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. xfinity internet. made for streaming. ♪ ♪ amna: good evening. geoff: on the news hour tonight multiple people are killed in a mass shooting at a christian school in wisconsin adding yet another community to the list of those embroiled by gun violence. amna: we are in a syrian town

where the uprising that toppled assad began. geoff: and in his first news conference since the election, president elect donald trump details his agenda. 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 leonard and norma klorfine and the judy and peter blum kovler foundation. the william and flora hewlett foundation. more than 50 years advancing ideas and supporting institutions to support 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. geoff: welcome to the news hour. at least two people were killed and six others injured at a private school in madison, wisconsin this morning. amna: the suspected shooter was also found dead at the scene. officials say she was a 17-year-old female student at

the school. authorities are investigating her motive and another american community is reeling from mass gun violence. in a tragic scene part two familiar to communities in america, police rushed to the scene of reports of a mass shooter. police say a teacher and teenaged students were killed and two other students were in critical condition this evening. addison police chief sean barnes -- >> i'm feeling a little dismayed now. so close to christmas. every child, every person in that building as a victim and will be forever. in these -- and these types of trauma don't go away and we have to figure out and pieced together what happened. right now my heart is heavy for my community. amna: officers say the shooter was a teenage student at the school, a small, private

institution in a residential madison neighborhood serving students from kindergarten through 12th grade. the chief said officers did not fire their weapons and found the suspect who used a handgun dead inside the school building when they entered. a motive is still unknown. across the u.s. more than 150 people were killed or wounded in at least 83 school shootings. at a reunification center is set up by police students and families gathered for updates. bethany heineman's daughter attends the school. >> i bring my daughter to school knowing well that this happens in the world and people are struggling. and i pray for my daughter's safety. >> i hoped this day would never come in madison. amna: this afternoon the madison mayor delivered this lady to the rest of the country as her city becomes part of a growing list

that no community wants to be a part of. >> it is not something that any mayor, fire chief, police chief, any person in public office ever wants to have to deal with. and so i will ask our community and country to do whatever we can to make sure that no public official ever has to stand in this position again. ♪ geoff: other has lines the french territory where officials say the worst storm in almost a century has devastated they archipelago. the main airport and hospital were damaged and access to food and water are limited. the french president said he will declare a national morning. -- the national mourning period. reporter: as the cyclone moved

across the area, locals cowered in fear. the i/o of the storm told a direct route over the tiny islands between mozambique and madagascar. >> it was the wind. i was screaming because i thought it would be the end for me. reporter: john bellows took this video after surviving the storm. the official death toll is only about a dozen so far but officials fear hundreds or thousands might be found dead as the storm clears and recovery efforts begin. nearly 320,000 people live in the densely populated 144 square miles. the french military has a large presence on nearby reunion island. soldiers deployed from reunion while the french interior

minister made his way there to rally relief workers. >> there are still mountains to move so everyone needs to mobilize. everyone needs to be at their post and professional. no panicking. reporter: on reunion, they were still waiting to hear if his brother and other family members made it safely through the storm. >> when you see houses destroyed , you also see a lot of dead people so it could be a member of our family. we are worried. reporter: this is the poorest french territory and the poorest place in the european union. in brussels the french foreign minister said he would be asking for help from the eu to help. >> my thoughts this morning are with our compatriots who are suffering the tragic consequences of the disaster. the government and state services are mobilized to provide support and security. geoff: also today health

officials in gaza say that more than 45,000 palestinians have been killed since the start of the israel-hamas word. family members held funeral services for some of the 13 people killed in an israeli airstrike. hospital officials say six children were among the dead. israel claims hamas fighters were using the command shelter. many lamented the death and suffering caused by more than 14 months of war. >> we have nothing to do with everything that has happened to us. we did not do anything wrong in order for this to happen. innocent people have died not connected to what is happening. women and children. geoff: gaza's health ministries says the real death toll may be higher than 45,000 because bodies are trapped in plessis's

