♪ geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz on the "newshour" tonight, the second-highest ranking house democrat on her party's plans to fight for abortion access in the wake of controversial court rulings. geoff: the family of tyre nichols sues the city of memphis and the police officers charged in his fatal beating. we speak with the family attorney and nichols' mother. and, amna: on the anniversary of the oklahoma city bombing, judy woodruff reports on the lessons learned about home-grown extremism, on the rise. three decades later. >> they are our neighbors, they are our uncles, our cousins. historically there has been an inability to acknowledge us as a

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contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ stephanie: good evening. here are the latest headlines. the supreme court is allowing full access to the abortion drug "mifepristone", at least for another 48 hours. the justices issued that order this afternoon, and promised a new ruling by friday night. a lower appeals court had restricted access to the pale, pending the outcome of a lawsuit. the high court's actions puts the restrictions on hold for now. "mifepristone" is widely used for medication abortions, accounting for more than half of all abortions in the u.s.. two teenagers and the 20-year old were arrested and charged with murder in alabama, after a birthday party shooting that killed four young people. it happened saturday in dadeville, at a celebration for alexis dowdell. the local district attorney said today, it is a tragedy that demands justice. >> it was lexie's 16th birthday party.

sweet 16. there's an uncut cake, and unburnt 16 candles that never got lit. lexie's brother was one of the victims. on her 16th birthday party, she knelt by her brother as he took his last breath. stephanie: the two teenage suspects will be tried as adults. authorities would not comment on the possible motive. a white kansas city man pleaded not guilty today in the shooting of ralph yarl, a black teenager who mistakenly knocked on his door. 84-year-old andrew lester had his first court appearance on charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action. he turned himself in tuesday, and is now free on bond. 16-year-old yarl was shot in the forehead and arm, but is now recovering. police in texas are investigating yet another "wrong place" shooting, this time, involving teen-age cheerleaders. it happened early tuesday in elgin, east of austin.

one of the girls said she got into the wrong car at a carpool spot, then jumped out. she said a man followed and opened fire, grazing her and wounding another girl in the leg and back. he's been arrested. in sudan, the army and paramilitary rebels announced a second attempt at a cease-fire, but fighting persisted. it followed five days of heavy combat in khartoum, where nearly 12 million people live. special correspondent naba mohiedeen is there, with this report. [gunfire] naba: across khartoum this morning, signs of a failed cease-fire, as gunfire echoed and smoke poured skyward. on the capital's streets, bullet-scarred walls told of heavy fighting will holmes in residential areas were set ablaze. japan announced today it would evacuate its citizens, and a german effort to rescue 150 of its people failed because it is too dangerous to land aircraft.

so far, the united states has no plans for an evacuation, urging its citizens to shelter-in-place. behind the conflict are two warring generals -- army chief abdel fattah burhan, and paramilitary leader mohammed hamdan dagalo -- widely known as hemedti, who heads the rapid support forces. or "rsf." once allies, they staged a coup in 2019, toppling omar al-bashir - the country's longtime dictator. [bullets flying] but over the weekend, their rivalry erupted into violence, killing hundreds thus far. the u.n. says gunmen have targeted hospitals, and humanitarian workers too. today the balance of power appeared to shift, with footage showing merowe airport under control of the army, who had captured it from the "rsf."

>> basically, it's a shock. no one knew about it, so no one was prepared. reporter: residents like hadeel mohamed are trapped - and fear shortages and looting. >> i'm worrying every night that people are going to come walk into the house trying to take whatever food we have, whatever money we have. and that's been happening all around khartoum. reporter: others have packed their bags, facing an uncertain future on the road as their , country teeters on the brink of civil war. for the pbs newshour, i'm naba mohiedeen, in khartoum. amna: late tonight, sporadic gunfire and explosions continued across the sudanese capital. stephanie: at least 70 people were killed and dozens injured in a stampede in yemen's capital today. hundreds were gathered to receive financial aid at an event. two organizers have been detained and an investigation is underway. the united nations now says india's population is on track

