♪ amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. judy woodruff is away. on "the newshour" tonight... weary of war -- russia tries to seize total control of eastern ukraine, pounding the region with artillery strikes, as thousands remain trapped in mariupol. then... france decides -- a critical presidential election looms as voters choose between centrist incumbent emmanuel macron and far-right challenger marine le pen. >> look me. i'm scared because i'm a foreigner, even though i was born here. le pen tells me i'm only french on paper, but i'm french. that's why i'm scared. amna: and it's friday. david brooks and jonathan capehart weigh in on america's increasingly bitter culture wars and the confusion over changing covid masking rules. all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour." ♪

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>> fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions -- and friends of "the newshour." ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. amna: russia has admitted for the first time that last week's sinking of its flagship cruiser the moskva left dozens missing and one dead, although it still denies ukraine attacked the ship. on the btlefront, ukrainian officials claim russian troops

are redeploying from the southern port city of mariupol to reinforce their new onslaught in the east. and meantime, ukraine says it sent a nighttime helicopter to deliver arms to the last ukrainian forces in mariupol, who are holed up inside a giant steel facility willem marx begins our coverage. willem: in the city of mariupol, ghostly remnants of a relentless war. this is what russia calls liberation -- apartment blocks battered by shelling and devoid of residents. the only sign of life, pro russian rescue workers locating the dead. they load remains onto trucks marked with “z” -- a symbol of vladimir putin's brutal invasion. the dead's destination for now unknown. today, a ukrainian regional governor still seemed optimistic about mariupol's future. gov. kyrylenko: i unequivocally believe that russians can be defeated.

they are not taught to lose, but they overestimate themselves. willem: the last few ukrainian fighters are bunkered down in a steel plant by the sea. russian forces say they'll no longer try to storm that facility, but instead will besiege it. british officials say it's likely russia prefers simply to surround it, freeing up their forces for operations elsewhere. on social media channels, pro-kremlin propagandists embedded with the russian army publish videos they say show troops moving east, away from mariupol. but military analysts say russian forces in the city suffered substantially, and moscow may struggle to redeploy rapidly to other battle fronts. one russian commander talked of fresh territorial ambitions in the south of ukraine, suggesting a new access route to transnistria, a pro-russian enclave in neighboring moldova. it's unclear if these comments reflect official kremlin policy. back east, meanwhile, russian

troops continue their assault on the donbas. overnight, a hospital near netsk damaged under direct shellfire. in the city of rubizhne, broken boulevards bear the scars of conflict. a cultural center crushed by artillery. in a basement beneath it, a dozen of the city's residents shelter together. liudmila said she fled her home after the shells began to fall. liudmila: it was raining, the roof was leaking. the plaster and wallpaper fell off, a constant draft. it is impossible to live in our houses. no gas, no light, no water. willem: to the north, in kharkiv, emergency workers on scene at a public market smashed and torched. the city remains a top target for russian rockets. leaving residents to deal with the daily damage. yuriy guropaev says two civilians charred to death inside this vehicle. yuriy: how is it different from

bucha or hostomel? and we are told it's quiet here. how is it possible? here are people burning. here are two people are burning. look, bodies. how is it possible? willem: despite the bombing, thousands of ukrainians plan to return this weekend to celebrate orthodox easter. like mariia litokh, who arrived today in kyiv from poland to meet her family. mariia: i am now confident that the world is aware that we are strong. it is important because just a few people knew about ukraine. now almost every person can show the city of kharkiv on a map. willem: home for the holidays. but for how long, unclear. tonight, amna, despite the russian advances across multiple fronts in the south and east, in cities like kyiv, it's not so much about clearing up but continuing to push back against this miltiary aggression. the national flag is still fluttering behind me. traffic has returned to the city center, and with the evening

curfew pushed back to late, restaurants and bars remain open for customers. but just an hour or two from where we're standing, awful scenes of destruction and devastation in many directions throughout surrounding towns and villages. amna? amna: "the newshour's" coverage of the war in ukraine is supported in partnership with the pulitzer center. ♪ stephanie: i'm stephanie sy with newshour west. we'll return to the full program after the laest headlines. firefighters across the southwest are battling more than half a dozen wildfires amid intense winds up to 50 miles an hour. one of the biggest fires outside of flagstaff, arizona has burned over 21,000 acres and is still only 3% contained. the windcoupled with extremely dry conditions have caused the blaze to explode in size. >> well, this fire is 100% wind-driven fire. and most of the fires we get in northern arizona are wind-driven

