judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight. ukraine braces as russia widens its attacks to t east, and the united states announces american diplomats will return to kyiv. then. elon musk buys twitter for $44 billion. what this means for the social media giant and free sech. and. the future of france -- prident emmanuel macron wins re-election but his challenger demonstrates the rising popularity of the french far right. >> i fear tonight that the fiveear mandate that starts will not break the disdainful and brutal practices of the previous leadership, and that emmanuel macron will not do anything to repair the fractures that divide our country and make our fellow citizens suffer. judy: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

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thank you. judy: there are two major stories we are following tonight. elon musk's takeover of twitter, which we will get to in a moment. but first in ukraine. russian forces struck targets across the country with missiles, while moscow's main focus remained on the donbas region of eastern ukraine. ukrainian troops there are defending a wide battlefront. a day after the american secretaries of state and defense met with ukraine's president in kyiv, the u.s. said it would speed weaponry to ukraine. special correspondent villem marx reports. >> across ukraine, its people are digging deep. this however not a grave, but a defensive trench. zaporizhzhia is the last major city in the country's southeast that remains under full ukrainian control. that means these machines and these men must prepare for a potential russian advance. >> it is necessary to make fortifications because the enemy

is insidious. we do not know what the enemy will do next so we must prepare the city for defense. >> further west, excavation of a different kind with workers in odessa clearing rubble after a weekend of rockets. ukraine's interior minister said russian forces fired at least saturday -- one struck a residential address. a day later, america's top diplomat and defense secretary met ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy in the capital kyiv. the strongest show of in-person support since this conflict kicked off, promising more military aid. afterwards at a warehouse inside poland, secretary of state antony blinken said the conflict continues to confound the kremlin. >> in terms of russia's war aims, russia has already failed and ukraine has already succeeded. >> defense secretary lloyd austin suggested a newly aggressive stance. >> we want to see russia weakened to the degree that it can't do the kinds of things that it has done in invading ukraine.

>> the latest u.s. support will include $322 million of military financing for ukraine, a further $165 million in ammunition and $391 million for more than a dozen other allies. u.s. diplomats will soon return to the country, to be led by a new ambassador, bridget brink -- the first appointed to ukraine since 2019. in the eastern donbas region, british intelligence says russia has made minor gains since shifting its focus there while in mariupol, moscow's forces still fail to seize control of the azovstal steel plant, with its 2,000 ukrainian defenders. from the civilians trapped there, another desperate plea. >> on behalf of all the residents of mariupol, i appeal to the world. please help us. we want to live. we are tired of these bombardments, these constant airstrikes on our land. how long will this last? >> the besieged plant now a

prison and without swift intervention, potentially a tomb. one woman showed where they sleep, children without fresh diapers, walls covered in mold. once more today russians reassured that a route out from the facility would be safe. once again ukrainians refused to trust moscow's guarantees. above ground, putinâ™s forces focused on safe passage for their own troops. and elsewhere, no respite from russian strikes. overnight, missiles hit nearly 60 targets that support ukraine's war effort, including 5 railway sites. in the west, in lviv, this train station torched. meanwhile in russia, a much larger fire burned for hours at an oil depot in bryansk, near the border with ukraine. no word yet what caused the conflagration, but last week russian officials said kyiv's forces attacked the same region. here in the city of dnipro, some

six hours southeast of the capital, in the country's industrial heartland, homes and shelters are fast filling up with refugees who have fled here from the fighting further east. and judy, we've seen firsthd how the healthcare system -- hospitals included -- is under heavy strain from the high number of incoming casualties -- civilians and soldiers alike. judy: thank you. and, a note -- the newshour's coverage of the war in ukraine is supported in partnership with the pulitzer center. the first country to provide ukraine with soviet-era tanks was the czech republic. it's also provided artillery and infantry fighting vehicles. due to their historical ties to the soviet union, both countries field similar weapons systems, allowing the ukrainians to use czech armaments effectively, and with little training. for more on his nation's aid to ukraine, i'm joined by jan lipavasky, the czech republic's minister of foreign affairs.

