♪ geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on the newshour tonight, tucker carlson out at fox news. how the host became a leading voice for the far right and what his departure means for media and the republican party. geoff: foreign governments scramble to evacuate their citizens from sudan as fighting intensifies between the army and paramilitary forces. >> the civilians are bearing the brunt of what these two individuals are are doing right now, which i think is a power struggle just to be in power. amna: and arkansas's republican lieutenant governor weighs in on the debate over access to abortion medication, now in the hands of the u.s. supreme court. ♪

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for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world at hewlett.org. ♪ >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪ >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. amna: welcome to "the newshour." three high-profile departures in

less than 24 hours marked a shift in the u.s. media landscape. geoff: fox news abruptly announced primetime host tucker carlson is leaving the network effective immediately. that is just days after the fox corporation settled a legal battle over accusatis that fox hosts, including carlson, careful selection claims. cnn host don leman tweeted he had been fired after 17 years at the network, adding "it is clear there are some larger issues at play." he had been criticized for controversial comments he made about women and aging on air. and nbc universal ceo shall was let go sunday after admitting to an inappropriate relationship with a woman at the company. we start with a closer look at what is behind fox's decision to let its highest rated primetime host go so suddenly. >> good evening. geoff: for more than six years, tucker carlson has been a force in the primetime cable news landscape. a champion for the trump-era

gop, a bullhorn for conspiracy theories, and fox news's most popular personality. >> this is the boldest election interference ever attempted in this country's history. geoff: but in an unexpected announcement today, fox abruptly severed ties with carlson. the network saying in a statement only that they agreed to part ways. adding, we thank him for his service to the network. >> lies have consequences. geoff: the announcement comes less than a week after fox settled an historic defamation lawsuit. agreeing to pay more than $787 million to dominion voting systems for the network's role promoting lies about election fraud in 2020. >> you've heard a lot over the past few days about the security of our electronic voting machines. and this is a real and serious issue. geoff: carlson was a key figure in that case, pushing those false claims and conspiracy theories on fox's airwaves. despite admitting in private that he didn't believe what trump and his team alleged. carlson even calling mr trump a demonic force in a text late on

january 6, 2021, according to a court filing. still, the staunchly defended -- he staunchly defended the former president and his supporters, after the january 6 attack on the u.s. capitol. carlson has repeatedly and falsely argued that the insurrection was actually a false flag plot and that the defendants charged for breaching the capitol are, in fact, victims. >> the doj has been allowed to prosecute and jail hundreds of nonviolent political protesters whose crime was having the wrong opinions. geoff: earlier this year with help from house speaker kevin mccarthy, he aired selectively-edited security camera footage to promote his case. >> they are not destroying the capitol, they obviously revere e capitol. geoff: over the years, carlsson's --carlson's outrage-driven monologues have drawn scrutiny for amplifying and promoting anti-semitic, racist, homophobic and xenophobic narratives. in 2018, losing advertisers after this anti-immigrant tirade. >> we have got a moral obligation to admit the worlda™s

-- world's poor, they tell us, even if it makes our own country poorer, dirtier and more divided. geoff: carlson has also promoted the so-called great replacement theory, a racist conspiracy theory about a covert effort to replace white populations in majority white countries. >> they say it constantly. the great replacement. yeah. it's not a conspiracy theory. it's their electoral strategy and we know that because they see it all the time. geoff: today, his unexpected departure drew celebration from the left as the news broke during the daytime talk show, "the view." >> they thank him for his service to the network as a host and contributor. wave! geoff: fox says it will rely on a rotation of interim hosts until it names a permanent replacement. carlson's departure from fox news raises many questions about the right wing network's future. we are joined now by brian stelter, a special correspondent for vanity fair and the author of " hoax: donald trump, fox news, and the dangerous

distortion of truth." he is writing a new book about fox set to be released later this year. tucker carlson, as you know, he gave no indication at the end of his show that he would be leaving. the network was running promos for his show today. have you come in through your reporting, been able to determine the exact cause of this departure? brian: he had no idea this was coming. he thought he would be back at work today. so did his top producer. his top producer was terminated today. my since it is related to the dominion lawsuit in the following way. for all of the messages that were emerging publicly like tucker carlson calling trump a demonic force, there is so much more dominion and fox was able to read from carlsson's phone privately that was never seen in public. there are hundreds and hundreds of pages of redaction's that is part of the public record. whatever carlson was saying privately, whatever he was texting that has been rejected by fox, that is probably what led to his ouster.

