captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: >> it's been a year of challenges, but it's also been a year of enormous progress. >> woodruff: one year in. president biden defends his administration's track record amid worsening approval ratings and a host of setbacks, one year after his inauguration. then, ballot battle. the democrats' push for voting rights legislation faces stiff opposition in the evenly-divided u.s. senate. then, on edge. the secretary of state reassures ukraine of u.s. support, but warns, russia could launch an attack at any moment. 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. >> consumer cellular. >> johnson & johnson. >> financial services firm raymond james.

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at aarathon news conference, on everything from soaring inflation, to the stalemate on voting rights legislation, to americans' anxiety over omicron. it was his first formal meeting with the press in ten months. geoff bennett joins me now to discuss where the president's agenda stands, and what remains to be accomplished. so, hello, jeff, let's talk about what the president had to say. what kind of assessment is he giving himself? >> well, the president, judy, in talking about the past year said that it has been one of challenges but, as he put it, one of enormous progress, the president citing the pace of covid vaccinations, rising wages, also an uptick in job growth. but he said in assessing the administration's setbacks of his first year in office that he failed to fully grasp the level of republican pushback he would encounter. take a look at this. >> i did not anticipate that there would be such a stalwart

effort to make sure that the most important thing was that president biden didn't get anything done. think about this-- what are republicans for? what are they for? name me one thing they're for? and so, the problem here is that, i think what's happened, what i have to do is a change of tactic, if you will. i have to make clear to the american people, what we are for. we pass a lot! we pass a lot of things, that people don't even understand what's all in it, >> reporter: later in the press conference the president was asked why did he fail to get a better sense of republican pushback given he was president obama's v.p. for eight years and president biden said the level of republican obstructionism hat changed dramatically. looking at year two and beyond, the president said he intends to get more into if country, talking more to the american people about how his policies

and agenda items can benefit everyday americans, judy. >> woodruff: jeff, we saw the president wasle also also asked about the fate of voting rights legislation being debated in the senate this evening. what did he say about seeing any path forward there? >> well, he seemed to suggest that democrats might be able to carve a path forward by breaking out elements of the john lewis voting rights act and the freedom to vote act into individual stand-alone bills, for instance, making election day a national holiday, just having senators vote on that specific thing, you know, same-day voter registration, and seeing if they had any success by breaking parts of those bills out and passing them separately, that remains to be seen. but the president was also asked, in the absence of significant voting rights legislation, can the american ople feel that elections in this country will continue to be free and fair. here's his response.

>> it all depends on whether or not we are able to make the case to the american people that some of this is set up to alter the outcome of the election. >> and the president also nodded to what is at this point a very early effort among the bipartisan group of lawmakers to rewrite the electoral reform act. the president suggested they might have some success there as well, judy. >> woodruff: and, geoff, we know the president was also talking about the economy. he said that he has created under his leadership 6 million new jobs in america, but he also said he knows that inflation is something he needs to get under control. what did he say about how he plans to do that? >> he yeah, and he acknowledged the pain that so many americans are feeling, given that inflation has risenome 7% since just last month. and, so, he talked about the tools in his toolbox that he has available to him to address this

issue -- fed policy, fixing the supply chain, and he also said that he wants to pass parts of his build back better agenda. take a look. >> there's a lot we have to do. >> it's going to be painful for a lot of people in the meantime. that's why the single best way to take the burden off middle class and working class folks is to pass the build back better piece-- that are things that they're paying a lot of money for now. if you get to trade off higher gases, opening up with higher price of hamburger and gas, versus whether or not you're going to be able to pay for education and/or childcare-- it's like, i think most people would make the trade. their bottom line would be better in middle class households. but it's going to be hard, and it's going to take a lot of work.

president also made news in that press conference. he suggested a path forward to the build back better agenda was to break that down into specific stand-alone bills and try to pass those as stand-alone elements -- universals pre-k, free community college, all those agenda items that as he sees it will expand the social safety net, judy. >> woodruff: jeff, this was -- gev, this was as we said a marathon press conference. it went on almost two hours. i think we'll be dissecting what he had to say well into tomorrow. >> i think that's certainly the case. the thing i'm particularly interested in seeing is the way this president and the white house changes their messaging strategy, how they intend to really brag about all the things they see they've accomplished in this past year. the president really tried to reframe the work that he and so many of the white house officials and cabinet officials have done not just on covid but on the economy and relly changing the economy generally

