♪ geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. judy woodruff is away. on the "newshour" tonight. the brutality of war -- an apparent russian missile strike hits a train station crowded with ukrainian civilians trying to flee the conflict, as the country's president warns of more atrocities to be uncovered following russian retreats. then, the blockchain bubble -- some economists' warnings of cryptocurrency grow louder as the future of digital assets remains in question. >> we live in a world that's right now overn by liquidity. a lot of money in the market. and that market it's just going -- that money it's just going to new level of crazy. geoff: and it's friday. david brooks and jonathan capehart weigh in on ketanji brown jackson's historic confirmation to the supreme court and state efforts to enact new restrictive abortion laws.

all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour." ♪ >> major funding 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 ahead to future ones. resilience is the ability to pivot again and again for whatever happens next. people who know, know. >> pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymondjames financial advisor

taylor's advice to help you live your life. life well planned. ♪ >> the john s and james l knight foundation. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions. and friends of the newshour. ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. geoff: an apparent russian missile slammed into a crowded rail platform today in eastern ukraine, killing dozens, and

wounding hundreds. thousands of people were waiting for trains to evacuate the area, as russian forces look to re-focus their assault on ukraine's eastern region. meantime, the pentagon said it believes russia will call up as many as 60,000 reservists, after six weeks of fighting have inflicted heavy losses on russian forces. special correspondent simon ostrovsky reports. and a warning for viewers: images in this story are upsetting. simon: these were the things they carried. a baseball cap, a pet rabbit, its owner nowhere to be found. moments earlier, chaos and one of the more gruesome scenes of this war. the dead and dying thrown about by what a senior defense official said was a ballistic missile strike, on the more than 4,000 civilians on the platform at kramatorsk's rail stop. most were women and children desperate to flee. and now, so many are gone.

local officials recounted the horror. >> there were many killed and injured here as well as ambulances and police. also fire engines. the cars were still on fire. it was hell on earth. they all had shrapnel injuries. simon: this is what the area around the train station looked like just yesterday - with travelers packed in, elbow to elbow. the ukrainian authorities had urged residents of the donbas region to leave the area as they braced for a major russian offensive, but this turned into one of the most single deadly incidents since the start of the war. the tail fin of a russian tochka-u ballistic missile was found near the site of the strike with the words "for the children" spray-painted on the side. local authorities said at least 5 children died in the attack. kramatorsk is in a strategic location, in the government-controlled portion of donetsk, where western officials expect russia to launch a major operation in the coming weeks.

although a senior defense official today said russia continues to struggle with logistics and "will not be able to reinforce with great speed." speaking to reporters earlier today, kremlin spokesman dmitry peskov vaguely said the war could end soon. >> we are talking about in the foreseeable future. simon: this new video released by russia's defense ministry shows no sign of forces letting up in the eastern luhansk region. near kyiv's capitaln bucha, now a horrific symbol of ukraine's pain, the grim work continues. police and volunteers gather evidence of war crimes. the victims, ordinary citizens. >> these are all killed and tortured people. shot at the close range, with their arms and legs tied. some were blindfolded. simon: today, forensic investigators began exhuming a

mass grave. officials say they found at least three sites of mass shootings during russia's occupation. hundreds are believed to have been killed. many, still waiting to be found. earlier this week, journalists found the boes of two women who lay sprawled inside their home. their nehbor, iryna kolisnyk, says three other men are buried in her backyard. one of them, leonya, shot in the head while he mourned the death of a friend. >> he turns and says: 'this is my friend's grave. he was killed.' soldiers walked behind him. and immediately after he said it about the killing we heard the click and leonya is on the ground. leonya is gone. simon: today the president of the eu commission ursula von der leyen visited bucha and gasped at the horror as she was escorted through the trail of bodies. >> we have seen the cruel face of putin's army. here in bucha we saw our

humanity being shattered. it is, the whole world is mourning with the people of bucha. simon: in their latest mission to kyiv, european officials also huddled with the ukrainian leader, in another effort to show their unwavering support. hours earlier, in an address to his nation, president zelenskyy warned the devastation in towns neighboring bucha could even be more dreadful. >> the work on dismantling the debris in borodyanka has begun. it is much worse there. even more victims of the russian occupiers. simon: in another village near kyiv, residence return to what is left after enduring heavy russian bombardment. >> they did this to us. they did not fight on the battlefield with our warriors. they fought in the village. the russians hid behind our backs here and stayed in our houses, garages, and cellars and shot aus. simon: the horrors they recalled echo the many allegations of russian war crimes committed in

