♪ geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett... amna: and i'm amna nawaz in monterey park, california. on "the newshour" tonight... a community seeking answers after the shooting at a lunar new year celebration that left mayor -- that left several dead. mayor lo: i think a lot of people are still in disbelief that this happened. geoff: plus... the president is expected to name a new chief of staff as his administration deals with a controversy over classified documents. amna: and... florida's governor blocks a new advanced placement course on african american studies for high school students. ♪ >> 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 norma klorfine, and koo and patricia yuan. the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at hewlett.org. ♪ ♪

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. geoff: good evening. we begin tonight with the deadly epidemic of gun violence in america -- a problem with no letup in sight. in california, authorities are trying to determine the motive behind this weekend's shooting in monterey park. the community is grieving over the attack that left at least 11 people dead. today in des moines, iowa, two students were killed and a teacher was injured during a shooting at a charter school. multiple suspects were taken into custody. and in baton rouge, a shooting at a nightclub injured a dozen people. amna nawaz is in monterey park. amna? amna: geoff, once again the headline we're reporting is another mass shooting in america. according to the gun violence archive, the 33rd such mass shooting in this calendar year

alone, and the deadliest mass shooting the country has seen since 19 children and two teachers were killed last year in uvalde, texas. monterey park, california, this quiet, tight-knit community outside l.a. is now bound into sisterhood of cities and communities forever changed by this uniquely american problem of mass gun violence. a city that two days ago was bustling with lunar new year celebrations, now mostly quiet. in downtown monterey park, makeshift memorials to the victims of saturday night's dance hall rampage. 60 year old jack yang came to pay his respects this morning. he's lived here for three decades and often went to the star dance studio. he said his friend was kindles there saturday night. -- was killed there saturday night. jack: very sad. my good friend. very nice man. amna: when he arrived at city

hall this morning, monterey park mayor henry lo was still processing the devastation. the population in this city of about 60,000 is 65 percent asian -- mostly chinese immigrants and first generation asian americans. lo said the timing of the shooting, with decorative lanterns and celebratory signs, makes it that much more painful. mayor lo: the lunar new year, you know, it's a time of renewal, of optimism for the future. it was a celebration, a triumph that we had made it through the ravages of the pandemic. and, you know, we had our carnival near the incident of the shooting. and so it's just cast a pall. and it has been -- i think a lot of us are still in disbelief that this happened. amna: officials today revealed that all but one of the victims were in their 60's and 70's. these are people who either came here or spent most of their lives working towards some higher vision of what this country could be viewed for them

to lose their lives in this way. how does that sit with you? mayor lo: it doesn't sit well with me. in fact, i was just thinking -- i was reflecting last night. i was just thinking -- [crying] amna: i'm so sorry. mayor lo: that -- the hurt people, the victims. their families, the survivors, their lives are shattered. they won't be able to enjoy things that i enjoy. so simple. just expected, you know, during the holidays, you know, as i feel for them. amna: late sunday, authorities identified the gunman as 72 year old huu can tran. he was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a white van that authorities cornered about 30 miles from the dance hall. he fled monterey park after people at a second dance hall in the nearby city of alhambra wrestled away his gun. police said the weapon was a

semi-automatic pistol with an extended magazine and they found a second handgun in his van. elizabeth yang's law firm sits across the street from the star dance studio. the 40 year old dances there every monday. she was welcomed, she says, by the older generation of dancers who frequented that space. after the shooting, her phone was flooded with messages and images from other studio goers. elizabeth: star ballroom has been here a long time. it is a big part of the community and it brings people together. it brings elderly people together, and it gives them a way to stay fit and healthy. so i would hate to see that business go under, and i'm going to continue supporting it myself. and i don't want this one off incident to make people feel like monterey park is not a safe city because this is a very safe citynd i love living in the ty. amna: today, the identitiesf other victims began trickling out. the los angeles county coroner's office released the names of two women killed -- 65 year old my

nhan and 63 year old lilan li. back at the scene of the shooting, residents are now grappling with how to move forward. 27 year old johnathan luc lives less than a block from here. he moved to monterey park about three years ago because it was -- because he loved the food scene. jonathan: it's the kind of place where you walk home and you smell people cooking their dinner, you know, right at 6:00, they're cooking dinner for their family. what do something like this do to a community? it's very quiet. that's a big reason why i love this neighborhood. and i was scared that everything was going to change. and it might. i don't know yet, right? amna: this place that residents call overwhelmingly safe, calm and tight-knit, now the latest pin on america's horrific map of mass shootings. we are learning new details today about that a, including his connection to the star dance studio.

