JUDY WOODRUFF: Good
evening. I'm Judy Woodruff.
On the "NewsHour" tonight:
the wrath of winter. An
unusually large storm causes
freezing temperatures,
power outages and extreme
weather across the U.S.
Then: getting to zero. We
discuss General Motors' big push
toward zero-emission vehicles
with the company's
head of sustainability.
And the crackdown continues.
The Chinese government
uses the controversial
national security law
to overhaul Hong Kong's
education system.
JOHN CLANCEY, Pro-Democracy
Lawyer: The courts will have
to decide whether this national
security law trumps
basic rights.
JUDY WOODRUFF: All that and more
on tonight's "PBS NewsHour."
(BREAK)
JUDY WOODRUFF: The
winter of 2021 is
writing itself into the record
books tonight. Large swathes
of the nation are seeing the
coldest weather in memory,
and many thousands of homes
are enduring it without power.
Amna Nawaz reports.
AMNA NAWAZ: Over 150 million
Americans under winter
and ice storm warnings
today, as historically
low temperatures blanket much
of the U.S., including areas
not accustomed to extreme
conditions.
STEPHANIE, Washington Resident:
Our bedroom measured at 42
degrees, so it's cold in our
house
AMNA NAWAZ: In Seattle this
weekend, almost nine inches
of snow in a city that hasn't
seen that much snow since 1969.
In Oklahoma, icy roads have
led to fiery crashes. And,
in Nashville, home security
video captures a truck sliding
sideways down a residential
street.
In Kentucky, Governor
Andy Beshear advised
residents to limit travel.
GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY):
We did not make it through
almost a year of a pandemic to
lose people to a snow or an
ice storm. Please, don't let
the next couple of days or this
week be what injures
you or ultimately causes
the loss of a loved one.
AMNA NAWAZ: The winter and ice
storm advisories stretch from
America's Gulf Coast up to New
England and span the country,
and have also impacted parts
of the Pacific Northwest.
Among the hardest hit so
far, the state of Texas,
where President Biden
approved an emergency
declaration on Sunday. The deep
freeze has led to ice-coated
branches breaking and wreaking
havoc. And dangerously low
temperatures have triggered
rotating blackouts, leaving more
than two million people
without power at a time.
Amid the outages, the wholesale
price of electricity surged
today by more 10000 percent.
SYLVESTER TURNER (D),
Mayor of Houston, Texas:
It is a systemwide
failure across the state.
AMNA NAWAZ: In Houston
today, Mayor Sylvester
Turner with a grim update:
SYLVESTER TURNER: These
are not rolling blackouts.
These are power outages
at a huge, unprecedented
scale.
If you are without power right
now, it is very conceivable
that you could be without
power throughout the rest
of today and possibly
even going into tomorrow.
AMNA NAWAZ: Officials
are warning of storm
conditions, travel
disruption and power outages
continuing along the storm's
path at least through Tuesday.
So, is the country simply in
the middle of a particularly
severe phase of winter weather,
or is there more to it than
that? For those questions and
more, we turn to Dev Niyogi.
He's a professor of
geosciences and engineering
at the University of
Texas at Austin. He is
also a committee member
of Planet Texas 2050, a
research initiative on
the state's environmental
challenges.
He joins us tonight from
Indiana, where he is waiting
out the storm before traveling
back to Texas.
Professor Niyogi, welcome to
the "NewsHour." And thank you
for making the time. I really
appreciate it.
I want to start with Texas.
Even though you're not there,
you know it well. We're hearing
the phrase unprecedented a lot
when people talk about this
storm. Texas is no stranger
to extreme weather in the form
of hurricanes and tornadoes,
but when it comes to this kind
of extreme cold weather,
how unusual is it?
DEV NIYOGI, University of Texas
at Austin: I will tell you,
Amna, this is -- we're certainly
into what you have been
hearing, this word, uncharted
territory again and again.
The fact that we're getting
snow and we're having some cold
weather in Texas is not unusual.
I mean, we have it perhaps
every few years. What is really
remarkable is the spread, the
extent, the severity with
which this is happening.
And so, certainly, by
that standard, it is
an event that has been quite
unprecedented in that regards.
AMNA NAWAZ: So, why are
we seeing those kind of
severe temperatures now?
DEV NIYOGI: Well, there are a
number of theories and number of
questions and options that will
start emerging.
And they will range from just
being bad weather, this is what
happens, to issues related to
La Nina, which has
been inactive, to also
perhaps this is the
harbinger of what we have
all been talking about with
regards to climate changes.
And the answer is probably
going to all of the above. We
often always have combination
of weather that is impacted
by what is happening
with the season. The
season is being affected
by what is happening with the
ocean. And, of course, what
is happening in the season
is also a signature of what
is happening in the long run.
So, it is a combination
of everything that we
have to understand that
is where our challenge,
unfortunately,
lies at this point.
AMNA NAWAZ: One of the arguments
about climate change, though,
is, people will say, well,
it's actually been making
winters milder overall.
Sol, how would it be
leading to the severe
cold temperatures?
DEV NIYOGI: Great point on that.
We talk about climate change
and global warming sometimes
with the thinking that it
means our temperatures ought
to be warmer and warmer.
But one factor that we
also highlight is what
we will be seeing is
these wild swings, both
in terms of temperature,
rainfall, also in terms
of the manner in which
storms are coming.
