amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff bennett is on assignment. on the "newshour" tonight. president biden makes a surprise visit to ukraine, pledging further military support as the one year anniversary of russia's devastating invasion approaches. teenage girls in the united states experience record high levels of violence and sadness in the wake of the pandemic. >> schools need to be a really critical part of how we address this. you know, many of us said that we can't simply treat our way out of this youth mental health amna: and the future of abortion , access and voting rights in wisconsin face a critical test as voters decide the next state supreme court.

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announcer: this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. by geoff: -- amna: president biden has arrived in poland tonight, after making an unannounced visit to kyiv just days ahead of the one year anniversary of russia's full scale invasion of ukraine. the administration says it informed moscow before biden arrived. this marks the first visit by a u.s. president to ukraine in 14 years. with the support of the pulitzer center, nick schifrin reports from kyiv. nick: at the end of a 5000 mile journey the commander in chief , visited a capital at war, to provide an embattled country a show of solidarity.

on the right, the leader who one year ago refused a us effort to evacuate, wearing his trademark olive drab. on the left, the leader who became ukraine's most important supporter, wearing a tie striped with ukraine's national colors. pres. biden: i'm here to show our unwavering support for the nation's independence, your sovereigy and territorial integrity. nick: the administration today called president biden's visit unprecedented in modern times, to a warzone without a significant us military presence. russia launched its full scale invasion 361 days ago. president biden remembered, it seemed dire. pres. biden: one year ago, the world was literally at the time bracing for the fall of kyiv. perhaps even the end of ukraine. you know, one year later kyiv stands and ukraine stands. democracy stands. the americans stand with you,

and the world stands with you. kyiv has captured a part of my heart, i must say. >> we can and we must ensure that 2023 becomes the year of victory, with the liberation of ukrainian landrom russian occupation, with solid guarantees of long-term security of our country, europe, and the entire world. nick: but while the u.s. today announce another $500 million package of weapons transfers. it does not include long-range weapons that zelenskyy once again requested. >> such an important package is an unmistakable signal that russian revenge attempts would have no chance. nick: the u.s. informed moscow of biden's travel. but still, moscow scrambled jets, triggering ukraine's air raid sirens. it came during a visit to st. michael's cathedral, which became a sanctuary during the 2014 protests known as the

revolution of dignity. on this date every year, ukraine remembers the more than 100 protestors killed 9 years ago, helping evict a pro-russian president. today, biden and zelenskyy remembered the more than 4500 soldiers killed since then, fighting russia. pres. biden: thank you for having me back. nick: inside, zelenskyy and biden met with orthodox church of ukraine leaders, who've helped forge an independent religious identity distinct from russia. and even in a country at war, there was time for a quiet moment. this was the scene outside during that portions of the visit. this was about as close as we could get, about 600 or 700 feet away. there was unprecedented security here in the center of kyiv, this is usually a bustling street. the city's center was locked down, and mobile and internet service cut off around biden. the president convoy drove quickly through empty streets.

biden is no stranger to kyiv. he visited some of these same sites, back in 2014, after russia's initial invasion. but his trip today, right before a sad milestone, was the trip zelenskyy and his team wanted most. pres. biden: freedom is priceless. it's worth fighting for as long as it takes. and that's how long we're going to be with you, mr. president, for as long it takes. amna: john from kyiv. as you know, is no small feat to move him 1000 miles into a war zone in secret. what do we know about the planning and execution of this historic trip? nick: it was a trip that was kept secret from all but the senior officials in each agency. and the reporters who accompanied biden along the way report that president biden left washington dc at 4:00 a.m. on

sunday and a smaller than normal plane that had been kept darkened and off to the side. he landed in eastern poland and drove to the border and tokay nine and half hour train to kyiv. he had to take a train because the airspace has been closed since last february. that is the train he took arriving back into poland tonight. the same route that we have taken and all previous heads of state have taken through the last year but this is not the same train that the rest of us take. take a look at this photo. president biden and jake sullivan even had an office. officials say it took the months of meticulous planning to get biden safely here. amna: this trip comes at a critical time. we are inuring the one-year mark in the war. what do we know about how the discussions unfolded between president biden and president zelenskyy? what did they talk about? nick: it is a critical moment not only because of the anniversary but because the fighting has already increased across ukraine's east and is

