>> pressure bombards cities in ukraine as ukraine prepares for

a major counteroffensive. >> federal regulators blame management and oversight failures for the collapses of banks still rippling through the economy. >> and los angeles struggles to provide housing for tens of

thousands of homeless people what the solutions are.

>> major funding for "the pbs newshour" has been provided by the ongoingupport of these individuals and institutions, and friends of he newshour." >> actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life . yes, i'm legally blind, and yes,

i'm responsible for the user interface. data visualization. if i can see it and understand it quickly, anyone can. it is exciting to be

even after the army and paramilitary bubbles extended their troops, smoke billowed in the skies above khartoum. more than 500 people have been kille in two weeks of clashes. meanwhile, supermarket shelves remain empty as residents praise for what is to come. -- residents braced for what is to come. >> people's minds are 90% worried. they are not thinking except to worry about themselves and their families. food supplies are diminishing, and citizens will soon face a famine for at least a crushing food crisis.

>> tunisian postcards have retrieved the bodies of 41 drowned migrants. authorities have found more than 200 victims of migrant shipments in tunisian waters over the past few days. tunisia is struggling to contain a surge of migrants trying to reach italy. back in this country, two army helicopters collided in alaska, killing three american soldiers and injuring four thursday as they were returning from a training flight near heatley, northeast of denali national park. it is the second military accident this year. officials are investigating what caused the crash. late this evening, the army grounded aviators. all aviation units active duty,

national guard, and reserves will undergo training before normal operations resume. rapid snowmelt from minnesota has caused water levels along the upper mississippi river to hit near record highs. parts of wisconsin and iowa, floodwaters have inundated homes, streets, and parks. further south, crews built flood walls and other protective barriers. officials say a combination of extreme weather events is to blame. >> this flood is being primarily fed by the melting of the historic snowpack. the drought of 2022 has and oune the storage of water. we know rains are coming in from the north, east, south, and west. >> officials expect a slowing mississippi river to crest as early as mond ure pr samuecol alito says he has a "pretty good idea" who leaked his draft dobbs opinion last may. the landmark decision overturned

roe v. wade. in his first extensive response, he told "the wall street journal," the leak was meant to intimidate justices and was part of an effort to prevent the dobbs draft from becoming the decision of the court. the court's own investigation failed to identify the culprit. north carolina's state supreme court throughout a recent ruling that deemed gerrymandering unconstitutional. the reversal is a major win for the republican-controlled budget later, which can now redraw state voting maps in their favor ahead of next year's elections. the court also reinstated a ban on convicted felon voting and upheld photo id requirements for voters. still to come, states become ground zero for the political battles over reproductive rights and trans care. also, david brooks and jonathan capehart weigh in on the week's political headlines. an author judy blume pushes back

on efforts to ban her books. >> this is "the pbs newshour" from weta studios in washington and in the west from walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. >> the federal reserve today issued a stinging report about the multiple failures that led to the historic collapse of silicon valley bank last month. the main targets of the report -- the fed's own regulators. the federal reserve's report says silicon valley bank collapsed because of it textbook case of mismanagement, but bank executives say it was especially critical of its own regulators, alleging they missed signs as the bank acted much too slowly on the problems they did identify. for more on this regulatory autopsy, we are joined byeconoms thure federal reserv e "the new york times."

thank you for being here. before we get to how regulators failed, can you remind us what mistakes the executives at silicon valley bank did that basicay imperiled the entire banking system? yes, they made two big dockets of mistakes, i would say. they had a huge chunk of their deposit based in really big deposits, over the 250 thousand dollars limit that the government insures, and that meant that when depositors got nervous, they were much more likely to try to pull all that money out. that was mistake number one. mistake number two, that they met essentially a bet that interest rates would stay low for a long time. they invested in securities pick -- that were predicated on that, and when that did not happen, the bank was facing big losses. that combination of decisions was pretty fatal for this bank because when the bank was facing

losses, nervous depositors took their money and ran. >> this is touching on the report that came out today. federal regulators, who were supposed to have eyes on this particular bank and looking at the exact things you're describing, seemed to really drop the ball. what did this report say they failed to do? >> i think they really boiled down to failing to recognize the full extent of the problems and failing to follow up on theit is were aware of these issues, but what they did not do is act decisively enough to get management to deal with the problems to make them go away, to take care of them before they became lethal to the institution. the fed report was critical of the fed itself for failing to achieve that goal.

