♪ evening. on "the newshour" tonight, house republicans push forward on a debt ceiling built that could kickstart critical negotiations over government funding. president biden honors south korea's leader with a state visit, attempting to strengthen ties amid increasing uncertainty in east asia. and -- >> what's going on here? >> we take a long and at times frustrating road trip testing electric vehicles and the supply of charging stations. >> the expectation is you go to a gas station and end up with a full tank 100% of the time, and that's the same benchmark we have to work towards when you

think of electric vehicles. ♪ >> major funding for "the pbs newshour" has been provided by -- the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions, and friends of "the newshour," including jim and nancy filner and kathy and paul anderson. >> key not is a public supporter of public television. in world of flavor, diverse destinations, and immersive experiences. a world of entertainment and british style, all with our white star service. >> the ford foundation, working

with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> welcome to "the newshour." in congress today, a critical moment for the nation's debt problems and possible debt crisis ahead as republican

leaders in the house put their budget plan up for a vote. congressional correspondent lisa desjardins joins me from capitol hill. let's start with the fact that this morning, when kevin mccarthy began his day, he did not have the votes for this major bill, so bring us up to speed. weighted things stand now? >> -- where do things stand now? >> i just ran from the house chamber where yet again, we saw the drama in the early parts of this stage. kevin mccarthy did squeak through by the narrowest of margins, just 217 votes, which means had one other republican gone from yes to no, this bill would have failed. 4 republicans voted against the speaker's bill. could not afford any more. let's look at the difference from this morning. this morning, there were eight republicans. all these folks were undecided, have problems with the bill. in the overnight hours, the

speaker and his team did change the bill to restore some ethanol credits. that was a problem for the iowa delegation. this is a story of kevin mccarthy carefully navigating this slim margin on a very big issue and tonight successfully. >> this bill could be considered an opening offer from republicans, right? remind us what is in it. what are the highlights? >> more than anything, this bill raises the debt ceiling into 2024 and would cut an estimated $4.5 trillion, maybe a little more, over 10 years. it would cut discretionary spending by 13% in one year. that's all those agencies, everything that congress has a say over. in addition, this bill would block new credits for solar, wind and clean energy. ,medicaid recipients would have to work 80 hours a month if they were able-bodied and not parents, and in addition, there

would be an extension of snap and foodstamp work requirements so people up to age 55 would have to work to get food stamps. there has been a lot of debate today, but i wanted to focus on overnight very lengthy house rules committee meeting where we saw a substantive discussion of these things. want to point out this exchange over those snap or foodstamp benefits and how both sides really see this different in terms of philosophy. >> the deal is you are piling work requirement on top of work requirement on top of people who are in vulnerable or complicated situations and you don't see a problem with two dollars per meal. i think we don't share the same values. >> no, no, and i think you have values, i really do. i like you. i will tell you that the very people you're talking about that's making two dollars for six dollars,hey are being hurt by the policies that you have let go, that this administration

has. collect differentws for what is good for the american publi . >> a lot of debate ahead you will be covering. what does all this mean for that larger database? >> my thinking right now is both sides might dig in more. republicans were very celebratory, but republicans believe kevin mccarthy does not have the votes to pass anything other than this, and clearly, they think this will not be the final product. here is what president biden said today. >> they haven't figured out the debt limit yet. happy to meet with mccarthy, but not on if the debt limit gets extended. that'not negotiable. >> in other words, no change from either side in their long-term game here. reso.lvesear how this situation -- it is not clear how this situation resolves. >> big day on capitol hill.

