i hope you were able to hear some of it, all of you, as geoff bennett was speaking as well, and we nowake to the podium and offer remembrances about his father. i think we're going to listen to that and perhaps dip into that as well, because all of his children have spoken so beautifully about their father, and it's really been very, very emotional. but alaina, before we possibly get to that, let me ask you about what happened in 2010 as mitch mcconnell had said at the time that his top goal was to make barack obama a one-term president. he failed. but how did reid and white house insiders at the time see this? >> i think that we responded to that as mcconnell trying to undo all of the great achievements that had been accomplished in those first two years, namely the passage of the affordable care act. he wanted to make sure that president obama was a one-term president because we had, as the administration, along with a partnership with harry reid, we had accomplished so much for the american people in order for republicans after they -- after the 2010 elections, in order for republic

white house correspondent geoff bennett begins our coverage. >> reporter: today, the country officially heard confirmation: supreme court justice stephen breyer will retire come summer. >> i'm here today to express the nation's gratitude to justice stephen breyer for his remarkable career of public service. >> reporter: breyer served 28 years on the country's highest court, a career he said was "challenging and meaningful" in his resignation letter, and one he reflected on this afternoon. >> it's a kind of miracle when you sit there and see all of those people in front of you-- people that are so different in what they think. and yet they've decided to help solve their major differences under law. >> reporter: the announcement gives biden an opportunity to deliver on a campaign promise, one that would make history. >> while i've been studying candidates' backgrounds and writings, i've made no decision except one: the person i will nominate will be someone of extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrity, and that person will be the first black woman ever nominated to

geoff bennett has our report. >> reporter: in texas, election workers are reporting that hundreds of applications for mail-in ballots are being rejected-- one of the early effects of the state's new republican-backed voting law. it requires that voters provide either a partial social security number, or a driver's license number, on their ballot application-- and that number has to match what's on their original voter registration. the problem is, most people don't remember what form of i.d. they initially provided, especially older voters who registered decades ago. and that's not the only thing causing confusion, says jessica huseman, editorial director of votebeat. >> peoplaren't used to filling out the new forms, and they fill them out incorrectly. and then there was also a problem where the voter roll in texas is missing some information from voters. so, if they write down the incorrect number that is missing by accident or because they don't know which one is in the system or that one is missing, then their registration will be automatically rejected. >> reporter: a problem, sh

geoff bennett has our report. na wahl of arlington, virginia says she went a full week without mail delivery last month. >> it was just terribly frustrating. if i'm mailing checks for health insurance or things like that, then i begin to wonder, are those being delivered? >> for me, the medication is lifesaving. [00:02:39] geoff: paul m. of atlanta, who asked we notse his last name, relies on at-home delivery of his medication. in 2021, he says those deliveries through the u.s. postal service started taking longer to arrive then, one week in noveer, he says nothing showed up. >> that package that i missed, it showed that it was delivered and showed on the u.s. posl service webte that it was dropped off at the front office in my apartment complex. it wasn't. geoff: he says he missed a week's worth of doses. >> i had to space out my medication and actually ration, which isn't good for any medication. ever since then, i have not receed my medication through the u.s. postal service anymore. geoff: he is one of scores o

geoff bennett begins our coverage. >> president joe biden today with an urgent new call to protect the right to vote. >> to protect our democracy, i support changing the senate rules. >> the president during his full support behind a onetime change to the senate filibuster to ease passage of voting rights legislation. >> i believe the threat to our democracy is so grave that we must find a way to pass these voting rights bills. debate them. vote. let the majority prevail. and if that bare minimum is blocked, we have no option but to change senate rules including getting rid of the filibuster for this. >> but that requires the sport of all 50 democratic senators and west virginia's joe manchin and arizona's kyrsten sinema aren't on board. and republicans are nearly unanimous in opposing the bills as government overreach. >> it's a power grab to enable a power grab. >> senate minority leader mitch mcconnell says democrats are promoting what he calls "fake outrage" and "fake hysteria" on voting rights "ginned up by partisans." >> if my colleague tries to break the senate to silence those

for the pbs newshour, i'm geoff bennett.nt biden's first year in office closed out this week with major challenges -- domestically and abroad. democrats have been unable to garner enough support to pass the white house's legislative priorities, and, as we reported, tensions remain between the u.s. and russia despite high-level diplomatic talks. to break down what these setbacks mean for the biden administration movinforward, we are joined by bros and capehart. that's new rk times columnist david brooks and jonathan capehart, columnist for the washington post. very good to see both of you on this cold january friday night. let's talk about the president's first year. the critics are letting him have it. some people areing to his defense. how do you see the first year? >> today, i was asked to give him a grade in the great i would give him is a b. he's gotten a lot of good things done. the american rescue plan, the bipartisan infrastructure plan, but there are a lot of other things that haven't come through. build back better.

