♪ >> good evening. i'm geoff bennett. on the "news hour" tonight, new york mayor eric adams faces a judge. over corruption charges as critics raise questions about

his connections to the trump administration. fired inspectors general from the department of defense and health and human services discuss the lack of oversight of the trump administration's policy initiatives. and president trump's threats to take the panama canal by force call attention to how it fits into global trade. and how climate change could alter its future. >> the tolls have been increased because of the supply and demand issue that has -- there's less water, changing rainfall and they have charged more. >> major funding for the "pbs news hour" has been provided by -- >> cunard is a proud supporter of public television. on a voyage with cunard, the world awaits. a world of flavor, diverse destinations, and immersive experiences.

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together. 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. >> welcome to the "news hour." here are the latest headlines. president donald trump today denounced ukrainian president zelenskyy as a dictator. as he tried to pressure kyiv to accept the terms of a deal. he comes a day after mr. trump falsely claimed ukraine started

the war. ali rogin has the latest. >> today, a war of words between two supposed allies. president donald trump lashing out against ukrainian president zelenskyy. in a scathing paragraph filled with falsehoods, trump called the leader a dictator without elections and that he better move fast or he is not going to have a country left. elections in ukraine have been delayed since april of last year due to the war which enter its -- enters its fourth year next week. trump's comments stirred a global reaction. the german chancellor scholz said calling zelenskyy a dictator is "dangerous and false." trump also accused zelenskyy of duping the u.s. into sending billions of dollars in military aid. >> unfortunately trump lives in this disinformation space. >> hours after zelenskyy criticized trump for repeating

russian talking points, in particular the notion that ukraine bears responsibly for russia's invasion. and yesterday in saudi arabia, talks between the u.s. and russia resumed -- a stark shift of a u.s. policy that for years sought to isolate the russian president putin. >> all of this definitely does not have a positive impact on ukraine. i think putin and russia are really happy because they were involved in discussions and yesterday there were signals that they are the victims. >> for his part, putin praised the outcome of yesterday's meeting and said he looked forward to meeting president trump soon. >> the goal of our negotiations was restoration of russia-u.s. relations. without increasing the level of trust between russia and the u.s., it is impossible to solve many issues, including the ukraine crisis. >> all of this as trump's special envoy arrived in ukraine.

keith kellogg spent his day in meetings with zelenskyy as well as ukrainian military commanders. i'm ali rogin. >> in the day's other headlines, brazil's former president bolsonaro has been charged with attempting a coup after losing the 2022 election. the top prosecutor also alleges bolsonaro planned to poison his successor and kill a supreme court judge. the nearly 300 page indictment says that bolsonaro tried to "bring down the system of the powers and the democratic order." in a statement, the 69-year-old pushed back calling the indictment a weaponization of the justice system. hours after the indictment, president trump's media company took the unusual step of suing one of the judges in the case, alleging he illegally issued orders that suspended certain conservative social media accounts in the u.s. trump and bolsanaro are

long-standing political allies. the trump administration is ordering new york city to stop its congestion pricing system. the program launched last month and charges drivers nine dollars to enter areas outh of central park. supporters argue that it reduces traffic and helps the environment. critics say it hurts the city's small businesses. president trump declared victory over the program which he has long criticized. in a truth social post that was reposted on x by his deputy chief of staff, he wrote that congestion pricing is dead. manhattan and all of new york is safe. long live the king." his subordinate added that image of him. the governor fired back saying that new yorkers do not back down in a fight. >> new york has not labored under a king in over 250 years and we are not, sure as hell are not going to start now. >> the new york transportation

authority has filed a lawsuit challenging the order. the mta manages the tolls for the program. the trump administration has formally designated eight latin american gangs and cartels as >> president trump plans to dock payment for undocumented workers. the federal government will recognize only two sexes, male and female. the trump administration has formally designated eight latin american gangs and cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. they include the ms-13 group from el salvador as well as six groups from mexico that include the notorious sinaloa cartel. the classification is usually reserved for organizations like al qaeda or the islamic state that use violence for political gain. but the trump administration argues that the gangs and their illicit activities warrant the

designation. at least two people are dead after two single engine planes collided at an arizona airport this morning. the airport is an uncontrolled field, meaning it does not have an operating air traffic control tower. the ntsb says it has launched an investigation. meantime, the u.s. aviation sector earlier today asked congress for robust emergency funding for air traffic control technology. groups representing industry heavyweights like boeing and several major airlines sent a letter to lawmakers today requesting money to support hiring and new technology. it comes amid a persistent shortage of air traffic controllers, warnings about outdated systems, and a series of recent crashes.

