amna: good evening and welcome. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the "newshour" tonight, infighting among house republicans blocks the confirmation of the next speaker for a second straight day. amna: then, from cifornia to new england, huge swaths of the country face intense winter weather, including so-called atmospheric rivers. geoff: and south korea raises concerns about u.s. security guarantees as the north increases missile testing. >> i do believe that it's time for this alliance to have binational planning for the potential use of nuclear weapons.

>> major funng for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by. >> moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf. the engine that connects us. >> pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymondjames financial advisor tailors 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. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. more information at macfound.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. geoff: good evening, and welcome to the "newshour." after two days and six rounds of votes, the house of representatives has still not elected a leader. amna: nearly two dozen republicans have blocked congressman kevin mccarthy from taking the gavel, and there's no end in sight lisa desjardins begins our

coverage of the continued battle between party leaders and the chamber's hard-liners. lisa: not quite chaos, but, for republican leaders and for the house in general, certainly a frenzy of questions without answers. rep. jordan: we will see what -- we will see what happens. lisa: as kevin mccarthy continued to insist he would prevail as speaker of the house, despite being well sort of votes. rep. mccarthy: it doesn't matter. i still have the most votes. so, we could go through every name in the conference and be at the end of the day, and we will be able to get there. lisa: meanwhile, in the chamber, an opening prayer for the times. margaret: holy god, in these days of uncertainty and change, we turn to you, who are the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. lisa: and not good for mccarthy, groundhog day, with the words of yesterday. rep. stefanik: i rise today to nominate the gentleman from california, kevin mccarthy. p. jordan: i rise to nominate kevin mccarthy for speaker of the house. rep. scalise: i rise to nominate kevin mccarthy. lisa: on repeat today. rep. gallagher: nominate kevin mccarthy. lisa: and still no one saw even

the shadow of a speaker. clerk: a speaker has not been elected. lisa: the same 20 republicans kept up their oppositi to mccarthy, a group strongly pro-trump and anti-establishment. rep. roy: i seek to place a nomination for speaker. lisa: but this time offering up a new candidate, florida congressman byron donalds. another change, mccarthy lost the support of victoria spartz, who voted present, helping the opposition. after that, the house floor was a sea of arbitration, some huddles aiming to persuade and others clear disputes. mccarthy got one big boost from former president donald trump, who told punchbowl news that he backs mccarthy as speaker and that it's time to make a deal to get down to work. but, on the fifth ballot, prominent trump supporter lauren boebert made a pointed suggestion. rep. boebert: the president needs to tell kevin mccarthy that, sir, you do not have the votes, and it's time to withdraw. with that, i yield. thank you. lisa: mccarthy insists he will not.

but, meantime, the house itself is paralyzed. there is no speaker, the signs above that office taken down. there are also no members. none can take the oath of office until a speaker is elected. house democrats pointed out that committees are frozen, and they are stymied from some basic constituent work. rep. aguilar: good morning, everyone. this is a crisis of the congress. and it's a crisis at the hands of the republican dysfunction. lisa: president biden weighed in while leaving the white house this morning. pres. biden: how do you think this looks to the rest of the world? i know you know international relations. this is not a good look. this is not a good thing. this is the united states of america, and i hope they get their act together. lisa: republicans' fate is in their own hands, but none yet seem to know where or when this will end. amna: and lisa joins us now from capitol hill, where lawmakers will continue the search for a new speaker later tonight. lisa, welcome. good to see you. just bring us up to speed. now, you have been following every twist and every turn.

where do things stand right now? lisa: here we are, amna. in the next couple of hours, we expect the house to return from an adjournment it has taken. now, wt's going on behind closed doors is, kevin mccarthy and his allies are trying to identify any of those 20 who have voted in opposition to him, 21, actually, who could be persuadable. but i will tell you, i have spoken to trusted republican sources, some in and close to leadership, allies of vin mccarthy, who have told me just in the last half-hour on that they think, frankly, he will not be able to make up this gap. you think about it this way. he has to persuade more than a dozen of his members to change a vote in opposition to him. and none of them are budging. so, these allies, these sources i have talked to for a long time telling me, frankly, someone has got to tell mr. mccarthy, that it is over or nearly over, a very blunt assessment that this may be ending. momentum is almost gone for him. however, from those around mccarthy, they say they have

some potential other plans. one may be trying to switch the threshold for a vote from a majority, which it is now, to a plurality, meaning whoever has the most number of votes. that, to my knowledge, has never happened before. it's untested, and is also a risk, because, as you know, mccarthy now is receiving fewer votes than the democrat, hakeem jeffries. amna: lisa, you remember you mentioned the people opposed to mr. mccarthy there. the numbers remain largely unchanged, right? what can you tell us about them? what is it that those members of that opposition want? and is there anyone else that they would back? lisa: there are two things happening with that group, as we have talked about. let's first dive into the substance. this is a group that really wants to make it easier to make changes and propose ideas on the house floor. they're fiscal conservatives. so, among that, they would like to be able to propose amendments and get votes on amendments that cut spending at any time. they also would like to make sure there's no massive spending bills, only spend in bills by individual, refined topics. and they would like it so that any single member of the republican conference can

