♪ judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight. at the extreme -- the climate crisis remains in the forefront as historic heat waves grip the united states and europe, prompting the president to consider declaring a national emergency. then, protecting marriage -- congress moves to codify federal protections for lgbtq unions amid fears of future supreme court actions. and, 10 years later -- the mass shooting in an aurora, colorado, movie theater still haunts survivors and relatives of the victims. >> for some people, there's detachment. for some people, it's loss of hope. for some people, basically, their perspective of the world has changed. judy: all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour."

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judy: heat waves here in the u.s. and abroad are fueling new appeals tonight for action on climate change. president biden addressed the issue today, as large swaths of the united states and europe spent another day on broil. geoff bennett begins our coverage. geoff: parts of europe tonight remain in the grip of a scorching heatwave, bringing with it fires. in italy, firefighters spent the day battling flames in tuscany. hundreds were forced to evacuate as blazes spread across the border into slovenia. in greece, authorities were able to control wildfire sparked outside of athens, after several resints lost their homes. >> the entire house burned, everything was lost, books, cd's, piano, clothes, icons, photos, files, everything that a person would have. geoff: firefighters in spain and

france are still battling wildfires in the sou, and temperatures in the uk finally fe after breaking records yesterday as europe's heatwave rages on, oppressive and dangerous heat is spreading across the u.s. more than 100 million americans in 28 states are now under heat advisories. texas and oklahoma saw record temperatures, with heat indexes as high as 115 degrees in some areas, and wildfires. residents in the central and northeast parts of the country are bracing for blistering heat this week. the heatwave is the latest call to action on climate change, as president biden today unveiled a new set of executive actions. pres. biden: as president i have a responsibility to act with urgency and resolve when our nation faces clear and present danger. and that's what climate change is about. geoff: the new measures boost the domestic offshore wind industry, offer home energy assistance for low income

americans, and provide funding to protect communities facing extreme heat. the rollout follows the failed effort to strike a deal on climate change in congress, with democratic west virginia senator joe manchin nixing clean energy initiatives in the party's broader budget bill. pres. biden: in the coming days, my administration will announce the executive actions we have develod to combat this emergency. we need to act. geoff: president biden considering declaring a national climate emergency on the but stopping short today, even as many democrats and climate activists grow frustrated over washington's inaction. two sources familiar with internal white house discussions say the declaration of a national emergency would likely trigger lawsuits. and any steps to limit oil and gas production under a national emergency could be politically dangerous for the biden white house, which has been working to lower historically high gas prices. the president taking it all into consideration as his administration works to salvage

its aggressive climate agenda. for the "pbs newshour," i'm geoff bennett. judy: as temperatures rise, so are heat related deaths and some cities in the u.s. are especially feeling the effects of high temperature emergencies at this moment. stephanie sy focuses on that part of the story tonight. stephany: judy, phoenix is one of those cities. it created the first publicly funded office of heat response and mitigation to focus on heat related problems. i'm joined by its director, david hondula, to talk about what cities can do to be better prepared. thank you for joining the newshour. phoenix is used to months of triple-digit temperatures, but when you see triple digits in the uk, when you see austin, texas experiencing 40 days already of triple digits this summer, is that shocking even to you? david: those are shocking numbers. thanks for having us on. shocking numbers, numbers that

leave us really concerned about what the public health impacts of this extreme heat will be in communities where the infrastructure has historically not been designed for it. we are fortunate in phoenix that coping with heat has been part of daily life decades, but the type of extreme heat we are seeing playing out is not something that communities everywhere have been dealing with. unfortunately we are seeing reports about a significant public health toll in those locations. stephanie: we know even phoenix is having to adjust its infrastructure to deal with even more extreme heat. what are you doing that other cities may need to consider to adjust to the reality of climate change? david: there is so many reasons people find themselves in trouble related to heat, wind up in the hospital or worse. we are trying to look at public health data and implement a portfolio of strategies to help people most in need. we know the best use of our resources and investments is trying to help our unsheltered community with whom the risk of

