amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff bennett is on assignment. on the newshour tonight, israel and control of a border crisis as a cease-fire and hostage deal hangs in the balance.

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by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. amna: welcome to the newshour. delegations from israel and hamas returned to cairo to resume fraught negotiations over a potential ceasefire and hostage deal. meantime, israeli tanks and troops seized the rafah border crossing with egypt, delaying aid shipments, as 1.2 million palestinians shelter in the city. following it all is our nick schifrin, reporting tonight from jacksonville, north carolina. let's begin in rafah, tell us what kind of operation israel has launched there and why. nick: as you said, israel sees the border crossing that separates gaza from egypt. as well as the hamas militants who operate there, this is the

first time israeli troops have controlled that border crossing since 2005 when israel withdrew settlers and soldiers from gaza back then. in this war, israel has long argued that it needs to enter nearby rafah city. today benjamin netanyahu said that operation is next. >> seizing the passage today is an important step on the way to destroying the remaining military capabilities of hamas. an important step to damage the governmental capabilities of hamas, because denying them passage is essential for ending its reign of terror on israel. nick: rafah is also the main passage of eight and today hundreds of trucks are backed up at the border because the crossing is shut.

the u.n. warned today that food and fuel to southern gaza will run out by the end of the week, and as we've talked about so often, famine is imminent. israel has said that this military operation must continue in order to keep the pressure on hamas so that hamas agrees to the latest version of the hostage negotiation deal. but the fact is right now that the ball is in israel's court. hamas submitted a new draft yesterday that it characterize as excepting the deal. israeli officials said hamas had actually created new aspects of that deal and a senior u.s. official today confirm to me that the hamas changes were

significant, but still the u.s. is hoping the progress can be made. john kirby saying today that the two sides should be able to close the gaps, but today a hamas spokesman warned that a major rafah operation means no deal. >> it is normal for the resistance to this aggression and respond in defense and respond in order to defeat the occupation. nick: it's all part of the diplomacy that cia director bill burns has been leading. the u.s. is pressuring netanyahu to make a deal, as are the families of hostages being kept in gaza. the u.s. is also pushing qatar to threaten hamas with expulsion from doha if hamas rejects the

deal. the u.s. knows it is urgent. u.s. officials tell me israel has imposed a deadline by the end of the week and if the deal is not set by then, it will launch that major operation into rafah. saying if there is no deal, israel will go deeper into rafah . amna: nick, thank you. ♪ in the day's other headlines, tik-tok sued to overturn a new law that could ban the video-sharing platform inside the u.s. the statute says tiktok has to end american operations unless its chinese parent company byte-dance sells it within 9 months. the lawsuit says that mandate is simply not possible. not commercially, not technologically, not legally, and that it violates the first

amendment. in ukraine, the state security service says it foiled a russian plot to assassinate president volodymyr zelenskyy and others. investigators arrested two colonels in the guard unit that protects high-ranking ukrainian figures. investigators say they planned to kidnap and kill zelenskyy before russian president vladimir putin's inauguration. that inauguration took place today as putin was sworn in for his fifth term, after almost 25 years in office. at an elaborate kremlin ceremony, putin vowed to defend the russian constitution. he said he was open to working with the west, despite bitter divisions over russia's war in ukraine. >> we have been and will be open to strengthening good relations with all countries, who see russia as a reliable and honest partner, and this really is the global majority. we do not reject dialogue with western states. the choice is theirs. amna: putin now begins a

six-year term that will keep an office through 2030, when he will be eligible to run again. it turns out a u.s. army soldier arrested last week was not authorized to be there. the army said he was on leave and was supposed to be returning to texas. instead, he flew from south korea through china to vladivostok. but, pentagon officials say he never got permission. >> official or any leave to russia is strictly prohibited and that's pursuant to the dod foreign clearance guide, which, of course, is also informed by the state department guidelines, which, right now i believe that is at, i believe it's category four, which is do not travel to russia. amna: russian officials say black went to russia to see a girlfriend, but they argued, and he was arrested for stealing money from her. separately, moscow's court system says a u.s. civilian is being held there after he was spotted in public, drunk with no clothes on.

