geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz in monterey park, california. tonight on the “newshour,” another mass shooting, this time near san francisco, roils the state, two days after a lunar new year shooting outside of los angeles. geoff: classified documents are found in former vice president mike pence's indiana home, raising more questions about the handling of sensitive information. amna: and lithium deposits near california's salton sea show promise for the economically and environmentally devastated region. >> this is an incredible opportunity because it is a matter of national security to have our own steady source of lithium ion batteries instead of relying on other countries.

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>> more at kf.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. geoff: good evening. the deadly toll of gun violence is again our top story tight,

yet another shocking attack in california. and then, just a few hours later, a deadly shooting in washington state. threpeople in yakima, washington were killed in what pears to be a random shooting at a convenience sto there. amna nawaz is co-anchoring again from california tonight. amna: geoff, we're here outside the scene of saturday's horrific shooting in monterey park. and, even today, folks have continued to file through to bring flowers, to say a prayer, to pay their respects. but even before all the names of those killed in that attack were confirmed here, news broke of another mass shooting in california. according to the gun violence archive, there have now been 39 mass shootings across america in 2023 alone, more mass shootings than days of the year. less than 48 hours after a gunman's rampage shook the slpy southern california city of monterey park, a mass shooting in northern california, 30 miles outside san francisco, left a second trail of

devastation. john: i mean, you hear about this on the news all the time, but when it comes home to you like this in a small town like this, it really does bring it home. anjust -- it's just deplorable. amna: officials said 66-year-old chunli zhao opened fire monday at a farm and another agricultural business near half moon bay, a small coastal city of about 12,000 people. zhao worked at the farm, and the victims included asian and latino farmworkers. officers arrested zhao about two hours after the attack when they found him in his car parked at a sheriff's substation. san mateo county sheriff christina corpus. christina: all of the evidence we have points to this being the instance of workplace violence. our hearts are broken. and we're working together with the community to heal in this tragic incident. amna: even in a state with some of the nation's strictest firearm laws, this month has brought a wave of gun violence across california.

last monday, six people, including a teenage mother and her baby, were gunned down in the central valley, a shooting thought to be linked to gang activity. on saturday, the massacre in monterey park, then the killings in half moon bay. and last night in oakland, a shooting left at least one person dead and seven others wounded. california governor gavin newsom tweeted last night that he was at the hospital meeting with victims of one mass shooting when he got word of the shooting in half moon bay. tragedy upon tragedy, he wrote. back in monterey park, residents continue to grapple with the trauma of saturday night's shooting. nina: it's just a roller coaster. we're going waves after waves after waves. amna: nina loc is the director of behavioral health for the chinatown service center, which is providing counseling for grieving families and community members here in multiple languages. nina: mainly right now is cantonese and mandarin. we do have other chinese dialects, like cozhou, fuzhounese, taishanese.

amna: why is it so important to provide that in-language service? ni: yes, the rapport-building. if they see somebody of the same ethnicity, it's easier for them to open up and make that connection and know that we understand each other. amna: she says cultural pressures and stigma often keep people in insular communities like monterey park from seeking help and flagging others who could be dangerous. nina: i think one of the most underserved population are the aapi older men, because of the cultural aspect and expectation of men in chinese culture. the men, the responsibility that they have to carry, the family name, it's not top of their priority to address and learn about their emotion, to express their emotion. to even consider seeking help is, like, very low on their priority

amna: today, officials released more identities of the people killed in saturday's shooting. gay: it's not right. amna: for gay yuen, who's lived in monterey park for 40 years, each new name brings more pain. y: as the faces start showing up in media, then you can't help but recognize someone, or they're either wives, aunties, mothers, or friends of friends. amna: yuen says that the shootings in her town and now in half moon bay, both carried out by older asian men, have shattered her sense of safety. gay: to think that many of us chose this neighborhood 40 years ago, 30 years ago, 20 years ago, very often, we pick these neighborhoods for the safety for our children. when soters were non-chinese, then it's, oh, it happened somewhere else, right? but now we have two back-to-back incidents when there are chinese. we need to deal with it. we need to feel the pain. but we also need to sit and look

at, how do we prevent this? amna: and the streets here that have been mostly still for the last couple of days are starting to come back to life. people are out and about. shops are beginning to reopen as well. but people here tell us immigrant communities like this, are fueled by resilience. geoff, people here say they're going to be relying on both of those in the days ahead. geoff: amna, as the investigation into the half moon bay shooting begins, the one into the shooting in monterey park continues. what more have we learned about the gunman and the victims? amna: that's right, geoff. i mean, just today, we learned from the l.a. coroner's office that the victims here in monterey park all ranged in age from 57 to 76. we're also learning incremental details about the guan here, about his life from people comi forward and sharing stories in various news reports. but the biggest question here revolves, one, around the

