♪ judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on "the newshour" tonight... a major deal -- congress moves closer to passing a massive spending bill to keep the government runni, with many other contentious pieces of legislation attached. then... border battle -- migrants' lives hang in the balance after the supreme court chief justice blocks the biden administration from repealing a controversial covid-era immigration policy. and... countering china -- questions about the united states military's readiness loom as china's expanding armed forces menace taiwan's sovereignty. >> there is no magic bullet, no new technology that's going to be developed that will ensure that the united states can, without question, deter the chinese from attacking purely militarily.

judy: all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour." ♪ >> major funding for "the pbs newshour" has been provided by -- >> for 25 years, consumer cellular has been offering no contract wireless plans designed to help people do more of what they like. our u.s.-based customer service team can find the plan that fits you. to learn more, visit consumercellular.tv. ♪ >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions, and friends of "the newshour," including paul and kathy anderson and george and camilla smith. >> the rules of business are being reinvented with a more flexible workforce. by embracing innovation and looking at not only current opportunities but ahead to

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judy: the u.s. congress has finally begun moving tonight toward funding the government through next september -- the rest of this fiscal year. the bill unveiled early today in the senate, totals $1.7 trillion. it includes record military spending and bans chinese-owned tiktok on government devices, among many other things. senate democrats and some republicans are supporting it, while other republicans are opposed. sen. schumer: the sooner we pass the omnibus the better. we have until friday before funding runs out. but we ought to get it done well before then. i hope no senator will stand in the way of us finishing our work. we cannot afford a shutdown. sen. paul: i brought with me the omni -- 4155 pages. when was it produced? in the dead of the night, 1:30 in the morning when it was released. now people argue that it's conservatives' fault. it's "you don't have a christmas spirit," somehow you're holding

up government. judy: the bill's opponents did say they will not prevent the senate from acting before the friday night deadline. we'll get into the details after the news summary. the biden administration asked the supreme court to end asylum restrictions at the southern border but not until after christmas. the expulsions were to cease tomorrow, but chief justice john robert temporarily blocks that from happening. 19 states have challenged letting the policy lapse. ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy may be coming to washington tomorrow for his first overseas visit since the the russian invasion, if security allows. "the newshour" has confirmed that plans call for him to meet with president biden and address congress. rlier, zelenskyy made an unannounced visit to bahkmut, in eastern ukraine, where his fighters have held off months of

ferocious russian assaults. in moscow, russia's president putin met with leaders of areas that his country has illegally annexed. and, he addressed security forces in a video message. pres. putin: the situation in donetsk and luhansk and in the kherson and zaporizhzhia regions is extremely difficult. but people living there, russian citizens, hold out hope for you, for your protection. it is your duty to do everything necessary to ensure their safety. judy: putin also called for stepped-up efforts to root out those he called traitors and spies. the taliban government in afghanistan has now banned women from public and private universities. that announcement today marked the latest move curbing rights and education for afghan women. also today, the taliban released 2 americans they had detained. the u.s. state department said it was not a prisoner swap. a german court today convicted a

97-year-old woman as an accessory to more than 10,000 murders during world war ii. she received a 2-year suspended sentence. irmgarfurchner entered court in a wheelchair. she had been 18 when she worked as a secretary at a concentration camp, but prosecutors said she knew of systematic killings. >> i believe that it's very important for the survivors but also for everyone today that this trial ended with a verdict. i believe the sentence is adequate, but what's important is that there was a sentence in the first place which ruled that she is guilty. judy: in court, furchner apologized and said she regretted working at the camp. palestinians staged a general strike in the occupied west bank today, after a former leader died of lung cancer in an israeli prison. protesters marched through city streets in ramallah amid shuttered store fronts. militants called for confronting israeli troops, but there were no serious clashes.

back in this country, an earthquake rattled northern california this morning. it was centered offshore, near ferndale. that's roughly 210 miles northwest of san francisco. the shock caused minimal damage to homes, buildings and roads. more than 70,00 customers lost electricity, and 2 people were injured. banking giant wells fargo has agreed to pay $3.7 billion for a string of federal violations. the consumer financial protection bureau says the company charged illegal fees and interest for mortgages and auto loans, and levied improper overdraft fees. on wall street, stocks managed tiny gains after days of losses. the dow jones added 92 points to close at 32,849. the nasdaq rose a single point. the s&p 500 was up four points.

