captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, the edge of war-- russia's leader vladimir putin recognizes parts of eastern ukraine as independent, further inflaming tensions and prompting president biden to impose new sanctions. and, trouble in the air-- as airlines grapple with ongoing pandemic disruptions, their workers must contend with yet another problem: unruly passengers. >> flight attendants are every single day going to work and understanding that it's very likely that they're going to experience this conflict and maybe up to and including a physical assault. >> woodruff: and, an old story with a fresh take--- a journalist delves into newly public documents to craft a comprehensive history of the

infamous watergate scandal. all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: fidelity is here to help you work through the unexpected, with financial planning and advice for today, and tomorrow.

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>> woodruff: russia's president vladimir putin regnized as independent two separatist regions of ukraine today, and hours later ordered russian troops to hours later ordered russian troops to conduct what the kremlin called a "peacekeeping operation" in those regions. after putin's earlier moves, the u.s., united kingdom, and the european union all announced targeted sanctions, not the ni schifrin begins our coverage. >> schifrin: with the stroke of a pen president putin claimed are redraw the map of europe, recognized the sech proclaimed republics for nearly eight years partially controlled by rushan backed separatists. tonight prorussian ukrainians wave russian flags after putin called ukraine a coony with a puppet reg eem and warned of

further fights. >> we demand those who took over and to immediately stop combat activity otherwise the responsibility for continuing the blood shed will lay on the shoulders of the ukrainian regime. >> and tonight there is worry that blood shed is already beginning, putin ordered a quote peace keeping mission. president biden imposed sanctions on anyone doing business in rebel-held areases and a senior administration official warned of further penalties if russia invades. inside rebel held territory with local cameramen filming authorities have evacuated 30,000 mostly women and children and called up men young and old to be ready to fight ukraine. russian forces are backing them up. u.s. officials tell pbs newshour at least one-third of russia's 150,000 plus troops on the border have already left their staging areas and move to attack positions. that is documented by new satellite images of new deploymentses of armoured equipment and troops moving toward the border including

along two locations close to ukraine east, independent researchers say russian troops surround ukraine not only in the east but also south and north in belarus. where exercises that were supposed to end yesterday have been extended indefinitely. these troops represent an exi sengs-- existential threat to ukraine, national security advisor jake sullivan said today. >> we believe that any military operation of this size, scope and magazine teut of what we believe the russians are planning will be extremely violent. >> the u.s. sent a letter to the u.n. that russia was quote creating lists of identified ukrainians to be killed or sent to camps following a military occupation. >> we also have intelligence to suggest that there will be an even greater form of brutality because this will not simply be some conventional war between two armies, it will be a war waged by russia on the ukrainian people. on sunday in the black seaport city of odessa those ukrainian people wrapped themselves in ukrainian flag and chanted in

russia, russians, go home. newshour producer was on scene. >> this predominantly russian-speaking city back in 2014 still had a strong prorussian element. now eight years later, and with russian aggression looming just around the corner, they say that the choice of the city is very clear. it is ukraine. >> alexi honcharenko favors ukrainian unity. >> it is spornt to show putin that odessa is ukraine, that it is the salt and capitol of ukraine and nobody waits for him here, so we need more now, we need guarantees of security for ukraine now. >> odessa resident moved from western ukraine five years ago. >> would you say that in those five years that you have been living here you see a change in odessa. >> yeah, a lot of change and a lot of people here, speak

ukrainian, start to believe in ukraine and start to read ukrainian history and they believe that odessa is the ukraine forever. >> and nick joins me now for more, so nick, a fast developing story today. what more do we know about what is happening on the ground? >> schifrin: judy, russian media are reporting that there are armoured columes of russian forces moving from russia into donesk and there are videos on social media that are unverified of russian forces moving. but there is no confirmation right now by the united states that those forces are in fact moving into those areas. but the agreement as we reported that putin signed with the self-declared separate leaders does allow for russian bases in those areas, it allows for russian military infrastructure in those separatist areas and

allows for joint protection, quote unquote of the border. which means, judy, putin is still maintaining a little ambiguity. he played the ground work for war, but hasn't actually declared work. he laid the foundation to form a military presence but hasn't defined it. we still don't know his final move which of course his intention to keep us guessing. >> woodruff: i know you have been talking to administration officials. what is known at this point about what is the u.s. is going to do? >> schifrin: as i reported the executive order that president biden has just released bans all persons who work in or operating in the self-declared republics of donesk and lunhonsk and gives the u.s. authority sto sanction anyone working there. >> but-- it was left ambiguous whether the movement of russian forces from russia into occupied areas would actually trigger