-- in places that medics cannot access. separately, israel's defense minister said negotiators are closer to a cease-fire deal now than at any time since a temporary cease-fire took effect in november of last year. ukrainian and u.s. military officials say some north korean troops were killed or wounded while fighting alongside russian forces this weekend. they are the first reported casualties since as many as 12,000 north korean troops joined russia's war effort in recent weeks. 30 north korean troops were killed or wounded in the kursk border region where russia has tried for months to rappel a ukrainian incursion. the white house also cited casualties saying north korean troops are now on the front lines of the war. in canada the countries finance minister is resigning raising more questions about the political future of prime minister dustin trudell.

friedland cited differences over how to confront donald trump's tariffs. she also served as deputy prime minister and had long been one of trudeau's more powerful and loyal allies. it further isolates trudeau who is facing calls from within his own party to not seek another term. he says he plans to stay in his role until the next election. new jersey's governor says though drone detectors have found that'll or no evidence of anything dangerous or threatening from a series of suspected drones spotted in the skies above his stage. bill murphy also called for congress to give local officials more authority to deal with the drones. they were first spotted in mid-november and have sparked growing fascination and frustration. sightings at an air force base near dayton, ohio forced officials to temporarily shut

down air force space. and two men were accused of operating a drone close to logan airport. yesterday chuck schumer urged the government to deploy better technology to track and identify the drones. >> it is not a bird, it is not a plane but a drone. and when it comes to drones, people in the new york area and all across the country have more questions than answers. geoff: national security officials have stressed the drones do not pose a threat to public safety nor do they appear to be signs of foreign interference. a former fbi informant has pled guilty to lying about a bribery scheme involving joe biden and his son hunter. alexander smirnov admitted to a felony charge related to tax evasion. he had told his fbi handler in 2020 that the bidens had

received $5 million each from executives at the ukrainian energy campaign. that fall story was central to a republican impeachment inquiry in congress. he now faces up to six years in print and and will be sentenced next month. carlos watson has been sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison over charges related to his false start up, ozzie media. he was convicted last summer of conspiracy and aggravated identity theft charges. prosecutors accused him of playing a leading role in trying to deceive ozzie investors and lenders by inflating revenue numbers and hyping up deals that were not finalized or even real pure watson has denied any wrongdoing. on wall street stocks and admixed to start the week. the dow jones industrial average slipped .25 percent. the nasdaq jumped to a new record closing above the 20,000

point level. the s&p 500 ended higher on the day. one of india's most review your classical musicians has died. ♪ -- most revered classical musicians has died. he is credited with introducing the tabla to the world. over a career spanning six decades he collaborated with music legends including gorge harrison and cellist yo-yo ma. this year he became the first use-ish and from india to win three grammy awards in the same year. he passed away sunday in san francisco after a battle with chronic lung disease. he was 73 years old. still to come, how many ceos are trying to curry favor with the incoming trump administration. tamara keith and amy walter break down the latest political headlines. arizona farmers are forest to

adapt their agricultural practices because their main water source is drying up. ♪ announcer: this is a 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: for the first time since he fled the country, he had ruled with an iron fist and willingness to kill his own people the state and power, assad was heard from today. in a statement from exile in moscow he said -- at no point did he consider stepping down or seeking refuge that said he was evacuated from syria by russian forces after he left damascus. geoff: assad also said the country has in his words fallen into the hands of terrorism. that is a reference to the forces that led the lightning campaign marching a new chapter

in syria's rebellion and leads the nation. the seeds of the revolution were sewn to the south of damascus by students and young people in 2011 as they arab spring took hold across the middle east. our special correspondent reports on how the city that fostered uprising now celebrates the deposing of a dictator. reporter: this is where it all began. the writing on the wall that sparked a revolution. in early 2011, a 15-year-old student scribbled a prophecy on the walls of his school in a southern city. >> the first wall we rode on was here. we wrote "down with the regime." and on that while we wrote "it is your turn, dr.." reporter: the term doctor referred to assad. it was an unimaginable act of

protest in a stage -- in assad's repressive syria. but he and his friends had been inspired by the arab spring. strong had already fallen in egypt and tunisia. little did they know they would be the ones to predict, albeit much later, assad's overthrow. >> we did not think it would lead to this. we were watching the protests in tony -- in tunisia. reporter: the graffiti was quickly erased i authorities. the pupils were arrested and tortured. >> i was imprisoned for 45 days. there were a lot of different kinds of torture. we were tortured a lot. reporter: it was the government's group -- cruel treatment that fueled the anger across syria.

