amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff bennett is away. on the “newshour” tonight, the world records the hottest average temperature ever, while raging canadian wildfires highlight the devastating effects of climate change. facebook's parent company meta launches a competitor to twitter as the two companies' leaders intensify their rivalry. and a group of ukrainian mothers go to extreme lengths to rescue their kidnapped children from territory occupied by russian forces. >> i haven't seen my daughter for more than five months, since the children were sent to the camp. my only dream is to spend time with her, cherish her, love her, protect her. ♪

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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. amna: welcome to the "newshour." it has been a week of record-breaking heat around the world. the average global temperature on wednesday hit 62.9 degrees fahrenheit. according to researchers at the university of maine, that matched the unofficial record-high just set on tuesday. the grim milestones are the latest in a series of climate-change-driven extremes. out of control wildfires in canada have burned millions of

acres, displaced tens of thousands of people, and blanketed wide swaths of the u.s. in thick smoke. for more on all these events and what we should take from them, we're joined by mike flannigan, an expert on climate change and wildfires at thompson rivers university in british columbia. professor, thanks for joining us. this week we saw the hottest global temperatures ever reported since tracking began in 1979. what does that tell us, and how concerning is that to you? prof. flannigan: it is very concerning. we are in uncharted territory and we jumped up .3 degrees fahrenheit. that might not sound like much but compared to our record that is sticking out like a sore thumb. so we are in uncharted territory. we can expect more record-breaking heat as el niño builds. amna: scientific models have been predicting a warming climate for some time but did we expect to see these kind of temperatures this soon?

prof. flannigan: our models on temperatures have been pretty good. we have fallen short is on impact. we are seeing much more impacts from our warming climate than what we expected. and the impacts are only going to get worse and worse. amna: tell me more about what you mean by impacts. prof. flannigan: i have been studying forest fires since the 1970's and i have never seen a year like what we are seeing in canada this year. this is exceptional, extreme, and were into new territory. we have burned almost 9 million heck jurors -- hectares. that is bigger than the state of south carolina. these fires will continue to burn through the summer and they will generate smoke that could impact tens of millions of people. if you live in downtown new york city the likelihood of your place burning down is essentially zero.

but you could be smoked out for weeks from a fire that is 1000 miles away. amna: of course we have seen the impact of the fires down here in the u.s.. when you look at a chart you can see just how much more total area has been burned this year in those canadian wildfires. that is the redline on top. help us understand how climate change is part of the conversation and driving these record fires you are seeing. prof. flannigan: as the climate warms, we are seeing more more fire. people ask me all the time why temperature is so important. it is because we are getting longer fire seasons, more lightning-caused fires, and they are responsible for most of the burned area in canada. also as we warm, it dries out the fields and dryer fields means it is easier for a fire to start and spread. and it means the fires have more fuel to burn which means it leads to higher intensity fire which can be difficult to impossible to extinguish. amna: we have seen the latest

maps showing the are still hundreds of fires burning out of control across canada. those are indicated by the red dots. what is key to making sure these fires do not end up devastating communities, and how would you say canada is doing on that front? prof. flannigan: there is a lot of year-to-year variability in the fire because of weather. we saw a lot of extreme weather from sea to sea. -- early on in the season. we've already broken the previous record for area burned and we still have much of the fire season ahead of us. amna: i have to ask you the question we often hear when reporting on issues around climate change which is this idea that the earth has gone through heating and cooling periods over its entire existence. how do you know this is not part of some larger cyclical pattern? prof. flannigan: if you were following the natural cyclical pattern, we would be in a cooling stage. but we are going in the opposite

direction and warming. we have greenhouse gases that we know like carbon dioxide since the 1950's going up and up to levels we have not seen for 3 million to 4 million years. these are the primary reason why we are warming, because of human activities. amna: when we look at the record wildfires in canada, those indicative of what other areas that regularly see wildfires like california for example, what they should expect ahead? prof. flannigan: in the future as our world warms we are going to see more and more fire. this applies to canada and the united states and australia. there are three ingredients for wildfire. it is a simple recipe. you need vegetation, we call it fuel. second, ignition, people, lightning. third, hot, dry, windy weather. as we are moving into the future we expect more hot, dry, windy weather. canada, the western u.s., has