weapon, that semiautomatic pistol that he used, that had an extended high-capacity magazine. that firearm is illegal and has been banned here in california for decades. officials say they are going to look into when and how and where he got that. i also spoke earlier to the chief of police here in monterey park, scott wiese. he says the biggest question for him is motive, how someone could do something like this. he says, because the gunman is now dead, that is a question he may never have an answero. in the meantime, though, we are joined here for that and more by a very special guest. erika moritsugu is the deputy assistant to president biden and the white house's senior liaison to the asian american pacific community. erika, welcome. thanks for being here. erika: thank you, amna. thank you for having me. amna: so, you have just arrived. president biden announced that vice president harris will be coming tomorrow. whis it important for you to be here and for her to come? erika: i think that it's important to show up, in the first instance, when there's a crisis and a tragedy that befalls the community that's already felt under siege and in

terror, to be present. and that's one of the reasons why the president asked me to come here immediately in the wake of the tragedy, even as it was still unfolding, to be with the community, to deliver his messages of healing and condolences on behalf ofim and dr. biden, but also because i am a member of the community. this is my community too. and i'm the representative of the president to the community, but also of the community back to the president. and so when vice president harris arrives tomorrow, it will be to be here in community, to lay a wreath at the memorials, where lights and candles and prers are just replete, and to meet with the fami members, to express not just the vision and the wish for hope and healing, but to put it into action after we learn from them what their needs are. amna: we have heard, of course,

this conversation around gun safety and gun reform come up. now, president biden has said he would like congress to act to pass an assault weapons ban. when you talk to people here, is that what they want to see? erika: it is. it is. and that's something that's been reflected not just on the margins, but irrespective of the motive or the victims, we have a gun violence problem. and it is creating terror and fear in community members, particularly members of communities of color, and what the asian american, native hawaiian and pacific islander community that has seen its unfair share of hate-fueled violence andun deaths. amna: you know, we need to point out two does not make a trend, we need to say. however, both the shooter here in monterey park and the shooter up in half moon bay were both older asian men, who are not typically the perpetrators of that kind of mass gun violence. what do you make of that? erika: well, when the president signed into law the first gun violence prevention measure, the first in 30 years, the safer communities act, he said at the time, and he still believes and he will repeat that it wasn't enough.

and so, irrespective of, again, the shooters and what's still not known and that we're going to continue to learn and heal from it, we can't ignore the fact that there's a gun violence problem, and that there are too many tragic deaths, number one, and, number two, that asian american, native hawaiian, and pacific islander communities live in fear. and these deaths and the deadly violence that have beset the community has -- is a problem that persists, in addition to the fact that there's a mental health crisis that i think besieges us all. and we can't forget to center the fact that there are victims and that there are families and surviving members and community members and friends and allies and neighbs of those victims who are on a long path and a long journey to healing. amna: there has been an interesting study recently that looked at gun ownershiamong asian americans. as you noted, asian americans across the country have been through a lot in the last three years. we saw a surge in anti-asian hate during the pandemic.

the study found that people who experienced that racism over the last couple of years were more likely to buy a firearm for the very first time. and i just wonder what you make of that. what does that say to us? erika: yeah, i think that one of the things that i have observed is that people have not -- are not leaving the house, that they're not able to live their everyday lives. and that's also a problem, because the isolation that people feel in times of terror and fear is not healthy either. and that's one of the things that i have seen here on the ground when i came here last -- when i arrived yesterday, when i came to the two makeshift memorials, when i spoke to community members and community leaders and allies and neighbors of the asian american, native hawaiian, and pacific islander community, is that the path to healing is a long, long process. it's not the work of a day. one of the reasons why i was honored to be sent out here immediately was to listen and learn to the community members and community leaders about what's needed on this journey to healing. amna: erika moritsugu, deputy

assistant to president biden and the white house's senior liaison to the asian american pacific islander community, thank you for your time. erika: thank you, amna. vanessa: i'm vanessa ruiz in for stephanie sy with "newshour west." here are the latest headlines. the "newshour" has confirmed that germany and the u.s. have now agreed to send tanks to ukraine, with an announcement set for tomorrow. both washington and berlin are refusing to acknowledge any agreement publicly, yet, but they've been under mounting pressure to act. germany's defense minister rejected criticism today that his government has been slow to respond to ukraine's needs. meantime in ukraine, several senior officials were ousted today as president volodymyr zelenskyy cracks down on corruption. they include the deputy head of zelenskyy's office and the deputy defense minister. the u.s. and other nations have

demanded more accountability for all of the aid being sent to ukraine. also, the man accused of killing 23 people at a texas walmart in 2019 will plead guilty to federal hate crimes and firearms charges. in return, new court filings say he won't face a federal death sentence. the attack in el paso also wounded more than two dozen people. many were mexican citizens, and police said the gunman told them he targeted mexicans. he still faces state murder charges that carry the death penalty. the u.s. justice department and eight states filed an anti-trust lawsuit against google over its dominance of digital advertising. the suit alleges the company has damaged competitors, consumers, and advertisers by buying up rivals and forcing clients to use its products. associate u.s. attorney general vanita gupta spoke in washington.

