AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Naw Geoff Bennet On the "News them of failing to protect children online.

As it prepares to strike back, the U.S. blames a powerful Iran-backed milit the deadly attack on American troops.

And a conservative critic of Donald Trump on what for the GOP and the country.

DAVID FRUM, Senior Editor, "The th e willingness to use methods that are anti-constitutional, the fascination with violence, th at of a different kind of politics than the kinds of politics in the past we have called conservative.

(BREAK) AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "NewsHour."

Senators grilled CEOs of top social media companies today in a hearing about child safety online that was emotional, heated and contentious.

Lawmakers tried to get companies to back proposed legislation, but much of the on questions of accountability, including over the deaths of children.

Lisa Desjardins begins our coverage with this report.

LISA DESJARDINS: Before one word of testimony, a silent statement.

Family members greeted tech CEOs by holding up photos of loved ones, children they say were harmed by social media.

Senators quickly voiced the sharp sentiment in the p SEN. LINDSEY GRAH mean it to be so, but you have blood on your hands.

You have a product... (CHEERING AN SEN. LINDSEY GRAH LISA DESJARDINS: The CEOs of Meta, X, TikTok, Snapchat and Discord arrived issued subpoenas to defend their platforms against charges they don't do enough to protect kids.

JASON CITRON MARK ZUCKERBERG, CEO, Meta: We have built more than 30 different tools.

EVAN SPIEGEL, CO-FOUNDER, Snapchat: Missing and Exploited Children.

SHOU ZI CHEW LINDA YACCARINO, CEO, X Corp: X has zero tolerance child sexual exploitation.

LISA DESJARDINS: To many parents, the dan In 2023 alone, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says it received mor than 36 million reports of sexual exploitation of children online.

And families cite devastating bullying, body image problems, drug trafficking and suicides they see directly tied to social media.

But Congress has not passed any of the major bills to restrict the co liable since the '90s.

Frustrated senators are deeply skeptical of SE N. RICHARD DURB child safety improvements within the last week.

SEN. MIKE LEE (R- -- it's restricting access to sexually explicit content, but only for teens ages 13 to 15?

Why not restrict it for 16- and 17-year-olds as well?

MARK ZUCKERBERG: Senator, my understanding is that we don't allow on the service for people of any age.

The... SEN. MIKE LEE: Ho LISA DESJARDINS: The and have forms of age limits, as well as other tools, to help protect kids.

Linda Yaccarino of X, formerly known as Twitter, echoed that her company is open to change, but wary of stifling legitimate content.

LINDA YACCARINO: Industry collaboration is imperative h X believes that the freedom of speech and platform safety can and must coexist.

We agree that now is the time to act with urgency.

LISA DESJARDINS: Senators, though, were out of patience and gave CEOs little time to respond, furiously saying they have heard enough.

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY that there's absolutely no link, your product is w speed ahead, while internally you know full well your product is a disaster.

LISA DESJARDINS: That led to an extraordinary moment with tech powerhouse Zuckerberg.

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY: (APPLAUSE) (CROSSTALK) MARK ZUCKERB And no one should have to go through the things th LISA DESJARDINS: Zuckerberg argued that his company is devoted to and leading in safety.

When a senator said Instagram is harmful, he responded.

MARK ZUCKERBERG: Senator, I disagree with that.

That's not what the research Th at doesn't mean that individual people don't we need to do to help provide the right tools for people.

LISA DESJARDINS: Much is at stake here.

Senators on the committee are pushing for a half-d social media companies, including an end to their protections from some laws content.

Despite bipa SEN. AMY KLOBUCHA double-talk.

It's time to actually pass t And the reason they haven't SEN. MARSHA BLACK You have an army of lawyers and lobbyist the way.

LISA DESJARD answers.

SEN. RICHARD DURB No excuses.

We have got LISA DESJARDINS: B unclear.

For the "PBS AMNA NAWAZ: As Lisa reported, many of those who who lost a child or whose child was injured.

I'm joined now by one of them, Christine McComas.

Her daughter Grace died by suicide in 2012 after being bullie Christine, thank you so much for being here, and let me say how very sorry we are for your loss.

You were in You were act I just want to ask you what you thought about the questions from lawmakers, about heard from the executives.

CHRISTINE MC that, finally, people are understanding the dangers that are inherent in the platforms, the social media platforms.

