♪ jeff: --amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on "the newshour" tonight... vladimir putin tries to project a sense of order after a short-lived mutiny exposes instability in russia. amna: a dangerous heat wave plagues texas as the worsening effects of climate change become clearer. geoff: and... we look at the first year of an african american studies program in high schools that's been a top target of the culture wars. >> i don't think the course is political at all any more or any less than american history is political. ♪

>> major funding for "the pbs newshour" has been provided by -- ♪ the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions, and friends of "the newshour," including -- leonard and norma klorfine, and koo and patricia yuan. the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, 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 contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. amna: welcome to "the newshour." russian president vladimir putin is playing up national unity two days after an abortive uprising by mercenaries. he hailed them as patriots in a televised statement. geoff: but the statement did little to quiet the questions swirling about the kremlin. they range from the russian regime's stability to what happens next. russian president vladimir putin tonight addressed his nation for the first time since a short-lived rebellion marked the most significant threat to his 23-year rule. while thanking the mercenary forces for standing down, he had tough words for their leaders. pres. putin: however, the organizers of the rebellion betrayed those who were lured into the crime. they lied to them, pushed them to shoot their own people. it was precisely this outcome

, fratricide that russia's enemies wanted -- both the neo-nazis in kyiv, and their western masters. geoff: earlier today, president joe biden denied any u.s. role in the wagner group's short-lived rebellion against russia. pres. biden: we made clear we were not involved. we had nothing to do with it. this is part of a struggle within the russian system. geoff: meantime, yevgeny prigozhin the wagner group chief whose forces seized a russian city and marched toward moscow today said he acted to protect his fighters, not to overthrow vladimir putin. prigozhin: in 24 hours, wagner covered the same distance that the russian forces could have covered on february 24, 2022 to kyiv. if they had been as prepared as wagner, the war could have been over in a day. geoff: it was a feud between military leaders that festered into a mutiny, and the images were striking -- locals cheering the rebels as heroes, columns of armed men meeting little opposition as they journeyed

within 125 miles of moscow, and panicked authorities tearing up roads leading into the city. last seen on saturday, prigozhin was mobbed by jubilant crowds as he went into exile in belarus after striking a deal to avoid prosecution. russia's defense ministry today released what appeared to be a show of unity -- a video of its top minister sergei shoigu, still with a job, at least for now. he was seen visiting troops in ukraine, though it's unclear when the video was taken. >> shoigu! gerasimov! geoff: for months, prigozhin had railed against corruption and inaction among moscow's armed forces, whom he fought alongside in ukraine. prigozhin: we have a 70 percent shortage of ammunition! geoff: a warlord known as "putin's chef" for once running a catering company that fed the kremlin, prighozhin's private empire grew to span dozens of countries. much of his force in ukraine is made up of former convicts. they spent eight months fighting to win control of bakhmut, in the war's bloodiest battle. his firm also provides private

security services to leaders across africa, where the u.n. accused it of conducting multiple massacres. today, russian foreign minister sergei lavrov assured wagner-linked african nations that they still had moscow's support. min. lavrov: apart from relationships with wagner, the central african republic and mali have official governmental contacts with russia. following their appeal, several hundred russian servicemen will continue to work in the central recaaficn geoff: while on moscow's streets, an appearance of calm and order, as its mayor today cancelled a terror alert. some russian residents say they're finally at ease. maxim: i feel relief because there was no armed conflict. apart from that, we didn't feel much panic. we survived far worse since 1985. we get used to everything. geoff: others appeared to be unfazed. nikita: i'm absolutely calm about the situation because everything was quite predictable. so, when we are aware and constantly monitoring the news, everything could be predicted.

geoff: but it was far from quiet on russia's front in ukraine, as kyiv's forces claimed to capture another village in what's proving to be a slow and grinding counteroffensive. for additional perspective on the short-lived russian rebellion and what comes next, we are joined by alina polyakova, president and ceo of the center for european policy analysis. thank you for being with us. as we just reported, yevgeny prigozhin said he called off the mark on moscow because he wanted to avoid russian bloodshed and what he had in mind was more of a protest than a coup. what does this suggest about vladimir putin's hold on power and how stable is his regime? alina: what we witnessed the last several days has been nothing short of extraordinary. the most important thing we learned from this strange sequence of events is putin is far weaker than we thought and

