WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Good evening.

I'm William Geoff Bennet On the "NewsHour" tonight: Se Gaza, while, further south, floods add to the suffering in crowded refugee camps.

Then: Delegates at the U.N.'s global climate summit agree to transition away from fossil fuels, but loopholes remain.

And the battle in the skies.

Drone warfare forces both Russia and Ukraine MYKHAILO FEDOROV, Ukrainian Minister For Digital Transformation (through translator): Today and tomorrow is about drones.

The outcome of this war depends on how many dron used.

(BREAK) WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Welcome to the "NewsHour."

There was fierce combat between Israeli troops and Hamas militants today across the Gaza Strip, as Israel's ground operations met renewed and heavy resistance from Hamas.

Civilians, as ever, are caught in the middle, with the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry saying nearly 19,000 people have been killed in the enclave since October 7.

John Yang begins our coverage.

JOHN YANG: In Gaza City, Israeli tr raging on, even after suffering their heaviest losses in weeks.

The IDF says nine soldiers were killed yesterday when they were ambushed in Gaza City's Shaja'ia neighborhood.

The military Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said setbacks will not deter him.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Israeli Prime Minister (through translator): We had a very difficult day, and every day we have precious boys who fall, the true h I want to say in the clearest way, we continue to the end.

I say this in the face of great pain, but also in the face of international pressure Nothing will stop us.

We will go t JOHN YANG: It comes as global support for Israel's operation is dwindling by the MAN: One hundred and fifty-three in favor, 10 against.

JOHN YANG: Last night, the U.N. General Assembly approved a nonbinding resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire.

The United States was one of just 10 nations to vot Today, the "NewsHour"'s Laura Barron-Lopez pressed White House officials about President Biden's comment yesterday that indiscriminate bombing was eroding international support.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: After the president's comments yesterday talking about Israel losing support, the Israeli foreign minister said that Israel would continue its war with or without international support.

Do you have a response t JOHN KIRBY, NSC support them, and, a them lose international support for what they're trying to do.

They have every right to defend themselves.

JOHN YANG: Earlier, Mr in Gaza.

It was their NA'AMA WEINBERG, Cousin of Hamas Hostage: Every day day of the hostages while they're alive.

Every day, we hear about new names and new hostages that came there alive and now th taken out as bodies.

JOHN YANG: In Gaza, residents he avy rain.

In the Jabalia refugee c Across Gaza, tent cities muddied and wet are now practically uninhabitable.

YASMIN MHANI, Displaced Gazan (through translator): I woke up my 7-month-old, who wa wet.

We have just Five people with only one blanket.

There are no covers, no mattresses, no food, no wat This is the fifth place I had to move to, fleeing from one place to another with nothing but a T-shirt on.

JOHN YANG: Only adding to th For weeks, Biden administration officials have pressed Prime Minister Netanyahu to increase humanitarian aid, as well as reduce civilian casualties.

And now President Biden is taking that up to a whole new level.

Natan Sachs is director of the Brookings Institutions' Center for Middle East Policy.

Mr. Sachs, what's behind this apparent public rift between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu?

NATAN SACHS, the two parties and also political ones.

Substantively, the president and the prime minister see quite d the day after of the ground operation in the Gaza Strip.

We're looking at probably the last few weeks of this phase And what follows has been described very differently by the two leaders.

President Biden has said no Hamas ruling the Gaza Strip after the war, but also no Israeli reoccupation of the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu, on the other hand, has desc in the Gaza Strip, believing that no other force, international or multinational, would have the wherewithal and they would agree to pay the price to conduct counterinsurgency in the Gaza Strip.

He's probably ri But there's also other differences.

The president sees a major role the West Bank, at least rejuvenated, reformed, but then entering into the Gaza Strip as the main Palestinian force there.

Netanyahu has staked out a position that future at least for this current form of the Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip.

That's a major difference between the two.

There's also politics involved.

Biden has a lot of pressure th at he's been using not only his love for Israel, but also his pressure, the leverage that he's gained by showing this close affinity to Israel.

And Netanyahu is struggling for his political future himself.

He's now trailing badly in the polls against the presumptive winner, would be Benny Gantz, who's currently in the coalition, but only temporarily.

