Good evening. I'm Nick Schifrin. Geoff Bennett is away tonight on PBS news weekend, delicate diplomacy, President Biden balances human rights and Middle East reality in his first trip to the region. Then this information proliferation how finding accurate facts about abortion has become more difficult and post Roe America. And our weekend spotlight. Jeff Bennett talks to Afghan war veteran Jason Kander about coping with post traumatic stress The clinical social worker at the be a said Okay, let me get this straight. You were in
the most dangerous place in the planet. You were gone for hours at a time, often just you and a translator. So you had no backup and you are meeting with people who may want to kill you. And I was like, Yeah, and she goes. Yeah, that's traumatic. All that and
the day's headlines and tonight's PBS news weekend. We begin tonight in Sri Lanka and further fallout after the country's top leadership stepped down yesterday, Opposition leaders today huddled to hash out a new government as the prime minister's private residents remains a smoldering ruin. Protesters who stormed there and the president's residents on Saturday, playing in the pool using the gym vowed to stay put until a new government is installed in Thailand today, U S Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the administration will be watching the developments in Sri Lanka closely. We would urge the parliament to approach this With a commitment to the betterment of the country, not any one political party. Secretary. Blinken will also visit Tokyo tomorrow to offer condolences following the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Today. Abe's political legacy remains secure. Japanese voters propelled his party, the current
ruling party to a major victory in the upper house of parliament. And a likely increase in its majority, according to exit polls. Sitting Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and protege called today's elections an example of strength and democracy and free speech. Amid tragedy. Rescuers today come through the rubble of an apartment complex in eastern Ukraine after Russian rocket fire killed at least 15 people. Saturday night.
The strikes hit a residential neighborhood of passive er. Dozens remain trapped, and so far only several have been rescued. The attack is just the latest in a series of Russian strikes that have killed more than 50 civilians In the last two weeks, Russia continues to claim it only hits targets of military value. Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon is now willing
to testify publicly before the January 6th committee. Until now, Bannon had defied a committee subpoena and was facing charges of criminal contempt of Congress. Former President Trump cleared the way for his testimony, saying in a letter on Saturday that he would wave Bannon's executive privilege. In London today. Tennis star Novak Djokovic beat near curious to win his seventh Wimbledon
title and 21st Grand slam that is just one behind the all time leader Rafael Nadal for most career grand slams. Curios finished with 30 aces and, despite his loss, called the result the best of his career. Finally, the best athletes and women's basketball competed today at the All Star Game in Chicago. But they began by honoring a player who was not
there. Brittney Griner has been held in Russian detention since February. The US says she has wrongfully detained. Last week. She has pled guilty to carrying cannabis oil in her luggage as she arrived in Moscow to charge that could carry a 10 year prison sentence for the second half of the All Star game. Every player wore her number. 42 Still to come on PBS news weekend the rise of misleading and bad information about abortion. And a conversation with Afghan war veteran Jason Kander about post traumatic stress. This week, President Biden makes his first trip to the Middle East as president will travel to Israel and the occupied West Bank and finally to Saudi Arabia to meet the King and Crown Prince. It is delicate diplomacy for administration, hoping to lower gas prices
and advanced regional cooperation. But that's also promised to make human rights the center of its foreign policy. In today's Middle East. The pomp and circumstance is often reserved for this man. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman 36 year olds been on a regional tour as the man who will be king.
