GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: In an exclusive interview, President Biden delves into his vision for the second half of his term, promising progress, despite a divided Congress and low poll numbers.

JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: Because the polls don't matter anymore.

You got to make, what, 40, 50 calls on a cell phone to get someone to answer a poll?

GEOFF BENNETT: Rescue workers pull more people from the rubble after that major earthquake in Turkey and Syria, with the death toll rising even higher as time runs out to find survivors.

AMNA NAWAZ: And LeBron James passes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA's all-time leading scorer.

We look at how King James has changed the game.

(BREAK) AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening, and welcome to the "NewsHour."

An air of desperation is growing in Turkey and Syria tonight, as the chance of finding earthquake survivors grows dimmer by the hour.

GEOFF BENNETT: The death toll has grown to at least 12,000, with an unknown number still missing.

Jane Ferguson reports from Adana in Southern Turkey, where Hatay Province, with Idlib Province in Syria, are among the worst-hit areas.

JANE FERGUSON: The combing through the dust and debris of apartment blocks continues in Turkey.

There were over 90 people inside this one when it collapsed in the early hours of Monday morning.

So far, only two gravely wounded survivors have been found, locals tell us.

Periodically, the rescue workers stop what they're doing, machinery is turned off, and everyone falls quiet and listens for the sound of survivors under their feet.

What appears as though a silent tribute to the dead is actually still hope for the living.

But desperate relatives waiting on the pavement nearby know that hope is fading.

SONGUL TEMURLENK, Turkish Earthquake Survivor (through translator): I have an aunt here and then aunt's husband and then daughters, three person inside.

JANE FERGUSON: So, a three-person family?

SONGUL TEMURLENK: Yes.

JANE FERGUSON: Have any of them been pulled from the rubble?

SONGUL TEMURLENK: No.

We don't know what's happened.

But they live in first floor, but here is 14 floors.

So, it's very difficult to find life there, I think.

JANE FERGUSON: There is an unspoken understanding here that the search for survivors is turning into the recovery of bodies.

There are thousands of rescue workers just like this spread out across Southern Turkey still digging through the rubble, still determined to pull survivors from underneath collapsed buildings.

But three whole days since the earthquakes struck, the likelihood of finding anyone still alive diminishes every hour.

President Erdogan visited the quake zone today and met with displaced families in a tent city.

He addressed the growing criticism about Turkey's delayed disaster response.

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, Turkish President (through translator): As of now, a total of 21,200 personnel of the military, Gendarmerie and police are on duty in Hatay.

Despite this, some dishonest people are campaigning in Hatay and are making false statements.

Certainly, there have been shortfalls as the conditions have been clear.

It is impossible to be prepared to face a disaster like this.

JANE FERGUSON: With elections due in May, this is a testy time for Erdogan.

Restricting social media preemptively during a crisis is a common practice adopted by his administration.

In the hard-hit southern city of Antakya, much needed aid is slowly trickling in.

CEYLAN AKARCA, Turkish Earthquake Survivor (through translator): We have no water, no food.

We have nothing.

I want help and nothing else.

I don't care about shelter, so long as my children are safe.

AHMET TOKGOZ, Turkish Earthquake Survivor (through translator): They have to evacuate people from cities.

You cannot live here, especially in this cold.

There are small children.

If people haven't died from being stuck under the rubble, they will die from the cold.

JANE FERGUSON: Across the border in Northwest Syria, more scenes of utter devastation in Idlib province.

In Haram, the battle continues to save lives; 200 people are trapped under rubble.

All that's left are signs of a childhood lost.

After more than a decade of civil war, getting aid into the opposition-held province was already hard.

Now it's nearly impossible.

None has reached thus far, leaving many to fend off a brutal winter now out in the cold.

Locals and rescuers also lack the tools they need and the manpower, as they painstakingly comb through the rubble.

Mustafa Al-Khalaf is part of that effort, helping residents whose homes were destroyed.

MUSTAFA AL-KHALAF, Syrian Rescue Worker (through translator): Evacuation teams have been working for more than 48 hours to rescue survivors from the rubble and to extract the dead bodies.

Truthfully, evacuation teams have only the most basic supplies.

JANE FERGUSON: One man told us 25 of his family members lie dead under this collapsed building.

WALEED AL-IBRAHIM, Syrian Earthquake Survivor (through translator): It obliterated this entire area.

I urge your help.

Today, we lost close to 25 martyrs, my uncle and his children, wives, other children and women.

We extracted seven, but there were about 17 or 18 martyrs under the wreckage that we weren't able to extract from the lack of ability.

JANE FERGUSON: Those who did survive are homeless, like this family now living in a temporary shelter for those who've lost everything.

MARYAM AMINU, Syrian Earthquake Survivor (through translator): We are in need of clothes for the children.

We do not have any.

We don't have any money to spend.

We don't have food.

We women are suffering in the cold and the rain.

Here, no one is helping us.

In other countries, even when there is a small earthquake, the whole world stands with them.

But here in Idlib, the children have been under the rubble for three days.

No one is helping them.

Why?

JANE FERGUSON: Desperation is now mingled with frustration, as the urgency to find more survivors grows.

