dy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight. economic resilience. employers add more jobs to the nation's overall economy, even as the tech industry is hit with massive layoffs. then, fighting power. in a new memoir, journalist and nobel peace prize winner maria ressa explores how online misinformation has contributed to democracy's decline. >> that is what gets the greatest distribution online, it's lies laced with anger and hate, fear, us against them. if you do this all the time, what kind of societies do we create? judy: and it's friday. jonathan capehart and david brooks give their take on

president biden pushing democrats to shake up their presidential primary calendar for 2024. all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour." ♪ announcer: major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymondjames financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life, well planned. announcer: and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour, including cathy and paul anderson. >> the landscape has changed, and not for the last time. ♪ the rules of business are being reinvented, with a more flexible workforce, by embracing

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thank you. judy: u.s. hiring remained strong in november in spite of slow economic growth and high inflation. the labor department reported the economy added 263,000 jobs last month. that is down slightly from october's gain of 284,000 jobs. the unemployment rate also held steady at 3.7%. and average hourly pay rose 5.1% over a year ago. democrats voted for a major shake-up to their presidential primary calendar. the democratic national committee's rules panel picked south carolina to be the first state to vote, followed by new hampshire and nevada a week later. president biden recommended the move to prioritize the party's diverse base, stripping iowa of its traditional first place status. the full dnc is expected to give final approval early next year.

president biden signed a bill today averting a rail strike that could have plunged the u.s. into a recession. it gives rail workers a pay raise, but does not include paid sick leave. the president, a staunch union ally, acknowledged the bill is not perfect, but insisted it was necessary to avoid an economic catastrophe. pres. biden: look, i know this bill doesnt have paid sick leave that these rail workers and frankly every worker in america deserves, but that fight isn't over. i want to thank congress, democrats and republicans, for acting so quickly. i know this is a tough vote for members of both parties. it was tough for me, but it was the right thing to do at the moment. judy: the president said the strike could have caused some 750,000 job losses, and triggered major supply chain disruptions during the holidays. "infowars" host alex jones filed for personal bankruptcy today in texas. jones had been ordered to pay families of sandy hook elementary school shooti

victims nearly $1.5 billion for falsely calling the massacre a hoax. a connecticut attorney representing the victims' relatives called the filing a "cowardly move." the european union has reached a deal to cap the price of russian oil expor at $60 a barrel. hours later, julia and a group of seven nations which includes the u.s. -- australia and group of seven nations which includes the u.s. agreed on the same cap, which aims to limit moscow's profits to curb its war on ukraine, also keeping russian oil on the market. the kremlin rejected western demands today to completely pull out of ukraine as part of any future peace talks. it came a day after president biden said he'd be ready to speak with moscow only if president putin is serious about ending his war by withdrawing forces. also, a top adviser to ukrainian president zelenskyy made a rare acknowledgement that

they've lost up to 13,000 soldiers in the conflict since february. that's well below western estimates. in ethiopia, civilians are stl being killed by eritrean troops in the tigre region, weeks after the two warring parties signed a piece agreement. the tigre emergency center reported at least 111 civilians died in tigre and 103 others were injured, according to data compiled over seven days in late november. dozens of others were kidnapped and hundreds of homes were destroyed. back in this country, red-hot lava from the mauna loa volcanic eruption is inching toward a main highway on hawaii's bi island. a lava road blockage would create serious problems for residents who regularly use the isla's main east-west road. locals are bracing for a tough commute. >> when i think about how 's

going to affect me, it's really devastating. i know that i'll still be able to work but it's going to be way harder. i don't know many people who have a four-hour commute, eight hours in a day. judy: the u.s. geological survey estimates it could be at least a week before the lava reaches the highway. hawaii's national guard is already looking to set up potential bypass routes. twitter has suspended "ye" the rapper formerly known as kanye west after he tweeted a picture of a swastika merged with the star of david. it's the second time this year his account has been suspended over anti-semitic comments. twitter ceo elon musk said ye's swastika post violated the platform's rule against inciting violence. the last of arizona's counties to certify its midterm election results did so late thursday,

