>> on "the newshour" tonight, congressional leaders it pause on negotiations to raise the debt limit with time quickly running out to make a deal. >> president biden says the u.s. will help training -- train ukrainians on f-16 fighter jet that allies land to provide in the fight against russia. >> and syria is welcomed back to an alliance of arab nations after years of brutal civil war orchestrated by the assad regime. >> the message is you have followed your steps, sanctions, isolation of the regime. well, it has not worked.

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by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> good evening. here are the latest headlines -- the high-stakes debt ceiling talks in washington ended tonight no progress. the impasse comes after a day of on-again off-again negotiations over raising the debt limit and curbing spending. the deadline for preventing and national default is less than two weeks away. a national guard's man in massachusetts accused of leaking secret documents will stay in jail awaiting trial. a federal magistrate judge ordered jack to shara to remain behind bars. prosecutors argued he is a flight risk. he's charged with sharing highly classified material in an online chat room. the president of ukraine made a surprise trip to the middle east today to win support in the war

against russia. he arrived in saudi arabia for the arab league summit and met with its leaders. later, he warned against turning a blind eye to russia's actions. >> i am more than sure that none of you will agree to surrender 1/3 of your country to invaders. and i'm more than sure none of you would watch without a fight while foreigners steel the children of your people. >> also today, moscow put a prosecutor for the international criminal court on a wanted list. he had prepared an arrest warrant for russian president vladimir putin. it accuses him of war crimes. the u.s., british, and french naval commanders in the middle east sailed into the persian gulf today in a message to iran. they passed the strait of hormuz on an american destroyer. iran seized two oil tankers there in recent weeks.

as the uss paul hamilton made its transit today, patrol boats from iran's revolutionary guard approached. they kept their distance, and there was no confrontation. iran executed three more men linked to last year's antigovernment protest. they were accused of killing a police officer and two rubbers of a paramilitary crew. human rights groups said they were tortured. officially, iran executed seven people over the protest. confusion reigned in the standoff between former prime minister imran khan and the police in pakistan. at one point, inspectors entered his residential compound, but there were conflicting accounts over if he allowed them to search. he has denied harboring suspects linked to violent unrest. back in this country, a funeral was held for jordan neely, the new york city man who was choked to death on a subway car. family and friends paid respects at a harlem church. the rev. al sharpton delivered the eulogy and demanded help for

people like neely. >> we keep criminalizing people with mental illness. people keep criminalizing people that need help. they don't need abuse. they need help. >> daniel penny put neely in a chokehold after he had been yelling at passengers and is now charged with manslaughter. nebraska's legislature approved a bill today that bans abortion at 12 weeks and prohibits minors from receiving gender affirming surgery. the abortion ban includes exceptions for rape, incest, and to save the life of the mother. the republican governor championed the bill and said he would sign it. still to come, a new book details how the supreme court's shadow docket shapes american law. the legacy of nfl legend and activist jim brown. david brooks and jonathan

capehart weigh in on the week's political headlines. and actor michael j fox discusses a documentary on his career and his battle with parkinson's. >> this is the "pbs newshour" from weta studios in washington and in the west from walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. >> white house officials say the biden administration will approve european allies providing american-made f-16 fighter jets to ukraine. the west will also support a joint effort to train ukrainian pilots to operate them. ukraine has been asking for those f-16's since early in the war with russia. up until now, the u.s. has refused. for more, we turn to a retired lieutenant general who had a 35-year career in the army and served on the national security council for both george w. bush and barack obama. he was also u.s. ambassador to

nato during the obama administration. the u.s. had previously said providing those f-16's could be provocative and also said ukraine did not need net specific -- that specific military capability. what has changed? >> you are right this has long been on the list of requirements from the ukrainian government to the coalition that has been providing military support, but you are also right that we have not to date agree to the requirement because in part we are concerned about provoking russia, but the longer pattern over the last 15 months is that time and again, russia has told us don't do something, it will be provocative and we will respond. we eventually do it, if it is long-range rocket systems, tanks, patriot air defense systems, and now f-16's only to see that russia does not have the capability to do much about it. >> do you think the u.s. or

