wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. the xfinity 10g network. made for streaming. ♪ >> good evening. >> on "the newshour" tonight -- >> the honorable mike johnson is

duly elected speaker of the house of representatives. >> house republicans finally choose a speaker. who is mike johnson, and can he get pressing legislative business done? >> israel appears ready to delay a ground invasion of gaza, buying time for hostage negotiations, humanitarian aid for palestinians, and a buildup of u.s. defenses. >> and judy woodruff explores how american democracy has survived despite deep polarization at many points in history. a reason for optimism in these divided times. >> we have in fact always been divided. the question is if that division dominates our politics or not. ♪ >> major funding for "the pbs newshour" has been provided by -- ♪

moving our economy for 160 years, bnsf. the engine that connects us. ♪ >> the walton family foundation, working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people and nature can thrive together. supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. 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. >> welcome to "the newshour." we are following two major stories tonight. deadly bombardments continue in gaza, and there are signs today that israel's expected ground invasion may be delayed. we will delve into the war's developments in the program. >> first, in the u.s., a breakthrough. the house of representatives has a new speaker after 22 days of leaderless, gridlocked chaos following the ouster of former speaker kevin mccarthy. mike johnson won all 220 republican votes cast today, 20 more than the three prior nominees managed on the floor or behind closed doors.

after emerging from the leadership vacuum, speaker johnson said congress must win back americans' faith. >> their faith is at an all-time low and one of the reasons they have lost it is because congress over the years has not delivered to the american people well enough. we are in the majority right now. we've gone through a little bit of struggle and character building, and you know what it has produced? more strength, more perseverance , and that is what we are about to deliver for the american people. >> lisa is on capitol hill where she has tracked every twist in this unfolding political drama. weeks of infighting among house republicans apparently open a lane for mike johnson to emerge as a fourth round draft pick. how did it all come together? >> how about that? three weeks it took and four nominees. there were several dynamics at play.

house republicans were simply exhausted, and they ran through all their top leaders, and they landed on mike johnson, who has allies and is well thought of in most every faction here in the house, and he is also liked and endorsed by former president trump. he said on the house floor, he has pledged to give house republican members more power. >> the job of the speaker of the house is to serve the whole body, and i will, but i have made a commitment to my colleagues here that this speaker's office is going to be known for decentralizing the power here. >> that, of course, can lead to a more robust house floor, more legislation, but it also is a double-edged sword, as we have seen, because more power to members could mean problems for leadership, and when you have big decisions, as speaker johnson will soon with government funding running out in a few days.

>> a decade ago, mike johnson was not even in politics. now he is in the presidential line of succession. tell us more about him and his background. >> mike johnson is 51 years old. he was elected the same year as president trump came in to congress -- s president trump, in 2016 into congress. he is the cohost of a christian podcast. let's talk about his beliefs and policy here. he is a fiscal hawk. he announced today that he wants to create a commission to look at the national debt. he is someone who supports ukraine, but he has recently questioned larger funding bills, even voted against some, so we will watch him closely on that issue. on gay rights, lgbtq issues, in early 2000's, he is someone who spoke about the idea that gay marriage should not be allowed to be banned and that states should be allowed to have sodomy

laws. on abortion, he supports and filed legislation for a national 15-week abortion ban. abortion is a key issue for him. >> i thought we were going to hear some sound there -- there we go. we have that sound? >> the quintessential health care issue is the sanctity of every single human life, the sanctity of the life of the unborn child. >> believing that life begins at conception. one more thing, mike johnson was actually a big force in supporting the state lawsuit to try to object to the certification of results. filed an amicus brief and objected to the results on january 6. he later said that was symbolic. however, that is something we are going to hear more about. >> tell me more about that, what he said about his role in working to undermine the 2020 election results and what democrats have said about that. >> right. johnson on january 6, after the

