wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. the xfinity 10g network. made for streaming. amna: good evening, i am on the nawaz. geoff: and i am geoff bennett. on the newshour tonight, the latest on hostage negotiations, and israel's plan to evacuate palestinian civilians before full-scale operations to eliminate hamas in rafah get underway. amna: the supreme court hears arguments on whether social media platforms have first amendment free speech rights. geoff: relief for food allergy

sufferers after trials show an asthma drug reduces dangerous reactions to certain foods. >> it's been approved now for 21 years to treat asthma so a lot of the safety as we face with any drug has been sorted out over those 21 years. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- the ongoing support othese individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour, including leonard and norma clore vine and the judy and peter bloom kohler foundation. >> you don't need vision to do most things in life. yes, i am legally blind and yes, i am responsible for the user interface. data visualization. if i can see and understand it quickly, anyone can.

it's exciting to be part of a team driving technology forward. that's the most rewarding thing. people who know know bdo. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to support a better world. at hewlett.org. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs

station from viewers like you. thank you. geoff: welcome to the newshour. president biden this evening said it is his hope by next monday, a deal could be struck to implement a cease-fire in gaza and start an exchange of israeli hostages for palestinian prisoners. meantime, jordan's king abdullah warned against an israeli invasion plan for rafah in southern gaza. >> rafah is now home to many of gaza's 2.3 million palestinians who have fled fighting in other parts of the strip. following this all is our nick schifrin and he joins me now. nick, let's begin with this hostage deal president biden says he hopes will be implemented by monday. what do we know about that? nick: u.s. and israeli officials tell me they have a new outline of a deal that would stop the war for six weeks and lead to the release of 35 to 54 hostages. that includes women, the elderly, and the wounded. one obstacle still is female israeli soldiers, believed to be

five of them, whether hamas will release them. and there is still no agreement right now as to how many palestinian prisoners being held by israel would be released. the goal of this would be to implement this before ramadan which begins around march 11. today on fox and friends, prime minister benjamin netanyahu reiterated his criticism he has made multiple times about -- about hamas' negotiating stance and said something he does not usually say, that he personally wants a deal. >> hamas has outlandish demands, on another planet, they have to come down to reality. if that is the case, we will be able to have a deal. we certainly want it. i want it. nick: he also said he would or is committed to going into rafah, as he has threatened. as you said, almost half of gaza's population, 1.2 million people, are in rafah today, massive tent cities. the city closest to egypt. the israeli defense forces have presented a plan to evacuate all

of those tents that you see. more than a million people. and then assault the city. this afternoon officials say -- this afternoon u.s. officials say they have not received details of that plan and frankly are skeptical israel would be able to execute that plan at least on an israeli timeline. amna: you have been reporting on the unimaginable conditions on the ground in rafa, but humanitarian concerns extend far beyond that one city. nick: up and down gaza. some focus now is on the quantity of aid that is or is not going into gaza. human rights watch accused israel of not living up to its promises under the international court of justice ruling that required israel to deliver as much aid as possible into gaza. we also saw an extraordinary scene right there, so many gazans filling the beach on the mediterranean sea after jordan airdropped humanitarian aid. jordan has been air dropping aid, but not designed to be in the sea.

so many people so desperate for that aid. today the u.n. relief and works agency cited a report that a two month old baby actually died of hunger, and said that one in six children in northern gaza are severely malnourished. amna: i should ask you about news out of the west bank. the palestinian authority prime minister resigned today. what should we understand about that? nick: u.s. hopes that a hostage deal, a temporary pause as the u.s. calls it, would lead to a cease-fire and that that can unlock regional goals. gaza governance, how to reconstruct gaza, and the larger goal of israel, saudi normalization. the u.s. hopes this resignation today is the first step in leading towards some sort of deal over the future of gaza governance. the prime minister resigned and the palestinian president mahmoud abbas is expected to replace him with mohammed mustafa. mohammed mustafa is an economist.

