captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, the invasion at an impasse-- russian forces make no significant gains in ukraine territory, as they continue to pummel several major cities and peace talks are set to resume. then, the voice of the kremlin-- we speak to vladimir putin's spokesman about the future of russia's ongoing conflict with ukraine. and, struggle and stigma-- how people of color with eating disorders face additional cultural and medical challenges in confronting their conditions. >> the lifetime prevalence of any eating disorder among women of color is about the same or greater compared to white women. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

>> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> fidelity is here to help you work through the unexpected, with financial planning and advice for today, and tomorrow. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org.

>> the chan-zuckerberg initiative. working to build a more healthy, just and inclusive future for everyone. at czi.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was made >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

>> woodruff: president biden today stood by his comments over the weekend that russia's vladimir putin, "cannot remain in power," end quote. mr. biden was asked about that this afternoon, and insisted his remarks were not a call for regime change. instead he said he was expressing his "moral outrage." meantime, in ukraine, president volodymyr zelensky said he was open to discussing neutrality for his nation, in exchange for a ceasefire, nearly five weeks into the russian invasion. but we begin again with the astonishing carnage and destruction wrought by russia. from eastern ukraine special correspondent jack hewson begins our coverage. >> reporter: this city in ruins and under siege continues to suffer unspeakable horrors. displaced residents of mariupol despair at the destruction when they return to their homes, now rubble. >> ( translated ): i've lived here since my birth, my husband as well. we got married here and had babies.

what now? what is left for us? i don't want to go anywhere from mariupol, but there's nowhere to live here. >> reporter: for many, there's also nowhere else to go. according to local officials, nearly 5,000 people have been killed and 160,000 remain trapped inside the city, without heat, water or electricity. ukraine said the city is on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe, but no evacuation those who've managed to escape and reached the polish border, recount what life is like under siege. >> we melt snow to have at least something to drink. we cook on open fires under shelling and bombs just because if you don't, you will have nothing to eat. >> reporter: a senior u.s. defense official said today russia is making the most progress in the southeast. taking mariupol could allow russia to secure a land corridor between crimea and the donbas region. the official also said russian forces are likely trying to cut

off the donbas from the north, as troops move south from kharkiv to izyum. but near kyiv, russian troops have stopped their advances. instead, ukrainian resistance continues to be determined the mayor of irpin, a kyiv suburb, said today ukrainian troops retook the city. >> ( translated ): we have good news today: irpin has been liberad today. irpin is ukraine! glory to ukraine, glory to heroes! >> reporter: on the diplomatic front, the outlook seemed less promising. ukrainian and russian delegations arrived in turkey for peace talks that could begin tomorrow. president volodomyr zelenskyy again said he could consider giving up ukraine's bid to join nato and compromise over the status of the donbas region. but he said there could be no peace deal until russian troops withdraw. >> ( translated ): who will sit down for talks if the russian troops are here? who will sign anything? nobody. >> reporter: russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov also dampened any hopes of a meeting between the two war commanders

if they don't agree on key issues. >> ( translated ): just to meet and exchange views on what do you think, what do i think, would be now counter-productive. >> reporter: meanwhile, reverberations continued from the president's off-the-cuff remark saturday in warsaw. >> for god's sake, this man cannot remain in power. >> reporter: the newshour's lisa desjardins asked for explanations. >> desjardins: whether those are your personal feelings or your feelings as president, you understand why people would believe you as someone commanding one of the largest nuclear world saying someone cannot remain in power is a statement of u.s. policy? and also are you concerned about the praganda use of those remarks by the russians? >> no and no >> desjardins: tell me why -- you have so much experience you are the leader of this country. >> because it's ridiculous. nobody believes we're going to take down... that i was talking about taking down putin. nobody. the last thing i want to do is

engage in a land war or nuclear war with russia. that's not it. i was expressing my outrage of the behavior of this man. it's outrageous. it's outrageous. and it's more an aspiration and he shouldn't be in power. >> reporter: for the pbs newshour, i'm jack hewson in kharkiv, ukraine. >> woodruff: we turn now to the view from inside the kremlin, and an interview with president vladimir putin's chief spokesman dmitry peskov. special correspondent ryan chilcote, who was just in russia for us, spoke with peskov this morning. >> thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you, it's my pleasure. >> over the weekend we heard president biden call president putin a butcher and say that it is impossible for him to remain

