judy: good evening. on the newshour tonight, a historic term. the supreme court ends an enormously impactful session with critical rulings on climate change and immigration. then, high stakes, as the nato summit comes to a close, a member state bordering russia weighs in on plans to expand the alliance. >> this nato summit is a green light for preparation in order to be aware of this risks and to deal with this threat adequately. judy: and, fighting the spread. the biden administration announces plans to distribute more vaccines to counter a rise in monkeypox infections. all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

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education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and securi, 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. judy: the u.s. supreme court has wrapped up a term that rewrote the law books on abortion, guns , and today, on climate change and migrant asylum policy. that, in turn, set the stage for a bit more history. justice ketanji brown jackson became the first black woman to serve on the court, sworn in by justice stephen breyer, who

today retired. meanwhile, in spain, president biden charged that this court, through its recent anti-abortion ruling, has become a bigger threat to the country than inflation is. pres. biden: the one thing that has been de-stabilizing is the outrageous behavior of the supreme court of the united states in overruling not only roe v. wade, but essentially challenging the right to privacy. judy: back now to today's court rulings, correspondent john yang is here to unpack the decisions, beginning with west virginia's win over the epa. john: the court said the clean air act does not give the epa the authority to impose standards intended to shift power utilities from gas and coal fired plants to solar and wind generation. the vote was 6-3, with the conservative justices in the majority and the liberals

dissenting. marcia coyle is chief washington correspondent for the naional law journal. what does this mean for the epa's ability to write regulations in the future, not just on climate change, but on anything else? >> the court's decision restricts or limits the epa's flexibility to engage in broad-based or systemic approaches to greenhouse gases and its attempt to deal with the problem of climate change. it is mostly a lack of flexibility, and perhaps a warning when it attempts to make other arrangements to go after greenhouse gases that will be watched closely. john: chief justice john roberts wrote this opinion. what was his reasoning? >> the chief justice said under this provision, what epa was trying to do was such a national, transformational

approach to going after greenhouse gas emissions that it required clear authority from congress to do so. in his opinion, he looked for that authority in the provision itself, or in the statute, and said there was no such authority. he said when an agency is going to engage in rule-making or regulation that has major significance, economic, political significance, other major consequences, then there has to be a clear directive from congress. john: so this could apply to other agencies in other areas? >> absolutely, john, because what the conservative majority did here, basically, was to adopt a doctrine known as the major questions doctrine. it's a doctrine that has been

promoted by businesses and conservative advocates who regulatory state hroeral regulating public health and safety. john: chief justice roberts used the phrase "the administrative state." >> the dissent by justice kagane here. she said that even though the chief justice claimed it was implausible that epa had this authority without congress's clear directive, she said it was perfectly plausible because congress had told the epa to choose the best system, and she repeated that language in the provision. best system, no ifs, ands, or buts.l desion of the year, the courtroom for -- the court ruled for the biden administration saying it had the

authority to reverse to trump administration's policy requiring asylum-seekers to remain in mexico while their cases are being considered. in this case, we didn't see the ideological breakdown. chief justice john roberts and justice brett kavanaugh joined the three liberals to create the five-justice majority. what does that tell us about the court's reasoning in this case? >> it has not been terribly surprising when the chief justice and justice kavanaugh have joined with the three liberals on the court to form a majority. i think it really is something that depends on the case as well as the issue and the arguments that are made, and the government was more convincing here. and so was the statute. the chief justice was looking at a provision in federal immigration law that gave the secretary of homeland security

discretion. it said the secretary may return aliens who entered this couny from contiguous countries while it can return them to those countries while awaiting their asylum proceedings. the chief justice said the statute says "may return." he said may means may, and it doesn't suddenly become mandatory because thendaty dete. as he pointed out, no administration has been able to comply with mandatory detention because congress has never supplied the department with the resources, the money, or the beds to detain every illegal immigrant that enters our country. john: and what did the dissenters in th case say? >> justice alito agreed that the

