♪ geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on the newshour tonight, the defense and prosecution make their closing arguments in former president trump's criminal hush money trial. geoff: israeli tanks reach the center of rafaas outrage and tensions intensify in the wake of sunday's deadly strike on a refugee camp. amna: and sudan's brutal civil war brings mass killing, torture and looming famine to millions

of people caught in the crossfire. yahyia: people's eyes now on ukraine and gaza, but we've got not a lot of help here in sudan. basically, people need food and medicine. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of the newshour, including kathy and paul anderson and george smith. >> cunard is a proud supporter of public television. on a voyage, a world of flavor, diverse destinations, and

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contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. amna: welcome to the newshour. in new york city today, both the prosecution and the defense made their final case to jurors in the criminal hush-money trial of former president donald trump. geoff: prosecutors reiterated the allegation that donald trump falsified business records to conceal news of an alleged affair that could have harmed his chances of becoming president. for their part, mr. trump's defense team argued the charges are baseless, that no laws were broken, and that the prosecution's case relies on the testimony of an untrustworthy witness. william brangham has been following the trial from new york and joins us now. william, per new york law, the defense offered its closing argument first. donald trump's team has long argued that these charges are baseless. overall, how did they try to persuade the jury to vote "not-guilty"? william: the main lawyer todd

blanche leaned into what you referred to before, while we all called this the hush money case, it is really about the falsification of business records that are meant to cover up the hush money payment to stormy daniels that was made by michael cohen. todd blanche really leaned into that, telling jurors, this is not a hush money case, this is a paper case. he argued donald trump had nothing to do with creating any of those papers, 34 charges here, 30 four different invoices, ledgers, checks, and check stubs that are essential to this case. blanche uses no clear evidence that trump knew anything about those, no evidence that he did that with the intent to conceal anything and certainly no evidence that he tried to do that to win an election. he argued that the national

enquirer, the whole catch and kill scheme set up back in 2016, was not a legal, that ndaa's, these nondisclosure agreements, are not illegal, there's nothing wrong about them, in essence, and that they are quite common. he also stressed, a key part of what he had to say, that the essential witnesses here, stormy daniels and michael cohen cannot be trusted, they had personal and financial reasons to make up stories about donald trump and his alleged scheme and all of this. geoff: tell us more about that, william, because michael cohen is clearly the prosecution's key witness here. how does mr. blanche try to undercut his testimony in particular? william: blanche spent a good deal of his time trying to do this and had good examples of michael cohen online. in the past and allegedly on the stand in this particular case, a critical part of this is there

are cases where michael cohen, in this case, is the only one testifying to the centrality of donald trump's role in this alleged scheme, so giving jurors a reason to doubt michael cohen was critical. that was a huge part of his closing today. several times blanche would bring up examples of cohen allegedly lying and punctuate that with "that was a lie." blanche gave cohen his own title, you know how people call tom brady the g.o.a.t., the greatest of all time, michael cohen is the g.l.o.a.t., the greatest liar of all time. geoff: this afternoon, it was the prosecution's turn. give us a sense of how they try to recap their case to the jury. william: recapped is the right word, jeff. while the defense focused on the defense records, prosecutor josh

find let quickly sketched out what he wants the jury to be used taking about, that is how his effort back in 2016, the catch and kill scheme with the national enquirer and separately with stormy daniels and the alleged cover-up of that is those were all in an effort to basically create a fraud on the american voting public, that hush-money payments deprived the voters of critical information that the prosecutors argued could have changed the course of that election. that is not what trump is charged with here. he's charged with falsification of records, & glass -- and steinglass did get into details of that, the first prosecutors want to see this as an improper, illegal effort to protect then candidate kump and later -- trump and later president trump. geoff: with the defense calling michael cohen the greatest liar

of all time, how to the prosecution try to counter that narrative today? william: that's right, stein glass spent a lot of time, he acknowledged yes, he's a liar, he pled guilty to lots of lies, but a lot of it was backed up by cell phone data or other documentary evidence. in a particularly cutting moment, steinglass said, and i think it is a common line that prosecutors used is, we did not choose, we the prosecutors did not choose michael cohen, we did not pick him up at the "way that store, the defendant, donald trump, chose him as his fixer. steinglass noted if cohen was making up all of these stories, why did he not make up better stories, why do you not tell a better lie, that tropical told michael cohen in some meeting let's definitely cook up the books? steinglass said he did not say those things, why, because he limited himself to what actually

