william: good evening. i'm william brangham. geoff bennett and amna nawaz are away. on the "newshour" tonight, the house ethics committee report on former congressman matt gaetz - president elect trump's first pick for attorney general - reveals alleged rampant illegal

sexual misconduct and drug use. president biden commutes the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row to life without parole, just weeks before trump is set to take office. and, china's foreign adoption ban leaves hundreds of children and families in limbo, and brings into focus the effects of china's long time policies. >> i still struggle with a lot of aspects of my adoption and the grief and the trauma that comes with being separated from your birth country, from your birth family. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> the ongoing support of these

individuals and institutions and , friends of the "news hour" including leonard and the judy and peter blum kovler foundation. the william and flora hewlett foundation promoting a better world at hewlett.org. and with ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪ >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and contributions to your pbs nation from viewers like you. thank you.

william: welcome to the news hour. a highly-anticipated house ethics committee report details a litany of allegations against the former republican representative from florida, matt gaetz. prosecutors previously declined to charge him, but gaetz' former peers found evidence that he paid several young women for sex -- including an underage girl and partook in numerous drug-fueled sex parties. lisa desjardins spent the day combing through this report about the one-time trump nominee for attorney general -- and she joins us now. this is a very explicit report and we should alert our viewers that this, what we are going to talk about in the next few minutes is somewhat graphic. in this report what stood out to you? lisa: this contains very serious allegations and conclusions, direct conclusions, according to the committee that gaetz violated law in a criminal way.

they found over the course of nearly four years, gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to women, likely in connection with or for sex and drugs. he had sex with a 17 year old girl and that fits florida's definition, where the activity was alleged to have happened, to statutory rape. there is not evidence he violated sex trafficking laws. in this report there is direct testimony from witnesses including the women involved, but also a large number of text messages either from gaetz or naming him in conversations with women. it is important to say, the women said this activity was consensual. it is not allegation of assault. it is about paying for sex. and on the allegation of statutory rape, they said there was no evidence gaetz ; -- knew

the girl was 17. but under florida law, ignorance of the minor's age does not exonerate you. this is the committee view, a member of congress who spent years paying for sex and drugs. william: gaetz worked hard to prevent this report from coming out. what is his response? lisa: he is adamant it is a politically driven attack on him and has gone farther. he pointed out the department of justice has never charged him with a crime. he says the committee is taking testimony out of context. his argument on twitter, he says, i never paid anyone for sex because they were not charging me. i gave them money as a gift to these women. i don't know how that will stand up in court, but that is his argument. the committee said in fact he gave money to these women after having sex with them many times. gaetz is also trying to sue.

he blocked this report and said the committee does not have a right to release it now that he is out of congress. but more than one republican and democrat voted to release it. it is not rare to do this, but not unprecedented. william: gaetz is out of congress, has withdrawn as president elect trump's nominee for attorney general. so why are we paying attention to this? lisa: because he is still in trump's inner circle and hopes to hold political power in the future, maybe as florida governor, or positions that don't need said and approval -- senate approval. we don't really know about the ethical debates. william: what is happening with representative kay granger? lisa: the texas congresswoman has been in office 27 years. she is a spitfire and pioneer for republican women. but over the weekend a newspaper came out with the story, for months, unbeknownst to many of us, she has been in a long-term care facility.

her son says she has issues with dementia. no one wanted to see this decline. she had a powerful position. another example were constituents don't know what is happening with their members, some saying they have not received services. she does complete her 27 years in office next week. william: lisa, thank you. ♪ william: in one of the most significant moves against capital punishment, president joe biden has commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 prisoners on federal death row. they will stay in prison for life, but will not be subject to execution. biden's move is believed to have been driven in part by the incoming trump administration, and an expected hard line policy shift on federal executions. following all this closely is robin mahr, she's the executive director of the non-partisan death penalty information center.