allies should have provided these f-16's earlier? >> i think certainly given the hindsight, this would have been very much useful over the last year or so, and, frankly, the ukrainians have been suffering on any balance with manned aircraft where the russians have a distinction, so this really addresses that in balance, and i think it is one of the last remaining imbalances, frankly, in the favor of the russians. >> what does this allow the ukrainians to do specifically that they could not before? >> the f-16 provides two key capabilities. first on the offensive side, it can provide precision, close air support to ground troops, and that will be very important if ukrainians take the offensive this year into next year. the second thing it can do on the offensive side is provide deep fires, because it fires

well into the depth beyond the front lines into occupied ukraine where ukraine can increasingly hit russian command-and-control sides, russian headquarters, russian logistics sites in bases deep -- and bases deep into occupied ukraine. on the defensive side, these aircraft are also important because they can take on the russian-manned aircraft, but also very important, they can attack the russian cruise missiles, which have been striking ukrainian civilian infrastructure. on the offensive side and defensive side, it can really make a difference. >> what about training ukrainian pilots to use them? there was a report this week based on some air force internal documents that said the u.s. could probably train ukrainian pilots to fly those f-16's in as little as four months. do you see that happening? >> i will leave it to the experts who actually fly f-16's

to make that determination, but it seems reasonable to me. we have been surprised time and again by the ability of the ukrainians to adopt new systems which are technically very sophisticated, difficult to maintain, but they have proven adept at accepting these new systems from the western coalition, so my bet is on the ukrainians. >> if these could allow ukraine to claim back some of that territory by pressure, does that translate to ending the war on terms more acceptable to ukraine? >> it moves us in that direction, but to be clear, this will not happen in this year. when you add the training to the delivery process, remember, it is not just the aircraft. they have to deliver maintenance capability to keep the aircraft flying. that really means it is unlikely that this decision today is going to make a meaningful difference on the battlefield

this year. >> we have been anticipating a spring ukrainian counteroffensive for a while. what can you tell us about that and why have we not seen that launched yet? >> we as americans tend to be impatient on these things. we want to see it in the next news cycle or something, right? but ukrainian commanders are amassing forces, marshaling resources. they have amassed, created, nine new brigades, hired with new equipment, trained together, ready to go on the offensive, and now because they have the initiative, ukrainian commanders can pick the timing and location and method of attack all to their advantage. again, my confidence is in the ukrainians who have proven time and again that they understand this battlefield. it is, after all, ukraine. this is an important advantage for ukrainians and they will pick the time that is right.

>> always good to speak with you. thank you. >> ukrainian president zelenskyy's surprise visit to the arab league was not the only focus of the gathering today. there was another attendee whose presence sparked outrage the world over. 12 years ago, the people of syria rose up against the regime of bashar al-assad as the arab spring uprising slept middle east. he proceeded to kill, bomb, starve, poison, and brutalize his people and does still. he became an international pariah. now he is being welcomed back into the arab league, a group that suspended it from its ranks back in 2011. >> with a warm hug and kiss, syrian president bashar al-assad , an accused war criminal behind

thousands of indiscriminate killings of his own people, strode back in to the good graces of the arab league hand in hand with saudi crown prince mohammad bin salman on. the saudi prince post with him. assad called it a historic opportunity. >> we need to treat the cracks that have emerged on the arab seen during the past decade. the arab league should restore its role in healing wounds, not deepening them. >> but syrians in rebel-held territories have not forgotten their wounds and the tens of thousands of dead sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers,'s in, daughters, all under the direction of bashar al-assad. they continue to protest and fight. 12 years ago, pro-democracy voices rose up against the dictatorial family's rule.

