captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: tensions rising. president biden said war in ukraine will come soon, as the u.s. blames russian-backed separatists for inflaming conflict in eastern ukraine. then, the olympics online. china claims to allow athletes to voice their views on the internet, but critics remain skeptical and warn of potential data gathering. >> ( translated ): you have to be careful when you say what, and where you say it, and i think many are feeling this way. here on location, i think it's better not to say too much. >> woodruff: and, it's friday. david brooks and jonathan capehart weigh the congressional response to russian aggression toward ukraine, and the ongoing politics of gun violence in the

united states. 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. ♪ ♪ ♪

>> care.com. >> fidelity wealth management. >> consumer cellular. >> the john s. and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: president biden

said today, he believes russian president vladimir putin has made the decision to further invade ukraine, and that it will likely happen in the coming days. before mr. biden's remarks at a late-day news conference, u.s. officials said, even more russian troops have arrived at the russia-ukraine border in recent days. they join 150,000 already on station, who the u.s. says are poised to attack. and, as nick schifrin tells us, the u.s. fears the russians and their allies may be in the initial phase of sparking a new and more brutal invasion. >> schifrin: if war in ukraine's about to begin, u.s. officials fear it could start with an event like this. in the eastern city of donetsk controlled by russian-backed separatists, local authorities showed off what they called the pro-russian local military leader's car, destroyed by a bomb. authorities allowed local cameramen to film residents loading busses to flee across the border into russia, and a

military leader of the self- proclaimed separatist republic, eduard basurin, blamed the ukrainian government. >> ( translated ): the armed units of ukraine are deliberately trying to instill fear and panic among the civilians of our republic by targeting vital infrastructure >> schifrin: but open-source researchers say this video by the donetsk leader, rertedly recorded today, was actually filmed two days ago. and today, president biden called their claims "deceptive" and a possible pretext for possible russian invasion. >> all these are consistent with the playbook the russians have used before to set up a false justification to act against ukraine. as of this moment, i'm convinced he's made the decision. we have reason to believe that. >> schifrin: but russian president vladimir putin said the ukrainian government must negotiate with separatist leaders. >> ( translated ): all kyiv needs to do is sit at the negotiation table with donbas representatives to resolve the conflict. and the earlier that happens, the better.

unfortunately, right now we see the situation escalating. >> schifrin: the u.s. and kyiv say the russian-backed separatists are the aggressors, targeting this army checkpoint this morning, and what ukrainian police say was this residential building last night. ukrainian armed forces commander valerii zaluzhnyi. >> ( translated ): we can't rebut all fabrications, the number of which is growing exponentially, and is produced by enemy propaganda during these tough days. >> schifrin: the "tough days" have included cyberattacks that took down the websites of ukraine's two largest banks, and the foreign and defense ministries. today, deputy national security advisor for cyber, anne neuberger, blamed the russian government. >> while of limited impact, this recent spate of cyberattacks in ukraine are consistent with what a russian effort could look like in laying the groundwork for more disruptive cyber attacks accompanying a potential further invasion. >> schifrin: senior u.s. officials say that invasion could come at any minute, because more russian troops have arrived in the last few days, and are in a heightened readiness. meanwhile, nato tried to demonstrate unity.

in munich, vice president kamala harris led a day of diplomacy, with the nato secretary general and baltic leaders. >> the focus for us, in working together, is to further coordinate. >> schifrin: but the rhetoric doesn't match all of the reality. germany refuses to provide ukraine lethal weapons, a policy foreign minister annena baerbock defended. >> we are saying we are not selling weapons to everybody in the world, but only to our partners, nato partners and european union partners. >> schifrin: but kyiv mayor vitaly klitschko pushed back. >> we need right now defensive weapon. we're ready to defend our families, our state, our cities, our citizens-- we need support. >> schifrin:ack in kyiv today, a memorial honoring the heavenly hundred, martyrs of the 2014 conflict between two neighbors. this city has seen tragedy, and now fears more-- officials today said they have plans to evacuate

nearly the entire city, should it come to that. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, police in canada have arrested at least 70 protesters and towed away trucks in an effort to break up ottawa's three-week-long siege. truckers have occupied the capital city to demonstrate against nada's covid-19 restrictions. authorities, in neon green, marched through the streets while tow truck operators hooked up vehicles blocking traffic. but some protesters were undeterred. >> i'm willing to take it all the way-- and by all the way, i mean, dropping to my knees, putting up a peace sign, and they'll-- they'll have to remove me at that point. i've protested peacefully the whole time i've been here. >> woodruff: ottawa police say they are prepared to end the protests and remove the more than 300 trucks.