lisa desjardins. thank you. stephanie: here are the latest headlines. president biden began running his first ads and taking his first questions since formally announcing his reelection bid. in a white house news conference, mr. biden dismissed his lackluster poll ratings. he said he is ready to face former president trump again if it comes to that. >> you said you can beat trump again. do you think you are the only one? >> i may not be the only one, but i know him well, and i know the danger he presents to our democracy, and we have been down this road before. >> as for questions about his age, the president said voters will watch him, and "they will judge if i have or don't have it." writer e.g. carol took the stand in new york today and told a federal court, "donald trump

raped me." carol testified it happened in a department store dressing room in 1996 and she said when she publicly accused him years later, he lied and shattered her reputation. she is suing for unspecified damages. mr. trump has denied the allegations. in sudan, fighting has flared again around the capital, khartoum, under fire -- undermining the latest cee fire attempt. desperate families are trying to escape the country by land and sea, part of an exodus of thousands so far. today in paris, planes arrived carrying evacuees who brought with them stories of horror. >> i did not feel at ease seeing so many soldiers with heavy weapons. i also saw a bomber and missiles. i saw dead bodies on the road, images i want to empty my head off. >> meanwhile, the army said ousted dictator omar al-bashir has been moved to a military-run hospital. he is wanted by the

international criminal court on charges of genocide and war crimes in sudan's darfur region. united nations migration officials say a rubber boat headed to europe sank tuesday near a coastal town east of tripoli. today, aid workers said they are still recovering bodies. one of the few survivors said the boat was badly overloaded. >> we got into the small boat between 1:00 and 2:00 a.m. there were around 80 of us. people were asking the driver to stop, saying the boat was sinking, but he said no. as it sank, we started fighting for our lives and screaming for help until someone came to rescue us. it was an indescribable scene. >> the united nations says at least 740 people have drowned or gone missing in the mediterranean this year, more than any year since 2017. ukraine's president had a

critical phone call today with china's president, their first known contact since russia invaded ukraine. afterwards, zelenskyy called it a powerful impetus to the development of bilateral relations and possibly to peace. china's xi jinping visited moscow last month. beijing says it is seeking a political settlement of the war. in pressure, the jailed opposition leader alexei navalny says he is facing terrorism charges that could add 30 years to his prison term. he spoke today during a moscow hearing via video link from a penal colony. it was his first public appearance in months. >> i just wanted to say that i got a little bit lonely in solitary confinement, and it is just amazing to see so many people. the only people i'm in contact with other one who hands me my food, and my favorite head of the unit who now sits next to me

filming. >> navalny appeared gaunt at a time when supporters say his health appears to be failing. the audio was abruptly muted by the court as he began to criticize this latest case against him. for the first time, women will be allowed to vote at a meeting of roman catholic bishops. the vatican announced today pope francis have approved the change women have been seeking for decades. it applies to five nuns who represent religious orders and several dozen other women who will attend the bishop's conference in october. that in this country, the walt disney company is suing florida's publican governor, ron desantis, targeting his takeover of the disney world district at orlando. the suit says disney faces a targeted campaign of government retaliation because it criticized a ban on discussion sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. the governor's office accused disney of undermining the will of florida voters. a missouri judge temporarily blocked a rule restricting

access to gender-affirming health care for both minors and. the rule, which was supposed to take effect thursday, is now on hold until at least monday. meanwhile, the u.s. justice department filed a complaint today challenging a ban on youth gender affirming care in tennessee, saying the law violates the constitution. the department is asking the court to take immediate action from preventing the law from going into effect july 1. britain today blocked microsoft's plans to buy videogame maker activision blizzard for 69 billion dollars. it would have been the biggest tech deal ever, but british regulators that it would kill competition in the cloud gaming market. the merger also faces challenges in the u.s. and the european union. still to come, former arkansas governor asa hutchinson becomes the latest republican presidential candidate. the trial of the far right crowd voice over the capital insurrection draws to a close. montana republicans hold a vote to center entrance lawmaker.

-- censure a trends -- censure a trans lawmaker. >> this is "the pbs newshour" from weta studios in washington and in the west from walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. >> president biden welcome the president of south korea to the white house today for a state visit. he signed a wide-ranging declaration that enhances u.s.-korean planning for the use of nuclear weapons in response to a north korean attack. nick schifrin has our look at a key alliance and how the administration is responding to south korean concerns about the u.s. commitment. >> it is a 70-year-old alliance, but today in front of 7000 people, the u.s. had to reassure south korea the two countries would always walk side-by-side.

