GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: The U.S. makes a deal to boost its military presence in the Philippines in an effort to counteract China's increasing aggression.

GEOFF BENNETT: Ukraine's top prosecutor builds a war crimes case against Russia, as the devastating invasion grinds on.

ANDRIY KOSTIN, Prosecutor General of Ukraine: Our aim is to find everyone who is responsible for committing such atrocious war crimes on Ukrainian land.

AMNA NAWAZ: And Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg discusses efforts to reverse a dramatic rise in pedestrian deaths.

(BREAK) GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.

It's good to be with you.

The South is finally expecting relief tonight, after an ice storm that's disrupted travel and claimed at least 10 lives this week.

Forecasters say warmer weather is moving in.

AMNA NAWAZ: But, for thousands in Texas, it can't come fast enough.

Several hundred thousand customers have been waiting for the power to come back.

And many more have been laboring to break up the ice.

Meanwhile, an arctic cold front is heading for New England.

New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu warned today of killer windchills.

GOV.

CHRIS SUNUNU (R-NH): These temperatures can truly become life-threatening in a very short amount of time.

At night-30 degrees, hypothermia can set in, in just 10 minutes.

And we know it's going to be even colder than that across the entire state.

AMNA NAWAZ: In fact, the National Weather Service says those windchills could dip below minus-50 degrees tomorrow, and wind speeds could top 100 miles an hour.

House Republicans voted to oust Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar today from the Foreign Affairs Committee.

It was a party-line vote.

Democrats said it was retaliation after they booted two Republicans from committees in 2021 for incendiary statements.

The Somali-born Omar said she was singled out for her race and religion.

REP. ILHAN OMAR (D-MN): I am Muslim.

I am an immigrant and, interestingly, from Africa.

Is anyone surprised that I am being targeted?

Is anyone surprised that I am somehow deemed unworthy to speak about American foreign policy?

AMNA NAWAZ: Republicans cited Omar's past criticism of Israel that drew complaints of antisemitism.

She later apologized.

But House Speaker Kevin McCarthy also pointed to accusations that she played down the September 11 attacks in remarks from 2019.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): She said on 9/11, on 9/11, as a member of Congress, as an individual sitting on Foreign Affairs, something happened that day.

What does that say to other people around the world?

What does that say to what does that say to somebody else who wants to create another 9/11 in America?

I'm sorry.

It's not right.

We were right in our action, and she can serve on other committees.

AMNA NAWAZ: McCarthy had already blocked California Democrats Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell from rejoining the House Intelligence Committee.

The Pentagon says tonight it's tracking a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon over the continental U.S.

It was spotted Wednesday in the stratosphere over Billings, Montana.

Defense leaders say they opted not to shoot it down because debris might hit someone on the ground.

They say this type of thing has happened before, but this balloon is lingering longer.

In the Middle East, calm returned to Israel and Gaza today after an exchange of fire overnight.

The Israeli military said it launched airstrikes against militant weapons sites in Gaza hours after intercepting a rocket fire from Gaza.

Neither side reported casualties.

Russian President Vladimir Putin renewed his promise today to win the war in Ukraine.

He spoke 80 years after the Soviet Union defeated the Nazis at Stalingrad.

Putin marked the anniversary of World War II during ceremonies in the city, now known as Volgograd.

And he blasted Germany for confronting Russia again by arming Ukraine.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, Russian President (through translator): It's incredible, but it's a fact.

We are once again being threatened with German Leopard tanks with crosses on them.

Those who draw European countries, including Germany, into a new war with Russia, those who are betting they will defeat Russia on the battlefield clearly don't understand that modern war with Russia will be quite different for them.

AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile, in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged visiting European leaders to impose more crippling sanctions on Russia.

Pope Francis urged the youth of Congo today to shun violence and corruption as he wrapped up a three-day visit to the Central African nation.

The pope arrived to cheering, chanting crowds at a stadium in the capital, Kinshasa.

Those in the audience praised his words and his visit.

MAMIE YANZUAMBE, Attendee (through translator): We are absolutely delighted.

Everything has to change because he came to bring light to our country, the Congo.

Now we will have the peace of Christ in our hearts and in the whole world.

AMNA NAWAZ: The pope's next stop is South Sudan.

Back in this country, there's word that nearly 1,000 migrant children separated from parents at the border during the Trump years still have not been reunited.

The Department of Homeland Security says more than 3,900 children were affected overall.

A Biden administration task force is working to reunify them.

It says new families are still coming forward.

And, on Wall Street, tech stocks led much of the market higher after Facebook's parent, Meta, surged more than 23 percent.

The blue-chip heavy Dow Jones industrial average lost 39 points to close at 34054.

But the Nasdaq jumped 384 points, 3 percent.

And the S&P 500 was up 1.5 percent.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": Representative Chip Roy discusses the agenda of the new Republican majority in the House; the Democratic Party wrangles over rearranging its presidential primary calendar; actors Ben Platt and Noah Galvin discuss their new mockumentary about theater camp; plus much more.

GEOFF BENNETT: The U.S. and the Philippines reached an agreement today allowing American military forces to operate in four yet-to-be-confirmed new locations across the nation.

Today's move is aimed at confronting China and its focus on Taiwan, which is only a few hundred miles from one of the new locations where U.S. forces will likely operate.

Another new location faces the South China Sea.

Last month, the U.S. and Japan announced an agreement allowing American forces to operate on a Japanese island that is even closer to Taiwan.

For analysis, Zack Cooper joins us.

He is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, which is a Washington think tank.

He also served in various national security posts during the George W. Bush administration.

It is great to have you here.

ZACK COOPER, American Enterprise Institute: Thanks, Geoff.

GEOFF BENNETT: And how will the U.S. use these military bases with the goal of confronting China's influence in the region?

ZACK COOPER: I think the objective here is to provide new assets where the United States can place its forces, so they are not so focused on just a few bases in East Asia.

