PBS News Hour

JUDY WOODRUFF

Good evening. I'm Judy Woodruff. On the "NewsHour"

tonight

face to face. President Biden meets China's President Xi in person for the first time since taking office, amid heightened tensions between the world's two most powerful nations. JOE BIDEN,

President of the United States

We're going to compete vigorously, but I'm not looking for conflict. I'm looking to manage this competition responsibly.

Then

counting the votes. Control of the U.S. House of Representatives still hangs in the balance, as more ballots are tallied in tightly contested races. And celebration in the streets. Ukraine's president visits the liberated city of Kherson, declaring its recapture the beginning of the end of the war. All that and more on tonight's "PBS NewsHour." (BREAK)

JUDY WOODRUFF

Two universities are grieving the tragic loss of students tonight. In Moscow, Idaho, four University of Idaho students were found dead in a home near campus Sunday. And, in Charlottesville, Virginia, three University of Virginia students were shot and killed last night. John Yang has our report. TIM LONGO,

University of Virginia Police Chief

Pardon me.

JOHN YANG

University of Virginia Police Chief Tim Longo was in the middle of briefing reporters this morning when he got the word he'd been hoping for.

TIM LONGO

We have just received information that the suspect is in custody.

JOHN YANG

An emotional moment for Longo and for students like junior Emmy Smith, who had sheltered in place overnight. EMMY SMITH,

College Student

It's partially a relief that this is over. But it's just, how do we move forward in a time like this?

Move forward from about 10

30 Sunday night, when a shooting left three students dead and two others wounded after a bus trip to Washington, D.C., to see a play as part of a class.

911 DISPATCHER

I have two people shot.

JOHN YANG

Officials said the dead were members of the football team, starting wide receiver Lavel Davis Jr. from Ridgeville, South Carolina, in his third year, sophomore Devin Chandler, also a wide receiver, from Huntersville, North Carolina, and linebacker D'Sean Perry, a senior from Miami. A former football player, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., has been charged with three counts of second-degree murder and use of a handgun. Longo said Jones had come to school officials' attention in September after reports he had said he had a gun.

TIM LONGO

The comment about Mr. Jones owning a gun was not made in conjunction with any threats.

JOHN YANG

In a 2018 interview with The Richmond Times-Dispatch, Jones spoke of multiple suspensions from school for fighting while growing up in a Richmond housing project, a much different environment from UVA's picturesque campus designed by Thomas Jefferson. For Emmy Smith, the shooting was a shocking event.

EMMY SMITH

I was just in my room with my friend watching movies on a Sunday night, and I faintly heard gunshots go off. We were instantly bolting the doors, closing all the windows, lights off, moved to the floor, away from any and all windows.

JOHN YANG

Overnight, students were urged to shelter in place during an intense manhunt. Some slept in libraries. Across the country, at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho, another shelter in place order Sunday after four students were found shot to death in a home near campus. Officials are releasing little information in that case. But both events are a grim reminder of the nation's epidemic of gun violence. For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm John Yang.

JUDY WOODRUFF

President Biden promised there will be no -- quote -- "new Cold War" after holding a three-hour meeting with China's President Xi Jinping today in Bali, Indonesia. They spoke on the sidelines of the Group of 20 Summit in their first face-to-face meeting of their presidencies. According to spokespeople, the leaders discussed tensions in Taiwan, North Korea, and Ukraine, among other things. we will have more on this after the news summary. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took an unannounced victory lap around the newly liberated southern city of Kherson today. He celebrated in the streets and awarded medals to soldiers who helped recapture the city from Russian control. VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY,

Ukrainian President

This is the beginning of the end of the war. Of course, you see our strong army. We are step by step coming to our country, to all the temporarily occupied territories.

JUDY WOODRUFF

Meanwhile, U.S. CIA Director William Burns met with his Russian intelligence counterpart in Ankara, Turkey, today to convey the consequences if Moscow were to deploy a nuclear weapon in Ukraine. It was the highest-ranking in person meeting between the U.S. and Russian officials since before the invasion. Separately, in Turkey, police have arrested a Syrian woman suspected of carrying out Sunday's bombing in Istanbul that killed six people and wounded dozens more. Turkish officials said the woman had links to Kurdish militant groups, which the Kurds deny. Funerals for the victims began today. Mourners prayed and laid flowers for the dead at the site of the blast. The family of a prominent political prisoner in Egypt says he is now drinking water again after he escalated his hunger strike this month. The announcement came in a letter from Alaa Abdel-Fattah. It was the first they'd heard from him in more than a week. Abdel-Fattah began refusing water to call attention to his case and to others at the start of the U.N.'s COP 27 climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh. Back in this country, the U.S. Supreme Court will allow the congressional panel investigating the January 6 insurrection to get phone records from the head of Arizona's Republican Party. Kelli Ward had made an emergency request to halt the turnover while a lawsuit proceeds. Ward posed as a fake presidential elector - - for Donald Trump in order to try to overturn Arizona's 2020 election results. President Biden's plan to forgive student loan debt has hit yet another legal roadblock. A U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis agreed today to halt the program while a lawsuit over whether to end it plays out. The new ruling comes days after a federal judge in Texas blocked the student debt plan, calling it unlawful. Google has agreed to a $392 million settlement with states for its role in tracking users' locations. In 2018, an Associated Press investigation found that the tech giant still tracked and stored data, even if a user opted out of the service. This marks the largest multistate privacy settlement ever in the U.S. And stocks slipped on Wall Street today. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 211 points to close at 33537. The Nasdaq fell 127 points and the S&P 500 shed 36. Still to come on the "NewsHour": Tamara Keith and Amy Walter weigh in on what happened in the midterm elections; the United Kingdom and France agree to crack down on migrant crossings in the English Channel; a digital database documents the vital, but often unrecognized infrastructure created by the New Deal; plus much more. The first in person meeting today between presidents Biden and Xi Jinping in their capacities as leaders of their government came today as the U.S. and China are increasingly confronting each other over technology, Taiwan and human rights. As Nick Schifrin reports, the two sides did not agree to step back from their respective positions, but they did commit to managing tensions.

