geoff: i'm geoff bennett. judy woodruff is away. on the newshour tonight. fighting inflation -- the federal reserve raises interest rates in an effort to curb rising costs across the economy. then the invasion intensifies -- russian forces bombard eastern ukraine, killing more civilians while the european union proposes a ban on russian oil. and rethinking college -- we visit one of the hundreds of cities nationwide fighting growing education inequality by offering free or reduced college tuition. >> the problem is the jobs that are being created and the jobs that pay at living wage are increasingly and now primarily requiring some sort of post-secondary education. geoff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

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this program was made possible by the corporation public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. geoff: the federal reserve raised interest rates again today in its effort to stamp down surging inflation. the hike was a half percentage point, a move that will affect the pocketbooks of millions of americans. federal reserve chair jay powell said more hikes are planned for this summer and later in the year. the fed has changed its course for steering the economy considerably. but as economics correspondent paul solman reports, it's trying to do so without triggering a recession. paul: today's rate hike combined with the increase announced in march means the federal reserve is moving or word with the biggest monetary tightening since the year 2000. it comes as the country endures the highest inflation surge since the 1970's, triggered by

the supply chain snags you've kept seeing in footage like this. the government's pandemic spending ballooning the annual budget deficit, and now russia's invasion of ukraine. >> it is inflation people are feeling all over the country and it is important that they know that we know how painful it is and we are working hard on fixing it. paul: said critics argue that years and years of new money creation, all that so-called quantitative easing, has set us up for the inflation problem and the fed is doing too little, too late. but chairman powell reiterated the fed expects to hike rates several more times this year. practically speaking of course, higher rates mean higher costs for borrowing for a mortgage, say, or a car lease. and typically they hammer the stock market, with the s&p index down 13% so far this year. but the big question is the one the fed always faces, can it dampen an overheated, overinflated economy without

overdoing it and causing a recession? steering its ever-elusive middle course to a soft landing? >> i think we have a good chance to to have a soft or soft ish landing if you will. businesses are in good financial shape. the labor market is as i mentioned, very, very strong. and so it doesn't seem to be anywhere close to a downturn. it's therefore the economy is strong and is well positioned to handle tighter monetary policy. paul: it is a historically tricky bit of navigation right now, with the world in turmoil, prices surging over 6% last month, while gdp actually sagged .4% in the first quarter of the year. on the other hand, jobless claims are at their lowest level in decades. and in march, employers posted a record 11.5 million job openings. dana peterson is executive vice president and chief economist at the conference board. >> i think this is an enormously

difficult task for the fed, because the fed recognizes that not all the drivers of inflation are things that they can directly control. all of a sudden we have faster inflation again caused by a confluence of events. and certainly meanwhile, you have a full labor market and we haven't seen this sort of thing in quite some time where most people are working. paul: so, finally, the fed has begun to sell off some of its debt portfolio, which has more than doubled since march 2020, and is up ninefold since the crash of 2008, when the fed began buying bonds to rescue the economy. for his part today, president biden touted the continued strength of the economy and even the reduction of the annual deficit. pres. biden: we are on track to cut the federal deficit by another $1.5 trillion by the end of the fiscal year. paul: that is to -- due in no

small part to the end of some pandemic spending programs. but president biden said his economic policies have led to growth and revenue that is shrinking the deficit as well. pres. biden: bringing down the deficit is one way to ease inflationary pressures in an economy where a consequence of a war and gas prices and oil and a food -- it is a different world right this moment because of ukraine d russia. paul: and the president noted the government is paying down a bit of the national debt for the first time in six years. for the pbs newshour, paul solman. ♪ geoff: in the day's other news, wall street shot higher after fed chair jerome powell played down talk of even larger rate hikes. manger indexes rallied nearly 3% or more. the dow jones industrial average gained 932 points to close back above 34,000. the nasdaq rose 401 points.

the s&p 500 up nearly 125. a barrage of russian missiles hammered cities across ukraine late into the night, as the war ended its 10th week. the missiles blasted power plants for railroad stations and other supply line targets to disrupt deliveries of western weapons to ukrainian forces. meantime, the president of the european commission called for a total ban on russian oil by the end of the year. we'll get details on all of this later it in the broadcast. ukrainian refugees are crowding into a shelter in mexico city, hoping to gain entry to the u-s. at least 5 people are already there, with more arriving daily. the biden administration has pledged to admit 100,000 ukrainians, but says they will not be allowed to come through the southern border. volunteers say the shelter is dependent on mexican support. >> we are so thankful to mexico government. they provided all this camp for us, for refugees.

