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[00:00.000 --> 00:02.640]  they need to build a future of unlimited possibilities.
[00:15.800 --> 00:19.200]  Good evening and welcome. I'm Amna Nawaz. Judy Woodruff is away on the
[00:19.200 --> 00:23.680]  NewsHour tonight. A verdict. A jury orders conspiracy theorist Alex
[00:23.680 --> 00:28.520]  Jones to pay the families of the Sandy Hook Massacre nearly $1 billion in
[00:28.520 --> 00:33.460]  damages. Then the Saudi connection. The United States reevaluates its
[00:33.460 --> 00:37.580]  relationship with the kingdom over a cut in oil production that's pushing
[00:37.580 --> 00:43.280]  up gas prices and first time voters. Young adults in Wisconsin discussed
[00:43.280 --> 00:47.240]  their hopes for the country's future and whether politicians are listening to
[00:47.240 --> 00:50.760]  their concerns. I've been very politically engaged throughout high
[00:50.760 --> 00:54.160]  school and I'm excited to get my foot in the door and actually have a voice in
[00:54.160 --> 00:58.080]  my government. All that and more on tonight's PBS NewsHour.
[00:58.080 --> 01:12.680]  Major funding for the PBS NewsHour has been provided by.
[01:28.080 --> 01:45.160]  Moving our economy for 160 years. BNSF, the engine that connects us. Pediatric
[01:45.160 --> 01:51.800]  surgeon, volunteer, topiary artist, a Raymond James financial advisor,
[01:51.800 --> 01:57.760]  Taylor's advice to help you live your life. Life well planned.
[02:03.480 --> 02:07.920]  The Walton Family Foundation, working for solutions to protect water during
[02:07.920 --> 02:11.520]  climate change so people and major can thrive together.
[02:14.480 --> 02:19.040]  Supported by the John D and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, committed to
[02:19.040 --> 02:23.400]  building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. More information at
[02:23.400 --> 02:30.360]  macfound.org and with the ongoing support of these institutions.
[02:36.600 --> 02:40.680]  This program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and
[02:40.680 --> 02:49.960]  by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you. Thank you. A jury
[02:49.960 --> 02:54.160]  in Connecticut has ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay nearly
[02:54.160 --> 02:59.400]  $1 billion in damages for defamation. The host of the info war show had
[02:59.400 --> 03:04.320]  claimed the 2012 Sandy Hook School massacre was a hoax. Relatives of eight
[03:04.320 --> 03:09.080]  of the 26 victims and an FBI agent brought the suit. They said today's
[03:09.080 --> 03:14.200]  verdict is a hard fought victory. All I can really say is that I'm just proud
[03:14.200 --> 03:20.080]  that what we were able to accomplish was just to simply tell the truth and it
[03:20.080 --> 03:22.880]  shouldn't be this hard and it shouldn't be this scary.
[03:26.160 --> 03:30.200]  I shouldn't have to worry about what my daughter is going to go through when I
[03:30.200 --> 03:34.520]  tell them that it's best that they just tell the truth. Jones already faced a
[03:34.520 --> 03:39.400]  $50 million penalty that a Texas jury imposed in August. We'll return to this
[03:39.400 --> 03:44.160]  story later in the program. A jury in South Florida has begun deliberating on
[03:44.160 --> 03:48.400]  whether Parkland school shooter Nicholas Cruz will be sentenced to death. Cruz
[03:48.400 --> 03:52.360]  already pleaded guilty to killing 17 people at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas
[03:52.360 --> 03:57.720]  High School in 2018. He's now 24 years old. The defense is asking for life in
[03:57.720 --> 04:03.000]  prison without parole. In Ukraine, seven more people were killed today as Russia
[04:03.000 --> 04:08.160]  fired more missiles, drones and artillery rounds into major cities. In all, the
[04:08.160 --> 04:13.000]  new Russian offensive has killed at least 26 people since Monday. The latest
[04:13.000 --> 04:17.120]  attacks came as US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other NATO defense
[04:17.120 --> 04:22.280]  ministers met in Brussels on bolstering Ukraine's weapons supply. And that
[04:22.280 --> 04:27.560]  resolve has only been heightened by the deliberate cruelty of Russia's new
[04:27.560 --> 04:34.920]  barrage against Ukraine cities. Those assaults on targets with no military
[04:34.920 --> 04:42.240]  purpose again reveal the malice of Putin's war of choice. Russian fire also
[04:42.240 --> 04:46.600]  knocked out power to the Zaporizhia nuclear plant for the second time in five
[04:46.600 --> 04:51.480]  days. And at the United Nations, the General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to
[04:51.480 --> 04:56.440]  condemn Russia's attempt to annex more of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir
[04:56.440 --> 05:00.940]  Putin says Moscow is set to resume natural gas deliveries to Europe. He said
[05:00.940 --> 05:05.320]  today that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany could still be used despite
[05:05.320 --> 05:09.800]  being damaged by explosions last month. Germany quickly rejected the offer as
[05:09.800 --> 05:14.120]  another attempt to renew Europe's dependence on Russian energy. New
[05:14.120 --> 05:19.040]  protests swept Iran today despite heavy police presence and an internet outage
[05:19.040 --> 05:23.320]  that hindered communications. Demonstrators rallied in at least 19
[05:23.320 --> 05:28.040]  cities over the death of Massa Amini in police custody. Women marched in the
[05:28.040 --> 05:32.800]  streets defiantly removing their mandatory hijabs. In Tehran, Supreme
[05:32.800 --> 05:38.160]  Leader Ayatollah Khamenei blamed foreign elements for the unrest.
[05:38.160 --> 05:42.640]  Some are either agents of the enemy or they are aligned with the enemy.
[05:42.640 --> 05:47.040]  Others are just excited. The first group must be dealt with by judicial and
[05:47.040 --> 05:51.640]  national security officials. The regime has carried out a violent crackdown on
[05:51.640 --> 05:56.000]  the protests. One human rights group estimated today that at least 200 people
[05:56.000 --> 06:00.460]  have been killed. Back in this country, the former head of the Los Angeles City
[06:00.460 --> 06:04.640]  Council has resigned her council seat over racist remarks that were leaked.
[06:04.640 --> 06:09.000]  Nouri Martinez had already stepped down from her post as council president. On
[06:09.000 --> 06:12.640]  the leaked recording, Martinez and two other council members talked about
[06:12.640 --> 06:17.440]  protecting Latino voting power and made abusive remarks about other groups. The
[06:17.440 --> 06:20.960]  California Attorney General has announced he will look into the process for
[06:20.960 --> 06:25.680]  drawing new council districts. Former President Trump was ordered today to
[06:25.680 --> 06:29.600]  give a deposition in a defamation lawsuit. A federal judge issued the order
[06:29.600 --> 06:34.380]  in New York. Advice columnist E. Jean Carroll says Mr. Trump defamed her when
[06:34.380 --> 06:39.240]  he denied raping her in a department store dressing room in the mid 1990s. The
[06:39.240 --> 06:43.040]  former president's legal team has repeatedly tried to quash the lawsuit.
[06:43.040 --> 06:48.720]  The CDC today approved updated COVID-19 booster shots for children as young as
[06:48.720 --> 06:53.160]  five years old. The latest Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are tailored to better
[06:53.160 --> 06:58.520]  provide protection against the highly contagious Omicron variant. CDC approval
[06:58.520 --> 07:03.680]  came hours after the FDA authorized the boosters for the younger age group. And
[07:03.680 --> 07:07.720]  on Wall Street today, stocks ended slightly lower after news that wholesale
[07:07.720 --> 07:13.280]  inflation rose 8.5% in September from a year earlier. The Dow Jones industrial
[07:13.280 --> 07:19.200]  average lost 28 points to close at 29,210. The Nasdaq fell nine points and
[07:19.200 --> 07:25.240]  the S&P 500 slipped 11. Still to come on the NewsHour, President Biden's student
[07:25.240 --> 07:30.440]  loan forgiveness plan faces legal challenges. Reporters across the country
[07:30.440 --> 07:35.120]  share the latest on the races that could decide control of Congress, plus much
[07:35.120 --> 07:35.520]  more.
[07:35.520 --> 07:44.080]  Mhm. This is the PBS NewsHour from W. E. T. A. Studios in Washington and in
[07:44.080 --> 07:47.720]  the West from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State
[07:47.720 --> 07:48.400]  University.