still to come, a drag queen discusses the threats faced by the transgender community. a legendary soccer announcer recounts his native argentina's world cup victory. a nebraska sculptor becomes the first african-american to have his work displayed in the u.s. capital's statuary hall. plus much more. >> this is "the pbs newshour" from weta studios in washington, d in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: u.s. lawmakers are working around the clock to pass a massive $1.7 trillion government funding bill before they head home for the holidays. over 4000 pages of legislative text were released overnight and they include key spending measures like over $800 billion in defense spending, $45 billion

for ukraine aid, 800 billion dollars in nondefee spending, and at least $38 billion in disaster aid. following this closely is a veteran capitol hill reporter and cofounder of punch bowl news. john, welcome back. thank you for joining us. let's start -- give us an overall sense of what is in this massive piece of legislation, 4000 pages. john: it is a huge bill, it was dropped at 1:45 a.m. last night. nobody outside the appropriation committees in the house and senate has read the full thing, it is too much. there is a senate vote going on right now. what is in this bill is this would fund the government through september 30, 2023. it would keep government agencies fully funded through next year. it ends a face-off we had the

last couple of weeks over government funding. right now, government funding expires midnight friday. if they don't pass this bill or some other billo keep the government agencies open, there would be a shutdown. they are starting the process right now. starting the parliamentary process and moving forward right now. this is aital piece of legislation and funds the entire government. there are 12 different appropriation bills in one package. it is just a huge patient legislation. judy: andhey waited until the last minute. majorwins and ls for each party in here? john: the republicans played a tough hand here, they had all of the cards. they wanted a big increase in military spending and they got it. with the situation in ukraine and taiwan, all of the challenges the u.s. military faces worldwide, they got that. as you noted, it is $858 billion

just for one year for military spending for the united states. the other thing they wanted to do, they wanted to break this relationship between increases in military spending and increases in domestic spending. social spending. this parity that has existed the last couple of years. they were able to do that as well. we are still spinning a huge amount of money on domestic programs but it is not increasing as much as defense spending, a 10% increase in defense spending. judy: we know there are interesting adds. the electoral reform act ended up think part of this, and a ban on tiktok. john: the electoral reform act is to avoid what happened on january 6, 2020. this bill, led by senator susan collins and senator joe manchin would limit the role of the vi

president during the electoral college certification of state results -- what happened on january 6. this is what the pro-trump supporters when they attacked the capital, they were trying to ban the certification of joe biden's victory. this would stop that and make sure the vice president's role is ceremonial. it would also make it more difficult for senators and members who object to state results to try to force a vote on that. this would try tstop what happened january 6 from happening again. it's a very important piece of legislation and this should pass as well as the rest of the bill. the other issue is tiktok. there is concern about law enforcement and security agencies. this is a hugely popular app, owned by a chinese company that has partial ownership by the chinese government. this bill would ban it from government devices. a number of states are doing the same thing.

we will see much more on this in the next congress. there will be efforts to ban the use of tiktok across the united states. judy: and the sense is this will ultimately pass? eureka: -- john: it's gonna be tough. technically, the senators opposed to this, they could drag it out, into next week, but they've said they are not going to. they want some votes on amendments, to change the bill, but there is enough democratic support and enough republicans to pass it in t senate. think that will happen tomorrow, possibly thursday. then it goes to the house. that will take one day, and then it goes to president biden's desk. judy: two other important things i want to ask about. one, very quickly, the house ways and means committee taking up the question about what to do about former president trump's taxes. is the expectation they are going to ask those be released and made available?

john: yeah, that is happening now. the ways and means committee is still in executive session, which means it is just members and staff, close to the public. they are reviewing whether to release trump's taxes. our expectation is that if it happs, it will be quickly, it could be tonight or tomorrow. there is literally one copy of the tax returns. they are so confidential. even with the vote, they have to have time to process it. we expect that tonight or tomorrow. judy: you broke the story late today about ukraine's president making his first trip overseas outside the country since the war began, and he will not only meet with president biden but we expect will address congress tomorrow night. can you quickly tell us what is going on? john: we expect him to address a

