♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, climate catastrophe. a deadly heat wave paralyzing parts of europe. the hottest day ever in london. fueling fires across the continent. in the u.s., over 100 million in the midst of dangerous heat alerts. scientists hoping the severe weather is a call to action. >> i hope that these kind of events are going to be a wakeup call for many governments. aftershock. >> we hear you, we see you. >> two mothers gone too soon. >> we all are fathers who have lost their partners and are trying to navigate this world with their children. >> a new documentary looking at the epidemic of black maternal mortality and the families left

picking up the pieces. how they're fighting to change the system. >> i planned on spending a lifetime with amber. i wanted to give her my life. this way, i'm still going to. and the all-star game. major league baseball's big night. >> two-run shot! >> the top plays and the heartwarming tribute. >> when jackie robinson stepped onto a major league baseball field, he changed the game of baseball and so much more.

♪ good evening. thank you for joining us. a deadly and historic heat wave is crushing europe, blamed for at least 1,500 deaths in spain and portugal. climate scientists didn't expect these temperatures until 2050. the u.s. is also dealing brutal triple-digit temperatures. president biden is considering declaring a national climate emergency. but will it do enough? here's abc's will reeve. >> reporter: a continent on fire, buckling under oppressive heat. across europe, a deadly heat wave drying up rivers, fueling wildfires. >> i'm looking forward to some rain. >> reporter: forcing millions to take refuge as climate change wreaks havoc across the globe. >> carrying two waters today. >> in the future, these kind of

heat waves are going to be normal, and we will see even stronger extremes. >> reporter: officials say more than 1,500 people have died in spain and portugal already as a result of the heat wave. >> what we're coming to terms with now is that climate change is happening even faster than we thought it would. >> reporter: in the united kingdom, temperatures reached the hottest temperature there in recorded history. rising past 40 degrees celsius at heathrow airport today. 104.4 degrees fahrenheit. in the uk, typically impervious guards at buckingham palace being given water. many who based the heating sought resewage fuge where they could. a fountain in tra fall began square an oasis in the middle of london. climate scientists are warning heat events like this could happen every three years. temperatures so high, the uk issued its first extreme heat warning. >> the first time we've ever

done that, today and yesterday, the first time we've done that. >> reporter: in london, fires burning in and around the city. flights suspended at luiten airport when the tarmac started to melt. london's train service, delayed and suspended service on many tube lines. the tube is london's subway system. most of the trains don't have air conditioning, including this one, which is crowded and hot. it represents a larger infrastructure problem. with air conditioning a rare luxury in europe and homes in the uk designed to retain heat, there's little relief. >> a lot of that critical infrastructure in london, the uk, and beyond wasn't built for a world that was really trying to avoid the dangers of heat waves. a lot of those buildings were rather trying to store heat during winter. similarly, you don't see air conditioning much in that part of the world still. so when all that infrastructure planning was going on, whether how to mix the runway asphalt, or how to build the steel and

electric lines for the trains, it was built for a different world than we're seeing today, basically. so you don't have that resilience. you don't have that planning. and who suffers the most? it tends to be the most vulnerable populations. >> reporter: in london workers had to paint these railroad tracks under fear they'd buckle under the intense heat. >> it's virtually impossible for the uk to experience 40 degrees celsius in an undisrupted climate. climate change driven by greenhouse gases has made these extreme temperatures possible, and we're seeing that possibility now. >> reporter: this heat wave has in france, officials warning of a heat apocalypse as temperatures soared to 109 degrees. fires forcing thousands across the country, as well as in spain, portugal, and greece, to evacuate. fleeing their homes, taking their animals and what they could carry. in zamora, spain, passengers

surrounded by wildfire as their train passes through the blaze. this man digging a ditch, trying to protect his village. he was burned running away from the fire. he's now in critical condition with burns over 80% of his body. firefighting planes seen landing and scooping inseawater as beachgoers try to cool off in the waters nearby. new fires breaking out in greece, where more than 5,000 people have been ordered to evacuate. the decade of 2010 to 2020 was the hottest decade in recorded history. crushing temperatures not just overseas. in the u.s., over 100 million americans under heat alerts. over the past 50 years the summer temps in the u.s. have steadily been rising. in texas, the heat exacerbating wildfires. one grass fire in north texas near fort worth spreading quickly, destroying multiple homes. >> they say that's the one good thing they've got going for them, this pretty much endless supply of water next to these