And so the fact that we're having t But then bring in all five of the biggest platforms that are hurting kids, it's frustrating to me that it's been so long, and it's been clear because of whistle-blowers coming forward that they have known that it's harmful and they have not made the changes that need to be made.

And, today, The Kids Online Safety Act has to pass.

It's urgently needed.

And they need to get on board and join us.

AMNA NAWAZ: Grace died as a result of th Tell us what that means.

And why do you think social media play CHRISTINE MCCOMAS: You know, she was a young teen.

She was 14.

And, actually, there was a Bu t the bullying was things like, I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate you.

I hope you see this and cry yourself to sleep and wake up and kill yourself.

You might as well.

You're just they watch their families burn.

And this is abnormal.

This is -- she was terrorized.

And there was no way to make it stop.

There was no way to get it taken down.

And we -- what KOSA would make dedicated reporting and get things taken care of.

AMNA NAWAZ: If KOSA had been in place, do you th CHRISTINE MCCOMAS: I believe that we would not be where we are today.

AMNA NAWAZ: There are a number of groups, civil rights group inclu could restrict free speech, it chills encryption adoption, or it could even fo to gather more information on kids.

Do you see any of those as valid?

CHRISTINE MCCOMAS: I know that I have And we have talked quite a bit with the bipartisan co-sponsors -- or no actual sponsors of the bill, Senator Blumenthal and Senator Blackburn.

And I know that they have been very careful to very strictly -- they made changes that made more of the people happy that it's not going to do these things.

They're not going to be collecting any more information.

And I know that there were questions about LGBTQ kids having a chill on them being able to find things, but it doesn't restrict information.

It goes to the heart of how these platforms are designed and to make guardrails to stop things happening to children.

They know that the whistle-blowers came forward and -- from Facebook, two of them over the last couple of years, one very recently, and brought proof that their studies, internal studies that no one knew about proved that they knew that their products were hurting the kids and they chose not to do anything about it.

AMNA NAWAZ: Christine, there's a new generation of kids who are growing up a new generation of parents who are trying to figure out what to do about that, how to keep their kids safe.

What is your message t CHRISTINE MCCOMAS: I'm with a group of paren We just launched a Web site this wee It stands for Parents for Safe Online Spaces.

All of the parents have lost children to different online harms.

And so when I say that you could be the most engaged parent and not be able to protect them, I mean that.

There are lots of bad actors, predators out there, from sextortion don't know what sextortion is, they need to learn what sextortion is, because people are pretending to be someone of a child's age.

And they end up gaining their trust over time and then the minute that they send them any sort of intimate photo of themselves, it turns around immediately with extortion for money, threats to release that to everyone they know.

And I met a couple of parents last night who, there was only six hours from the time that they got the picture, they said, we want $5,000 -- and he's a kid.

And he doesn't have that.

And there were six hours from th AMNA NAWAZ: What do you want people to know about Grace?

CHRISTINE MCCOMAS: She was a great kid.

She literally was born happy, I mean, just bright blue eyes smiling all the time.

And she grew into a really gregarious, happy kid who was kind and thoughtful and made us laugh every single day.

She was very funny.

She had a grea And she should still be here.

But I am her voice now.

So I don't want people to see me.

I want people to see h And I want changes to be made so nobody has AM NA NAWAZ: Christine McComas, thank you so much for being here.

CHRISTINE MCCOMAS: Thank you for having me.

AMNA NAWAZ: In the day's other headlines: The Federal Reserve held steady on interest rates, keeping them at a 22-year high.

Policymakers hinted that cuts might be coming later this year,but not Fe d Chair Jerome Powell said he first wants further signs that inflation will keep falling to the Central Bank's target of 2 percent.

JEROME POWELL, Federal Reserve Chairman: It's not that we're looking for better data.

It's -- we're looking at continuation of the good dat It's not that the six-month data isn't low enough.

It is.

It's just a down to 2 percent?

That's really what we're AMNA NAWAZ: Fed quarter-point each, but they have given no timetable.

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with families of hostages still held Gaza.

His office s no details.

In Gaza, Israeli military vi Gunfire reverberated outside hospitals.

The U.N.'s International Court of Justice has rejected most of Ukraine's ag ainst Russia.

Today's ruling dismissed claim against annexed Crimeans.

The court did find that Russia illegall expected to ignore that ruling.

At the same time, the two sides swapped some 40 That came a week after the downing of a Russian plane purportedly carrying Ukrainian POWs.

