geoff: good evenin i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz on the newshour tonight. the president and the speaker of the house meet to negotiate the debt limit, as the deadline to avoid default approaches. geoff: western states agree to slash the amount of water they use from the drought-stricken colorado river. amna: and. oklahomans with disabilities struggle to access services because of long waitlists and a lack of health care workers. >> with covid 19, we've seen a major exiting of the workforce across all long term care and health settings, and that does not appear to be coming back. >> major funding for the pbs

newshour has been provided by -- ♪ the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour. >> it was like an a-ha moment, this is what i love doing. early-stage companies have this energy that energizes me. these are people that are trying to change the world. when i volunteer with women entrepreneurs, it is the same thing. i'm helping people reach their dream. i'm thriving by helping others every day. kn people who know, know bdo. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world at hewlett.org.

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. stephanie: good evening. i'm stephanie sy with newshour west, here are the latest headlines. president joe biden and house speaker kevin mccarthy met this evening in a high-stakes effort to reach a bipartisan spending deal, and avoid an unprecedented default on the nation's debt.

the meeting comes at a critical moment - the treasury department says there could be just ten days left before the government runs out of money to pay its debts. we'll have more on this later in the program. a united nations report offered stark new numbers on the human and economic toll of extreme weather. the world meteorological organization counted nearly 12,000 disasters globally between 1970 and 2021. they left more than 2 million people dead, with 90 percent of them in developing countries. economic losses ran an estimated $4.3 trillion. more than a third of that cost was in the u.s. in india today, a heat wave that began last week left large parts of the country facing scorching temperatures again. several states were under extreme heat alerts with some places topping 110 degrees. residents sought shelter from the sun and tried to stay hydrated, but water shortages and power blackouts made that

harder. >> i'm sweating a lot. my productivity is being affected because of the temperature. i don't feel like doing anything, but we have to face this. stephanie: forecasters say the heat will last several more days until monsoon rains bring relief. they've been slightly delayed this year. rain and cooler temperatures are providing some much needed relief to firefighters in alberta, canada. more than 80 fires are burning in the province, including 23 that are still out of control. some 10,000 residents have been forced from their homes. meanwhile today, montana and colorado were under air quality alerts, as smoke from the fires drifted south. the u.s. border patrol says an eight-year-old girl in their custody was seen by medics at least three times on the day she died last week. her family said the child had heart problems and sickle-cell anemia before coming down with the flu. she was unconscious by the time she was taken to the hospital.

it was the second death of a migrant child in u.s. custody in two weeks. tragedy struck overnight in guiana, at least 19 students were killed one fire swept through a dormitory. it started just before midnight at a boarding school 200 miles south of georgetown, the capital. the building was engulfed in flames when the firefighters arrived. the school mostly taught indigenous children. the causes under investigation. the european union find facebook's parent company metta 1.3 billion dollars today. the eu says metta has illegally stored information about european users which could be easily accessed by american spy agencies. in brussels today, regulators said they aren't dissipating a new court fight. >> we expected to be challenged at some point, but the bottom line we are working on the basis

of what the courts demanded. and we are in the process of implementing that. stephanie: the eu wants the social media giant to stop transferring personal data to the u.s. by october. metta says it will appeal. tiktok sued montana seeking to overturn a statewide ban of the video sharing app. montana became the first state to completely ban tik-tok last week, citing concerns about chinese surveillance of user data. the company argues the law violates free speech and says claims of surveillance are "unfounded speculation." and, a passing of note. republican lawyer c. boyden gray -- who was white house counsel to the first president bush -- died sunday. gray appeared frequently on "the newshour" over the years. he worked for or assisted every republican president from reagan to trump. he was 80 years old. still on the newshour, the

