john: tonight on "pbs news weekend," why reproductive rights could end up on the ballot this fall in about a dozen states, as the battleground over abortion shifts from the supreme court. then, as air travel returns to pre-pandemic levels, how airlines are cashing in with added fees. and a declining trout population in montana has fishermen, businesses and officials searching for answers. >> we cannot just sit on our hands. we have to do something, and we feel that it truly is an all hands on deck moment. ♪

>> major funding for "pbs news weekend," has been provided by -- >> a proud supporter of public television, on a voyage with cunard, the world awaits, a world of labor, diverse destinations, and immersive experiences. a world of leisure. and british style all with our star service. ♪ >> and with the ongoing support from these individuals and institutions, and friends of the newshour.

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and from contributions to your local pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. john: good evening. i'm john yang. arctic weather has settled in for a weekend visit across much of the nation. one point today, wind chill advisories stretched from parts of montana all the way into central florida. the midwest was particularly harsh today, as wind chills in some places plunged as low as 16 below. areas unfamilar with cold weather now have to deal with it. in memphis, so many water mains broke that water pressure dropped citywide. the cold, snow and ice have been blamed for at least 61 deaths nationwide, many of them involving road accidents or hypothermia. tennessee alone recorded 19

deaths. a potential thaw isn't expected until next week, when above-average temperatures are forecast across most of the nation. across the middle east, the fallout from israel's war with hamas is raising tensions. u.s. forces carried out the 7th round of airstrikes on yemen today, destroying houthi anti-ship missiles they say were being prepared to be launched into the gulf of aden. iran has accused israel of a missile strike on a building in syria that killed five iranian advisors, including members of its revolutionary guard. several hours later in southern lebanon , hezbollah accused israel of a drone strike on a car, killing at least one of its members. the israeli military did not comment. and, in iraq, u.s. personnel suffered minor injuries in a missile attack on the al-asad air base. and, stanford university's women's basketball coach tara vanderveer has tied mike krzyzewski as the winningest coach in college basketball history. last night's victory over oregon was win number 1202 for vanderveer, who's been a head coach for nearly 50 years.

she could surpass krzyzewski's win total at army and duke in tomorrow's game against oregon state. still to come on "pbs news weekend," how added charges are making air travel pricier for many flyers. and what's behind the significant decline of trout in parts of montana. ♪ >> this is "pbs ne weekend," from weta studios in washington, home of the pbs newshour, weeknights on pbs. john: since the supreme court said accs to abortion services was not protected by the u.s. constitution, attempts to use the ballot box to enshrine that right into state constitutions have proliferated. following the supreme court decision in 2022, voters in 7 states, some red, some blue, have been asked to decide about abortion rights. and every time they voted to

protect abortion rights. this fall the issue could be on the ballot in as many as a dozen states, including some where abortion is either totly banned or severely restricted. mary ziegler is a professor at the university of california, davis law school. she's written several books on abortion law, the most recent is "roe: the history of a national obsession.” verso long, the antiabortion movement wanted to get roe overturned, and now they have pretty conservative states voting to put that right into the state constitutn. what does this tell us, or does it tell us more about the american attitude toward abortion? mary: what we have seen post-dobbs is a sign that americans support abortion rights, and i think we have seen some increases in part because i think the reality of banning abortion is a lot harder for americans to digest and abstract concepts might have been like the idea being pro-life or

pro-fetal right i think struck americans differently than living in bans in large swaths of the country. john: why do so many attempts target the u.s. constitution, amending it? do they think that will be harder to circumvent? mary: i think it is because ballot initiative process is go directly to voters, so we have seen state lawmakers in a variety of jurisdictions continue to cater to antiabortion voters and antiabortion advocates, even if that is not in line with what the majority of voters in their states would prefer. they are banking on the idea that voters do not because they are counting on gerrymandering, so you give voters the freedom on the decision on whether they would like to try reproductive rights on the constitution or not, independent of what i they may have or what their state legislators are willing to do -- what idea they may have o what their state legislators are willing to do. john: there is a day when roe

decision being handed down is marked. is there a gold for the antiabortion movement? mary: even before roe, the goal was the recognition of fetal person rights, the idea that it is a rights holder, so that old proceeded roe and continued in the decades after. it was either through the supreme court, much less to congress or an amendment, so in the short term, you see antiabortion groups either looking to shore up the states or finding a backdoor to get to a nationwide ban. a lot of groups are rallying around a 19th-century law that nobody thought much about since the 1930's, saying in effect that it turns out it is a nationwide abortion ban. the reason we are seeing a focus on the courts and executive ranches is precisely because

