judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. tensions rising. president said war in ukraine would come soon as the u.s. pushed back separatists for inflaming conflict in eastern ukraine. china claims to allow athletes to voice their views on the internet but critics remain skeptical and warned of potential data gathering. >> you have to be careful when you say what and where you say it. i think many feel this way. on location, it is better not to say too much. judy: it is friday. david brooks and don -- jonathan capehart way the 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. ♪

♪ >> consumer cellular. ♪ >> the john s and james l knight foundation, fostering an and engaged communities. more at k's.org -- 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 contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. judy: president biden said today

he believes russia's president vladimir putin has made the decision to further invade ukraine and it will likely happen in coming days. his remarks in a news conference, u.s. officials said even more russian troops have arrived at the russian -- russia-ukraine border in recent days, joining 150,000 already on station. who the u.s. says are a -- poised to attack. as nick schifrin says, u.s. feels russians and allies may be sparking a new and more brutal invasion. nick: if worn ukraine is about to begin, u.s. officials say can start like this in the eastern city controlled by russian-back separatists. local authorities showed off a car destroyed by a bomb. authorities allowed local camera to film residents fleeing across the border into russia.

a military leader of the separatist republic blamed the ukrainian government. >> the armed units of ukraine are deliberately trying to instill fear and panic among civilians of our republic by targeting vital infrastructure. nick: open-source researchers say this video, partly recorded today, was actually filmed to test two days ago and president biden called their claims deceptive and pretext for russian invasion. pres. biden: these are consistentith the playbook russians have used before, to set up a false justification to act against ukraine. i'm convinced he has made a decision. nick: russian president vladimir putin said the ukrainian government must negotiate with separatist leaders. pres. biden: all kiev kyiv needs to do is sit at the negotiating table and the earlier the better. we see the situation escalating right now. nick: the u.s. and he have say

russian back separatists are the gressors, targeting this checkpoint this morning in a residential building last night. ukrainian armed forces commander. >> we cannot rebut all fabrications, a number of which is growing exponentially and is produced by enemy, -- propaganda during these tough days. nick: the tough days included cyber attacks that took down the websites in ukraine's two largest banks and the foreign and defense ministries. today the deputy national security adviser blamed the russian government. >> while unlimited impact, this recent state of cyber attacks in ukraine are consistent with our russian effort and laying the groundwork for more disruptive cyber attacks, accompanying a potential further invasion. nick: senior u.s. officials say the invasion could come at any minute because more russian troops have arrived in the last few days and are in height and readiness. nato tried to demonstrate unity.

in munich, vice president harris led a day of diplomacy with the nato secretary-general and baltic leaders. vp harris: the focus for us in working together is to further coordinate. nick: the rhetoric does not match all the reality. germany refuses to provide ukraine lethal weapons, a policy the foreign minister defended. >> we are not selling weapons to everybody in the world, but only to our partners. nato partns and european union partners. nick: the mayor of kiev pushed back. mayor: we re--- need defensive weapons right now. to defend our families, our states, our cities, our citizens. we need support. nick: back in cap today, a memorial honoring -- key have today, a memorial for the two nader's -- neighbors. this city has seen tragedy and fears more.

families have plans to evacuate the entire city should it come to that. i am nick schifrin. ♪ stephanie: we will return to the full program after the latest headlines. police in canada arrested at least 100 protesters and towed away trucks in an effort to break up auto was three weeks each. truckers have occupied the capital city to demonstrate against canada's covid-19 restrictions. authorities in neon green marched the streets while tow truck operators hotel vehicles blocking traffic but protesters were undeterred. >> i am willing to take in all the way, drop to my knees, put up a peace sign, and they will have to remove me at that point. i have protested peacefully the whole time i have been here. stephanie: ottawa police are