longest battle in ukraine leaves the city of bakhmut in ruins. tamara keith and amy walter break down the 2024 presidential prospects as senator tim scott enters the race. how the new "little mermaid" film is broadening black representation and sparking delightful reactions and much more. >> this is the pbs newshour from w eta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: the biden administration has reached a landmark wer deal with several western states to stave off an immediate crisis with the colorado river -- and the communities that depend on it. william brangham has a look at what's at stake. william: geoff, the colorado river has been profoundly affected by a historic mega-drought. that's meant that lake mead and lake powell -- the huge reservoirs fed by the river -- could drop so low, it could endanger water supplies for

agriculture as well as for cities like los angeles and phoenix. the new deal puts those risks on hold for now. california, arizona and nevada will agree to take less water from the river. in exchange, the federal government will pay a billion dollars to key players in those states. to help us understand what this will mean, we are joined by luke runyon. luke, thank you so much for being here. what are the contours of this deal? what did the states agree to? >> the states agree to take less water from the colorado river, so we are looking at california, arizona, and nevada. they have agreed to significant cutbacks to their use over the next three years. really, this is an attempt to live within a shrinking river. climate change has been ravaging

the colorado river for more than 20 years now. it's a significantly smaller river and what we have found is we need to use a lot less water in order to match the declining supply that we have in the southwest. william: do we know who those cuts are going to fall on? who is this going to sting? >> some of the cuts are going to head agriculture and agriculture is the single largest use of the water in the southwest. a lot of it comes in the force of the sprawling agricultural areas in southern california, around yuma, arizona. those farmers have been insulated from some of these cats over the last several years. that is not going to be the case anymore. they are going to be getting payments from the federal government to use less. william: the federal government had earlier asked states to come up with a broader metta

agreement over how to apportion the river. this is not that deal, correct? >> this is really a short-term solution to get the river's negotiators to 2026, when the current managing guideline six wire. this is not a solution to the river's fundamental gap between water supply and demand. this just builds slightly more stability and certainty into water supplies for those states. there are still many more hard conversations to be had about how you go about living with a smaller colorado river and the states haven't had that extremely difficult conversation yet. they have just had a slightly hard-won and they will have to have a harder one coming up. william: bright, they have bought themselves a couple more years. we know that the west got this

godsend of a tremendous historic snowpack. how much of that helps understand how they got to this interim agreement? >> it is hugely important. we would be having a very different conversation if the west had had even moderately dry winter this past winter. the colorado river is mostly snow fed. that decreased the sense of urgency among the people who negotiate on the river. william: lastly, the subtitle of your excellent podcast is learning to live with less on the colorado river. with climate change and this ongoing drought, do you think policymakers understand that these stresses are not going away? >> i think to the people negotiating the river's future, they are coming to terms with the fact that the river is smaller and is going to get smaller and the way forward is

using less. there are some technological fixes that can make up supply gaps in some areas like desalination or other sorts of technologies. but really the future of this is learning to live with less. it is about reducing our demand. that is what we have control over, deciding how much water we use from the colorado river. that is where a lot of the conversation is right now. william: thank you so much for being here. >> thank you so much for having me. amna: russian forces claim to have conquered the city of bock mood in the east. they said the nine month battle for the city continues. a force of pro-ukrainian troops who say they are russians made an incursion into a russian

border region. stephanie sy reports. stephanie: in bakhmut, russian soldiers walk through a city they destroyed and now claim they have conquered. a brutal 9-month battle has devastated the 400-year old city which had a pre-war population of more than 70,000 people. russian state-media showed these soldiers raising the russian flag in the ruins of the city.. next to it, the flag of the wagner mercenery group, which led the assault. >> without exaggeration, this is a historic moment. this is it, there are no more houses. the city has been taken. stephanie: the wagner group was founded by yeveny prigozhin, a convicted russian criminal and kremlin-connected business man, who over the weekend claimed victory. >> thanks to vladimir vladimirovich putin for giving us the high honor to defend our motherland. we fought not only

