♪ i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the "newshour" tonight... >> we report from the frontlines in ukraine as russia launches new offensives ahead of the invasion's one year mark. amna: senator elizabeth warren weighs in on the economy, immigration, and her plan to shore up social security. sen. warren: if we simply said that you will pay social security on all of your income, even if you are a millionaire, we can extend the life of social security to 2095. geoff: and judy woodruff begins her series "america at a crossroads", looking at *some of the country's political divisions. ♪

>> major funding for the pbs newshour has been followed by -- >> architect. ♪ beekeeper. mentor. a raymondjames financial advisor tailors advice to live your life , life well-planned. ♪ >> carnegie corporation of new york, supporting innovatns in education, democratic engagement , and the advancement of national peace and security, at carnegie.org. and with the ongoing support of these institutions. ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public

broadcasting. and with contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. vanessa: welcome to the newshour. i'm vanessa ruiz in for stephanie sy, with newshour west, here are the latest headlines. president biden wrapped up his 4-day trip to poland and ukraine, as we near the anniversary of russia's invasion. mister biden called russian president vladimir putin's decision to suspend participation in the nuclear arms control treaty a, quote, "big mistake." at a meeting with eastern european leaders in warsaw, the president reiterated u.s. support for ukraine and "nato" allies. >> it's even more important that we continue to stand together . you know better than anyone what is at stake in this conflict, not just for ukraine, but for the freedom of democracies throughout europe and around the world. vanessa: meanwhile in russia, president putin attended a patriotic rally and urged his country to support russian troops in ukraine.

he also held talks with china's top diplomat in moscow to underscore deepening ties between the two nations. a member of an orlando, florida, news crew was shot and killed today and another wounded as they reported from the scene of a homicide. a young girl and her mother were shot shortly after the news crew was targeted. the daughter later died. authorities arrested keith melvin moses as the primary suspect police believe all three shootings, including the original homicide, are connected. prosecutors in california today charged the man suspected of killing a roman catholic bishop with murder. auxiliary bishop david o'connell was shot to death saturday in his home, east of los angeles. the suspect -- carlos medina -- is the husband of o'connell's housekeeper. authorities say they're working to identify the motive. if convicted, medina could face life in prison. in the day's other headlines, a

massive winter storm is bearing down on a huge swath of the western and northern u.s. it's threatening historic snowfall, strong winds, and bitter cold temperatures. today, it prompted the closure of hundreds of schools, and also the cancellation of more than 1500 flights. john yang has our report. john: overnight in utah, drivers faced treacherous roads and a deluge of snow on their windshields. it is part of a powerful storm system cutting across much of the continental u.s.. this morning, more than 50 million americans were under winter weather advisories. in minnesota, the national guard geared up for what could be nearly two feet of snow. >> we are bracing for what is likely to be one of the largest snowstorms in minnesota history. john: saint paul mayor melvin carter warned residents to stay home, and plan ahead. >> our ask to all residents is that you prepare now. that means limiting non-essential travel and working

from home whenever possible. it means making sure we have essential supplies including food and medicine for the week. john: the storm left its mark on california, winds ripping down trees and power lines, cutting electricity to more than 100,000 people. some are predicting record snowfall in the golden state - even at lower elevations. u.c.l.a. climate scientist daniel swain. >> the widespread nature for the potential of sea level snow is unusual. it's almost a slam dunk. there'll probably be snowflakes at sea level and significant snow even up at 1000 feet. john: as the storm presses east, snow and ice are expected to hit new england tonight. for the "pbs newshour," i'm john yang. vanessa: palestinian officials say a rare daytime israeli army raid killed at least 10 palestinians and wounded more than 100 others. it happened in nablus, in the northern occupied west bank.

