>> good evening, i'm geoff bennett. on the newshour tonight, vast areas of canada burn while maui continues its recovery from wildfires. the official responsible for not activating alert sirens resigns.

president biden meets with leaders of japan and south korea to shore up alliances amid increasing instability in the pacific. israel's minister for strategic affairs discusses the tumultuous policies at home and his country's potential diplomatic deal in saudi arabia. >> let's not underestimate the impact an israeli saudi can have on the region in the world it would effectively be at least the beginning of the israeli conflict. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour been provided by. the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour. including jim and nancy nolan and kathy and paul anderson. ♪ >> the john s and james l night

foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> good evening and welcome to the newshour. the impact of wildfires is being felt on two fronts tonight. on maui, residents are trying to rebuild their lives days after fire scorched parts of the island as they are mourning the lives lost. but for one city in canada, the

fire danger is only just beginning. traffic lined the only highway out of yellow today while residents packed airports amid urgent orders to evacuate. >> i'd never seen anything like it. i'd never heard anyone speculate something like this happening. >> a race against time. a wildfire reaching a few miles north of the capital of canada's northwest territories, home to 20,000 people. strong winds can push the flames into the city by the weekend. this year has been the worst wildfire season in canada history. more than 51,000 square miles have burned. far more than the average wildfire season, which typically scorches 9000 square miles. the wildfire danger extends to british columbia as a heat wave is bringing sweltering temperatures. >> this weather event has potential to be the most

challenging 24 to 48 hours from a fire perspective. we are expecting significant growth and expecting resources to be challenged. >> on maui, local authority facing scrutiny after the wildfire wiped away the entire town of lahaina, seemingly without warning. >> the sirens used primarily for soon armies. that is the reason why. >> maui's emerncy services chief, who defended his decision to not sound outdoor alert sirens, re-signed overnight, citing health reasons. that is has relief efforts continue. those whose homes were spared are banding together to help in anyway way they can. >> it is a touch situation. as a community, we are happy we have our homes, but our heart aches because that is our other neighbors and families.

>> the search for victims continues with more than 1000 people missing. president biden is scheduled to visit the island on monday. >> in the days other headlines, a category four hurricane over the pacific ocean could become the first tropical storm to reach southern california in 84 years. it is currently located off of mess goes western coast, packing sustained winds of 130 miles per hour. forecasters expect it to weaken by the time it hits southern california on sunday. it can bring heavy rain and flash floods into the state and other parts of the southwest. parts of this passion -- spanish island are engulfed in flames and thick smoke. the worst wildfire the area has seen in decades, burning through the wooden hillsides making it a

major tourist destination in the canary islands. as firefighters race to contain the blaze, nearly 8000 people in affected regions were left fearing for their homes. >> our lives are left there. human lives are more important, but it could have been avoided. not enough was done to prevent it from getting here. that is the sorrow we have. not the material, it is our life, our roots, the work of our relatives, our parents. >> the canary islands have been suffering through droughts for the past few years. the hot and arid conditions caused the fire to spread rapidly. russian air defenses shot down another ukrainian joan -- drone over moscow. fragments crashed into an exhibition center a few miles from the kremlin. the u.s. gave its approval for the netherlands and denmark to deliver f-16 fighter jets to ukraine. it is unclear when they will enter the conflict, but it could

take as long as a year to train the pilots. stocks were mixed on wall street. dow jones industrial average gained 26 points to close at 35,400. nasdaq fell 26 points, the s&p 500 last a fraction of a point. former first lady rosalynn carter celebrated her 96 birthday in plains, georgia. the festivities included cupcakes, peanut butter ice cream, and releasing butterflies in her garden. she's the second oldest presidential spouse in u.s. history. she's been diagnosed with dementia. former president carter continues to receive hospice care. there the longest married first couple to date. happy birthday to her. we look at the rising threats against judges, juries, and election workers. david brooks and ruth marcus weighing in on the political headlines. and a comedian talks about her journey to the stage and her

first special. >> this is the pbs newshour, from w eta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. >> president biden met with the leaders of japan and south korea at camp david. japan and south korea had long had antagonistic relations. today's meeting is a new starting point for the countries. they released the camp david principles, promising to consult with one another if either felt security was threatened. they committed to military coordination by real-time information about north korean ballistic missile lost his -- launches. they vowed to expand trilateral exercise and establish the three-way hotline for crisis communication. president biden said it will have long-lasting effects. >> this is historic.

