♪ judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. "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. maria: 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's pushing democrats to shake up their presidential primary calendar for 2024.

all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour." ♪ >> 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. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour, including cathy and paul anderson and the goldmans. >> the landscape has changed, and not for the last time. the rules of business are being reinvented, with a more flexible workforce, by embracing innovation, by looking not only

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vanessa: i'm vanessa ruiz in for stephanie sy with "newshour west." we'll return to the full program after the latest headlines. 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, down slightly from october's gain of 284,000 jobs. the unemployment rate also held steady at 3.7% percent, and average hourly pay rose 5.1% er a year ago. a major shake-up to the presidential primary calendar today -- the democratic national committee's rules panel picked south carolina to be the first state to vote. new hampshire and nevada will follow 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 doesn't have paid sick leave that these rail workers and frankly every worker in america deserves, but that fight isn't over. i wanna thank congress, democrats and republicans, for acting so quickly. i know this is a tough vote for members of both parties. it was a tough thing for me, but it was the right thing to do at the moment. vanessa: the president said the strike could have caused some 750,000 job losses, and triggered major supply chain disruptions. "infowars" host alex jones filed for personal bankruptcy today in texas. jones had been ordered to pay families of sandy hook elementary school shooting 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, australia and the group of seven nations -- which includes the u.s. -- agreed today to cap the price of russian l exports at $60 a barrel. the move aims to limit moscow's profits off oil sales to curb its war in ukraine, while also keeping russian oil on the market. meanwhile, 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 still being killed by eritrean troops in the tigray region weeks after the two main warring parties signed a peace agreement. the tigray emergency center reported at least 111 civilians died in tigray and 103 others were injured, according to data compiled over seven days in late november. dozens of other people 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 big island. a lava road blockage would create serious problems for residents who regularly use the island's main east-west road. locals are bracing for a much longer commute. makai: when i think about how it'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. vanessa: the u.s. geological survey estimates it could be at least a week before the lava reaches the highway. the pentagon unveil its newest high-tech stealth bomber tonight. the b-21 raider will be able to deliver nuclear weapons around the world. each plane costs about 750 million in today's dolls. first flights will begin in 2023. 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-counting machines. a judge ruled the county broke state law in defying monday's deadline to certify. still to come on "the newshour"... how muslim-american candidates made history in the midterms... david brooks and jonathan capehart dissect the latest political news... and much more. ♪ >> this is "the pbs newshour" from weta studios in washington, and in the wesfrom the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: the latest jobs report is further confirmation of a stng 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. 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 you would think. paul: seven weeks into her dream job as a software engineer at meta, the company formerly known as facebook, julia gonik was suddenly laid off. julia: 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 cpletely disappeared. ul: now, the ink barely dry on her t diploma, the computer science major is looking for a new job. julia: 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. julia: software engines 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've already lost their jobs this year, making headlines worldwe. especially worried, those on a work-sponsored visa which allows them to remain in the u.s. sowmya: it is extremely stressful being in that ambiguous state, like feeling really vulnerable and really helpless. paul: for four years sowmya iyer was a product designer at the ride sharing app lyft. she has 60 days to find a job or go back to india.

sowmya: on the day of layoffs you're instantly logged out of all your applications, all your systems, all your apps, all your documents. paul: four years of work, that you were simply instantaneously logged out of? sowmya: yes. paul: nobody to call to say, hey, can you just give me a couple of days to download some stuff? sowmya: the moment you're laid off, you have till the end of the day. paul: so what did you do? sowmya: 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 work, the work you've done for your portfolio? sowmya: right. it was driving me crazy. i had to compromise on a lot of great companies because everyone instantly wants to see work. paul: and she couldn't access any of hers. so, massive disruption in tech, massive yoffs. a harbinger of deep recession? vivek: 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. vivek: this is nothing like the dot com boom, as the dot com bust had global consequences and it was he. it set the economy back for years to come. this is just a minor correction. paul: economist betsey stevenson agrees. betsey: 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 an reason to worry that there are some people losing their jobs because, you know, there are hundreds of thousands of others gaining jobs. paul: of course, that doesn't make it any easier for those workers laid off. but, stevenson actually has a positive big-picture reframing. betsey: 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. erik: i actually think that the recent wave is a bit overdue and maybe good for the rest of the economy. paul: and there's actually an upside to the layoffs, claims techno-optimist erik brynjolfsson, who runs the digital economy lab at stanford. erik: 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 -- 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. julia: i think that's 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. sowmya: 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 ride 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 remotely sometimes -- 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 ria ressa still faces a series of criminal charges in her native country the philippines. she is the founder and ceo of rappler.com, and has spent much time reporting on former president rodrigo 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 her a short time ago about her book, "how to stand up to a dictator: the fight for our future." maria ressa, thank you very much for joining us. and this book is about how to stand up to a dictator, but it's also very much your personal story. you were born and spent ten years in the philippines and you moved to the united states for another ten yes. how did that dual country coming

