AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening, and welcome.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

Geoff Bennett is on assignment.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: President Biden makes a surprise visit to Ukraine, pledging further military support, as the one-year anniversary of Russia's devastating invasion approaches.

Teenage girls in the United States experience record high levels of violence and sadness in the wake of the pandemic.

SHARON HOOVER, University of Maryland School of Medicine: Schools need to be a critical part of how we address this.

Many of us have said that we can't simply treat our way out of this youth mental health crisis.

AMNA NAWAZ: And the future of abortion access and voting rights in Wisconsin face a critical test, as voters decide the next state Supreme Court.

(BREAK) AMNA NAWAZ: President Biden has arrived in Poland tonight, after making an unannounced visit to Kyiv just days ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The administration says it informed Moscow before Biden arrived.

This marks the first visit by a U.S. president to Ukraine in 14 years.

With the support of the Pulitzer Center, Nick Schifrin reports from Kyiv.

NICK SCHIFRIN: At the end of a 5 000-mile journey, the commander in chief visited a capital at war to provide an embattled country a show of solidarity.

On the right, the leader who one year ago refused a U.S. offer to evacuate wearing trademark olive drab, on the left, the leader who became Ukraine's most important supporter wearing a tie striped with Ukraine's national colors.

JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: I'm here to show her unwavering support for the nation's independence, your sovereignty and territorial integrity.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The administration today called President Biden's visit unprecedented in modern times, to a war zone without a significant U.S. military presence.

Russia launched its full-scale invasion 361 days ago.

President Biden remembered it seemed dire.

JOE BIDEN: One year ago, the world was literally at the time bracing for the fall Kyiv, perhaps even the end of Ukraine.

You know, one year later, Kyiv stands and Ukraine stands.

Democracy stands.

The Americans stand with you and the world stands with you.

Kyiv has captured a part of my heart, I must say.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President (through translator): We must ensure that 2023 becomes the year of victory, with the liberation of Ukrainian land from Russian occupation, with solid guarantees of long-term security of our country, Europe and the entire world.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But while the U.S. today announced another $500 million package of weapons transfers, it did not include long-range weapons that Zelenskyy once again requested.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY (through translator): Such an important package is an unmistakable signal that Russian revenge attempts would have no chance.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The U.S. informed Moscow of Biden's travel, but, still, Moscow scrambled jets, triggering Ukraine's air raid sirens.

It came during a visit to St. Michael's Cathedral, which became sanctuary during the 2014 protests known as the Revolution of Dignity.

On this date every year, Ukraine remembers the more than 100 protesters killed nine years ago, helping evict a pro-Russian president.

Today, Biden and Zelenskyy remembered the more than 4,500 soldiers killed since then fighting Russia.

JOE BIDEN: Thank you for everything you have done.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Inside, Zelenskyy and Biden met with Orthodox Church of Ukraine leaders who've helped forge an independent religious identity distinct from Russia.

And even in a country at war, there was time for a quiet moment.

This was the scene outside during that portion of the visit.

This is as close as we could get, about 600 or 700 feet away.

There was unprecedented security here in the center of Kyiv.

This is usually a bustling street.

The city center was locked down and mobile and Internet service cut off around Biden.

The presidential convoy drove quickly through empty streets.

Biden is no stranger to Kyiv.

He visited some of these same sites back in 2014 after Russia's initial invasion, but his trip today, right before a sad milestone, was the trip Zelenskyy and his team wanted most.

JOE BIDEN: Freedom is priceless.

It's worth fighting for as long as it takes.

And that's how long we're going to be with you, Mr. President, for as long as it takes.

AMNA NAWAZ: And Nick joins me now from Kyiv.

Nick, it's good to see you.

As you know, it's no small task to move the president of the United States thousands of miles into a war zone in secret.

What do we know about the planning and the execution of this historic trip?

NICK SCHIFRIN: It was a trip that was kept secret from all but the senior officials in each agency who was actually planning the trip.

And the pool reporters who accompanied Biden along the way report that President Biden left Washington, D.C., at 4:00 a.m. on Sunday in a smaller-than-normal plane that had been kept darkened and off to the side.

He landed in Eastern Poland, drove to the border, and then took a nine-and-a-half-hour train to Kyiv.

He had to take a train, of course, because the airspace here has been closed since last February.

And that is the train he took, arriving back to Poland from Ukraine tonight.

It's the same route that we all take, that all previous heads of state in government have taken for the last year.

But this, Amna, is definitely not the same train the rest of us take.

Take a look at this photo.

President Biden, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan even had an office.

U.S. officials say that it took them months of meticulous planning to get Biden safely here.

