>> i'm judy woodruff. political divides. u.s. senators go on record with their stance on abortion as part of a key vote ahead of the supreme court ruling that could overturn roe v. wade. then the global fallout. the war in ukraine causes food prices to rise around the world. it pushes scandinavian countries to seek nato protection. the vaccination gap. as the u.s. approaches one million lives lost to covid-19, political affiliation becomes the leading indicator of who is and who is not protected from the virus. >> defined that people who identify as democrats are vastly

more likely to be vaccinated compared to people who identified as republicans. judy: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪ >> moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> cfo. caregiver. eclipse chaser.

the raymondjames financial advisor taylor's advice to help you live your life. life, well-planned. >> the rules of business are being reinvented with a more flexible workforce by embracing innovation. by looking not only at current opportunities, but ahead to future ones. >> people who know know bdo. ♪ >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems. skoll foundation.org. >> the lemelson foundation, committed to improving lives through invention in the u.s. and developing countries. ♪ >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to making a peaceful world.

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. judy: the sharp rise in inflation in this country may have hit a peak. but it remains near 40 year highs. that is the upshot of today's consumer price report for april. it showed prices rose 8.3% from a year earlier. a slight decline from the reading in march. and a monthly increase from march to april was .3%. the smallest in eight months. not counting volatile prices for food and fuel. the core rate of inflation jumped twice as much as it did in march. on wall street, inflation

numbers fuel fears of aggressive interest rate hikes by the federal reserve. the dow jones industrial average lost 300 26 points. 1%. closing at 31,008 34. the nasdaq fell 370 three points, 3%. the s&p 500 dropped 66, 1.6%. republicans in the u.s. senate blocked efforts to enshrine abortion rights into federal law. democrats fell well short of the 60 votes needed to break a republican filibuster on codifying abortion access. they are expecting the u.s. supreme court will overturn roe v. wade this summer. attorney general merrick garland ordered u.s. marshals to provide additional security for the justices. we looked at the senate vote after the new summary. on the pandemic, china insisted it will maintain its zero-tolerance policy.

it came a day after the head of the who warned extreme lockdowns , as in shanghai, are not sustainable. in beijing, a foreign ministry spokesperson dismissed the criticism. >> we hope relevant people can view china's policy of pandemic prevention and control objectively and rationally. get more knowledge about the facts, and refrain from making irresponsible remarks. >> shanghai has been locked down for six weeks. authorities reported more than half of the city has achieved zero covid status. they said strict measures will remain in place. in ukraine, government forces claim new gains in the northeast. they say a counteroffensive has pushed to within a few kilometers of the russian rder. russian missiles against struck odessa on the black sea, trying to stop the flow of western weapons. we return to ukraine later in

the program. police in hong kong have arrested a roman catholic cardinal for allegedly endangering china's national security. he's a retired archbishop and longtime critic of china's communist rulers. he had helped to run a legal aid fund for pro-democracy protesters. the vatican is closely monitoring the situation. in australia, the great barrier reef has suffered its fourth mass bleaching event in less than seven years. a warming climate causes a loss of color. more than 90% of the carl surveyed this year was bleached. they expect most of it to recover. back in this country, legal settlements with nearly $1 billion have been reached in last june's condominium collapse in surfse, florida. nearly 100 people were killed. an attorney for their relatives and survivors said they have finalize agreements with insurers and others.

canada is endorsed by former president trump. mixed results in tuesday's primary. in nebraska, jim pin won a crowded republican contest for governor. rivals included charles herbst are, who had mr. trump's backing. in west virginia, trump-endorsed congressman alex mooney, defeated congressman david mckinley. he supported the january 6 investigation. redistricting had forced the men into the same district. still to come, tensions rise as a journalist is killed during an israeli raid of a town in an occupied west bank. a new report details a troubling history of forcing indigenous children to attend boarding schools. overdose deaths in the u.s. hit record levels. plus much more. >> this is the pbs newshour,