the polar vortex that has affected much of the country is fueling a winter storm that is headed towards the east coast. temperatures have been so cold they have frozen waves along the shores of lake michigan. from montana to the gulf coast, nearly 90 million people are under alerts for extreme cold. this latest winter storm will bring snow and freezing rain across parts of the tennessee and ohio valley and the mid-atlantic. the storm has already dumped snow in places like missouri and in kentucky, where 14 people died from floods last weekend. governor andy beshear said the snow will only add to that state's concerns. >> the challenge here is the hardest hit areas of the flood could get another three or four inches tonight. if the snow was not tough enough, it is cold right now. it is going to get dangerously cold tonight. >> there is relief in sight. temperatures are expected to climb back above freezing across nearly all the affected areas by the weekend. the 86-year-old white man who

last week pleaded guilty to shooting a black teenager when he rang the wrong doorbell has died. andrew lester pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in the 2023 shooting of then 16-year-old ralph yarl. yarl ended up at lester's house after mixing up the streets he was -- lester faced up to seven years in prison and was scheduled to be sentenced on march 7. prosecutors gave no details on the cause of death. yarl survived the shooting. and the honor student is now a freshman at texas a&m university. still on the news hour, the supposed accidental firing of usda employees fighting the bird flu raises questions about the response. a transgender navy pilot speaks out on the trump administration's opposition to trans people serving in the u.s. military. and judy woodruff examines what history tells us about polarization and how it could

lead to a more unified nation. ♪ >> this is the "pbs newshour." from the david m. rubenstein studio at weta in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. >> within days of taking office, president trump fired more than 17 inspectors general across the federal government. it has already resulted in a lawsuit challenging the legality of the dismissals and continued protests outside federal agency buildings. like outside the department of health and human services today. our white house correspondent has more. >> eight of those fired inspectors general are suing the trump administration, seeking to be reinstated to their positions. these independent government watchdogs are a key check on waste, fraud and abuse. to discuss the impact, i am

joined by two of the top watchdogs fired by the president. the former inspector general for the department of health and human services, and the former inspector general for the department of defense. thank you both for being here with me today. you were both fired on a friday night. and the white house said that it was terminating you and other ig's due to changing priorities. did that language stick out to you? >> it did. it is a great question because, you know, administrations come and go, and they all have their own priorities and that's fine. elections have consequences. ig's are nonpartisan independent watchdogs. whatever the priority is of the administration may be, we do independent oversight to look for waste, fraud and abuse, and to ensure that the programs and operations of the departments we oversee are economical, that they are efficient, that they are effective. so that stuck out from the very beginning. >> your offices are two of the largest across the federal government.

but when it comes to health and human services, what are some of the examples of abuse and fraud that you investigated over the last few years, and how does your work impact the public? >> we would oversee programs run out of the fda, the cdc, national institutes of health, the center for medicare and medicaid services and some of the waste, fraud and abuse work that we have done, we do work looking at abuse, neglect in nursing homes, so the work we did is protecting a family member that you might have living in a nursing home. one case is coming to mind in tennessee where we investigated a nursing home chain and we found that the services they were providing were worthless, and there were nursing home residents were incurring harm. medication errors. not turning for bed ulcers.

not providing wound care that is necessary. these residents were found in beds soaked with urine. so it touches every american. the hhs programs that we oversee and the work that we did. really did protect people and programs. >> last year at the department of defense you found that $1 billion worth of equipment like shoulder fired missiles, drones and more that were sent to you ukraine were not properly tracked. what are others that your office investigated? >> in ukraine for instance, we did something more than four dozen reports, programmatic oversight, looking at all aspects of u.s. security assistance to ukraine. the example you mentioned is a great one. because those are amongst the most sensitive items the united states gave the ukraine and we made significant findings that the department had real challenges in tracking that stuff appropriately.

