amna: good evening and welcome. i'm amna nawaz. judy woodruff is away. on the newshour tonight. a consequential case -- the supreme court hears arguments over whether a christian web designer can refuse to serve same-sex couples based on her religious beliefs. then. energy crunch -- the u.s., europe and other nations impose a price cap on russian oil -- the latest global effort to punish russia for its invasion of ukraine. and. a crucial runoff -- the final push is underway to get georgia voters to the polls. but with a critical senate seat on the line, republicans struggle to rally support. >> asking us to vote for herschel walker, the candidate is akin to perhaps playing , russian roulette with american democracy. amna: all that and more on

tonight's pbs newshour. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪ and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour. ♪ >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. hewlett.org. ♪

♪ this program was made possible by the corporation fcubor yli contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. stephanie: i'm stephanie sy with newshour west. we'll return to the full program after the latest headlines. the u.s. supreme court is facing a major decision on religion and lgbtq rights. the justices today heard a case involving a christian graphic artist in colorado who objects to designing wedding websites for same-sex couples. she says artists should not have to do work that goes against their faith. we'll have more on this after the news summary. u.s. hospitalizations for the flu are the highest they've been in a decade this early in the season.

the cdc reported that surge today and said 14 young people have died of the flu so far. china's move to ease sict covid rules is accelerating, amid rare protests and mounting economic damage. in beijing today, commuters were allowed to travel on buses and subways without a virus test for the first time in months. authorities in shanghai announced similar steps. >> i am not particularly touched by the efforts. after all, we still need a test done within 72 hours for work and within 48 hours for dining. from my perspective, it didn't open up that much. but it's a small step and it can be regarded as overall progress. stephanie: in ukraine, government officials say a new volley of russian missiles killed at least people and cut power again in much of the country. shells blasted huge craters as they tore up residential areas -- although kyiv said its air defenses shot down most of the missiles. meanwhile, russian president vladimir putin drove across a

repaired bridge linking russia to crimea. it was damaged by a truck bomb in october. a new, 3-day general strike has begun in iran, with anti-government protesters calling for shops to close. some store owners in tehran heeded the call today, despite official warnings that they'd be arrested. others said they can't afford to close, but that they support the protesters. >> this is a legitimate demand and they should be heard, if society is divided and people regularly attack each other not only will the situation not improve, but we will go backward. stephanie: the protests after a young kurdish woman -- mahsa amini -- died in police custody. haitian migrants currently in the u. will have their temporary protected status extended anoth 18 months. those entering after november 6th of this year are not eligible. homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas announced the extension today citing political instability, gang violence, and natural disasters.

in northwest colombia, rescue workers ended their search today for survivors of a deadly mudslide. 34 people, including eight children, were killed when mud buried a bus and other vehicles. before the search was called off, rescuers used excavators to dig the bus out and search for survivors. they were able to save nine people. colombia has had an unusually heavy rainy season that has killed more than 200 people and left more than half a million people homeless. in indonesia, entire villages are buried and key bridges destroyed after a volcano erupted sunday on java. ash and debris from mount semeru covered roads and homes. in the aftermath, people had to dig out their belongings and evacuate livestock. so far, there are no reports of deaths. back in this country -- tens of thousands of people in central north carolina faced a third night without electricity -- after one or more gunmen

attacked 2 power stations on saturday. crews worked today to repair the substations. officials said it could take until thursday to restore power to the affected area, southwest of raleigh. there's no word on what motivated the attack. and a passing to note tonight. actress kirstie alley, known for her role in the sitcom cheers has died after a battle with , cancer. she was 71 years old. her children made the announcement on alley's instagram page, and said as iconic as she was on screen, she was an even more amazing mother and grandmother. still to come on the newshour. tamara keith and amy walter break down the latest political headlines. dr eueags veenarntewing demonst. a mother and son who are both poet laureates work to inspire others. and much more. ♪ >> this is the pbs newshour from

weta in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. amna: the rights of same-sex couples were once again before the u.s. supreme court today. john yang begins with the backstory of the case that wrestles with the blurred lines separating free speech, religious beliefs and discrimination. john: website designer lorie smith's primary tools are a keyboard and a mouse, in her view, the tools of an artist. >> when i'm designing and creating, many times very much , like a traditional painter would use a paint brush and colors and white canvas -- i approach my work the same way. i am custom creating and writing and telling a story through imagery, color palettes, different elements. each and everything i create expresses some sort of message, some sort of expression, and

