♪ geoff: good evening. amna: on the news hour tonight we report from aleppo in syria's north as the city comes back to life and syrians return to their homes. geoff: with tiktok facing a

potential band in the u.s., one billion euros effort to buy the social media app and keep it up and running. >> i think we need to move away from that because it is doing a lot of damage. amna: and we examined the widespread anger and distrust of the health insurance industry after the killing of the united health care ceo. ♪ announcer: major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by -- the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of the news hour including jim and nancy build their and the robber and virginia schiller foundation. the judy and peter blanc over foundation, upholding freedom by

strengthening democracies at home and abroad. >> the john s and james l knight foundation fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. announcer: and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪ and friends of the news hour -- ♪ announcer: 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. barely a week after president assad fled the country he destroyed, syrians across the nation welcomed the first friday

prayers of the new syria today. geoff: there are many unanswered questions but one thing is for certain as syrians return to their homes from the southern cities of the nation to aleppo in the north, there is unfettered jubilation. our special correspondent joins us from aleppo. you were in homes in aleppo today for the first friday prayer since assad fell. what did you hear from the people you encountered? reporter: it was astounding to be on the streets and see the level of celebration. those celebrating are those that have been living in this territory and those that have come home since it fell. aleppo was the first city the rebels took. it was an extraordinary fall. the first few days were difficult because the russians were bombing but that stopped

and now there is a sense of optimism. and friday prayer is so important and brings many together and many of the rebels were sunni muslims so they are going to the mosque to give thanks. the rebels are shaking hands with people and lifting up children and taking selfies with western reporters. it was a sense of -- anything goes. this is the first friday prayer of a new syria. geoff: people are just now returning to homes they fled years ago. how is it going? reporter: it is incredibly difficult. there is a huge amount of joy but also anguish as they come home and discover their homes in pieces. many people felt under heavy bombardment. the countryside of aleppo and of

damascus -- i've been going through those areas and many are missing their families as they explore the remnants of their homes remembering the family members that they lost and the terrifying experiences that they had. people are crossing borders that were previously uncross a bowl to do this. there are powerful stories from people when cities began to fall last week taking, i can go home and then other sane, you cannot cross their. and then they were told, there are no more checkpoints. it is open. a real shock and disbelief and eventually just overwhelming joy as people were able to go home and go back to the faces they fled so many years ago and have been separated from. geoff: how is the international community engaging with this major change in syria and governance? reporter: the western

governments have completely abandoned syria. since the redline in 2013 saying that if assad used chemical weapons against his people america would be forced to act and then he used them several times and nothing was done. there has been little action in syria on the part of western nations. people felt abandoned. now there is an opportunity for western nations to get involved. there are three key issues. one is the terrorism. the second is -- and third is syrian refugees. there have already been suggestions from the un's special envoy that they should reconsider it because he has been trying to liberalize and is currently saying that we will continue to be liberal and we will embrace all minorities in syria. it would be difficult for them to run a government if they were

staying on that terrorist list. sanctions, the economy is in dire straits and people have not been able to build their homes and no one has worked. removing the sanctions would bring prosperity quickly which is the best chance of having peace here. when people have opportunity, it is what they support rather than being disgruntled and divisions rising again. but the problem is there is no switch. they are complicated and in the u.s. and in the u.n. and in the eu. a lot of engagement and agreements potentially going on behind the scenes. and lastly, the big motivator particularly the eu countries and turkey is the refugees. if they can create a peaceful situation in syria moving to a genuinely liberal democratic

government, people -- they can fairly send syrian refugees back home knowing it is safe there. that is a huge motivator for those eu nations. geoff: our special correspondent risk morning from aleppo. thank you. ♪ amna: in other headlines that the consulting firm mckinsey and company will pay $650 million to settle a federal investigation into its work into the opioid maker. in a statement the company apologized saying our past work for opioid manufacturers will always be a source of profound regret for our firm.

u.s. attorneys said the settlement should deter other consulting companies toward contributing to that conduct. >> this was not hypothetical our marketing. there was a strategy and it was executed and it work. the strategy resulted in prescriptions for oxycontin that were unsafe, medically unnecessary and lacked a legitimate purpose. amna: in addition to the payment mckinsey has agreed to implicate -- implement a compliance program. the company won't do any work on the promotion of controlled substances for five years. the state of texas is suing a doctor in new york for mailing abortion bills -- pills to a patient in the dallas area. ken paxton alleged that the doctor violated state law by prescribing abortion inducing drugs. the lawsuit seeks thousands of dollars in damages.

