>> good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the "newshour" tonight, the air national guardsman charged with divulging highly classified documents again appears in court -- as prosecutors allege a pattern of troubling behavior. >> disney punches back against ron desantis. how the florida governor's war against what he calls "wokeism" has turned into a drawn-out legal battle. the pentagon's broader plan to stop honoring the confederacy. >> the names that are on the base signs should reflect the values of our country and the values of the american people.

>> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by -- the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour, including leonard and norma clorevine, and koo and patricia yuen. >> on a voyage with cunard, the world awaits. a world of diverse destinations and immersive experiences. a world of entertainment and british style. with one star service.

>> the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the frontlines lines of social change worldwide. 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 by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. geoff: welcome to the newshour. there are new questions tonight about how a national guardsman entered the military and kept his security clearance before leaking hundreds of classified documents online. >> jack teixeira appeared in a massachusetts court, and prosecutors accused him of a

history of violence and threats long before he allegedly committed one of the most significant intelligence leaks in years. nick schifrin is following this story and joins us. good to see you. what happened in court? reporter: prosecutors are trying to make sure he stays in custody and to make sure, they painted him as a more dangerous figure. in 2018 he was suspended from high school from making threats about guns and molotov cocktails . he was denied a gun ownership card. and regular violent comments online. turning a minivan into an assassination van and using a rifle in a crowded environment. they allege he used a government computer to research previous shootings and standoffs with

federal agents and had an arsenal inside his bedroom along with multiple computers he threw into a dumpster to try to destroy to cover his tracks. prosecutors wrote that he might still have access to a trove of classified information that would be of tremendous value to a hostile nation states that could offer him a safe harbor in an attempt to facilitate his excite -- his escape. there is no evidence that he leaks these documents to aid our adversaries but this is a remarkable story. amna: disturbing details about his background. how did he get and attain a security clearance? reporter: everyone goes through a similar background check and the dod does it by interviewing

the person's contacts and they are supposed to know about state decisions like the one massachusetts made denying him a firearms car -- card. >> if we are going to a ward you a security clearance, there are stringent requirements to get it . there will be a background check. you will sign a nondisclosure -- nondisclosure agreement. at the end of the day it is not something you just get, it is something you have to earn and maintain. however, if an individual decides to willfully break the law, that is a different story. nick: so how he maintained the clearance, the military has continuous vetting that is supposed to track financial, criminal, personal records and flagged anything that they see as a risk and the government

computer where he did these searches were also supposed to flag those. so those questions will go into the investigation and tonight the air force confirmed they suspended his unit's commander and -- commander. the public defender is withering in their own criticism of the story i just laid out. they said they have hyperbolic judgments and call the part about foreign adversaries little more than speculation and they want him released to his father. his father was in court today and said he could supervise his son. prosecutors for -- the defendant said he could be monitored and prevented from going online and he is still active duty, which means he is under the control of

the air force and they have an obligation to protect him. but his clearance has still not been revoked. amna: a lot more to follow. nick schifrin with us, thank you, nick. geoff: in other headlines, the u.s. economy slowed sharply in the first quarter of the year -- as higher interest rates took a toll. overall growth ran at an annual rate of 1.1% from january through march, based on commerce department data. that is down 2.6% in the final quarter of last year and 3.2% in the third quarter. former vice president mike pence spent today testifying before a federal grand jury in the january 6 investigation. it's widely reported that his appearance came after a federal appeals court upheld a grand jury subpoena last night. the court rejected an attempt by

former president trump to block the testimony. the woman who's suing former president donald trump for rape faced cross-examination today in new york city. columnist e. jean carroll alleges it happened in 1996. in federal court, mr. trump's lawyeruggested carroll made the accusation decades later to sell a book. the writer said she was galvanized by the "me too" movement. the president of south korea went before the u.s. congress today, urging an even tougher stance against north korea. yoon-sook-yuhl was greeted with a bipartisan standing ovation as he arrived to address the house and senate. >> my government will respond firmly to provocations while at the same time we will keep the door open for dialogue and north korea's denuclearization. i once again urge north korea to cease its provocations and take the right path.