his regime is more fragile than we thought. i think this challenge by an armed military group marching toward moscow is truly extraordinary. it would be something i can to blackwater, the u.s. private security company, picking up arms in the middle of the iraq war and marching on washington. the response from the kremlin initially was very muted and i think that surprised quite a few people. geoff: in his speech this evening, vladimir putin addressed the fighters and said they could join the regular military, go home or relocate to belarus. it wasn't clear what that means for prigozhin himself. based on what you know of prigozhin, will he truly cede the floor or regroup and wait for confrontation at a future date? he still has standing and influence. alina: to be honest we don't

know a lot about what has been happening behind the scenes. this deal that prigozhin supposedly stroke, mediated by belarus's dictator where he will be exiled in belarus doesn't make a huge amount of sense. prior to putin's address today, prigozhin put out a message on social media basically sounding unapologetic and everything they did was the right thing to do because it exposed the ineptitude of russia's military operation in ukraine. and then we saw putin say later today, i think it was in overcorrect because he will look weak and in this short speech he tried to present himself as a strong man, saying they are traitors and this was a mutiny. we don't know where prigozhin

is, we don't know if he is in belarus or if wagner's l oyal to him, but there's no evidence that they are being dismounted -- dismantled or joining official russian military command. geoff: leaders are scrambling to make sense of what happened head of the nato summit -- nato summit next month. how does this relate to the west? alina: i think we really need to be thinking about serious contingency planning for a regime change in russia. prior to the events over the weekend, the assumption was putin would be there through the war and at the end of the war. and that there was no real challenge to his power and authority. i think we've seen something very different these last few days. i think that speeds up the

potential timeline for how the alliance needs to be thinking about a future pressure without putin. that may come through a coup attempt -- this was not a coup attempt, as we have learned, but it certainly opens the door for a possibility like this in the near term versus long term. in my mind, the right approach from allies is to use the summit and a little over two weeks from now to double down on support for ukraine. there is a real, strategic opportunity to show through a sign of force that the u.s., europe, we are not going anywhere and we will outlast the putin regime because it doesn't look like it will potentially last as long as we thought. geoff: thank you so much for your insights. and for more insight on what the revolt means for russia's war in ukraine, we turn to samuel bendett, a russian military

analyst for the center for naval analyses. what lies ahead for the wagner group? prigozhin has said his fighters will never accept the options vladimir putin put to him today, which is fight for russia, go home or go to belarus. samuel: that's a good question. these questions will probably reverberate for the next several weeks if not months. clearly wagner is not dismantled, it's still a functioning organiation, clearly there are officers in the group that are still with prigozhin and wagner is still useful force internationally when it comes to russia's geopolitical interests. it's not as simple as dismantling wagner. there's a lot of money and effort invested. a lot of discussions in the russian government today that groups like wagner should even be allowed. but prigozhin has allies in the

kremlin's of the fight over his fate will continue. geoff: how much does putin need the wagner group to fight his war? samuel: it depends. clearly wagner was a good attacking force around back moat -- bahkmut. but right now russia is fighting a defensive war and it doesn't need wagner forces to storm positions like they did in bahkm ut. this is up to the ministry of defense, the kremlin and prigozhin's allies and foes, as they are discussing how the country is going to move forward after this 72 hours. geoff: is ukraine well-positioned to take advantage of this moment? might this be a decisive turn in their counteroffensive? samuel: anything is possible but a lot of russians were concerned ukraine would take advantage of what is happening in russia this weekend. however, no significant

ukrainian breakthrough has materialized in the last 72 hours against russian positions even though ukrainians have advanced somewhat against russian positions. there was no massive breakthrough that people were hoping for. it's not clear what will happen to the advance going forward but right now, russians seem to be holding firm even if they are losing some territory to the attacking ukrainian formations. geoff: from your vantage point, what might this revolt mean for morale among russian troops, many of whom are conscripts and were conscripted reluctantly? samuel: the morale cannot be good, especially when the president officially pardons the wagner soldiers who shot down russian aircraft and copilots. probably there's a lot of bad feelings and anger and resentment at wagner across the military, especially the mod.

