geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. judy woodruff is away. on the "newshour" tonight, another mass shooting -- a gunman opens fire at a medical center in tulsa, oklahoma as congress debates potential gun safety legislation. then, the invasion intensifies -- ukraine defends its east from brutal russian assaults as more western weapons arrive. we discuss this tenuous moment with the secretary general of nato. sec. gen. stoltenberg: in an alliance of 30 different allied countries there will be differences,here will be discussions but when it comes to the conclusions and our ability to act both on sanctions and on military support to ukraine, nato haseen extremely united and very capable of acting. geoff: and, at the extreme -- persistent drought worsened by

climate change causes perilously low water levels at the nation's largest reservoir. all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour." >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by. >> fidelity dedicated advisors are here to help you create a wealth plan. a plan with tax sensitive investing strategi. planning focused on tomorrow, while you focus on today. that's the planning effect, from fidelity. >> the kendeda fund, committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. more at kendedafund.org. carnegie corporation of new york, supporting innovations in

education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security, at carnegie.org. and with the ongoing support of these 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. vanessa: i'm vanessa ruiz in for stephanie sy with newshour west. earlier this evening, president biden addressed the nation on gun violence.

he urged congress to act quickly on gun control measures. the president emphasized that the second amendment is not absolute. he said it was unconscionable that senate republicans would not bring gun your proposals up for a vote -- measure proposals afraid of -- measure up for a vote. pres. biden: this past memorial day, as we entered those hollow grounds we saw a rose rows of crosses. honoring those who paid the ultimate price on battlefields around the world. the day before, we visited uvalde, texas. in front of robb elementary school, we stood before 21 crosses, for 19 third and fourth graders and two teachers. on each cross, a name. and nearby, a photo of each

victim that jill and i reached out to touch. innocent victims murdered in a classroom that had been turned into a killing field. standing there in that small town, communities like so many other communities across america , i could not help think they were too many everyday places that have become killing fields, battlefields, here in america. we stood at such a place just 12 days before across from a grocery store in buffalo, new york memorializing 10 fellow americans, a spouse, a grandparent, a sibling, gone forever. at both places, we spent hours with hundreds of family members who are broken and whose lives will never be the same. they have one message for all of us. do something. just do something. for god sake, do something.

after columbine, after sandy hook, after charleston, orlando, las vegas, parkland, nothing has been done. this time that cannot be true. this time we must actuallyo something. the issue we face is one of conscience and common sense. for so many of you at home i want to be very clear. this is not about taking away anyone's guns. it is not about vilifying gun owners. in fact we believe we should be treating responsible gun owners as an example of how every gun owner should behave. i respect the culture and the tradition and the concerns of lawful gun owners. at the same time, the second amendment, like all other rights, is not absolute. it was justice scalia who wrote, and i quote, like most rights,

the rights granted by the second amendment are not unlimited. not unlimited. and never has been. there've always been limitations on what weapons you can own in america. example, machine guns have been federally regulated for nearly 90 years. and this is still a free country. this is not about taking away anyone's rights. it is about protecting children. it is about protecting families. it is about protecting whole communities. it is about protecting our freedoms to go to school, to a grocery store, to a church, without being shot and killed. according to new data just released by the centers for disease control and prevention, guns are the number one killer of children in the united states of america. the number one killer. more than car accidents, more than cancer.

over the last two decades, more school-aged children have died from guns than on duty police officers and active-duty military combined. think about that. more kids than on duty cops killed by guns. more kids than soldiers killed by guns. for god's sake, how much more carnage are willing to accept? how many more innocent american lives must be taken before we say enough? geoff: in recent days, mass shootings, killing or injuring four or more people, have traumatized communities from new york to texas to oklahoma. the latest, in tulsa, left four people dead. it was the 20th such attack just since the massacre at a school in uvalde, texas, last week.

amna nawaz has the latest on the tragedy in tulsa. amna: yesterday afternoon, tulsa, oklahoma became the site of the 233rd mass shooting in the u.s. so far this year. this time, the target was a medical building on the campus of st. francis hospital. today, authorities identified the gunman as 45-year-old michael louis of muskogee, saying he was armed with an ar-15-style rifle and a semiautomatic handgun. louis shot and killed two doctors, a receptionist, and a patient, before shooting himself. authorities said the gunman legally purchased the rifle about two hours before the shooting and targeted dr. prestophillips, who had recently performed back surgery on louis. wendell franklin is tulsa's police chief. wendell: louis called several times over several days complaining of pain and wanted additional treatment.

