geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on the "newshour" tonight. the biden administration releases its own review of the chaotic evacuation of afghanistan, placing the blame on intelligence failures and the trump administration. geoff: militants in lebanon fire a barrage of rockets into israel, heightening tensions at an already volatile time when muslim and jewish holy days overlap. amna: and an investigation reveals priests in baltimore abused hundreds of children over several decades. the state's attorney general details the alleged coverup. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by --

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this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. amna: good evening, and welcome to the "newshour.” two stories have dominated this day. escalating israeli-palestinian confrontations appeared to move the middle east closer to a broader conflict. and the biden white house put out its long-awaited report on the widely criticized fall of afghanistan in 2021. geoff: first, afghanistan. u.s. forces hastily withdrew in august 2021, as the taliban recaptured the country after nearly 20 years of war. amid the chaos, a suicide bombing killed 13 u.s. troops and more than 100 afghans.

today, the national security council's john kirby laid out a 12-page summary, blaming the trump administration, bad intelligence, and the afghans themselves. our laura barron-lopez had a seat at today's white house briefing and joins us to break down the report's conclusions. thanks for being here. laura: thank you. geoff: what does this 12-page after-action report say? laura: so, this is a report compiled by the national security council based off of the after-action reviews conducted by the state department and the defense department. so there are a number of key findings here from this after-action report. that includes that the administration will now prioritize earlier and faster evacuations, something that was not done in the withdrawal during of afghanistan. they also say that president biden was significantly constrained by the trump administration's decisions in the four years prior. they also did not expect the ease and speed of the taliban

takeover and that, from here on out, they're going to use more aggressive communication about risks, acknowledging thathere was an intelligence failure there. but, despite all of these findings, the administration still said that the president stands by the withdrawal and thinks that it was the right decision. and, in terms of any additional reports being released, they said, no, not so far, th, ultimately, they are giving these reports to congress, the classified versions of them. geoff: well, throughout this report, laura, the biden administration repeatedly faults the trump administration for a lack of planning and poor communicion from one administration to the next. tell me more about that. laura: that was a big part of this report. and so i was in the white house press briefing where john kirby, the spokesperson for the national security council, answered a lot of our questions. he said that it was, quote, "undeniable" that the actions and planning by the trump administration limited the president's options. they specifically cited the fact that, the netiations between the trump administration and the afghan government to release

5,000 taliban fighters from prison, reduce troop levels to some 2,500 serce members on the ground. they also said that, during the transition, that the trump administration gave them no plans that they potentially had about a final withdrawal. and so kirby was pressed on this over and over. and he ultimately said about the accountability that the administration, the current administration, should take itself. and he said that this document, this review isn't about accountability, that it's about understanding what happened and to then move forward with ssons learned. geoff: well, in terms of understanding what happened, i mean, what about the evacuation itself? what were those lessons learned? laura: john kirby admitted that, clearly, the administration did not do everything right, specifically, that this experience in afghanistan that it directly impacted how they handled evacuations in ukraine and ethiopia when those capitals were threatened. so they said that they learned their lesson there by trying to speed up and start evacuations

earlier. but nowhere in this report does it say that officials, intel officials made major mistakes in their handling. and so kirby was pressed on this, challenged about the evacuation, challenged about the lives that were lost during this evacuation. and he rebuffed that criticism. >> so, for all this talk of chaos, i just didn't see it, not from my perch. at one point during the evacuation, there was an aircraft taking off full of people, americans and afghans alike, every 48 minutes, and not one single mission was missed. so i'm sorry. i just don't buy the whole argument of chaos. it was tough in the first few hours. you would expect it to be. there was nobody at the airport. laur and that response isn't sitting well with a number of people that helped allies, helped americans evacuate from afghanistan. geoff: and, right,ecause i know you have been speaking with americans who are still trying to get their friends and family and former colleagues out of the

country. what do they have to say? laura: i spoke to allison jaslow. she's an iraq war veteran, and she's the ceo of iraq and afghanistan veterans of america. and she said that she expected more accountability from the white house. >> there wasn't enough preparation going on for the withdrawal, especially to make sure some allies that we made promises to could make it out before the inevitable takeover by the taliban. there's blame to go all around here. the prior administration definitely didn't set the current administration up for success. but it's their job when they get into the seat of power to assess the lay of the land and then make course corrections as necessary. laura: and so jaslow also added that there are still allies of america that are still there in afghanistan, like interpreters that helped americans, and some of whom have gone silent. they have lost communication with them, and that many veterans, her organization, namely, one of them, is looking for a plan from the administration and asking, what

is their plan to help these people evacuate now, years later? geoff: laura barron-lopez with the latest from the white house. laura, thanks so much. laura: thank you. ♪ amna: our other lead story tonight: clashes between israeli police and palestinians at a jerusalem holy site have spilled over into lebanon. the israeli military says hamas or islamic jihad militants in lebanon fired 34 rockets into northern israel today. trails of white smoke from those rockets streaked over the city of nahariya. the israeli said they shot down 25 of the rockets, but at least two people were wounded in the barrage. late tonight, the israelis began airstrikes against tgets in gaza.