towns across the northern region. for the pbs newshour, i'm simon trovsky in kyiv. geoff: cities and towns across northern ukraine are being freed by ukrainian forces, as the russians redeploy to the east. one such city is trostyanets, northwest of kharkiv, the site of pitched fighting until its liberation two weeks ago. special correspondent jack hewson and videographer ed ram traveled there, and found a city destroyed, its people reeling. jack: the scars of battle in the recently liberated town of trostyanets. civilians try to resume daily fe amid the ruins of their community. the town will take time to rebuild, but the wounds of trauma will take longer to heal. on the outskirts of the town we meet luba kryuchko, mourning the loss of r grandson. >> this is our cemetery. jack: the 14 year old boy and

her two neighbours were killed as ukrainian and russian forces baled for the town, just days before its liberation on march 26. >> i wish he could be just alive. it doesna™t matter that the flat is ruined, we can rebuild it. but i wish my grandson was alive. that would be the best thing that could happen. jack: luba shows us the destruction to her home. she was hiding in her basement when the artillery round struck. but her grandson and neighbours were not so fortunate. as she emerged above ground she discovered a horrifying scene. >> the woman was lying there, without her head. look at what has happened. her head was blown off and all her bones blown apart, there in the basement too. and here was my grandson's body. he did not run to the basement time. we were in the basement and all

the body fragments got blown in there also. jack: on the way up to luba's apartment, we meet victor. his son was critically injured in the blast, but when they tried to take him to hospital they were stopped by russian troops. >> we got to the checkpoint at the crossroads between the hospital and the school. we were stopped. they shot in the air and searched the car. i said we are going to the hospital with my injured son. they said, ride, but we will shoot you in the back. you can go, but we will kill you. jack: there is a giant tear in luba's bedroom from the strike but her grandson's death, and the serious injury to her son have left a bigger emotional hole in her life. >> i don't know how to explain. it is hard. he lived with me, the child. jack: until luba finds the money to repair her apartment she is

sleeping on her neighbor's sofa. >> we had everything, everything, until some man got weird ideas in his head, that he should destroy everything. that is all. jack: luba's home was struck as fronts shifted around the town's edges. when the time came, locals say ukrainian forces took five days to re-take trostyanets. at the train station, a focal point of the battle, there is evidence of some of the fiercest fighting. this is or perhaps was the city's train station and it has been used as a base by the russians while they were here. you can see the scale of the fighting that has gone on here. pockmarks in the concrete, boxes of russian armaments, there were snipers positioned on top of this and seven tanks according to locals. the ukrainian military are already clearing the charred remnants of russian artillery

units. emblems of an embarrassing strategic failure. the town was only ever expected to be a stepping stone to victory in kyiv. but as the advance stalled, russia's presence in trostyanets became an occupation. after a month in hiding, emotions run high. residents are now reliant on humanitarian aid. >> they shot down people just for nothing, people that were just walking in the street with their children if they had not quickly run away. they went around with guns and kicked us out of our houses. >> i knew about the situation outside and did not go out. i was scared. you can see what happened to the city. >> they went into houses and beat people. they took and broke phones. they did what they wanted. they were barbarians. god says you should love yr

enemy. it is impossible. i only have heat. jack: locals say the russian troops were civil at first, but apple a couple weeks the disappearances and atrocities began. anger at russian violations is pouring out across the liberated towns of the north. luba's life has been changed forever. >> i told you that i have enough of this for the rest of my life. until i am dead, this pain, the hate, nothing else. the hate and anger. that is what i feel. i wish i could kill them myself. those who came here. that is all. jack: as more alleged atrocities are uncovered, luba is one of many burying their loved ones across ukraine. a country reeling from its loss. for the pbs newshour, i'm jack

hewson in trostyanets, ukraine. geoff: and a note, our coverage of the war in ukraine is supported in partnership with the pulitzer center. ♪ geoff: a federal jury in grand rapids michigan acquitted two men of plotting to kidnap governor gretchen whitmer. the verdict came after 4.5 days of deliberations. jurors cannot reach verdicts for two other defendants and the judge declared a mistrial. th leaves them subject to being tried again. the four allegedly conspired to abductor witmer in 2022. a second member of the extremist group proud boys pled guilty to the riot on january 6 last year. he admitted to planning to stop congress from certifying the presidential election results. he agreed to aid another

