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  • AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

  • I'm Amna Nawaz.

  • GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

  • On the "NewsHour" tonight: Voters in more than a dozen states cast ballots in Super

  • Tuesday primaries.

  • What the results could mean for November's presidential match-up.

  • AMNA NAWAZ: The families of Israelis taken captive by Hamas on October 7 offer different

  • perspectives on a potential hostage deal.

  • GEOFF BENNETT: And what's behind the shocking increase in alcohol-related deaths in the

  • U.S., and what can be done to stop it?

  • KEITH HUMPHREYS, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University:

  • Those who use it don't think of themselves as using a drug, and, therefore, they don't

  • worry about it as much as

  • they should.

  • (BREAK)

  • GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "NewsHour."

  • It is the biggest night of the primary election season.

  • Voters in 16 states and one territory are making their picks for the Democratic and

  • Republican nominees for president.

  • AMNA NAWAZ: In a high-stakes election year, with an array of domestic and foreign issues

  • at the top of mind, voters today were weighing their options carefully.

  • DEBORAH PERGERSON, North Carolina Voter: I want to vote for Trump because I think he's

  • conservative.

  • He was pro-life.

  • FRED GRAY, Alabama Voter: Joe Biden.

  • Overall, I think he done a great job, regardless of what people think of his age.

  • STEVEN REESE, Colorado Voter: I don't want to have Donald Trump as the option the Republican

  • ticket.

  • So...

  • CAROL BARDEN, Texas Voter: Well, I'm going to vote for anybody who says they're closing

  • the border.

  • CINDY SHEEHAN, Colorado Voter: Noncommitted, yes.

  • I am very concerned about this election.

  • I don't feel like we have equitable choices.

  • GEOFF BENNETT: To help us make sense of it all, we're joined now by Republican strategist

  • Kevin Madden, Democratic strategist Faiz Shakir, and Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report

  • With Amy Walter.

  • With a welcome to all of you.

  • Amy, luckily, for us, this is known as Super Tuesday and not suspenseful Tuesday.

  • (LAUGHTER)

  • AMY WALTER, The Cook Political Report: That's right.

  • GEOFF BENNETT: Because the outcome of these primaries are widely expected to just move

  • Joe Biden and Donald Trump closer to a November rematch.

  • AMY WALTER: That's right.

  • That's right.

  • GEOFF BENNETT: Still, though, what are you watching for?

  • AMY WALTER: Well, what the margins are is going to be somewhat interesting.

  • I mean, we have seen from the very beginning of this process on the Republican side Donald

  • Trump go from 51 percent to 53 percent to 68 percent.

  • In some polls that we have seen in these Super Tuesday states, he's getting over 70 percent

  • of the vote.

  • So the consolidation does seem complete.

  • There are going to be a couple of states we will be watching that are traditionally more

  • blue, where independent voters can show up to vote.

  • And we may see that Nikki Haley has a stronger night there, but not enough to put a meaningful

  • dent in the momentum that Trump has built up.

  • AMNA NAWAZ: Kevin, weigh in on that now.

  • Let's take a look at the latest delegate count on the Republican side.

  • As Geoff mentioned there, Mr. Trump is well on his way to securing that 1,215 needed to

  • secure the Republican nomination there.

  • But he does still face a challenger in Nikki Haley, one, we should mention, who's not facing

  • 91 charges on four criminal cases.

  • Could we see voters' concern over that show up today?

  • KEVIN MADDEN, Republican Strategist: Well, so far, we have not seen it.

  • I think a lot of the -- in a primary context, the -- Trump's legal problems have actually

  • had a Republican antibody effect, in the sense that they have rallied the strongest base

  • MAGA voter to his defense.

  • So -- but that's in a primary context.

  • And so I think, after tonight, we will see that Donald Trump will probably as a mathematical

  • certainty be the nominee and Nikki Haley will have a mathematical impossibility to the nomination.

  • But I think we will also see the continued challenges that Donald Trump faces in a general

  • election.

  • So, tonight, I'm going to be watching some of these suburban areas in places like Virginia

  • and North Carolina, places that have traditionally been the battleground areas of battleground

  • states.

  • And if we still see Trump struggle with those voters, Republican-leaning, pragmatic, independent-minded

  • Republicans, he's going to need those voters that are now voting for Nikki Haley.

  • He's going to need them in the general election if he's going to beat Joe Biden and he's going

  • to win the Electoral College to become the next president.

  • GEOFF BENNETT: And, Faiz, four years ago, now-President Biden, he won 10 out of the

  • 14 contests on Super Tuesday, a strong showing.

  • Today, he's expected to sweep the entire thing as the incumbent.

  • Still, though, what might we learn about his strengths and weaknesses as a candidate?

  • FAIZ SHAKIR, Democratic Strategist: We're trying to still see whether there's voter

  • intensity for Joe Biden.

  • In order to win, he's got to have a record turnout like he had in 2020.

  • According to recent New York Times poll, you see some drop-off of his own voter base, people

  • indicating, at least according to that poll, maybe only 80 to 83 percent, 85 percent are

  • sticking with him, those who voted in 2020 for Joe Biden.

  • That number has to be much higher.

  • For Donald Trump, it's actually 97 percent.

  • Those people who voted for him are indicating a high intensity of staying with him.

  • The presence of Nikki Haley could have some significance here.

  • If she continues on in this race, as we saw last time, she triggers Donald Trump.

  • I mean, he spent a lot of time calling her birdbrain, attacked her husband, attacked

  • her identity and her birth name.

  • I think he's wanted her out of the race.

  • And the longer she stays in it triggers him.

  • And I think it triggers him in an unhealthy way where he continues to affirm to a lot

  • of these voters that Kevin was talking about that he ain't for them.

  • And so I -- that -- to me, that's the biggest question of tonight.

  • Does Nikki Haley choose to stay in, and if she does, how she triggers Donald Trump in

  • his worst elements.

  • AMNA NAWAZ: Amy, we heard from some of those voters there talking about what matters to

  • them, what's animating them to the polls.

  • State by state here, what are you going to be watching for in terms of the issues that

  • will either drive turnout or kind of keep people unenthused and staying home?

  • AMY WALTER: Well, in a number of these states, we also have congressional primaries.

  • And Alabama is a good example of this.

  • The courts determined that the state will now have two majority-Black districts.

  • And so they're -- for the very first time, voters in this one district get their own

  • representative.

  • So you may see turnout up in some places because of the competitive races lower on the ballot,

  • rather than the -- usually, it's the top of the ticket that's driving people out to vote.

  • We have competitive races in California.

  • We have competitive races in North Carolina in primaries.

