this is "nightline." >> tonight, matthew mcconaughey, the oscar-winning actor taking on a new role. >> these are the same green converse that have turned out to be the only evidence that couldified her at the shooting. how about that? >> helping congress pass their first major gun control bill in more than 30 years. >> the green lights grant initiatives. it will one, get the word out that this money is there for

schools that want and need it. >> cutting through the political fray to try and help make schools safer. >> it's not red money. it's not blue money. it's green money. >> and is a run for public office in his future? plus, maternal care deserts. >> i had a baby landside at 9:40 on the side out the happy. >> millions of women across the country lacking access to crucial maternity care resources. >> think about access in the sense i'm not going to drive 150 miles to go have my prenatal visit. so i'm not going to go and get seen. >> some experts sounding the alarm. >> do you feel like the situation around maternal care deserts has gotten better? >> no. it's getting worse. and remembering the lives and leg office is two gifted actors, paul rubens, and cloud. >> kni"nightline" will be right back. thanks to skyrizi, i'm on my way with clearer skin. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90%

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past the pain, and past your limits. no matter what, we go on. biofreeze good evening. thank you for joining us. we begin tonight with actor matthew mcconaughey taking action after a horrific school shooting in his hometown of uvalde, texas last year. he sat down with abc chief washington correspondent jonathan karl for a wide ranging conversation. >> you've said throughout your life your hero is you ten years from now. >> yeah.

>> so where is matthew mcconaughey ten years from now? who is your hero? >> you know, i was thinking the other day, the man i am now, i'm not a hero to the man i was ten years ago. i no, i'm still ten years other out. >> reporter: matthew mcconaughey, hollywood star, now embracing a new role, a fierce advocate for the families of his hometown uvalde. hours after it shook the country, he took to instagram saying this is an epidemic we can control. we all know we can do better. we must do better. mcconaughey and his family traveled to uvalde shortly afterwards. >> we don't know what we're going to run into. we don't know how we're going to be needed. let's just go and show up. the 90% thing of it is showing up. and we did. >> reporter: less than two weeks later he visited the white house and gave an emotional powerful message from the briefing room. >> my day wore green high-top

converse with a heart she had drawn on the right toe because they represented her love of nature. these are the same green converse on her feet that turned out to be the only clear evidence that could identify her after the shooting. how about that? >> reporter: i've seen a lot of celebrities come to the white house on various causes, but i've never seen somebody do quite what you did, when you stood at that podium just after the massacre at robb elementary and spoke from the heart. i mean, this was something that obviously hit really hard. hit all of us hard, but really hit you. >> yeah, it did. it happened in my hometown. >> reporter: mcconaughey catapulted to hollywood film after starring in the 1993 coming of age film "dazed and confused." >> i thought he was cute. >> you thought he was cute? >> reporter: he starred in a series of blockbuster romantic

comedies, including "how to lose a guy in ten days." >> oh, you are already falling in love with me. >> reporter: he won an oscar for his performance in "dallas buyers club". >> i'm going to be a pain in your ass until i'm six feet under, boy. >> reporter: now mcconaughey is determined to be a pain in the real world, fighting to make schools safer. >> we can start right now by voting to pass policies that can keep us as having as many columbines, sandy hooks, park places, buffaloes and uvaldes from here on. >> reporter: that was over a year ago. >> yes. >> reporter: i remember what you said. there is a window to get something done. and something was done. >> 32 days later. >> reporter: the bipartisan safer communities act was signed into law last june, the first major gun safety legislation in more than 30 years. >> got all these grants that can help secure schools physically. it's also for mental health counseling for the kids in these schools. it's the first time it's

happened. bipartisan. it's come together. it's there. and it's already working in some ways. but there is billions of dollars that are still left to be spent. >> because schools have to apply for the grants to get the money for safety, for mental health programs. >> reporter: it's a competitive process. the school, one, has to be aware, which a lot of them aren't i found out. some weren't even aware. two, you have to apply for the grant, which we researched that. that's not an easy thing. >> reporter: mcconaughey and his wife camila stepping into action. >> but now we have a solution. the green lights grant initiative. it will one, get the word out that this money is there for schools that want and need it. two, it will help school administrators apply for these grants by letting them know when the deadlines are. >> reporter: the initiative aims to connect schools with billions of dollars in federal grants that must be used by 2026. >> when camila and i went to

uvalde, the parents and the family members of the children that were killed asked for one thing, make their lives matter. >> the school districts that need the services, the securing of the schools and the mental health counseling that need these resources that this bill gives are not getting it. they don't have access to it. and we're trying to connect them to that. >> reporter: some people talk about armed guards at schools. >> right. >> reporter: arming teacher. >> sure, yep. >> reporter: and some people talk about obviously gun measures. >> right. >> reporter: mental health. what is this stuff going to? >> so on the securing the schools side, it can be threat assessment to a panic button to metal detectors to even bulletproof glass. we've talked to a school that had one counselor, mental health counselor for 2500 students. that math doesn't really add up. so you need more mental health counselors. i want to get that ratio down.

