♪ judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the “newshour” tonight. on trial -- witnesses to the death of george floyd offer at times emotional testimony against former police officer derek chauvin, who is charged with murder. then. a historic settlement -- the university of southern california is paying out more than $1 billion total to sexual abuse victims of a former campus doctor. plus, myanmar in crisis. clashes between military forces and protesters grow more violent as ethnic minorities are targeted by airstrikes, while rohingya refugees face covid-19 and devastating fires.

all that and more on tonight's “pbs newshour.” ♪ announcer: major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by -- >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service to help people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of no contract plans and our u.s.-based customer service team can help find one that fits you. to learn more, visit consumercellular.tv. announcer: johnson & johnson. bnsf railway. ♪ >> the john s. and james l. knight foundation, fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. announcer: 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. judy: the second day in the trial of former police officer derek chauvin was emotional and tense. one eyewitness to the death of george floyd told jurors in minneapolis that chauvin was cold and heartless. chauvin is charged with second and third degree murder and manslaughter in the death of floyd.

yamiche alcindor has our report. and a note, this story does include some video of the incident that was shown during the trial. yamiche: four hours, witnesses described what they saw on may 25th, 2020. detailing the last moments leading up to the death of george floyd. among those testifying today, the young woman who filmed the now viral cellphone video of the incident. frazier was not shown on the court's cameras because she was a minor at the time of floyd's death. still, throughout a bowl tears, she recalled that day. -- audible tears, she recalled that day. >> i heard george floyd saying, "i can't breathe. please, get off of me. i can't breathe," he cried for his mom. he was in pain. it seemed like he knew, like he knew it was over for him. he was terrified. he was suffering. this was a cry for help. yamiche: frazier also described how filming floyd's death changed her life.

>> when i look at george floyd, i look at my dad, i look at my brothers, i look at my cousins, my uncle, because they are all black. i have a black father, i have a black brother, i have black friends. and i look at that and i look at how that could have been one of them. it's been nights i've stayed up apologizing and apologizing to george floyd for not doing more and not physically interacting and not saving his life, but it's like, it's not what i should have done, it's what he should have done. yamiche: frazier's nine year old cousin also took the stand. >> i was and kind of mad. >> and tell us, why were you sad and mad?

>> because it felt like he was stopping his breathing and it was kind of like hurting him. yamiche: earlier in the day, lawyers finished questioning donald williams, another witness on the scene. he spoke about how his wrestling and martial arts training shaped his view of floyd's killing. >> you could see his eyes slowly rolling back. yamiche: at times, williams' testimony grew tense as chauvin's attorney, eric nelson, tried to prove that chauvin and the other officers were distracted by the group of onlookers. >> he is not responsive right now. yamiche: williams is heard on darnella frazier's video shouting at chauvin. >> you called him a bum at least 13 times? >> that's what you counted in the video? >> that's what i counted. >> then that's what you got. 13. >> and that was early on, right? those terms grew more and more angry, would you agree with that? >> they grew more and more pleading for life. >> it's fair to say that you

grew angrier and angrier? >> no. i grew professional and professional and i stayed in my body. you can't paint me out to be angry. yamiche: the day also included testimony from other witnesses, including two teenagers and a minneapolis firefighter. from the "pbs newshour," i'm yamiche alcindor. stephanie: i'm stephanie sy with "newshour" west. we will returto judy woodruff and the rest of the program after these headlines. the united states officially passed 550,000 deaths in the pandemic. and, independent experts -- convened by the world health organization -- formally reported that covid-19 likely read from animals, and not from a chinese laboratory. the lead investigator said all sides tried to influence the report, but to no avail. >> in our discussion, in our

work, we were never pressured to remove a critical element in our report. as i said, the report is something that all the scientists on the joint team can stand behind. stephanie: the head of the who acknowledged china withheld data, and he voiced doubts about the findings. the u.s. and other nations demanded further investigation. president biden announced new initiatives on anti-asian violence today. the measures include $50 million in covid relief money for programs that help survivors of -- asian american pacific islander survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. that announcement followed an attack on an asian-american woman in new york city. surveillance footage showed a man kicking her, and stomping on her face. police say he shouted anti-asian insults, then walked away as bystanders did nothing. the 65-year-old woman is hospitalized with serious injuries.

