♪ geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on the "newshour" tonight, a new day in syria. rebel forces who ousted bashar al-assad's regime seek to build a functioning government. we get the biden adminstration's view on the seimic shift.

>> the future of the syrian people is going to depend on the choices that they make. geoff: a person of interest is arrested in the manhunt following the shooting death of united healthcare's ceo in new york city. amna: in his first network tv interview since winning the election, president-elect trump lays out his agenda, on the border, tariffs and potential political retribution. >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by -- ♪ the ongoing and institutions and friends of the news hour including leonard and norma clarifying and the kucova foundation. the hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting

institutions to promote a better world at hewlett.org. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. amna: welcome to the news hour. after 13 brutal years of war, syrians breathed free today in damascus and most of the nation, after the fall of the autocratic assad dynasity. bashar al-assad and his family

-- geoff: bashar al-assad and his family are now in russia, which extended them asylum. the lightning fast seizure of the nation by insurgent forces over the last two weeks rocked the region and the world. but for many syrians today, the task after the fall of assad was to take stock of the catastrophic damage done by over five decades of their rule, and what the future holds. nick schifrin begins our coverage. nick: in free damascus today, the foot soldiers of revolution celebrated the birth of any nation and a new generation that will barely know a ruler named assad. syrians who have known nothing but assad called today victory. and flew the flag of the syrian republic, now the flag of free syria. >> this great and glorious day is the new independence of

syria. what's people are delirious with happiness. yesterday was a great day and we are waiting for the country's children to return home to enjoy it. >> the country that millions fled, now tens of thousands of cars, families returning to their homes. even if those homes no longer stand. they have not seen their destroyed neighborhood since the war began. >> now after 13 years, we are back and the joy is overwhelming. we are home again. >> for nearly a decade, this was syria's map. the opposition in green in northwest syria. the kurds backed by the u.s. in yellow in the northeast. the regime and its allies in red with pockets of desert controlled by the islamic state in purple. it was redrawn in 10 days. the opposition sweeping through aleppo and seizing damascus with

barely a shot fired. u.s. officials say their top concern, keeping those isis pockets frozen. yesterday, the u.s. launched a large area into syria, bombing 75 different targets, described as isis meetings and training. syria's neighbors are worried about instability and israeli officials told pbs news hour that ground forces in blue entered syria for the first time in more than 50 years. to create what they call a buffer zone in what has been demilitarized territory along the syrian border. israel also targeted suspected chemical weapons sites and long-range rockets to prevent them from falling into rebel hands. yesterday, benjamin netanyahu visited the golan heights and took credit for ousting aside. >> this is an historic day in the history of the middle east. a direct result of the blows we inflicted on iran and hezbollah,

the main supporters of the assad regime. this created a chain reaction throughout the middle east of all those who want to be freed of oppression and tyranny. >> oppression was an aside family affair. they ruled the country for 52 years. he and his wife claimed to be serious stylish modern future. but in 2011 as part of the arab spring, pro-democracy protests swept through the country. assad unleashed a brutal crackdown that triggered civil war and that cities in ruins. half the country, more than 6 million people, fled their homes, desperately making a dangerous journey by boat because the land was no longer safe but so many including three -- a three-year-old never made it. this imagery coming the icon of fear and flight from syria. those who stayed to fight and whom the regime caught disappeared into a notorious

military prison outside damascus . some were tortured so severely, the only word he could say today is arabic for aleppo. the prison, the crucible of his cruelty. the bodies that embody aside's brutality. now, he stands no longer. his legacy smashed, his stature diminished. his army retreated, hollowed out by years of correction and affections. russia unwilling and/or unable to save him. syria's new apparent leader, he met today with the prime minister. he vows a smooth transition and moderate governance to respect minorities. but he and his group are

designated by the u.s. as foreign terrorists, whether they govern for all syrians, whether this country splinters is unknown. but for now, these syrians enjoy a new day of freedom and hope the future brings peace. for the pbs news hour, i am nick schifrin. >> u.s. officials are closely monitoring the situation in syria where 900 u.s. troops are still stationed mostly in the countries northeast. john feiner is the principal deputy national security advisor and i spoke with him moments ago. welcome back to the news hour. president biden said yesterday that the sudden collapse of the syrian government under aside is a fundamental act of justice but he said it is a moment of risk and uncertainty for the middle east. what are those risks and what is the administration doing to mitigate them? >> let's not lose track of the opportunity side of this before we get to the risks.

