geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. na: on the newshour tonight, an exclusive interview, president biden delves into the second half of his term. >> because the polls don't matter anymore. geoff: rescue workers more people from the rubble after that major ethquake in turkey. with the death toll rising even higher, as time runs out to find survivors. and lebron james passes kareem , abdul-jabbar to become the nba's all-time leading scorer. we look at how king james has changed the game.

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♪ >> the walton family foundation, working for solutions to protect water during climate change, so people and nature can thrive together. supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, meted to building more just, verdant, and peaceful world. more information at macfound .org. and with the ongoing support of these instutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. amna: good evening, and welcome to "the newshour." an air of desperation is growing in turkey and syria tonight, as the chance of finding earthquake survivors grows dimmer by the hour.

gef: the death toll has grown to at least 12,000, with an unknown number still missing. jane ferguson reports from southern turkey, among the worst hit areas. >> the combing through the dust and debris of mk apartment blocks continues in turkey. there were over 90 people inside this one when it collapsed in the early hours of monday morning. so far only two gravely wounded survivors have been found, locals tell us. periodically, the rescue workers stop what they are doing. machinery is turned off. and everyone falls quiet and listens, for the sound of survivors under their feet. what appears as though a silent tribute to the dead is actually still hope for the living. but desperate relatives waiting on the pavement nearby know that hope is fading. >> i have an aunt here, and then

aunt's husband and then daughter. three persons inside here jane: so a three person family. have any othem been pulled from the rubble? >> no, we don't what is happening. they live in first floor but here 14 floors, so it's very difficult to find life there. jane: there is an unspoken understanding here that the search for survivors is turning into the recovery of bodies. there are thousands of rescue workers just like this spread out across southern turkey still digging through the rubble. still determined to pull survivors from under the collapsed buildings. but three whole days since the earthquakes struck, the likelihood of finding anyone still alive diminishes every hour president erdogan visited the quake zone today and met with displaced families in a tent city. he addressed the growing criticism about turkey's delayed disaster response.

>> as of now, a total of 21,200 personnel of the military, gendarmerie and police are on duty in hatay. despite this, some dishonest people are campaigning in hatay and are making false statements. certainly there have been shortfalls, as the conditions have been clear. it is impossible to prepared to face a disaster like this. jane: with elections due in may, this is a testy time for erdogan. restricting social media preemptively during a crisis is a common practice adopted by his administration. in the hard-hit southern city of antakya, much-needed aid is slowly trickling in. >> we have no water, no food. we have nothing. i want help and nothing else. i don't care about shelter so long as my children are safe. >> they have to evacuate people from cities. you cannot live here. especially in this cold. there are small children. if people haven't died from being stuck under the rubble,

they'll die from the cold. jane: across the border in northwest syria, more scenes of utter devastation in idlib province. in harem the battle continues to save lives. 200 people are trapped under rubble. all that's left are signs of a childhood lost. after more than a decade of civil war, getting aid into the opposition-held province was already hard. now it's nearly impossible. none has reached thus far, leaving many to fend off a brutal winter now out in the cold. locals and rescuers also lack the tools they need, and the manpower, as they painstakingly comb through the rubble. mustafa al-khalaf is part of that effort, helping residents whose homes were destroyed. >> evacuation teams have been working for more than 48 hours to rescue survivors from the rubble, and to extract the dead bodies. truthfully, evacuation teams have only the most basic

supplies. jane: one man told us 25 of his family members lie dead under this collapsed building. >> it obliterated this entire area. i urge your help. today we lost close to 25 martyrs, my uncle and his children, wives, other children and women. we extracted 7 but there were about 17 or 18 martyrs under the wreckage that we weren't able to extract from the lack of ability. jane: those who did survive are homeless, like this family now living in a temporary shelter for those who've lost everything. >> we are in need of clothes for the children, we do not have any. we don't have any money to spend. we don't have food. we women are suffering in the cold and the rain. here no one is helping us. in other countries, even when there is a small earthquake, the whole world stands with them. but here in idlib the children

have been under the rubble for three days, no one is helping them. why? jane: desperation is now mingled with frustration as the urgency to find more survivors grows. but here as in turkey, with each passing minute these rescuers become collectors, adding to the horrific accounting of this disaster. for the pbs newshour, i'm jane ferguson in adana, turkey. ♪ geoff: fresh off his state of the union address, president biden left washington for wisconsin today. amna: it's part of a new white house push to get out of d.c. to highlight the economy and investments in infrastructure and blue collar jobs. our own judy woodruff was on the ground with him in madison. judy?