but only after a court order. republican officials in rural cochise county had refused to finalize results after falsely citing issues with vote-coting machines. they finally approved the vote count after a judge ruled the county broke state law in defying monday's deline. and stocks were mixed on wall street today. the dow jones industrial average gained 35 points to close at 34,430. the nasdaq fell 21 points. and the s&p 500 slipped 5. still to come on the "newshour". how muim-american candidates made history in the midterms. david brooks and jonathan capehart dissect the latest political news. and much more. announcer: this is the pbs "newshour" from weta studios in washington and the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: the latest jobs report is further confirmation of a strong labor market in the

u.s., one that may be slowing down but has proven more resilient than many have expected. many sectors are continuing to add jobs, but that's not true in the tech sector, where a number of companies have announced layoffs. our economics correspondent paul solman looks at what that means for those workers and why the struggles in tech may not be as problematic for the wider economy as one would think. paul: seven weeks into her dream job as the software company -- at the software company known as meta, formally known as facebook, julia gonik was suddenly laid off. >> it's like the ground just fell out from underneath me and all of my opportunities and the future that i saw for myself just completely disappeared. paul: now, the ink barely dry on her mit diploma, the computer science major is looking for a new job. >> the market is just not great right now. so that makes interviewing and looking for a new job more stressful since you just don't

know if there are jobs out there or if you can get a job that you would actually like to do and want to do. paul: especially jobs that pay like big tech. >> software engineers at these big companies definitely make very good money right outside of college. definitely six figures starting salary. paul: plus a signing bonus. three weeks ago, gonik was one of 11,000 laid off at meta without warning. 13% of the company. one of more than 140,000 tech workers who have already lost their jobs this year, making headlines worldwide. escially worried, those on a work-sponsored visa which allows them to remain in the u.s. >> it is extreme stresul being in that ambiguous state, like feeling really vulnerable and really helpless. paul: for four years, iyer was a product designer

at the ridesharing app lyft. she has 60 days to find a job or go back to india. >> on the day of layoffs you're instantly logged out of l your applications, all your systems, all your apps, all your documents. paul: four years of work, that you were simply instantaneously logged out of? >> yes. paul: nobody to call to say, hey, can you just give me a couple of days to download some stuff? >> the moment you're laid off, you have till the end of the day. paul: so what did you do? >> i had a lot of exit formalities to complete, so that took most of my day. paul: and all that time you're thinking, how do i retrieve the work you've done for your portfolio? >> right. it was driving me crazy. had to compromise on a lot of great companies because everyone instantly wants to see work. paul: and she could not access any of hers. so, massive disruption in tech, massive layoffs. a harbinger of ep recession? >> silicon valley has burned

down many times. and every time it burns down, it reinvents itself. but this time, it isn't a forest fire. it's just a hedge trimming. paul: longtime valley entrepreneur vivek wadhwa. >> this is nothing like the dot comurst. the dot com burst had global consequences and it was huge. it set the economy back for years to come. this is just a minor correction. paul: economist betsey stevenson agrees. >> what i'm seeing is a sector that hired more than most other sectors did during the pandemic. they're pulling back a little bit with layoffs. and we're still dealing with monthly jobs reports that are showing us job growth that's bigger than almost any single month we had prior to the pandemic. so i don't think there's any reason to worry that there are some people losing their jobs because, you kw, there are hundreds of thousands of others gaining jobs. paul: of course that does not make it any easier for those workers laid off. but, stevenson actually has a positive big-picture reframing. >> when the pandemic began, technology was our savior. we

turned to technology to be able to work from home, to be able to shop from home, to be able to talk to our doctors from home. but i do think that, you know, it's run its course in terms of that growth. and the fact that is resulting in the tech sector having layoffs to me symbolizes that we've reached the end of this pandemic era. >> i actually think that the recent wave is a bit overdue and maybe good for the rest of the economy. paul: and there is actually an upside to the layoffs, claims techno-optimist erik brynjolfsson, who runs the digital economy lab at stanford. >> there's a ton of really great tech talent that's been tied up in activities that may not be creating that much value. especially, i'm thinking of crypto. meanwhile, the real need is to have tech folks go and transform the rest of america , the manufacturing, retailing, finance, health care, most of all. and we need to unleash some of the talent in that part of the

economy. paul: i put this to the talent itself. >> i think that is possible. i have been looking at some job opportunities in the health care sector, for example. so it's definitely somewhere that i may end up. >> i was always more passionate to be in healthcare or something that has to do with like food and health services or something that has to do with education and learning, etc. so now i feel that it's a good time to recalibrate and rethink about the future. paul: in sum, a rough ri for sure for laid off tech talent, especially from abroad. but for the economy, and eventually even the talent, maybe, just maybe, a harbinger of health. for the pbs newshour, paul solman, reporting, though still sometimes remotely, in what we all pray is the dawn of the post-pandemic era.