Right now, the United States really uses Okinawa and Guam as its main operating locations, and being able to diversify away from just a couple of locations makes the targeting challenge much more difficult for China.

GEOFF BENNETT: What does the Philippines get out of allowing the U.S. to expand its military footprint there?

That is a politically sensitive issue, as you know, because many Filipinos see the American influence as being a vestige of colonialism.

ZACK COOPER: Absolutely.

And, look, this is really about places, not bases.

So we're not talking about going back to Clark and Subic bases, big U.S. facilities in the Philippines.

These are Philippine bases where U.S. forces are going to be operating sometimes, probably on a rotational basis.

What the Philippines gets and why they're asking the United States to come back in is more of a presence in the South China Sea, for example, where the Chinese are really pushing the Philippines quite hard, and some assistance with other things like humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, which is a big issue in the Pacific Rim.

GEOFF BENNETT: What is the nature of the relationship right now between China and the Philippines?

Because this agreement was initially signed, as I understand it, back in 2014.

But progress stalled because the former president, Duterte, decided to pivot toward Beijing and away from the U.S. ZACK COOPER: Well, this is in part a win for the United States, but it's in part, I think, a loss for China.

This was a missed opportunity for the Chinese government, I think, to really drive a wedge between the United States and the Philippines over the last six years.

But what we have seen is, Rodrigo Duterte is gone.

His successor, Marcos, has actually welcomed the United States back in, which has been a surprise for some of us.

And I think the reason is just that China has pushed too hard.

It's pushed the Philippines in the South China Sea, what they call the West Philippine Sea.

It's pushed to the Philippines and others economically.

And at the end of the day, a lot of these countries are saying, we just have to rely on the United States.

There's no other option.

GEOFF BENNETT: There is a debate right now about the merits of having Marines, Army forces, American troops on these islands, where they are effectively isolated.

It could be hard to supply them.

It could be hard to medically evacuate them if that's what's necessary.

Explain that debate for us right now.

ZACK COOPER: So, the debate is really between what we might call stand-in forces and these outside forces.

And the idea has for a long time been that the outside forces, say, aircraft carriers operating from far away or long-range aircraft, might be able to strike targets in the theater, right, maybe in the Taiwan Strait, if that were necessary.

But I think the argument the Marine Corps and the Army, to some extent, are making is that it's really important to still be there, right?

How can you reassure your friends if you're not there with them in the fight?

And so to have some layer of forces that is sort of stand-in force is incredibly important.

And what they can do is, they can sense the region around them.

And we can put new capabilities, things like anti-ship cruise missiles, on those facilities if the Philippines and others let us, that can hold Chinese targets at risk if we do enter into a conflict.

GEOFF BENNETT: So, what then are the next steps?

ZACK COOPER: Well, this is a big question.

The agreement in 2014, the next step was to actually execute and build out some of those facilities and have U.S. forces use them.

And that never happened.

So I think the thing many of us will be looking for is whether U.S. forces are actually deployed on rotational deployments to these facilities.

There's been a commitment of something like $82 million -- that's -- of U.S. money that's supposed to go into these facilities soon.

And so we will be looking for those signs that they're actually executing.

But, as Lloyd Austin said just yesterday, this is a very big deal.

And I think he's right.

GEOFF BENNETT: Zack Cooper, thanks so much for your insights.

Good to see you.

ZACK COOPER: Thanks, Geoff.

AMNA NAWAZ: This week, Ukraine's government launched its most aggressive anti-corruption efforts since Russia's invasion.

A well-known billionaire and six former Defense Ministry officials are among dozens of officials targeted, some accused of embezzlement.

That internal battle comes as the front line with Russia heats up.

Today in Eastern Ukraine, Russian missiles hit homes and a children's clinic, just the latest sign Russia targets civilians indiscriminately.

Nick Schifrin speaks to the man whose office is trying to ensure accountability for both corruption and war crimes.

NICK SCHIFRIN: This is all that remains of what used to be apartments, all that's left of a kitchen, the pulverized ruins left over from a Russian missile that landed overnight, the ripped-open insides of multiple living rooms, bedrooms, families' lives, their contents now a single collection.

Ukrainians are already cleaning up after Russia's latest missile strike.

The accountability is just beginning.

We spoke to Ukraine's prosecutor general, Andriy Kostin.

ANDRIY KOSTIN, Prosecutor General of Ukraine: Their massive missile attacks which are happening every week or every two weeks cause death of dozens of civilians.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Kostin visited Washington, D.C., this week to rally support in his pursuit of justice.

He says multiple Russian recent missile strikes, last month in Dnipro, that ripped in apartment building in two, last summer in Kremenchuk took that gutted a mall were conducted with the same type of Russian missile by the same Russian unit that he wants to prosecute.

ANDRIY KOSTIN: We definitely know that this type of missiles is only within the one squad of Russian air forces.

So, of course, this work is very difficult and it takes a lot of time.

But our aim is to find everyone who is responsible for committing such atrocious war crimes on Ukrainian land.

And we will go ahead with this.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The International Criminal Court would not be able to pursue Russia's most senior leadership for the crime of aggression.

So, Ukraine wants to create a special tribunal, an idea supported by the European Union and United Kingdom, but not the U.S. ANDRIY KOSTIN: I'm optimistic.

And I hope, in coming days or weeks, we will have a political decision of U.S. government to support the ad hoc special tribunal for the crime of aggression.

I believe final decision will be to support the special tribunal, because crime of aggression is a -- was a primary war crime.

If aggression would not occur, there would be no these 65,000 war crimes committed, no people killed, tortured, raped, or illegally displaced.

And one of the initiatives of Ukraine is also to use all the procedures of the International Criminal Court within the special tribunal to make it credible also from the criminal procedural point of view.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The Americans and even the Europeans in the last few days have talked about an interim prosecutor in The Hague to gather evidence of the crime of aggression that is separate from a special tribunal, though.