everything that i create is unique and one-of-a-kind. that's my specialty. john: as a devout christian, smith says that message has to reflect what she sees as her faith's view of god's design. >> it's important to me that the messages i create are consistent withy faith. and for at reason, there's some messages i can't design custom artwork for no matter who requests them. john: are there projects you've turned down for that reason because they didn't fit with your beliefs? or they conflicted with your beliefs? >> yes, there are i have declined messages that are political. it's important for me as an artist that i'm not only passionate about what i create, but i believe in it. john: smith wants to offer custom websites for weddings, but colorado's anti-discrimination law would require her to offer them to same-sex couples and that, she says, would force her create a message that conflicts with her beliefs. >> nobody should be put in that position. we should all be free to live

and work consistent with our faith. john: sound familiar? in 2018 the supreme court sided , with colorado baker jack phillips. he refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. that 7-2 ruling was on the narrow grounds that state officials were hostile to his religious beliefs. but smith is making a dierent argument, saying that the colorado law violates her right to free speech. she says that the government cannot dictate the message that a work of art conveys. colorado attorney general phil weiser says art or not, a business is a business. >> anyone -- a website creator, a book writer, a baker -- can make whatever service products they want to. they then have to sell it to anyone who comes and asks for access to the product or service if th're open to the public. you could imagine a situation where jews or muslims or women

are told, i'm sorry, i have a certain expressive interest in providing this product or service. it has to exclude you. you've gutted this basic anti-discrimination concept. john: the justices spent about two hours working through those issues. marcia, thanks for joining us. one reason it seemed why this took so long is that there are two central freedoms in the constitution that are colliding here, protected speech and equality. >> absolutely and what is also complicating thising re igulated here. is it speech as the website designer claims? or is it a business, as the colorado government claims? and so the courts spend a lotf time struggling with these two

principles of antidiscrimination and free-speech. john: there was also a lot of questions about whose speech was it? who was really speaking here? the website designer or the couple getting married? >> that is something justice sotomayor your pointed out. she looked at the mockup of the wedding websites she wants to create and she went page by page and kept saying, this is all about the couple, it is not about your speech, it is about the couple's story. that was very much part of it. whose speech is this? the lawyer for ms. smith responded that book authors tell other people's stories, but it is still there speech. john: they also probed the question we heard the colorado attorney general talking about earlier, where is the line? if you carve out an exception for this, what else?

here is justice sotomayor asking the question. >> how about people who don't believe in interracial marriage? for about people who don't believe that disabled people shou get married? where's the line? john: does this get down to how they write the decision? >> they are going to have to say if they do rule for the website designer, they are going to have to say why what she does is different from say ierracial marriages, for example.why is it different from race? both the liberals and the conservatives on the courtre concerned about this line and where to draw. i got the sense that they don't have much idea where they are going to draw, at least not now. john: this is not the first time this issue has come before the court. at one point, there was a rather tense exchange between one of the justices and the solicitor

general from colorado, harkening back to the other case and about the way the colorado civil rights commission treated it. it was justice gorsuch. >> mr. phillips did go through reeducation training pursuant to colorado law, did he not? >> he went through a process that ensured he was familiar. >> it was a reeducation program, right? >> it was not a reeducation program. it was a process to make sure he was familiar with colorado law. >> someone might be excused for calling that a reeducation program. >> i strongly disagree with that. john: what does this tell us about how this court approaches issues of religion? >> the six justice majority on this court is very strongly pro-free exercise of religion and when religion is part of the case, their alarm bells go up because they want to be protective of the practice of religion. i think justice gorsuch's

comments were showing that he thinks that religion is being disfavored again and again. he did not like what he called the reeducation program that the baker had to go through, although the government claims it was not a reeducation program. it was important for the baker to know what the law actually says. i think it just reflects their concern that religion not be a second-class amendment. john: thank you very much. >> thank you, john. amna: today the west is attempting something that has never been tried -- capping the price of oil. the g-7 group of leading industrialized nations, the european union, and australia have agreed not to facilitate the exrt of russian oil unless it is sold for 60 dollars or