the u.s. state department today scrapped trump-era human rights policies. they had promoted conservative causes, including religious freedom and property rights -- but they sidelined abortion and lgbtq rights. secretary of state antony blinken called that approach unbalanced. sec. blinken: all people are entitled to these rights, no matter where they're born, what they believe, whom they love, or any other characteristic. human rights are also co-equal. there is no hierarchy that makes some rights more important than others. stephanie: the state department also announced human rights abuses in china, russia and syria. in myanmar, ethnic refugees face new attacks i the military. thousands have already fled into neighboring thailand. meanwhile, protests continued against myanmar's military coup. people filled the streets despite new shootings by security forces. we'll return to this, after the news summary. gunmen in eastern afghanistan

have killed three women who were giving polio vaccinations. they were shot in jalalabad. that area has seen a spike in islamic state attacks. afghanistan and pakistan are the only countries where polio is still endemic. china tightened its grip on hong kong's elections today. lawmakers in beijing voted to enlarge the territory's legislature, but cut the share of directly elected seats. many in hong kong accused china of breaking a pledge to respect their autonomy. >> hong kong has changed already. there's no election, are you joking? this isn't an election, it's merely a game that benefits certain people. >> it was promised that hong kong wouldn't change for 50 years, but it hasn't been 25 years. i am worried about my future, as well as those of the people around me. stephanie: the changes also require ospective candidates be vetted by a pro-beijing

committee. back in this country, a former trump ally, representative matt gaetz, being investigated. investigators are looking into whether he violated federal sex trafficking laws by having an alleged relationship with a 17-year-old and paying for her travel. the florida representative lashed out on twitter saying he and his family have been victims of extortion by a former department of justice official. in a phone interview with axios, he said no part of the allegations are true. lawmakers in kentucky have expanded access to early voting in a partial break with trends in other states. the bipartisan bill passed late monday. it provides three in pursing -- in person voting dates before election day and ends pandemic measures that expanded mail-in voting. and an infamous figure in the watergate scandal has died. in 1972, he was behind a botched burglary at the democratic party

headquarters, setting off a chain of events that would eventually bring down president richard nixon. he refused to testify to the grand jury investigating watergate and was imprisoned. after his release, he became a talk show host and actor, often playing villains. g gordon liddy was 90 years old. still to come on the "newshour" with judy woodruff, clashes between military forces and protesters grow more violent in myanmar. rohingya refugees face the dual threats of covid-19 and devastating fires. anti-transgender bills in several states raise alarms for activists, plus much more. announcer: 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. judy: it is the largest sexual abuse settlement ever in higher education.

last week, the university of southern california announced it would pay more than $850 million to hundreds of women who were allegedly preyed upon by a campus gynecologist over nearly three decades. it's the third settlement usc has reached with groups victims. all told, usc will pay more than $1 billion to survivors in multiple legal settlements. the women were among thousands treated by dr. george tyndall. he was the sole full-time gynecologist at the university from 1989 until 2016, when he was finally suspended. since then, he's been arrested, charged with dozens of assault counts and is now awaiting trial. audry nafziger is one of the survivors of the abuse. she is now a sex crimes prosecutor and deputy district attorney in ventura county, california.

a warning, our conversation contains explicit language involving sexual abuse. audry nafziger, thank you for being with us. this gynecologist was able to abuse these women, allegedly, over 27 years, without the university moving to step in until the very end. how is that possible? audry: it is almost unexplainable. there were complaints. i saw him in 1990 and i know a woman in 1989 complained to the university, and they did nothing. they received repeated complaints throughout the decades, and still they did nothing. they empowered him to continue to perfect praying upon women. it was horrible. judy: as you said, you victims. you said 1990. what happened to you, and what

happened -- how did you deal with it? audry: i saw him in 1990 and i went to the health center. he invited me into his room. he closed and locked the door. i had very little experience with these types of medical exams so i didn't know what to expect. after he locked the door, he had me get on a table, this rope, put my feet in stirrups, and proceeded to give me an examination without gloves. during part of that examination, he asked to take photos of my body. he positioned my hands to help me participate in those photos. this was with an old 35mm type camera. he told me it was for medical purposes. he falls -- fall stag most me with a sexually transmitted disease that i learned later was untrue. he went to the back of the room