the u.s. supreme court has agreed to hear the biden administration's appeal the trump-era "remain in mexico" policy. it requires asylum seekers to wait in mexico before their u.s. immigration hearings. lower court rulings forced president biden to reinstate the policy after he tried suspending it on his first day in office. a final decision is expected by late june. the national archives today confirmed that it found classified national security information in the boxes of documents former president trump took to his mar-a-lago home. that raises further questions about whether he followed record-keeping laws after leaving office. the agency referred the matter to the justice department. a judge sentenced the former suburban minneapolis police officer who killed daunte wright, kim potter, to two years in prison today. that was notably less than the standard manslaughter sentence

of around seven years. potter fatally shot wright, a 20-year-old black motorist, during a routine traffic stop last april. special correspondent fred de sam lazaro has our story. >> reporter: before today's sentencing in a downtown minneapolis courtroom, daunte wrht's mother spoke tearfully about her son. >> she took our baby boy, with a single gun shot through his heart. and she shattered mine. >> reporter: in december, potter was convicted of first and second degree manslaughter. she fatally shot wright last april when she said she confused her handgun for a taser. the killing sparked protests and clashes with police. today, potter addressed wright's family. >> katie, i understand mother's love, and i am sorry i broke your heart. my heart is broken for all of you. >> reporter: in handing down her sentence, judge regina chu compared potter's crime to derek chauvin's killing of george floyd, as well as the

2017 shooting of a white woman by a black minneapolis police officer, mohamed noor, who received a far longer sentence. >> officer potter made a mistake that ended tragically. she never intended to hurt anyone. her conduct cries out for a sentence significantly below the guidelines. >> reporter: after the sentence was handed down, daunte wright's family and supporters expressed outrage. >> kim potter murdered my son, and he died april 11, 2021. today, the justice system murdered him all over again. this is the problem with the justice system today. white women tears trumps-- trumped justice.

and i thought my white woman tears would be good enough, because they're true and genuine. >> reporter: potter will serve two-thirds of her time-- about 16 months-- in prison. the rest will be on parole. for the pbs newshour, m fred de sam lazaro. >> woodruff: a winter storm is wreaking havoc for commuters in the midwest. traffic on interstate-65 in indiana ground to a standstill this morning. treacherous conditions caused multiple trucks to jackknife off the road. and, a 17-mile stretch of interstate-39 in illinois remained shut down for a second day, after a 100-vehicle pile-up during blinding snow. meanwhile, a second major storm to hit northern europe this week has killed at least nine people, and left tens of thousands without power. it brought strong waves to the southern coast of the united kingdom. winds gusting more than 100 miles an hour ripped o sections of london's o2 arena,

and even toppled the spire of an english church. u.s. congressman jim hagedorn died last night, after a three- year battle with kidney cancer. the conservative republican represented southern minnesota since 2019. his father, former congressman tom hagedorn, represented much of the same area while he was in congress. jim hagedorn was 59 years old. on wall street today, stocks finished out their second straight weekly loss, amid growing fears about russia invading ukraine. the dow jones industrial average dropped 233 points to close at 34,079. the nasdaq fell 168 points, and the s&p 500 slipped 31. d at the winter olympics in beijing, american-born eileen gu became the first freestyle skier to win three medals at a single olympic games. competing for china, the 18-year-old clinched her second gold medal today in the halfpipe final.

and, in men's curling, the u.s. lost to canada in a match for the brze medal. still to come on the newshour: the controversy around russian figure skating highlights the pressures and mental health challenges for athletes. snowboarder nick baumgartner discusses winning gold at the winter olympics. david brooks and jonathan capehart consider the week's political news. plus, much more. >> woodruff: at the three-day security conference that began in munich today, u.s. and nato leaders aimed to further unify western nations, in their efforts to combat russian aggression against ukraine. nick schifrin has more now on the european response, with a key european diplomat. >> schifrin: joining us to

discuss the crisis in ukraine is emily haber, the german ambassador to the united states. ambassador haber, welcome to the "newshour". earlier we heard president biden said he believes putin decided to invade. n.a.t.o. officials tell me they fear invasion could come tomorrow. do you agree? >> we have been briefed and informed and been sharing information along allies with the n.a.t.o., with the united states throughout these past weeks. there's no day when we don't exchange information about the latest knowledge and the latest assessments. so, given the monumental military buildup around ukraine, which is the biggest concentration of military forces since the end of the cold war, we have severe grounds for worrying about a massive threat. >> reporter: the pretext, of course, is what many people here have been talking about.

