♪ amna: -- geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: i'm amna nawaz. on the "newshour" tonight, a federal judge sets a march trial date in the case accusing former president trump of election interference, setting up a major legal battle before the next election. geoff: russia's influence in

africa begins to shift following the death of wagner mercenary leader yevgeny prigozhin. amna: and 60 years after the march on washington and dr. martin luther king's "i have a dream" speech, we delve into where issues of race and activism stand in america today. >> we are in a moment of great peril and crisis, but also one of great opportunity. and the moral arc does bend, but there are also opposing forces that are trying to pull it in the opposite direction. >> major funding has been provided by the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of the newshour including leonard and

norma and patricia ewing. the hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas answer running 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.

march 4, 2024, that is the tentative date former president donald trump will face trial for federal charges related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. geoff: it's the result of an at-time contentious hearing today where donald trump's attorneys sparred with special counsel jack smith's prosecutors and judge tanya chutkan. npr justice reporter carrie johnson was in the room for the proceedings and she joins me now. it is always great to see you. the federal judge has set march 4, 2024, as the trial date in donald trump's election interference case. remind us what the two parties were initially asking for. carrie: they were so far apart. jack smith, a special counsel in this case, wanted to start the trial on january 2, 2024. lawyers for former president donald trump wanted to kick this trial all the way into 2026, the spring of 2026. the judge said that is too far but she agrees that trump and

his attorneys need more time to prepare in this landmark case with over 12 million pages of documents so she set march, early march 2024, as the trial date in washington, d.c.. geoff: how did she justify this day in court today? carrie: the judge said donald trump has asked to be treated like any other defendant and she is taking him at his word. she pointed out that if he were a professional athlete, she would not set a trial schedule around the athlete's performance dates. the idea that trump is running again for the white house is not factoring in her decision. she said trump had very good lawyers. he has been notice for over a year and he has been under investigation. many other million pages of documents have come out of his political action committee or even his own tweets and posts on the true social site. geoff: looking at the calendar, donald trump's political calendar is colliding with his trial calendar. how is his legal team going to

deal with the onslaught of court dates? have they explained that yet? carrie: it is challenging for them. one ofrump's lawyers said today that trump will not get his due process rights because of all of these matters that he's fighting while trying to run for office. trump has called this election interference by the justice department and these local prosecutors in new york and fulton county, georgia. it is not clear how trump will balance these things. usually, a criminal defendant is in court for his trial. balancing that with the primaries schedule and possible debates is going to be a difficult challenge for him. geoff: you mentioned the fulton county case. form white house chief of staff mark meadows, one of the codefendants in that racketeering case, took the witness stand today in this evidentiary yearly hearing -- evidentiary hearing in a bid to move the case to the federal court. what is his motivation in trying

to move this case? carrie: mark meadows is arguing he's being charged with crimes in fulton county, georgia, for acts he took as part of his federal job. he's trying to make that case because moving this case from state court into federal court will potentially give him a much more beneficial jury pool from the surrounding counties and it could introduce some delay in this case. of course, federal court proceedings are not televised whereas any georgia state proceedings would be so there are a number of reasons why meadows would want this -- to move this case to federal court. other defendants like jeff clark, the former justice department official in the trump administration, may be hot on their heels to move the case to federal court. geoff: if he is successful, how might that be a blueprint for other codefendants and maybe even donald trump it his legal team so chooses to seek action in the federal court? carrie: not all of these defendants are similarly

situated. a bunch of them did work for the federal government. others worked in georgia so they may not have as strong an argument to move the case into federal court. as for the former president, he has already said there's no way he wants a fast trial in fulton county, georgia, but he has not signaled whether he will attempt to move his case into federal court. geoff: thanks as always. carrie: thank you. ♪ amna: in the day's other headlines, dozens of counties in florida declared emergencies and people began getting ready for the state's first major hurricane this year. idalia was building from a tropical storm today and heading into the gulf of mexico. it could strike florida's big bend region by early wednesday. in tallahassee, state leaders warned people to remember how hurricane ian exploded in size and power last year. sot guthrie if your community is not in the forecast cone, it does not mean you are clear.