officials in london say the british military's payroll system was hacked, exposing names, banking details and even home addresses. as many as 272,000 soldiers, sailors and air force members were affected, both current and former. reports swirled today that china was involved, but british officials would not confirm it publicly. rescuers in south africa worked today to free 11 people trapped under a collapsed building. the five-story apartment complex in the city of george was under construction when it gave way monday. six workers were confirmed dead. crews have been combing through the wreckage, searching for bodies and survivors. nearly 40 people are still unaccounted for. here at home, a federal judge in florida has indefinitely delayed former president trump's classified documents trial. judge aileen cannon, a trump appointee, canceled the trial date of may 20th. she gave no new date, but she has yet to rule on several key legal issues.

mr. trump has pleaded not guilty to 40 federal counts. a tornado ripped through a small oklahoma town last night, killing at least one person. it happened in barnsdall, north of tulsa. the town had already been hit by an earlier tornado, last month. this time, the damage was far worse. debris littered lot after lot where homes once stood. the mayor said crews are still sifting through the wreckage. >> we've got drones, we've got dogs, we've got infrared stuff and we are going through the debris very thoroughly, all the search and rescue teams are going through with a fine-toothed comb, because nobody wants to miss anything. amna: the national weather service had reports of 16 other tornadoes, across a swath of neighboring states. a scathing new independent report has found rampant sexual harassment, racial bias and other misconduct at the federal deposit insurance corporation, or fdic. the report said that leaders at the banking regulator, including its chair, martin gruenberg

ignored the problems, and that those who complained faced retaliation. gruenberg called the findings sobering and pledged to make changes. after more than a century, the boy scouts of america will change its name, to simply, scouting america. the rebrand reflects the organization's shifts toward inclusivity, namely, allowing girls to join its ranks. in an interview, president and ceo roger krone said, in the next 100 years, we want any youth in america to feel very, very welcome to come into our programs. and, on wall street: stocks mostly drifted in lackluster trading. the dow jones industrial average gained 32 points to close at 38,884. the nasdaq fell 16 points. the s-and-p 500 added 7. still to come on the newshour. president biden denounces the rise in anti-semitism in a speech marking holocaust remembrance day. a look at whether campus protests against the war in gaza qualify as civil disobedience. and, anita hill on the

overturning of harvey weinstein's rape conviction and what it means for the me too movement. >> this is the "pbs newshour" from weta studios in washington, and in the west, from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. amna: stormy daniels, the adult film actress at the center of the criminal hush money trial against former president donald trump, took the stand in new york city today. william brangham has more on the volatile day in court. william: in sometimes graphic detail, stormy daniels described the one sexual encounter she alleges she had th trump, and the six figure payment she received from trump's lawyer to buy her silence before the 2016 election. trump denies any sexual relationship with her. daniels was forcefully cross examined by trump's legal team, who questioned her financial motives, and shifting stories

about her encounter with the former president. andrea bernstein is covering the trial for npr, and joins us again now. andrea, what did we learn from stormy daniels today? >> it was quite a scene, because this is a trial wary of -- we have heard now testimony from the former publisher of the national enquirer, from stormy daniels law your him about the deal they set up, we've heard from michael cohen. here was the woman at the center of it all, coming forward for the first time in a court to tell her story of this encounter with president trump at a celebrity golf tournament in 2006. as you said, it was quite graphic, but she walked the jury through what happened. he invited her up to his suite, they were speaking, she went to use the restroom and when he --