in power. president biden then said that he was not advocating for regime change. and yet you have said that the kremlin still finds these comments alarming. why? >> it is quite alarming first of all, it is personalnsult. and one can hardly imagine a place for personal insult in rhetorics of a political leader and especially a political leader of the greatest country in the world, of the united states. so we're really sorry about that. and his statement involves whether putin should not or should be in power, russia, of course it is cometely unacceptable. it is not for the united states president to decide who is going to be and who is the president of both the russian federation, it is people of russia who are

deciding during the election. >> when asked about nuclear-- di-- i want to ask you about nuclear weapons an clear some things up there is still confusion about russia's official we heard another official over the weekend say that russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons if it faces an existential threat even if the other side has not employed nucar weapons. so could you please clarify for us what exactly would amount to an existential threat to russia? for example, if you were unable to achieve your objectives in ukraine, even though there is no one fighting in russia, there are no strikes on russia, could that be perceived as an existential threat? >> well, first of all, we have no doubt that all the objectives of our military operation in ukraine will be completed. we have no doubt about that. but any outcome of the

operation, of course, is not a reason for usage of a nuclear weapon. we have a security concept that very clearly states that only when there is a threat for eistence of the state in our country we can use and we will actually use nuclear weapons to eliminate the threat or the for the existence of our country. let's keep all this, well, let's keep these two things separate. i mean existence of the state and special military operation in ukraine. they have nothing to do with each other. but at the same time if you remember the statement of the president when he ordered the-- on the 24th of february, there was a part of his statement warning different states not to interfere in the affairs between ukraine and russia during this operation.

he was very strict in his warning and he was quite tough and i think that everyone understands what he meant. >> he meant that he would use nuclear weapons, he would suggest he would use nuclear weapons if a third paty got involved in the conflict? >> no, you don't think so. i don't think so. but he was quite bold in saying that if you do that, we'll have all the possibilities to prevent that, and to punish all those who are going to interfere. >> look, if you stick to the dictionary definition of existential threat as we were discussing, clearly nothing that has taken place or that has even really quite frankly imaginable, that could take place could reach that bar of threatening the existence of the russian state. so why not just clear this up right now, why can't you on behalf of russia rule out the use of nuclear weapons in this

conflict right here? >> no one is thinking about using, even about ideals, using a nuclear weapon. >> president biden also this weekend warned president putin to not even, as he put it, quote even think about going on one single inch of nato territory, closed quote. can you imagine a situation where russia would feel it necessary to bomb or send forces into a natureo country during-- nato country during this conflict. >> if it is not a resip d reciprocal act,-- if they don't-- we cannot think about that and we did not want to think about that. >> the u.s. and other nations that you are aware say russia is committing war crimes in ukraine. they say your forces seem to be deliberately targeting civilians in your operations there. the international criminal court has unched an investigation

and the prosecutor at the international criminal court says that russia has not responded to his request for contribution. if you are not doing anything wrong in ukraine, why not cooperate with the icc. >> we do not accept this definition of icc. we did not-- we did not before and we do not now. and we are not going to accept it further. so about the civilian-- it is a very important question. you have to know that from the very beginning of the special operations russian military had a very strict order from the chief commander not to aim at civilian targets. and they are not doing that. they are not shelling houses. they are not shelling apartments. they are not shelling-- they are only shelling and aiming of

military infrastructure in the context of one of the main goals of the operation, demilitarization of ukraine. then who is ruining these civil structures in mariupol, for example. their own nav battalions inside mariupol. ther he's simply killing those who would like to escape from the city. and this navy battalion, they are using the apartments as a shelter for their guns, for their arm aments, for their tanks, for their snipers, that is caung the reciprocol fire so it is not russian military to do that. >> shall we say in all fairness, everyone outside of russia has been watching hundreds and hundreds of hours of footage that has come out of the country

showing widespread targeting of civilian infrastructure, apartment buildings, theaters, hospitals. i want to ask you briefly about sanctions and specifically energy supply. western european countries right now get a lot of their gas as you are well aware from russia. they currently play dollars and euros for that gas. vladimir putin has said he wants them to pay in rubles. so it looks like we have a stalemate here. will russia turn off the tap? will it cut off its gas exports to europe if those countries refuse to pay for that gas in rubles. >> i don't know what is going to happen when they reflect it. as soon as we have the final decision we'll look what can be done. but we are not going to make a charity out of it and to send