we showed earlier what separatists in donetsk in eastern ukraine have what they called a car bomb in the capitol of donetsk. is this a false flag, that will precede some dined of military action? >> it is a possibility but difficult at this stage to pinpoint exactly what sort of pretext would be used. i would also point your attention to the fact that, even though there is a wide-open gap between what russia claims it wants, diplomacy, and what it actually does on the ground, and that is concentrating military forces, that the door to diplomacy hasn'tntirely been closed. we have every responsibility to pursue the diplomatic i've knew, but, obviously, it takes two to tango. for the moment, there is still

the upcoming meeting, if it then happens, between the secretary of state and the russian foreign minister. there is the n.a.t.o.-russia council for which we've suggested a meeting, there is the oece track, there is the normandy. so the door to diplomacy hasn't been slammed set. >> reporter: you follow closely, in fact you have been in the middle in some ways of the debate in congress about the timing of sanctions. you've spoken to congressional leaders about this. at this point, do you believe that russia should be sanctioned now as these events are unfolding very rapidly in eastern ukraine and should that not include the possibility of pulling nord stream two the

pipeline. >> if you adopt punitive sanctions on what has already happened you slam the door shut to a change of behavior that we want to produce by deterring russia from going down that road in the first place. so while putting sanctions on the shelf for russia clearly to see what will happen if it incurs, if it invades ukraine, if we adopt the sanctions now, there's no incentive whatsoever for russia to reconsider. >> reporter: are you confident that moscow understands what would happen to nord stream 2 if tanks and soldiers start crossing that border? >> the german chancellor schultz has been in moscow earlier this week and clearly said in a press conference that the russian knew and everyone knew what was going to happen should the russians

invade -- should russia invade ukraine. >> reporter: with all due respect, schultz did not use the words nord stream 2 when discussing that, so he has been a little bit oblique. so are you saying that perhaps privately he's perhaps less oblique? >> he has responded to a question at this priss conference that related to nord stream 2 and a former chancellor and was in this context that he said that germany would adopt massive sanctions in lock step with its allies and the russians knew exactly what was going to happen. i might add, too, that, in the margins of the munich security conference and in their discussion with secretary of state blinken, the german foreign minister said all options were going to be on the table and that included nord stream 2. >> reporter: washington and london have been very aggressive

at revealing russian military plans and u.s. and western intelligence assessments. u.s. officials say that they're trying to remove putin's emmet of surprise. do you agree -- el meant of prize. do you agree? >> communition strategies can be a difficult equation because you need to weigh the benefits against theotential costs. calling putin out and producing clary and transparency for the entire world to see, including for russians to see what is going on and what russia is doing and where the responsibility lies has clearly a benefit so far as the surprise element is normal with putin and the initiative is normal with him. the initiative is with those who

actually produce the transparency for everyone to see. >> reporter: emily haber, germany's embackwards to the united states, thank you very much. >> thank you for having me. # >> woodruff: this is the closing weekend of the winter olympics, that have in many ways been overshadowed by larger concerns, such as china's human rights record and doping allegations. we are going to look at much of this tonight, starting with the conduct of the russian squad. yesterday, russian ice skater kamila valieva failed to medal, then was criticized by her coach immediately afterward. many were disturbed by how it played out, and worried about the pressures onhe athletes. lisa desjardins explains.

>> the women's ice skating competition has been a particularly ugly moment for the games this week. more about it, i'm joined by stephanie apstein from "sports illustrated" covering the games right there in bay ching. stephanie, let's start with the ladies competition in the united states that we saw last night. i don't think i've ever seen anything liningic it. could you help take us through those ugly moments russian skaters being treated very sternly, raising controversy, a great deal of emotion at the end. what happened. >> i don't think i've ever seen anything quite like it either. it was hard to watch. kamila valieva who had been the favorite going into it and competing under this cloud of doping suspicion struggled. fell twice, stepped out of jump. it was really a mess. she was crying by the time she came off the ice and her coach greeted her, yelling at her immediately asking why she had given up and wasn't trying harder. valieva continues sobbing and they announced she was fourth