>> it is an unbreakable bond forged in bravery and the sacrifice of our people. >> president biden hosted the south korean president for a state visit and at a press conference announced what yoon called unprecedented steps toward the security of korea. >> so we can achieve real peace and not all species based on the goodwill of the other side. >> the u.s. under today's declaration will make any effort to consult with south korea on any pop -- any possible weapons and deployment ensure training on those weapons and deploy the weapons to the korean peninsula with enhanced visibility. south korea reaffirmed the promise not to develop its own nuclear weapons. the u.s. and south korean militaries are integrated, but until today, the u.s. has not officially shared plans for when it will use a nuclear weapon.

>> we have promised to respond quickly, overwhelmingly, and decisively using the overwhelming force of the alliance including the united states' nuclear weapons. >> president biden did not go that far but repeated his administration's previously stated threat. >> a nuclear attack against the united states or its allies and partners is unacceptable. >> it was yoon himself who raised concerns earlier this year about the ability of the united states to protect its allies. south korean concerns have been triggered by a record number of north korean missile launches. >> at some point into the future, i would like to save the money. >> south korean doubts are also

a product of former president trump's hinting he would remove troops from south korea if seoul did not contribute to their costs. in nuclear submarine will visit south korea for the first time in 43 years. last night, presidents laid a wreath of remembrance at the korean war veterans memorial. he remembers the 33,000 americans and more than one million south koreans killed in what the leaders hope will remain the last korean war. so what will be the practical impact of today's declaration? for that, we turn to bruce klinger, who had a 20-year career in intelligence focusing on korea. he is now a senior fellow at the heritage foundation. how significant is it that the u.s. has pledged to consult with south korea about the possible use of nuclear weapons and share nuclear plans? >> i think it is very significant, but really, the washington declaration is directed more at seoul than

pyongyang. it is designed more to reassure our ally that additional steps to deter north korea, so the mutual defense treaty, the presence of our forces, etc., you know, are all very effective in deterring north korea, but lately, cll has been more nervous about our commitment, and it is, as you pointed out, the u.s. election results as well as north korea's growing capabilities and the growing doubt that there will be any kind of diplomatic resolution. >> this reassurance that will occur inside what is being called a nuclear consultant group about u.s. nuclear plans, how much of a change is it from what the u.s. shares with south korea? >> i think it will increase the amount of information we share with them as well as increase the involvement by south korea in discussions and planning as well as exercises. the details are going toe very sensitive because it is dealing with nuclear weapons, but

earlier this year, south korean officials both publicly and privately said that they are concerned about the viability, but washington has taken a lot of actions in the last several months, so now when i talk to korean officials, they say they are much more reassured. they have much less concern about u.s. viability of the extended deterrence guarantees. in the declaration today, south korea not only affirmed that they would not pursue a nuclear weapons program but stated quite clearlaty th they are r abthout e.s u. commitment. eass>> to get that reassurance,s you just said, south korea has reaffirmed its commitment under the nuclear nonproliferation treaty not to obtain nuclear weapons. how significant is that pledge by south korea? >> i think it is very significant. there are different lanes in the road of south korea. there are outside advocates of nuclear weapons, and nothing

will satisfy that except full-fledged south korea nuclear weapons program. in the middle is the public, which people a high public approval for an indigenous nuclear weapons program, but then went they claim the consequent as of that action, the rate goes down. the third line is the south korean government, which has been the least vocal in favor. president yoon has made a few statements which either he hour a few officials have publicly walked back, and now the public are saying they are very reassured. >> south korean officials have been very concerned about north korea's advancements in terms of nuclear and missile technology and as we know, some of president trump's rhetoric. you travel there often. do you believe south koreans on the government are also worried if trump or some other isolationist president were elected next year? >> very much so. in my engagement in seoul and

