♪ geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. tonight on "pbs news weekend"... climate crisis -- parts of europe are battling to control huge wildfires blamed on soaring temperatures. maria: i am doing very badly, very stressed and very badly. we are ally stressed. it's a shame how the fields are burning. geoff: then... crypto crash -- we look at cy's downturn and who isl ang the rden. life after roe -- with federal abortion rights overturned, we look at the long-term economic costs of abortion bans. those stories and the day's headlines on tonight's "pbs news weekend." ♪

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broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. geoff: good evening. it's good to be with you. we begin tonight with fires raging across europe and floods inundating south and northwest china. as many europeans endure record-breaking heat, climate scientists caution these extreme weather events are likely to happen more often. the buzz of helicopters filled the air, racing to to extinguish dozens of wildfires burning across spain. roads are cut off and thousands of residents have fled their homes. maria: i am doing very badly, very stressed and very badly. we are all very ressed. it's a shame how the fields are burning. miguel: at 100 degrees -- 104

degrees fahrenheit, it's only making it more difficult to extinguish the fire. climate change affects everyone. this area which is green and cool in summer is becoming very hot like the south. geoff: across the border in france, a similar story. firefighters working to contain the flames of several wildfires. ms. couillard: we are dealing with very considerable drought due to insufficient rainfalls over the winter and spring, an especially dry month of may and we now have particularly high temperatures, as you can feel. geoff: the high temperatures extended north to the uk, where people crammed onto beaches in searchf relief from the heat. less than one percent of homes there have air conditioning. authorities have issued an emergency declaration ahead of even higher temperatures expected tomorrow and tuesday. from not enough water to far too much -- flash floods inundated parts of southwest and northwest china this weekend. 12 people died and thousands were forced to evacuate their homes.

in today's other headlines... the texas house of representatives this afternoon released a damning, nearly 80-page investigative report detailing the inaction of hundreds of officers on the scene of the mass shooting at uvalde elementary school, where a gunman killed 19 students and 2 teachers. the report cites "systemic failures" creating chaos that lasted more than an hour, while nearly 400 officers on the scene... simply waited. this timelapse video from an abc afate shows numerous officers crouched, waiting with long rifles drawn, to approach the gunman for nearly 80 minutes. to date, only one officer from the scene that day has been placed on leave. president biden is disputing a saudi account of his meeting this week with saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman. returning to the white house just after midnight from his trip to the middle east, the president was asked about a top saudi diplomat who denied ever hearing biden confront mbs about his role in the murder of jamal khashoggi.

here's president biden speaking to reporters ealier. reporter: the saudi foreign minister says he didn't hear you accuse the crown prince of khashoggi's murder. is he telling the truth? pres. biden: no. geoff: and in ukraine today, president volodymyr zelenskyy removed two high-level officials, alleging that mutilple people working for them were acting against the country's interests. meantime, in the city of vinnytsia, a four-year-old- killed by a missile strike earlier this week was laid to rest. mourners surrounded the casket, adorned with stuffed animals. thursday's attack killed at least 24 civilians, and wounded hundreds of others. still to come on "pbs news weekend"... the long-term economic impact of the supreme court eliminating the constitutional right to an abortion. and our weekend briefing. we discuss the latest from the january 6th committee, and look ahead to this week's primetime hearing. ♪ >> this is "pbs ws weekend" from weta studios in washington,

home of the "pbs newshour," weeknights on pbs. geoff: from a wave of high profile superbowl ads to a full on crypto crash in less than a year, crypto, or digital currencies, have now lost $2 trillion in value, after peaking at $3 trillion in november 2021. on wednesday, celsius became the third major crypto firm in two weeks to file for bankruptcy. this week i spoke with andrew chang to unpack what's behind this crypto crash. he's a crypto consultant and former coo of paxos, a new york-based financial firm and technology company. for the unfamiliar, i think it might be instructive if you first explain what crypto is and why it's been such an attractive investment vehicle for so many people. andrew: cryptocurrencies is a new type of financial asset