with the ukrainian armed forces in bakhmut, but also with the russian bureaucracy. stephanie: earlier this month prigozhin threatened to withdraw his troops from the city, accusing russian military officials of withholding ammunition and blaming them for the death of wagner fighters. >> we have a 70% shortage of ammunition. where's the ammunition? look at them. stephanie: but president vladimir putin yesterday praised the private military group. ukrainian officials say the battle for bakhmut is not over, and that its soldiers continue to advance from the north and south to encircle russian troops inside the city. at the g7 meeting over the weekend, president zelenskyy compared the city to hiroshima after the us dropped an atomic on it in world war 2. . >> but you have to transcend that there is nothing. they destroyed everything. it is a tragedy, but we are

hopeful today bakhmut is only in , our hearts. stephanie: today, a group claims to have crossed into russian territory and liberated parts of the border region. >> we are russians just like you, we are people just like you. we want our children to grow up in peace and be free people but this has no place in today's putin's russia. stephanie: the so-called liberty of russia legion says their end goal is to end putin's testator ship -- dictatorship. joining us now to discuss what is going on in bakhmut and other developments is dara massicot. she is a senior policy researcher at the rand corporation. thank you for joining the newshour. what is going on? and the russians claim victory or is this still going on? >> the russians are claiming victory.

they occupy a large percentage of what remains of the city. most of the city is destroyed now. they are claiming they are putting pressure on russian flanks. it is safe to say that russia probably has most of the city at this point. there is perhaps one or two points that lead out, that the ukrainian still have. russia is desperate for a win and this is just about the only one that can come out with after a failed offensive. stephanie: i keep hearing that this city is not particularly strategically significant in this war. why have nine months of such a hard-fought battle continued? >> the ukrainian armed forces have prioritized this area and their desire to keep it has been very strong. russia has fought very hard for it using conscripts. suffered a lot of casualties. if russia is able to capitalize

on taking the city and pressing forward, it does open up a significant road network, but what i'm seeing is an exhausted force that is not able to move forward. stephanie: the ukrainians are claiming they have encircled part of the city, so if the russians have taken it over, is it your sense they can hold it? or were that continue to be a challenge with forces on the outside flanks? >> ukraine is saying they are pressuring the north and south and they are causing some localized retreats from russian forces that are there. i can't corroborate that they encircled the city, but they are putting pressure on those units. those are not high-speed units. it might be easier to disrupt them than other units. stephanie: how big of a cost has this battle been to russian forces especially as we talk about the potential for a ukrainian counteroffensive? >> the russians have paid a

heavy price for a counteroffensive for not much gains. in some places, they are using storm troops or human wave style assaults and it is coming at a high price. it is probably inevitable that russia is going to have to do another round of mobilization to replace the casualties. stephanie: i want to ask about another development reported today and that is that russian defectors who are anti-putin and they call themselves the freedom of russia legion claim to have crossed the border from ukraine into russia and claim to have liberated parts of the bell garon region, which is on the border of ukraine and russia. how significant is that and what does it mean for them to have liberated that area? >> this is a really interesting story that is developing. this is a group affiliated

loosely with the ukrainian military, but it is not aligned with them by any stretch. they were able to move well inside russia and the russian authorities have confirmed this is happening. it looks like from twitter that they managed to steal a vehicle from russian border guards, so this is a very embarrassing situation for russia. they are trying to spin their way out of it. but this is really an embarrassment for the russians. stephanie: putin seems to be treating bock mood like it is stalingrad, that it will change the tide of the war. is that your sense? that it could somehow turn the direction of the war? >> no, i think he is trying to spin whatever victory he can come up with to show for the russian people for the amount of casualties that they have lost. they have had basically no successes over the past four or

five months, if not longer than that. this is the best that they can come up with to spin it. i don't think it will give them the strategic advantage this year. the force is simply too exhausted to move forward again in a meaningful way. i don't think they have the capability for another large offensive this year. stephanie: dara marsico with the rand corporation. thanks so much for joining the newshour. >> thank you for having me. geoff: president joe biden and house speaker kevin mccarthy are back at the negotiating table in an effort to make a deal on raising the nation's debt ceiling. today's meeting comes after the president cut short his trip to asia --to focus on the debt limit talks at home. after the meeting, the two sides made progress. >> i felt we had a productive discussion. we don't have an agreement yet, but i did feel the discussion

