AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening. I'm Amna Nawaz. GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett. On the “NewsHour” tonight: Israel acceptsresponsibility for a strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen workers delivering aidin Gaza. AMNA NAWAZ: Transportation Secretary PeteButtigieg on efforts to rebuild Baltimore's Key Bridge and reopen the city's port. PETE BUTTIGIEG, U.S. Secretary of Transportation:If there's anything that Democrats and Republicans can come together on, it's supporting a partof our country that is hurting and getting.
Infrastructure back the way it needs to be. GEOFF BENNETT: And Florida's Supreme Courtpaves the way for a six-week abortion ban, but also allows the issue on the ballot in the fall. (BREAK) GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the “NewsHour.” There have been few incidents in six monthsof war in Gaza that have created the level of outrage that leaders across three continentsexpressed today.
AMNA NAWAZ: Overnight, Israel killed sevenmembers of the charity World Central Kitchen, one Palestinian and six foreigners, includingone dual American-Canadian, as well as an Australian and Europeans. The president of the U.S. called the group'sfounder, the chef Jose Andres, to express his heartbreak. Israel called the killings unintended andvows to investigate. Nick Schifrin begins our coverage. NICK SCHIFRIN: In the words of the World CentralKitchen, this was a targeted attack, a direct hit on the group's armored vehicle, incineratingeverything and everyone inside, all that was.
Left intact, a metal plate with the group'slogo. They came here from all over the world tofeed the hungry. They weave in the white body bags worn bythis war's more than 30,000 victims, among them, the group's Palestinian driver, SaifAbu-Taha. This was all a mistake, said Israeli PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahu. BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Israeli Prime Minister(through translator): Unfortunately, in the last day, there was a tragic incident of anunintended strike of our forces on innocent people on the Gaza Strip. This happens in war.
We are checking this thoroughly. We are in touch with the governments, andwe will do everything for this not to happen again. NICK SCHIFRIN: But World Central Kitchen saysit coordinated with the Israeli military as the convoy left its warehouse in Deir al Balahby the sea in Central Gaza. Israeli munitions hit an initial vehicle. The Israeli newspaper “Haaretz” reports thatWorld Central Kitchen workers then moved to another vehicle that was struck, and thena third vehicle that was struck as they traveled on or next to the coastal road that Israeldesignates for humanitarian aid.
DAMIAN SOBOL, World Central Kitchen: Hello,everyone. Damian checking in from Cairo. NICK SCHIFRIN: Damian Sobol from Poland recentlyshowed a warehouse full of supplies to feed 20,000 Gazans. LALZAWMI “ZOMI” FRANKCOM, World Central Kitchen:Hey, this is Zomi and chef Olivier. NICK SCHIFRIN: Lalzawmi Frankcom was knownby everyone as Zomi. She was Australian, and in March showed offthe World Central Kitchen's Gaza chef and the meals he prepared. Her friends said, when others faced theirdarkest moments, she was a shining light of.
Comfort. Last night both their passports were coveredin blood. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese: ANTHONY ALBANESE, Australian Prime Minister:This is just completely unacceptable. Australia expects full accountability forthe deaths of aid workers. NICK SCHIFRIN: Secretary of State Antony Blinken: ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. Secretary of State: Weshouldn't have a situation where people who are simply trying to help their fellow humanbeings are themselves at grave risk. NICK SCHIFRIN: Multiple victims were British.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak: RISHI SUNAK, British Prime Minister: We'reasking Israel to investigate what happened urgently because, clearly, there are questionsthat need to be answered. NICK SCHIFRIN: The war in Gaza has been thedeadliest ever for humanitarian workers. The U.N. says at least 196 have been killedsince Hamas' October 7 terrorist attacks. U.S. officials cite poor Israeli coordinationand deconfliction. Today, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant promisedto establish an independent investigation and brief NGOs on the findings and to opena joint IDF international NGO situation room. Chief military spokesman Rear Admiral DanielHagari:.
REAR ADM. DANIEL HAGARI, Spokesperson, Israeli DefenseForces: We will get to the bottom of this and we will share our findings transparently. NICK SCHIFRIN: Back in Northern Gaza, amidthe ruins of Gaza City, lies the damage done to what was once Gaza's biggest hospital,Al Shifa. The World Health Organization said today theheart of Gaza's health system had been ripped out. The Israeli military says a two-week operationby its equivalent of Navy SEALs killed or detained more than 700 terrorists hiding withinthe buildings.
The Palestinian Health Ministry says hundredswere civilians, and the U.N. says 20 patients died. After the World Central Kitchen incident,aid organizations are suspending their Gaza operations, as the U.N. warns that Gaza ison the brink of famine. For the “PBS NewsHour,” I'm Nick Schifrin. AMNA NAWAZ: For more on this, we turn to SeanCarroll. He's the president and CEO of Anera. That's a nonprofit helping refugees in theMiddle East. For the last six months, they have been deliveringmedicine, water and food in Gaza, including.
Some 150,000 meals a day. Sean, I just want to begin with your reactionto this news. What did you think when you heard about thekilling of these World Central Kitchen aid workers? SEAN CARROLL, President and CEO, Anera: Ithought, no, this can't be. How can this be? This can't be. This can't be explained. It can't be, and then devastation.
World Central Kitchen are — is a partner. They're colleagues. They're friends. The people who were killed are people thatour team in Gaza work with. So this was devastating, devastating news. AMNA NAWAZ: And we should say too, you andyour team know this loss. Last month, you lost one of your team members,Mousa Shawwa, your logistics coordinator in Gaza. He was killed in an Israeli airstrike aftersheltering with his family in Deir al Balah,.