when she came out he was lying on the bed in his underwear, she said, and then they had sex. that is what is at the heart of all this hush money deal, trying to silence it, and here we are in 2024 with her testimony as it happened in 2006. william: trump's lawyers at one point citing some of those graphic details, saying they were prejudicial to the jury and pushed for a mistrial. how did the judge respond to that? >> trump was about as agitated as i have seen him in this case, leaning over and talking to his lawyers, clearly very upset during all of stormy daniels testimony. of course he has denied having any kind of relationship with her. after lunch, his lawyers came back to the judge and said this is a case about business records . the prosecution said no, this is necessary to complete the narrative. this is a story about what

happen, the jury needs to hear it. in fact it is the story that trump and michael cohen tried to keep silent. the judge said he was not going to declare a mistrial but he wishes there were details that had not come out. in the afternoon testimony, close rain w kept on stormy daniels. then it was the defense turn to cross-examine her. it was a very agitated day of testimony in the courthouse in lower manhattan. william: tell us a little more about that cross-examination. >> the details of the encounter that stormy daniels laid out did sync up with what other witnesses have testified, from trump calling her honeybunch to the context that she made through his executive assistant.

what the defense wanted to lean into is all of the contradictory accounts that stormy daniels has given since this happened. those are out there, she obviously denied the story for a long time, put her toe in the water about telling it 2011, drew back, then made an nda with cohen on behalf of trump as she understood it in 2016 during the campaign. she testified how anxious he was that he would ever pay her. the defense just wanted to dwell on all of the contradictory accounts that she in fact hated trump, that she owed him money from an unsuccessful defamation claim she had against him. it will be up to the judge to sort out whether it overwhelms

the testimony about what she said happen in 2006 and how she made this deal with the trump campaign or with trump through michael cohen late in the campaign in 2016. william: so how did? daniels respond to all of that? as you were saying, her story has shifted over time. certainly it one point she -- how does she defend herself to say, in fact this is why my story makes sense in its totality? >> this cross-examination is going to continue on thursday. there is no testimony tomorrow. she did not exactly have the opportunity to say believe what i have to believe, but she stood by the heart of her story, which is that she had a sexual encounter with donald trump in 2006, and then decided to sell it in 2016. of course that is all the prosecution needs, nevertheless

the jury was treated to many statements she was -- had given denying there was an encounter, and that is something the prosecution will likely try to clean up when they get to redirect. but it still exists and is something the jury will just have to consider when they go over all the evidence. william: thank you so much for getting us through all this. amna: as reported earlier, an israeli delegation has arrived in cairo for crucial ceasefire talks, a day after hamas said it has accepted an egyptian-qatari proposal. to explore what could happen next, we turn to hussein ibish, senior resident scholar at the arab gulf states institute in washington. good to see you. let's begin with the israeli troops seizing that critical rafah mortar crossing today.

what does that say to you, there are larger incursions imminent, or different kind of strategy? >> at the beginning of the war, they definitely wanted to seize the philadelphia corridor, which is the parcel of land between the egyptian border and rafah and the urban areas most south in gaza. this is a crucial, strategically crucial area which the israelis agreed not to occupy, and again in 2005, and again after 2007 when hamas took over. they pleaded with the egyptians many times not to take it but they are determined to create a buffer zone in the south to beef up and greatly strengthen in the north. lastly i think they are thinking about maintaining troops in a

buffer zone in the center of gaza, dividing gaza and south. this sets up a potential set of targets for a potential long-term insurgency against israeli troops. it's a kind of long-term plan that hamas likes to hear about, frankly. amna: and moving south, what does the seizing of this border crossing? mean >> it is dire, because every parcel of food that goes through is crucial because people are living on the brink of starvation and there have been trucks going through the rafah crossing that is now blocked off by israeli troops. israeli is very restrictive through the crossings they control and that's why the united states has been trying to