that massive group of sanctions that the u.s. and its allies have been threatening. the senior administration official said quote russian forces moving in would not be a new step. there have been russian troops there for eight years. but the official did say that there would be further moves tomorrow. they would continue to watch what russia does and those moves tomorrow could include more sanctions as well, judy. >> woodruff: all right, nick schifrin, following this story throughout. thank you, nick. >> thank you. >> woodruff: and today's move >> woodruff: today's moves by russian president vladimir putin could have far reaching consequences. for what those ramifications might be, we get two views: david kramer is the managing director for global policy at the george w. bushnstitute, a think tank. he served as an assistant secretary of state during the george w. bush administration. and angela stent. she worked in the state department during the clinton administration and served as a top u.s. intelligence officer on russia during the george w. bush administration. she is now a professor at

georgetown university. welcome to the fushour to both of you. david kramer, to you first, taking today's developments together, the statement by a putin that russia will now recognize the independence of these two break away regions and the, what is reported to be th movement of russian troops in to that eastern region, what does it all amount to? >> judy, i think today may have been a fatal day for diplomacy. mr. putin seems to have gone completely heywire in the past 24 hours, where he initially offered a tent tiff agreement o to french president macron on a meeting with president biden. that now seems very unlikely. even a meeting scheduled for this thursday with russian foreign minister lavrov and secretary of state blinken seems very unlikely. putin all of a sudden has really hit the accelerator. and i think has turned this into

a really critical point. >> woodruff: angela stent, do you also see this as a fatal day for diplomacy? >> yes, i do, unfortunately. we had an unusually aggressive speech by putin. he expressed all of the greechances-- grieveances that he has been expressing for the past 15 to 20 years and by recognizing these so call the republics as independent entities, by sending russian troops in formally, there have been russian troops there since 2014, he has raised the stakes, the likelihood-of-an actual war with ukraine. he was unrelenting in his criticism of ukraine in this speech today. den graded them. we haven't quite seen anything like this. this is much worse than what he did at the moneyic security conference in 2015. and it does not bode well for the future. >> woodruff: david kramer explain the significance of putin today saying russia now recognizes the independence of these two regions, for people who don't follow exactly what has been happening in tht part

of the world. >> well, putin is following a plan that he followed in georgia in 2008 with recognizing separatist regions in that area. and russia occupies 20% of gorge gan territory to this day. he now has done what he did in 2014 with the illegal annexation of crimea, except this time in the case of these two republics he has recognized them as independent states. that means that the minsk process which was signed under du res by ukraine, russia, france and germany in 2014 and again in 2015, is seblly dead and that might have been one possible road map for a negotiated solution to this. putin by recognizing donesk and lohensk essentially killed the minsk process and that will make finding a diplomatic solution more complicated. >> woodruff: pick up on that if you will, because the reaction not just from the united states but from the

countries who belong to nato is that this is going to trigger strong reactions from each one of them. they're looking at sanctions as well. why is it sanction-worthy what he has done. >> well, because this is-- could be the prelewd to lots of conflict. this is the second time, if we just look at georgia, there are other conflicts, that russia has flowted international law, international norms. he is essentially marching into another country again. and declaring part of ukraine independent entities. this that they are going to meet and talk about this in the united nations, this isn't only a problem for europe, it is a broader global problem, the example of doing this. and this is why people are already talking about imposing sanctions for this violation. you should remember that the russian-- who run these two entities don't control the territory there. and that again could be an excuse for the russians, if

there is more fighting there, to march further into ukraine. so i think this really does have very serious implications for the future of europe. >> woodruff: no question. and david kramer, of course there is no way to know what a put ib's next-- vladimir putin's next moves are but based on this, when you look at the sanctions that the biden white house is talking about today as we heard nick schifrin reporting, specifically sanctions that effect individuals in those two regions, is that likely to have any deterrent affect on mr. putin. >> no, not at all. i think the u.s. and our european allies and others need to go significantly further, that action will get no one's attention frankly. if we want to try to stop mr. putin where he is now, recognizing that he has already further invaded ukraine through this move, then i thi we have to look at hitting his immediate circle around him, we have to

start looking at the russian financial and energy sectors, export controls and other measures. the sanctions on putin and his circle i think are the ones that putin fears the most. and so while he hasn't launched a full scale invasion, this looks like he is on the verge of doing so, or at least putting diplomacy to the side and resorting to force and war. and so in that case i think we need to move now to try to fre em any further action and give mr. putin a taste of what could come if he goes even further. >> woodruff: and following on that, angela stent, the statement out of the white house today did say that these sanctions were announcing now are separate from what we have in mind and what we would impose if there is a further military move on ukraine. are those next set of sanctions, whatever we believe those to be, are they likely to have a deterrent effect on putin? >> yeah, i'm less sure that they are likely to have a deterrent effect. i think putin and the people around him really have