minister, thank you very much for joining us. at this point, do you believe your country is doing all it can to support ukraine? >> hello. we are doing as much as we can. we are doing it for all of europe, ukraine, and the world order. judy: i want to ask you about at because today word came from u.s. officials, that a number of the tanks have created problems, they have not been in the condition they should have been in. is your untry doing all it could be doing to make sure all the material is igood working order? >> it depends on what is in the stockpiles. if there is a will, there is a

way. we are also lping with repairing works. i hope this will be done soon. judy: so, you are confirming thei have been some issues with the tanks, is that right? >> no, no, no. i'm just saying we are using the old weapons, so there may be issues, but i don't want to be specific or any of that. judy: more broadly speaking, is it your sense that all of nato is doing for ukraine what it could be doing? >> i will only be speaking about specific states, which are major contributors on these activities could -- there are other states li france are also providing weapons.

so, there always can be more done, but we also need to be thinking that this has to be done in a sustainable way. it is not an outburst of activities so we need to do it in a sustainable way. judy: i want to ask you about what we just heard in the report and that is the comments much earlier today from the u.s. defense secretary, lloyd austin, when he said he wants to make sure that the russians would not be able to do the kinds of things that it has done in the invasion. the u.s. is saying they don't want pressure to be able to do another invasion. is that realistic? does the west have the ability to stop the russians from doing that? >> yes, yes, we have to stop russia now. putin has a mind of an imperialistic russia.

if he is not stopped now and ukraine, he would continue with other countries, maybe with the baltics, maybe with moldova. we have to stop russia with this aggression now, therefore it is necessary to put sanctions on russia and help ukraine with military and humanitarian aid. judy: you are saying it is realistic given the level of assistance that nato, that the west is giving ukraine right now, that you believe it can hold off russia. do you believe ukraine can prevail? >> definitely yes and i believe ukraine will win this war. judy: what gives you that confidence? >> i understand and i see the will of ukraine for freedom, open society, for democracy, for the values of freedom of speech. zelenskyy was democratically elected, putin not -- that is the difference. judy: and yet we see the russians are firing souls acrosh

e htihe wt krai e w. trukracoian what is to stop them continuing to wage this kind of war? >> the sanctions will stop the flow of money and technologies, so russia sooner or later won't be able to produce any of those modern rockets and with the rest -- west provide ukraine with the good antiaircraft smsys, they you mentioned the sanctions. of course, the czech republic is a member of e european union. but the eu has failed so far to agree on stopping purchasing oil and gas from russia. can russia be stopped as long as that kind of is this, that kind of trade continues with russia and the rest of europe? >> this is part of the problem.

i'm sure the eu sooner or later will be able to solve this issue . we are now in the process of making the sixth package of sanctions, which will be announced pretty soon, but it is hard to predict. europe is partially dependent on russian gas. to cut off from the supplies, we need to do some measures, some intermittent solutions, so it is not so easy. we are working on it quite effectively. judy: is germany the main holdup? >> we need to find different sources, we need to find ways how to cut demand in some areas. that is something which takes time, but there is a will to cut off this russian gas. judy: all right, we are going to leave it there. the foreign minister, thank you very much. >> thank you, goodbye.

judy: now to our other lead story -- business entrepreneur elon musk and twitter announced a $44 billion deal today for musk to buy the company and take it over. the deal reportedly is the largest to take a public company private in at least two decades. it's also led to major concerns about how musk, who is one of the world's richest men, will handle questions of extremist content and free speech. as stephanie sy tells us, musk says he has plans to change twitter's approach and how it operates >> when elon musk first made his bed about two weeks ago, many were not sure how seriously to treat his offer, but after a surprising weekend of

negotiations, twitter's board accepted the offer today. musk has made it clear repeatedly he does not agree with all of twitter's previous bans on users for posting content that might be considered hateful or, used to incite violence. in announcing the deal, musk wrote today -- free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated. for a look at some important questions, i'm joined by the washington post silicon valley correspondent elizabeth dwoskin. thank you for joining the newshour. elon musk has put a good chunk of his net worth into this bid for twitter, but he has made it pretty clear this was never about business, so what is it about? >> he said it is not about money, repeatedly. i think you have to take them at his word that in the last year has become fairly obsessed with talking about ideas about free speech and the digital town square and the power of platforms like twitter and he wants to control that.