-- in other countries have done airdrop's. amna: what about the negotiations over a potential cease-fire and hostage release? we are john kirby saying they believe the text is close. do you think both sides are incentivized right now? >> i think they both believe they have profited politically from the war, but hamas is under so much pressure from leaders outside of gaza, from the people of gaza and other palestinians in air countries, that they've had to shift their policies vary greatly. they were calling for a total cease-fire and now they're willing to accept a series of short-term cease-fires who they have shifted a lot. netanyahu keeps talking about a

rafah operation with or without a cease-fire. there really are therefore show, and it's a big problem, so we will see. there is a lot of pressure to get hostages out, but if he can avoid a cease-fire, he's going to do it. piecemeal, a little bit here and there. not with a giant smashing attack , they would just slice it off bit by bit. the problem for biden is that may go forward into the summer. amna: what about the saudi influence here? we heard the foreign minister virtue the war and use the word genocide for the first time in a press release for outside consumption.

>> i think the saudi's are trying to exercise their influence there. they've made a lot of progress, they met with the united states on bilateral issues that could contribute to a try light -- trilateral agreement. it could be a huge win for the u.s. and for israel and saudi arabia as well. for israelis to recognize the palestinian right to a state and agree to enter into a process for the eventual creation of some sort of palestinian state, and this israeli government is dead set against anything like that. so biden is pressuring them on that, the saudi's are pressuring them on that, but they appear to be more addicted to ceasing the land of the west bank than for peace and stability and security and strength in their own strategic position. amna: good to see you, thank you

for being here. amna: president joe biden marked the 75th anniversary of the holocaust today, remembering the 6 million jewish people who were killed. in his speech, biden affirmed america's support for jewish people and for israel, and condemned antisemitism. >> we've seen a ferocious surge of antisemitism in america and around the world. on college campuses, jewish students blocked, harassed, attacked while walking to class. antisemitism. anti-semitic posters. slogans. calling for the annihilation of israel, the world's only jewish state. too many people denying.

downplaying, rationalizing, and ignoring the horrors of the holocaust. amna: white house correspondent laura barron-lopez joins me now. why did president biden decide to deliver this speech now? >> the president views this at crisis levels right now. it's a wider trend that started well before the hamas attack on october 7. for the president, it's a continuation of why he ran in 2020, when he saw the marching in charlottesville and chanting. this is something he wanted to confront head on. amna: you are at the president's campaign headquarters today talking to your sources. he has spoken about the ongoing protests against the war in gaza, saying americans have a right to protest. how is the campaign doing at this moment politically? >> the campaign stresses he is

not responding to criticisms, even to those from within his own party. campaigners tell me they don't actually think the president position and his policies toward israel and gaza are costing him as many votes as those college protests may suggest. they pointed to recent polls from harvard, from the economist, and they show that young voters are ranking the onomy and abortion and other issues at higher levels than the hamas war. amna: meanwhile on policy, gazans tell us they feel there is no safe space there. the administration is considering some new measures related to this. tell us about that. >> three sources familiar with the administration's thinking only the white house is considering allowing certain palestinians with u.s. ties refugee status. that would be palestinians that have family members that are either u.s. citizens or have

permanent resident status. it is important to say that this is in the very early stages of consideration and was something first reported by cbs used -- news, but we've confirmed it. the white house officially has just said on the podium that they are constantly evaluating policy proposals that would further support palestinians who have u.s. family members that are citizens and who may want to join them in the united states, that they have nothing to announce on this front at this moment. something else a white house aide told me is that since the start of the israel-hamas war, the u.s. has helped more than 1800 american citizens and their families leave gaza and come to the united states. they've also helped some children who need dire medical care get care at hospitals in the region. amna: what obstacles stand in their way if there were to move forward with something like this?

where does it fit into the larger administration outlook on refugees? >> i spoke to the president of global refuge, a refugee resettlement organization. she said the biggest obstacle she thinks to carrying out a plan like this would be more political than they are logistical. >> i think it's important to understand that program applicants who come through the refugee resettlement program are some of the most severely vetted of any seeking to come to the u.s. this program has had a long-standing history and has had bipartisan support. unfortunately it resembles what we saw in 2015 when it came to syrian refugees, which was thoroughly unfounded and unnecessary. >> she says an important distinction is that palestinians are allowed into the refugee program, that could take years.

