captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc > woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: a verdict. the jury finds minnesota police officer kim potter guilty in her manslaughter trial, following the shooting death of daunte wright. then, omicron on the rise. lines for testing grow, as americans prepare to come together for the holidays plus, from russia with blame. vladimir putin accuses the west of escalating tensions, as russian troops mass along the ukrainian border. all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour.

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at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> 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: we are following two important stories tonight-- the spread of omicron throughout the country; and the conviction of a former police officer in the shooting death of an unarmed black man. we begin with the latter. a jury in minnesota found kim potter guilty in the death of daunte wright, who was

shot last spring. john yang has the details. >> yang: judy, the jury convicted potter on two counts of manslaughter, after 27 hours of deliberations. potter shot wright, who was 20 years old, after reaching for her taser, but drawing her gun. the incident began as a traffic stop in brooklyn center, minnesota. there was a struggle, as officers tried to arrest wright on an outstanding weapons warrant. and then potter shot him as he tried to flee in his car. prosecutors said she was reckless and negligent. after the verdict, the judge revoked her bail, and potter was taken into custody. she could face at least 11 years in prison, a prosecutors have said they will ask for more when she's sentenced in february. wright's mother described her emotions. >> the moment that we heard guilty on manslaughter one? emotions. every single emotion that you could imagine, just running through your body.

i let out a yelp, because it was built-up in the anticipation of what was to come, while we were waiting in the last few days. >> yang: the trial stirred a lot of emotions in the twin cities region. a little while ago, i spoke with newshour special correspondent fred de sam lazaro, who was outside the courthouse when the verdict was announced. fred, you were out there when the verdict was read, what was the reaction when the verdict was announced? >> well, john, there was a palpable tension awaiting the verdict, a crowd smaller than a few months ago in the derek chauvin crowd, but one no less passionate about what they wanted out of this and, of course, as soon as the verdict was announced, there was an eruption of jubilant chanting, and you might be able to hear nearby here that this celebration is continued and marches around the block. for many of the activists who

came out and kept vigil here during this trial, this verdict sent a message. >> accountability is what we >> accountability is what we saw when the jurors gave her guilty. officers across the country need to realize we are no longer asking for them to stop killing us-- we are demanding it. >> they cannot keep killing our black people and our people of color. and they're realizing it, because they got too many allies. they got too many people who got their back. we're not putting up with-- white people ain't putting up with it no more. i'm not putting up with it no more. so yes, this is change. you're seeing change. and we ain't done yet. >> reporter: fred you mentioned the derek chauvin convention in the courthouse behind you. what's been the impact of the community having this trial and this conviction follow so closely on the heels of the chauvin conviction? >> the issue of policing, public safety, community relations,

relations with communities of colohas been front and center and has not seen so many issues. it keeps coming back in the form of new issues, whether the referendum in november on the police reform in minneapolis, the trial of kim potter, and we have the state trial of three officers charged alongside derek chauvin in the in killing, and they also face a federal trial, so this is an issue that will continue to really vex this community in so many ways. it's not receded from the headlines and not likely to for very long. >> reporter: special correspondent fred de sam lazaro in minneapolis. fred, thank you very much. >> john, you're welcome. >> yang: this case--long with the cases of george floyd, breonna taylor and many others-- have highlighted the issues of police use of deadly force and accountability.

shannon prince is an attorney who focuses on policing policy and restorative justice. she's with the firm boies schiller flexner. shannon prince, thank you so much for being with us. on this question of police accountability, what message do you think the jury sent today? >> well, i think that the jury sent the message that police are accountable not only for their delibera acts but even for accidents that arise from recklessness or unreasonability. >> reporter: and do you think this is going to continue further -- further these issues along because this was someone who said they never intended to use deadly force, it was an accident? >> so i do think this verdict furtherers the cause of police reform, it increases police accountability and decreases police impunity. however, what really moves police reform forward isn't individual verdicts but policy, and we saw that in a policy

passed by brooklyn center, the town where the incident took place after daunte wright was killed, they passed an act in part named after daunte wright that, among other things, creates an unarmed civilian force to handle non-moving traffic violations of the sort that began this incident. now, such forces have been used successfully in other countries, and hopefully they will prevent further traffic stops from escalating to violence as this one did. >> reporter: and talk about this traffic stop, this is a traffic stop that officer potter said she would not have made if she was alone but she had a trainee with her. what role did race play in that, do you think? >> so it's impossible to look into the hearts and minds of other individuals, but we know that data shows that black people are disproportionately likely to be pulled over by the police, even though white people are disproportionately likely to have contraband in their cars.