i will also put in that he is probably the savviest marketer in the world and his own personal marketing mechanism is his own 80 million plus twitter following presence on line. >> but ownership is not the same thing as control, as you know. another free-speech issue, today he tweeted, i hope that even my worst critics remain on twitter because that is what free-speech means. is it fair to assume that he is going to try to shedtrais on lah witt? a i mean, he said that, he said basically twitter, social platforms he thinks should follow the letter of the law on free speech in the u.s., which is the first amendment, which basically allowed she latitude for free-speech, short of direct calls for violence. he has said that and i just got

off listening in on a town hall on twitter within twitter's employees that are talking about it literally right now it itter. with the employees themselves are extremely worried, that he is goingo strip the company of the safeguards and protections against misinformation and hate speech that the company has worked to build over the last five or so years. people who work there are really worrd about that and summer tweeting crying emojis right now. >> he is not only going to have to be accountable to his employees, now that he is the owner of twitter, won't he als have to go through the same tight wire act of not losing users and advertisers? isn't that to some degree accountability? >> i think so. one of the questions asked at the town hall was it names like -- it seems like there might not be a board of directors when he takes the company private.

people were asking what kind of accountability will there be on elon musk if he wants to reinstate trump's account or allow images of isis beheadings? there have been terrible things online that tech companies have worked really hard to get rid of. there has been some reporting today that advertisers themselves, if you are a big advertiser of toothpaste, do you want your ads or pepsi, do you want your ad showing up next to a child being raped or an isis beheading? these are horrible things that these companies work hard to get rid of and have rules about. yes, they make tons of mistakes, but stripping them of the rules would be hard for advertisers, but musk has expressed a lot of skepticism of the advertising business model and there is no clear answer about whether he would keep that on twitter once it goes private. >> twitter under jack dorsey

made the decision to ban president trump after the january 6 capitol assault on others like marjorie taylor greene have since been banned for spreading false information. mr. trump said he is not planning to go back on twitter, but has musk indicated he will restore accounts of people who have been deplatformed, is what they say in the twitterverse? >> he has said that the deplatforming had gone too far, even after january 6. i thought that was interesting at the time. here is a moment in american society when the whole tech industry is saying we are going to blanket ban not just trump but many of his followers as well that were promoting the insurrection. elon musk is going the other way, saying tech companies are going to regret some of the decisions they made around content moderation, so that is one of the things that give

twitter employees pause and a lot of observers pause about what he might do. he has not said he will restore trump, but people are reading the tea leaves and that question was not answered in today's town hall. >> twitter has struggled with issues like trolls and bots and bad actors in and manipulating the platform. one thing elon musk said he will do to build trust is authenticate all humans. i think only something elon musk would say, but are you hearing any positive reaction to his ability to potentially solve some of twitter's real problems with his design acumen? >> overall, the response i have heard is negative, but i say the caveat is i don't have a crystal ball into every twitter employee upon mind. i may be hearing from the people who are more upset, so i've got

to hold that as a possibility. i do think some people, elon musk is seen for all of his wildness and firebrand ways, he is a visionary leader and really and and lots of people in the tech world think of him that way. that is kind of what twitter has tried to emphasize. here is a person who can bring a lot of value to twitter. the ceo said we think of twitter as this place, this platform that has this unrealized potential because it is used by power influencers, but it has never gained the widespread social acceptance of a tiktok or a facebook or youtube, the widespread use, the level of users or profit. i think he was saying exactly that to employees, like liquid elon musk could potentially bring. i don't know people will be reassured by that. i think they also have a lot to lose. >> elizabeth, thank you.

