judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on "the newshour" tonight, a tense moment -- russian forces stall in their push toward kyiv as the brutal shelling elsewhere in ukraine continues, and in russia, police crack down on independent media. then, the man of the moment -- we examineow ukraine's president volodymyr zelensky, a comedian turned politician, became the country's leader at a moment of crisis. >> he has very good antenna for feeling the public mood and in this case, those antennae are actually helping him channel the spirit of resistance. judy: and investigating the insurrection -- the congressional committee on january 6 lays out potential criminal conspiracy charges

against former president trump. all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour." ♪ >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by. >> fidelity dedicated advisors are here to help you create a wealth plan, a plan with investing strategies, planning focused on tomorrow, while you focus on today. that is the planning effect, from fidelity. >> consumer cellular. bnsf railway. bdo, accountants and advisors. the kendeda fund, committed to advancing restorativjustice and meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. more at kendedafund.org.

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judy: “the worst is yet to com”" -- those ominous words today from a french official after president emmanuel macron held a 90-minute call with russian president vladimir putin. day eight of putin's war on ukraine yielded unceasing pictures of horror from the north, south, and east of the country. this as the russian scorched-earth campaign against civilians and non-military targets came into focus, in the face of dogged resistance from ukraine's military and its citizens. that campaign has also compelled the largest refugee flight within europe since the second world war. more than one million ukrainians have now fled their homes for the safety of neighboring nations to the west. from lviv in ukraine's west, nick schifrin again begins our coverage. nick: the ruins of a residential building in a suburb of kyiv, now moscow's battlefield of choice. ukraine won the two-day battle for borodyanka. russian vehicles still line the

main road, but victory earned at appalling cost, 15,000 people used to live in a neighborhood best known for an airfield and skydiving club, now reduced to rubble by indiscriminate russian shelling on civilian targets and those filming the targeters. farther north from kyiv, chernihiv also under siege by russian airstrikes. the targets, clearly a neighborhood of homes. the regional governor said, in addition to houses, russian airstrikes hit two schools. dozens died. first responders try to save who they can, and salvage what's left. elsewhere, russians have rolled in. the southern city of kherson is the largest and most strategic city under russian control. zainish hussain filmed russian soldiers outside of his apartment. he knew it was risky.

zainish: i think i should stop recording before somebody shoots me on my hand. nick: the russians are trying to take over more cities, including the northeastern city konotop, 150 miles east of kyiv. the mayor is artem semenikhin. artem, can you tell us what happened when russian troops came into your office? artem: they were demanding i recognize their authority and allow them to patrol the streets, de-arm those who have weapons, and detain those who resist. in the end i told them, just as ukrainian soldiers told a russian warship, go -- yourself. nick: the rejected russians walked out holding grenades in their hands. semenikhin actually escorted them and made sure they drove away. and do you fear they will come back and either occupyr try and destroy the city? artem: yes, of course, we are concerned. and this concern is not groundless. there's a big unit near our town. and using the weapons they have, they could destroy our town. but we are not afraid.

we are ready to fight until the end, until the victorious end, to defeat these russian cockroaches. nick: after the russians left he rallied his oops, civilians, ready to resist. artem: all of our cities are like this. all of our ukraine is like this. we have weapons in our hands, we have armed up, and we are ready to kill occupiers. and thanks to the united states of america for supporting ukraine with weapons. my weapon is american. and i think the occupiers will be pleased that we're killing them with american weapons. nick: but russian president vladimir putin today doubled down. after a call between putin and french president emmanuel macron, a french official warned, quote, the worst was yet to come. putin didn't disagree. president putin: the special military operation is proceeding strictly in line with e timetable, all according to plan. nick: but a senior u.s. defense official said today the offensive on kyiv has been stalled for three days, although officials fear moscow is still planning to encircle the capital. in the southwest, russian troops could move past kherson to

odessa, ukraine's third largest city. in the southeast, moscow is advancing in multiple directions towards mariupol, where russian bombardments have been so relentless, officials couldn't collect the dead or injured. in the east, in kharkiv, the u.s. believes russian forces are now just outside the city. yesterday, a russian missile struck near the historic assumption cathedral. in response, ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky said russia would not escape judgment. president zelensky: they enjoy the fact that god does not give an instant rebuff. but he sees. there is no bunker to survive god's response. even if you destroy all our cathedrals and churches, you will not destroy our faith in god, in ukraine, and our people. nick: this evening, zelensky, speaking in russian, appealed for direct talks with putin. president zelensky: you don't want to leave.