♪ judy: more than a year after being awarded the nobel peace prize, journalist maria resser still faces criminal charges in her native country, the philippines. she is the founder and ceo of website that has spent time reporting on president duterte's regime and the war on drugs. in a new memoir she shares a personal account of her unrelenting work uncovering the truth and holding power to account. i spoke with a short time ago about her book, how to stand up to a dictator, the fight for our future. thank you very much for joining us. this book is about how to stand up to a dictator, but also very much your personal story. you were born and spent 10 years in the philippines and moved to the united states for another 10

years. how did that dual country coming-of-age shape you? maria: in a lot of ways. it created a great set up for being a journalist. when we landed in the u.s., i could barely speak english. my teachers remembered the year when i was strangely quiet. they kept teaching me music, which was fantastic. when i was graduating college, somehow it felt like i was not completely american. until i thought, let me figure out what being filipino meant. i have pride for a fulbright going the other way. it was supposed to be a year. i just never left the philippines, never left southeast asia. when i came back to america, i realized every time i'm with americans i feel more filipino. when i'm with filipinos i feel more american.

you are part of both but part of neither, which set up a reporter -- up being a reporter for me. judy: where did you summon the courage you had your entire life, working for cnn where i first met you, where did that courage come from? maria: one of the thngs i try to do early on, when i first was an immigrant kid, the only brown kid in my classroom, there are lesss i learned from that time that still reverberate today, through the time i was with cnn. they were about standing up to a bully. you could not stand up to a dictator without standing up to a bully. same thing. how to embrace your fear. it is our own fears that get in our way. this one i remember, i did not know early on what a pajama party was. my classmates invited me to it. i asked my mom, is that a party

where you wear pajamas? she was like, yes! we are pulling up in front of the house and it was 4:00 in the afternoon and all the kids were playing kickball and not wearing pajamas. judy: such a great story. maria: i got out of the car and my classmate came and helped me. i learned to confront my fear. i learned to move forward and trust someone would be there. i hope when it is my turn, i can help someone else. judy: you worked in journalism in the philippines for cnn, then you crated a little over a decade ago this forward leaning news website, earning the ire of the president of the philippines, rodrigo duterte while he was in power. he's now out of power. he considered you a threat. maria: yeah, i don't really know

why. i think he just considered accountability journalism a threat. he had attacked three different newsgroups, the largest newspaper., their largest broadcaster -- newspaper, the largest broadcaster, and our website. we did not buckle because we had no other corporate interests. this is a man who just wanted to make everyone afraid of him. i was too old. by that time i was in my 50's. being a breaking news war zone correspondent is the best training for that. regardless of what is happening around you, you distill it to three bullet points and say it like it is. that is how i dealt with this administration. we kept doing our jobs. judy: along the way you won the nobel peace prize. now there is a new president of the philippines, fernando marcos junior.

there are still warrants out for you. maria: yes. in order to be here i have to ask court approvals. sometimes i get approval, sometimes i don't. that i think is calculated. you don't know how much you value your freedom until you begin to lose it. now, i don't want to read the tea leaves, i want to just keep doing my job. in general, forget what's happening in the philippines. to me, what was more damaging, because this is what i demanded an end for in 2016, the impunity not just of dutere, but of mark zuckerberg and facebook. -- duterte, but of mark zuckerberg and facebook. judy: now you are virtually on a crusade to tell the world about what social media is doing to

democracy. maria: it is what i have lived through. it is both a blessing and a curse to be e target of attacks, of information operations. you are the only one who feels it. you are attacked. these exponential attacks are meant to pound you to silence. if you are a reporter, you sit there and look at the data and that started something different for us. it was investigative journalism. just like what following the terrorists after 9/11, this one is a different type. it is insidious manipulation and the data proves it. eileen on the facts. -- i lean on the facts. it is bad for us. judy: your message to americans watching this is what? we are having our own debate in this country about social media, but you are saying it's a warning sign what happened in your country. maria: look at what has happened