less a barrel. and today the eu banned all aborne imports of russian oil. nick schifrin explains the impact of the farthest reaching efforts to target one of russia's main source of income that helps fund its war in ukraine. >> every day, russia exports an average of 7.7 million barrels of oil. in october, that made moscow, $17 billion. exporting requires a buyer, a ship which has an owner, charterers, and managers. it also has insurance and reinsurance and logistics. now all the services subject to u.s., eu, or australian law can't legally facilitate russian oil exports unless that barrel is bought for $60 or less. >> we want to reduce the income putin gets from his oil because he's financing his barbaric war with it and all the atrocities the russians are committing in ukraine. and at the same time, not disrupt international oil

markets. that would not help us either. nick: russia is the world's second largest oil exporter and this weekend deputy prime minister alexander novak said russia would keep selling oil only to those countries that will work with us under market conditions, even if we have to reduce production a little. those countries outside the cap include china, turkey, and india, which together buy 3.5 million seaborne russian barrels a day. today beijing said it would ignore the west's efforts. >> china and russia always carry out energy cooperation in the spirit of mutual respect and mutual benefit. nick: u.s. officials believe $60 is high enough to motivate pressure to keep producing, but ukrainian president volodymyr zelenzkyy called the cap, too high. >> you wouldn't call it a serious decision to set such a limit for russian prices, which is quite comfortab for the budget of a terrorist state. this is a weak position. nick: for more, we turn to the

deputy chief economist at the institute of international finance. the organization is a global organization. welcome to the newshour. how much will this price cap reduce russian revenues? >> it will reduce russian revenues by about 1% or 2% of gdp. it will make russia's deficit 3% or 4% next year. russia's debt to gdp ratio is one of the lowest in the world at 17%. i would say not too much. nick: if i'm thinking about this price cap in ukraine, 1% to 2% sounds like a lot less than what ukraine has suffered. >> absolutely. what russia has done since 2014 is prepare fortress russia. it has cleaned up its banking system and implemented inflation targeting and fiscal rule to be better protected from future sanctions.

nick: how is pressure likely to respond beyond the statement that we saw it make this weekend? are u.s. officials right that russia will produce the same level of oil? >> this is a tough prediction. russia has saidhey will not comply with the oil price cap, which is ironic because the price cap is close to their budgeted number. it might be convenient for them to comply. president putin can be extremely stubborn and not guided by macroeconomic considerations, but how it looks on the geopolitical agenda and he might refuse. the message has been extremely consistent. novak made the statement, the press for putin as well, putin himself, and they also made prepared guidelines for not to comply. nick: is there a risk that if russia decides to reduce

production that would drive prices up? >> there is a risk. if russia refuses, it means it shoots itself in the leg and we go back to the embargo. we spent a disproportionate time discussing the oil price cap because of the complexity of the endeavor, but the embargo is the real game changer here. europe refusing to buy russian oil. if russia refuses to sell at the cap, we go to an embargo i think. between 3.5 to2 million barrels per day could be removed from the market. i would have a short-term impact on the oil price. nick: the embargo is the eu stopping any kind of seaborne oil shipments as of today. how significant is that given europe's historic reliance on russian oil? >> europe has demonstrated it can live without russian gas. european reliance on russian gas

has been more significant than russian oil. before this war russian oil -- if therefused to import russian oil, we have seen your produces significantly. the embargo is just on seaborne oil, but germany and poland said they will not use the friendship pipeline. they will not buy oil from the pipeline either. europe is demonstrated they can live without russian gas, so they can definitely live without russian oil. nick: russia has created a ghost fleet of ships, ships not covered by traditional insurance, most of which is governed by the g-7. will those kind of efforts allow it to effectively skirt around the price cap? >> the fact that we gave them a

head start to prepare for this measure, it was important for them to have this gap between the implementation. russia established a working group, working hard how to circumvent the sanctions. they have found extra capacity. that's more than a quarter of the seaborne oil at the moment. they still have a big gap. once the embargo and the oil price cap go into force, they can't fully substitute the global companies provision of ships for seaborne oil. nick: these two actions today, the price cap we been focused on and eu embargo, are the largest attempt by the u.s. and europe to try to affect russia's finances when it comes to being able to fight the war in ukraine. bottom line, will the step seven impact in how russia wages this war in ukraine? >> i will turn it around and ask

you a question. do you think putin is concerned about 1% or 2% loss in revenues in the near term? is willingness to mobilize more than a million people for the war, will likely die without preparation for the pointless invasion, will that changes calculus? i highly doubt that. however, the fact that we are imposing measures is sending strong signals that we want to do what is possible to stop the war. it will have a medium-term impact. maybe not until potentially next year, but it will eventually limit russia's ability to continue this war or start new ones. thank you for having me. ♪ amna: tomorrow, georgians will decide the final uncalled race of the 2022 midterm elections.