from w eta studios in washington, and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: growing concern among democrats at the supreme court will soon overturn roe v. wade led them to try and pass federal legislation to guarantee abortion rights and prevent recent state restrictions from taking effect. that effort fell short in the u.s. senate as democrat joe manchin joined all republicans in voting against the women's health protection act. for more on all of this, our correspondent joins us from capitol hill. you watched this. remind us what the vote was on. >> this was on a bill, democrats' version of a law that would make abortion legal through the country in statute, codifying, as they say. a version of this bill also passed the house earlier this year, but failed in the senate

one other time, as it did again today. what we did learn from the debate is how much each party distrusts the other on this. not only divisive debate, but very high-stakes. here's some of what we heard today. >> republicans have been clear. they have been explicit. even that they are not going to stop at roe. they are not going to stop at the state level. and they are not going to stop at abortion. >> democrats have taken things to the very nth degree and are pushing for a bill that is far out of line with the views of most americans over this divisive and emotional topic. >> both parties going into the vote knowing it would fail. what was interesting to me, looking at the senate floor, there was no sense of the gravity of it. senators coming and going, very few democrats on the floor. especially into the gallery. the only piece of the sort --

senate chamber was for staffers. i saw young staffers watching with focused attention. >> for the democrats and those who want to codify, roe v. wade putting it into law, what are the options? >> democrats do not have the vote for any option. i think it is important to go through, in theory, what democrats can do. the first option would be 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. right now, there are some 52 senators that have said they want to codify roe in some way, but they don't have more than that. the other option is to get 50 votes to change the filibuster. and right now, there are 48 senators. senator mansion and seminar said they will not do that. the longest shot is budget reconciliation, which we talked

about before, requiring 50 votes in the senate. democrats fall short on that. senator joe manchin said that is not something he would support. at this point, legislatively, democrats don't have an avenue to put in roe v. wade into federal law. >> as we know, we are six month away from the crucial midterm elections. walk us through the politics of that right now. >> the politics are extensive. especially at this moment free democrats. they are hearing from their base, a sense of high dissatisfaction. if it is clear republicans have been the ones -- pushing to make abortion illegal, or give states that option, democrats feel lawmakers here have not done enough. i spoke to high-ranking aides about this.

they said it will change once the decision comes out from the supreme court. right now, democrats in the senate and congress have a serious problem going into a rough midterm season. looks like the polling for the country on this issue, what congress should do in theory -- this is a new poll out just this week. 44% of people said they believe congress should allow abortion nationwide. that is what democrats would like to do. 9% would like to ban it nationwide, which is what some republicans want to do. 43% say let states decide, which would be the effect of the opinion that we now expect from the supreme court, at least from the draft opinion. the politics are very significant. it is interesting to me, it almost feels like the politics are more in the atmosphere here in congress than the effect of what is about to happen. i do believe in coming weeks it will change hearing from the

supreme court. >> interesting you hear them saying we will see whether public opinion is shifting in some way when the opinion comes out. lisa reporting from the capitol, thank you. ♪ judy: president biden visited a farm in illinois today to highlight how the war in ukraine is raising food prices around the world. the war is pushing previously neutral countries to seek the defensive umbrella of nato. nick schifrin joins me from the city in southeastern ukraine. hello. let's start with this question of food. why is ukraine's food so important to the world? >> ukraine is the largest producer of wheat in the world,

one of the largest producers of cooking oil. production has been halted mostly because of the violence. ukraine can't export because russia is blockading ports. russia is the largest producer of fertilizer in the world. they cannot sell that because of export controls and sanctions. all of that adds up to what the wfp call an explosion of global hunger, and the fda says is the largest global food price index hike they have been measuring in more than 30 years. so the president today announced new efforts to increase u.s. production in ukraine. the emphasis also on trying to incrse production. we have seen farmers trying to harvest in the spring. we visited a steel panel -- steel plant a few hours ago. the largest in the country that restarted its production. the problem is the russian warships off of the coast in the black sea.