happened, so steinglass argues that after 2018, cohen started telling the truth, and that has not changed. geoff: in the time that remains, talk about the federal classified documents case against donald trump, because special counsel jack smith, his office just denied a request for gag order on donald trump following an extraordinary allegation donald trump made. bring us up to speed on that. william: again, geoff, "extraordinary" is absolutely the right word. donald trump accused president biden of sending fbi agent's to his home with the intent to assassinate him. this goes back to the execution of these search warrant that the fbi did looking for the classified documents two years ago, and as we know, they found many classified documents at trump posey home. some documents were recently unsealed this week, and in them, trump steel -- seized on

boilerplate language about how the fbi executes these types of search warrants. even though they are completely routine, basic boilerplate language, trump exaggerated what happened. he said out a fundraising email. it said biden's doj was itching to shoot me. they are itching to do the unthinkable. joe biden was locked and loaded, ready to take me out and put my family in danger. again, there's no evidence that any of that was true. special counsel jack smith asked for a gag order, saying this is dangerous to federal agents. the judge denied that gag order. geoff: william brangham, thank you. william: thanks, geoff. stephanie: here are the latest headlines. president joe biden will be formally nominated as the democratic party's presidential nominee through a virtual roll call. that's instead of the usual

process, which takes place at a party's convention. this year's democratic national convention is scheduled to start august 19th, which comes after ohio's ballot deadline. in a statement, dnc chair jaime harrison said that this plan will ensure that, quote, "ohioans can exercise their right to vote for the presidential candidate of their choice." the treasury department is easing some financial restrictions on cuba, in an effort to boost the island nation's private sector. one of the biggest changes would allow cuban entrepreneurs to open u.s. bank accounts and access them online. a senior u.s. official told reporters today, "we're taking an important step to support the expansion of free enterprise and the expansion of the entrepreneurial business sector in cuba." private businesses in cuba account for roughly one-third of the island's employment. violent storms swept through north texas this morning, leaving more than 1 million businesses and homes without power. in dallas, strong winds blew the

roof off of a hardware store and toppled trees, crushing cars and blocking streets. golf-ball-sized hail pummed the area late yesterday. a weekend of deadly weather killed at least 25 people across seven states. white house officials said today that the fema administrator will visit hard-hit arkansas tomorrow to assess the damage. sec. jean-pierre: the federal government stands ready to support as needed. as we turn toward recovery, we urge residents in the affected areas to remain vigilant and continue to listen to state and local officials. we also want to encourage everyone nationwide to prepare now for potential severe weather in your area. stephanie: a u.s. appeals court has fast-tracked the timeline for tiktok's legal battle against the u.s. justice department. the social media app is challenging a law requiring its chinese parent company, bytedance, to divest its u.s. assets by january of next year or face a ban.

the court set oral arguments for september. turning overseas, belguim committed $1 billion dollars in military aid to ukraine a day after spain pledged the same amount. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy sealed the deal in brussels today, where he toured an airbase. as part of its pledge, belgium will send 30 f-16 fighter jets to kyiv. meantime, russian president vladimir putin warned european nations against increasing their involvement in the war. pres. putin: representatives of nato countries, especially in europe, especially in small countries, they must be aware of what they are playing with. they must remember that this is, as a rule, a state with a small territory and a very dense population. and this is a factor that they should keep in mind before talking about striking deep into russian territory. stephanie: also today, zelenskyy signed a $137 million security deal with portugal. that package includes both military and financial aid.

haiti has a new prime minister. a transitional council chose unicef's regional director for national america -- latin america and a former prime minister of haiti. taiwan's legislature passed a package of bills seen as favorable to china, because they limit the powers of the island's president. the changes were pushed by the opposition nationalist party, which supports unification with china. during a fiery session in parliament, lawmakers from the democratic progressive party -- who support independence -- protested on the floor and threw garbage bags athe other side. it is unclear whether the bills will become law. meantime, a congressional delegation arrived in taiwan today to meet with the president, the second of such visits from u.s. lawmakers in a week. and we have a unique passing of note. the world's longest-serving flight attendant has died.

bette nash spent nearly 70 years in the air. she began her career with eastern airlines in 1957. she was still employed by american airlines at the time of her passing. the carrier wrote on social media that nash, quote, "inspired generations of flight attendants. fly high, bette." bette nash was 88 years old. still to come on the newshour, pope francis apologizes for using a homophobic slur. a look at president biden's plans to reform immigration if he wins in november. and how the reclassification of marijuana could change drug enforcement policy. ♪ >> 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: today israel kept up its operations in rafah, in southern gaza. that's despite global outrage over an airstrike sunday that killed displaced gazans sheltering in tents.