adding her teammate will when, who is alone at the moment, stunned, looking not terribly happy. the second place finisher alexandria is sobbing as well because she completed a very challenging routine she thought she should have won. she's yelling she hates skating, her coaches her sport, she never wants to do it again, everybody has a gold medal except her. it was upsetting to see these three teenagers having big emotions for pretty upsetting reasons. >> reporter: these are young women who have put most of their lives on hold for the sport and the olympic games. the president of the international olympic committee was asked about this and showed concern. is there any way the olympic committee can change the way the skaters or athlete is treated by coaches like this? >> well, i think the

international committee tends to say sort of vaguely the right thing and then not take a lot of action to back it up, and that is what i would guess is happening here. thomas bach did say he was concerned but none of this should have beena surprise to him. there's been talk about this coach, this program for years. certainly the russi's doping is not new and his his organization that let them stay, if you will. i think there are things the i.o.c. could be doing such as formal vations, it could be separating itself a little bit from the higher court that sort of oversees things. a lot of the people who sit on the court also sit on the i.o.c., not making it really an independent body at all. they're all so entwined it's hard to see anything real getting done here. >> reporter: as the kind of bureaucracy of this sport has trouble dealing with it, we've seen what's happening with the skaters here in that they're all pushing the limits. the second place finisher, i

believe she landed five quadruple jumps. what do we know about what that's doing to these young skaters' bodies and is the sport going too far, too demanding on the skaters for their own physical health? >> she landed five quads, the same number as the men's nathan chen. that's a wild statistic when you think about the difference in the male and female body. part of the problem is once these girlsbodies mature into women's bodies they really can't generate the force to land the jumps, they have the sum muscle to fat ratio as they age and that sets up backwards incentives in that if your goal is to create skaters to do the incredible rotations you want children and to be as skinny as possible because the less they weigh the easier it is to launch

themselves into the air. so you end up situations like this one where russiaings skaters are talked about not being allowed to eat much, some say they didn't drink water during the olympics, because it's about keeping their weight down to produce the jumps. these are issues the skating community faced for a long time, artist versus athleticism. if you want to see them do the jumps, it's batted for their bodies. >> reporter: you said you think it's time for figure skating to set an age limit. >> the age limit is currently 15 which, as i think we've seen, is low both from physical perspective as i mentioned and then through the horror of what we saw at the event, these are ildren, and the i.o.c. sort of nods at this issue by having a protected person class for the world anti-doping agency that basically says 15-year-olds are too young to make decisions for themselves and therefore shouldn't be prosecuted quite

the same way. well, if they're too young to know what they're doing, maybe we shouldn't have them at the olympics. so a lot of other people are talking about maybe it's time to suggest they all be 18. this is an adult sport, for adults, it would make it less likely the children would be taken advantage of, it would force the organizations to extend the careers of these athletes. mariah bell a 25-year-old u.s. skater said she's been able to make a profession out of this, and a lot of her younger peers will do it two years, at the senior elet level, compete at one olympics, retireat 17, then have back problemand have to move on with their lives. is this what we want? it isn't. >> reporter: thank you for joining us, stephanie apstein, sp"sports illustrated." >> thanks for having me.

>> woodruff: unlike 1.4 billion chinese citizens, international athletes competing at the winter olympics do have free access to the internet. but, through 12 days of sport, no olympic athlete has criticized the host country for what advocates call a horrific human rights record. nick schifrin is back, with more on what's keeping the athletes from speaking out. ♪ i had the time of my life ♪ >> schifrin: from snowboarders dirty dancing, to something strange in the neighborhood. ♪ who you gonna call? ghostbusters! ♪ >> schifrin: so many covid tests, it felt like the empire swabs back. (♪ "star wars imperial march" ♪) >> they have this machine here that, like, knows who you are. >> schifrin: for two weeks, 3,000 mostly millennial athletes descended on the beijing olympics, and posted online

their lives... >> silver medalist! >> schifrin: ...their success... >> oh, my god! >> schifrin: ...their relief, on social media sites that, for the other 21 million peoplin beijing, and 1.4 billion in china, are blocked. authorities drilled a small hole for athletes in china's great internet firewall, shortly after winning the games. >> during the 2022 winter games, we will comprehensively open access to the internet for all customers, including at the competition venues, where athletes stay, and other areas. >> schifrin: but for athletes, it's access "with chinese characteristics"-- as olympics committee deputy director yang shu warned last month through an interpreter: >> ( translated ): any behavior or speeches that is against the olympic spirit, especially against the chinese laws and regulation, are also subjected to certain punishment. >> schifrin: beijing has long used domestic laws to punish its critics. and that history has pushed athletes to stay silent. >> we were given, like, a course, very brief course about,