challenge the speaker. that is something that many people believe would disrupt the chamber too much. but that's something that they say could be healthy. overall, though, amna, when you think about it, in terms of what's happening right now, more and more, the demand of this group is simply someone other than kevin mccarthy. when they're asked exactly what they want, sometimes, they will name committee assignments, sometimes other specifics. but they have gotten so many of their demands already from mr. mccarthy that it really is coming down mostly now to personality and a lack of trust in mccarthy himself. amna: lisa, we have to point out there are real world consequences to all of this unfolding in the way that it is. when you step back from the vote tallies and the negotiations, what is at stake here for the people, for the americans who sent these lawmakers to congress to do their jobs? lisa: very serious consequences. in fact, just ahead in the next few weeks, the debt ceiling must be raised. that is one of the most profound fiscal cliffs that this country can ever approach. and if republicans cannot agree on ts speaker vote, which

itself revolves around fiscal politics, there are real danger signs ahead. speaking to senate republicans, they're quite concerned. but on a lower level, amna, none of these folks are technically members of congress right now. so there are issues. most constituent service is happening. if you need a passport, they can still help you. but new members, i'm told, are having trouble with things as simple as opening up their new offices because they are not yet technically members of congress. amna: lisa, no one knows congress like you do. you have covered them for years. you have covered gridlock and dysfunction. have you ever seen anything on this level before? lisa: this is -- i just can't stress enough how unprecedented -- i have seen so many unprecedented things in the last couple of years, but this is really near the top. among the other things i want to impress upon people is, the rules of the house govern the spaces, the lives, our time here in this building, what you can wear. there are no house rules right now. and, among other things, this allowed me, a member of the press, to shoot this video today from my location, something i have never been able to show you. this is what it looks like from where i sit over the house

chamber. i know that might not look all of that amazing, but i have never been able to show you that before, because we have never had this long of a period in between congresses where i could just get permission to shoot, because there's no rules. and it is just a bizarre and quite amazing time. amna: there are no rules. that is quite a statement. lisa desjardins reporting for us from capitol hill. for a republican perspective now, doug heye has seen these leadership votes up close. he's the former communications director to house majority leader eric cantor and for the republican national committee. doug, welce. good to see you. doug: good to be with you. amna: so, here we are. kevin mccarthy has failed to win the necessary votes in six rounds of voting. that number against him has remained largely unchanged. this ijust a game of chicken now? it's a stalemate? do: it is a game of chicken. and what we see is, it's sort of similar in a way to the 2016 primaries towards the end, when it was clear that donald trump was most favored to win. and you saw a lot of candidates say, somebody needs to get out of that race.

you need to get out, not me. so, you see house moderates, republican moderates, flexing their muscles for the first time. we have heard about them flexing muscles before, but they really didn't even know where the gym is, vs. the 20 or so who are opposing mccarthy right now. and they're trying to see who will blink first and it's just not clear. amna: you heard in lisa's reporting there sources telling her it may be time for mccarthy to get outoon. do you think he should step back? doug: i think, at this point, he's going to keep going and try and draw out opposition to see where folks are and who he can pull. we hear mixed things, some folks saying, well, maybe it's time to move on, others saying, well, it's encouraging, some of the things that i hear. what that says is, this is going to be a long time. and if we think it's been a long time just in two days, the senate doesn't come back until january 23. and, in theory, aside from some of the very serious things that congress does and needs to do, we're still playing with monopoly money until that day. amna: you think this could go until january 23? doug: absolutely. if nobody budges, we're going to keep going and going, unfortunately. amna: so, when you talk about the real-world implications, as you heard lisa just talking

about them as well, there are very real things that impact millions of americans. is any of that resonating with the lawmakers who are saying we may hold out until january 23? doug: not yet, because we're still seeing the sideshow. and i think most voters don't realize the real-world, both policy and political implications. so, a good example is, as lisa mentioned, there are no committees yet. what that means , there's no house intelligence committee the leadership of what wld be that committee aren't getting the briefings that they need. the senate are. senate house intel members are. the house aren't. that's very important stuff. and politically, for republicans, joe biden that he was going to be a normalizer as a president, he's going to work in a bipartisan manner. so he was in kentucky today with mitch mcconnell, as republicans were demonstrating two months after the elections, where voters said, we n't like the direction of this republican party, saying, we can organize ourselves. amna: you know, mccarthy banked on the idea that, by embracing president trump, by accommodating this far right faction, he would secure the speakership, right?