tokyo with senior officials, they do point out they are very concerned if a u.s. isolationist president is elected in 2024, that the president could resume the threats to reduce or remove u.s. forces either over cost disputes or wanting to sort of reduce our exposure to enemies overseas. north korea does now have the capability of hitting the continental u.s. with nuclear weapons, and that has led some in south korea to say, would we really trade seattle for seoul? would we really risk and attack on u.s. cities in defense of our asian allies, and i point out the world willing to risk an estimated 100 million casualties in a standoff with the soviet union, and that was with a much more capable nuclear adversary in the soviet union the north korea. >> some in south korea and the u.s. have want the administration to go for further and redeployed american nuclear

weapons to the peninsula, which were withdrawn back in the 1990's. just in the few seconds we have left, do you think the u.s. should have reconsidered that? >> i don't think so. it really does not make military sense to take military weapons off hard-to-find vehicles like aircraft for submarines and put them in a static bunker in south korea, which would be a very lucrative preemptive target for north korea. it is very preferable to live them on hard-to-find platforms. quick thank. >> thank you for having me. >> former arkansas governor asa hutchinson formally announced his bid for the white house today. our laura verona lopez looks at how his campaign could shape the republican primary. >> today, i'm announcing that i

am a candidate for president of the united states. >> hutchinson, a former governor and congressman from arkansas, joined the growing field of gop presidential candidates today, formally announcing his bid in bentonville. he laid out his priorities as he positions himself as an alternative to his party's standardbearer, former president trump. >> this campaign is about courage. it is about making the tough decisions to rebuild our economy, to give peace a chance through america's strength, and to remove the american spirit of freedom -- renew the american spirit of freedom, opportunity, and the rule of law. >> speaking in the town where he was born, hutchinson did not mention trump by name but touted his long history in law enforcement. >> i am the only candidate running for president with a breadth of experience in law enforcement. i will enforce the law and demand that local prosecutors do the same. >> in 1982, ronald reagan

appointed 31-year-old hutchinson to be the nation's youngest u.s. attorney. in the role, he made national headlines after prosecuting the covenant, the sword, and the arm of the lord, a white super minister organization -- a white supremacist organization in the state. hutchison served as the impeachment manager in the trial of president bill clinton. he left congress to join president george w. bush's administration, working as head of the drug enforcement administration and in homeland security. his first bid for the arkansas governor's mansion failed in200e won. it was the best showing for a republican gubernatorial candidate in the state since reconstruction. during his eight years as governor, he implemented work recipients, reinstated executions in the state, and signed the law that banned local governments from extending civil rights protections to lgbtq

residents. one of the country's most prominent antiabortion leaders, hutchison signed multiple laws limiting access to the procedure in the state. a critic of trump, he has called on the former president to step aside. >> i think he has had his opportunity there. i think january 6 really disqualifies him for the future. >> hutchinson's bid may be a long site -- longshot as he faces a voter base loyal to trump. >> there is not a huge desire in the party to move in a different direction. >> but his alternate vision for the party is needed, say longtime republican operative stuart stephens. >> if you care enough about the party to fight for the party and believe there should be a sane, morally grounded, decent, compassionate, center-right party in america, what are you going to do? if you are asa hutchinson, he is running. i think he feels the party has

abandoned its role as being an optimistic, positive force in american politics. >> fresh off and i was not, hutchinson is expected to ramp up his campaign in the coming weeks. quick to jurors areeliberating in a highly watched case against the proud boys, a right-wing extremist group whose members stormed the capital on january 6. >> five members of the pr criminal counts,d including seditious conspiracy. that's a rarely used civil war era offense defined as plotting to overthrow the government. prosecutors say the proud boys leader and the 4 other defeants saw themselves as donald trump's army and heeded his call to attack the capital

after trump lost the 2020 election. defense attorneys say the violence was unplanned and that a conviction would criminalize political protest. npr's justice correspondent has been following all of this from inside the federal courthouse. this has been closely watched. what is the significance? why is this trial so important? >> as you mentioned, this is one of three seditious conspiracy trials we have had so far. the first two have related to the oath keepers, another, and its leader, steward rhodes, and one of his top deputies were convicted, as well as several other oath keepers defendants. this is the first case, though, against former leaders of the proud boys. people may remember some of them engaged in a lot of violence on january 6. some of these defendants celebrated with great jubilance, according to the government, after donald trump said during a

