PBS News Hour

AMNA NAWAZ

Good evening and welcome. I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT

And I'm Geoff Bennett. On the "NewsHour"

tonight

Airlines scramble to get back on track after an FAA technical glitch grounds thousands of flights across the country.

Then

Russian mercenaries battle for territory in Eastern Ukraine, as Western nations promise more weapons to aid the country's defense. NATALIYA BUGAYOVA,

Institute for the Study of War

Those systems are required for the large-scale counteroffensive that we are talking about that is likely to be this winter and into the spring.

GEOFF BENNETT

And the attack on Brazil's government by a far right mob raises concerns about how extremism in the U.S. has spread abroad. (BREAK) Good evening, and welcome to the "NewsHour." The nation's air travel system has had another long and difficult day. By late afternoon, nearly 1,300 flights had been canceled and more than 8,000 delayed because of a critical system failure at the FAA.

AMNA NAWAZ

The failure force the FAA to call a nationwide halt to operations for several hours. Federal officials vowed to get to the bottom of an outage that disrupted travel plans for millions of people. A wave of delays and cancellations rippled from coast to coast just as the nation's airports were starting their day. The sudden shutdown left terminals filled with travelers with nowhere to go.

The FAA's ground stop order was lifted just before 9

00 a.m. Eastern time, but the disruptions lingered for hours. Pat and Alison Kavanaugh were trying to fly out of Newark, New Jersey. ALISON CAVANAUGH,

Traveler

I'm really upset, but what can I do? PAT CAVANAUGH, But it makes you kind of nervous. Is there something else that maybe we're not being told right now?

AMNA NAWAZ

The problem started late Tuesday, when the FAA's Notice to Air Missions system went down. That antiquated computer system supplies information that flight crews must have before being allowed to take off. This morning, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that, initially, at least, there was no sign of a cyberattack. PETE BUTTIGIEG,

U.S. Secretary of Transportation

There's been no direct evidence or indication of that. But we are also not going to rule that out until we have a clearer and better understanding of what's taken place.

AMNA NAWAZ

Several hours later, he vowed to get to the bottom of what happened.

PETE BUTTIGIEG

My top priority right now, now that the system is working again as of

about 9

00 this morning, is to understand the root cause, understand how it could have led to this level of disruption and understand how to make sure that it does not happen again.

AMNA NAWAZ

All this comes just weeks after massive holiday flight cancellations and delays wreaked havoc for days. That trouble was blamed on winter weather and Southwest Airlines' outdated technology and reliance on a point-to-point system, rather than using hubs. The air travel system is heading back to a more routine schedule this evening. But today's disruptions led to the first nationwide flight stoppage since 9/11. And it's raised questions again about the reliability and vulnerability of our system. Our science and aviation special correspondent, Miles O'Brien, joins us now to look at those concerns. Miles, always good to see you. Thanks for being here. Let's start with this system, the Notice to Air Missions system that the FAA says went down late on Tuesday. What does it do? And how did it create such a mess?

MILES O'BRIEN

So, Notice to Air Missions, Amna, are the late changes to the game plan. You have published information airports and what's available and what frequencies are working and what navigation systems are working. But things change. And, before you take off, you want to know if that runway is closed, or that frequency is not working, or if there's some airspace closed. That is all encapsulated in these Notice to Air Missions, formerly known as notice to airmen. And they are sometimes minor little changes, sometimes very important, but, most important, before an airliner can be dispatched on a flight, the pilots have to be briefed on what the NOTAMs are along their route of flight. So, the good news is that the remedy for this problem is, you just don't take off. It's not like a situation where something like this fails, airplanes fall out of the sky, but clearly causes huge disruption if it's not working.

AMNA NAWAZ

And we heard their Secretary Buttigieg saying they're still trying to figure out, what was the root cause? How did this happen? How do they keep it from happening again? What are some of the possible theories?

MILES O'BRIEN

Well, those of us who follow the FAA closely are frankly not surprised to see a technological glitch, sadly. This is an agency that has historically been underfunded on its effort to modernize. It's basically a system that was built after World War 2, 1950s technology, using spinning radar domes and UHF radio transmissions between the ground and pilots. It hasn't moved into the space age, as it were, as it should have, using satellites and computer transmission. And so as it has moved technologically in fits and starts into the modern age, there have been glitches along the way, nothing quite like this one. But it is indicative of the fact that the agency needs to spend more on its infrastructure. The fact that it is so safe is quite remarkable, to be -- frankly, Amna. This is a testament to the men and women who make the system work in spite of its antiquated technology.

AMNA NAWAZ

We did hear from travelers there some of their concerns. Obviously, today was a big headache, right, delays and disruptions, but some have safety concerns. And that bigger concern is, if a system like this could fail, Miles, are there other systems that you think are also vulnerable to similar failure?

MILES O'BRIEN

That's the lurking question. The redundancy is what makes the system safe. Flight-critical systems, navigation systems, that beam which gets you down to that dark and stormy night onto that runway in 0-0, you want that to be backed up many different ways, of course. This system, which is part of the overall picture of redundancy, evidently didn't have enough backups. Now, as I say, that didn't cause a direct flight safety problem. It caused huge inconvenience. But you have to ask yourself, are there other problems lurking in this system where there needs to be more resilience, there needs to be another layer of redundancy? And I think it's high time that Congress, that the people in Washington focused on the FAA and thinking about it as a crucial piece of infrastructure and appropriating the right amount of money to fix it.