So, this kind of weather
event, which is unprecedented
in the context of how
things are being spanning,
spatially, as well as in time,
is exactly the kind of thing,
unfortunately, that a change
in climate has --
been predicted.
Whether this is just climate
change, or whether this
is seasonal interactions
or weather event,
that will be a topic that will
be debated. But what is really
important is to understand
that this is happening now.
AMNA NAWAZ: When you look at
the resources, I want to ask
you about what this has done
to our energy resources, because
you have seen massive outages
across the Pacific Northwest,
millions of people in Texas
left without power as well.
Can our energy infrastructure
handle these kinds of extreme
events, especially if we're
to expect more of them?
DEV NIYOGI: We have to think of
this as a hammer and a chisel.
And what I mean by that is that
we cannot control the storms.
We cannot control, whether
it's a hurricane, whether it's
a heat wave, or whether it's
going to be a cold snap such
as this.
But what we can control is,
what can we do in terms of
the infrastructure resources,
the planning, the tools that
are available to the community
and the cities that can take
care of it?
And that is where we are at
this point, that translation
into that last mile. And we are
certainly seeing right now
that the energy grid has been
stretched to its limit. And,
looking forward, I'm sure
there's going to be tremendous
opportunities to rethink what
we can do to improve
the elasticity in that.
We have the science. Like,
for instance, at University of
Texas, we haven't doing this
Planet Texas 2050. We are
preparing the world that
will go into the future.
What we need is this last
mile, that, what will be the
tools, what could be the ways
by which we can invest
into now, such that we
have a better future? And
it is that investment,
the manner in which we are
going to look at things directly
in the face and say, this
is our priority, and this
is how we are going to back
science into our investment.
That will be the
option to go ahead now.
AMNA NAWAZ: Professor Dev
Niyogi from the University of
Texas at Austin, thank you so
much for your time.
DEV NIYOGI: Thank
you. It's a pleasure.
JUDY WOODRUFF: In
the day's other news:
Average daily COVID-19
infections in the U.S. have
fallen below 100,000 for the
first time since November. The
number of average daily deaths
is also dropping, even
as the overall U.S.
death toll nears 490,000.
And in Europe today, Germany's
new border controls triggered
massive backups along the
Austrian and Czech frontiers.
The Germans are trying to
slow the spread of variants
of the virus.
Fallout is growing in Republican
ranks after former President
Trump was acquitted at his
impeachment trial. Senator
Richard Burr faces a censure
by North Carolina party leaders
tonight for voting to convict
Mr. Trump. Senator Bill Cassidy
also voted to convict, and he
has already been censured
by GOP leaders in Louisiana.
Meanwhile, House speaker
Nancy Pelosi announced
that an independent
commission will investigate
the U.S. Capitol riot
that led to the trial.
We will be pursuing that
later in the program.
In Myanmar, pressure
intensified on protesters
against the military
coup. Police and military
trucks rolled down streets in
Mandalay and Yangon in a show
of force today, and troops
confronted crowds with
slingshots and rubber bullets.
NAING HTOO, Bank Worker (through
translator): The number of
protesters reduced yesterday.
So, the junta took advantage
of that and brought
military vehicles onto
the streets to intimidate
the people. We are
taking serious care not
to fall in those traps.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Also today,
the ruling junta extended the
detention of ousted leader Aung
San Suu Kyi until
Wednesday, when she is
to have a court hearing.
The Russian government
is playing down protests
backing opposition
leader Alexei Navalny.
Last night, his supporters in
various cities used cell phone
flashlights and candles to
light up the evening sky,
in a display of unity. The
Kremlin claimed today that only
small numbers took part.
And back in this country,
the federal online
insurance marketplace
has reopened for a new
enrollment period.
Healthcare.gov will
accept applications from
uninsured people in most
states Through May the
15th. President Biden
ordered the market to
reopen after the initial
enrollment period
ended in December.
And rockets struck near
a U.S. base in Northern
Iraq, killing one U.S.-led
coalition contractor.
Five others were wounded,
including one U.S.
service member. They
targeted an area outside
Irbil International Airport.
There was no immediate
claim of responsibility.
Still to come on the "NewsHour":
General Motors on its big
promises to transition to zero
emissions vehicles; the Chinese
government overhauls Hong
Kong's education system; Tamara
Keith and Amy Walter break
down the aftermath of the
impeachment vote; and much more.
One of the main causes of the
carbon emissions that drive
climate change is automobiles.
And General Motors made big
waves in its industry recently
by announcing a dramatic ramp-up
in electric vehicle
production and plans to
be carbon-neutral by 2040.
William Brangham talks with a
senior executive at the carmaker
about the challenges of meeting
those goals.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM:
That's right, Judy.
To many, it was yet another
signal that gas-powered
vehicles are on their way out.
WILL FERRELL, Actor: Did you
know that Norway sells way more
electric cars per capita than
the U.S.? Norway. Well,
I won't stand for it.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: In this
Super Bowl ad, GM, one of the
biggest automakers in the world,
announced that, in just four
years, it'll have 30 new
electric car models for sale.
But there are many hurdles
ahead before we get can fully
electrify our transportation.
Joining me now is Dane
Parker, chief sustainability
officer for General Motors.
Dane Parker, great to have
you on the "NewsHour."