Is that good enough?

ANDRIY KOSTIN: It's very good idea.

This office will combine Ukrainian prosecutors and prosecutors from other jurisdictions, which will select evidences for the case of the crime of aggression for the future tribunal.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Simultaneously, Kostin vows to fight an internal war against corruption.

This week, the equivalent of FBI agents accused the head of Kyiv's tax service of embezzling millions and living well beyond her means.

Agents raided the home of one of Ukraine's richest and most famous men, Ihor Kolomoisky, connected to companies accused of massive tax evasion.

Last week, one of Zelenskyy's deputy chiefs of staff posted his own resignation letter after he was forced out.

And now half-a-dozen defense officials are accused of buying low quality protective gear for Ukrainian soldiers at inflated prices.

ANDRIY KOSTIN: We have informed on suspicion several top officials of Ministry of Defense, of regional administrations, of Ministry of Energy.

It's a signal from me and from my colleagues for everyone, including oligarchs, including former officials and current officials, that there will be no tolerance for corruption.

And this is strong position of president of Ukraine.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President (through translator): Unfortunately, in some spheres, the only way to guarantee legitimacy is to change leaders, change as many as necessary to ensure people do not abuse power.

ANDRIY KOSTIN: And this is a strong position of all Ukrainian nation, because we build new European Ukraine without corruption.

We have wartime priorities, but corruption is an internal enemy of Ukraine, and should be defeated together with external enemy Russia.

NICK SCHIFRIN: You call it a signal for current and future actors.

But is it also evidence that Ukraine is still bedeviled by the corruption that has existed for many years?

ANDRIY KOSTIN: The most important thing is to react, because the reaction on cases in - - on time and reaction on cases will stop future potential officials from corruption activity.

And this is our goal, to have our country cleaned from corruption.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And does that include your own office?

You have fired one of your deputies.

Is that a case of corruption or perhaps vacationing in Europe when he wasn't supposed to?

ANDRIY KOSTIN: In some times, people make mistakes.

And if they understand that these mistakes are substantial, they can leave their position.

I also fired five regional prosecutors the next day.

And this is not the end.

We will go ahead, because we all need the efficient state institutions and efficient state structures.

And we have no time to wait until someone can fix mistakes which occurred.

And I'm grateful.

I'm grateful today for every investigator, every prosecutor doing their work in this very difficult situation, because, sometimes, we are without electricity, sometimes without connection.

But there was no day in Ukrainian history since 24th of February when Ukrainian authorities were not active.

All authorities work every day, including law enforcement.

And this will be proceeded.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Andriy Kostin, Ukraine's prosecutor general, thank you very much.

ANDRIY KOSTIN: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: We're going to shift our focus now to the rise of roadway deaths, a problem that's worse in the U.S. than in many other developed countries.

One year ago, Los Angeles resident Angelica Chavarria was walking to church with her husband, Jemmy, and their son, Zion.

ANGELICA CHAVARRIA, Mother: And I remember we did everything perfectly.

We touched the blinkers for the light.

GEOFF BENNETT: The family of three waited at a marked crosswalk, guided by a crossing guard.

When traffic stopped in both directions, they all started to walk.

ANGELICA CHAVARRIA: So, everything was perfectly fine for us to walk.

And I remember we had only walked maybe a couple of steps, and when I turned, I just saw this car coming towards us.

And the only thing that I said I remember that day, I just said: "Jemmy!"

I screamed: "Jemmy."

GEOFF BENNETT: The approaching vehicle did not stop.

Jemmy reacted quickly, shoving his son to the sidewalk, before pushing Angelica out of harms way.

Jemmy was struck and killed.

The driver, who never stopped, has yet to be identified.

ANGELICA CHAVARRIA: And that for me, it's like, you could have stopped, because my husband wasn't an animal.

He wasn't even an animal.

You stop and you're like, oh, my gosh, you know?

But this person didn't stop.

So that, for me, is like -- I just pray every day.

I'm like, lord... GEOFF BENNETT: Pedestrian deaths in the U.S. have reached their highest level in 40 years.

For some 25 years, pedestrian fatalities were on a long decline.

But, in recent years, they're back on the rise.

In 2021, there were nearly 7,500 pedestrian deaths, equivalent to roughly 20 deaths each day.

It's a major part of a growing problem.

Overall, roadway crashes are a leading cause of death in the U.S. And even in the early days of the pandemic, deaths continued to increase.

In 2020, nearly 39,000 people died in motor vehicle crashes, a 7 percent increase from the year before.

By 2021, that number shot up to nearly 43,000, a figure comparable to the number of lives lost to gun violence each year.

PETE BUTTIGIEG, U.S. Secretary of Transportation: We need to talk about roadway deaths in America.

GEOFF BENNETT: Using funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is spearheading the allocation of $5 billion to state and local governments through a federal grant known as Safe Streets and Roads for All to try and prevent roadway deaths.

A particular focus, bicycle fatalities, which have increased a whopping 44 percent since 2010.

This past August, Daniel Langenkamp's wife, Sarah, was hit by a truck driver while riding her bike in Montgomery County, Maryland.

DANIEL LANGENKAMP, Husband: My wife, Sarah, and I and our boys had recently been evacuated from Ukraine, where we were U.S. diplomats serving to help Ukraine fight Russian aggression, basically.

And so Sarah had been attending our boys' open house for the beginning of the school year at their school and had been riding her bike back to our apartment in Bethesda.

And, as she was riding along, a truck turned right, apparently without seeing her, and struck her and crushed her.

GEOFF BENNETT: Since then, he's pushed for more bike and pedestrian safety measures at the local and national level.

Part of the funding from the Safe Streets and Roads for All grant is going toward improving streets his wife used to ride.

DANIEL LANGENKAMP: Behind every one of these numbers, the 42,000 or so people that have died this year or last year, there are people like Sarah.And we have to remember that.