antiabortion -- branches is precisely because antiabortion groups are seeing that they are struggling with the question directly to voters, so they're looking to avoid those things. john: could the outcome of the presidential election in the fall affect abortion rights? dramatically. it may not seem that way in part because president biden, for example, has not been able to codify roe v. wade into law. there are any number of strategies that can serve an outline that for example, a second administration could take , like removing the abortion pill from the market, which is used in over half of abortions, providing a 19th-century law that would allow prosecutions against doctors or drug companies and states or states that have been trying to work up the rights in the constitution or taking changes to access to emergency contracepti. all of these steps that at least

conservatives need to try, so there is the potential of a lot of pneumatic change in direction of less access to abortion rights moving even fther from roe depending on the outcome of the election. john: this is a presidential election year. other ballot initiatives we talked about were in an off year. will that greater turnout in a presidential election year affect the outcomes? mary: i would not expect them to dramatically. we have seen in a variety of states that republicans and independents are sometimes voting for abortion rights initiatives, and it is not breaking down on clean partisan lines in places like ohio, kentucky, montana and kansas. at the same time, the complicated question is what will support for an abortion ballot initiative necessarily translate into support for democrats? for the same reason that the fact that some people voting for abortion-rights ballot initiatives are republicans. some of those same people voted for republican state lawmakers or cuba torino candidates --

gubernatorial candidates, so the trick for the biting campaign in 2024 and other democrats on the ticket is going to be to translate that energy for abortion-rights into votes for democrats by explaining what they can achieve if they are elected or conversely what a republican could achieve if elected. i think that is the challenge into 2024. john: those initiatives are not likely to draw turnout for either side or the other? mary: i think based on the data we have so far, we would expect to see more turnout among democrats or abortion-rights supporters. i think republicans and people who identify as pro-life or antiabortion are a little bit, i think, less excited. one, because there is not as clear of a short-term unifying goal, as mentioned earlier. and, two, because they have already achieved bans in a lot of states. and how do you force them?

there is not an easy solution on how to enforce a ban when people can order pills on the internet or travel state lines. so i think we will see a driving turnout more her voters of abortion-rights than the other way around. john: thank you very much. mary: thank you for having me. ♪ john: the way we pay for air travel is changing. there are fees for things like checking a bag, picking a seat in advance or getting something eat. what was once a budget airline tactic is now common practice. worldwide, fees account for about 20 percent of airline revenue. william brangham h more. william: as concern about covid has diminished, americans are returning to the skies in force. the number of people flying today has returned to pre-pandemic levels, and airline companies are cashing in budget airlines like spirit and

frontier have long been known for their litany of added charges. pay for a seat. pay for a carry-on. pay for a drink. but now other airlines have latched on to this same pricing model and customers are paying for it. shelling out nearly $118 billion a year in these extra fees. oriana pollack is politico's aviation reporter and has been covering this. oriana, thank you so much for being here. um, why is it that this ala carte pricing model has taken over? is it i mean, is it simply because consumers are willing to pay for it? oriana: that is exactly right. i mean, it's a trend that works. as soon as people have more options, the more willing they are to buy into these options. i mean, if people have to get from destination a to destination b and they have to pay for certain amenities, they will do it if they want to. now, the bigger airlines are using that same exact model because it's a business practice that is working and it's working for the ultra budget carriers. and now it's going to be working for the big four carriers. william: and when you total up

all of these things, you know, seat choice, snack choice, checking your luggage, do those things add up to that? consumers -- up to that consumers are paying more for flights? meaning, could you argue that this is deceptive pricing? orianawell, that's something for the transportation department to look into, whether or not this is a deceptive practice. but, i mean, it depends on what you are paying for. a bag could cost up to $75 per bag, and as you add more on, then you're going to be paying more. so yeah, it's getting more expensive as these ala carte options are starting to trickle into other types of services. whether you want wi-fi on a flight, whether you want that drink, or whether you want food on a longer leg flight, you know, these are all these types of things that when it comes to pinching pennies on the budget airlines, you're still going to end up paying more for some of the services just to get you from that destination to destination. but you're going to have a lot more to pay for once you get there. william: and is anybody complaining about this? in an official way? and is it, as you said, the department of transportation's