that's powered by blockchain technologies, and it's a way to store and move value on a decentralized network. now, why people are super excited and have been investing in cryptocurrencies as a financial asset is because they believe that technology is interesting and valuable. and as the value of the network increases, so does the price of the currency that powers it. geoff: what accounts for this crash? i mean, as i understand it, there was a crash back in 2018 where the largest cryptocurrency, bitcoin, lost about 80% of its value. this crash is different in terms of magnitude and the cause. what's the deal? andrew: it is important to paint the picture over the last couple of years where the price has risen a lot good you had apps like robinhood and paypal enable people to invest in cryptocurrencies. you had a greater awareness of cryptorrency, and then a greater availability of capital through stimulus checks or low interest rates.

that's what led up to the price being so high. what led to the downfall? this recent crash is partly due to the greater economic downturn. secondarily, you've seen a number of crypto companies that have recently filed for bankruptcy. many of these crypto companies took on too much risk, and that risk led to them imploding as the price went down. geoff: i always understood it, the value proposition of crypto was that it was supposed to be insulated from theroader economic trends. this crash would suggests that that's not the case. andrew: i think it's not realistic to think that cryptocurrency or any other type of alternative asset is immune to being completely divorced from the broader economic picture. when you have a long enough economic downturn or big enough economic downturn, you're going to see that affect not only

traditional financial assets, but financial assets like cryptocurrencies, and frankly, all parts of our lives. that has been the hope for many people, that you could operate a different financial network. but the reality is it's all intertwined. geoff: as you mentioned, novice traders, amateur traders have suffered seismic losses, some people losing it all. they put in a ton of money becae they were looking for quick, sizable returns. and the timing of it meant that they lost a lot of money and they lost it quickly. andrew: yeah. i think with any investment strategy, it's important for people to consider their current financial situation and their goals. anytime you're investing in new technology, a more volatile asset, you're going to see greater risks with greater returns. and so some folks have been looking for greater returns, but they ignored the greater risks. geoff:ut what about people who say that crypto is a scam and

this latest crash just proves it? you have companies like celsius which declared bankruptcy. they won't let people withdraw their funds. i mean, you've spent a lot of time in this world. is crypto legit? andrew: yeah, i think crypto's going through the same things new technologies go through at the start, just like the internet went through a lot of innovation cycles where there were internet companies that tried different business models that didn't work out. and so it's not that crypto itself is a scam. it's going through the growing pains of any new technology. and you see regulators finding different ways to regulate and finding new problems with the way that people are interfacing with the technology. the technology itself isn't a scam. geoff: when you talk about regulation, president biden, as you know, back in march, he signed an executive order calling on the federal government to examine the risks and benefits of cryptocurrency.

is more regulation the answer, do you think? andrew: i think it's inevitable. you know, if you think about what regulation is, is regulation is to protect consumers. and when you have situations like you've had in the past couple of months where companies have taken on too much risk or haven't been playing by the rules, that's when regulators me in to try to help establish rules. so i don't think regulation is the answer, per se, as you have companies that do operate in a way that is good for consumers, there's no need for regulation. so, you know, given the current hiccups with some of the companies, you are going to see more regulation coming in to help provide guardrails for companies. geoff: andrew chang, thanks so much for your time and for your insights. andrew: thank you. ♪

geoff: in addition to the moral and political debates over abortion access, there is an economic argument, too. for people living in states without access to abortions, the financial consequences can be long lasting. ali rogin has more. ali: the legalization of abortion in the 1970's had a dramatic effect on when and under what circumstances women could become mothers. a large body of research since have shown how unwanted pregnancies can affect women's prosperity and earning prospects. our guest joins us to discuss the economic effects of limiting abortion. the cost of having a child seems self-evident to a lot of people, but there is empirical data that shows how being denied an abortion can transform financial well-being. tell us about that. >> economists know that weather