geoff: yoon called for greater security cooperation with the u.s. and japan. in sudan, the military and paramilitary rebels said they've agreed to an extended cease-fire, but intense fighting escalated in the western darfur region. cell phone video from the city of genena showed a sky blackened with smoke. residents told of fighters rampaging through neighborhoods and looting stores and homes. the u.s. has announced new sanctions on russia and iran for jailing americans without cause. today's action is largely symbolic because russia's federal security service and iran's revolutionary guard are already under heavy sanctions. meantime, in phoenix, pro basketball star brittney griner held her first news conference since being held 10 months in russia. >> you are going to be faced with adversities throughout your life. this was a pretty big one, but i just kind of relied on my hard work getting through it. i know this sounds so small, but, you know, dying in practice, you know, in just hard

workouts, you find a way to just grind it out. geoff: the russians refused today to let u.s. embassy staffers visit evan gershkovich. the "wall street journal" reporter was arrested last month and accused of espionage. the u.s. has rejected the charge. reports of sexual assault in the u.s. military are up again -- but at a much slower rate. the pentagon says they were up 1% in 2022, far less than the 13% gain of the previous year. it was largely because reported assaults in the u.s. army saw a big decline, 9%. the other three services reported increases. the white woman at the center of the emmett till lynching has died in louisiana. the 14-year-old till was kidnapped and brutally murdered in mississippi in 1955. carolyn bryant donham had accused the teenager of whistling at her. she never acknowledged any role in the lynching, but her husband

at the time later confessed to the crime. the biden administration now plans to open asylum processing centers in colombia and guatemala. the homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas made the announcement today. he said it's aimed at slowing a surge of migrants at the u.s. southern border when covid restrictions end next month. >> we do expect that encounters at our southern border will increase as smugglers are seeking to take advantage of this change and already are hard at work spreading disinformation that the border will be open processing centers will be announced in other countries in the coming weeks. the smoking rate among american adults has hit a new low. cdc findings show that in 2022, about 11% of the u.s. adult population identified as smokers.

the rate had been 42% in the mid-1960's but has fallen gradually for decades. the study also finds electronic cigarette use has risen to about 6% of adults. on wall street, stocks had their best day since january as big tech firms posted strong profits. the dow jones industrial average gained 524 points, 1.5%, to close at 33,826. the nasdaq rose nearly 2.4%. the s&p 500 was up 2%. daytime television's one-time ringmaster of the outrageous, jerry springer has died. he was a former news anchor and mayor of cincinnati before starting a talk show in 1991. it was a carnival of brawling, cursing guests and it ran for 27 years. jerry springer was 79 years old. still to come on the "newshour", what the latest gdp numbers say about the strength of the u.s. economy. how changes to twitter's blue check marks could pose a risk to

public safety. a boston restaurant encourages diners to think more deeply about immigrant culture and food. and author judy blume discusses the film adaptation of her classic novel. the battle between the walt disney company and florida governor ron desantis has eclipsed politics and is now playing out in the courts. yesterday, disney filed suit in federal court, arguing it is the victim of a "targeted campaign of government retaliation." disney accuses the governor and his allies overseeing the company's special taxing district of violating the company's constitutional rights. disney says it is a victim of targeted retaliation as punishment for speaking out against desantis' policies. the governor says it's about accountability. ron desantis, a likely 2024 presidential candidate, responded to the suit today while on a trip in israel. ron desantis: they are upset because they are actually having to live by the same rules as everyone else. they don't want to have to pay the same taxes as everyone else. and they want to be able to

control uh things without proper oversight where every other floridian has to have this type of oversight, all other businesses, so it is a little bit much to be complaining about this. i do not think the suit has merit. i think it is political. geoff: a number of lawyers say this case has real merit. why is that? >> the argument disney is making is that the don't say gay law, because disney chimed in on it, the governor and legislature

orchestrated this campaign in retaliation against the company by seeking to end these contracts it had signed earlier this year, passing legislation is -- legislation to strip it and essentially was in their view using the machinery of the state to punish them for expressing an opinion about a piece of legislation. geoff: it normally would be political malpractice for a governor to fight with a marquee corporation in their state like desantis has done with disney. when this started last spring, he raised a ton of money for his reelection campaign, won in a dominant victory, and there were disney lobbyists who ultimately