AMNA NAWAZ

Luckily, today, just incredible delays and disruptions, not a safety concern. Miles O'Brien, our science and aviation special correspondent, thank you for being with us. Always good to see you.

MILES O'BRIEN

You're welcome, Amna.

In the day's other headlines

New thunderstorms arrived in Northern California as rain eased across the rest of the state. The death toll stood at 17 after days of downpours. In Los Angeles, road crews worked today to repair a sinkhole caused by the heavy rains. Crews have also been clearing roads in the hard-hit town of Montecito, where thousands had to flee this week. GEORGE QUIRIN,

Montecito Resident

Several people have lost their lives. And they're cleaning it up really fast here. They're doing an amazing job on that. So, hopefully they will get it all passable soon.

GEOFF BENNETT

More than half of California's counties have been declared disaster areas, with yet another major storm expected on Friday. There's word that aides to President Biden have found more classified documents from his days as vice president. Mr. Biden's lawyers made the initial discovery at his former office at a Washington think tank. Now NBC News and others report at least one more batch of documents has turned up at a separate site. No other details are yet available. Newly elected GOP Congressman George Santos insisted today that he will not resign. That's after Republican Party leaders in his New York district called for him to quit. They pointed to his lies about everything from his career to his heritage, including a claim that his family members were Holocaust survivors. JOSEPH CAIRO, Nassau County, New York,

Republican Party Chairman

His lies were not mere fibs. He disgraced the House of Representatives, and, in particular, his fabrications went too far. Many groups were hurt. Specifically, I look at those families that were touched by the horrors of the Holocaust and feel for them.

GEOFF BENNETT

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said today that Santos will not serve on any key congressional committees. Beyond that, House Republican leaders have taken no action so far. The Republican-led House is taking action abortion early into its majority, approving two measures today. One, a resolution, condemns attacks on anti-abortion facilities, including pregnancy crisis centers. The other is a bill to penalize doctors who refuse care to an infant surviving an abortion attempt, an already rare occurrence. Neither measure is expected to pass the Democratic-led Senate. In Brazil, the new leftist government braced for more far right protests in cities across that country. Supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed the capital complex in Brasilia on Sunday and called for new demonstrations this evening. In response, police in Brasilia shut down the main avenue and set up checkpoints. The new head of capital security said his forces will be ready this time. RICARDO CAPPELLI,

Federal District Security Intervenor (through translator)

There are some protests planned today in the Federal District. We want to reassure the population and federal employees that there is no chance that the unacceptable facts that happened on the 8th will happen again.

GEOFF BENNETT

Brazil's new President Lula warned that any move against the country's democracy will be punished. Back in this country, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to let New York state continue enforcing a gun ban in sensitive locations, for now. Those locations include schools, playgrounds and Times Square. The justices turned away a plea by gun owners to block the law while a lower court hears their suit against it. First lady Dr. Jill Biden had cancerous lesions removed today from above her right eye and along her left chest. The White House physician says all of the cancerous tissue was removed in a daylong procedure at Walter Reed National Medical Center outside Washington. Another lesion her left eyelid is being examined. The so-called Mohs surgery slices away thin layers of skin until all signs of cancer are gone. Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin was released from a Buffalo hospital today and sent home to continue his recovery. Just nine days ago, he suffered a cardiac arrest during a game in Cincinnati and had to be resuscitated. The Bills say the team will welcome Hamlin back when he feels ready to return. And on Wall Street, stocks rallied again on hopes that inflation is easing. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 269 points to close it 33973. The Nasdaq rose 189 points, nearly 1.8 percent. The S&P 500 was up about 1.3 percent. And legendary rock guitarist Jeff Beck has died of bacterial meningitis. He gained fame in the 1960s with the Yardbirds, and later as a solo artist compared to the likes of Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix. Beck when eight Grammys, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and influenced generations of guitarists. Here he is back in 2016 playing "Beck's Bolero." (MUSIC) Jeff Beck was 78 years old. And still to come on the "PBS NewsHour": the political wrangling over House speakerships in state legislatures; the mayor of Denver discusses the challenges posed by an influx of migrants; and how homes are increasingly using heat pumps as a cheaper, greener alternative to fossil fuels. Moscow has announced a new commander for the war in Ukraine and claimed victory in one of the bloodiest battles in more than 10 months of war. The fight for key cities in Eastern Ukraine has barely moved for months. Today, Russia said it achieved its first territorial gain in Ukraine since July. But Kyiv says the battle continues. Nick Schifrin reports.

NICK SCHIFRIN

The Ukrainian soldiers who have spent six months trying to defend every street, every corner in Soledar say the battle has felt like World War II, a brutal, violent fight over a small patch of land that has become a wasteland; 10,000 people used to live here. Today, soldiers say it's full of craters from constant artillery and the smell of death. Russia's gains thanks to the Wagner Group's mercenaries, many of them criminals recruited from prison. Ukrainian forces locate them with drones and fire using heavy guns and newly arrived mobile German artillery. The fight has killed and wounded thousands, including Ukrainian actor and volunteer Dmytro Linartovych. DMYTRO LINARTOVYCH,

Ukrainian Actor

Remember that we are on God-given land. We will never be broken. We are winning. Glory to Ukraine.