the reason daunte wright was pulled over is because he had air freshener dangling from his rearrearview mirror and expired license tags. some may these those nonmoving violations were pre-textual and possible if daunte weren't a black man, kim potter and her trainer officer wouldn't have pulled him over for such minor reasons. >> reporter: ch was made about the jury when selected because there was only one black juror, the others were nine white people and two asian-americans yet they rejected the argument that deadly force was justified in this case, and they also did not take -- the prosecutors put in a lesser charge that would invite a compromise. what do you think that says? >> well, i think that it shows, first of all, that americans

have all -- of all backgrounds can be counted upon to enact justice, that americans of all backgrounds are willing to enact justice. but i think it's also important to note that although this jury was less diverse than the jury that convicted derek chauvin, it was racially important to the community. >> reporter: prosecutors say they're going to argue aggravated charges when sentence comes around that she endangered the public by shooting daunte wright and sort of allowing him to get away in this car while he was wounded and didn't do anything about it. what do you makef that? >> so that charge goes back to the fact that when kim potter incapacitated daunte wright, he drove off, but because he wasn't able to navigate, he ran into an elderly couple, and the husband of that couple was greatly

affected by that accident. and then there's also a second aggravating factor which is that kim potter abused her position of authority as a police officer. now, i think that there is evidence to support both of those aggravating factors, and what happens next is it has to be decided whether or not they're actually present. now, it was kim potter herself who had the right to decide whether she wanted the jury or the judge to answer that question. she waved the right to have the jury decide, so that question will go to the judge. >> reporter: shannon prince of boies, schiller, flexner, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: now, let's turn to omicron, and the wave of cases around the u.s. the new variant is driving a surge in the u.s. omicron is now present in every

state, just three weeks after it was first detected in the u.s. stephanie sy begins our coverage. >> sy: in washington, d.c., residents waited in line to get a free covid-19 testing kit in preparation for holiday travel. as the highly transmissible omicron covid variant surges, demand for testing is high. around the country, pharmacies are quickly selling out of at-home tests. and testing sites in big cities, like new york, have hours-long wait times. the white house said today it's finalizing plans to secure 500 million at-home rapid tests to distribute for free. in an exclusive interview with president biden yesterday, abc's "world news tonight" anchor david muir asked why those kits weren't ordered sooner. >> if you go to the pharmacy, we hear this over and over again-- empty shelves, no test kits. is that a failure? >> no, i don't think it's a failure. i think it's-- you could argue

that we should have known a year ago, six months ago, two months ago, a month ago. >> we're nearly two years into this pandemic. you're a year into the presidency. empty shelves and no test kits in some places three days before christmas, when it's so important. is that good enough? >> no,othing's been good enough. >> sy: for months before omicron emerged, president biden pledged to make at-home covid tests more easily available. he made this statement in september. >> we're committing $2 billion to purchase nearly 300 million rapid tests for distribution to community health centers, food banks, schools, so that every american, no matter their income, can access free and convenient tests. >> sy: in the abc interview, the president said none could have predicted omicron, and said fully vaccinated and tested americans should still feel safe

to gather. >> if you are tested, if you know where you are, in terms of having gotten the shots, there's no reason why you can't get together with your family and your friends. and we-- we couldn't do that last christmas. >> sy: meanwhile, another treatment option for high-risk covid patients is on the horizon. the f.d.a. today authorized the country's second antiviral pill to treat covid-19 at home, just one day after pfizer's paxlovid was approved. molnupiravir cuts covid hospitalizations and deaths by 30% in those at higher risk of developing severe disease. merck said it will have ten million treatment packs available by the end of the month, and the white house plans to ship three million to states by the end of january. at busy airports today, many holiday travelers were undeterred by the wave of new cases. >> we're both vaccinated fully, and have been since we could be, and we're following all the protocols. and, feels pretty safe.