-- he wrote the lead dissent and he agreed that the government cannot detain every illegal immigrant that enters the country. but he said it had two alternative choices. it could send them back to mexico, or it could, under the law, release them into the united states. anhethd d heai teratovt gennm return tmexico and instead is releasing countless immigrants into this country. john: marcia coyle of the national law journal on this final day of this supreme court. -- court term. thank you very much. marshall: my pleasure, john. -- marcia: my pleasure, john. judy: let's look deeper at the climate change ruling. many environmental advocates acknowledged today the decision in the epa case is a significant blow in the government's efforts to limit greenhouse gases in the near term. as we said, west virginia won the case after a legal battle over the clean power plan. first, let's hear from the biden

administration. michael regan is the epa administrator. he joins me from new orleans. administrator, thank you very much for joining us. president biden today said this decision is devastating. how much of a setback is it for your efforts to regulate greenhouse gases? >> thank you for having me. i am deeply disappointed in the supreme court's decision today, actually very frustrated. the decision does constrain what we do, but let me be clear, it doesn't take us out of the game. we still will be able to regulate climate pollution and we will use all the tools in our toolbox to do so. the constraint we are seeing today prevents us as a country from making progress as quickly as we need to. climate action presents an opportunity for this country to assure global competitiveness, create jobs, lower costs for families, and protect people's

health and well-being, especially those who have suffered from the burden of inaction for far too long. so yes, today's action is a disappointing action, it's devastating in many ways, as the president has said, but it doesn't take us out of the game. we will continue to use every tool we have to keep pace with tackling the climate crisis. judy: thexperts we are talking to are saying yes, it does give you some options, but every option out there from now on is both more cumbersome and more expensive for the government. from that standpoint, how much of a setback is it? >> we pride ourselves in keeping pace with the growing economy and technological advances. this does constrain the innovation that we could see from the power sector itself, and the constraints are on how we provide the rules of the road for long-term investments, but let's be clear, the supreme court has also constrained what

the power sector would like to do in terms of long-term investments and the utilization of technologies and programs that could be more expensive and more flexible for the industry itself. so it is a setback, and we will continue to evaluate thoroughly what the supreme court actually has said today. but let's be clear, the constraint does not take epa out of the game, and we will continue to use every tool in our toolbox, because it is under our legal authority and it is our obligation to protect communities, reduce pollution driving climate change, and provide certainty and transparency for the energy sector to grow the cleaner energy economy. judy: can you give us a couple of examples of the kind of tools you believe you still can use to regulate this? >> well, one tool that we will continue to look at is the authority that was in question with the supreme court. again, that tool is still available.

we've just lost some flexibility, but we also have a suite of regulations that are facing the power sector. so as we couple the regulation of climate pollution with the regulation of health-based pollution, we are providing the power sector with a very clear picture of what regulations they're facing so that they can make the right investment decisions, and we are hoping that when they look at the regulation of waste and discharges in water, climate pollution, they will see that it is not worth investing in the past, and they will continue to do what they are doing now, which is invest in the future. >> let me ask you also about the course of what the court has ruled. now that you're looking at a majorityonservative court, how much does that concern you in terms of steps the epa may take in the future that are most

likely to be challenged either by the states, by state attorneys general, or others who oppose these efforts by the government timpose regulation? >> it really forces us to contemplate how we move forward as quickly as possible, recognizing that some flexibilities have been taken from us. so it does impede the progress, but it does not prevent us from continuing to make progress. we have to be vigilant in terms of focusing on climate change pollution. we will also have to continue to do what the president has asked us to do, which is partner with every single cabinet agency and leverage all the actions as a whole of government. we've got some opportunities ahead of us. this is a setback, deeply disappointing, frustrating to a

certain extent, but again, we will use every tool in the toolbox that we have two set and implement environmental standards that meet our obligation to protect all people and all communities from environmental harm. judy: mr. administrator, i'm about to talk with the attorney general of the state of west virginia, which was instrumental in bringing the case to the supreme court. what would you say to him as something you hope he and others who brought this case would be willing to look at as a way of the government to make sure that these plants are operating in as clean as possible of a way? >> i would say that the markets have already spoken, and when you look at the regulation that was in question, that never took place, that the supreme court evaluated, the goals of that regulation were met and exceeded years and years ago. so there is proof that the market is already moving in this direction, and it's our obligation as the government to

