promotes women's rights in conflict setting and heather conley is about to become the next president of german market fund and was a state department official on european affairs during the george w. bush administration. welcome all of you to the "newshour". miriam kornblith, let me start with you. president biden said there's a global competition between democracy and autocracy. which side is winning in latin america? >> unfortunately, have to say that i think autocracy is winning. unfortunately, this is a region of the world that, until recently, praised itself of having all the countries in the democratic field except for

cuba, and that has been a 60-year, long-lasting dictatorship. nowadays, in addition to cuba, we have nicaragua, venezuela, and a significant slipping into authoritarian trends both on the right and on the left, and what's really worrisome is these apparent trends are being promoted from within. elected officials, players, parties inside democratic systems that are pushing their own countries against the will of the people, in many cases towards authoritarian regimes. >> reporter: helen kezie-nwoha, we have seen coups in guinea, mali, chad, sudan, highest number of coups in afternoon in 40 years, each with their own local causes. what's behind what secretary general gutierrez called a coup? >> the democratic process in

africa has been marred with corruption in electoral processes. you will find politicians taking advantage of poverty, a large number of unemployed youths, buying votes during elections, making elections not credible. we've seen increasingly marginalization of minority groups, ethnic groups. we see also increasingly social and economic inequalities that have also led to agitations by people calling for changes in government. once people are calling for changes, the army takes over, and when they took over, they also use elections itself to manipulate themselves into power, you know, making it even worse for people. >> reporter: heather conley, how are leaders in hungary and poland, especially, challenging democracy is, weaponizing cultural values and how are other leaders in europe, frankly, taking their example?

>> hungary under the leadership of prime minister victor orban has been restricting constitutional capabilities for opposition to be able to express themselves, reduce media freedoms, so any media voice has to be supportive of the government, controlling the judicial branch, making sure there can't be any meaningful investigation into a government. m. orban's handbook has been adopted in poland, increasingly in slovenia, in pat to make sure the current government can maintain its political power and base and making sure that the opposition cannot do that. >> reporter: let's talk a little bit in ech region and how some local forces are fighting this. miriam kornblith, let's start with you. what do we see in terms of resistance in latin america to these anti-democratic trends? how are people fighting back? >> there is a lot of fighting

back against authoritarian trends, even in the case of cuba, for the first time in 60 years, people took to the streets. there's a very vibrant civil society in latin america that is fighting back. they are looking for transparency, anticorruption, for law, independent judiciary, independent legislative branches, there are lots of courageous, innovative and very committed people fighting back. >> reporter: helen kezie-nwoha, you talked a lot about elections, why is it important for the world to try and support african election infrastructure? >> people and organizations and others bodies are working hard to ensure that electoral processes are more transparent despite the militarized nature of states. within africa, although there's been a lot of works in attempts of assessing role of citizens on

the floor in the role of elections, you find the environment is not con suesive for civil society. >> reporter: heather conley, we have seen major protests across poland. can something like that make a difference? >> absolutely. you are seeing a pretty significant mobilization, but is it enough? you have governments that have all the tools -- they control the media, they control the funding sources, and they are able to use their majorities to pass through their laws. but i think we're seeing some real improvements. so we see this as well in the european union, withholding pandemic relief funds from both poland and hungary because to have the democratic -- of the democratic backsliding may have the best leverage in terms of strong u.s. engagement. >> reporter: let's look at democracy itself. the biden administration has been criticizing for inviting some countries to the summit that they say are sliding back

from democracy -- philippines and egypt, for example. do you think the biden administration held this summit in a correct way? >> my recommendation would be let's focus on the democratic activists, the freedom fighters that are working very hard within these countries to fight for a different future, give them the cools tools, the mechanisms. when you get into the countries and the geopolitics, it starts not making sense exactly. it wasn't clear from the white house exactly what the criteria was for those that joined the summit but that did not have strong democratic credentials. others that had strong democratic credentials were not allowed in. it was a distraction. >> reporter: helen kezie-nwoha, can a summit for democracy help fortify democracy? >> i don't know to what extent this conference will be able to fortify democracy. we're talking about changing institutions of governors and elections, and we don't have those technical people in the

room. although, i believe there's a certain point to begin to discuss how comic can be more transparent, more effective. >> reporter: mare kornblith, the administration says one to have the goals is to promote democracy across latin america and openly discussed in the words of vice president harris u.s. democracy is not immune from threats, mentioning january 6th. what's the impact on american democratic places on its ability to spread democracy in the region. >> to those who o pose u.s., racist arguments say that is not the kind of democracy that serves as a model, but opens the opportunity for a sen sear and more direct conversation. many people, governments in the region resented the sense of superiority, the feeling that a model was being imposed because the u.s. model was so perfect.