prepared to work around the clock to remove the more than 300 trucks. the u.s. supreme court has agreed to hear the biden administration's appeal of the trump-era remain in mexico policy, requiring asylum-seekers to wait in mexico before their immigration hearings. court rulings forced the president to reinstate the policy after he tried suspending it. a final decision is expected by late june. the national archives today confirmed it found classified national security information in the boxes of documents former president donald 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 motorist, during a routine traffic stop last april. friday sam lazaro has our story. reporter: before the sentencing in a minneapolis courtroom, daunte wright's mother spoke cheerfully about her son. >> she took our baby boy with a single gunshot. she shattered my heart. correspondent: in december, she was convicted of fst 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 his family. ms. potter: i understand a mothers love and i am sorry i took it. my heart is broken for all of you. correspondent: in handed down her sentence, the judge 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 , who received a far longer sentence. judge: officer potter made a mistake that ended tragically. she never intended to hurt anyone. her conduct cries out for a sentence, significantly below. correspondent: after the sentence was handed down, his family and supporters exprsed outrage. >> kim potter murdered my son. he died april 11. today, the justice system murdered him all over again. this is the problem with our justice system today. white women tears trumps justice. i thought my white women tears

would be good enough, because they are true and genuine. correspondent: potter will serve two thirds of her time, 16 months, in prison. the rest will be on parole. i am fred. judy: california governor gavin newsom is taking a legal play from texas is abortion law to allow people to sue gun makers and sellers. the state legislature unveiled the bill in an attempt to restrict the sale of assault-style guns. the texas abortion law allows private citize to sue abortion providers and has survived legal challenges, which is what newsom hopes for the gun bill. a winter storm is wreaking havoc for commuters in the midwest. traffic on i-65 in indiana ground to a standstill this morning. treacherous conditions cost -- caused trucks to jackknife off the road. a 17 mile stretch of interstate 39 in illinois is shut down for a second day after a 100 hght

-- 100-vehicle pileup during blinding snow. the second storm to hit 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, wins gusting more than 100 mph, ripped off sections of london's o2 arena, and 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. jim hagedorn was 59 years old. at the winter olympics in beijing, american stier -- skier david wise will go for his third metal in the men's freestyle halfpipe. in women's bobsled, alana myers taylor will go for her second medal after earning silver in an earlier race. that medal made her the oldest american woman to win a medal in a winter limits.

still to come on the newshour, the controversy around russian figure skating highlights the pressures in mental health challenges for athletes. nick baumgartner discusses winning gold at the winter olympics. david brooks and jonathan capehart consider the political news plus much more. ♪ >> this is a pbs newshour from w eta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: a three day security conference that began in munich today saw u.s. and nato leaders aiming to further unify western nations in their efforts to combat russian aggression against ukraine. nick schifrin has more on the european response with a key eupean diplomat. nick: joining me is germany's ambassador to washington. welcome to the newshour. we heard president biden say

putin has decided to invade. senior nato officials say they fear an invasion could come tomorrow. do you agree? ms. haber: we have been briefed and informed and sharing information among allies with nato, the united states, throughout the past weeks. there is no date when we do not exchange information of the latest assessments. 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 rounds for worrying about a massive threat. nick: the pretext is what many people here have been talking about. we showed earlier what separatists in eastern ukraine, an area they control caught our

car bomb in the capital city. are we in the middle of a russian attack and if this is a false flag, is that what will proceed some type of military action? ms. haber: it is a possibility but it is different at this stage -- difficult at this stage to pinpoint the pretext that will be used. we will 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, and that is concentrating military forces, diplomacyas not entirely been clear. we have every responsibility to pursue a diplomatic avenue. that takes two to tango. for the moment, there is still an upcoming meeting if it happens between the secretary and the russian foreign minister

at the nato-russian counsel, for which we have suggested a meeting. there is the oecd, the omd format. the door to diplomacy has not been slammed shut. nick: you follow very closely -- in fact, you have been in the middle, in some ways, in the debate in congress about the timing of sanctions. you have spoken to congressional leaders. do you believe pressure should be sanctioned now as these events are unfolding rapidly and should that not include the possibility of pulling the german russian pop line before this invasion begins. ms. haber: if you adopt who knew them sanctions because of what happened, you slam the door shut

to a change of behavior that we want to produce by deterring russia from going down the road in the first place. when putting sanctions on the shelf for russia clearly to see what will happen if it occurs in debates ukraine, if we adopt the sanctions now, there is no incentive whaoever for russia reconsider. nick: are you confident moscow understands what would happen to north stream 2 -- nord stream 2's soldiers cross the border? ms. haber: the german chancellor, all of schultz, has been in moscow earlier this week and he clearly said in a press conference that the russians knew that -- and everybody knew what was going to happen, should the russians invaded, should russia invade ukraine. nick: with all due respect, olaf scholz did not say nord stream 2

when discussing that so he has been a little bit oblique. are you saying privately, he is less? ms. haber: he has responded to a question at this press conference that related to nordstream 2 and a former chancellor and in this context, he said germany would adopt massive sanctions in lockstep with its allies in the russians knew exactly what was going to happen. in a discussion with secretary of state blinken the german foreign minister said all options would be on the table. nick: washington and london have been very aggressivet revealing russian military plans