>> my father was a businessman, but he was also very passionate about politics. he dared to express his mind and say that the current situation in syria is not good and needs to change >> her father is one of hundreds of syrians that have an forcibly disappeared by assad's regime. >> we do not even know if he is still alive or not. we do not even know what he is accused of, where he is held, or anything. >> the family fled syria in 2013 and is split between germany and canada. >> no justice, no accountability, no courthouses, no lawyers, no one can do anything. xo mark can testify to that -- omar -- >> omar can testify to that. he was jailed in the early days of assad's rule for dissent.

>> i was forced to look at my fingernails while they were pulling them out. i was forced to see my cousin dying in my arms. i was forced to eat my cousin, otherwise we both would be tortured. -- i was forced to hit my cousin, otherwise we both would be tortured. the person who killed your father, your brothers, destroyed your hometown, that is what this regime did to me. when the regime is welcomed back to sit with the arab league, i feel like the entire world is traying. >> it only reminds me of the worst moments in our history. we imagine a time when people were ready to normalize someone like kittler or normalize someone like milosevic -- normalize someone like hitler.

>> some of these regional powers they have decided to normalize including uae, including saudi arabia, are u.s. allies. have you seen the u.s. use its leverage in any way in these negotiations? >> i have to say, they have not nearly as vocal and not public in their condemnation at any efforts of normalization or v integration -- reintegration of the regime. >> they have to make their own decisions, and our position is clear. we are not going to be normalizing relations with that regime. >> but mustapha says the biden administration is guilty of putting syria on the back burner. he is hopeful the u.s. congress will act. his group helped author the assad enter normalization act, which has bipartisan support.

>> this legislation really holds responsible some of these arab countries and will hold them accountable if they support the assad regime and its crimes as they normalize relations with him. >>'s organization runs tomorrow's don, a women's center and school for those -- for syrians displaced by the war. >> the centers director feels betrayed. >> they act as though nothing has happened. the bigger blame is on the arab able who did not vehemently disagree with what is happening, allowing it to happen. >> for their part, arab leaders have been on the path to normalization for years, but saudi arabia was the key to letting assad through the door. the middle east institute says -- >> the reference mount with

syria is very much in line with a talk with iran -- the rapprochement with syria. >> the move is also in acknowledgment that assad is not going anywhere and regional actors need him to address issues of refugees, counterterrorism, and a drug trade sanctioned by damascus. >> the message from these key arab countries is to the administration enter europeans, ok, you have strat -- you have followed your strategy of sanctions, of isolation of the regime. well, it has not worked. let's try our way. >> but she says assad's comeback is limited. not all arab countries have welcomed the move. >> it is really not significant. the arab league is really not

that powerful. it is very much symbolic. >> for others, the readmissions of assad is significant. he no worries -- she no worries even more about her father's eight. >> such as that will only make things worse. most importantly, it will kill any hope for people like me that our loved ones might be freed one day. >> this july will mark 10 years since she last saw her beloved father. >> a new book out this week explores the supreme court's growing influence on the country through a number of emergency actions on cases not on the official docket. >> many of us work taught in

civics class that the supreme court is the court of last resort. that cases end up there after all other appeals have been exhausted, but for the last decade or so, the court has gotten involved in cases while the appeals process is going on, either blocking or keeping in place policies on abortion, immigration, and covid restrictions, often setting new principles without hearing arguments and without explaining their reasoning. it is part of what has become known as the shadow docket, which is the title of a new book by a university of texas law professor. first off, i gave a very incomplete description of one part of the shadow docket. explain what it is. >> it is and bella turned that basically describes everything the supreme court does other than the 60 or so big cases. it is only about what percent of what the supreme court does. 99% of the rulings the supreme

court hands down are these unsigned, un-inflated orders. >> you write that this began to take off in the 1980's and 1990's with death penalty cases. obviously, there's urgency there because the executions are scheduled. you also say it really accelerated and changed under the trump administration. >> that's right area. arises the modern flurry of this emergency application where the courts intervene early in the case and not as the court of last resort starts with the 1970's with death penalty cases, but it stays there for a couple of decades. what really shifts in the mid 2010's and president trump's justice department is a big part of the cause of this shift, is the court taking approaches that have become normalized in the