a short time later, sirens sounded in israeli towns near gaza, indicating new rocket attacks. to get an update on the latest, we're joined now by ronen bergman in tel aviv. he's a staff writer for "the new york times magazine" and author of "rise and kill first: the secret history of israel's targeted assassinations.” ronen, welcome. and thanks for joining us. just bring us up to speed on the latest that we have seen about those israeli airstrikes, and now it seems like retaliatory strikes in israel. ronen bergman, "the new york times magazine": yes. well, one of the things that israel has tried to refrain from and make sure that its adversaries are not doing is to have some kind of collective planning and connecting beeen the different fronts that israel has to face. and, here, israel achieved the exact opposite. while something happened in jerusalem on temple mount, that led to a conontation with hamas in gaza. and now, as a retaliation for

both of those, hamas is able to fire from lebanon to israel, in the most extensive rocket barrage since 2006. that's the last time that israel and hezbollah, the main militant militia that is situated in lebanon, had an all-out war. so it's a deterioration of the situation. the cabinet just finished its session, the israeli cabinet. and it was followed by, as you mentioned, bombing in gaza, which is now followed by yet another firing of mortars and rockets into israeli cities in the south. i think what israel is trying to do is to react, but not deteriorate to a full confrontation. we will see the next hour if this attempt is successful. amna: ronen, i know this is progressing quickly. you mentioned the incident in temple mount. i want to bring people up to speed who aren't following every

twist and turn. there were israeli police forces who went into what's known as the al-aqsa mosque, where there were woripers there. this is, of course, the muslim holy month of ramadan, coinciding with jews beginning to observe passover. is there any sign that that could happen again, that there will be further escalation at al-aqsa or how israeli forces will continue to respond? ronen: well, the al-aqsa mosque and the temple mount is probably the most sensitive place on earth. and anything can provoke further deterioration to violence there. yesterday, according to the israeli police, many of the worshipers barricaded themselves in one of the praying rooms, which led to the police breaking in because the police doesn't allow anyone to stay overnight inside the al-aqsa, which led to a massive outburst of violence from, i assume, both sides.

many of the worshipers were injured. many of them were arrested to israeli officers. and, of course, we have the different narratives from both sides. but it is cleathat israel has done something that many israelis, including policymakers and intelligence officers, advised not to do, which is not to do, especially not during passover, especially not during ramadan, do not touch the most sensitive button in this confrontation. and, as expected, this just inflamed the region in a further deterioration that we are not sure that we see the end of. i would assume that, during the, tomorrow's friday praying, the most important praying of the week, in al-aqsa, the police will try to do whater it can not to intervene. there are other elements of hamas and palestinian islamic jihad and other elements inside

the palestinian public are calling for what they call protecting the holy mountain from what they see as israeli or jewish provocation. and yet to be seen, also, this is also israeli domestic politics, whether benjamin netanyahu, who, for the first time, called for a cabinet meeting since january, whether benjamin netanyahu will adopt the more moderate line, as also suggested and advised by the intelligence services in the military, or will follow calls from the most extreme ministers in his own cabinet that are calling for a harsh line, tough hand, and reaction with much force to the different fronts and different challenges that israeli public and israeli militarystablishment is facing.

this is all on top of, i would say, much suspicion towards netanyahu from much of the israeli public, that he's spoiling for some kind of confrontation to divert the attention of the israeli public from the hot domestic politics that he has gone through trying to pass the judicial overhaul the last few months. amna: it's a tenuous situation escalating quickly. we will be following your reporting. that is ronen bergman of "the new york times magazine" joining us from tel aviv. ronen, thankou. ronen: thank you so much. vanessa: here are the latest headlines. the tennessee state house, led by majority republicans, voted today to expel two black democratic lawmakers. representatives justin pearson, and justin johns had led

anti-gun protests from the house floor last week. representative lori johnson survived an expulsion vote. earlier today, their supporters surrounded the capitol building and crowded inside as the trio, with raised fists, entered the house hand in hand. late this evening after the second expulsion was announced, supporters loudly cheered trio. the calls for gun control have grown since a school shooting in nashville killed six people, including three children. the biden administration moved today to block states from outright banning transgender athletes in schoolports. the proposed rule would allow limited exceptions. it was issued as the u.s. supreme court allowed a transgender girl in west virginia to compete in girls sports for now. a lawsuit in her case is pending. also china vowed today to take , forceful measures after taiwan's president tsai ing-wen met with us house speaker kevin