here to help us understand what happened and what's next, geoff bennett from the white house, lisa desjardinswas on capitol hill today. hello to both of you. so, geoff, let me start with you. as we said, the president did meet with democrats today, hoping to make some progress on the filibuster. tell us what happened. geoff: he had those meetings, but he wasn't able to persuade members of his own party to support him in this effort. i think it was a political reality best underscored by the fact that senator kyrsten sinema delivered that senate floor speech even before president biden arrived on the hill for that closed-door lunch meeting with senate democrats, she making clear her opposition to having a carve-out that would allow the two bills, those voting right bills, to move forward in the senate. now, white house press secretary jen psaki told us today that, in that meeting, the president warned the senators of whahe sees as a systematic effort to dismantle the democracy. and he told them that right now they have an historic chance to change that. but he came out of that meeting and spok

geoff bennett, thank you, and thank you for sitting in this seat and allowing me to have the time withfamily, i appreciate it. >>> also congratulations on the new job, it is amazing. and we are so excited for you and also excited that you stuck around to help us out here as well. thank you, guys. >> thank you, katy, appreciate it. >>> turning to kazakhstan, in the face of growing unrest that country's president is warning protesters to surrender or be, quote, destroyed. demonstrations began peaceful a few days ago but snowballed quickly into the most serious unrest the nation has faced in decades. russia and allies sent troops to kazakhstan to help regain control and yesterday the country's president ordered those troops to, quote, fire without warning. joining me now from london is nbc news foreign correspondent matt bradley. matt, help us understand what's going on out there. >> reporter: yeah, katy, it sounds as though the warning from the president may have had the intended effect because as of today he's been saying that calm has been restored to the streets of the commercial capi

i'm just asking. >> see you next week. >> thank you, geoff bennett, appreciate it. >>> the supreme courtl be just one of the topics i'll cover when i speak with jim clyburn. that conversation coming your way at the bottom of the hour. >>> meantime, next up, whether the u.s. is doing enough to help ukraine as 130,000 russian soldiers are gathering on its border. >>> plus we're going to take you back to a nor'easter is hitting the hardest, the potential for power outages and coastal flooding. that's next. power outages and coastal flooding many more cities and up to 10 times the speed at no extra cost, the downloads are flying fast! verizon is going ultra, so your business can too. subway's eat fresh refresh has so many new footlongs, here's how they line up. we got the new chicken & bacon ranch, new baja steak & jack, and the new baja chicken & bacon, aka "the smokeshow." save big. order through the app. (vo) you can be well-dressed. you can be well-mannered. (man) oh, no, no, after you. wahoooo! (vo) you can be well-groomed. or even well-spoken. (man) ooooooo. (vo) but there's just somet

geoff bennett, welcome back.rett, kelly, thank you all so much. >>> still ahead, i have to talk about this because i need it explained. the great resignation has now hit the manufacturing industry and particularly hard. i want to know where are those workers going and what does it mean for factory towns? the co-chair of the house manufacturing caucus congressman tim ryan will be here. >>> plus, in just over one hour president biden will make a major announcement regarding the federal response to hospitals overwhelmed by the latest covid-19 surge. the question is, will it be enough? those hospitals, their workers, they might not be sick but they are in crisis. not be sick but are in crisis. dry eye symptoms driving you crazy? inflammation might be to blame. time for ache and burn! over the counter eye drops typically work by lubricating your eyes and may provide temporary relief. those'll probably pass by me! xiidra works differently, targeting inflammation that can cause dry eye disease. xiidra? no! it can provid

shannon pettipiece, geoff bennett, neal katyal we appreciate your time tonight. joe biden has given vladimir putin a clear warning now. our next guest served as chief of staff at the department of defense and said putin is about to make a huge strategic mistake in ukraine. later the do over for the biden administration. the speaker of the house wants a major bill to get the president's agenda back on track. former senator al franken and bill kristol weigh in on whether that is even possible. "the 11th hour" just getting under way on a thursday night. g under way on a thursday night. only from discover. are you taking a statin drug to reduce cholesterol? it can also deplete your coq10 levels. i recommend considering qunol coq10 along with your statin medication. the brand i trust is qunol. ♪ ♪ the pandemic made teaching and learning really hard. but instead of working to help students safely return to the classroom, the san francisco school board focused on renaming schools and playing politics. and they've even saddled our district with a $125 million deficit. ou