NICK SCHIFRIN

Soledar is a small mining town, part of the eastern Donetsk region not controlled by Russia. It is just northeast of Bakhmut, a logistical hub that Russia hopes to encircle. A Russian victory would be the first territory it gained in more than six months. Today, Wagner mercenaries claimed that victory and posted a photo inside what they said is one of Soledar's salt mines, with founder Yevgeny Prigozhin. He claimed the remaining Ukrainian resistance was limited in an audio message. YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN,

Russian Mercenary (through translator)

Wagner units have taken control of the entire territory of Soledar. A cauldron has been formed in the center of the city where urban fighting is going on.

NICK SCHIFRIN

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, called that propaganda. VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY,

Ukrainian President (through translator)

They will present this to their society to support mobilization and give hope to those who support aggression. But the fighting continues. The Donetsk units are holding out.

NICK SCHIFRIN

Russia's primary local target is Bakhmut, where Ukrainian resistance is relentless, even with Soviet era guns. Much of the city of 70,000 is now empty and in ruins. The few who've remained, including 75-year-old Olha, constantly reminded of what's been stolen and destroyed. OLHA,

Bakhmut Resident (through translator)

Dear God, our town used to be so beautiful. There were roses everywhere, flowers. It was clean. Everything was kept in order.

NICK SCHIFRIN

And then it's time to go. The shelling gets too close. But Olha stands there. She has nowhere else to go. And to discuss the significance of the fight for Soledar and Bakhmut, I'm joined by Nataliya Bugayova of the Institute for the Study of War, a think tank in Washington, D.C. Welcome back to the "NewsHour." You heard President Zelenskyy right there say that Russia was using Soledar as a piece of propaganda. Is this moment as much about the information war as it is about any gains on the battlefield? NATALIYA BUGAYOVA,

Institute for the Study of War

Thanks, Nick. Yes, absolutely, Russia is trying to score an informational win in Soledar at an enormous cost and for rather limited gain. The informational value of Soledar to Russia is higher than the actual military value. Let's not forget that we're 10 months into the war, and Russia lost a lot of the territory that it seized originally, and it still cannot control fully even Luhansk and Donetsk regions. So Soledar and Bakhmut are efforts to create perception that Russia can still advance and not just hold territory and retreat. And Russia is trying to portray it as a major area that Ukraine -- that Russia has been seizing. Yevgeny Prigozhin, who's the financier of Wagner Group, is also exaggerating the cultural and economic value of Soledar for his own gain, as he's trying to position himself and Wagner Group as effective combat force.

NICK SCHIFRIN

And is there a military significance if the Wagner Group, if Russia is able to seize Soledar and therefore threaten Bakhmut a little bit more effectively than it has been in the past?

NATALIYA BUGAYOVA

Yes, Russia has been trying to establish control over Ukrainians' ground lines of communication in the area, because Bakhmut sits on the critical highway, as well as at the intersection of several ground lines of communication. But even if Russia takes Soledar, it isn't clear that it can fully establish control over those lines, as well as I think the chance of some major breakthrough or further Russian advance after Soledar, which is what Russian media is trying to portray as a possibility, are also unlikely. And I really want to emphasize that Soledar is -- comes at a great cost to Russia in terms of expending a lot of their combat-capable manpower in pursuit of limited gains.

NICK SCHIFRIN

Why has it been so important for Ukraine to continue this fight for so long?

NATALIYA BUGAYOVA

The fact that Ukraine's relentless defense pinned down Russia in those areas is actually preventing Russia from taking a breather on the battlefield. And it's a critical point, because it helps Ukraine to preserve its momentum on the battlefield, and Ukraine now setting conditions for the largest-scale offensive later this winter and the spring, as Ukraine officials have mentioned several times and the offense that the West should support at a large scale.

NICK SCHIFRIN

Today, Moscow announced a new operational commander in Ukraine. It's a familiar name, their equivalent to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Valery Gerasimov, who replaces General Sergei Surovikin, who was demoted to deputy just about three months after getting the job. What's the significance of that announcement?

NATALIYA BUGAYOVA

I would say a couple of things. One, it's also one of the reasons, I think, why Russia wants to score an informational win on the battlefield. Secondly, regardless of the rotations of the senior leadership that Vladimir Putin is doing, it is unlikely to change fundamentally alter the structural problems that led to Russian mistakes and setbacks on the battlefield in the first place. Therefore, I do not think it will have the immediate battlefield impact that the Kremlin seeks to generate.

NICK SCHIFRIN

And, finally, let's talk about Western weapons support. Today, the British prime minister's spokesman said that the U.K. was considering sending tanks to Ukraine. Poland said that it would send Leopard tanks to Ukraine if Germany gave it permission to. Ukraine has been asking for Leopards and tanks for many months. Is there now momentum, in Europe especially, to send tanks to Ukraine? And how important are those tanks to the fight?