on may 31, dr. phillips saw mr. louis again for additional treatment. yesterday, june 1, louis called dr. phillips' office again complaining of back pain and wanting additional assistance. we have also found a letter on the suspect which made it clear that he came in with the intent to kill dr. phillips and anyone who got in his way. he blamed dr. phillips for the ongoing pain following the surgery. amna: dr. ryan parker is the associate chief medical officer at st. francis and was a colleague of dr. phillips. dr. parker: we are supposed to be the ones that are caring for others during tragedies like this. to think that our caregivers were the victims, it's just incomprehensible to me. they died while serving others. they died in the line of duty. amna: police officers responded

to the sprawling hospital complex within three minutes of being alerted. lachelle nathan was on the way to a doctor's appointment when officers rushed in. lachelle: i was coming to the doctor, and i got my grandkids with me in this terrible scene. it's awful. it's sad. it's so close to home. it's not even safe if you come outside anymore. >> this is a wakeup call for my kids. like, this can really happen anywhere. lachelle: yes. >> and it's very scary. you can't even go to a store. you can't even go to school. lachel: no. >> now you can't even go to the doctor? lachelle: no. >> i mean, we could have been in there, and this would have been happening. amna: the tulsa shooting took place at the same time families in uvalde, texas, are holding funerals for the 19 children and two teachers killed in the deadliest school shooting in nearly a decade. meanwhile, today, miles away in new york, a court appearance for the 18-year-old alleged gunman in the buffalo shooting, accused of targeting and killing 10 black americans in a supermarket fewer than three weeks ago.

for the “pbs newshour,” i'm amna nawaz. geoff: as the city of tulsa begins to grieve its losses, -- gunman killed 19 children and two teachers before is ultimately killed him. another shooting with mtiple victims happened today this time at a funeral service at a cemetery in wisconsin. a hospital located next to the cemetery said it is treating an undisclosed number of victims.

their condition is unknown or if any suspect or suspects are in custody. now to ukraine. government forces struggled to slow the grueling war of attrition in the east. street to street battles raged in severodonetsk, and president volodymyr zelenskyy said russia now controls about a fifth of ukraine's territory, largely in the east and south. in an overnight tv address, zelenskyy also accused russian forces of abducting more than 200,000 ukrainian children since the war began. pres. zelenskyy: the russian state disperses these people on its territory and settles our citizens, in particular, in remote regions. the purpose of this criminal policy is not just to steal people, but to make deportees forget about ukraine and not be able to return. vanessa: also today, britain pledged to send sophisticated rocket systems to ukraine following similar agreements by the u.s. and germany.

the u.n. has announced that a truce in yemen is being extended for another two months. the april cease-fire was the first in six years and had been set to expire today. the war began in 2014. parties to the truce are the yemeni government, backed by a saudi arabian coalition, fighting shiite rebels with links to iran. president biden praised the announcement, amid reports that he will on visit saudi arabia. on to the pandemic, coving vaccinations for children under five in the u.s. may begin as early as june 21. the white house coordinator said today that 10 million doses of the pfizer and moderna vaccines will be ready once the fda and cdc give the green light. he acknowledged the frustration of parents oyoung children. >> we don't have an estimate of timelines of when most kids will be vaccinated. what we know is that obviously there are a lot of parents are eager to get their kids vaccated right away, and they

will get vaccinated right away. at the end of the day, we all want to move fast, but we nt to get it right. vanessa: he also joined other experts in warning of a possible new surge of infections in the fall or winter. a national, four-day party kicked off today in britain, celebrating queen elizabeth's jubilee, 70 years on the throne. she was crowned on this day in 1953 and is now increasingly frail. but she managed a brief appearance at the day's events. chris ship of independent television news reports. chris: there were times in recent months when many had wondered if this moment would be possible for the queen. today, the 96-year-old showed the world that it was. a jubilee balcony appearance watched by tens of thousands on the mall, marking a moment in british history none of her predecessors has ever achieved. the trooping the colour ceremony

began this morning when carriages carrying the royal family, some for the very first time, made their way from buckingham palace. it was the prince of wales who took the salute today on behalf of the queen, who did not come to the parade ground. back at buckingham palace, as the household cavalry returned, the queen, for her comfort, took the salute from there. and then it was time for the people. so the carriages have come down, the military have come down, it's now the turn for everybody else. they've come to see the one british monarch, the only british monarch, who's reigned for 70 years. and they came not just from the british isles, but from all over the world. >> we are representing portugal,