gas free of charge to western europe. >> it's kind of a buy nary thing, right trk sounds like president putin is insisting he gets paid in rubles, they are insisting they will not pay in rubles. so my question simply is are you going to turn off the gas. >> well, it depends. no payment, no gas. >> how concerned are you, mr. peskov that am some of your best clients, your best customers for european gas, germany, a number of countries are now turng their backs on russia and russian gas. doesn't that give you pause about the future of russia's economy? >> well, of course this is what we wouldn't want to see in our reality. but we ve to adept -- adapt ourselves to those conditions and unfortunately those conditions are quite unfriendly and they are enemy like. we tend to-- face the total war

and we in russia will feel oursels amongst war. because western european countries, united states, canada, australia, they actually-- they actually are leading war gensz us, in economy, in seizing our-- blocking our financial relations and we have to adapt ourselves to new reality. you have to understand russia. you have to understand russia, was starting that operation, for a couple decades we were telling we are afraid of your nato moving eastward. we do afraid of nato getting closer to our borders with its military infrastructure. piece take care of that. don't push us into the corner. no, we are not happy with

this-- in ukraine, and you have a guarantee by poland, by france and germany, would you probably remember the document with the signatures of the relative foreign minute teres. no reaction. they said listen guys we were not happen with the possibility of ukraine getting too nato. because it will endanger-- it will ruin the balance of mutual deterrence. no reaction. then we said listen, guys he want want equal relationship, to take into account each other's concerns. if you don't take into account our concern, then we will be a little bit nervous. no reaction, completely. >> there are so many nor nato forces now closer to russia than they ever were as a result of this conflict. do you feel like in your efforts to address your concerns you have made the situation worse? >> well, the situation is quite concerning, you are right. you are right.

but we're wise enough to understand that before, prior to that, nato was doing the same. but with a smile on its face, and-- deeply conventioned that nato machine is not a machine of cooperation. and is not a machine of security, it's a machine of confrontation. >> thank you very much for your time. >> thank you very >> woodruff: now for some perspective, we turn again to andrew weiss. he served in the george h.w. bush and clinton administrations on the national security council staff and the state department's policy planning staff. he's now vice president for studies at carnegie endowment for international peace, a think tank. tank, welcome back to the news hour, first off, i want to ask you what you made of mr. peskov'somments about nuclr war build russia's intentions when it comes to

using nuclear weapons. >> mi judy, i think the comments about whether or not the ukraine war is an existential threat to the survival of the russian state are some what encouraging. this is about as good as any comment from a russian official is likely to be. and it is as close to a partial lockback of what president putin has said as we're likely it to get. so all in all it is reassuring. the problem is that such de clar tore policy is highly elastic and if putin sees what is in his eyes an existential threat coming out of ukraine, he can turn things around and come up with a justification himself. >> woodruff: are you referring to what mr. peskov had to say, he said we see these as separate things, as so called spretion operion and something that would be an existential threat to our territory. >> that's right, judy. and the reason why western leaders have been on edge about this in the immediate aftermath of putin's launch of the war on february 24th, he cited

unfriendly actions by nato countries including the impossession of economic sanctions as justification for raising the alert 4re68 of russia's nuclear forces. he wasn't pointing to anything specific as providing that justification. and that i think sort of made people in various western capitols nervous that putin was getting a little bit overanxious to wave his nuclear saber. the problem is would russia potentially try to use either chemical, nuclear or biological weapons as a way of upending the dynamic on the battle field. i don't think that concern has gone away by any stretch. there is still a lot of worry about that in western government. >> no question, even though he said no one is sthiing about using nuclear weapons, he said even the idea of a nuclear weapon. let me also ask you about what he said about nato. ryan chilcote was asking him, what are your intentions about nato, under what sirks would you

strike a nato country. and he said well, if it's not a recipricol act, if they don't make us do that, we can't think about that, we don't want to do it, is that reassuring as well? >> i think it is. there is a couple of challenges here though. the first is that the biden administration has tried to make clear that it does not see a direct military role for the united states in this conflict, that say sensible and appropriate comment to be communicating publicly. the problem is the longer it goes on and the assessment that this conflict is starting to morph into something that resembles the bosnian war of the 19 90s, if this goes on for a longer period of time, the risk of spillover or impact on the western supplies of military equipment to the ukraine is going to be with us basically on a chronic basis, so at some point the russians are likely to strike those western supplies of military equipment to the he cranian, the question is how does that strike unfold s any