it marks one of the first challenges to so-called shield laws in states like new york designed to protect physicians that prescribe -- provide such prescriptions online or over the phone. a number of abortions have -- has increased slightly after roe v. wade was overturned in 2022. the u.s. military has brought an american who was imprisoned in syria out of the country. u.s. officials tell the associated press that travis timmerman has been flown to jordan on a military helicopter. rebel groups ousted the country's president assad and began opening the country's infamous presence. the 29-year-old was detained seven months ago after crossing into syria while on a christian pel mortgage -- christian pilgrimage. president loder mayor belinsky

-- below tamira zelinski said russia launched a barrage. he described it as one of the heaviest bombardments of the war and the target was the energy sector. ukrainian differences shot down most of the missiles but others struck homes and apartment complexes. in kyiv people took refuge underground to escape the strikes which have grown more frequent as russia's -- as russia tries to cripple ukraine's electrical grid. russian forces have drawn closer to the vital eastern hub of a city that lies in road wins and residents have been forced to flee. >> how would one live here? no power, no heating, no gas, no water. we will leave tomorrow. while the cargo taxis are still running. the russians have already positioned themselves behind our house. amna: it is a support -- it is

an important -- in france president macron has selected a centrist ally as the country's new prime minister. the 73-year-old has been tasked with forming a new government after a no-confidence vote in parliament led to the resignation of the former prime minister last week. that was prompted by fierce budget disputes and left france without a functioning government. he has been in french politics for decades and was cleared of embezzlement charges over european parliament funds earlier this year. stanley has recalled some 2.5 million travel mugs sold in the u.s. after dozens of reports that their lids oppose a burn hazard. recall includes the trigger models. the companies has parts of the lids can shrink when exposed to heat causing them to come off

during use. 38 people worldwide reported burden injuries. -- burn injuries. stanley advised customers do stop using the mugs immediately. on wall street stocks ended mixed to close out a sluggish week. the dow jones industrial average slid for a seventh straight session,the longest losing streak since 2020. the nasdaq added 20 points. the s&p 500 ended the day flats. the ancient artifact revered by many christians as jesus christ's crown of thorns was returned to the notre dame cathedral today. it was saved from the flames had destroyed the cathedral in 2019. though its authenticity has never been proven with certainty, the crown has been a treasured artifact in france since king louis the ninth brought it to paris in 1239.

the public can view the crown again starting january 10. still to come on the news hour, we examine the critical role turkey and it neighbors could play in syria's future. david brooks and ruth marcus weigh-in on the week's political headlines. and the artist known for her portrait of michelle obama discusses how she approaches her work. ♪ >> this is the pbs news hour from the david rubenstein studio at w eta in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. amna: the fall of assad is rippling throughout the middle east. turkey announced it would reopen its embassy in syria's capital tomorrow after closing it 12 years ago. antony blinken has been traveling in the region and visited jordan and turkey yesterday and stopped in baghdad today.

he reiterated what the u.s. hopes to see in syria. >> in all of this what is happening in syria does have an important impact and it is significant that a rack along with meant -- iraq along with many other countries in the region make its best efforts to support the people of syria. amna: for prospective on the shifting situation in syria impacts the greater middle east we turn to james jeffrey, the former ambassador to turkey and iraq and he is now at the wilson center in washington, d.c., a think tank. the end of the regime is not just about how syria is reshaped but the region more broadly. let's start with turkey specifically. they helped those sunni rebels that overthrew the assad regime.