joint session of congress tomorrow, a big deal. this goes back to the omnibus funding bill. it includes 45 billion dollars in a new economic and military aid for ukraine and to support the u.s. allies in eastern europe, nato allies, with refugees and other economic issues they face, pay for u.s. troops in those nato allies. this is a big deal. part of the reason why zelinski is coming is to rally support for the on the bus. this plays into the mystic politics here and i can ukraine. the united states is by far the most important supporter for the ukrainian government. if this 45 billion dollars passes, the united states will have spent, be on a path to spend more than $100 billion helping ukraine to fend off russian aggression. judy: remarkable. john, we thank you for your

reporting and for joining us. we appreciate it. ♪ stuck between competing immigration policies and squarely in the middle of a humanitarian crisis, border communities try to balance the needs of residents and migrants coming to the united states. last night, the supreme court blocked a change that was expected to release a new surge of migration starting tomorrow. late today, divided administration asked the court to end asylum restrictions, but not until sometime after christmas. william brangham has more about how one border city is preparing. william: in normal times, asylum-seekers that make it to the u.s. border are entitled to a hearing. during the pandemic, and emergency rule called title 42 allowed u.s. officials to immediately deport certain migrants.

last night, the supreme court put a hold on a lower court's decision to end those title 42 expulsions. that hold may only last a few days. el paso, texas sits along the mexican border and is already struggling for migrants who have come across. we have the deputy center manager joining us now. thank you for being here. your mayor declared a state of emergency over the weekend over the anticipated surge of people coming across the border. temperatures are dropping overnight well below freezing and people basically came with what they were wearing on their backs. can you tell us a little more about thpeople who are there and the difficulties you're having just caring for this cuent number? mario: that's exactly it. the current numbers right now, it is difficult, customs and border patrol are doing street, community releases.

on a regular basis, they are released to ngos, churches, local shelters so they can be housed while waiting for transportation. this extra flow they've seen, they have to do street releases because there's not enough availability. they need connectivity so they can schedule a bus rightut of town. we are offering hotel space so they can get out of the cold. this group, a good portion do't want any aid or care, they are choosing to be outside and that is a difficulty because we are concerned for everyone's safety. so those came in transportation, to get the people off the street to protect them in the community. we have texas guard and dps agents coming in.

the texas guard are being staged at this point in time. from our understanding, that is for the request we put in to assist with the sheltering and operations and what it will take if title 42 goes away. william: certainly an enormous amount of challenges. your mayor has said if title 42 were to go away, there is potentially 20,000 migrants who would like to make it across and come to el paso. given the current situation, could you handle those kinds of numbers if they came? mario: we are preparing as many bed spaces as we can. 20,000 people, i don't know many communities that could handle that overnight. the biggest issue for us, besides that, is the transportation, we just don't have the means to get them connected to get them connected other locations. that is the concern, the reason for dlaring, to make sure we

can call for additional resources as we did with the state resources coming in. it activated the national red cross, they are coming in to assist for sheltering up to 10,000. right now we are in the process of identifying and setting up facilities for large sheltering operations. william: there's been a fair amount of criticism of the federal government response to the border. congress as well, but the federal government specifically. do you think federal officials appreciate what you and other officials along the border are having to deal with? mario: i would only imagine it is appreciated. we constantly ask for change. what i mean by that is we understand there is migration that will happen and there are legal ways for people to pass into the community and we understand that, but there's got to be a more orderly fashion and we see numbers of the size. -- this ze. that goes with our requests, and we have done numerous, is there any way that water control can decompress?

what i mean is we saw 1600, 1700 people released into el paso every day last week. on top of that they were flying people out of el paso, so customs and border patrol flying them to other locations to be released. the only mechanism they have in place is to fly to other border communities, and we know they will feel the strain. title 42 will affect all of us. we ask if there are other options. another thing we have brought up, the possibility of making a change to where people coming into the community can be turned, instead of asylum-seekers, more of refugee status. they can operationalize with the afghan model. that ges us a place to house people, get the macro mated, and make sure wcan arrange travel in an orderly fashion. we are asking for immediate things like that. but we know it takes policy, it takes more than just the u.s. working at this to try and work

on this migration we are seeing right now. funding is not going to buy us out of it, it will take an effort. william: mario d'agostino, thank you very much for your time. mario: thank you. ♪ judy: the biden administration calls china the most consequential strategic competitor for the united states now, d for decades to come. one major soce of tension? taiwan. the island democracy is supported by the u.s., but china considers it a breakaway province and has vowed to use force if necessary to unify. nick schifrin recently traveled to the american military command in the pacific tasked with preparing for future conflict with china nick: 300 miles off