they provide food. we have military kitchen here. we have medicine. geoff: in all, the united nations estimates more than 5.5 million ukrainians have fled their country since russia's invasion. secretary of state antony blinken has tested positive for covid-19, the latest top american official to catch it. the state department says he is fully vaccinated and boosted, and has only mild symptoms. the white house says president biden had not seen blinken for several days and is not considered a close contact. in china, beijing shut down dozens of subway stations and bus routes today, trying to stem a covid-19 outbreak. the closures amount to 10% of the capital's subway system, and there's no word on when the stations will reopen. beijing is also testing residents 3 times a week and isolating infected areas, but has not yet imposed the sweeng lockdowns seen in shanghai and elsewhere. the u.s. has condemned north korea's latest ballistic missile test. south korea and japan say the weapon flew for nearly 300 miles

today before landing in the sea outside japan's exclusive economic zone. last week, the north vowed a rapid development of its nuclear weapons program. back in this country, fire cws in northeastern new mexico braced for a new wave of high winds as they try to save the small town of las vegas. tanker planes have been dropping water and fire retardant, but the fire has grown to 250 square miles, the largest burning anywhere in the u.s. the governor warned last night that firefighters will struggle just to ho their own. >> when the wind is this dangerous and this unpredictable and we've got gusts up to 70 miles per hour on many days, there is no way that you can actively pursue putting the fire out. geoff: the fire is only 20% contained. it already destroyed 170 homes, and the number of homes under evacuation orders more than

doubled overnight, to more than 15,000. a 23-year-old man is in jail in los angeles after police say he attacked comedian dave chappelle during a performance last night. they say the man had a fake gun with a knife blade inside when he ran on stage and tackled chappelle. it came just over a month after actor will smith slapped comedian chris rock on stage at the oscars. rock joined chappelle on stage after last night's attack, and jokingly asked "was that will smith?" the rock and roll hall of fame has rolled out this year's inductees, a list headlined by dolly parton, lionel richie and eminem. parton initially resisted the honor, saying she had not earned it. but she was voted in anyway. the hall of fame called her "a living legend" who expanded horizons for countless other artists. still to come on the newshour. medics deliver life-saving care on the frontlines of russia's war against ukraine. the results of ohio's primary election and what it could mean

for the upcoming midterm spirit and -- midterms. and anti-abortion and abortion rights advocates begin to reckon with the supreme court's expected decision to overturn roe v. wade. plus much more. >> this is the pbs newshour, from weta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school ofournalism at arizona state university. geoff: the wide plains of eastern ukraine are now the site of a pitched battle between ukrainian and russian forces. american and allied weapons keep flowing in to assist ukraine as it fends off fearsome russian artillery and bombing. and a new report shows that perhaps the death toll in the war's worst airstrike could be double what was originally believed. from kyiv, nick schifrin reports. [gunfire] nick: on the frontlines in ukraine's east, russia prepares another artillery onslaught. russian forces continue to make slow progress, firing at outgunned ukrainian positions.

russia released these videos today and said it also targeted ukrainian railway stations to disrupt the flow of western weapons. none more crucial than these american howitzers that the u.s. is rushing to ukraine to counter russian artillery. today, russian defense minister sergei shoigu threatened once again to target those weapons shipments. >> the u.s. and nato allies continue to pump weapons into ukraine. view any transport of the north atlanticlliance arriving on the territory of the country with weapons or materials destined to the ukrainian army as a legitimate target to be destroyed. nick: but yesterday many of russia's so-called legitimate targets were clearly civilian. a bus stop in donetsk near a chemical plant that killed at least 10. in the eastern city of kharkiv, an amusement park, which before the war would have been filled with children. and the most widespread attack on the western city of lviv since the war began.

missiles struck power stations and knocked out much of the city's electricity. british officials said today russian troops are expected to move south from izyum and could capture the cities of kramatorsk and severodonetsk. further south in mariupol, senior u.s. defense official said russia maintains about 2,000 troops inside the city. in the center of that city two months ago, 1000 civilians, mostly women and children, sheltered in a theater's basement from russian strikes. today the associated press estimated a russian missile strike that destroyed the theater killed 600 civilians. that would double the official death toll. the ap's new estimate relies on 3d floor plans, videos, photos and the accounts of survivors, like maria kutnyakova. she lives only because she happened to walk outside before the russians attacked. >> this was the ultimate realization that they are not at war with the army, they are at war with every ukrainian, with every resident of mariupol. they came not to capture the city but to destroy it.