>> sy: but many americans who have tested positive have seen the pandemic upend their holiday plans for yet another year. >> if i test positive, i'm just staying in town. not visiting family. so, fingers crossed that it's a negative test. >> sy: new infections have reached over 168,000 per day, surpassing this summer's peak. 7,800 people are being hospitalized each day, straining hospitals in the hard-hit midwest and new england. and, more than 1,300 americans are still dying each day, a slight increase from previous weeks. most of those deaths are attributed to the delta variant. cases are only expected to rise in coming weeks. for the pbs newshour, i'm stephanie sy. >> woodruff: there are so many questions about the transmissibility of this variant, its severity-- and testing availability that is sorely lacking, particularly

when compared to the demand. katherine wu is a staff writer for "the atlantic," where she covers science. katherine wu, welcome to the "newshour". clearly, this is just still a very difficult time for americans just on the cusp of a holiday. explain to us how this wave with omicron is different from what we've already seen in this pandemic. >> absolutely. i think the biggest thing to point out here is just this feels like a wave on fast forward. we're seeing case rates doubling at astounding rates. we're seeing so many people test positive, and i think one of the most concerning things about this particular wave is omicron has found a much larger susceptible population than delta did just a few months ago. we know vaccinated people are far better protected than those who are unvaccinated against this variant, but it's clear that omicron can still move fast enough and dodge some immune defenses that it can still infect those vaccinated people and spread out of them. that means it just has more room

to move around populations and we're seeing the effects of that now. the big concern here is we'll see a big wave of cases and possibly enough hospitalizations to overwhelm healthcare systems. >> woodruff: so reasons to worry for those vaccinated and boosted because clearly they are, we are susceptible, too. but we also read, katherine wu, that cases may be milder than previous variant. what do we know about that? >> yeah, so this is a really interesting collision between virus and vaccine right now. i think, you know, the first thing to know is, again, it's not useful to talk about this variant in binary terms safe or unsafe. vaccinated especially vaccinated and boosted people are going to be much safer. we know even though this variant can dodge some of the defenses vaccinated bodies mount, it's not going to overcome alof them, and that means vaccinated people will be especlly more protexted against more severe

forms of disease. we are seeing that play out. the world has more immune at this than a couple of years ago. we have progressed so far in such a little time. it is early days. it takes a couple of weeks for hospital data to manifest in this variant and this has only been in the global conversation about a month, but we are seeing encouraging minds case rates are not dragging hospitalization rates in quite the lock step than they were before. if that continues to pan out, that could be a good sign. it's not game over for the pandemic. a small percentage of hospitalizations can be devastating because a small percentage of a big number can be a huge number but it is encouraging. i think wat's complicated is when we say mild, that's disease and disease is an interaction between host and pathogen. is it because we as hosts are better defended because it's milder or is it because the virus is intrinsically less deadly? it could be both and that's difficult to untangle to people

shouldn't take the mild for granted. >> woodruff: it's an important message. you and co-authors have a piece in "the atlantic" where you say we keep making the same pandemic mistakes over and over again. one of the mistakes critics are pointing to has to do with lack of available and easily accessible testing. just how far behind is the united states from where we should be with regard to testing? >> we are very, very far behind, and i think this has been a mistake that we really have been repeating since almost day one. it took the country a very long time to bring tests online to any measurable degree and we've really been playing catch-up ever since. we've seen other countries roll out successfully free testing programs, widely available testing programs, whether laboratory tests that use pcr or home tests some people can buy for a dollar or get for free in other countries. here in the u.s. we're making steps toward having freely available tests but that's going

to take months to kick in, and we're being asked to reimburse tests and that is a cumbersome and limited process. we are no longer near flush with tests where we need to be. the biden administration plan to roll out 5 million but that's less than two tests per person in this country. >> woodruff: we have been thinking about that this week. i think one question is, is it realistic for the administration to have, i don't know, had manufactured billions of tests because, you're right, 330 million americans, multiple tests that we're told we need to be taking enever we're about to gather, it's a conundrum. >> it definitely is, and i think the tricky thing is, you know, we also have to strike this balance for people who are able to access those tests. those are vital tools but we have to be humble in the face of a variant that moves this quickly, a test that's negative

in the morning might not hold true by the afternoon if the virus is spreading quickly outside our bodies, it might be moving at a rapid clip inside our bodies as well. >> woodruff: all the reason we need more and more tests and, as you say, more than what we have available. so many questions still, katherine wu. thank you so much for your insights. we appreciate it. >> tnk you so much for having me. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, the u.s. economy churned out another month of low unemployment and high inflation. the labor department reported new jobless claims held steady at 205,000 last week. meanwhile, the commerce department said consumer prices jumped 5.7% in november, from a year earlier. even so, consumer spending rose more than half a percent last month. the biden administration is looking to help reduce that

