good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna nawaz is away. on the "newshour" tonight, the fate of abortion pill access in the hands of the supreme court. as allies ramp up military support, we speak with the head of ukraine's national security council about the recent u.s. intelligence leak. >> i will let you in on a little secret everyone is gathering intel on everyone, it's a different question when this data is made public. it must be uncomfortable for those who should have prevented that. >> and, david brooks and jonathan capehart join us to discuss this week's headlines. ♪

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station by viewers like you. thank you. >> welcome. the future of medication abortion access remains in limbo. the justices have self-imposed midnight deadline to decide if the pill will be on the market for now as the liberations continue. remind us how we got here and what we're waiting for. >> a judge in texas a federal judge ruled that the fda approval of the drug back in 2000 was invalid. he says it was based on bad science so the drug has to be pulled off the market. sometimes in a big case like this, the judge will say my order won't take effect until all the appeals are done. this judge that my order won't take effect for seven days to

let the government appeal. the government went to the fifth circuit court of appeals and they said the 2000 approval is too far back, can't look at that. but you can look at what the fda has done since 2016. the court of appeals struck down those changes so the government went to the supreme court and that's what we're waiting for now. they are not asking the supreme court to rule on the validity of the fda actions, they are just asking to keep the drug available while the appeal moves forward. >> what are the possible outcomes? >> the court can do whatever it want. most watchers agree there are three likely it outcomes. one that it will remain available with no changes, the status quo is reserved until all the appeals are done.

the other is they say they will uphold what the fifth circuit did, it will be available but restrictions, it will be harder to get. the drug company says if that's the case, the drug has to be off the market for a while while they print new labels, recertify the doctors to go along with the new restrictions or the court could go along with the texas judge and say mifepristone is off the market until they settle. >> as we are awaiting this decision, remind us what is at stake. >> there are now 12 states that have totally banned abortion. seven more are trying to ban it. they are being blocked by the courts. five others have very severe restrictions. for some antiabortion activists, that's not enough. they want to see a nationwide

ban. taking it off the market would be a step toward that. or than half of the abortions in america now are medical abortions. by making the drug not available even in the states where abortion is legal, it will go along way to severely restricting the number of abortions in america. >> thank you for that reporting and we will be sure to watch tomorrow. ♪ in the day's other headlines, police in alabama have now charged a sixth person in last weekend's deadly birthday party shooting. the attack on a "sweet 16" celebration in the town of dadeville killed four people ages 17 to 23 and injured dozens. the defendants are charged with reckless murder, but there's still no word on the motive. in sudan: the military and a rival paramilitary group announced a three-day ceasefire for the end

of the muslim holy month of ramadan. but two earlier cease-fires failed, and heavy firing continued after this latest announcement. the military also released footage of soldiers in the capital, khartoum, as people cheered. but many were still scared after a week of fighting that's killed hundreds. >> will we be able to leave the house or not? and if we leave, will we be safe? all these questions are on my mind and i have no answers. the future is dim for us, and we don't know how things will end. >> meantime, the sudanese army's top general promised to transition to civilian rule. he gave no timetable. also today: the white house said it's watching the situation but has no plans for now to evacuate some 16-thousand americans from sudan. u.s. troops are deploying in the region in case embassy staffers need to get out. the u.s. is ready to train ukraine's military on a major new battlefield weapon, in its war with russia. defense secretary lloyd austin said today the training on u.s.