to become the world's largest by mid-year. today's estimate projects india will have well over 1.4 billion people, 3 million more than china. together they account for more than one-third of the global population. more than 150,000 federal workers in canada went on strike today for higher wages. the strikers set up scores of picket lines in ottawa and cities nationwide. they demanded that wages keep up with inflation, and rejected in 9% hike over three years. a federal judge in new york rejected the manhattan district attorney's bid to quash a subpoena in the ongoing fight over investigating former president donald trump. democratic the alvin bragg indicted mr. trump in a hush money case. in response, republican congressman jim jordan convened a house panel to investigate bragg's investigation and has

subpoenaed a former prosecutor in the da's office. the washington state legislature has passed a bill banning dozens of semi rifles, guns including ar-style rifles and ak rifles will no longer be sold, manufactured or distributed in the state. democratic governor inslee who pushed for the bill, is expected to sign it into law. nine other states have passed similar bands. still to come, a ukrainian company uses open source technology to contact russia. judy woodruff's "america at a crossroads series" maps the nation's rising extremism years after the oklahoma bombing. and who is eligible for a newly approved covid booster shot, and when? and much more. ♪ >> this is the pbs newshour, from wta studios in washington, and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state diversity.

geoff: with the u.s. supreme court set to weigh on the battle of abortion, stakeholders are ramping up their efforts for or against abortion rates. tomorrow, we'll speak with the republican lieutenant governor of arkansas, a state with one of the strictest abortion bans in the country. tonight, we hear from congresswoman katherine clark, the second-highest ranked democrat in the house of reesentatives. welcome to the newshour. >> it's good to be on with you. geoff: lee led a group of more than 250 congressional democrats urging the justices to protect access to mifepristone. what are democrats prepared to do if the court restricts access, even in the state where abortion is widely permitted? >> i can tell you that democrats will never give up on fighting for freedom for the american people. that is whathis issue is about. it is this decision that is pending before the supreme court that is going to make a decision -- will women be

second-class citizens? will our power and liberty and liberty and equality be centered on just the very few who already have great wealth and privilege in this country? or are we going to continue on the path of equality? that's how fundamental this question is to the future. of our country. and as democrats, we are committed to ensuring that reproductive justice is for all. it is part of health care. it is part of our economy. and we look to everything in our power to push back against this republican, extreme plan to have a federal ban on abortion. geoff: on the point of democrats doing everything in their power, there are advocates who you well know question that because they say the administration could be more aggressive. the administration could b tactically ruthless, perhaps encouraging the fda to use its enforcement discretion, and not going after manufacturers of mifepristone.

they have used their enforcement discretion before with this drug during the pandemic. how do you see it? guest: what i see is a gop that's been taken over by extremists. that is the issue here. the issue is not about, you know, whether this is really a debatable topic, whether this is something that democrats should be doing more or less on. this is fundamental freedom. the biden administration, the house and senate democrats understand that. and the american people understand it. it's why we just saw the results in wisconsin that we saw. it's why over the summer when abortion was on the ballot in places like kansas and montana and kentucky, people came out and voted. they understand this is about fundamental freedom. and that is why democrats are going to continue to use every tool we have, and to take this

x.where we will be successful because the american people understand that when there is a state control over your body, there is no freedom. geoff: that there are other tools the administration could use. i returned to the question, any review, should they or should they not use them? guest: this administration has extended protections for medication, they have made sure that our veterans can access reproductive justice. they are working hand in glove with us to make sure that this fundamental right continues. none of us are going to letciti. i can tell you, when i travel to states like texas, i hear devastating stories of the real impact of these bans on women's lives. women who have lost all of their limbs due to sepsis because they couldn't get treatment for a miscarriage.

