geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz on the "newshour" tonight, former president trump appears in court, facing 34 felony counts. geoff: finland formally joins the nato military alliance in the wake of the russian invasion of ukraine, striking the latest blow against vladimir putin. amna: and as climate change continues to alter the world, norway's global seed vault becomes more important and more vulnerable than ever. >> under climate change, that means rougher climate, higher temperatures, longer droughts, more flooding, new pests and diseases. our food, our crops need to be

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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. amna: welcome to the "newshour." today was an unprecedented day in american history. former president donald trump arrested and arraigned in a manhattan courtroom -- the first u.s. president to face criminal charges. geoff: mr. trump pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records relating to hush money payments

during the 2016 campaign. and with the indictment unsealed today, we're learning new details about the manhattan district attorney's case and the former president's defense. donald trump tonight now a criminal defendant. the first former u.s. president to be arrested on criminal charges in connection to his alleged role in a hush money payment scheme. this afternoon, mr. trump traveled by motorcade from trump tower to surrender to authorities at the district attorney's office in lower manhattan. while in custody, the former president was fingerprinted, but received special accommodations. he was not handcuffed or put in a jail cell and did not have his mugshot taken. the judge in the case did not allow video cameras in the courtroom, but permitted a handful of still photographers to take pictures. during a nearly hour-long proceeding, mr. trump was arraigned and charged with 34 felonies. the former president pleaded not guilty. the case involves payoffs

through an intermediary to adult film actress stormy daniels to conceal an alleged affair ahead of the 2016 election. following the arraignment, mr. trump's attorneys spoke to reporters. >> he's frustrated, he's upset, but i'll tell you what. he's motivated. and it's not going to stop him. it's not going to slow him down. geoff: and manhattan district attorney alvin bragg, who has faced an onslaught of attacks from mr. trump and his supporters, defended the charges. >> as this office has done time and time again, we today uphold our solemn responsibility to ensure that everyone stands equal before the law. no amount of money or amount of power changes that enduring american principle. geoff: earlier tuesday, dozens of trump supporters flocked to lower manhattan, heeding the former president's call to protest. among them was republican congresswoman marjorie taylor-greene. >> they're coming after president trump today and they will come after you tomorrow.

president trump did nothing wrong. geoff: and scandal-ridden gop congressman george santos. >> i'm here to support the president of the united states, who's being unfairly attacked by a d.a. geoff: a team of new york city police, secret service, and court security barricaded and controlled the crush of the crowd. as members of the media stood in line for hours for a seat inside the courtroom where the former president faced judge juan merchan, who just this morning, mr. trump called highly partisan and a well-known trump hater. he also said the case should be moved to nearby staten island, which he views as friendlier political ground. tonight, donald trump returns to his mar-a-lago home where he's addressing his arraignment in a primetime speech. amna: to give us a sense of what happened in the courtroom today, i'm joined by andrea bernstein. she covers democracy for propublica and trump legal

matters for npr, and is the author of "american oligarchs: the kushners, the trumps and the marriage of money and power." welcome back and thank you for joining us. most of us saw just brief glimpses of those proceedings today. for example, the short video clip of mr. trump being led into the courtroom earlier today, but you are in the room. describe for us what it was like in the room and what you observed. andrea: in one sense, it was totally normal. the very same courtroom where'd trump's former financial officer was indicted and pleaded guilty. this is the courtroom where trump's own company was fnd guilty of multiple felonies. but it was also extraordinary because of the security was like nothing i've ever seen. there were court officers lining the center aisle. all around the room, secret service, police. no laptops, no electronics. forced quiet.

you could hear a little t of the protests, but there was the former president of the united states having to say to a judge "not guilty," something we've obviously never seen. amna: 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. we will dive more deeply into the legal details but you have covered him for so long. what stands out to you about these charges? andrea: of course, we didn't know in the courtroom what the charges were going to be. we heard for the first time 34 felony counts and we understood more today about what that is. in new york, there has to be an underlying crime. we were falsified the business records to do what? we learned three answers. one was to conceal a conspiracy new york. to violate campaign finance laws. also a violation of federal laws by giving donations in excess and a violation of tax laws.