and dimmed the lights and started telling me a story about his time in the philippines and how he passed a woman around in a bar with a bunch of men. it's just unbelievable. he told me how they were performing oral sex on her and kept asking me over and over again in the back of the room from the dark "audry, what do , you think of this? what do you think?" he kept saying my name over and over again. i wanted to curl up into a ball. i didn't know what to make of it. i didn't understand at the time what was going on. it was very frightening, a frightening experience to endure. i later took my records with me when i graduated in 1992 and carried them with me and i promised myself i would report him one day and i never did. like so many other survivors of these offenses, i didn't know if anyone would believe me. it was just me and him in a room.

and later when i opened my file, and it all was a big lie. judy: and there were so many women who had experiences as bad as yours and even worse. audry: absolutely. i -- as a sex crimes prosecutor, i'm well aware that they perfect their craft and do things to groom victims and find ways of having access to them. it was horrifying to find myself in the shoes i find myself in to know that i am one of 1000 women he put his hands on for sexual interest in criminal, horrible ways. he did it for his own sexual

desires. women young enough to be my daughters were his most recent victims. it's unbelievable. judy: so hard to understand. many women did complain, but many didn't complain and women who worked in his office, nurses and aides. yet, these complaints were not heeded by the universities. is there any explanation for why? audry: usc prides itself on its brand and that has led to its but -- downfall, not unlike this one. i will say this. the board of usc, i believe the greed and the president, he backed it, paying dr. tyndall $200,000 to leave before the

case broke. the people that were making bad decisions weren't women. it wasn't people of color. there wasn't a voice. judy: there's also a report that he particularly singled out asian american women. what do you know about that? audry: one of my dear friends, who is asian american, she is a survivor and one of the charged victims in the criminal case. the things he told her, the way he approached her and he used her race agnst her, because -- she has told me, i am not obviously asian american, but she told me in her culture, they don't talk about sex. if women were going in college to get birth control, which is one of the main reasons people saw him, they couldn't talk to their parents about it because they shouldn't even be having sex outside of marriage.

so they were particularly vulnerable to him and i think he knew that and he exploited that. that's what predators do. they pick their population and they exploit their vulnerilities. that's what he did here. judy: given all that has happened, what more does usc need to do? audry: they are going to have to diversify their board and changed the makeup of the people that make the most important decisions and they really have not done that yet. that needs to change right away. usc needs to reveal their internal investigation. they promised to do so. they did an internal investigation and i think that would show us all the people who knew and stood by and did nothing. those people need toe held to account. it would be meaningful to me and to all the survivors. other cases like this like larry nasser and penn state, other people were held to account. criminally charged and sent to jail.

a lot of people stood by and allowed this to happen. i would like to know who they are and why they didn't do anything. judy: such a disturbing and painful story. audry nafziger, thank you very much. audry: thank you. judy: and usc is not the only major university in los angeles dealing with this issue. in january, ucla reached a $73 million settlement with more than 5,000 women who were patients of a former gynecologist there, dr. james heaps. he faces more civil litigation as well as over 20 criminal felony counts related to sexual conduct. heaps has denied the allegations.

two months ago, myanmar's military overthrew the civilian government, provoking widespread demonstrations that have left more than 500 protestors dead. the conflict is now entering a new stage, as demonstrators are uniting with ethnic armed groups. just this eveng, the u.s. state department ordered all non-emergency goverment employees and their families to leave the country. this weekend, the military bombed one group in kahren state, sparking a humanitarian cris along the thai border. nick schifrin has the story. nick: along the burmese-thai border, the only safe place from airstrikes are caves. they bring mats for mattresses so they can sleep away from nearby homes, stained with the blood of airstrike victims. they are ethnic karen, fleeing only what they can carry with it -- from attacks by the literary. others escaped by boat to

neighboring thailand. many are badly wounded and have no medical attention or sustenance since they fled. >> i have not eaten anything for two consecutive days. i have not got any medical care because we were escaping. nick: initially, hundreds of refugees fled their homes only to be met with concertina wire and tire soldiers who force them to return to myanmar. >> they stayed afraid and scared and they feel that it is not safe to return. they have no choice. nick: the dictor of the care piece support network, a group of society groups are the border. she said for the karen, military airstrikes are nothing new. >> they demonstrated against the military and demanded the removal from the areas. they killed their own people and murdered their own people. this is something they have done to the ethnic area for so long already. nick: myanmar has about 20 ethnic armed groups in yellow