cochaired his inauguration. what has changed? did disney get tired of being a corporate punching bag? >> i think that it has dragged on so long and has escalated so i think disney's initial approach to this was to stay quiet, lalo, worked behind the scenes and get some sort of agreement resolved with the state. but what ended up happening is that that apparently got nowhere and then things have escalated because since there was no resolution to it, disney went ahead and tried to secure these development rights, basically, earlier this year, and once the new board appointed by desantis discovered what had happened, it really angered the governor and

escalated things further to the point where now you have what will likely be very drawn out litigation over who can control the development rights in this district. geoff: this lawsuit has been assigned to a federal judge who has frequently ruled against desantis's agenda. >> yes. judge mark walker has been on numerous cases involving policies that the desantis administration has supported. he has ruled against the governor on many occasions. the governor has often singled him out for criticism and in some cases, those decisions by judge walker have been reversed

or gone back in the governor's favor once they hit the 11th circuit court of appeals. so if you are attorneys were disney, you are probably feeling good you got this case assigned to judge walker. on the other hand, has often emerged with at least a partial victor -- victory later. geoff: there is reporting that desantis is planning on jumping into the presidential fray. desantis: there has not uh been anything set. i have been focused on this mission we are doing. we are going to make it pretty much around the world when it is done. if anyone is telling you somehow they know this or they know that, it is inaccurate because there has not been any decision. geoff: is there any reason to

think he does not plan to run? >> based on my colleagues reporting, i think what they are hearing is he very much does plan to run. those plans have not changed. it is more a question of timing. so we will see. clearly this case is a big distraction to all of this. i think there is a possibility of more litigation because apart from the lawsuit that was filed over the board's actions, there is also pieces of legislation in florida that would seek to nullify these agreements that disney struck and if that does pass in the governor signs it into law, it creates yet another trigger for which disney might sue so you might see even more

than usual. geoff: thank you so much for sharing your reporting with us. >> my pleasure. amna: the newest data suggests the u.s. economy is slowing down. consumers are still spending and companies are still hiring and investing, but not at the same pace as last year. the economy continues to define predictions of imminent recession. paul solman has our report on what the numbers tell us and how that squares with how americans feel about it all. reporter: the latest gdp estimate out this morning, lower than many expected. >> it grew at a rate of 1.1%. a measure of either how much we all produced, how much more this quarter than last, how much we all spent or how much we all earned. it is all three. reporter: 1.1% is lower than it

has been. do your colleagues agree this is bad news, or good news? >> on one hand it is a little lower than it has been recently and expected. on the other, all the people who were talking about recessions are starting to feel disappointed because the economy keeps motoring along. reporter: so you are looking on the bright side? >> there is a lot to like. the economy has been dominated by people talking about the recession and doom and gloom but looking at the numbers, people are reducing but the economy keeps growing. no matter what, people are out spending money as if they believe things are ok. gdp is back where the ceo thought it would be four years ago. unemployment is nearly at a 50 year low.

wages are growing. inflation is higher than it has been in quite some time but it is on the way back down and starting to look like it is more manageable reporter:. the biggest problem has been inflation. the price of eggs is dropping. lumbar -- lumber is down back to pre-pandemic levels. container shipping have prices from 2019. america's gdp represents about 25% of the world total, almost the same -- the same share and had a 1990 and $100 invested in the s&p 500 in 1990 would have grown to about $2300 today. invested in an indexed of the

biggest rich world stocks, $500. but if the economy is so good, have -- why don't so many americans believe it? a pew poll found 58% of americans feel the economy is worse than it was 50 years ago. >> nine consecutive rate hikes in the last many months and probably another to come. those rate hikes as powell has admitted have not fully hit the system so there is a real chance that things will go south as we continue to see the effects of the rate have -- rate hike. reporter: for many, things have already gone south. >> we have a cosofgt-inivchildce