the opportunity for the syrian people is to have their first experience with a government free of oppression in many generations. after 13 years of just an excruciating violent civil war. that is the opportunity that presents itself by the fall of assad. the risk is that the groups that toppled him, some of them have their own checkered history, a history with human rights abuses, with violent extremism, with terrorism. many of those groups are saying they have changed and reformed. many of them are saying the right things in the current moment as the president pointed out yesterday but we will be judging those groups by how they deal with this new moment of responsibility that has been brought about and i think the future of the syrian people will depend on the choices that people make. >> the leader of syria's offensive is said to have evolved from his past as a hard-line jihadi extremists. what is the current u.s. assessment of him and are the terrorist designations of him and his group >> designations

very much remain in place because those designations are based on actions not just on words. the united states is going to be assessing in real time the choices that these groups make and that their leaders make again. we have seen some of the comments made by him and others which we found to be constructive but it is meant to take a lot more than constructive comments to bring about a better future for the syrian people, a future that includes a government that is inclusive, that is represented by all the major -- that represents all of the major communities that make up syria's population and they have got a lot of work to get to that point. the united states will be supportive of that process as it plays out on the side of the syrian people. >> on saturday, president elect donald trump posted on social media, this is not our fight. let it play out. do not get involved. what is the u.s. interest in syria in your view? >> the u.s. has a number of interests in syria.

the united states believes the people of syria deserve a better future than they have had to endure over the course of both the recent civil war and generations of tyrannical rule before that. but fundamentally for the united states, there is still a terrorist threat, isis threat in syria that the united states has deployed troops to address, including taking strength just yesterday to continue to suppress that threat as we have successfully done now across successive u.s. administrations. the united states has partners and allies inside syria and kurdish groups we worked with over a period of years. the united states has partners and allies on the border of syria whose interests we are going to try to work with them to uphold. the united states has a number of interests that converge and we are going to stay can -- stay engaged. that does not mean the united states should be deploying militarily to engage in the conflicthat ultimately led to the toppling of assad.

geoff: the background noise, the construction happening at the white house, it is a very busy time at the white house. has the bride and national security team been able to convey those views and coordinate for that matter with the incoming trump team not just on syria but on a range of pricing models from -- matters from the middle east? >> we have been able to engage in conversations with the incoming trump national security team. i will not get into the details of those conversations and i would not say they go as far as coordination but we are keeping them informed of these situations as they unfold. geoff: assad and his family have been granted asylum in moscow as we understand it. what does accountability for assad who was a brutal autocrat, what does accountability look like right now for him? >> certainly believe he should be held accountable for the crimes that he perpetrated against the syrian people. certainly, there has been a measure of justice delivered already by the sheer fact of his

removal from office. summarily and the fact that he was forced to get on the plane and fly out of his own country where he spent his entire life as part of the ruling family so there is a measure of accountability and that and we would be supportive of more. i suspect the russians will have a different view of what his future should look like so i direct your questions to him but we would be all for him being held accountable further for his crimes. geoff: this is a rare moment of hope for the family of austin ties. he has been held in syria since 2012. does his family have reason to be optimistic? is there an opening here potentially? >> i should say i have known his family. his mom and dad for now more than 10 years and had the occasion to meet with them recently as i had a number of times in my current job and previously. these are good people who have been put through just an extraordinarily terrible set of circumstances and nobody has suffered more as a result of this then austin himself who has

now been missing in syria, held captive in syria for 12 years. it is our belief, our assessment that austin is alive in syria and we are going to be doing everything we can to reunite him with his family. the on that, we do not have further information to provide at this point but we are seeking information about his whereabouts because he deserves to come home. geoff: john feiner for the biden administration, thank you for your time this evening. amna: for more perspective, we turn now to a distinguished visiting professor at the u.s. naval academy and the former chairman of the day after, a nonprofit organization that has been working toward building democratic institutions in syria. how good to see you. i want to start with your reaction as we have been watching these scenes unfold in syria, people cheering in the streets. what has that been like for you? >> i am absolutely elated just as the syrians inside syria and

the syrians outside of syria. this has been a tragic moment for the syrians for the past 50 to 60 years of martial law, of tyranny, of imprisonment, enslavement, torture. this has been really a murderous regime that is corrupt and that has put syrians through a lot and says 60 years later, imagine suddenly we are free, the syrians are free so it is a moment of total elation. >> also a moment of great uncertainty because we do not know what comes next. when you look at the promises made by this leader, what do you make of his pledge to build a tolerant society? >> i do not simply go by his pledge. i go by the history of the organization that he dominates.