westerner hit or killed, potentially, god forbid in the process it is those scenarios for escalation that again i think are quite concerning and by no means can be negated for the coming months, if not years to woman without. >> woodruff: finally your thoughts on what are your thoughts that we, the russians are not targeting to civilians, ever referred to nazis in mariupol, clearly the evidence is otherwise. >> it is really unconvincing, there is a lot of familiar talking about out of the kremlin. the idea that this horrible humanitarian crisis in mariupol is show inflicting by ukrainian fighters on their own people is not cedable. >> woodruff: andrew weiss with the carnegie endownment, we thank you so much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, a federal judge found former president trump may well have committed crimes in

connection with the u.s. capitol riot. the judge, who's based in california's central district, spoke in a ruling that ordered trump adviser john eastman to turn over e-mails to a select congressional committee u.s. district judge david carter wrote, "the court finds it more likely than not that president trump corruptly attempted to obstruct congress on january 6, 2021." a trump spokesman called the ruling "absurd and beless." esident biden laid out his proposed spending blueprint for the coming fiscal year, including higher taxes on the very wealthy and more money for police. it totals $5.8 trillion, with a deficit of $1.1 trillion. at the white house, the president said his budget embodies american values, including his call for a so- called "billionaire's minimum tax." >> for most americans, the last few years were very hard, stretching them to the breaking point. but billionaires and large corporations got richer than

ever. a firefighter and a teacher pay more than double, double the tax rate that a billionaire pays. that's not right. that's not fair. >> woodruff: the president floated some of his tax ideas in last year's budget plan, to no avail. republicans said this new budget falls short on boosting defense and cutting deficits. the u.s. senate judiciary committee has postponed its vote on supreme court nominee ketanji brown jackson until next monday. republicans sought the delay. they said they're still missing confidential sentencing documents to help them evaluate jackson's record. democrats want the full senate to vote on the nomination before a spring recess begins, april 8th. on the pandemic, china's largest city, shanghai, went under a phased lockdown today to control a growing outbreak. the country's financial hub ordered mass testing for 26 million residents as police in

hazmat suits closed bridges, tunnels and roadways. but there was disagreement on whether the lockdown should have come sooner. >> ( translated ): i feel it came a little too slow. it would have been better if we had acted earlier. it has been more than 20 days since risk control and management efforts began. >> ( translated ): i am not surprised about the lockdown because the outbreak spread suddenly this time. of course, the state and the government have done a good job. >> woodruff: the lockdown is china's most extensive since the initial outbreak in wuhan, two years ago. in ind, millions joined a nationwide, two-day strike today, aimed at government economic policies. protesters blocked streets in major cities. their demands include a higher minimum wage and universal social security coverage for who are not in unions. the strike had little apparent effect in new delhi and mumbai. the islamic state group has claimed responsibility for the

second deadly attack in israel within a wee it happened sunday, when a pair arab gunmen killed two police officers and wounded four people in hadera. police then killed the attackers. the sunday shootings came ahead of today's historic meetinin israel, with four arab nations that have normalized relations with the israelis. the focus was on dealing with iran and pcemaking with the palestinians. foreign ministers from morocco, bahrain, the united arab emirates and egypt were joined by u.s. secretary of state antony blinken. the israelis hailed the gathering. >> this new architecture, the shared capabilities we are building, intimidates and deters our common enemies, first and foremost iran and its proxies. they certainly have something to fear. >> woodruff: the palestinians

said all such meetings are worthless if they don't address palestinian statehood. back in this country, wall street made modest gains after oil prices dropped 7% and interest rates on bonds fell. the dow jones industrial average gained 94 points to close near 34,956. the nasdaq rose 185 points, more than 1%. the s&p 500 added 32 points. still to come on the newshour: tamara keith and amy walter discuss the latest political news. we break down the major moments from the academy awards. plus much more. >> woodruff: as we reported, fresh off his trip to nato and poland, president biden was on clean-up duty at the white house

today after comments he made about vladimir putin. lisa desjardins has more on the political fallout. >> desjardins: that's right, judy. president biden today insisted his comments that putin "cannot stay in power" were not a change in u.s. policy. here with me to talk more are amy walter of "the cook political report with amy walter," and tamara keith of npr. tam, let's start with you, welcome back to a frigid washington from your trip with the president. you heard those words in warsaw, you heard what president biden said today that this was his sort of moral judgment and not u.s. policy. do you understand what he meant and what does it tell us about the white house right now? >> well, it was definitely a double take moment when he said that, at the very end of this speech t was clearly and sources have concerned, and i think now the president himself has confirmed that that was not part of the prepared remarks, not

part of the plan. in many ways that phrase, that sentence is in conflict with the whole rest of the speech that he was trying to give where he was trying to convince the allies and the american people that this is going to be a long conflict that they are going to have to seal themselves for, that this is bigger than russia and ukraine, that this is about sort of a global battle, a generational battle between democracies and autocrassiesk all these big ideas he was trying to get across saying flato is not an offensive force, it is only there for defense and then he says this thing. and the other thing that he explained today and that was clear even on saturday night when he said this was he had just come from this stadium where he met with refugees who had been trapped in their basements 234 mariupol, he held a little girl in a pink jacket. >> memorable photos.