we made recommendations to help them improve. and in our later reporting, we found they had improved and the critical point is, if my team had been seen as partisan or advancing whatever the administration's agenda was, we never would've been able to do the hard-hitting work. >> as you both of said, you -- both have said, you looked at abuse, fraud, waste. elon musk team, known as a department of government efficiency is claiming they are uncovering fraud, waste and abuse. the same things both of you did in your role. so, christy, how is doge's work different than yours? >> the missions, the stated missions sound very similar -- look very similar. in order to prove a criminal case that takes a long time. there are many steps from beginning to end. the work that we do is grounded in standards that govern how audits are done and investigations are done and

evaluations are done. and it is painstaking and rigorous. the work that is put together. so that we may have the credibility that we have to make recommendations. and so, the independence piece is also critical here, because in order for us to do work that is not viewed as partisan, we needed that independence. we are not an arm of the president. we don't implement policy. we point out where things are not going well, we point out error rates, and recommend collection of overpayments and identify -- a president-- where there are safeguards that are not working to protect people. >> the chair of the inspectors general reached out to doge to talk about what we do. if you are interested in waste, fraud and abuse, that is what our offices have gone after for years.

so he never heard back. >> and speaking of doge and elon musk, elon musk's space-x and starlink, the satellite company, have billions worth of defense contracts. his team is also leading mass firings that are about to hit the pentagon as early as this week. what is the risk of a weakened inspector general office as elon musk's team is taking over that agency? >> obviously i cannot comment on any specifics but what i would say is having but a prosecutor a -- been a prosecutor a long time and then in the ig community is a problem with conflict of interest is that they pervert the selection process. what we want as americans is to know that when decisions are made by government, they are based on the merits. and the problem with conflict of interest, wherever they occur, is that they change that calculus potentially, right? and that is why such a serious

issue. >> can i jump in here? >> yeah. >> you asked about how cuts might affect an ig office. i want to point to medicare and medicaid, together combined is spending his circa $1.7 trillion annually. you need smart auditors, experienced auditors, investigators.health care programs are incredibly complex. and to have these specialties within an ig that know the programs are part of the department but were in-- but are independent but we have connectivity to those programs and people, it allows us to do work that is hard-hitting to deliver hard truths and if you're reducing without regard, and you get rid of these watchdogs and the people that work for them, i fear for some of these programs, including oversight for medicare and medicaid. >> when you take all of these

actions together that we are talking about, the firing of more than 17 inspectors general, what do you think that this means for the long-term ability of offices like the ones that you led to provide a check on power? >> it is deeply troubling, right? the message that gets sent is that the, there's not receptiveness to the oversight that christy is talking about. >> we are the eyes and the ears of the public and it is important to remember that. so these are the kinds of things that americans, taxpayers, need to know. >> thank you so much for your time. >> thank you for having us. appreciate it. >> thank you, laura. >> the federal judge overseeing the corruption case against new york city mayor eric adams held

a hearing today about the trump justice department's sudden decision to drop the case. that reversal prompted seven federal prosecutors to resign in protest last week and has further plunged the mayor's administration into turmoil. our william brangham was in the courtroom today and joins us now. what was the judge trying to determine today? >> it was this incredibly striking scene for a federal courthouse. on one side of the room, you had the prosecutors and on the other side, the defendant's table, was the mayor of new york city, and in this case, they both wanted the exact same thing -- which is for this very serious corruption case against the mayor to simply go away, and the judge in this case wanted to know why. so he covered a series of questions to the deputy attorney general about why he drops the case. and he made the argument that he's made in the past -- that this is not about the merits of the case.

instead, he argued this case was brought for political reasons because adams once criticized president biden, and that this case impinged on adams' ability to do his job, specifically to enforce immigration laws. it was that argument that set off this revolt that you mention. and all of these resignations. in fact, one of those resigned prosecutors alleged that there was a quid pro quo here. that adams had been told, we will drop this case if you get on board with trump's immigration crackdown. that is what happened today. >> did the judge get into the substance of that quid pro quo allegation? >> he did. he put the mayor under oath and asked him very specifically, did you, were you offered anything in exchange for this case going away? did you, were you threatened at all? the mayor said he was not. what the judge does with that information is unclear. the judge was very clear that he only has a pretty narrow lane.