expected to intensify. russian forces according to u.s. and ukrainian officials we speak two have already launched an offensive with the goal of capturing all of donetsk province. the presidents also discussed -- it spreads across 100 miles. the presidents also discussed ukraine's plans for a counter offensive expected in the coming weeks in the south of the country. u.s. officials i speak to on the counteroffensive are split on the chances of success but u.s. officials helping to plan the next few weeks in ukraine believe that training and new armored vehicles coming into ukraine should give kyiv the chance to create advantages along the front line in the south where ssian troops have been digging in for many months. where u.s. and ukrainian officials do not agree, the long-range weapons that we reported in the story that president zelenskyy once again asked for and as of now the u.s.

is still refusing to provide. amna: the last couple of days we have heard from the vice president and secretary blinken, public calls warning china against supplying lethal aid to russia. what is behind that and what should we know? nick: the warning came from antony blinken three separate times this weekend in public and during a meeting he had wet now she had with china's top diplomat at the munich security coerence. officials are concerned because according to congressional officials, chinese companies have begun to send dual use technology including surveillance items to the paramilitary group leading the fighting in bakhmut. and to the ministry of defense. a senior u.s. ministry of defense told me that beijing was likely looking away from these sales. what u.s. officials are trying to do is make sure that the to

-- dual use technology is not passed through official channels. but also the step that you mentioned that beijing does not cross the threshold and send lethal aid, weapons to russia. and though short-term the u.s. does not want to see anyone help russia in these crucial weeks and months, but long-term, the u.s. believes its export controls on moscow will cripple the russian military in the next few years. one of the few avenues that russia can turn to to bail it out and still fuel the modern military is beijing and that is what the u.sdoes not want to see happen. amna: nick schifrin reporting from kyiv. thank you. ♪ vanessa: here are the latest headlines. a late-night earthquake touched

off more terror across the turkey-syria border region. at least three people died and more hurt. it was centered in southern rkey and was less intense than the quake that killed 46,000 people two weeks ago, but it was felt hundreds of miles away. officials reported more buildings collapsed, trapping people inside. north korea drew fresh condemnation today, after its last round of missile firings. the north launched 2 short-range missiles into the se off japan. that followed the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile on saturday. in response, the un security council called an emergey meeting in new york today. the u.s. criticized russia and china for opposing new sanctions. >> the council's lack of action is worse than shameful. it is dangerous. now is the time for the security council to work together toward a peaceful solution on the kore peninsula before it's too late vanessa: the sister of

north korean leader kim jong un warned the regime will keep using the pacific its "firing range", unless the u.s. military pulls back in the region. the far-right government in israel advanced an overhaul of the courts today, amid mass dissent. supporters in parliament approved a plan to give the executive branch more power over outside, tens of thousands of people blocked major highways in jerusalem in protest. opponents of the plan y it would upend israel's system of checks and balances. the un nuclear watchdog says it's asking iran about signs of uranium being enriched to levels very near nuclear weapons-grade. a number of reports today said the internationaltomic energy agency detected uranium at 84 percent purity at iranian sites. it takes 90% purity to make a bomb. tehran, in turn, denied the reports and accused the agency of acting in bad faith.

raising such issues the media, which should normally be discussed in technical communications and bilateral meetings, is a sign of the international atomic energy agency moving away from professionalism and its technical status. manasseh: -- vanessa iran : abandoned curbs on i nuclear activities after then-president trump pulled the u.s. out of the 2015 nuclear deal. in southeast brazil hundreds of rescuers searched today for dozens of people missing after extreme rains. the weekend deluge killed at least 40 people. nearly 24 inches of rain in 24 hours swamped streets, while in rural areas, mudslides washed away entire roads. officials say more than 1,700 people have been displaced. back in this country, classes resumed at michigan state university, a week after a mass shooting there killed 3 students. at the same time, students,