i think recognizing that the u.s. system has the difficulties opens this possibility of addressing in, i would say, a more -- maybe more sincere fashion. >> reporter: miriam kornblith, helen kezie-nwoha and heather conley, thank you very much. >> thank you, nick. >> woodruff: the nobel peace prizes were awarded today in oslo, norway. this year's winners were two journalists honored for their unrelenting pursuits of truth in a world becoming less free. dmitry muratov, editor of one of russia's last independent news sources, was honored for his work. and, philippines journalist maria ressa, editor of rappler.com, called for a reform of social media platforms.

>> our greatest need today is to transform that hate and violence, the toxic sludge that's coursing through our information ecosystem, prioritized by american internet companies that make more money by sprding that hate and triggering the worst in us. >> woodruff: i spoke with maria ressa last night, and asked her if it felt at all real, yet? >> oh, i still do-- you know that painting, "the scream," that still-- it's been more than a month, and, not yet. it's sinking in slowly, but having to write a nobel lecture makes you really think about this. >> woodruff: what does it mean to you personally? >> judy, you know that we've been under attack by our government for the last five years. and having the nobel committee shine the light on what journalists are going through in the philippines?

i mean, personally, it's a lift. you know, it feels like a little bit of a reprieve and hopefully i can pay it forward. i think journalists in the philippines felt this, and filipinos, as we move into our may 2022 elections. >> woodruff: what do you think this is going to mean for the people of the philippines? but, for-- for government officials, because they haul you into court time and again, they charge you with libel. you had to get permission from four different courts even to travel to oslo. >> look, i think the conditions haven't changed yet. just yesterday, a former colleague was-- was shot; hit with a bullet to the head. but also, beyond that, a cabinet secretary just said he would file a legal complaint against seven news organizations, and all we did was report on the corruption charges against him. that was said in a press conference. >> woodruff: there's an election coming up in the phippines. do you think that provides

hope of change from the current duterte regime? >> it feels like 1986 all over again, because it is a marcos against a woman. you know, our top opposition leader is the-- the vice president, leni robredo, and ferdinand marcos jr. is the front-runner for president. and he filed this candidacy 35 years after his family and his father were kicked out, ousted in a people power revolt. so, who knows what will happen in our may elections? one thing is clear, is that this-- you cannot have integrity of elections if you don't have integrity of facts. and that is something all of us, all democracies around the world, face. >> woodruff: what more, maria, do you think needs to be done to support journalists, to support freedom of the press, especially as we see more and more governments around the world sliding toward authoritarianism? >> i think the accelerant for

the attacks against journalists is technology, and part of the reason that that these authoritarian, populist-style leaders have gained power all around the world has been because the information ecosystem-- the gatekeepers have changed from news organizations to technology to social media platforms. so, i think the first step is regulation. we have to stop the impunity that social media actually prioritizes over news, over facts. and then the second thing is, we have to help independent media survive. the world has gotten significantly more dangerous, i'd say exponentially more dangerous, for journalists just trying to do their jobs. >> woodruff: i was looking at the committee to protect journalists. they've put out a-- in their last report-- 1,421 journalists from around the world killed since 1992. 293 imprisoned for their work in but you keep urging journalists to stay with it. why? what's at stake here?

>> truth. facts. our democracy, right? i always say that what wound up happening is technology. social media has prioritized the spread of lies, laced with anger and hate, over facts. so if you don't have facts, you can't have truth. if you don't have truth, you can't have trust. >> woodruff: when ordinary citizens are asked, "why does this-- why should this matter for me?", what do you say to them? >> well, if you're on social media, if you're in the american social media platforms, you are being insidiously manipulated. you have these algorithms of distribution. algorithms of bias. the editorial judgment of these tech platforms are making are actually done exponentially, and it's-- the prioritization is lies over facts. >> woodruff: so when this prize is-- is awarded to you a you go back home to the philippines, what do you think the prospects are that you're going to be able to remain free? >> i don't know.