in the province of a live where they have now and experience in governance, where he has allayed the fears of minorities, where he has not imposed he job and so on on women. so i go by these things in addition to the fact that very recently, he has communicated with the elders of the sectarian minority. that back to the assad regime and they are on board with him and this is extremely significant. recently, he has nominated the cardinal of aleppo to be mayor of aleppo and the cardinal declined because he does not want to be in a political position. someday, the church bells were ringing in damascus so he has been bending over backwards to

allay the fears of minorities. >> i should ask, and you sound john feiner mentioned this, the fact that there is still a u.s. terroristic designation on this group, a precursor group did have links to al qaeda and we should also point out that he himself was the mannequins to the u.s. government issued a stop this terrorist effort, offering $10 million in a reward for anyone helping to track him down so do you see that designation being lifted and are we sure there are no ties to al qaeda that remain? >> all of these accusations are very true. however, he did break away from al qaeda. he even fought al qaeda and he fought isis and this is not only words but there is evidence of this so this designation of terrorism is in the past. obviously, we should trust and verify. we should not only take him by his word but by his actions and we will see what will happen in

the days and the weeks ahead. what encourages me very much is that he is now coordinating and cooperating with the former regime prime minister in order to have a transition of all these major files. health care, water, electricity, and so on, to be taken to the next transitional administration so that there would be continuity in syria's state institutions. this is very significant and it tells us about the intentions of not only him and his organization but the coalition of forces that joined him in liberating damascus. amna: i want to ask about israel's decision to move military forces into syria, seizing territory in the demilitarized zone that was part of the cease-fire. they claim it is a temporary defensive position. some see it as a land grab. how do you look at that? >> israel has always expanded

and said it will temporarily expand. i see this as a landgrab. i do not agree with mr. netanyahu he says that all this liberation of syria was triggered directly by israeli bombing because in 2011 when there was a peaceful, popular uprising of the syrian people against the assad regime, it failed because of the intervention of the russian air force. and of iranian pro militias that propped up the assad regime. this has little to do with the israeli adventures in the middle east. i think this is a landgrab. i do not think it is temporary. i think israel will remain there to stay. amna: i need to ask you about the millions of syrians who have been displaced over these many years of war. i remember myself being on the turkish border and visiting with many of them in the camps, children who had never even set foot back in syria.

what do you see as their future? will they be allowed to return home? >> my friend, we have to only look at the footage, at the tens of thousands of refugees outside syria, mainly in turkey. there are 3 million in turkey that are returning home now to reclaim their properties and to reclaim their lives and to be with their families and loved ones. they want to return to syria and they well and they are certainly welcome. amna: distinguished professor at the u.s. naval academy, thank you so much for being with us here today. we appreciate your time. >> thank you for having me. ♪ geoff: now to our other major story, police say they have detained a man they are calling a strong person of interest in the murder of the ceo of the

nation's largest health insurer who was shot in new york city last week, leading to a nearly week long manhunt that widened beyond the city limits. tonight, authorities apprehended ouija in a targeted -- luigi in the targeted shooting of the ceo of united health care. >> he matches the description of the identification have been looking for. he is also in possession of several items that we believe will connect him to this incident. how did we do it? good, old-fashioned police work. quincy was taken into custody after police got a tip that he had been spotted at a mcdonald's in pennsylvania more than 200 miles west of new york. >> some mcdonald's employee did something we asked every american to do. if you see something, say something, but most importantly, do something. and they did.

>> police say they found him with a firearm that was consistent with the one used in the murder complete with a suppressor. the nypd said it was a ghost gun, not licensed and not manufactured but made with parts that could have been printed by a 3d printer. police also found multiple fake ids, a passport, and a three-page document for live writings that they said spoke to his motivation and mindset. last week, investigators confirmed they found shell casings at the scene, interact with the words delay, deny, depose, words associated with the way insurance companies deny claims. they say the document revealed more but they provided few details. >> it does seem that he has some ill will toward corporate america. >> police say detectives on the way to pennsylvania and are working to bring him back to new york to face charges. it ends a six-day manhunt that sent police scouring new york city and following a trail of surveillance images looking for

