judy: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, the specter of war. russia -- russia initiates massive military drills along ukraine'sb -- ukraine'so borderrd nation. >> then presidential papers, congressional committee lunch is an investigation into documents recovered om mar-a-lago and whether former president trump attempted to destroy government records. and in peril, the loss of seagrass and environmental collapse leads to an unprecedented number of manatees dying off the coast of florida. >> one year of an evenlike this is really concerning. but if this continues it, it could be catastrophic for the population.

judy: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by. >> fidelity dedicated advisors are here to help you create a wealth plan. planning focused on tomorrow, while you focus on today. >> consumer cellular. bnsf railway the kendeda fund

carnegie corporation of new york and with the ongoingupport of these individuals and institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers le you. thank you. stephanie: i'm stephanie xi would newshour west payment we will return to the full program after that latest headlines.

there is fresh evidence on just about inflation has gotten in the u.s. consumer prices in january jumped 7.5% from a year earlier. that's the biggest one-year increase since 1982, with no sign of a let-up, any time soon. lawmakers from both parties pointed to the numbers today, with an eye toward the november elections. >> democratic policies have created an inflation riptide that is forcing families and small businesses to swim as fast as they possibly can just to avoid getting sucked out to sea. >> we're just coming out of a pandemic but i still think that we need to start doing some things in a positive way to lower inflation. we did it with the bipartisan infrastructure deal. we did it with the rescue plan. stephanie: also today, 30 year home mortgage rates hit their highest point in two years at nearly 3.7%. president biden is stepping up his warnings to americans to leave ukraine, immediately. a state department advisory late

today cited the risk of russian military action, as moscow stages exercises in neighboring belarus. and, in an nbc news interview, the president said, quote, things could go crazy quickly. we'll take a closer look at ukraine, after the news summary. the biden administration urged canada today to put an end to truck blockades along the northern border, protesting government covid vaccine mandates. the ambassador bridge, linking detroit to windsor, ontario, stayed bottled up for a fourth day. a bridge at port huron, michigan was also blocked, and a border crossing in manitoba joined the list. truckers are still clogging central ottawa as well. supporters said today the government has to give way. >> if everyone here leaves and goes home, and everyone is a little bit happy, and everyone can go back to doing what they want to do, then we can start to have a civilized discussion about things. but until the band-aids and the restrictions are lifted, no one here is leaving.

this can go on for days, weeks, months. it doesn't matter. stephanie: the blockades in canada have sparked similar actions overseas. police in new zealand arrestd 120 people today outside parliament. in france, protesters waving canadian flags headed toward paris, despite threats of fines and prison time. back in this country, the cdc proposed to ease guidelines on how doctors prescribe opioid painkillers. since 2016, there've been strict limits on the drugs, in an effort to slow an overdose epidemic. the proposed changes would give doctors more leeway in treating patients with severe pain. the u.s. senate gave final approval today to ding forced arbitration in sual assault and harassment claims. instead, the bipartisan measure will allow accusers to go to court. democrat senator kirstin gillibrand of new york championed the bill. >> the arbitration process has not only allowed corporations to

hide sexual harassment and assault cases in this secretive and often biased process. but it has also shielded those who have committed serious misconduct from the public eye. so there's no accountability. and we know that sunlight is always the best disinfectant. stephanie: will speak with former fox news anchor gretchen carlson, who lobbied for the bill, later in the program. in texas, a new report finds abortions fell by 60% in september of last year, the first month under the state's new restrictive abortion law. the law bans abortions once cardiac activity is detected, usually around six weeks of pregnancy. texas health officials reported more than 5400 abortions in august, versus 2200 in state september. lawmakers in louisiana will investigate the death of a black man, ronald greene, in a violent encounter with white state police. officers originally said greene died in a crash in 2019. later, body camera video showed

the troopers beating him and using stun guns. electric auto maker tesla says it will fight a california state lawsuit accusing it of racial bias. the suit follows hundreds of complaints by black employees at tesla's factory in freemont. the complaints rangerom racial slurs to job discrimination. a federal judge in california restored federal protections for gray wolves today, across much of the nation. that reverses a move by the trump administration. wildlife advocates argued that without the curbs, hunting would sharply reduce gray wolf numbers. and at the winter olympics, last night american nathan chen's long program secured the gold medal in men's figure skating. defending gold medalist snowboarder chloe kim won the women's halfpipe. and tonight, three-time olympic champion shaun white will competing his final olympic event, the men's halfpipe, when he goes into the event and