In Pakistan, former Prime Minister Imran Khan was sentenced to another 14 years in prison, this time on corruption charges.

He's already serving three years for corrup for revealing state secrets.

All of this comes days before parliamentary Ba ck in this country, FBI Director Christopher Wray sounded a warning today that Chinese government hackers are going after critical infrastructure in the U.S.

He told a House hearing that electrical grids, transportation and water treatment plants are targets.

CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI Director: And the risk that poses to every American requires our attention now.

China's hackers are positioning on American infrastructure in prepar and cause real-world harm to American citizens and communities if and when China decides the time has come to strike.

AMNA NAWAZ: Also today, the FBI and Justice hacking operation that used hundreds of home and office routers in the U.S. to cover their tracks.

House Republicans over border security.

Early today, the House Homeland Securi party-line vote.

The full House could vote ne Republicans say Mayorkas has refused to enforce immigratio Democrats say it's all a political stunt.

A major federal study has tied contaminated water at Camp Lejeune in N sharply higher risk of various cancers.

It finds the risk was at least 20 percent higher from Ma 1975 and 1985 compared with other bases.

It is the largest study of its kind ever done in the U.S. And on Wall Street, stocks sank as the Federal Reserve signaled that interest rate cuts wo come as soon as the market hoped.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 317 The Nasdaq fell nearly 346 points, 2 percent, and the S&P 500 was down 1.6 percent.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": new reporting reveals former NFL players were denied compensation for brain trauma; drought lowers water levels in the Panama Canal, causing a major disruption to global trade; the exploding popularity of a new literary genre that mixes romance and fantasy; plus much more.

Today, the United States blamed an umbrella group of Iranian-backed proxies for the weekend attack that killed three U.S. soldiers.

From Israel to Iran, the Middle East is on edge, waiting Nick Schifrin reports.

NICK SCHIFRIN: At an Corps commander said he didn't want another war, but wasn't afraid of one.

MAJ. GEN. HOSSEIN SALA we do not le While we are NICK SCHIFRIN: Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps has long supported what ax is of resistance to conduct forward defense against its enemies.

In Iraq, that includes Kataib Hezbollah, a member of the umbrella group Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which the U.S. today blamed for the attack on the Tower 22 base in Jordan last weekend that killed three U.S. reserve soldiers.

But, yesterday, Kataib Hezbollah claimed in a statement that Iran know how it fights" and, in fact, opposes some of the group's attacks.

And Kataib Hezbollah pledged to -- quote -- "suspend military action" against the U.S. to -- quo -- "avoid putting the Iraqi government in an embarrassing position."

JOHN KIRBY, NSC Coordinator For Strategic Communications: You can't take what like Kataib Hezbollah says at NI CK SCHIFRIN: National Security Council cease-fire and said the U.S. would have multiple responses.

JOHN KIRBY: What we're anticipating here, which won't just be a one-off, as I sai the first thing you see will not be the last thing.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Iran also supports the Houthis in Yemen dozen attacks on international shipping and openly trains for attacks on Israeli and U.S. forces.

It claims to to Israel.

Today, the U.S. launched i spokesman said the group's attacks would continue.

BRIG.

GEN. YAHYA SAREA, they are taking all military procedur with the Palestinian people.

NICK SCHIFRIN: For more on all Va li Nasr was an adviser at the State Department during the Obama administrat a professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

Reuel Marc Gerecht was a CIA operations officer in the Middle East in the '80s and 90s.

He is now a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.

Thanks very much.

Welcome, bot Reuel Marc Gerecht, let me Ho w do you believe the United States should respon in Jordan last weekend?

REUEL MARC G United States should tak Iran or along the coast.

We should have an quickly destroyed the Islamic Republic's Navy, mutatis mutandis, something like that.

I think anything short of that is likely to be unsuccessful, and you're going to see Iran continue its proxy war strategy against us.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Vali Nasr, how do you think the U.S. should respond to this attack that killed three U.S. soldiers in Jordan?

VALI NASR, School of A the United States has stated that it does If it does not want a wider war, attacking Iran directly is not the way First of all, even though Kataib Hezbollah is backed by Iran, there's not evidence that Iran ordered the attack that killed the three Americans.

That's number one.

Secondly, a direct attack on Iran We saw this when the United States killed an Iranian general, Soleimani, during the Trump administration.