there was bad blood before this uprising, but the bad feelings will probably persist. it's not exactly clear how much the military will welcome wagner even as the president welcomes wagner soldiers into its ranks. prigozhin in his audio message this morning indicated that few of his soldiers would join the military. a lot of questions and not a lot of answers. geoff: lastly, what does the undermining of vladimir putin's authority mean for him as the leader of russia's military? samuel: certainly the events of the past weekend undermine his standing, bad optics for him in general. he seemed weak and their issues with the government sponsored that have to be -- response that have to be considered. but we should not write him off

yet. he can survive crises and you will probably try to survive this one as well. all ruth lead to putin at this point and he's still the chief decision-maker and the one who is the arbiter of a lot of disputes and decisions in the government. we will have to see. geoff: samuel, thank you for being with us. samuel: thank you. ♪ amna: in the day's other headlines -- the plea was guilty, the sentence was life in prison for the murders of five people at a colorado springs nightclub last fall. the defendant entered guilty pleas at a livestreamed hearing, and survivors and victims' relatives had their say. in a colorado courtroom today, stephanie clark confronted the person who shot and killed her 35-year-old sister, ashley paul,

and recalled telling her niece that her mom was gone. >> the lives you have shattered and the sadness, anger and grief my family and i have to endure is overwhelming. our lives are forever changed and this is a whole other level of pain by the way she was taken from us. we never got to say our last goodbyes or i love you before she was gone. amna: paul was one of five people killed in the november 2022 mass shooting at club q, an lgbtq nightclub in colorado springs. the victims, daniel astin and daniel rump, club employees, and kelly, raymond and ashley, patrons the shooter, who identifies as non-bayern airy -- non-binary, used in ar-15 style rifle in the attack. they have received one life sentence for each person killed, adding up to hundreds of years in prison.

cassandra was celebrating a friend's birthday on the night of the attack with her boyfriend of six years, raymond. >> we as victims have to deal with the physical, mental and psychological consequences for the rest of our lives. the immense amount of hate he chose to release on innocent people just trying to have a good night, i ask you to give the maximum possible sentence. amna: for months, families said the shooter could acknowledge targeting the lgbtq community, but today's plea carried no detail about motive even as they pleaded no contest to bias crimes. shooter could still be charged with federal hate crimes as the impact from last year's mass shooting continues to ripple through the community. colorado no longer has a death penalty, but a conviction on federal charges could still mean a death sentence for the shooter. in florida, lawyers made closing

arguments in a trial linked to the 2018 parkland school shootings that killed 14 students and 3 staffers. a former sheriff's deputy, scot peterson, is charged with child neglect for not confronting the gunman. today, prosecutors condemned peterson's inaction. the defense argued he had followed protocol. ms. gomes: the defendant was taught, as all police officers in broward county, and likely in this entire country since columbine, that you move towards the sound of gunshots, and there is no other job that you should be doing in that moment -- get in, cause a distraction, and save lives. mr. eiglarsh: every officer that responded to that scene, whether it be the 36 year veterans, or those with less experience, all did exactly what they are trained, they take tactical positions of cover, because only in cheesy movies does the cop just walk around without a bulletproof vest, and somehow walks like he's 10 feet tall and bulletproof.

amna: this is the first trial for any law enforcement officer in the u.s. related to a school shooting. a new round of severe storms has claimed 3 more lives in parts of the midwest. video on sunday captured a tornado outside indianapolis as it ripped through at least 75 homes. a twister in southern indiana killed one man. meanwhile, high winds blew a tree onto a home in central arkansas. two people died there. in the middle east, israel's far-right government approved plans today for another 5,000 homes in jewish settlements across the occupied west bank. the move defies u.s. appeals to halt expansion. it also follows a recent wave of violence between israeli settlers and palestinians. it's not clear when construction will begin. the annual hajj, the pilgrimage to mecca, officially began today in saudi arabia, back at full capacity after years of pandemic restrictions. some two million muslims finished the ritual circuit around the kaaba in mecca, then

headed to camp in a vast tent city in the desert. many said they overcame obstacles to their journey, including inflation. palestinian pilgrim: for the sake of the holy mosque and seeing the kaaba, saluting the prophet and standing on the pure arafat mountain, everything is worth it. but the economic conditions are really tough, and the prices are embarrassing. amna: the hajj is one of the largest religious gatherings in the world. all muslims are required to make the pilgrimage at least once, if they are able to do so. back in this country -- the supreme court cleared the way for resuming a legal challenge to louisiana's congressional map. the republican-drawn map has just one majority-black district, and challengers say that violates the civil rights of black residents, who make up one-third of the state's population. this month, the high court struck down alabama's congressional map on similar grounds. on wall street, the week got off to a slow start as tech stocks led the way lower. the dow jones industrial average