you know, the future for me is-- i don't know what it will bring. i do know that i face ten criminal charges, which could lead to about 100 years in prison. and it's almost like a high-stakes game of chicken, because i know i am innocent. i know these are trumped-up charges. and i will fight them in court. my ability to do that will depend on what happens during our elections, whether our judges stay to the spirit of the law. but i also think it's a time that matters. i think it's a risk worth taking. i couldn't do anything else. >> woodruff: maria ressa, being awarded the nobel peace prize. we congratulate you. thank you so much. >> thank you, judy. >> woodruff: president biden and a large number of other

political leaders from both parties paid tribute to the late senator bob dole at his funeral today in washington, d.c. amna nawaz was there, and has this report. >> nawaz: the late bob dole arrived at the washington national cathedral today, his casket draped in the flag he had honored as a soldier and statesman. the first tribute, delivered by his former senate colleague, president joe biden: >> he came into the arena with certain guiding principles, that began with devotion to country, to fair play, to decency, to dignity, to honor, to literally attempting to find the common good. >> nawaz: those principles, biden said, led dole to deep concern in his final days about threats to american democracy. >> this soldier reminded us, and i quote: "too many of us have sacrificed too much in defending freedom from foreign adversaries, to allow our democracy to crumble under a

state of infighting that grows more unacceptable day by day." >> nawaz: biden hailed dole as a man ofntegrity, and quick wit, on display when dole was asked why he bucked his party, casting the deciding vote to save amtrak: >> he said, "it's the best way to get joe biden the hell out of here at night, so he's not home in the morning." ( laughter ) excuse my language. >> nawaz: fellow kansan pat roberts, who followed dole in the senate, today recalled the deep connection he kept to his home state. >> whether we were in topeka, abilene, wichita, or dodge city, i saw bob dole connect with kansans always on a personal level. >> nawaz: roberts too, remembered dole's renowned humor, often deployed to break down political walls. >> it was embedded in his nature to deliver that punch-line deadpan, knowing, waiting for the room to light up, which it

always did. for the barriers to come down, letting the air out of the partisan balloons. >> nawaz: former senate majority leader tom daschle, a democrat who served opposite then-leader dole, spoke of a bond born across party lines, that only strengthened with time. >> i've always thought that life has no blessing like that of a good friend. and to know bob was to know the truth of that statement. >> nawaz: the final tribute, from dole's daughter, robin, who saw firsthand her father's lifetime of service. >> he set a personal goal to help at least one person every day of his life. then, he said, "i'm not sure i've been able to meet my goal." i said, "dad, you've got to be kidding.

some days you help one person, and other days you help 40,000 people." i will miss him so much. i think i will still talk to him every night. i love you, dad. i promise, you will never walk alone. >> nawaz: after the cathedral service, dole was brought to the world war ii memorial. actor tom hanks, who starred in the 1998 world war ii film“ saving private ryan,” helped dole to raise funds for the memorial, but said the senator was the driving force. >> he pushed the idea, he corralled the votes, made the phone calls, he enlisted allies. this memorial stands in this rightful site because bob dole remembered. >> nawaz: dole's military service and sacrifice were front and center, in remarks from chairman of the joint chiefs, general mark milley. dole nearly died as a 21-year- old, shot by a nazi machine gun. he was later awarded two purple

hearts. >> he continually raised his hand, mangled as it was, to support and defend the constitution of the united states of america. we are all better off for the service of senator bob dole. >> nawaz: former senator and secretary elizabeth dole honored her husband through deeds today, not words-- carefully laying a wreath in his memory. the late senator dole will now return to kansas for home state tributes, before being laid to rest at arlington national cemetery. for the pbs newshour, i'm amna nawaz. >> woodruff: and now, we turn to 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. i have to say, i was at that service today, very very moving. and, jonathan, i know you were there, too. and, david, i want to talk about

bob dole because i wanted to talk about how much it was stressed he worked across party lines. he started out as chairman to have the republican party, he worked on food stamps, the ada, martin luther king's holiday. was there a lesson in this? >> it was a different time. he was a war hero. he was in kansas and some democrats said, you should run as a democrat. and republicans said there are twice as many republicans here, and he said, okay, i'm a republican. it wasn't a ideological chasm the way it is now. he was a dealmaker. people who worked for him were sometimes from you strayed he didn't have a strict ideological line. he wasn't wired that way. he was good at counting votes and wanted to know how to get a coalition of majority. he was phenomenally good at it.