investigations. this was a day of celebration at the white house, marking judge ketanji brown jackson's confirmation to the u.s. supreme court. on the south lawn, president biden and the nation's first black female vice president -- kamala harris -- joined jackson, who's now set to become the first black woman on the high court. pres. biden: i could see it as a day of hope, a day of promise, a day of progress. a day when once again the moral arc of the universe -- as barack used to quote all the time -- bends a little more toward justice. >> it has taken 232 years and 115 prior appointments for a black woman to be selected to serve on the supreme court of the united states. [applause] geoff: jackson will take the oath of office later this year when justice stephen breyer officially retires. in israel, security forces have shot and killed a palestinian man who they say killed three

people in tel aviv late thursday. surveillance video showed the suspect walking down crowded streets. later, chaos erupted when the gunman opened fire at a bar. police said he did not belong to y organized militant group. it was the fourth deadly attack in israel in less than three weeks. pakistan's embattled prime minister today criticized a supreme court ruling in that country that blocked him from dissolving parliament, but he said he will accept it. the ruling cleared the way for a vote of no-confidence in the government tomorrow. prime minister imran khan spoke this evening in a national tv addres >> the verdict disappointed me. foreign hands were involved in the no confidence vote in pakistan. i was expecting from pakistan's supreme court at least they should have considered this, this was a very serious allegation. geoff: the prime minister also said he will not recognize any opposition government. he called for supporters to protest on sunday, but peacefully.

france is headed toward a presidential election on sunday, and a far-right candidate is surging in the polls. marine le pen claimed momentum in her final appearances, while president emmanuel macron has said the pandemic and ukraine delayed his efforts. they spoke on the final day of campaigning. >> what is true is that i campaigned late. first, that's normal for an incumbent president and then the circumstances were constrained. >> the french will vot and we will follow their vote. so of course i think not only i will be in the second round, but that i can win this presidential election. geoff: if the polls are correct, macron and le pen will meet in a runoff later this month as they did in 2017. more cities in china tightened pandemic restrictions today as a covid outbreak there accelerated. and in shanghai, 3 officials were fired amid complaints that a lockdown is causing food shortages. total cases in the city have

passed 100,000 since the outbreak started last month. shanghai is converting gyms and exhibition halls into isolation centers, with no end in sight for the pandemic. back in this country, alabama's governor signed into law one of the most far-reaching measures yet to block medical treatment for transgender children. it would imprison doctors for up to 10 years for prescribing puberty blockers or hormone treatment for trans youths under the age of 19. other republican-controlled states have adopted related laws. the motion picture academy band actor -- banned actor will smith today from attending the oscars or any other academy events for 10 years. it's punishment for slapping chris rock at last month's oscars telecast, after rock told a joke about smith's wife. smith said he respects the decision. he had already resigned from the academy. on wall street today, stocks wobbled on worries about interest rates and inflation. the dow jones industrial average

gained 137 points to close at 34,731. but the nasdaq fell 186 points, down 1%. the s&p 500 slipped 12 points. space-x has launched the first private charter flight to the international space station. the falcon rocket blasted off today from kennedy space center in florida, with 3 wealthy businessmen and an astronaut escort. the businessmen paid $55 million each for a one-week stay. russia has hosted tourists at the station for decades. still to comon the newshour, conventional economists' warnings of cryptocurrency's volatility grow louder. and david brooks and jonathan capehart weigh in on the week's political news. the minneapolis-based theatre company debuts a play about race and policing, plus 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. geoff: as we reported, a jury in michigan found two men accused of plotting to kidnap governor gretchen whitmer not guilty today, and failed to reach a verdict against two others. john yang has our report. john: geoff, this was a case that made headlines just a month before the 2020 election and amid protests over government handling of the pandemic. federal prosecutors alleged a plot to kidnap a sitting governor from her vacation home in hopes of disrupting the presidential race and maybe even sparking a civil war. to help us understand today's acquittals and mistrials in the we are joined by mark chutkow, a former federal prosecutor in michigan. thanks for joining this. it sure seemed like the prosecutors had a lot of evidence here. they had accused conspirators who turned state's evidence, they had fbi agents, they had

secret recordings. we don't know what happened in the jury room, but what do you think happened here? mark: as you say, it is a bit speculation to find out what happened in the jury room because they have not talked. i think there was underlying tensions in this case. one is where you draw the line between protected free speech and a criminal conspiracy. it was something that the government had to grapple in this case, especially with the polarizing issues you had raised about the pandemic and the shutdown. second, the question is how far can the government go to be involved in the conspiracy plot? here the defense vigorously raised issues of entrapment, both by the government informant and turned to the state, and undercover agents and cooperating defendants. third, on the flipside is how far can the government take this before they pull the plug? i have worked with fbi agents

