amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the "newshour" tonight, the u.s. grapples with deadly temperatures as a heat wave grips the west and south. amna: the u.s. ambassador to nato discusses the future of the alliance and its potential expansion ahead of a crucial summit. geoff: and the supreme court's decision on affirmative action sparks concerns over whether it could lead to fewer doctors of color and more racial bias in medicine. >> we see a seven-year gap between life expectancy in white americans and black americans. my worry is that that gap is going to widen in this post-affirmative action world. ♪

>> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by. the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the "newshour." the william and flora hewlett foundation, for more than 50 years advancing ideas and supporting instituations to promote a better world. at hewlett.org. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions.

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. geoff: welcome to the “newshour.” from one end of the country to the other, extreme weather is the top story tonight. ferocious heat in the west and drowning rains in the east are making headlines. amna: both the heat and the heavy rains persisted today, and millions of americans were left to cope and clean up. stephanie sy begins our coverage. >> oh my god. stephanie: in the outskirts of new york city, roadways turned into rapids. >> look at the people's doors. stephanie: a weekend of heavy rain flooded neighborhoods in the lower hudson river valley, killing one woman who was swept away in the downpour. in the aftermath, authorities evacuated residents from their homes by boat, cordoned off destroyed streets, and worked to

repair downed power lines. phillipe: my mom, she called me and she said the water was coming in her apartment, had to be pulled out of the apartment complex through the window and then rafted to safety. the apartment is completely destroyed. my mother has nowhere to live. all her stuff is -- there was two feet owater in there. stephanie: it's the latest extreme weather pattern to ravage the u.s. across new england, residents are bracing for more torrential rain. states in the west are still sweating through a historic heat wave. today, phoenix baked in highs above 110 degrees for the 10th day in a row, with forecasts showing no letup for the rest of the week. a similar heat dome has settled over europe. temperatures there climbed to the triple digits over the weekend, impacting cities from berlin to madrid, some of the same regions that were afflicted by deadly heat waves last summer. today, a blockbuster study was

released showing that europe's 2022 heat waves killed more than 61,000 people. published in the “nature medicine” journal, the study suggests europe has not adequately adapted to the realities of climate change. extreme weather has also gripped parts of asia. most of china has endured a more than week-long heat wave. and in new delhi, unprecedented amounts of monsoon rain drenched india's capital city, killing 15 people in three days. shelly: the record of the last 20 years has been broken. as far as our preparations are concerned, we were fully prepared. however, the problem of waterlogging arose because of the record rainfall. stephanie: landslides, floods, fires affecting the world over, and made worse, scientists say, by climate change. here in phoenix, weather experts say it's likely that the city will surpass its 18-day streak of 110-plus degree days if the

heat wave continues through july 18. for more on how the city is handling the heat wave, i'm joined by david hondula. he leads the office of heat response and mitigation in phoenix, which became one of the first cities in the u.s. to create that position last year. david, it is good to see you. thanks for joining the “newshour.” so, we're about 1.5 weeks into this latest heat wave. i wonder what your office has been doing in the last several days to mitigate the dangerous effects of these extreme temperatures? david: well, stephanie, thanks for having us back on. and we share your concern that this is a serious public health -- unfolding here in phoenix and across the communities all across the southwest. heat is our leading, or one of our nation's leading weather-related killers. so we need all hands on deck to help protect vulnerable community members. and that's certainly some of the work our team has been involved in. we have really been focusing on direct engagement with some of the most heat-impacted members of our community, sharing heat relief supplies, getting the word out about where community

cooling resources are. and when we can help facilitate connections to critical social services, we find those to be really important connections to make as well. stephanie: yes, that's a conversation i want to have, because i was just looking at the latest data, and the unhoused still make up more than half of the heat-related deaths in phoenix. the city, as you know, david, is currently embroiled in lawsuits over what to do with homeless encampments. i wonder, do you think encampments make the unhoused more or less vulnerable to death and illness by heat on days like this? david: stephanie, it's a great question. and we are seeing some positive signs in the data, although nobody's pleased with where we are in terms of the rate of heat-associated deaths among our unsheltered neighbors. but we have seen that rate come down over the past couple of years, and we're hopeful to keep moving in that direction. as we think about campgrounds, shelters, et cetera, we are looking to partner with all of the players who were involved in

the recent decision to create what has been called a structured campground that will house our unsheltered neighbors for the foreseeable future to try to make that property really a model of cooling and shade and other amenities that can help protect people from the heat in the summer. it is a difficult circumstance to be out on the city streets for five or 10 minutes, let alone many hours or an entire day. but as we transition into this new facility, i think there's a great opportunity for partnership. we're hearing interest from private sector partners as well on how they can be really part of a successful solution story as we continue to work as a city to get more people into shelter and ultimately housed. stephanie: david, maricopa county, which includes phoenix, found 425 people had heat-associated deaths last summer. that's a record and a 25% increase from the year before. when i interviewed you a year ago, you wanted to reverse that trend. why has that been so difficult? david: heat really exposes and relates to a lot of other social