lost 12 points to close at 33,714. the nasdaq fell 156 points -- 1 percent. the s&p 500 slipped 19. and, a passing of note. john goodenough, who helped create the widely used lithium-ion battery, has died in austin, texas. goodenough's work, along with others, revolutionized battery technology in the 1990's. nearly 30 years later, he shared the nobel prize for chemistry for his accomplishments. john goodenough was 100 years old. still to come on "the newshour"... president biden lays out his plan to expand access to broadband internet. many major retailers pull back their lgbtq merchandise after conservative backlash. and two film critics take a look at the most anticipated summer movies. >> this is "the pbs newshour" from weta studios in washington, and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at

arizona state university. geoff: texas is entering its third week of a record-breaking heat wave. the heat index could top 120 degrees. and the sweltering weather is not limited to texas. at least 45 million americans across the southern u.s. were under heat advisories over the weekend and into today. for a closer look, we're joined by jeff berardelli, chief meteorologist and climate specialist for wfla-tv in tampa, florida. thanks for being with us. this brutal heat wave is entering week three. what is driving it? jeff: well, we have a very weird jet stream across the northern hemisphere and especially right across north america. things have been stuck for weeks. this heat don't has been stuck across especially mexico, and also texas has been on its northern end. and because of that we're seeing what is an extreme heatwave, one

of the worst heat waves ever in mexico and a very bad one also in the southern part of texas especially that's going to be spreading to the north. geoff: there is heat and we've also seen tornadoes and other sorts of extreme weather across the south. is all of that connected? jeff: yeah, when we have these heat domes, we call them rings of fire because on the north side of these rings of fire, we have the energy the contrast between really hot and just warm, and at the same time stronger winds to the upper atmosphere that tend to generate these big thunderstorms. and then they follow that ring of fire and they can produce tornadoes and also very, very strong squall lines that have extremely strong gusty wind as well. geoff: help us understand the ways in which this heatwave is connected to climate change. jeff: well, every heatwave basically is connected nowadays to climate change. remember that the climate has warmed around two degrees fahrenheit since around 1900. now that is when you consider both the land temperatures and the surface of the water. but land itself has increased by

about double the average of your -- of the earth's increase. in texas specifically, we've seen an increase of around three to five degrees during the summertime. so the baseline of these heat waves starts a lot higher, it's a lot easier to achieve heat waves nowadays. also heat domes aggregate heat really, really well. so we tend to emphasize the extremes even more than the averages. so the averages go up by a couple to a few degrees. the extremes go up by several degrees. in addition to the intensity of these heat waves, we're also seeing them last longer and occur more frequently. the connection between climate change and heat waves is a direct a to b connection. there's a lot of evidence for it. in fact, climate central is doing rapid attribution on these type of events. and says that this particular event in texas is at least five times more likely because of climate change.

and what's happened in mexico may be very well the worst heatwave we've seen in modern history because it's been going on for so long, not just intensity. geoff: this persistent heat becomes dangerous and even deadly into the july 4 holiday week. how should people prepare? jeff: they have to take us -- d sp ten should drink water. it has been confined meanly to texas and mexico but it will expand to the mississippi valley and even florida and we will see temperatures affect a lot of people. 100 degree temperatures will probably impact about 25 million people in the coming week and 90 degree temperatures or greater will impact about 100 million people. you at the humidity from the gulf of mexico, because a lot of the heat be along the gulf coast, and you're talking about the heat index, feels like 115

toe very dangerous. geoff: when can people expect relief? jeff: it will be a little while. the worst of the heatwave is not done yet. we're expecting the worst of it to be the middle to the end of this week. it is going to let up a little bit as we had into the weekend, but even over the weekend, we're still going to see some record highs and worst is going to be probably wednesday, thursday into friday. so it's gonna take a while for this to go away. but the bottom line is in a warm ed climate because of climate change we're going to see more , of these heat waves in the future. they're going to be more intense and they're going to last for a longer period of time. geoff: jeff, thank you for being with us. jeff: you're welcome. ♪ amna: president biden is kicking off efforts to expand high-speed internet access to the 8 and a half million homes and businesses without it. expanding affordable broadband

access was a key component of his 2021 infrastructure bill. at the white house today, the president pledged a $42 billion investment to get americans up to speed by 2030. pres. biden: it's the biggest investment in high speed internet ever. because for today's economy to work for everyone, internet access is just as important as electricity was or water or other basic services. high speed internet isn't a luxury anymore, it's become an absolute necessity. amna: laura baron lopez has more on what this all means. good to see you. this is ambitious to say the least, the president equated it to electrifying the entire country in the 1930's. who will this expanded broadband reach? laura: today marks the official allocation of this money that comes from the bipartisan infrastructure law and the funds will go all across the country. they are going to go to every state, district of columbia, all the territories, but 19 states