it's on something that is quick. it would allow them some type of more permanent protective status versus humanitarian rule, which is what we've seen the administration use and allow afghans and ukrainians to come to the united states, those that are fleeing conflicts, and humanitarian parole is a faster process, but it only allows for temporary protected status in the united states. so they could end up considering humanitarian parole is something that would be more expeditious for allowing palestinians in. it would require close core nation with egypt and there are some fears among palestinians that if they were to ultimately evacuate, if more were to evacuate gaza, they may not be accepted by the israeli government.

amna: walk us through how he approaches this versus how president biden approaches it. >> there is a stark contrast between former president trump and president biden. trump demonized palestinian refugees. >> your towns and villages now be excepting lots of people from gaza. under no circumstances should we bring thousands of refugees from hamas-controlled territories. >> as you heard, the former president has vowed to ban gazan refugees and not allow them to come in if they do want to. he is also vowed to reinstate the muslim ban and has opposed ideological screenings for immigrants. an acute just drink -- distinction when it comes to resettlement of refugees as a

whole, under trump, he cut the refugee resettlement cap to a record low to 15,000 in his unowned year in office. by contrast, president biden raised the refugee cap to roughly 62,000 during his first year and now the target is 125,000. overall, president biden has tried to rebuild the refugee resettlement program. amna: laura, thank you. ♪ amna: protests against the war in gaza continue on a number of campuses across the country. as part of our ongoing coverage, lisa desjardins has a conversation tonight about the wave of crackdowns at some colleges and universities and

how they're being justified. lisa: amna, the past day shows more action and reaction. police made dozens of arrests as they broke up an encampment at the university of california, san diego. at the university of chicago, police disbanded another encampment. but at mit, pro-palestinian protesters refused to move despite the threat of academic suspension. today, in his own speech recognizing holocaust remembrance day, house speaker mike johnson charged that many schools are hostile places for jewish people and have, quote, succumbed to an anti semitic virus. last night, we looked at the idea that colleges have themselves fomented these protests. our guest tonight says colleges are not doing enough to crack down on them. david french is an opinion columnist for the new york times. david, what do you think universities are getting wrong here? david: they are ignoring their own reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions that should allow all parties to have equal access to campus facilities.

this is something that universities who have tens of thousands of students offer, but they don't have the public spaces big enough to encompass everybody who might want to engage in free expression. so when you have a time, place, and manner restriction, it says that everyone will have equal access to the campus, and also it means that people cannot disrupt the actual educational process of the school. so what is happening is, many of these protests, particularly encampments, or occupying space on the quad, they are bite necessity excluding others who might want to use it, and with the nature of the protest, they are interfering with the students ability to study, to learn, sometimes even to sleep. some of the jewish students are finding their access to the campus is limited by the protest as well. so by blowing through these time, place, and manner restrictions, the protesters are actually violating the rights of other students. in that circumstance, the

university has to step in. lisa: some of the protests have raised concern, but so has the idea of calling and the police. how do you see the idea that perhaps that type of approach doesn't go too far? >> the bottom line is, the universities have the legal obligation to protect the rights about the students and also to protect the jewish students on campus from anti-jewish arrest meant. in these camps violate the rights of others and they refuse to leave, and sometimes there is no option but to bring in law enforcement. that doesn't mean law enforcement can do whatever it wants. it should be disciplined and restrained in its use of force. but when a group of students is violating the rights of other students, there are label -- legal obligations attached to the university to defend the rights of others. so if the students won't move, many ways the universities hands are tied because they cannot continue to consent to the