ride happened, did an interview in which he said he never thought his actions would lead to and he did not intend them to lead to overturning the election, but some of those who listened to him thought otherwise. this is a question democrats leak raised today -- democrats raised today. this is also a question laura asked president biden today. >> after 22 days, house republicans just elected mike johnson of louisiana as the speaker of the house. johnson advocated conspiracy theories about voting machines and a rigged election in 2020. he encouraged his colleagues to join a lawsuit to invalidate the results for states. if you win reelection in 2024, are you worried that speaker johnson would again attempt to overturn the election? >> no. this week i'm not worried in

last week, i was not worried about overturn of the election. we've had 60 lawsuits and every time, they lost. i understand the constitution. >> speaker johnson was asked about it last night shortly after he was nominated. he said, "next question." did not answer. also today when he gave some remarks, he did not take questions, so i think that is something we hope to clarify. meanwhile, democrats who do have that concern, some of the most progressive democrats told me today they like speaker johnson's remarks on the floor today and they want to see how he does before they judge him any more. >> thanks, as always. for a view from inside the house publican conference on the new speaker, we are joined by congresswoman mary annette miller meeks of ohio. thank you for being with us. mike johnson was the architect

of an effort to overturn the 2020 election results. why was that not a dealbreaker for you, given that you were someone who did not object to the certification of joe biden's election win? >> as you know, i voted to certify all of the electors. i think that is what constitutionally we are to do. however, other individuals interpreted that a different way. as you know, we have been 22 days without a speaker. 208 democrats voted with republicans to oust speaker mccarthy. i think that was an erroneous decision. i voted against the motion to vacate speaker mccarthy, so we are left in a position where in order to have a candidate that all of the house republicans could vote on, that person ended up being mike johnson after several other candidates were eliminated. i think we need a speaker. we need to put forth our resolution to condemn hamas and to support israel. we need to get back american

hostages, and we need to pass appropriations bills because we know that we are coming up against another deadline on november 17 to be able to fund the government. >> the job of house speaker requires one to be bipartisan. that is especially true in this current scenario. will the current house republican conference chair allow speaker johnson to do deals with democrats? >> i think if you know representative johnson, now speaker johnson, he is a person th is very humble. he is willing to work with individuals. he is respectful of other individuals, so i think, although we don't have a track record from him, i think he is someone that puts the best interest of the country both in mind and in heart, so i think you will see that displayed in

action. >> you mentioned earlier this prolong speaker base. he ultimately voted twice against jim jordan, voted for mike johnson, obviously. mike johnson is more genial than jim jordan but no less a hardliner. he is on the far right of the spectrum when it comes to issues like reproductive rights, same-sex marriage. why vote in support of johnson and against jordan? >> i had reasons for voting against jim jordan and we sent out a press release to that effect. i think we have yet to see how representative, now speaker johnson will be and what policies he will put forward. we have a conference that has a lot of different members, and one of the jobs of the speaker is to gain the majority and protect their members, so i think there are a lot of voices in our conference that will be speaking with speaker johnson, and that will help to direct where we go with policy. >> you received death threats for voting against jim jordan. how did that affect you and your view of extremism within the party? >> i think that death threats are not acceptable, no matter what party you are, and as a matter of fact, they are not

acceptable if you are an ordinary citizen. i think that we moved through that process and if you have a rationale or reason for doing what you do and you feel that it is the best decision and ethical decision for you, you make that decision. i put it into perspective of what is happening in israel, and this is minor compared to what is happening in israel, quite frankly. >> looking ahead, lawmakers have until november 17 to come up with some plan to give the government funded and avoid a shutdown. what is the past forward? >> i think first and foremost was getting a speaker put in place. that has been achieved. today we will be voting on in just a little bit our resolution condemning hamas in support of israel and making sure israel has the forces it needs to combat terrorism and the atrocities that occurred, and next week, we will be staying here and voting on appropriations bills, so we will

try to get through as many appropriations bills as possible, and the next step will if we need to, reconsider a resolution, and that will determine what they be things added to the resolution to continue funding the government. from the republican side, we would want to get that across. >> thank you so much for your time this evening. >> thank you. ♪ >> here the latest headlines. it is day 19 of the israel-hamas war, and israel continues a heavy -- heavy air assault on gaza as palestine fires rockets on israel, but there are new signs and israeli ground invasion may not be imminent at all. >> on the gaza border, they are parked and poised for a fight. hundreds of thousands of israeli soldiers readying and training to invade gaza, but the ground