a 10-year-old who couldn't get the care she needed and had to travel across street -- across state lines. rape and incest victims who are being told the politicians will decide that they will now become parents. so this isn't an issue about, you know, something around the edges. this is fundamental freedom and democrats are in this fight. in this fight with the american people. geoff: while you are with us, let's talk about the debt limit debate. because house speaker kevin mccarthy today unveiled a republican bill to lift the debt ceiling. it cuts federal spending to 2022 levels. it limits growth to 1% per year. it undoes president biden student debt forgiveness plan, among other things. it's likely to go nowhere in a democratic-led senate. but is there any part of this plan that the democratic leadership sees as a starting point? and if not, how does this impasse get resolved? guest: so, what we have here is a manufactured default crisis

led by extremists in the gop. full stop. what we have to do is make sure that we vote only clean debt ceiling, that we avoid default, live up to our responsibilities, be the adults that the american people sent us to congress to be. and that is exactly what democrats are doing. they are gonna continue to press, and what we're seeing is shameful, reckless and dangerous hypocrisy from the gop. three times under donald trump, they raised the debt ceiling while they were cutting their revenues dramatically in order to protect the very wealthy and the largest corporations. they ran up huge deficits under donald trump, but three times , raised the debt ceiling that donald trump himself said this should never be used to

negotiate. so we know, they are not coming to this issue in good faith. they told us over the midterms, this was about cutting social security and medicare and using this manufactured crisis to do it. they've since been called out on that, and now they are trying to turn to our veterans, our children, the hungry foster kids. our planet, to make sure that they are taking this funding and giving it back to the wealthy. we see it in their undoing of the irs funding that we need so that people can get refunds, so that we can crackdown on tax cheats. you can see that they want to undo the ira and and the climate crisis that we were able to help avoid and build resiliency through that bill. guest: congresswoman katherine clark, thank you again for your time. guest: thank you.

♪ amna: espionage in wartime is as old as war itself, and the protection of vital information , a key component of an effective military. but it may be time to update the old adage "loose lips sink ships" for the digital age, and the russian invasion of ukraine. as special corresponnt jack hewson shows us, ukrainians are using social and news media posts to cull information about their russian adversaries. reporter: a weapons silo burns deep behind russian lines at the base of the pyatnashka brigade. this is one of many ukrainian strikes in the summer of last year, most likely perpetrated using himars, a guided rocket system supplied by the u.s., a technology that is the time

helped turn the tide of war in ukraine's favor. [himars firing] but the targeting for this attack, started out far from the frontline, here, at this anonymous office block. where are we? >> here is the office of the molfar. reporter: molfar are a corporate investigations company that is using open source internet investigations, or osint, to target russian forces. in turn the ukrainian military is then using this intelligence to kill them. molfar ceo, artem starosiek. >> we have a team of analysts, and we have the latinos who are just helping us. we have a system where we pass all the information from telegram, from kontakte, from all of the social networks which are used by russians. reporter: it is by using online posts like these, that molfar was able to locate the aforementioned pyatnashka brigade. this video shows the brigade's anniversary celebration posted on its telegram channel.

here the unit commander akhra avidzba is congratulated by denys pushylin, the russian-backed head of the so-called donetsk people's republic. as the commander is presented with three civilian drones, it is clear that the event is being held in a workshop with characteristic garage doors. in another local media interview, the dateline states the location is in the city of donetsk. a passing truck gives away the existence of an adjacent main road. and later we see that a secondary white and grey building with makeshift wooden shelters in front of it sits by the workshop. another video, shot at a different time shows ukrainian prisoners of war sat at those same wooden shelters being given food. can you see the workshop that hosted the anniversary event. an armoured fighting vehicle . and a civilian structure with a spire adjacent to the facility . looking the other way, behind the commander is a brick

building obscuring a blue and white hangar. [insert graphic emphasis] more perusing of a local reporters telegram channel yielded clearer shots of the white and grey building, the abandoned brick structure, and the blue-and-white hangar. in addition are distant powerlines, also observed in several other photos and videos, seen by pbs. this gave enough clues to understand the base layout, according to molfar analyst oleksandr. >> we analyzed these videos and made a map of the approximate locations of these buildings and how they are located in relation to one another. with the help of google maps and google street view, knowing that the deployment is in donetsk -- the fighters themselves have indicated this -- we established specific buildings, races of deployment. reporter: finding the exact location was made easier by this video of a tank leaving the site. the local street signs suggested

