Skip to main content

tv   PBS News Weekend  PBS  January 22, 2023 5:30pm-6:00pm PST

5:30 pm
john: tonight on pbs news weekend, a community in shock and morning. aunman kills 10 people in the los angeles suburb of monterey park. >> monterey park is resilient. and what i know about the people here is that we will get through this together. john: then, more fallout for president biden, after an fbi search uncovers more clsified material at his wilmington, delaware, home. and, on the 50th anniversary of roe v. wade, a look at the state of abortion rights after the preme court reversed the decision last year. ♪
5:31 pm
>> major funding for pbs news weekend has been provided by with for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to help people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of plans. visit consumer cellular.tv. >> 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 by
5:32 pm
contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. john: good evening. i'm john yang. the predominantly asian community of monterey park, california, east of los angeles, awoke to tragedy on this lunar new year. saturday night, a gunman massacred at least ten people at a ballroom dance studio. at least ten others were taken to hospitals, some in critical condition. it's the deadliest mass shooting in thenited states since the last may's uvalde, texas, school massacre. late today, authorities released photos of the n believed to be the gunman, but many questions remain. he remains at large and many questions remain unanswered, including a motive. an all too familiar scene. victims loaded into ambulances, police tape stretched across darkened streets, and as light dawned, fbi agents working the scene. this is the 33rd mass shooting in the united states this year, not even a month old.
5:33 pm
>> it's very surpring, shocking, to hear that sething like this went on in not only a small city, but my city, that you never think it would happen to your town or something like that. john: police say a gunman opened fire in the dance studio as lunar new year celebrations were wrapping up nearby. and authorities say a second incident at a ballroom in near alhambra may be connected. >> we are working diligently with the alhambra police department. we believe that there's an incident that may be related. we're not quite there yet, but it's it's definitely on our radar. john: about two-thirds of monterey park's population of asian descent, and this time of year is a significant one for them. >> it is horrible that such a thing could occur at a time of celebration for so many in the aapi community, and in the asian community worldwide.
5:34 pm
this is a time to be with family, to celebrate, and yet this tore a hole through all of our hearts. john: with many questions still unanswered, another community in america mourns. in atlanta, what began as a peaceful protest last night, mourning the fatal police shooting of a young activist last week, ended in violence. masked demonstrators smashed windows, vandalized buildings with anti-police graffiti, and set a police car on fire. several arrests were made. the environmental activist, a 26-year-old who went by the name "tortuguita," was shot & killed by police wednesday. the georgia bureau of investigation says the activist had shot and wounded a state trooper. armed extremists stormed a regional government office in the somali capital, mogadishu, today, killing five people.
5:35 pm
the al-qaida affiliated terror group al-shabaab set off a suicide blast at the outside the gates to gain access to the well-protected compound, and exchanged fireith police and security forces. somali authorities report the area is now clear. and, a moment of resilience on this nfl sunday. just three weeks after suffering cardiac arrest during the last meeting between the two teams, buffalo bills safety damar hamlin went to today's home playoff game with the cincinnati bengals. still to come on pbs news weekend, the state of abortion rights in america on the fiftieth anniversary of the landmark decision. and, some good news about the ozone layer. ♪ >> this is pbs news weekend from wbt a studios in washington, home of the pbs newshour, we rights on pbs -- weeknights on pbs. john: an fbi search of president biden's wilmington's delaware
5:36 pm
home turned up yet more classified material. the friday search was coordinated between the fband mr. biden's personal attorney. it underscores the seriousness of the special counsel's investigation into mr biden's handling of classified material from his days both as vice president and as senator. white house correspondent laura barone lopez is here. laura, this is an fbi search of a sitting president's home. how did this come about? and what did they find? laura: president biden's personal attorney, bob bauer, offered this search to fbi investigators, saying that they've been trying to cooperate as much as possible fr the very beginning, and thought that -- it lasted about,lmost 13 hours on friday, january 20th. essentially what they found was six items they said that included some classification markings. we don't know if that's six documents, if it's more than six documents, but they found that during the search and they took that into their possession. john: this has been such a long
5:37 pm