the israeli military said the operation targeted three suspected militants wanted in several shootings. palestinians pulled bodies out from under a building that was reduced to rubble. it was one of the bloodiest days there and nearly a year. a dollar of the latcivil rights leader malcolm x has filed notice that she intends to sue the fbi, the cia and other government agencies for 100 million dollars for the wrongful death of her father. iliasah shabazz says new information has come to light that alleges a conspiracy and a cover up in her father's assassination. >> for years, our family has fought for the truth to come to light concerning his murder, and we would like our father to receive the justice that he deserves. vanessa: the announcement came yesterday on the anniversary of malcolm x's 1965 assassination. a preview of the new broadway revival of the musical parade, about a jewish man falsely

accused of murder, opened last night to antisemitic protests. the protesters held banners and harassed theatergoersutside, ahead of the performance. in a statement, the producers of "parade" said, quote, "if there is any remaining doubt out there about the urgency of telling this story in this moment in history, the vileness on display last night should put it to rest." still to come on the "newshour," a new poll gives insights into the political headwinds the 2024 presidential frontrunners could face. a political dissident freed from nicaragua discusses his country's slide toward authoritarianism. and ju woodruff looks at the stark medical divisions across the country. -- political divisions across the country. >> this is the pbs newshour, from wta studios in washington, and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at

arizona state university. >> as we approach the one-year anniversary of russ's full-scale invasion of ukraine, a look at the ground war, and the frontlines. ukraine and the u.s. say russian forces have launched offensives in three areas of ukraine's eastern donbas region. with support from the pulitzer center, nick schifrin and videographer eric o'connor visited all three parts of the front. starting at one of the most southern points on the front line novosilka. , and a warning, some images in this story are disturbing. nick: the road to ukraine's 1st tank brigade frontline position is bumpy, and tense. we're escorted by a sergeant who tells us to stay low, and move fast. >> ok, let's go!. nick: trees provide the best color. our guide calls ahead with our positions using codewords. they refer to us as "ants." and so we go marching in single

, file, on the same path ukrainian soldiers take, past the craters. the russian line is only a mile and a half. (boom) [explosions] nick: we just heard an explosion nearby so we are just taking a little cover -- a lot of cover. right now we are trying to walk along the ee line so that we're not too visible. trying to get to these ukrainian trenches down the road here. dobra dein how are you? trees may conceal, but don't protect from t incoming. [explosion] the trench is the safest defense. ukraine's front line is 700 miles long. this trench, just one small section, 1000 feet and eight feet high, and where this unit has deployed for 3 and a half months. ihor is the platoon commander. he joined the military in 2014 after the initial russian invasion.

he was recalled a year ago this week. >> they are trying to attack our direction and push through our defenses, and we are not letting them do that. we are holding our position. (boom) we're doing everything possible to not let this happen. nick: have they launched frontal assaults against these trenches? >> with small groups. 3-4 tanks, and infantry. [explosions] they are attacking with artillery, as you can hear. their artillery is working. that's how they do it. nick: ukraine's infantry is tasked with the owner is vital, sometimes terrifying mission of holding the line. not all of them have made it. [explosions] >> we have had winded. we have had killed. it's a difficult subject. i don't want to talk about it. translate that. nick: you d't want to talk it. >> no.

it's difficult to talk about it. i don't want to talk about it. any other questions? [explosions] nick: he lives where he fights. he tries his best to keep out the cold. everyone here, seizes a quiet moment when they can. he has faith ukraine can win. but he predicts it will take years. >> the world should know that while we are fighting the enemy here, the world is safe, and the whole world should help us with everything they can and provide us with weapons to ensure this doesn't happen in their countries. enemy here. just give us the weapons. nick: tanks are this unit's primary weapon. the region is flat. for kyiv to have any chance to push through russian lines, it says it will need more modern tanks. nats but 26-year-old yehor's t-64 tank, was originally built in

the 1970's. >> they are old and because they are old, they break all the time. you don't have the confidence that your tank is going to work tomorrow. for us to advance, we need new weaponry, because these tanks are twice as old as i am. nick: but until new weapons arrive, all this unit can do is use its armor like it uses its trenches-to hold the line against a larger russian force. >> in order to destroy the enemy and be more effective in our offensive, we need heavy weapons. without tanks, we are not doing anything right now. it's not easy to destroy a stationary firing position, even a machine gun. nick: and russia has a web of stationary positions. they still control 20% of ukraine. and they have spent months digging in. russian trenches, vehicle barriers, and tank traps fill ukraine's south and east. they run all the way up, to the northern part of the eastern front, where we visited next.