the killer including this one showing a man in a black hooded jacket and surgical mask in the back of the cab at police say headed to the george washington bridge bus terminal. thompson's murderer ignited a wave of public feelings online and elsewhere including anger and resentment towards insurance companies and in some cases, a lack of empathy for his death. following thompson's killing, united health care reinforced their headquarters in minnesota with new fencing and a heightened police presence. several news reports say handwritten document that he was found carrying criticized health care companies and suggested violence as the answer and that part of the story, the connections to the health care industry has touched a nerve, sometimes with ugly results in the days since his murder. for more on that, we are joined by nicholas, staff writer at the atlantic, who covers health care and with the recent peace, murder is an awful answer for health care anger. thanks for being here.

we want to acknowledge that brian thompson was a husband, a father, a calling to many, and so much of the rhetoric online regarding this issue is just morally corrupt, depraved, abhorrent, and you write of the wave of public sentiment that we have seen, you say this. americans zeal for the death of an insurance executive demonstrates the coarsening of public discourse and the degree of rage many americans feel over the deficiencies of the u.s. health care system. what do you think this anger reflect about the current state of the system overall? >> first, i want to agree with you that we should all agree that order is abhorrent and not something we should be cheering about but this anger comes from the fact that our health care system largely results in people paying a huge amount of money out-of-pocket. in this country has a medical debt problem and there are statistics that show a significant portion of folks have to forgo medical treatment to pay for other bills because of the cost of health care and it is those issues that are really causing people to react

really viscerally to this murder. >> the other thing you write about, you say that denying claims is a future of the health-care industry, not a bug. tell me more about that. >> we have a for-profit system. for better or worse, we depend on insurers to make decisions on whether there should be paid for or not. and we can have a debate over whether insurers are too aggressive and denying to many pieces of medical care but the reality is even our most notorious famous public insurer, medicare, they deny claims as well. it is part of the system. it is a question of whether insurers are abusing that power. plus what are the real world results for people who experience it? >> there's a few different ways somebody can approach it. folks can pay the bill which could result in you wiping out your entire savings. you could try to fight that claim and appeal it, maybe go to court. that is also going to largely drain your savings if you action have to go to court, or you go into medical debt.

those are really the only ways out of this system at this point and that is why people feel so powerless. >> even after major reforms, it is clear that lots of people feel that the health care system is not working for them. how does our system compared to -- compared to other developed nations? >> most do not rely on private health insurers to provide health care. they have a single-payer system and that is the biggest difference is we depend on companies like united health care to provide our health care. >> what else is driving up costs for these companies? >> every part of the system is driving up costs in some way. a way to think about this is a prescription drug. say somebody go to a pharmacy and they are told they have to pay $200. the insurer will tell you that is the drugmaker's fault because they set that class for the drug. that is true. but if somebody with insurance goes into a pharmacy and is told to pay $200 for a drug, that means they have skimpy insurance. either they are being told they have to pay a coinsurance which

is a percentage of the drug cost or they have a deductible where they have to pay the entire amount until it kicks in so it is everyone who's at fault. >> what are some of the potential fixes that could mean fewer denials, better coverage, and cheaper care? >> well, that is the million-dollar question and i don't think we have gotten there yet. >> even after all of the political capital that was expended on obamacare, still we have not figured it out? >> obamacare did strengthen patients abilities to appeal these denials. honestly, that is one of the more powerful things that patients can do to fight back against these issues. there are proposed fixes like the doctors lobby, the american medical association, they have been pushing for reforms to prior authorization. those arguably could help but i don't think we have gotten to a place where we fully figured out how to make this private system work and not also create a lot of pain for the folks at have to

pay. courts were you surprised by the reaction we witnessed online after the shooting death of the ceo? >> yes and no. i do not think i have ever seen anything quite like that. i think we are sort of used to at this point discourse on x being a bit toxic at times. folks seem to be in power to say what they would not say in public but when i wrote this story, the amount of vitriol that i got just for saying we shouldn't be calling for murder of ceo's was astounding. people are furious. i don't think i have ever seen anything like it. i sort of expected some toxicity around the edges but it is widespread right now on that platform. geoff: that is an indictment of the times in which we live. thank you so much. >> thank you for having me.

