GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.
I'm Geoff Bennett.
Amna Nawaz is away.
On the "NewsHour" tonight: From Rome to Tokyo, punishing heat waves break records and disrupt life across much of the world.
Women and doctors give emotional testimony about pregnancy complications made worse by a Texas abortion law now being challenged in court.
And the ongoing conflict in Sudan intensifies, with millions forced from their homes and alleged war crimes.
HUDA HUMZA, Sudanese Refugee: They took us everything, money, clothes, and even they killed the relatives and the friends.
(BREAK) GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "NewsHour."
The nonstop severe weather across the country has run the gamut today from heat to hail.
In the West, Phoenix faced a 21st straight day of readings above 110 degrees.
And in the Midwest, strong storms brought reports of hail the size of ping pong balls.
Meantime, Western Kentucky tried to recover from severe flooding this week.
And in Eastern North Carolina, a pharmaceutical plant lay in ruins after a tornado on Wednesday.
Cities across Southern Ukraine counted the casualties and damage today after a third straight night of heavy Russian bombardment.
The latest air raids again targeted Odesa and Mykolaiv, sending entire buildings up in flames.
Two people died and at least 19 were wounded, including a child.
The Chinese consulate in Odesa was among the damaged buildings.
In Iraq, protesters stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad, outraged that an Iraqi atheist in Stockholm threatened to burn a copy of the Koran for a second time.
Before dawn, demonstrators overran the embassy compound and started a fire while police stood by.
Signs in the crowd showed Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who spoke later at a news conference.
MUQTADA AL-SADR, Iraqi Political Leader (through translator): I call on the countries of the world to enact a law that criminalizes the burning of the Koran and makes it a terrorist crime.
Just as the transgression of antisemitism in the LGBT community is considered a crime, so the burning of the Koran must also be considered a crime.
Otherwise, this would be a double standard.
GEOFF BENNETT: Iraq's government also expelled the Swedish ambassador.
In the end, the anti-Islamic protester in Stockholm kicked and stepped on the Koran, but did not set it on fire, as he had done last month.
Hackers linked to China may have broken into the official e-mail account of Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador to Beijing.
The Wall Street Journal and others report it's believed hundreds of thousands of unclassified U.S. government e-mails were accessed.
It's part of a broader cyber espionage scheme disclosed earlier this month.
Security has tightened in New Zealand for the soccer Women's World Cup after a gunman attacked construction workers in Auckland.
The shooter killed two people at a building site where he had worked.
He was found dead after a gun battle with police near hotels where soccer teams are staying.
Still, fans seemed undeterred.
JEMPSON VELEZ, Soccer Fan: I do think New Zealand is doing a good job with security.
There hasn't been any issues other than this morning, which is tragic and unfortunate.
But I do believe they were able to contain it, keep the crowd away, keep the situation under control and find alternate routes for the people to get to these games.
GEOFF BENNETT: The competition opened with New Zealand upsetting Norway 1-0 for its first ever win in Women's World Cup play.
Co-host Australia also won its opening match 1-0 over Ireland.
The U.S. starts play Friday night against Vietnam.
Back in this country, New York City will pay more than $13 million in a settlement with some 1,300 people who were arrested or beaten by police in 2020.
The federal lawsuit focused on protests following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
If approved by a judge, the settlement would be among the most expensive ever involving mass arrests.
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a new code of ethics today for Supreme Court justices.
Democrats pushed it after revelations that Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito failed to disclose ties to wealthy businessmen and political donors and the Justice Sonia Sotomayor used taxpayer-funded court staff to help sell her books.
Republicans unanimously oppose the bill and it's unlikely to pass the full Senate.
And on Wall Street, blue chips advanced, but tech stocks hit a wall over worries about future profits at big tech companies.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 164 points, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 294 points.
The S&P 500 was down nearly 31 points.
Still to come on the "NewsHour": Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appears before Congress, as his conspiracy theories draw increased scrutiny; the president of Stanford University resigns following student reporting over flawed research; and a common injury increasingly sidelines female athletes, including some top players during the World Cup.
The record heat across the world has been unrelenting, and experts say it could last into August.
And it's not only the heat.
It's torrential rain in some places.
A mudslide in Northwest India today killed at least 10 people with many more missing.
Special correspondents in four major cities across the world sent us these reports starting in Southern Europe.
GILES GIBSON: I'm Giles Gibson in Rome, which is known as the Eternal City, but it's now been dubbed the Infernal City.
Temperatures this week have soared over 107 degrees, setting a new record for the Italian capital.
We have come down to the Coliseum to ask some tourists if it's possible to enjoy sightseeing in this oppressive heat.
ANTHONY, American Tourist: No.
This is the last place I wanted to be.
(LAUGHTER) FRANCIS, Canadian Tourist: I mean, it's kind of hot, but the city is beautiful.
So you just need to stay hydrated, a little bit of water, a little bit of spritz.
And, I mean, you have made the best out of it.
JOE SCOTT, American Tourist: Some of the tourist attractions here have cold water for you, where you could just refill your bottles.
So we have been able to refill our bottles and keep drinking water.
So we're still enjoying it.
We're still getting to see all the sights and enjoying it.
GILES GIBSON: The authorities are urging local residents and tourists to stay indoors during the hottest part of the day.
But not everybody is listening.
PIERO PELLICCIONI, Rome Civil Prosecution Department (through translator): They're hearing us without a doubt.
Nonetheless, they're still going around Rome like they're used to, in the way that they're used to, with shorts, flip-flops and tank tops.
We're giving out water so they can cool down a little bit.
Are they following the advice?
Not really.
However, let's say that, in principle, they're informed about how they should behave in this kind of weather.