before and there is a constant tension of, do we let the plot go on longer so we can build a better case, or do we pull the plug because we don't want anyone to be harmed? the concern is if the informant loses access to the conspirators, then the government loses control and no one knows what happens next. john: among the things the prosecution had, they accused conspirators pleading guilty and testifying against other defendants. does that usually carry weight with juries? mark: it usually carries a lot of weight. in this case the defense was arguing that the government entrapped them. by the government being able to bring forward two people that were involved in the conspiracy who said, no, the government did not push me to do this, i accept responsibility for the fact that i did conspire to kidnap the governor, and the people on

trial were participating with me, that ordinarily is compelling evidence that often times reassures a juror that there is proof beyond a reasonable doubt. john: the defense argued these guys were just talking, this is free speech about how much they hate the government, but they actually took actions as well, didn't they? mark: yeah, particularly thtwo defendants that remain in the case. they took a number of overt acts. they cased the governor's cottage up in northern michigan. they built a mock up of her house so they could practice, sort of like the navy seals did with osama bin laden in pakistan. they tried to purchase explosives. they bought night vision goggles. they took a number of acts that were in furtherance of the conspiracy that may have caused the jurors some pause in terms

of acquittal. john: the prosecutors say they intend to retry those two. what did we learn about the defendants in the course of this trial? mark: we heard competing visions of the defendants. the defense portrayed the defendants as beleaguered, wee kend warriors that were angry with the government and just blowing off steam, that it it was basically talk, that the plot was not realistic, there was no time, date, or location for what they were going to do. on the flipside, the government showed that these guys really did intend to do something. mark: you mtioned domestic terrorism. governor whitmer released a statement saying she feared this would embolden extremists. we have these trials here in washington against the january 6 defendants.

the biden administration justice department say they want to focus on domestic terrorism. what is the significance of what this jury did today in that context? mark: i don't think you can draw a bigger analogy to what happened on january 6. i don't know that this will embolden other people. these defendants, two of them are still facing potential long prison sentences and the other two had to face a prosecution that was quite vigorous. john: a former federal prosecutor in washington, thank you very much. mark: you're welcome. ♪ geoff: today there are thousands of cryptocurrencies. and every day, it seems, a new nonfungible token, or nft, is marketed. our economics correspondent paul solman explores the digital asset boom. paul: asset inflation gone wild.

so-cled hard assets like housing, up 32% since the pandemic began. stocks up 84%, at least until russia invaded ukraine. but consider digital assets. bitcoin is up more than 600% since the pandemic. ethereum the other main cryptocurrency more than 2000%. >> what if you could own the virtual world? paul: and what about unreal estate? the right to occupy and build in virtual worlds known as the metaverse? prices doubled to $12,000 a parcel. finally, famously, the digital artist beeple sold a nonfungible token of a work of art last year for $69 million dollars. >> we need a banana. paul: economist craig palsson explains the idea behind nfts with an example from 2019 art basel. >> when maurizio catalan went to

miami and duct taped a banana to the wall and this artist then said the asking price for this piece of art is $120000. paul: there were three buyers. >> the next day, somebody came by and ate the banana. and yet that afternoon, the museum had duct taped another banana to thwall. what these investors were buying was not the banana, which was going to go bad within a week anyway. they were buying a certificate of authenticity. paul: which is all an nft is, an indisputable digital certificate of ownership, stored on a computer network that anyone can rify, but no one can alter. in the digital world, then, a rotting banana can be a digital image like bat-chomping heavy metal icon ozzie are born -- icon ozzie osborne's cryptobatz. >> as crazy as it is it is just a jpeg of what looks like a cartoon bat. paul: college students jonah katsenelson and rhett fruitman tried but failed to get in on

the initial release of ozzy's nearly 10,000 digital images. a friend hit paydirt, however, and flipped his a week later. >> for four ethereum, which is the equivalent of 10,000 us dollars. paul: more than 30 times his investment. but still, just a minor exhibit in the nft menagerie. >> i have bored ape 6176. paul: nft entrepreneur lin dai bought his bored ape in december. >> it's a very cool one that looks very rock 'n' roll. reminds me of keith richards. paul: and how much did you pay for it? >> at the time it was probably just under $200,000. paul: $200,000. >> it's probably worth about $200,000. 400,000 right now. paul: i know what you're thinking, this is well, bananas. like tulipmania in 1630s holland, when a single bulb went for more than a house. >> ♪ what goes up ♪ paul: not to mention the more recent dot.com debacle,