heat related death is about 200 to 300 times higher than the rest of the population. that is a group that does not always show up cleanly in administrative records, can fall througthe cracks. we are thinking about programming and strategies. we are fortunate to have data to understand that is where the problem is concentrated and that is where we are focusing our efforts first and foremost. stephanie: phoenix is what experts call a heat island. all the asphalt and urbanization traps the heat and makes it hotter in phoenix than in surrounding areas. how do other cities prevent themselves from becoming heat islands, as we see temperatures rise around the world? david: you are right that when we think about beating the heat, it is a two-part game. we need strategies to keep people safe when it is hot. we can take steps to keep our cities cooler as we move forward, thinking about the materials in our city, how many machines are releasing waste

heat in the environment, what our urban canopy is, when we talk about ways to cool neighborhoods, adding more trees is always at the top of the list. it's a challenge in hot cities across the sun belt, b we need to be doing more to meet the community need. it's hard to find better strategies that can provide shade and improve quality of life in neighborhoods than adding trees. stephanie: we are at the point where cities like boston and new york and chicago are also looking at these heat mitigation efforts. president biden did not make a climate emergency declaration today, which he is under pressure by some to do given the deadlock in congress on climate change legislation. in yr view what is needed from the federal government? david: encouraged to see some of the new resources and new explanation of how federal resources can be used in today's announcement.

additional creativity in how heat funding can be used can make a difference in the long-term, but the scale of investment required, particularly for retrofitting some of our older cities and meeting the incredible community demand across the country requires more thinking than what we saw in today's encouraging news. i think a larger scale of investment is needed from local communities, from states and the federal government. we look forward to continuing to communicate with federal government on how we can help people in need in phoenix and beyond. stephanie: extreme heat kills more people every year than all other natural disasters combined in the u.s. should agencies like fema be doing something more now to respond to extreme heat they way they would respond to other natural disasters, say a hurricane? david: i do think we need to think about mobilizing more resources. we all have pictures in our

memory of hurricane katrina and how the superdome was a focal point for community response. provided as emergency shelter. i wonder what it would look like for us to do a better job in phoenix and providing shelter for people living on the streets. about 3000 people in the city of phoenix alone living on the street without regular shelter. what would it look like to get every one of those folks access to cool space? can fema help be a partner in more of an emergency response style mobilization? i don't know what the right model is yet, but we need to be thinking about bigger solutions than we have right now. the public health data indicate we are not doing enough. stephanie: the director of the office of heat response and mitigation in phoenix, thanks for joining the newshour. ♪

stephanie: we will return to the full program after the latest headlines. ukrainian forces used u.s. supplied rockets to blast a bridge that is critical to russian troops in the south. the span crosses the knipro river connecting to the port at kherson. that city is controlled by the russians, and the bridge is key to their supply flow. the attack left the bridge riddled with holes. cars were still able to cross, but local officials said trucks and heavy military vehicles would have to detour. ukraine's first lady appealed directly to the u.s. congress today for additional weapons and financial support. olena zelenska spoke at the u.s. capitol, giving graphic accounts of russian missile strikes. she also welcomed billionsf dollars in u.s. military aid so far, but said raine needs even more. >> you help us and your help is very strong. while russia kills, america saves, and you should know about

it. we thank you for that, but unfortunately the war is not over. the terror continues. stephanie: later, u.s. defense secretary lloyd austin announced pls to send more high-tech rocket systems to ukraine. they can strike targets 50 miles away. the united nations says afghanistan has seen some 700 killings since the taliban seized power nearly a year ago. the report says most were carried out by the islamic state group, but it also finds that overall security has improved. at the same time, it highlights a crackdown on press freedoms and women's right to education. the taliban today called the findings "baseless propaganda". the turmoil in sri lanka took a new turn today as lawmakers chose the prime minister to be president, despite demands for his ouster. the indian ocean island is reeling from economic collapse and severe shortages. protesters gathered today outside the presidential office in colombo.