the general area to be eastern donetsk. with the leads they had, molfar claim it took approximately 2.5 hours to find the base. on google street view, shot from the donetsk bypass in 2011, you can see the workshop here, the building with a red spire, and the headquarters prior to the addition of its white and grey cladding. from another angle, you can see the blue and white hangar, and powerlines in the background. they had a match, and pin point location on google maps. one month after they passed their target report to ukrainian intelligence, the site was struck on august 22, according to local media reports and this drone footage. molfar do not know how many troops perished, or if the ukrainian pow's were killed in the strike. most people familiar with the term osint think of bellingcat, or other citizen journalist organisations, investigating military or criminal wrongdoing. but what is new in ukraine, is

how these techniques are being reverse engineered to kill enemy forces and destroy enemy hardware. something i put to starosiek. >> it is strange. because when we found location of russians they will be killed in the future, but from the other side there is a war, we didn't start this war, we are defending ourselves, so i don't feel bad from our side. i am happy for this, and i am happy that our digital work gives results on the aerial battlefield. reporter: but if russian social media posts are helping the ukrainian war effort, would it be better to keep quiet? >> if anything, this creates more risks for you through telling me. why are you telling me this? >> [sighs] uhh... i think the goal is to first show russians that we are

not afraid of them and they will get a lot of pain here. jack: according to molfar, the russian military has now cracked down on russian military access to the frontline and to sensitive sites. it means they get less information from these sources. but they claim still to get some actionable intelligence from russian media. instead their focus has shifted to the social media posts and posts on telegram of russian soldiers and the volunteers that support them. the weaponization of open-source internet investigations has permanently changed modern warfare. for the "pbs newshour," i'm jack hewson, in ukraine. ♪ geoff: the family of tyre nichols, who died in january after being severely beaten by

five memphis police officers, has filed a 550 million dollar federal lawsuit against the city of memphis over his death. the nichols' family and their attorneys spoke about the suit at a press conference earlier today. >> today, we are sending a message in tyre's name and tyre's legacy. "we are going to have meaningful legislation and meaningful accountability to the point where we will not have any other individuals killed in the manner that tyre nichols was killed." geoff: the five police officers charged with second degree murder in nichols' death have pleaded not guilty. the memphis police department declined to comment on the lawsuit today. we are joined now by tyre nichols mother, rowvaughn wells, and civil rights attorney ben

crump. thank you both for being with us. misses wells, you said in the press conference today. this lawsuit is not about the money. it's about accountability. what message do you hope it sends? >> well, what i pe it sends is that these officers think about their actions and what they are doing, and learning how to take accountability for their actions. just like i said earlier, this is not about monetary. because there's no money in this world, there is not enough money in this world that can bring my son back. but things have to change, and hopefully this will make a change. geoff: ben crump, the dollar amount of this lawsuit, $550 million. how did you arrive at that figure and what's the intention behind it? guest: survey attorney

romanucci and our legal team were intentional, with $550 million in damages. what we're seeking in this landmark lawsuit, because it not only speaks to the value of the claim for how tyre nichols was savagely beaten to death, but it also speaks to the conduct of all of these officers, and the fact that they were following policies by these police oppression units that terrorize black and brown communities. we wanted to send a message to city leadership all across america who have these "jump-out boys," as they're known in the black community, that if you continue to have these unconstitutional units, if it happens in your city, then we're coming next to your city with a record-setting amount, to make

it financially unsustainable for them to continue to unjustly kill black and brown people. geoff: mr. crump, the suit, in reading through it all, 139 pages of it, it alleges negligence from top to bottom by the city in hiring the police chief, cj davis, that lax process for hiring officers -- but it's more about what you are talking about, this unit that was disbanded after the five police officers were charged with terry nichols' murder. guest: when he saw how those officers acted callously, as if this was just business as usual, it will do that this nothing unique to them. and then we find out that this was part of the modus operandi of the scorpion unit. just like it was the red dog

unit in atlanta when chief davis was there as our attorney and i articulated in the lawsuit. so we believe it was foreseeable that if you have these oppression units just flagrantly violating constitutional rights and brutalizing certain people in the community, that somebody innocent like tyre nichols was going to be killed. this lawsuit seeks to prevent anybody else from being killed like tyre nichols was. geoff: in the absence of federal police reform, are sweeping lawsuits like this one with, so damaged attached, is this a workaround to arrive at fair and just policing as you see it? guest: you hit the hammer right on the nail, geoff.

