GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.
I'm Geoff Bennett.
AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.
On the "NewsHour" tonight: a celebration turned deadly.
Kansas City reels after a shooting at its Super Bowl parade.
GEOFF BENNETT: A New York judge denies former President Trump's request to delay a criminal case that stems from alleged hush money payments.
AMNA NAWAZ: And shelling and airstrikes between Israel and Hezbollah escalate, endangering civilians living near the border with Lebanon.
TAL LEVIT, Israeli Farmer: It's very hard to survive this.
You don't have another place to go.
(BREAK) AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "NewsHour."
Kansas City is coping tonight with the aftermath of the Super Bowl parade shooting that left one person dead and 22 others injured.
Half of them were under the age of 16.
GEOFF BENNETT: It was at least the 48th mass shooting in the U.S. already this year.
And it left local officials asking themselves about what more they could do to protect the public, when there was already a heavy police presence at the event.
It was a morning that began with revelry, nearly one million elated fans of the Kansas City Chiefs lining the streets on Wednesday, as players atop a double-decker motorcade wrote out the high of their historic Super Bowl win.
PATRICK MAHOMES, Kansas City Chiefs: Kansas City, let me hear you one time!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) GEOFF BENNETT: The victory lap culminated outside Union Station, where massive crowds gathered for one last rally with their home team.
Just minutes after it ended, the area, still packed with people, the celebrations turned deadly.
Pops of gunfire sent the crowd into a panic.
Fans suddenly found themselves scrambling to find cover.
LISA MONEY, Eyewitness: Well, the only thing I really saw was, it had become chaotic.
And I hear: "Down, down, down, everybody down."
And at about the same time, I see the SWAT teams jumping over the fence, and I'm like OK, this might be real.
This is supposed to be a celebration for everybody, everybody, and those of the surrounding area.
Just devastating.
GEOFF BENNETT: The shooting claimed the life of 43-year-old Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a popular community radio deejay.
She co-hosted "Taste of Tejano," a weekly show that brings traditional Mexican music to the radio waves of Kansas City.
One of her children, Marc, was reportedly shot in the leg.
In total, 22 people were injured by gunshot wounds.
Investigations are still unfolding, but authorities have ruled out terrorism.
STACEY GRAVES, Kansas City, Missouri, Police Chief: There was no nexus to terrorism or homegrown violent extremism.
This appeared to be a dispute between several people that ended in gunfire.
GEOFF BENNETT: Police say they detained three people, two of the minors, and recovered several firearms from the scene.
MAN: We tackled him.
WOMAN: We tackled him.
GEOFF BENNETT: But not without the help of some brave Chiefs fans, like Paul Contreras.
Cell phone video caught the moment he and several others tackled and held down a man who was running from police.
PAUL CONTRERAS, Tackled Suspect: I didn't think about it.
It was just a reaction.
I didn't hesitate.
It was just do it.
And as I'm tackling him, I see his weapon either fall out of his hand or out of his sleeve, because he was wearing a long jacket or like a Carhartt.
So when I seen that hit the ground, I'm like, oh, we got to take this guy down.
GEOFF BENNETT: City officials say the shooting happened despite the presence of 800 members of law enforcement, turning lethal in seconds.
Today, Mayor Quinton Lucas said he has no plans to cancel any large-scale events, including an upcoming St. Patrick's Day Parade.
QUINTON LUCAS (D), Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri: I do think that there is a gun violence challenge in this community and many others.
And there certainly is a gun violence challenge as it relates to major events.
That, however, does not mean that Kansas City will stop having major events.
We will do all we can to make sure people are safe.
GEOFF BENNETT: For now, a community is still reeling from yet another high-profile event marred by gun violence.
AMNA NAWAZ: In the day's other headlines: Israeli forces raided the main hospital in Southern Gaza a day after ordering thousands of refugees to leave the complex.
The target was Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis.
The Israelis said they had credible intelligence that they might find the remains of dead hostages.
REAR ADM. DANIEL HAGARI, Spokesperson, Israeli Defense Forces: Because Hamas terrorists are likely hiding behind injured civilians inside Nasser Hospital right now and appear to have used the hospital to hide our hostages there too, the IDF is conducting a precise and limited operation inside Nasser Hospital.
AMNA NAWAZ: The raid followed overnight shelling that left one hospital ward in chaos.
One of the surgeons said one patient had been killed in the strikes.
Houthi fighters in Yemen fired on another British freighter today in the Gulf of Aden.
A British security firm says the bulk carrier suffered minor damage.
Yesterday, the U.S. military staged four strikes on Houthi sites inside Yemen.
The group is aligned with Iran and says it's retaliating for Israel's offensive in Gaza.
In the war in Ukraine, Russia and Ukraine traded missile fire, adding to the civilian death toll.
The Russians struck Kharkiv in the east, Zaporizhzhia in the south, Kyiv in the north, and Lviv in the west, and killed at least five people.
And Moscow reported a Ukrainian missile hit a shopping center and a school stadium in Belgorod in Western Russia.
At least six people died there.
The White House has confirmed that Russia is developing a space-based anti-satellite weapon.
That comes after Republican Mike Turner, House Intelligence Committee chair, had warned of what he called a serious national security threat.
Today, John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, said the intelligence is still classified, but he did give some details.