And he's trying to stake out a position that would differentiate between him Ga ntz, in particular, on the question of the Palestinian Authority and whethe be a Palestinian state and a two-state solution down the road, something Netanyahu is h that he is the only one who would prevent, as most Israelis are very fearful of it today, and hinting that Benny Gantz perhaps would not be able to prevent it.

JOHN YANG: You're talking about these differences, and they had been go the scenes in private talks between the two sides.

Why do you think President Biden is bringing this public now?

NATAN SACHS: Well, we're nearing the end of the year, and the Amer has said privately to the Israelis that this is likely the last few weeks of what the Americans would agree to as this phase of the ground operations, so major ground operations with a lot of Israeli forces in now the Southern and Northern Gaza Strip.

We're not going to see the end of fighting.

Israel will continue to oper And, of course, it d for example, the leaders of Hamas who were behind the horrific attack of October 7, a it managed to degrade other Hamas infrastructure.

But, nonetheless, this phase is probably ending in a f And Biden has tried to put that pressure on Israel, make sure that Israel really does adhere to that kind of timeline, but also to set the stage for what comes after.

As I said, there's deep disagreements there.

For Netanyahu too, this is an opportunity to push back diplomatically, but also to signal to the audience that Netanyahu cares about most perhaps, and that's his voters.

He is trailing badly, as I said, and is really tr would allow him to remain in office for as long as possible.

JOHN YANG: Will this pressure from the United States, from Preside on Prime Minister Netanyahu?

NATAN SACHS: It's a mixed On the one hand, Netanyahu is answering to tr aumatized by October 7, it is reliving the trauma, it is feeling it, talking about it incessantly daily, and has very little patience for concessions to Palestinians.

On the other hand, President Biden stood by Israel in a way that really moved Israeli hearts and minds immediately after October 7.

And that gives him a lot of cachet, a lot of leverage in Israel.

So Netanyahu will voice very strong public rhetoric against any pre and in practice he often follows suit in terms of what the American administration wants.

So Biden has a lot of sway on Israel.

And he's already used a lot of th ere is a limit to it.

The Israeli public a imperative to bring down Hamas.

And so that -- in between there is where Biden JOHN YANG: And is there a real threat, do you think, that U.S. support could change could go down, or maybe have strings attached, restrictions attached to it?

NATAN SACHS: I don't expect the fundamental support from President Biden to change.

He clearly believes firmly in the main goal, which is that Hamas after October 7 cannot be allowed to rule a statelet neighboring Israel or any other country.

And in that, he is in full agreement with the Israelis.

But we can see, and we have already seen a chan give full support to the Israeli operation, including the supply of munitions, the very crucial supply of munitions.

There's another element in which I don' And that's the war that we have not seen in the past two months.

And that's a war between Israel, a major war between Israel and Hezbollah su pported groups.

We have seen fightin would show real devastation, both in Israel proper, but also in Lebanon, where the devastation between Hezbollah and Israeli war would be absolutely catastrophic, dwarf even what we have seen since October 7.

JOHN YANG: Natan Sachs of the Br much.

NATAN SACHS: Thank you.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: In the day's other headlines: The 2020 election interference case against former President Trump is being put on hold indefinitely.

Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington paused the proceedings today while Mr. Trump pursues his claim of presidential immunity.

The Supreme Court is considering whether to fast-track a ruling on the Th at, in turn, could delay the March 4 trial date.

Also today, the Supreme Court agreed to consider another appeal that could undo key charges against Mr. Trump in the January 6 Capitol riot.

He and more than 300 others have been accused of obstructing Congress as it tried to c the 2020 election results.

But a lower court rejected t Now the Supreme Court will decide if that finding extends to others.

On abortion, the Supreme Court said today it will decide the legality of banning shipments of mifepristone through the mail.

The FDA approved the drug back in 2000, and since used it to have abortions.

The High Court will hear arguments in the Pr esident Biden's son Hunter defied a congressional subpoena to testify in private Ho use Oversight Committee.

He appeared outside the Capitol, b Republicans rejected that demand, leaving the two sides at a stalemate.

HUNTER BIDEN, Son of Joe Biden: I am here to testify at a public hearing toda any of the committee's legitimate questions.

Republicans do not want an open process where Americans can see their tactics, expose their baseless inquiry, or hear what I have to say.

REP. JIM JORDAN ( you're going to get speeches, you're going to get a What we want is the facts.