we learned all that today. there was also extensive back-and-forth about the former president's posts. amna: you noticed everything about mr. trump. i wonder, to see him in this way, to be sitting at the table like any other criminal defendant, what strikes you about that? andrea: so, we have never -- so many people have asked me over the years, is he ever going to be indicted? is he going to be held accountable? his company was convicted last year, but he has not been. here is a case where the prosecutor stood up and said the rule of law applies. the judge also treated the former president in that way. the rule of law applies. something that has happened in other countries but never here. i think there's a truth telling that goes on in the court of law thats very different from the political sphere that we are about to see play out in this new case. the people of the state of new york versus donald trump. amna: there's a long way to go.

briefly, what will you be watching? andrea: i will be watching to see how mr. trump's legal team handles the timing. they will try to get the case dismissed, perhaps delay. on the other hand, there's a presidential election coming up, and the more they do that, the more they put a potential trial right in the middle of high campaign season, which is really something we've never seen before in this country. amna: andrea bernstein, thank you so much for joining us tonight. andrea: thank you. amna: the former president's not-guilty plea has set off what is expected to be a lengthy legal battle in manhattan. joining me now to discuss the legal issues connected to the president's arraignment is former federal prosecutor chuck rosenberg and former manhattan assistant district attorney marc agnifilo. welcome to you both as thanks for joining us. chuck, i want to make sure we understand and explain the charges here. the manhattan district attorney

is alleging mr. trump made 34 false statements to cover up other crimes. the very first line reads this way -- the defendant donald trump falsified new york business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election. chuck, i want to get your reaction to the nature of those charges. chuck: i think i can simplify it a bit. the chargeselated to a hush money scheme. payments to stormy daniels through an intermediary, michael cohen. each payment to cohen, to reimburse him, generated a number of false documents. maybe a false ledger, false invoice. a check that was falsely recorded. what the district attorney did was take each of those false documents, 34 in total, and charge each one is a felony under new york state law.

i don't think it is an inordinately complex case. i read the indictment which is more bare-bones, and a statement of facts that accompanied it. it does not involve thousands of documents or dozens of witnesses. it is a fairly straightforward case. that does not mean it is not susceptible to legal and factual challenge, and i am confident that will happen through mr. trump's attorneys. it seems relatively straightforward to me. amna: we have heard that argument from mr. trump's attorneys. they are arguing there's nothing there. what is your take? marc: it is a very typical manhattan d.a. indictment for the charges. unlike a typical federal indictment which is often more of a speaking indictment, that tells the story that my colleague chuck laid out for all of you. the das office does not do that as much. what they did was give the

bare-bones of the charge. the thing they leave out is the thing that everyone has been speculating about the most. what is that secondffense? you have to have dual intents to do these crimes. the intent to defraud and a secondary intent to aid or cover up or commit another crime. and that other crime is not charged in the charging document itself, but in the people statement of facts that the issue today along with the indictment, they suggest it could be campaign violations or tax violations. but that is not in the body of the charge. i agree, it is a bare-bones indictment, but i do think there going to be a lot for the people to prove in order to prove the charges. amna: to see that and more simple language, what does that mean for the bar the prosecuon has to meet? marc: they have to find that

trump acted with specific intent, not just to commit fraud, but to violate a second statute. and that is really going to be where the rubber meets the road in this case, in my opinion. the defense will say they've already said, he was not violating another statute. he was being extorted, he was being shaken down. it was a personal matter. it had nothing to do with an election. what the da will have to prove is it was about the election. i think the facts the da alludes to all relates to the timing of these things. meetings that took place where there was a plot hatched basically to try to quell negative press, which never happened before he was running for president. so, that is going to been the major factual issues i see. amna: we now have our first details with the indictment being unsealed today. the judge said the next in-person hearing date is not

until december 4. what happens between now and then? chuck: a bunch of things potentially. for one, the prosecutors have a responsibility to provide to the defendants discovery, documents and witness statements to help the defendant prepare a case. this is something we alluded to earlier. the defenda will file motions challenging the legal sufficiency of the case. he may seek a change of venue. they may argue there is a selective prosecution here of mr. trump for improper reasons. a type of prosecutorial misconduct. so, defense will file their motions. they will receive their discovery. the prosecutors will respond to these various motions to dismiss and ultimately the judge will hold hearings and decide whether or not the case goes forward. if it does, there will be more dates set.

