WEBVTT 00:01.366 --> 00:03.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Good evening. I'm Judy Woodruff. 00:03.900 --> 00:07.966 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% On the "NewsHour" tonight: the wrath of winter. An unusually large storm causes freezing temperatures, 00:09.833 --> 00:14.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% power outages and extreme weather across the U.S. 00:14.300 --> 00:19.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Then: getting to zero. We discuss General Motors' big push toward zero-emission vehicles 00:21.533 --> 00:25.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% with the company's head of sustainability. 00:25.133 --> 00:30.133 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% And the crackdown continues. The Chinese government uses the controversial national security law 00:32.233 --> 00:35.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% to overhaul Hong Kong's education system. 00:35.000 --> 00:39.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JOHN CLANCEY, Pro-Democracy Lawyer: The courts will have to decide whether this national 00:39.366 --> 00:42.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% security law trumps basic rights. 00:42.066 --> 00:46.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: All that and more on tonight's "PBS NewsHour." 00:46.266 --> 00:51.233 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% (BREAK) 02:49.666 --> 02:52.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% JUDY WOODRUFF: The winter of 2021 is 02:52.166 --> 02:56.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% writing itself into the record books tonight. Large swathes of the nation are seeing the 02:56.900 --> 03:01.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% coldest weather in memory, and many thousands of homes are enduring it without power. 03:03.100 --> 03:05.533 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Amna Nawaz reports. 03:05.533 --> 03:10.466 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: Over 150 million Americans under winter and ice storm warnings today, as historically 03:13.166 --> 03:18.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% low temperatures blanket much of the U.S., including areas not accustomed to extreme 03:18.766 --> 03:20.733 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% conditions. 03:20.733 --> 03:24.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% STEPHANIE, Washington Resident: Our bedroom measured at 42 degrees, so it's cold in our 03:24.500 --> 03:26.566 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% house 03:26.566 --> 03:29.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: In Seattle this weekend, almost nine inches of snow in a city that hasn't 03:29.733 --> 03:34.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% seen that much snow since 1969. In Oklahoma, icy roads have led to fiery crashes. And, 03:36.866 --> 03:41.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% in Nashville, home security video captures a truck sliding sideways down a residential 03:41.833 --> 03:44.066 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% street. 03:44.066 --> 03:47.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% In Kentucky, Governor Andy Beshear advised residents to limit travel. 03:47.766 --> 03:52.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): We did not make it through almost a year of a pandemic to 03:52.300 --> 03:57.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% lose people to a snow or an ice storm. Please, don't let the next couple of days or this 03:58.933 --> 04:03.333 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% week be what injures you or ultimately causes the loss of a loved one. 04:05.400 --> 04:08.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: The winter and ice storm advisories stretch from America's Gulf Coast up to New 04:08.400 --> 04:12.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% England and span the country, and have also impacted parts of the Pacific Northwest. 04:12.900 --> 04:17.900 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% Among the hardest hit so far, the state of Texas, where President Biden approved an emergency 04:17.900 --> 04:22.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% declaration on Sunday. The deep freeze has led to ice-coated branches breaking and wreaking 04:24.800 --> 04:28.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% havoc. And dangerously low temperatures have triggered rotating blackouts, leaving more 04:28.800 --> 04:33.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% than two million people without power at a time. 04:33.266 --> 04:38.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Amid the outages, the wholesale price of electricity surged today by more 10000 percent. 04:40.700 --> 04:43.733 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% SYLVESTER TURNER (D), Mayor of Houston, Texas: It is a systemwide failure across the state. 04:45.666 --> 04:48.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: In Houston today, Mayor Sylvester Turner with a grim update: 04:48.933 --> 04:53.933 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% SYLVESTER TURNER: These are not rolling blackouts. These are power outages at a huge, unprecedented 04:55.466 --> 04:57.500 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% scale. 04:57.500 --> 05:01.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% If you are without power right now, it is very conceivable that you could be without 05:03.600 --> 05:07.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% power throughout the rest of today and possibly even going into tomorrow. 05:09.366 --> 05:13.500 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: Officials are warning of storm conditions, travel disruption and power outages 05:14.933 --> 05:18.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% continuing along the storm's path at least through Tuesday. 05:18.100 --> 05:23.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% So, is the country simply in the middle of a particularly severe phase of winter weather, 05:25.100 --> 05:28.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% or is there more to it than that? For those questions and more, we turn to Dev Niyogi. 05:28.433 --> 05:33.400 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% He's a professor of geosciences and engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. He is 05:33.400 --> 05:38.400 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% also a committee member of Planet Texas 2050, a research initiative on the state's environmental 05:39.666 --> 05:41.666 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% challenges. 05:41.666 --> 05:44.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% He joins us tonight from Indiana, where he is waiting out the storm before traveling 05:44.166 --> 05:46.266 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% back to Texas. 05:46.266 --> 05:49.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Professor Niyogi, welcome to the "NewsHour." And thank you for making the time. I really 05:49.733 --> 05:51.766 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% appreciate it. 05:51.766 --> 05:54.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I want to start with Texas. Even though you're not there, you know it well. We're hearing 05:54.266 --> 05:58.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the phrase unprecedented a lot when people talk about this storm. Texas is no stranger 05:58.900 --> 06:02.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to extreme weather in the form of hurricanes and tornadoes, but when it comes to this kind 06:02.666 --> 06:05.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% of extreme cold weather, how unusual is it? 06:05.100 --> 06:08.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% DEV NIYOGI, University of Texas at Austin: I will tell you, Amna, this is -- we're certainly 06:08.466 --> 06:13.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% into what you have been hearing, this word, uncharted territory again and again. 06:15.466 --> 06:18.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The fact that we're getting snow and we're having some cold weather in Texas is not unusual. 06:20.866 --> 06:24.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I mean, we have it perhaps every few years. What is really remarkable is the spread, the 06:28.033 --> 06:33.033 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% extent, the severity with which this is happening. And so, certainly, by that standard, it is 06:34.466 --> 06:38.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% an event that has been quite unprecedented in that regards. 06:38.466 --> 06:41.766 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% AMNA NAWAZ: So, why are we seeing those kind of severe temperatures now? 06:41.766 --> 06:46.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% DEV NIYOGI: Well, there are a number of theories and number of questions and options that will 06:47.366 --> 06:49.433 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% start emerging. 06:49.433 --> 06:52.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And they will range from just being bad weather, this is what happens, to issues related to 06:55.266 --> 07:00.000 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% La Nina, which has been inactive, to also perhaps this is the harbinger of what we have 07:01.533 --> 07:04.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% all been talking about with regards to climate changes. 07:04.566 --> 07:09.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And the answer is probably going to all of the above. We often always have combination 07:11.900 --> 07:16.900 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% of weather that is impacted by what is happening with the season. The season is being affected 07:18.866 --> 07:22.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% by what is happening with the ocean. And, of course, what is happening in the season 07:22.533 --> 07:26.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% is also a signature of what is happening in the long run. 07:26.100 --> 07:31.100 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% So, it is a combination of everything that we have to understand that is where our challenge, 07:33.066 --> 07:35.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% unfortunately, lies at this point. 07:35.066 --> 07:37.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: One of the arguments about climate change, though, is, people will say, well, 07:37.600 --> 07:40.900 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% it's actually been making winters milder overall. Sol, how would it be leading to the severe 07:40.900 --> 07:42.900 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% cold temperatures? 07:42.900 --> 07:46.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% DEV NIYOGI: Great point on that. We talk about climate change and global warming sometimes 07:46.133 --> 07:50.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% with the thinking that it means our temperatures ought to be warmer and warmer. 07:50.233 --> 07:55.233 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% But one factor that we also highlight is what we will be seeing is these wild swings, both 07:57.233 --> 08:00.733 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% in terms of temperature, rainfall, also in terms of the manner in which storms are coming. 08:03.100 --> 08:06.633 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% So, this kind of weather event, which is unprecedented in the context of how things are being spanning, 08:08.666 --> 08:13.