I think we all want a society where those people are safe, where riding a bike is not a life-and-death decision.

GEOFF BENNETT: We're going to talk more now about the new federal initiative to improve road safety.

Joining us now is Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Mr. Secretary, welcome back to the "NewsHour."

Picking up where Mr. Langenkamp left off, his point that choosing to ride a bike shouldn't be a life-and-death decision, roadway accidents are a leading cause of death in this country, on par with gun violence.

Are you surprised that there hasn't been more outrage, greater awareness, a greater willingness to do something about it?

PETE BUTTIGIEG: I do think that there's a disconnect between the amount of damage, harm and death that's happening on our roadways and the amount of attention that it gets.

If this were happening in any other mode of transportation, air travel, for example, America would be up in arms.

And yet I'm afraid that this country has become used to roadway deaths, whether we're talking about pedestrian, bicycle or vehicle occupants.

It's happened so much and it's happened to so many people that so many of us know that we act and think sometimes as if it were inevitable, as if we were all living in a country at war for as long as we can remember.

The truth is, it is preventable.

Not only is the amount of death happening on our roadways proportional -- in its proportion similar to that of gun violence.

It's also disproportionate to what's happening in a lot of other Western countries.

And that tells us that, if we make different choices, have different policies,make different kinds of investments, like the ones we're announcing this week, we can make a difference.

And I think the only tolerable level of roadway death in America is zero.

We have to set ourselves on a course toward doing just that.

GEOFF BENNETT: This program allots $5 billion to state and local governments over the next five years.

Why did you decide to have this national strategy aimed at funding local projects?

How is this fundamentally different than anything that the Department of Transportation has tried before?

PETE BUTTIGIEG: Well, the basic philosophy here is that the individual projects and designs don't need to come from Washington, but more of the funding should.

I think back to when I was the mayor of South Bend.

And like any mayor, like any community, we had a long list of things we wanted to do that we believed would make our community safer for pedestrians, bicyclists, drivers, passengers, wheelchair users, you name it.

And, a lot of times, those visions don't get realized because there's not enough funding.

So what we're able to do -- and this is just one of the many programs in President Biden's bipartisan infrastructure law that we're now putting the work, literally putting out on the street -- is that this is allowing us to support those community visions, both with hundreds of communities that are going to get planning grants to help build out their vision and design the improvements that are needed, and then, for dozens of communities, construction grants to do the physical work of making our roads safer.

Our national strategy calls for five elements that we think are going to make a big difference, safer people, safer vehicles, safer speeds, a better standard of post-crash care, so fewer injuries turn into fatalities, and then safer roads.

And it's that last piece, the design of the roads themselves, that we know we can make a direct impact on through these funds.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, on that point.

I mean, there are cities that we can look to for solutions, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, closer to home, Hoboken, New Jersey.

In doing the research, a city of 60,000 people, they haven't had a single traffic fatality since 2018.

How are they able to do that?

And are there things that other cities can take away from that?

PETE BUTTIGIEG: Absolutely.

I hosted the mayor of Hoboken and several other cities that have achieved this here at the Department of Transportation recently, because I think these examples are extremely important.

When you go and set out a vision like zero traffic deaths, it sounds so remote that some people might view it as pie in the sky.

So I think it's important to point to specific places like Hoboken, Jersey City; Edina, Minnesota; Evanston, Illinois; that have experienced at least one year and sometimes several years with zero traffic deaths.

They're not the biggest cities in America, but they're not the smallest either.

And our goal is to add every year to the roster of cities that got that done.

What we're seeing is a level of intention, mayors ready to use their visibility to call for greater safety culture, road design that encourages vehicles to ride at -- and drive at safe speeds, measures that protect pedestrians, whether it's the right kind of lighting signals, crosswalks, medians, the way that the concrete bumps out into the street.

And it is going to be different from one city to another.

But we know that the more communities embrace this as a goal and put serious resources into it, the more lives are going to be saved.

That's why we're helping on that resource side and helping fund the planning activities that help get this done.

GEOFF BENNETT: In addition to advocating for infrastructure changes to roadways, what about regulating the sizes of trucks and SUVs?

Is that something that you would encourage?

PETE BUTTIGIEG: Well, one of the most important functions of our department is to enforce federal motor vehicle safety standards.

And we're constantly revising and refreshing those standards based on things like the familiar crash test dummy process and other things we can do to assess the safety of any vehicle that goes out on the road.

What we're seeing right now is that there are a lot of developments and a lot of changes to cars, trucks, SUVs, vans, some of which are potentially very encouraging, like onboard safety technology, but only if used in the right way.

And they're relatively new.

So we have got to get more data on the effect that they're having.

Another thing that we're doing is taking a look not just at the traditional measure of the safety of these vehicles for the occupant, but the safety of these vehicles from the perspective of anybody who might come into contact with them at an intersection.

And I think that's an area that's going to call for continued research and work to make sure that we're really looking at the entire picture of how the design of the vehicle affects the physical safety of everybody implicated inside and out.

GEOFF BENNETT: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, thanks for your time and for your insights.

We appreciate it.

PETE BUTTIGIEG: Thank you.

Good to be with you.

AMNA NAWAZ: House Republicans have been busy on Capitol Hill, launching into some of their top agenda items of the year.

Just this week, they kicked off committee hearings into the Biden administration's handling of the Southern border and have been navigating talks with the White House on addressing the debt limit.

To dive more into the GOP Conference's top priorities.

I'm joined by Republican Congressman from Texas Chip Roy.

Congressman, welcome, and thanks for joining us.

Let's start off with that debt ceiling conversation.

As you well know, the U.S. is at risk of defaulting on its debt if Congress doesn't vote to raise the debt ceiling for money that's already been spent, we should point out.

You said you won't vote for that unless you get spending cuts.