fires. typically we catch the fires after the wind dies down, you know once the wind event goes away. in springtime, sometimes we get 5, 6, 7-day wind events and that's that we're seeing here. stephanie: guns were the leading cause of death among children and teens in 2020. that's according to researchers at the university of michigan, whose findings were published in the new england journal of medicine. they analyzed mortality data from the cdc and found there were 4300 deaths from firearm-related injuries in 2020. that's a 29% increase from 2019. guns killed more people between the ages of 1 and 19 than car accidents, drug overdoses, or cancer. president biden celebrated this earth day by taking unilateral action to protect the environment. he signed an executive order designed to help restore national forests ravaged by wildfires, droughts, and plant diseases. he also made remarks, drawing contrast with his predecessor on

the issue. pres. biden: we're at one of those moments in world history and in american history where we've reached the point that the crisis on the environment has become so obvious, with the notable exception of the former president, that we really have an opportunity to do things we couldn't have done two, five, ten years ago. stephanie: meanwhile, environmental activists around the world marked earth day by taking to the streets, from anti-fracking demonstrations in colombia and protests against oil in london, to a student climate march in san francisco. philadelphia has lifted its indoor mask mandate, only four days after it became the first major city to reimpose it. the city is experiencing an unexpected drop in the number of hospitalizations from covid. comm. bettigole: i think that most philadelphians have understood that there was a mask mandate and why. and i think that's what we're seeing in the data. if people hadn't understood that, i don't think we would see philadelphia data moving in the

direction that it's moving, given that that's different from the surrounding areas. stephanie: meanwhile, beginning today, los angeles is requiring masks for everyone passing through its airports or riding public transit. florida governor ron desantis signed a bill today dissolving walt disney world's disney opposed a bill that bans the teaching of lgbtq topics through third grade. desantis said disney will end up paying more taxes than it currently does. the company's control over 27,000 acres in florida was crucial for its plans when it built the theme park in the 1960's. desantis also signed into law new guidelines involving race-based discussion in businesses and schools. the law bans any instruction that says members of one race are inherently racist. opponents say desantis is trying to suppress black history. overseas, at least 33 people died in northern afghanistan after a bombing at a mosque and religious school.

the explosion littered the floor with shattered glass and debris. 43 people were wounded. officials said many of them were students. and, tensions remained high in jerusalem today as violence broke out at the al-aqsa mosque for the 7th time in 8 days. palestinian youths threw rocks and fireworks at the gate where israeli police were stationed. the israeli police then stormed the mosque and fired stun grenades to clear the compound. medics said more than two dozen -- more than 50 palestinians were wounded. the violence ended hours later, allowing thousands of muslims to attend midday prayers. still to come on "the newshour"... georgia republican marjorie taylor greene faces a possible ban from running for re-election. a michigan state senator's spirited response to baseless -- to an opponent's accusations highlights a widening political and cultural divide. essayist margaret renkl reflects on how we can appreciate the natural world found in our own backyards. 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. amna: france's 49 million voters go to the polls sunday for a second and final round vote between incumbent president emmanuel macron and far right challenger marine le pen. as campaining ended, macron cast le pen as a radical, while she told voters macron is anti-france. special correspondent malcolm brabant reports from paris. malcolm: "we're going to win," chant the supporters of marine le pen, who s thoroughly trounced by emmanuel macron in this contest five years ago. since that defeat, le pen moderated her hardline rhetoric to appear more mainstream. but she needs the votes of the extreme right, and as her campaign peaked, she channeled donald trump with pleas to make france great again.

ms. le pen: people of france, the moment when you can claim justice in the ballot box is approaching. the moment when you can throw away the bad memories of this reign of arrogance is this sunday. people of france, rise up against those who have such little regard for the defence of our civilisation, who have denigrated your history, your culture, your traditions, who have submerged our sole demographic prospect in immigration, who have authorised the construction of mosques and cathedrals subjected to pernicious foreign influences. malcolm: france's eternal inspiration, marianne, who symbolises freedom, solidarity, and equality, is draped in the ukrainian flag. but le pen has been accused by president macron of being in vladimir putin's pocket after her party borrowed nearly $10 million from a moscow bank. le pen has threatened to withdraw france from nato's

