♪ ♪ nick: good evening. on the newshour tonight, the death toll of one of russia's deadliest attacks of the war rises as western nations alleged more advanced military age. president biden faces intensifying republican scrutiny over the classified documents found at his delaware home. and the greek government prosecutes the activists trying to save migrant lives. >> they want to punish me and to prevent me from continuing this kind of work and a warning to all other itinerant workers. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs

newshour has been provided by -- ♪ and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the "newshour" including leonard and nora. the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years advancing ideas and so wedding institutions to promote a better world. at hewlett.org. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. nick: a final round of rain and snow fell on california today as the waterlogged state looks forward to drier days ahead. nine atmospheric rivers have battled the state since december. 8 million people are under a flood watch. cars were left stranded in the streets of san francisco over the weekend. further north, drivers in the sierra nevada braved white out conditions despite of avalanche warnings. across the state thousands have been forced to evacuate. one man near san francisco has been seekingefuge along the roadside for days. >> my tools are here.

this will probably get ruined. my weed wacker. all of the things i cannot afford. i had to buy this tank just to get gas in it from an rv. it has been crazy, man. nick: drier conditions are expected starting tomorrow but e risk of mudslides will linger on. in nepal search teams retrieve the flight data and cockpit flight recorders from the site of the deadliest plane crash in the country in 30 years. relatives waited outside hospitals to retrieve the bodies of the 69 people that died. at the crash scene rescuers search for three missing people. nearby residents described a horrifying scene. >> i live in the house just next to the crash site. the plane crashed across my house on a cliff. one of the wings is still on the

edge of the cliff. nick: investigators have yet to determine what caused the crash. it happened just before landing at the airport on a mild day with little wind. president biden marked this holiday by paying tribute to the slain civil rights leaders legacy. at a breakfast event in washington, mr. biden called on a divided nation to live by dr. king's example. >> this is a time for choosing. will we choose democracy over autocracy, community over chaos, love over hate ? these are the questions of our time. that i ran for on president. dr. king's legacy shows us the way forward. nick: in atlanta today king's youngest daughter, the reverend bernie's king urged all politicians to live her father's message 365 days a year and not just quote him on the holiday.

this alien police have captured italy's most wanted mafia boss who has been on the run for more than three decades. officers escorted him from a health clinic in palermo where he was using a fake name. he was still considered one of the heads of a significant crime syndicate. he had been sentenced in absentia great string of bomb attacks in the 1990's. in west africa, the government of burkina faso said a group of armed militants kidnapped a group of women near a northern town part of a region under the control of extremist groups. a jihadist insurgency has overrun parts of working up also since 2015 killing thousands and displacing nearly 2 million people. an italian film actress died today in rome. gino lola bridget rose to fame in the 1950's and was dubbed the

most beautiful woman in the world. she won a golden globe for her role in "come september" starring alongside rock hudson. she was 95 years old. still to come on the newshour, the latest on the classified documents found at president biden's home. a new sculpture is unveiled in remembrance of martin luther king jr. and an investigation delves into the disparity of black representation among nfl players and coaches plus much more. ♪ announcer: 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. nick: today the death from a russian strike in ukrainian city rose to 40 with dozens still missing. one of the deadliest single incidence of the work coming at

the beginning of a pivotal week. rescue efforts continue but officials acknowledge there is little hope of finding anyone alive. in the residential building that is torn in two, death is still far too easy to find. emergency workers hoped to rescue the injured. so far they've only needed body bags. across the street a makeshift memorial. in a war that is already caused so much distraction and stolen even the most innocent, neighbors wonder why they survived and can only hope their prayers protect the dead. >> all of us could be in that place. people, children. nick: saturday's strike buried hundreds of people under the rubble. russian missile hit in the middle of a residential neighborhood, one of russia's deadliest attacks on civilians in nearly 11 months of work. it struck at night. the massive apartment complex it

hit oblitated. the pain of a mother who watched her son die unspeakable. >> what did you kill him for ? what did you do to my son ? may you be damped for the whole of your lives by everybody. nick: the attack coincided with the orthodox new year's celebrated by both ukrainians and russians. online ukrainians post videos of families inside the apartment building before and the same kitchen after it was ripped open. president zelenskyy called it terrorism and said ukraine would not lose hope. >> we are fighting for every person. rescue operation will last as long as there is even the slightest chance to save lives. nick: and he used the attack to once again criticize russians for not criticizing the war enough. >> i want to say to all of those in russia and from russia, your cowardly silence and your attempt to wade out what is happening will only end with the