judy: hi, amna and geoff. so, early this afternoon the president toured a union job training site here in deforest, wisconsin, just north of madison, where he underlined his support for trade workers and for training programs. this is all part of the white house push, his push, to grow the middle class by creating jobs for people thaton't require a 4-year college degree. shortly after that, i sat down with him right here for a long-delayed and wide-ranging conversation. we touched on the state of the economy, we talked about my new project, the country's deep divisions, we're calling it: america at a crossroads. we also talked about the coming political season. mr. president, thank you very much for talking with us. we are in wisconsin, but let me ask you first about last night, the state of the union. you're getting a lot of at a boys today from your fellow democrats who say you showed

energy, optimism, you stood up to the republicans, they were yelling at you, some of them are calling you a liar. did you expect that kind of reaction? pres. biden: the vast majority of republicans aren't that way. there's still a significant -- like all the maga republicans, and you know, a kind of anticipated it. the speaker was gracious, and there were a lot of the members. judy: you almost seemed to enjoy the back-and-forth. were you enjoying it? pres. biden: well, as you know, judy, i've spent most of my career with congress and members of congress. i know the system well. i'm always comfortable, i know them well. a real, i've known most of them all my life.

judy: here we are, as we said, in wisconsin. you've just given a talk to a group of union members, this place where we are sitting is all about training folks in construction work, union work. when you think about, what is it, $1 trillion worth of money that's going to come from the inflation reduction act, infrastructure legislation, the chips manufacturing bill. a trillion dollars. how d you see that making a difference? pres. biden: it's going to make a gigantic difference. we've already created 800,000 manufacturing jobs in these two years. that's more jobs than anyone has created -- anyway, and we paid for it all. we actually reduced the deficit by 1.7 trillion dollars over two years. it is about giving working folks a chance. i don't mean just labor. you've probably heard me say before, i've never been a big

fan of trickle-down economics. but the middle class, when it does well, everybody does well. so i'm -- my goal was, when i t elected, was to campaign on this build from the bottom up and middle out. whenhat happens, the poor have it chance, the middle class does well, and the well-off always do well. judy: what effect do you think this will have on working-class americans who, frankly, more and more of them are voting republican. pres. biden: a profound effect. look, just as i was told we were going to lose big in the last election, and i said we weren't, we were told i wouldn't be able to pass the inflation reduction act, we passed them all. what is happening now is, people don't understand, don't realize

all that were passed back in june, july, august, and september. it is only coming to fruition now. for example, judy. we pay the highest drug prices in the world, yet people didn't know in january, and we talked about it since last summer, that prescription drugs, the cost were going to go down, for example, insulin. instead of being $500 a month, it's now $35 a month for seniors. there is so much more to come. look, i think we started off with a proposition, that the vast majority of amerins don't think the tax system is fair. the last majority, including relatively well-off suburbanites, the idea that you've got 1000 trillion errors and they paid less of a percentage than a schoolteacher does.

judy: the picture you painted last night, uneloyment at a record low, the growth, the economy, inflation is coming down, incomes are rising, and yet when you mention the polls, a cbs poll, 64% of americans think the economy is in bad shape. an nbc poll, 71% think the country is on the wrong track. why the disconnect? pres. biden: because the polls don't matter anymore. you've got to make 40 or 50 calls on a cell phone -- judy: so you don't think it is your policy? pres. biden: do they support the rebuilding infrastructure in america? we have attracted $300 billion of investments.