sit down with me at the negotiation table. i'm available. sit with me, but not at 30 meters, like you welcomed macron and scholz. i'm your neighbor. i don't bite. what are you afraid of? nick: earlier today, the two sides held their second meeting. they agreed to meet again, but there was no movement toward a cease-fire. until then, ukrainian civilians are preparing for battle. they call themselves the territorial defense, just one battalion in a national army of volunteers. 23-year-old markiyan paranyak graduated from a military academy, and is now an officer in the reserves. today, he hit the streets. lviv is usually packed. since the invasion, more tense and anxious. markiyan: we and other guys who have guns and know how to use them decided to patrol the neighborhood. this is my land. and whoever comes here will go to hell. nick: do you feel like, right now, every ukrainian is a kind of soldier facing off against russia, just in whatever way they can? markiyan: yes, absolutely. this is the task of every ukrainian right now, to defend our country.

even women and children are trying to stop tanks with their bare hands. nick: last sunday, they detained chechnyans they called saboteurs. lviv's mayor confirmed to us that 10 people entered the city with the intention of blowing up a power substation. back in the garage, amonthe ukrainian blue and yellow, a patch of red, white, and blue. 54-year-old kurt kimble says he's a retired army master sergeant who moved to ukraine three years ago. he's one of 16,000 foreign volunteers. why is this your war? kurt: because this is my home now. my family is here. my friends are here. and so i'm going to defend my home. nick: the military runs through kimble's veins. he says his father served in world war ii, korea, and, in his 50's, vietnam. kurt says he served in iraq and afghanistan. he calls these his new band of brothers. kurt: i nevewanted to go to war again. i have seen enough of it. i will admit, after i came home, just like most veterans, we had some troubles.

i have seen a lot of bad things. and now i thought that was in the past, and now i'm seeing it again. nick: so, i can tell it's feeling hard for you right now. kurt: yes. nick: it's bringing up memories. why are you willing to take on a different enemy that isn't fighting america? kurt: i could have left right away. i could gotten on a plane and took my family back to the united states, and returned when it was over with. but how could i return and look at my friends? you know, i just couldn't do it, and i won't do it. i'm here until the very end with them. nick: with all due respect to you and your team, you're just one guy, shotgun, small team. what can you do against the russian army? markiyan: our national resistance is a serious and dangerous thing for the russian army. i think we are capable of stopping them. all of us are united. you can see me and my small group of friends, but there are thousands like us.

nick: and fighting runs in markiyan's family. his grandfather resisted soviet occupation, just one story, judy, of so many ukrainians who are proud of their history and of themselves. as zelensky put it today, we do nofill the world with oil and gas, but we have our people and our land. and, for us, that is gold. judy: just remarkable courage. nick schifrin, thank you for your reporting. nick is in lviv in western ukraine. and now to moscow, where an intensifying crackdown by the putin regime is underway against any forms of dissent. today, special correspondent ryan chilcote was in the newsroom of a leading light of independent media in russia, now silenced by the kremlin. ryan: it was an editorial meeting like none ever in the history of ekho moskvy. the entire staff, some who'd

rushed in from maternity leave, others at home self-isolating, many distraught, gathering to listen to their editor in chief announce that russia's last independent radio station has been taken off the air. alexei: the political climate has changed. russia's fighting a neighboring country. we effectively have military censorship and martial law, or at least martial law for the media. we have been presenting a little different picture than state media. there's only supposed to be one picture. ryan: for 32 years, ekho moskvy has been the go-to radio stations for millions of russians, a must-do media for the world's biggest newsmakers. ekho moskvy isn't the only one. this week, prosecutors demanded access be restricted to russia's last independent tv channel, tv rain. the decision came just as the channel was preparing to screen a documentary about thr own turbulent history. instead, tv ra signed off with a bang, broadcasting swan lake,