after his release, he went on to join the armed opposition. >> we want security and safety to return to syria and that we rebuild that with our hands. we defended our country and honor for 14 years and thank god we remained steadfast and prevailed. reporter: now, students flood the streets without fear of arrest and torture. the city is where the syrian uprising began and today, people are once again protesting but not against the new government. they are imploring -- they are exploring their newly found freedom of expression and celebrating the overthrow of the assad regime. >> this is a protest of victory. we got rid of the tear any of us thought and life has returned and god willing syria will be rebuilt. reporter: for the first time in their lives they can stand freely in their squares and

raise their voices. >> now, life is great. before you would go to damascus and you were of rate. our country was condemned. now we can go anywhere we want. reporter: and that is what they do. public squares are brimming with all that was suppressed for decades. the voice of justice getting louder as they chant. many approach us wanting their opinions heard, keen to speak for the first time with western television. he is an economic student at the university and looks forward to leading a normal student life. >> our ambition was to wield a degree and that our weapons would be knowledge and a pen. we did not want to bear arms but this regime forced us to do that by arresting and killing innocent people. reporter: in the mosque from where the first protest emerged in 2011, rebel leaders gather

for a prayer. he is a commander in one of the many rebel factions that emerged to fight assad's cruel crackdown. he has just returned after years of exile. >> we went after big pressure to evict us from the land. we would not of left otherwise. but we started to organize ourselves and prepare for a return to our land. reporter: he left in 2018 as part of an ultimatum. stay and lay down your arms or transfer to the northern province. what may have looked like a defeat at that time became an opportunity that paved the road to victory. factions united under the leadership of hts, the leading armed opposition group. >> the offense of was a soup --

offensive was a surprise to others. reporter: now, all of the factions will become part of the ministry of defense. >> there are no more factions. there will be a proper organized army that will incorporate those that are ready to defend the country. reporter: the power struggles that weakened the opposition in the past seem to have diminished. fighters from the south and north mingle with one another. >> yesterday the guys from the north came and we merged with them and know we were together. reporter: he is the commander in another rebel group and appears to recognize that the leadership of hts. >> we tried many times to overthrow the government but we didn't have the capabilities. neither the weaponry or can is a snow capabilities so we could achieve what our brothers achieved in the north. our people in the north had enough time to prepare and train for this powerful work. reporter: it remains to be seen

how long the unity will last but where the uprising began 14 years ago, there is a firm desire to put down the guns forgot. for the pbs news hour, from syria. amna: from the far south of syria to aleppo and the north where we find our special correspondent tonight. she and her team also spent time on the coast earlier today. as we heard from assad for the first time today, tell us more about what exactly he had to say. reporter: this was the first time anyone in syria has heard from him as everyone thought he had fled on the seventh of december. everyone thought he got on a plane to moscow with his family. but he claimed he went north to the heartland where assad is from and went to a russian base with his allies hoping to regroup.

he says when it became clear that all of the armed forces had laid down their weapons, the russians evacuated him out on sunday. he says he never had any intention to flee has country. he never sold out and he only went to russia because it became clear that nothing more could be on and terrorism as he calls the rebels that have taken over, the whole country. he closes sagging he does not plan to come back. once terrorism has taken over a country there is no place for leaders but he hopes that syria one day will be free and independent again from the rebels. while others would say for the first time syria is free. amna: tell us more about the heartland where the assad family is from and where he passed through as he fled damascus on his way to moscow. what did people there tell you about how they view the fall of the assad regime.

>> there are multiple russian bases. the russians have supported the assad family and his regime. and this is where the assad family has come from. we went there today and people were not mourning the family at all. a tomb where his family was buried has been burnt to the ground. and there were people asset stripping the family house. the minority that he said he supported, they say he left us here to rot. incredible poverty. he put us against the rest of the syrian people. but he did nothing for us and we are glad to be rid of him. amna: the sunni rebels that overthrew the assad regime have to set up a government and run a