JOHN KIRBY, NSC Coordinator For Strategic Communications: I can confirm that it is related to an anti-satellite capability that Russia is developing.
This is not an active capability that's been deployed.
And though Russia's pursuit of this particular capability is troubling, there is no immediate threat to anyone's safety.
AMNA NAWAZ: Kremlin officials dismissed the reports as a malicious fabrication designed to get Congress to approve more aid for Ukraine.
Lawyers made closing arguments today in New York on whether officials from the National Rifle Association engaged in years of lavish spending.
Former CEO Wayne LaPierre and three other NRA executives are accused of misspending millions of dollars on luxury trips, expensive gifts and meals.
The state filed the charges as part of a civil lawsuit.
In Greece today, lawmakers legalized same-sex civil marriage, the first Orthodox Christian country to take that step.
The center-right prime minister wrote the bill and addressed Parliament before the vote, followed by lawmakers who opposed it.
KYRIAKOS MITSOTAKIS, Greek Prime Minister (through translator): It is something that our Constitution provides for.
It is something that our system of government requires.
People who have been invisible will finally be made visible.
DIMITRIS NATSIOS, Niki Party Leader, Greece (through translator): In the name of human dignity, in the name of respecting the sacred institution of marriage and the Greek Orthodox traditions, and in the name of protecting defenseless children, vote against this disgraceful bill.
AMNA NAWAZ: The legislation also grants parental rights to same-sex couples with children.
A new effort is under way tonight to put the first privately owned lunar lander on the moon.
Intuitive Machines of Houston launched its Odysseus spacecraft early today.
That was on a SpaceX rocket that blasted off from Cape Canaveral.
It's expected to attempt a moon landing next Thursday.
In economic news, Japan has now officially fallen into recession.
That's after new data showed the country's economy contracted for a second straight quarter.
And on Wall Street, stocks moved higher as interest rates eased on the bond market.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 348 points to close at 38773.
The Nasdaq rose 47 points.
The S&P 500 added 29.
Still to come on the "NewsHour": the push for diversity at colleges and companies comes under siege; the state of Arizona becomes a model for mental health hot lines; and a new film documents how some of the greatest pop stars came together for one night in 1985 to make history.
A judge in New York City today ruled that Donald Trump will go on trial next month to face felony charges that he falsified business records to cover up a sex scandal in order to protect his presidential campaign.
The judge rejected Trump's motion to dismiss or delay the case and told lawyers to prepare for trial starting March 25.
The former president attended the hearing today and again criticized the case against him as politically motivated.
DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: They want to keep me nice and busy so I can't campaign so hard, but maybe we won't have to campaign so hard, because the other side is incompetent.
AMNA NAWAZ: Our William Brangham was in the courtroom this morning, and he joins me now.
So, William, of all the current cases against the former president, this was the oldest.
It's now the first to go to trial, but just remind us, what are the charges that former President Trump is facing here?
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Let's go back in time, back to 2016.
The presidential campaign is nearing the end, Trump versus Hillary Clinton.
The "Access Hollywood" tape has just come out.
And right around that time, Trump's fixer, Michael Cohen, pays Stormy Daniels, a woman named Stephanie Clifford -- she's a pornographic film actress -- $130,000 to stop her from going public with her story about having a sexual relationship with the married candidate, Donald Trump.
Michael Cohen says that Donald Trump directed him to make that payment.
The election happens, Trump is elected, and he's in the White House.
And then Trump reimburses Michael Cohen that $130,000.
And it is at that point that the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, argues that Donald Trump had committed fraud, because he's arguing that he falsified business records to cover up that payment for why he gave that payment in the first place, why he was reimbursing Michael Cohen, and why Michael Cohen was paying Stormy Daniels in the first place.
So, he's charged Trump, Alvin Bragg has charged him with 34 counts of falsifying records.
And he's basically arguing that Trump was trying to hide this fact from voters, and thus was -- this is an election-related crime.
He says that he falsified these records and that that's what's going to be in this case that will be starting soon.
The legal analysts I have spoken to note that these are relatively low-level felony charges that the former president is facing.
And so even if he were convicted of all of them, most of them believe it is very unlikely that the former president would be facing any prison time.
AMNA NAWAZ: So, William, this case in New York was always expected to take a back seat to a federal case down here in Washington on election interference.
So, how did this end up going to trial first?
And what does that mean for the case?
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Right.
The D.C. January 6 election case being brought by special counsel Jack Smith, that was always supposed to go first.
It was actually going to -- originally scheduled to start in three weeks on March 4.
But former President Trump claimed presidential immunity.
And he appealed this.
The judge overseeing the D.C. case rejected that.
A D.C. appeals court rejected that.
But that appeal is now before the Supreme Court of the United States.
And so in that delay is how this case has now reinserted itself into the schedule.
In fact, today, Judge Merchan, who is overseeing the Stormy Daniels case, noted that he had been in touch with Judge Chutkan, who is overseeing the D.C. case, to talk about the scheduling.
And so he argues that he can now get this hush money case in New York started and completed before the D.C. case would ever begin.
Now, some of the D.C. case is resting on what the Supreme Court does.
If they pick it up, then the D.C. case could be delayed for months.
We just don't really know.
As you played the clip from Trump at the beginning, Trump's lawyers all along were arguing today that it is fundamentally unfair to put Donald Trump on trial for this case right in the middle of the election.