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% spatially, as well as in time, is exactly the kind of thing, unfortunately, that a change 08:14.766 --> 08:17.300 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% in climate has -- been predicted. 08:17.300 --> 08:22.300 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% Whether this is just climate change, or whether this is seasonal interactions or weather event, 08:24.300 --> 08:27.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that will be a topic that will be debated. But what is really important is to understand 08:28.833 --> 08:30.966 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% that this is happening now. 08:30.966 --> 08:33.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: When you look at the resources, I want to ask you about what this has done 08:33.033 --> 08:37.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to our energy resources, because you have seen massive outages across the Pacific Northwest, 08:37.666 --> 08:41.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% millions of people in Texas left without power as well. 08:41.933 --> 08:46.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Can our energy infrastructure handle these kinds of extreme events, especially if we're 08:46.766 --> 08:48.266 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% to expect more of them? 08:48.266 --> 08:51.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% DEV NIYOGI: We have to think of this as a hammer and a chisel. 08:51.333 --> 08:56.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And what I mean by that is that we cannot control the storms. We cannot control, whether 08:58.333 --> 09:01.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% it's a hurricane, whether it's a heat wave, or whether it's going to be a cold snap such 09:02.200 --> 09:04.233 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% as this. 09:04.233 --> 09:07.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But what we can control is, what can we do in terms of the infrastructure resources, 09:09.933 --> 09:14.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the planning, the tools that are available to the community and the cities that can take 09:15.566 --> 09:17.566 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% care of it? 09:17.566 --> 09:21.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And that is where we are at this point, that translation into that last mile. And we are 09:24.133 --> 09:29.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% certainly seeing right now that the energy grid has been stretched to its limit. And, 09:31.133 --> 09:34.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% looking forward, I'm sure there's going to be tremendous opportunities to rethink what 09:34.700 --> 09:37.700 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% we can do to improve the elasticity in that. 09:37.700 --> 09:41.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% We have the science. Like, for instance, at University of Texas, we haven't doing this 09:41.433 --> 09:46.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Planet Texas 2050. We are preparing the world that will go into the future. 09:46.266 --> 09:51.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% What we need is this last mile, that, what will be the tools, what could be the ways 09:53.733 --> 09:56.800 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% by which we can invest into now, such that we have a better future? And it is that investment, 09:59.500 --> 10:03.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the manner in which we are going to look at things directly in the face and say, this 10:03.766 --> 10:08.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% is our priority, and this is how we are going to back science into our investment. 10:08.266 --> 10:10.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% That will be the option to go ahead now. 10:10.333 --> 10:14.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: Professor Dev Niyogi from the University of Texas at Austin, thank you so 10:14.400 --> 10:18.633 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% much for your time. 10:18.633 --> 10:23.633 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% DEV NIYOGI: Thank you. It's a pleasure. 10:26.000 --> 10:31.000 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: In the day's other news: Average daily COVID-19 infections in the U.S. have 10:33.033 --> 10:37.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% fallen below 100,000 for the first time since November. The number of average daily deaths 10:39.733 --> 10:44.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% is also dropping, even as the overall U.S. death toll nears 490,000. 10:46.633 --> 10:51.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And in Europe today, Germany's new border controls triggered massive backups along the 10:53.600 --> 10:57.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Austrian and Czech frontiers. The Germans are trying to slow the spread of variants 10:57.700 --> 10:59.800 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% of the virus. 10:59.800 --> 11:04.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Fallout is growing in Republican ranks after former President Trump was acquitted at his 11:04.566 --> 11:09.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% impeachment trial. Senator Richard Burr faces a censure by North Carolina party leaders 11:11.566 --> 11:15.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% tonight for voting to convict Mr. Trump. Senator Bill Cassidy also voted to convict, and he 11:16.566 --> 11:19.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% has already been censured by GOP leaders in Louisiana. 11:19.566 --> 11:24.566 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% Meanwhile, House speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that an independent commission will investigate 11:26.600 --> 11:30.633 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% the U.S. Capitol riot that led to the trial. We will be pursuing that later in the program. 11:33.100 --> 11:36.666 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% In Myanmar, pressure intensified on protesters against the military coup. Police and military 11:38.666 --> 11:43.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% trucks rolled down streets in Mandalay and Yangon in a show of force today, and troops 11:44.566 --> 11:47.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% confronted crowds with slingshots and rubber bullets. 11:47.966 --> 11:52.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% NAING HTOO, Bank Worker (through translator): The number of protesters reduced yesterday. 11:55.366 --> 11:58.033 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% So, the junta took advantage of that and brought military vehicles onto the streets to intimidate 11:58.033 --> 12:01.933 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% the people. We are taking serious care not to fall in those traps. 12:01.933 --> 12:06.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Also today, the ruling junta extended the detention of ousted leader Aung 12:08.466 --> 12:12.200 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% San Suu Kyi until Wednesday, when she is to have a court hearing. 12:14.166 --> 12:17.533 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% The Russian government is playing down protests backing opposition leader Alexei Navalny. 12:19.533 --> 12:23.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Last night, his supporters in various cities used cell phone flashlights and candles to 12:25.300 --> 12:28.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% light up the evening sky, in a display of unity. The Kremlin claimed today that only 12:29.700 --> 12:32.400 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% small numbers took part. 12:32.400 --> 12:37.400 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% And back in this country, the federal online insurance marketplace has reopened for a new 12:39.366 --> 12:42.600 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% enrollment period. Healthcare.gov will accept applications from uninsured people in most 12:44.633 --> 12:49.000 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% states Through May the 15th. President Biden ordered the market to reopen after the initial 12:50.233 --> 12:53.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% enrollment period ended in December. 12:53.500 --> 12:58.466 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% And rockets struck near a U.S. base in Northern Iraq, killing one U.S.-led coalition contractor. 13:01.266 --> 13:06.266 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% Five others were wounded, including one U.S. service member. They targeted an area outside 13:08.166 --> 13:12.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Irbil International Airport. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. 13:14.066 --> 13:18.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Still to come on the "NewsHour": General Motors on its big promises to transition to zero 13:20.466 --> 13:23.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% emissions vehicles; the Chinese government overhauls Hong Kong's education system; Tamara 13:25.666 --> 13:30.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Keith and Amy Walter break down the aftermath of the impeachment vote; and much more. 13:50.566 --> 13:55.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% One of the main causes of the carbon emissions that drive climate change is automobiles. 13:57.566 --> 14:01.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And General Motors made big waves in its industry recently by announcing a dramatic ramp-up 14:03.000 --> 14:06.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% in electric vehicle production and plans to be carbon-neutral by 2040. 14:08.666 --> 14:12.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% William Brangham talks with a senior executive at the carmaker about the challenges of meeting 14:12.566 --> 14:13.800 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% those goals. 14:13.800 --> 14:15.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: That's right, Judy. 14:15.800 --> 14:20.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% To many, it was yet another signal that gas-powered vehicles are on their way out. 14:22.133 --> 14:24.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% WILL FERRELL, Actor: Did you know that Norway sells way more electric cars per capita than 14:24.133 --> 14:29.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% the U.S.? Norway. Well, I won't stand for it. 14:31.066 --> 14:35.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: In this Super Bowl ad, GM, one of the biggest automakers in the world, 14:37.400 --> 14:41.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% announced that, in just four years, it'll have 30 new electric car models for sale. 14:43.333 --> 14:46.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But there are many hurdles ahead before we get can fully electrify our transportation. 14:46.133 --> 14:51.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Joining me now is Dane Parker, chief sustainability officer for General Motors. 14:52.533 --> 14:54.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Dane Parker, great to have you on the "NewsHour." 14:54.600 --> 14:58.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Some of the initial press after this ad ran was that the GM is fully phasing out gas-powered 15:00.966 --> 15:04.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% vehicles. I mean, that's not totally the case. Can you just give us a sense, what are GM's 15:04.466 --> 15:06.466 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% plans for electric vehicles? 