AMNA NAWAZ: Nick, this trip comes at a critical time.

We're nearing the one-year mark in this war.

What do we know about what the discussions unfolded -- how they unfolded between President Biden and President Zelenskyy?

What did they talk about?

NICK SCHIFRIN: It's a critical moment not only because of that anniversary you just mentioned, Amna, but because of the fighting has already increased across Ukraine's east and is expected to intensify.

Russian forces, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials we speak to, have already launched an offensive, with the goal of capturing all of Donetsk province.

The fighting is focused around Bakhmut, but spreads north and south from there across 100 miles.

And the presidents also discussed Ukraine's plans for a counteroffensive expected in the coming weeks in the south of the country.

And U.S. officials I speak to about that counteroffensive are split on the chances of success.

But the administration officials who are helping plan the next few weeks in Ukraine believe that new training and new armored vehicles coming to Ukraine should give Kyiv the ability to create at least local advantages along the front line in the south, where Russian troops have really been digging in for many, many months.

But where U.S. and Ukrainian officials do not agree, Amna, those long-range weapons that we reported in the story that Zelenskyy once again asked for and that, as of now, the U.S. is still refusing to provide.

AMNA NAWAZ: Nick in the meantime, in the last couple of days, we have heard from Vice President Harris, from Secretary Blinken public calls warning China against supplying lethal aid to Russia.

What's behind that?

What should we know?

NICK SCHIFRIN: Yes, that warning came from Antony Blinken three separate times this weekend in public and also during a meeting that he had with China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, at the Munich Security Conference.

U.S. officials are concerned because, according to congressional officials I speak to, Chinese companies have begun to send dual-use technology, including surveillance items, to the Wagner paramilitary group that is leading the fighting in Bakhmut and to the Ministry of Defense.

A senior U.S. official told me that Beijing was likely -- quote -- "looking away" from these sales.

And so what U.S. officials are trying to do is to make sure that this dual-use technology isn't passed through more official channels, as in Beijing would actually authorize the dual-use technology from being sent, but also that step that you mentioned, Amna, that Beijing doesn't cross the threshold and send lethal aid, send weapons to Russia.

Obviously, in the short term, the U.S. doesn't want to see anyone help Russia in these crucial weeks and months in Ukraine.

But, long term, the U.S. believes that its export controls on Moscow will cripple the Russian military in the next few years.

And one of the few avenues that Russia could turn to bail it out and still field a modern military is Beijing.

And that is what the U.S. does not want to see happen.

AMNA NAWAZ: Nick Schifrin reporting tonight from Kyiv.

Nick, good to see you.

Thank you.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Thanks, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: In the day's other headlines: A new late-night earthquake touched off more terror across the Turkey-Syria border region.

At least three people died and more than 200 were hurt.

It was centered in Southern Turkey and was less intense than the quake that killed 46,000 people two weeks ago, but it was still felt hundreds of miles away.

Officials reported more buildings collapsed, trapping people inside.

North Korea drew condemnation today after its latest round of missile firings.

The North launched two short-range missiles into the sea off Japan.

That followed the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile on Saturday.

In response, the U.N. Security Council called an emergency meeting in New York today.

The U.S. criticized Russia and China for opposing new sanctions.

LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S.

Ambassador to the United Nations: The council's lack of action is worse than shameful.

It is dangerous.

Now is the time for the Security Council to work together toward a peaceful solution on the Korean Peninsula before it's too late.

AMNA NAWAZ: In Pyongyang, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un warned the regime will keep using the Pacific as its -- quote - - "firing range" unless the U.S. military pulls back in the region.

The far right government in Israel announced an overhaul of the courts today amid mass dissent.

Supporters in Parliament presented the plan to give the executive branch more power over judges.

Outside, tens of thousands of people blocked major highways in Jerusalem in protest.

Opponents of the plan say it would up end Israel's system of checks and balances.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog says it's asking Iran about signs of uranium being enriched to levels very near nuclear weapons-grade.

A number of reports today say the International Atomic Energy Agency detected uranium at 84 percent purity at Iranian sites.

It takes 90 percent purity to make a bomb.

Tehran, in turn, denied the reports and accused the agency of acting in bad faith.

NASSER KANAANI, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman (through translator): Raising such issues in the media, which should normally be discussed in technical communications and bilateral meetings, is a sign of the International Atomic Energy Agency moving away from professionalism and its technical status.

AMNA NAWAZ: Iran abandoned curbs on its nuclear activities after then-President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the 2015 nuclear deal.

In Southeast Brazil, hundreds of rescuers searched today for dozens of people missing after extreme rains.

The weekend deluge killed at least 40 people.