that means none of the farmers or steel plants can export to where they usually do via schip. that means they are turning to trains. much more expensive and takes a lot longer than it usually does. it means these global food problems will continue. >> so complicated. last night, you reported on the progress made by the ukrainians in the city of kharkiv in the east. tell us about where you are now, the south, the east? what does it look like? what does president zelenskyy say? in the east, russians are making gains. they are pushing out a little bit to the west. that is important for their supply lines. where we are in the south, in and around the area, the lines are pretty static. but the mood at the top is positive. president zelenskyy in his

nightly address said the r wouldn't end until russia returns everything that is theirs. that suggests ukraine wants russia not only to return what it has recently captured since the invasion two months ago, but ukraine wants to recapture territory that russian backed separatists have controlled in eastern ukraine since 2014. other officials are using the word "victory." i talked to multiple officials in the last few days about because they are getting heavier weapons, they want to launch counteroffensives. so that adds up to a grinding war of attrition that u.s. officials are beginning to talk about would last months, if not, years. judy: nato, we have seen them galvanized by this war. we know it is about to get larger. what with the addition of finland and sweden mean?

what would be the difference that could make? >> finland and sweden over the next 24 to 48 hours are expected to join nato. the most senior nato officials say at the very top, they have been scked at how quickly things have changed. finland and sweden have been integrated into nato for a few years, but it is a generational shift for them to choose to join the nato alliance. it is the opposite of what putin has wanted. it means more countries in nato on russia's border. judy: you are right, this is what vladimir putin dinot want, but it is happening. nick reporting from southeastern ukraine. stay safe. judy: nick's reporting and our ongoing coverage is supported in partnership with the pulitzer center. ♪

judy: a prominent tv journalist was shot and killed in the west bank while reporting on a raid by israeli troops. her killing raised tensions between the israeli security establishment and the press as a new wave of violence in the holy land between israelis and palestinians continues. here's john yang. >> a burst of gunfire. al jazeera's correspondent lies face down motionless, shot in the head. then panicked calls for an ambulance. the 51-year-old palestinian-american journalist was rushed to a hospital, but died from her wounds. in a career at al jazeera -- al jazeera, she was a household name across the middle east.

her coverage of the israeli-palestinian conflict. several journalists on the scene and palestinian health ministry said israeli troops shot her and herroducer, who is reported to be in stable condition. the israeli defense minister said a full investigation is being conducted. officials released a video they said shows palestinian militants firing nearby. open source investigators doubted the video was taken at the scene of the killing. the israeli prime minister warned against jumping to conclusions. >> the palestinian authority was quick to blame israel. there is a viable chance the journalist was hit by the fire of armed palestinians. >> palestinian prime minister said israel was responsible. >> israel wants to signs the free voice and silence the voice of the press, and wants to silence the image showing the ugliness the israeli occupation and crimes of this occupation.

>> at her home in jerusalem, her family mourned her death and calls for answers. >> i never thought this day would come where the news would be about her and she wouldn't be the one covering the news. >> israeli forces also appeared at her home, but were shouted away. she was on assignment at the jenin refugee camp in the occupied west bank, where israeli forces have conducted regular raids. they are hunting for a palestinian terrorist. it is a response to a recent uptick in violence against israelis. last week, two palestinians were captured after they allegedly killed three israelis with axes in a predominately ultra-orthodox center in israel. last month, the rare convergence of ramadan and passover brought near daily clashes in jerusalem's old city, a site revered by both muslims and jews.

though the conflict is not yet broken out into all out war scene in gaza last may, dozens of palestinians and israelis have been killed. throughout the conflict, critics accused israel of targeting journalists. a united nations investigation found reasonable grounds to believe israeli snipers have shot at journalists during 2018 protests in gaza. four more -- for more on the death and the ongoing violence, we are joined by joseph federman , the associated news director for israel, the palestinian territories, and jordanj. -- jordan. is there anything new that we have learned about her death? >> we are trying to figure out who was responsible. early in the day, the israelis were suggesting she had perhaps been hit by palestinian militant fire.