15:06.466 --> 15:09.100 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% DANE PARKER, Chief Sustainability Officer, General Motors: Sure. Thank you, William. 15:09.100 --> 15:14.100 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% So, we have an aspiration to eliminate tailpipe emissions from all of our light-duty vehicles 15:14.100 --> 15:19.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% by 2035, and to be fully carbon-neutral by 2040. So, it is a pretty aggressive plan to 15:21.000 --> 15:25.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% shift in all of our markets and all of our segments to electric vehicles. 15:25.300 --> 15:29.466 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: It is a very ambitious goal, if you can attain it. 15:29.466 --> 15:33.833 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% As you well know, there are certainly challenges ahead. Consumers don't seem to be there yet 15:33.833 --> 15:38.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% for electric vehicles. I think it's still just a percentage of the marketplace. 15:38.233 --> 15:43.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And we also need a huge network of charging stations to basically take the role of gas 15:45.100 --> 15:48.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% stations for all those electric vehicles. How much of an impediment will those things 15:48.600 --> 15:50.100 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% be to this rollout? 15:50.100 --> 15:52.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% DANE PARKER: Well, those are two things that come up a lot. 15:52.700 --> 15:57.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And on the consumer one, I think we will find that are getting close to a tipping point. 15:59.933 --> 16:02.900 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% And those who have experienced electric vehicles, almost to a person, say they wouldn't go back. 16:04.866 --> 16:09.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The driving experience, the technology, how quiet they are, and the acceleration, all 16:11.000 --> 16:14.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the elements of a great product in an electric vehicle, I think, are going to bring consumers 16:15.566 --> 16:17.666 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% increasingly rapidly. 16:17.666 --> 16:21.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And we are reaching, really, I think that classic tipping point. And that's going to 16:21.566 --> 16:23.566 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% move quickly. 16:23.566 --> 16:26.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Now, to your question about infrastructure, the current data that we have says more than 16:26.166 --> 16:30.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% 80 percent of charging happens at home. And there's a large number of current consumers 16:30.833 --> 16:35.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% who are able to charge at home. And for them, this will be seamless, because the range of 16:37.800 --> 16:41.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% these electric vehicles is going to be sufficient for the vast majority of use cases. 16:43.066 --> 16:45.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% For those who can't is where we need help in developing that infrastructure. I think 16:45.666 --> 16:49.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% there's plenty of momentum we can build over the next several years with those who are 16:49.100 --> 16:53.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% able to charge easily, and give us time to build the infrastructure out for those who 16:53.733 --> 16:58.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% are in areas either where they can't charge in their housing or their work, so that we 16:58.333 --> 17:00.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% can get retail options available for them. 17:00.666 --> 17:03.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Let's talk a little bit about the challenge of battery technology. 17:03.566 --> 17:08.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% We have seen incredible growth so far. But we have got to improve their charging, how 17:10.566 --> 17:14.433 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% long they can drive these vehicles, and also securing enough lithium simply to put in all 17:15.166 --> 17:17.266 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% of those batteries. 17:17.266 --> 17:20.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% What role do you see for the federal government to help incentivize that technology? 17:20.233 --> 17:25.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% DANE PARKER: Sure. Yes, batteries are the critical component to this transition. 17:27.233 --> 17:30.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And in whether it's mineral supply, like you mentioned, with lithium or cobalt, or the 17:30.800 --> 17:35.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% production of those batteries, I think government will play an important role in incentivizing 17:37.800 --> 17:40.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the research and development that's needed to remove things like lithium from batteries 17:40.700 --> 17:45.700 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% or like cobalt, come up with alternative technologies and alternative materials, but also to encourage 17:47.733 --> 17:52.200 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% the production of those batteries in the United States, which certainly is important from 17:52.200 --> 17:56.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% an energy security perspective and simply from a supply chain perspective. 17:56.600 --> 18:01.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: If GM is going to be continuing to sell, in part, gas-driven vehicles, how 18:03.933 --> 18:07.833 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% will you achieve carbon neutrality by 2040? 18:07.833 --> 18:12.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% DANE PARKER: Seventy-five percent of our footprint is tailpipe emissions. 18:12.000 --> 18:17.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And so if we can eliminate those in all of our light-duty vehicles by 2035 and in our 18:18.966 --> 18:23.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% operations through the use of renewable energy and increasing energy efficiency, we get to 18:25.400 --> 18:29.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% a point by 2035 and beyond where we're pretty close on our own. 18:31.966 --> 18:34.566 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% And so the few -- the few remaining tons that we will have might relate to heating, industrial 18:36.566 --> 18:39.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% heating, things like that, we feel like we will be able to offset with carbon credits. 18:39.966 --> 18:44.966 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% But the vast majority of what we do, we will be doing by changing our products and changing 18:46.933 --> 18:50.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the energy footprint used to charge those products, as well as run our own operations. 18:52.366 --> 18:54.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Certainly, this news has been cheered by many environmental groups. 18:54.866 --> 18:59.500 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% There's also been some skepticism, who point out that, for many years, GM was trying to 18:59.500 --> 19:04.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% get the Trump administration to dial back auto emissions rules, and that that makes 19:04.366 --> 19:08.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% them question whether or not that this -- this commitment on GM's part is for real. 19:08.500 --> 19:13.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I want to read you a quote from Dan Becker. He's at the Center for Biological Diversity. 19:13.033 --> 19:15.700 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% This is about that carbon offset issue. 19:15.700 --> 19:20.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% He wrote -- quote -- "Given GM's polluting track record, their promise to arrange some 19:23.200 --> 19:26.100 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% offsets to sop up the pollution from gas-powered SUVs and pickups that they still plan to make 19:27.500 --> 19:29.666 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% is just smoke and mirrors." 19:29.666 --> 19:31.633 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% What is your reaction to that? 19:31.633 --> 19:35.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% DANE PARKER: You know, I think there's been in various comments questions about how we 19:35.766 --> 19:37.833 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% would use offsets. 19:37.833 --> 19:42.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And part of what we set out with our 2040 commitment was to use a science-based target 19:44.000 --> 19:47.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% methodology to get there. That methodology doesn't allow you to use offsets in that. 19:49.333 --> 19:52.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And so that methodology requires you to actually reduce your direct footprint. 19:54.700 --> 19:57.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% That's why, for us, this commitment to be carbon-neutral is a commitment to change our 19:57.633 --> 20:02.633 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% products and our operational footprint exclusive of carbon credits or carbon offsets, and why 20:05.133 --> 20:08.900 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% we're now spending $27 billion in these five years to do exactly that, roll out these products 20:10.966 --> 20:13.466 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% faster than we ever have before. 20:13.466 --> 20:17.400 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Dane Parker, chief sustainability officer for General Motors, 20:17.400 --> 20:18.633 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% thank you very much for joining us. 20:18.633 --> 20:23.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% DANE PARKER: Thank you, William, for the time. 20:25.533 --> 20:29.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: The lunar new year celebration has begun in China, but it comes as Hong Kong 20:39.933 --> 20:44.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% security forces continue to prosecute those it has swept up in a wave of arrests under 20:46.366 --> 20:50.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% the new national security law that mainland China imposed. 20:50.900 --> 20:55.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Even as pro-democracy members of Hong Kong's legislative body were arrested last month 20:57.866 --> 21:01.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% when they held an informal primary election, the education curriculum is being overhauled, 21:02.933 --> 21:07.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and judges are facing increasing pressure to issue harsher sentences on activists. 21:07.933 --> 21:12.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "NewsHour" special correspondent Divya Gopalan reports. 21:12.466 --> 21:17.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% DIVYA GOPALAN: Praying for good fortune and better days. As Hong Kong people start their 21:19.533 --> 21:23.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Chinese new year, many will be relieved to bid farewell to the punishing Year of the 21:23.033 --> 21:25.033 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% Rat. 21:25.033 --> 21:29.