they insisted the new leader is no better than the one who fled last week. >> i think it is a sad day though, it's a sad day not just for the people of this country but for the world i guess because it seems the entire world is sort of accepting this most unethical manner of leadership because this is someone who did not win an election. judy: the new president had already imposed a state of emergency. he appealed today for unity. back in this country, former president trump's pick for governor of maryland won tuesday's republican primary. far-right state legislator dan cox easily defeated a more moderate rival backed by outgoing governor larry hogan, a longtime trump critic. the democratic primary winner won't be known until mail-in ballots are tallied. a california beachfront property worth millions was returned today to the heris of a black

couple whose rights to the land were stripped of must a century ago. at a ceremony on the property, los angeles county officials welcomed the bruce family with the deed. the manhattan city council seized land in 1924 through eminent domain, but officials determined the real motivation was racism. today county officials called the return of the land unprecedented in the united states. still to come on the newshour, the atf swears in a new permanent director as mass shootings continuo. the mother of a journalist murdered by isis discusses how the u.s. handles hostage situations. the leader of a sexual wellness organization gives her brief but spectacular take on menstruation. 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.

judy: when the u.s. supreme court issued its opinion last month overturning roe v. wade and 50 years of precedent on abortion rights, justice clarence thomas suggested the court should also reconsider other cases like obergefell v. hodges, the 2015 decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. yesterday, the u.s. house of representatives voted to protect marriage equality if the justices reverse course. but as john yang reports, justice thomas has already set off alarm bells in the lgbtq community. john: judy, we asked married gay, lesbian and transgender viewers about their concerns. here is some of what they told us. >> i live in minneapolis. i am in an interracial queer relationship. we are married. we just had a baby. >> i live in atlanta, georgia. >> i live with him in atlanta, georgia.

>> this is my wife. >> we have been married since 2008, when it became legal in california. actually within days of it becoming legal. if not on the date, actually. >> we have been a couple for 30 years and legally married since 2014. we are from evanston, illinois. >> i live in birmingham, alabama now. i have been in a relationship with my wife since 1997. >> particularly because we live in the south, in a state that is probably on that list of states that would like to take measures into its own hands if the supreme court allowed it, and also because we have children and it puts our family in a precarious position, i would say our reaction was one of worry. we are trying not to worry too much. we are trying to be hopeful, but it is now in the back of our minds that we need to have

contingency plans in place. >> i don't know where that means to health care, but it worries me, that our family would be unrecognized in states. >> it's terrifying, right? there is a very real possibility that if abortion can be overturned, interracial marriage can be overturned. protection for us has been about planning our estates, making sure that we have guardianship laid out for our son. >> i always told the story, when i was still in school in tallahase, probably about 2008, 2009, we both had pneumonia. i got out of the hospital and she had to go to the emergency room. we are talking to a nurse and my wife is going to have to go into intermediate care. she was pretty bad off at that point and she said who can make decisions for you? my wife looks at me. the woman looks at us and says

no, someone who can acally make decisions. we got married legally on our anniversary in 2016. it has been much less anxiety ridden. it is not hard to imagine that the 2008 hospital situation happening again. >> we have a family binder that has our marriage certificas, our children's birth certificates, domestic partnership certificates, all that paperwork we still have to carry around because we feel at some point we may need to justify our relationship. to do that is exhausting and unfair. those are questions we would not have asked until this ruling came out, because we had kind of felt more comfortable. suddenly it feels like we are on shaky ground again.