Some of the initial press after
this ad ran was that the GM is
fully phasing out gas-powered
vehicles. I mean, that's not
totally the case. Can you just
give us a sense, what are GM's
plans for electric vehicles?
DANE PARKER, Chief
Sustainability Officer,
General Motors: Sure.
Thank you, William.
So, we have an aspiration
to eliminate tailpipe
emissions from all of
our light-duty vehicles
by 2035, and to be fully
carbon-neutral by 2040. So, it
is a pretty aggressive plan to
shift in all of our markets
and all of our segments
to electric vehicles.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: It is
a very ambitious goal,
if you can attain it.
As you well know, there
are certainly challenges
ahead. Consumers don't
seem to be there yet
for electric vehicles. I
think it's still just a
percentage of the marketplace.
And we also need a huge
network of charging stations to
basically take the role of gas
stations for all those electric
vehicles. How much of an
impediment will those things
be to this rollout?
DANE PARKER: Well, those are
two things that come up a lot.
And on the consumer one, I think
we will find that are getting
close to a tipping point.
And those who have
experienced electric vehicles,
almost to a person, say
they wouldn't go back.
The driving experience, the
technology, how quiet they
are, and the acceleration, all
the elements of a great product
in an electric vehicle, I think,
are going to bring consumers
increasingly rapidly.
And we are reaching, really,
I think that classic tipping
point. And that's going to
move quickly.
Now, to your question about
infrastructure, the current
data that we have says more than
80 percent of charging happens
at home. And there's a large
number of current consumers
who are able to charge at home.
And for them, this will be
seamless, because the range of
these electric vehicles is
going to be sufficient for the
vast majority of use cases.
For those who can't is where
we need help in developing
that infrastructure. I think
there's plenty of momentum
we can build over the next
several years with those who are
able to charge easily, and
give us time to build the
infrastructure out for those who
are in areas either where they
can't charge in their housing
or their work, so that we
can get retail options
available for them.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Let's
talk a little bit about the
challenge of battery technology.
We have seen incredible growth
so far. But we have got to
improve their charging, how
long they can drive
these vehicles, and also
securing enough lithium
simply to put in all
of those batteries.
What role do you see for the
federal government to help
incentivize that technology?
DANE PARKER: Sure. Yes,
batteries are the critical
component to this transition.
And in whether it's mineral
supply, like you mentioned,
with lithium or cobalt, or the
production of those batteries,
I think government will play an
important role in incentivizing
the research and development
that's needed to remove things
like lithium from batteries
or like cobalt, come up with
alternative technologies
and alternative materials,
but also to encourage
the production of those
batteries in the United
States, which certainly
is important from
an energy security
perspective and simply from
a supply chain perspective.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: If GM is going
to be continuing to sell, in
part, gas-driven vehicles, how
will you achieve carbon
neutrality by 2040?
DANE PARKER: Seventy-five
percent of our footprint
is tailpipe emissions.
And so if we can eliminate
those in all of our light-duty
vehicles by 2035 and in our
operations through the use of
renewable energy and increasing
energy efficiency, we get to
a point by 2035 and beyond where
we're pretty close on our own.
And so the few -- the few
remaining tons that we
will have might relate
to heating, industrial
heating, things like that, we
feel like we will be able to
offset with carbon credits.
But the vast majority
of what we do, we will
be doing by changing our
products and changing
the energy footprint used to
charge those products, as well
as run our own operations.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Certainly,
this news has been cheered
by many environmental groups.
There's also been some
skepticism, who point
out that, for many
years, GM was trying to
get the Trump administration
to dial back auto emissions
rules, and that that makes
them question whether or not
that this -- this commitment
on GM's part is for real.
I want to read you a quote
from Dan Becker. He's at the
Center for Biological Diversity.
This is about that
carbon offset issue.
He wrote -- quote -- "Given
GM's polluting track record,
their promise to arrange some
offsets to sop up the
pollution from gas-powered
SUVs and pickups that
they still plan to make
is just smoke and mirrors."
What is your reaction to that?
DANE PARKER: You know, I
think there's been in various
comments questions about how we
would use offsets.
And part of what we set out
with our 2040 commitment was
to use a science-based target
methodology to get there.
That methodology doesn't allow
you to use offsets in that.
And so that methodology
requires you to actually
reduce your direct footprint.
That's why, for us, this
commitment to be carbon-neutral
is a commitment to change our
products and our operational
footprint exclusive
of carbon credits or
carbon offsets, and why
we're now spending $27
billion in these five
years to do exactly that,
roll out these products
faster than we ever have before.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All
right, Dane Parker, chief
sustainability officer
for General Motors,
thank you very much
for joining us.
DANE PARKER: Thank you,
William, for the time.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The lunar new
year celebration has begun in
China, but it comes as Hong Kong
security forces continue to
prosecute those it has swept
up in a wave of arrests under
the new national security law
that mainland China imposed.
Even as pro-democracy members
of Hong Kong's legislative
body were arrested last month
when they held an informal
primary election, the education
curriculum is being overhauled,
and judges are facing increasing
pressure to issue harsher
sentences on activists.
"NewsHour" special correspondent
Divya Gopalan reports.
DIVYA GOPALAN: Praying for good
fortune and better days. As
Hong Kong people start their
Chinese new year, many will
be relieved to bid farewell
to the punishing Year of the
Rat.