robin, nice to have you here. this is a significant move, one of the most significant, by a president with regard to federal death row inmates. what did these commutations mean? robin: this is an historic decision, the largest mass clemency grant by any president since lincoln, and the first in the modern death penalty era. there are 40 on death row, 37 will receive new sentences of life without possibility of parole. there are 2100 people on state death rows throughout the country whose death sentences will not be affected by this decision. part of the motivation for president biden today was recognizing the racial bias and unfairness of some of these federal death sentences. many criticisms ring true for the men and women on state death rows as well.

william: who are those dirty seven, roughly speaking, whose -- 37, roughly speaking, whose sentences were commuted? robin: the men were sentenced to death decades ago in a different era in our nations history. a time of overzealous prosecutions, harsh criminal justice penalties and policies that sent dozens of people to federal death rows for crimes they would not be federally prosecuted for today. a very different time. the department of justice has recently looked at these policies and made real changes to its prosecution policies, but none of the changes benefited the men on federal death row. that is why president biden needed to make the decision he made today. william: it is almost all, 37 of 40. that leaves three behind. who are the three that did not get their sentences commuted? robin: they were convicted of federal hate crimes or terrorism offenses.

they include one who was convicted of the boston marathon bombing, dylann roof, convicted of the hate crime of shooting the charlston church many years ago, and most recently, robert bowers convicted of targeting people at a pittsburgh synagogue. all three of those men were convicted of crimes within the last 10 years. all three of them will remain on death row. the remaining 37 men will never be released from federal prison, but they will not be executed. william: as you know, president biden has a complicated history with the criminal justice system. he was principally responsible for the infamous crime bill in the 1990's that many critics have said led to mass incarceration. he wanted to do more on the death penalty during his administration, but was not able to until today. i want to read a quote he said -- "i'm more convinced than ever we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level.

in good conscience i cannot step back and let a new administration resume executions that i halted." is that your sense that that is principally what is driving this? robin: president biden was once a strong supporter of the death penalty, but his change of heart began several years ago during the 2020 presidential campaign. at that time we had come out of this breathtaking execution spree, or president trump executed 12 men and one woman in just six months time. we were still reeling from that event. i think he recognized at that point the federal death penalty deserved is closer examination. he has looked at his conscious -- conscience, faith, and listened to the calls of many thousands of people who were asking him to make that decision. most important of which were victims family members, some of whom who had lost loved ones to the men on the federal death

row, which was really incredibly powerful. william: i know we can't predict what a future president would do, but is it your sense when trump returns to the white house, that he would take up a federal executions? does it make sense that biden took this step today? robin: i think some of what motivated biden was the urgency of this moment, the danger those men were in. president trump is promised to use the federal death penalty to expand its use and resume federal executions. what i hope is this president trump will not just repeat the mistakes of the past. as president biden has shown us today, we can learn from our mistakes and make better decisions in the future. that is what i'm hoping for. william: robin, thank you for being here. robin: my pleasure. ♪ william: in the day's other

headlines, the man accused of gunning down the chief executive of "united health care" pleaded not guilty to multiple state charges of murder -- including as an act of terrorism. in manhattan this morning -- the shackled luigi mangione was escorted into new york state's supreme court for his arraignment. after he gave his plea, one of his attorneys expressed concern about a fair trial -- amid a quote "choreographed" media spectacle, and, as a separate federal case unfolds at the same time. >> he's a young man and he is being treated like a human ping pong ball between two warring jurisdictions here. these federal and state prosecutors are coordinating with one another, but at the expense of him. they have conflicting theories in their indictments. william: his next appearance in state court is set for february also in new york, a man facing murder and arson charges for allegedly setting a woman on fire and watching her burn to

death inside a subway train over the weekend. police identified the suspect as sebastian zapeta -- a guatemalan citizen who entered the u.s. illegally -- twice. he was arrested hours after the incident. the city's police commissioner called it "one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit against another human being." former president bill clinton is hospitalized in washington, d.c. come a we learned this afternoon. a staff member mr. clinton said he developed a fever and was admitted for tests. his staff says he remains in good spirits. turning overseas, israel's prime minister says there has been "some progress" in gaza ceasefire negotiations. a new bid to reach a deal has gained momentum this month. but, officials familiar with the talks say sticking points remain, including which palestinian prisoners would be released, and how long a ceasefire would last. speaking to lawmakers, benjamin netanyahu couldn't say when they might reach a possible deal, but