"abrams" tanks will begin soon in germany. austin met today with other defense ministers in ramstein air base in germany. he said the tanks mark a major step in arming kyiv. >> all of this is huge progress, and i am confident that this equipment and the training that accompanies it will put ukraine's forces in a position to continue to succeed on the battlefield. >> american-made "patriot" missile batteries have also begun arriving in ukraine to defend against russian air attacks. president biden signed an executive order today to make environmental justice a high priority. the white house rose garden created an office that will focus on protecting poor and minority communities from pollution and other environmental harm. the order also requires public warnings when a federal facility releases toxic substances. and, on wall street: stocks made fractional gains on this friday.

the dow jones industrial average added 22 points to close at 33-thousand-809. the nasdaq rose 13 points. the s-and-p 500 was up 3. still to come on the "newshour", an oklahoma county commissioner resigns after being caught on tape making racist remarks. the rising cost of coals itain'c steam engines. and playwright suzan-lori parks explores the human-side of the pandemic this is the pbs newshour. >> the american and nato commitment to help ukraine defend itself was reinforced today with the announcement from secretary of defense lloyd austin of a timetable for training ukrainian troops with american tanks. but there is tension in the relationship: over the amount and kind of weapons supplied, and recent revelations of american spying. special

correspondent volodymyr solohub sat down this week with a top ukrainian security official for a candid interview on these matters, and more. defense officials met in germany. lloyd austin sat -- said what kyiv needs most is ground defense. >> you've heard us say that for the next several months. we have to make sure that the ukrainians have the ability to protect their infrastructure, their citizens, but also protect troops. >> early this week, ukraine received more air defense systems. the u.s. is also helping soldiers improve its ground defenses. it will begin training on how to

use abrams tanks that will be delivered later this year. the additional aid also includes rockets for a high artillery rocket system. at a nato briefing yesterday, president zelenskyy asked for longer range and more powerful weapons including warplanes. i turned to mr. general secretary with request to help us overcome the restraint of our partners supplying certain types of weapons slowing down such decisions means losing time for peace. >> in the east, the battle has no end in sight. ukrainian soldiers have fought a months long war of attrition. leading recent groups are wegner mercenaries.

ukrainian officials say their troops are holding out and preparing for and appending cash in pending counteroffensive. the secretary of ukraine's defense counsel. we spoke to him earlier this week and asked him about the situation. >> for russians, it has become very symbolic because they haven't been able to get rid of our troops there for a long time. every inch of land is our territory and we will be defending. if we start giving up town after town, we could end up on our western borders. our military is not planning to do this. >> both president wilensky and the military defense -- minister of defense have been asking for more weapons. what are the needs for weaponry right now? >> many countries are fulfilling their promises. not all of them. they know our needs.

these negotiations happened behind closed doors. >> what are you hearing from your partners on why you are not getting the requested weapons? >> it's a complex question. we cannot push too hard because it's assistance. sometimes we have rather unpleasant conversations but we are not saying that someone is not fulfilling their promises at all. we are getting help, but of course we wish it would happen faster. they will be destroyed by our army and why are people. >> at a recent legal -- leak of pentagon documents detail a shortage of ukrainian equipment. >> did this affect the ukrainian plans for the counteroffensive? >> we have a number of plans and depending on the circumstances and situations we will have at the time when the decision on counteroffensive is made by the president of ukraine by our military, we will implement this

or another plan. >> these leaked documents showed that the u.s. government is clearly spying on ukraine. >> i will let you in on a little secret. everyone is gathering intelligence on everyone. if you think no one is gathering intelligence on the u.s. government, you are mistaken. it is a different question when this data has been public. it must be uncomfortable for those who should have her prevented. >> it also revealed that the u.s. is watching the russian military. >> did the leak tell you something about russia and russian military that you did not know before? >> with respect of the state of the russian military, we know exactly what's happening and that's what we told the u.s. we will win this war. i think the u.s. made a mistake when they thought they knew russia. now i want to say this, russia is at the brink of disintegration and many

countries don't want to see this. russia is slowly disintegrating and you should be ready for that. >> can you provide a timeline or conditions on what needs to happen for this fragmentation? >> 3-7 years maximum. the federation will not exist in the form it is in now, period. >> the cities that russia has occupied have ceased to exist. thousands have been killed and ukraine is investigating over 70,000 war crimes. the criminal court indicted vladimir putin and the commissioner for children's rights for the crime of stealing ukrainian children. a person that kills children, civilians, that destroys the territory of another country cannot be called otherwise not terrorist. if we sit down with them it is