nick schifrin reports on israel's initial investigation into that incident, and speaks to a senior state department advisor on the middle east, as the violence continues. nick: in southern gaza today, another makeshift home to which gazans fled, now ruined and riddled with bullets. in the shadow of a u.n. office, with constant israeli drones overhead, survivors are exhausted and hopeless, their little protection long ago pierced. fouad maarouf: i went into the tent and found the woman was bleeding and the children were bleeding . all the children that were in the tent were wounded, not one of them came out in one piece. nick: a few miles north, in what israel has labeled a "safer zone," today the living felt outnumbered by the dead. gazan officials say this violence hit al-mawasi, israel's quote "humanitarian area" north of rafah city. an israeli official told pbs newshour there was no israeli

milita activity in the area at that time. and today the israeli military said the sunday strike that incinerated a tent city, burning and killing what a humanitarian organization estimates to be 200 civilians, also targeted and killed two hamas leaders. israel also says its initial strike hit 180 meters or almost 600 feet from the camp for the displaced, and the fire was not caused by its weapon. adm. hagari: we are looking into all possibilities, including the option with weapons stored in a compound next to our target, which we did not know of, may have ignited as a result of the strike. nick: but that was cold comfort today to the toddler who wouldn't flee without her prized possession. those fleeing rafah today have nowhere to go, but they say they can't stay here. the u.n. said today 1 million had fled rafah, just in the last

three weeks. as for humanitarian aid, the u.s. said today it had to temporarily pause the use of its military-built pier into gaza after waves had damaged it. overall, today, the u.n. says 200 trucks entered gaza. that's the number as of yesterday, far short of the 500 plus trucks gaza needs daily. for more on the humanitarian situation in gaza, as well as u.s. policy toward israel, we turn to ambassador david satterfield, senior advisor to the state department. he recently stepped down as u.s. special envoy for middle east humanitarian issues. he is also the director of rice university's baker institute for public policy. ambassador satterfield, thanks very much. welcome to the newshour. as we just noted, israel today said the fire that killed so many in a tent camp, on sunday, was caused by a secondary explosion. is this exactly the kind of incident that you were warning israel about when you were warning it against a major operation in rafah?

amb. satterfield: we were concerned in advance of the rafah operation about two things. first, the effect of displacement, again, because these people have been multiply displaced, of a significant civilian population. that displacement has in fact occurred. our second concern was about the physical impact of an operation, however confined, on the ability to move humanitarian assistance from kerem shalom, from rafah terminal, into gaza proper. and there we have had significant challenges since the operation began. nick: when it comes to the threshold of punishing israel for a rafah operation that the u.s. has warned against. jake sullivan, national security adviser, also said this last week. mr. sullivan: and one of you asked me the last time i was standing at this podium, how are you going to judge this? and i said that there's no mathematical formula. what we're going to be looking at is whether there is a lot of death and destruction from this operation or if it is more precise and proportional. and we will see that unfold. nick: does the incineration of so many people in that tent camp on sunday match, quote, "a lot

of death and destruction"? amb. satterfield: we continue to regard what is happening on the ground in rafah as a limited operation in terms of its scope. but the effect, heartbreaking as it is, to see the images of civilians, women and children in particular, suffering in this, we are not in a position to make an independent judgment on what was responsible. who was responsible for that incident? nick: but even if you don't know exactly who or what was responsible, the kind of images we saw and the kind of numbers we saw from the sunday incident, is this not exactly what the us -- u.s. was concerned about? amb. satterfield: we are concerned about maximum efforts being undertaken by israel to protect, as much as possible in this conflict, which hamas brought about, the ability of civilians to live in as much security as possible. this is a very tough fight. we understand that.

we understand the need to address the hamas battalions that remain in rafah, but the manner of address, it has to be done as carefully as possible. nick: is there a number of deaths, or is there a particular military movement that would cross the threshold that president biden has said that would lead to more weapons withholdings? amb. satterfield: it's not a mathematical question. there is not a certain number that creates a threshold here. it is the totality of what is going on, and the president has made this, as have other senior officials, that we do not believe a full-blown ground maneuver campaign in central rafah is appropriate or could be supported by the united states. we have not, as of this moment, seen such a campaign. nick: and yet we have seen, according to the u.n., some 1 million people flee raffa in the