>> is a clear from this report if they had -- was it a lack of will to act? was it a lack of authority to step in and say, hey, you guys, there's multiple fires going on, and we need to put these out? >> that's a great question. i think it was actually some mixture. what we saw under the trump administration was a real shift in tone around how banks not to be supervised, how they are to be regulated, and this was just a sort of situation that applied to. rules on what are called midsize banks have become less onerous, and that probably mattered in this case. the other thing that mattered was the supervisors, for whatever reason -- the report is not super clear on this -- did not feel empowered to say this is a problem we need to deal with now, and the regulations were not nimble enough to allow them to address this.

i think we are going to see a lot of changes, both on the way banks are overseen on a day to day basis and the way they are regulated coming out of this episode. >> the fed oversight chief who drafted much of this report calls for some of these reforms you're talking about. what does he want to see done, and how likely are those to be implement it? >> i think it was a very ambitious wish list, but the thing is they used quite a lot of discretion when it comes to the kinds of things he wants to see. for example, he would like for the fed to really consider how it is overseeing banks that have more than $100 million in assets. the fed has pretty wide discretion to take a closer look at that group of banks, so i think it will take a couple of errors, but it's likely we will see some changes there. similarly, it seems like supervisors are in for a more aggressive approach to banks going forward. stress tests, which are the annual health checkups these banks get, could get another

look. we got a lot of emails from bank lobbyists this afternoon, so to the extent that's the signal, it seems these could be pretty real. >> i want to ask you about this other bank in northern california, first republic bank. lots of concerns about this bank cratering. i think it's stock has dropped 97% over the year. drop 40% today. concerns the fdic might take it over. >> the bank is clearly on its last legs. it is in a lot of trouble and has been for a week. reuters has been reporting takeover could be imminent now. it is an open question what the timing will be, but it seems first republic is headed for some kind of seachange. i think the bank has a lot of

problems. it has seen a huge deposit outflow over the last week and a half, two weeks, three weeks, and it probably will not be able to weather that. it is a developing story. >> thank you so much. >> the airstrikes on ukraine today hit as nato and the u.s. said this week they sent ukraine 98% of the vehicles promised to kyiv. they are designed to be ready for counteroffensive. >> there the tools of ukraine liberation, newly arrived western armored vehicles. ukraine has received nearly 2000

and some 40,000 troops have been trained for what is expected to be one of the war's most pivotal moments. >> of course, the counteroffensive is important for ukraine and the future of ukraine because it's main goal is to liberate occupied territories. >> the head of ukraine's military intelligence spoke to us from kyiv early this week. >> the liberation of our temporarily occupied territory is the top priority for our country. >> the 37-year-old is former special forces, one of the country's youngest generals but considered its most influential. he survived multiple assassination attempts and lives in his office. he is in the middle of negotiations to release prisoners from pressure, attend soldiers' funerals, and knows much more than he reveals, especially about the upcoming counteroffensive. >> when i talked to officials, they described that even if you cannot --ec rveei re-seize all

of the territory occupied by russia, they hope to reclaim some of the front lines to be in supply lines. >> i share that opinion, absolutely. >> could you say when you believe ground conditions favor the offense? >> in the near future, everyone will see the expected results. >>'s expertise is foreign intelligence, as in russia. russia blames him personally for explosions in occupied crimea and inside russia. but ukraine does not claim official responsibility for these attacks and is restricted by the u.s. from using american weapons beyond its borders. do you believe you are hindered by the u.s. insistence that u.s. weapons not be used to attack inside russia? >> absolutely. we do not need weapons from the