underdog against younger snowboarders from australia and japan. still to come on the newshour. what ending forced arbitration for sexual assault claims could mean for survivors. we take a deeper look at the latest victories and controversies in the winter olympics. a new exhibition showcases art made of unconventional materials plus much more. >> this is the pbs newshour, and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: russian military drills that began today in belarus involve 30,000 troops and are expected to take place over 10 days. naval drills are also being conducted in the black sea. the exercises come as more than 100,000 russian troops surround ukraine and as crisis diplomacy continues, in moscow, berlin, and brussels. nick schifrin starts our coverage with a look at today's

movements in belarus, on the belarus-ukraine border. nick: >> with tanks, artillery, missiles capable of reaching all of ukraine, and its most advanced jet, the exercises are the largest since the cold war. it's a display of military might near the border with ukraine and just a few hundred miles from the capital, kiev. and past the sailboats off annexed crimea, russian ships hold naval drills. ukraine's foreign ministry today said those ships make black sea navigation virtually impossible and are part of russia's hybrid war. meanwhile, ukraine's defense ministry prepared in case of a shooting war. just north of crimea, soldiers practice securing an enemy-occupied building. ukraine uses drones fromato member turkey that have successfully targeted russian tanks in previous conflicts and,

to a rock soundtrack, show off american javelin anti-tank missiles that senior u.s. officials say are now deployed to key transit points. but, at the same time, diplomacy continues. in berlin, mid-level officials from germany, france, ukraine and russia met in a format that's focused on the front lines of the 8-year-old conflict in eastern ukraine. in moscow, british foreign minister liz truss visited russian foreign minister sergey lavrov, and, at first, the diplomacy was relatively diplomatic. sergey lavrov: relations can be normalized only through mutually respectful dialogue, an equal dialogue, and dialogue based on recognition of each other's legitimate interests, a search for mutually acceptable solutions. >> the reality is, we cannot ignore the buildup of over 100,000 troops on the ukrainian border and the attempts to undermine ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity. nick: but after their meeting, and a press conference --

sergey lavrov: i'm honestly disappointed that what we have is a conversation between a dumb and a deaf person. they say russia is waiting until the ground freezes like a stone, so its tanks can easily cross into ukrainian territory. i think the ground was like that today with our british colleagues, from which numerous facts that we produced bounced off. nick: after that, lavrov exited stage left, leaving truss standing alone. there was friendlier choreography in brussels between british prime minister boris johnson and nato secretary-general jens stoltenberg. johnson said putin's endgame was still unknown, but british intelligence was grim. >> this is probably the most dangerous moment, i would say, in the course of the next few days, in what is the biggest security crisis that europhas faced for decades. nick: in response to that crisis, british troops today arrived in poland and u.s. equipment redeployed to nato member romania. senior officials tell "pbs newshour" they're worried about any ukraine conflict spreading into nato, as state department counselor derek chollet

suggested in bucharest. derek: clearly, romania is facing acute threats from the situation unfolding not too far away from here with the russian escalation. nick: and to discuss that escalation of russian troops massing on the ukraine border, i'm joined by michael kofman, a senior fellow for russian studies at the cna, center for naval analyses. michael kofman, welcome back to the "newshour." we have got a map that shows how ukraine is really surrounded from the north in belarus, from the northeast, from the southeast, and from the south in crimea. what's your assessment of the russian buildup right now? michael: the russian buildup is entering a fairly advanced stage. you have seen troops arrive and actually grab prepositioned equipment. there is a sizable russian deployment in belarus just north of the ukrainian capital, kyiv. there are a lot of russian troops both northeast and east of ukraine. and there's a fairly sizable russian deployment in crimea.

plus, there are additional ships along the way, amphibious assault ships that are bringing even more troops to reinforce some of the russian forces in crimea. so what you're beginning to see are kind of what look like the final stages of a very sizable military buildup, a military that is positioning itself to be able to conduct a large-scale military operation. nick: and last time we spoke, about a month ago on this show, you pointed out how a lot of the hardware was in place, but the personnel wasn't quite in place yet. are that -- is that personnel now in place? michael: yes, that picture very much has changed. so we have seen personnel arrive, grab their equipment, move much closer to the ukrainian border towards final staging grounds, begin to conduct exercises that bring the personnel up to higher readiness levels. you have seen a lot of tents deployed in field camps with troops in them, right? a lot of logistics have shown up, the kind of things that you would see a military bring

that's not necessarily preparing for an exercise, but more than likely is positioning itself for an operation, everything from medical, fuel, ammunition, communications, these kinds of elements. you have seen aviation shift over, aircraft, helicopters. and you have seen troops come very close to the borders. that equipment that in the past we saw based maybe 200, 300 kilometers away from ukraine, kind of staging there, they have grabbed that gear and they have gone down to maybe within 30 kilometers of the ukrainian border at this point. nick: one her element of the presence that senior officials i talk to are very worried about is electronic warfare, russia's ability to cut off ukrainian cell phones, internet, satellites. how large, how real is that threat? michael: it's very real. you have seen the russian military bng all sorts of different types of electronic warfare systems, some fairly high-level.