he is close to abbas, has been the chairman of the palestine investment fund. expectations are very low. mustafa is not seen as someone who will change the palestinian authority in any fundamental way and of course israel has already rejected the palestinian authority playing a part in gaza. this is really about u.s. credibility and u.s. and arab allies being able to coordinate for these larger regional goals. amna: also another story in washington, d.c. i know you have been following, related to all of this, on sunday there was an air force servicemember who, in protest of u.s. policy toward the war in israel, lit himself on fire outside the israeli embassy. what should we know about him and what happened? nick: his name is aaron bushnell , active-duty airmen. according to reports, he is 25, from san antonio, texas. the air force has confirmed that he died of those wounds last night. and this is him introducing himself outside the embassy in washington livestreaming on

twitch, which is a social media platform. he said, i will no longer be complicit in genocide, and he called what he was about to do an extreme act of protest but compared to what people have been experiencing in palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it is not extreme. that is the end of the quote. he wrote on his linkedin page he wanted to be a software engineer and was taking classes in an online university. the air force has not confirmed his name but confirmed he died of his wounds. senior defense officials do not believe he represents some kind of trend inside the military, but the fact is, this is an extraordinarily rare, very public protest that ended in a man's death. amna: thank you for your reporting. appreciate it. stephanie: i am stephanie sy with newshour west. former president trump appealed

a $454 million judgment in his new york civil fraud case. judge arthur and goran ruled that trump lied about his financials as he built his real estate business. the former president's lawyers contend the judge may have made errors or exceeded his jurisdiction. the appeals process could take months and temporarily halt any collection of funds from mr. trump. in ukraine government troops have retreated again in the east as russian forces push forward. ukrainians pulled back today from the village just outside avdiivka, which russians captured earlier this month. a spokeswoman for alexei navalny says supporters may try to hold a farewell event in moscow this week. another associate claimed today that talks have been underway for a prisoner swap for navalny. the russian opposition leader died earlier this month in prison. sweden cleared the final hurdle

to nato membership today as hungary's parliament voted to ratify its bid. after 18 months of delays, hungary's prime minister viktor orban acknowledged sweden's criticism of his right-wing government. still, he urged lawmakers to put aside any resentment. >> [translated] there will continue to be differences of opinion because swedes and hungarians are not the same, but we look at our differences with understanding, because that is how serious nations behave. the swedish-hungarian military cooperation and sweden's accession to nato will strengthen hungary's security. stephanie: back in this country, president biden and former president trump both plan to visit the southern border on thursday as the immigration issue intensifies. mr. biden will be in brownsville, texas. mr. trump will visit eagle pass, about 325 miles away. both areas have seen a surge in illegal border crossings.

a former fbi informant charged with inventing a bribery scheme about the president and his son hunter biden will stay jailed for now. a federal judge in california ruled today that alexander smirnov might flee if he's released. smirnov's accusations against hunter biden and president biden were at the heart of the house republican impeachment inquiry, which democrats say has now been proven baseless. a florida bill that would have given protections to, quote, "unborn children" has stalled in the republican-controlled legislature. democrats had raised concern that it would strip reproductive rights similar to the ivf ruling in alabama. the bill's sponsor said the pause was necessary to "get the policy right with an issue of this significance." and the first u.s. moon lander in more than 50 years is expected to go dark tomorrow. intuitive machines says it's odysseus craft, seen in this fisheye view, landed sideways, so it has to cuts its week-long mission short.