claimed israel's military successes had led hamas to soften its demands. >> i want to tell you cautiously, that there is a , certain progress. i don't know how long it will take. we will continue to operate in any way and without a pause until we bring the hostages back home. william: on the ground in gaza, medics say israeli airstrikes overnight killed at least 20 people. one attack hit a tent camp in a coastal area that israel had designated as a safe zone. a local hospital said two children were among those killed. automakers nissan and honda want to join forces, and today, announced plans to work towards a merger. if approved, their unification would create the third largest automaker in the world, based on sales. the japanese companies will begin official discussions, and mitsubishi motors - a partner of nissan - will also join the talks. they hope to reach a formal agreement by june, and to

complete the deal by late summer 2026. the short holiday week on wall street began on a high note. the dow jones rose by more than 60 points. the nasdaq made the biggest gain of the day - almost 1%. and, the s&p 500 also rose nearly 0.75%. and, one of the world's most active volcanoes is at it again. kilauea -- on hawaii's big island began bubbling with lava early this morning - its third eruption in just the last half-year. hawaii's volcano observatory says it's confined to a remote, closed area of the state's volcanoes national park. but there is a threat for homes that are downwind - volcanic gasses can be harmful for people with respiratory issues. still to come on the "newshour." the debate surrounding the health of right whales as offshore wind farms grow. amy walter and tamara keith break down the latest political headlines.

and threading music through life. jazz trumpeter arturo sandoval's journey from cuba to international success. ♪ >> this is the "pbs newshour" from the david m. rubenstein studio from weta studio in washington and from the west at the walter cronkite bureau at arizona state university. william: the biden administration just approved a wind farm project off the coast of massachusetts- it's now the eleventh commercial-scale wind project of its kind to get approval. this comes at a key moment for this sector because president-elect trump has been a frequent critic. as science correspondent miles o'brien reports, researchers are racing to answer important questions about the potential unintended consequences of this promising form of renewable energy -- even while current windmills are under construction.

miles: three decades after the idea was pioneered in europe, offshore wind power is just over the horizon in the u.s. in new bedford, massachusetts they are staging and stacking the pieces of the largest one yet, vineyard wind one. what is the total dollar figure? >> we are about $4 billion. miles clouse is the ceo. >> it is on the high end because we have a lot of first-time investments here. tamara: -- miles vineyard wind is in various stages of completion along the east coast from here to virginia. the biden administration set a national target of 30 gigawatts of wind capacity by 2030, enough to supply 11 million homes each year. what is the huge advantage of putting them off shore? >> in massachusetts you don't

see a lot of space available to do onshore wind. our wind farm has given power to 400,000 homes in massachusetts. that would be difficult to achieve with an onshore wind farm. miles these giant offshore wind turbines are twice the height of those built on land, their blades are twice as long. that bigger sweep combined with stronger wind speeds this far from land, allows them to generate more energy. inside the turbine, magnets rotate past coils of wire, generating electricity, which runs down through buried wires back to the grid. electricity out of thin air. big as they are, the windmills are 15 miles offshore, too far to see from terra firma. >> cleared for takeoff. miles the photographer and i flew out to take a look.

>> we are going to do some further work at the wind turbines. requesting flight power. miles: we flew due south of martha's vineyard and there they were, you can't miss them. >> the size of these turbines is pretty stunning. each of those blades is more than a football field so combined it is two football fields in diameter, plus it is sitting up pretty high as it is. miles: it was a very calm day in june so they were dile and remain idle after a manufacturing flaw caused the failure of a blade in july. debris fell into the ocean, leading to beach closures. the blade was manufactured by ge, which blames insufficient bonding during production at their facility in canada. the company says it is inspecting the approximately 150 offshore wind blades produced at that plant to ensure no similar defects are present.