Like the rest of the world,
the pandemic took away loved
ones, jobs and businesses. But,
for Hong Kong it also
brought one of the biggest
clampdowns on freedoms
and rights, the national
security law. The wide-ranging
law imposed by Beijing opens
the door for China's communist
government to intervene in
all aspects of the autonomous
territory's affairs.
The law criminalizes
several categories of
broadly defined offenses,
which include secession,
subversion, terrorism,
and collusion with
foreign or external
forces. But there is one
institution seen as the last
holdout against Beijing's
increasing assertive rule.
ANDREW CHEUNG, Hong Kong Chief
Justice: It is my mission,
as I say, to do my utmost,
to uphold the independence
and impartiality of the
Hong Kong judiciary.
DIVYA GOPALAN: In a
ceremony in January,
Andrew Cheung was sworn in
as the city's top judge.
Taking the helm in unprecedented
times, he admitted he has
his work cut out for him.
ANDREW CHEUNG: Political
pressure is just one form of
pressure that judges face and
have to deal with. So, we
all do our best to deal
with these pressures.
DIVYA GOPALAN: It's a
situation that American
lawyer John Clancey is
familiar with. On January
6, he was caught up in the
biggest sweep yet under
the national security law.
JOHN CLANCEY, Pro-Democracy
Lawyer: We need to work for
democracy and human rights in
Hong Kong.
DIVYA GOPALAN: Clancey was among
53 opposition activists and
former lawmakers arrested for
subversion for taking part
in an unofficial primary poll
to choose the best democratic
candidate for the now delayed
legislative council elections.
The longtime Hong Kong resident,
who speaks Cantonese fluently,
came to the city in 1968
as a Catholic priest when
it was still a British
colony. He later trained
in law and is known
for his work championing
democracy and human rights.
JOHN CLANCEY: There's going
to be a need for the courts to
deal with two conflictual things
hitting at one another.
On the one hand, we have,
as I mentioned earlier,
the basic law, which
entrenches these basic
human rights, freedom of speech,
expression, voting, standing
for election. On the other
hand, there's a new national
security law, which, unlike
most other laws in Hong Kong,
it was drafted in China. It's
very vague. It seems to be
having a lot of implications
of what it could be.
The courts will have to decide
whether this national security
law trumps basic rights.
DIVYA GOPALAN: Beijing
says the national security
law is necessary to
make scenes like this,
the anti-government
protests of 2019, a thing
of the past. Almost 100
people have been arrested
under the law since it
took effect on July 1.
While most of the focus is on
high-profile national security
law cases, the legal system
here is being tested regularly.
Almost every day, there are
cases going through the city's
courts related to the
2019 protests and other
demonstrations calling
for democracy. Those
being prosecuted includes former
protests, human rights and
democracy activists and even
journalists.
According to official figures,
around a fifth of the 10,200
people arrested in connection
with the social unrest of
2019 have been prosecuted,
and roughly 200 have
been sentenced to prison.
In November, one of the top
Chinese officials in Hong Kong
said reforms were needed for
the city's judiciary, saying
that the word patriotism needs
to be included in the core
values of Hong Kong
society. The details of
the reforms are unclear.
But Holden Chow, a lawyer,
legislative councillor and vice
president of Hong Kong's biggest
pro-Beijing political party,
agrees that changes are needed.
He is calling for the judiciary
to set up a sentencing council.
HOLDEN CHOW, Democratic Alliance
for the Betterment and Progress
of Hong Kong: Over the past two
years, we have seen the violent
protests in Hong Kong. And
when the rioters are brought
to the court, when their
verdict is being handed down
by the court, it seems that, on
many occasion, the
sentence is too lenient.
I am very concerned about the
impact of that is you are simply
encouraging people to commit
those sort of crimes.
DIVYA GOPALAN: The majority
of the front-line protesters
were university and high school
students. Pro-Beijing
politicians and China's
state media blamed
teachers and the curriculum
for the social unrest.
And so, in the latest effort
to tighten the leash on the
younger generation, authorities
have pushed through one
of the biggest overhauls
of the education system.
WOMAN: Mr. Owl, what
is national security?
DIVYA GOPALAN: With teaching
material that includes animation
to help younger children,
the new national education
curriculum brings Hong Kong
classrooms in line with
the communist-controlled
schools of mainland
China. Teachers will be
forced to warn students as
young as 6 of secession,
subversion and
foreign interference.
While many were expecting
changes to certain subjects like
liberal studies, it's come as
a shock to students who
have enjoyed an education
system where free thinking
and open discussions
have been encouraged.
ANGEL CHOI, Student: I am a
Hong Konger. And I believe my
identity as a Hong Konger, and
this is very important for us
to reveal the truth of what
is happening in Hong Kong to
the public, not the way that
the central government wants
to tighten its control over us.
DIVYA GOPALAN: Regardless of
which subject 16-year-old Angel
and her classmates choose,
they will be exposed to the
new curriculum. Almost every
subject, whether it's biology,
geography, and even music,
will need to incorporate the
tenets of national security.
But as Angel is due to graduate
soon, she feels it's the
next generation who will be
most affected.
ANGEL CHOI: If the
curriculum has changed,
they will just think in
the way that the government
wants them to think,
because they will only
possess the information
that is given directly
by the government.