he was a tough guy. but he was funny. my favorite dole joke is after he lost the election, people asked him, how does he sleep after he lost the presidential election? eh said, i sleep like a baby, i wake up every two hours screaming. (laughter) that's who he was. he was not a product of our age. there are still people like that, they just still don't go into politics. >> woodruff: more democrats were speaking today, tom daschle, a former democratic senate majority leader, and democrats than there were republicans. >> right. i was sitting there thinking, one, it was an honor to be there. >> woodruff: it was. and i was thinking i'm sure people will be talking about this as a washington funeral because a pageantry and solemnity, but listening to the speeches of the president, senator daschle and senator pat roberts as well, that this was a

national funeral. this was a funeral that was saying goodbye to, as the president said, a statesman, a patriot -- patriot, the word used many times -- a national hero, someone who reached across the aisle to make deals, who put country first. i think one of the earlier ministers remarked how folks gathered there five weeks earlier to say goodbye to colin powell, and the president delivered a similar speech then, i recalled watching on television. in this time now where the ideological divides are so wide that the rancor on capitol hill is so intense that to be in a place where we're sort of reminded of what used to be but also what's still possible, if folks could just get out of their way, and i'll till my bob

dole story. intern on the today's show, jule unveiling of the refurbished statue of liberty. my job was to escorts the guests from the ground up the steps on the elevated set. bob dole and mrs. dole came and i had to escort them, and there were rumors he was going to run for president, so i leaned into him and asked him, are you going to run for president? and he leaned down and said, yeah, are you going to help me? and i said, yes! it was so exciting. when you said, you know, he just wasn't wired ideologically, that came racing back to me because that's the person i remembered and met. >> woodruff: and when president biden today -- i mean, made what to me sounded like a direct appeal to, reminding everybody you can't have democracy without compromise, but, david, is this a by gone

era, we can't bring it back? >> i think it's in cycles. we have been in polarized areas in history and people just get sick of it. i think people will eventually get sick of a semifunctional government. you think of bob dole, the disabilities act, all sorts of pieces of legislation he worked through, the veterans affairs stuff, the '86 tax reform, which was probably the peak of legislative craftsman shift in my lif lifetime with people like bill brad ri. i believe in cycles. we weren't born yesterday as a country. we have been through worse. >> woodruff: it may be a long cycle, though. >> yeah, a long cycle and, you know, a cycle where i'm looking for who are the statesmen in the republican party now? who is the bob dole? who is the colin powell? who is going to be that person who's in the generation of

leaders in the republican party in national office right now who we will be sitting years down the road saying the exact same thing? i can't think of anyone. >> woodruff: beyond even partisanship, david, we reported earlier on this summit on democracy, the president was presiding over this week talking about the democracy chlenge around the world. meantime you have people seriously concerned in this country, journalists, academics, writers, about what's happening right now to efforts, in their view, to begin toffect the outcome of the next election, this year, coming year, 2024. i mean, how concerned should americans be? >> i think pretty concerned, you know. i was in russia when the soviet union fell, i was in ukraine, in the middle east, and i saw in the '90s that sweep of demock karatization -- democratization

and ronald reagan was admired for saying the soviet union was an evil empire. i thaw america doing good in the world. we've lost faith in our world to do good in iraq and afghanistan. we've gone too far on the other side of the world, technology swept in, china has a big effect on spreading authoritarian ideas around the world russia, and the same forces in our own country, and, so, i'm glad biden did this, because even though with our own failures, becauseth one big struggle, and i think biden is right, it is the defining global struggle and, you know, democracy is a fragile system. how alarmed should we be? there's a piece in the atlantic by barton gilman and that piece says what's most alarming is not necessarily the laws that are being passed. the most alarming is there's a large percentage of americans, may be only 12% or 20% who have detached from reality, and

believe everything is stolen and you don't know what those people will do in 2024. so that's my main source of worry. >> woodruff: we talkedo gilman on the "newshour" last night, jonathan. he said, according to the best estimates, 21 million americans, give or take, are prepared to use violence to keep donald trump in power. >> right, and as he notes in his piece and i think i'm going to misremember the country was talking about had fewer people and spun out of control based on 8 million people, i think it waa that he wrote about. but with 21 million people, he's making the point that 21 million people, that's a lot of people who can do a lot of damage in key places around the country, if they turn their detachment from reality into an effort to overturn elections not just by ransacking the capitol but going to state capitols around the country. i mean, what's been so

