♪ william: good evening. i'm william brangham. geoff bennett and amna nawaz are away. on "the newshour" tonight... a long-awaited special counsel's report sharply criticizes the justice department and fbi's investigation into the 2016 trump campaign and its possible ties to russia. president zelenskyy tours europe to secure more military aid while the fighting against russian forces rages in eastern ukraine. and... a survey of asian americans paints a sobering picture about their fears of rising violence and discrimination. >> over half of asian americans felt unsafe. they felt unsafe in public transportation on subways. they felt unsafe in their own neighborhoods, in their own schools and their own workplaces. ♪

>> major funding for "the pbs newshour" has been provided by -- ♪ and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions, and friends of "the newshour," including -- leonard and norma klorfine, and koo and patricia yuan. >> it was like an a-ha moment. this is what i love doing. early stage companies has an energy that energizes me. these are people trying to change the world. when i volunteer with women entrepreneurs it is the same thing. i am helping people reach their dreams. i'm thriving by helping others every day. people who know, know bdo.

>> the william and flora hewlett foundation. 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 contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. william: the long-awaited report by special counsel john durham about the fbi's probe into the

2016 trump campaign and its alleged ties to russia was released publicly today. durham was appointed by former trump attorney general william barr to look into what many on the right saw as a politically motivated investigation. while durham's report offers no significant new evidence, it is deeply critical of the fbi. durham called their handling of parts of the investigation seriously deficient and wrote that investigators were too credible towards partisan actors, writing, "senior fbi personnel displayed a serious lack of analytical rigor towards the information that they received." "washington post" reporter devlin barrett has been following all this and he joins me now. thank you for being here. this is the culmination of four years of work by john durham. what else to the report say? devlin: the report basically goes through all the steps taken in the investigation known as

crossfire hurricane and faults the fbi again and again for how they did it. but it doesn't tell us much more than we already knew and frankly many of these criticisms have been said before, years before by others that looked at this. william: what durham seems to be arguing is the fbi received a lot of information about the trump campaign in 2016 and the fbi should have treated that information as more suspect than they did? is that the just? devlin: what they are basically saying is the fbi did not have a lot in terms of allegations to go on and did not do enough careful analysis and work to try to stand up the kind of allegations it was getting. basically their argument is the fbi rushed forward to investigate trump, where if you look at past clinton cases, the fbi was more cautious. the truth is the fbi ultimately

investigated both trump and clinton so i don't know how powerful that criticism is. william: did durham say there was no reason the fbi should have been looking at the trump campaign? devlin: the report actually says it makes sense for the fbi to have examined this initial tip they got from an australian diplomat that is a walk back from other suggestions of durham has made in the past. i think the report is fairly cautious and a particular critical on what was supposed to be his biggest criticism, which is that the case should never have been opened. but that is not what the report ends up saying. william: former president trump said on truth social that the room concludes the fbi never should have launched the trump pressure probe. in other words, the american public was scammed. but that is not what this report is indicating? devlin: no, as i read the

report, he's basically arguing the fbi should have opened a preliminary report, preliminary investigation as opposed to a full investigation. that is a fine distinction but i think only lawyers and agents care about that level of granular detail and in the end i don't to get matters that much. william: who doesn't durum specifically point his critical judgment at? senior levels of the fbi and doj or more rank-and-file? devlin: definitely the senior level he's most critical of and particular agents who oversaw these cases that have been criticized in the past and he is even more critical of them, arguing they essentially have a confirmation bias, that they were naturally suspect of trump and that colored their thinking. that is something that those officials have denied and said we as the fbi had an obligation to investigate allegations. william: you mentioned before, the inspector general issued a report several years ago that

covered a lot of this material. then the fbi and doj have to respond to that. have the fbi or doj responded to this revelation today? devlin: they have but there point is -- their point is they've already instituted a number of changes to policies and practices where there were things found to be wrong and should not have happened. and frankly, most of the people who made those decisions are long gone from the fbi. william: thank you for being here. devlin: thank you. ♪ william: ukraine's president today concluded a three-day tour of europe and received new military and political support. nick schifrin reports. nick: in a 16th century english manor 1,500 miles from kyiv, british prime minister rishi

sunak today gave ukraine's president volodymr zelensky more military support, and a historical blessing. pm sunak: winston churchill made many of his famous speeches in world war ii from this room, and the same way today, your leadership, your country's bravery and fortitude are an inspiration to us all. nick: the uk will now send ukraine long-range attack drones, in addition to air-launched cruise missiles with a range of 150 miles. that's almost exactly the same range as an american long-range missile the biden administration has so far refused to provide. pres. zelenskyy: thank you very much for this package that you prepared. great. huge. really, what can save the lives for all our people. nick: last night, zelensky met french president emmanuel macron in paris. following a weekend audience with the pope, public support from italy's prime minister giorgia meloni, whose coalition has close ties with russia, and an unprecedented military