the prosecutors have said, we don't want this case to go forward. it seems hard to understand how the judge could force them to prosecute this case. so, the judge said, he was not going to shoot from the hip. he did not issue a ruling today. he asked for some patience going forward. >> even if this case goes away, there are still questions about mayor adams'political future. >> that's exactly right. the governor of new york, kathy hochul, has said she has the power to remove him. and she is debating whether or not to do that. she had meetings all day yesterday with state and local officials. consulting with them about this. four senior members of the mayor's staff and deputy mayors quit this week. it is hard to overstate how much turmoil there is in the mayor's office right now. mayor adams has said all along, he's innocent. he will stay in this and he will run for reelection. but now it is up to the governor to determine whether or not he can.

>> certainly more to come. william brangham in new york city for us tonight. william, thank you. >> you are welcome. >> the trump administration says it plans to roll out a new strategy against the bird flu. there are few details but officials say the plan is aimed at trying to minimize the slaughter of chickens when the disease strikes a flock. and that is in order to bring rising egg prices down. the administration's first moves have raised concerns, including what it says was an accidental firing of several employees who work on bird flu. the usda says it is rehiring them. 150 million poultry have been affected since 2022 and 58 people are confirmed to have been sickened by it. one person has died. for more, let's bring in our

epidemiologist. who writes the sub stack, "your local epidemiologist." >> thanks for having me. >> let's talk about this new strategy the trump administration says it is considering, stressing vaccinations and tighter bio security. what difference could that make? >> livestock vaccination has been a strategy that has been seriously talked about for a while now. and like any policy decision there are pros and cons. one of the biggest is that trade implications. so many countries don't accept poultry that is vaccinated. in fact, us in the united states do not accept poultry from other countries like mexico, because it has been vaccinated. so, trade implications. the second is bio security, right? if we start vaccinating all of our poultry, this increases the probability of seeing a symptomatic spread among birds. i also know that medications have been mentioned. however, these are far more risky than for example vaccinations, because antivirals

can lead to viral resistance. and this actually happened in china when they dumped a ton of antivirals into chicken feed in the 2000's. these methods cost a lot of time and money, and we really need to weigh the pros and cons with each. >> is that is why just been so difficult to stop the spread of avian flu? >> yeah, i mean, it is been -- it has been difficult because of these hard implication factors. also, it just spreads really rapidly among birds. it is highly contagious. and it has a very high fatality rate. >> right now when flu hits a flock, the prescribed way to address it is the mass slaughtering of those chickens, of those birds. why is that the approach? >> it is the process of mass killing of poultry, for example. it is done for a few reasons. one is that bird flu is very contagious and deadly, and it

can be more humane to kill them all at once then letting them -- than letting them slowly get sick and die. it can also be economically efficient and farmers cannot repopulate with new birds until they get rid of the sick ones. so this administration has talked about even beyond vaccination setting up parameters for quarantine. however, the feasibility of these under massive agriculture operations is unclear. >> as we mentioned, usda says it accidentally fired the officials who are working on bird flu, it is trying to rehire them. even before that there were concerns about information not being provided by this administration or in some cases being removed from websites. what level of concern do you have about this? >> i have a lot of concern, right? the employees at usda as well as fda as well as cdc, are all getting caught right now.

-- getting cut right now. and these are the eyes and the ears of bio security and health risks in the united states. and the less staff, the less resources we have, the harder it will get to get this h5-n1 and health threats out there under control and to prevent a pandemic. >> what about the potential this virus could mutate? >> there is definitely the possibility that this virus can mutate, and we are seeing that it is mutating. every time this virus jumps from animal to animal or animals or -- to human, it has the possibility to change, to mutate, and if that happens, it also has the possibility to become more easily transmissibe or spread more easily human to human. and when that happens, it has not happened yet, but if that happens, then we start seeing an epidemic or even a pandemic that i know a lot of us do not want to see again. and this is particular ly concerning during the flu season, that we have right now. because if the same person is