later today, they backed off on the claim. they don't know who is responsible, they say. they are promising a full investigation. right now, they are trying to get a hold of the bullet that killed her. the palestinians have that bullet, and don't want to turn it over to the israelis. so there is a dispute on how to proceed over the investigation. >> it is fair to say there's a strained relationship between the israeli military and the foreign press. earlier today, my calling spoke with -- my colleague spoke with the codirector of a group of veterans in israel opposed to the israeli occupation of palestinian territories. let's take a listen to what he had to say. >> the military, and big elements within the security tablishment, see the work of journalists, but also activists

and human rights organizations and defenders, as a threat. i think there is a fear, a dangerous fear of exposing reality on the ground. >> given the strained relationship, how does it affect the daily work of your reporters? >> it affects us on several levels. first of all, the foreign media -- i don't want to say we are viewed as a hostile entity, but many elements in israeli society and official israeli society look at the foreign media with suspicion. the foreign media has a different perspective than what you would see the israeli media, israeli journalists, and they see things through israeli eyes. foreign media looks at it in a more balanced way. we have staffers working for us, foreigners, but also palestinian staffers. so it complicates the issue. palestinian staffers -- first of all, they are in the field when

there is conflict and protests. so they come into contact with the israeli forces. they are often viewed not as journalists, but as palestinians. so theres a basis for this tense relationship from the beginning. >> talk about what is going on in israel and the palestinian territories. the cycle of violence against israelis followed by raids, israeli defense force raids, followed by violence against israelis, followed by raids. where is this going? could this escalate into a third -- an all out war again? >> it is impossible to predict where this is going, but we have gone through many cycles. sometimes they escalate. we saw it a year ago, where tensions in jerusalem escalated and spilled over into a full-fledged 11 day war with gaza militants.

both sides have an interest in containing things and preventing things from spinning out of control. but you don't have full control over what is going to happen. because many of the attacks, many of these incidents arrange -- originate with lone wolf attackers. you never know the repercussions afterwards. >> israel has a new government. a fragile coalition. what pressure does this put on prime minister bennett and his government? >> the former prime minister alwayself as mr. security. he's now the opposition leader trying to take advantage of this. he's try to present this new government as being soft on what they call terrorism. and he's going to continue to hammer the government on that. what people don't always realize is when netanyahu was in power,

he dealt with the same threats and issues. they really only have a limited number of options on how to deal with these things. it seems no matter who the prime minister is, you will always deal with this. we are in a conflict zone. israel has controlled the west nk, the palestinian territories for half a century. until there's a diplomatic process, until they figure out some way to settle this conflict, there will always be friction and we are always going to go rough these waves of violence. president biden is scheduled to go to israel probably later in the summer. what is the state of u.s.-israeli relations in the wake of the alliance between president trump and prime minister netanyahu. how might the violence affect the u.s.-israeli relationship? >> relations became very close under trump and netanyahu. they were very similar in personality, got along very ll. but bennett has done a good job

of making up with the democrats. relations became very strained with the democrats. bennett has made it a priority to get better relations with both sides. and the ties are good right now. today's incident is a bit of a strain. she was an american citizen. you hear expressions of regret, condemnation from the american side. the secretary of state is a former journalist. so there is sympathy for journalists in the white house. but i don't see long term damage to the relationship. the relationship goes deep, strategic interests. i think it will survive and thrive, even after today. >> joseph federman, thank you very much. >> late today, a spokesperson at the israeli embassy sent us a statement in response to the accusation leveled by the israeli military veteran that

just heard, about his belief that isrli security establishment fears exposing the reality on the ground. the spokesman wrote "this statement is a libelous accusation and could not be further from theruth. israel values freedom of the press and human rights, and we are committed to protecting them." ♪ judy: the federal government detailed for the first time the brutality and treatment native american children suffered. beginning in the 1800s, they were forcibly moved into u.s. boarding schools. leaders of different tribes and communities spelled out a litany of horrors they say lead to a cultural genocide that still impacts native americans to this day. we looked at what the investigation found. >> between 1819 and 1969,