>> thanks for having me. stephanie: in the day's other news -- the top republican in the u.s. house of representatives -- kevin mccarthy -- again denied asking president trump to resign over the january 6th attack on the u.s. capitol. the house minority leader toured part of the texas border today. then, he made his first on-camera comments about statements reported in a new book. >> the reporter came to me the night before he released the book and my understanding was he was saying, did i ask president trump to resign. no, i never did. and that's what i was answering. if you're asking now, did i tell my members that we're going to ask, ask them if i told them that i said to president trump. and, the answer is no. stephanie: mccarthy had initially denied saying that he

would recommend mr. trump step down. but, audio of a conversation recorded shortly after january 6th, shows him saying exactly that. today, he dismissed those comments as -- quote -- a conversation about scenarios going forward. a new york state judge found former president trump in contempt of court today for failing to turn over business records to state investigators. the judge fined him $10,000 a day until he complies. new york's democratic attorney general letitia james says the trump organization has deliberately mis-stated its properties' worth. mr. trump says the probe is purely political. in china. in china officials announced , mass covid testing today for most of beijing's 21 million residents. it's the latest example of the government's strict zero-tolerance policy. there were long lines today at grocery stores, and panic buying of food and toilet paper. many people said they're worried about a full-scale lockdown, but trying to stay calm. >> there is definitely a certain

degree of worry because it will affect jobs and the overall efficiency. but i don't think it will develop as it has in shanghai. from my point of view, it can be controlled. stephanie: china's largest city, shanghai has been mostly locked down for more than 2 weeks. officials are now putting up metal barriers around residential buildings -- to let people come outside without leaving the premises. tribal clashes in sudan's darfur region reached the regional capital today -- killing at least 10 people in a new eruption of bloodshed. weekend fighting between arabs and non-arabs in west darfur state was the worst in 2 years -- leaving more than 175 people dead. sudan's military coup last october has destabilized the country and fed the rising violence. recent clashes between israel and the palestinians have now spread to southern lebanon. israeli tanks fired at targets north of the border today to answer rocket fire into northern israel.

lebanese villagers witnessed the exchange. >> there were two rockets launched from down. at around 2:00 a.m. or a little before that, israel responded to the area where the launch took place. there were around 10-15 shells. stephanie: a louisiana federal judge today announced his intent to temporarily block the biden administration from rescinding title 42, a pandemic restriction limiting migrant entry into the u.s. the biden administration anunced previously it would rescind the public health order on may 23. more than 20 states, including louisana and arizona, had asked the court to block the action. a state appeals court in texas has stayed a high-profile execution. melissa lucio was convicted of beating her 2-year-old daughter to death in 2007. but she claims new evidence would exonerate her, and she has won growing support. we'll examine the case, later in the program. increased humidity and calmer

winds gave firefighters a chance today against wildfires in the plains and southwest. in nebraska, crews cleared lines around a fire that's covered nearly 65 square miles and killed one person. meanwhile, two fires in northern new mexico have merged to become the largest wildfire currently burning in the u.s. together they have burned more than 85 square miles. and a passing of note -- the japanese government announced today that the world's oldest person has died. kane tanaka passed away last tuesday in a japanese hospital. earlier this month, tanaka became the second longest lived person in recorded history. kane tanaka was 119 years old. still to come on the newshour. a last-minute reprieve for a texas woman fighting execution in the death of her two-year-old daughter. the supreme court hears a coach's argument to be able to pray on the football field. amy walter and tamara keith share their insight on the upcoming primary elections and trump's influence over the gop.

and much more. >> this is the pbs newshour from w eta studios in washington and from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: france's president emmanuel macron has promised to unite his divided country after winning re-election for a second five year term yesterday. macron defeated the extreme right wing candidate marine le pen antial margin, although nearly 30% of the electorate did not vote. but le penst stiubll managed toa secure almost 42%, and as special correspondent malcolm brabant reports from paris, macron needs to address the concerns of huge numbers of disaffected voters. >> down with macron, the banner reads, the robin hood of the wealthy. relavelytimall sco may have been burit it was an illustration of just how fractured france is in

the wake of mike rounds victory. the divide stretches across the political spectrum from hard left to extreme right. >> there are a lot of figures that show that emmanuel macron does not have a very strong mandate despite his victory yesterday, but i would say though that we shouldn't miss the big picture -- the big picture is that emmanuel macron has managed to win his re-election something which nobody has done for the past twenty years. >> martin quencez, depy director of the german marshall fund think tank, believes macron's leadership style -- derided as haughty and arrogant -- will change in this second term. >> he clearly has a problem as a personal individual. there is an issue with macron as a president, and he is clearly aware of this because he wants to show the french people that his way of being a leader will be less brutal than it was in the first mandate. >> at his victory rally beneath