They said he should be out campaigning in states all over the country, not sitting in a courthouse.
But Judge Merchan said, no, justice is not going to wait, and the trial starts March 25.
AMNA NAWAZ: William, I need to ask you about another case.
That's the election interference case in Georgia.
So, the district attorney there, Fani Willis, who's overseeing that case, is now facing allegations of having an improper relationship with one of her lead attorneys.
There was a rather contentious hearing on that today.
What can you tell us about what happened?
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Amna, I think contentious is the gentlest way to refer to that hearing today.
As you said, the Fulton County district attorney, Fani Willis, is facing these allegations that were brought up by one of the 19 defendants in her huge racketeering election interference case in Georgia.
One of those defendants said, you were having an inappropriate relationship with the lead prosecutor that you selected to run this case, and that, with his salary, he is taking you, Fani Willis, on expensive vacations all over the world and all over the country, and that that's a clear conflict of interest, and you should be disqualified from the case.
So, today, the judge overseeing this, Judge McAfee, held a hearing to try to get to the bottom of this.
And Willis and the lead prosecutor who she was having a relationship with, a man named Nathan Wade, they both admitted, as they had in previous filings, that they did have a relationship, a romantic relationship, but they both reasserted that relationship did not start until after Wade had been hired.
And so the idea that she was intentionally hiring a boyfriend to then reap the benefits of it, they rejected that argument.
There was one witness, a former colleague of Fani Willis, who testified today that she believed the relationship had started many years before, before Wade was hired.
Fani Willis, in later testimony, said that was a former colleague who had been asked to resign because of poor performance, basically implying that she was a disgruntled former employee.
So I want to play just one clip from today.
It was really incredible amount of back-and-forth, conflict with the lawyers, conflict with the judge, Fani Willis herself on the witness stand being -- really pushing back on this.
Let's play this one clip to get a taste of what this was like today.
FANI WILLIS (D), Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney: You have been intrusive into people's personal lives.
You're confused.
You think I'm on trial.
These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020.
I'm not on trial, no matter how hard you try to put me on trial.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So, more testimony will occur tomorrow.
Judge McAfee will decide in the end whether or not Fani Willis has to be removed from this case.
AMNA NAWAZ: All right, that is William Brangham joining us from New York tonight.
William, thank you so much.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: You're welcome, Amna.
GEOFF BENNETT: The special counsel in the Hunter-Biden investigation has charged a one-time informant with lying about President Biden and his son.
Alexander Smirnov is accused of falsely claiming that the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma paid the Bidens $5 million apiece back in 2015 and 2016.
Laura Barron-Lopez is here to explain the charges and how they undercut a key part of the House Republican impeachment inquiry into President Biden.
So, Laura, what is the DOJ alleging?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: So the Justice Department special counsel, David Weiss, has charged Alexander Smirnov with two counts, essentially alleging that he has made false statements to a government agent.
That's count one.
Count two, a falsification of records in a federal investigation.
And in this indictment, the DOJ is saying that the defendant's story to the FBI -- this is in the document itself -- that the defendant's story to the FBI was a fabrication, an amalgam of otherwise unremarkable business meetings and contacts that had actually occurred.
But, at a later date, then he claimed, and for the purpose of pitching Burisma on the defendant's services and products, not for the discussing bribes to Public Official 1 when he was in office, talking about President Biden there, but essentially all of the stories, everything that he had detailed to the FBI was a fabrication.
GEOFF BENNETT: And these allegations had become a flash point in large part because you had people like the House Oversight Committee chairman, James Comer, other House Republicans, saying that these allegations flat-out proved that President Biden was guilty of bribery.
So what does all of this now mean for that House impeachment inquiry against President Biden?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: That's exactly right, Geoff.
Oversight Chairman James Comer, in addition to Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican, as well as Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, repeatedly were trying to get a hold of this information that the FBI had from Smirnov, the allegations that he was making.
Just last summer.
Comer was calling this informant, Alexander Smirnov, a trusted and highly credible informant who had been used by the FBI for decades.
So, this was a key, central basis of the Republicans', the House Republicans' entire impeachment inquiry into President Biden, what they said was the justification for launching that impeachment inquiry.
And their response to this indictment is that they said that they were essentially misled by the FBI, that the FBI had had this source for years, and that they were simply just getting their information from this document that the FBI had.
GEOFF BENNETT: And the FBI, as I understand it, is now using memos that congressional Republicans released as part of their indictment against Alexander Smirnov.
So what do you see as the other potential political fallout here?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Look, Democrats are seizing on this, essentially saying that the entire basis for the House Republican impeachment inquiry into President Biden is on shaky ground, they have no evidence whatsoever, because one of their biggest pieces that they said was evidence of a bribery scheme is now being called into severe question by the Justice Department, saying that it was all a lie.
Now, this also comes, Geoff, after witness after witness, including some of Hunter Biden's business associates, have testified -- have been deposed by the Oversight Committee and by the committee overseeing this, and have essentially said that there is no evidence that President Biden was involved in any of Hunter Biden's business dealings.
And this also comes, Geoff, a few weeks before Hunter Biden is set to testify to the committee.
GEOFF BENNETT: Laura Barron-Lopez, thanks so much for getting up to speed on all this late-breaking news.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Thank you.
GEOFF BENNETT: As the war in Gaza rages, tensions are escalating on Israel's northern border.
Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group there that the U.S. labels as terrorists, have traded fire since the October 7 terrorist attack.
Nick Schifrin speaks to Israelis who live near the border about their threat, their forced displacement, and how their government has responded.
NICK SCHIFRIN: For more than a century, Tal Levit's family has called this valley home.
Metula is Israel's northernmost town, where Levit runs a farm 500 feet from Lebanon, 500 feet from Hezbollah militants on the other side of his apple orchard, too close for comfort.
TAL LEVIT, Israeli Farmer: We are neighbors.
And they see us all the time, what we do, where we go, what we make.
NICK SCHIFRIN: And since October 7, they have been seeing and striking.
On October 14, a rocket hit his orchard.
And last week, in response to an Israeli attack in Lebanon, Tal himself was the target.
This is the aftermath.
His kitchen ceiling collapsed.
It was a direct hit straight through his roof.
TAL LEVIT: They saw me go inside to my home.
And I go out.
After two hour, they throw a rocket through my home.
They think I'm inside, but when I go, they not see that.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Metula is in the Lower Galilee, about 30 miles north of the Sea of Biblical Renown, and is the only Israeli city surrounded by an international border on three sides.
It's been around for more than 120 years.
The Levits are one of the 20 founding families.
That's his great grandmother in Metula in the 1890s.
Tal Levit is a sixth-generation farmer.
That's him in the middle when he was 4 years old.
But now he has to start from scratch.
TAL LEVIT: My home is crashed, and, you know, I need to make a new home, to build everything new.
NICK SCHIFRIN: For more than four months, Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire.
Israeli airstrikes into Lebanon have killed hundreds of Hezbollah fighters and dozens of civilians.
The deadliest strike was yesterday.
It killed 10 and blew out this apartment complex.
Israel said it killed a Hezbollah commander.
Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets into Israel.
Many are intercepted by Israeli air defense, but others have killed nine Israeli soldiers and six civilians.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah promises more attacks until the war in Gaza stops.
Hezbollah can, with precision, thanks to Iranian technology.
Israel says Hezbollah has 150,000 rockets and missiles that can reach 95 percent of Israel, including its largest city, Tel Aviv.
The U.S. believes neither side wants war, but the risk is high.
Today, Israel's Defense Ministry released video of what it called an exercise for a Lebanon war.
YOAV GALLANT, Israeli Defense Minister (through translator): We have no interest in war, but we must prepare.
The planes that are flying in Lebanon's sky as we speak have targets.
We can do copy-paste from Gaza to Beirut.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Metula is now a military camp.
The chief of the army visited yesterday.
The military has evacuated some 80,000 residents across the north, including Levit's family.
His wife and four children have lived in a hotel for nearly four months.
TAL LEVIT: My family, my kids, it's very hard to survive this, but I tell them, we don't have another -- you don't have another place to go.
We don't go to USA now or Europe or something.
We have Israel.
MOSHE DAVIDOVITZ, Mayor of Mateh Asher Regional Council: The government don't do the things that they should do to our citizens and to our residents.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Moshe Davidovitz is the mayor of the northern community of Mateh Asher, and leads a council for Northern Israeli residents.
He says trust between the government and those residents has been broken.
MOSHE DAVIDOVITZ: The government is supposed to give the residents security, and this contract between the government and the citizens does not exist.
NICK SCHIFRIN: France and the U.S. are trying through diplomacy to push Hezbollah back at least six miles from the border.
But U.S. officials doubt whether that can succeed with cross-border firing, firing that continues even today during our interview.
MOSHE DAVIDOVITZ: Now -- now there is missiles shooting.
I heard it just in this minute.
Now we are supposed to get to the shelters.
NICK SCHIFRIN: There's missiles fired -- being fired now?
MOSHE DAVIDOVITZ: Just now, yes.
So I want to thank you.
Thank you.
Bye-bye.
NICK SCHIFRIN: And so the danger to the people and of wider war is inescapable.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Nick Schifrin.
AMNA NAWAZ: The debate in colleges and universities over diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, or DEI, has been heating up around the country.
And the backlash politically and socially to previous programs has been growing.
As part of our ongoing Race Matter series, John Yang unpacks the debate and examines the stakes in higher education.
JOHN YANG: Amna, Utah's Spencer Cox is the latest governor to sign a new law banning any state funding for programs dedicated to promoting diversity, including at state colleges and universities.
Utah joins five other states, Florida, Texas, North Carolina, North Dakota, and Tennessee.
They all have laws on the books restricting or banning DEI.
Lawmakers in 25 states have introduced more than 70 bills targeting DEI efforts at public institutions.
The issue has flared up in the wake of the October 7 attacks in Israel and the war against Hamas.
It sparked debates over tolerance, inclusion and academic freedom.
Shaun Harper is the executive director of the Race and Equity Center at the University of Southern California, and Greg Lukianoff is CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which is a free speech organization.
Shaun, I'd like to start with you.
What is lost when these offices are closed?
SHAUN HARPER, Executive Director, USC Race and Equity Center: Sure.
Well, first off, thanks for having us.
An institution loses its fidelity to its mission.
There are nearly 5,000 colleges and universities across the United States.
Most of them include some language in their missions about preparing students for citizenship in a diverse democracy and other commitments to offering and assuring an inclusive learning environment for all students.