there is a pending lawsuit from a former producer who has accused tucker carlson of having a misogynistic, sexist workplace. put that together, and there was reason to remove him from his show. geoff: the former producer, we have a statement from her attorney. it reads part of the like this, the departure from fox news is in part in an admission of the systemic lying, bullying, and conspiracy mongering claimed by our client. tell us more about the suit. it is in its early stages and she alleges that the harassment when she worked for that show was so bad, she contemplated suicide. brian: that's right. she has signaled she is ready to fight this in court for a long time. she has filed a discrimination lawsuit and this could take months or years. i think maybe we should be what is happening the following way. fox was willing to settle the lawsuit. they maybe want to clean up the other litigation that is pending. they have this mark maddock lawsuit coming.

all of this that maybe they just want to try to unburden themselves from, and they are willing to let their biggest star ago. it has been a believe inside fox that the network is the star, not any single host. this is the biggest test of that ever, bigger than bill o'reilly. until today, tucker carlson was basically controlling the republican party. whatever he wanted, he got. kevin mccarthy gave him surveillance tapes from january 6. when he would survey the 2024 nominees, all of the perspective nominees, they worst -- they responded to his survey, but not anymore. he has disappeared. geoff: after carlsen has evolved over his two decades in television. he was a symbol of the most inflammatory, right wing rhetoric. he did not start that way. he started as sort of a william f buckley junior conservative. tract's transition for us and what that suggests about the transformation of the republican party. brian: i interviewed him almost

20 years ago. he was on msnbc as a host. it was impossible -- it is impossible to imagine today, and that is because of the radicalization of the republican party. carlson has been part of that, by promoting conspiracy theories, where there is always an evil doer and enemy around the -- around the corner. that is the story he was telling every night, and millions of people seemed to believe in, because they came back for more. he was unlike everything else, even fox. he was kind of of an island. may be rupert murdoch is trying to clean up his house today, or trying to get lawsuits to go away. geoff: what happens to the republican party in this election year with tucker carlson abandoning the networks? you could argue, the republican party's biggest microphone right now. brian: this is a supply and demand story. one of the biggest supplies has been cut off today. tucker carlson is gone, fox will figure out how to replace him,

maybe they will choose a less paranoid host. but the show will go on. fox has an addicted audience, that frankly many media companies would love to have. but they do that through hyper-partisan programming that misleads and distorts the public's perception. most people don't want it. most people see through it. folks like donald fall for it, and that is what we saw in the lawsuit. i think what we see is this fraction in the republican party. what direction will it had in? fox has an influence over that. i'm curious about is what is rupert market -- rupert murdoch going to do? do they want to bring fox back to a more reality-based, news-based perspective? maybe they can take -- take tucker carlson's huge salary and higher 100 journalists. geoff: will see. brian stelter, thank you for sharing your insights and reporting with us. brian: thanks. ♪

amna: in the day's other headlines, closing arguments began in the january 6th trial of the far-right proud boys leaders. the group's former national chair, enrique tarrio, and four lieutenants are accused of seditious conspiracy. federal prosecutors in washington argued they intended "all out war" to keep then-president trump in power. in turn, a defense attorney told the jury the case is built on misdirection and innuendo. jury selection is underway for a man accused of killing 11 worshippers at a synagogue in pittsburgh. the shooting at the tree of life synagogue, in 2018, was the deadliest anti-semitic attack in u.s. history. if convicted, robert bowers could receive a death sentence. president biden today welcomed a trio of tennessee lawmakers who gained national notoriety for demanding stiffer gun laws. the president and vice president harris met with justin jones, justin pearson and gloria johnson.

mr. biden praised their efforts after a deadly school shooting in nashville. pres. biden: it's just tragic to see what's happening in your state in particular, in your city, but also across the country. you know, nothing is guaranteed about democracy. every generation has to fight for it, and you all are doing just that. amna: jones and pearson were expelled after leading a protest from the chamber's floor. they were reappointed days later by officials in their districts. the former minnesota police officer who killed daunte wright in 2021 was released from prison today. kim potter said she mistook her gun for a taser during the confrontation. she served 16 months of a two-year sentence for manslaughter and is now on supervised release. and the one-time officer who killed breonna taylor in her louisville, kentucky home, is now a sheriff's deputy in a nearby town. the hiring of myles cosgrove prompted a small protest today. he fired the shot that killed taylor during a mistaken drug raid, but he was cleared of