>> for turkey, just like for the people of syria as we saw in your previous report is a very good thing compared to the awful situation we had in the region particularly in syria before appeared in turkey, it shares the desire to have the islamic state elements still in syria destroyed and to keep iran out and to diminish russia's remaining influence. turkey also wants to get the three plus million syrian refugees back once things stabilize and it also wants to ensure that the pkk offshoot that is our ally against the islamic state, they don't want that group to form a state within a state beholden to the

pkk and a threat to turkey. beyond that it is basically to secure their southern border. amna: when it comes to the pkk and kurdish minorities it is the u.s.' closest ally. what will happen to the u.s. policy towards them now? will they be abandoned? >> jake sullivan made it clear that when this came up we have a deep and resolute position on continuing to work with them as long as there is no effective central government and army in syria and that we need to fight against the islamic state. beyond that we never signed up and i was the guy delivering the message to the kurds, we never signed up for a kurdish state beholden to the pkk. they would have to work this out with the rest of syria and turkey on their own. we will help them. amna: it is notable that

secretary antony blinken made a surprise visit to iraq. he met with the iraqi prime minister. he stressed that syria should not become what he called a platform for terrorism. is there a model for syria's future when you look at iraq? >> there is a u.n. resolution that john kerry negotiated with lavrov in 2015 and it lays out what antony blinken is saying. a hopefully democratic, inclusive, reconciled syria with a new constitution that can live in peace. ironically, iraq has largely achieved that through efforts of its own people and with us but it is now under pressure from iran as part of its regional proxy network. but now with syria no longer being on iran's side, iraq has

more options. amna: what about iran? if turkey is the big winner post-assad in syria, is it fair to say that iran is the big loser? how do you look at it now? >> i look at it as the loser in one of the biggest military revolutions in the middle east in my lifetime comparable to 1973, the young couple are more -- the yom kippur war. it has lost in lebanon and in its war with israel dramatically. it's only ally left is the houthis. amna: iran's weaknesses were revealed. what does this all mean for israel in the region? >> it means israel is in a

extraordinarily secure place. the first indication of that will be a rapid movement if hamas will play along with the hostages and a cease-fire which we need in gaza. israel does not have to deal brutally anymore with gaza because it has five other wolves chasing its lead. they are all dead and gone. amna: all of this will be inherited by the incoming trump administration. he tweeted this six years ago -- six days ago, syria is a mess but this is not our fight. let it play out and do not get involved. you served in the trump administration. what does that mean? >> i cannot speak for the administration and i am hesitant to predict what he will do but i will say this -- that is not

very different from his position when i was working with secretary pompeo on the syrian account and i would argue very productively. i interpret that to be first of all, we will stay out of it in the sense of not doing another afghanistan with trillions of dollars spent, tens of thousands of casualties -- amna: not putting boots on the ground. >> he tries decided we should not be in syria but he was persuaded by his advisors that our costs are low and interests are significant. the fact that the troops were there and the other policies from the trump administration continued, sometimes on enthusiastically by the biden administration, has helped the collapse of the assad regime that we see today. amna: ambassador james jeffrey, thank you for your insights. ♪

geoff: congressional lawmakers told apple and google they must be ready to remove tiktok from their u.s. app stores on january 19. last year a u.s. federal appeals court upheld a law requiring bytedance to sell it in the u.s. or face a ban. the app is used by millions of americans and lawmakers argued that the chinese government's relationship with tiktok's parent company reddens data privacy. there are a lot of questions about what will happen to the app or who can buy it. joining us now to discuss this is frank mccourt, he is leading a group of investors who is seeking to buy the u.s. portion of tiktok. thank you for being with us. tiktok's china parent company

bytedance says it has no plans to sell the app and the chinese government is unlikely to approve the sale of tiktok's u.s. business. why do you see an opening here? >> we said all along that we believe the government's case would be upheld and it was a week ago today. we believe that the app will be sold. it won't be sold with the trainees -- china has made it clear that it is national intellectual property and they are not selling it. we are one of the few if not the only bidder interested in buying u.s. tiktok without the algorithm. we have a clean made in america stack ready to go. we think -- i hope it is not shut down.