same terrorist coming for you one day. nick: a kremlin spokesman said today that the building was struck by a ukrainian missile. >> the russian armed forces do not strike either residential buildings are the sites of civilian infrastructure. strikes are aimed at military targets. nick: to strengthen its military, ukraine has asked for western tanks to upgrade its mostly soviet era armor. and for the first time the west wi provide them. this weekend the united kingdom will send 14 challenger to tanks. in parliament then wallace said the tanks would help achieve -- would help ukraine achieve victory and he urged germany to send tanks, the leper to. -- the leopard two. >> if you are using it to defend your country i would wager it is a defense of weapon system here .

>> they have better paddle power mobility and they bring much more sophisticated targeting capabilities allowing them to shoot and kill first on the battlefield. nick: retired general is the former supreme allied commander of nato and the u.s.'s top european commander. tactically, how much difference can 14 british tanks make ? . tactically very little but in breaking that policy hold on this kind of equipment we hope now that nations will begin to supply more sufficient numbers that will then have a big effect on the battle. nick: poland has promised to send its leopards and finland could follow if germany gives approval. the polish prime minister -- >> the battle for our freedom, our future is raging as we speak. and if we have been investing

for years in heavy war equipment in tanks, they must not be left to rust in storehouses but be placed in the hands of europe's defenders. nick: ukraine urges the u.s. to follow with its abrams tanks and the u.s. is urged to go further and send longer-range systems that the administration has so far blocked for fear of escalating the word. do you think washington should be afraid of escalation ? >> to say we should not consider it would be foolish. but to be deterred by it which i believe we are in a large way deterred by this fear, that is a problem. the bottom line is right now speed is of the essence. nick: right now, there is little ukraine can do to prevent russian strikes on civilians so ukrainians fear they face more days like today. ♪

nick: the white house confirmed today there are no visitor logs for the president's delaware home where the president's lawyers found attention -- additional documents with potentially classified markings. we have more information. lara, welcome. what did the white house say today ? reporter: a white house spokesperson for the white house counsel's office says there are no logs for the president wilmington home. and in keeping with past traditions for presidents, it is personal and they won't keep records there but the white house has visitor logs and they reinstated that after president biden's predecessor did away with those. this response from the white house comes after house republicans in particular congressman jim: it will lead

the oversight committee said or requested the logs asking for them though they never asked for them in the case of the seizure of classified documents from former president trump. nick: this is after additional documents were found in wilmington over the weekend. what we know about those ? reporter: we have more of a timeline partially provided by president biden's private lawyer. november 2 bidens attorneys find documents at the center and immediately notify archives. november 9, doj launches its assessment. december 20, bidens attorneys find documents at his wilmington residence inside the garage and they notify the doj. asked week january 11 bidens attorneys find one potentially classified document, again. anyway 12, doj takes possession of five additional documents found at the wilmington residence and that was a new revelation over the weekend.

one thing here is that the white house is facing a lot of questions about transparency. that is a political issue for them because the president has prided himself on having a transparent white house but there is nothing legally requiring the white house or the doj or the national archives to disclose when they found these documents to the public. nick: those questions you just mentioned are coming from republicans in charge of the house. they say they plan to investige. president biden's handling of the documents. what are those republicans focusing on ? reporter: kevin mccarthy said he wants as much information as possible. congressman jim call mark who will chair oversight admitted this is not necessarily about classified documents for house republicans. >> at the end of the day my biggest concern is not the classified documents. my concern is how there is such a discrepancy in how former

president trump was treated by reading mar-a-lago and getting the security cameras and taking pictures of documents on the floor and by going through closets versus joe biden -- they can go through. reporter: congressman comber said this is the difference about treatment. there is a factual reason on why president trump was treated differently. he withheld these documents for more than a year. doj and national archives expended a lot of different steps to get the documents back and it was not until the judge signed off on a search warrant because there was real concerned that the president was obstructing the ability to obtain the documents and was violating the asby and are shocked potentially. republicans are widely calling for more information on biden but they have not said that they would investigate former president trump's classified documents at home. nick: andow our dumb --and how are democrats respoing ?