inflation by easing bottlenecks in the supply chain. today, transportation secretary pete buttigieg announced more than $241 million in grant funding to improve u.s. ports. the money is available immediately, for 25 projects in 19 states. white house press secretary jen psaki said it is a worthy investment. >> these grants demonstrate rapid action on commitments in the biden-harris port action plan. investing in our infrastructure; will strengthen our supply chains; help speed the flow of goods; and lower prices for americans. >> woodruff: the department of transportation acknowledged that it may take months for consumers to feel the effects from these improvements. low mortgage rates and high demand during the pandemic have caused new home sales in the u.s. to jump 12.4% in november, over the previous month. that is the fastest pace in seven months. it's also 14% higher than last november.

sales for previously-owned homes also saw a steady increase for the third month in a row. at least four people were injured in texas, after what authorities are calling a "major industrial accident" at one of the country's largest oil refining and petrochemical facilities. a large fire broke out early this morning at the exxon mobil plant in baywn, about 25 miles east of houston. nearby residents were jolted awake. >> i heard this huge explosion. boom. it rocked this whole house. knocked me out of my bed. woke me up. scared me to death. >> woodruff: the cause of the incident is still under investigation. exxon mobil said the air quality remained safe. president biden signed a bill today banning imports of products from china's xinjiang region, over forced labor concerns. the bipartisan legislation aims to hold beijing accountable for its abuse of china's uyghur muslim minority.

the u.s. government and human rights groups have said it amounts to genocide, but china has denied the claims. former president trump today asked the supreme court to block the release of white house records to the house committee investigating the january 6 capitol insurrection. it is his legal team's last- ditch effort, after a federal appeals court ruled against him two weeks ago. mr. trump insists he has the right to assert executive privilege. the humanitarian crisis in ethiopia is expected to escalate even more next year. a new united nations report out today estimates that 22 million ethiopians will need humanitarian aid. that comes amid ongoing conflict in the tigray region and elsewhere. the east african country is also facing drought, flooding, disease outbreaks, and locust infestations. pope francis urged vatican cardinals, bishops, and administrators today to embrace

humility this holiday season. at his annual christmas address to the vatican bureaucracy, francis said their pride and the "glitter of our armor" was corrupting their spiritual lives and the church's mission. >> ( translated ): the humble give life, attract others, and push onwards towards the unknown that lies ahead. the proud, on the other hand, simply repeat, grow rigid. >> woodruff: also today, the pope removed the head of the vatican office that oversees the environment, migration, and covid-19 issues, following the undisclosed results of an internal investigation. in hong kong, the last public memorial to the tiananmen square massacre is now gone. the so-called "pillar of shame" at the university of hong kong depicted a 26-foot-tall pile of mangled bodies symbolizing tse killed in the violent crackdown. it was hauled away from campus earlier today.

it is the latest effort to stamp out public memory of the 1989 massacre. on wall street, stocks surged for a third straight day. the dow jones industrial average climbed 196 points to close at 35,950. the nasdaq rose 131 points. and the s&p 500 added 29. and, two passings to note tonight. legendary american author and essayist joan didion died today in new york of complications from parkinson's disease. her writing explored politics, and culture, and even her own personal grief. her memoir, "the year of magical thinking," written after her husband's death, went on to win the national book award. joan didion was 87 years old. and we will have more on her life later in the program. and, franklin a. thomas, the first black leader of a major american philanthropic organization, has died. he rose from the streets of

working class brooklyn to become president of the ford foundation from 1979 to 1996. he restructured the organization and raised both its number of grants and its endowment. thomas passed away last night at his home in manhattan. he was also 87 years old. still to come on the newshour: the fate of federal vaccine mandates, now in the hands of the supreme court. remembering the legendary writer joan didion. plus, much more. >> woodruff: the supreme court will hold a special hearing on january 7 to consider challenges to two pieces of the biden administration's strategy to get the pandemic under control. john yang is back, with the