as they so often say, this white house, to make the economy work for working people. judy. >> woodruff: all right, geoff bennett reporting on this news conference today. thank you very much. >> sure. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, the biden administration is making 400 million n-95 masks available to the public for free, starting next week. today's announcement said they will be available at pharmacies and community health centers. and, new mexico became the first state to ask national guard troops to serve as substitute teachers, to keep schools open. u.s. supreme court justices sonia sotomayor and neil gorsuch are denying a reported rift over wearing a mask. today, in a rare statement,

they said, "it is false. while we may sometimes disagree about the law, we are warm colleagues and friends." the justices specifically denied that sotomayor-- a diabetic-- asked gorsuch to mk up. npr had reported that she joined oral arguments remotely because gorsuch was not masked. it did not say she asked him to wear one. npr said today that it stands by its story. demoats in the u.s. senate pushed again this evening for voting rights legislation-- but republicans moved again to block it. democrats claimed that new state voting laws smack of jim crow segregation. two black senators-- south calina republican tim scott and new jersey democrat cory booker-- clashed on that point. >> to have a conversation and a narrative that is blatantly false is offensive-- not just to me, or southern americans, but offensive to

millions of americans who fought, bl, and died for the right to vote. so, if we're going to have an honest conversation about the right to vote, let's engage in that based on the facts of the laws that are being passed. >> don't lecture me about jim crow. i know this is not 1965. that's what makes me so outraged. it's 2022, and they are blatantly removing more polling places from the counties where blacks and latinos are over-represented. i'm not making that up. that is a fact. >> woodruff: democrats also called for rules changes to let a simple majority prevail, but that, too, appeared to have

no chance. we'll return to this, after the summary. in afghanistan, the taliban urged foreign governments to recognize their regime, and loosen restrictions on economic aid. the appeal came today at an economic conference in kabul. meanwhile, a u.n. labor organization reported that more than 500,000 afghans have lost their jobs since the taliban took control. an islamic militant in indonesia was convicted today of hiding information about the 2002 bali bombings, and sentenced to 15 years in prison. arif sunarso had eluded capture for 18 years, before he was caught in late 2020. prosecutors said that he belonged to a group blamed for bombing two bali night spots. the attacks killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists. new information from tonga confirms severe damage on several islands from saturday's volcano eruption. a ship reached parts of the pacific nation, and reports that 50-foot tsunami waves wiped out nearly every home on three islands. in response, new zealand has

sent two ships with supplies and a de-salination plant to provide clean water to thousands. >>or the people of tonga, we're heading their way now with a whole lot of water. the ship can hold-- currently holds over 250,000 liters of water, and we'll be able to provide that once we arrive. and every day thereafter, we're going to be producing another 70,000 liters of water. >> woodruff: the ships will reach tonga by friday. back in this country, new york state's attorney general has laid out evidence that the trump organization exaggerated assets to win loans and tax breaks. it is in a court filing aimed at forcing compliance with subpoenas. it says, in one case, the company claimed the trump penthouse in new york was nearly three times its actual size. the trump organization rejected the allegations. >> the supreme court rejected president trump's request to

block release of white house documents sought by the house january 6th committee. on wreath today, on wall street today, interest jitters sent major stock indexes down again, by 1% or more. the dow jones industrial average lost 339 points to close at 35,028. the nasdaq fell 167 points. the s&p 500 dropped 44. and, women's basketball pioneer lusia harris has died in her native mississippi. in 1977, she became the only woman ever officially drafted by the n.b.a. she declined because she was pregnant. in college, harris led delta state to three national championships. in 1976, she scored the first points in women's olympic basketball. lusia harris was 66 years old. still to come on the newshour: the university of michigan reaches a major sexual abuse settlement with more than 1,000 former athletes.

why airlines are warning that 5g technology could cause havoc at airports. the life and legacy of the late fashion journalist andré leon talley. plus, much more. >> woodruff: tonight on capitol hill, a vote some democrats have waited years to hold, on whether to advance a voting rights bill in the senate. but, with republicans ready to block it, democrats are also poised to vote on whether to change the senate's rules. to help us get a sense of where things are stand right now, i'm joined by our congressional correspondent, lisa desjardins. so, lisa, remind us of what democrats are trying to do here and what political waves this has been causing. >> reporter: as you say, judy,