>> when any company, includi a big technology company, violates the antitrust laws, our economy and our democracy suffer. americans rely on the internet for news and for commuty, and advertising revenue is essential for publishers to produce and share ideas and writings. but we allege that google has captured that revenue for its own profits and punished publishers who sought out alternatives. vanessa: google's parent compa alphabet rejected the lawsuit's reasoning, and said it will only slow innovation and raise advertising fees. retail giant amazon announced a major expansion of its healthcare business today, a prescription drug discount program. amazon prime customers will be able to pay $5 a month to fill unlimited prescriptions from a list of about 50 generic medications. the new service will not use insurance and will not be covered by medicare or medicaid. and the film "everything everywhere all at once" tops this year's oscar race with 11 nominations, including for best picture. it also made history today with michelle yeoh becoming the first

actress of asian descent nominated for best actress. austin butler landed a nomination for his starring role in the biopic, "elvis." and composer john williams became the oldest nominee ever, at 90, for his score of "the fabelmans." the awards ceremony will be held march 12. and we also have a passing of note. lloyd morrisett, the co-creator of "sesame street," has died. he became convinced television could be a new teaching tool after observing his toddler staring at a tv screen. "sesame street" debuted in november 1969. morrisett was 93 years old. still to come on the "newshour," ticketmaster faces congressional scrutiny over whether it has a monopoly on the market. also, a former fbi agent is charged with violating sanctions against russia. and mikaela shiffrin breaks a major record for world cup wins in alpine skiing.

>> 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: aides to former vice president mike pence discovered what they say are a small number of classified documents at his indiana home in a search conducted last week, intensifying scrutiny er the handling of classified materials by the nation's highest officeholders. laura barron-lopez has the latest on what we know. laura: the former vice president's attorney said they believe the documents were -- quote -- inadvertently boxed and transported to pence's his home at the end of the trump administration without his knowledge. upon dvering mnalsheiaal aerhiv. his attorney wrote in a letter that -- quote -- vice president pence understands the high importance of protecting sensitive and classified information and stands ready and willing to cooperate fully.

for more on what this means, i'm joined by larry pfeiffer. he's the director of the hayden center, an intelligence policy organization. larry, thanks so much for joining us. pence's attorney said that the search was prompted by the discovery of classified documents at president biden's home and office. you ran the situation room in the white house under president obama, and you also have worked in the intelligence community for some 32 years. should all high-level officials like pence do searches like this? larry: laura, i have been saying for the past several weeks that, if i was a former president or a former vice president -- i'd even throw in former cabinet officials and perhaps even senators or congressmen that rved on intel committees -- they should be searching every nook and cranny of every storage space they have at their home and their office to make sure that they aren't the next big whoops moment on this document crisis we're having. laura: and across, as you noted, former president trump, current

president biden, vice president pence, all these classified documents have been found. is it time to reform how classified information is handled? larry: well, i do think an examination of the process at the white house is worth some attention. i think assembling a group of experts from the intelligence community, the pentagon, the national archives, perhaps the office of management and budget, to kind of review that sort of end-to-end process, how are documents coming in, how are they being stored, how are they being handled, and then particular focus on that time frame at the end of an administration when it appears folks were scrambling to remove the materials, put them in boxes and get them to where they should have gone. clearly, that's not happening correctly. laura: are there other things that could be done, in terms of using electronic forms or other steps along the way in the process? larry: absolutely. i think a greater reliance on

electronic documents would minimize the volume of paper that's sitting around in these spaces. i think we definely should improve -- review and improve the training that people who go to work in the white house receive, particularly those who come from other places than theo reinforced training. i think it might not be a bad idea to reinforce the notion that documents should be going to the archives during an administration, not just at the end of an administration. hangms oexs coanend , stly, thi from those communities to help with the boxing and disposition of those records at the end of an administration. laura: this revelation in the case of former vice president pence comes after pence himself denied taking documents from the white house after he left in 2017. intentional or unintentional, how common is this? larry: well, the investigation obviously needs to take place to

see exactly what happened. but this, unfortunately, happens. the classification -- the handling of documents is largely a system of trust. it's subject to the human condition, and people make mistakes. it happens enough that we have a term of art. we call these things spills or spillage. and we have procedures in place to handle them. intentional? no, i'm -- from what i'm seeing so far, i think these documents got put into boxes unknowingly. and i think it was done by staff. i don't believe the vice president, vice president pence, i don't think former vice president biden, now president biden, were involved in the actual process of removing these documents from those locations. laura: given all the information that we know so far across the cases, do you see them as -- each of them different on their own, or that there are some similarities? larry: well, it's like that show