But here, as in Turkey, with each passing minute, these rescuers become collectors, adding to the horrific accounting of this disaster.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jane Ferguson in Adana, Turkey.

GEOFF BENNETT: Fresh off his State of the Union address, President Biden left Washington for Wisconsin today.

AMNA NAWAZ: It's part of a new White House push to get out of D.C. to highlight the economy and investments in infrastructure and blue-collar jobs.

Our own Judy Woodruff was on the ground with him in Madison -- Judy.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Hi, Amna and Geoff.

So, early this afternoon, the president toured a union job training site here in DeForest, Wisconsin, just north of Madison, where he underlined his support for trade workers and for training programs.

This is all part of the White House push, his push to grow the middle class by creating jobs for people that don't require a four-year college degree.

Shortly after that, I sat down with him right here for a long-delayed and wide-ranging conversation.

We touched on the state of the economy.

We talked about my new project, the country's deep divisions.

We're calling it America at a Crossroads.

And we also talked about the coming political season.

Judy Woodruff: Mr. President, thank you very much for talking with us.

President Biden Happy to be here.

Judy Woodruff: We are in Wisconsin.

But let me ask you first about last night, the State of the Union.

You are getting a lot of attaboys today from your fellow Democrats who are saying you showed energy, optimism.

You stood up to the Republicans.

They were yelling at you.

Some of them were calling you a liar.

Did you expect that kind of reaction?

President Biden: From the folks who did it, I was.

The vast majority of Republicans weren't that way.

But, you know, there's still a significant element of what I call the MAGA Republicans, you know, the 'Make America Great Again' Republicans.

And it's you know, I didn't.

I kind of anticipated but there are an awful lot of -- The speaker was gracious and so was you know, there were a lot of members.

Judy Woodruff: You almost seemed to be enjoying the back and forth.

Were you enjoying it?

President Biden: Well, you know, as you know, Judy, I spent most of my career with the Congress and members of the Congress.

I know, I know the place well.

I know the system well.

And I always feel comfortable when I'm up on the Hill, for real.

Did most of my life.

Wasn't too bad at it either.

Judy Woodruff: Here we are.

As we said in Wisconsin, you've just given a talk to a group of union members.

This place where we're sitting is all about training folks in construction work, union work.

When you think about that, what is it, $1,000,000,000,000 worth of money that's going to come from the Inflation Reduction Act, the infrastructure legislation, the CHIPS manufacturing bill, $1,000,000,000,000.

How do you see that making a difference?

President Biden: There's a lot more than that.

It's going to make a gigantic difference.

Look, we've already created 800,000 manufacturing jobs.

Just in two years.

That's more jobs than anyone's created anyway.

And and we paid for it all.

We actually reduce the debt, the deficit, by $1.7 trillion over two years.

And what it's about is about giving working folks a chance.

And I don't mean just labor.

I mean, look, you've probably heard me say before, I've never been a big fan of trickle down economics.

Family I was raised in, a lot didn't trickle down to our table.

But, you know, the middle class, when it does well, everybody does well.

So my goal was when I got elected was to campaign on this bill from the bottom up in the middle out.

When that happens, the poor have a chance up and the middle class does well and the wealthy always do well.

So.

Judy Woodruff: And these jobs, these kinds of jobs, what effect do you think this will have on on working class Americans who frankly, more and more of them are voting Republican.

President Biden: Well it will have a profound effect.

I mean, look, all just as I was told we were going to lose big the last election, the off-year election, I said we weren't.

Just as we were told I wasn't going to be able to pass Inflation Reduction Act or the CHIP.

We passed them all.

And and what's happening now is people don't understandably, don't realize all of our past back in June, July, August to September, and is only coming to fruition now.

For example, Judy, we pay the highest drug prices of any nation in the world, yet people didn't know until January, even though we talked about it since last summer, that prescription drugs costs were going to go down and, for example, insulin.

Insulin for seniors instead of being four or five hundred bucks a month is now $35 a month.

And people are going, 'whoa'.

And there's so much more to come.

And look, I think we start off with the proposition - - I do anyway -- that the vast majority of Americans don't think the tax system is fair.

I mean, the vast majority, including, you know, wealthy, well-off suburbanites.

And the idea you got a thousand trillionaires and they pay less for the percentage of their income than a schoolteacher does.

I mean, so there's a lot going on.

We got a lot passed and its now just they're going to start to roll out.

Judy Woodruff: And I want to ask you about that because the picture you painted last night: unemployment, record low -- the growth, the economy, what is it?

Inflation is coming down, incomes are rising.

And yet when you when you mention the polls, when you look at the polls, CBS poll, 64% of Americans think the economy is in bad shape.

There's an NBC poll, 71% think the country's on the wrong track.

Why the disconnect?

President Biden: Because the polls don't matter anymore.

You got to make, what, 40, 50 calls and on a cell phone to get someone to answer a poll?

Even the pollsters, you talk to them.

Ask them what they think about this.

Look.

Judy Woodruff: So you don't think it's your policy?

President Biden: Oh, I know the policy.

By the way, if you ask the same things.

Do they support the rebuilding infrastructure America?

Overwhelmingly support.