please look at all of the -- last year. >> if your community is not in the forecast cone, it does not mean you are clear. please look at all of the watches and warnings. we encourage every floridian along the gulf coast to begin enacting their emergency preparedness plans now. now is not necessarily the time to write a plan, now is the time to act on a plan. amna: meanwhile, in the atlantic, franklin intensified into a category 4 hurricane, with winds near 130 miles an hour. it's expected to pass near bermuda, but veer away from the u.s. east coast later this week. in louisiana, crews are still struggling to contain a record number of wildfires in the drought-stricken state. officials say the tiger island fire doubled in size this weekend, scorching 33,000 heavily wooded acres. it's the largest in the state's history. an entire town has been forced to evacuate, and at least one person has died. hawaiian electric company is pushing back against a lawsuit blaming it for this month's wildfire disaster.

maui county alleges that the utility's downed power lines sparked the flames that destroyed lahaina and killed at least 115 people. now, hawaiian electric has issued a statement that says, quote, "the complaint is factually and legally irresponsible." the company acknowledges its lines sparked an initial fire that was quickly contained. but it says the blaze that consumed lahaina started after power had been shut off. a man whose son allegedly killed seven people at a fourth of july parade, in highland park, illinois, will stand trial after all. robert crimo junior wanted his case dismissed, but a judge in suburban chicago refused today. crimo is charged with reckless conduct for helping his son get a gun license, after the teen had threatened violence. in beijing today, the u.s. and china held talks on u.s. export controls for sensitive technology, but there were no breakthroughs.

commerce secretary gina raimondo met with her chinese counterpart. she said later they agreed to exchange information, but without any concessions. >> we are not compromising or negotiating in matters of national security, period. but this is meant to be a dialogue where we increase transparency and we are clear about what we are doing as it relates to export control enforcement. amna: raimondo's visit is the latest by high-ranking american officials, in a bid to ease tensions between the world's two largest economies. also today, china announced it will no longer require incoming travelers to show a negative covid-19 test result. it's beijing's latest loosening of pandemic-era curbs since a strict "zero covid" policy ended in december. the new policy takes effect on wednesday. a breakdown in britain's air traffic control system today caused major disruptions. officials say a technical problem prevented automatic processing of flight plans for more than three hours.

the glitch grounded scores of flights, leaving thousands of passengers stranded or delayed at airports. disruptions continued for hours after the outage ended. back in this country, wall street's week got off to a positive start. the dow jones industrial average gained 213 points to close at 34,560. the nasdaq rose 114 points. the s&p 500 added 27. and gymnast simone biles can celebrate after winning a record eighth u.s. nationals title. biles vaulted her way to victory over the weekend in san jose, california. it marked the biggest step yet in her comeback after taking a two-year break from the sport. still to come on the "newshour," some lawmakers push to revamp the endangered species act, 50 years after it was signed into law. tamara keith and errin haines break down the latest political headlines.

college football season kicks off with shakeups looming for the traditional powerhouse conferences. 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. amna: for many, the fiery demise last week of yevgeny prigozhin was the chronicle of a death foretold, after his mutiny two months ago against his benefactor, russian president vladimir putin. but prigozhin and his mercenary army, the wagner group, were an important expeditionary force for the kremlin especially across parts of africa. nick schifrin looks at the "what now?" nick: outside red square this weekend, a tribute to the man they call russia's true patriot. the kremlin might consider him a traitor but these supporters called him and his fighters

martyrs. >> they did a great job and they are the heroes of our country. a brilliant future awaits them. everyone makes mistakes. nick: the kremlin apparently did not forgive his betrayal. this weekend, a wagner fighter film to a cemetery dismantled by russian authorities. just as president putin is dismantling an apparently decapitated wagner empire which was vast in africa where independent researchers say wagner has dispatched 5000 people to a dozen countries to spread moscow's influence and feed instability. in the central african republic, wagner fighters openly walked alongside local bodyguards to help the president when a referendum that could extend his power indefinitely. in mali, wagner is a key partner to the head of the

military junta. in burkina faso, wagner moved in as of military officials evicted french troops and called russia a strategic partner. in july in saint petersburg, it was putin pictured next to each of these leaders. and the general of the russian military intelligence was reportedly introduced as taking over in africa. in his final days, he was afraid of losing his influence in africa and released this final statement even as russian officials worked to maintain the empire he built without him. >> wagner private military company conducts reconnaissance and other actions, making russia even greater and africa more free. nick: he considered himself popular and indispensable. weather in ukraine or africa, he held wagner's diverse activities