amna: marc, i want to ask you about the team we will see a lot of. when you look at the legal teams, both prosecution and the defense in this case, at the prosecution's table on the left side of the screen, we see chris conroy, the man with the glasses. he is presenting most of the prosecution's case. behind him is a woman in a white blouse and dark jacket named susan hoffenger. she was involved in another case involving the trump organization. tell us about that and why she might be important to the team. >> i think you hit on the two key people for the prosecution. conroy and hoffenger are probably the heart and soul of the da's prosecution team. hoffenger was involved in the trump org case. conroy is a super experienced lawyer. i have had a number of fraud cases with him. he is very experienced and

probably one of the office's go-to people. it makes all the sense of the world to see the two of them for a big case like this. amna: what should we know about the team defending former president trump? >> you have joe tacopina and susan necklace. i have had trials with both of them. they are both very experienced lawyers. san is a little more stronger in the areas of research and preparation. tacopina is a real trial lawyer guy. he has been trying cases his whole life. you have blanche who is new to the team. he's a good trial lawyer as well. former federal prosecutor. you have a lot of different personalities and i think that could work well for mr. trump, but you have good lawyers on both sides. i hope that it is well litigated case and i hope that it is about the case and not what we call

shenanigans and things that the judge doe not want as part of the case. amna: given what we now know about the charges and what we have seen so far, we don't want to get ahead of ourselves, but what is the world of potential outcomes with these kinds of charges being prosecuted where they are? chuck: there's always the chance that someone convicted at trial will go to jail. that seems hard to imagine, certainly in terms of logistics for a former president, but there's a range of things that can happen between now and then. we discussed the fact that the defense attorneys can file motions to dismiss, and if the judge grants the motions to dismiss, the case ends there. if the case goes to trial, they could convict or acquit, or return a mixed verdict. acquitting on some counts and convicting on others. it's really sort of perilous to

predict what will happen. this was the first step in what will be may be a painfully long journey for those of us following it closely. i am reluctant to tell you sitting here what a jury would do. i that like to predict it in my own cases. it is even harder for me to do that in somebody else's case. amna: a very long case ahead and we thank both of you for joining us today to walk us through what we do know today. thank you to you both. >> thank you. geoff: we are going to focus now on how mr. trump's calls for protest regarding his arrest have sparked concerns about the possibility of fresh political violence. laura barron-lopez joins us now to discuss how security officials are monitoring and preparing for a host of threats. thank you for being here. i know you spent the day tracking reaction to today's developments among mr. trump supporters, allies. what have you found? laura: a number of those who

support the president, house speaker mccarthy called this a weaponization of government. ted cruz called it a frivolous charge. marjorie taylor greene said that she and other republicans will never abandon the president. so, there is still a lot of rallying around the former president. i want to also highlight some of the recent polling that dropped after the indictment. a cnn poll showed 60% of americans approve the indictment. 40% disapprove. when it comes to republicans' opinion of trump, 72% have high favorable of trump. he's very much still has a grasp on that base. another data point is that the trump campaign says they have fun raised some $10 million since the news of his indictment. geoff: as we reported, donald trump supporters and anti-trump

protesters swarmed the streets outside the courthouse today. that was a spectacle. beyond that, there are real concerns about the net effect of donald trump using this arrest and arraignment to rile up his supporters. you have been speaking to extremists, experts about that. laura: the experts i have been speaking to say it is not necessarily that they are looking at violence to break out at a protestike the one that was held today. they are looking at right wing extremist groups, neonazis, the coordinated movement that has mobilizein the trump era. i spoke to a historian at northwestern university. an expert in the white power movement and she offered this warning. >> what we have here with the indictment is an opportunity for extremists who are interested not in any kind of americanism, but instead are interested in overthrowing the united states to create a white ethno-state. this gives those folks an

opportunity to reach into the trump base, to find people who are frustrated and disaffected by this ruling, and to recruit and radicalize for their own purposes. laura: you heard her say that essentially, the indictment, the arrest, the subsequent revelation of the charges all connect as a triggering action for extremist groups. geoff: there are people who argue that donald trump's influence is waning despite his sizable command over a certain part of the republican base. he does not draw the same big crowds. he does not use twitter in the way he used to. does that lessen the prospects for political violence? laura: i asked kathleen exactly about this and whether or not his influence was waning and she essentially said trump is still seen as a figurehead for the militant and white power groups, but it goes beyond him. >> this is a movement that organizes in cells and that uses any open window for what it attempts to do. even if his crowd attendance is