country. how is the process going? reporter: what has happened is this incredible rebel sweep through the country but they don't have that much manpower. part of why they were successful is because syrian regime forces laid down their weapons. many work on scripted forces. they do not have enough manpower to run the whole country and man the whole country so they will have to make quick decisions about whether to bring other groups on board like other soldiers or work with the kurds in the northeast. we are starting to see a little more organization. when we came through from lebanon, there wasn't a soul on the syrian side. hts said all of the borders will be closed on the syrian side until they have managed to organize and have visa stamps and have people manning the borders. and we are also seeing more checkpoints. the front -- the fighters are

allowing people through freely but they are checking trying to apprehend people from the assad regime who are responsible for crimes against the syrian people. the question of justice will come up soon. we have seen a couple administrators be dragged through the streets. and a few little concerns are popping up about the agenda. some women are starting to report problems and female judges have been told by fighters that they will not be allowed to keep serving. it could be individual fighters but soon the commander who has renamed himself will have to make some decisions about how he will institute discipline among the fighters if they are going to properly organize the country. amna: our reporting from aleppo tonight. thank you.

♪ amna: today at his first news conference since winning the election, president-elect donald trump spoke about a number of his policy priorities and answered questions on a wide range of issues. geoff: mr. trump said he had what he called a warm spot in his heart for the popular social media apps, x, after winning a larger share of gen z voters than he expected. and the chinese owned app asked the supreme court to block the law that could result in a u.s. band . amna: when it came to foreign policy president trump declined to say if he had spoken with p utin since the election but he added that the ukrainian president should be prepared to

make a deal. geoff: and he criticized the biden administration's recent decision to allow ukraine dove fire -- to allow ukraine to fire long-range missiles into russia. >> i think it was a bad thing. i do not think it should have been allowed. and certainly not just weeks before i take over. why would they do that without asking me what i thought? geoff: mr. trump also weighed in on a defamation lawsuit he settled with abc news for $15 million. the suit followed a segment earlier in which george stephanopoulos said mr. trump had found -- had been found civilly liable for raping ajay carol. amna: the money will be contributed to his future presidential foundation and museum. mr. trump was asked about the settlement and whether he plans to file similar suits against

other news outlets or individuals. >> i think you have to do it because they are very dishonest. i see others. i have a few others i am doing. as an example -- i'm doing this not because i want to but because i feel i have an obligation. amna: following this closely is david it rich whose upcoming book "murdering the truth." let's start with the abc news settlement. they are paying $15 million and a million dollars for the legal fees and they added an editor's note on the interview page of the website and said abc news and george stephanopoulos regret statements regarding donald trump made by george stephanopoulos in an interview on march 10, 2024. how strong a case did mr. trump

have in this lawsuit? how usual is a lawsuit like this in the first place? >> lawsuits like this have become increasingly common. is is a strategy that trump decades ago began to pioneer. it is a tactic that has caught on. politicians, business leaders and companies are increasingly using defamation threats and lawsuits to attack unfavorable news coverage. the reality in this case is that according to everyone i've spoken to, his case against abc news seem to not great. there are strong protections built into the first amendment and how it is interpreted by the separate and court that give the media a lot of leeway when they are scrutinizing powerful individuals and no more so than the president-elect of the

united states. and it is meant to part -- to prevent this kind of lawsuit. the -- so i think abc news had a pretty good chance of prevailing. amna: the bar is high for public figures. why do we know about why they decided to settle? >> that is a $15 million question. based on the reporting we have done and talking to people, it seems they were reluctant to have a long legal battle with the president of the united states which is understandable. it also sets a precedent and could embolden other political leaders including donald trump himself to doubled down on this tactic. i think a lot of people in the first amendment community and the media certainly that were surprised and troubled by this decision to concede this to trump so early on. amna: we also heard mr. trump

saying he might go after other platforms or individuals including social media. not just journalists suggesting a broader use of this kind of lawsuit. what is the impact of this kind of statement? >> it potentially sends a chilling message to anyone who wants to not only scrutinize or criticize the president but anyone else influenced by trump. we have seen an explosion in the use of legal threats and lawsuits against not just journalists but everyone. and it is not just people on the right going after people on the left. this is at times a bipartisan trend where litigation is seen as a solution to shut people out. and i think that is something that we are probably going to see a lot more of in the years ahead. and it is not just the mainstream media that will be affected.