we are about to lay in place a long-term structure for a relationship that will last and have a phenomenal impact. not just in asia, but around the world. it is a big deal. this is a big deal. >> just how significant are the new agreements? mike is a professor at the elliott school of international affairs at the george washington university. he focuses on japan and security in asia. it is good to have you here. >> thank you for having me. >> these agreements on joint military and technology initiatives come against the backdrop of beijing's growing power. in your view, what impact will this have? >> first of all, what it does is enhances deterrence and coordination among the united states, japan, and south korea to counter the aggressive

behavior by china. there can also be a negative consequence of the campaign of the summit. it could intensify the confrontational divide between the u.s., japan, and south korea on one hand, and china, north korea, and russia on the other hand. as a result of the camp david meeting, the other trilateral could respond in ways that could undermine the security of japan and south korea. >> one imagines the annual joint exercises between japan and south korea would most anger the chinese government. china just finished its own exercises with russia. how might china respond to that? >> what china will do is most likely engage in behavior,

engaged in more military exercises in japan's neighborhood with russia. and will be less of a constraining force on north korea in terms of the development of its nuclear weapons programs. the real concern for japan and south korea is it could lead to a real divide in asia between those countries that seem to be much more dependent upon china and the countries in asia that are aligned with the u.s. >> what might this mean for taiwan? the feet -- three countries have an interest in the taiwan strait and east china sea. >> yes, certainly the camp david statement talked about the

importance to peace and stability in the taiwan strait. this is something the leaders of japan, the u.s., south korea, have already said and other joint statements. i think the real concern is there might not be any kind of restraining factor in terms of the intensification of changes across the taiwan strait. i sense in japan and south korea, there is a feeling that the united states may be overreacting to some of the provocations by china. so doing might be exasperating the tensions and ultimately increase the danger of military conflict. so they would be very much interested in having the u.s. engage in a serious dialogue

with china in order to stabilize relations with china and try and diffuse tensions across the taiwan strait. >> this summit has been a real shot in the arm for american diplomacy. the troubled relationship between south korea and japan has been the weak link in washington's efforts in the indo pacific. why was the moment right now to bring it together and how has the biden done it? >> major credit has to go to president yoon. japan and south korea locked intentions regarding the wartime forced labor issue. japan insisted the forced labor issue had been resolved in the 1965 normalization process. in the end, the president made the bold decision to basically

make a dramatic concession to japan and have the south korean spade for compensation for forced labor. unfortunately, this has not been a popular decision in south korea. 60% of the south korean public oppose the decision by the president. i think what he's been trying to do is move very rapidly to improve security relations with japan and the u.s. to lock in these games so they will survive , even after his presidential term ends in 2027. president biden sees this opportunity to move the ball forward by inviting both the prime minister and president to camp david.

>> thank you for your insight. we appreciate it. a top israeli delegation is here in washington to discuss the broad outlines of a once unthinkable agreement between israel and the kingdom of saudi arabia to normalize diplomatic relations. nick schifrin explains. >> the agreement shepherded by the trump administration between israel and former adversaries come the prospect of the biggest prize, but what price for israel, u.s. and saudi arabia? unprecedented civil of people -- up people as the government looks to constrain the supreme court in what critics say could destroy the nature of israeli democracy. with me to discuss this is the minister of strategic affairs.

welcome to the newshour. among the topics you are here to discuss is normalization between israel and saudi arabia which officials are prioritizing, hoping in the next year, and part of it would be allowing saudi arabia to have civil nuclear capacity, including enrichment. does the israeli government support it? >> the devil is in the details. we have to look at what is agreed upon. they have put the civilian nuclear program, which you probably are aware of, they could go to china or france and set up a civil nuclear program and allow for domestic enrichment, they can do that if they wanted to tomorrow. the question i asked myself is if the u.s. is involved, what will it mean 10 years down the road, and what is the alternative. there are other issues. >> it sounds like you are not against it.