>> ♪ must come down ♪ paul: mortgage backed securities scandal, etc. so is digital mania just another historic bubble bound to burst? may be. maybe not. professional stock market investor vitaliy katsenelson is a digital asset skeptic, but even he sees why prices have been skyrocketing. >> we live in a world that's right now overrun by liquidity. a lot of money. a lot of money in the market. that money is just going to a new level of crazy. paul: money being created by governments the world over, to the point investors are scared it will lose its value. >> inflation is always going to be a concern because you can always print more money. paul: law professor tonya evans. tonya: you avoid that when you have hard capped money like bitcoin, for example. paul: because there will never be more than 21 million bitcoin. >> bitcoin is this form of money that doesn't increase in supply and you can send it to anywhere in the world. paul: crypto investor and author eric yakes.

eric: i can send it from my computer to your computer. there's no institution that it has to get checked by and verified by. paul: further, says yakes, it is great for immigrants working abroad. >> for the purpose of remittance payments and for the purpose of using it as a store of value, which is a very big issue in some of these low income economies. paul: which may also explain the appeal of digital assets to black americans, who feel discriminated against by the financial industry. tonya: systemic racism has prevented black americans from meaningless participating in the banking system, even with excellent credit and a great history. if i were pulling out equity in my home i would have to come up against perhaps redlining. i would come up against predatory lending. paul: no wonder 23% of black americans report owning crypto, vs. 11% of whites. tonya: as a matter of economic empowerment and generational wealth. paul: but what about the criminal activity crypto has facilitated?

the energy all those blockchain computers gobble? or is the newfangled nest curbing your enthusiasm? >> you are wasting your time and it's sad. paul: then larry david's new ad is for fuddy duddies like you and me. >> it is a safe and easy way to get into crypto. >> i don't think so. paul: so, are skeptics making the same mistake about nfts? especially if an investor's crypto currency has exploded in value, how better to spend it? >> there's a certain point in which an additional dollar to somebody who's very, very wealthy buys you very little in terms of a change in your lifestyle. paul: economist matt stephenson. matt: but what economists call positional goods, which is your, sort of status position relative to someone else, you have new ways to flex your taste, your wealth and status and so on. nfts would be would be very useful for that. paul: so say you take the plunge for a one of a kind cryptobat. a historically hip ape. one of the new donald trump nft collection.

couldn't trump at rushmore, say, be the next campbell's soup can, which when first exhibited in 1962, was thought of as a joke. and how much does a campbell's soup painting by andy warhol go for now? >> many millions of dollars. paul: contemporary art dealer alex glauber does not sell nft's yet, but he knows that value depends on belief, in dollars, gold, art. >> value is socially constructed, i mean, there's no intrinsic value to art. and it is based on consensus. paul: it does not have to be a consensus of a whole lot. >> no, the reality is a market is only as smart as the people holding the money. when it comes to art prices, especially at auction, it only takes two competing individuals to drive a price up. paul: hey, there are non-aesthetic reasons for nfts as well. to be part of a community, for example. >> it is an exclusive membership. paul: like the bored ape yacht club to which lin dai belongs, its images coming with commercial rights. >> i can actually make t-shirts

or hats with my ape design on it. paul: and of course as certificates of authenticity, nfts can have more practical uses, a deed to your home, a college diploma. so, investor katsenelson, still a skeptic? >> this is not a serious investment because you have no idea what it's worth. think about 1999 dot com bubble, you were makg a lot of money until you lost it all. paul: katsenelson worries most about unsophisticated investors. and indeed nft's have plunged in value of late. we know how famously volatile crypto prices are. >> a lot of times they're putting their life savings in this investment. at some point they will lose most of their net worth, and that's what really pains me. >> as an educator and a lawyer, i would never tell anyone to push all of their wealth into this space. paul: so, too risky professor evans?