the eiffel tower, macron addressed those on the left who held him in such disdain they refused to support him against the extreme right. >> i also think of all our compatriots who abstained from voting. their silence signified a refusal to choose, to which we must also respond. >> macron also acknowledged that he must tackle the concerns of the 42% who voted for le pen. that means trying to reduce the cost of living and perhaps getting tougher on immigration. >> their anger and disagreements which led them to vote for this project must also find a response, and that will be my responsibility and that of those around me. >> marine le pen regarded her percentage of the vote as a victory. the extreme right has never fared so well. her concession speech was made through gritted teeth. >> i fear tonight that the five-year mandate that starts will not break the disdainful and brutal practices of the previous leadership, and that emmanuel macron will not do anything to repair the fractures that divide our country and make our fellow citizens suffer. >> while much of france was

relieved le pen was defeated, bartender wilfried sandjo who migrated from cameroon worries that her extremism will fester. >> i almost wish marine was elected because at least, that way it would have been out of the system, because it's still in france. there are lot in france who are still out there who believe in her ideas. we might as well get it out of our system so, you know weâ™re -- we are free of this -- you know what i mean, so everybody like gay people, like immigrants, i'm an immigrant, we are going to live under our hoods because she is still out there. >> in republic square, there were hopes that in his second term, macron, a former banker, can tackle rising prices. >> i'm concerned. people by and large are worried and are suffering and we hope that mr. macron will pay attention. >> i hope he's understood that it is essential that he now thinks about others, not just the rich but he also has to think about the poor.

>> there's relief in most european capitals and washington that macron was re-elected. a le pen victory would have disrupted nato and caused even greater turbulence within the european union, much to the glee of the kremlin. but emmanuel macron does have the ability to talk to vladimir putin about ukraine. although his diplomacy has not worked yet there could come , a time when that connection may pay dividends. following the retirement of germany's angela merkel, macron's re-election makes him the most senior figure in the european union. but much will depend on whether he can govern his own country over the next five years. he now has to put his words into action. for the pbs newshour, this is malcolm brabant in paris. judy: as we reported earlier

today, the texas court of criminal appeals granted a stay of execution for 52-year-old melissa lucio, who had been set to be the first hispanic woman put to death by the state in modern history. it was a big win for advocates who argued lucio was wrongly convicted, and that her case represents larger problems with the criminal justice system. i'm not a wise reports. amna: in 2017 -- in 2007, melissa lucio was struggling to provide for her twins. her two-year-old daughter mariah died. she said she fell down a steep flight of stairs at their former house. authority suspected abuse and began interrogating her after her daughter's death. >> you need to tell us what exactly happened. this is your chance to set it straight. right now it looks like capital murder and you article leaded killer. are you a cold-blooded killer? or are you a frustrated mother

who took it out on her for whatever reason? >> no. >> it's got to be one of the other. >> she denied wrongdoingver 100 times, but after five hours of aggressive questioning eventually told police, i guess i did it. that was used as a confession at her trial, along with testimony that the injuries indicated abuse. she was convicted of murder in 2008 and sentenced to death. since her conviction, many have raised questions about her confession being coerced, or trauma as a survivor of sexual and domestic abuse, and how that might have played into that confession and about the use of junk science and misleading evidence at her trial. investigators found head trauma and mariah consistent with the father was described. her adult children said she never abused them and have been pleading for clemency. a bipartisan group of more than 100 texas lawmakers asked for the executn to be stopped, along with five of her original

jurors. in the 14 years since her conviction, she has always maintained her innocence. just this afternoon, texas' court of criminal appeals granted lucio a stay -- two days before she was set to die by lethal injection. joining me now to discuss melissa lucio's case is vanessa potkin, director of special litigation at the innocence project, which is representing lucio. welcome to the newshour. i want to begin with that news this afternoon. when you heard this day had been granted, what was your reaction? >> well, that news was the best we could have expected. it would have turned her senten into a light sentence, but what this day did is put a halt on her execution, so we could go back to the trial court and the new evidence of her innocence could be litigated. no court has ever considered the new evidence, the new scientific, the new medical evidence supporting her