wrongdoing. in the war in ukraine, russia claimed a ukrainian sea drone tried to attack a naval base in crimea, which the russians illegally annexed in 2014. moscow said the black sea port city of sevastopol was the target, but the attack failed. kyiv did not comment on the report. elsewhere, ukrainian forces reportedly have crossed the dnipro river. it could signal an effort to cut russia's land access to crimea. russia faced a sharp rebuke from western diplomats today at a tense u.n. security council meeting. the russian foreign minister chaired the session, as moscow holds the rotating presidency for april. he blasted western policies, but u.s. ambassador linda thomas-greenfield fired back. >> our hypocritical convenor today, russia, invaded its neigbor ukraine and struck at the heart of the u.n. charter and all the values we hold dear. as we sit here, we brace

ourselves for the next bucha, the next mariupol, the next kherson, the next war crime. amna: thomas greenfield demanded that russia release americans paul whelan, a former u.s. marine, and evan gershkovich of the wall street journal. in pakistan, twin bombings at a counter-terror police station killed at least a dozen people today, and wounded at least 50. it happened in the swat valley in northwestern pakistan. the area was once a taliban stronghold. there was no claim of responsibility, but the pakistani taliban have been stepping up attacks in the region. back in this country, the supreme court will decide if public officials get to make their social media accounts off limits to critics. the two cases accepted today involve california school district officials and a michigan city manager. the court had dismissed a similar case involving former president trump after he was barred from twitter and left office. the white house says president

biden's top domestic policy adviser, susan rice, is stepping down after two years. she oversaw issues from health care and immigration to gun safety and racial equity. rice previously served as national security adviser and u.n. ambassador during the obama administration. and on wall street, stocks mostly drifted, as investors wait for more corporate earnings reports. the dow jones industrial average gained 66 points to close at 33,875. the nasdaq fell 35 points. the s&p 500 added 3. and long-time "dancing with the stars" judge len goodman has died. he had a career as a professional ballroom dancer in britain. then in his 60's, he became head judge on the bbc hit show, "strictly come dancing." that led to his spot on the american spin-off, for more than 15 years. len goodman was 78-years-old.

still to come on the newshour, tamara keith and amy walter analyze the latest political news. a new list identifies the top library books that people tried to ban last year. why one man started walking tours in an under-served san francisco neighborhood. plus much more. >> 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: the u.s. announced a 72-hour ceasefire to begin tonight in sudan between the army and a rival paramilitary group. meantime, the u.s. also says it is facilitating the frantic evacuation of civilians from sudan. drones and other military assets are flying over the land route from sudan's capital, khartoum. the u.s. does not have any military personnel on the ground, since evacuating embassy staff to djibouti over the weekend. those civilians are fleeing street battles that have killed

more than 400 people in fighting that started 10 days ago. nick schifrin starts our coverage. nick: sudan's capital is collapsing. warfare in the streets. jets flying over civilian neighborhoods, and the airport and civilian airlines billowing smoke. khartoum as a city of 5 million. now it is marked by widespread destruction and depravity. >> everybody is pretty much in lockdown and in their homes, just using what they have to sustain and get by. nick: we spoke with her via skype. >> it is dreadful. there are a lot of people out of water, electricity. for it comes and goes. it is pretty bleak. people are injured and people can't get their loved ones to the hospital or clinics. nick: shanta -- she sent us this photo of a bullet that landed in her backyard. >> today was the most intense day for us in regards to where

we live and where the fighting took place. that happened exactly over our rooftops. i mean, my kids came running to me and said mom, look, we have warplanes. nick: for children in happier days, her three-year-old, her six-year-old son, and eight-year-old daughter doing their english work together, introducing themselves. >> i have a six-year-old who drew a tank yesterday, and things like what he would see in the sky, which was pretty sad. you don't want your kids to be living in such an and varmint. . the civilians are bearing the brunt of what these two individuals are doing right now, which i think is a power struggle, just to be in power. nick: those two individuals, a military leader, who is supposed to lead a transition to civilian rule, and the leader of the paramilitary rapid support forces, former infamous john jewelweed militias that committed the genocide in western sudan's door for region.