Ask anybody.

Do they support the CHIPS and Science Act where we've attracted $300 billion in investments?

We invented these chips.

They're coming back to America.

We're going to be the leaders again.

When you ask them about whether or not they think they're paying too much, too much for drug prices.

Overwhelmingly, yes.

So it's all just like, look, people went through hell the last several years, the last five years in the pandemic.

We lost a million people, dead.

And so every time you turn on the news, are you reporting any positive news, I'm not I'm not meaning you personally, editorially.

So you turn on the television and everything's down.

And so people understandably are down.

Judy Woodruff: So when people at the Gallup Poll saying most Americans think next year the economy is going to be bad, do you think there's going to be a recession?

President Biden: No.

Judy Woodruff: This year?

President Biden: No.

Or next year.

From the moment I got elected, how many of the experts are saying within the next six months is going to be recession?

Judy Woodruff: So I'm launching a reporting project for the NewsHour looking at why the country is so divided politically, culturally.

What do you think?

Why do you think it is?

President Biden: Well, I think it's a number of reasons.

Number one, I think that we.

There was a deliberate effort by the last guy to play on people's fears and to appeal to base instincts.

I mean, and it's just it's not who we are, but people are -- you know, I also noticed a fair amount of Republicans standing up last night and clapping.

You know, for example, when I pointed out that some Republicans are talking about eliminating Medicare.

They said, 'no, no, no.'

I said oh, okay.

That means all of you are for supporting Medicare?

Everybody raise your hand.

They all raised their hand.

So guess what?

We accomplished something.

Unless they break their word.

There are going to be no cuts in Medicare, Social Security.

My point is, I think it's the way we talk to each other.

And I think, you know, look, I think what happened was that the party started to take for granted ordinary blue collar workers.

And they really got hurt.

They got hurt the previous four or five years and everything went wrong in their lives.

Look at all the factories that have closed and left you know, the United States.

Look at all the things that have happened.

But they're coming back now.

And I've just gotta to make sure everybody knows what we've done.

Watch how it unfolds and see what happens.

Judy Woodruff: You came to Washington, to the Senate, 50 years ago.

This was just before Watergate where there had been assassinations, Vietnam War, civil rights struggles.

Do you think now is worse than then?

How do you compare?

President Biden: I don't think it was better or worse.

I think what happened was then we had a different set of problems, but we didn't have many people playing on the fears of the American people.

There was just genuine debate about and discord about the war in Vietnam.

The civil rights movement, which got me involved in politics in the first place, was just reaching a culmination point where we really began to pass the Civil Rights Act and a number of things.

So I think it's a process.

And I think that most Americans are of the view that we've got this.

It's gotten too mean.

It's gotten too, too personal and too divisive.

And I think one of the things -- the message they sent this last election was 'come on, work together, get something done for us.'

Judy Woodruff: And speaking of that, this last session of Congress, as you said last night, a lot was accomplished, including bipartisan, in a bipartisan way.

This session coming up right now is different.

You got a Republican majority in the House, a number of supporters of former President Trump.

Realistically, Mr. President, what do you think you can get done?

I mean, assuming the the debt limit issue gets resolved.

President Biden: I think.

Judy Woodruff: What do you think you can get done?

President Biden: I think the American public, I think when we vote on whether or not to extend the Medicare benefit, I mean, health care benefits to ordinary Americans, not just on Medicare and Medicaid.

I think we will see that.

We say that insulin should be available for 35 bucks for every American out there.

I think you're going to see a lot of things done because people are becoming aware of what we can do, and we're starting to see those things happening.

And one of the reasons I'm here at this facility, you know, the laborers now, most people think that, you know, we're going to be a laborer.

Well, you just sign up, you show up.

They have four years apprenticeships to become a laborer.

It's like going to college again, not again.

So going to college.

We're the best trained workers in the world.

And for example, when I asked the.

Judy Woodruff: But, you think you can get those things through, that you just President Biden: I know I can.

Judy Woodruff: With with Republicans .

President Biden: Yeah.

By the way, we got them through the things I'm talking about.

We've already gotten through.

And I think it's a matter of just demonstrating what we've done.

Judy Woodruff: One of the things Republicans say is a priority for them is investigating your family, your son, Hunter, your brother Jim.

They talk about access that they say others have gotten because of you, because of your political success.

How do you plan to deal with that?

President Biden: Public's not going to pay attention that.

They want these guys to do something.

If the only thing they can do is make up things about my family.

It's not going to go very far.

Judy Woodruff: I want to ask you about foreign policy, and a few things to ask you about this.

President Biden: Sure.

Judy Woodruff: A Chinese surveillance balloon that went across the country.

You ordered the military, the fighter jets to shoot it down off the coast of South Carolina.

But Republicans are saying you look weak.

Mike Gallagher, the congressman, said.

President Biden: He's an impressive guy, isn't he?

Judy Woodruff: 'Inexplicable' that you didn't shoot it down earlier.

Marco Rubio said it was 'dereliction of duty' not to immediately tell the public about this.

President Biden: Look.

I told, it's now public.

I told the military I wanted to shoot it down when it was safe to do it.

They said it was unsafe to do it over land.