tonya: i think the risk is it not participating and that's going to be critically important for a nascent asset class like crypto. paul: still too nascent for me, i should confess. but then so it was in 2013, when i first reported on bitcoin at $130 a coin. today, somewhere around $40,000. for the pbs newshour, wiser perhaps but not much richer, paul solman. ♪ geoff: today, president biden celebrated alongside ketanji brown jackson, who will make history when she becomes the first black woman to take a seat on the nation's highest court later this year. but before she does, the supreme court seems poised to upend the abortion rights, causing states to examine their own laws. and in ukraine, accusations of potential war crimes are raising questions about whether and how

this country is morally obligated to intervene in ukraine. we turn to the analysis of brooks and capehart. that's new york times columnist david brooks and jonathan capehart, associate editor for the washington post. it is great to have the both of you with us on this friday. jonathan, judge jackson, she marked her historic confirmation to the supreme court with this moving speech from the white house in which s celebrated the hope and promise of the nation. that was the phrase she used. this hope and promise, where it was possible for her family to go from living under segregation to a supreme court appointment in one generation. how did that moment strike you? jonathan: it was a fantastic -- americans in this country has not been pleasant, where the ideals that are written down in our founding documents did not apply to us, either in whole, at all, or fully.

it was the promise in our founding documents that gave the enslaved a hope that they would no longer be enslaved. it gave the newly freed african-americans the hope that they would one day be full citizens of this country. there were the words in those founding documents that gave the succeeding generations the hope that they could live out t ideals written in those documents. this is not a perfect nation and we don't always get it right, but on a day like today, when you see someone as brilliant as judge catania brown jackson, who worked hard, whose parents worked hard, she worked hard, everyone around her worked hard to get her to this point, it gives me hope that the ideals in the founding documents do apply to us and makes it possible for other people, african-americans, but all americans to see that

those words in those documents mean something and can be fulfilled if only we opened the access so everyone can fulfill the dream. geoff: david brooks, as president biden was marking the moment and celebrating the success of judge jackson, he decried the treatment of her by some republicans during the confirmation hearings as verbal abuse. then there was that moment yesterday on the senate floor after the vote was called, after she was confirmed, the democrats erupted in cheer and republicans, save for mitt romney who voted in her favor, republicans walked out. that was after senator rand paul held up the proceedings for some 20 minutes. he was nowhere to be found initially. and because senator lindsey graham was improperly dressed had to shout his vote from the cloakroom. you can see the applause in the room and the republicans found their way out through the door.

what are we to make of that display by the republicans? david: welcome to america in 2022. if you are a conservative or democrat, and i'm sure i'm several notches to the right of coming justice jackson, it is still a day to celebrate. removing segregation in the supreme court is a sign of larger success. we should all be happy. i saw a great picture of cory booker hugging someone from the incivility -- from the ncaa legal defense fund. the joy on their face was radiating. until 1921, everyone on the supreme court was a white guy. you can be a republican and vote against the democratic appointed nominee, sure, that is politics, but but after she has been confirmed, have a little celebration for america.

we are even letting protestants back on the supreme court. [laughter] i do think there has to be a moment where you lay partisanship aside and see national progress and celebration. geoff: jonathan, the white house wanted a bipartisan confirmation vote. in the end they got the republicans, collins, murkowski, and romney. does it matter that there were republicans who voted in favor? democrats could have done this with 50 votes plus vice president harris breaking the tie. jonathan: i thought it was important, particularly for the first ack woman to be on the court, for there to be a bipartisan stamp on her confirmation no matter how many republicans were there. her 53-47 vote with three republicans is a better showing in terms of bipartisanship than what the previous justice, amy coney barrett got, she got zero

democratic votes for her confirmation. the fact that judge ketanji brown jackson will ehad to the court with three republican votes is a good thing. -- head to the court with three republican votes is a good thing. in the grand scheme of things, what i worry about is not so much voted for her confirmation. i'm worried about what was said about what is going to happen if there is another supreme court nomination for president biden. senator lindsey graham saying if the take over the senate after the midterms, a nominee would not get a hearing. senator mcconnell following that up yesterday by saying the exact same thing. that to me are the dark clouds hanging over our democracy. that is much more important to worry about than judge jackson only getting three republican votes in her confirmation, which is a good showing consideri how broken things are in

washington these days. geoff: david, i want you to weigh in on that point. i was also struck that senators collins andurkowski used their statement in support of judge jackson to say they believe the supreme court confirmation itself, the process itself, was broken. do you share that view? if so, what is the prescription to fix it? david: it is broken even by washington standards. i go back to sandra day o'connor, gets confirmed 99-0. it used to be the test is does the person have a judicial philosophy that is roughly within the mainstream? is the person a person of wise countrymen -- of wise temperament? those issues are now basically off the table. in this process, it's clear she has a judicial temperament. i have been so impressed with her handling of really rough circumstances.