more than 2 million people were killed. they are fighting for the capital and the country, and likely will not stop until one wins. italy and other governments, but not the u.s., have managed to airlift hundreds of their citizens to safety. most sudanese must try to board buses whose drivers are gouging the desperate. >> the fare is around less than $100. now it has reached up to $500. we hope to come up by tomorrow morning, take off and go to egypt, praying that nothing will happen on the way. nick: her family will take an 18 hour bus ride north to egypt. others drive northeast to port sudan on the red sea, where we spoke to dahlia after a 24 hour bus ride and multiple military checkpoints. >> we spent close to 48 hours calling no less than 50 different companies to find a bus that would take us. nick: she is a former journalist

turned baker and political commentator who accuses the u.s. and international community of accommodating these forces to try to transition to civilian rule. >> the rs f was made up of a group of gunmen, paramilitary mercenaries, who tortured and terrorized it for so long. they are taking their message of torture and terrorism into the capital. and we the people are the ones caught in the middle. again, i have never been forced to leave my house. i have never been forced to pack an emergency bag. the idea that i may not come back for any time soon is just killing me. the fact that i am leaving behind my home, my family, friends. this is my country. i don't want to leave. but we have to. >> we have dashed hope, but we do have aspirations and dreams

to return to a democratic civilian rule in sudan. want peace, we want justice, we want freedom for all. that is pretty much it. nick: to discuss this conflict in sudan, and u.s. policy toward sudan at this moment, we turn to delaware democrat senator chris coons, of the senate appropriations and foreign relations committees. thank you very much. welcome back to the newshour. first, cease fire announced this afternoon by u.s. secretary of state antony blinken, can this hold? there have been multiple cease-fires that have not held in the past. sen. coons: i'm hopeful that this cease fire will hold. but we need to be skeptical, and continue to apply both pressure and encouragement to the leaders of these two warring factions. and to continue to work with the u.n. and our other partners in the country to organize additional convoys that will allow more folks who want to leave the country to do so safely.

nick: staying on the politics, how can the u.s. help not only ensure the cease fire holds, but that it comes a genuine resumption of political negotiations to transition back to civilian rule? sen. coons: we have been engaging actively, both diplomatic and military leaders from the united states have put in a series of calls to both of these two warring faction leaders. and we, over the last few years, since the sudanese civilian population rose up and bravely overthrew the long-term dictator, omar al-bashir in 2019, we have engaged with and supported civil society groups in sudan. i think we need to continue to do so. we have a significant sudanese american joint national population in sudan, and ads per community here in the united states. sudan has a large country, about the size of alaska, a country of

45 million people, with lots of potential, lots of agricultural and mineral wealth. and we need to do everything we can to help avert the tragedy of it descending into a civil war or a proxy war. nick: the u.s. is not the only actor incident. egypt packs the sudanese military. china has influence because of economic investment. as you have pointed out, is there not a problem of a lack of u.s. leverage in this moment? sen. coons: we have relatively limited leverage because, as i just referenced, for decades, this was a country on the state sponsor of terrorism list while omar al-bashir was the dictator of sudan. this was the country that harbored al qaeda, that osama bin laden was in, and that helped facilitate their attacks on the uss cole and naval vessel, attacks on u.s. embassies in both nairobi and dar es salaam. this was decades ago. our hope was after the civilian

overthrow of bashir, was that there would be a movement toward a democratically elected government. in my last visit to khartoum, i shared a dinner with the then prime minister. unfortunately, since then, there has been a military coup. as you have been reporting, just the last few days, the resumption of violence of active fighting in khartoum and across the country. we have some leverage, both the encouragement of the possibility of robust humanitarian and development assistance, and the possibility of targeted sanctions on those who may facilitate and foment further violence. ongoing engagement by the united states, by other regional leaders, the african union, kenyan president ruto who is the leader of igad. they can and should play a constructive and positive role. nick: let's go back to the evacuation you referenced. there is some 16,000 americans in sudan, an estimate.

today, national security advisor jake sullivan pointed out u.s. drones and other military assets are flying above sudan. u.s. warships are sailing off the coast. the u.s. is helping americans further.hed the border to trav see, there are other countries, italy, spain, saudi arabia, among others who have for new -- who have figured out a way to go into sudan and evacuate their citizens. why can't the u.s.? sen. coons: none of them have evacuated anything like 16,000 people. let's be clear, this is not a country where it is easy or safe to go in, take control of the airport in khartoum, and fly military scale missions to evacuate thousands of people. each of the countries you referenced have evacuated handfuls of people. we have evacuated something like 140 american citizens. both through the special forces operation to evacuate our embassy over the weekend, and through the u.n. led overland