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Like the rest of the world, the pandemic took away loved ones, jobs and businesses. But, 21:29.033 --> 21:34.033 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% for Hong Kong it also brought one of the biggest clampdowns on freedoms and rights, the national 21:36.066 --> 21:39.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% security law. The wide-ranging law imposed by Beijing opens the door for China's communist 21:41.433 --> 21:45.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% government to intervene in all aspects of the autonomous territory's affairs. 21:47.933 --> 21:50.733 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% The law criminalizes several categories of broadly defined offenses, which include secession, 21:52.700 --> 21:56.866 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign or external forces. But there is one 21:58.900 --> 22:02.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% institution seen as the last holdout against Beijing's increasing assertive rule. 22:02.233 --> 22:07.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ANDREW CHEUNG, Hong Kong Chief Justice: It is my mission, as I say, to do my utmost, 22:09.166 --> 22:12.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to uphold the independence and impartiality of the Hong Kong judiciary. 22:16.200 --> 22:21.200 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% DIVYA GOPALAN: In a ceremony in January, Andrew Cheung was sworn in as the city's top judge. 22:26.900 --> 22:31.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Taking the helm in unprecedented times, he admitted he has his work cut out for him. 22:31.500 --> 22:36.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ANDREW CHEUNG: Political pressure is just one form of pressure that judges face and 22:38.866 --> 22:43.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% have to deal with. So, we all do our best to deal with these pressures. 22:47.233 --> 22:52.233 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% DIVYA GOPALAN: It's a situation that American lawyer John Clancey is familiar with. On January 22:54.300 --> 22:57.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% 6, he was caught up in the biggest sweep yet under the national security law. 22:57.200 --> 23:02.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JOHN CLANCEY, Pro-Democracy Lawyer: We need to work for democracy and human rights in 23:02.033 --> 23:04.066 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% Hong Kong. 23:04.066 --> 23:08.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% DIVYA GOPALAN: Clancey was among 53 opposition activists and former lawmakers arrested for 23:08.000 --> 23:13.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% subversion for taking part in an unofficial primary poll to choose the best democratic 23:14.466 --> 23:18.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% candidate for the now delayed legislative council elections. 23:20.366 --> 23:23.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The longtime Hong Kong resident, who speaks Cantonese fluently, came to the city in 1968 23:26.200 --> 23:29.233 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% as a Catholic priest when it was still a British colony. He later trained in law and is known 23:30.633 --> 23:32.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% for his work championing democracy and human rights. 23:32.666 --> 23:37.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JOHN CLANCEY: There's going to be a need for the courts to deal with two conflictual things 23:40.700 --> 23:43.233 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% hitting at one another. 23:43.233 --> 23:47.233 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% On the one hand, we have, as I mentioned earlier, the basic law, which entrenches these basic 23:49.133 --> 23:54.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% human rights, freedom of speech, expression, voting, standing for election. On the other 23:56.166 --> 24:00.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% hand, there's a new national security law, which, unlike most other laws in Hong Kong, 24:00.000 --> 24:04.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% it was drafted in China. It's very vague. It seems to be having a lot of implications 24:06.066 --> 24:08.100 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% of what it could be. 24:08.100 --> 24:11.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The courts will have to decide whether this national security law trumps basic rights. 24:11.966 --> 24:16.966 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% DIVYA GOPALAN: Beijing says the national security law is necessary to make scenes like this, 24:19.500 --> 24:21.966 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% the anti-government protests of 2019, a thing of the past. Almost 100 people have been arrested 24:23.933 --> 24:27.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% under the law since it took effect on July 1. 24:27.800 --> 24:32.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% While most of the focus is on high-profile national security law cases, the legal system 24:34.766 --> 24:37.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% here is being tested regularly. Almost every day, there are cases going through the city's 24:39.966 --> 24:43.266 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% courts related to the 2019 protests and other demonstrations calling for democracy. Those 24:45.166 --> 24:49.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% being prosecuted includes former protests, human rights and democracy activists and even 24:50.233 --> 24:52.333 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% journalists. 24:52.333 --> 24:56.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% According to official figures, around a fifth of the 10,200 people arrested in connection 24:58.800 --> 25:01.900 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% with the social unrest of 2019 have been prosecuted, and roughly 200 have been sentenced to prison. 25:03.900 --> 25:08.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% In November, one of the top Chinese officials in Hong Kong said reforms were needed for 25:10.166 --> 25:14.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the city's judiciary, saying that the word patriotism needs to be included in the core 25:15.633 --> 25:19.066 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% values of Hong Kong society. The details of the reforms are unclear. 25:21.033 --> 25:23.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But Holden Chow, a lawyer, legislative councillor and vice president of Hong Kong's biggest 25:23.866 --> 25:28.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% pro-Beijing political party, agrees that changes are needed. He is calling for the judiciary 25:29.733 --> 25:31.866 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% to set up a sentencing council. 25:31.866 --> 25:35.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% HOLDEN CHOW, Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong: Over the past two 25:35.833 --> 25:40.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% years, we have seen the violent protests in Hong Kong. And when the rioters are brought 25:40.800 --> 25:45.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to the court, when their verdict is being handed down by the court, it seems that, on 25:47.933 --> 25:52.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% many occasion, the sentence is too lenient. 25:52.066 --> 25:57.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I am very concerned about the impact of that is you are simply encouraging people to commit 25:58.566 --> 26:00.633 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% those sort of crimes. 26:00.633 --> 26:03.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% DIVYA GOPALAN: The majority of the front-line protesters were university and high school 26:03.900 --> 26:08.900 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% students. Pro-Beijing politicians and China's state media blamed teachers and the curriculum 26:09.633 --> 26:11.633 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% for the social unrest. 26:11.633 --> 26:15.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And so, in the latest effort to tighten the leash on the younger generation, authorities 26:15.633 --> 26:19.500 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% have pushed through one of the biggest overhauls of the education system. 26:19.500 --> 26:22.433 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% WOMAN: Mr. Owl, what is national security? 26:22.433 --> 26:27.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% DIVYA GOPALAN: With teaching material that includes animation to help younger children, 26:29.933 --> 26:32.733 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% the new national education curriculum brings Hong Kong classrooms in line with the communist-controlled 26:35.233 --> 26:37.766 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% schools of mainland China. Teachers will be forced to warn students as young as 6 of secession, 26:39.233 --> 26:42.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% subversion and foreign interference. 26:42.000 --> 26:45.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% While many were expecting changes to certain subjects like liberal studies, it's come as 26:45.533 --> 26:49.966 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% a shock to students who have enjoyed an education system where free thinking and open discussions 26:49.966 --> 26:52.066 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% have been encouraged. 26:52.066 --> 26:55.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ANGEL CHOI, Student: I am a Hong Konger. And I believe my identity as a Hong Konger, and 26:58.866 --> 27:03.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% this is very important for us to reveal the truth of what is happening in Hong Kong to 27:05.800 --> 27:10.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the public, not the way that the central government wants to tighten its control over us. 27:13.133 --> 27:18.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% DIVYA GOPALAN: Regardless of which subject 16-year-old Angel and her classmates choose, 27:20.133 --> 27:23.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% they will be exposed to the new curriculum. Almost every subject, whether it's biology, 27:25.200 --> 27:28.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% geography, and even music, will need to incorporate the tenets of national security. 27:30.133 --> 27:33.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But as Angel is due to graduate soon, she feels it's the next generation who will be 27:34.766 --> 27:37.200 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% most affected. 27:37.200 --> 27:40.500 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% ANGEL CHOI: If the curriculum has changed, they will just think in the way that the government 27:40.500 --> 27:44.633 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% wants them to think, because they will only possess the information that is given directly 27:44.633 --> 27:46.666 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% by the government. 27:46.666 --> 27:50.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Also, they cannot voice their opinions freely. They cannot decide whether the news is right 27:52.633 --> 27:56.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% or wrong. And this definitely affects the future of the Hong Kong political movement. 27:58.800 --> 28:02.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% DIVYA GOPALAN: For many in Hong Kong, with no avenue for dissent anymore and no power 28:04.033 --> 28:07.