u.s. for anyone else to get to the russians. we have enough ukrainian weapons to do this. any perpetrator that committed war crimes in ukraine like the group rate of civilians and children will be found and eliminated in any part of the world. >> the u.s. says ukraine has killed and work -- killed or wounded more than 2000 russian service members and contractors. now officials say russia is trying to find more than 400,000 recruits, including with a real -- with a new ad. "you are a real man. the one by becoming a soldier." have you seen any evidence that pressure can field the troops it wants. >> in theory, they can recruit 400,000 people. they are still mobilized in -- mobilizing 20,000 to 22,000 recruits monthly. asf now, they have mobilized 120,000 additional troops. moreover, they are actively recruiting paramilitary, as well

as the new military companies. there are a lot of them, and right now, they want to have all of them united by creating an umbrella organization, russian volunteer corps, that would gather all of the paramilitary, private military groups and place them under the single command of the russian general staff. >> so far, there has been no evidence, at least from where we are sitting here, that the russians have managed to unify command. is that how you see it? >> that's exactly what i'm telling you. they want to create this umbrella position that would be directed and commanding -- directing and commanding all of these paramilitary units because right there is no unity. >> for months, the war's epicenter has been bakhmut. ukraine has sacrificed dearly to hold the city, as i saw in february. >> have you lost friends? >> we have all lost friends. >> we have all lost someone in

this war and keep moving. that's how it goes. this is war. you cannot do anything about it, but these are all losses that cannot be prevented. they just happen because people kill people. that's it. >> multiple u.s. officials in the intelligence community and the military told me that they raised the possibility that bakhmut was not worth defending, raising the possibility the ukrainian military should go back up the high ground. why do you think you ignored that advice? why is bakhmut so important? >> i personally do not accept these recommendations because we're talking about our people in our cities, and losing more than an inch of our land is a big tragedy. >> bakhmut has become a symbol of determination for both sides far above its military importance. ukraine sees the seeds of russia's downfall being sown in

the city's bloody earth. >> you said russia understands it cannot drag out this war. you even predicted russia will collapse. many of the people i speak to here believe that is overly optimistic and that the war is more likely to last for years. are they wrong? >> i can say just one thing, that time will show. i stand by my position. >> general, thank you very much thank you. >> on any given night, there are more than 65,000 homeless people living in los angeles. there is not enough affordable housing and even when there is, some people struggle to get into those units, including veterans on disability. we look at some of the obstacles leading to l.a.'s homeless country.on,argest in the >> on the sprawling 388-acre

campus of the los angeles v.a. dotted with palm street -- palm trees, a construction boom is underway. three new buildings have gone up this year to provide qualified veterans low income housing. 63-year-old jack the center has been settled in his gleaming new studio apartment for a month. the army that was working as a bellman at a hotel when he suffered a back injury and was let go from his job. >> and that's what led to me being pretty much homeless for the next four or five months, until i was able to go to the v.a., and the v.a. helped me get into a place like this. in my opinion, the promise they made when i joined up, they are really keeping their word now. >> but there are other veterans who feel the opposite. >> where are you living now? >> right there. >> this 36-year-old army veteran lives right outside the v.a. campus in a tent. >> you have been back here for about a week and a half?

>> about that. >> he was living in one of tseht he says it caught fire and he was removed from the temporary housing program. johnson has been chronically homeless for more than a decade, even as a decade, even as new apartment buildings go up on the v.a. campus, he is locked out. >> youbuilngsli a andpp who were rejected. >> yes. >> why? >> w too mh by $200. >> johnson's income is actuallyi widithhlmoy li the first cavalry, he says his unit was hit by a rocket. >> i remember falling over, hitting my head. >> due to a diagnosis of serious mental illness, he receives compensation of over $4000 a month.