NATALIYA BUGAYOVA

I think it's a critical one at this point, because those systems are required for the large-scale counteroffensive that we're talking about that is likely to be this winter and into the spring. What would be more effective if those systems came in bulk in a way that helps to supply Ukraine units consistently, cohesively in a way that makes it easier to resupply them.

NICK SCHIFRIN

Yes. And Ukrainian officials are asking for hundreds of tanks. And it's not clear that the West is certainly willing to send that. And, lastly, the U.S. has announced that it will start just in the next week perhaps training Ukrainians on the Patriot missile system. How important is that system inside of Ukraine's larger air defenses?

NATALIYA BUGAYOVA

Boosting Ukraine's capability to protect its airspace is critical now and will be critical a month from now as well, precisely because Russia's intent regarding Ukraine, the Kremlin's maximalist objectives have not changed, aren't likely to change, and, most importantly, will outlast Putin, most likely by design. One of the key points earlier in this war is the fact that Russia was not able to establish air superiority in Ukraine. So, continuing to boost Ukraine's ability to protect its airspace is critical.

NICK SCHIFRIN

Nataliya Bugayova, thank you very much.

NATALIYA BUGAYOVA

Thank you, Nick.

AMNA NAWAZ

For now, calm has been largely restored in Brazil after supporters of the former president swarmed the Brazilian Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace on Sunday. But what, if any, connections are there between Sunday's attack and other anti-democratic moves worldwide? Here's Laura Barron-Lopez.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ

The scenes of Jair Bolsonaro's supporters storming Brazil's capital were eerily reminiscent of the January 6 insurrection here almost two years to the day earlier. Both attacks were inspired by lies of election fraud, but the ties between the two are deeper. Former President Donald Trump and the defeated Brazilian leader share allies and a playbook. Joining us to break down the network of anti-democracy far right figures that traffic and extremism is Ruth Ben-Ghiat, historian at New York University. Ruth, thanks so much for joining us. What is the clearest connection between former Brazilian President Bolsonaro and Mr. Trump? RUTH BEN-GHIAT,

NYU History Professional

Well, there's a very direct connection in the form of Eduardo Bolsonaro one of his sons, who's a member of Congress, who's often come to the States. He was in Washington, D.C., on January 5 at the White House speaking with Ivanka Trump. And he's very close with Steve Bannon, who is an adviser of Jair Bolsonaro, as is Jason Miller. And Eduardo Bolsonaro, after his father lost the election, came to Florida and met with all of these characters and was encouraged to continue to contest the election. So there is a common playbook that the -- that Trump and Bolsonaro have followed, where you disseminate -- you get the public to lose faith in the electoral system. And Bolsonaro did this relentlessly. And this was not a theme in Brazil before. And then you have a personality cult, so people will believe your false claims.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ

And Steve Bannon and Jason Miller both also former Trump advisers. But you have also said that this isn't as simple as American right-wing forces exporting extremism. What other international leaders or influencers are in this network?

RUTH BEN-GHIAT

Well, it's important to see the Republican Party today as not only a party that is dedicated to destroying democracy at home. And it's quite relevant that, in February 2022, the GOP decreed that the January 6 attack was -- quote -- "legitimate political discourse," meaning the coup attempt and the violence was -- they consider it a valid way to meet their political goals. But -- and this is -- has in common with a lot of extremists abroad. And they are -- the GOP is immersed in these far right networks that stretch from Moscow to Budapest. And it's well-known the amount of interchange with Orban. They had their political -- Conservative Political Action Conference in Budapest. Tucker Carlson broadcast for a whole week from Budapest. But also in Rome now with the new neofascist prime minister, she gave an interview to The Washington Post, and she said that she -- she's attended the National Prayer Breakfast. And she said the GOP and her neofascist party are kindred spirits, and that the GOP's battles were similar to things that they discussed as well.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ

When you talk about Viktor Orban in Hungary, as well as Vladimir Putin in Russia, is there a common playbook across all of these figures, whom you have called strongmen?

RUTH BEN-GHIAT

Yes, these are -- these are people who use -- they use disinformation. They repress dissenters. They also -- I refer to the strongmen as these leaders who use machismo. And they -- and the personality cult is very, very important, because people bond to them. And then they believe the fraudulent things they say about them. So, in Bolsonaro's case, he got people to believe that he was the victim. Victimhood is very important to all of these strongmen. And he also disseminated the idea that violence might be necessary. This is another hallmark of these extremist leaders. In June '22, he said -- and he -- this was - - he's setting up that violence might be necessary if he loses. He said, "If necessary, we will go to war." And they did go to war for him on January 8.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ

And you say, strongmen like Mr. Trump and Bolsonaro aren't necessarily going to go away. But Daniel Twining of the International Republican Institute told my colleague Nick Schifrin

this

DANIEL TWINING, President,

International Republican Institute

I think we can look at the fact that our system worked,that that's the long-term takeaway. The institutions held. Good people, Republican and Democrat, proceeded to effect a peaceful transfer of power. And guess who had a bad subsequent year or two following January 6? Actually, it wasn't the United States. We had political change. We had some economic renewal. What -- the people who had a bad year were actually dictators in Iran, Russia, and China.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ

So, what do you say to that assessment that, overall, democracy seems to have held?