job to feel those? oriana: yeah, so the -- job to field those? oriana: yeah, so the transportation department, i think, has had one of the largest volumes of complaint consumer complaints over the last year. uh, they actually have dispatched a team to look into some of these complaints. and of course, what their department looks into is whether or not the airline has unfairly charged, uh, a person for their flight in the event thatt got canceled or delayed. but, of course, other consumers are going to be complaining about other things. like what if that wi-fi didn't work on my flight and the airline refuses to pay me back for it? those are ings that people are going to be asking the transportation department to look into, and whether or not this could be under the, you know, definition of deceptive practices and whether or not they could, use regulatory enforcement to try to see what these airlines are doing unfairly. william: what is the industry's take on all of this? i mean, i could see the argument that if you' a budget flier and you want to take that middle seat and pack your own sandwich and just take a carry on bag, then you're saving some money. so what is the problem here?

oriana: so this all started over a decade ago, as we said, because airlines wanted to save fuel costs i mean, weight is a -- fuel costs. i mean, weight is a big problem when it comes to how many bags are coming on board, how many people are coming on board. and as airlines started to pack more people in, of course the weight of the plane got heavier and heavier. so when people started getting the bags on board, they said, well, you know, if you want to bring that, y're going to have to get charged for it. and it proliferated into charging for a lot of these ala carte services because people are willing to pay for it. so that's ultimately how this all started. just from the baggage standpoint, and now it's it's trickled its way into other types of services. william: i know that the biden administration has been proposing rules to press companies to to show the full price of an item or a service upfront. would that apply to airlines as well? oriana: yes, absolutely. the junk fees rule is something that they're taking very seriously. ultimately, when you buy the buy

your ticket up front, the price doesn't always reflect what you're going to be paying for it. you know, there's many taxes that go into airline fees, but ultimately, once you get to that, you keep clicking that next button on the website, and then by the end of it, you'll see what the total cost of the ticket. as you realize, i'm paying for much more than i actually saw when i gooed the original price tag of that flight. so they're trying to get that transparency issue right up front so people know, hey, am i buying a seat? how much is that going to cost? so wn you're looking for that cheap flight, you know you're going to want to hunt around to make sure you're getting the exact pre point that you want and to know exactly what you're paying for when you start that process. william: if these practices are not found to be quote unquote deceptive, technically deceptive? is this just something we're all going to have to live with? because this is what consumers are willing to do, and airlines want to make that money. oriana: as long as the options remain and people continue to buy into that type of business market, then it's going to continue. ultimately, yeah, as soon as people are goi to buy into it, like a subscription based model like you and i would purchase netflix or anything like that, it works and people are going to

pay for it, so it's going to continue. william: separately, a judge recently blocked the merger of jetblue and and spirit airlines, arguing that that would be harmful to consumers. is that a relevant factor here? and what does that tell us about the ongoing economics of airline flying? oriana: for the last 20, 30 plus years, we've seen a, you know, big consolidation of the airline industry. and that is not a secret. businesses want to grow, become monopolies, and the airline market is no different. uh, you've seen partnerships. you've seen cooperations from airline to airline, overseas or domestic, because they want to get these partnerships on board because ultimately it gives, uh, their passengers fewer choices, and that means they're going to have to fly these certain airlines. but you know, as the industry has grown tighter and tighter, and as the judge this past week blocked that from having the industry consolidate two airlines into one larger airline, you know, the variety is still there, but it's still a handful to only a few airlines than what it used to be back in the day.

william: all right, oriana pawlyk of politico, thank you so much for sharing your reporting with us. oriana: thanks. john: jetblue and spirit airlines are appealing the federal judge's ruling blocking their planned merger. and the justice department is reviewing alaska airlines agreement to buy hawaiian airlines. ♪ john: the number of brown and rainbow trout in some of the state's best-known and most scenic fishing rivers is at historic lows, and experts are at a loss to explain it. in montana, fly fishermen are watching oblique trend. state agencies, fishermen, businesses and concerned citizens are all trying to find answers. montana pbs's joe lesar takes us to southwest montana for a deeper look.