thousands of native american, alaska native, and hawaiian native children attended these u.s. government schools. part of a system of over 400 facilities across 37 states, or then, territories. more than 500 children died while attending. kids as young as four were removed from their families, transported across the country to schools where they were banned from speaking their language, forced to do manual labor, and sfered physical and sexual abuse. the secretary of ierior spoke about her own connection to those schools during a difficult and emotional press conference. >> the fact that i'm standing here today is the first indigenous cabinet secretary is testament to the strength and determination of native people. i'm here because my ancestors persevered. i stand on the shoulders of my grandmother and my mother, and the work we will do with the

federal indian boarding school initiative will have a transformational impact on the generations who follow. >> also at that event was our guest, deborah parker. ceo of the national native american boarding school healing coalition and member of the -- tribe in washington. they work with the government on this report. welcome to the newshour and thanks for making the time. we can hear it in the sec.'s voice. i heard it in your voice when you were speaking. it is difficult. at it felt like in the room toat finally come forward and share these findings. >> in that moment, it was like a release of an extreme amount of sorrow and grief. but also this feeling of pride that we are here today, we are in washington, d.c., at our

nation's capitol. i'm sitting next to an indigenous woman known as the secretary of interior. and we are here to share a story, share a truth that has not been told for generations. the enormous feeling of that has impacted so many of us for generations. and it is time that we tell this story. it starts with the interior report on the u.s. boarding schools and how we have been impacted by the federal government on the lives of indigenous children and families. >> this first report is volume one. there will be more findings to come. specifically, this work found marked and unmarked burial sites at 53 different schools. the remains of hundreds of children who died in u.s. government custody. tell us about the details

uncovered in this instigation. what kind of treatment did those children go throughout those schools? how did they die? >> so many children were taken and never returned. someere more murdered, buried on residential school -- boarding school sites, and near rivers, on hillsides. the stories are so enormous, and we know these stories from our relatives. we know these stories so well. we are waiting for the federal government, we are waiting for churches, for others to tell the story. when we talk about the pain, the beatings, tortures, children the other day -- a member from the alaskan tribe shared with me his mother was put in the basement of one of the boarding schools.

she was chained to a heater and beaten daily. so hearing these stories, knowing that our relatives suffered so enormously is a lot to carry. >> we heard secretary holland mentioned the idea of intergenerational trauma, that there is a lasting impact and legacy after what children went through, what a generation went through in those schools. the reports show the disparities are absolutely there when you look at the american indian and alaskan native communities, you see the highest rates of poverty, premature death, suicide, lowest rates of graduation. you believe this investigation can help to close some of those gaps? >> absolutely. the hope is we find healing. the hope is we come together as a nation to not only tell of these truths, but also to begin

to heal together. and our communities have known this truth for generations. it is time the u.s. government understands these truths. it is time we listen, that we hold space for o traditional elders, our keepers of our language, it is time that we support tribal nations and indigenous peoples who continue to suffer. and we suffer -- when our children attend thesschools, they are not taught our history. we are written out of the history books. the goal was killed the indians, save the man. so for so many of us growing up in the u.s., all we wanted to be was the very best self we could be. we wanted to carry our traditions, we wt to speak our langge.

but for our children and grandparents, that was beaten out of them. for me to take a class from my tribe, i sat there and cried. it was so difficult and i could not understand why. but my father shared with me that grandmother cried -- she tried to sing her song, but grandfather would say "don't sing, they will arrest you, they will come and get you." these are moments that were so painful for our family, and meant for us to forget our songs. it was meant for us to forget our dances, ceremonies, and language. this generational pain exists very deep within our relatives across what these lands are now called, united states. this is our way of life. >> you mentioned you are not going to stop advocating until there's a full accounting from the u.s. government.