  • So I think those things, I'm watching as well, because it's going to tell us -- since so

  • many of these districts are overwhelmingly red or overwhelmingly blue, it's going to

  • tell us a lot more about what the next Congress could look like, because these folks, for

  • them, this is the most competitive contest they will have.

  • By the time November comes around, it'll be a foregone conclusion who will be coming to

  • Congress.

  • And so we get a pretty good snapshot or a look into what -- the kind of people coming

  • into Congress we will be talking about.

  • GEOFF BENNETT: Kevin, we will see how much longer Nikki Haley stays in this race after

  • tonight.

  • If she drops out soon, where do her voters go, do you think?

  • KEVIN MADDEN: Well, I think they have parked themselves in undecided.

  • And that will be the big charge and the big challenge that Donald Trump has from here

  • all the way to November is, can he turn those voters who right now are registering support

  • for Nikki Haley in a sort of a protest against Donald Trump -- and whether or not he can

  • eventually by November get them to hold their nose and say, OK, I don't necessarily like

  • Donald Trump, but he's better than Joe Biden.

  • And that will be the big challenge for him from here all the way to November.

  • AMNA NAWAZ: Faiz, speaking of the protest vote, we did see that protest vote when it

  • came to President Biden in Michigan, over 100,000 people showing up to vote uncommitted

  • in protest of President Biden's handling of Israel's war in Gaza.

  • Do we expect to see more of that today?

  • FAIZ SHAKIR: Oh, for sure, yes.

  • You will see it in Minnesota and a few other places where there will be people -- people

  • will be casting this uncommitted vote.

  • And we should all know and understand a couple of things about it.

  • One is, we want in democracy people to be voting and expressing their pain and angst.

  • Right now, it gives Joe Biden, quite frankly, the time to address it.

  • And the only way he can address it is by changing policy.

  • And he's got an opportunity to do that coming up on Thursday.

  • He's got his State of the Union.

  • By all accounts, he's working very hard on trying to get a cease-fire deal, a six-week

  • cease-fire deal that could be game-changing for at least trying to move towards some resolution

  • of the conflict and end it.

  • But nothing's going to change for Joe Biden until he can show policy change.

  • And I know that they're breaking their necks to try to figure that out.

  • And, meanwhile, voters are kind of continually going to put political pressure on the system,

  • as they should, to see a change happen.

  • GEOFF BENNETT: And, Amy, quickly unrelated to Super Tuesday, Arizona Senator Kyrsten

  • Sinema announced today that she's not seeking reelection.

  • What does that do to the Senate landscape?

  • AMY WALTER: Well, this seat was already going to be very, very competitive.

  • What we see now is a battleground state with very clear Democrat and Republican, but those

  • Democrat and Republican very different from the types that have come before them.

  • They don't come from the moderate lane.

  • They come more from the more progressive and more conservative lane, so winning over independent

  • voters is going to be a challenge for both of them for different reasons.

  • GEOFF BENNETT: And her exit is Ruben Gallego's gain, the Democrat in that race?

  • AMY WALTER: Theoretically, although she was also, Sinema, that is, taking a lot of Republican

  • votes as well from those kinds of voters that Kevin was talking about who in the era of

  • Trump feel like they don't have a home and Sinema's independence was attractive to them.

  • GEOFF BENNETT: Amy Walter, Faiz Shakir, Kevin Madden, our thanks to all three of you.

  • AMNA NAWAZ: Well, one of the most watched non-presidential races of the day is in California.

  • GEOFF BENNETT: Voters there are deciding who should fill a U.S. Senate seat.

  • And, as Laura Barron-Lopez explains, today's primary will determine whether the race is

  • just the beginning or essentially the end.

  • LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Super Tuesday's blockbuster drama will be in California, where 11 Democrats

  • and 10 Republicans are competing for the state's open Senate seat.

  • Only the top two finishers, regardless of party, will remain in the race.

  • ERIKA CAMPOS, Democratic Voter: I am still doing my homework.

  • I'm not completely ready to decide who my next senator is going to be.

  • LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: For Democrats, there are three leading contenders, all self-described

  • progressives already serving in the House.

  • REP.

  • ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA), Senatorial Candidate: This will set a new precedent.

  • LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Adam Schiff is best known for trying former President Trump's first

  • impeachment trial.

  • REP.

  • ADAM SCHIFF: I think Californians are looking for a senator who leads in the big fights.

  • When our democracy was at risk, when we had a man who would be a dictator as president,

  • I was in the center of that fight, protecting our institutions.

  • REP.

  • KATIE PORTER (D-CA), Senatorial Candidate: This all totals up to 1,000.

  • LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Katie Porter became a viral sensation with her pointed whiteboard

  • interrogations in committee.

  • REP.

  • KATIE PORTER: I went in really prepared, asking tough questions of people like bank CEOs about

  • why their workers can't put food on the table, asking tough questions, and, more importantly,

  • getting answers.

  • And I think that's a really important part of the Senate and the House that, frankly,

  • we aren't seeing Democrats or Republicans do enough of.

  • REP.

  • BARBARA LEE (D-CA), Senatorial Candidate: I rise today really with a very heavy heart.

  • LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Barbara Lee's national profile dates back to a vote she cast more

  • than 22 years ago.

  • REP.

  • BARBARA LEE: This unspeakable act on the United States has really forced me, however, to rely

  • on my moral compass, my conscience, and my God.

  • LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: The only lawmaker who opposed authorizing military force in the

  • days immediately following 9/11.

  • REP.

  • BARBARA LEE: I voted against that, and I said it could escalate out of control, and it did.

  • LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1 here in California.

  • But with the party's vote split between three well-known candidates and low expected turnout,

  • a Republican could make it through to November.

  • STEVE GARVEY (R), California Senatorial Candidate: We need to build consensus now more than ever.

  • It makes me think, hasn't anybody played a team sport in Congress?

  • LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Former L.A. Dodger and Republican front-runner Steve Garvey leans

  • on sports metaphors while claiming moderate conservative principles.

  • But the first-time candidate offers few specifics or a concrete policy platform, saying he's

  • just trying to listen right now.

  • KEITH CURRY, Former Newport Beach, California, Mayor: We're in a time where people are very

  • angry with the issues.

  • They're angry about homelessness.

  • They're angry about crime.

  • They're angry about the economy.

  • And they're angry about the border.

  • And that creates an environment where an outsider with commonsense solutions like Steve Garvey

  • can be heard and be an effective candidate.

  • LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Keith Curry, the former Republican mayor of Newport Beach, is backing

  • Garvey.

  • KEITH CURRY: There's no doubt that it's difficult for a Republican running statewide in California.

  • LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Curry says star power can elevate California Republicans, like it

  • did for Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

  • But Curry never supported Donald Trump.

  • And Garvey won't say who he's backing for president this year.

  • Steve Garvey voted for Trump twice.

  • Is that a problem for you at all?

  • KEITH CURRY: Most Republicans voted for Donald Trump.

  • And he's probably going to be the nominee this year.

  • He's not very popular in California, but he's going to be the nominee.

  • LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Garvey didn't respond to our request for an interview.

  • Over the weekend, Garvey surged in a new U.C.

  • Berkeley poll from a virtual tie for second place with Congresswoman Katie Porter to a

  • statistical dead heat.

  • NARRATOR: Two leading candidates for Senate, two very different visions for California.

  • LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Garvey's rise follows massive ad buys from Schiff during the closing

  • weeks, naming the Republican as his main competitor.

  • REP.

  • ADAM SCHIFF: He's attacking me repeatedly on FOX.

  • And in a jungle primary, you can't ignore one of your leading opponents who's attacking

  • you.

  • REP.

  • KATIE PORTER: This is a huge choice for Californians.

  • LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Porter believes Schiff is boosting Garvey to guarantee a win for

  • himself in November.

  • NARRATOR: Eric Early proudly stands with Donald Trump.

  • LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: She's buying ads that say another Republican, Eric Early, is the

  • true MAGA threat.

  • REP.

  • KATIE PORTER: I don't think anyone should think that Steve Garvey is going to be California's

  • next senator, but having him in this race all the way through November is a huge, huge

  • gift to Republicans.

  • LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: For most Democratic voters, the candidates differ more in personality

  • than policy.

  • JOSEF LAYA, Democratic Voter: It will be hard for me to differentiate.

  • A lot of the times, it feels like I'm just tossing a coin in a bucket.

  • CATHRYN POSEY, Democratic Voter: Picking the right person feels really important, and it's

  • pretty tough to narrow it down.

  • ARI BARUTH, Democratic Voter: Many of their policies are the same.

  • It's hard sometimes to tell where they overlap and where they don't overlap.

  • LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: All three candidates support Medicare for all, have proposals to reduce

  • the cost of housing, support abolishing the filibuster, and all three are worried about

  • young voters' disillusionment with President Joe Biden and their party.

  • REP.

  • BARBARA LEE: I want to make sure that young people know that their voices are being heard.

  • REP.

  • KATIE PORTER: Right now in our U.S. Senate, we don't have nearly enough younger voices.

  • REP.

  • ADAM SCHIFF: If I have a concern, it's about the youth vote.

  • LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: In the final stretch, they're fighting to separate themselves from

  • the pack.

  • REP.

  • ADAM SCHIFF: I'm drawing the contrasts with my Democratic colleagues based on leadership

  • and effectiveness.

  • LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Porter says she's immune to big money's influence, refusing to accept

  • cash from corporations or lobbyists.

  • REP.

  • KATIE PORTER: In my time in Congress, in my five years, I have done Congress differently.

  • LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Lee had to fight her high school's administration before earning a spot

  • as the first Black woman on the cheerleading team.

  • And, unlike her opponents, she's experienced living unhoused.

  • REP.

  • BARBARA LEE: We have families that can't afford childcare.

  • I know what that's like.

  • I have lived that.

  • LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: If Democrats finish in first and second place, the race to November

  • will be competitive.

  • LORI VELTRI, Republican Voter: I voted for Steve Garvey.

  • LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: And why'd you vote for Garvey?

  • LORI VELTRI: Because I'm really tired of the Democratic policies.

  • LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: But if voters pick a Democrat and a Republican, November will be almost

  • certainly sewn up for the Democrat that makes it through.

  • For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Laura Barron-Lopez.

  • AMNA NAWAZ: And we will have more live coverage of Super Tuesday online and later tonight

  • beginning at 11:00 p.m. Eastern right here on PBS.

  • GEOFF BENNETT: In the day's other headlines: Ukraine claimed it sank a Russian warship,

  • the third in recent weeks, with a high-tech sea drone.

  • Kyiv's military intelligence agency said it happened in the Kerch Strait linking Russia

  • to the Crimean Peninsula.

  • Ukrainian video purportedly showed an explosion tearing into a Russian patrol ship.

  • The vessel was part of Russian defenses against drone attacks.

  • The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for two top Russian commanders today

  • for their actions in Ukraine.

  • The warrants charged Sergei Kobylash and Viktor Sokolov with directing attacks on electric

  • power sites and with crimes against humanity.

  • Ukrainian officials welcomed the move.

  • ANDRIY KOSTIN, Prosecutor General of Ukraine: It's not only about war crime.

  • It's about crimes against humanity, because these crimes were committed on massive scale,

  • and these attacks were committed far beyond the front line, with no any potential even

  • military -- military reason.

  • GEOFF BENNETT: Moscow does not recognize the court's jurisdiction and is expected to not

  • hand over the generals for trial.

  • China has set an ambitious economic growth target of 5 percent this year.

  • It comes despite lagging demand, deflation and a real estate debt crisis.

  • The National People's Congress -- that's the country's rubber stamp legislature -- listened

  • today as the Chinese premier laid out the spending plan and acknowledged the difficulties

  • ahead.

  • LI QIANG, Chinese Premier (through translator): The complexities, severity and uncertainty

  • of the external environment are increasing.

  • The foundation for China's sustained economic recovery is not yet stable, with insufficient

  • effective demand, overcapacity in some industries, weak social expectations and still many risks

  • and hidden dangers.

  • GEOFF BENNETT: The budget also includes a 7 percent hike in defense spending.

  • China's overall military budget has more than doubled in the last decade.

  • Back in this country, Liberty University will pay a $14 million federal fine for not reporting

  • data about crimes on its Lynchburg, Virginia, campus.

  • It's the largest fine ever under a law that mandates collecting crime information and

  • alerting students.

  • Liberty is one of the world's largest Christian schools with more than 15,000 students.

  • The men's basketball team at Dartmouth voted today to form the first labor union for college

  • athletes.

  • Players said the age of amateurism is over.

  • The school said academics, not athletics, are paramount for Ivy League students, so

  • there's no cause to unionize.

  • Dartmouth could file a legal challenge to the move.

  • The Biden administration is proposing a new ceiling for credit card late fees.

  • The president announced it today as he met with his so-called Competition Council.

  • Fees would be topped at $8 per transaction.

  • Currently, they average $32.

  • The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said it will sue to block the rule.

  • And on Wall Street, weak economic data and a slide in big tech stocks drove the market

  • downward.

  • The Dow Jones industrial average was down 404 points to close at 38585.

  • The Nasdaq fell 268 points.