a joke nearly every russian will get. that's what state tv aired here in 1991 during the coup, an event that heralded the end of the soviet union. that's not to say views the kremlin may find unsavory aren't making their way onto kremlin's more loyal news channels from time to time, like this unscripted moment when an analyst, alongside an anxious anchor, proposed a toast to the death of russia's stock market that sanctions sent plummeting. the government has asked google to remove ekho moskvy's youtube channel. ekho has appealed. off the airwaves, but not out of options. alexei: i don't think we will get back on the radio, even though we will fight this in the courts, but there's still social media, there's still google, and, you know, we still have usb sticks you can put recordings on. ryan: tatyana felgenhauer has worked at ekho for 18 years, as the channel went head to head with the kremlin time and time again. what happened this time? tatyana: putin happened. vladimir putin and the

authorities, they just don't want free media, professional media. this voice of truth must be destroyed. ryan: what happens next? tatyana: north korea. i think this is our future, north korea. judy: and ryan joins me now from moscow. , ryan, were you telling us that, at a time like this, a lot of information is flying around, whether it is right or wrong, people getting information wherever they can, rumors flying. what are people talking about? ryan: well, you heard the ekho moskvy editor in chief talking about how, as far as he is concerned, martial law has been introduced in relation to the media. there are a lot of rumors right now that martial law in general could be imposed in this country as early as tomorrow. and they come from, believe it or not, a ukrainian official.

he came out and said that the ukrainians have learned that the government of russia is going to introduce martial law on friday. and that got a lot of people very, very concerned here, because martial law could things -- mean things like the border getting close. it could be conscription. russia has a professional army. back in the days in the 1990's, when they had conscription, a lot of people were very concerned about serving in the military. and so i literally had young male after young men effectively telling me, all i can think about right now is how to get out of the country. and the problem, judy, the reason for all of this is because there's a trust deficit right now with the government, right? most russians did not expect russia was going to invade ukraine. they actually believed their government when their government said, of course we're not going to do that. then it happened. now they don't know what to believe. judy: so, ryan, separately, we know that, today, more sanctions were levied -- leveled by the west against russian oligarchs

and elites, but tell us what effect that has on people, ordinary people living there on the ground? what effect? ryan: well, the individual sanctions don't have a lot of effect on the individual russians here. the things that we have seen affect the ruble, for example, are the sanctions on the central bank. effectively, half of the country's reserves, all of a sudden, were unusable, untouchable by the central bank. they couldn't intervene to support the ruble. so the ruble slid by about a third. so those kinds of things have had a dramatic effect. and there were days where we had people lining up at cash machines and exchanging money into dollars, for fear that the ruble could go down further. but really what is happening right now is, we're seeing company after company, either because of the sanctions or voluntarily, because they want to make a stand, international companies pulling out of russia. and as they do that, that's creating all kinds of problems. so, apple pay goes, google goes, getting rid of some services, boeing and airbus saying, we're

not going to be oviding certain parts in the future, which creates huge infrastructural problems. judy: so much keep track of. ryan chilcote joining us tonight from moscow. ryan, thank you. the face of ukrainian opposition to the russian invasion has been their president, as we have seen tonight, volodymyr zelensky. his defiant vows to stay and fight have lifted a nation fighting for its freedom. john yang details zelensky's improbable rise from comedian to president, and now to becoming the man of the moment. president zelensky: good morning to all ukrainians. here's the situation -- i'm still here. john: soon after russiinvaded ukraine, president volodymyr zelensky, unshaven, in a shaky selfie posted to twitter, rallied a nation suddenly at war. president zelensky: we will protect our country. that's what i wanted to tell you. glory to ukraine. john: the 44-year-old

comedian-turned-politician vowed to stay in the capital city of kyiv. president zelensky: your president is here. our troops are here. our citizens are here. all of us are here protecting the independence of our country. john: it seemed straight out of a movie, just like his defiant response to a u.s. offer of evacuation -- i need ammunition, not a ride. wearing a flak jacket, zelensky walks the streets and visits troops. he displays a mix of courage, humor, and grace under pressure that has drawn comparisons to british prime minister winston churchill during world war ii and galvanized support at home and around the world. yulia: whatever happens, our president, president zelensky, will never sell us out. he will not give ukraine to putin. john: melinda haring, deputy director of the eurasia center at the atlantic council. melinda: he has inspired his country, he's inspired the world with his stiff upper lip and his physical courage. he's not hiding in a bunker.