That is lost as institutions walk back their commitments to DEI.
What's also lost is our ultimate contribution to the defense of our democracy.
It is dangerous to send millions of college-educated people into the world and into our professions underprepared to deal with the inequities that have long disadvantaged our democracy.
JOHN YANG: Greg, from your point of view, why should the offices go away?
GREG LUKIANOFF, CEO, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education: Because they're a threat to free speech and academic freedom on campus and have been consistently for as long as they have been called DEI offices.
Before that, the biggest threat we have seen to free speech and academic freedom on campus are administrators themselves.
But we have had particular issues with DEI administrators, including at Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Syracuse, UMass, Boston, UCLA, University of Toledo.
We had a case at University of Michigan where a professor was investigated by the DEI department for showing the old "Othello" from the 1960s with Laurence Olivier in blackface.
Our research indicates the greater the relative size of DEI bureaucracy to university, the more discomfort students feel expressing their views on social media and in informal conversations with each other.
And this is one of the things that has been missing with mainstream coverage of this situation.
JOHN YANG: Shaun, what about that?
Threat to academic freedom.
It creates a big bureaucracy.
What do you say to that?
SHAUN HARPER: Yes.
I am a tenured professor who very much enjoys his academic freedom.
So let me not be a hypocrite on this point.
I think what is lost and misunderstood in these broad brushes with which DEI gets mispainted is that these occasional sort of one-offs are examples of what's happening in every academic department, in every office, on every campus.
That's just not the case, right?
I have studied literally millions of college students, literally millions on hundreds of campuses.
And I have to tell you that students of color, most especially, are not feeling like colleges are as liberal and as welcoming and inclusive as the DEI obstructionists are claiming them to be.
The evidence is the exact opposite, as a matter of fact.
There isn't enough emphasis placed on DEI.
People who lead those offices often don't have the budgets and the staffing that they need to help the institution make good on the commitments that it has made to ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion.
JOHN YANG: Greg, are you a diversity obstructionist?
(LAUGHTER) GREG LUKIANOFF: Am I a diversity obstructionist?
I feel like a lot of what I learned from the way we argue in academia today is, you just come up with like greater and greater insult technology as if it's an argument.
So, at UCLA, for example, in 2020, after a student complained about a professor reading MLK's "Letter From a Birmingham Jail," which does include racial slurs, UCLA referred him to the DEI office.
And so this is not an occasional thing.
And, by the way, 2020 and 2021 were the two worst years we've seen for professor cancellations in our history at FIRE.
And, as best we can tell, we haven't seen anything like it since the law was established way back in 1973.
So, we have actually been in an academic freedom crisis.
And, lately, it's actually been very much directed at pro-Palestinian voices, which we have been very busy defending.
But I do think that, ultimately, it's not just the DEI and the administrative bloat at universities are costing students more.
They are actually, in many cases, undermining one of the fundamental functions of a university.
JOHN YANG: Shaun, I don't want to put words into Greg's mouth, but I have heard others argue against DEI, saying that colleges and universities are essentially indoctrinating students in sort of left-wing views.
What do you say to that?
SHAUN HARPER: Yes, listen, I'm a past president of the American Educational Research Association.
I value research and evidence, not anecdotes.
And I have to say, again, that the research makes painstakingly clear that students of color and white students alike, the overwhelming majority of them do not feel like they're being indoctrinated.
In fact, many of them tell us in our surveys and certainly in our qualitative research that they don't learn enough about race and racism, about other dimensions of DEI.
The other thing that I will say about those who recklessly claim that there's just all of this indoctrination, I wonder, when was the last time they sat in more than one DEI program?
How many programs have they actually sat in and been a part of?
Who were the presenters?
Were those presenters indeed indoctrinating people and insulting them and dividing them?
Is that a thing that happens in every DEI workshop?
Does it happen in most DEI workshops?
I can tell you declaratively, in the ones that we do here at the USC Race and Equity Center, across K-12 schools, higher ed institutions and corporations, that's not what we do here.
And that's not how professionals experience what we deliver.
JOHN YANG: Greg, these efforts against state - - DEI programs at state and public schools, particularly, are often described or framed as conservative political activism.
Is that fair or accurate?
GREG LUKIANOFF: I think -- I think that's - - I think that's relatively fair.
And we have opposed, for example, the Stop WOKE Act in Florida, which we thought was laughably unconstitutional, because it actually went beyond, because a lot of these attempts to get rid of DEI administrators are constitutional, because administrators don't have special academic freedom of protections.
But some of these laws restrict the rights of -- free speech rights of students and the curricular rights of professors.
So, the Stop WOKE Act in Florida was a great example of something that was unconstitutional.
We challenged it in court.
We defeated it so far, and it's currently on appeal.
But there have been several attempts that have actually badly implicated academic freedom.
And every time those come up, we fight them in court.
JOHN YANG: Shaun, if DEI offices do such good work and so -- are so desirable, why these laws are passing, why this sort of backlash against DEI?
SHAUN HARPER: Well, they are part of an actual politicized movement that is succeeding.
There is a playbook that is being passed from state to state and to cities and towns within states.
So there's a strategy that is absolutely succeeding.
And that strategy is largely fueled by misinformation and disinformation about what's happening on campuses based on anecdotes, based on rumors, not based on robust samples of thousands and millions of students and higher ed workers.