the ultimate goal for democrats is to pass voting rights legislation a national standard for how we vote across this country. we know they don't have the votes for that. so what they are also trying to do is to try to change senate rules to allow voting rights to go through via something called the talking filibuster. here's a reminder of what they want on the table, and we expect in today or tomorrow. the idea from democrats is to force senators who want to block the voting rights bill to stand and talk their way through the talking filibuster. it would mean the debate could be very long, but it could also mean that a final majority vote would happen once every senator who poses a bill finished speaking. to pass that rules change, however, judy, they need all 50 of their democrats on board, and we know that at least one of them jrt joe manchin is not and very likely another senator kyrsten sinema of arizona also opposes changing the rules by a

partisan majority. both senators are experiencing backlash from fellow democrats including political serious consequences including for kyrsten sinema. she's had endorsements withdrawn in the last day one include ug from the group emily's list who said sinema's decision to reject the voices of allies, partners and constituents believes voting rights outweighs that of an arcane process will finned herself standing alone in the next election. for those supporting the rules change, there's a risk as well for some who might have tough elections this year, that might not be a popular like senator hagy hasson of -- maggie hasson. republicans are more than happy for democrats tget on the record. >> woodruff: what is next for

democrats. >> reporter: >> reporter: let's take you through some of what geoff reported about. this is another critical period coming up. this is the voting rights discussion today, yesterday. if we want to look at a caldar also going possibly tomorrow. then what happens next, we've got about five weeks where the senate will be here and could try and work out a possible alternative to build back better. right after those five weeks, you will see at the end of it there is a deadline for government funding, on february 18. that deadline is important because, immediately after that, the senate is set to go on recess following that recess another very big date on march 1, president biden's state of the union address. obviously, he wants to have some part of the build back better agenda through tonight, following his press conference there looks like more doubts about the child tax credit.

the talks will continue. >> woodruff: lisa desjardins reporting on it all, thank you, lisa. >> reporter: you're welcome. >> woodruff: secretary of state antony blinken was in ukraine today to meet with their president and high command, as more than 100,000 russian troops remain deployed on ukraine's borders. in a moment, i'll speak with two u.s. senators who are just back from ukraine, to get their views, but first, nick schifrin brings us up to speed. >> hello, nice to meet you. >> so good to see you. >> schifrin: in kyiv today, ukraine's president volodymr zelensky and secretary of state anthony blinken met while staring down the barrel of a gun. >> today, there are some 100,000 russian soldiers near ukraine's borders, and in that sense the threat to ukraine is unprecedented. ( explosions ) >> schifrin: those soldiers are signaling escalation. this week, the russian defense

ministry released video of troops near ukraine's border practicing the urban warfare they would launch if they invaded. ♪ ♪ ♪ and now, russian tanks and russian troops are arriving in belarus to pomp and circumstance. belarus calls it a "surprise readiness check." a senior state department official says they arrived in the "guise of joint exercises potentially to attack ukraine." those troops could be launched from just 200 miles north of kyiv, joining what us intelligence has identified as four additional locations of russian troops surrounding ukraine's eastern border, for a total of 100,000. >> that gives president putin the capacity, also on very short notice, to take further aggressive action against ukraine. ♪ don't you want somebody to love! ♪ >> schifrin: ukraine's not feeling much love, but its military released a slick video granting russia no grace to a jefferson airplane soundtrack... ♪ you better find somebody to love! ♪

it shows off u.s.-made javelin anti-tank missiles that senior u.s. officials say are now deployed to key transit points. a senior state department official today said the u.s. would provide an additional $200 million of military assistance, on top to $450 million provided last fiscal year, and ongoing u.s. training of ukrainian forces. but, today on capitol hill, republicans urged the biden administration to send ukraine more military aid, and sanction russia, today. >> putin doesn't take this president-- they don't take his threats, and they certainly don't take his leadership seriously. >> president biden said the extent of sanctions will depend on russian actions. >> russia will be held accountable if it invades. depends on what it does. one thing if it's a minor incursion and we end up having a fight about what to do and not to do if they continue to use cyber efforts. well, we can respond the same way with cyber.