to us because it is coming for you. this is what i said in 2016. when january 6 happened, it was silicon valley's sins coming home to roost. the fact that there is no legislation to prevent this insidious manipulation, think about it like this -- if you have kids, would you tell them to keep lying? you reward the lies. that gets the greatest distribution online. lises leist -- lies laced with anger and hate, fear. if you do this all theime, what kinds of societies do we create? judy: so many important warnings, stories and warnings in this book by maria ressa, "how to stand up to a dictator." so good to see you again. maria: thanks for having me. ♪

judy: more muslim americans ran for political office during this year's midterms than ever before . 15in total, according to a report from the council on american-islamic relations and jetpac resource center. and more of them won their races than in any past election. geoff bennett has more. geoff: judy, this year's elections proved to be historic, with 89 muslim-american candidates winning local, state, federal and judicial seats across 25 states, according to that report. our next guest, roman, is among them. she's the first known muslim woman elected to the georgia house of representatives and the first palestinian-american elected to any office in the state of georgia. welcome to the "newshour." good to have you with us. before you became a politician you were a longtime volunteer in democratic party politics in the state of georgia.

it's one thing to be civically engaged. it's another thing to decide to run for office yourself. what motivated your decision to launch a campaign? ruwa: i did not decide to run for office is the best way to explain that. i had done a lot of work with civic organizations focused on empowering and mobilizing historically marginalized communities like my muslim community. and one of those, georgia muslim voter project, had a training with some local partners to teach people how to run for office. my friend had asked me to attend to support the program and give them feedback on what they should be adding, since i've been doing that sort of work for a long time in georgia. a reporter was there. she writes a great article about the importance of civic engagement for minorities in the state. but she started with, ruwa is contemplating a run for office, which i was not. but it was a fair assumption since i was at this training and my community was so excited they asked me to run and 15 days later we launched my campaign. geoff: you are an immigrant. you're the granddaughter of

palestinian refugees. you're a muslim woman who wears a hijab. what has the road to political office been like for you? ruwa: it's been long and it's been unexpected sometimes, but it's also been one built by those who've come before me. the woman who ran in my seat four years ago is also a muslim woman. she founded the georgia muslim voter project. she's currently the executive director of asian american advocacy fund. and my win is a result of that investment, that almost decade long investment by the muslim community, by other minority groups in georgia, that said, hey, we're tired of these decisions being made about us, but without our voices, it's time we were at those tables. and so for years now, these organizations have worked to build the infrastructure needed for campaigns like mine. geoff: is that what you think accounts for the historic number of muslim-americans who are not just running for elected office, but in this last election, won? ruwa: absolutely. we have been able to show over years now that as the community

continues to invest time, of course, money, of course, but also their vote, their civic participation, their work in coalitions with other organizations that we can make history happen. and that's exactly what happened in georgia. geoff: you ran on a platform focused on increasing public school funding, tackling medicaid, expanding voting rights. how does your background, how does your experience, how will that inform your approach to policymaking? ruwa: i've been doing this work in georgia for almost 10 years. i've learned how t general assembly works here. i have the knowledge and the experience to be able to come to the table and say, look,here's a better way of doing this. there's a way of doing this that will benefit georgians across the board, not just the select few. and i'm really excited to be able to bring that expertize to the table in a way that says, we don't have to turn everything into who's going to make the best headline today. it's who can pass the best piece of legislation to help the most georgis. and that's why we ran the campaign the way tt we did this year, which is focusing on putting public service back into

politics, focusing on the sues and making sure that we're able to reach voters and talk to voters at every avenue that we could. geoff: in an election year, most of the attention is focused on lawmakers. it's focused on politicians at the national level. you have said that state lawmakers shouldn't be overlooked. tell me more about that. ruwa: absolutely. i always remind people that every piece of legislation that either you love on a national level or absolutely hate on a national level started in a state legislature somewhere around the country. at the end of the day, these laws start right here. in our case, whether it's the heartbeat bill or other pieces of legislation as it pertains to immigration, as it pertains to taxes, even as it pertains to health care. we saw this with obamacare. these things always start at the state level and us as state representatives are the ones that you can reach out to, to say, look, here's how this personally impacts me. and your voice is now part of a much smaller group of people, so it's even more powerful.