madness. we are not afraid of them and we are not going to be afraid. we are not going to give our country to anyone. >> ukraine wants more western weapons to launch its long promised counteroffensive. the fighting in the east is ongoing with a massive toll on the country and its people. ♪ >> calls for the resignation of county officials in southeastern oklahoma continued today after they were secretly recorded making racist remarks, including comments about killing reporters and lynching black residents. one county commissioner has already stepped down. stephanie sy has the story. >> geoff the recording was obtained by a local newspaper: the mccurtain gazette-news. a reporter, who has spent months

investigating corruption at the sheriff's office, left an audio recorder in the room after a county commissioner's meeting ended, suspecting the sheriff, the commissioner and others would continue to conduct business. instead, he apparently captured a recording of top county officials allegedly discussing wanting to kill a mccurtain gazette-reporter, while waxing nostalgic about the days when a sheriff could take a quote -black guy- throw him in a cell, and beat him. we're going to play a snippet of the recording where the suggestions of murder continue, in we should warn you-*graphic* detail >> "i know. take them down to mud creek and hang them up with a damn rope. but you can't do that anymore. they got more rights than we got." jennings: i know where two big deep holes are here if you ever need them. >> i've got an excavator. jennings: well, these are already pre-dug. but the thing of it is, you know. >> we actually told the truth. jennings: i've known, i've known two or three hit men, they're very quiet guys >> for reaction, i want to bring

in deon osborne, the managing editor for the black wall street times. he's based in greenwood, oklahoma. as black journalist living in oklahoma, what was your reaction when you heard the full audio? >> thank you for having active. when i first heard it, i was alarmed but not shocked. it's another day in oklahoma for us. we've care ash covered so many stories about race and racism, they downplayed the impact on our communities and this is just evidence of how pervasive it is in oklahoma. >> the sheriff's office has shown no contrition and they said the conversation was illegally recorded even altered. what do you think of what this journalist did planting that device in the room? >> i am proud, i am grateful

that this journalist obviously risked his own life so that we could see the truth and hear the truth with our own ears. oklahoma state law shows that we are a one party consent state when it comes to recordings so the sheriff is completely lying when it comes to accusing this journalist of breaking the law. he did his duty as a journalist and i am proud of him. >> oklahoma governor kevin stitt has asked for four county officials, including the sheriff to resign what do you think of that response? what other accountability are you hearing oklahomans demand? >> i am glad to hear the governor called for the bare minimum, but obviously these officials should all have been fired immediately. the florida governor has the power to fire a liberal district

attorney that he doesn't like, i don't understand why our governor doesn't have the power to immediately fire these officials who are suggesting killing a journalist and lynching black people in 2023. what we have heard from people in our community is they want these officials fired and they want all cases that they have overseen we investigated. >> journalists, even recently, have been killed for doing their jobs. the fbi has opened in investigation do you expect these officials to face criminal liability for this conversation? >> i don't know that i trust our legal system enough to go to the full extent of present criminal charges. i hope that is the case because what you are seeing is if elected officials feel free enough to make these kinds of statements, what is it telling the people in oklahoma who may

already have these ideas in their hearts? what is it telling them? this is a state that 102 years ago orchestrated one of the most severe domestic terrorism attacks on the black community and what we are seeing is the mentality that led to that attack is still alive in the hearts and minds of some of these oklahomans. >> do you have hope that anything will change with this blatantly racist conversation coming to light? >> i do hope that journalists, elected officials from oklahoma to florida across the nation come less worried, less afraid to call racism out. we have to start calling it out when we see it. we are in the state where our officials don't even want us to have the words diversity, equity, and inclusion taught in public schools. i was a little bit saddened that