Nearly 24 inches of rain in 24 hours swamped streets, while, in rural areas, mudslides washed away and tire roads.

Officials say more than 1,700 people have been displaced.

Back in this country, classes resumed at Michigan State University a week after a mass shooting there killed three students.

At the same time, students, local leaders and activists gathered outside the state capitol in nearby Lansing to demand strict new gun laws.

NICOLE CUTLER, Michigan Parent Alliance: For too long in Michigan, parents have waited and waited for politicians to put our children's safety first, except that too many of those politicians were in the pockets of the gun lobby, while generations of children experienced the trauma of lockdown drills and, worse, actual shooting.

AMNA NAWAZ: Three of the five students who were wounded in those shootings remain in critical condition.

In Southern California, a suspect has been arrested in the shooting death of Roman Catholic Bishop David O'Connell.

His body was found at his home in Los Angeles County on Saturday.

Last night, community members held a vigil expressing condolences and reciting prayers.

Bishop O'Connell was 69 years old.

The Transportation Security Administration reports it intercepted a record number of guns at U.S. airports last year, more than 6,500.

That works out to about 18 per day.

The number of guns found at TSA checkpoints has been set only rising since 2010.

The only exception was 2020, when travel slowed during the pandemic.

And prosecutors in New Mexico have refiled involuntary manslaughter charges against Alec Baldwin in a movie set shooting in 2021.

He will now face a maximum 18 months in prison, instead of five years, if he's convicted.

His lawyers argued the longer sentence requirement became law only after the shooting.

Baldwin was rehearsing with a revolver that turned out to contain real bullets when it went off and killed a crew member.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": despite nationwide rejection election, deniers hold critical positions in Republican politics; actor Michelle Yeoh discusses her Oscar-nominated performance in "Everything Everywhere All at Once": animal shelters struggle as many pets adopted during the pandemic are returned.

This week, we will mark one year since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine with a series of stories, tonight, the drone war.

Nick Schifrin and videographer Eric O'Connor recently traveled to front-line units in Donetsk province and report on Ukraine's effort to modernize a war that's often seemed an echo from last century.

NICK SCHIFRIN: In the forest outside Bakhmut, where two soldiers fight on their own, the sounds of war have not changed for centuries.

The Ukrainian soldiers fight with the weapons of yesterday and today.

They launch their $10,000 Chinese drone up and over the trees they use for cover to hunt for Russian troops.

It's the 21st century version of forward observing.

The drone locates a Russian target and relays its location to the brigade's artillery commander.

Before the war, the 33-year-old pilot was an engineer, which is his nickname that he asked us to use.

ENGINEER, Drone Pilot: Commander over artillery sees this screen too, like, monitor all the time.

And from different angle from different drones, they can react fast and quickly.

It takes approximately three to five minutes.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Three to five minutes...

ENGINEER: Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

NICK SCHIFRIN: ... from the time that you spot them until the time they can fire.

ENGINEER: Yes, yes, even faster.

NICK SCHIFRIN: We're about a mile-and-a-half here from the front line.

We have heard distant artillery, even small arms, all morning.

And this drone, it's just the two of them operate completely isolated separate from their unit.

They call their drone an angel in the sky.

On this day, his drone filmed as a Russian helicopter fired on Ukrainian troops.

But he gave us other videos from the battle of Kherson, where he called in the location of Russian tanks so one could be hit with a Ukrainian strike.

ENGINEER: They have weapons, have tanks.

And we are, like, looking for like our mission to find and give coordinates.

Easy to say a lot.

A little bit harder to be seen.

NICK SCHIFRIN: In wars gone by, snipers hunted for other snipers.

In this war, drone pilots hunt each other.

While you're using drones on the Russians, are the Russians using drones on you?

ENGINEER: Yes.

Yes.

They're looking out for us too.

And it's like huge luck if you find another pilot.

Sometimes, we are hunting at each other, because if you are not able to see what is the situation, you are not -- your artillery is done.

It's not working.

NICK SCHIFRIN: You're blind.

ENGINEER: Yes.

Yes.

NICK SCHIFRIN: So when you're not flying, you sleep in the bunker.

ENGINEER: Yes.

Yes, we sleep in the bunker.

NICK SCHIFRIN: They have been using this location for months, thanks to this bunker they happened to cross.

He shows us some Ukrainian hospitality, thanks to a butane stove and some bottled water.

ENGINEER: The quick way to make tea.

NICK SCHIFRIN: He shows me how Ukrainians try to detect Russian drones.

The Russians have their own countermeasures.

ENGINEER: And it automatically detect your drones and shut down your signal.

(CROSSTALK) NICK SCHIFRIN: Oh.

So, it's jammers.