They said they can learn a lot in the meantime by watching it go across the country.

As soon as they had a chance to shoot it down over water, they did and they recovered major pieces of it to determine if we can learn anything from what they garnered and what kind of equipment they had.

You know, there were several of these balloons that during the last administration they didn't even know they were there.

They didn't even do anything about them.

So, look, I just think that the idea that it was a dereliction of duty, I think, is a bizarre notion.

China knows exactly that, what the deal is with us.

Judy Woodruff: So China today is saying they feel smeared, that you smeared them and their leader in your remarks last night.

Have relations now between the U.S. and China taken a big hit lately?

President Biden: No.

Judy Woodruff: How do you know?

President Biden: I know.

I talked to him.

Judy Woodruff: You've talked to.

President Biden: Xi JinPing before.

I in our team talks to their people.

Judy Woodruff: During this?

President Biden: After, I haven't talked to him during this.

But, look, I mean, the idea of shooting down a balloon that's gathering information over America and, that makes relations worse?

Look, I made it real clear to Xi Jinping that we're going to compete fully with China, but we're not looking for conflict.

And and that's been the case so far.

China wants very, has... Let me put it another way as I said, you can think of any other, and you're very informed in foreign policy, can you think of any other world leader who would trade places with Xi Jinping?

Not a joke.

You think of any who would?

I can't think of one.

This man has enormous problems.

Enormous.

He has also great potential.

But so far, he has an economy that's not functioning very well.

He's in a situation where he is -- for example, you know, everybody assumed that China would be all in with Russia and Ukraine.

But they're not all in it.

As a matter of fact I called him this summer to say this is not a threat, just an observation: look what's happened to Russia.

600 American corporations have pulled out of Russia.

From McDonald's to Exxon.

And I said, You've told me all along that the reason why you need a relationship with the United States in Europe is so they invest in China.

So who's going to invest in China if you engage in the same kind of deal?

You notice there's not been much going on there.

Judy Woodruff: Ukraine, you mentioned that you, we heard what you said last night, but we now also hear from Jim Jordan, who is a Republican congressman, that maybe some of the money being spent in Ukraine should go for American citizens.

We heard Kevin McCarthy say, begin to raise questions about it.

It's now been $100 billion, somewhere in that area the U.S. has spent on Ukraine.

You said to the ambassador last night we were with you until, you said, 'as long as it takes.'

Does that mean this is an open ended commitment?

President Biden: It's a firm commitment.

Look, when is the last...

If these guys, Jordan or whoever you mentioned.

The idea that the Russian military, with over a hundred thousand forces would invade and try to maraud Ukraine, and us stand by and do nothing.

Come on?

And what I've done, and I think I'm very proud of it, I've been able to unite NATO completely.

He was convinced NATO would collapse.

NATO would not be engaged.

I've been able to get our our Asian allies to join with the Europeans in terms of taking on Russia, whether or not.

So I mean, we are, we have a better relationship and tighter control over our destiny now than we've ever had.

And, you know, we have Germany increasing our budget by over 2%.

You have Japan doing the same thing.

I mean, I just don't -- I mean, if these guys don't want to help Ukraine, I get it.

They don't want to do that.

But what are they going to do when Ukraine rolls, when Russia rolls across Ukraine or into Belarus or anywhere else?

Judy Woodruff: So is it open ended for now?

President Biden: Yeah, it is.

Look, there's no way that Putin is going to be able to cope.

He's already lost Ukraine.

The idea that he's ever going to be able -- Well, here's what he thought.

He thought that if he invaded Ukraine, first of all, he'd get a welcome by every Russian speaker, they'd say, 'come on in.'

And secondly, he thought what would happen is that NATO would collapse.

NATO would not do anything.

They'd be afraid to act.

Then he thought anyway, go down the line.

None of that's happening.

Judy Woodruff: Two other quick questions, Mr. President.

Classified documents.

It's clear there's a difference between the way you've handled this and former President Trump.

You've cooperated with the archives, with the FBI.

But I want to ask you about quickly about what you said last September.

You said just possessing classified documents is you said 'totally irresponsible.'

So what was totally irresponsible about the fact that you had some.

President Biden: What they've informed me not to speak to this issue to anyway, try to prejudice the investigation that's going on.

But what I was talking about was what was laid out.

All these documents were a top secret, code word and all the rest.

And I'm not at liberty and I'm not even sure, I made voluntarily -- no one's had to threaten to do anything -- voluntarily opened every single aperture I have in the house, offices, everything.

For them to come and look and spend hours searching my home.

Invited them.

Nobody.

And so, in the best of my knowledge, the kinds of things they picked up were things that from 1974 and stray papers.

There may be something else, I don't know.

But one of the things that happened is that what was not done well is as they packed up my offices to move them, they didn't do the kind of job that should have been done to go thoroughly through every single piece of literature that's there.

But, I'll just let the investigation, you know, decide what's going on and we'll see what happens.

Judy Woodruff: Last question, Mr. President.

Every indication you're running for reelection.

You haven't announced yet.

Democrats, though, as you, I'm sure you know, are saying we wonder about his age.

You'd be 82 to date of the next election, 86 if you're successful and elected and finish that term.