was productive in areas that we have differences of opinion. the problem is not revenue, it is spending. the differences have always been the same place. geoff: following all of this, our white house correspondent and are congressional correspondent. what is the word from the white house with this meeting ramping up? >> essentially, it is a little bit of the same when the white house entered this meeting, which is they feel as though it was productive. they are optimistic about being able to reach an ultimate deal, but there are still some sticking points around spending caps. coming out of this meeting, the fact that there was no substantial movement in terms of the specifics, the president could face more pressure, which he has from progressives, to use the 14th amendment.

there is a workaround. president biden has said he has the ability to use this clause that he said the u.s. debt should not ever be questioned. geoff: where are republicans on this? it striking that he was saying to reporters before the meeting in terms of the talks being productive. >> this is almost like a campaign season. those are good signs from the speaker of the house. he said that he and the president expect to talk every day. he also complimented the negotiators from the white house in a way you rarely hear when these kind of talks come down to this moment. he said these are the best, most professional, most respectful negotiators he had ever worked with and if there is hope, it is

in those two sides. there are big differences and now mccarthy and the president are going to send their staff to try to keep talking tonight, tomorrow to figure out if they can make the difference in these gaps. geoff: as we have been reporting , default would have extreme, catastrophic consequences. what do americans make of this threat? >> we have some new polling, a pbs newshour/npr/marist poll going to be released tomorrow. when we asked how should the debt ceiling negotiations advance? 52% of the public said there should be an increase in the debt ceiling followed separately by discussion about the spending cuts. 42% said the debt ceiling increase should only happen with spending cuts attached. we asked if the government defaults, who is to blame?

43% said they would blame president biden. 45 percent said they would blame republicans in congress. the president said everyone would be to blame, although he did in particular single out some extreme republicans in the house, who said they are potentially pushing the country toward a default so that what he won't be reelected. geoff: remind us of the timing and any potential backup plans? president biden said the 14th amendment is untested and might be impractical. >> the timing is a real math problem. 10 days until june 1, which is when the government could run out of money to pay for its bills. it takes two days to write a bill once they get a deal and then another three days for the house to read it, debate it, and vote on it. the senate can move a lot faster if it wants to.

that is difficult. other options, there is a discharge petition that takes even more time. a short-term funding bill may be something we talk about more. speaker mccarthy says he doesn't want one right now. geoff: thanks to you both. amna: another hat in the ring as the presidential race starts to take shape. south carolina senator tim scott announced he will be vying for the republican nomination. he joins several other candidates seeking to be the name at the top of the ticket come 2024 lisa desjardins is back with this report. >> i am running for president of the united states of america! >> rallying up a crowd in his

home state of south carolina senator tim scott announced his , 2024 run with an optimistic message. >> for those of you who wonder if it's possible for a broken kid and a broken home to rise beyond their circumstances? the answer is yes. >> his rise to this moment is something scott calls quintessentially american. raised by single mom in north charleston the family struggled , for money. by high school - scott says he was failing in several classes when a business mentor changed his life. >> they taught me how to think my way out of poverty. >> he became a leader, chosen to represent his school at south carolina's voice state. by age 30, scott was a small businessman with a seat on the charleston county council. >> i'm living proof that america is land of opportunity and not a land of oppression. he is a stern critic of government programs for the

poor. scott's approach, instead, is tax-incentives, called opportunity zones, for business to invest in low-income areas. a video from his office touted some of the results in south los angeles. but others, including one study this year say the zones have , been ineffective or extraordinarily expensive. for scott, opportunity is the central theme and indeed in the title his 2020 book. when it comes to race and opportunity, scott occupies a unique place as one of few black americans ever elected to the u.s. senate and the only black republican this century. he has mixed his personal experience -- >> in the course of one year, i have been stopped seven times by law enforcement officers. >> with a conservative approach. police reform talks ended because he opposed many ideas aimed at law enforcement. in 2021, as president biden gave his first speech to congress