[07:49.880 --> 07:54.000]  As we reported, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has been ordered to pay nearly
[07:54.000 --> 08:00.040]  $1 billion, 965 million to be exact for the lies he spread about the Sandy Hook
[08:00.040 --> 08:04.640]  Elementary School massacre in 2012. Jones had falsely claimed the attack
[08:04.640 --> 08:09.020]  that left more than two dozen people dead, including 20 Children, was a
[08:09.020 --> 08:13.280]  hoax and accused a grieving parent of being an actor in the days after the
[08:13.280 --> 08:17.960]  murders. A Texas jury awarded nearly $50 million in a separate damages
[08:17.960 --> 08:22.480]  trial this summer, and Jones likely faces yet another trial before the year
[08:22.480 --> 08:27.120]  is up. For some perspective on the scope of this award and what happens now, we
[08:27.120 --> 08:31.760]  turned to Jesse Guessin. He's a trial lawyer in California who works on both
[08:31.760 --> 08:36.160]  civil and criminal cases. Mr Guessin, welcome to the NewsHour. Thank you for
[08:36.160 --> 08:40.240]  joining us. Let's just start with some context on this verdict. It is an
[08:40.240 --> 08:44.000]  enormous amount of money. What did you think when you heard the damages being
[08:44.000 --> 08:44.560]  awarded?
[08:45.760 --> 08:50.880]  Wow, quite frankly, it's probably one of the largest defamation verdicts in
[08:50.880 --> 08:56.480]  U. S. History. Also, it's compensatory, meaning that there's still going to be
[08:56.480 --> 09:02.800]  punitive damages, which could be up to 10 times as much under the U. S. United
[09:02.800 --> 09:11.360]  States Constitution. So we're gonna see probably this verdict at least I would
[09:11.360 --> 09:15.080]  say at least double or triple or maybe even up to 10 times more for anyone
[09:15.080 --> 09:19.040]  following the trial. I mean, it was an incredibly emotional trial, emotional
[09:19.040 --> 09:22.480]  testimony from the parents who have lost their Children in the most horrific
[09:22.480 --> 09:26.920]  way. Does that? Do you think? Did that play a role in the size of the verdict
[09:26.920 --> 09:28.280]  that was eventually awarded?
[09:29.880 --> 09:37.520]  Assuredly this jury. This verdict says two things. Number one, it says we
[09:37.520 --> 09:45.000]  hate Alex Jones and number two that we are inflamed and we feel that these
[09:45.000 --> 09:49.080]  parents have lost something very, very, very special to them. And we're going
[09:49.080 --> 09:54.400]  to, um, do our best to give it back to them with our verdict. We should point
[09:54.400 --> 09:59.880]  out earlier this year, info wars and its parent company did file for bankruptcy
[09:59.880 --> 10:04.520]  protections. What kind of impact could that have on the amount that's actually
[10:04.520 --> 10:05.160]  paid out?
[10:07.080 --> 10:13.520]  Well, the the the verdict is against Alex Jones and the and the company. And
[10:13.520 --> 10:18.560]  so Alex Jones may end up filing for bankruptcy protection as well. Um, his
[10:18.560 --> 10:30.260]  estimated net worth is anywhere between 170 to, um, 135 to 270 million. So he
[10:30.260 --> 10:35.100]  may declare bankruptcy as well. But it is certainly possible that this verdict
[10:35.100 --> 10:39.380]  and the Texas verdict could be swept up into the bankruptcy and, um,
[10:39.400 --> 10:44.020]  significantly decreased under U. S. Bankruptcy law. You mentioned that
[10:44.020 --> 10:47.540]  Texas verdict, and I want I want to get your analysis on the difference you see
[10:47.540 --> 10:51.600]  between that Texas verdict that was around $50 million and was eventually
[10:51.620 --> 10:56.220]  knocked down because of state limits on those kinds of awards and the damages
[10:56.220 --> 10:59.580]  we saw awarded today. How do you see the difference between what unfolded in
[10:59.580 --> 11:01.380]  Texas and what happened in Connecticut?
[11:03.060 --> 11:08.100]  Yeah, it's hard not to draw the inference that there the two different
[11:08.100 --> 11:15.100]  jury pools are somewhat politically motivated. Um, the compensatory damages
[11:15.100 --> 11:19.180]  in the Texas verdict was $4 million. The compensatory damages in the
[11:19.180 --> 11:28.020]  Connecticut verdict is $965 million. That's a $961 million difference in
[11:28.020 --> 11:32.700]  compensatory damages. Um, we still have to see punitive damages in
[11:32.700 --> 11:39.460]  Connecticut, so that the difference could be even far more striking. Uh, I
[11:39.460 --> 11:45.220]  think it's safe to say that the Connecticut verdict is a far liberal,
[11:45.220 --> 11:51.580]  more liberal jury pool, and that had to have factored into into their verdict.
[11:51.860 --> 11:55.300]  We should also point out. We learned later today that Jones's lawyer has
[11:55.300 --> 12:00.440]  said they do plan to appeal. But Mr Guessin, we should remind folks Mr
[12:00.440 --> 12:05.040]  Jones was spreading these lies for years, right? Saying that the whole
[12:05.060 --> 12:09.100]  attack was a hoax that in some cases, parents were responsible for the
[12:09.100 --> 12:13.180]  deaths of their own Children. He's not alone in spreading some of these
[12:13.180 --> 12:16.580]  lies, though. And I wonder, as you look at this moment, what you think this
[12:16.580 --> 12:21.100]  verdict says in the way of a message it sends about the legal landscape
[12:21.100 --> 12:24.940]  surrounding how holding those who spread misinformation accountable in
[12:24.940 --> 12:25.500]  some way?
[12:27.400 --> 12:35.220]  Well, if you're, uh, profiting off of conspiracy theories that are
[12:35.220 --> 12:40.640]  defamatory, that are obviously false, you need to watch yourself. And a,
[12:40.660 --> 12:47.400]  um, a litigant can prosper clearly prosper in two very separate forms.
[12:47.840 --> 12:52.020]  And, um, and I think that it sends a strong message to people that are
[12:52.020 --> 12:59.120]  making money on lies. Um, and especially given that this isn't the end,
[12:59.120 --> 13:03.680]  there's a we have the punitive damages verdict, and then we also have a
[13:03.680 --> 13:09.340]  third Sandy Hook lawsuit. So I think that it sends a strong message to
[13:09.360 --> 13:14.720]  people who are in the business of peddling conspiracies. That is Jesse
[13:14.720 --> 13:18.440]  Guessing, a trial attorney in California, joining us tonight. Mr
[13:18.440 --> 13:19.680]  Guessing. Thank you for your time.
[13:19.680 --> 13:36.280]  Thank you for having me. Well, relations between the White House
[13:36.280 --> 13:40.840]  and Saudi Arabia's ruling royal family are at a low point and may be
[13:40.840 --> 13:44.320]  set to dive even lower from President Biden's fighting words on the
[13:44.320 --> 13:48.640]  campaign trail to recent Saudi led cuts in global oil supplies. The
[13:48.640 --> 13:52.960]  status of the more than 75 year old alliance is troubled, and many in the
[13:52.960 --> 13:57.160]  administration and on Capitol Hill want to reset. Nick Schifrin begins
[13:57.160 --> 13:57.860]  our coverage.
[13:59.440 --> 14:03.120]  One of the most colorful visits to the presidential cruiser was that of
[14:03.120 --> 14:07.280]  the ruler of Saudi Arabia. America's longest relationship with an Arab
[14:07.280 --> 14:11.920]  state began 77 years ago. Four time elected U. S. President Franklin
[14:11.920 --> 14:16.800]  Roosevelt and Ibn Saud, the warrior monarch, backed by a fanatical clergy,
[14:16.800 --> 14:20.880]  created a fundamental agreement, American security in exchange for
[14:20.880 --> 14:25.120]  Saudi energy. But today, that agreement must be re examined. President
[14:25.120 --> 14:28.420]  Biden told CNN's Jake Tapper last night. There's gonna be some
[14:28.420 --> 14:32.800]  consequences for what they've done with Russia. What the Saudis did with
[14:32.800 --> 14:36.520]  fellow OPEC leader Russia is the largest oil production cut in more
[14:36.520 --> 14:41.020]  than two years over U. S. Warnings. It was announced by OPEC Secretary
[14:41.020 --> 14:46.240]  General High them all guys. We are not endangering the energy markets. We
[14:46.240 --> 14:51.160]  are providing security, stability to the energy markets out of price.
[14:53.640 --> 14:58.220]  Everything has a price, including the U. S. Saudi relationship. In the
[14:58.220 --> 15:02.400]  1970s, Saudi Arabia helped lead an oil embargo over U. S. Support for
[15:02.400 --> 15:07.320]  Israel. You have declared a jihad against the United States. Can you
[15:07.320 --> 15:12.080]  tell us why the kingdom claims it fights the fires of radicalism, but
[15:12.080 --> 15:16.160]  critics call it the arsonist. The Saudi Osama bin Laden sparked global
[15:16.160 --> 15:21.880]  attacks against the West and its Arab allies. 15 of 9 11 hijackers were
[15:21.880 --> 15:26.720]  Saudi and decades of criticism of Saudi Arabia's poor human rights record
[15:26.720 --> 15:31.320]  crescendoed in 2018 after journalist Jamal Khashoggi walked into the Saudi
[15:31.320 --> 15:35.360]  Istanbul's consulate was murdered and cut into pieces. The U. S.