just, the difference of, you know, our laws and then the laws of the country we're going to. the freedom of speech thing is a little harsher in china. >> schifrin: joanne firesteel reid and deedra irwin are biathletes, a combination of cross country skiing and shooting. we interviewed them before the games. >> personally, it's not a place to, like, make huge statements and try to criticize. you need to be, i don't know, sensitive about when you bring stuff up, and why you're bringing it up. >> schifrin: on the night of the opening ceremonies, chinese authorities dragged off reporter sjoerd den daas, who later said the police had stopped him multiple times. and, after winning gold in this year's luge, german natalie geisenberger, a previous critic of beijing's human rights, self-censored: >> ( translated ): you have to be careful when you say what, and where you say it, and i think many are feeling this way. here on location, i think it's better not to say too much. >> schifrin: irwin and reed said team u.s.a. advised leave

electronics at home. >> everybody is telling us to bring burner phones and burner laptops and, you know, hide all of our personal data. >> there's the threat that the government may be eavesdropping on you, and they can do that in all sorts of ways, from the cell network to the wi-fi in the hotel. the fact that they can access data from-- from platforms directly. >> schifrin: ron deibert is the founder and director of citizen lab, a canadian cybersecurity research group. last month, citizen lab researchers found holes in my2022, the chinese app required for all athletes that collects medical and travel history, and passports. >> the encryption that was used to protect the traffic that's going from the application out to the internet was done in a way that left open the possibility of interception of any content. what we have seen, empirically, through reverse engineering and testing literally thousands of chinese-based mobile applications, is that they build

into the platforms some kind of censorship, some kind of surveillance, and sometimes the coding is done in a sloppy fashion. >> schifrin: initially beijing and the international olympics committee criticized citizen lab's research and defended the app. but then the app's developers fixed the bugs themselves. does that mean the athletes who are in china today participating in the olympics and their data are safe? >> no, it doesn't. you have to assume going into this environment that there are so many potential points of surveillance. there is a very broad national cybersecurity law in china that gives the authorities permission to access user data from technology platforms, largely without a warrant and without any discretion. they're required to turn that information over. >> schifrin: while it censors content at home, beijing tries to use influencers to spread propaganda abroad. this israeli visited cotton

rms in xinjiang, where the u.s. says china detained more th one million uyghurs and forces them to work. >> it's totally normal here. people are nice, doing their job, living their life. >> schifrin: and social media analysts say beijing uses spam to camouflage the human rights realities. so-called "spamouflage" pumps out thousands of messages targeting chinese critics, including those who called for olympics boycotts. >> ( translated ): the so-called issue of forced bor in xinjiang is a lie fabricated by some forces with ulterior motives. we oppose any behavior that politicizes sports. >> schifrin: today, i.o.c. president thomas bach backed beijing up. >> both organizations, b.o.c.o.g. and the i.o.c., have restated their unequivocal commitment to remain politically neutral. >> schifrin: which means, once the olympics ends, the small crack in the great firewall will close again. for the pbs newshour, i'm

nick schifrin. >> woodruff: despite the problems and criticism around the olympics, these past two weeks still have provided their share of incredible accomplishments and powerful moments to celebrate. amna nawaz talks with one of the members of team u.s.a. who brought home gold. >> nawaz: judy, nick baumgartner has not only won a gold medal, but he did it as the oldest american athlete to compete at the beijing games. he clinched gold in the mixed snowboard cross last weekend, along with his 36-year-old teammate lindsey jacobellis. that came just days after a disappointing elimination in the men's individual snowboard cross. this was baumgarnter's fourth winter olympics, and his first olympic medal. nick baumgartner joins me now. nick, welcome to the "newshour". first and foremost,

congratulations. show us the bling. i know you've got it close by. >> yeah, absolutely. unbelievable. it's just so amazing and i'm honored to be able to bring this back here. s. >> it's a thing of beauty and i want to ask you about your journey in just a second. nick, in that moment, you watched lindsey cross the finishline and you knew you had finally won that gold medal in that moment. what did it feel like? >> well, that moment i think was sweeter than it ever could have been, being what happened two days prior when i made a small mistake in the individual race where i was showing lots of speed and i got eliminated and didn't get to go to the middle east rounds. to me, for being my fourth olympics, i don't know if i have another shot. so there was a lot riding on that. so my emotions came out. people got to see me do a very hard interview to do and a lot of emotions came out. me, i'm proud those came out

