♪ judy: good evening. on the newshour tonight, warnock wins. georgia's incumbent senator defends his seat against a trump backed challenger giving democrats a larger majority in the u.s. senate. the future of elections. the supreme court hears a case that could give state legislatures nearly unchecked power to change voting role. russian invasion. we speak with with the weight he has prime -- with lithuania's about the war in ukraine. >> in the possession of all sorts of weapons that would be useful for ukraine to defend its land and restore its territorial integrity should be sent to ukraine.

judy: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by. ♪ >> moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that in excess. >> pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial iser taylor's advice to help you live your life.

life well planned. >> the walton family foundation. working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people and nature can thrive together. supported by the john d and catherine t for carter foundation -- f t macarthur foundation. more information at mac found.org. and with the ongoing support of 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. judy: repercussions from the finallwest senate race of this year's midterm elections are still echoing in washington tonight.

democratic senator rafael warnock was reelected to a full six-year term in tuesday's runoff, defeating republican challenger herschel walker. laura braun rope as continues our coverage of the result. >> w. senator warnock reading chuck schumer after delivering democrats a critical 51st vote in the senate. >> georgia did it again. >> he wins after the states all records are now in george's runoff. more than 3.5 million votes cast. in his victory speech, democracy and the fight to protect and expand the right to vote was prominently featured >> just because they endured the rain and the cold and all kinds of tricks in order to vote does not mean voter suppression does not exist. it simply means you the people have decidedour voices will not he silenced. >> last year warnock who is a

pastor at atlanta's ebenezer baptist church became the first black senator to represent georgia. a state that has grown increasingly diverse and competitive for democrats. he is on track for a roughly two point margin of victory against republican challenger herschel walker, their retired football star encouraged to run by former president donald trump. >> the best thing i've done in my whole life. >> despite past statements lying about the 2020 presidential election, walker admitted defeat and encouraged his reporters to believe in election officials. >> i want you to continue to believe in our elected officials. >> we'll have to figure out what we have to do differently. >> in washington republican senator rick scott who led the gop campaign arm the client to say ifhe party needs to distance itself from trump shared >> we do have to have a message that when pre--- that

when republicans run, this is what republicans are going to get done. >> at the white house president biden called warnk last night to congratulate him. >> i am georgia. [applause] i am an example and and iteration of its history. of its pain and promise. >> the wind caps off the final election and the first time since 1934 the president's party did not lose any senate seats. judy: senator warnock's win has helped georgia solidify itself as a battleground state and gives democrats a critical advantage in the senate. stephen fowler of georgia public broadcasting has been keeping a close watch on the runoff. he was in the room for senator

knox victory speech. welcome back to -- having a 2.8% margin over herschel walker. in the runoff. how did warnock do it? >> looking at the top level results, rafaelarnock improved his margins in 148 out of 159 counties in georgia. he improved in democratic strongholds or he ran up the score. he cut in the margins in strong deep red conservative bastions and he did so by reaching multiple groups of people from black voters that are the democratic backbone to younger voters home for the holidays and thanksgiving to even reaching into those deep red areas and trying to target conservatives and moderates that may be supported governor brian kemp and other republicans in georgia but could not support herschel

walker becausef his past and the allegations against him. judy: speaking of that, there were questions during this campaign in the general and the runoff about herschel walker's qualifications, his personal life and yet he was able to come close. almost three points. what are republicans in the state saying today about him and what happened? >> there is a lot of soul-searching and finger-pointing about this election. republicans have made the argument literally anybody else but herschel walker would a republican u.s. senator right now because of walker's unique basically flaws as a candidate. his past. he made comments about everything from graduating from the university of georgia which was not true to claiming he was in law enforcement which was not true and his biography was riddled with falsehoods people did not trust and then there