>> right now, marriage is legal and it's at the federal level. i don't want to have a conversation with my eight-year-old who does not know anythi else, he's only saw us as a married couple. i don't want to have to go back to them or anyone else i'm friends with who is in an lgbtq relationship who are mared and say, oh, we are doing this again. although we were very proud to go and speak out and help with this fight, i'm exhausted. >> many couples are turning to lawyers with their concerns, lawyers like sydney duncan of the magic city legal center, which provides free legal advice to the lgbtq community in birmingham, alabama. thanks for being with us. since the court overturned roe, have you been having more people come to you with concerns like this? sydney: absolutely. i think there is a general

anxiety which was prevalent in that piece you just ran in the queer community about where they stand in america today, especially in a red state. we are overwhelmed with questions. we had a state clinic two nights ago and it was our biggest we ever had. those couples who are coming in are already married. they typically have children. what we are doing is reverting to pre-2015 obergefell law practice. providing them with some sort of legal basis outside of their marriage that reflects the legal standing of their marriage. we are doing that with wills and estate planning documents such as power of attorney and advanced health care directives. people are very concerned right now. john: it is not just the right to marry, but all the rights that come with marriage that were -- that the supreme court said was constitutional in 2015.

talk about all the sorts of things that pre-obergefell, same-sex couples had to do and may have to do again. sydney: adopting your own child is something that stands out and is a popular inquiry at our legal practice. people who have been married for a long time have children who are older who don't know their parents by anything other than them being their parents are now wanting to adopt their own children. if one of them is not the biological parent on the birth certificate. the rights and privileges that exist in marriage extends now to same-sex couples. that was what obergefell did. that includes having both parents on the birth certificate, for instance. that has been challenged recently in indiana in 2020, the

attorney general tried to make illegal or not validate having same-sex couples on birth certificates. the supreme court did turn that away. there is some hope that would happen again, but with clarence thomas issuing political agendas basically through his recurring decisions that target queer people across america, there is nothing else to do but feel worried. john: how worried are you that could happen in the supreme court? sydney: i am -- it is hard to say. i think if you ask any attorney these days where they stand on precedent, they are going to give you a shakier answer than they would have prior to dobbs. i am not very concerned. i think obergefell sits on firmer ground than roe did. there are advantages in the equal protection argument that

is in that case that roe did not have. it is politically popular right now. there seems to be a skew between political want and judicial action right now in the supreme court. that is concerning to me. i'm not worried, but i'm also assisting my clients if they want to take these extra steps that they may not need to do ultimately. we are being prepared is a better way to say it. john: we heard one of the couples in our tape piece talk about making contingency plans. is that the approach you are taking now with your clients? sydney: it is. there is plenty of leeway that would happen if the supreme court were to take on a case like this. we wld have plenty of time to get everyone's affairs in order. i think people are doing it as a

way to feel better about the anxiety they are feeling with respect to what happened with dobbs and what it possibly could be for obergefell. it may be a self-soothing course of action for people, but it is better to be prepared than surprised in these matters. john: if they did overturn obergefell, this would upend the lives of millions of americans. sydney: i can imagine. what we would end up with is two very different american experiences. you would have a blue state and red state experience. those would be so different from each other. and i woy about that. i think right now we are politically being driven in that direction. if the law reinforces these political ideologies and enforces them on people who don't want them, we are in

danger of coming two different countries legally. john: attorney sydney duncan, from birmingham, alabama, thank you very much. sydney: thank you. ♪ judy: 10 years ago today, a gunman opened fire in a crowded movie theater in aurora, colorado, just outside denver, killing 12 people and wounding 70 more. at the time, it was one of the worst mass shootgs in the country's history, and sparked now-familiar conversations about gun control and mental health. a decade later, as william brangham reports, that massacre continues to take a daily toll on both individuals and the community. ♪ william: late last night, an all too familiar scene. a community once again gathering to remember those lost to a mass

shooting. >> our heavenly father, we are grateful for your presence here tonight. william: this year there have already been hundreds of these kinds of shootings in this country. in addition to the thousands of gun homicides and suicides tt don't make headlines. it is about 12:30 in the evening here in aurora, and this massacre happened 10 yrs ago tonight, almost to the minute. at a movie theater about a half-mile away from here a gunman dressed in tactical gear went into a midnight screening a batman movie and shot at moviegoers, 10 years ago right now. that is why they are holding this vigil this evening. >> john was the youngest of five children. he was smart, funny, and sarcastically witty. william: united in grief, bound by trauma, for years people have come together to mark what was lost that night. among those being remembered is