that is not necessarily the policy of the israeli government over the last few decades. there has been a long tradition opposing nuclear expansion in the region. it used to be known as the pagan doctrine. -- who prime minister benjamin netanyahu. it bombed in a nuclear reactor to prove his doctrine. does the israeli government believe the bacon doctrine no longer applies? it definitely applies. countries in the region can have civilian nuclear power. that is a different story than a nuclear weapons program. >> the pharma national security advisor said saudi arabia joining the nuclear club would produce a widening of nuclear proliferation in the region. other countries would work to require and rainy -- uranium capabilities in their own territory. what does israel want? >> we are not going to breed a nuclear weapons program with our neighbors. the question will be when it comes to the details, what are

the safeguards and what happens if they take another path? to the chinese or something else. we have to think through that. let's not underestimate the impact and israeli saudi peace agreement could have on the region and the world. if you get the saudi israeli peace, you will have other countries to follow. it is the ultimate game changer. >> we have to deal with palestinians. saudi arabia will demand concessions when it comes to the palestinians. ending the legal settlement activity, curbing large settlements, strengthening palestinian authority and expanding the territory. are you willing to give that to the saudi's? >> it may surprise you, but i'm not going to negotiate on pbs. the way we look at this issue, not just this or that price. we would like to achieve a peace agreement. >> there is no peace until there are these concessions.

-- >> i don't think they have been specific with concessions. i think what saudi arabia looks at this move with the u.s. as something to anchor their alliance with america. i think we both have an interest seeing if we can get the palestinians on a path to lead to a political settlement. >> let's talk about judicial reforms. efforts the prime minister describes as reforms to israel's all-powerful judiciary. you represent government coalition negotiating with the opposition in the president's house. if the house of representatives, by a small majority, wants to abuse the rights of the minority, it would pass a law going through the house and senate signed by the president, goes through the federal court system, as guaranteed by the constitution. if the parliament wants to impose its majority on the minority, there is one check, the israeli supreme court.

where are you trying to remove that? we are not trying to move the check. there are many checks the supreme court has on the authority of the executive branch. when a law is passed, they can decide whether the law is a conflict of interest, if there was due process, if it is proportionate. there was an extra check you don't have in your system. the judges could decide, we don't believe it is reasonable. in israel, you cannot replace the will of the public through their elected representatives with 15 unelected judges to decide it is reasonable or not. >> since you have been pushing this through, there is method of protest -- massive protests. inflows are down, start ups are registering abroad. moody's and s&p warned about investing in israel. the military have repeatedly warned a crisis of readiness because of the fissures your reforms have created in society and are now threatening not to show up.

is it not a failure of leadership? >> i don't think so. unfortunately, some protesters have crossed lines that should never have been crossed. we are a citizen's army. the army should never have been brought into it. >> are you criticizing individual members for protesting? >> no, of course not. protest is a fundamental right in democracy. i don't think you should come to an elected government and say if you don't adopt this or that policy, we are not going to serve. >> you have israeli military leaders warning the prime minister this is a readiness issue. that is more than a question of individual reserve. >> the military reservists decided to dictate policy >> military leaders said there is a significant -- >> people make decision and democracy are not military reservists, it is the elected branch of government. israel's democratic leaders have to make that decision. >> for the first time in its history, the entire 15 judge is really supreme court will hear

an appeal against the law that curves its own powers. will you respect their decision? >> israel is a country with a rule of law. we will abide by law. it is important to understand the judges cannot be above the law. what is the authority that gives the power of the supreme court to decide to nullify -- it has never happened in israel's history. >> also never that the supreme court had to hear a case about curbing its own power. will you abide by the court ruling? >> the prime minister put out two principles, always respect decisions of the supreme court and the supreme court should never be above the law. >> thank you very much. >> after georgia officials announced the fourth indictment of former president trump, threats of violence escalated.

white house correspondent lower burrell lopez has more on the trend and its impact on civil servants. cracks first, ruby freeman, an election worker targeted and smeared by trump and his allies in the aftermath of the 2020 election. the georgia indictment details how members of the enterprise traveled from out of state to harass freeman, intimidate her, and surrett -- solicit her to falsely attest to crime she did not commit. last week, a racist death threat against the judge presiding over the federal january 6 case led to an arrest. a familiar pattern. trump post vitriolic attacks and conspiracies, then his most ardent followers threaten the targets of those attacks. tammy patrick knows the stakes well. a former election worker that has now become the ceo of programs at the national association for election officials. thank you for joining newshour. ruby freeman and her daughter, who is also an election worker,

