wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. the xfinity 10g network. made for streaming. ♪ john: tonight on pbs news weekend. as the war in israel reaches its second month, fighting near hospitals in gaza grows and calls for a ceasefire intensify. then. with the supreme court considering gun ownership for domestic abusers, we look at the role firearms play in domestic violence incidents. how horses are helping veterans cope with th trauma they've suffered in combat. mike: he came up to me and he, he put his head right on my shoulder, he put his head right

on my shoulder and just, it, it just like lowers everything down. it can almost bring you to tears. >> major funding for pbs news weekend has been provided by. >> consumer cellular, this is sam, how may i help you? >> this is a pocket dial. >> we get nationwide coverage with no contract. >> that is kind of our thing. have a nice day. ♪ >> and with the ongoing support of these ongoing individuals and institutions. and friends of "the newshour." ♪

this program was made possible by the program for public broadcasting from viewers like you. thank you. john: good evening. i'm john yang. tonight, international aid organizations are raising alarms about conditions at gaza's main hospital, as israel's war against hamas has left it without power. the head of the international committee of the red cross says it's an "unbearably desperate situation." the un humanitarian chief says there is "no justification" for what's happening. israeli prime minster benjamin netanyahu says hamas is responsible for civilian casualties because they use them as shields. our report tonight is from special correspondent leila molana-allen.

leila: hospitals are going down, losing power amid the destruction. a local journalist captured an explosion last night at gaza's indonesian hospital. it was reported that surgeries there have halted and the hamas run health industry says the territories largest medical facility can no longer do surgeries or run life-support equipment after running out of fuel. doctors without borders and other medical ngos claim patients inside the hospital were fired upon. palestinian health minister called for more to be done. >> it is now threatened because it lacks oxygen, it lacks

electricty, fuel. leila: there is fighting but no siege or strikes on it. a military spokesperson added israeli forces will evacuate babies trow. israel claims hamas has built command centers under hospitals. hamas denies this. 800 miles away in re-add, saudi arabia today dozens of leaders called for an immediate end to the war in gaza. more in the west are adding pressure on israel. emmanuel macron joined the growing cause for a cease-fire. >> i think there is no justification. leila: hundreds of thousands marched on armistice day in support of palestinians. dozens were arrested. in tel aviv, friends and families of more than 230 people taken hostage marched in her

name. back in gaza, as the conflict rages with no end in sight, thousands of more palestinians fled to southern gaza, a journey marked by desperation. >> the road is all suffering. suffering the devil itself would not think of. i have witnessed three conflicts and never something like this. i don't know where my sons are. my wife needs kidney dialysis. there are no signs of life. we are the same. john: russian missiles theatened the ukrainian capital of kyiv today for the first timen nearly two months. the sound of air sirens sent residents scrambling for safe shelter, ending a 52-day period of calm. ukrainian officials say air defenses intercepted all the missiles. the fiercest fighting remains in the regions to the south and east of the capital. pope francis took the rare step today of removing a bishop.

joseph strickland was bishop of tyler, texas and one of the loudest voices within the american church critical of pope francis' liberalization attempts. the most recent point of contention was the pope's efforts to make the church more welcoming of the lgbtq+ community. president biden marked veterans day today with the traditional wreath-laying at the tomb of the unknown soldier at arlington national cemetery. afterward, he spoke of his connection with the day because of his late son, beau, who served in iraq. president biden: like it was yesterday, i can still hear what he told me when he signed up to serve. i said, "beau, why?" he said, god's truth, he said, "dad, it's my duty." folks, as a nation, we owe them. we owe you. not just for keeping the flame of freedom burning during our darkest moments, but for serving our communities even after they hang up their uniforms.