waning, even if the mainstream part of his movement is waning, the continued call-outs to extremists are still there. and we're not talking about a group of people that needs a large number in order to effectively mobilize violence. laa: when she talked about the potential for militant groups to take action or is so-called lone wolf, essentially they are looking at the upcoming oklahoma city bombing anniversary on april 19. they say what people should be on the watch for our potential attacks on federal buildings, on power stations and other paramilitary activity. geoff: what does the online chatter suggest? we know that extremists were very active on social media in advance of the january 6 attack. what are the expert saying about that? laura: i spoke to collin clark, a senior researcher at the center that tracks extremism. he is looking at websites like telegram, gab, and other all

right sites. he told me in the last 24 to 48 hours, there has been more volume, vitriol, and language like take our country back. he also said especially on telegram, what it is reminding him of his the frenzy, the social media storm that occurred after the fbi raided mar-a-lago. and then when we saw in cincinnati, a gunman attacked the fbi office there. geoff: thank you for that reporting. the arrest and arraignment of a former president marks a turning point in american history. to put this day in a historical context, we're joined by presidential historian michael beschloss. it is great to have you here. donald trump's arraignment today on the one hand, it was routine, it was not like the hundreds of other arraignments that happen across new york city on a given day. on the other hand, it was surreal, it was significant, it was breathtaking in its

consequence. what do you make of this extorted a moment in american history -- extraordinary moment in american history? michael: i have been studying presidents for all these decades and ihought i would be prepared for today and i really wasn't. whether you like donald trump or not, whether he is proven guilty or not, this was a painful day. for the first time in over two centuries to see in american president, now retired, maybe temporarily, maybe not, in the courtroom with the possibility of going to prison -- that is something we've never seen before in all of american history. that courtroom has seen a lot of mobsters and major criminals. it was painful to see donald trump in that same place. geoff: on that point, while other democratically elected leaders around the world have faced prosecution, in israel, italy, france, south korea, american presidents, current and former, have always seemed to occupy this exalted realm.

where they existed above prosecution. how does this indictment change the perception of the american presidency? michael: not so much of this case necessarily, but the fact that former president's now can be indicted. that has not happened before. 1974, richard nixon was an undicted co-conspirator. there were charges of all sorts of things -- obstruction of justice and others. gerald ford gave him a pardon a month after nixon quit, in that picture we just saw. he said the american people could not stand the idea of an ex-president going on trial. well, the cost of that has been presidents like donald trump apparently think that being president gives you an immunity free zone. you can do almost anything you want and the worst punishment will be the punishment that went to richard nixon which was retirement to a nice seaside home. geoff: to draw you out on that

historical analogue, there were students of history who said gerald ford should not have pardoned richard nixon. tell me more about that. michael: me too. i believe that very strongly. i spoke to gerald ford in 1995. his ski house in colorado. i said with all due respect, why couldn't you have at least waited to pardon nixon until he was indicted and the trial had begun or at least fingerprinted so he could not go on and tell people for 20 years he had done nothing wrong, which was basically what he did? ford said essentially that he felt he didn't have the stomach for it. he thought it would be too distracting as he tri to deal with other issues. geoff: is today's agreement in line with what the founders envisioned? that no one, not even former president's, exist above the law? michael: we have both read the constitution pretty closely. i don't see and i don't think

you see anything in that document that says either that ex-presidents cannot be indicted or even that sitting presidents cannot be indicted. that only rests on a ruling by the nixon justice department in the early 1970's. that is not something that is in holy scriptures. all i am saying is that if we are worried about presidents getting into lawlessness, like a nixon, as there were accusations of ronald reagan during iran-contra, other moments in american history, does it encourage that for presidents to think they are above the same kind of laws that the rest of us are? geoff: what does this indictment, what is the impact on our politics? not just the arraignment, but donald trump's efforts to use this arrest to inflame a partisan firestorm to protect himself and build his support? of course, this didn't happen in a vacuum. it comes on top of two historic

impeachments, his falsehoods about the 2020 election. the attack by his supporters on the u.s. capitol. what does history suggest about what might come next given the rhetoric? michael: as you and i have talked about, this is an extremely divided country, and he will say this is a partisan indictment only because there is a so-called democratic prosecutor that is trying to get him. that is something that also go through american history. white supremacist groups than the south would use political charges to go after black defendants or people who were trying to achieve civil-rights and voting rights. that goes through american history all the back 150 years or more. and at the same time, organized ime figures in new york, including in that courtroom that we saw today, what is the first thing they often say when they are indicted? political charge, prosecutor is trying to make a name for