he did used to come here. according to a statement from his ex-wife, they met here years ago. we are also learning details from local officials who are reportedly saying the gunman had come to law enforcement authorities in the nearby town of hemet and claimed his own family members were trying to target and poison him. this raises additional questions. geoff: what more have you learned about monterey park and the people who call it home? amna: i think you and i know, having covered a number of these, there are things that tie communities together when they are touched by this kind of gun violence. the disbelief, the grief, the long tail of trauma. but these communities are specific and unique in their own ways. monterey park does boast this is thfirst majority asian american city in the entire continental uted states, and they point out the same generation that helped build the community over the last 40 or 50 years and make it what it is

today were among those who lost their lives in saturday's killing. they also make clear that they think the same sense of resilience and perseverance and hope that made the community what it is today is what will get people through in the days and weeks and months ahead. few people understand that sense of community that are then my next guest, joining me in monterey park, california, the u.s. were presented from california's 20th congressional district, judy chu. thank you for joining us. this is your hometown, you were mayor here. what did you think you heard the news? rep. chu: i was horrified, stunned. this is a peaceful, quiet town, it is a suburb, a great place to raise kids, and to think there could be this horrific violence happening in the middle of it where 11 lives now have been taken away and the remainder in the hospital, some with very serious conditions. this is something i could not have imagined.

what was even more terrifying yesterday was the fact the shooter was loose, he was in the community, and so many embers of the community were so afraid. they were terrified if they go to an event, they could shoot at -- he could shoot them too. you could see the fear in their eyes. so when 5:00 came and the press conference came that he was captured and had killed himself, there was relief. amna: there are reports today about his connection to the studio, local officials expressing concern. what else have you learned about the gunman? rep. chu: he certainly was an avid ballroom dancer. he seemed to think his skills were pretty high. he met his wife here and she says he criticized her for her misses in dance moves.

he divorced her in 2005. she said he was quick to anger and i suspect that has something to do with what happened here. i don't know what ultimately made him snap like that, but clearly he had a connection with these studios. amna: what about the weapon? we have read it was a semi automatic pistol with extended magazine. that particular firearm is illegal in california. where did he get it? rep. chu: who knows? that's top of the list of my questions. i want to know how he obtained these guns because that's only the second gun. the first gun, the identity hasn't been released, but i want to know how he got that one, and i want to know if you went through background checks or evaded it like so many americans who try to evade it by not going

to a store, but instead doing an online purchase or private purchase. amna: those are questions you don't have answers to? rep. chu: no, i don't. amna: you spoke with president biden today and tweeted earlier. did he make pledges to you about executive action on gun safety? rep. chu: hwas focused first of all on the victims and making sure they got the help they needed. he pledged all the support they needed. he also pledged support from federal agencies and i have to give them praise because from the beginning, the fbi was there, the atf, the u.s. attorney's office -- they were there backing up the county sheriffs and monterey park police department. we had the full level of law enforcement and that is why this man was captured even before 24

hours were done. amna: president biden has long urged congress to take additional action when it comes to gun safety and legislation around that. it was last year it took nearly 30 years, multiple mass shootings for them to be literate i-- limited bipartisan gun safety reform. that was in a democrat led congress. is there any hope for gun reform in this divided congress? rep. chu: we have to fight for it, take a step forward wherever we can. it was a limited bill but i did take pride in the fact it actually passed after 30 years of nothing. i still think we should put top of the list true, universal background checks, because those have proven to save lives by keeping guns out of the hands of violent and criminal people. the reason i sayrue is because sony people use those loopholes by buying online or through a private purchase. we have to close that gap.