russian-controlled this land just a few months ago, and so to prevent a ukrainian counteroffensive, they mined the fields that we drove through. which direction is the russians? >> in front of us. nick: the 103rd brigade's mortar unit positions itself as close as possible to russian troops, and as deep into a forest. the more isolated, the harder to target. >> the commander is a 46-year-old was callsign is kalina, a berry on ukraine's coat of arms. the frontline here hasn't moved an inch since they arrived - 9 months ago. nick in 2shot 0351 do you have two be able to fire effectively? >> no, we don't have enough weapons. we don't have a large enough caliber. the largest that we keep is 82mm and we need at least 120mm. we keep telling our commanders

about this, but right now, no one is providing those to us. nick: they've been fighting for one year. but that doesn't mean it feels normal. their patch is the lviv lion, kalina's hometown in the country's far west. did you think you'd still be here, one year later? >> no. i've never thought i would spend so much time here. i'm not young. i'm not fit for the army. i thought they would just train me, and let me go home. but it all happened in a different way. and now we're here. nick: they use drones to spot russian targets. and then -- >> gunfire 20 rounds in about 3 minutes. [gunfire] they adjust the mortar back to the original target and then repeat. but they admit they're limited, by the quantity and quality of their ammunition. and that means the best this unit can do as well, is hold the line against the russian troops they continue to target. [gunfire] the next day, we headed to the outskirts of russia's primary goal-bakhmut. us officials downplay its importance, and have raised with ukraine falling back to higher ground to defend larger cities.

but ukraine calls bakhmut a symbol of resistance and a gateway to the rest of donetsk province. the city has been largely abandoned or destroyed, and the fighting has been fierce, targeting a russia's alamo terry -- paramilitary wagner group. the us assesses it has taken 30,000 casualties. wagner's owner, who is close to putin, posted this photo this morning, identifying the bodies as those killed just yesterday. the ukrainian soldiers fighting for bakhmut, have witnessed some of the most brutal battles, of the last year. >> they are sending their soldiers as cannon fodder. we target their equipment and their soldiers, but they keep coming and coming, and keep dying and dying--and even then, keep coming and coming. nick: olexandr commands an artillery unit in the 93rd brigade. there are other units with more advanced equipment. but the vast majority are like this one, self-propelled artillery is also from the

1970s. [explosion] nick: the brigade gave us this video from a surveillance drone of what it says is that artillery hitting a surveillance target. they and everyone here say bakhmut is worth it. >> this place is strategically important. first and foremost, this is our land and every inch is of the utmost importance because people are dying for it. if we give up bakhmut, we would be giving up so many lives of those who have been defending it for such a long time. nick: have you lost men? have you lost friends? >> yes. we have all lost friends. we have all lost someone in this war, and we keep losing. that is how it goes. this is war. you can't do anything about it. but these are all losses that cannot be prevented.

they just happen, because people kill people. that's it. nick: on the frontlines, ukraine knows the price it will continue to have to pay, how many men, it will continue to lose. for the pbs newshour, i nick am schifrin, outside bakhmut, ukraine. ♪ geoff: with less than a year until the first primaries of the 2024 presidential contest, the battle lines are becoming clearer.. and so is the field of candidates. lisa desjardins takes stock of where the race stands. lisa: that's right. as president biden readies every election campaign potentially, his would-be republican opponents are figuring out which voters could back them.

it's the focus of the new pbs newshour mpr marist poll. our correspondent at npr is here to walk us through some of the results. great to see you again. guest: good to be back, lisa. lisa: let's start with president biden who is reconsidering his campaign, or not? what these numbers say? >> everyone expects he is going to run for reelection. that has had an effect with the first time, independents are saying that their best shot in 2024 is with reagan and not with someone else. you can see his approval rating is up to 46% after the state of the union address. he is up to 49% with registered voters. 46% is the highest he has been in the year. 49% is the highest he has been since the afghan withdrawal. so good news for president biden as he is heading into what is

expected to be a campaign of reelection. >> how is he doing with independence? >> that is his one big vulnerability. this is a group he won in 2020. he only has a 36% approval rating with independents. it is why you heard in the state of the union address a message that was so targeted seemingly to the center. lisa: let's talk about the other reelection candidate, former president donald trump today was in east palestine ohio after the train derailment, making a pitch that he was trying to help the community and talking of his criticisms of the biden administration. what do these numbers tell us? guest: it's not as rosy a picture. he wants the job back to be president but there are a lot of republicans who will likely stop him from getting the job and there is actually an appetite for some of the republicans to try to get in.