most of our state officials did not use the word racism when they condemned these officials. they need to be able to call it out explicitly because the only way we can eradicate this is to address it head-on. >> thank you so much. >> all eyes are on the u.s. supreme court as the nation awaits a ruling to ban mifepristone. we turn now to the analysis of brooks and capehart. it's always great to see. if the court is weighing this question of national access, it really reflects the ways in

which the antiabortion movement has escalated its effort to eradicate abortion rights everywhere. >> yes but this is not surprising. when the leak of the dobbs draft , the alarm bells started going off about what this would mean for other rights. there are conversations about if they do this, what does it mean? will they go over -- will they go after education abortion? with the overturning of roe v. wade, this is a pattern. it goes to the states then the states go hogwild. pushing the envelope, we saw that after shall be the holder -- holder where states given the right to change their voting laws, they went and did the

extra mile. we see states doing the same thing and now the danger is that the supreme court is going to allow them to do it. >> how do you see it? >> it was supposed to be about getting the courts out of the abortion business. the idea that they would have the scientific knowledge to overrule the fda strikes me as audacious for a set of judges. the fact that this is even a tough call for this is mystifying, it's not a tough call. as for whether the antiabortion movement helps their demands, if you are an activist and you believe it's the killing of the most vulnerable people in society, i don't blame them. the question is how to handle it politically. what you are seeing in the u.s. senate, most of the leaders that establishment types all the

john's, they don't want to have a national policy. they want to have the states and personally, i think it's right for the stability of our country, people have radically different views on abortion. let's let them do it. that's not satisfying to a lot of people who want to have a national policy. what i would say for those who have proposed a national policy, it seems to me there's not a lot of support to do this nationally and still most of the republican party wants to do it state-by-state. >> let's shift ahead to next week because president biden is expected to launch his reelection campaign as early as tuesday. he is eyeing april 25, the anniversary of his 2020 campaign announcement. we should say nothing is official until it's official.

how does unofficial announcement change the contours of this race if at all? >> certainly everything he says, everywhere he goes is not just viewed through the lens of it's the president who is saying doing and going to these places, it's the candidate who was also saying these things, doing these things and going to these places . it allows him to start raising money. it also more importantly allows him to start really making the contrast between himself and the number one person in the republican field and that is donald trump. resident biden loves to say don't compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative. by officially announcing his campaign, he can start showing people how he is the alternative to the person he beat in 2020 and as his bumper sticker mantra from the state of the union, let's finish the job.

he can tell people about all the other things he wants to do with four more years. >> his opponents are show strength. >> the midterm elections silence all of that. he has been looking strongly give a strong state of the union. there hasn't been the obvious scandals or things like that. even ideologically, he has pretty well massaged the central left in the party by doing things that people like. there is no natural home for an opposition candidate. what's interesting, he has been sounded pretty candid even for six month ago. saying he wants to go after

trump and he has been doing it. has to concern the white house a little is they have had improving inflation, a lot of good domestic policy achievements, the republicans have staked out extreme ground and a lot of issues and people at the polls are reasonably close, his approval is in the 46 range. we are in an extremely partisan divided cynical country where on a national level, nobody and this is global no national leader gets popular anymore. there is so much cynicism across the western world. >> i remember covering joe biden in 2019 and there was a moment where he suggested and his aides did to that he would be a one term president. he would be a transitional figure. the fact that that hasn't happened and objectively, there is a deep democratic bench with a lot of talent, the fact that

this hasn't happened, i see you getting ready. how is it that four years later joe biden is apparently the only democrat that can pull together a potentially winning coalition? >> when joe biden said, he did say he would be a transitional figure. but transitional doesn't translate automatically to one term. you can get to terms be transitional than the next person is a generation or two behind you. i see him in that regard. also, the guy has a record. he has a record of achievement that is startling for a lot of people who have been watching this for a long time. his approval ratings are below 50% hovering in the high 30's.