together through personality and brutality. but in putin's russia, nobody is indispensable except the boss. >> [speaking russian] >> he was a man with a complicated fate and he made serious mistakes. nick: the kremlin spokesman said no decision had hidden made yet on whether putin would attend prigozhin's funeral. for more on what becomes of wagner operations in africa we turn to vanda felbab-brown, director of the initiative on nonstate armed actors at the brookings institution. thank you very much. welcome to the newshour. how much influence wagner have in africa and how effective have they been? nick: well, wagner did have very significant influence. it was the front of russian foreign policy, and it was important in strategic, forward thrust and frankly, countering u.s. interest. itad very little effectiveness in terms of counterterrorism, and counterinsurgency is ostensible mission. the cover under which wagner entered various countries in

africa. in reality, what wagner ended up selling was a pretoria and guard -- a pretorian guard service for people in power, along with a whole variety of economic services, political manipulation, misinformation. nick: and that guard, that misinformation, that manipulation, how integral, how essential was prigozhin to creating that empire? vanda: well, we are all trying to understand that. i mean, there is a lot of mythology about prigozhin, but i don't think it's realistic to assume that one man controlled what was the vast empire of hundreds of companies dealing with tens of billions of dollars and managing thousands of forces operating across the country. so i think that prigozhin is very replaceable, even if the aura of the man who will be in charge, the whatever list, whatever is left of wagner, will be very different. his profile probably much less visible than that of prigozhin.

nick so so let's talk about what's left of wagner, as it were, the russian officials, military intelligence have been going through africa to the african governments, saying that your partner today is us, is the kremlin, is moscow not prigozhin? is that effort working? vanda: well, the idea to see clearly that is an effort to both indicate that the services that wagner extended would be preserved. and this effort has been underway for a considerable amount of time, even before what just happened in the assassination of prigozhin. but at the same time, the empire is being chopped up. it is being divided into smaller entities that are easier to hold. but i think it's significant to note that just immediately after

the mutiny, even countries like the central african republic, which were almost under the thumb of the wagner group, immediately expressed that their relationship has been with the kremlin and with russia already. then the phrasing from the african leaders themselves was very specifically understanding that whatever services they bought from wagner, they understood that behind wagner that it was the kremlin, and that had not changed for them. nick: and as that empire, as you said, is chopped up easier to hold, does that mean that the kremlin believes that instead of replacing prigozhin with one person, replacing wagner with one company, it's more likely to replace them with multiple companies and multiple people? vanda: i think that is far more likely and that is frankly what we are seeing. so in some parts of the world, like in syria, we are seeing that wagner forces have been rolled onto the rosters of the russian military. and wagner commanders have been replaced with russian military commanders because russia already had the military deployed there. but in other parts of africa, we

might have some entity that is called wagner, who left apparently, for example, in the central african republic. the man who currently leads the wagner forces is to remain as the leader of italy. in other parts, we are seeing efforts to roll parts of wagner into other russian private security companies, nick and so we have redoubt, we have convoy. -- private security companies. nick: and so we have redoubt, we have convoy. these are essentially new private military companies, or at least private military companies that will increase their influence in africa that are more controllable, perhaps. vanda: i think that. the kremlin's calculation that a set of smaller companies, one of which still might be called wagner, others which are newer, perhaps some that will be completely brand new, will be far easier to extend that one mafia fiefdoms that prigozhin was running. of course, there was an advantage to the wagner group's big conglomerate. it created an enormous name. it was one supermarket for

african leaders to go shop for political manipulation, military pretorian, guard services, misinformation campaign. and it will take some time for a new entity to be able to provide this set of services. and quite likely, moscow might not want all one company to provide all of these services. nick and not get as powerful an -- nick: and not get as powerful as stated. at the same time, his personality, his brutality did keep these diverse companies, these diverse assets together. british military intelligence recently said that his hyperactivity and exceptional audacity and drive for results and extreme brutality are unlikely to be matched by any successor. is it possible that the kremlin's efforts to take from wagner what prigozhin held and instead hold it themselves might fail? vanda: well, i think it's possible. i don't think that we will see a situation where we will have wholesale liquidation of what

wagner did or what it brought to the kremlin, which included significant financial income in avoidance of western sanctions, which providing significant money, launder laundering services, and to hide money to be brought to moscow, as well as strategic thrust and forward presence. i would also add here, though, that in the what gave prigozhin the visibility, the audacity was also what was his downfall. and too many operators in the clandestine services would really want to keep a much lower profile. ultimately, big ocean's greatest asset was not his logistical genius, but was his closeness to vladimir putin. and when he lost that, that's when he lost the power and the empire and his life. nick: felbab-brown, thank you very much.