mccarthy wednesday in los angeles. chinese coast guard and naval vessels sailed north and south of taiwan today, but beijing said washington and taipei are the ones making trouble. >> the united states and taiwan are colluding with each other to condone taiwan independent separatists to engage in political activities in the united states, carry out official exchanges and enhance substantive relations between the united states and taiwan. this move seriously violates the one china principle. vanessa: prince president emmanuel macron was in china today urging president xi jinping to help end the war in ukraine. the two leaders and their delegations met in beijing. macron said he encouraged xi to persuade russia to stop the fighting and negotiate peace.

>> the russian aggression in ukraine has dealt a blow to stability and put an end to decades of peace in europe. i know that i can count on you to bring rsia to reason and everyone to the negotiating table. we need to find a lasting peace that respects internationally recognized borders and avoids any form of escalation. vanessa: macron says that president xi agreed that there can be no use of nuclear weapons in the ukraine war. while macron was in china, an 11th day of mass protests raged in france after, over raising the retirement age to 64. crowds marched in paris and other cities to voice their opposition. their overall numbers were down, but police fired tear gas to disperse some who turned violent. the demonstrations came after talks between unions and the government failed to yield any progress. back in this country, the republican governor of idaho has signed the nation's first abortion trafficking law.

the measure bars adults from helping a minor to get an abortion without parental consent. that includes obtaining abortion pills. penalties range from two to five years in prison and offenders can be sued by the minors' parent or guardian. still to come, iran and saudi arabia take a major step towards reconciliation; former u.s. education secretaries weigh in on the widening learning gap; an investigative report unveils how supreme court justice clarence thomas took lavish trips paid for by a gop donor; plus much more. >> this is the pbs newshour, from weta studios in washington, and in the west,rom the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: more than 150 catholic priests and others associated with the archdiocese of baltimore sexually abused over 600 children, often escaping accountability.

that's according to a long-awaited report from the maryland attorney general's office, revealing the horrific scope of abuse spanning some eight decades. the report accuses church leaders of decades of cover-ups and paints a damning portrait of the archdiocese, which is the oldest roman catholic diocese in the country. anthony brown is the attorney general of maryland, and joins us now. thank you for being with us. your investigation found that over 600 young people from preschoolers to young adults suffered sexual abuse and physical torture in some cases by clergy members from the 1940s through 2002. that's the year at which this investigation ended. clergy in some cases pred on children who were recovering in hospitals. give us a sense of the full picture of depravity and evil that your investigation uncovered in the church. anthony brown, maryland attorney

general: that's a tall order, in that we interview, as you mentioned, close to 600 survivors, many other witnesses. we reviewed hundreds of thousands of documents that were produced to us through the grand jury subpoena by the archdiocese of baltimore. and what we saw and we tried to detail in the report was pervasive abuse by priests, seminarians, deacons and other employees ofhe archdiocese and this intentional effort by the catholic church hierarchy to conceal this abuse. there was physical abusend mental abuse. there was sexual abuse and rape. and this occurred tween the abusers, who had positions of power and authority, and some of the most vulnerable people in our society, children, children who are devoted to the catholic church, and yet were abused over

and over again by the very people who are entrusted to care for these children. geoff: on the matter of accountability, only one person has been indicted through this investigation, as i understand it. many of the abusers are now dead. but in the report, at least 10 abusers' names are redacted. there are other catholic officials whose names are redacted in the report. what accounts for that? why are these people's names, their identities shielded from public view, if the focus is on transparency and accountability? anthony brown: where the information that is included in the report came to us solely through the grand jury process, the subpoenaed documents, and the documents that are subpoena through a grand jury are confidential and can only be released upon order of a court. so the circuit court for the city of baltimore has instructed us to redact certain names, to

give those individuals notice and an opportunity to review the materials, the context in which their name would be disclosed. and then they have an opportunity to file objections to the court. and i can assure you that our office will be filing an argument to disclose those names if the individuals resist that disclosure. but, ultimately, it will be the decision of the circuit court of the city of baltimore. geoff: in preparing to speak with you, mr. attorney general, we spoke with david lorenz. he's the maryland state director of the survivors network of those abused by priests, also known as snap. and he said that this report ves him some sense of relief. >> vindication is too weak a word, and don't have a better word. it is, it is a release. it's a vindication. it's being able to take that off and hand it to someone else and say, this doesn't, this, the weight of this abuse doesn't

