geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna nawaz is away. on the “newshour” tonight, the white house considers allowing ukraine to use american-supplied weapons to strike inside russia. the justice department sues

ticketmaster and its parent company live nation, accusing the companies of blocking competition in the live entertainment industry. and the u.s. supreme court rejects a claim of racial gerrymandering in south carolina, raising questions about future judgments on race and representation. >> these are complex cases because of the close link between race and political party. ♪ >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by. ♪

>> moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf. the engine that connects us. >> carnegie corporation of new york, working to reduce political polarization through philanthropic support for education, democracy, and peace. more information at carnegie.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.” russian missiles struck kharkiv in ukraine's east today, killing at least seven civilians. ukraine is desperately trying to hold off a new russian offensive that threatens ukraine's second largest city. and u.s. officials tell the "pbs newshour" that the administration is debating whether to lift a restriction on the use of american weapons to target russian weapons in russia. nick schifrin starts our coverage. nick: in the smoky aftermath of a russian missile, firefighters pick through the pieces of russia's latest battlefield of choice. books. books turned to ash, in what was one of ukraine's largest printing houses. russia has been bombarding kharkiv and trying to occupy towns further north, including vovchansk, to try and bring kharkiv city into artillery range and draw ukrainian forces

away from fierce fighting in the donbas. in vovchansk, there's no cover from russian drones. the city center has been ripped apart by russian weapons parked right over the border, inside russia. newly arrived western ammunition has helped ukrainian troops hold the line. but they can't use u.s. weapons to hit the russian weapons in russia that are hitting them. this week, president volodymyr zelensky told reuters wants that restriction lifted. >> we are negotiating with partners so that we can use their weapons against buildups of russian equipment on the border and even on their territory. so far, there is nothing positive. nick: the united kingdom has provided long-range storm shadow missiles, and so far the only public western endorsement of zelensky's request. >> it is their decision about how to use these weapons. we don't discuss any caveats that we put on those things. nick: ukraine also wants nato

planes inside nato airspace to fire into western ukraine, so ukraine can transfer its own air defense assets east. >> when russian missiles are flying, polish planes are sent up, but they don't shoot down russian missiles? can they do this? i'm sure, yes. nick: senior u.s. officials tell me while the idea of using nato assets to shoot down russian missiles over ukraine is deemed too risky, there is a debate about whether to allow ukraine to use american weapons to target russian weapons just over the border inside russia. and the new york times today reported secretary of state antony blinken, has now endorsed that idea. so, should the u.s. lift restrictions on where ukraine can fire american weapons? for that, we get two views. william taylor was u.s. ambassador to ukraine during the george w. bush administration. and emma ashford is a senior fellow at the stimson center and writes widely about u.s. foreign policy. thank you very much. should the u.s. allow ukraine to

use american weapons against russian targets in russia whether on the ground in russia or in the air above russia not only on the border but deeper inside russia? william: yes. if the russians are firing at ukrainians from essential wary, which is really -- from a sanctuary, which is really what they have right now, ukrainians ought to be able to shoot back. this is basic self-defense. some russian fires coming from close by in cross -- across the border but some are coming from russian jets taking off in airfields and launching live bombs going into kharkiv as you just described. so yes i think the ukrainians ought to be able to shoot back. geoff: emma, do you think ukrainians should be able to shoot back with u.s. weapons? emma: i think we need to be drawing a distinction here. i think when it comes to kharkiv and the question of a

conventional conflict being fraught -- fought across the border, that is one thing. that is something the u.s. might want to look at lifting some restrictions. where i have substantially more concerns is on this long-range strike capability. ukraine has been using other non-american weapons to engage in a campaign of striking russian refineries and factories come etc. i worry and i think the white house is very worried that allowing ukraine to use u.s. weapons to do that would be very escalatory. nick: that distinction, you guys both agree that perhaps u.s. weapons should be used against russian artillery parked on the border. but the concern that it could escalate if you allow the strikes to go further. what is your response? william: the russians have escalated in conventional terms as much as they can. they are not holding back. they are using everything they

have got. they are not using nuclear weapons and they probably won't. there are all kinds of reasons why they would not. but there is no room now for escalation. and emme is right, ukrainians are shooting deep with their own drones. those drones are not strong and they are not heavy. they cannot do real damage to airfields. but these weapons. the brits have already allow them to use these storm shadows and nothing happened. i think we should let them do that. nick: what about that point, that the brits changed the red lines and nothing happened, and russia is at the cap of its ability to escalate? emma: whether or not we agree that it should be the case i think the russians very much see a difference between the u.s. doing something in european countries doing something. when it comes to the idea that russia cannot escalate any

farther i am much more skeptical on that. we talk a lot about the nuclear question but that is not really the concern here. we are talking about potential sabotage the are starting to see in western european states. there was a fire in poland just this week attributive potentially to russian agents. we are talking potential escalation to a broader russia nato war, something that comes across the border. i think we are telling ourselves very convenient untruths when we say the russians don't have any means to escalate against us. nick: can russia escalate against nato directly whether directly or in the hybrid ways they have done for years? william: deterrence works. deterrence has worked. mr. putin is not suicidal. he knows that if he attacks nato he loses. he loses quickly and devastatingly.