52% of republicans said they wanted someone else, they think someone else gives them the best chance to win. 42% said trump but 52%, we're looking at people looking at potentially florida governor ron desantis. lisa: i want to also note that there someone else. last night we had a new republican announce, -- vivek ramaswamy. >> we have celebrated our diversity and differences for so long that we forgot the ways we are the same as americans, bound by a common set of ideals that set this nation into motion 250 years ago. that is why i am proud to say that i am running for u.s. president, to revive those ideals in this country. lisa: ohio businessman, founded a pharmaceutical company and investment firm. he is running a fund what he

says is anti-wokeism. but people would say at the top of the list is governor ron desantis. guest: the biggest issue for trump when you look at these people saying they don't want him or they don't think he is the best fit for 2024, he is real struggling with white-collar voters, people who make more than $50,000 a year, college graduates, all people who do scientists is actually doing well with. you look at trump's numbers and dissenters's of numbers, they are near mirror images of each other. with voters without a college degree, trump does better. voters with college degrees, desantis does better. less than $50,000 a year, trump does better, more than $50,000 a year, desantis does better. republican-leaning an independents, trump-era really struggles, he is at 57% favorability in that group.

but the dislike for trump is much higher than with the desantis. dissent is has a lot to prove, it is still early, there is room for a anti-trump candidate who can appeal to those white-collar workers. the problem is how many will get in? if they flood the zone, a multicandidate environment could ultimately help trump because he does have a share of the pie. he used to say in 2016 that it looks like it is made of titanium, may be that metal has multiple debate but he still has a sizable chunk of republicans. if at the republicans flood the zone it could give trump an e-zpass. lisa: someone getting attention as well is south carolina senator tim scott pruitt and former south carolina governor nikki haley, someone who would presume is interested, former vice president mike pence what do you say about those two?

guest: nikki haley, the biggest issue for her is that 40% say they are unsure about her it means she has a lot to prove. mike pence is not as well-liked asissenters or trump and that includes with white evangelical christians, who are supposed to basel we will see what happens. thank you so much. guest: thanks for having me. geoff: and our thanks to lisa desjardins. tomorrow, we'll have more results from our poll, including views on some of the biggest issues facing congress such as the debt limit and aid to ukraine. and you can read more of the poll's findings on our website. pbs.org/newshour. ♪ amna: consumer protection drove elizabeth warren's academic work, punched her entrance into politics and served as her central plank for her 2021 run for president. in the state of the union address, president biden pledged to tackle junk fees. she joins me to discuss that effort and if these parities can

become policies in a divided congress. senator warren, welcome back and thanks for joining us. just want to ask you a bit of news on the immigration front. yesterday the biden administration proposed a new rule that critics say is basically a revival of president trump's so-called transit ban which would bar people from seeking asylum if they have come through another country before arriving at the southern border. you opposed the policy under the president trump, you set it was against america's laws and all moral commitment. do you feel the same way today? sen. warren: i am always concerned when we are not opening ourselves and staying in line both with federal law and wi our world responsibilities. but i also want to underscore the other part of this, that president and his administration are clearly looking for alternative ways to deal with people who want to come to the united states and who are

looking for sanctuary here. this program is one way to try to do that, to make sure people don't have to take a long, expensive, dangerous trip in order to ask for help. let's face it, the bottom line is congress needs to put in place comprehensive immigration reform. maintain, the president is trying to meet our responsibilities and to do it through administrative action. i am glad that they are out there trying different parts, i just want to make sure we continue to live up to our moral responsibilities and international law. to that point, critics would say this does not live up to humane practice. in fact, versions of policies mister trump put into place. do you disagree with that? sen. warren: this is why i said i am concerned. if the point here is to bar people from being able to apply for help that international law

says they can apply for, then that would be a terrible mistake for our country. i want to see us meet our moral responsibilities and our responsibilities under international law. but to try to do it in ways that do not force people to take long, dangerous, expensive trips where they put themselves at risk, and that is what the president i think is trying to find that line that would be better. it would be better if congress were willing to take that out. amna: i want to ask you about junk fees. there does seem to be shared by partisan over things like families having to pay more to fly together, have seats together, paying too much for taylor swift concert tickets. is there a bail, though, that is the question, is there a b ill, and can it get through