and he was wrong. should he have seen this coming? doug: well, i thinone of the things that's been surprising as a fallout from the elections is, donald trump's voice isn't as important as it was just two months ago. and so we saw lauren boebert, as trumpy as it gets, saying, well, actually, donald trump needs to do this. and so we're seeing that there's a trumpy part of the party that doesn't necessarily need trump. that's why we are ectly where we are right now. amna: if this gets sorted tomorrow or a week from now or january 23, what about the damage done? i mean, what does this say about this incoming house majority and how they will or won't be able to govern? doug: that's the very real implication of all of this. look, if we have had two days of real drama, there's some damage there. but it also dends on what still happens. if this gang of 20, so to speak -- and there are all kinds of bad nicknames about them -- if they are successful in this, it means whomever is speaker is going to have some handcuffs on them. and itstarts with the fiscal cliff, obviously. but every part of governing that

a house majority that republicans were excited to have in november becomes very real questions of whether or not they can operate. amna: i know you say you don't believe mccarthy is stepping back now. when do you think the right time is for someone like kevin mccarthy to step back? and who is the viable alternative? who could step in and get those votes? doug: it starts with whether or not he loses votes. so, if the next vote tonight or tomorrow, whatever it may be, he has 24 people voting for him or then 26 people, then writing is clear on the wall. right now, we're still in the stalemate. after that, we don't know. we don't know if this same group of 20 is going to say that steve scalise is unacceptable. and, if that's the case, we're in the wild west. and there are a lot of people who are talking about other members, but it's the wild west. and no one knows precisely what's going to happen. amna: i just have to ask, because you have seen a lot of fights like this. doug: not like this. amna: not like this. where does this stand in sort of the pantheon of the battles that you have seen in -- within the republican party? doug: no one has seen anything like this before. obviously, we thought it was unprecedented with what donald trump did. but we have got to go back now to the mid-1800's to see an

example like this. and when we talk about there hadn't been a second vote for speaker until -- since 1923, that means no one who is alive in america right now was working on that vote or really knows what it was like to go through it. this is uncharted territory. amna: uncharted territory, indeed. doug heye, thank you so much for being here. doug: thank you. geoff: hundreds of miles away from the chaos in washington that is consuming the new gop house majority, president joe biden took a victoryap with an unlikely republican ally. laura barron-lopez has more on the president's trip to kentucky today. laura: eager to showcase his bipartisan bona fides, as a 2024 decision looms, president joe biden appeared wednesday alongside senate minority leader mitch mcconnell, a longtime adversary and sometimes friend. pres. biden: i'm especially

happy to be here and my friend and colleague of many years, and, i might add, longest-serving leader in the united states senate, senator mitch mcconnell. laura: the republican, a famed obstructionist during barack obama's presidency, joined president biden in his home state of kentucky to promote new infrastructure projects. sen. mcconnell: so, today, we sit in this wonderful, clear day with sun shining down on literally a legislative miracle. laura: standing near the crumbling brent spence bridge that connects kentucky and ohio, the duo announced more than $1 billion inederal funds to repair it and help build a new ohio river bridge. pres. biden: there are bright spots across the country. the brent spence bridge is one of them, a bridge that continues and connects different centuries, different states, different political parties. laura: investments made possible by the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law that the white house spent months negotiating with a handful of

senate republicans. it passed in 2021 after receiving a key blessing from mcconnell. vp harris: the yeas are 69. the nays are 30. laura: despite recently facing a leadership challenge for backing bipartisan legislative deals. sen. scott: i ran for leader because republican leaders in the senate routinely cave in and allow schumer and biden to win. it's happening all the time laura: mcconnell stressed the need to work across the aisle. sen. mcconnell: no matter who gets elected, once it's all over, we ought to look for things we can agree on and try to do those, even while we have big differences on other things. laura: the prior two presidents bowed and failed to fithe brent spence, which funnels traffic from two interstate highways. mr. trump: i have already heard about the bridge. i love the area. we're going to t it fixed. laura: frequently doubted, president biden made clear his love for compromise was here to stay. pres. biden: important message to the entire country -- we can work together. we can get things done.

we can move the nation forward, if we just drop a little bit of our egos and focus on what is needed in the country. laura: as the white house faces a split congress in washington, the president, vice president, and senior officials fanned out across states to highlight projects repairing the nation's infrastructure. vp harris: so just look at the 95th street bridge behind me. laura: kicking off a renewed sales strategy tha at least for today, put president biden and senator mcconnell side by side. geoff: and laura joins us now. so, laura, this bipartisan trip fresh into the new year, what are leader mcconnell and president biden trying to signal here? laura: so, both president biden and senator mcconnell were very explicit about the message that they were sending, not just to voters, but also to their parties. it was all about finding common ground, about being able to work together even if they disagree on issues. mcconnell actually said that he thought that it was a good example to be showing the country at this time that the government could work together.

and, of course, a striking contrast to what's happening right now in washington, d.c., and it's something that both -- well, that president biden specifically himself has received a lot of flak for througho the time that he ran and even into the white house. geoff: yes. who benefits politically, do you think? laura: so, this is interesting, because i was talking to congressman -- former congressman john yarmuth today of kentucky, and he said that it's actually president biden who potentially benefits more, because 's up for reelection sooner than mcconnell. here's what he had to say. mr. yarmuth: i think it helps -- actually helps president biden far more than it helps mitch mcconnell. i think it shows joe biden as the person who is really willing to work across party lines and will continue to look for support from republicans for his agenda. laura: and that's because of the fact that senator mcconnell isn't up for reelection for a while longer, whereas the 2024 decision is looming for president biden. and i also spoke to a former gop senator today who agreed with yarmuth and said that,