Does it give you any concern?

President Biden: Watch me.

It's all I can say.

I mean, you know, it goes from one extreme to the other.

Last night I was -- I heard that people are saying, Well, just watch Biden, my God, age is not an issue anymore.

Look, I'm a great respector of fate.

I would be completely, thoroughly honest with the American people if I thought there was any health problem, anything that would keep me from being able to do the job.

And and, so we'll see.

But, you know, I just -- I think people have to just watch me.

Judy Woodruff: It sounds like you're running.

President Biden: I haven't made that decision.

That's my intention, I think.

But I haven't made that decision firmly yet.

Judy Woodruff: Mr. President, thank you very much.

President Biden: Thank you, Judy.

Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: In the day's other headlines: Ukraine's President Zelenskyy rallied support in London and Paris on just his second trip abroad since the war began.

Britain announced for the first time it would train Ukrainian pilots on Western jets as Ukraine braces for a new Russian offensive.

NICK SCHIFRIN: For 900 years, princes and politicians have walked these steps in Westminster Hall.

Today, to rapturous applause... (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) NICK SCHIFRIN: ... the leader fighting Europe's largest war in 75 years predicted freedom would win.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President: We proved together that the world truly helps those who are brave in defending freedom, and thus paves the way for a new history.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked for a specific weapon by handing the House of Commons speaker the helmet of a Ukrainian pilot.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: We have freedom.

Give us wings to protect it.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Today, Britain pledged to train Ukrainian pilots on British jets, including Typhoons.

And British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said providing Ukraine the jets was not off the table.

RISHI SUNAK, British Prime Minister: The first step in being able to provide advanced aircraft is to have soldiers or aviators that are capable of using them.

That is a process that takes some time.

We have started that process today.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY (through translator): I heard from Mr. Prime Minister the desire to provide fighter jets.

When it comes to supplying Typhoons to Ukraine, not everything depends on the decision of Great Britain alone.

NICK SCHIFRIN: So far, the U.S. has refused Ukrainian requests for F-16 fighter jets.

Senior U.S. officials believe they are expensive, difficult to maintain, and would duplicate some of Ukraine's existing capabilities.

But, today, Secretary of State Blinken did not rule it out.

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. Secretary of State: This is an evolving process, and we will continue to make judgments about what we think Ukraine needs and what can be most effective.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Zelenskyy today also visited Paris to meet French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Zelenskyy pointed out that, when he last visited Europe, he got tea.

RISHI SUNAK: And we will be there to support you until the end and until you are victorious.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Today, he got tanks.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: Thank you so much.

RISHI SUNAK: Thank you.

NICK SCHIFRIN: A declaration of unity.

KING CHARLES III, United Kingdom: Worried about you and thinking about your country.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And the first ever meeting between a Ukrainian leader and a British monarch.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Nick Schifrin.

AMNA NAWAZ: The French and German leaders said later that Zelenskyy will attend a European Union summit tomorrow in Brussels.

Investigators report they have strong indications that Russian President Putin approved sending missiles to Ukrainian rebels who then shot down a Malaysian airliner in 2014.

But the international team said today the evidence is not conclusive enough to prosecute Putin or anyone else.

The attack on the airliner killed all 298 people on board.

A Dutch court already convicted two Russians and a Ukrainian of shooting down the plane.

The U.S. military now says the Chinese balloon shot down off South Carolina was part of a global surveillance effort.

The U.S. says it was a spy balloon.

China denies it.

But a Pentagon briefer today pointed to Chinese balloon flights over five continents in recent years.

He said they're aimed at gathering military data, and he confirmed previous flights involving the U.S. BRIG.

GEN. PATRICK RYDER, Pentagon Press Secretary: We are aware that there have been four previous balloons that have gone over U.S. territory.

What we do know is that, in some cases, whereas some of these balloons previously had not been identified, subsequent analysis, subsequent intelligence analysis did enable us to indicate that these were Chinese balloons.

AMNA NAWAZ: The State Department says U.S. diplomats have briefed dozens of countries on those Chinese surveillance activities.

A Texas man has pleaded guilty to federal hate crimes in one of the country's deadliest mass shootings ever.

Patrick Crusius was accused of killing 23 people at an El Paso Walmart in 2019.

He posted online about -- quote -- "a Hispanic invasion."

Federal prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty, but Crusius still faces a possible death sentence on state charges.

Three former Twitter executives acknowledged today they were wrong to block a news story on the contents of Hunter Biden's laptop before the 2020 election.

They told a congressional hearing they made a mistake, but they denied being pressured by Democrats.

The hearing was dominated by claims and counterclaims between Democrat outside Republicans now in the House majority.

REP. JAMES COMER (R-KY): Instead of allowing people to judge the information for themselves, you rushed to find a reason why the American people shouldn't see it.

In a matter of hours, you are deciding on the truth of a story that spans years and dozens of complex international transactions.

You did this because you were terrified of Joe Biden not winning the election in 2020.

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): A whole hearing about a 24-hour hiccup in a right-wing political operation, that is why we are here right now.

And it is -- it's just an abuse of public resources, an abuse of public time.