construction has resumed, but it gave offshore wind farm opponents more grist for their mill. over the years donald trump has led the chorus trashing turbines since 2006, when a proposal to build windmills during -- close to his golf course in scotland surfaced. mr. trump: it is like a graveyard for birds. miles: they kill as many as 328,000 birds per year in the u.s. for comparison, buildings kill one billion birds. there is no data on the threat posed by remote offshore wind. many wind opponents are more focused low the surface on whale mortalities. >> wind turbines that appear to be killing large numbers of whales. >> we need to do studies to see what is killing the darn whales. miles: but these whales died for a single turbine was built in the supposedly culpable wind farm. >> that link does not seem real

to me. it seems like false information. miles: jessica redford is a quantitative ecologist at the new england aquarium. she uses mathematics to study ecological questions. the arithmetic for north atlantic right whales is not good. there are only 370 left. they are being killed at an alarming rate by vessel strikes and entanglement with fishing gear, not by windmills. still, she is concerned the noise and additional ship traffic during construction might harm the animals. >> think of it as a giant experiment occurring in our ocean. you need to observe, collect data, watch to understand what is happening. from that you learn and that is how we can responsibly develop wind going forward. miles: the process of putting all that structure in the water is of course disruptive. thousands of turbines require hundreds of thousands of bone

jarring impacts from piledriving. they are deploying so-called bubble curtains around the piledriving operations. the concentric walls of bubbles reduce noise in the water column. the company is also deploying autonomous acoustic sensors to detect sound of vocalizing whales. mike connor is there founder. >> these are all sensors, is that right? >> each of those points is a sensor and these are the bearings from which we hear whale activity. miles: when a whale is spotted near a wind turbine construction site, work is supposed to stop immediately. based on what you know here, can we say categorically that wind turbines have not killed a whale? >> a wind turbine has not killed a whale. piledriving from wind turbine

construction has not ever killed a whale. miles: what happens after they are completed? could they pose a long-term threat to the whales? they are conducting research that might provide an answer. she is a biological oceanographer at an institution, 25 miles as the profiles from the vineyard wind farm. >> there are challenges we face in trying to observe it. it is captivating for me. miles: she is in the middle of a multi-decade study to better understand what is happening in the microscopic sea. four times a year for the past six years she and her team have gone from martha's vineyard due south across the continental shelf and this over the edge, recording, counting, identifying all manner of phytoplankton with automated high-speed imaging. the tiny pods that right whales

depend on are dependent on the phytoplankton. a kaleidoscope of microscopic algae that thrive in the ocean. she suspects all those windmill structures in the water will perturb ocean circulation and cause turbulence, affecting how and where the plankton grow. at the bottom of the ledger it is worth continuing the construction, in your view? >> the wind farms are going in and we can't turn back the clock on that. we need to move forward with the research to make the best decisions we can going forward. miles: heidy lives in a solar powered home and drives an electric car. she is personally invested in fighting the claimant emergency. she is among many scientists willing to accept the risk of offshore wind so long as it is well measured. for the pbs news hour, miles o'brien in new bedford, massachusetts. william: in his next report

miles looks at how offshore wind , power may complicate fishing and seafood harvesting for one of the country's most lucrative fishing ports. ♪ william: president biden makes a big decision with just weeks left in office. and with republicans set to take power, a funding fight reveals potential cracks in the gop. a perfect time for our politics monday duo. that's amy walter of the “cook political report with amy walter” and tamara keith of npr. welcome to you both. tam, sorry we could not have you sitting here with us. but starting with you, biden is near the end of his term. as he has his entire political rear, he is going all out on this legal front. the commutations we saw today, the thousands before that,

pushing a lot of judges through the confirmation. how much of this is normal end of term, end of political career tidying up and how much is it eyeing the incoming administration? tamara: certainly president biden was chairman of the senate judiciary committee for a significant part of his career. as soon as he came into office he had his eye on these judicial positions. when president trump was in office he set a new record with the number of nominees he was able to get confirmed to lifetime positions. that really shaped the court and in a way, helped shape the biden presidency because there were times when policies he wanted came up against trump appointed judges. now biden has beaten trump's number of these lifetime appointments. those nominees, those judges, will then shape the legal