NICK SCHIFRIN

The U.S. calls China its greatest competitor. But today, in a handshake, President Biden suggested historic tensions could begin to thaw. JOE BIDEN,

President of the United States

I absolutely believe there need not be a new Cold War.

NICK SCHIFRIN

Biden, Xi Jinping and their teams met for three hours. Both sides suggested the goal was preventing competition from becoming conflict. XI JINPING,

Chinese President (through translator)

The current state of China-U.S. relations is what we are both concerned about. But such a state does not conform to the fundamental interests of our two countries and peoples.

NICK SCHIFRIN

The two sides agreed to restart Cabinet-level communication. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Beijing, likely early next year. And Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry will coordinate with his counterpart at the ongoing COP 27 climate summit. But today did not solve any disagreements, especially over Taiwan, months after Beijing

launched unprecedented drills that surrounded

"The island. Today's Chinese readout said Xi Jinping told President Biden the Taiwan question is the first red line that must not be crossed. Cross-strait peace and stability and Taiwan independence are as irreconcilable as water and fire." President Biden today reiterated that the U.S. opposed unilateral changes to the status quo by either side.

JOE BIDEN

Our One China policy has not changed. I do not think there's any imminent attempt on the part of China to invade Taiwan.

NICK SCHIFRIN

In its written statement, the White House said President Biden also raised concerns about practices in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, and human rights more broadly. The U.S. has accused Beijing of genocide, and detaining more than one million ethnic Uyghurs. But Beijing rejected any human rights criticism. "Just as the United States has America-style democracy," its statement said, "China has Chinese-style democracy." The U.S. is also confronting Beijing over technology. The U.S. recently imposed its strongest ever export controls to try and choke off Beijing's access to advanced chips. And there's also public division over Ukraine. Last night, a senior U.S. official said Beijing was -- quote -- "embarrassed" by the conduct of Russian military operations. And today's White House statement said President Biden and President Xi underscored their opposition to the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine. But Beijing's statement said only President Xi pointed out that China is highly concerned about the current situation in Ukraine. Xi Jinping is China's strongest leader in half-a-century. Some U.S. officials have worried his recent consolidation of control would lead him to become even more confrontational. But, today, President Biden emphasized they could work together.

JOE BIDEN

I found him the way he has always been, direct and straightforward. And do I think he's willing to compromise on various issues? Yes.

NICK SCHIFRIN

For more on the significance of today's meeting between Presidents Biden and Xi, we get two views. Bonnie Glaser is the director of the Asia program at the German Marshall Fund, an organization that promotes U.S.-Europe relations. And Yun Sun is a senior fellow and director of the China Program at the Stimson Center, an organization that focuses on international security. Thank you very much. Welcome, both of you, back to the "NewsHour." Bonnie Glaser, let me start with you. Do you expect to see any improvement in the U.S.-China relationship based on these meetings? BONNIE GLASER,

German Marshall Fund

Well, the opportunity certainly exists. The door has been opened. For the past year-and-a-half, the Biden administration has consistently pursued an effort to engage China in a conversation about how to manage competition between our two countries. And Beijing has been reluctant to engage, and, at time, it has even sought to extract concessions in return for any progress in the relationship. And it appears that that situation may have changed, perhaps because Xi Jinping is facing domestic challenges, especially a severe economic slowdown. But it remains to be seen whether any concrete progress can really be achieved. The Chinese tend to go at these issues from the top down. They want to talk about principles of the relationship. The United States tends to want to talk about confidence-building measures. So there's a bit of a mismatch in the approach, but there might be some shared interest in putting a floor under the relationship and stopping the deterioration.

NICK SCHIFRIN

Yun Sun, is that is that how you see it, that this is an opportunity for discussions and an open door that hasn't been open for the last year-and-a-half? YUN SUN,

Stimson Center

I agree with that assessment. But the problem with that approach is that, well, this is not the first time that they have similar conversations. In fact, they have had five conversations in the past year, almost two years, but none of those conversations really transpired to a reversal or a slowdown to the deterioration of the bilateral relations. So, this time around, until we see concrete actions and concrete deliverables from Beijing to improve the bilateral relations, I will remain skeptical as for the concrete result of this meeting.

NICK SCHIFRIN

Bonnie Glaser, do you share that skepticism, given that the U.S. is not promising to change any of its behaviors that irk Beijing, and China does not seem to be willing to change any of its behaviors that the U.S. objects to?