alarming -- and i'm very alarmed about what's happening in this country, the voting bills that have been passed that have been introduced around the country where they are keeping people from voting. if people vote, they make it possible that their votes don't count, and if their votes do count, they've now made it so that those results can be overturned. that is the key thing, and that is what barton gilman is really ringing the alarm about, that we are going down a road that if we don't do something relatively soon, we might not be able to 'r clacb btk ou in. >> woodruff:he article that he wrote is seriously disturbing. >> and i think the other thing which i hadn't thought about before is he likens it to northern ireland before the troubles. it's not only political, we imagine it could be something with elections, but it could be just civil violence, and that's horrific enough.

>> woodruff: and when i said they want to keep former president trump in power, meaning a lot of them think he should still be in power, in fact most of them do. last thing, david, economic numbers out today, inflation getting even worse than it was. the president's poll numbers, we can show everybody the latest marist-npr poll has his approval at 42, his disapproval at 51. how much is the president to plame for what's going on with the economy? >> i don't think he's to blame for the inflation rates, i think that's most risupply chain issues and other things and the fact we have a booming economy, so we're i an overheating economy, and you could make the argument that we shouldn't pass the infrastructure bill, but that doesn't affecting the economy, it's too soon. so we could make the argument the economy is because it's overheating but he's not to be blamed. what disturbed me is people have

been so cynical that they see the negative and not the positive. jared bernstein, he's right, there's a lot of great news and bad news. people have reached such a point of disillusionment about our country and system that they focus on the negative. >> woodruff: has it gotten mixed in with how they perceive -- how they're daily arrives are going? >> you know, i look at what's happening as a macro and micro issue. at the macro level, as you were saying, the economy is great. this inflation number came out, but the stock market was up 216 points today, so if you have a 401k, everything is great, unemployment is down, jobs are up, wages up, at a macro level. but the gas station, gas prices are high, supermarket, milk, eggs, meat, coffee, it's all high so you feel it at a more direct level. >> woodruff: paper tolls.

i have a whole list. >> woodruff: we've got a list. having said that, people will continue to look at whoever's in office and say can't you do something about this? >> that's the way it works. the thing that's unique about this moment, you ask people about their personal finances, the large majority say good, the country bad, so there's a disjunction between how they feel they're doing and the country is doing which is negative and biden pays the price. >> woodruff: we'll leave it there, david brooks, jonathan capehart, thank you both. >> thank you, judy. >> woodruff: and on the newshour online right now, the descendants of enslaved people owned by jesuit missionaries in st. louis are working to amplify their ancestors' lost stories.

you may read more about this little-known history at www.pbs.org/newshour. and before we go tonight, we would like to say farewell to a special colleague, annette miller, who began with this program in its very earliest days. she joined the broadcast 46 years ago, as one of two staff members in washington for what was then known as the "robert macneil report." she was a politics producer, booking guests, writing scripts, researching stories, and doing whatever was needed. she became the right-hand-- so to speak-- for the late jim lehrer, as the show expanded and transformed into the newshour. she served as news editor, director of research and eventually vice president of newshour productions. when jim, robin, and our correspondents interviewed political leaders or newsmakers, annette was preparing and digging for information behind the scenes. and, as director of research, annette was crucial in nearly every presidential and vice presidential debate moderated by jim lehrer and the late gwen

ifil at the same time, annette was a generous mentor to so many young journalists who came up through the program. we want to congratulate and thank her for her years of contributions, and wish her well in what sounds like a busy next chapter. we are going to miss you a lot, annette. thank you. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. 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 good weekend. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> fidelity wealth management. >> consumer cellular. >> johnson & johnson. >> bnsf railway. >> financial services firm raymond james. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation.

for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.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. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc

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♪ ♪ hello, everyone. welcome to "amanpour & company." here's what's coming up -- >> in detention centers and outside, were forced to have abortions, even at the very last stages of pregnancy. >> an independent tribunal says china is committing suicide against the uighers. we break down the evidence with our guests. and then, china's view. we ask how beijing defend what's happening. and -- goodbye angela merkel, hello olaf schultz. i talk about the life and vision of germany's new chancellor. plus -- >> our position is, let's get the data