because everyone got to see what we go through as athletes. but when i got to sit there and watch lindsey, it's no one better thave in the gate than the greatest snowboard cross racer of all time. she's the winningest snowboard cross racer ever. to have her as my teammate makes it more fun. when i got to the bottom and got to watch her go, i knew it would take smart racing on the course because the know came in, and, man, she shined and it was awesome. to be able to bring this home to my community has been so emotional. i got a hero's welcome, thousands of people in the streets for 60 miles to my house, following fire trucks, ambulance, city workers, all these people that have been there to support me. this is a dream come true, and u.p. shining gold right now. >> reporter: nick, i've got to tell you one to have the reasons

people love you so much and have been cheering for you is you put it all out there, you wear your heart on your sleeve. after you lost in the individual race you cried in that interview and you said something that stuck with a lot of people. you said, i'm 40 years old and running out of chances. now, i'm sure you've lost before and i'm sure losing is hard every time. in that moment, why do you think it hit you so hard after that race? >> i mean, it's just -- you see that whole dream, that dream you have been chasing for 17 years, and you saw it slip through your hands, and i wasn't # 100% aware that i was racing in a team race because i didn't know that we had two teams, i thought we only had one, there's a chance we only had one team, and then my teammate jake who did a great job in his first olympics met the criteria to get that spot and i thought that was it. every other olympics, i would say we'll work harder next time.

next times are running out. i have an expiration date on this elite level athletics and just to know that it might not happen, it crushed me, it crushed me, and i made so many sacrifices this past off-season so that i could live with the decisions i made and the choices i made had i not made the olympic team. but i made the olympic team and it was not just going, i wanted a medal, i wanted to chase that greatness and i thought that chance was gone. >> reporter: you have been snowboarding since you were 15 years old and this is not a full-time job, right? what did it take to get to where you are now >> it took so many people supporting me and, like you said, this isn't my full-time job. shocker, olympic snowboarders don't always make a lot of money, especially in my discipline, and it's been very tough, but one thing i've learned from being from the midwest and from the upper peninsula is work ethic.

i was taught that from my family and i have been a construction worker, that's how i paid for this and i fund this dream. i'm a concrete worker, contractor in the summers, it allows me to work my butt off and save my money up and use that money when it's too cold and too much snow to pour concrete. so it's the two perfect jobs, other than both completely destroying my body, it makes it even harder to keep up with these kids. for me, there's no excuses. if you want it, you have to go get it, and that was the only way i was able to help fund this dream and then the support -- my support system is better than any olympic athlete i've ever met. when they come from the olympic op-eds, it's not that big of a deal. when you come from the upper peninsula with a town of 3,000 people, it is a big deal. the amount of support to help you through the lows, to keep you level-head opened the highs,

i owe it to the entire community of the upper peninsula of michigan. >> you get back home, wearing the medal, your 17-year-old son landon greets you at the airport, gives you an enormous hug. what does he say to you? >> man, he just tells me how proud he is and just to see him, i didn't know he was going to be at the airport. i knew there was going to be people and i was going to have family but i didn't know he was going to come down. he did a good job of surprising his dad. i walked out and said, you've cried enough, let's hold it together and try to be able to speak words. he walked out from behind the crowd and out they came and that's pretty awesome. >> so, nick, what's next? world championships next year? >> i think we do the same thing we did this year. we bust our butt. i live in and out of my van in the summer because my commu to the gym is an hour and a half away. me and my dog and son will be

camping, working out, training, getting ready so that i can give it a full run. i don't want to live with the regret of could you have gotten a world championship right after that gold medal? i don't want to think about whether i could or couldn't have because of what i did. we'll give it the best shot and how it happens is how it happens. >> reporter: i think it's fair to say you have a lot more new fans cheering your on every step of the way. gold medalist nick baumgartner. congratulations again. >> thank you for your support and all the new fans and people in my corner, unbelievable for a small-town kid. >> woodruff: and now to the analysis of brooks and capehart. that is "new york times" columnist david brooks and jonathan capehart, columnist for the "washington post."