Iran reacted with a barrage And had an American been killed then, then we would have been at war.

So it really goes down to what the United States wants to achieve from this attack.

Does it want to retaliate?

Does it want to deter or does it want to exp NICK SCHIFRIN: Reuel Marc Gerecht, take on those two poin That would escalate -- what you suggested would escalate this war.

And there is no evidence that Iran actually ordered this attack.

REUEL MARC GERECHT: Well, one, I think you abso I mean, historically, the Islamic Republic has feared escalation.

They have under no circumstances want to get in a duel with the United States.

They know they will lose.

I would say Donald Trump's -- and by the way, the leader of the Kataib Hezbollah at that time, Muhandis, was with Soleimani and also died.

It's a creature of the Islamic He didn't escalate.

He should ha So the administrat to retrench.

If they do not take this directly to the I think, are very poor.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Val If the U.S. wants to actually need to be inside Iran itself.

VALI NASR: No, I mean, i to end, it has to end the Gaza war.

The only time that the -- all of these attacks en that was brokered at that time by the United States.

The underlying cause of the current escalation is the war.

And the idea that, if you hit Iranians hard or you hit Hezbollah hard, ba ck away and let basically the current war in Gaza go as planned could be a massive miscalculation.

I mean, these countries have their own interest in this war, both opportunities and fears.

And, yes, they don't want a larger war, but they're not going to step back just because the United States is hitting them in order for the Gaza war to be conducted as is desired by Israel.

And if we mi respond, we may be surprised.

I don't think the evidence shows that they have backed away.

That is a convenient reading to say that.

As I said, when we killed General Soleimani, it did not actually end up immediately.

Iranians hit It was Presi retaliation by Iran.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Reuel Marc Th e U.S. is in the middle of conversations with it wants the U.S. to leave the country, although the prime minister specifically does not put a timetable on that.

Should that discussion a today about how to respond to this attack last weekend?

REUEL MARC GERECHT: Well, I don't think you hostage by its bases abroad and its forces abroad.

And there's no question about it.

The United Sta batteries.

And it's an The Israelis also have a He zbollah to let loose its missiles, the Israeli air force, I think, fairly quickly would destroy those forces, but it could pincushion Tel Aviv for a while.

So it's a real issue.

But I think the ov can't let them blackmail you.

And I would have I mean, the Iranians have been gaming u Gaza war broke out.

It's close to a miracle that Amer Iranian allied militias, proxies have launched against us.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Vali Nasr, do you think that the U.S. should be thinking about the impact of its presence in Iraq when it considers how to respond to this weekend attack?

VALI NASR: Yes, because the Kataib Hezbollah are not Iranians.

They're Iraqis.

That organiz And they have significant power in the country among the population, as well as in the halls of power with the government.

And taking them on directly basically destabilize Iraq.

In other words, United Sta But they have to be also mindful that the casualty here would be Iraq.

And the United States is trying to maintain troops and forces in order partly to protect the Iraqi government that it has set up.

And it's not that straightforward that, if you went after the militias, wi ll come out of this unscathed as well.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Reuel Marc Gerecht, I onl heard John Kirby there largely dismiss the statement by Kataib Hezbollah.

Do you also dismiss it?

REUEL MARC G I mean, as I s Yes, they are Iraqis, but they have been in league with Iran.

The Revolutionary Guard Corps has given them a lot of money and training for a cause.

And that is, essentially, they have the same goal, to kick the United States out of Ira to humble the United States in the Middle East, to destroy Israel.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And, Vali Nasr, quickly to you, same question.

Should the U.S. take seriously what Kataib Hezbollah said yesterday, which un ilateral cease-fire?

VALI NASR: W I mean, actions speak louder than words.

But I would say that perhaps they have realized that they have come to the brink dangerous and may back away.

That does not end the conflict.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Yes.

VALI NASR: Thi NICK SCHIFRIN: Vali Nasr, Reuel Marc Gerecht, thank you very much to you bot REUEL MARC GERECHT: My pleasure.

VALI NASR: T AMNA NAWAZ: In a landmark 2015 settlement, the National Football League fo rmer players who developed dementia and other brain diseases linked to concussions.

Since then, the NFL has awarded $1.2 billion to more than 1,600 athletes.

But a Washington Post investigation found the league saved hundreds of millions of dollars by rejecting payouts to hundreds of retired players suffering from dementia, including many who died.