>> and told these little girls that they were brave and these girls were praying for their fathers and grandfathers left behind in ukraine. so all of this emotion and passion comes with him blurting this out and is he now defending it. he is both saying i am not walking it back and also it st not a statement of administration policy strks not a policy of regime change. but that does not change the fact that this has sort of derailed the conversation about what-- that he was trying to have. >> what are the politics here for maybe a confusing moment for the president on a very important issue that americans are watching closely, ukraine. >> well americans i think would agree that this is a petty popular statement, vladimir putin, that guy, vladimir putin doing bad things, vladimir putin should g right it makes a whole lot of sense until you have to understand as tam laid out that this is very delicate, not just keeping our allies all together which has really been a success

for the biden administration but continuing to keep them together, is going to be a challenge, keeping the public, you no, focused on the fact that this will take longer and be dragged out and understanding that this is so delicate that any word that is said, any hints that this may sophomore than just american support in terms of sending weapons, sending aid, could get us into a conflict with a nuclear armed russia. that is also the balancing act. it is interesting, looking at public opinion, the balancing act that americans are trying to grapple with too, they say we think there should be sanctions on russia. we absolutely support that. even if it means we pay more at the gas pump, we absolutely support sending aid to ukraine, we want to see more, we want to see the administration do more, do more, help, help, help, do you want american troops to go to ukraine, absolutely not.

are you worried about a nuclear conflict with russia? absolutely. and so this sort of give and take is incredibly frustrating for so many people to watch and you can understand too how when are you the president of the united states you see this, it comes out, but as tam pointed out, there are consequences to this and this is a president who ran on a mssage who said words matter. st very important as we go back on to the whorld stage that we do not just flippantly either send out tweets or say things off-the-cuff. >> on those themes of words mattering and conflicted voters i want to hear about messages from both parties last week, president biden put out his budget, we mow it is a symbolic by and large but what did you make of who that budget is for. who is president biden trying to win over in this important election year. >> our vision documents, a vision that will not become reality but it is important for the president to be able to say

what he stands for. and budgets can often serve as sort ever a guide post for the party, for what they stand for, in this election year. and the president included in his budget a significant amount of pounding to put more police on the beat. that is something he says he wants, something he has been talking about for awhile it is also a direct answer to the democrats are soft on crime, democrats want to de fund the police. this is the president saying i know that was a conversation in the last election, i would like the conversation in this election to be something different, also a billionaires tax which is a populist thing that progressives can get behind. >> and it is such a contrast to where we were in 2021, right, when the president releases a budget that was $6 trillion, right t was the vision of a robust government that was going to-- bigger than we have seen since the end of world war ii,

going to do big things, some of those like infrastructure came through but on so many of those other things, like the build back better plan which included many of these priorities, child care, et cetera, that didn't happen. they also did not expect inflation to be where st. and that is the bigger challenge right now, of course. >> in just under a minute that we have left we also saw republicans getting some headlines last week in the judge jackson hearings, those were some tough hearings. who were that for, senators hawley and cruz especially, whose attention were they trying to get? >> well, they are thinking ahead, not just to the 2022 mid terms but to 2024, the issues that they were talking about, whether st on critical race theory or some of the issues on gender specifically, that is something that we're hearing from republican candidates as they are talking to base voters, so trying to get out right now on those issues while you have a platform. >>oes that work, are we seeing

the base respond still to those issues? >> they wouldn't be talking about it if they weren't responding. >> and you know, they also tried to paint her as soft on crime to more broadly paint democrats soft on crime which takes us back to the president's budget and the president trying to say no, no, no, we're really serious about crime. i think that is a theme that we will see in 2022. >> we magically have an extra 30 seconds as it turns out. so question to both what is the issue for the american public. >> well, i don't know that it is is overlooked but i do think that this idea about the role that inflation is playing really has to be driven home every single moment we talk about politics, even in this most recent polling from nbc, what they found in asking the issue about the war in russia, people are paying a whole lot of attention but they are much more concerned about what is happening at home with their own budget. >> couple words. >> covid, i know it is over but