opinions that go forward. the legal opinions that will affect the trump presidency, at least partially. as far as the pardons and commutations, the announcement today is essentially biden trying to do criminal justice reform to change federal policy by way of the power he does have, which is, the power of pardons and commutations. william: what do you make of this activity? amy: in the power he wanted to have through the legislative process and was denied that. we have talked a lot about this incoming president and what he can and cannot do with the legislative body has. it is a reminder of how much you can do as executive, even though it is not changing the law permanently. the interesting thing in looking at these last few months, last few weeks especially of the biden administration, is,

thinking through the man and what his legacy will be. we have had pretty young presidents in the last arrow who were able to watch their legacy change over the period of time while they were alive, interpretations of their legacy. this is not a man who will be alive to see that. what he seems to be doing is putting in place things he wants that others will be able to make that determination about what his presidency was or was not. he is going to go out doing the things he had said he wanted to do when he was running for president. one of those, lifting the death penalty. a complicated legacy, but as a catholic, this was one of those tenant -- tenets he stood by consistently. william: tam, this week, we had

a pretty shocking turn of events with this government funding deal pulled from the brink of disaster at the very last minute, but not before trump and his lieutenant elon musk torpedo the first one, tried to get a second one to their liking past -- passed, which engendered a report within the gop and showed some fissures within the incoming president's prowess. what do you make of how that turned out and what it revealed? tamara: one thing i think we have talked about before, trumbull, in a lame-duck. -- trump will come in a lame-duck. his term will only last for years. -- four years. after two years people will be running for office. it is as narrow as you can get house majority and has really ambitious goals.

what he was trying to do by blowing up that initial deal and trying to get something else and conservatives revolted, he was trying to smooth the path for his ambitious legislative and executive agenda. what became clear this week is, that path is not going to be smooth for any number of reasons. one, house republicans and senate republicans are not a monolith, and are not necessarily going to do exactly what he wants in the way he wants it. also, he has sort of returned to form. he had help from elon musk, who was stoking concerns of that deal, the bipartisan deal online. but trump returned to form. even when his party controlled both the house and senate, he blew up a deal they had amongst themselves back when he was president that led to a

government shutdown. the chaos experienced in the last week, i don't think that is the last time we will see it. amy: i think that is an important point. it is not just that he has the narrowest of margins. there were more than 30 republicans who voted against this. even with a larger majority, this would not have passed on republican votes alone. the point tam made about the first two years being critical is absolutely right. it is not just the people start running for president, there is a midterm election. the odds the party in power holds onto both of the house and senate, the senate is harder to flip, but the house, that could be difficult for republicans to hold onto. there is a very narrow window if republicans are going to pass this ambitious agenda. even one that tackles taxes and

the border, which is what the president has put on the top of his priority list. it may look different when he is president. republicans are in charge of the senate. the pressure is different on individual members of congress. i think the challenge for republicans is, there is a populace present, but does not mean every member of the republican congress is on board with that agenda. some folks are deficit hawks and some want to see less government spending on some big entitlement programs. william: in the last 30 seconds, i know you have been reporting on this. we mentioned elon musk and his influence with the white house, the incoming white house. trump does not seem to like that. he spoke out about it yesterday at a political action conference.

what do you make of this, him trying to push back on the idea elon musk has a little sway? tamara: president trump does not like people blocking his sunlight. this is a long-standing issue he has had where, if there is a close advisor who starts getting credit for things, he often turns on them. we don't know whether this will happen with elon musk. we kind of know it is likely to happen. we don't know when or in what form. william: so nice to see you both, thank you for being here. ♪ william: over the last 25 years more than 80,000 chinese children have been adopted by u.s. families. but that has come to an abrupt halt because china announced its -- this fall it is bringing its