the coast of hawaii, the f-18s are ready. pilots fly off of the u.s.'s oldest operational aircraft carrier to ensure what the u.s. calls are free and open indo pacific in an area that covers half of the planet. we were invited by indo pacific command to see what the military calls the joint force, how each military service contributes to the fights. >> i consider it the cornerstone of the fight. nick: christopher sweeney commands the strike group that typically deploys would have a dozen ships. it's one of the u.s.'s most visible protections of power that could one day deter china from attacking taiwan. christopher: hopefully the chinese party recognizes that and we are making them think, this is not the day to do that. nick: the uss nimitz has more

than 500 sailors and numerous jets. but china has major it is vulnerable by producing some of the most advanced missile systems on the planet. in 2021, the people's liberation army tested more missiles than the rest of the world combined. china's arsenal designed to make the u.s. think twice before defending taiwan and to keep u.s. ships away. a defense department map shows antiship missiles with a range of 1200 miles. a chinese estate owned aerospace company even created a propaganda animation showing its missiles destroying an airaft carrier. christopher: i think about it every second. when i left the." told my wife the only thing i care about is -- when i left the pier, i told my wife the only thing i care about is bringing sailors back safe. i don't just sit in one spot in the ocean, it is a big ocean and

hard to target something in the ocean. i hear that a lot, the carriers at risk, they don't move that fast. that is sort of a joke butot. nick: that is a reference to u.s. air fce bases. the air force plans to use more small bases in the future because a more distributed footprint could complicate chinese war plans. this colonel is the lead in a plan to execute that. >> i think everything is vulnerable. no bones about it, we are tied to the ground. if you only have so many main operating bases forward, especially with host nations and partners, that makes the targeting calculus way to simmer for an adversary. we've got to get out and get distributed. nick: protecting those distributed bases will be the job of the u.s. army. on this day, the soldiers practiced lifting and moving 9300 pound artillery. in the pacific, the army will

have to be able to island hop with their weapons, set up quickly and fire. the army is developing longer-range missiles than it currently has. it could better target chinese ships, airfields and command centers. the army deploys missile defenses to protect u.s. bases. >> it's only the army that provides those ground-based air defense capabilities at scale. nick: major general brian gibson leads the defense command. last year for the first time, his unit conducted the u.s.'s first live fire exercises from australia. >> the ability to operate over raider expanded geographical distances is essential for the joint force and essential for us. we live in a dense neighborhood. nick: how vulnerable are u.s. bases across the region? >> we are all vulnerable. nick: michael swain directs a

think tank that advocates restraint and is policy advocate. he says that the u.s. increasing its capabilities and capacity in the pacific could lead to the war it is trying to deter. michael: there is no magic bullet, no technology that will be developed that will ensure the united states can without question deter the chinese from attacking taiwan militarily. you need to have some level of real, credible reassurance on the one china policy. america's continued commitment to the notion that it is open to a peaceful, uncoerced, possible unification of china with taiwan. nick: he is not alone in his skepticism. >> i think we have to be quite careful about our actions because you can stumble into things. nick: this retired four-star

navy general. every living commander was invited to celebrate the commands of 75th anniversary. should the u.s. and china cooperate more? >> in many ways i think that is the right answer, but from my view, there is far too much war talk, if you would, especially around washington. nick: taiwan is increasing defense spending and expanding conscription, but many experts believe it is not doing enough and fallon questions whether the u.s. should come to the defense of taiwan until it proves it can defend itself. >> there is more they could do and it would be helpful if their actions match to their aspirations. nick: a key part of the u.s. strategy to deter china is altering alliances with pacific allies. those allies are increasing their defense spending. u.s. officials say they are more

willing to discuss coming to taiwan's aid. this retired admiral is the commander from 2002 through 2005. >> the international community will deter china from taking action. nick: the u.s. military here wants to move faster to improve its capabilities to deter the people's republic of china or p.r.c.. this retired general was u.s. ambassador from south korea after serving as the commander here for three years. >> as the p.r.c. continues to improve its capabilities and weapons systems, influence its partners, we have to do the same and more, because we have to stay ahead of the p.r.c. in all mission areas related to warfare. nick: in the waters of pearl harbor since perhaps the best example of the u.s. staying ahead of the people's republic of china and warfare. with a quick salute to the ships