amna: we start the day's other headlines with the latest problems with the militaries osprey fleet. the pentagon is temporarily pausing flights of the aircraft after metal components were found following a mere crash in new mexico last month. the latest incident bears similarities to the crash off the coast of japan in 2020 three that killed eight servicemembers and it comes amid ongoing concerns over the osprey which has been plagued by safety issues during its three decades of flying. the biden administration is banning two known carcinogens found in a variety of everyday products and services. today's announcement from the environmental protection agency includes a total ban of the highly toxic tce. it is primarily used in industrial settings as a metal degreaser. it is also in some household items like cleaning wipes, stain remover's and glue. the agency also restricted consumer and commercial use of what is known as park, a common

solvent used in dry cleaning. both chemicals have been linked to liver, kidney, and other types of cancer as well as damage to the nervous and immune systems. more than three quarters of the land on earth got drier in recent decades. that is according to a new report released at a you and senate in saudi arabia where nations are working to address the loss of one's fertile land. the u.n. calls the shift and existential crisis which will mean more drought and less land that can grow food and sustain plant and animal life. the report finds some 5 billion people will be impacted by dryland by the end of the century. scientists place blame on emissions from burning fossil fuels. >> from observation, we can see global warming has been the main factor explaining the trends in the last decade. precipitation is not changing very much at the global scale. >> separately, european climate

scientists say the earth just experienced its second warmest november on record. the report from the climate service compartment to set the latest evidence that this year will likely be the hottest ever recorded. that would mean back-to-back years of record heat following the all-time high set in 2023. south korea's justice ministry has banned president yoon from leaving the country following his attempt to impose martial law last week. authorities are investigating him for rebellion and other charges amid allegations that he tried to consolidate power and use the military to block legislators from voting the martial law down. protesters maintained a presence outside of parliament, calling for him to resign. south korea only turned to democracy in the 1980's and activists say they are committed to defending it. >> i am well aware that democracy in south korea was not

achieved easily. our history says so and it is something our parents devoted their tears and blood to achieve. i am here today because i cannot sit idly by while watching it crumble. >> they survived an impeachment vote after his allies oil clotted the proceedings. he has apologized but refuses to step down and says he will leave it to his party to decide what happens next. merriam-webster selected polarization as its word of the year. it refers to a very specific type of division. in the current landscape, it has become nearly synonymous with political discord. the dictionary defines it as a state in which the opinions, beliefs, or interests of a group or society no longer range along a continuum but become concentrated at opposing extremes. the word was first used in 1812 in the journal of natural philosophy more than 200 years later, it is more relevant than ever. the sports world is buzzing after news that juan soto has

agreed to a record contract with crosstown rivals, the new york mets. the deal is reported to be worth 700 65 million dollars over 15 years which would work out to more than $1 million per homerun if he is able to keep up his 2024 output for that full-time. his deal tops the previous record held by shohei ohtani who signed with the l.a. dodges last december for $700 million over 10 years. soto is a four-time all-star who hit 41 home runs this year as he helped the yankees to reach the world series. on wall street today, tech stocks struggled after china announced an antitrust investigation into american chipmaker nvidia. the dow jones industrial average lost 240 points or about half a percent. the nasdaq dropped more than 100 points, retreating from its recent record. the s&p 500 also pulled back from its all-time high. it is the end of an era for taylor swift posture year

blockbuster of a concert tour. the pop superstar wrapped up her record-breaking eras tour with the final show in vancouver this weekend. in total, she performed 149 shows in over 50 cities across five continents. more than 10 million people saw her perform, roughly the population of sweden. along the way, she raked in a record $2.2 billion in ticket sales, about double the amount coldplay reportedly took in for a similar stretch of shows for its music of the spheres tour. and then a touch of class behind all of that cash. it has been reported that swift gave nearly $200 million in bonuses to her team. and that includes truck drivers, caterers, security personnel, and her dancers, among many others. still to come on the news hour, a marine veteran who put a homeless man in a fatal chokehold on the new york city subway is acquitted. and east los angeles arts program works to give addicts

and ex-convicts a new life. >> this is the pbs news hour from the rubinstein studio at w eta in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. >> over the weekend, donald trump sat down for his first formal interview since winning a second term in the white house. trump spoke to meet the press about his plans for his new administration. doubling down on campaign promises around massive deportations, threatening political rivals, and praising january 6 insurrectionists. laura lopez has been following all of this and joins us now. good to see you. he made clear that he plans to implement mass deportations early in his next administration. what did he say about that? >> when it comes to mass deportation, the president-elect said he would deport entire families. >> i don't want to be breaking