invasion appears to be on hold for now. prime minister benjamin netanyahu indicated tonight -- >> we are working to ensure the ideal conditions for our troops for the next operations. >> the delay discussed by netanyahu and president biden as the u.s. military wants the uss eisenhower and air defense systems to arrive in the middle east before the invasion begins. already, 21 american service members were injured in drone attacks last week that the u.s. blames on iranian-backed munitions. >> my warning to the ayatollah was that if they continue to move against those troops, we will respond and he should be prepared. >> the delay in the ground invasion also buys time for negotiations to release more hostages, as biden told netanyahu. >> what i have indicated to him is if that is possible to get these folks out safely, that is what he should do. it is their decision, but i did

not demand it. >> but israel refuses to halt its air campaign, and across the gaza strip, the most vulnerable victims continue to need respite care. gaza health authorities controlled by hamas, say 17,000 have been wounded. and more than 6500 killed. president biden today cast doubt on those numbers. >> what they say to me today is that no notion of how many palestinians have been killed. i'm sure innocence have been killed, and is the price of waging war. i continue to be alarmed about extremist settlers attacking palestinians in the west bank, pouring gasoline on fires. >> the fire gazans one stock is israeli airstrikes. today, they lifted a pile of rubble as the bombs continued to fall. >> the israeli occupation has proven that it is and capable of achieving any of its goals. >> yet again, gazans run for safety as if there was any safe place in this war.

>> the united auto workers union has restate the with four this evening. the lowest paid workers will see a 150% pay raise. the deal still has to be ratified by union members. strikes continue at gm. they have led to more than $9 billion in economic losses. former president trump was fined $10,000 for violating a gag order in his civil fraud trial again. he criticized an unnamed person in the new york court as "very partisan." under oath, he insisted he meant

michael cohen, his former lawyer who testified for a second day, but the judge said his law clerk was the target and warned, "don't do it again or it will be worse." it is the second time he has fined mr. trump for maligning the clerk. a representative was charged today with a misdemeanor for setting off a fire alarm, forcing the occupation of a house office building last month. democrats were trying to delay a vote on a funding bill to get the government opened their the new york congressman said it was a mistake. he is expected to plead guilty, formally apologized to capitol police, and pay $1000 fine. an anti-israel protests not far from the u.s. capitol through condemnation in capital -- washington today. last night, students for justice in palestine projected slogans onto the library at george washington university.

one image seen on social media declared "glory to our martyrs in the war between israel and hamas." another call for establishing a palestinian state across all of what is now israel. mitch mcconnell was sharply critical tonight. >> student activists projected antisemitic messages on the side of a campus building. they issued a call to "free palestine from the river to the sea." anyone unfamiliar with israel's geography, that is a call for the destruction of the jewish state. >> vladimir putin called for withdrawing from a 1996 packed. -- pact. >> if the u.s. continues to take

no steps to fulfill its obligations, then this agreement will remain a sham, and there is, of course, no point in russia participating in this imitation any further. i think if the west and united states are seriously interested in international stability, they will hear this signal and take the necessary actions. >> russian hardliners have called for resuming nuclear testing amid tensions over the war in ukraine, but the foreign ministry says moscow will still respect the ban as long as the united states does not begin nuclear testing. a passing of noah, richard rowntree -- rountree died of pancreatic cancer. he sprang to stardom as the title character of the shaft movies in the early 1970's. he was 81 years old. still to come, the expanding uaw strike against detroit automakers. how the nation's divisions compared to other points in u.s. history, and david brooks' new book on building genuine human

connection. >> this is "the pbs newshour," from weta studios in washington and in the west from walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. >> among the 220 hostages taken by hamas during the october 7 attack, a 79-year-old father of five and grandfather of 13. he was a 61-year resident of kibbutz where he and his wife raised their kids. one of his children joins us now as the representative of the 73 people kidnapped from the area. good to see you. thank you for being here. >> thank you for inviting me. >> i know the shock of what your community and family have been through was a visceral, that