hello to both of you. so good to see you. but we start again, jonathan, with a sobering story that we have been following all week and that's ukraine. late today, president biden saying that he's now convinced that the russians are going in, that they will further invade. he says the allies are united, there will be a devastating response. we also see here, in washington, in the united states, the two political parties seem to be united behind the biden administration on this, except there was some split -- a small split this week over sanctions. but my question to you, jonathan, is how much of a -- how unified do you think the two parties truly are when it comes to supporting the administration on ukraine and russia? >> judy, of all the issues we have been talking about since i have been a part of this for the last year, this is probably the one sue where there doesn't

seem to be any daylight between democrats and republicans when it comes to talking about what consequences vladimir putin and russia should suffer if, or as the president says when he rolls over the border into ukraine and attacks ukrainian sovereignty. yeah, there was a kerfuffle over a sanctions bill, but it wasn't one side saying let's hit them with sanctions and the other side saying, no, no, let's not. it was we have two competing bills on what to do. there's no daylight between democrats and republicans on this, just as there diddent seem to be any daylight between the united states and the western alliance ant what to do and how too respond and with what to respond or when vladimir putin invades ukraine. >> woodruff: david, how do you see, is this real unite on this? >> i think so, last summer vladimir putin wrote an article claiming that russia and ukraine were the cannel country. it was basically an argument for

russia invading ukraine. it's amazing how dictators, they're not subtle. they tell us what they're going to do and now apparently they're going to do it. if you read the article you can see why we are where we are. it's his belief he has the right to conquer an independent nation and in doing so hoping to throw the united states out of europe and hope to create kind of a dangerous world that he thrives in. the issues couldn't have been bigger or issues that particularly divide americans or members of the western alliance. so i think there's going to be a lot of unity. there be some people who worry on the left this is part of american imperialism to get involved in europe. some like vladimir putin, they see him as an authoritarian guy they like. but in the mainstream of both parties, strong unit the biden administration has done as excellent job of rallying the western alliance. it's been a demonstration of why america needs to be the leader

of the free world. whether that will last as the costs ratchet up for all of us in the west, we'll see, but right now it looks quite unified to me. >> woodruff: jonathan, how much does it matter that the united states presents a uited front at a time, a moment like this? >> well, i mean, the western alliances we're talking about was, you know, the united states helped to create it, the united states and that western alliance have kept peace on the continent for more than 70 years, so it's vitally important that the united states be the leader in this also because, judy, as we all know, we ju came from four years of an administration that cast doubt on u.s. leadership in n.a.t.o., cast doubt on the need for n.a.t.o. a president who spent more time trying to curry favor with and establish a friendly relationship with vladimir putin and giving a stiff arm to america's long-standing allies in the west. so the fact that the united

states is back, as president biden said at his first g-7, i think the wor is very happy that the traditional role of the united states is being adhered to by president biden. >> woodruff: so, david, unity at a moment like this matters? >> yeah, i think so. you know, vladimir putin -- fiona hill argued vladimir putin believes we're weak, retreating. all of us have doubts about where the country is, who have been dorlg country, but we're not dead yet, i guess we would say. we still have the only military that's really able to project power around the world: we still have a tradition of leading the western alliance. emmanuel macron thought europe should go it alone, but i think we've seen over the last week that's not possible, we have to work together, and that's what's happening. in reference to something jonathan said, i shudder to

think what would happen if donald trump was in office right now, you know, whether -- how would we be reacting to vladimir putin? donald trump was never one to go toe to toe with vladimir putin. i think he genuinely admires the man, and if he were in office right now we would be looking at a very difficult and a very troubling situation. >> woodruff: we'll let that one settle in for just a moment. i do want to ask both of you about a different subject and that is guns. jonathan, this week, we saw a settlement between remington, which is a major gun manufacturer, and the families of the sandy hook victims of 2012, that terrible massacre at an elementary school in connecticut. $73 million. this is over a period of time we've seen almost no federal actionn the direction of gun control, and just this week we saw the justice department file

a suit against the state of missouri over its relatively new law loosening gun control, essentially moving in the direction of gun rights. what do you make of all this at this moment, at this time, and the politics of it? >> well, judy, what i'm struck by is how victim of gun violence and people who really want some limits on access to guns, particularly guns considered weapons of war, how they're no longer cowering in the face of a very well-funded gun rights lobby, that they are now looking for ways to hold gun manufacturers accountable. the newtown families figuring out a way to get around the the inability to sue gun manufacturers directly and getting this settlement. you know, i'm in california right now having done an interview with california

governor gavin newsom who, today, announced a series of gun control or measures going after gun manufacturers, inluding one penned by governor newsom himself to use the texas antiabortion law that the supreme court let go through while a case wasending, use that ability to, you know, ve the opportunity for people to go after gun manufacturers in the way that texas is allowing, you know, everyday people to go after people who provide abortion services. what it says to me is these folks, folks who want, you know, to do something about gulfs aren't going to -- gun violence aren't going to take it anymore. if i could read one thing to you from what governor newsom said, "i can't take it anymore, i'm sick and tired of saying thoughts and prayers. we have had enough, and we're going hard against these guys ."