Also, they cannot voice their
opinions freely. They cannot
decide whether the news is right
or wrong. And this definitely
affects the future of the
Hong Kong political movement.
DIVYA GOPALAN: For many in
Hong Kong, with no avenue for
dissent anymore and no power
to resist the changes imposed
by Beijing, there is a sense
that the writing is on the
wall.
Many feel, if they want a
glimpse into what the Year of
the Ox holds for the city, all
they have to do is
look across the border.
For the "PBS NewsHour" in
Hong Kong, I'm Divya Gopalan.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Although
former President Trump's
second impeachment
trial concluded over the
weekend, many questions remain
surrounding the events during
and leading up to the deadly
January 6 insurrection.
And, as we reported earlier,
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
announced her plans today to
form an outside, independent
9/11-style commission to, as she
says, get to the bottom of how
this happened.
Former New Jersey Governor
Thomas Kean chaired the 9/11
Commission, and he joins us now.
Governor Thomas Kean,
welcome to the "NewsHour."
Very good to see you.
We know that you and your
vice chair, former Congressman
Lee Hamilton sent a letter to
President Biden, to
congressional leaders
on Friday, urging them
to consider the idea
of a commission. Some people
are going to look at this and
say, great idea. Other people
are going to say, oh,
no, another commission.
Why is it a good idea?
THOMAS KEAN, Former Co-Chairman,
9/11 Commission: Well, look,
this is the first time anything
like this has happened to our
government, I suppose, since
the British invaded the Capitol
in 1812.
The idea of a mob invading
the U.S. Capitol, which is the
center of democracy, not only
for us, but for the world, and
doing it so publicly, is --
I was brought up to venerate
the place.
My father was elected to
Congress when I was 3 years old.
And in those days, the family
moved down. So, I was
taken down to the Capitol
with my father, and
so where Webster was,
and where Clay sat, and where
John Quincy Adams gave his
favorite speech against slavery
and then died minutes
later, and so on.
I knew Andrew Jackson, and I
knew Sam Rayburn. I mean, people
-- buildings were named after
them. So, the idea that a mob
could invade the center of
democracy while the legislators
were doing their job is so
terrible, that I think, now
it's behind us, we better find
out why it happened, how
it happened, how security
was breached, so we can
make recommendations
to make sure it never,
ever happens again.
JUDY WOODRUFF: How do you assure
the American people that a
commission can get to the bottom
of this, that a commission can
come through with an accurate,
truthful accounting of what
happened?
THOMAS KEAN: Well, I think we
can do it because it has been
done. The 9/11 Commission, our
report has not yet been
questioned, as far as
to its accuracy goes, as
far as its impartiality,
as far as its bipartisanship.
And if we have done it once,
we can do it again. But it
does depend -- it depends on
the appointments. The people who
are appointing, the people in
the Congress have got to make
sure this is people who have
no ambitions, who are not
overly partisan, who can reach
across the aisle, who can work
with each other, and who have
the confidence, based on their
own records, of the
American people to
come out with something
that is useful, proper,
and will prevent it
ever happening again.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And that's a
question I have, Governor Kean,
because we're in a much more
politically polarized time, as
you know, than it was even in
2000, after 2001 -- or 2002,
when your commission
got to work.
How can -- how do we know that
each side isn't going to be
appointing or one side or the
other people who are so set
in their views that you can't
come up with a unanimous view
of what happened or
reporting of what happened?
THOMAS KEAN: I think
it is -- again, we're
going to be dependent on
our elected officials.
That's who we are
in this democracy.
And I think the idea of
-- I have great confidence
that Nancy Pelosi,
Congressman McCarthy, that
the leaders of the Senate know
who these people are, because a
lot of them have served within
the Congress.
When Lee Hamilton was appointed
as my vice chair, nobody
objected, because Lee Hamilton
had a record of integrity and
bipartisanship, and doing what
was best for the country, rather
than anything else,
all his political life.
That hasn't ended. There are
people I know and people you
know of right now, some of
them serving in the Congress
now, some of them retired
from public service, some of
whom have been governors. There
are a number of these people
whose only bottom line is
service to the United
States of America,
country first, patriots.
And those are the people
who have got to be appointed.
And I think we have got to
call as hard as we can on the
leaders of Congress to make
sure those are the people
who get on the commission.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Does getting
to the bottom of former
President Trump's involvement in
this, role in this, is
that essential to the
work of a commission?
THOMAS KEAN: It's part of
it, but it's not - - to me,
it's not the bottom line.
You serve -- do a commission
to find out the facts of how
something happened. How did this
mob get created? How was it
-- I mean, we don't know still
whether they planned it all
ahead of time or whether
some were incited on the
spot. We don't know that yet.
Find out how it happened,
and find out the facts
that everybody agrees
on. Once you find
out the facts, you can make the
recommendations to ensure it
never, ever, ever can happen
again. But you have to have the
facts first in order to make
those kind of recommendations.
JUDY WOODRUFF: We went
back and looked at some
of the reporting at
the time your -- the
9/11 Commission issued
its report in 2004.
And you are right. The
vast majority of reaction
was very positive,
praised the work that you
did. There were some who said
the fact that you were trying
to reach a unanimous view
meant that you, in the
end, had to soften the
edges, in so many words.
How do you see that?
THOMAS KEAN: Well, we didn't.