. they say u.s. and western intelligence assessments -- u.s. officials say they are trying to remove putin's element of surprise. do you agree? ms. haber: communication strategies can be a difficult equation so you weigh the benefits against the potential costs. calling putin out and producing clarity and transparency for the entire world to see, including for russia to see, what is going on and what russia is doing and where the responsibility lies has earned benefits so far as -- insofar as the surprise element. the initiative is no more within. the initiative is for those who produce the transparency for everyone to see. nick: germany's ambassador to

the united states, thank you very much. ms. haber: thank you for having me. ♪ judy: this is the closing weekend of the winter olympics that have, in many ways, been over shattered -- overshadowed by larger concerns such as china's human rights lacquered and building elevations. we will start with the conduct of the russian squad. camellia valieva failed to score a metal and was prorated by her coach. many were disturbed by how this unfolded and worried about the pressures on the athletes. lisa desjardins begins our coverage. lisa: the wom's ice skating competition has been are particularly ugly moment for the games this week. i'm joined by stephanie, from sports illustrated, covering the games in beijing. let's start with the ladies

competition that we saw last night in thenited states. i don't think you have ever seen anything like it. can you take us through those ugly moments of russian scares raising a lot of controversy and a great deal of emotion of the end? what happened? stephanie: i haven't seen anything like it either. it was hard to watch. the favorite going in, competing under the cloud of doping suspicion, struggled dramatically and she fell twice, stepped out of job, it was really a mess. she was crying when she came off the ice and the first person who greeted her was her coach, who basically started yelling at her, asking her why she gave up, why she wasn't trying harder. understandably, she continues sobbing and they announced she has finished fourth, meaning her teammate will win. shcherbakova is alone, stunned, when she finds out, looking not

terribly happy. the second place finisher is sobbing as well, because she completed a very challenging routine she thought should have one. she is weeping. she is yelling she hates skating and hates the sport and her coaches and never wants to do it again. everybody has a gold medal except her. it was a really upsetting scene to see these teenagers having really big emotions offer pretty upsetting reasons. lisa: as you say, these are young women who really have put most of the rest of their lives on hold for the sport and the olympic games. the president of the international olympic committee was asked about this and he showed some concern. is there any way the olympic committee -- committee can change how the skaters or athletes are treated by coaches like this? stephanie: i think the ioc 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 said he was concerned but none of this should have surprised him. lisa: there was talk about this coach, this program for years. certainly russians ding is not new and it is his organization that let them skate, if you will, so i think there probably are things the ioc could be doing, such as formal investigations. i think it could separate itself a little bit from the higher court that gets. overseas things. . a lot of the people who sit on the court set on the ioc, making it not any kind of body at all. they are also entwined that it is hard to see anything real getting done. lisa: as the bureaucracy of the sport, has trouble dealing with that, we have seen what is happening with the skaters in that they are all pushing the limits. the second place finisher, as you mentioned, landed five quadruple jobs. i'm going to ask you, what do we know about what that is doing to

skaters' bodies and the sport just going to far, too demanding on the skaters at this point, for their own physical health? stephanie: that routine -- he landed five quads, the same number as the man's -- men's champion, a wild statistic if you thing about the difference between the male and female bodies. part of the problem is once these girls' bodies mature into women's bodies, they cannot generate the force required to land these jobs. they have the wrong muscle-to-fat ratio. that also sets up really backward incentives in that if your goal is to create skaters who can do the sort of incredible rotations, what you want our children and you want them to be as skinny as possible, because the less they weigh, the easier to launch into the air. you end up with situations like this one in which russian skaters have talked about not being allowed to eat very much. some did not drink water during

the 11 x because it is about keeping their way down so they can produce these jobs. these are issues that skating community says for a long time, artistry versus athleticism, and this is a natural endpoint of that. if you want to see the do these jobs, the way to do it is pretty unhealthy. it is bad for their bodies good -- bodies. lisa: you said it was time for figure skating to set an age limit. stephanie: i think it would help. it is currently 15, loaf or physical perspective and also sort of the horror of what we saw at the event. these are children. the ioc nods at this issue i having a protected person class for the world anti-did being agency that says 15-year-olds are too young to make decisions for themselves -- anti-doping agency that says 15-year-olds are too young to make decisions for themselves. if they are too young to know what they are doing, we shouldn't have them at the limits.