meanwhile, japan says its moon lander, also resting on its side following a rough landing last month, survived the weeks-long lunar night and is operating again. still to come on the newshour, tamera keith and amy walter look ahead to michigan's presidential primary an afghan activist's memoir details her inspirational fight to educate women. and artificial intelligence helps decipher ancient scrolls buried in volcanic ash. >> this is the pbs, from weta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. amna: the supreme court heard arguments today in a highly consequential case navigating first amendment protections on social media. tech companies are taking on state laws decrying conservative

censorship online. a decision could fundamentally change the use of speech on the internet. the supreme court is waiting into a digital age first amendment battle. do social media companies have the right to decide what appears on and what is removed from their platforms? that is the question at the heart of two major cases heard today by the justices. a decision here could give government the power to change what millions of people see online. after sites like twitter and facebook removed former president donald trump following the january 6 attack on the u.s. capitol, texas and florida passed laws restricting how these platforms moderate and remove content and users from their website. but tech industry groups sued the state's -- >> whether it happens to a conservative group or to a liberal group or any other kind of group, people in america should be able to access the modern public square to express themselves. it does tend to be conservative

groups that are under the thumb more of some of these social media sites. amna: alan gura, with the institute for free speech, filed an amicus brief with conservative activist group mom's for liberty in support of these states. >> moms for liberty had a problem. the teachers union, their sort of traditional political adversary, went to facebook and put pressure on facebook and said, look, the people who are promoting disinformation, the moms chapter saw all kinds of posts blocked, seems -- things that were very innocuous. it was things like, are you ready to run for school board or questions about, hey, does anybody know what curriculum is being used by the school district? >> we can all agree that content moderation as a process is really problematic. i don't think the right solution is to give the government the ability to impose its own editorial viewpoints on private actors. i think that is a dangerous power to hand the government.

amna: david greene is with the electronic frontier foundation and filed a brief opposing the states. >> social media sites have a first amendment right to curate and edit their sites according to their own curatorial and editorial philosophies and policies. that is a right that others in their position have, whether they be art curators or parade organizers. amna: but are tech companies publishers? gura and the states don't think so. >> whose speech is it? and nobody thinks that your speech is the company's speech. it is obviously your speech. if i pick up the phone and talk to you, it won't be at&t speech . at&t cant unplug me because they don't like the politics. amna: that back and forth is what the court navigated today. marcia was in the courtroom. these are big issues. how do the justices seem to be

navigating and examining these issues today? marshall: it is difficult on many levels. they are having trouble. they ask good questions. most of the arguments focused on whether social media platforms fall into a category of newspaper publishers, where they can pretty much determine how they use the content they have, or are they more like common carriers, such as a telegraph or anything that carries a message from point a to b, but does not do anything else. they also struggled with language. justice alito asked at one point, what is content moderation? is it just another way of saying censorship? there were other words too that created problems. this is a difficult case for them on more levels than just determining what category to put media platforms into. amna: concerns around censorship

online have long been more of a conservative issue. did we hear questions from the conservative justices that seemed to align with that view, or to challenge it? marcia: not at all. it seemed as they struggled with the categories of newspapers versus common carriers they were not focused on politics or ideology. this is clearly an attempt to become familiar with what social media does, what these platforms do, and that is one of the problems they are having in the case. they did not know how broadly these laws sweep. justice barrett pointed out, some say these laws could cover venmo, uber, email, direct messaging. amna: not just limited to social media platforms. marcia: exactly, email, direct messaging. they do not know. as they asked the lawyers, it might cover them. and why don't they know? because of the way the case came to the supreme court, there was no trial below on the merits to flesh this out through

discovery. amna: i want to ask about the arguments on both sides of the debate. we spoke earlier with jamil jaffer of the night institute, who said that both sides of the debate have merit to their arguments. take a listen. >> everybody involved claims to be a champion of free speech and the first amendment. you have social media platforms claiming they are speakers and editors and that these laws are a form of censorship of their protected activity. first amendment on the others, -- on the other side, you have the states arguing these laws are intended to protect the free speech rights of social media platform users. everybody has a point. you need to find a way of accounting for all first amendment interests in play. amna: for an issue as core as free speech -- we are talking about the first amendment -- and as broad and influential as