essentially, that this doesn't help mcconnell very much because of the fact that, look, he was just facing a leadership challenge. he isn't necessarily great friends with a number of house gop members. and now he's made very explicitly clear that he is trying to distance himself, especially since the midterms, from president donald trump, and that he could potentially be using up a lot of political capital by going and appearing alongside the president to send this message. geoff: well, we should say the people of kentucky no doubt benefit from a repaired bridge. you spoke about this, but i remember back during the campaign, then-candidate joe biden talked about the promise of bipartisanship. he said he could work with any republicanho could work with him. and there were democrats who said that he was naive. but, looking forward, it strikes me that president biden will have an easier time working with senate republicans, potentially more so than house republicans. laura: that's right, geoff. i think that's a good assessment, because of the fact that he has a long relationship in the senate, right? biden worked -- president biden

was a senator for more than 30 years, worked alongside senator mitch mcconnell then, as well as when he was vice president. and when he was vice president, he was typically the person that was dispatched to the hill to try to break logjams. he actually, to the dismay of a number of democrats at the time, worked with mcconnell on a deal that extended the bush tax cuts at the time, the tax credits. he also worked on the debt ceiling with him. but, again, we still are talking about mitch mcconnell and the fact that mcconnell is well-known among democts, as you noted, for someone who blocked a number of former president obama's judges, blocked merrick garland in the supreme court. mcconnell also prides himself and has described himself explicitly as the grim reaper, someone who will obstruct the democratic agenda. but when we're talking about government funding bills, and showing that the government can work to get must-pass legislation through the chamber,

that's when president biden could potentially find a greater ally in senator mcconnell. and one thing th where, looking forward, they could potentially find potential to work across the aisle is on immigration. and so that's something that the white house has already said -- called on republicans to work with them on, especially since republicans are trying to pressure the president on the border. and president biden said today as he was leaving kentucky that he has the intention of going to the border as early as next week, ahead of the u.s.-mexico summit. geoff: laura barron-lopez, thanks, as always, for that great reporting. laura: thank you. stephanie: i'm stephanie sy with "newshour west." here are the latest headlines. an update to our lead story, the house voted late this evening to adjourn until noon tomorrow, leaving the chamber of congress without a speaker.

california is under a state of emergency this evening, as an intense storm known as a bomb cyclone hits the state. heavy rains and strong winds have triggered power outages. and evacuation orders are underway in high risk coastal areas, many of which were hit by a series of mudslides in 2018. we'll go into more detail after the news summary. the nfl's buffalo bills shared positive news about damar hamlin's recovery. he remained sedated, in critical condition, after his heart stopped during a monday night game in cincinnati. a team statement said hamlin remains in the intensive care unit with signs of improvement noted yesterday and overnight. a family spokesman also said the recovery is headed in, quote, a positive direction. and president biden said he had spoken with hamlin's parents today. this was the third and final day of pope emeritus benedict's lying in state at the vatican. mourners again streamed through st. peter's basilica.

in all, some 200,000 people over the last three days. and at his weekly general audience today, pope francis again offered words of praise. pope francis: i would like us to join with those here paying theirespects to benedict. his acute and gentle thought was not self-referential, but ecclesial, because he always wanted to accompany us in the encounter with jesus. stephanie: pope francis will preside over benedict's funeral tomorrow in saint peter's square, an event that will draw heads of state and royalty. in iran, prominent actress taraneh alidoosti has been released after nearly three weeks in jail. she'd been locked up for supporting anti-government protests and criticizing a crackdown. iranian accounts say she was let out on bail. after her release today, she posted a photo of herself holding flowers, surrounded by friends. russia launched dozens of rocket and air strikes in ukraine today, amid growing internal criticism in moscow over a ukrainian attack. it happened last weekend in the

donetsk region. the russns say 89 soldiers died. ukraine says it was 400. russia's defense ministry charged today that soldiers using cellphones gave away their position. others accused the kremlin of trying to deflect blame. the ruling general in myanmar pardoned more than 7000 prisoners today and outlined plans for an election later this year. the actions marked the 75th anniversary of the country's independence. myanmar has faced international isolation and sanctions since the military seized power from a democratically elected government in 2021. families and others swarmed buses with the newly released prisoners, which incded political detainees. some reacted cautiously. >> i don't have any special feelings about being released from prison. what really matters is whether it's real freedom. i mean, i don't just want to be released from jail but i also

want freedom for all of my life, all of my hopes, my family and all the new generations. stephanie: there was no sign that ousted leader aung sang suu kyi was among those pardoned. she is serving 33 years in confinement on charges brought by the military regime. the mabehind a u.s. college admissions bribery scandal now faces 3.5 years in federal prison. rick singer was sentenced today in boston for helping celebrities and other wealthy clients buy their kids' way into top schools. he pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and other charges, and helped secure convictions of others in the scheme. more than 18,000 amazon workers stand to lose their jobs, the latest mass layoff to hit a tech company. the cutsere announced in a public staff note sent by amazon's chief executive who has warned for months, the company would reduce its workforce. meantime, twitter has announced it will ease its three-year-old ban on political advertising. it's the latest bid by

billionaire elon musk to increase revenue after buying the platform. twitter banned political ads in 2019, under pressure about misinformation on social media. today, the company said it believes such ads can add to the public debate of important issues. still to come on the "newshour," the fda clears the way for wider access to abortion pills. tensions rise between south and north korea amid more missile tests. the former u.s. capitol police chief warns of vulnerabilities that remain two years after january 6. >> 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. amna: a major storm system is hitting the u.s., dropping snow in the north and upper midwest. heavy rain, floods, and tornadoes are threatening parts of the south.