nick: and destroy it they have. two months of russia's ruthless campaign have left a ravaged skeleton of a city. soldiers and civilians final holdout, the azovstal steel plant. mariupol's mayor said this afternoon they temporarily lost contact with those inside. >> we pray for our heroic boys. we thank them for this feat. they held back the enemy and gave us more time to prepare, our defenders of mariupol. nick: far from the front in france today, the european union announced new penalties on russian banks and a full ban on russian oil. there may be temporary exceptions for hungary and slovakia, but european commission president ursula von der leyen said the move was necessary. >> i would like to be clear, it will not be easy because some member states are strongly dependent on russian oil. but we simply have to do it. nick: but the bloc remains divided over an even larger punishment, a ban on russian natural gas, mostly because of

german resistance. but economic punishment has not prevented russia from waging war. today in moscorussian jets flew in a z formation, a symbol of the conflict. the country is preparing for monday's national holiday celebrating the anniversary of victory in world war ii. british and american officials fear russian vladimir putin could use his anticipated speech on may the 9th to declare some kind of victory, or escalate a war, geoff, that has already destroyed so much and taken so many lives. geoff: what kind of victory could putin declare, and what exactly are his options for escalation? nick: you heard mariupol mayor admit earlier today he lost contact temporarily with soldiers and civilians in a steel plant. if russia takes over that plant and mariupol, putin could declare russia created a land bridge from russia to crimea by

combining territory that separatists already controlled since 2014 with new territory that russia occupies in southern and southeaste ukraine. a senior u.s. official acknowledges to me that russia does have options for escalaon. the u.s. remains concernedbout chemical and biological attacks, and british officials are publicly saying that putin will use his speech on monday to declare some kind of national conscription in which he would increase the invasion of ukraine and could even try and target kyiv once again. many western officials i talked to say that is unlikely because they could spark the kind of dissent within russia that putin so far has suppressed. but they do admit that that kind of announcement as possible. geoff: is there any sign the strikes that russia says target western weapons are preventing their delivery? nick: western officials i talk to say there is no sign that russia has managed to interdict

those weapons convoys. a senior official told me either russia does not have the intelligence to target those convoys, or the capacity in terms of precision guided missions in order to interdict some of those convoys. one secretary said yesterday that most of those howitzers, the artillery coming from the u.s. into ukraine, have actually reached eastern ukraine and ukrainian soldiers are using them in the fight in the don bass. some officials in moscow say this is a kind of proxy war between the u.s. and russia. that goes back to the fears of escalation because russian officials indicated that they would rather escalate than lose a proxy battle. geoff: and you are standing in the street at the center of kyiv. give us a sense of what life is like there now. nick this is the center of kyiv. this would normally be a bustling street. there is a 10 p.m. curfew.

even though it has been five weeks since russian forces left the area around kyiv, this city is a ghost town after 10:00. i am standing for a much in the middle of the street. that said, a lot of residents have returned to kyiv in the last five weeks and there is a lot of shops and life open, but as you can see this is still a city at war. geoff: nick, thanks for that reporting. just beyond ukraine's frontlines, there is another fight, to keep those injured on the battlefield alive. resources are low, but the volunteers who run a vast network of emergency medical services remain committed to their lifesaving work. special correspondent willem marx and videographer edward kiernan spent time with some of these medics and filmed for the first time the extraordinary treatment given to soldiers in the field. they also saw firsthand the difficulties ordinary ukrainians are having in accessing care in the midst of war.

a warning, some of the images in this story are disturbing. willem: in a country at war, guardian angels appear in many guises. in this corridor, sorting through a mess of medical donations. this is kyiv hq for the hospitallers, a volunteer group of several hundred trained combat medics. these men and women getting briefed are not all ukrainian. but they are all heading east to help treat ukraine's wounded on its frontlines with russia. yana zinkevych is the movement's founder, and a member of ukraine's parliament. >> more and more people are coming. today we will be forming a new team and it will be the 47th. willem: her group tries to fill the gaps in a medical system under massive strain. >> you need to understand that when there are major military activities in different places at the same time, there is a limited quantity of military doctors, a limited quantity of medical vehicles and a limited quantity of other military

specialists. willem: in this makeshift stockroom, final packing preparations are underway. in the shadow of a cathedral, to the soundtra of a choir, these waiting ambulances will be stocked and shipped out. days later and eight hours east in the town of pavlograd, we catch up with some hospitallers. each team assigned to serve at frontline postings. not all of them proficient in firearm safety. [gunfire] ihor is headed to a village on the border between donetsk and luhansk, two hours further east. authorities asked us not to identify the location. there, a local walk-in clinic is now a military hospital, with extra er space stationed outside. all of it empty when we arrive. just to give you an example of how health care is being delivered in this country,