alex sullivan, who was murdered in that theater on his 27th birthday. >> the memorial is for all of you. if you need to go somewhere to remember the 12 people and remember that day and all of that, then i am all for doing what i can to help you with that. but i live in a place, at a space where i remember it every day. >> alex's father is a colorado state representative. alex was a big batman fan. >> his favorite character is nightwing, the first robin. >> before alex's death, sullivan was an air force veteran and postal worker. he collected comic books, raised his two kids with his wife terry, and was thinking about retirement. that night in the theater changed everything. >> firearms are getting into the hands of those who should not have them. william: in 2018 he entered state politics on a promise to try and move the needle on gun control. in his first term, when the

red-flag bill he sponsored was signed into law by governor jared polis, sullivan was there, as always wearing his son's leather jacket. we met sullivan as he and his wife were setting up his latest campaign office in their dining room, this year running for a state senate seat, and still working on gun reform. he says his presence in the legislature is to remind lawmakers of the ugly reality of gun violence. >> i'm not going to try to make you feel better about, you know, what happened that day. it wasn't a loss of -- you know, they weren't little angels that floated up to the sky and stuff. they were kids and some of them were just savagely murdered. and i think about it, in alex's case, alex was only hit one time. a single shot that went through his left side, went through his lung, went through his kidney. his heart, came out his neck. he died instantly.

that was it. there's another family there who their son was hit nine times. nine times in that theater with those armor piercing -- his body was torn apart. i don't know if i'm the same guy, if i can talk to you, if that's my son. >> i feel unsafe. like that's the best way to describe it is i never feel safe. i always have to have a ckup plan wherever we go. william: now married and mother of two, 10 years ago, jena long was stationed at buckley air foe base in aurora. on a whim, she decided to join a group of military friends at the batman premiere. and what happened that night has haunted her ever since. >> i always felt guilty about surviving. william: because you walked out. >> because i walked out. one of my coworkers didn't. i felt guilty that i did survive.

william: she has carried that trauma for years, but eventually found an outlet in weightlifting. it helps her cope with that guilt and stress. she joined a non-profit called "pull your heart out" that uses lifting to help people deal with their trauma. >> i didn't really start talking about this until two years ago. william: eight years into this, you were still holding that at bay? >> yeah, i was pushing it down. and it was easier sometimes to push it down, but not all the time, because then it would explode into this, like, crazy meltdown i would have like a toddler. but now that i'm actually processing, i can control it a lot more. and i've been talking about it a lot more because i realized that maybe my story can help people. >> the number of ways people deal with trauma is the number of people who exist and experience trauma. william: dr. arash javanbakht dires the stress, trauma and anxiety research clinic at wayne state university.

he studies the impact mass shootings can have on both individuals and communities. >> for some people, there's detachment. for some people, it's loss of hope. for some people, basically, their perspective of the world is changed. the way they see life, the way they define experiences. some people turn to the action. some channel their emotions into action. we have seen some of the survivors of these events start becoming activists who are trying to find solutions to make this better. william: can a community itself experience trauma from one of these types of shootings? >> i would say yes. when people can make a personal connection to these experiences, it becomes more traumatic and more painful and horrifying to people, let alone the fact that people also now ve a less a strong sense of safety and security because it did happen. william: it is important to note that statistical, mass

shootings are still rare, representing a very small percentage of total u.s. gun deaths. but javanbakht says the repeated shootings in public places like supermarkets, schools, malls, and places of worship shrink the number of spaces where people feel safe. and they reinforce the fact that very little has been done to prevent what happened to them, to their loved ones, and to their community from happening again. >> that feeling of helplessness has a very big impact on people. at the end of the day they feel th we lost lives to this problem and the problem is not being addressed. >> it feels like they are in our faces all the time and we will just have more and more shootings and i feel like there's a high likelihood that it's going to happen again. and so i try to prepare for that. >> the numbers continue to go up. the firearms sales are going up.