  • The S&P 500 dropped 52.

  • Still to come on the "NewsHour": journalist Kara Swisher discusses her new book on her

  • life and her complicated relationship with the tech industry; and a theater company in

  • Texas that's promoting and preserving Latin American culture and history.

  • AMNA NAWAZ: Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz is still in Washington today meeting

  • with top U.S. officials, including Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

  • His trip comes as negotiators met for a second day in Cairo, working towards a deal between

  • Israel and Hamas to pause fighting in Gaza and free Israeli hostages.

  • But, so far, there's been no breakthrough.

  • Nick Schifrin looks at the status of the talks and speaks to two hostage family members.

  • NICK SCHIFRIN: Negotiations between Israel and Hamas are at a critical moment.

  • U.S. officials tell me that Hamas has responded to the most recent outline that would pause

  • the war for six weeks for the release of 35 to 40 hostages, but it will take some time

  • for Israel and international mediators to reply.

  • The U.S. had hoped to secure a deal before the Islamic holy month of Ramadan begins next

  • week.

  • Today, once again, President Biden put the onus on Hamas.

  • JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: It's in the hands of Hamas right now.

  • The Israelis have been cooperating.

  • There's an offer out there that's rational.

  • We don't know what -- we will know in a couple of days if it's just going to happen.

  • But we need the cease-fire.

  • NICK SCHIFRIN: Central to that cease-fire are the lives of 100 or so Israeli hostages

  • who've been held in Gaza for nearly five months and their families waiting for their release.

  • But not all the families agree on how to best bring their loved ones back home.

  • I'm first joined by Yair Glick, the cousin of Eitan Mor, who was a security guard at

  • the Nova Festival when Hamas terrorists launched their assault.

  • Thank you very much, Yair Glick.

  • Welcome to the "NewsHour."

  • I appreciate it.

  • Do you believe, bottom line, that if a deal is possible this week, the Israeli government

  • should accept it?

  • YAIR GLICK, Cousin of Israeli Hostage: Hi.

  • Thank you for having me.

  • And, no, I think that we should not have a deal with terrorists.

  • We should not negotiate with them.

  • We want them all back.

  • We want all our families come back.

  • But we think that we need to do it in a different way.

  • NICK SCHIFRIN: So what is that different way?

  • What do you believe is the best way to get Eitan Mor back?

  • YAIR GLICK: We need to make Hamas, the terrorist that attacked Israel, kidnapped people, tortured

  • people, murdered people, we need to force them to give all the people back.

  • We cannot let these terrorists to get what they want and what they did it for.

  • NICK SCHIFRIN: Do you believe that the way the Israeli government is going about the

  • campaign in Gaza, do you believe that is beginning to force Hamas to do, as you say, to avoid

  • giving Hamas -- giving into Hamas demands?

  • YAIR GLICK: Yes, we can see that we are really continuing to fight Hamas and we are winning

  • there.

  • We are forcing them to go back and to hide.

  • And we need just to continue it.

  • We don't want the terrorists to be there.

  • We don't want the terrorists to be able to do again these terrible attacks.

  • And we can continue doing it and trying all the time, of course, to take care of the people

  • in Gaza.

  • NICK SCHIFRIN: And what do you say to the people who point out that the IDF has managed

  • to release a few hostages, but the vast majority of hostages who have been released came during

  • a cease-fire that the Israeli government accepted back in November, when more than 100 hostages

  • were released?

  • YAIR GLICK: So, first, I think that we should look on the differences between the deals.

  • So, during November, we get one week of cease-fire.

  • Now they are offering six weeks to give us less people.

  • During this time, they had time to get more weapons, more ammo, these kind of deals.

  • We just give them more will to do it again and again.

  • NICK SCHIFRIN: The argument you're making is echoed by the Tikva Forum, a group of families

  • that was created by Eitan's father.

  • Many other families believe that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not doing enough to

  • prioritize the securing of hostages.

  • Do you believe that you're in the minority?

  • YAIR GLICK: I think that yes, because when you're talking about families of hostages,

  • I think that the rational and the normal reaction will be to do whatever they need to get them

  • back.

  • And I can't judge them, and I really understand them.

  • But I'm not talking about the families.

  • I'm talking about the country.

  • I'm talking about the decision-makers.

  • And they need to think in a different way.

  • They need to be rational, not emotional.

  • So, we need to think about the future.

  • We need to think what will happen next time.

  • NICK SCHIFRIN: And finally, Eitan Mor, your cousin, is 23 years old.

  • What should we know about him?

  • YAIR GLICK: So he's really a young, young man that's just starting his life.

  • He's turning from teenage to a man.

  • And he moved to his own apartment and started thinking about studying, learning what to

  • do.

  • And now this terrible thing happened.

  • And we need to talk about how to get him out of Gaza.

  • NICK SCHIFRIN: Yair Glick, thank you very much.

  • YAIR GLICK: Thank you.

  • NICK SCHIFRIN: And now we turn to Jonathan Dekel-Chen.

  • His son Sagui was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from Kibbutz Nir Oz, where one in four people

  • were either killed or kidnapped on October 7.

  • Jonathan Dekel-Chen, thank you so much.

  • Welcome back to the "NewsHour."

  • As I have just laid out, there is a deal that Israel and Hamas are negotiating that would

  • stop the war for about six weeks, at least in the first round, for the release of 35

  • to 40 hostages or so.

  • Do you believe the Israeli government, bottom line, should accept that deal?

  • JONATHAN DEKEL-CHEN, Father of Hamas Hostage: I believe the Israeli government should be

  • doing its job and returning as many of the hostages as possible in as early time frame

  • as possible.

  • Right now, we don't know how many are still alive.

  • Every day, every hour, the possibility increases that there are fewer of them to return alive.

  • So, yes, I'm absolutely in favor of it.

  • NICK SCHIFRIN: Do you believe the Israeli government right now is doing all it can to

  • release your son and the remaining hostages?

  • JONATHAN DEKEL-CHEN: It's hard for me to give you a solid answer on that.

  • We will only know that they have done everything that they must do when all of the hostages

  • that are alive and the bodies, unfortunately, of those that we already know Hamas is holding,

  • when they all return home.

  • That will be the sign that the Israeli government has done all that it must to bring back these

  • people and not sacrifice them a second time after October 7.

  • NICK SCHIFRIN: The Israeli government and its supporters have argued that military pressure

  • needs to increase in order to convince Hamas to release the hostages.

  • Do you agree?

  • JONATHAN DEKEL-CHEN: Unfortunately, I don't.

  • I mean, the Israeli soldiers, these are my brothers, my sons, and I completely support

  • what they are trying to do.