BONNIE GLASER

I share Yun Sun's skepticism. And the structural competition in the relationship, I think, is really what is important here. China is the rising power. The United States is threatened by China's and particularly Xi Jinping's aspirations to become a leading power, if not the leading power, in the world. So it is difficult to be overly optimistic about what can be achieved. But it is a good thing that the leaders are talking. And many countries around the world are looking to the U.S. and China to engage in more serious dialogue and to find ways to cooperate on issues like climate change and global health and macroeconomic policy, because their failure to do so is detrimental to other countries in the world.

NICK SCHIFRIN

Yun Sun, both sides have actually said that other countries were looking to them to try and emphasize diplomacy over conflict. How much of that plays a part into at least what seems to be a public mutual desire to avoid confrontation?

YUN SUN

It seems there are many reasons that U.S. and China wants to avoid this confrontation. I think, by default, the people -- or the two countries and the leaders, they want to avoid a war. They might compete with each other, but a war and the consequences of a war in today's world is rather unthinkable. So for them to try to put a floor and prevent a potential conflict or confrontation militarily is the responsible thing to do.

NICK SCHIFRIN

And yet, Bonnie Glaser, do you see tensions over Taiwan, the single core issue that the two sides disagree over? Do you see those tensions at all decreasing because of this meeting?

BONNIE GLASER

It's going to be very, very difficult, I think, to dial down the tensions over Taiwan. In the aftermath of speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, China's military activity has been significantly increased. And President Biden raised strong objections to Xi Jinping about China's coercion and increasingly aggressive actions against Taiwan. The Chinese military has essentially changed the status quo in the Taiwan Strait in its favor and obliterated the centerline of the strait, which it used to, tacitly, at least, recognize. I'm very doubtful that China is going to be willing to roll back those gains.

NICK SCHIFRIN

And so, if China, Yun Sun, is not willing to roll back those gains, it seems like the tension over Taiwan will only increase.

YUN SUN

That is what, I think, I expect and also most of my colleagues in the policy community expect, because there are factors that may not be under their control. For example, Taiwan is going to have its local election later this month. So these types of development, especially the democratic results in the Taiwanese domestic politics, is going to make the Chinese want to take more actions to coerce Taiwan and force the United States to react.

NICK SCHIFRIN

There's certainly a difference over the war in Ukraine in both of the statements. The White House said that Biden and Xi underscored their opposition to the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine. But the Chinese statement does not go that far. So, does -- Bonnie Glaser, does that signify a genuine difference?

BONNIE GLASER

China has clearly said in the past that it opposes the use of nuclear weapons or the threat of use of nuclear weapons. Most recently, in fact, Xi Jinping said that to German Chancellor Scholz when he visited Beijing. I think that Xi Jinping perhaps had that discussion with Biden, but maybe the Chinese didn't want to include it in the readout, because Xi Jinping does not want to appear to be cozying up to the United States in a way that might harm its relationship with Moscow and particularly Xi Jinping's relationship with Putin.

NICK SCHIFRIN

And, Yun Sun, if Xi Jinping was willing to say somebody to Chancellor Scholz that he is not willing to say in public to the U.S., what does that say about the U.S.-China relationship going forward?

YUN SUN

There's, in fact, a pivot of China's foreign policy towards Europe, because they see Europe as the alternative source and alternative access to things that they're no longer able to get from the United States.

NICK SCHIFRIN

Yun Sun, Bonnie Glaser, thank you very much to you both.

BONNIE GLASER

Thank you.

YUN SUN

Thank you, Nick.

JUDY WOODRUFF

Lawmakers return went to Capitol Hill this week after a drawn-out midterm battle for power in Congress. Democrats have retained control of the Upper Chamber, but a Georgia run-off will determine if they gain a seat or return to the split-down-the-middle 50/50 Senate. The balance of power in the Lower Chamber is pending, and several House races are still being counted. The election outcomes and the lack of final results have put several key leadership issues in flux for Republicans. Lisa Desjardins has more on all of this. Hello to you, Lisa. You are at the Capitol it appears. I know you're glad to be there. So let's talk about the House balance of power. We don't have all the results in. Where do things stand. What are you watching?

LISA DESJARDINS

Much is afoot, Judy. What a plotline we have here in Congress. Let's take a look right now with where the races are for the House of Representatives, the balance of power, as we know it, as called by the Associated Press. Here are the races called, the number; 204 Democrats have had races called for them, 212 Republicans. As we have been repeating, Kevin McCarthy's Republicans need 218 votes. They do not have that yet in the -- in this chamber. And let's look at some of these races that are still close. For example, California's 13th Congressional District, we have been talking about this. There you have John Duarte, the pistachio and almond farmer. He is ahead of Adam Gray, whose family is in the dairy business, by just 84 votes. Can you believe that, 61 percent of the expected vote in? This is a race where I think Democrats could come back and take this seat, or it could be Republicans. Who knows. The count in California takes a long time and we don't know when we will have the results of that. But let me give folks a summary of where we are overall. In the race for the House of Representatives, we now have 19 uncalled races left across the entire country. Now, those 19 are nearly split between Republicans and Democrats, with Republicans have just one more, 10 seats of those nine, that they're leading in. But, overall, we're waiting mostly for the West. California has the largest number of seats still. And Arizona also has two seats left. Meanwhile, Judy, I just came from House Republicans' meeting. They are holding speeches tonight to determine who their leaders will be in the next session. And, of course, Kevin McCarthy has spoken, says he wants to be speaker. No one stood to challenge him. But it is something that I think we're going to be talking about.