[15:35.360 --> 15:38.660]  Intelligence community assessed the operation was approved by the
[15:38.660 --> 15:43.080]  kingdom's powerful crown prince and future king Mohammed bin Salman. The
[15:43.080 --> 15:46.960]  following year, candidate Joe Biden promised punishment. We were going to
[15:46.960 --> 15:51.520]  in fact, make them pay the price and make them in fact, the pariah that
[15:51.520 --> 15:55.840]  they are. But that proved to be a speed bump that preceded this year's fist
[15:55.840 --> 16:00.080]  bump. President Biden and his team worked with M. B. S. An acknowledgement.
[16:00.080 --> 16:04.480]  The kingdom has helped the U. S. For decades across continents in the late
[16:04.480 --> 16:09.140]  seventies, Saudi Arabia provided crucial support for the Afghan Mujahideen to
[16:09.140 --> 16:14.160]  defeat the Soviet military and help collapse the Soviet Union. In the early
[16:14.160 --> 16:18.360]  nineties, Saudi Arabia invited the largest U. S. Overseas deployment in
[16:18.360 --> 16:24.200]  decades. U. S. Troops used the kingdom as a base to fight the Gulf War. After
[16:24.200 --> 16:28.800]  9 11, the Bush administration held on to the alliance to cooperate on terrorism
[16:28.800 --> 16:34.760]  and target Al Qaeda. And in 2017, President Trump made Saudi Arabia his
[16:34.760 --> 16:39.680]  first overseas stop. Saudi Arabia and its allies helped shift U. S. Regional
[16:39.680 --> 16:45.740]  policy and Riyadh Washington cooperation helped lead to the historic 2020
[16:45.740 --> 16:50.680]  normalization agreements between Israel Bahrain and the U. A. E. Today, the
[16:50.680 --> 16:55.040]  Biden administration is releasing our national security strategy. Today, the
[16:55.040 --> 16:59.520]  U. S. Acknowledges it's well aware that the relationship provides benefits, but
[16:59.520 --> 17:03.080]  the administration will review the relationship and consult lawmakers,
[17:03.080 --> 17:07.320]  including Democrats, who today called for a one year block on weapons sales.
[17:07.320 --> 17:13.440]  Saudi raping has broken trust with America and it needs to come to its
[17:13.440 --> 17:18.240]  senses. The U. S. Saudi relationship has survived previous challenges. The
[17:18.240 --> 17:22.200]  administration says there's no timetable for its review. For the PBS
[17:22.200 --> 17:26.560]  NewsHour, I'm Nick Schifrin. Representative Ro Khanna of California
[17:26.560 --> 17:30.080]  is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and is spearheading the House
[17:30.080 --> 17:35.160]  version of that bill to end U. S. Armed sales to Saudi Arabia for one year. He
[17:35.160 --> 17:38.320]  joins me now. Congressman, welcome back to the NewsHour. Thank you for joining
[17:38.320 --> 17:42.640]  us. You have said the U. S. Needs to immediately immediately halt those armed
[17:42.640 --> 17:47.040]  sales. We should note this has been proposed before in many times by many
[17:47.040 --> 17:51.600]  other people. It has never moved forward. Why do you think that this moment is
[17:51.600 --> 17:57.040]  different? This is a defining moment, just like the war powers resolution that
[17:57.040 --> 18:01.080]  stopped the refueling of the Saudi planes that Senator Sanders and I let
[18:01.080 --> 18:06.240]  pass after Khashoggi's murder. This is another moment that has really
[18:06.240 --> 18:09.840]  outraged people on both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill. It's Saudi
[18:09.840 --> 18:14.520]  Arabia's ingratitude. We provide them with 70 some percent of their arms. We
[18:14.520 --> 18:19.560]  stood up for them when Saddam Hussein was going to invade after Saddam had
[18:19.560 --> 18:23.760]  invaded Kuwait and Saudi planes literally couldn't fly if it weren't for
[18:23.760 --> 18:28.160]  American technicians. Yet they are fleecing the American public, making
[18:28.160 --> 18:33.520]  about $100 billion in 2022. There need to be consequences. We provide them
[18:33.520 --> 18:37.280]  with all those things you just listed, but also they provide us with crucial
[18:37.280 --> 18:40.880]  intelligence, counterterrorism intelligence, specifically the U. S.
[18:40.880 --> 18:45.280]  relies on for national security purposes. Could imposing consequences
[18:45.280 --> 18:51.080]  in whatever form compromise U. S. National Security? No, it will not. They
[18:51.080 --> 18:55.760]  are far more reliant on us. In fact, the defense agreements that we have, the
[18:55.760 --> 19:00.360]  joint defense initiatives are more extensive than almost any other major
[19:00.360 --> 19:03.840]  ally, and that's all to Saudis benefit. The production is there. The jobs are
[19:03.840 --> 19:09.960]  there. So they are far more dependent on us, and they already are making these
[19:09.960 --> 19:14.280]  drastic cuts, and they're making drastic cuts at a time when they're making 70
[19:14.280 --> 19:19.320]  percent profit margins on each barrel of oil. Why are they doing it? They're
[19:19.320 --> 19:22.680]  doing it to help Putin, because Putin doesn't have those profit margins. He's
[19:22.680 --> 19:27.640]  selling his oil at a discount of $35 a barrel to China and other countries. So
[19:27.640 --> 19:32.880]  to appease Putin, they're hurting the American consumer at the pump, and that
[19:32.880 --> 19:36.320]  just won't stand, and we have far more leverage over them than they do over us.
[19:36.320 --> 19:40.440]  We are assuming also that leverage would force them to move away from Russia, but
[19:40.440 --> 19:44.640]  it is a gamble. What if it backfires? What if they further cut oil production?
[19:44.640 --> 19:49.560]  What if they just end up moving further towards Russia and China? Well, they
[19:49.560 --> 19:53.760]  cannot move further towards Russia and China in the near term. It would take
[19:53.760 --> 19:58.480]  almost 10 years for them to be able to get the weapons that we provide just
[19:58.480 --> 20:02.520]  because of interoperability of these weapons, and literally the Air Force
[20:02.520 --> 20:05.920]  would be grounded to a halt tomorrow if they didn't have American technicians,
[20:05.920 --> 20:10.120]  and now maybe it would take years for them to build with Russia and China, but
[20:10.120 --> 20:15.000]  they simply could not do that. In terms of cuts, they've cut already so far. I
[20:15.000 --> 20:18.760]  don't think further cuts would be possible. They were talking about a
[20:18.760 --> 20:23.760]  million barrels of cut. They've cut two million barrels, and other countries
[20:23.760 --> 20:29.760]  in OPEC, the UAE, Kuwait, would make up for it if they went for further cuts. So
[20:29.760 --> 20:34.480]  they already have taken the most drastic action. What about Iran in all this,
[20:34.480 --> 20:38.000]  Representative Khanna? I mean, none of this unfolds in a vacuum. The US foreign
[20:38.000 --> 20:42.000]  policy in the region is structured largely around Saudi Arabia. Just this
[20:42.000 --> 20:46.840]  summer, the US approved two new massive arms deals for Saudi Arabia and the
[20:46.840 --> 20:51.480]  United Arab Emirates specifically to help them defend against Iran. Does
[20:51.480 --> 20:57.480]  cutting Saudi arms sales empower Iran? No, it doesn't, and I was opposed to those
[20:57.480 --> 21:00.840]  arms sales. Let's not forget that the Saudis are responsible for one of the
[21:00.840 --> 21:05.360]  biggest humanitarian crisis in the world in Yemen. It is appalling what they've
[21:05.360 --> 21:08.920]  done to the children there. It's appalling the starvation they've caused.
[21:08.920 --> 21:12.640]  It's appalling that they're continuing to blockade. Now, the Houthis are also to
[21:12.640 --> 21:16.480]  blame, and the Iranians are to blame in Yemen as well, but the Saudis have been
[21:16.480 --> 21:25.880]  the principal perpetrators of that war. And so I don't think that cutting
[21:25.880 --> 21:30.280]  off these arms sales are suddenly going to make them vulnerable to Iran. And I've
[21:30.280 --> 21:35.400]  spoken out very strongly for the students, for the women protesting in
[21:35.400 --> 21:40.720]  Iran. I believe there are other ways that we can contain Iran, but we should not
[21:40.720 --> 21:44.840]  use a Kissingerian balance of power where we end up supporting brutal
[21:44.840 --> 21:49.400]  dictators at the expense of our own public because of some balance of power
[21:49.400 --> 21:53.400]  politics in the Middle East. What do you believe that President Biden could have
[21:53.400 --> 21:56.960]  done differently in this moment? I mean, he went from calling Saudi Arabia a
[21:56.960 --> 22:02.200]  pariah to visiting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in July at the fist bump
[22:02.200 --> 22:05.320]  scene around the world. Do you think there's anything that the president or
[22:05.320 --> 22:09.840]  this administration could have done differently to avoid this moment? Yes, I
[22:09.840 --> 22:14.040]  don't think he should have gone to Saudi Arabia. Senator Sanders and I took to the
[22:14.040 --> 22:19.540]  papers to say that Trip was misguided. I believe he should have been
[22:19.540 --> 22:25.680]  clearer with the Saudis that there would be very drastic consequences, both if
[22:25.680 --> 22:29.320]  they didn't lift the blockade, which they still haven't in Yemen, and now
[22:29.320 --> 22:33.400]  they're talking about actually not following through on the truce in Yemen,
[22:33.400 --> 22:39.320]  but certainly, extraordinarily drastic consequences if they cut oil production.