everyone fearing there's going to be a red wave because the president is so unpopular and so unfocused on inflation talking too much about threats to democracy. yet that guy has his finger on the pulse of the country as we learned through the exit polls. he just put his head down and went about the work of getting democrats both his administration and democrats nning around the country something to run on. of course the party, it's democrats. democrats are never happy with the person have an office. [laughter] but when push comes to shove and they start looking at the alternative, fingers crossed the democrats will come home and americans will come home because alternative and we have been through it for we don't need to go through it again. >> allies of ron desantis insist he is still making up his mind whether to run.

donald trump is treating him as if he has already thrown his hat in the ring. a pack is spending millions of dollars on attack ads. donald trump has openly mocked ron desantis on social media. it appears to be working. a new pullout out today shows trump has 51% support among republican primary voters compared to 38% for ron desantis. >> it's possible to find a way back, but i would not say he should continue his current method. the idea in the republican party is that the old party were getting beaten by the left every day of the week and we needed a tough guy. so they are looking for someone who is a tough guy and donald trump proved that. if ron desantis is going to take him on, he has to prove he's at least as tough as donald trump and to do that he has to go after donald trump.

it's a battle for the dominant alpha male. ron desantis has painted himself into a position where he won't criticize donald trump because he's afraid of losing the trump supporters. he's caught in a trap. kristi has run against trump and santos in the normal way which is to take down the other side. desantis is not doing that, that strikes me as a hard way to campaign. >> there are desantis allies who are frustrated he's not fighting back. does he want to run? >> that's been my perennial question does he want to run? does he have what it takes to do the retail politics is involved in iowa and hampshire? we keep reading the stories about how he does speeches that he runs off. he doesn't engage. i also wonder to david's point, i don't think he has the guts to

go after donald trump. donald trump has no floor. if you attack him, you have to be prepared for a fuselage of nonsense and belittling nonsense. i want to know when they are on the debate stage and with donald trump standing right here, will ron desantis turned to him, look him in the ai and attack him? number two, we have will he respond when the dragon fires back at him? i have no confidence that ron desantis will do any of those things. >> lastly, let's talk about the fox news and dominion settlement which i forgot was this week. $787.5 million settlement narrowly heading up the trial after the jury was sworn in, there was no public apology. the main attorney -- the dominion attorney said the

settlement, that was accountability, that was apology. the fact that there was no grant recanting, there was no contrition shown by the fox primetime personalities who knowingly spread lies about the 2020 election, what is the net effect of that? >> $787 million is a lot of money. if you are running fox and you realize that having lou dobbs on your staff can be very expensive so it has to change some of the internal calculus. what strikes me about this week, a lot of people have said over the years that fox has ruined the republican party. tucker and all this people took over the minds of republicans and they went crazy. with the whole trial shows is that it wasn't fox through the republican party. republican party was running fox. what the reporters believed it was not what they were saying on the air.

the lesson for me from the big trial is it's a bottom-up thing not a top-down thing. >> one wonders if an on-air retraction matters at this point given election lie has taken hold. it's the bedrock of donald trump's reelection campaign and he is miles ahead of any other republican. >> i question whether republican -- public apology is necessary. it will only work if the viewers see it. they not covering the trial, they didn't cover january 6 hearings. the hope is because of the discovery and all the text messages and emails that we learned where they were telling lies, it trickles down and gets to the audience where they finally start to see how they have been lied to. >> think you so much, have a great weekend.