saga. it is worth to walk through the timeline for the viewers. laura: this is technically the fifth discovery. let's go through the timeline. november 2, 2022, bidens attorneys found documents at penn biden center, and they notified the national arches. then on november 9th 2022 doj lunches its assessment. on december 20, 2022, bidens attorneys again find documents this time in his wilmington's garage, and they notified the doj immediately. january 11th of this year, 2023, biden's attorneys find a single document in his wilmington residence. january 12, doj takes possession of five additional documents classified documents found at his wilmington residence. as i just said january, 20th 2023, the justice department officials searched the wilmington residence and take
5:38 pm
possession of six items with classification markings. so again, we don't know if that's six documents. they also took some personal handwritten notes that president biden wrote during his time as vice president and i should note that those six items they said, also included some material during his time in the senate. john: does this affect his legal liability? laura: so i spoke to mark zaid who is a national security attorney. he says optically this is not good. politically this is not good for the president. but legally. the facts haven't real changed. >> i'm not really concerned from a legal standpoint that this enhances any likelihood of justice department action. in fact, in many ways, it does the exact opposite. the level of cooperation and voluntarily allowing fbi agents to search a sitting president's residence, and come up with additional classified records, well, that at least minimizes
5:39 pm
the prosecutorial concerns. it just maximizes, unfortunately, how horrible the optics are. laura: so i also asked attorney mark zaid about these personal, handwritten notes that were taken into possession by the doj. he said it's very normal for fbi investigators to take anything within the time period that they see that these classifications, classified documents existed around, and that that's what they do, because they want to determine if there's anything else, potentially, within those handwritten notes that could have some classified material. the other thing heaid, though, is that these documents could very well not be classified anymore, that maybe they were classified at the time but not really have classified material in them anymore. and he noted that the cases are still very different between president biden and president trump, namely because of how the two handled what happened after these classified materials were found, and that former president trump obstructed, and that's one
5:40 pm
of the big potential charges that he's facingrom his special counsel investigation. john: laura borough lopez, our white house correspondent. thank you very much. ♪ john: fifty years ago today, the supreme court handed down its ruling in the case roe v. wade, and they gave constitutional protection to the right to seek an abortion. b last year, a very different supreme court overturned roe, erasing e right for women across the united states. ending a pregnancy is now a crime in at least 13 states, and severely restricted in at least 12 more. we asked people across the country about what the changes in the last year have meant to them. flex my name is cassandra. i live in new york city and i'm a social worker. the anniversary of roe v. wade brings up a lot of emotions. it makes me think about how far
5:41 pm
we have come and how we are going backwards. >> my name is caroline and i'm a nurse in new hampshire. in new hampshire, there is now a 20 or week ban -- 24 week ban. it is a republican-controlled state and i'm fearful that if you give an inch, they take a mile and more restrictions will be coming. >> i live in pennsylvania and i have been going to pro-life marches since i was a kid. when the ruling came down, it was a sense of joy and gratitude but also this sense that now is when the real work begins. this was the thing that had to happen before we could really build a pro-life culture and support women and make it so no one ever feels like they have to have an abortion. >> when i was 202i had an
5:42 pm
abortion. -- when i was 22 i had an abortion. i don't think if i had the choice, i would have been able to live my life the way i am now. being able to be financially independent, go to school, live in a situation where i can take care of my nieces. i worry for them that if something happens and they wind up with an unplanned pregnancy, they won't ha the ability to make a choice. that could alter their lives. >> as a mom, part of what i do is sort of trying to show my kids, i have three daughters and i want them to know that children are a gift. women are pushed to feel like they can't have kids. and a job, or go to college, or things like this. instead of having a society that welcomes kids and says, you can
5:43 pm
be a mother and also have a great life, we sort of force women to feel like they have to choose. >> it means for me the meaning of great hope, coming into this newge. there is no longer this constitutional right that was never there fr the beginning. this new phase of promoting life on the level of the states. x we didn't think something like this could happen. now that it has happened i think it has made us vigilant. even if we have our rights intact, we need fight to uphold them. john: now, the battle has shifted to state legislatures, state courts and the u.s. congress. rc or near -- sarah is a senior correspondent. you talked to people at the march for life and yesterday you were at the national pro-life summit. what did they tell you? >> i was struck by the difference in tone and substance between the leaders that were
5:44 pm