> >> schifrin: but while the enemy's at the gates, some ukrainian guns are pointed inward. former president and current opposition candidate petro poroshenko rallied supporters in kyiv. the sitting government accuses him of treason and funding terrorism-- accusations the west believes are politically motivated. blinken today urged unity. >> don't let moscow divide you. >> schifrin: but zelensky suggested the u.s. didn't know what it was talking about. >> ( translated ): your intelligence is excellent, but you are far overseas, and we are here, and i think we know some things a little bit deeper about our state. >> schifrin: meanwhile, in russia today, deputy foreign minister sergei ryabkov told a forum, moscow posed no threat. >> we will not attack, strike, invade, quote-unquote, whatever, ukraine. >> schifrin: on friday, blinken will meet with russian foreign minister sergei lavrov, hoping

to forestall an invasion that, despite russian claims, many fear is inevitable. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> woodruff: secretary blinken's trip comes just days after a bipartisan congressional delegation went to kyiv. their goal was to show american solidarity with president zelensky, even though u.s. lawmakers disagree on the best strategy for combating president putin. i'm now joined by the leaders of that delegation: democratic senator jeanne shaheen of new hampshire, and republican rob portman of ohio. >> woodruff: i spoke with them ter president biden's news conference was starting. senators shaheen and portman, thank you very much for joining us. senator shaheen, two americans who are right now preoccupied with covid and a number of things at home, explain why it should matter to them if russian troops go into ukraine. >> well, we don't want to see a reprisal of the cold war and,

unfortunately, that's what we've begun to see with vladimir putin. and the fact is, if he does invade ukraine, it would be the worst conflict on europe since world war ii. that's not good for our allies and it's not good for america. we want to see ukrainians, like americans and other democracies, have the opportunity to determine their own futures, and we do not want to give vladimir putin and russia a veto power over what happens in ukraine in the future. >> woodruff: but, senator portman, if the united states is not prepared to send troops of its own into ukraine, which is what bipartisan leaders is saying is not in the cards, how are the american people to understand why this is a priority for them? >> first of all, the cause of freedom is being fought all over the world but no place more than ukraine. you have a country sovereign, part of europe. they kicked out russian-backed

authoritarian government and they said we want to be a democracy, we want to follow free markets, we want to be like america and western europe, and, so, now, unfortunately, vladimir putin is surrounding them with this massive force that is causing a huge threat to this cause of freedom. so it's not just about ukraine, it's about destabilizing all of europe, but it's also about countries all over the world that are watching this, both other authoritarian regimes that are thinking about what they might do in terms of taking over another country's territory and, of course, countries around the world who are wondering is the united states and the free world going to stand up. >> woodruff: senator shaheen, what more can the united states do? republicans are saying as we heard from senator portman, send more aid in now, do more to train the ukrainian troops. i mean, what more can be done? >> well, we want to continue to show the ukrainians and vladimir putin that we are united, we are

united in congress in trying to make sure that we provide the support ukrainians need and, also, that we point out to putin what the threat of sanctions is should he take action. >> woodruff: senator portman, some of your republican colleagues are calling for harsher sanctions on vladimir putin himself right now. how do you know, though, that that wouldn't embolden him even more, make him angry, more determined to go into ukraine? >> well, he's already built up this massive force, over 100,000 troops surrounding ukraine, more troops and heavy armments going every day, and that's with no provocation, so i agree with senator shaheen, we need to work with our allies to provide the military assistance ukraine needs to defend itself, and we're starting to do that more, and, second, we need to be absolutely sure that the russians and vladimiputin know that, if they should invade again -- remember, they invaded ukraine already and took crimea

hand took ukrainian territory in donbas, but if they do it there will be devastating sanctions. and last week was the timing to have the sanction also. >> woodruff: senator rick scott of florida was saying today that president biden has been appeasing president putin and that president biden needs to grow a backbone. >> well, we are where we are. there may have been some things we could have done earlier, but we are providing lethal defensive weapons. again, the president has just chosen to spend another $200 million, 16 million last year in congress, i think we will appropriate additional funds and i think there's also unanimity around sanctions should something happen. >> woodruff: senator shaheen, again, i hear you saying there's unity, but do you also agree with the republican criticism that president biden should have done more sooner? >> i think the administration has been very engaged with

ukraine and, asresident biden told us this morning, when we had a classified call with the members of the delegation who went to ukraine, he was the one during the obama administration who worked with ukraine, who went in, who tried very hard to make sure that we did more at the to hold russia accountable. so i think he understands very clearly what's happening. that's why all the members of the state department have been in ukraine, wendy sherman, secretary of state en was there and why the president was very interested in hearing what we learned when we were in ukraine earlier this week. >> the fact is there are several sanctions bills in the senate right now, one of which would put personal sanctions on vladimir putin as well as other members of the military there i.

