About this transcript: This is a full AI-generated transcript of PBS News Hour full episode, April 9, 2026, published April 12, 2026. The transcript contains 9,134 words with timestamps and was generated using Whisper AI.
"Good evening, I'm Amna Nawaz. And I'm Jeff Bennett. On the NewsHour tonight, the fragile U.S.-Iran truce is holding, for now, as Israel signals readiness for direct talks with Lebanon, a day after strikes there threaten to derail the ceasefire. A new high-powered artificial intelligence model..."
[0:03] Good evening, I'm Amna Nawaz.
[0:05] And I'm Jeff Bennett.
[0:06] On the NewsHour tonight, the fragile U.S.-Iran truce is holding, for now, as Israel signals
[0:11] readiness for direct talks with Lebanon, a day after strikes there threaten to derail
[0:16] the ceasefire.
[0:17] A new high-powered artificial intelligence model raises major concerns about the potential
[0:23] dangers of this technology getting into the wrong hands.
[0:27] And Ukraine's military faces a growing problem of desertion from extreme battlefield fatigue
[0:33] after years of fighting off Russia's invasion.
[0:35] I thought people would be valued.
[0:38] I thought there would be some kind of support there.
[0:40] Well, I got there, and I realized that the commanders were sending people to their deaths.
[0:57] Major funding for the PBS NewsHour has been provided by...
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[2:29] Israel has agreed to negotiations with Lebanon as it continued strikes on Beirut today.
[2:34] The bombing across Lebanon is jeopardizing the fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran.
[2:40] It comes as American and Iranian diplomats are set to meet in Pakistan this weekend.
[2:45] But a wide gulf of trust and lack of clarity on demands threatens this possible end to more
[2:51] than five weeks of fighting.
[2:53] Correspondent Simona Fultin starts our coverage from Lebanon, still reeling from the deadliest
[2:58] day of Israeli attacks since the start of the wider war with Iran.
[3:04] Rescue teams in Beirut have been working around the clock since Israel unleashed an unprecedented
[3:09] wave of attacks yesterday.
[3:11] Eighteen people have been pulled dead from the rubble of this building alone.
[3:16] There is little hope for the four still buried underneath.
[3:19] But the civil defense isn't giving up until everyone is accounted for.
[3:24] We are currently carrying out this search and rescue operation the fastest we can.
[3:28] We came here so we can implement this mission and so that we can recover the four missing
[3:33] victims.
[3:34] Volunteer Ali Khalid Heibi came to the capital as part of reinforcements sent from other parts
[3:39] of the country.
[3:40] There is a drone in the sky right now.
[3:41] The strikes are still ongoing.
[3:42] Are you worried about your safety?
[3:45] It's not just a worry.
[3:46] It's a risk above our head.
[3:48] This constant annoying sound that's making us nervous.
[3:51] So yes, we are a bit distracted, but we will stay here to complete the mission.
[3:56] In just 10 minutes, Israeli warplanes carried out more than 100 strikes, killing more than
[4:01] 300 and injuring more than 1,000 in one of the bloodiest days in Lebanon's recent history.
[4:07] Israel says it was targeting Hezbollah, but the strikes hit densely populated residential neighborhoods
[4:12] exacting a heavy civilian toll.
[4:15] Scenes of devastation like this one are repeated across the capital, Beirut, in areas that were
[4:20] previously deemed safe.
[4:22] That perception of relative safety has been completely shattered.
[4:25] There is a profound feeling of shock, uncertainty and fear that there are no guardrails to prevent
[4:32] this war from escalating further.
[4:33] President Trump has pushed Israel to scale back attacks on Lebanon.
[4:37] And, today, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to direct negotiations.
[4:41] I instructed the Cabinet to open direct negotiations with Lebanon in order to achieve two goals.
[4:48] One, the disarmament of Hezbollah.
[4:51] Two, a historic sustainable peace agreement between Israel and Lebanon.
[4:55] The direct talks slated to be in Washington would be the first such negotiation between the
[5:00] two countries in decades.
[5:03] As those negotiations play out, President Trump vowed U.S. troops, aircraft and the fleet of
[5:08] warships in the region aren't going anywhere until the, quote, real agreement is reached
[5:13] and fully complied with.
[5:15] He added, the U.S. military is looking forward, actually, to its next conquest.
[5:20] It comes as President Trump has heavily criticized the NATO alliance for what he says is a lack
[5:25] of support for the U.S. war effort in Iran.
[5:28] Allies are doing everything the United States is asking.
[5:31] In Washington, one day after meeting with the President, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte
[5:36] signaled support for the U.S. military and that the alliance may play a role in securing
[5:41] the Strait of Hormuz.
[5:42] But what I see when I look across Europe today is allies providing a massive amount of support
[5:50] basing, logistics and other measures to ensure the powerful U.S. military succeeds in denying
[5:57] Iran a nuclear weapon and degrading its capacity to export chaos.
[6:04] But Iran remains defiant.
[6:06] The Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, put out a statement today declaring victory for the
[6:10] Iranian people.
[6:11] A news anchor read it out on state TV.
[6:14] It is clear before everyone's eyes the dawn of the Islamic Republic's emergence as a great
[6:18] power, while the evil is facing the downhill slope of weakness.
[6:22] For many Lebanese mourning their loved ones and picking through the rubble of their homes,
[6:27] promises of a cease-fire deal, let alone peace with Israel, seem more elusive than ever.
[6:32] Raghat Ali Mohamed survived the strike on this building in central Beirut.
[6:36] His living quarters were on the lower ground floor, which is likely why he escaped unharmed.
[6:41] The dental clinic right above him was completely destroyed.
[6:44] I was in my room downstairs, and suddenly the rockets came down, hitting this dental clinic.
[6:51] The ceiling came down on us.
[6:53] There was no warning.
[6:55] The place was full of dust.
[6:57] It took 10 to 15 minutes until I could see anything, so I could open the door and escape
[7:01] through a small crack.
[7:02] Raghat has worked as the building's attendant for five years.
[7:06] He knew each and every person who lived here and said none of the residents were affiliated
[7:10] with Hezbollah.
[7:11] Our building has seven floors.
[7:14] All of the residents are civilians.
[7:16] There's no one else here.
[7:17] The building across the street was also targeted and completely erased to the ground.
[7:22] The IDF said it expanded its military campaign to neighborhoods like these because Hezbollah
[7:26] had moved outside its traditional areas of control, but it has provided no evidence to support
[7:32] these claims.
[7:33] In the wake of so much loss, accusations are swirling around, fueled by paranoia and growing
[7:39] internal rifts among Lebanese.