GILES GIBSON: Hot summers and nothing new here in the Italian capital.
Since the 1870s, locals have been using these traditional water fountains known as nasoni to cool down if they're out and about on a hot day.
What is new, however, is the intensity of this heat wave.
And it's set to drag on into next week.
SIMONA FOLTYN: I'm Simona Foltyn in Baghdad, where the Iraqi capital is broiling in 116-degree heat.
And for the city's poor, there are few ways to escape.
These young men traveled from nearby slums to cool off in the Tigris River.
"There is no electricity.
The heat is killing us," 18-year-old Yasser tells me.
But, soon, there may be nowhere at all to seek respite.
Iraq's rivers, on whose banks Mesopotamia civilizations emerged 8,000 years ago, are slowly disappearing.
Fisherman Hashem Al-Musawi has been alive for 76 years.
He tells me he has never seen water levels this low.
And he's right, according to the minister of water resources.
This year is the worst drought since the first recording of hydrological data in 1930.
HASHEM AL-MUSAWI, Fisherman (through translator): Before, the water used to go all the way up to the houses.
Even the army would come and bring sandbags to keep it from flooding the houses.
There was so much water.
Now things have changed.
SIMONA FOLTYN: Changes caused by an existential struggle over water with Turkey and Iran.
Both have dammed the Tigris and Euphrates and their tributaries further upstream.
Lack of rainfall and poor water management have made matters worse.
The impact has been devastating.
HASHEM AL-MUSAWI (through translator): We don't have agriculture anymore, and the fish are dying because there's not enough oxygen in the water.
SIMONA FOLTYN: While the water recedes, demand for it rises, as Iraq's rapidly growing population tries to survive in this increasingly inhospitable environment.
FIRAQ ABBAS, Baghdad Resident (through translator): I wash the street because there's so much dust when the cars pass by.
When they sprinkle the street with water, the air becomes better.
SIMONA FOLTYN: Mostly Iraqis only get a few hours of government electricity per day to run air conditioners and can't afford to pay for private generators.
In addition to the sweltering heat, Iraqis are struggling to cope with widespread electricity outages, as well as a severe water crisis.
But even as the situation becomes increasingly untenable, the government is doing very little about it.
There is no climate adaptation strategy, and less than a half-percent of this year's budget has been allocated towards much-needed investments in water infrastructure.
Iraq is an oil-rich nation whose potential has been crippled by conflict and rampant corruption.
Many Iraqis no longer see a future in what was once the cradle of civilization.
Leaving may eventually be the only way to survive.
NEHA POONIA: I'm Neha Poonia in New Delhi.
Now, just last week, all that you see behind me was a thriving urban slum home to about 5,000 people.
Now you can barely see the homes and the farms that stood here.
For the last two weeks, much of India's capital city has been waterlogged and its low-lying areas completely inundated.
It's the worst flooding that Delhi has seen in more than five decades, and experts are blaming climate change.
This month, Delhi received 110 percent more rainfall than it usually does, shattering a 45-year record.
The incessant rainfall led to the city's Yamuna River to breach its banks when it surged past what authorities called the danger mark.
The Indian army and the national disaster response force used boats to pull people to safety.
Authorities say many didn't want to leave their homes, staying perched on their roofs for days; 25,000 people were evacuated, and most of them are now living in hastily assembled makeshift shelters along roads like this one.
This is usually one of Delhi's busiest junctions, but it's now been shut down for regular traffic.
While the incessant rainfall has finally stopped, it will be a while until these people are able to return home.
Officials are warning of waterborne diseases and dengue, so the danger isn't over yet.
MOHAN LAL, Farmer (through translator): I'm scared of going back to my house because more rain is forecast soon.
I'd rather live on the road until it is completely safe to return the value.
MAN (through translator): I have been living in Delhi for 10 years.
I have never seen rain and flooding like this.
NEHA POONIA: Climate change has made the monsoon more erratic and far more devastating.
It's also making heat waves longer and deadlier.
Just last month, some parts of the country saw temperatures touch 115 degrees Fahrenheit, leading to more than 170 deaths.
Studies have shown that India is among those countries most impacted by climate change.
And doctors are warning that such extreme weather events are already pushing millions of Indians to the very brink of human survival.
REBECCA BUNDHUN: I'm Rebecca Bundhun in Tokyo.
The region has been affected by a series of extreme weather events this month, from deadly floods and powerful typhoons to sweltering heat waves.
Here in Japan, the country has been experiencing varying forms of severe weather.
While northeastern and western parts of the country were lashed by torrential rains, causing flooding and landslides and claiming lives, heatstroke warnings were being issued in Tokyo and other areas as temperatures neared record highs.
Neighboring South Korea meanwhile, was battered by heavy rain over the weekend.
Flooding and landslides, which swept away entire homes, killed more than 40 people.
In one incident, the rain flooded a tunnel in the central city of Chungju.
Commuters were left trapped in their vehicles; 14 people died.
This prompted the country's president, Yoon Suk-yeol, to call for an overhaul of the country's response system to be able to better manage the impact of climate-induced disasters.
Over in China, temperatures are hitting record-breaking levels in some areas.
State media reported that a remote township in the northwest experienced heat of more than 126 degrees Fahrenheit.
Just six months ago, temperatures plunged to record lows of minus-63 degrees in the north.
And, this week, a typhoon struck, causing widespread flooding in China's southern provinces.
Such weather conditions are leading to thousands of people being displaced and evacuated.
Japan has one of the oldest populations in the world.
Nearly 30 percent of its citizens are over the age of 65.
And that makes it more vulnerable to heat.