were allegations of tngs like allegedly pressuring ex's to have abortions despite publicly opposing all abortion rights. it is the type of things that made enough republicans uncomfortable with sending him to the senate even though he would have voted for policies that republicans wanted it it came down to what senator warnock said during the runoff that the race was about character and competence and ultimately at the end of the day more georgians felt that warnock had the character and competence to serve them for the next six years. judy: you have also been looking at what this means in the senate now the democrats have more than a 50-50 type. they have a whopping 51 to9 majority. what is that expected to mean in terms of what gets done? >> it is a deep sigh of relief for democrats because now they have outright control of the senatehings like confirmations

go a lot smoother. it weakens people like senator joe manchin and kyrsten sinema that have sometimes obstructed democrats policy goals in the senate and it gives them one extra seat heading into a 2024 election cycle that is a little tougher for them and faces an uphill battle with several vulnerable incumbents. what it does it does not give them free reign since republicans did take the house back but it gives them extra breathing room to maybe get a little more de these next two years. judy: as we said, we showed in the report from laura, a big smile on chuck schumer's face for all the reasons you suggest. looking ahead quickly to 2024, what are you hearing already about what this could mean in terms of george's place? the democrats want to move it up earlier in the primary calendar.

>> in addition to that, atlanta is one of the final cities to intentionally host the democrats convention so georgia is a power player heading into 2024 and with republican victories at the state level finding a path forward potentially without donald trump looming large over the republican party, both sides have a lot of time and energy invested into george's next two years and beyond. judy: going to be an exciting time in the peach state. ♪ ephanie: i'm stephanie newshour west. we will return to the full program after the latest headlines. the u. supreme court will decide whether state lawmakers havebsolute authority to sha congressional maps or whether state courts can continue to have their say.

the justices heard arguments from north carolinrepublicans who argued courts that have struck down republican drawn districts have exceeded their authority. we will explore the case and the potential implications nationwide after the news summary. the biden administration has reversed itself and once a trump era policy on migrants to remain in place. title 42 allows borde officials to rapidly expel migrants without allowing them to seek asylum. a judge had ordered ito end by december 21 but border crossings are surging and the administration said today at once a higher court to keep title 42 in place. in russia president putin downplayed the risk of nuclear war over ukraine. speaking in a tablet -- a televised meeting he said russia's nuclear arsenal is meant to be a deterrent. >> we have not gone mad. we have these means and they are more advanced and modern than in any other nuclear country. we are not goingo swing them

like a razor but we proceed from the fact we have them. stephanie: putin also acknowledged the nine month old war is taking longer than expected. he said it could a lengthy process. peru is in political turmoil after president pedro castillo tried to dissolve congress and was himself ousted instead. protests erupted after he announced he would rule by decree and installed an emergency government. senior ministers called and attempted coup. congress voted him out of office and swore in the vice president as interim leader. he was arrested on a charge of rebellion. china rolled back straight covid restrictions today effectively endorsing moves already underway. beijing and other cities have stopped requiring a negative test to enter most public places. people with mild symptoms may now isolate at home instead of

government centers. today's announcements rot cautious reactions. >> our life and work have become more convenient because we do not need negative covid-19 tests to enter office buildings which saves us time to because people are not testing anymore, if there is someone who is infected we will not know in timely manner. stephanie: despite the announcement, china's national health commission says restrictions may not completely lifted until at least mid-2023. authorities in indonesia paroled umar patek, an islamic ella tech who helped build the bali bombs that killed 200 -- that killed 200 people 20 years ago. officials say he has been reformed and will help you radicalize other militants. more declassified back more unclassified documents -- more classified documents have turned up. at least two items marked

classified at the unit in west palm beach near his mar-a-lago estate. the material has been turned over to the fbi. utility officials in central north carolina say they expect power to be fully was poured for dozens of customers by late tonight. repairs began saturday at two power substations damaged by gunfire. the attacks initially knocked out power to 45 thousand homes and businesses. officials announced real words totaling 75 thousand dollars for information leading to an arrest. today marks the 81st anniversary of the attack on pearl harbor. the u.s. naval base in honolulu. survivs were honored at a commemoration ceremony. about 2400 americans were killed and the united states declared her against japan the next day. still on the newshour, german police arrest dozens of far right extremists attempting a coup. the museum works to repatriate artifacts looted from west africa and much more.