it is clear her judicial philosophy, but this thing has turned into a culture war. it is about senators using their moments on tv to raise whatever culture war issue happens to be on tucker carlsen's show that week. that is what we saw in these confirmation hearings. it's the core thing that happened in congress the last five years, you don't get a congress to pass legislation, you go to congress to get on tv. it has become a performative act. the way you get power in congress these days is to do what aoc did. you can build up a public platform, then everyone has to listen to you and congress. there used to be a distinction between show boats and work horses. that distition has gone because the number of work horses is minimal. geoff: too many show boats, not enough work horses. i am writing that down. one of the major cases sitting before the supreme court right now is abortion access.

oklahoma lawmakers approved a bill that would make performing an abortion of felony, except in the case of a medical emergency. oklahoma is the latest republican led state to enact new restrictions on abortion access. oklahoma following in the footsteps of texas. jonathan: when president clinton was in office, he had the mantra that he wanted abortions in this country to be safe, legal, and rare. i think that is a sensible mantra. but the supreme court's decision to let that unbelievable texas law to go into effect while under legal challenge i think is what set off this arms race between blue states and red states when it comes to abortion. oklahoma, texas, missouri, all trying to restrict a woman's

right to choose. you have blue states that are democratically led states that are looking to codify roe v. wade in anticipation of the supreme court doing either wholly overturning roe v. wade or gutting it in the way they did the voting rights act, where it is a statute but you can't enforce it. what we are in for until the supreme court makes its decision final, we will keep seeing this happening. once the supreme court does what we think it is going to do, then god only knows what is going to happen in the states. this one we do know. this is why everyone is so concerned about the future of roe. when president trump was running for president, he said on the campaign trail and as president that he would appoint justices to the supreme court who would

overturn roe v. wade. he got three supreme court justices placed on the court. that is why we are having this conversation. even though we are speculating about what would happen. with a 6-3 conservative majority on the court, roe is in danger. that is why these states are moving fast in terms of their philosophy on roe to do whatever it is they will do on abortion rights access. geoff: what do you make of that point, that one of the reasons why conservative states are moving forward with these pre-viability bans is not that they are afraid of legal challenges, they welcome legal challenges because that is the fastest way to get this to the supreme court, where they think they will have a friendly audience. david: legal scholars certainly think roe is on the way out. what everyone thinks of the underlying issue of abortion, i

think it has been politically corrosive for a country that a solution was imposed by unelected officials from the top down. i always thought if we get out of roe we can have a conversation about abortion and we would probably have different states wanting different solutions. there was some possibility, at least until 10 or 15 years ago, that we would wind up where some of the european countries are with different levels of restrictions, but somewhere in the middle. that would have been an ideal circumstance 10 or 15 years ago. the underlying problem with that hope now is that the states are polarizing. for whatever reason the states have become one party rule. within those legislatures, the people on the far left or right seem to exercise total control, at least on this issue. you get these laws that are polarized one way or the other. there is still possibility that that middle position, roughly where 51% of americans are,

which would allow abortion until a certain time and taper it off and make it harder later into the pregnancy, john roberts seems to be wanting to head to that solution. the problem is he may be a minority on the court right now. we seem to be heading toward abortion to polar extremes, two value systems, nonoverlapping views. geoff: a split country. david brooks and jonathan capehart, have a great weekend. jonathan: thanks, geoff. ♪ prosecutor this week declined to charge a minneapolis police officer in the fatal shooting of amir locke. he wasilled in a pre-dawn no-knock raid. it comes nearly two years after

the murder of george floyd. those killings have forced parents to grapple with how to talk to kids about racism and policing. special correspondent fred de sam lazaro looks at a book-turned-play helping with those conversations. it's part of our arts and culture series, canvas, and our ongoing race matters coverage. >> it's manny. keep the doors locked. sam: it is a moment now all-too-familiar in american life, the killing of a black man at the hands of lice. >> with racial overtones, you know what i mean. sam: moments of tension that traumatize communities and ripple nationwide. that tension takes centestage in "something happened in our town." >> did you see where the cops killed another black man for nothing! sam: originally a children's book by a trio of psychologists, it tells the story of two families -- one black, one white -- navigating the aftermath of such a killing.