that is deterrence. it is also deterrence when jake sullivan made it very clear more than a year ago that if the russians thought about using tactical nuclear weapons in ukraine, there would be catastrophic consequences. those words were well thought-out. that was not a throwaway line from jake sullivan. that is deterrence and i think it works. nick: and xi jinping actually threatened putin about nuclear weapons. but bottom line, do you think russia is deterred? emma: i think russia is deterred from direct attack on nato territory but we are seeing increasing willingness to escalate under that level of conventional conflict. and i do want to note that we need to put this question of a long-range strike in the context of the other steps the u.s. and western allies have taken. increasing the number of weapons systems sent, increasing the ways in which ukraine can fight

back against russia. and then talking about things like u.s. advisors in the conflict for western troops behind the lines. these are things that move forward in a consistent upward cycle of escalation and at some point it is entirely possible we could cross some russian redlines. we have to be cautious and a credit the white house are being cautious on this. nick: i want to zoom out. how does this war, do you believe, end? william: it depends on us. if we can provide a lot of weapons to the ukrainians so that they can stabilize the line right now and then eventually here probably they can push them back, if it is clear the ukrainians are not going to stop fighting and clear the europeans will continue to support the ukrainians, and we have just demonstrated we are going to supply them with $61 billion and more presumably. if that is clear to president putin that he cannot win, that

is how it ends. emma: i am not sure -- nick: can putin be convinced he cannot win and therefore the west can get to the point where ukraine can win? emma: i am not convinced this is sustainable for five or seven years or whatever long-term we are talking about. but i do believe the ukrainians with the western help already committed can deny the russians additional gain and convince putin he cannot achieve anything else on the battlefield and that is the point at which you start looking for a negotiated settlement. that is how i think we finally start to move towards a settlement in this conflict. nick: thank you both. ♪ geoff: in the day's other headlines, president biden plans to designate kenya as a major non-nato ally.

mr. biden made the announcement as he hosted kenyan president william ruto at the white house today. it's the first official state visit to the u.s. by an african leader in more than 15 years. president biden also thanked ruto for deploying kenyan forces to combat the violence in haiti, and he defended his decision to withhold u.s. troops. >> haiti is in an area of the caribbean that is very volatile. there's a lot going on in this hemisphere. and we're in a situation where we want to do all we can without us looking like america once again is stepping over and deciding, this is what must be done. geoff: president biden also addressed the decision this week by the international criminal court to seek arrest warrants for israel's prime minister and defense minister, as well as three hamas leaders. the president said the u.s. does not recognize the icc's jurisdiction, adding that there is no equivalence between israel and hamas. two senate committees have launched an investigation into

donald trump's reported offer to roll back president biden's environmental policies, in exchange for $1 billion in campaign donations. the new york times reported that mr. trump made the proposition at a meeting with top u.s. oil executives last month. in a statement, the chairmen of the committees, both democrats, wrote quote, time and time again, both mr. trump and the u.s. oil and gas industry have proved they are willing to sell out americans to pad their own pockets. the house oversight committee is also seeking information related to the april 11 fundraiser. louisiana lawmakers passed a bill today that would re-classify two abortion-inducing medications as controlled and dangerous substances. the measure would impose fines and even jail time for those in possession of the drugs without a prescription. doctors say the bill could make it harder to prescribe the pills, which have other critical healthcare uses. it now goes to louisiana's republican governor for final approval. he has previously expressed support for it.