a lot of people have talked about suggesting they all be 18. this is an adult sport for adults. it would make it less likely these are children being taken advantage of. it would force these organizations to find a way to extend the careers of these athletes. mariah bell was a 25-year-old u.s. skater. she pointed out she has made a profession out of this and for a lot of her younger peers, they will do it for two years, maybe, and compete at one olympics and that is at and they are retired at age 17 and have back problems and they have to move on with their lives. is that really what we want for these people? i think it probably is not. lisa: it is fascinating and difficult. thank you so much for joining us to talk about it. stephanie: thanks for having me. ♪ judy: unlike 1.4 billion chinese

citizens, international athletes competing at the winter olympics have free access to the internet, but through 12 days of sport, no olympic fleet has criticized a host country for run advocates call our human rights record. nick schifrin is back with more on what is keeping the athletes from speakinout. ♪ >> ♪ i've had the time of my life ♪ nick: from dirty dancing to something strange in the neighborhood, ♪ ghostbusters ♪ >> it feels like a movie right now. nick: covid tests made it feel like the empire swabs back. >> they had this machine here that just knows who you are. nick: for two weeks, 3000 millennial athletes descended on the limits and posted online their lives. >> silver medalist. nick: their success. their relief on social media sites that, for the other 21

million people in beijing and 1.4 billion people in china, are blocked. authorities drilled a hole for athletes in china's great internet firewall shortly after winning the games. >> during the 2022 games, we will comprehensively open access to the internet for all customers, including at the competition venues, where athletes stay, and other areas. nick: for athletes, it is access with chinese characteristics. as olympics committee deputy director warned last month through an interpreter. >> they are against deliberate spirit, especially against the chinese laws and regulations. also subject to certain punishments. nick: beijing has long used domestic laws to punish critics. that history pushed athletes to stay silent. >> we were given a brief course about the difference of our laws and the laws of the country we

are going to. freedom of speech is harsher in china. nick: we interviewed these athletes before the games. >> is not a place to make huge statements and try to criticize your you need to be sensitive about when you bring stuff up and why you are bringing it up. nick: the night of the opening ceremonies, authorities -- who later said the police stopped him multiple times. after winning gold in this year's luge natalie giese and, a former critic, of beijing's human rights, self-centered. >> you have to be careful when you say what and where you say it and i think many are feeling this way. on location, i think it is better not to say too much. leave electronics at home. >> everybody tells us to bring burner phones and burner laptops and hide all personal data. >> there is the threat the

government may be eavesdropping on you. they can do that in all sorts of ways from a cell network to a wi-fi in the hotel. the fact that they can access data from platforms directly. nick: ron deibert is the founder and director of citizen lab, on -- a canadian cybersecurity research group. researchers found holes in 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 is 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 faced mobile applications, is they build into their platforms some kind of censorship, some kind of surveillance, and sometimes, the coating is done to sloppy. nick: initially, beijing and the

ioc criticized the research and defended the app, but the developers fixed the bugs themselves. does that mean the athletes, who are in china today participating in the elevates, and their data are safe? >> no it does not. assume many potential points of surveillance. there is a broad, national, cybersecurity law in china, that gives the authorities permission to access user data from technology platforms, largely without a warrant and discretion. dare required to turn that information over. nick: it sensors content at home but tries to use influencers to spread propaganda abroad. this is rarely visited cotton farms where the u.s. is trying to detain more than one billion uighurs and for some to work. >> people are nice, doing a job,

living the life. nick: analysts say beijing uses spam to cam allies -- camouflage the human rightrealities, pumping out messages targeting critics iluding those who called for boycotts. as the spokesperson for china's olympic committee, -- said yesterday -- >> the issue of forced labor is fabricated by forces with all tear your motives. we impose behavior that publicizes sports. nick: the ioc president today backed the agenda. >> both organizations have restated revoking their commitment to remain politically neutral. nick: that means once legal epics ends, the small crack in the great firewall will close again. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. ♪