be able to provide some certainty so they can make longer-term investments. we will continue to work hard to provide that certainty, so that the power sector can continue to make long-term investments in a clean energy economy. judy: administrator michael regan of the epa, thank you so much for joining us. we appreciate it. >> thank you for having me. judy: as we said, 19 republican states were part of the legal challenge to the epa. west virginia's attorney general patrick morrissey led the national coalition at the supreme court. mr. attorney general, i don't know if you are able to hear the epa administrator, but i just want to ask you first, how much of a victory is this today for electric power generation and power plants in this country? mr. morrissey: i think it is a big victory for the rule of law. i did have a chance to listen to the administrator, and i guess what i would say is a lot of people are saying tonight the sky is falling, the sky is

falling. but people have to take into account that the epa never had this authority in the first place. there were big promises made over the last decade in terms of what type of initiatives the epa was going to advance to fight climate change. but we always knew that the epa only had a narrow sliver of authority to regulate carbon emissions. what i would say to americans watching tonight is that this decision is not about climate change, it's about a very simple proposition. who gets to make the major decisions of the day? should it be unelected bureaucrats, seizing power that has not been delegated to them? or should it be congress? we've always argued that it is west virginia or texas or nebraska or any of the states across the nation, you will have a seat at the table and you will have the people's representatives making the choice.

that's what this case is all about. it's just disappointing to hear people trying to characterize it in some other way. they have never had the authority. we knew that from the beginning. i've been working on this since 2013. but it is critical now to understand that, so that the debate will likely shift to congress, but more importantly, people know now there is a broader tool in place to go after federal overreach whenever it emerges. judy: what we just heard from administrator reagan and what we've heard from others is that the authority to regulate is still there, it's just the amount of flexibility is different. do you acknowledge that there are still steps that the government can take as necessary to make sure that the powerplant industry, the energy industry broadly is being careful when it comes to protecting the environment?

>> most certainly there will be authorities that are available under the clean air act and that won't change from today. we've always argued that over the past number of years. we've argued that the epa does have a narrow ability to regulate for carbon emissions. folks watching need to understand that what this administration has done is they are trying to change the fundamental mission of many of the federal agencies out there. if you're not only the epa, but you are the hhs, the securities and exchange commission, the department of energy him a department of labor, the biden administration is asking everyone to change their mission and become more of an environmental regulator. that's just not the way our constitution works. agencies need to comport with the limits that congress provides to them. what we have seen with tidheen administration and others as well, they have gone so far afield from that statutory authority, i think that's why

the court reigned them in today, and i think you're going to see more effort to ensure that the biden administration respects the rule of law, our constitution, and the separation of powers. this is a big win for the people of america because now their elected representatives will have a clear voice. judy: two other quick points, mr. attorney general. justice kagan in her dissenting opinion today, she said congress has told the epa, she said, to use the best system of regulation. so that there was direction from the congress, and there was leeway, and there has now been clarification of how much leeway. in other words, there is still advisory from the congress to the agency to do the best it can to make sure these emissions are as clean as possible. >> no one is arguing -- this is not about having efficiencies or

clean air. in fact, everyone supports it. once again, this is not a case about climate change or hamstringing a federal agency. it's about ensuring that when a federal agency acts, it's comporting to the limits that congress prescribes for them. so the epa still has certain tools to move forward, but what they don't have the authority to -- the ability to do is on these major qutions of the day, where there is vast economic or political significance, they cannot proceed on the bas of maybe some ambiguous language and then try to rewrite the nation's power grid. they can't do that. that is what they tried to do under the clean power plan, and they've talked about doing things that are not feasible today in terms of trying to have 100 million people on the power grid for electric cars, and not only finishing to wipe out coal, get rid of hash of -- half of natural gas, some of what they