republicans chose scott to give their response. and one line hit a flash point. >> hear me clearly -- america is not a racist country. they are promoting victimhood. >> in his opening ad this year, scott leaned in speaking from , fort sumter, where the civil war started, blasting democrats. >> all too often when they get called out for their failures, they weaponize race to divide us. >> scott's campaigning focuses on personal, retail politics. but he hasn't faced a tough race in over a decade and had trouble when asked about abortion and it which week of pregnancy he would back a national ban. >> i'm not going to talk about six or five or seven or 10. i'm saying whatever the most conservative legislation is that could come through congress -- >> is what you would back? >> yes. >> he later said he would sign a 20 week band. scott argues his experience -

especially as a kid rising out of poverty - sets him apart. the man who focuses on opportunity is looking for a big one of his own. amna: for analysis on how tim scott's announcement shakes up the republican presidential race, and the other political news of the week we turn to amy walter of "the cook political report with amy walter" and tamara keith of npr. as you know, scott stands apart in the party for a number of reasons, but when you look at the list of declared republican presidential candidates even so far, i want you to take a look at these folks. how does tim scott distinguish himself from all the other candidates challenging the front runner right now? >> i think he's hoping his message of hope and optimism is what is going to break through especially against donald trump who talks about he is the candidate of retribution.

tim scott says, i'm a messenger of hope. is that what republican voters want? at this point, it doesn't seem like that is a message that is particularly appealing, but i think in the long game that tim scott would look to a primary where donald trump and somebody who was supposedly announcing very soon, ron desantis, have a big, messy primary, both of them get beaten up and bruised and tim scott's message of optimism becomes more appealing. that is the long-term. i think also annoy long-term strategy is iowa. a state that has a considerable evangelical community and he is also somebody who runs with his faith very proudly and i think that is something he's going to use to try to use to his advantage in winning the very first date on the primary

calendar. >> it strikes me when you look at the list of declared candidates, the majority are now people of color. it is a very diverse field. the two front runners are donald trump and someone who hasn't declared yet, ron desantis, two white men leveraging these grievance politics. how do scott fit into that mix? >> his message is one that very much fits with the republican message. he is running as anti-woke, but in a different way than ron desantis. he is running as an embodiment of the republican idea that you can come from any background and life yourself up by your bootstraps and therefore you do not need the government to help people out. that is really where he is coming from and the message he is selling. and as amy said or dovetailing off what amy said, former president trump is perfectly

happy to have senator scott in the race and the reason he is perfectly happy is this idea of a great brawl, of all of these candidates beating each other up , all of the undercard's going after ron desantis and leaving room for former president trump, like he did in 2015 to sort of skate through as it is trump and the others. it is not clear that this will work in 2015 and 2016 we were looking at the model of 2012. now we are looking back at the model of 2015, 2016. every single election cycle is different. there is this very open question about iowa. will former president trump be able to get those evangelical voters who were uncomfortable with him but ultimately supported him strongly? or will he not? is there a lane for a desantis or a tim scott?

you have >> >> been tracking another announcement, one of the patriarchs of delaware politics, tom carper, has announced his retirement. how does that change the senate map? >> the senate map is really interesting for democrats, they are playing a lot of defense. any time you hear about a retirement if you are a democrat, you kind of cringe. but i think there is a difference between seats that are open for democratic candidates that have been underrepresented in the senate. then there are the open seats that cause panic. this is an opportunity seat. this is a seat that has been held by tom carper. his protégé, she was his intern and worked in his office, lisa blunt rochester, who is a congresswoman there, he basically endorsed her today. she hasn't said anything, but

everyone is sort of waiting for this. we also have another state where you have an opportunity in maryland. the head of one of the largest counties in the state announcing her run to replace another democrat and in california as well, dianne feinstein leaving. the possibility to go from zero black women in the senate to three is there, certainly go from zero to one or two is very likely. >> today, one of the big stories, the face-to-face meeting between president biden and house speaker mccarthy. we know they have been meeting. what is the latest? what do we expect to happen? >> you or geoff asked a similar question two weeks ago. the answer is not really clear how they land this plane. it is not clear what the face-saving solution is that