if national leaders can't put the ticks aside for the people, then we have to put people first and find strategic ways of how we can make sure we prevent this from ever happening again. i mean, in every city in america practically, major city, you have these "jump-out units," and if we are not going to pass the george floyd justice and policing act with the tyre nichols duty to intervene in congress, then we got to do everything we can on the local and state level to make it happen. we can't have the blood of anymore terry nichols'on her hand. geoff: misses wells, it has been more than three months since your son's tragic death. how are you doing? how are you making it through? guest: it has been very difficult. as i have told people, when this all happened, i was a little

numb, and now everything is starting to just become real now. it's been a long three months. it's been a hurtful three months, because, as i tell people, i have the other children that i have to stay strong for. i tell people, to keep praying for me, because their prayers are the ones that are keeping me and holding me up. , and i just try to wake up everyday and deal with it day by day. and that is all i can do. and just make sure that i continue to seek juice for my son's murder. geoff: what do you want people to know about your boy? guest: that he was a fun-loving,

outgoing, beautiful human being. he would give you the shirt off his back if he felt you needed it more than he did. he loved his son. he was just a beautiful person. and this was just tragic, because this shouldn't have happened to tyre. it just shouldn't have happened to him. geoff: rowvaughn wells and attorney ben crump, i deeply appreciate your time. thank you for being with us. guest: thank you for having us. ♪ amna: today marks 28 years since the bombing of the alfred p. murrah federal building in oklahoma city, which remains the largest act of home-grown terrorism in u.s. history. judy woodruff reports on how that act of political violence is being remembered, and how the shockwaves of extremism are still felt today.

it's part of her series, "america at a crossroads," about the country's deep divisions. [bagpipes playing] ♪ judy: this morning, a solemn scene, as family and friends of victims and survivors, alongside citizens and public officials gathered at first church in oklahoma city to once again remember the lives lost, broken, and forever changed at 9:02 a.m. on april 19, 1995, when an enormous truck bomb exploded next door, in front of what was then a federal government office building. as in years past, they observed 168 seconds of silence for each of the victims who died that day, then read out their names, one by one. >> my father, antonio, t oy reyes.

judy: and read out their names, one by one. >> my daughter, carrie anne linds, and grandson, michael james linds iii. >> there is a breach in our country today. a division that must be healed. judy: former chief justice of the oklahoma supreme court steven taylor, who presided over the trial of one of the attack's conspirators, called on americans to "repair the breach" >> we have an obligation to be good citizens. an obligation to respect democracy, to respect our government, our elections, our law enforcement. and respect for the social contract that we share with other citizens. never forget that these 168 were the victims of hate and violence and domestic terrorism.

judy: visiting the oklahoma city national memorial museum after the ceremony was dennis purifoy, who 28 years ago was just starting his work day at the social security administration, on the first floor of the murrah building, when the bomb went off. >> to me, everything seemed to happen all at once. i was knocked out of my chair, stuff fell on my head from the ceiling and everything went black. in fact, at one point i thought, "am i blind?" because i couldn't see anything. judy: so this is what it looked like before? >> yeah. judy: miraculously, he suffered only minor injuries, but lost 16 of his social security colleagues that day. why do you think you survived? >> two things. the bomb was on the north side of the building and i was sitting towards the south side. and there were rows and rows and rows of cubicles between me and the bomb. and i was sitting down. one of my coworkers that died was 15, 20 feet from me, but she

was standing up, so she was hit by some debris and she died. judy: in the bomb's immediate aftermath, early news reports suggested links to international terrorism. but the investigation quickly led back home, to three american army veterans, terry nichols, michael fortier, and timothy mcveigh, who planned and carried out the attack. following the persian gulf war, and rejected by the special forces, mcveigh became disaffected, latching onto a growing pro-gun, anti-government ideology that gained traction in the 1990s, in the aftermath of federal law enforcement actions at ruby ridge, idaho, and at the 1993 siege in waco, texas, when more than 70 died in a fire, as federal agents moved on the heavily armed branch davidian religious cult. timothy mcveigh was at waco that

