For a criminal investigation of what they see is big oils deception about the impact of fossil fuels on Climate Change. Amna and, we look at the role social media plays in the rise in Violent Crime committed by young people in america. I was shaking and crying because i really didnt know what was going to happen to me. I didnt even know if i was going to live. Major funding for the pbs newshour been provided by Consumer Cellular, this is sam. How can i help you . This is pocket dial. With Consumer Cellular you get nationwide coverage with no contract. That is our thing. Have a nice day. A successful Business Owner sells his company and restores his fathers historic a jazz club with his son. Raymond James Financial advisors get to know you, your passions and how to bring people together. The judy and peter blum k ovler foundation upholding freedom while strengthening democracies at home and abroad. Cunard. On a voyage with cunard, the world awaits, a world of flavor, diverse destinations and immersive experiences. The world of leisure and british style. All with cunard fivestar service. The Walton Family foundation, working for solutions to protect water during Climate Change so people and nature can thrive together. Supported by the john d and catherine t, focused on creating a more just, verdant and peaceful word world. And with the ongoing support of these institutions. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and i contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Amna welcome to the newshour. Search efforts are continuing tonight in iowa where a devastating tornado tore through one community and led to multiple deaths. More than 100 First Responders were combing through the wreckage today. Geoff at least a dozen other people were injured. And the tornado part of a series of twisters hitting the state cut through the heart of a small town about 50 miles southwest of des moines. [sirens] reporter a funnel cloud on the horizon became a tornado that churned through greenfield, iowa, leaving behind a trail of destruction. It got really, really loud and we thought we lost our house. But we were lucky. Everyone else is not so much. Reporter rogue paxton couldnt believe what happened to the town. Everythings going to be fine because we have each other, but its just going to be really, really rough. It is a mess. Reporter the losses were especially acute for the town of about 2,000 people. Sadly, we can confirm there have been fatalities with this tornado. Reporter today Iowa State PoliceSergeant Alex dinkla said he still couldnt confirm the number of deaths as the search and rescue operation was ongoing. Were looking to make sure all residents are accounted for when we have this many homes that have been destroyed and, just fully demolished. We want to make sure that every resident, every person is accounted for. Reporter Traffic Cameras caught the tornado as it ripped through route 30 and overturned a semitrailer. Adams county officials said at least one person was killed when a car was blown off the road close to 30 miles southwest of greenfield. Iowa governor kim reynolds compared it to the devastating tornadoes that ripped through iowa last month. Its just gut wrenching. I was just in minden three and a half weeks ago and that was horrific. And i think theres even more debris and just more impaction, more impacted here. So it is just horrific. Its hard to describe until you can actually see the devastation. Reporter the National WeatherService Received 23 tornado reports on tuesday, mostly in iowa but a few in minnesota and wisconsin. Large parts of the midwest experienced fierce thunderstorms, and tens of thousands were without power. The white house said fema administrator Deanne Criswell would head to iowa tomorrow to survey the damage. In the meantime, residents in affected areas should remain vigilant and heed the advice of state and local officials. Reporter greenfields hospital was among the buildings damaged. Officials said patients were transported to surrounding hospitals and temporary facilities were in place. The school is also our makeshift hospital just for any triage, anybody that might get hurt during our search and rescue or cleanup efforts as well. Reporter this has been an especially severe year for tornadoes, with 81 so far in iowa. We are going to take it seriously. When they say take cover it , means take cover. Its important that we listen to the warnings available to us right now. Reporter and the warnings will continue as peak tornado season extends through the spring and into early summer. Amna in the days other headlines norway, ireland and spain declared that they will formally recognize a palestinian state joining some 140 other countries around the world. Palestinians have sought nationhood in east jerusalem, the west bank, and the gaza strip since they were seized by israel in the 1967 war. This morning in dublin, the irish Prime Minister said he hopes todays decision will create momentum. Each of us will now undertake whatever National Steps are necessary to give effect to that decision. In the lead up to todays announcement, ive spoken with a number of other leaders and counterparts, and im confident that further countries will join us in taking this important step. Amna