. >> woodruff: lisa joins me now, along with our chief washington correspondent geoff bennett, who'sthe white house. so, lisa, you've been at the capitol most of this day. tell us a little bit more about what you're picking up there on this day of looking back. >> judy, the feeling today was reflective, and the tone was soft and quiet, to be honest. in fact, i want to show you what just ended a few minutes ago was a vigil held by congressional leaders, mostly democrats there,s including house speaker nancy pelosi. really, today seemed to me to be about an idea of hea healing and about members dealing with their own personal memories. very different from what i've been experiencing in last year which is members talking about the greater political high stakes. those, however, are still evident. i spoke with one democratic senator who came to the capitol today, told me she is determined, that january 6 makes her more determined about their agenda. all that said,udy, i've been speaking to so many house members this week, and i have to tell you that democrats, lawmakers that i spoke to, d

for the "pbs newshour," i'm geoff bennett in washington.udy: it is not known exactly when president biden will select his supreme court nominee, but the senate confirmation battle is already taking shape on capitol hill. here to explain how it could all play out is congressional correspondent lisa desjardins. so, hello, lisa. we know this is happening, as we know, at a time when there is a 50/50 divided senate. what is the processwhat does t process look like that we should expect to see? lisa: well, i'll tell you, a slow week on capitol hill sure got busy fast for many capitol hill staffers. i want to tell people that the 50/50 senate will mean a slightly different process for president biden, maybe a more difficult process for him, than was the process for president trump. let me take folks through this. that first step in the process, of course, is the judiciary committee. and in the 50/50 senate, it is 11 democrats and 11 republicans. a tie vote in that committee for a nominee fails the nominee. now, if there is a tie, however, democrat

judy. >> woodruff: all right, geoff bennett reporting on this news conference today. you very much. >> sure. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, the biden administration is making 400 million n-95 masks available to the public for free, starting next week. today's announcement said they will be available at pharmacies and community health centers. and, new mexico became the first state to ask national guard troops to serve as substitute teachers, to keep schools open. u.s. supreme court justices sonia sotomayor and neil gorsuch are denying a reported rift over wearing a mask. today, in a rare statement, they said, "it is false. while we may sometimes disagree about the law, we are warm colleagues and friends." the justices specifically denied that sotomayor-- a diabetic-- asked gorsuch to mk up. npr had reported that she joined oral arguments remotely because gorsuch was not masked. it did not say she asked him to wear one. npr said today that it stands by its story. demoats in the u.s. senate pushed again this evening for voting rights legislation-- but republicans

geoff bennett at the white house, lisa desjardins at the capitol, thank you both.s we've been discussing, president biden and vice president harris both spoke at the capital this morning to mark this anniversary of the insurrection, and that was the focus as i began my conversation with the vice president earlier this afternoon. madam vice president, thank you very much for joining us. on this day, one year after the assault on the capital, you and president biden speaking out very forcefully on the need to correct the lies out there about what happened and to hold former president trump accountable. but we know, one year later, those lies have only settled in. why do you think it is, after all this time, that attitudes have not changed? vp harris: well, judy, first of all, it's great to be with you. i will say, as i said in my speech this morning, that i do believe that there has been a slow attempt to unravel our democracy that preceded one year ago. and we, it is important that we look at what happened one year ago on january 6 as a moment in a series of events