namesake, the navy commander walks me on board the uss missouri. he leads the crew of a nuclear submarine that cost more than $3.5 billion to procure. it is name for the battleship that hosted japan's surrender. >> this is a piece that the pro-harbor naval shipyard got for us from the battleship missouri. nick: the crew shows how they get a torpedo ready to launch. besides torpedoes that can attack ships, these virginia class submarines can terry crews missiles to attack targets on land. it is the one system experts agree is the most difficult to detect and it can sail through what, for the chinese, are the most sensitive waters. >> if the operational commander tells me as a ship he wants me to go to a certain area via a certain route that is international waters, that is

certainly within our right to do so. the international waters of the taiwan strait are available for navigation. nick the u.s. calls china the only country with the intent and por to challenge u.s. influence long-term. so regardless of any debate, the u.s. military is accelerating its posture in the pacific. for the pbs newshour, i am nick schifrin in honolulu, hawaii. ♪ judy: it's been a year of increasing anti-lgbtq sentiment, in the united states. threats and attacks on drag events and queer spaces, including the deadlyttack in colorado springs last month. all of this while new data from the trevor project, a nonprofit that aims to prevent lgbtq suicide, found more than 50% of transgender and non-binary youth in the u.s. seriously considered suicide this year.

amna nawaz has our look at how many in the queer community are working to bring acceptance and joy, despite the pain. amna: states oposed a record number of anti-lgbtq legislation this year, with more already planned for 2023. a few of those bills have specifically targeted drag events. most recently in texas, where a second bill introduced in the state legislature aims to ban minors from attending drag shows and restrict drag artists and transgender people from public performances. but despite conservatives and the far-right attempts to shut down drag, those within the lgbtq community are keeping it alive and visible. eureka o'hara is a drag star doing just that, a former contestant on "rupaul's drag race" and co-host of the hbo series "we're here." eureka o'hara joins us now, welcome to the newshour. thank you for joining us.

eureka: yes. thank you for having me. amna: so the show we're here goes into small towns across the country to put on a drag show. for anyone who who hasn't had a chance to see it yet just , explain to us a little bit what is the mission you and your co-hosts are on? eureka: i mean, i think the mission mostly is to put a spotlight on small town queer exisnce and support. the biggest part of our show is that we tell stories of either these queer people or their allies and their experiences in these situations and living in this space. and what we do is we put on a one time drag show that we p a performance on around our story. we invite that town and the people living there to come and support. and what we do is we show those people maybe how much support they have that they don't realize. sometimes we do get pushback, so people get to see what the real pushback and discrimination is that's happening in these towns for these people as well.

so we get to kind of live, you know, a little bit of their life and see what it is like to exist queer in their community. amna: so this third season starts off in texas, and before you even got there, you faced a huge backlash. there were anti-lgbtq messages and homophobic and transphobic rhetoric, threats of violence online. has that always been there or was this response something different? eureka: you know, we've always gotten a little pushback because i think that when you come into such a non-liberal area and a place that is not used to having something so out there and visibly queer, that we do get a little pushback. but i do feel like recently, more than ever, due to political support and outward speaking people of power against lgbt people, that people are being more vocal and more visibly discriminatory. amna: when you go into these spaces, what does that mean for you and your safety? eureka: well, honestly,t just

makes us take more precautio for our safety. we had to have security more than ever. but also, it gives us more of a drive to exist and more of a drive to do what we're doing. you know, at the end of the day, like without us becoming more visible and without us pushing past all of this negative rhetoric, we are only hurting ourselves if we don't push even harder. so all it does is give me more strength and more will to continue the work that we're doing and continue to show positive visibility for not just queer people, trans people, but of course, also drag entertainment. at the end of the day, that's what we are. and i realize that drag is becoming more visible, but i also feel like they're using drag and that legislation to not necessarily target drag people, but more so shadow target trans people, which are the people that are going to be more directly affected by some of the imagery or the presenting yourself as the opposite sex of your cis born gender, which is

really the biggest issue, i think, because at the end of the day, drag has existed even before it was legal. you know, it's kind of that rebellious act is what drag is all about. it's about, you know, the the standing up and representing a part of yourself that you were always told to hide. amna: there are number of republicans, self-described conservatives, who argue that drag is something to be feared. we've heard this before for some far right voices. they say that it indoctrinates and sexualizes children. what do you say to people for whom that message resonates? eureka: well, i think that people automatically are being brainwashed with fear tactic and that's often what happens when it comes to people trying to get people on their side when they have an opposing opinion from the norm. to say that you should fear drag, it makes no sense. i mean, most drag queens don't necessarily want to work or perform for children. not all drag queens want to do that.