social media platforms, what are the implications of a decision like this? marcia: it depends who wins and loses. if deplatforms lose, they claim that they will have to put all kind of speech on their platforms, the good, the bad and the ugly. their desire, the rules they have to try to get a handle on hate speech, bullying, they will have to also put up pro bullying and pro hate speech. they just will not be able to exercise editorial discretion. on the other hand, these dates don't think there is going to be a parade of horribles, that there are other ways to deal with bad speech. amna: does all of this say to you that the justices are more likely to keep this as narrow as possible? marcia: yes, it does. i think because they do not know how broadly the law sweeps. i will say it seemed to me they were more inclined to view platforms as closer to newspapers and publishers than

to common carriers, but because they don't know how broad the law sweeps, dated talk about keeping the injunctions in place right now that temporarily keep laws on hold, but sending cases back to the lower court to flesh out a lot of these issues. amna: we should mention too, this is one of a handful of cases justices are considering about social media. precedent here is hard. a lot of it predates the internet era. what should we understand about why justices are taking up these cases and how they view them? marcia: it is the inevitability of how things have changed, and there are challenges and they come to the courts. i am not surprised they are getting more and more into this and having more and more cases come to them. just this term, not only do we have the two cases from florida and texas, but also two additional cases they heard

arguments in that involve public officials and how they use their websites. and whether they can block commenters on their websites. i think we are going to see these cases come in a variety of situations and it is a new world for the justices, for many of them it is a new world. amna: a lot to make sense of at the supreme court. we are so glad you are here to help us do it. marcia: my pleasure. ♪ geoff: there is some relief for the 20 million-plus people in the u.s. who have food allergies, many of whom face severe dangers. a new study in the new england journal of medicine reports that the drug known as xolair allows people to tolerate higher doses of allergenic foods before developing a reaction after an accidental exposure. the fda earlier this month expanded approval of xolair to include treatment for anyone one year or older.

we are joined now by the study's principal investigator, dr. robert wood, of the johns hopkins children's center. thanks so much for being with us. we should say there is no cure for food allergies, but how much of a game changer is this, especially for children? dr. wood: we have gone from essentially having no treatment for food allergies, literally just telling people to avoid what you are allergic to and carry emergency medicines if you have accidental exposure, so going from there to here is an enormous change. geoff: for people with severe food allergies, there is so much fear and anxiety. i know you say you have teenaged patients who have never been to restaurant, because their families are concerned about exposure. they don't take trips on airplanes for the same reason. how might this improve quality of life for people? dr. wood: reactions happen that can be really dangerous. but a lot of the burden of having a food allergy does relate to that day-to-day fear.

is this the day he or she is going to have that accidental exposure at school and is this the day they are going to die? those things are not that common, but the anxiety people live with is very real and a daily burden. geoff: how does xolair work for people with severe food allergies? dr. wood: what it is basically doing is blocking the antibodies our immune systems make if you are going to develop an allergy, that's called an ig antibody. xolair is called anti-ig. it binds to, mops up all the ig in your system so you are less prone to have a reaction, especially with a small exposure. geoff: is this a lifelong commitment for people that choose this treatment? i ask that question, one, because of the cost. the list price is as high as $5,000 a month for adults, typically lower with insurance. it is not a really easy drug to take. it is taken by injection every

two to four weeks, which might be tough for children who do not like shots. dr. wood: it is not perfect, but the benefits for those who really need it will certainly outweigh the risks. lifetime or not, it is only going to work while you are on it. once you stop the medicine it will wear off. but people don't necessarily need to be on it for life. some may choose -- we have had a lot of conversations with patients saying, i am doing ok for now, but the day i leave for college i want to be on this medicine because so much of my food will be less under my control. they may take it for those four years, or 10. there may be far better treatments in 10 or 15 years, so it's not a lifetime commitment by any means. geoff: how safe is it? dr. wood: very safe. one of the neat things about this drug is it has been approved for 21 years to treat asthma. a lot of the safety, as we face with any drug, has spent sorted out over 21 years. there is a warning on the drug that it could cause an allergic reaction. some people are allergic to the drug itself, but that is a fairly unusual circumstance and