After he'd been out distributing aid. We are so sorry for your loss. But I have to ask, do you believe it's possiblefor aid workers to work safely in Gaza right now? SEAN CARROLL: Well, look, we have made a decisionto pause our work. And that's not a decision we came to lightly. Our Palestinian staff who live in the communities,who work in the communities that are from and live in, they have never really had safety,but they kept going, and now this level of depravity and inexplicable killing.
And I know there are questions and debatesabout whether it was intentional or unintentional. I think we need to ask ourselves, is one betterthan the other? If this was unintentional, how could thishappen? This was a clearly marked humanitarian aidconvoy of three cars with World Central Kitchen logo and lettering clearly displayed. So how could it be an accident? And the evidence we have seen so far and whatI have heard from our colleagues at World Central Kitchen suggested that it wasn't anaccident, it was intentional. AMNA NAWAZ: Well, let me ask you about that,because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Has, in fact, said it was an unintentionalstrike, that it was what he called a tragic accident. I know you cited some of the evidence whyyou believe it wasn't, but why do you believe Israel would target humanitarian aid workers? SEAN CARROLL: You know, I don't know. I think that's the question we all have toask. And I think Israeli society and the Israeligovernment and the Israeli military need to ask themselves as well, is this contributingto making Israel and Israelis safer? I don't see how it could be.
So after the first reaction of shock and despair,the next reaction is, how could this be? It doesn't make any sense. I can't make any sense of it. How would this be serving any objectives thatmake sense for anybody, for any side of this conflict? AMNA NAWAZ: Netanyahu has also pledged a thoroughinvestigation. U.S. officials have said today they hope itwill be swift and that the findings will be made public. Do you have faith that the Israeli governmentcan investigate its own forces in this case?.
SEAN CARROLL: When an investigation is needed,the parties to the conflict, to the accident, to the incident, to the subject being investigatedare not the best investigators. We should have an independent investigation. We would like to have it for our co-workerMousa Shawwa, who was killed just under a month ago. We still don't have an explanation on thatkilling. This is an absolute minimum requirement, certainlyfor World Central Kitchen, and — but for all of us, because we're wondering, are wenext? AMNA NAWAZ: Sean, have you had communicationsdirectly with Israeli officials about the.
Safety of your team on the ground in Gaza? SEAN CARROLL: Sure. We communicate all the time. We have to deconflict the areas we work, theshelters where our staff and their families are staying, where our staff are sheltering,our distribution centers, our cars. That all has to be deconflicted. We share the coordinates, the map coordinatesof those. And we check in. We check in with them to verify or they checkin with us?.
But we had a check-in from them four daysbefore Mousa Shawwa was killed in an airstrike. And that and this World Central Kitchen killingnow is — makes us worried. It makes us feel like it's not working. AMNA NAWAZ: When you say it's not working,to be clear, you're saying you are in constant contact, groups on the ground are informingIsraeli officials about your location and your coordinates,there's no way you see Israeliofficials would not have known these were aid workers? Is that what you're saying? SEAN CARROLL: I mean, that certainly lookslike the case with the World Central Kitchen,.
Very clearly marked cars in a three-car convoy. And this is something that's been an issueamong many international NGOs throughout the course of this war. And the deconfliction is actually done withthe military, with the IDF. And so the conversations and the communicationsfeel like they're genuine, that we're all doing the right thing, and we're deconflicting,and we're getting things put into the system. But if people are killed, when they shouldn'tbe, then, obviously, we end up questioning whether this is working. And it doesn't seem to be working.
AMNA NAWAZ: And what has been the responsefrom Israeli officials when you raise those concerns? SEAN CARROLL: Well, we don't — we'd likea response on the death of our colleague. We don't have any response. There seemed to be interest initially whenthey mistakenly thought he was an American citizen. That interest seemed to lessen when we saidhe didn't have a U.S. passport. He's a Palestinian. We don't have a response yet.
I hope we will get a response. And I'm sure World Central Kitchen is verymuch going to be demanding an explanation for the death of their staff. AMNA NAWAZ: That is Sean Carroll, presidentand CEO of Anera, a nonprofit helping people in Gaza, suspending operations for now. Mr. Carroll, thank you for your time. SEAN CARROLL: Thank you for having me. GEOFF BENNETT: In the day's other headlines:President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone in their first conversationsince a summit in California last November.
White House officials said the topics rangedfrom Taiwan to fentanyl to artificial intelligence. They described the conversation as — quote– “candid and constructive,” as the leaders try to tamp down tensions. JOHN KIRBY, NSC Coordinator For StrategicCommunications: We believe that there is no substitute for regular communication at theleader level to effectively manage this complex and often tense bilateral relationship. And both presidents agreed to pick up thephone and speak when needed. GEOFF BENNETT: As for Xi, China's state broadcasterquoted him as saying that Beijing and Washington should make stability in relations a priority.
The president also hosts Muslim American leadersfor a meeting tonight and iftar dinner, breaking the day's fast during the Islamic holy monthof Ramadan. The gathering was reportedly downsized afterinvitations were declined by some Muslim American community leaders amid ongoing political tensionsover the war in Gaza. Ukrainian military drones struck a major oilrefinery today in a drone-making factory in what may be the deepest attack inside Russiayet. The targets were near cities in Tatarstansome 750 miles east of Ukraine. Initial reports said the attacks did no significantdamage. Cell phone video caught the moment one ofthe drones crashed, causing a large blast.