american led integrated military command. she's also opposed to ending imports of russian oil, because she believes it would hurt france. in this election, domestic issues trump concerns over european peace. marine le pen has very little support in metropolitan paris. rural villages and provincial towns like arras, here in northern france have become strongholds. this is part of france's rust belt, which has been hit hard by the closure of steel mills and mines. le pen's pledges to bring down the cost of living and her anti-immigrant stance really resonate here. >> i'm not racist, i've had foreign friends who integrated better, whereas nowadays, they are in small communities, they don't mix. we've had italians, spanish, they assimilated, they learned the language, they learned our habits. but them, no. you see that, for me that's not france. >> from a builder's perspective, with marine le pen, we can have better purchasing power, which

will be great. >> what will be better with marine is that she will save france. she's got a program. malcolm: the prospect of a le pen presidency horrifies those living amid the brutalist architecture of france's poor city suburbs. st. denis on the outskirts of paris is the most diverse district in the country. >> look at me. i'm scared because i'm a foreigner, even though i was born here. le pen tells me i'm only french on paper, but i'm french. that's why i'm scared. malcolm: song writer and composer pedro kouyate fuses african rhythms with western genres. he was born in france after his parents emigrated from mali in west africa, which is struggling with an islamist insurgency. despite le pen's assurances, ultimately he fears deportation. >> we are the scapegoats. i'm scared because i love this country. long before me, my ancestors helped france during the second world war and now we're looking

at the other end of the spectrum where the right wing have said what they will do, and they will apply what they've said. be careful. we know who we're dealing with here. malcolm: sociologist and anthropologist nacira guenif specializes in migration and ethnic minorities. she hopes that supporters of left winger jean-luc melenchon, eliminated in the election's first round held two weeks ago, will vote for macron on sunday. what do you think the chances that there could be a trump style upset and that le pen will win against the odds? >> yes, there might be something of that kind. i mean, if you consider that europe is not free of all these tendencies and france is part of europe, and it hasn't fought hard enough against states like hungary or poland that put to the fore these kind of policies against migration, against civil rights. malcolm: they are relying on

disaffected voters to cast votes against le pen. >> i tell you, i've got the chills. 's scary. it's scary because in her right wing program, where do we immigrants go? what are we going to do? what are we going to become? malcolm: le pen's campaign is banking on unhappy left leaning voters abstaining. mariama sadio falls into that camp. don't you think you have to vote tactically to stop le pen from getting in? >> it could be seen as a tactical vote, i understand that. but to me that would mean i was for macron, and i'm not for macron. malcolm: centrist emmanuel macron has a serious fight on his hands, because his five-year presidency was littered with protests and he's widely perceived as being arrogant and out of touch with much of the population. le pen's surge is said to have caused panic amongst the president's strategists. alexandrholroyd represents macron's party in the national assembly. has president macron been

complacent in this campaign? >> absolutely not. i think the president has been as much as a candidate as he could, and has been as much of a president as he had to. and this has been an exceptional time obviously, with the conflict in ukraine. and he's been fully working, day in and day out, trying to prevent that conflict originally, and trying to mitigate its impact. malcolm: although still preoccupied with ukraine, macron has stepped up his campaigning in these final days. pres. macron: to all the french who chose to abstain or the vote on the extreme, i want to convince them in the coming days that our project is a much stronger response compared to the far-right's scares and the challenges of our time. you can count on me. [singing] malcolm: le pen's rallies always end with the marseillaise, the french national anthem. this election represents the best chance the far right has

ever had of winning the presidency. yet all the latest opinion polls suggest that marine le pen will fall short once again. for "the pbs newshour," i'm malcolm brabant in paris. ♪ amna: new audio reveals that house republican leader kevinge president trump to resign, in the days following the january 6 attacks on the capitol. to sort through this, i'm joined by our capitol hill reporter lisa desjardins. good to see you. the audio we are talking about is a private conversation uncovered by two "new york times" reporters. it is a conversation between kevin mccarthy and liz cheney. they are talking about president trump. let's have a listen. mccarthy: liz, you on the phone? cheney: yeah, i'm here.