already seen an increase of four times in terms of area burned since the 1970's. in canada it is a doubling. so the impact has already been greater in the western united states and canada but we are following the same pattern. amna: professor mike flannigan joining us tonight. thank you for your time. prof. flannigan: my pleasure. ♪ amna: in the day's other headlines, russia staged its heaviest strike yet on civilian areas of lviv, in western ukraine, killing at least five people. cruise missiles hit an apartment building in lviv, just 43 miles from the polish border, and far from the eastern front. drone footage showed the roof blown off the apartment bloc and the top floors destroyed. residents watched from the ground as rescuers worked to clear the rubble. there's word that russian

mercenary leader yevgeny prigozhin is in russia after all. he staged a short-lived rebellion last month, before the president of neighboring belarus, alexander lukashenko, negotiated a deal to take him in. but today, lukashenko made comments that raised new questions about that deal. >> as for yevgeny prigozhin, he is in st. petersburg. where is he this morning? he might travel to moscow or he might be elsewhere, but he's not on belarus' territory. amna: it's unclear if prigozhin would be violating the terms of his agreement if he is in russia. the kremlin today had no comment on his whereabouts. a toxic gas leak in south africa killed 17 people, including three children, last night at a settlement outside johannesburg. today, police removed large canisters filled with nitrate gas from the site. they blamed an illegal gold processing operation for a tragedy that shocked local

residents. >> we knew that illegal miners used generators in their trade. we had no idea that they also used gas, so we never expected something like this to happen. this has affected everybody in a big way because innocent people lost their lives. amna: makeshift gold mining and processing is a dangerous yet common operation in the deeply impoverished settlements around johannesburg. back in this country, former president trump's valet pleaded not guilty today to helping hide classified documents. walt nauta left the federal courthouse in miami after an arraignment that lasted a few minutes. he did not speak to reporters. prosecutors say nauta moved boxes of documents before a search of mr. trump's mar-a-lago home, then lied about it. the food and drug administration has fully approved the first drug to slow cognitive decline in the early stages of alzheimer's disease. today's endorsement of leqembi opens the way for medicare and other insurance to pay for the japanese-made drug. a large-scale study showed it

can slow memory and thinking decline by five months in alzheimer's patients. and on wall street, stronger-than-expected jobs data prompted concerns that it will take even more interest rate hikes to slow the economy. the dow jones industrial average lost 366 points, or 1%, to close at 33,922. the nasdaq fell 112 points. the s&p 500 was down 35. still to come on the "newshour," residents in the west bank struggle to recover from an israeli military operation. a republican senator blocks confirmation of military posts over abortion policy. the fda clears a drug that could help pregnant women gauge their risk of a dangerous condition. conservationists work to bolster the dwindling population of northern right whales. >> 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. amna: mark zuckerberg's company, meta, has launched its new app that's expected to compete with twitter, which has faced backlash under the ownership of elon musk. the text-based app, known as threads, looks nearly identical to twitter, and has seen more than 30 million users sign up since yesterday's launch. mike isaac is a technology reporter for the new york times and he has been covering it all. welcome and thank you for joining us. 30 million signups as of noon today. was that to be expected, or did that number surprise you? mike: it certainly surprised me. it really even surprised mark zuckerberg, who woke up this morning and around 8:00 a.m. posted 30 million. last night he was posting every couple of hours basically the numbers of users ticked up. i think even inside of instagram, facebook and meta, they are really surprised how

quickly people have been embracing the app. amna: you've been testing it out, as have i. what do you think? how is threads going to compete with twitter? mike: these sort of simplicity of it in that it is basically the exact same thing as twitter, i think really helps the product. just because folks have been really upset by a lot of the changes elon musk has made to twitter since he bought it last year. and they basically wanted another twitter but not owned by elon musk. this also lets you import the graph of people that you follow on instagram over to the new app, which basically makes it easy to get up and going right away instead of having to follow a bunch of people right off the bat. amna: and the functionality is basically the same. it is text-based, you have a schooling feet, you can post pictures and video. but what about the timing? why is mark zuckerberg going

into twitter's territory now? mike: frankly, i think it is because mark senses weakness, and there is weakness. last weekend was a long holiday weekend, elon musk took twitter off-line for a lot of people and basically the app stopped working. we were talking to the head of instagram yesterday, and they started developing the app inside of meta last winter when they saw twitter was really into -- in tumult. facebook and mark zuckerberg are intensely competitive. amna: in terms of a response from elon musk there is reporting that twitter i threatening to sue meta over threads, sending zuckerberg a cease and desist letter.