convoy that arrived in port sudan, i think earlier today, if i'm not mistaken. there will be other convoys. we are working in close partnership with the u.n. and other countries to make available whatever means of evacuation are reasonably possible. there is a big difference between evacuating the americans who work in our embassy and with usaid, and providing for a evacuation of people. that has never been our practice to provide evacuation support for all citizens in a country. nick: sorry to interrupt, but do you fear the administration is too gun shy when it comes to evacuations because of the chaos of the kabul evacuation? sen. coons: this is apples and oranges. in kabul, we had thousands and thousands of u.s. and allied military troops on the ground. we have decades of experience operating in afghanistan, and we had an understandable moral

obligation to help evacuate those who had fought alongside us in the 20 years that we were at war in afghanistan. the situation in sudan is fundamentally different. this is not a permissive environment. . the cost -- the khartoum airport is not a military airport. for us to secure it and operate safely, regular flights out of it would take a significant insertion of american armed forces. something i certainly would not recommend or support. this is closer to what happened in ukraine or syria or yemen or libya, where as those countries were invaded or descended into civil war, we evacuated u.s. citizens who served at our embassy and provided support for other americans who sought to evacuate. but not through a big, large-scale, coordinated military operation. nick: senator chris coons, democrat of delaware, thank you very much. sen. coons: thank you, nick. ♪

amna: the supreme court's decision late friday evening allows access to mifipristone for now. but confusion and questions remain over future access to abortion medication, particularly in states with some of the toughest restrictions, like arkansas, one of seven states that quickly banned abortions after roe was overturned last year. leslie rutledge is the state's republican leutinent governor and she joins us now from little rock. welcome back to the newshour. thank you for joining us. let's begin with the supreme court decision to keep access to mifipristone in place for now. what is your view on that? can people in arkansas still legally access the drug by mail, for example? >> it certainly is a disappointing decision by the supreme court. in arkansas, no, they cannot access this abortion by mail drug that the fda had approved long ago. once again, this is a point that

in arkansas, women, unless it is to save the life of a mother, we have outlawed abortion. that law was in place, a trigger law once the u.s. supreme court made the decision last year. i certified that law that the supreme court had overturned roe v. wade and our trigger law went into effect, outlawing abortions in arkansas. we have saved countless lives. i am encouraged and i hope the u.s. supreme court will not allow the fda to have an overreaching impact and be able to essentially override states such as arkansas who have made the decision to outlaw abortion. amna: i mentioned outlaw in all cases in arkansas, unless the life of the mother is at risk. do you know how many legal abortions have been performed in arkansas since roe was overturned? is that something you are tracking? lt. gov. rutledge: to date, there are no legal abortions, except to save the life of the mother.

amna: correct. lt. gov. rutledge: i don't know if there have been any where the mother's life has been in jeopardy. but it is something that we certainly hope that the life of the mother and the baby are always saved. amna: let me ask you about this, because we have seen numbers from neighboring states where abortion access has remained legal going up. kansas and illinois in particular. one clinic in illinois said last fall, they had three to five people with appointments every day coming from arkansas. some critics will look at your band and say, you are not ending abortion access, you are forcing people to spend thousands of dollars, travel hundreds of miles to get abortions in other states. what do you say to that? lt. gov. rutledge: i would hope the leaders in illinois past the same laws arkansas has. and i would encourage them to do so, to protect those innocent lives of the unborn. that these individuals, these women are making the decision to travel and spend money to take

the life of an innocent baby is a decision that mother is going to make and will have to live with for the rest of her life. we should not make it easy. that is why in arkansas, we have outlawed it. to my neighboring states, i would say, join us and making it more difficult to take the life of an innocent baby. amna: as you know, when we last spoke, i believe it was after the leak to dobbs opinion. i asked you not how you are planning to prepare for what would surely be a rise in unplanned pregnancies and births. you said, we will make sure we have the resources necessary to take care of our kids. can you share what specific resources have you introduced since june of last year to support pregnant women and children and arkansas? lt. gov. rutledge: since that decision, we have a new governor, governor sarah huckabee sanders, and a republican legislature that passed numerous laws in order to

protect women and children. we have a very active, pro-life pregnancy center in the state of arkansas that we support, and encourage women to have access to those pro-life pregnancy centers. we want women to have the opportunity, if they are going to have that child, we want them to, and we want that child to be adopted, we have been supportive of adoption in arkansas, that there is more than just one option for women who are pregnant. and that option can be to have that child, to love that child just as i love my four-year-old. or if you are not at a point in your life where you can be a mom,. wants to have that baby and let that baby. give that woman the opportunity. amna: i apologize for the interruption, i know our time is limited. arkansas has the highest maternal mortality rate in the country. the third highest infant mortality rate. . one out of every five children in your state live in poverty. i will ask again, are there