death penalty content, for court decisions without oral argument with no explanation and now applying it to particular immigration policies in effect or not the case works its way through the courts, if state abortion bands will be in effect or not, if covid vaccination mandates will be in effect or not, having all these monument impacts on us out in the world far more so than the death penalty cases. quicksort is the problem with that? >> there's no problem in the abstract that the supreme court deals with emergencies. any court system is going to have some sort of mechanism for dealing with those exigent circumstances. the problems we have had -- in the last few years is the way the justices are intervening, more on cases with these broader impacts and with little explanation and perhaps in ways that are not explainable by reference to any overarching neutral legal principle.

instead, way too often, the best predictor of who will win a shadow docket application is the partisan views of the dispute, with red states but against blue states, with trump policies but against biden policies, with the absence of any explanation deprives us of any reason to feel confidence that there are neutral reasons at work and not just political actors acting politically. >> there was a recent poll that found that 62% of those questions said they had not very much or no confidence in the court. is this part of that problem? >> ith think it is, and i think these are both symptoms of the same disease, which is a court that is acting in lots of ways, with regard to emergency applications power ethics, in ways that are unchecked, unexplained, un-transparent. i think the most important part of that survey is that conservatives should be just as invested in public confidence in the supreme court as

progressives who are critical of it. that is where i think the conversation needs to go and is a big part of what i hope the book accomplish. next there have been a lot of calls for changes on the court. legislation introduced that there be a code of ethics to expand the number of justices on the court, set an age limit. what does a meaningful solution to the problems on the court look like? >> i think it starts from the same place, some kind of congressional effort to reassert even a modicum of institutional -- not control but responsibility for the court. in the first 200 years we had a supreme court, congress was actively involved in regulating the court and shaping its document and controlling its budget, forcing justices to go out on the road six months out of the year. until 1935, the court sat in the capital, so there really was this synergy, this dynamic between congress and the court that has really fallen by the wayside. folks may have their own views on which reforms are the most

important, but i think it has to start and the book tries to start with the congress taking responsibility for what james madison said, ambition must be made to counteract ambition. there's not a lot of ambition being counteracted right now but congress, but there's certainly a lot of ambition among justices. >> how is this undermining our republic? >> the charge comes out most forcefully in chapter six, which talks about election cases, where saw in 2022 just two rulings, one about congressional district maps in alabama and one about congressional district maps in louisiana, where the court, through unsigned, unexplained orders, allowed these states two years maps that lower courts had struck down. there's a pretty good argument that those rulings by themselves might have been a critical part of how republicans took control in the -- control of the house in the midterm elections. if you have the supreme court influencing elections that

directly through rulings that are not explaining themselves, i think it is hard to reconcile that with basic conceptions of how a republic is supposed to operate. >> thank you. >> one of the greatest legends of the nfl has died. hall of famer jim brown, running back the cleveland browns from 1957 through the 1965 season, blaise and i fled path few have equaled. he left the game is its most famous and best player to pursue and life in active and activism as the civil rights movement rolled through the 1960's. unstoppable as brown was on the field, off the field, he led a complicated, at times brutal life. he was arrested half a dozen times, mostly for domestic abuse. he died yesterday in los angeles at the age of 87.