that airs during other times of the day, "sesame street," where we now have enough of these things where i think we can say, one of these things not like the other. the biden and pence cases seem to be cookie-cutter, run of the mill accidents. in the case of trump, however, the volume of material, the reluctance of them to respond to requests for the documents, the continued obstruction that took place, the litigation that followed clearly set the trump situation in a different light. laura: larry pfeiffer of the hayden center, thank you so much for your time. larry: thank you. geoff: the u.s. senate has bad blood with ticketmaster after the company botched ticket sales for taylor swift's upcoming tour. in a hearing today, the senate judiciary committee hammered ticketmaster not just for the

ticketing debacle, but also for its near monopoly in the live music industry. the senate judiciary committee today tore into ticketmaster after the fiasco last fall over taylor swift tickets, some senators unable to resist references to her songs. sen. blumenthal: ticketmaster ought to look in the mirror and say, i'm the problem. it's me. sen. lee: a lot of people seem to think that's somehow a solution. i think it's a nightmare dressed like a daydream. geoff: the committee called e hearing following public outrage over ticket sales for taylor swift's upcoming concert tour. thousands complained about being unable to get ticketmaster site to load. others couldn't access tickets even though they had a presale code. ticketmaster ultimately canceled sales to the general public, leaving lots of fans ticketless and angry. >> i have never been more mad at a company than i am at ticketmaster right now. >> tickets in the sections that i was tryingo get tickets for are now on stubhub being resold for thousands of dollars.

geoff: ticketmaster blamed the 3.5 billion requests for tickets they received from fans, bots, and scalpers. joe: this is what led to a terrible consumer experience, which we deeply regret. we apologize to the fans. we apologize to ms. swift. we need to do better, and we will do better. geoff: critics say the company wields too much control over the live music industry. testimony today from clyde lawrence, a singer/songwriter in the band lawrence. clyde: due to live nation's control across the industry, we have practically no leverage in negotiating them. if they want to take 10% of the revenues and call it a facility fee, they can, and have. geoff: ticketmaster and live nation merged in 2010, combining ticketing, artist management, and venues under one single

werful company. some democrats advocated for breaking up the company, saying it violates antitrust laws. sen. blumenthal: you have clear dominance, monopolistic control. this whole concert ticket system is a mess. it's a monopolistic mess. geoff: while republicans called ticketmaster out for subpar service. sen. kennedy: if you care about the consumer, you're going to hold the price down. you're going to cut out the middleman. sen. blackburn: why is it that you have not developed the algorithm to sort out what is a bot and what is a consumer? why is it that the bank can do it? as i said earlier, why is it the local power company can do it, but you can't? geoff: taylor swift, for her part, has called the ticket buying experience excruciating. senator amy klobuchar led today's hearing and joins us now live from the capitol. it's great to have you here.

and during the hearing today, you said that ticketmaster, with its parent company, live nation, that they are the definition of a monopoly. as you see it, what problems does ticketmaster's unchecked industry dominance create? sen. klobuchar: well, first of all, you saw it. and it's not just taylor swift. and we appreciate her fans being out therwith us and making antitrust sexy again. but it is not just her concerts. it's bad bunny's fans. it is harry styles' fans. it is springsteen's fans. many, many artists and bands throughout time, way back to pearl jam, havbrought this issue to the forefront. the other piece about it is ticket prices. a government study found that 27% average -- and this was even a few years ago -- were these fees. in the testimony we got today, sometimes, it's 75%, 80% of the ticket price. and as you heard from clyde lawrence, from a band called lawrence, that has said maybe

one day he will also freeze the internet, he said that he literally gets only $6 for an eight-member banned from a lot of these ticket sales. what's the answer? that's what we were focused on today. and i don't think you could tell if it was democrats or republicans asking the questions, because there was so much unity on taking on a company that has a monopoly on ticketing, 7 to 80%, depending on how you look at it, does the promotions and, the third part of the triangle, owns the arenas or makes them take three to five to seven-year contracts to get their services, acing out any competition. geoff: well, on that point, you mentioned the dominance that ticketmaster and live nation have. should that company be broken up? sen. klobuchar: that is clearly one option here. and it worked with at&t. we got better long-distance rates and a brand-new cell phone industry that brought people's prices down. it could work here.

2010, i voiced concerns about this merger back then. and it's something that justice department, i'm sure, will be looking at. the other pieces of this will be legislation to at least make sure that we have transparency on these fees, and that the fan experience doesn't involve getting on the site, and then the price ticks up as they get to the end of purchasing their ticket, speculative tickets that people are trying to sell that aren't even there. but for ticketmaster and live nation just to blame everyone else, whether it's the bots or whether it'a cyberattack, makes no sense, when they have this extreme monopoly power. and the purpose of this hearing, i think we accomplished it, get the public some knowledge, get some under-oath testimony from both people who want to see change and ticketmaster for the justice department to use, and find some bipartisan support with our colleagues to move forward. instead of just throwing popcorn at ceo's, i think it's time for action. geoff: ticketmaster came to