innocence claim. so this really opens the door to her conviction being vacated, to a new trial. we are confident that given the compelling evidence that if this case was tried today, she would be but it. >> give us a sense of what happens next. it goes back to the district court. some of the new evidence will not be considered -- will now be considered. >> the process will probably take several months. it is hard to completely anticipate -- there are some issues that need to be resolved. the district attorney's office has a conflict of interest. the judge considering the case likely has to be recused. and we need to sort out how this hearing will take place. but we will be going back to the trial court to have a hearing. court of criminal appeals directed that four of her claims be heard. her actual innocence, the state's use of false testimony at her trial, the new scientific

evidence of her innocence, and the fact that favorable evidence was withheld by the prosecution at her original trial. >> we did see a statement from melissa lucio today, she said i'm gratul the court has given me the chance to live and prove my innocence. mariah is in my heart today and always. i'm deeply grateful to everyone who has prayed for me and spoken out on my behalf. i want to ask you about how you came to be involved in this case. i wonder when you first heard about it, what specifically jumped out to you and told you something might worth your attention? >> the innocence project became involved in melissa's case just 100 days ago, so relatively recently, after her execution date was set. we had heard of melissa's case from another one of our client, who is on death row with melissa. if you think about that, there are six women on texas' death

row, two of them have credible innocence claims. we heard about her case, we started to look into it, and her case has two of the leading causes of wrongful conviction at its core. a false incriminating statement that came from coercive interrogation, one out of three people proven innocent by dna testing falsely confessed during custodial interrogation to crimes they were completely innocent of, and false and misleading scientific evidence is one of the leading causes of wrongful conviction's. about half of wrongful conviction's that are overturned with dna evidence have involved some type of faulty forensics. >> what about her own history of sexual and domestic abuse? >> it is really egregious that not only was she the victim of childhood sexual abuse and trauma and she had to endure that and she is a survivor of those experiences, but those

experiences were used against her. she was judged by paramedics and police who responded to the scene who did not think she was acting like a stereotypical mother should because she was detached, because some of the mechanisms that helped her survive her abuse kicked in and reflected her demeanor. that was used against her and it was a disadvantage in the interrogation. we now know that trauma and a history of abuse is a vulnerability for false confession when these type of coercive interrogation techniques are used. >> you becamenvolved quite recently, but in the minute we have left, it has been 14 years since her conviction, why did it take so long for so many of these details to come out and get the attention they are getting? >> unfortunately, this is the way our justice system works. once you are convicted, it is extraordinarily difficult to overturn a wrongful conviction.

a lot of times there is triaging going on. you are trying to stop in execution and the evidence of her innocent, some of it has been there all along. some of it could have been presented if her defense attorneys had just reached out to the right medical expert, but they did not do it. we were two days away from sending a woman to an execution based on a crime that never even occurred. >> that is the director special litigation at the innocence project speaking with us tonight. thank you for your time. >> thank you for telling melissa's story. judy: today, the supreme court once again tackled a question that's lingered since our country's founding -- where exactly to draw the line between church and state. correspondent john yang breaks down the arguments in this case as they played out on the

football field and before the nation's highest court. >> joe kennedy was a football coach for eight years at a high school, would put him in the spotlight was what he did after the final whistle. >> just a really brief, silent prayer by myself at the 50 yard line, thanking god for what the kids just did on the field and me being part of it. >> school administrators said they were unaware of this postgame ritual for years, even as some of his own players and opposing teams joined him, voluntarily, he says. in 2015, a coach from an opposing team praised the school district for allowing him to pray so publicly. >> it became this big giant mess that we are in today. >> school administrators decided he was out of bounds, worried that a coach publicly praying in this way could be seen as the school endorsing religion.