violation of other students rights. lisa: let me get to the idea of what is civil disobedience and what is problematic unlawful conduct. for example, if there was a sit in at a diner and those conducting the city and were preventing the business from conducting business and preventing other patrons from entering, is that something in the same light, is it civil disobedience or not? >> with the civil-rights movement, what you saw was protesters by letting unjust laws, like prohibiting black americans from eating in the same diners as white americans. that is violating an unjust law, and then accepting the consequences. you accept the consequences of your legal violation which upholds the rule of law, but that is the key. you accept the consequences and you do it all peacefully. here, they are violating just laws. they are in violation of laws that protect the rights of others and they are refusing to

accept the consequences. they are covering their faces to avoid detection. they are often in outright defiance of the police when they try to move them. you're moving from civil disobedience to outright lawlessness where they are violating just laws and refusing to accept the consequences. lisa: protesters say they are seeing injustice and america tied to that injustice. they see this as a life-and-death cause. they are talking about nothing less than starvation, the violent death of civilians. what should protesters be doing when they see injustice like that, in their view? >> they should absolutely lift up their voices in protest. they can engage in their own boycotts. they can engage in all kinds of constitutionally protected activities to lift up this issue, but they do not have the ability to violate the rights of others because they think it is

for a good cause. that is not the way this works. my first amendment rights and my right to study and receive the benefit of an education do not depend on whether or not another group of students consider that a cause is important enough to disrupt my rights. that's not how this works. students have ample opportunity to express their views and they also have an opportunity to engage in genuine civil disobedience. what we are seeing on many campuses is an order of magnitude beyond that. lisa: there is not the same right to free speech on private college campuses, but all of this is weighing with something you pay attention to, our founders. you pay attention to their intention here. the founders themselves espoused rebellion, not just their own.

how do you weigh that idea of the tension between yes, speak up, do rebellious ask for something you believe in, but also follow the law? >> there is a right to some peace and safety and security here, and it is in fact a violation of federal law, antiharassment law in particular , when in particular jewish students cannot have full access to campus and cannot sleep or rest. these things actually violate federal law when it rises to that level. in that circumstance, these universes have to do something to protect the rights of other students. the right to rebellion, i would say that was seriously diminished after the loss of the civil war by the confederacy. i don't think there is any concept of a right to rebellion, in this circumstance if you have an actual rebellion against

authority on campus. they are violating the rights of others, and i'm sorry, the law protects all of us, not just a small cohort of people who decide to occupy part of the campus. lisa: david french, we appreciate your time. ♪ amna: the recent ruling by new york's highest court to overturn harvey weinstein's rape conviction has sent a wave of shock and disappointment through advocates. he remains in prison on a 16 your sentence for another rape conviction in los angeles but the new york ruling still raises questions about justice for sexual assault survivors. i'm joined now by anita hill on

a chair and president of the hollywood commission founded 2017 to handle abuse in the entertainment industry. professor, welcome and thanks for joining us. as you know, that new york court ruling cited errors and allowing testimony about sexual assault allegations that were actually part of the criminal case. what was your reaction when you heard that initial ruling? >> the initial ruling to me was shocking, and of course disappointing. i think the prosecutors have done a great job of trying to bring context into the conversation and to the processes and understanding of criminal terms like intent and reasonable doubt. i'm disappointed, but i also know that this is not the last case that we will be hearing, and i'm really excited that

prosecutors are saying that, telling the public that they will retry this case. just how they do that, i don't know what the strategy is going to be. i'm not a prosecutor, but since there was evidence that was excluded, i think they must have a strategy that will give context to jurors and inform jurors about how to interpret the law on sexual assault, whether that evidence is coming from other victims or whether it's coming from experts. we do need that evidence. amna: it may not be the last case, but it was really a milestone case. harvey weinstein was among the most famous, most powerful men in the industry to be critically accused and then convicted during what we are calling the #metoo movement. do you worry that the overturning of that ruling sets back the movement in some way? >> i do think it may set back

