“60 Minutes” correspondent Leslie Stahl and CNN contributor Scott Jennings are among the coterie of journalists, politicians and legal experts participating in “Breaking The Deadlock,” a new series from PBS and WGBH that examines how the nation might react to a fictional crisis scenario, such as the President of the United States asking officials to investigate a political detractor.
The episode is the second in the series, which takes its cues from the Fred Friendly Seminars, a series of televised symposia orchestrated by the former president of CBS News and production partner with the venerable Edward R. Murrow in the early days of news programming on television. Friendly and his wife, Ruth, helped produce more than 100 seminars broadcast on PBS over the course of more than two decades. The seminars covered everything from medical care to nanotechnology to ethical decisions made the during a host of high-pressure scenario.
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The new episode of “Breaking The Deadlock: A Power Play” will be moderated by Aaron Tang, professor at UC Davis School of Law, and will premiere nationwide on Tuesday, May 20, 2025, 9 p.m. eastern, and will also stream via PBS.org, YouTube and the PBS app. The program is introduced by journalist Katie Couric.
Among those taking part in this episode’s panel are : Dr. Dave Brat, senior vice president of business relations at Liberty University and former U.S. representative from Virginia; Chris Christie, former New Jersey governor and managing partner at Christie 55 Solutions LLC; Hon. Allyson K. Duncan, retired U.S. circuit judge; Rep. Dan Goldman, U.S. representative from New York and former assistant U.S. attorney; Alberto R. Gonzales, former U.S. attorney general and dean of Belmont University College of Law; Sarah Isgur, senior editor at “The Dispatch” and co-host of the “Advisory Opinions” legal podcast; Scott Jennings, senior political contributor for CNN and partner at RunSwitch Public Relations; Tim Ryan, former US Representative and senior adviser for the Progressive Policy Institute’s Campaign for Working Americans; Roger Severino, vice president of domestic policy at The Heritage Foundation; Marc Short, former White House legislative affairs director under President Donald Trump; Lesley Stahl, correspondent for CBS’s “60 Minutes;”and Jon Tester, former U.S. senator and farmer.
The pilot episode of “Deadlock” was recently honored with a nomination for the 46th Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards, in the category of “Outstanding News Discussion & Analysis.” Additional episodes are in development and slated to launch this year.
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