barbaric attack your mother witnessed, managed to escape from. two and a half weeks later, how do you look back on that day? >> we know now -- we know the story of my father, but we also note this community, this peaceful and cultural community of 350 people has undergone a massacre. we know now that one out of four people from this community is either murdered or kidnapped. this is hard to imagine. there is no one family that is left untouched. >> and you know or have a connection to everyone, including one of the hostages who was released earlier this week. what was it like for you to see her released and hear her talk about what her time was like in captivity? >> i know both of the hostages that were released. one of them was a neighbor. one was even a teacher of mine back in kindergarten. she taught me how to swim.

i know her family. they also gave us precious news that my father was still alive. she said she saw him and she knows he is alive and he is ok. >> that was the first time you had gotten any information on your father? >> that was the first time we got any information since the moment he was taken from his home, from the safe room of his home on saturday, october 7. >> what have israeli officials been telling you? have they been briefing you on their efforts to try to free your father and others? >> they are not really briefing us on the efforts, which i find it understandable, but we definitely wanted humanitarian organizations to contact the hostages in the meantime, and

unfortunately, i think -- to the best of my knowledge, this has yet to happen, although we have asked the red cross to check on the hostages and their conditions and supply medicine. so we don't have any information. >> you have been here speaking with lawmakers. that is why you are in washington right now. what are you specifically asking them to do? >> i'm here to first tell the story of my father and of others and ask them to be the voice, to show the world for people to understand that these people are elderly and kids and even babies that were taken and to tell their story. i think that is my first ask that i'm asking them. the second is to do whatever in their power and each of them in

his position to make sure all the hostages come back and are released immediately. >> what would you like to see your government do? i should mention, your father is held in gaza and the bombardment continues. do you want that bombing to stop to make room for negotiation? >> the only thing i want my government is to make sure hostages are the first priority. >> do you feel that is the case right now? >> this is what i hear from them , and i hope that this is the case. obviously, i know there are other goals that need to happen, but it is not priority. my priority is to get my father back, to get the children and the babies back. >> in terms of what you want to see them do, does that mean you support whatever steps they take if they call for a cease-fire for hostages to be released or

they arrange for hostage swaps? >> i would support anything that makes my father come home safely and the other hostages. i don't want to get into details because i'm not the expert. >> we are thinking of you and your father and your family and all the other families with missing loved ones right now. >> thank you. >> historically, few ultra-orthodox jews have served in the israeli army, a fact that spark resentment and triggered recent antigovernment protests, but in the two weeks since hamas' attack on civilians in southern israel, more than 2000 young men from this religious community have volunteered to serve. >> as israel prepares for a ground war, more than 300,000 reservists have been called up to serve. many only completed basic training.

getting them all up to speed is a challenge. >> getting them prepared for tunnel mobilization, knowing how to maneuver in a tunnel, to conduct combat in a tunnel, or it could be combat in urban areas, which is a challenge in itself, so there is a lot of upskilling i believe is the word. >> ultra-orthodox jewsake up about 15% of israel's population and are its fastest growing community. they don't traditionally undertake military service and instead believe that they serve by having young men between 15 and 32 bit to full-time study of the torah. we were on the ground as protests against prime minister benjamin netanyahu's extreme right coalition government swept through israel's cities. some secular israelis felt their young people were being sent to serve their country while being ultra-orthodox, as they saw it, got a free pass.