RUTH BEN-GHIAT

We are witnessing a time when authoritarianism has been -- is being revealed to be weak. I mean, these protests in China are a really big deal, as they are in Iran. And Putin's war is a classic example of autocratic backfire, where the terrible performance of the Russian military is showing that it is an institution that has been ravaged by Putin's kleptocracy and by institutionalized lying, that everybody's too afraid of falling out of a window to tell the truth. So, authoritarianism has never been weaker, in a sense, and -- but that's why these people are kind of roaring back, grasping at anything they can do. It's like their last chance to prevail.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ

Ruth Ben-Ghiat of New York University, thank you so much.

GEOFF BENNETT

While Republicans in Washington were fighting over the vote for how speaker, two states face their own high-stakes tensions as they chose who to lead their statehouses. In Ohio, moderate Republicans banded together with Democrats to elect a new speaker, despite the fact that the state's Republican Party endorsed a more hard right member. And, in Pennsylvania, a group of Republicans also agreed to support a Democrat to serve as the statehouse's speaker, but only if he changed his party affiliation to independent. Now legislative business is at a standstill as the parties wrangle over control. For more, Karen Kasler is with us. She's statehouse news bureau chief for Ohio Public Radio and TV. And Katie Meyer is a government and politics editor for the nonprofit news outlet Spotlight PA. Welcome to you both. And, Karen, at one point during the protracted House speaker race in Washington, there was talk, short-lived talk, of Democrats and Republicans forming a coalition majority. In Ohio, the parties were able to band together and basically do that. How? KAREN KASLER,

Ohio Public Radio and Television

Yes, it actually happened here. And what was interesting is, the successful speaker candidate, a man named Jason Stephens, was able to pull together more Democratic votes than Republican votes. He got all 32 Democrats in the Ohio House to vote for him and got 22 Republican votes. The other candidate, who was the speaker-elect coming into this -- he had been chosen speaker by the Republican Caucus in November, a man named Derek Merrin, he got 44 -- 43 votes. So he had more Republican votes than the speaker who was elected. And so now there is a real question among these two camps over what's going to happen next. And, today, the group of folks who backed Derek Merrin got together to talk about what they plan to do, and if they plan to oppose or try to push forward legislation that maybe Speaker Jason Stephens doesn't want to see. So it's -- like you said, it's kind of bringing everything to a standstill.

GEOFF BENNETT

Yes. Well, what led the moderates, the moderate Republicans, to push back?

KAREN KASLER

I think there were some questions during our lame-duck session in December about some of the bills that were proposed that didn't go forward, some that did. There was one night where the House was meeting for 16 hours straight,

ended at 6

00 in the morning. There were some questions about whether that was something that might have really caused some Republicans to be frustrated. There are Republicans, moderate Republicans, who say that Derek Merrin, who was the speaker-elect, did not reach out to them after he won that vote. And they were concerned about that. His supporters, Merrin supporters, say his father was in hospice and dying at the time, and so he didn't have the ability to do much other than try to make phone calls. So there are a lot of hurt feelings all the way around. And Democrats have tried to capitalize on this by teaming up with those more moderate Republicans and voting for Jason Stephens for speaker. What that will do to legislation going forward is really a question.

GEOFF BENNETT

Well, that was my next question for you, in fact. I mean, how does this affect the broader legislative agenda in Ohio, such that anybody knows at this point?

KAREN KASLER

Democrats said that they worked with Jason Stephens because they feel that he could work with them on issues they're concerned about, primarily education. Derek Merrin, the speaker they didn't vote for, has shown a lot of support for universal school vouchers, which Democrats oppose. There's also a proposal here that would make it so that voters would have to approve constitutional amendments by 60 percent in Ohio. Right now, it's just a simple majority. Democrats didn't want to see that happen, because there are some potential ballot issues on reproductive rights and redistricting that they want to see go forward. They say Jason Stephens has agreed to work with them on that. And that, of course, is some of the back-and-forth among Republicans, because they support these things. But they are wondering what Jason Stephens told Democrats about what he will work with them on and how he will actually get that done.

GEOFF BENNETT

Well, let's shift our focus to Pennsylvania now And, Katie Meyer, the Pennsylvania Statehouse is in limbo. Help us understand what happens. KATIE MEYER,