[7:42] This woman, who lives in the neighborhood, came up to us to say that she saw suspicious
[7:46] movements in and out of the building that was demolished.
[7:49] She wanted to remain anonymous out of fear for her safety.
[7:52] For two years, we've been saying that there are trucks entering the building that we are
[7:57] suspicious of.
[7:58] They've entered several times.
[8:00] We couldn't verify these claims.
[8:02] Another neighbor told us that authorities reportedly inspected the building and found nothing.
[8:07] Even if Hezbollah was present here, international law still requires Israel to observe principles
[8:13] of proportionality and precaution to prevent civilian harm.
[8:17] But yesterday's air raids were all but proportional, and they came without warning.
[8:22] Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said the government would file a complaint to the UN Security
[8:27] Council.
[8:28] This dangerous escalation comes in defiance of all international and regional efforts
[8:34] to end the war in the region and blatantly disregards the principles of international
[8:39] law and international humanitarian law.
[8:42] Indeed, it flagrantly violates them.
[8:45] The Prime Minister repeated calls to disarm Hezbollah.
[8:49] The army and security forces are required to immediately begin enhancing the state's full authority
[8:54] across Beirut and restricting arms to legitimate forces only.
[8:59] That process was ongoing before the war escalated last month.
[9:03] The Lebanese army had confiscated much of Hezbollah's weaponry in Lebanon's south, completing
[9:07] the first of a precarious five-phase plan to disarm the militant group.
[9:13] But army officials have said it's not feasible to take Hezbollah's weapons by force, and as
[9:18] long as Israel keeps attacking and occupying the country.
[9:22] For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Simona Fultin in Beirut, Lebanon.
[9:27] In recent days, the focus has been on the ceasefire with Iran, tensions in the Strait of
[9:31] Hormuz, and Israel's continued strikes in Lebanon.
[9:35] But less attention has been paid to the people inside Iran, those who have borne the brunt
[9:40] of U.S. and Israeli attacks.
[9:42] What are they thinking about this war and about the regime that governs them?
[9:46] For that, we turn now to Holly Dagrash.
[9:49] She's a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
[9:53] She spent her teenage years in Tehran and now curates The Iranist.
[9:56] That's a weekly sub-stack newsletter.
[9:59] Thanks for being here.
[10:00] Thank you for having me.
[10:01] So what are you hearing?
[10:02] What has daily life been like for people in Iran, the people that you've been speaking
[10:06] with?
[10:07] Well, I should note that there's been an Internet shutdown for now 41 days.
[10:10] It was state-imposed.
[10:11] And so what's petering out of the country is mostly anecdotal.
[10:15] And what I'm hearing at this juncture is that a lot of Iranians are confused about what's
[10:21] happening.
[10:22] There was this unprecedented massacre in January.
[10:26] And then the president said that help was on the way.
[10:28] And then now the ceasefire happens with the regime that they wanted ousted.
[10:33] And they're having to live with that.
[10:34] But then there's also a sense of relief from Iranians that were anti-war to begin with,
[10:39] or maybe anti-war over time, because they saw all these civilian casualties.
[10:43] There have been at least 1,700, according to the group human rights activists in Iran.
[10:48] You mentioned the president's rhetoric.
[10:51] That social media post earlier this week where he said, quote, a whole civilization will die
[10:55] tonight, never to be brought back again.
[10:57] I don't want that to happen, but it probably will.
[11:00] How was that interpreted by people in Iran?
[11:03] So it really shook Iranians.
[11:07] I had Iranian-Americans actually reaching out to me and saying, is the president going
[11:12] to drop a nuclear weapon on our families in Iran?
[11:14] And then we had the White House actually issue a statement saying that that wasn't going to
[11:19] be a reality.
[11:20] But going back to my original point, I mean, you're saying you want to help the Iranian people
[11:25] and oust the regime, and then you're threatening them with getting rid of them as an entire
[11:31] civilization.
[11:32] And it didn't resonate well at all.
[11:33] There were reportedly Iranians fleeing the capital to Iran, stocking up on food, water,
[11:39] electricity.
[11:40] Some people were saying that their families were saying goodbye.
[11:44] They weren't necessarily sure that they'd have electricity and be able to contact the
[11:48] outside world or if they would even survive what was going to come, because they were staying
[11:53] up all until 3.30 a.m. Tehran time to see what was going to happen.
[11:57] So I think it really irked a lot and scared a lot of Iranians across the board.
[12:03] You mentioned before the war there were Iranians who opposed the regime and welcomed outside
[12:07] pressure.
[12:08] Has the way this war has progressed so far, has that changed their point of view?
[12:14] I would say arguably, yes.
[12:16] Again, we're dealing with the state-imposed internet shutdown.
[12:19] We're not getting the full picture, but from what we're seeing is that just based off
[12:22] what the president's rhetoric was before the war, during the war, and now with the ceasefire,
[12:28] it's not adding up for Iranians.
[12:30] And I really...
[12:32] The big worry now is that, yes, there's this...
[12:34] The war may end, but now the Islamic Republic is going to take revenge on the Iranian people.
[12:40] We've seen at least 1,500 people arrested.
[12:43] We've seen at least 10 executions.
[12:45] Some of those were protesters during the January anti-regime uprising.
[12:49] And so there's a real worry about what's going to be waiting for them, because now the Islamic
[12:54] Republic is a rump regime, arguably more hard-lined, more repressive, and now more emboldened because
[13:01] they've been able to survive this and have control of the Strait of Hormuz.
[13:04] When the president suggests that there are Iranians who want the U.S. strikes to continue,
[13:10] are you hearing that at all, or is that a misreading of what people actually want?
[13:14] Well, you know, I heard that commentary.
[13:16] I think that initially, at least, there were some Iranians that were feeling this way.
[13:20] But the goalposts of the war have changed.
[13:22] This isn't about the ouster of the Islamic Republic.
[13:25] It seems like this is about, at this juncture, degrading its military capabilities and leaving
[13:30] the people in a worse situation than they were originally.
[13:33] And so it's hard to say that this is something that the Iranian people asked for.
[13:37] They've asked for the ouster of the Islamic Republic, one that now apparently Vice President
[13:42] J.D. Vance and a team are going to be meeting with Islamabad for talks.
[13:47] So I don't think this is what the Iranian people want.
[13:49] Understanding that no group is a monolith, how has this war reshaped how ordinary
[13:55] Iranians view the U.S. and view Israel?
[13:58] You know, for a long time, I've said that Iranians were arguably the most pro-American in the
[14:09] Middle East, if not the world.