during this conflict, this is a mobile field hospital that has been been parked inside a very small, very quiet ukrainian village about 15 minutes drive from frontline fighting, and two civilian oncologist surgeons are waiting here every day for dozens of patients to be brought in. cancer-specialist miroslav dombrovych told us he'd been here two weeks and had helped stabilize many severely injured soldiers. >> we see bullet injuries to the brain, bullet injuries to the chest, abdomen, extremities. willem: as we talk, a radio announces an emergency arrival. >> i go to help our soldiers. thank you. willem: a hospitaller team unloads 18 year old vasyl, a volunteer soldier struck by shelling at a nearby checkpoint. he's badly hurt. inside the trauma om, miroslav

struggles with colleagues to save his life. they have lost two patients already today. shrapnel has pierced vasyl's skull. they staunch the bleeding, intubate. check his back. examine the wound. vasyl's cell phone starts to ring, repeatedly. it's taken outside with his other belongings. his head is wrapped. a doctor requests transport to a better equipped hospital. then they wait. the long delay worries these civilian doctors. >> the wound is severe, the prognosis is serious, but it helps that the brain stem is not damaged and is working. blood flow and saturation are

within the acceptable limits. geoff: with the ambulance en route, doctors start treating slava, who asked us not to film his face. he reached the same post as vasyl the night before, was caught in the same shell blast, but has escaped with much lighter injuries. an ambulance finally arrives, for the long journey to dnipro's mechnikov hospital, where vasyl still remains alive, but in a coma. staff there treat soldiers and civilians alike. the vast majority victims of russian missiles. strikes on a train station in kramatorsk on april 8th shocked the world. for 46 year old railway worker evgeniy, they shattered his wife. >> suddenly we heard the explosions, cluster ones -- one, two, three. i am not sure if i jumped or not, maybe i figured it out late, i don't know, but when i fell and was lying down i heard an explosion again. i turned my head, my hand was in

an unnatural position, my knees bleeding like hell, and people are running around. willem: within two hours, he was on the operating table. >> i consider myself lucky. my actual birthday is april 17. so april 8 is now my second birthday. willem: natalia budiak is responsible for east ukraine's heavily stressed healthcare system, as hospitals like this try to cope with the conflict's many victims. >> the system has been reconfigured to provide patients with the care they need as quickly as possible. so everyone tries to bring patients as soon as possible to the nearest hospital that can provide care. willem: ukraine recently created a nationwide health service, the only one to operate meaningfully in a country mired in conflict. >> these are things that have never coexisted in the world, so this is the first time we have encountered this. were we ready for th? (pause) -- were we ready for this? you can't beat ready for war. russian bombs damage ukrainian's

bodies but also destroy ukrainian buildings, pharmacies included. in the heavily shelled city of chernihiv, northeast of kyiv, anatoliy grabovetz hunts for his elderly mother's pain medication. >> there were no timely deliveries of the medicine, and when it all started the pharmaceutical warehouse was bombed. willem: at those stores still standing, 66 year-old leonid kuzmin cannot get the drugs he needs. >> there are shortages of the medicines in there. supplies are not regular. willem: british paramedic richard whitmarsh is well versed in emergencies, but he has never seen desperation like this. >> it is going be a crisis if things don't change quite soon because we've got all these chronic illness needs that are not being met. willem: he has come here as a volunteer to help however he can . dispensing a limited supply of pills, but plenty of

professional advice to an endless line of locals. >> there see to be a breakdown somewhere. i think the main focus is on the security, the army, the war, fighting the russians, which is understandable. but there does seem to be a missing element here in the community, as you can see from the crowd to my left now. willem: the catastrophic consequences of this conflict felt not just on the battlefield. further pbs newshour, i'm willem marx in chernihiv, ukraine. geoff: and a note, our coverage of ukraine is supported in partnership with the pulitzer center. ♪ a busy month of primary elections kicked off yesterday with a marquee republican race in ohio. as john yang explains, it was a critical test for former

president donald trump and his influence in the gop. john: geoff, in that race, trump endorsed author and venture capitalist jd vance, a one-time never trumper. he beat out a crowded field of candidates, most of whom tried hard to get trump's backing. in his victory speech last night, vance said ohio republicans had sent a clear signal. >> now this campaign, i really think was a referendum on what kind of republican party we want and what kind of country we want. we went to battle. do we want a republican party that stands for the donors who write checks to the club for growth or do we want a republican party for the people right here in ohio? ladies and gentlemen, we just answered the question. john: the former president's endorsement was something of a surprise because vance had been sharply critical of trump in the 2016 campaign. kyle kondik is joining us. he is the managing editor of larry sabato's crystal ball at the university of virginia center for politics. thanks for being here.