vulnerability factors that we are battling with many partners to try to bring do that number. as we dissect that very same report, we see the high risks for people experiencing homelessness, the high risks for substance users in our community. and those aren't excuses to explain why the pattern is happening, but really guide our efforts in understanding where we need to prioritize. i think we are seeing positive impacts, but clearly much more work to do as we learn what is really most effective to reverse that trend. stephanie: and phoenix is, of course, not alone. there's a new report out of europe today with some startling numbers from last summer's heat wave there, more than 60,000 deaths attributed to excessive heat. what's your reaction to that study? david: well, of course, we know there's a lot of work to do, communities all across the globe, in how we improve our response to this hazard. whether in the united states or elsewhere, we know that heat is among or perhaps the leading weather-related killer. and i think, unfortunately, when we see statistics like these, we're seeing the consequence of

a governance gap around heat that has lingered for far too long. heat has not had a clear problem owner, like other hazards. and i think that's left communities, including those in arizona, but really all around the world, behind where they would like to be in preventing those really, really serious impacts. with respect to comparing those numbers to phoenix, we, of course, have not seen numbers like those, and we are very hopeful that we never do. but i think it speaks to some of the preparedness investments that our region has made in the past to help us avoid those particulary catastrophic impacts, of course, different contexts with the availability of air conditioning here compared to other locations. but we continue to try to engage with communities all across the world to share best practices. as acknowledged, there's a lot of work to do, and we are all in it together. stephanie: on track for another record-breaking summer. david hondula, the office of heat response and mitigation in phoenix, thanks so much for joining us. david: thanks, stephanie sy. and stay cool, everyone.

♪ stephanie: in the day's other headlines, president biden has arrived in vilnius, lithuania, to meet with western leaders at a key nato summit on tuesday. earlier today, the president was at windsor castle in britain, and received a ceremonial welcome from king charles. the pair also discussed the challenges of climate change, but neither spoke publicly. in southern ukraine, officials today blamed a russian-guided bomb for killing seven people on sunday. they had gathered to receive humanitarian aid. government video showed the remnants of the site, a school building, with some people still feared missing. the governor of the zaporizhzhia region called it a war crime. moscow has confirmed that russian mercenary leader yevgeny prigozhin and his top commanders pledged their loyalty after staging a rebellion last month. a kremlin spokesman said today they met with russian president

vladimir putin within days of calling off the mutiny. >> putin listened to the explanations of the commanders. they emphasized that they are staunch supporters and soldiers of the head of state and the supreme commander, and also said that they are ready to continue to fight for their homeland. stephanie: back in this country, northwestern head football coach pat fitzgerald was fired today after reports of alleged hazing activity within his program. the school originally placed fitzgerald on unpaid leave friday, after a six-month investigation. but new developments over the weekend led to a re-evaluation. today, northwestern said the hazing included nudity and sexualized acts of a degrading nature, and that fizgerald should have been aware. there's word that former sports doctor larry nassar has been stabbed multiple times at a federal prison in florida. nassar is serving a decades-long sentence for sexually abusing female athletes, including several olympic gymnasts. news accounts say he was attacked sunday and is in stable condition. still to come on "the newshour,"

tamara keith and amy walter break down the latest political headlines. the cycle of violence and economic turmoil that leads young palestinians to take up arms. an oklahoma judge dismisses a case filed by survivors of the tulsa massacre. and the creator of the dystopian anthology "black mirror" on the show's impact. >> 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: turkish president recep tayyip erdogan said this afternoon, in a surprise announcement, he would put sweden's bid for nato membership before the turki parliament. id that sweden needed to do more to crack down on kurdish militants, some of whom have sought refuge in scandinavia. sweden and finland announced their intentions last summer to join nato. finland was admitted in april.

even this morning, erdogan proposed that swedish membership in nato was a bargaining chip, one that could be traded for turkey's long-dormant application to join the european union. in the meantime, leaders from nato's 31 countries began arriving in vilnius, lithuania, ahead of a two-day summit that begins tomorrow. before all of this, our laura barron-lopez spoke early today with the u.s. ambassador to nato, julianne smith. laura: ambassador julie smith, thank you so much for joining the “newshour.” news today out of ukraine. ukrainian foreign minister dmytro kuleba said today that nato allies have reached a consensus to remove the membership action plan requirements, such as military and democratic reforms, for ukraine's pathway to a nato membership. that conceivably would fast-track their membership, right? so what's stopping ukraine from becoming a full member now? julianne: well, first of all, on

the question of the membership action plan, that is something that some new members or newly added members have used on their path to membership. it is not always the case that aspirants use that program. finland and sweden are not working through a membership action plan. but we are -- we, the united states, we support lifting that particular requirement for ukraine. and i don't want to get ahead of any of the summit deliverables. so i'm not going to get into the details of what the actual communique will say. but that is something that allies have been looking at. in terms of what stands between ukraine and membership, obviously, our focus right now is on helping the ukrainians end this war. putin could end it today if he so desired. we're continuing to get practical support into the hands of the ukrainian military commanders. and we will be looking at some of the ongoing reforms that the