[22:39.320 --> 22:43.720]  So I believe that he could have been clearer on all of those things. Now, I'm
[22:43.720 --> 22:49.040]  glad that he's contemplating action now, and my belief is if we are tough enough,
[22:49.040 --> 22:54.500]  they will reverse the decision. You said he's contemplating action. We've heard
[22:54.500 --> 22:57.680]  the word consequences, but no specifics. In your talks with the administration,
[22:57.680 --> 23:02.640]  how serious are they in imposing serious and immediate consequences?
[23:02.640 --> 23:09.320]  They have told me that the president is going to take action, that the president
[23:09.320 --> 23:16.480]  is re-examining the Saudi relationship, and that the action is imminent. And so I
[23:16.480 --> 23:21.680]  believe the president has to act. How can you allow a country that is a
[23:21.680 --> 23:27.160]  quote-unquote ally to continue to profit off the American public and make drastic
[23:27.160 --> 23:31.480]  cuts when we're going through one of the bigger energy crisis we have in recent
[23:31.480 --> 23:37.000]  decades? Allies don't treat each other that way. More broadly, U.S. officials
[23:37.000 --> 23:41.960]  did reportedly warn Saudi leaders that a cut in production would be seen as a
[23:41.960 --> 23:46.500]  clear choice they're siding with Russia, and the Saudis did it anyway. What does
[23:46.500 --> 23:52.200]  that say to you about how they view the U.S. right now? Well, they don't think
[23:52.200 --> 23:56.080]  that there are going to be consequences, but I believe they should take a
[23:56.080 --> 24:01.120]  temperature one of many of the younger members of Congress who aren't steeped
[24:01.120 --> 24:06.240]  in the same traditional relationship with Saudi, who basically know Saudi
[24:06.240 --> 24:11.160]  Arabia through the prism of the Yemen war and the humanitarian crisis that
[24:11.160 --> 24:14.960]  they have caused. They should remember that the war powers resolution stopping
[24:14.960 --> 24:19.360]  our aid passed the House and the Senate, the only time a war powers resolution
[24:19.360 --> 24:23.880]  has ever passed. And they should know that now they're going to be
[24:23.880 --> 24:27.960]  consequences. You have not just Senator Blumenthal and I calling for it, but
[24:27.960 --> 24:32.000]  Senator Menendez, a very respected foreign policy voice who chairs the
[24:32.000 --> 24:35.400]  Senate Foreign Relations Committee calling for it. So they are really
[24:35.400 --> 24:40.160]  hurting their relationship on the Hill. Briefly, if you can, Representative, the
[24:40.160 --> 24:44.080]  Saudis have said this was economic, their decision to cut oil production. Do you
[24:44.080 --> 24:47.080]  believe it had anything to do with the timing of the upcoming midterm elections?
[24:47.080 --> 24:51.840]  I don't know, but I know it's not economic when they're making over 70
[24:51.840 --> 24:56.000]  percent profits on your barrels of oil. Look, I've been critical effects on in
[24:56.000 --> 25:00.000]  Chevron, but it pales into the comparison into what the Saudis are
[25:00.000 --> 25:05.500]  making on oil. So what I do know is that they have chosen deliberately to hurt
[25:05.500 --> 25:10.520]  Americans at the pump. Look, I don't think the timing is coincidental, but I
[25:10.520 --> 25:14.680]  have no evidence of why they've taken that decision. All I know is that they're
[25:14.680 --> 25:18.920]  hurting the American public. That is Representative Ro Khanna, Democrat from
[25:18.920 --> 25:23.000]  California and member of the House Armed Services Committee. Thank you so much for
[25:23.000 --> 25:26.440]  your time. Thank you.
[25:35.920 --> 25:40.280]  President Biden's executive order to cancel student debt is facing its most
[25:40.280 --> 25:44.520]  serious legal challenge to date. A federal judge in Missouri heard arguments
[25:44.520 --> 25:49.120]  today from six states hoping to block the plan from taking effect. To qualify
[25:49.120 --> 25:53.280]  for the student loan program, individuals must make less than a hundred and twenty
[25:53.280 --> 25:57.080]  five thousand dollars a year or two hundred and fifty thousand for married
[25:57.080 --> 26:01.320]  couples and families. Eligible borrowers can receive up to ten thousand dollars
[26:01.320 --> 26:05.360]  in forgiveness or up to twenty thousand dollars if they are Pell Grant
[26:05.360 --> 26:09.480]  recipients. White House correspondent Laura Barone Lopez has been following it
[26:09.480 --> 26:13.840]  all and she joins me now as part of our series Rethinking College. Laura, good to
[26:13.840 --> 26:17.360]  see you. Good to see you. So let's talk about this case that was heard today in
[26:17.360 --> 26:21.360]  Missouri. What exactly are the states arguing? So there are six Republican
[26:21.360 --> 26:25.960]  states including Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, and they're arguing that the
[26:25.960 --> 26:30.680]  administration's debt relief program is illegal on three fronts. Those three
[26:30.680 --> 26:36.480]  fronts are that the administration lacks authority, that they did not follow
[26:36.480 --> 26:42.000]  administrative procedure, and that it harms state revenue. So today we spoke to
[26:42.000 --> 26:46.680]  Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge and she really focused on
[26:46.680 --> 26:51.000]  whether or not the president has authority to do this and took direct aim
[26:51.000 --> 26:57.720]  at him. The president did not have the authority to make this decision. He made
[26:57.720 --> 27:03.080]  this decision and based it on the Heroes Act which essentially was put in place
[27:03.080 --> 27:07.600]  during the Iraq War in order to give relief to our brave men and women in
[27:07.600 --> 27:11.720]  uniform and it was also as part of it it could be used during a national
[27:11.720 --> 27:16.720]  emergency. Unfortunately President Biden forgot that he declared the pandemic
[27:16.720 --> 27:22.480]  over a few short weeks ago. As you heard Attorney General Rutledge there
[27:22.480 --> 27:26.520]  saying that she thinks the president doesn't have this authority but what was
[27:26.520 --> 27:30.640]  interesting in the arguments today was that the Missouri judge Henry Autry
[27:30.640 --> 27:35.400]  essentially really scrutinized that saying why is the president being sued
[27:35.400 --> 27:39.600]  as a part of this lawsuit and questioning whether or not the
[27:39.600 --> 27:43.920]  Republican states had standing against the president versus standing against
[27:43.920 --> 27:48.040]  the Education Department and the Education Secretary. So a main part of
[27:48.040 --> 27:50.680]  their argument is the administration doesn't even have the authority to do
[27:50.680 --> 27:53.920]  this. What has the Biden administration been saying about this? The Biden
[27:53.920 --> 27:58.880]  administration is essentially saying that they were granted this authority
[27:58.880 --> 28:04.520]  under a 2003 higher education law also known as the Heroes Act and so today
[28:04.520 --> 28:10.440]  Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Netter argued that the pandemic gives
[28:10.440 --> 28:15.720]  them this authority. It's crucial here that this is a statute about emergencies.
[28:15.720 --> 28:19.680]  It's a statute about national emergencies and it seems hard to fathom
[28:19.680 --> 28:23.800]  that Congress wouldn't have understood at the time that a larger national
[28:23.800 --> 28:27.360]  emergency is going to prompt and necessitate a larger action by the
[28:27.360 --> 28:31.880]  Secretary of Education. And so essentially Netter there is saying that
[28:31.880 --> 28:38.280]  as the economic hardships were growing due to the COVID pandemic so does the
[28:38.280 --> 28:42.720]  power of the Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. Those powers grow as well they
[28:42.720 --> 28:51.320]  grow with it and he specifically argued against this this front that the states
[28:51.320 --> 28:55.080]  were bringing forward saying that these national this national emergency statute
[28:55.080 --> 28:59.360]  only applies to specific military activity it applies to military members
[28:59.360 --> 29:03.760]  service members and Netter said no historically that's not the case under
[29:03.760 --> 29:07.920]  this law that look when you think about a hurricane government doesn't provide
[29:07.920 --> 29:13.240]  relief just when the hurricane is spinning he said that after a national
[29:13.240 --> 29:17.920]  emergency happens or a national disaster like that that the government has to
[29:17.920 --> 29:21.320]  help people come out of that come out of the economic hardships or the
[29:21.320 --> 29:24.280]  infrastructure hardships that are brought upon by national emergencies.