>> some of us feel we are carrying the weight of our country while others are just benefiting from it. >> in 2020, just 1200 ultra-orthodox were serving. not twice that number have volunteered to fight over the past two weeks. this rabbi did his torah study as a teenager and then decided to continue to military service. he later said as chief rabbi to israel's air force. the idf needed recruitment help after the october 7 hamas attacks. they knew who to call. >> the army told me if you bring 50, we will open to you. i brought 450. i now have a list of able bodies . >> he hopes this call to serve will change his community's relationship with israeli society. >> there's a problem in this country, that israel's public does not understand the ideology of the ultra-orthodox, and that

is why the subject creates a lot of conflict. there are some who interpret the beliefs as being against the army. >> he says the influx of volunteers is proof that simply is not true. a 30-year-old father of three is one of those volunteers. raising his family in the ultra-orthodox neighborhood, he never saw army service in his future. the terror attacks changed his mind. >> we saw picture in movies that only you know it or hear it in the movie. it is real. babies and adults and teenagers. terrible situation. actually, i sit here and cry. i could not just sit here and do nothing. >> he knows running up

transforms the quiet life he and his wife have for themselves here. >> she will pay the price of my decision, but she is ok with that. >> as for training and deployment, he knows he will be miles behind those who were put through their paces at 18 but says he is up for the challenge. >> most of the people who are being called up have done their military service, however long that was. you never trained. you never fought. >> we made a good choice. we will do our best. >> he realizes many who share his beliefs are not ready to take the same step, but he hopes they will see thnew belief the attacks have given him, that to keep their community safe, they must do their physical as well as religious part. >> what was in the past will not be in the future.

everything is going to change. >> as israelis unite across political and religious divides for the war effort, the question remains, if this fight will change society for good or simply kick internal disputes on down the road. ♪ >> the united auto workers expanded its strike this week, targeting some of the most profitable plants of detroit's big three automakers. the latest one started yesterday at a gm suv factory with about 5000 workers in arlington, texas. stephanie has the latest on the strike, now in its 41st day. >> the strikes now involve 46,000 workers at 40 assembly plants and part centers around the country. there are reports today that

ford and the uaw could be moving closer to an agreement, but so far, a deal with the big three automakers remains elusive. for a look at where things stand, we are joined by david shepherdson of reuters, who has been covering all this closely. first, i want to ask what you know about any developments of the uaw's contract negotiations with ford. are you hearing about any breakthroughs? >> ford has been intensely bargaining. they went late last night, so there is a real possibility they could announce an agreement as early as tonight. ford had previously said they were willing to go to a 23% pay hike over a little more than four years. the uaw has been pushing them to go up to at least 25 percent. i do think there's a realistic chance we could see a deal as

early as later tonight, or this could be another false alarm, but they are definitely moving to the closest point they have been. >> how will that set the standard with the other two companies they are negotiating with? >> i think like in the past -- you know, traditionally the uaw has -- one company reached an agreement with them and the other two have not gone on strike. in this case, the uaw opted to do this targeted strike, all three at the same time for the first time ever, so i do think a deal with ford will set the template for a deal with gm and stellantis. they are pretty close already in terms of the proposals they have, so it might take a few days or a little longer, but i think ultimately, if a deal with ford is struck, it will set the benchmark for the other two. >> what continue to be the top priorities for union members, and are there some things they have clearly been willing to concede on? >> sure.

this started out with uaw seeking a 40% pay raise over four years, a 32-hour workweek, a return of retirement benefits. on the other hand, auto companies were offering somewhere around 14% to 15% pay hikes and were seeking some changes to work rules. by all accounts, this deal, the one that was already on the table prior to whatever final deal gets reached, will be the most lucrative ever for the unions, much better than what i think some analysts thought could be done, but they are not getting some of the more transformative items like a 32-hour work week or the return of the pension that they had sought in the union had given up about 15 years ago when the industry was in real trouble. >> one of the things we have been looking at is how the union is concerned about the

carmakers' transition to electric vehicles and their job security related to that. i know the head of the uaw wanted an agreement that unionizing workers what sort of happen automatically at any future electric battery plants. where are they on that issue? i know that was a sticky, tricky part because it involved foreign companies as well. >> correct. detroit automakers have these joint ventures with korean battery makers to build batteries, which ultimately is the industry shifts toward electric vehicles, they replace the engines and transmissions built for internal combustion vehicles. at a minimum, we are not going to see a full agreement because most of these plans are not yet in place. even if there is an agreement including these workers under that agreement, there's still a lot of decisions and negotiating