discounted that. they don't-- they really want to move ahead and restore russia as the great power in europe. and i am not sure unless there is a full invasion of ukraine, an attack of kyiv, whether most of our allies would go along with the very tough sanctions, financial sanctions, sanctions on individuals that david kramer has already talked about and also export controls, that follow a lot of discussion about that, and there isn't full consensus on that. and this may not deter putin. >> that is actually raising an interesting question, david kramer, if and we're in speculation land here, if the russians go into this region in eastern ukraine and don't go further, farther in for the time being, will the european-- will nato be united in what it is prepared to do, whether it changes putin's behavior or not? >> well, i think nato is united in terms of boosting the military presence in countries

like poland, romania and the balance can states. the eur-- balance kan states, the european union could wind up with some disagreement with what steps warrant sanctions by the eu. keep in mind the eu needs agreement amongst all 27 member states. so we may be facing a situation in which the united states will have to act unilaterally. that is not ideal but we shouldn't underestimate the impact u.s. sanctions have, they are extra territorial in nature and could have a significant impact. angela may be right that they won't deter putin who seems now for sure to have made up his mind. but i think the united states should work with the eu to the extent we can. but not settle for the lowest common denominator, do what we have to do. >> woodruff: angela stent, what do you think it tw take to change, to redirect what mr. putin has in mind right now? anything have an effect on his thinking? >> well, unfortunately, i don't really think we have many more

cards to play. i mean there is the dip plo -- diplomatic card, although i agree at this point does it make sense to-- for them to meet with mr. lavrov and president putin. if putin's mind is made up, which we are, our intelligence agencies seem to think that it is, it would be very hard to deter him. and so it is very difficult to see what diplomatic solutions could get him to climb down from a process that he has now initiated and whose end we don't really understand. >> woodruff: well, a grim turn of events today for sure. angela stent, david kramer, we thank you both. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, iran's foreign ministry reported negotiators are making headway in talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.

then-president trump abandoned the deal in 2018, and iran has since exceeded key limits on its nuclear efforts. today, in tehran, a foreign ministry spokesman acknowledged tough issues remain, but still offered an upbeat assessment >> ( translated ): the talks have had very considerable progress, and the breadth and number of topics has decreased dramatically, but the matters that remain are in fact that hardest, most essential, and most serious matters. >> woodruff: iran's president ebrahim raisi demanded today that the u.s. commit to lifting major sanctions, and that it promise to stick with any new agreement. on the pandemic, new numbers today underscored the rapid retreat of the omicron variant in the u.s. average daily infections fell to about 100,000 over the weekend, down from 800,000 in mid- january. meanwhile, britain's prime minister boris johnson announced the last virus restrictions are coming down in england. the rest of the united kingdom is reopening more slowly.

the government of canada will keep emergency powers in force, after weeks of protests over pandemic restrictions. police have ended a truckers' blockade of central ottawa and separate actions elsewhere. but in parliament today, prime minister justin trudeau warned there may be more protests. >> even though the blockades are lifted across border openings right now, even though things seem to be resolving very well in ottawa, this state of emergency is not over. >> woodruff: canadian police have arrested more than 190 protesters and issued 389 charges in connection with the so-called "freedom convoy." northern europe is struggling through the aftermath of its third major storm in five days. heavy rain and high winds swept in sunday and killed at least 2 people, bringing the week's death toll to 14. together, the storms have left hundreds of thousands of people

without power. in brazil, the death toll rose to 176 today, from last week's mudslides and flooding disaster. more than 110 people are still missing in petropolis, where 10 inches of rain fell on tuesday. over the weekend, rescue crews continued searching for survivors and bringing relief supplies to the site. they also appealed for help. >> ( translated ): the search and rescue may last another 15 days, but it's not certain, depending on the weather. sometimes we have to call it off when it rains heavily. i'd like to ask anyone who can help to lend a hand. because there are so many people here who are homels and need help. they have no place to . any kind of help is welcome. >> woodruff: the downpour in petropolis was the worst there since 1932. back in this country, the federal hate crimes trial for the killers of ahmaud arbery went to a jury in brunswick, georgia. in closing arguments, prosecutors alleged the three white defendants had used racial