the movement in some way. but i would like to focus right now on individuals who may not come forward, who might impact -- you might in fact be too vulnerable to come forward. what we have to realize is that there is a level of vulnerability, when they have to address the criminal court. i don't know where the movement will head after this, but i am encouraged, because i do see that there is advocacy out there, i think there is outrage, and from that outrage can come new energy into the movement as opposed to setting it back, it may push us even farther than we have been in the last six years. amna: let's talk about those

last six years. as you know, a lot of the focus has been on some of the more famous celebrities who have been wrapped up in the movement. more broadly, as we know, women who experience sexual harassment or assault aren't necessarily doing it at the hands of some of the most powerful and famous people in america. it is happening in their every day lives. one out of five women experience an attempt in our completed rape, over 80% of women report being sexually harassed or assaulted in their lifetimes. you talk about the vulnerability of women coming forward. do you think there will be a chilling impact and women would be less likely to come forward if even someone like harvey weinstein cannot be held accountable? >> i'm sure many women will decide it is not worth the risk of coming forward. but we have seen that people do

step up, they come forward, despite the odds being against them. as a society, we have to think about the fact that this trial happened, and on one level, it was won, and it may be retried and there may be a verdict against harvey weinstein again. also remember that it took scores and scores of women coming forward in order to get us this far. i just don't think they're going to just turn around and stop coming forward, after having come as far as we have. amna: how do you look at that #metoo movement today? is there many -- any metric you can look at that tells us how far we've come or how much of a difference has been made? >> you mentioned that i chair

the hollywood commission, and we have done surveys now over the past six years. what we have found is that people wanted to know more about this problem. they wanted to acknowledge it. people in our workplaces wanted information about how they could address complaints in some instances, but more often they wanted to know how they could change the workplace, how they want bystander training to help them to be able to become part of the solution to the problem in the workplace. so i think that where we are headed is this increased awareness that can ultimately lead to greater accountability. so there has been movement,

there needs to be more, because we do need to change our process is keep up with this awareness. and some employers are providing more information to their employees and workers in the workforce. but again, we are just not there yet. i don't think it would be fair to even think that we could overcome a problem of generations in six years. so we will continue to do the work, and i think at this point, i can say with some confidence that we can rely on workers in our industries to step up and make the change, because that is the kind of workplace we want. we want the kind of workplace

where people do not harass and abuse we want the kind of workplace where they can be part of the solution to make sure that doesn't happen. amna: that is anita hill, professor of law and social policy at brandeis university. professor hill, thank you for joining us. ♪ amna: yesterday we brought you part one of our interview with basketball star brittney griner, who is detailing for the first time what it was like being detained by russian authorities for 10 months in 2022. her crime, it carrying the centigram of hashish oil for extreme pain from years of pounding on the courts. she had a medical prescription in the u.s., but the substance is illegal in russia. tonight she shares more from her book out today called coming home. i met up with her today at the

ymca of new york. brittney griner had been detained in russia for 6 months, when a court sentenced her to nine years in prison. you're told that if a guard stops you, you have to be able to tell them your crime and your release date in russian at any point, do you still remember how to say that? >> speaking russian] i forgot the last one, but, yeah, it was like two. two. it was my crime in their in their penal code. but you had to say that in a lot of other words, too. but i struggled on it. i struggled on it big time. amna: across the globe, an effort was underway, led by her wife cherelle, to rally support behind the we are bg hashtag and apply pressure on the biden administration to bring her home. u talk about the fact that you

had previously, earlier in your life, you write about your life in your cell in russia and you say, i wanted to take my life more than once in those first few weeks. i wanted it to be over. suicide would have been easy. i could have broken off a piece of rusty metal, sliced it on my wrist. i could have found a loose screw. nothing was bolted down well. i mean, the detail in that sentence. were you really looking around this? >> yeah. i definitely thought about it. made a plan. i knew some places where there was some loose metal. but in the end, if i would've did that, i thought about my mom, my dad, my sister, my brother, my wife. who knows? maybe they maybe they didn't let go of my body. maybe they held onto my body. you know, it's already hard. amna: you held there for 10 months. in an interview, your coach at the time at the phoenix mercury , said if it was lebron he'd be home. do you agree with that? >> i mean, i definitely think and we've seen it before, when female athletes, fight for their rights or fight for equality, you know we're chirpy, we're , being catty.