Now, we saw Speaker McCarthy leave the White House after his meeting with President Biden and say there is common ground to work from.

Have you talked to Speaker McCarthy about that?

Where do you think the common ground is?

REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): Look, what's happening right now is what should happen.

The president of the United States is actually sitting down and negotiating, despite what he said, because, of course, he is.

We're a coequal branch of government, and he has to sit down.

The fact is, about 65 percent of Americans said they don't want to see a so-called clean debt ceiling increase.

They want to see actual changes, structural reforms, if we're going to go ahead and lift the credit card of the United States government.

They want to see those changes.

And, importantly, a similar percentage of Americans, 60-something percent, believe that we ought to constrain government.

They see government as the problem that it is.

And so Speaker McCarthy is doing the right thing.

He's telling the president that, yes, you are going to sit down and negotiate.

Yes, we are going to change the system, stop spending money we don't have without getting constraints in place, and that we're going to do that.

And we're not going to play games with the debt ceiling with respect to the debt markets.

And if you're going to actually say that you think you're going to default on the debt, that's on you, Mr. President.

You have the choice.

We're sitting here in January, now February, telling you where we need to go.

So sit down with us, and we will we will try to solve the problem.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, I should point out the White House says that the debt ceiling is not up for negotiation.

The president has said he wants to see a budget from Speaker McCarthy.

But, in the past, Republicans have voted to raise the debt ceiling, right, most recently three times under President Trump.

Was that a mistake, in your view?

REP. CHIP ROY: Well, I will tell you, I voted against those debt ceiling increases.

And I was pretty critical of President Trump, because I thought we should have gone further in terms of the kinds of spending restraint that needed to be put in place.

Look, I'm an equal opportunity basher of big spenders in Washington.

I'm not a party guy when it comes to that.

What I am is a believer that we should stand up for the American people who sent us here to change the place and not just say, hey, we're going to just lift the dead ceiling.

You don't get to do that at home.

I don't get to do that at home.

The American businessman or businesswoman right now watching this don't get to do that.

So why don't we do it?

We ought to change the way things work around here.

That was part of what the speaker's debate was about in early January.

Now we're doing that.

AMNA NAWAZ: So you have brought forward an immigration bill that Speaker McCarthy says is one of several bills being considered.

Our Lisa Desjardins has been reporting on this, says you don't have the votes for your bill to move forward just yet.

But everyone agrees the immigration system is broken.

Congress needs to act to fix it.

So what is your plan?

How can you fix it?

REP. CHIP ROY: Yes, so we have H.R.29.

It's a bill I introduced last Congress and the Border Safety and Security Act.

And, look, the purpose of the bill is pretty simple.

And there's been a lot of misinformation out there, a lot of people saying that, oh, somehow this bans asylum.

Some people have used terms like un-Christian-like ban of asylum.

Let me set the record straight.

This legislation does one thing, enforce current law to say that we have to detain for the entirety of the duration of an adjudication of a claim, an asylum claim, or turn away, like we do under current Title 42 law during a pandemic.

What does that mean in practice?

It means you won't release... AMNA NAWAZ: Well, Congressman, if you don't mind.

I'm sorry to interrupt.

I know our time is limited.

REP. CHIP ROY: Yes.

AMNA NAWAZ: I have the bill in front of me here.

The language literally says "the authority to suspend entry of aliens at borders of the United States," giving powers to the secretary of homeland security to essentially bar all entries, which even your fellow Republican Tony Gonzales has called un-American.

REP. CHIP ROY: Yes, well, Tony ought to read the bill and read current law.

The fact of the matter is, what you're doing by giving the secretary the power, not just the power, but requiring the secretary to enforce the law to detain is, you're saying, just like Title 42, which Tony supports and campaigned on and which every Republican supports and campaigned on, the same kind of power to say you can turn away, if you don't have detention space, means you would actually enforce current law.

You would still make asylum claims.

Every single asylum claim would still be able to be claimed, but you just have to be detained while that's being adjudicated.

Today, we're releasing into the United States.

That's causing a flood.

That's causing migrants to die.

That's causing Americans to die with fentanyl pouring into our communities.

It's empowering cartels.

And just yesterday in our Judiciary Committee hearing, I had somebody from the county I live in.

I had Brandon Dunn there because his son died from fentanyl last August.

I'm tired of it.

I'm tired of people dying in Texas from fentanyl poisonings.

I'm tired of the almost 1,000 dead migrants along the Rio Grande.

I'm tired of the 53 migrants who died in a tractor trailer in San Antonio.

And I'm tired of Republicans campaigning on securing the border and then running away from the fight and then accusing other Republicans of doing what we think is right to protect migrants and Americans with a commonsense bill that enforces the law.

AMNA NAWAZ: Obviously, fentanyl is a huge problem.

But the majority of the fentanyl coming across the border comes at legal ports of entry.

Secretary of Homeland Security Ali Mayorkas and I spoke this morning, and he said there is actually no evidence that it's pouring in between ports of entry.

REP. CHIP ROY: Yes.

Border Patrol agents are overwhelmed.

You don't know what's coming in between the ports of entry.

What I do know is that fentanyl is pouring into our schools in our communities and is the number one killer for people 18 to age 45.

The fact... AMNA NAWAZ: Yes, but, Congressman, the people that are coming between the ports of entry, linking them to carrying fentanyl is inac - - there's no evidence of that.

REP. CHIP ROY: Well, you know what the dad who said in the hearing yesterday?

He said, you know what, it only takes one pill to kill my son, and you can fit one pill in a backpack on one immigrant coming in between the ports of entry.

And, by the way, the Border Patrol agents can't check every car at the ports of entry.

AMNA NAWAZ: While I have you, Congressman, you just voted to oust Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee today for her comments on Israel years ago, for which she apologized.

You have said this is -- this is raw politics.

Those are your words, that, since Democrats pushed to remove two Republican lawmakers for violent videos and conspiracy theories, some of which were antisemitic, "We have got to respond."