what did we learn yesterday about president trump's influence? kyle: he still has a lot of power in the republican party and republican candidates feel like they need to get his endorsement and it is worth seeking because they can have a demonstrable effecon who wins and loses. maybe in some world vance could have one without trump's endorsement if he did not back someone else, but vance was gaining in this race before trump-endorsed him, but vance gained a lot after trump-endorsed him. it is reasonable to credit trump with a significant share of this victory, which other republican candidates will believe down the line when they try to seek his endorsement. john: the same time j.d. vance was winning, a moderate republican governor mike dewine overcame two challenges, pressing him on his response to the pandemic, very strict restrictions at the beginning of the pandemic. and you think that is an issue that would appeal to trump

voters. what was going on? kyle: i think dewine benefited from having split opposition because he got a little under 50% of the vote. dewine did win comfortably. his next closest competitor was in the high 20's. probably the most prominent dewine opponent was a former senate candidate in 2018 who did not run a particularly good race in 2018. he was crowded out by a farmer who became this cult figure almost in rural ohio. he got a fair amount of the vote. neither could consolidate to really push dewine. had there been a strong single challenger to dewine, maybe we be having a different story today. geoff: j.d. vance now goes on to the general election in november. he will face congressman tim ryan, who represents a district in northeastern ohio. this is a state that donald trump won both times, 2016 and 2020, both by about eight

percentage points. last night in his victory statement, congressman ryan acknowledged he will have to appeal to republican voters. >> we made a guy who voted for trump twice a lifetime republican. i talked about reading china, about buildi things, about infrastructure in marietta. he got done and said this is the most refreshing political conversation i heard in five years, i'm voting for tim ryan because am tired of all this. john: what do you think of that race ahead? kyle: ryan is from a part of the state that is traditionally democratic, a place that struled with de-industrialization. a lot of that place -- of those ples across ohio have trended to republicans since donald trump became the leader of the party. in a year that looks like it will be republican leaning in ohio and across the nation, ryan

will have to get a lot of crossover support. vance does not strike me as a super week republican candidate the way some candidates have been in senate races in the recent past, most recently roy moore and alama. vance does not have those sort of horrible problems. think vance would really ve to mess this up or for the environment to change for him to lose this race. john: this was the first primary trump test this midterm season. we've got some primaries coming up where trump has made endorsements in competitive races, particularly in pennsylvania on the 17th he's endorsed dr. oz in the senate race. georgia on may 24 he has endorsed a slate of statewide candidates. are these states, or compare these states to ohio and the candidates and races to j.d. vance and his race. is trump going to be able to

replicate what happened yesterday in these states? kyle: it remains unclear, but trump did stick his neck out on vance and ended up being rewarded for it. we will see what happens with dr. oz in pennsylvania because that race seemed pretty close when trump made his endorsement. it looks like brian kemp, the incumbent republican governor of georgia, who had a falling out with tru -- with trump, kemp is well over 50% in polling at this point. trump has nototten everything he wants in may, but he has gotten off to a good start. john: kyle, thank you very much. kyle: thank you. geoff: if roe v. wade is struck down as a leaked draft memo from the u.s. supreme court suggests

it could be, it'll have a major impact in states across the country that have already signaled their intention to restct or ban abortion. younger women, those who are low-income and women of color will be the most affected. as you can imagine, anti-abortion and abortion rights advocates see the outcomes of doing away with roe differently. joining us to share their views tonight are samuel rodriguez, an evangelical pastor who is also the president of the national hispanic christian leadership conference. and michele goodwin, law professor at the university of california irvine and the author of "policing the womb: invisible women and the criminalization of motherhood." welcome to the both of you. in the conservative states that have already limited access to abortion, surveys and studies have shown its black and latina women and low income women who already face limited access to health care who will bear the brunt of it. given that, what is your assessment of alito's draft opinion? michelle: you are right, it is

black and brown women and people who are economically vulnerable who will suffer the grave consequences of what potentially could come from the supreme court, but it's also peop who experienced rape and incest, that type of sexual violence, who will also suffer because bans such as those in texas and the ban at issue in this case provides no exception for girls who have been raped by uncles, fathers, brothers, and women who have been raped by strangers or people that they know. is a glaring omission that we see coming from this particular draft, given that it is a new articulation we are seeing in abortion bans. geoff: what about that? many of the states that have these bans have no exception for rape or insist survivors. there are even dispassionate voices in this debate who say that that in particular is cruel, degrading, inhumane.