the user base of tiktok hopes it will not be shut down and trump has said he doesn't want to see a band= either -- ban either. we are just opening up the lines of communication with donald trump and his administration now that the judge has made his ruling on the deadline is set. we want to make sure that the president-elect knows there is an alternative here that is a real win win. by that i mean the chinese government can win because they can keep their algorithm. president-elect trump can fulfill a desired commitment to stop the app from being banned. the american citizens can be protected and america and we can remove the national security threat. and the user base for tiktok can continue to enjoy the platform. geoff: without the algorithm that makes the app so effective at predicting what kinds of

videos users want to see, doesn't that make tiktok less valuable and also less desirable? >> it does make it less valuable. the algorithm is great. but as i said, so is democracy and so is civil discourse and so is an information ecosystem that gets us smarter and so is protecting kids. we want to move the user base of tiktok to a stack that is not driven by a top-down algorithm. the current tech architecture is one where we are all surveilled, our personal data is scraped, algorithms are applied and we are manipulated. and this is the national security threat that has become obvious and why congress moved so quickly. we don't want the algorithm nor do we need its. we think the internet should not

be architected in that way and there should be a new operated internet where each of us own and control our identity, our data, our relationships and we get to curate our own algorithm. geoff: another practical question, china changed its laws in 2020 allowing it to block the sale of chinese technology to an american buyer. how would you get around that? have you had conversations with chinese officials in beijing? >> we have reached out to say we would like to have a conversation. but we are now buying -- but we are not buying the backend. we are not interested in replicating the top-down technology that takes advantage of u.s. citizens. we want to stop the exploitation and empower american citizens. we think the tiktok problem is a moment to turn it into an

opportunity to use this moment to catalyze and alternative upgraded internet and then let people choose. they can choose an internet where they are surveilled and in exchange they get a free app. or an internet where they can be empowered, in charge of themselves and reclaim their personhood and their data and own it and control it and receive value for its. geoff: what might a user experience in this idealized version of tiktok you are describing? >> a similar experience to what the app looks like and feels like and how it is used. but in this new version, the user will be in charge of their data. they will own their relationships. they will be able to monetize their data. before we made this bid, i took a ride to malibu, california and had dinner with 20 of the

biggest influencers on tiktok. i wanted to know what they thought about the app and how it might be improved. and we learned from them a few things -- we learned they are not thrilled with how it works because they don't understand why some of the content they put on tiktok goes viral and they become famous and other ear he they put on tiktok does not go viral. and because it is a black box algorithm, they have no idea what is working and why and more importantly, they don't know who their community is. geoff: the january deadline is fast approaching. frank mccourt, thank you for joining us. ♪ geoff: the murder of united health care ceo has revealed a

simmering anger with the american health care system. reporter: today in a new york times op said andrew witty, the ceo of united health care's parent company acknowledged peoples anger sagging in part, we know the health system does not work as well as it should and we understand people's frustrations with it. no one would design a system like the one we have. but it is the system we have that so many people think is a against them. we are joined now by wendell potter. he spent decades working for cigna before leaving and dedicating his career to reforming that industry. so good to have you on the program. we should not have to stipulate this but let me do so -- murdering a health care executive is unacceptable. the online discourse that has followed the murderer is ghoulish and ghastly.

but, i want to ask you, as someone that spent years working in that industry, what has your reaction been to seeing this cauldron of anger and fury reveal itself? >> it has not surprised me. i thought it was only a matter of time before we would see something like this. the -- it is tragic, these circumstances. but it has been building for a long time. i knew people did not like us, they did not like the work we did and for good reason. as a matter of business we denied necessary care for years and years. and also made people pay a lot of money out of their own pockets before their coverage would extend. as a consequence, people are not getting the care they need and 1004 despite increasing premiums every year. it is a system that these

companies did not create but i can assure you they spend and a enormous amount of money to keep it and play because it is extraordinarily profitable and very rewarding for their shareholders of these companies. reporter: there have been some people including prominent democrats that while they do not condone the shooting violence, they have argued that denial of claims and these financial impediments you are describing that are put on customers is its own kind of violence, a different kind of violence. what do you think of that? is not hyperbole or is there truth to it? >> there is truth to it and i've said something comparable. this was a violent act that every day across america, and has been the case for many years, i don't think it is hyperbole to say that these companies have acted with violence towards the people enrolled in their health programs. they have through delays and denials have shortened the lives

of a lot of americans. they have made a lot of americans suffer because of the delays. i talked to patients all of the time who have told me about trying to get the treatments their doctors know that they need but they have been delayed for months and months in many cases. and in many cases with debilitating pain. but these companies are able to keep a distance from that. and sadly we are seeing it bubble over into rage that i've never seen before. reporter: the suspect in this murder was not a customer of united health care but it is the nation's largest insurer and has the nation's highest rate of denying claims. and that rates of denials has been increasing. do you have a sense as to why that is? >> the rates of denials has been increasing because of pressure from wall street.