♪ geoff: it was one of the most consequential racial justice and equality demonstrations in u.s. history, the march on washington for jobs and freedom. on august 28, 1963, a quarter of a million people rallied in washington, d.c. to demand an end to segregation, fair wages, economic justice, voting rights, education, and long overdue civil rights protections. from the steps of the lincoln memorial, the rev. martin luther king jr. delivered his most famous speech, "free at last, free at last, thank god all mighty we are free at last" the demonstration helped pave the way for the passage of federal civil rights and voting rights legislation. on saturday, thousands of people gathered on the national mall to commemorate the 60th anniversary

and remind the nation of its unfinished goals of that day. for insight, i spoke friday with two leading voices about the march and the present-day pursuit of civil rights. we are joined by the secretary of the smithsonian institution. he was also the founding director of the national museum of african american history and culture. and with us here in the studio is janai nelson, president and director counsel of the naacp legal defense fund. thank you both for being here. really appreciate it. and i'd like to start, if we could, by talking about the history of the march, which i think is always important and instructive. mr. bunch, it was bayard rustin, as you well know, who organized the march on washington. and at the time, there had been any number of marches across the south. but the idea that hundreds of thousands of people would answer the call and come to washington, d.c., that was unheard of. how was he able to pull together what was the largest demonstration the country had ever seen in a matter of months? lonnie: well, i think it's important to realize that they

really worked on this for several years. but with a. philip randolph's leadership and bayard rustin, what they realized is this was an opportunity to sort of bring together people from the civil rights organizations as well as from the united auto work or the united auto workers organization. and what they did is they were able to sort of just figure out how do you mobilize everything from set sororities and fraternities to make sure that you've got, in essence, a large group of people so that you've got a turnout of over almost 300,000 people. geoff: look like today? -- what does effective organizing look like today? janai: effective organizing is something that has roots in the history of the civil rights movement and labor movements and other protest movements. but today is something that has been much more systematized in many ways and has the benefit of the use of technology. and more young people are aware of the power of organizing and are organizing themselves in important ways to to protest, to engage in action. and we saw that spontaneously occur in 2020 in response to the tragic killing of george floyd and breonna taylor and others.

and today, the role of organizing is a very respected one. it always has been recognized, but it's been elevated because i think people understand how important it is to have people ready to be mobilized, to not just ask for change, but to ensure accountability when change happens. i think it's important to realize that technology has allowed, especially a younger generation, not just to be part of a protest, but to help lead it. and i think that's a really important point of this, is that if you look at the murder of george floyd and you see young people around the world utilizing technology to make sure that they're not just involved, but they're leading. and i think that's an optimistic thing as we look to the future. geoff: and bayard rustin believed that the fates of the civil rights movement and the labor movement were intertwined. but the visions of of racial justice and economic justice

were linked. do you see it that way? and how does that manifest today? lonnie: -- janai: absolutely. you can't think about the history of race in this country and not think about economics. we think about the idea that black people were brought here from the continent of africa to power a system of enslavement, of labor, free labor, of work camps, forced labor camps that helped to grow the economy of this country, helped to seed wealth into some communities and leave others completely destitute. that is the history of this country. and that was directly based on racial lines, whether you were black or you were white. and so as we think about how the civil rights movement evolved, it carried forth that legacy, the vestiges of slavery and, of course, jim crow and, of course, current day racism that continues to create an economic divide based on color lines. geoff: in the past few years, we

saw demonstrations against police brutality after the police killing of george floyd and others. we've seen acts of civil disobedience in support of gun reform. mr. bunch, you've said that protest is the highest form of patriotism. tell me more about that. in what way? lonnie: i would argue that if you love a country, what you want to do is help that country live up to its stated ideals. and america is an aspirational nation. if you look at its founding documents, we are working hard to live up to those. and so for me, if you protest, you are not saying the nation is horrible. what you're saying is i can help it live up to its stated ideals. so for me, if you protest the country, what you are simply saying is you love it and you want it to be the best it can be. geoff: janai nelson, the issues that are animating social justice advocates today, many of them seem eerily similar to the issues that were present in 1963 in different ways, of course. but you've got the erosion of voting rights across the country. you've got questions about