Spotlight Pennsylvania

Yes, so this really goes back to November. In that election, this House came away with a razor-thin split. So, it had been Republican-controlled for a decade. Democrats won -- of the 203-member chamber, they want 102 seats, so a very, very slim majority. Republicans won 101. But now, today, Democrats have three vacancies. One of their members passed away and two others had to resign to take higher offices. So, the Republicans actually have on the floor of functional majority. And so that's going to be temporary. Special elections will probably give Democrats back those seats. But, in the meantime, what it's done is create a situation where Republicans have been actually having trouble keeping their caucus together, and they were unable to get full support behind one of their own candidates for speaker, a speaker who'd probably only serve temporarily. Democrats, meanwhile, weren't able to flip enough Republicans to vote for their choice of speaker, a Philadelphia Democrat, Joanna McClinton. She's pretty progressive. So what happened instead was a very strange episode last week, where Republicans engineered basically a power-sharing agreement, but not one that's really predicated on moderation. They convinced a Democrat, Mark Rozzi, who's kind of a backbencher, to run for speaker. And then once he was accepting the nomination, Democrats voted for him, and a handful of Republicans did as well. It got him the votes. He announced that he was an independent. Again, this was engineered by Republicans. Democrats knew at some point, Democratic leadership, but the rank-and-file from both parties were totally taken by surprise. And what has happened since has been even more complicated. There was a lot of talk about bipartisanship, getting along, but these are bitterly divided chambers. And so Rozzi has since refused to -- or at least has not committed to switching his party registration, which Republicans said he told them he was going to do. And then the policy at the center of all of this has kind of been thrown into limbo. One of the reasons we're told that Rozzi took the speakership was that he had hopes to avoid a standoff and get a constitutional amendment passed that would basically give sexual assault survivors, people who've been assaulted in childhood, more options to sue even after the statute of limitations has passed.

GEOFF BENNETT

So, if he switches his party affiliation, if there's movement on this amendment, I mean, could that break the stalemate?

KATIE MEYER

It could. There's a lot of moving parts right now. And what Republicans have said is that they will pass these amendments. They want to pass the amendment. They have passed it before. And that's a whole other story. These are complicated to pass in Pennsylvania. But they also want to roll it into a bunch of their own priority amendments, which includes voter identification, a new requirement that the state operate election audits, and some things like that. And these are things that Democrats generally oppose. And so now Rozzi is in the middle of this. He's not saying too, too much about his own policy preferences, but Democrats have made it really clear they don't want those things. And so all of these are a big question mark.

GEOFF BENNETT

And so, moving forward, Katie, how does this affect the legislative agenda in Pennsylvania?

KATIE MEYER

I mean, a lot is going to hinge on special elections. They will either happen -- one of them's happening in February. Two more might happen in February. They also might get delayed, depending on what a court says. These are all, like, very highly contested things. But I think, even when the Democrats are back up to full strength and have -- likely, if they win those elections, and have a very narrow majority, what we're going to see is really tough legislative deadlocks all the time in Pennsylvania, just because, again, this is a narrowly divided body, and they have shown very little indication that they're going to be able to happily work together, with people crossing the aisle to support certain things. So I think we're in for a lot of standoffs.

GEOFF BENNETT

Katie Meyer of Spotlight PA and Karen Kasler of Ohio Public Radio and Television, thanks to you both.

KATIE MEYER

Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ

As federal state and local leaders seek solutions along the Southern border, the effects of the migrant crisis are being felt well within the nation's interior. John Yang has more on how the situation is creating new divides between cities and states hundreds of miles apart.

JOHN YANG

More than 4,000 migrants who crossed into the United States from Mexico arrived in Denver over the past month. With shelters and services overwhelmed, Colorado began chartering buses have its own. Democratic Governor Jared Polis insists the trips matched migrants' plans to reconnect with family, unlike the scene last September, when Republican Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida took credit for sending migrants to Martha's Vineyard, much to the surprise of both the passengers and locals. GOV.

RON DESANTIS (R-FL)

The minute even a small fraction of what those border towns deal with every day is brought to their front door, they all of a sudden go berserk.

JOHN YANG

But mayors of two of the country's biggest cities, destinations for Colorado's buses, accused the state of exporting its crisis as they struggle with their own. ERIC ADAMS (D),

Mayor of New York

This is unacceptable. And I'm not going to sit back and allow New Yorkers to carry the burden of a manmade crisis. This must be fixed. This has to be fixed.

JOHN YANG

Last week, Mayors Eric Adams of New York and Lori Lightfoot of Chicago sent a letter asking Colorado to cease and desist, saying neither city had room to accommodate any more migrants. Colorado has since halted its busing operation, but advocates say they remain overwhelmed and under-resourced. Colorado was allotted $5 million to respond to the migrant crisis, half of that money for Denver. The city has already spent about $1.5 million. Michael Hancock is in his third term as mayor of Denver and, because of term limits, it's his last. Mr. Mayor, what's the current situation? How many people are currently in shelters right now? And are new migrants still arriving in Denver? MICHAEL HANCOCK (D), Mayor of Denver,

Colorado

First of all, John, it's good to be with you. And we are still seeing about 50 migrants arrive in Denver on a daily basis. Right now, we are housing over 1,200 migrants between city shelters, emergency shelters, and the shelters of our partners, who are - - who -- nonprofits and faith organizations that have stepped up to help us through this crisis.

JOHN YANG

And we should clarify, these -- the migrants are coming on their own initiative. They're not being sent up there by a Republican governor or someone -- by an official.

MICHAEL HANCOCK

From what we understand, in talking with the migrants themselves and trying to understand how they got here and why they're here, it was loosely coordinated amongst themselves to come into Colorado. And most of them, not all of them, but most of them, were hoping to go on to other destinations outside of Denver and outside of Colorado.

JOHN YANG

Why -- you set a 14-day limit on how long the migrants can stay in shelters, and you're moving to close some of them. Why that decision?