ukrainians have been undertaking to qualify for nato membership. laura: president biden recently said that he doesn't think ukraine is ready for membership in nato right now, that it takes time to meet qualifications, including democratization. but with that p requirement dropped, what qualifications are left and why not issue a timeline for their membership? julianne: well, first and foremost, we want, again, the war to end that is currently taking place on ukrainian territory, and that's the priority number one. but the ukrainians themselves have talked about the need for additional reforms. there are a variety of democratic and security sector reforms that aspirants need to meet. ukraine has traveled quite some distance since the alliance said that they would become a member in 2008. but they will tell you, nato will tell you that we will continue to work together that they finish those list of reforms. laura: is there a problem with the ukrainian democracy that disqualifies them from being a

nato member? julianne: i don't want to get into any of the specifics here. i will say that, broadly, before a country joins the alliance, we do work with those aspirant countries on a variety of reforms to ensure that they will uphold all of the values that this alliance is designed to protect. so, we look at things like rule of law. we look at their democratization. we look at things like anti-corruption. that's standard practice for any new member that's coming into the alliance. laura: the cluster munitions that the administration announced friday that are going to be sent to ukraine, how quickly will they be sent? julianne: i don't know the specifics about that. i think we're talking weeks, not months. laura: in terms of long-term security commitments that the united states is prepared to make to ukraine and guarantee to ukraine, what exactly are those long-term security commitments, as ukraine waits for a full nato membership?

julianne: well, the united states has been in conversation with friends in kyiv to look at the possibility of outlining some longer-term security assurances. and, in essence, what we're talking about is making a commitment to them that we will support ukraine, not just right now, in this moment, while russia has invaded its territory and continues to conduct this war, but that, over the long term, the united states is prepared to make a bilateral commitment to ukraine that it will continue to help that country meet its security needs, so that this doesn't happen again. and we expect that we will have some news on that later this week here on the margins of the nato summit. laura: can you give any specifics at all about the potential for tangibles there at the end of the summit? julianne: yes, this summit actually is going to have a whole list of concrete deliverables. i will tick through just a couple of them. one, the alliance is going to be

rolling out new regional plans that will ensure that the alliance can literally defend every inch of nato territory. this is a generational change for the alliance. we're also going to be rolling out something called the defense investment pledge, which will follow up on the 2% commitment that allies made to spend 2% of gdp on defense. we're going to have four countries from the indo-pacific, australia, new zealand, japan, and the republic of korea, here with us in vilnius to talk about shared security challenges. and then we will have this package of deliverables for our friends in ukraine that will showcase our continued unity and resolve to stand shoulder to shoulder with them as they protect their territory. laura: ambassador julie smith, thank you so much for your time. julianne: thank you. ♪

geoff: for analysis of the president's trip abroad and presidential campaign politics, we turn now to our politics monday team. that's amy walter of the cook political report with amy walter and tamara keith of npr. so, happy monday, as they say. [laughter] tamara: yes. geoff: president joe biden is in europe, where he's spending four days in three nations, tending to alliances, some of which have been tested by russia's invasion of ukraine. so, tam, give us a sense. what's on the agenda and what's at stake? tamara: so, president biden is once again trying to make the case that america is back and that america is a trusted partner and that this alliance that putin's invasion of ukraine made stronger is holding tight. and obviously, as we have just heard in this conversation, there's discussion of sweden being allowed to join nato. that -- it appears there has been a breakthrough on that. president biden had a call with

president erdogan of turkey on the flight over. so what's at stake is sort of the shape and size of the alliance, but also, domestically, the perception of the war in ukraine and the u.s. role in that. geoff: about that, there is this chorus on the right, people who say that the u.s. has given ukraine too much at this point. and even on the left now, there's some progressive voices who have found issue with president biden's decision to give cluster munitions to ukraine. help us understand. sort of distill the politics here of ukraine aid. amy: that's right. i think a lot of it, though, still is -- the dividing line really is, do you identify more as a republican, do you identify more as a democrat, rather than intraparty fights. there are some bubbling. as we know, on the presidential side, you have republicans like donald trump, like ron desantis being less supportive of more

aid to ukraine, versus what i would call more of the old-school republicans, defense hawks like mike pence or nikki haley. but, fundamentally, what we saw at the very beginning, when the invasion happened, support among democrats and republicans for the u.s. doing more was equal. it took about six months for partisanship to really take hold. geoff: which is a long time these days. amy: it is a long time these days, that it took that long. amy: but i think that -- and this is really what's remarkable -- if you think back to what could be a unifier for americans in this time of deep polarization, an invasion of a sovereign country by vladimir putin would probably be one of those unifying voices -- unifying events. and it truly was, until it became about biden, and then it became much less about putin, and much more about, do you really support this president? geoff: and, tam, shifting our focus back stateside, president biden has been trying to