spoke about the impact of the intimidation on their lives. >> there is nowhere i feel safe. nowhere. do you know how it feels to have the president of the united states to target you? the president of the united states is supposed to represent every american. not to target one. >> has turned my life upside down. i no longer give out my business card. i don't transfer calls. i don't want anyone knowing my name. >> what did you think after you saw the georgia indictment criminalize the harassment ruby and her daughter faced? >> it is a much welcomed response to the situation we are in. for many election

administrators, coworkers, and individuals in our community that stepped forward on election day to help citizens cast ballots, they are faced with the same threats. although it is extreme to have the president or former president of the u.s. attacking you personally, much of this is still going on to this day. we need to hold people accountable. it is really creating a problem for the conduct of elections in this country. >> you work with election officials, what are they telling you about the steps to protect themselves? >> listening to those comments from election workers, i'm reminded of stories i hear from election officials across the country. stories of individuals taking their names off of the mailbox at the end of the driveway on the family farm where the family has farmed for generations because people are coming out of state attacking them. individuals who no longer go to the local grocery store, they

have to pick up groceries curbside because they used to tell me they would walk down the streets of their hometown and felt like pillars of the community. now they feel like pariahs because of the attacks and assaults. it is not just the election workers or officials, it is their friends and families. many get calls and say things like we know your daughter's bedroom is the second one on the back of the house by the oak tree. or we know that your son walks to school in the morning and goes down 3rd street and turns on elma. these are the sorts of tactics people are using to intimidate our election officials and scare them away from a job and profession that they love. >> certainly terrifying stories. do you see a through-line between the experiences of ruby freeman and other election workers and the treatment of the

jurors and judges? >> we find ourselves in an environment where it has become acceptable for some to leverage what they believe are their first amendment rights to attack others and foment violence and intimidate and threaten others in their official capacity or incapacity they have been tasked with, whether a juror or stepping into serve as a temporary poll worker. this is definitely pervasive. we are seeing it at school board meetings, with poll workers, with jurors, judges. we have to understand this is not the way of free and fair society functions. and we need to hold people accountable when they step beyond that line of the first amendment protections and step into the line yelling fire in a crowded theater. >> ruby freeman and her daughter

are both no longer election officials due to their experience. how are those threats, the intimidation you laid out, impacting your ability to recruit future election workers? >> in this moment, it is difficult finding individuals who will run for office that have the right motivations to serve in that office who want to be appointed as county registrar or auditor of elections or a supervisor of elections, to serve as county clerk. it is just as critical to have the hundreds of thousands of individuals we need to serve at the polling places and work in the warehouse, prior to election day preparing materials. >> are you using -- losing institutional knowledge in the administration of elections because of threats like this? >> we are absolutely in a situation where when individuals believe the profession, they

often times take a lifetime of institutional knowledge, which is hard to get back. one of the challenges is with the loss of institutional knowledge, we could see the increase of errors. with the errors occurring, i think it will be the case because we saw this in the midterm elections, any error can be manipulated and leveraged and weaponized as though it is demonstrating our elections are illegitimate, or that they lack integrity when in fact, elections are conducted by people for people, and errors can happen. that is why it is important to have infrastructures in place so when a mistake is done, we have a situation where we can step in with policies and protocols to remedy those errors. >> tammy patrick, thank you.

>> thank you for having me. >> for a breakdown of the week's political headlines, turning to the analysis of brooks and marcus, david brooks and ruth marcus, associate editor for the washington post. jonathan capehart is away tonight. looking at the week that was, donald trump and 18 of his associates were indicted in georgia in a charging document accusing him of being the head of a criminal enterprise to overturn the 2020 election. it strikes me donald trump has legal problems and political problems in georgia. as the wall street journal pointed out in a well reported article, it captures the way in which trump fatigue is pervasive, especially among suburban independence and disenchanted republicans.

then you have brian kemp, who called out donald trump's election lies and tried to push the party beyond obsessing over the last election. does georgia provide a roadmap for republicans to move beyond donald trump? the republicans who want to do that? >> georgia republicans saw trumpism face-to-face, not just lies of somebody else, they were directed at them. they have seen the reality and are unable to escape to respond to that. i thought brian kemp would have been the strongest republican to run against trump. very successful governor who demonstrated curse -- courage. deciding not to run was in my mind, a tragedy of the party. i'm glad the republicans are one of the few brave holdouts. we need somebody to lead the charge. he was in perfect position.