you would think that would be enough to rent an apartment here . >> not in california. plus, i have bills and other things to pay every month. all my income is gone. it is a vicious cycle. >> johnson falls into a category of veterans who stand on a so called benefits cliff. he gets so much in disability compensation that other essentials like housing fall off. it is estimated 8000 homeless veterans around the country may lose out on homeless opportunities. >> this particular building has very strict criteria. >> we met keith harris, who oversees the v.a.'s efforts to house homeless veterans in l.a. in one of the shiny new apartments on campus. ea2 6qualify to live in this building. quickly k wnothibhailluye t stio capons raised so that veterans who are

receiving v.a. benefits can qualify or we stopped counting v.a. benefits as income. >> harris says another problem is that other housing lies in parts of l.a. where many on house vets don't want to live, so they don't use the affordable housing vouchers that are available to them. >> there are close to 50 buildings. there are a couple hundred vacancies in those buildings. >> why are there vacancies? >> it is maddening. you've got thousands of homeless veterans. you got hundreds of vacant units. you got thousands of unused vouchers. the biggest problem filling those is one of location. >> the medical center is located on the west side of los angeles where the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is more than $3000 a month. a housing voucher or disability check does not go far here. >> there simply are not enough

units. as aling i is to build affordable housing on the v.a. campus, it is even more onerous everywhere else in los angeles, between historically discriminatory zoning laws and community resistance, it is an uphill battle. few know that better than the head of a community of friends which has been providing housing for people with mental health disorders for 35 years. just like some veterans with disabilities, some people with serious mental illnesses in the general population benefit from having support services

>> first thing we have to do is find property. >> that's also the first roadblock. >> because we have restricted where we can build apartment buildings, it drives the cost higher as well because we are all competing for the same limited land. >> according to one study, more than 70% of residential areas in the l.a. area are zoned for single-family homes. a planning policy that has roots in racial discrimination. >> at the same time, simultaneously, we are looking for financing. >> that's the next roadblock. a nonprofit has to compete for funding from various sources, all with different requirements, restrictions, and timelines. >> along the same time, we are also meeting with the community. >> and that, many housing developers say, is one of the biggest roadblocks. even while californians have approved measures to increase funding to address homelessness,

"not in my backyard" attitudes have blocked or delayed many projects. >> when you don't allow this type of housing to be built, people are forced to live further away and people are forced to live in their cars. >> 70-year-old wallace richardsing in his truck for more than a year before he was link up with one of t lhe bivuildonings d heveloa community of friends. he has been in his apartment for more than a decade. one of his last jobs was with americorps. >> during the time i was an outreach worker, i got a firsthand look at myself. i thought that i was mentally sane, but i wasn't. i had issues, and the issues i d was coming up from being an abused child. >> what has it been like to have this stable housing for the last 10 years? >> it has made all the difference in the world. in fact, it has saved my life

because i was on a downhill spiral. >> back new the v.a. campus, johnson is still waiting for his life jacket and losing his patients. >> i cannot sit still when i see people like me getting screwed over by them. >> he is part of a recent lawsuit that accuses the v.a. of not providing enough affordable housing to the neediest veterans. the plaintiffs demand 3500 permanent supportive units on or near the v.a. campus. >> back to 2011 saying, why isn't the v.a. doing more to house veterans here? >> the drafter that complete was put into place as part of resolving the first lawsuit, and it had a very aggressive timeline on the units that would be built. turned out very unrealistically, so. >> the v.a. realized recently that if sites were prepared ahead of time for developers, they could speed up the process.

they have already spent $70 million on things like leveling land and adding underground utilities to make sites built-ready. >> that's what it looked like a rush. this is the way it should have been happening all along. >> the agency is aiming to complete 1200 units by 2030. if one of those units is in johnson's future remains in doubt. ♪ >> two republican-led state legislatures, two strict antiabortion bills rejected. in both cases, republican members helped defeat the measures by one-vote margins. in south carolina, five women in the state senate, three republicans, a democrat, and an independent, joint -- joined forces to block an abortion ban.