and northern california is preparing for severe rains just days after another deadly storm flooded homes and triggered widespread power outages. stephanie sy has our report. stephanie: the first major u.s. winter storm of 2023 is ushering in the new year with snow and ice from the midwest on up to new england. snowplows are working overtime in sioux falls, south dakota, to keep the roads clear for emergency vehicles. clara: i had to park on the street last night because there's no parking at my apartment. and the plows went by and snowed me in. so, i'm just trying to dig myself out with a car scraper. stephanie: the winter storm is also triggering a new wave of flight cancellations and delays, especially at minneapolis-st. paul international airport, which got nearly a foot of snow. last night, a delta jet slid off the icy taxiway there after landing, but no passengers were injured.

the severe weather also spawned at least six tornadoes across illinois tuesday, mostly in the central part of the state. the national weather service said it was the largest number of rare january twisters illinois had seen since 1989. meanwhile, a large swathe of the south is contending with the threat of both tornadoes and flooding. downpours made for treacherous driving conditions in moulton, alabama. this drone footage captured floodwaters in shepherdsville, kentucky, tuesday. all that comes as northern california is getting walloped by another powerful storm system days after a new year's eve deluge. san francisco residents like tink troy filled sandbags to help protect their homes from fresh flooding. tink: they're saying this one is going to be a lot worse, so i want to make sure that i'm prepared and not having to do this when it's pouring down rain, like i did on saturday. stephanie: that weekend storm, a so-called atmospheric river, dumped 5.5 inches of rain on san

francisco. daniel swain, a climate scientist at ucla, explained what it is. daniel: it's a bunch of water vapor moving fast above your head. and, really, it's a large volume of water. we're talking about many times the volume of the mississippi river, for example, in the form of water vapor in the air. most of california's water systems can reasonably handle even very intense one-off storms, but when you start to see long sequences over days and weeks of repeated moderate-to-intense storms like this and atmospheric rivers bringi copious precipitation, the cumulative effect over days and weeks becomes much more difficult to manage. stephanie: forecasters have warned this new storm could bring as much as four more inches of rain to northern california, coupled with wind gusts of up to 50 miles per hour. swain said the frequency of major storms on the west coast is just one of the many mixe effects of climate change.

daniel: our own research published earlier this year suggested that climate change has already doubled the risk of a prolonged and extremely severe storm sequence capable of producing severe flooding in california. so there is evidence at this point that climate change is starting to exert an influence on extreme precipitation in this part of the world. stephanie: at the same time, climate change is worsening the western drought. and, at least in the short term, this week's flooding rains will refill the desperately low major reservoirs in northern california. for the "pbs newshour," i'm stephanie sy. geoff: for the first time, retail pharmacies will be allowed to offer prescribed abortion pills in the u.s. the fda announced the regulatory change on tuesday, which could significantly expand abortion access through medication. earlier today, john yang spoke with an obstetrician about the

news. john: until now, the food and drug administration had required that patients by mifepristone, the first of two pills used in medicated abortions, through a mail-order pharmacy or from certified clinics or doctors. patients would still need a prescription under the new rules. abortion rights groups hailed the move. naral called it a science-based decision that will empower folks to get the care they need in the way that best works for them. anti-abortion groups condemned it. susan b. anthony pro-life america said the fda was helping abortion activists turn every post office and pharmacy into an abortion business. dr. jennifer villavicencio is an obstetrician. she heads equity transformation for the american college of obstetricians and gynecologists, or acog, as it's known. dr. villavicencio, what -- from your perspective, what is the significance of these new fda rules? dr. villavicencio: these fda

rules are a response to the enormous amount of evidence that we have that mifepristone and medication abortion are extraordinarily safe and that these restrictions, these rems, rules, are not necessary to keep people safe, and only create barriers to accessing essential health care like abortion. john: already, more than half of the pregnancy terminations in america are a result of medication abortions. do you expect that to change now with these new rules? dr. villavicencio: we have seen a steady increase in individuals who need abortion care choosing medication abortion. and individuals may choose medication abortion, in lieu of in-clinic or procedural abortion, for many different reasons. and so, having more access to the medication, being able to pick it up at a pharmacy, is definitely something that helps remove those barriers. and we may see an ongoing increase in the usage and uptake of medication abortion.