[29:24.280 --> 29:27.680]  Laura what about the whole racial equity part of this we heard the Biden
[29:27.680 --> 29:31.040]  administration message that as an underpinning to why they were rolling
[29:31.040 --> 29:34.520]  out this loan forgiveness plan they said it would especially help black
[29:34.520 --> 29:39.080]  borrowers how does that factor into their argument? So the states today were
[29:39.080 --> 29:44.280]  saying this is only going to provide relief to wealthy individuals to higher
[29:44.280 --> 29:48.480]  income individuals and what the administration essentially is saying
[29:48.480 --> 29:53.280]  back is that well you have to look at actually who the borrowers are for these
[29:53.280 --> 29:56.640]  loan programs and for the loan forgiveness program it would
[29:56.640 --> 30:02.200]  significantly impact black borrowers specifically the average debt for black
[30:02.200 --> 30:07.440]  borrowers is 10,000 more than for white borrowers also Pell Grant recipients are
[30:07.440 --> 30:13.600]  twice as likely to be black. Now another big piece of this is the federal family
[30:13.600 --> 30:17.520]  education loan borrowers which was at first a part of the announcement when
[30:17.520 --> 30:21.520]  the administration said they were going to provide this big cancellation of debt
[30:21.520 --> 30:26.360]  then they ended up taking that out of the guidance saying that these borrowers
[30:26.360 --> 30:31.440]  would not provide would not be given this relief and that was a big piece of
[30:31.440 --> 30:36.600]  this this lawsuit because essentially you know the states are arguing that
[30:36.600 --> 30:43.760]  that they get state revenues from the companies that take on that those loans
[30:43.760 --> 30:49.080]  from those borrowers but but the government is saying that ultimately the
[30:49.080 --> 30:54.640]  relief provided to these borrowers is far outweighs the state revenue that
[30:54.640 --> 30:59.880]  would ultimately be lost. Now again on the FFEL borrowers the federal family
[30:59.880 --> 31:03.840]  loan borrowers the administration has tried to make clear that while they may
[31:03.840 --> 31:08.120]  not receive relief now that ultimately the Education Department is trying to
[31:08.120 --> 31:11.280]  find an alternative pathway for them. Before anyone can get any relief they
[31:11.280 --> 31:14.400]  have to fill out an application we've been anticipating the release of that
[31:14.400 --> 31:18.480]  application form from the White House what do we know about that? So they just
[31:18.480 --> 31:23.040]  issued a preview of this application form this week the White House did and
[31:23.040 --> 31:26.720]  essentially what borrowers have to do they have to give social security
[31:26.720 --> 31:30.880]  numbers their date of birth their email but they also have to click this box
[31:30.880 --> 31:35.600]  that certifies under penalty of perjury that they meet the income thresholds. Now
[31:35.600 --> 31:41.440]  some of those borrowers will be provided just based on that certification will be
[31:41.440 --> 31:46.360]  provided relief others are going to have to show more proof that they meet those
[31:46.360 --> 31:51.120]  income thresholds that you outlined earlier. Now I spoke to White House
[31:51.120 --> 31:54.600]  Assistant Press Secretary Abdullah Hassan today and he said that essentially
[31:54.600 --> 31:57.720]  as the lawsuit is proceed as the lawsuits are proceeding because there's
[31:57.720 --> 32:00.720]  more than just the one we talked about today that the White House is gonna
[32:00.720 --> 32:05.560]  still move forward with implementing this plan. Now no relief is gonna be
[32:05.560 --> 32:10.560]  felt prior to October 23rd but the application process is going to be
[32:10.560 --> 32:14.680]  rolled out this month. So folks can check that out and start to apply if they are
[32:14.680 --> 32:18.400]  eligible. White House correspondent Laura Barone-Lopez following it all. Thank you
[32:18.400 --> 32:21.000]  so much. Thank you.
[32:29.360 --> 32:34.120]  Election night is less than a month away and we're digging into some key races
[32:34.120 --> 32:38.360]  that could determine the balance of power in Congress. Lisa Desjardins has
[32:38.360 --> 32:43.920]  more. Let's talk about control of the House of Representatives. To take over
[32:43.920 --> 32:48.760]  the House, Republicans need to gain just five total seats next month net. Their
[32:48.760 --> 32:53.320]  party may have a slight advantage from redistricting but there are dozens of
[32:53.320 --> 32:58.160]  competitive races including more than 30 currently rated as toss-ups. To take a
[32:58.160 --> 33:02.400]  good look at the map I'm joined by three public media reporters. Karen Kastler of
[33:02.400 --> 33:06.920]  Ohio Public Radio and Television, Scott Schaeffer with KQED in California, and
[33:06.920 --> 33:11.560]  Zoe Clark with Michigan Radio. So happy to have all of you together to talk
[33:11.560 --> 33:16.120]  about this. Each of your states has lost a congressional district because of
[33:16.120 --> 33:21.400]  redistricting, but you also each have a clutch of competitive races that could
[33:21.400 --> 33:25.600]  determine control of the House. I wonder if you can just set the mood for us.
[33:25.600 --> 33:30.480]  What's on voters minds? Everything from the weather to redistricting to issues
[33:30.480 --> 33:33.440]  that you think might be affecting their vote. And let's start out West with you
[33:33.440 --> 33:37.680]  Scott Schaeffer. Yeah well California has an unusual system for creating
[33:37.680 --> 33:42.040]  redistricting. It's a citizens commission. It's not gerrymandering where the
[33:42.040 --> 33:45.360]  districts are designed to protect the incumbents. And so we have four to six
[33:45.360 --> 33:50.200]  competitive House races here in California including probably two of the
[33:50.200 --> 33:54.640]  ten most vulnerable Republicans. David Valadeo in the Central Valley and Mike
[33:54.640 --> 33:59.000]  Garcia in Los Angeles. Both of them running in plus you know plus D
[33:59.000 --> 34:05.040]  districts where Democrats outnumber Republicans. In terms of you know the
[34:05.040 --> 34:09.120]  seat that we lost Karen Bass decided not to run for re-election. She's the LA
[34:09.120 --> 34:13.160]  Congresswoman. She's now running for mayor of Los Angeles which of course is
[34:13.160 --> 34:17.960]  dominating the headlines not in very good ways. But in terms of issues in
[34:17.960 --> 34:20.960]  terms of these congressional races you know it's a competing narrative.
[34:20.960 --> 34:26.320]  Republicans want to talk about gas prices and the economy and the Democrats
[34:26.320 --> 34:30.880]  want to talk about abortion rights and about threats to democracy. And so
[34:30.880 --> 34:34.280]  you've got these competing narratives that are playing out on the campaign
[34:34.280 --> 34:38.680]  trail and on television. And in addition I would say that Republicans also want
[34:38.680 --> 34:43.480]  to talk about crime and immigration much more so than abortion rights.
[34:43.480 --> 34:46.800]  Zoe Clark what's going on in Michigan? I know it's college football season. Are
[34:46.800 --> 34:50.760]  those politics breaking through there in general? It actually is if you can
[34:50.760 --> 34:54.520]  imagine. It's not just Spartans and Wolverines here in Michigan. Although the
[34:54.520 --> 34:59.080]  weather always is something we talk about. No much like what Scott said
[34:59.080 --> 35:04.040]  indeed it is about the economy. It is about inflation. It is about gas prices.
[35:04.040 --> 35:08.680]  But since the Dobbs decision here in Michigan abortion really has become
[35:08.680 --> 35:14.360]  something that has changed the dynamic. We have a amendment that's going to be
[35:14.360 --> 35:19.120]  on the ballot in November that would enshrine reproductive rights, abortion
[35:19.120 --> 35:24.960]  rights into the state Constitution. And so on top of these really must watch
[35:24.960 --> 35:29.040]  congressional seats, some of the most competitive in the country, abortion is
[35:29.040 --> 35:33.280]  sort of overshadowing the conversation when it comes to all of these races.