And the way you bring people in for an interview behind closed doors, where you can get those facts.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All this came as House Republicans moved to formally authorize an impeachment inquiry into President Biden.

They claim he's benefited from his son's business di rectly implicating the president.

On Wall Street, stocks surged after the Federal Rese next year.

Major indexes were up well The Dow Jones industrial average gained 512 points to close above 37000 fo time.

The Nasdaq r The S&P 500 added 63.

The Library of Congress is out with this year's additions to the National Fi They include the Christmas favorite "Home Alone" from 1990 and the Oscar-winning drama "12 Years a Slave," plus Apollo 13, with Tom Hanks delivering that famous line: ACTOR: This is Houston.

Say again, please.

TOM HANKS, A We have a main B bus undervolt.

We have got a lot of thruster ac It just went offline.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Other Judgment Day."

And Emmy Award-win He won accolades for his TV, film and stage roles.

But, as Jeffrey Brown reports, he was best known for portraying police officers very different series.

ANDRE BRAUGHER, Actor: He wants you to be protected, he says.

JEFFREY BROWN: Andre Braugher de tective in the 1990s police drama "Homicide: Life on the Street."

ANDRE BRAUGHER: Please, please listen to me.

The daughter fought, and the mother didn't.

JEFFREY BROWN: The power and intensity of his performance brought him an Emmy Award for outstanding lead actor in a drama series in 1998.

He was born and raised in Chicago, a graduate of Stanford and Juilliard.

ANDRE BRAUGHER: I'd like to speak to you for a moment in private, if I may.

JEFFREY BROWN: And went on to a professional acting career in War drama "Glory," more recently the 2022 film "She Said."

He was also a regular presence on stage, including Shakespearian roles.

ANDRE BRAUGHER: I'm defusing the situation.

JEFFREY BROWN: And on television, including from a police officer in the series "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," this time as Captain Raymond Holt in a completely different register, comedy.

ANDRE BRAUGHER: Accord mood.

I suggest we JEFFREY BROWN: He spoke ANDRE BRAUGHER: I feel as though my mind is expanding.

I mean, my capabilities as an actor, my ability the first time in my life.

JEFFREY BROWN: Aft of popular culture in how police are portrayed, telling "Variety": "I too have fallen prey to the mythology that's been built up.

Cops breaking the law to -- quote -- 'defend the law' is a That's something that we're going to have to collectively address, all cop shows."

Andre Braugher died Monday after what was described as a brief illness.

He was 61 years old.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jeffrey Brown.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Still to come on the "NewsHour": the Federal rates starting next year; the House votes on formally opening an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, despite no clear evidence; and Tesla recalls over two million vehicles because of problems with its self-driving software.

The U.N.'s climate change conference, COP 28, has come to a close with nearly 200 nations agreeing to a historic first, that they should transition away from burning the fossil fuels that are warming the planet.

In addition to that promise, the nati renewable energy deployed by 2030 to stop deforestation by the same year and to curb the release of methane, which is one of the most potent greenhouse gases.

The reaction to the agreement has been mixed.

While some hailed this first ever mention of fossil fuel who represent small island nations threatened by sea level rise, were much more critical.

Here's Anne Rasmussen from the nation of Samoa.

ANNE RASMUSSEN, Alliance of Small Island S correction that is needed has not been secured.

We have made an incremental advancement over business as usual, is an exponential step change in our actions and support.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Joining me now is Manish Bapna.

He is president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defe Manish, welcome back to the "NewsHour."

A lot of concern going into this COP.

We have just lived through what is now the hottest year in And people were arguing, why are you holding a climate summit in a nation that is known for pumping out oil and gas?

But, still, some historic first, as I me What do you make of this whole agreement?

MANISH BAPNA, President and points can be true.

There was -- for the first t 195 countries, to explicitly call for the transition away, out of fossil fuels.

That is a significant signal to policymakers, to investors, to CEOs about what the future actually looks like.

But equally true, the science is clear, the lo t more speed, a lot more scale.

The concern that the Samoan WI LLIAM BRANGHAM: I mean, I hear what you're saying about fossil fuels, but th at, 30 years into these summits, we're finally now getting around to mentioning this.

I mean, it's like having back in the '60s conferences about lung cancer and taking 30 years to talk about weaning ourself off cigarettes.

I mean, it's progress, but baby steps.

MANISH BAPNA: You're right.