specific resources you have put to any of those issues in arkansas since rome was overturned? lt. gov. rutledge: are arkansas department of health and arkansas department of human services work closely with those women. we want to make sure -- we want to lower that mortality rate. we want to make sure women are healthy. and part of that decision comes from not simply, as they find themselves pregnant, but making sure they have healthy lifestyles. amna:amna: what is your plan to do that, to lower those rates? lt. gov. rutledge: our plan is to ensure those women are educated, that those women understand that when they become pregnant, that they have access to health care and ensure we have our local hospitals, as well as these pro-life pregnancy centers. these are hospitals across rural arkansas. these are not simply just are large hospitals here in the capital city, but all across rural arkansas, to make sure those women are getting the health they need.

we are also making sure they understand when they are pregnant that their body has certain needs and to ensure they are getting the nutrients for themselves and that baby. amna: leslie rutledge is arkansas's republican lieutenant governor us from little rock. thank you for your time. lt. gov. rutledge: thank you. ♪ amna: the fierce political debate around abortion access comes as president biden is preparing to launch his reelection campaign this week. here to discuss, amy walter of the cook political report with amy walter, and tamara keith of npr. good to see you both. let's begin with the abortion access issue which we know rests with the supreme court. it is interesting to see, it is an issue that republicans and democrats are largely aligned on. when you look at our latest pbs

newshour npr marist poll asking if medication abortion should be banned, 64% of all american said no, it should not be banned. that includes 55% of republicans. it seems the real divide, the larger divide, is within the republican party. we heard former president trump said it should be left to form -- left to states. here is what mike pence had to sit. >> i think it is more likely that this issue is resolved at the state level. but i don't agree with the former who says this is a states only issue. i think looking to the congress of the united states, creating a minimum protection, 15 weeks, that is supported by 70% of the american public, at the federal level. amna: how does that divide within republicans fit within the larger national conversations? amy: it seems as if every republican learned a lesson from 2022, which is public and sare on the wrong side of this issue.

. if we are going to win over the swing voters, we need, in battleground states, we need to find a better position. what the answer is, is a big question mark. in the rest of that clip, mike pence did go on to say he supports the banning of mifipristone. which come as we noted, is not particularly popular. what republicans seem to be doing now, we saw it in iowa this weekend where there was the faith and family conference where he made that statement, and what we are hearing, if you are paying attention to the republican primary, is the issue of abortion which used to be a unifying issue for republicans has been replaced instead by gender and racial i shall -- racial ideology. i was looking through a poll done by a group, they asked republican voters only, what do you think is the more important issue? gender and racial ideologies, or abortion and religions liberty

-- religious liberty? republicans picked the gender and racial issues. abortion, which was an issue that mike pence made a central part of his entire political career, no longer having the same place as this issue. it does not mean republicans have solved it necessarily for the general election. amna: how do you look at this? tamara: former president trump, he kind of wants it both ways. he wants to take credit for the supreme court that gave conservatives the doubts decision. he absolutely wants to could take credit for that. he also is a very smart politician who looks at things like poles and looks at public opinion and says, oh, this is not an issue that you want to be out front on as a republican. so he has this balance where he is like, you should thank me. but maybe we should leave it with the dobbs decision, and

let's not talk about it too much. because, as amy said, this is one of those issues where, when it was abstract, when it was like, republican saying, we should have fewer abortions, it was an easy issue for republicans. it was a great base issue. but now that it has -- that something has been taken away, now republicans are in the position of having to talk specifics. 15 weeks, six weeks, the abortion pill used in 55% of abortions in the u.s. and are talking about specifics, it becomes a much more difficult decision that is -- difficult issue. amna: speaking of democrats, it has been clear that vice president harris has stepped out as the lead messenger on this issue from the administration. what does that say to you about where they see this issue, and her role in the white house? tamara: she had been, i think,

for some time, struggling to find an issue that she could own that was not a total loser problematic issue. like, owning immigration is not a great issue for the vice president because it is intractable politically. no easy solutions. it is a big ugly bunch of headlines for the administration. she had taken on voting rights as an issue she was pushing forward on. then this abortion issue came up with the dobbs ruling, and it is a base motivating, it is broader than the base motivating issue. as a woman, as a woman of color, she is in a unique position to talk about this in a way that an 80-year-old male president can't talk about as comfortably. that is setting aside the fact that he is catholic, and has challenges with that. amna: we are speaking that he expects to make his official