today's hearings -- hearing with some suggestions for how to improve the ticketing marketplace. they say they want better enforcement of existing anti-bot legislation. they want to ban speculative selling. they want to ban web sites that deceive consumers. they want to mandate all-in pricing, so that fans can see the full cost of their tickets. why is that insufficient, from where you sit? sen. amy klobuchar: well, first of all, there was a lot of support for some of these changes. and i think they have also intimated that they'd make some changes, at least the band member that was one of the witnesses. that aside, of course, it's not enough, because they still have this monopoly. arenas have told us and we heard testimony today that they're actually afraid to use other competitive services, because then they won't get the acts. and you also have the fact that we still have the fan experience of having to pay for all these fees and the fiasco when there is no one else to go to. so that's why the justice department is reportedly

investigating this. our information will help them greatly in that investigation. and it's also why we need to look at leslation beyond this. i believe we need to strengthen our antitrust laws overall, 75% of american industries, we have seen more consolidation, from caskets to cat food. and if we are just to accept these conservative court desions that narrow the use of the antitrust laws, we're going to just see this happening over and over again. there are some simple things we can do to put the burden on merging companies or a company engaging in discriminatory conduct to actually prove that it doesn't hurt competition, as opposed to putting it all on the government. we have just successfully given a major shot in the arm to the antitrust enforcers when it comes to resources with a bill senator grassley and i and cicilline, neguse, and buck worked on over in the house that we passed to up the merger fees by about $100 million a year. and that is on companies, big companies, not little ones, that

will help to fund the enforcers. they can't take on the biggest companies, whether it's google or facebook or amazon. they can't take on the biggest companies a world has ever known with duct tape and band-aids. they're literally a shadow of what they were under the nixon administration. geoff: yeah. well, i want to draw you out on that, because there are people who will watch this interview and wonder, why should congress concern itself with this, that the free market is crippled by too much government intervention, too much government regulation, and that the reason why ticketmaster is dominant is because it's best of brand. sen. klobuchar: hmm. i don't think all the fans would agree that we shouldn't have any competition. so, first of all, we have a bunch of conservatives supporting this. you heard from them today. they believe that, if you're going to have capitalism that works -- and i believe this too -- you need to have antitrust enforcement. you go back to the foundg of this country, and adam smith, who was the godfather of capitalism, he said, watch out for the unbridled stding army

of monopolies. fast-forward to senator sherman, who was a republican. fast-forward to roosevelt, when he rode his horse into the white house on busting up the trust. that was a republican senator. over time, it's been democrats and republicans working together to take on monopolies. back then, it was a railroad trust, and now it is big tech , ticketing, what we're seeing right now. we simply can't say it's all ok, and we're not going to do anything since the advent of the internet on all of this. we can't do that. we have to take some action. so, i was heartened by today's hearing. and i believe that, if you believe in capitalism, and competitive responses to things, you have to unleash competition and not allow monopolies to dominate a market. and that is exactly what's happening right now in ticketing. geoff: senator amy klobuchar. senator, i will tell you, we watch a lot of congressional hearings around these parts. and today's was a really interesting one. so, thanks for being with us. sen. klobuchar: thank you.

that's a good pbs adjective. [laughter] i very much appreciate it. i just want to see action. thank you. geoff: and you can watch the full senate hearing about ticketmaster online at pbs.org/newshour. tomorrow, a former senior fbi official will appear in federal court in washington, but not as an investigator or a government witness. nick schifrin examines the extremely rare case of an american counterintelligence official who is charged with committing the very violations that for two decades he swore to prosecute. nick: charlie mcgonigal had a 22-year career in the fbi and by the end held one of the government's most senior and most trusted counterintelligence jobs. when he retired in 2018, he ran counterintelligence in the new york fbi field office, and had played a key role in some of the

us's most sensitive investigations, including russian intelligence activities in the u.s. before, during, and after the 2016 election and chinese efforts to shut down u.s. spies. but he was arrested by the very agency where he spent his career. in new york, mcgonigal is charged with hiding $225,000 he received from a former albanian intelligence officer, while mcgonigal wastill inside the fbi. and, in washington, mcgonigal is charged with money laundering and violating russian sanctions. he's alleged after he left the fbi to have accepted secret payments from the very russian oligarch he had investigated, oleg deripaska, who has kremlin ties and is sanctioned for his role in russia's 2016 election interference. to talk about this, we turned to frank montoya, who retired from the fbi as special agent in charge in the seattle office and from 2012 to 2014 was the u.s. government's top counterintelligence official. frank montoya, thanks very much. welcome back to the "newshour." you call charlie mcgonigal a friend. how shocking is this?