that control about one third of the country's territory. the karen national union are the oldest. the most notorious recent target -- the military targeted the rohingya with scorched-earth. they are accused of genocide and war crimes. the conflicts between the state and ethnic groups go back 75 years. >>another piece of history made with the signing of the burma treaty. nick: in 1947, the burmese government obtained independence, but not immunity. >> the karen did not really upset -- union. they started fighting against the newly formed government. nick: priscilla cop is the former u.s. chief of mission in myanmar. she said they kept ethnic armed groups apart and pitted them against each other. >> the country is very heavily

armed. it is awash in 9 -- nonstate armed groups. if they are operating separately, the military is able to keep them more or less under control, but that may be changing right now. nick: changing because of horror across the country, where protesters are targeted for death. soldiers are beating and shooting people in the street. this past saturday was the deadliest day since the coup. often the victims are children. a 13-year-old was killed by a single bullet to the head. the family filled his funeral with a song of revolution. their anger and burmese anger has filled widespread protest almost every day for two months. some protesters fight with homemade weapons. others are armed with disobedience. the civil disobedience movement has brought tens of thousand of government employees into the

streets to grind the country to a halt. now the karen are protecting and siding with the protesters. the karen recently broke a cease-fire to attack military supply lines. that lead to this weekend's military airstrikes and no other ethnic groups are threatening to cancel their cease-fires with the military. >> the army is being increasingly challenged by various different, disparate groups of the country that are now joining forces. nick: and do you believe that threatens military rule? >> it makes the country basically ungovernable for the military. >> for the young people, we see it is very different from the past. very smart, very active, they want to fight and a lot has changed. we can see the suffering of the ethnic people and start to realize how bad the military regime is. nick: that realization allows the military's opponents to mill

unified but the military will continue to use whatever means necessary to hold power. for the pbs "newshour", i am nick schifrin. ♪ judy: the ongoing cris in myanmar has had a devastating impact on one particular ethnic group. rohingya refugees forced to flee to cramped camps in bangladesh, battling the coronavirus, and now being asked to relocate to a flood prone island. “newshour” special correspondent tania rashid reports. reporter: what were once homes, hospitals, and schools at the world's largest refugee camp burned to ash as a massive fire rips through these makeshift settlements. 15 people were killed, 400 missing, and tens of thousands

displaced. three years ago, the rohingya , a muslim minority group, fled a bloody military crackdown launched by the myanmar military and police bordering bangladesh. mass killings, rapes, and arsons drove close to a million into these sprawling camps in cox's bazar. in a report published in 2019, u.n. investigators warned of genocidal intent. the myanmar army denies that, and claims it only acted against insurgent groups who attacked police. but these fires have uprooted these rohingyas' lives again. bangladesh authorities and aid agencies have been providing emergency assistance to over 45,000 homeless refugees. since december, the bangaldeshi government has started moving more than 13,000 refugees from the overcrowded camps to basan char, a remote island in the bay of bengal.

according to our local sources, the bangladesh government has offered those affected by the fires help with relocating there now. we visited the low-lying plain in early 2017, back when it was just a undeveloped strip of land . experts on climate change deemed the landmass unlivable, but the government said it would be better than the overcrowded camps. in a promo video last year, the bangladeshi government claimed to have constructed dams, cyclone shelters, hospitals, sques, and schools to house 100,000 rohingyas under safe conditions. sahyed noor said he would consider moving to the island to escape the poor living conditions inside of the camps. >> i think that vasan sor can be better from camp because every apartment is made with brick. reporter: his 16-year-old niece fowzia was sent to bhasan char last year by the bangladesh navy

after being stranded at sea for months, when she tried to flee to malaysia. after several attempts to make contact with her, he gets her on the phone to check on her situation. he's been concerned about her safety. she said she's not feeling well and misses her family and wants to go home. after hearing from her, he would only agree to relocate to bhasan char with his family so they can be reunited together. these fires arent the first ones to happen here. there were two fires in the month of according to news january, reports. it is unclear why the fires keep happening. as the bangladesh government continues its investigations into the cause of the fires, the rohingya continue to live in crammed unsanitary living conditions, making them some of the most vulnerable to covid-19. bangladesh has administered over 3 million doses of the first