paris, and pakistan. chris: and you're from the u.s. too? was it worth it? she's not even your queen. >> oh, she's our queen. not on paper, but she's our queen. chris: a tribute to the queen's 70 years flew overhead. the queen enjoyed it. her great-grandson louis, a little less so. but in the skies above buckingham palace and on the streets below, celebrations for a platinum jubilee the country will not see again for many, many years to come. vanessa: that report from chris ship, of independent television news. buckingham palace said later the queen experienced what it called some discomfort today, and will skip tomorrow's thanksgiving church service. back in this country, there's word that the strong economic recovery has delayed the dates when social security and medicare run out of money. an annual report today says social security will go broke in 2035, one year later than expected. medicare's trust fund will be

exhausted in 2028, two years later than the last forecast. the programs are benefitting from a sharp increase in payroll tax receipts. the biden administration is forgiving all remaining student debt for former students of corinthian colleges. today's announcement erases nearly $6 billion owed by half a million students. they attended corinthian schools between 1995 and 2015. the for-profit college chain was once the nation's largest, but it shut down in 2015 amid widespread fraud allegations. and, on wall strt, stocks were broadly higher, led by tech shares. the dow jones industrial average gained 435 points, 1%, to close at 33,248. the nasdaq rose 322 points, 2.7%. the s&p 500 was up nearly 2%. still to come on t "newshour,"

th highlights ongoing issues around domestic violence. and persistent drought causes dangerously low water levels at lake mead. and, much more. >> this is the "pbs newshour" from weta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: as the city of tulsa begins to grieve its losses, hundreds of mourners in the community of uvalde, texas have been coming together for the funerals of those who were killed in last week's shooting. amna nawaz is back with more on how that community is coping. amna: geoff, it has been just over a week since the shooting in uvalde, but families and community members are just beginning to navigate their grief. counselors and mental health services are making themselves available to the community to help cope with the trauma and the loss. joining me now to talk about her work in uvalde and best practices for those dealing with

this tragedy is ceo and clinical director of san antonio counseling and behavioral center, dr. martha livingston. dr. livingston, welcome to the "newshour." thank you for joining us. you and i met in uvalde when you had just arrived with colleagues from san antonio. you set up shop a number of clinics and basically said, anyone who needs our help, we are here, come on in. so, give me a sense. during your time on the ground there, who came to see you? what were they sharing with you? dr. livingston: yes, we felt the need, compelled to go down there, being only 1.5 hours away, and having the ability t -- as a therapist, to help people going through this crisis. we actually linked up with the pediatrician from that community, the only pediatrician in town. and he allowed us to use his clinic as a safe space. so people were able to come in, whether it was first responders, siblings of some of the victims, and family members. amna: and what kind of things

were they sharing with you? i imagine, in those early days, there's a lot of shock. so what do people say when they come to you? dr. livingston: yes, well, they -- they came from different perspectives in terms of, like, their involvement. either they were in the school, some of the children, some of the relatives, even some of -- like i said, some of the first responders, or even a physician himself who was on call that night and was triaging the children at the hospital. so, we were able to talk to just a variety of people that obviously were in shock, but also sharing their stories. so i think that, just as human beings, we need to share our experiences and what we dealt with. and that's one of the ways that they process what they have gone through. so, our job was really to listen to them, to validate what they had seen and experienced to help them process it. amna: what about the children you mentioned there, many who -- the many hundreds of children

who made it out of that school, the ones who survived? i spoke to the mother of one who had been incredibly traumatized being in the classroom where the shooting happened. but so many children are trying to process this. what do you say to them when they come to you? and what are they like when they come to you? what questions do they have? dr. livingston: yes, we saw one particular child who was very traumatized, still shaking from the experience, and really thinking that the shooter would come back. so they're really still in that space. and trying to help them make sense of it and making them feel safe is really key. i know the parents are struggling to find all the words to say to make them feel like things are going to be ok in this sort of time where we -- it's ok to not be ok. even while -one of the parents brought their two daughters. he was actually a first responder himself who was there and was assisting some of the children that were actually still in the classroom.

and so feelings of guilt that he was talking about, that he was telling some of the children that they were going to be ok, when, really, maybe they weren't ok. i think that the need is great all across the board in that city in terms of, like, the impact that they have had on their lives. and it's here for long term. it's not something that they're going to be able to get over in just a week. amna: dr. livingston, as we speak here today, of course, we're just covering another mass shooting in tulsa yesterday. the uvalde shooting followed the buffalo shooting two weeks earlier. people watching around the country are also feeling a toll in their own way. i wonder what you can say to them about why and when they should seek support and how to talk to children about this. dr. livingston: yes, certainly. i think that the parents need to be transparent with their children and talk about what they're feeling and what they're

thinking. they're obviously exposed to it. we can't shelter them from it. they're going to be seeing it on social media, on television, and so really helping their children make sense of what's going on in the world. and if they feel that they need professional help, there certainly are resources for them in and around their communities to access. parents, really, our job is to protect our children and to make them feel safe. so one way to do it is to have routines and have, like, an environment where they feel safe and that they can talk about whatever it is that they're -- might be going through. amna: some very useful tips there. dr. mart livingston, ceo and clinical director of the san antonio counseling and behavioral center, thank you so much for your time. dr. livingston: well, thank you.