That sounds like retribution.

So I guess my question is, where does that end?

REP. CHIP ROY: Yes, well, I hope it ends with us all agreeing that, going forward in the next Congress, we're just going to let the managers of the teams pick the players they're going to put on the committees.

That's the way it ought to be.

You hit one of our guys, we're going to hit back.

That's raw politics.

That's actually, I think, appropriate.

Now let's sit down and figure out how we're going to change this going forward.

But just like Harry Reid opened up the filibuster, and guess what's now on the Supreme Court, they opened the door last time by playing this game.

We told them it was a mistake.

Now they're feeling the consequences of that mistake.

AMNA NAWAZ: Republican Congressman from Texas Chip Roy joining us tonight.

Congressman Roy, thank you for your time.

REP. CHIP ROY: Thanks, Amna.

GEOFF BENNETT: Democrats will soon vote to rearrange their calendar for the presidential primaries and 2024 and beyond.

It could have major ramifications for the party.

Lisa Desjardins is here to break down with Democrats see as the pros and cons of President Biden's plan to reshape the party's nominating contest.

LISA DESJARDINS: The president's plan likely to get a vote by Democrats in Philadelphia this weekend calls for historic change, jumping South Carolina, the state that changed the course of his candidacy in 2020, to the top of the calendar.

If it comes to pass, Iowa would be no longer among the first states and New Hampshire would no longer have the first primary.

Joining me to discuss the proposal are two political veterans, Faiz Shakir, campaign manager for Bernie Sanders in 2020, and Jalisa Washington-Price, a veteran of Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign and the Biden/Harris ticket in 2020.

Thank you both.

Let's start with where you agree.

You both believe that something needs to change here in the Democratic calendar.

I do want to get a word in from New Hampshire, which is defiant about this.

Here is what New Hampshire's Governor Sununu said.

No surprise, he doesn't like the idea.

GOV.

CHRIS SUNUNU (R-NH): You can come and try and take it, but it is never going to happen.

For 100 years, New Hampshire has given voice to lesser-known candidates and provided a pathway to the presidency for anyone dedicated enough to test their mettle with the New Hampshire voters.

AMNA NAWAZ: Chris Sununu knows that Iowa and New Hampshire are proud of American political culture.

They say it's a place where voters have access to candidates.

But you say, no, it's time to change.

Why?

FAIZ SHAKIR, Democratic Strategist: Well, they're not wrong, Lisa.

The small-town setting in New Hampshire is wonderful.

You see people who really take the responsibility seriously.

They turn out in high numbers.

That said, it doesn't mean that they're owning the space forever.

There should be, there can be new entrants to that.

There should be other people who have an opportunity to have the first-in-the-nation status.

And I think Georgia, Michigan, Nevada all - - they all make sense.

And so I think it's a good time to refresh that and look at things that -- anew, with a new eye.

LISA DESJARDINS: So, Lisa, part of being a smart campaign person like you are is knowing the demographics of your voters.

Can you talk about demographic change in this country and among Democrats and how that plays into why you think things should change?

JALISA WASHINGTON-PRICE, Democratic Campaign Strategist: Of course.

When you think about the base of the Democratic Party, you think about exactly the calendar that's set in front of us, right?

You're starting with South Carolina, which have has a very large African American voting population, and then moving to Nevada, which is a minority-majority state with a strong Latino, AAPI, Native American presence, as well as a strong coalition of union workers as well.

And then you think of the historical nature of New Hampshire, which is still on the calendar, and then moving into Michigan and Georgia, and, like I said, this really makes up the coalition and the base of the Democratic Party.

LISA DESJARDINS: Now, you two disagree about something.

And it has to do with a state that I care very much about, South Carolina.

Now, however, I'm not biased on who goes where in the calendar.

And I want to ask you, first, Faiz, why do you think it would be a mistake to put South Carolina first, as President Biden wants to do?

FAIZ SHAKIR: Well, among many good options, I don't think South Carolina is one of them.

It's a very conservative state, a lot of elderly people, a lot of voters who are hostile to progressive values, anti-women, anti-labor, anti a lot of things that Democrats stand for.

Jaime Harrison, the DNC chair, spent been $120 million or $130 million trying to win a Senate seat against Lindsey Graham two years ago and lost by 12 points, meanwhile, in the same period of time in which we have seen places like Michigan, Georgia, Nevada move to the Democratic column, right, and show that they are voters who like progressive values in those states.

So if we have this opportunity to remake the map, why would you move South Carolina to the front of the line?

Why not some of these other states who have, in my view, a better argument, have a delight diversity argument, have pro-Democratic values arguments?

When we're talking about selecting a president of the United States, let's not preference just the fact that a conservative state that is hostile to Democratic values that happened to help the president be first in line.

It should be who helps the Democratic ticket.

LISA DESJARDINS: I'm going to get a response from Jalisa, but I want to ask.

You said elderly voters.

Why is that a problem, having a high number of elderly voters?

FAIZ SHAKIR: They tend to be -- so, they're disproportionately elderly in South Carolina, which it tends to associate with more conservative views on some of these things... (CROSSTALK) LISA DESJARDINS: For Democrats.

(CROSSTALK) FAIZ SHAKIR: So, when you talk about LGBT views, and you talk about abortion views, you talk about labor views, what we found as a campaign when you're campaigning in that state, as opposed to many other states, more concern and opposition to the core Democratic values.

LISA DESJARDINS: Jalisa, why do you think Faiz is wrong about South Carolina?

Why do you think it should start the process for Democrats?

JALISA WASHINGTON-PRICE: Definitely.

I'm going to strongly disagree with our friend here.

Not only the case that South Carolina has a large African American population.

As we know, within Black voters, they aren't a monolith, right?

South Carolina is home to six HBCUs, when you're thinking about talking to the importance of education and talking to -- these candidates need to talk to students and the issues that are important to them.