i think we ought to be able to work out some compromise that allows us to make clear what the threat is should putin take any action, and i think there are ways in which we can -- we can proved additional aid, additional lethal weapons that can show the ukrainians and russians that we are intent on doing everything we can to deter this aggression and to hold them accountable should putin go into ukraine. >> woodruff: well, with the two of you standing there together, i can't miss this opportunity to ask you both, finally, about one other thing and that is what's on the floor of the u.s. senate right now, that's voting rights. your two parties are on opposite sides of this issue. i just wonder from each one of you, what would you say to the other one about why they are wrong and why you are right. the issues are divided.

senator portman. >> i think it's been a big mistake for us to spend the last week including today on something that frankly isn't going anywhere anyway, it's a political exercise, we know that. it is basically saying to the american people that elections don't really matter because they're so corrupt or that there's so much voter suppression. that's just not true. many of the same democrats who criticized republicans of questioning the results of the elections because of fraud and therefore drawing into question the legitimacy of the election are now doing the same thing by saying somehow democracy is in crisis because we have all this voter suppression and then, finally, because democrats are doing this in an entirely partisan way, they have no republican support. they have a couple of democrats who aren't supporting it because what they want to do is change the rules of the senate, that is the one thing that keeps the senate from being not even more partisan, which is called the legislative filibuster, which just means you have to have 60 rather than 50 votes.

without that one rule in place, the senate would become far more partisan. >> woodruff: senator shaheen, you hear senator portman saying this was the wrong way to do it, it's partisan, it's wrong-headed, it's hurting the country. what do you say? >> well, i think we could all agree that the elections in 2020 were record turnout, even donald trump's own head of elections and homeland security said they were the safest, securest elections in history, and that's where the differences lie because what we've seen in 19 states, over 30 states that are considering changing their election lws in responseo the big lie that donald trump actually won that last eleion, is what the issue is. in new hampshire, i'm very worried about our republican-controlled

legislure that is unwinding many of the reforms in election laws that have taken place over the last two to three decades. they are trying to prevent young people from voting, that has been struck down once, already, and the supreme court in new hampshire and they're trying again. they are gerrymandering congressional districts in the state as well as state senate districts. so this is really -- i agree with senator portman that we ought to be able to work together, but, unfortunately, in an effort to try and address what's happening in states across the country to restrict voting, there has been real reluctance on the part of our republican colleagues to work with us. lisa murkowski has signed on to the john lewis voting rights act but she's the on republican who's been willing to do that. >> woodruff: well, we couldn't leave the two of you without asking you about it, and it's a reminder that, yes, there are issues that the two parties work

together on but this is one where you relane profoundly apart. we cannot thank you enough. senator jeanne shaheen of new hampshire, senator rob portman of ohio, thank you very much. >> thank you, judy. >> woodruff: one year into president biden's tenure, we are taking stock of where some of his key campaign commitments stand. even before taking office, mr. biden called climate change an existential crisis, and he promised to take historic action. amna nawaz joins me now to look at what he has done so far. hello, amna. so we know this is a huge issue. tell us how he's delivering on it. >> reporter: that's right, judy. it's a massive issue. climate change is clearly now a climate crisis. so to better assess how

president biden has done in year one to address it, we're going to take a look at four key commitments he made. number one, he has promised to develop a clean energy economy. also to build more resilient communities to reestablish america's global leadership on this issue and to work towards environmental justice. so, judy, this is not a comprehensive list but illustrative of some of his key commitments. >> woodruff: so let's take these one by one, starting with this clean energy economy. how has he done specifically on that? >> reporter: tt's right, judy. well, it's a massive, ambitious goal, the president's goal of hitting net zero carbon emissions by 2050. let's take a look back. here's how he framed it when he was talking about it in july 2020. >> we also know that transforming the american electrical sector to produce power without producing carbon pollution and electrifng an increased share of our economy will be the greatest spurring of job creation and economic

competitiveness in the 21st century. >> reporter: so he has taken some action on this front and with clean car transportation is the single largest of emissions. he signed in his first week in office an executive order to electrify the entire government vehicle fleet which is about 650,000 cars. he secured $15 million in that bipartisan infrastructure package for electric vehicle charging stations and to electrify public transit. and just last month the administration put into place the most ambitious car mileage standards yet through 2026, but meeting that emissions goal, judy, a lot of that hinges on this build back better plan moving forward. why? well, we put that question to dr. aleah stokes, professor -- leah stokes. >> that bill will make it way more affordable for everyday americans to buy an electric vehicle, and it will also make