reporter: congressman adam schiff and others have been calling for damage assessment. here is what he had to say today or this weekend -- >> congress ought to handle the situations the same way. we need a briefing from the intelligence community about any risk to national security about where the documents were and what they contained. reporter: just like they called for in the case of president trump, democrats are calling for a damage assessment which is common when classified document are found. nick: thank you very much. ♪ on this martin luther king day we have a look at a new memorial in boston honoring after king and his wife, grip -- caretta scott king. it has been five years in the making and the project honors their relationship and their

dual civil rights legacy. reporter: in 1964, 35-year-old martin luther king jr. celebrated his nobel peace prize with an embrace of his wife. now, another celebration based on that moment. the unveiling of a 20 foot tall 19 ton bronze sculpture called "the embrace" featuring four intertwined arms. ja amazi was part of the architectural team. >> it is very hard for me as a daughter of boston to mainin composure and not bawl out. as a young black architect are -- educated in this city to participate in a moment like this are we under the black experience, black joy and black love. reporter: king had important

ties to the city attending boston university earning a phd from the school of theology and this is where he began to date the young caretta. the city was also a locus of his civil rights work. in 1965 he led a march from rocks perry to boston common. at friday's opening ceremony, martin luther king t third and his daughter, mlk's granddaughter were among the speakers. >> they both loved the city because of its crowd parroted as a hotbed of the abolitionist movement and its unique intellectual and educational resources. and indeed boston begin the plays where they forged a partnership that would change america. >> i love this monument. i also see the love and strength and unity in these hands and how they symbolize a beautiful marriage and partnership. and it was one that changed the

world. there is a sense in which we are all children and grandchildren of martin and caretta scott king. we are all challenged to carry forward their unfinished work. reporter: earlier today i spoke with hank willis thomas, the artist who designed the sculpture and the former head of embrace boston, a nonprofit group that spearheaded the memorial. thank you, both for joining us. hank willis thomas, you were inspired by that photograph. what did you see in it that you wanted to bring out ? >> when i saw the photograph on the day he received the nobel prize i saw this incredible bond and that it was not just his cebration but there celebration. i saw the warmth of the hug and the power of the embrace. and i saw her strength literally holding him up drew these different trials and tribulations and the fact that

he -- she was with him every step of the way and carried the legacy on after he was assassinated. something i really felt needed to be highlighted wi this work. reporter: notably no faces, no full bodies and in that sense it is not a traditional monument. i have seen some pushback with people questioning the way that you approached this. they do think of something different ? >> too much burden is placed on dr. king and caretta scott king. and i wanted to make a peace that both acknowledged and highlighted them but also was a call to action, a call to love for everyone to embrace someone else and to honor them i stepping into their power, their beauty, and their message. the embrace is as much about the potential that exists in each and every one of us as it is about dr. king and misses king. reporter: often well remembered

for his work in the south and the march on washington but perhaps less so for his time and work in the north. how important was boston to him ? and why is boston honoring him now ? >> the wonderful thing is it started here, right because it was here where they met. it is here that we have this full love story that did not just celebrate them love stories that happen in the black community and not simply in boston but across the nation. and what it does is show you the first super couple that were able to come together not only for a career but for love of community and country and to galvanize a movement and it happen right here in boston and few people knew that. and it celebrates that for us as communities of color, lack people that we are more than just hours struggle.

we are love and joy. that gets celebrated at the center of this. reporter: he wld have seen that boston of the past. he would've experienced some of the racial tension that existed in the city. what did he experience ? how does that play into what you see today ? >> he saw the poverty that existed at the time in boston in communities of color. he saw the pain, the unemployment. he saw the lack of edution that was not equitable offered in public schools in the city of boston at the time. he saw it and wanted to do something about it. i do think that while it may show up differently than it did in the south, a lot of what was happening in the south was more subliminally present and he was willing to meet with us, to dine

with us, to plan with us and then to act. and as you know he came back after and led the march and actually addressed a section of the legislature to challenge just to think differently about how we approach the issues of race in boston. reporter: hank willis thomas, we are in a moment where we are thinking a lot about how we remember history, monuments and memorials. i know you have been involved in making public sculptures before it. now, you're taking on this. how do you think about what should be in the public ? what we should look at and how we should remember important figures and history ? >> as a society we have a negativity bias. it seems we only -- the things that are horrible, the things we have monuments to in our society