in northern mexico, nine people are dead and more than a hundred injured, after a stage collapsed on a crowd during a campaign rally in heavy winds. cell phone video showed the twisted pile of large metal pillars, which had trapped attendees underneath. the long-shot presidential candidate who hosted the event, jorge alvarez maynez, had to run for cover. >> it was a very atypical event because normally the weather gives some warning as it intensifies. what we experienced happened in just a few seconds. a gale came, a sudden wind, and unfortunately, it collapsed the stage, resulting in a fatal accident. geoff: one child is among those killed. an official investigation is now underway. china started two days of military drills around taiwan today, in what it called punishment for separatist forces on the island. this week, taiwan's new president, william lai, called on beijing to stop its military intimidation of the island. china claims taiwan as its own,

and does not recognize its de-facto independence. taiwanese officials say the exercises involved dozens of navy and coast guard ships, as well as 33 aircraft. u.s. weather officials are predicting that this year's atlantic hurricane season will be extraordinary. the national oceanic and atmospheric administration expects up to 25 named storms, the most they've ever forecast in may. in its annual outlook the agency says there are a number of contributing factors, they include record high water-surface temperatures that act as fuel for storms. experts also expect a la niña weather pattern this year, which reduces high-altitude winds that can break up hurricanes. on wall street today, stocks slumped amid concerns that interest rates will stay high for even longer than expected. the dow jones industrial average dropped 623 points to close at 39,047. that's the biggest drop of the dow so far this year. the nasdaq lost 77 points.

the s&p 500 shed nearly 42 points. and the women's national basketball association is going international. the league announced today that it will expand to toronto, its first franchise outside of the u.s. the wnba commissioner said of the announcement, the world is finally taking notice of something that's been there all along -- the immense talent, passion, and competition in women's sports. the expansion team, which has not yet been named, is set to begin playing in 2026. still to come on the “newshour”" congress grills more university leaders over their handling of campus protests against the war in gaza. massive invasive goldfish threaten the great lakes fragile ecosystem. and a new documentary explores the history and cultural impact of black twitter. >> 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. geoff: the department of justice

wants the courts to break up live nation, the parent company of ticketmaster, and the biggest concert promoter in the u.s. the entertainment conglomerate has long faced intense scrutiny over prices for concerts by major artists. one of the most notable cases recently, tickets for taylor swift's era's tour, when ticketmaster's website crashed during a pre-sale and led to widespread outcry. the company blamed high demand, but swifties suspected foul play as tickets quickly vanished only to reappear on resale sites at much higher prices. u.s. attorney general merrick garland laid out his case today. >> are complaint makes clear what happens when a monopolist dedicates its resources to entrenching its monopoly power and insulating itself from competition rather than investing in better products and services. we allege that live nation has illegally monopolized markets across the united states for far

too long. it is time to break it up. geoff: more than two dozen states and the district of columbia joined the lawsuit. that includes california. rob bonta is the state's attorney general, and he joins us now. welcome. as we mentioned, you are one of dozens of state attorneys general supporting this lawsuit. why? rob: because it is important for us as a regulator to make sure that we have a free, fair, lawful marketplace with competition where monopolistic behavior and anti-competitive behavior does not distort the market and manipulate the market and bend the market to its will. live nation can be a very successful company and follow the law. right now they are not doing that. their conduct is illegal and unlawful and they are not allowed to do it. so in the interest of supporting a free and fair marketplace,

making sure consumers have a better experience with higher quality and lower prices, making sure artists are able to choose the promoter that they want instead of being forced to choose live nation, making sure that concert venues are able to pick the ticketing vendor they want and not be forced to pick ticketmaster. and to allow for startups and entrepreneurs and new entrants to the market to actually enter the market and compete, that is why we are bringing this case. it is an example of ensuring that monopolistic anti-competitive behavior is not invade our marketplace and our marketplace is free, fair, and open to comment asian -- competition. geoff: they said it may be a pr win in the short-term but it will lose in court because it ignores the basic economics of lot entertainment such as the fact the bulk of service fees go to venues in the competition has steadily eroded ticketmaster's market share and pocket --

profit margin. so they are saying it just reflects the cost of doing business these days. how do you respond to that? rob: if live nation was not involved, then they have nothing to worry about. i don't think deflection or pointing the fifth or -- the finger elsewhere is the most productive approach here. we have a coalition of state, federal, and a district entity coming together. 29 states as well as the federal government bipartisan. we have texas and california together who looked at the facts and applied the law and concluded the same thing, that live nation is involved in illegal conduct and it cannot continue. i think it is important for live nation to look at its conduct. they have failed to follow the conditions of the merger from 2010. they are forcing artists to use

them as a promoter instead of allowing artists to choose whatever they wanted their forcing venues to use ticketmaster and only ticketmaster. a vendor that is very frustrating to fans who know how low-quality it is and as mentioned earlier, led to a website crash when folks were trying to access their beloved concert to see taylor swift. the conduct speaks for itself. they are violating sections one and sections two and that is why we brought this lawsuit. we had no other choice to protect consumers and create a free and competitive marketplace. geoff: to your point about preserving competition in the free market, what you say to people who might view this as government intervention in the free market? rob: the government has a role in creating a free market. it is not an anything goes, no