JOHN YANG: Greg, I started with Shaun.
I'm going to let you have the last word.
You reacted quite a bit there to what Shaun was saying.
GREG LUKIANOFF: Yes.
We have -- the research indicating the strength of DEI programming is actually very weak.
The research indicating that there's been a major threat to academic freedom and freedom of speech over the past several years is extremely strong., in terms of the number of professors we have seen lose their jobs.
And, to be clear, threats come from both the right and the left.
But we're talking about 200 professors fired since you saw the escalation of professors getting fired around 2014, 2017.
And that's twice as many professors who were fired under the standard estimates of McCarthyism.
And what's different is, the law is supposed to protect them now.
So I really want people to take the situation for academic freedom and free speech on campus more seriously.
And there's no way to protect it with as massive bureaucracies that we currently have in higher ed today.
JOHN YANG: Gentlemen, I'm afraid we're going to have to leave it there.
We're out of time.
But, Greg Lukianoff and Shaun Harper, thank you both very much for a spirited discussion.
GREG LUKIANOFF: Thanks for having me.
SHAUN HARPER: Thank you.
GEOFF BENNETT: Since the launch of 988 -- that's the three-digit dialing code for the national suicide and crisis lifeline -- millions of people have made contact with crisis counselors.
Call volume has jumped 40 percent compared to when the hot line was a 1-800 number.
But the supports and services available after someone calls 988 largely depend on the state where one lives.
Stephanie Sy reports on how Arizona's crisis response network has become a leading model for crisis care.
STEPHANIE SY: Music is how Raquel Medina makes sense of the world.
But around six months ago, the music stopped playing.
Her obsessive compulsive disorder and anxiety overcame her.
RAQUEL MEDINA, 988 User: I had been going through several nights where my emotions just became so big, definitely thoughts of suicide, for sure, thoughts of I'd be better if I wasn't around.
STEPHANIE SY: Even in a state of crisis, three numbers came to her, 988.
Once you texted that initial message, what happened then?
How long did it take for someone to respond?
RAQUEL MEDINA: It was really fast.
It was pretty much instant.
She had stayed up with me for a couple of hours in the middle of the night just talking with me, texting.
We went back and forth.
And I kind of explained everything, and she was really supportive and really understanding.
STEPHANIE SY: The national 988 suicide and crisis lifeline has received more than eight million individual calls, texts, and chats since it came online a year-and-a-half ago.
ROBERT GEBBIA, CEO, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention: That's a lot of people.
And it just gives you some insight into the demand out there and the need for it.
STEPHANIE SY: Bob Gebbia, the CEO of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, says, with the number of suicide deaths increasing 3 percent between 2021 to 2022, the timing couldn't have been better.
NICOLE HARRIS, Solari Crisis and Human Services: 988 Lifeline.
This is Nicole.
STEPHANIE SY: One of the largest crisis call centers in the U.S. by volume is in Phoenix, Arizona, and is run by a nonprofit contracted by the state called Solari.
In just the past few months, Solari has experienced an increase of over 1,000 new monthly 988 calls.
NICOLE HARRIS: It's a 24-hour line.
And we experience callers of all shapes and sizes at all hours of the day.
STEPHANIE SY: Nicole Harris is one of Solari's clinical supervisors.
NICOLE HARRIS: I definitely have found a passion for working with the most underserved, those who have fallen through the cracks, those who are kind at the end of their rope and don't have anywhere else to turn.
STEPHANIE SY: It is really striking to see that constantly there are people in crisis.
NICOLE HARRIS: All of these calls represent a variety of situations.
STEPHANIE SY: Harris' goal is to stabilize the patient over the phone, and that is what happens in just under 80 percent of cases.
But when the person needs more help, Solari can connect them to the next level of care.
That happens at the dispatch center.
WOMAN: They need an in-person team to come out and speak with them, I am one of the members who will send a mobile team out.
STEPHANIE SY: Arizona is one of 20 states that offer 24/7 mobile crisis teams.
These crisis responders go out on several calls a day throughout sprawling Maricopa County, in this case, a mother whose son has a history of serious mental illness acting aggressively toward her.
He's left the scene when they arrive, so they counsel the mom on what to do.
With many states lacking mobile crisis teams, tragic outcomes have resulted from police intervention in psychiatric emergencies, says Bob Gebbia.
ROBERT GEBBIA: If you look across the country, in terms of less reliance on law enforcement, which is really not trained for, in many cases, and also a drain on their resources, we seek to go elsewhere, but to have more mobile crisis, trained mental health counselors, people who can go out, maybe in tandem with law enforcement, which is another model.
But to have that universally available, it's not there.
STEPHANIE SY: The next step in the continuum of care in Arizona is a crisis stabilization unit like this one, meant to be a safe place for people in severe psychiatric distress.
Theresa Costales is the Arizona medical director at Connections Health Solutions.
DR. THERESA COSTALES, Arizona Medical Director, Connections Health Solutions: It's a very unique system.
It does not exist in other places.
It's built out to treat severely mentally ill individuals in the community setting.
STEPHANIE SY: A flurry of activity occurs in this open office, where physicians, nurses, and behavioral health specialists consult with social service workers and peer specialists.
Even though some patients have been brought by police, there's no law enforcement presence once they're here.
DR. THERESA COSTALES: If they're in handcuffs, we take those handcuffs off.