slurs and targeted arbery because he was black. the defense argued they thought he was a thief. the three have already been convicted of arbery's murder. the defense has rested for three former minneapolis police officers accused of violating george floyd's civil rights. the last of them, thomas lane, testified today that he called for an ambulance. but he said he did not realize floyd was in danger of dying as he lay pinned by the neck. closing arguments are tomorrow. former president trump's new social media app "truth social" has launched. its debut today came a year after mr. trumwas banned from twitter, facook and youtube. "truth social" quickly became the top free app in the country, but new users waited hours to gain access. and, last ar's "kentucky derby" winner "medina spirit" was disqualified today by the state racing commission, over a positive drug test. the derby's second-place finisher, "mandaloon," was declared the official winner by

churchill downs. "medina spirit" had died of a heart attack, in december. still to come on the newshour: amy walter and tamara keith discuss the political fallout from the ukrne crisis. exploring the kennedy white house through the eyes of the first children. we remember a giant in the global health care world, the late paul farmer. and much more. woodruff: the number of unrulyassengers on airplanes is surging. the federal aviation administration has reported nearly 500 incidents so far just this year. now, some airlines are calling on the justice department for help. chief washington correspondent geoff bennett has the story. >> bennett: over the last two

years, the so-called “friendly skies” have often been anything but. >> if we don't stand up, it's only going to get worse. >> reporter: rowdy air travelers berating flight attendants. and pulled off planes by police. this year alone, the f.a.a. reports that there have been 499 incidents of unruly passenrs, 324 of which have been mask- related. 80 cases have been referred to the f.b.i. for criminal review. earlier this month, on an american airlines flight from l.a. to washington, a man tried to open the plane door in mid- flight. court documents say a flight attendant hit him in the head with a coffee pot to subdue him. other passengers held the man down until they could make an emergency landg in kansas city, missouri. police have now charged 50-year- old juan remberto rivas with interfering with a flight attendant. the pilot recounted the ordeal to passenger mouaz moustafa. >> did he try to get at the cockpit door or was he just trying to open the door? >> he was trying to but he

couldn't get to it and then he tried to, he actually tried to open the... >> the plane door and the cockpit door? >> yeah. >> both of them? >> yeah. >> bennett: the increased, constant threat from passengers is wearing on flight attendants. >> you're seeing a direct result on that morale. people just can't face it every day. >> bennett: sara nelson is the president of the association of flight attendants-c.w.a., a union. she says what's happening now is unprecedented, and pins it on pandemic stress and confusion over covid protocols on planes. >> how does this stack up against what happened before covid? >> these were events that would happen on our planes that were really bad day at work. you might experience it once or twice in the course of your entire career. and now flight attendants are every single day going to work and understanding that it's very likely that they're going to experience this conflict and maybe up to and including a physical assault. >> bennett: airlines are now asking the justice department to keep unruly passengers from boarding flights in the first place.

earlier this month, delta c.e.o. ed bastian sent a letter to attorney general merrick garland, asking for a national“ no-fly” list that “would bar that person from traveling on any commercial air carrier” if they were convicted of an on- board disruption. the justice department says it is reviewing the letter and will continue to prioritize investigations and prosecutions of those involved in airplane misconduct. sara nelson says a national “no- fly” list is long overdue. >> a banned flier list that has this due process in place and also has a communication vehicle so that on the day of the incident, every airline can get notified if there has been an egregious event on board one flight and we can avoid boarding someone onto another flight to create another problem on that airline. >> bennett: a move eight republican senators say that should be up to congress to decide. in a new letter, they claim most unruly passenger incidents are related to the federal transportation mask mandate, writing, “creating a federal¡

no-fly' list for unruly passengers who are skeptical of this [mask] mandate would seemingly equate them to terrorists who seek to actively take the lives of americans and perpetrate attacks on the homeland.” sara nelson says the worst in- flight incidents often have nothing to do with the mask mandate. >> the real problems on the planes, the ones where people are really violating the law and may end up serving time in jail when d.o.j. gets through the process of prosecuting them, those oftentimes have not started with the mask issue at all. and so i want to be really clear that there's a lot opeople who would love to add this to the politicized politicization of this pandemic and try to say that this is all over mask and it's just not true. >> bennett: alison sider writes about airlines and travel for“ the wall street journal.” >> there's a lot of questions >> it's just turning out to be quite complicated to figure out how to handle these incidents that involve unruly passengers.