put burdens on family budgets for decades. reporter: wages at the bottom have been rising. >> but as a whole they have not been keeping pace with inflation and i think at the end of the day people feel it. they feel the cost of goods going up and the cost of essentials going up. they are struggling. reporter: which economy does today's numbers suggest? >> it depends on who you look at. we have problems, but not the problems other people have. years ago, you said the united states was the best force in the glue factory. is that still true? >> we think of it as the place that horses do not have another great function and up so we worry somehow the u.s. is past its prime and somehow we are not

the economy we once were. i do not think that is true. reporter: but the metaphor is the american economy will end up in glue. >> it's maybe not the rosie asked assessment but i am an economist. -- rosiest assessment, but i am an economist. ♪ amna: a blue checkmark on twitter used to be a way for users to verify the authenticity of an account. but recently, ceo elon musk said people must pay eight dollars a month for the platform's, "twitter blue subscription service." as a result, journalists, politicians, celebrities, city and government organizations who would not pay have been stripped of their verified status -- causing chaos and confusion

about what information can be trusted. i'm joined now by juliette kayyem, professor at the harvard kennedy school of government and former assistant secretary at the department of homeland security. it is good to have you here. to get the blue checked previously, there was a process. your identity had to be verified. what are the real world implications of that verification process going away? >> it may twitter the most reliable platform, especially in times of disaster or emergency. it ensured the way the algorithm worked as when something bad happens, a journalist, government official, emergency management shares, their information, what they were seeing and hearing and what they wanted community members to do. run, hide, evacuate, shelter-in-place, these are

important decisions to be made with a few moments notice and they were evaluated with the blue checkmark. but twitter feeds, think of a school shooting. twitter feeds are not helpful or giving you information in real-time. twitter used to be good at saving lives. i know it is hard to believe, but it became a way in which public safety agencies were pushing out information and a way in which communities and information was being heard by government officials. a system called api. the earthquake in turkey, governor -- government officials would follow what was happening on twitter. there are a lot of people under the rubble, over here they don't have water. that would help drive resources. now that whole system is unreliable, inaccessible.

we talk a lot about what is bad about twitter but at one stage it was really good. amna: there is also the misinformation. what are worst-case consequences? >> we sought on the first day when the blue checkmark could be bought. the national weather service name was bought so if you were looking for the national weather service, which is the best assessor of the weather and pushes out information based on where you are, someone bought the checkmark so if you went to national weather service, you might be watching that. now we are seeing it like new york city services. amna: fake accounts. >> right. and in a disaster, time is your most valuable commodity and twitter was really good at

pushing out reliable information quickly. it was a role that was important as company. amna: what about elon musk's approach to journalism? our pbs newshour account does still tweet out reporting and information but musk stripped the new york times of status, tweeted the real tragedy is there propaganda isn't even interesting. 130 7 million followers. he has suspended accounts of journalists who follow him. he added a state affiliated media label to npr's account. >> journalists are critical of him were reporting those who are critical of him and now he is trolling them.

he seems to view twitter as his personal hit list and he makes it impossible for legitimate journalistic institutions to get out legitimate information in real-time. will he stop doing it? one hopes. he seems like someone who would get bored with it and move on to the next thing but legitimate damage is being done because it mr. zentz -- because it misrepresents some journalism and elevates others who should not be called journalists and undermines places like pbs and npr. amna: the massachusetts air national guardsmen accused of leaking intelligence documents. in a previous role, you oversaw the massachusetts air national guard. how are you taking this in? >> it seems inconceivable but

one point 3 million people have top-secret clearances. that is too many people. lots of people have access to classified information and there were two gaps. one, he was doing all sorts of things when he was 16 years old. dr. things at all. racism -- not clear that things at all. racism, threats. he was somehow excused. and then he was given access to everything. it is inconceivable to me that he had access to everything that he was then able to release. so the question is, how did he get clearance of the first place, why did he have access for his particular job, and over months he is putting this stuff online and no one at the pentagon catches it? he was putting it on gaming platforms for months. amna: a lot of questions.