-- rafah in the last three weeks. again, did you warn the israelis that this kind of displacement would happen, and have they prepared enough for it? amb. satterfield: we expressed two primary concerns. one was that no matter how precise an operation was in terms of its intent or actual scope, the effect on a multiplied displaced population would be a much larger exit from rafah than israel itself had instructed or planned for. and in fact, we've seen exactly that take place. our second concern is that such a displacement would need to have adequate preparation in terms of shelter, in terms of feeding, sanitation, medical support for those moving. we did not believe, prior to the operation beginning, that such a credible executable plan existed. we do not see adequate support for that population that moved on the ground today.

nick: zooming out, do you think hamas can be defeated with a military operation? amb. satterfield: the defeat of hamas requires two things. does require military action. hamas has a terrorist army that started out at some 30,000 persons. only a portion of those numbers have been taken off the battlefield. yes, military action is required, but political action is also required. you cannot defeat an idea without a counter idea. and the administration has been very clear. we believe israel must outline and outline clearly a commitment to an alternate political vision , to an alternative horizon, than hamas is grim islamist extremist vision, and that is a credible pathway to a two-state resolution. nick: the u.s. has offered, or the approach has been to offer netanyahu a choice. the choice of endless war keep going in gaza, or a project that you've been working on not only for the future of gaza, but the future of the region.

that would perhaps include normalization with saudi arabia. what happens if netanyahu does not take the choice that the u.s. is pushing for? amb. satterfield: nick, i'm not going to comment on hypotheticals, but i will say there is an opportunity here for the region, for israel, for palestinians to move forward in a different way, in a more positive direction than in the past. it's essential here that gaza not return to what it was before october 7th, that the people of gaza, those 2.2 million, not be held in rigid control by a terrorist group. they, the palestinians, deserve more. and all of us are working to try to hold out the prospect of more and better for them. nick: ambassador david satterfield, thank you very much. amb. satterfield: thank you, nick. ♪

geoff: pope francis has issued a rare apology after word broke that he allegedly used an offensive and derogatory italian slur referring to gay men while reaffirming his position against their admission to seminaries and priesthood. the pope made the remark in a closed-door meeting with italian bishops last week. reactions have been divided over whether the pope's use of the slur was intentional or a linguistic gaffe. to discuss the implications of this, we're joined by marianne duddy-burke, executive director of dignity usa, an organization that focuses on lgbtq rights and the catholic church. thank you for being with us. marianne: glad to be here. geoff: in issuing the apology, the vatican spokesperson in a statement said, "the pope never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms, and he apologizes to those who felt offended by the use of a term reported by others." how does all of this strike you ? the use of the word, and we should note there's some debate

about the intent, but also the underlying point, that gay men shouldn't be allowed to train in seminaries as priests? marianne: well, the reality is there are literally tens of thousands, if not millions, of gay men who are priests or gay men who are in seminaries, training to be priests, and our church and the service to the people of god that the church provides just could not happen without those who serve currently, and without the priests, bishops, and perhaps even popes who were gay, who have served our church in the past. so, you know, gays and the priesthood is a reality. god calls whom god wants to call to ordained ministry and to other ministries in our church. the fact that a slur was used, whether intentional or not, really points to the fact that our church is still conflicted to a great degree about the

issues of gender and sexual orientation, whether in the priesthood or beyond, and sometimes that just comes to the fore, as it did in this instance. geoff: and yet pope francis has done more than any pontiff to make the catholic church more inclusive to lgbtq people, maybe not in terms of doctrine, but certainly in terms of tone regarding the church's approach and attitude. how do you reconcile all of that? marianne: well, geoff, i think the issue is that it is not reconcilable. it's a fundamental conflict. you cannot simultaneously want to welcome, affirm, and offer the full range of services to our church and at the same time uphold official teachings that say that we are fundamentally flawed in some way, in terms of god's vision for humanity. when you try and hold those two

things together, it just doesn't work. and i think that pope francis has become emblematic of the conflict that exists at every level of our church, in every country where the church is present. geoff: tell me more about that, because -- because as you're making that point, i was thinking of the pope, allowing priests to bless same sex couples while making clear that the church still views marriage as the holy union of a man and a woman. how does the church really navigate this desire to be more welcoming while also hewing to traditional catholic doctrine? marianne: well, the church winds up tying itself in knots, to be honest, with these kinds of issues. you may have seen the pope's recent clarification in a tv interview, that he is not allowing the blessing of same-sex couples. he is allowing the blessing of the individuals in that couple. now, most of us understand that that is a distinction without a