no, it's not the end-all solution. but it's damn sure a step in the right direction. this is use it or lose it money. >> reporter: mcconaughey works with politicians on both sides of the aisle to get this legislation passed, raising curiosity about his own political views and ambitions. i've heard you call yourself aggressively centrist. >> sure. >> reporter: what does that mean? >> all right. aggressively centrist. >> reporter: most centrists aren't usually aggressive. >> no, they didn't used to be. didn't used to be, right? i actually think being aggressively in the center now is a punk rock position. i think it's a rebellious position. and what i mean to use a sports analogy, i love this analogy, it's like playing free safety. you're in the middle of the field to see what play is run so you know whether to go right or to go left. aggressively centric is read the play, react and you go there and go yep, it's a little bit of red choice here, it's a little bit of blue. that makes a lot of sense. >> could you see yourself

running for something? could you see -- >> could i see? it's more of larger question for me is politics the category where i can be the most useful. >> reporter: or can you be more useful outside? >> that's a great question i'm still answering. and as of right now, to be a private citizen with my wife and to come up with an idea like the green lights green initiative to work with the government publicly to help them -- not doing their job for them -- helping them pull off what they set out to do in the first place, there is argument that that's more useful what i'm doing right now in a small way. >> reporter: hey, thanks a lot for doing this. >> thanks for having me. thanks for the time. our thanks to jonathan. coming up, maternal care deserts. millions of women lacking access to proper care. i'm jayson. i'm living with hiv and i'm on cabenuva. it helps keep me undetectable. for adults who are undetectable,

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the chilling reality for more than five million women in america about to become mothers. they live in counties where no or limited access to maternity care services. abc's janai norman is in colorado with the women and doctors caught in the middle. >> reporter: for dr. elaine stickrath, this almost 100 mile round trip drive is her regular commute. so you make this drive once a week? >> someone from our practice is out here a couple of days a week. >> reporter: the city of craig, colorado used to have a

full-time maternity unit in the local hospital, but it closed in january 2020. now patients have to wait until their physician comes for a scheduled appointment or drive an hour to uc health in steamboat springs. in a report released today, the march of dimes finds that more than 5.6 million women in the u.s. live in counties with limited or no access to maternity care services. >> think about that word "access." that means that they don't come into the hospital. they can't drive just 30 minutes to come in for an emergency c-section, or their hypertensive crisis. we know that women who don't have prenatal care are three to four times more likely t come p compared to women who have prenatal care. >> reporter: when a county has no birthing facilities or obstetrics, it's designated by the march of dimes as a maternity care desert. do you feel like the situation around maternal care deserts has gotten better or is it worse off

than it was ten years ago? >> no. it's getting worse. the number of real hospitals closing maternity services is increasing. >> reporter: why? why is that? >> financial constraints for hospitals, lack of providers who are willing to live in areas that are more rural. >> reporter: almost 33% of all u.s. counties are maternity care deserts. and the numbers are pretty similar in colorado. over 37% of counties here have the same problem. >> the idea that there aren't any other ob/gyns for miles sounds like this is a massive undertaking. >> it's a lot to receive a phone call from a patient who lives hours from the hospital and try to navigate what to do in different situations. >> reporter: how far would you say a woman should be from a hospital or maternity care when pregnant? >> within 30 minutes would be a

time where if somebody was having an obstetric emergency, that a provide worry be able to intervene and help. if someone was having a major complication in pregnancy and was two hours from us, that is a long time in an emergency. it's no difficult than if someone was having a heart attack. >> reporter: in craig, an emergency means a drive to steamboat springs, around an hour in perfect conditions. >> the thought myself of driving over a snowy mountain pass in the winter in labor, that's scary. >> reporter: hospitals around the country are dealing with budget deficits and trying to find programs they can cut. >> we were really facing some very serious financial hardships. but the other piece was that we were starting to see a decreasing number of births in our community. >> reporter: jennifer riley is intimately familiar with this issue. as the ceo of memorial regional health in craig, she was part of the decision to close the maternity ward. >> when we closed, we were only