he's walking around making videos and telling people to remain firm. john: it's something few would have predicted just weeks ago, amid zelensky's lackluster approval ratings in ukraine. adrian: fore this thing he was losing support, and there was some chances and they might not be reelected. and in this crisis, of course, he's just blossomed. john: before this, many americans only knew zelensky as an unwitting figure in president donald trump's first impeachment, the man trump asked for a favor, digging up dirt on the bidens, when zelensky asked for defensive weapons. in ukraine, zelensky first became known as a comic. the peak of his fame came when he starred in a 2015 satirical tv sitcom called "servant of the people." his role? a schoolteacher-turned-accidental- president. in 2019, life imitated art, when he ran for president for real, a fresh face for voters tired of corrupt leaders.

his populist platform included the promise of peace with russia, which had annexed ukraine's crimean peninsula and backed pro-russian separatists in ukraine's donbass region. melinda haring of the atlantic council. melinda: he wanted to do three things. he wanted to end the war in the donbass, he wanted to end ukraine's endemic corruption problem, and he wanted to make ukraine rich. ukraine is the poorest country in europe. john: during the campaign, newshour special correspondent simon ostrovsky visited zelensky on the set of his show. simon: you're an actor with no political experience. your country is at war with russia, vladimir putin, 20 years at the helm. how are you going to deal with vladimir putin? president zelensky: first of all, we will do everything to make sure that vladimir putin never ends up at the helm of our country. the main problem in our relationship with russia is the war. no one has a real answer, how to stop putin. all we can do is continue talks to achieve a cease-fire.

john: but after zelensky's landslide victory over incumbent petro poroshenko, a billionaire businessman, that cease-fire never materialized. as a native russian speaker leading a state historically divided between the ukrainian-speaking west and the russiaspeaking east, zelensky's critics were eptical of his peace efforts, suspecting he was a putin puppet. in recent years, he pushed for closer ties with the west and promoted ukraine's aspirations to join nato and the european union. as the white house sounded alarms about a russian invasion, zelensky initially played down the threat. ukrainian opinion leaders worried that he was out of his depth. but once the fighting began, he rallied his nation, not despite his unusual background, some say, but precisely because of it. analyst adrian karatnycky. adrian: when he was a performer, he understood and he could feel the audience and his reaction and what works. and i think he has very good

antennae for feeling the public mood. and in this case, those antennae are actually helping him channel the spirit of resistance and the spirit of the ukrainian people. it's a really remarkable thing. john: zelensky's life's work had been to make his fellow ukrainians laugh. now he's embraced an unlikely new role, the wartime leader of a defiant nation. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang. stephanie: i am stephanie sy with newshour west. we will return to the full program after the latest headlines. updating our top story, and nuclear plant in southern ukraine is burning tonight after heavy weapons fire by russia. ukraine's foreign minister pleaded with the russians to cease shelling so firefighters can establish a security zone. officials said the plant is under renovation and not

operating but there is nuclear fuel inside. meanwhile, the biden administration has granted temporary protected status to ukrainians in the united states. the status will halt deportations back to their war-torn country for up to 18 months. only ukrainians who have continuously resided in the u.s. and were here before march 1 are eligible for protection. in congress, bipartisan momentum began building to ban russian oil shipments to the united states. in the house of representatives, speaker nancy pelosi said she was all for the idea. in the senate, alaska republican lisa murkowski helped lead the charge. sen. murkowski: our message should be pretty clear and pretty simple. no more russian energy should come into the united states for duration of this bloody, horrifying, and unprovoked war against ukraine. stephanie: the white house did not rule out a ban, but did say it could mean even higher gas prices.