are you hearing he might resign? any reason to think that might happen? mccarthy: i've had a few discussions. my gut tells me no. um, i'm seriously thinking of having that conversation with him tonight. i haven't talked to him in a couple of days. um, from what i know of him, i mean you guys all know him too, do you think he'd ever back away? but what i think i'm going to do, is i'm going to call him. again, the only discussion i would have with him is that i think this will pass, and it would be my recommendation you should resign. um, i mean that would be my take. but i don't think he would take it. but i don't know. amna: you've been talking with republican sources, including lawmakers. what are they telling you? lisa: this is the opposite of what kevin mccarthy's own spokesperson said yesterday,

that he never said he would ask president trump resign. i will tell you, there are couple of lawyers -- layers to this, the first is the political. talking to sources today, i don't think there will be a political problem for kevin mccarthy because of this within his own party. why? president trump. republican sources are waiting to see what the former president will do and i can report he and kevin mccarthy spoke at least twice yesterday and the readout from that reported by others is president trump is ok with what he heard. somehow kevin mccarthy was able to convince them he is still on board with him. we don't know if kevin mccarthy ever ask him to resign or if you just told that to republican leadership there. kevin mccarthy is also the top fundraiser ever in the house republican ranks.heaimo than $3n just in the last three months. that helps them politically. i want to talk about what this reveals and what it means on a more pervasive level. it shows what was goinon

behind the scenes. kevin mccarthy on january 13 went to the house floor and said president trump was responsible. just a couple weeks later, he went to mar-a-lago to talk to president trump. there was this moment where republican leaders were wondering and talking about maybe pushing president trump out of leadership for good and it passed. this is what we are learning from this. this also tells us something about republicans and the fact that president trump really is still driving the train and deciding the future of even potential speakers of the house like kevin mccarthy. amna: we should note, this is in the days after january 6, the conversation unfolded, and we have been seeing many more details about january 6 and different reports. those have included some texts from lawmakers, like republican senator mike lee. what can you tell us about this? lisa: they were obtained by cnn. senator lee's office have not said these are incorrect.

i want to read a couple of them. he says he was looking for rationale and evidence, but one of the texts, he wrote, i know this will end badly for the president unless we have a constitution on our side and unless states submit new trump electors. let's look at another. he wrote to the chief of staff, i've been calling state legislatures for hours today, will spend hours more, i'm trying to figure out a path i can persuasively defend even if they can't convene, it might be for enough of a majority of state legislators to sign a statement inditing how they would vote. that idea is about having separate slates of electors that might run counter to what the popular vote was in the states at the time. ultimately senator lee did not vote to object to the election and his team says he did not find evidence, he was looking for it and backed down. but this is different from what we heard in the public, and it shows something important, that

president trump, there were also others part of this idea of election fraud, looking everywhere they could even though there was no evidence . behind the scenes, the push was happening for many political reasons, and senator mike lee was walking both sides. amna: very different messages in private versus public. such an important story. lisa, thank you. in related january 6 news, facing a challenge to her candidacy for re-election, georgia republican congresswoman marjorie taylor greene took the stand today in an atlanta courtroom to say she did not participate in the insurrection. she says voters should decide whether she gets a second term, not the courts. the outcome could be felt beyond georgia, since other republican officials face similar challenges. geoff beett has our report. geoff: a crucial test for the controversial congresswoman. >> i am just asking questions. >> i am just answering.

geoff: marjorie taylor greene, the first lawmaker to testify under oath about the january 6 attack on the u.s. capitol. >> i was asking people to come for a peaceful march, which is what everyone is entitled to do under their first amendment, but i was not asking them to actively engage in violence or any type of action. geoff: denying any involvement and defending her right to be on the ballot next month's georgia primary election. >> now they are coming after me to remove my name from the ballot. geoff: the legal challenge was say greene should not be allowed to run for reelection, and they are relying on a clause to the 14th amendment, saying no person shall be a senator or representative in congress who having previously taken an oath as a member of congress shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. >> don't mess with her.

geoff: they argue greene did exactly that in the lead up to the january 6 attack by knowingly repeating the lie that the 2020 election was stolen. >> we are going to fight for president trump on january 6. geoff: in urging her supporters to fight for donald trump. they pointed to comments like this that greene made the night before the insurrection. >> this is our 1776 moment. >> encouraged and helped facilitate violent resistance to our own government, our democracy and constitution. >> we are going to send our favorite president back where he belongs, in the white house. geoff: greene remains a fierce defender of the former president. >> i rise to support the objection. geoff: and even though she objected to the vote certification in congress on january 6 -- >> what is happening to these people being held in custody is wrong. geoff: and later criticized the conditions of the d.c. jail what where several rioters were being

