john: tonight on pbs news weekend, the fallout from the short-lived rebellion inside russia -- and what it means for the future of president vladimir tin. then, the youngest victims. the effect the violence of a two-month old conflict in sudan is having on children. and, a conversation with the first official drag laureate, san francisco's d'arcy drollinger. >> i've been asked this question a number of times, like, why is drag important and why is anything important? why is dance important? why is theater important? why is fine art important?

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thank you. ♪ john: good evening. i'm john yang. the most significant challenge to russian president vladimir putin's two decades in power lasted only about 24 hours, but today there are questions about the long-term consequences. the streets of moscow were quiet todaas the last russian troops left the capital. to the south, yevgeny prigozhin and his wagner mercenary group were cheered as they lef rostovondon late last night. they had captured the city tt morning. the deal that defused the mutiny calls for prigozhin to live in exile in belarus. on nbc's "meet the press," secretary of state antony blinken said the episode was a blow to putin's authority. secretary blinken i think we've : seen more cracks emerge in the russian façade. it is too soon to tell exactly where they go & when they get there, but certainly we have all sorts of new questions that

putin is going to have to address in the weeks and months ahead. john: blinken also said it's unclear whether the wagner fighters will return to the battlefield in ukraine. angela stent is a russia expert. she worked in the state department during the clinton administration and was a top intelligence officer during the administration of george w. bush. she's now a professor at georgetown university. angela, you heard the secretary of state say cracks in the façade. is it possible to know how deep the cracks go? >> it is difficult. there is a lot we do not know about what happened yesterday and it could just be the first act of a much longer drama but clearly the fact that the troops were able to get within 200 km of moscow, and they were welcomed and cheered, does raise serious questions about the

security services in russia, the military, and putin's own future. he certainly looks weaker emerging from this but there is a lot we don't know. let's wait and see where and when he shows up again. will it be belarus? we have to see. john: you talk about the progress he made while advancing on moscow. was there a carrot or stick that made him stop? >> again, we do not know a lot but it is possible he thought there would be more support for him from some of the top people in moscow and it is possible that it became clear that that wasn't so, they could rethink what they were doing because it looks like they could have reached moscow pretty quickly and taken over, which is what people thought at the beginning of the day, or it is possible a

deal was made with himesterday where he was promised the chief of general staff would be fired, which is what he had been calling for for months, saying they were incompetent, but that has not happened yet so we will have to wait and see. john: is a publicly chastised putin dangerous? is there concern that he would do something rash to show he is back in charge? >> someone can always have those concerns but there must be a lot going on that we don't know about right now inside the kremlin. what is interesting is that none of his colleagues have come out publicly and supported him and he did not announce a deal yesterday but his press secretary did and he has been absent today. no public figures in moscow. so there has to be some concern about what is going on inside the -- going on inside the

kremlin. john: the deal was brokered by alexander. why do you think he got involved -- alexander lukashenko. why do y think he got involved? >> he is a putin ally and dependent of him and subordinate on him. maybe he wanted to make it look as if those his hands had not touched this and left someone else to do it so he was not the one negotiating. john: you said there is a possibility the defense minister and general chief of staff may resign, which is what preclusion wanted. so did goshen accomplish anything? >> what he accomplished was showing the russian people to the extent that they knew what was going on that he has quite a lot of support. he has come out as a populist

figure. he said a couple days ago that the war in ukraine was a big mistake in ukraine was not a threat and it was oligarchs in russia who wanted to get their hands on assets in ukraine and that was the reason for the war. the fact that that resonates and then telling the russians people that their sons and brothers are dying while the children of the elite are sitting in the south of france, that resonates and it should get everyone in the kremlin thinking about what it means to continue this war. john: yesterday was tensions between russians while ukrainians were forgotten. what effect does this have on the war? >> i'm not sure that it has much effect on the war unless putin were to rethink the war. i think ukraine will continue the counteroffensive and russia will continue defending against it so if there was an

opportunity, it might have been yesterday but the way it ended now i think the war will just continue. john: angela from georgetown university, thank you very much. across much of the united states, forecasters are predicting extreme heat, especially in the south. more than 40 million people are expected to experience dangerous heat. hardest hit will be texas, where a heat wave is entering its third week. temperatures there today are expected to soar past 100 degrees. texas's power utility says the state's electrical grid, which failed during a cold snap in 2021, should hold. but, to be safe, they've asked residents to cut back on air conditioning. and, the coast guard announced today that it has ended search and rescue operations for the titans submersible. -- titan submersible.

the craft imploded underwater this past week while taking five people to explore the wreckage of the titanic. all aboard died. the coast guard's priority shifts to trying to recover titan's remnants from the ocean floor. there will be a full investigation to determine the cause of the tragedy. still to come on "pbs news weekend," how the youngest victims of conflict in sudan are coping as they flee the violence. and the little known story of writer alice dunbar nelson -- who fought for racial equality and voting rights for women. >> this is pbs news weekend, from w eta studios in washington, home of the pbs, weeknights on pbs.