the runoff contest between democratic senator raphael warnock and republican herschel walker comes after neither received a majority of the vote in november. unlike last year, the race will not determine the balance of power in the senate but it is , still neck and neck, with record numbers of rly voting. laura barron-lopez traveled to georgia and has this report. >> outside a polling place in a decatur shopping mall are some of the people that turned georgia blue in 2020, now trying for a repeat. >> i see you dancing. that's right. >> can i give you a fist bump? >> here and all over the state, the mobilizing group black voters matter offer a free t-shirt for a voter's phone number. >> that's how we build an army. that's how we build a movement. >> cliff albright is one of the group's founders and has lived in georgia for over a decade. since 2016, he and others have

transformed democrats ground game in the ste. they've reached 2 million black voters he says in this runoff. >> how do we get people excited? how do we create enthusiasm? how do we get people to feel like that they really matter, right? there's a lot of people that care about black votes, that don't care about black voters. we want people to know that we care about them and our communities and our issues. >> many we spoke to in this predominantly black and democratic area were backing senator raphael warnock, a pastor at the nearby ebenezer baptist church, where the reverend doctor martin luther king jr. once preached. >> are you ready to win this election? >> warnock holds a slight advaage in recent polls as he fights for a full, six year term against republican herschel walker -- a georgia football legend with a full-throated endorsement from former president donald trump. georgians have been waiting in this early voting line for an hour to cast their ballots. walker and senator warnock have had only 28 days instead of 2 months to get voters to the polls a second time. >> what they have done to this country in two more years, we

give them any more time, we won't recognize america again. >> republicans see critical ground to make up -- walker finished narrowly behind warnock last month, but he received 200,000 fewer votes than republican governor brian kemp. the two campaigned together to try to close that gap, with kemp making the case that walker would vote to support law enforcement and cut taxes in the senate. >> do you want a guy that represents our values like herschel walker or do you want somebody that has stood with joe biden 96% of the time? >> for months, walker has faced a barrage of scandals, including multiple allegations of domestic abuse and two former partners who have said walker pressured and paid for them to have abortions -- which is at odds with walker's antiabortion stance. at a walker event in deep-red muskogee county, republican voters either took the football star at his word, or said they wanted a reliable vote against president joe biden's agenda >> he stands for the values i stand for. i'm a pro-life person.

i don't like the politics of the biden administration. >> what did y make of the reports about the fact that he paid for an abortion for one of his ex-girlfriend's? >> i don't know what to believe anymore. people can say anything. i also believe in redemption, and i believe people can make mistakes and turn their lives around. >> those allegations and repeated gaffes have republicans concerned about walker's ability to turn out voters. supporters hope to win voters back. >> i don't know whether they will be energized to go out and vote. >> one of the 200,000 split ticket republicans who backed brian kemp, but not walker. >> asking us to vote for herschel walker is akin to perhaps playing russian roulette with american democracy. >> the former vice chair of the dekalb county election board, he has defended the integrity of the 2020 vote in georgia.

he doesn't think the runoff will push anti-walker republicans to reconsider. >> herschel walker had a chance to stand on the side of truth and honesty the same way that governor kemp did the same way , that secretary raffensperger did. instead, he basically took a stand on a waterbed of lies. >> if you are a poll watchers, god bless you. >> but among the republican base, belief in lies about a rigged eleion system remains strong. at the cobb coun gop headquarters, many are volunteering as poll watchers in the runoff and they are encouraged to report anything they consider to be fraud or disenfranchisement. >> there is no incident that is too small. >> after a prayer work began on , phone banking and canvassing for walker. joyce wice said she believes walker is honest and will support fiscal responsibility in the senate. when asked about the allegations that he paid for an abortion, she said it didn't line up with his purported values. >> herschel walker, in a direct quote, said that's a flat out