Not only do these weather conditions impact human lives.
They also have economic consequences.
And people are worried.
MAN (through translator): The weather changes are scarier than a war.
UEHARA ZENKICHI, Student (through translator): There's nothing we can do about nature.
But when there's heavy rain, I wish there wasn't and hope everyone is safe.
REBECCA BUNDHUN: With extreme weather events becoming more frequent in the region, concerns are mounting over how countries will cope with such conditions over the coming weeks and years.
For the "PBS NewsHour," with Giles Gibson in Rome, Simona Foltyn in Baghdad, and Neha Poonia in New Delhi, I'm Rebecca Bundhun in Tokyo.
GEOFF BENNETT: A group of Texas women seeking to block part of their state's abortion law are in court this week testifying the state's strict abortion restrictions put their lives in jeopardy.
Stephanie Sy has the story.
STEPHANIE SY: More than a dozen women allege in the suit that they were denied emergency care because of restrictions that banned doctors from performing abortions, except in cases to save the life of a pregnant patient.
The lawsuit is believed to be the first filed by women directly impacted by abortion bans that went into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year.
Sarah Varney, senior correspondent for KFF Health News, has been following this week's arguments and joins us now.
Sarah, welcome to the "NewsHour" again.
Sarah, one of the women in the hearing today describe what it was like to find out she was carrying a fetus with a serious birth defect, and then not being given the option to have an abortion.
And she happens to be a doctor herself.
DR. AUSTIN DENNARD, Suing Texas Over Abortion Ban: I felt like my pregnancy was not my own, that it belonged to the state, because I no longer had a choice of what I could do.
I felt abandoned.
I couldn't believe that, after spending my entire life in this state, being a sixth-generation Texan, practicing medicine in the state, that the state had completely turned their back on me.
And, for then, my only choice was to continue the pregnancy.
STEPHANIE SY: Sarah, I know you have interviewed Dr. Dennard.
What ended up happening to her?
And do the other witnesses share similar accounts?
SARAH VARNEY, KFF Health News: So she and her husband did end up going to a state out east for an abortion.
She also has two children.
So she had to find someone to watch her children for her.
She talked about how, when she was facing this decision, that she didn't want her children to see her growing belly, knowing that this pregnancy was not viable.
And then she also really talked very movingly about how she wanted to be healthy so that she could be a mother to her current children, so that she could be a wife and a physician to her patients.
This was incredibly moving testimony and not something that we have heard before since Dobbs.
It was interesting.
On cross-examination, the state -- attorneys for the state really had a hard time figuring out what kinds of questions just to ask her.
And it was a very -- there were very awkward moments in the courtroom.
There was one point where the attorney said, "Did the attorney general, Ken Paxton, ever tell you that you couldn't get an abortion?"
She said: "I have not spoken to the attorney general."
That -- she was asked the fact that she was over 35 when she was pregnant with this pregnancy that was nonviable.
Was that considered a -- quote -- "geriatric pregnancy?"
Very awkward moments.
I think many of us who have had children, who've had miscarriages, who've maybe had them over 35, it was a cringeworthy moment in the courtroom.
STEPHANIE SY: Yes, and I believe the doctor had -- the fetus had anencephaly, which, again, any of us who have been pregnant know how serious that is.
It is basically when the baby's brain and skull does not form.
There was also a witness yesterday who testified to that and, from what I understand, ended up having to deliver the baby.
SARAH VARNEY: That's correct.
And anencephaly is a -- and other types of genetic disorders where the brain and the skull does not form can be very dangerous for women to birth vaginally.
There is no skull to press against the cervix in order to open the cervix for delivery.
So, almost always, it's a C-section.
And, usually, within minutes or hours, this is a child that dies in a very painful way.
There are some women who do choose to do that.
And they do provide palliative care for the newborn.
But, in this case, and in many cases, women have said, I want to be able to have that choice for myself.
STEPHANIE SY: You know, as a journalist, Sarah, who has been covering the fallout of the Dobbs decision for the better part of a year, what else is different that you're saying about this hearing?
SARAH VARNEY: This is really extraordinary.
I think up, until now, a lot of the cases that we have watched that, we have covered on the "NewsHour," the mifepristone lawsuit that was in Texas before Judge Kacsmaryk, who used this very extremist Christian language in his -- in the courtroom and in his decision.
This is a judge who has overruled the objections from the state many times today and yesterday, allowing witnesses to continue their testimony, even asking her own questions.
At one point, she turned to one of the expert witnesses and said: "Can you tell me, are doctors in Texas required to take a pledge to the Hippocratic oath?"
And the witness responded: "Yes."
So, clearly, this is a judge that's very engaged.
This is taking place in Austin.
This is not in Amarillo, Texas, where there was only one Trump-appointed judge.
So just the mood in the courtroom is very different.
And just to really hear the stories from these women, I think up until this point, as journalists, we have been covering these stories, reporting them, but they have not really had to get entered into a court of law, and the people who are supporting these laws, the anti-abortion organizations and states like Texas, having to really answer to the physical, mental, emotional harms that these laws are causing these women.
STEPHANIE SY: Texas is -- as you know, it's a unique case, because, even before the Dobbs decision, the Texas legislature had been able to pass a very restrictive abortion ban.
So we have been able to see sort of the impacts on women and babies.
Those impacts have started to be measured, right?
SARAH VARNEY: That's exactly right.
So, this was called S.B.8.
It was a six-week abortion ban that went into effect prior to Dobbs, as you said.
And, yes, we're all looking at Texas very closely.
There's a couple of data points that we can point to now.
Just yesterday, there was some new data released that showed an 11.5 percent increase in infant mortality in Texas.