held, she said the people that broke into the capital are solely to blame. >> breaking the law is unlawful. there has been over 700 people charged. >> we will fight even harder because this nation is worth saving. geoff: a similar challenge to north carolina republican madison cawthorn was blocked by a judge last month, but in a 73 page ruling earlier this month, a different judge in georgia cleared the way for today's hearing. with greene on the stand today, the clock is ticking for a ruling. >> it is highly unlikely she will be removed from the ballot. geoff: amy is a professor of political science at georgia state university. she says greene is likely to prevail. >> this is an administrative law judge hearing the evidence and will make a determination and recommendation to the secretary of state, who is also facing his own reelection and a very strong

primary challenge, and to be perfectly blunt, needs many of the same voters who would potentlly be voting for representative greene in her election to also support him so he can continue to be secretary of state. geoff: election officials in georgia can begin mailing absentee ballots on monday. for the pbs newshour, i'm geoff bennett. ♪ amna: and speaking of our political and cultural divides, a clash that erupted at the state level this week went viral and captured some of the national debate around these issues. john yang has the details. john: amna, this all began late last week when michigan state senator lana theis, a republican, delivered an opening invocation that said children are under attack. three democrats walked out of the chamber, including senator

mallory mcmorrow. on monday, theis sent out a fundraising email that included the unfounded allegation that mcmorrow wants to “groom and sexualize kindergarteners." theis also attacked her for what theis called race-based education. the next day, mcmorrow took to the senate floor to fire back. >> so who am i? i am a straight, white, christian, married, suburban mom who knows that the very notion that learning about slavery or redlining or systemic racism somehow means that children are being taught to feel bad or hate themselves because they are white is absolutno.e seen i want every child in this state to feel seen, heard, and supported, not marginalized and targeted if they are not straight, white, and christian. john: videos of the speech were posted on social media and have gotten millions of views. senator mcmorrow joins me now from her home in suburban detroit. thank you for joining us. i want to break down a couple of things you said in your speech.

you said you represent what you call the biggest threat to the hollow, hateful scheme of republicans. you say the republicans are carrying out. help us understand what you mean by those phrases. sen. mcmorrow: these attacks we have seen about grooming or marginalization, they impact the lgbtq community, the black community, it is really targeting marginalized people. what i meanthen i said i am the biggest threat is i am not a member of a marginalized community. i am a straight, white, married christian suburban mom. if more people like me who are not in a minority group or under attack stand up and call it out as hateful, hollow nonsense, we take away its power. john: talk a little bit about how you decided to respond and how you decided to respond in this way.

sen. mcmorrow: i sat on it for a day. i read about the fundraising email in the morning and took the day to put my thoughts together. initially, i was disgusted and you want to hit back in the moment, but i thought about if i felt as horrible as i did on monday, how much worse it must feel every single day if you are the parent of a trans child, if you are a member of the gay community who gets called a pedophile or groomer every single day, and i realized that we have to do a lot more. john: why do you think the republicans are doing this sort of thing in general and why do you think they're singling you out? sen. mcmorrow: [sighs] it's pulling this language from

qanon conspiracies. it started in the darkest corners of the internet. this idea that the government is run by a satanist cabal of pedophiles, and we saw what happens when a gunman opened fire at a pizza parlor in d.c., believing that there were pedophiles there trapping children in the basement based on this lie. but now this conspiracy is being pulled out in the open and it is being used by one of our country's two major political parties as the official policy, the official attack, and we have to stop it. why me specifically is yes, i'm one of the people who walked out of this speech. but also i'm not particularly shy about expressing my opinions about these things. i host a live stream every week and i talked about why i walked out of the invocation. so i think it was a signal to anybody like me who dares to stand up with the marginalized community that we're going to paint you was one of them. you're no longer one of us.

you are one of them. you are, you know, something dark and dirty and evil, and we have to take our identities back. john: you talked about the incident here in washington, d.c. where someone did show up with a rifle at a place where conspiracy theorists had these unfounded allegations that there was a child trafficking ring going on in a pizza restaurant in washington. are you concerned at being singled out in this way? are you concerned about about your safety? sen. mcmorrow: you have to be. and i think that that was one of the most hurtful things about the email that went out about me is clearly there was no thought from senator theis as to what the consequences might be. that was really scary for for my friends and my family. but again, i am generally ok. doing well. my family is happy and healthy. we have resources that i know a lot of others don't. and there's a sense of privilege