But the oil and gas indust This is a significant industry that has a vested interest in status quo.

And to get all 195 countries to sign a piece of paper, a statement of purpose, that it is time now to transition away from fossils is not a small, insignificant step.

But what we need to do is actually translate that ambition into action.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: One of the other big pledges was this ramp-up of renewables.

And, as you well know, there is a Green Revolution that is under way.

Do you think we will be able to deploy wind and solar and geothermal and hydrogen and battery storage in the full force needed to keep us from dangerously warming this planet?

MANISH BAPNA: That is in my mind what is kind of most encouraging about this conference and about where we are today, is, we're beginning to see the early signs of a better future, a more inclusive, a more productive, a more resilient future.

Look at just what's happened in the United States in the last 18 months after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act.

We have seen over $100 billion of announcem vehicles.

We have seen We're beginning to see shovels on the ground.

We're starting to see the proof points of real things bein And I think that shift is going to happen in a more quicker pace than many of us realize.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: One of the other big developments was around this issue known as loss and damage, which is a fund being established to help the developing world deal with the real-world impacts they're having from climate change today.

Do you think that the developed world is really finally starting to re that our pollution is doing to those nations?

MANISH BAPNA: It's starting to.

This is symbolically a big fu nd to help the most vulnerable countries that contributed the least to the climate crisis cope with the impacts.

But what we need to see is a lot more money go into that fund and a generally go from the rich world to the developing world to help with the energy transition, to build resilience.

This is not an act of charity.

This is an act of justice.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: One of mechanism, that a nation can say, I pledge to cut emissions by X gigatons by Y date, and if they fail to do that there's no way of saying -- of holding them to account.

Do you think we put too much emphasis on these global summits?

MANISH BAPNA: I think we have to be clear-eyed about what the they can't.

It is a stat It is a vision for the future, but hold governments accountable.

So, now just take the United St from fossil fuels.

Yet the largest And if you look at the next 10 years, the greatest increase we will see is in the United States.

So how do we actua How do we use that commitment internationally to transition from fossils to clean?

That's the work that we need to do.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Mani Thank you.

MANISH BAPNA Thank you ve WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The Federal Reserve opted today to leave interest rates unchanged for a third straight time.

But what also made headlines was next year.

Stephanie Sy has the latest.

STEPHANIE SY: William, Fed Ch in saying rate hikes appear to be over for now and the economy is well-positioned for a so-called soft landing.

JEROME POWELL, Federal R -- appears to be moderating.

We're seeing a labor m we're seeing inflation making real progress.

These are the things we have been wanting We can't know.

We still have a ways No one is declar That would be premat STEPHANIE SY once since this past May.

I'm joined now by economist Julia Coronado.

She's the founder of her own firm, MacroPolicy Perspectives, an Fed.

So, Julia, l Do you think we're done with We have seen those rate hikes for a year-and-a-half.

JULIA CORONADO, MacroPolicy Perspectives: Yes, I t And, more importantly, Chair Powell thinks we're done with And he didn't quite promise that.

They said they want to hold on to But he confirmed that most of the policymakers on the committee do not expect any more rate hikes.

And the next STEPHANIE SY: Right.

And that's the big I mean, you probably expected Bu t 17 out of the 19 officials on the committee agreed with a projection that the policy rate will be lower by the end of next year by three-quarters of a percentage point.

What was your reaction to that statement?

JULIA CORONADO: Yes, s than we were expecting.

We thought they They showed three.

And the market is priced f And Chair Powell did not push back on that.

When he was asked, do the markets have it but we're going to follow the data, and if inflation continues to come in at these lower run rates, then we can go maybe a little bit more.

STEPHANIE SY: But inflation is still running, Julia, at 3 percent.

And when I talk to Americans, they still complain about the cost of dining out, about the cost of rent and insurance.

Have we yet to see the full impact of higher borr JULIA CORONADO: That's absolutely right.

And, actually, Chair Powell to He said, one of the reasons we see this really good readings from a macroeconomist standpoint is that prices are much higher than they used to be, and people don't like that.

What a soft landing would entail or allow is continue to get wage raises, and that will allow their purchasing power to catch up.

Things like falling gas prices also help consumer purchasing power.

So it will take a little bit of time to catch up, but the economy is actually adding up in the right direction, that people will start to see real wage gains.