geoff: recent history suggests new gun reforms are more likely to emerge out of statehouses, rather than washington, d.c. over the coming days, we will explore some of the proposed and recently enacted policy experiments across the states. william brangham begins our coverage with an examination of extreme risk prevention orders, more commonly known as red flag laws. the measures, which are in use in 19 states, allow guns to be temporarily seized if family or law enforcement believes someone is a risk to themselves or to others. william: on new year's eve four years ago, a sheriff's deputy was shot and killed in a suburb south of denver by a man suffering serious mental distress. that killing prompted a republican state representative to introduce a red flag law in the colorado legislature. but that lawmaker then came under attack from a conservative gun rights group. his law didn't pass, and the representative lost his next election. his name is cole wist. he's now a lawyer in private practice.

and he joins me now from colorado. cole, great to have you on the "newshour." just playing off this example that motivated you to introduce this bill, can you help us understand how your law would have worked? who contacts the authorities? who judgeshis? who makes the decision that it's ok that someone should have their guns taken? cole: well, good evening, william. it's great to be with you. i will talk about how this would have played out under the 2018 bill that i introduced. and that is that the family members or law enforcement could apply for an extreme risk protection order. and they would swear out an affidavit, submit that to a judge. and if the judge agreed that it met a threshold determination that the individual posed a risk to himself or herself or others, then the judge could issue a temporary order that would allow law enforcement to remove

firearms from that individual. under our bill in 2018, there was a three-day period that the court would then hear whether or not that order would be made permanent. and we had a very high level of due process that was required to be met by the movement, by the movement, or the person that was seeking the protective order. and under our bill, the person seeking to remove those firearms would have to -- would have had to have proven beyond a reasonable doubt that that individual posed a risk to themselves or others, and that removal of weapons from that person's possession was necessary to accomplish those means. there then would have been an opportunity, if the order was granted, six months later to then consider whether or not that order should be renewed or dissolved, and the person could receive their firearms back. in the version of the bill that passed in 2019, those periods were extended quite a bit, in fact, doubled to 364 days, if an

erpo is enred against someone. william: so you were a republican legislator, a strong supporter of the second amendment, and yet this conservative gun rights group came after you. they called you a gun grabber. they called you cole the mole. and they passed out flyers attacking you. how did that sit with you, having this kind of blowback? cole: well, it strikes me that we miss the mark when we talk about mass shootings or incidents like the one that motivated me to sponsor this legislation. and that is, these are matters of public safety. and in all other cases, and if you look at cases of domestic terrorism, in the mass shootings that we have seen in the united states over just the last week, these are domestic terrorist incidents. and when we look at domestic terrorism, our government has not been hesitant to make sure that we're doing everything that we can, in a proactive fashion to make sure that we protect public safety.

but when you enter the word gun in this conversation, it freezes the parties. and, in my particular circumstance, i guess, if you could identify a sin that i committed as a legislator, and that is having the willingness to talk to folks on the other side across the political spectrum about solutions that we can put into place to protect constitutional rights, to make the burden of proof very, very high for someone seeking to deprive someone of the possession of a weapon, and yet, at the same time, recognizing that there is an important public safety concern here that's not being addressed by our current laws. and that's the reason i was motivated to introduce this piece of legislation. william: given your experience, as someone who tried to reach across the aisle and introduce something that, again, to many people listening to, you would think, that seems like a reasonable, sensible approach, does that give you a sense of pessimism that anything is going to come out at the national

level? because leaders here in washinon, d.c., right now are trying to do exactly what you did, to reach across the aisle to try to figure out, how can we stop these tragedies from occurring? given your experience, do you think that there's going to be any hope here? cole: william, i'm always hopeful. but i will give an example an exchange i saw on twitter last night between a radio show host and senator cornyn from texas. and senator cornyn, in the past few ys, has expressed some willingness and openness to talking to folks about expanded background checks, red flag laws, things that we can do to try to protect public safety. he was called out for those efforts last night, and he immediately retreated back to his corner and said, no, i'm not going to introduce anything that relates to guns. soagain, if we really talked about this as a public safety issue, as trying to address