himself, i'm innocent. we will see in this case. geoff: and looking forward, it would appear this case is on a collision course with the 2024 presidential election. the next hearing in this case is set for early december. how does that strike you? michael: i wish it weren't. i wish this trial did not go wandering the year of the next presidential election as it now looks, but that has happened in america, too. aaron burr was tried not for the murder of alexander hamilton, but for trying to wage a coup against the government of the u.s. that was very distracting to thomas jefferson. our legal process always has to be separate from our politics. one should not be intermingled with the other. geoff: michael, thank you for your insights and for your time on this historic day. michael: my pleasure, thank you. ♪

amna: in the day's other headlines, parts of the midwest and south braced for a new wave of severe weather days after tornadoes killed 32 people. this morning, powerful thunderstorms swept the quad cities area in iowa and illinois with winds of 90 miles an hour and hail the size of baseballs. meanwhile, a blizzard warning covered the dakotas and high winds kept fire conditions dangerous across the southwest. there's encouraging news about evan gershkovich, "the wall street journal" reporter being held in russia. the newspaper says he met with his lawyers today for the first time and appeared to be in good health. the biden administration and "the journal" have denied gershkovich was spying as russia claims. a russian woman suspected in a fatal bombing will stay in jail for two months pending an investigation. sunday's attack in st. petersburg killed a military blogger who backed the war in ukraine. at a hearing today, darya trepova was kept in a glass holding cell.

she's reportedly said she did not know that a statuette she gave to the victim was really a bomb. the kremlin today denied abducting children from ukraine. the international criminal cou has accused the russians of taking hundreds of children from orphanages and putting some up for adoption. that would be a war crime, but the russian commissioner for children's rights called the allegations a farce. >> so when an investigation is published that children are being taken away in huge numbers for re-education in secret camps,hich they managed to film only from a satellite, it seems to me that this is some kind of conspiracy. all children have phones, but i have not yet seen a single video showing that they were treated cruelly. amna: the russians insist they've acted purely on humanitarian grounds and that in any event, they do not recognize the international court's jurisdiction. the united states is sending ukraine another $2.6 billion in military aid.

today's announcement includes ammunition, radar, anti-tank rockets, and fuel trucks for a possible spring offensive by ukraine. u.s. military aid to kyiv has topped $35 billion since russia invaded. the u.s. military also announced today that a drone strike has killed a senior member of the islamic state in syria. the statement said khalid aydd ahmad al-jabouri was in charge of planning attacks in europe. reports from syria say the attack came monday outside a village in idlib province in the northwestern part of the country. back in this country, chicago held a run-off for a new mayor, one of two key elections today. moderate democrat paul vallas, backed by the chicago police union, faced progressive brandon johnson, who's supported by the teachers union. meanwhile, wisconsin voters were choosing a new state supreme court justice. the outcome could affect abortionccess, voting rights, and potential challenges to the

2024 election results. on wall street, stocks edged lower as weaker data on job openings and factory orders raised new recession worries. the dow jones industrial average lost 198 points to close at 33,402. the nasdaq fell 63 points. the s&p 500 slipped nearly 24 points. and, the university of connecticut huskies have returned home to a hero's welcome after winning the ncaa men's basketball championship. uconn beat san diego state in houston last night, 76-59. it was the huskies' fifth national title in the past 24 years. congratulations to them. still to come on the "newshour," finland formally joins nato in the latest blow to russia's international standing. the debate over gun violence intensifies following a mass shooting at a tennessee school. and norway's global seed vault becomes more important than ever in the face of climate change.

♪ >> 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: today, finland became the 31st member of the nato alliance, less than one year after it petitioned with sweden to join. finland's accession doubles nato's border with russia and it concludes a historic shift following 75 years of non-alignment. nick schifrin explores the significance of expanding nato. nick: for decades, finland relied on a strong military to protect itself from russia, but russia's war in ukraine flipped the opinions of finns and their leaders. and today, finland's flag rose for the first time at nato headquarters, and finland's president and nato secretary general emphasized an attack on finland would now be considered an attack on all of nato. >> the era of military