They're already seeing real wage gains, where raises are running at a faster And over time, it's not that prices are going to come back down to pre-pandemic, but your income is going to catch up.

STEPHANIE SY: What about interest Will they come down, and would that be what you expe JULIA CORONADO: We will -- the Fed is not in a rush.

Chair Powell said they're going to proceed carefully.

And we don't know how much or So they're going to start a sequence of rate cuts and make sure that the economy doesn't reaccelerate or, importantly, inflation reaccelerate.

So they're going to be calibrating these moves with the economy, with the incoming data.

Will rates come back all the way down to pre-pandemic?

Not sure.

That's still will be materially lower at the end of next year than they are right now.

STEPHANIE SY: And what will the other impacts be of today's policy statement announcement Julia?

JULIA CORONA in recent weeks is that applications for mortgages have started to pick up a little bit.

So they really took a hit when mortgage rates hit 8 percent.

We have seen them coming down a little bit.

So that's going to -- we have seen people respond.

Consumers should see even lower mortgage rates, given what we heard fr Also, when you're looking to buy a car, those car loan rates should start coming down as well.

So, consumer borrowing are going to see a little bit of relief on the borrowing costs.

STEPHANIE SY: All right, Julia Coronado with MacroPolicy Perspectives, thank you so much for joining us with your insights.

JULIA CORONADO: My pleasure.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: It has been another significant day on Capitol Hill.

House Republicans have voted to open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden and his family's business dealings.

This comes as talks over the Lisa Desjardins is covering it all, and she joins me now.

So, Lisa, what does this impeachment vote mean?

LISA DESJARDINS: Right.

This is essentially a legal and launched this inquiry into the Biden family and the question of whether President Biden was corrupt in his relationship to Biden family business dealings.

But, really, it's mostly a legal move by House Republicans.

By taking this vote, by getting the backing of the full House Republican Conference and the House itself, they believe they will have more leverage in court to enforce subpoenas that are related to this impeachment inquiry.

And that includes subpoenas against the president's son, H Hunter Biden was on Capitol Hill today defying a subpoena to testify behind closed doors.

He spoke on the steps of the Capitol saying he wants to testify in public.

Now, he said that there is no case against his father.

HUNTER BIDEN, Son of Joe Biden: Let me state as clearly as I can, my father was no involved in my business, not as a practicing lawyer, not as a board member of Burisma, not in my partnership with a Chinese private businessman, not in my investments at home nor abroad, and certainly not as an artist.

REP. JIM JORDAN ( And I think that qualifier, the word financially, is important, because once again it shows another change, another change in the story.

At first, it was no involvement, then, no, I never, n we find out about the dinners, the meetings, the phone calls, everything else.

LISA DESJARDINS: And that's Republican Judiciary Chairman Jim J something going on with the words that Hunter Biden is using.

Biden's team and the White House say this entire thing is baseless.

In fact, just a few minutes ago, the White House came out wit a stunt.

As for Hunter Bi to DOJ because of his refusal for this subpoena.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I mean, Lisa, yesterday Speaker Johnson sa this was not a political move, that this was about the law.

Do we have any understanding of how voters are viewing this impeachment?

LISA DESJARDINS: We do.

We actually have new inform And that poll shows us Americans overall are divided on this question of whether they approve of this impeachment inquiry or not.

Look at that, split al But it's not really a clear pi partisan divide.

Let's look a There you can see Republicans, 78 24 percent of Democrats.

But let's circle that pr esident, they approve of an impeachment inquiry is significant.

And, William, I looked at the data.

That's led by Democratic men, something that to pay attention to.

WILLIAM BRANGH at this very pivotal next couple of days for border and Ukraine funding.

Tell us where things stand on that front.

LISA DESJARDINS: Right.

I can report negotiators in this critical set of talks.

Let's look at who that is.

DHS Secretary Mayorkas is independent Senator Sinema, and then, there you go, Republican Senator James Lankford.

Those have been primary -- the primary dealers here, but the White House has gotten m involved.

Laura Barron on reporting on this.

We can report that the Whi immigration measures, including some increased expulsion measures, including for those who apply for asylum, and increased detention as well.

For those who want asylum, they would have to wait in detention potentially under these measures, rather than be released into the country.

You may not be surprised some Senate Republicans say it immigrant advocates say they are outraged, including Congressional Hispanic Caucus members.