geoff: ruwa romman, just elected to the georgia state house of representatives. thanks so much for your time and for your insights. ruwa: thanks for having me. ♪ judy: the president halts a railroad strike. lawmakers shield gay marriage. and democrats shake up the road to the white house. to consider this week's news, the analysis of brooks and capehart. that's new york times columnist david brooks and jonathan capehart, associate editor for the washington post. hello to both of you. so glad you had a good thanksgiving. you just reassured me that was the case. [laughter] let's start with the newest news, with the demratic party is doing. they took a vote today. theyre moving up south carolina. this is the primary calendar in 2024. it is more than a yearway, but with big consequences. jonathan: it's more than just

moving south carolina up, it is a total reorganization of the calendar. cramming a lot in in the month of february. with south carolina going first, clearly what the party wants to do is make sure that the first state that votes in a presidential primary election is one that demographically looks more like the country than iowa. if memory serves, about a quarter of the electorate in south carolina is african-american. that makes a lot of sense. i think there are a lot within the democratic party, especially after the bottle -- after the debacle of the iowa caucuses in 2020 are pushing for a state more representative of the country, having a say about who the party of the nominee whou -- the nominee should be. david: if anyone had doubts that biden is running for reelection,

he took over the whole primary process. this is a state he's most likely to win of all the 50 states, which propelled him last time. he said, we are going to do it my way. and so i think for the reasons jonathan said, it's not just politics but probably the right thing to do. we want states that are more diverse. the one thing i lament, side that i like going to iowa and new hampshire, the people are very earnest, but i lament the possibility that it will end small-scale retail politics. a candidate like pete buttigieg can just live in des moines and 10, 15 people at a time build a following. now there will be g states all at once. it will help the candidates who have a lot of money and name recognition.

an outsider, a pete buttigieg, frankly a barack obama will find it harder to come from relatively nowhere. judy: i remember jimmy carter sleeping in people's guest bedrooms all over the state. i'm really going to miss the iowa state fair, the butter sculptures. big competition. jonathan: i once saw the last supper sculpted. [laughter] it was a highlight. judy: i'm try to get an image of that in my head. a lot was going on this week. congress back in session. they moved pretty quickly to address this rail strike, imposing the settlement on rail workers. bipartisan. what do you make of what they did? is it good for the country? is it good for the real workers? jonathan: it is good for the cotry in that if there had been a rail strike, it would

have hit 30% of the economy. it would have ground things to a standstill right at the time when american consumers, when americans are most sensitive. that is when they are doing their holiday shopping. the supply chain conversations we were having a year ago this time, people losing their minds that they could not get their gifts. this had to be done. this president of all presidents was able to cobble together the deal in the first place that then got rejected. it is federal law that makes president and congress able to impose this deal on rail workers. the issues the rail workers were about to strike over were not insignificant. paid sick leave is something that they need to discuss. that is not an unreasonable ask, especily when rail companies are sitting on billions upon billions of dollars in profits last year.

but, you know, the workers had no leverage, unlike fast food workers or other workers around the country for whom a strike is that leverage point to get what they need. judy: and they did not get the paid sick leave. david: the administration said there could have been 675,000 job losses. nonetheless, not that i'm singing solidarity every morning, but basically the government took away the worke's right to strike, or ability to strike. that imbalance is the quotation, if the railroad companies think the government will take away the ability to strike, that alters how they will negotiate. it alters the balance. i worry about the moral hazard of government stepping in. it reminds me in an inverse case, i thought the bailout of the banks in 2008 was the right thing to do. nonetheless it is clear that the

way the government behaved had long-term moral and cultural effects on this country because people thought the system is rigged. if workers decide we lose the ability to strike, the system is rigged against us, that could lead to some cynicism and distrust. jonathan: that is why this law needs to be changed. it is not like the president and congress said we will just make you take it by fiat, the law says they have the power to do that. to do what you are saying, david, they need to change the law to give those rail workers an opportunity to strike. judy: weighing against what it would mean for the economy if this was not resolved. another thing the two parties came together on was on protecting same-sex and interracial marriage in america. what does this amount to? jonathan: i'm smiling from ear to ear, an out gay man in an

interracial marriage, i'm doubly covered. [laughter] in the grand scheme of things, this is terrific to ensure that if oberg fell is rendered unconstitutional, my marriage will be recognized. if over fell goes away, this is the problem i have with the law. my marriage is protected, but if my husband and i moved back to north dakota where he's from, same-sex marriage is banned in the constitution and by state law. uf i -- if obergefell goes away, same thing when roe v. wade was overturned, 35 states instantly banned same-sex marriage. if we meet a same-sex couple that wants to get married in north dakota, they would have to leave the state, go somewhere where marriage, where same-sex marriage is legal, then come