Many of the OB-GYNs in Texas that I spoke to said that, while there are more people in Texas, people -- more people have moved to Texas, that can't explain this, that, clearly, when you have women who are being forced to carry nonviable pregnancies, like fetuses with anencephaly, clearly, you will have an increase in infant mortality.
The other thing that we have seen so far in Texas, there was some statistical modeling that came out within the last week that showed an increase of about 10,000 additional bursts, so, essentially, what are being called forced births.
So these would be women who would have normally not carried those pregnancies to term.
So those are two pieces of data that we have now.
STEPHANIE SY: It is certainly a case that may have impacts within Texas and beyond.
We will continue to watch it.
Sarah Varney, thank you so much for your reporting.
SARAH VARNEY: Thank you.
GEOFF BENNETT: With the intense focus on the Republican primary this election season, one Democratic underdog has been getting attention for his controversial comments, spreading misinformation on a range of topics.
That was on display again today, as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified on Capitol Hill at a hearing convened by House Republicans.
Lisa Desjardins explores what has captured the attention of some voters.
LISA DESJARDINS: The first major 2024 surprise, Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has sparked double-digit support in polls, controversy on airwaves and a headache for President Joe Biden.
This spring, the 69-year-old environmental lawyer launched his campaign highlighting his famous political family, speaking in Massachusetts with a sea of "Kennedy for President" signs.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. (D), Presidential Candidate: I have come here today to announce my candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) LISA DESJARDINS: An echo of the past impossible to miss.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY, Former U.S. Attorney General: I am announcing today my candidacy for the presidency of the United States.
LISA DESJARDINS: The son of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated month after launching his campaign for president and nephew of John F. Kennedy, killed while president.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: My father and my uncle had a vision for America.
LISA DESJARDINS: On one hand, this Kennedy leans into his family's legacy with views that are anti-war, pro-environment and to talk of ending divide.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: The possibility they foresaw is still alive, the America that almost was and yet may be.
It's time to unlearn the reflexes of fear and blame and find ways to unify ourselves and turn our country around.
LISA DESJARDINS: But, on the other hand, Kennedy stokes his own controversy, conspiracy, and at times racial confrontation, as in the latest headlines.
The New York Post obtained video of Kennedy at a dinner with reporters saying the coronavirus targets specific racial groups.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people.
The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.
LISA DESJARDINS: Outcry was immediate.
The head of the Anti-Defamation League wrote that: "The idea feeds into conspiracy theories, lacks any factual basis and is nuts."
The Jewish group has put out research in the past debunking racist COVID theories as dangerous.
Kennedy tweeted out that his words were misconstrued, yet doubled down on the idea of ethnic targeting.
He linked to a study.
But that study does not say any group is targeted by or immune from COVID.
Instead, it focused on some cell traits that might make things easier or harder for the virus.
That study was early in the pandemic.
It is now clear, of course, that COVID hit brutally across ethnic populations.
At Kennedy's fiery hearing on Capitol Hill today, Democrats blasted him.
REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D-FL): Your bizarre, unproven claim echoes that same historic slander of labeling Jews and Chinese people as a race and that Jews and, in this case, Chinese people somehow managed to avoid a deadly illness that targets other groups for death.
You do see that, yes or no?
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: You're misstating... REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: No.
No, no, no.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: Yes, you are.
REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: I quoted it.
I quoted what you said earlier.
(CROSSTALK) ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: You are slandering me incorrectly.
(CROSSTALK) ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: What you're saying is dishonest.
REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): The time belongs to the gentlelady from Florida.
(CROSSTALK) ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: ... and myself.
LISA DESJARDINS: When presented with many of his past statements, Kennedy told lawmakers he is misunderstood.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: My views are constantly misrepresented.
I believe vaccines should be tested with the same rigor as other medicines and medication.
LISA DESJARDINS: But Kennedy has pushed a host of disproven ideas that undermine all vaccines, including the idea that vaccines make people sicker, when data show they overwhelmingly save lives.
ERIN O'BRIEN, University of Massachusetts Boston: The more he talks, the more he gets himself in trouble.
LISA DESJARDINS: Erin O'Brien is a political science professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
She's heard Kennedy pop up on podcasts spouting a series of unproven conspiracies, some debunked, questioning what causes HIV, alleging that a pesticide makes people transgender and, as on the Joe Rogan podcast, baselessly suggesting that vaccines cause autism.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: And everybody will say, oh, there's no study that shows autism and vaccines are connected.
That's just crazy.
And that's people who are not looking at science.
LISA DESJARDINS: The study Kennedy has pointed you in the past was retracted.
And several mass studies have proven the opposite, no link.
But Professor O'Brien says Kennedy has scored politically.
ERIN O'BRIEN: The vast majority of us are not scientist.
And you go to school for a long time for that.
You learn a rigorous scientific method.
So he's smart as a politician saying: I trust you.
You look at the facts.
But what he means is, Google some stuff and don't discern which facts should be believed, which are peer-reviewed.
LISA DESJARDINS: But is he a real threat to Joe Biden?
Kennedy has stayed consistently in the low teens in head-to-head polls, not nothing, but not yet within real striking distance.
ERIN O'BRIEN: I honestly think he's a vessel, he's a symbol for dissatisfaction, going back to the fact that most individuals don't want to vote for Donald Trump, nor do they want to vote for Joe Biden.
So, Robert F. Kennedy right now is the beneficiary of some of that disdain.
LISA DESJARDINS: Kennedy has ginned up interest from corners of both parties, a rare Democrat appearing regularly on conservative media.
Also rare, Donald Trump has praised him.