planes. >> reporter: residents in the state asked to immediately reduce their use of water and electricity. >> we're experiencing a stress on our system because of peak demands with peak weather conditions. >> reporter: first responders like med star in north texas fielding urgent calls for help. they helped this man, who was asleep in his car under the hot sun. paramedics gave him water. when he declined to go to the hospital, they encouraged him to find shade. so far this summer, med star has responded to twice as many heat-related calls as this time last year. forecasters sounding the alarm across the region. >> you're looking at a lot of actual air temperatures. 112, 114. >> it's not just our highs, even our lows are going to struggle to really cool down. >> reporter: overnight lows in the mid-80s. cumulative heat even more dangerous. the heat taking a toll on outside workers like this u.p.s. worker in arizona, collapsing at

one customer's front door in 110-degree heat. the company says he's okay. >> i hope that these kind of events are going to be a wakeup call for many governments. > reporter: scientists say it's not too late to slow the pace of climate change and work toward more sustainable future. >> the thing about climate change, it's becoming clearer and clearer that it is a "right now" issue, it's affect is the people we care about today. i do think that these types of devastating events will accelerate that process of people realizing that we need to act. >> it's not inevitable that this will continue in terms of ongoing warm ing. we can reduce further warming if we reduce greenhouse gases rapidly, and that is possible. >> our thanks to will. up next,o aftershock. two men trying to make sure others don't experience their pain.

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♪ black women are disproportionately impacted by the nation's maternal morbidity crisis. the cdc estimates they are over three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white or hispanic women. a new documentary chronicles the journey of two men grieving the loss of their partners and turning their pain into activism. here's abc's robin roberts. >> creating pieces for other families who have lost their daughters, their mothers, their partners.

to keep their stories going. >> reporter: for amari maynard, these beautiful portraits come from a place of pain. >> being able to take these kind of dark emotions and turn them into pieces of art that are beautiful and vibrant, it's a tangible way for me to see growth. >> reporter: in 2019, on september 23rd, amari's partner, shamani gibson, gave birth to their second child, a baby boy named kari. >> she ended up with a c-section. >> reporter: but that joyous moment quickly spiraling. >> when we got home, you know, she was complaining about chest pain. she was complaining about shortness of breath. we had called the hospitals. and every time we did call it was, you know, "just have her rest, if nuggets worse, give us a call back." we were disregarded, and we were disregarded, until she had sharp chest pains one day and couldn't make it up the steps. >> the first thing i thought of was pulmonary embolism.

when she was sharing the symptoms, i was like it sounds like this. she was like, no, ma, they checked me in the hospital, they said i was clear. >> reporter: shamani had less than two weeks at home with her child. but then the unthinkable happened. shamani tragically suffering a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot in her lungs. a condition that doesn't have to be deadly if discovered and treated properly. >> telling her that her mother passed away is hard. she asks about her mother all the time. >> reporter: unimaginable pain felt by far tooing now-single fathers in america. as black women grapple with the rate of maternal mortality that can feel crushing. >> black women are four times more likely to die than their white counterparts with the same symptoms. why is that? >> this is a growing epidemic.

in our community. >> hundreds and thousands of men are going through this same situation. >> reporter: this health crisis now the focus of a new hulu documentary "aftershock" released by disney and abc news studios. >> i've never lived in this house without her. >> you've got to keep pushing forward. >> i can't let amber be another statistic. >> reporter: the film profiling the families, health care providers, and activists who the front lines fighting for birthing justice. >> jumaane gibson, we hear you, we see you! >> reporter: the documentary is codirected and produced by paula izelt and tanya lewis lee. >> i think often people think of maternal health as a women's issue. but maternal health is an infant issue, a father issue, it's a family issue. >> reporter: paula was pregnant during filming and says she understands this issue interest

meat. >> i think i do a lot from my personal experience. being in the thick of it while doing it i think just gave me so much of a point of connection. >> reporter: bruce mcintyre knows what deep loss feels like. the love of his life, amber rose isaac, passing away in april 2020. >> amber had such a pregnant glow to her. she was just so excited. during her second and third trimester, we started noticing she was having headaches. she was getting dizzy. she was having a tough time breathing. and all of her concerns were being taken lightly. >> reporter: bruce says by the time her symptoms were taken seriously, it was too late. >> she was constantly just being