They held a news conference today decrying what they think the White House is willing to agree to and also their lack of representation at the table.

SEN. ROBERT MENEN communities we represent.

Imagine the administration trying to cut a deal o bringing any members of the Congressional Black Caucus to the table.

That would never be tolerated, and we absolutely cannot tolerate this either.

LISA DESJARDINS: There is no deal yet, and we do not know if the Senate is going to stay or go, but the next 24 hours will tell us so much, William.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Lisa Desjardins, as always, thank y To explain exactly what changes with a formal impeachment inquiry, I'm joined by Michael Gerhardt.

He is a prof the impeachment hearings of Presidents Clinton, Trump, and Biden.

His upcoming book "The Law of Presidential Impeachment: A Guide for the Engaged Citizen" is out next month.

Michael Gerhardt, thank you so Un der former Speaker McCarthy, the House Republicans had alread You were there testifying about this in September.

So what changes with today?

MICHAEL GERHARDT, University of as any evidence is concerned.

One of the embarrassing things that h to everybody that there was no evidence of President Biden's wrongdoing.

But what's changed is, we have a new speaker.

And, as you have pointed out previously in the progra believe that, by calling this formally an impeachment inquiry, they will have in courts more power, the courts will recognize that the House has more power to go after Hunter Biden.

And, again, on Hunter Biden and not on President Biden.

But Hunter Biden is not an impeachable official.

He's a private citizen.

WILLIAM BRANGH have had these committee hearings and we have been looking into this, that we do need these investigative tools.

So, specifically, what things are MICHAEL GERHARDT: It's actually not entirely clear.

They -- they -- what Republicans are saying is that they're not getting compli some subpoenas and they're not getting the data that they want.

But the problem is that Republicans want to use these subpoenas for a fishing expedition.

They don't know what they're looking for.

They don't know if they will find it.

The problem, again, is that the cart has been pu We have got an impeachment inquiry for the first time in American history authorized against the president in the absence of credible evidence.

And, instead, Republicans are hoping that with this formal authorization of an impeachment inquiry, they can persuade courts that they can perhaps get at bank accounts they have not been able to get up before, not because they think there's anything there necessarily, but because they're still fishing to try and find stuff about President Biden, as opposed to Hunter Biden.

WILLIAM BRAN argue that they do need those tools and that you might characterize i but is it not -- is it considered somehow illegitimate for them to use this process to try to get at those answers?

MICHAEL GERHARDT: At this point, I w impeachment inquiries are authorized once there's credible evidence of presidential wrongdoing.

That happene Richard Nixon back in the 1970s.

This is an unusual circumstance, in which Republicans are finding out lo about Hunter Biden, and they want more subpoenas to get at not just Hunter Biden, but other people in the Biden family who may or may not have information about Joe Biden.

That's almost the definition of a fishing expedition.

They don't know what people know.

Instead, they just want to have wh at comes up.

It may or may But, again, that's not how the process is supposed to wo Typically, House committees investigate, discover evidence that may show that the president has committed some kind of serious wrongdoing.

Keep in mind as well, at the September hearing, the Republicans' own witne didn't find any evidence at that point showing Biden had committed an impeachment offense.

So nothing's changed between their saying that and today, except that, today, the House approved a formal impeachment inquiry against President Biden, with the hope that they will have greater subpoena power to conduct this ex -- this inquiry to discover who knows what.

We don't know what they're looking for, and I don't know if they know what they're looking for.

WILLIAM BRAN I mean, what comes next?

What do you expect to likely happen MICHAEL GERHARDT: Well, I thin like the Oversight Committee and the Judiciary Committee, and they will begin to conduct hearings, at which supposedly there will be some evidence gathering and evidentiary find In addition, there may be a court case filed against some of these subpoenas.

That's what the Republican leadership's worried about.

And in the court cases, at that point, courts will the of the subpoenas that have been issued.

And the Republican hope is, by formally authorizing the in mechanism Congress has for investigations, impeachment, to support their inquiry.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Michael Gerhardt at the University of North Carolina School of Law, thank you so much for being here.

MICHAEL GERHARDT: Thank you.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: With Congress deadlocked on whether to approve tens of billions of dollars in additional aid for Ukraine, that nation's domestic arms industry is becoming increasingly important.