foreign adoption program to an immediate end. as stephanie sy reports, the futures of hundreds of chinese children now hang in the balance. stephanie the welch's live in : louisville, kentucky and are raising four biological sons, as well as a daughter, gracie, whom they adopted from china in 2017. but they consider themselves a family of eight. penelope, who lives in an orphanage in china, is the missing piece. using an international adoption agency, the welchs were matched with penelope in 2019, when she was five years old. for her privacy they asked we not show her face. >> caregivers wanted to prepare her for the transition that was coming, and they told her that she had parents and four big brothers and a little sister. she received photos of us. she began to refer to us then as mommy and daddy, mama and papa. stephanie: covid struck weeks

before they were due to go to china to meet penelope in person, finalize her adoption, and bring her back to the u.s., with china implementing one of the strictest lockdowns in the world, the trip was cancelled. >> penelope's soft pink bed has been set up since chinese new year in january 2020. stephanie: five years since penelope and the welchs were promised to each other, the little girl's bed in kentucky still sits empty. now 11, aimee estimates she has grown several sizes, holding the original outfit she bought for her homecoming, and the new, larger one next to it. back in china, penelope still receives photos of the familysome printed on pillows and blankets she cuddles up to. “i love you” she says, in mandarin, in a video message the orphanage sent. >> it is not a perfect connection, but it is a real connection. and we think of her very much as

the daughter of our hearts. stephanie: if covid was a setback, china's announcement in september that it was ending international adoptions was a crushing blow. ever since, aimee has been organizing families in the same situation. they've been pleading their case for china to honor the pending adoptions. in penelope's case, it was a promise made with signatures and a stamp of approval from the china center for children's welfare and adoption. the policy change has left more than 270 american families in limbo, unsure of where their adoption journey will lead. in november, u.s. lawmakers from both parties wrote a letter to president biden urging him to “act in the best interest of these children and families by urging the prc to fulfill and uphold the commitment the country has made.” a state department spokesperson told the news hour -- “we deeply

sympathize with the families and children” and that it's “engaging with the prc at high levels” to advocate for u.s. families to be able to process their adoptions. international adoptions in china were once common. during the one-child policy which lasted from 1980 to 2016, families abandoned or were forced to give up children, especially baby girls. tens of thousands of babies were adopted by american families. >> i was born in september of 1995. i was found by the side of a bridge brought to the welfare home, and none of my natural relatives could be found. stephanie: kira omans was ten months old when she was adopted. the 29 year old actress now lives in los angeles. how would you describe how you feel about your adoption now that you know about the one child policy? >> adoption has impacted my life in so many different ways that i could have never anticipated. i have very loving parents.

however, even so, as someone who i feel like is very well-adjusted in that way, i still struggle with a lot of aspects of my adoption and the grief and the trauma that comes with being separated from your birth country, from your birth family. stephanie: katie lauder, now 28, was adopted just before she turned two by a family in outside chicago. >> we grew up in a time when it wasn't really taught to adoptive parents, like how much inherent trauma there is in adoption in being separated from your first family. you know, the people that are supposed to like care about you and have some type of connection to you. stephanie: lauder works with other adoptees who want to travel to china in search of relatives. her own journey to discover her origins was bittersweet. katie: i was able to reconnect with the foster family that

raised me for a year, and that was pretty exciting. -- it was a little sad because my foster mother had already passed away by the time that i was able to find the family. so that was a bit devastating because i kind of just lost the one person who knew me at the earliest point in my life. stephanie: both omans and lauder had strong reactions to china's decision to end international adoptions. >> i both knew that this was a step towards prioritizing family preservation, which is an element of adoption that i very much believe in and fight for. at the same time, as a woman adopted during the one child policy, didn't necessarily feel that this decision was made purely for the betterment of children, and that also led to conflicting feelings surrounding this decision . like my cohort of adoptees, feel like a bit of relief and some vindication that no other -- vindication.