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to resist the changes imposed by Beijing, there is a sense that the writing is on the 28:07.900 --> 28:09.966 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% wall. 28:09.966 --> 28:13.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Many feel, if they want a glimpse into what the Year of the Ox holds for the city, all 28:13.500 --> 28:16.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% they have to do is look across the border. 28:16.900 --> 28:21.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% For the "PBS NewsHour" in Hong Kong, I'm Divya Gopalan. 28:28.733 --> 28:33.733 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% JUDY WOODRUFF: Although former President Trump's second impeachment trial concluded over the 28:37.900 --> 28:42.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% weekend, many questions remain surrounding the events during and leading up to the deadly 28:44.233 --> 28:46.333 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% January 6 insurrection. 28:46.333 --> 28:51.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And, as we reported earlier, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced her plans today to 28:53.233 --> 28:57.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% form an outside, independent 9/11-style commission to, as she says, get to the bottom of how 28:58.966 --> 29:01.000 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% this happened. 29:01.000 --> 29:05.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Former New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean chaired the 9/11 Commission, and he joins us now. 29:07.400 --> 29:10.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Governor Thomas Kean, welcome to the "NewsHour." Very good to see you. 29:10.633 --> 29:14.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% We know that you and your vice chair, former Congressman Lee Hamilton sent a letter to 29:14.933 --> 29:19.933 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% President Biden, to congressional leaders on Friday, urging them to consider the idea 29:21.966 --> 29:25.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% of a commission. Some people are going to look at this and say, great idea. Other people 29:25.400 --> 29:28.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% are going to say, oh, no, another commission. 29:28.400 --> 29:30.466 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Why is it a good idea? 29:30.466 --> 29:33.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% THOMAS KEAN, Former Co-Chairman, 9/11 Commission: Well, look, this is the first time anything 29:33.466 --> 29:37.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% like this has happened to our government, I suppose, since the British invaded the Capitol 29:37.933 --> 29:40.400 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% in 1812. 29:40.400 --> 29:45.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The idea of a mob invading the U.S. Capitol, which is the center of democracy, not only 29:47.400 --> 29:51.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% for us, but for the world, and doing it so publicly, is -- I was brought up to venerate 29:55.500 --> 29:57.466 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% the place. 29:57.466 --> 30:01.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% My father was elected to Congress when I was 3 years old. And in those days, the family 30:03.933 --> 30:07.433 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% moved down. So, I was taken down to the Capitol with my father, and so where Webster was, 30:09.366 --> 30:13.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and where Clay sat, and where John Quincy Adams gave his favorite speech against slavery 30:14.466 --> 30:17.233 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and then died minutes later, and so on. 30:17.233 --> 30:22.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I knew Andrew Jackson, and I knew Sam Rayburn. I mean, people -- buildings were named after 30:22.166 --> 30:27.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% them. So, the idea that a mob could invade the center of democracy while the legislators 30:29.133 --> 30:33.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% were doing their job is so terrible, that I think, now it's behind us, we better find 30:36.300 --> 30:41.266 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% out why it happened, how it happened, how security was breached, so we can make recommendations 30:42.966 --> 30:46.200 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% to make sure it never, ever happens again. 30:46.200 --> 30:51.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: How do you assure the American people that a commission can get to the bottom 30:53.266 --> 30:58.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% of this, that a commission can come through with an accurate, truthful accounting of what 31:00.800 --> 31:02.933 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% happened? 31:02.933 --> 31:06.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% THOMAS KEAN: Well, I think we can do it because it has been done. The 9/11 Commission, our 31:06.366 --> 31:11.366 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% report has not yet been questioned, as far as to its accuracy goes, as far as its impartiality, 31:12.233 --> 31:14.333 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% as far as its bipartisanship. 31:14.333 --> 31:17.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And if we have done it once, we can do it again. But it does depend -- it depends on 31:19.766 --> 31:23.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the appointments. The people who are appointing, the people in the Congress have got to make 31:25.000 --> 31:28.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% sure this is people who have no ambitions, who are not overly partisan, who can reach 31:30.833 --> 31:34.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% across the aisle, who can work with each other, and who have the confidence, based on their 31:34.233 --> 31:39.233 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% own records, of the American people to come out with something that is useful, proper, 31:40.400 --> 31:42.833 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and will prevent it ever happening again. 31:42.833 --> 31:47.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: And that's a question I have, Governor Kean, because we're in a much more 31:49.966 --> 31:54.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% politically polarized time, as you know, than it was even in 2000, after 2001 -- or 2002, 31:58.933 --> 32:02.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% when your commission got to work. 32:02.166 --> 32:06.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% How can -- how do we know that each side isn't going to be appointing or one side or the 32:06.966 --> 32:11.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% other people who are so set in their views that you can't come up with a unanimous view 32:17.400 --> 32:19.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of what happened or reporting of what happened? 32:19.666 --> 32:24.533 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% THOMAS KEAN: I think it is -- again, we're going to be dependent on our elected officials. 32:24.533 --> 32:27.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% That's who we are in this democracy. 32:27.100 --> 32:31.633 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% And I think the idea of -- I have great confidence that Nancy Pelosi, Congressman McCarthy, that 32:33.933 --> 32:38.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the leaders of the Senate know who these people are, because a lot of them have served within 32:39.533 --> 32:41.500 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% the Congress. 32:41.500 --> 32:46.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% When Lee Hamilton was appointed as my vice chair, nobody objected, because Lee Hamilton 32:46.233 --> 32:51.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% had a record of integrity and bipartisanship, and doing what was best for the country, rather 32:52.566 --> 32:55.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% than anything else, all his political life. 32:55.266 --> 33:00.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% That hasn't ended. There are people I know and people you know of right now, some of 33:02.333 --> 33:04.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% them serving in the Congress now, some of them retired from public service, some of 33:04.300 --> 33:08.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% whom have been governors. There are a number of these people whose only bottom line is 33:08.200 --> 33:13.200 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% service to the United States of America, country first, patriots. And those are the people 33:14.166 --> 33:16.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% who have got to be appointed. 33:16.200 --> 33:19.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And I think we have got to call as hard as we can on the leaders of Congress to make 33:19.200 --> 33:22.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% sure those are the people who get on the commission. 33:22.233 --> 33:27.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Does getting to the bottom of former President Trump's involvement in 33:28.900 --> 33:33.033 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% this, role in this, is that essential to the work of a commission? 33:35.033 --> 33:39.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% THOMAS KEAN: It's part of it, but it's not - - to me, it's not the bottom line. 33:41.000 --> 33:44.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% You serve -- do a commission to find out the facts of how something happened. How did this 33:46.466 --> 33:50.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% mob get created? How was it -- I mean, we don't know still whether they planned it all 33:52.000 --> 33:55.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ahead of time or whether some were incited on the spot. We don't know that yet. 33:55.433 --> 34:00.466 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% Find out how it happened, and find out the facts that everybody agrees on. Once you find 34:02.400 --> 34:06.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% out the facts, you can make the recommendations to ensure it never, ever, ever can happen 34:08.000 --> 34:11.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% again. But you have to have the facts first in order to make those kind of recommendations. 34:11.533 --> 34:16.533 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% JUDY WOODRUFF: We went back and looked at some of the reporting at the time your -- the 34:19.000 --> 34:21.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% 9/11 Commission issued its report in 2004. 34:21.800 --> 34:26.800 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% And you are right. The vast majority of reaction was very positive, praised the work that you 34:28.800 --> 34:32.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% did. There were some who said the fact that you were trying to reach a unanimous view 34:34.166 --> 34:37.666 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% meant that you, in the end, had to soften the edges, in so many words. 34:38.766 --> 34:40.833 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% How do you see that? 34:40.833 --> 34:44.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% THOMAS KEAN: Well, we didn't. I don't think we softened it at all. We had a lot of debates. 