up, coming of age shape you? maria: i think in a lot of ways it created a great kind of set up for being a journalist. when i was in here in the u.s., when we landed, i could really barely speak english. so my teachers remembered the year when i was strangely quiet and they kept teaching me music, which was fantastic. and then when i was graduating college, somehow it felt like i. i wasn't completely american, right? so i thought, let me figure out what being filipino meant. i applied for a fulbright going the other way. i went back to the philippines and it was supposed to be a year. and i just never left the philippines, never left southeast asia. and then when i came back to america, i realized, oh, my gosh, every time i'm with americans, i feel more filipino. when i'm with filipinos, i feel more american. so you're kind of part of both, but you're part of neither. which then set up being a reporter for me.

judy: but where did the courage that you had to summon for what your entire adult life as a journalist in the philippines, working for cnn, where i first met you -- where where did that courage come from? maria: i think one of the things i tried to do early on when i first was an immigrant kid, the only brown kid in my classroom when i walked in, there are lessons i learned from that time period that still reverberated today through the time i was with cnn. you know, they were about standing up to a bully because you can replace how to stand up to a dictator with how to stand up to a bully. it's the exact same thing. how to embrace your fear. like i realized that it's our own fears that get in our way and how to embrace your fear. well, like this one i remember was i didn't know early on what a pajama party was. so my classmates invited me to it. and i asked my mom, i was like, mom, is that a party? you wear pajamas? and she was like, yes.

so we show up and we're rounding , we're pulling up in front of the house. and it was 4:00 in the afternoon and all the kids were playing kickball and they were not wearing pajamas. judy: such a great story. maria: i got out of the car and then my classmate came and helped me right. so you kind of just. i learned to confront my fear. i learned to to move forward and trust someone will be there. and then i hope when it's my turn to help someone else, that i will be there. judy: you've cemented your reputation. you worked in, as we said, in journalism in the philippines for cnn. and then you created, what, a little over a decade ago, this forward leaning news website called rappler, earning the ire of the president of the philippines, rodrigo duterte, whilhe was in power. and now he's now out of power. but he considered you a threat. maria: yeah. i don't really know why.

i think that meant he just considered accountability journalism a threat. he had attacked three different news groups, the largest newspaper, the largest broadcaster, and then we were the largest online news site. we were the third attacked. but we didn't buckle because we had no other corporate interests. you know, it was very easy to push up. this is a man who just wanted to make everyone afraid of him. and i think i was too old by that time. i was in my fifties. you know, being a breaking news war zone correspondent is the best training for that because you sit there and regardless of what's happening around you, you distill it to three bullet points and you say it like it is. and that's kind of the way i dealt with with this administration. we kept doing our jobs. judy: and along the way, you won the nobel peace prize just in the last year or so. and now there's a new president of the philippines, fernando marcos junior, bongbong.

there are still warrants out for you. maria: yeah, in order to be here, i have to ask court approvals. now, one has gone all the way to the supreme court, the court of last resort. sometimes i get approval, sometimes i don't. i think that is also calculated. and you really don't know how much you value your freedom until you begin to lose it. now we just -- i don't want to read the tea leaves. i want to just keep doing my job. and i think 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 the philippine president, but also of mark zuckerberg and facebook. that was something we had no control over in the philippines, but it enabled the rise of duterte, it enabled the rise of marcos. judy: that's what i want to ask you about. because 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 the target of attacks of information operations. you're the only one who feels it. these exponential attacks are meant to pound you to silence. but the flipside of it is, if you're a reporter, you sit there and you look at the data and that started something different for us. it was investigative journalism and it was just like following the terrorists after 9/11. this one is a different type. it's insidious manipulation and the data proves it. that's what -- i lean on the facts. it is evidence-based it is bad , for us. judy: your message for americans watching this is what? because i mean, we're having our own debate in this country about social media. you are saying it's a warning sign, what happened in your country. maria: look at what's happened to us because it's coming for you. this is what i said in 2016 when