there's a lot of questions about, you know, if there's a if there is a flight, a no-fly list, who should be on it, what agency should oversee it. and you know, i think it's turning out to be very complicated. >> bennett: so what does this all mean then for an industry that's trying to rebound from the pandemic? >> airlines really want people to get back out there, especially as the omicron variant seems to be receding. but yeah, as flights get more crowded again, this is just another thing that the airlines and particularly the flight attendants and the crew have to deal with, and the airport employees. it just makes their jobs a lot harder as they're dealing with these, you know, increased passenger numbers that it's even a small number of people coming back to travel or causing these disruptions. >> bennett: with airlines warning disruptive behavior won't fly. for the pbs newshour, i'm geoff bennett. >> woodruff: few presidential scandals oupy a place in america's culture like watergate.

and this summer, it will be fifty years since five burglars broke into the democratic national committee headquarters, setting off a series of investigations that ultimately led to the resignation of then- president richard nixon. but as historian and author garrett graff told me recent, the scandal we all thought we knew isn't what actually happened. that's the focus of his latest book, "watergate: a new history." garrett graff, welcome to the newshour. congratulations on the book. so it has been 50 years. a lot of books have been written. why did you think it's time for another one and another one that's 800 pages long? almost. >> well, as much as watergate has been sliced and diced over the years, it's actually been a quarter century since anyone actually tried to lay out the full story start to finish soup to nuts. and during that time, of course, we've had an enormous number of new revelations that actually really dramatically changed the arc of the story that we thought we knew.

this is the first time anyone's tried to write a history of watergate knowing the identity of deep throat. of course, former f.b.i. deputy director mark felt was outed as that famous source for woodward and bernstein. the nixon tapes have come out. new f.b.i. files have been declassified. we've learned all sorts of things about some of the associated scandals with watergate itself. and what i found in researching this is that the watergate story that we thought we knew isn't what actually happened. >> woodruff: and in connection with that, you write that it's more than one event. it's not just a burglary, it's a number of things. of course, a lot of it had to do with the war in vietnam, but you went on to say it was an entire mindset. watergate was. what did you mean by that? >> yeah, the thing that we know sort of shorthand is watergate, the moment when the five burglars are caught in the democratic national committee offices at the watergate office

complex in d.c. in june 1972 really is just one tiny slice of the crime and criminality and abuses of power by the nixon administration that unfolded over the course of his presidency across what end up being a dozen vaguely related scandals with some of the same players. and by the time that burglary gets to the impeachment process in the spring of 1974, watergate morphs into this much bigger umbrella that encompasses all of these different scandals and all of these shadowy, weird, zany players. >> woodruff: i was struck by this descriptive line. you said it's the greatest story ever told about power in d.c., the need and the hunger for it, the drive to ptect it, how it's challenged and how it flows. so the best and really the worst of this capital city? >> yeah, and that's part of what

made me so fascinated with watergate at this moment in our politics, because what you see is this moment in from 1972 to 1974 where washington works and what is so fascinating about the power as it unfolds in this city back then, is you see all of the different institutions come together to force nixon from office to investigate him, to prosecute his team in a way that none of them could do on their own. and so it becomes this incredible story about the american system, about the checks and balances and how article one of the constitution article two, article three all interlock and play with things like the justice department and, of course, the reporters who covered that story to do something that no one of them could do on their own. >> woodruff: you also note how how watergate was the dividing line between old washington and new washington. explain what you meant by that.

>> yeah, this watergate, in many ways, is the turning point, the central hinge of the 20th century in the u.s. government. you have this moment where you have this new generation of leaders ushered into washington, that reshapes the capitol, reshapes washington. and then many of the parts of the investigative press that we are now used to the washington press corps, you see, first come to that investigative mindset in the midst of watergate. and then, of course, so much of the reforms, the protections around abuses of power, privacy, civil liberties in america grow up out of the worst of watergate. >> woodruff: how much new was there to find out? >> well, one of the great maxims that i sort of our whole country i feel like has adopted after watergate was this idea, you know, the cover up is worse than the crime. and what we learned, actually

with all of the accumulated knowledge of the last 50 years, is that that's actually probably not true with watergate, with the nixon years that actually, in many ways, the crimes were terrible. there were many more of them than we knew at the time. there were reasons to believe that nixon even walked right up to the line of outright treason in trying to encourage the collapse of the paris peace talks that would end the vietnam war to keep the vietnam war going for his own political benefit in the fall of 1968 as he was running for president. many of these details have only come out in the last couple of years. >> woodruff: you mentioned the criminality of richard nixon. i was struck because i've seen you say that after all this time you spent studying nixon that that you were taken by the similarities and the contrast with former president trump.