juliette, thank you for being here. geoff: for the first time in history, u.s. army bases will be named after women and black officers, instead of only white men. today fort lee, named for general robert e. lee, became fort gregg-adams, for two black officers who made significant contributions to the army. it is one of nine renamed bases, part of a congressional and military effort, to change confederate names and honor american heroes. nick schifrin is back with that. nick: until today the site was named for the commanding officer of the confederate army. 160 years after lee surrendered,

fort lee has surrendered to trail blazers. >> i hope this community will look with pride at the name fort gregg adams and instill pride in every soldier. nick: 94-year-old lieutenant general enlisted in the army in 1946. he wanted to be a lab tech but went into logistics after facing racial barriers. he retired after 36 years as the military's highest-ranking black officer. the once whites only officers club is now named after him. this is all part of an effort to

rename forts. he'll renamed for mary edwards walker, the only woman to receive the medal of honor. the naming commission was chaired by the first black woman to command a u.s. navy ship. i spoke to her yesterday. why overall is the renaming important? >> after the george floyd murders, many states started to rethink our vision and memories of the civil war. at the federal level, congress realized naming a building or

shift -- ship after someone honors them and the people who fought for the confederacy were traders who waged war against the united states. so those names should be removed or replaced with names of people who remain faithful to the united states. our military bases are important symbols of the might and right of the united states and the names that are on the base signs and ships should reflect the values of our country and of its people. nick: you report that as you did your work you were criticized of erasing history but you write that history is who we were. commemoration is who we strive to be. >> wen yu name and at -- when

you name an asset after a person, it is someone you look up to them want to remember for their example of leadership and heroic acts. history is the retelling of the facts. we are not looking at changing schoolbooks. we are looking to have names now that when a soldier serves on a base, they can look up and learn about that person and be inspired to be a better military member. nick: you acknowledge many of the bases named after confederate leaders have more to do with the culture under which they were named than they do with the historical acts of the namesake. >> after the civil war, there was not a naming of confederates. there were no symbols. they were considered traders --

trea turner -- traitors, they were named after world war ii. the idea was bases in the north should be named after union generals and in the south after confederate generals to create patriotism. but they forget about all the americans who are african-american or other communities that naming after confederate generals is not inspiring. it completely ignored their perspectives. nick: for years the army fought some of these efforts. we went back to 2017. i found a statement that removing the names of stonewall jackson and robert e. lee would be controversial and divisive.

the debate still goes on. president trump vetoed the national defense authorization to impart objecting the provision that requires changes to the bases names after confederate leaders and he said these monumental bases have become part of a great american heritage, that history is the greatest nation in the world and that will not be tampered with. do you think today the debate is ongoing? >> you start with the vito. i start with the fact that the veto was overturned in a very strong bipartisan manner and that the elected officials of this country understood this was something that needed to be looked at. nick: and fixed and reckoned with. >> we have had reckonings over the aftermath of the slavery and

civil war but i am not sure we ever had reconciliation and in some ways the work charted to the commission to do starts us down the path of reconciliation. nick: regardless of changes, how large of a challenge is reference of the confederacy and racism? how large does it continue to be? >> the military is made up of humans. they are wonderful individuals but i will be the first to say we are not saints. we carry our own biases with us. nick: some have argued that the reverence of the confederacy and racism are institutional. >> the country has changed over the years. it is remarkable we are having this conversation on the 75th

anniversary of truman's integration act. our military reflects the change in the law and reflects the changes in the constitution. nick: on those changes need to be ongoing. >> i am not sure that our founding fathers thought of the constitution is a leaving -- living, breathing document that would expand rights to all americans, but that is what is happening so this democracy continues to evolve but i think the better it evolves, it just continues to make our country greater. nick: thank you so much. >> thank you. amna: a new restaurant in boston

traces the remarkable journey of immigrant food and celebrates the people who help bring it to our tables. laura barron-lopez gives us a taste. laura: it is the rice and the spice that tell the story of chef kwasi kwaa's signature dish. jerk-roasted duck. >> the rice is a caribbean dish but the spices in the rice. laura prepared with passed-down : cooking methods from around the globe. >> a lot of the ingredients have moved around the world based on travel immigration, whether you