and wind to have a child is one of the most economically significant decisions a woman will make in her lifetime. we also know that women seeking abortions tend to be disproportionately at vulnerable moments in their lives. they are disproportionately low income, most of them already renting, many experiencing disruptive life events like being behind on the rent or losing a job. one influential study followed hundreds of women seeking abortions, and some of these women were arriving at abortion providers just past the gestational age cut off to obtain abortion and work turned away from the provider as a result. they saw that for the months and years leading up to that pivotal moment in their lives, all of these women had very similar financial circumstances, that at isoment when a group of them was turned away from the

abortion they wanted to have, they experienced about an 80% increase in adverse credit events like a corpse he compared to the women who received the abortions they wanted. ali: on the flipside, it seems like the way this ruling came down, that access in certain socioeconomic and certainly racial subgroups will be able to maintain access even if restrictions in the state in which they live titan. -- tighten. will that become stratified depending on what socioeconomic and racial groups people fall into? >> we have a lot of empirical evidence to suggest the answer is yes, that the dobbs decision and overturning of roe will not eliminate abortion access for all american women, but rather create really substantial inequality in access. what we have seen is about three

quarters of the women who live in areas where access is about to decline are still going to find a way. they are going to scrimp, they are going to struggle, but they will find a way to make those trips to states where abortion remains legal. but about a quarter of women, based on what we know, are likely to end up trapped by poverty, by their personal circumstances like in abusive relationships, and are unlikely to be able to get out. perhaps not surprisingly, the women who end up trapped are disproportionately poor, disproportionately young, disproportionately women of color. ali: to that point, there are some abortion funds that have said, organizations that have said they will help support women to make sure they can afford abortions, but they don't necessarily mention some of the

hidden costs you mention, the cost of childcare while pursuing an abortion, the cost of travel. do you anticipate those hidden costs will prevent some people from pursuing abortions? >> yeah, we have seen it before even with the presence of these types of funds and access and i don't mean to imply that they will not make a difference in lives, they absolutely will help women who otherwise could not travel find a way out. but it's also the case that trips like these, these will be trips for many women hundreds or even thousands of miles round-trip. many of these women have a hard time taking time off work, living on the financial margins, having trouble finding childcare for their children. there are so many of these hidden costs, it seems likely a large number of women will, despite access to these types of resources, still struggle to find a way out. ali: i quickly want to ask you,

in the dobbs case, lawyers for the state of mississippi argued policies like parental leave and childcare, which were not as prevalent when her was initially decided, "the silicate the ability of women to pursue both career success and a rich family life," putting aside that not everybody wants both of those things, what is your response? >> most american women still don't have access to paid family leave, particularly low income women seeking abortions. even if they find a way to subsidize or pay for child care, any of these women work what is called shiftwork, they have unpredictable schedules that make it difficult to schedule childcare. i am not denying that all sorts of policy advances have facilitated a balance but i still think parentsaces substantial logistical and financial challenges and that they are even greater for low

income families. ali: thank you so much for your time. >> thank you for having me. ♪ geoff: the january 6th congressional committee is expected to hold its next and likely final hearing this thursday in primetime. lawmakers on the panel have already accused donald trump of failing to call off the capitol insurrection for hours. this week's hearing is expected to reveal more evidence of what the former president was doing that day. with that as our focus, let's bring in melody barnes, former director of the domestic policy council under president obama. she's now executive director of the karsh center for law and democracy at the university of virginia. and hugo lowell, congressional reporter for the guardian who's been at the forefront of the reporting on the committee. great to have the both of you

with us. a few of the committee members appear don sunday shows today and they said they intend to show minute by minute what donald trump was doing, or more to the point not doing, from the moment he left the rally stage, returned to the white house, was in the dining room watching the insurrection for hours on tv, and refusing to do what many of his aides and allies were telling him to do, which was to call it off. fill in the gaps, what more do we expect thursday and is there a goal to show criminal action, criminal intent? hugo: i think yo've got it right, they are focused on the inaction part, both in terms of the dereliction of duty, as you would expect a president to do, but also dereliction of duty from a criminastatute sense, there is a statute that says from action or inaction did you obstruct an official proceeding, and they want to show that trump through his inaction, by sitting in the white house dining room looking at the vlence unfolding and yet doing nothing, not sending a tweet or going to