john: air strikes and artillery fire intensified today in parts of sudan, where fighting enters its eleventh week. at least 860 people have lost their lives and more than half a million people have fled the country. the conflict in this northeast african nation pits government forces against a rival paramilitary faction. both sides ali rogin has the latest on the traumatic effects of violence on sudan's children. ali: as control of sudan hangs in the balance, so too do the lives and futures of more than 1 million children displaced by the violence. many of these children have been displaced within the country itself. in addition to humanitarian assistance, many are seeking physical and psychological healing from the deep scars of

war. dr. arif noor is one of the people on the ground helping the children of sudan through this crisis. he is the sudan country director for save the children. dr. noor, thank you so much for joining us. you've been and your organization have been on the ground in sudan for well before this fhting started. there's long been need for your services there. what has changed about the needs of children since this fighting began? arif noor: around 16 million people in the country were in need of humanitarian assistance. but since the conflict has broken out, this number has increased by 56%. and now almost half of the population of the country is in need of dire humanitarian assistance. and of these almost 25 million people, more than 12 million are children. they have been exposed to the sights, the sounds and of the violence around them. so even if they are not directly seeing people hurt or killed, theyre hearing stories of that has had seriousy membersbe, consequences for their mental and psychosocial well-being.

many children have lost their lives, and many more have been displaced inside the country. ali: what have you been hearing about what those journeys have been like for the children? do they tend to be accompanied by adults? whatoes that look like? arif noor: while the children move away from the conflict affected areas they may be running away from the conflict, but that doesn't mean that they are still out of danger. for example, exploitation, abuse, and many times sexual abuse, especially of young girls. that has been going on at a scale which has been unprecedented in sudan. many times they are received at concentration points which do not have access to nutritious food, clean drinking water, proper sanitation facilities.

these places are many times overcrowded. so that's the kind of situation that children are facing right now. ali: dr. noor, i want to play you what one of your psychologists said. >> at bedtime, when his mother asks him to sleep, he refuses and sits like that. he tells her, you go to bed, i am sitting here. thmother told me they didn't see anything, but they could hear the fighting noise. ali: what sort of care are you able to provide to these children, and what has the fallout been from their experience of these traumatic events? arif noor: i recently visited several of our field locations. where our teams are supra--- where our teams are providing the support to children and their families, and we came across one child who just did not speak for the first couple of weeks, but later on by our team started engaging wi the child and gradually the child

started speaking up, and now they are talking to their friends and caregivers. these are the kinds of trauma that children have had to go through and our teams then consistently work with them to make sure that they are able to reintegrate, come back to a semblance of normal life. it is far from that, because many children want to go back to their homes, so arrangements need to be made so that they can get back to their normal lives. ali: there was recently a pledging conference in which wealthy nations pledged donations to help sudan rebuild, and those numbers fell well short of what's projected as the total needed to rebuild the country following this violence. what more does the international community need to do, and is there a role that the sudanese government itself needs to step up and provide?

arif noor: yeah, i think the international community needs to come together to assist the warring factions in the country to come to some sort of a settled situation where peace can return to the country. the biggest barrier for the time being is the ongoing violence. in addition, the bureaucratic impediments which are there for the humanitarian community even before the conflict, if those can be eased down a little bit to make sure that the humanitarian community is able to reach to the people in need. all of these things can help make sure that we are able to reach out to these people swiftly and support them. ali: dr. noor, sudan country director for the humanitarian group save the children. thank you so much for your time. arif noor: thank you very much.

john: this year's pride month is d'arcy drollinger's first as san francisco's official drag laureate. in her new position, believed to be the first of its kind, the artist and club owner is an ambassador for the city's lgbtq+ arts, nightlife and entertainment communities. she takes the new post, which was created by the mayor, in a year that's seen a record number of anti-lgbtq+ legislation introduced across america. about her new role.ith a reporter: d'arcy drollinger, thank you so much for joining us. first of all, i have to ask you, how did this opportunity come about? how did you learn that mayor breed was establishing this position? >> well, the city put out a

press release that the position was open and they were accepting applicants and i applied. some of my staff at work begged me not to, that i was too busy, but it felt like it made a lot of sense. a lot of things they were looking for were things i was already doing, so i went ahead and applied and the rest is history. reporter: and what did you learn about the reasons why you were selected? >> i am an entrepreneur, i have a local business in san ancisco, i run a nightclub and cabaret, i also have started a nonprofit, i have a place in the community. so it made sense. just talking to the mayor and and having the panel review who i am and what i, what i do made a lot of sense. but i think the bottom line, the mayor said was that i was willing to throw my support behind anybody. and i think that sort of openness and willing to support the community was the linchpin

in choosing me. reporter: andalking about your support of the community, you mentioned you're an entrepreneur, you have a business. and i mean, entertainment in and of itself is i personally think of public service, but you really step that up to the next level during the pandemic. and i want to hear about what you did. you had a program called meals on heels. tell me about that. >> [laughter] i really took stock in who i was in the community and who the people around me are, and we're entertainers. and when the going gets tough, our job is to entertain. and so we very quickly pivoted and we created a program called meals on heels where we partnered with local restaurants and did a food delivery service by drag performers, which would get your food delivered anyou get a curbside performance. and this was at a very dark time where people felt very isolated. and i was able to help the small businesses in my neighborhood. i was able to employ drag performers who suddenly were out of work, and also create a