He's trying to modernize the kingdom socially, economically and religiously. US. Officials also believe he is the source of the kingdom Suppression models, Rudy Intelligence officials say he is believed to have personally blessed the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside Saudi Arabia. Istanbul consulate the following year candidate Biden promised punishment would make it very clear we were not going to, in fact sell more weapons to them. We were going to, in fact, make them pay the price and make them in fact, the pariah that they are human rights will be the center of our foreign policy. Despite those words and warnings, President Biden says now is the time to visit Saudi Arabia to discuss the ongoing truce in Yemen and increase oil production triple also further integrate Israel into the region. Two weeks after Naftali Bennett handed the prime minister, ship to peace Already Israel, US and Arab militaries are working together on a regional air Defense alliance using Israeli missile defense technology. The regional cooperation
is a product of a common enemy, Iran and its advancing missile technology. It's also the outgrowth of the Trump Administration's efforts to normalize Arab Israeli relations. Would Biden is not reversing Trump era policy changes in Israel, including the declaration that Jewish settlements on the occupied West Bank are not a violation of international law. And what it means for the region. I'm joined by Shibley Telhami, professor at the University of Maryland and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Let's start in the kingdom. In all of his public comments about this trip, President Biden has de emphasized the idea of the tripping about oil or even being about meeting the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
How big of a of an issue is oil actually for this trip, and that meeting with MBS Obviously, the president wants to see, uh you know, lower oil prices and the Saudi area to produce more. That's something that he does, But honestly, that wasn't on that would not have necessarily let him to go to Saudi Saudi Univision. Porton used to deal with it. Despite all of the reservations that people have been going, there is a completely different order, and I think, the president himself said That he was drinking more cigarette Israel meaning getting normalization with Saudi Arabia and I actually believe them because they relations heavily lobbied him to do so because it is a strategic price for them, commissioned a poll asking Americans if they support this trip, and there's an interesting result that you have only 24%. Right there at the top, say they approve of this trip
to Israel and Saudi Arabia. Why do you think that number is that case and is the number also relatively low among Democrats. I think it's partly because Um, sorry. Arabia and Israel are not exactly issues that resonate with the Democrats. Republicans are not going to approve anything that might doesn't quite a constituency obviously doesn't like the seventies over human rights issue. Uh, and also because they were associated with big pro Trump and all of Trump and Jared Kushner. But on the Israeli side, frankly, don't back constituency is not where the president is most of them what Israel to be even to be the US even had it towards Israel and the Palestinians. So let's talk about the Palestinians.
US officials. I talked to say there will not be any announcements reversing Trump era policies, for example, reopening the consulate in Jerusalem or changing trump era policies on the settlements. What do you think? President Biden's visit with Palestinian Authority President Abu Mazin? How will that be received? Well, let's be honest. This is your token visit. He's going to siding every event, Israel and obviously, Democrats expect him include question Democrats expect him not to ignore the Palestinian issues. You will meet Without best, and he'll probably
announce some aid to the Palestinians, but he wouldn't announce anything like moving the consulate back to Jerusalem. Because Israel is don't want it. Is he going to stand there and express more empathy above the occupation and the need to end the occupation? And is he going to meet with the family of slain American Palestinian journalist Serena Broccoli, as many people have been demanding. That's really the question that we are going to be watching for Each of these trips, of course, have the liberals, actual concrete actions and announcements that come with them. Do you believe that the actions and decisions that come out of this trip will advance regional cooperation, which is what the Israel wants, of course, or Israel? Saudi normalization as you were talking about earlier Well, Obviously there's a real issue study areas the big prize, but they all understand that that's not gonna happen on this trip. What the is likely to happen is the service will announce some measures
toward normalization, such as overfly to possibly in missile defense. But let's be clear the Israelis will be winners I because any signaling from the Saudis toward normalization That's going to help them. But even more importantly than that, think about it for more than our ruler set. Our Arab rulers think they've long thought that the shortest path to Washington goes through Israel. Now it's on a whole different order because our rulers believe it was just really the these realities who helped bring Trump.
Decide he Arabia at the at the when he first went on his first international trip, And in here, the president of the U. S, a Democrat who doesn't like Trump, who didn't like the salaries, who called in the fryer. Can't going to Saudi Arabia for Israel. That power matters a lot with Israelis as leverage as they deal with our brewers. Hani joining us from Israel. Thank you very much. My pleasure. Mm. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade Online, researchers say disinformation about abortion has flooded websites and social media, and some of that disinformation is influencing policy. Misleading and medically
inaccurate information even found its way into the Dobbs decision. This week. I spoke to Jenna Sherman, program manager and researcher at Madan Digital Health Lab Technology nonprofit that works to strengthen journalism and digital literacy. Dennis Sherman. Welcome to PBS news Weekend. What was the state of disinformation about abortion before the Dobbs decision before
the Dobbs decision? What we were seeing online was an overwhelming amount of missin disinformation stemming from anti abortion movements. This missing disinformation was primarily really defensive as they were trying to make their point for why abortion is unethical and immoral and also dangerous, so a lot of the focus was on drumming up. Broader support for their movement while trying to dissuade individual people from actually getting an abortion.