we invented these chips. they are coming back to america. we are going to be the leaders again. we ask whether or not they think they are paying too much for drug prices. people went through hell the last several years, the last five years. in the pandemic, we lost a million people, dead. every time you turn on the news, you turn on the television, and everything is down. so people derstand we are down. judy: a gallup poll is saying most americans think next year the economy is going to be bad. do you think there's going to be a recession this year? pres. biden: no, or next year. from the moment i got elected, how many experts were saying within the next six months there would be a recession? judy: i am launching a reporting project for the newshour,

looking at why the country is subdivided, politically, culturally. why do you think? pres. biden: i think it is a number of reasons. number one, i think that there was a deliberate effort by the last guy to play on people's fears and to appeal to base instincts. and it's not who we are, but people -- you know, i also noticed a fair amount of republicans standing up last night and clapping. for example, when i pointed out that some republicans are talking about eliminating medicare. everybody raise your hand, they all raised their hand. so guess what, we accomplished

something, unless they break their word, there will be no cuts in medicare and social security. my point is, i think it's the way we talk to each other. look, i think what happened was that the party started to take for granted ordinary blue-collar workers. and they really got hurt in the previous four or five years. and everything went wrong in their lives. look at all the factors that have closed and left the united states. look at all the things that have happened. but they are coming ba now. we've just got to make sure everybody knows what we've done and watch how it unfolds, and see what happens. judy: you came to washington, to the senate, 50 years ago. this was just before watergate, there were assassinations, the vietnam war, civil-rights struggles. do you think now is worse than then? how do you compare it? pres. biden: i don't think it

was better or worse. happen was, then, we had a different set of problems. but we didn't have many people playing on the fears of the american people, whether -- there was general debate and discord about the war in vietnam, the civil-rights movement is what got me involved in politics in the first place. we were reaching a culmination point when we passed the civil rights act, among a number of things. i think it is a process, and i think that most americans are of the view that this is gotten too mean, it has gotten too personal. one of the messages they sent was, come on, work together, get something done for us. judy: speaking of that, this

last session of congress, as you said last night, a lot was accomplished, including in a bipartisan way. this session coming up right now , is different. you've got a republican majority in the house, a number of supporters for president trump. realistically, m president, what do you think you can get done, assuming the debt limit issue gets resolved? pres. biden: i think when we vote on whether or not to extend health care benefits to ordinary americans, not just medicare and medicaid, i think we're going to see we say that insulin should be available for $35 for every american, i think we will see a lot of things done, because people are becoming aware of what wcan do. and we are starting to see those things happening. one of the reasons i'm here at this facility, most people think

that, you just sign up and show up and become a laborer. it's like going to college. we have the best trained workers in the world. judy: but you think you can get those things through? pres. biden: oh, i know i can. the things i'm talking about, we have already gotten them through. i think it's just a matter of demonstrating what we've done. judy: one of the things republicans say is a priority for them is investigating your family. your son, hunter, your brother, jim. they talk about access that they say others have gotten because of you, because of your political success. how do you plan to deal with that? pres. biden: the public is not going to pay attention to that. the only thing they can do is make up things about my family.

it's not going to go very far. judy: i want to ask you about foreign policy. this chinese surveillance balloon that went across the country,ou ordered our military fighter jets to shoot it down off the coast of south carolina. but republicans are saying we look weak. mike gallagher, the congressman, said inexplicable that you didn't shoot it down earlier. marco rubio said it was dereliction of duty not to immediately tell the public about this. pres. biden: look, i told this -- it's not public. i told the military i wanted to shoot it down when it was safe to do it. they said they could learn a lot in the meantime by watching it go across the country. as soon as they had a chance to shoot it down over water they did, and they are returning --

recovering major pieces of it to learn what kind of equipment they had. there were several of these balloons during the last administration and they didn't know they were there, and they didn't do anything about them. look, i just think that the idea that there was a dereliction of duty i think is a bizarre notion. china knows exactly what the deal is with this. judy: so china today is saying they feel smeared, that you smeared them and their leader in your remarks last night. have relations between the u.s. and china taken a big hit? pres. biden: no. judy: how do you know? pres. biden: i know. i've talked to them. i talked to xi jinping, and our

team talks to their people. judy: during this? pres. biden: look, i mean, the idea of shooting down a balloon that's gathering information over america, that makes relations worse. i made it real clear to xi jinping that we are going to compete for labor with china but we are not looking for conflict. that has been the case so far. let me put it another way, can you think of any other world leader who would trade places with xi jinping? not a joke, can you think of any o would? i can think of one. this man has enormous problems. he has also great potential.