they're accompanying the various units that have deployed there. and russians are quite advanced in electronic fire operations, as they call them, information operations. and so you could see a combination of both cyberwarfare, which is likely to have some effects, but, more importantly, electronic warfare, both kind at the tactical level, but also fairly high-end systems that might have some strategic effects as well. nick: we were focused on the exercises today in belarus. we saw that at the top of the story. and i want to go back to another map to show why people are so concerned about those troops in belarus, the fear of troops in belarus coming down toward kyiv in a pincer move, surrounding kyiv, u.s. officials i talk to very worried about that. what does that say about russia's intentions? michael: sure. those scary red arrows that you have on the map are actually a fairly realistic depiction of at least one of the likely russian courses of action. that is that they intend to encircle the ukrainian capital and impose regime change, perhaps install a pro-russian

regime or change the constitution. you're also likely to see a fairly large incursion by russian troops both south from crimea, the crimean peninsula, and also in the east, perhaps enveloping the bulk of ukraine's forces, which are currently deployed in the southeast along the line of control opposite the donbass, that is, the occupied separatist territory. so you're likely going to see a fairly sizable russia incursion, potentially, across the eastern regions of ukraine, looking to envelop or cut off a large number of the ukrainian military that is based there. nick: now, senior u.s. officials who i talk to are as concerned as they are, given the things that you're describing, and the capacities of russia that are on the border, but they do say that vladimir putin has not made a final decision yet. and, certainly, the u.s., the west, in what they say is a united way are trying to come up with a russian off-ramp.

but those things that the west are offering russia are far from what russia's core demands are. so do you see any possible diplomatic off-ramp in this moment? michael: i he sadly been pessimistic all along looking some months out at this. and i have seen the likelihood for diplomacy to succeed is not very good, fairly slim. now, of course, i agree. we don't know if vladimir putin has made a decision. that's very true. is there a chance for diplomacy to succeed? well, i think the window for it is unfortunately closing, right? it's not necessarily the russia has to conduct a military operation now that they have deployed, but they do appear to be increasingly in a sort of go-or-no-go posture, so they're likely to make a decision in the coming weeks, not months. and by weeks, i mean only a few weeks. so far, in terms of what we have seen on public diplomacy, i have not witnessed anything that gives me optimism. now, it is a fair chance that, behind the scenes, there's some kind of backdoor diplomacy

taking place that none of us know about. and maybe there's some movement there. russia can always back down. vladimir putin can sort of take what he's been given on the table, declare victory, and pull back from the border. however, i find this a fairly unlikely scenario. and i'm worried that i might be right about my pessimism going into this. if you recall our conversation months ago, a lot of the indicators i suggested that would tell us that they are serious about military operation and this -- a renewed invasion of ukraine, they have all shown up, literally almost every single one of them. so, we are now looking at a very different russian force posture. nick: michael kofman, i'm going to have to leave it there. michael kofman, center for naval analyses, thank you very much. michael: thanks. my pleasure. ♪ judy: there are more headlines today about former president donald trump and his potential mishandling of white house records, including questions about whether the former

president wrote federal law. jeff has more. jeff: a source familiar with the matter says the justice department -- officials at the archives believe trump may have violated the presidential records act. the request following news that officials recovered 15 boxes of documents from trump's mar-a-lago residence, buto -- materials th should've been handed over to the government when he left office. according to the washington post, the documents included letters from north korean leader kim jong un, the note barack obama left for trump in the oval office on the day of his inauguration, and a map of the projected path of hurricane dorian in 2019, infamously alred by donald trump with a black sharpie. and news first reported by the new york times adding another level of concern, the archives discovered what it believed was classified information in documents trump had taken with

him from the white house as he left office. add to all of that, new reporting from the new york times' maggie haberman that when president trump was in office staff in the white house residence periodically discovered wads of printed paper clogging a toilet -- and believed the president had flushed pieces of paper. the former president released a statement today calling it a fake story. and it's not clear what the doj will do, if anything, to investigate. for more, let's bring in chuck rosenberg, a former united states attorney and senior fbi official. it's great to have you with us. a doj referral doesn't necessarily mean there will be an investigation. you handled such cases as a federal prosecutor and you don't see a compelling case here. >> first, you are exactly right. other agencies can make referrals to the department of justice, but it is up to the department of justice