in louisville, ktucky, a jury acquitted a former police officer today of wanton endangerment, stemming from breonna taylor's killing. brett hankison fired into her apartment during a no-knock drug raid in 2020. his shots missed her, but tore into a neighboring apartment. taylor was shot and killed by other officers, but no one was chard in her death. the u.s. supreme court has rejected a guantanamo detainee's request for secret information about his treatment. abu zubaydah was seized in pakistan in 2002 and tortured at so-called cia "black sites." he wanted to question former cia contractors, but the court ruled their testimony could harm national security. world powers and iran have made significant progress toward restoring the 2015 nuclear deal, at talks in vienna. the u.s. state department gave that assessment today, but said several key issues remain unresolved. meanwhile, the u.n. nuclear agency concluded that iran's

stockpile of highly enriched uranium is still growing. in australia, a flood disaster intensified around sydney today, with half a million people ordered to evacuate now or get ready to do so. several rivers overflowed near the country's most populous city. water inundated roads, and officials saidxtreme rain threatened worse to come. dominic: please ensure that you are ready to evacuate. if you are subject to one of those evacuation orders, please get out. those instructions are not there for the sake of it, they are there to keep you and your family safe. stephanie: back in this country, the cdc now says 90% of americans live in counties with low medium threats of covid-19 so they do not need to mask up indoors. that is up from 70% last week. meanwhile the biden administration asked congress today for more money for vaccines, treatments and research. the u.s. house of representatives today approved

expanded health care and benefits for military benefits exposed to toxic burn pits in iraq and afghanistan. they would qualify even if they cannot prove their medical problems stem from exposure to toxins. the house bill has to be reconciled from the narrower center version -- senate version. purdue pharma has reached a new settlement with states that suit for damages. the company owners will pay up to $6 billion, which is more than an early settlement. they will also issue an apology. the agreement will need approval from a federal bankruptcy judge. and president reagan's final chief of staff, ken duberstein, has died. he held that position for the last half of 1988 after serving as deputy chief of staff. he was a veteran washington insider and later became a consultant for the tv series the west wing. ken duberstein was 77 years old. still to come on the newshour,

we talk about u.s. efforts to crack down on russian oligarchs. a former inmate gives his brief but spectacular take on life after incarceration. and much more. >> this is the "pbs newshour" from weta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: it is the clearest picture to date about the scope and potential conclusions of the house committee investigating the january 6 attack on the u.s. capitol. in a 221-page court filing, lawyers for the committee write that there is evidence to conclude former president donald trump and members of his campaign -- quote -- engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the united states as they sought to overturn the 2020 election results. mr. trump responded today, saying the committee is -- quote -- destroying democracy as we

know it. for more on the committee's work, i'm joined by democratic congressman adam schiff of california. he is a member of the january 6 committee and he also chairs the house intelligence committee. congressman schiff, thank you very much for joining us. we know the january 6 committee, the mission is not to conduct a criminal investigation, but is -- are you now closer to finding president trump guilty of a criminal activity? rep. schiff: well, as you say, it is not our role to prosecute or determine guilt or innocence. but we are in litigation right now to try to get records from some claiming to be an attorney representing the president. and the judge asked us to brief him on whether the crime-fraud exception applies. and we believe it does. that is, if an attorney is helping a client commit a crime, their communications are not protected. and, here, any number of acts by

the president and his campaign potentially violate statutes which prohibit the corrupt interference with an official proceeding. and, of course, that joint session of congress was an official proceeding. and given the president was repeatedly advised that the vice president had no authority to decertify electors, that there was no basis to these bogus claims of fraud, we believe that there was that kind of a corrupt intent to interfere with the joint session. but, also, the promulgation of those false claims, we believe, is part of a conspiracy to defraud. and we presented that evidence to the court. judy: and in that evidence that you presented, we mentioned 221 pages in this filing. there are transcripts of e-mail exchanges between the lawyer who was advising former president trump -- his name is john eastman -- and a lawyer who was working for then-vice president mike pence. what is it about those exchanges