JUDY WOODRUFF

So, as you say, you just came for that meeting. What do these numbers mean for Republicans right now?

LISA DESJARDINS

Kevin McCarthy does not have the 218 votes to be speaker right now. But it does appear he has a majority of the support from his conference. There he is. He did not speak to reporters as he went in smiled simply. It's something he wanted that no one spoke against him tonight. However, we are tracking some who may oppose him. Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona is someone from the Freedom Caucus who has said he may challenge or we understand may challenge Speaker McCarthy. And let's talk about it. If the Republicans have just a slight-four seat majority, that means Kevin McCarthy needs every Republican to vote for him, except for four or five. So let's talk about some who have already indicated openly that they're not on board with Kevin McCarthy yet. That includes Republicans like Matt Gaetz, also in that group, Chip Roy. Also in that group, Thomas Massie, who I spoke with tonight, would not commit either way. Kevin McCarthy has no margin for error here. He may come out of tonight's meeting as the nominee, so to speak, for speaker, but it is not clear that he has the votes left, he has enough votes to actually become speaker in January. He will have a great deal of work to do to figure that out and to get those votes. The conservative Freedom Caucus is asking for concessions. Those include some different kinds of parliamentary procedures that would tie his hand, give more power to conservatives and the Freedom Caucus. They're not the only ones asking for concessions, though. The entire House Republican Conference realizes, if you have four seats that determine your majority, everyone has power, and everyone is asking for concessions. It is a very complicated and potentially chaotic process that the House Republicans are just now beginning to enter.

JUDY WOODRUFF

Reads like a suspense novel.

LISA DESJARDINS

Yes. (LAUGHTER)

JUDY WOODRUFF

All right, Lisa, so, finally, what about the Senate? We know the Democrats did manage to hang onto the majority there, but what does all of that, do the numbers there mean for what they're going to be able to get done?

LISA DESJARDINS

You know, it really is only just not even two days since we know that Senate Democrats would be retaining their majority. But, already, the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, is making some moves. He has announced that, this week, the Senate will be holding a vote on legislation to codify same-sex marriage in some ways. Essentially, that legislation, which is bipartisan, would mean that any same-sex marriage certified by one state would be recognized by all states. That is something that we know some moderate Republicans are on board. We don't know how many, but that's what will come this week. And I think it's not an accident, Judy, that that is after Senate Democrats got this majority. They're saying, we have more to do. We're going to get started now. As for Republicans, Judy, lots of finger-pointing there, as you would expect, some unhappy Republicans in the Senate. However, there are a few, including Rick Scott, who ran the Senate Republicans' campaign, pointing fingers at their leader, Mitch McConnell, and saying, we need to delay our leadership elections. We're not sure that we think McConnell is the person to do it. But I want to report that they are in the minority. Mitch McConnell is going ahead with elections on Wednesday And, right now, I have no reason to doubt that he will continue to be the Republican leader in the Senate.

JUDY WOODRUFF

So, a lot of suspense in the Senate too.

LISA DESJARDINS

Drama.

JUDY WOODRUFF

Lisa Desjardins watching it all very closely. Thank you, Lisa.

LISA DESJARDINS

You're welcome.

JUDY WOODRUFF

And, as we have just been hearing, nearly a week after Election Day, we are finally getting a clearer picture of the winners and the losers and, more important, how the candidates who falsely insisted that the last presidential election was stolen, how they're faring in this one. Amna Nawaz has more.

AMNA NAWAZ

That's right, Judy. In the battleground states where Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election results, each of his favorite candidates for key statewide contests lost their races, while, in some states, votes are still being counted. For some takeaways now, we turn to Tammy Patrick of the nonpartisan Democracy Fund. She previously served as an election official in Maricopa County, Arizona, for more than a decade. Tammy Patrick, welcome back to the "NewsHour." And thank you for being with us. As you well know, these midterms were sort of the first big test for election denialism, right? And a number of those candidates, those Republican candidates like Mark Finchem in Arizona, Adam Laxalt and Jim Marchant in Nevada, many of those election deniers lost in their races, although many in the House ended up winning. When you take a step back, what does all of this say to you about the power of that election denial message? TAMMY PATRICK,

Democracy Fund

It truly has been an important turning point, I think, in our nation's history, because we know that, for many of Americans who turned out to vote last week, they did not buy this message that the 2020 election was stolen, that they should lack confidence in our democracy and in our electoral process. So, we know that on many instances, the ones that you mentioned, that resonated with them, and they have instead chosen the path of pro-democracy, pro-democratic, pro-free and fair elections, in the way that they have cast their ballot. This whole time, I have been saying that we needed to remember and remind voters that they are still in the driver's seat in the United States of America. So there are examples across the country where we will still have work to do to make sure that people's beliefs and rights are upheld and that we have some continuity across the country, so that we don't have a patchwork of different interpretations of what our federal laws mean.

AMNA NAWAZ

Even in that patchwork as it exists now, though, Tammy, there were a lot of concerns going into this election cycle that, should a lot of those candidates win, it would pose a major threat to our democracy. A few of those candidates did win. Does that mean the threat is gone or it's still there?