but so far, he has an econy that is not functioning very well. he is in a situation where, for example, everybody assumed that china would be all in with russia and ukraine, but they are not all that. matter fact, i called him this summer to say, this is not a threat, this is an observation. look what's happened to russia, 600 corporations have pulled out of russia, from mcdonald's to exxon. you have told me all along that the reason why you need a relationship with united states is they are invested in -- you want them to invest in china. judy: ukraine, you mentioned that. we heard what you said last night, but we now also here from jim jordan, who is a republican

congressman, that maybe some of the money being spent ukraine should go for american citizens. we heard kevin mccarthy begin to raise questions about it. there's now been 100 billion dollars, somewhere in that area, that the u.s. has spent. you said to the ambassador last night, we are with you -- you said as long as it takes. does that mean this is an open-ended commitment? pres. biden: it's a firm commitment. these guys, jordan, whoever you mention, the idea that the russian military, with over 100,000 forces, would invade ukraine and us stand by and do nothing? come on. what i've done, and i'm very proud of it, he was convinced that nato would collapse, that it would not be engaged.

the rebel to get our allies to join with taking on russia. we have a better relationship and tighter control over our destiny now than we have ever had. you have germany increasing their budget by over 200%. we have japan doing the same thing. if these guys don't want to help ukraine, i get it, they don't want to do that. but what are they going to do when russia rose across ukraine and into belarus or anywhere else? judy: so is it open-ended for now? pres. biden: yeah, it is. putin has already lost ukraine. he thought that if he invaded ukraine, first of all they would welcome every russian speaker and say, come on in. secondly, what he thought was that nato would collapse.

then he thought, go down the line, none of that is happening. judy: two other quick questions, classified documents, it's clear there's a difference between the way you handled this and former president trump. you cooperated with the archives, with the fbi. i want to ask you quickly about what you said last september. you said just possessing classified documents is, you said, totally irresponsible. so what was totally irresponsible abouthe fact that you had some? pres. biden: they've informed me not to speak of this issue to in any way try to prejudice the investigation that's going on. but what i was talking about was what was laid out, all these documents were top-secret, covert, and all the rest. i'm not at liberty, and i'm not even sure, made voluntarily, no one's had to threaten to do

anything, volunteer with everything i have for them to come and look and spin our searching my home -- spend hours searching my home. to the best of my knowledge, the kinds of things they picked up were things from 1974, stray papers. there may be something else, i don't know. but one of the things that happened is, what was not done well is, as they packed up my offices to move them, they didn't do the kind of job that should've been done to go through every single piece of literature that is there. but i'll just let the investigation decide what's going on, and we will see what happens. judy: last question, mr. president. every indication you are running for reelection. you haven't announced yet. democrats, though, as i'm sure you know, are saying we wonder about his age. you will be 82 the date of the

next election, 86 if you are successful and finish that term. does he give you any concern? pres. biden: watch me. that's all i can say. i mean, it goes from one extreme to the other. last night i heard that people were saying, just watch biden, age is not an issue anymore. look, on a great respecter of fate. i would be completely honest with america's people if i thought there was any health problem that would keep me from dog the job. and so, we will see. but i just, i think people have to just watch me. judy: that sounds like you are running. pres. biden: i haven't made that decision. that's my intention, i think, but i haven't made that decision yet.

judy: mr. president, thank you very much. ♪ amna: in the day's other headlines, ukraine's president zelenskyy rallied support in london and paris, on just his second trip abroad since the war began. britain announced for the first time, it would train ukrainian pilots on western jets, as ukraine braces for a new russian offensive. nick schifrin has more. nick: for 900 years princes and politicians have walked these steps, in westminster hall. today, to rapturous applause the leader fighting europe's largest war in 75 years, predicted freedom would win. >> we proved together that the world truly helps those who are brave in defending freedom and, thus, paves the way for a new history.