I don't think we softened it at
all. We had a lot of debates.
We met hours and hours
and hours and hours.
We got to know each other first,
so Republicans and Democrats
came to trust each other, had
private dinners together, in
some cases, met each other's
families. And then, once we had
agreed to trust each other and
done the public hearings and
all of that, the report came
quite naturally after that.
And we didn't -- honestly, we
did not soften the edges. I
mean, we said what we thought
we had to say. And I was --
I didn't know until two days
before we issued the report
whether we had it
unanimous or not.
And one thing we found out,
by the way, we took out of the
adjectives. We found out that
people were arguing not about
the facts, but the adjectives.
Once we removed the adjectives
in the report, then a
lot of people who had
questions signed on.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And in the end,
Governor Kean, how much does
a thorough report like this
matter? How much difference
does it make for our country,
for our people, for our system
of government?
THOMAS KEAN: Look, the 41
recommendations we made in the
9/11 Commission were the basis
for a whole redrafting
of national security
in this country.
And we still have not had
another attack comparable
to 9/11. That has kept
the people safer. If
these commissions are done
right, they can work. They can
work for the people. And so
my sense is, if we do this
right, we can make the Congress
stronger, we can make national
security stronger, and we can
make sure, as I say, that nobody
in 10 or 20 years is saying,
how did this happen again?
It shouldn't happen. There
shouldn't be a mob from the
left or the right or anybody
else to disrupt the best of
this democracy, which is --
which should be occurring in the
United States Congress.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Former Governor
Thomas Kean of New Jersey,
who I gather Speaker Nancy
Pelosi called you after she
received that letter on Friday.
So, it looks as if it certainly
did play into the thinking here.
THOMAS KEAN: We had
a very nice call.
JUDY WOODRUFF: We so
appreciate your joining
us. Thank you very much.
THOMAS KEAN: Thank
you for having me.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And for the seven
Republican senators who voted
to convict former President
Trump, the backlash from inside
their own party has been swift
and severe, as we reported,
censures for two of those
senators, Louisiana's
Bill Cassidy and
Pennsylvania's Pat Toomey,
by state or local
officials, party officials.
Tonight, Senator Richard
Burr of North Carolina may be
the third to face that fate.
Here now to analyze the
fallout from the impeachment
trial and where we go
from here, Amy Walter
of The Cook Political Report
and Tamara Keith of NPR.
Hello to both of you
on this Monday night.
It's so good to see you,
Amy, we have now had, what,
46 presidents of the United
States, and one only one of
them has been impeached twice
and only one of them had to
go through a trial when he
was out of office. So,
Donald Trump has made history
in every which way here.
But in the end, after this trial
that ended over the weekend
in an acquittal, where are
we?
AMY WALTER, The Cook Political
Report: Right, and where is
the Republican Party, right?
And this seems to be
the question that we
continue to grapple with
or have been grappling
with really since 2015,
Judy, when it seemed
that so many times during
Trump's first campaign,
during his time as president,
that the party was going to
break up over Donald Trump.
And yet, when all is said and
done, the party continues to
rally around him. In this case,
on the vote over the
weekend to convict, the
president was no different.
In some ways, as you said, this
was a historic moment. This was
the most bipartisan impeachment
ever in American history. So
that's quite remarkable. And
yet, at the same time, it
doesn't tell us anything about
Trump's inability to keep a
hold of the party. In fact, what
it tells us is that he still has
a pretty good hold on the party.
As you pointed out, a
number of those senators
who voted for conviction
have since been censured.
We know members of the House
who voted for impeachment have
also been censured, and they
have been threatened
with primary races. We
know that, even in a
bipartisan vote, it was
still 10 votes short
of a conviction.
And we also know that the
seven Republicans who voted --
these are not -- who voted for
conviction -- these are not
the rising stars in the party.
These aren't folks who you're
going to see on the ballot in
2024 running for president.
Only one of them is up for
reelection in 2022. That's
Lisa Murkowski from Alaska. Two
of them are retiring, Senator
Burr and Senator Toomey,
Burr from North Carolina,
Toomey that you pointed
out from Pennsylvania,
also been censured.
The rest are either up in 2026,
so they were just recently
elected, reelected, or one of
them, Mitt Romney, up in 2024.
So, there is no immediate
repercussions for these -- most
of these senators like, there
is for members of the House.
But, at the end of the day,
I think what's been made very
clear is that this is still
the party of Donald Trump, the
local grassroots activists who
are censuring these members
making it very clear where
their loyalties lie and what
they're expecting from other
elected officials down the
road in 2022 and beyond.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Tam, pick
up on that, I mean, how much
does this trial verdict tell
us about the hold that
Donald Trump still
has on his own party?
TAMARA KEITH, National Public
Radio: Well, as Amy mentioned,
the local party apparatuses
are very Trumpy, if you
will. They were consolidated
behind President Trump.
His campaign was very concerned
about a primary challenge,
potentially, in 2020. So, they
made sure that every state and
local party operation all over
the country was controlled
by President Trump. And those
loyalists are still in place.
And that's why you're seeing
these censures come so
fast and so strongly.
What does that mean in terms
of primaries? What does that
mean in terms of Senate races?