that you, that the committee believes point to something that should be investigated? rep. schiff: well, i think evidence of the corrupt intent is very important. that is, that the president was informed by multiple people multiple times, that there was no lawful basis to do what he was trying to do. we saw in some of the interviews recently with even bill barr that bill barr told the president that these claims were b.s. and so we think that evidence in these e-mail exchanges, as well as other evidence indicates that the president understood he had no lawful basis to do what he was doing. and, therefore, it violated u.s. law, but also was fraudulent. and that's the relevance of that evidence. judy: i'm still trying to understand and i want our audience to understand, again, the january 6 committee is not engaged -- this is not a criminal investigation.

but it's very much about rerring, mentioning in this filing, and then seeing that the -- that any criminal investigation that does take place has access to all the information that your committee is coming across in your work. rep. schiff: well, i would put it this way. the justice department has the obligation to determine if a crime is committed and whether anyone, including the former president, should be prosecuted. that's the department's job. they're not waiting for us to make a referral. that's not what the justice department does. now, we may make a referral at the end of our investigation. but the justice department should be proceeding on its own. if there's credible evidence that the president or anyone else has committed a crime, they should be investigating it. and they shouldn't be waiting for us to do a report. they shouldn't be waiting for us to do that work. but they should be doing it on their own. nevertheless, there are circumstances like this court

filing where the issue of crime or fraud is relevant. and so we have addressed it. and, at the end of the investigation, we may choose to make a criminal referral. judy: and for all you know, congressman schiff, the justice department may well be investigating this, is that right? rep. schiff: you know, it's possible, judy, but, generally, when you convene a grand jury in a ca like this, in which the witnesses before the grand jury are not bound to silence, the public finds out about it. and so, even though the department doesn't talk about it, the public becomes aware of it. we don't see anything like that happening regarding certain key things. i would point to, for example, the president on the phone with the secretary of state in georgia trying to get the secretary to find 11,780 votes that don't exist. that's a recorded conversation. there's no sign of a grand jury, federal grand jury in atlanta, only a local district attorney's office investigation. i don't understand why that's the case.

so, that does concern me. judy: and -- but talking about it openly, as you are, do you think can influence course of events? rep. schiff: i don't know. but i do think that there are probably many people within the justice department who are concerned. if we are to mntain the position that the rule of law applies equally to everyone, then we really need to follow through with that. and i think, judy, if any of your viewers were on the phone with a top state official trying to get them to effectively stuff the ballot box, they would be under investigation. and i feel duty bound to be open about that. i spent almost six years with that department. i venerate it. and i think we need to uphold that idea that no one is above the law, including former presidents. judy: i want to come back to the filing that the committee made late last night to this lawsuit by former president trump,

essentially saying that he, mr. eastman, because of executive privilege, they don't have to cooperate here. what if the judge in that case rules in their favor? does that affect the work -- the point that the committee's making, the work the committee is trying to do? rep. schiff: well, it would affect it in the sense potentially that we might not get access to these records. now, there are a number of arguments that we have made in the court pleading. we don't think, first of all, that eastman has established he was a lawyer for the president. just because he's a lawyer doesn't make him the president's lawyer. so his privilege claim should fall on that basis. it should fall on the crime-fraud exception basis. it should fall on the basis that he's talked publicly about these things with donald trump's permission, and, therefore, any privilege would be waived. so there are multiple bases the judge could find the privilege was not applicable here.

finally, i would say, if the judge were to rule against us on the crime-fraud exception, that doesn't mean the president or his people haven't committed a crime or a fraud. it simply means that, on the basis of these narrow set of documents, there wasn't evidence sufficient for the court to make that finding. but, of course, we have a much broader body of evidence in our investigation that would be pertinent to that particular issue. judy: congressman adam schiff, who is a member of the january 6 committee and who chairs the house intelligence committee, thank you very much. we appreciate it. rep. schiff: thank you. judy: over the past week, the u.s. and scores of other nations have cut russia off from much of the global economy, in retaliation for its invasion of ukraine.