are trying to accomplish that they clearly don't have the legal authority to do. so i would ask them to do, don't promise things to your constituents that you can't deliver. work within the constitutional systems in order to deliver things that are good for the people. i think you will find a lot of folks care deeply about clean air and clean water, but we have to make sure we respect our constitutional system. that's what today's case stands for. judy: i am sorry i am not having time to pose to you the question the administrator recommended at the end. he said to mention the fact that he hopes that you and others realize that markets have already spoken. they want the power industry to move in a cleaner direction. >> the markets responded because the government put a gun to their head and said the regulations are coming to wipe you out. people forget that. the government should never possess that kind of power to be abusive. that's why we fought back. judy: the attorney general for the state of west virginia, mr. morrissey, thank you very much

for joining us. the supreme court's other decision today on the trump era remain in mexico policy is a surprise win for the biden administration. but it comes with complicated political implications. laura baran lopez joins us to give us a sense of how the white house is reacting to this news. what are they saying? what do they think this means going forward? laura: as of right now, the white house has not put out any official statement, the department has not put out an official statement, but my sources have told me it is definitely something that has boosted officials in the administration. it is a clear victory for the white house. it allows them to do away with a trump-era policy of remain in mexico, which biden himself, president biden himself called criminal in the past, and the homeland security secretary in the past also said that it

caused unjustifiable human cost. so it is a win for the administration. judy: so what we have seens that about 70,000 migrants have been held in mexico since the policytarted. how does the administration plan to deal with that? laura: for a while, it may not be an immediate effect. the supreme court has to send what is called a certified judgment first. that can take a few weeks before the administration can move to start doing away with the policy and start moving those 70,000 migrants into the u.s. for additional screening. they typically work with ngo's. what they try to do is to screen them further and then put them into the parole system for immigration proceedings in the united states. it may take a while. it will take work with organizations on the ground. judy: there is still this outstanding issue of the so-called title 42, which came

about during the trump administration. how much of a factor is that? ura: it still is a big factor. even with this remaining mexico policy being a win for the administration, there could be additional litigation on that. the administration has tried multiple times to do away with this policy, and the second attempt could come under lawsuits from texas itself. title 42 is still out there. it is something the administration has been forced to keep in place. what that does is it allows the government to mutely expel asylum-seekers without any kind of asylum process for them to claim asylum. there is roughly one million that have been expelled under the biden administration. immediately when they are encountered at the border. as i was talking to some democratic pollsters, for them

is not really an issue in the midterms right now. it seems to have receded in the public's consciousness because inflation, high gas prices, january 6 hearings are actually more front of mind for democratic voters. for republican voters, one thing i found interesting is that during the january 6 hearings this week, the rnc chairwoman was tweeting about immigration and president biden's "open borders." that is definitely something that republicans are going to be hammering going into november. judy: and has been for some time. finally, let me ask you about the big decision from the court that came down last friday, overturning roe v. wade. as we heard at the beginning of the show, president biden was asked about it and commented again today, very critical. you have been reporting on this. what should we expect when the president is back and the administration takes a closer look?

laura: president biden said he will be potentially announcing executive actions as early as tomorrow. he will be meeting with governors. the second thing was he said he was open to a big change in the senate. here is what he said. pres. biden: i believe we have to codify roe v. wade into law. and the way to do that is to make sure that the congress votes to do that. and if the filibuster gets in the way, it's like voting rights. we should provide an exception to the filibuster for this action. laura: so he thinks the senate should essentially change the filibuster, but the reality is that the votes are not there right now. so again, th nicomes down to whether or not e is able to get additional democrats in the senate to see this realized. judy: pointing to november elections, again. laura, thanks so much. ♪

>> i'm stephanie sy with newshour west. we will return to the full program after the latest headlines. the supreme court opened the door to possibly changing how federal elections are conducted. the justices agreed to consider whether state courts may review election procedures and congressional district lines. the case involves a north carolina court's ruling against districts that heavily favor republicans. judges in kentucky and florida became the latest today to block new abortion limits since the end of roe v. wade. the ruling in kentucky halted a near-total ban on abortions. a judge in florida temporarily stopped enforcement of a ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy. the nato summit has ended, with president biden vowing to defend , quote, every inch of the bloc's eastern flank against russia. he also pledged another $800 million dollars in arms for ukraine today.