with me now to discuss his life and legacy is a sports writer and professor at the school of journalism at the university of maryland. as you well know, jim brown was not only one of the best to ever play the game, he was really one of the nfl's first superstars, right? how did he become one of the greats? >> absolutely. any time you watch the old black and white rainy video of jim brown or even that of him in color, you see people trying to bring him down and being completely unsuccessful at that task. he ran over people, ran through people, ran around people. he was considered the greatest running back in the history of the nfl, even to this day. some of the records that he set still have yet to be broken. for example, he led the league in all-purpose yardage, meaning catches and handoffs out of the

backfield, for five years in a row. many of the records he set stood for decades. he was that much of a power. not only that, when you just talk about his athleticism in general, he was a four-sport star at syracuse, where he also starred in lacrosse, and he is in the lacrosse hall of name, and many consider him to be the greatest lacrosse player of all-time. he probably played about 30 games, maybe a handful more. scored 77 goals and had maybe 20, 30 assists. this is one of the greatest athletes we have ever seen. >> he was still very much in his prime, just 30 years old, when he decided to walk away from football. what do we know about when he made that decision? >> he got infatuated with hollywood and trying to become an actor. many of us may remember the movie "dirty dozen," and that is really what pulled him in to

hollywood. he walked away from the cleveland browns to try his hand at acting. the owner at the time tried to find him for not coming back and being ready and in shape to play football, and sooner or later, they parted ways. he was truly one of the first free agents, you could say, in professional sports. he became his own man and refused to do what the browns wanted him to do. jim brown was only going to do what jim brown wanted. >> he also used his platform and voice to advance the calls for equality during the civil rights movement. >> a lot of times when i think about jim brown, i think about him being this emperor of black masculinity. there were a couple of things that really made him stand out. one is a famous photograph of jim brown with muhammad ali and

a group of other very famous black athletes in the 1960's, and that was called the cleveland summit. it is a misinterpreted photograph because a lot of people have said incorrectly that the meeting was to support muhammad ali's refusal to join the military and therefore continue his boxing career, but the real reason for the meeting -- those guys, including jim brown, the ringleader, wanted to get polly cash get -- get ali to drop his fight against the military and continue as an athlete. one of the reasons jim brown wanted to do that because at the end of the day, jim brown was a capitalist, and he happened to have a business deal for ali's next fight, so he wanted to get him out there, but ali, to his credit, stood down the most powerful black men in athletics

and told them, no, this is what i decided to do, so they created a unified front. that's one of the first times we saw jim brown as an activist on the black front. the other time was when he started a black economic organization, which is still alive to this day, to invest in homes and real estate and business opportunities in kansas city. so he has had a great impact when it comes to black capitalism in this country. >> a lot of folks may remember jim brown came out very publicly recently in 2018, in fact, and had vocally and publicly supported then president trump, something he even said at the time would make him "very unpopular" in the black community. did it? >> it absolutely did. i wrote about it at the time.

i remember that and i was perplexed as to why jim brown would do this, but the end of the day, jim brown was very much a capitalist, and i suspect that that fit into the reasons that he met with donald trump. he thought, for whatever reasons, that donald trump was going to do something for black americans that donald trump wound up obviously never doing, but that is the complexity with talking about jim brown. the other thing is that he was a dog throughout his life as an adult man as being a terror to the women he encountered in his life. a number of times, he was accused of battery against women. there's a famous story about a girlfriend of his who he threw off of a balcony. he was once arrested in the 1990's over domestic violence and convicted of it, so he was a

very complex person. he was not just a great athlete. he was not just this actor who played often times these single name roles where he flexed his muscles, and he was this black male power figure on the screen. there were some uncomfortable moments in his life as well. >>, located life and complicated legacy. thank you so much for joining us tonight. -- complicated life and complicated legacy. thank you so much for joining us tonight. >> thank you. >> it is friday and that means it is time for the analysis of brooks and capehart. new york times columnist david brooks and jonathan capehart, associate editor for "the washington post." good to see you as always. here we are another friday of

late, breaking news, this time on the debt ceiling. house speaker mccarthy said that house republican negotiators will continue talks with the white house after those talks fell apart today. negotiators task by him to deal with the white house said that they would put those talks on hold because they were not productive. what is your read on what is happening here? >> we are getting down to what we think is the wire on the default date as identified by the treasury secretary, but also because the house and senate will be out of session next week for memorial day recess until may 29. the talks did not fall apart. there indeed was a short pause. we heard about it late this morning, early this afternoon, and now they will be back together in the negotiating. part of me wonders if this is all posturing on the part of