package from german chancellor olaf scholz. and a message designed to end doubt about german commitment to kyiv. >> we will support ukraine as long as it is necessary. jennifer: continuing to rally nato and to foster nato unity is essential for ukraine, not only for the current phase of the counter-offensive, but also long term. nick: jennifer cafarella is national security fellow at the dc think tank, institute for the study of war. she says british weapons that will expand ukraine's western weapons range, will allow kyiv to target russian supply lines, including in crimea. jennifer: they need to be able to apply pressure now through long range systems that can just that can degrade and disrupt the russian capacity to respond to that counter offensive when it is launched. and they need to start retaking terrain that the russians are using for ground resupply and the kinds of targets the ukrainians could choose to go after are threatening the russian ground supply lines into crimea. nick: in private, zelenskyy has

reportedly wanted to go ever further. an intelligence community leak reported by the washington post says so in ski -- says zelenskyy advocated for attacking inside russia, and even occupying russian territory. he has promised not to do that with western weapons a vow he , repeated this weekend. prs. zelenskyy: we are concentrated on preparing the counter-offensive, to de-occupy only our territories as recognized by the entire world. nick: even ahead of that counteroffensive, ukraine says it made its first advances in 6 months in bakhmut, the war's longest and bloodiest battle. in another u.s. intelligence community assessment reported in the washington post, yevgeny prigozhin, the leader of the mercenary wagner group, offered kyiv targeting assistance for russian positions, in exchange for giving up bakhmut. today prigozhin denied it, but for the first time, he has personally called out vladimir putin. jennifer: prigozhin is getting increasingly desperate. and in his desperation, prigozhin is crossing new lines. this sows further dissent within

the russians fear. nick: but ukraine continues to fight an existential war, one that thanks to this european visit, has more support on the way. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. william: turkey's presidential election is headed to a runoff. incumbent president recep tayyip erdogan pulled ahead of his main challenger, kemal kilicdaroglu, but he failed to win an outright majority of votes. erdogan has dominated turkish politics for two decades, and he remained confident at a rally in ankara. pres. erdogan: the fact that the election has not been finalized does not change the fact that our nation's choice is clearly in our favor. we believe we will serve our nation for the next 5 years. william: erdogan outperformed polls that had shown his grip on the nation slipping amid high inflation, an ongoing housing crisis, and february's devastating earthquakes. the runoff election is set for may 28. a powerful cyclone in myanmar has claimed the lives of at least six people and injured 700

others. rescuers evacuated about a thousand people today who were trapped by 12 feet of seawater along the country's western coast. the storm damaged homes and cut power lines across rakhine state after making landfall sunday afternoon. neighboring bangladesh was spared a predicted direct hit, but hundreds of makeshift shelters were still torn apart. a court in china sentenced a 78-year-old american citizen to life in prison on spying charges. it's a case that could widen the rift between washington and beijing. hong kong resident john shing-wan lee-yoong was detained in china in 2021. but details of his case haven't been released. the u.s. embassy in beijing said it was aware of the charges, but had no further comment. in thailand, top opposition parties agreed to form a ruling coalition after they received a majority of seats in the house of representatives in sunday's general election.

today, the progressive move forward party took a victory lap through the streets of bangkok. headed by a 42-year-old businessman, their electoral win dealt a stunning defeat to thailand's military rulers. pita: it's the sentiment of the era that has changed. and the job or the duty of members of parliament is to speak on behalf of the people, is to pass progressive laws, is to make sure that we support the duty of the government. william: thailand's prime minister former general prayut chan-o-cha has been in power since a 2014 military coup. the opposition alliance could face challenges as it navigates the military-backed establishment when parliament selects a new prime minister in july. back in this country, virginia democratic congressman gerry connolly says a man armed with a metal baseball bat attacked two staff members at his district office in fairfax. connolly was not in the office at the time. the suspect was taken into custody. the staffers are being treated for non-life-threatening

injuries. in a statement, connolly said, "the thought that someone would take advantage of my staff's accessibility to commit an act of violence is unconscionable and devastating." and, stocks managed modest gains on wall street today. the dow jones industrial average was up 48 points to close at 33,349. the nasdaq rose 80 points. and the s&p 500 added 12. still to come on "the newshour"... a veto by north carolina's governor sets up a battle over abortion rights... senator amy klobuchar talks about her new memoir on the ups and downs of political life... a look inside the american museum of natural history's stunning new expansion... 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.