MICHAEL HANCOCK

Well, there are a couple of reasons. One, as we continue to talk with cities, particularly along the border, and other cities that have been deluged with migrants, we look at best practices. What are the best things for us to do to help the migrants, as well as to effectively serve them, as well as to relieve the financial stress and burden on the people of Denver and the use of our recreation centers? And this is not their intended purpose, in terms of the rec centers themselves. And what we have learned is, once the city leans into shelter, it becomes a long-term challenge that is hard to break up. So what we're working to do not so much is put people out on the street after 14 days, but to really send a clarion call to all of our external partners, nonprofit, faith organizations, as well as other levels of government, state and federal government, that we have to work diligently to assess, authorize and to properly shelter individuals throughout, dispersed throughout Denver and the state of Colorado, wherever they want to go. But we have to return our rec centers to their intended purpose sooner than later. And there's nothing humane about trying to house migrants on the floors of our gymnasiums and rec centers, where they really don't have the proper facilities. And so it's really more of an approach to compassion, a humane approach to helping folks be more comfortable, but also be able to access the services they need.

JOHN YANG

Are you confident that there will be places for the migrants to go at the end of those 14 days?

MICHAEL HANCOCK

I'm not at all confused that this is going to be a challenging effort. We know it's going to be challenging, because not only do we have to find alternative shelter opportunities, but we have to case-manage and assess really the status of these individuals who have come to our cities. And that's why it has to be a multilevel of government response to this and not just cities of Denver, Tucson, Chicago, New York, or what have you responding.

JOHN YANG

Mr. Mayor, you mentioned this multilevel governmental approach to this. Should the federal government be helping you with this situation?

MICHAEL HANCOCK

Absolutely. What we're dealing with today, John, is really a failure of Congress and past administrations and -- to really respond. I got to tell you that the most recent policy released by Biden has been helpful to us, to an extent, but we need a long-term strategy. And I have been calling for this for 12 years that I have been mayor of Denver, because we recognize that a lot of the challenges that cities like Denver and other cities in the U.S. are dealing with, the frustrations with immigration are due to the lack of policy and direction from the federal government. So, the federal government, Congress in particular, needs to do his job, design and bring forward sensible legislation with a sensible pathway to citizenship for migrants who are wanting to come to the U.S.

JOHN YANG

Your city is hundreds of miles from the border. Did you ever imagine that you would be facing a migrant crisis like this in your own city?

MICHAEL HANCOCK

No. We knew that there were political games being played. Denver was named as probably one of the progressive cities that they may start shipping migrants to. We didn't really expect them to come to Denver. There's really nothing natural about a migration to Denver for migrants out of Venezuela or El Salvador or wherever they're coming from. We don't really have a Venezuelan population in Denver. And so, yes, we're a little surprised that we have such a large surge that has come to our city.

JOHN YANG

Whose responsibility do you think this is? Who -- why is this happening in Denver?

MICHAEL HANCOCK

You know what? I think the reality is, is that we have, again, failed to develop a sensible immigration strategy for this nation and to help our border cities - - states and cities to deal effectively with the right resources, with the right safety net systems to help those who want to come to the U.S. And so other cities like Tucson and Denver who -- and Chicago, who may not be necessarily on that border, are being surged with migrants who are looking for opportunity in the U.S. as they have come across, unauthorized for the most part, into the United States.

JOHN YANG

Michael Hancock, mayor of Denver, thank you very much.

MICHAEL HANCOCK

John, thanks for having me.

GEOFF BENNETT

U.S. emissions fell during the height of the pandemic, as people were stuck at home and there were far fewer vehicles on the road. But that changed as the pandemic eased. And a new report this week shows emissions rose again by a small amount last year. Many researchers, scientists and lawmakers argued that Americans need to reduce their use of fossil fuels much sooner than they may have planned. Miles O'Brien is back with a look at an alternative for home heating that could prove useful and reduce the costs of fossil fuels.

MILES O'BRIEN

A super efficient, economical, all-electric home, it can be done. Welcome to Mark Jacobson's home in Stanford, California. Built in 2017, it's a way to fully practice what he preaches. MARK JACOBSON,

Stanford University

I wanted first and foremost a very comfortable home using zero fossil fuel energy.

MILES O'BRIEN

He is a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University. He is also co-founder of The Solutions Project.

MARK JACOBSON

The green on here is the solar production during the day.

MILES O'BRIEN

A nonprofit trying to accelerate the transition to 100 percent renewable energy all over the world.

MARK JACOBSON

We have solar on the roof, electric heat pumps, an electric heat pump water heater. It's forcing myself to just use only electricity.

MILES O'BRIEN

Would you declare this as a success?

MARK JACOBSON

It's way beyond what I expected. I actually produce 20 percent more electricity than I consume. I think it proves that new homes can all be developed with no gas, all electric.

MILES O'BRIEN

But what about existing homes? Is the transition away from fossil fuels practical and affordable? There is growing evidence it is. AL LOPEZ,

Green Team Long Island

But, coming out this side, you can still run it down.

MILES O'BRIEN

Nine years ago, Al Lopez started a company called Green Team Long Island. He also is on a mission to rid homes of fossil fuels.