STEPHANIE SY: Why is that important?
DR. THERESA COSTALES: Well, it's important because we need to signify that you're coming into a place for treatment.
We are not the police.
This is not jail.
You know, there's somebody who's coming in who is feeling increasingly suicidal, maybe they're just very, very depressed and having these strong suicidal thoughts and urges, maybe just attempted suicide, and a lot of those patients are coming in, and they're not combative.
They're sick right now, and they need help.
STEPHANIE SY: Crisis stabilization centers can keep patients in their observation units for 23 hours, during which most are stabilized.
The hot line, mobile crisis teams, and the stabilization centers are a continuum of crisis care that Andrew Medina, the state's Medicaid crisis administrator, says are exemplary.
ANDREW MEDINA, Crisis Administrator, Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System: Those three components, operational 24/7, 365 days a year, 366 in leap years, is really what sets Arizona apart, because, nationally, there are many, many states where those are operational between 8:00 to 4:00, not on weekends, are manned by volunteer services.
But, here in Arizona, for well over 30 years, we have created a system that's available to any Arizonan whenever they need the help.
STEPHANIE SY: But the system isn't perfect; 17-year-old Calvin Carbello spent a day in the crisis network that he'd rather forget.
CALVIN CARBELLO, Crisis Care Patient: It was the start of spring break my sophomore year,COVID, definitely.
And then I guess it just took me a while to realize that it actually happened, and then family stuff, and then other stuff.
And it was just a lot at once.
And you kind of shut down.
STEPHANIE SY: It was prior to 988, and his mom, Kelly, had a hard time finding the state crisis number.
KELLY CARBELLO, Mother: When it came time to call for him, I froze.
I think 988 would have been a much better option.
STEPHANIE SY: Once she did locate the number, a mobile crisis unit was dispatched.
A mobile crisis team comes out, and you're glad to see them.
And they are stabilizing you.
But why did they decide to transport you?
CALVIN CARBELLO: I was worried about taking my life and all that, and it was just -- I was like, but I think I should probably go for my own sake.
STEPHANIE SY: You end up at a -- what are called stabilization, crisis stabilization centers, right?
And what do you expect to happen there?
CALVIN CARBELLO: To be treated like a person, I guess, not like a number.
I got dropped off in this small little room with a bunch of other kids asleep in chairs.
I was up all night and maybe slept for two hours, and then just waking up to kids screaming about whatever in the middle of the night.
It was bad.
STEPHANIE SY: Calvin was treated at an urgent psychiatric care clinic in Phoenix that accepts minors.
Mom, Kelly, says there was little treatment involved and that Calvin says he was grouped in with neglected kids who had been dropped off by police.
KELLY CARBELLO: Once they drop them off, they're done.
They have been placed.
STEPHANIE SY: Right.
KELLY CARBELLO: The whole reason for the stabilization unit is because they have nowhere for these kids to go.
There's no homes.
There's no room at the hospital.
So, it's not meant to be therapeutic.
And it really should be.
These are kids.
STEPHANIE SY: Calvin has since gotten therapy and is looking forward to graduating from high school this year.
ANDREW MEDINA: The axis point is crisis.
STEPHANIE SY: Andrew Medina acknowledges there are still areas for improvement.
ANDREW MEDINA: We recognize at every opportunity that we can do better by our communities, and we are working towards that.
STEPHANIE SY: For Raquel Medina, the system seems to have worked.
What would you have done had you not had 988?
RAQUEL MEDINA: I don't know.
I would have spent the night in tears, not knowing what to do, still in that dark hole.
So I honestly have no idea what I would have done to get myself out of it.
STEPHANIE SY: The crisis care specialist she spoke to that night followed up later on and connected her to a list of therapists that take her insurance.
RAQUEL MEDINA: My mental health is probably the best that it's ever been since before I was 14 years old.
STEPHANIE SY: She's been working lately in a job that feels right too, helping others battling mental health challenges as a music therapist.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Stephanie Sy in Maricopa County, Arizona.
AMNA NAWAZ: In 1985, the biggest American pop stars all gathered in one Los Angeles studio for one night only to record one song that raised tens of millions of dollars in humanitarian aid for Africa.
MAN: One, two.
(SINGING) AMNA NAWAZ: The story of how the legendary charity single "We Are the World" came to be, including some never-before-seen footage of the recording session itself, is the subject of a new document called "The Greatest Night in Pop.
The documentary is streaming on Netflix now.
And I recently spoke with its director, Bao Nguyen, our arts and culture series, Canvas.
Bao, welcome back to the "NewsHour."
Thanks so much for joining us.
BAO NGUYEN, Director, "The Greatest Night in Pop": Great.
It's great to be back here, Amna.
AMNA NAWAZ: So what made you want to tell this story in the first place?
BAO NGUYEN: I mean, it happened in a weird way.
I was only 2 years old when the song came out, and it was a song that I didn't understand the global resonance of the song, obviously, when I was 2 years old.
But my parents, who are Vietnamese refugees, they spoke very little English when they came over.
But, for some reason, they had Lionel Richie records.
They had Kenny Rogers records.
So I remember the song always playing in the background of my house.
And, in a way, it was a bridge to my American side and my parents' sort of immigrant side.
And so, yes, again, the song had a lot of resonance.
But the film was conceived during the middle of the pandemic.