local leaders and activists gathered outside the state capitol, in nearby lansing demanding strict new gun laws. >> for too long in michigan, parents have waited and waited for politicians to put our children's safety first. except that too many of those politicians were in the pockets of the gun lobby, while pgenerations of children experience the trauma of lockdown drills, and worse, actual shootings. vaness three of the 5 students who were wounded in the shootings remain in critical condition. in southern california, a suspect has been arrested in the shooting death of roman catholic bishop david o'connell. authorities named carlos medina, the husband of the bishop's housekeeper, as the suspect. o'connell's body was discovered saturday at his home, in los angeles county. last night, community members held a vigil expressing condolences and reciting prayers. bishop o'connell was 69 years old. still to come on the newshour, despite nationwide rejection,

election deniers hold crital positions in republican politics. also, actor michelle yo discusses her oscar-nominated performance, and animal shelters struggle as many pets adopted during the pandemic are returned. >> this is the pbs newshour, from weta studios in washington, an in the west, from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. na: this week will mark one year since russia's full-scale invasion of ukraine with a series of stories. tonight, the drone warrior. nick schifrin and our videographer traveled to front-line units in donetsk province and reported on ukraine's efforts to modernize a more that is often seen to echo from last century. nick: in the forest outside bakhmut where two soldiers fight on their o, the sounds of war

have not changed for centuries. the ukrainian soldiers fight with the weapons of yesterday and today. they launch their $10,000 chinese drone up and over the trees they use for cover to hunt for russian troops. the 21st century version of forward observing. the drone relays the location to the artillery commander. before the war, the pilot was an engineer. which is his nick to use. >> commander of artillery's sees the screen also. they monitor it all the time and from different angles. they can direct fast and quickly. it takes approximately 3-5 minutes. nick: from the time you spot them to the time you can fire. >> yes, even faster. nick: we are about a mile and a half from the front line and we have

heard distant artillery and small arms all morning. and just the two of them operate completely isolated separated from their unit. they call their drone, an angel in the sky. on this day the drone filmed as a russian helicopter fired on ukrainian troops. he gave us other video from another battle. he called in the location of russian tanks so one could be hit with a ukrainian strike. >> they have weapons -- we give coordinates. it is easy to say but a little bit harder to do. nick: in wars gone by snipers hunted for other snipers. in this war drone pilots hunt each other. while you are using drones on the russians, are they using drones on you? >> yes, they are looking for us also. it is a huge lock if you find another pilot.

if you are not able to see the situation, your artillery is not working. reporter: you are blind. and when you are not flying -- >> we sleep in the bunker. nick: they have been using this location thanks to this bunker they happened to cross. he shows us some ukrainian hospitality things to a butane stove and some bottled water. he shows me how ukrainians try to detect russian drones. the russians have their own countermeasures. >> they shut down the sign. it is really harmful when you lose your drone. you are losing your friend. you had some connection. it is like your partner.

nick: some partners have been around longer than others. this ukrainian drone model has been flying since russia's initial 2014 invasion. it is not as fancy and specializes in photos but its operators consider it older and wiser much like they consider themselves. their unit name loosely translates to old fogies. the commander was were tired and volunteered the day of the invasion. >> at the start of the war the russians had more artillery and drones but now the balance has changed. i can feel it every day, and we are better. nick: the pilot is 51. he grew up in far western ukraine flying model airplanes. >> ever since i was six, my hobby was airplane modeling so in 2015 when i was called up, i understood i could contribute the most by becoming a drone pilot. nick: they are far from a main road.