presidential debate that the proud boys should stand back and stand by for him. it is resident politically as well as legally -- it is resident -- it is resonant politically as well as legally. >> what is the government using to make its case? >> we have had so much evidence. video, text mesges, witnesses including former proud boys themselves completed guilty and agreed to cooperate with the government. police officers who were on the front lines that day and suffered abuse from riders. -- rioters. we also had a number of people, including two of the defendants, made the risky decision to testify. the most high-profile defendant, he did not take the stand, but two of the men who sit next to him did to somewhat mixed result. >> you mentioned there was the

conviction last year of steward rhodes on these same charges. does that put pressure on the justice department to win a conviction here? >> i think the pressure on the justice department is in or miss when it comes to january 6. there has been a public appetite and to some extent, political appetite for the justice department to climb up the ladder of responsibility in cases not just a people who trespass on capitol grounds on january 6 and not just people who have entered the -- who entered the building that day, but some of the people who helped organize, and the justice department's theory is that senior leaders in the oath keepers and proud boys were planning for weeks if not longer to try to do something to try to help donald trump retain power, and these seditious conspiracy cases are a central element of that theory. >> one of the men was not even in washington that day. he was not at the capitol.

>> he was not, and his defense lawyer really highlighted that. he was in baltimore because he had been charged with other offenses earlier in d.c., and a judge banished him to leave the city, but prosecutors say he was trying to direct the action from his hotel room in baltimore. his lawyer says he is being made a scapegoat here, that the real person to blame is former president trump and that trump's own words, his motivation, and his anger is what really fueled that mob to storm the capital on the sixth. quickly have also learned about a relationship -- >> we have also learned about a relationship between one of defendants and a d.c. police officer. tantalizing element of the case, that he maintained a close relationship with someone in the d.c. police department who is responsible for maintaining intelligence. that officer, who has been suspended as the investigation continues, basically says he was

pumping potential extremist for information, but the justice department and several witnesses characterized relationship as really inappropriate and suggested that in text messages and other communications, that this police officer may have tipped off the defendant that he would be arrested on these other charges for defacing a black lives matter banner at a historically african-american church. we have learned a little more about that bizarre and potentially inappropriate relationship with police officers responsible for predicting the intelligence in advance of january 6. >> thank you very much. >> my pleasure. >> demand for electric vehicles is clearly growing.

federal legislation is providing new incentives, and one out of every five vehicles sold worldwide this year is expected to be electric, but charging those vehicles can be complicated. science correspondent miles o'brien found that out for himself on a road trip in california. his report is in conjunction with tonight's episode of "nova, chasing carbon zero." >> electric vehicles sure have come a long way. i just got in the driver's seat of an all electric pickup truck in venice, california. the company loaned us the vehicle for a reporting trip that spanned more than 500 miles. it was a stress test for the electric vehicle charging network. we had no idea how much stress lay ahead. >> we don't have enough chargers, right? >> i agree. >> what are we going to do about that?

>> lily macaluso is a really an engineer. >> each company does not want to out build the other because if you put in enough chargers and is not enough vehicles in the area yet, but then overwhelming amounts of vehicles in some areas. >> for some insights, i drove to the innovation lab for one of the largest electric vehicle charging companies in the nation. all right, gentlemen, i want your premium electrons here. the chief commercial officer showed me around. >> would have all the chargers we have in the field and we also test new ones we are putting out. >> the company tests chargers at 850 locations in 30 states. >> what we need is comp imagery. we need to have the charging infrastructure to support the vehicles, the vehicles using that, and enough charge to support additional vehicles, so on and so forth. >> the invisible hand of the free market is getting some handholding from taxpayers to

speed the transition. i sat down with transportation secretary pete buttigieg. >> it is not that chargers would emerge in order to serve these electric vehicles. it's that they might not happen quickly enough. quite the bipartisan infrastructure law earmarks $2.5 billion over the next five years to build 500,000 charging stations. they are to be manufactured in the u.s. and installed along interstates and in neighborhoods where home charging is not an option. otherwise -- >> they might not happen in a way that reaches everybody, including some of the lower income drivers who would stand to gain the most from not having to pay for gas, provided that these vehicles were affordable enough and easy enough to charge. and -- this is very important to our administration -- there's no guarantee if we just let things take their course with no involvement that this would be a made in america charging revolution. >> the department of energy is