holds barred market where you can use violence and use illegal tactics and actions. it is incumbent on the regulators, the referees if you will, to ensure that the rules are being followed. there are rules to our marketplace, there are things that are illegal and not allowed. and unfortunately live nation is involved in some of those actions that are unlawful. we have had antitrust law, prohibitions on monopolistic conduct and anti-competitive conduct. rules of the free marketplace road that have existed for decades, for centuries. they still exist. they have to be followed. it is not anything goes. the big companies can use their size, their dominance, their control, to squeeze out the competition, to prevent the mom-and-pop from creating competition. that is not allowed. we are just ensuring the rules are being followed. and the market, competition will

determine what happens next. but the most important thing is to make sure the rules are being followed and there is no unlawful conduct. geoff: california attorney general rob bonta, thanks again for joining us this evening. rob: thanks for having me. ♪ geoff: the u.s.supreme court ruled today that south carolina republicans did not unlawfully consider race when drawing a district that removed thousands of black voters. in a 6-3 decision, the court's conservative majority delivered a win to gop state officials, who said they used politics, not race, as the key factor when drawing the district boundaries. the decision could have major implications for future cases looking at racial representation in congressional maps. our supreme court watcher marcia coyle joins us. it is great to have you here as always. so, the majority opinion was written by justice samuel alito, part of which reads, no direct

evidence supports the district court's finding that race predominated in the design of district one. the circumstantial evidence falls far short of showing that race, not partisan preferences, drove the districting process. explain the decision here, how they arrived at it. marcia: these are complex cases because of the close link between race and political party. and the challengers had to unwind that to show that race predominated. that is contested under the 14th amendment. if race predominates, the plan is unconstitutional. the trial court had a nine day trial, hundreds of exhibits and witnesses and had findings of fact that this district plan was unconstitutional. justice mobile -- justice alito in the majority opinion, which the court reviews for clear error, he said it was.

and he disputed all the evidence. but there were two things he said that were new here. he said one, that the trial court only paid lip service to a presumption of good faith on the part of the state legislature that drew the map. and also he said that if you don't have direct evidence, if you don't have a smoking gun, you have to show an alternative map of the challengers. you have to show an alternative map that keeps partisan benefits the state was seeking in a better racial balance. and they did not because the court did not require it at the time. the descent led by justice kagan said the majority opinion had turned upside down the court's clear error analysis. that when trial judges engage in fact-finding like this, the court gives heavy deference to the trial court's fact-finding because they are there to see the witnesses.

it is a different way of analyzing these cases that would make it much harder for challengers to, what they consider racial gerrymander in the future. geoff: our team spoke with the naacp legal defense fund and argued this case before the court. she and other advocates say this case is textbook racial gerrymandering. >> more than 30,000 black charlestonian's were bleached out of congressional district one and moved into neighboring congressional -- congressional district six which was already serving as a functional district for black voters. that harms black charlestonians who were bleached out because they continue to work and live along coastal south carolina, and they continue to need representatives who will speak to their needs. geoff: she and other advocates make the point that it will be easier for partisan mapmakers to draw congressional maps that disfavor black voters so long as they show they are focused on politics and not race. marcia: it is important to note

that the court's conservative majority has for some time now, and justice alito in particular, they have been making it more difficult for challengers to racial gerrymander, and also to challenges under the voting rights act section ii. justice alito wrote an opinion very recently in which he set up a whole new structure for a section ii challenges. so it's just going to be more difficult. geoff: i want to ask you about the supreme court's latest ethics controversy, given this reporting by the new york times that this appeal to heaven flag was seen flying outside justice alito's vacation home. that comes on the heels of earlier new york times reporting that an inverted american flag was seen flying outside his home after the election. these are symbols used by election deniers and insurrectionists. a lot of ethics questions also around clarence thomas. what does the frequency and significance of these incidents

say about the court's impartiality, and the justice's obligation to at least appear neutral? marcia: i have to say, when i saw the two flags, i wanted to call justice alito up and say, what were you thinking? because it is incomprehensible. i think chief justice roberts and justice kagan, until i hear otherwise, as examples of being so careful about where they deliver speeches, where they appear, what they do. and yet justice thomas and justice alito, recently with these reports, and no real response to what is happening, appear impervious to how the public might be viewing it. geoff: always a pleasure to draw on your insights. we are going to focus more closely now on that new york times reporting about an appeal to heaven flag seen flying outside supreme court justice samuel alito's new jersey beach