non-alignment in our history has come to an end. the new era begins. >> nato is a community united by our values -- freedom, democracy and the rule of law. we stand together, we protect and defend each other. all for one, and one for all. nick: to discuss this, we turn to heather conley, president of german marshall fund of the united states, which focuses on improving transatlantic relations. thank you very much. welcome back to the newshour. how significant is this today and how does finland militarily actually help contribute to nato's security? heather: this was an incredibly historic day. it is a special day for nato because on this day 74 years ago, nato was founded in washington. it is a great birthday present to have the 31st member of nato join finland. you are absolutely right. finland has an over 800 mile

border with russia, but they have focused on their own territorial defense for decades. they are a militarily capable ally and job one for them is defending finland, and now of course, part of nato. nick: putin for years has opposed nato's expansion. how much of a strategic setback is this for the kremlin? heather: it is massive and it is all because of putin's decision on february 24 of last year for his full-scale invasion of ukraine. finland was a country that want ed the closest possible relationship with nato but not to become a nato member. when that full-scale invasion began, they completely changed their opinion. they did not want to stand alone. they did stand alone in 1939 when they fought soviet forces in the winter war in 1939.

they were able to beat them back but they had to suffer finlandization. the soviet union had to approve everything that finland did. as president biden often says, finlandization is no longer the word, it is nato-ization. you hear very muted words from the kremlin because it is such a setback. they threatened finland, they threatened sweden with nuclear attack if they would join nato. now, it is a very muted comment, because quite frankly, this is a strategic loss for them. nick: among those comments from russia, the deputy foreign minister warned russia would strengthen its military presence near finland and would take unspecified further steps if more non-finland nato forces were actually deployed into finland. how likely is that? heher: it is really not likely that you would see a meaningful deployment of nato forces. again, finland has a very robust

territorial defense. you are likely to see more exercises. we have to integrate fully nato defense planning but you are not going to see major infrastructure or major forces. finland can take care of its own territorial defense. again, the kremlin is incorrect. ov the last 12 months, they have removed russian forces from finland's border. these land forces have been used in ukraine and have not come back. in many ways, the finnish government is seeing an easier time on the border. fwer russian -- fewer russian forces but ty know they could suffer cyber attacks. they know this will be tested but they are very ready. they have been ready since they set their application into become nato members. nick: u.s. officials also worried about russian cyber attacks in ukraine and the west moving forward. you mentioned sweden. finland's president said specifically today that finland's membership is not

complete without sweden, which is still being held up by both turkey and hungary. why are those two countries holding it up? heather: yeah, both have different reasons. turkey has been very concerned that sweden has not been as robust in the fig against terrorm. very specific for turkey which would be the pkk. nick: the kurdish militant group decided by the u.s. heather: exactly. sweden and turkey have been in bilateral conversations. sweden has changed its constitution. it has been as forward leaning as it can, but the turkish government would like the return of several kurdish opposition figures. and this would be something the swedish government will have a great difficulty to do. so, this is being held up until after turkey holds its

parliamentarian elections on may 14 and everyone is very helpful that after that election and before the nato summit in lithuania in july, that we can get past this. hungary is in some ways riding on turkeys coattails and blocking this, seeing if they can get any benefit with sweden to try to lessen the european union strong concerns about hungary's lack of rule of law and diminishment of its democracy. it will move when turkey moves and turkey will only move on sweden until after their election, we help. we need to put a lot of pressure on the turkish government. they did commit they would bring sweden and finland and tomato. they are working through these bilateral issues and we are hoping the expedite this immediately after their election. nick: heather conley of the german marshall fund, thank you very much. ♪

amna: protests are ongoing in tennessee after six people lost their lives at the covenant elementary school in nashville last week. stephanie sy reports now on the calls for action. stephanie: more than 1000 students in the nashville area walked out of their schools yesterday at 10:13 a.m., the same time the shooter opened fire at covenant elementary a week earlier. they marched to the tennesse state capitol to call for stronger gun laws. since last week, demonstrators have convened at the capitol, even entering the building to shout "save our kids" and grab the attention of lawmakers. now, tennessee house republicans are moving to expel three democratic lawmakers who joined those protests. among them, state representative gloria johnson who represents part of knox county. thank you so much for joining us. the expulsion threats stem from

what you and your colleagues did in the house chamber last thursday. i understand you breached house rules when you took over e podium to lead protest chants. the republican leader says this amounted to disorderly behavior. what led you to do what you did, and did it cause disorder? rep. johnson: since that morning, we had been silenced. we usually have something called welcoming and honoring. they did not call on us. we wanted to welcome the protesters there. we wanted to honor the issue they were talking about and we were not given the opportunity. several times during that day, we tried to make it during the morning, we tried to make that effort and were shut down. we decided between bills, we were going to walk to the podium and thank the protesters for being there, acknowledge the issue of gun violence and how important it was and tell them we were committed to work on issues to solve the problem of gun violence.