access to education after the supreme court struck down the use of affirmative action in college admissions decisions. they're growing threats of political violence and hatred against people of color, against jews, against members of the lgbt community, against members of the lgbtq community. do you see it that way? janai: yes. not only are these issues eerily similar, they are the same ones that we've been dealing with for decades. the difference is that we were evolving towards solutions. we were expanding constitutional rights and protections in order to solve those issues gradually, perhaps a little too gradually for my taste. but we were on a path towards greater inclusion and greater equity. what we're seeing in this moment is a backlash and a retrenchment to that movement. and what this march allows us to think about is the power of mass demonstration, of mass action to galvanize the forces of people

to ensure that the right legislation is passed, that elected officials recognize the will and wishes of the majority and are responsive to the despair of people across the country. that's what this march should remind us to do. and, you know, back to the issue of protests. the founder of the legal defense fund, thurgood marshall, said that protest is the foundation of american democracy. so this has always been how we've evolved our country to become a more perfect union. geoff: what about that, mr. bunch? is mass demonstrations still an event, still an effective technique? absolutely. you don't have a country change unless you've got enough people to see it in the media to have the influence on the federal government to change the laws. so for me, protests, sophisticated strategic protest is really an effective tool. it is one of the ways that you make sure that you're heard that you're seeing and that it forces you to think about what are the

strategic goals that you want out of this protest. so that is, in my mind, one of the most effective tools we have to change a nation. geoff: five years after the march on washington, dr. king gave a famous speech at the national national cathedral in washington, d.c., where he famously said, we shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. when you survey the arc of the last 60 years, what do you see? lonnie: well, i think what you see is that we have made amazing progress, but that in essence, the realization is that you are not going to be you're not going to continue to get to where you want to be unless you continue to fight and struggle for it. that in essence, what's really clear to me is that we have a retrenchment. we have people that are pushing back against things that we thought were given and that in essence, that while the arc may bend, we've got to help it bend in the right direction.

janai: i see that we are in a moment of great peril and crisis, but also one of great opportunity. and the moral arc does bend, but there are also opposing forces that are trying to pull it in the opposite direction. this is a moment for us to recognize the power of people, of protest, of advocacy, of law, which is what we do at the legal defense fund. we use the power of law to transform society, but it needs all of those forces together to ensure that this change occurs and that it is durable, that it lasts. because this moment teaches us if we don't continue to pay attention to the direction of this country, we can be pulled backwards in a way that is extraordinarily dangerous and poses an existential, existential threat to our democracy. geoff: janai nelson and lonnie bunch, my deep thanks to you both. janai: thank you.

amna: with the date set for former president trump's federal trial, his republican opponents are hoping for some new attention from voters and possibly a post-debate bounce. here to discuss it all are tamara keith of npr and errin haines of the 19th. amy walter is away. great to see you both. the judge rejected mr. trump's request to delay the start of the trial. we have a trial date set for march 4 of 2024. by that date, a few states will have already held their primaries or caucuses to take a look at the calendar because the very next day, if that march 4 date holds, is super tuesday and 15 more states will hold their primaries and caucuses, those shown in yellow right there. when you look at that map and what is at stake in this trial, do you see the trial having any impact on that day? tamara: probably not because iowa and new hampshire will have

already happened and the potential exists if former president trump, who has a prohibitive lead in all of the primary polls among republicans, if he winds in iowa -- wins in iowa and new hampshire, super tuesday may not be that relevant and it is not entirely clear that the trial date will stick, that that will be the date. if it is, it is the date that the trial begins so what changes exactly by the time people are voting the very next day? amna: what about you? how are you looking at it? are there any states he would be keeping a particularly close eye on to see if that trial or any news does have some kind of impact? errin: when i think is that, you know, certainly agreeing with tamara's point that super tuesday could be an

opportunity to send a message coming out of super monday if that schedule holds with president trump in a courtroom just the day before this really consequential election. you are looking at dates like alabama, arkansas, tennessee, virginia, all of whom have significant numbers of black voters. we have to remember that at the center of all of the former president's legal battles is this scheme that was an attempt to disenfranchise black voters as illegitimate participants in our democracy so i think those dynamics could loom over super tuesday. you have the former president really saying that he is a victim in all of this, also trying to get his supporters to align themselves with his legal woes so they could also be looking to send a message of strong support for the former president. he is seeking that at the ballot

box with donations, etc. so this could galvanize voters in both parties in a number of states that are having primaries that day. amna: much of that republican race depends on the rest of the gop field. we all noted last week's debate was the first chance for the candidates who are not donald trump to try and break through, break away from the pack. we have poles coming out in reaction to that debate when republican primary voters were asked who they believed won. here is what they said. 27%, ramaswamy. 12% for mike pence. 11% for nikki haley. 22% said no one. what do these numbers tell you about what republican primary voters are looking for? errin: no one performed better than ron desantis and everyone except for ramaswamy, who did a real good job of drawing attention to himself. it is not clear whether he did a