So one of the main sticking points for them before the dad's decision was centered around. Um, abortion reversal pills, which have not been proven to be safe or effective in clinical trials, and, in fact were stopped and clinical trials because of a dangerous hemorrhaging. And how has it changed since the Dobbs decision, So just in the past couple of weeks, we've seen the antiabortion mis and disinformation grow much more vitriolic. It's become a lot
a lot more targeted and angry people who might still be considering getting an abortion or might still have access to one. So some of the angles that are primarily being used now are targeting chemical abortion as they're calling it, which is actually another phrase for medication Abortion, trying to convince people that it is unsafe. Which is not true, and another main point that they're sticking on is really pushing against what they're calling abortion tourism, which is a really flippant and pejorative way to describe somebody who has no other choice but to give up a lot of money, time and resources to access care that they need outside of state. Is there also disinformation as far as you can tell, spread by those who advocate for federally protected abortion rights. Since
the decision, pro Choice activists and, um people who believe in in the right to federally protected abortion have turned to social media to try and spread. Tips for people on how to access abortion safely when in reality, it's not actually always safe methods that they're promoting. So one of the big narrative circulating right now from the pro choice individuals is that there are herbal remedies and natural foods that can induce an abortion. This is also not Scientifically proven or safe and can lead to really severe health consequences, depending on the herb or food, like septic shock or liver damage. We mentioned
this at the top, but what disinformation ended up inside? Dobbs decision. So there are claims in the Dobbs decision that abortion is a barbaric practice that abortion is bad for maternal health that abortion is dangerous that fetuses can feel pain before the third trimester and that abortion promotes discrimination. All of these are untrue, and are the same narratives being spouted by anti abortion, individuals and larger movements online. Some of those are certainly False but some of those could be considered subjective, right? By people who are against federally protected abortion rights. So those that I just listed are all objectively false. We know that maternal health is protected and many ways by access to abortion, for instance,
and this is backed by a number of medical and public health organizations. Including the CDC. There are, of course, opinions in the Dobbs decision throughout that are subjective and but really depend on the logic that you're taking and your value system underlying and finally, as best you can tell our social media companies are technology companies doing enough To combat this information. The short answer is absolutely not. We've seen how they were able to mobilize for covid. And while health misinformation policies among platforms are still relatively new, mostly the past five or six years We have not seen them take action, um sufficiently and regards to other health topics. And this is a really urgent need right now, because so many more people are turning to the Internet to find information about abortion, and so many people are coming across it unwillingly because it is being so highly discussed online right now. Janice Sherman. Thank you very much. Thank you. Finally tonight,
our weekend spotlight. Jason Kander is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan and a once rising star in the Democratic Party. Jeff Bennett recently sat down with him to talk about how politics and post traumatic stress changed his life. Jason Kander is an Afghanistan war veteran former Missouri secretary of state and a once future star of the Democratic Party. Even former President Barack Obama said as much, but in 2018 candor dropped out in the home stretch of a race for mayor of Kansas City. That he was widely expected to win, revealing his years long struggle with PTSD and his plan to seek treatment. Jason Kander has now written and unflinching new memoir detailing
his personal journey called Invisible Storm as soldiers, memoir of politics and PTSD. Jason Kander. Thanks so much for being with us. And and this book, your new memoir. It is extraordinarily brave in that it is exceptionally honest. You open the book and this prologue,
you detail what transpired on October 1st 2018 you walk into the Kansas City V, a medical center. And you unload on this psychiatrist. All of the stuff that you have been dealing with that you've been hiding for years. Um, persistent anger, even suicidal ideation. What was the tipping point for you? What got you to the point where you had to? Tell someone that you needed help. Where had been building up
for 11 years and it just in the In the months before I finally went to the V A. It just felt like while I had been getting worse for a long time, I seem to be getting worse faster. And and it scared me and you know I was having these suicidal thoughts. But I also knew that I didn't want to want to kill myself. And so I called the V. A Veterans crisis line, and I remember calling in in sort of a mindset that was Real sheepish again kind of an impostor syndrome. Feeling of like, you know, they're probably going to tell me keep this channel clear. There's people who really need help and who really earned our help. Uh and What
happened instead was one of the first questions I got was the woman on the other end asked me if I'd had suicidal thoughts. This is a couple of nights before I showed up at the V, A. And, you know, I had never said this out loud anybody other than my wife, But I said yes, and then I got really emotional. And then she proceeded to ask me some questions
about My service and about you know what I experienced and what my symptoms were now and it dawned on me during this conversation that from the tone of her voice, she didn't sound like I sounded any differently to her than anybody else She'd talked to in that shift or ever in that job. I realized I'm just like all the other veterans who need help. And that's really striking. Because as you detail in the book as part of your journey, you had sort of played this comparison game that when you were in Afghanistan, you weren't shot at. You weren't in the firefight. You didn't get captured, and so you felt as
if you weren't deserving. Of treatment and that you know you didn't have the right to feel the way that you did. How did you over time? Come to realize that the way that you were feeling that the trauma that you experienced, um was valid? I didn't get to the point where I felt like it was valid to get treatment until I was actually at the V. A talking to a clinical social worker and explaining actually answering these questions you just asked, Which is. Why didn't you think that you should have come in here before and And so I was explaining, like, Look, I Yeah, My job was to go out and meet with people as an intelligence officer who who might be you know, bad guys who want to kill me. But I couldn't know that. But I had to go into the meetings and get the information to come out. But like I had
friends who were in firefights and to me that The movies have taught me That's what combat was what I did wasn't and the clinical social worker at the V A said Okay, let me get this straight. You were in the most dangerous place in the planet. You were gone for hours at a time often just you and a translator. So basically by yourself. Nobody knew where you were. So you had no backup and you're meeting with people who may want to kill you. And I was like, Yeah, And she goes. Yeah, that's traumatic. She's like, Also, that's combat.