congress? sen. warren: let me push back a bit. i am not sure we need a bill for this. i want to upload the agencies who are starting to step up in this area -- that consumer financial protection bureau has stepped up and said "what do you mean you are charging $30 for a late credit card payment?" there is not much additional risk associated with that. i think that should be aund eight dollars. how its that banking regulators are stepping up. pressure so that they are reducing charges on check overdrts. the department transportation, step up on the idea of charging fees for families being able to sit together. so we want to start with the notion that a lot of these junk fees basically fit under the idea that there is one advertised pce for the service or for the good. same thing with hotels, right? but because of junk fees, it

costs five dollars more, at 10 dollars more, $25 mark. amna: you and senator sanders just proposed a bill to shore up social security, with a capital gains tax. there is an argument from people saying, why not just change the retirement age, people are living longer than they used to. what do you make of that? sen. warren: i think to myself, there is somebody who did not work construction all their life. somebody who did not have to pick up little kids as a kindergarten teacher or a preschool teacher. there is somebody who did not work as a nurse all their life helping patients in and out of bed. just because people are living longer does not mean they can still do those hard jobs at 65, 70, 75. but also think about it this way, if we simply said it you

will pay social security on all of your income, even if you are a billionaire, we can extend the life of social security to 209 5, plus, we can increase social security payments by $200 a month. bottom line is this is math and values. and math is that b if we simply bring in a little more revenue, we can make the social security system worked on through the rest of this century . is it more important that we protect the wealthy and the well-connected so they don't have to pay taxes on their million-dollar incomes, multimillion-dollar incomes? pardon the interruption, but what about eliminating the benefit for people of higher incomes? sen. warren: why eliminate the benefit? why not just have people pay

taxes? that is the notion of the tax system in the united states and that is, as your income goes up, you pay more in taxes. believe me, they will still be earning a lot more. but hey social security taxes on that as well. that way we don't have to increase taxes on america's middle class, on america's working families, and we don't have to cut benefits. amna: and want to raise one question looking forward to next week because the supreme court will hear arguments on president biden's student loan forgiveness plan which you push to make happen if. it is struck down, millions of borrowers for the first time in three years will have to start repayment on those loans. is that something that they should start to do? sen. warren: i have no doubt the president has the legal authority to cancel this debt, my concern is whether the supreme court is going to apply the law, or if they are going to play politics. when donald trump was president,

he canceled billions and billions and billions of dollars of interest rate payments. canceled them, did not canceled them and not one republican or court lifted a hand and said there was any problem. . they said of course he is legally entitled to do this. the president of the united states now is also legally entitled under the law to cancel this debt. we now know that 90% of the people who were going to get help from this debt cancellation make $75,000 or less. it means that if this goes through, half of all latinos will see all of their debt wiped out, about one-third of african-americans. all who worked hard. 40% of them did not end up with a college diploma, but who go out there and tried. the consequences of their having

tried, when they came from families that just could not afford to write a check in order to pay for college, is that they are getting crushed by this debt. the president has designed a plan to help get people out from underneath that that, the lord lets him do that. i just hope that the republicans. amna: stay out of the way. amna: democratic senator elizabeth warren of massachusetts, joining us tonight. thank you as always for your time. sen. warren: thank you. ♪ geoff: earlier this month, nicaragua exiled hundreds of political prisoners to the us. all of them, and dozens of other nicaraguans, were stripped of their citizenship by a government that has become increasingly authoritarian. [shouting] [chanting] geoff: at washington's dulles airport, a day of joy. and a moment of relief and reunion. juan sebastian chamorro is one of more than 200 nicaraguan political prisoners freed

earlr this month, and flown to the u.s. >> i was sentenced to 13 years in prison, without any proof actually. geoff: nicaragua has been under u.s. sanctions for decades, but officials say the release was a unilateral decision by president daniel ortega. >> we are not asking for anything in return. it is a matter of honor, and for them to take their mercenaries away. geoff: the people he calls "american mercenaries" include students, human right defenders , and opposition leaders who were arrested for challenging his room. >> viva nicaragua! >> they were released, but forced into exile. the government revoked their citizenship, and that of 9more nicaraguans who ortega calls quote "traitors to the motherland", including one of the country's best-known writers, sergio ramirez. >> this has no basis in any legal standards, it violates them. but we've received infinite solidarity from around the world. geoff: once a close ally of

president daniel ortega, ramirez was a prominent figure in the 1979 sandinista revolution that overthrew the somoza dictatorship. he served as vice-esident during the 1980s in the first sandinista government led by ortega, but broke with him in the 1990s over his excessive grip on power. >> what i remember is a shared leadership in the revolution, to create a common project for the country. that project can be judged either way today. but it was a project, and that's what nicaragua is missing now. geoff: nicaragua was at war with the contras, a us-backed rebel oup that fought to eradicate communism, when ortega came to power in 1984. he was then defeated in 1990 by opposition candidate violeta chamorro, another close ally who had defected from the sandinista party. >> you see defections after defections. geoff: cynthia arnson is a distinguished fellow with the woodrow wilson center.