exclusively whether or not it investigates and prosecutes. if the archives or any other agency believes a violation of the law has been committed, they need to -- they have to decide has there been a violation of the criminal law. that is a hard question. let's take it one at a time. with respect to the presidential records act, the law doesn't have a criminal provision and doesn't even have an enforcement mechanism, but it requires the president to preserve their records, not for the president, but for or kayaks, for historians, for all of us, for citizens -- for the archives. it seems like president trump and this doesn't come as a shock, didn't fully abide that. >> what about the potential classified information? putting aside the apparent hypocrisy that donald trump ran against hillary clinton on the

issue of mishandling classified information if officials found , that the documents did in fact contain classified material, with that make a snificant difference? >> it might, but here's why don't think it will in the end make a difference. the president of the united states, any president, is the primary consumer of intelligence information. he is the ultimate customer. he also has the authority to classify and declassified documents. so even if documents were found that are classified, it would be exceedingly difficult for a federal prosecutor to prove that mr. trump or any other president didn't just wave their hand over the documents and say i am now declassify you. in order to prove a criminal case of mishandling or obtaining classified information, you would also have to essentially prove that the documents were properly classified and that president trump took the

documents in a classified condition to ms. handled them and retain them that's a very different criminal case, given that the president has ultimate classification and declassification authority. >> this is not the first time trump's handling of official records has come under scrutiny. politi reported four years ago that trump was ripping up documents and then white house aides were saving them and taping them back together like jigsaw puzzles. fast forward to today, and the jan 6 committee is confirming that it received documents from the trump white house by way of the national archives that had in fact been taped back together. the question is, when does this cross the line from being cavalier to being criminal. and what's the point of having laws like the presidential records act or hatch act when they were routinely flouted during the trump years if there are no apparent consequences? >> even though it has no

enforcement mechanism, a president takes an oath of office at the beginning of his term to faithfully execute the laws of the land. that includes provisions, laws, statutes with enforcement mechanisms and without. that includes civil laws and criminal laws. so maybe it only matters to me, but it matters a lot, that by failing to abide by the presidential records at, to preserve documents, to turn them over and not tear them up, or perhaps flushing them down the toilet, you are not abiding by the presidential records act or your oath to faithfully execute the laws. there's another statute that could make it a crime to destroy documents. decide the act for a moment. there's a federal law that makes it a crime for someone who has possession and custody to destroy or remove them.

it's not clear to me that automatically violated the statute if he tore up those records if it would be a felony, but here's the problem. that statute requires that the person who violated it acted intentionally. that doesn't mean they intentionally tore the documents. that means that you towards a documents intentionally to violate the statute. it's not impossible to prove, but it's not as easy as it might appear at first blush. >> chuck, thank you so much for your insights. ♪ judy: the bipartisan bill to empower survivors of sexual harassment and assault now heads to president biden's desk for his signature.

it's the most snificant me too legislation to pass in congress since the movement began. lisa desjardins has more on what it means for sexual abuse suvivors. lisa: the historic legislation ends the use of forced arbitration clauses for sexual harassment and assault claims. it is a common practice that means people cannot take sexual harassment cases to court. gretchen carlson saw the effects of this first hand when she came forward against former fox news ceo roger ailes in 2016. since then, she's advocated for the law and today joined senators on both sides of the aisle to celebrate its passage. she joins us now to discuss what it all means. gretchen, this term, forced arbitration, it sounds almost clinical. can you help us understand in real terms what has this meant in america? gretchen: people hear it and

their eyes glaze over. if they just happen to click on an email artist tucked away in their employee handbook. basically it has become an epidemic across america over the last 30 or 40 years with companies using it, just to show you the exponential growth, it means that if you have a problem at work you have to go to this secret chamber called forced bitration, instead of your seventh amendment right and be able to go an open jury process. lisa: your case made international headlines, in part because of your profile, and also because it took down one of the world's most powerful men. it meant his professional demise. but can you help us understand more broadly, what has this meant for people less close to power? any stories you can share? gretchen: yes. i mean, let me just first explain i had a forced arbitration clause in my last contra at fox. and, even as an educated woman, thinking about bring a lawsuit

even at that time, i did not understand the ramifications of what that meant. and it was a dark day for me when my lawyers told me, you have no case because you're going to go to the secret chamber of arbitration. you cannot go to a jury trial. and that's why we sued roger ailes personally. that was the strategy, to try and make my case public, or we arguably would not be in this movement right now, because my story would have never, ever been told. and what ended up happening, lisa, was, i started hearing from thousands of other women across the country after my case became public, and they said, the same thing happened to me. and i have never, ever been able to tell my story. and i realized then that it was an epidemic, and i needed to do something about it. lisa: those are stunning numbers. this is also a topic that was once taboo, sexual misconduct. and i know, in trying to push this law, some large business groups really worked against you. they said is law is too broad. can you help us understand how and why, in the end, did it get so much wide support? gretchen: yes, so groups like