. >>> turning now to more on the voting rights battle and the biden agenda want to bring in geoff bennett. it is great to see you. thank you for joining us. >> you, as well. of course. >> we love having you. let's talk about this. julie laid it out. the president's speech. we know what the president is going to lay out hire. talking about a rules change, get behind the rules change formally and talk about how it seemed as if the democracy is in peril here in the united states and heard from the speaker in the sbir view that julie caught this morning. do you think it changes minds and light a fire under democrats? >> it may. this is a concerted effort. it is propelled by the mlk day holiday next monday. schumer intends to hold a vote. it will be a show vote in the senate to figure out where every senator stands to push through the legislation. back in august, the house passed the john lewis voting rights act to restore pour to the federal government to make sure that states don't have rules that would disenfranchise minority voters and the bills languished in the senate and not just that d

insights of former senator carol moseley braun, alaina beverly, geoff bennett and eugene daniels. we expect chuck schumer to join our coverage and that conversation will be shepherded by my friend and colleague, yasmin vossoughian. i'll see you guys tomorrow at noon eastern. ♪♪ >>> welcome, everybody, i'm yasmin vossoughian. thank you for joining us for our continuing coverage of the memorial service. >> former senate majority leader harry reid. we are still expecting to hear shortly from current majority leader charles schumer, house speaker nancy pelosi, and then the eulogy from barack obama and president biden as well. nbc's leigh ann caldwell is in nevada for us for today's service honoring harry reid. i want to go to leigh ann. leigh ann, it's good to see you this afternoon. thanks for joining us on this. talk us through what we have been hearing so far in memorializing, eulogizing the former senate majority leader. >> reporter: good afternoon, yasmin. yeah, so, i'm outside the smith performing arts center. it's a beautiful performing arts center inside where there are hundre

geoff bennett joins me now to discuss where the president's agenda stands and what remains to be accomplished let us talk about what the president had to say. what assessment is he giving himself? geoff: the president in talking about the past year said it has been one of challenges, but as he put it, one of in norma's progress. he cited the pace of coping vainations, rising wages, and uptick in job growth. but in assessing the setbacks of his first year in office, he said he failed to grasp the level of republican pushback he would encounter. pres. biden: i did not anticipate that there would be such a stalwart effort to make sure that the most important thing was that president biden didn't get anything done. think about this, what are republicans for? what are they for? name me one thing they are for. and so, the problem here is that i think what's happened, what i have to do in the change of tactic if you will, i have to make clear to the american people, what we are for we pass a lot. we pass a lot of things that people don't even understand what's all it's in understandably. geoff: late

appreciate the report, and we now bring in our good friend geoff bennett. reporter for pbs news hour. get to this green bay sweep. plan to overturn election results, geoff. how did you interpret all you heard there and how might that information be useful to the 1/6 committee? >> it speaks to the fact, alex, there was this methodical well coordinated plot to subvert the election going well beyond any tweet then president trump sent at the time, any sort of lie telling about the election that he lost, and so what i think the january 6th committee is trying to do is paint a full picture what led up to that heinous and violent attack on the capitol. and what, what came after it, and what we have learned so far just from the public reporting is that the attack on the capitol did not happen in a vacuum. so the question is, who was involved in this plan being? did it go all the way up to the oval office? was president trump himself involved in this and did he know there would be this sort of violence we saw unfold there on january 6th? that's really at the heart o

those decisions, and that gives me a chance to introduce our new chief washington correspondent, geoff bennettrrespondent, he has long covered politics and other national stories. welcome. we have very glad to have you join us. geoff: judy, thank you very much. it's a true privilege to work alongse you and contribute to the solid storytelling and reliable reporting for which the newshour is known. and as you mention in the introduction, this current spike in covid cases is presenting a real challenge moment for school officials, teachers, staff, and, of course, students and parents. to understand more about the decision to go to virtual in newark, i'm joined by district superintendent roger lyon earlier today. welcome to the newshour. thank you for your time. >> thanks. geoff: so in your district 90% , of teachers are vaccinated, more than 80% of students over 12 are vaccinated. given all that, help us understand your decision to switch back to remote learning momentarily. >> we have good monitoring the covid-19 positive numbers on a daily basis, and an interesting phenomenon occurred after th

geoff bennett looks at those concerns and what's behind the deal. , subscriptions and the x-box, microsoft is already a major player in the gaming market, an industry generating 175 billion dollars a year in revenue. but acquiring activision will allow microsoft to up its own game during a pandemicueled beginning boom. activision is the company behind major hits like calof duty, world of warcraft and candy crush, and the takeover would make microsoft the world's third-largest gaming company. the more we are joined by kiersten grind from the wall street journal. put this number in context, this 175 billion dollars, the acquisition, what does it mean for the gaming industry generally? >> it is huge. it is one of the biggest deals. one of the biggest all-cash deals. the gaming industry put so much under one roof. you had xbox and now you have activision's hits that will be in microsoft as well, so it gives microsoft some much more than it had before. geoff: and microsoft which owns studios that produce hits like minecraft, it has gotten more aggressive