up families so the only way you don't break up the family is you keep them together and you have to send them all back. >> even kids who are here illegally? >> if they want to stay, what are you going to do? you have to have rules and regulations. >> that action could impact an estimated 4.4 million u.s. born children under 18 who live with an unauthorized immigrant parent. now, trump also said that he wants to enter the 156-year-old right under the 14th amendment to birthright citizenship. >> can you get around the 14th amendment with executive action? >> we maybe have to go back to the people but we have to end it. we are the only country that has it. courts it is false that the u.s. is the only country that has birthright citizenship. some three dozen countries have it as well including canada and mexico, but how would he do this? trump said during the campaign trail entering statements that he could go around congress with an executive action, directing

agencies to require that at least one parent be a u.s. citizen or lawful permanent resident for a future child to be able to get automatic citizenship and he would also direct agencies to stop issuing passports and social security to people born in the u.s.. many constitutional scholars have said this would require a constitutional amendment through congress and that is the only way this could change. if he tries to take an executive action, he would face lawsuits which could then lead to the supreme court. lastly, very quickly, trump also said that he would allow dreamers, children who were brought here illegally as minors, to stay in the u.s. but during his first term, he tried to eliminate that program and the supreme court stopped him. >> he has previously said he would pardon the january 6 rioters, those who violently storms the capital in 2021. what did he say about how quickly he would move on this and anything on prosecuting his political rivals, which he

mentioned before? >> he said that on day one, he would be looking to pardon these january 6 riders, saying he would act quickly. he also accused lawmakers who worked on that house january 6 committee that investigated the insurrection, he said that he thinks that they should be thrown in jail and he accused them of committing crimes. >> she was behind it and so was bennie thompson and everybody on that committee. for what they did, honestly, they should go to jail. >> so you think liz cheney should go to jail? >> for what they did. i think anybody that voted in favor. >> are you going to direct them to send them to jail? >> i think they will have to look at that but i'm going to focus on drill, baby, drill. >> trump said he would leave it up to his attorney general nominee, pam bondi, as well as his fbi director nominee to decide if they want to investigate the people that he was talking about or if they

want to investigate president biden or others but those nominees have made clear that they want to investigate the investigators and go after anyone they consider an enemy of the president-elect. >> they covered a lot of topics in this interview. what else stood out to you? >> the president-elect was asked about whether he would restrict medication abortion. at first, he said no, and when pressed on when he would fully commit to not restricting it, he said, things change. also, his comments on tariffs, talking about the broad tariffs he wants to implement on goods being imported from other countries, he said he cannot guarantee that americans will pay more. >> we have talked before -- a lot of news organizations reported on the challenges of interviewing president-elect trump because of the frequency and volume of many of the lies he puts forward. it is well-documented during the campaign season as well. how did mbc handle it during this interview?

>> and bc put out an edited interview that added some context and they also released a transcript and then they ultimately released the entire, full, unedited interview but during the interview itself, there was very little to no fact checking, little to no pushback in real-time as donald trump was repeating false holds -- falsehoods he made during the campaign trail as well as outright lies. >> we want to ask you about things on the transition front. his embattled pickford defense secretary was back on capitol hill, meeting with senators. what do we know about that? >> he met with joni ernst of iowa. she is a veteran who sits on the senate armed services committee and she is a key vote here and she said in a statement today that she is going to work with him during this process and that she believes he should have a fair hearing based on truth, not anonymous sources, referring to the sexual assault allegation they faced in 2017 as well as

the multiple reports that detail intoxication across his jobs. that is the biggest sign today that senator ernst is potentially moving closer to supporting them and that is a welcome sign for trump's team because they were really looking to her, hoping that she would back him because they believe other senators will follow her. >> there is news on another nomination front. more than 75 nobel laureates signed a letter urging senators not to confirm trump's pick to lead the department of health and human services. that is robert f. kennedy, jr.. what should we know about that letter? >> the laureates say kennedy has a lack of credentials across science, medicine, as well as administration and they warned that kennedy would put the public's health in jeopardy and undermine america's global leadership in health sciences and they specifically cite his opposition to vaccines like the measles and polio vaccines and they also cite the conspirac theories he has promoted on successful treatment for aids and other diseases. the laureates who signed onto this include cancer researcher