>> you asked if it is the road map, i think it is the road not taken. we have seen this road not taken by republican candidates and elected officials for years. that is because in their perception, which is probably correct, it is not in their political self-interest to do that. one of the interesting political questions involves georgia itself. very few battleground states in the 2024 election, georgia was close. donald trump only needed 11,900 780 votes. i do wonder since governor kemp had the state by a large margin, donald trump lost to joe biden by a small margin, if the impact of georgia might be in georgia rather than elsewhere. >> donald trump is planning to skip the first presidential debate.

it is scheduled for wednesday, expected to set for an online interview with tucker carlsen. what do you make of that decision, and how might it affect the debate? >> he saying i'm bigger than the republican party. it wants candidates to debate. donald trump is no stranger to violating norms. politically if i were an advisor to trump, i'd say he's doing the right thing. why put him in the path of chris christie if he doesn't need to? it will transform the debate. it looks like a debate of contenders vying with each other to see who gets to face off with the champ. i would imagine it would be tough for ron desantis, the path leads to desantis. every other candidate on the stage will take down ron desantis and tell the donor class and disaffected republicans that i'm the guy. it is up to me. i'm looking at it as the

primaries to get to trump. hopefully somebody will emerge. >> ron desantis said, without mentioning donald trump's name, all republican contenders of it to the people to showp on that stage. they said they know his record, and why should he share the stage with people polling in the single digits? >> my hope for wednesday's debate are that trump's absence allows for two things, a little bit more talk about substance, i know it sounds incredibly naive, but more talk about substance then we would half if trump were there. i hope it allows one or two candidates to emerge from the pack and get their chance to shine. i want to take issue with machiavellian brooks over there. we have seen this from donald trump before.

when there was a gop debate in iowa and he did not turn up. a few weeks later, he lost to ted cruz, or the numbers said he did. it is the smart thing to do when you are sitting on a lead not to devalue yourself by exposing yourself to your competitors, but it makes him look like a coward as chris christie said. it creates the space that would not have been there if donald trump were in the room. for others to emerge and become a serious challenge. >> on the democratic side, congressman dean phillips on the immediate tour of late. he was begging for a prominent fellow democrat to mount a prominent challenge. democrats are saying they want not a coronation, but competition. is it a widely held view? >> i don't know if it is a solo

mission. it is not a mission that is going to end with what he wants. there are problems with joe biden's candidacy, many democrats behind the scenes. a few who talk about his age, other problem with his candidacy. but i'm old enough to remember 1980 and what happened to the democratic party when it was driven by division. if somebody were to emerge and talent joe biden, him having decided to run, his vice president who if he somehow chose not to run, if she were not the nominee, that would create divisions within the -- demographics of the party. i think democrats are going to war with what they view as their strongest candidate for good reason. joe biden.

no matter what dean phillips says, that is how it will be. >> what is your view and how might he turn his age into an asset? >> have him run a marathon. that would do it. the phillips idea that there is a mystery moderate governor the democrats can turn to, there is problems for joe biden running for reelection, his age primarily. his approval ratings are low. when you look at some alternative, the mystery moderate from the midwest, gavin newsom, or anyone else, things start unraveling. democrats are lucky to have a candidate in biden who has presided over a strong economic recovery, pretty good international peacemaking efforts in asia this week and europe. and who i believe numbers will go up as inflation recedes and the strong job numbers are there. they are lucky to have a candidate who is not a member of

the coastal ite. joe biden sends off all the cultural messages for voters with no college degrees, and democrats are not grateful enough for what they have, in my opinion. >> thank you both. have a great weekend. ♪ >> turning her interesting, sometimes tumultuous life story into comedy comes naturally for her. we sat down to see how the humor lands with an ever-growing audience and helps her sort out the life story. the conversation is part of our arts and culture series. cracks her comedy is physical. -- please eat.

>> her style eccentric. >> the weird one. and she knows how to hook her audience. she is an internet sensation with followers who watch as she marries her husband for the second time. and dances with her grandmother, who now has a separate fan base of her own. she rocketed to viral fame with the creation of her own drop challenge to a beyonce song. one million people watched her. creating their own videos, including serino williams and mandy moore. >> my husband and i had an intruder come to our house. >> she shines in her first comedy special, the intruder.