there are some situations where we do drag story hour or we allow all ages to come to a drag brunch show during a daytime event. but it's all within legal standing. and of course, again, that's a parental right, whether or not they allow that child to attend. and if you have a queer child that doesn't get exposed to difference and lgbt parts of their community, i feel like it's a parent's right to give them an opportunity to be around people that are more like them, to learn from that environment. it's not something that we're petitioning or going on missions for to like convince and teach children the differences in queer existence and heteronormative existence. that's not our agenda. amna: eureka, before i let you go, i have to ask you, you are yourself are from a small town in tennessee, which is not unlike many of the towns that you go into now on this show on hbo. what has drag meant for you? what place does it hold in your life? eureka: i mean, for me, it taught me how to be my authentic self.

it gave me confidence to exist in a world where, as a 6'4", overly flamboyant, young, queer male at the time growing up, i didn't understand who i was or where i existed or belonged in the world. and drag gave me a reason to belong. and it gave me a reason to exist. and it gave me a platform for myself to be that person, for other people to learn who they can be and fight for what they are, and their confidence in existing can do for them emotionally, spiritually. you know, i'm just like anyone else. i believe in god. i pay my taxes. i take care of my family. i have a niece and nephew that don't have their parents. me and my twin sister take car of them. i ma sure that they go to school, that they have everything they need, school supplies. my niece is actually recognizing herself as bisexual, and these laws could potentially affect her in the future. so that's putting me in fear.

you know, are my children -- because they are my children in my heart -- are they at risk because of your opposing opinion and the laws that you're trying to push? that's my fear. amna: that is eureka o'hara, co-host of the hbo series "we're here." thank you so much for your time. eureka: thank you. ♪ judy: two days after winning the world cup, argentina's national soccer team arrived home today to a thunderous and joyful welcome. a victory parade for the team, led by star player lionel messi, spread across the capital. millions of ecstatic fans flooded the streets of buenos aires to celebrate the historic win, on what was declared a national holiday. the world watched the extraordinary final match against france, and it ws especially extraordinary for one sports commentator.

jeffrey brown tells us about that. jeffrey: his is perhaps the best-known and most loved shout of "gooooaall" in the world. and on sunday, argentine-american telemundo sportscaster andres cantor made the call as argentina won the world cup in dramatic fashion. take a look. [yelling] >> goooooooooaaaaaaal!!! [yelling] jeffrey: argentina is champion of the world over and over again, you in tears, i don't know if that emotion has worn off, how do you feel today? andres: the emotion has not worn

off. i wash on social media replays of the match and reaction to that clip and i still get very emotional. you got to understand the person i was holding onto is a former argentine world champion in 1986. it meant a lot to him, to me, and to all argentines. jeffrey: i wonder if you can give americans a little perspective on what it meant. i grew up in boston where we waited for 80-some years for the red sox to win a world series, several generations, but this is an entire country, it is a national obsession. give us some perspective. andres: it is a national obsession, that is very well said. soccer is part of every single argentine dna. it is very hard to explain. we have been waiting 36.5 years for this moment. every world cup since the 1986

in mexico, they've been very close for argentina. there were run ups, we had a horrible one in 2018. we had a sense this could be it. it meant so much for the country, and especially a fairytale ending for lionel messi, playing his fifth world cup and most likely his last. i think he more than anybody deserved to win the world cup. jeffrey: tell us more about him, because there were so much focus -- 35-year-old, as you say, he had to clearhis was his last world cup. considered widely greatest player perhaps in history, but with that shortcoming of never having really delivered at the biggest stage for argentina. andres: exactly. he took a load off his back

winning koba america, but he had this last dance in the world cup to see if he could win it. i don't know what his legacy would have been if argentina would have come up short. but definitely now, he is up there with the greatest players of all time. and for many, he will be remembered as the best in history. jeffrey: what about the match itself, speaking of considered the best in history? what stands out a few days later about the competitiveness, about the play itself? andres: it is very strange that in world cup final you would get to see six goals, that you will see a player score a hat trick like france did. it was a roller coaster of emotions for the argentinian fans for sure. i do not remember a more dominant team over the other four 76, 77 minutes.