january 6 happened. it was silicon valley coming home to roost. the fact that there is no legislation to prevent this insidious manipulation. i mean, think about it like this, right? if you have kids, would you tell them to keep lying? you reward the lies. 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 tim 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: the fight for our future." it's so good to see you again. thank you, maria. maria: so wonderful to see you. thanks for having me. ♪ judy: more muslim americans ran for political office during this

year's midterms than ever before -- 153 in total, according to 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, rula roman, is among them. she's the first known muslim woman elected to the georgia house of repsentatives and the first palestinian-american elected to any office in the state of georgia. welcome to the newshour. it's good to have you with us. ruwa: thanks for having me. geoff: you, as understand it, before you became a politician, you were a long time 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 t 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 grgia. a reporter was there. she writes a great article about the importance of civic engagement for minorities in the state. but she started out with ruwa rome and 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. her name is aisha yaqoob . she founded the georgia muslim voter project. she's currently the executive director of asian american advocacy fund. and my win is, as 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 me and 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 ten years. i've learned how the general assembly works here. i have the knowledge and the experience to be able to come to the table and say, look, there's a better way of doing this. there's a way ofoing this that will benefit georgians across the board, not just the select few. and i'm really excited to be able to bring that expertise to the table in a way that says, we don't have to turn everything into who's going to me 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 that we did this year, which is focusing on putting public service back into politics, focusing on the issues 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 statlegislature 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 personly impacts me. and your voice is now part of a much smaller group of people, so i's even more powerful. geoff: rowa roman, 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. i'm 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 democratic party is doing. they took a vote today. they are moving up south carolina. this is the primary calendar in 2024. it is more than a year away, but with big consequences. what does it say to you, south carolina, michigan earlier? 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 debacle of the iowa caucuses in 2020 are pushing for a state more representative of the country, having a say about who the nominee of the party should be. judy: this is something pushed by president biden. what do you make of it? david: if anyone had doubts that biden is running for reelection, they were ended today. he took over the whole primary process.

the state to go is a state he's first most likely to win of all the 50 states, which propelled him last time. he said, we are going to do it my way. whatever you've been talking about is nice, we are going to do it my way. and he prevailed. 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 upfront. the one thing i lament, aside from 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. in iowa and new hampshire, candidate like pete buttigieg can just live in des moines and 10, 15 people at a time build a following. now there will be big 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 iowa. what i am really going to miss, the iowa state fair, the butter sculptures. big competition. jonathan: i once saw the last supper sculpted in butter. it was the highlight of my life. [laughter] 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 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 country 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. i think 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 possible for the president and congress able to impose this deal on rail workers. but 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, especially 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. costing billions of dollars a day. nonetheless, not that i'm singing solidarity every morning, but basically the government took away the worker's right to strike, or ability to strike. that imbalance is the negotiation -- 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. [laughte

in the grand scheme of things, this is terrific to ensure that if obergerfel is rendered unconstitutional, my marriage will be recognized. if it 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. 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 thatants 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. it is out of the house. it has been sitting in the senate. all they need to do is pass it 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. i think there are now over a billion same-sex -- a billion. [laughter] one million same-sex couples. we will take away all those marriages? is that pro-family? i think that would be a tremendous wrong. as joe biden says, love is love and people should get married.

the thing i'm also hopeful about is that this represents a path out of some of the culture wars. the history of this is that in 2008, the lds church campaigned 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 away our tax status. they made this compromise. this is sort of what happened here. the national association for evangelical supports this, the ccu, all the christian colleges supports this. they were terrified that they would get their tax status taken away because of their religious beliefs. this was people coming together across the culture war, saying what you want is to ect your marriages, we need our tax status to not be taken away.

they got what they want and 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: only because -- 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 united states to hold someone accountable for giving -- for not giving us the services we should constitutionally be able to avail ourselves of. that's all. david: i sympathetic to that. amas i understand the law, if you went to a baker and wanted a wedding cake, he most likely would have to bake it. mostly what they were worried about was their view of

scriptures that god 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. testing religious freedom so we can live together. jonathan: to be clear it is both those things. it's not putting their tax tax -- their tax exempt status 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. i did want to say, it is a little over a week since former president trump had dinner with nick fuentes, the known neo-nazi , and every other noun you can say that is not positive. we asked members of congress for

their reaction and many are not commenting. interesting. david: it is a glass half-full, half empty. a lot did not comment. more than usual, republicans condemned trump. more than average. jonathan: it is reprehensible. if a republican is 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 consequences. 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 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