[35:33.280 --> 35:36.840]  Karen Kassler is that what you're finding next door in Ohio is abortion
[35:36.840 --> 35:40.800]  overshadowing and other issues? Well I can't let Zoe talk about those teams
[35:40.800 --> 35:43.560]  without mentioning the Ohio State Buckeyes and football here is of course
[35:43.560 --> 35:48.440]  dominating conversation. But yes there's a lot of conversation also about the few
[35:48.440 --> 35:52.680]  competitive districts here. Our most competitive seat and race really is
[35:52.680 --> 35:57.400]  the Ohio US Senate race. But there in Ohio we're starting early voting today
[35:57.400 --> 36:02.520]  and it's interesting to note that Ohio went from 16 to 15 districts and
[36:02.520 --> 36:07.720]  majority Republicans drew maps that were ruled unconstitutional several times by
[36:07.720 --> 36:11.640]  the Ohio Supreme Court. We're actually running elections this year on maps that
[36:11.640 --> 36:15.800]  were ruled unconstitutional but put into place by a federal court. And so while
[36:15.800 --> 36:20.280]  we're electing representatives through these maps this time around those could
[36:20.280 --> 36:25.200]  change based on the results of what happens in the election next month. So
[36:25.200 --> 36:30.680]  there are only about there are ten safe districts and five Democratic seats but
[36:30.680 --> 36:34.200]  only a couple are really considered very competitive. Yeah Karen I want to come
[36:34.200 --> 36:37.080]  back to you I'm going to talk to all of you about favorite races but Karen let's
[36:37.080 --> 36:41.600]  start there in Ohio and your favorite races one that I'm watching there
[36:41.600 --> 36:47.760]  obviously is one of the longest-serving women in Congress Marcy Kaptur. That's a
[36:47.760 --> 36:51.400]  race where it's not just issues but also the effect perhaps of President Trump
[36:51.400 --> 36:55.080]  and the 2020 election. Can you talk about that race and what you're washing there
[36:55.080 --> 36:59.400]  in that Toledo area? If that race is really tightened up a lot Marcy Kaptur
[36:59.400 --> 37:05.920]  running against a political newcomer JR Majewski who really broke out when he
[37:05.920 --> 37:09.560]  got the attention of Donald Trump by painting a picture of Trump on his lawn
[37:09.560 --> 37:14.120]  and Trump shouted out to him at a rally he ended up winning beating some other
[37:14.120 --> 37:20.000]  established politicians and now he and Marcy Kaptur are facing off. Majewski
[37:20.000 --> 37:25.680]  has made headlines recently because he has claimed that he saw combat in
[37:25.680 --> 37:30.160]  Afghanistan but an investigation has shown that that's not the case. He also
[37:30.160 --> 37:34.080]  has said he was at the Capitol on January 6th he has not been charged with
[37:34.080 --> 37:38.280]  anything but that all of this has made this race a little bit more competitive
[37:38.280 --> 37:42.360]  and House Republicans have actually pulled their ads in this race so that
[37:42.360 --> 37:45.800]  really has tightened things up. Also there's an open seat that features two
[37:45.800 --> 37:50.160]  women Amelia Sykes the former Democratic leader of the Ohio House and Madison
[37:50.160 --> 37:54.360]  Jesse Odo Gilbert a Trump endorsed Republican. This will make history in
[37:54.360 --> 37:58.800]  that one of those win and only 12 Ohio women have ever been elected to Congress
[37:58.800 --> 38:01.840]  from the state so that's gonna make history there with that race. That's
[38:01.840 --> 38:05.840]  fascinating I like that Ohio 13 race too because that's a very rust belt seat
[38:05.840 --> 38:09.400]  that might tell us something about the Senate race as it evolves over the night.
[38:09.400 --> 38:14.520]  Speaking of let's go back to you in Michigan then Zoe you have one of the
[38:14.520 --> 38:18.000]  most expensive House races in the country among others that I know you're
[38:18.000 --> 38:22.000]  watching where Alyssa Slotkin the incumbent Democrat is really kind of a
[38:22.000 --> 38:25.640]  must-win seat for Democrats if they have any hope of holding the House.
[38:25.640 --> 38:30.080]  Absolutely and this district is fascinating so it went for Donald Trump
[38:30.080 --> 38:38.120]  in 2016 it went for Trump in 2020 but Alyssa Slotkin has won it two times so
[38:38.120 --> 38:42.400]  she's looking for a third win here now it's going to be in the now seventh
[38:42.400 --> 38:46.120]  congressional district because of redistricting and she's always
[38:46.120 --> 38:50.920]  outperformed as a Democrat but she has a conservative Republican challenger
[38:50.920 --> 38:55.680]  state senator Tom Barrett again like we've been talking about this narrative
[38:55.680 --> 38:59.200]  he's trying to talk about the economy he's trying to talk about inflation
[38:59.200 --> 39:03.920]  he's trying to talk about Joe Biden and I was just talking to Alyssa Slotkin the
[39:03.920 --> 39:08.320]  Congresswoman today and she's talking fundamentally about rights and what she
[39:08.320 --> 39:12.720]  wants to see happen change in DC including interestingly enough I thought
[39:12.720 --> 39:17.080]  immigration she said in the state of Michigan as well as the cost of child
[39:17.080 --> 39:21.880]  care meanwhile we also have the third congressional district now this one is
[39:21.880 --> 39:27.820]  just fascinating this is where Peter Meyer a freshman Republican within the
[39:27.820 --> 39:33.480]  first few days of being sworn in voted to impeach Donald Trump for the second
[39:33.480 --> 39:39.960]  time and Peter Meyer lost his primary in August to a former Trump official John
[39:39.960 --> 39:46.240]  Gibbs and so this really is an open seat now we have a Democrat running it looks
[39:46.240 --> 39:51.280]  like it could lean Democrat more because of again this redistricting but it
[39:51.280 --> 39:54.720]  probably would have been closer had Peter Meyer won this seat but again
[39:54.720 --> 39:58.320]  conservative Republicans kicked him out booted him out and went with this Trump
[39:58.320 --> 40:02.560]  endorsed Republican instead and it looks like this could be a Democratic win Scott
[40:02.560 --> 40:06.720]  you hear Zoe talking about a place that Democrats hope to flip in this year I
[40:06.720 --> 40:10.000]  know you've got one of those two and you just mentioned it earlier tell tell us
[40:10.000 --> 40:13.880]  about Congressman David Valadeo and what you're seeing in California yeah so he
[40:13.880 --> 40:19.920]  lost this seat in 2018 and then got it back in 2020 so he actually voted to
[40:19.920 --> 40:23.320]  impeach Donald Trump but he's getting protection from that Trump hasn't gone
[40:23.320 --> 40:26.840]  after him because his district is right next to Kevin McCarthy in fact it
[40:26.840 --> 40:30.720]  includes part of Bakersfield his hometown so he's running against Rudy
[40:30.720 --> 40:36.320]  Salas in a district that is 59% Latino Rudy Salas would be the first Latino
[40:36.320 --> 40:41.120]  member of Congress from the Central Valley ever he's also co-sponsored our
[40:41.120 --> 40:45.320]  proposition one which would enshrine abortion rights here in California one
[40:45.320 --> 40:50.800]  other quickly Lisa race I'm looking at this the 41st Congressional District in
[40:50.800 --> 40:55.800]  Riverside Ken Calvert 30 year Republican incumbent has easily gotten reelected
[40:55.800 --> 40:59.840]  but they redistricting has taken out some of the most conservative parts of
[40:59.840 --> 41:03.960]  his district and added Palm Springs and other districts with a lot of LGBT
[41:03.960 --> 41:08.680]  voters he has a history of anti-gay positions and campaigning and he's
[41:08.680 --> 41:12.160]  running against an openly gay federal prosecutor who prosecuted some of the
[41:12.160 --> 41:17.200]  January 6 cases and of course Calvert did not vote to certify the election so
[41:17.200 --> 41:21.080]  lots of interesting cross currents there I've been hearing from you all about the
[41:21.080 --> 41:24.320]  2020 election some about former President Trump I just want to show of
[41:24.320 --> 41:28.080]  hands on this last question which might be a little unusual but have you spoken
[41:28.080 --> 41:34.200]  to any Democrats in tough races in your states who would like President Biden to
[41:34.200 --> 41:37.320]  come and campaign for them I want to see a hand if anyone has talked to a
[41:37.320 --> 41:41.920]  Democrat like that so there we go both the former president and the current
[41:41.920 --> 41:46.680]  president seem to be on the ballot this year in the 2022 midterms we are so
[41:46.680 --> 41:51.040]  grateful to all of you for joining us Karen Kassler Scott Schaefer Zoe Clark
[41:51.040 --> 41:58.320]  thank you all thank you thanks great to be here and thank you to our Lisa de
[41:58.320 --> 42:03.000]  Jardin in another battleground state Wisconsin the Senate and governor's
[42:03.000 --> 42:06.920]  races are in the spotlight and while younger Americans traditionally show up
[42:06.920 --> 42:11.320]  to the polls at lower rates than older generations one recent study suggests
[42:11.320 --> 42:15.600]  young voters could play a decisive role in the state's elections this November
[42:15.600 --> 42:20.000]  Judy Woodruff recently sat down with a group of high school and college students