nick: and ukrainian president volodmyr zelenskyy asked for a specific weapon by handing the house of commons speaker the helmet of a ukrainian pilot. >> we have freedom. give us wis to protect it. nick: today britain pledged to train ukrainian pilots on british jets, including typhoons. and british prime minister rishi sunak said providing ukraine the jets was not off the table. >> the first step in being able to provide advanced aircraft is to have aviators that are capable of using them. that is a process that takes some time, we started that process today. >> i heard from mr prime minister the desire to provide fighter jets. when it comes to supplying typhoons to ukraine, not everything depends on the decision of great britain alone. nick: so far, the united states has refused ukrainian requests for f-16 fighter jets. senior us officials believe they are expensive, difficult to maintain, and woulduplicate some of ukraine's existing

capabilities. but today secretary of state blinken did not rule it out. >> this is an evolving process, and we will continue to make judgments about what we think ukraine needs, and would be most effective. nick: today zelenskylso visited paris, to meet french president emmanuel macron, and german chancellor olaf scholz. zelensky pointed out when he last visited europe, he got tea. >> we will be there until the end, until you are victorious. nick: today, he got tanks. >> thank you so much. nick: a declaration of unity. and the first ever meeting between a ukrainian leader, and a british monarch. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. amna: the french and german leaders said later that zelenskyy will attend a european union summit tomorrow, in brussels. investigators report they have strong indications that russian president putin approved sending missiles to ukrainian rebels, who then, shot down a malaysian

airliner in 2014. but the international team said today, the evidence is not conclusive enough to prosecute putin or anyone else. the attack on the airliner killed all 298 people on board. a dutch court already convicted 2 russians and a ukrainian of shooting down the plane. the u.s. military now says the chinese balloon shot down off south carolina was part of a global surveillance effort. the u.s. says it was a spy balloon. china denies it. but a pentagon briefer today pointed to chinese balloon flights over 5 continents in recent years. he said they're aimed at gathering military data, and he confirmed previous flights involving the u.s. >> we are aware that there have been four previous balloons that have gone over u.s. territory. what we do know is that in some cases, whereas some of these balloons previously had not been identified, subsequent analysis,

subsequent intelligence analysis did enable us to indicate that these were chinese balloons. amna: the state department says u.s. diplomats have briefed dozens of countries on those chese surveillance activities. a texas man has pleaded guilty to federal hate crimes in one of the country's deadliest mass shootings ever. he was accused of killing 23 people at an el paso walmart in 20. federal prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty, but he still faces a possible death sentence on federal charges. >> a a congressional hearing that made a mistake, but they denied being pressured by democrats. the hearing was dominated by claims and counterclaims between

democrats and republicans now in the house majority. >> instead of allowing people to judge the information for themselves, you rush to find a reason why the american people shouldn't see it. in a matter of hours, you are deciding on the truth of a story that spans years and dozens of complex international transactions. you did this because you were terrified of joe biden not winning the election in 2020. >> a whole hearing about a 24 hour hiccup in a right wing political operation. that is why we are here right now. and it is -- it's just an abuse of public resources and abuse of public time. we can be talking about health care, we can be talking about bringing down the cost of prescription drugs, we can be talked about abortion rights, civil rights, voting rights, but instead we're talking about hunter biden's half fake laptop story. amna: republicans say this was just the first of more hearings to calm on the president's family and on big tech. in economic news, the walt

disney company announced a major restructuring that will cut 7000 jobs, three point -- 3.5% of the work force. and, on wall street: uncertainty about interest rates and inflation kept stocks off balance. the dow jones industrial average lost 207 points to close at 33,949. the nasdaq fell 203 points -- 1.7%. the s&p 500 slipped just over 1%. still to come on the newshour. multiple security breaches at the dallas zoo raise questions about animals' safety. and one exceptional man's take on being inspired by the natural world. >> 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: he's known as king james in the world of basketball. and last night, lebron james