amna: is there hope for that in a republican-led house? rep. chu: we have to see what we can do. americans have to raise their voices and show how important this is for them, especially those living in the districts with those members of congress who are resistant to this. those congress members could be the next ones with a mass shooting in their district. their constituents could be the victims, their neighbors, their family members, their loved ones. so until we stop this proliferation of gun violence, none of us will be safe. amna: what do you want people to understand about this particular community that you know so well? what they have been through and what they will go through ahead? rep. chu: this is a community that is very tightknit. it is a community that is a great place to raise kids, there

is a high quality of life, there is a park within every mile of a home. we have the greatest chinese food in the world, i believe. amna: we have heard that from several people. [laughter] rep. chu: we value diversity, we have a 60% asian population. that's why our lunar new year celebration was so big. we had 100,000 people there. we were doing the opening ceremony just one block away from where the shooting was taking place. amna: and you were there hours before happened? rep. chu: that is the thing -- yes. only hours away from when the shooting took place. it certainly was a horrific way to start the lunar new year, which is the most important holiday for asians across the world. people were really looking forward to this one because this

celebration had been on hiatus for three years due to covid. there was so much energy around being there in person with one another and hopefully going toward normalcy. amna: we hope that does come ahead. congresswoman, thank you for joining us. geoff, as you have heard, stories of pain and grief, along a trail of trauma ahead but also resilience and hope that things can at some point get back to normal. geoff: amna, thank you. this is the second mass shooting in california and just under a week. let's focus on the gun laws in that state and the challenges of stopping shootings given the wide availability of guns. i spoke earlier today with adam winkler, a professor at the ucla school of law, where he focuses on constitutional law and gun policy.

adam winkler, welcome to the newshour. adam: thank you for having me. geoff: california has some of the strictest gun control laws in the country. studies show they are effective they are apparently not enough in a country where gun ownership is considered a constitutional right. adam: it is true that california's gun laws do work. we have the lowest firearms mortality rate in the nation in california, far lower than the national average. however, we should recognize that california has restrictive gun laws only compared to other american states. compared to the western industrialized world, for instance, california has some of the loosest and must permissive laws in the world. so california's gun laws try to reduce gun violence but it is still very easy for pretty much anyone to get their hands on a firearm in california. geoff: what are some of the

biggest concerns about those gun safety laws? especially when you consider the supreme court has made it harder to defend gun safety laws against a second amendment challenge? adam: i think one of the things that is most concerning for california lawmakers is whether the gun laws they pass, today or in the past, are actually going to be constitutionally permissible. the supreme court this past june strengthened second amendment protections, has made it much harder for states to defend gun laws. many of california's most aggressive efforts to regulate guns and provide for gun safety reform are likely to be called into question in the courts in the coming years. geoff: in this california case, the gunman was identified as a 72-year-old man, making him an tlier in terms of age. how does that change our understanding of the threat? adam: i think it highlights the

exceptional nature of this particular case. gun violence is traditionally a young man's game, and i use both young and man purposefully, because it is usually men and it is usually young men who engage in gun violence. part of the brain is not fully developed until about the age of 30, and it is hard for younger men to necessarily control their impulses and engage in a kind of cost-benefit anasis that gun violence usually discourages when we have a society that has decided to become heavily armed like american society, even in california, provides anyone at any age with the means to incredible violence to other people. geoff: let's talk more about that. authorities right now are working to learn more about the shooter's motive as they piece together a full picture of what transpired.

i know you believe that when it comes to mass shootings, the means matter sometimes more tn the motive. tell me about that. adam: it is always going to be difficult to control people's motives. we don't know what the motive was in this particular case. i've seen rumors there was a domestic dispute involved. we can't stop people from getting angry. what we can do is make it a little harder for that person to get their hands on a firearm while they are in that passionate state. universal background checks, waiting periods can help. but we needed to not just think about regulating guns but also efforts to enforce the current gun laws we have by having community intervention programs to identify those most likely to commit violence and try to intercede with those people and stop them from doing so. there is a lot we can do but we cannot stop everybody from

having access to weapons and we can't stop every bad motive from resulting in gun violence. geof is this best accomplished at this point? adam: california has tried mightily in recent years to reduce gun violence and with some success. however, it is very difficult for a gun law to be effective when a resident of california can go to arizona or nevada and purchase the exact weapon that is out load -- outlawed in california. guns easily cross state lines and really the only way to have effective american gun safety reform is to do it at the federal level. unfortunate, american politics don't seem to be particularly ripe for such reform. geoff: adam winkler is a professor at the ucla school of law. thank you for your time and insight. ♪