are heroes of war and victims of word. we don't have many monuments to love and to the community. and so i feel it is time in the 21st century to reconsider what the role of public space is and why we gather around them. the embrace is an opportunity for people to come together and really reflect on the power of any two people coming together and embracing and the potential that is to change society for the better. reporter: this is the oldest public space in the country and in thinking about how we remember our past, what is it you want people just walking through boston common to take from this ? >> hank has brought us such joy. it is complex. what i want them to understand is that boston belongs to all of us. for me, it is the embrace as well as freedom plaza. it is a recognition, it is

uplifting and talking about joy and togetherness and our ability to overcome. and at the same time it recognizes that we did not do it alone. and dr. king, and when they were here, they worked with the community. and the people he worked with that impacted and drove change in the city of boston are reflected on that comment as well. dr. king and his wife were global citizens. whoever walks into our city tomorrow will be able to see themselves, see their struggle, joy and love right there in the middle of america's most famous square, the boston common. reporter: thank you both very much. >> thank you. ♪ nick: coming up on the newshour, how climate change makes intense

winter weather events like the buffalo blizzard more common. and a new book examines the biggest myths about the past of the united states. the eu says the number of migrants entering europe last year hit a six year high to well over 100,000, 50% increase over the previous year. but greece has been prosecuting the humanitarian workers that try to save asylum-seekers at sea. u.n. and e.u. says those prosecutions are having a chilling effect and a court case could prolong migrants uncertainty. here is our special correspondent. reporter: on the greek island of lese bows, this -- lesbos encapsulates the concerns. these volunteers face long jail sentences for trying to save lives. the best-known defendant is sarah.

a syrianefugee whose her resume -- whose her was him has been -- heroism was immortalized for giving and blankets. >> there is no more room on the boat. reporter: the film shows how sarah and her sister swam through the night to pull their refugee dinghy to lesbos. >> i survived the war and i survived the crossing and the water and i was completely fe. and just because of the situation, i lost control of myself and my mental health. reporter: sarah did not attend the hearing but her former colleague did. the charge she includes espionage, forgery, people smuggling, money laundering and

belonging to a criminal organization. >> can you just described to me what you think of the charges against you -- against her ? >> in a word they are farcical. the idea that i am naïve, i am told i should have just followed the law. that is what i'm doing. what does the european convention for human rights say, it says lives must be protected. i face 20 years imprisonment. it is important that we stand up to these kinds of prosecutions. these are cynical prosecutions. reporter: prosecutions are also gunning for one of greece's most prominent human rights activists and a fierce critic of europe's refugee policies. >> the west fears refugees and they are willing to do anything to stop them and if the victims are refugees, turned back

refugees, killed or drowned or ngos being harassed, they don't care. reporter: an investigation on the island of salmos. this turkish drone footage captures the pushback as a greek ship casts a drift asylum-seekers towards turkish territorial waters. the greek supreme court has received dozens of lawsuits about such incidents. he has been accused of people smuggling and forming a criminal organization. what do you think the greek authorities are trying to do to you ? >> the main cause is -- they want to punish me and prevent me from doing this kind of work and a warning to all other humanitarian workers to stay away from them. reporter: identical chargers have been filed against tommy

olson who runs a website that monitors refugee traffic. although he is based in northern norway, asylum-seekers frequently ask for his have -- ask for his help while at sea. following a slew of prosecutions, the u.n. and e.u. are calling on greece to allow humanitarians to work free from fear of legal action. the greek location makes it a magnet for asylum-seekers. it's coast guard has saved thousands of lives since refugee crisis began in 2015 but the government is exacerbated are the refusal of other europeans to share its burdens. at sea greece is embroiled with a propaganda war with turkey. this greek video shows a turkish vessel destabilizing an asylum-seekers raft.

turkeys coast guard responds with images of alleged pushback spirit the greek prime minister -- >> we are intercepting votes that come from turkey -- boats that come from turkey as we have a right to do. this is our policy and i will not accept anyone pointing the finger to this government and accusing it of inhumane behavior. reporter: according to the aji and boat report, more than 26,000 people were pushed back by the greek authorities in 2022. as a result some smugglers sent overcrowded boats from turkey to italy bypassing southern greece. in rough seas last october a vessel carrying 100 people struck rocks off the -- off an island and at least five drowned. survivors were hauled up a sheer cliff face. search-and-rescue voluntes have been frightened away from the greek islands by prosecutions. but the hearing in lesbos has