I think that we can look at what
Kevin McCarthy, the Republican
leader in the House, and Mitch
McConnell, the Republican leader
in the Senate, how they are
charting their path, trying to
sort of have it both ways,
wanting the Trump base, but
also trying to figure out how to
keep Republicans who
were completely and
totally outraged by what
happened on January 6, and
didn't see that violent mob
as being part of their party.
And so you had McConnell give
this absolutely scorching floor
speech about President Trump,
after, of course, voting to
acquit and saying that it wasn't
constitutional, they should
have done the trial before
he left office, but, also, he
held up and prevented the trial
from happening before
he left office.
And with McCarthy, he was very
critical of President Trump
in the immediate aftermath.
But, before long, he was down
at Mar-a-Lago kissing President
Trump's ring, not technically,
but trying to get Trump's
support to -- in primaries to
get Republicans who can win in
2022.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Amy, is
there anybody in the Republican
Party -- clearly, there's
somebody -- but who has enough
influence in the Republican
Party to counter what's going
on with those who are so
loyal to Donald Trump?
AMY WALTER: Yes, we're going
to learn a lot, I think, in
these next couple of years, as
we watch these primaries unfold
and Senate races and others.
We're going to see, for
example, even this year, in a
state like Virginia, where you
have a governor's race,
what kind of candidate
comes out of their process
there. They actually
have a convention, not a
primary. And what are the
issues that they run on?
And Virginia is a place
where,normally, historically,
whichever party is in
the White House at that
time loses the governor's race
in Virginia. But Virginia has
also gotten a lot bluer in
the last few years, and
the backlash to Trump
was pretty significant.
I think we're also going to
have to see just how invested
Donald Trump is in being with
the party in terms of its
daily dealings, right? Is he
really going to take all this
money that he's raised, and
plow it into the local parties,
plow into helping candidates
up and down the ballot?
Or is he going to use it as a
way to punish those Republicans
who he thinks have wronged
him, like Representative Liz
Cheney from Wyoming? Or maybe he
sits on it and doesn't use any
of it for any other
candidate? So, there's still
a lot of unknowns there.
And most important, Judy, we
don't know what we're talking
about in terms of the political
environment a year or two from
now. I think that sets the
tone more than anything else,
in terms of the kinds of
candidates that become
successful are the
candidates that fit that
moment.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, we'd
like you both to know exactly
what's going to happen a year
or two in advance.
AMY WALTER: That's right.
(LAUGHTER)
JUDY WOODRUFF: But we will
wait until next week. We
will wait until next week.
But, Tam, I do want to turn
you both here in the minutes we
have left to what's happening
with COVID relief. While
the trial was going
on in the Senate, the
House was moving ahead
with some of President Biden's
proposal on COVID relief.
How much does it matter whether
he is able to get Republican
votes or not, whether this
ends up being an
all-Democratic measure?
TAMARA KEITH: I'm not
quite sure how much it
ultimately does matter.
And I -- will voters hold
it against him that they
didn't get Republicans,
if their unemployment
benefits last, or if the COVID
vaccine rollout goes well, or
if their kids are actually in
school?
I think that the big test for
Biden is -- and he and his
administration believe that they
need this COVID package to
make this happen - - but come
2022, the question is, do you
feel better today than you
did two years ago, when people
are going to vote? And that's
going to depend on how
they handle the pandemic.
And I think a lot is
going to depend on whether
people feel like their
lives are back to normal.
And a big part of that is
going to be the schools.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Amy, I mean,
pick up on that from there,
because there are those who
are saying he needs to show
early on that he is going to
live up to this unity promise
that he campaigned on.
AMY WALTER: Right.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And others are
saying, look, that's -- that
was never going to happen.
It's going to have to be
Democrats all the way.
AMY WALTER: Well, there's
another unity challenge
he may have. And that's
keeping Democrats
unified.
We have been spending these
last few weeks focused on the
divisions within the Republican
Party. But Democrats, in order
to get this package through,
they can't afford to lose
any senator. We have already
seen some splits on issue --
within the Democratic Party on
issues like including the
$15-an-hour minimum wage
in this COVID package,
some consternation
about the price tag
on certain things.
And Pelosi in the House, Speaker
Pelosi, can only afford to
lose four or five votes there.
So, keeping the party united
on the same page, again, it's a
lot easier when you're the one
in charge, and you know
that, ultimately, this is
going to define your party.
At the same time, it's
a real test for team
Biden and Democrats in
leadership to be able
to get this through. And
the clock is ticking.
These unemployment
benefits that Tam pointed
to, this is the beginning of
March, where they're really
going to need to make sure
that this money is going
out the door and that people
are getting these checks.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And in many ways,
the calendar is flying along,
no question about it. That's
the serious -- that's the most
serious deadline out there.
Amy Walter, Tamara Keith,
next week, we will ask
you about 2024, 2028.
(LAUGHTER)
AMY WALTER: We're going to...
(CROSSTALK)
JUDY WOODRUFF: We won't
let you off the hook.
(LAUGHTER)
TAMARA KEITH: Too soon.
(LAUGHTER)
JUDY WOODRUFF: Thank you both,
Amy Walter, Tamara Keith.
Finally tonight, a new four-part
series, "The Black Church:
This Is Our Story, This Is Our
Song," premieres on
PBS tomorrow night.
It's a sweeping history of
religion, politics, and culture.
Jeffrey Brown has a
preview for our arts and
culture series, Canvas.