we think it can be managed by careful observation. geoff: lastly, food allergies have been increasing in prevalence over the last 30 years. do we know why? dr. wood: we do not know exactly why. we have a lot of theories, one is the hygiene theory, that we live in too clean an environment. there are many factors that may relate to our diet or other things in our environment. we are still quite a ways away from understanding the incredible rise in the prevalence of food allergy. geoff: dr. robert wood with the johns hopkins children's center, thanks so much for your time this evening. dr. wood: thanks. ♪ geoff: a campaign for michigan voters to boycott president biden in tuesday's primary has picked up momentum. some muslim and arab americans are hoping to send a clear

message to the president after months of frustration, they say, with the administration's handling of the war in gaza. in michigan, a winter of political discontent. >> free palestine! geoff: i head of that state's presidential primary, president biden's handling of the israel-hamas war is top of mind for many democratic voters. >> shame on you, biden! geoff: now some democratic activists and local leaders are organizing a protest vote against the president, encouraging voters to tick uncommitted on their ballots. >> joe biden failed himself, failed humanity. the muslim american community, february 27 in michigan, we are voting uncommitted. >> we need to show president biden and all the other candidates that we support palestine. we don't support our u.s. tax dollars going toward israel to ethnically cleanse palestine. geoff: with more than 200,000 muslim and arab american voters

in michigan, their message remains clear -- without them there is no winning the state. over the weekend, democratic leaders like gretchen whitmer urged voters to think about what a protest vote might yield. >> it is important not to lose sight of the fact that any boat that is not passed for joe biden supports a second trump term. i am encouraging people to cast an affirmative vote for president biden. i understand the pain people are feeling and i will continue to work to build bridges with folks in all of these communities. geoff: as a biden-trump rematch becomes more of a reality after a 20 point victory for mr. trump in south carolina -- mr. trump: this is a little sooner than we anticipated. an even bigger win than we anticipated. geoff: it has not deterred south carolina's former governor, nikki haley, from forging ahead to michigan.

ms. haley: i said earlier this week that no matter what happens in south carolina, i would continue to run for president. [cheering] i am a woman of my word. geoff: haley still trying to carve out a lane of her own. ms. haley: it is why we must have a new generational leader. and you are not going to get peace if you are, like joe biden, putting your head in the sand, or if you are like donald trump saying, don't pay attention to the rest of the world, live in our own bubble. geoff: while some haley supporters in michigan say they are hopeful -- >> i hope more voters come out to support her. she represents the new way we need to go. instead of going back to what we did with trump. geoff: they are not necessarily optimistic. >> i think from a numbers perspective, very basic straw poll, for myself it does not

seem the support is there. geoff: for the political stakes of south carolina, michigan, and beyond, we we turn to our monday political team. amy walter of the cook political report with amy walter and tamera keith within br -- with npr. let's start with this protest vote against biden in michigan. the organizers say it is not an anti-biden effort, it is a protest vote on humanitarian grounds. how do you see this playing out? >> this will be interesting as we go forward because in michigan we know that this group in particular is aiming to get at least 10,000 people to vote uncommitted, and 10,000, by the way, is the margin by which donald trump beat hillary clinton in 2016, in what was a very big surprise on election night. it is both showing their displeasure with what is happening in gaza but also saying, do not ignore us or our concerns and do not take us for granted. in fact, when i was talking to

some folks over the weekend in michigan, they said a lot of what is happening with this frustration has been building for longer than just the war in gaza. the sense that these communities have been taken for granted by democrats, are not doing the caring and watering and feeding of them that they should do, and it is also about the fact that in these states -- i know we are going to talk about south carolina -- whether it is losing voters in south carolina, those who did not vote for trump but voted for haley, or getting uncommitted voters, these are kinds of margins that can determine if you win or lose. it is for biden, a group of voters that nationally are worrisome in terms of keeping to his coalition. particularly voters of color and younger vors. geoff: how worried is the biden campaign about this? what are they telling you? >> they are saying they will keep fighting for these voters.