>> this is the pbs newshour. from w eta studios in washington and in the west fr the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona university. 4 the u.s. supreme court heard arguments in a case that could have far-reaching effects and dratically reshape the country's elections. john yang explains. >> this case hinges on the interpretation of these 22 words in the constitution. the times, places and manner of holding elections shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof. does that mean only state lawmakers can regulate elections including drilling congressional districts however they want to without state courts reviewing their decisions or shed the term legislature be read broadly to mean the entire apparatus of state government including state courts interpreting state constitutions?

the justices wrestled with the case for nearly three hours today. twice the allotted time. marsha is the chief washington correspondent and nate is the -- the immediate case is about redistricting in north carolina. the state crt sent the lawmakers back to the drawing board twice. the second stab they said was a probe republican gerrymander. they had a panel of experts draw up their own map, the courts own map for use in last month's elections. what about the future? what are the consequences if the court adopts this. which is called the independent state legislature theory? >> they could issue a narrow ruling or a broad ruling. at its narrowest the court would say state constitutions cannot constrain state legislatures so

that a state judge whether it is at the state supreme court or a trial court judge would not be able to use the state's constitution to prevent partisan gerrymandering. there could be broader interpretations as well because this caused is not -- this clause is not a gerrymandering clause. this could potentially prevent state courts from applying state constitutional provions apply to all of the electoral system. absentee voting, primary elections, anything that could be ierpreted as the time, place and manner of congressional elections. >> isn't this theory what president trump's lawyers used to argue about keeping donald trump under the white house after the 2020 elections? >> that is not this particular clause. are they separate clause in article two that relates to presidential electors and the power of a state legislature to appoint them. if you believe the state

legislature is independent and not subject to state judicial review, that would apply to the states choice of electors as well which would bgiven solely to the state legislature. >> you were in the courtroom today for these three hours of arguments. there was a lot of skepticism from the liberal justices about this. here is justice elena kagan. >> let me think about this word legislature. we are thinking about it as embedded in system of constraints. one of those constraints is the governor. another of those constraints is the court. that is the normal way legislatures operate and act is a subject. not as absolute but as subject to constraints. >> what is the significance? >> justice kagan and this concern was echoed by justice sotomayor or and justice jackson. as justice kagan further

explained, under this theory the republican leaders of the north carolina legislature are pushing, justice kagan said the theory would get would of checks and balances. the normal checks and balances we see operating in government today and she said that are critically needed right now more than ever. that concern continued to play in her questioning as well as the other justices. justice jackson made a point she had a hard time she said wrapping her mind around the fact while state constitutions are the source of the party for state legislatures and here state legislatures under this theory are saying we can violate the state constitution. >> for the conservative majority, originalism is important to them. today there was even a question from justice alito about the meaning ofair elections in the north carolina constitution in this chain -- this exchange with

donald verrilli. >> i guess the point is what is this free elections clause trying to get at in the north carolina constitution and the other constitutions that adopted at the time of the framing? >> 200 plus years ago was anybody at that time saying election is not free if there is political gerrymander? >> where else did this argument come up today? >> this case very much involves what at least four justices are committed to, originalism. they look at constitutional questions through the lens of text, history and tradition. the supporters of this theory believe history is on their side whereas the opponents of the theory believe history is on their side. i would have to say the weight of history if you do respect american historians and they filed numerous briefs in this case, the weight of history is on the opposite side of the north carolina republican lawmakers.