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join us online or call or text the number on your screen. we thank you so much. hair is a question a houston born first-generation nigerian american artist asked himself and the others as he has built his and through his music an his acting. what is your purpose? jeffrey brown went to houston to learn more about the man who was just nominated for a grammy in the best new artist category. for our arts and culture series, canvas. >> reporter: stay focu consistent and disciplined. most of all, find yobeur purpse it is a mantra he wants to demonstrate through his music. >> it is all about making purpose popular in every aspect of the term. the entertainment, the music, whatever it is we are doing is centered around making purpose popular. >> reporter: on stage at music festivals like austin city limits --

>> you can't bring in the new window you processed old. >> reporter: on screen as an actor in the acclaimed netflix series created by moammar about his life in a multiethnic texas community. his hometown newspaper the houston chronicle but recently, the 35-year-old is everywhere right now. his heart remains in houston. that is where we met him, rehearsing for an upcoming date in london. this is a family affair. his wife beside him on stage. there are three young children always nearby. dancing while daddy sings. musicians, dancers all local, all friends. >> it is the only way i know to operate. i didn't have any knowledge of how else to operate in the

industry. i just utilized the resources and people that were in my life to people that i have built trust with and i prefer it that way. it is sweeter like that to me. >> the original all-consuming purpose for tobe nwigwe, football. he was a star linebacker in high school and at the university of north texas and had the nfl in his sights. a foot injury his senior year and in that dream. 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 nonprofit to work in local schools using what he called edutainment. >> i used a lot of the natural skill sets that i have. the charisma, not being scared

to speak in public and do skits and all that type of stuff to train and motivate students and kids to get on the path to figure out what their purpose is. not you, and we will tell you what your purpose is but you should start train to figure that out early. >> reporter: tobe nwigwe is a first generation child of nigerian immigrants. his full first name means praise god. he credits part of his drive and motivation to that heritage. as in his description of his parents approach to school report cards. >> let me tell you how b stands for bonehead, c is can't you get an a? d is for dummy. s is for fools and fools, longer stay in this house. a is for appreciation. that is what you are showing when you go and get a >> you are showing you appreciate my sacrifice, you appreciate all the things i have done to make your life special. >> reporter:, the driving force?

his christian faith heard in one of his biggest hits today, try jesus. he first gained attention and built his audience with what he called get twisted sundays, a weekly music video posted on social media. starting from scratch, he is involved in everything from designing close to choreography to the marketing. >> what i needed on is i am jus going to market myself as myself and i'm going to put out. >> reporter: you are going to market yourself as a result ? that sounds pretty normal. maybe it is not? >> it is really not. you would be surprised. i've encountered in this industry a lot of people doing stuff that isn't really them. unlike i thought you were like this because you portrayed this type of character. it's like no, i'm really not. no knock to anybody who doesn't like that. me personally, my art and my real life are like synonymous.

>> reporter: 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 tristan on npr's nationally renowned tiny desk series. >> that's all we are trying to do, try to get you to understand the way the music is done. there is ways that life is done. you don't necessarily have to subscribe to away you don't fully agree with or the way that the world doesn't like illness is the only way. i branch out, do your own thing, stand on your own principle, stand on your own beliefs and do what you believe in. >> reporter: now, there is more acting to come. tobe nwigwe for his big-screen debut in the next transformers

film. there is lots more music. for the pbs news hour, i am jeffrey brown in houston. >> in other words, we will be hearing a lot more about him. on the news hour 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 malawi. that story is at pbs.org/newshour. tune into pbs news weekend tomorrow. that is the news hour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. for all of us at pbs news hour, thank you, please stay safe and we will see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by -- >> moving our economy for 160

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>> the first time i saw the human body in anatomy, it was absolutely wondrous. the colors, it is so vibrant. it was sort of a painting for me. art and science has always come together for me in surgery. i was a music major in college. i did not become a professional opera singer. but, i do sing. i think one of the reasons i do the endocrine surgery is because there is some subconscious impetus to be the protector of the voice. there is a lot of meaning for me in that. i am so lucky to be in a profession that has a real impact on people. that is one of the greatest things about my specialty. we can cure people of their disease. it is the best job in the world.

tonight on kqed news room, san franciscans gathered to protest covid-19 crackdowns in china well cases surge in the california. plus, his speech is on the rise on twitter and more broadly. senator scott weiner joins us to discuss hate speech targeting him and other members of thecommunity. coming to you from kqed headquarters in san franci