the chamber of commerce we against this bill. but i will say that, this time around, they did not publicly come out against it, but they were working very hard behind the scenes. but the way that i s this up is that i saw a tonal shift happening on capitol hill over the last five years since i started advocating for this bill, and specifically with republicans. and so i decided strategically to make most of my outreach to republicans. democrats tend to vote for this, and republicans tended not to. and i was able to get a lot of republicans who voted no the first time this was introduced back in 2017 to switch the votes to yes this time. i think that that was significant because of the efforts made, but also because people realize that this movement's not going away now, and the same thing with companies. as much as they thought this might be a passing fad, they're now thinking to themselves, wow, five years into this, we're still talking about this, and so we might have to be introspective and make some

changes, and maybe we can't silence our women anymore when bad things happen to them. lisa: yes, can you talk to that idea? it has been six years since you filed your lawsuit. where do you think america is culturally with concepts of sexual harassmt and treatment of other people in terms of sexual misconduct? gretchen: i mean, i think we have made incredibly great strides. i mean, first and foremost, women are being believed, which sounds so crazy that, in 2022, we weren't believing women back in 2016. but we weren't. we're not -- women are not as much maligned as they were. the first thing my lawyer said to me is, they will kill you. and they -- they definitely tried to, and they did to so many other women, just meeting in general in our society. perpetrators are being held accountable. you're not seeing these big payouts to well-known people when they have allegations made against them. and so i think that that's massive progress. i also think a key to this is that the media started covering these stories, and that the general public got angry when they heard them. and they wondered, why have we noard about these stories?

and i'll bring you full circle to why, because they were all going to the secret chamber of forced arbitration. lisa: as you ride this wave, as you fight this fight, what's next? gretchen: well, i created my nonprofit lift our voices two years ago. and we believe that there should be no forced arbitration for any toxic workplace issue, including age, race, gender discrimination, lgbtq discrimination, et cetera, anything under title vii. we also believe that people should not be silenced with nondisclosure agreements. of course, company should be able to protect their trade secrets, but not be able to cover up horrible things that happen to people in the workplace. so, that's the mission of lift our voices. and, as you heard today on the hill, i plan to start meeting with members of congress immediately to start tackling some more of those issues. lisa: and one last question. this was historic legislation, by some accounts, perhaps the biggest change in labor law in

almost 90 or 100 years. how does it feel for you to have gotten this done? gretchen: yes, i did shed a few tears when the vote came in, because this has been a five-year journey, but not for me. i shed them for the millions of workers who maybe don't have the same platform that i have to try and get this done. and i have often said that, aside from my two children, who i'm going to hug incredibly hard tonight, that this will be my greatest life achievement. and, aside from my children, making this kind of historic change for so many people is something i never expected would be on my radar screen. but when a bad thing happened to me, i decided to roll up my sleeves and make a difference. and i hope, today, that i have. lisa: gretchen carlson, thank you so much for speaking with us. gretchen: thank you for having me. ♪

judy: last year was the deadliest on record or manatees. many of these large, aquatic mammals starve to death and a dye office happening again this year. federal and state officials as well as volunteers in florida are trying to stave -- save starving manatees with the pilot feeding project this winter. but, as science correspondent miles o'brien reports, there are larger environmental problems in the water that cannot be solved th emergency feedings. miles: it is a desperate measure for a desperate time. florida manatees, freezing and famished, getting a handout from humans at a power plant near titusville. these gentle giants, also called sea cows, gravitate to the warm water discharges from power plants and natural springs every winter. but on the east coast this year, like last, they're arriving

hungry and weak. the seagrass they subsist on has all but disappeared. ron mezich is with the florida fish and wildlife conservation commission. ron: we're here for a purpose now that we're helping animals. but, truth be told, we'd rather ha the animals not here. miles: last year, about 1,100 of them died, mostly due to starvation cpounded by cold weather. so far this winter, about 130 have succumbed to various causes statewide. nearby, aquatic biologist pat rose is keeping tabs on the species that he has spent more than 45 years trying to protect. he is executive director of the save the manatee club. patrick: it's the first time ever that manatees have be supplemental-fed during the winter. it's started off ok, but it's got a long ways to go if it's going to really take care of all the manatees that are going to need it.