mr. verrilli was talking about the free elections clause in the north carolina constitution. 30 states i believe and the professor can correct me if i am wrong have those free elections clauses. many were adopted in the late 18th century, early 19th century and today they are viewed as requiring fair elections and the fair administration of elections. justice alito's comments seemed to suggest while he was skeptical that when they were adopt it and even earlier anybody had in mind partisan gerrymandering. >> with those parts of the constitutions go away if the supreme court adopted this reasoning, this theory? >> they would not apply to federal elections. they might still apply to state elections the idea of the independent state legislature doctrine is the legislatures are independent and these state

constitutional provisions related to elections cannot be plied to them by the state supreme court's. i want to emphasize how radical this idea is. when in high school civics we learned about federalism, we learned about separation of powers and checks and balances, this rips all of that away. you're going to have the u.s. supreme court telling a state supreme court what it is able to do and it is going to on more the state legislatures from their state constitutions. >> who seems to be the strongest proponents of the theory? >> it is hard to say who was strongest. i would say most sympathetic appeared to be justices alito, thomas and gorsuch. the ones with the greatest skepticism and concern were kagan, sotomayor and jackson. that leaves the chief justice justice in kavanaugh and amy coney barrett who really did not

tip their hands either way. all three of them made comments that might lead to believe they could go either way so we are going to have to wait and see. i think those three justices may hold the key to the fate of this theory which as the professor said is consided revolutionary. >> thank you very much. >> pleasure, john. >> thank yo, john -- thank you. ♪ judy: a massive u.s. defense related bill weld out late last night is making its way through congress. the annual national defense authorization act is a 4000 page bill put together by bipartisan negotiators. it sets parameters for the military and this year it includes major policy changes. lisa desjardinss on capitol

hill with more. what is in this bill? >> this is a sweeping piece of legislation. i have definitely not read all 4000 pages and there is an 800 page accompanying report. overall it is an increase potentially in the strength and power and funding of the u.s. military. a 4.6% pay raise for most members of the military. it also includes things like more support for ukraine. more support for taiwan. this bill includes a great deal of important policy. judy: let's talk about some of the specifics and starting with how i would change the military justice system. >> this is historic and this is something we have discussed on the show for years. let's look at what we are talking about when we talk about the military justice system. right now in general commanders are the ones who oversee whether or not those who serve under them would be prosecuted, how

they would be prosecuted if there are court marshals. this bill would change that so that 14 crimes would be independently handled, taken out of the chain of command. those crimes include things like murdersexual assault and sexual harassment which would be included in this over the course of two years. this is something some senators have been working on paired one of them, kiersten gillibrand of new york. she spoke about why this is so important to her today. >> having independent prosecutors take these cases of sexual assault, sexual harassment, murder and other types of violent felonies will allow for a serious look at these crimes when they get -- when they are committed so that there can be a chance of conviction. a conviction rate is extremely low right now and so few cases go to trial, botta court-martial. -- go to court-martial. >> also we know there is a low

rate of reporting things like sexual assault. gillibrand and others hope this changes. this has been a sensitive topic. it is something she worked on behind the scenes all year to get in this bill nelson judy: we know another part of the bill getting a lot of attention today has to do with covid vaccinations for members of the military. >> let's look at what the policy is right now in the u.s. military and what is changing. currently members of the military are mandated to be fully vaccinated. that began in 2021. this bill under a compromised reach, something republicans push for -- some 8000 people have been discharged from the military from all branches for refusing to be fully vaccinated. this bill would change that and end that mandate within 30 days of this bill becoming law. it would not reinstate those who have already been discharged.

this is obviously a subject that crosses cultural and public health debates but it is something some republicans pushed for hard especially raising those cases of the house and service members who have discharged for refusing to be fully vaccinated. it is something democrats did not want to give up. we heard from the pentagon today they think the same steak. they think this could affect the readiness of some of the troops. it is something democrats were willing to put on the table and put in this bill because they went to the rest of the policies inside of it. we will save the department of defense has 90 -- has had 99% of the military right now has had at least one covid shot. going forward without that mandate will see how this is affected. judy: a fair amount of compromise had to have already gone into the bill before it was going to at the floor. you're telling us tonight there seems to be a snag. what is going on? >> there are so many cross plot