the two sides tried to find a compromise, but kennedy, backed by a national religious liberties group, eventually resumed his midfield postgame prayer. the school suspended him with pay and he did not seek to renew his year-to-year contract. >> i'm a high school football coach, i don't know anything about the law. i defended the constitution. i'm not an expert on it. but i knew my rights as an american. >> in addition to religious liberty groups, he is backed by high-profile christian pro athletes like kirk cousins and nick foles. the tight knit community that sits across the puget sound from seattle is divided by the case. >> what he wanted was to do his prayer on the field, to grandstand his prayer under the stadium lights. it was to bring attention to himself and his christian prayer in a facility that is paid for by the taxpayers during a school sponsored event. >> at the time, jennifer

chamberlain who is now one of the city council went to games as a band mom. nnedy's prayers brought back memories of feeling ostracized when she spoke out against pregame prayers at her own tennessee high school. decades later, she is speaking out again. >> i was gravely concerned about students, whether on the football team or students athe high school, who do not identify as christian being harassed becaus of my previous experience and not having any adult support. >> today's oral arguments, justice is pressed both sides on where to draw the line between school. official and private citizen conservative justice brett kavanaugh string attorney richard caskey of americans united for separation of church and state. how far does that go? if the coach does a sign of the cross before the game? could a school fire the coach for the sign of the cross before the game? >> if the coaches doing it while

not making himself the center of attention at the center of the field, it is perfectly fine. >> i don't know how we could write an opinion based on not making yourself a center of attention is the head coach of the game. >> liberal justice elena kagan seemed skeptical of arguments from kennedy's attorney. >> there is overt discrimination on the basis of religion as is evidenced in the record by school districts who are not people, it is just they are doing it t of misguided endorsement concerns. >> must be countless times when a coach in the postgame talk or a teacher in math class, where people would totally believe them if they said i'm doing this is just me. now that seems to me to be coercive of 16-year-olds regardless of if they know that it is him and not the school district. >> this case involved a lot of hypotheticals. >> marcia coyle is the chief

washington correspondent for the national law journal. >> there is a serious dispute over the facts in this case, over what exactly the coach was doing while he was at the 50 yard line, how private, personal the prayer was. and where do you draw the line as to how much religion may be o much? in terms of the school district possibility -- school district's ability to manage at schools works, its athletic games, and yet still be respectful of an individual's right to express his or her religion. so there was a lot here for the justices to mull over and a lot of different ways i think they can go to reach whatever results they want to reach. my sense was that the conservative majority was leaning more in favor of the coach, this is still a court

that is very protective of religious right. >> justices are eected to decide this case and three others that deal with religious liberty by early summer. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang. judy: as midterm election season kicks into high gear, gop candidates have increasingly tied their fates to the lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. while in washington, more communications sent by republican officials on and around january 6 are coming to light. it's a good time to check in with our politics monday team. that's amy walter of the cook politil report with amy walter and tamara keith, of npr. perry good to see both of you on this monday evening.

politics monday. amy, if we needed any more proof that president trump looms large in this year's midterm elections, we saw it in last night's georgia first republican primary debate. gubernatorial candidates david perdue and brian kemp. perdue began the debate by saying that the election was rigged, that president trump actually won reelection, and then it became a theme through much of the rest of the debate. >> he said it was a clean election. >> i didn't ever say that. i have never said that. ever. >> do not deny saying it was a clean election? >> i never said it was a clean election. you are putting words in my mouth. >> the difference between you and me is the fact that you think that jon ossoff and biden won fair and square. you are telling the people of georgia that that is what the truth is and you want us to

swallow that and move on. >> let me remind you i can speak for myself and that is not what i said. i have always said there is fraud in every election. judy: you now have both of these candidates talking about fraud. what does it say about where republicans are right now? >> only one of them has been a borst -- endorsed by donald trump, david perdue, who lost his bid in the runoff election in january this year. many republicans would like to move on from the 2020 election, donald trump does not want to move on, he wants to keep relitigating it. he is making sure that those who did not support him in either overturning the election or not certifying the election will suffer the consequences. however, voters at least what we are seeing in polling in the state of georgia, are not interested in relitigating it either. they agree with david perdue that the election was

fraudulent, that donald trump really won the election, they like donald trump a lot, but they ao like the governor. accusations about that david perdue is making that the governor did not stand up enough to protect the election kind of fall flat when it is, as brian kemp noted often in this debate, that the reason that democrats had the majority in the senate right now is because david perdue lost that race. a good reason why he lost that race as did the other republicans in the runoff that election is because then president trump went around during the runoff saying how terrible the election was and howell was stolen and a whole bunch of republicans did not show up to vote. judy: if it is an argument that did not work in 2020, why do republicans think it is going to work this time? >> they are right now in the primary. in the primary, how all that