what does it mean to you? >>tea ins records. the records go back to the families that tribal nations are able to find the missing and murdered children, the government apologizes to these nations. not only apologizes, but make amends. i don't have the recipe for the amends. it will be up to each tribal naon, each indigenous person who has suffered at the hands of this colonial system. we are just getting to the point we are telling our story. i think the rest of that will come as we listen to our elders, the stories. >> that is deborah parker, ceo of the national boarding school healing coalition. thanks for your time. ♪

judy: as the death toll from the coronavirus nears one million americans, we have explored why the u.s. suffered such a terrible loss, especially when compared to other nations similar to us. while there are many reasons for this, one of them is that many americans have not wanted to be vaccinated. william brangham examines that part of the story. >> early in the pandemic, people died from covid in big cities and small towns. they died in blue states and in red states that roughly equal rates. but once vaccines were rolled out, that started to change. according to research, from late last year on, covid deaths in the most pro-trump counties in america, the redline, where about 180% of what they were in the most pro-biden counties, the blue line. that disparity exists in a large part because vaccination has become a deeply partisan issue. many argue our failure to get

more americans to take the safe and largely life-saving vaccines has cost this country tens of thousands of lives. >> the live photo of him asking what and putting his hands on his hips, i don't know, it is so him. >> katie lane says her dad patrick was the best dad in the world. the kid who never grew up. >> this one right here, we are in the drive-through, my dog is in his lap. >> he woed for boeing and washington state. katie said her dad knew the pandemic was real, but was reluctant to get the vaccine, and he kept putting it off. he also repeated a lot of misinformation vaccines could cause infertility for her, that there were likely hidden side effects. >> he watched some youtubers, fox news, stuff like that. for some reason with the vaccine, people were telling you not to get it.

for some reason, it stuck with my dad. that is ultimately why he didn't choose to. august 12, 2021. he took a day off work, he moved me into my first apartment at college, and the next morning, he gave me a big hug and said "i'm really proud of you," and he walked out of my front door, hopped in the u-haul, and that is the last time i ever saw him alive. >> a few weeks later, patrick lane got covid and died in the icu at a local hospital. liz hamel studies public opinion at the kaiser family foundation, where they have tracked americans' attitudes about the covid vaccine. in december of 2020, when americans were asked if they would get a free, safe covid vaccine, around 15% of respondents said no matter what, no. that is not unusual, compared to past polls but who the group is

has changed. >> one of the things that really stands out is the partisan divide and who is getting vaccinated and not. we find people who identify as democrats are vastly more likely to be vaccinated cpared to people who identify as republicans. >> 61% of unvaccinated people in america today are republican. it is the single most reliable predictor of vaccination status. it wasn't the case with prior vaccines. multiple polls over the last few years showed majorities believing in the value of the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine, and bipartisan uptick of the flu vaccine. the kaiser foundation data hints at why the partisan divide emerged over covid vaccines. a strong majorities of democrats say they trust these mainstream news sources for information about covid-19. the only source that nearly half of republicans trusted was fox news. >> this is yet another attempt

to impeach the president -- >> from the start of the pandemic, many of foxe's top anchors said the threats from covid were being exaggerated to harm president trump. >> democrats and their media cronies have decided to weaponize fear and also weaponize suffering to improve their chances against trump in november. >> scaring the living hell out of people, and i see it again as let's bludgeon trump with this new hoax. >> people who have chosen not to get the vaccine -- most of them say they are not at all worried about getting sick from covid. a majority believe the news media is exaggerating the seriousness of the pandemic. >> when the vaccines were developed, foxe gave primetime coverage to the baseless claims they did not work, and were in fact harming people. >> the mrna covid vaccines need to be withdrawn from the market now, no one should get them, no one should get double boosted. they are a dangerous and ineffective product at this

point. >> personally, you don't know, now i know -- >> we heard some of these fears firsthand in a covid emergency room at baton rouge general hospital. robert wilson did not think the virus was much to worry about. 600,000 americans had died at that point. he hadn't been vaccinated. >> wasn't political -- i just didn't figure i was going to need it. nobody really knows the long-term of the vaccine people are scared of. >> seeing this large number of unvaccinated people coming through your doors, is it frustrating to you? do you think it is the way our society is? how do you square that? >> i try not to dwell on it too much. >> why not? >> because it does frustrate. there is a little bit of we shot ourselves in the foot.