lines in this end of season for congress right now. as we speak, congressional democrats are not just thinking about the fact they wonder longer controlhe house but as that disappears they will not be able to pass legislation of significance problem we for the next two years. they are looking for any must pass legislation to get any of their last bills out. this defense authorization bill could be the last major bill to pass in congress. what happened tonight is the congressional black caucus is meeting. their votes are needed for the defense authorization bill. they are thinking of withholding the votes to get a prominent voting rights bill attached to this defense bill. i know it soundsike it does not make sense but this could be one of the last trains out of congress this year. i think it is a longshot for them to attach that bill but they are hoping to get some kind of voting rights legislation attached because they are concerned this could be one of

if not the las major bills to leave congress. we will keep you up-to-date on that. that vote is supposed to happen right now. it is waiting on the congressional black caucus to see if they will get on board or if they will need some kind of other man's met to get on board this bill. judy: we know that has been a big party for democrats. so interesting to watch all of this. not going to get much sleep tonight. ♪ more than two dozen people suspected of plotting an armed coup have been arrested in raids carried out across germany. the suspects are linked to a far-right extremist groups and it allegedly began preparations to carry out a violent plot that included storming the german capital and executing top government officials.

>> under the cer of night, and alarming plot foiled the german special forces. >> several members of the terrorist organization considered entering the german parliament through the use of force. >> 25 people were arrested suspected of planning a coup to overthrow the german government. all allegedly connected to the reich citizens movement, a farmer extremist movement that denies the legitimacy of germany's postwar government. >> the suspected terrorist group uncovered today was founded dazed on coup d'etat fantasies and conspiracy ideologies. >> 22 of those arrested are alleged members of the group. three others are alleged supporters. two more were did -- were detained in italy and austria and 27 others are still think investigate appeared a german newspaper identified two suspected ringleaders. one a prince and the other a

former paratrooper. police raids are not unusual in germany. a country still haunted by its nazi past. prosecutors say some 3000 officers conducted searches at 100 dirty sites -- 130 sites across the country. the plan was extensive. >> the investigations provide a glimpse into the abyss of a terrorist threa >> a glimpse into the group's shows the danger it presents. in 2020 supporters attempted to storm the german parliament. the year before the group killed a politician. german intelligence believes about 21,000 people are involved in the movement. 5% of them are seen as extremists. german officials are calling the raid a success for national security and they have made a clear tough actions against extremism must and will continue.

let's take a closer look at the extremist forces behind the plot in germany and whether the approach of the german government offers any lessons for the u.s.. heidi is the cofounder of the global proct against hate and extremism. she has tracked extremist movements from more than two decades. welcome back to the newshour. >> thanks for having me. >> 25 arrests in this case. 130 sites searched. what is size and scale of this operation tell us about the threat. >> is at probably one of the largest domestic terrorism operations undertaken by the german intelligence agencies. the movement that these folks were arrested comes from has more than 20,000 followers according to the federal office for the traction of the constitution in germany. it is a pretty large movement that already has a track record of violence including killing cops, has connections to the military and also involved in

attempted storming of the capital there. it was a full-fledged coup attempt in germany. >> you know how cable they were of implementing this plan? >> it does not seem clear exactly how far along they got. the things we know is they had appointed their own mister of justice, minister of culture. they had somebody in line to lead the new military they were going to create. we know they had weapons. we know they did weapons training. how far they could have gone in terms of going to berlin and taking over government offices i think that is unclear and probably somewhat unlikely to this is not something you want to let fester. >> do you see parallels between this group, their intentions, there animating ideologies and rubes here in the united states >> or elsewhere? there is no question the reich's burger movement which is who these people were affiliated with in germany is very similar