but not from the artillery they our helping to aim. each surveillance flight lasts about an hour. the only way to know what the drone has seen is by manually opening it and removing its memory card which promptly goes into the van. we cannot show the screen but you are looking through photos the drone has taken to reveal russian locations. what can you do with those photos? >> it gives us information of quantity of military eipment and type of military equipment. this gives us the ability to target with the help of artillery or take additional actions. nick: to send their images they rely on starling owned by spacex ceo elon musk despite space x's threats to cut them off. >> i think elon musk is part of our team. i don't think he would block it. we can constantly feel his

support. nick: does the use of drones go both ways? is it like a cat and mouse game? >> we do not see significant changes and russian drones except for the iranian shahids. nick: that is a reference to the iranian attack drones. alongside russian missiles it has challenged ukraine's air defenses. senior u.s. and nato officials tell us ukraine will run out of its air defense within months. the west is building a western only air defense system including american patriots. the national advanced surface to air missile system, the same system that defense washington as well as european systems including from germany and france. president zelenskyy said it will work. >> i believe that today in terms of air defense systems we are probably at the best level since our independence.

nick: back in the van near the front, the team using old ukrainian technology believes the west needs to accelerate its assistance. >> it would be nice if europe and america would try to help finish the war as soon as possible because it is up to them how quickly wcan evict the invader from our land. nick: they have no faith that can be accomplished soon so they prepare for the next mission and help their comrades five big -- fight a grinding ground war with their eyes in the sky. the pbs newshour, i am nick schifrin outside bakhmut. ♪ amna: teenage girls in the u.s. are expeencing record high levels of violence and sadness, according to a recent cdc report. stephanie sy dives into the

numbers the scope , and significance of the problem. stephanie: the cdc has conducted the survey every couple years for decades and this new report is our first to measure the well-being of the nation's youth since the pandemic started. in 2021 the cdc saw an increase of mental health challenges across the board. girls in the u.s. are engulfed in a growing wave of sadness, violence and trauma. nearly three in five girls reported feeling persistent sadness and hopelessness. double the rate of boys. 25% of girls reported having made a suicide plan, and 14% reported having been forced to have sex, a four percent rise since the last survey. 22% of teenagers that identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or questioning have attempted suicide in the last year. for a look at how we got here and what can be done i am joined by the codirector of the

national center for school mental health and professor of psychiatry at the university of maryland's school of medicine, sharon hoover. thank you for joining us. i want to jump right in. there are so many topics. the decline of youth mental health goes back at least a decade but the number of girls reporting how much they are suffering really stands out in this report. why do things seem to be getting worse r teen girls? >> we are not surprised to see increases in mental health challenges. we have seen the trends happening for the last several ars. it was quite surprising in some respects to see the stark gender difference. as you said, this is a first national look we have had since the pandemic. it gives us an insight into how boys and girls and different folks that experienced the pandemic differently. stephanie why are we looking at : this gender gap?

why are girls suffering so much? >> there is a lot of speculation now that we have seen this stark difference between girls a boys. one of the hypotheses is that girls were more socially isolated and they rely more on their peers for his self-confidence and self-esteem or their general well-being. they also are more likely to spend time on social media and not just spend time on it but excessive time. it may makthem at greater risk for anxiety and depression. stephanie the cdc says schools : are on the front line of this crisis and that is your area of expertise. what is the role of schools in addressing hopelessness, and are they equipped for the task? >> i was pleased to see the cdc come out and say that schools need to be a critical part of how we address this. many of us have said we cannot treat our way out of this youth mental health crisis. there are noenough providers and it is not the right approach. i often talk about if we saw 60%

of our young people being injured in car accidents, the solution would not be to hire more physicians in the emergency department. we would take a public health approach and look at how we could better cars, -- better equipped cars, and how could we look at the driving age. similarly we need to take a mental health approach to help our young people and schools are one place we can do that. the cdc says we need to promote school connectedness. when we make a conrted effort and investment in those positive youth development approaches, we see improvements in school connectedness and impact on youth mental health. i think it is the right way go in terms of affects or one -- the for -- fix or one part of the resolution. amna: i want to come back to what was most starling to me.