domestic terrorism, and not focusing on the gun issue, then i think we would make a whole lot more progress. but, unfortunately, when political tensions become high, as they are, particularly with this issue, folks retreat to their comfortable corners. and whenever folks are in their corners, they're not talking to folks across the political spectrum and, frankly, they're not solving problems that we need to have solved. william: in just the last few seconds that we have, do you have -- do you feel strongly that red flag laws should be passed nationally? do they really work to prevent these cases, these tragedies? cole: well, we have red flag laws in 19 states. and one of the first states to pass one of these laws was indiana. and i don't think anyone would suggest that indiana is a blue state, by any means. but i think they paved the way and showed that you can do this in a way that protects constitutional rights and still protects public safety.

in the couple of years that colorado has passed this law, there's been a lot of analysis done in rms of whether or not the laws he been abused or whether or not this law has been abused. and i think, if you look at the data, it shows that, to the extent that folks have sought these orders with frivolous facts or without a legal basis, those have been denied. so, the law is working. the law can function. william: former colorado state legislator cole wist, thank you so much for joining us. cole: thank u. my pleasure. geoff: this week, the biden administration authorized another $700 million in military aid for ukraine, as its war to fend off russia's invasion grinds into its fourth month. the u.s. has helped bring together nato in ways not seen in recent years to support ukraine militarily, but some cracks are starting to show.

nick schifrin speaks now with the nato secretary-general. nick: the nato secretary-general is here in washington this week to meet with the president and the secretaries of state and defense and the director of the cia, as american and allied support for ukraine continues. but are there limits on that support as the war approaches brutal stalemate? and how long can the alliance maintain cohesion? to discuss that and more, i'm joined by jens stoltenberg. mr. secretary-general, welcome back to the "newshour." so far, turkey is blocking finland and sweden from joining the alliance. were you personally surprised when turkey raised that objection? and what do you believe turkey's price is? sec. gen. stoltenberg: it is not unusual that allies express concerns when we have processes on enlarging the alliance. i think we all have to remember the fact that finland and sweden have applied for nato membership is an historic or are historic decisions. and nato enlargement have -- has

helped to spread democracy and freedom across europe for decades. and then when turkey raises some concerns, we have to do as we always do in nato, sit down and then find a way to address those concerns, and then find a united way forward to allow finland and sweden to join our alliance. nick: turkey is raising concerns about what it calls swedish support for kurds and is demanding the deportation and removal of political support for those kurds. a former senior nato official told me today, if you can't find a solution to this by the leaders summit at the end of the month, it would be a -- quote -- reprieve for vladimir putin. do you agree? sec. gen. stoltenberg: well, we are now working on how to address the concerns expressed by turkey and welcome the fact that there are direct contacts between ankara, helsinki, and stockholm. and i also convened senior officials from those three capitals in a few days in

brussels to look into the concerns and how we can address them. we have to remember that turkey is the nato ally that has suffered the most terrorist attacks. that includes also, of course, pkk attacks. nick: the pkk kurdish organization deemed a terrorist group by the u.s. and turkey. sec. gen. stoltenberg: yes. and, therefore, these are serious concerns. and, therefore, we need to address them. and that's exactly what we are doing now and what we will do in the coming days. we will aim to find a way to agree on how to invite finland and sweden to join our alliance. nick: let me ask you about another aspect of alliance cohesion. nato's position is that ukraine and only ukraine can define what victory is in ukraine. but listen to two statements from the leaders by france and poland. first, france insisting that russian priorities need to be considered, poland that russian defeat needs to be ensured. pres. macron: in the future, we

will have to build peace. let's never forget that. we will have to do it with both ukraine and russia sitting around the table. pres. duda: if ukraine is sacrificed for holy calmness, economic reasons or political ambitions, even a centimeter of its territory, it will be a huge blow, not only for the ukrainian nation, but for the entire western world. nick: is the alliance united over ukraine? sec. gen. stoltenberg: the nato alliance is united over ukraine. and we have seen unprecedented unity in both implementing the unprecedented level of sanctions, in providing support to ukraine, and to increase nato's military presence in the eastern part of the alliance. but, of course, we face every day difficult decisions. we face dilemmas. and in an alliance of 30 different allied countries, there will be differences, there will be discussions. but when it comes to the conclusions and our ability to