the briefing room, they want to show he was derelict in his duty and therefore is responsible for crime. geoff: adam schiff, who sits on the committee, he makes the point that it is extrely unusual for congress or for a local da's office, using the case in fulton county, georgia, to be so far out ahead of the doj on a matter like this when the doj has greater resources. is that if you you share? melody: i think the department of justice in many ways has been relying on and watching thes hearings very carefully because the select committee has been able to use subpoena power at a different level, at a different standard than the department of justice would be required to. they've been able to gather information to start to shake their case. it is my understanding, this and to what chairman thompson has been saying, what congresswoman cheney has been saying, there have been conversations with the

department of justice and they are starting to build i don't know if it is a case but certainly gather more information to determine whether or not they can go forward. there is no question that georgia and the da in fulton county is much further ahead with the subpoenas they have issued and specific people we know are in their sites. geoff: what do you hear from committee members on that specific issue? what do they expect the doj to do next if anything? hugo: i think cmittee members have been complaining publicly that doj hasn't been doing much or slow to respond. it is important to note two things. first of all, the department of justice has impaneled at least two grand juries looking to people close to trump, they have one impaneled looking at the rallies and one investigating the lawyers close to the president.

separately, the attorney general has asked the internal policy shop in the department of justice whether he is cleared to open an investigation. there's a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes the justice permit cannot confirm, but i think they are ramping up the investigation in ways we have not seen previously. geoff: you have your virtual reporters notebook open. what is happening with the deleted texts on the part of the secret service? the committee has asked to have those records turned over by tuesday in advance of the thursday hearing. congressman kinsinger was on the sunday shows today and he says he has no idea what the committee will get because he don't know if any of the tts were backed up. hugo: that's what they heard from the inspector general for dhs. it was behind closed doors. from what i heard, the inspector general told him things that worried them. the story keeps changing, at one

point it was software updates and and it was we swapped out devices and they were not backed up and we don't have the text messages from junri for than six, two of the most crucial dates of the insurrection. i think that's why the select committee moved so fast in issuing subpoenas for after action reports that we understand never actually took place as well as text messages showing -- text messages or evidence gathering to see if they can piece together what happens. geoff: as the committee has held these hearings, even before the hearings started, there has been a normalization on the right of january 6 being something of a protest rally that went sort of off the rails rather than what it was, which was an attack on our democracy. what do you think is the impact of that and just the way the american public views the functions of the government, given the many bombshell revelations that have come forward from this committee's

work product? melody: we have to understand the here and now but the long-term implications for this for democratic institutions, practices and culture are quite sick again. -- quite significant. when you get today's that the public are hearing about like december 18 and the meeting described as unhinged, i think from all of these other administrations, they would tell you that isn't the way the presidency is supposed to work. you have a roving band of people spreading misinformation being whisked into the white house not under normal circumstances, that is wrong. all of this is being normalized. i think that is a significant threat. we are teetering on the edge and for people who don't understand that, this is the moment to wake up, that we are teetering on the edge when it comes to the underpinnings of our democracy. geoff: hugo, in the 30 seconds left, i mentioned at the outset

this is likely the final hearing, but we heard from committee members today it might not be. what more should we expect? hugo: according to my sources, there may be a second set of hearings towarthe end of august. it is an ongoing investigation, that's what we keep hearing. geoff: thank you so much for being with us. ♪ online now... for more coverage of the january 6th hearings, inuding a look at the witnesses who've been called to testify, visit pbs.org/newshour. and that's our show for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. for all of us at "pbs news weekend" thanks for spending part of your sunday with us. weekend" has been provided by -- -- >> 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.]

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