♪ >> you know the site and the sound, esteem engine coming to rest in an old film. you might wonder what the connection is from that technology to today's war in ukraine. the price of coal has skyrocketed since russia's invasion. in turn that has challenged some of britain's living and breathing museums. the country's heritage railway lines. from south western england, special correspondent malcolm brabant reports. >> they're burning through money at the swanage railway, as is every historic line in the land which gave birth to steam trains. the locomotive hauling today's service is a 1940s vintage express, back to robust health after a $400,000 refit.

in total there are 150 heritage railway lines in britain and all of them are facing the same problems. this is the start of the new season and they're all banking on good visitor numbers to help them survive. >> we've had to work very hard to address the impacts of the pandemic and coming out of that, we've still got major challenges ahead of us. >> leading the effort to keep this living museum on the right track is gavin johns, who has more than 30 years experience with britain's modern rail network. >> we've got two challenges. one, rising costs and the impacts of those rising costs on our customers. so our own costs are going up significantly, most notably coal. >> three years ago, the daily spend on coal was $670. today, it's 1600. >> coal is a major issue for us because before the war in ukraine, we were sourcing our coal from russia. so we very quickly had to work with our

supplier to switch the source of the coal. >> can you ever go back to russian coal? >> i think it's very unlikely that we will go back to russian coal supplies. we've been working hard to find new sources. i think for the time being that we'll stick with the. >> johns says that ethical considerations and not just sanctions dictate the railways stance. although costs have more than doubled, it'll try to absorb the hit and not raise ticket prices because visitors are also struggling financially. the hope is that more passengers like matt collins will turn up for a steam fix. >> marvel at what steam engines were at the time. basically, controlled explosions. a real lesson in engineering. and it's really evocative. the smells, the sights and the sounds as you travel on these trains. and it just gives you an insight into what the victorians did for us. >> while steam engines pump out carbon dioxide along with water vapour, the biggest environmental impact of the

locomotive age was to encourage air pollution by other heavy industries. today the influence of heritage lines on climate change is negligible. the railways insist they're using cleaner coal where possible and are trying to reduce their carbon footprint elsewhere. in swanage, aficionados like suzanne wiseman, have no qualms about keeping steam alive. >> it means a lot to me because i was brought up in the steam railway era and we were just saying, actually, i remember standing on the railway bridge just watching them go under, and the driver used to always give us a peep and wave and it's just nice just keeping a bit of the british heritage going. i think people all over the world love us for our history and this is a big part of it. >> this heritage line benefits from being in a region that's popular with vacationers and day trippers. nevertheless, it's laid off a handful of permanent staff. other railways have been harder hit and have been forced to make more drastic cuts.

>> railways have been using timber, steel for all the repairs, track renewals, locomotive and carriage renewals and so on. so the cost of these sorts of commodities have all shot up. so yeah, there are some railways at risk. absolutely. >> as chief executive of the heritage railway association, steve oates has an overview of the sector's myriad problems. so how would you categorize it? >> it's tough. it's looking tricky because the economic challenges that everybody is facing and the cost of living crisis, which is affecting potential visitors, it's almost like a double or triple whammy. >> third class travel is a concept that many british people can now grasp as their living standards decline and they cut back on luxuries. but oates hopes that the allure of steam will prevail. >> i think people will reluctantly put hands in pockets as they did during covid. but it is a risk. there's no question about it that there is a risk. and railways do need to be really careful about this.

>> even the popular bluebell line 130 miles east of swanage is not immune. it relies on volunteers like patricia beale, who spent a lifetime working on modern railways. >> it's something that gets in your blood. i mean, i love railways and steam engines, the smell and just the general ambiance. steam engines are living creatures. or they appear to be living creatures. they breathe. >> love and tender care have helped this terrier class locomotive survive its contemporaries. now, 150 years old, this is the little engine that could help pull the blue bell over the economic mountain. the railway's chairman is paul churchman. >> morning. everything okay? ready for a busy day? hopefully, yes. good. not looking. say about it now. hopefully we should have enough people in today. we're working very hard, but we have to be realistic in that it's going to be very challenging. >> the bluebell's costs have also doubled because of the war in ukraine. even though this

coal doesn't come from russia. >> last year wasn't that good because of the rising costs and the softening of revenue. we expect to post a loss for last year. this year we probably will post a loss again, but we are taking actions to get our business to break even for 2020. >> the bluebell and other lines can no longer rely on pure nostalgia as a crowd puller. they need to wrench young people away from the screens of their devices. 19 year old luke hopgood, no longer volunteers, but keeps coming back. >> there's just old fashioned stations and it's just very traditional and it's just a very authentic feel about it.