to some of our antigovernment movements. they would issue their own driver licenses my passports. they reject the 30 of the federal state to that sounds like our antigovernment activists in the u.s. the other thing about this is they were motivated by qanon which is a crazy conspiracy theory american created that has migrated across the world including into germany. those links exist post on that -- both on the ideological front and in terms of the aims of what these organizations are trying to achieve. >> do we know anything about communication, coordination of any kind across these groups? >> what we know is in places like telegram and online these people interact. they share ideas. during the coronavirus pandemic, anti-lockdown movements went quickly from the united states into places like germany and that animates this movement to we know they share tactics. one of the things that is happening with these folks in

germany are all kinds of weird filings against judges and threats against judges and lice officers. those same tactics are used by antigovernment groups in the u.s. under the banner of sovereign citizens. these things are shared the idea that a deep state exists, that was one of the motivating things for this movement. that is a very american idea. >> german officials were tracking these groups and people, monitoring them, worked quickly to foiled this coup attempt. do you see the same level of response in the it states to the same rights? >> no. the united states has behind the people of dealing with domestic white supremacist and antigovernment groups. during the trump years and before these threats were not taken seriously by the federal authorities. it has changed with lighted and some -- with biden. we have not until june of 2021 clearly said we need a national

strategy to deal with these domestic terrorism threats. germany has been far ahead of us in terms of tackling this problem. >> when someone like you who has tracked this for decades and knows intimately how these groups operate sees what happened in germany and you know what you do about how the u.s. is or is not responding, what us and should weigh -- should we take away -- what lessons should we take away? >> we need to strengthen the response to this kind of extremism. the germans have been much more aggressive in reading extremism out of the military, intelligence operations focused on these kind of threats. they also have a much more elaborate intelligence operation to keep track of these individuals and organizations. all of those are things the american government could learn from. these threats are not going to be disappearing anytime soon. >> cofounder of the global project in state and extremism. thank you for drawing us --

project against hate and extremism. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for havg me. ♪ judy: when nato leader helping drive the fight against russia in ukraine is in washington to show her stron support for the lied effort to evade putin's army. the prime minister of lithuania has met with officials in the biden administration and capitol hill. >> lithuania is on the front line against two autocracies. it is national between a russian enclave and belarus. it has long warned the world of the russian threat. now it has taken on china. last year lithuania opened a representative office in taiwan. china responded furiously and has tried to punish the country and the e.u. the lithuania prime minister is

here. let me show you something vladimir putin said earlier today in which he had a televised meeting and raised the possibility of a new. -- a nuclear war. >> regarding threats of nuclear war, you are right. this threat is growing. under no circumstances will russia strike first. >> what do you think the message vladimir putin is sending? >> it is the same message he has been sending several times already. it is completely reckless when nuclear weapon is being -- in the way that russia does. if you ask me whether there is something new, i have heard that at least seral times. >> are you saying the threat is empty? >> no, i'm saying we should take that seriously but the question is what we do because if we take that seriously and then do nothing like sit and tremble, this is not the right strategy.

i think what is the right strategy, what has been done in the past when mr. pruden was talking about nuclear threat is a clear message if you try something stupid like that, the response will be immediate and that will be a very serious response. if he sees there is a retreat or appeasement or something that sometimes countries do think is a good strategy, of dictators, usually what they do, they are just pushing farther because they take it as a sign of weakness. >> russian nuclear doctrine is when bases holding nuclear assets are attacked, russia could consider some kind of nuclear response and ukraine has not publicly admitted officials i talked to say ukraine did attack a russian base earlier this week with ukrainian drones and that bass has nuclear capable long-range bombers. is attacking a russian base with nuclear capable long-range

bombers reckless? >> nobody can judge it according to these lines because what is reckless is putin's war. this is reckless. we'll know many things are happening just because putin decided he can invade a country that he has no right to invade. he has no confidence -- competence in trading ukraine how to live their lives. this is reckless. anything else is somewhat different because ukraine is defending itself. >> u.s. officials have been concerned publicly and privately about the risk of nuclear escalation and one of the red lines the intelligence community here believes is that putin haves is that long-range american weapons base and a ukraine and the u.s. has restricted those weapons from going to ukraine. you have argued the u.s. should send those weapons. do you think there is a risk of escalation if the u.s. and certain weapons to crane?