belong on me, doesn't belong on my shoulders. it belongs on someone else, and it belongs at the foot of the catholic church. geoff: i'm sure you have heard a similar sentiment from many of the survivors that you have spoken with. mr. lorenz wants to know when your office plans to investigate the two other diocese that include parts of maryland, the archdiocese of washington, d.c., and the diocese of wilmington, delaware, which covers part of the eastern shore. anthony brown: and i thank mr. lorenz for his advocacy on behalf of survivors. i had the privilege to meet with the survivors yesterday in my office before we pubcly released this report. and it was clear to me that, for many, if not most of the survivors, yesterday was truly a day of reckoning and public accounting, a detailed report of what they had to endure at the time of the abuse and throughout their lives since.

i tried to convey to them that we're listening, we believe them, and will continue to be there for them. so, four years ago, when the investigation was initiated by my predecessor, attorney general brian frosh of the archdiocese of baltimore, the office of attorney general also initiated investigations of the archdiocese of washington, d.c., and the diocese of wilmington, delaware. those investigations are ongoing. we have issued subpoenas. we have not sat idle. my predecessor, i think, made an important and sound decision to focus on the archdiocese of baltimore, so that we could complete that report and make it public as soon as possible. and now we will continue the efforts to investigate the archdiocese of washington, d.c., and the diocese of wilmington, delaware. geoff: well, when it comes to holding the archdiocese accountable, priests who abused children were often known to the archdiocese, yet little was done to stop them. there's some reporting by the baltimore sun.

and they found that, all told, in some cases, the church spent more money on services for abusive priests than they did for the actual victims, mental health services and so on. what's a proper remedy for those who are looking for accountability from the archdiocese of baltimore? anthony brown: it is clear that the church valued the denials of the abusers over the claims, the complaints, the credibility of the abuse. there's no doubt about that. we, in our report, laid out two recommendations, one of which was for the general assembly to consider eliminating the statute of limitations in civil actions brought by survivors against the abusers and against the archdiocese of baltimore. actually, the way that the legislation was passed just an

hour after we released our report, the general assembly did pass that legislation. and, in all child abuse cases, there's no longer a statute of limitations in the state of maryland. that's a good step forward. it will give those who are, were abused, the survivors, an opportunity to bring civil actions against their abusers, assuming that they're still alive, and the catholic church. geoff: anthony brown is the attorney general for the state of maryland. thanks for being with us, sir. anthony brown: thank you. ♪ amna: saudi arabia and iran are taking a major step to improve relations. at a gathering in china today, the two nations agreed to reopen embassies in each other's

capitals. in nearly a decade, the first formal meeting between longtime rivals. saudi tv showed the foreign ministers from iran and saudi arabia signing a landmark deal brokered by beijing to reestablish diplomatic relations. chinese spokeswoman mao ning said the deal could bring peace to the middle east. >> the further improvement of saudi-iranian relations fully demonstrates the willingness and ability of regional countries to take the lead in regional peace and development. amna: the agreement includes the resumption of flights tween saudi arabia and iran, the reopening of embassies and consulates, bilateral visits, and the granting of visas for citizens of the two countries. the deal comes a month after riyadh and tehran announced they would normalize relations in a diplomatic breakthrough that represents beijing's growing influence in the region. relations between the two nations have been fraught for decades, but officially broke in 2016, when saudi arabia carried out a mass execution of nearly

50 people, including prominent shiite cleric sheik nimr al-nimr. in response, iranian protesters stormed the saudi embassy in tehran, and riyadh lashed back. >> the kingdom, in light of these realities, announces the cutting of diplomatic relations with iran and requests the departure of delegates of diplomatic missions. amna: another thorn in the relationship, the war in yemen. for eight years, saudi arabia and iran have backed opposite sides of a brutal battle that's killed hundreds of thousands. in 2014, houthi rebels, backed by tehran, seized the capital and took over much of the country. in 2015, iran's sunni archrival, saudi arabia, mobilized a coalition of arab militaries to defeat the group. the man behind saudi arabia's strategy, de facto ruler mohammed bin salman, known as

mbs, who served as defense minister when the war broke out. but the u.s. last month also expressed optimism that the deal between iran and saudi arabia could be positive. karine jean-pierre, white house press secretary: we welcome any efforts to help end the war in yemen and de-escalate tensions in the middle east region. amna: for decades, the u.s. and saudi arabia had close relations, but those deteriorated over the kingdom's human rights record. question: jamal khashoggi, will you apologize to his family, sir? amna: and hit a new low in 2018, when journalist jamal khashoggi walked into the saudi consulate in istanbul, was murdered and dismembered. the u.s. intelligence community something assessed the operation was approved by mbs himself. the following year, candidate joe biden promised punishment. >> we are going to in fact make them pay the price and make them in fact the pariah that they are. amna: meanwhile, news of a rapprochement between saudi 's arabia and iran has sent shockwaves through the region