john: mr. biden use the week to announce two initiatives. a task force aimed at protecting veterans and their families from scams the elimination of co-payments, enrollment fees and monthly premiums for living world war ii veterans getting v-a health care. still to come, after the fall of roe v. wade, why more men are having vasectomies. a connecticut farm where horses are helping veterans deal with combat trauma. >> this is pbs news weekend from weta studios in washington. home of the pbs newshour. weeknights on pbs. john: earlier this week, the supreme court heard arguments over whether the government may bar people subject to domestic violence protective orders from having a gun. the decision will come by next summer. domestic violence and a firearm can be a deadly combination. according to cdc numbers, every month, an average of 70 women

are shot and killed by an intimate partner. and a study found that access to a gun makes it five times more likely that a woman will die at the hands of a domestic abuser. kelly roskam is the director of law and policy at the johns hopkins center for gun violence solutions. kelly, thanks so much for being here. we talked about the outcomes of the mix of guns and domestic violence. in an episode of domestic violence, how does the presence of a gun change the dynamic? what effect does it have? kelly: the presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation often turns violence into lethality. so what we know is that over half of women murdered in the united states are murdered by their intimate partners. more than half of those intimate partner homicides are committed with firearms. john: how common is this? i mean, you talk about the half of those that are committed, but how common is this? is it more common, do you think, than people realize?

kelly: i do think it's more common than people realize. thousands of women every year are murdered by their intimate partners. john: what more should be done about this? kelly: what should be done is that people subject to domestic violence protective orders should be prohibited not only from purchasing and possessing firearms, but there should be mechanism after the issuance of an order to ensure that an individual who's subject to that order is giving up those guns. john: i was going to ask about that because the person who's the subject of the supreme court case was told when he had the protective order that he could not have a gun, that if he did, he would be violating federal law. he continued to have a gun and continued to use a gun. and they searched his apartment and found the guns and also found the protective order in his apartment. is there any other proactive way of doing that? kelly: there absolutely is. while all 50 states and the district of columbia have civil domestic violence protective orders and the vast majority of

those states prohibit purchase and possession. many fewer states have specific removal laws detailing how respondents are meant to give up those guns and to ensure that there's there is complnce with that order. john: how often is that federal law prosecuted or is this more a way of denying someone a purchase if if they in the background check, if this turns up? kelly: well, while violations of the law are prosecuted, it's much more likely that they would be prohibited from purchasing. again, states have similar laws prohibiting people subject to these orders from having firearms and include those removal policies. john: are they more effective? is there are the results more effective? are you finding among the states and how do they do the removal policy? kelly: so we do find that studies show that having a removal policy in addition to prohibiting purchase and possession, shows greater

reductions in intimate partner homicide. states are doing this in a variety of different ways by providing explicit instructions to respondents to surrender firearms to, for example, enforcement. federally licensed by arms dealers or identified third parties. and then some states include the schedule of a compliance hearing where a respondent is required to come back before a judge and show proof of compliance. if not, that information may be forwarded to law enforcement to determine if they should seek a search warrants and if charges should be brought. john: i know in your work you speak with public health officials a lot. do they say that there are red flags or warning signs that a relationship could turn violent? kelly: yes. i mean, one of the biggest indicators are the use of firearms in nonlethal or nonfatal situations. so threats of the use of firearms, threats to children, threats to other family members, and also threats to strangers. but additional behaviors like

strangulation are big indicators of lethality in domestic violence situations. john: kelly roskam of the johns hopkins center for gun violence solutions. thank you very much. kelly: thank you. ♪ john: an estimated 15% of veterans who served in iraq and afghanistan suffer from ptsd and depression. for some, it's the invisible wounds that take the greatest toll. pamela watts of "rhode island pbs weekly" reports on a program that helps ease those struggles with horses. >> winston churchill said the outside of a horse is good for the inside of a person. there is magic that happens being around an animal that large, with that type of energy. pamela: on this connecticut farm in 2015, thor torgersen