>> woodruff: david, do you see real movement here in one direction or another when it comes to guns? >> yeah, i'm not sure i see tat much movement. i was surprised the sandy hook families were able to succeed. the gun manufacturers have a law protecting them from liability, but they were able to find a way in, and that was to emphasize marketing that remington used marketing slogans that seemed to put forth ideas these guns were for defense purposes not self-defense. they may have closed off that -- that one legal way to make themselves vulnerable. i guess i still see deadlock. the missouri rule is absurd at this. the missouri rule essentially said missourians don't have to obey federal law when it comes to a second amendment. i'm not a big legal scholar but

i do know the constitution explicitly says that federal law takes precedence and has supremacy over state law. this is not advanced constitutional law. so every regal experts exacts the missouri thing to go down. what's happening in state legislators on issue after issue is people are passing laws they don't expect to be actually enacted, it's just a political statement. so they're fundamentally unserious laws, so i'm sure that will get struck down. the blunt fact is that we have 250 million guns in this country. i don't know how -- i don't se any political prospect of really reducing that number and, even in the last two years, the number of gun puchases has at times hit record levels. >> judy, if i could add one more thing. >> woodruff: sure. hat had governor newsom really incensed is to david's point about gun manufacturers and sandy hook families going to marketing route, the governor

was incensed that there is a new gun being targeted to kids for purchase by kids, not the ar-15, but called the jr-15, touting it as being lighter and also on it is sort of an etching of a skull with a pacifier. they are marketing an assault weapon or as the governor called it a weapon of war to children, and this is also one to have the things that governor newsom is trying to go after. >> woodruff: there are so many e turn around there's a new kind of gun that is being marketed. only a couple of minutes left, but i do want -- jonathan, you're in california, but i'll start with david on this. some glimmerings around the country in local races, david, that voters who had voted democratic are having real problems with democratic candidates right now, three members of the san francisco school board kicked out of office.

we've seen it in virginia and a few other places, voters upset about covid, about education issues and more. but how worried, i guess is my question -- and i'm asking you to do this in a minute or so -- should democrats be right now about some of these, you know, frankly surprising moves around the country. >> should be a five alarm fire. san francisco defeated the people by 72 to # 79%. the two big issues were schools. san francisco wanted to dismantle the magnet school and crime. crime is being talked about in my neighborhood and defund the police put the democrats in a terrible spot on this issue as they did on this education issue. >> woodruff: and jonathan, i mean, here in the district of columbia, again, a very democratic city. the mayor's popularity or favorability rating down over her handling of crime. >> right, and she's going to have to convince washingtonians

that she's, you know, got it under control. look, democrats are always fretting about whether or not they are in good standing. it's good that david says it's a five alarm fire because maybe that will focus people in terms of focusing in on what needs to happen as opposed to what those free san francisco school board members were trying to do. >> woodruff: we'll come back to this one when we have more time to talk. thank you both, jonathan capehart joining us tonight from california, david brooks, thank you. >> thanks. you, judy. >> woodruff: as we close tonight, we wanted to share some familiar music brought to us by an unlikely duo. we profiled former congresswoman bby gifford's journey to "retrain her brain" after she was shot in 2011. part of her routine includes playing her childhood

instrument, the french horn. that report caught the eye of cellist yo-yo ma, who then reached out to giffords to play together. here they are, rehearsing simon and garfunkel's "sound of silence" in honor of the lives lost to gun violence each year. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (♪ "sound of silence" ♪) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (♪ "sound of silence" ♪)

>> yay, yay, yay! >> wdruff: how beautiful is that? thank you both. and that's the newshour for t. i'm judy woodruff. join us online, and again here on monday evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and have a great weekend. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> fidelity wealth management. >> consumer cellular. >> care.com. >> bnsf railway. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org.

>> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

♪ ♪ hello, everyone. welcome to "amanpour & company." here's what's coming up. >> we have reason to believe that they are engaged in a false flag operation. they have an excuse to go in. >> the united states and nato on high alert, fearing russiaould launch a pretext for war. i speak to the irish foreign minister simon covney about that, and another pressing crisis, the iran nuclear deal. >> trump under fire for mishandling white house recor. we break down the legal ramifications with jack goldsmith, legal counsel to the bush administration, and the tragedy of a minor who fails a drug test and then watches her dream of olympic gold vanish. we discuss 15-year-old russian sensation kamila