only added to that title and his legend when he passed kareem adbul-jabbar to become the all-time scoring king in nba history. he blew past a record that stood for nearly 40 years. >> looking for james, he's got it. coming to the end of the third quarter. lebron james, his shot at history. the nba's all-time scoring record now belongs to lebron james af!ter the game, lebron -- geoff:fter the game, lebron was asked by shaquille o'neal on tnt whether he now considers himself to be the greatest basketball player of all time. >> everyone's going to have their favorite. everybody's going to what brouge table, i know what i bring to

the table every single night and what i can do out on this floor. i always feel like i'm the best to ever play this game, but there are so many other great ones and i'm just happy to be part of the journey. geoff: let's bring in greg anthony, a commentator and analyst for nba tv. and he's a former guard who played in the league for 11 years for the knicks, grizzlies, blazers and bulls. reg anthony, we appreciate you being with us. lebron james says that as far as he is concerned, he's the best ever play the game. you can't really argue with that, or can you? >> well, it's hard to argue with that. at times he can be polarizing, but i do think his accomplishments kind of set him apart. he has won four world championships, four mvps. still playing at an extremely high level.

it's really hard to go against that. i think a better way to have perspective on this is, you think about over the last, i don't know, 100 years of pro sports, we've had two athletes that probably had more hype than anybody prior to them. it's amazing is both have exceeded the expectations, and that's tiger woods and lebron james. you have to remember, this is a young man that came right out of high school. he was dubbed "the chosen one." so often, when young athletes have that much hype and that large an expectation placed on them, the pressures often times consume and overwhelmed them. that has not been the case with lebron. also, he has been an incredible ambassador for our game. he has grown the game immensely. he has always had the courage to go out and put forth his beliefs, his philosophy, and

stick up for those who maybe were less fortunate. with that comes a lot of arrows as well. but for me, i would say he is the greatest ever. it doesn't take away from michael jordan or kareem abdul-jabbar, or bill russell. all these greats were the greatest at their time. but as the game has evolved, if you look at the level of talent in our league now, it has never been as high, and therefore, to be the best, unquestionably in this era, it's tried -- kind of hard to argue with that. geoff: to your point about him not succumbing to the pressure, he had the nickname king james back when he was playing in high school. how did this kid from akron or not to be one of, if not the best, ask about player of all time? greg: it's an incredible journey, if you think about it. raised by a single mom, who had him at a young age.

he was never overwhelmed by the temptations of success at a young age. the way he has conducted himself, in an age where it is really difficult to, in essence, go unscathed, if you will. especially when you put yourself out there, as lebron has. i don't know that we could have ever had a better ambassador or for basketball -- for basketball. he has truly grown the game. i marvel at what this young man has been able to overcome. bringing a championship to cleveland, arguably the greatest team ever assembled. that team won 73 games. and they were down 3-1 in that series, and for him to be able to come back and when that, that's probably the seminal moment in his career, but he won three other championships. to have those kinds of accomplishments is just rare in

this day and age. he has won a championship and a finals m.v.p. on three different teams. no one has ever done anything like that. geoff: lebron james is 38 years old, in season 20 of his nba playing reer. i conventional basketball standards, he's an old man come but he says he's going to complete -- to keep playing. how high could his scoring record go? greg: that's a great question. i know for a fact he has said he wants to play in the nba with his son, ronnie. going to assume that romney is a couple of years away from making it to the nba. so realistically, i think he will play another 3-4 years. factor in the level he is playing in his 20th season, it's an incredible feat. i do think he has a good three or four years at a high level. geoff: reg anthony is a

commentator and analyst for nba tv. i appreciate your time and your insights. greg: my pleasure. ♪ amna: the mystery of two missing monkeys, and the death and disappearance of other animals from the dallas zoo has captured the country's attention over the last couple of weeks. and today, at the houston zoo, zookeepers are on high alert after cut was discovered in the mesh fence around the pelican habitat. as stephanie sy reports, authorities are still trying to pin down exactly what has happened. stephanie: the series of unfortunate events at the dallas zoo began on january 13. when a clouded leopard named nobody escaped. dashed named nova escaped.