An official on the scene said two people wereinjured. In Turkey, a fire at an Istanbul nightclub haskilled at least 29 people. The blaze broke out today as the club wasundergoing renovations while it's closed for Ramadan. Flames and smoke engulfed the site and rescuersbrought out the injured as the fire left the club in charred ruins. Istanbul's mayor said the city had never approvedthe construction work. EKREM IMAMOGLU, Mayor of Istanbul, Turkey(through translator): There's no application.
To the local municipality for renovation orconstruction. And, as it was below the ground level, therepair work wasn't visible. GEOFF BENNETT: There was no word on the causeof the blaze, but several people were detained for questioning. Here at home, hundreds of thousands of peoplelost power across the nation's midsection as severe storms rolled through. In Southern Indiana, some homes had theirroofs ripped away. And Kentucky's governor declared a state ofemergency as communities cleared through debris scattered by high winds.
In Northeastern Oklahoma, the storm frontspawned three possible tornadoes. At least one person was killed. Four more states had their say in presidentialprimaries today. Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island and thebattleground state of Wisconsin. President Biden and former President Trumphave already locked down their nominations. Still, the contests are being watched forthe degree of opposition both men still face within their parties. Anti-smoking advocates are suing the Bidenadministration over a stalled ban on menthol cigarettes.
The administration had planned to outlaw theflavoring last summer, but the action had been delayed for months. The groups who sued today say, in the meantime,tobacco companies are still targeting youth, women, and Black smokers. And on Wall Street, stocks gave ground onworries that the Fed may opt for fewer interest rate cuts than expected this year. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 396points to close at 39170. The Nasdaq fell 156 points. The S&P 500 slipped 38.
Still to come on the “NewsHour”: the falloutaround rap mobile Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is accused of rape, sexual assault, and humantrafficking; the evolving role of America's first ladies; and author Percival Everetton his reworking of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” from Jim's point of view. A massive cleanup operation is under way atthe site of the deadly bridge collapse in Baltimore last week. Crews are undertaking painstaking tasks, removingsharp, twisted steel and concrete debris from the port. No one knows just yet how long it will taketo clean up the wreckage and reopen the channel.
But the Biden administration has pledged tohelp rebuild the bridge, and the president is expected to ask for more federal fundingsoon to make that happen. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg isgoing to play a key role in all of this. And he joins us now. Welcome back to the “NewsHour.” PETE BUTTIGIEG, U.S. Secretary of Transportation:Good to be back with you. GEOFF BENNETT: The Washington Post reportedthat rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge will take years and cost hundreds of millionsof dollars. Do you agree with that assessment?.
And how difficult will it be to get that funding,given Congress' inability to pass much of anything these days? PETE BUTTIGIEG: That assessment is certainlyplausible. We have not yet seen a hard timeline. And, remember, there are a lot of things yetto be known, both in terms of the condition of the parts of the bridge that did not collapse,and in terms of the design of what will take its place. For example, one advantage of having a designthat's identical or similar to the old bridge is, it could be done more quickly.
On the other hand there may be advantagesto having a different design. Those are decisions that the state, underthe leadership of Governor Moore, will work through. We're not going to dictate that. What we are going to do is make sure thatthere's funding and, whenever requested, technical assistance to help them get that job done. We have already moved the first $60 millionmade available through our emergency relief program. There is certainly going to be a need formore funding.
We will do what we can with the dollars wehave, but, if we need to turn to Congress for more dollars, I hope and expect that thatwill be a bipartisan priority. If you think back to the Minnesota bridgecollapse back in 2007, it was a matter of days before Congress passed legislation toget more funding to make sure that they were able to rebuild that bridge. And a little more recently, the bipartisaninfrastructure package itself was delivered with a bipartisan vote. So I know that this is a polarized time, butI'd like to think, if there's anything that Democrats and Republicans can come togetheron, it's supporting a part of our country.
That is hurting and getting infrastructureback the way it needs to be. GEOFF BENNETT: Will the administration waivecertain regulations to speed up the process of clearing the debris and ultimately rebuildingthe bridge? PETE BUTTIGIEG: We will tear down any bureaucraticor administrative barrier that we responsibly can. To be clear, this has to be done safely. It has to be done properly, whether we'retalking about checks to make sure that taxpayer funds are being used the right way or anysafety consideration. But within that and within the framework ofthe law, we're going to provide as much flexibility.
As we responsibly can because we have gotto get this port back open and we have got to get that bridge back up. The port reopening will, of course, come soonerthan the bridge replacement, but both of those are important, not just for Baltimore, butreally for our supply chains, for the U.S. economy. We have got to do everything we can to getit done. GEOFF BENNETT: I want to ask you about railsafety, because you announced a new rule today requiring two-person crews on railroads ina move to improve safety after that toxic derailment in East Palestine last year.
The railroads say that the size of train crewsshould be determined by union contract talks, and not by federal regulators, since thereisn't enough data to support this notion that two-person crews are actually safer. What's your reaction to that? PETE BUTTIGIEG: I would start with commonsense. The idea that you could run a two-mile-longtrain, maybe even a longer train than that — some of them are getting closer to threemiles — and have only one human being on board that train, my guess is, most Americanswould be surprised to learn that, until this morning, that wasn't already prevented.
We're talking about the absolute commonsenseminimum here of having two people on board a freight train that could be moving throughan American community. And, again, these trains are getting to betwo-miles-long or longer. Now, this is something that was developedactually back in the Obama administration, was the first work done on this. The Trump administration halted that work. We picked that work back up even before whathappened in East Palestine, but our attention to rail safety measures, including this one,was, of course, supercharged by the national focus on railroad safety that East Palestinebrought.