argentina played really well. and france did not. then a few mistakes and in two minutes france ties the match . i'm going to share my thoughts with your audience, it was 1-1. i am processing as an argenti my grief for the world cup slipping away because i wasn't sure our player was going to make it. and then thergentine goalkeeper had a tremendous save with his leg. 122 and 36 seconds out of 123. we went to the penalty kick shootout and it was crazy. you know how it is, it could go either way. luckily for argentina, it went their way.

jeffrey: a huge victory, but this is a difficult time for argentina. rising poverty, inflation near 100%. you just wonder how much does a victory like this matter? what can it mean? andres: it meant absolutely everything. i don't know if you have seen the scenes today, 5 million people around the city in the victory parade, it had to be cut short because the bus could not advance any farther and they had to immigrate the players on helicopters. it is relief, it is joy right beforehe holidays because argentina is an obsessed sucker contributed this will not -- soccer country. this will not take away the things that are going on in argentina, but definitely people are very happy at least -- i don't know how long it will

last, but this made the people very happy. jeffrey: andres, exciting moment for everybody. congratulations to argentina and we are happy for you. think you for joining us. andres: thank you for having me on your show. ♪ judy: a major attraction for visitors to washington, d.c. is the the national statuary hall collection. housed in the united states capitol building, it honors two notable people from each state -- most of whom are white and male. nebraska will soon help diversify the collection, both with the subject of its sculpture and with the artist creating it. special correspondent cat wise has the story for our arts and culture series, "canvas." cat: in this unassuming warehouse in midtown omaha, sculptor littleton alston is primed to make history.

his studio is dotted with models of past projects -- works that are now on public display across nebraska, the state he's cled home for over 30 years. from martin luther king, jr. to football legend gale sayers, his statues are changing the face of those we put on pedestals. littleton: i want to lift up the voice of the african-american community through my work. i know that there are stories to be told about our contribution to humanity that may at some point inspire that little kid that i was to stop and have that lightning moment. cat: alston grew up in washington, d.c. in the 1960's and 70's, in a neighborhood that felt worlds away from the grandeur of the u.s. capol. littleton: d.c., at that time, was very polarized.

we grew up in what they call the ghetto. it sounds like a cliche, but it did exist and it was pretty isolated. cat: as a child one summer, alston remembers walking to the corner store when something caught his eye. littleton: if you stand on east capitol street and you look towards downtown, on a clear day, you could see the capitol dome. just a little bit. so i said to my brother david, i said we're going to go there. we got our bikes. we rode straight down east capitol street that next morning and we would look at all of these figures, and it knocked me out. i had seen things i had never seen before. it was like a different planet. cat: the figures alston admired that day were almost entirely white men. just 4 women were in the statuary hall collection in 1970, and there were no statues of african americans. but that's slowly changing. since 2000, ten states have replaced their statues, including nebraska.

in 2019, the state unveiled a likeness of chief standing bear, who, 140 years earlier, successfully argued in an omaha court that native americans are people in the eyes of the law. he will soon be joined by a statue of celebrated early twentieth century author willa cather, who was raised in nebraska and is known for her novels about le on the great plains. littleton: history teaches us so much and we learn from history. and i think we grow from it. and that's what we're seeing with the change out. cat: alston eagerly applied for the cather commission. littleton: i connected to her life, her being a writer and an artist, and when i won, it had rounded a circle. putting a piece into the u.s. capitol, a place i had gone as a child. no idea of what a sculptor was . it just moved me to tears.

cat: alston credits his mother for much of his success. recognizing his artistic talents at a youngge, she sought to find him a spot at what is now the prestigious duke ellingt school for the arts in washington's wealthy georgetown neighborhood. littleton: so i had to learn how to take the bus to duke ellington. do three transfers and go all the way across to georgetown every single day to go to school, because to me, duke ellington was like oz. i was leaving violence, i was leaving pressure, i was leaving aggression. and i was going to a place where i was amongst others that could create. cat: alston will be the fit african-american artist to contribute to statuary hall in its over 160-year history. his work on the cather sculpture was captured by nebraska public media for its documentary, a sculpted life. littleton: research is critical.