>> i think for russia you do not -- you cannot calculate what it is a risk of escalation because if they want to escalate they will escalate whatever. in russian propaganda they are not fighting ukraine. they are fighting nato. they have to have a legend to explain why they're losing on the battleground to >> you think the u.s. should send these longer-range weapons? >> i think countries and a the possession of all sorts of weapons that would be useful for ukraine to defend its land and restore its territorial integrity should be sent to ukraine but of course this is for a particular country to decide should >> talk about how the war in ukraine ends. i want to show you a couple of statements. the first in general mark milley. he is the president's top military advisor and he said recently neither side could win

militarily and therefore when there is an opportunity to negotiate, when peace can be achieved, sees the moment. zelenskyy's chief of staff tweeted last month there will be peace when not a single russian soldier remains on ukrainian soldier. -- on ukrainian soil. they either leave it or arrest in it. we leave the choice of wording to them. who is right? >> it depends on how serious you think there is a scope for negotiations paid i don't think russia is interested in negotiations and in the current moment. what they want, they want a cease-fire. they want a break. want that for practical reasons. not for peace for reshuffling, rearranging, regrouping so they can come back when the weather conditions and other conditions

be more favorable. >> general milley is saying russia cannot win militarily but nor can ukraine. >> i think this is the right solution because if ukraine does not win this war will be no end of the war. >> meaning future wars >> end of the war in europe. >> french gave an interview on tv about the future of european security and says we must address nato expansion and how to give guarantees to russia. his macron too focused on peace and not focused enough on victory? >> i think he is focused on the wrong assumption that there is any ret whatsoever -- any threat whatsoever for russia. to that we should think about security guarantees for russia because nobody ever thought about attacking russia. there was no serious risk. when russia says something about

nato threat, this is ridiculous because all the presence ofato on the eastern flank was a response to what russia did. now we have a higher presence of nato partners on the ground because of invasions to finland and sweden joining nato because of invasions in february. so what threats are there for russia? this is nonsense. i don't think we should very much care about security guarantees for a country that is a terrorist state, that is killing civilians, destroying infrastructure and doing whatever they can, the war crimes, to make people -- just give up and abide to russians dictate. this is ridiculous. >> you are on the front lines of not only russia but also china. officials visited taii to talk about lessons learned.

the discussion focused on the importance of leadership and the importance of taiwan's ability to turn citizens into soldiers as we have seen in ukraine. what lessons do you think taiwan should take from the war in ukraine? think the main lesson from ukraine is that basically people who believe in freedom and who believe in their country, they are invincible. three times bigger country cannot do much about it. failing on the battlefield should the consequences for a population and infrastructure are very dire. there are many atrocities and war crimes going on as we speak. the spirit of people, you cannot beat that. >> and so taiwan should think of it spirit -- it spirit. >> the hard defense and security, the weapons, military training is everything that is

obvious but the first thing i think is their motivation. the fact you fight for the most important reason and world. >> madam prime minister, thank you. >> thank you. >> as debate over how and when to repatriate art continues, one clear-cut case of looting in the 19th century has art leaders taking a strong stance. jeffrey brown went to look at a museum that is confronting the controversial origins of some of its collection. as part of our alts -- our arts and culture series, canvas. >> a 17th-century century brass head of a ruler from modern-day nigeria. a treasure exhibited in famed american archaeology museum.

note the placket underneath telling us how this came to be here. after looting by british troops it was later sold to the museum. >> we need to come to terms with both the history and potential of the museum. >> what stories do museums tell us and what should they tell us? one answer comes at the redesigned africa gallies at the university of pennsylvania museum of archaeology and anthropology known as the penn museum. the lead curator shared how -- the lead curator. >> how do weake that conversation and transform the narrative, sees this moment to transform this museum, the rratives in the museum and the service we can provide to the community about the national narrative, the international narrative, about the narrative of humanity? >> he is a professor of sociology and african studies at the university.