act, both on sanctions and on military support to ukraine, nato has been extremely united and very capable of acting. nick: ukrainian president zelenskyy in recent days has defined victory as the eviction of all russian troops from all of ukrainian land. is nato prepared to support ukraine with the more weapons and with the more time it will need to do that? sec. gen. stoltenberg: nato allies have provided a lot of support. they are ready to continue to provide support to ukraine. and think the only way to address the issue of what kind of settlement can we see at the end of this war is to trust the ukrainian political leadership, the ukrainian people, to make those hard decisions on potential compromises. our responsibility is to provide support to them, to uphold the right for self-defense, and a right which is enshrined in the u.n. charter, and to stand up against the aggressive invasion of russia. nick: and that aligns with the

words by president biden in a new york times op-ed this week. he also wrote -- quote -- the u.s. will not try to bring about the ouster of vladimir putin. are you not afraid that, if putin stays in power, he will continue to threaten europe? sec. gen. stoltenberg: well, our responsibility is to continue to be a defensive alliance, protecting and defending all nato allies. we don't have any aim of threatening or interfering in russian politics. we are there to defend one billion people living in 30 allied countries on both sides of the atlantic and then, of course, provide support to ukraine. and that's exactly what we are doing, and have done united as an alliance over the last months. nick: it sounds like, though, you're acknowledging that the threat so long as putin is there will continue? sec. gen. stoltenberg: what we have seen is a pattern of russian behavior over several years, invading georgia in 2008, illegally annexing crimea in

2014, and now a full-fledged invasion of ukraine. so, when that invasion happened, nato was prepared. we actually warned against this potential invasion back last fall. and when it happened, we were prepared. so, therefore, we were able to quickly reinforce and strengthen our military presence in the eastern part of the alliance and now more than 40,000 troops under direct nato command. the u.s. has increased their military presence in europe, and we have more than 100,000 troops on heightened alert just to send a very clear message to moscow that we are there to protect and defend all our allies and remove any room for miscalculation about nato commitment to protect the allies, not to provoke a conflict, but to prevent a conflict and preserve peace. nick: and, finally, mr. secretary-general, you're working on a strategic concept that will be unveiled at the end of the month at that leaders summit. it will contain new language on china.

do you believe that nato could play a role if china decides to invade taiwan? sec. gen. stoltenberg: well, nato will remain a regional alliance, north america and europe. but this region faces more and more global threats and challenges. and one of them is, of course, the security consequences of a stronger and stronger china. china has the second largest defense budget in the world. they're investing in new heavy military equipment, including nuclear-capable missiles. and, of course, as matters for our security, when it comes to taiwan, i don't think it's for me now to speculate, but it's about nato being ready to defend and protect all nato allies. nick: nato secretary-general jens stoltenrg, thank you very much. sec. gen. stoltenberg: thank you so much for having me. geoff: let's turn now to some of the questions coming out of the trial of actors johnny depp and amber heard. a virginia jury yesterday

ordered heard to pay depp, her ex-husband, $15 million in damages in a defamion case. the jury also ordered depp to pay heard $2 million in damages. depp sued his ex-wife for defamation in 2019 after she published a piece the year before about her experiences as a survivor of domestic abuse. john yang looks at some concerns over the fallout from this trial. john: geoff, johnny depp sued his ex-wife over a washington post op-ed in which the -- she referred to herself as a public figure representing domestic abuse. while heard never mentioned depp by name, the actor argued it was clear she was referring to him and said it cost him work. during the trial, heard testified the depp had sexually, physically, and verbally abused her. depp denied any physical or sexual abuse and accused heard of domestic abuse against him. the six weeks of testimony

generated international headlines, and many domestic violence experts and advocates have concerns not only about the verdict, but about how the trial played out. ruth glenn is president and ceo of the national coalition against domestic violence. ruth glenn, thanks for being with us. ruth: thank you. john: first of all, what do you think the message was not just of the verdict, but what went on in the courtroom and what went on outside the courtroom on social media? ruth: i think -- so, first of all, thank you so much for having me. but i would say that what we witnessed in -- during this case in the courtroom, and certainly outside of the courtroom, was a miscarriage of understanding the dynamics of domestic violence. we watched what was occurring in the courtroom, which was not really kind of focusing on what

was the defamation issue, which was another issue, but also not dealing with our understanding in that court system and process what the dynamics of domestic violence are. outside of the courtroom was something i think -- i don't think many of us have ever seen before, which was depp supporters really taking a narrative and exerting public opinion social media and otherwise that may have impacted the results of this, the verdict of this trial. john: talk about that, what was going on, on social media. she -- heard said she received hundreds of death threats a day, countless social media posts mocking her testimony. what do you make of all that? where did that come from? ruth: you know, i firmly believe, as does this organization, and certainly is up for debate, but i believe that there was a machine behind