allows all of them to move forward and get the debt ceiling raised and avoid catastrophe. nothing has really changed since then in terms of clarity. these meetings are continuing over the weekend. they were expressing dread and saying that everyone was negotiating in bad faith and everyone was accusing everyone of things going wrong another expressing optimism. it's not clear anything has truly changed to cause them to express optimism. the statements they made in the oval office were really a restatement of positions they have been statin for weeks now. >> today is may 20 two, treasury secretary janet yellen said june 1 is the hard deadline to raise the debt ceiling. it is unusual to get this close. >> yes, we get really, really close and it looks like at the end it finally comes together. this does feel a little bit different.

at the same time, it does feel as if both sides are telling us we have the elements in place for a deal and it's going to be a deal and the sides are trying to figure out how they massage it to their base. if you are in the white house, landing this plane is critical. running in a recession is bad. running in a recession that was only made worse by a debt crisis and people looking at their 401(k) statement saying, how did that come to happen? that is one of those things that they cannot afford. >> we are going to be following this very closely. i have a feeling we will talk about it again. good to see you both.

geoff: more than half of americans are on waiting list to receive care at their homes. sometimes they need help with daily activities like cooking, maintaining a job or getting around town. last year, oklahoma passed a law to end its 13 year disability services waitlt that had grown to more than 5000 people. as judy woodruff reports in the first of several stories on the challenges of those facing disabilities, many families are still waiting for the help they need. it is part of our new series called disability reframed. >> 14-year-old milena castillo loves hanging out in the kitchen with her mother maria. this week is special because grandma is in town from mexico. >> i make these with my grandma.

>> most of the time, it is just the two of them. milena has several diagnoses, including autism and adhd, and maria worries about her future. >> she depends 100% on me. so i don't know, i don't know if she's going to be able to be on her own. >> you have a full-time job and making sure that when she is not in school that everything is all right. how is that working? what do you need that you are not getting right now. >> i think sometimes just a little break, maybe to have one or two hours a week for myself. that is also really, really hard. >> hundreds of thousands of americans like maria's daughter are waiting for services that could help them live more independently. oklahoma is just one of

thirty-seven states that have waitlists for waivers entitling them to medicaid home and community-based services benefits that help people with , disabilities live and work outside of institutions. these waivers cover the costs of things like behavioral therapy, job training, and caregivers who teach life skills. medicaid is funded jointly by states and the federal government, which doesn't guarantee that home and community-based care will be paid for, so states like oklahoma can limit the number of people receiving those services. and once states meet their own limit, the waitlist begins. most days, maria can't let milena out of her sight. she says that getting off the waitlist would make it possible for her to get an in-home caregiver. >> it's going to be like that period of time where i can focus on many other things i can focus on when i'm taking care of her

because sometimes i just feel like i can do it no more. >> the governor signed a bill into law which includes millions in funding. >> maria saw that glimmer of light in 2022, when state lawmakers committed funds to start chipping away at the but even with the oklahomast. legislature approving $32.5 million last year to help meet the needs of individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities, there are still questions about whether every family in this state will find trained providers to help care for their loved ones. as part of the new funding, caregivers in oklahoma received a 25% pay raise, up to an average of $12.50 an hour. >> you may have seen reports of salaries going up in places like mcdonald's and walmart and target. the problem is that the medicaid payments have not kept pace with that. and so it's adding even more of

a challenge to find these workers. >> david goldfarb is with the arc of the united states, a disability rights organization. he says the problems with long-term care are systemic. >> these services are provided through medicaid and medicaid has often been underfunded. with covid 19, we've seen a major exiting of the workforce across all long term care and health settings, and that does not appear to be coming back. >> this is the front door to our service system. >> faced with a shortage of providers, the state of oklahoma is giving parents the option to use waivers to hire family and community members, with less formal training, as caregivers. >> we found that actually friends and neighbors as staff worked well in some situations. >> beth scrutchins heads