now investigators are planning strikeon russian finances hidden here in the united states. geoff bennett has more. geoff: experts say russian oligarchs launder billions of dollars through the u.s., stashed in swanky apartment purchases, shell companies, and cryptocurrency holdings. her's how president biden announced the coming cradown on those financial dealings in tuesday's state of the union address. president biden: we're joining with european allies to find and seize their yachts, their luxury apartments, their private jets. [cheering and applause] we're coming for your ill-begotten gains. geoff: for more on all this, i'm joined by lisa monaco. she's the deputy attorney general and she's leading the task force dubbed kleptocapture. welcome to "the newshour." and i want to start with the news today that the u.s. announced, that it is targeting additional russian elites and their family member who continue to support vladimir putin. russian oligarchs as you know,

they are able to cloak their true identities as owners by creating shell companies and by benefiting from major disclosure loopholes and things like private equity and luxury goods. so how will this new task force disentangle that? lisa: well, geoff, what we are doing with this new task force, kleptocapture, is bringing together all the expertise that we have in the department of justice and, importantly, working across the federal government with other experts from the department of homeland security, from the irs, as well as with our own fbi and marshals service, and agents and prosecutors and analysts here in the department of justice, who are expert in enforcing sanctions, in going after the type of money laundering activity that you just mentioned. these are experts who are well-versed in tracing through very byzantine ways and using sophisticated methods to trace the activities of crinals, including oligarchs, who seek to hide their ill-gotten gains in the purchase of many luxury goods. so what you're seeing with this task force is a commitment by the department of justice working across the government to go after these oligarchs, go

after these cronies and to say, if you're using your proceeds, if you're going and engaging in money laundering, evading sanctions to buy that jet, to purchase that yacht, to have that luxury apartment, we're going to go after you. and we're going to freeze using this new -- this sanction tool that you announced, and then seize using our own law enforcement authorities. geoff: what's the estimated value of capital held in the u.s. by these russian oligarchs? and how much could feasibly be targeted? lisa: well, i think it's a very good question, geoff. and one of the things we hope to do with this task force and we intend to do with this task force is get a much truer picture of that. i have seen lots of estimates of the wealth that oligarchs are hiding, both here and in the countries of our allies and partners. that's why we're joining forces with our partners in the u.k., with our partners in europe and

across the globe, using these unprecedented sanctions of really unprecedented scope and scale to bring together all of our efforts to both find those assets, and then use these tools to seize them. geoff: and this isn't the first time that the u.s. has targeted russian assets. oligarchs, they proved quite capable of shielding their holdings after sanctions followed russia's 2014 invasion of crimea. so, what do you say to people who might see this effort as more messaging than being something substantive? lisa: well, look, geoff, i think we have a long history, and we have got lots of expertise in the department, as well as across the government in going after these types of money-laundered funds and going after criminals who seek to shield their activity. what you're seeing that's different in this task force is bringing all of that expertise together, working with our international partners, working across the government with a singular focus on the oligarchs

and cronies of putin, who are seeking to bolster putin's and russia's unwarranted and unprovoked aggression in the ukraine. geoff: while we have you, i want to ask you about some news that broke overnight from the january 6 committee, because they said in a court filing that there's enough evidence to suggest that donald trump might have engaged in a criminal conspiracy as he attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 election that he lost. and congressman adam schiff, who you know sits on that committee, he says that the justice department should not wait for a criminal referral to act. and so the question is, is the filing itself from this committee enough evidence of potential illegality for the doj to act? or does the committee need to make a formal criminal referral on this matter? lisa: well, geoff, look, i saw that news. and i have seen that filing. i can't say anything more on this other than what the attorney general has best said, which is, we are going to follow the facts in the law in what is the most wide-ranging and complex investigation into the