police were called after zoo staff noticed a suspicious opening in the big cat's enclosure. >> it was their belief and it is our belief that this was an intentional act. and so we have started a criminal investigation. >> the 25 pound leopard was found hours later on zoo grounds, but that same day, a second breach was discovered in a fence used to enclose the zoo's langur monkeys, none of them got out. then on january 21st, a lappet-faced vulture named pin was found dead and wounded. in a statement, the dallas zoo said, the circumstances of the death are unusual, and the death does not appear to be from natural causes. concerns about criminal mischief have zoos on high alert. >> zoos across the country have really taken a long, hard look at this. stephanie: ed hansen is the ceo of the american association of zoo keeper which is dedicated to advancing animal care and promoting zookeeper education. >> zoos all over the country are

retraining their employees, taking extra security precautions, installing more cameras, basically whatever it takes. stephanie: the dallas zoo installed additional cameras and increased onsite security patrols in mid-january, but it wasn't enough. late last month, more than a week after the vulture died, two emperor tamarin monkeys, bella andfinn went missing, there enclosure also apparently sabotaged. a search for the monkeys ensued with police circulating an image of a suspect throughout north texas. the man was later identified as 24-year-old davion irvin. >> preliminary investigation and help from the public identified him as the man that we were looking to speak to regarding this case. on thursday, we received a tip that irvin was seen at the dallas world aquarium near some animal exhibits. >> irvin has been charged with six counts of animal cruelty, in connection to thmonkey-heist at the dallas zoo, and two counts of burglary.

according to court documents, irvin told authorities he loves animals, and that if released, he would steal more. bella and finn were found in a closet in an abandoned home in lancaster, a suburb of dallas roughly 15 miles from the zoo. beyond losing weight, they showed no sign of injury. meanwhile, in louisiana the search for 12 squirrel monkeys continues after they were stolen from zoosiana on january 28, the private zoo is located just outside lafayette. zookeeper ed hansen says accredited institutions like the dallas zoo and zoosiana are required to meet safety standards. but that, broadly speaking, security measures at zoos are primarily to protect people, rather than animals. >> they're not meant to combat a break in and someone who wants to do malicious harm to either the animal itself or the enclosure itself. you know, in the future now with this happening, mae there will

be some revisions to protocols. stephanie: no motive has been released in the dallas zoo case, and the mysterious death of the 35-year-old altar, and endangered species, remains under instigation. for the pbs newshour, i'm stephanie sy. geoff: drew lanham refers to himself as a rare bird. he's an ornithologist, naturalist and writer. he views conservation efforts as a blending of rigorous science and having a vision of the broader world. lanham is onmarthur fellows, ofd the genius award. jeffrey brown traveled to south carolina recently to meet him, for our arts and culture series, canvas. jeffrey: a winter morning walk in south carolina's congeree national park, outside the capital city of columbia.

the largest tract of old growth bottomland hardwood forest in this region of the country. this is woodpecker destruction, or what? >> this is woodpecker buffet. it's not the busiest time of year for spotting birds, but if you know what to look and listen for -- and drew lanham does, there's plenty going on. even if sometimes he can be fooled himself. a moment of birding comedy: a call from his dentist! >> well no, i wish that was a real bird. that's unfortunately my phone. [laughter] jeffrey lanham often wanders : this boardwalk for hours, open to surprise. >> the thing is that every time i come here, the light's different, you know, the trees are different. jeffrey the water's different. : drew: the water's different.

but having the time to sort of wander slowly allows you to see things that you didn't see the last time. jeffrey: lanham traces his love of the natural world to his childhood on a farm in south carolina. and his understanding of human nature to his grandmother's stories of growing up in the jim crowe south. he wrote of all of this in a 2016 memoir, the homeplace. birds were and are his continuing passion he travels around the u.s. to stu firsthand how they behave. his greatest wish, then and now: to be a bird. >> to see that bird soaring, to see a vulture soaring or to hear a bird singing. to see a bird flying from point a to point b so effortlessly, i wanted that. jeffrey: first you wanted to be a bird. then you wanted to study birds. but there was no pathway to do it at first? >> no it wasn't a thing, right? , ask ten people and nine of