  • However, there's no proof of concept that military action is going to get any of the

  • hostages home alive.

  • The three hostages that were rescued by the IDF are the exception that proves the rule.

  • The rest of the, we hope, 130-something hostages are being held very closely by Hamas in the

  • tunnels.

  • And so this idea that Israeli soldiers are going to go knocking on Sinwar's door and

  • he will then turn over the hostages, it's fantasy.

  • There's absolutely no proof.

  • And, on the contrary, there's proof that before giving them up, the Hamas leadership will,

  • in all probability, execute them all.

  • So, no, absolutely, I do not support that idea that military action prioritized or certainly

  • on its own is going to get even one hostage home alive.

  • NICK SCHIFRIN: Do you believe that you represent the vast majority of the families of those

  • being held in Gaza?

  • JONATHAN DEKEL-CHEN: Absolutely,there's no question, also, the vast majority of the people

  • of Israel.

  • We see that in the streets.

  • We see that in the press.

  • There's no question that Israelis understand that we simply cannot be whole again after

  • the disaster of October 7, the disaster overseen by our own government.

  • We can only be whole again when the hostages come home.

  • We won't be able to look at each other if, God forbid, the hostages are not returned

  • alive or those whose bodies remain in Gaza, for them to be returned.

  • NICK SCHIFRIN: On October the 7th, your son fought off Hamas terrorists trying to protect

  • his wife and two daughters.

  • Your daughter-in-law has subsequently had a baby.

  • She was pregnant on October the 7th.

  • What do you want people to know about your son?

  • JONATHAN DEKEL-CHEN: Well, my son is the kind of guy where, not just our community, our

  • kibbutz community, not just our country, but I really do believe that large parts of the

  • world can benefit by people like that being active parts of this world, of doing good,

  • of creating, of constructing.

  • And that is my son in a nutshell.

  • And you're right.

  • The time has come for him to be reunited now with his three daughters and his wife.

  • His wife is truly the hero of our family story, both surviving an impossible ordeal on October

  • 7 and keeping the lives of her daughters moving forward, despite this utterly impossible situation

  • that we find ourselves in.

  • NICK SCHIFRIN: Jonathan Dekel-Chen, thank very much.

  • JONATHAN DEKEL-CHEN: Thank you.

  • AMNA NAWAZ: Few journalists have been covering Silicon Valley as long as Kara Swisher.

  • And even fewer are as respected, liked, and feared by the tech industry and its most iconic

  • leaders.

  • For the first time, she's opening up about her own life in her latest book, which we

  • recently discussed, entitled "Burn Book: A Tech Love Story."

  • Kara Swisher, welcome back to the "NewsHour."

  • Thanks so much for joining us.

  • KARA SWISHER, Author, "Burn Book: A Tech Love Story": Thanks for having me.

  • AMNA NAWAZ: So I think it's fair to say that you don't mince words and you don't suffer

  • fools.

  • KARA SWISHER: I don't.

  • AMNA NAWAZ: You call it as you see it...

  • KARA SWISHER: That is correct.

  • Check.

  • Check.

  • AMNA NAWAZ: ... in particular with people in positions of power

  • And in your memoir, it seems like you have always been that way, even when you were a

  • kid.

  • KARA SWISHER: Yes.

  • AMNA NAWAZ: You were unafraid to question authority.

  • I'm wondering where that comes from, but also how you hang on to that over the years in

  • a world that often kind of squashes that in women.

  • KARA SWISHER: It does.

  • I don't know.

  • I don't know what's happened here.

  • It just won't stop.

  • I was like this as a kid.

  • My nickname as a baby was Tempesta.

  • And, of course, that's the name they would put on a woman, right?

  • Like, oh, difficult, bossy.

  • I used to get bossy all the time.

  • And I was like, I just have executive function.

  • (LAUGHTER)

  • KARA SWISHER: I don't know what to tell you.

  • I don't know.

  • I just am the way I am.

  • And I kind of get irked when people just tell you or explain things to you.

  • I'm not one that's easily mansplained at kind of thing.

  • AMNA NAWAZ: Yes.

  • KARA SWISHER: And so I just was always like, why?

  • Why?

  • Why was my favorite word.

  • And over the years, persistent obnoxiousness has been a career highlight for me.

  • AMNA NAWAZ: Well, it's a good question to be asking in journalism in particular.

  • KARA SWISHER: Yes.

  • AMNA NAWAZ: And you joined the journalism world early.

  • I do want to point out journalism was not your first choice for careers, right?

  • KARA SWISHER: No, I wanted to be in the military.

  • My dad was in the military who had died many years before.

  • And I was very -- I'm unusually -- unusually wanted to do that.

  • I thought it was important to serve your country.

  • I wanted to do military intelligence.

  • I was very interested in -- I thought about the CIA.

  • I thought about State Department, all those places.

  • But I was really oriented toward the military, but I was gay.

  • And at the time, you could not be gay and be in the military.

  • And it took a very long time and a ridiculous amount of -- so many good people could have

  • served.

  • I would have been an admiral.

  • And I think I would have done a very nice job.

  • AMNA NAWAZ: You mentioned your father.

  • You were very young.

  • You were just 5 years old, right?

  • How you -- how you look back on that now, the impact of losing your father that early

  • on who you are now, on how you live now, on how you parent now?

  • KARA SWISHER: Well, there's not a day that goes by I don't think about my dad.

  • This is some 50-some years hence.

  • And I think about him all the time.

  • He's -- he was the most important, one of the more -- when a parent dies at a young

  • age, half your life goes away, right, like, because you have two parents, many people.

  • Not everybody does, but it's a real -- it's a real blow.

  • And I didn't realize the disaster of it, for me, at least, because what happens is, you

  • often get very -- it's called highly functional.

  • And you're like, I can do it.

  • I'm fine.

  • Everything bad happened, and I'm fine.

  • And so you get really good at running over road -- running through roadblocks, essentially.

  • But when I had my first -- I have four kids now, but when I had my first -- my son, and

  • I remember when he turned 5, which is around the age my dad died, he knew me so well.

  • And I was like, oh, my God, I really -- it really was someone I was very close to who

  • died.

  • And you don't have memories or ability to express things as well at 5.

  • So it's informed everything I have done.

  • And it's made me realize more than most people that life is too short.

  • And it's that's a cliche, but I don't got any kind of time for nonsense.

  • That's -- I think that's what it brings to me.

  • AMNA NAWAZ: I was interested to learn in your academic career, when you were studying at

  • Georgetown, your focus in history classes in particular was on Nazi propaganda.

  • And you wrote in your book: "What struck me was how easily people could be manipulated

  • by fear and rage, and how facts could be destroyed without repercussions."