in the days other headlines, the white house fended off you questions after fbi agents searched president biden's home in wilmington delaware over the weekend. they found six more classified documents going back to his time as a u.s. senator. but the press secretary rejected any suggestion that the president is unconcerned. sec. jean-pierre: the american people heard from the president directly on this when he was asked by your colleagues at least twice now about how he sees this process and he was very clear with the response of what we're currently seeing. he said i take this very seriously. he said i didn't know that the documents were there. geoff: the president has said that he did nothing wrong and that -- in his words -- there's no there, there. the fbi's former top counter-intelligence agent in new york is now accused of aiding a russian oligarch, in violation of u.s. sanctions.

an indictment announced today says charles mcgonigal helped billionaire oleg deripaska to investigate a rival russian tycoon. that was after mcgonical retired. he's also charged with taking $225,000 to aid albanian interests while he still worked for the fbi. mcgonigal pleaded not guilty to all counts today. on the war in ukraine: poland stepped up the pressure today to send tanks to ukrae's forces. the polish prime minister said he wants to transfer some of his country's german-made tanks to the ukrainians -- and will ask berlin to agree. he also said his government may act regardless of the answer. pm morawiecki: we will apply for such consent from germany, but this is a secondary topic. even if we do not get this consent in the end, as part of a small coalition, even if the germans would not be in this coalition, we will still hand over our tanks together with others to ukraine. geoff: on sunday, the german

foreign minister said berlin would not try to stop poland from taking that step. but it was unclear today if her government actually supports that position. in washington today, federal prosecutors won a pair of guilty verdicts in january 6th cases. richard barnett entered the capitol office of then-house speaker nancy pelosi and propped his feet on a desk. he was convicted of civil disorder and obstruction. separately, 4 members of the far-right oath keepers militia were convicted of seditis conspiracy. the food and drug administration proposed today that covid-19 vaccinations become an annual event for most people -- much like flu shots. the agcy says most americans now have sufficient immunity from previous shots or actual covid infections to allow that switch. an fda advisory panel will meet to discuss the issue on thursday. and, on wall street: stocks turned higher amid growing talk that the feder reserve will slow down interest rate hikes. the dow jones industrial average gained 254 points to close at 33,629.

the nasdaq rose 224 points -- 2 percent. the s&p 500 was up 1 percent. still to come on "the newshour"... the new african american studies course now banned in florida... mexico's former anti-narcotics chief on trial for allegedly working with the cartels... plus, an indigenous filmmaker's unconventional ways of telling native stories... >> 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. geoff: as president biden enters his third year in office, there's a change coming at the top of his leadership team. white house chief of staff ron klain will leave his post in the coming weeks. the departure comes as the president prepares to deliver the state of the union address and deals with continued questions about his handling of classified material. our white house correspondent

laura barrón-lópez is here with the details. it is good to cupd ron klain is the longest- good to see you. ron klain is the longest-serving chief of staff or any president. why is he leaving now? laura: it is a clean exit for ron klain right now, the doment scandal aside. it is a two year marker, he had a number of successes that a lot of democrats credit him for, including the infrastructure law being passed as well as other democratic priorities, including prescription drug reform. sources confirm he is indeed stepping down in the coming weeks and will be potentially replaced by jeffrey zients. klain had some criticism for democrats, he dealt with their frustrations about passing the

priorities president biden had. ultimately they came together, saw those past, and had productive midterms. he is leaving on a high note. geoff: tell us about jeff zients . laura: he is the former coronavirus czar, he crafted the response for president biden, and he worked under the obama administration and is well-known for fixing the affordable care act website in 2013 and it was having all of those issues. i spoke to someone who worked with him on the coronavirus response team and he said zients is really trusted in the administration, the president feels comfortable around him, and he is focused on execution and immersing himself in the details of day-to-day implementation and trying to fix any problems that could come along with implementing a lot of these big laws the president