lie. and i believe him. >> walker's core message has not believed with the runoff. >> i'm that warrior for god. >> his stump speech likened a vote for democrats to sending georgia to hell and focused on transgender players in sports and gender identity. >> what the heck is a proun? i don't even know what a pronoun is. were going to give him a pronoun. former senator is his pronoun. >> this race is about character and competence. >> warnock is also pulling from his general election playbook - bringing back former president barack obama to rally voters in kirkwood. >> i am back. yes we can. >> roughly 5,000 packed into pullman yards, a historic rail yard -turned event venue to hear him speak. >> key mobilizing. >> multiple black georgians told newshour they viewed walker's candidacy as an attempt by republicans to win them over through representation rather than substance. 69% of white voters compared to

just 3% of black voters support walker, according to a recent cnn poll. >> i think people are irritated by his opponent and that's forcing people to come out. >> irritated how? >> irritated in that you just feel you can replace one black with another and we have common sense. so give me at least someone that's comparable in intellect. >> in the final days, warnock has focused on voting ghts - and the lawsuit his campaign filed and won against republican state officials to allow for saturday early voting. >> we saw a record voter turnout last week, but don't forget what we had to do just so that could happen. >> this is the first runoff since georgia passed senate bill 202 last year which made it , harder to receive a mail-in ballot, reduced the number of drop boxes, and shortened early voting. republican officials have pointed to the record early turnout as evidence that the law did not restrict aess -- but albright said those changes ma a difference.

>> two years ago, we were able to spend a month just registering new voters just for the runoff that weren't eligible for the general. we could not do that because in a 30 day period, the cutoff for voter registration was actually the day before the general election. >> h are you doing today? >> black pac is reaching millions of voters by repeatedly knocking on doors until the last days before the election. >> i'm reminding people about the election on the 6th. >> the stakes for an increasingly diverse georgia could not be any higher. i'm laura barron-lopez in atlanta, georgia. ♪ amna: with all eyes on the georgia runoff race tomorrow, that is where we begin with politics monday. amy walter of the cook political report with amy walter and

tamera keith from npr. let's pick up where laura left off. the senate race, the georgia runoff is not going to determine the balance of power. what is at stake? why does this matter? >> what's at stake for democrats is a couple things. they still have the majority with or without georgia, but when you have 51 states, it changes the balance of power in terms of what they are able to do in committees. they don't have to powershare with republican. that matters a lot in terms of the agenda in the senate. the other important thing is that helps to protect democrats going into 2024. it gives them a little bit more of a cushion. the 2024 senate map is as bad as the 2022 senate map was good for democrats. in 2024, demrats have to defend west virginia, ohio, and montana. that means if they lose just one of those states, they could

still have the majority, assuming the president wins reelection. >> as president biden put it as he was phone banking for raphael warnock from massachusetts late last week, in a 50/50 senate, every senator is the president because just one senator could derail his agenda and did and used that power to shape the agenda for the president. if there are 51, that makes a difference for the president and his agenda. not having the house means it is of limited utility, but the other thing is that right now democrats are just one heartbeat away from losing the majority. that extra buffer of one more senator does make a difference. >> imagine we start talking about 2024 this early in the conversation, but that's where we are.

i want to ask you about something else forcing more tough questions for republicans. comments president trump made about truth social. he doubled down on the election fraud lie saying, a massive fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the constitution. that led to rublicans, including congressman dave joyce, being asked about that statement. here's what he said. >> we can't be chasing everyone of these crazy statements from any of these candidates at the moment. >> but that is an extraordinary statement. you can't come out against someone who is for suspending the constitution? >> he has no ability to suspend the constitution. >> he says he is for it. >> he says a lot of things. that doesn't mean it is ever going to happen. >> he's talking about terminating the constitution. should this be this hard to answer?