to be able to use my position for people who are regularly under attack who don't have the protections that i do who are in real danger. if people like me don't take a littleit of that risk and take the hit and try to push back. john: since you have gotten a lot of attention for your pushback, senator theis tweeted, "while senator mcmorrow is on msnbc preaching to her choir, i'll keep my focus on michigan parents who democrats are seeking to undermine as the primary decision makers in the education of their children." what do you say to that? sen. mcmorrow: it's just sad. it's sad and pathetic that she's doubling down when other parents -- i am a parent saying that you do not speak for all parents and i know that there are thousands if not millions just like me who don't want our kids to grow up in a place that is hateful and malicious towards anybody who is different. john: michigan state senator

mallory mcmorrow, thank you very much. sen. mcmorrow: thank you. ♪ amna: from culture clashes in florida between the republican party and disney, to revelations in washington about acons of lawmakers around january 6, it has been a busy week in politics across the country. to navigate all this, we turn to the analysis of brooks and capehart. that's new york times columnist david brooks and jonathan capehart, columnist for the washington post. welcome to you both. i want to pick up where the michigan state senator left off, and jonathan, first question to you. i wanted to get your reaction to the accusations she faced and the way she responded, because is not something we see often. jonathan: i'm going to ignore the accusation because it is a lie and it is a lie that far right republicans have been hurling at democrats to cow

them. what i loved about the response was how forceful it was, that she refused to cede moral ground to people seeking to attack her. i loved it. i'm glad you played that clip of her saying i am a straight, white, christian, married suburban mom. and i loved what she said when she said we have to take our identities back. for far too long, people on the left, elected democrats, like i said before, have cowed in the face of these attacks instead of standing up with their spines and on their own two feet and in their values and morals and saying do not speak for me, do not -- i am a christian, don't tell me i am not, i am a mom, don't tell me i am not, don't tell me i don't care about my children or other children. i want more like her out there. she is not the only one.

last week, a michigan state representative, mackie went , at a colleague who proposed anti-lgbt legislation and said to him directly, it is because of people like you that friends of mine decided to leave the state because they no longer feel safe. if we had more people like that who are willing to be the voice of lgbtq people, african-americans, asian americans, anyone who is not the straight, white, cisgender, usually male person attacking them, we could move this country out of this horrible conversation we are having now. amna: we talk about this under this broad umbrella, we call it culture wars, and it captures a lot of different issues, including the ones jonathan just talked about and the state senator talked about. david, she is not wrong, a lot of those ideas are qanon, dangerous conspiracy related, we

used to call it fringe -- is it still fringe? david: i would not say it is fringe anymore. there are tens of millions of people somewhat affiliated with qanon. there are two things happening. there are the crazies, pizza gate and grooming and that stuff, we cannot say it is fringe but i can sayt is lunatic. it is not only lunatic, it is cruel. it is barbaric. i found her very compelling as she was responding. then there is the culture -- i am not going to call it a culture war. a cultural difference. if you look at the world values survey that surveys values around the world, what you find is people in english-speaking countries, our values are shifting and the rest of the wod's values are very different. the same thing is happening in this country. some of the values where people are urban educated, shifting, and a lot of the country is not

shifting. we are seeing widening chasms on values on a whole range of issues. when to teach sexuality to schoolkids. somehow we have to have that fight without it being dominated by the crazies, and frankly without it being dominated by the gotcha screaming moments we've seen at school boards. we need to have a discussion about this stuff. right now it is being submerged because it's hyper politicized. when you turn difficult issues into partisan politics, you have destroyed it. amna: when this is unfolding in a political arena and even to the national level, you have members of congress who say similar things and it is not immediately rebuked by leadership, doesn't that perpetuate it? david: they won't rebuke it because it is popular. donald trump was not a policy president. he was a culture war president. it was continual soap operas where he would identify an

identity issue and he would "own the libs." it's about our identity has to trump their identity. it is not about tax issues. it is -- we are in a doom spiral of values fought as political soap opera. amna: there is ongoing dehumanizing of political opponents, and experts say can lead to more violence. that is part of the argument behind the examition of marjorie taylor greene's role, whether what she said led to the violence on january 6. you were watching. i saw you tweeting as you watched her in the courtroom today. clearly it's not going to have an impact, experts don't think she will be taken off the ballot. what was that about and what did you learn? jonathan: one, i'm glad someone is trying to hold her accountable. if kevin mccarthy isn't going to do it, hold her accountable the way he held liz cheney accountable, by stripping her of her leadership post, someone