TAMMY PATRICK

I think we need to remain vigilant, but I think we can at least take one brief sigh of relief. Another big signal that I'm seeing in the last week or so -- and this started right even on election night -- was that return to the democratic norm of conceding an election. So we know that the candidates on both sides of the aisles, some incumbents, some new to the political sphere, took it upon themselves to do what was right, what is civil, and concede a race where they fell short. And that might seem like a small thing, but we know, after the 2020 election, how important it is for voters and for the public to hear that message, so that we can start to heal and move forward together.

AMNA NAWAZ

I want to ask you about Arizona, where there's still a major race for governor there that has not yet been called. It is too close to call. The counting does continue in that race there between the Democrat Katie Hobbs, secretary of state, and the Republican Kari Lake, as you can see, in the numbers, tied at 50/50. And I said the counting continues, about 93 percent of the expected vote in so far. We know Kari Lake has fueled doubts and denied the results of the 2020 election. And now we have seen former President Trump coming out and starting to ignite more concerns about those election results, saying that Kari Lake is being slowly and systematically having the election taken from her. He says it's an American disaster. Are you worried that Kari Lake may not concede if she does end up losing?

TAMMY PATRICK

It's important for viewers to understand that the concession really has no legal meaning, but what it does is, it means a lot to the voters and it means a lot to the public to hear their candidate acknowledge that they lost fair and square. And it's also important to know that there are still ballots being counted in almost every state in the country. And this is not an anomaly in any way, shape or form for there to be post-election processing and counting of ballots all across the country. So, when the canvass of the election is complete and we have our official results, there will be instances where the candidates will not concede. If Ms. Lake does not concede in this race, I think that there will be some who will see that as a call to action. I think there will be some who, even if she would concede, would not believe her or would think that the election was in some way, shape or form illegitimate. But it's so important for everyone to understand that, in Arizona, you can watch the tabulation process online 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from the point in time when they start counting ballots until the very last ballot is counted. It's been that way for decades. They have a hand-count audit to make sure that the machines are, in fact, counting accurately. It's been that way for decades. They test the equipment before the election and after the election. It's been that way for decades. All of the best practices around how we conduct our elections, so we can have confidence in them, so we can believe in the outcome, are the type of efforts that were happening when I started there in Maricopa County in 2003 and the things, the sorts of things that they continue to do today.

AMNA NAWAZ

I'm so glad you mentioned that. We should take a moment to shout out all of those election workers who continue to count those ballots carefully and have been for the last week. Tammy Patrick of the nonpartisan Democracy Fund joining us tonight, thank you so much for your time.

TAMMY PATRICK

Thank you. And thank you for thanking those election officials, because it literally takes tens of thousands of our fellow citizens to conduct an election, and many of them are still hard at work.

JUDY WOODRUFF

While some of the votes from last week's election are still being counted, there is a potential 2024 presidential announcement on the horizon, ensuring this will be another busy week in politics. Here to consider it all, our regular Politics Monday duo, Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report With Amy Walter and Tamara Keith of NPR. Hello to both of you. AMY WALTER,

The Cook Political Report

Hello.

JUDY WOODRUFF

And I hate to remind you of this... (LAUGHTER)... but last Monday, when we were together, there was a sense in the atmosphere that Republicans were going to do really well in the election last week. Tam, what happened? TAMARA KEITH,

National Public Radio

Well, I would say that, for most of the year, we have been talking about the fact that there were a lot of crosscurrents, that there are patterns and normal patterns, and the normal pattern would have a wave, and that there were crosscurrents that we didn't really know what to do with. And those crosscurrents caused waves not to happen is what happened. And there are a lot of things underlying that. But, for instance, independents traditionally in a midterm would go against the party in power. They didn't. There were -- there were just a lot of things that happened that ultimately are pretty surprising. The fact that we're sitting here today, and we don't know with 100 percent certainty who - which party will control the House is quite surprising. We knew that it would take a long time to count ballots. We knew that there would be races that weren't decided in California and Oregon. What we didn't know is that we'd still be waiting for them to know the balance of power in the House.

JUDY WOODRUFF

Democrats did a whole lot better than people expected.

AMY WALTER

They did. Of the races that The Cook Political Report listed as toss-ups -- so these are the closest contests in the country -- Democrats won 75 percent of those races. Where Republicans fell short, they had a couple of challenges. The first was there weren't that many -- quote, unquote -- "easy seats" for them to pick up, because, remember, they picked up 12 seats in the previous election, in 2020. Most of those were Democrats sitting in districts that Trump carried. They won most of the seats back of Democrats still left in Congress who sit in a Trump district. But that wasn't enough. They needed to win in districts that Biden carried by a significant margin, in some cases, by six or 10 points. And they weren't able to do very well among that group of voters. In fact, they really underperformed even relative to the last four midterm elections among that one group of voters. And I think, Judy, you and I have talked about this the other day, but what's remarkable about this election is how much it looks like the 2020 election. Literally, the vote shares in the Senate races, in the House races is almost identical to what Biden and Trump got in those districts in 2020. The only Senate seat that Republicans won or held on to that Biden carried is Wisconsin. There's an incumbent senator there. But, in every other case, it was a Democrat holding seats that Biden won and Republicans holding seats that Trump won.