in particular will receive more than $1 billion to increase broadband. within those 19 states, i want to highlight a few -- missouri gets more than $1.7 billion, california or than $1.8 billion, and texas the most at about 3.3 billion dollars, based on local needs. amna: the president says the goal is that every house has access by 2030. will they reach that goal? laura: give or take, potentially. the white house provided reporters with a rough timeline. a lot of things can get in the way of a timeline for starting now in june of 2023, this month allocations are announced, states begin drafting plans for projects. december of 2023, the first state plans are due, and when he percent of the funds will start being distributed. around spring of 2024, work will begin on some of the projects if they've received approval. spring of 2025, final plans are

due for states that haven't had plans approved yet and the remaining funds will be sent out. as you can see, some of these projects will not get going and certainly not finished before the 2024 election. amna: you talk about the millions of americans that still don't have this kind rock band access. -- broadband access. who are we talking about and how do they make sure these people get the service? laura: i spoke to someone at the brookings institution and she told me the federal estimate of about 7% of americans not receiving broadband access is probably in undercount. >> the pandemic demonstrated it is a lot of people, and not so much people we suspected, the poor, people in tribal communities, people who are older, foreign-born and in rural america. it extended to people we didn't realize. people on the xo orb inside, in suburban america who could not

get online with kids to learn, or teachers who could not teach because they did not have broadband or could not afford it. laura: she added that when it comes to making sure this reaches those people who don't have access at all, the ones most in need of broadband, that it will come down to the administration and accountability, and then scrutinizing and interrogating state plans. amna: we know this was a critical part of the 2021 infrastructure plan, president biden's vision. what about his reelection campaign, where does it fit? laura: it's definitely important. even though the white house and those on the president's campaign believe the gop attacks on lgbtq rights and abortion will be big democratic motivators, they know there is an enthusiasm gap for the president and the way to address that, particularly on his handling of the economy, is to be out there talking about this, showing things are getting done. making more progress toward

actual shovels in the ground on these projects and blanketing the country with cabinet officials as well as himself will be key. amna: all right, laura, thank you. ♪ geoff: june is pride month, a time when many companies show their support for and celebration of the lgbtq+ community by launching pride month campaigns, displaying pride merchandise and including lgbtq+ people in ads and marketing. but this year, after weeks of political attacks, right-wing backlash has forced some companies to rethink pride. william brangham has more. william: some protestors have started calling out dozens of companies over their pride campaigns. in just the last few months, companies like bud-light, target, petsmart, nike, the north face and adidas have all faced right-wing protests over lgbtq+ products and ads and partnerships.

activists have taken their criticism to social media and spread false information over pride products targeting kids, like these at target. >> we are like 10 steps in before there is an entire pride display for your children to see. >> we have 'glad you came out' and 'i am so happy that you're queer'in the kids section. >> do you support this? you support pride propaganda? wow, let go. william: boycotts, employee harassment and threats of violence have prompted companies including target to pull back some pride initiatives. for more on this backlash, we're joined by bob witeck, president of witeck communications, which is a firm specializing in lgbtq+ marketing.

thank you so much for being here. you've been in the business of consulting companies for 30 years. would you say that there is a demonstrable uptick in these types of protests happening towards companies right now? bob: i would say two things. one, we are in a moment. but the backlash that we're witnessing is hardly spontaneous or authentic or organic. it's primarily instigated backlash. a feigned indignation for example, against one beer was a calculated tactic, and it was used by anti-woke provocateurs frankly, who had political agendas. i think budweiser tripped a wire that offered some an invitation to exploit. william: and is it your sense that this is -- again, i know you're arguing that this is a ginned up and nonorganic movement. but you were telling us before that this has been going on in some fashion for many, many years

bob: about 30 years ago, i began doing work with american airlines, and 30 years ago, they faced an onslaught of right wing backlash that at the time, i believe was intended to change the direction of the culture. what they witnessed was the corporation got behind the gay community. others would follow. they wanted to shame and frightened american airlines out of the market. they failed. william: i know you're not a social scientist, but if you believe that this is not an organic movement, what do you attribute all of these attacks to? bob: well, i think the political moment tells us that the united states is driven by division and the so-called anti-woke activists are trying to find every wedge possible and they're wielding them in the hands of candidates to use it to attack drag shows, to attack books in schools. to attack trans kids.