stephanie 14% of teenage girls : report being forced to have sex, that they are experiencing rape and violence at higher rates. those things would impact mental health. shouldn't the headline be, girls are being targeted and raped at alarming rates. what is being done about the perpetrators of these crimes? it was odd to me to see that grouped in with mental health challenges. >> we know they are related. if you are experiencing sexual assault you are at a greater risk for mental health challenges. but absolutely, there does need to be a headline calling out what is happening to our young girls. we have seen a dramatic increase in their self reporting of sexual assaults. the numbers are concerning. there are measures that can be put in place. many of those at the school level. to help our young people navigate relationships and to really prevent some of the sexual assault we are seeing. the numbers are striking

stephanie: the cdc report enforces previous research that has shown how lesbian, gay and questioning youth are reporting substantially worse well-being including also being more likely to experience violence. given how there are school boards literally fighting over gender identity curriculum, are they less likely to get their mental health needs met today? >> it is one of our greatest worries that some of the controversy and legislation and discussion at the school board level about making our environments less inclusive for lgbtq plus youth could negatively impact this group of students who are already vulnerable. we know lgbtq youth are more at and anxiety and we also know there are solutions that can be put in place to help them not only with getting mental health supports but also at a more public level to make schools more inclusive and an accepting place wherthey feel they can

belong. we are very concerned about some mary of the legislation we are seeing and some of actions from school boards to make schools less accepting. stephanie sharon hoover with the : national center for school mental health, thank you so much. ♪ amna: voters in the battleground state of wisconsin will head to the polls tomorrow for a crucial primary race. geoff bennett took a closer look earlier today. geoff: what would normally be a little noticed judicial election isnow a high-stakes battle for control of the state supreme court. a race expected to shape abortion rights and decide the outcome of the 2024 presidential election in one of the nations most closely divided

battlegrounds. zach schulz is a reporter r pbs wisconsin and is following the race. help us understand how this race is so critical. why does it matter on a national level? >> the court has a 4-3 majority for the conservatives. more republican leaning members of the courts. this could flip it the other way. if one of the liberal candidates wins, for the first time democratic supporters feel they would have a good shot at winning some cases. why it would matter nationally between 24 -- in 124 has to do with 2020. wisconsin was one of the states where president trump's campaign filed a lawsuit to try to overturn the results of the election. trying to throw out ballots from two democratic strongholds. if the state supreme court had decided to take the case it would likely flip the result in

wisconsin. court watchers are always looking at the makeup of the core and how conservative are the justices and what might happen down the road some of these big issues. geoff: tomorrow's primary will feature two conservatives and two liberals running for the seat of a retiring conservative justice. this race is nonpartisan but the candidates have staked out clear ideological positions. some of which they are expressed in interviews with you. >> i have to follow the law but people are very concerned about a wide variety of issues including women's right to choose, fair maps, community safety, they are concerned about clean water, they are concerned about marriage equality. >> if you think as aandidate that you should be virtue signaling to attract the votes

of a certain body of wisconsinites, what you are telling them is you are not committed to the constitutional order and you are telling them that the politics should have a role in the courts. geoff: tell us more about these candidates and what you have learned. >> there are two liberal aligned candidates and two conservative aligned candidates. 15 years ago they were more cautious about being public about where they stand and now we are pretty much nonpartisan in name only. the parties are heavily involved in these races. on the liberal side we heard from jenna, a liberal from milwaukee county who has been very open talking about wisconsin's legislative maps being gerrymandered. conservatives say she has actively called for that case to come to the court if she wins. judge everett mitchell is running on more of a social justice platform. he has no raised as much mon. so his profile is not nearly as

high outside of his home area. on the conservative side we heard from daniel kelly who is a former justice on the court who was appointed and then lost his reelection bid in 2020. he says that has to do more with joe biden and bernie sanders being on the same ballot the same day. and finally, jennifer is another conservative and she gained a lot of attention by presiding over a high profile court case recently of a man who drove a car through the waukesha christmas parade a couple years ago and she gained a lot of notoriety from that. so that is our four. geoff: one indication of how much is at stake is the outside money, millions upon millions of dollars being spent. is it right there is more outside money being spent in this race then the candites are spending themselves? >> by the end that will be the case. right now it is still wisconsin money in play early on.