william: there is a lot happening at the state level this week, with a handful of primary races heating up, and action on abortion laws happening across the country. kentucky and pennsylvania both have key primary races underway -- one for a governor's race, and another for the state supreme court. meanwhile, in north carolina, a democratic governor squares off with a republican legislature over a 12-week abortion ban. to unpack the specifics in each state, we're going to check in with a few state reporters. we'll start in north carolina, where wunc's capitol bureau chief colin campbell has been reporting on the back and forth on this controversial abortion measure. thank you for being here. tell us about this bill that governor cooper vetoed this weekend. what did it do? colin: the top line is it is a ban on most abortions after 12 weeks. they are still exceptions for

rape, life of the mother and fetal abnormality. there are also some new requirements for imprisons doctors visits that critics are saying will make it harder for women seeking abortion in the first trimester to be able to go through the process, particularly in rural areas where it's hard to get to a doctor. they've also paired in some other things like paid parental leave, funding for foster families into this larger bill. william: governor cooper made his veto this weekend in a very public way at a rally this weekend. it seems like there is clear messaging implied with that. colin: absolutely. i mean, this is a situation where there's there's not a whole lot of good that the governor can convince republicans to break with their party and sustain his veto here, but certainly thousands showed up in this rally and had a very political undertone compared to next year's election. certainly democrats in north

carolina feel like this is an issue that can fire up their base and potentially help them flip some seats. -- flip some seats in the legislature to their party in the governor's mansion in democratic hands coming to 2024. william: so does the gop super majority in the legislature have the votes to override this veto? colin: they have just a very narrow majority thanks in part to a particular democrat who switched parties and became a republican and voted for this bill the first time around. so as long as everybody's sticking with how they voted the first time, this bill was passed by the legislature, that should be overridden. votes are scheduled to take place in both the house and senate tomorrow, tuesday. so we could see this bill becoming law within the next couple of days here in north carolina and then taking effect with the restrictions in july. william: what does that mean? my understanding is that north carolina let's just say this law , goes into effect. i know that north carolina has been having a lot of women from neighboring states that do have stricter abortion bans in place

coming to north carolina, this would seem to put north carolina off the map for that as well. colin: i think that's something that all republicans are actually thinking of as they created this particular law. certainly, if you're coming from another state and you have to make multiple doctor's visits, even if you are seeking an abortion prior to 12 weeks, that makes it harder for someone who's coming across from tennessee, to come into north carolina multiple times to jump through the hoops to get the procedure. that they make north carolina less attractive as a destination for people coming from other southern states that have stricter bans, even as it's still less strict here than in other states around us. and further south that have more six weeks or other types of abortion bans on the books. so we may see we'll see some of that. it may not be as great and and some folks may have to drive further north to be able to get a quick and easy to access abortion procedure. william: colin campbell of wunc, thank you so much for being here. colin: thanks for having me. william: turning to kentucky,

republican voters will head to the polls tomorrow in one of the nations most contested races of the year. kentucky is one of just 3 states with gubernatorial elections this cycle, along with louisiana and mississippi, but with democrat andy beshear currently in the governor's mansion, the gop is looking to secure all levers of government in the state. ryland barton from kentucky public radio joins us now. thank you so much for being here. a bunch of republicans want to get in and get this nomination to go after governor beshear. what are the main issues that voters are talking about now? ryland: one of the big issues is the fact that andy beshear, a democrat is governor in such a , republican state as kentucky has become in recent years, and republicans really feel like this is their chance to topple him during the general election in november. so there is a long line, about 12 republicans have lined up to for the chance to nomination . three main contenders so far, a lot of the arguments during the race have focused on some of the

hot button national issues that we've seen across the country and in congress even. a lot of anti trans messaging and leaning into anti trans policies that were passed during kentucky's legislative session earlier this year and really , accusing one another of being the most liberal or so called woke candidate within the republican primary. so it has gotten a little nasty towards the end of the race here, a lot of mudslinging going on and a couple of candidates trying to capitalize on not getting into that fight too. william: and who are those top candidates? ryland: so there's daniel cameron, he's the republican attorney general. he's been in office for four years and he's the one who's endorsed by former president donald trump. and then there's kelly kraft, former ambassador to the united nations during the trump administration. she was a prolific fundraiser in republican politics and kentucky and i think it's notable that towards the end of this race, they've been accusing