really good job of persuading republican primary voters that they should pick him over trump, for instance, because that same poll found that 50%, i believe, of republican voters support trump. and want trump to be the nominee. all of these candidates were up there fighting for relevance while trump was stealing the show by getting a mugshot that his campaign is selling on shirts, selling with an autograph. to go back to what aaron was saying, really using this as a powerful tool to get his supporters and republican voters to rally around him. amna: that crucial point here, 50% of primary voters still say they plan to back donald trump

that is his lowest number to date and it is a 5% drop from before the debate. what kind of impact do you think not being on that stage had on him? tamara: we saw the impact it had on that stage when the majority of the candidates, when asked if they would sit former president trump even if he was convicted of a crime held their hands high and said they would absolutely do that. what that poll did not ask his of the people who were on stage, who won that debate? the person who won the debate was clearly former president trump. he was mentioned by name several times but not necessarily in a negative way. people continuing to show their support for him, for policies that are similar to his even as they try and distinguish themselves from other people who were on the stage and this did not deter any of his voters or

persuade them in the direction of any other candidates to any large degree and his closest contender, governor desantis, was really overshadowed by the likes of ramaswamy or even nikki haley who had a breakout night that has given her some momentum coming out of that debate. former president trump is the one who won that debate and proved his argument that he does not even need to be on the stage to be impactful and continue to hold sway with his base and the republican party at right now. amna: you mentioned ron desantis who remains second-place to mr. trump. i want to ask you about some news over the weekend. he attended a vigil in jacksonville where a white gunman had killed three black people. this is the reaction ron desantis got at that vigil. take a listen. [crowd brewing]

-- [crowd booing] amna: this is the reaction he's getting from fellow floridians. what does this say to you? >> i think that it says that this is a crowd, this is a state. black for meridians -- floridians hold governor desantis partly responsible for what happened in jacksonville because you have this incident occurring and if a child in florida were to go to school today this week and asked, you know, what were the dynamics that contributed to that shooting happening, a teacher might not even really be able to explain to a child based on the policies that governor desantis has championed. it might be considered woke to a claim to a child what happened over the weekend.

may be discussing the march on washington for example might be ok but another anniversary that we are marking today is the 68th anniversary of emmett till being murdered which is not something that schoolchildren are supposed to learn about because it makes people uncomfortable. what really, you sound governor desantis obviously could not -- you saw governor desantis obviously could not address this horrible tragedy that happened in jacksonville but at the same time, i think somebody who has been discouraging floridians and would like to discourage the rest of the country from learning about the uglier part of our country's racist history. you know, for somebody like that to show up and try to show their support for the community, you know, him being met with those boos was not necessarily a surprising reaction for folks

who have been following the racial tension around a lot of the rhetoric and policy that he has been espousing. >> sometimes showing up and getting booed is part of being the governor, part of leading a state. governor desantis is facing this hurricane that is headed towards his state. this will be another opportunity for him to lead and for him to show that he's governing but governing is not always easy. amna: that is proven true. our thoughts are with the families of those affected in jacksonville and everyone in florida who is bracing for that storm. thank you very much. >> thank you. geoff: this year marks the 50th anniversary of the endangered

species act. it was the most comprehensive legislation for preserving species at risk of extinction and made the united states a global leader in environmental law. but today, congress is divided over how far its protections should go. william brangham reports on the act's legacy and uncertain future. william: for the last three months, this juvenile sea turtle named "kempsville" has been receiving intensive care at the national aquarium in baltimore. >> there we go. that is it. william: kempsville was rescued in virginia, and is now fighting off multiple infections, and recovering from surgery where medics removed a fishing hook from its throat. kempsville is named after its species, the kemp's ridley. found mainly in the gulf of mexico, it's the world's smallest and most endangered sea turtle. the principal threat, says the aquarium's rehabilitation manager caitlin bovery, is human activity. >> the kemp's ridley is threatened by fisheries bycatch,