john: what do you say to the critics -- and we heard the statement from susan b. anthony, anti-abortion america -- what do you say to the critics who say this is making abortion, making terminating pregnancies too easy? dr. villavicencio: understand that perspective. i actually used to be an anti-abortion activist. and so i understand that abortion can be really hard for individuals to understand. as someone, as a physician, an expert in science and in medicine who takes care of patients every day and who provides abortion care now, i understand that, while this is a complex issue, it's a decision that should be made in between a doctor and the person seeking the abortion. medication abortion and mifepristone are extraordinarily safe. they're just as safe as ibuprofen, the advil that you get out of your cabinet or off the shelf in the local pharmacy. it's just as safe as those things. and so needed essential health care can never be too easy to access. and i want to reassure everybody who's watching this, as someone -- take it from someone who takes care of patients every

single day, that these decisions about ending a pregnancy are thoughtful and are done in the context and with the expertise that these women have in their own life. john: there are still local and state restrictions, although the -- just this week, the justice department told the postal service that, in light of the supreme court action, it could still deliver these medications. but there are state laws banning medication abortions. and that takes precedence over these fda regulations. how serious or how significant is that limitation? dr. villavicencio: so, while we at acog are happy to see the fda respond to the enormous evidence that says that mifepristone is safe and does not require these additional restrictions, we also acknowledge that this is only one step in removing the unnecessary barriers to medication abortion. we know that there are still other aspects to these rems, these rules, on mifepristone that will still add barriers to accessing medication abortion.

and, of course, we know that there are nearly half of the states in the country who are banning or severely restricting abortion, and which this fda change in rules will not impact. john: the -- we reached out to two of the biggestharmacy chains in america, cvs and walgreens, and both said -- each said that they're studying these new regulations and will make decisions later. there are some administrative restrictions on drugstores, pharmacies, like not putting the prescribing doctor's name in a nationwide database. could that keep national -- big national chainfrom carrying this drug? dr. villavicencio: i think that there is a lot of information that we still need to understand about how this rule is going to actually play out. we know that, on paper, it says that pharmacies can now dispense this medication with a prescription froa certified provider. but we -- that's what it says on

paper. but the way that that actually plays out at your pharmacy is going to really vary based on the chain, as you mentioned, as well as your region. and there's still a lot for us to understand and learn about what this is going to look like. john: and, also, with abortion remaining a hot-button issue and a politicized issue, could nationwide chains be leery of carrying the medication and sort of broadcasting it, for ar of how their business might be affected in various parts of the country? dr. villavicencio: i think that that's possible, although i'm -- i don't work for one of those chains. what i can say is that abortion is essential health care. and we have seen that it is extraordinarily common and extraordinarily safe. one in four women will have an abortion by the time that they are 45. and mifepristone, this medication that we're talking about, is also used for other things, like miscarriage management. and so i -- we at acog and i would urge these chains and people who are making these decisions to think about not only access to abortion, which is incredibly important, but access to evidence-based care

for miscarriage management, which would include being able to dispense and receive mifepristone from a pharmacy. john: so you say you were once in the anti-abortion movement. how did your viewpoint change? what was the process? dr. villavicencio: so i gr up very religious and very conservative. and all of the values that drive me now, those of justice and compassion and fairness, i actually learned from my religion and from my family life. and i was, as you mentioned, an anti-abortion activist well into my early 20's. but when i started practicing medicine and being involved in the day-to-day care of people who were living complex lives in complex situations, i realized that the black and white of the false dichotomy of pro-life and pro-choice weren't real, that there were real people sitting in front of me who needed help, who were making chalnging decisions, but with thought and with the inclusion of their family, and that i could better serve my values of -- and my

duty to my patients as a physician by showing up for them and taking care of them no matter what it is that they need. and that's why i practice the full scope of ob-gyn. i deliver babies. i provide abortion care. i prescribe birth control. and i do cancer screenings. when a patient comes to me and asks for my help and my expertise in medicine, 'm really proud to say that i'm able to be there for them, whatever it is that they say that they need, because i trust them to be able to make that decision in the context of their own lives. john: dr. jennifer villavicencio of the american college of obstetricians and gynecologists, thank you very muc dr. villavicencio: thank you. geoff: and a quick follow-up to john's interview. late today, walgreens became the first national pharmacy chain to confirm it plans to dispense the abortion medication in its stores, but it did not provide a time frame. as john reported, other major chains, including cvs and rite aid, say they are still reviewing the new fda rules.

amna: this week, south korea's president said it was increasingly difficult to convince his country the u.s. would protect it with nuclear weapons, as the u.s. has promised for seven decades. president yoon's comments come at a time of increasing tension on the korean peninsula and an ongoing arms race. nick schifrin examines south korean calls for the u.s. to do more to protect seoul, as north korea launches an unprecedented number of missiles and vows an exponential growth of its nuclear capability. nick: at the stroke of midnight, north koreans hered in 2023 by launching a massive show of pyrotechnics. and they celebrated leader kim jong-un, who spent 2022 launching his own fireworks. in propaganda videos, north

korea recently displayed what it calls the world's largest mobile intercontinental ballistic missile. for kim, 2022 was a year of swagger in the face of sanctions. as announced by korean state tv, more missile tests than any time in history, missiles designed to be more difficult to intercept and detect, to better threaten south korea and japan, and to be multigenerational. that's kim's daughter and a missile designed to hit the east coast of the united states. and kim has taken steps to lower the threshold for nuclear use. and after south korean threats, he specified when he might unch preemptive stris. south korea and the u.s. have responded with military shows of force. and the u.s. has reiterated its vow to protect south korea with u.s. nuclear weapons known as the u.s. nuclear umbrella. but south korean president yoon suk-yeol suggests he wants more.