each of being the most -- who's the less establishment candidate . kelly kraft going after daniel cameron for being a protege of senate minority leader mitch mcconnell. so again during the primary, , there's this different kind of language going on as to who can be the most conservative. they will have to pivot a little bit for the general election. but right now, it's gotten very interesting. a lot of money's already been spent. william: this is an off year election, so there's not a lot of other big races and big names and the ticket to draw voters. do you think that that's going to have a big impact on turnout? ryland: it really will. and there's the long history of this, because it always happens in these odd numbered years. so secretary of state's predicting about 10% voter turnout. in 2015, last time there was a crowded republican primaries , about 13%. the winner in that race, matt bevin ultimately won that race by about 83 votes. that was really attributed to the top two candidates getting into a big fight where voters

kind of soured on them and and it created the lane for that third place candidate to win. so a lot of people are watching the results with some trepidation because it really could kind of go any way because of the low voter turnout expected. william: rylan barton of kentucky public radio, thank you so much. moving over to pennsylvania, which holds primary elections tomorrow. voters from both parties will choose their nominees to run to fill a seat on the state supreme court. the 7 member court currently consists of 4 democrats and 2 republicans, with one vacant seat. one candidate vying for the republican nomination is judge patricia mccullough, who gained notoriety for approving former president trump's attempts to halt the certification of pennsylvania's election results back in following this all 2020. closely is katie meyer. she's the government editor and reporter with the investigative newsroom, spotlight pa. thank you for being here. democrats and republicans are

picking a candidate to run for this seat. what is the state of the race right now? katie: there isn't a lot of polling in these races so the best sense we can get is from spending, from the fundraising the candidates have been able to do and the republican side has been really lopsided. the establishment pick has far outraised her opponent. she's gotten money from establishment republicans and school choice donors. a lot of her fundraisers -- funding has come from doug mastriano and he was a pretty far right candidate in very entrenched in the sort of stop the steal election results denying movement in 2020. william: judge mccullough is part of the stop the steal movement.

we saw former president donald trump has continued despite all evidence to the contrary, claim the 2020 election was stolen from him. is there a sense that gop voters in pennsylvania are still motivated by that story? katie: we did see some evidence that is not a huge motivating factor for republicans and last year's election. doug mastriano, the gop nominee, radley lost the general election -- badly lost the general election. certainly republican leaders have taken lessons from that. they put a lot of effort into a candidate they think has a better shot of winning the general election. mccullough hasn't gotten a lot of traction from the establishment. that doesn't mean primary voters won't go for that. but she hasn't raised much. william: how much does this

matter? we know that there is an incredible focus on the state supreme court race in wisconsin but in this case the democrats already have a majority even if the republican were to win, even if mccullough were to win, how relevant is that for the court? katie: it's relevant because in a couple years there will be more seats up and republicans would be in striking distance especially if they win this election. in pennsylvania the courts are pretty partisan and they often have a huge role to play in choosing congressional maps when we redistrict. resolving boundaries in pennsylvania election law, because there are a lot of gray areas deciding what balance can be counted. i would say these justices would say they are not very partisan and they are not supposed to be, but people view these races as partisan so that tells you something.

absolutely these elections, especially a few years down the line, will have great effect. william: katie, thank you so much for being here. katie: thanks for having me. ♪ william: it's been almost two months since the international criminal court issued arrest warrants for russian president vladimir putin and the official in charge of moscow's campaign of stealing children from ukraine. kyiv is demanding more international support to pursue russian leadership. nick schifrin spoke with the top biden administration official who's responsible for global criminal justice about her efforts the roadblocks within , the american government and , the chances of holding putin and his high command accountable. nick: in this war, death comes at night as an apartment complex slept last month. the death comes en masse as

russia stole dignity from the dead and reduced cities to rubble. and the killers are also thieves. kidnapped ukrainian children paraded in moscow, forced to hug of duck there's. >> this is a manifest violation of the u.n. charter that has lead to systemic war crimes, crimes against humanity across all areas where russian troops are deployed. nick: that is the u.s. ambassador at large for global criminal justice. >> we need to send a strong, concerted, unified international message that one cannot simply invade a sovereign neighbor in an effort to subjugate that neighbor and wipe them off the planet. >> the international criminal court has issued warrants of arrest. nick: the most prominent mechanism of justice is in the hague, which in march issued warrants for war crimes allegedly committed by russian president vladimir putin

so-called commission for children's rights. >> systematically practiced torture and rape. nick: the u.n. prosecutor general is leading the pursuit to close of 80 -- close to 80,000 claims of war crimes direction soldiers in ukraine. ukraine's president wants russia's leadership to be punished for its initial decision to wage war. >> only one institution is capable of responding to the original crime, the crime of aggression. a tribunal. nick: the crime of aggression was created in the nuremberg and tokyo military tribunals after world war ii and has not been prosecuted in international court since. russia is not an icc member so ukraine to man's a special tribunal that could pursue putin, authorized by the u.n. general assembly. >> not a compromise that will