home, and the state would be forced because of this law to recognize their marriage. that is an unfair burden on couples, who all they want to do is protect the families. more often than not these same-sex couples want to get married either to start a family or protect the family they have. if congress wants to do something to protect lgbtq americans, and certainly same-sex married couples, they would pass the equality act. out of the house. they need to pass it in the senate in the lame-duck and things would be great. judy: how much of a step forward is this? david: a significant step forward, first on the matter of justice. there are now over 1 billion -- a billion, one million same-sex couples. [laughter] we will take away all those marriages? is that pro-family? i think that would be a tremendous wrong. joe biden says lov is love and

people should get married. the thing i'm also hopeful about is that this represents a path out of the culture wars. the history of this is that in 2008 the lds church complained against gay marriage in california. the blowback was so strong they said we have to rethink this issue. they went to the lgbt community and said let's have a compromise. gay marriage will be on the books, but our religious freedom will be protected. the government will not take aw our tax status. they made this compromise. this is sort of what happened here. the ccu, all the christian colleges supports this. they were terrified that they would get their tax status taken away. this was people coming together across the culture war, saying what you want is to protect your marriages, we need our tax

status to not be taken away. they did a deal. that is the way politics should work. judy: i see your face. [laughter] i see the look on your face. jonathan: the religious exemptions offend me personally because there are some people who are going to use their personal beliefs and hide behind religion to discriminate against people like me and families like mine. there would be no legal recourse for me and my husband or these billion-million same-sex couples in the u.s. to hold us accountable for giving us the services we should constitutionally be able to avail ourselves of. david: i'm synthetic to that. -- i'm sympathetic to that. if you went to a baker and wanted a wedding cake, he most

likely would have to bake it. what they were worried about was their view of scriptures that does not support same-sex marriages, they don't want to be forced to perform gay marriages or face losing their tax status. i do not agree with them, but there are many in this country who believe this is what scripture says. i think it is a willing sacrifice to give people the religious freedom so we can live together. jonathan: to be clear it is both those things. it's not putting their tax exempt status to ris, but -- to risk, but also not putting themselves at risk for denying service, i.e. foster care or other services. judy: only a few seconds left. it is a little over a week since former president trump had dinner with nick flynn test -- nick fuentes, the known neo-nazi and every other now you can say

that is not positive. -- noun you can say that is not positive. we asked numbers of congress for their reaction and many are not commenting. david: a lot did not comment. more than usual, republicans condemned trump. more than average. jonathan: it is reprehensible. if a republican was in leadership, they should have been there within hours about finding out about this dinner. this is what is leading to the corrosion of political discourse. in our society we have people who are openly anti-semitic and no consequent is. that is outrageous. judy: tough to think about. jonathan capehart, david brooks, thank you both. and we will be back shortly with a rapper and actor who is encouraging his fans to find their purpose in life. but first, take a moment to hear from your local pbs station. it's a chance to offer your support. which helps keep programs like

ours on the air. ♪ for those stations staying with us, the great salt lake in utah is shrinking because of population growth and an ongoing mega-drought worsened by climate change. stephanie sy explored the lake earlier this year to learn more. here is a reprise of her report. stephanie: reaching the waters of the great salt lake from almost any direction these days is a hike. and brian footen is carrying a heavy load. founder of the earthviews conservation society, he's equipped a kayak with cameras and sensors, mobile tools to map the receding shoreline. >> this is going to log water quality data every 10 seconds, things like temperature, dissolved oxygen. stephanie: satellite images capture the extent of the lake's shrinkage since 1985, but footen

says there is nothing like bringing the public right to its dwindling surface through his interactive website. >> it don't take charts and graphs and big scientific reports to tell the story, right? all you have to do is go out there and look. stephanie: and so we did, paddling through shallow waters with an astonishing vacancy of life. this northern arm of the lake is already forever changed by human decisions. the red tint is a result of extremely high salinity. it was choked off from the rest of the lake years ago to build a railroad causeway. >> the great salt lake is drying up. climate change is responsible. you know, developers are responsible. and it just goes ”" -- and it just goes over top of people's heads, right? so, what we're doing is using this imagery as a way to kind of go, wow, look at this. this is really happening. stephanie: footen also sends the data he collects to biologist bonnie baxter. >> the water is way out there now. stephanie: we meet her on the southern end of the great salt lake. it is eerily qui and