  • How much of a parallel do you see between what we are living today and what you were

  • studying back then?

  • KARA SWISHER: It's the same thing.

  • They call it misinformation, disinformation, digital, all kinds of bots.

  • It's propaganda.

  • And so now, with -- and especially since we're addicted to these devices, it gets even worse.

  • So, it's -- I always say -- I say this a lot.

  • Like, Hitler didn't need Instagram, right, or Mussolini didn't need Snapchat.

  • But can you imagine if they had these devices?

  • Very problematic.

  • And they did fine with just paper or radio or whatever.

  • So did many other terrible leaders over the course of history.

  • But this presents tools to people who are bad on a global level in a scale that is unprecedented.

  • AMNA NAWAZ: In your career, you have covered, gotten to know interview is some of the world's

  • most powerful tech leaders, mostly men, I think it's fair to say.

  • KARA SWISHER: Mostly.

  • AMNA NAWAZ: I'm curious, over time, if you have found that they all have one thing in

  • common.

  • Is there something that stood out to you?

  • KARA SWISHER: Besides being straight white men?

  • (LAUGHTER)

  • KARA SWISHER: Let's see.

  • They have different versions of this, but persistence, the ability to persist despite

  • mistakes, right, to be able to pivot very quickly, to be able to sort of believe the

  • unbelievable, in that -- that's a good part, but it can also be a bad part, right?

  • You -- if you -- you are like, I'm going to do it anyway.

  • But they -- the really good ones, they have that ability to keep going no matter what

  • and believe the unbelievable, but then pivot when they need to.

  • AMNA NAWAZ: Your book is, as you say, a tech love story.

  • And I think tech has undoubtedly made our lives better in so many ways.

  • (CROSSTALK)

  • AMNA NAWAZ: But there are so many risks and dangers.

  • And those are real.

  • And I wonder what you make of the efforts to try to control those, lawmakers, in particular,

  • trying to regulate them, pressure on tech leaders to have moral or morality infused

  • in their decisions.

  • I mean, how do we get rid of the risks and dangers and still have the benefits?

  • KARA SWISHER: Well, we haven't tried, because it hasn't worked.

  • We haven't done anything.

  • So, I mean, if there was one law, if you could name a law for me that protects us against

  • technology specifically, I -- you can't find it.

  • The law that exists actually benefits them, Section 230.

  • It gives them broad immunity.

  • They can't be sued.

  • You can't have the biggest industry in the world, in terms of value and power, not have

  • any liability.

  • It would be unimaginable if it was pharmaceuticals or insurance or Wall Street.

  • But here we are.

  • AMNA NAWAZ: You quote the line in your book, "Babylon was," meaning every major power at

  • some point will meet its end.

  • KARA SWISHER: Always.

  • AMNA NAWAZ: Do you think the same is going to happen to the giants in tech?

  • KARA SWISHER: One of the things about tech is, the young tends to eat its old, although,

  • in this new shift to AGI, artificial general intelligence, it's dominated by big companies

  • and companies that have been around, whether it's Microsoft or Meta or Amazon.

  • It's -- and, of course, Alphabet, Google.

  • So, it's still dominated by the big players because it's so costly.

  • The cost of compute here is so high.

  • And so, right now, it's kind of an interesting shift.

  • The younger companies, of which they're getting funded, a ton of them, none of them has broken

  • through to beat the bigger companies.

  • And I doubt they will in this particular era.

  • AMNA NAWAZ: All right, the book is "Burn Book: A Tech Love Story."

  • The author is Kara Swisher.

  • Kara, thank you so much.

  • Great to talk to you.

  • KARA SWISHER: Thank you.

  • GEOFF BENNETT: One of the most commonly used drugs in the U.S. is also one of the deadliest.

  • That's alcohol.

  • Over the last 20 years, more and more Americans have died from alcohol-related causes, and

  • a new study reveals how those deaths have surged recently.

  • William Brangham takes a closer look.

  • WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The CDC issued this new report, and it looks at both deaths directly

  • tied to alcohol, like cirrhosis of the liver, as well as indirect deaths, like injuries

  • and certain types of cancer.

  • It found that, in just five years, alcohol-related deaths rose by 29 percent.

  • By 2021, alcohol contributed to the deaths of more than 178,000 Americans that year.

  • That's about 500 people a day lost because of consuming wine, beer, or other alcohol.

  • For a broader look at these findings, we're joined again by Keith Humphreys.

  • He's a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University.

  • Keith, very good to have you back on the "NewsHour."

  • Were you surprised?

  • I mean, this is your field of study.

  • Were you surprised by these numbers and how much they had ticked upwards?

  • KEITH HUMPHREYS, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University:

  • Sadly, I am not.

  • We noticed during the pandemic that certain groups of the population were increasing their

  • drinking, including drinking alone and drinking in large amounts.

  • And, also, there's been a long-term trend.

  • Although cost of living is going up for many things, it is not for alcohol.

  • Alcohol is very cheap in the United States right now, in historical terms.

  • And when it's cheap, Americans tend to drink more, and that's where you get, unfortunately,

  • these kinds of really tragic numbers.

  • WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And are those the principal drivers, low price and all the stresses associated

  • with the pandemic?

  • KEITH HUMPHREYS: Those two things are absolutely critical to producing this kind of increase.

  • I mean, we have -- federal alcohol taxes were last increased in 1991.

  • They have been declining in real terms ever since.

  • Alcohol taxes on craft beer and spirits were actually cut just before the pandemic.

  • And that has always historically driven more consumption.

  • The other point to remember, of course, is that alcohol is a legal product and therefore

  • one that is heavily advertised.

  • And we do know that the amount of promotion of alcohol, which anyone who has watched a

  • football game is aware of, also helps keep the business flowing and keeps people drinking,

  • including sometimes, unfortunately, too much.

  • WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I mean, I can't help but notice -- you and I have talked many times

  • over the years, but we're always talking about illicit drugs, illegal drugs and policies

  • to address those, never about alcohol.

  • I mean, is that just like, as Orwell says, that the struggle is constantly to see the

  • thing that is right there in front of us?

  • KEITH HUMPHREYS: Yes, it's a huge blind spot in American drug policy.

  • You can talk about drugs for hours, and people will mention fentanyl and meth and cocaine,

  • which are, of course, very important drugs to think about, and they do a lot of harm,

  • but no one will bring up alcohol.

  • And, afterwards, they may all get a drink together and not even think, we're using a

  • drug right now.

  • And that's partly what the risk of alcohol comes from, is that those who use it don't

  • think of themselves as using a drug and, therefore, they don't worry about it as much as they

  • should.