They share a goal after all, defeating Joe Biden.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Lisa Desjardins.
GEOFF BENNETT: And to help put some of Mr. Kennedy's comments into context, we're joined by Dr. Paul Offit, who is a member of an FDA advisory committee on vaccines.
He's also director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Thank you for being with us.
DR. PAUL OFFIT, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Thank you.
GEOFF BENNETT: So, RFK Jr. is widely known as an anti-vaccine activist.
He has a much larger platform now as he runs for president.
He says that many if his views are misunderstood, they're taken out of context.
Help us understand what he's been promoting and what the science tells us about it.
DR. PAUL OFFIT: Well, he's been promoting false information about vaccines.
He's been promoting the notion that vaccines cause autism, which is clearly not true, or cause a variety of other chronic diseases, like diabetes or multiple sclerosis or attention-deficit disorder.
And that's all not true.
So, what he does is, by putting misinformation out there, he causes people to make bad decisions that put themselves and their family at risk.
GEOFF BENNETT: You also point to one episode where he spoke out against the measles vaccine.
What was the impact of that?
DR. PAUL OFFIT: In Samoa, there were two children that died immediately following receipt of a measles vaccine.
And the way it works into Samoa is, they have a MMR vaccine in powdered form.
It needs to be diluted in water.
Two nurses made a mistake.
Instead of diluting it in water, they diluted it in a muscle relaxant.
Those children stopped breathing and died immediately.
Now, very quickly, within two weeks, it was realized what that mistake was.
It was a nursing error.
But, nonetheless, RFK Jr. seized on that.
He flooded Facebook with information that measles vaccine is killing children in Samoa.
He went to Samoa.
He met with anti-vaccine activists.
He met with senior officials in Samoa and kept the drumbeat alive that measles vaccine was killing children in Samoa.
As a consequence, vaccination rates fell from 70 percent to 30 percent.
And between September and December of 2019, there was a massive measles epidemic.
In this island nation of 200,000 people, there were 57,000 cases of measles and 83 deaths.
Most of those deaths were in children less than four years of age.
And Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had everything to do with that.
And that shows you how disinformation can kill.
GEOFF BENNETT: He's drawn criticism most recently for saying that COVID ethnically targets -- that's the phrase he used -- white and Black people, and not certain Jewish and Chinese people.
Is there any evidence to support that?
DR. PAUL OFFIT: No, there's evidence that doesn't support it.
Actually, the paper that he points to, he should have read exactly when that paper was submitted for publication.
It was submitted before COVID ever came into the United States.
Those researchers were trying to make a prediction based on certain so-called genetic differences among racial or ethnic or religious groups as to who would likely or not likely get COVID.
Well, now we know that they were wrong.
COVID was an equal opportunity employer.
Seven million people have died.
It doesn't matter what your racial or ethnic or religious background was.
The only thing that matters is your age, number of comorbidities, whether you're immune-compromised.
So that prediction that was made by that paper was wrong.
Nonetheless, he still held on to it as fact.
GEOFF BENNETT: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says that his views shouldn't be censored, that people should be free to do their own research.
In your view, what are the problems with bad information being on the same playing field with good information, with scientific data?
DR. PAUL OFFIT: Well, I think the Samoa outbreak told you a lot about what it means to have bad information out there.
I think the notion that people can therefore do their own research.
But the fact of the matter is, when he says, do your own research, what he really means is look on the Internet and find out other people's opinions.
I mean, most people don't look at all the original papers.
And so, for example, if you look at the paper that he cited as showing why there are racial or ethnic differences in susceptibility, you would see how flawed that paper was.
But you do need, to some extent, a scientific background.
In any case, it's hard for him -- to watch him put this kind of misinformation out there continually.
He definitely is showing what misinformation can do.
And, as a consequence, children are suffering this.
GEOFF BENNETT: More than three years after the start of the pandemic, as you see it, how has misinformation taken hold?
DR. PAUL OFFIT: The problem, I think, is social media, which is a source of great information and awful information.
And people feel that they can go on social media and know just as much as anyone that's giving them advice.
And I think -- sadly, I think public health institutions have been marginalized at some level, whether it's the FDA, or the CDC, or Dr. Fauci, or Dr. Walensky at the CDC, and others.
And so I think we have become a cynical, litigious society, not to our advantage.
We kind of leaned into a libertarian left hook that people didn't like being told that they should mask or didn't like being told that they should be vaccinated.
And, as a consequence, we pushed back on these public health measures, which only hurt us.
GEOFF BENNETT: Dr. Paul Offit, thanks so much for your insights.
We appreciate it.
DR. PAUL OFFIT: Thank you.
GEOFF BENNETT: The conflict in Sudan has entered its fourth month with no end in sight.
The fight between the Sudanese military and a rival paramilitary force has killed thousands.
More than three million people fled their homes.
And three-quarters-of-a million have migrated to neighboring countries.
As William Brangham tells us, the country's West Darfur region is the worst hit, with allegations of war crimes being committed and a grisly discovery last week, a mass grave.
A note that some images and accounts in the story are disturbing.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: In the windblown Sahara Desert, refugees from Sudan's war find little shelter.
These victims, mostly women and children, are arriving by the thousands, driven from their homes to head across the border into neighboring Chad.
These families have fled the brutal violence that's occurring in Sudan's West Darfur region.
HUDA HUMZA, Sudanese Refugee: In the morning, even, they attack us, and during the attack us, in the roads, they took us everything, money, food, clothes, and even they killed the relatives and the friends.
That was difficult time, because they did such a horrible things.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Twenty-three-year-old Huda Humza is one of 20,000 refugees who arrived at this camp in the past week alone.