>> there were people in the sandinista movement, who had embraced the anti-authoritarian, anti-repressive aspects of the sandinista movement and became gradually disaffected as sandinismo became much more associated with a personalistic dictatorship around daniel ortega. geoff: ortega was elected again in 2006, and vowed to never lose a future race. he abolished presidential term limits. at one point, he embraced the private sector and brought economic growth. [chanting] >> el pueblo unido jamas sera vencido! geoff: but then came a decade of what us officials call sham elections, and crackdown on dissent then, more intimidation. more than 2,000 ngo's and at least 50 media outlets:shut down. political opponents poised to run against him in the 2021 elections were arrested. >> even if you can believe public opinion polls seem to

desire a change, ortega is not going to allow that. and that is why he imprisoned so many people in advance of the november 2021 elections. geoff: but with their release, there's now renewed hope, however faint, for a return to democracy. i spoke recently with felix maradiaga, a former nicaraguan presidential candidate and political prisoner, who is now exiled in the u.s. we spend nearly two years in captivity. and we spoke about his experience inside one of nicaragua's most notorious prisons. >> for years, even before i became a politician, i was a human rights defender and academic. i focused most of my life in in post-conflict reconstruction, civil society. i met with other former political prisoners around the world. but having experienced that myself, even today, it is something hard to describe. i was in a small cell, the first

84 days, and was officially disappeared, in the sense that the government did not allow my family, my lawyers or anyone to know about my whereabouts. geoff: geoff: how are you able to endure that, 84 days in solitary confinement, most of it spent in complete darkness? guest: i use my faith as my source of strength, prayer, and meditation. but mostly, i was convinced that my wife had become a relentless advocate for my freedom and the freedom of all political prisoners. we had agreed because i knew at some point i was going to be arrested. and also my convictions, my principles. i got into nicaruan politics to pursue a basic human rights in nicaragua. geoff: on february 9, the ortega government released you and 221 other political prisoners. take us back to that moment. that moment you realized that you were free. guest: they asked us to dress in civilian clothing, and then we

were put on a bus, handcuffed with our heads looking down. so we did not know what was the direction of the bus. suddenly, about 40 minutes later, we arrived at the managua airport and we were asked to sign a paper asap, basically a one liner saying that we voluntarily would leave the country towards the united states. and only then we learned that we had been expelled from the country and sent into exile. however, we did not know that we had been stripped from our nationality. we learned that upon landing in washington. but seeing u.s. diplomats traveling from washington to managua to freed us, to welcome us into an airplane, it is something that i can only define as truly the shining city on the hill. i feel i need to thank the american people for welcoming us. geoff: what does your release signal or suggest about the stability of the ortega regime?

does it signal weakness on their part? guest: absolutely. it signals that everything in his playbook has not worked so far. he tried, as he did with me and many others, to beat us. i was severely beaten in two occasions. he put us into prison and he did, as he did with hundreds of political prisoners prior to our release. and we continued to fight in a nonviolent way. so he used banishment as his last resort. geoff: whatgeoff: are conditions in nicaragua right now for for everyday citizens living under the ortega regime? guest: from what i have learned, the situation is very hard in the sense that everyone who issues an opinion, everyone's to who tweets or even uses a private message to speak a private opinion is subject to arrest. the police has full control of nicaraguan information and the way in which people exchange information. i think that it can only be

compared to a sort of tropical north korea. evenrivate companies are requested to present a list of of of people have been involved in any type of opinion against the government. newspapers are shot down. university students are expelled out of universities because of their political ideas. it is something unheard of in latin america. and more recently, over 300 people were stripped from their nationality, something that is against international law. geoff: secretary of state tony blinken, called the release of you and other prisoners, he says it is a constructive step towards addressing human rights abuses in this country. president ortega has been in power for more than a decade. there's nothing to suggest that he's going anywhere anytime soon. what do you think comes next? guest: as we have seen in other cases of latin america, there's always the possibility that dictators will remain there for a while. but i also know that there are