  • WILLIAM BRANGHAM: One of the things, back into the CDC's data, while more men died of

  • alcohol-related deaths, the death rate increased for women quite dramatically.

  • Why do you think that is?

  • KEITH HUMPHREYS: Very tragic to see the increase among women's deaths.

  • And, also, it's enraging to know where it comes from.

  • So, about 25 years ago, the alcohol industry observed that women were getting more education,

  • more disposable income, but they weren't drinking that much.

  • So they launched quite a bit of female-focused advertising, creating, for example, mommy

  • wine culture and that sort of thing.

  • And it worked, broadly speaking.

  • We saw an increase in women's drinking, including in some populations drinking as much as men.

  • And, biologically, the same amount of alcohol in general actually is more damaging to women

  • than men, partly to do for reasons of metabolism, partly to do with reasons of body size.

  • And so we're seeing the awful outcome of a 25-year-long campaign to get women to drink

  • more heavily.

  • WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So, in terms of solutions, what do we know that works on a policy level?

  • I mean, you touched on some of these things, price being one of them, but what else can

  • we do as a society to try to ameliorate these ills?

  • KEITH HUMPHREYS: Yes, sometimes, the simple answer is the right one.

  • Alcohol is a commodity, like gasoline.

  • People use less of it when it's more expensive.

  • So, simply indexing alcohol taxes for inflation, so they don't lose value over a year, that

  • would reduce people's drinking.

  • We have very good demonstrations of that fact in states and nations that have done it.

  • WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And what about individuals?

  • If someone personally feels like, you know what, I am concerned about this, what do we

  • know works?

  • KEITH HUMPHREYS: So, one thing I can say with optimism for anyone who's out there struggling

  • with a drinking problem is, there's about 23, 24 million Americans who have had a serious

  • problem with alcohol or other drugs and are in recovery.

  • Recovery is a realistic aspiration.

  • It happens every single day.

  • There's no one right pathway to it.

  • There are people who benefit through Alcoholics Anonymous, the mutual health program.

  • There's people who benefit from treatment, from counseling.

  • There's people who benefit from medications.

  • There's also people who are able to change without any of those things, usually with

  • some reorientation in their life, like engaging with people who don't drink and activities

  • that are incompatible with drinking.

  • So there's every reason to believe that you can recover, and there's certainly no reason

  • to feel ashamed if you have a drink problem.

  • It's something that millions and millions of Americans will go through.

  • WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right.

  • Keith Humphreys of Stanford University, always so interesting to talk with you.

  • Thank you very much.

  • KEITH HUMPHREYS: Thank you.

  • AMNA NAWAZ: And we will be back shortly with a look at an Austin, Texas, theater company

  • that's working to promote and preserve Latin American culture.

  • GEOFF BENNETT: But, first, take a moment to hear from your local PBS station.

  • It's a chance to offer your support, which helps to keep programs like ours on the air.

  • AMNA NAWAZ: For those stations staying with us, off-the-shelf drones have proved to be

  • a transformational technology.

  • And now they are helping reunite us with man's best friend, as special correspondent Malcolm

  • Brabant saw in Southern England in this encore report.

  • MALCOLM BRABANT: We have just driven for about two-and-a-half-hours across the English countryside

  • in Southern England to a village called Wonston in the county of Hampshire, and we're joining

  • people looking for a black Labrador called Xena, who's 1-year-old and who has been missing

  • for a few days.

  • The drone pilots have been up.

  • There have been some positive sightings, but Xena is a bit nervous, and she took flight

  • and disappeared.

  • And there's only about an hour to go before nightfall.

  • We're following actress Eryl Holt, who became Xena's owner a month ago after the young Labrador

  • was rejected as a gun dog because she was easily spooked.

  • ERYL HOLT, Dog Owner: Unfortunately, somebody came round to visit, and they had a very high-pitched

  • voice, a very bumptious dog, and I think it was just the last straw for her.

  • And I suddenly turned around, and I went, where's the dog?

  • MALCOLM BRABANT: Earlier, the area was scanned by a drone that can detect the body heat of

  • a scared puppy or an invading infantryman.

  • SHANE PHILLIPS, The Hampshire Drone Company: The Ukrainian government have purchased this

  • particular model because of the thermal capabilities.

  • So, I have heard they're in very short supply at the moment.

  • So I was lucky, luckily managed to get one about a year ago.

  • MALCOLM BRABANT: Shane Phillips is a commercial drone pilot who normally makes films, but

  • volunteers for search-and-rescue when the call comes.

  • SHANE PHILLIPS: Dogs tend to hide in quite dense undergrowth.

  • They're never usually out in the open.

  • But with the drone, especially with thermal capabilities, you can clearly open very quickly.

  • We can scan this whole field area here in a matter of seconds.

  • And at least we can say, there's no dog here, and you can focus your efforts elsewhere.

  • ERYL HOLT: I'm very frightened for her, really,because she doesn't know this part of the country

  • at all.

  • She's only 1.

  • This is just the perfect place for her to be, because there are no main roads around

  • here at all.

  • But if she was to stray further, we have got really, really busy roads.

  • There's a railway line.

  • MALCOLM BRABANT: As the light fades fast, a farmer's convinced that he's spotted the

  • Labrador.

  • ERYL HOLT: It's definitely her.

  • MAN: I think I can see her.

  • ERYL HOLT: Yes, I know.

  • I can too.

  • Shall I go and get John (ph)?

  • MAN: That's not a deer.

  • ERYL HOLT: No, it's not.

  • MALCOLM BRABANT: But the animal was a muntjac, a small deer about the same size as a dog.

  • Xena faced her third night alone, while her owner endured a tumult of anxiety and hope.

  • Similar emotions flowed at the biggest reservoir in North Wales, when a dog walker's idyllic

  • country stroll went pear-shaped.

  • Her charge, Charlie (ph), a venerable spaniel, suddenly vanished into thin air.

  • LYDIA DAVID, Dog Owner: As the evening went on and the night drew in, we became more and

  • more anxious that we weren't going to find Charlie.

  • MALCOLM BRABANT: Charlie is the best friend Lydia David will ever have.

  • LYDIA DAVID: There was no way that we were leaving that night without him.

  • It was an awful experience to go through, one that I wouldn't wish on anyone.

  • We just wanted to get him back to where he belonged, back to the people that loved him,

  • back to safety.

  • TIM SMITH, Pilot, Drone SAR For Lost Dogs U.K.: Launching.

  • MALCOLM BRABANT: Cometh the hour, cometh the drone pilot.

  • Tim Smith spotted Lydia's SOS post in a Facebook dog search-and-rescue group.