as donald trump said today, it is possible he would go after people with huge followings on social media or youtube. potentially the ramifications are possibly quite broad. amna: specific to news organizations, mr. trump has another pending lawsuit against cbs news 60 minutes and he is thinking about suing the des moines register as well. is there a legal precedent we should be considering? >> the most important one is a supreme court case from 16 years ago which created a very high threshold for public figures like donald to prevail in defamation cases. the fact of the matter is that in recent years donald trump and many of his allies including two supreme court justices have expressed witness -- willingness to reconsider that 1964

decision. there is the possibility that not only will donald trump and is allies bring more of these cases but that some of the historic protections will be chipped away at by federal courts. amna: that is the author of the book "murder of the truth." thank you for your time. ♪ geoff: during his press conference president-elect donald trump discussed how business leaders from wall street to selleck and valley are rushing to meet with him and build personal relationships. he told note of just how different a tone it has been compared to 2016. >> the first term everyone was fighting me.

this time everyone wants to be my friend. people want to get along with me. it wasn't easy for me but it wasn't easy for them either. geoff: to break down why we are joined by the white house economic policy reporter at the wall street journal. you wrote about this for the wall street journal in a piece with the headline -- the week ceos spent the need to trump. whether it is apple ceo, tim cook, mark zuckerberg or jeff bezos, what are they hoping to gain or prevent? >> it is those few and many more that have been engaging with donald trump since his victory along with his advisers. most of it feels like a first to move to cozy up to donald trump as he prepares to be sworn in as president. when you talk to people privately, many executives have

concerns over donald trump's tariff policies. he talked about that at the press conference today. the idea that he will slap tariffs on goods coming from china, possibly mexico and canada. many of these ceos do business in china where they know people close to business leaders that do. my sense is that this is just the beginning of an engagement with donald trump directly, not entirely with his advisers though there are some, does start the process of trying to push back on some of these tariffs that are likely to come. geoff: what is fundamentally different about this outreach compared to ceos with presidents in the past? >> you can compare it to joe biden. you did not see this. he had various meetings that were in the open with ceos. including jamie dimon and big

bank ceos would meet with joe biden and that is all out there. but they did not have this much of a close relationship with the president. it did not happen that way. it is a different story with donald trump since 2016. these executives have had direct access to the white house at times. tim cook was in direct contact with donald trump in 2016. and same thing now with jeff bezos. he has been close to donald trump and jared kushner. this system was not in place with joe biden and it is for donald trump. geoff: your recent reporting looks at the limits to that kind of influence. >> when you look at the tariff situation, there has been for weeks and effort to try to talk to donald trump or his team on how to maneuver the

president-elect when it comes to tariffs. the message from advisers to corporate leaders has been clear -- as of today, donald trump is not getting off the track of using tariffs from a negotiating worth wretch perspective. -- negotiating or threat perspective. they are clear that right now tariffs will be a policy tool in this next administration and for corporate leaders that could be a problem. if you are looking for an exemption from these tariffs, there are still questions as to how you will approach of the administration and make the impact your looking to have when it comes to avoiding the impact of the tariffs. geoff: the president-elect has vowed to expedite federal permitting. today he announced a japanese company, softbank, was making an

investment in a number of u.s. projects. what are the implications and complications of an approach like that? >> i was surprised when i saw him put that out on truth show -- truth social. it seems it would be a move that would have to be approved by congress. that would shift the approval process to a degree that i don't think can be done by executive order. i have some reporting where doug per goodman -- where doug, who is nominated to be the interior secretary, he privately acknowledged he was impressed with that decision. but it still questions whether donald trump will be able to move ahead with this and enact such a change to the approval process particularly around land grants and oil and energy regulations. geoff: groups say this is making

an end run around environmental protections. thank you for being with us. ♪ geoff: with five weeks until the inauguration, donald trump's cabinet picks have been meeting with senators and his team has been preparing his day one agenda. we turn to our politics monday duo, amy walter and tamara keith. good to see you both. mr. trump's nominees have been on capitol hill trying to woo senators. and president-elect donald trump was in mar-a-lago and he said he believes rfk junior, if confirmed, will be less radical than what thing. bring us up to speed on where