persuade americans that the economy is better than they think it is and that he deserves credit for turning it around. it's tough going, though, when the white house is faced with polls like this one. this is a quinnipiac poll that shows 55% disapproval. we should say this is an early june. how is this effort -- the white house has dubbed this bidenomics. how is this effort going? is it yielding results yet? tamara: i wouldn't say that it's necessarily yielding results. the views of the economy are polarized, just like views on everything else, which is to say that republicans say the economy is terrible, because joe biden is president of the united states. so, the same republicans thought the economy was incredible under donald trump. and the reality is that, aside from the big pandemic period, the economy is -- the biden economy has basically recovered to where trump was pre-pandemic. but there is this divide, this

pulling apart, where americans say that their personal economy is pretty great. like, they feel good about how they're doing. they feel optimistic about their future. how is the u.s. economy doing? terrible. and that's the influence of polarization right there. geoff: break that apart. i mean, i remember talking to a democratic pollster who said that people will be asked that question, how's the economy doing, and they will think, i'm not crazy about my job, not crazy about my boss, that means the economy's doing poorly. [laughter] amy: i was talking for a piece i wrote the other week with a democratic strategist, who said something similar, which is, i don't trust any of this data, whether it's consumer confidence, or do you approve or disapprove, to tell us how people really feel about the economy. asking people about the economy, you're asking them, as you point out, about a lot of other things. at the same time, there's -- there is no doubt that inflation still is taking something of a bite out of people's wallets. and that's a lot of what this frustration is. we're not quite yet back to a

place where the fed feels comfortable enough to say, ok, we have got gotten inflation under control. i also think there's a bit of a messenger problem. the other poll number that you will see next to do, how well do you think president biden's doing on the economy or other issues is, what do you think about his mental, physical fitness? what do you think about his age? and there's a lot of concern about that across the board. obviously, more republicans feel that way than democrats. but, as a messenger, being able to sell also means people have to see you as being, like, a credible person doing that. and i think those two things, you can't necessarily separate worries about his age with worries about how well he's handling the economy and will handle the economy if he's reelected. geoff: we have got a couple of minutes left. i want to fit in what's happening on the republican side of the ledger here with ron desantis. his poll numbers have slid. his competition is growing. the head of his -- or a spokesperson for his super pac said last week, “we are way

behind.” he was asked about this during an appearance on fox news, and here's what he said. gov. desantis: oh, maria, these are narratives. the media does not want me to be the nominee. i think that's very, very clear. but this is not something that i ever expected to just snap fingers and, all of a sudden, you win seven months before anyone happens. you got to earn it, and you got to work. and it requires a lot of toil and tears and sweat, and we're going to do that. geoff: so, he's blaming the media for creating false expectations. and he's saying, give my campaign time to do its thing. that sounds pretty reasonable. amy: it does sound reasonable. we are very far out. and you are right. if you look back at previous elections, plenty of folks who had been written off or not even paid attention to it all ended up either coming close or winning the nomination. what's different about this is that donald trump is essential an incumbent, and beating an incumbent is a very thing to -- a very difficult thing to do. it's not 2015. it is -- we have a party that is

much more trump-organized and trump-centric than it was obviously back then. and he's much more popular, considerably more popular, among republicans. so the threat -- the sort of way to beat donald trump, you think about it as this very narrow gap, right? how do you find a way through that? desantis is trying to figure out his way, going to the right of him on cultural issues. we have got some other candidates going to the right of him on security issues, obviously, chris christie going right at him on the indictments. none of it seems to be penetrating his popularity. geoff: so, tam, is this a two-person race between -- on the republican side between trump and desantis, as desantis says it is? tamara: well, desantis would sure like it to be. [laughter] however, there are a lot of other candidates. and what desantis has said is, don't look at the national polls. look at how i'm doing in these early states, where i'm putting a lot of emphasis. well, we don't know yet because there isn't great polling out of these early states. a lot of other candidates on

that list have that same strategy, which is, let's just win iowa and then knock trump -- if trump looks like he's weak, then we can take him on. so it's iowa. it's new hampshire. it's early. geoff: well, before we go, i mentioned the congressional women's softball game. members of congress play members of the d.c. press corps. i hear that you two are on the d.c. press corps team. amy: we are on the team, pitcher, catcher. tamara: catcher. geoff: there you go, as are a number of our beloved “newshou”" staff members, team members here. and we should say that people can donate online. they -- because it's a fund-raiser. it raises money. amy: that's right. it raises money for breast cancer, the young survival coalition. it's raised over $3 million since we started this game about 15 years ago. geoff: fantastic. well, thank you so much. and i will be watching on wednesday. tamara: on the livestream. ♪ amna: doctors, nurses, hospitals, and many others are

concerned about how the supreme court's ruling striking down affirmative action in college admissions could affect the medical profession. currently, just 5.7% of all doctors in the u.s. are black, and nearly 7% are hispanic, while 64% are white. black and latino applicants still make up a small percentage of those who go to medical school. and there's worry about what this ruling could mean for the pipeline of who eventually provides health care. for more on those concerns, i'm joined by dr. utibe essien. he's an internal medicine physician and assistant professor of medicine at ucla. dr. essien, welcome, and thanks for joining us. before we get into the details of the ruling, i just have to ask, what was your initial reaction when you first heard the supreme court's ruling? dr. essien: absolutely. thanks so much for having me, amna. and, sadly, while we were expecting this news, it was pretty much a gut punch. and it was really devastating to see that, despite years of proof that affirmative action does improve diversity in