the other side of the community, they were adopted in the late 2000's to the 2010's. a lot of those children were medical needs or disabled children. so they have a lot of sadness around the closing of international adoptions. stephanie: aimee and steve did not think it was in penelope's best interest to reveal her medical condition. >> we know that with her medical diagnosis, she is not a candidate for a domestic adoption. it is a condition that she will live with her whole life. it's a condition that is highly stigmatized in china. stephanie: but with each passing day aimee worries penelope's , window to be with a permanent family grows smaller. >> every single one of these 300 children, including our penelope, has a moderate to severe special need. you know, this has been an incredibly hard way for us and for the hundreds of other families. but what is far harder is to be an orphan, to have lost your family of origin, to grow up in

institutional care. stephanie: there are more than 150,000 orphans in china and 98 -- 98% of those in state orphanages have moderate to severe disabilities or diseases. a tiny fraction of them will be adopted in china. says yanzhong huang, an expert on china's role in global health policy at the council on foreign relations. >> clearly, there is a shortage of state capacity to take care of those children and unfortunately, because chinese families would prefer adopting healthy children or children with minor illness, they do not have interest in adopting these children. stephanie: back in louisville, the welchs' first chinese adopted daughter is healthy as

they come despite her physical disability. >> she's thriving not because of us. we are just ordinary parents doing what ordinary parents do. what have you been telling gracie? because, you know, from a child's perspective, she thought she had a sister coming home. >> she doesn't remember a day where she wasn't waiting for penny to come home. so nightly prayers, it's, you know, open the door for penny to come home. we did share with her the news in september, and there were tears all around the table as we communicated that. and we said we're not going to give up but we also need to be realistic that we don't control the situation. stephanie: as a new year approaches, the welchs' say all they can do is continue to speak out for penelope hoping someone who has the power to change the situation will hear them soon. >> one missing piece. stephanie: for the pbs newshour, i'm stephanie sy, in louisville, kentucky.

♪ william: famed musician arturo sandoval was among those celebrated at the 47th kennedy center honors earlier this month -- which aired last night on cbs. but as a young boy in cuba, sandoval's rise to the top of the music world was inconceivable. he has now won 10 grammy awards and performed the world over. geoff bennett met up with sandoval at the pearl street warehouse in washington, d.c. to talk about a life filled with music and paying, and playing it forward. it's part of our arts and culture series, canvas. ♪ geoff: improvisation like this is what sets arturo sandoval apart, every note a story unto itself, transforming each of his

performances into a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. and, whether entertaining audiences huge or small, he says he aims to engage in a very emotional level. ♪ arturo: i love it, i feel it. whatever i am saying is penetrating their soul. they understand and we communicate. geoff: born into a poor family in a small village in havana, cuba, the 75-year-old learned early what brought him joy. enrolling in the cuban national school of arts and earning a place in the all-star national band. geoff: what was your introduction to music growing up in cuba? arturo: i started banging all over, my family was not it me, because i wanted to play on top

of everything. but it is funny, nobody in my family before or after me has been involved in music in any capacity. geoff: really? how did music find you, then? arturo: that is a good question. i forgot. [laughter] the only thing i can assure you is that music saved my buu -- butt. geoff: how? arturo: i was a hopeless kid. i did not see any light at the end of the tunnel. i could not even find the tunnel. then music came and opened a new horizon for me and i fell in love from the very beginning. geoff: is it true when you did your obligatory military service you were caught listening to jazz music, which was a major offense at the time because cuba

called it the music of imperialism, and you were punished for it? what do you remember of that time? arturo: i was in the oblique a tory military service for three years and four days. as you say, they used to call it the music of the junkie imperialists. geoff: you were in jail for 3.5 months for listening to jazz music read -- music. arturo: it was good for me because it corroborated my desire to leave the island. geoff: meeting dizzy gillespie on tour in cuba. arturo: when we played, he was looking at us and laughing. the bottom line is, when he came back to new york, he started talking about that band he heard in cuba. geoff: at gillespie's

recommendation the president of cbs records signed sandoval to a life-changing record deal. arturo: he put us on a plane from havana to laguardia in new york. we landed there midafternoon. they put us on a small bus, drove us to the sound check. we did not even check into the hotel. to the sound check at carnegie hall. geoff: the first time you played in the states you played at carnegie hall? arturo: not the first time, the first day, ever. ♪ geoff: it was gillespie who became a friend as well as mentor who helped him defect from cuba, along with his wife and son, while on tour with the united nations orchestra in 1977. what did you learn from him? arturo: to keep your passion and love for music alive. it does not matter the age, your