joe: for the past 39 summers, craig fellin has run the big hole lodge, guiding anglers on southwest montana's world-class rivers. this area is the state's fly fishing mecca, and it's where craig passed down his love of the sport to his son, wade. wade: for the past 17 years i've been a guide at big hole lodge and working alongside my father. joe:e now co-own the lodge, which sits about 8 miles from its namesake, the big hole river. nicknamed, "the last best river," it supports the last naturally producing population of fluvial arctic grayling in the lower 48 states. wade: and it is beautiful, it is pristine, with a river running through it, with wild trout. joe: four species of montana's wild trout call this river home, drawing anglers from all over the world. wade: you can spend 8 hours and not have thought of anything other than where your fly is in the water column in relation to where a fish might be.

joe: but something is happening to the fish. this spring, montana fish wildlife & parks released data showing that numbers of bro and rainbow trout are at or near historic lows in certain stretches of the big hole, and the neighboring beaverhead and ruby rivers. fellin and other guides are seeing it firsthand, diseased fish covered in growths and lesions. and these declines are not simply an environmental issue. angling on the three rivers accounts for the lionshare of the county's $167 million outdoor recreation economy. wade: i had a client leave two weeks ago and say, "good luck with all of this. i hope you figure it out. i hope we can come back someday when it fishes better, we really struggled this week." joe: the fellins believe they have a responsibility to help preserve these rivers. wade: we can't just sit on our hands. we have to do something, and we

feel that it truly is an all hands on deck moment. joe: jim olsen, a biologist for montana fish, wildlife and parks, says brown trout are typically montana's most resilient trout species and the cause for their decline is still unclear. jim: they should be the one that are doing the best and they're the ones that are basically crashing right now. we don't have the information to be able to say definitively that that's what it is. joe: what they do know is that several stretches of drought in montana over the past decadeas stressed populations. less water that warms up earlier in the year is not ideal for trout which thrive in strong and cold water. experts also point to the possibility of a new disease. brian wheeler heads the big hole river foundation, a nonprofit working to protect the river. he also works as a fishing guide. brian: we're seeing open lesions on the heads, what people have started to call the cheese grater heads.

joe: wheeler says it would make sense to see sick fish at the end of the summer when water is low, that that hasn't been the case in recent years. brian: we're not just seeing it in october. we are seeing it in june, when there's a ton of cold flow in the river. that is really strange, it doesn't add up. joe: in june, montana's department of fish, wildlife and parks joined the effort to find answers about the declines. and in july, fish experts on the big hole river did some early electrofishing, a method researchers use to help them study a sample of the population. when the electrode hits the water, it creates an electrical current that the fish are drawn to. the goal is to find sick fish when they're still alive and collect samples immediately after they are killed. the quickly preserved samples are sent to specialists to look for signs of disease at the microscopic level. wade: no one organization is

responsible for this and no one organization can qckly solve this. joe: this summer, wade fellin announced the launch of “save wild trout,” a privately-funded group made up of guides, anglers and businesses. wade: what save wild trout hopes to do is identify what we feel are gaps in data collection and privately fundraiser. bring that data together with expert scientists that can wrap it up in a bow and bring it to the state to help inform their management decisions moving forward. joe: and the hope is t this research will help protect the larger ecosystem, beyond the big hole's trout population. brian wheeler runs the big hole river foundation's water quality program. he's studying how water quality affects trout's main food source. brian: all these issues that we're seeing are not just impacting trout population levels, they're impacting the bugs as well. like the trout in big hole river, certain aquatic insect species are also in decline

across the west. wheeler: this is like baseline food chain status, and so when you start to see these declines and shifts, you know, it affects everything from there on up. joe: it will take a year or two to know for certain if this year's good water conditions helped reverse the trout's decline. but further down the road, questions remain about the human effect on and responsibility for these fish. and for montanans, like craig fellin, it's a task they're happy to take on, and one he's confident the next generation will embrace. craig: wade is going to take over here and i'll, i'll be able to go fishing a little more. joe: for "pbs news weekend," i'm joe lesar in wise river, montana. ♪

john: now online,why 2023's record-breaking high temperatures shocked researchers and scientists. all that and more is on our website, pbs.org/newshour. and that is "pbs news weekend" for this saturday. on sunday, the state of the republican presidential race, as new hampshire prepares for its first-in-the-nation primary. i'm john yang. for all of my colleagues, thanks for joining us. see you tomorrow. ♪ >> major funding for "pbs news weekend" has been id consumer ci help you? this is a pocket dial? well, thought i would let you know that you get nationwide coverage is no contract, that is kind of our thing. have a nice day. ♪ >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions.

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