also on the case. near chicago at the argonne national laboratory, they are helping imagine the future of electric vehicle charging. the director for advanced mobility and grid integration technology took me on a ride in his ev. >> how do you talk about electric vehicle challenges? in his garage, he connects the car to a standard 120-volt outlet, enough to charge him up overnight. for cars with larger batteries, a 240-volt outlet will do the same. at argonne, he showed me something much faster. >> right there, state-of-the-art. >> it is a d.c. fast charger. they are between five and 35 times faster than a regular home outlet. >> the expectation we have to

live up to is you go to a gas station and end up with a full tank 100% of the time, and that's the same benchmark we have to work towards when we think of electric vehicles. >> we learned firsthand the scarcity of reliable charging in this country. at our shoot in santa barbara, we plugged in outside the building. eight hours later, we came back, and this level two charger gave us all of 11 miles range per hour. all we added over the course of a whole day is 88 miles. we drove up the coast where one of my ev travel apps promised a fast charger. >> third time's the charm, right? >> ok, i've tried two cards now. three cards. here's a fourth card -- oh, maybe? no? this is not working.

after our failure, we aimed for a fast charger in paso robles. we rolled in at 8:40 pm >> got 35 miles to go in range. hope this is going to work. >> plugged in. processing error? holy [beep] ah, [beep] please, please, please. maybe we slide it in? ok, we are actually now officially charging. we were charging fast at last. went to dinner and came back 90 minutes later. all right, here's the verdict. it was full. charging time was one hour 12 minutes.

58 bucks. i guess cheaper than gas, but 58 bucks is 58 bucks, right? well, we are tanked up, so to speak. the next morning we set out for anot sho in modesto, 190 miles away. othewe had more than 290 miles f indicated range, so i figured we were as good as they are. -- as good as their -- as good as there. maybe you're going a little too fast. we watch the anticipated range drop from 60 to 30 to 25. once we got to that point, the car pretty much is making us stop. >> again, we found an inoperative charger. reconnect? what's going on here? please unplug. oh, man. try this other one.

pop this in here. payment authorized, and initiating charge. 110, 113, 100 14 -- it is ranting up. all right. so there is a consistent problem with operating and maintaining these things, there's no question. when camille terry saw this problem, she turned it into a business opportunity. she is the ceo of nla-based startup. the company is focused on repair and maintenance of ev chargers. >> getting electricity to a car is actually not that difficult, right? if you install it the right way. when you insert software and comms, and operabili, there's a multitude of issues that come about. software, communication, system issues. >> more than half of her technicians are black and brown from disadvantaged communities. charger help jobs are good

paying and offer plenty of long-term job security clearly. now that electric vehicle sales are reaching mass adoption levels, the pressure on the industry is building. >> here's the thing, right? if we don't figure it out this year, then we have a huge problem. quickly stopped two more times before reaching our destination in san francisco. in all, seven charging sess,sion over 560 miles. it took a lot of time. >> this car has been a lot of fun to drive, and i think people want them more than the system can support them. part of me is disappointed, but part of me is also [indiscernible] by the experience. put that in the category of ambivalence. i'm miles o'brien on the long road to san francisco. >> you can watch miles' full

documentary on nova on pbs tonight. check your local listings. republicans in the montana house of representatives voted today to block democrat zoe zephyr from entering the house chamber for the rest of the session, but she will still be allowed to vote on legislation remotely. the party line vote cap a week long sung -- saga that began as zephyr, the first trends member of the legislature, spoke out against a series of anti-trans bills being debated and continued when her supporters chanted from the gallery after the republican speaker prevented zephyr from participating in the debate. >> the representative of house district 100 failed to do her duty. worse yet, she actively participated in disrupting the