brian thompson was in new york to speak to his company's investor day which is the most important day of an insurance companies existence if their stock is on the new york stock exchange. so is cigna's and i used to play on those days when i was at cigna and it is an opportunity for the executives to tell their shareholders all they plan to continue profitable growth and reward them with the prophets they have been achieving or hope to achieve. that is what is most important. and when you're trying to satisfy wall street's profit expectations every three months, that means you have to take actions that are going to result in people who are enrolled in your health plans not getting medically necessary care. they have one or two ways of controlling health care expenses -- one is to reduce or control the unit cost of goods and

services and insurers over the years have done a lousy job doing that they focus on reducing utilization making it more difficult for us to get the care that we need. reporter: we live in a capitalist society and these are for-profit companies. voters have been presented with single-payer, medicare for all options and it has never taken on a groundswell of support. how do we go about enacting the change that you and many other advocate argue if we are having to operate in this for-profit system we are operating in? >> one reason why you see an erosion of support for a more fair health care system and one where the government would play a more significant role in making sure we are all covered is because these companies spend numerous amounts of money in profit campaigns to scare people away from any kinds of reforms that the industry doesn't like. i used to be a part of it. i often say that my title should

have been vice president of propaganda. they also spend a lot of money on lobbying. it is important to keep in mind that it hasn't been that many years since we have had these massive corporations controlling our access to care. it has only been more recently that we have seen gigantic corporations move into this space. reporter: wendell potter, health insurance reform advocate, great to speak with you. thank you very much. ♪ amna: fbi director chris ray's announcement that he will step down in his term and before donald trump returns to office has marked debate over how he should have handled his departure. on that and other major news

shaping the presidential transition we turn to new york times columnist and ruth marcus associate editor for the washington post. jonathan cape is away. starting with his decision i want to play some of the comments for you where he announced his decision to step down in january before donald trump could fire him. >> in my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into their freight while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important in how we do our work. amna: how does leaving early in a tenured term to avoid the incoming president firing you -- how does that keep the bureau out of the political fray? >> somebody said he had no good options and he happily chose the worst of the options. people that have worked hard over decades to make the fbi nonpolitical.

it is a tremendously powerful organization which is easily abused. we have these tenured terms and the idea is that the fbi director doesn't turn over with the president because we are building safeguards to depoliticize the agency. if donald trump wants to ruin that, he should aggressively have to fire him and we should have that fight and open the door to what donald trump wants to do and that seems to me that is the wrong way to keep our institutions normal. amna: a reporter said -- eventually donald trump would have found a way to fire him and he should have made him do so. he said he has done great damage with this decision and deserves to be scorned. you wrote -- protecting the bureau and the country would be better achieved i standing up to donald trump and not enabling

him. it seems that you agree. >> i 100% agree with david on this one. this should be and has been an apolitical job. nobody was fired except for one person who was scorned by the bush administration and then fired by the clinton administration after an extensive finding of wrongdoing that now may look minor compared to some of the things we have seen. now he has done it twice. ray capitulated in advance. and he allowed donald trump to shatter yet another norm without imposing any costs. and that is separate and a part from the caliber of the person that donald trump wants to replace him with carrie he could want to replace him with bob mueller. and i think both of us would have the same attitude which is

this is not an ordinary political appointment and it should not be transformed into one but here we are. amna: it does all but clear the path for cash patel who was donald trump's nominee to lead the fbi. he has pledged to reform the bureau. do you see anything standing in the way of cash patel's nomination? >> he has not met with some of the key senators. the ones he has met with which is now in the teens, they seem fine. my own reading of the situation is that the republicans, if there are dissenters, he is the third priority. i imagine he will be there. what i'm curious about in a ghoulish way is how effective he will be or how effective any of these people will be.