home last year. the flag has origins dating to the revolutionary war but is now associated with christian nationalism and efforts to overturn president biden's 2020 election win. the flag was also carried by rioters at the capitol on january 6, 2021. our white house correspondent laura barron-lopez has been covering this and joins me now. they believe it is destiny for the u.s. to be capable christian nation. i spoke to an expert with the

institute of islamic russian and jewish studies and he described the modern symbolism of that flag. >> i would say it has become a symbol of right-wing christian extremism. of christian supremacy. aggression christian nationalism. especially built around ideas of spiritual warfare and fighting against the demons they believe have taken over the united states. it attaches itself to all these different things and it especially connotes support for donald trump. today, to fly the flag in many ways is to reference january 6 and point back to this other moment where people believed that they were appealing to heaven to see an election overturned. laura: so the flag was popularized by the new apostolic reformation has become much bigger to represent the 2020 election lies. geoff: tell me more about this movement and how it is grown.

laura: leaders who helped popularize the flag are strong supporters of donald trump. they were some of the first christian leaders to rally around him in 2016. this movement specifically believes in christian supremacy, believes that christianity should be the official religion of the united states, ending any separation of church and state, and trying to enact their vision of a christian society. and as the popularity of that has grown, so has trump's popularity amongst christians and evangelicals. these christian nationalists have essentially worked since 2015 to get more republican lawmakers and government officials to fly this flag. as we reported earlier this year, house speaker mike johnson has this appeal to heaven flag, has put it outside of his capitol hill office. and johnson's office told us at the time that they did not see

any affiliation with january 6 and him putting this flag outside of their office. they denied that wholeheartedly. and said that the speaker simply liked the historical -- the history of the flag going back to the revolutionary war. but the key context as there has always been an undercurrent of violence attributed to this flag, whether it is the revolutionary war history, but more commonly now, this movement that has popularized it believes in spiritual warfare. geoff: unpack the context around this inverted american flag that according to the new york flag -- new york times was seen flying outside justice alito's home shortly after the election. laura: that flag which was an upside down american flag was also a flag that was carried by rioters on january 6 and that flag was flown outside alito's virginia home 11 days after the insurrection, three days before president biden's inauguration.

and it flew for multiple days. i spoke to jodi kantor a few weeks ago and says alito has not answered some key questions. whether it is about he does not believe in the peaceful transfer of power. if he is or is not aware of the connotations around the upside down flag. geoff: how does this fit into the bigger picture of right-wing extremism? laura: there were two other examples of extremism from trump and his allies this week we want to highlight. trump posted a video that referenced a quote, unified right if he is elected in november. trump's campaign said that was reposted by a staffer, it was not a video the campaign created and they were not aware of that reference in the video. this is not the first time that trump has echoed nazi germany. he has repeatedly talked about migrants quote, poisoning the blood of the country, which historians point out is a direct

reference to adolf hitler and his use of the term blood poisoning. then trump took to truth social this week, claiming the justice department authorized the use of deadly force against him during their search of mar-a-lago, claiming that biden's fbi wanted to assassinate him. so i spoke to a yale historian who said, when you look at this in the big scale of things, that ultimately, trump's comments about biden, his fbi trying to assassinate him, is a classic tactic used by fascist movements. they want a monopoly on victimhood, so that way they can take any action they want. geoff: let's pivotal t -- let's pivot because donald trump picked up the support of nikki haley this week. laura: i spoke to the former lieutenant governor of georgia, a republican, who says he is going to vote for biden.

he does not think this ultimately will sway many of the nikki haley moderate voters he believes that there is still a strong segment of them that could be persuaded to vote for biden. biden's campaign is going after them and says that they are going to hire a staff, they told me, to specifically target moderate republicans and independents that are nikki haley supporters. geoff: laura barron-lopez, thank you so much, we appreciate it. laura: thank you. geoff: college presidents were grilled again today by the house education committee. the committee has held a series of hearings about antisemitism and protests, often focusing on private ivy league schools. the blowback to these hearings has led in part to the departure of some presidents. today, the committee's focus shifted to include public universities. but some of the same tensions and allegations played out during a tense hearing. ali rogin has our report.