34:46.433 --> 34:49.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% We met hours and hours and hours and hours. 34:49.133 --> 34:54.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% We got to know each other first, so Republicans and Democrats came to trust each other, had 34:56.066 --> 35:00.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% private dinners together, in some cases, met each other's families. And then, once we had 35:02.300 --> 35:06.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% agreed to trust each other and done the public hearings and all of that, the report came 35:07.300 --> 35:09.400 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% quite naturally after that. 35:09.400 --> 35:12.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And we didn't -- honestly, we did not soften the edges. I mean, we said what we thought 35:12.700 --> 35:17.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% we had to say. And I was -- I didn't know until two days before we issued the report 35:18.900 --> 35:21.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% whether we had it unanimous or not. 35:21.000 --> 35:25.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And one thing we found out, by the way, we took out of the adjectives. We found out that 35:28.033 --> 35:31.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% people were arguing not about the facts, but the adjectives. Once we removed the adjectives 35:31.500 --> 35:35.166 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% in the report, then a lot of people who had questions signed on. 35:35.166 --> 35:40.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: And in the end, Governor Kean, how much does a thorough report like this 35:42.200 --> 35:47.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% matter? How much difference does it make for our country, for our people, for our system 35:48.433 --> 35:50.500 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% of government? 35:50.500 --> 35:54.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% THOMAS KEAN: Look, the 41 recommendations we made in the 9/11 Commission were the basis 35:54.300 --> 35:58.033 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% for a whole redrafting of national security in this country. 35:58.033 --> 36:03.033 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% And we still have not had another attack comparable to 9/11. That has kept the people safer. If 36:05.000 --> 36:08.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% these commissions are done right, they can work. They can work for the people. And so 36:08.100 --> 36:13.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% my sense is, if we do this right, we can make the Congress stronger, we can make national 36:15.066 --> 36:19.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% security stronger, and we can make sure, as I say, that nobody in 10 or 20 years is saying, 36:20.733 --> 36:22.833 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% how did this happen again? 36:22.833 --> 36:24.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% It shouldn't happen. There shouldn't be a mob from the left or the right or anybody 36:24.833 --> 36:29.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% else to disrupt the best of this democracy, which is -- which should be occurring in the 36:30.700 --> 36:33.066 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% United States Congress. 36:33.066 --> 36:38.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Former Governor Thomas Kean of New Jersey, who I gather Speaker Nancy 36:39.466 --> 36:42.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Pelosi called you after she received that letter on Friday. 36:42.100 --> 36:46.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, it looks as if it certainly did play into the thinking here. 36:46.333 --> 36:49.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% THOMAS KEAN: We had a very nice call. 36:49.266 --> 36:52.933 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% JUDY WOODRUFF: We so appreciate your joining us. Thank you very much. 36:52.933 --> 36:55.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% THOMAS KEAN: Thank you for having me. 36:55.566 --> 37:00.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: And for the seven Republican senators who voted to convict former President 37:02.700 --> 37:07.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Trump, the backlash from inside their own party has been swift and severe, as we reported, 37:10.133 --> 37:13.700 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% censures for two of those senators, Louisiana's Bill Cassidy and Pennsylvania's Pat Toomey, 37:15.000 --> 37:17.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% by state or local officials, party officials. 37:17.400 --> 37:22.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Tonight, Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina may be the third to face that fate. 37:22.233 --> 37:27.000 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% Here now to analyze the fallout from the impeachment trial and where we go from here, Amy Walter 37:27.000 --> 37:30.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of The Cook Political Report and Tamara Keith of NPR. 37:30.666 --> 37:35.266 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Hello to both of you on this Monday night. It's so good to see you, 37:35.266 --> 37:40.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Amy, we have now had, what, 46 presidents of the United States, and one only one of 37:42.233 --> 37:45.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% them has been impeached twice and only one of them had to go through a trial when he 37:48.033 --> 37:53.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% was out of office. So, Donald Trump has made history in every which way here. 37:54.933 --> 37:58.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But in the end, after this trial that ended over the weekend in an acquittal, where are 37:59.533 --> 38:01.666 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% we? 38:01.666 --> 38:03.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMY WALTER, The Cook Political Report: Right, and where is the Republican Party, right? 38:03.700 --> 38:08.500 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% And this seems to be the question that we continue to grapple with or have been grappling 38:11.000 --> 38:13.633 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% with really since 2015, Judy, when it seemed that so many times during Trump's first campaign, 38:15.700 --> 38:20.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% during his time as president, that the party was going to break up over Donald Trump. 38:22.666 --> 38:26.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And yet, when all is said and done, the party continues to rally around him. In this case, 38:28.266 --> 38:32.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% on the vote over the weekend to convict, the president was no different. 38:34.966 --> 38:38.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% In some ways, as you said, this was a historic moment. This was the most bipartisan impeachment 38:40.100 --> 38:43.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ever in American history. So that's quite remarkable. And yet, at the same time, it 38:45.066 --> 38:49.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% doesn't tell us anything about Trump's inability to keep a hold of the party. In fact, what 38:52.100 --> 38:55.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% it tells us is that he still has a pretty good hold on the party. 38:55.300 --> 39:00.366 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% As you pointed out, a number of those senators who voted for conviction have since been censured. 39:03.100 --> 39:06.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% We know members of the House who voted for impeachment have also been censured, and they 39:06.633 --> 39:11.633 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% have been threatened with primary races. We know that, even in a bipartisan vote, it was 39:13.600 --> 39:17.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% still 10 votes short of a conviction. 39:17.500 --> 39:22.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And we also know that the seven Republicans who voted -- these are not -- who voted for 39:24.533 --> 39:26.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% conviction -- these are not the rising stars in the party. These aren't folks who you're 39:26.566 --> 39:31.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% going to see on the ballot in 2024 running for president. Only one of them is up for 39:33.200 --> 39:36.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% reelection in 2022. That's Lisa Murkowski from Alaska. Two of them are retiring, Senator 39:39.233 --> 39:41.933 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% Burr and Senator Toomey, Burr from North Carolina, Toomey that you pointed out from Pennsylvania, 39:41.933 --> 39:43.966 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% also been censured. 39:43.966 --> 39:48.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The rest are either up in 2026, so they were just recently elected, reelected, or one of 39:51.566 --> 39:56.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% them, Mitt Romney, up in 2024. So, there is no immediate repercussions for these -- most 39:58.000 --> 40:00.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of these senators like, there is for members of the House. 40:00.800 --> 40:05.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But, at the end of the day, I think what's been made very clear is that this is still 40:07.833 --> 40:10.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the party of Donald Trump, the local grassroots activists who are censuring these members 40:13.000 --> 40:16.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% making it very clear where their loyalties lie and what they're expecting from other 40:18.333 --> 40:21.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% elected officials down the road in 2022 and beyond. 40:21.933 --> 40:26.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Tam, pick up on that, I mean, how much does this trial verdict tell 40:28.566 --> 40:32.733 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% us about the hold that Donald Trump still has on his own party? 40:32.733 --> 40:37.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% TAMARA KEITH, National Public Radio: Well, as Amy mentioned, the local party apparatuses 40:39.700 --> 40:43.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% are very Trumpy, if you will. They were consolidated behind President Trump. 40:45.066 --> 40:49.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% His campaign was very concerned about a primary challenge, potentially, in 2020. So, they 40:51.300 --> 40:54.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% made sure that every state and local party operation all over the country was controlled 40:56.700 --> 40:59.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% by President Trump. And those loyalists are still in place. And that's why you're seeing 40:59.733 --> 41:04.700 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% these censures come so fast and so strongly. 41:06.700 --> 41:10.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% What does that mean in terms of primaries? What does that mean in terms of Senate races? 41:12.400 --> 41:15.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I think that we can look at what Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leader in the House, and Mitch 41:17.933 --> 41:21.