musk has been tweeting about this. this afternoon he tweeted competition is fine, cheating is not. what does tell you about how elon musk views this competitor? mike: he is not happy, for sure. he has basically been pushing back trying to get folks who are quote unquote scraping twitter's data or using it to build other apps and services. i would take the threat of legal action pretty real from him. he likes going to court and using his advantage in having billions of dollars to tangle things up in litigation. that said, he has a pretty formidable opponent in meta and facebook, which also has very deep pockets and is willing to go to battle over this. as they said before, they believe the suit is baseless. amna: you cannot separate these apps from the men in charge. you have two giants in mark zuckerberg and elon musk who've even engaged in their own personal feud online, even threatening to physically fight one another. how does all of this competition

factor into these business decisions? mike: you are exactly right. just as much egos involved as there is business strategy. but i think we are in a really interesting time in social media. there was an assumption for a long time that facebook owned it all, but it feels more up for grabs in a lot of ways that probably was not true a few years ago. you have seen twitter on the r opes, meta creating new apps, different startups like blue sky, mastodon, there's a bunch of different companies that feel like there is an opportunity here. at the helm of almost all of these you have billionaires of the world controlling them, or would-be entrance from little startups that feel like they can break in, be real, which is another one. everything feels up in the air in a way that is pretty exciting and has not been this way for a while. amna: well we will see what

happens next. mike, thank you. good to see you. mike: thanks for having me. ♪ amna: for the first time in over a century, the u.s. marine corps will not have a permanent leader. current marine corps commandant david berger is in his last week on the job. he's required to retire monday. but due to a hold on hundreds of military promotions by alabama senator tommy tuberville, there is no confirmed replacement. if this continues, other branches will soon have the same problem. to help unpack this standoff, i'm joined by congressional correspondent lisa desjardins. remind us, what is the senator doing here and why? lisa: the senator is flexing the unique power of an individual senator to affect the time on the floor and he is blocking 250 military promotions. these are senior level officers,

flag officers, think generals and admirals, by and large. now, the issue is of course, why is he doing this? why is he slowing down these nominations? it's about abortion. senator tuberville objects to the now defense policy put in place after the end of roe vs. wade, in which the defense department will pay for travel for a service member to get an elective abortion if there's not one available where they are based. and tuberville says that is the issue here. >> these holds have no real impact on military readiness or operations. military wasting time and resources to coordinate abortion trips hurts readiness, not the senate using regular order to vote on nominees. lisa: he is also unhappy because defense secretary austin only called him once. he warned that he might do this. he wants more engagement. but the defense secretary said he's not going to negotiate nor should any defense secretary with a single senator over their

policy. so quickly, let's look at where we are and what's ahead in the next couple of weeks. so as you just reported, the commandant of the marine corps retires on monday, but that's not the only one coming. in august, near the beginning of august, the army chief of staff will retire first and then shortly after that, the chief of naval operations also due to retire, then followed in october, the very top military officer in our nation, the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, set to retire with no confirmed replacements. all of those positions will be filled by acting officers. amna: we heard the senator saying he does not believe there is any impact to his actions here. what about the military? lisa: could not disagree more. they think this is dangerous. no one thinks the marine corps, the military will collapse at having acting commanders here. but when you talk to those who cover it, you find that there are some ripple effects already. for example, we talked to rebecca kiel, she is a reporter who covers the military. >> it is a very big deal this will be the first time in more than a

century that the marines have had an acting commandant. so it's not unprecedented, but it is very rare. and like with that leadership vacuum and not being able to make these big strategic decisions at a time when we're facing the war in ukraine and we're trying to prepare for any conflict with china, not being able to make those long-term big planning decisions is going to affect the military. lisa: an acting commandant, for example, couldn't make decisions on the fly. they would have to stick with whatever decisions are in place now. and as you just heard, we know this is a world that's changing quickly. china, ukraine, major pressures going on. also, in addition to this, families of these officers will not be able to move. this is a time right now, the summer, when usually families are moving so their kids can start school in the fall, hundreds of families risk there for that kind of issue. and in addition to that, we also know that what's happening is some lower ranking officers are -- i talked to one today -- are

thinking maybe i don't even want to go for the promotion if this is going to be a political world. i also spoke to one former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. he said very clearly, senator to -- senator tuberville says he supports the military but he is having the opposite effect. amna: the senator is the only one in this hold, correct? how much pressure is on him to reverse course. lisa: we expected pressure to mount pretty quickly but the truth is, he doesn't really feel much pressure from republicans at all. there is one republican who has kind of openly and very clearly opposed what he's doing. it's a big one, senator mitch mcconnell. here's what he said about this in may. >> no, i don't support putting a hold on military nominations. i don't support that. but as to why, you need to ask senator tuberville. lisa: behind the scenes there is a strange lack of engagement