day, observing from the hill nearby, and exactly two years later he would bomb the federal building in retaliation. >> i never did understand how anybody could think it would be ok to attack people who are trying to serve the public, serve the american citizens, just doing their job to support their families and to help people. how killing innocent people like that, civilians if you will, how that would accomplish anything. judy: were you aware that there was a body of belief in the country that they had a strong antigovernment beliefs? >> no. i was naive and innocent like a lot of people, i think. and a lot of people still are. >> none of us could believe it. it was an hour or so before we realize it wasn't a gas explosion and it was a terrorist attack. judy: carrie watkins is the president and ceo of the memorial museum. >> i think they decided they

could have this attack on this quiet city in the middle of america, and i think our challenge is more relevant today than even in 1996 when it started. judy: the three men were persecuted and found guilty and in mcveigh was executed. 2001,in the years after the attack, federal law enforcement crackdown on american paramilitary extremist groups. but that focus didn't last, says michael jensen, a terrorism researcher at the university of maryland. >> it really dismantled the paramilitary movement. and it was on the run. it was all the ropes. you could see this in the arrest data from that time period. then 9/11 happened, and all the resources that were being dedicated to tackling domestic extremism were diverted to threats emanating from abroad. this was a really critical moment towards the contemporary

antigovernment movement in the united states, because it gave them the space they needed to reorganize and to regroup, and most importantly, to identify new leaders. judy: jensen's new research shows a dramatic rise in this type of violence since the 1990s. from 1990 to 1994, there was an annual average of two attempted or completed mass casualty plots in america, intended to kill or injure four or more victims. from 2017 to 2021, it grew to an average of 40 year, the high watermark in 2020. most were planned or carried out by people associated with right-wing and antigovernment groups and movements, the same ideology that propelled timothy mcveigh. >> what we witnessed in the last five or six years is a tremendous increase in the rate of domestic extremist criminal activity in the united states. in 2021 alone, there were over

1200 individuals arrested for extremist-related crimes in the united states and a large number of these individuals participated in the january 6 attack on the capitol building. judy: jensen's study of january 6's defendants shows that about when there had ties to extremist groups like the proud boys, boogaloo, many of which were founded by veterans of more recent wars and played pivotal roles in the storming of the u.s. capitol that day. >> what is striking about oklahoma city is how little has changed in terms of the dynamics. >> we are talking about people who generally look like us, worship like us. they are our neighbors, our uncles, our cousins. historically, there has been an inability to acknowledge us as a threat. judy: frank is a former fbi agent who served as assistant director of counterintelligence

for the bureau. >> i like to say that with regard to january 6, that was not an intelligence failure, it was a failure to act upon available intelligence. part of that were legal restrictions, and part of it was , no one seemed to acknowledge that americans could do this to themselves and to our democracy. judy: in the ideology that inspired mcveigh has only spread, aided in large part by social media. >> white supremacists. >> who would you like me to condemn? ? stanback, and standby. judy: and the mainstreaming of extremist ideology in a deeply partisan environment. >> i don't believe we're in a place where we can come to agreement on the scope and depth of the domestic terror problem in this country, because the players that have to come to agreement, namely our elected

legislators, have to come to some kind of middle ground with. and it seems to me, we still are not there yet. judy: are you saying it is politics? >> it is w worse than politics. judy: he points out that the biden administration has created a national strategy for countering domestic terrorism. but he argues, congress needs to act, including finally criminalizing domestic terrorism, to give law enforcement more tools to interrupt plots before they are committed. >> we still -- on of these years after oklahoma city -- do not have a crime, a law on the federal books against domestic terrorism. >> ♪ and i'll gladly stand up ♪ judy: just last month, with multiple indictments looming, former president trump kicked off his campaign for 2024 in waco, during the 30th