>> the only thing that we can do when you all, you men in the chamber metaphorically keeps slapping women by raising abortion again and again and again is for us to slap you back with our words. >> independent senator, a sexual assault survivor, expressed share such personal details to convince her male colleagues to vote no. >> just as rape is about power and control, so is this total ban. andh legihoslat tion like this are rg us again. with their indifference. >> in nebraska, a six-week ban was defeated by an 80-year-old man, pro-like republican -- pro-life he lthe

restrictions went too far. in south carolina and nebraska, abortion remains legal for now until 22 weeks of pregnancy, and it is not just abortion that has become a flashpoint at the state level. battles are also raging over transgender rights. "the washington post" reports that more than 400 anti-trans bills have in past -- have been passed in the first four months of the year. in kansas, lawmakers overrode the governor's veto and approved a bill that prevents trans-people from using a bathroom or locker room associated with their gender identity. montana became the latest state to ban gender affirming care for trans youth today. the republican governor signed the legislation that will go into effect in october. in missouri, a state judge is set to weigh in on monday on new rules from the state attorney general that would and the same kind of care for youth and adults.

mmunities correspondent gabrielle hayes is covering that and joins us now. help us understand what missouri's ag is trying to do. >> earlier this month, the missouri attorney general announced that he would be implement in emergency regulations or rules that would restrict a person's access to gender affirming care. those rules include different regulations like a person would have to receive 18 months of therapy before they would have to have access to that care. when he announced this, he said he was doing it to protect children, but organizations advocate for those that have been looking for this care say it is not only drastic and unprecedented but also a dangerous move. i spoke to planned parenthood earlier today. they provide gender affirming care in our state, and they say though the attorney general has argued that this is not a ban,

that any rule or regulation that makes it significantly harder for an individual to get care is >> these rules are being challenged as we speak, as i understand it. where do things stand? >> absolutely. aclu missouri and other organizations filed a petition hoping for a temporary restraining order. that was earlier this week. on wednesday, a judge did help the regulations from going into effect on thursday. however, it only lasts until monday. the judge says they would like to hear a little bit more from both sides, so we are told that we should get some type of judgment or ruling by 5:00 p.m. monday, which would be may 1. >> how are advocates and full you have encountered in the course of your reporting responding to all of this? -- how are advocates and folks you have encountered responding?

>> organizations in our state have been thinking about this for a while, so when the attorney general announced this would happen, they were already implementing plans they had in place. planned parenthood held three pop of clinics to provide gender affirming care for individuals on both sides of our state line. they said the clinics were full and they even had to open up 200 extra appointments. also, we hear from organizations . one executive director told me that what they want people to understand is that they are trying to answer questions to those who would be most affected by this and make sure they know what is going on, but further, they want people to understand that there are actual human beings behind the policies and the regulations that are being challenged right now, so that is what they are hoping people understand and consider as they

work to bring care and resources to people across our state, but until then, we will keep our eye on this as we await a decision by monday's deadline. >> thanks so much. >> we turn now to the analysis brooks and capehart. that is "new york times" columnist jonathan brooks and donath and capehart, associate editor for "the washington post ." this week the reveal of the worst kept secret in washington i think it is fair to say. president biden announced his reelection campaign. there was once upon a time and announcement bounce. you see numbers go up a bit.

will we see that? >> i would bet my bottom dollar we do not. biden has been about 42%, 41%, 43% for the longest time. to my view, he has passed a lot of legislation, but when you look at where the polls are, it is sobering for anybody in the biden camp. the president's approval is an indicator of where the vote will land. it is true president obama did rise toward the end of his term, so it is possible, but joe biden is not where he should be to have an easy reelect, and when you look at him running head-to-head against donald trump, pretty much dead even. >> he has passed a lot of legislation. it struck me in that big announcement video. you don't hear a lot about it. the very first word was freedom. it was about this is a battle

for the soul of the nation. should he be talking more about what he has gotten done? >> this is the opening video. do you want it to be a uple minutes speal?r ohe will be talking about his record down the road, but that opening video is about making the case and the rationale for the candidacy in the same way he did for years to the day earlier. it is about the battle for the soul of america with the tagline up let's finish the job. he started with charlottesville four years ago and started this time with the insurrection on january 6. finish the job, restore the soul of the country and finish the job in terms of all the things he is trying to get done, but to push back on what david said about holes being a predictor of what will happen to the president, we just had, like, the ultimate pole in midterm elections where the president's approval rating was stuck down in the low 40's, sometimes the high 30's. people predict 60 republican