andealt a blow to israeli prime minister netanyahu, who's made the threat posed by iran a personal crusade and had hoped for a deal with the kingdom. >> the ability to fashion normalization and a formal peace with saudi arabia will be a quantum leap, because i think it will change israel's relationship with the rest of the arab world. amna: for more on this, we turn to vali nasr. he was an adviser at the state department during the obama administration and is now a professor at the johns hopkins university's school of advanced international studies. vali nasr, welcome back to the "newshour.” before we get into the details of this and the potential impact, just put this into context for us. how big of a deal is it that these two nations are working to normalize relations? vali nasr, school of advanced international studies, johns hopkins university: i think it's very important for the middle east. this, the sour relations between the two was viewed as the most important cleavage in the region. and it also pushed the arabs towards israel in an alliance against iran.

so, the fact that they decided to mend fences really reshapes the entire way in which the middle east functions. amna: let's talk about some of those impacts, then. what does the rapprochement between iran and saudi arabia in particular mean for some of those proxy conflicts that we mentioned in the report, in yemen and lebanon and elsewhere? vali: well, the very first place that it's goig to have an impact is in yemen, which, and, today, also, there were rumors that the houthis are going to extend their cease-fire until december 2023. saudi arabia has been engaged in talks with the houthis. it wants iran to stop supplying houthis with weapons, put political pressure on the houthis to agree to a political end to the war. and the thawing of the relations between them makes all of that much more possible. and then, if there is success in yemen, then we can think about syria and lebanon and iraq as well. amna: what does this new establishment mean for american and israeli efforts, in

particular, to isolate iran, to have sanctions on iran, to contain iran's nuclear program? what does that mean? vali: well, for the united states, its policy has been somewhat schizophrenic. on the one hand, it wants de-escalation in the region. it doesn't want to go to war in the middle east. it pursued a nuclear deal with iran. it wants to focus on ukraine. so that, so, to that extent, this is good for the united states. but, on the other hand, president biden has been on the the record in saudi arabia saying that the most important way to think about the middle east is a very close arab-israeli alliance against iran, in other words, everybody together against iran. and this deal, also the fact that he's moved so quickly, really puts the question that, that strategy, so, and, for the israelis, it's definitely a net loss. israel wanted the middle east to focus on iran and forget about

the palestinians. that's the way the trump administration saw it. we're now seeinthings reverse. in other words, the arabs are not thinking about iran, and the palestinian issue is heating up. so, in, to that extent, basically, the way israel and the united states approached iran and the middle east is no longer at play. amna: vali, what about the fact that this meeting took place in beijing, and it was mediated by china? what does that say to you about china's influence in the region, in particular, a region where the u.s. seems to be losing influence? vali: i think it says a lot. first of all, the chinese do have a vested economic and strategic interest in both iran and saudi arabia. so they approach the middle east with a view that they don't want these two sides to fight. it benefits china, if they make peace. it also shows that saudi arabia and iran both trust china and particularly china's president, and that he has been able to deliver, not only get an initial handshake, but keep getting handshakes and keep the momentum going forward. it has broad implications for the united states, because it largely says that america's closest allies in the gulf,

saudi arabia, and then potentially uae, et cetera, are now moving much more into an orbit of nonalignment and closer proximity to china, which then will have implications for a variety of other issues that the united states has with those countries. amna: vali, in the 30 seconds or so i have left, while i have you, because you know the region so well, i just want to get your assessment of what we're seeing in the way of escalating tensions and conflict between israeli forces and palestinian militants. how do you see it? vali: i think it's very dangerous. we're seeing, we're seeing the palestinian issue come back with a vengeance. as i said, president trump assumed that the palestinian issue was dead. the israelis thought the palestinian issue is dead, it's all going to be about iran. and now, all of a sudden, the palestinian issue is making a big comeback. and that's going to have a big impact on the arab street and on the mentality of arab leaders. and it's almost like we're back to the future. we're back to the time when the palestinian issue was very decisive in middle east affairs. amna: that is vali nasr, formerly of the state