vaccine to its citizens, and has initiated plans to include the rohingyas in its national vaccination drive. but so far, none have been vaccinated. for now, the strict lockdown imposed by the government last year continues, with an 80% decrease of humanitarian aid staff on the ground. essential services including food and medical supplies have been allowed into the camps, through specially-arranged checkpoints organized by the bangladesh army. the u.n. refugee agency has teamed up with the bangladesh government to train 1500 community health workers inside the camps to raise awareness about the virus. dr. fahadin aktar works in early responsive care at the camp. >> here, first we check their temperature, we set up compulsory hand washing points, all people must wash their hands and maintain proper social distancing. before, five people s

together. now in one seat, two people sit together with a barrier for social distancing and make sure all patients wear masks. reporter: despite efforts dr. , aktar says he's seen a sharp decline in the numbers of rohingya patients. many are scared to go to the hospital. >> those ours -- with suspected symptoms are tested and quarantined. this has sparked fear among the rohingya, concerned that they could be sent somewhere else, separate from their families if they share their symptoms. reporter: the official numbers say there have been only 400 confirmed covid-19 cases and 10 related deaths at the camp. bangladesh authorities insist cases at the camps are increasing at a much slower rate than global trends due to the enforced lockdown. but the longing to go back home remains for many of these refugees, despite the on-going military coup back in myanmar. for weeks, tens of thousands of peaceful protestors have taken to the streets of major cities protesting the military's seized power.

in response, the police are cracking down violently with the bloodiest day this past weekend. many rohingya activists we spoke with are hoping their support for the movement in myanmar will be a turning point in the ongoing fight for justice. despite the lack of support from ousted leader aung sang suu kyi, who defended the military against accusations of genocide in the hague in 2019, but the aftermath of the recent fires have taken their lives for a drastic turn as the place they , sought refuge has put them in limbo yet again. for the “pbs newshour,” i am tania rashid. judy: a record number of bills to limit transgender rights have been introduced this year in state legislatures across the

country. john yang reports on how the legal and cultural battles are playing out. john judy, the arkansas : legislature passed a measure and sent to the governor a measure to ban provisions providing established gender affirming medical care to transgender children. also yesterday, south dakota governor kristi noem issued executive orders banning transgender girls from playing on girls sports teams. according to the human rights campaign, and lgbtq advocacy group, lawmakers in 28 states are considering 93 bills targeting the rights of transgendeamericans. and sports bans are in arkansas and mississippi are set to become law this summer. kate sosin is the lgbtq+ reporter for the 19th news. can you give us an idea, there are a lot of bills, but can you give us an idea of the range of things these bills would do? >> there are currently two main

types being considered in legislatures across the country. one is this transgender sports band which mostly seeks to limit transgender participation in sports, particularly transgender young girls playing on girls teams. the other is a ban on transgender medical care for youth. young people, when they reach a certain age, if they have gender dysphoria, which means they experience mental duress because they are transgender, might not want to go through puberty. their doctors might prescribe them puberty blockers so they don't have to go through puberty and can make a decision when they're older about whether or not they want to medically transition. it is a temporary pause on puberty and this would make it illegal for them to get that gender affirming care that medical organizations and doctors have decided is the

appropriate care for transgender youth. john: why are we seeing these bills? is this in response to anything like incidents or cases across the country? >> 2015 saw the advent of marriage equality nationwide. then there was a shift in terms of what lgbtq advocates wanted to do, they wanted to pick up trams rights. there were also -- trans rights. there were also opponents that wanted to pass legislation opposed to transgender rights. the shift was to bathroom bills, and the most prominent one was north carolina which passed an anti-trans bathroom measure. that was appealed because the boycotts and economic fallout were so severe that the state was set to lose $3.76 billion over the course of several years.