among republicans. they obviously are hearing from military officers. many of them feel that this has to change. but there really isn't pressure on tuberville at the moment. in fact, it's the opposite. folks around him saying his constituents like what he's doing. amna: so with all the concerns about leadership vacuums, and so on, how does this end and when? lisa: i have to say, it's not clear. there was a chance that this could become part of a defense authorization bill moving right now, but that does not look like this will be part of an off ramp in that way. those around tuberville will say hey, democrats just have to take longer to do this. run the clocks, hours and hours for each nomination. that would take months and months. they're not going to do that and it sets a terrible precedent. there are others who say call his bluff, make him stand in the senate chamber and make him object to each nomination. also a bad precedent. so i think proof of it is on now that this is going to be with us for a few months. the biden administration will try and pressure with things like maybe appropriations or military base things that he wants, but right now we don't know how this ends.

amna: you will be tracking it all i am sure. congressional correspondent lisa desjardins, thank you. ♪ amna: the united nations secretary general today denounced what he called an excessive use of force by israel in the occupied west bank. it comes after the israel defense forces conducted a two-day operation in the jenin refugee camp that it said targeted palestinian militants. elsewhere today in the west bank, an israeli soldier was shot and killed by a hamas militant near an israeli settlement. the shooter was then killed by israeli forces. as special correspondent leila molana-allen reports from jenin, the destruction after the fighting is massive, and the anger boiling. leila: in the blistering morning heat, the residents of jenin camp are all hands on deck to clear the aftermath. chunks of asphalt, shattered

glass and crumbled metal are swept aside. major infrastructure lies in pieces. burnt up cars sit scattered on the streets outside homes. everything we have is destroyed. please send us help. he had sensed something was coming. several days before the operation three of his adult sons were arrested after an israel defense force raid on his house while they had breakfast. >> they raided the village, came to my house, blindfolded my boys, and took them away. leila: he says his sons have done nothing wrong. with many young man in the camp in favor of the palestinian resistance to israel's occupation to the west bank but not necessarily fighting, it's a grey area. it is a common problem. with two sons still in custody, on monday morning, missiles

began to rain down upon family. they decided to flee as soon as they were allowed to leave. when they returned two days later, it was to a scene of devastation. >> this was a barbaric act. look what they have done. the used the excuse the are looking for someone but look at this. look at all the damage they have done. leila: his house was flattened in the 2002 operation here during the uprising by palestinians. the family had to rebuild from scratch. now they face another rebuild with their savings gone. there is a huge amount of anger and resentment here and that could still boil over. but right now the priority is to get this place livable again as quickly as possible. the main water supply is not function. the main health care system is attacked and the center is closed. people here really have nowhere else to go. benjamin netanyahu hailed the operation as a resounding success wednesday.

>> we uprooted in a very systemic way with large forces in one of the most concentrated and dense areas on the planet. leila: the scale of the operation, the most intense carried out in the west bank in nearly two decades, was a significant escalation with helicopter gunships, artillery, and missile carrying drones deployed in a dense area of less than half a square mile packed with up to 20,000 civilians. the idf's use of airstrikes and ground troops may constitute war crimes. nine of the 12 dead palestinians were claimed by militant groups as members beyond the dead and injured, the sheer scale of destruction and injury here is a casualty in itself. lives uprooted and children traumatized in a place where it is already a struggle to survive. u.n. agency that operates services for palestinians here and in 18 other camps across the country was here to survey the damage. >> the work is ongoing.

we have not served -- stopped working since a beginning of the crisis. we are going to resume operations. our first priority is to open the school. having the children there as a safe space. leila: this year you only have 100 million of the $300 million you need. and that was before this situation. by having to constantly rebuild these camps when they are damage, how does that affect your ability to provide the everyday services you have to pr yeah. we are counting on the support of the international community as always. leila: it is not just homes but families and livelihoods that have been torn apart throughout the type alleys of the camp. his son was badly injured by a rocket in the early hours of the assault monday. >> i carried him imy arms and