And perhaps the most vital weap Nick Schifrin and videographer Eric O'Connor the front line in Southern Ukraine to understand how drones have transformed this war.

NICK SCHIFRIN: In war, there's never a safe space.

But, in this war, when the eyes in the sky are unblinking, the hunters are Why are we staying under the trees?

LT. ASHOT ARTIUN all the time.

Come under the trees Above us, there ar That's why we constantly need to be under trees.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Lieutenant Ashot Artiunian's in artificial intelligence.

His day job is leading this volunteer a MacBook Pro, a tablet with real-time intelligence of Russian positions, and a Ukrainian drone made of foam.

It's held together with du help destroy millions of dollars of Russian equipment.

And above the field of sunflowers that have become symbol of Ukraine's resistance, Ukraine's latest homemade invention takes flight.

It's flown by a three-person team who crowdfund their equipment, a 23-year-old go es by Gremlin, call sign Hacker, who we're keeping anonymous because his family is under Russian occupation, and an Lithuanian named Zinger.

In this drone war, each side tries to jam the other's drone using electronic warfare ZINGER, Ukrainian Soldier: We lost the view.

They jammed the frequency, which I cannot Th ere's one frequency.

So we have the opportunity to vi ew.

NICK SCHIFRI warfare?

ZINGER: All We're losing NICK SCHIFRIN: Earlier in the war, outside Bakhmut, they lost nearly a In total, Ukraine's armed forces has been losing 10,000 drones a month.

U.S. officials admit they don't have an answer for Russia's superior electronic warfare.

ZINGER: The Russians will drive a freaking truck of this kind of equipment.

It's old-school, yes, but it's going to be like many times more powerful than this modern Western equipment.

GREMLIN, Ukr good.

NICK SCHIFRI vehicles and the jamming devices that are hunting them.

The live video feedback is black and white and isn't great quality.

But there's a second higher-quality camera on the drone that they watch afterward back at base.

GREMLIN: Now NICK SCHIFRIN: In the room where they sleep in an undisclosed location 10 miles away, the team combs through video their drone just filmed.

They compare today's video with satellite or drone images from yesterday, like this Russian vehicle.

GREMLIN: Her So, now we will put it into the system as a target.

I put the target, the coordinates of the targets, put th this information.

It's definitely something ne We haven't seen it yesterday.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And then GREMLIN: We suspect that it can be radio-electronic warfare system.

Looking at the shadows, you can notice that there are seen antennas.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Oh, wow.

They sent the image to artill And a few hours later, another drone watched as a Ukrainian shell destroyed the Russian vehicle.

Drones have changed this war and warfare, as Ukrainians have bragged about online with highly produced videos, from small bombs dropped from drones to FPV, or first-person view, drones that can crash into military vehicles or fly through the back of disabled vehicles.

Cheap drones destroy expensive equipment.

But it goes both ways.

Russian videos show how Russian drones help stop Ukraine's c The U.S. assumed that Ukraine could succeed by combining the massing of vehicles with the movement of troops.

Russian drones helped find and destro through Russian defenses.

And Russian drones menace Ukrainian buildings and critical infrastructure Lviv.

In many ways, is thi MYKHAILO FEDOROV, Ukrainian Minister For Digital Transformation (th and tomorrow is about drones.

The outcome of this war depends on how many dr used.

NICK SCHIFRI transformation, who's in charge of Ukraine's effort to create an army of drones.

MYKHAILO FEDOROV (through translator): An incredibly large industry was born in Ukraine in one year and has a large potential to scale up.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Is Russia also doing the same?

MYKHAILO FEDOROV (through translator): and a war of economies.

And whoever improves the level th e battlefield, will lose less people and will hit targets more effectively.

We have to do everything to win the war of technologies.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Ukraine will need to win that war with its own industry.

This is Airlogix, a drone company in an undisclosed warehouse in Kyiv.

It's one of 200 domestic manufacturers that have increased local production more than 100 times.

Before the war, they designed To day, they work for Ukraine's military.

VITALLI KOLESNICHENKO, Founder and Mana we had no choice because we have to de NICK SCHIFRIN: Vitalli Kolesnichenko is Airlogix's founder and manager.

VITALLI KOLESNICHENKO (through translator): Wherever you look in every garage, something is being made for the needs of the armed forces in the conte They are being developed everywhere in Ukraine.

I believe that this is already the start of Ukra development.