it's not over, and it still is an issue. and i think it's going to have ripples in our politic this year and beyond. >> what a great conversation. tam ca-- tamara keith, amy walter, thank you both. >> you're welcome. you're welcome. >> woodruff: almost 30 million americans will have an eatg disorder in their lifetime. during the pandemic, the number of people seeking treatment has jumped. but, as amna nawaz reports, eating disorders are often overlooked in people of color. a warning: this story discusses eating disorders and some eating disorder behaviors >> nawaz: for years, tré brown hid her disordered eating from her family. >> it's a stigma to have an eating disorder in my community. one of my cousins who married into the family, made the statement “black people don't have eating disorders. that's a white person disease. we know how to eat.” >> nawaz: when most people hear the phrase eating disorder, what do you think they picture? who do they think? >> i think they picture a caucasian female. >> nawaz: it's a widespread stereotype. >> in my head, it's always like

a like a white girl, like a young white girl. >> in the media, it's always a thin white, middle class, upper class woman. >> nawaz: but that's not the full picture, says researcher karen jennings mathis. >> the lifetime prevalence of any eating disorder among women of color is about the same or greater compared to white women. >> nawaz: and that could be an underestimate since people of color are less likely than hite people to have been asked by a doctor about eating disorder symptoms, says psychiatrist erikka dzirasa. >> black women, for instance, are 25 to 40% less likely to be diagnosed with an eating disorder than white women. you may not necessarily even be screened for an eating disorder if you are a person of color. >> nawaz: brown, now 36, has struggled with anorexia and bulimia since she was a teenager. but she's never gotten treatment. >> it's hard to get help because you have insurance companies fighting you saying, "oh, just eat."

you have the doctors fighting you, telling you, "just eat," so it's really hard. it's extremely hard. >> nawaz: do you think it was even harder for you because you're a black woman? >> oh, of course. i went to a doctor's appointment back in october. the doctor told me "your eating disorder is not serious enough" and i said, "so if i die, would it then be serious enough? they don't take african- americans serious. >> nawaz: eating disorders are among the deadliest mental illnesses, causing over 10,000 deaths a year. brown's eating disorder has taken an enormous toll on both her and her girlfriend, who did not want to be identified. >> she goes to support groups because of me. and we've had very difficult conversations. she's like, ”i'm afraid i'm going to wake up and you're going to be dead.

and i can't carry that on me. so i'm putting up my boundaries. my mental health has been affected because of your eating disorder. >> nawaz: brown moved out of the apartment they shared. she dropped out of her phd program. she stopped calling her 88-year- old grandmother whom she used to talk to multiple times a day. >> to me, eating disorder's like a whole nother person and that person takes control over you. so that person will lie, manipulate, do whatever it is that it can do to keep that relationship and that bond with you. and if that means tearing down relationships and dynamics between your family, your friends, your mate, your job, your school, it's going to do it and it does not, it doesn't >> nawaz: for many, the isolation and uncertainty of the pandemic worsened or even triggered their eating disorder. sara molina was a thriving high school senior when covid hit. >> and then everything shut down. and it kind of felt like very like out of control and things

just kept getting closed for longer and longer and longer and it was like, "oh, maybe we'll graduate. oh, no, we're not graduating." then it's like, oh, like, our graduation might be like socially distanced. then, no, it was like a powerpoint video. >> nawaz: sports were also canceled. >> i played softball since i was like three or four and it was my senior season and it was just starting and then i never got to have it. and then also not being able to lke exercise or like go out when like, that's like what i wanted to do. >> nawaz: so molina controlled what she could: her eating. when she got to college, her anorexia became more serious. >> i spent my 19th birthday starving myself. >> nawaz: she described how it ruined her birthday in a column she wrote for the indiana daily student. >> when we cut the cake, i had a piece. after all, it was my cake and my whole family was watching me. i took a bite and almost began to cry. it was a banana cake with white whipped cream frosting. it was one square piece of cake. why was it so hard for me? >> nawaz: molina knew she needed help. >> i used to go on bike rides a