>> the police thought he was reaching for a gun. >> well, josh's mother said they shot him just because he is blackbeard >> that is not true. your uncle will tell you the police he a job to do. sam: playwright cheryl west adapted the story for the stage and it premiered at the children's theater company in minneapolis earlier this year. 12 year old de'anthony jackson, a minneapolis native, plays the lead character, josh perkins. it is a role not so distant from real life for jackson, whose young memory is seared with the killing of george floyd. >> everybody was talking about it, and sooner or later people was burning stuff. my mom was crying and stuff, and it was just crazy. she she was crying because another black man got killed. plus, she's thinking, like, what happens if that happens to one of my sons? in school sometimes i will be thinking in class, when is the next one going to happen?

dad, why are you getting so mad? >> i am angry because we are still fighting the same fight, still being treated terribly. beuse 30 years later i am having to have the same talk with my sons that my father had with me. sam: kevin west plays josh's father calvin. >> just sittg here listening to him saying, when is it going to happen again? that pains my heart because he is a 12-year-old kid. he shouldn't be having to think in those terms. but the world we live in, he's been forced, him and many other young people have been forced to take a look at what can happen. sam: the book version first came out in 2018. ann hazzard is one of its authors. >> one of our main goals was to help families across the spectrum be able to talk about race and racism. black parenthistorically have had to do that to keep their children safe and to preserve their self-esteem. but many

white parents haven't addressed race or racism and weren't sure how to start. and i think our book offered families a helpful tool to get started on those conversations. sam: attention surrounding the new york times bestseller spiked in 2020, after george floyd's murder. that year, it became the american library association's six most challenged bks for its "divisive language and anti-police views." in a letter to governor tim walz, minnesota's largest police association the minnesota police and ace officers association asked the state to stop recommending the book for use in classrooms, saying it "encourages children to fear police officers as unfair, violent and racist." >> children get the message of the book. the message is that it's not fair to treat people differently based on the color of their skin. not once have we ever had a child say the message of the book is at police are bad guys

. sam: timothy douglas is the play's director. shortly after he accepted the role, he took a walk to the south minneapolis intersection known as george floyd square. >> i sat on one of the benches opposite the spot where george floyd took his last breath. and it came to me that this is not a directing gig, this is an assignment. and because it is an assignment i surrendered any tie to dictating what the outcome should be, what the final product should look like on the stage. i just entered the first day of rehearsal and together we just started creating. sam: the play they created follows josh and his best friend emma as they try to make sense of the events gripping their community and straining their own relationship. they grapple with their perception of emma's lovable uncle manny, a white police officer character cheryl west added to the adaptation. and then there is josh's older brother malcolm, who butts heads

with his parents over the killing and sneaks out of the house to join the protests. >> there is power in numbers and i have to stand up and be counted. >> but you are wearing a hoodie. they say he will get shot if you wear a hoodie. >> that's exactly why i need to do this. when my little brother equates wearing a hoodie with getting shot. sam: in just the second week of rehearsals last february, minneapolis police fatally shot 22-year-old amir locke while executing a predawn no-knock warrant. the killing touched off more demonstrations and, director timothy douglas says, shook the production. >> all the progress made in the city was cpletely shattered when i looked into people's faces the day after amir was killed. sam: the theater brought in a counselor to address the emotions and emotional trauma on the cast and crew. for de'anthony jackson and kevin west, "something happened in our

town" is meant not just to help families with difficult conversations. it is also a vehicle for change. >> hopefully we can put this to bed. that's my goal with this whole process being a part of it, telling the story. hopefully the story is not being produced and produced and produced and produced and produced. because if it is, the problem isn't changing. >> there needs to be a change. it is not something i want, it is something that we need. sam: and perhaps nowhere is it needed more than in the theater's backyard. i am fred de sam lazaro in minneapolis. geoff: fred's reporting is in partnership with the under-told stories project at the university of st. thomas in minnesota. coming up on washington week, the panel analyze the week's news, including discovery of russian atrocities in ukraine, plus ketanji brown jackson's historic ascension to the supreme court. i hope you will join me tomorrow on pbs news week and. we talk to an astronaut about his recent record-breaking spaceflight.

that is the pbs newshour for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. for all of us, thanks for spending part of your evening with us. have a great weekend. >> major funding for the p newshour has been provided by -- ♪ >> moving our econo for 160, bnsf, the engine that connects us. ♪ >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to build a better world. at hewlett.org. ♪ >> supporting social

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hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & company" from kyiv. here's what's coming up. russia steps up its attack on the eas