we'll return to the summit, after the news summary. russian forces pulled out of a strategic black sea island today, possibly easing pressure on ukraine's attempts to export grain. snake island sits about 90 miles from odessa. the russians said leaving it was a goodwill gesture. ukraine said they were driven off. and a late update out of ukraine tonight, a local government official says at least ten people are dead following a russian missile strike on an apartment building in odesa. hong kong prepared today for the 25th anniversary of its return from british to chinese rule. crowds and performers welcomed chinese president xi jinping. under his government, authorities have cracked down on protests and any form of dissent in hong kong, and barred opposition candidates from elections. xi praised the changes.>> in th, hong kong endured difficult tests one after another,

overcame risks and challenges one after another. after the storms, hong kong reemerged from the fire and was reborn. hong kong is showing vibrance. stephanie: ferdinand marcos, junior, son of the late dictator , was sworn in as president of the philippines in manila. he took his oath of office to cheers from supporters years 36 after his father was overthrown. >> we will build back better by doing things in the light of the experiences that we have had, both good and bad. it does not matter, no looking back in anger or nostalgia. stephanie: elsewhere in manila, protesters marched and condemned marcos'rise to power. they said he pulled it off by whitewashing his family's past. the u.s. food and drug administration now says the new covid vaccine boosters will have

to target the newest "omicron" offshoots. the highly contagious sub-variants are fueling a rise in new cases around the world. the fda says the original vaccines should still be used for people getting their first shots. the majority of northern yellowstone national park is set to reopen saturday after weeks of closure due to heavy flood damage. sites like mammoth hot springs, tower-roosevelt and canyon junction will be open to vistors. the north and northeast entrance gates remain closed while undergoing repairs. still to come, the president of lithuania discusses tensions with russia amid cyber attacks and the war in ukraine the biden administration pledges to make more vaccines available to counter monkeypox infections, an openly gay puppeteer uses his art to bring understanding to his small hometown in kansas. and much more. >> this is the pbs newshour from wec a studios in washington --

weta studios in washington and from the walter cronkite school of journalism at the university of arizona. >> a small victory in the south as war on the easternnt inea cud kdsgr summit in madrid. and that's where we find nick schifrin again tonight. hello, nick. now that the summit has ended, tell us what the leaders are saying about ukrne and how they think the summit went. nick: president biden and the other nato leaders described an alliance revitalized because of ukraine. snake island really came to symbolize ukrainian resolve. the nato leaders especially celebrated the formal invitation to sweden and finland, a country that's been militarily not aligned for decades as assigned

of alliance community. pres. biden: putin thought he could break the transatlantic alliance. he tried to weaken us. he expected our resolve to fracture. but he's getting exactly what he did not want. he wanted the finlandization of nato. he got the nato-ization of finland. nick: leaders describe the deal between turkey, sweden, and finland that paved the way for the formal invitation as a breakthrough. but the process for those two countries to join has only just begun and has to go through all 30 nato parliaments, including the u.s. congress. judy: president erdogan talked to the press today. what did he have to say about that episode, the fact that turkey had blocked finland and sweden but then changed his mind? nick: erdogan said sweden and finland would have to follow through on their promises. he claimed that they promised to extradite 73 people, and if they didn't, he would not send their admission to nato through the turkish parliament.