the recognition is largely symbolic, but still seen as a blow to israel amid its ongoing war with hamas. Israels Prime Minister fired back at saying, the three countries are rewarding terrorism. This evil cannot be given a state. This would be a terrorist state that would repeat october 7th again and again. Rewarding terrorism wont bring peace and wont stop us from defeating hamas. Amna israel recalled its ambassadors to the three countries following the announcements. Their official recognition of a palestinian state will take effect may 28th. Here at home the families of 19 victims of the School Shooting in uvalde, texas are suing nearly 100 state Police Officers for their botched response to one of the deadliest School Shootings in u. S. History. The families legal team also announced they agreed to a 2 million settlement with the city of uvalde. Friday marks two years since a teenage gunman entered robb elementary school, killing 19 fourth graders, and two teachers. The Biden Administration is cancelling another round of student loans. The Education Department said today it will erase 7. 7 billion in federal debt. The move will affect 160,000 borrowers. All told, the Biden White House has cancelled 167 billion in loans for more than 5 million americans. But those efforts have faced legal challenges by some republicanled states, who say the president needs congressional approval for such actions. Hunter bidens trial on federal tax charges in california will now start in september. It had been due to begin next month. U. S. District judge mark c. Scarsi agreed to delay the trial, so that the president s son can prepare for a separate case on gun charges he faces in delaware. That trial begins on june 3. Bidens lawyers had argued they could not prepare for both trials adequately, citing the uniquely challenging and highprofile nature of the prosecution. He has pleaded not guilty in both cases. Former republican president ial candidate Nikki Haley Says she will vote for donald trump in novembers election. She may be announcement in washington today during her first public appearance since suspending her own campaign in march. The two had been sharply critical of each other during the primary campaign. The former South Carolina governor was one of the last highprofile governors not to endorse trumps president ial bid. In thailand, an investigation is underway into the Singapore Airlines flight that dropped suddenly amid severe turbulence, leaving one person dead and 20 others in intensive care. The boeing 777 flight from london to singapore made an Emergency Landing in bangkok yesterday, shortly after falling 6000 feet in just three minutes. Passengers described a scene of sheer terror, as loose items and even people lurched through the cabin. I saw people from across the aisle just going completely horizontal, hitting the ceiling and landing back down in really awkward positions. People, like, getting massive gashes in the head, concussions. Amna others said the shuddering was so violent that large pieces of the planes interior were falling off. About 140 passengers and crew were flown onwards to singapore today. More than 80 others stayed behind in bangkok. Britains Prime Minister has called a general election for july 4, months earlier than many had expected. Rishi sunak made the announcement during a televised address from outside 10 downing street. Hes betting that recent signs of Economic Growth and lower inflation will give voters a reason to extend the conservative partys 14year hold on power. But the Opposition Labour Party is well ahead in most polls. Their leader kier starmer is widely expected to become the next Prime Minister. Regular use of marijuana has risen to the same levels as alcohol use. That is according to new Research Published today in the journal addiction. An estimated 17. 7 Million People reported using Marijuana Daily or almost daily in 2022. Thats compared to 14. 7 million regular drinkers. Its also a 15fold increase since 1992. The studys author, Jonathan Caulkins added that a good 40 of current cannabis users are using it daily or near daily, a pattern that is more associated with tobacco use than typical alcohol use. On wall street today,stocks fell amid worries the Federal Reserve wont cut Interest Rates soon, after their latest meeting. The Dow Jones Industrial average dropped more than 200 points to close at 39,671. The nasdaq lost 31 points. The s p 500 gave back 14 points. Still to come on the newshour, a look at former President Trumps plans to reform healthcare if he returns to the white house. The children of an american psychotherapist who is believed to have died in detention in syria speak out. The United States first black astronaut candidate becomes the oldest person ever to fly in space. And bestselling writer amy tan turns her literary gaze on the world of birds. This is the pbs newshour, from weta studios in washington, and in the west from the Walter Cronkite school of journalism at Arizona State university. Geoff in congress, the Top Democrats on two committees are asking the department of justice to launch a sweeping investigation of big oil corporations. They allege that the companies have deceived the public for decades about their complicity in Climate Change and