JUDY WOODRUFF

So, in many ways, we're back to where we started.

AMY WALTER

We're kind of back where we started.

JUDY WOODRUFF

Except the calendar has advanced forward. And, Tam, you cover the White House, but you obviously watch the Hill. The Republicans now, yes, they have taken - - appear to be about to take control...

TAMARA KEITH

Right.

JUDY WOODRUFF

... but only by a very small margin. What is that going to mean for what can and can't get done?

TAMARA KEITH

Well, first, there's this leadership election that Lisa was talking about that is more dramatic than expected, and will likely be more dramatic than expected, and a very real question of how -- how any person will be able to lead a Republican Conference that is narrowly divided, when there are big contingents of that conference who are the heck no party...

JUDY WOODRUFF

Yes.

TAMARA KEITH

... who are not going to want to do things like vote for bills to fund the government, and may not want their leaders to allow Republicans to vote for those bills. So it will be interesting to see how that plays out. One question I have is whether they will even be able to do some of the message bills that we were expecting them to do, because, if you need 218 to pass just a pure message bill, but you have Republicans who have won in districts that are going to be competitive again just two years from now, they may not want to be on the record voting for a total ban on abortion or some of these other possible message bills.

JUDY WOODRUFF

These are bills where the party is saying, this is where we are on this issue. (CROSSTALK)

TAMARA KEITH

Yes. Yes, like, this is what we believe in. This is what we would do if we controlled everything and there was no chance of a veto. This is what we would do. These are like, generally, bills that you can pass without any real risk of it becoming law, which is why it's a message bill.

JUDY WOODRUFF

Yes. What do you see in terms of what we can expect to get done in the House or...

AMY WALTER

Or just in general.

JUDY WOODRUFF

In general.

AMY WALTER

Right. I mean, I think, for Democrats, holding the Senate was for keeping on pace, the White House keeping on pace for federal judgeships. I think, at this point, the Biden White House basically tied with the Trump White House in terms of the number of judges that they have already been able to appoint. You could be able to surpass that now by keeping the Senate in Democratic hands. There's also the question too for, what does the White House do when they don't control all three branches? And I think there's a lot of talk right now about the president focusing on the things that he's already passed, the things that have already been signed into law, and touting those. Remember, we have a prescription drug benefit that kicks in next year. We -- they talked about it a lot this year on the campaign trail, but people aren't going to see it in reality until next year.There's still a lot of projects going on, obviously, with the infrastructure bill.

JUDY WOODRUFF

So, speaking of the president, Tam, there's a lot of people going around saying he's in somewhat better shape. He certainly seemed to think so, suggest so and his news conference the other day. And, conversely, there's a sense that former President Trump doesn't seem to be in better shape as a result of all this. What does that look like?

TAMARA KEITH

Yes, there have been many moments over the last six years where President Trump has been against the ropes and has been in an incredible moment of weakness, and wise people in his party have been saying that he's an albatross and he's trouble. And yet -- and yet someone like Bill Barr, for instance, who -- his former attorney general, who has had nothing nice to say about him in the last two years, also said that, if he were the nominee, he would vote for him. And out interviewing voters, that's a lot of the -- a lot of what you get is voters who say, gosh, I -- he's divisive, or maybe he can't win, maybe we need somebody else, but if he's the nominee, I'd support him. And, similarly, with Biden, there are a lot of voters who say -- that I talked to who say, gosh, he doesn't get a fair shake. It's not fair. You in the media aren't fair to him. I ask, do you think he should run again? And the long pause is just so excruciatingly long.

JUDY WOODRUFF

Yes.

TAMARA KEITH

Because they don't think he should run again, by and large. But if he were the nominee, they'd absolutely vote for him, because this polarization is very real.

JUDY WOODRUFF

And a lot of speculation about whether former President Trump's going to announce tomorrow night.

AMY WALTER

That's right.

JUDY WOODRUFF

He's got a big announcement.

AMY WALTER

He absolutely needs to change the narrative right now, because everything right now is being dumped onto him, all of the losses, and the lack of hitting expectations dumped on Trump. He needs to change the conversation. And, of course, he will be able to do that. We will see for how long.

JUDY WOODRUFF

And we will see what he says.

AMY WALTER

And what he actually says.

JUDY WOODRUFF

A lot of people think this is going to be the announcement tomorrow night.

AMY WALTER

Right.

TAMARA KEITH

But, if he doesn't -- announcement, that would be a sign of weakness, so he probably has to announce it, because he couldn't admit that these midterms were actually truly terrible for himself and his candidates.

AMY WALTER

Actually his fault, right.

JUDY WOODRUFF

I think my head is exploding. (LAUGHTER) I think I understood what you just said. I know I did.

AMY WALTER

I'm not, not saying I didn't do that.

JUDY WOODRUFF

I'm not, not saying that.

TAMARA KEITH

Yes.

AMY WALTER

Right.

JUDY WOODRUFF

Amy Walter, Tamara Keith, Politics Monday. Thank you.

TAMARA KEITH

You're welcome.

AMY WALTER

Thank you.

JUDY WOODRUFF

As we reported, Ukraine's president made a surprise visit to Kherson, the largest city retaken to date from Russia. There was jubilation in the streets that has been almost nonstop since the Russians fled late last week. But, after almost eight months of occupation, accounts of Russian brutality mirror the experiences of many other Ukrainians freed from Russian control. Special correspondent Jack Hewson and videographer Ed Ram report from Kherson.