the only problem is the document they signed does not cite 73 people and does not guarantee a single extradition. the agreement that you signed with finland and sweden says that finland and sweden will address the extradition requests. it does not say finland and sweden will confirm turkey's extradition requests. so are you asking finland and sweden to go beyond the language that you've agreed? >> you have read the text. the thing is, what is important is what we understand. these 73 people, sweden gave us a promise to extradite them. they will either extradite or not. nick: multiple western officials today told me erdogan will continue to extract as many concessions throughout the process as he could. one of them will probably be

american f-16s, a deal that president biden endorsed this afternoon. but the fact is until finland and sweden give into to his demands, no matter what the text may say or doesn't say, erdogan can stop their admission to nato. judy: really interesting. nick, you had a full day today. you also spoke with the president of lithuania. what was the message he and the other baltic leaders had today? nick: they arrived with a concern that their countries could be the next russian target. that is a product of some of their interactions with russia recently, but also a product of their history. lithuania was occupied of the soviet union and briefly by nazi germany. and then the soviet union again for five decades until ibecame independent in 1991 and joined nato in 2004. just in the last week, tensions increased because countries implemented a ban on goods

traveling by rail. i spoke to the president inside the summit this afternoon. thank you very much for joining us. when you arrived here, you said this was the last chance to adopt decisions that will be strong enough to start russia. do you believe the decisions nato has taken today are adequate? >> the decisions at the nato summit i think fully meets our expectations. we have to understand that situation is dangerous, the situation is very serious, and we have to take bold, decisive decisions. i have to say there is a certain satisfaction that it was really historic. nick: nato will increase the number of troops in the baltics, but you have been calling for many more. is the brigade level sufficient? >> we have to admit that currently we are not ready.

we do not have sufficient infrastructure to accommodate the brigade size of the unit and this is the reason why we have to speed up this process. nick: you said that no part of nato should have any weakness, but nato's most vulnerable part is the gap between mainland russia and the russian enclave, how vulnerable is it? >> this nato summit is a green light for preparation in order to be aware of these risks and to deal with this threat adequately. nick: last week, lithuania stopped goods traveling by train between russia and belarus and

kalliningrad. russia has made threats in response to that. how serious do you believe the russian possibility of responding militarily is? >> i don't believe in such a scenario because since 2004, we are a nato member and we have very clear assurances, repeated many times, also by president joe biden, that article five is sacred, rocksolid, and it's not so easy to make harm on lithuania, because we did our homework. since the very beginning, we realized that russia is a long-term threat, and probly we have to prepare. nick: how do you believe the war in ukrai should end? >> ukraine should end this war. if it will be not the case, that

situation, european and internationally, will become very complicated and very dangerous. we have to avoid this scenario. nick: french president macron has said europeans and the u.s. should avoid humiliating russia. is there an eastern european-western european divide over how this war should end? >> i don't understand this kind of rhetoric, because russia humiliated itself so much by starting this war. we have to do our best in order to support ukraine in this war. nick: do you fear that some western countries could end up pressuring ukraine to concede territory in order to find peace? >> it would be morally unacceptable to push ukraine to make any concessions from the territory. nick: do you believe there's

pressure on ukraine to concede territory? >> i don't think so. >> nato is united? >> i believe in unity which has certain ambitions. this kind of unity i trust and i saw this unity here in madrid. nick: over the past few wes, moscow has withheld some natural gas from europe. you've worked for years to achieve energy independence from russia. and you have been able to ban natural gas imports recently. do you believe the rest of the european union is trying to pursue the same policies that you are, and can they? >> i think they will be pressed to pursue the same policy, but we understand very well that if -- that it takes time, but if you do not start today, you will not get the result to tomorrow. to do the same as lithuania did, to let all the illusions about russia or engagement with russia.

nick: senior german officials admitted there was no plan b, there had been no plans at all to not use russian energy before february 24. >> i remember my conversations with former chancellor angela merkel. but they decided to go this way. now this way proved to be wrong. nick: late last year you allowed taiwan to open a diplomatic office in lithuania using the title "taiwanese." that was the first time any eu member had used the word taiwanese at a diplomatic office inside the e.u. you said you were consulted on the name change, but overall, why do you believe it is important for lithuania support taiwan? >> this is the office we established in lithuania. the reaction of chinese authorities was not adequate, i would say. we are a country which tries to respect the principles and values. sometimes we pay a high price