willingness to address it. Lisa desjardins has more. Lisa Senate Budget chairman Sheldon Whitehouse and congressman jamie raskin, the top democrat on the House Oversight committee are asking for the kind of action that doj brought against Tobacco Companies about 20 years ago. But against big oil. This comes weeks after the two released a joint staff report laying out their findings from a threeyear investigation of major Oil Companies. And congressman raskin joins me now from capitol hill. You are talking about evidence that more than 50 years ago Big Oil Companies knew about fossil fuels connection to Climate Change and you are talking about more modern evidence they have been deceiving the public. Can you give us specific examples . Rep. Raskin sure. 50 or 60 years ago they clearly understood the burning of fossil fuels destabilized the climate and warmed the earth. They made a very deliberate decision that, rather than tell government and blow the whistle, they would try to suppress that evidence. They suppressed the evidence. As other scientists in other places began to discover the relationship between fossil fuel combustion and increase in the earths temperature and Climate Change, they denied it and tried to throw a blanket of uncertainty and confusion over the whole subject. Even after Climate Change became a well accepted and well acknowledged reality throughout the world of science, they have done whatever they can to undermine us making policy decisions we need to make in order to break from the Carbon Economy and carbon model and move to solar energy and wind energy and renewable systems. We have very specific evidence of them taking all of those steps. It goes on even to this day. We have lots of evidence of it and wanted turn it over to the department of justice. Congress has to work on Solutions Going forward, as we did in the infrastructure act, and the inflation reduction act, but we want to make sure this history is not swept under the rug. Lisa you also mentioned public commitment by bp and other companies to the paris climate agreement and evidence behind the scenes they felt there was not a commitment at all. I want to talk about what you want to happen next, in your letter to the department of justice, you talked about past investigations. Specifically, the investigation into deceptive practices of the Tobacco Industry, which you say lead to investigation and litigation by state attorneys general and the doj. That tobacco case was historic. It was a civil case. Do you believe big oil is complicit in Climate Change and the harm from Climate Change in the way big tobacco was found to be harming americans with cigarettes . Rep. Raskin absolutely, it is a close analogy. The Tobacco Industry was profiting from their model, which was to sell people cigarettes, get them addicted to cigarettes, and suppress or cloud the evidence of the carcinogenic effects of smoking on the human body. Here what we have is the entire gas and oil industry, exxon mobil, bp, several other companies, which understood the way fossil fuel combustion produced dramatic changes in the climate and warmed the climate in ways that had been costing humanity hundreds of billions of dollars. The costs are only going up. All of this is to the detriment of the Public Health and public safety. It is a very close analogy. We are congress, we are lawmakers. We have to figure out how to get out of this mess. The question of civil or criminal liability or culpability lies exclusively with the department of justice. We will let them figure that out. Lisa we asked major Oil Companies for comment and they did not respond. We also asked the American Petroleum institute to join us on the program. They did not respond to that but did respond to your letter, writing, this is another unfounded political charade to distract from persistent inflation and americas need for more energy, clean oil and natural gas. U. S. Energy workers are focused on delivering reliable, Affordable Oil and natural gas americans demand. Any suggestion to the contrary is false. Moving to other fuels cannot happen immediately. How do you respond to the oil company saying you are just playing politics . Rep. Raskin we are at levels of gas and Oil Production higher than we have seen before. The economy remains deeply invested and engaged in carbon production. Big gas and big oil are culpable primarily for their suppression of these Clear Scientific findings. The facts they knew of for decades. All of us are implicated by virtue of our use of the carbon producing fuels. It is not primarily a moral problem in terms of how do we disengage from the carbon model and move to other forms of energy that are not going to present a dagger at the throat of humanity. Scientists agree that we cannot keep going as we have been. Lisa congressman jamie raskin, thank you for joining us. Amna this week donald trump , suggested he was open to restricting Birth Control in the u. S. Or allowing states to do so. Then he walked it back on truth social, saying he will quote never advocate imposing , restrictions on Birth Control. on the campaign trail, President Biden and former President Trump are proposing vastly different visions for reproductive rights and healthcare in the u. S. Our white house correspo