also one of the hosts of the long-running pbs series history detectives. >> one ivory arm lit is one of the key items in our new galleries. beautiful. >> and a filmmaker. >> if we are going to tell the story of human civilization, we must reconfigure these spaces to speak to various audiences in ways that remove the race bias and prejudice which are the foundation of museums everywhere. these museums were to justify empire. they were to justify the colonization. they were to justify the marginalization certain groups of people. we have to challenge that. >> that is done in different ways to make clear the history of colonialism and enslavement that led to these objects being here. anrefrain the objects --

reframe the objects themselves. through photographs showing how they would have appeared in their original religious functions. there is also an effort to connect past and present through the commissioning of works by contemporary artists from the african diaspora. >> we wanted a story that said this past is in conversation with our now. we hear are standing here looking at these objects and they have a meeting now. >> the idea then -- >> >>in here as elsewhere, a major question surrounds the runs as. used for a wide variety of artifacts that date to at least the 16th century. their story is well documented. in 1897 the british invasion and looting of as many as 10,000 objects and ultimate dispersal to many of the world's leading museums. in recent years some

institutions have begun to return the treasures including the smithsonian in washington, d.c. which held a ceremony in october to hand over 29 objects to nigerian officials and a member of the royal family. the smithsonian secretary. >> what this really is is a reckoning for museums. for museums to say we no longer collect things just because we think it is right. we married a relationship for the communities and as we collect to we are ultimately doing a better job. it is about not so much what we collect but what we preserve. >> the penn museum founded in 1887 holds some one million objects spanning 10,000 years of history. it is also a leading research center. it has been undergoing a major renovation in recent years. updating its exhibition spaces, reevaluating its collection and

the information it offers the public while also addressing several controversies surrounding its holdings. one involved the morton collection. more than 1300 human skulls gathered in the 19th century and used to advance racist eugenics theoes. it came to the penn museum in the 1960's. more recent research suggested includes the remains of her team black philadelphians. plans r a reburial are ongoing shared another recent revelation , that the museum held the partial remains of dems killed in the 1985 bombing by the philadelphia police of a residential rowhouse shared home of members of the black liberation move organization. the remains were returned last year at the university and museum face continuing lawsuits. the museum director who arrived a year ago has a simple policy mantra for all repatriation questions shared let's do the right thing.

>> i think repatriation wk is going to be what a big part of what museums like this does and what our museums do. >> the best scenarios he thinks could be a win-win. >> when we talk about repatriation, it could be a kind of all or nothing. send it all back. it is gone. >> i think that is the wrong way to think about it. it is not simply a matter of fedex inc. the material back. it is about building these ownerships and collaboration. in an ideal situation we be allowed to keep some portion of the material on long-term loan acknowledging the ownership and the ability to have a conservation training program or to conduct archaeological fieldwork in nigeria to have an exchange of personnel and ideas with our counterparts. this is exciting and it enhances the folio of projects that a

research museum engages in. >> but it is complicated. the bronzes are a clear-cut case of looting. so much else here and elsewhere was collected in ways that were then legal but are now at the very least raising questions about power imbalances and collection practices that are no longer considered ethical. yes, the objects must be returned he says but that cannot be the end of the conversation for museums. they must engage more with african-american communities for one thing and rethink their entire mission. >> restitution can become whitewashing the issue if we forget these objects came with people. the enslavement of africans, the enslavement of africa and the colonization in africa are part and parcel of what we are looking at when we see these objects.

so you cannot just sever that relationship should >> send them back and forget about it. that would be bad. >> that would be bad. it is bad what people are doing because they are not creating a conversation. it is too late to say you are going to put things back the way they were because they are not like what they wear. >> negotiations continue for the return of the bronzes. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown at the penn museum in philadelphia. judy: astonishing how many of these artifacts there are. thank you, jeffrey brown. that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and here tomorrow evening. from all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe and we will see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by . >> consumer cellular school has been to provide service that helps people connect.

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