i'm not mad at people who didn't vaccinate, and i understand a lot of it. there's so much misinformation out there, the country is so polarized. >> kaiser's research found people whohose not to get vaccinated were also very open to incorrect information about the pandemic. >> there was a tendency to believe many multiple pieces of misinformation. for instance, believing things like the government is hiding deaths related to the covid vaccine, believing vaccines contain a microchip or cause infertility. there was a strong correlation between vaccination status and belief in some of the misinformation. >> a lot of the misinformation and conspiracies online are accessed by people who are not going to get vaccinated. >> he studies conspiracy theories. he argues the partisan divide

over covid vaccines is also because of the type of republican that was drawn to donald trump. >> president trump built a coalition of conspiracy minded people. he was doing that with conspiratorial rhetoric. he even engaged in misinformation about vaccines, claiming on twitter at one point long before he ran for president that vaccines cause autism. >> both the president and i are asked -- did you get the booster? i got it too. >> don't -- >> and when he makes efforts now to say he got the shot, people should get it, he gets booedy his own crowd. because these are the people who he wanted around him, so their minds are going to change just because he says to go get them. >> do you think there was any way you could have persuaded your dad to get vaccinated sooner? >> i don't think that there was.

i tried really hard. i don't think there's anything i could have done me. >> millions of americans have now lost a loved one to this virus. and so many of those deaths did not have to occur. for katie lane, the coming commemoration for the million lives lost is for others to do. she just wishes her dad was still around. >> the one million is a huge deal, but the one in that one million has been worth more to me than the other 999,000. >> for the pbs newshour, william brgham. ♪ judy: america's opioid crisis shows no signs of abating.

new data out today indicates deaths from drug overdoses in the u.s. reached a record high last year. geoff bennett breaks down the latest. >> new numbers from the cdc shows how drug overdoses have surged during the pandemic. more than one hundred 7000 americans died of drug overdoses in 2021. the highest annual death ever recorded. and a 15% increase from the year before. deaths involving fanta helen, m -- fentanyl, meth, and cocaine rose. joining us is the director of the ititute of national drug abuse. to what do you attribute these numbers? fentanyl related deaths are up, meth and cocaine overdose deaths are up. >> one factor is the stress and uncertainty the covid pandemic brought that made many people vulnerable to drug taking is a way to cope with stressors. the other is during the covid pandemic, we have seen an acceleration of distribution of

fentanyl all over the u.s.. and it is being used not just to be sold by itself, but frequently sold to contaminate heroin, or recently, to contaminate cocaine and methamphetamines. more recently, to contaminate illicitly manufactured prescription drugs. and because fentanyl is so potent, it increases the risk of overdose significantly. so people in the past two re able to take drugs more or less safely are now actually very high risk of overdosing. >> i want to ask more about the people unknowingly exposed. those who attended to by not only opioid street drugs are counterfeit bills like adderall that were cut with a lethal dose of fentanyl. help us understand the proliferation of those types of drugs and what can be done about it. >> a very significant increase in the people using cocaine, but we have seen a very dramatic increase in people dying from the use of cocaine. similar for methamphetamines.

this means the drugs these people are purchasing are much more lethal. this is driven by the fact that they are frequently cohabitated -- contaminated. those who may be seeking out an amphetamine to prepare for an exam or cannot fall asleep, they buy it in the illicit drug market and can end up with a drug with fentanyl and that increases the very high risk of overdosing. >> i want to shift our focus to solutions. in terms of treatment, what works and what doesn't? >> we know if you have an opr use disorder that is opioid addiction, there are medications that are very effective in preventing the withdrawal and relapse in preventing you from overdosing. if you have an opioid addiction, there are many that can be given to people. now that that has shifted to people that may be addicted to