law collectivity's of this legislature. subjectivity must have consequences if we are to keep our processes in place, the processes that serve all montanans. >> mazzola representative zoe zephyr joins me now. representative zephyr, thank you for joining us. let me begin with your reaction to that boat, to the restrictions placed on you. what does this mean for how you can do your job? >> when the speaker of the house refused to recognize me, he was preventing me from recognizing -- representing the 11,000 montanans who elected me to speak on bills on their behalf, and this vote is a doubling down of that. every bill we see in this house from housing bills to the budget will not have the voice montanag in that process. >> when you spoke in your defense for the vote today, you said you felt you were being asked to be complicit in the

eradication of your community. what did you mean by that? >> we have seen over a dozen anti-trans bills in my state and an escalation of those bills across america this year. over 400 pieces of legislation. these are bills that ban our art forms, our literature, our histories, and our health care. the compiling of these pieces of legislation worked to remove lgbtq people from public life and made it harder for us to exist as ourselves and in our communities. >> we looked up some statistics. this is something you have spoken about before, the link between some of the political rhetoric and real-world violence in particular. according to the trevor project were more than half of transgender and non-binary youth in 2022 considered suicide. that's 55%. nearly one in five, 19%,

attempted suicide. in montana alone, as you know, 55% of lgbt youth considered suicide. 13% attempted that. i'm curious, when you share these statistics, how do they resonate with your colleagues in the house? >> we know statistics, as true as they are, often do not pierce the veil. people do not tend to believe them when you talk to them about this, which is why i also bring real stories from montanans and people from around the country. i have lost friends to suicide this year. i've had friends attacked on the side of the road. we even heard from a family whose trans teenager attempted suicide while watching one of the hearings. you bring this forward and try to talk to the real horror and deaths these bills can lead to. >> we struggled to find any other recent center efforts in the montana house. there was one 1975 effort we

were able to dig up thanks to the work of my colleague andy fontana historical society. this was when some republican legislators attended to place false ads in newspaper. that censure, though, actually failed. what does it say to you that republicans today were able to take this step when it came to you? >> i think what it really looks like is we have seen and unequal application of decorum in the house, and what happens is when marginalized communities are standing up, if it is me speaking for folks in tennessee talking about gun violence and the impact on their communities, when marginalized communities speak about the real harm bills bring, we are in an era right now where legislatures led by far right republicans are saying it is not enough to get these bills passed, but you must be silent and there must be repercussions for holding them accountable. >> do you feel like you have allies in the statehouse working

with you on this? >> yes, i have been talking with my fellow democrats about the importance of standing up on these issues, how i talk about them on the floor, and going forward, how can i best represent my constituency now that my voice is being silenced in the house. >> we should mention, too, in recent years, we have seen a dramatic uptake of anti-trans bills in republican legislatures. more than 400 anti-trans bills this year so far, more than double last year, more than were introduced over the previous four years combined. when you look at that, what does that say to you? >> it is important to note that this is in contrast with the joy that comes from a trans person getting to live fully as ourselves, the joy we get to have when we exist in our

communities as who we truly are. it is concerning -- the escalation is concerning. we saw this begin with targeted sports fans -- bands, and quickly, they use similar rhetoric. we are seeing in missouri for adult care bands. we are seeing in florida laws that allow people to remove trans children from their parents or children from their parents if their parent happens to be trans. it is very concerning for our community. >> represented of, thank you for your time. >> thank you for having me. >> nearly 2/3 of areas with a shortage of primary care professionals are in rural

communities. for decades, federal programs have offered incentives to try to correct the problem with limited success. we visited a hospital and medical school in west virginia doing their part to train the next generation of rural doctors, but support -- with support from the pulitzer center and in collaboration with the global health reporting center, william brangham reports for our series "rural rx." >> good morning. good morning. >> dr. aaron maclachlan is helping train a new kind of doctor for a very particular population. >> our mission is to train physicians to go out and practice full-spectrum family medicine in areas that are desperately needing it. >> are we ready to go? perfect. let's go. >> he says it is about preparing the next generation to work in rural america, in communities where people are often sicker,