[14:11] And I'm not entirely sure how they're going to feel after this war, assuming that the ceasefire
[14:16] holds because of what has happened over the past few weeks.
[14:20] But I think that there's also a reality that Iranians know how to separate the government
[14:26] of the United States from the American people.
[14:28] And they have always said that.
[14:30] And so I think that we can't put a whole think one sort of thinking for Iranians, especially
[14:36] anti-regime Iranians.
[14:37] JOHN YANG, WASHINGTON, President of the United States of the United States of the United States
[14:39] , thanks as always for your insights.
[14:40] HALY DOGRAS, President of the United States of the United States of the United States of the
[14:41] United States of America, O.S.
[14:52] In the day's other headlines, NASA scientists say they're feeling optimistic as final preparations
[14:57] are underway for the return of the Artemis II astronauts tomorrow.
[15:01] Reentry into Earth's atmosphere is one of the most dangerous parts of the mission.
[15:05] Their Orion capsule is set to hit speeds of nearly 24,000 miles per hour.
[15:10] At a press conference today, officials said they had, quote,
[15:13] high confidence that all will go smoothly.
[15:15] DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States": Tomorrow, the crew is going to put their lives
[15:17] behind that confidence. Until then, the flight control team, the engineering team, the recovery
[15:22] forces in the Pacific, to every engineer, every technician that's touched this machine,
[15:26] tomorrow belongs to you. The crew has done their part. Now we have to do ours.
[15:31] NASA also released new photos today showing the astronauts at work during their journey
[15:36] around the moon. They're expected to splash down on Friday evening off the coast of San Diego.
[15:41] The Justice Department is reportedly investigating whether the NFL used anti-competitive tactics
[15:48] in its media rights deals. That's according to several news outlets and was first reported
[15:52] by The Wall Street Journal. Fans, regulators and members of Congress have voiced concerns
[15:57] in recent months over the cost of watching games now that they're offered across various broadcast,
[16:03] cable and streaming platforms. In a statement, the league defended its practices, saying that,
[16:08] quote, with over 87 percent of our games on free broadcast television, the NFL has for decades
[16:14] put our fans front and center. The U.K. and Norway said today they foiled a covert
[16:20] Russian submarine operation to potentially sabotage undersea cables in the North Atlantic.
[16:26] Britain's defense minister, John Healy, told reporters that military operation lasted more
[16:31] than a month and involved a Royal Navy frigate, aircraft and hundreds of personnel.
[16:37] He said the Russian vessels eventually left with no evidence of any damage to cables or pipes.
[16:43] At one point, Healy addressed Russian President Vladimir Putin directly.
[16:47] We see you. We see your activity over our cables and our pipelines.
[16:54] And you should know that any attempt to damage them will not be tolerated and will have serious
[17:00] consequences.
[17:01] AMNA NAWAZ, Russia has dismissed previous claims of sabotage.
[17:05] Undersea cables are crucial for electricity, Internet and global communications, especially
[17:10] for the U.K. More than 90 percent of its day-to-day Internet traffic travels through such cables.
[17:17] Back here, the nation's fertility rate fell to another record low last year.
[17:22] That's according to provisional data out today from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[17:27] There were just over 53 births per 1,000 women of childbearing age in 2025.
[17:33] That is down from nearly 54 births the year before and continues a trend that dates back to 2007.
[17:40] The overall number of babies born in the U.S. last year also slipped to around 3.6 million.
[17:46] One factor driving the decline has been lower birth rates for teens and women in their 20s.
[17:52] Emperor penguins are now considered an endangered species as climate change threatens their natural
[17:58] habitat.
[18:03] The International Union for Conservation of Nature cited a decline in sea ice for its change of status,
[18:09] the world's largest and most recognizable penguin species. Emperor penguins rely on this ice to live,
[18:15] hunt and breed. Scientists warn that without major cuts to greenhouse gas emissions,
[18:20] emperor penguin numbers could be cut in half by the end of this century.
[18:25] The group also added the Antarctic fur seal to its endangered species list,
[18:30] as rising ocean temperatures affect its food sources.
[18:33] On Wall Street today, stocks ended higher amid cautious hopes for a lasting cease-fire in Iran.
[18:40] The Dow Jones industrial average added 275 points on the day.
[18:44] The Nasdaq rose nearly 200 points, or almost 1 percent.
[18:47] The S&P 500 also ended firmly in positive territory.
[18:52] And K-pop supergroup BTS kicked off its reunion world tour today, after a nearly four-year hiatus.
[19:00] Tens of thousands of fans from all over the world braved the reign at today's kickoff performance
[19:13] near Seoul. The downpours didn't dampen the mood for its army of fans, as they're known,
[19:19] and the band didn't disappoint, with a set list of more than 20 songs.
[19:24] BTS burst back on the scene with a massive one-off concert last month in Seoul.
[19:36] All seven members had recently completed South Korea's mandatory military service.
[19:41] They head next to Tokyo, before bringing their tour here to North America.
[19:46] Still to come on the NewsHour.
[19:48] The president's aggressive rhetoric about the war in Iran faces increasing congressional scrutiny.
[19:54] We take a look at how people in Israel have been marking Passover in the shadow of war.
[19:59] And we go inside Chicago's innovative Steppenwolf Theatre Company as it celebrates 50 years.
[20:06] This is the PBS NewsHour from the David M. Rubenstein Studio at WETA in Washington, headquarters of PBS News.
[20:17] In a rare public address from the White House, First Lady Melania Trump today denied allegations
[20:26] she had a close relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
[20:32] Our White House correspondent Liz Landers joins us now with more. So, Liz, what did the First Lady say?
[20:37] This was an extraordinary statement from a First Lady that we rarely see have this kind of public statement.
[20:44] She spoke for just six minutes or so from the grand foyer there in the White House.
[20:49] And she distanced herself from Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.
[20:54] Listen to some of what she said.
[20:56] Never had any knowledge of Epstein abuse of his victims.
[21:02] I was never involved in any capacity.
[21:06] I was not a participant, was never on Epstein's plane and never visited his private island.
[21:15] She pushed back on what she says are numerous fake images and statements about her relationship
[21:22] with Epstein. There is one real photograph of Melania and Donald Trump photographed together
[21:28] with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. And also, the Department of Justice released
[21:33] an e-mail exchange between Melania Trump and Ghislaine Maxwell. She said that that e-mail
[21:39] should not be considered anything more than a trivial note. And I should add, Jeff,
[21:44] that Melania Trump has never been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Jeffrey Epstein and
[21:48] Ghislaine Maxwell. What about the timing, though? Why is this happening now?