many, many nicaraguans who are committed to the nonviolent, peaceful, democratic struggle for a new nicaragua, a new nicaragua, in which even sandinista supporters will be welcome to be part of a new of a new nation. nicaragua has had cycles of violence precisely because those who are former political prisoners, as ortega himself was a prisoner in the 1970s, once they are free, they become what they used to hate. in our case, we made it very clear that we want to break that cycle of violence. we want to establish freedom and democracy in our country. so we will go back and we will continue to work for that nicaragua that we love. geoff: felix maradiaga, thank you so much for your time. gut: thank you. ♪ amna: for the last several

weeks, judy woodruff has been digging into one of the most pressing issues facing our nation, deep divisions and distrust in some american communities. tonight she begins with a look back at our recent history, and some of her own, to try to better understand the nature of the divides we face, and why this moment feels different. it's part of her new series, "america at a crossroads." >> what do we want? >> justice! judy: from right for our rights, to defining who we are -- >> [protestors chanting] judy: what we believe. and what we teach our children. >> shame on you! [chanting] shame on you! judy: america is a house divided and in many ways, it does has been. >> do you agree that it is difficult to find qualified women? judy: i first came to washington

in 1977 to cover president jimmy carter. the former governor and peanut farmer i had followed as a local news reporter in georgia where i had spent my teenage years. i stayed in washington after his landslide lost to ronald reagan in 1980. through six more administrations, trying to better understand how our government works, what motivates our leaders, and how their decisions affect hundreds of millions of americans across the country. what happened today is a feud that has been simmering for weeks between democrats and a group of conservative republicans finally reached the boiling point. over that time i have watched partisan disagreements grow increasingly hostile. >>. >> owners to letter to yield to our distinguished colleague. >> you deliberately stood on that well before an empty house and challenged these people and you challenged their americanism, and it is the

lowest thing that i have ever seen in my 32 years in congress. >> the reforms -- the reforms i am proposing would never apply to those who are here illegally. [booing] 'how stupid are our leaders? how stupid are these politicians? >> you are looking for a fair process? you came to the wrong town at the wrong time, my friend. >> [shouting] >> i am glad to see -- judy: to the point that today there is an unwillingness to work with or even talk to the other side, to confront our shared challenges. >>. >> the debate in washington heated up again, with the federal government setting up to hit its legal limit on borrowing in less than a week. judy: rising distrust by our public in a big institution, from the federal government and public health officials, to journalists. >> we are a nation that no longer has a free and fair price. fake-news mills all you get. judy: we watched partisan

battles that undermine our ability to deal with real problems. much of the federal government was dark after congress failed bill. shocking acts of congress directed at political leaders. >> remained sedated three days after being shot in the head at point-blank range. >>or five minutes, gunshots crackled across the baseball field where american members of congress were practicing. >> nancy pelosi's has banned paul was severely beaten with a hammer this morning. judy: and even attempts to subvert the machinery of democracy itself. >> chaos at the u.s. capitol today, when pro-trump demonstrators breached barricades and push their way inside. judy: our current and former presidents of both parties acknowledge something has changed over time. >> we didn't have many people

playing on the fears of american people. it had gotten too mn, too personal, too depressive. >> so much of our politics has become a naked appeal to fear, anger and resentment. that leaves us worried about our nation and our future together. judy: i have long wanted to better understand what has been happening. the forces driving us apart, and what can be done to overcome them. and that is what this series, "america at a crossroads" will be about. to begin i want to ask the most basic questions, how devoted are the american people, in her different divisions today from what we have seen before? how are you? good to see you again. to find out what survey data shows, i visited the pew research center, in nonpartisan think tank in downtown washington that studies public opinion, demographics and social issues for decades.