latest on the arguments to come. >> yang: judy, at stake are two biden administration pandemic efforts that lower courts have at least partially blocked. one is the requirement that big employers make sure their workers are either vaccinated or regularly tested. the other requires that healthcare workers at facilities that get federal funds be vaccinated. together, the two cover an estimated 97 million people, and they're being challenged by religious labor and business groups, and republican-led states. marcia coyle is chief washington correspondent for the national law journal. marcia, thanks for being with us. these are oral arguments this court scheduled on emergency petitions. how unusual is this and how unusual is this whole process in. >> it's very unusual, john, unusual because the court has ordered oral arguments. these cases have come in, as you

said, as emergency applications on what is now commonly known as the shadow docket, and the court generally handles emergency applications without arguments. when it issues an order or decision in those types of cases, it's often very curse riwith little explanation. so it took is by surprise, yes, and also the day it will be argued is surprising, it's on a friday before the justices sit on the bench for their january argument session. i guess that begs the question why these? why the arguments in these cases? i've g given some thought to th. i think there are maybe two more reasons, one more important than the other. the court has taken criticism recently about its hand ring of emergency applications without full arguments and with curse ridecisions, opinions, but i think, more importantly, it's

the nature of these cases, john, we are still in the middle of a pandemic, one surging with a new variant, and i think that the court knows that these questions are significant, andeople need to know, employers need to know, healthcare workers need to know and, in fact, we all really need to know if the government can do what i want to do. >> reporter: and that employer mandate is scheduled to take effect the monday after the arguments on the 10th. what are the justices going to be examining in these cases? >> john, i think, at their core, these cases are really kind of basic statutory interpretation cases that the justices see all the time, although this is a new one. it's going to involve basically two statutes that govern the occupational safety and health administration as well as the department of health and humans

services cms agency. whether those statutes actually authorize the federal agencies to do what they planned to do, whether they can require these vaccine or testing rules. so that's where i think the justices are going to really home in on whether there is the authority to do this. >> reporter: and since the pandemic began, there have been emergency applications to the supreme court on state and local rules about covid, sort of restrictions on attendants, gatherings of large groups of people and recently state and local vaccine mandates. what's been the preach of the court to these previous cases? >> well, i think in terms of the state and local vaccine requirements, the court hasn't been very symthetic to those who are objecting to those requirements either on religious or other grounds.

there is a bit of division within the court. more recently, we've seen three justices, in particular, justices thomas, alito and gorsuch, who are very sympathetic to claims that the vaccine requirements may violate the free exercise of religion, but, right now, it appears that there are six justices who aren't very sympathetic to challenges. but -- and this is a big but -- the conservatives on this court, and there are six of them, are very skeptical of broad government power, and we saw that when they considered the eviction moratorium and whether there was authority to extend that moratorium, and the court said, no, there wasn't. so i think at least the conservative jstices will be looking very closely at the

authorizing statutes for the agencies involving president biden's hope of mandating or requiring vaccines or testing. >> reporter: marcia coyle of the "national law journal," thank you very much. >> my pleasure, john. have a great holiday. stay well. >> woodruff: today, russian president vladimir putin gave his annual end-of-year press conference, with tough words for both ukraine and nato. it comes as russia has massed tens of thousands of troops on the border witukraine. special correspondent stuart smith in moscow begins our coverage. >> reporter: in a marathon four-hour press conference today in moscow, president putin blamed the west for threatening russia. >> ( translated ): "not one inch to the east" is what we were told in the 1990s. and, what happened? we were duped.

we were brazenly duped. there were five waves of nato expansion. >> reporter: after the fall of the berlin wall, russia says the u.s. made a deal that nato's troops and weapons would not expand further into eastern europe. putin says, now, russia is defending itself from increasing nato encroachment. >> ( translated ): and now these missile systems are appearing in poland and romania. that's what we're talking about. you have to understand, it's not us who are threatening. and now you're telling us that ukraine will also be in nato. >> reporter: this week, nato general-secretary jenstoltenberg said the alliance supports ukraine's sovereignty, and "right to choose its own path." today, putin told a roomful of journalists that ukraine will never join nato. >> ( translated ): we put it straight: there must be no further expansion of nato eastward. what is there not to understand? was it us who deployed missiles near the borders of the united states? no.