department, now at the johns hopkins university school of advanced international studies, joining us tonight. vali, thank you. always good to see you. geoff: private jet, and access to exclusive clubs, all provided to supreme court justice clarence thomas, according to exclusive reporting by pro-public a. trips are valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars in all went unreported justice thomases financial disclosures. josh kaplan is one of the reporters who broke this story, and joins us now. josh, thanks for being here. and your reporting raises real questions about conflicts of interest, improper influence, supreme court ethics. what did you find? joua kaplan, propublica: so we found the justice thomas has been taking, accepting luxury lavish trips from a dallas

billionaire republican donor virtually every year for over 20 years. so we found private jet flights around the world. we found international cruises on a super yacht, regular vacations at an invitation-only private resort, all in secret. so one recent example is, in 2019, the businessman who, whose name is harlan crow, flew thomas to indonesia on his private jet and then took him island-hopping for nine days on a super yacht staffed by a private chef and a host of stewardesses. geoff: well, the supreme court did not immediately respond to our request for comment, but mr. crow told you that he's been friends with justice thomas and his wife, ginni thomas, for more than 30 years, and that the hospitality he's extended them over the years was no different from the hospitality he's extended to his many other friends. and the statement also reads,

quote, "we have never asked about a pending or lower court case, and justice thomas has never discussed one. and we have never sought to influence justice thomas on any legal or political issue.” is that statement sufficient, based on your reporting? joshua: i mean, so there's a broader question of influence here that is very much so an open question. these men have spent a lot of time together over the years. and what they have discussed and whether crow has had any influence on thomas, whether that's directly or indirectly, is still unknown. so crow has never personally had a case before the supreme court, but he has vast financial and ideological interests. he's given millions of dollars, over $10 million, to republican political campaigns. and that's just in disclosed donations. he's also given to dark money groups. we know that he has spent a lot

of money, given a lot of money to groups that are dedicated to moving the judiciary and the law further to the right, including the federalist society. and he also sits on the board of major conservative think tanks that their scholars publish scholarship advancing conservative legal theories, and occasionally file amicus briefs with the supreme court. geoff: you spoke to a number of experts on the issue of disclosure requirements. what did they conclude upon reviewing your reporting? joshua: they concluded that thomas appears to have violated the disclosure law. there is a law that was passed after watergate that requires high-level officials, from members of congress to justices of the supreme court, to disclose most gifts that they receive to the public. and it's actually one of the few

binding restrictions on the supreme court justices. and we talked to ethics lawyers, and they said that he appears to have violated it here. geoff: your reporting has prompted fresh calls from democrats for the supreme court to adopt a strict ethics code. there are some calls for justice thomas to resign. i have to ask, is justice clarence thomas an outlier here, or have other justices taken luxury vacations paid for and provided by the rich and powerful? joshua: so, there are two answers to that question. in terms of what's known, there is nothing comparable in terms of the scale and frequency and lavishness coming from a single source. justice scalia took a number of hunting trips with private individuals often tacked on to the end of a lecture he was giving at a local bar association or something like that. justices teach in europe, and obviously might enjoy thselves while they're there. but this, what we found, in

terms of its scale, has no known precedent in the modern history of the court. there's a, the fuller answer is that this all happened in secret, and it wasn't disclosed. everything we found about thomas took a lot of work. and so another way of answering that would be, we're still looking. geoff: josh kaplan, reporter for propublica. thanks for being with us and sharing your exclusive reporting today, josh. joshua: thank you r having me, sir. ♪ amna: new rearch out this week shows the bass majority of k having 12 parents believe their kids are performing at grade level when they are actually not. a can daddy -- a study conducted for the group learning heroes 90% of parents think their kids are doing fine, but standardized

test show otherwise. among eighth-graders, just 29% are proficient in reading at or above their grade level. this sheds light on what's being called the parent perception gap. to help explain that gap and how to close it, i'm joined by two former secretaries of education who have been involved with the study. arne duncan was secretary during the obama administration. he's now the managing partner with the emerson collective in chicago. and margaret spellings served under president george w. bush. she's now president and ceo of texas 2036. that's a nonpartisan public policy think tank. welcome to you both. and thank you for joining us margaret spellings, the big question here is, why is that gap so big? why do so many parents think their kids are doing so much better than they actually are? margaret spellings, former u.s. education secretary: well, one reason is, they see report cards d have other data from schools that is different from what we see on standardized test scores. and that's why our naep, our

national education report card, and our standardized test scores really are an important indicator for parents to undersnd that, along with the feedback that they get from parent report cards. but there's lots that can be done. parents can better understand where their children actually stand and also know that help is available to close that gap. amna: we're going to talk aut that more in just a little bit. but, arne duncan, you, we mentioned here the examples of some eighth graders. did you see that same gap across all ages, k-12? arne duncan, former u.s. education secretary: you do see that gap. and it's actually tougher. it's not just a perception gap. it's a reality gap. and it actually breaks my heart. parents are the greatest advocates for their children. they want to see them do well and be successful. but if they don't know if their chilneeds more help in reading or more help in math or whatever it might be, they don't know what to do. and so the fact that we're being dishonest, both as students, but also with their parents, we're missing a massive opportunity to help parents help their children to catch up and close these gaps