anniversary of the deadly branch davidian standoff. >> ♪ the land of the free ♪ judy: trump did not mention the siege, but he opened the event with the national anthem sung by the j6 prison choir, a group of men in prison for their role in the the january 6 attack. and the former president continued to put forward antigovernment conspiracy theories. >> the abuses of power we are currently witnessing among all levels of government will go down as the most shameful, corrupt and depraved chapters in all of american history. it's happening right before your eyes. >> just doing it in waco is a signal to extremists. judy: retired civil servant dennis purifoy. >> it is evident to anybody who knows anything about timothy mcveigh and his motivations, what are the reasons what he did

what he did in oklahoma city was because of what happened in waco. so for tramp to not acknowledge that in any way or to disavow it, it is disgusting to me. it still is for me, when i stand in this room. >> and see these faces, it's a reminder that we all have the responsibility to serve one another and to listen and to keep talking. judy: back at the memorial museum, kari watkins says this place in this day should serve as a reminder of the many lives lost and forever changed 28 years ago to senseless violence, did you have any idea when he started this thing back in the 1990's, that all these years later, the country would still be dealing with the kind of attitudes that overtook timothy mcveigh and his companions? >> no. when we built this museum, we talked about how there would be a day that would come that we

would teach a generation that did not live the story. it came very fast. this museum has an enormous mission to make sure we teach the senselessness of violence in the way that every kid can understand it, and is willing to consume it. it's a reminder that in the midst of a divided country today that on this sacred ground, we have to fight to find common ground. judy: and it is hard. >> very hard. judy: a challenge for us today and for the many days to come. for the "pbs news hour," i'm judy woodruff in oklahoma city. ♪ amna: the government has just approved a second dose of the covid booster for the elderly and immunocompromised. the bivalent booster shot targets the omicron variants.

seniors 65 and older can now receive the booster four months after the first dose. meanwhile, people with weak immune systems can get an additional shot of the vaccine after two months. these steps are targeted to vulnerable populations, to seniors and the immunocompromised. does this make sense to you as the right move, given where we are in this pseudo-post-pandemic world right now? guest: thank you for having me. this move does make sense because it acknowledges that there is a large spectrum of risk out there. a one-size-fits-all approach really wouldn't make sense and treating a 10 year old with no medical problems with the same vaccine strategy as a 70 year old who has cancer and is on chemotherapy. so i think that today's move

really addresses that discrepancy and allows for a bit of nuance in terms of how we approach the next phase. amna: at the same time, booster uptake has been so low. these shots do no good sitting on the shelves. only about 20% of all adults have gotten that updated. what wins the day are the upsides. so in terms of a short-term prevention against severe hospitalizations and mortality deaths. the benefit for that high-risk group, the severely immunocompromised and older populations in general, does make it worthwhile because there could be a downside of overboosting, which is that we are training our immune system to expect a particular virus and if we keep showing it the same thing over and over again, including half of this vaccine which still has half of the

wuhan virus in it, we actually risk a longer-term increase in infections. so, i really support the idea of of zeroing in on the people who need that protection from the serious outcomes because we know that in a short period of time, it works very, very well. amna: what is ahead, especially for younger, healthy people, could receive more shots offered to them as we move into the fall and winter season? guest: i think the fda is signaling an annual cycle further younger, healthier populations. i think that is appropriate. the value-add of a booster for younger populations hasn't always been very clear. we have always lumped in young and healthy with older and sicker when making the booster for all argument. nowadays, offering it less often for the lower risk makes a ton of sense. i do think that in june, we're going to hear more about what they are going to put into a fall booster, and i suspect and

hope that it will be a booster that only contains a virus that is currently circulated -- in other words, the original virus, the wuhan strain, is not out there anymore. we are in an omicron world and we should be boosting against that virus. amna: doctor, there have been continuous debate over how we are counting covid hospitalizations and deaths. not necessarily people alleging nefarious intent here, but saying there's a difference between people who die with covid versus people who die of covid. they say that we are counting both, and that could be an overcount. what do you say to that concept ? guest: to understand this, should it be calledality? the idea is not just are there covid deaths, but are there more dexcaths of all causes combined than there should be? throughout the pandemic, we have seen for the most part that there been deaths that go way up when we have a wave and calm down after a wave.