matters is how close can you hug donald j. trump? candidates up and down the ballot in states, but especially states like georgia and pennsylvania, states where the former has not given up, like a dog with a bone, on relitigating that election -- he put o a statement today supporting an effort to try to overturn the election in wisconsin i think and said any real republican needs to support that effort. it is 2022! he is still doing that. and showing that you can at least nod to fraud or say that you have concerns with the election or somehow if you aren't going to a fullbore and say it was completely fraudulent and rig, if you are a republican, you have to at least acknowledge before you can talk about anything else. it is a litmus test in the republican primary to say that you are cool with trump. >> the governor signed into law

earlr this last year voting legislation that would do things like restricting the number of drop boxes and there is tighter voter id on absentee ballots, things like that. obviously, it had an impact in terms of actions, reactions from the governor, and he most recently signed legislation about having a handgun and you don't need a permit to do so. getting on the right side of conservatives by doing those things and it makes the argument that he has not done enough to protect trump it is harder to make that sell. judy: clearly this is not the only state where those arguments are taking place. let's turn to something else. president is very much present in the stories that have come out of the last few days, the house republican leader kevin mccarthy, he is on a recording,

he plans to tell president trump innings to resign. we played some of what he said earlier in the program, he is denying that, saying it is just whatever, not anything i said, but now you see we are seeing more reporting todaycnn had this, texts from house members who on the day of january 6 were saying to mark meadows, the chief of staff, please tell the president -- from marjorie taylor greene -- please tell the president to calm people, this is not the way to solve things. the president needs to stop this asap. it is really bad appear on the hill. they have breached the capital. this does not help our cause. they are on the record, this is material turned over to the committee, but where is it going? everyone of these members is saying it wasn't something that

they really meant. >> in some ways, it all makes sense in that these were text messages that were sent when they were under attack, they were literally under attack, people died that day. their place of employment and people charging into it looking for members of congress and shouting about hanging. it was utterly frightening, they were evacuated, and they were texting because they thought the president could do something to tell his supporters to go home. it took him hours and hours to do it and he did a mediocre job of telling them to go home at best. but very quickly, republicans started shifting away from that. within hours. marjorie taylor greene said, we think it was antifa, it was a false flag. immediately before the dust settled, before the glass was cleaned up, republicans were and allies of the president were shifting, trying to find ways to explain this away.

kevin mccarthy publicly gave a speech on the floor of the house very critical of the former president and then within weeks of trump leaving office, he was do at mar-a-lago kissing his ring, going to get trump's support fothe midterms because in these days of partisan politics, winning is everything and the calculus was that trump remained a huge force in the party. judy: is this like cotton candy, it just kind of disappears if you look at it long enough? [laughter] >> for those republicans, it does. we were talking to plenty of people who thought this is the end, there are many things the president did or is involved in that we thought were going to mark the end of either his candidacy or his tenure. it did not come to pass, but surely something like this was going to be, was going to stick. you literally watched hourfter hour. you could see it in these texts

that it was not just saying maybe it is antifa, but continuing to press meadows on these accusations of fraud, that they are going to find these machines that have been rigged and algorithms and all those conspiracy theories starting up around that time. judy: it means there will be all the more attention to what the committee has to say when they hold their hearings, which we believe will be in the month of june. we will be watching. politics monday, amy walter, tamera keith, thank you both. ♪ judy: and on the newshour online, after a two year break due to the pandemic, brazil's carnival cebration was back over the weekend -- we have some of the images from the vibrant event on our instagram. and with that that's the

, newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service to help people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of no contract plans and our team can find one that fits you. visit consumercellular.tv. >> the kendeda fund, committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world.

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♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -today on "america's test kitchen"... elle makes julia spiral-sliced ham glazed with cider vinegar caramel. adam reveals his top pick for mandolins. dan examines the science of texture and sound. and lan makes bridget patatas panaderas. it's all coming up right here on "america's test kitchen."