allow partitions. the case is allegedly done. but a true, full-fledged tribunal and full justice. nick: that's direct criticism of a u.s. and western european proposal. a ukrainian court supported by international staff, money and intelligence with no un authorization. >> we don't have access to the security council. russia will predictably exercise its veto on any effort to create a standalone tribunal. in the past tribunals have generally been established by the security council. if there are questions whether the un charter empowers that. nick: wouldn't it operate under ukrainian law and be stuck with the rule a national court cannot go after the head of state of another country? >> the vision is a court deeply

rooted in the ukrainian national system. they will build dossiers against all of those individuals in a leadership capacity in a position to design, execute the crimes of aggression committed in ukraine. this tribunal could accept those indictments when the time was right, to confirm those charges. nick: does that suggest that regardless of the format, you don't see any accountability for boudin until he is out of power? >> in any scenario we have to have custody of putin to move forward and that is extremely unlikely. nick: the u.s. also has a practical problem. many countries in the global south would not vote to establish a tribunal in fact -- in part because they accuse the u.s. of double standards for refusing to submit to icc standards for the wars in iraq and afghanistan. >> ukraine once the international community's backing wholeheartedly month to

come out of the resolution with a weaker vote than 80 or 90 states would undercut legitimacy. the department of justice has been great, department of defense has been terrible. nick: the u.s. can also help the icc. janet -- senator lindsey graham and dick durbin led the charge to provide the icc with intelligence, funding and staffing for its ukraine investigations. why hasn't the administration done that? >> we are going how we can use these new authorities from congress. it's a matter of working through the details in the interagency process. nick: multiple u.s. officials tell us the defense department rejects holding the soldiers accountable with the worry they could one day prosecute u.s. soldiers.

last week after a meeting with an icc prosecutor, durbin accuse the administration of withholding evidence from the icc. >> why is your department not sharing evidence we have gathered to help that effort? >> i have concerns about reciprocity going forward. i remain concerned about the protection of u.s. military personnel. >> got to ask -- i respect you and i voted for you but i've got to ask for more. it's losses cooperate in you refuse, what conclusion am i supposed to draw? >> we support the goal of holding pressure accountable. >> i have to ask you to prove it by doing so. you have drawn a personal opposite conclusion and i think it is frankly hurting the efforts to hold putin accountable. nick: last month, graham wrecked a deputy general over the coals for not complying with the new law. >> is the department of defense

the holdup? >> i know the department of defense has long-standing concerns about air engagement -- >> i don't care about their concerns. they can share them on the books. do you feel like you need to follow the law when you're told to do it? >> yes, senator. >> ok, we will take this up with the department of defense. nick: should the department of defense be worried about future prosecutions if it drops its resistance? >> and think there's virtually no equivalency or comparison to what russia has done here to anything that might involve u.s. personnel are service members. we have a full-scale war of aggression committed through the systematic and widespread commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity. there is no comparison. i don't see a concern that this would set any sort of precedent that would end up badly for the united states. nick: the debate over icc assistance and the special

tribunal continues as ukraine man's accountability and justice for russia's ongoing crimes. for the pbs newshour, yam nick schifrin. ♪ william: throughout the pandemic, asian americans have endured racist and physical threats. as the u.s. celebrates asian-american and pacific islander heritage month, new research is calling attention to this rise in anti-asian sentiment, and the toll it's taking on asian-american communities. amna nawaz spoke recently with the head of the asian-american foundation. amna: one in two asian americans report feeling unsafe in the u.s. due to their ethnicity, that's according to a new report from the asian american foundation examining attitudes and stereotypes toward asian americans. ong the findings, nearly 80% of asian americans do not feel they fully belong and are accepted while more than half don't feel safe in public places, a national survey found.

what's more, nearly 1 in 5 americans believe asian americans are partly responsible for covid-19. norman chen is the ceo of the asian american foundation. thank you, welcome. norman: thank you for having us. amna: these were some findings from your third annual survey of asian americans. what have you seen over time are , these numbers getting better or worse? norman: they've been largely consistent over the last three years. we've seen more increasing concern during covid about attacks against our community in the blaming of asian americans for covid-19. but this latest question about the safety level really disturbed us. the fact that over half of asian americans felt unsafe. they felt unsafe in public transportation on subways. , they felt unsafe in their own neighborhoods in their own , schools and their own workplaces.