infected with the seasonal flu at the same time as h5-n1, say , a farmworker, those genes could switch very quickly and we could also see a mutation. flu is always very random. we always keep one eye open, because it can change incredibly rapidly. >> how does bird flu present differently in humans then say -- than say the seasonal flu virus? >> right, so, there are some similarities but what we are seeing is that at least about 70 farmworkers that had been infected or those that have sick poultry in the backyard tend to have a lot of red eyes. they also seem to have a fever, like we see with the flu. and we are seeing severe disease. so, those turning into respiratory symptoms and ending up in the hospital. but really those red eyes is wha t differentiates the most. >> caitlyn jenner leader, of the popular sub stack your local

epidemiologist. thanks for being with us. >> thank you for having me with you. >> president trump's executive order barring transgender people from serving openly in the military is now being weighed in federal court. the judge appears to express doubt that the ban could be justified as necessary to improve military readiness. here's lisa desjardins. >> among the executive orders that trump signed last month was one stating that transgender americans cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service. and that the pentagon must move to change the policy allowing them to serve. one of those who could be affected joins us now. commander emily schilling, is a decorated navy pilot with over 60 combat missions. and high risk work as a test pilot. she is also transgender and the

lead plaintiff and one of the -- in one of the legal challenges against the trump executive order. commander, thank you for joining us. secretary hegseth has about a week or so to meet the deadline for this new policy and exactly define what it will be. but as we wait for that, have you seen any effect from this executive order, yourself personally or in the military? >> yeah, first, thank you for having us on tonight. these views are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of the u.s. navy navy or the department of defense. so far, we have thousands of transgender troops currently serving in our armed forces, and they are deployed across the world, embedded in units today. in these executive orders, and the discussion around transgender service, has an immediate effect on them. from overzealous commanders who are taking executive orders as action. to just a detriment to the morale of these individuals and their ability to focus on the mission they have signed up to

volunteer for. >> you are the lead plaintiff in this lawsuit. what are you asking for, what would you like to happen? >> i just want to keep serving. i have served for nearly 20 years. i am a combat aviator, test pilot. and i've served with honor and distinction. and all i'm asking is for myself and the thousands of other transgender troops just like me to be allowed to continue to do what we want to do, which is serve the american public. >> president trump has said this is about the culture of the military and readiness. here is what he told republicans last month. >> to ensure we have the most lethal fighting force in the world, we will get transferred -- trans gender ideology the ehl hell out of our military. >> the first thing you learn is the first role of leadership is to take care of your people. that means take care of all of your people. and when you take care of your people, you have an effective,

combat ready force. we don't necessarily get to choose who is going to volunteer to serve our nation. we are melting pot of america. and our armed forces represent that great diversity of our country. >> those who support the ban have said that they point to military can use to exclude people from service, severe asthma. that is something you hear a lot. do you think that that is a legitimate argument, and what is your response? >> sure, there are other medical conditions and half -- and health care that preclude people from service. but 73% of us, 73 percent of transgender individuals are senior enlisted in the military. that means they have been in for over 12 years. when someone enters their knee -- injures their knee or back, we send for health care and they are down for time and we return them to combat.

we return them to the force. it is the same case in this instance. people just need health care, and it's our duty to give them that and returned to the fight. -- return them to the fight. >> i want to talk about a bigger picture issue which is dei, which overlaps with some of these executive orders. and conservatives aside when -- said that when there is too much focus on identities that it leads to a less unified military force. how do you see the role of dei which now president trump has said cannt be enforced in the military and other agencies? did the military ever go too far with the trainings or was it useful? how do you see that to be? >> let's say what dei stands for, diversity equity and inclusion. and when you actually say the words, you realize what we are trying to do. we are trying to create an environment where our servicemembers feel like they belong. that they are with their battle buddies, with somebody they can trust and count on when they are in the foxhole. when you create inclusive

environments for others, they bring their whole self. if they have to leave some portion of them at home, you're only getting 80% of the individual. when they are allowed to bring all of themselves, they end up being better servicemembers and they end up being better leaders. for myself, when i was able to start showing up to work as my full self, across the board, i got better reviews, i excelled as a leader and actually i ended up promoting to commander with merit reorder to number one as a transgender woman in the u.s. navy. >> you are a decorated servicemember and you operate at a very high level. but what can you tell us about those thousands of other transgender members of the service? i could see commander schilling is an exception. >> so, transgender individuals are no different than any other american. we will have those individuals who excel, we have those that are mediocre. we are no different. but across the board, the thing