fame, does not matter anything. keep that passion alive, always. geoff: you still practice every day? are you still pushing boundaries of what you can do? arturo: when you play what you want, or you play what you can, the only thing you have to do is be consistent in your practicing. that and strong discipline and passion. you need that kind of discipline. especially with the trumpet. it is merciless. ♪ geoff: sandoval gained more acclaim and audiences as he toward worldwide with his own band and with dizzy gillespie. ♪ >> arturo sandoval. geoff: he became so popular he

played the halftime of the 1995 super bowl. and, for the obamas at the white house in 2012. the following year, president obama presented sandoval a presidential medal of freedom. geoff: when did you know music would be your life's work? arturo: it was a process that took years. because of that day, people [indiscernible] my decision was, how can i say, irrevocable. geoff: irrevocable. [laughter] ♪ geoff: sandoval is best known for his virtue was open laying of jazz trumpet and flugelhorn. but also for piano, vocals and

keyboard. i asked him what distinguished jazz and latin jazz. arturo: jazz is synonymous with freedom. and for me, i strongly believe freedom is the most important word in any dictionary in any language in the world. because no freedom, no life. i can't -- i can talk about it because i know the difference between no freedom and freedom. geoff: you are a real master of technical expertise and emotional expression. how do you balance both elements? arturo: i like the second part. geoff: the emotional expression. doesn't one inform the other? i listen to caliente the other day and you hit a high c7. to me, that is technical expertise. arturo: the play low or high, it

is more related to technique. for someone to really notice a big difference between a musician who can play technically flawless and incredible, and you have to tell them, please, play for me a simple, slow melody, and saying with your instrument. some people play, ♪ when i fall in love ♪ it is different when you play an instrument [vocalizing]. to sing with an instrument. geoff: what excites you about the future of jazz and latin music? arturo: we have to keep the hope alive.

jazz has never been the music of the masses, but, the real jazz fans are special. we must protect the fans and preserve jazz music. still at 705i practice every day. -- 75 i practice every day. i love music more every day. ♪ geoff: -- william: finally tonight, for more than 20 years one street in st. louis, missouri is transformed every holiday season behind the sparkle is an underlying motivation that many believe is the true meaning of christmas. our community correspondent

gabrielle hayes explains. ♪ >> gabrielle hayes here on candycane lane in missouri where residents, they take off nearly friday in november to hang thousands of lights, something they have been doing for more than 20 years. ♪ gabrielle: has your set up grown over the years? >> every year. i will not stop until you can see my house from space. >> i believe the very first time it was done was 2001. a neighborhood block contest. somebody had the idea to wrap the trees in the style of candy canes and that seemed to stick. >> this will be our sixth christmas. we moved in october 2019. gabrielle: what was your first

christmas like? >> we participated with a blowups and lights. it is definitely a marathon and not a sprint. >> matt talked about the tree in his yard. >> 16 feet. >> it really takes about two really good weekends of nice weather, a lot of help. >> the wrapped trees, anything overhead. it is the community lights. we all get together to help. it is more than lights. it pulls the whole block together. anyone who is on the block, puts up information about their charity and some donate. it is completely optional. we have given well over $200,000 over the lifespans of candy cane lane to various charities. it is in the hearts of the people who live here and do it all. gabrielle: what is your hope that people take away from being able to experience candy cane lane?

>> i hope they have a great memory with anyone they may be in their car with, or truck or party bus or trolley with. i hope they can leave saying, wow, when we went to candy cane lane, that was really cool and i can't wait to go back. ♪ william: and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm william brangham. on behalf of the entire news hour team, thank you so much for joining us. >> major funding for the pbs newshour 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.] ♪ >>

hello, everyone. welcome to "amanpour & company." here's what's coming up. >> we will regroup and come up with another solution. >> chaos in washingt