judy: despite the problems and criticism around the olympics, the past two weeks have provided their share of incredible accomplishments and powerful moments to celebrate. talking with one of the members of team usa who brought home gold. correspondent: nick baumgartner has not only want to gold-medal but he did it as the oldest american athlete to compete at the beijing games. he clenched gold in the mixed snowboard cross last weekend along with his 36-year-old teammate lindsey jacobellis, days after a disappointing elimination in the men's individual snowboard cross. this was his fourth winter olympics and his first olympic medal. nick baumgartner joins me now. welcome to the newshour. at first and foremost, congratulations and show us the blanket. you have a close by. nick: absolutely. we have an unbelievable, and i'm

honored to bring this back here. correspondent: it is a thing of beauty. i want to ask about your journey to that in a second. take me to that moment, that moment you watched lindsay cross the finish line, and you knew you had finally won the gold-medal. in that moment, what did it feel like? nick: it was sweeter than it could have been, two days prior where i was showing lots of speed and i got eliminated. i don't know if i have another shot so there was a lot riding on that. people got to see me do a hard interview and emotions came out. i'm proud they came out because everyone got to see what we go through as athletes. when we got to sit there and

watched her, there is no one better to have in the game than the greatest snowboarder cross rates are of all time, the wing yes -- winningest ever, and to have her as my teammate lightens the load and makes it more fun so you are enjoying yourself in writing better. when i got to the bottom and got to watch her go, i knew it would take smart racing on the course, because the snow came in andman, she shined. it was awesome. to bring this home to my community has been emotional. i got a hero's welcome. thousands in the streets for 60 miles to my house. following fire trucks, ambulances, city workers, all these people that have banded this for me. this is a dream come true and keep shining gold right now. correspondent: i have to tell you one of the reasons people love you so much, and have been cheering for you, is because you put it all out there. you where your heart on your sleeve after you have thought in your individual race.

you cried in the interview and said something that stuck with a lot of people. you said i am 40 years old and running out of time. i'm sure you have lost before and losing is hard every time but in that moment, why do you think it hit you so hard after that race? nick: i mean, you see that dream you have been chasing for 17 years. you saw it slip through your hands and i was not 100% aware that i was racing, because i didn't know had two teams. there was a chance we only had one team in my teammate, jake vetter, who did a great job in his first olympics, he met the criteria to get that spot. i thought that was it. every other olympics i was able to say well next time, we will work harder. next times are running out. i have an expiration on this. just to know that it might

not happen crushed me and i made so as many sacrifices this past off-season so i could live with the decisions i made and the choices i made, had i not made the limbic team. i made the team and it was not just going. i wanted a metal. i wanted to chase that greatness. i thought the chance was gone. correspondent: you have been snowboarding since 15 years old, and this is not a full-time job, right? what did it take to get where you are now? nick: it took so many people supporting me and, like you sai d, this is not my full-time job. shocker. olympics mode borders don't make a lot of money, especially in my discipline, and it has been tough but one thing i have learned from being from the midwest and the upper peninsula his work ethic. i was topped out for my family and have been construction worker. that is how i pay for this and run the stream.

i am a concrete worker, contractor in the summers, that allows me to work my bot off and save my money up and use that money when it is too cold and there is too much note to pour concrete -- snow to pour con crete. other than both jobs destroying my body, it makes it harder to keep up with these kids. for me, there is no excuses. you wanted, you have to go and get it and that is the only way i was able to help fund this stream and support my support system is better than any olympic athlete i have ever met. when they come from these olympic hotbeds, it is nothat big a deal. when you come from a town of 3000 people, it is a big deal. the amount of support to help you through those loads -- lows and keep you levelheaded on the highs, i/o it to the entire committee -- i owe it to the entire committee. correspondent: you get back

home, you wear the medal, your 17-year-old son gives you an in norma's hug, what did he say to you? nick: he tells me how proud he is and just to see him, i didn't know he would be at the airport. i knew there would be people and family but i did not kw he was coming down, and he did a good job of surising his dad. i walked out and i was like, come on, you have cried enough, hold it together, let's try to be able to speak words, and he walked out from behind the crowd. as a dad, it is pretty awesome. correspondent: what is next. world championships next year? nick: we do the same thing we did this year, bust our butt, i live in my van in the summer because the commute to the gym is an hour and a half away, so me and my dog and son will camp and work out, train, get ready, so that i can give it a full run. i don't want to live with regret of, could you have gotten the