>> as we reckon with the abuses of the nixon years, the scandals of the trump administration and of course, the two impeachments that donald trump went through as president and just after his presidency. and in many ways, you know, the things that worked in 1972, 1973, 1974 didn't work during the trump years. and it's worth, i think, thinng about why that happened. and there's a lot that we can learn about how washington doesn't work today by going back and looking at the nixon years. >> woodruff: well, it is quite an undertaking, quite a book. watergate, a new history on the 50th anniversary of the watergate break. and garrett graff, thank you very much. >> judy, it's always a pleure to talk to you.

>> woodruff: in ukraine, president biden is confronting the most significant foreign policy challenge since the withdrawal from afghanistan last summer. geoff bennett is back for analysis of the political consequences of a potential russian invasion. >> bennett: as we reported earlier, president biden today reacted swiftly to russian president vladimir putin declaring he would recognize the independence of two breakaway regions in eastern ukraine, possibly using the move as a pretext for an invasion the u.s. has warned was likely coming at any hour. as president biden focuses on the ukraine crisis, he is faced with looming political consequences at home that could have a major and long-lasting impact on democrats' ability to maintain their power in washington. here to discuss that and more, i'm joined by amy walter of the cook political report with a walter. and tamara keith of npr.

i want to start with you, because national security advisor jake sullivan this morning warned that russia could be prepared for a conflict even more brutal than some initial estimates. and from the start of this ukraine-russia crisis, the biden administration has been aggressively transparent in de classifying intelligence and sharing it with the american people, trying to telegraph putin's next step. what is behind that strategy? >> and it's not just the biden administration, allies in europe have also been releasing intelligence about what they say putin is up to. and part of this was to make it more difficult on vladimir putin, so that he couldn't get away with, for instance, a false flag operation. the biden administration kept coming out with intelligence saying no, we think that putin is planning this. we think that they might do it this way. as a way of signaling no, you should not do this. i will say that senator ted

cruz, republican senator ted cruz is out with a statement criticizing that strategy saying it didn't work. and clearly this is escalating in ukraine right now. >> and amy, a question about the domestic, potential domestic political consequences here. i talked to white house officials, they say that politics aren't factoring into their foreign policy decisions around ukraine but they are keenly aware of how president biden's political opponents are looking to leverage whatever move he makes here. what are the domestic plilt kal consequences he's facing as you see it? >> that is a good question. this president now comes into this crisis in very different political shape than he came into the afghanistan situation, the withdrawal of troops from afghanistan. when he came into office he had a plur allity of americans who thought he would be a good commander in chief.

they trusted the way he would deal with the crisis. what we got post av iman stand, those numbers dropped. now you have plur allities-- pluralities, even a majority of americans saying they don't think he will be able to handle a crisis particular three well. they don't think he is doing well as a commander in chief. he doesn't have the same depth that same well of good will to draw from that he did earlier. so i think that is an important thing to understand. >> and you know, the other piece of this, there could be a domestic impact. normally things that happened overseas, you know, they don't have an immediate impact on our domestic lives, in this case the cost of oil is going to potentially be significant. the president has already warned americans that you could see an increase in energy prices. this is coming at a particularly perilous time too, for the president and of course for

consumers who are already spending a a great deal of money on gasoline. and so it could he just another pinch for americans who are feeling that inflationary pressure in their every day purchasing. >> right, let's shift our focus now to covid and this nexus of politics and public health, because tam, as you know, you have at least 11 democratic governors and the mayor of washington d.c they started lifting mask mandates in schools or other indoor settings over the past month, while the federal government is still following this cdc guidance which recommends indoor masking in all settings. the cdc as we reported, are expected to revise that as early as this week. but what does this all mean for this widening gap between state and federal policy and then state and cdc policy? what does this say about the politics of covid right now? >> oh, this is an incredibly challenging time in the pandemic

and politics. because the numbers are falling really fast. and the biden administration, the president, the white house repeatedly made it clear in public and in private-- private that they are sticking with the cdc guidance. so whatever the cdc does, the white house will be following their lead. but the cdc does not move at the the speed of politics. and so you have someone like governor murphy who i spoke with in new jersey. and one important thing to point out is that governor murphy said that he was looking at the numbers. heaid he is sick of covid, everybody is sick of covid. you don't need a poller to tell you that people are done. he said his decision wasn't based on those politics but rather based on the sheer numbers that the cases are falling every single day in his state. they were hit early with omicron and so those cases have been falling for about, more than a month now.