>> reporter: putin's remarks come a week after russia submitted a list of security guarantees it wants the west to agree to, in order to withdraw its forces near the ukrainian border. the demands include a ban on a ukraine nato membership, the removal of nato forces and weapons from much of eastern europe, and a promise to not hold further drills in the region without russian approval. russia's demands would involve a major reconfiguration of european security. and vladimir putin insists on haste, or else an unspecified military response. that leaves open questions about whether the calls for diplomacy and negotiation are genuine, or designed to fail, to justify escalation. for weeks, russian military drills and irregular deployments signal they're ready for escalation. satellite images show a massive buildup along the russian- ukrainian border. and u.s. intelligence produced a map that shows five newly- deployed russian battalion

tactical groups north of ukraine; two newly-deployed groups off ukrai's northeast border; more troops off ukraine's southeast, where russia has invaded in the past; and additional tanks and artillery in russian-annexed crimea-- for a potential of tens of thousands of russian forces. >> good to see you again. >> reporter: earlier this month, president biden told putin in a video call that russia faced significant sanctions if it were to invade ukraine. biden told putin, the u.s. would increase military support to ukraine, and the administration said president biden told putin that nato's eastern allies would receive more u.s. troops and training, similar to these 2016 exercises. this week, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy joined lithuania and poland to call for stronger western sanctions against moscow. >> ( translated ): our common task is to deter the threat posed by russia, and defend europe from russia's aggressive policies.

>> reporter: the u.s. says the best way to resolve the conflict is to restore ukraine's border, and to return to the minsk process-- agreements that russia and ukraine sought to enthe war in ukraine's eastern donbas region that began in 2014 between kyiv and russian-backed separatists. putin today said he looked forward to meeting the u.s. in january. the biden administration says it is willing to meet with russia in early january, but the details of the meeting have yet to be worked out. for the pbs newshour, i'm stuart smith in moscow. >> woodruff: and for more on all of this, we get two views. charles kupchan is a professor georgetown university, and senior fellow at the council on foreign relations. during the obama administration, he served as senior director for european affairs on the national security council staff. in that job, he traveled to ukraine six times with then-vice president biden. and, alina polyakova is the president of the center for european policy analysis, a

non-profit, non-partisan organization that seeks to promote u.s.-european relations and democratic values. and we welcome both of you to the "newshour". charles kupchan, to you first, is vladimir putin correct when he says the west and n.a.t.o. have reneged on the promises they made in the 1990s not to move closer to the east? he said, in fact, there have been five waves of n.a.t.o. expansion. >> well, exactly what was agreed to in the early days of the end of the cold war remains an issue of great dispute among historians. what is clear is what we're seeing today is a culmination of a big dispute that started in the early 1990s in the clinton administration where there's a debate whether n.a.t.o. should expand east of the borders.

i was skeptical of the enlargement of n.a.t.o. because of the concern that putin is now expressing about the alliance moving closer to russia's borders. we then did proceed. president putin is right, we have been through a succession of waves, and in 2008 n.a.t.o. declared georgia and ukraine would one day in line for membership. i think there are a lot of troubling aspects of russian behavior, a lot of things to worry about, but president putin is not out of the ordinary in being concerned about n.a.t.o. expansion into ukraine. it's kind of what major powers do. the united states spent a lot of time in the 19th century getting britain and france and spain and russia out of its neighborhood, the soviets deployed missiles to cuba in 1962. we didn't like that very much. there was almost a war over that. so major powers don't like it when other major powers bring in

military force to their borders, that's kind of what we're seeing come to a head today. >> woodruff: so, alina polyakova, just picking up on that and these points that charles kupchan is making, is there justification in the argument that mr. putin -- vladimir putin is making that the west has moved too far in russia's direction and steps need to be taken to correct that? >> thank you so much for that question, judy. charles is completely right in outlining the most recent post-cold war history, but i think what we have to remember is that, point number one, that in 2008 during the summit where n.a.t.o. said that eventually ukraine and also georgia could join n.a.t.o., n.a.t.o. membership is not really on the table at all today for ukraine or georgia. we have to be clear about that. so when mr. putin says n.a.t.o. is looking to expand into ukraine, that is completely

false. there is no indication ukraine will be joini n.a.t.o. in the short or medium term. secondly, it's russia that has been the aggressor here. much of n.a.t.o.'s posture in its eastern flank in poland as well as romania changed because russia invaded and continues to occupy cry mia and it continues to occupy part of ukraine's donbass. so it is russia that has forced this kind of response and forced more security posture from n.a.t.o. in this eastern flank, but ukraine is not a n.a.t.o. member state nor is there a clear plan for ukraine to become a member state anytime soon. >> woodruff: so given this, charles kupchan, and you have been an advocate for diplomatic efforts here, i mean, do you see the potential for successful diplomacy in all this? and, by the way, do you think putin -- vladimir putin has made up his mind yet about whether to