for that, but this is our policy towards other countries which are fighting for their freedom. i think lithuania is very consistent with this. sometimes we are an example for some larger countries. nick: thank you very much. >> thank you very much. ♪ judy: the biden administration has launched a vaccination campaign against monkeypox, making nearly 300,000 shots available in the coming weeks. there are around 350 known cases of the virus in the u.s. and zero deaths so far, but there are concerns about its spread and whether the administration is doing enough. stephanie sy has our look. stephanie: judy, monkeypox is

endemic to parts of central and west africa, but was found in the u.s. just about six weeks ago. it spreads through close contact, which would obviously include sex or kissing. gay men and other men who have sex with men make up many of the cases that have been identified. some have posted about their symptoms on tiktok. >> it was so painful, i had to go to my doctor and get painkillers just to be able to go to sleep. >> a couple days ago i woke up with swollen lymph nodes and developed chills and started to break out in some weird spots. stephanie: for more on all this, i'm joined by joseph osmundson, a microbiologist at new york university and author of the new living, the dead, and the small things in between." joe, thanks so much for joining the newshour. i was watching some of those tiktok videos, and one of em said he was sharing his monkeypox experience to reduce stigma. i want to start there. is stigma something that a lot of people are worried about with

this? >> thank you so much for having me. and of course. this is primarily impacting the queer community right now. it's being spread our social and sexual networks. it is a virus that is new in this context and has been understudied because of the regions where it has been common for decades. there is so much we don't know. so it is frightening when a new virus comes into our community and our population. we want to make sure to get the best information out there and have the best access in our community to what people need. they need tests, they need treatment, and we need vaccines to stop the spread. stephanie: let's talk about vaccines for a minute. the biden administration announced a national vaccination campaign, but it is limited. only 56,000 doses of a new vaccine have been made immediately available. there will be more to come in coming weeks.

then there's another older vaccine, acam200. that's also approved for use. bo atn r dole isthwhat older , for smallpox, what role does that play in this current outbreak? >> it's a great question. i will focus on a modern, really safe vaccine, and our argument is we need to get -- those doses do no good in a bethesda storage unit. they need to get into arms as quickly as possible. those doses do no good in sweden. we need to get them here as fast as possible. use that frontline vaccine that is supersafe and start protecting people on the ground. we know this virus is currently popping up mostly, but not exclusively, in the queer community and those connected to us by our social and sexual networks. those are the people we are targeting for the first round of vaccination.

this type of virus that spreads through such close contact, i would be shocked if we don't see this in a wrestling team in washington state come fall. of course there's much more spread that we don't know about yet. stephanie: we should say that ts lly smallpox vaccines. the older vaccine has been known to have more severe ec esitsff yofourr pointe gets to my next question, which is, does the current public health response to this in the u.s. seem adequate at this point? we are talking about 350 cases or so, but zero deaths. >> the illness is mild by public health definitions in that it isn't seeming to lead to hospitalization or death. but as you saw in the clip, someone i know had monkeypox recently and it hurts, it is very, very unpleasant.

so we have been seeing this disconnect, particularly with the federal response, where we have people in our community who are getting ill, and there's vaccines sitting on the shelves. there are drugs in the stockpile. for those drugs, you have to be enrolled through a clinical trial. how many doctors out there in america know how to enroll their patient in a clinical trial and do all the paperwork fast enough to get them access to that drug that means they may not suffer as badly for as long? so we do think there is an urgency lacking. we expect these things to change. right now in america, no tests, no vaccinations, no drugs. we know there are plans that in a month's time that should shift, and we hope we continue figuring out not just where this virus is, but the places where it might go and find from people the's a region where this to virus is endemic. people in those regions also

deserve access to vaccine, treatment, and care. stephanie: there are a lot of questions that remain in this developing story. joseph osmundson, a microbiologist at nyu, we appreciate you joining the nehour with your insights. joseph: thank you so much. judy: over the past month, pride celebrations have been held in some of the nation's largest cities to recognize lbgtq rights. but smaller towns have also been marking the occasion. --ca cat wise traveled to rural kansas, where an artist is trying to foster understanding and his community. report is part of our arts and culture series, "canvas." >> on a recent afternoon, a local crowd filled hidden trail brewing in garden city. they had come out for a special event with lively entertainment not often performed in western kansas.