so those measures, time and again, failed. they failed at ballot boxes and state legislatures. the next wave where these sports bills and medical bans and that's where we are today. john: are there cases of transgender girls trying to play on girls sports teams and creating problems because of that? is that what the bills are responding to? >> there are a few examples of transgender girls participating in sports, but by and large, the associated press asked more than a dozen different states and lawmakers, do you have examples of transgender girls where this is an issue? they said no, it was a preventative measure. so transgender kids have been to submitting on sports teams for years and years and we have not seen it -- participating on sports teams for years andears and we have not seen it be an issue. it only seems to be an issue

raised when transgender girls win. we have one prominent example, in connecticut. two transgender women were successful in their track competitions. andrea yearwood and terry miller. the fact that they were both in connecticut, both black trans women, it seems to have sparked controversy in the state and seems to be the genesis for a lot of these bills. john: if there are not a lot of cases and there was this case in connecticut, why are all these other states doing it? why is it coming up now? >> there are a few things. one is a lot of us, we know a gay person or a lesbian person, we might know a bisexual person. transgender people are more of an unknown. transgender children are even less known. this is an issue the american public is less familiar with. it is easier to legislate around. when we talk about issues of

fairness in women's sports, it is really confusing for a lot of people. we all want to support fairness in sports. we all want to support women's rights. this is an issue that is easily confused. and then we have this issue of major anti-lgbtq organizations that have taken this up and formed coalitions and provided bills to the state lawmakers. you can go and sign up for a legislation in your stay and be provided a bill whether it is on trans medical bans, or sports, just as easy as if you signed up for a mailing list. all of these states did not wake up the same day and decide to essentially pass these bills in the same year. this is a push for a movement that is responding to the advancement of transgender rights.

john: is this the latest case in the culture wars between political parties? >> this seems to be a response or a tactic to try and bring back white, suburban women back to the gop after such a loss with the presidential ticket. the question is, will it work? the poland -- polling suggests no. more and more people are familiar with transgender people and there's more support for the equality act which would be lgbtq rights legislation federally. more and more people support lgbtq rights and more and more people support transgender rights. this push to limit the rights of transgender youth doesn't necessarily seem to be a winning issue as a wedge issue. it will be interesting to see how this plays out as lawmakers push this and the gop voting

base does not seem to support it, according to polling. john: thank you so much. >> thank you so much for having me. judy: the biden administration has announced a new plan to substantially expand offshore wind power along the east coast. the president has called for far bigger changes to tackle what many scientists say is a climate crisis. but some are suggesting even more revolutonary ways of dealing with these problems. a new book explores these proposals and historical efforts to combat environmental exploitation and ecological troubles. william brangham has the latest installment of newshour bookshelf. william: in our remarkable success as humans, we have altered the natural world in so

many ways, but many of those changes now threaten life on earth. a new book asks, can we change nature again in order to save it? elizabeth kolbert's last book, the pulitzer prize winning the "sixth extinction," detailed how humanity's deep footprint has altered life on earth like no other species has. her new book, "under a white sky, the nature of the future," looks at some striking ways we might address that footprint. it's a portrait of, "people trying to solve problems created by people trying to solve problems." elizabeth kolbert, very, very good to have you on the “newshour”. >> thanks for having me. william: as i mentioned, the focus of this book is on the scientists and researchers who are trying to fix these ecological problems that we've caused by trying to address otheproblems. you start with the example of the asian carp that were originally introduced into the midwest of the u.s. as a way to address a biological invasive species itself.

but then that whole thing got way out of hand. could you give us a just tell us that story? >> sure. so asian carp were introduced purposefully into the sort of southeast in the 60's. this was after rachel carson had published "silent spring," sort of ironically, and people were trying to cut down on the use of chemicals. the asian carp was one of sort -- several. one was brought in to fight aquatic weeds because they're voracious weed eaters and a couple others were brought in to deal with the problems that arise from not entirely treated sewage effluent. all four species got loose and are really wreaking havoc throughout the mississippi watershed. william: the last part of your book addresses ways in which we might address climate change,

and most people when they think about dealing with climate change, think about cutting emissions, electric vehicles and things like that, you're talking with researchers who are who are planning a very different kind of intervention. can you tell us a bit about that? >> one of the real difficulties th the challenges with addressing climate change is that carbon dioxide hangs around in the atmosphere for a long time and it will continue to heat the world for a long time, even once we do, and we absolutely have to stop emitting into the atmosphere. so one group of scientists that i talked to for the book are trying to come up with ways to suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. so that's a very, very active area of research. and then another group of researchers i spoke to at harvard are looking at this idea that you could counter climate change, by pouring reflective particles into the stratosphere. and this is what happens when we get a volcanic eruption. we get a lot of sulfur dioxide in the stratosphere that reflects sunlight back to space and we get temporary cooling. so, if we could mimic volcanoes, we could theoretically potentially counteract one form