Washington Post report Will, thanks for joining us.

You reviewed 1 You spoke to players and widows and doctors.

Before we get into the details, what kind th e NFL viewed and treated these claims?

WILL HOBSON, The Washington Post: Well, we ha s its own unique way to define dementia.

And that's one big component, that there are players out who are getting diagnosed with dementia, and they obviously have the symptoms of dementia but they don't meet the settlement standard.

So, they're getting denied for money an were going to get.

AMNA NAWAZ: claims once they develop signs of dementia.

Your reporting found, of 1,241 former players fr om their doctors, only about 15 percent were approved.

Why so many denials?

WILL HOBSON: They're -- the league that is true.

There were a significant numbe who attempted to get paid.

But, as we d went through this process, saw their claims get denied, and then died and had CTE confirmed at autopsy.

AMNA NAWAZ: as well, in terms of being an on-air broadcaster for the league for years.

What happened to him?

WILL HOBSON: Mr. Cro diagnosed with dementia.

He was having -- a The doctors even noted that his clothing was soiled that day.

His wife said she needed to remind him to change his clothes.

But he didn't score low enough on cognitive tests for the NFL settle of dementia.

So he was denied He ultimately passed away a few years later, what his doctors thought was Alzheimer's dise but an autopsy found it was actually CTE.

AMNA NAWAZ: And how common was WI LL HOBSON: Without being able to review every one of the couldn't tell you exactly how common, but the NFL is easily saving hundreds of millions of dollars based on how this settlement was designed.

AMNA NAWAZ: Will, you have also reported pre as part of the settlement, meaning that Black players were treated differently when it came to cognitive assessment than white players, even though Black players make up the m of the league.

Did any of t WILL HOBSON: They did.

I mean, Mr. Cross actually was one His -- part of the reason he didn't qualify on the cogni his scores were race-normed, which is basically the test scores were curved and adjusted a little bit based on a formula that assumes Black former players naturally perform worse on these cognitive tests than white former players.

AMNA NAWAZ: And how does the NFL and the repres WILL HOBSON: Well, the NFL contends that the settlement's definition for dementia isn't actually more difficult than the regular one and that the doctors we have interviewed on that point are mistaken.

They also point out that t law firm and a federal judge, and so the NFL isn't directly controlling how a lot of t claims play out.

AMNA NAWAZ: It People can read the full report online That is Will Hobson of The Wash Will, thank you so much.

WILL HOBSON: My pleasure.

Thanks.

AMNA NAWAZ: With primary season fo r former President Donald Trump, Judy Woodruff explores what another Trump nomination and presidency could mean for the Republican Party and for the country.

It's part of her series America at a Crossroads.

JUDY WOODRUFF: It's not even February, and former President Trump appears to be on his way to sewing up his third GOP nomination to the highest office in the land.

DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: Well, I want JUDY WOODRUF Carolina and beyond.

Elected Republican leaders are scrambling to climb on boar Texas Senator John Cornyn joined over half the GOP members of the Senate and most those in the House.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON SEN. LINDSEY GRAH SEN. TIM SCOTT (R JUDY WOODRUFF: But not all those in Republican and cons "Atlantic" magazine writer David Frum, former speechwriter for President George W. Bush and a longtime Trump critic.

DAVID FRUM, Senior Editor, "Th of his skills is understanding where the pain points are in people, that -- the things that make him upset, both his friends and his enemies.

How do you make your enemies upset?

Because it's often a great as to make the opponents crazy with rage too.

JUDY WOODRUFF: How does he fit into the traditi DAVID FRUM: If conservatism means protecting things that are precious in America, being mindful of the hazards of change, setting limits on power, setting limits on appetite, well, Donald Trump isn't any of those things.

Donald Trump is exactly the person and exactly sought to exclude from power.

The whole point of conservative po you want to have power decentralized, you want to make sure that the people who come to power are people who both understand the constitutional restraints on power, but also have the personal, the character restraints on their own appetites.

The anger and rage, the desire to target, the willingness to use methods that are anti-constitutional, the fascination with violence, these are characteristics of a different kind of politics than the kinds of politics in the past we have called conservative.

JUDY WOODRUFF: How do you explain the loyalty DA VID FRUM: Well, we have seen that kind of loyalty before in state-level politicians, Mayor Curley in Boston, who somehow got the support of a certain segment of Irish Catholic Boston, Huey Long in Louisiana.