and enter high school and ultimately college ready to be successful. amna: the gaps are big, but, also, those proficiency numbers are alarming. i want to share a little bit more in detail, because you go city by city in this study. when you take a look just at reading proficiency in a few cities you looked at there, you see, in boston, eighth graders showed a 30% proficiency in reading; 85% of their parents thought that they were doing fine. in houston, 58% proficiency; 92% of parents thought their kids were fine. sacramento county, similar numbers, 45% proficiency, 90% of parents believed their kids were proficient. and when you look at the numbers for math, they are even more alarming in so many cases. margaret spellings, the surveys of the parents were from march of 2023, as we mentioned. those, that test data was from the end of 2022. so how much of this is just due to the pandemic? margaret: well, certainly, some of it is. and that's why we have to have

kind of a sense of urgency and triage around, a, the gap, the perception and the reality gap, as arne calls it, secretary duncan, may i, but also know that the resources that were sent from the federal government to states and their, to remediate these issues, those funds are expiring in the near future. and so the resources are available for parents to get their children help, so that kids can get caught up and recover those losses. amna: secretary duncan, the american school system did get a huge influx of pandemic money, that funding that secretary spellings was just talking about, $190 billion. how much of that has gone towards addressing closing these gaps, bringing up those proficiency numbers? arne duncan: well, clearly not enough. and it is a time of unprecedented resources. there are lots of things we can debate in education, but we know high-dosage tutoring, whether it's physically, virtually, hybrid, works well. what our children need now is more time. so, what is more time? being tutored after school, on weekends, or summer school.

our children missed so much time during the pandemic. i think we're in a sprint between april and august, april and september, the next four or five months, to close this gap as much as we can, so children can enter the next school year ready to be successful. it's got to be a massive sense of urgency on this. it's not something we can wait on or discuss or debate. we have to get to work, use those resources to help parents and help kids get where they need to be. amna: there are some folks who look at the way the money's been spent,nd they see there are tutoring programs available. there have been virtual help lines set up, and the uptake has been pretty low in a number of places. secretary spellings, when you just look at staffing shortages, right, recent numbers from the end of last year showed 45% of public schools were operating without a full teaching staff. so, what can parents be advocating for, when most of them don't seem to be taking up the virtual learning or the help lines that are there right now, and teaching staff isn't at capacity?

margaret: well, the one thing that's greaabout this project is, it elevates all sorts of resources that are available through the community. certainly, the school district is the first place to turn. those are programs that are aligned with the curriculum. but this web site shows resources that are available through girls who code, the ymca, you name it, community-based organizations that may be just the right organization that can help close those gaps. parents also now have information where they can understand, what are my child's needs? are they in reading? are they in math? are they third grade, eighth grade? and so let's get smart. let's help parents get smarter about what they need, and then help them go find it either through school districts or community-based organizations. all those resources are part of this campaign and are easy to access for parents. amna: secretary duncan, you and margaret spellings are putting the emphasis on summer programs and tutoring and outside help. so many educators tell us one of

the biggest problems they face right now is mental health and that they don't have the resources to address that. shouldn't we be focusing on that equally or even more than test scores right now? arne duncan: absolutely. for me, this is not focused on test scores. this is focused on the ability to read and to do math, to do arithmetic, to do algebra. but, again, given the massive, unprecedented influx of resources into districts from the federal level, we can absolutely help kids learn and take care of the fear and trauma and socioemotional challenges they are facing. we need that both for students and for teachers and for other adults and principals working in schools. but i just want to go back to your original queson to margaret. parents aren't taking advanta of these tutoring programs precisely because of this reality gap. they don't understand that their children are so far behind. and, for me, this is true parental empowerment. we have lots of sort of crazy, disrupve debates about what parental empowerment, what parental empowerment means in our country.

i think what it really means is knowing honestly where your child is, and advocating for your child to get where they need to go. this data, i think, could hopefully unlock that true parental empowerment and parental power. amna: that is former secretary of education arne duncan and former secretary of education margaret spellings joining us tonight. thank you very much. appreciate your time. arne duncan: thank you. margaret: thank you. ♪ amna: next month will see the release of a new album by nashville artist called peter one. but to call him simply nashville artists doesn't cover the half of it. and though he's known as peter one, he is soon to embark on a most extraordinary second act playing at the grand ole opry. special correspondent tom casciato has that story for our arts and culture series, canvas.