that stands out is how resilient these servicemembers are. think about how hard it is to come into a service or to come out as transgender in the current environment. aren't those the type people that you want to go into combat for you? that amount of courage and that amount of bravery to just be who they are and show up fully? >> in our last half minute or so, you are a military, you are combat veteran, what do you think is at stake for the military right now and the direction it chooses? >> i think its reputation. we have allowed individuals to serve from all different creeds and backgrounds, and every single time that we have tried to exclude a group of individuals, whether was by race, religion, gender, we have always been proven wrong in the end. the same arguments remain time and time again. we're going to have to learn that those same arguments are false ones again.

>> emily schilling, thank you for joining us. >> thank you, lisa. >> president trump has made repeated claims about the panama canal since returning to office. including his contention that china operates it and he even threatened to take it back. economics correspondent paul solman looks at some of the history of the canal and the facts surrounding his operation. -- its operation. >> the panama canal. key link between the pacific and atlantic, handling 5% of all global maritime trade. the u.s. it'sthe bigges user, and a focal target of the president's. >> we lost 38,000 people building the canal. we have been treated very badly from the most foolish gift that has ever been made. china is running the panama canal. we are going to take it back. or something very powerful

is going to happen. >> does or doesn't the prison -- the president have a point? let's start with history peer the canal was built by the u.s. from 1904 to 1914. why? so we would not need separate navy fleets for each ocean. >> which is a cost saving to the country because they can navigate the canal back and forth atlantic to pacific and that is why congress made the investment. it never was about trade. it was about the military. >> the u.s. spent $300 million, billions in today's dollars, and the president says thousands of american lives were lost building the canal. >> it's estimated around 500 or 600 americans may have perished. there were thousands and thousands of imported workers from all over the world, particularly barbados and the west indies, that did a lot of the heavy lifting and the day-to-day labor. those folks, a lot of them died in panama. >> the u.s. did own the canal and the 10 mile zone next to it. why give them away? >> it was the united states as a

self-contained entity. it was a worker's paradise. people got incredibly well paid. all americans, those people were getting paid three or four times what they would in the united states. all of it tax-free. the panamanians were locked out. and it was a sore spot, not just for the united states in terms of foreign policy, certainly for the panamanians who lived just across the street and saw this incredible world they'd really had no ability to access or take advantage of. by 1947, even harry truman said, why not get out of panama before we get kicked out? >> the panama canal, people forget, was the leading symbol of u.s. imperial minded domination of central america and of the panamanian people. >> which is why president johnson began the process of negotiating a new treaty. a decade later, henry kissinger signed the framework for one. >> as henry kissinger told gerald ford, this is not an issue we want to confront the world on. it looks like pure colonialism.

>> in 1977, jimmy carter conceded the canal to panama. when panama took over they established an independent governmental authority asked to run the canal for profit and to modernize it. and it became a capitalist gem in central america, not known for such achievements. >> panamanians after the u.s. returned sovereignty to panama of the canal, they made a major project, cost them $6 billion to carry ships. >> since then it has become vital to u.s. trade. >> if you bought an iphone or a tv or a wash or dry or on the -- or a washer/dryer on the east coast of the united states in the last decade, you can thank the panama canal. the really important and strategic and overlooked aspect of the canal are liquid natural gas and liquid propane gas exports from the united states that come down

the mississippi river, go out the gulf of mexico or i guess the gulf of america, and go through the canal. there is an entire american industry that depends upon that canal. >> made possible by the widened lane for which the authority invested billions of dollars. it's planning to spend $2 billion more since in recent years there has been so much less rain in panama. >> so, the panama canal is rain dependent. when you have a drought, then we need storage capacity and that is the reason why we are looking into building a new reservoir. we can create a lake to store water to overcome a drought. >> but the u.s. is by far the canal's biggest customer. the tolls have gone up. should we get a break? >> american ships are being severely overcharged and not treated fairly in any way, shape or form. >> the tolls have been increased. they been increased because of the straight up capitalist supply and demand issue.