lot or like runs or walks, and i couldn't do any of that stuff just because, like my legs were so weak and like i would notice when i was driving, like i would have to take breaks to pull ov because like my hands and my legs were shaking so much and like, i couldn't find like the strength, li to push down the pedal and stuff like that. >> nawaz: her doctors recommended in-patient treatment. but most centers were full. >> there were no spots open and all the places we called, like, they would just be like, sorry, like, no, you can't come to this one. >> nawaz: molina ultimately got treatment last summer. but as eating disorders spiked and medical admissions more than doubled in the pandemic, dr. dzirasa says the demand for help has far outstripped supply. >> i don't know that we have enough resources or providers to actually meet the need, especially when we think about dividuals experiencing eating disorders that are coming from different ethnic backgrounds because we have to make sure that they are receiving appropriate and culturally appropriate care. and that's really, really hard to find. >> nawaz: gloria lucas runs a

support group for those with eating disorders in communities of color: “nalgona positivity pride”. >> what it means is that you're bibooty positive. >> nawaz: lucas sells merchandise on etsy to raise awareness of people of color with eating disorders. growing up the daughter of mexican immigrants, she felt alone in her experience with binge-eating and bulimia. >> throughout those years there was no awareness of it. no doctor, my parents. it's challenging to hold those conversations and especially when there's so much stigma on mental health. and then there's so much hatred towards fatness. and so it just makes that conversation like, it's hard. >> nawaz: so lucas started her own conversations. she posts regularly about positive body image and eating disorders to her 144,000 instagram followers. but even with the support of her online community, the pandemic proved difficult.

>> the eating disorder got worse. i mean, i feel i always say that eating disorders thrive in isolation, and the whole pandemic was people being isolated >> nawaz: lucas went to an outpatient program which, she says, is a luxury. >> i was only able to go to treatment because i was offered a scholarship. a lot of folks don't recognize that financial hardship, that black, indigenous, people of color experience or low income folks in general and treatment is very expensive. >> nawaz: lucas faced other barriers to treatment as well. >> sometimes you have to explain yourself more than one way. a lot of these treatment centers are not created with people like myself in mind. and what i mean by that is culturally affirming spaces rather than inclusive. because the whole idea of inclusive is that there's already a standard. >> nawaz: jennings mathis has

studied diversity in the eating disorder field. >> the majority of individuals who are in this field do identify as white and the majority are female. so that may mean that individuals who have an eating disorder and who identify as a person of color may not feel like they fit within that community. >> nawaz: tre brown is trying to get her life back together. >> hi grandma. >> nawaz: she recently called her grandmother for the first time in two months. >> it's been so long. hallelujah, jesus. thank god. >> nawaz: brown hopes to access treatment soon with the help of a nonprofit. >> i want to be able to sit down with my family and enjoy a meal. do you know the last time i sat down with my family and ate a meal? 2009. i want tbe able to do those things, and with this eating disorder it is not possible unless i get help. >> nawaz: brown, and so many we spoke to for this story have a

message for people of color out there who may be struggling: you're not alone. for the pbs newshour, i'm amna nawaz. >> woodruff: if you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, you can call the national eating disorders helpline or get 24/7 crisis support by texting n-e-d-a to 741-741. >> woodruff: ripple effects continued today after some unscripted drama at last night's academy awards ceremony, as actor will smith struck presenter chris rock onstage. this afternoon, the academy of motion pictures condemned smith's behavior and said it will “explore further action and consequences.” all this, even as the evening saw several important firsts. jeffrey brown reports for our

arts and canvas series, canvas. >> brown: first, some of the anticipated highlights: the musician amir thompson, known as ¡questlove' winning for his documentary ¡summer of soul'. the japanese film “drive my car”, tops in the “best international” category. then, some notable awards speaking to a hollywood that has been heavily criticized for its lack of representation and opportunity: troy kotsur won for best supporting actor for his role as the father in ¡coda,' the first male deaf actor to win an oscar. >> i just wanted to say that this is dedicated to the deaf community, the coda community and the disabled community. this is our moment. >> brown: ariana debose, from“ west side story”, took the best supporting actress award, the first openly queer woman of color to win an oscar, and just the second latina to receive an acting oscar, rita moreno won

for the same role in 1962. and jane campion was named best director for “the power of the dog”, marking the second year in a row a woman has won. also game-changing: “coda” became the first film from a streaming service, apple tv +, to be named ¡best picture' of the year. but the most shocking moment: actor will smith walking onstage to slap comedian chris rock, after rock made a joke about smith's wife, actress jada pinkett smith, who has a medical condition causing hair loss. the broadcast audio went silent, but social media video captured the exchange: >> wow, wow! will smith just smacked the ( bleep ) out of me. >> keep my wife's name out your ( bleep ) mouth. >> wow, dude, it was a 'g.i. jane' joke.