sam: the overturning of roe v. wade does not, does not ban abortion in any of the 50 states or any of the u.s. territories, it does not. it brings the issue back to local states. as it pertains to rape and insist, which an institute which is not a conservative think tank, and the cdc, 1%. every case is horrific and tragic, 1% rape, half of 1% insist. these cases i would agree must be considered by some of the most conservative states, placing restrictions. at the end of the day, t his issue, i am a pro-lifer. i believe in the sacredness of life, however i don't believe abortion will be made illegal in america. i do believe the issue has to do with what happens after the first trimester.

the vast majority of americans are in favor of keeping abortion legal in the first 12 to 15 weeks maximum, 50% opposed it after the 15 weeks. what we are experiencing is the egregious malfeasance of legislative bodies in california, new york, virginia and other states who went to the extreme, hence bringing about the outcome that we consider now to be inevitable. geoff: michelle, i'd like to ask if you want to respond, but priously you said abortion bans represent more than isolated state law making or states rights, they represent an attack on the fundamental principles of liberty, freedom and autonomy. in what ways? michelle: they bear upon fundamental notions of freedom. let's keep in mind that people who were kidnapped and sexually exploited and brought to these lands were forced into coerced reproduction. we must understand that coerced

reproduction, coerced sterilizatio coerced now after abortion bans, all of this is part of a lengthy arc in american history that has disproportionately affected the most vulnerable people in our society, the most vulnerable women in society. it's more than ironic that before the u.s. supreme court, a law coming out of mississippi, a state in which there are horrific legacies of slavery, of jim crow, of denying people the right to the ballot, a state in which it was famously talk about a woman being beaten before she had to vote, where black people had to guess how many jellybeans were in a jar in order to be able to vote. so when in this draft opinion justice alito says just go out and vote, we must keep in mind

those legacies and histories which continue to prevail in states that enact and act upon voter suppression and gerrymandering. geoff: sam, to that point, as you describe yourself as being pro-life from womb to tomb, there is a pattern that so many of these conservative states now that are poised to require women to carry pregnancies to term, many of these same states invest the least in the health and economic security of expectant mothers and children once they are born. how do you explain that paradox? sam: i wholeheartedly agree, the restrictive states regarding abortions must likewise provide health care, child care. it can't just be rhetorical or articulation of a pro-life agenda limited to the baby in the womb. there is unfortunately a vestige of hypocrisy in some legislative initiatives. these states that are

restricting, placing guardrails on abortion, and i do agree with many of the guardrails, a pro-lifer from the moment of conception, however the vast majority of americans agree abortion should be kept legal for the first trimester, maximum 15 weeks. if you are going to put guardrails and bring this abortion debate issue into the confines of a logical, reasonable, common sense worldview, make sure you provide the necessary infrastructure, be it medical, childcare and even providing adoption services. here is a moment of transparency. evangelicals are pro-lifers, but if all we do is preach pro-life and are not providing adoption alternatives, adoption services, if we are not addressing the financial and educational needs of the communities, then i do believe there is a bit of hypocrisy and lack of a viable continuing. i am the first to confess that.

this abortion debate, it's difficult. we should begin with empathy. empathy for the women who have this very critical decision to make, and empathy for those that believe in the sanctity of life. geoff: i want to shift our focus quickly to the potential legal ramifications. president biden for two days straight has made the case that this alito draft, if the court moves forward with it, could call into question number of other issues that are steeped in the same legal foundation about privacy matters. pres. biden: what happens if you have, a state changes the law, saying that children who are lgbtq can't be in classrooms with other children? is that legit under the weight the decision is -- the way the decision is written? what are the next things that are going to be attacked? geoff: how could protections grounded in a constitutional right to privacy be vulnerable

to the same legal argument justice alito made in that draft opinion where he said they are not deeply rooted in the nation's history and tradition? michelle: that includes contraception, it includes interracial marriage, it includes same-sex marriage, it includes se-sex adoption, it includes many of the areas in which americans have come to find freedom that was deserved through the constitution. i should also say that at the backdrop of all of this we have to pay attention to science and health care. the u.s. leads the developed world in maternal mortality. women are 14 times more likely to die by carrying a pregnancy to term in the u.s. than by having an abortion. that is an aborted aspect we should not miss. -- an important aspect we should not miss. sam: president biden's statement, i can best describe it as horrific. justice alito's decision was explicit, no other case or

