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and, judy woodruff sits down to better understand the risks our divisions posed to the future of our country and democracy. >> all of a sudden, it seems we americans do not agree on anything at all, we don't agree on the principles and values on which the country was founded. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by. ♪ >> the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of the newshour. >> actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. yes, i am legally blind and responsible for the user interface. data visualization. if i can understand it clay, anyone can. driving technology forward is the most rewarding thing. people who know know bdo. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation, for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. and, with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions made by viewers like you. geoff: welcome to the newshour. america's top two defense officials are

judy woodruff spoke to public health experts about that response.oing series. >> in march of 2020, many americans were united in their fear of the new, unknown virus. as people grapple with the images of overwhelmed hospitals and death abroad and in the u.s. >> hopefully it will not be much longer. >> public opinion quickly splintered as governors issued stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of the virus. >> it should be a choice, not a mandate. >> people took to the streets to protest the economic and social impact of business closures, school shutdowns, and mast mandates. -- mask mandates. >> my business is being decimated. >> the risk of spread in schools is low. the harm we are doing grow children inside. >> leaders including president trump offered conflicting information, including recommendations on masking and other prevention methods. >> the cdc is advising the use of nonmedical cloth faced coverings as an additional voluntary public health measure. this is voluntary. i don't think i will be doing it. >> covid has shaken our faith in the c

. ♪ geoff: a reminder to tune-in to our special, "america at a crossroads with judy woodruff," whichs divisions as we head into 2024. >> a nation that god's. >> the country is more divided certainly along partisan lines. >> it is about our feelings about each other. we are angry at one another. >> the culture war stuff is breaking her ability to go together. >> what is driving our conflicts. >> how many people believe the election was stolen? >> and whether we can come together. geoff: that's airing at 9:00 eastern, 8:00 central on pbs and streaming online at pbs.org/newshour. and you can read more online. judy woodruff reflects on her last year of reporting on divisions across the country, and what's ahead. that's on our website. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. thanks for joining us. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by. >> pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymondjames financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. ♪ >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education,

and, judy woodruff sits down to better understand the

she explained it in a 2010 conversation with judy woodruff on the newshour.onnor: you can get decent judges by election, but what you get these days is large campaign contributions. when you have elections. and i don't think we should have any cash in our courtroo. it doesn't belong there. how can a judge be expected to be absolutely fair and impartial if the donor ibefore him in the court? john: she worked on this project with the institute for the advancement of the american legal system at the university of denver. rebecca love kourlis is the former executive director of that organization. she's also a former supreme court justice in colorado, where we should add that since 1966, all state judges have been appointed. when i heard justice o'connor talk about this in the past, she always linked it to her disappointment, i guess, i guess you would say, or dismay in the practical effects of a decision in the court in which she was in the majority. can you tell us about that rebecca: she was involved in a case by the name of minnesota versus white, in which the

judy woodruff has this remembrance.onnor: i wanted, since i was the first, not to be the last. and i wanted to do the job well so it would provide encouragement for women to serve in the future. judy: sandra day o'connor broke the gender barrier at the u.s. supreme court, and ultimately became a critical vote on abortion rights, affirmative action and even the election of a president. it was a long journey from the family cattle ranch in southeastern arizona. she recalled those early years in a newshour interview in 2002. justice o'connor: it gives a person a little confidence, a bit of self-reliance, because you know you have to solve the problems yourself. you can't always turn to other people to do them. a belief in independence. judy: the young sandra day earned degrees at stanford university and its law school, where she was a classmate of future chief justice william rehnquist. she married another law grad, john o'connor, and tried for a job practicing law. but it was the 1950's and more than 40 firms turned her d

-(insects chirring) -(wind whistling softly) judy woodruff: physicist j.as the father of the atomic bomb. as time has passed, there are some new assessments of his role in history. in late 2022, the department of energy decided to vacate the decision to have the security hearings. the national tragedy is that this hearing, this mccarthy-era witch hunt, materialized in the first place. that type of thing is not supposed to happen in a country like this. this is such an important and long overdue step. but at the same time, it's kind of sad, because this is something that j. robert oppenheimer will not get to experience personally. oppenheimer: science has profoundly altered the conditions of man's life, both materially and in ways of the spirit as well. nye: i think we're still talking about oppenheimer because he was so influential. we have this respect and fear of science. and oppenheimer represented both sides of that, for sure. nolan: unquestionably, he changed the world. and he changed the world forever. there's no going back. but we know that as long

so when judy woodruff was running the newshour on mondays, they had had amy walter with another woman would do this politics monday. and and i don't know who she was and really changed her hair a lot last year and judy retired and there are many who follow public media look forward to that to tell us what's going on in the white house, what's going on in congress and. it's like it disappeared. what to politics monday? well, thank you for the question. and i will say that there is a hole in heart the size of politics monday and every monday i am reminded that politics isn't happening because. people reach out and say, wait, still no politics. monday. what i know is it's been put on pause as. the the the new who are terrific of news hour are getting their footing and figuring out what they show what show is for them because you know it it's not fair to them to impose every segment that judy and gwen had it actually politics monday was was originally so i don't know it'll come back maybe it won't but keep watching keep the pbs newshour and listening to npr and the npr politics podcast. o

so when judy woodruff was running the newshour on mondays, they had had amy walter with another woman would do this politics monday. and and i don't know who she was and really changed her hair a lot last year and judy retired and there are many who follow public media look forward to that to tell us what's going on in the white house, what's going on in congress and. it's like it disappeared. what to politics monday? well, thank you for the question. and i will say that there is a hole in heart the size of politics monday and every monday i am reminded that politics isn't happening because. people reach out and say, wait, still no politics. monday. what i know is it's been put on pause as. the the the new who are terrific of news hour are getting their footing and figuring out what they show what show is for them because you know it it's not fair to them to impose every segment that judy and gwen had it actually politics monday was was originally so i don't know it'll come back maybe it won't but keep watching keep the pbs newshour and listening to npr and the npr politics podcast. o