undergraduate and medical schools, that the court has decided to let go of this decision. and so, i was pretty devastated on thursday. i know a lot of my friends and colleagues were as well. amna: so, those numbers we just mentioned in the introduction, that was even with affirmative action in place. why are those numbers so low? help us understand. dr. essien: so, it's really important to appreciate that this is not just at random, right? a paper that my colleagues and i published led by one of my friends, dr. fais, showed that some of the reasons for the low numbers are related to just the journey towards applying to medical school, so higher rates of pre-medical school loans and less likelihood to be able to pay for the preparatory materials to be able to get into medical school, and even having parents who are less likely to have aollege education. some of these are factors are what drives black and hispanic and native american lower rates of physicians, much less some of the systemic and structural challenges that we have around education here in the u.s. amna: just to underscore some of those numbers, when you look at

the 2022 and 2023 school year, in terms of first-year enrollees and medical school, these are the numbers we have. black students made up just 10% of first-year medical students. latino students made up just 12% of medical school students. but dr. essien, a few states, we should point out, had already banned affirmative action at the state level. did you see an impact in terms of that in those states, in terms of who ends up going to medical school and diversity of those classes? dr. essien: absolutely. so, we're here in california, i am, rather. and they banned affirmative action back in 1996. and we have seen that, here in california, the rates of black and hispanic individuals going into undergraduate and medical schools really significantly dropped since that ruling in 1996. we had a paper that came out last year that showed, not just here in california, but in seven other states that had affirmative action bans, the number of individuals from minoritized groups continues to drop in medical schools. and so, we have precedents for

what is going to happen now that this is federal policy and not national -- not just state policy, and it's really devastating for the future of the health of our communities. amna: help us understand that a little better, though. in medical -- in the medical field, in particular, why is that diversity of doctors so important in terms of providing health care? dr. essien: absolutely. i think it's important to realize this is not just a moral imperative, the right thing to do, but that diversity really does save lives. we have studies that show that having a doctor who looks like you, it makes you more likely to take preventive screenings such as flu vaccines, or more likely to go for more invasive procedures like heart catheterizations. and in a study published back in april, it showed that, for every 10% of increase in black primary care doctors within a county, there's a 30-day increase in life expectancy for black individuals. so, again, literally having diverse doctors saves lives. and my concern is that this policy, this decision is going to take us backwards. amna: so, what now, dr. essien? we're in a post-affirmative action america.

what specific steps can institutions take to still work towards that same diversity in medical schools and the medical profession? dr. essien: it's a question we're all asking right now. there are three things that my colleagues and i kind of put forth in op-ed last week around this. and the first is really strengthening holistic review, really focusing on the journey that our patients -- or our students, rather, take towards becoming physicians, and not wholly focused on the mcat scores, that test that we have taken to get into medical school, or their gpa's. we have to ensure that those who are reviewing applications actually are anti-racist in their approach and are able to capture the full breadth of our students' journeys to go in towards medicine. and, lastly, we have to eliminate some of the economic costs. that test that i mentioned earlier, it costs $320 to take to get into medical school. the cost of medical school itself is exorbitant. i left school with $250,000 worth of loans. and those are some of the steps

th we need to take to be able to increase the diversity of our medical schools. amna: in the few seconds, i have to -- i have to ask, what's your greatest concern if this problem isn't addressed? dr. essien: you know, as i mentioned, we have a disparities issue in our country. we didn't just see that with covid. but, over the last year, we see a seven-year gap between life expectancy in white americans and black americans. my worry is that that gap is going to widen in this post-affirmative action world. and i hope that we will be able to advocate for the reversal of some of these policies that were just made. amna: dr. utibe essien, assistant professor of medicine at ucla, thank you so much for joining us tonight. we appreciate it. dr. essien: thanks for having me. geoff: we're going to shift our focus now to the move by an oklahoma judge to toss out a lawsuit seeking financial restitution for the three remaining survivors of the 1921 tulsa race massacre. judge caroline wall threw out the lawsuit trying to force the city and others to make amends for the destruction of the once-thriving black district

known as greenwood. one of the living survivors of the massacre, ms. viola fletcher, was just seven years old on the day of the attack. she's now 109. two years ago, she shared her eyewitness account during emotional testimony before congress. viola: i will never forget the violence of the white mob when we left her home. i still see black men being shot, black bodies lying in the street. i still smell smoke and see fire. i still see black businesses being burned. i still hear airplanes flying overhead. i hear the screams. i have lived through the massacre every day. geoff: and we're joined now by oklahoma state rep. regina goodwin, who represents the greenwood district in oklahoma's statehouse. thank you for being with us. rep. goodwin: thank you. thanks for having me, geoff. geoff: you represent the

historic greenwood district. it's where you grew up. what's the reaction among the folks who represent to this decision by the judge to toss out the lawsuit from the three remaining survivors of the tulsa race massacre? rep. goodwin: well, first of all, the response is that it's unjust. it is, unfortunately, what we have been accustomed to. this is our third go-round and going all the way back to my great-grandmother and 1922. there was another lawsuit in the early 2000's. and now here we are in 2023, and we're getting the same unjust decision. so, it is wrong. and we certainly know that our survivors and certainly descendants deserve better. how can you have a 109-year-old woman, in ms. viola ford fletcher, and certainly 108-year-old ms. lessie benningfield randle, and the 102-year-old mr. hughes van ellis, and they not receive their day in court? how's that just?