walked searching because no one can reach us. i was so lucky i found an ambulance to take him. leila: in the 2002 assault, his left leg was nearly destroyed by an incoming missile. monday, his son was injured in the right leg, standing in nearly the same spot a similar weapon. monday morning during the assault a rocket came in through this window and hit his son. 20 years ago a rocket came to the same window injuring him. history repeating itself. he returns from the hospital to find his small butcher shop, the family's only reliable income, in pieces. the street to street gun battles that followed destroyed shops on the main drags throughout the camp. >> is my shop a terrorist? no. israel is the main terrorist. leila: his mother originally comes from the mediterranean coast and settled in jenin camp after her entire family was killed during the war. she worked for 30 years to build

this house, through years of hard labor in a cement factory. >> we left our home and now they are chasing us here. why are they still going after us here? leila: now at 93 years old, it is time for her to rebuild her home a third time. the most injured were rushed here when the blockade allowed. the blood has been washed from the floors. operations for the most serious injuries are underway. in a bed upstairs, his 21-year-old son lies recovering from surgery that reconstructed his lower leg bones with a 15 inch titanium rod. >> the shrapnel from an missile hit my son in the leg. the force of the missile lifted him three meters off the ground

and threw him back down. now i don't know how long it will take him to heal and he will not be able to work for a while. he is in a paralyzed situation. leila: his son is too afraid to show his face or speak to us. traumatized and injured, he fears reprisals from the idf if he is identified. >> the pain i felt 20 years ago, he is feeling it now. leila: like so many others here, exhausted and afraid, must not piece together his home, family, and his livelihood. never knowing when destruction may come knocking again. leila molana-allen in jenin camp, the west bank. ♪ amna: the food and drug administration has approved a blood test that can identify pregnant women at severe risk for preeclampsia, a high blood pressure disorder that can develop during pregnancy. as stephanie sy reports, the condition is a leading cause of maternal death worldwide.

stephanie: roughly one in 25 pregnancies in the u.s. is affected by preeclampsia, according to the centers for disease control and prevention. if undetected and untreated, severe preeclampsia can cause maternal death. in recent years the condition accounted for about 6% of total maternal deaths in the u.s. dr. ravi thadhani is executive vice president for health affairs at emory university, and co-author of a study that looked at this blood test. dr. thadhani, thank you so much i write for joining the "newshour." there are already various tests to check if a pregnant woman may have preeclampsia. what's different or better about this blood test? dr. thadhani: thank you for the question. preeclampsia is a hard condition to diagnose what it is even more difficult to predict. this is the first test approved by the fda to predict this terrible condition. importantly, it adds to a

toolkit of other tests and measures that clinicians use. we use blood pressure and a variety of blood test. but this particular test as precision to the diagnosis and prediction of preeclampsia. there are two important features of this test. one is it actually yields information before a woman actually gets sick. so as a prediction, it does really well. secondly, it acts like a time clock, like a countdown, and tells you when she is going to get sick. stephanie: it is a terrible condition. in fact many of us will have heard of tori bowie, the track star who died a month ago in childbirth. she is believed to have had eclampsia, which really put a spotlight on this condition. she was obviously very fit, as is former track star alyson felix, who also had preeclampsia during her pregnancy. what does this tell us about who is at risk for this condition? dr. thadhani: preeclampsia happens in about 5% to 7% of all women who get pregnant in the u.s.

that is about 200,000 women. most preeclampsia happens at term where it is mild. it is really the preterm preeclampsia we focus on because a woman, if she delivers preterm, the risk for the baby is incredibly high. the only treatment we have for this condition is the delivery. we know and understand some risk factors for this condition. high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, in vitro fertilization, and so forth. but we truly do not know the cause of this condition. we have a better understanding of the biology as to who gets the condition. the women that you mentioned, incredibly unfortunate. we know the condition affects black women at a rate of three to five times higher than women who are not black. why we do not understand why that is the case, we have a better understanding of the disease overall. and this test of course helps us with that. stephanie: i was going to ask who this test is for, and

whether you see this test as becoming something in routine pregnancy screening, and whether all women will have access to this blood test. dr. thadhani: so, what we did in you this study is we studied women who came into the hospital with high blood pressure. so clearly they had some risk factor already and we used the test to predict, or at least the test was able to predict who went on to get severe disease. the risk factors, as i mentioned, high blood pressure, diabetes, in vitro fertilization, twin pregnancies. the test first focused on those women with those risk factors. but unfortunately there are women without risk factors. in fact that represents the majority of women who get this condition, and we still don't understand why or when they get the condition. as far as screening or routine use of this test, right now i believe it is only going to be used in women at high risk for the condition. stephanie: and i understand that this test is already in use in