of intervention in the atmosphere with another. william: i mean, the scale and audacity of some of these interventions really underscores just how severe this crisis is , that we're that we are literally talking about putting a particulate umbrella over the earth. >> well, i think it gets back to this idea, which is really central in discussions of climate change. and it's why climate scientists have been warning for so many decades now that we need to get our act together, because once you get the climate that you don't like, there is no going back. william: no going back. it's too late at that point. >> exactly. it's a supertanker. there's a lot of inertia in the system. and as i said, co2 hangs around for a long time. so it's not like a lot of other environmental problems where you stop doing what you were doing and itissipates after a few years. climate change will continue. we will have an altered climate even after we stop emitting co2, unfortunately.

william: i mean, i know you talked with the researchers about this, but what do they say about the concern that if we focus on what seem like these hail mary interventions, that we may, governments may take their eyes off the very real, practical, tangible way to address climate change, which is cutting emissions today? william: it is a huge concern. it's a huge concern for the scientists who are working on these projects that there's what's called the moral hazard problem, that people will, just, as you say, take their eye off the obvious things that we know we need to do in the hopes or with the idea that oh someone someday is going to solve this with some almost magical technology, which, in the case of solar geo-engineering, as it's called, is completely untested and unprod. so that's certainly a risky thing to bank a planet on to bet a planet on. there's a huge debate and it's

going to play out over the coming decades about whether we should even allow experimentation, even tiny little experiments in this field, because will it be a distraction or are we in a , pretty bad situation where if something potentially could aid humanity and aid ecosystems like coral reefs, we have to think about it? that's really the question at the heart of the book. william: the book is "under a white sky, the nature of the future." elizabeth kolbert, so good to have you on the “newshour”. >> thanks for having me. judy: the military prison at guantanamo bay, cuba, took its first 20 detainees in 2002. despite various calls to shutter it, most 20 years later, it still stands. a new movie now tells the story of a man who spent more than ten

years within its walls. amna nawaz takes a look at "the mauritanian," playing in select theaters and now available to rent on demand. it's part of our arts and culture series, canvas. amna: in 2016, mohamedou slahi was allowed to return home to mauritania after being held for 14 years at the u.s. military prison at guantanamo bay. he was never charged. his book, comprised of letters to his lawyer, was read by millions worldwide. >> i am innocent. i am innocent. amna: now, millions more can watch his story in the movie, "the mauritanian." >> not in my wildest dreams have i ever dreams have i ever dreamed that my story would be not only known in a book, but

also that book is turned into a major motion picture. amna: slahi, played by actor tahar rahim, was picked up by mauritanian police two months after 9/11. in august 20 -- 2002, he was moved to guantanamo bay, one of detained by the u.s. as enemy hundreds combatants. >> i think there were people who were hungering for the message, we got them. for those who think about guantanamo and see it as men in orange jumpsuits on their knees, the message we got them was very raw at the time. amna: the new york times' carol rosenberg has covered the prison for years. >> guantanamo is more than a place, in some ways. it is the idea that you can pick people up and move them halfway around the globe, and hold them as indefinite detainees in this war on terror. in this war that has nobody on the other side to end it. amna: the u.s. accused slahi of recruiting the 9/11 hijackers and supporting al qaida. they cited a phone call he once received from osama bin laden's spiritual advisor -- a relative

of slahi's. slahi, who fought with the u.s.-backed rebels in afghanistan in the 1990's, says he never supported al qaeda, and he didn't know that phone call was from bin laden's satellite phone. >> i always told myself, at the end of the day, i didnt do wrong -- didn't do wrong to anyone. amna: he was tortured by his american interrogators. subjected to solitary confinement, physical beatings, and sexual humiliation. they threatened to kidnap, rape, and kill his family. for actor, tahar rahim -- playing slahi came with extraordinary pressure. >> i was scared because i knew he was watching the movie. and of course, he was the first audience member i wanted to please. amna: but the role -- which has earned him golden globe and british academy award nominations -- also meant a chance to challenge stereotypes. >> it is very rare to read a script, so to see a movie, with a muslim sympathetic character