When you think about the large military community that's in South Carolina, issues that affect them and their family.

Seniors do make a large population of the state, but they also talk about the issues that affect them.

Rural voters and farmers in the state.

Keeping South Carolina at the top of the primary calendar will give all of these demographics and communities an opportunity to talk about issues that are important to them.

Also too, Democrats should compete everywhere, right, not just in states that they will win.

Being in a state like South Carolina can also make sure that these candidates are battle-tested when they go -- when it's time to go to the general election.

South Carolina is also a smaller state.

A candidate that don't have -- doesn't have the resources like some of the major campaigns or some of the larger campaigns can actually go into a state like South Carolina and really compete and really talk to voters where they are.

South Carolina also borders states like North Carolina and Georgia, which allows us to message to the -- to voters in these states as well.

So, I really have to push back with my friend here when he talks about how conservative the voters in South Carolina are.

That's just not true.

The Black voters in South Carolina really align with the values that the Democratic Party has.

And that includes progressive issues.

LISA DESJARDINS: You are both touching on something important here, which is, it's not just about the Democratic primary, right?

This is about who we choose as president, one-half of the decision being made by generally usually Democratic voters.

So I want to ask both of you.

This decision about who votes where, can you talk about who could -- who we might see emerge from that as a candidate more likely if the system changes?

Faiz?

FAIZ SHAKIR: Well, how the system changes is important to answering this question.

If it were South Carolina, I don't want people skipping over South Carolina and moving on to their next states.

You want people to compete in the calendar as it's presented.

And so I would say that, if you wanted to reform this calendar, and you wanted to make it effective, we would be moving places like Nevada, Georgia and Michigan to the front of the line.

Taking all of the comments that were made by my friend here about South Carolina, I would flip it on its head.

You could say all of those things about a state right near here, Maryland, higher proportion of Black voters in that state, first Black governor there in Maryland.

So, you could make this argument that, if we were talking about Black voters, why not Maryland?

Why not Georgia?

Why not North Carolina?

So I just think that there's -- among many options -- and I appreciate the defense of South Carolina -- I don't think it's as good of an option as any of the others.

Put a Democratic candidate in the position to have to win a battleground state early on, and prove that they can go before a general election audience and win.

LISA DESJARDINS: Jalisa, I will give you the last word in those last 30 seconds or so.

You can defend South Carolina again, but, also, what do we think this would do to changing the character of the candidates?

JALISA WASHINGTON-PRICE: You know, I'm going to start off by just saying I push back again with that.

You -- why not South Carolina?

He lists a host of other states that could - - also has a very significant Black population.

But South Carolina, who has been a part of the primary calendar for a while, I mean, we are familiar with what it takes for presidential candidates to come into a state like South Carolina and really campaign on the issues that we care about, right?

So, why not push that up to the top of the calendar, so some of these candidates have to come in and talk about Black issues early and often, and really talk about how policies that they want to implement are going to affect community -- African American communities and communities of color?

LISA DESJARDINS: OK. FAIZ SHAKIR: Can I just suggest a compromise real quick?

LISA DESJARDINS: One sentence.

FAIZ SHAKIR: Real quick compromise is that, for 2024, Biden should get his pick.

Mandate a new state to be at the front of line in 2028.

LISA DESJARDINS: All right, look at that, compromise.

(CROSSTALK) LISA DESJARDINS: I am so sorry.

We have got to -- for time.

But we will continue this conversation, not just the parties, but the states.

Thank you so much, Jalisa, Faiz, for joining us.

FAIZ SHAKIR: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: Although still in their 20s, actors Ben Platt and Noah Galvin are already performing veterans.

Both have played dozens of roles on TV, in films, and in live theater, including the Tony Award-winning musical "Dear Evan Hansen."

I met up with the couple at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, for their first television interview together.

We spoke about their performances and the real-life inspiration behind their latest project, as part of our arts and culture series, Canvas.

ACTRESS: I looked at him straight in his soul and said, Bernard, you can keep the Connecticut home.

I have got my dignity and a bold merlot.

AMNA NAWAZ: Precocious child actors.

ACTOR: Jazz pirouette, jazz pirouette, Grizabella, and down.

AMNA NAWAZ: Broadway-obsessed instructors.

ACTOR: A little bit of cinnamon, a little bit of pain, a little bit of stepfather.

AMNA NAWAZ: And over-the-top acting exercises, all captured in "Theater Camp," a 2020 short film poking fun at youth theater and its eccentric characters.

Ben Platt and Noah Galvin starred in and co-wrote the parody with their friends Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman.

Last summer, the foursome turned "Theater Camp" into a feature-length film.

Huge congratulations.

BEN PLATT, Actor: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: I spoke with Platt and Galvin the day after their Sundance Film Festival premiere received a standing ovation.

Let's start with the short.

I'm really curious what made you think, there's something here that we need to expand on?

BEN PLATT: Us and our two collaborators, Nick Lieberman and Molly Gordon, we have grown up together.

Theater is kind of what connects us in a sense.

And so I think when we mixed that with our shared comedic and improvisational sensibility.

We were so surprised at how full of a story and how robust the short could feel with just the very small, small, small, small budget we had.

And so, we're like, if this can really come across so well, just imagine if we kind of gave it more space, gave it a longer narrative, and gave it perhaps 19 days, instead of two.

AMNA NAWAZ: But 19 days?

BEN PLATT: Yes, that's all we had was 19 days.

AMNA NAWAZ: That was it?

NOAH GALVIN, Actor: Yes.

AMNA NAWAZ: What was that like?

NOAH GALVIN: And children who can only work about five hours a day, and a full musical at the very end, and like 32 speaking roles.

BEN PLATT: Yes.

We really didn't want to go too ambitious for our first piece.

(LAUGHTER) NOAH GALVIN: Yes, just very casual, small, intimate.