but, you know, when the men. and i'm not going to say just one sport, just men across the board, it's showing their toughness. it's showing how strong they are, how they fight for themselves, the brotherhood. so i just i hate the inequity of the two. and i definitely felt it. amna: in december 2022, a breakthrough in negotiations between the u.s. and russia. griner is to be traded for viktor bout, a prolific arms dealer and ally of russian president vladimir putin, held in a u.s. prison since 2012. griner is told to pack her things. at what point though do you really allow yourself to say okay, i am going home? >> once i was on the plane i felt good. because at any moment it could have fell through. amna: it's literally not until you're on the plane. >> oh, not until i'm on the plane. and then once i'm on the soil and we pull up to that hangar, and i saw my wife and i saw that u.s. flag hanging in that hangar.

then i finally could relax. amna: that first hug. what did that feel like? >> it felt so good just seeing her. oh, my god, she's going to kill me for this. but, she's going to kill me. but i just remember i whispered in her ear because i just wrapped my arms around her. my hand went a little low, and i was just like, you're going to kill me, but i'm so sorry i missed you so much. she was like, oh my god. because she's very private and, you know, and i was just like, i haven't seen you for ten months. i just wanteto just touch you everywhere. amna: i mean you just, you light up when you talk about her. after ten months away, to be back together, what does that feel like? >> she's my person. she's my person i've said it before. she saved my life. she was there for me always. amna: safely back on u.s. soil,

she was welcomed home by legions of fans, as she made her return to the wnba court in may of 2023. but even back home, criticism and threats found her online, from those who opposed the trade that freed her. >> i even had letters go to, you know, the gym and to my old home. it was hard to read. it was even more hard to read when, you know, they included my wife in it. that was pretty hard as well. amna: you know relle says at one point in the book you quote her as saying there's no normal to go back to. what does your normal look like now? >> oh we have to find a new normal. you know, your whole life changes up. you know, we at first it was such a shock and, you know, having security with us and, just how we move about our lives, like, you know, just more quiet. which has given us, honestly, more peace to, you know, because it's just us. amna: it's just them, for now, but bg and cherelle are preparing to become a family of three. their first baby is due in june. >> we start here and just go side to side. there it is.

amna: are you ready to be a mom? >> i am so ready. i am so ready. i am so ready. i cannot wait. it is going to be the most pinnacle part of my life. amna: do you know what you want to be called? >> a call my dad popped i want to be called pops. amna: one thing you write about that goes on a real journey in the book is your faith. >> i mean i couldn't have got through without faith, without believing and without, you know, put it into a higher power. i'm here because of him. he made me the way i am for a reason, and i'm glad he did. amna: the same time. i know you do a lot of work now with the bring our families home. there are still americans detained in russia today. yeah. and remains there. yes. the wall street journal reporter and many others around the world died in different countries. you know better than most what they have been through. gosh, if you could send one message to them, what would you want them to hear? >> don't give up. don't give up.

we're going to keep doing everything we can. we're going to make as much noise as we can, and we're going to use our platforms as much as we can to bring you home, and i promise you that. ♪ amna: remember, there is a lot more online, including a story about how law enforcement in oklahoma will have broader authority to arrest people living in the u.s. illegally. that's at pbs.org/newshour// newshour. that is a newshour for tonight. on behalf of the entire newshour team, thank you for joining us. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> on an american cruise line journey, travelers experience the culture of the maine coast. our fleet of small cruise ships explore american landscapes, seaside villages, and historic

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