pres. yoon: we must send a clear message to people who frequently carry out provocations. we must never fear them or hesitate. nick: in a newspaper interview this week, yoon said -- quote -- it is difficult to convince our people with just the idea of a u.s. nuclear umbrella. gen. brooks: well, think it's very significant. it's also reflective of the nature of this alliance, that it can continue to grow over time. nick: rered general vincent brooks was the u.s. commander in south korea from 2016 to 2018 and is now the chairman of the korea defense veterans association. brooks says north korea's tests and rhetoric have accelerated historic south korean concerns about the u.s. commitment to deterring north korea. gen. brooks: all of this causes the south korea body politic to go, hey, are we really sure we have got the right protection here, or should we just go about it ourselves? nick: has the u.s. provided enough reassurance, in your

opinion to south korea, given all of the moves that north korea is making? gen. brooks: well, apparently not. certainly, there have been a lot of demonstrations to make it very car to the south korean political leadership and to the body politic that the united stes is present. bruce: there's always concern by south korea as to whether we will actually live up to our agreents, and that has grown during the last five years, once they demonstrated icbm capability in 2017. we often hear that will we trade san francisco for seoul? nick: bruce klingner is the senior research fellow at the heritage foundation and a former cia deputy division chief for korea. he says the concern is born not only from north kore threats. mr. trump: at some point into the future, i would like to save the money. nick: at one point, former president trump hinted he would remove u.s. troops from south korea if seoul didn't contribute enough to their costs. bruce: so, there's that concern

that president trump or perhaps another candidate like president trump might carry through on that threat, or even it's just raising more doubts in south korean minds, no matter how often u.s. officials tried to allay those concerns. nick: u.s. officials repeatedly reiterate their commitment to south korea. sec. austin: our extended deterrence commitment is firm and includes a full range of our nuclear and conventional and missile defense capabilities. nick: and this year's national defense strategy warns there is no scenario in which the kim regime could employ nuclear weapons and survive. when brooks was commander, he says he faced the same south korean skepticism and took steps to reassure south korea of u.s. nuclear capacity. gen. brooks: we did some visitations to make it possible for members of the korean national assembly, the chairman of the south korean joint chiefs of staff, to actually see the assets and to learn more about how they're positioned and why they're always in range.

nick: do you think your efforts to reassure the south koreans when you were there worked? and do you think that can be a model to reassure them again? gen. brooks: yes and yes. it did reassure. that has a time limit to it. it expires with people coming in and out of office. all those that we carried to see the systems have since left office. and so now there's a new wave of leaders who need similar assurances. nick: and those leaders are now asking for more nuclear assurances. this week, south korea's presidential office said seoul and washington are discussing joint execution plans over the management of u.s. nuclear weapons. the problem with that, the u.s. does not hand over execution of its nuclear weapons to any ally, and it doesn't jointly plan for the possible use of nuclear weapons with south korea. gen. brooks: i do believe that it's time for this alliance to have binational planning for the potential use of nuclear weapons.

nick: and, right now, that military planning does not exist? gen. brooks: that's correct. nick: u.s. officials say they're looking to expand coordination with south korea and how to best deter north korea, that seems determined to accelerate its missile and nuclear capacity. for the "pbs newshour," i'm nick schifrin. geoff: friday marks the second anniversary of the january 6 attacks, when a crowd of angry trump supporters violently stormed the u.s. capitol in an effort to prevent congress from certifying joe biden's presidential election win. steven sund was the chief of the capitol police that day. and he describes the events as the worst mass attack on law enforcement in his nearly-30-year-long career. he writes about that and more in his new book, "courage under fire." and he joins me now. thanks so much for coming in.

steven: thanks for having me here today. geoff: and you write that january 6 was treated differently from a security standpoint than any other major event on capitol hill. help us understand how. in whaways? steven: so, i look at that from the intelligence point of view. i have been in washington, d.c., like you said, for closeo 30 years. i have done many national special security events, some of the major events they have, major demonstrations. and any event that has a threat stream even far less than what we saw now i know it existed on january 6, the fbi would do a number of things. usually, they call together an executive meeting, where they pull together the chiefs and say, hey, we're seeing a lot of concerning rhetoric online, a lot of concerning threats, or they do what's called a joint intelligence bulletin with dhs, or even a conference call with your local area chiefs to say, this is wh they're seeing. we saw none of this on january 6. geoff: well, in the book, you point ton alarming lack of coordition with other government agencies, to include the fbi, dhs, even the intelligence unit within capitol police. and you say that they were aware, they had warnings about

the far right extremists, the trump supporters who were readying for a violent attack, but yet that wasn't shared with you. what intelligence were you seeing? steven: so, the intelligence i was saying was, we had a total of four intelligence bulletins that were put out by my intelligence unit within the capitol police. you got to understand, we're a consumer of intelligence. we don't have -- we don't create our own intelligence. so we get it from the intelligence community. the first three all indicate no indication of civil disobedience, it's all going to be like the previous maga 1, and maga 2. the fourth one comes up. geoff: and you mean the previous maga rallies in washington? steven: yes, in november and december. i'm sorry, yes, the previous maga rallies in december. and the fourth one that's put out on january 3 late in the evening, received on the 4th and reviewed on the 4th, is 15 pages and has a final paragraph that talks about possibly people coming armed, possibly white supremacist militia attending, the same things we saw in the previous magas, nothing about a coordinated attack on the capitol. the very next day, the same intelligence unit puts out an intelligence product that says low probability of civil