daniel kelly, a conservative, says he has more than $20 million in outside funding lined up ready to be in play for him if he makes it through the primary. we have seen heavy fundraising by the democratic party and other liberal aligned groups that they will put into play and some candidates are raising $20,000 at a pop from outside of -- out of geoff: the top finishers will advance to the general election in april. what is the level of awareness and enthusiasm among wisconsin voters for this race in particular? >> for this race it is starting to heat up. for those that follow politics, it has been on the radar for a couple of years. we have known the race was coming. and it has been waking up everyone else but people are becoming more aware. people are becoming aware that the level of money from the

outside as penetrating down to them through radio ads that they don't expect to hear at this time of the year. this will not be high profile in february but by april we are pecting a good turnout. especially for a supreme. geoff: is there a sense of who is leading? >> we look at the dollars and we would say that janet on the -- on the conservative side, there has been a battle between the two with daniel kelly accusing jennifer doro of not being conservative enough or saying she could not be aligned with the full conservative interest if she makes it to the court. there has been a lot of interpartyighting which has made more republicans aware. talk radio in wisconsin has gotten heavily invested in the outcome on that end.

geoff: zach schulz with pbs wisconsin. thank you for sharing your reporting with us. ♪ amna: over the weekend republicans in the key state of michigan voted to make a well-known election denier their new party chairman. christina ran on her doubts of the 2020 election process and her refusal to concede her own loss for secretary of state last year and she is not the only new party chair fanning the flames. lisa desjardins joins us. good to see you. where else are we seeing election denier's run? lisa: each of the candidates are different. christina in michigan, this was saturday night she was elected in a contentious election. look at kansas. mike brown is a new party chairman elected a week ago. he ran ads last year and his

secretary of state bid questioning the 2020 election and raising the dominion voting idea which was part of his failed campaign for secretary of state and he is now the party chairman in kansas. two others are not outright niers but they have raised doubts or allow them to fester. in florida, the new republican chairman, christian zigler is a one that says he wants to move past 2020. he was not at the january 6 rally in washington but condemned those actions later. in arizona, anotheswing state, jeff dewitt, a former top trump official was elected party chairman tree weeks ago. he beat outright election deniers. in some places this is a question of how far right you are. but he has overtly gone out of his way to not answer questions about whether the 2020 election was legitimate or not. amna: tell me more about christina in michigan. she lost her race for secretary

of state. why would republicans put her in charge there? lisa: these are important races because of the 2024 election cycle. she ran specifically on a platform of not trusting the republican party and government. i want to play a clip of her speech from this weekend. >> we need to fight to secure our elections. that is the reason i did not concede. why would i concede to a fraudulent process? lisa: if you look at what was going on in michigan over the weekend, there were three ballots and it was described as chaotic and rowdy. she raised questions about 2020 and 2022 but also about this election. the process was called into question and they had to do hand counts. it is part of this movement. saying all voting should be by hand and counted by hand. that won out with the faithful in michigan.

she also really seemed to edge out another competitor who is an overt election denier by talking about being a christian nationalist. we reached out to her. her past claims have been debunked including a lawsuit rejected by a judge saying there was no evidence at all. he was saying it was dramatically devoid of evidence. her campaign did not respond. in michigan, this is something we will have to watch as she becomes the party chairman. amna: you have been talking with strategists and lawmakers. republicans in particular. what did they make of this? lisa in florida they say : they have made gains. they feel good about where their party is at in general. compared to other states michigan for , example, one congressional seat that republicans felt they should have had -- there was concern and one official said it

is becoming a cult like atmosphere. that is coming from a real conservative. amna: what about democrats? what are they saying? lisa: there are concerns about democracy from both parties but democrats are waiting to see. they are wondering if christina winning indicates the base is moving past trump. it's a little bit chaotic but democrats do have hope for other races. michigan and arizona are places where they don't mind weaker republican parties. no one has been more concerned about this and said less than the republicans in congress who believed they lost the senate because of election deniers and should have had a bigger majority in the house. a few are still denying the election. there are a couple. paul gosar justin december retweeted something from trump

saying it's time to recall the constitution. it is important to remind folks that the temperatures on the hill are trying to turn down. we saw in fulton county, georgia in the investigation that could include former president trump. the grand jury came to the conclusion that remains one of the bottom lines, we find that no widespread fra took place in georgia. however, the republican party chairman is still raising that false claim. am: critical issues. we are glad you are covering it all. lisa, thank you so much. ♪ amna: the film with the most oscar nominations this year, everything everywhere all at once became ace of rise