What these kinds of leaders do is they associate their hurts and grieva hurts and grievances, and they use hurts and grievances as permission to break rules, and because they have convinced people that the people who are enforcing the rules are your cultural enemies.

And even if not.

I don't thin who said, I want to speak to hurts and grievances across the whole culture, across the whole country, and everyone who tries to enforce rules on me is an enemy of yours.

JUDY WOODRUFF: For someone who has been at the center of conservative thought, of watching conservatives, watching the Republican Party progress over time, tackle tough issues, do you feel that you should have seen something like Donald Trump coming along?

DAVID FRUM: I did my grieving for my Republican Party in 2010, '11, and '12.

So I'm now deep into my widowhood.

I can think about this pretty analytically I went to Tea Party rallies and I said, not only do I not recognize this.

Actually, on second thought, I do recognize this and it's everything I'm against.

So that was hard.

But when Trump came along, look, I was shocked But I was not shocked in that this was a completely different thing from what I'd been seeing before.

JUDY WOODRUF now about politics.

What is the effect that Donald Trump is having An d if he were reelected, what effect would it have?

DAVID FRUM: Well, I wonder whether there's really more division i than at other points in the past.

Remember the feeling about Vietnam and I bet families had a tumult sitting down over dinner in 1969 Debates over civil rights and the integration of schools in the early 1950s and early 1960s, I bet there are families that had difficulty reconciling about that.

But back then, the political system saw its job as managing.

Leaders knew, this is an incredibly diverse country, rural versus urban, race upon race, ethnicity upon ethnicity, religion upon religion, sometimes men against women, young against old, rich against poor, all of these potential fault lines.

And it's the job of the people who meet in the building that, to say, we keep -- while everyone else is getting excited, we keep our cool.

And we remember that what is really important are dams and roads and high schools and defense plants.

And we're go And we're all just going to But the political circle at the top no longer sees these conflicts a They see them as resources to exploit.

And Donald Trump is better at this than just ab stuff, and they say that is going to be not something I'm going to try to contain, but something I will use for fuel.

JUDY WOODRUFF: What effect doe DAVID FRUM: We will be more fractious, we will be more argumentative, because demons that exist in any society will not only be liberated by the political system, but will be encouraged, because Donald Trump will be looking to his constituency of very upset people in order to impose his lawless will upon the constitutional system.

I want to get away with Watergate.

I want to pardon myself.

I want to fire prose I want to do all the t to do.

And I'm tell And I want my followers to JU DY WOODRUFF: And if Trump does use the criminal justice system to shut down investigations into his own conduct, including alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election, the consequences will be dire, according to Frum.

DAVID FRUM: The country will be in the stree Congress will be in an uproar.

We will talk abo There will be no other p There will be no other topic.

You won't be able to accompl There will be resignations from Th ere may be resignations from the military.

It is going to be chaos, and the ch JUDY WOODRUFF: And if, conversely, Joe Biden wins reelection, what happ state of our country, of our polarized state?

DAVID FRUM: Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychiatry, is supposed the purpose of psychiatry is to convert hysterical obsessive neurosis into ordinary unhappi If Joe Biden wins, we get all our usual problems back, rich versus poor, urban versus rural, climate change, deficits, structure of world peace, trade with China.

Not a single problem will be fixed, but we will have a working set of institutions with which to address the problems.

And our disagreements wo You will just have non-sociopath c, n room disagree a lot.

We are going to sit down at th can take something to my people and you can take something to your people.

JUDY WOODRUFF: No guarantee, however, that the divisions among the Am ease up.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm AM NA NAWAZ: An extreme drought in Panama is forcing authorities to substantially scale back shipping through the Panama Canal, one of the world's key shipping channels.

And it comes at a time when traffic has also been disrupted through the Suez Canal, where commercial shipping has been limited by the widening Middle East conflict.

Stephanie Sy looks into the problems for the critical Panama Canal.

STEPHANIE SY: The canal is one of the most important waterways in the an d typically carries 5 percent of the world's maritime trade and 40 percent of U.S. container traffic.

But with wat down from 38.

That means more delays and Th e Panama Canal Authority's deputy administrator, Ilya Espino de Marot Panama.

Ms. Marotta, So describe the severity of the situation at the Panama Canal right no You're operating at a reduced capacity, 24 ships a day.

Do you expect that volume to go even lower in coming days and months?