sure that those electric vehicles are increasingly built in union shops. with the build back better act, we will have a fighting chance to cut carbon pollution at the pace and scale that's necessary and tackle the climate crisis. >> reporter: first, judy, we know that build back better plan has been stalled, negotiations continue, but experts say, without it, it will be very hard for biden to meet those emissions goals. >> woodruff: so movingn, what about the impact of climate change on communities? we know last year was what one of the worst ever in terms of climate change affecting natural disasters. how is the president doing in terms of making communities more resilient. >> reporter: judy, this is actually a rare area of bipartisan cooperation and work moving forward and that's because the devastation and damage from all those frequent extreme weather events is undeniable -- hurricanes, flash floods, wildfires, so on. so the president has helped secure funds to help mitigate some of the worst impacts in communities. when you look at that, that's part of the bipartisan

infrastructure bill. $47 billion going to moving highways out of flood zones, grants for wildfire prone communities and water storage in drought affected areas. >> woodruff: moving, amna, to the third promise, that is recommitting to global leadership on climate. how has he done there? >> reporter: so, judy, remember, day one in office president biden reentered that paris climate accord which sent a strong signal. but on the campaign trail he planned to go further especially in places like china. here's biden in september 2020. >> i'll bring us back into the paris agreement. i'll put us back in the business of leading the world on climate change, and i'll challenge every other country to up the ante on

climate commitments. >> reporter: so, judy, late last year, the president attended the big climate summit in glasgow. he slammed chinese president for not attending and the two countries, u.s. and china, the world's two biggest polluters ended up signing an agreement experts said was big on ambition but short on specifics. a mixed record on that front. >> woodruff: finally, amna, as you mentioned, the president talked as a candidate about putting equity at the center of all of his policies. how has he done when it comes to equity and the environment and climate change? >> reporter: yeah, judy, the key part is study after study has shown, look, people of color do tend to live and be exposed to higher levels of pollution than any other members of the population, and president biden has made that essential part of his policies. in fact, in flint, michigan, before election day, he talked about just that. >> the impacts on climate are too often falling

disprortionately on poor communities and communities of color. we're going to make sure communities benefit from the ndreds of billions of federal investment in infrtructure and climate change. >> reporter: so president biden had pldged $45 billion to replace every single lead pipe in the country. he ended up getting $15 billion in that infrastructure bill, whicis less than he wanted but still way more than previous administrations, and we asked a man named reverend edward pinkney about that from a town called benton harbor in michigan where they have been dealing with contaminated water three years. here's what he said. >> in most cases, by this being a, really a black community, we don't get stuff done here. i have to applaud the president because what he has done-- he let us know that he's willing. he's willing to do what needs to be done to make sure that our communities of color have all the tos they need to be successful. >> reporter: the reverend says

that the e.p.a. officials from the biden administration have been in touch with s community regularly and in constant communication. he says he's happy with the progress, now that we know 3 billion of the 15 billion has been making its way out into the community b, and the the biden administration still says they think they can meet that goal to replace those lead pipes within a decade. judy, those are some specific examples but big picture will take a lot for president biden to see through his climate agenda. he's going to need congress to follow through on the build back better plan and the courts not to get in his way and do it quickly. judy. >> woodruff: so important to go back and look at all of this. it's not in the news every day. amna nawaz, thank you very much. >> woodruff: the university of michigan has reached a $490 million settlement with former athletes and students who

say they were sexually abused over decades by a long-time university physician. a warning, that some may find this story disturbing. john yang has the story. >> yang: judy, dr. robert anderson worked at the university of michigan for nearly 40 years, beginning in 1966 until he retired in 2003. he died in 2008. last year, a university- commissioned investigation concluded that anderson “engaged in a pervasive, decades-long destructive pattern of sexual misconduct,” and that “the trauma that dr. anderson's misconduct caused persists to this day.” the report also found that the abuse was an open secret among students. more than 1,000 survivors of anderson's misconduct, most of them men, will share in the settlement. david jesse is the higher education reporter for the "detroit free press," and has written about this story # david, thank you so much for being with us. i think that this extensively.

case may be less known to our viewers than, say, the larry nasar case at michigan state. so can you give us a sense of the scope of dr. anderson's misconduct and sort of what he did, according to the reports? >> so dr. anderson, like you said, was at the university for 40 years. he started and worked in the health services for the broad campus. he also was the team doctor for the football team. he did physicals for football team members, wrestlers, all sorts of athletes. over the course of the four decades, he saw thousands and thousands and thousands of students and about a thousand so far have come forward to say they were sexually assaulted that when they went to him for routine physicals or because their elbow was hurting or kind of those retown deep things, that they had unnecessary exams of them and actually were sexually assaulted.