  • TIM SMITH: A lot of people consider drones to be a nuisance, but we actually use them

  • to find lost dogs.

  • And around here, particularly in the weather conditions in North Wales, a lost dog can

  • be in a lot of trouble.

  • MALCOLM BRABANT: The odds weren't encouraging.

  • TIM SMITH: Charlie was deaf, blind and almost lame, so a very elderly dog to start with.

  • Nobody could understand what had happened, because we covered the land, and we actually

  • flew over where Charlie was, and nobody saw him.

  • MALCOLM BRABANT: But then the dog Walker pointed to the place where Charlie disappeared.

  • Tim reached for his thermal camera.

  • The white dot in the middle shows Charlie trapped on the water's edge.

  • WOMAN: Got him.

  • I have got him.

  • (CROSSTALK)

  • WOMAN: I have got him.

  • WOMAN: I have got him.

  • WOMAN: Charlie.

  • Charlie.

  • LYDIA DAVID: We're so incredibly lucky that Tim saw that post that night, that he was

  • able and happy to come out and help us.

  • Everyone did as much as they could, and that's what got Charlie back home safe to us.

  • TIM SMITH: I came away on an incredible high.

  • Yes, I'm still buzzing.

  • MALCOLM BRABANT: These are just some of the dogs who've gone missing in the past couple

  • of weeks.

  • Every day, on average, there are 10 new appeals to track down a four-legged friend.

  • The group can call on 2,500 drone pilots.

  • And, to date, they have reunited nearly 3,000 dogs with their families.

  • Hope is running out in Cornwall in Southwest England, a landscape pitted with abandoned

  • tin and copper mines.

  • Douglas went missing after his owner went for a run.

  • ELODIE SPARROW, Dog Owner: I had him since I was, I think, 10 years old.

  • And so he's basically grown up with us as kids.

  • MALCOLM BRABANT: Elodie Sparrow is a student of Mandarin and bereft.

  • ELODIE SPARROW: He's been through really hard times in our life, and he's been such a comfort.

  • And he's definitely a big part of the family.

  • MALCOLM BRABANT: This is Douglas in happier times near Elodie's home.

  • JOHN DAVIES, Pilot, Cornwall Search Dogs: He's a 12-year-old cocker spaniel.

  • And he is quite infirm.

  • And he's blind and probably is hard of hearing.

  • MALCOLM BRABANT: John Davies is a former police dog handler who takes to the air when the

  • ground trail goes cold.

  • JOHN DAVIES: They're hiding.

  • They're probably in the feral dog syndrome, the wild syndrome that they go into after

  • a time of being out of their family.

  • They're scared.

  • They're frightened.

  • They want to hunker down.

  • Alas, at this point, we actually haven't found Douglas.

  • ELODIE SPARROW: It feels really strange not to have him with us, but, also, it's horrible

  • to have to worry about what could have happened to him.

  • ERYL HOLT: Hello, Xena.

  • MALCOLM BRABANT: Back in Hampshire, after missing for 3.5 days, Xena made her own way

  • back home, lured by a pile of scented clothes, including Eryl's husband's dirty underwear.

  • ERYL HOLT: We have got Xena home at last, which is really, really fantastic.

  • She's very tired, and she's had a good meal.

  • And now she's just nodding off on her favorite sofa.

  • Thank you.

  • SHANE PHILLIPS: No problem at all.

  • ERYL HOLT: Oh, thank you so much, honestly.

  • SHANE PHILLIPS: No problem.

  • ERYL HOLT: Brilliant.

  • SHANE PHILLIPS: Any time, hopefully never again.

  • ERYL HOLT: Yes, hopefully never again

  • MALCOLM BRABANT: But as Xena luxuriates in home comforts, spare a thought for those lost

  • forever.

  • For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Malcolm Brabant in Southern England.

  • GEOFF BENNETT: The Austin, Texas, theater company Proyecto Teatro aims to promote and

  • preserve Latin American culture.

  • And its latest project is helping redefine Latin American history.

  • Journey Love Taylor of our Student Reporting Labs Academy shares this story as part of

  • our arts and culture series, Canvas.

  • JOURNEY LOVE TAYLOR: At The VORTEX Theater in Austin, Texas, Proyecto Teatro is in the

  • middle of rehearsal "Cabarex 2," the second installment of a trilogy of stage plays that

  • explore Latin American history, from the times before the arrival of Columbus all the way

  • through to an imagined future.

  • Luis Armando Ordaz Gutierrez is the longtime artistic director for the company.

  • LUIS ARMANDO ORDAZ GUTIERREZ, Artistic Director, Proyecto Teatro: We're wanting to use this

  • show to raise awareness of what we can do as a local community to take back our culture,

  • to take back our art form and our identity.

  • JOURNEY LOVE TAYLOR: But this isn't just a play.

  • It's a cabaret, and it's performed completely in Spanish.

  • LUIS ARMANDO ORDAZ GUTIERREZ: This type of work, you don't really see it so much in Spanish,

  • and you don't see this type of work in the Latino community, because cabaret is derived

  • from European art forms, and so it's a little odd and a little different and new to see

  • it in the context of our culture.

  • And so when people saw it, they were just so happy to be able to see their stories,

  • their people, their characters in the lens of cabaret with, like, the musical numbers

  • and the dance sequences and the jazzy music.

  • VALERIA SMEKE, Cancer and Performer: My favorite part about being involved in this production

  • specifically, I think, would be the dances.

  • There's one with, like, chairs.

  • You have your little, like, chair dance routine.

  • I love that one.

  • RACHEL RIVERA, Choreographer, Makeup, Costume, and Hair Artist: Being a part of something

  • so impactful in my community feels like a great responsibility, especially since I feel

  • that I am a leader and someone who creates something for other people to see and other

  • people that are not part of my culture to see, to make sure that what I'm doing always

  • carries that intention that I want it to carry and the intention of respecting and honoring

  • my culture.

  • VALERIA SMEKE: I really don't get a chance to, like, connect with my roots, so being

  • here and, like, Rachel teaching us these indigenous dances, just learning about the history, it's

  • a really beautiful thing.

  • JOURNEY LOVE TAYLOR: For the "PBS NewsHour" Student Reporting Labs, I'm Journey Love Taylor.

  • AMNA NAWAZ: And don't forget to join us later tonight for our live Super Tuesday special.

  • We will have the latest results and analysis from today's Republican and Democratic presidential

  • primaries.

  • That's at 11:00 p.m. Eastern right here on PBS.

  • And that is the "NewsHour" for tonight.

  • I'm Amna Nawaz.

  • GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

  • Thanks for joining us.

  • And we will see you later this evening.

AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

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