geoff: the city of tulsa was among the parties pushing for this case to be dismissed. we should say that the mayor of tulsa, his office said he was unavailable for an interview today, but they gave us a statement, part of which reads this way: “the city remains committed to finding the graves of 1921 tulsa race massacre victims, fostering economic investment in the greenwood district, educating future generations about the worst event in our community's history, and building a city where every person has an equal opportunity for a great life.” the mayor has said that he opposes what he called financially penalizing tulsa residents to effectively pay for what would have been a settlement out of municipal coffers. how does that strike you? rep. goodwin: this whole notion that somehow the city coffers would pay for the injustice, well, guess what? the city is an institution. the city was complicit then in 1921. they're complicit today. it's a farce, the supposed excavations that they're trying to do as it relates to the

remains of our deceased. so i don't put much into what mayor bynum is saying. i think his actions have shown more so than his words. and, unfortunately, again, when you're looking at a city that is complicit, a state that is complicit and a county that is complicit, guess what? that's the way it works. when the city does wrong, that's typically how it happens. the monies that are gained from all of the members helped to go to do right. so that notion inothing new. i look at all the reparations that ever been done, whether it's for the japanese or the germans or native americans. that's all money that we have contributed to. so, when it comes to black folks, it shouldn't be any different. geoff: some historians have said that as many as 300 black people were killed in the tulsa race massacre. it was an attack on the city's black population. it was also an attack on black institutions and on black wealth. help us understand how and why

the community has not yet fully recovered from the destruction of wealth more than 100 years ago. rep. goodwin: i think, quite simply, it's the collective will has not been there to right by all people, as the mayor somehow alluded to, which does not happen even today. if you come into tulsa today, you see a very divided community, in terms of wealth, in terms of homeownership, in terms of education, et cetera. so, the problem is, there are policies that are in place and people that are in place that refuse to do right. so, it's real, real simple, policy and people. i happen to be an elected official at the state capitol, and i for four years have been trying to have them address the issue of reparations, since the judge suggested that this should be handled legislatively. this could be handled in the courts. it can be handled legislatively. it can be handled just through people doing the right thing. so that's how we get to where we are today. geoff: this judge dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning

that it cannot be refiled. what happens next in this fight for restitution, as you see it? rep. goodwin: so, there is -- with attorney damario solomon-simmons, the effort to have an appeal. and, again, quite frankly, when you're dealing with seniors, our treasures, that are 109, 108 and 102, quite frankly, they're waiting for them to die. and they have demonstrated over the years, i think, more integrity, more, i think, honor and courage than i have just seen displayed by a lot of other folks. and we have to remember that this is a fight worth having going, again, all the way back to 102 years. if we can't get it right, and other folks have found a way to move forward, why not tulsa? so, beyond all the talk, all the platitudes, the bottom line is, you continue to see a judge who said she's going to dismiss it with prejudice. again, she waited long enough,

and i guess she felt she had to do something in the still of the night on friday, when she knew there would be no news cycle. so, there says -- something to be said for a lack of courage and a lack of conviction and to do right by all folks. so we are where we are. it is not good. however, this is not new. we are in oklahoma, and i would hope that we could get along further faster, but it's been 102 years. and how long would other folks wait for their justice? i think that has been a question i think that james baldwin asked. geoff: oklahoma state rep. regina goodwin, thank you for your time and for your insights. rep. goodwin: appreciate you shining a light on this issue. ♪ geoff: a palestinian gunman was shot and killed by israeli troops in the occupied west bank today, as tensions there remain high. special correspondent leila molana-allen reports now from nablus with a look at young men who have few hopes and less of a

future, but burning anger. [gunshots] leila: another day, another funeral. the rattle of gunfire has become a common refrain in the streets of nablus of late, as dozens of young men are gunned down in fierce nighttime raids by the israel defense forces. the latest raid on friday morning killed two young militants in the back streets of the old city. hours later, armed fighters emerged from underground to send off their fallen comrades. and looking down from every wall, gate and traffic circle, the faces of the young men who've died before them, the shaheed, or martyrs, as they're called. the cult of martyrs is very strong here. this young man is wearing around his neck necklaces with pictures of three fighters recently killed by the idf that they sell in town. over the past year, the conflict in the west bank has reignited, with the israeli army staging dozens of fatal raids in response to an uptick in terror attacks.iolee has