that they are not going to give up on their votes. they also do point to numbers that say 10,000 is unambitious. it is highly likely more than 10,000 people will vote uncommitted. go back cycle after cycle, way more than 10,000, something like 20,000 have voted uncommitted, going back years and years. however, the president does have a problem. the white house and biden campaign acknowledge that there is a significant group of voters that is really upset. the president is in a difficult position because he has made a calculation based on global alliances and history, and his experience and all of these other things related to israel. he held netanyahu close initially. literally i watched him hug him on the tarmac in tel aviv after october 7. that worked very well for president biden with jewish

voters who are also an important constituency. and also biden believed that it was the right move politically. hug him close in public, privately push for better policy outcomes. president biden really badly wants a cease-fire. they won't use that term, but a significant pause. they want the hostages back. and they want this situation to move to a better place for humanitarian reasons and policy reasons. but also for political reasons, because it is a gaping sore for biden with key voters, younger voters and voters of color. and particularly muslim american voters. geoff: let's talk about south carolina, because nikki haley finished 20 points behind donald trump. she is still vowing to stay in the race. her campaign says she raised $1 million the day after the loss. as we know, she lost the financial packing of a super pac backed by the koch brothers, a powerful donor network. what is her endgame?

what is her strategy moving forward? amass as many delegates and see what happens? >> that seems to be part of it. when you talk to folks involved or watching from the periphery, there is a sense she is enjoying herself, enjoying this moment. she is getting national attention. to me the biggest question going forward is whether she in the end will endorse donald trump. whether what we are seeing is actually a movement to take away a constituency from donald trump, if she is going to say, i am here to tell these voters, the ones who showed up for me, in november do not rally behind donald trump. that would be incredibly significant. we also know, much like we do in michigan, the kinds of people showing up for nikki haley are those voters that republicans have been bleeding in the era of trump pretty significantly,

college-educated suburban voters. we do not know that all of these voters that voted for nikki haley were ever thinking about voting for trump. maybe they voted for biden last time around. that's why michigan and south carolina are fascinating because they highlight the challenges these two men have in what we know will be a very close contest in the fall of keeping every member of their coalition on their team. they can't afford for them to defect, stay home, or vote third party. geoff: looking at my notes from this election cycle, 49% of republican caucus-goers did not support donald trump in iowa, 46% in new hampshire did not vote for him. and you have 40% of republican voters in south carolina who supported nikki haley. what does that say about trump's weaknesses as a candidate? >> nikki haley would tell you it says a lot about his weaknesses. those weaknesses are real and they are there, but the issue for republican voters and the

republican primary is, there is not an alternative that is more popular than former president trump. nikki haley is not going to win the primary. it is just not going to happen. yes, there are real concerns among republicans about what happens in the general election. it is a big part of nikki haley's stump speech. that biden polls better against trump than he does against her. but the reality is, once former president trump really is nominee, there will be a lot of consolidation. those 40%, some large share of them, are republican voters who are going to return home. some share of them are not. some are democrats voting in open primaries and some are never trump republicans trying to find a home. it is not clear whether the biden campaign, which has their eyes on them, will be able to them to vote for him, or whether they will stay home, or vote for mike pence or mickey mouse.

geoff: in the meantime donald trump wants a leadership change at the republican national committee in an effort to install loyalists, including potentially his daughter-in-law. the current chair says she is stepping down effective march 8, after super tuesday. what is the significance of this? >> we have been talking about this for so long, but the party is donald trump and donald trump is the party. this is just the latest example of this. it is not that it is just his daughter-in-law taking over, but it is loyalists with his campaign who will also be installed. we are seeing it at the state party level, loyalists to donald trump running the party. in some cases there is friction between those loyalists and others in the party that has led to complete paralysis in the states, like michigan. we also can look at this as a reality check to what a trump