>> it starts to run away. >> from quirky observational you -- humor that strikes a chord. >> there is a part of my house i stand out because i pay rent. i'm always like this is like $30 right here. why don't i ever stand here? you pay for it, at least feel it. >> she sat down with me recently and talked about discovering comedy in an unlikely place. what did you see that said this is what i want to do? >> when i first watched stand-up comedy was margaret cho. the dvd handed to me during a really boring sermon at church. one of my friends passed it to me was like this is stand-up comedy. it was someone who looked like me. it wouldn't be two years later that a boyfriend told me i was funny and i should try doing standup. >> it also took years to get her own special.

she's just the second asian american woman ever to get her own hbo comedy special. the first was margaret cho, over two decades ago. >> i never saw asian people on television or in movies. my dreams were somewhat limited. i would dream maybe someday i could be an extra on mash. >> it is not about them going you cannot say that out loud, there is only enough slots for so many asians at a time. they show it to you. you have to push past a lot of barriers. >> why did you think it took so long? >> i think people are afraid of things not working. people are afraid of things they are not used to seeing. but they have to trust the audience. the audience has been asking for it. i mean like that with social media, stand up comedians can

post clips online, gain their own followers, go on tour, and the audience is there. it proves people want to see this. then the industry usually listens. >> you have a story people can relate to, coming here, learning how to fit in, and your comedy special is called the intruder. is there another meaning behind the title? >> yes. i'm glad you saw it. it is not so over the head. the double entendre is as a formally undocumented immigrant, i oftentimes felt like i was intruding on everyone else. >> what do you mean by that? >> coming to someone else's country and culture, and being without papers means you are not really supposed to be here. anyone who's ever felt like an outsider, just because you talk differently or look differently

or dress differently, i think you may have felt like an intruder as well. >> her road to success was unlikely. born in taiwan, she spent her early childhood in japan before moving to the u.s. at the age of 10 with her mother and grandmother. for years, she lived undocumented, hiding parts of her identity. today, she owns it. >> i am a product of divorced parents. was undocumented for seven years due to my grandma. my grandma told me how long we would be here. >> tell me about your family and how you came to live in the u.s.. >> my mom and grandma and i moved to the u.s.. i did not know i was moving here. my grandma is so sweet, unassuming looking, this old asian woman. but she was a liar.

she told me we were coming to the states for a two month vacation. then she had us overstay our tourist visas and become undocumented, living in my uncles garage. that is how she at least got me to move to l.a. >> the challenges, some very personal, feeding her work. and she doesn't shy away from the tough stuff. >> my dad is on his third divorce. my mom says at a certain point, i want to look at my family and be like if you wanted me to do comedy, you could have just told me. >> you talked about your mother's own mental illness, why do you think it is important to weave those details into your work? >> as a kid, i always made sad things funny. not just for me, but for my family. it is how i communicate with people. i go this very difficult to talk

about subject, mental illness, let's talk about it. i will make you laugh while i'm doing it. that will we both feel better. >> she continues to tour across the country, bringing her comedy and building connections wherever she goes. >> what do you love about this work? when you can make an entire room laugh? >> it is finding community. and my fans are fellow weirdos. you are a fellow weirdo for even connecting with me. watching my comedy, laughing at it. you are not normal. that is what i love. we can all find each other and be like yes, we are not alone. in all the times we may have felt that way. that is why i love it. ♪

>> we will be back shortly with a look at what is coming up on washington week and news weekend. take a moment to hear from your local pbs news station. a chance to offer your support keeping programs like this one on the air. >> for those of you staying with us, we take a second look at a unique public art program. as with many cities in the rust belt, fort wayne, indiana went through tough times has manufacturing plants closed. jobs dried up and people left. recently the city has seen a turnaround and made a big investment in public art. cap weiss spent time with an artist who is a driving force behind that effort. part of the arts and culture series canvas. >> above a busy street in

downtown fort wayne, in a quiet studio apartment, alexandra hall brings colorful, playful creatures to life with paint and brush. hall, who is 37, grew up in fort wayne and has been a full-time artist since 2015. over the years, she has drawn and painted a variety of subjects, including portraits, still life, and delightful tipsy frogs. she's become known for her large-scale paintings of animals and pattern filled costumes. >> i'm inspired by a lot of different things. travel, sometimes a person on the sidewalk. for a very long time, i created the things i have seen into whimsical animals. >> tell me about the dripping of the paint. >> i think there is chaos in every piece. there needs to be that release