seats in the house and maybe taking over the senate, and none of that happened.i ithin tathe american peoe blpl aretoe o a couple of things at the same time. they blame the president because he is the president, but they also see what the big issues are, and i think the biggest pole will be in november 2024. >> when people actually had to the voting booth. back to the issue of the soul of the nation being at stake. the moment we are in now is different than 2020. the eminence he of this threat to democracy and the chaos of the trump years, the thick of the covid pandemic. we are not there anymore. do you think that message still resonates with the american people? >> yeah, i think that is still the core message, and i love the phrasing. the moral essence of america is under threat. in my view, it is under threat from an amoralistic view of

trumpism, that the world is a terrible place and it's a dog eat dog world and you just have to take care of yourself. i think biden sees things very different, that have to be a good country, and would have to be good defending democracy, be good on race, be good unfairness, be good to the marginalized. unlike presidential elections, there is a contest between big moral vision and an amoral realism. >> what about the role vice president harris will play? >> this is where, kinder to take the baton from david on this, this is where vice president harris is at her best. we have seen probably two of the darkly best things to happen to her, the dobbs decision because she went right out there and started talking about freedom

and liberty for women and their choices about their own health care, and then you tie in tennessee, meaning the killing of tyre nichols, where she went down and spoke at the funeral, you know, off-the-cuff, no notes, but more importantly, when she went down on a surprise trip to nashville and met with the tennessee three and gave a barnburner of a 20-minute speech -- not a campaign speech, but a speech where the subtext was the soul of america, but it was really about freedom and liberty and the ability of the american people to send people to their state legislatures in order for their voices to be heard and that it is antidemocratic and not right to silence those voices. you must watch that speech. if you want to see the real, true, harris -- kamala harris and what drives her, her values, that is it.

>> it has been interesting to see, she is tethered to the senate so long, having to stay close and be the tiebreaker, we are seeing her out and about more now. >> right, between being freed from having to cast the tie-breaking vote, but also the pandemic. those things stunted her ability to really get out there on the job. >> this week, we also saw a seismic shift for the most powerful conservative platform in the country. primetime host tucker carlsen -- tucker was fired. >> fox is an entertainment network but also a company. executives don't likeint. i hei since tucker was sending emails, in internal fights, squabbles, going further than they were comfortable with, and one thing we know about fox is fox is bigger than

th got rid of megyn kelly. it was a bold move. viewership has fallen in half. i was shocked by it. thought they would never do it, but tucker has built a successful thing at doing what he does, and they decided it is over pleasure. >> i was shocked simply because you get to the level of tucker carlspun or o'reilly -- trucked? >> you get to the level of tucker carlson or riley, you think they are untouchable until which time the company says you are more of a liability than we care to deal with. what i am erwoisnd what impact will tucker's firing and disappearance from fox have on the republican party? wi ll stey d starant onarticulating a visi the country that is independent of tucker carlson and fox? i don't know if they even know

how to do that anymore. lielsel of th s th e of thelti tucker le tlieve it. they still believe it today. the daily call before

fox. he saw what the audience wanted. he brought that to fox. he represents the one version of the republican future. tucker was against hedge funds, against corporations, against big tech. he takes social conservatism and an anticorporate populism. that is one version of the republican future. i think the audience will be there. tucker will be on some other network and whoever steps in to be the new tucker will probably be there too. >> we have 1.5 minutes left. i want to ask on the white house perspective on this we have when it comes to the debt ceiling debate, opening from house republicans, they are saying house speaker kevin mccarthy has wrangled his conference to get behind. what do you make of the way president biden is saying no negotiations? >> i think the president is right. in a perfect world, the president presents his budget which he did last month. the speaker of the house presents his budget which he has yet to do. he was passed by 2 votes, a spending plan that holds the debt ceiling hostage in order to get it done. what should be happening is dual track organizations. a clean debt ceiling bill while at the same time the president with his budget and the speaker with the republican conference budget sitting at a table and hammering out all the things they want to do in terms of fiscal year 2024. that's not happening.