And that's just one of many areas that wehave been working on. I also want to reiterate my call on Congressto do more. They have a Bipartisan Railway Safety Actjust sitting there waiting its turn. It's been more than a year since that Ohiocrash. Congress needs to act. Anything that doesn't require an act of Congress,we're going to seek to do on our own here at the department, like today's rule. GEOFF BENNETT: You know, it strikes me freighttrains are getting longer in the U.S., as you say, in some cases three-miles-long.
You also have cargo ships that are in somecases now dangerously big, like the one that caused the bridge collapse in Baltimore. In your view, are the modes of transport gettingtoo big, or do we need to improve our capacity and our infrastructure to accommodate them? PETE BUTTIGIEG: I think it really dependson the mode of transportation. It's not automatically intrinsically safe– unsafe to have a larger ship or a larger train or, for that matter, a larger vehicleor a larger aircraft. But it is very important that every step betaken to make sure that, as they grow or as they have any other feature that's differentfrom before, that it is safer than ever.
And that's where regulation comes in. It's vitally important that we maintain thepattern we have had in this country of making our modes of transportation more safe. And we still have a long way to go, especiallyon highway safety, but also in railroad safety. GEOFF BENNETT: Lastly, a question about Boeing. They're facing a significant safety crisisafter that door panel flew off at Alaska Airlines flight some months ago. The company's CEO announced that he's leavingat the end of the year. The head of the commercial airplanes at Boeinghas already left.
What concerns remain? Is this leadership overhaul sufficient? PETE BUTTIGIEG: I would say it's going totake a lot more than what individual has what title at that company. And that's something I have communicated tothe senior leadership at Boeing. It's something that our FAA administrator,Mike Whitaker, made clear after his visit to their key manufacturing facility, and hasput them on a 90-day clock — we're roughly 30 days into that — to put together a comprehensiveplan. And FAA is not going to let them increasetheir rate of production until and unless.
They demonstrate that they can do it safely. We're talking about operational issues. We're talking about observations that werecaught in the audit on the shop floor, but we're also talking about culture. And I would say that whoever lines up at thehelm of Boeing, as well as their board and everybody up and down that entire organization,they all have to be prepared to put safety first. So much depends on it. Look, the aviation safety record of the UnitedStates of America is extraordinary.
But there is nothing about that that guaranteesthat it'll be the same for the future. That's why every incident like this gets anextraordinary amount of attention. It's why Boeing is under a microscope, andit's why it's going to stay that way as they work to demonstrate that they can safely increasetheir production. GEOFF BENNETT: Do you feel safe flying ona Boeing-made jet? PETE BUTTIGIEG: I fly on a Boeing made jetjust about every other day. And, yes, every time I step on an airliner,I know that I am safe. And if I'm with my family, I know that myfamily is safe because of all of the work that goes into overseeing that, the work ofthe FAA, the work of all of the professionals.
In the aviation sector, including, importantly,those flight crews on board, who do such good work. Every time I get on that airplane, I knowI'm participating in the safest mode of transportation in America, which is an astonishing thing,if you consider what air travel is, flying through the air at nearly the speed of sound. But, again, you can't take that for granted. Safety is not a destination. It is something that we have to continuallywork toward and reinforce. GEOFF BENNETT: That is Transportation SecretaryPete Buttigieg.
Thanks again for your time and for your insightsthis evening. PETE BUTTIGIEG: Thank you. AMNA NAWAZ: Just last week, federal agentsrated two homes of rapper and music mogul Sean “P. Diddy” Combs in Los Angeles and Miami. Combs is the subject of a federal investigationand already facing a series of civil lawsuits from several women and at least one man, alleginghe either assaulted, abused or trafficked them. Some of the accusations date back at least30 years, and Combs has denied all allegations. For the latest now, I'm joined by Sidney Madden,music reporter for NPR and co-host of its.
Podcast “Louder Than a Riot.” So, Sidney, let's begin with those raids byfederal investigators. What do we know about why they went in andwhat they found? SIDNEY MADDEN, NPR Music: Well, it's not exactlyclear what the charges are that prompted these raids, although we do know that, in the civilsuits that were recently filed against him dating back last year that date back decades,there have been many allegations of sex trafficking in the midst of those civil suits, and thatHomeland Security and federal agents do investigate those charges criminally. AMNA NAWAZ: So, Sidney, remind us as well.
Now, there was a late 2023 lawsuit by Mr.Combs' former girlfriend Cassie Ventura that really opened the door for these other lawsuitsto follow. What was so damning in that original lawsuitthat prompted this cascade of lawsuits we have seen since? SIDNEY MADDEN: Cassie Ventura's original lawsuit,it really did open the floodgates, as you said, because it detailed almost two decadesof hidden coercion, abuse, assault, even rape. And it was kind of the dark side of theirvery public relationship and their working relationship in the music industry that datesback to the early 2000s. AMNA NAWAZ: And when we talk about these otherlawsuits, how many more are we talking about?.
And are the allegations consistent acrossall of those cases? SIDNEY MADDEN: So, as of this date, therehave been five civil suits filed against Diddy. And the latest one, again, as of this date,is filed by Lil Rod, AKA Rodney Jones, who is a music producer who worked for Diddy between2022 and 2023. And Jones is the same behaviors and indiscretionsthat have been that Cassie and other people have claimed that the music mogul was doingall of this time, things like using people on his staff for drug mules, things like pushingdrugs onto multiple people on his team, pushing people onto his team. Lil Rod accuses Diddy of groping him, accusesDiddy of having people on his staff proposition.