this station is a favorite with film producers. it featured in the downton abbey series, but the bluebell can't rest on its laurels. >> people don't want to just come for a train ride anymore. it needs to be so much more than that. you need to have the added value to the day out in the visitor experience. >> we've got a sitting gala coming up in a few weeks with some great engines coming, which we know will attract enthusiasts. >> the swanage line was axed from the british network in 1972. gavin johns has no intention of letting it die a second time. >> we've got a great set of volunteers who help the railway out. we've got a great set of staff that work really hard to keep things moving and i think that with our special events and with the determination, we've got a really good chance of surviving. >> this summer in a new initiative, this heritage diesel train will connect to mainline services for the first time in 50 years. the message from all 150 historic railways is the same. >> come here. spend your money.

help us survive. enjoy the experience we have. it is unique. can they make it? they think they can. they think they can. for the pbs newshour, i'm malcolm brabant in southern england. >> is it too soon to explore the pandemic through art? not if you're suzan-lori parks, who wrote a short 'play a day' while sittg at home for 13 months and has now turned those into a full-length performance at new york's public theater. it's part of a "very big year" for one of the country's most *acclaimed playwrights. jeffrey brown has the story for our arts and culture series, canvas. ♪ "i play the writer" >> suzan-lori parks both plays and is the writer of "plays for the plague year", a series of songs

and scenes. small personal moments and big collective traumas that take us through the first year of the covid pandemic. it's based on an assignment parks gave herself in real time: be present, observe, write every day. >> it's a way to keep watch, if you will. you know, it's a way to bear witness. it's a way to say, 'yes, this happened. i'm watching and i'm going to write it down.' >> it's also about the roles we all play every day. and for parks - who often writes on an old red typewriter. it really is a new role: for the first time she herself

acts and sings and plays guitar in one of her plays. >> did you have any fear, trepidation, putting yourself into the story like this? parks: yes. i have so much fear. so much trepidation. and one thing that i think a lot of us realized during the first year or so of the pandemic is that there were things we were afraid of, are afraid of, adn that we had to really look at those things. and so i looked at a lot of those things and one of them was, 'oh, i'm putting myself in the story, >> now 59, parks is best known for her play, "topdog / underdog", in which two brothers, named 'lincoln' and 'booth', are bound by family ties and the burden of american history. it won the 2002 pulitzer prize for drama, making parks the first african american woman to

receive that honor, and last fall had a 20th anniversary revival on broadway. part of a busy, attention-getting year for parks that included her theater adaptation of the 1972 hit reggae film, "the harder they come". and a new play premiered at minneapolis' guthrie theater titled "sally & tom" - that's sally hemings and thomas jefferson - set in both past and present. "plays for the plague year", produced at new york's "public theater", is her most personal yet and includes experiences at home with her real-life husband, christian konopka and their son, now 11 year old durham, who's suddenly as tall as his mother. they and many other actual people are portrayed onstage by

a group of actors who take a variety of roles in short 'plays' that unfold chronologically. >> it's really a celebration of everyday things, whatever was happening. my office is at the kitchen table in our one bedroom apartment, so i was writing at one end of the kitchen table, at the other end of the kitchen table there was our then eight year old son who was doing remote schooling like so many kids, and he was having his remote schooling things happen, you know, all that kind of glitching and all this stuff and trying to get used to it. so the play might be about that. >> also given voice onstage: a number of those lost during the pandemic, parks has honored them with their own short scenes. and the social justice pkrotests after the killings of breonna

taylor and george floyd. >> a lot of people, in this country especially, we think that to grieve, you know, bad things, would bring us down. the opposite is true. when we look with love and with interest and curiosity towards something that, something difficult that happened, we are released from its power to weigh us down. >> but your way to do that as a playwright is to write them into the play and bring them onstage. parks: well, yes. that's the way the world works. >> the way the world works or the theater world? >> well, all the world's a stage. the writer writes them into the play. that's why we're here. we've been written into a play. isn't it fun? the two of us? parks: sure