wanted passed. geoff: there hasn't been a lot of turnover in this white house. what comes next as president biden is preparing to announce a reelection campaign? laura: as zients comes in, there is the potential reelection campaign for president biden, although the president also has top brass like anita dunn. zients comes in as house republicans are expected to launch investigations into the resident and his family. a lot of democrats i spoke to in people who have worked with zients before say they are confident in his ability to handle that. they credit him with working long hours with the team, trying to -- whether it is sell and implement the infra-structure law, prescription drug reform, they think he can shepherd those as well as handling the investigation. geoff: the fbi over the weekend

found six more classified items at president biden's home in delaware. how does that change, if at all, the facts of the case? laura: right now the facts of the case haven't changed. even though, as you noted, there was this search of president biden's wilmington home and today the spokesman for the council's office said this was an unprecedented offer that the president's lawyers made by wetting them go into the home to search it. i spoke to the national security attorney that said ultimately the facts legally haven't changed. >> we shouldn't mistake at all the seriousness of the situation whenever classified information is mishandled. i don't have any doubt that this appears to be a violation of the law. the issue or question is, would it be prosecuted? and these cases just typically

are not prosecuted even for the normal person on the street, so to speak, because if they've cooperated and if there's been no compromise, it would be handled administratively. laura: when he said they are these cases are typically not prosecuted, he's talking when classified documents end up where they are not supposed to end up, which often happens with former top-level officials. it was not surprising to him that documents like this were even found in biden's home as well as the pin biden center, as well as president trump, but the cases diverge after that when it comes to how the cooperation or lack of cooperation in president trump's case, happened with the justice department. geoff: we spoke wh the new house oversight chairman james comer on friday and he made clear he is going to investigate the biden white house on this issue and a number of different topics. how is the white house preparing to handle that? laura: the white house responded

to the chairman today in a letter and they said they don't have any of the documents on hand anymore because they've been handed over to the justice department and they told him they cannot give them the documents. they also said they are willing to work with "legitimate" oversight questions. but they are reviewing his request. when you're looking at the two cases of former president trump and president bidenthe national security attorney said that ultimately they could impact each other because it is attorney general merrick garland who has to decide that. >> the reality is neither case should impact the other. but that's just not practical or realistic. the fiasco with the biden administration, in particularly 1) that this exists and 2) how it was handled, without a doubt undermines attorney general garland's ability to be able to

make a decision that would enable at least the appearance of a fair and balanced justice going forward. laura: even though the cases are very different, ultimately he said that because of the steady trickle, it could impact the decision that attorney general garland makes good geoff: laura, -- arland makes. geoff: laura, things for the great reporting. ♪ florida governor ron desantis is defending his administration's decision to block a course on african american studies from the states' public schools. the fight is just the latest in the ongoing culture war in the state that has become a hallmark of desantis' agenda. with another four years in office came a promise from florida republican governor ron

desantis. gov. desantis: florida is where woke goes to die. geoff: and just weeks into his second term the administration , has a new target -- banning public schools from teaching advanced placement african american studies -- a pilot course by the college board focused on black history, arts, sciee and culture. the state's department of education wrote this month the course significantly lacks educational value, adding that they would consider a revised curriculum with lawful, historically accurate content. today governor desantis said teaching black history is required in florida schools, but said this course amounted to "indoctrination." gov. desantis: this course on black history -- what's one of the lessons about? queer theory. now who would say that an important part of black history is queer theory? that is somebody pushing an agenda on our kids. and so en you look to see they have stuff about intersectionality, abolishing prisons -- that's a political agenda.

geoff: the move stems from the so-called stop woke act desantis signed last year to clamp down on diversity and inclusion efforts by schools and business. gov. desantis: we believe in education, not indoctrination. geoff: and it's just the latest battle in desantis' culture war taking aim at the teaching of race in schools, how teachers can talk about gender identity, whether trans kids can play on sports teams, and covid vaccine requirements. he's made an enemy of blue state governors sending migrants , across the country without advance notice. and he has attacked his knee, one of the state's largest employers and marquis businesses. gov. desantis: i don't care what big corporations say. here i stand, i'm not backing down. geoff: fights on race, schools, and identity that have catapulted desantis to the