And I was watching a lot of things from the '80s and the '90s.
So I wanted to make something that was kind of familiar to people.
We didn't know what we were going to come out of after the pandemic.
And so creating a film that was really rooted in something that was kind of like a warm blanket was important to me.
So my producer, Julia Nottingham, approached me with this idea of the story of "We Are the World."
And I just found the story itself to be really fascinating.
AMNA NAWAZ: The inspiration for the song itself, how that came to be, that isn't really well-known.
You tell this story in the film, but who first had the idea to record the song?
And how did that idea come up?
BAO NGUYEN: So it started with Harry Belafonte, who had seen what the British artists had done with Band Aid and also was watching a lot of these documentaries about what was going on in the famine in Africa at the time.
And I think we're kind of used to those images, sadly, nowadays.
But in the '80s, when it happened, it was a shock to everyone who saw those images.
And Harry Belafonte, he says it in the film, that he was sort of like seeing white artists saving people in Africa, but he wasn't seeing Black artists save the people in Africa.
And so he started to assemble this team of Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, through Lionel's manager, Ken Kragen.
And that's how it all got started.
AMNA NAWAZ: And this recording includes, it's fair to say, the biggest names in music of the time, Michael Jackson, as you mentioned, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Tina Turner.
It is incredible to see in your film all of these superstars in this studio with no handlers and no press people.
They're just hanging out alone with each other.
There's one moment actually that reveals some of those artists were actually starstruck themselves.
Take a listen.
MAN: Diana walks up to Daryl Hall with her music in her hands and says: "Daryl, I'm your biggest fan.
Would you sign my music for me?"
And we all looked around and said, holy moly.
AMNA NAWAZ: Bao, in reviewing all of this behind-the-scenes footage, what stood out to you about seeing all these superstars in this environment?
BAO NGUYEN: Yes, well, as you said, these are the icons of icons, of not just that generation, but the generation before and the generation after in many ways.
And to see them really nervous around each other, excited and sort of fanboying and fangirling around each other, but also really vulnerable, again, these are the greatest musical minds and artists of the time.
And to see them just sort of not performing at their best levels was really interesting.
But, also, I found it really endearing how all the artists around them would help each other.
There's a really beautiful scene with Bob Dylan and Stevie Wonder that's one of my favorite scenes, where Stevie Wonder helps Bob by mimicking his style.
And it's a really poignant scene that I think really sticks out in my mind.
AMNA NAWAZ: You also got many of these artists to talk to you today, all these years later, to reflect back on that time, Lionel Richie and Bruce Springsteen and Cyndi Lauper.
How hard was it to convince them to talk about this?
BAO NGUYEN: I mean, it was pretty difficult.
It was sort of a bit of life imitating art, because it took Lionel to make these phone calls.
And once Lionel was lined up to help produce this project, everyone started to agree to be part of it.
And one of the great things that we tried to do in the film was to shoot the interviews at the actual studio where it was recorded.
So, then this event happened almost 40 years ago.
And so when people walked back into that room, a lot of their memories started flooding back.
AMNA NAWAZ: There's this wonderful memory from Huey Lewis reflecting back on that moment and talking about just how nervous he was to be singing in front of all these other superstars.
Take a listen.
HUEY LEWIS, Musician: From that moment on, I was nervous out of my brain.
AMNA NAWAZ: Bao, there are tons of moments like this throughout the film.
Were there moments from the behind-the-scenes footage you didn't include that you wanted to?
BAO NGUYEN: I mean, I think film is a liminal art.
So there's definitely, -- I wish we could have included all the stories.
We had a scene like with more of the recording session artists.
We had just more of the actual recording itself with the stars.
But I think, for us, it was important to kind of find the heart of the story.
And I think we did so with this film.
And it is -- the film has been out for a couple of weeks now on Netflix.
And we have just been getting some really great messages of how nostalgic the film is, but also how heartfelt it is.
AMNA NAWAZ: It was almost 40 years ago, as you point out.
I just wonder how you reflect on what it took to bring that together, for that moment to happen, and whether you think something like that could ever happen today.
BAO NGUYEN: I mean, looking back at it now, it was such a unique moment, I think, in pop culture, global pop culture, because it really sort of -- everyone was focused on this moment.
Like, almost every radio station in the world played it all at the same time.
I don't know if you can really do that today.
But I think it was also the feat of -- it was such a surprising moment.
It came out of nowhere.
I, think, today, there are -- there's ways to leak things.
Social media makes things more apparent.
I think it's really unique.
But I do hope the film is a way to inspire a generation of artists to realize, like, within their own power, within their own talents, that they can make a difference.
AMNA NAWAZ: The film is "The Greatest Night in Pop."
It's streaming now on Netflix.
The director is Bao Nguyen.
Bao, it's always good to see you.
Thank you so much.
BAO NGUYEN: Thank you, Amna.
AMNA NAWAZ: Remember, there's much more online, including a story that explores the science behind boil water advisories and how climate change and winter storms might make the problems worse.
That's at PBS.org/NewsHour.
GEOFF BENNETT: And join us again here tomorrow night as we look at the cleanup efforts in East Palestine, Ohio, where a train derailed, causing a toxic spill, more than a year ago.
And that is the "NewsHour" for tonight.
I'm Geoff Bennett.
AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.
On behalf of the entire "NewsHour" team, thank you for joining us.
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