>> keep my wife's name out your ( bleep ) mouth. >> brown: and then, just a short time later: will smith was back on stage for a tearful acceptance speech after winning the oscar for best actor, for his role in “king richard”, about richard williams, father of tennis stars venus and serena. >> oh man. richard williams was a fierce defender of his family. i want to apologize to the academy, i want to apologize to all my fellow nominees. >> brown: earlier today, i spoke to npr tv and media critic eric deggans. eric, nice to talk to you again. you know, i think a lot of people assumed at the time that this was a planned routine. i know i did. what about you? >> i wondered that for a split second. you could see abc had had clipped out the audio, but you

could see the words that will smith was mouthing, and you could tell that he was angry and you could tell that he was cursing at him in a way that was not intended to be humorous. and in that moment, i knew that we had seen something genuine. >> brown: you know, it was clearly so shocking in the moment as people began to realize it. and it's led to all kinds of reactions. >> well, there are a few different camps here. there are people who are condemning the violence at the moment. there are people who are fans of will smith, who say a who point out that his wife suffers from alopecia, which is an illness that causes you to lose your hair, and that they both may have been very sensitive about jokes about her close cropped hair, and that maybe he had a reason to be angry. but i sense that most people realize that, you know, responding to a bad joke with violence isn't permissible. and the question is what should happen to will smith and shouldn't have?

should the oscar producers, the oscar cast producers, have stepped in to prevent him from giving a speech when he won best actor? should there have been some sort of punishment in the moment for what he did? because if a member of the general public walked on the stage and attacked someone for a joke that they told, they probably would have been arrested. so it's hard to imagine why the academy and the producers of the show didn't seem to do anything about it. >> brown: what happens next, do you think? >> he got his award. he got his moment in the sun. was able to spe for as long as he wanted to. during his acceptance speech, d then he left the ceremony for the oscar parties. you know, the commentators like me have talked about should there be some sort of censure or something like that? i have a hard time believing that any of that is going to happen. the punishment should have happened in a moment, and it didn't. >> brown: let's talk about other things that happened last night. there were other highlights. you and i have discussed this issue before.

of hollywood representation. what hit you last night about some of these awards? >> well, that's what's so sad about what happened with will smith and chris rock, because there were some really important moments, of course. troy kotsur, the supporting actor in kota became the first deaf man to win an acting oscar. and you know, gave a heartfelt speech. the altercation between smith and rock happened right before the best documentary feature was awarded. questlove, who is the bandleader for the tonight show with jimmy fallon, won that award for directing an amazing documentary called "summer of soul" that there was as much of black history lesson as it was a concert film. and of course, we saw jane campion become the third woman to win a directing oscar for helming "power of the dog," and "coda" won as best film.

>> brown: that win for coda, the first for a streaming service, is also something we've talked about over the years. it had to happen at some point, right? >> well, what's remarkable about it is that coda is an apple tv plus film. netflix has spent millions and millions of dollars, tens of millions of dollars creating oscar worthy films that people thought might have a shot at winning that big prize, and they were in contention with power of the dog, but coda beat them out. apple, which spends less money on original series and has less original series and movies, came along and made history sort of snatching it out of netflix's grasp. so even though netflix did pretty well in the oscars, there have to be some people over there who are feeling a little bruised because apple kind of came up and snatched the big prize from them. >> brown: all right, eric deggans of npr, thanks again. >> thank you. >> woodruff: preliminary numbers show over 15 million people

watched the oscars last night, up from fewer than 10 million last year. that audience was less than half the audience in 2019, before the pandemic. on the newshour online, the pandemic exacerbated america's racial health disparities. we talk to an economist and physician who has been seeking solutions to these problems for years. learn more on our website, 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 we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> for 25 years, consumer cellular has been offering no-contract wireless plans, designed to help people do more of what they like. our u.s.-based customer service team can help find a plan that fits you. to learn more, visit www.consumercellular.tv.

>> people who know, know b.d.o. >> the kendeda fund. committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. more at kendedafund.org. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.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. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

. hello, everyone. and welcome to "amappour and company." here's what's coming up. >> it will be a lot worse for those people who will not have the food available to put the food on the table. >> shocking the economy. i speak to the president of the european central bank. and -- >> let me be clear. the focus is on this war in ukraine and making it stop. >> america's ambassador to nato tells us that time is of the essence for getting weapons to ukraine. >> she talks about being a child of a parent who gre up under jim crow. >> harvard law professor joins michelle martin with insight and reflections on the confirmation