world championship right after that gold-medal? i don't want to have to think about whether i could or couldn't have because of what i did. we will give it the best shot and how it happens is how it happens. correspondent: it is fair to say you have a lot more new fans cheering you on every step o the way. gold medalist. nick baumgartner joining us tonight. congratulations again thank you so much. nick: thank you guys and thank you to everyone for the support and all the new fans and people that are in my corner, it is unbelievable for a small town game. ♪ judy: now to the analysis of brooks and capehart, new york times columnist david brooks and jonathan capehart, columnist for the washington post. hello to both of you. good to see you. we start, again, jonathan, with a sobering story that we have

been following all week, and that is ukraine. late today, president biden said he is now convinced the russians are going in and will further invade. he says the allies are united. there will be a devastating response. we also see here, in washington, united states, two political parties seem to be united behind the biden administration on this, except there was some split, a small split, over sanctions, but my question to you, jonathan, is how unified do you think the two parties truly are when it comes to supporting the administration on ukraine and russia? jonathan: of all the issues we have talked about since i have been part of this for the last year, this is probably the one issue where there is not to 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 attacked ukrainian sovereignty. there was a kerfuffle over sanctions bill but it was not one side saying let's hit them with sanctions and the other side saying let's not. it was heat we have two competing bills on what not to do. there is no daylight between democrats and republicans, just as there is no daylight between the united states and the western alliance, about what to do and how to respond and with what to respond, if or when vladimir putin invades ukraine. judy: is this real unity on this? david: i think so. last summer, vladimir putin wrote an article claiming russia and ukraine were the same country. it was basically an argument for russia invading ukraine appear to they are not subtle. they tell us what you're going to do and they do it.

you see why we are where you are. he believes he has the right to conquer an independent nation and create a kind of dangerous road that he thrives in. the issues could not have been bigger and do not divide americans or members of the western alliance. i think there will be unity, some people who worry on the left that this is part of american imperialism to get involved in europe. some on the right love vladimir putin and see him as a manly, socially conservative, authoritarian guy that they kind of like. on either end, there will be some but among the mainstream of both partie, i think right now, there is strong unity and the biden administration is doing an excellent job of rallying the western alliance, demonstrating why america needs to be a leader of the free world. whether that will last as the cost ratchet up the will see but it looks unified to me right now.

judy: how much does it matter the united states presents a united front at a time like this, a moment lik this? jonathan: the western alliance, as we were talking about, was the u.s. creating it. the united states in the western alliance have kept peace on the continent for more than 70 years. it is vitally important the united states made a leader in this also because as we all know, we just came from four years of an administration that casts doubt on u.s. leadership in nato, cast doubt on the need for nato, a president who spent more time trying to curry favor with and establish a friendly relationship with vladimir putin , and giving stiff-arm to america's long-standing allies in the west, so the fact that you've the united states is back as president biden said at his first g7, i think the world is

very happy that traditional role of the united states is being adhered to by president biden. judy: unity at a moment like this matters? david: i think so. vladimir putin and fiona hill argue pudding believes america is where the russia was in the 1990's -- weak, retreating, poor leadership. all of us covering this country have doubts about where the country is. we are not dead yet i would say. we still have the only military that is able to project power around the world. we still have a tradition of leaving the western alliance. emmanuel macron thought europe should go alone but over the last week, we have seen that is not possible and we have to work together and that is what is happening. just a reference something jonathan said, i shudder to think what would happen if donald trump was in office, how this -- we would react about

amir putin. donald trump was never one to go toe to toe with vladimir putin. i think he admires the man and we would be looking at a very difficult and troubling situation if he were in office right now. judy: we will let that one settle in for a moment. i want to ask both of you about a different subject and that is guns. this week, we saw a settlement between remington and the families of the sandy hook victims. the terrible 2012 massacre at an elementary school. $73 million. we have seen almost no federal action in gun control in this week, we saw the justice department filed a suit against the state of missouri over its relatively new wall -- law, loosening the gun control,

moving in the direction of gun rights. what do you make of this at this moment, at this time, and the politics of it? jonathan: i am struck by how victims of gun violence and people who really want some limits on access to guns, particularly guns that are considered weapons of war, how they are no longer cowering in the face a very well-funded gun rights lobby, that they are now looking for ways to hold gun manufacturers accountable. the newtown family is figuring out a way to get around the inability to sue gun manufacturers directly and getting the settlement. i'm in california right now, having interviewed with gavin newsom, who today announced a seri of gun control or measures going after gun manufacturers, including one