>> this is again the dance that republicans have to do almost every day. how to answer these questions, they know they don't have the right answer for. this is just becoming overwhelming and yet they continue to refuse to simply call out donald trump and say we don't want you to run again, we would like somebody else, somebody who focus on the future, not somebody who wants to continue to talk about overturning the constitution. but they cannot, as long as donald trump has a pretty solid hold on the party, on the party's apparatus, and who has still approval ratings in the 80's among republican voters, so they find themselves in the place they have always been, just hoping that he either goes away, which isn't going to happen, or that somebody finally beats him in a primary, but they can't say that out loud. >> i should point out our colleague has been chasing members of the republican

leadership trying to get comments on them. senator john thin had this to say, of course i disagree with that, i swear an oath to uphold the constitution, the bedrock of our country, so i couldn't disagree more. there are folks like senator rick scott who dodged answering the question, basically said we need to enforce all of our laws, saying he believed mr. trump who said he was misunderstood. >> i would say the former president did put out another truth today on truth social and centered around saying, i never said that, that's not what i said, which this year's word of the year for merriam-webster's gas lighting. that is what that is. that is what the former president is constantly. he says something that may be is a little unclear but seems to imply something and then he says i never said that thing as soon as people react.

that is the danger republicans find themselves in. if they react too strongly before he says i never meant to say that. let's just be very clear that although in this post over the weekend he talked about terminating articles of the constitution, what he was arguing for on january 6, what he has been arguing for since, which is either a rerunning of the 2020 election or reinstating him as president, all of those things are out of line with the constitution and would amount to terminating the constitution. the other thing to note ishat as amy points out, there are large number of people who believe, they believe the lie, they believe he should be in office, that he should be reinstated now and there is a subset of people who believe that is plausible. >> we will see what republican

lawmakers have to say about that. i'm sure there will be another round of questions about that. on the democratic side, the new proposed presidential nominating calendar that president biden has put forward. instead of iowa, south carolina would be going first. the congressman from south carolina jim clyburn said in part, i've been asked what is the potential for south carolina becoming the first primary state means for black voters, my response is simply, we are seen. black voters have long been the backbone of the democratic party. >> and get the two first states, iowa and new hampshire, notoriously not diverse. what's interesting, every four years a party realuates the calendar and they try to readjust based on what happened the previous year. sometimes it is fighting the last war. our process was too dragged out, we've got to shortent. it was too short, we've got to

make it longer. in this case, this benefits joe biden, who of course was rehabilitated by south carolina after coming in fourth and fifth in new hampshire and iowa. this is also something that has been in the works for years. this isn't just immediately benefiting joe biden. it's reflecting a frustration among democratic voters, that the core as you pointed out, the base of the party, black voters, don't get the representation that they deserve as early in the process and that there is an overwhelming focus on two states, including iowa which is no longer particularly competitive. interestingly, it was iowahat gave barack obama his boost in part because it allowed him to say, if a black candidate for president can win in a state like iowa, then i can win nationally. >> does this change the

nominating process? >> weon't truly know whether south carolina is the new iowa, whether it can be that launching especiallyf president biden runs for reelection. it would be kind of irreleva this cycle. we aren't going to know the effect a biden has said may be in part to lessen the blow of this that he thinks he should be revisited every four years. -- it should be revisited every four years. it would scramble the nominating process. the political professionals that set up shop in the states, who know each and every person who must be spoken to, and whose backyard to go to, it would be scrambled. i will say there are several states that have moved up or are given more prominence that our swing states, purple states. nevada, michigan, georgia.

new hampshire is also a swing state. >> you mentioned those political professionals setting up and iowa. amy walter had a rye smile [laughter] good to talk to you. ♪ amna: drag shows are no longer the underground phenomenon they once were. family theme to drag events are often held in many cities. that is the backlash and rhetoric against lgbtq people has grown, so have the teats to the drag community. [chanting] more than 50 members of the far right white nationalist groups proud boys and patriot front marched in the streets of columbus, ohio on they were saturday.

protesting a school's holidrag storytime event, where three local drag performers read children books and sing holiday songs. school officials at red oak community school decided to cancel the event citing safety concerns. >> the world is getting more and more unsafe are the lgbtq community. the attacks are constant and getting worse, the fact that we are not able to successfully host this simple event shows the extent of the damage. we have to do better. amna: it's one of a number of drag story hours disrupted by far-right protesters this year, including in nevada, oregon and california. events like drag queen storytimes are intended to promote inclusion and diversity to younger audiences. but they have become a target for right wing and politicians. >> let's say you were interested in sexualizing children and unfortunately some people are, what would you do? you might have a drag queen story hour at a library or at school. that's

where you would indoctrinate and sexualize children. it's happening across the country. amna: some republican candidates amped up targeted messaging before the midterms. in june, the gop nominee for arizona governor kari lake tweeted -- they kicked god out of schools and welcomed the drag queens. they took down our flag and replaced it with a rainbow. but those who track that rhetoric say the real-world consequences are clear. a new report by the lgbtq media advocacy group glaad found at least 124 instances of drag events being protested, threatened oattacked this year in 47 states. the report also found a total of 8 proposed bills this year aiming to ban or restrict drag performances. to discuss these threats and the legislation and rhetoric targeting lgbtq people, i'm joined by glaad president and ceo sarah kate ellis.