difference, right? but in the catholic church, upholding that distinction still has some kind of theological importance. the way that most catholics live, certainly in this country and in many other places around the world, is that they recognize that the love that exists between two committed people of the same gender is just as holy, is just as sacred, and should be blessed in the same way that the love between a woman and a man who decide that -- decide to make that kind of commitment. geoff: the united methodist church, as you well know, i'm sure recently struck down their longstanding anti-lgbtq policies. the episcopal church, the lutheran church, the presbyterian church have all removed their barriers to lgbtq participation in the pulpit and at the altar. do you ever foresee the catholic church taking a similar step? marianne: well, again, i think

the reality is that most catholics have already taken that step in their own consciousness. what is missing is for the leadership of the church and the dogma of the church to change. and we're seeing this ever widening gulf between the people of the church and its leadership and, in many cases, that is leading people to disaffiliate from the institutional church, even as they hold their faith and many of the primary teachings of catholicism very dear. geoff: marianne duddy burke is executive director of dignity usa. thanks so much for your insights and for your time this evening. marianne: thanks for having me. ♪ amna: the biden administration is preparing an executive action that would allow president biden to temporarily shut down the u.s. southern border. this comes amid pressure from both sides of the aisle to curb

the flow of border crossings. our white house correspondent laura barron-lopez has been covering this and joins me now. laura, what do we know about this expected executive order? laura: it is known as the authorities, it gives president biden the power to suspend entry of migrants temporarily. it will be similar language used in the bipartisan senate ordered deal that failed. for example, if there's an average of 5000 migrants encountered each day over the course of seven days, then this authority would be triggered, and president biden would be able to shut down the border until those encounters fall. now, and a white house official told me no final decisions have been made about an executive action that is potentially being considered, but sources tell me this executive action could come as early as next week, after the mexican election.

amna: when you look at who has been encountered at the southern border recently, would this impact? laura: sources tell me this executive action is expected to affect most migrants. but an exemption in an executive action like this, the big picture is this is going to restrict who can seek asylum, ultimately, and when you look at the picture on the southern border right now, it is important to note that since december 2023, the total number of encounters by border patrol at the southern border have decreased, 250 thousand to roughly 129,000 in april of this year, according to customs and border protection, and most of those are single adults. amna: i know you've been talking to immigration lawyers. how with the expected order going down? laura: one immigration advocate i spoke to said that the administration should expect legal challenges to this. i also spoke to melissa adamson, who is an immigration lawyer for

the national center for youth law, who said that closing the border could ultimately end up being very harmful to children and families. melissa: what we saw in 2020 is that closing the border exposes children to more exploitation, to kidnapping, to physical and sexual violence while they wait in mexico to cross the border, and it increases family separation, because family units may make the impossible choice of trying to send their children across the border alone as unaccompanied minors to try to seek safety in the united states. we know that if people cannot cross at ports of entry, then they are forced to take more and more dangerous routes, and mountainous areas, in remote desert locations, and when that happens, we know it leads to more illness, injuries, and death as people try to get to the united states. laura: when i asked the administration from concerns like that from melissa adamson, they said the president is trying to balance humane entry

for migrants as well as enforcement of the border, and they are constantly exploring policy options for the administration to date, but they took aim at republicans for ultimately killing the bipartisan border deal. another but i spoke to, erica? , who runs a nonprofit, which helps refugees at the border, who said no matter what, migrants will continue to come, and when she talks to many migrants at the border, they often are not aware of restrictions that are put in place by administrations. be at this administration or prior ones. amna: we know that real, meaningful immigration reform has to come through congress. as you mentioned, the president tried to do that. there was a bipartisan bill that republicans backed away from. give us a sense of pressure

president biden is under on the specific issue. laura: members of hispanic caucus leadership met with president biden and bias president harris -- and vice president harris last week at the white house. they talked about this coming executive order. they also pressed the president, saying they wish he would consider other executor actions that can essentially expand work permits for migrants that are already in the united states. they also raise concerns about the president's outreach to latino voters. some hispanic lawmakers told me they ultimately worry this executive order as well as leg was in the bipartisan border bill that a number of democrats supported in the senate would set a standard for future action, future asylum action, that could be more restrictive. now, the president is balancing those concerns with those of moderate democrats facing potentially tough reelections who want for actions taken at

the border as well as facing attacks from republicans who are falsely claiming to stir up support among their base, that violent crime has increased because of immigration, despite the fact that the data does not show that. for a sense of how voters rank it, a gallup poll from april 2024 found immigration was the top issue facing the u.s. for americans they surveyed, outranking the economy and immigration has repeatedly been a top issue for many voters so far. amna: all right, laura, thank you for your reporting. laura: thank you. ♪ geoff: sudan's civil war has left tens of thousands dead, and displaced millions over the nearly 14 months since the sudanese military and paramilitary rapid support forces plunged the country into a devastating war.