ali: a contentious morning on capitol hill. >> i want to question the premise of your question. >> no, no, no, i'm asking the questions, you're answering. ali: university leaders were in washington today to testify again about how their schools have handled protests and antisemitic incidents. this time it was the leaders of ucla, rutgers, and northwestern universities this latest hearing comes after weeks of encampments, demonstrations, and crackdowns across the country. almost 3000 protesters have been arrested since april. >> october, 7 ignited a powder keg of pro-terror campus fervor, a shocking spectacle for the american public. ali: virginia foxx is the chair of the committee who has led the series of hearings about colleges. >> each of you should be ashamed of your decisions that allowed antisemitic encampments to endanger jewish students. ali: republican lawmakers focused much of their attention today on the encampments and the efforts to dismantle them. in the case of rutgers and

northwestern, their presidents were able to work out agreements with pro-palestinian protesters. >> bringing in police because of the size of our police force and the resources would have endangered our police, they would have endanred our students, and they would have endangered our student affairs staff. so then we made the decision to talk to our students, to model the behavior that we want to be engaged in that dialogue rather than force. and we had a de-escalation. ali: many republicans chastised the university leaders for negotiating with protesters instead of handing out expulsions. >> you agreed to the demands of those who are trying to change university policy in an anti-semitic weight and you rewarded their tactics. ali: at ucla last month, violence by counter-protesters with israeli flags against the pro-palestinian encampment went on for hours before campus police responded. the lapd and the california

highway patrol were called in later. the campus police chief was reassigned from his position earlier this week. representative ilhan omar of minnesota lit into ucla chancellor gene block. >> why did you not immediately send the police that were standing by, your campus police, law enforcement, to intervene? >> we tried. we notified -- as soon as we saw the violence we notified all of our mutual aid partners. we tried to get police there as quickly as possible. >> you should be ashamed in the fact that you failed your students. you should be ashamed for letting a peaceful protest gathering get hijacked by an angry mob. ali: the encampment at ucla was removed last month, but today protesters erected a new blockade. there was another key difference with this hearing from earlier ones. public schools like ucla and rutgers don't have the latitude

to restrict student speech the same way private universities do. >> as a public university, ucla is subjected to a dual legal mandate. the first amendment obligation to protect free speech on campus, and the obligation under federal laws to protect students from discrimination and harassment. this balance is often difficult to achieve. ali: once again, lawmakers, mostly republicans, hammered college officials over what they saw as inadequate discipline for some students and faculty, especially for any antisemitic remarks or conduct. rutgers president holloway said four students were suspended, while northwestern and ucla said investigations were ongoing. >> that we didn't, have not yet suspended or expelled students, does not mean that students have not received discipline. ali: schill said northwestern terminated some staff, while rutgers and ucla said disciplinary proceedings were ongoing. for his part, holloway pushed back at the description of his school.

>> i certainly disagree with the characterization of rutgers being a hotbed of antisemitism. we do everything can to promote the security and safety of all of our students and to have a community of care. ali: protests may have died down at many campuses as the school year draws to a close, but many commencement ceremonies have been canceled or interrupted by protesters. at harvard today, hundreds of students walked out of commencement chanting, "free palestine." for the "pbs newshour," i'm ali rogin. ♪ geoff: for many people, it's their first pet, the humble goldfish. swimming in a tank in your house, it's hard to imagine it's much of a threat. but, when released into a great lake, a goldfish can imperil the fragile ecosystem of the largest freshwater system in the world. christopher booker has the story. christopher: ecologist andrea court is beginning another day

at the cootes paradise fishway in hamilton, ontario. sitting between lake ontario and the cootes paradise marsh, this fishway acts as a border wall for fish. the goal? to keep invasive species out of this marsh, an important spawning and nursery area for native fish. >> we have a series of baskets or cages that are underwater. so we have a crane. it lifts the basket, dumps them into a container, and then we sort the fish. at that point i can decide which way the fish are going to go. christopher: with the flick of a wrist, court sends native fish, like this channel catfish, into the marsh to spawn. invasives, like this common carp, aren't so lucky. >> we turn away anywhere from about 2000, in recent years, to 9000 carp. christopher: and when you say turn away, you send them back? >> i send them back to the harbor, yes. they get denied entry into the marsh. christopher: when the fishway began operation in 1997, the main concern was invasive carp, which exploded in population in

the marsh, displacing native fish and depleting aquatic plants. but, in the past decade, as carp populations have declined, a gilded icon of childhood pets has been making a splash. >> so, here we go. here's a goldfish. it seemed like we moved the carp out and the goldfish kind of moved in. so starting in 2013 was really when we started seeing more numbers, higher numbers of them. christopher: but these goldfish don't look like the friendly little guys swimming in tanks at your local pet shop. even their trademark color, bred into them in captivity, can disappear in the wild. this is a goldfish, but it's not gold. >> well, it's not very advantageous to be bright orange in the wild. and so this is more of its natural color. it can obviously be much more camouflaged. christopher: kept in a fishbowl and fed a controlled diet, goldfish are small and unassuming pets.