frank: i still am having a hard time processing it. we had worked closely together on a lot of stuff. and to hear this come out is -- it really has kind of shaken me to my foundations. nick: i had two former senior officials telling me today that this will force the fbi and the intelligence community as a whole to reexamine all of the work that he did. and i just laid out how sensitive his work was. how significant is that? frank: it's significant in the sense that he was in this kind of work for a long time. it's prudent as well to just have to go through everything that he was involved in or that he touched because of the nature of his relationships that are alleged and charged in these indictments. nick: the indictments, of course, only have what the justice department can prove or thinks it can prove beyond a reasonable doubt. but the former officials telling me that there are concerns that go beyond the indictments. for example, did he pull his punches while he was still in the fbi, even perhaps whether he

endangered any kind of human sources? are those the concerns? frank: absolutely. the other part of this is, if he had some kind of relationship with these russian -- well, the russian oligarch or anyone associated with the russian intelligence services, how were they modifying his behavior? how were they doing things that could have affected his judgment in cases either involving these individuals or folks that they were associated with? so, there are many different ways that he could have been manipulated, if, in fact, these allegations are true, or that could have alter his judgment when it cameo deciding who he was going to go after and who he was not going to go after. nick: and i guess in that case, one of the main questions will be how old, what's the origin of his relationship, specifically with deripaska, right? frank: absolutely. and i want to stress that you're innocent -- we're all innocent until proven guilty in this country. the seriousness is exacerbated by the fact that there deripaska

is not only an oligarch, but he's a sanctioned oligarch. plus, he's also got what the fbi and many in e intelligence community believes are very significant connections, not only to the russian intelligence services, buto vladimir putin himself and that inner circle. nick: is there concern today, do you believe, that this is -- that this goes beyond these two cases that we have laid out, that this could jeopardize a larger portion of the u.s. counterintelligence effort? frank: they're going to have to be very, very carefunow about whether or not that there is -- there is any deception, being aimed at them by the russian intelligence services, by individuals associated with deripaska or even other oligarchs or even the kremlin itself. so, they're going to have to -- they're going to have to weigh very carefully what they're doing against what happened here. and i hope, from worst-case scenario perspectives, that if there is something to these allegations and these indictments, that it was limited

in scope, as opposed to having that kind of wholesale impact on counterintelligence efforts, not just in the united states, but in the west in general. nick: the fbi, as you well know, has extensive trip wireso catch these kinds of cases. do we know yet whether this was a case of those trip wires not being implemented, or if there's a gap? frank: you look at the indictments, there are a number of instances where he is talking to individuals inside the bureau, whether they were supervisors or other employees. but that is a challenge. trip wires are only as good as the people that are watching them. but, at the same time, you're working in a position of trust. and everyone is in that -- inside that circle of trust. and so you just don't expect people to violate that trust. and that's why it is a shock. that's why it shocks people like me down to our core, because we just don't expect these kinds of things to happen. we believe that we're working in a circle of folks that are -- that are trustworthy, that are

upholding their oaths, that have the interests of their country first and foremost in their minds. and so, yeah, the trip wires are there. but, at the same time, human beings are very adept at overcoming or rcling around thostrip wires. nick: frank montoya, thank you very much. frank: you bet. thank you. geoff: the demand for electric vehicles is surging in the u.s., sparked in part by subsidies offered by the federal government. but a looming supply shortage of lithium threatens to stall the e.v. transition. stephanie sy traveled to california's salton sea to report on the promise and remaining challenges of building a new lithium valley to meet the country's energy needs. stephanie: in the most southeastern stretch of the southern california desert sits a most unusual piece of the planet. it's like a dr. seuss book with

sound effects. wow, it's fascinating. what we're hearing is what? michael: co2. stephanie: carbon dioxide is generated by reactions between superheated salty water called brine and rock deep in the bowels of the earth. geologist michael mckibben says the brine is full of lithium. michael: the attractiveness of geothermal brines and oil field brands is that the plumbing system is already there. the fluid is already been brought up. stephanie: this sound of the gurgling. michael: well, the sound of bad plumbing. [laughter] stephanie: it's the sound of economic opportunity. since the 1980's, companies have tapped into the hot brine for geothermal energy. it would take just a few more steps to recover the lithium in the used brine. today, the u.s. sources most of its lithium from south america and processes it in china. but what if the supply chain could all be right here? it's a natural twofer? michael: and it could supply all

of the u.s. needs of lithium could come out of this geothermal field. stephanie: the salton sea area alone could produce nearly six times the lithium currently produced globally. and mckibben says the way it could be done here would be less harmful to the environment than other methods, such as crushing it out of hard rocks. the only barrier remains affordable technology that can extract lithium efficiently at a massive scale. a newer player in town, controlled thermal resources, has been testing their lithium extraction protocols in the area known as hell's kitchen. jim: we have a process. it works great. stephanie: is the process scalable? jim: oh, yeah, definitely. stephanie: chief operating officer jim turner says the plant was designed to reuse and recycle as much as possible, including the water that's needed to separate lithium. for every ton of lithium produced, some 50,000 gallons of water will be needed.