and they're taking on a variety of exploitable topics that do divide the american households. william: you mentioned this protest against budweiser. and that was because budweiser had done this partnership with a trans woman. and that protest that came up seemed to dent budweiser sales. did you hear from other companies who said looking at that experience we don't want to , have that same thing happened to us? bob: it did give other companies pause. but they need to examine the case that bud light took. the brand sales were already slipping and they made a miscalculation i think to try to expand consumer loyalty and their timing and worse, it was the response that seemed most amateurish. no brand or corporation would want to be in bud light shoes when they offended almost everyone. that was the problem. corporate reputation. it's not so much about sales,

which are always going to be somewhat volatile. it's about standing and reputation. william: in that particular case, that was a protest against bud light's connection to a trans individual and and trans people do seem to be the target of a particular level of ire. have you seen that? bob: unfortunately, yes, but it speaks to is the dehumanizing of whole group of people. the lgbtq community is not alien to this. we've felt it over many, many years. but trans people particularly are being put into a position to be so dehumanized that it's frightening and many families and trans people justifiably are afraid. william: so when you are counseling companies and they come to you, and they say we would like to appeal to this part of america but we don't want to suffer one of these boycotts, how do you counsel them how to navigate that? bob: there are three things they

ought to think about in the beginning. first, what is it you stand for? what are your values? what are your principles? and if you know what those are and you stick to them, you can weather almost any setback or any challenge. but also you have to invest your campaigns in those values. when you show images and expressions of lgbtq people, do it honestly, authentically, and do it for a purpose. and finally, when you are challenged, stand up. because i think at the end of the day, you will discover that the marketplace will imbue you with more trust and more integrity for the future. the storms come and go, but you're standing is going to be what you're going to be tested by. william: i understand that there's also been some criticism of corporate america from within the lgbtq+ community, parts of

it. that they have been cowardly or not standing up enough for not doing enough. how serious is that criticism? bob: i think that is a sense of unity. what the community leaders want to do is embolden and stiffen the spines of corporate america who are traditional allies and partners in the gay community. they have been with us and on our side i think for decades. what they want to do is make sure they understand that fairweather friends are no friends. william: all right, bob witteck , thank you for being here. bob: thank you. ♪ amna: the school year is coming to a close and with it, the first year of advanced placement african american studies, an interdisciplinary class by the college board that has attracted

praise by professors and also fierce opposition from some republican politicians. laura is back with a look inside one school, where she spoke with educators, students and experts. laura: at bishop o'dowd high school in oakland, california, students file into tony green's classroom -- papered with imagery of civil rights, and the black power movement. this is advanced placement african american studies -- a new pilot course. tony: the reason for this migration -- so the furthest back to your right. that's a map of all the lynchings that had taken place in the south. laura: it's a curriculum that drew national media attention win, 3000 miles away in florida, republican governor ron desantis called it indoctrination and banned it from florida schools. gov. desantis: that is somebody pushing an agenda on our kids.

laura: but in oakland juniors , and seniors enrolled in the class don't see it that way. >> i feel like it's very important as a person to know where your people came from and what they went through. and that isn't something that i found has been centered very much in other history courses i've taken. the content of basic african-american history content they cover martin luther king, , they cover malcolm x, they cover the transatlantic slave trade. and then they ended right there and they basically say, okay, if you cover these three pillars, we're basically done. laura: instead, this four-part curriculum spans centuries, from ancient african kingdoms to the transatlantic slave trade reconstruction and the harlem , renaissance and modern civil rights movements. tony: i believe the probably the primary thing that the students have taken away from the course is the level of leadership, intelligence and competence that people of african descent, you know, actually experienced during the history that we study. laura: do you think that this

course is political? tony: i don't think the course is political at all any more or any less than american history is political. laura:for green, it's the capstone of more than 30 years teaching african american studies at this private catholic school. tony: so this book here, the miseducation of the negro, is the book that everybody starts with because he talks at the turn of the century about how the study of african people in their descent is never covered. so we're totally miseducated about who we are. laura: texts like these are under threat in a national republican campaign attacking books and teachings about race and lgbtq identity. gov. desantis: education, not indoctrination. laura: it took root in forte, where desantis, noah presidential contender signed , legislation to dictate how black history is taught in the state.