but released into a lake with a nearly endless supply of food, they can grow into a large and destructive pests. >> they do grow quite large. so, you know, i think the world record is nine pounds. christopher: nine pounds? >> nine pounds. christopher: jon midwood is a research scientist with the great lakes laboratory for fisheries and aquatic sciences, he says these feral goldfish, which researchers estimate could number into the tens of millions in the great lakes alone, most likely originate from home fish tanks. >> what we think is happening is that people have goldfish at home, have them in their aquarium, and when they're done, they don't quite know what to do. and so they release them into the natural environment because they don't want to kill that fish that they do love. the same features or adaptations of goldfish that let them really thrive at home in that that bowl that sits on a shelf and, you know, doesn't get any new water for a while, isn't cleaned. those same adaptations let them thrive in these systems that are pretty degraded. christopher: he says goldfish are not only competing with native fish, but literally muddying the water around them. >> what goldfish can do is they'll actually disturb the substrate or the sediment and mix it up, and it gets all murky and turbid, and that stops the vegetation from growing.

they're one of the most challenging fishes to have in the system. we think goldfish are likely to have, in the near future, the biggest impact on that goal of trying to recover the aquatic vegetation. christopher: midwood says he would like to see these invasive goldfish euthanized, but there's simply no safe and affordable way to do so, because of the contaminants they carry as bottom-feeders in an industrial waterway. >> those fish pick up a lot of those contaminants. and so, if you're trying to remove them, there have been challenges in the past in terms of where do you dispose them, because they have heavy concentrations of things like pcb's and metals. once an aquatic invasive species is in your system, you can't do much other than try to, you know, keep its numbers down. and so the best path is really prevention. christopher: but pet owners grappling with unwanted fish are often faced with a dilemma. >> i had asked a few people that had ponds if they wanted them, but nobody wanted them, so i really didn't know what i was going to do with them. christopher: across the border in erie, pennsylvania, neilee irwin was the reluctant owner of an unusually-named goldfish that was quickly outgrowing its tank.

>> he was named "that one." because every time someone would come in the house, they would just go "that one." and i'm like, yeah, that's his name. he's the hugest. christopher: under the right conditions, goldfish can actually live up to 30 to 40 years. and this can leave their owners in deep water. that's why the erie zoo started a one-of-a-kind pet project last year. >> this is the last chance lagoon. christopher: the last chance lagoon gives unwanted goldfish and koi a luxurious new home, a 23,000 gallon tank in the heart of the zoo. but according to erie zoo's heather gula, the primary function of the project is to educate the public. >> we want to teach them about invasives because that is a big problem on the great lakes. we also want to teach them about proper pet care and expectations. that is something that a lot of zoos work on educating the public about, because you have a lot of people that want exotic pets or bring in some of those that they just don't know how to care for. christopher: the last chance lagoon intake forms tell the story of floundering fish

owners. >> this one's name is pumpkin bob. the owner did not realize how long they would live. they did get pumpkin bob at a fair, and he was living in a one gallon tank. christopher: along with about 50 other fish, pumpkin bob is now tank-mates with irwin's fish "that one," who's been living in the lagoon since last fall. >> be free! >> they needed something better. so i was very, very grateful. very grateful that i could put them in here, and now i can visit him. christopher: one less goldfish to wreak havoc in the wild. for the "pbs newshour," i'm christopher booker at the last chance lagoon in erie, pennsylvania. ♪ geoff: finally tonight, a new documentary --

amna: before it was x, it was twitter, a hub for breaking news , commentary, and hot takes. and then its early days, one subculture, black twitter, became a driving force in defining pop culture, creating trending hashtags, unforgettable memes, and even sparking social justice movements. a new docuseries on hulu looks at the history, the impact, and the legacy of black twitter. the director and executive producer of black twitter: a people's history is prentice penny, and he joins me now. thanks for joining. prentice: thank you. happy to be here. amna: why did you think this story needed to be documented in this way?