penned by governor newsom himself, to use the texas antiabortion law the supreme court let go through while the case was pending. use that ability to give the opportunity to people to go after gun manufacturers in the way that texas is allowing everyday people to go after people who provide abortion services. what it says to me is these folks, who want to do something about gun violence, will not take it anymore. if i can read one thing to you from what governor newsom said, he literally said "i can't take it anymore. i'm sick and tired of saying 'thoughts and prayers'. we have had enough and are going hard against these guys." judy: do you see real movement here in one direction or another when it comes to guns?

david: i am not sure i see much movement. i was surprised families were able to succeed. the gun manufacturers have a law protecting them from liabili but they found a way in, to emphasize the marketing, that remington used a marketing slogan -- marketing slogans that endorsed the idea these guns were for offensive purposes, not for self defense. i assume no gun you manufacturer will ever use that again and they will about seldefense, though they may have closed off that one legal way to make themselves vulnerable. the missouri rule is an absurdity. it it essentially says missourians don't have to obey federal law when it comes to second amendment. i'm not a legal stollar -- scholar but the constitution explicitly says federal law takes supremacy over state law.

this is not advanced constitutional law so every legal expert expects this to go down. what is happening in legislatures on issue after issue is people pass laws they don't expect to be enacted. it is a political statement. they are fundamentally unserious laws. the blunt fact is that we have 250 million gunsn this country. i don't know how -- i don't see political prospect of reducing that number and in the last two years, the number of gun purchases has hit record levels at times. jonathan: if i could add one more thing. what had governor newsom incensed is that to david's point of the -- about gun manufacturers, sandy hook families going the marketing route. the governor was incensed that there is a new gun that is being targeted to kids, purchased by kids, not the ar-15 but it is being called the jr-15.

they are touting it as being lighter and also on it is an edging of a skull with a pacifier. they are marketing an assault weapon, a weapon of war, two children and this is one of the things the governor is trying to go after. judy: every time we turn around, there is a new kind of gun that is being marketed. only a couple of minutes left. you are in california and i will start with david on this. some glimmering's around the country in local races that voters who had voted democratic are having problems with three democratic candidates, three members of the san francisco school board kicked out of office. we have seen it in virginia and a few other places. it is voters upset about covid and education and -- issues and

more, but how worried i guess is my question? i am asking you in a minute or so, where should democrats be about these surprising moves around the country? david: fire on fire. the two big issues and san francisco wanted to dismantle the magnet school in crime, talked about in my neighborhood and defund the police took a terrible spot on this issue in the education issue. judy: here in the district of columbia, a very democratic city, the mayor's favorability rating down over her handling of crime. jonathan: right, and she will have to convince washingtonians that she has it under control. democrats are always fretting about whether or not they are in good standing.

it is good that david says it is a five-alarm fire because maybe that will focus people in terms of focusing on what needs to happen as opposed to what the san francisco school board members were trying to do. judy: we will come back to this one when we have more time to talk. thank you both. jonathan cape are joining us from california and david brooks, thank you. ♪ judy: as we close tonight, we waed to take a different look at those affected by gun violence with some familiar muc, brought to us by an unlikely duo. we profile former congresswoman gabby giffords' 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 reached out to giffords to play together. here they are reversing -- rehearsing "sound of silence" by simon and garfunkel to honor the lives of those lost to gun violence each year. ♪ >> yay! judy: how beautiful is that? thank you both.

that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and here monday evening. for all of us at pbs newshour, thank you, stay safe, and have a good weekend. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪ >> consumer cellular. bnsf railway. ♪ >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world at hewlett.org. ♪ >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems. skoll foundation.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 performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] >> this is pbs newshour west, from w eta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.]

♪ ♪ tonight on kqed newsroom. a quarter of the crude oil that california imports comes from the amazon, we talk with 2 environmental advocates about how fossil fuel extraction is impacting the rain forest in ecuador. governor newsom unveils a new plan for living with covid- 19 for the long-term, while new poll numbers show that californians are increasingly concerned about rising crime, we will discuss with our panel of reporters and analyze the results of this week's election. an intriguing art exhibit about the health of our planet is in this week's