to be had about what people will get paid, what are the rights of workers to transfer, and so that issue may not get resolved. >> thanks so much for being with us and for your reporting on this issue. >> thank you. >> many americans feel we are living through an extraordinarily divided time, but historian heather cox richardson says there is precedent both for our conflicts today and for the hope that we can overcome that. judy woodruff recently sat down with richardson for her ongoing series, "america at a crossroads." >> he really went out of his way to work with people across the aisle. his cabinet was made up of his rivals. >> at the lincoln cottage in washington, d.c., a museum that wants served as the residents of the president who presided over the country during its greatest

test, the civil war. i met heather cox richardson. >> he was trying to preserve the constitution. >> she is a historian at boston college who has become known to many more as the author behind her daily sub stack newsletter, "letters from an american," where she analyzes to day's events in the context of our past, drawing parallels to find guidance forward. her new book, "democracy awakening: notes on the state of america," explores other divisive periods in american history and how remarkable individuals help prevent its fall to authoritarianism. the book opens with a familiar diagnosis of our present -- america is at a crossroads. >> we are in a moment in which we are facing a choice between preserving and expanding american democracy. the idea that everybody should have a right to be treated

equally before the law and you have a say in their government on the one hand, and on the other hand, the idea of a authoritarianism, which is rising in the united states as well as around the world. this is the moment when we choose between those two things, so this is the moment when we are standing at a crossroads. >> people are asking me often, how long has this polarization, this division been around in our country. you are a historian. how deep with the divisions at the beginning of this country? >> we have in fact always been divided. the question is if that dominates our politics. of course there were divisions in this country, both within those people who ruled but also between the people who ruled and did not have a say in their government, who did not have rights. women, indigenous americans, black americans, brown americans. those sorts of divisions have always been in our society. what makes this moment different

and what makes it look like more divided times in our history is that those divisions are playing out in our politics, and for the first time in our history, a major political party has been taken over by a small faction that does not believe in democracy. >> when it comes to the treatment of people of color, of blacks, a people who are immigrants, that is something the country has wrestled with him the beginning. why has that been so hard? >> that indeed is the heart of where american life began, with these conflicts between different groups of people, especially between those people who monopolize politics, wealth in a society and the people who worked for them, essentially, a were -- or who were enslaved by them and essentially not considered human beings. the idea that everybody should have a say takes a long time to develop and is very much in our dna of this country. i would like to say, though, that in a way, that has also

been our inoculation in the past against authoritarianism. because those people who were marginalized always kept in front of everyone the aspirations of the declaration of independence. while black americans and indigenous americans were excluded from the constitution, were in the minds of the founders excluded from the declaration of independence, people of color from the beginning talked about, hey, wait a minute, those are great principles. why don't they apply to me? why don't they apply to us? we feel the same way. by continually holding up those standards and calling people to account when they were not meeting them, i think they have helped united states continually to expand the idea of democracy, expand the idea of who is included, and create a more just society. >> so there is a persistent there in that over time, marginalized groups have made this argument again and again and again.

as you say, kept it in the forefront of our consciousness. where did that resilience come from? >> one of the great brilliance of abraham lincoln was to rededicate the nation, not to the constitution, which was the document that enslavers rested on because of its protection of property -- this is kind of a truism in american history that if you have rights, you look to the constitution. if you want rights, you look to the declaration of independence. abraham lincoln, relying on the declaration of independence as the heart of the united states. four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. he's pointing to the declaration, not to the constitution. having those principles be central to the foundation of this nation makes it easier, i think, for people who do not have rights to say, i'm not doing anything radical here, the same way that lincoln did. he said i'm not doing anything radical when i talk about human freedom.