giving speeches and the ballrooms and some of the breakout sessions that were more for student groups that come from catholic high schools and private christian academies and other grassroots activists. one thing i think in the breakout sessions was the similarity in tactics that were still being used. almost not in recognition that roe had been overturned, it was an insistence in sidewalk counseling outside clinics, sharing your story of how i saved a baby. these were people from states like texaslouisiana, where there are bands on abortion. it is interesting on how there hasn't been a shift in tactics at least that i heard. the message going out to the soldiers on the ground. it will be interesting to see how this movement that has grown, these pro-life activists, shift now that they banned abortion. john: some of these restrictions in the states are preventing women from getting needed
5:45 pm
medical care. women who may not want to terminate a pregnancy but are having difficulty in a pregnancy. >> that is what has been interesting. what has often been a very private medical decision with a woman and her family, we think about women who want to end unplanned pregnancies but many women are pregnant and want to be, but they miscarry or there a severe deformity. people are being educated on how dangerous and unpredictable pregnancy can be. a woman who miscarry us, goes to a hospital in lisiana, you can still detect fnt cardiac actity. when a pregnancy is a demise, that is what happened. she goes to another hospital, she is hemorrhaging and she is turned away. some of these women areoing to be denied medical care and someone ll die eventually. there wi have to be
5:46 pm
reckoning in terms of th medical establishment ofhat do you do in situations where women need medical care? john: and not trying to end a pregnancy. you mentioned medication abortions. now more than half of all abortions are by medication rather than procedure. what is the antiabortion movement doing about that, going after medication abortions? >> this is something at concerns them. they have multipronged strategies. they are going to some of the states attorneys general to figure out, can they target companies that are making medication abortion or those that are mailing it? if you are in a state like texas or louisiana, it is illegal f you to get medication abortion. groups like aid access that operate outside the u.s. are sending medication abortion pills to women in these states. women are setting up po boxes
5:47 pm
and other states like california or illinois, then having things forwarded to them. there have been workarounds. websites like ineedana.org, we know women are going to them from states where abortion is illegal and they are ordering them. another thing i heard at the pro-life summit is a new tactic they will take to try to say that abortion pills are in your water supply. they will start this campus tour where they won't talk about abortion or mention a fetus, they won't say that they are pro-life or antiabortion. they will ask people if they want to drink the water, knowing that all of us take many medications, americans take many medications and those things are in the wastewater and they are -- there are hint traces of things in the water supply. you can see the next front to say that there is an environmental impact from abortion pills.
5:48 pm
there is no evidence to suggest that is true. john: what about the abortion rights groups? how are they adjusting to life? >> they are very concerned about the medication abortions and are doing everything they can to protect that. one of the things that is happening is there is a lawsuit in texas from the antiabortion groups to try to challenge the fda approval of one of the drugs used in abortion pills, which essentially stops a pregnancy and causes a miscarriage. the abortion supporters are trying to defend that. we saw the abortion supporters were very successful when they went directly to the balt, even in a state like kansas or michigan. there is a lot of discussion aroundrying to mount ballot initiatives in other states. john: sarah, thank you very much. >> it is my pleasure, john. ♪
5:49 pm
john: it's one of the great environmental success stories of our time. scieists say that a 35-year-old agreement has resulted in the steady and promising recovery of the earth's ozone layer. located in the stratosphere, about 10 to 25 miles above the earth, the ozone layer is a critical protective shield, blocking the sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation. william brangham has more. william: back in 1987, after scientists discovered a dangerous inning of the ozone layer, 198 countries signed the montreal protocol, which largely phased out the use of substances that damaged that protective barrier, like emicals used in aerosols or refrigation. now, 35 years later, a recent assessment by the u.n. shows it is steadily recovering. in fact, much of the ozone layer is on pace for nearly full recovery by the year 2040. joining us now is dr. paul
5:50 pm
newman. he's chief scientist for earth sciences at nasa's goddard space flight center and co-chair of the assessnt panel that documented the ozone recovery. before we talk about the recovery, can you just remind us why we care about the ozone layer, what what benefits it provides to us humans and life wn here on earth? dr. newman: sure. ozone is three atoms of oxygen, and it is, most of it is located many miles above our heads. it screens harmful solar ultraviolet radiatn. ultraviolet radiation can break the bonds of biologicay active molecules that c lead to things like skin cancer and cataracts. so a healthy ozone layer is necessary for life on earth. william: and so were we seeing some of those impacts as the as -- as the ozone thinned over the years? dr. newman: we saw a pretty good, well, actually a very, very strong depletion of ozone