engulfed palestinian cities like nablus and jenin, with replacement fighters recruited from the ranks of angry young men here as fast as they fall. the idf says 130 terror attacks have been carried out in the west bank so far this year. it has conducted 1800 raids on west bank towns in response, according to the u.n. childhood is fleeting in this hostile environment. the morning after the funeral, i meet adam sitting in the graveyard. he comes here every day to the grave of his best friend's big brother, walid, who was killed in an israeli raid in february. adam: i always used to go and see him. i loved his company. leila: these boys are just 12. street, they spend their days in a place haunted by death, mourning the young men in our society they see killed in the most brutal of ways. surrounded by such violence, parents here say it's impossible to protect their children from

the impact, no matter how young. mohammad annaty's son, omar, is just five. mohammad: these kinds of raids happen constantly, and children are watching. they're also watching them on tv and on social media. it's hard to hide the martyrs' funerals. so that's how they get exposed and start wanting to carry a weapon. and he will grow up wanting something like this pistol. leila: mohammad wishes he could give his son a different life. mohammad: of course, i would like to see my kid growing up to be the best kind of person. but the reality on the ground doesn't allow that. leila: the reality on the ground is one of unimaginable pressures. israel's government says these areas are a hotbed of terrorism. but violence isn't the only disruptive force at work here. with so little opportunity to make a better life, hope is in short supply. young palestinians feel increasingly frustrated that no one represents them. their only form of government,

the palestinian authority, has been rendered illegitimate by poor leadership, widespread corruption, and failure to hold an election for more than a decade. its security coordination with the israelis, often pulling back to allow the idf to conduct its raids unimpeded, was the final straw. at a coffee shop just outside the old city, amjad masri and raheem tell me what it's like for a young man trying to build a life for himself and his family in nablus. the economy here is dire, and those who can't hold down a job can barely make ends meet. amjad: the wages here in the west bank are very low. sometimes, i have to cut down on food. my income doesn't cover my expenses. leila: their friends often discuss their options, whether to fight or not, how to live a peaceful life under these conditions. but, in this tinderbox, the choice to pursue work over weapons doesn't guarantee safety. the idf it only targets militants, a position that's aided by the fact militant groups like islamic jihad regularly claim any young man

killed as a fighter. ali al azzizi escaped a fatal bullet, but many mark his body. he fought israel in the second intifada, or uprising, 20 years ago. he spent years in and out of israeli and palestinian authority jails. after his daughter was born in 2008, he decided to lay down his weapons. but as the recent raids intensify, a new generation has taken over. in the past year, a now infamous group of young fighters known as the arin al usud, the lion's den, has sprung up in the camp. ali al: it started very simply with very young guys who saved up money to buy weapons. these weapons are nowhere near the weapons the israelis carry. they began resisting and stopping the israelis from entering the city. and that's how they gained popularity with the people. they're very secretive and people don't know much about them. you only hear them when the israelis are in town. and when the israelis leave, they disappear. leila: ali's younger cousin, mohammad al azzizi, was the founder of the group, quickly becoming israel's most wanted

man. when he was killed in a raid last july, he became the poster boy for resistance against the idf's current campaign. now marked a terrorist hot spot, the family home has been under constant attack for over a year. the walls, fridge and furniture are pockmarked with bullet holes, the upper floor blasted by missiles. the lion's den supporters say the group only defends the borders of the city when israeli soldiers try to enter. but the idf accuses its members of multiple preplanned attacks on both soldiers and civilians. mohammad's mother, umm uday, remembers how her son's behavior started to change early last year. umm: he was going out, getting home late. i was so worried about him. every time i knew he was about to go somewhere or meet someone outside, i would always try to stop him from leaving the house, to convince him not to go. leila: her efforts were in vain. she saw less and less of mohammed, until the day he was killed. now she must learn to bear his loss.

umm: there's no day that passes that i don't think of him. leila: umm uday has now lost all three of her sons to the fighting. soon after mohammed was killed, her eldest was arrested by the palestinian authority, while his brother ended up in an israeli jail. in the place of her child, she has gained the status of a umm shaheed, or martyr's mother, held in reverence by the community and supported both emotionally and financially. many parents here fear a similar fate. as the cycle of violence rolls on, mothers across the west bank pray the next casualty, the next fighter, the next body will not be that of their son. for the “pbs newshour,” i'm leila molana-allen in nablus, the west bank. geoff: later this week, leila molana-allen will introduce us to israelis affected by the violence and uncertainty. ♪

amna: “black mirror,” a streaming series phenomenon, has just started its sixth and possibly final season. the sci-fi anthology is a social satire playing with society's deepest fears about our increasingly digital lives. special correspondent malcolm brabant caught up with the show's creator, charlie brooker, in london for our arts and culture series, canvas. >> what do you want to watch? >> can't really do another true crime. >> what about? >> oh, my god. malcolm: from humble beginnings as a cult series in britain, creator charlie brooker's unusual world view has become global must-watch tv. a former television critic, brooker identified a gap in the market for his blend of nightmarish drama and dark humor. for those of us who haven't seen “black mirror,” can you just give us an idea of the core principle? >> you're crazy. >> i'm a murderer. charlie: “black mirror” is an anthology show.