the capital khartoum is a battleground, as is its neighboring city of omdurman. and it is from there that lindsey hilsum of independent television news reports. lindsey: they want to show they're on top. soldiers and police of the sudan armed forces in the center of omdurman doing the sign of the falcon. "we've seized our prey." the aim is to demonstrate to us that they're back in control, and that the people are happy to see them. but such triumphalism is premature. they m have driven the rapid support force militia out of this part of omdurman in march, but their enemy still occupies omdurman's twin city, the capital khartoum, and much of the rest of sudan. we drive through a city of ruins. imagine the shopkeepers, the people who lived here, the lives destroyed by this futile war.

families rescue a few belongings from looters. every 100 meters or so, new local recruits have erected another checkpoint. everyone's nervous. general abdel fatah burhan presides over devastation, over a country that's coming apart. the legitimacy of his leadership open to question. the last battle for this part of omdurman was fought here in middle of march. this area was absolutely littered with bodies. the ministry of health came and removed hundreds. but the rsf is still just about four kilometers up the road. the battle for the capital of sudan is not over yet. walls that remain intact hide the greatest horrors. this house was owned by a poet who fled to saudi arabia.

the rsf took it over. they didn't just trash the place as they did elsewhere. but turned it into a torture or maybe execution chamber. they dug a pit and placed a pulley on an iron bar on the ceiling to hoist people up and suspend them. rumors of what happened here spread. after the rsf was driven out, the homeowners asked a neighbor to come and check. waleed ahmed: when i came here, i was shocked at what i saw in front of me. what could possibly have gone on here? afterwards, i told other people in the neighborhood there was something strange in this house. i mean, from the sight of the iron bar and the holes in the ground. it's obvious that something terrible happened here. lindsey: we found a document listing names. 31-year-old omar ahmed adam, a

30-year-old woman, manal hasan, 12 names in total, all accused of "great betrayal." in other words, not supporting the rsf. and amongst the debris, mementos of the happy family who once lived here, who can never in their worst imaginings have predicted what would happen in their home. so there were really big battles here. i walked a few yards round the corner with rasheed ahmed, who stayed at home here in old omdurman for four months, until the fighting became too intense. outside his house, we can smell death. the piles of earth are makeshift graves. rsf slogans have been graffitied on the walls. this is your car? rasheed: my car, yes. lindsey: it was your car. rasheed: it was, yes. lindsey: his house was badly damaged. a rocket hit it after he left. but the cornicing with which his grandfather adorned the walls when he built the house in the 1940's remains. rasheed: we don't expect it to

happen to us. in all our dreams, you can't imagine this. always we hear about wars outside khartoum and outside omdurman, not in omdurman not in khartoum. very bad. very bad. lindsey: do you think you will live here again? rasheed: sure, sure. it's my house, my home. we will live here again, inshallah. lindsey: the children still play, even if they've fled their homes and are living in a school that doubles as a center for the displaced. their mothers, of course, can't forget what brought them here. inann: the rsf attacked our homes and tried to rape our girls. we managed to hide them upstairs, but the rsf men killed the girls' aunt and two uncles who were trying to defend them. now our situation is difficult. of course, our men can't find jobs.

lindsey: in the absence of international aid, neighborhood groups are pitching in. do you think that the international community has let you down? mohammed yahyia: yeah, yeah. unfortunately i think so. i think that people eyes now on ukraine and gaza, but we've got not a lot of help here in sudan. basically, people need food and medicine. lindsey: food and medicine, as simple as that? mohammed yahyia: as simple as that. lindsey: because in war, you see the best as well as the worst of humankind. the best being people like dr mohammed benaga, who started a soup kitchen for displaced people, funded by local shops and friends in the sudanese diaspora. and you stayed here thoughout the war. were you not afraid? dr. banaga: no, no, no i'm not afraid. afraid of what? lindsey: afraid of being killed?

dr. banaga: man will die once. not twice. lindsey: this family just escaped wad madani to the southeast of omdurman, where the rsf recently seized control. all over sudan, people are going hungry, because they've lost everything, the economy has collapsed, and armed men frequently steal what little aid is available. ahmed suleiman: the situation is very bad. they're killing civilians, looting them, and throwing them out of their homes. they took their livelihoods, their crops, and everything they have. lindsey: ruin upon ruin, rout on rout. not a paradise lost, but a country. neighboring powers are fuelling this war, the united arab emirates arming the rsf, iran and egypt backing the sudan armed forces. if the parties aren't forced to negotiate, what will be left of sudan? nothing that can be reassembled, but a failed state in a forever war, its people dispersed and destitute.