europe. how widely might we see it be in use in the u.s., where we have an extremely high maternal mortality rate, among the highest among developing nations? dr. thadhani: that's right. unfortunately we have some of the highest mortality rates. in georgia, it is one of the top states. also another parts of the country, it is really unfortunate. the test is available in a few sites now, and certainly as we roll into the summer and the fall the tests will become more widely available. we have used this test in europe not by way of a full approval, but a conditional approval in europe. and people use it and find it incredibly useful. this of course represents the largest study that we completed in the united states, demonstrating that the test has utility in the diversity of women that get pregnant and give birth here. stephanie: it is certainly a toolkit that needs more tools to address maternal mortality. dr. ravi thadhani with emory university, thank you so much for joining us with your

expertise. dr. thadhani: thank you, stephanie. ♪ amna: nearly 20,000 ukrainian children have been unlawfully transferred to russia, or russian-controlled territories of ukraine, since the war began nearly a year and half ago. international arrest warrants have been issued for russian president vladimir putin, and another member of his government for those crimes. but mothers and grandmothers have also taken matters into their own hands. with the support of the pulitzer center, filmmakers amanda bailly and anton shtuka bring us the stories of the fierce women who went to take back their children. special correspondent jane ferguson narrates their journey. jane: of all the civilians to

pass through kyiv train station in this war, few have more at stake than these women. they've just arrived from areas in ukraine once occupied by russian forces. they are on a journey to get their children back. >> i haven't seen my daughter for more than five months, since the children were sent to the camp. my only dream is to spend time with her, cherish her, love her, protect her. jane: each woman on this bus has a similar story. they bond quickly, having shared the same horror. now, they share the same mission. janna's daughter masha is in the russian-controlled ukrainian territory of crimea. masha is a vibrant, sporty 13-year-old. when the russian forces took over their home city, kherson, just to the north of crimea, masha's school told janna the area was not safe for children due to ukrainian shelling. they planned to move the kids to facilities that were summer campgrounds for ukrainian children before the war.

only those camps were in areas now controlled by russian military. >> they sent her to mechta camp in yevpatoria, crimea. masha is very good-natured and affectionate, but she's a fighter. she's a professional-level karate fighter. my girl is very active and sociable, loves playing with children and babies, and loves to spend time with her friends. jane: janna says the authorities at masha's school pressured her to send masha, promising her in writing she would be back in two weeks. >> they offered it for safety reasons. they told us that fighting in the city would start soon, and it would not be safe for children to be in the city, and that schools are shelled by the armed forces of ukraine. so we were offered to send them to crimea so that the children could rest and continue school. they promised to bring the children back in two weeks. well, no one brought anyone back.

jane: janna said the russian authorities told parents after one month they could come and collect their children, but would have to stay in russian-controlled territory with them. but crossing the front lines and returning is near impossible. at the same time, the russian authorities were easing regulations for russian families to adopt deported ukrainian children like masha and raise them as russians. ukraine says at least 19,000 ukrainian children were moved by the russian military and collaborators into russian controlled territories since the war began. natalia is from kupyansk, in the east. when russian soldiers and local collaborators retreated from the town, to her horror, they took her 15-year-old son artem with them. >> on september 7, he went to school. he stayed the night at the school because there was no bus home in the evening. in the morning those people, i don't know how to call them, took kids with them when they were running away from kupyansk.

they took 13 kids with them. how could this happen? and we had no electricity and mobile connection at that time to call anyone. we were looking for him. we were in a panic. jane: artem was taken to a school in luhansk, a russian controlled area in ukraine. after a month with no word, he was finally able to make contact with his terrified mother. >> it's good that artem knew my number from memory and he took a phone from the principal of the school where he is now, called me on whatsapp, and told me where he was and what happened. i have been waiting for half a year now. jane: as days turned to weeks, then months, it became increasingly clear the children had been taken for good. >> these last months were shocking. i can't think about anything, can't do anything. there is a mess in my head. i had all kinds of thoughts in my mind. and then artem called recently and said they were told that if

there is combat activity nearby, they will be taken to russia. they've had air raid alerts and incoming strikes and if it gets too dangerous there, they will be taken to russia. i got into a panic again. jane: once in kyiv, they overnight, preparing themselves for the long trip ahead into russian and russian-held territory. their journey is being organized by save ukraine, a charity creating a network of allies for the women, inside countries and territories where their children are held, and from where they need to be saved. save ukraine is the only organization offering real, tangible help to these women. myroslava kharchenko, a lawyer working with save ukraine, preps the women for what's ahead. most of these women have never been abroad before. >> the main rule is to listen to the drivers. they know what to say. different borders they pass differently. it will not be easy. it will be a very long journey, and stressful.