JEFFREY BROWN: In the time
of slavery, it was a source
of strength and survival. In
the 20th century, it would
spearhead a drive toward
political and economic equality.
HENRY LOUIS GATES JR., Harvard
University: The church is the
oldest, the most continuous
and most important institution
ever created by the
African American people.
JEFFREY BROWN: Henry
Louis Gates Jr., the
noted Harvard scholar
and host of PBS' "Finding
Your Roots," has been telling
aspects of the African
American story for decades.
This, he says in his new series
and companion book, may be
the most important of all.
HENRY LOUIS GATES JR.: It was
a laboratory for the formation
both of the identity of
a New World African people.
After all, there were 50 ethnic
groups represented in the slave
trade from Africa to North
America, and they had to forge
and form into one new people,
the first truly
Pan-African people.
And, secondly, it was a
laboratory for the creation of
Black culture. It's where people
learned to read and write,
because it was illegal to read
and write. So, through the
King James Bible, people
would memorize passages
and repeat those passages.
JEFFREY BROWN: There's a kind
of tension from the beginning
in the story you're telling
about -- around Christianity
being the religion of
the enslavers and then
becoming the religion
of the enslaved, but also a
means towards their liberation.
HENRY LOUIS GATES JR.:
Absolutely. African
Americans created a form
of Christianity with
a liberating God and its
center, a redemptive force for
a nation whose original sin was
slavery.
What Black people did was
take the forms of Christianity
available to them and refashion
them in their own image.
JEFFREY BROWN: The
story, through several
centuries, is told by
leading cultural figures,
pastors and historians.
WOMAN: What enslaved people
did in this new context where
they attempted to merge and
fuse these different
worlds that they lived in.
JEFFREY BROWN: At every point,
the sacred mixes with the
secular. You can see it in
the struggle for legal rights
and political power, from
Richard Allen, founder of the
African Methodist Episcopal
Church, the country's
first independent Black
denomination, to Reverend
Martin Luther King
Jr. in the 1960s.
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.,
Civil Rights Leader:
Nonviolent resistance is
the most potent weapon.
JEFFREY BROWN: And, today,
Pastor Raphael Warnock, now
a U.S. senator from Georgia.
HENRY LOUIS GATES JR.: He is the
most recent example. Politics
and religion have inextricably
been intertwined in the
history of the Black church.
I think that they
internalized and fashioned
a form of Christianity
that allowed them to
believe that, by and by, as
Black people say, by and by, we
would be free and we would be
able to progress within
American society.
JEFFREY BROWN: Central to that
experience, music, from early
spirituals to the popularization
of gospel and its influence on
so many Black musicians, like
Aretha Franklin, who started
out in the church.
HENRY LOUIS GATES JR.: The body
of the spirituals is one of the
great gifts to the collective
corpus of world literature.
You can't beat it.
I mean, I'm old-school. I like
the new church music. I do
my best to appreciate it. But
I -- you can't beat
the spirituals.
(singing): Ezekiel saw the
wheel way up the middle of the
air. Ezekiel saw the wheel way
in the middle of the air.
They did that over and over.
JEFFREY BROWN: Gates
doesn't shy from pointing
to the Black church's own
failures and discrimination,
including homophobia and sexism.
The series highlights the
critical, often undertold role
of women.
HENRY LOUIS GATES JR.: The
backbone of the church has been
Black women almost from the
very beginning. But their
role has been suppressed.
One of my favorite examples
in the story we tell us of
Jarena Lee. And Jarena Lee goes
to Richard Allen and says: "I
have been called to preach."
And he says: "I don't think so."
(LAUGHTER)
HENRY LOUIS GATES JR.:
He says: "There's no role
for women in the pulpit."
She just stands up in her pew
and delivers a sermon. And it
blows everybody's mind. And
Richard Allen says: "You
know what, I guess maybe
you were called to preach."
JEFFREY BROWN: In our time,
as many young people move away
from organized religion and
protesters again demand justice,
the church faces a new challenge
of relevance and vitality.
There was a very moving moment
in there to me when Reverend
Traci Blackmon is telling
you about going into the streets
in Ferguson during the protests,
and she talks about holding
a prayer vigil. And she says
that, halfway through, some of
the young people said, "That's
enough praying."
HENRY LOUIS GATES JR.:
Well, I love that story.
This is what she said in
response -- and I quote -- "The
Ferguson uprising was church."
And I think that what
we're seeing is that,
in each historical
period in Black history,
the church has been refashioned
not only in the broader
image of Black people, but in
the image of Black people
at that specific time and
place across generations.
And despite all the trials
and tribulations that Black
people have had to suffer, the
church has survived,
it's grown, it's morphed,
it's transformed,
and we're still here.
JEFFREY BROWN: "The
Black Church: This Is Our
Story, This Is Our Song."
For the "PBS NewsHour,"
I'm Jeffrey Brown.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So looking
forward to watching that.
And we have more online, where
you can find the stories of
two more women who played vital
roles in both the Black
church, as well as the fight
for civil rights in America.
That's on our Web
site, PBS.org/NewsHour.
And that's the "NewsHour" for
tonight. I'm Judy Woodruff.
Join us online and again
here tomorrow evening.
For all of us at the
"PBS NewsHour," thank
you, please stay safe,
and we'll see you soon.