, know, voluntary or involuntary. so, you know, we're talking human trade, we're talking about spice trade, we're talking about goods and commodities trade. and there's so much culture tied to that that those are the stories that we always want to not only highlight but celebrate . laura: storytelling is at the core of comfort kitchen, where customers can learn about the history of global migration through food. why do you think customers should care about the history of where their food comes from? >> we are all very much affected by colonization that happened hundreds of years ago. it is often used against us. but if we are more familiar with our history and background on story there's more similar , struggles that we all go through. and i think that's important for us is building empathy through food. laura: for kwaa, who immigrated to the u.s. from ghana in 1997, and rai, who came from nepal in 2002, it all starts with the menu. >> i want the food industry to respect black and brown

immigrant food. laura: designed with the look and feel of a culinary magazine, customers can learn about okra's origins in africa, or that their yassa chicken is an example of single pot cooking that has sustained civilizations for centuries. >> if you're able to connect people, culture, to the food, it makes it more meaningful. we're not only looking to tell the stories of those ingredients e an stories of the folks that are behind those ingredients. laura: like many other immigrants, the pair found an access point to america in the food industry, where they worked together in various jobs for more than a decade, including running pop-up restaurants during the pandemic. but in january, together with a local nonprofit, they finished converting this historic building once used by streetcar

riders enjoy dining space. -- into a dining space. why did you both get involved in the food industry? >> absolute necessity. [laughter] >> personally, i went to school for political science for undergrad. when i graduated, we had financial crises in 2008, so no jobs. went back to school for my mba. another financial crisis in 2009. throughout these times what has really helped me sustain life is restaurants and cafés and the food industry. >> even though it is a specific skill set industry, it is also for most immigrants. you you grow up cooking at home anyway, you know. so it's one of those that the transition is just very simple. laura their experiences working : in the industry helped shape comfort kitchen, a

fine-dining establishment staffed by a team from nine different countries. >> a lot of people have these preconceived notions that when you walk into an immigrant restaurant or a black and brown restaurant, it should be cheap, styrofoam often it's only , casual, fast, casual. it's always in a neighborhood that's not nice. you know, the list goes on. >> i want them to see we are not just telling the story of comfort kitchen as a restaurant. we're telling the story of billy, who comes in at 6:00 a.m. we're telling the story of amma, who also comes in at 6:00 a.m. before the plate hits your table, there are a lot of hands that not only touch it, but care for it. and those hands are tied to several livelihoods. laura: but while the food

industry has been a lifeline for kwaa and rai, they believe much about it still needs to change, including the treatment. >> the restaurant industry is one of those industries which i often say is the underbelly of the united states. if you want to change immigration, you've got to look into the restaurant industry. and for us, that's been our mission is to change that dynamic. have immigrants in the front and center talk about our food. talk about why immigrant food is also american food. laura: so far, it is a formula that is working. tables are often incredibly hard to come by, and customers are leaving happy, including this one. i could eat this rice all the time. for the pbs newshour, i'm laura barron-lopez in boston. geoff: "are you there, god?

it's me, margaret" -- just say the title and many will respond with a knowing smile, a memory of what was a formative book for young people beginning in the 1970's. now, the novel by judy blume, author of some 32 books that have sold more than 90 million copies, is about to premiere as a film. in the first of two reports, jeffrey brown visited blume and the filmmakers in key west, florida, where blume owns a bookstore, for our arts and culture series, canvas. reporter: in the new film, "are you there, god? it's me, margaret," an 11 year old girl worries whether her breasts will grow, when she'll get her period, if she, the daughter of an interfaith marriage, should embrace religion and, if so, which one. familiar concerns of adolescents, perhaps. but subjects not often addressed in novels for young readers, when judy blume took them on in the 1970 novel on which the film is based. >> i remember saying, you know,

i've written two books, i'd published two books, but they were what i call from the outside. they weren't from deep inside. reporter: this was the first one inside. >> yes. and i remember saying to myself i want to go inside and be honest and truthful and what i remember of being that age. reporter: "margaret" was the first of some 16 books blume wrote that captured the real lives of tweens and teens, and spoke frankly of such facts of life as puberty, masturbation, and sex. a specific focus for her, girls on what she calls the cusp. >> the cusp is everything, right? i mean, you're going from being a kid. you're still, you know, maybe playing jacks or jumping rope or doing something. and then on the other hand, there were boys, that was becoming more interesting. and so you're half and half.