the lipstick and lashes drag show was part of a family-friendly pride arts festival called playchella, which also included rainbow-themed crafts for kids. resources from a local behavioral health organization. >> if you guys have any questions about mental health, we will try to answer questions. >> puppet show, 15 minutes! show written and performed by the event's organizer, brett crandall. >> he said you weren't handsome. well, you are. >> he's a 30-year-old puppeteer, actor, writer, and lgbtqia+ activist. he grew up in a small town called deerfield about 15 miles from garden city. >> i can't see 2012 deerfield, garden city doing any of this. it just makes it all the more cool that it did.

>> coming of age in a close-knit, rural county, home to one of the country's largest beef processing plants, he says he felt different early on. brett: these are people that i've known a lot of times my whole life. conversations that i did not have with them because i did not at one point feel safe to come out, not that i thought anyone would physically harm me, but maybe that their love had conditio or that i wouldn't it wouldn't be what would make them happy. actively pop those bubbles is healing for me. >> after high school, crandall quickly made his way to new york city where he lived for about 10 years, first attending the american academy of dramatic arts and then working as an actor and developing his talents as a puppeteer. he moved back to kansas in 2019, stop beforreloting to los

angeles. then his plans changed. brett: i really wanted to start putting out queer shows in the middle of the country. >> over the last couple of years, he's done just that, working full-time, traveling around the state to put on shows like the "trials of david: a queer biblical puppet play" and "murder at the wolf hotel." hans: i was flattered when thou called me handsome. odine: i love you, but i am ondine. >> at playchella, he premiered a new show called "ondine: a queer fairy tale." it's an adaptation of an old french play with a female lead. in this version, a male water sprite, played by crandall, falls in love with a handsome knight named hans. >> i thought this for us would end kindly. >> but they face some hurdles. brett: it's a whole different

set of rules when y're in the theater or when you are sitting in an audience that you get to listen and pay attention and let and so then putting queer stories into that and allow and -- and allowing folks to feel sympathy for queer folks instead of just, you know, the discontent or malice or fear, whatever it is that they've been working with or taught that was not their fault. that was not their idea in the first place. >> last year, he organized the first kansas playchella in his hometown, which included a small march through the streets. he proudly walked arm and arm with his partner, marc malone. among crandall's biggest supporters now and throughout his life, his parents. doug and cindy crandall helped out at the crafts table. >> ten years ago, things were much different, especially in

rural kansas. point., there's just, you know, y it's everywhere. that's a good thing. cindy: the stia is still there in rural america, for sure, but i think that the kids are more willing to come out at a younger age. it's such a relief they they have events like this now. >> gerald hall, who goes by the drag name daphne moonwalker, grew up in a nearby town and says he was often bullied. now he is trying to use his performance art to help others. gerald: we want to be the voice for anybody that needs the voice. if you don't feel safe, if you don't feel like you are being included in things, reach out to us as performers. we we are here for anybody. >> beyond his activism, crandall is also focused on arts education in his community and

other rural towns. he wrote an opinion piece recently about young people fleeing the plains when they lack opportunities to flourish in the arts. brett: the kids that grow up here i hope don't feel the impulse, like i did, that they have to leave, that they have go away, that it's the only way they'll find peace for themselves or to be able to get to know themselves. we are just going to keep coming up with new ways, very old ways, of giving that sense of value to yourself and to our community that you don't have to go anywhere else. it's just -- it's all right here. >> at the end of the puppet show, ondine and hans are finally able to be together. a happy ending he hopes will inspire his audience to find its own. for the pbs newshour, i'm cat wise in garden city, kansas. judy: it's heartwarming. that is the newshour for tonight.

i'm judy woodruff. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> for 25 years, consumer cellular has been offering plans designed to help people do more of what they like. our customer service team can help you 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 individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour. including leonard and norm a clerk line. and with the ongoing support of d friends the newshour.on f puc

broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] >> 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.

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