5:51 pm
over antarctica, over the rest of the earth's surface, we saw a thinning of a few pcent, which is not a terribly big deal, because the montreal protocol captured the problem with ozone depletion, and they acted to curtail the production and consumption of chlorofluorocarbons and other ozone depleting substances. so the problem over most of the year didn't get too bad. william: so there has been this steady evidence that it looks like the protocol worked as intended. and now, this most recent report, that you were a part of, is really tremendous news. i wonder what is the reaction you've been hearing ithe scientific community? dr. newman: i think the scientific community has been pretty aware of the progress of things. but to see it all comprehensively, to know that emissions of ozone depleting substances are declining, to know the levels of these ozone depleting substances are going down, we see methane, co2 and
5:52 pm
n20 going up but ozone depleting substances are going down. and now we see the increase of ozone in the southern mid-latitudes, the tropics and the northern mid-latitudes. this is good news for the ientific community and for the earth as a whole. william: well, how how rare it is we get to say that in this world today. what kind of tangible impacts -- you mentioned some of them, that it might be a reduction in skin cancer. are there other tangible impacts for a repaired ozone layer for us? dr. newman: sure. besides the health effects for humans, crop yields. crops are damaged by uv radiation. materials are actually degraded by uv radiation. plants, other phytoplankton, for example, are affected by uv radiation. so this is, overall, a very good story for life of the earth's surface. we, as you might know, we use uv to sterilize, for example, medical instruments.
5:53 pm
getting a uv down here at the surface is not a good thing. and to see the ozone recovering is a very nice thing to know about. william: is that all good news in this report, or is there anything in there that is troubling to you? dr. newman: there's a number of things we continue to worry about. we need to continue to monitor the ozone layer. there are new technologies coming on, for example, new supersonic aircraft. one would hope that they could be designed and flown in an ozone friendly manner. and there's also more rocket launches that are going on. they deposit material into the stratosphere. we're worried about the potential impacts of large numbers of rocket launches, and actually, the satellites athey reenter the earth's atmosphere. what do they do to the ozone layer? so we worry about these things. we also worry about rogue production of ozone depleting substances. in fact, that happened in the last few years, with chlorofluorocarbons 11. but the chinese government acted to curtail that, and it's come
5:54 pm
back down to a more normal level. soe worry about it, we monitor it, and hopefully, countries continue to abide by the montreal protocol. william: my understanding is that targeting these particular chemicals was somewhat easier because there were safer alternatives available for industry. the other big emissions that we're trying to stop obviously, is carbon and methane, as you were describing, which drive climate change. targeting those emissions obviously is a much steeper climb for humanity, right? dr. newman: it very much is a steep climb. people have gas stoves. they have automobiles burning fuels. we have power plants burning coal. these are all co2, carbon dioxide producers and solving the problem of carbon emissions will be very difficult. that doesn't mean it can't be done. every nation on the earth has signed on to the montreal protocol.
5:55 pm
in all the political differences, national differences, every nation has identified the ozone layer as something that needs to be watched and preserved, and they've all signed on to the montreal protocol. so i'm actually optimistic that something will be done eventually about climate and we will cure this environmental problem. william: all right. dr. paul newman at nasa's goddard space flight center, thank you so much for being here. dr. newman: thank you for having me. ♪ john: before we go, and update on the shooting in monterey park. swat teams south of los angeles breached a vehicle of interest. the sheriff's office later confirmed the standoff around the vehicle is over. that is pbs ws week and for this sunday. -- weekend for this sunday. i'm john yang. for all of my colleagues, thanks for joining us. have a good week. >> major funding has been
5:56 pm
provided by -- >> consumer cellular has offered no contract plans to help people do more of what they like. our customer service team can find a plan that fits you. to learn more, visit consumercellular.tv. ♪ >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪ >> this program was made possible by the corporation for broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thk you. ♪
5:57 pm
5:58 pm
5:59 pm
6:00 pm
-this program is brought to you in part by a passion for better understanding our world. -thoughtful travel can engage our minds, challenge our assumptions, broaden our perspectives, and completely surprise us, just like public television. -hi. i'm rick steves, back with the fascinating story of europe's art, from prehistory to the present. in this hour, it's the radical renaissance, with a star-studded cast, from art-loving princes and popes to mona lisa to michelangelo's david. this is european art. thanks for joining us. ♪♪ ♪♪

143 Views

1 Favorite

info Stream Only

Uploaded by TV Archive on