so every single episode is stand-alone, completely different, short stories, basically. and it was inspired by shows like “the twilight zone.” >> what's the hook? >> the first step is to recognize that you're not in control of this. charlie: and the focus has tended to be in the show technology or modern society. there's a sort of strand of satire running through it, media satire. it's not always about technology, but, predominantly, that's what it's become sort of known for. malcolm: and it's very dark. charlie: it's very dark. the show has a reputation for being extremely bleak and kind of like a warning. >> heads up. >> the major breaking news now here on ukn. in the last few minutes, it's been confirmed that susannah, duchess of beaumont, has been kidnapped. malcolm: in this first ever episode aired in 2011, brooker pushed viewers' tolerance to the limits with a ransom demand. the british prime minister had

to perform a very public obscene act to secure the release of the princess. charlie: i don't go into these things often with a very, like, thinking, here's the one message i want people to take from this, because i kind of think what people take from it is up to them. and there's something about that hunger or that desire to see people in lofty positions brought down and humiliated. malcolm: how important is comedy in sort of highlighting real truths? charlie: there's a lot of comedy people who also sort of work in the space of horror or, increasingly, drama as well. and i don't know why people are surprised. most satirists are sort of disappointed optimists who wish the world was better and are trying to point out flaws. [laughter] >> oh, my god. malcolm: artificial intelligence and deepfake rear their heads in the new season's opener. the life of an ordinary woman called joan is wrecked by

surveillance technology that converts her existence into a soap opera. >> what even is this show? >> no clue, but, well, we're watching it. >> no, we're not watching “joan is awful.” malcolm: how concerned are you about artificial intelligence and its potential power? charlie: i think, with things like a.i., i'm a worrier by trade. so, i do tend to catastrophize. so, i could quite easily picture a world in which we're essentially in the matrix. malcolm: do you fear that artificial intelligence could perhaps destroy us as a species? >> if not now, when? charlie: yes, it could. but all sorts of things could destroy -- we -- i mean, the thing that will destroy us as a species is us. like, we will destroy ourselves as a species with nuclear weapons or something like that, probably before -- maybe artificial intelligence would talk us out of that. >> the man is lost. charlie: aaron paul and josh hartnett play two astronauts.

they are physically up in space, because human survival is a thing that's been tested in this mission. >> i think i would like that very much. charlie: to keep them sane, they can effectively project their consciousnesses -- they spend most of their time on earth in these sort of robotic avatars. this was slightly pandemic-inspired, because it's partly the ultimate working from home. and it's about isolation and human connection and things like that. terrible things happen in this story. >> how is the new home? >> oh, still settling in, but it's good. we're out of the city, which i like. charlie: it's riffing on authentic human connection, loneliness. his wife complains at one point that she misses her husband, even though he's there on some level. >> you scared me. charlie: and then there's a sort of threat of violence throughout it. it is, like, quite deliberate that you see men doing terrible acts of violence throughout it that are being handed on malcolm: many of your shows seem to be rather like individual morality plays. is it that, or is it just entertainment?

charlie: the answer is, in a way, both, because i use -- certainly, when trying to think up an episode, what constitutes an episode, i'm looking for a hook that's quite popcorn, which is often quite darkly comic in nature. i'm a great consumer of true crime documentaries. but i'm aware that it's a bit grubby, that what i'm doing is rubbernecking. >> this guy had been abducting people. >> so that's what your documentary is about? >> the details are so awful, it is irresistible. i love it. charlie: it's about two young filmmakers who make a film about an incident that happened in the past and get more than they bargained for. and it ends on quite a sort of bitter and sour note. in my head, my concern was that people would see this as a -- as a slightly dry and detached media satire. and, actually, it's been interesting that people -- i thought i was writing a real dark comedy, and a lot of people

have been -- like, the reaction is, people are horrified by it, which is maybe something that i lose sight of. malcolm: brooker explore explores the moral maze of celebrity culture in the story of a young actress pursued by paparazzi after she kills a man in a hidden room. >> she got kicked off a movie set two weeks ago, flew home, and no one's seen her since, not home, nowhere. >> so, everybody's just cool with leaving her alone, then? >> nick is offering 30k for the first photo of her. malcolm: this may seem like a strange question, but do you like society, or do you dislike it? [laughter] charlie: do i like society? malcolm: because you're so critical of so many parts of it. charlie: am i? i mean, i'm in society. there's something to do with comedy that means you can -- you always have the slight get-out of jail-free card. you can sort of stand back and go, i was only joking. i'm only trying to entertain. do i like society? that's an extremely black and white question, that. i mean, what choice is there? like, we either -- we either have society or we have absolute chaos, and which would probably

terrify me more. malcolm: society is rapidly catching up with brooker's dystopian predictions, but he says he can raise his game if the series continues for a seventh season. for the “pbs newshour,” i'm malcolm brabant in london. amna: and that's "the newshour" for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. have a great evening. >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by. >> architect. beekeeper. mentor. a raymondjames 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 station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.]

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -today on "america's test kitchen"... keith makes julia grilled boneless skinless chicken breasts, jack challenges bridget and julia to a head to head tasting of whole dill pickles, adam reviews flatware sets, and elle makes bridget berry granita. it's all coming up right here on "america's test kitchen."