geoff: that report was from lindsey hilsum of independent television news. ♪ amna: this month, president biden announced that the department of justice is planning an historic shift in the federal approach to marijuana, reclassifying it from what's known as a schedule one drug to schedule three. this would make federal treatment of marijuana far less restrictive and consider it less dangerous, putting it in the same category as tylenol with codeine and ketamine. it would classify it as a drug that has potential for abuse, while still being acknowledged for its medicinal benefits. the president talked about the decision in a video posted on x. pres. biden: far too many lives have been upended because of failed approach to marijuana. and i'm committed to righting those wrongs. you have my word on it. amna: joining us now is natalie fertig. she's federal cannabis policy

reporter for politico. natalie, thanks for being here. natalie: thanks for having me so . amna: so this is the next step in a reclassification process that the president began back in 2022, right. so walk us through the timeline here, where in that process, are we now? natalie: so we just began a 60-day comment period, where the doj said, we've now made our formal decision. we've issued a draft rule that we're going to reschedule cannabis. so there's 60 days started last week and now, this could end five months from now, or this could end six or seven years from now, depending on if there's legal challenges in that amna: ok, so still a lot we don't know, right? we have seen a real sea change when it comes to cannabis legalization in america over the past decade or plus, if you take a look at the map, some 24 states have legalized marijuana possession for adults. some 38 states have established medical marijuana programs. so more than half of all americans now live in states where marijuana is recreational , legal at the level. so what does this classification or what would this classification change?

in a practical way? natalie: there's a lot of things that it would not change, actually. but the main difference that it would have is on the cannabis industry itself. in the states where it is legal, it would change the amount of taxes that they have to pay, meaning there might be more money in the cannabis industry's pocket, which means they could expand in legal states. amna: and what does that mean? there's some, what, 15,000 cannabis dispensaries in the country right now, so potential tax changes. does it change how they interact with banks or anything else? natalie: it's not clear exactly how the big banks will approach the change in schedule. that's one of those remain to be seen. once this all the dust settles, but what it would it would have an impact on the amount of taxes that they pay. amna: it's also been reported the dispensaries would have to register with the dea, like other pharmacies would. is that true? and how would that change the industry? natalie: so under schedule three

or under schedule one, where they currently are, they need to register with the dea. they do not currently and so one of the other questions of rescheduling is will the dea start to enforce some of the rules that the cannabis industry is currently already breaking, like, like getting registered with the dea? amna: so this is something president biden mentioned in that video he released, too, was the impact on the criminal justice system in particular , people who have already been convicted of marijuana related crimes. what would this change mean for them, either retroactively or people who are currently incarcerated? natalie: one of the biggest criticisms of biden's rescheduling movement is that it doesn't have big impact on people who have criminal records, especially at the state level. the majority of people who have criminal records for cannabis are in the state criminal justice system, not in the federal criminal justice system. biden did issue some pardons for people with low level nonviolent marijuana offenses, but that's just a couple 1000 people. amna: we do know the proposal needs to move through the dea. how are they likely to look at this? do we know if that proposal is going to move through? and when will we see that kind of approval?

natalie: yeah. so what we just saw recently was the dea and the doj coming out and saying, we've looked at the review that was sent to us by hhs, and we are recommending a reschedule. people get to comment on that . there might be some legal challenges to that. and so when the dust settles, there would need to be some big changes or big challenges for the dea to change its mind on that. it is likely to be a reschedule, but then that reschedule is also likely to get challenged in the courts. which means, in the end, this might be up to the court system. amna: it's so fascinating too, when you take a look back and you see the america in which this is all unfolding, we can now say there's a study published in the journal addiction last month that showed marijuana use now surpasses daily alcohol consumption in the u.s. for the first time in history, and americans have very different views when it comes to pot right now. you look at the latest gallup from a poll last year found some 70% of adults now support legalization. that is the highest number ever reported in that survey.

what does your reporting tell you about the why, behind all of this? why president biden is pushing for these changes now? natalie: well, a big part of that sea change has come from the youngest generation, gen. z and millennials, my generation are much more likely to be consuming cannabis, than generations before them, and they're also much more likely to poll in favor of cannabis. and you know, biden is heading into an election right now. he is not necessarily doing as well among those voters the younger voters as he would like to. so there's some hope that potentially amongst democrats, something like this with marijuana could push some of those voters that are skeptical or annoyed or frustrated with the president to turn out to vote in november. amna: and we will see if it does in fact. natalie, federal cannabis policy reporter for politico. great to have you here. thanks so much. natalie: thanks for having me. ♪ geoff: there's a new, original voice in the world of poetry.