[21:51] I reached out to the First Lady's office to ask them this. We did not hear back from them.
[21:56] President Trump himself was asked by an MSNOW reporter if he knew about this. He said he didn't
[22:01] know anything about the statement prior to it happening, which was also rather extraordinary.
[22:06] We don't know what prompted the First Lady's statement today. However, the First Lady and the journalist
[22:12] Michael Wolff have been involved in a legal back-and-forth over some reporting that he
[22:16] has said about her and Epstein. Melania Trump's lawyer sent him a letter to demand that he retract
[22:22] and apologize for linking Melania to Epstein. In response, he sued her last year, saying that
[22:29] she was threatening to file a billion-dollar lawsuit against him in an attempt to intimidate him.
[22:34] OK. Liz Landers, our thanks to you, as always.
[22:36] LISA DESJARDINS- Democrats in Congress tried unsuccessfully to limit President Trump's war
[22:58] powers in Iran. While Republicans blocked the move today, it highlights a major unresolved
[23:03] issue to take up when Congress fully returns from recess next week.
[23:06] At the same time, there's growing concern among Democrats and some of the president's allies
[23:12] over the language he's used this week, including that, quote, a whole civilization will die
[23:17] as negotiations with Iran continued. Congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins
[23:22] is here now with how Congress is responding to the ongoing war. So, Lisa, let's start with
[23:27] Congress and what specifically we expect when they come back.
[23:29] LISA DESJARDINS- In terms of action, Democrats in both chambers are planning to force
[23:33] roll-call votes on their resolution to end military action in Iran and force the president to get
[23:39] congressional consent before he does any more. Now, that kind of move has failed in the Senate
[23:44] before. I expect it to fail again. But House Democrats think they may have a chance of a
[23:48] symbolic victory there. They need just two Republicans, depending on who shows up, to pass
[23:53] it. And they think with that civilization quote and with the back and forth over the ceasefire,
[23:57] the confusion, that maybe they have a shot there. We also expect Democrats to keep pounding away
[24:03] at the idea of the 25th Amendment. Many of our viewers know that's the part of the Constitution
[24:08] that says a majority of the Cabinet can vote to remove the president. Now, we spoke with
[24:13] Constitutional Law Professor Michael Gerhardt about this. He said the drafters may have had a good
[24:18] idea when they wrote that, but it's really impractical.
[24:22] SEN. MICHAEL GERHARDT, It is, I think, unimaginable to expect
[24:28] a Cabinet to be turned, an entire Cabinet to turn against the president who put them there.
[24:35] In this situation, it's even less likely because the president chose people for their loyalty.
[24:43] LISA DESJARDINS, And he says there really is zero chance that he sees this Cabinet moving
[24:49] on Trump in that way at this time. However, Democrats here are making a political point,
[24:54] really. They don't have the ability to push Trump out. They don't have the votes. They don't have
[24:57] the power. They want to put all of Trump's negatives on Republicans as we head into a midterm.
[25:03] LISA DESJARDINS, So let's talk more about those Republicans,
[25:05] how they're reacting to the president's rhetoric and his approach to Iran. They may not necessarily
[25:09] want to remove him, but they're not exactly seeing this the same way, are they?
[25:13] LISA DESJARDINS, Yeah. You know, I said this on Twitter, and it caused or acts,
[25:16] I should say. It caused a little bit of controversy. But really, I did not see
[25:19] the kind of avalanche or tidal wave of support that we usually see for President Trump's big
[25:24] decisions from Republicans. That's not to say there was no support. There was some,
[25:28] including from Burgess Owens. He's a congressman from Utah. And he wrote this
[25:33] as the ceasefire news came across saying it was a very positive step and that he added Iran has
[25:38] been allowed to inflict terror for too long. But in contrast, look at Alaska Senator Lisa
[25:43] Murkowski and what she wrote. She said the president's threat to wipe out Iran's civilization
[25:48] just cannot be excused away. And it is an affront to the ideals our nation has sought to uphold
[25:54] for 250 years. That's a fellow Republican. What about Republican leaders was one of my main
[26:00] questions? There you see House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate leader John Thune. Neither one of them,
[26:06] even to this day, has had any direct words about the president's actions in Iran, the ceasefire,
[26:13] none of it. So their lack of comment, I think, is noteworthy. Meanwhile, who is going on social media?
[26:18] Let's look at some faces, some loud voices from the right who used to be very big Trump supporters.
[26:25] Now they're blasting the president for his Iran war policy from Marjorie Taylor Greene and Tucker
[26:30] Carlson to Megyn Kelly there and Alex Jones. So when Congress returns next week, expect all of
[26:36] these dynamics for Republicans to collide. What about the Democrats then? What is your
[26:40] reporting show on whether they will actually try to impeach President Trump? It's a passionate debate
[26:45] behind the scenes, especially for House Democrats right now. They know that they don't really have
[26:49] the votes to get it through the House or the Senate, but they are concerned about what they see.
[26:53] And they also their base is pushing them to make a point. There are some, for example, like Senator Andy
[26:59] Kim, who says Republicans should join in the impeachment effort.
[27:03] We know that Trump is unfit to be commander in chief. He's dragged us into an unconstitutional,
[27:09] deeply unpopular and senseless war of choice with no plan, no strategy about what happens next and how
[27:17] we get out of this. And let's be honest, this war is not going well. It's making your life more
[27:23] expensive and less safe. Enough. But many Democrats say, wait a minute, we get into an impeachment fight that
[27:29] we know we're probably going to lose. That gets in the way of our bigger messages, which he's trying to get at
[27:34] on affordability this year. You're going to be tracking all of this in the days ahead. Lisa Desjardins,
[27:39] thank you very much. You're welcome. Anthropic announced this week it has begun limited
[27:57] testing of its newest AI model called Mythos, one the company says is so powerful it could cause
[28:03] widespread disruption if released to the public. It's just generally better at pursuing really long-range
[28:11] tasks that are kind of like the tasks that a human security researcher would do throughout the course
[28:17] of an entire day. Obviously, capabilities in a model like this could do harm if in the wrong hands.
[28:23] And so we won't be releasing this model widely. For now, Anthropic is giving more than 40 tech
[28:29] companies, including some rivals, access to Mythos to test it and identify vulnerabilities across
[28:35] systems. But even that move is raising concerns. For a closer look at all of this and the implications,
[28:41] we're joined now by Garrett Vandewick, who covers AI for The Washington Post. Thanks for being with us.