♪ tom: here at rockwood music hall in manhattan, nashville's peter one and his band are making nashville sound. how peter arrived at that sound, well, that's a story. peter one, musician: i started loving country music before i came here. but i would say i didn't know that it was called country music. tom: the 67-year-old grew up in ivory coast, a french-speaking country in west africa, where he says the radio exposed him as a kid to all kinds of great music from the region. peter: g.g. vikey from benin, eboa lotin from cameroon. tom: from france. peter: claude francois, mike brant. tom: and from the u.s. peter: bobylan, paul simon, james brown, otis redding, wilson pickett, michael jackson, even donny osmond. [laughter] tom: later, the great nashville

singers grabbed him. don williams was a favorite. with influences that varied, maybe it is no surprise that peter one developed a unique style that crisscrosses the ocean musically, with vocals you might hear sung in his native tongue, guro, on one song, english on another, french the next. he got his start in college in abidjan, the ivorian 29%capital, where he met a musical partner, jess sah bi. the duo became a sensation in west africa with their 1985 release, "our garden needs its flowers." but political turmoil plagued ivory coast. 1990 saw the beginning of pro-democracy protests that would eventually lead to a government crackdown and arrests of the opposition. that was the year, per says,

when he founded the country's first musicians union. peter: i was calling people, explaining what the copyright means, how we can fight for our own right if we are united. and that thing was good for musicians, but it brought me a lot of trouble on the side, because a lot of peoplwere taking advantage of the chaos. so, i became a target. tom: a move to the states followed, where he did not make it as a musician, but after a job as a security guard and study at colleges first in delaware and then new jersey, he eventually got a job in music city, not on music row as a performer, but in a hospital as a nurse. when you were in nashville and you were working as a nurse, rather than a musician, did you ever feel like "i have failed"? peter: no. wh i got this opportunity to be in nashville, i said, wow, god has sent me here for a reason. he has a plan for me. let's do it. tom: he never stopped playing and writing songs. and when a researcher came upon

that 1980s album and reissued it on aabel called awesome tapes from africa in 2018, it was discovered by the likes of pitchfork, which called it joyful vision of a world without borders. and now, after 20 years of nursing, peter one is finally releasing his first solo album, "come back to me," his second crack at stardom, this time nashville-style. one of its tunes is "cherie vico." it has a traditional country theme. the singer longs for the return of a lover. but when you learn what the words mean in english, they are not exactly nashville. the song is saying, i don't want to separate you from your brother. i don't want to separate you from your father. peter: in my culture, when you, a man or woman, you are with someone, it is not just a person. you are with the whole family, because a family is not just father, mother and children.

so, the union of two people is actually the union of a group of people. tom: so that's you marrying country music themes to your own themes. peter: to my own culture. tom: maybe that is why you sound like you and not like somebody else. [laughter] peter: right. tom: peter recently opened on a tour with popular singer/songwriter jason isbell, including this show at nashville's famed ryman auditorium. but, in many ways, his life is no difrent now than it has been for decades. for one thing, he is always writing songs. peter: when i'm doing something at i don't have my guitar nearby, so i go ahead and record it on my cell phone first. tom: because you do not want to lose -- peter: exactly, because the inspiration comes. and if you don't catch it, you forget it, and it never comes back.

peter: i was driving. tom: another way things have not changed, he has still got his day job. peter: yes, i am still nursing, because you can work on your own schedule. that can leave me time to go to do what, my passion. and nursing is one of the rare jobs that can allow you to do that. tom: part-time nursing, guitar picking, country singing with a west african lilt that is nashville, peter one-style. for the "pbs newshour," i am tom casciato in new york city. geoff: and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm geoff bennett.

amna: and i am amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire newshour team, thank you for joining us. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> for 25 euros consumer cellular has been offering no contract plans designed to do more of what people like. our customer service team can help find a plan that fits you. to learn more, visit consumer cellular.tv. >> the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour. and with the ongoing support of these institutions. ♪ and friends of the newshour.

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.] >> this is pbs newshour west, from weta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university.

♪♪ -"cook's country" is about more than just getting dinner on the table. we're also fascinated by the people and stories behind the dishes. we go inside kitchens in every corner of the country to learn how real people cook, and we look back through time we bring that inspiration back to our test kitchen so we can share it with you. this is "cook's country." ♪♪ today on "cook's country," christie makes lard-fried chicken, i share the story of edna lewis's famous version of the dish, jack and bridget taste regional potato chips, and morgan bakes up blueberry biscuits. that's all right here on "cook's country."