relive an issue before the court has any -- or relevant issue before the court has anything to do with this, period. it is a strawman's argument. geoff: samuel rodriguez and michelle goodwin, thanks. michelle: thank you. ♪ geoff: after he took office, president biden proposed providing two years of tuition-free community college. after congressional opposition to many of his larger plans, that plan was dropped. there have been efforts at the local and state level to boost college-going rates by offering free or reduced tuition to students who meet certain requirements, such as living in a designated community or attending a specific school. there are now more than 400 such programs across the country.

san atonio, texas, which has one of the highest urban poverty rates in the country, launched its own project in 2019. special correspondent hari sreenivasan reports for our series on rethinking college. hari: on a recent morning, juniors and seniors at san antonio's mccollum high school filed into the gym. the marching band played, cheerleaders hyped up the crowd, but this was not the typical high school pep rally. these students were cheering for what comes after high school. >> there is no reason why anyone in this room should not go to college. hari: 100% of mccollum's students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. over the years, only about half of the school's graduating seniors and seniors throughout the region have pursued a post-secondary education. but there is a new effort underway to set san antonio's young adults on a different path

in life. >> alamo promise says if you commit to go to college, wea™re -- we are going to meet your need. hari: now in its third year, the alamo promise program covers tuition and fees for up to three years at any of the five community colleges in the greater san antonio area. it is funded with public and private dollars. all graduating seniors at nearly 50 area high schools in mostly low-income neighborhoods with college -- with low college going rates are currently eligible. >> we are working on something called alamo books so that when you go to college you don't even have to pay for your text books. hari: students are required to apply for federal financial aid. the program pays any remaining costs or a student's full tuition and fees. about $6,000 a year. >> you don't ve to pay for school and don't have to pay for your textbooks, what a great opportunity and then leave debt-free. hari: nearly all of mccollum's seniors have expressed interest, filling out enrollment forms to a save their seats next fall.

including marissa cardenas. >> my mom and dad did not have that much help as a family to help them with financial situations in school. so they just kind of, you know, went straight into the workforce. hari: only about 30% of adults in san antonio have a college degree and many people here struggle to find jobs that pay living wages. city leaders are hoping the alamo promise program can help break the cycles of generational poverty. >> we are introducing a pathway to post-secondary education for tens of thousands of students who, prior to alamo promise, would not have had that opportunity, who were statistically condemned to live in and likely raising more children in poverty. alamo promise is our moonshot to breaking that cycle. hari: ron nirenberg is the mayor of san antonio and an early backer of the program. >> economic mobility is such a challenge for our community. the problem is the jobs that are being created and the jobs that pay at living wage are

increasingly requiring some sort of post-secondary education. and without that opportunity to get trained or to have that credential or to get the degree , there is no path to coming out of poverty. >> it gets pretty hard to just keep up with the bills. so me going to college seemed almost impossible. hari: 18-year-old jaeden montero first learned about alamo promise in the fall of 2020 when he was a high school senior. his close-knit family was worried about how they would pay for his college. his mom works for the san antonio police department, his as -- his dad as a repair man. >> one of the things that i had in mind and we discussed it with my wife is i'm going to have to sell the house and move to a tiny house. >> i was very nervous because we are at that bracket where we make too much money for pell grants or any type of assistance, but yet we don't

make enough money to send him to any college or university and still be comfortable. hari: when they learned about the alamo promise program during jaeden's senior year, they say it was a big relief. >> we are going to look at the history of the english language. hari: montero is now finishing up his freshman year at san antonio college with a 4.0 gpa. he is hoping to attend the university of texas at san antonio when he graduates. >> because i do have the promise program, i've been saving up a little bit. it's seeming manageable right now. i might not make it with no debt, but it will be very minimal at least. >> graduating high school seniors within san antonio and our county are interested in going to college. and they needed for the community to come forward and say, we believe in you. hari: mike flores is the chancellor of the five community colleges in san antonio, knn as the alamo colleges district. >> 92% of the promise scholars are latino, hispanic or