[28:46] Of course. So help us understand the concern here. What specifically makes this model different from
[28:52] other AI models and why is there so much, frankly, fear around it? The specific concerns that are being
[28:59] called out here is that this model is really good at finding gaps in software that hackers could
[29:04] exploit. So right now, all software has bugs, but software is pretty complicated and you need to
[29:09] really know what you're doing in order to sift through all that code to find something that you
[29:14] could then use to hack into a system. And what Anthropic is saying and some of the independent
[29:19] cybersecurity experts that they've also given access to this model to are saying is that this can
[29:24] essentially do that automatically. It can sift through all sorts of code. Something that might take
[29:29] humans who are very good at this months to do, it can do in minutes or hours. And so the concern here is
[29:36] that if this is sort of out in the public, anyone can use it, that anyone who wants to hack into any
[29:41] kind of software for whatever reason would be able to do it using this technology. And that's why
[29:46] the company is saying at least they're sort of keeping it under wraps for now.
[29:50] Keeping it under wraps, but also giving, as we mentioned, some 40 other companies, including
[29:54] Microsoft and Nvidia access in part to strengthen their own cyber defenses. What do we know about that
[30:00] decision? Does sharing it more widely actually reduce the risk or potentially increase it?
[30:07] Yeah. I mean, there is a bit of a precedent here in cybersecurity. Often if one company finds some
[30:13] lack in another company's software, instead of just giving it to the public and creating a situation
[30:18] where that other company could be hacked, they will sort of go behind the scenes and say,
[30:22] hey guys, we found this. You might want to fix this before the rest of the world figures it out.
[30:27] And so I think it's sort of in that tradition that they're doing this. But of course,
[30:31] some people are saying, hey, now we have all these powerful tech companies that have access to this
[30:35] allegedly extremely powerful tool for cybersecurity. Well, is it also powerful for other things,
[30:41] you know, other things that they could use to, you know, increase their business, get an edge on
[30:45] other companies? So there are some complaints that, you know, if this thing is really so good,
[30:49] why don't you let the rest of the world actually see it for themselves? And then we can decide what to
[30:53] do with it. Logan Graham, who's one of Anthropix researchers, suggested that if this,
[30:59] this AI program were fully released, it could force widespread software updates,
[31:04] eventually exposing weaknesses everywhere. Is that a realistic scenario or is he in some ways
[31:10] overstating it? Yeah, potentially. I mean, it's difficult because, you know, besides these companies,
[31:16] no one has really been able to get their hands on it. I think we always need to take these big AI
[31:20] companies with a grain of salt. It's not the first time an AI company has said, oh my goodness,
[31:25] our new technology is so powerful, we should be afraid of it. You know, it's great marketing,
[31:29] right? Because if something is so powerful that it could, you know, change the world or cause chaos,
[31:34] it's also very powerful for doing other things. And so I think we need to be careful. You know,
[31:39] I don't, I'm not necessarily saying that Anthropic is lying or misleading the public here. I,
[31:43] I'm sure they are very legitimate about these concerns, but I do think that we're already in a
[31:48] situation where cybersecurity is pretty atrocious. I mean, everyone's personal data has been hacked at some
[31:54] point. If anyone really wants to get into a software system, if they have the resources,
[31:59] the, you know, incentive, they will probably be able to do it. We already live in a world where
[32:03] software is broken and needs to be updated constantly, right? Every time you open your
[32:09] operating system, it's probably pinging you to update the apps that you have on your computer,
[32:13] right? That's because of the cybersecurity situation we have right now. And in the same way that this
[32:19] mythos technology could be used to hack into computers, it could also be used to defend
[32:24] against hacks. And so a lot of the cybersecurity experts are saying, look, yes, this is concerning,
[32:29] but we can also use this technology. The good guys can also use it to protect us. And so it doesn't
[32:35] necessarily completely change that balance of power that we have right now. Well, say more about that
[32:40] because there is this strange disconnect where you have now even the AI companies themselves warning
[32:45] about the potential dangers. And this is as the AI companies are also racing to release more powerful
[32:51] systems at the same time. What accounts for that? Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, it's very easy to
[32:58] sort of point that and say like, look, like what's really going on here. And I think, you know, each AI
[33:02] company is slightly different. They have different incentives, but it's true. I mean, they are all in this
[33:07] extremely competitive race to build the best AI system. It's very expensive to train these things. It costs
[33:14] hundreds of millions of dollars to develop each new version of this AI technology. And very few
[33:20] companies are able to do it. And the entire tech industry is in agreement that this is, you know,
[33:24] the most important technology to come out probably since the internet itself. And so there's a huge
[33:29] amount of money that is incentivizing the development of this technology. At the same time, a lot of the
[33:34] people who work at these companies do legitimately believe that there are concerns that it could be used
[33:39] for cybersecurity. It could be used for misinformation. It could, you know, some people even believe that it
[33:44] could, you know, become so smart in the coming years that humans are, you know, challenged to
[33:49] keep it under control. And so I do think that those are real beliefs held by some people at these,
[33:54] these, these companies, and yet they are locked in this competitive dynamic.
[33:59] Garrett DeVink covers AI for the Washington Post. Garrett, thanks again for being with us.
[34:16] Ukraine's military says it's facing a growing problem of desertion. Experts estimate
[34:21] approximately 150,000 service members may be missing from their units as the war grinds
[34:27] through its fifth year. Soldiers cite extreme fatigue caused by long deployments without rotation,
[34:33] anger at orders seen as suicide missions, and forced mobilization. Special correspondent Jack
[34:39] Hewson reports on one young soldier who says these pressures pushed him beyond his breaking point.
[34:44] We've changed the names and voices of some of the subjects in this report to protect their identities.
[34:50] Across Ukraine's towns and villages, tens of thousands of former soldiers hide from a duty
[34:57] they can no longer face. For many, like Andrey, it wasn't always this way. He signed up to fight
[35:03] willingly in 2023. I couldn't just sit there, healthy and young, and not go defend my country.
[35:10] I thought there was something to fight for. When Andrey arrived at the front in Bakhmut,
[35:15] in eastern Ukraine, he was just 18 years old. But his youthful enthusiasm to defend his country
[35:21] quickly turned. At first, he was sheltered from frontline missions, according to his comrade,
[35:26] Sasha. He was the youngest among us. To be honest, he was like a child. He didn't understand where he
[35:36] had come from. He was a little confused. As he became an accomplished fighter, Andrey's youthful
[35:42] enthusiasm and patriotic zeal would be tainted by his perception of the battalion's leadership.