co-founded a not-for-profit to help combat veterans. >> i have seen individuals who have been homeless, addicted to drugs, incapable of walking on their own without a walker or a wheelchair, become fully mobile, off of their addictions. own their own home now, drive, incredible. it's a 100% transformation. we have anecdotal data where there have been individuals that have told me they have not ended their lives because of this program. he will want to walk out. pamela: the program is simply called vets. >> horses are, you know, just by nature, the poster child of ptsd, they have hypervigilance, trust issues, fight or flight issues. all of the markers of traditional ptsd. that is a survival mechanism. we have veterans who come in who have those same issues. when they come and i jokingly say you are just a horse. we could work with that. pamela: the equine specialists

first encourage veterans to totally unwind, shaking off tension with deep breaths. let the horse know they are calm, in control and a decisive leader. >> if you put both hands on him and do that breathing exercise you are trying to relax and make him relax by you relaxing . pamela: torgersen says horses are perceptive. they can sense anger and stress in humans. empathy, compassion and emotional management lead the horse to respond. the hope is veterans take those skills off the farm and into their lives. it doesn't require mounting a horse, just harnessing trust. >> if i taught you to ride a horse, and you never interacted with a horse again, the scale of the experience would be wasted. understanding the animal at a deeper lel that makes you want to understand yourself. pamela: torgersen says the program can be transformational. >> there are people who have had

to see and do things that no one should have to see or do. you want to stuff those in the darkest place that you can. many people feel that they can never come back from that darkness. >> it wasn't right. a lot of bad things done to human people. a lot of wrong that you would see in a humanitarian situation. pamela: mike warren found himself in that darkness. he was an 18-year-old marine when he was deployed to the gulf waron the way, his company was rerouted to evacuate u.s. citizens from liberia during its civil war. >> i saw a kid out in the street, you know, he had to be like 11 years old, shoot, shoot an adult. just things that you never fomela: there were two deployments to iraq. how did you get diagnosed with

ptsd? >> i didn't know until later. i ended up going through an alcoholic and drug rehabilitation treatment. pamela: you were self-medicating? >> i self medicated. pamela: why? >> to try to suppress the feelings that i had of the things that i have seen. pamela: how did this program make a difference for you? >> i'm here today because of the program. i was in the hospital five times four suicide. wanting to commit suicide. pamela: warren is now a volunteer here, caring for more than the horses. he helps veterans entering the program. some one hundred service people have come through these gates, all served free of charge. pamela: families of veterans also benefit. sara stepalovich was pregnant, with a young son at home, when her husband got deployed with the coast guard. she gave birth

to her son with down syndrome. she was raising both boys alone, while her husband was frequently at sea. >> i like to say that out of something really dark came something really beautiful. i was at a moment of total crisis. my oldest is here all the time. he loves coming out here. my youngest absolutely loves it here. my husband has benefited from this program. this is my second home, my second family, i found my tribe. pamela: stepalovich also found her calling at the farm. >> am trying to get certified in equine body work. i'm getting hopefully my equine specialist in mental health and learning. pamela: mike warren believes the program has helped him communicate better with family and friends. >> at first the horse starts to break you down. it opens your heart. he's a good boy. aren't u? pamela: warren cherishes a

breakthrough moment. while cleaning the paddock, this horse, named gump, showed his appreciation. >> he came up to me and put his head on my shoulder. it could almost bring you to tears. pamela: in this space, and at this pace, soldiers who have returned home from war, are finding peace. >> when i'm here, i'm not there, you know what i mean? when i'm here with the horses, i'm in a different place, a tranquil place. it is a lifesaver. pamela: for pbs news weekend, i'm pamela watts in stonington, connecticut. ♪ john: since the supreme court struck down the right to seek an abortion last year. health providers across the country say

there is more interest in vasectomies as birth control, and there are efforts to make the procedure more accessible. communities correspondent gabrielle hayes spoke with doctors and patients in missouri, which is where she's based i want to get to your conversations in a bit. is there hard numbers to illustrate this? gabrielle: there absolutely is. we got a bit of a peek of what that looks like earlier this year when researchers from the cleveland clinic released data that essentially shows that nationally we saw more than a 30% increase in requests for vasectomies. more than 20% increase in people actually going through with the procedure. i think, you know, to zoom out a -- of the state of missouri, provids tell me they have seen an increase where they have been working later after the decision to bring more access to the procedure to the uninsurednd underinsured. john: tell us about the