ignores, time and time and time again. and it actually took a midwife, it took a midwife of ours to make the discovery that, hey, amber's not doing too well. >> reporter: she had hep syndrome, a complication that can be treated if caught early. vited liver enzymes and a dangerously low platelet count. >> her blood was thinning out, like water at the point they talking it. >> reporter: doctors performed an emergency c-section. but amber did not survive. >> thank you for all the brothers who came, and i'm definitely grateful for what we're able to do. >> reporter: bruce and amari are now members of a group no one wants to join, but we see them in the film turning their pain into a new purpose. you have been able to reach out to other men. why is that so important to you? >> after shamani passed, two

gentlemen i didn't know, met through ig, reached out to me. i felt like i had to do that for somebody else. >> you said you felt helpless, i felt the same way. i watched her take her last breath. >> you don't have the control, you don't have the power. but with that said, you could have the support. >> reporter: now he's painting portraits as presents for those who share similar experiences. like the one here of amber rose. amber's family currently in an ongoing lawsuit with montefiore hospital, which has denied any wrongdoing. the hospital released a statement earlier, "montefiore's maternal mortality rate of.01% is lower than new york city and national averages. any maternal death is a tragedy.

our hearts go out to miss isaacs' family, especially to her mother, our longtime colleague. that 60% of these deaths are - preventible. and often when women, black women, complain of pain or discomfort, it is not taken seriously. which is causing these deaths. >> reporter: dr. neil shaw teaches reproductive biology at harvard medical school and is looking to build more equity and trust in the health care system. >> what people are dying of is not the clinical condition on the death certificate. it's a failure of communication, teamwork, every time. >> in terms of solutions, we as women really should think about how we want to birth. what are the options out there? you could have a birth in a hospital with a midwife, or you could have a birth at a birthing center with a midwife and a doula. >> reporter: a 2018 study found that u.s. states with more robust midwifery services reported better maternal care and better birthing outcomes,

suggesting states that have better resources dedicated to health care have better results. >> we're thinking about making the first two colors the birth center -- >> reporter: bruce is hoping to open a birthing center in his community in the bronx. >> i think it's time we get rid of this assembly line model of care. it's time that we redirect the course of birthing equity towards better birthing solutions. i look at what mommy till did for emmett till. she had to have an open casket funeral in order for people to fully understand what these people had done to their son. and i needed to expose what the medical industry had done to amber. >> no woman should be dying in childbirth in 2022. that is unacceptable. so with that, i also hope that there's accountability here. own the racism that's embedded in the system. >> reporter: the families letting their loved ones' spirits guide their activism.

>> your daughter had dreams, she had goals. bring her to life for people right now. >> shamani was funny, fiery, over the top, colorful. she lived 11,200-odd days, she died one day. don't get it twisted, that one day doesn't get to take the energy, the essence of her life away. so my daughter lived, and we're sitting here because of her. >> our thanks to robin. "aftershock" is streaming on hulu. up next, the two-time oscar winner honoring jackie robinson at the major league baseball all-star game tonight. despite treatment it disrupts my skin with itch. it disrupts my skin with rash. but now, i can disrupt eczema with rinvoq. rinvoq is not a steroid, topical, or injection. it's one pill, once a day, that's effective

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♪ finally tonight, the all-star game returns to dodger stadium for the first time in 42 years. before the first pitch, denzel washington led a tribute to hall of famer jackie robinson. robinson broke baseball's color barrier 75 years ago. >> please welcome denzel washington! >> washington wore a number 42 jersey in honor of the former brooklyn dodger. >> when jackie robinson stepped onto a major league baseball field, he changed the game of baseball and so much more. >> players also wished his widow, rachel robinson, happy birthday, turning 100 years old today. >> happy birthday, rachel! >> got him, strikes out the side in the ninth inning! >> the american league defeated

the national league tonight. and that's "nightline" for this evening. catch our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here same time tomorrow. thanks for the company, america. good night. all water wants to be oregon water. it's some of the deepest, clearest, and wildest.