♪ nick: good evening. i'm nick schifrin. toght on "pbs news weekend"... abortion and the mt vulnerable. how women on medicaid are navigating rapidly changing rules across the country. then... desperate journey. an afghan who fled the taliban, but got caught up in a european border dispute, and survived by hiding in the woods for 8 days. khaled: we ask them to kill us, please, the soldiers. please kill us. finish this story. but, they didn't. they didn't. nick: and... aces at wimbledon. the women's final at the all england lawn tennis club serves up a few firsts. all that and the day's headlines on tonight's "pbs news weekend." ♪

>> major funding for "pbs news weekend" has been provided by -- >> f 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of no contract plans and u.s.-based customer service team can find one that fits you. to learn more, visit consumercellular.tv. ♪ >> and with the ongoing support ofhese individuals and institutions -- ♪ and friends of the "newshour." ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you.

thank you. nick: we begin tonight with breaking news, as the island nation of sri lanka has descended into political turmoil. the country's president and prime minister will both resign, bowing to pressure after protests rocked the capital, colombo. tens of thousands of demonstrators broke through barricades and stormed the presidential residence, forcing him to evacuate. crowds shouted and cheered as they roamed the halls,limbed statues, and defaced property. some even swam in the presidential pool. separately, protesters broke into the prime minister's private residence and set it on fire. the crowds were a crescendo of sri lankans' discontent, against leadership they deem responsible for the nation's worst economic cris in a neration. fiona: to get rid of the president and the prime minister and to have a new era for sri lanka. also i feel very very sad that they dn't go earlier.

because had they gone earlier there wouldn't have been any destruction and it's time that we got all our stolen money back to this country. nick: sri lanka's president will officially step down next week. in japan, we are learning more about the assassination of former prime minister shinzo abe. instigators say the man suspected of killing abe, believed abe was linked to a religious cult that the suspect blamed for his own mother's financial ruin. police would not name the group. authorities continue to question the 41-year-old former member of japan's navy, who has admitted to shooting abe with a homemade gun made from two metal pipes, wrped in black tape. at the site of the shooting today, mourners paid their respects, laying bouquets, and shedding tears. and the hearse carrying abe's body drove over 300 miles om the small town of nara, where he died, to abe's home in tokyo. his funeral will be held early next week. secretary of state antony blinken today chastised china for what he called its continuing support of russia,

for its war in ukraine. in indonesia at a g20 meeting, blinken met with china's foreign minister for more than five hours. later at a news conference, blinken said he detailed russia's aggression, and refuted china's claim of neutrality. sec. blinken: i shared again with the state councilor tt we are concerned about the prc's alignment with russia. now, what you hear from beijing is that it claims to be neutral. i woulstart with the proposition that it's pretty hard to be neutral when it comes to this aggression. there is a clear aggressor. there is a clear victim. nick: china's foreign minister sharply rebuked blinken's comments, and called on the biden administration to swiftly remove trump-era tariffs on chinese products. president biden has not yet announced whether he will adjust those tariffs. in the tennis world, the wimbledon women's final today was a match of firsts. elena rybakina become the first tennis player representing kazakhstan to win a grand slam

singles title. she was born in moscow, but switched her nationality four years ago. her opponent, tunisian ons jabeur, made history by being the first arab and first african woman to appear in any grand slam final. we'll have more on this year's wimbledon tournament later in the broadcast. and, across the globe, millions of muslims have begun the "feast of sacrifice" -- eid al-adha. the observance lasts four days and is one of the biggest holidays in the islamic calendar. it's typically celebrated with a ritual slaughter of livestock that's shared with friends and family. but rising food costs around the world have made it unaffordable for many muslims this year. still to come on "pbs news weekend"... desperate journey. an afghan refugee flees the taliba only to get caught up in geopolitics, and a violent crackdown in europe. and... tennis history in the making at wimbledon. [applause] ♪ >> this is "pbs news weekend" from weta studios in washington,

home of the "pbs newshour," weeknights on pbs. nick: across the country, states are struggling to determine whether and how to provide the most vulnerable access to abortion. one of every five american women between the ages of 15 and 49 is covered by medicaid. for decades, congressional regulations have prohibited federal funds from being used for abortions, except in the cases of rape, incest and if the pregnancy threatens the woman's life. but medicaid is a federal and state program allowing 16 states to pay for abortions outside federal restrictions. how are states approacng this challenge now? to discuss this, i'm joined by alina salganicoff, a senior vice president at the kaiser family foundation, and marsha jones of the afiya nter, a reproductive justice organization in texas. welcome, both of you to "pbs news weekend." alina, let me start with you. are states today that protect