[35:47] I thought people would be valued. I thought there would be some kind of support there. Well,
[35:51] I got there and I realized that the commanders were sending people to their deaths. It was crazy.
[35:57] It was this allegedly flippant attitude towards life and the pressures of the command that he
[36:02] believes led to the suicide of a friend, Denis Boyko, a frontline position in early 2024.
[36:08] I went into the kitchen and saw the soldier lying there, his head gone. I just saw that and froze.
[36:15] I just stared at him and that was it. I couldn't even understand anything. I just stared at him,
[36:20] his head gone. It was just crazy. Boyko recorded his suicide on the eve of a dangerous assault mission
[36:28] he didn't want to complete. He filmed the suicide note on his phone before shooting himself in the
[36:32] head with his assault rifle on camera. The man couldn't take the pressure because the commander
[36:37] put a lot of pressure on him. The man shot himself and he was only 20 years old. Chief Sergeant
[36:43] Vladimir Tracz was also present at the time. He agreed with Andrey that Boyko had been pressured,
[36:48] but he said other factors were also in play. He had a fight over his girlfriend, a little alcohol,
[36:55] a little unprofessional work by a psychologist with him the day before and plus the pressure
[37:00] from the command. And this young man simply couldn't cope. Deeply traumatized by the incident,
[37:06] Andrey's mental health would deteriorate over 2024 as he was sent on ever more dangerous missions,
[37:11] often stranded on the hard front without adequate ammunition or even food and water.
[37:16] They fried snakes there and ate them. I drank water from puddles through a straw. I wanted to drink so
[37:23] badly. What would soon prompt Andrey's desertion were a series of catastrophic missions in Krasnoharivka
[37:29] in 2024. Missions he says convinced him he could no longer trust his commanders.
[37:33] We have a battalion. We just entered Krasnoharivka in 2024. And our battalion was immediately bombed,
[37:41] everything. It was just awful what was happening. Just a few people survived. One soldier next to
[37:46] me is suffocating. The other has no legs. The commander says, evacuation will be in a couple
[37:52] of days. He says, well, that's how it is. He says, you can't do anything. Just endure it. I'm in shock.
[37:57] I'm sitting there thinking, what's going on? Lucky to survive that bombardment, Andrey would eventually
[38:02] be wounded in a drone attack. After only a few days in hospital, he returned to the front where his
[38:08] commanding officer told him he would be deployed on an assault mission the following day. This was
[38:13] his breaking point. He said, you're going to storm the building. I say, no, that's it. I'm done. I say,
[38:23] I endured two and a half years, endured, endured, endured. And now I say you're a scumbag. Will you
[38:28] come with me? He said, no, that's it. Then the sergeant took my machine gun because I wanted to shoot him,
[38:35] our commander. They took my machine gun away from me. The commander just said,
[38:39] if you are killed, it doesn't matter. I will send new soldiers. He's not a commander. He's just a
[38:43] monster. The commander Andrey is referring to is Major Alexei Kuchurenko. Andrey's comrade,
[38:49] Sasha, also complained that Kuchurenko's decisions had repeatedly cost lives and almost cost him his own.
[38:56] After returning from one mission, having lost men, he said Major Kuchurenko merely mocks them. He said,
[39:02] guys, you fought badly. Not many of you died. Couldn't you fight better? No? Then they'll
[39:08] replace you and send you to even deeper places. Chief Sergeant Tach also identified Major Kuchurenko
[39:15] as a factor in Andrey's eventual desertion, but said he was symptomatic of a broader failure.
[39:22] I can name Major Kuchurenko, the battalion commander at the time, but I emphasize this is a systemic problem.
[39:29] I must say that Major Kuchurenko's fault, in my opinion, lies in his incompetence and in supporting
[39:34] this system that doesn't work. If you talk to Major Kuchurenko, he will say that he is a great guy
[39:40] and the company commander is a fool. Sorry for being frank. Well, and so on. The company commander
[39:46] will say that he is a great guy and that it is the sergeant who gave the order, et cetera.
[39:52] Amid the grim brutality of the front, throughout last year, Ukraine saw a sharp rise in soldiers deserting.
[39:58] Thousands have walked off of the front line. Soldiers and some commanders describe exhausted
[40:03] infantry units collapsing rotations, forced conscription and resentment at leadership failures.
[40:10] If in 2022, 2023, we had one or two, maximum three people in the unit who became deserters,
[40:17] then since 2024, there have been tens of thousands across the country. And this means that this is a
[40:23] systemic problem. Why is it now that the numbers are escalating so quickly with regards to desertion?
[40:30] The reason is, again, very simple. Mobilization, how it is carried out.
[40:35] Tkach is referring to the forced mobilization that has seen thousands of men, in some cases,
[40:41] literally pulled off of the streets into minibuses, a phenomenon dryly referred to as busification,
[40:47] and then shipped on to the front.
[40:49] And when human rights are violated, you should not expect that this person will become a super
[40:58] patriotic hero.
[40:59] MALCOLM BRABANT, Former U.S. Secretary of State of State,
[41:00] Shortly after our interview with Andrei, we discovered that he had been arrested by military
[41:06] police and, despite his debilitating PTSD, was being forced back to front-line duty.
[41:12] He managed to talk to us briefly over a video call at a detention center in Dnipro.
[41:17] Andrei, Former U.S. Secretary of State of State,
[41:20] There are people like me here. They were deserters, and they were also caught. Some were caught by military
[41:25] registration office employees and brought here. I don't know what they're doing here. I am very
[41:30] angry, very angry. They don't want to send me for treatment. I tell them I have torn ligaments in
[41:36] my body and a traumatic brain injury. My eardrums are ruptured. I have shrapnel inside me. And they say,
[41:43] you'll come to the battalion like this, and only then will we decide what to do. People here treat me badly.
[41:49] Andrei was forced to stop filming by the guards at the detention center. He was taken back to the
[41:59] front line a few days later. Within weeks, we learned he had deserted once again. Responding to
[42:05] the allegations made in this report in a written statement, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said
[42:09] that any instances of misconduct were categorically unacceptable and had no place in their ranks.
[42:15] Additionally, they stated that the fact should be reported for legal assessment, and if confirmed,
[42:20] appropriate disciplinary action should be taken. We made multiple requests for comment from the
[42:25] command of the 21st Special Purposes Battalion and from Major Kuchurenko, but received no response.
[42:31] Despite the injustices described by soldiers in this report, all stress their pride in their service
[42:37] and in their national cause. But forcing men to fight against their will is compounding desertion numbers
[42:43] and degrading morale. For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Jack Hewson in Ukraine.