where they live further from care and where they have far fewer resources to deal with medical conditions. quits windows resources are not next-door, that provider has to accommodate for that, and i have to make some changes to their practice and try to limit how many times they are sending patients four hours away to see a specialist. you cannot do that sometimes in rural areas. >> you are the one? >> you're the one that is going to be managing this patient's problem even though it may be something that is out of the scope of what some people may think family medicine does, but in that area, you are the specialist. >> this is a big challenge, a big commitment, a lot of extra learning, a lot of late nights, a lot of early mornings. >> one of the young residents learning this new expanded definition of family doctor. he is in the rural family medicine program at west virginia university. >> it teaches you to be very

versatile, and i think for a family doctor in particular, that is really important. >> and you like that idea? >> i do. i don't like using two doctors when one will do. >> nationally, he is an outlier. 99% of medical residency programs where doctors train are located in cities and suburbs, but since where doctors train is often where they end up practicing, that rural communities high and dry. rural america 20% of the country's population, but only 10% of its doctors. the government accountability office estimates that addressing this shortage just in the next two years will take an additional 20,000 primary care physicians. but the trend is moving in the opposite direction. since 2010, at least 136 rural hospitals across the country have closed their doors. >> i would love to see more doctors practicing in rural areas, in underserved areas.

>> dr. linda boyd is vice president for academic affairs and dean at the west virginia school of osteopathic medicine. >> the data is very clear that if you put one dr., primary care doctor injure a -- into a rural area where there previously was none, the health indices for that entire community go up. >> the school was founded 50 years ago, specifically to address this shortage of doctors in rural west virginia. >> part of what i have seen as successful here in west virginia is growing your own, having people that come from the area that go to reticle school in the state, and up going to their residency in the state, and they end up staying because their families are here and they love the people and the land. >> training for doctors of osteopathic medicine is similar to that of md's, but with more focus on lifestyle and

environmental factors. leaning on osteopaths to solve this shortage might seem unconventional, but they already make up 11% of the physicians in the u.s. >> the perceptions about osteopathic medicine have come a long way since i started in medical school in the now make9e medical students in the united states, so we are becoming a much larger profession and not so much a minority. >> the school offers a unique program that gives students 20 weeks of specialized training while they are still in medical school. >> we have a track called the rural health initiative that recruits students who are from a rural area and/or have a strong commitment to practice in a rural area because some students come in and say that's what i want to do. they're assigned to some of the smaller hospitals around the

state that are considered rural area and that can provide those rural opportunities for them in training. so they are working alongside doctors who have committed to this life, and they are working in that environment, and they get to see that you can practice high quality of care in a small hospital in a rural town. >> travis derman and abundance hunt grew up in west virginia and are both students at the osteopathic school of medicine. >> i wanted to come home. i never really considered anywhere else. this has always been home. >> there's a mental health crisis in west virginia, the drug crisis in west virginia, and addiction crisis in west virginia. >> stearman was a coal miner for 13 years and wants to be a psychiatrist now. >> give back to the communities and help them.

>> as part of their training, they are learning about the body of water not far from the area. >> we came out here to see what the water quality was. it is important because this is the water people will be drinking, consuming, that is a big part of their health. water is most of our body, so it is important what we put in it. >> hill oversees the school's community engagement through the center for rural community health. the center offers funding to people and teachers -- teaches lessons that are not part of a standard curriculum like extensive learning about nutrition and helping senior citizens to do chores. quickly bring the community in and ask what's the need, and we listen to them, and we develop a program about that. >> i think that there is so much to the doctor and that there' 'a lot to do with the trust and

relationship they have, especially with rural physicians. they are a big part of the community. i think it is more important than ever to have those people in the community that people can trust. >> ready! >> soon enough, these doctors will graduate, set up their own practices, and hopefully continue building those bridges. >> that report was the last installment in our "rural rx" series, but you can see all of them online and more, including william sharing some of the common threads he and the team found speaking with rural patients and doctors across five different states. that is "the newshour" for tonight. on behalf of the entire "newshour" team, thank you for joining us. >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by -- ♪

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