announcement of reelection. that is as polls show some 70% of americans don't want him to run. that includes 51% of democrats. why announce now? what changes when he announces? amy: i think it goes directly to that piece there. which is you have a democratic base that is not very excited about the upcoming election, and they are not feeling very emboldened by their sitting president. they want to feel like they can own this race. he needs to hopefully, by announcing, hopefully -- the way his campaign things about it, what it will do is help to energize the base. it will help to bring the base back to biden. one thing i want everybody -- i think we do remember this, but when he was first running in 2020, he never had this enthusiastic support behind him. you look at in this most recent

poll you put up on nbc, asking, did you vote for biden because you vote for biden because he liked what he stood for, or did you vote for biden because you did not like donald trump? democrats are evenly divided on that question. he does not have the support around him personally that say, a barack obama did, certainly a donald trump does. but waiting to jump in would only help to focus on the fact that the base remains placid and not engaged. it is not going to change these numbers overnight, but i think it allows the campaign to say, no more chit chatting about this no more speculation about mi running or not. i am absolutely doing this and let's get on board. amna: there are questions about his age at 80. he is already the oldest president. there are some frustrations among journalists about access to the president. what does the white house say?

tamara: in terms of access, the white house is saying he does all of these things where you shot a question, he answers quickly, so he is super available. i quibble with that. we would all, the american people, benefit from more press conferences where the press prepares, the president prepares, and the president gives longer answers that give the public more insight into his thinking. putting that aside, the white house says there are lots of people who are 80 years old, 82 years old come 86 years old, who are super performers and he is someone who is certainly not sitting around watching cable all day. he is the president of the united states and he is actively using his mind. and also, they say that they really have, the white house does not say this, officials, not the white house, say he has consolidated the support of the democratic party. he is the party's candidate. there is not someone waiting in the wings now.

and there is this sense that if he were to face a legitimate primary challenge, that you could end up with a situation like jimmy carter or george h w bush, where they were hurt by the primary. this is a little weird to say, but democrats are risk-averse. don't want to take any chances, especially if trump is the nominee. amy: donald trump continues to be the greater motivated for democrats -- motivator for democrats rather than joe biden. amna: always great to see you. thank you both. ♪ geoff: battles have a rafted at schools, school boards, and library meetings across the country as parents, lawmakers and advocacy groups are debating the value and merit of many books new and old. this is national library week and a report out today catalogs the surge of challenges to what's on the shelves in

america's libraries. jeffrey brown has more for our arts and culture series canvas. jeffrey: in its report, the american library association documented more than 1200 demands to censor library books and resources last year. that's nearly twice as many as 2021, and about three times the pre-pandemic average and the highest since the ala started collecting data 20 years ago. it also lists the 13 books that have been most challenged this past year, including the top three, "gender queer," a memoir by maia kobabe. "all boys aren't blue" by george johnson. antoni morrison's "the bluest eye." deborah caldwell-stone, is the director of the american library association's office for intellectualreedom. and she joins me now to discuss all of this. does a challenge mean versus an outright ban? >> a challenge is a demand to

remove a book from a library shelf that a school or public library. a ban is when the school board takes action to remove the book and prevent the intended reader from reading it. jeffrey: do we know how much this has led to out banning, or is it a question you have used the word soft censorship? deborah: we are seeing half of these challenges result in outright bands or restrictions that prevent the reader from reading it. that could mean moving a book in the children's section or young adult section to the adult section. placing restrictions like parental consent rules on the book, and worst of all, taking the book out of the library altogether. we don't know the outcome of every reported challenge to the office, because we do rely on media reports and other sources that don't often follow-up. i am large, we are seeing an increase in the removal of books rather than simply evaluating

the book and placing it back on the shelf. jeffrey: what do you see happening in terms of what is leading to this big jump in challenges? one thing you pointed to is in the past, it would usually be one parent per challenge in one book -- one parent challenging one book. . now many talks are challenged at a time. deborah: i think what the numbers are showing is the unprecedented jump in the number of challenges, and the jump in the number of books being challenged. it is like organized political activity by a number of activist groups, to go to board meetings and demand the removal of as many as 100 books at a time. it has resulted in the real depopulation of many library shelves, particularly in some states like florida and texas, where we are getting reports of school boards removing hundreds of books at one time. either to respond to a demand to censor books, or a response to