little sparkle in people's lives who were struggling at the time. reporter: absolutely. obviously, the lgbtq+ community anywhere is not a monolith. but i want to ask, what does it mean for you and other members of this community to have recognition in this way? >> it is huge, really. i mean, and i applaud san francisco because this is a program that they've actually been rolling out for a couple of years, and finally, we made it. you know, drag performers in san francisco are really gen a place in this community. and we you know, we not only entertain, but we have a lot of civic contributions and we do a lot of fundraising. i feel like san francisco is leading the way. you know, while it is a drag laureate position, it really is recognizing the the the

-- is recognizing the community, the lgbtq+ community. reporter: and let's talk about what are some of your responsibilities as the drag laureate of san francisco? >> [laughter] there are so many. there are more symbolic ones. i helped raise the pride flag with the mayor on the beginning of june, and i threw the first pitch at the giants game, which is pretty epic thing to do, but it also the responsibilities are really about creatinbridges through the different city organizations and the lgbtq+ community. also, elevating and celebrating the art of drag, i think is really important, and it's an art form that doesn't always get the attention that it deserves, like a poet laureate, but taking drag in that way. reporter: what does it mean to have this position elevating drag a performance in this way? >> it is important because san

francisco has made a stand. we actually value drag performers and lgbtq+ performers. it has been tough, because there has been so much propaganda that is categorically untrue but it creates this level of hostility towards drag performers, where we have to up our level of security. i spend a lot more money on security now than i used to, which is so sad and such a shame. and really, when it boils down to it, i mean, it isn't really anti-drag. it is anti-lgbtq+, that is what it is. we're just trying to live our lives and entertain people. i have been asked so many times, why is dragon important. why is theater important? it is just another art form. drag has been going on for over

400 years. it is nothing new. it is part of our lives all around the world, and it is interesting to me that it has become such a hot topic now. and it shouldn't be an issue. all the people that spout personal freedom and the first and second amendment rights, give me my right. right? drag is something beautiful and sparkling and fun and it doesn't make any sense to me. reporter: d'arcy drag laureate , of san francisco, thank you so much for joining us. >> thanks for having me. ♪ john: as we begin the final week of pride month, our series, “hidden histories,” takes a look at the bisexual black woman whose writing and activism advocated racial equality and

women's suffrage at the turn of the 20th century. alice dunbar-nelson wrote in many forms -- short stories, essays, and poetry -- and as one of the few black female diarists of the early 20th century, she detailed her life, work, and loves, including clandestine romantic relationships with women. born alice moore in new orleans in 1875, her mother was a father's identity is disputed, scholars say he was likely white. dunbar-nelson graduated from what's now dillard university, a historically black school in new orleans. she was one the very few children of formerly enslaved people to go to college. after a brief time teaching elementary school, she began her pursuit of a literary career. her first collection of short

stories and poetry -- “violet and other tales” -- was published in 1895. it was regarded as the first known work of its kind by a black woman. she would continue to publish poetry and short stories throughout her life, writing about racism and oppression, a challenging the conventions of gender and marriage. dunbar-nelson had three husbands, including internationally acclaimed poet paul laurence dunbar. their short-lived union was marked by physical and emotional abuse. she also had relationships with women, including journalist fay m. jackson, poet helene ricks london, and educator edwina kruse, who once wrotto dunbar-nelson, "we were more than sisters." starting ithe 1910's, dunbar-nelson became involved in efforts for women's voting rights and to enact anti-lynching legislation. in the 1920's, she turned to journalism, writing essays and articles that explored the issues she campaigned for, activism that characterized the remainder of her life.

and online right now, the story of how oyster shells discarded by louisiana restaurants are being used to restore the state's coastline. all that and more is on our website, pbs.org/newshour. that is pbs news weekend for this sunday. i'm john yang. for all of my colleagues, thanks for joining us, have a good week. >> for 25 years, consumer cellular has been offering plans to help people do more of what they like. our customer service team can help find the plan that fits you. to learn more, visit consumercellular.tv. >> 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. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] ♪

♪ they are falling ♪ bill t. jones: we were very abandoned and lost and afraid. this piece was gonna be about what it takes to live. (mendelssohn's octet for strings in e-flat major playing) rosalynde leblanc: one, two, three... - hi, i'm mateo. jones: what part are you doing? mateo: and i'm larry/paolo. - and i'm playing you, the bill part. (laughing) - us! us! what are we going through? what is our aids right now? (octet playing, ensemble shouting) (octet playing) jones: there are tragic events that in some ways define generations. a work of art maybe could even transcend that era. announcer: can you bring it: bill t. jones and d-man in the waters. (octet ends) (ensemble shouts) announcer: on ropop. ♪ ♪ hey! ♪ ♪ hey! ♪ ♪