done nothing to change the climate. charges of spying and other misdemeanors were shelved but serious allegations are still pending. >> all we want is justice. we want this to go to trial. it does not seem that will happen anytime soon. reporter: the nonprofits insist they are not the pull factor that lure migrant >> they are not coming to take your jobs or your money or your life. they want safety. they want to sleep in a bed and not hear a war outside their window. reporter: the key question is how well the greek government respond to the u.n. and e.u. demands --compliance or defiance ? and by the way, the migrants will still keep coming risking everything in the process. ♪

nick: this past weekend the nfl playoffs got underway but for black coaches last week wrought negative news and once again tough questions about the league record when it comes to who is hired to be a head coach. lisa desjardins has the story. reporter: theouston texans are fired lovie smith last week after a three win and 13 loss season that many saw as a rebuilding year leaving just two full-time black head coaches out of the 32 spots in the nfl. this in a league where nearly 60% of the players are black. that gap has been an issue for decades. in 2003 the nfl adopted the rooney rule to ensure teams interviewed at least one minority candidate for every open head coach job. here is what that recently fired coach, lovie smith told the washington post last summer. >> there is pressure to win.

you knew it was bigger than that. if you did not win, you would stop progress. not because back a little bit. and that is pressure that i still feel. we get a shorter period of time to prove who we are. reporter: the washington post has chronicled the problem in detail in a series called blackout. michael, my first question is why is this only a continued problem ? >> it is getting worse. lovie smith was fired after one season and the guy that came after was given one season as well and since 2018 five black coaches have been fired and -- i mean have been hired and three fired after just one season. i think that is a problem that needs to be addressed. the nfl is doing what it can but

the motivation is with ownership. they have not provided opportunities for black coaches. it is getting worse. it does not appear -- there does not appear to be anything that can change it. reporter: let's talk about the ownership issue. this is not a diverse group. there has never been a majority owner that is black. few nonwhite owners. can the problem change at all ? >> what they have to look at is the rooney rule whichas in place in 2003 which was brought about because of the threat of litigation. johnny cochran threatened to sue the nfl in order to change the policy because at the time only -- because at the time tony john g had just been fired and there was only one black head coach in the nfl. 20 years later you're going through the same cycle but this time you have a court case.

you have a litigant. someone willing to put themselves on the line and force change through the court that is the one thing that changes the climate right now for the nfl. they have been put on alert. there is a serious problem. the owners have to make the decision. reporter: that is working its way through the courts. it is not just about hiring but also firing. you mentioned an idea that coaches that have been fired after one year, recently, half have been black. here is something you talked to a former head coach about. >> i think sometimes the minority may not be given as much leeway as a white counterpart. now, in saying that, i mean i think if a white guy was a head coach and was doing a bad job, he gets fired also.

if you are doing an above average job, let's say, all right, sometimes a white guy might be given another game where a black guy might be let go. reporter: what are your findings about the role of race versus te records in firing in the nfl ? >> black coaches are most likely to be fired after having success then a white coach. if you are a black coach at wins nine games you are just as likely to be fired as a white coach that won six games. you will also be the first to be dismissed in shorter order there was some progress around 2011 where there were 10 full-time coaches and three entrants. it appeared the nfl was moving and the right direction. in the last decade you have a court case but also coaches

expressing frustration. there is a pool of available talent. i will be interested to see where the lawsuit goes because it appears to be the only way to get someone to move otherwise there will just be complaints and frustration. reporter: in preparing for the segment and i am a big football fan, one number popped out at me that i was surprised by of the 100 most watched broadcasting last year in the u.s., 82 of them were nfl games. that is staggering. we are talking about billions and billions of dollars. this is a huge part of life in america. what do you thing is at stake in this discussion for united states and the culture in terms of who the nfl chooses to elevate ? >> i mentioned cyrus. who threatened to sue the nfl 20 years ago. he said if you could change football, you could change

america. that says a lot about the influence of the game has on the entire country. if owners would provide an opportunity for minorities and put them in leadership positions, it might change the way the world sees representation and it may open up corporate america and fortune 500 companies to see leaders in those positions. look at what happened on the field. it told a long time for black quarterbacks to get opportunities but now the game is so much more exciting when you have patrick mahomes free styling and doing so many exciting things. one thing black coaches -- at whatever level, they just want the same opportunities that white coaches are given. there is no proof that a white coach is any better or worse than a black coach. but t opportunities are better. that has to change. there is no reason why to continue to have this conversation and there is no reason why this can't change. but until the owners decide they want to change and there has to be pressure to either financial