state legislation. jeffrey: i mentioned three of the books, three of the 13. the themes that have been much discussed, and you discuss it in your report now, around gender, sexuality, race, and racial history. tell us what you are seeing in the books that are being challenged? deborah: we are seeing challenges primarily to books that elevate the voices of those who have been traditionally marginalized in society. particularly books about gay, queer, transgender persons, or persons of color. black persons. really a real effort to censor any narrative that challenges the status quo. that elevates the voices of alternative groups, that reflect the experiences and lives of persons of color or lgbtq persons. we are seeing legislation targeting this. . the don't say gay bill in florida, which has recently been

expanded in such a way that no one between k-8 may hear about the fact that some people are homosexuals. or legislation that banned actual books. jeffrey: if individuals or groups do feel that some books go too far in terms of their graphic language or descriptions, some see them as pornography, does the ala have guidelines? what is the process that you would like to see happen? deborah: we do have recommendations for policies for collection development and reconsideration. but it is our position that the decision about what young but -- what young kids can access is in the hands of a parent. we can't know what a parents of are. we recommend it is the parents they get involved with guiding their child's reading. . libraries are always anxious to help a parent find books that match the family's values and needs. but we do say no one parent

should dictate a decision for other families, for other students, other parents. in the library should be there as a community resource to meet everybody's information needs, no matter what they believe or value. there are many books dealing with sex education sexuality, gender, that are important for the readers they are intended for. many of the books we are hearing complained about are falsely portrayed as being in the hands of young children, when they are intended for older adolescents or are in high school libraries in intended for that age group. we would recommend that anyone concerned about censorship, about preserving their own family's individual choice in reading, their own choice, that they get involved at the local level with initiatives like, unite against book bans, which is really a toolkit for individuals who want to preserve the freedom to read in their community, and preserve their own ability to choose the books they want to read and choose the books they want their own child to read.

jeffrey: deborah caldwell-stone of the american library association, thank you very much. deborah: thank you very much. geoff: one writer whose work has long been the subject of censorship, right up until today, is judy blume, the author of "are you there, god? it's me, margaret." and numerous other books for young readers. jeffrey brown will have an interview with the legendary author later this week. ♪ geoff: del seymour works to secure long-term employment for underserved communities in san francisco. he has lived there for more than 30 years and is also co-chair of san francisco's local homeless coordinating board. here, he shares his brief but spectacular take on restoring people's dignity. del: the number one thing in getting clean is the desire to be clean. you can make the mechanics of being clean.

any of those people can stop using drugs at any moment. but do they want to stop using drugs? those are two different things. ♪ del: i arrived in the tenderloin 35 years ago, and never knew what that name meant. probably never heard that name. but i wanted to come visit san francisco. when i got out of my car, it looked like a movie set. i said, this can't be real, this has to be propped up houses, storefronts, and all the people walking around and all of these delivery situations, with needles in their arms and halfway naked or fully naked. it's got to be extras in a movie. you see people walking around in all states of delusion, addiction, mental illness. life took a left turn on me, i did not take a left turn on life. there are 9000 on hands -- 9000 and housed people in san francisco. what i mean by that, lose your

job, get kicked out of your house, come out of the closet as lgbt, just get out of the service and never got your benefits established, having cancer, any medical disease. 14 years ago, someone met me in the park where he invited me to church. they embraced a crackhead in the middle of the church. we prayed together, we cried together. he wasn't pushing me. he just starts showing me the way to a better life. the reason i developed and founded the code tenderloin tours was to give people a different version of what they see. so i'm able to walk you through and tell you why this guy is laying in the middle of the street. why this woman is blocking the sidewalk. why is this guy stashing all of his stuff in a shopping cart? the biggest myth or assumption of a neighborhood like the tenderloin is that everyone wants to be out here in the street. and that's not the case. that's for someone that don't understand addiction. addiction is a disease. who in the hell wants to have cancer? who in the hell wants to be an addict?

i wish i could answer the question of how to solve homelessness and what we are doing wrong. you got to go to cities that do it right to get those answers. they don't go out and tell the homeless, you need to do this and this and this. they go out and tell the homeless, what do you need to get out the streets? what do you need to make your life better? and let's try to do that. once a person finds their dignity, you better just get out of the way. my name is del seymour and this is my brief but spectacular take on restoring dignity. geoff: you can watch more brief but spectacular videos onling at pbs.org/newshour/brief. and that is the newshour for tonight. amna: on behalf of the entire newshour team, thank you for joining us. >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by -- >> q. now it proud supporter of

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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. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] ♪ >> you're watching pbs.

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