[42:20.000 --> 42:25.800]  in Wisconsin who'll be voting for the first time thank you so much for joining
[42:25.800 --> 42:30.800]  us for this conversation we really appreciate it you all the reason we have
[42:30.800 --> 42:35.360]  you here is to talk about the fact that this is the first year you're going to
[42:35.360 --> 42:40.040]  be voting and we want to talk about what that means to you so Ryan I'm gonna
[42:40.040 --> 42:44.240]  start with you how big a deal is it to you that you're gonna be voting for the
[42:44.240 --> 42:48.760]  first time I mean it's pretty big deal for me I mean I sort of see it as sort
[42:48.760 --> 42:52.840]  of like when you're 16 you get your driver's license when you're 18 you get
[42:52.840 --> 42:57.840]  to vote I actually registered to vote in my AP government class on my birthday
[42:57.840 --> 43:02.600]  which was a fun experience it's very easy to register online now I've been
[43:02.600 --> 43:05.720]  very politically engaged throughout high school and I'm excited to get my foot in
[43:05.720 --> 43:10.080]  the door and actually have a voice in my government and then you're turning 18
[43:10.080 --> 43:16.560]  just in time to vote in early November how big a deal for you I am very excited
[43:16.560 --> 43:22.160]  to vote everyone my family has always voted and although not a ton of people
[43:22.160 --> 43:26.600]  my age do vote as it's one of like the lower turnout groups I'm very excited to
[43:26.600 --> 43:31.360]  vote because I think having that voice in our elections is really important
[43:31.360 --> 43:36.160]  what is it that you care about a lot this year that is driving you especially
[43:36.160 --> 43:41.560]  to want to vote in 2022 I do see the candidates but I see pro-choice and
[43:41.560 --> 43:46.360]  pro-life personally I am extremely pro-choice I've always grown up with
[43:46.360 --> 43:50.040]  the belief that women should be able to have bodily autonomy in our government I
[43:50.040 --> 43:54.120]  agree with the pro-choice movement I think women have been stripped of their
[43:54.120 --> 43:57.760]  bodily autonomy specifically in this state and I think that it
[43:57.760 --> 44:00.960]  disproportionately affects women of color and women from more low-income
[44:00.960 --> 44:05.440]  communities in the disproportionate effect that that has on their access to
[44:05.440 --> 44:08.760]  health care their access to reproductive justice that right there's their right
[44:08.760 --> 44:13.040]  to be a mother or to choose not to be is frustrating to witness as somebody who
[44:13.040 --> 44:18.960]  can be subjected to these laws so that for me is very top of mine for me it's
[44:18.960 --> 44:22.280]  our economy I mean I see on the decline everything's getting more expensive our
[44:22.280 --> 44:26.680]  gas is more expensive it's such a up-and-down you don't know what's gonna
[44:26.680 --> 44:31.000]  happen with it and for me it's scary it's especially scary because with
[44:31.000 --> 44:34.480]  everything on the rise I have celiac disease IRA spend an arm and a leg for
[44:34.480 --> 44:38.400]  my food that's gonna end up hurting people whenever they can't afford the
[44:38.400 --> 44:43.360]  food they need to feed their families as the son of two teachers education is a
[44:43.360 --> 44:48.320]  very big issue for me I personally I think that everyone should have access to
[44:48.320 --> 44:53.680]  quality education whether that be you know good schools good public education
[44:53.680 --> 45:01.640]  or access to college and less college debt I think my biggest issue is voting
[45:01.640 --> 45:06.720]  really in terms of the amount of people that can't vote under our current system
[45:06.720 --> 45:12.040]  we have a lot of laws in Wisconsin's especially voter ID laws that make it
[45:12.040 --> 45:17.520]  very hard people about another big thing on my mind is health care seeing Ron
[45:17.520 --> 45:23.280]  Johnson vote against the access to insulin was hugely disappointing to me
[45:23.280 --> 45:29.240]  as a diabetic seeing that it well it does not directly affect me there's many
[45:29.240 --> 45:35.200]  people in my situation where that bill would have hugely helped them and people
[45:35.200 --> 45:40.120]  are going to die if when people make decisions like that let's talk about the
[45:40.120 --> 45:43.960]  person in office right now President Biden how do you think he's doing I
[45:43.960 --> 45:50.080]  think that with any president there will almost always be the argument that they
[45:50.080 --> 45:54.920]  are not doing enough and I think that I can say that about Biden right now the
[45:54.920 --> 46:00.840]  new decision to pardon thousands of people on low-level federal marijuana
[46:00.840 --> 46:07.040]  charges is a great decision I think with his decision to help with student debt
[46:07.040 --> 46:12.600]  though he campaigned on bigger promises I think that at least he fulfilled it
[46:12.600 --> 46:17.720]  somewhat and I think you can always ask for more but I will say that I am
[46:17.720 --> 46:22.160]  relatively pleased with how he's doing so far I believe that he's not delivering
[46:22.160 --> 46:26.440]  on campaign promises that he made such as protecting our right to choose I
[46:26.440 --> 46:31.080]  would like to see him do a bit more to serve the general American people is
[46:31.080 --> 46:33.680]  there one thing you'd like to see him do that he's I would like to see him
[46:33.680 --> 46:38.440]  codify Roe or make a more of a effort to I know that he can't actually write a
[46:38.440 --> 46:43.340]  law to do so I would like to see him protect that right I would like to see
[46:43.340 --> 46:48.560]  him ask the Senate and ask the past of representatives to protect that right I
[46:48.560 --> 46:53.360]  want to see him fight tooth and nail for that right but I haven't seen that so
[46:53.360 --> 46:57.800]  far Soren what about you what is your sense of how President Biden's doing I
[46:57.800 --> 47:01.240]  quite don't like President Biden certainly wouldn't have been my first
[47:01.240 --> 47:05.000]  choice nor would have Donald Trump and my first choice for this election or for
[47:05.000 --> 47:08.720]  the previous election I think he's doing well enough for now but I don't think he
[47:08.720 --> 47:13.520]  is doing enough what do you think he should be doing that he's not doing well
[47:13.520 --> 47:18.280]  for what I think he is Afghanistan pullout was a disaster he left so many
[47:18.280 --> 47:24.120]  people it was petrifying he's not doing enough on the border we have hundreds of
[47:24.120 --> 47:28.760]  thousands of people getting in and it's scary knowing you don't know who those
[47:28.760 --> 47:34.240]  people are there's so much more that he could be doing that he's not and he that
[47:34.240 --> 47:39.080]  I don't know if he's made effort to try or not Maya what is your sense of how
[47:39.080 --> 47:43.480]  President Biden's doing I think if I had voted in the 2020 presidential election I
[47:43.480 --> 47:47.200]  would have voted for Biden I think he is not living up to the promises he made
[47:47.200 --> 47:51.400]  but I don't know of any president that has so I don't think that that's a fair
[47:51.400 --> 47:55.520]  standard to hold him at I think as a firsthand recipient of what the student
[47:55.520 --> 47:59.320]  loan forgiveness was my mom fought for the United States Army for four years
[47:59.320 --> 48:03.240]  was a recipient of the GI Bill got an associates in nursing and still had
[48:03.240 --> 48:08.560]  loans so for her to loans to be completely forgiven means an incredible
[48:08.560 --> 48:13.480]  amount well I would like for Biden to have John done more where we live in
[48:13.480 --> 48:18.920]  such a polarized country right now that despite his efforts to get things done
[48:18.920 --> 48:24.280]  it's just so hard right now to get anything through which is like obviously
[48:24.280 --> 48:28.400]  I'd like you know marijuana to be legalized I'd like to live in a country
[48:28.400 --> 48:34.440]  where row is codified where abortions are available I'd love to live in a
[48:34.440 --> 48:42.160]  country where they were I don't have to worry about student loan debt but it's
[48:42.160 --> 48:46.840]  just hard to get through all of that right now in how the state of America is
[48:46.840 --> 48:53.600]  today a couple of you have mentioned or alluded to former President Trump Amaya
[48:53.600 --> 48:58.520]  what's your take on the former president I grew up in a very isolated in a very
[48:58.520 --> 49:02.680]  white populated community and I had never experienced the difference that I
[49:02.680 --> 49:06.960]  was black and to help Trump was in presidency that complete isolation that
[49:06.960 --> 49:11.640]  was brought on just by this political figure we had among facilities in my
[49:11.640 --> 49:15.080]  community that were destroyed in the name of Trump we had monuments that were
[49:15.080 --> 49:18.260]  destroyed in the name of Trump we had people who were attacked in the name of
[49:18.260 --> 49:21.760]  Trump and I think he brought up the worst in people and he supported and he
[49:21.760 --> 49:24.360]  didn't correct that behavior and I believe no president would ever do that
[49:24.360 --> 49:31.520]  Catherine he by all accounts disgraced America in the January 6th insurrection