harold varmus, eric kandel, who was a pioneer in positive neuroscience, as well as carol, a famous molecular biologist. >> that is our white house correspondent covering it all. thank you so much. geoff: injury in new york city today found daniel penny -- a jury in new york city today found daniel penny not guilty in the chokehold death. amna: it provokes intense reactions. some are painting painting as a savior who protected people. others see him as a reckless vigilante who went too far. stephanie sy has the details on the verdict and the case. stephanie: jordan neely was a homeless man who struggled with mental illness. on the day he died, he entered a crowded subway car, yelling that

he was hungry, thirsty, and ready to die or go to jail. that is when another passenger, daniel penny, took him to the ground in a choke that lasted for almost six minutes. when penny let go, neely was unresponsive. he was later pronounced dead at a hospital. the verdict brings an end to a closely watched a trial that touched on questions around public safety, mental health, race, and homelessness. his father spoke moments after the decision. >> i just want to say i miss my son. my son did not have to go through this. i did not have to go through this either. it hurts. it really hurts. what are we going to do, people? what is going to happen to us now? i had enough of this. the system is rigged. >> penny did not speak afterward

but his lawyer later said that he finally got the justice he deserved. joining me to discuss the case is samantha max, public safety reporter for new york public radio station wnyc. samantha, you have been covering this trial. thank you so much for joining us now. going into this, we knew that new york city's medical examiner had ruled that penny's six minute chokehold caused his death. help us understand how the jury could have arrived at this acquittal. >> so penny was charged with two crimes. manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. he could not have been convicted of both. that kind of spoke to different mindsets, but basically, the prosecution had to prove that penny not only directly caused his death but also that he knew or should have known that he could have been putting his life in danger and that he wasn't

justified in his actions. so ultimately, at least one of those factors, the jury felt enough doubt that they decided they could not find him guilty of those charges. >> daniel penny's defense was that he was protecting himself and other rioters -- riders, and both sides agree that he did not intend to kill neely. the jurors were all regular subway riders where safety is never far from mind. how did that factor into the trial? >> the subway was central to this whole case. during jury selection, everyone was asked how often they ride the subway so the people who were deciding this verdict were alsos regular subway rider -- also regular subway riders. many had been riding it for years or even decades often, you know, many times a week. and they were saying that they had witnessed outbursts before but that there was something

that was different about this one. there were several people who were genuinely afraid and who said they were relieved when penny held neely in a chokehold and then there were others, especially those who once the train pulled into the station and watched penny continue to hold neely for about six minutes , that they felt uncomfortable with how long he was holding on and those were the people who tried to intervene unsuccessfully. >> penny is a former marine who happens to be white. neely was a homeless black man with a history of mental health hospitalization and a traumatic childhood. samantha, how did the histories and identities of these two men add to the weightiness of this trial and the ways in which it was politicized nationally? >> i mean, i think it really added a lot of layers. on neely's side, you know, this was coming at a time when there was a huge debate already happening in the city about

mental illness and homelessness, especially after the pandemic and so many people who are struggling with mental illness or who are on house have really been in the subway system very visibly and then on the other hand, you have daniel penny who is a former marine and he really went into the spotlight in his own way. there was a legal defense fund that was set up that garnered more than $3 million in donations. you had big conservative names like vivek ramaswamy joining into his defense. and also both of his defense attorneys are former military so it really became just this very political case on both sides. >> following up on that, samantha, after the verdict was read, there were reportedly some cheers in the courtroom and there has been some anger when daniel penny was charged. is there a sense of vindication among his supporters? on the flipside, for critics who

said it was vigilante-ism run amok, is there concern that this verdict leads to more of that kind of thing? >> i think that is the unpredictable question. we actually just were speaking with pennies defense attorney who was saying, you know, this is a huge relief for his client and that he thinks his client was a hero and that he acted with justification. we have had other instances of self-defense in new york city. some famous cases on the subway, some people might think of the name bernie gets. there was also shortly after jordan neely -- jordan neely was killed, there was another person who was involved in an incident and stabbed someone to death on the subway and was not charged because pretty quickly, prosecutors felt he was justified. so you know, i think of these things come up in the future, prosecutors will always be evaluating on a case-by-case basis but i do think it sends a