i think the president is right to say, look, i'm ready to negotiate when you want to negotiate a budget. i'm not going to negotiate over a debt ceiling. >> i have 30 seconds. anything you would like to say? >> i think biden and mccarthy would never be able to do this. he thought that would be too many republican effectors. it might be nice to split these into two tracks, but republicans have leverage on the debt ceiling. >> we will speak about this a lot more in the weeks ahead. thank you so much. >> thank you. ♪ a new film, are you there god, it's me, margaret. it is shining a light on judy bloom and many other books that adolescents rarely found elsewhere when judy bloom was writing. the books endeared her to generations of readers but also brought contention, including book bans that are front and center. jeffrey brown has part two of

his report from florida for our arts and culture series, canvas. >> i love petting my books and taking care of my books. >> reporter: at age 85, judy bloom is a bookstore owner in key west, florida. in 1970, she was a restless suburban new jersey wife and mother. when are you there god, it's me, margaret came out. featuring an 11-year-old protagonist concerned about daneinr.g he getting breasts. >> in my life experiences, i might have been almost 30 when i wrote the book. i had two kids. i was supposed to be a grown-up. but really, i was still growing up. when the book came out, i was so nacve that i think i didn't even know to be anxious over reviews. i learned that. >> reporter: but what about the subject matter? were you anxious over putting that into the world?

>> i was not. maybe the publisher was. >> reporter: many books later and some 90 million copies sold in 32 languages, her and her publishers have done just fine. >> i heard it is coming out. >> reporter: she says it began with a simple, and for so many readers, relatable feeling. >> i was writing it from what i remember, from what i knew to be true. i wanted to be normal. it wasn't that i wanted to be big, strong or anything else. alwanted to ats thg. kn ow>> rateporter: justth normal >> normal would've been good. >> reporter: yeah, yeah. >> reporter: the books for middle grade and young adults have made normal the inner realities and confusions of her characters and readers. she also wrote books including

the fudge series for younger children and novels for adults including one about an unhappy suburban housewife not unlike judy bloom herself in the 30s, and teens in an unlikely event which she called her final book. maybe so, but she was happily married for 35 years to her third husband. she is suddenly in the midst of a miniature renaissance. with an upcoming series based on forever, teenage lovers, and two more in development, adapted from a novel for adults, some are sisters, and the fudge series.

there was also a documentary on her life, judy bloom forever. it features celebrity and other women talking about the impact she had on their lives. over the years, she has received thousands of letters from young people looking to her as someone they can confide in. >> dear judy, i am in fifth grade and developing. it is kind of embarrassing. >> reporter: it brought her joy and friendships and more. >> it was a huge responsibility. >> reporter: you felt that? >> yeah. especially for all the kids who really needed to let out some kind of serious thing that was going on in their lives. i went to a therapist and said, you have to help me because i want to save this one, this one, and this one. i have to save them. >> reporter: you felt personally you had to save them? >> reporter: yes. >> she said, your job isn't to save them. your job is to be a friend they can trust, and you are there for them. and that's what you can do. it also, we talked about how to, you know, try to get professional help for the ones who really needed it,pre phe nu was very tough. >> reporter: it wasn't all about traumas. in 2004 i spoke to bloom after

she had been honored by the national book foundation for her distinguished contribution for american letters. >> reporter: you had a very funny letter of the book awards. someone asked you to send the facts of life? >> please send me the facts of life in number order. >> i love that, yes. i'm still trying to figure that out. what is the number order? >> reporter: a more serious issue she is dealing with, actions to banned books by her and others. according to the free speech advocacy group, several of heyl a, utah anokd borehere in florida. her book has been on the american library association's list of vote 100 most frequently challenged books since 1990. it's a battle she thought since the 1980s and the rise of the christian right. >> it was pretty bad then, but nothing like what's going on now. there are people in power who