And sexually assault him, and he's accusinghim of propositioning sex workers all throughout the United States to come to Diddy and havealleged freak-offs. AMNA NAWAZ: As we mentioned, Sean Combs deniesall of the allegations. Have we seen any kind of a public responsefrom him, though, online or in any other form to these accusations? SIDNEY MADDEN: It's been a lot of sidestepping,I would say, publicly from Diddy. He broke his silence on social media recentlyby posting a lot of his children for Easter Sunday. He's been very jovial, I would say, publicly-facing,but Diddy's legal team says they vehemently.
Deny all of these claims and that the HomelandSecurity raids specifically were a gross misuse of military-level force. AMNA NAWAZ: Sidney, I think it's fair to sayit doesn't get bigger than Diddy in the music world. He works in — moves in rarefied circles ofentertainment and celebrity. Have any of these allegations had an impacton those relationships, business or personal? SIDNEY MADDEN: Definitely. I mean, the fallout from these allegationsso far has definitely been a blow to Diddy's business and his public reputation.
So, since these allegations started to comeout, he has stepped down as chairman of Revolt TV, Revolt Entertainment, his news media channel. He's also sold off all of his shares of that. And he's parted ways with the liquor companythat used to distribute a lot of his name-brand liquors and collaborations. And there have been a lot of people in thehip-hop space who have kind of just used this as a moment to say that all of these indiscretionsthat he's being accused of are open secrets that have been proliferated in the music industryover the years. But what that fails to interrogate is howthey have been able to operate as open secrets.
Without anybody calling him out, for fearof losing their proximity, their business, their just access to his celebrity. AMNA NAWAZ: What about that allegation ofthis being an open secret for so long? I mean, when you and I spoke at the end of2023 after the Ventura lawsuit, we talked about whether this was some larger momentof reckoning in the industry. And back then, you said it was too early totell. But what do you make of that now? SIDNEY MADDEN: Now, I would say, I think,as more time has passed and more suits have been carried out, there are many more peoplein positions of power who are publicly distancing.
Themselves from him. And in the hip-hop space, it's about money,power and respect. I would definitely say the fallout is happening. AMNA NAWAZ: That is Sidney Madden, music reporterfor NPR and co-host of the podcast “Louder Than a Riot.” Sidney, thank you. SIDNEY MADDEN: Thank you. GEOFF BENNETT: Now to a major developmentin the fight over abortion access. The Florida Supreme Court late Monday pavedthe way for the state's six-week abortion.
Ban to take effect. But the justices in a separate ruling saidFlorida voters will be able to decide on a constitutional amendment protecting abortionaccess in November. Lynda Bell is president of Florida Right toLife, one of the state's largest anti-abortion groups, and she joins us now. Thank you for being with us. LYNDA BELL, President, Florida Right to Life:You're welcome. It's my pleasure. GEOFF BENNETT: What's your assessment of thisdecision by the state's Supreme Court, on.
The one hand paving the way for the six-weekabortion ban to become law in Florida in 30 days, while giving Florida voters the finalsay in November? LYNDA BELL: Yes, it seems a little bit contradictory. But in light of the fact that we thought theprivacy clause in the Florida Constitution would be stricken — and so, basically, the15-week bill was challenged based on the fact that they used privacy in the Florida Constitutionto say that privacy includes abortion. The Supreme Court said, no, it does not. It does not include that. It was never meant to include that.
So they ruled that. So once the 15-week bill was upheld, thatallowed for the six-week bill that was passed last year and signed by our governor — sothat was what happened there. Now, the other decision went 4-3, with thethree women dissenting against the four men. And the three women thought that the ballotlanguage should be struck because of the ambiguity and how vague and how actually deceptive itwas. And even the majority, in the majority opinion,even in their opinion that I was reading, it ruled that, while it was quite ambiguousand vague, that it still shouldn't be struck, which really struck me very much.
And I love the three women, their dissent. I have actually put their quotes in my pressrelease because they're saying that you expect us to not use the fact that we have used factsthat we have used in the past under previous decisions. But let me just say this. This language is very dangerous. And it has loopholes enough for an elephantto go through. GEOFF BENNETT: Well, let me ask you this,Ms. Bell, because abortion had once been broadly accessible in Florida.
But Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has nowsigned two major abortion bans, initially one starting at 15 weeks and more recentlyone starting at six weeks, before most women even know that they're pregnant. And Donald Trump has described a six-weekban as — quote — “a terrible thing and a terrible mistake.” Why can't Republicans and anti-abortion advocatesfind consensus on an acceptable path forward, when overturning Roe had been a decades-longpursuit among conservatives and anti-abortion activists? LYNDA BELL: Well, we pro-lifers — we liketo be called pro-lifers, rather than anti-abortion.
But we are pro-life. Now, the anti-life community, they want abortion. It doesn't matter. They don't care. They want abortion through birth. So they want unfettered access. GEOFF BENNETT: Ms. Bell, that's not true. LYNDA BELL: It's — this language right heredoes not stop that, because everything is to be determined by the health care provider.
So the health care provider, when it saysviability, what that means is, it's going to be determined by the health care provider. So abortion literally could go through birth. That is absolutely a fact. Now, jumping into your specific question,the six-week bill provided for rape, incest, life of the mother, medical emergency, fetalanomaly. So there were very many exceptions in therefor women who needed to have an abortion procedure in these very dangerous situations for them,because we're not just pro-baby. We're pro-woman.
And we don't want any woman to experienceanything that would be dangerous for them. So we in the pro-life community, we love themboth. We love both the babies and their moms. GEOFF BENNETT: Well, let me ask you this,because the data is clear that states with more abortion restrictions have higher ratesof maternal and infant mortality. How are those outcomes consistent with yourorganization's stated goal of protecting the sanctity of life? LYNDA BELL: Well, I don't know that that datais absolutely correct, and so I'd love to challenge that data as well.