miles: the drone documents the crisis in vivid detail. what are you looking for? patrick: well, we're looking at not only how many manatees are here, but, particularly, we're looking at mostly what body condition they're in, how many of them are very lean, on their way towards starvation, and then looking for those that would be very sick, that would be having trouble balancing in the water, sideways-swimming, those kinds of things that tell us that manatee is really in trouble and it's going to need help. miles: about 90 malnourished and injured manatees are getting help in intensive care facilities like this one at zootampa. woman: roughly, i have seen him eat about 10 heads this morning. molly: ok, that's pretty good actually. i'm glad everybody is stable, stable after the last few days, where they were -- it was a little hectic, so -- miles: molly lippincott is the curator of florida and manatees. twenty of them are here, pushing this dedicated staff to its limits.

they bottle-feed orphaned calves every four hours around the clock for several months. one of them, flapjack, who got his name because he was so emaciated, his head looked flat, arrived here october 20, but now he is doing much better. molly: we have a pretty tiny team. we definitely work very hard. we always figure the animals come first in a lot of situations. your home life may take a little bit of a ding in order to do what's best for these animals. miles: at the root of the problem is an environmental collapse in florida's indian river lagoon. it's a shallow body of water between the mainland and the barrier islands that spans 150 miles from cape canaveral to jupiter. it was a manatee haven. dennis hanisaks a research professor at florida atlantic university's harbor branch oceanographic institute in fort pierce. he took us on a three-hour tour of the lagoon.

dennis: it's definitely a lagoon in peril. miles: we were hunting for seagrass. the average adult manatee forages about 100 pounds of it every day. but all we saw was a lot of algae, which blocks sunshine from reaching seagrass rooted at the bottom, killing it. dennis: so, we probably have lost at least 80% of the grass, but there are many areas where there's zero seagrass, i mean, 0%. 2011, when we started the blooms, that's really when everything did the catastrophic decline. miles: a huge algae bloom in 2011 was just for starters. ever since, recurring algal events known as brown tides have pushed this rich ecosystem out of balance. in 2016, a brown tide starved the water of oxygen enough to trigger a massive fish kill. the problem has grown along with the human population around the

lagoon, now more than 1.5 million, an increase of 50% in the past 25 years. today, there are more than 300,000 septic systems in the six adjacent counties, and many sewage treatment plants are antiquated. and take a look at this distinct brown patch in the lagoon. it is freshwater runoff, filled with phosphorus, nitrogen and decomposing vegetation. increasing amounts of it are funneling into the lagoon thanks to rapid development, agriculture and flood control discharges from lake okeechobee. so all these things are major red flags, warning signs that nature is giving us, right? dennis: yes. now we got now we have got dying manatees starving because not having enough seagrass. so, i guess that's the next sign that, yes, indeed, we have a very serious situation here. miles: dennis hanisak is cultivating a potential solution, perfecting a technique for growing seagrass in a

nursery, something that's never been done before. so this would be the perfect manatee buffet right here, right? dennis: oh, i think, if a manatee -- if we could get a manatee here, that manatee would be very happy. miles: but, of course, the seagrass won't be happy in the lagoon until the algae clears. by some estimates, that would take $5 billion and 20 years. florida governor ron desantis has committed $53 million over 10 years to remove 3,000 septic systems. and brevard county has imposed a half-cent sales tax for lagoon restoration. and yet some state legislators are going against that current, proposing a bill to make it easier for developers to destroy seagrass beds. none of this deters the team at zootampa. it is release day for baylo, a 500 pound adult female now back in good health after exposure to red tide. veterinarian cynthia stringfield

is vice president of animal health, conservation and education. cynthia: this is a short term solution. so we patch them up. we make them better. we do asuch as we can. but, as you can see, we have a finite space, so we can only take so many. one year of an event like this is really concerning. but if this continues it, it could be catastrophic for the population. miles: for now, all ey can do is take stock of success one animal at a time. >> aost there, lady friend. miles: it is clearly not sustainable, but for those committed to saving these gentle creatures, it's not optional either. woman: all right, ready? one, two three. [applause] miles: in the late 1970s there were fewer than 1,000 manatees left in florida. but after the state imposed boat

speed protection zones to prevent propeller strikes that were killing so many of them, they rebounded. before this die-of the population had reached about 8,000. but now the problem has deeper roots, and the hungry manatees may not have time to wait for the solutions. for the "pbs newshour," i'm miles o'brien along florida's indian river lagoon. ♪ judy: as we reported, team usa had a big night in beijing, but there have been upsets and disappointments this week at the olympics too. and there's controversy surrounding a top russian figure skater who reportedly has tested positive for a banned drug. she's already secured one gold during these games, but there are questions about all of that. amna nawaz spoke earlier today with usa today sports columnist