>> if you want to do things like gender ideology, go to berkeley. who would say an important part of black history is queer theory? laura: backing the effort is moms for liberty, a national organization challenging hundreds of books across the country. jennifer pippin is a founding chair of the group in florida's indian river county. she supported changing the curriculum. >> when they pulled that ap american history course, they saw that there was a lot of critical race theory and also queer studies in there that had nothing to do with the african-american teachings that were offered in the course. laura: she claimed the course lacked objectivity. >> look at both sides and let's have critical thinking with this. so what they were discussing was with the black lives matter movement where is the , opposition? is there a white lives matter movement? laura: since florida's

announcement, four other republican-led states launched similar investigations into the class, which green said does not teach critical race theory or queer theory. it does teach about queer activists, like james baldwin, who willie rogers calls a personal hero. >> that kind of idea -- laura: rogers chose baldwin as a subject for his final research project. as a singer, songwriter and music producer, he grew up admiring baldwin's creative struggle. his mom, adrienne, said she's seen a change in her son, including an interest in attending a historically black college in the fall. >> i've just seen a lot of growth. he was actually learning and he was enjoying learning. laura: they said attacks on the ap class are misguided. >> they're thinking that if you learn about black history that it might be teaching some people to be anti other races and is not. >> timmy it just shows a lack of understanding for our culture and for, you know, the importance of having different perspectives in our history the same way, you know, you have different perspectives in american history. laura: growing up in oakland is

to be surrounded by that history, and students got the chance to see it up close. they tasted gumbo, a dish born in west africa, passed down by enslaved people and brought west. they took a field trip to study housing discrimination and redlining in the city, visiting the birthplace of the black panther party and historic black , owned businesses like this diner. it's been eye-opening for junior bella, who is worried about the censorship movement championed by desantis. >> i've learned so much and it feels like it's been covered up. and i think a lot of it has on purpose. and i think that he wants to continue that and keep people ignorant. and i think this class is not helping him push his agenda, and that's why he's trying to silence this class. laura: you think he's trying to cover up this particular history black history? ,>> yes i do. laura: the original curriculum

given to green and the other pilot teachers at the start of the school year has since been revised, but florida has not reversed its decision. green stands behind the original framework. tony: it's revolutionary, engaging and, you know, vitally important, you know, especially in this day and age. social divisions have been a part of the entire colonial experience. social divisions have been a part of slavery, reconstruction, jim crow, the black code, civil rights movement. why would we think anything would be any different rht now unless we work on erasing those social divisions? the only way to do that is through education. laura: what does it feel like as a black man to be able to teach this course? tony: a lot of pride. that we've come this far.

we struggle. we still got a lot longer to go, but a lot of pride. laura: more students will have the chance to enroll in ap african american studies this fall, as it expands from 60 schools this year to more than 800. for the pbs newshour, i'm laura barron-lopez in oakland, california. ♪ geoff: it's another summer of movies, with big blockbusters returning to theater, and some comedy and horror indie films too. but will that combination be enough to finally draw people back to theaters? jeffrey brown zooms in with two film critics for our arts and culture series, canvas. jeffery: as always, there are way too many movies out or out soon for us to cover, but we'll offer a few suggestions. with the help of anne hornaday, chief film critic of the

washington post and aisha , harris, host of npr's pop culture happy hour and author of the new book, wannabe: reckonings with the pop culture that shapes me. nice to see both of you. aisha, congratulations on your book. let me start with you. a couple of the big blockbusters, this is the season, right? so what's coming that you're looking forward to? aisha: i think the blockbuster that i'm most excited about is barbie, which is directed by greta gerwig and it is ip. , it's a franchise. i know a lot of us critics, including myself, are a little over the franchise-ification of everything, but i am excited about this because greta gerwig is one of the most interesting directors we have working right now, and the cast is amazing. you have margot robbie, ryan gosling, issa rae, many, many other stars. gerwig and her co-writer noah baumbach seem like they are taking barbie in a different direction and a little bit more of a subversive direction.

i am excited for barbie especially. i'm also very curious about the new mission impossible. of course, tom cruise is a reliable box office star, and i'm really excited for that because it's one of those franchises that i think keeps getting better every every new installment. and tom cruise is just he's still really fun to watch. jeffery: you are nodding your head with tom cruise. ann: avidly. i am completely with aisha. mission impossible. this franchise has proven to be so durable. and as she pointed out, it does get better and better. and i think we can attribute a lot of that to tom cruise. jeffery: you have some more big blockbusters for the summer? ann: same day as barbie, we're going to get oppenheimer, which is the biopic from christopher nolan about robert oppenheimer, the father of the nuclear bomb. this is based on a masterful biography by kai bird and martin sure when, -- martin sherwin,