>> reporter: and the report said the students -- this was sort of an open secret among the students. they actually had a nickname for him. >> that's right. >> reporter: what's known about what administrators and coaches knew? >> well, we've heard one wrestler came to the athletic director in the '70s and said that this was going on, that he had been sexually assaulted. the athletic director, at that point, swept it under the rug, actually pulled the scholarship of the wrestler. we've heard from multiple other former football players who said they reportt. bo shall be becker the football coach said his son was assaulted and told his dad about it. there's a pattern of men coming forward saying the administration gnaw about this and did nothing and let it keep on going. >> reporter: the investigation talk about the effects this abuse started on students while at the university, they needed to get counseling, some

questioned their sexuality, their academics hurt. but in terms of the depositions and interviews, what do we know about how it affected the survivors of this abuse later in their lives. >> so we've heard from people like chuck christian, a former football player, who was sexually assaulted by anderson, who going forward had this deep distrust of going to the doctor, he didn't want to go becausee equated that pain and shame of going to the doctor with what had happened to him when he went. so he didn't go. now he has cancer and it's pretty far along the stages and he says, look, this could have been caught if i would have just gone to the doctor, but i wasn't going to because i wasn't going to go through that experience again. we've heard from a number of these athletes who said the same thing. >> reporter: sexual abuse is often a tale of power imbalance. what power did he have over these students and these student athletes? >> he had the power for playing time. he could say, yep, they're

healed up, put them back in, coach. he had the power of scholarships, of saying, you know, they're not paying attention, they're not healed, they're injured, you don't want them here, they're not obeying, so he held the careers of these athletes right in his hands. >> reporter: you covered the larry nasar case at michigan state. how to they compare. >> the cases are similar. a large amount of people who were assaulted, both by doctors who used that trust that they have. think about you going to the doctor, you trust that your doctor is looking out for you and when they say what they're doing to you is what needs to be done, you go along with that. as far as the settlements, michigan state university paid the nasar victims $500 million, and in this case university of michigan is paying $490 million. so pretty close. >> reporter: david david of the detroit free press, thank you very much. >> thanks for having me.

>> woodruff: verizon and at&t are forging ahead with their plan to switch to new high speed 5g service nationwide-- but with an important exception near u.s. airports and runways. those exceptions were made yesterday because of fears of that the new technology could interfere with plane technology and potentially impact landings. science correspondent miles o'brien is here to unpack it all for us. hello, miles, to you. tell us exactly what is the problem here. >> reporter: hello, judy. the device in question is called a radar altimeter, a device on an airliner which gives pilots very price information of their relative distance to the ground the closer they get to it.

it's crucial during the landing phase in bad weather and without it we couldn't have the proverbial safe landing on that dark and stormy night. so, anytime the aviation industry gets word of something getting close to that piece of the spectrum where this device operates, they get nervous and that's what led to this fight. >> woodruff: miles, we know this was supposed to have been resolved some time ago. the two federal agencies involved, the fcc, federal communications commission, and the f.a.a., the federal aviation authority, are at different places here. what's happened? why hasn't it been resolved? >> the aviation community says this is a big problem, and the communication industry says that the aviation industry is focused on worst case scenarios that are improbable. well, that's what the aviation industry does. so there's a clash of cultures

here. the concerns are potentially real. these frequencies tend to spill outside of their lanes, and it's very important that there are specific filters on the devices so they don'pick up stray signals, giving bad indications to the pilots. >> woodruff: so, i mean, you think about all this, surely the f.a.a. considered all this as they were moving forward. >> well, the f.a.a. was considering it, but the f.c.c. was pushing as well and it was a little bit of a game of chicken to see who was going to fix the problem. would the transmitters on the ground be modified in some fashion, the power reduce, antennas reaimed, bubbles around airport, or would the airlines have to fix all their radar altimeters so the obsolete ones are no longer in the fleet which are the ones that might cause trouble? >> woodruff: miles, given all this, what do we expect to happen here? can tey resolve this so that

airlines, the f.a.a. feels comfortable and 5g goes forward? >> it can be done. 40 countries have done this and what this compromise was announced is a lot like what has occurred in europe and elsewhere, providing lower transmission power, directing the antennas, creating corridors for runways, all of that is in the compromise, so that will stay in place for a while, until such time as the aviation fleet gets upgraded with radar altimeters that aren't likely to be fooled by 5g. so this problem will work itself out over time. the compromise will probably be here for a while as it takes a while for this eqipment to be retired. >> woodruff: well, it sounds complicated, but i know first and foremost people who fly on passenger airliners or anybody who gets in a plane wants to be sure they're safe. >> absolutely. and that is uppermost here and