african-american. these are students that are coming from some of the highest poverty rates within our community and actually within the united states. our students don't look at can i afford to go to alamo colleges of public university. they consider whether they can afford to work less hours. and so promise helps alleviate most or part of that consideration. >> this was our first time doing tiktok advertising. hari: flores and his colleagues are trying new ways to reach students and their families to let them know about the program. >> i an alamo promise scholar so am i attend college tuition free. >> we were able to get a million impressions. hari: from the fall of 2019 to the fall of 2020, when overall texas community college enrollment declined, alamo promise high schools increased their community college enrollment by 17%. flores says college completion is just as important as increased enrollment. san antonio college and the

other community colleges offer supports to students, including free food and clothing, low-cost childcare and health care and emergency financial aid for things like rent and car payments. >> how are you doing? doing ok? hari: students have to meet frequently with advisors to help them stay on track academically. and have a plan for after they graduate. graduation rates are tracked over a three-year period because students often attend part-time. next year marks the third year for the first cohort of alamo promise recipients. administrators say early indicators are pointing in the right direction despite significant impacts on student's lives from covid. jaedan montero has his sights set on the future. he wants to pursue a career in cybersecurity and is confident he will be able to live a comfortable life. >> i expect to make $70,000 a year, which is more than good enough for me. hari: about 13,000 students are eligible for the promise program next fall, and so far more than

10,000 have shown an interest and saved their seat. for the pbs newshour, i'm hari sreenivasan in san antonio, texas. ♪ geoff: roxane gay has long used writing as a means to untangle and communicate her own trauma. now, a successful author, professor, and mentor to many, she advises aspiring writers on how to harness their voices. tonight, gay shares her "brief but spectacular" take on ways of being heard, as part of our ongoing arts and culture series, canvas. >> a lot of times people ask me about voice and how to find it as if they can go on some sort of search and find voice waiting for them at the end of it. but in fact, we tend to already have our voices and it's really a question of learning how to use our voices and knowing that

we have every right to do so. ♪ i started writing when i was four years old. i would draw little villages on napkins. and then i would write stories about thpeople living in those villages. i think and write quite a lot about trauma. few of us know how to talk about it because we have very little language for trauma. people seem to want us to have these triumphant stories, and there's not a lot of space for the in-between where you've suffered and you're healed, but things are maybe also not okay. when i wrote my memoir hunger, which was a memoir of my body, i was extremely worried about how it would be received because it required a level of vulnerability. i found it extremely uncomfortable to write about a fat body while living in it without some sort of triumphant weight loss narrative. and i certainly didn't think anyone but other fat people would gravitate toward the book,

but as i was touring it, not only in this country, but all around the world, i found that everybody lives in a body that is complicated and that they struggle with at one time or another. i think a lot of people are looking for language to talk about that. in general, to write about most, anything personal, i tell myself that no one is going read my work. i was terrified when i wrote hunger, i just did it anyway. i did it despite the fear. and to have my story connect with so many people in so many different kinds of bodies was really overwhelming. and it reminded me of what great writing can do. oftentimes when we think about trauma, we think about it in the context of the personal, but we deal with collective traumas all of the time. we are currently in the second year of a collective trauma pandemic that in the united states has resulted in the deaths of 800,000 people. and most of us he no idea how to grapple with that level of loss, with the fact that nearly a million people have simply disappeared from our daily

lives. there are things that we really do need to sit with and spend more time with to fully make sense of. and so a lot of my current work is about, how do we reckon with these collective traumas? i am often asked, particularly by young women, how they can be less angry in thr writing as if anger is a bad thing. and what i love to tell these women, and what i also remind myself is that anger is oftentimes incredibly appropriate when you're writing about sexual violence, misogyny, all of the issues that feminists are trying to address in our work. anger can be incredibly productive and i hope to encourage them to find ways to use anger for the greater good and to see it as an asset rather than a liability. my name is roxanne gay, and this is my brief, but spectacular take on ways of being heard. geoff: and you can watch more brief but spectacular videos online at pbs.org/

newshour/brief. that is the newshour for tonight. join uonline and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thanks for spending part of your wednesday with us. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of no contract plans and our team can help you find one that fits you. visit consumercellular.tv. >> the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front line of social change worldwide. 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. ♪ ♪ ♪

hello, everyone, and welcome to amanpour and company. here's what's coming up. >> we will not go back. an extraordinary leek about an earthquake of a ruling. a draft supreme court decision on overturning roe v. wade. i speak to conservativ political activist about the 50 year fight against abortion and to feminist icon about what this means for women's health and their rights. then, there was not a day we did not try to find a solution that would save our people. >> negotiating during wartime, jonathan powell makes the case for fighting and talking. and. >> i'm proud of my association with