speaker mccarthy. i'm trying not to hyperventilate over ery. and tittle -- every dot and tittle of what is happening until we get to june 1, but there are big things they need to work out and negotiate, and let's just hope that they make some progress. >> deadlines have a way of focusing the minds of members of congress and we don't know what we don't know, but this did sort of have the hallmarks of republican pressure play. the senate republican leader, who is not part of these talks, tweeted earlier today it is past time for the white house to get serious. time is of the essence. >> i'm glad they are back together. it's like they just can't quit each other. it is like a taylor swift novel, getting back together. but it is dangerous. while i do think both sides are negotiating probably in good faith, there are elements of both parties who will take

advantage of apostasy let's not do this deal, and the freedom caucus on the other side is saying, we passed our bill, take it or leave it. that's like we are going to govern by ourselves is that the democrats do not exist, and a bunch of senators on the democrat side say just use the 14th amendment to ram through our version, and that sounds ok legally, but it might be disastrous economically. if biden tries to use the 14th amendment to run roughshod, it's going to go through the court system. every little decision will create economic uncertainty, and the crisis will probably get to this supreme court which will probably overrule it and then we will be back where we started. and president biden said as much, that it is impractical because litigating it would take a lot of time. >> progressive's say they are concerned president biden my giveaway too much. this follows his comments about toughening standards for social safety net programs like food stamps. how can he do a deal with house

republicans without alienating the far left of his party whose votes democrats will need? >> sure, but again, what we are talking about are things -- you know, the president said nice things about something he did 30 years ago. i understand progressives being concerned about comments about things he did in the 1990's, what impact that might have on negotiations in 2023, but we just don't know. i take progressive just trying to fill the void in sending a message to the president. think real hard about what you're doing in that negotiating room, but again, is it's good they are getting together in that negotiating room and talking. neither side is going to get everything they want, so when it comes to worker myron -- when it comes to work requirements, we will just have to see, but i want to make one larger point. speaker mccarthy is trying to do budgetary matters by holding the economy hostage with the debt ceiling.

when the president submitted his own budget on march 9, house republicans had yet to submit their own budget. that is where these conversations about spending cuts and caps and requirements and everything -- if speaker mccarthy had any confidence, he could pass a budget through regular order, he would have submitted his own budget right now, but instead, he is using the debt ceiling as a way to ram through his own priorities, things he could not get through the h aouseernd own c.lyta >> first of all, this happened dozens and dozens of times over the last number of tickets. of the last 43 times we had a debt ceiling crisis, i think something like 28 of those times, a clear majority, it was attached to some sort of spending bill, so we probably should not do budgeting this way, but the fact is we have been doing it. democrats have a public -- democrats have been doing it. republicans have been doing it. republicans have been doing it more. it focuses the mind.

this is the only mechanism we seem to have, as crazy as it is, to bring down spending. our average deficits historically recently have been just over 3%. now they are over 6%. we just cannot run that much debt year on year. >> let's shift our focus to 2024. two major announcements are expected next week in the gop presidential primary. ron desantis and tim scott. senator scott filed paperwork today to run for president. let's start with ron desantis first. i think we could be forgiven for not remembering that he is already a candidate -- in many ways, it seems he already is. >> i'm going to quote something that my colleague george wilson said on first look, and i believe he was courting someone else talking about ron desantis what -- in that it seems as though the governor is trying to be a different version of donald trump.