someone asked the president what he learned in office and he said there is a lot of passive aggressive activity in government. cash patel wants to get rid of headquarters on day one. really? you think you have the ability to do that? i don't think we will see much political opposition. i'm curious about how the agencies will respond. amna: when you take ray stepping down early and cash patel taking the job, what does that mean for the future? >> read cash patel's book. he has a handy-dandy enemy list tradeking makes a crack about closing down headquarters. we shall see. it is going to be very difficult because the men and women of the fbi are professionals and sworn

to uphold the standards of law enforcement which means it cannot be -- cash patel says, go and investigate david brooks. they have to have a predicate to do that. and there are standards. but hoping those standards can hold up against a sustained political onslaught across the board is a very dicey situation and it is why, while i agree with david's grim prognosis of the likelihood of cash patel being confirmed, i think it is very unfortunate that we are here. amna: i want to get your takes on some new polling because americans are looking at some of donald trump's nominations and about half of u.s. adults say they are not confident in his picking of well-qualified individuals. 17% said they approved of his pick for secretary of state.

on his pick for health and human services, rfk junior, 30% approved, 42 percent disapprove and 14% said neither. >> that means a lot of people that voted for donald trump are not on board with these guys. that is a big story to watch. my colleague david french said there are 17 million republicans that voted for donald trump in the primaries but there are 74 million people that voted for him in the general election. there is a big difference between the 17 and the 74. a lot of people in the larger group did not vote for this. they voted to get back to the economy of 2019. as donald trump overreaches his mandate, how much public outcry will there be? and i happen to think that public opinion will serve as a brake on donald trump. i think the bond markets and

stock markets will serve as a brake on donald trump when he does something foolish. the bottom line is there will be no internal resistance. i'm thinking there will be extra no resistance from the people that did not sign up for all of this. >> maybe some. i think people -- the trump voters signed up for disruption but i don't know if they signed up for this much disruption. they did not know it would be named matt gaetz, told c gabbard, rfk junior -- tulsi gabbard, rfk junior -- one thing that was striking in the poll was it includes republicans. two out of 10 republicans say they have little to no confidence in donald trump's choices. and those are his voters. amna: there is another moment we are in -- you saw the

conversation william just had on the heels of brian thompson's murder, we have seen his alleged killer, folk hero of sorts and not in the dark corners of the internet but out loud in mainstream discourse. what do you make of that conversation? >> it is reprehensible. saying that the company mistreats people is no excuse. we don't kill people in this country. i am struck by the class dynamics. the brian thompson worked in a beauty salon and his dad worked in a grain elevator. he went to iowa state. he comes from a middle-class background. the kid that grew up in a fancy real estate family and went to a fancy prep school in baltimore

and has two ivy league degrees, that kid is the populist outsider? it is like a cartoon. i would say one thing about united health care, i've had my people -- my family denied coverage by united health care and i have no love for them but their profit margin is 6% which is low by corporate standards. the people are driving up health care costs in this country and they are not the insurance companies but there providers. if you want to be mad at someone for these health-care costs, may be spread some of the rage around. amna: we could have a larger conversation on this at want to get your take. >> david said spread the rage around and what alarms me is the degree of rage. we have all had our moments of rage against the health care machine. i worry the lion is asian of --

the lionization of this troubled young man, is illustrative of not just anger at the health care system but anger more broadly. we are a kind of road rage nation and that should scare all of us. amna: ruth marcus and david brooks, always great to speak with you both. thank you so much. ♪ geoff: she has painted portraits of michelle obama and breonna taylor that much of amy cheryl's work is about filling in absent images of everyday americans. we speak with the artist and we go to the first major exhibition covering her career for our arts

and culture series, canvas. reporter: they look at us and we at them. a young woman in a pink blouse with a bow and a young man in stars and stripes and a cowboy hat. paintings hung lower than usual at eye level. >> my figures are present. they are not passively painted. these are not passive portraits. they are standing there ready to be gazed upon but also to gaze back at you. and in that interaction, we should find our humanity in each other. reporter: the first major survey of her work is at the san francisco museum of modern art. some show scenes at the beach or playground. most are individuals in brightly colored clothing set against equally vivid backgrounds.