this, which was -- first and foremost was a p.r. and -- a p.r. and a strategy and attorneys on mr. depp's side that understood that they had to do some of this to ensure that he had the support from his fans, to put it quite simply. and it's certainly more complicated on that side around strategy. but, secondly, i think the thing that was most concerning for us here was the ability of -- to further control whom we believe is a victim of domestic violence, because we have the expertise and understanding of the dynamics of domestic violence. and seeing all of the testimony, the evidence, and watching even the courtroom interactions and terms and such that were used, when you're going to make domestic violence a central theme to this, then we should have had domestic violence

experts in that courtroom. so we alt with the court of public opinion, which was mostly made up of mr. depp's fans, and then we dealt with not having domestic violence experts there helping lead the conversation around domestic violence. john: what message do you think this sends to -- i mean, we all -- we know that domestic violence, sexual assault are underreported crimes. what message does this send to someone who may be experiencing this now and trying to figure out whether to speak up, whether to make the accusation? ruth: i think it sends the message that, as far as we think we have come as a society, and particularly as a nation, that we have not come that far. we still have to navigate some of the issues that have always prevented us from being able to speak out about being survivors and victims, which is, you won't be believed, you don't have a right to voice it, and unless

you're the perfect victim, a victim that is palatable to society, and fits within whatever that stereotype is, it's probably best that you not speak that. i do want to be clear, though, i don't want this to be a turning point for that. i do think that there is hope and this is a blip that will and may prevent some chilling effect, but we're going to have to keep moving forward in allowing victims and survivors to have their voice and talk about the abuse that they have endured. john: talk about -- you talked about the stereotypical abuse survivor, someone who's palatable to the general public. talk a little bit more about that, and was amber heard fit into that? ruth: so, the stereotype of a victim -- i used this analogy earlier today, which is, you see

the billboard and by the bus stop of the victim who has the black eye, and she has three children held close to her. and she may be youeveryday white woman who's just had a series of bad things happen to her, including domestic violence. i would say to all of us that that is the stereotypical view. amber heard did not fit in that stereotype. and most victims and survivors do not. i think this is one of the few times that we saw where she absolutely did not fit into the stereotype. john: ruth glenn of the national coalition against domestic violence, thank you very much. ruth: thank you. geoff: a megadrought is choking

the western and southwestern regions of the u.s. it's the worst drought in over 1000 years in this country. this week, local officials in southern california started restricting water use, including watering of lawns to once or twice a week, for about six million sidents. it's also having a major impact on lake mead, which is a major source of water for agriculture and for millions of people in the american west. the megadrought is connected intimately with climate change, ofourse. and our story is part of our ongoing coverage of the tipping point. the colorado river basin, a lifeline of the american southwest, is shrinking. and, with it, the country's two largest reservoirs are going dry. just 30 miles east of las vegas sits lake mead on the border of arizona and nevada. it's the largest manmade reservoir in north america. lake mead pumps water from the colorado river to nearly 2 million people. it's a major water source for

residents and tribes in arizona, nevada, california, and parts of mexico, and some of the country's most productive agricultural sites. patti: about 75% of thwater goes to irrigation for agriculture. that supplies about 60% of the food for the nation that's grown in the united states. geoff: nearly 40% of arizona's water supply comes from lake mead. but the lake has been declining for decades due to rising temperatures and climate change, cracked earth and mud where water used to be. now it's only 30% full, an historic low. over the years, rusted debris and sunken boats have emerged, more recently, some darker discoveries, human remains lost for decades. around the lake, a bathtub ring exposes receding water levels over time. this is what it looked like in 1983. fast-forward nearly four decades, lake mead is now 178 feet lower and continuing to shrink.

below lake mead, the hoover dam provides hydroelectric power to 1.3 million people across three states. but the dam is operating at 67% of its capacity. if the reservoir's elevation falls below 950 feet, the dam's turbines will stop spinning. tedd: people ask me like, what do we need to do to fill up lake mead again? i need over a decade of above-average snowfall in the colorado rockies to make that happen. geoff: lake mead gets water from lake powell, the second largest reservoir in the country. its water supply is around a fourth of what it used to be. states in the southwest have started limiting some of their use of the colorado river basin. and, last month, federal officials took unprecedented action to temporarily keep enough water in lake powell, one of the country's largest reservoirs, to continue generating hydropower for a million homes. for more on all this, i'm joined by alex hager.