JACK HEWSON

Free to play again. Russia's loss of Kherson is an embarrassment to Putin. But, after eight months of occupation, for these children, it's a cause of joy. Residents are out in force. And there's a surprise guests at their party. Keen to cash in on the strategic victory, President Zelenskyy had bullish words for his people. VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY,

Ukrainian President

We are moving forward. We're ready for peace, but our peace for our country is all our country, all our territory. We respect the law and respect sovereignty of all the countries.

JACK HEWSON

Hundreds of people have turned out here in Kherson's central square for the surprise visit of President Zelenskyy. He is a symbol of defiance for them. And he had defiant words. But you can tell from the distant sound of shelling that this war is far from over. The U.S. estimates Ukrainian military losses of over 100,000 men, but Kherson's liberation has buoyed the nation's spirits move. NATALYA,

Kharkiv Resident (through translator)

Delight. We felt at home again. We hid this feeling.And now that we have revived it, we are immensely happy. We have been waiting for this day for all nine months.

JACK HEWSON

Smiles, but trauma simmers beneath. The jubilation is underwritten by relief. Allegations of Russian abuses abound, arbitrary detention, abduction, torture. For 22-year-old Igor, the occupation was brutal. He endured two days of hell in a Russian police lockup. IGOR,

Kherson Resident (through translator)

I was electrocuted and kicked with arms, legs and sticks. My back didn't heal up after the injuries. They are inhumane. That's all I can say. They don't feel compassion. They don't have any feelings for people at all. They treat us like animals. They tortured us. Those screams from the basements, it was painful just to hear how they torture our people.

JACK HEWSON

And for others in Kherson and Mykolaiv region, the torture has been the separation from their loved ones. Friends and families are now being reunited in the newly liberated villages. Sergiy hasn't been back to his home for six months. He greets loved ones, friends, and then he spots his grandmother, the person he's come back for. SERGIY,

Ukrainian Soldier (through translator)

I'm overwhelmed with joy.

JACK HEWSON

Reunions like this are happening across the province, morale being built with every embrace.

SERGIY (through translator)

I want to tell everyone that you should never be afraid, especially when somebody comes to your house. You should protect it. Protect your rights. Defend your honor and dignity. The most I want to say is not to be afraid of anyone. This Russia is worth nothing.

JACK HEWSON

With winter coming, people are desperate for aid to feed themselves and most of all to heat their homes. For all the suffering of war, there's no appetite to back down. In Kherson city, most say they must fight on to retake all their lost territory. International pressure may force them to negotiate, but, for now, they believe that Ukraine can not only withstand Russia; they believe Ukraine can win. For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jack Hewson in Kherson City, Ukraine.

JUDY WOODRUFF

Britain will pay France at least $75 million a year in a deal designed to reduce illegal migration across the English Channel. A record 40,000 asylum seekers have crossed so far this year. As part of the deal signed today, the French will step up efforts to stop people smugglers, and British officers will be stationed in French immigration control centers. Special correspondent Malcolm Brabant reports.

MALCOLM BRABANT

Sunrise on Saturday near Dover, 25 miles across the Channel from France. After weeks of bad weather, the wind had dropped, the sea was flat, creating near perfect conditions for the inflatables used by traffickers to transport the poor and the desperate. Patrol vessels were out early. The British knew it was going to be hectic. And it wasn't long before the first arrivals were brought ashore at Dover. Almost 1,000 irregular migrants were registered in 24 hours. It was one of the busiest days this year, and pushed the numbers over the 40,000 mark. SUELLA BRAVERMAN,

British Home Secretary

Illegal migration, particularly in the numbers that we have been seeing more recently, is totally unacceptable.

MALCOLM BRABANT

Britain's home secretary, Suella Braverman, adopted a restrained tone after signing the new deal in Paris. When dealing with the issue of migration in the bear pit of Britain's Parliament, she frequently uses more strident language.

SUELLA BRAVERMAN

The British people deserve to know which party is serious about stopping the invasion on our southern coast.

MALCOLM BRABANT

Previous deals between Britain and France that have cost London tens of millions of dollars have failed to stop the tide of illicit migration. But the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, is upbeat about this one, because he believes that relations between London and Paris have improved since he took office. Arriving in Indonesia for the G20 summit, Sunak refused to guarantee that the new French deal would lead to a fall in migrant numbers. RISHI SUNAK,

British Prime Minister

I'm confident that we can get the numbers down, but I also want to be honest with people that it isn't a single thing that will magically solve this. We can't do it overnight. But people should be absolutely reassured that this is a top priority for me. I'm gripping it.

MALCOLM BRABANT

The deal was condemned by the human rights group Amnesty International, which accused the government of perpetuating dreadful human suffering by recycling the same failed response. It's estimated that 12,000 young men from peaceful Albania have reached Britain this year. Officials fear many are forced to pay for their trips by working in criminal enterprises run by the ruthless Albanian mafia in the U.K. Dan O'Mahoney is in charge of countering the perceived threat from clandestine migration. DAN O'MAHONEY,

Clandestine Channel Threat Commander

Whatever sort of criminality you can think of, the most serious, or there are Albanian criminal gangs who are dominating in those markets, be it drug smuggling, human trafficking, guns, prostitution.