carol and jocelyn design and analyze polls that americans take online each year, revealing how people think and feel about a range of issues, and how those feelings change over time. >> the country is more divided, certainly along partisan lines, and we have seen it. there have been divisions in the past along other lines, but this is a moment where the divisions are deeper than ever and the intensity of dislike for the other side is probably deeper than ever as well. >> i think it is fair to say that on virtually every issue or domain, the gap between republicans and democrats is bigger than it was 20 or 30 years ago. when i say that i mean on, say, immigration, abortion, gun policy, the size of government. there have always been partisan gaps on these issues, but they are wider than they used to be. judy: that is true not just of the american public, but it's

leaders as well. >> 30 years ago there were a sizable share of democrats in congress that were more conservative tn the most liberal republican, and vice versa, a sizable share of republicans were more liberal than the most conservative democrat. it has not been the case for the past 20 years. judy: that shows in the approval ratings which have fallen lately for both parties. >> used to be a lot of don't knows if you asked about a new president. now people go to their partisan corners a lot more quickly in terms of evaluating a new president. there is not as much of a honeymoon as we used to call it. judy: is that also do to people feeling a part of their party and their party, as opposed to they are opposed? >> they are. exactly. for biden and trump, people make their judgments very quickly, again, on the basis of their own

partisanship. judy: and there is another trend that really worries them, the degree to which people on one side not only disagree with, actively dislike those on e other. >> it's not new that republicans haven unfavorable view of the democratic party and vice versa, but these very unfavorable's is what we are focud on here, these intensely negative. you see that stripng between 19 and 2022 on the republican side, you see that stripling, and hugely on the democratic side as wel that share of people who have this intense dislike for the opposing party has grown so muc in the last 20 or 25 years. >> we have asked for a while these questions about different traits, and you can see in this graphic that, for instance, 72% of republicans say democrats are more dishonest than other american 64% democrats say the same about

republicans. judy: it is striking. you look at the numbers. immoral? just in 2016, 35 percent of democrats thought republicans were immoral. today it is 63%. republicans have gone from 47% to 72%! >> it is quite striking. judy: from an academic point, what is so striking about that? we're talking less than 30 years this has happened. >> one way to think abt this is that people have internalized partisan identity may be in a way that we did not really see, say three decades ago. it is about issues, about emotion. they feed on each other, meaning as you see the other party farther apart on issues, you are less likely to socialize with them. you are less likely to have them in your friend groups, and, therefore, you are more likely

to have a negative stereotype about them. judy: and that is what i wanted to ask, who is pushing this? who is the instigator in all of this? [laughter] is it washington pushing the american public, or is that the american public pushing washington? >> yes. [lghter] >> it is both of those. >> it really is both. if you look at the media, over this time period, we started to see more fragmentation of media so people would be more likely to get their news from places that shows them the kind of news they are interested in -- the rise in cable news and social media. so i think it would be very difficult to say that this is top-down or bottom-up, it is a mix of both of those. judy: addjudy: to that list country that is changing demographically, extremely high level of inequality, and very low trust in government, regardless who is in power.

>> you talk about thway the two partisan coalitions are becoming more demographically distinct they, are also growing more distinct in terms of their issue positions, and also in terms of how they feel about one another. and each one of those contributes to each other. >> is this pattern going to continue? are we just great to see this get more and more intense over time, this partisan hostility? leading to perhaps negative consequences for the country? judy: this is what i will be diving into over the next two years, trying to better understand the roots of our disagreements, where policy differences end, and where what you might call "identity politics," begins. and, asking americans from all walks of life how we can move forward toward solutions. >> decades ago, disagreed on things like the role of government or the size of government or what we wanted the government to be doing.

in those divisions, we can find a compromise. judy: in my next report i will speak to a political scientist, to try to understand how our identities and politics became so intertwined, and what that means for our challenges ahead. >> what we are seeing today, the divide is much more about our feelings about each other. we are angry about one another, democrats and republicans don't trust one another. these types of feelings are not the kind of thing we can compromise with. judy: for the pbs newshour, i am judy woodruff in washington. amna: we will have judy's second installment of "america at a crossroads" next month, right here on "the newshour." ♪ and that's the newshour for tonight. join us again tomorrow for a , look at the latest battleground over reproductive rights. i'm amna nawaz.

geoff: and i'm goeff bennett. thanks for being with us. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> for 25 euros, consumer cellular's goal has been providing wireless service that helps people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of no contract plans and our team can help find one that fits you. to learn more, visit consumercellular.tv. ♪ >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and stitutions. ♪ and friends of the newshour, including ♪ >> actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. >> it's exciting to be part of a teen driving technology forward, that is the most rewarding thing. >> people who know, know bdo. >> the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front

lines of social change worldwide . funding for america at a crossroads was provided by -- >> ♪ and with the ongoing support of these individuals of these institutions. ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> this is pbs "newshour west," from weta studios in washington, and from our our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university.

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