them are going to say, what? oh, an orthodontist? no, an ornithologist! and quite frankly, once people learned what an ornithologist was, then they said, well, that's not what black kids do. jeffrey: it would take years, after first being pushed to study engineering, at which he excelled but didn't love, for lanham to fulfill his calling. but he did, eventually earning 3 degrees including a ph.d in forest resources from clemson university, where he's now taught wildlife science for 28 years. he's learned the sights and sounds of the trees and animals around him, which this day included a number of hermit thrushes. but he also learned, and teaches, that sometimes you have to put the binoculars down, to really see. >> sometimes as birdwatchers we become so focused on that bird, on that one bird, and we want to see it ultra close.

and that's fine. jeffrey that's the mission in : some sense. >> yeah, that's the mission in some sense. but then when you put the binoculars down and sort of zoom out and see that bird in the context of place and begin to understand habitat and begin to, so this morning, looking at that tiny kinglit, then we can zoom back a little bi tand we see that it's in holly and it's foraging in the holly. but then we zoom back and we see this wonderful wooded wetland landscape, right? we see this swamp. and then when we see the swamp you begin to think about all these other things. and the kinglet is still there, the kinglet hasn't gone anywhere. include hustory.th ngs e huma histor jeffrey: indigenous people moving through the forest, enslaved people seeking safety and our own present day lives. all impacted by and impacting this landscape. >> were i the sparrow brown-backed skittish and small

jeffrey: lanham uses the tools of science to work for and preach conservation. but he also uses poetry, including the title poem from his 2021 book, sparrow envy, identifying with a small brown bird-- often overlooked. >> i would find great joy in the mist-sodden morning sing humble pleas from the highest weeds and plead for the gray days to stay jeffrey: it's a humble moment in the life of aairly humble bird. >> the understated beauty of brownness, right? you know, these are birds that are often passed by. i envy those birds in part because they continue to sing, they continue to be who they are. for a black person, for a black man who is often overlooked and dismissed in this society, to

find common ground, i think, for me is part of life's mission. jerey: in his own life, lanham, a bassoonist who takes a wooden flute into the woods, has lived with the complexities of color in a world where "birding while black" is a thing. he says, for example, he had to drop an early dissertation project because the area he was conducting research in was home to a supremacist group who let him know he was not welcome. a piece in his book is titled, 9 rules for the black birder'. >> if someone calls and says, drew, there are evening grosbeaks that have appeared suddenly this winter in a particular neighborhood, you really should go see those birds. well, depending on the neighborhood, i'm not going to go alone. and so that's real, jeff. that's something i have to think

about. and so while i'm watching the birds, i'm also watching to see who's watching me. jeffrey: lanham laments that too many young students of color still never learn they havthe opportunity to do the kind of work he does. educators and the scientific community, he thinks, need to do better. and he makes a wider call to all of us to leave places like this better than we found them. >> that's all conservation is. and leaving it bter than you found it means you have to have some degree of care and love for people you don't even know. wow, what a concept. that means you're going to have to think outside of yourself. you're going to have to take your binoculars down and see a broader vision and a broader world. jeffrey: vision both very small and very large indeed. i'm jeffrey brown in south carolina. geoff: and that is the newshour

for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. amna: on behalf of the entire newshour team, thank you for watching. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> we offer a variety of no contract plans and our team can help find one that fits you. to learn more, visit consumer cellular.tv. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour. >> actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. it's exciting to be part of the team driving technology forward. i think that's the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo. >> the ford foundation, working

with visionaries on the front lines of social change, worldwide. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.]

hello, everyone and welcome to k"amanpour and company." here is what is coming up. we g the latest on the desperate search for earthquake survivors in turkey and syria as casualties lerelentlessly rise d as president biden lay out the state of the union, we dive into a critical issue facing the nation. climate change and the war with colorado senator john hickenlooper. >> he's going to have to more support and enthusiasm behind him if he wants to win a second term. >> biden thinks things are going well. how do americans feel? white house burro chief talks to harry about whether the