less water, changing rainfall, therefore they have charge more but it is very transparent. you can go on the website and find out what the fees are. >> maybe the biggest controversy surrounding the canal is china's role. a hong kong-based company hutchison has run two of five ports since 1997. >> there was no objection from the united states to hutchison at that time still hong kong company soon to be affiliated with china. getting the contract for 25 years to manage the ports. >> hutchison still operates the two ports and chinese companies have invested billions in panama. >> china is playing in our backyard. that has a lot of people concerned. one day we woke up and all of a sudden panama and china are very tight? >> so, does the chinese presence pose a threat? >> a port cannot block a canal. they do not have chinese warships in the canal. there are no chinese soldiers marching up and down the side of the canal.

>> on the other hand, trying to -- china being there may be concern for other reasons. >> chinese commercial expansion wherever they go in the world always brings with it issues of corruption, issues of environmental and labor violations, issues of unfair new business practices. >> indeed, panama has announced an audit of hutchison whose contract was extended in 2021 >> i am not trying to prejudge whatever the outcome is going to be. i'm just really looking for a process that is clear, transparent, that if there is something to be renegotiated, we have the courage, the government has the courage to move forward, and proceed accordingly. >> they will do the re-audit and they will be open it up for a bit. i think you will see an american company be ordered that -- be awarded that contract. >> but does china control the canal? >> no. not at all. this is a panamanian operation

by constitution. it is run by panama. only panamanians are employed here at the panama canal. >> how are panamanians reaction? >> most feel very strongly that the panama canal is panamanian. it has been well-managed with a transparent, very efficient operation. and it is ours. >> they are fume whiplash. -- feeling whiplash. i mean, they are the most pro- american country in the region. they feel that these are things that are untrue and they need to clarify because it does not reflect reality. >> they are scared, too. >> absolutely scared. it would not be the first u.s. invasion of panama. >> if you had to touch the one thing that makes all panamanians unite around that flag it is the panama canal. it is an absolutely essential, existential part of their national being. >> and threats to the canal it is argued could rile up what has long been our strongest non-left-wing ally in the region. paul solman.

>> two years ago judy woodruff began traveling the country to examine the roots of division for her series america at a crossroads. tonight, she returns with the conversations with someone who has spent his life considering such questions. >> fundamentally under -- the american constitutional order, changing us from being a democracy. judy: harvard professor emeritus robert putnam has spent decades studying how american society evolved from one that, however flawed, was moving towards greater connection, equality, cooperation, and cohesion. >> ask not what your country can do for you. ask what you can do for your country. judy: to one that has been

defined by growing isolation, distrust, inequality, and political discord. >> my recent election is a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal and all of these many betrayals that have taken place. judy: putnam now worries the forces threaten to up end the constitution. >> they are talking about not obeying court orders. come on! that's, that's, the court system for better or worse is currently the last bulwark of our democracy. so we are awfully close to breaking the bounds that have kept us, our democracy safe. how many in the room are on a bowling league? judy: paul solman first profiled robert putnam 30 years ago. one putnam published "bowling -- when putnam published

"bowling alone," which will become a groundbreaking book showing that since the high water mark of a 1960's, americans have become more isolated. and that this was weakening engagement and undermining our democracy. >> that is a primary cause of the trump phenomena up, you can see it in the data but you do not have to trust me. steve bannon has said publicly back in the day when they were trying to figure out how to get trump elected, they read this book called "bowling alone." and that guided, i'm not proud of this but that guided their strategy because they thought just as i had been writing, that when people are socially isolated as we are increasingly, they become vulnerable to populist appeals. that is the first point. we are increasingly isolated, and that makes our country vulnerable to, to i was going to say fascist. it is close to being true.