In fact, I'm going to look into that data. (CROSSTALK) GEOFF BENNETT: It's from the CommonwealthFund. It's an independent research organizationfocused on health policy. LYNDA BELL: Yes, I'd like to look at theirbase data first, because we have seen so many polls and so much data out that is very factuallyflawed. So I'd love to take a look at that, becauseI'm telling you, this amendment right here is dangerous for girls, it's dangerous forwomen, and it does nothing to protect anybody. What it does, it does — it's not a pro-woman.
It's not a pro-girl. It is nothing but pro-abortion. GEOFF BENNETT: When this six-week ban takeseffect, how life-threatening must a pregnancy be to end it legally? LYNDA BELL: Rape, incest, life of the mother,medical emergency, fetal anomaly. I mean, anything that would be considereda situation, any kind of dangerous situation, that woman can have an abortion immediately. So, every single base was covered when itcomes to protecting women's lives. GEOFF BENNETT: That is Lynda Bell, presidentof Florida Right to Life.
Thanks for your time this evening. LYNDA BELL: Thank you. AMNA NAWAZ: The first lady of the United Statesis often studied with a mixture of fascination and scrutiny. GEOFF BENNETT: Laura Barron-Lopez has moreon a new book that looks at the modern age of the role. LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Part policy messenger,part campaign whisperer, part style icon, expectations of America's first lady shapeshift with each administration. In her new book, “American Woman: The Transformationof the Modern First Lady, from Hillary Clinton.
To Jill Biden,” New York Times correspondentKatie Rogers explores how each wife has brought something unique to this ever-changing role. Katie, thank you so much for joining us. I want to start with your inspiration forthis book. You mentioned that you have been fascinatedwith the role of the first lady for years now. Why write this? Where did it come from? KATIE ROGERS, Author, “American Woman: TheTransformation of the Modern First Lady, from.
Hillary Clinton to Jill Biden”: I went toschool in Chicago, and the birth of my interest in first ladies grew from covering an exhibitat the Field Museum about Jacqueline Kennedy and how she used style to further Americandiplomacy abroad. She spoke French, and she convinced the Frenchto send over the Mona Lisa across the Atlantic so Americans could see it, and I thought thatwas a really incredible thing for anybody to do in an administration, let alone thefirst lady. So I began covering the Trump White Houseduring the Trump inauguration, essentially. i got moved down from the New York newsroom. And I gravitated toward Melania Trump prettyimmediately because there was so much about.
Her I think that the public really didn'tknow, and there was so much about her that she wasn't willing to let the public know. So she was a really interesting figure tocover as a White House beat reporter. Flash forward to the beginning of the Bidenadministration. I was approached with an idea to do a JillBiden book, as I had been approached before to do Melania Trump books, and I thought Iwould like to actually place them in sort of a lineup of women who've had this rolesince the turn of the century. LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: As you go across thesefirst ladies in modern history, you write that the first lady's behavior is expectedto — quote — “fit every prism of our kaleidoscope.
Of expectations of American womanhood.” How do you find that the role of the firstlady, particularly in the last 30 years, has changed? KATIE ROGERS: They have all sort of struggledwith this idea of whether they should work. Hillary Clinton told me even she said, “Iconsidered it briefly, and then I quickly set it aside.” She had a legal career. Michelle Obama briefly considered trying towork, but put that aside in service of adjusting her two daughters to Washington and makingsure her husband had the best chance he could.
At winning. And Jill Biden is really the first one tosuccessfully say, like, I really want to keep this part of my identity. So I think that is a key way the role haschanged, where this is becoming now a normal conversation, rather than expecting them tosort of give away this chunk of their identity. LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: When you write about JillBiden, you say that her story is modern. Why do you say that? And, also, how does she compare to the othersthat came before her? KATIE ROGERS: Her story is modern because,A, to know anything about the Bidens, you.
Know how Jill Biden came to be in public life. He was elected to the Senate and lost hiswife shortly after in a car accident and his infant daughter. So, really, one of the key questions I hadabout Jill Biden is, who would come in and try to knit this family back together? That is modern, to have a nontraditional family. And that's something that a lot of Americanscan relate to, and it's not always something we see with first families. Living in a family where the North Star isJoe Biden, and there's always a new campaign,.
And there's always a new ambition, to holdon to that as a ballast was really interesting and modern. And I think anybody in a relationship strugglesto kind of figure out the dynamic, the power dynamic there. Even Melania Trump, I think, there were questionsabout, would she do enough with her policy platform? Was she supportive of her husband enough? Did she not move to Washington early enough? All of these women have to sort of make thesetrade-offs and be a political spouse, at the.
End of the day. That's — they're not housewives. They're partners and advisers to the mostpowerful person on the planet. LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: You explore this ideaof the different powers that first ladies can have, whether it's a campaigner like JillBiden, but also diplomacy, like you mentioned with Jacqueline Kennedy. But when you're looking at these modern firstladies, how has the role been used to the president's advantage? KATIE ROGERS: First of all, these women cango places the president can't easily.