american prometheus, which was just this really comprehensive look at oppenheimer's life and all the contradictions of his character. and of course, obviously having to do with his later remorse over development and developing the bomb. just a fascinating man of contradictions and paradoxes. i'm optimistic that nolan will really embrace those. cillian murphy will play oppenheimer, which i think is it looks like a stellar piece of casting. so i'm really optimistic for this one. jeffery: how about a smaller film? you want to start us on our next round, independent, something that gets less attention? ann: this has been such a great year for first time filmmakers, and one of them is this woman named celine song, and she has a new movie coming out called past lives about a young woman whose , family emigrates from south korea when she's 12 and she has to leave her best friend and kind of schoolgirl crush behind. she ends up moving to new york to become a writer and she and her old flame reconnect online.

it is just this acutely observed, delicate, sensitive, just, i think, a beautifully wrought drama. it's a love story we don't really see very often on screen. and celine song has just brought it to life with such subtlety and style and flair. i'm a huge fan. jeffery: aisha, do you have a couple of the smaller or more independent films, something you're really looking forward to? aisha: the first one i would say is the angry black girl and her monster, by newcomer bomani jones. the premise really intrigues me because it is about this young girl who loses her brother to gun violence and she's sort of this science nerd whiz kid, and she decides to mourn her brother and express her grief by creating this sort ofnstein-ishe has talked about sort of being inspired by the

frankenstein mary shelley's , story. and so i'm really curious to see how they are taking this story that's been told many, many times and creating this very new piece of work well will play out. so i'm really looking forward to that. i'm also excited about something i did see at sundance, theater camp, which is sort of a christopher guest style comedy about a summer theater camp. >> this will fully destroy you. >> congratulations on being the most talented kids at camp. aisha: they have to sort of figure out what they're going to do. the camp is in danger of shutting down because their director and leader is ill. it is really funny. you've got ben platt, mike -- molly gordon, and if you're a theater nerd like i am, i think you'll appreciate how funny and spot on this like parody of that world is. jeffery: ann, you mentioned tom cruise and you went on about tom cruise. are there are there other any other actors, directors -- we talked about christopher nolan. are there other people with films out this summer that

you're really looking forward to? ann: there is a big and a small. speaking of franchises, i'm also a fan of the equalizer, which is the denzel washington franchise. and this is a movie that's going to be coming later this summer, which i think is nice, because by that time, you know, i think we're often looking for something to see. and, you know, the big, big blockbusters have already played, but this will arrive a little bit later. and again, i just think it's become a really reliable series. he's always amazing to watch. he's one of our last great movie stars. i'm always interested to see what he will do. and then there's a smaller movie coming out called problemista from julio torres. and some people might not be familiar with his name, but he was the creator of a cult hbo show called los espookys, which was this kind of surreal, really almost sui generis television show. and this is his feature debut. he's playing a toy designer from el salvador who comes to new york, and he's trying to get something going before his work

visa expires. and tilda swinton plays his mercurial and idiosyncratic boss. and just the idea of tilda swinton plus julio torres is delicious to me. jeffery: i want to ask you both in the time we have left, i mean, we are in the middle of a writer's strike. it's not impacting the films we're talking about, clearly. but how as people who love the movies, how worried are you both at this point? aisha: i think aside from being just genuinely concerned about these writers being able to make a living for what they do, i think i'm also just a little concerned about what projects by minority filmmakers and those who often have a harder time getting stories pushed through, how those projects will be affected in the long run while they're kind of in limbo. are we going to see a slip back from the representation, the growth and representation we've been seeing because they're kind of locked in this battle right now. so that's my huge concern at

this moment. jeffery: one other question, do we see people coming back to theaters after the pandemic? ann: yes and no. the box office is rising. we are not at pre-pandemic levels yet. the strike plays into this. i think we have big hits like a top gun maverick or avatar but there is a lull in what we have yet to get to is the study ecosystem where people feel all sorts of reasons to go to the movies and not just for superheroes or for cartoons or for horror, but for a whole wide range of movies. we haven't hit that steady state and a glitch in the pipeline, that a protected strike means, can actually affect that cadence down the line. jeffery: all right. thank you both very much. geoff: i have to say i'm looking forward to the final indiana

jones out this friday. amna: so many great movies. i saw theater camp and i loved it anyway. geoff: you can find the full list of movie recommendations on our website. amna: that's the newshour for tonight. geoff: thanks for spitting part of your evening with us. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪ >> architect. beekeeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live 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 kendedafund.org. ♪ supported by the john d. and

catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. more information at macfound.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 news station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.]

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