you will be going through different countries, and will spend time in the country of your aggressor. memorize your driver's phone number, because anything could happen. jane: journalists amanda bailly and anton shtuka were able to exclusively travel with the mothers for part of the journey as they embarked on the mission to bring home their children. most of the women had been able to make patchy contact with their children in recent days, preparing them and telling them to be ready to leave soon. svetlana is grandmother and guardian to 13-year-old nastya. she joins natalia and janna on the journey, telling her granddaughter she is on her way. >> i talked to nastya. she was delighted, she broke into tears, and i heard her voice and started crying. i said, nastya, it's you, i'm so happy to hear you. i'm really excited. i am going for you. you wait. she said, ok. granny, i'm waiting for you, i'm

packing my suitcase now. and she was crying. i hadn't heard her voice in a long time. jane: on the journey, people on the inside will help them make their way to their children. a network of allies working with save ukraine, and providing logistics, perhaps parents themselves. >> we are so grateful to the people who help bring back ukrainian children from these foreign territories. our deepest gratitude to them. perhaps we would not see our children again without their help. jane: as they set off, the women are hopeful. in each of their minds, they

dream of what they will do when they see their children again, and the lives they will try to give them after the war. >> first, i will not let her go. i will kiss and hug her. i will apologize for letting her go there, for letting her be in such an environment. and then i'll cook something delicious, like her favorite cake, and i will buy her lots of chocolates. and later, when she recovers a little, i will play sports with her. we will ride bicycles and lead an active life like we used to before the war. >> i've always believed it. yes, i was afraid that i might lose her. nevertheless, i had hope, hope that i would get her back. and i prayed every day, i prayed every night. and i had a hope that sooner or later, i would see the child at home. >> i'll just hug him. i just want him to be with me. nothing else. i don't want anything else. the most important thing is to take him back. and that's it. we will celebrate when the war

is over. now, it is not the best time for celebrations. i want him by my side. jane: the journey is a long one. from kiev to chelm in poland by train. from chlem to minsk city in belarus by bus. from minsk, they fly to moscow. from there, they travel by bus there and car to russian controlled areas of ukraine. music has always played here on loudspeakers. this evening it is a famous song by return to mothers. as they set off, journalists could not follow them on that journey, but along the way the mothers would film themselves where they could and when it was

safe. finally, they make it here, this is the campground in russian-occupied crimea where their children are being held. it appears there are no russian military present, just civilians working there. the children come running to their mothers they have not seen in months. the children were handed back to the mothers without resistance. after months of cautious self-preservation, came waves of emotion. for these women, as with mothers

across the world, there is no distance they would not travel to find their children. and bring them home. for the "pbs newshour," i'm jane ferguson. tomorrow amna: tune in tomorrow for jane's second report on how those rescued children are readjusting to life back at home, in a war zone. ♪ it's estimated there are fewer there than 350 north atlantic right whales remaining. they are dying faster than they can reproduce, and it's largely due to human causes. with so few of the whales left, experts are closely monitoring for new offspring, and as science correspondent miles o'brien reports, working to keep this whale from extinction.

miles: it was a perfect april morning when we steamed out of provincetown harbor in massachusetts. cape cod bay was glassy as a lake, the visibility unlimited. the right kind of day. >> now, if we find whales -- miles: i assume you're going to say when we find whales. >> we're always going fishing. this is a fishing trip. miles: marine biologist charles stormy mayo has been looking for right whales for the better part of 40 years. he is cofounder of the center for coastal studies, a nonprofit committed to saving the whales. >> i've been on hundreds of cruises. when the first right whale shows up, it's still pretty special. these are very odd creatures and they live a mysterious, but from a human point of view, a very odd life. miles: it was not long before we hit pay waters. >> we're seeing at least one individual right up here at 290

degrees. miles: soon there were feeding, or skimming, north atlantic right whales all around us. >> wow, there's a whole patch of them, there's like, a whole bunch. at least four. miles: about two dozen in all. >> is that calf trying to skim? it's got its head out of water. miles: a rare thrill in every sense. north atlantic right whales are critically endangered. scientists believe there are fewer than 350 individuals remaining. >> the future of right whales is dire. and it's dire because the very simple arithmetic of the right whale's population is bad. the mortality rate is outstripping the birth rate. the arrow points to zero. miles: the whales migrate along the north american east coast between canada to florida.