say, a competent version of donald trump, ramming through all of these culture were laws, signing things into law, but as he said, you know, it is like asking people to choose between a coke and new coke, and when we went through that way back when, people made it clear, when given the choice, they went for coke, so the lane that ron desantis is trying to occupy is not going to be successful because if people have to choose between trump and governor desantis, they are going to go for trump, so that's why the moment he makes it official, who becomes a candidate, i think the scrutiny will be on how well he does under the spotlight of a national presidential campaign and with donald trump gnawing on his leg 24 hours a day seven days a week until governor desantis cries uncle. >> on that point, ron desantis for many republicans seemed like someone who could carry the mantle of trumpism without the

baggage that donald trump has himself, but his poll numbers have cratered. there are questions about his electability should he make it to the general election. can he bounce back from that? if so, how? >> right now, his campaign is a bit of a mess. even this week, he had a bunch of social conservative culture were type issues, and then he goes to new hampshire and poses as a very different kind of candidate. sort of a moderate business republican. second, it was clearly a terrible mistake not to announce months ago and begin campaigning and, frankly, hit back at donald trump. i cannot think of a time in all my years covering politics where one candidate was just beating the daylights out of the other candidate and the other guy did not hit back. it is just not a way to win. there are just fundamental structural issues in this campaign, it is clear. >> this week, desantis told donors and supporters there were

only three credible candidates in the race, joe biden, donald trump, and himself. he said that donald trump could not beat joe biden again. is that an effective argument for him to make, given where he is in the polls right now against donald trump? >> i mean, it sounds like wishful thinking and trying to separate people from their money in terms of donors. you've got to give them a reason to believe, so the governor can believe that there are only three people in the race and he is the only republican who could beat president biden, but, sure, maybe he can win the republican nomination, but he has signed a number of things into law in florida that will make him unpalatable to the general electorate. florida is not going to play well on the national stage, so i don't see how his happy talk to

donors is going to become reality. >> what about tim scott? is there room for him in this race? >> i think he is underestimated right now. he is a good person, a nice person, which sets him apart from his two major competitors, and there may be a lame for people who are just exhausted. he actually has a fair bit of money already, so i think there is a real chance. and he is an effective legislator who has done things across the line. they have not always work out, but he has been active in the senate. >> to go back to your coke versus new coke analogy, what do you think? >> he would be pepsi, an alternative to coke and new coke. the only thing, though, is if you have coke, new coke, and pepsi, how many other brands of republicans are going to be in

the race. donald trump was able to eat his way -- eke his way to the 26 a nomination because there were 57 people on stage and he was able to split the votes. if it's just ron desantis, donald trump, asa hutchinson, nikki haley, tim scott, and one other person, maybe he has a shot, but the more people who jump into the race, the less likely it is that any of those folks on the stage who is not named donald trump will win the nomination. >> jonathan capehart and david brooks, great to see you as always. have a great weekend. >> thank you. >> an incurable optimist confronts an incurable disease -- that is the focus of a dome about actor michael j fox out now on apple tv+ -- that is the focus of a film.

i sat down with fox to discuss the film and his life's work. >> are you telling me you built a time machine out of a delorean? >> in 1985, michael j fox skyrocketed to stardom with a breakthrough big-screen role as marty mcfly in the year's number one film back to the future. his face was on every teen magazine cover. by 24, he was hollywood's golden boy, a world away from his humble roots in canada. cracks in less than three years, it went from being a kid stuffed into lockers to having a conversation with steven spielberg. >> i spoke to fox about his full throttle khmer, his family and marriage, and his three decades living with parkinson's, a story

he tells in his own words in the new documentary, "still." >> what i like about it is it is acerbic and funny. i'm grateful for hard-earned wisdom. >> fox first won over audiences with his charisma and comedic timing, stealing the spotlight as alex p. keaton on the tv show "family ties." >> he always had this superpower of being able to make people laugh. you see it throughout the whole film. you can do it any time still. what is that like for you, to have that kind of power?

>> any time i'm confronted with something, i do something funny about it. time plus tragedy equals comedy. that's the way it works. >> you are asked in the movie to describe your wife. you actually close your eyes and sit in silence for a little bit before you speak. >> clarity. >> there was just such love in that moment. lots of marriages work for lots of different reasons, but i wanted to ask you, what makes your marriage work?