AL LOPEZ

Time is running out before we can really stop that two-degree warming that will start making things dramatically worse. Every home is going to be using heat pumps in a matter of time, because it's just so efficient. So we have seven heads?

MILES O'BRIEN

We caught up with him and his crew at Jennifer Bricourt-Fray's home in West Hempstead, New York. It's one of about 15 installations the company completes every week. She hired Green Team to install insulation, heat pumps and solar panels. JENNIFER BRICOURT-FRAY,

Homeowner

I have always wanted to have a green home. I think it's something I have always thought about in my mind. I have always said, if I'm going to be a homeowner, something has to be green or everything has to be green.

MILES O'BRIEN

Heat pumps are so green because they're not creating heat. They're just moving it from one place to another. Inside, there's a fluid called refrigerant that actually boils at minus 40 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. As long as the outside air is warmer than minus 40. The refrigerant picks up heat from the outside air as it becomes a gas. It flows into an electric compressor, where it is put under pressure, adding more warmth to the gas. The warm gas flows into your room unit. As it heats your room, the gas itself condenses back into a liquid. Now the liquid travels back out, flowing through a valve that lowers the pressure and thus the temperature. And the cycle starts all over again. So, in the winter, you can pump heat inside and, in the summer, reverse the process to pump heat outside, cooling your room.

AL LOPEZ

You can go to 400, 500, 800 percent efficiency because you're not making heat. You're just pushing it from one area to the other.

MILES O'BRIEN

But as the temperatures get very high or very low, the efficiency does decline. KATHY HANNUN, Co-Founder,

Dandelion Energy

The challenge is, the time you need heating the most is literally when there is the least heat to be extracted from the air, right, on that coldest, coldest winter night. And the time when you need cooling the most is on the hottest summer day, when it's the hardest to put heat into the air. If bedrock is deep enough to let you do that.

MILES O'BRIEN

Kathy Hannun is the founder and president of Dandelion Energy. The company is installing heat pumps that are connected to geothermal wells. It makes a heat pump even more efficient.

KATHY HANNUN

You're extracting heat and rejecting heat to the ground. And the ground is typically about 50 degrees Fahrenheit year-round. So it's just never that hard to pull heat out of the ground. And it's never that hard to put heat into the ground. And what that translates to is a system that's incredibly efficient and very cost-effective for homeowners.

MILES O'BRIEN

Dandelion has focused on reducing the cost and consequence of drilling a geothermal well. It is using smaller, more nimble drilling rigs to reach tight lots, like this one. So far, they have installed more than 1,000 geothermal wells for heat pumps. Elaine Weir is among their customers. She got rid of her old gas furnace and air conditioning system at her home in Scarsdale, New York. All of it was replaced with two heat pumps in her basement attached to closed-loop geothermal wells. ELAINE WEIR,

Homeowner

And these pipes are connected to the outside underneath the ground.

MILES O'BRIEN

The pipes are filled with a steady supply of 50-degree water year round, no matter the weather. The system cost $40,000 all in. But with subsidies and financing, they didn't have to come out of pocket up front. Has it been satisfactory, both in heating and in cooling?

ELAINE WEIR

Definitely. All our neighbors are all complaining about how much their heating bills went up, but we -- ours stayed the same. And we're using that heat a lot more, and we use the A.C. a lot more as well.

MILES O'BRIEN

Without guilt.

ELAINE WEIR

Yes, yes, without guilt, yes.

MILES O'BRIEN

Of course, drilling geothermal wells to enhance heat pumps greatly adds to the expense. In the most extreme climates, it is often mandatory. But there is some conventional wisdom, or urban myth, that air source heat pumps don't work well in climates like New York either. VIJAY MODI,

Columbia University

So I think we have moved the needle significantly. They have become more reliable.

MILES O'BRIEN

Vijay Modi is a professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia University. He has installed heat pumps into his 150-year-old Harlem brownstone. He says heat pump technology has greatly improved in the last 20 years, but buyer, beware.

VIJAY MODI

I think one gap we need to address is, we need more people trained to install them and install them right. They are a tricky technology. But this technology is there to deploy, right? We will need heat pumps simply because that's the only option we have.

MILES O'BRIEN

New York state aims to completely eliminate fossil fuels in all its buildings by 2050.

AL LOPEZ

Right now, we're doing about 20,000 buildings a year. To reach our goal, we have to do 200,000 a year, a tenfold increase. And that's where the challenge and the opportunity come in.

MILES O'BRIEN

Is it realistic to imagine fully electrified homes en masse across this country in the next 20 years, do you think?

AL LOPEZ

It's a challenges. And it's a high goal, but one that is achievable.

MILES O'BRIEN

On rooftops all over the city, there is evidence the transition is well under way. But with one million buildings in this city alone, the road to zero is fraught with congestion and gridlock. For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Miles O'Brien in New York City.

GEOFF BENNETT

And there is a lot more online at PBS.org/NewsHour, including a story about solar-powered energy hubs being built in and around New Orleans to provide residents there with electricity after natural disasters.

AMNA NAWAZ

And join us again back here tomorrow night, when we will explore the state of policing in America amid ongoing calls for reform. That is the "NewsHour" for tonight. I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT

And I'm Geoff Bennett. Thanks for spending part of your evening with us. /\