he covers the colorado river basin fonorthern colorado public radio. and it is great to have you with us. give us a sense, what does this all mean that these two huge reservoirs are at now critically low levels? it is a lifeline for the american southwest, but really for all of us, given that it is key infrastructure for the farming industry, for big ag. alex: that's right. well, it's truly a sign of just how critical the drought is. we're in year 22, going on 23 of drought. and a lot of scientists are saying that this is not just a drought. it's not even a megadrought, but it's a rigidification. it's a sign that the baseline for how much water we should expect in the american west is just going to look very different than it has for a long time. and that's going to have implications for 40 million people who depend on the river, for an awful lot of agriculture that a lot of times is the only reason that we see leafy greens on the table in most of this country in the winter. and what we're talking about with these two reservoirs is storage. and we're talking about a safety net to make sure that water can keep flowing.

and reservoirs are really the means by which humans can take a natural resource and kind of control for fluctuation to make sure that they have some consistency in the timing, location, and quantity of where that water goes. and you lose some of that ability when you lose volume in the reservoirs. geoff: so, what steps, what measures are being taken to preserve, to protect these reservoirs? and are they working so far? apparently, they're not. alex: well, across the west, there have been a number of programs to reduce water use from cities to farm fields. and we're starting to see more as this gets more critical. in a very direct sense, there have been some measures taken to leave more water in lake mead, to release more water from upstream and put it in lake powell. but even the people who design those measures will tell you that they are not the silver bullet, that they are temporary holdovers until we can come up with something more permanent or until the situation with the water turns around. a lot of climate scientists will tell you there is not a very good reason to expect that the

water situation will turn around. thbig thing that a lot of folks have their eyes on right now is the next round of negotiations for the operating guidelines for the river. those are due by 2026. so, a lot of the measures that we're seeing right now, including a number from this year, those are to hold things over until the states and the tribes that use the river's water can come to the table and figure out the new rules for how to get a slice of a pie that is shrinking. geoff: i was going to ask you about that. i mean, in a world where there is less water to go around, i imagine there's a lot of focus on who will beirst in line to lose it. so how are those early conversations unfolding? alex: well, a lot of the states and tribes that do get to use it, they do not want to be the ones to lose more. so there is definitely a spirit of making sure that people can protect water for the folks in their jurisdictions. but there's also a lot of talk about collaborion. and whenever you talk to water managers, the top people in states across the west, they say

we cannot move forwardthere is no path forward unless there is some sense of compromise and collaboration. time will tell as to whether or not they can actually do that. but there is generally a good spirit of conservation in a lot of places. cities will tell you that they have been able to stretch their water supplies over the past three or four decades using the same amount of water to supply cities that have grown by hundreds of thousands of people. and there is some of that spirit in the world of agriculture as well, keeping crops alive with the same amount of water, preparing for a future where they're going to have to keep crops alive with even less. geoff: let me ask you this. as you do your reporting, as you talk to elected officials, as you talk to water regulators, i imagine that they sort of grasp the sense of urgency, but do you pick up in your reporting a sense of panic, the sort of panic that sets in when you see a headline that these two major reservoirs are at critically low, dangerously low levels? alex: in all honesty, there are times that i would expect to and don't pick up on a sense of panic.

i think there have been a lot of measures taken over the course of the last decade and few decades to safeguard against some of this. i mean, this is a crisis that's referred to a lot of times as a slow-moving train wreck. and so, in places like central arizona, which was the first place to lose some of its water allocation in last year's federal shortage declaration, they say that, on the user end, a lot of folks won't notice for maybe a decade, because they have been storing water underground. they have been shuffling excess away into those reserves. and the same is true in other areas where there have been measures to remove grassy lawns and save irrigation water that they can put back into the system. and there's a lot of examples of measures like that. and i certainly expect that we're going to start to see more in the coming years. geoff: alex hager of northern colorado public radio, thank you for your reporting on this critical issue. and appreciate you joining us this evening. alex: thanks for having me. geoff: and that is the "newshour" for tonight.

i'm geoff bennett. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the "pbs newshour," thanks for spending part of your thursday with us. 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 consumercellular.tv. >> the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide. and with the ongoing support of these institutions. and friends of the "newshour."

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- i have a terrific helper today. i have my oldest friend, jean-claude, came here to help me cook today. and we are going to do all kind of cookie, cake i professional pastry chef. in addition to this, you know, while you were not looking, i did some of the chocolate truffle here. - oh. [clears throat] - and a truffette with mint in it. what do you think? - well, they look beautiful. - but you want to taste it? - can i? - go ahead. - okay. wow. mmm. - you want to know how i made it? - yes. - here is how i made it. start with half a pound of the best, perfectly melted bittersweet chocate. always try to get the best quality. whisk in one egg yolk and about 3 tablespoon of heavy cream, and you'll see when you whisk that the mixture will come together into a smooth and creamy, but thicker paste.