abortion rights adjusting their medicaid policies to help women seeking abortion? alina: they're trying to do what they can to protect abortion access, in terms of protecting clinicians and women from criminality in other states, as well as providing funds. also supporting infrastructure so that abortion clinics have the necessary means to provide abortions, not only for the women who reside in those states, bufrom people who will be coming from other states as well. nick: marsha jones, who is bearing the brunt of this problem when it comes to abortion access and medicaid? marsha: poor women are bearing the brunt of this. specifically, poor nonwhite women. so poor black women, poor hispanic women, poor indigenous women are bearing the brunt. so the folk who have the least access are the folk who are bearing the brunt of this. nick: alina, i think it is

important that you explain one thing, which is can a woman travel across state borders using medicaid in order to get an abortion in a state that still has abortion rights? alina: typically, medicaid only pays for services that are provided in the state. so there are cases where medicaid can pay for care out of state. but that's very unusual. and the out of state provider has to have a relationship with medicaid. i will say that all of the women that will be with medicaid who will be needing to travel out of state, it is very unlikely that their medicaid program will pay for their abortions, even in cases of rape or incest. nick: and so, marsha jones, given that restriction, given the people who you said you've been trying to help, what are you hearing from the women who are reaching out to you? marsha: so we're hearing women who are without resources, who are without a plan, who are without a next step. they literally don't know what to do. even when you're hearing

conversations that say the abortion pill will be available, self-managed abortions, not if you're already 14 weeks gestation. you know, not if you're already late in gestation. that sounds good,ut it's not going to be available for the women that we serve. and we are talking about taxes, no exception. nick: on friday, president biden issued an executive order aimed at protecting access to reproductive health services. will it have any impact on this discussion that we're having right now? alina: i think the president wanted to make clear that he was putting the full force of the federal government to the extent possible to assure that people have access to the full range of reproductive health services. the issue is that the supreme court has turned this back to the states. so while the federal government, i think can do some things, and the president has directed the secretary and the department of justice to try to put protections in place, it will be

limited because you are going to have states that have full on bans. it is going to be really impossible for a lot of women to cross the state, go across the state and long distances to get abortions, regardless of what the federal government does. nick: in terms of this question of medicaid and access, what do you say to those people who are against federally guaranteed abortion rights? alina: well, the supreme court has had a longstanding precedent that established the right to abortion. this decision is the first one that's taken away any constituonal right. so regardless of where you stand, this decision will have seismic repercussions that affect abortion access most directly, but also will have implications for a broad range of services that are important to women, ranging from emergency care to cancer care, care for auimmune diseases. i think the ripple effects are just emerging, and so this is going to affect you regardless of where you stand on the abortion debate. nick: and finally, marsha jones,

i wonder if you could explain what would happen to you if you were to help a woman in texas cross the state line to get an abortion? marsha: if i help someone across the state line, because it is aiding and abetting,t is very clear. aiding and abetting, giving people money, helping them to cross state lines. and we're even limited to the information that we can give because we are trying to provide people with a basic health care need, because reproductive health care is health care could literally be criminalized. nick: marsha jones, alina salganicoff, thank you very much to you both. marsha: thank you. ♪ since the beginning of the russian invasion, almost four million ukrainian refugees have

fled their homes into neighboring poland. the country has welcomed them warmly, and the government provides access to all social services. but at the same time, poland has pulled the welcome mat from thousands of middle eastern migrants. ali rogin has the story of one afghan refugee whose journey shows not all migrants are treated equally. ali: khaled mohebi never wand to leave afghanistan. he had a good life, as a software developer and coach of a computer programming team. a life made possible by peace. khaled: we were developing, you know? nobody think about it that one day taliban will come back because nobody support them. ali: but they did come back as the united states withdrew last august. khaled worked for an american company. he knew he had to flee. he had a u.s. visa, but like so many afghans, was turned away at the kabul airport. so he began an almost three thousand mile journey, by car. he made it to iran, and from