cocaine or methamphetamine, which we don't have --, but we have interventions. we should be able to offer dose therapeutics to people like them. and when you start looking at people that actually do not have a problem with addiction, butter -- but are occasional users, we can provide them with education and screening to ensure they are aware of the consequences the drug taking may take. and we have a very effective medication for reversing overdoses, narcan or naloxone, if you are overdosing with opioids. but if you overdose with methamphetamine contaminated with fentanyl, naloxone is not as effective. it will not be as effective if you have a combination of toxicity. and that is an area that requires research development. >> is this a uniquely american problem? our other countries grappling with this? what more do you think needs to

be done to address the surgical opioid overdoses? >> i would say that the u.s. is among the countries with the highest rates of use. candida has also seen an increase in overdose deaths driven by fentanyl. a lot of european countries -- but not at the level of the whole country, the rates we are observing. so we need to ask ourselves that question. what is making americans vulnerable to drug taking? one of the components we know about is the social determinants and disparities that are driving people to escape their realities taking drugs. the problem is now the drugs they may be taking could be extremely risky and dangerous. >> the director of the national institute on drug abuse. thank you for your time and insight.

>> as wildfires continue to burn across new mexico, almost 350,000 acres have been scorched. we turn to a perspective on how the increasingly common events are affecting the people in the midst of them. lucy walker is a documentary filmmaker, and her most recent work follows residence after the disastrous campfire in california. tonight, she offers her brief but spectacular take on the power of documentary filmmaking. >> when fire burns in the community, when people are forced to grab a few things and go someplace, you can see what matters. what do people grab? where do people go? what resources do they have or not have? it felt very revealing to be with people in these incredibly intense moments where they realized that they lost

everything. bring your own brigade is a film that wants to understand the global fire isis and uses the case study of the worst time in fires in california. these fires that we had in malibu and paradise, which are the opposite ends of the state of california, the opposite ends of the political and economic spectrum, but it happened at pretty much the same time. when i first began, the film, i had assumed that it was just climate change that was driving these fires. then i learned that climate change is more of a performance enhancer. i hadn't understood that native american people living here had had a much different relationship with fire than the european settlers who came later. and they had deliberately set fires to serve many purposes for farming, for clearing paths, for disinfecting.

and once the logging industry moved into california and trees became a valuable crop to protect, it became all about suppressing fire at all costs. the way that the landscape is, it needs to burn regularly. it's adapted to burn regularly. and if there aren't smaller fires that come through the fuel will build up and then when a fire is ignited, it will be completely out of control -- out of control. i've had the privilege of being with people in some really intense moments in their life and sometimes moments of real loss and grief. there's a lot of sensitivity that would always go into that. but when you are also bringing the recording to that situation, it's a lot to handle. the goal of this sort of job is to have it be a win, win, win. a win for the audience because they are going to get to

understand something that's going to be very impression -- important and precious. a win for the personho's sharinthis vulnerable moment with me, the team and also, potentially this audience. i think as a filmmaker, i'm not kind of an activist hoping to persuade people of a point of view. exactly. but i do think the more aware we become of what is actually happening in the world, the better we can respond and bring all our beautiful human awareness to the situation. my name is lucy walker and this is my brief, but spectacular take on the power of documentary filmmaking. >> you can watch more brief but spectacular videos at pbs.org/newshour/brief. join me tomorrow for a livestream of the inaugural jim lehrer lecture hosted by the miller center at the university of virginia. i will talk with the director of

the journalistic legacy of this program's cofounder. we strive to maintain those standards and the challenges reporters face today. that starts tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. eastern on pbs.org/ newshour. that is the newshour for tonight. join us online and again here tomorrow evening for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and please stay safe. we will see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by. >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service to communicate and connect. we offer a variety of plans and our u.s.-based customer service team can find one to fit you. to learn more, visit consumer cellular.tv. ♪ >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the front lines 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 contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & company." here's what's coming up. >> we will propose to ban all russian oil from europe. >> as europe and the g7 floon oir goureenthn ssld energy? i'm joined by the u.s. climate envoy john kerry. then -- >> we are proud of the unconquered generation of victors. we are proud that we are their heirs. >> putin's view of history. one s sim same /*. >> basically add gasoline to the fire that had been burning a

long time.