the poor kids who live here and are living in a completely different universe to the rest of the kids in town. judy: in 2015, he chronicled another major concern with this book "our kids," the growing gap between increasingly well-off college educated americans, and everyone else. now one of the greatest predictors of who supports donald trump. >> until we fix the underlying problem, basically two pairs of underlying problems, social isolation and especially in the noncollege educated public, we're constantly vulnerable to that same kind of pressure. for the same reason that we were vulnerable when he came along. judy: i met putnam just off washington square park in manhattan. at judson memorial church, founded in 1890, by american baptist minister edward judson, with money donated by rockefeller. with the mission to provide aid

and comfort to the poor immigrants living in the squalid tournaments -- tenements nearby. >> you have a place that is beautiful to look at. judy: today putnam see strong parallels between that era, the post civil war period, the gilded age and our own. >> america was extremely polarized. politics was very tribal just like it is now. inequality was very high then. that was the last time the gap between rich and poor was anywhere near as it is now. so, very polarized, very unequal, very socially disconnected, very socially isolated because then the industrialization meant that millions of people had just moved from a village, a village in sicily or a village in iowa, to the big city and left their family and friends and connections behind. so they were very disconnected, just like we are very disconnected.

and they were very self-centered if i can put it that way. americans in that period, were focused on i and not on we. judy: his recent book the upswing describes these parallels in detail and how out of those challenges came an explosion of new civic, religious and social groups. the boy scouts, the naacp, the rotary club, the general federation of women's clubs, as well as the many reforms that came to be known as the progressive era. the federal income tax, women's suffrage, labor rights, and more. change in the course of the following decades. >> all of a sudden we would begin to become more equal, less polarized, more connected. in a greater sense we are all in this together. judy: what did they do? >> both positive and negative lessons. i thought for sure i knew what would change -- i thought it was economics on i thought maybe the economics would change first. we begin to have more equal

economic -- the one thing the data shows that is not true. economics was the last thing to change. what was the first thing to change? to my shock, it was cultural change. it was a moral revival is the way i want to put it. people began to say, wait a minute. it is not all about us. we have obligations to other people. judy: one example he points to was the triangle shirt waist factory fire, a few blocks from where we were speaking. in 1911, a fire broke out in a sweatshop, trapping garment workers locked inside. dozens jumped to their deaths. 146 women died in all. shocking the conscience of the city and beyond. including a young woman named frances perkins, who was having tea with friends nearby. >> to that point, she'd been

thinking of her self as a debutante. and she said, that's evil. we have obligations to those people. she became a social reformer in new york city. and eventually she became fdr's secretary of labor, the first woman, cabinet member in american history, and it is all because of that moral movement -- moment, in which she realized she had obligations to other people. that is one example among what was happening a lot. i sort of think it's going to be hard for us to turn things around in america until we begin to recognize we have obligations to other people that are at least as important as ours. >> this is a film about why you should join up. the fate of america depends on it. judy: putnam's life story and work of been captured in the documentary "join or die," encouraging people across the country, especially young people to again seek out organizations and connection in their own

communities, to find issues they are passionate about, and to affect change from the bottom up like the progressive did. and to also go beyond that movement to include americans of all colors, backgrounds and beliefs. one of your points is that this is something to happen at the grass roots. it did not come handed down. >> by harvard or whatever, yes. judy: do you believe the ingredients are there for that to happen again? >> it is happening now. not enough of it. look, this whole series is doing that. you and i both know from our own personal experience that this is happening and a lot more of it is needed. but that is where it will begin. i don't think any of these things are guaranteed. i do not think it was guaranteed to happen last time. i do not think that there was some big cycle in the skies or god saying, oh, there will be a

progressive era here. i think it happened because a smallish number of young people around, between 1900 and 1910 decided like, you know, frances perkins right here, she decided that she was going to help change america. it was not inevitable. it is not inevitable this time but it could happen. that is why i'm saying, the distance between will it happen, i do not know whether it will but it could happen because it did happen. judy: and that will be the focus of many of our stories this year. for the pbs news hour, i'm judy woodruff in new york. ♪ >> and that is the "news hour" for tonight. for all of us here at the pbs news hour, thanks for spending part of your evening with us. >> major funding for the "pbs news hour" has been provided by

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♪ >> this is the "pbs newshour." from the david m. rubenstein studio at weta in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪ ♪ ♪

(bright music) (birds chirping) - i know cooking can sometimes feel overwhelming, but it doesn't need to be. - to be honest, it's all a bit stressful. - [mary] so, in this series, i'm joining some wonderful familiar faces- - mary! - [mary] each with their own dilemmas in the kitchen. - would you like some turkey dinosaur? - [mary] not a lot. i'm going to show them how it's done