habitat degradation from development, by all kinds of human impacts, from marine debris to pollution that is related from runoff and things like that, as well as our increasing climate temperatures. william: for bovery's team, each turtle they save is a win in the fight against extinction. >> every kemp's ridley is critically endangered. so it's incredibly important to make sure that they return to sea. william: the species has slowly rebounded since the 1980s when there were only a few hundred nesting females; today, there are an estimated 20,000 of the turtles. >> it's really one of the most incredible conservation stories and recovery stories that we have from the endangered species act. william: under the act, when a species is deemed near or at risk of extinction, it's put on a federal list and legal protections kick in that limit activities and projects that could kill or harm that species, or its habitat. for the kemp's ridley, that

meant protections like: creating a new nesting colony and requiring commercial shrimp boats to use special devices in their nets that allow turtles to escape. >> we've seen recovery, real tangible recovery. william: today, these turtles are just one of more than 1,600 plant and animal species in america listed under the act. >> the time has come for man to make his peace with nature, let us renew our commitment, let us redouble our effort. william: signed by president nixon in 1973, the endangered species act passed with near-unanimous bipartisan support. >> congress decided that what we choose to say about ourselves as americans is what we choose to save. william: environmental law professor robert fischman says the act is unique because it prioritizes saving species over economic cost. >> the endangered species act makes the strong moral statement that, as a matter of federal law, we should not cause fellow

animals on earth to go extinct whatever the cost. william: over the decades, it's been credited with saving iconic species like the gray wolf, the bald eagle, and the grizzly bear. >> we need a leader, not a logger! william: but it's also led to bitter clashes between conservationists and industry. in 1990, the northern spotted owl was added, halting logging on millions of acres of forest in the pacific northwest. >> i wonder how many of you are like me that are sitting there, wondering how we've come to the brink of losing our jobs, and our homes, and our communities. >> the spotted owl issue was a signal that our forests in the northwest were in trouble. william: jamie rappaport clark is the ceo of a conservation non-profit known as "defenders of wildlife" and a former director of the u.s. fish and wildlife service.

>> the species that are increasingly in crisis are just the canaries in the coal mine. they're sounding the alarm that should should trigger our initiative to right the wrong before it's too late. william: while there's still bipartisan support for the law, many in congress disagree on how it should be implemented. >> the endangered species act is a very important piece of legislation. it was put in place with good intentions, but it's been 50 years since there haven't been any real changes to it. william: republican representative bruce westerman chairs the house committee on natural resources and aims to reform the endangered species act. he supports reinstating trump-era policies that conservationists say weakened its protections. >> you cannot be shortsighted and say, "at all cost, we must save this species." i think we should do everything we can to save all the species. would not want to see anything go extinct. we've also got to use a bit of rationale and reason and look at -- what we need to be doing is

what we need to be doing is actively managing these forests in these natural areas to create the habitat that allows these animals to thrive. it doesn't need to be a tool just to stop all kinds of development. william: he argues that the law isn't doing what it set out to achieve. >> people will say it's got a 99% effective rate, meaning that 99% of the animals that have been listed under the act have not gone extinct. only 3% of the animals that have been listed have actually been recovered. and if you look at the original -- that was the intent of the endangered species act, recovery. william: clark says blaming the law for the severity of the current extinction crisis is misguided. >> it's going to take a while to bring them back. it's not a light switch to flip on and off. by the time the endangered species act is brought into play , the species is oftentimes in real dire straits. william: that's why environmental law professor robert fischman says the federal government needs to go further than the endangered species act.

>> it's cheapest and easiest to conserve species before they decline to the point where they're in danger of extinction. what we really need is to extend the safety net beyond the endangered species act so that we can catch these 17,000 declining species before they reach critical endangerment. william: this year, a bipartisan bill was reintroduced in the senate that would invest more than $1 billion a year in state and tribal conservation efforts to do just that. for now experts say, individuals, the private sector, and nonprofits like the national aquarium are trying to fill in the gaps. >> for the animal rescue program here and the sea turtle stranding response nationwide, there's no federal funding available. william: while sea turtles like kempsville have advocates, for many other animals, the endangered species act remains the last line of defense. for the pbs newshour, i'm william brangham.