so that was very concerning for all of us. amna: how much of that do you link directly to the pandemic? i remember when we reported on the surge of anti-asian rhetoric my remember friends telling me they would not let friends or family go out alone because they were worried about attacks. has that dissipated as we moved out of the pandemic? norman: i think a lot of it was due to covid-19 and the pandemic, but also recalls just the fact that asian americans have been feeling attacked in this country for decades, for generations. this year's survey really highlighted for us that those three stereotypes of the perpetual foreigner yellow peril , and the model minority myth really reared their ugly heads in the results. and so this is not just a phenomenon due to covid-19. it's really been something that's been in our history for a long time. what was particularly new this year was the belonging question. last year was the first time we asked how much do you really

feel like you truly belong in this country and asian americans were the least likely to feel they belong. they tell us they feel like they don't belong because of these attacks. there's a direct correlation between the incidents, the frequency of these attacks, and our community's lack of feeling like we truly belong. the second reason they mentioned was the lack of representation, lack of seeing role models in -- models and asian americans in senior leadership positions. so those are new insights that we want to work on. amna: that feeling of not belonging or feeling safe, what impact does that have in terms of how people live, their mental health and well-being? norman: a tremendously negative impact. if you don't feel like you are safe, you don't feel like you can belong. you remember in maslow's hierarchy of needs, we cannot thrive, we cannot succeed, we cannot be respected by others. and so it's fundamental that we believe that we belong and that we feel safe in our society. and this really has a damaging effect on mental health for our community.

mental health is a significant problem for the aapi community as for other communities, but we have a terrible statistic that among aapi youth ages 15 to 24 suicide is the leading cause of death. amna:s you know, anti asian sentiment goes back to the earliest days of our nation, the very first significant law restricting immigration in america was targeting chinese people. we as a nation incarcerated tens of thousands of japanese americans during world war ii. is what we're seeing now, just the latest chapter in that ongoing story? norman: we are seeing a recurrence of it in many ways, but of course it's unique to this time. the recent attacks we've seen in atlanta, and even in allen , texas, make us really concerned about increasing anti asian sentiment in this country. the rhetoric in the media, among politicians has led to more anti china sentiment which leads to anti asian american sentiment. we need to be very careful to

manage that to make sure we don't inflame tensions and antagonism towards our community. amna: at the same time i want to point out your survey found 75% of americans said they see these racist attacks against asian americans as a problem. there is awareness and acknowledgment. is that progress? norman: there are some signs of progress in our survey this year. aside from that awareness a lot , of people in our survey when we ask them what we can do to try to help build relations with the aapi community. number one answer was greater interaction. so that was very encouraging. people are open to having more interaction and getting to know aapi members better which is wonderful. the second answer was education, which we've known as always very very important. we want to promote more knowledge of asian american and pacific islander history as american history. amna: norman chen, ceo asian american foundation. great to speak with you. thank you for joining us. norman: thank you very much.

♪ william: with so much partisan political division in our country, doi is not a word typically associated with politics. but it is for minnesota's senior senator amy klobuchar as she recently explained to geoff bennett. it's the topic of her new book, the joy of politics. geoff: welcome. this is an intimate memoir. you invite readers into your life, your fight with cancer. losing your father, almost losing your husband to covid, your run for president. all of it within the same 3 to 4 year period. how did you make it through? sen. klobuchar: like a lot of america have made it through, actually. and that's one of the reasons i wanted to write the book, is that everyone has been through so much. everyone knows someone that they've lost, and if they didn't

lose someone, they lost going to weddings and funerals, little kids bouncing on their parents knees while they got the laptop on their desk. and then you've got the political divides that we've seen. you see the violence out there, and it's just been a real hard time. so my answer to it was yes, to be honest about what we've been through, but not spend my whole time lamenting the setbacks, but instead rejoicing in the comebacks. that we have come through this, that we're gathering together again. and there's a joy in getting things done in washington. geoff: you wrote something at the end of chapter one that really struck me and you wrote about obstacles. you say, your obstacles are your path. and sometimes when you don't quite make it to the top of the trail, you learn all kinds of lessons along the way. what did you learn from your obstacles? sen. klobuchar: well, the first thing i learned was with breast cancer is just be thankful for what you've got every single day. and i know other cancer survivors feel the same way about it. and then it was, how do you make something good out of all this? and for me, it was coming out

saying, hey, i waited too long to get my mammogram, but i got it. and i was able to get through it 100% okay. geoff: yeah. you open the book writing about your husband and all the sacrifices that he and so many other political spouses make. and you talk in detail about his near-fatal fight with with covid. he was in the hospital was in isolation after that for almost a month. that was, i imagine, a frightening and clarifying moment. how did it change you? sen. klobuchar: well, it certainly, to have it happen, right, that basically the first month of major covid in our country. there were no vaccines. and to have that scary moment where i can't go in to see him, i'm relying on other people to tell me how he's doing. so i think that made me really devoted one to doing everything we could to get a vaccine, which really helped science, helped us get this through this, and then secondly, to help people with their personal issues, with their economics, with the post-covid, whatever mental health problems people have had, it really zeroed in my focus on that at the time. geoff: in the book, you pull back the curtain on certain moments in our history in a way