We could be talking about health care.

We could be talking about bringing down the cost of prescription drugs.

We could be talking about abortion rights, civil rights, voting rights.

But, instead, we're talking about Hunter Biden's half-baked laptop story.

AMNA NAWAZ: Republicans say this was just the first of more hearings to come on the president's family and on big tech.

In economic news, the Walt Disney Company announced a major restructuring that will cut 7,000 jobs, 3.5 percent of the work force.

And, on Wall Street, uncertainty about interest rates and inflation kept stocks off-balance.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 207 points to close at 33949.

The Nasdaq fell 203 points, 1.7 percent.

The S&P 500 slipped just over 1 percent.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": multiple security breaches at the Dallas Zoo raise questions about animal safety; and one exceptional man's take on being inspired by the natural world.

GEOFF BENNETT: He is known as King James in the world of basketball, and, last night, LeBron James only added to that title and his legend, when he passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the all-time scoring king in NBA history.

He blew past a record that stood for nearly 40 years.

ANNOUNCER: Looking for James.

He's got it.

Coming to the end of the third quarter.

LeBron James, a shot at history.

And there it is!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) ANNOUNCER: LeBron stands alone!

The NBA's all-time scoring record now belongs to LeBron James!

GEOFF BENNETT: After the game, LeBron was asked by Shaquille O'Neal on TNT whether he now considers himself to be the greatest basketball player of all time.

LEBRON JAMES, Los Angeles Lakers: I'm going to take myself against anybody that has ever played his game.

But everyone's going to have their favorite.

Everyone's going to decide who their favorite is.

But I know what I have brought to the table.

I know what I bring to the table every single night and what I can -- what I can do out on this floor.

So, I always feel like I'm the best to ever play this game, but there's so many other great ones that I'm happy to just be a part of their -- part of their journey.

GEOFF BENNETT: Let's bring in Greg Anthony, a commentator and analyst for NBA TV.

And he's a former guard who played in the league for 11 years for the Knicks, Grizzlies, Blazers, and Bulls.

Greg Anthony, we appreciate you being with us.

And, look, LeBron James says, as far as he's concerned, he's the best to ever play the game.

You can't really argue with that, or can you?

GREG ANTHONY, NBA TV Analyst: Well, it's very difficult to argue with it.

While he's immensely popular, he won't necessarily be the most popular and at times can be polarizing.

But I do think his accomplishments kind of set him apart.

To be considered the all -- to be the all-time leading scorer, he's won four world championships.

He's won four MVPs, still playing at an extremely high level, probably be All NBA again in his 20th season.

It's really hard to go against that.

I think a better way to have perspective on this also is, if you think about over the last, I don't know, 100 years of pro sports, we have had two athletes that probably had more hype than anybody else prior to them.

And what's amazing is, both have exceeded the expectations.

And that's Tiger Woods and LeBron James.

You have to remember, this is a young man that came right out of high school, and he was dubbed the chosen one.

And so often, as I'm sure you're well aware of, when young athletes have that much hype and that large of an expectation placed upon them, the pressure oftentimes consumes them and overwhelms them.

And that has not been the case with LeBron.

Also, he has been an incredible ambassador for our game.

He's grown the game immensely.

He's always been -- had the courage to go out and put forth his beliefs, his philosophy, and speak out and speak up for those who maybe were less fortunate.

So, with that comes a lot of arrows as well.

But, for me, I would say he is the greatest ever.

And, listen, it doesn't take away from a Michael Jordan or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Bill Russell.

All of these greats were that and they were the greatest that their time.

But as the game has evolved, if you look at the level of talent in our league now, it has never been as high.

And, therefore, to be the best unquestionably in this era, it's kind of hard to argue against it.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, to your point about him not succumbing to the pressure, I mean, he had the nickname King James back when he was playing ball in high school.

How did this kid from Akron turn out to be one of, if not the best basketball player of all time?

GREG ANTHONY: It's an incredible journey, if you think about it, raised by a single mom who had him at a very young age, and was never, I think, overwhelmed by the temptations of success as a young person.

If you think about his work ethic, his discipline, the way he's conducted himself in an era and an age where it's really difficult to, in essence, go unscathed, if you will, especially when you put yourself out there, as LeBron has, I don't know that we could have had -- ever had a better ambassador for the game of basketball.

He is truly grown it, grown the game.

And I marvel at what this young man has been able to overcome, bringing a championship to Cleveland, arguably being the greatest team ever assembled.

That team won 73 games.

They broke the all-time win record set by Michael Jordan and the great Bulls teams he had in the '90s.

And they were down 3-1 in that series.

And for him to be able to come back and win that, that's probably the seminal moment in his career, but he won three other championships.

He made -- played in eight consecutive finals.

And to have those kinds of accomplishments, it's just rare in this day and age.

He's won a championship and a finals MVP on three different teams.

No one's ever done anything like that.

GEOFF BENNETT: Right.

And, look, LeBron James is 38 years old.

He's in season 20 of his NBA playing career.

By conventional basketball playing standards, he's an old man, but he says he's going to keep playing.

He's averaging 30 points a game right now.

How high could his scoring record go?

GREG ANTHONY: That's a great question.