obviously the aviation industry doesn't want to be in a position where something like this causes an accident particularly in the wake of the problems in the 737 max scenario where the f.a.a. was accused of not being aggressive nuff identifying a safety issue. in this case, they're out in front of it, the compromise is in place, and people can feel safe flying or the foreseeable future. >> woodruff: miles o'brien reporting on all things aviation for us. thank you, miles. >> you're welcome, judy. >> woodruff: andré leon talley, the towering former creative director and editor at large of "vogue" magazine, has died. he had a front row seat to fashion shows around the wld, and provided his readers a lens into that world through his writing.

jeffrey brown has our appreciation of talley, as part of our arts and culture series, "canvas." >> brown: at six foot six, andée leon talley cut a large figure-- and wore it well. and he had a major impact on the world of fashion. >> he had tremendous clout and influence. >> brown: robin givhan, senior critic at large for the "washington post," has long covered the fashion industry. >> andré leon talley was really a rare creature in the fashion industry, because of the status that he had when he was at "vogue." he was creative director. and that is a position that, in reality, no other black person has held at american "vogue.” >> brown: born in 1948, talley was raised in north carolina by his grandmother. he spoke of getting a first taste of style from her as they attended church. talley went on to study french literature at north carolina central university,

before receiving a master's degree at brown. he spoke in the 2018 documenta“" the gospel according to andré.” >> i did not know who exactly i was-- i was beming. but i did get out of the jim crow south. brown gave me a freedom, a liberation-- it propelled me into the world that i know. >> brown: an apprenticeship at the metropolitan museum of art brought him to new york, and first encounters with the fashion indust. >> this is andré leon talley, reporting live from paris. >> brown: he would go on to work at magazines, including "interview" and "women's wear daily," where he was paris bureau chief, before serving as creative director at "vogue" magazine. he was a fixture on the fashion scene, a regular at runway shows. and he was also a rare black editor in a largely white world. >> you don't get up and say, "look, i'm black and i'm proud." you just do it, and somehow it impacts the culture. >> brown: he's spoken out about the racism and anti-gay bigotry he faced along the way.

>> people have said many bad things about me. they used to call me queen kong. i was like an ape. i was a gay ape queen kong. but i had to move on-- i had to get on with my career. >> brown: a student of fashion history, he was known for pling with that history-- as in a reworking of “gone with the wind" in the pages of "vanity fair." he was also known as an enthusiastic champion of designers he liked. here, at the exhibition“ black fashion designers,” in new york in 2016. >> you have a plethora and a rainbow of success based on innate quality and innate technique. these people taught themselves. they had dreams and they put their dreams in their fashion. >> i honestly don't know that i have-- i've come across anyone who could be as effusive in their praise for something that they really admired or they really found, you know, took pride in. and, you know, he was someone who i think was in a really challenging position for a long

time, which is, he was such a unique character and he had he occupied such a high status, but at the same time, he was only one person. >> brown: today, tributes poured in that spoke to his influence as a role model. robin givhan defines his legacy this way: >> i think that every time andré took another step forward, he cleared the path a little bit more; he opened the door a little bit farther, so that a few more people could-- could step through. i mean, i think every time he defied a stereotype, he made the fashion industry that much more inclusive. brown: andré leon talley died yesterday in white plains, new york. he was 73 years old. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown.

>> woodruff: all the more remarkable because he faced obstacles throughout his life beginning with his childhood. and that's 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: >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of no-contract plans, and our u.s.-based customer service team can help find one that fits you. to learn more, visit www.consumercellular.tv. >> fidelity wealth management. >> johnson & johnson. >> bnsf railway. >> financial services firm raymond james. >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide.

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♪ ♪ >> hello, everyone. welcome to "amanpour & company." here's what's coming up. >> the risk over conflict is real. >> with rising signs of russia's intent to invade, ukraine puts its former president on trial for treason, petro por shefrpg on joins us on what it's like to face off with adversaries at home and abroad. plus -- >> i was drowning in agony and grief along with sarah, my wife and the rest of our family, and i thought i might never recover from it. >> in a matter of weeks he lost his son to suicide, survived the capitol insurrection and led impeachment proceedings against donald trump. now congressman jamie rask