[42:57] This year, Easter and Passover coincided not only with each other, but with the war in Iran.
[43:03] And that led to subdued holidays in Israel. Gatherings were restricted in size,
[43:08] and access to Jerusalem was severely limited. Producer Karl Bostic and Nick Schifrin have this
[43:13] report on Passover in Israel under fire.
[43:16] This year in the Holy Land, the holidays turned into tests of faith.
[43:25] Residents in Matula, Israel's northernmost town, rush inside whatever reinforced room
[43:30] offers seconds of safety. The sirens of incoming Hezbollah rockets or missiles
[43:35] provide only 15 seconds of warning.
[43:37] Opa!
[43:39] Opa!
[43:41] What sounds like distant booms, outgoing Israeli air defense on the first day of Passover.
[43:46] We are not safe. We cannot celebrate together, like, each year, every year.
[43:53] It was a missile hit here. This is the car. Damage no more.
[44:01] NICK SCHIFRIN MIRRIYAM HOOD shows producer Karl Bostic the aftermath of a Hezbollah strike
[44:06] just last week. This car on her street, full of pockmarks, her hotel pierced by shrapnel.
[44:13] She owns the base Shalon. She says Passover doesn't feel as it should.
[44:17] NICK SCHIFRIN MIRRIYAM HOOD, Holy Week is supposed to help inaugurate spring. But for
[44:29] many of the faithful this year, that joy was missing. And, instead, weeks of war left emptiness.
[44:35] What should have been a full Western Wall was instead deserted because of restrictions on group
[44:40] gatherings during the war. In northern Israel, with Lebanon in the distance, that means a town
[44:45] largely evacuated. One of Matula's residents, who stayed behind,
[44:49] This is the traditional food for Pesach, is both spiritual guide and protector.
[44:57] Israel Pakter is a reservist on duty and a rabbi in Matula.
[45:01] He helps residents hold on to their spirit and their homes.
[45:04] The end of this street, it's Lebanon. And Hezbollah also thought it's a very good
[45:12] idea to start with us. And he started.
[45:14] NICK SCHIFRIN MIRRIYAM HOOD, The end of this street, it's Lebanon. And Hezbollah also thought it's a very good idea to start with us. And he started.
[45:17] During the war with Iran, Israel says Hezbollah fired more than 2,100 drones and missiles into northern Israel.
[45:24] The rockets, fire, whatever it's going to be, we are here to protect our community,
[45:30] me and my friends. And we do it 24 hours a day.
[45:35] NICK SCHIFRIN MIRRIYAM HOOD, We first met Pakter two years ago,
[45:39] when he and his wife Sarah were evacuated following the October 7 terrorist attacks
[45:43] and the 2023 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
[45:46] Part of the winning is to keep our morality up.
[45:50] NICK SCHIFRIN MIRRIYAM HOOD, Today, Israel has invaded southern Lebanon to create what it
[45:53] calls a security belt along the border, so Matula's residents can remain if they choose.
[45:58] MIRRIYAM HOOD, Today, Israel, of course, it's not peaceful and quiet now like regular.
[46:02] And a lot of families went out only for Pesach.
[46:05] NICK SCHIFRIN MIRRIYAM HOOD, Today, Israel, Many Matula residents fled here,
[46:07] Tiberias, 40 miles to the south, an ancient biblical city on the Sea of Galilee,
[46:12] where scripture says Jesus walked on water.
[46:14] And it's a temporary home for the displaced, to mark the moment the Jews gained freedom from a
[46:24] vengeful pharaoh in Egypt. Moshe Weinstein leads the Passover Seder
[46:29] with his family and Matula residents. But one is missing. His son, Omer, was killed in October
[46:35] 2024 by a Hezbollah rocket. Omer was supposed to inherit the family farm from his father.
[46:41] His gravestone overlooks the outskirts of Matula.
[46:44] Omer, If I had stayed in the synagogue and prayed 24-7 for a son like Omer,
[46:51] I wouldn't have received one.
[46:52] NICK SCHIFRIN MIRRIYAM HOOD, If I had stayed in the synagogue and prayed 24-7 for a son like Omer, I wouldn't have received one.
[46:52] NICK SCHIFRIN MIRRIYAM HOOD, Across the table from him, his son-in-law, Mushi Wagshal.
[46:56] Omer, This is the husband of my son-in-law.
[46:59] NICK SCHIFRIN MIRRIYAM HOOD, And the Wagshals continued the family business
[47:03] on the same land, where the family has lived more than a century.
[47:07] Omer, Despite being there for five generations, have you ever thought about getting Matula?
[47:12] NICK SCHIFRIN MIRRIYAM HOOD, We returned after the war.
[47:17] Our daughter asked us not to return. We promised her that at the first siren, we would leave.
[47:33] Omer, We haven't kept that promise. The current war started, and we stayed in Matula.
[47:47] NICK SCHIFRIN MIRRIYAM HOOD, Because, on this holiday that marks Jews' escape
[47:50] from bondage toward the biblical promised land, they hold on to their homes in the face of war.
[47:56] For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Nick Schifrin.
[47:58] NICK SCHIFRIN MIRRIYAM HOOD, Deppenwolf Theatre Company has long been one of the nation's
[48:12] most influential ensemble companies, known for the actors it's launched and the groundbreaking work it's
[48:18] produced. Now, it's marking its 50th season, at a moment of real uncertainty for theaters across
[48:25] the country. Senior arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown traveled to Chicago for our arts and culture
[48:30] series, Canvas. JEFFREY BROWN, I think if I had stayed in the theater.
[48:34] JEFFREY BROWN, A production of Dance of Death, a play by August Strindberg,
[48:39] being presented in a modern adaptation.
[48:41] JEFFREY BROWN, I'm growing old.
[48:42] It's horrible, but it is interesting, I'd imagine.
[48:46] JEFFREY BROWN, For actor Jeff Perry, it's yet another opportunity to do his thing,
[48:50] now 50 years on, at the theater company he helped create.
[48:54] JEFFREY BROWN, It feels like wishes fulfilled.
[48:59] JEFFREY BROWN, It does?
[49:00] JEFFREY BROWN, A place built of artists by artists and for artists is an exceedingly rare experiment.
[49:09] JEFFREY BROWN, Rare to start, rarer still to last.
[49:13] Steppenwolf Theatre's roots go back to the early 1970s.
[49:17] A group of teenage friends in a Chicago-area high school, then at Illinois State University,
[49:23] and then a do-it-yourself theater company, co-founded by Perry, Terry Kinney and Gary Sinise,
[49:29] putting on shows in a church basement in Chicago.