christine brennan. amna: christine brennan, welcome back to the "newshour." thank you so much for staying up late for us. we know it's very late there. the olympics are -- always have wonderful stories of redemption, right, as one of the key story lines. nathan chen, the american figure skater, four years ago came in fifth, determined to do better this year. and lindsey jacobellis is another big story, right, known as one of the sport's most dominant athletes as a snowboarder, but also known really well for this 2006 blunder that cost her the medal. how did both of them do this year? christine: what's fascinating, amna, about this is that it took -- for lindsey jacobellis, it took 16 years to finally get a chance to come back and win the gold that wasitting there for her when she made this kind of crazy move, kind of hot-dogging, celebrating a little too soon. we have seen that throughout sports. and when she did that back in torino in 2006, she lost the gold medal. and it was just kind of this classic blunder.

and here she is, all these years later, winning that gold, finally. talk about perseverance, and just hanging in there, and figuring it probably wasn't ever going to happen, until it did. that's the kind of story that, you hear that, and even if you don't really care about snowboarding or whatever, you just kind of go, that is really great to see an athlete to hang in there that long and finally have the moment that she really deserved. nathan chen, it wasn't 16 years -- he's only 22 years old, but it was four years, four big years. and you mentioned his fifth-place finish in pyeongchang in 2018. but he was 17, yes, 17 in the short program at those olympic games. and he went into those games as a medal hopeful as well, but as a teenager. and from that moment four years ago, he has been on a mission. he's won three world titles. he's won four more national titles, six overall. he's only lost one competition between south korea in 2018 and these olympic games. and that was earlier this year,

just almost perfection. and yet the pressure was on him. and you could just feel the tension. he -- when he finished his short program -- he was not yet done yet with the competition -- but he just punched the air, just a fist pump, which he said is so unlike him, but it was just are the relief of the tension and the nervousness and all that energy, and then just went on to skate a majestic long program. and about three-quarters of the way in, about a minute left, you knew he had it. the gold medal was his. he had done it. he had risen to the occasion and had the most -- the greatest performance at the most important moment of his life, which not many athletes can say that, but, certainly, nathan chen can say that today. amna: well, speaking of a lot of pressure and high hopes, chloe kim knows what that feels like. she was just 17 four years ago, when she won her first gold on the halfpipe. she established herself as one of the best in the world. the big picture -- big question, rather, coming into this games was, can she do it again? can she continue to dominate? christine: yes. the answer is yes. one of the most magnetic

personalities, just someone that you hear the name, and you smile. fans, again, even if you're not tuning in, you have heard that name, you know it. she did win the gold again. for thu.s., it's been difficult. you know, there has been some heartbreak. and now the gold medals are coming for the united states. but this is never easy. d these games, the winter olympics, obviously, on ice and snow, they're slippery. there are mistakes. but she nailed it. she was able to overcome, obviously, not only competitors, but also just that sense, can you pull it off, the pressure of being the defending champ and doing it again. and she did do that, so another happy for story for the united states, obviously, as the games are nearing the midpoint. amna: another name a lot of us are coming to know now has been known for a few years in china, and that is american-born freeskier eileen gu. she's competing for china, her mother's country of origin. she's a superstar there, right? she's got billboards and magazine covers and

sponsorships. how did she do her first games? christine: she's doing great. she won the gold. and she's an interesting story line, because she is from san francisco. she's 18 years old. and she chose, as a u.s. citizen, to actually compete for china. and now she's starting to get questions that she will probably get for the rest of her career. and that is, why china? obviously, these olympics are so inextricably linked with politics, the issues of human rights abuses, the uyghur people, and the genocide that has been reported, very, very serious issues. well, when you join and you decide to go with china, as she did, you get those questions. why now? so, yes, of course, it makes sense in a marketing way, right, 1.4 billion chinese, and you could sell a lot of products to 1.4 billion people, an untapped market in many ways. and so she's reaping that benefit.