the nominees stand in terms of the transition and the republican senators they have been meeting with. >> the nominees have been making the rounds. it is standard. making the rounds to different senators trying to answer their concerns is a thing that happens every time there is a new nominate. what is different is that republican senators do have concerns with some of these nominees. they are not necessarily voicing them publicly as much as you might think in part because there is not a lot to be gained from batch. and so they are talking a lot about wanting these nominees to have a fair hearing. and having a confirmation hearing, a fair hearing, i think but we don't know yet is what are those hearings going to be like? and are any of these candidates

going to take all of these questions they are getting and realized -- this is all going to be out in public later. we expect donald trump will get the cabinet he wants but maybe not the entire cabinet. and someone like rfk junior is an interesting case. he is pro-choice. that is something that republicans could have concerns with. we have not seen a massive lobbying effort on that from conservative groups but it could happen. we saw mitch mcconnell say that polio is real and the polio vaccine saves lives. you are seeing hints of pushback. geoff: and there is the question of -- what do the american people make of this? and 55% of those polled lack confidence in donald trump assembling a good cabinets. -- cabinet.

this is remarkable as the same voting public that delivered him the electoral college on popular vote is turning around saying we don't have any confidence in him putting together a well-qualified cabinets. >> we have to be careful with the wording of polling. i like to look at a time series of polls. cnn came out with a poll asking a similar question but phrasing it differently. basically saying -- do you approve or disapprove of the way they are handling the transition? these numbers go back to bill clinton. a couple things you can see. the first is his approval of how he is handling it is lower than any other president who has come in in their first term. this is not his first term so nonconsecutive terms, we don't

have any history with that. we have seen people like barack obama coming in with an approval in the 80's. what is different though from the first trump 1.0 is that he is getting much higher marks this time around. right after the election in 2017 he was only getting 46%. by the time we got to january, only 40% approved. he is that 55 percent approved. a lot of it is based on -- it feels normal. it didn't in 2017. nothing was normal then. rolling this out it looks very familiar. i also think that tamra is right, while there seems to be some cushion for donald trump and the focus has been all on republicans, i think we have to

remember that we have no idea how voters are going to react ones they see these people themselves. right now they are just meeting with republicans. but democrats get to ask questions also. and the response of voters -- i did not know about a lot of this and that will be critically important. geoff: there is a difference between donald trump 1.0 and two point zero. the first administration and second. what are the fundamental differences? >> the first time around they were flying by the seat of their parents. they were figuring it out as they went. they did not know where the lifers were in the white house. they were figuring it out and it took about a week until they came out with the first offer at a travel ban, keeping president

trump's promise. it was immediate chaos at the airports peered the department of homeland security officials did not know what they were supposed to be enforcing. the executive order took effect immediately. the government did not know what they were defending. it was thrown out by the courts. they have learned. they have spent the last four years planning for what they would do if they were back in the white house. they have written executive orders. they know how to pull the levers of government in a way they didn't before. and donald trump is also different. he is more confidence. he knows he doesn't have that much time. he is immediately a lame-duck. not running again. he has a narrow margin in the

house and the senate. and they intend -- they talked about shock and awe last time, now stephen miller is saying it will be like a bolt of lightning. geoff: the fact that donald trump is a lame-duck, how does that change the dynamic and the fact that the american electorate is used to him? >> and that is important. we look to the first midterm election as a good marker as to how the american public is judging the president. and that president readjusts on the fly after the results of that election. if you are donald trump, whether the republicans gain or you -- four lose seats in the house and senate is not impacting your future legacy. what will influence his legacy

is what will happen in the first two years. and the thing that is more likely to get in his way then control of congress or people within his own party rejecting him is the courts. so many of these things will end up being handled by the courts. >> we could see him issue an executive order taking away birthright citizenship. it is in the constitution but it doesn't mean they won't try to test it and get it to the courts. in many cases the court is the goal. geoff: and there is the question of job performance. he gave an interview with time magazine talking about grocery prices. he said it is hard to bring things down once they are up. he is in tune with this issue -- >> i'm looking to bring prices down. the border and more than

immigration from they like to say emigration, but i break it down more to the border but i want to work on the border and groceries. geoff: and when he was campaigning he said a lead me and prices will come tumbling down. it is the difference between campaigning and governing. >> as the biden administration learned and democrats learned, the president doesn't have control over the price of stuff and prices are not coming down even as inflation comes down. we won't go back to the 2020 costs of these grocery items. what we are seeing in the data is that democrats are more pessimistic about the economy even though nothing has changed in the last month. looking about how they felt about the economy in october and now. republicans are more optimistic. where independence sit will be critical to watch.