[49:32] JEFFREY BROWN, Here's what we thought simultaneously, I think, is the truth.
[49:36] We're going to change the face of American theater, and we will probably fall apart within a month or two.
[49:42] JEFFREY BROWN, You tell him that I got a couple projects, he might be incident.
[49:46] JEFFREY BROWN, It would become an important incubator of American theater.
[49:50] Actors, including John Malkovich, here with Sinise in a groundbreaking 1984 production
[49:56] of Sam Shepard's True West.
[49:57] I never thanked you for saving my life.
[50:00] JEFFREY BROWN, I never thanked you for saving my life.
[50:01] JEFFREY BROWN, Sinise himself would become best known as Lieutenant Dan in the 1994 film Forrest Gump,
[50:06] Laurie Metcalf, well-known for her time on the hit series Roseanne, Joan Allen, Amy Morton,
[50:14] Martha Plimpton, more recently Carrie Coon, playwrights including Tracy Letts, whose August
[50:21] Osage County won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize, and Rajeef Joseph and Terrell Alvin McCraney. All of them and
[50:29] more, along with several directors, are to this day ensemble members of Steppenwolf, meaning they work
[50:35] together in different shows over many years.
[50:38] JEFFREY BROWN, It sounds different every time you do it.
[50:41] JEFFREY BROWN, And whatever else they do in theater, TV or film, they can and do come back to work at
[50:47] Steppenwolf. In 2016, as he rehearsed a new play written for his Steppenwolf colleagues, Letts told
[50:53] me that the freedom and sense of security that comes with the ensemble approach is priceless.
[50:58] LETTS, I can afford to take chances. I can afford to make a fool of myself.
[51:03] JEFFREY BROWN, They'll keep you around anyway.
[51:04] LETTS, They'll keep me around anyway, and they'll tell me. They'll tell me to my face,
[51:09] you didn't get this right. JEFFREY BROWN, Success can be counted in many ways,
[51:13] including the number of shows 18 that have transferred to Broadway over the years,
[51:18] winning 14 Tony Awards. LETTS, You said your daddy was some sort of reverend,
[51:24] but not like this kind of reverend. JEFFREY BROWN, Among them, Purpose,
[51:28] a Steppenwolf commission, which also won a 2025 Pulitzer for playwright Brandon Jacobs Jenkins.
[51:35] He told me then what it meant to work directly with the theater company.
[51:39] BRANDON JACOBS- I'm designing the game board for these incredible artists to, like,
[51:43] every night find a new way through the story that might ping differently, create different emotions.
[51:48] Everything in this play was sort of inspired by the acting ensemble that emerged from it.
[51:52] JEFFREY BROWN, You can't be sneaking up on a man like that when he's fresh out.
[51:55] JEFFREY BROWN, Among the Purpose cast, Glenn Davis, who now has an even more daunting offstage
[52:01] role, serving with fellow ensemble member, director and actor Audrey Francis,
[52:06] as Steppenwolf's co-artistic directors.
[52:09] JEFFREY BROWN, 50 years is a long time to keep a group of 17-year-olds together
[52:14] and still performing together and still liking each other and enjoying being in the room together.
[52:19] So that's an accomplishment. JEFFREY BROWN, And then getting new generations of 17-year-olds.
[52:22] JEFFREY BROWN, Yeah, and then adding new folks.
[52:23] BRANDON JACOBS- I think that when Glenn and I took the role on,
[52:26] it was really as we were coming out of the pandemic.
[52:28] Why would anyone take on a leadership role of a nonprofit arts organization,
[52:33] in particular, live theater at that time?
[52:35] JEFFREY BROWN, The answer, to keep a place that has nourished them and several previous generations
[52:41] alive and thriving. But Francis and Davis, who both, in a sense, grew up as theater professionals here,
[52:47] face a host of challenges. Steppenwolf, in recent years, greatly expanded its theater and public areas,
[52:54] more space to use, but also to fill. And it's not immune from the societal and other changes
[53:01] now roiling American theater generally.
[53:03] JEFFREY BROWN, The structural mechanics of doing theater today are very difficult. We used to do
[53:08] twice as many shows as we do now. So, being able to employ the same number of artists becomes more
[53:14] difficult, because you don't have as many shows, you don't have as many roles.
[53:18] Those difficulties are all over the place. So, we try as best we can to manage those and
[53:23] move through them as seamlessly as we can.
[53:26] JEFFREY BROWN, There's also the reality of American politics today.
[53:30] Chicago has been one center of the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration.
[53:34] Davis and Francis say the theater's core values and programming won't change.
[53:39] JEFFREY BROWN, I don't feel necessarily a pressure to program something that is commenting on something
[53:46] that's happening right now, because everything is happening so fast. What I do feel is an obligation
[53:51] to our city to make sure that we're providing a place that is thoughtful, intentional, can be fun,
[53:57] can be challenging.
[53:59] JEFFREY BROWN, Every one of these bring up memories.
[54:03] JEFFREY BROWN, And so, 50 years on, Jeff Perry and his colleagues are still at it.
[54:08] JEFFREY BROWN, It's almost entirely a nomadic profession.
[54:13] JEFFREY BROWN, Mm-hmm.
[54:14] JEFFREY BROWN, This held the promise, at least, of an ongoing family of choice.
[54:24] And it proved, as the years went on, how it really is that.
[54:28] JEFFREY BROWN, For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Jeffrey Brown at Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago.
[54:37] JEFFREY BROWN, And that is the NewsHour for tonight. I'm Amna Nawaz.
[54:53] JEFFREY BROWN, And I'm Jeff Bennett. For all of us here at the NewsHour, thanks for spending part of your evening with us.
[54:57] JEFFREY BROWN, Major funding for the PBS NewsHour has been
[55:01] provided by in our economy for 160 years. BNSF, the engine that connects us.
[55:31] JEFFREY BROWN, Certified financial planner professionals are proud to support PBS NewsHour.
[55:36] CFP professionals are committed to acting in their clients' best interests.
[55:40] More information at letsmakeaplan.org.
[55:42] JEFFREY BROWN, The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation,
[55:45] established to create positive outcomes for future generations.
[55:49] And friends of the NewsHour, including Leonard and Norma Klorfine,
[56:01] and the Judy and Peter Blum Kovler Foundation. And with the ongoing support of these institutions.
[56:08] And friends of the NewsHour, this program was made possible by the contributions to your PBS station
[56:28] from viewers like you. Thank you.
[56:31] JEFFREY BROWN, The Gordon and the
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