Safe for now, she worries about her children and their next meal.
HUDA HUMZA: The most important thing is the security and health, and the most important, even, the food.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Families who have managed to reach this camp in the town of Adre, which is supported by the U.N.'s World Food Program, have survived a deadly journey.
Now they must try to rebuild what is left of their lives.
ABUOBIDA ABRASHEED, Sudanese refugee: On our way to Adre, we can find them also, like, dead bodies.
They kill people, those who were like coming to kill people.
So they were in the road with motorbikes, with, like, guns and with cars.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Darfur, Western Sudan, is a region the size of Spain.
It's been home to deadly violence for over two decades.
The current fight stems from a power struggle between two factions of the Sudanese army in the capital of Khartoum.
That conflict has reignited attacks in West Darfur, an area where, 20 years ago, the Sudanese government and its militias committed genocide against the Darfuri people.
Today, it's an offshoot of those same Arab militias, known as the RSF, that are now accused of carrying out targeted killings in the same areas.
Researchers from Yale university working with the U.S. State Department's Sudan Conflict Observatory Program confirmed that the RSF and its allies have systematically targeted and destroyed 26 communities, towns and villages in West Darfur.
Videos obtained by the "NewsHour" show how schools that were once shelters have been burned to the ground.
Mosques have been attacked, and public buildings looted.
Sudanese human rights activist Yousif Abdalla, who sent us these videos, has now fled Darfur and gone to Khartoum, but clearly hasn't escaped the fighting.
YOUSIF ABDALLA ARBAB, Human Rights Activist: In the area where I live now, there's gunfire.
I don't know what's happening, but it is like 8:00 p.m., and there is a lot of gunfire.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Abdalla, like most of those fleeing Darfur, has suffered personally.
YOUSIF ABDALLA ARBAB: We also -- we lost our family, some of our family, my brother, because, even if someone in front of you have been shot, if you can't help him or her, because there is nowhere to help.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Following reports of widespread war crimes, including mass rapes, the International Criminal Court has now launched an investigation.
SHAHD HAMMOU, Gender Adviser, Mercy Corps Europe, Sudan: There's been an overwhelming report of sexual and gender-based violence across the country.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Shahd Hammou works from Mercy Corps Europe in Sudan.
She was based in Khartoum and escaped a week after the conflict began.
SHAHD HAMMOU: We have seen that the need for support for these sexual-based violence survivors has increased by a million women since the conflict has started.
This brings the total up to around four million women who need support post experiencing sexual and gender based violence.
In some states, we're seeing that there's been a 900 percent increase in women who need support.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: This ongoing fighting has exacerbated an already bleak humanitarian crisis in Sudan.
Nearly 25 million people, more than half the country's population, are in need of some form of humanitarian aid.
BARZIL MWAKULOMBA, World Vision: People are in need for food.
We are seeing a food insecurity that is likely to keep on rising as the days go by.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Barzil Mwakulomba is the East Africa emergency affairs adviser at the charitable group World Vision.
He says reaching those most in need has been the biggest challenge and many aid workers have died trying.
BARZIL MWAKULOMBA: With ongoing conflict, aid workers, over 15 such now have died in the line of duty, of serving the people of this area.
A lot is being put into negotiating access.
If there is no cease-fire, it may be difficult for aid workers to be able to do what they're called to do.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Repeated cease-fires and peace talks have failed, with both sides refusing to give up their weapons or their fight.
Stuck in the middle are the people of Sudan, robbed of their homes, and robbed of what was once the hope for a peaceful future.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm William Brangham.
GEOFF BENNETT: Stanford University president Marc Tessier-Lavigne will resign next month over questionable handling of flawed scientific research.
The investigation started last year after the campus newspaper, The Stanford Daily, published allegations of research misconduct in past academic papers.
The findings cleared him of any misconduct, but found he was responsible for overseeing and correcting data manipulations and errors from other scientists in five papers he authored.
Theo Baker is the student journalist who first published those allegations back in November, and has been covering this for months.
Theo Baker, welcome to the "NewsHour."
THEO BAKER, The Stanford Daily: Thanks so much for having me and putting me on the show.
GEOFF BENNETT: Well, we appreciate that.
And we should say you are an 18-year-old rising sophomore.
You spent your freshman year as the investigations editor for the Stanford newspaper.
After just arriving on campus, how did you know to look into these allegations involving the university president?
What tipped you off?
THEO BAKER: Yes, so what's really interesting about the story, actually, is that, where we started, you could have started in 2015, if you knew where to look.
There were already musings on scientific forums by anonymous commenters that suspected Photoshopping and alteration of figures in papers that Tessier-Lavigne had published throughout his career.
I think the earliest one was published six years before I was born.
So what we did is, we took those allegations, which had never been reported, never really been analyzed, we took them to forensic image analysts.
We reported them out.
We verified them.
And that's where we started our investigation.
We started with good old-fashioned open-source journalism.
GEOFF BENNETT: And this was over the course of a year?
THEO BAKER: So that investigation published in November, in mid-November.
And the first story involved about four papers.
Eventually, we published stories about 12 papers with different sorts of allegations inside.
Obviously, five of those papers are ones where Tessier-Lavigne Tessier-Lavigne is the principal author, and which he obviously bears the principal authority on the data.
The results of this report have just concluded that Tessier-Lavigne must retract or issue at least lengthy corrections to those five papers.
And they found that he oversaw a lab culture that consistently produced fraudulent results, and that he consistently failed to avail himself of opportunities to correct the scientific record, despite being made aware over the course of 20 years of different allegations over his papers.