needs to. i found her demeanor on the stand to be insulting, as if she knew she was going to get away with saying i don't recall, even after being shown video of her saying the words, she said she could not recall. she might not be taken off the ballot, but again, at least someone is trying to hold her accountable. no one in elected leadership seems to care. amna: will accountability happen? david: no, i've never interviewed her but i know people who know her and they say she knows what she's doing. she's a sophisticated soap opera player, playing the game of getting on tv, which generates money for her. attacking generates money for her opponents. this is not legislative politics the way it used to be practiced where you run for office to do something, this is you run for office to manipulate attention and she is a master at it. jonathan: manipulate attention, and i completely get that, but at some point, someone will have to recognize that the rhetoric of marjorie taylor greene and

theis and these other republicans who are using lgbtq kids and african-americans as props in their play, they have consequences. were talking when mcmorrow and mackie speak and others speak against the stuff, they are fighting for the dignity of real people. it's not just a moral play or political theater, people's lives are at stake. people's lives are being played with by people who don't have those worries, who aren't marginalized and don't have to worry about their safety simply because of the way they look or the way they identify. that is the problem i have with what is happening right now, and to know that marjorie taylor greene actually is a sophisticated and knows exactly what she is doing makes it even more insulting. she is playing with all of our lives.

amna: we have seen leader mccarthy face a number of questions about why he hasn't done more. in the past she attended a white nationalist conference. we don't really see consequences. i want to ask you about the audiotape. she was on the stand and that was being played out across the networks. what did you make of that? david: you can predict kevin mccarthy's position based on where the wind is blowing that half-hour. there was a long period where he was pro-trump and there was a little window where trump seemed, maybe things were shifting and kevin mccarthy zoomed over, then the winds shifted back a kevin mccarthy shifted back. you see the rrosive effect of trumpism, only the current moment matters, and second, the corrosive effect of so many republicans in congress saying one thing in public and believing another in private. when you do that long enough, you erode any sense of conscious of who you are and you wind up with kevin mccarthy. amna: i need to ask you abt

president biden, there was a lot of attention this week. we have hashed over the numbers, the dips in approval ratings, and this week in particular, we saw it come to a head the conflicting crises in a lot of ways they are facing. pandemic weariness, trying to maintain authority for the cdc, they want to keep russia from winning ukraine but they have to keep gas prices down. when you look at that, are they doing everything they can? jonathan: i think they are doing everything they can. they could do a little more in one area or another. the problem for the president is the message can't break through. perry bacon has a great column in the washington post, we are at this point that no matter who the president is, half the country will hate him or her. the other thing is the right wing echo chamber is so strong that no matter what the president does, they will not

report on it, or they will spin it in a way that makes him look as horrible as possible. i think what the white house has been doing, and i am the nerd who pays attention to the white house press releases that says who is going where -- amna: that's why we love you. jonathan: the president and vice president have been getting out more, but unbeknownst to most people, the first lady and second gentleman have been traveling the country for months. they are not just going to safe blue havens, they've been going to mississippi and wyoming, to red states to talk about the frastructure law or the american rescue plan. when you do that, when principles like that do that, they get local media coverage. what the white house does is reprog washington and going directly to the people. whether that will work, we won't know until the midterms.

amna: white house official said the other day there is enough time, if they get out and show they are doing the work, it will work. david: i don't know, but i give them credit. what was historic this week, ukraine. what happens in the war in ukraine maybe this month will determine a lot of how our kids live and what kind of world they inherit. china has a security deal with the solomon islands. big things are happening. and somehow the political world is marjorie taylor greene. i give the biden administration credit for sticking to what matters. once again, a big new arms gift to ukraine, they are very focused on china and climate change. it may not work because we are in a social media media circus, but i give them credit, even on the masks issue. i think biden's instincts are right and masks should be an individual issue. masks are no longer effective in

preventing the disease, vaccines are effective. i think they focused on the big things, but in a post-trump era, i don't know. they don't get a lot of credit for it. amna: we could use more time to talk about all these things as well. always good to see you both. thank you. ♪ on this earth day, we turn to a writer looking at nature at risk, rhythms of southern life and much more, through the art of the essay. jeffrey brown has the story from nashville for our arts and culture series, canvas. >> these little blue flowers, it is just a four petaled flower. jeffrey: for margaret renkl, loving nature doesn't require trips to exotic locales. a walk in her local park outside nashville will do very well. she calls herself a backyard