and as evidenced by the shrinking salton sea, water is increasingly scarce here. what does come from the colorado river mostly goes to municipalities and agriculture, the economic backbone of the valley. you do think that, if colorado river water really starts to go down, that there could be a little bit of tension? jim: yes, there probably will be a lot of tension. there already is. and that's a very difficult problem to solve. frank: we are experiencing the worst drought in modern history, but i don't even call it a drought anymore. i call it the new normalcy, because the water is simply not here. stephanie: frank ruiz is the salton sea program director for audubon californiand sits on the state's lithium valley commission. he says the ecosystem, a crucial habitat for millions of migratory birds, is near collapse. frank: this is probably one of the worst environmental crisis

on the west. in california, we have lost over 97% of the wetlands in the last few decades, either to the agricultural industry or to urban developments. stephanie: lithium extraction here could easily grow to a multibillion-dollar industry that drives the transition away from fossil fuels. frank: if california is going to electrify every single vehicle by 2035, we're going to need every piece of lithium we can get. but -- and i understand that sense of urgency. but we also need to be careful not to rush it in a way that we're going to be cutting corners here. stephanie: but, if done right, many say lithium could benefit the long-suffering region, one of the poorest in the golden state. the buckshot deli and diner sits on the deserted highway leading to the concentration of geothermal power plants. it may be the only eatery for miles, but it also serves up a mean plate of machaca con

huevos. ruben hernandez owns the establishment with his wife. what are your concerns about the lithium industry coming here? ruben: well, the concern is for the revenue for the little town, this little town, some of the companies come, and they just want -- the first time they come, and they say, oh, here is money, and they leave. then they take all the profit, and they don't leave nothing here. stephanie: he says the surrounding towns needs services, especially better access to health care. elizabeth: there are a lot of people who have allergies, have asthma or nosebleeds. and there's been a lot of research, but we have never been given a clear answer on the cause. stephanie: elizabeth jaime's family has lived in the north shore neighborhood for 12 years with a view of the salton sea from the backyard. her son, lorenzo, has asthma,

which researchers have linked to the toxic dust blowing off the salton sea's exposed lake bed. the region has some the worst air quality in the country, and the children have a higher rate of asthma-related e.r. visits than in most parts of california. jamie is worried lithium extraction will bring more health hazards. elizabeth: we don't know what is in the air. this is why we are worried about lithium. what more problems is it going to bring? they say it's going to have less of an impact, but they're not saying there's going to be no impact. rep. ruiz: what we have here is momentum that we haven't seen around the salton sea. stephanie: representative raul ruiz, whose district includes the salton sea, wants to leverage that momentum by getting the burgeoning lithium interests to help foot the bill for the community's problems. rep. ruiz: they have been sick and tired of politicians that come in and promise to fix the salton sea. and they haven't seen any progress. stephanie: but what does the lithium industry have to do with the salton sea?

why should they have to pay for that? rep. ruiz: because they're benefiting from the resources of the environment that is at jeopardy to the local residents. stephanie: even before lithium has proven a viable industry here, california has enacted a tax on any lithium produced that will go partially toward salton sea remediation efforts and local community programs. not everyone agrees with the move. but, so far, the tax hasn't scared off developers. and local officials have even bigger hopes for the area. rep. ruiz: this is an incredible opportunity, not just for the local community, the state, but so for our nation, because it is a matter of national security to have our own steady source of lithium and batteries, instead of relying on other countries like china. stephanie: back at the diner, ruben hernandez says he'd just like to know when the lithium plants will be open, so he can prepare for more customers.

ruben: all of that people, they are going to need their housing. they're going to need service. and maybe the town going to grow up. stephanie: maybe growth this time won't leave the community behind, and the locals will also be able to afford electric cars one day too. for the "pbs newshour," i'm stephanie sy in the imperial valley, california. geoff: american skier mikaela shiffrin is making history. she now holds more world cup wins than any female alpine skier. she broke that record today after winning the giant slalom in italy. william brangham looks at her career and impact. william: a teenage prodigy who first burst on the scene more than a decade ago, mikaela shiffrin is a two-time olympic gold medalist and six-time world champion. but, for many, their last memories of her came during the beijing olympics, where she

failed to medal and sometimes even finish her events. but then, today, she notched her 7th world cup win in her last 11 races with yet another blazing run down the mountain. that win earns shiffrin the crown with 83 world cup titles, the most for any woman, she just passed lindsey vonn, and ranks her second amongst all skiers. i'm joined again by christine brenna sportswriter and columnt for "usa today." christine, so good to see you in person. welcome back to the table. christine:hank you, william. it's great to be here. thank you. william: for those people who last focused on this incredible skier, mikaela shiffrin, during the beijing olympics, when she really struggled, can you remind us just overall of her remarkable achievements? christine: you alluded to it, how she burst on to the scene as a teenager, winning national titles and world cups quicker than anyone that we'd ever seen, and incredible staying power in a sport where there's often