but also there are people who are alive today because of the things that we have been doing, not just here in colorado, but in other states. and that is just what you have to kind of hold on to. william: back at the memorial, as in years past, this vigil ended with a procession of first responders. for the "pbs newshour," i'm william brangham in aurora, colorado. ♪ judy: for the first time in seven years, the federal government has senate-confirmed director in charge of the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives, the agency better known as atf.

steven dettelbach was sworn in yesterday as its leader, and he takes over at a time when gun violence in america is on the rise. i spoke with him moments ago. thank you very much for joining us. we appreciate it. we have just shown our audience the reminder of what happened in aurora 10 years ago. what kind of pain that still exists in that community. today here we are years later, still seeing way too many mass shootings, not to mention gun violence, off the charts in this country. remind us the role of the atf and what do you see as your main priority? dir. dettelbach: atf's mission is pretty simple, it is to protect the american public from firearms violence and violent crime. that means the horrible things that you talked about in aurora, the things we have seen in uvalde and buffalo and

pittsburgh and highland park, but it also means the tragedies that happened to hundreds of families every week. every day more than 100 families lose somebody in this country because of firearms violence. working with our state and local law enforcement partners, the mission of atf is to push back on that, to catch the people out there hurting people and make our country safer. judy: i hear you saying you want to catch them, but in the meantime is there anything atf can do to reduce the number of guns in this country? what is it, 120 guns for every 100 americans? dir. dettelbach: the role of atf is to enforce the laws as we get them from congress. we are dedicated to doing that at atf. atf has done that for a long time. we work with state and local law enforcement to do that. that means making sure we have

an effective, fair, and consistent regulatory scheme so that people following the law are ok and the people who are breaking the law are held accotable. judy: i hear you say that. at the same time we know there e laws on the books right now, but something isn't working because of these statistics. are there law changes, new laws you would be willing to put in the atf behind? dir. dettelbach: let me be clear, things are tough right now for law enforcement and americans in terms of the threats we face. violent crime is on the rise. mass shootings are on the rise. domestic extremist violence is on the rise. those are all threats that everyday americans are facing. there is a lot of different proposals out there.

just recently, in a bipartisan way, congress enacted some legislation. the atf's primary role as opposed to congress' is to take the laws passed and make sure we are doing everything to be fair and effective enforcers of the law. that is what we have done and will continue to do. judy: but for example, some have suggested what the atf and others need to get behind is raising the age of those eligible to buy semi automatic weapons. is that something that you as director would support? dir. dettelbach: president biden has spoken about these kinds of issues. congress will consider the things they consider. the atf's role is to take what comes out of that debate, that important discussion, and make sure we are doing our best to enforce it judy: we spoke with a former longtime atf agent who said u.s. attorneys need to be more

aggressive in enforcing the laws already on the books. he said state and federal prosecutors have chosen not to take many atf cases in the past, which in his view has led to the fact that there has not been an incentive for people to give up illegal guns. dir. dettelbach: i am a former u.s. attorney and career prosecutor myself for 20 years. one of the things that is exciting right now about the department of justice is we set up gun trafficking strike forces. i had a meeting today with those running those strike forces, and those strike forces are led by the u.s. attorneys offices. one of the things i heard in that meeting was that with the attention everyone is now paying to the issues of gun trafficking, that state and local prosecutors and u.s. attorneys offices are in many cases leaning into this problem. i think we need them as

important partners. i hope that most of them -- i hope all of them will be all in on this just like atf is. judy: two quick questions. one is, something like 2400 atf agents spread around the country, i am told that has not changed in decades, and a budget of $1.4 billion year, less than the chicago police department. we looked it up. do you have the resources you need? dir.ettelbach: look, there is not a law enforcement executive or police chief in the united states who would not tell you they could use more agents and cops. we will do the best we can, we will do all we can with what we have. the atf is a small agency, but we leverage our ability by those partnerships with state and local law enforcement. there is nobody better in all of