there, flew to moscow in mid-september, where his programming team was set to compete a few months later. but after the games, russia wanted to send them back. khaled's russian contacts suggested he travel to poland on foot, through belarus. khaled: they asked us to go there illegally. we said, well why? we are educated, we are from national team. we can go anywhere legally, why we do it and why we play a game with our life? ali: but he realized russia was willing to play that game, so khaled and his friends devised a plan. khaled: two days before our visas expired, we bought some jackets and we traveled there and we were, we thought, that's ok. when we arrive to the polish border, we will show our documents and everything, and they will help us. ali: but khaled didn't know that belarusian president alexander lukashenko, an ally of russia's vladimir putin, was playing his

own dangerous game -- luring migrants from the middle east and south asia, then pushing them to e borders of his western neighbors. the group arrived at the polish border in mid-october, walking straight into the no-man's land of a hybrid war, facing barbed wire and armed guards. they hid in the wilderness for four days, then tried to escape back to belarus, but were caught. khaled: they shocked me by electric shock and hunter dog, by a hunter dog. dog cut, destroyed this part of my jacket and my face and hand. and finally, the soldier fired 10 or five centimeter distance with my head by gun. they said, ok, now we don't, we didn't kill you. so you have anothe chance, you can go to the poland. don't come back. and we said how? because we didn't have food, water, we didn't eat anything for four days. ali: but he still had his

smartphone, with a little bit of power left. so he posted an sos on facebook, writing, "there is a cold war between belarus and europe and we are the cannon fodder." khaled: i received messages from all around the world. ali: one message was from polish journalist andrzej muller, who had lived for years in afghanistan, but recently moved back to a small town on the polish-belarus border. andrezj: i got a message from herat, from a friend who wrote to me that few of his afghan friends, i.t. engineers, they are somewhere in the middle of the jungle at the border between poland and belarus. so he asked me, i think you live there. there is a kind of a war there. could you help them? ali: muller also called fundacja, a polish volunteer group dedicated to helping migrants. andrezj: we decided that we will call, we will do it officially, legally. we will call the border guard and they will ask for asylum in poland.

at the same time, local television and other media radio will comto the spot. ali: by the time the volunteers and cameras reached khaled and his friends, they had been in the woods eight days, all near-death. khaled: taliban is better than them, i think. we ask them to kill us, please, the soldiers. please kill us. finish this story. but, they didn't. marianna: he was really brave. it looked like he was taking responsibility for the whole group on some level. ali: marianna wartecka was among the volunteers who met khaled. khaled: they give us food, water and clothes and everything, and i can't forget that and i swore there, ok, i will help other guys like them one day because, you know, they were like angel, they arrived there and they saved us. ali: marianna told khaled he'd

have to go with the polish border guards, to apply for protection. marianna: he asked me if i could, him that it was going to be ok. i remember his face and his eyes when i had to tell him that i could not promise him that it wagoing to be okay because i didn't know that. ali: but the guards' behavior towards khaled changed, when they had an auence. khaled: this time it was different. you know, they didn't push us back to the belarus, and they act very normal and a standard like we are a good police and we will not send you back. ali: once khaled applied for international protection, he spent a few weeks in a refugee camp. and a few weeks later, he moved in with a family in warsaw, and applied for a work permit. when we spoke, he had recently moved into his own apartment. but khaled's journey is not over. just a few weeks after our interview, he learned he wouldn't get an update on his work permit until october, due to the influx of ukrainian refugees.

he was running out of money, so he left for germany, where he has a job offer and better prospects for a work permit. and he lives in a refugee camp he says is much nicer than the one in poland. marianna wartecka says poland is still treating non-europeans at the border harshly, while ukrainians receive a warm welcome. marianna: i am very, very happy that they are getting the help they needed. i think that's how it should look like in a suation like this. but it is very frustrating when you when you compare it to how badly the asylum seekers on the belarusian border are treated. ali: but that hasn't stopped khaled from trying to pay his good fortune forward. when he was in poland,e volunteered at a shelter for ukrainian refugees. after everything you have been through, where do you find the ability and the desire to help ukrainian refugees? khaled: when you help somebody,

a refugee, when you see he's happy and smiling, it will, you know, he will send you a positive energy and it wilhelp me too. ali: even while his own future in europe is on center, he is already making good on his pledge to help others like him. for pbs news reagan -- news weekend, i ali rogin. am♪ nick: on the english grass at centre court, today's wimbledon women's final was destined to be historic. elena rybakina became the first ever player representing kazakhstan to win a grand slam. she beat tunisia's ons jabeur, the first woman from africa to reach a grand slam final. to discuss this, i'm joined from wimbledon by "new york times" tennis correspondent and author christopher clarey.