>> this is a play, right? >> parks: sure, yeah, i mean we're writing it together, with all, with everybody around who's helping. yeah. this is what it is. >> that feels like a good definition of all parks' work, in fact: exploring how our individual and collective reality is made. one guide in shaping that approach: none other than james baldwin, who first suggested to parks, then in college and writing short stories, that she try writing a play. >> i never would have gotten into playwriting had it not been for mr. baldwin >> that is a high level mandate. >> he suggested that i might be good at what i do, and i didn't have the heart to prove him wrong. i mean, someone has faith in me - it means a lot to me. >> my parents used to tell me

you are an ambassador of your race', meaning we traveled to a lot of places where people hadn't met black people before. and as an adult, now i realize i'm an ambassador of, one of the ambassadors of the human race. and i'll take that on. >> one thing i was wondering about with this play is, is the question: is it too soon? >> maybe it's too soon. i don't think so. the reactions we're getting from the audience, it feel like it's time. it's, why stuff the stuff down? why shove it down and not think about it? until when? that's one of the reason why i'm on stage. i'm not saying 'yeah, go reflect on the pandemic, you know, go over there' - no, i'm like, i'm here with you. >> and so "with you" that audience members are invited to reflect on their experience of lockdown by filling out cards about what they want to remember - or forget. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown at the public

theater in new york. ♪ >> heading into this weekend, we want to leave you with an incredible sign of spring. the heavy rain that hit california earlier this year has created an ideal environmental for wildflowers to spring up. in the antelope valley north of los angeles carpets of vibrant orange poppies are attracting a host of visitors to the picturesque landscape. >> it has been so beautiful, the yellow and orange patches and we just first drove through like seven, eight miles and all across it was extremely beautiful. i mean, it's really a great experience. >> there's debate over whether this year technically qualifies as a superbloom, but that doesn't make it any less splendid. >> "we do think that the amount

of rain that we saw does allow for a wider variety of flowers to be present at this moment. that is unique to this year, certainly in the time that i've seen. and it is exciting and really neat to witness." >> large swaths of flowers are blooming from san francisco bay to the mexican border and parts of arizona,and as shown in satellite images, some can even be seen from space. remember there is much more online, including a story about a new missouri law that criminalizes sleeping outdoors. be sure to tune into washington week later tonight for the latest on the intensifying debt ceiling debate and president biden's expected reelection announcement. that's later tonight here on p-b-s. and watch p-b-s news weekend tomorrow for a look at what scientists are doing to rescue disappearing plant life. and that is the newshour. i'm geoff bennet have a great weekend. >> major funding has been provided by bnsf the engine that

can access. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of the newshour. the walton family foundation working for solutions to climate change so people and nature can thrive together.

and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. i'm terribly excited to be the anchor of pbs news weekend. we have become known for independent fact-based reporting. we are challenging the viewers to understand a little better. we present all sides of the story, we take the time to put them in context. when viewers watch i hope they

come away informed with a different specked of them before. good evening tonight on pbs news weekend. ♪

♪ >> hello, everyone. here is what's coming up. >> we don't even remember what life is like without this trauma and this horror. >> a desperate plea from heartbroken families. i speak to thloved ones of americans still behind bars in iran, and former prisoner jason rezaian. and then, putting women centerstage. world renowned ballerina on her trailblazing career and being the first female to lead the first ballet company. plus, wrestling with a dark past. laura trevelyan tells michel