>> it almost isn't as much as why we began as it is that we began. i'm just so grateful. grateful is a funny word to use, but grateful for molly. i'm not so much grateful for her that i'm good that we continue to have -- >> among those questions, with the future would hold after parkinson's diagnosis with parkinson's disease. he was just 29 years old. he went public seven years later and became a champion for ba.5 million people worldwide battling the disease. >> the changes in my life were profound and progressive. >> testifying before congress about the need for research funding. >> i heard from thousands of americans affected by

parkinson's writing and calling to offer encouragement and tell me of their experience. they spoke of pain, frustration, fear, and hope. >> fox continued to act, winning awards as the lead in the tv show "spin city" and gaining ground in the fight against parkinson's alongside tracy and therefore kids, running the michael j fox foundation for more than 20 years. in 2002, you said you hope they would be a cure in 10 years. you have raised $1.5 billion for research. you still think we are a few years away from a cure? 5, 10? >> we can encourage drug companies and scientists to pursue the patent ambitiously. >> nonsense advocacy as with his

acting career, fox is seemingly tireless. i noticed one thing over and over again people say a lot to you -- slow down. slow down. what is it like for you to hear that? >> i hate hearing. people that don't have this, they don't know what it's like. there is a scene in the movie i have with my son. i don't feel, like, 90 years old, but sometimes you guys get mad at me, you say be careful, be careful, be careful. i'm being careful. >> nobody think it is not to be careful, but it is lower on the list of things then it is for us, so i just have to make sure, you know. it is great if you understand what i'm saying, but i'd rather

you don't fall over. >> four decades after he burst into the big time, fox says simply starting each day can be a struggle. >> worry him, no matter what i have to do that day, it is constant planning and negotiating. >> in the movie, your talk about it all, the pain, falling, breaking bones, all of that. but you don't seem to want to dwell on it. is that fair? >> yeah, i don't see the point of it. i'm through all of that. i want to enjoy myself, not bombard my kids with all the stuff. if you find yourself obsessing with a worst-case scenario. >> there's a whole generation of

fans, my kids among them, who are coming into contact with your work for the first time but who never knew you asked alex p. keaton or marty mcfly in the way we did back then, they will know you through this movie and the work you do now. i wonder what it is you hope they know and understand about you. >> hope they understand the reward is a deepest point it is not for you, and just, my brothers and sisters divert an obituary, and the last things i could think to say was --

pbs.org/newshour/ -- the last thing i could think to say was [indiscernible] >> he is endlessly inspiring. >> and endlessly funny i have to say to this day. remember, there is much more online as well, including a look at the senate watergate hearings that started 50 years ago this week. be sure to tune in to "washington week" tonight, moderated this evening by our very own john yang. >> and watch pbs this weekend for a look at how three native communities in louisiana are adding to save their tribal lands from rising sea levels. >> on behalf of the entire "newshour" team, thank you for joining us and have a great weekend. >> major funding for "the pbs newshour" has been provided by --

moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf-the engine that connects us . >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of "the newshour," including kathy and paul anderson and camilla and george stanton. the walton family foundation, working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people and nature can thrive together. the william and flora hewlett foundation, for more than 50 years advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. >> and with the ongoing support

of these individuals and institutions. and friends of "the newshour." this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> this is "pbs newshour west," from weta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪

love and respect. i'm michael render. i'm so proud to be here on atlpba because pbs helped raise me. mr. rogers, sesame seet, the electric company, these were the shows that gave me a window into a wonderful world, featuring people and mentors that help teach me about love and respect. tonight, i'm honored to kick off our first show with the mayor of this great city, keisha lance bottoms. mayor bottoms, tonight on her time in office, her decision not to run for reelection, and her plans for the future. thanks for joining us. atlanta mayor, keisha lance bottoms coming up right now. - love and respect with killer mike is made possible by: cadillac. monster energy. ledger. and by, ressler gertz family foundation.