amna: the 2023 college football season is officially underway, with some big changes looming. on saturday, heisman trophy hopeful caleb williams threw four touchdowns, as his u.s.c trojans trounced san jose state. but that win kicked off the last season for u.s.c in the pac-12 conference. starting next year, u.s.c, ucla, oregon, and washington will move to the big 10 conference, while arizona, arizona state, colorado , and utah will go to the big 12, leaving just 4 schools in the pac-12. for more on what these moves mean and what prompted them, i'm joined now by pat forde, a senior writer for sports illustrated. good to see you. thanks for joining us. pat: good to be with you. amna: just how substantial a

realignment is this for college football? pat: it is massive. the pac-12 is a conference that has been around for 108 years and had really been the cultural sports base for college athletics on the west coast, and now, it is on the verge of being completely eradicated. the movement is really unprecedented in terms of what we have seen. we are just making a mockery of geography and common sense in the travel demands on athletes here but it's all for the bottom line, tv dollars, and that is what is driving everything. amna: you called this a sporting travesty and you also wrote "to be told the university presidents and athletic directors to do it so they did." is this really just all about the money? pat: it really is and i'm not sure there's any other way you can justify what has been going on. tv rights revenues have

skyrocketed in terms of what schools can make from their media partners, whether it is espn for the southeastern conference on others or fox sports with the big ten. they are in an arms race. networks are pitted against each other and the money is staggering and it is driving every decision. university presidents gave lip service to academics but clearly, the game they are paid playing is all about -- they are playing is all about revenue. amna: this is what the big ten will look like next year. literally, teams competing from coast to coast. this seems like a travel and logistical nightmare. how is this going to work? pat: i don't know, not very well, i don't think. what you are asking is athletes from eugene, oregon, los angeles, seattle, to get on planes constantly to fly two and three time zones to the east.

if you do enough coast-to-coast travel, that is very hard. elite universities as well. there has been lip service paid to increasing the number of charter flights and private aircraft as opposed to putting them on commercial flights but we will see how much that actually happens. there has been a lot of work put into make these logistics work but unless they developed a time travel mechanism, it is just not going to be easy for anyone. amna: we are talking about football which is typically the big money sport at a lot of these schools but there are more than half a million student athletes competing in dozens of sports across the country in schools. what's the impact on those teams and athletes? pat: there's more midweek competition especially like in basketball and some of the other sportswear if you are going from west coast to east coast or vice versa, you're missing two or three days of school for competition. and also, the budgets that are

out there for these sports is not commencing it to what they are putting into football. if you are going to try to do this on the cheap, it will be difficult to get your volleyball team, your swim team, your cross-country team to these competitions all over the country. amna: we know acc officials are meeting and considering adding two of the remaining pac-12 teams to their conference. that would be stanford and university of california. are we just heading to a world where there's two or three big super conferences and that is the way it is? >> that is inevitably going to be the case. they are so far ahead of everyone else. the big 12, the acc are hanging on by their fingernails, trying to remain viable. this is part of that where the acc is trying to get stanford and california to help solidify the standing but ultimately, i really do think that we are headed towards 40 schools

playing big-time football and everybody else has been kicked to the curb. amna: we talked about the student athletes and other teams at these schools but what does this mean for the fans? pat: it's another thing for fans. if you loved your in-state rivalry, if you are a stanford fan and you like lying against ufc. if you are morgan state and your arrival is what -- rival is washington, that is gone. you are missing your chance to drive over to the rival school and watch her team play. the chance to sit around the proverbial water cooler at the office and discuss with somebody who went to that school who is going to win the game this year? there is no game so there's not a whole lot of crossover between rikers and washington fans around the water cooler. amna: big changes coming to college football. thank you for walking us through this. good to see you. pat: thank you. ♪

geoff: an update before we go tonight. police in north carolina say a gunman shot and killed a faculty member inside a unc chapel hill campus lab building. the suspect was arrested but has not been identified. the campus was put on lockdown for several hours and investigators are working to piece together a motive as they search for the weapon. the university has canceled classes for tomorrow. amna: remember, there is much more online, including a live map tracking the tropical storm expected to turn into a major hurricane as it nears florida's gulf coast later this week. you can find that map and more updates on the storm at pbs.org/newshour. i am mahamna. on behalf of the entire newshour team, thank you for joining us. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by ♪

>> architect. beekeeper. mentor. your raymondjames financial advisor taylor's advice to help you live your life. life well planned. >> committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. more at kendedafund.org. supported by the john d. and catherine t macarthur foundation, committed to building a more verdant and peaceful world. more information at mac found.org. and with the ongoing support of these institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by

contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] >> t upbeat mus]

- hello everyone and welcome to "amanpour & company", here's what's coming up. - i think if this technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong. - [christiane] the leaders of chatgpt join the chorus calling for regulation of super intelligent ai. - we've seen that self-regulation of companies doesn't work and thate need to have a different playbook for this moment.