[49:31.520 --> 49:36.800]  he though the hearings are still going on personally I believe that he incited
[49:36.800 --> 49:43.760]  the insurrection and sent a mob of angry people to the Capitol which is
[49:43.760 --> 49:50.200]  completely undemocratic and he also did not facilitate a peaceful transfer of
[49:50.200 --> 49:54.960]  power which has been an American tradition for hundreds of years which
[49:54.960 --> 50:00.520]  upset me greatly I did do support Trump and have for quite a while I mean during
[50:00.520 --> 50:05.400]  that time period he had the nation the best economic period we had for quite a
[50:05.400 --> 50:10.580]  long time he kept us very well unfortunately he did have his wrong
[50:10.580 --> 50:16.760]  doings and has been a nasty person and has almost always been but he also was
[50:16.760 --> 50:22.200]  the person politically wise he ran America as a business in my opinion he
[50:22.200 --> 50:27.960]  ran it as though that's what it was and so running like a business him being a
[50:27.960 --> 50:32.600]  businessman allowed us to have financial gain allowed us to prosper in those
[50:32.600 --> 50:38.520]  times until COVID had hit in which kind of tanked the entire world economy would
[50:38.520 --> 50:43.440]  you like to see him serve in office again most likely not why not for the
[50:43.440 --> 50:49.380]  personal reason of just it comes down to the writing it comes down to him being a
[50:49.380 --> 50:53.640]  nasty person and I think the first four years is good but I don't think another
[50:53.640 --> 50:58.280]  four years would be great I will agree on Soren that the one thing I could
[50:58.280 --> 51:02.360]  think I think Donald Trump ever did was with the economy I that is the only good
[51:02.360 --> 51:08.160]  thing I will say about him I believe in this country we shouldn't have he's sort
[51:08.160 --> 51:12.600]  of the massive division we have between Republican and Democrat because working
[51:12.600 --> 51:18.680]  together is how we fix things and Donald Trump basically drove a gigantic wedge
[51:18.680 --> 51:25.960]  between people he was such a polarizing figure that from 2016 onwards country
[51:25.960 --> 51:31.880]  would never get anything done as you all know the percentage of people who vote
[51:31.880 --> 51:36.680]  of your generation the youngest generation vote less frequently let a
[51:36.680 --> 51:42.960]  smaller percentage of you vote than the older folks do in the country but I
[51:42.960 --> 51:47.320]  really do want to understand how you see the politicians listening or not
[51:47.320 --> 51:53.360]  listening to to your generation right now I think I do think that there has
[51:53.360 --> 51:56.800]  been efforts I know several of candidates throughout the past two years
[51:56.800 --> 52:01.280]  have been to campuses have literally been outreached they sit and they listen
[52:01.280 --> 52:05.400]  but once they're elected in the office that stops and that communication line
[52:05.400 --> 52:09.600]  is you're emailing a staffer or you're emailing a secretary and the odds that
[52:09.600 --> 52:13.680]  it actually gets to that person is so slim to none that the reality that
[52:13.680 --> 52:17.400]  they're actually listening to the complaints of their own constituents is
[52:17.400 --> 52:24.720]  very like I have no faith that they are listening to those and so it's hard to
[52:24.720 --> 52:28.320]  say when I don't even know if they're hearing the issues that are happening in
[52:28.320 --> 52:31.800]  their communities I feel like if we had more young voters and more people that
[52:31.800 --> 52:37.200]  voted as soon as 18 or as soon as they possibly could I feel like we would have
[52:37.200 --> 52:40.720]  more politicians listening to our opinions listening to what we want I
[52:40.720 --> 52:44.640]  think that what politicians need to understand is that if you start
[52:44.640 --> 52:49.960]  politically engaging kids when they're 18 to 21 when they're just starting to
[52:49.960 --> 52:52.920]  get their foot in the door in politics you're more likely to have an engaged
[52:52.920 --> 52:58.040]  audience or an engaged constituency as we grow up and I think that that's some
[52:58.040 --> 53:04.720]  effect that's overlooked most often a lot of these politicians are just so
[53:04.720 --> 53:10.640]  much older than us the problems that I see are going to be very different
[53:10.640 --> 53:16.360]  because for our 80 year old and six-year-old Senate members climate
[53:16.360 --> 53:22.680]  change means three or four degrees and then they aren't gonna be around much
[53:22.680 --> 53:29.920]  longer but for me climate change means I might see the world crumble these
[53:29.920 --> 53:34.600]  politicians are so much older than us they've been in these offices for so
[53:34.600 --> 53:39.320]  long that they don't need to listen to us they've kind of got their election
[53:39.320 --> 53:43.720]  secured almost that they just kind of keep coming back in and they don't have
[53:43.720 --> 53:48.040]  to engage anymore well this has been there's so much more I'd love to ask you
[53:48.040 --> 53:53.160]  but it's been such a wonderful conversation I so appreciate every one
[53:53.160 --> 54:00.640]  of you sharing your thoughts thank you very very much and tomorrow night Judy
[54:00.640 --> 54:04.960]  will have a report on the Senate race in Wisconsin between incumbent Republican
[54:04.960 --> 54:09.920]  Ron Johnson and Democrat Mandela Barnes one of the critical contests that will
[54:09.920 --> 54:14.760]  determine control of that legislative body also tomorrow join us right here on
[54:14.760 --> 54:19.800]  PBS for special live coverage of the January 6th committee's public hearing
[54:19.800 --> 54:24.320]  beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern plus additional analysis on our regularly
[54:24.320 --> 54:29.400]  scheduled program and that is the news hour for tonight I'm Amna Nawaz for all
[54:29.400 --> 54:33.560]  of us here at the PBS NewsHour thank you for joining us we will see you soon
[54:33.560 --> 54:40.120]  major funding for the PBS NewsHour has been provided by for 25 years consumer
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[56:35.880 --> 56:37.920]  you
[56:52.600 --> 56:58.280]  you're watching PBS this is the story of a woman trying to make it in a man's
[56:58.280 --> 57:08.440]  world and the rest as they say is a mystery
[57:08.440 --> 57:13.840]  I'm a really good detective you do not want me as an enemy
[57:13.840 --> 57:20.440]  let justice be done no pressure let's see how this plays out
[57:20.440 --> 57:32.680]  resistance was a necessity on making black America slaves were freed but
[57:32.680 --> 57:38.240]  african-americans have not become truly equal citizens organizing for change
[57:38.240 --> 57:45.280]  and black light black door creating these spaces or enclaves that allow us
[57:45.280 --> 57:49.680]  to feel good about ourselves and good in the world even if the world isn't good
[57:49.680 --> 57:56.080]  making black America through the grapevine Tuesday night at 9 here's
[57:56.080 --> 58:01.440]  tonight's lineup on KQED made possible by your support
[58:10.440 --> 58:15.960]  KQED celebrates Latinx Heritage Month with programs that share the Latinx
[58:15.960 --> 58:22.160]  experience for program listings visit KQED.org slash heritage celebrating
[58:22.160 --> 58:28.320]  Latinx Heritage Month on KQED are you a check please Bay Area fan we want to
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[58:50.120 --> 58:53.120]  this is a battlefield
[58:55.920 --> 59:00.920]  the river is the most important part of nature
[59:00.920 --> 59:07.920]  you have never done this before
[59:07.920 --> 59:13.840]  so many senses have come alive we go with what the environment gives us we are
[59:13.840 --> 59:16.840]  supposed to protect it
[59:18.080 --> 59:23.080]  it's a real drama and it's unfolding right in front of you
[59:23.080 --> 59:29.360]  it's will show us so many things that we just haven't seen
[59:32.800 --> 59:35.800]  change
[59:35.800 --> 59:46.800]  as big as you imagine
[59:46.800 --> 59:54.840]  KQED thanks our members and community partners for their support Xfinity home
[59:54.840 --> 59:58.640]  helps customers keep their home and everything in it more protected from
[59:58.640 --> 01:00:03.400]  24-7 live and recorded video to controlling their smart home devices
[01:00:03.400 --> 01:00:08.120]  learn more at Xfinity dot-com slash Xfinity home
[01:00:12.760 --> 01:00:16.720]  hello everyone and welcome to our own foreign company here's what's coming up
[01:00:16.720 --> 01:00:25.920]  more contentious cases on the United States Supreme Court docket after
[01:00:25.920 --> 01:00:30.480]  gutting women's rights democracy and voting rights come up for review and I
[01:00:30.480 --> 01:00:35.200]  speak to the former Attorney General Eric Holder then a growing power vacuum
[01:00:35.200 --> 01:00:43.720]  how Putin's war in Ukraine is hurting his influence elsewhere plus Iran
[01:00:43.720 --> 01:00:48.520]  intensifies its crackdown but protesters show no sign of bowing to that pressure
[01:00:48.520 --> 01:00:53.320]  the country's deep culture of protest with Reza Aslan who looks at the
[01:00:53.320 --> 01:00:58.320]  historic but little-known role of an American martyr in Persia also ahead
[01:00:58.320 --> 01:01:01.320]  that was really pretty