at the center of of a hollywood movie. i don't want to be typecast and i don't want to be an instrument to tell those types of stories. >> you think i'm guilty? amna: to prepare rahim lost 20 , pounds. he learned two new arabic dialects. he had the set temperature turned down to the freezing cold slahi endured, and insisted on real shackles. why was that important to you? >> to convey authenticity to the director, to the audience, and especially to mohamedou. out of respect to him. amna: inside guantanamo, slahi endured months of brutal interrogations. eventually, he broke. signing a false confession. the government used it as evidence, but slahi never saw the case against him. in 2005, with the help of lawyer nancy hollander, played by jodie foster, he filed a writ of habeas corpus. slahi's lawyer, nancy hollander. >> there was no case. but it took us a long time to show that there was nothing.

amna: to help his defense, hollander says she urged slahi to write down his story. >> you are asking me to set fire to this pla, but i'm still sitting here. >> then write it down. that's what the pages are for. write it down. you need to tell me the truth. you need to tell me would happen to you. i can't defend you -- >> i don't need to tell you nothing. whatever i say, it doesn't matter. this island, i will die here. outside, my family, my brother. their lives go on. but me here, i'm like a statue. >> i was so scared and so afraid and i didn't feel like my lawyer appreciated how much fear i was in. amna: despite the fear, he wrote, trusting hollander with his story, and with his life. over years, their bond grew. >> what do you want me to sign, nancy? who am i suing today? god? >> no one today.

>> then why are you here? >> no reason in particular. i just didn't want you to be alone. >> we loved each other. we cared about each other. we had become family. amna: in 2010, a judge ruled the government had no grounds to hold slahi. he was ordered released. but an appeals process kept him at guantanamo another six years. >> there was a time when mahamadou said to me, if this is what allah has for me, i can do it, as long as they're not torturing me. and i said to him, i'll be here. i'll be here until we get you out. amna: why did you make that promise to him? how did you know you could keep it? >> i knew that i would never give up with him.

amna: slahi was released in october 2016. today, he says he holds no ill will towards his captors. >> i expected to meet someone maybe with resentment, anger. none of that. he goes like, when you come to realize the forgiving people who did bad things to you as a treat you give yourself, you set your mind free. amna: some, like hollander, hope the power of this story helps propel change long overdue. >> we want this film to make a change. we want it to be part of what closes guantanamo. that brings us back to the rule of law. we cannot have indefinite detention anywhere, any time in the united states. amna: despite pledges by presidents obama and now biden to close it -- guantanamo bay remains open. 40 men are held there today. in what has become the world's most expensive prison, at an

annual cost of $13 million per prisoner. >> guantanamo bay is a complete insult to the dignity not only of those in guantanamo bay, but american people, because the american people, by and large, are good people and they deserve better than guantanamo bay. amna: for the "pbs newshour," i'm amna nawaz. judy: tonight on the "newshour" online, what is safe to do after you have gotten a vaccine? as access to the shots expands, it is becoming a more pressing question for millions of americans. we talked to epidemiologists and public health experts about what they recommend as the weather gets warmer. read why they say it is important when getting out of the house to keep in mind

others' vaccination status and the type of setting where you are gathering in order to stay safe. you can find that and more on our websit that's pbs.org/newshour. and that's the “newshour” for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the “pbs newshour,” thank you, please stay safe and see you soon. announcer: major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by -- ♪ announcer: consumer cellular. johnson & johnson. bnsf railway. carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic

engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security 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. ♪ announcer: this is "pbs newshour" west, from weta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪ >> you're watching pbs. [captioning performed by the national captioning

>> pati narrates: new york, new york. one of the best food cities in the world. the best chefs, the best restaurants. if you can make it here in the culinary industry, you've made it. one of the most unique, prestigious experiences in the city is a dinner at the james beard house. the former home of legendary chef and television personality james beard. i've been asked to cook for a very special event, the cinco de mayo dinner. oh my gosh, i love this color! did you see? it's such an honor that i wanted to share the event, and a few recipes with you. a light, creamy dulce de leche caramel mousse that melts in your mouth. because one dessert is never enough, i'm making two!