delivering about 130 babies a year. and when you're talking about something that is a service that needs to be available 24/7, we made the really tough choice at that time to close that service there was a huge outpouring of people who were upset with the decision. and i mean, rightfully so. >> the trend is going in the wrong direction. we have been watching hospitals close. so we saw a 4% decrease in hospitals across the counties. >> so how have you been? >> good. >> you doing okay? >> yeah. >> reporter: faith weathers became a patient of the doctor in december 2022 when she found out she was pregnant for her first child. where were you seeing doctors? >> mostly here. and after my 20-week ultrasound, i moved to steamboat for most of my appointments. >> reporter: and you would have to drive all the way to steamboat? >> uh-huh. >> reporter: what was that like having to go that far for care? >> it was awful. >> reporter: faith's tough pregnancy turned into a harrowing delivery.

she had to race from craig to the e.r. at steamboat when she realized her beat wasn't moving. >> i go in for testing, and my water breaks. after that, i was not doing good in labor. so i asked to do a c-section. >> reporter: she was able to deliver a healthy baby boy, grayson. but her complications kept mounting. doctors tested faith's placenta, discovering she had an infection. and three days after giving birth, another issue forced her to reach back out to her doctors in steamboat. >> i called because i had redness in the edge at my c-section scar. and that was concerning. >> when you're on the phone with her and she says i need you to come in immediately. >> it's scary because i couldn't drive myself. but it's so scary to think what could be happening to me. >> her name is rowan nicole. 7 pounds, 1 ounce.

>> reporter: brittany was a labor and delivery nurse at regional before they closed their doors. when she got pregnant with her second child. >> where is the baby? >> reporter: she knew she was going to have to deliver at the hospital in steamboat springs. but things didn't go according to plan. >> it's like my husband comes inside. i think it's time to leave. i'm really uncomfortable. i'm ready for pain intervention. i'm ready to hit the road. by the time i drive an hour and 15 minutes, by the time i get there and get my lab work, it's going to be a bit. and things are going to keep rocking and rolling from here. >> reporter: she and her husband trevor were about 30 minutes from the hospital, stuck in memorial day weekend traffic when her contractions started getting more intense. >> i remember like a big contraction hitting. i just kind of involuntarily grunted and pushed a little. and instantly i stopped myself and opened my eyes. and i was uh-oh.

i sat up and i said hey, i need you to call 911. and he says what? and i said i just pushed with that last contraction. i don't think we're going the make it. >> reporter: the couple pulled to the side of the road and wait forde ms to arrive. >> the ambulance got there right as she was crowning. and so then i just delivered her and scooped her up in a blanket. i had a baby landside at 9:40 on the side of the highway. >> reporter: brittany says even with emts helping, she was still worried about how far they were from the hospital. >> what if i have a postpartum millen hemorrhage? what if we can't beat the traffic to get to the hospital before my placenta delivers. if there is any kind of maternal emergency, we're still at least 30 minutes from the hospital and very unprepared. >> reporter: the decreasing access to care making women like brittany and faith rethink their decisions of where they live,

where they work, and whether they'll have any more kids. >> not only did it impact the experience i just had, but it makes me think differently about the way that i could receive care in the future as well. or what that might look like, because of the rural places that we live and the lack of access to care in those places. >> reporter: how does that make you feel about ever getting pregnant or having another baby? >> i honestly don't know if i would get pregnant again. >> allowing millions of women in our country to not have access to basic prenatal and postpartum care is not advocating for women. it's not providing basic needs for women. >> hour thanks to coming up, celebrating the lives of to actors, paul reubens and angus cloud.

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and finally tonight, mourning the loss of paul reubens and angus cloud. >> i know you are, but what am i? >> i know you are, but what am i? >> millions mourning the loss of actor and comedian paul reubens, best known for the beloved character pee-wee herman. the character starring in the movie "pee-wee's big adventure." and the must-see tv series "pee-wee's play house" which ran for five years in the 1980, winning two emmys. rubens later appeared in movies

like batman returns and buffy the vampire slayer. he died sunday after a long and secret battle with cancer. paul reubens was 70. how you feeling? >> ever since i gave my life over to my lord and savior jesus christ, things have been really good. >> word. that's what's up. >> and tributes pouring in for angus cloud, one of the breakout stars of "euphoria." his family announced the death of the 25-year-old in a statement tonight, saying angus had been struggling with the death of his father, whom he buried last week. adding that the actor was open about his battle with mental health. they said, quote, we hope that his passing can be a reminder to others they are not alone and should not fight this on their own in silence. and that's "nightline" for this evening. catch a full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here same time tomorrow. thanks for the com