So, before President Biden was able to getto Ukraine, Jill Biden secretly went into Ukraine to meet with Olena Zelenska, the firstlady of Ukraine, to offer America's support and a promise that we were going to standby them. And even during the pandemic, she was theone who was going to Southern states, to deep red states, going to colleges and medicalcenters and holding people's hands while they got the vaccines. It's a powerful messaging role that can workand function on behalf of the West Wing. And it's as valuable as any other principal,if it's used correctly or used effectively, I should say.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: When you conducted allof the interviews that you did for this book, which first lady surprised you the most outof the five that you write about? KATIE ROGERS: Yes. Well, what's interesting is, I didn't getto interview her. Laura Bush doesn't do many interviews, soI tried, but I would have loved to interview her because the Bushes were in office whenI was a teenager, and 9/11 happened when I was in high school. Emotions were very high about the wars wewere engaged in. And it was all about him.
So, as a journalist, returning to her reallyand exploring her tenure and her presence as first lady was super fascinating. Their advisers told me she's really the onewho was there to remind him where he came from. She was never somebody who wanted to be apolicy heavy-hitter. She was there to sort of help her husbandin any way she could, but she also became a wartime first lady overnight. And she took over the president's radio address,and she took over an initiative to support Afghan women and girls.
She launched the National Book Festival, whichis still around. So she was really a productive first lady,even though I think at the time people thought of her as more of a helpmate or just a housewifekind of presence. She was super fascinating. LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Katie Rogers, this isa fascinating book. Thank you so much for your time. KATIE ROGERS: Thank you for having me. GEOFF BENNETT: It is one of the cornerstonesof American literature, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain.
Now a new novel takes another look and bringsa little-heard voice to the forefront. Jeffrey Brown speaks to author Percival Everettfor our arts and culture series, Canvas. JEFFREY BROWN: A trip down the MississippiRiver in 19th century America taken by a young white boy, Huck Finn, and an enslaved Blackman named Jim running for his life. Huck told the story in Mark Twain's 1884 novel. But what if Jim had his say? PERCIVAL EVERETT, Author, “James”: It's onlyfair. JEFFREY BROWN: It's only fair? PERCIVAL EVERETT: Yes, Jim, this character,who's become iconic in our literary landscape,.
Has never had a chance to speak. JEFFREY BROWN: In Percival Everett's novel,Jim, or James, does in a voice that is knowing, funny, pained, and deeply humane, expandingthe world Everett first found in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” PERCIVAL EVERETT: I read an abridged versionwhen I was very young. JEFFREY BROWN: Yes. PERCIVAL EVERETT: But when I was a teenagerand I read it again, it had a lot more resonance, even though it was also problematic becauseof the depiction of Jim. JEFFREY BROWN: We joined Everett at New York'srenowned Strand Bookstore, where he was signing.
An enormous stack of his widely acclaimednew book. I have seen this novel described in differentways, a retelling, a reworking, a response to “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” What do you call it? PERCIVAL EVERETT: Well, I understand all thosedesignations, but, to me it's — and maybe I flatter myself in saying it — I considermyself in conversation with Twain. JEFFREY BROWN: Conversation? PERCIVAL EVERETT: Yes. Yes.
I'm perhaps writing the novel that he wasnot equipped to write, and nor would he even imagine it, because his character is HuckFinn. It's Huck's novel. But he could not occupy the psychic and culturalspace that was occupied by Jim. JEFFREY BROWN: Author of more than 30 books,Everett is a famously eclectic and inventive writer, taking on a wide range of genres andsubjects, including sometimes race, as in his 2011 novel “Erasure.” JEFFREY WRIGHT, Actor: Why are these bookshere? ACTOR: I'm not sure.
I would imagine that this author, Ellison,is Black. JEFFREY BROWN: It was the source for the recentfilm “American Fiction” starring Jeffrey Wright that skewered the mostly white publishingindustry for pushing Black authors to write just one stereotypical Black story. Was that character in “Erasure” at least partlyyou? PERCIVAL EVERETT: Well, I have to admit thathe's alarmingly similar to me. (LAUGHTER) JEFFREY BROWN: Alarmingly similar? PERCIVAL EVERETT: I wrote a novel about theGreek God Dionysus called “Frenzy,” and it.
Was turned down by a couple of houses. An editor came to me and said: “Well, we turnedyour novel down.” I said: “Yes, that's cool. I don't mind.” And then this editor said: “Can you tell me,what does Dionysus have to do with Black people?” JEFFREY BROWN: The assumption being that youhave to be writing about Black people? PERCIVAL EVERETT: Well, yes. And I said: “Would you have asked that ofJohn Updike if he had written this novel?” But that's the impediment to making art thatso many writers of color run into, the expectations.
Of what you can make, and also this notionof authenticity, missing the fact that Black people are as diverse as white Americans. What I love about this one is, he put MarkTwain in parentheses. JEFFREY BROWN: Yes. (LAUGHTER) JEFFREY BROWN: So Clemens first. PERCIVAL EVERETT: Clemens first, which I alwayswondered on. JEFFREY BROWN: Of Twain's novel, Ernest Hemingwaysaid, “All modern American literature comes from one book called Huckleberry Finn.”.
Everett acknowledges its importance. PERCIVAL EVERETT: Instead of being a bookabout slavery, the way “Uncle Tom's Cabin” is a book about slavery, this is a book aboutan American youth, about America itself being an adolescent, wandering through its own landscape,trying to come to terms with the contradictions of slavery. That's a pretty remarkable novel. And it's pretty remarkable for its time, whenyou — when you when you view it in that way. In that way, Hemingway is right. JEFFREY BROWN: In Twain's book, Jim speakswhat the author called the Missouri Negro.