pressure, lawsuits or something like that or fans. it would be better for the game if it brought more opportunities to more people. reporter: michael from the shington post, thank you so much. >> thank you for having me on. ♪ nick: california continues to be inundated by storms and millions of residents remain under flood watch. western new york is still recovering from last month's historic lizard that dropped more than four feet osnow on buffalo. we examined the frequency of extreme winter weather and the debate about its potential links to climate change. repoer: longtime buffalo residents had never seen a winter storm quite like this one. for much of the city's christmas

week blizzard he was doing wellness checks as part of a volunteer group in his eased buffalo neighborhood. he shot this video in near white conditions. you have lived in buffalo your whole life. have you ever seen a storm like this ? >> not like this. especially with the wind, the wind made it extra worse. reporter: morris later found out that his own father was among the more than 40 residents killed around buffalo as a result of the blizzard. 65-year-old morris senior, a man known for his flashy suits, died trying to walk to a grocery store. his body was later found in a snow bank. >> he was so flamboyant, larger-than-life. his personality. they told me he was going to the store and unfortunately, the store is only two blocks over. and he did not make it. reporter: the blizzard

conditions coupled with 70 mile-per-hour winds were a catastrophic combination. climatologist adam smith calculates the financial risk. >> the late december 2022 winter storm cold wave was, in some parts of the country, the storm of a lifetime. the hurricane force winds around buffalo, the intense snow squalls. it was quite remarkable. reporter: smith says the blizzard was just one of 18 billion dollar weather-related events last year and he believes it could be the costliest winter weather event when nearly two hundred 50 people died in texas. >> february 2020 -- 2021 was the most costly weather.

it was over a $20 billion event. reporter: while it is increasingly clear that other severe weather like thelooding in california, droughts and longer wildfire seasons can be linked to global warming, the fingerprints of man-made climate change on extreme weather is less obvious. that debate often center around the arctic, region warming water times faster than the rest of e world. >> the biggest changes that we are seeing in climate change are happening in the arctic. i think there is a connection. reporter: he researches the connections between warming and the arctic. >> the changes to the arctic will lead to more changes which increases our risk of severe winter weather. reporter: for most americans, winters are getting shorter and warmer. average winter temperatures have risen by at least two degrees since the 1970's. but something else is hapning.

>> what people are experiencing is a warmer and shorter winter peng shuai did -- punctuated a more severe weather events. reporter: his research is not fully agreed upon. some say it could be a natural deviation. what is clear, the increasing frequency of extreme weather means more americans will likely be impacted going forward. and some groups will be hit much harder than others says adam smith. >> most everyone is vulnerable to some extreme or combination of extremes and people that have the highest vulnerability socioeconomically to these extremes, they may not be able to evacuate or have an insurance policy to recover or the social fabric to help them rebound. >> there is an old adage in the african-american community that says when white people get a

cold, black people get a blooming onion. reporter: buffaloes mostly black eased side was especially vulnerable to the blizzard. many residents there live in older homes and rely on walking. >> already we know that blacks represented about 50% more of the for tallies in a region where they represent only about 14% of the population. this was something you had never seen before. the messaging was never there. it was never there. that walking could kill you. >> a driving brand remains in effect. reporter: while the city of buffalo instituted a driving ban and urged residents to stay home during the blizzard, it was a message that never reached his father. >> this is probably the worst storm that any of us have

experienced in our lifetime and we did not know any better because people were still going out like my father. still thinking, this is all right. i can walk to the store and make it. this is not going to kill me. reporter: does that make you angry with the city of buffalo ? >> i was a little frustrated because i still think it is a lack of accountability where 43 people were dying. reporter: like many in buffalo he hopes last month's blizzard will be a wake-up call. ♪ nick: in recent years there has been a steady increase of misinformation. two historians have assembled a team to push back myths on some of the country's most pressing

issues. they spoke to geoff bennett about their collection, taking on the biggest legends and lies about our past. reporter: kevin kruse and julian, welcome to the newshour. the essays take on everything from feminism to white backlash over the removal of confederate monuments to american exceptionalism to drums america first approach. what was the organizing principle behind this book of essays ? >> our main purpose was to push back against some of the lies out there in the public discourse today. certain topics presented themselves as obvious ones at the more we got into it we wanted to give a full picture of the range of american history. reporter: why publish a book like this now ? >> part of it was us listening and hearing and reading ideas about american history that were really does connect did from