Well, I know for a fact he has said he wants to play in the NBA with his son, Bronny.

And so I'm going to assume that Bronny is probably a couple years away from making it to the NBA.

So, realistically, I think he's going to play another three, four years.

You factor at the level he's playing -- again, in his 20th season, he's going to make All NBA, which is just an incredible feat.

I do think he's got a good three or four years at a really high level.

So that scoring record could be really put out of the stratosphere, if you will.

GEOFF BENNETT: Greg Anthony is a commentator and analyst for NBA TV.

Appreciate your time and your insights.

GREG ANTHONY: My pleasure.

AMNA NAWAZ: The mystery of two missing monkeys and the death and disappearance of other animals from the Dallas Zoo has captured the country's attention over the last couple of weeks.

And, today, at the Houston Zoo, zookeepers are on high alert after a cut was discovered in the mesh fence around the pelican habitat.

As Stephanie Sy reports, authorities are still trying to pin down exactly what happened.

STEPHANIE SY: The series of unfortunate events at the Dallas Zoo began on January 13, when a clouded leopard named Nova escaped.

Police were called after zoo staff notice a suspicious opening in the big cat's enclosure.

SGT.

WARREN MITCHELL, Dallas Police Department: It was their belief and it is our belief that this was an intentional act.

And so we have started a criminal investigation.

STEPHANIE SY: The 25 pound leopard was found hours later on zoo grounds, but, that same day, a second breach was discovered in a fence used to enclose the zoo's langur monkeys.

None of them got out.

Then, on January 21, a lappet-faced vulture named Pin was found dead and wounded.

In a statement, the Dallas Zoo said: "The circumstances of the death are unusual, and the death does not appear to be from natural causes."

Concerns about criminal mischief have zoos on high alert.

ED HANSEN, CEO, American Association of Zoo Keepers: The zoos across the country have really taken a long, hard look at this.

STEPHANIE SY: Ed Hansen is the CEO of the American Association of Zookeepers, which is dedicated to advancing animal care and promoting zookeeper education.

ED HANSEN: Zoos all over the country are retraining their employees, taking extra security precautions, installing more cameras, basically whatever it takes.

STEPHANIE SY: The Dallas Zoo installed additional cameras and increased on-site security patrols in mid-January, but it wasn't enough.

Late last month, more than a week after the vulture died, two emperor tamarin monkeys, Bella and Finn, went missing, their enclosure also apparently sabotaged.

A search for the monkeys ensued, with police circulating an image of a suspect throughout North Texas.

The man was later identified as 24-year-old Davion Irvin.

KRISTIN LOWMAN, Dallas Police Department: Preliminary investigation and help from the public identified him as the man that we were looking to speak to regarding this case.

On Thursday, we received a tip that Irvin was seen at the Dallas World Aquarium near some animal exhibits.

STEPHANIE SY: Irvin has been charged with six counts of animal cruelty, in connection to the monkey heist at the Dallas Zoo and two counts of burglary.

According to court documents, Irvin told authorities he loves animals, and that, if released, he would steal more.

Bella and Finn were found in a closet in an abandoned home in Lancaster, a suburb of Dallas roughly 15 miles from the zoo.

Beyond losing weight, they showed no sign of injury.

Meanwhile, in Louisiana the search for 12 squirrel monkeys continues after they were stolen from Zoosiana on January 28.

The private zoo is located just outside Lafayette.

Zookeeper Ed Hansen says accredited institutions like the Dallas Zoo and Zoosiana are required to meet safety standards, but that, broadly speaking, security measures at zoos are primarily to protect people, rather than animals.

ED HANSEN: They're not meant to combat a break-in and someone who wants to do malicious harm to either the animal itself or the enclosure itself.

You know, in the future now, with this happening, maybe there will be some revisions to protocols.

STEPHANIE SY: No motive has been released in the Dallas Zoo case.

And the mysterious death of the 35-year-old vulture, an endangered species, remains under investigation.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Stephanie Sy.

GEOFF BENNETT: Drew Lanham refers to himself as a rare bird.

He's an ornithologist, naturalist and writer.

He views conservation efforts as a blending of rigorous science and having a vision of the broader world.

Lanham is among the new class of MacArthur fellows, often called the Genius Award.

Jeffrey Brown traveled to South Carolina recently to meet him for our arts and culture series, Canvas.

JEFFREY BROWN: A winter morning walk in South Carolina's Congaree National Park outside the capital city of Columbia, the largest tract of old growth bottomland hardwood forest in this region of the country.

This is woodpecker destruction, or what?

What are we looking at?

DREW LANHAM, Ornithologist: This is woodpecker buffet.

(LAUGHTER) DREW LANHAM: They're going for breakfast.

JEFFREY BROWN: It's not the busiest time of year for spotting birds, but if you know what to look and listen for... DREW LANHAM: That's a ruby-crowned.

JEFFREY BROWN: Responding.

... and Drew Lanham does -- there's plenty going on.

DREW LANHAM: We're going to -- oh.

JEFFREY BROWN: Even if sometimes he can be fooled himself, a moment of birding comedy, a call from his dentist.

DREW LANHAM: Well, no, I wish that was a real bird.