MALCOLM BRABANT

There's been a backlash against what some see as the demonization of Albanian asylum seekers. The country's prime minister is Edi Rama. EDI RAMA,

Prime Minister of Albania

To talk about gangsters and about criminals doesn't sound really something that is very British. Sounds more like screams from a madhouse.

MALCOLM BRABANT

British officials predict the influx could top 50,000 by year's end. For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Malcolm Brabant on England's South Coast.

JUDY WOODRUFF

It is a hidden history right in front of our eyes, the buildings, artworks and so much more created all over the country during the New Deal of the 1930s and '40s. To bring that hidden history to light, there was an online archive documenting those sites across the country. Jeffrey Brown has more of our arts and culture series, Canvas. GRAY BRECHIN, Founder,

The Living New Deal

This was one of the great bridges of his time. It still is.

JEFFREY BROWN

The Bay Bridge, an eight-mile-long connector between San Francisco and Oakland, first completed in 1936 and now carrying an average of some 3.5 million vehicles a month. To Gray Brechin, a historical geographer, it's also a symbol of a big idea.

GRAY BRECHIN

Well, what this bridge represents to me is actually what could be done 80 years ago during the depths of the Great Depression to get out of it.

JEFFREY BROWN

Big projects like Treasure Island built into the San Francisco Bay, La Guardia Airport, the Hoover Dam, parts of Yellowstone National Park, and smaller ones, libraries, courthouses, even sidewalks and gutters, all around the country, hundreds of thousands of works dating from the height of the Great Depression from the many federal programs such as the Works Progress Administration, or WPA, and Public Works Administration, or PWA, that were part of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. In 2005, Brechin created what he called The Living New Deal, an online archive documenting projects throughout the country.

GRAY BRECHIN

What were trying to do geographers is to teach people a kind of landscape literacy. We're trying to reveal an invisible landscape that's all around us and absolutely indispensable that was created by my parents' generation, but we don't see it.

JEFFREY BROWN

One better-known meal deal New Deal legacy? Artworks, including thousands of murals, like those at Rincon Annex Post Office in downtown San Francisco, started in 1941 by the Russian-born painter Anton Refregier, 27 panels in all, one artist's version of the history of California, from the Spanish Conquest through World War II. They have faced various threats over the years, including real estate development in one of the most expensive cities in the world. Rincon Annex was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and has been preserved ever since.

GRAY BRECHIN

I'm interested in the ethics behind it.

JEFFREY BROWN

What do you mean by the ethics?

GRAY BRECHIN

Well, the ethics were collective. They were about creating a real civilization, a society in which everybody played a role. You know, that's what democracy is all about.

JEFFREY BROWN

The Living New Deal, run by a small staff and volunteers, has created a digital database documenting more than 17,000 sites to date, including more than 100 in each state. RICHARD WALKER, Director,

The Living New Deal

There's no record official record of what the New Deal agencies did. And so we're the first ones doing that.

JEFFREY BROWN

Richard Walker, also a geographer, was Gray Brechin's professor at U.C. Berkeley and is now director of The Living New Deal. So, you can drive around and sort of see signs of the New Deal everywhere?

RICHARD WALKER

That's right. So many of the buildings were built for the long term, really well-built. And there's almost always a high school, a city hall, some structure that's recognizably from that era.

JEFFREY BROWN

One local example, Berkeley High School, with its relief sculptures and community theater that date to the 1940s.

RICHARD WALKER

California, because there had been a Long Beach earthquake in 1933, the PWA put a huge emphasis on rebuilding California schools or expanding them, making them earthquake-safe and so on. They hired local architects. So, it was very much an interaction between the federal government and local government, state governments.

JEFFREY BROWN

Always emphasized, work for those in need. The seven-acre Montclair Park in Oakland was and is a place for people to bring their children and be outdoors. But it also served another purpose.

RICHARD WALKER

The idea of the New Deal was always to put people to work, that they thought that gave them dignity, self-worth, and it did. People wanted that who were unemployed. And here is such a great example, because you have this beautiful stonework, which was done probably by unemployed Italian American stonemasons who were still around at that time.

JEFFREY BROWN

It's a vision of the role of government seemingly out of step with divided American politics today. Last year's $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act did finally pass, but after months of infighting. And given the much larger size of the economy now, it's expected to have a much smaller overall impact than the programs of the 1930s. In that sense, The Living New Deal involves advocacy, as well as education, and Richard Walker hopes that, if more people understood the history of their communities, another era of public works investment could come.

RICHARD WALKER

Our job in The Living New Deal is to educate Americans what the New Deal did, not just as a historical nicety, but because it's relevant today. We can only educate and do a little bit of proselytizing about, look what's possible. Look at this hidden civilization, this lost civilization that's right under your nose and think, what can we do now? What would I like to see my town do?

JEFFREY BROWN

A lost civilization that The Living New Deal aims to uncover. For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jeffrey Brown in California's Bay Area.

JUDY WOODRUFF

And, sometimes, that is what it takes. Just look up and look around. And that's the "NewsHour" for tonight. I'm Judy Woodruff. Join us online and again here tomorrow evening. For all of us at the "PBS NewsHour," thank you, please stay safe, and we'll see you soon.