want to control everything. >> reporter: she is fiercely critical of florida governor ron desantis and requirements to review books based on a list of guidelines. this has led to the removal of books focused on gender identity, sex and race. one florida bill would prevent the teaching of or by some interpretations even talking about menstruation before the sixth grade even though studies show many girls first have their periods earlier. on twitter referring to a 1970s novel, she writes, sorry, margaret. >> reporter: your reaction to this bill? >> cuckoo, disgusting, impossible, fascist, all those words and many more. i hear that there are groups around here, and they will say -- this is what i think, this is what i have read it -- that we want to protect our children. we don't want them to read

anything that isn't nice. we don't want him -- you know? everything should have a happy ending. we don't want -- basically, we don't want them to think. we don't want them to ask questions. you know? we just want their lives to be perfect. well, that's not possible. because lives are not perfect, and kids have a lot going on. and you can't control that. you cannot control that. >> reporter: her solution as always, books and more books, what gave her life as a child writer and bookstore owner -- >> reporter: one thing judy bloom has never liked talking about, her legacy. it is too highfalutin for her, perhaps. but this later in life reblooming gave her an answer. >> i want a stone that says, are you there god? it's me, judy.

but legacy, having touched lives, i guess. you know? >> reporter: well, that's a pretty big thing. >> that's a legacy. >> reporter: for the pbs news hour, i am jeffrey brown in key west, florida. >> a great interview with a living legend. be sure to tune in tonight úfor washington week that will be hosted by laura perrot lopez. watch for the teacher shortage in rural america. that is the newshour for tonight. i am jeff bennett. >> on behalf of the entire newshour team, thank you for joining us. major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by -- ♪ >> moving our economy for 0

years.> moving our economy for 0 bnsf. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions, including kathy and paul anderson and camilla and george smith. the walton family foundation, working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people and nature can thrive together. the william and flora hewlett foundation, for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to úpromote a better world. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪ >> a -- 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. this is pbs news hour west from weta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism from arizona state university. ♪ you are watching pbs. ♪

>> the pediatric brain is incredible. pediatric neurology and epilepsy are fields in which there is a lot of gray area. there is not a one-size-fits- all approach for taking care of people. >> it is beautiful to be able to operate in the brain and cure a problem. while all surgery matters greatly, it matters particularly in a child because they have a whole lifetime ahead of them. >> i love taking the approach for each kid and each family and talking about what they value. >> if they know they are not alone, that's a huge thing we can bring to a family for a patient. >> in addition to taking out

the tumor or curing the epilepsy, i really value and cherish the connections i make with these kids. >> the things sochim. u gee ajryofdo their whol e lihaves. >> ucsf children's hospitals, redefining possible. 1968 see yours mine and ours stars henry fonda and lucille ball. they play single parents with 18 children between them. upon what book is the movie based? who gets the drumstick? the real-life story of the beer and sleaze. you provide the popcorn, couch and tv. we will provide great movies like this one. >> one big unconventional family, saturday night at 8:00. on finding your roots, journalist nina totenberg -- and talk so host andy cohan, ancestors who overcame enormous odds. >> she got up by the skin of her teeth. >> she was a fighter. >> are you going to tell me who my cousin is now? you are kidding me. >> reporter: finding your roots -- >> ancestors who overcame adversity, tueay night at 8:00. my name is george crowl of

the kroll law group. we appreciate the wonderful work that the station does. we are proud to be a supporter of it. we sponsored a number of programs over the years starting with eyes on the prize. most recently, the ken burns series. this is an important part of the bay area community. it's one of the great institutions that binds all of us together. i think the entire firm takes pride in our connection. >> learn more. here is tonight's lineup on kqed made possible by your support. ♪ as long as we are together, it is perfect. >> we are so close to cracking the case. ♪

♪ >> tonight on kqed newsroom, the winter snowpack is melting into streams and rivers that are now threatening to flood communities. we will discuss the big melt and what it means for california. plus, a 500 mile bike ride rings support and joy in the fight against hiv and aids. and we will soar across mt. diablo in the east