that i think political watchers will appreciate. starting with donald trump's inauguration, that dark america first speech that he delivered, the late senator john mccain was seated next to you and he was whispering things to you under his breath. what did he say? sen. klobuchar: we're all together, people of all parties there for the new president. and instead it's dark. and john starts whispering names of basically of people like mussolini to me, huey long. and he's actually reciting speeches and dates and lines from the speeches because he was such a student of history and connecting them to the trump speech. that all happened. and the final thing he whispered to me as the guests kind of load onto the stage, and he's so funny, he goes, well, this is an all time record. i go, what do you mean? he goes, most money ever spent on plastic surgery, on an inaugural stage in the history of america. that happened. geoff: john mccain said that?

sen. klobuchar: yes, he did. [laughter] geoff: well, we'll fast forward to your own run for president, which this picture captures the moment where you delivered your speech and that epic snowstorm in minneapolis. you talk about how you got to know your democratic contenders in different ways. then candidate joe biden, now president joe biden, of course, during breaks during the debates, he would say things to you to boost your spirits. tell us more about that. sen. klobuchar: yeah, and i think people know what a kind person the president is. and he was always saying, good line. that was a great job, kid. you did great on that. he would do that at town halls. he would do it all the time. geoff: and the debate where you couldn't bring pens on stage and your pen exploded. sen. klobuchar: excuse me, that was the pbs debate. geoff: oh, it was. we were wondering which debate it was. sen. klobuchar: it was. it was in l.a. it was a fantastic debate, so well moderated. but what happened is you have that 5 minutes and you've seen candidates do it where you have to scribble down your notes. what do you remember? what facts, what story? so i'm trying to do it. the pen just goes on me,

explodes, i get ink on my hand. i turn to bernie, who's on my right, which on its own is funny. that's when i realize he has brought in his own pen in this thing. so he gives me the pen. so that pen also doesn't work. steyer's on my left, tom steyer. so he has also his own pen. this is when i realized, guys, i guess this is easy for you. he gives me the final last debate pen. my third pen. it works. it turns out to be a great debate for me. so i would like to thank those two guys for giving me the pen. geoff: you also detail what happened on january 6th, 2021. and you stayed in the building well past midnight with vice president mike pence, making sure that the vote would be certified. what do you recall from that day? sen. klobuchar: well, you know, it started out as this celebration, this ceremony where we're leading basically a parade of senators to the house with the young kids with mahogany boxes filled with the ballots. and then it ends 13 hours later after the insurrection. we're still just at the capitol,

a disaster zone, a crime scene, actually. and it is just roy blunt and me, the former republican senator from missouri. and we led the rules committee. that's why we were the ones in charge. and with vice president pence were the only three left in the senate chamber with these three pairs of young pages who are carrying those mahogany boxes which a member of the parliamentarian staff had the presence of mind to say, get these out of the senate when we all ran out because they would have been destroyed or burned for sure. and we're walking down now over broken glass. you see pillars on the side that are filled with racist vulgarities. and we make that last walk. and our goal and our mission was to make sure democracy prevailed. and we got to the house and it did. and those kids carrying those boxes is what i remember the most. geoff: how do you find the joy in politics? it's a pursuit that some people could find joyless, right? sen. klobuchar: so for me it's a joy in getting things done.

that is number one. it's the joy in helping individual people. it's the joy in actually seeing democracy at its best. geoff: senator amy klobuchar. the book is the joy of politics. surviving cancer, a campaign, a pandemic, an insurrection and life's other unexpected curveballs. it's always so great to speak with you. thanks for coming. sen. klobuchar: thanks, geoff. it was great. ♪ william: how to capture and convey the wonder of science and the natural world? especially at a time when the public teaching of science is again being fought over? the largest museum of natural history in america just expanded its reach and jeffrey brown got an advance tour for our arts and culture series, canvas. >> we are looking for places for people to make connections to things, collections. jeffrey: a preopening walk with

architect jeanne gang, to see the new building she designed as an expansion of the american museum of natural history in new york. >> it feels like an organic space. but it's, people have felt different things about it, like a canyon, a cave, a grotto, you know, bones. people have told me all kinds of different natural things. jeffrey: you're ok with that? >> oh yeah. jeffrey: everywhere you look, especially in the five story atrium soft curves and shapes, , with outside light pouring in. gang and the team at her chicago-based architectural firm, studio gang, were inspired by natural landscapes, but tied to a specific urban setting. >> the leap was we need to do something that is about connections, flow, curiosity, discovery. and so those were things that led us to creating a porous structure with lots of openings, lots of connections, almost like a landscape where you would be curious to go explore little