That's, unfortunately, my phone.

(LAUGHTER) JEFFREY BROWN: Jeffrey Lanham often wanders this boardwalk for hours, open to surprises.

DREW LANHAM: Chickadee.

Black-and-white warbler That's a special bird.

Oh, look at you.

How beautiful are you?

The thing is that, every time I come here, the light is different, the trees are different.

The last... JEFFREY BROWN: The water is different.

DREW LANHAM: The water is different.

But having the time to sort of wander slowly allows you to see things that you didn't see the last time.

JEFFREY BROWN: Lanham traces his love of the natural world to his childhood on a farm in rural South Carolina and his understanding of human nature to his grandmother's stories of growing up in the Jim Crowe South.

He wrote of all of this in a 2016 memoir, "The Home Place."

Birds were and are his continuing passion.

He travels around the U.S. and to other parts of the globe to study firsthand how they behave.

His greatest wish, then and now, to be a bird.

DREW LANHAM: To see that bird soaring, to see a vulture soaring or to hear a bird singing, to see a bird flying from point A to point B so effortlessly, I wanted that.

JEFFREY BROWN: Well, first, you wanted to be a bird.

Then you wanted to study birds.

But there was no pathway to do it at first?

DREW LANHAM: No, it wasn't a thing, right?

Ask 10 people, and nine of them are going to say, what?

Oh, an orthodontist?

You want to -- no, ornithologist And, quite frankly, once people learned what an ornithologist was, then they said, well, that's not what Black kids do.

An ultimate question is, why birds?

JEFFREY BROWN: It would take years after first being pushed to study engineering, at which he excelled, but didn't love, for Lanham to fulfill his calling.

But he did, eventually earning three degrees, including a Ph.D in forest resources from Clemson University, where he's now taught wildlife science for 28 years.

He's learned the sights and sounds of the trees and animals around him, which this day included a number of hermit thrushes.

But he also learned and teaches that, sometimes, you have to put the binoculars down to really see.

DREW LANHAM: Sometimes, as bird-watchers, we become so focused on that bird, on that one bird, and that we want to see it ultra close.

And that's fine.

JEFFREY BROWN: That's the mission in some sense, huh?

DREW LANHAM: Yes, that's the mission in some sense.

But then, when you put the binoculars down and sort of zoom out and you see that bird in the context of place and then begin to understand habitat and begin to -- so, this morning, looking at that tiny kinglet, then we can zoom back a little bit and we see that its in holly and its foraging in the holly.

But then we zoom back and we see this wonderful wetland -- wooded wetland landscape, right?

We see this swamp.

And then, when you see the swamp, you begin to think about all these other things.

And the kinglet is still there.

The kinglet hasn't gone anywhere.

JEFFREY BROWN: And these other things include human history.

DREW LANHAM: And these other things include human history.

JEFFREY BROWN: Indigenous people moving through the forest, enslaved people seeking safety and our own-present day lives all impacted by and impacting this landscape.

DREW LANHAM: Were I the sparrow, brown-backed, skittish and small.

JEFFREY BROWN: Lanham uses the tools of science to work for and preach conservation.

But he also uses poetry, including the title poem from his 2021 book, "Sparrow Envy," identifying with a small brown bird often overlooked.

DREW LANHAM: I would find great joy in the mist-sodden morning, sing humble pleas from the highest weeds and plead for the gray days to stay.

JEFFREY BROWN: It's a humble moment in the life of a fairly humble bird.

DREW LANHAM: The understated beauty of brownness, right?

You know, these are birds that are often passed by.

I envy those birds, in part, because they continue to sing, they continue to be who they are.

For a Black person, for a Black man who is often overlooked and dismissed in this society, to find common ground, I think, for me, is part of life's mission.

JEFFREY BROWN: In his own life, Lanham, a bassoonist who takes a wooden flute into the woods, has lived with the complexities of color in a world where birding while Black is a thing.

He says, for example, he had to drop an early dissertation project because the area he was conducting research in was home to a supremacist group who let him know he was not welcome.

One piece in his book is titled "Nine Rules for the Black Birder."

DREW LANHAM: So, if someone calls and says, Drew, there are evening grosbeaks that have appeared suddenly this winter in a particular neighborhood, you really should go see those birds, well, depending on the neighborhood, I'm not going to go alone.

And so that's real, Jeff.

That's something I have to think about.

And so, while I'm watching the birds, I'm also watching to see who's watching me.

Red shoulders are kind of suburban hawks.

JEFFREY BROWN: Lanham laments that too many young students of color still never learn they have the opportunity to do the kind of work he does.

Educators and the scientific community, he thinks, need to do better.

And he makes a wider call to all of us to leave places like this better than we found them.

DREW LANHAM: That's all conservation is.

And leaving it better than you found it means you have to have some degree of care and love for people you don't even know.

Wow, what a concept, right?

That means you're going to have to think outside of yourself.

You're going to have to take your binoculars down, and you're going to have see a broader vision and a broader world.

JEFFREY BROWN: A vision both very small and very large, indeed.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jeffrey Brown in South Carolina's Congaree National Park.

GEOFF BENNETT: 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.