message to people who were perhaps concerned about, you know, what could happen when you step in that perhaps this will make them feel more empowered to do so for better or for worse. >> samantha max, thank you so much for your reporting and for joining us. >> thank you. >> changing lives and creating art. special correspondent mike looks at a tried-and-true program in east los angeles and the forces behind it. it is part of our arts and culture series, kansas. chris it's beautiful. >> one of the fabians first art commissions was this mural on a neighborhood grocery store in east los angeles. while a recovering drug addict on probation. >> there were times when i was six and my addition that don

mcgahn would paint the letters here and paint some flowers there just to keep me in the art, also away from doing it. >> today, he is a celebrated muralist and this year's recipient of a heritage fellowship. >> art is a powerful tool. it can make you or it can break you. >> a survivor of the all-too-familiar east los angeles cycle of a challenging childhood due to immigration, drugs, gangs, and family incarceration issues, art has been his escape to a much different life for himself and his family. class every time life seems hard and dark or i would feel out of place, i would go under a coffee table and i would begin to create my own worlds to escape my reality and that is when i found art to be more than just a gift. it was like a big brother. clancy also discovered a guardian angel in his parish

priest. father gregg boyle who encouraged him to stick with his art and defended him in juvenile courts. >> father greg kept receiving me regardless of where i was at in my life. no matter what, he never shut the door. quincy went on to create homeboy industries, where fabian worked along with other gang members and ex-cons, searching and working towards a new life. starting with an industrial bakery and retraining program, a popular cafe that expended to the end -- the los angeles international airport and a free tattoo removal service. it has become the country's largest gang intervention and reentry program. fabian got the father's blessing and homeboy industries support to fulfill his dream of running his own art academy and support group. >> once we do that, think about where you are at in your career -- in your life at this moment

because every day is a new beginning. you can always turn the page. we can dwell in the past and suffocate. today, we are turning the page. >> the art academy is the art studio and vehicle for sharing his passion for art with former gang members and parolees like he once was. >> if you think about the traditional arts practices and how art brings people together in creativity and community, it has always been a healing method. art has a universal language that can be embraced by anyone and in this, the arts help drop the defenses. >> on parole for a hit and run charge, he's learning how to make and design custom t-shirts. >> in this life, you have got to keep going, keep going. >> the name of your fashion business now? >> yes, that is my business. >> have you ever done silkscreen before this?

>> i never touched a silkscreen ever. quotes when growing up in graffiti art, there is the 1980's hip-hop culture which was at its best to so graffiti art is what i was attracted to as another form of expression although graffiti art was also considered vandalism. >> father boyle helped make his graffiti art street legal by setting him up with an internship with los angeles's premier street muralist. the getty museum included his work in their black book exhibit of graffiti artists called in the book of friends. >> she kino art is not just a movement but also a form of activism. it allows us to amplify the voices of our people. we do not come with restrictions when it comes to chicano art. we don't fall for what is art and what is not art. we paint, create, and amplify the voice of our people and that is the beautiful of chicano art. >> growing up in east los angeles, you did not have any

formal training. you had no reference for the baroque renaissance art. >> there are -- they are elegant and glorious. these paintings. but yet the people can relate to it. >>'s latest exhibition featured his interpretations of the 16th century italian painter caravaggio, known for his intense and often violent realism. >> the way i relate to him is because of his lived experience and my lived experience. there's a lot of commonalities there. being oppressed for the person he has become. he was considered a thug. that is me. how do i take the imagery and storylines and reground them and connect them back to my community? maybe next, i challenge michelangelo. that is just the way i am thinking right now. >> why not? >> that is my next move. i have all the sistine chapel books and michelangelo books,

already doing my research. >> you are ready to bring it to east los angeles. >> i hope you come to see the outcome of this body of work. >> walking the talk is still very much the homeboy way. and fabian divorce art keeps him climbing for the sky. for the pbs news hour, i am mike in east los angeles. geoff: a quick note before we go. there was a lot of news in tonight's program so we did not have time for our usual politics monday duo of amy walter and tamara keith. >> fans of the weekly segment should fear not. they will be back next week. a member, there is always a lot more online including some tips for giving back and volunteering during the holiday season. you can see that at pbs.org/news hour. >> and that is the news hour for

tonight. i am geoff bennett. geoff: on behalf of the entire news hour team, thank you for joining us. parks major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by -- supported by the macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. more information at the website. 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.

. hello, everyone. welcome to "amanpour & company." here's what's coming up. >> shifting diplomatic sands as trump returns to the stage, one of ukraine's nchest exits. i speak to gabrielius landsbergis about the future. then -- >>