what academic historians have been writing about and finding in the archives. we wanted to try to share with the public but we know that is so different than what you hear. part of it is also how public -- how politicized history has become in the classrooms and we wanted to bring some of the best and brightest scholars that write well to tackle big questions i'd americans have been wrestling with not just over the last few years but over the last few decades. reporter: let's talk about some of the essays starting with sarah's essay entitled "america first." it has gently never worked as a unifying national motto. on the contrary it has consistently served as a divisive code camouflaged by its ostensible harmlessness, frequently conspiratorial cover story. tell me more about the origins of this myth of america first

and how it has evolved. >> america first became part of the national lexicon in the last few years when the former president used it as one of his mottos but it is a term that has been around for a long time. certainly in the world war ii period and in the period leading up to that. it was a term embraced and not just those that supported isolationism that many connected to the right. sara in her essay shows a long history of how the term, it is not just a patriotic motto, it is a concept, a phrase that has been connected to many elements of reactionary politics from world war ii period right through to today. reporter: gilmore writes about the so-called good protests which she posits is based on nonviolent resistance of the civil rights movement and she says the narratives rest on four

misconceptions. the demonstrations were the first of their kind. that most americans gave their support to the protests. they quickly exposed and vanquished hatred. and they ended happily by bringing racial equality to america. why is that the myth of the good protest so dangerous ? >> it is dangerous becse it presents a false split between the past and the present. there are those that held up this false idea of the civil rights movement as one that was not controversial. at it could settle things easily and martin luther king was universally adored which was false at the time. but if you have a view of the civil rights movement in the 1960's as being without any stakes to it, without any opponents it, it makes other protests pale in comparison. the black lives matter protests were constantly contrasted

against this false image of the civil rights protests. reporter: david bell writes about the perceived myth of american exceptionalism. he is dismissive of the term and his rationale seems to be that most nations could be considered exceptional in one sense or another. i think people might read that and take issue with that. how do you defend the position he takes ? >> the idea of american exceptionalism has been around for a long time and embraced by the left and the right. it is a real bipartisan argument. the idea that america is not simply better than other nations but fundamentally different. we have avoided the problems that faced comparable countries. what he is trying to argue is that really skews our understanding of how united states evolved. it is better to have a realistic understanding and no some of the

similarities between our country and comparable nations in western europe for example because then we get a deeper knowledge about how we as a country have wrestled with those problems. sometimes differently than others and somimes the same. i think what david argues is very important and he shows there is a history to the concept that has been deployed politically and it takes our eye away from issues that we need to address as a nation. reporter: the essays ilate members of the conservative movement as the main culprits of mythmaking. there are people that will read the book or watch this interview and wonder what exists of the lies and legends, to use the phrase i read in the book, promulgated by the political left ? >> a fair question but the reason there is so much emphasis on this representations of history coming from the right is

they have been actively engaged with history in the last few years. president trump led the way and not just in terms of his claims to have been the best or biggest or first to have done such and ch but even in the last days of his presidency putting forward this commission report which tried to implicate a patriotic education. the right has been very engaged in the project and that is why you see historians pushing back more against lies from the right. i think if biden tries to push a patriotic education we will see historians try to push back against that as well. >> and i would add that we frame the book around the moment we are living in and a lot of this is most pronounced. reporter: you are both historians with significant public profiles. do you feel the moment we are living in requires historians to venture outside academic into the mainstream to combat some of the stuff head-on ? >> absolutely pure historians

have a special set of expertise and there is a hunr in the public to understand this nations history and historians have an ability to fill the gap. luckily we live in an era of social media which has helped a lot of these myths and lies spread but it has also given every scholar out there and ability or a platform to push back against them. reporter: julian and kevin, thank you for your time. >> thanks for having us. ♪ nick: remember we have much more online including a story on where activists into eliminate abortion are now focusing their energies. that is the newshour for tonight. for all of us at the pbs newshour, i hope you had a good day. thank you and have a good night. announcer: major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> for 25 euros the goal of

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♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -today on "america's test kitchen," dan makes julia porchetta-style turkey breast, adam reviews smart ovens, and keith makes bridget roasted fennel. it's all coming up right here on "america's test kitchen." -"america's test kitchen" is brought to you by the following.