indigenous new zealander tayi tibble's poems about what it means to be a young maori woman have resonated with audiences far beyond her home in the pacific. jeffrey brown met up with the acclaimed poet in new york city as part of our arts and culture series, canvas. tayi: my ancestors ride with me. they twerk on the roof of the uber as i'm pulling up late to the party. they gas me full tank and yas me in the mirror. jeffrey: indigenous ancestors, mascara wands, and glitter. all part of the world, and work, of tayi tibble, a proud member of new zealand's native maori community. tayi: my ancestors ride with me. don't tell me what they would do. i know them better than you. i think it's really important, and it's kind of like my ancestral given duty to remember and learn our old stories and bring them forward.

but at the same time, you know, i need to be telling new stories for our future generations and also for our ancestors too. i'm sure they'd like to hear what we're getting up to these days, too. jeffrey: the 28-year-old's poetry is deeply rooted in her maori identity but also her experiences as a young woman navigating friendship, sex, contemporary life. tayi: i draw a lot on our traditional narratives and stories, but at the same time, you know, i grew up in the era of kim kardashian. i'm really wanting to kind of express this indigenous identity that is multifaceted and modern . jeffrey: one way you do that is through language, mixing in words. tayi: i like to use our indigenous language in my poetry. i like to kind of have layers of them on the page, i like to feel like everything is at my disposal. jeffrey: tibble's perspective has resonated with readers and critics at home and further afield. her first book, "poakahangatus," won new zealand's highest award for a debut poetry collection.

she's the first ever maori poet to have work published in "the new yorker," and in 2021, she landed publishing deals here and in the u.k. we met tibble at poet's house in manhattan, before the final stop of a whirlwind book tour for the u.s. release of her second collection, "rangikura," which means "red sky." tayi: when i wrote these poems, i had no idea that they were going to be able to travel and allow me to travel and connect with people far from where i'm from. so anything from this is just extraordinary for me, and i'm very grateful. jeffrey: she's a member of two tribes with traditional homelands on the eastern coast of new zealand's north island. but she grew up farther south, in porirua, a city with a large maori and pacific islander population on the outskirts of wellington, the nation's capital. tayi: me and my family have been in wellington, the capital city, for about four generations. so for four generations, we haven't been on our lands, and our lands are so important to us as indigenous people in who we

are. ♪ jeffrey: her family's story isn't unusual. during and after world war ii, many maori moved from their tribal lands in the countryside into urban centers to find paid work. >> the old ways of a simple role in life of the farm feeding the family. jeffrey: between 1936 and 1986, the maori population radically flipped, from 83% rural to the same proportion in cities. but with little government support and a worsening economy in the 1970's and early 1980's, many struggled with poverty and social problems. tayi: i wonder how it feels to be tethered somewhere by a sense of home. to be buried in your urupa and to find that when you die, you have been waiting for yourself, this whole time, all along. jeffrey: writing about her identity and this history of displacement, tibble says, helped her reframe what she initially felt was a story of disconnection.

tayi: yeah, it was colonization that definitely forced a lot of maori to leave the traditional ways. i used to kind of think that was a sad story, but now i feel like that urban maori identity or urban indigenous identity is, like, just as valid as a traditional one. jeffrey: if i ask you who you are, do you say, "i am a new zealander" or "a maori" or both? tayi: i would say i'm maori. and then i would say i'm pasifika or polynesian, tagata moana, people of the pacific ocean. jeffrey: tibble draws parallels between the long voyages her polynesian forefathers took across the pacific in canoes and her own travels far from home. tayi: water definitely serves as a connector, between islands, between places, but also between different histories and time. jeffrey: and, she says, between herself and other acclaimed indigenous writers she's connected with while in the u.s., like tommy orange and

sasha lapointe. tayi: i just feel like i'm picking up on an ancestral tradition, which was to go and share our knowledge and then to gain new knowledge and return home with new stories to share. jeffrey: stories, she says, she'll continue to tell through her poetry. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown in new york. geoff: and join us again here tomorrow night for judy woodruff's look at how alaska changed its primary elections to break partisan gridlock. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire newshour team, thank you for joining us. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> consumer cellular, how may i help you? a pocket dial. well, somebody's pocket, i thought i would let you know with consumer cellular, you can have nationwide coverage was no contract.

have a nice day. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] >> 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 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. ♪ ♪

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