you have to pull as many images as possible from many angles. i put together a compilation of images. i usually fill the wall with images. you're trying to capture the soul of the person upon whom you are working from. cat: like her sculptor, cather strove to capture the humanity of her subjects, and that's what set her writing apart and gave it staying power, says scholar andy jewell. andy: i grew up in nebraska, and initially i avoided cather's work because i had a lot of assumptions about it. i thought it would be boring prairie stuff and pioneers. i didn't want that. but then i actually read it and i realized thait was about a depth and poignancy of emotion and experience more than it was about any individual region. it's about human life that happened to be set in this place that cather knew. cat: jewell read me a passage from the 1935 novel lucy gayheart. partly set in small town nebraska, he says it captures cather's straightforward, but emotionally powerful style.

andy: "in little towns lives roll along so close to one another, loves and hates and beat about, their wings almost touching. on the sidewalks along which everybody comes and goes, you must if you walk abroad at all at some time, pass within a few inches of the man who cheated and betrayed you or the woman you desire more than anything else in the world. her skirt brushes against you. you say good morning and go on. it's a close shave. out in the world, the escapes are not so narrow." cat: cather was one of the most widely read authors of her time -- her 1922 novel one of ours won a pulitzer prize and other novels like my antonia and o pioneers! have long been required reading in schools across the country. but, in recent decades, critics have pointed out shortcomings in how she represented race. andy: she was a woman of her time. and she didn't represent native american life well. she did not represent african-american life well or frequently. and i think that's good to

readers to contend with the fact that she has a power, and there are some things that are not perfect about her. cat: a 21st century lens has also hped scholars redefine a key relationship in cather's life. for almost forty years, cather lived with her partner edith lewis. lewis was also a key editor of cather's work. andy: these are corrected typescripts, they are in the partner -- handwriting of her partner edith lewis, who was an editor. i think without any reasonable doubt that cather and edith lewis had a long and loving relationship together. in her lifetime people weren't , able to see what was right in their face, which was that these two women chose to live together. they traveled together. they spent their lives together. cather just insisted on being who she was. it is that independent spirit combined with unpretentious-ness and depth of humanity that i think is a terrific representation for nebraska. littleton: i wanted her moving through time.

i wanted a sense of her writing, a sense of her vision, carrying on beyond just the time in which she wrote it. cat: these models in alston's studio are the closest we were able to get to the cather sculpture. the completed 7-foot bronze is in storage near washington, awaiting an unveiling expected next year. littleton: i think that moment when it's accepted in, i'll be that kid again. there was no path cut r me. i had to cut that path. it's going to be a culmination of all of those years. i can tell you this much -- willa will hold her own. in that collection, she will hold her own. and i hope all of the young girls who want to be writers can look at that and know that there's a hero in that collection for them. cat: a pioneering woman, sculpted by a pioneer in his own right. for the pbs newshour, i'm cat wise in omaha, nebraska. judy: as he put it, the

culminatio of all of those years. on the newshour online, on our tiktok and instagram pages you , can see how our own newshour correspondents are celebrating this holiday season by sharing some of their favorite recipes. that's on our instagram and tiktok pages now. and that's "the newour" for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at "the pbs newshour," thank you, please stay safe and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for "the pbs newshour" has been provided by -- >> architect. beekeeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life, well planned. ♪ >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement

and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org. the target foundion, committed to advancing racial equity and creating the change required to shift systems and accelerate equitable economic opportunity. 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. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.]

♪ ♪ hello. welcome to "amanpour & company." here's what's coming up on the program. >> we must act with honor and duty and in the interest of our nation. >> the january 6th committee wraps up and all eyes turn to the justice department. we talk to two former federal prosecutors about where criminal refeals could go from here. then -- >> lionel messi and his argentina team head back home from qatar after a world cup win for the ages. espn senior writer mark ogden joins my for a review of a controversial tournament. plus -- >> i think it's important to recognize just how extraordinarily quickly we are pushing the frontier of science and technology. >> "the atlantic" writer derek om