situation in missouri, which is where you are now? gabrielle: it's important to know that almost immediately after this dobbs decision came down last year that missouri essentially made it illegal to get an abortion. the only exception was a medical emergency. providers tell me that, you know, they saw the number of people getting vasectomies rise as much as 100% last year. but you know, for instance, a perfect example would be just last week, planned parenthood held a three day vasectomy clinic in three different cities across state of missouri that was open to 100 people. 100 people signed up. 91 of them, i'm told, actually followed through a got the procedure. so they say that the need is exponential, but not just in missouri. i spoke to a doctor, dr. scott gorin, also known as dr. g, who has a mobile clinic in iowa. he came from iowa to saint louis to

help with the with the said to -- a vasectomy patients last week. he tells me even in his state where he is with his mobile clinic, he drives all over the state in order to bring access to people not only looking for the procedure in his state, but people coming from out of state to get it as well. >> normally i was doing not that many, 40-45 s ectomy's in a month -- vasectomies in a month. in the first 48 hours, 20 people gned up. we saw a bump of 100% in july, 2020 two. that trend continued and it came down. at this moment, ever since roe v. wade was overturned, we have not gone back to the pre-decision numbers. at least our clinic, 30%-50% overall increase in the numbers.

it was a big impact. gabrielle: dr. g made it clear to me that even in those 48 hours post the dobbs decisions last year, he saw a 300% increase in just traffic to his website alone. he's in iowa now, still performing vasectomies and is about to head out of the country. so far, he says he's performed at least 5000 vasectomies in his career. john: and gabby, in addition to providing, you spoke with patients as well. what did they tell you? gabrielle: it's interesting, this is something they have been thinking about for a long time. figuring out what access would look like. that he got it after the decision because he was afraid that at some point maybe the option wouldn't be available in the future. another person i spoke toaid his decision to get it was not a

direct result of dobbs but he understands how people could make that connection further. the access to get a vasectomy is a basic human right. that's why he got it. providers tell me the access is important. they hear from patients that there are some doctors who won't do it for patients because they say they may change their mind later. john: thanks a lot. gabrielle: thank you. ♪ john: finally tonight, an animated story for veterans day from our partners at storycorps. since the 1970's, a man known as "dreamer" has been giving free haircuts to fellow veterans in los angeles. dreamer spoke with his friend paul crowley about the day they first met. >> when i showed up, i was

washed. >> you had been drinking. >> i was totally out of hope. part of that was the way i looked, i hadn't shaved, my hair was filthy. getting a haircut made me feel for lack of a better word, normal. which i hadn't in a long time. >> when i first ran into you i saw a guy that could at some point rise above it. i felt that i could help you. abraham lincoln once said, never underestimate the power of the haircut. of course, he never said that but he should have said it. >> i'm not cutting hair but i'm there with the trailer. i've watched a guy come right off the streets, not doing well and the only has to pay you with is an orange. >> whatever you got, i will make a deal. rubber band balls, pebbles, rocks, washers. >> i've never seen you turn anybody away. it's amazing to see the guys

that come in at the beginning and after they have been there, they go out to look for work and they walk in with a suit and haircut you gave them the day before. you can't recognize them compared to the day they walked in. you impressed me from the very start and i respect what you you have imparted to me. it's what has made me into a better person. because of my interaction with you. >> thank you. we will move forward and that's why we comb our hair backwards. john: for more stories like this, you could go to storycorps.org. ♪ john: that is pbs news weekend for this saturday. thanks for joining us. on this veterans day, salute with gratitude to all of those

served and those who continue to serve. see you tomorrow. >> major funding for pbs newsweekly has been provided by -- >> consumer cellular, this is sam, how may i help you? >> this is a pocket dial. >> with consumer cellular you get nationwide coverage with no contract. >> that's our thing. have a nice day. >> 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 with viewers like you. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.]

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