national stage and into 2024 presidential contention. and joining us now is fedrick ingram. he is secretary-treasurer of the american federation of teachers, one of the country's largest teachers unions. he's a native floridian who previously worked as a public school teacher in florida. this class, the ap african studies course, still in the pilot phase, was introduced to at least 60 schools, including one high school in fort appear to what is your reaction when you hear governor desantis saying this class indoctrinate students? fedrick: i am saddened and appalled as a native floridian, but i am concerned as a parent cause we have gvernor desantis who believes he was elected to be a king and not the governor. this is politics 101 inside our classrooms. this is the best and brightest

students that would take this class and would have an opportunity to explore advanced placement of african-american history in the same vein we explore italian history were japanese history or ap music theory. these are the classes already offered, and to politicize african-american history is shameful of this governor, and we should do better because our kids deserve better. geoff: the governor says because this course includes the study of clear theory and talks about political movements that advocated for abolishing prisons and focuses on the reparations movement, that all of that in his view is political and should not be pushed on students. can a course like this be taught without including those issues? fedrick: course like this should be taught honestly. it should be taught with the truth involved. history sometimes involves the bad, good and ugly of what has happened, but we deserve honest history. if you're talking about advanced

placement african-american history, you are talking about things like reparations, things like jim crow, or slavery, or reconstruction and the backlash to reconstruction. we were talking about the civil rights act. and those are uncomfortable they are not political in the sense that we are trying to indoctrinate students. we are trying to teach students the truth about american history, and american history involves african-american history and the things that african-americans have offered the country over the last 250 years. geoff: the targeting of this class follows governor desantis's fight over 40 schools teaching gender identity. how has this affected teacher morale and retention? fedrick: and for shall he governor desantis has taken a strong man approach and he is using our teachers for the pivot point for everything wrong with

the educational system. we have over 5000 classrooms right now that don't have a certified teacher, and that is in direct connection with how teachers feel. what governor desantis is also trying to do is take away teachers's boys. trying to take away the structure and autonomy in which we teach students, and how we organize with each other to build a better curriculum and ensure students are getting the resources they need, our schools are deserving of a governor and a leader and commissioner of education, frankly, that is going to listen to them, that is going to understand theeeds of our communities and families, and governor desantis is not that governor. geoff: how have students responded so far? fedrick: what we are hearing is students are appalled. when you talk about african-americans and you talk about the history and culture of african-americans, whether through their music, arts, dance, the intellectual acumen we have provided this country, it is a direct insult the folks.

we have four historically black colleges a universities that teach african-american studies on a high level. to take this optional class that is in pilot form and say it is not good for our student body, it is not going to come off well and students are reacting in a way they should. they should be appalled and concerned because somebody is trying to take away something they deserve to have come and that is honest history. geoff: there are at the moment ap level classes on european history, german history and culture, chinese history and culture -- what does it signal that an ap level class on african-american history is deemed objectionable? fedrick: well, it is not a dog whistle, this is a loud bullhorn of a call to say that african-american history doesn't matter. and that is unfortunate for this governor, because he is completely ostracizing a

community of people who have given so much to not only the state, but neighborhoods across the country and the country as a whole. we really need to step back, and what we are to manning of this governor is to allow this optional advanced placement african-ameran history course to be taught in our schools. because again, there needs to be a totality of education that is afforded our students, and governor desantis claims this is the free state of florida but he is taking away freedoms every day, from not only parents and teachers, but from our kids. geoff: fedrick, thank you for your time. fedrick: thank you. ♪ geoff: today in new york, arguments began in the case of the highest-ranking mexican official to ever stand trial in the u.s. prosecutors say the very man responsible for working with the u.s. to enforce the war on

drugs protected the cartels he was supposed to prosecute. nick schifrin reports. nick: in 2006, then mexican president felipe calderon tasked genaro garcia luna to remake mexican law enforcement, and go to war against mexico's cartels. as the head of mexico's security ministry, and before that, mexico's version of the fbi garcia luna was one of the u.s'' ,most important partners. that's him with then secretary of state hillary clinton. but now u.s. prosecutors accuse him of taking millions of dollars in bribes and enabling the powerful sinaloa cartel to traffic some 50 tons of cocaine into the u.s., and avoid precution. he has pleaded not guilty and today his lawyer said there is no money, no photos, no video, no texts, no emails, no recordings, no documents, no credible, believable evidence thatenaro garcia luna helped the cartel. to discuss the trial, and what it means in the u.s./mexico relationship, i'm joined by leon krauze, journalist and author, who is currently univision's