breakout -- became a surprise breakout hit for audiences and critics. this weekend at the directors guild of america awards, the film director won. she now has a chance to make history as the first asian woman to win an oscar for best actress. jeffrey brown speaks with michelle for our series. >> are you with us? jeffrey: everything everywhere all at once, while title and a wild and hard to characterize movie. a woman named evelyn, a chinese-american immigrant whose life is a string of problems, her husbanand daughter and failing laundromat and the irs suddenly finds herself the only person who can save the universe from disaster. and not just this universe but the entire multi-verse of alternative lives. >> it is weird, wacky and wonderful.

strap on safety belt and go on the crazy ride with evelyn wong because she will blow your mind. jeffrey: michelle yeoh stars as evelyn and the role has brought her an oscar nomination. the movie, codirected by daniel and danielle is out for best film and a slew of other awards including best director and thresupporting actor nominations. and it has been an unexpected box office hit. speaking from london where she is filming a movie version of wicked, she said that it secret is its playful twist on who gets to be the superhero. >> what i found so charming about this movie was shining a light on a very ordinary woman that you would pass by on the streets or you would see in the supermarket and you would not give her a second glance. but at the end of the day, she

finds her superpowers which we all have which is kindness and love and compassion. jeffrey: not to mention a pretty good punch. she is now 60 and has had a storied career for decades. first attracting attention in 1992 in super cop with jackie chan. she took a memorable motorbike ride with pierce brosnan in a 1997 james bond film, tomorrow never dies. and she soared and fought in courtyards and across rooftops in crouching tiger hidden dragon. born in malaysia and train first as a dancer, she is a rare combination of grace and power. elegance in action. she says she learned firsthand to do her own martial artsnd other action scenes. >> it was very risky because all

of the stunts were done for real. when they said, jump off the roof, you jumped off the roof. i will never forget when the stunt coordinator said to the stuntman who was bouncing off the railing he said, that was too comfortable. and i thought, how does bouncing off a staircase look comfortable. what he meant was it did not have that boom boom. i wanted to show that women need to be strong and independent and physically capable to do this. jeffrey: you have spoken about as you age as a woman and as an actor the roles perhaps change. they might become more limited. >> much as i love my superhero guys, i thought, why do they get to rescue and go out and save the world? and they will do it with my daughter and not me? it is like, no, i would like to

be given the opportunity. jeffrey she has also helped to : lead the way for a change in hollywood bringing asian actors to the forefront. most notably in crazy rich asians. >> when crazy rich asians came out it lit a fire. please, look at us. we can be leading fire. we can be meeting men and actresses. we can be funny and this and that. embrace us and give us the opportunity. jeffrey: you know how the opportunity to become the first asian woman to win the oscar for best actress. how important would that be for you? >> when i was told, i think i ping-ponged between being shocked. are you serious? i know of such amazing and great

actresses that came before me so how is that even possible? why -- all we want to know is that we have been given the privilege to compete but we cannot compete if the roles have not been forthcoming in that way. my ideal world is after this to see -- for example, wicked. play a role that has always been a caucasian woman's role. and our dream is that there will be no more roles written only specifically as an asian, as an african-american or as a this or that. but if you are capable of doing it, you should be given the opportunity to have the privilege. i and i hope th changes everything. it has to.

jeffrey: it is a complicated moment even as everything everywhere all at once and other films begin to change the cultural landscape, violence against asian americans has grown in this country. and global tensions between the u.s. and china are rising. when you think about how long it has taken for recognition for asian actors, do you see hollywood really changing and diversifying in the storytelling, the faces? the people telling the stories? >> if they did not change i would not be here today. i would not be here having you say -- oscar-nominated. we would not have a movie that is so authentic for an asian immigrant family and so loved and embraced today. so yes, i believe we have made leaps and bounds of change that we cannot sit back and say, ok, we have done it. we have to keep evolving and pushing the envelope and we should do that together.