crevices and niches and go through openings. jeffrey: the museum, one of the largest natural history museums in the world, with some 5 million visitors a year, has been a place of discovery for a long time now. known for its lifelike dioramas still fascinating young children. its enormous dinosaurs and blue whale, the hall of gems, planetarium and much more. and yes, this is where ben stiller spent a memorable 'night at the museum' in the 2006 film. >> it doesn't even look real. jeffrey: but it's also a major research and education institute and the new gilder center for science, education and innovation, a $431 million expansion, offers or space for that as well. a chance for visitors to see more of the vast collection, and the curators and researchers working within it, as here among jars of different fish species.

>> it is the kind of experience sean decatur, a biochemist, former head of kenyon college, and now president of this historic museum knows firsthand. >> i participated in afterschool and summer camp programs at the natural history museum in cleveland where i grew up, and my mother signed me up to every possible program while i was young, growing up. that's a place where i not only had my curiosity piqued, but i also began to meet scientists and to learn about scientific thinking, what the scientific process is like. and i think that's something that this museum does very well on many levels. jeffrey: now a museum known for going big highlights the small, with a live insectarium, for encounters with the planet's most diverse group of animals. and a butterfly the very him -- vivarium, to learn about life

cycles and different species or to simply flutter about and enjoy. >> this is a digitized human brain. jeffrey: the connectedness of all life is the theme of the immersive invisible worlds experience. and the critical task for a museum like this, says vivian trakinski, is how to make 'lif'' come alive. her title, director of science visualization. >> the key is, what do we know? starts with the science. and then i think you have to think about the public. what do they know? what are pathways to engage them in the different topics that you're trying to communicate? so, between the science and public interest, you find an area that is so ripe for creativity and different ways to communicate different topics to different audiences. jeffrey: that makes this a prime place to see an evolution in how we visualize natural history and science, with dioramas and

digitization both transporting people to largely inaccessible places, in different ways. >> and it doesn't make the dioramas any less beautiful or any less relevant. if anything, i feel like it gives them a fresh feeling, an update. because when you walk into that digital theater and you see those curved walls with the landscapes projected on them, you're reminded of the dioramas. it's a digital diorama. it is an echo of what the museum has been creating for more than 100, 150 years. jeffrey: cool stuff, for sure. but science today is a hot-button cultural and political arena. think of battles over vaccine mandates and climate change policy. incoming museum president sean decatur approaches this as the educator he's been his entire professional life. >> when we see reports out there of mistrust and lack of confidence in science, you know,

i believe the root cause of that is a lack of understanding of the scientific process itself. jeffrey: you mean how science works, how scientists do? >> exactly. science needs to be accessible to everyone. we need to be very attentive about science education and scientific ideas. if we don't do that, we risk losing a lot of talent, of who will hopefully help us to solve many of the problems that we're facing down the road. but we'll also have real challenges in terms of policy-making and decision-making broadly. jeffrey: the larger disputes over science and the natural world also gave architect jeanne gang a different sense of urgency with this project. >> it elevated the crisis, if you will. and it made me think that besides just presenting the facts, we have to feel the wonder, let's say, of nature. because it's also an emotional thing.

that's why i think art and science can work well together. because we need the facts, but we also need to see the beauty of it. jeffrey: that includes the architect herself, who couldn't help cast her eyes around the new library she'd designed for the gilder center. i noticed you look that way. and you liked it? >> yeah. i was noticing how the light is working on the outside surface, but how the portal allows you to see beyond. jeffrey: it is working for you? >> yes. jeffrey: you are happy? >> yes, i want to go over and explore it right now. jeffrey: that of course is what everyone involved here hopes future visitors will feel, as well. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown at the american museum of natural history in new york. william: that is the newshour for tonight. i'm william brangham. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs

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one giant leap for mankind. ♪ >> hello, everyone. welcome to "amanpour and company." here is what is coming up. >> do not believe the lies of smugglers. people who do not use available, legal pathways to enter the u.s. now face tougher consequences. >> kevin border search. is the u.s. equipped to handle a sudden immigration spike as covid era deportation powers expire? i asked pulitzer prize winning reporter caitlin dickerson who has spent years investigating america's immigration prices. also ahead -- >> say you are lonely and are extroverted to society is almost saying you are not lovable or something is wrong with you. >> america's top dr. gets personal about his own mental health struggles and why loneliness is now a public health