oklahoma's developmental disabilities services, a division under oklahoma human services agency. >> we are continuing forward with some of those flexibilities. but we know that the answer to the workforce crisis has to be a multi-pronged approach. >> still, advocates say some parents feel pressure to quit their jobs while waiting to get the help they need. >> when i started that process, the person on the other line asked me if i would quit my job. if that is their answer to the caregiving hole that we have, to have me quit my job, that was not our option. >> oklahoma democratic state representative ellyn hefner has an 18 year old son william with a developmental disability. >> william works part time at a coffee shop that employs people with disabilities. after waiting for more than a decade, he was approved for an emergency waiver in january but only after

he started to have life-threatening seizures. as a single mom, ellyn says she was grateful and relieved when williams coworker jared cooling stepped into care for him. >> if we would not have known jarrod, i don't know what i would have done. i know a couple of families that are still calling agencies. they still do not have relief. they're putting the weight on the families to solve it. >> and jared's presence has been life-saving. tell me about jared. >> gerrit is a good man. we were at planet fitness. i was on a treadmill.

and i fell and had a seizure. and he saved my life. >> after the seizure, she checked in with jared. >> i said, i'm giving you an out. so if you don't think you can do this job, i will understand. and he said, i think i want to do this job more. he said, i can do it and i really enjoy spending time with william. i want to pay him more, i want to give him benefits. i don't want him to leave now. there is such a great feeling

when you know that you can trust someone else to take care of your son. >> jared helps william take his medicine, drives him to work in the gym and helps them find missing puzzle pieces. he also teaches him life skills like cooking and lens and ear when he practices for his school musicals. ♪ back at the state capitol building, william's mother is working to pass a bill that would -- would require oklahoma human services to track the help families receive after they get off the waitlist. >> the agency should tell us, how is it going? why are people remaining on the list? that is a really big question. i'm still waiting for those answers. >> descriptions says it takes

time. >> it takes six to nine months to process an individual lauren application? why does it take so long? >> it depends what kind of services and supports the family need. they do have a waitlist specialist. >> in 2021, americans with intellectual and developmental disabilities waited longer for these medicaid services than any other group including senior citizens. an average of 5.5 years. in the meantime, families have to step in. what would it mean if you could have some help for a few hours a day. >> it would be very good for my mental health because i know that is something i need to take care of as well. if i'm ok, she's going to be ok. >> what is your wish for your

daughter? >> i want her to be a good human being. i want her to be a good person. i want her to have a good quality of life. >> for now, they hold on. another day waiting for the care they have been promised. >> for the pbs newshour, i'm judy woodruff in oklahoma city. >> this week, a live-action version of disney's the little mermaid opens in theaters more than 30 years after the original animated movie hit the big screen. it is one of a few times a disney princess will be played by black actress. in a casting decision that sparked joy and backlash. we explore what this moment means as part of our arts and culture series canvas.

>> ♪ i want to be where the people are ♪ ♪ >> a new little mermaid is not part of our world. with a fresh take on the old-school disney classica, li ct bailey, a black singer and actress, in the lead role of ariel. the trailer release led to viral delightful reactions among young fan. >> yes! >> i think she's brown. brown ariel. that's the real her. >> including sisters rylie and mckenzie fleming. their mother dari filmed the moment they saw the new princess.