Dialect. In Everett's book, James learns to read, butonly in secret. He has imaginary debates over the meaningof equality with the French philosopher Voltaire. And the slave dialect he and all Blacks useis a kind of second language, a correct-incorrect grammar, in James' bitterly humorous phrase,taught to Black children to use in order to hide their real knowledge, their true selves,a survival mechanism in a brutal world of white dominance and violence. PERCIVAL EVERETT: Any oppressed, enslavedor imprisoned people will find a way to communicate with each other in front of their oppressorswhere their oppressors have no entry into.
Their language. That's what we do as humans. That's our — often, it's — it takes theform of humor. Fulfilling expectations is what will allowthem to survive in this world. And so the way they speak satisfies the expectationsof their oppressors. JEFFREY BROWN: “With a pencil gained at horrificcost to a fellow slave,” James tells us, “I wrote myself into being.” PERCIVAL EVERETT: It's the avenue to freedom. It's the avenue to self-actualization.
What you can say to yourself about yourselfwill define you. JEFFREY BROWN: There are passages here thatare hysterically funny, laugh-out-loud funny. And then, within another short passage, thehorror of slavery comes out. PERCIVAL EVERETT: My humor, ironically, asa child with shape much by Twain. JEFFREY BROWN: Really? PERCIVAL EVERETT: Oh, yes. I can cite the sources of my sense of humor,my father, Mark Twain, Groucho Marx and Bullwinkle, my sources. (LAUGHTER).
JEFFREY BROWN: Because you read Twain in childhood? And… PERCIVAL EVERETT: Yes, “Life on the Mississippi”and “Roughing It,” I thought were hilarious, and hilarious because the humor resides inhis observations, not in jokes. JEFFREY BROWN: But tell me more about thismix of humor and horror. PERCIVAL EVERETT: If you get someone laughing,then you have removed some defenses. You have removed some walls. And then you can show them the bad things. To have someone ask themselves why they'relaughing, then you have done something even.
Better. I don't go to work with a message or a mission,but I do hope to generate thought. JEFFREY BROWN: Is that how you feel as a writer? PERCIVAL EVERETT: Yes. I don't have any stake in what people think,but I certainly want to live in a world where people think. JEFFREY BROWN: Given where we started, theconversation that you wanted to have with Mark Twain, what is it that you hope readerswill take from James? PERCIVAL EVERETT: That that landscape wasnot wandered alone by Huck, that there was.
Another agent there, someone with agency,experiencing this role in a very different way. That wide-eyed, innocent American wanderingthrough that landscape is certainly attractive and youthful and promising, but he's wanderingthrough there with a victim who has built it for him. JEFFREY BROWN: The book is “James.” Percival Everett, thank you very much. PERCIVAL EVERETT: My pleasure. Thank you.
AMNA NAWAZ: Joan Wicks is a sixth grade humanitiesteacher in Los Angeles who helped her students rebound from COVID learning loss through herdevotion and advocacy. The school was recently recognized with theCalifornia Distinguished Schools Award. Tonight, she shares her Brief But Spectaculartake on inspiring a love of learning. JOAN WICKS, Humanities Teacher: Literacy isso important in raising the next generation of kids because we have never had a generationthat's about to face what they're facing. And I'm talking about something that we havetaken for granted, like hanging on to our democracy. So kids have to be an educated and activecitizenry to safeguard our country for the.
Future. I'm not entirely sure that I chose to becomea classroom teacher. I think it chose me. I specifically remember learning to read inthe first grade, and I was so excited about that. It was like magic had opened up to me. I found school to be relatively easy becauseI was such a great reader, and that got me all the way through college. I work at a small charter school in southLos Angeles; 98 percent of our kids qualify.
For free and reduced lunch. We have about 35 percent English languagelearners. Despite these demographics and statistics,there's a lot of hope in this community, and that's one of the reasons I love working there. The sixth grade students I'm teaching rightnow went home in the middle of the second grade during the pandemic, and that was areally critical time, because it's before most kids have become fluent readers. A good number of our students came in readingon the third grade level, and they seem stuck there.
One of the things that we do at our schoolto help young readers is, we provide intervention classes in reading and math for all of ourstudents. So many people were worried about the kids,but they're rebounding and they're coming back with a vengeance. I feel like I'm witnessing a living miraclein South Los Angeles. My approach to teaching aligns with my approachto parenting, because I set very high expectations for my children. If you set that bar high, they're going totry to meet that bar. Well, I have three children.
Gabrielle is in the film industry. My son, Spencer, is employed at a major U.S.bank. And Amanda was the inaugural youth poet laureateof the United States, and she's also published four books. So she's living a very successful life asa poet. The advice I would give to parents about sparkinga love of reading and learning in your children is, you have to be that person. Children are sponges. They look to their parents for everything,the bad habits you picked up.
Even your little quirks, they will pick thoseup too. It's really important that kids experiencewhat a library has to offer, because, aesthetically, libraries are beautiful. When kids see the beauty of books and beautyof the library and it's a comfortable space, that makes them want to learn and read andcome back. So a library is a great place for parentsto take their kids. I get so much joy working with these youngminds and watching them grow. I keep coming back to the classroom year afteryear because I get as much from the students as they get from me.
My name is Dr. Joan Wicks, and this is myBrief But Spectacular take on inspiring a love of learning. AMNA NAWAZ: And you can watch more Brief ButSpectacular videos online at PBS.org/NewsHour/Brief. GEOFF BENNETT: And while you're there, checkout this story about the boom in tourists heading to Oklahoma to view next Monday'ssolar eclipse. AMNA NAWAZ: And join us back here tomorrownight for our report on major shifts in immigration following asylum seekers from around the worldmoving through Mexico to the U.S. border. And that is the “NewsHour” for tonight. I'm Amna Nawaz.
GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett. Thanks for spending part of your evening with us.