welcome to the newshour. thank you for joining us. can you explain a little bit about the culture of drag and the place that it holds in the lgbtq community? >> sure, so drag has long been a place of joy, of protest, of expression. it's an art form. and it's been a sacred space it's been a place where we've entered as family as friends, and it's been a place of joy. and now it's a place of terror, quite frankly. it really has changed dramatically in a very short period of time. amna: when you started hearing some of the rhetoric of people accusing people of grooming at these drag storytime events, what did you think? >> i was honestly surprised by it. we've heard that rhetoric before around marriage equality when we were fighting for marriage equality. and i thought it was done there, quite frankly. but over this past year, what we've seen is a slow and steady

assault against the lgbtq community, both in words and in action. and i think it really started during the legislative session this past year when we saw over 300 anti-lgbtq bills and we saw that starting to get tractn and build and build and build and so a lot of that was against trans youth. so really targeting -- the targets that have been against our community have been around trans youth in our community and now the drag community in our community. amna: you mentioned there were 124 instances of protests d attacks you have tracked and that it is likely in undercount. what are we talking about? he said there is terror in the community. why? >> i think because of all of this rhetoric that we're seeing . there have been so many articles

mentioned and talk about the lgbtq community in a really negative, nasty way. and what happens here is that social media goes unchecked and it takes those lies and that disinformation and it spreads like wildfire. it stirs up people in this environment that is very deadly. i's really interesting because we started doing this count right before colorado springs happened because we realized that if you pulled back and looked at it holistic lay, there were so many attacks against the drag community -- it was not these isolated instances. it was a coordinated effort against the drag community , against the lgbtq community. and right before the mass in colorado springs at club q, it all of a sudden came together that there were 124 attacks and

protest against drag events. in these events, just so you know, are light and fun. for my family during covid we , did drag bingo on zoom as a holiday event so that we all could get together and have some fun and some laughs and joy in a really dark time. these are really fun events and i think now they are terrorizing us, so that we are scared, but we will never back down. we'll never stop having drag events. amna: when you talk about the attacks and the reats specifically on these drag storytime events? is it fair to link those to the ramped up rhetoric we have seen from far right republicans? >> absolutely. you can see a direct link from what far right republicans are saying to what's happening on social media. what happens on social media is it gets repeated, amplified, and spread. and people start to organize attacks on social media against

these drag events. you can actually we just put somebody , but a person that is specifically lgbtq focus in the center for extremism with the adl, the anti-defamation league because we can see direct links from what is being said from politicians to what is set online to than what the attks are in our community. so yes, there's a direct line and it's really sad and these politicians understand that people expect lgbtq people. the vast majority of americans accept lgbtq people and they're trying to use us as political ponds to inflate their career, to raise money for their well-being with lies and disinformation. amna: the violence of course is a disturbing trend. sarah kate ellis, ceo and president of glaad. we thank you for joining us to talk about it

tonight. >> thank you. ♪ amna: becoming a poet laureate is a coveted role and rare honor. rarer still -- having two laureates in the same family. jeffrey brown went to philadelphia to meet with a poetic family and hear how a mother-son duo works to bring poetry to a wider public. it is part of our arts and culture series, canvas. >> want to between or up or down or through the bloodline. desire is spacious. want is in the dna. >> airea d. matthews is philadelphia's newest poet laureate. >> i saw his body disfigured to come out of place, barbed wire around his neck. >> wes matthews is the city's former youth poet laureate.