jeffrey: michelle yeoh is saving this and other universes in movie theaters around the country. she vies for the academy award on march 4. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeff brown. ♪ amna: rescue shelterare feeling the pressure these days. too many potential pets and not enough people adopting them. inflation has made owning and caring for a pet more expensive leaving some owners struggling to afford rising costs. our deputy sior producer of national affairs courtney noris and dorothy hastings have this story. reporter: america's animal shelters are in crisis. many are at capacity and understaffed with adoptions lagging. in fact, animals are sitting in shelters for longer periods of time than they have in four

years. at the humane rescue aligns in washington, d.c., the ceo has seen a dramatic decrease in adoptions over the last three years. >> our intake of animals is up 4% but the adoptions are down 10%. reporter: and like many other shelters she has seen some owners return dogs, cats and even bunnies. she has had to get creative to ensure pets do not come back. >> if your animal has a minor medical condition, you can bring the animal to us and we have a wonderful hospital here and our doctors will treat your pet and you can pick them back up. last year we were able to keep 642 animals with the people that already love them. reporter: nearly 200 animals wait for adoption like this dog, maccabee who thought our microphone was his new chew toy. at a recent adoption event

taylor and her boyfriend nicholas welcomed their newest member of their family. >> i work from home, so that makes a huge difference. we want her to feel comfortable. reporter: many americans are returning to the office making it a difficult time to own a pet. 23 million u.s. households adopted a pet during the pandemic but as inflation continues to squeeze that the wallets of americans, rescue shelters and organizations are tasked not only with getting more animals into homes but keeping them there and it is a national problem. according to a recent forbes survey 44% of pet owners in the last year have had to pull out their credit card to pay for their pets expenses. >> there is no question that pet ownership is getting more expensive and some folks on the lower end of the income spectrum are just going to get priced out.

reporter: matt schultz is chief credit analyst at lending tree. according to one of their surveys, a quarter of owners are struggling to afford the cost of their pet with inflation and one in four have taken on debt from pet care and less populated areas are hit even harder. sherry turner runs the humane society of northern virginia. lately the request from owners looking to rehome pets is exceeding the number of adopters. this pup, ellie, was recently surrendered because her owner could not pay for her medical needs. >> our shelters are expected to pick up the slack and pay for what was not done medically. those are some of the impacts that we see and feel. reporter: a virginia-based rescue lucky dog has no shelter partnering with organizations like pet smart to host adoption events.

the director has seen some adopters struggle. >> maybe they have lost their job or something happens and they ask us to take the animal back. we try to help people find a solution. sometimes unfortunately there is no other thing they can do. reporter: for horwitz the goal is to keep animals out of kill shelters and the stakes are high. in 2021 for the first time in five years the number of dogs and cats euthanized in the u.s. increased and that trend continued last year. despite the setbacks, shelters and rescues continue to save countless lives volunteering their time to get these furry friends a new beginning. for the pbs newshour, i'm courtney noris. amna: it is enough to make you want to bring another dog into your home. just kidding, honey. you can learn more about the challenges that shelters are facing online. tomorrow night, be sure to tune

in. geoff bennett will be in east palestine, ohio speaking with the ceo of norfolk southern in one of his first national interviews to talk about the train derailment causing havoc for residentfor more than two weeks. that is the newshour for tonight. on behalf of the entire news are in team, thank you for joining us. announcer: major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪ >> aually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. yes, i am legally blind and yes, i am responsible for the user interface. data visualization, if i can see it and understand it quickly, anyone can. it is exciting to be a part of the team driving the technology forward. it is a most rewarding thing.

you people who know, know bdo. >> the kendeda fund, committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. more at kendeda fund.org. supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at mac found.org. and with the ongoing support of these 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. aptioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] >> this is weta studios in

washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -today on "america's test kitchen," lan makes bridget stir-fried beef and gai lan, adam reveals his top picks for bamboo steamers, and dan makes julia congee. it's all coming up right here on "america's test kitchen." "america's test kitchen" is brought to you by the following.