GEOFF BENNETT: And, to your point, your reporting prompted the Stanford Board of Trustees to launch an independent investigation that led to those findings.
What's been the reaction among the Stanford community to your reporting and to the resignation?
THEO BAKER: Yes, I mean, I think everyone is talking about this.
Obviously, Stanford is a research institution, first and foremost.
It spends more than a billion dollars a year on research.
So to have a president who's accused of research misconduct, it does make it hard to lead.
And that's something that Tessier-Lavigne and the board eventually agreed to when he announced his resignation just yesterday.
For months, Tessier-Lavigne had said that these allegations did not affect his ability to lead.
But, eventually, it seems he was persuaded otherwise.
Obviously, I think a lot of people are concerned about the culture that was identified in the report.
It remains to be seen exactly how the community takes it.
Obviously, we're on summer break, so they waited to release this report until people were not on campus.
But we will see what in the fall how people feel about our interim president, and then whoever they pick to replace Tessier-Lavigne.
GEOFF BENNETT: Through your reporting, you took on your university president.
You held your university accountable.
How does it feel knowing that your reporting and that your journalism has this significant impact?
THEO BAKER: Well, I think the most gratifying thing for me, as a student journalist and someone in the position that I'm in, is to feel like I have been able to contribute to the correction of the scientific record.
That's something I think is very important.
I think it's been made pretty clear by this report that these five papers that are now going to be corrected or retracted by Tessier-Lavigne would not have been done so had we not started asking questions.
So it feels good, because these are widely cited papers that have had a major impact.
And for the scientific record to be made more pure is -- as a result of our reporting, that feels good.
GEOFF BENNETT: As you well know, there's a college newspaper investigation at Northwestern that resulted in the football coach there being fired over hazing allegations.
What do you view as the role of student journalism?
THEO BAKER: I'm so proud to belong to this community.
I will fight for it constantly.
I knew going into this that I enjoyed local journalism and student journalism, but now, being in the thick of it, I'm just so proud of my peers.
I know that people across the country are making the difficult decision to report on people inside their own community, in some cases like ours, on people who have direct control over them.
And they're making that decision because they care about their communities, because people who are inside their communities will always push for transparency because they love it.
Student journalism is hard.
It's unsung work.
Often, people are not credited.
Certainly, they're not paid.
And so to see the work that my peers across the country are doing, including at Northwestern, but also The Crimson, where they published stories over $188,000 that went missing from a student club, or at The Columbia Daily Spectator, where they published stories about a toxic workplace environment that got stiff blowback from the university before it was published, to see them doing that is really inspirational.
And I'm so glad that student journalism is being talked about on the national stage.
GEOFF BENNETT: Lastly, Theo, have you settled on a major yet?
Will journalism figure in your future?
THEO BAKER: You know, Stanford actually doesn't even have journalism majors.
So, even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to.
But I have not decided on a major.
I have been a little distracted.
(LAUGHTER) GEOFF BENNETT: A little distracted.
Theo Baker, thanks so much for your time.
We appreciate it.
THEO BAKER: Thank you.
Thank you very much.
GEOFF BENNETT: As the World Cup kicks off, many of the big names in women's soccer are notably absent from the international competition because of knee injuries, namely ACL tears.
That includes us soccer's Catarina Macario and Christen Press, England's Leah Williamson and Beth Mead, and Netherlands striker Vivianne Miedema, and many more.
As Amna Nawaz reports from Los Angeles, it's part of what some are calling an epidemic among female athletes from the professional level all the way down to youth sports.
CASSIDY TSHIMBALANGA, Suffered Sports Injury: Soccer was my love, and it was my passion.
AMNA NAWAZ: In high school, Cassidy Tshimbalanga's dreams were on track.
She was a star forward on her team with plans to play in college and then hopefully the pros.
But that all changed in a single moment.
CASSIDY TSHIMBALANGA: It was a high school game against our rivals, Monte Vista.
And I was playing forward at the time.
And the ball bounced in front of my head.
AMNA NAWAZ: She was sandwiched between the goalie and a defender.
CASSIDY TSHIMBALANGA: I have no clue what's going on.
I just know I'm in excruciating pain.
AMNA NAWAZ: The diagnosis?
A torn anterior cruciate ligament, better known as the ACL.
One surgery and more than a year of rehab later, Tshimbalanga stepped back onto the field, this time for UCLA.
But before the season even starts, she tore the ACL in her other knee, another surgery, another year of rehab, another attempt to play, but the following year, another tear, followed by a fourth.
CASSIDY TSHIMBALANGA: Each time I tore my ACL, it's like my dreams were getting farther and farther from me.
AMNA NAWAZ: Did you see other players around you suffering the same injury over your college career?
CASSIDY TSHIMBALANGA: A lot of other players, especially during my time at UCLA.
DR. KRISTOFER JONES, Orthopedic Surgeon: We have seen an explosion of ACL injuries in young women all the way from 10 years of age up to their teens.
AMNA NAWAZ: As an orthopedic surgeon and team doctor for UCLA and the Los Angeles Lakers, Dr. Kristofer Jones sees multiple ACL tears every week.
DR. KRISTOFER JONES: It's not uncommon to some of these girls so already come in at the high school level, to our collegiate team at UCLA and already have had an ACL reconstruction.
AMNA NAWAZ: Girls who play multiple sports in high school have about a 10 percent chance of an ACL injury.
The highest-risk sports are soccer, basketball, and lacrosse, sports where athletes tend to cut and pivot.
And with more girls and women playing sports than ever before, doctors are seeing more injuries.
But female athletes are about four times more likely to experience an ACL tear than their male counterparts.