and so what he did though and what many of these governors have done is they have set a date that a little ways off. you know in new jersey it is early march. so it is not immediate. they are waiting for the numbers to fall further. they have set a date. they have identified an off-ramp. it is entirely possible that the cdc guidance will actually keep up with these democratic governors by the time all of their policies go into effect. the experts i talk to say the most important thing is figuring out and projecting forrd what the on-ramp would be if unfortunately there is another variant that causes concern or if the boosters wante in their effectiveness. that politicians were not so great a year ago at saying that things may change and that this time around they need to be clear with the public that even though we may be moving into something that feels like a really nice phase, that may not

be the end of the story. >> and amy in the couple of minutes we have back, to tam's point, democrats say they are following public health tbiedance and making these recommendations but st also helpful politically too. i think democrats learned that lesson after they lost the gubernatorial election in virginia in part over covid protocols and masking in will scoos. and not necessarily the substance of the plicy but just really the way that they talked about it. democrats talked about it. >> that's right. i mean big difference of course between governors and the president is most of these governors are up for re-election this year. obviouslthe president is not. and i think there also is a reason for the administration to feel a little-- about calling for the end of mask mandates or gettinghead of the cdc. we all remember july of 202 when the president went out on the lawn of the white house saying you know, we are-- we

have independence now from covid. we're moving forward. i went back and looked atsome of the content of that speech. and it was really much like we're passed this now. we're going to live our lives. kids are going to go back to school. obviously that didn't happen that way. and so if you are going to go get ahead of the cdc, if the administration has to be thinking boy, we don't want to have to go and backtrack again much like we did in july. >> that is a good point, three years into this pandemic, i think politicians have learned not to predict where things will head next. tamara keith, amy walter, thank you both. >> you're welcome. >> you're welcome. 6 >> woodruff: on this presidents' day, we take a different look at the white house-- during the kennedy years. a new exhibition, "first children" at the john f. kennedy

presidential library and museum in boston, shows how the young residents navigated their new home, and how mother and first lady jacqueline kennedy tried to protect them from a press and public anxious to see them. special correspondent jared bowen of gbh boston takes us there for our arts and culture series, canvas. >> i call upon him further to abandon this course of world domination. >> reporter: in the early 1960s, when global tensions were boiling over, and the president found himself on the precipice of nuclear war, there was always hope in the white house, emanating directly from its youngest and most cherubic residents. >> to see the chdren, it's humanizing of the presidency and the administration. it reassures people that we are all human beings, that our children matter in the end. >> reporter: that, according to j.f.k. library and museum director alan price, is one of myriad reasons the kennedy white house captivated the american public. what's been most striking to you seeing this collection of images

of the children? >> well, it's just so exciting to bring out a piece of our collection that we don't ordinarily get to bring out. >> reporter: in its newest exhibition, the library and museum has focused on the first children. caroline kennedy was three when her father took office, and john jr. was all of two months, a perfect complement to their parents' own youthful allure. >> america was obsessed with them. you've got to remember long before instagram and tiktok, there were magazines, and america loved to have magazines in their home. and these children were on the covers. >> reporter: because, says curator janice hodson, a sizable portion of the american public suddenly had a white house to which they could connect. >> 40% of the eligible voters were people under 40. these people were world war ii veterans, as was president kennedy. they had young families, so they closely identified with the kennedy family. >> reporter: they flooded the

white house with gifts-- rocking chairs from a shop in north carolina; sparkling piggy banks from california makers; dolls from world leaders. >> these gifts kind of got out of control. i mean, there was a... the white house requested a ban on sending pets, because a lot of people sent pets, sometimes through the mail. (laughs) >> reporter: then came the commercialization of the children-- paper dolls and comic books. and something that earned the indignation of first lady jacqueline kennedy, comic vaughn meader's grammy-winning parody of the family. >> i should like to ask a question about... >> would you identify yourself, please? >> i'm your wife. (audience laughter) >> it's very mild, you know, by today's standards, but for the time, you know, it was considered going a step too far. >> reporter: the public's appetite for all things kennedy grew so voracious, jackie kennedy began to shut it down, heeding eleanor roosevelt's

personal warning that life inside the quote-unquote "fish bowl" could be difficult. so kennedy allowed the release only of basic information, like the children's heights, but not much more. >> at one point, she says to pierre salinger, the president's press secretary, "no more information. "if the media asks, you know, "'what do they want for their birthdays? "what do they want for christmas?' "tell them mrs. kennedy does not want to give out that information." >> reporter: she defied even more public sentiment when she assembled a school within e white house for caroline and the children of staff members. as the battle for civil rights and desegregation raged across the country, jackie kennedy settled the matter, at least on pennsylvania avenue. >> the white house school did integrate. and that child was avery hatcher, who was the son of andrew hatcher, assistant press secretary, who was the highest- ranking african american in the kennedy cabinet. a lot of the children draw