we were up there for about 20 seconds when the mics got cut. one of my colleagues did have a small megaphone then used that to continue speaking. we did chant for a few minutes with the people in the gallery. after 20 seconds when they cut the mic, they also called a recess. so, but time that we were up there, probably about five minutes after they cut the mic, it was during a recess. stephanie: i understand one of the chants was no action, no peace. i read an interview where you said republicans have called to support you since that protest. do you have enough support to survive an expulsion vote? rep. johnson: the republicans that called me were not the elected representatives and that body. those were the folks in my district. and across the state. because overwhelmingly in my

district, more than 50% of republicans support gun measures such as red flag laws and safe storage laws. republicans in my district, a majority of the republicans in my district are calling for solutions to gun violence and they support measures to limit weapons and certainly limit weapons for peop who are a danger to themselves or others. stephanie: when it comes to the safety of schools, republicans say they are taking action. governor bl lee is proposing allotting $140 million for school resource officers, $20 million for public school security improvements, $7 million for private school security, as well as mental health liaisons in schools. why do you think that is not enough to protect children from gun violence? rep. johnson: we need to prevent the guns from getting to the schoolhouse door.

he is just talking about dealing with them once they are there, where people are at risk of being hurt. he did not mention guns in any of his solutions. the reality is one of our members, our leader actually said i will put a tank in every school if that is what it takes. we don't need to harden our schools and make them look like prisons. we need to address the issue of the guns that are coming to the schoolhouse door. let's prevent the guns from ever getting to our schoolhouse door. and the reality is they are common sense things we could do and we have the data and research that shows us what works. red flag laws work. safe storage laws work. why aren't we addressing that issue as well as security within schools? if we can prevent those guns

from ever getting to the schoolhouse door, then we can prevent death and injuries. stephanie: i know that you are calling for yet another protest on thursday, that is the day the body is supposed to vote on this motion to expel. not only are you facing a pro-gun super majority in tennessee, but smith & wesson is already building its headquarters in tennessee. you have a very pro-gun state wide constituency. are attention-grabbing protests the only recourse you have in this state right now, just to draw attention to the issue? rep. johnson: because of the problem of redistricting in tennessee, even though 40% to 45% of tennesseans are democrats, we don't have that voice, we only have 25% of the statehouse.

the voices of the people are not being lifted up. yes, we need the people to show up to help us lift up that voice and to let people know that it is not just democrats that want some gun sense legislation but it is republicans and independents as well. we will continue to speak up until someone takes action because thoughts and prayers are clearly not getting it done. stephanie: representative gloria johnson joining us from knoxville. thank you. rep. johnson: absolutely. thank you. ♪ geoff: when you think of fresh produce and fields of grain, the arctic may not spring to mind. but just 800 miles from the north pole, the global seed vault holds emergency stockpiles of most of the world's crops. it provides scientists with the tools they need to breed plants able to cope with a changing

world. with global warming and an ever-growing populion, those who run the vault in svalbard, norway say its presence is more important than ever. we sent special correspondent john beaver to the northernmost settlement on earth to find out more about the future of food. john: it's known by some as the doomsday vault and often referred to as the ultimate insurance policy. buried deep in the side of a mountain, itself deep in the arctic circle, the most diverse collection of food crop seeds in the world. innocent dossou-aminon runs the gene bank in benin. he has made the 5000-mile journey from west africa to the norwegian archipelago of svalbard. with him, he's brought his country's first seed deposits. >> if anything happened in our

place, we can come back and request some seeds to regenerate for the farmers. john: maize, rice and soybeans are some of the crops being added, and they're in good company. there are regular deposits from gene banks in every corner of the globe. the collection now stands just short of 1.2 million varieties in total. they're scanned to check that nothing unwanted ends up in the vault. apart from any doomsday scenarios, the vault acts as insurance against more day to day issues like power outages in developing countries. >> it's important to be here to prevent any catastrophe in future. we keep the seeds in a freezer, the lights go and power comes back, it changed the inside temperature of the freezer and this affects the germination of the seeds and we lost a lot of our accessions. it's important to duplicate, so that if anything happens to what we are conserving in our country, we can get it back from