NICK SCHIFRI One of their newest is lightweight, its parts cut with a laser out of lightweight wood and with a 3-D printer out of rubber.

Their flagship is a reconnaissance drone called the 10,000 feet.

It's launched by catapult and us Do you know what your long-range drones are being used for?

VITALLI KOLESNICHENKO (through translator): No.

It's classified.

(LAUGHTER) NICK SCHIFRI lines inside Russia.

They have also struck the heart Lo ng term, developing long-range drones that scale and bringing the may be the best way to turn the war's tide.

And Ukraine has also used naval drones to attack Russian ships That has helped Ukraine push the Russian fleet far enough back to open up Ukrainian Black Sea shipping lanes.

But Ukraine has a long way t And, as U.S. financing is threatened, it will be increasingly up to to help win a drone war where innovation and adaptation happens every day on the front line.

For the "PBS WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Tesla has recalled two million cars, nearly every Tesla sold in the U.S. since 2012, because of issues with their self-driving features.

Over the last two years, U.S. safety regulators have investigated nearly 1,000 crashes invo Tesla's autopilot system, which can take over fully steering, braking and acceleration.

A Washington Post report found about 40 of these crashes were fatal, including eight where autopilot was engaged on roads where it was not supposed to be used at all.

Washington Post reporter Faiz Siddiqui was one of their journalists who did this analysis.

Faiz Siddiqui, thank you so much for being here.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So there's this enormous re Can you tell us a little bit about what regulators and your o with this self-driving autopilot feature with Teslas?

FAIZ SIDDIQUI, Technology Reporter, The Washington Post: So what regulators have th at Tesla autopilot is essentially able to ac to be used.

This was the subje We found there were eight deadly crashes or serious crashes in which autopi on a road that was not the type of highway, on-ramp to off-ramp, think of an interstate, in which it was designed to be used.

So there are these locations of what the reg abuse the software by activating it, say, on a long and winding road with a lot of intersections, any kind of residential city surface street, where this is really intended -- think about cruise control -- or an interstate highway or at least a highway with clear demarcated lane lines, exits, a center divider or what have you.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: You focus in particular on one 2019 crash in Florida, a man named Jeremy Banner, where he used autopilot on one of these roads that you were describing as not appropriate for autopilot.

Can you explain what happened in that case?

FAIZ SIDDIQUI: Yes.

So in the Je named Joshua Brown.

In the Banner crash, a car was a semitruck.

Banner was killed.

The truck was obviously pulling out of a s And the car actually didn't come to a stop until hundreds of feet later.

So this was one of the early instances of autopilot activated in a location where you're wondering, why is this working somewhere a truck could be pulling into?

That does not seem like a controlled access highway.

And it also raised this question of, is autopilot struggling to see se the middle of the road?

WILLIAM BRAN it gets this warning that you're supposed to keep your hands on the steering wheel and stay alert to jump in if needed.

But there's really no way to enforce that a driver does that, right?

FAIZ SIDDIQUI: There is a way.

I don't know if there's a regu NHTSA has said it's an issue that is complex, Th e regulator would essentially have to impose a sort of a restriction that it doesn't want to be seen as imposing, as opposed to having voluntary compliance, which is where Tesla is saying, hey, it is your responsibility to activate autopilot in a location in which it is safe.

We are not g feature is that it makes it feel like the car is driving itself.

Of course, it is not a self-driving car.

So it's more of a question of regulatory will and, I suppose, wh the company is willing to impose.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I me 4,000-to-5,000-pound vehicles to have these features is regulatory oversight.

Do those critics believe that this current step is appropriate or sufficient?

FAIZ SIDDIQUI: I have spoken with a lot of people in this space, and I would say that the critical analysis of this, and especially the current recall, is that, OK, let's ensure that this is not lip service to the idea that Tesla does something.

Let's ensure that Tesla actually does restrict the software to the conditions for which it has been designed.

So one potential vein of criticism here It is a voluntary recall.

The ball is now in Tesla's form of notifications, warnings, but they aren't going to be, like -- they aren't going to fully restrict the software from operating in these locations.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Faiz Siddiqui of The Washi FAIZ SIDDIQUI: Thank you.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And that is the "NewsHour" for tonight.

I'm William Brangham.

Join us again here For all of us at the "PBS NewsHour," thank We will see you soon.