2.0 presidency would look like, whether it is at the rnc or government positions or at the white house. only those who are the most loyal to trump will get those positions. in 2016, and when he was in the white house in 2017, he was kind of working with the establishment. it is also true now that the establishment now is more trumpy than ever when you see what congress looks like. the folks who have come in since trump's election look a lot more like him than the quote-unquote "traditional republicans" before he was elected. geoff: mcdaniel put out a statement, part of which reads, the rnc has historically undergone change. it has always been my intention to respect that tradition. donald trump was trying to make these changes before he was nominated. >> he has also stacked the deck in a way it is inevitable he will be the nominee.

he will go into california, into michigan, a bunch of these states, and will get basically all the delegates, if not all the delegates. the math is completely and totally in his favor in part because of his sway over various state parties. geoff: it was designed that way. >> by design. geoff: thanks so much. ♪ amna: when the taliban roared back to power in afghanistan in 2021, education activist pashtana durrani, then just 24 years old, already had some 7000 girls enrolled in her organization. the schools were shuttered. pashtana was forced to flee. and she's now living in exile here in the u.s., still working to educate girls in secret back home. i spoke with her earlier today about her remarkable life story

told in her new book, "last to eat, last to learn." i began by asking her about the title. pashtana: it is basically about the daughters, or the first daughters, to always eat last because they do all the chores, have to pick up after everyone and clean up after everyone. and with me and my co-author we thought about it and were like, they are also the last ones to actually learn because they have to take care of everyone before they can choose themselves to learn. it is a dedication to all of them. especially young girls because they are chosen last for everything. so it is last to eat, last to learn. amna: this is your message to all of them out there in afghanistan. but it is not how you were raised. your father made sure you were raised differently, why? pashtana: the day i was born, my dad was like, this is going to be my son. so i had all the privileges of a son. if i was raised as an elder daughter, i would have been one of those girls.

for me it was very different, but i witnessed that throughout my life and consciously i had to make that choice to make sure that this is talked about. personally i was raised in a very privileged life and i was raised nicely, and i talked over everyone, was pretty loud, a very spoiled kid, definitely. amna: even though you spent much of your life growing up in a refugee camp in pakistan, you made the decision to go back to afghanistan. your father had been going back and forth, and you started an organization so that other girls could learn the same way you did. tell me about that organization and why that was important. pashtana: when i was in high school, that was the first time i realized we are in a refugee camp, like, this is not the country that we are supposed to be in. and discrimination and everything came with it. we were seen differently for wearing a scarf or the way my father used to dress in a turban. that was all seen differently. most importantly, it was me following him wanting to go back to afghanistan. at that i was so crazy in love

point with afghanistan. i was like, i need to go back, i want to go back. when i ended up in afghanistan, the first thing i saw, even in our own country we did not have the same rights we were entitled to, that the constitution entitled us to. the most important thing, that group that resonated most with was my own cousins. we say in pashto or in islam that charity begins at home. so we had to start at home with all the efforts. that's how learning came into being, because i really wanted my cousins to go to school and wanted my family members to end up accessing the education i had. amna: when the taliban reclaimed power in 2021, you had to shut down your schools. they banned most goals from going to school after a certain grade. you had to flee because you yourself were targeted, but you're still running the organization from afar. how, how many girls are you able to teach and how are they able to study? pashtana: it is an effort. it is an effort.

in the middle of the night, we are sometimes talking to the students. sometimes we have to do meetings at 3:00 a.m. but at the same time, it is rewarding. we do a lot of our work in person. more than 300 girls go to school every day, walk to school every day. that is a big thing. more than 30 teachers everyday teach in person, so that's a big deal for me. and then more than 40 people are employed right now doing something amazing like this, which is banned in afghanistan, but whatever. amna: but it is banned. are you worried for their safety? pashtana: most of the time, yes, i get extremely worried and paranoid and cannot sleep. i just call them and talk to them. they have become part of the family. it is important for me because in the next 10 years, i may not be this young to be able to do everything. i want more girls to get back empowerment and have that sort of access to opportunities and become the people that they are. my goal is by the end of like 2030, we have more than 3400