invade ukraine? >> i don't think that he has made up his mind, and that's in part because he is going through the motions of trying to have a serious conversation with n.a.t.o., with the united states. it's also the case that this would not be an easy war, this would be a big war. lots of fatalities on the russian as well as the ukrainian side. and president putin is pretty good about picking his fights carefully. i'm not sure this is a fight that he wants. i completely agree with alina that, right now, n.a.t.o. enlargement to ukraine is not on the table. the president of the united states has said as much, the u.s. and its allies have been careful about not putting high-end, high-technology weaponry into ukraine because they are sensitive about russia's concerns. russia is the aggressor here. they went into crimea, they took donbas. seems to me if there is to be a

meeting of the minds,eth that n.a.t.o. stands by its principle, open door, country can assure their future but they can ensure president putin for the foreseeable future n.a.t.o. enlargement is not in the cards for ukraine nor is ukraine going to turn into an outpost of n.a.t.o. force posture. >> woodruff: alina polyakova do you see realistic prospects this can be worked out through some sort of diplomatic arrangement, agreement? >> well, i certainly hope so. we're facing potentially devastating situation, a military invasion, a full-out military war in europe, hasn't ppened since really world war ii, and the consequences would be absolutely dire, not just for russia and ukraine, but for all of europe and, as a result, for the trans atlantic alliance, which the united states is a member. we have to remember what is at stake here and that's why

diplomacy has to be on the table. i think the united states government has deployed a huge amount of diplomatic resources to bring russia back to the table here. we've had calls from the u.s. president, visits from the chief of the c.i.a. at all levels of government, there has been a concerted effort to bring russia into dialogue. unfortunately, what we've seen from moscow over the last several weeks is some clear and worrisome signals that they're not actually interested in a real diplomatic dialogue. one datapoint on that is these n.a.t.o.-russia, russia-u.s. treaties, treaties moscow decided to publish publicly before they were discussed with the united states and n.a.t.o. this was a very unusual step when it comes to diplomatic relations, and it was taken as pre-text for russia looking for complete no from the united states and n.a.t.o., and this would be a pre-text for a

potential invasion. that's way the situation is quite dire and serious. >> woodruff: in a few seconds, charles kupchan, you agree the signals don't look receptive from moscow? >> well, the proposals that president putin put out over the last week are nonstarters. the good news is it will take place. the united states and russia look like they will be meeting in early january. i think this is the best way to avoid a war that would be neither in the interests of neither ukraine nor russia nor n.a.t.o. let's hope diplomacy prevails. >> woodruff: charles kupchan, alina polyakova, we thank you both. >> woodruff: finally tonight,

as we promised, remembering the life and work of author and essayist joan didion. jeffrey brown has our appreciation. >> in certain latitudes, there comes a span of time approaching or following the summer solstice, some weeks in all, when the twilights turn long and blue. >> brown: she captured moments in american culture with penetrating clarity and style, from the manson murders, to the case of the central park five. and then, turned those same observational powers onto her own intimate losses and grief. one of america's most iconic writers, joan didion began her career at "vogue" magazine, after winning an essay contest in college, and went on to write for magazines and journals like ife" and "the new york review of books." her first nonfiction collection, "slouching towards bethlehem," chronicled the unraveling of southern california's social fabric in the late 1960s-- what she called america's "atomization: the proof that things fall apart." she went on to publish several more collections of groundbreaking reporting,

establishing herself as a leading voice in "personal narrative," so-called "new journalism." in a 2017 documentary, critic hilton als spoke of her book of essays, "the white album." >> on the beatles album, "the white album," there are ballads, sound experiments by lennon. there are soft sounds, hard songs, instrumentals. she does a very similar thing in that essay, which i find profound. and also, it took ten years, you couldn't make a cohesive narrative about the times, because the times weren't cohesive. so she found a way to make a verbal record of the times. >> i am talking here about a time when i began to doubt the premises of all the stories i have ever told myself. >> brown: and she also published the acclaimed novels, "play it as it lays," and "a book of common prayer." her life was marked by two tragedies:

in the span of two years, she lost her husband and closest literary confidant, fellow writer john gregory dunne; and then their daughter, quintana roo dunne. she chronicled those shattering losses with a clarity that illuminated truths within the fog of grief: first in "the year of magical thinking"-- which won the national book award in 2005 and was a pulitzer prize finalist; and later, "blue nights," in 2011. i spoke with her about that book, and her writing process. >> you could say that was a form of healing, but that's not the form most people depend on. >> brown: do you think of writing as a way of keeping emotional distance, or not? >> of course you do. it's both a way of keeping a distance, and a way of getting close. there's certain things that, that only by living through them, do you learn to live through them. >> brown: and what about understanding them, through

writing about them? >> through writing about them, that's how you start to understand them. >> brown: president barack obama awarded didion the national medal of arts and humanities in 2013. >> somebody like joan didion, who rightly has earned distinction as one of the most celebrated american wrirs of her generation-- decades into her career, she remains one of our sharpest and most respected observers of american politics and culture. >> brown: joan didion died from complications of parkinson's disease. she was 87 years old. and joining me now is griffin dunne, joan didion's nephew, an actor, filmmaker, and director of the 2017 documentary, "joan didion: the center will not hold." thank you so much for joining us, and first we send condolences to you and to your family. i want to start with a famous joan didion line, it's the beginning of the essay "the

white album." she says, we tell ourselves stories in order to live. it's a model of her writing. is it also how she saw her life? >> completely. you know, she wrote to find out what she thought. the magical thinking was her delving in grief, you know, and it was the first gnostic book about grief, that she had no intention of it meaning so much to so many people who had lost their loved ones, but that turned out to be the case. she -- you know, she had to figure out what she felt about things, and it was a relationship between her and the typewriter, that was her dictum

from her earlsiest wryings even at "vogue." >> reporter: and the writing itself, there's a joan didion style that generations of journalists and writers have studied, emulated. how do you describe what she was doing in her writing? >> well, it was clearly sparse. she had a distinctive point of view that was rather controversial at the time be it about feminism or the central park five that the rest of the media, it took them a while to catch up to. she had her own voice, her own particular perspective on life, on culture, on media, on politics that -- and heard a voice th other people, it took

a while for them to catch on to. and, so, her perspective was entirely unique, and greatly appreciated, you know, in time by her fans. >> reporter: well, what about personally? what was she like and how much was her life tied to her writing? >> very much. you know, she would -- one of her most famous essays, when she and her husband john gregory dunne, you know, were having marital problems, that was her material. at the time she was writing for the "satu"saturday evening postd alternately with john, one week john, the other week john, and

she was considering a divorce so she wrote about it and took the copy and handed it to john, who edited it. so, you know, life was her material. that was how she wrote. >> reporter: as someone who knew her and then did the documentary, how do you see her legacy? what is it you want people watching this to remember about her? >> well, i have to tell you, today is -- today has been incredible. there's just been so much love that has come about her toward me, you know, and from her fans

and the media -- sorry. >> reporter: it's okay. i think she will be remembered for all time. her readership has just grown. i'm so proud i was able to make that documentary. it brought a whole new readership, a whole new generation of young people to her work, and, you know, her legacy will be as a woman from the -- with a strong point of view, who came from the west, ancestors were, you know, homesteaders, and her strength carries on. >> reporter: griffin dunne, on the life and legacy of joan didion. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. >> woodruff: and deep condolences to joan didion's

family, and thank you for that interview, jeffery and mr. dunne. and that's the "newshour" for tonight. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online, and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> for5 years, consumer cellular has been offering no-contract wireless plans, designed to help people do more of what they like. our u.s.-based customer service team can help find a plan that fits you. to learn more, visit www.consumercellular.tv. >> johnson & johnson. >> bnsf railway. >> financial services firm >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. >> fidelity wealth management.

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hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour and company," here's what's coming up. >> look, i want to get things done. i still think there's a possibility of getting build back better done. >> president biden fights to keep his signature piece of legislation alive after senator manchin leaves it hanging by a thread. i'll ask patrick gaspard of the center for american progress if a build back better deal is still possible. then, as concerns over an invasion into ukraine reach a fever pitch, the u.s. and russia agree to a first round of meetings in the new year. could deescalation be on the horizon. we dive into moscow's complicated relationship with nato. plus. there's nothing that says that work has