That disparity is sparking outcry from elite athletes, including U.S. forward Christen Press, one of several players who won't be at this year's World Cup because of ACL tears.
CHRISTEN PRESS, U.S. Women's Soccer Player: If this happened on the men's side, we would have immediately seen a reaction of, how are we going to solve this and figure this out?
AMNA NAWAZ: U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe has had three ACL tears over her career.
MEGAN RAPINOE, U.S. Women's Soccer Player: I kind of think that a lot of the injuries that we're seeing is due to the increase in schedule.
And, obviously, we're playing a lot more games, we're traveling a lot more with like a fraction of the resources that we really need to have to perform at the highest level.
AMNA NAWAZ: I mean, what will it take?
We hear from the highest levels of play some people saying if this was happening on the men's side, if we saw these numbers, this would have been solved by now.
Do you agree with that?
DR. KRISTOFER JONES: Women definitely need better resources at the team level to try and dedicate to the injury prevention programs.
I think we certainly are getting better at putting our finger on some of the risk factors that we can fix.
AMNA NAWAZ: Some of the risk factors have to do with anatomy.
DR. KRISTOFER JONES: Here, you can see the ACL.
AMNA NAWAZ: The ACL is a ligament that helps stabilize the knee.
One wrong move, and it can tear.
DR. KRISTOFER JONES: And this is the end of the ACL -- the ACL ligament, which is torn off the top of the femur.
AMNA NAWAZ: Researchers have found that less muscle strength in the hamstrings, glutes and core and even the size of the notch where the ACL sits likely make women more prone to ACL tears.
Others are exploring whether hormones could play a role.
HOLLY SILVERS-GRANELLI, Velocity Sports PT: The problem with all of those risk factors is, there's very little we can do about them.
AMNA NAWAZ: Physical therapist Holly Silvers-Granelli and one of her colleagues designed a soccer warmup program that focuses on what athletes can control.
HOLLY SILVERS-GRANELLI: One of the major mechanisms for ACL injury happens during change of direction, so cutting, pivoting and decelerating.
So we implemented all of those types of movements into the program, so that athletes could get comfortable with them.
AMNA NAWAZ: The exercises help athletes develop muscle memory to move more safely and strengthens parts of their body that support the ACL.
The result?
A reduction in ACL injuries by up to 88 percent.
So why are ACL tears still so pervasive?
HOLLY SILVERS-GRANELLI: Part of the problem is that the compliance or the adherence to these types of programs is poor.
AMNA NAWAZ: Preventing ACL injuries is personal for Ally Mueller, who coaches the Predators girls lacrosse club in New York.
She tore her ACL in college, but says implementing injury prevention hasn't always been easy.
ALLY MUELLER, Coach, Predators Girls Lacrosse Club: In the past, it's been a time constraint.
And it's -- there's so many other things within a practice for whatever sport you're playing that you have to focus on with a limited time period.
AMNA NAWAZ: But she says there's growing awareness about the importance of injury prevention and how it can improve performance.
ALLY MUELLER: And I think people are finally seeing that it really is a problem, because it's too late.
If you don't put in the groundwork early on, then you can have these injuries, and it's really draining mentally, physically and it's something that's hard to come back from.
AMNA NAWAZ: She and her team are starting to use a newly launched app from the New York-based Hospital for Special Surgery that shows athletes exercises they can do to help prevent injury on their own time, and allows coaches to track their progress.
Its effectiveness is still being tested.
But it's the kind of thing Cassidy Tshimbalanga wishes she had before her injury.
CASSIDY TSHIMBALANGA: No one really mentioned injury prevention, not until I got to around my second tear.
But, then again, it's more of a reaction, rather than being proactive.
AMNA NAWAZ: For now, ACL injuries are still very common.
So experts say athletes and medical professionals have to think about long-term health risks, including early arthritis.
DR. KRISTOFER JONES: With these girls, what we need to do is do a better job of counseling them.
If they're on their third or fourth ACL, we just -- we need to sit them down and say, look, this may not necessarily be the sport for you.
AMNA NAWAZ: That has to be really hard to hear.
DR. KRISTOFER JONES: Yes.
I mean, for some of these girls and young people, it's their identity.
AMNA NAWAZ: It was a decision Tshimbalanga had to make.
After her fourth ACL tear, she stopped playing soccer.
Soon after, she watched from her apartment as her old college team won the national championship.
CASSIDY TSHIMBALANGA: I was very, very happy for them and just seeing their face and seeing my friends up on the TV.
It was amazing.
But there's always that kind of deep, lingering sadness about what life could have been like for me.
AMNA NAWAZ: To work for something for so long, for 10 years, to reach that point, and then have your career unfold the way that it did, I just wonder how you look back on it.
CASSIDY TSHIMBALANGA: I learned a lot of things about myself and I'm using all of those skills to create a success story for myself.
And part of me thinks that everything that I have learned through that whole process and this new transition of change might be more powerful than ultimately what I would have been playing soccer.
AMNA NAWAZ: She's now on track to go to law school with a new perspective on life and a new dream to fulfill.
GEOFF BENNETT: And some late-breaking news in the sports world tonight.
An NFL investigation has found Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder sexually harassed a team employee and oversaw team officials who withheld millions of dollars in team revenue from other clubs.
In response, Snyder has agreed to pay a $60 million fine.
The NFL also approved the sale of the Commanders today from Snyder to a new ownership group for $6 billion.
And, remember, there's a lot more online, including an in-depth look at how a shortage of ADHD medication has forced patients to turn to alternative solutions.
That's at PBS.org/NewsHour.
And that's the "NewsHour" for tonight.
I'm Geoff Bennett.
Thanks for spending part of your evening with us.