very rarely have we seen a time where there were more covid deaths being counted than there were all excess deaths. if that were to happen, we could start to think, oh, there's something to that argument. for the most part, that hasn't happened. in terms of hospitalizations and other outcomes, again it's it's very difficult. people don't agree when they look at medical charts. but actually when we do that kind of work, i think we do see that if anything, probably we are under counting covid deaths that have been the do not look like covid deaths -- someone who dies at home but they never got a covid test. or someone who died of a diabetic crisis or hurt failure exacerbation, and it's chalked up to heart failure for diabetes, but they never would have had that exacerbation had they not contracted coronavirus the week before. and so as long as we have excess mortality and covid deaths going hand, step-by-step, it is pretty hard to make an epidemiological argument that would support the overcrowding approach. amna: still striking, over 250 people a day. that is dr. jeremy faust emergency physician at brigham

, and women's hospital in boston and author of "inside medicine" on substack. doctor faust, thank you. guest: thank you. ♪ geoff: it's one of the oldest art clubs in america, founded nearly 150 years ago in the nation's smallest state. pamela watts of rhode island pbs weekly has a look for our arts and cultures series, "karen bass." pamela: behind the big green door of the providence art club, you will seek contemporary galleries, painting classes, old world dining rooms and a collection of works by its members stretching back decades. dan mechanic has belonged for almost 40 years. >> it seems like you are in a time machine. there is an ambience that comes from even the foyer. you look up and you see time going by.

pamela: in 1880, when women didn't even have the vote and black artists were practically non-existent, a group of progressive artists and community leaders in providence made a bold stroke. >> the art club here was founded by 16 people. and six of them were women. pamela: while women had a seat at the table so did black artist edward mitchell banister, oil painter abolitionist, , philanthropist. of all the striking silhouettes of artists and patrons lining the walls of the club, banister's has a distinction. the number one -- indicating that he was a prime mover of the art club. artist nancy gaucher-thomas is a former president of the art club. why were they willing to rally around edward banister, a black artist? >> i think they saw that he was a person of note. they recognized, you know, who he was. artists don't see black and white. it was his commitment to his

work, and everything that he did to help create the new england cultural community. pamela: the narragansett bay shoreline and rural new england are prominent themes in bannister's paintings. some on display here. many more at the smithsonian. >> his landscape scenes were very bucolic, very serene, um, very somber tones in his palette. his work wasn't good because he was an african american. his work was great because he was a dedicated painter, and that's all he wanted to do. pamela: and gaucher-thomas says bannister's fierce dedication was fired up by an article he read in the new york herald in 1867. >> quote, "the negro seems to have an appreciation for art while being manifestly unable to produce it." ironically less than a decade , later, in 1876, banister was the first african american to receive a first-prize medal award. pamela: it happened at the philadelphia centennial

exposition-and it caused a sensation when the judges announced the winner from hundreds of artists entered in competition. >> he went up to get his award, and they were a little taken aback, and said, this can't be right, he is a black man. they wanted to take it away. and there were white artists that came in and said, no, he is getting his award. and he did. pamela: bannister's certificate is one of the art club's most prized possessions. the art club is currently bestowing its own honor to edward bannister. this is a miniature of what will soon be a public fixture in market square, near the rhode island school of design. >> and the wonderful thing about this sculpture is that it's not a monument. he's not standing on a pedestal, looking down at people. he's actually sitting on a bench, kind of waiting for people to sit next to him. he has a sketchpad in hand, and

on the sketchpad is a sketch of his wife, christiana carteaux. pamela: the sculpture is being cast life-size in bronze. it is the finishing touch, but a man whose talent and tenacity broke down barriers and led to the open doors at the art club today. for the "pbs newshour," i'm pamela watts in providence, rhode island. geoff: and that is "the newshour" for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire newshour team, thank you for joining us. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been offering non-contract wireless service designed to help people do more of what they like. our customer service team could help by the plan that fits you. to learn more, visit consumercellular.tv. ♪ >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions.

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