And after your military tour, you, of course, started your political career. And you also talk about how you threw yourself into politics. And in the back of your head. You're always thinking. Things will get better when I win. And then once you wanna race or to the goalposts shifted, and I feel like a lot of people can connect with that that that they throw themselves into work. And that the ambition and the success can mask a lot of stuff. I do think that that is a relatable part that I was seeking redemption, and I was seeking at the same time to run away from my trauma through accomplishment and through success, And I really believed that if I did enough, you know if I did enough for other people if I accomplished enough that that would fill up the hole inside me. You know, I thought if I can get elected president
and then I can make a huge difference and save the world in some capacity. Well, that's what I need to do. But over time I eventually realized That there was always something on the horizon. And you know if I do this, I'll feel better when, but it never worked. In fact, I just got addicted to it. And then eventually my tolerance got bigger and bigger or higher and higher and I needed more of it. And then none of it was working. Tell me about your wife, Diana because her insights are included in this book. Um, it's hard enough
to be a military spouse. It's hard enough to be the spouse of a politician and she has both of those things. And she talks about how she experienced secondary PTSD by being your wife. Yeah, I was a real joy was the gift that kept giving for a while there? Um, Yeah, it was really important to us that people understand the effects such as secondary PTSD that can exist. For people who are close to or who have loved ones with PTSD because we didn't even find out about that until I was in therapy. And my therapist. The behaviors like Diana should maybe go see somebody, too. So even though she didn't have the underlying
trauma that I had, she didn't go with me to Afghanistan. You know, waking up every night next to somebody who's having a violent night terror. We used to joke that she was like my service animal She had to, like, Wake my body up from this nightmare, and then I would wake up and we've been together since we were 17. And I just share everything with her. So then I would tell her about this terrible nightmare. So she's half awake, and as she
put it, it was horrible story time. So that combined with my hyper vigilance, my feeling that the world is a very dangerous place that we needed to secure everything all the time and control things. After a while, That stuff seeps into you, even if you didn't experience the underlying trauma, and you can end up in the same boat and a lot of ways as the person with PTSD, and that's what happened for Diana, and she had to get her own treatment as well. In the book that one of the questions
you get the most From people is Are you coming back? Are you going to resurrect your political career? You provide an answer to that in the book, But do you think you can do you think that by by coming forward and being so candid about your experiences That you could run for office again. I think probably so, Yeah. I mean, you know, I'll let people read the book to find, you know my longer answer about whether I want to and if I will, and that kind of thing, but Uh, in a lot of ways, I feel like so much more capable to do anything than I did before I got treatment. Um, but I also want to be clear that I still feel very involved in public service. I'm involved in politics as an activist at times, but You know, President National Expansion of Veterans Community Project, which focuses on combating veteran suicide and veteran homelessness and my royalties from the book go to that cause, But, you know, I actually think that I've had a much greater impact on the world in a positive way. Sense of leaving any pursuit for a particular office. So do I think I could do it? Sure. I guess I've just gotten to the point in my life. Where, um I don't really do anything because I think I should do stuff because I think it's important because it's what I want to do. And I would just say, I think we need in all respects in our leadership
in public life. It would be great if we had people. Who had dealt with their stuff. If you're leading on an office of four people, or if you're reading a state, it doesn't matter. If you deal with your stuff, you're probably in a better position to lead Jason Candor. Thanks so much for your time. I appreciate you being with us. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. An important candid conversation and a key realization that those suffering from post traumatic stress aren't alone. And that's our show for tonight. I'm Nick Schifrin
for all of us A PBS news weekend. I hope you had a good day. Thanks for watching. Have a good night.
2022-07-13