i'm relying on a foundational document. >> are there elements of the 1850's that are with us today? >> yes, the good ones as well as the bad ones. the divisions in our country created by politicians who are garnering power and amassing wealth by limiting our access to media, for example, so that people get into their own silos, by demonizing the other in our society, something enslavers did with great success, the people taking over the keynotes of our democracy, the supreme court, the senate. those things also happen in the 1850's. by 1856, northerners had woken up and said, listen, we disagree about immigration and finance and transportation and internal improvements, but we can agree we don't want that. by 1856, they have put together a political party to push back against that. by 1859, abraham lincoln has articulated a new concept of democracy that calls for a government that serves ordinary

individuals rather than the elite enslavers. voters, all white men of property, have elected him to the white house. by 1861, he has signed the emancipation proclamation and the idea of human enslavement as the founding principle of the nation. by 1863, he has given the gettysburg address, be dedicating this nation to a new birth of freedom based on the declaration of independence -- re-dedicating this nation. the idea of ordinary people waking up and finding the leaders who will articulate those principles is as alive today as the bad side of the 1850's is alive as well. >> you talked about very difficult times leading up to the great depression. that was a period when there were strong authoritarian voices on the left and on the right. other countries around the world

succumbed to some of those forces, as we know in that period. but this country did not. why not? >> i think the real reason is simply because they united states has such a strong tradition of marginalized communities insisting on equality before the law and recognizing the dangers of authoritarianism. we tend to hail franklin delano roosevelt as a great hero, which, of course, in many ways he was, but it is worth remembering that he was articulating a vision that had put -- that had been put forward by other americans like frances perkins, who would become his secretary of labor herself recognized the extraordinary need of government to answer to the people because she had witnessed an event in which girls and young women had been trapped in a factory which caught fire and jumped from the windows to their deaths. she said later she would never forget the sound of bodies hitting the side walk and she dedicated her life to make sure governments would protect people who cannot protect themselves.

>> some people are talking very much about the rise of antidemocratic doses in this country, worrying we could be headed for something like another civil war, but you are saying you see more hope than you do darkness. >> i see us walking on a knife edge. we absolutely could go that direction, and we know full well there are leaders in this country who have advocated doing that. one of the things that worries me a lot is that since 2015, there tends to be an attempt to pretend that the things that people like former president trump are saying are simply windowdressing when he is literally talking about calling the former chair of the joint chiefs of staff somebody who looks like he has committed treason and suggesting the punishment for treason should be death. that was an extraordinary statement. it is a statement that in any period before 2015 would have ended a political career, what

have been headline news for weeks, and it barely made the front pages. that idea that our population is so destabilized and so angry that it would reach for an authoritarian who promised to return to a perfect pass -- perfect past is very much on the table, but is it's not inevitable. the future is never inevitable. >> when it comes to authoritarianism, we look around the world and see what is going on in india and turkey, and yet, you have hope for the future. where is that hope? quickly hope is in us. the hope of democracy is that we get to have a say in our futures. we get to be treated equally before the laws and we got to say who governs us, and i really believe in american democracy. we have been through extraordinarily hard times before. i smile a little bit when people say, is this the worst ever? i say, tell me which were the

good years. we have always had hard times and we have always done the right thing. i'm very worried in the short-term term, but i have faith in american democracy, and i have faith in humanity. so, yeah, i have hope, but it is going to be a lot of work. >> for "the pbs newshour," i'm judy woodruff in washington. >> every friday night, you and i welcome david brooks here in the studio and into your living rooms. little did we know, though, that we were watching david, he was also watching us. his new book pulls from his own observations and research and dives into the topic of human connection and its importance in

today's society. the book's title -- "how to know a person: the art of seeing others deeply and being seen." i sat down with david recently to talk more about it. it is good to speak with you outside of our normal friday chats. >> i feel more relaxed already. >> this book, you open it by talking about your family dinners growing up, the dinner table conversations you would have and how it was reflective of your intellectual upbringing and the impact it had on you. >> if anybody saw that movie " fiddler on the roof," they know how jewish families can be, always dancing and singing. i came from the other kind of jewish family. we were more cerebral, talking about the evolutionary history of lactose intolerance or victorian funerary monuments. the problem is if you cut yourself off from that kind of emotion, you cut yourself off from that intimacy of life itself.