of control. the idea nothing in our life is unchanging and nothing in our life is fully in control. that has been part of my life story >> her life took an unexpected turn when she was diagnosed with cancer. >> back when i was ill, i was spending a lot of time in bed. it was up to me to create the world around me and make it interesting. >> after recovering and going to college, she began traveling and discovered a love of public art. >> when i traveled, i noticed communities organically have a small public art presence. i found myself more drawn to those places and spaces because they have some sort of story to tell. at the time, i thought i cannot wait to live in a place like this. i want to leave indiana. >> she eventually decided not to

leave, instead bringing public art to her hometown. >> in the summer, it can be a place to hang out, read a book, it is quieter than the street side. >> in 2016, she started a donation funded organization. now a nonprofit part of fort wayne's downtown improvement district, the organization for the states public art projects on private property, and the development of pedestrian friendly spaces. >> we work really hard to make spaces walkable in the sense that there is art every so often, often enough you are intrigued. >> the art has helped breathe new life into the city, which during the downturn years, had seen an increase in vacant parking lots and abandoned buildings. today, once dark alley ways are now the destination. >> tell me about this piece. >> it is 77 steps.

we have seen engagement photos, it can do a lot of different things. we program for special events and holidays. you name it. the community loves it. >> the projects including her own works, are part of a growing collection of public art the city. nearly 150 pieces, including a new sculpture in honor of ukraine. >> you are supposed to engage with it. the works we install, you can touch them. you can stand and be pictured with your crown and wings. >> events like the annual art crawl draw locals and visitors, and perhaps convince some of the visitors to stay. >> more people are moving in then moving out. it is a big deal. it is something to be proud of. >> he was a retired fort brown business owner and head of the improvement district. he says public art played a significant role in fort wayne's

revitalization efforts, which have included riverfront development and a baseball stadium. nationally, a 2018 survey by the nonprofit americans for the arts , found 70% of americans believe the arts improve the image and identity of their community. in indiana, arts and cultures is a 7.6 billion dollar industry supporting more than 78,000 jobs. brown says in fort wayne, nearly everyone is on board with public art. but it took time to get there. >> the change was the realization the arts can drive economic development. >> hall and other artists have been building on that trust and expanding their impact. like smith, who goes by the artistic name fresh laundry. smith, the internationally recognized artist whose work can be seen throughout fort wayne and the bradley hotel, has high hopes for his city.

>> i want it to be in the north region. being the second largest city in indiana, people of all walks of life coming into see what we have to offer. we want to scream and echo arts. >> as the city grows, he wants to make sure everyone can access the arts. >> you have in between gentrification and revitalization to make sure you have the right thing. let's make it cohesive. you want people to feel invited, like i belong here. >> hall also wants to make public art more accessible. >> what we have created is a huge melting pot of street art. a lot of diversity in the cultures and ethnicities, where someone is from. >> she's consulting with communities outside of fort wayne. she has led more than three dozen projects in rural towns in indiana, new york, and pennsylvania. while she still loves to travel,

she has no plans to leave her hometown. for the pbs newshour, cat wise. >> later this evening, tune into washington week with the atlantic. jeffrey goldberg has a preview. >> hey. it is a busy week. we will be talking about indictments. a special focus on the georgia indictment. we will talk about rudy giuliani a bit. the seeming downfall of a person once referred to as america's mayor. there is a lot to talk about. we have a great panel. i hope everyone joins in. >> we will be sure to watch. on pbs news week at, how families are preparing for a new montana law banning certain

medical treatments for minors with gender dysmorphia. >> at 14, sid started taking puberty blockers. at 17, began hormone therapy. they firmly feel it was the right choice. >> basically just drone my confidence. made me happier. i feel like i have a future. i can grow up and be an adult. i'm ready to exist on this planet. >> sid is among the last group of transgender youth who can legally receive gender affirming care. >> that is tomorrow on pbs news weekend. that is the newshour for tonight. much more online, including a look at an effort for surprise billing for ambulance rides not regulated under the so-called no surprises health care act. i'm geoff bennett. thank you for joining us. have a great weekend. >> major funding for the pbs

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♪ ♪ hello and welcome to "amanpour & company." here's what's coming up. >> many have died to take each kilometer. >> ukraine makes gains in its grueling counteroffensive. nick paton walsh reports from the outskirts of a newly liberated ukrainian