humans have made this an increasingly perilous gantlet. ship strikes and entanglement with fishing gear are the leading causes of death. stormy mayo's team is part of a multifaceted effort to document this demise in hopes that it can be stemmed. >> runway three two clear for takeoff. >> clear for takeoff. miles: an aircraft chartered by new england aquarium scientists flies 50 missions a year to help track the whales. >> the humpbacks were at like, the northern end of the line and then the right whales were further out. miles: the aquarium is curator of an extraordinary photographic catalog of right whales dating back more than 80 years. it's a collaboration with researchers at various institutions that aim to collect every photograph taken of a north atlantic right whale. whale biologist philip hamilton is a senior research scientist at the aquarium. individual whales are

identifiable by experts able to recognize the unique patterns created by lice that live on the whales' heads and behind their blowholes. you've been doing this for a number of years, can you spot individuals by sight pretty well? >> yeah. yeah. miles: it's that obvious in some cases? >> i realized at one point i think i probably recognized more whales on sight than i did people. miles: over time, the images, and the scars, tell a grim forensic story. >> once we realized that we are seeing this pattern of scarring from entanglements, and that's been an incredible wealth of information, able to track when and where right whales are becoming entangled. miles: the whales move unpredictably. this season, they gathered in cape cod bay. about half of the known population were here. it turns out the place was brimming with their favorite

food, a tiny shrimp-like plankton, a copepod, called calanus finmarchicus. >> it looks like cinnamon applesauce. miles: research associate christy hudack gathers plankton samples in the wake of whales to see exactly what they are eating, how much, and at what depth. how does something so big subsist on something so small? >> that is the ultimate question. miles: back in the lab in provincetown, she carefully counts the plankton to determine their density and identify exactly what species the whales are favoring. so, at this time of the year at least, cape cod bay is the ultimate right whale buffet. >> it looks like it is. the plankton that we collected today is an example. it's unbelievably rich. and these animals are consuming at very high levels. back of the envelope calculation is they may be taking over 125 pounds of plankton an hour. miles: unfortunately, their

essential pursuit of plankton has led them to troubled waters. cape cod bay is part one of the fastest warming ocean regions on the planet, the gulf of maine, and so the plankton picture is changing here. it may be the reason the whales began altering their migration patterns in 2015, sending them into the gulf of st. lawrence. scientists were caught off guard, and before they could suggest regulations to protect the whales in their new feeding area, a dozen were killed by this printer usual researchers ship strikes and entanglements with fishing gear. this triggered an unusual mortality event. researchers have documented 36 right whale deaths and 62 injuries since 2017. >> we have had several times of big mortalities of whales because they were entering an area where the manags had no idea that right whales were there. but they came in probably

searching for food in a changing environment. miles: given the onslaught they already face, climate could be the final straw? >> climate could be the final straw for all of us. miles: there are solutions. ships can be rerouted or forced to slow down, and there is technology that makes it possible for fishermen to do their jobs without leaving vertical lines dangling in the water. but this has put the desperate effort to save the whales on a collision course with one of the most lucrative fisheries in the world, maine lobsters. more on that soon when we continue our voyage. for the "pbs amna: and on the "pbs newshour" online, something to toast to. the scientific reason champagne bubbles rise in straight lines, and why that's important to understanding other processes in

nature and in medicine. you can read more at pbs.org/newshour. and that's the "newshour" for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire "newshour" team, thank you for joining us. >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by. the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the "newshour." >> for 25 years, consumer cellular has been offering no-contract wireless plans designed to help people do more of what they like. our u.s.-based customer service team can help find a plan that fits you. to learn more, visit consumercellular.tv. >> the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide.

and with the ongoing support of these institutions. and friends of the "newshour." this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. announcer: 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. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption conten

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one giant leap for mankind. ♪♪ -"cook's country" is about more than just getting dinner on the table. we're also fascinated by the people and stories behind the dishes. we go inside kitchens in every corner of the country to learn how real people cook, and we look back through time to see how history influences the way we eat today. we bring that inspiration back to our test kitchen so we can share it with you. this is "cook's country." ♪♪ today on "cook's country," bryan visits the cuban sandwich festival in tampa, florida. jack explores the world of mustard, and bryan makes the ultimate cuban sandwich with homemade cuban bread and roast pork with mojo. that's all right here on cook's country.