injury, obviously, it's on edge. as you're watching, your heart is up in your throat as you're watching anyone tried to ski. and, time and time again, she has been able to win world cup races, win, as you mentioned, two olympic gold medals, an olympic silver medal. but then came beijing. and this was going to be that crowning achievement, potentially winning five medals, who knew how many gold. instead, none, absolutely none, as she skied off the course or had disappointment after disappointment. and the way she met that, the way she talked about it, the class and the dignity, she described the honesty of how difficult it was, i think endeared her to people. but we also had to know there was more to come, because she was still incredibly young, 27. she's going to be 28 in march. and so here's the next chapter. and it's this season, and then all the way, as she says, going to the 2026 winter olympics. so it's not just about the olympics, even though that is what we, as mere mortals, focus on. william: right. christine: there's so much more to a skier's career. william: you touched on this about the adversity and how she

handled that. there have been a lot of elite athletes that have been very public about their personal struggles with adversity, naomi osaka, and simone biles, michael phelps. how did shiffrin deal with this? because she had a lot of setbks leading up to beijing. christine: oh, without a doubt. she had covid. she was in isolation for 10 days, missg a key part of her training. her dad, who -- of course, her dad and her mom are both skiers, got her into the sport, decided how to train her, said, don't worry about winning little ribbons and races. you're going to stay on the mountain and be a kid and we're going to learn this way. her dad suddenly passed away after an accident, a fall in 2020. she was devastated, of course. and then, of course, beijing itself, just the bad -- the poor performance after poor performance. what she did was, she was incredibly honest, as honest as anyone i have seen. most nfl players, whatever, they might sign their helmet, they want to walk out, they want to talk for a quick second. she would do interview after

interview, complete class act. i'm sure many people saw one or two of those. william: just confronted this head on. christine: absolutely. she talked about how devastated she was, that she never thought she'd get over any of this. and yet she would be back tomorrow for the next race. and i think that honesty, that humility, that human side of the greatest women's skier ever and soon to become the greatest skater of all time, male or female, i think that that, again, had people saying, wait a minute, this is someone that you can cheer for not just on the mountain, but as a human being as well. william: i saw her mom actually credit the beijing failures, in a way, for helping sort of light the fire under her that got her to where she is now. so she is now the top female skier, but she is, remind us, very close to being the top skier overall. what's the next goal? christine: she is at 83 world cup wins. 86 is the best of any human being. and that is ingemar stenmark from sweden, now 66 years old, but, in the 1970's and 1980's, he was it.

and i certainly remember him. and to think that, 86, that's only three more, and she could do that in the next few days. she is a technical skier. the slalom, giant slalom, william, are much more her forte than the downhill or the speed events, even though she's won downhills in the past. she's got one more giant slalom, which is what she won earlier today. and then she's got two slalom races in the next three or four days. so she could get to 86 by the end of the weekend, and then the rest of the season to pass him. and, if she does, then it will bene of those conversations that i think we'd like to have in this country about the boys vs. the girls, men vs. women, who's the best? we had this with serena williams just a few months ago when she was retiring in september at the u.s. open. and i think we're going to have this again. and i think it's going to be easy to say it's a slam dunk. the best skier ever, once mikaela shiffrin does this, will be mikaela shiffrin. william: that's so great. i saw ingemar stenmark say he thinks she could win 100 of these, which would be fantastic. christine: oh, yeah. oh, she's not done yet. so, the number will be very

interesting to see where she gets. but we will see a lot more of her, and i will bet an olympic performance in 2026 that will be different from what we saw in 2022. william: christine brennan, always so good to see you. thank you. christine: william, thank you. geoff: returning to our lead story, as police continue their investigations, we're learning more about how the communities affected by the mass shootings in california are faring. let's go back to amna in monterey park. amna: it has been remarble to see over justice past day alone, the memorial behind me has grown exponentially in size. flowers, candles, notes of prayer, people of all backgrounds and ages coming to have a moment. this scene of such horrific violence has not become a place of peace and remembrance. just today someone came and

punctuated that by hanging an american flag. it echoes what we have heard from residents here over and over again, which now they are part of this community all over america that has been touched by gun violence. but they do not want to let it define who they are. and that's the "newshour" for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. thanks for spending part of your evening with us. >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by. >> architect. beekeeper. mentor. a raymondjames financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well-planned. >> carnegie corporation of new york, supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security, at carnegie.org.

and with the ongoing support of these institutions. this program was made possible b the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> this is "pbs newshour" west from weta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption contt and accuracy.] >> you're watching pbs.

(relaxed music) - how many of us in these food-obsessed times have dreamed of opening our own restaurant? maybe we team up with a few friends and spend our days sharing with our lucky customers the dishes that bring us joy. in this episode, we'll meet chef entrepreneurs from across the asian pacific diaspora who have done just that. these risk takers braved the pandemic and the fierce competition, going deep into their indian, korean, japanese, malaysia and thai heritages to create not just dazzling new menus, but standing room-only manhattan dining experiences. (relaxed music fading) (exciting music)