president kennedy as they kind of knew him, as a family friend. so it's president kennedy walking to the pool for a swim. or avery hatcher shows a press conference and his father is like a stick figure next to the lectern. >> reporter: as challenging as life in the white house could be, it also provided routine and togetherness; a place where the president could always finger- paint with his son, and have breakfast with his daughter. >> jacqueline kennedy did state, you know, after, after the assassination, that this was a point in their lives when she felt they were very close, because they were all together in the same place as a family. and she kind of reflected on these as being some of their best years. >> reporter: for the pbs newshour, i'm jared bowen in boston.

>> woodruff: finally tonight, remembering a giant in the world of public health. dr. paul farmer, a physician, anthropologist and founder of a leading global health organization, died today. he was known worldwide for improving healthcare access in developing countries. the group he co-founded, partners in health, said farmer died in his sleep. special correspondent fred de sam lazaro, who has long covered him, has this remembrance. >> reporter: from prominent voices in global health today, shocked reaction to the passing of an iconic figure.“ [paul farmer] was brilliant, passionate, kind, and humble,” former president bill clinton said.“ he touched millions of lives, advanced global health equity, and fundamentally changed the way health care is delivered in the most impoverished places on earth.” farmer came to prominence in the early 2000s, working in haiti's remote central region, amid a raging h.i.v. epidemic.

he argued that patients here deserved the same expensive anti-retroviral drugs that were available in rich countries. he spoke to the newshour in 2003. >> one of the biggest myths we're dealing with are about therapy for h.i.v. it can't be done in a place like this, people don't have a concept of time, wrist watches, the medications have to be refrigerated, it's not cost effective-- anything you could initiate in a really poor country. >> reporter: his advocacy is credited with helping shift that perception. in 2003, the george w. bush administration created its so called pepfar program. it brought the life-saving drugs to millions of patients in developing nations. today the non profit he co- founded, “partners in health,” is one of the largest in the world. in the past year alone, it's provided over two million women's health checkups and near three million outpatient

visits to clinics in regions from africa to europe and latin america. >> i'm sure you all read our piece in the british medical journal last year. i mean, no one would ever miss that. >> reporter: a prolific writer and author, farmer was never afraid of criticizing colleagues or the systems in which they worked. >> instead of collaboration, there was competition where it wasn't warranted. right? public health is full of it. >> reporter: farmer's work inspired countless doctors around the globe, including celine gounder, an infectious disease specialist at the new york university school of medicine. she's also a senior fellow and editor for public health at kaiser health news at the kaiser family foundation. >> if you need help hold stkically, i think what makes-- this moment so devastating to so many of us, he is precisely the kind of leader we need in public health at this moment. and i really hope that so many

of us who were touched by him and his mentorship and his teachings will bring his life, his spirit to our work in the years to come as we continue to fight this pandemic. >> in recent months >> reporter: in recent months, farmer connected his decades of work on health inequities to the pandemic. he spoke to jeffrey brown last year. >> there's this confusion that happens at the beginning of many epidemics, the idea that, if it's really a novel pathogen and no one is immune, that it's going to be some sort of great leveler. there really are almost no examples in which that's the case. these diseases are never levelers in that sense. they always look for weaknesses in society. they invade these cracks and fissures. >> reporter: paul farmer is survived by his wife, didi bertrand farmer and three children. he was 62. for the pbs newshour, this is fred de sam lazaro. >> woodruff: an update on the

russia-ukraine crisis: "bloomberg" is now reporting and, the united nations security council will meet latetonight to discuss the deepening crisis after ukraine called for an emergency meeting. and online, the national bobblehead hall of fame and museum celebrated presidents day today by releasing the first- ever complete set of presidential bobbleheads. the milwaukee-based museum was inspired to create the set after the 2020 democratic national convention was disrupted by the pandemic. read more on our instagram account. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> for 25 years, consumer cellular has been offering no-contract wireless plans, designed to help people do more of what they like. our u.s.-based customer service team can help find a plan that

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♪ hello, everyone and welcome to "amanpour and coany." here's what is coming up. a former syrian army colonel convicted of torture in a landmark ruling. so, why are some old foes welcoming besar into their good graces and then. >> this is a window, this is a door in the cure for everyone. >> with an american woman cured of hiv, i speak to one of the rare patients to have undergone the life-saving treatment. and the american doctor who identified the first aids cases over 40 years ago. michael gotly. plus, entrepreneur, m