national news anchor in miami. a pleasure to have you on the newshour. how does this happen that someone so senior inside the mexican state is the very person that the sin a lower cartel and it is to flip? leon: that is a great question. great to be with you. first we need to think who garcia luna was, the head of dhs and homeland security. for six years he led the war on drugs. he was a powerful figure who controlled himself information, sometimes monopolized information, and was quite feared and a very powerful individual. respected as wl on both sides of the border. that this man betrayed those he

swore to protect is a tragedy. geoff: in that sense, why is this trial about more than drugs? leon: i think mexico has suffered through a long drug war that has caused hundreds of thousands of lives to this point, and it has been very painful for the country. if the man who was in charge of the operation, of conceiving the operation, is so corrupt, what can we say about the war on drugs? i think this should begin a debate about how best to fight this conflict, including, friendly, the united states and its incredible appetite for drugs and also incredible capacity to feed warlike weapons to cartels. geoff: propublic reported that

the u.s. had information about this, but prosecutors only brought charges after some of it became public in the case of el chapo, former head of the senna loa cartel. do you believe this is a case of the u.s. not wanting to realize or admit one of their major allies was corrupt? leon: that might either case. he allegedly having some sort of deal with the senna loa cartel in which he have the amount of market value where the cocaine that was taken from rival cartels, it is beyond dramatic, it is really tragic. it paints a horrible picture of what it was like back in the day, but also brings into question where we are now, frankly. geoff: what do we know about the man himself? i have read other journalists talk about him, that he considered himself a kind of

james bond. leon: yeah -- i laugh because you cannot make this up. he was obsessed with james bond, obsessed with recogniti of his work. he saw himself as some sort of hero. he exercised very strict control, monopolized information. a journalist who knew him very well told me he liked to keep strict control of all information, the problem was it was only one person who knew everything, how everything worked, into that person was garcia luna. geoff: go back to a point you're making before that this trial could lead to a debate or confrontation in the united states, but certainly in mexico about the war on drugs that has killed 300,000 since 2006. why do you think the trial can get mexico to confront that legacy and some of the rotten core of the security services? leon: i think mexico faces a

very complicated scenario, frankly. you see the power of corruption the cartels have and you also see the caliber of the weapons they use, you saw it in senna loa recently with the reaction to the capture of boozman -- guzman's son, and then you have fentanyl come and the way that drug is affecting the united states i think the combination and the unending violence in mexico, a big part of the country is now under the monopoly of criminal organizations, and i think it should force not only people in mexico but also the whole region to consider what this war is like and what is the endgame

with all of that on the table. i think this trial will play a role or should at least play a role in that debate. geoff: thank you very much. leon: thank you, nick. ♪ geoff: the artist and film maker sky hopinka was awarded the prestigious macarthur genius award last fall, celebrating a decade of his experimental work focused on indigenous people. jeffrey brown met hopinka in new york's hudson valley for our final story in our series on contemporary native american arts. it's part of our arts and culture series, canvas. >> i was here last month and it was all water. jeffrey: a young native woman soon to give birth, having survived rough years. speaking in english, with chinook subtitles.

a young man, immersing himself in his native language and customs. he speaks in chinook with english subtitles. both exploring the beauty, history and mythology of the pacific northwest. the 2020 documentary malni, towards the ocean, towards the shore, ilyrical in form, circling around its themes, a on a myth of death and rebirth. it's also a love letter to the natural world. it's the first feature by filmmaker and photographer sky hopinka. sky: there's something about shooting, you know, the oregon coast in the winter when it's gray and rainy and cloudy and the trees are a special kind of green and the dirt is a special red of hue that i just really love and i just really want to express that visually. and then that works in tandem