ILYA ESPINO DE MAROTTA, Panama Canal Deputy Administrator: Hi.

Good afternoon.

Happy to be No, actually of May, when, hopefully, rainy season starts again.

So we have to reduce the amount of traffic because we are just entering the dry season in Panama.

So we will h And we had a very dry season in '23 because El Nino ef Now, you saw that all over the world, not only Panama.

So we were forced to reduce the number of transits and maintain a our clients not to be impacted too much.

So we have less loss where we're trying to give a draft that is still very competitive for the industry.

And hopefully we will st STEPHANIE SY: What if the rains don't come back?

You mentioned the periodic weather pattern El Nino, but I have also see that say climate change has exacerbated a drought there.

Do you really see relief coming with the next rainy season?

And what if that relief doesn't come?

ILYA ESPINO DE MAROTTA: Yes, no, we're look And predictions do say that El Nino i We're looking that -- is, we're going to neutral and maybe, at the end of the year, in other words, October, November, December, El Nina effect will come in, which means a lot of rain.

So, accordin So we don't think that we will have a problem coming rainy season next year.

(CROSSTALK) ILYA ESPINO to adjust either draft or reduce one or two more transits per day to maintain the lake until rainy season comes in, if it comes a little bit later in the -- in that quarter.

STEPHANIE SY: I want to ask you about long-term planning.

Gatun Lake, which I understand feeds the Panama Canal, there are also thirsty cities that draw water from that lake.

And there is this ongoing drough Are you in a place now where you are having to plan to make sure that the canal can stay functional in years to come, not just this year?

ILYA ESPINO DE MAROTTA: Yes, definitely.

We are looking a And we do have two reservoirs.

We have Alajuela Lake, whi a regulatory lake for the Gatun Lake.

So we have two lakes currently.

And we were able to fill So let's say potable water is assured for the population, and that's how we reduce transi But we are looking at two additional projects to have increased water-saving measures, and then we're looking at a new reservoir that will be built on the western side of the Panama Canal watershed.

We have analyzed the project.

It will provide water for either 11 to 16 we hopefully will be embarking sometime in late '24, early '25.

STEPHANIE SY: Ms. Marotta, tell me what your level of concern is.

You make it seem like it's a temporary problem for this year with the El Nino weather pattern, and yet there's long-term climate change concerns and drought concerns.

How do you make sure that the Panama Canal continues to be sustainable?

ILYA ESPINO DE MAROTTA: Well, we have experienced dry years before.

2016 was a dry year.

2019 was a dry year.

2023 has been dry.

So we can see that there's a pa This has impacted the entire world, not just Panama, the Rhine Ri the Amazon River, Argentina.

So, definitely, 2023 We follow NOAA.

We are definitely -- we have -- have been appointed a the canal to impact not only the canal, but also worldwide policy to go into carbon neutrality, to be net zero carbon by 2050, but not just us, also the industry.

So we are definitely putting in place policies to help towards a better environment and reduce the carbon footprint.

STEPHANIE SY joining us.

ILYA ESPINO DE MAROTTA: My plea AMNA NAWAZ: TikTok's popular BookTok channel has been buzzing about a new genre called romantasy, and it's spawning whole sections in bookstores.

Jeffrey Brown visited the stacks and talked to author Rebecca Yarros to see what's driving this trend.

It's part of our WOMAN: Ninety-second warning!

(CHEERING AND AP JEFFREY BROWN: I couldn't wait to get their hands on "Iron Flame," the hotly anticipated second novel in a series that began with the breakout bestseller "Fourth Wing."

Together, the two books have now sold more than six million copies worldwide.

Author Rebecca Yarros had been writing and publishing for 10 years, but had no idea what would ensue when she turned to a story that mixes dragons and magic with romance.

REBECCA YARROS, Author, "Iron Flame": It was shocking, to say the least.

My publisher was prepared.

I was not.

I was not prepared for out in public.

That completely sh It's still shocking.

WOMAN: I rat of romance and fantasy books.

JEFFREY BROWN: Now she and Armentrout and others who create romance dramas in the midst of epic, fantastical worlds, romance and fantasy, now a full-blown subgenre with its own name, romantasy.

REBECCA YARROS: It's basically fantasy with -- written in a romance vein, right?

I just think it speaks in whole to women, and then it also brings men in, because men love dragons, I'm finding out.