those decisions-- and that gives me a chance to introduce our new chief washington correspondent, geoff bennett has been a white house correspondent, he has long covered politics and many national stories. welcome, geoff! we are very glad to have you join us. >> reporter: judy, thank you very much. it's a real privilege to work with you and the team and contribute to the solid storytelling and reliable reporting for which the "newshour" is known. as you mentioned in the introduction, the current spike in covid cases is presenting a rale challenge not just for school officials and teachers but, also, as you can imagine, for students and parents, and to learn more about why one school district decided to return to virtual instruction, i spoke with newark school superintendent roger leon earlier today. superintendent roger leon, welcome to the "newshour", thanks for your time. >> thank you, geoff. >> reporter: in your district, 90% of teachers are vaccinated, more than 80% of students over alien 12 are vaccinated. given all that, help us to understand your decision to switch back to remote learnin

geoff bennett has our remembrance. >> reporter: sidney poitier transformed how black characters wered became the first black actor to win an academy award for best lead performance. for more on his life, i'm joined by jacqueline stewart, the chief artistic and programming officer for the new academy museum of motion pictures in los angeles. she is a professor of film and media studies at the university of chicago, and host of "silent sunday nights" on turner classic movies. it's great to have you with us. sidney portier was dignified, he was elegant, he was regal, he was known for playing characters who really jumped off the screen. but before we talk about his cinematic and cultural legacies, help us understand his journey to stardom. he was born in the bahamas before moving to harlem. facing this sort of hardscrabble life of an actor. >> that's absolutely right. he really did struggle to become an actor. it wasn't something obvious given his impoverished background in the bahamas. it's really gratifying to see the ways he took all those hardships he faced, working odd jobs in new y

let's discuss and bring in nbc white house correspondent, geoff bennett, chief correspondent for thepbs news hour, and gary, a russian pro-democracy leader, a former world chess champion, a man who knows russia inside and out. michael to you first. the united states has been hitting russia with more and more sanctions ever since they went into crimea eight years ago. what has hand since then, russia has tightened its grip on crimea, and launched cyber attacks on the u.s. why would we think new sanctions are going to do anything. >> as white house officials have been laying out some of these potential new sanctions, economic sanctions, including cutting off russia's access to the swift banking system, cutting off their access to the global bond market, they're making the point that these are precisely some of the options that were considered in 2014 but left on the table, so these would be sort of new measures that they could impose now that would impose even more economic harm on russia. you heard the president yesterday talking about the fact that he was willing to potentially sanct

geoff bennett looks at those concerns, and what's behind the deal. >> reporter: judy, microsoft is alreadyajor player in the gaming market, an industry generating $175 billion a year in revenue, thanks to its x-box and video game subscriptions. but, acquiring activision will allow microsoft to up its own game during a pandemic-fueled gaming boom. activision is the company behind major hits like "call of duty," "world of warcraft," and "candy crush," and the takeover would make microsoft the world's third-largest gaming company. for more, i'm joined by kirsten grind of the "wall street journal." if you can, put this number the context for us, this $175 billion, the $75 billion acquisition, what does it mean for the gaming industry generally? >> it's huge. it's one of the biggest deals, period, one of the biggest all-cash deals and for the gaming industry, it put so much under one roof. so you had xbox and now you have activision's hits which will be microsoft so it gives microsoft so much more might than it had before. >> reporter: and microsoft which makes the xbox consoles, owns studios t

happening at any moment, mark murray, pbs news hour chief correspondent, and former nbc news alum, geoff bennettere. jessica, you and i have had these conversations. we do think shortly we will see the folks who will be introducing the president and the vice president. one thing we have talked about before, while democrats are, as you just heard, i think, really united behind getting to a degree, getting these voting rights pushes done with the exception of senator manchin and the filibuster issue, you think they actually need to take other steps and go further. tell me about that. >> you know, i think they're really letting perfection be the enemy of good here. you know, we heard chuck schumer not just a few days ago say that any plan to overhaul the electoral count act would not happen unless they got their two pet voting projects through as well. and i think that that is -- it's just a little bit puzzling to me. those have not moved at all. they certainly will not be moving. so if you're going to allow, you know, yourself to be held up by even a little bit of movement and prevent that from go