>> were you surprised by the way they reacted? >> i was, i was super surprised, especially with my little one, because she never really gets surprised or reacts to anything. so for her to react that way to the little mermaid trailer, i was like, wow. like this is going to be an amazing movie. >> even bailey herself said she was in all of the response to the trailer alone. there has only ever been one black princess in disney's 100 year history, 2009's tea in a in the princess and the frog. a previous, 1997 cinderella remake cast singer and actress brandy norwood in the lead. for dari, that moment resonated. she wants more moments like that for her girls. when you think about the kind of characters that you watched growing up, right, the tv shows, the movies that you had. how are they different from the things that your girls get to see today? >> when i was growing up, i had, you know, cinderella, brandy. i

absolutely loved that movie. and for them to, you know, remake another black disney princess/mermaid is just amazing. and i feel like that's so important for, you know, for little girls, not just, you know not just for brown and black girls, but just little girls in general. ♪ >> after their reaction video went viral, they were invited to attend the movie's world premiere in los angeles earlier this month. and rylie and mckenzie came face to face with the real-life ariel. what's your favorite thing about ariel? >> what do you like so much about the mermaid? >> everything! >> their father will says it is less about the movie, and more about the message it sends. >> it's one thing for us to be able to say, hey, you can be whatever you want to be.

if you're not seeing folks that look like you, that maybe come from the same backgrounds as you, it is not as believable for someone that is never seen it before. >> but not everyone welcomed the new ariel. the 2019 casting announcement of bailey sparked the hashtags #notmyariel and #notmymermaid some arguing the little mermaid is a european fairytale and that bailey looks nothing like the area we know and love. that anger isn't new. there was similar backlash when amandla stenberg, a black actress, joining the hunger games cast in to leah sava 2012. jeffries, also a black actress, being cast in a percy jackson tv series in 2022. and, that same year, to puerto rican actor ismael cruz cordova being cast in a lord of the rings prequel. >> i believe that each generation of children has been carefully taught who to expect in the stories that they read. >> professor ebony elizabeth

thomas of the university of michigan is the author of the dark fantastic: race and the imagination from harry potter to the hunger games. she says the negative response isn't surprising, given the history of stories being told, and characters being represented. >> if all of a sudden your favorite dish has a new ingredient or a new preparation, then you are going to be absolutely startled. so this is not giving excuses for racism and responses to diverse and multicultural stories. quite the contrary. i just want to explain within the context of a society where we all grow up to expect most of our heroes and most of our heroines to be white, cisgender and from the majority culture. >> multicultural stories, thomas argues, have the power to open

doors, build bridges, and ultimately connect people to each other. >> it helps us learn how to get along with each other when we have a glimpse into what it means to be another person living in a different kind of culture, living in another country, living another life. >> the new film takes viewers into another world featuring notable names like melissa mccarthy as the sea witch urszula. >> didn't expect to find you here. >> actress awkwafina as the siegel scuttle. >> and daveed diggs, as the anxious but ever-loyal crab, sebastian. early fan reviews are enthusiastic. do you remember your favorite song from the movie? >> under the sea. >> under the sea? i love that rylie, what about one. you? what's your favorite song? >> what's your favorite mermaid

song? >> ♪ part of that world! ♪ ♪ [laughter] >> the little mermaid opens in theaters nationwide this friday. >> ♪ part of your world! ♪ ♪ >> that's one of my favorite songs too. yours right? >> sure. >> there's a lot more in line, including a look at how organizations in st. louis are working to combat antisemitism after a dramatic spike in hate crimes in missouri. >> and join us again here tomorrow night as we returned to uvalde, texas, for the one-year anniversary of the school shooting that killed 19 children. that is the newshour for tonight. amna: on behalf of the entire newshour team, think you for joining us. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by --

>> a proud supporter of public television. the world awaits. a world of flavor, diverse destinations, and immersive experiences. a world of entertainment. and british style. all what do you world star service. >> architect, beekeeper. mentor. a raymondjames financial advisor taylor's advice to help you in your life. life well-planned. >> the kendeda fund, committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. more at kendeda fund.org.

supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. more information at mac found.org. and with the ongoing support of these 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. ♪ >> this is pbs newshour west from w eta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] >>

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -today on "america's test kitchen"... julia makes bridget cataplana, jack challenges julia and bridget to a head-to-head tasting of fish sticks, dan explores the science behind blanching, and elle makes julia garlicky broiled shrimp. it's all coming up right here on "america's test kitchen."