but she's also dealing with some very significant questions. amna: there's also a lot of questions surrounding the performance of mikaela shiffrin so far, right, 26 years old. she's had a sterling career as anlpine skier. she's won olympic medals before. but, this year, in both the giant slalom and the slalom, she skidded out. and so we're hearing a lot of comparisons being made between her performance so far and that of gymnast simone biles at the tokyo games. i'm curious how you are looking at this. do you think the comparisons are fair? christine: it's the first thing i thought of when i saw that she had skied out the second straight time. i mean, she was a teenager the last time she failed to finish two races. and when we say skied out, that means she didn't even get through -- there's like five gates and then she's -- something happens and she just kind of goes off the course. that means she's done. there's no chance, a takeover, a redo, a second chance. so i think many people probably saw that picture after the second one, after the slalom, where she just was kind of

sitting on the snow and just kind obent over in absolute despair. heartbreaking. and it does bring to mind simone biles, because, let's face it, the pressure on these athletes, it's always there, but especially if you're a little bit older. you know what's at stake. there may well be other comparisons, and there may well be differences between them. but i do think it is, again, that conversation that i think we should have about just how much pressure is on these athletes. amna: christine, meanwhile, in team figure skating, we should note the russians won gold, the americans won silver, japan took the bronze. but we haven't had a medal ceremony yet. why not? christine: because of a positive doping test, a positive drug test among one of the russian athletes. and it was a minor. and there's only one minor among the six athletes, and that is kamila valieva, who is also the gold medal favorite in the women's event. so, because of that, there's an investigation going on, amna. it's very confusing. there's multiple groups looking at this. because she's a nor, that throws questions, new questions, into the mix. but the key point is, if russia

is disqualified, u.s. would move up to the gold medal, japan, and then canada would move up for the bronze. so we shall see, but this is a story that, right now, is consuming these olympic games. amna: no shortage of news, on top of all the usual highs and lows of any olympic games. christine brennan, i don't know how you keep up with it all, but i'm so grateful that you do. thank you so much for joining us. christine: amna, thank you very much. ♪ judy: industrial material used in dramatic new ways. this is the focus of an exhibit at the addison gallery of american art in andover, massachusetts. our special correspondent gives us a look in the modern arts and culture series canvas. >> are changed in the 1960's and

1970's. it took on a glimmer. it rippled, and it lured the eye and the mind with a seductive, mystifying glow. on its surface, art had a fresh polish, thanks to a host of repurposed cheerios. >> plastic, polyester resin, lacquer. some were new, coming from the aerospace industry, and some were developed by the artist themselves. >> they present the art created in southern california by a group of artists mad about unconventional materials. they were described asaving a finish fetish. >> the artist who were ascribed to that didn't really like it but it stuck. to them, finish fetish sort of implied that the finish itself was the most important part of the work, and really, for these

artists, the finish is a mean to an end. it's a way to explore it light. whether it is like that is reflected or refracted, whether you can see through it. >> are that we cannot even distinguish. what am i seeing? >> exactly. so this piece by robert irwin is a painting, it is an aluminum disc that is inted with acrylic and is attached to the wall by a metal armature that's extending 20 inches out. it is convex in shape and simply lit in four different directions. the light animates this object incompletely blurs the object. it is confounding our perception. >> light had a new dawn in the 1960's. it's when the son of an aeronautical engineer cornered

the market on light in the first of a series of sculptures and installations that would define his career. a one-time pilot began navigating in neon. >> you walk into the room and you are not really sure what you are seeing. you can't define, is it a form, is it a missed? it comes in through various senses -- and is the total perceptive experience. >> the museum of art curated the traveling exhibition from its permanent collection. most of these works surface between new york was the epicenter of the art world and still adhere to painting traditionalist, but still fitting that the west coast artist assumed up pioneer mentality. >> they totally made them their own. they don't look like other works. other artists weren't using

these elsewhere so there were not templates for them to follow. >> so they became pioneers. peter alexander dipped into the wonders of liquid resin after realizing it could do more than repair his surfboard. a motorcycle racer took a shine to. >> he repaired a lot of motorcycles and was at the same time, a painter. then he became sort of enraptured by the metallic surfaces and spray-painted acrylic and started making art that way. >> as a way to rev up her career, in 1964, artist judy chicago enrolled in an auto body course, the only woman among 250 men. >> she started spray painting not on metal, but on sheet acrylic. the acrylics chemically fused and she said it felt like skin to her. she made a series of these

tabletops with molded, spray-painted, spherical forms. she came out of car culture but in this very feminist way. >> including this fiberglass work, the addison has added don't touch signs to the galleries. they could easily translate to the greatest measure of success for these artists. >> he was having an experiential conversation and a back and forth with those objects. >> i'm jerrod bowen in andover, massachusetts for the "pbs newshour." judy: that exhibit is up through the middle of march. an online, the bells of the washington national cathedral have told thousands of times contribute for the lives lost in covid-19. the nation hit another grim

milestone. find that at pbs.org/newshour// newshour. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you. please stay safe, and we will seyou soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by. >> consumer cellular. the ford foundation bnsf railway

and with the ongoing support of these institutions. and friends of the newshour. ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] fr w eta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪ >> you're watching pbs.

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