reporter: the books have been devoured and loved by several generations of readers, including, in 1990, then 11-year-old kelly fremon. >> she was the first person who made me fall in love with reading. prior to that, i really had a hard time connecting with anything. everything felt sort of inaccessible to me. and then i read judy blume and i was like, this is what reading can be like. reporter: 33 years later, after directing the critically acclaimed film "edge of seventeen" in 2016, kelly fremon craig is the director of the new "margaret" film. like the book, it's set in a new jersey suburb in the late 60s, but, she believes, is timeless. >> it was really that she was writing about me. i mean, that's really what it was. i related.

prior to that, i really hadn't. i felt like this is my life reflected back at me. and i think when you're going through a hard time, there's something really reassuring about that, knowing you're not alone. reporter: it was a feeling shared by fans outside an early screening of the film in key west, florida, where judy blume and her husband george cooper have long lived. this group of friends was visiting from outside dayton, ohio. >> it's incredibly authentic in a way that you don't find. it is honest and real and deals with real life themes. >> i just remember myself reading them, and i want to pass that on to my child. i want them to read them as well. i have all of them and the bindings are coming apart. >> i did a book report on her in third grade. reporter: blume had long been reluctant to approve a film version of her novel, (feeling,

-- version of her novel. >> i just felt like hollywood was like, you know "cutesy , kids." reporter: but fremon craig and her mentor - veteran producer james brooks-- convinced her. and now author, cast and crew gathered for a key west version c roft arediepe young children, plays margaret's mother. >> i think these stories are important. you know, it's really important to talk about something that's so normal but we just don't talk about it. it's just such a weird contradiction. there's days when i was crying more than the character really should have in the scene. reporter: crying about what? >> thinking about, you know, my daughter going through these things or thinking about her growing up and hoping it's a wonderful, beautiful experience and that i can be everything she needs and just, there's a lot of emotion around it. reporter: 15-year-old abby ryder fortson plays margaret, and she thinks the story remains very relevant for her generation. >> i feel like, especially in this time of social media, where

everything is kind of posed to make people look the best, and things are edited, i think that it's a good going off point, especially for this film, where you get to see all the awkward, funny, weird moments that make a person a person. >> i particularly think about the kids who went through puberty during the pandemic and how isolating that must have been and, you know, just how freaking it can be to connect withomeone who has had the same thing. you can share your story of your first bra, and it's always funny and horrible, and it just brings us all together. >> i think one of the reasons why the movie is such an important film is because it really opens up conversations where, as a parent, you might not want to sit down and say, we are going to talk about sex and puberty and booths -- boobs

today. reporter: in fact, director kelly fremon craig is reading the book to her nine-year-old son to prepare him for seeing the film when it opens. >> he's a little young, but he was very curious. so, it's been very interesting. i got through about two chapters and then he turned to me and he went, "you've made an entire movie about boobs?" [laughter] reporter: for judy blume, the real audience for this film is what she calls the nostalgia group. >> people now as old as my daughter, she was the first reader and she's 60. so it's 60, 50, 40, 30, 20 somethings who remember it as being their childhoods. and i know them because they come to the bookstore every day and it's a very emotional thing. sometimes they'll burst into tears, you know. and i know what it is. i represent, in some way, their

childhood. reporter: but blume, whose books have faced bans going back to the 1980s and again now, also knows the film comes out at a contentious culture-war moment, with florida a major hotspot. >> it's hitting at the right time. we need it. we need it. i don't know what's going to happen when it opens. i don't know. reporter: in terms of how it hits in the political culture and social culture? >> exactly. reporter: we'll look at that, and much more in judy blume's life as an author in part two of our report on her and the new film, "are you there, god? it's me, margaret." >> i want to be normal and regular like everyone else, god. please. please, please, please. reporter: for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown in key west, florida. geoff: thank you for being with us. have a good evening.

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