naturalist. what does that mean? >> paying attention to the world that you live in. nature will, at the risk of sounding like jurassic park, it will find a way. if we give it half a chance. jeffery: paying attention and writing it down in the form of one short essay at a time. many are collected in the recent book “graceland, at last: notes on hope and heartache from the american south." it was honored with the 2022 pen america award for the art of the essay. >> i want to make other people fall in love with what i love. we don't work to preserve what we don't care about. we work to preserve what we're in love with. jeffery: her first book, “late migrations: a natural history of love and loss,” is a love letter to her family and to the natural world that has always captivated

her, from early childhood in rural alabama, grade school years in birmingham, college at auburn and grad school at the university of south carolina, where she met her husband, to their life together in nashville today. she always wanted to write, first poetry. but a life writing essays? that seemed impossible. >> when i was a younger writer, i wrote an essay about my then two-year-old and how boring it was to have to play the same games over and over again. it was called “zen and the art of motherhood" and it was just sort of making peace with the moment and not the to-do list or the plans. and i got this call from an agent and she said, have you ever thought about writing a book? and i said, a book of essays? and she said no, nobody reads essays. [laughter] i had to wait for the world to turn a little bit. jeffery: now, people do read essays. and hers have gained a large weekly following in the new york

times. her subjects, described as “flora, fauna, politics and culture in the american south.” “dolly parton just did the most punk rock thing you could imagine." “i just turned 60, but i still feel 22.” “the boring bill in tennessee that everyone should be tfee rso nashe in a red state. >> people asked me don't i ever , worry about running out of ideas. how could i ever run out of ideas? jeffery: she talks a lot about stereotypes of the south. >> i want just to focus on my homeland. it is not this beleaguered place people flee. jeffery: what are the stereotypes that bother you? >> there are so many. the belief that racism is exclusive to the south is probably chief among them. it's like, have you been in any place besides the south? more to the point, have you been here? you know, there's racism everywhere.

this is an incredibly diverse region but all you ever hear about is what's happening in the red state legislatures. it is quite enraging. jeffery: but her biggest subject, her constant concern now -- climate change and its consequences near and far. most of us, she says, don't notice the impact of environmental change, including our reliance on chemicals to create our perfect lawns. >> even within the world of backyard nature, we are losing so much, so quickly. i can't imagine that people don't notice it, because -- jeffrey: the things you write about, the bees. >> the bees, the butterflies, the songbirds, the skinks, the tree frogs, the bats. we are losing them all. we're tching an apocalypse unfold in our own backyards and it's alarming and it's tragic and it's heartbreaking.

everything that i care about is going to be made worse in a heating climates. if climate change continues, we are going to lose the bread basket. it means more hungry people. if what you're worried about is racial justice, you look at where the changing climate most affects people or where the pollution is most often dumped, it's in communities of color. writing a book is an exercise in loneliness. jeffery: she spoke of her passions, and the role of fellow writers in accepting the pen america essay award. >> for preserving and enriching our shared culture, for holding back the barbarians and for standing always for truth. jeffery: many of these are personal essays. you're at the center of it. it strikes me as a strange occupation, you know, to write

about yourself, almost with an assumption that the rest of us care. >> and plenty of people just do not. [laughter] and they want to let me know for sure they don't care. but i think that this is part of human nature. we want to see ourselves in others. we are an empathetic species. we are convinced when we are moved, much more often than we are convinced when we are informed. that's my hope, anyway. jeffery: margaret renkl is now working on a new book of essays, that take her and us through the natural cycles of a backyard year. for the pbs newshour,'m jeffrey brown in nashville. ♪ amna: and on the newshour online, mobile home parks are seeing grong interest from investors who can drive up

rental costs for residents. read how one community in fresno, california is unionizing to prevent a similar scenario, right now at pbs.org/newshour. coming up on washington week, moderator yamiche alcindor and her panel delve deeper into russia's war in ukraine and the upcoming midterm elections. that's tonight on pbs. tomorrow on pbs news weekend, how sea level rise threatens farmers on virginia's sinking eastern shore. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. join us online and againere on monday evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe and have a great weekend. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪

>> moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. ♪ >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at hewlett.org. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems. skoll foundation. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions -- ♪ and friends of the newshour. ♪

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] >> this is the pbs newshour from weta studios in washington, and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university.

tonight on news room, we focus on the state of our climate in recognition of earth day. people talk with the head of california's environment protection agency, jared blumenfeld, about how the state is addressing our most urgent problems. and, why are we so often teetering on the edge of drought? our climate reporters explain where our water comes from and how it is used. plus, we go to sonoma county to meet carissa cruz, who leads the region's sustainable vineyards effort, where wine, both red and white, is going green. coming to you from kqed