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, how they are charting their path, trying to 41:21.900 --> 41:26.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% sort of have it both ways, wanting the Trump base, but also trying to figure out how to 41:29.333 --> 41:33.100 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% keep Republicans who were completely and totally outraged by what happened on January 6, and 41:34.533 --> 41:39.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% didn't see that violent mob as being part of their party. 41:39.233 --> 41:44.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And so you had McConnell give this absolutely scorching floor speech about President Trump, 41:46.200 --> 41:49.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% after, of course, voting to acquit and saying that it wasn't constitutional, they should 41:49.766 --> 41:53.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% have done the trial before he left office, but, also, he held up and prevented the trial 41:53.566 --> 41:55.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% from happening before he left office. 41:55.666 --> 42:00.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And with McCarthy, he was very critical of President Trump in the immediate aftermath. 42:00.233 --> 42:05.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But, before long, he was down at Mar-a-Lago kissing President Trump's ring, not technically, 42:07.133 --> 42:10.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% but trying to get Trump's support to -- in primaries to get Republicans who can win in 42:12.100 --> 42:14.066 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% 2022. 42:14.066 --> 42:18.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Amy, is there anybody in the Republican Party -- clearly, there's 42:20.266 --> 42:25.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% somebody -- but who has enough influence in the Republican Party to counter what's going 42:28.066 --> 42:32.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% on with those who are so loyal to Donald Trump? 42:32.133 --> 42:37.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMY WALTER: Yes, we're going to learn a lot, I think, in these next couple of years, as 42:39.066 --> 42:43.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% we watch these primaries unfold and Senate races and others. 42:43.266 --> 42:48.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% We're going to see, for example, even this year, in a state like Virginia, where you 42:50.766 --> 42:52.933 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% have a governor's race, what kind of candidate comes out of their process there. They actually 42:52.933 --> 42:57.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% have a convention, not a primary. And what are the issues that they run on? 42:57.033 --> 43:02.000 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% And Virginia is a place where,normally, historically, whichever party is in the White House at that 43:04.000 --> 43:08.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% time loses the governor's race in Virginia. But Virginia has also gotten a lot bluer in 43:10.000 --> 43:15.000 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% the last few years, and the backlash to Trump was pretty significant. 43:17.033 --> 43:20.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I think we're also going to have to see just how invested Donald Trump is in being with 43:23.733 --> 43:28.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the party in terms of its daily dealings, right? Is he really going to take all this 43:30.666 --> 43:33.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% money that he's raised, and plow it into the local parties, plow into helping candidates 43:35.266 --> 43:37.266 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% up and down the ballot? 43:37.266 --> 43:42.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Or is he going to use it as a way to punish those Republicans who he thinks have wronged 43:44.100 --> 43:47.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% him, like Representative Liz Cheney from Wyoming? Or maybe he sits on it and doesn't use any 43:49.266 --> 43:52.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% of it for any other candidate? So, there's still a lot of unknowns there. 43:52.166 --> 43:55.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And most important, Judy, we don't know what we're talking about in terms of the political 43:55.533 --> 44:00.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% environment a year or two from now. I think that sets the tone more than anything else, 44:02.566 --> 44:06.633 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% in terms of the kinds of candidates that become successful are the candidates that fit that 44:08.000 --> 44:10.066 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% moment. 44:10.066 --> 44:12.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, we'd like you both to know exactly what's going to happen a year 44:12.933 --> 44:13.933 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% or two in advance. 44:13.933 --> 44:14.933 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% AMY WALTER: That's right. 44:14.933 --> 44:17.033 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% (LAUGHTER) 44:17.033 --> 44:19.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: But we will wait until next week. We will wait until next week. 44:19.066 --> 44:22.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But, Tam, I do want to turn you both here in the minutes we have left to what's happening 44:24.266 --> 44:27.466 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% with COVID relief. While the trial was going on in the Senate, the House was moving ahead 44:28.866 --> 44:33.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% with some of President Biden's proposal on COVID relief. 44:33.066 --> 44:37.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% How much does it matter whether he is able to get Republican votes or not, whether this 44:37.733 --> 44:39.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% ends up being an all-Democratic measure? 44:39.966 --> 44:44.966 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% TAMARA KEITH: I'm not quite sure how much it ultimately does matter. 44:47.500 --> 44:52.100 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% And I -- will voters hold it against him that they didn't get Republicans, if their unemployment 44:54.166 --> 44:58.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% benefits last, or if the COVID vaccine rollout goes well, or if their kids are actually in 45:00.133 --> 45:02.133 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% school? 45:02.133 --> 45:06.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I think that the big test for Biden is -- and he and his administration believe that they 45:08.066 --> 45:12.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% need this COVID package to make this happen - - but come 2022, the question is, do you 45:14.266 --> 45:18.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% feel better today than you did two years ago, when people are going to vote? And that's 45:18.400 --> 45:22.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% going to depend on how they handle the pandemic. 45:22.900 --> 45:27.733 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% And I think a lot is going to depend on whether people feel like their lives are back to normal. 45:27.733 --> 45:30.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And a big part of that is going to be the schools. 45:30.533 --> 45:35.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Amy, I mean, pick up on that from there, because there are those who 45:39.500 --> 45:44.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% are saying he needs to show early on that he is going to live up to this unity promise 45:46.933 --> 45:48.700 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% that he campaigned on. 45:48.700 --> 45:50.733 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% AMY WALTER: Right. 45:50.733 --> 45:52.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: And others are saying, look, that's -- that was never going to happen. 45:52.766 --> 45:55.300 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% It's going to have to be Democrats all the way. 45:55.300 --> 45:59.100 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% AMY WALTER: Well, there's another unity challenge he may have. And that's keeping Democrats 45:59.100 --> 46:01.200 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% unified. 46:01.200 --> 46:05.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% We have been spending these last few weeks focused on the divisions within the Republican 46:07.066 --> 46:10.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Party. But Democrats, in order to get this package through, they can't afford to lose 46:12.700 --> 46:16.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% any senator. We have already seen some splits on issue -- within the Democratic Party on 46:18.966 --> 46:21.800 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% issues like including the $15-an-hour minimum wage in this COVID package, some consternation 46:23.833 --> 46:27.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% about the price tag on certain things. 46:27.400 --> 46:32.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And Pelosi in the House, Speaker Pelosi, can only afford to lose four or five votes there. 46:34.366 --> 46:38.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% So, keeping the party united on the same page, again, it's a lot easier when you're the one 46:38.500 --> 46:43.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% in charge, and you know that, ultimately, this is going to define your party. 46:45.600 --> 46:50.233 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% At the same time, it's a real test for team Biden and Democrats in leadership to be able 46:52.766 --> 46:57.766 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% to get this through. And the clock is ticking. These unemployment benefits that Tam pointed 46:59.800 --> 47:01.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to, this is the beginning of March, where they're really going to need to make sure 47:01.933 --> 47:06.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that this money is going out the door and that people are getting these checks. 47:06.133 --> 47:11.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: And in many ways, the calendar is flying along, no question about it. That's 47:12.566 --> 47:15.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% the serious -- that's the most serious deadline out there. 47:15.700 --> 47:20.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Amy Walter, Tamara Keith, next week, we will ask you about 2024, 2028. 47:20.366 --> 47:21.366 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% (LAUGHTER) 47:21.366 --> 47:22.366 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% AMY WALTER: We're going to... 47:22.366 --> 47:23.600 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% (CROSSTALK) 47:23.600 --> 47:24.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% JUDY WOODRUFF: We won't let you off the hook. 47:24.366 --> 47:25.366 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% (LAUGHTER) 47:25.366 --> 47:26.366 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% TAMARA KEITH: Too soon. 47:26.366 --> 47:27.833 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% (LAUGHTER) 47:27.833 --> 47:32.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Thank you both, Amy Walter, Tamara Keith. 47:45.200 --> 47:50.