law enforcement in partnering with other federal agencies and state agencies. that is the brand of the atf. it has to be. you said yourself, it's a small agency. there are not enough atf agents to cover every crime in the u.s., but we can work with others. judy: what would your message be today to those who lost loved ones in this country to gun violence, and americans who are afraid to go out in their community now? dir. dettelbach: i have met with a lot of people and families through my career who were victims and had family members who were victims of violent crime. there is nothing anybody can say that can in any way try to stand or comfort those people, it is just horrible. the fact that we have so many in our country every day is a

tragedy that we simply cannot accept. that is what i would say to them, that i and the men and women at atf, along with our law enforcement partners, do not accept or in any way try to minimize or brush aside the tragedies that are occurring every day in this country. it is what keeps us working at night. we will do everything we can to try and make sure there aren't as many families who have to go through the same tragedies as they are. judy: a newly sworn in director of the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives. thank you very much. ♪ this week, president biden signed an executive order to improve the administration's

efforts to free the more than 60 u.s. nationals held hostage or who are wrongfully detained abroad. the new order aims to increase information to their relatives, and impose sanctions on the governments and terrorist organizations that hold them captive. but, some families say the administration needs to do more to bring their loved ones home. to discuss this, i am joined again here by diane foley, whose son james was an american journalist kidnapped in syria in 2012, and killed by isis in 2014. since then, she's been advocating for the freedom of americans held abroad, through a foundation that bears her son's name. diane foley, thank you for being with us. we always want to say to you, our heart goes out to you on the loss of your son, even though it has been eight years. diane: thank you, judy. that is partly what was heartbreaking for me today, to

see so many families going through this again. it's heartbreaking. judy: you are bringing this organization "bring our families home," unveiling a mural, but it's a reminder of how much still needs to be done you are saying. diane: exactly. these families have come together out of desperation. they are so afraid their loved one will be yet another american who is abandoned abroad. judy: this executive order the president has signed, among other things, holding governments and nonstate actors like isis accountable. how much dference do you think this will make? diane: detrence is essential. i think our government is trying to solve this increasing problem. so i'm very grateful for all that has happened, but the families want their people home. for that to happen we need our president to prioritize that

action, which is difficult, because there are so many things captors want. it requires shrewd negotiation, diplomacy, consideration of so many of our policies. judy: i - i hear you saying the government is not doing enough. it is one thing to have this executive action, an attempt to deter these governments, but you are saying more. exactly what more? diane: bringing our people home, judy. we need to prioritize the return of innocent americans. the only reason these people have been taken is because they are american, they are political prisoners. they are prisoners because they have an american passport. judy: you are talking about dealing with governments and sometimes terrorist organizations. is either kind of captor easier

or more difficult to work with? diane: these state workers are more complicated because they love to interfere with our foreign policy and use our citizens as political pawns. they can even be more complex, annoying, frustrating for our government. it has to be hard. i know it's complicated, but i also believe in the united states. these families frankly are counting on the president to bring some of their loved es home before they die. it will be eight years since jim was executed in august. their fear is that their family member won't be able to last long enough until they can come home. judy: when the biden administration representative, i was reading a special envoy for hostage affairs was saying today president biden knows every

case, he is personally committed. do you sense that? diane: our roger feels that. he is so committed to this issue. our president obviously has a lot on his plate. the "bring our families home" campaign, this coalition of desperate families wants to talk to the president. that hasn't happened. judy: one of the points the administration makes is in order to act on these cases, they need to say this is an illegal detainee. making that determination, they suggest, is a process. diane: well, it is. all of these 64 plus have already been wrongfully detained. there is hundreds of others. but it is a process. we need prioritization to bring our people home. we need to care as a nation.