AMNA NAWAZ: That ambition has paid off.

The day after we spoke, the "Theater Camp" feature was acquired by Disney's Searchlight Pictures for distribution.

It may have only taken three weeks to film, but the movie draws from years of experience.

Before Ben Platt burst onto Broadway, winning a best actor Tony for "Dear Evan Hansen" in 2017, before recording two albums... BEN PLATT: Our generation is going to save this planet.

AMNA NAWAZ: ... and starring in Netflix's "The Politician," Platt fell in love with the stage at the Adderley School.

a youth theater program in L.A. And before Noah Galvin appeared on television and in films... NOAH GALVIN: I will be directing... AMNA NAWAZ: ... like 2019's the critically acclaimed comedy "Booksmart"... NOAH GALVIN: He's got weeks.

AMNA NAWAZ: ... or as a series regular in ABC's "The Good Doctor," he was acting professionally from the age of 10.

NOAH GALVIN: I went to a camp at one point, a theater camp, and it was called Kevin Kearin's (ph).

It was just the name of the man who ran it, which is wild.

(LAUGHTER) NOAH GALVIN: There were so many kids at this theater camp.

And then they wanted to give everybody an opportunity, which is beautiful.

So, they would cast -- I did "Anything Goes" there, and there was a different person playing the principal character.

Like, in each given scene, there was a different actor playing that part.

AMNA NAWAZ: In each scene?

NOAH GALVIN: In every single scene, yes.

BEN PLATT: So, you got one scene?

NOAH GALVIN: So I played Moonface Martin in the final scene of "Anything Goes at Kevin Kearin's.

AMNA NAWAZ: There's this line in the movie.

But -- and your character says, this place is for people who need it, people who do not belong anywhere else.

How much of that informs sort of who you're speaking to in the story?

BEN PLATT: That's entirely, I think, who we're making it for.

NOAH GALVIN: Everything, yes.

BEN PLATT: I think what we really wanted to be conscious of is telling a story that was funny and based on our own experience, but that had this bubbling of this thing that you just said underneath it at all times, which is how vital these places have been for us growing up and they are for young people, queer young people, young people on the spectrum, all different kinds of young people who find ways to express themselves through theater.

AMNA NAWAZ: Theater also brought the couple together.

They met at a professional musical workshop out of high school.

Friends for years, Platt and Galvin started dating just before the pandemic.

And last November, the two announced a new relationship milestone.

You are recently engaged.

BEN PLATT: We are.

AMNA NAWAZ: Mazel tov.

NOAH GALVIN: Thank you.

BEN PLATT: I did pretty good, I think.

(LAUGHTER) AMNA NAWAZ: Is there a story?

Is there an engagement story you can share, that you want to share?

BEN PLATT: Well, we will some of the details to ourselves, but I will just say I surprised him when I told him I was taking him to dinner with his sister.

And... NOAH GALVIN: And it looked like the set of "The Bachelor," is all I'll say.

(LAUGHTER) BEN PLATT: And then -- well, it was with prettier colors.

NOAH GALVIN: It was gorgeous.

It was gorgeous.

It was gorgeous.

It was gorgeous.

BEN PLATT: And then we spent the night with our families having dinner and some friends.

And it was great.

NOAH GALVIN: It was lovely.

AMNA NAWAZ: Later this month, Ben Platt will return to Broadway for the first time in five years as the lead in a limited-run revival of the '90s musical "Parade."

It tells the true story of Leo Frank, a Jewish-American man who was lynched after being wrongfully accused of murder in Georgia in 1913.

What is it like for you to step into this role at this moment?

BEN PLATT: For me, it just feels like the right place at the right time.

And I think I have learned a lot as I have grown older in my career to seek out characters and roles that I am the right person to take on and to tell.

And then I think this -- being a 29-year-old Jewish man portraying this 29-year-old Jewish man who was wrongfully accused in the South, I think is -- it just feels like an authentic piece of storytelling.

There is just no pretense about it, that I can really feel like the right proprietor of this particular story.

AMNA NAWAZ: I mean, we're speaking at a time certainly of rising antisemitism.

We're also speaking at a time of rising anti-LGBTQ hate speech, political rhetoric, legislation across the country.

BEN PLATT: Oh, yes.

AMNA NAWAZ: How does all of that resonate with you?

NOAH GALVIN: I mean, after seeing "Parade," it was a piece that was written in the '90s by a 24-year-old Jason Robert Brown.

I mean, it was, like, chilling how prescient it felt and how current and necessary a piece of storytelling it was.

BEN PLATT: In terms of the queerness of it all, even Noah and I, who are fairly privileged, and we live in -- most of the time we live in a pretty liberal bubble, and we are protected in many ways, we have experienced moments of homophobia.

And it's certainly everywhere.

So, I think all we can do -- obviously, we want to share our relationship because we love each other and we just want to share our happiness.

But we also take a lot of pride, I think, in just showing public queer joy and a healthy queer relationship and collaboration.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, more joint projects ahead?

BEN PLATT: I think so.

NOAH GALVIN: Yes.

We work well together.

It was a nice thing to know, you know?

We didn't kill each other.

AMNA NAWAZ: That's a good thing to discover.

NOAH GALVIN: Yes.

(LAUGHTER) NOAH GALVIN: We got engaged after... (CROSSTALK) BEN PLATT: Yes, we're still here.

NOAH GALVIN: OK. AMNA NAWAZ: What a gift to do what you love with people you love.

Thank you so much.

BEN PLATT: Thank you.

NOAH GALVIN: Thank you so much.

This was lovely.

AMNA NAWAZ: Really appreciate it.

And we have more stories about the Sundance Film Festival online at PBS.org/NewsHour, including a look at three directors of Iranian descent whose films were inspired by their mothers.

GEOFF BENNETT: And join us again here tomorrow night, where we are going to explore why so many working-age men appear to have given up on looking for jobs.

And that's 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.