I think it's just the LEAH KOCH, Co-Owner, The Ripped Bodice: We have like all romance.

JEFFREY BROWN: Leah Koch is co-owner of The LE AH KOCH: Do you find everything OK?

JEFFREY BROWN: A romance-focused indepe in Los Angeles in 2016 and more recently here in Brooklyn.

LEAH KOCH: Fantasy romance is sort of the ultimate escapism.

You have both the romance element and then you have a literal different world, sometimes outer space, sometimes some sort of kingdom that's been invented.

JEFFREY BROWN: Yes.

LEAH KOCH: W a parent dying and do all sorts of... JEFFREY BROWN: This is more likely to have, like, dragons and -- y (LAUGHTER) LEAH KOCH: E JEFFREY BROW romance-specific bookstores around the country.

How do we define romance novels?

LEAH KOCH: Excellent questio Basically, there's only two criteria tha JEFFREY BROWN: Central love story, happy ending, musts.

LEAH KOCH: That's it, yes.

That is one of the things that It 's the comfort of knowing that everything is going to work out.

JEFFREY BROWN: And these days, romance works out in a queer, erotica, fantasy, and still the traditional historical section.

It's a genre that may once have occupied a small out-of-the-way section in a big bookstore and, Koch acknowledges, had a stigma of light second-rate literature attached to it.

Now, she says: LEAH KOCH: I think the amount of time we have been doing this.

But it definitely still persists.

The thing that I have noticed is people in genera getting much better at identifying how things like misogyny, sexism, racism, homophobia are impacting the stories that they're being told.

So older generations were told, this is trashy, this is silly, this is -- the cover of darkness.

Well, why do you think that?

Like, who's been telling you this?

Like, what has led to you having this belief?

Because romance is a huge genre.

JEFFREY BROWN: And it's a genre with a nearly-100- scholars such as Jayashree Kamble, a professor at LaGuardia Community College in queens.

One area of interest for her, how romance novels reflect their times.

JAYASHREE KAMBLE, LaGuardia Community College: I often say that mass market romance fiction and novels, they change dramatically, but not traumatically.

JEFFREY BROWN: Dramatically, but not traumatically.

JAYASHREE KAMBLE: That's right, (L AUGHTER) JEFFREY BROW JAYASHREE KA what are popular themes, what kinds of couples, what kinds of unders what kinds of understanding of gender presentation is sort of valued over time.

So, as society changes, the genre sort of changes along with it.

But because it has this stable core, this hopeful idea that... JEFFREY BROWN: The happy ending.

JAYASHREE KAMB JEFFREY BROWN: Yes.

Yes.

The latest f out of public awareness.

JAYASHREE KAMBLE: one of those rooms, at least in the American mass market.

So I think there's always these interesting moments of technological cha suddenly starts to appear in -- because there's a major P.R.

push around it.

JEFFREY BROWN: And now, JAYASHREE KAMBLE: Now we have JE FFREY BROWN: At The LEAH KOCH: I cannot deny the tangible financial impacts that TikTok has had on my business.

JEFFREY BROWN: You feel it?

LEAH KOCH: Absolutely.

JEFFREY BROW LEAH KOCH: A I don't mean lik buy the book.

JEFFREY BROW LEAH KOCH: Absolutely.

JEFFREY BROW LEAH KOCH: I JEFFREY BROWN: Rebecca Yarros credits BookTok, TikTok's book community, for the popularity of her series and she loves the direct connection to readers.

REBECCA YARROS: But by doing them solid black, we could get this book into your hands by November.

BookTok is w I think BookTok is one of the last areas where readers are really in out there.

Publishers c It's all word of mouth on BookTok.

So, if a BookToker lov goes, and videos go viral.

And it is really such word o it is true just love of books over there.

JEFFREY BROWN: And Yarros thinks romantasy is time, one she, of course, hopes will last.

REBECCA YARROS: I think you're coming out of a p of reading really shot up during the pandemic.

So you have people who are coming into reading fiction that weren't there before.

And now we have all these wonderful readers that we get to -- we get to give our stories to.

JEFFREY BROW here at The Ripped Bodice and around the world.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jeffrey Brown in Brooklyn.

AMNA NAWAZ: And remember, there's always a lot more online, including a look at how the rise in vaccine hesitancy could spill over to pet owners and how experts aim to stop that from happening.

That is at PBS And that is the "NewsHour" for tonight.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

On behalf of the entir