they are a little more optimistic but not dramatically so. if you are a democrat you are not just looking at if prices go down but what are the priorities for republicans. legislatively you have tax cuts and trump on record saying we will do more cuts for corporations and wealthy individuals and that will be a challenge for republicans to message. geoff: amy walter and tamara keith, our things to you both as always. ♪ -- our thanks to both as always. amna: yuma county, arizona is known as the winter salad bowl. the region produces almost all of the leafy green vegetables consumed in the u.s. during the winter. farmers rely on the colorado river. as the west contends with drought and climate change, they have had to adapt. >> i'm going to guess five days

ago. reporter: on a crisp november morning and introduction of how to grow vegetables in the sonora desert. >> right now we would be harvesting this crop at peak majority -- maturity next week. reporter: i'm standing in the field of lettuce but am surrounded on all sides by desert. how does? this make sense? ? >> this valley -- they are all formed by the river. reporter: the colorado river which starts in the rocky mountains and once flowed so abundantly to this region that it would occasionally flood. >> there is all of this sediment from flooding over the years. reporter: that plus the consistently mild and sunny winters in southern arizona has

made let us growing a cash cow. >> you could say that you want to grow them in florida which is great if they don't get hurricanes. there are other places that keep trying but they cannot grow consistent quantities and the quality that the country needs. so if you want lettuces in the wintertime or broccoli, you have to come to the desert. >> these sprinklers are something we have implemented in the last two years. reporter: the farmer said the winter climate and irrigation practices produce a better harvest and better yields. >> this is what allows us to micromanage our farming practices. reporter: meaning it is sunny all the time. >> we average three inches of rain a year. but consistent sunshine is the trick. reporter: but the climate is

creating problems. the colorado river is major reservoirs reached historic close a few years ago. a multiyear drought continues to squeeze supply and the west. scientists say rising temperatures have supercharged the drought in the west causing the last two decades to be the most dry in at least 1200 years. at the same time the average flows from the colorado river which these crops rely on our down by about 20%. for several decades farmers managed to get more crop for drop by adopting newer technologies to stay ahead of the >> dwindling water supply. >>if you look at the statistics, we have increased production for the last 30 years. high density beds and different genetics and satellite driven equipment and we are producing more crop per drop than anywhere in the u.s. reporter: the law of the river

governs how the colorado's rivers are allocated with most going to arboriculture. farmers have senior water rights meaning if there were ever mandated cuts they would be the -- they would be among the last to be forced to comply but the river is so depleted that even they are starting to worry. the head of arizona's agricultural department -- is there a sense that those rights are in peril? >> there is a lot of competition. and on a lot of different levels. reporter: scarcity has led to heated negotiations between states and tribes and between growers and growing cities. the river is over allocated. >> their will, point where the water availability would be so finite that it might have come

down to a choice of growing crops or shuttling water off to the different cities that get colorado river to keep them alive. reporter: he says yuma has long had a target on its back. >> it has some of the oldest and highest priorities on the colorado river and yet they are at the end of the river. right over there it goes into mexico. can have the best rights in the real but if the water is not flowing down to you, there isn't a lot you can do. reporter: in 2022 when we saw it got near deadpool, was there panic in the area and was it a wake-up call? >> it was a wake-up call to the whole region. there was a call from the bureau of reclamation have to reduce water use by 20%-40% which is a huge thing.

yuma agriculture put together a plan to try to navigate and not have fallowing farmland take land out of production as the answer but to be more efficient with water and continue raising food because it is a national security issue to have our own food supply. reporter: this last year's snows in the rockies may of bought farmers time but john dinsmore said he is not burying his head in the sand. >> the science that leads us to the new practices is helpful as well is the science that gives us a forecast. it can be scary but you have to have hope. reporter: he says they will continue to take it season by season for as long as the winter salad bowl is on the menu. ♪

amna: and that is the news hour for tonight. geoff: for all of us here at the pbs news hour, thank you for spending part of your evening with us. announcer: major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by -- ♪ supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org. and with the ongoing support of these institutions -- ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its

caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪ >>

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