smells of brine. i feel like we are in the ddle of just a dead zone here. >> if we see larvae in the water, or pupal casings, there are sharpies to write on. stephanie: baxter brings researchers from westminster college to gather specimens weekly. >> these mounds should be covered with mats of microorganisms that do photosynthesis and bring the sun's energy into the lake system. but you can see that they're dry and they're not green and they're out of the water. even the ones in the water are not healthy, because they're too salty. the ones out of the water are too dry. stephanie: the mounds are called microbialites. >> this is the foundation of the great salt lake ecosystem. and we're seeing it crash and die right before our eyes. stephanie: the lake is at its lowest level in history. as a result, it's becoming too salty even for species adapted to high salinity. >> we are not finding any fly

pupae today. that's terrifying. stephanie: brine flies feed the millions of birds that flock here, as do brine shrimp, which are also harvested. it is just one part of the $1.3 billion economic output of the great salt lake. to understand why the lake is drying up, you have to zoom out to the surrounding areas of the ke's namesake, salt lake city. >> the state of utah as a whole is the fastest growing state in the nation. yellow is the new green. stephanie: erin mendenhall is the mayor, a democrat. >> we are absolutely committed to saving this lake with whatever we can. last year, that was 2.6 billion gallons of water salt lakers conserved. this year, it's already up to 2.9 billion gallons. stephanie: the city's achieved that not by mandating water restrictions, but by raising water rates about 15% a year, and implementing a tiered rate structure.

>> so, the more you consume, those water rates go up even faster. stephae: while conservation efforts by residents of salt lake city will help, it may not be enough. two thirds of the water in the great salt lake watershed goes to agriculture, including the water from the bear river. it irrigates the farms and ranches whose yields utah families have relied on since mormon pioneers settled the region in the 1800s, fulfilling, they believed, a biblical prophecy to make the desert blossom. >> i don't know what normal looks like anymore. it's been a long time since we have had good winters and good moisture. stephanie: joel ferry has a unique perspective. a fifth-generation utah cattle rancher, he's also a former republican state representative and now the director of the state's department of natural resources. >> water in the state of utah is a prior appropriation. so whoever used it first has the first right to use it today. and a lot of those rights belong to farmers. stephanie: is it time for that

to change? >> well no, we have laws and we have structure. so what is time for us to do is to implement more conservation measures. stephanie: bipartisan support for conserving water for the great salt lake led to a dozen laws enacted this year by the republican-dominated state government. the reforms, among many provisions, do away with use-or-lose water policies. >> we pass legislation that me, as a farmer, i can say, you know what, i'm going to take my water, i'm going to put it in the river, and i will receive a beneficial use, which totally changes the mind-set of that use it or lose it. i might say, wheat is not worth very much. i don't want it. i'm going to get some compensation if i leave iin the river. stephanie: one of the biggest worries is that the great salt lake will go the way others have gone before it, not just drying up and ceasing to be a source of water, but becoming a source of poison. biologist bonnie baxter says more than 40% of the lake bed is no longer covered by water and could turn to dust.

>> we are likely to see an increase in dust storms as we expose more shorelines. we're likely to see more dust. stephanie: and that is toxic dust because there is arsenic and heavy metal in this lake bed. >> baxter: -- right . stephanie: it is one reason brian footen paddles along the lake's shoreline, documenting its disappearance. >> i think one of the big stories that's being missed in the talk about the climate and the drought and the agriculture and the development in salt lake is that this is a unique ecosystem on the planet. there's nothing else like it. stephanie: and that, in itself, he says, is a reason for saving it. for the "pbs newshour," i am stephanie sy at the great salt lake in utah. ♪

judy: here is a question that a houston-born, first generation nigerian-american artist asked himself and then others, as he has built his following through his music and his acting. what is your purpose? jeffrey brown went to houston to learn more about the man who was just nominated for a grammy and the best new artist category. that is for our arts and culture series, canvas. ♪ jeffrey: stay focused, be consistent and disciplined. most of all, find your purpose. it is a mantra for tobe nwigwe, and wh he wants to demonstrate through his music. >> i feel like everything we are doing is centered around making purpose popular. jeffrey: on stage at music