prentice: well, obviously, i have my own love with black twitter. obviously being a part of it as well. but i think as we were sort of seeing things change in terms of certain books being pulled out of school, certain narratives about black history in this country sort of being changed or being augmented. it felt like black twitter was a place to hold things accountable. and if those things are being removed from libraries, it felt like, well, what else here is documenting our impact on the culture? and this felt like the right thing to do. amna: you do poke fun in the series about the idea of black twitter itself. how people on the outside looking in would ask like, where is it? how can i find it? is it a hashtag? how do you begin to explain black twitter to anyone unfamiliar? prentice: i think black twitter's any space, at least on the platform, it was at the time, where black culture got to

be an authentically itself and drive conversations. sometimes typically, black culture in this country has the code switch or be sensitive or not to its full truth, and i feel like black twitter is a space where we got to be fully who we were, and again dr conversations in america, especially ones that are uncomfortable. amna: why do you think it became so potent, such a cultural force? prentice: i think it became a cultural forest because i think a lot of times historically in america, black life and the things that have mattered to black culture have sort of been over there and you can isolate yourself from it. you don't have to read essence magazine or ebony magazine or you don't have to watch black shows or listen to certain music, whatever, you can kind of curate your own kind of bubble america. but on twitter you couldn't write because you can open the platform and see things that were mattering to black culture and black america up there with things that were on cnn, cnn or msnbc, so you couldn't separate yourself from what you were seeing in terms of black culture. or you had to get off the app, which was very different than facebook, which was very much curating a community you already knew.

you know, twitter was almost trying to connect strangers in a way, and as a result of that, you have to be around people you don't know and be around things that you don't typically involve your life in, and i think that's why i became a force because it was putting the issues that mattered to black america and black culture up there in the same way with mainstream. amna: you cover this so beautifully in the series. there are moments of real community, like group watching the show "scandal." there's moments of real joy and total comedy. i have to say that meet me in temecula bit had me laughing out loud. it's a story of basically a twitter brawl that spills into real life. here's a bit of how you covered it in the series. >> this man allegedly drove damn near an hour to temecula. he tweeted himself. he went to have a fight over kobe bryant. >> we've all been in

barbershops. we've all been to cookouts. and there's always the brother, the uncle, whoever, who takes the hoop argument a little too far. you don't play for the lakers, bro. amna: prentice, i'm laughing now because i remember watching this as it played out in real time. why was this a defining moment that you felt had to be included in this series? prentice: i mean, i think it's one of the moments in black twitter that we remember, and i think that's some of the beauty of black twitter is these sort of real powerful moments like trayvon martin, a black lives matter or black girl magic and coexist alongside of random craziness as this and i think that's sort of the way black life is in real life, and i think that's the way you know black twitter sort of can have things that feel fun and serious just coexist together. amna: you mentioned some of those serious moments and i have to ask you about it because black twitter is responsible for some of the most potent hashtags that actually led to real world change in modern history. oscars so white and me too and black lives matter.

you cover in the series how activists like johnetta elzie used twitter to get the word out after the 2014 police shooting of michael brown in ferguson, missouri. take a look. >> all i had was my twitter and my facebook and so i just i felt and i really believe that someone, somewhere with care about what i was saying. >> her threads and tweets in that moment are history. amna: without twitter and without black journalists and activists using it the way that they did, do you think the world would know the names of michael brown and breonna taylor and george floyd the way that we all do? prentice: no, i don't think we would. and i think there's something about black twitter that harkens back to the way that my mother and my father talked about the civil rights movement. i think about phrases like we shall overcome and i have a dream and i am a man coexisting alongside with things like black lives matter and black girls magic and, you know, say her name and things like that.

so again, it was such a force in terms of changing america and i feel like i'm so excited and so proud of what happened there and really excited for the generations to come because again, my children aren't on the platform because they're just too young, they're 14 and 16. but they are moving through the world already hearing phrases like that, expressions like that in their lexicon, and they move that way. so i'm just really proud and excited about everything that black twitter has done and continues to do in the real world. amna: as we mentioned it's not twitter anymore. it is x. what does elon musk moving in buying the platform and changing the rules? what does that mean for this conversation and for black twitter? prentice: yeah, i think it's super dangerous, right? i think anytime someone can come in and buy a platform that that some people in society used as a microphone or as a way to get the message out, and he doesn't need to make money on it and can disassemble the platform is problematic. and i think you've seen ways in which he's he's fired a lot of people.

a lot of hate speech has jumped up like 4000%. it just proved how good of a microphone and amplification it was for voices that have been marginalized. so, it's super dangerous. amna: all three parts of black twitter: a people's history are available to stream right now on hulu. executive producer and director prentice penny, thank you so much for joining us. it's been a real pleasure. prentice: thank you for having me. geoff: and that's the “newshou”" for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. for all of us here at the pbs “newshour,” thanks for spending part of your evening with us. >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by. the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions, and friends of the "newshour," including leonard and norma klorfine, and the judy and peter blum kovler foundation. >> a law partner rediscovers her grandmother's artistry and creates a trust to keep the craft alive.

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