with just like the high minded ideas about language and about decolonization and about these different ideas of myth. jeffrey: the 38-year-old, who now teaches at art college in new york's hudson valley, grew up between washington state and california, the son of casino workers. his father a member of the , ho-chunk tribe from wisconsin and his ther, a member of the pechanga band of luiseño indians from southern california. sky: my family would go to powwows and my mom was a dancer and my dad was a drummer and that's how they met was on the powwow trail. and so it was something that i grew up with. i grew up close, but adjacent to a reservation, but it wasn't my own reservation. there's a lot of feeling a part of the community, separate from the community, and also trying to locate myself in the landscape, but also amongst my family. jeffrey: you grow up knowing

you're native of course, knowing that this is a part of your culture, but did you feel it defined you? sky: yeah, i mean it definitely defined me. i mean, how could it not? you know, it's like you're brown and you're a kid and you're living in a small white farming community. you know, no one would ever let me forget that i'm native. jeffrey: hopinka was in his late 20s when he decided to pursue experimental film as a way to explore that identity. sky: i was thinking about native american film and wanting to see my life and my experience reflected in these films and in ways that i hadn't. and so, if i want to see myself, my experience represented in film, then why not make it myself? jeffrey: his work can take on current events, as in dislocation blues, a film hopinka shot while at the standing rock protests in 2016

and 2017. >> poppa talked spanish, mama talked english, there were three languages in the house. jeffrey: but more often, personal histories are explored: 2021's kicking the clouds, is both a language lesson and family history. the film centers around old audio cassette tapes of his grandmother. sky: my grandma passed away some 15, 16 years ago and we were really close. and i had never heard her voice that young before. and so that was really striking. and here she was in 1971, 1972, trying to get her mom to teach her luisieño, to teach her pachenga because she never did. and my great grandma was resistant because she went to the boarding schools in southern california and was taught not to want to speak her language, to be ashamed of it. jeffrey: she could be punished

for it. sky: yeah. so you could hear that tension in some of the back and forth in some of the exchanges. but you can also hear their joy. jeffrey: his films are rooted in what he calls native people doing native things, but as they define it. even the boring, banal stuff of everyday life, far from the spectacle of trauma so familiar in hollywood films. sky: it's important for that to exist. but it's also important for these other parts of me, of a community to exist that are not based on the definitions of our trauma or how an audience outside of us looks at us, how the white western world looks at us. and so what does it mean to pick up a camera and point the things at what i want to be pointed out that are interesting to me but might boring to anyone else? jeffrey: hopkina, also an accomplished photographer, wants his work to broaden popular ideas of both native life and visual storytelling. sky: on one hand they're for

everybody. and on another hand, they are for me, my family, my community, my tribe. i want people to watch these films because i want them to be part of a larger conversation of, like, then what comes next? what does the next generation of indigenous experimental film makers look like? jeffrey: hopinka says the recognition and funds from the macarthur fellowship can help him support those efforts. in the meantime, he's at work on two new feature films and has an upcoming gallery exhibition of his photography and videos. for "the pbs newshour," i'm jeffrey brown in new york's hudson valley. ♪ geoff: we want to turn back to our lead story tonight, the mass shooting in monterey park, california, where new details about the attack are still emerging. let's bring back in amna. amna: that's right, we are still

learning new details this afternoon. the l.a. county coroner's office released two more names of additional victims from saturday night's shooting. they include valentino alvaro, and a 57-year-old, who would be the youngest of the confirmed victims so far. we are also learning details about the gunman. they say in 1990 he had an arrest of unlawful possession of a weapon and they say they found 42 casings at the scene over my shoulder in their investigation, speaking to the brutality of the scene. the mayor says they will host a visual for the community to heal. that is the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz in monterey park, california. geoff: and i am geoff bennett. thank you for spinning 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 find one that fits you. to learn more, visit consumercellular.tv. ♪ >> the landscape has changed, and not for the last time. the rules of business are being reinvented for the more flexible workforce, by embracing innovation, by looking not only at current opportunities but ahead to future ones. resilience is the ability to pivot again and again for whatever happens next. >> people who know know bdo. >> the kendeda fund, committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. more at kendedafund.org.

♪ supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundaon, committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. more infortion 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 news station from viewersike you. thank you. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.]

. they shouldn't have t