they are mother and son -- perhaps the first such duo of their kind. we met recently at their family home. >> when i first got the news last january that i was going to be the poet laureate, we were driving back from florida and i yelled back in the car, i got the poet laureate ship, and then he yelled back to me, legacy! [laughter] >> you handed it down. >> wes was the first laureate in the family. he is the second of four children. a self-described shy child, he came to poetry early on by watching youtube videos of his mother and it became a pla to express himself. >> not everyone who has seen the bar of a cell knows of its coldness. >> by 2018, at age 17, hwas named youth poet laureate by the free library of philadelphia. last year, the library named

his mother philadelphia's sixth poet laureate. >> i encouraged you to apply and you encouraged me to apply. >> i think that is symbolic of the type of relationship we have. i mean, this constant encouragement. >> airea grew up in a working class family in trenton, new jersey. >> poetry was not on the the agenda or in the forefront of anyone's mind when it came to, what are the possibilities for a career? what are possibilities to sustain you? >> she got degrees in economics and public administration, before adding poetry to the mix, first as part of the poetry slam scene in detroit, before getting a masters of fine arts at the university of michigan. her 2016 debut poetry collection was lected for the prestigious yale series of younger poets. she is now associate professor and co-director of the creative writing department at bryn mawr college. >> i just try to hold space for the very many me's. you know?

the service airea, the poet airea, trying to wear very many hats, the teacher airea. all very different, but working toward the same goal. >> her commitment to service is what drew her to the laureate position. outside the main branch of the philadelphia free library, she spoke of wanting to make poetry more available -- giving poets new platforms to reach audiences, and bringing poetry to public places for people who don't usually have access to it. >> you might see a public projection. you might see a projection of a poem against the side of an sidewalk. the sites that i'm targeting around the city are sites of distress. it's a redirection. my hope is that those thoughts direct and lead to a library, or they lead to a local branch to get a book in your hand. people may never come in contact with a hard copy of a text, but you can still interact with a text. it can still interact with you. i can say that the literary has changed my life, so i'm hoping that it has the power to do that for other folks. >> i do love philadelphia.

i'm glad i've gotten a chance to serve it. >> wes matthews, now a senior at the university of pennsylvania studying anthropology and religion, has also inherited a strong sense of service. >> for me to feel fulfilled. there needs to be something hands on. there needs to be something more concrete where i feel like i can help and i can serve and i can be directly involved in the life paths of people, community. >> he writes and spends time at the campus's kelly writers house editing recordings of readings and performances. he also works with local students, something that began during his time as youth poet laureate teaching poetry , workshops and music lyric writing. >> it really feels like the full-circle of poetry. it feels like the fulfillment of the poetic impulse for me. // just like my mother's youtube videos and her performances

inspired me all those years ago, i still want to be a vector of that inspiration for other people when i can. >> it is possible to fall. >> and terrible love with burning. >> at one event at the kelly writers house, airea asked her son to join her reading her poem rebel fugue. some people worry about how many young people are reading these days or taking to poetry. what do you see? >> i see very young, brilliant writers who are looking at the world with a critical lens and an artistic lens at the same time. i think i see this ability to see outside of oneself. we're in thage of technology where, you know, the world is no larger than the screen that ts ten inches in front of your face. and i'm seeing these students who are able to interpret a world beyond the screen. and that feels very encouraging to me. >> there are lot of people who

don't think that poetry or music exists within themselves. ey think, like a lot of people think of a poet as being this essential, discrete category, like you either have it or you don't. and i've never viewed it that way. to write poetry, you need radical encouragement and radical engagement because it's hard. it requires observation and it requires that you process observation in a certain way. but it's beautiful and it's fulfilling and it's feeling. >> you got that? >> i did. >> radical encouragement. >> between all their other roles, both matthews continue their own writing. her next book of poetry bread and circus will come out in the spring. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown. amna: what a beautiful family tradition. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon.

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supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. and with the ongoing support o these institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ >> this is the pbs newshour from weta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. >>

♪♪ -"cook's country" is about more than just getting dinner on the table. we're also fascinated by the people and stories behind the dishes. we go inside kitchens in every corner of the country to learn how real people cook, and we look back through time to see how history influences the way we eat today. we bring that inspiration back to our test kitchen so we can share it with you. this is "cook's country." ♪♪ today on "cook's country," christie makes roast pork loin with 40 cloves of garlic... i tell the story behind all that garlic... adam reviews hand mixers... and lawman makes orange upside-down cake.