both stories are interesting. first, how did elena rybakina win? christopher: she is very powerful and she played a wonderful match today. started slowly, with nervous, both women in uncharted territory, but having gotten past the quarterfinals, you did know how they would react. elena rybakina started dominating with flat shots and finished it off. when she won, the biggest moment of her life, it's like she won the first point of the match, hardly any emotion. but the emotion came later in the press conrence when she broke down in tears. on the court you never would have known it was her first wimbledon title. nick: she decided to play for cause asked on four years ago. how did that come about? christopher: a number of players from russia will look at some of

the other republics were the funding is greater, looking for athletes that can play certain sports, and they shift. she wasn't the first but in many ways she was one of the most recent ones to do it. at that time not considered one of the most promising russian niors, wasn't getting the funding, so she decided to switch. it is a big former republic. she got coaching, all kinds of support and talked to her a few minutes ago and she was saying she wasn't sure she would have won the title without the backing. the timing is awkward for the club and people in tennis beuse russians and belarusians have been banned because of the invasion in ukraine. i don't think the all england club planned to have someone who grew up in russian on the centre court today, that wasn't part of the plan. nick: there's always politics when it comes to this. tell us about the decision wimbledon made. the other grand slam tennis tournaments have not banned

russians. why did wimbledon? christopher: a combination of factors. you are right, wimbledon is an outlier on this issue in tennis, not so much in world sport but in tennis. i think it was the british government led by boris johnson was adamant there had to be some sort of concession by the russian players if they were to take part, a denunciation by their government, or some other gesture. i felt the club that runs wimbledon felt they had to do something. they did not want to make the players basically go against their country publicly, and put their families at risk. they decided to ban russians and belarusians altogether. it's been a long time since that happened in tennis, post-world war ii with germans and japanese. they took away the wrecking points, unprecedented, because a lot of backlash. some players will not rise in

the rankings and will actually drop. nick: let's talk about ons jabeur. she is well-liked on the tour and is known as the nister of happiness. what is she represent for the women's game? christopher: people are really excited about ons jabeur at all she brings toennis and sports. there aren't that many people in the history of this came from arab nations or the african continent on the women's side who have done well. she is an exceptional talent and very charismatic. extremely likable, her game is magnetic, kinds of variety in style and panache. i think everybody was primed to celebrate that and in some ways, elena rybakina upset the apple cart. but ons brings a chance to reach a new audience and market, not just for women's tennis but women's sports. people are very aware of that. nick: on the men's side, novak djokovic going for his seventh wimbledon, facing the fiery and

unpredictable nick curious -- kyrgios. christopher: i think too much has changed over the years to compare the greats of the past to the greats of today. the grand slam tournaments did not matter as much in terms of counting your titles in the past. not everybody played them for a long time. in terms of this error and what it represents, who has the most grand slam titles is big. rafael nadal have to pull out with injury. know is very committed to chasing -- novak djokovic is committed to chasing the number down. this is a huge match for him. he might not be able to play the u.s. open at all because he remains unvaccinated and might not be able to get into the country. nick: christopher, thank you very much. christopher: my pleasure.

♪ nick: online, methane leaks in a suburban california community made some residents sick. environmental groups fear it is the tip of the iceberg. dozens of wells belonging t five different companies have been found to be leaking. some are pushing for more action , read about that at pbs.org/newshour. that's our show for tonight. i'm nick schifrin. for all of us at pbs news weekend, i hope you had a good day. have a good night. see you tomorrow. >> major funding for "pbs news weekend" has been provided by -- ♪ 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. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] ♪

- [announcer] this program was made possible in part by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. - [chang] what is memory? the answer to this question might surprise you. - [genova] it's not a video camera recording a constant stream of every sight and sound you experience. memory is the constellation of neural connections that were the sights, sounds, feelings, knowledge that you experienced in the first place reactivated through a linked circuit. - [suzuki] it defines our own personal histories. what we remember becomes part of who we are. - [o'shanick] it's the ability to create a story of our world,