festivals like austin city limits. and on screen an actor in the acclaimed netflix series "mo," the show created by palestinian-american comedian mo amer about his life in a multi-ethnic texas community. ♪ as his hometown newspaper, the houston chronicle, put it recently, the 35 year-old is everywhere right now. but his heart remains in houston. that is where we met him at the white oak music hall, rehearsing for an upcoming date in london. as it has been from the start, this is a family affair. his wife, martica, beside him on stage. their three young children, aged 3, 2, and 1, always nearby. dancing while daddy sings. musicians, dancers, support team, all local, all friends. >> it is the only way i know to operate because i did not have any foreknowledge of how to operate in thendustry. so i

just utilized the resources and people that we in my actual life, people i built trust with. i prefer it that way. jeffrey: the original all-consuming purpose for nw igwe, football. he was a star linebacker in high school and at the university of north texas, and had the nfl in his sights until a foot injury his senior year ended that dream. ♪ instead he developed a plan that has guided him since. his new purpose would be helping others find theirs. seeing many young people adrift, some into drugs and violence, he started a non-profit to work in local schools, using what he called edutainment, entertainment education. >> i just used a lot of the natural skill sets that i had, the charisma, not being scared to speak in public and all that type of stuff, to try to

motivate students and kids to get on the path to figure out what their purpose is. not coming here to tell you your purpose, but you should start trying to figure that out early. jeffrey: nwigwe is a first generation child of nigerian immigrants. his full first name is tobechukwu, which means apraise -- which means "praise god," and he credits part of his drive and motivation to that heritage, as in his description of his parent's approach to school report cards. >> let me tell you how b stands for bonehead. c is for "can't you get an a?" f is for fools and fools can no longer stay in this house. a is for appreciation. that is when you show when you get a's because you show you appreciate my sacrifice. you appreciate all the things i've done to make your life special. ♪ jeffrey: another driving force,

his christian faith, heard in one of his biggest hits to date, "try jesus." he first gained attention and built his audience with what he called "get twisted sunday's," a weekly music video posted on social media, with the force of a sermon, often centered on the power of black family and love. starting from scratch, he's involved in everything from designing the clothes to the choreography to the marketing. >> what i landed was on i'm just going to market myself as myself. jeffrey: wait, you will market yourself as yourself? that sounds pretty normal, but maybe it's not in the music business? >> you would be surprised. i've encountered in this industry a lot of people doing stuff that ain't really them. oh, i thought you would like this because you portrayed this type of character. an it's like, nah, i'm really not. no knock to anybody who does it. personally my heart and real

life are synonymous. jeffrey: the music served the message and both took off. a short and simple track about the police killing of breonna taylor went viral. ♪ he performed a tribute to houston on npr's nationally were downed tiny desk -- renowned tiny desk series. >> there are ways music is done, there are ways life is done, but you don't necessarily have to subscribe to a way that you don't agree with, or a way that the world does it that makes you feel like this is the only way. you can branch out, do your own thing, stand on your own principles, stand on your own beliefs, and do what you belie in. jeffrey: for now, there is more acting to come tobe nwigwe will make his big screen debut in the next

transformers film due next spring. and lots more music. ♪ for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown in houston. judy: in other words, we will be hearing a lot more about him. and on the "newshour" online, how a famous children's book author is trying to inspire a new generation of authors by building a library for school kids in malwai. that story is at pbs.or g/newshour. be sure to join yamiche alcindor and her panel on washington week later tonight right here on pbs. tune into pbs news weekend. that is tomorrow. that is the newshour for tonight. i am judy woodruff. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you. please sy safe and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪

>> moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions, and friends of the newshour, including kathy and paul anderson and camila and george smith. the walton family foundation. working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people and nature can thrive together. the william and flora hewlitt foundation. -- at hewlett.org.

♪ 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. ♪

hello, everyone and welcome to "amanpour & company." here's what's coming up. >> i remain very confident that working together we can forge that better future for all of us. >> former u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton joins us tonight. her take on a world in crisis as she hosts a summit empowering women's voices. then -- ♪ you and i ♪ hitting a high note with superstar soprano renee fleming. we discuss her long-awaited return to the met in "the hours." also ahead -- >> i talked to people who said they were boiling leaves to eat, boiling salted water to eat, drinking