she entitled the exhibition "america sublime." >> the excellence of what it is to be an everyday american. the people that make the world go around. all of these individuals in my portraits stand as archetypes for that because we can think about all of the big names in history but the little h's of history makes everything everything. reporter: we met cheryl across the river from new york where she mixes her pains to concoct her own signature varieties of color. >> this is my happy place back here. reporter: all caps in a storage space ready for use. >> this is my favorite color called "eat your veggies." reporter: you get to make them

and named them. and this is where she has created the works that have brought much renown. most prominently her portrait of michelle obama captured in a moment of contemplation rather than an official pose. the first black lady painted by the first black female artist. and of breonna taylor. >> what i wanted to bring out in that portrait was that she was an everyday american girl. she was just living her life in the pursuit of the american dream. reporter: most of her work is of everyday people. they could be called portraits but they are not intended as portraits of the specific individuals she is painting. rather they are characters she is imagining into existence. black americans are rarely the subject of portrait paintings. you were referred to them as archetypes.

they are real people but you are not painting them as themselves. >> no, because of the absents. they have to represent so much more than themselves. reporter: they have to. >> i think they have to. the girl next door. the farmer. they are standing in history to represent the stories of those that came before them and the stories of those that will come after them. reporter: you refer to yourself as an american realist. >> for me, i was doing what american realist were doing, what andy wyeth was doing -- i'm painting everyday american moments. and within that there is the black american identity -- reporter: which is not therefore for the most part. >> the work does sit in our history as a collective --

corrective narrative but also as a celebration. reporter: like a film director she casts people. she dresses them in clothing that she collects. >> this is my costume section. these are items i've used in paintings or potentially will use. reporter: she found this dress on ebay. >> i like the flowers, the color, the story it could tell. reporter: the story it could tell -- >> the clothing tell a story in the painting as well as the person. reporter: she also made her own versions of iconic photographs including this times square from 1945. and for love and for the country. everywhere including backgrounds, rich colors. note the skin tones which she

starts with shades of gray. >> when i am mixing the color of the complexion, it varies between a darker gray to a lighter gray if it is a lighter skinned person like myself. i use warm colors like old holland yellow light and i mix it with black and it gives the skin warmth which is why i think the skin glows and resonates as being alive. reporter: the result of her choices, recognizably black people but in a subtle and for her a crucial way, portraits that are not about race first. >> maybe we don't have to start there first. let's start with my humanity first. the girl with the red wig was me. that is at the universalism of edge. people should be able to look at

someone that may not look like them but also see their community at the same time. reporter: amy cheryl's exhibition is at san francisco's museum of modern art through march 9 before moving to new york's whitney museum and later the national portrait gallery in washington, d.c. for the pbs news hour i'm jeffrey brown in jersey city, new jersey. ♪ geoff: be sure to watch washington week with the atlantic tonight on pbs where lisa desjardins is at the desk and her panel and she will discuss the emerging split among republicans over how the past donald trump's legislative agenda. amna: and how hurricane helene caused a shortage of iv fluids still impacting hospitals nationwide. geoff: before we go we want to

take a moment to honor someone very special to this broadcast. behind every camera q, smooth transition and seamless moment there is one person working behind the scenes to make it happen. it is our studio supervisor, the writer rogers who is retiring after 38 remarkable years. amna: early in her career she was one of very few women of color working in television production in the country. over the years and she has set the standard for excellence here and in a number of different roles from this broadcast dating back to high-stakes political debates, from performances at the white house to concerts at the u.s. capitol and much, much more. since 1992 she has also served as the shop steward fighting for the union interests over the years. geoff: she has been the steady hand guiding us through historic

moments and big interviews with grace, precision and a quiet strength that will forever inspire us. amna: loretta, we at the news hour are who we are in large part because of who you are. you care about the work and the team and your legacy will live on long after the lights dim tonight. geoff: on behalf of us at the news hour and the millions of viewers that have benefited from your professionalism and dedication, thank you. this program is stronger because of you. amna: we wish you a retirement filled with relaxation, joy and lots of new adventures. thank you, thank you. [applause] geoff: and that is the news hour for tonight. amna: on behalf of the entire news hour team, thank you for joining us. >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by -- ♪

and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of the news hour including kathy and paul anderson and millie and george smith. the walton family foundation working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people and nature can thrive together. the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at hewlett.org. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪ and friends of the news hour -- ♪ this program was made possible

by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >>

welcome to "amanpour & company." here's what's coming up. the grimreality in gaza as desperation, death and hunger soar. philippe lazzarini, head of the relief agency unrw