leads who are all young girls who are all in those provinces, and they lead a movement that could hopefully rebuild afghanistan from where it has been destroyed. amna: what about your goals for yourself? we should disclose here, i was part of the team that did help you evacuate. it took months to get you out of afghanistan. i met you at the airport in boston when you arrived. helped you get settled at wellesley college, where you have built a life. you have graduated, you are getting your master's degree from harvard. what does the you continue your work. what does the future hold for you? pashtana: i want to graduate harvard, but also i want to build 34 schools by the end of 2025, which is a personal goal. i am also working on a nonprofit incubator that is supposed to sustain humanitarian efforts and educational efforts in conflict zones in all different regions of the world, especially middle east and central asia and south asia. i have been working with that at

wellesley, especially focusing on women. and then hopefully i'll continue doing what i do and i love what i do. amna: what do you think your father, who i know you lost a few years ago, what do you think he would say if he could see you now? pashtana: i think he would be extremely proud. i can say that now confidently, but at the same time i hope he could see it now. he definitely would be proud. amna: the author is pashtana durrani. the book is "last to eat, last to learn." thank you for being here. pashtana: thank you for having me. ♪ geoff: we will be back shortly to take a look at how researchers are using ai to decipher previously unreadable ancient scrolls. amna: first, take a moment to hear from your local pbs station. it's a chance to offer your support, which helps

amna: ancient scrolls buried in volcanic ash during the eruption of mount vesuvius are now being deciphered 2000 years later thanks in part to artificial intelligence. mark of independent television news reports from oxfordshire, england on the scientific effort of researchers from around the world. mark: buried under the volcanic ash from vesuvius, herculaneum, like pompeii, is a perfectly preserved time capsule of roman life. some of its secrets were burnt to a crisp. scorched scrolls, indecipherable until now. unraveling the hidden history of these 2000 year old scrolls has required 21st century technology. here, a wembley stadium sized, synchrotron cooled diamond light source, which fires beams of light 10 billion times brighter than the sun. >> we have a bright beam of

x-rays that comes out of the diamond synchrotron. they travel downstream and hit a sample that makes a picture. mark: the team started by scanning loose fragments. >> the scroll looks like something you might put on your barbecue. it is so light and burnt. the think and papyrus are almost made of the same stuff. you need a very brilliant x-ray beam to be able to tell the difference. mark: so it is like an extreme ct scan. >> it is like a ct scan on a very upper level. mark: because the scrolls are too fragile to physically unroll, the unwrapping was done digitally. scientists then set about decoding ink patterns, using readings they'd taken from the fragments as a kind of cipher. to process so many images, teams around the world joined them, running a high-powered programs. yusuf was the first person to reveal a word, purple. >> i was really excited and just like zooming around the apartment while waiting for the experiments to finish. and it felt really amazing to

actually be one of the first people to actually do this. reporter: so far, only a tiny portion of the scrolls have been deciphered. it's believed they belong to a roman statesman, potentially julius caesar's father-in-law. >> we as humans are going to reconnect with a part of our history that's incredibly difficult to connect to. and what i would like the scrolls to reveal is something surprising or even controversial that we don't already know about that period. mark: this project has taken decades but has proven futuristic technology can give us a glimpse of our forgotten past. ♪ geoff: as always, there is more online, including a look at how the costs of clinical trials

disproportionately affects low income communities. amna: join us tomorrow night when we will hear from michigan's democratic party chair as voters head to the polls for the state's presidential primaries. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. thanks for spending part of your evening with us. >> major funding of the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> cunard is a proud supporter of public television. on a voyage with cunard, the world awaits. a world of flavor, diverse destinations, and immersive experiences. a world of leisure and british style. all with cunard's white star service. >> the kendeda fund, restoring justice and meaningful work

through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. more at candida -- kendeda fund.org. supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org. and with the ongoing support of these institutions -- this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ this is pbs newshour west, from wuta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute,

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wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. thiss the way. the xfinity 10g network. made for streaming. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ -today on "america's test kitchen," keith makes julia braised lamb shanks in red wine