i'm not an exceptional guy, but i am a grower. i do change. i'm on a journey to become more emotionally available or spiritually available. a better friend to people. as i have been on a journey of becoming more human, the country has been on a journey becoming less human. we are in bitter and divided times where there's so much social pain, and this book is an attempt to be better at seeing another person, making them feel seen. if our country is going to come back from inhumanity and if our families are coming back from the break down and if our workplaces are going to thrive, we have to be good at this skill of seeing others, making them feel valued, respected, and heard. >> to your point, from all the things causing division these days, we often don't talk enough about isolation, how it harms personal and societal health. >> there are a lot of reasons

our society is in trouble. the core thing, to me, is we just don't treat each other well. there are a series of skills, social skills, involve treating another person with consideration and respect. things like how to be a great conversationalist. how to disagree well. how to ask for forgiveness. how to break up with somebody without destroying their heart. these are just skills, and sometimes i think people don't learn them. >> to also write the importance of play as a point of connection. you talk about your men's basketball league. worst of all, i did not know you could who -- first of all, i did not know you could hoop. >> he would not be disabused. my whole game is surrendering. i tried to walk people through the process of getting to know people. the first is the gaze. when we first meet, and i at priority to you? the answer to that will be in the eyes. the second part is what i call

company men. that's just hanging out. i had this moment when my oldest was 16, 12 months. he is to wake up early, and we would just play together for four or five hours every morning. i remember thinking he knows me better than i have ever been known by anybody because i'm so natural when i'm playing. on the other hand, i know him better than any other human being, and we never exchanged a word because he could not talk. before we begin to have deep conversations with each other, it is a process of play, being around each other, so get used to each other. >> you also discussed the moment when one of your oldest friends

succumbed to depression. how do you sit with someone in their suffering? >> that was something i did not understand. his name was peter. he was a wonderful guy. as my wife said, he was extraordinary and ordinary at the same time. he was a man the way you are supposed to be a man, gentle and powerful. a dad like you are supposed to be a dad. he had a wonderful life. at age 57, depression hit. i realize that even though i thought i was a well-educated person, i did not know what depression was. you cannot understand depression by extrapolating from your own knowledge and status. a friend of mine put it well, depression is a malfunction in the instrument used to interpret reality. the person processing the world is seeing a distorted image. in my friend's case, he had this lying, distorted voice in his head saying you are not worthwhile and nobody would miss you if you are gone. i did not know how to be with a person going through this. i made mistakes in the beginning.lot them were our phe

calls over covid. i would say here is an idea for you to get out of depression. i learned when you do that, all you are doing is showing the depressed person they don't get it. it is not ideas they are missing. it is energy. that was a stupid thing i should have known. what i came to understand gradually over years, you are there to recognize the situation. saying, i'm here for you, this sucks. i'm here for you, i'm never leaving. just small touches. sending a text, no response necessary. it is just part of the presents. dealing with someone depressed was a hard challenge that i learned a lot, and pete never recovered. he succumbed to suicide, and it was brutal. it's like, when your oldest friend is gone. when you go to montana and there are no mountains there. when you lose friends, your

unprepared for how much of a blow. you think losing family is, and of course it is, but losing a friend is a blow. i had three. >> i'm sorry, david. >> thank you. >> what did you learn about yourself in the process of writing this book, and what did you learn about how to know someone? >> i learned that there are depths there, there is capacity there if you allow yourself to be vulnerable, and i learned that that level of just beholding someone, not trying to fix them or revise them, just, like, tell me who you are. and then go deeper, what am i missing? it is so much fun. i was on the train a guy listening to my headphones and insular. now i talk to strangers, and i have way better rides than i did before.

>> always great to speak with you. >> always great to be with you. ♪ >> and that is "the newshour for tonight." >> on behalf of the entire "newshour" team, thank you for joining us. >> major funding for "the pbs newshour" has been provided by the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of "the newshour," including jim and nancy bildner and kathy and paul anderson. >> consumer cellular. how can i help you? >> this is pocket dial. >> well, somebody's pocket, thought i would let you know with consumer cellular, you can get nationwide coverage with no contract. >> these are people trying to

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