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Finally tonight, a new four-part series, "The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our 47:51.400 --> 47:54.233 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Song," premieres on PBS tomorrow night. 47:54.233 --> 47:58.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It's a sweeping history of religion, politics, and culture. 47:58.500 --> 48:02.666 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Jeffrey Brown has a preview for our arts and culture series, Canvas. 48:02.666 --> 48:07.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: In the time of slavery, it was a source of strength and survival. In 48:09.766 --> 48:14.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the 20th century, it would spearhead a drive toward political and economic equality. 48:16.800 --> 48:19.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% HENRY LOUIS GATES JR., Harvard University: The church is the oldest, the most continuous 48:19.533 --> 48:24.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and most important institution ever created by the African American people. 48:26.933 --> 48:31.400 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: Henry Louis Gates Jr., the noted Harvard scholar and host of PBS' "Finding 48:33.300 --> 48:36.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Your Roots," has been telling aspects of the African American story for decades. 48:36.900 --> 48:41.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% This, he says in his new series and companion book, may be the most important of all. 48:43.866 --> 48:47.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% HENRY LOUIS GATES JR.: It was a laboratory for the formation both of the identity of 48:49.700 --> 48:54.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% a New World African people. After all, there were 50 ethnic groups represented in the slave 48:56.066 --> 48:59.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% trade from Africa to North America, and they had to forge and form into one new people, 49:02.500 --> 49:04.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% the first truly Pan-African people. 49:04.800 --> 49:09.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And, secondly, it was a laboratory for the creation of Black culture. It's where people 49:12.333 --> 49:16.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% learned to read and write, because it was illegal to read and write. So, through the 49:16.800 --> 49:21.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% King James Bible, people would memorize passages and repeat those passages. 49:23.833 --> 49:26.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: There's a kind of tension from the beginning in the story you're telling 49:26.266 --> 49:31.200 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% about -- around Christianity being the religion of the enslavers and then becoming the religion 49:33.166 --> 49:36.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of the enslaved, but also a means towards their liberation. 49:36.766 --> 49:41.766 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% HENRY LOUIS GATES JR.: Absolutely. African Americans created a form of Christianity with 49:43.666 --> 49:46.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% a liberating God and its center, a redemptive force for a nation whose original sin was 49:50.333 --> 49:52.333 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% slavery. 49:52.333 --> 49:56.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% What Black people did was take the forms of Christianity available to them and refashion 49:59.000 --> 50:01.466 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% them in their own image. 50:01.466 --> 50:06.333 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: The story, through several centuries, is told by leading cultural figures, 50:07.300 --> 50:09.366 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% pastors and historians. 50:09.366 --> 50:13.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% WOMAN: What enslaved people did in this new context where they attempted to merge and 50:14.666 --> 50:19.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% fuse these different worlds that they lived in. 50:20.966 --> 50:24.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: At every point, the sacred mixes with the secular. You can see it in 50:24.100 --> 50:29.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the struggle for legal rights and political power, from Richard Allen, founder of the 50:31.566 --> 50:34.566 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% African Methodist Episcopal Church, the country's first independent Black denomination, to Reverend 50:35.766 --> 50:37.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s. 50:37.933 --> 50:41.700 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., Civil Rights Leader: Nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon. 50:41.700 --> 50:46.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: And, today, Pastor Raphael Warnock, now a U.S. senator from Georgia. 50:48.700 --> 50:51.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% HENRY LOUIS GATES JR.: He is the most recent example. Politics and religion have inextricably 50:53.366 --> 50:56.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% been intertwined in the history of the Black church. 50:56.566 --> 51:01.533 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% I think that they internalized and fashioned a form of Christianity that allowed them to 51:03.500 --> 51:07.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% believe that, by and by, as Black people say, by and by, we would be free and we would be 51:09.800 --> 51:14.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% able to progress within American society. 51:16.800 --> 51:21.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: Central to that experience, music, from early spirituals to the popularization 51:26.133 --> 51:31.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% of gospel and its influence on so many Black musicians, like Aretha Franklin, who started 51:32.133 --> 51:34.233 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% out in the church. 51:34.233 --> 51:38.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% HENRY LOUIS GATES JR.: The body of the spirituals is one of the great gifts to the collective 51:39.533 --> 51:42.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% corpus of world literature. You can't beat it. 51:42.766 --> 51:47.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I mean, I'm old-school. I like the new church music. I do my best to appreciate it. But 51:48.966 --> 51:51.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I -- you can't beat the spirituals. 51:51.133 --> 51:56.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% (singing): Ezekiel saw the wheel way up the middle of the air. Ezekiel saw the wheel way 51:57.866 --> 51:59.266 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% in the middle of the air. 51:59.266 --> 52:01.866 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% They did that over and over. 52:01.866 --> 52:05.800 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: Gates doesn't shy from pointing to the Black church's own failures and discrimination, 52:07.733 --> 52:11.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% including homophobia and sexism. The series highlights the critical, often undertold role 52:11.700 --> 52:13.666 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% of women. 52:13.666 --> 52:17.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% HENRY LOUIS GATES JR.: The backbone of the church has been Black women almost from the 52:17.600 --> 52:21.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% very beginning. But their role has been suppressed. 52:21.033 --> 52:24.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% One of my favorite examples in the story we tell us of 52:24.933 --> 52:29.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Jarena Lee. And Jarena Lee goes to Richard Allen and says: "I have been called to preach." 52:30.800 --> 52:33.033 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And he says: "I don't think so." 52:33.033 --> 52:35.100 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% (LAUGHTER) 52:35.100 --> 52:37.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% HENRY LOUIS GATES JR.: He says: "There's no role for women in the pulpit." 52:37.200 --> 52:41.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% She just stands up in her pew and delivers a sermon. And it blows everybody's mind. And 52:43.100 --> 52:47.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Richard Allen says: "You know what, I guess maybe you were called to preach." 52:47.666 --> 52:52.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: In our time, as many young people move away from organized religion and 52:54.666 --> 52:59.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% protesters again demand justice, the church faces a new challenge of relevance and vitality. 53:01.066 --> 53:05.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% There was a very moving moment in there to me when Reverend Traci Blackmon is telling 53:07.500 --> 53:10.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% you about going into the streets in Ferguson during the protests, and she talks about holding 53:12.933 --> 53:16.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% a prayer vigil. And she says that, halfway through, some of the young people said, "That's 53:18.300 --> 53:19.533 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% enough praying." 53:19.533 --> 53:21.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% HENRY LOUIS GATES JR.: Well, I love that story. 53:21.500 --> 53:25.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% This is what she said in response -- and I quote -- "The Ferguson uprising was church." 53:27.933 --> 53:31.633 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% And I think that what we're seeing is that, in each historical period in Black history, 53:33.533 --> 53:38.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the church has been refashioned not only in the broader image of Black people, but in 53:40.166 --> 53:44.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the image of Black people at that specific time and place across generations. 53:46.633 --> 53:51.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And despite all the trials and tribulations that Black people have had to suffer, the 53:53.833 --> 53:58.200 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% church has survived, it's grown, it's morphed, it's transformed, and we're still here. 54:00.366 --> 54:04.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JEFFREY BROWN: "The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song." 54:04.766 --> 54:09.700 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jeffrey Brown. 54:09.700 --> 54:14.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: So looking forward to watching that. 54:14.000 --> 54:18.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And we have more online, where you can find the stories of two more women who played vital 54:18.833 --> 54:23.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% roles in both the Black church, as well as the fight for civil rights in America. 54:24.933 --> 54:29.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% That's on our Web site, PBS.org/NewsHour. 54:29.366 --> 54:31.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And that's the "NewsHour" for tonight. I'm Judy Woodruff. 54:31.900 --> 54:34.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Join us online and again here tomorrow evening. 54:34.366 --> 54:39.366 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% For all of us at the "PBS NewsHour," thank you, please stay safe, and we'll see you soon.