events of january 6 that the department has ever undertaken, and we are going to do so regardless of where the facts take us, regardless of what level. we'reoing to follow the facts wherever they lead. geoff: could some of the detai released by the january 6 committee enup hindering doj's investigations and potential criminal cases in any significant way? lisa: we're going to follow those facts wherever they come from, and the information that's being made available by the committee can certainly add to the picture, but it's far from an exclusive source. geoff: and more than a month ago, you said on cnn that the doj is considering charges surrounding the fraudulent slates of electors. how close is the justice department to making a decision on that? lisa: well, geoff, what i indicated is that we'd receive referrals from a number of states. we have those. we are engaged in reviewing

those. and we're not -- i can't say anything more on ongoing investigations. geoff: understanding that you are limited in what you can say about any potential investigation, i want to ask you about, what do you make of the criticism from some on the left who say that attorney general merrick garland isn't moving quickly enough, given all of the evidence that exists of alleged fraudulent and/or criminal activity on the part of the former president and his allies? lisa: well, geoff, look, i think the attorney general spoke quite forcefully and quite clearly about this issue in a speech he gave on january 5 in an update he gave to the department of justice work force, and, more broadly, to the public about the activity and the work that we are undertaking here at the department to investigate all of the activities around january 6. he was quite clear then and quite forceful that we will follow those facts wherever they lead, regardless of at what level and from what direction.

and there should be no mistake about that. geoff: u.s. deputy attorney general lisa monaco, appreciate your time and your insights this evening. judy: we will be back shortly with a view of the importance of people recently released from prison. but first, a chance to offe

judy: homeboy industries has been part of hector verdugo's life for over 16 years. he's now their associate executive director. but he first received their guidance after getting arrested at 14 years old. based in los angeles, homeboy industries and its founder, father greg, have helped verdugo and other men like him recognize

their full potential. tonight, verdugo shares his brief but spectacular take on change and healing. hector: i was first incarcerated, i was 14 years old. i did a carjacking and got caught. by the time i was 17, i started dealing drugs heavily. i was getting schooled by older homeboys about what's going to happen when i turn 18, i'm going to go to prison, just being nonchalant, like, these are the rules in there. this is how you're going to conduct yourself. and i went to prison at 18 years old. that was just the way it was, just the way it is. my father died from a heroin overdose a week before we were born. my mom was a heroin addict well until my adulthood, witnessing overdoses in my house, and murder outside. and, at the time, it was normal. but i didn't know what it was -- how damaging it was. i have been at homeboy industries for going on 16 years

now. i met father greg when i was a kid in juvenile hall about 14 years old. he's the founder of homeboy industries. i see him as a father. i describe homeboy industries as a miracle factory. it's a place where gang members, hurt peoplcoming out of prison, can come to a place and really understand what community is all about. there was this question that father greg asked me. he said, hector, why'd you get jumped into a gang? and i gave him what i thought was the right answer of, fast cars, fast women, and crazy -- life. and father greg said, let me tell you where he got jumped into a gang. you got jumped into a gang because you were running from your home. listening to father greg, i started to see things that i never saw about myself. homeboys kind of puts up the mirror and shows you who you really are. and when i held the mirror up, i seen a scared little kid trying to survive.

looking at that little kid back then and the pain that he carried, seeing that nobody really wanted us in their homes as i'm eating their food, taking up space, those things are there. they're painful inside of me. the violence that came out of me was me transmitting my pain. and, through a gang, it was the perfect outlet. when i see somebody young, and that i recognize the fire that they have that i used to have when i was a kid, i feel compassion for that kid. i want to hug that kid. trust is a huge thing that slowly starts to open up. and then you start to see the men and women, boys and girls, blossom. they start to take off their hoodie, stand a little bit more taller, look you in the eye and talk.

i love that. what an honor. my name is hector verdugo, and this is my brief but spectacular take on change and healing. judy: hector verdugo, thank you. thank you for sharing that. and you can watch more brief but spectacular videos online at pbs.org/newshour/brief. and that is the newshour for tonight. i am judy woodruff. you and us online and again here tomorrow evening. from all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and we will see you again soon. >> major fundi for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by. >> the landscape has changed. and not for the last time. the rules of business are being reinvented with a more flexible workforce, by embracing innovation, by looking not only at current opportunities, but a head to future ones.

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this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> this is "pbs newshour" west from weta 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.]

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