we need to have the back not just of our brave soldiers but our brave journalists, aid workers, our businessmen who go out in the world. these citizens are counting on our president. judy: you said every one of these cases is different, each one is unique with a different set of circumstances. what would come across to you as a sign this administration is taking what you are saying seriously? diane: this campaign requested a virtual meeting with the president. he does not have time for them. that to me is sad. these are our people. i really think our president would care if he heard the stories. these are breathing, living sons, daughters, husbands, wives. to me it is a very pernal

issue. i know america can do thbest. i implore the president to hear the voices of his people. judy: one other thing i want to ask you about, you over the past year have met three times with one of the men responsible for the death of your son. did he express an explanation, an apology? diane: he did. that was part of his plea deal, that he was willing to talk to families. jim would have wanted me to do that. he would not have wanted me to be afraid of him. i think it was good for alexander and for me to be able to see each other as people. he did express remorse. of course he had his reasons. the sad part is everyone lost.

he lost his citizenship. he won't see his family again. and we lost. judy: do you feel in talking to him that you came away with a better understanding why something like this would happen and how it might be prevented in the future? diane: yes. i think it's very easy to misunderstand when you never interact with someone else, and to engender -- like he was brought up with all this hatred of the west. it was just fed in the jihadist ideology. to me, that was important too, to reach out to him. otherwise it is the cycle of violence just continues. judy: diane foley, a remarkable act to be able to sit down with him. thank you so much for talking to us.

diane: thank you. ♪ judy: lynette medley is the founder and ceo of "no more secrets: mind, body, spirit," a comprehensive sexual health and awareness organization. based in philadelphia, medley and her team started by delivering menstrual products door-to-door to underserved communities, and have since established a groundbreaking menstrual hub. tonight, medley offers her brief but spectacular take on ending period poverty. lynette: i remember this young person and i call her holly. she looked me right in the face and she said, miss lynette, how do you expect me to respect and protect my body when one week out the month i have to resort

to the most horrendous things just to get access to menstrual products, i would have to steal. i will have to have sex with people i didn't wanna have sex with. and that's how i got into this space. ♪ period poverty is the inability to access menstrual hygiene products. and most of the time, when you think of poverty, you think of housing insecurity, food insecurity and things like that. so when you think about those populations, half of those populations are actually in period poverty. and our communities -- and i am a black woman -- we do not talk about sexuality related topics at all. when i first got my menstrual cycle or my period, i remember when i told my mother about it. it was like, don't tell anyone else. now you're a woman. now you have to act different. i didn't even know what a period was when i got it, because it was no conversation about it. i received a lot of resistance and i still do with the work

that i do around sexuality related topics. no more secrets: mind, body spirit incorporated basically started off as a comprehensive sexuality awareness organization, but then it fed right into bodily autonomy, which fed right into period poverty. i opened up the menstrual hub, the spot period during the national pandemic. it has menstrual hygiene products. it has toiletries. it has wifi. it has computers. it has running water and operable toilets. it is a comprehensive approach to menstrual health and wellbeing so that people can live in dignity with their periods. a large part of the work that we do is community oriented. so we are out in the communities all over philadelphia in the surrounding areas, dropping off these five month supplies of menstrual products. this is something that should be covered by medicaid, medicare, or snap benefits, any school that gets free lunches should get free menstrual products, and

we need to start looking at menstrual health as a system of care. we serve young people as young as seven years old. it's disrespectful and basically demoralizing to have this young person have to engage in unsafe behaviors just to deal with something that they have no control over. my name is lynette medley. this is my brief, but spectacular take on ending period poverty. judy: what a wonderful thing. out in the open, as it should be. you can watch more of our brief but spectacular videos at pbs.org/newshour/brief. on the newshour online right now, a new poll from the newshour, npr and marist finds president biden's approval ratings have continued to sink, especially among independents. you can dig into the numbers on our website, pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff.

join us online and again here tomorrow evening. 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's goal has been to provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of no contract plans and our u.s.-based customer service team can find one that fits you. 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. ♪

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ >> this is the pbs newshour from weta studios in washington and from the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] ♪

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