the vault easily, to regenerate. john: the average temperature in benin at this time of year is 89 degrees. that, by chance, is 89 degrees warmer than here. although the vault is kept artificially chilled, svalbard's permafrost acts as a good backup. and it was that permafrost that started this whole project. in one of svalbard's abandoned coal mines, we get a rare chance to see the original, primitive vault. in 1984, the nordic gene bank started an experiment as unique as the location. michael lyngkjaer is using the work done by his predecessors to learn more about preserving crops and all that comes with them. >> every fifth year, one box is taken out, opened and then the

seeds are tested for viability. it will be tested for if there have been any changes, and with all seeds, there's also coming some microorganisms that follow the seed naturally. some of these are pathogenic. we're also looking at how the pathogenic fungi will survive. so by conserving the seeds, are we also conserving the type of disease that was present when the seeds were put in here? john: this experiment in the mine has another 61 years to run. the world, and especially the arctic, will be a very different place then. svalbard's prosperity was forged out of these mines, but of course, the irony is that the impact of burning this coal is what threatens svalbard's very future. you used to be able to walk over the fjord here in winter, but the sea ice is long gone. now, y'd need a boat. the arctic is warming faster than anywhere else on earth. stefan schmitz runs the crop

trust, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving global food security. he says a warming world is a key reason to preserve crop diversity. >> under climate change, that means rougher climate, higher temperatures, longer droughts, more flooding, new pests and diseases. our food, our crops need to be resilient. they need to cope with these changing circumstaes, and therefore, plant breeders need all those varieties. take the genetic varieties out of them, mix them, cross-breed them, to make sure the genetic varieties are fit for the future. jo: we live in a world of mass farming where fewer staples are being grown. of an estimated 6000 plant species humans have eaten, just nine are now common, and three -- wheat, rice and maize -- provide around half of all the calories consumed globally.

this vault aims to be entirely apolitical, and operates on the belief that diverse genetic resources are an asset for humanity. there are more than 1700 gene banks in the world, all trying to improve what we eat. this flour contains olands wheat, a once long-forgotten swedish variety. in the 1990's, a plant breeder took some seeds from the nordic gene bank in the hope of reintroducing this wheat. he quickly worked out that although it made fantastic bread, the yield was quite low, and it grew so tall that it's difficult to harvest. but with that height comes incredibly deep roots, and it turns out that olands wheat is drought-tolerant. bread containing that wheat is now found in high-end bakeries across the world. but a lot of the work done in gene banks is aimed at providing food security for at-risk populations.

the global seed vault ensures those seed samples are always available. the remoteness of the vault also helps protect it from other man-made problems. a syrian gene bank destroyed by civil war withdrew its deposits from the vault in 2015, regrew them, and returned new seeds in their place. after 15 years, the number of seed varieties, and the countries putting them in, continues to grow. and there e stark warnings that the genetic diversity stored within this vault will be needed to feed an ever increasing population in an increasingly harsh environment. for the "pbs newshour," i'm john bevir in svalbard, deep in the arctic circle. ♪ amna: remember, there's a lot more online at pbs.org/newshour,

including our conversation with the biden administration's top official on incarcerated youth and her take on the barriers juveniles face in the justice system. geoff: and join us again here tomorrow night, where we will have a look at how one rural county in new york state is trying to stem the tide of overdose deaths. and that's the "newshour" for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire "newshour" team, thank you for joining us. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. yes, i'm legally blind and, yes, i'm responsible for the user interface. data visualization. if i can see it and understand it quickly, anyone can. it is exciting to be part of the team driving a technology forward. i think that is the most rewarding thing.

people who know, know bdo. ♪ >> 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 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 "amanpour & company". here's what's coming up. - are they calling the national guard? - yes. yes ma'am. - if they stop the proceedings, we will have totally failed. - [christiane] as the january 6th committee finalizes its long awaited report, a new documentary offers a behind the scenes look at one of the rioters' main targets, speaker nancy pelosi. her filmmaker daughter alexandra tells me about capturing her mother's story, and the brutal attack on her father, paul. then. - this is one of the most impressive scientific feats of the 21st century. - [christiane] but what exactly is nuclear fusion and how soon could it unlock new hope for our planet and clean energy? columbia math and physics professor brian greene

breaks it all down for us.