disobedience and demonstrations and also recommends i approve the permits for all the demonstrations on the capitol grounds. so, at that point, i see the same information the 5th and on the 6th. so i'm not seeing the stuff that's coming up saying that we're going to have a coordinated attack on the capitol. but we now know that intelligence existed. geoff: well, in the book, you say that the department of homeland security and the intelligence community watered down the intelligence. was that a bureaucratic failing, as you see it, or was that intentional? steven: so, when i say they watered it down, it was a thought -- now, this may be what happened. there's a lot of concern within the president's cabinet of the president invoking the insurrection act. if he felt that there's a big enough threat against the capitol -- and we now know that his secretary of defense and his joint chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, milley, both suspected there was going to be mass violence in washington, d.c., so much so, they talked about locking down the city, that, if the president knew that could happen, that could give him the ammunition he needs to invoke the insurrection act. so there's a lot of people thinking that he was going to invoke the insurrection act and deploy the military around the capitol. and i think that cascading

effect just created failure after failure with the department of defense, possibly the department of homeland security and the fbi. geoff: you also write about the fact that the -- as you say, the pentagon was concerned about the optics, that you had requested national guard assistance, but you were rebuked. steven: that is correct. what people need to realize is, on january 6, when we came under attack, i reached out to all the law enforcement resources i possibly could. i called -- called in 17 law enforcement agencies, 1700 officers to help us battle the riot that we were seeing. when the cops are overrun and outnumbered 58 to one, when we dial 911, the last resort is the department of defense. i called the department of defense to activate the defense support for civil authority. it should be an easy cl. i have done it many, many times for other events. but they have an emergency authority immediately send me resources. what i didn't know was that, two days before january 6, defense secretary miller had put out this memo that restricted the very resources he can only

suspect my guys would need on january 6 for the violence he knew was coming, civil disobedience resources, riot gear, riot control agents, vests, helmets, things that his soldiers would need to give protection to my officers. and it took 3.5 hours for them to arrive on the scene after my repeated begging with the pentagon. they only arrived after the fighting was over. geoff: is this suggestion, then, that this was all coordinated, and that it was intentional to deprive you of the security resources that you needed? steven: i can tell you, my repeated callso the pentagon -- i first had to deal with a 71-minute delay in getting approval from the capitol police board to even call the national guard. then, once i got that, my repeated calls to the pentagon begging and pleading for -- my repeated pleas for the national guard assistance, and then not sending it, when they're seeing the same images i'm seeing, i can only -- i can only suspect they did not want to send them there. they weren't going to send them there no matter what. and miller had actually said that. he said, there's no way i was going to deploy national guard west of ninth -- east of ninth street, anywhere near the capitol. i think he was afraid of the

same thing, an insurrection act. geoff: in the book, you reveal that pentagon officials at the time, as they were refusing your requests to deploy the national guard, that they were sending security forces to protect the homes of high-ranking pentagon officials and generals. steven: yes, think -- think about that. again, they placed the look of the national guard, the optics of them being on national -- on capitol territory over the lives and safety of my officers who were being beaten. yet, like you said, they deployed resources, security resources, to their own generals' homes. that's absurd. geoff: the day after the attack on the capitol, you were forced out of your job. what do you make of your responsibility at the time and your assessment of how you handled that day and the lead-up to it? steven: when you look at everything that i tried to do on that day, on january 6, with the particular circumstances that i faced, the fact i made dozens of calls to bring in outside resources that actually turned

the tide and helped my officers win back the capitol, i did everything i could that day. geoff: one of the takeaways is, you say that this could happen again, that there aren't enough barriers, there isn't enough planning that could prevent another attack on thu.s. capitol at this point. steven: what'm concerned about is really three or four things. one, the security structure on capitol hill is way too politicized. you have a police department with a chief that is supposed to be experienced in law enforcement that's overseen by three politically appointed people, that's overseen by four oversight committees that all report to certain political parties within congress. that's a recipeor disaster. that first has to be changed. the intelligence community has to be corrected. we can't have these issues on january 6 after september 11, when we created the dhs, department of homeland security, to prevent this from happening. and department of defense has not -- has got to stop being politicized. they can't be worried about optics when the lives of members of congress and the lives my officers are at stake and refuse

to send help. geoff: steven sund. the book is "courage under fire." thanks again for your time. steven: i appreciate it, sir. thank you. geoff: and that's the "newshour" for tonight. remember, there's a lot more online at pbs.org/newshour, including a livestream of pope benedict's funeral starting at 3:00 a.m. eastern. amna: and join us again here tomorrow night, where we will examine how local intelligence hubs that are supposed to identify threats have come under scrutiny after the capitol insurrection. geoff: thanks for spending part of your evening with us. >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by. >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of no contract plans and our u.s.-based customer service team can help find one that fits you. to learn more, visit

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