ENGINEER: Yes, it's really harmful when you lost your drone.

It's like you're losing a friend, maybe, I will say, really sad moment, because it's like you have had some connection.

I would say you -- it's like your partner.

Yes.

Yes.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Some partners have been around longer than others.

This Ukrainian drone model has been flying since Russia's initial 2014 invasion.

It's not as fancy.

It specializes in photos, but its operators consider it older and wiser, much like they consider themselves.

Their unit name loosely translates to Old Fogies; 59-year-old commander Igor was retired and volunteered the day of the invasion.

IGOR, Drone Unit Commander (through translator): At the start of the war, the Russians had more artillery and drones.

But now this balance has changed.

And I can feel it every day.

And we're better.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Vitaly, the pilot, is 51.

He grew up in far western Ukraine flying model airplanes.

VITALY, Drone Pilot (through translator): Ever since I was 6, my hobby was airplane modeling.

So, in 2015, when I was called up, I understood that I could contribute the most by becoming a drone pilot.

NICK SCHIFRIN: They're far from the main road, but not from the artillery that they're helping to aim.

Each surveillance flight lasts about an hour.

The only way to know what the drone has seen is by manually opening it and removing into memory card, which promptly goes into the van.

We can't show the screen right now, but you're looking through photos that the drone has taken to reveal Russian locations.

What can you do with those photos.

VITALY (through translator): It gives us information of quantity of military equipment, type of military equipment, and this gives us the ability to decide to target immediately with the help of artillery or take additional actions.

NICK SCHIFRIN: To send their images and guarantee communications, they rely on Starlink owned by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, despite SpaceX threats to cut them off.

IGOR (through translator): I think that Elon Musk is part of our crew, our team, so I don't think that he will block it.

And we can constantly feel his support.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Does the use of drones go both ways?

Is it like a cat-and-mouse game?

IGOR (through translator): We don't see significant changes in Russian drones, except for the Iranian Shaheds.

NICK SCHIFRIN: That's a reference to Iranian-made Russian attack drones.

They have struck the country's infrastructure and alongside Russian missiles have challenged Ukraine's air defenses.

Senior us and NATO officials tell "PBS NewsHour" Ukraine will run out if its mostly Soviet era air defense within months.

So, the West is building a Western-only air defense system, including American Patriots, the national advanced surface-to-air missile system, the same system that defends Washington, as well as European systems, including from Germany and France.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this past weekend it would work.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President (through translator): I believe that, today, in terms of air defense systems, we are probably at the best level since our independence.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But back in the van near the front, the team using old Ukrainian technology believes the West needs to accelerate its assistance.

VITALY (through translator): It would be nice if Europe and America would try and help finish this war as soon as possible, because it's up to them how quickly we can evict the invader from our land.

NICK SCHIFRIN: They have no faith that can be accomplished soon, so they prepare for the next mission and help their comrades fight a grinding ground war with their eyes in the sky.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Nick Schifrin outside Bakhmut, Ukraine.

AMNA NAWAZ: Teenage girls in the U.S. are experiencing record high levels of violence and sadness.

That is according to a recent CDC report.

Stephanie Sy dives into the numbers, the scope and the significance of the problem.

STEPHANIE SY: The CDC has been conducting this survey every couple years for three decades, and this new report is the first to measure the well-being of the nation's youth since the pandemic started.

In 2021, the CDC saw an increase of mental health challenges across the board, but as one official said, it's girls in the U.S. that are engulfed in a growing wave of sadness, violence and trauma.

Nearly three in five teen girls reported feeling persistent sadness and hopelessness, double the rate of boys, 25 percent of girls reported having made a suicide plan, and 14 percent reported having been forced to have sex, a 4 percent rise since the last survey.

What's more, 22 percent of teenagers that identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or questioning have attempted suicide in the past year.

For look at how we got here and what can be done, I'm joined by Sharon Hoover, co-director of the National Center for School Mental Health and professor of psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Sharon Hoover, thanks for joining the "NewsHour."

I want to jump right in, because there's so many topics.

The decline of youth mental health goes back at least a decade, but the numbers of girls reporting how much they're suffering really stands out in this report.

Why do you think seem to be getting worse for teen girls?

SHARON HOOVER, University of Maryland School of Medicine: That's right.

I mean, I have to say we are not surprised to see increases in mental health challenges.

We have seen these trends happening for the past several years, as you said.

But it was quite surprising in some respects to see the stark gender difference that we saw.

And, as you said, this is the first national look that we have had since the pandemic.

And so it gives us a bit of insight into maybe how boys and girls and different folks have experienced the pandemic differently.

STEPHANIE SY: Why are we looking at this gender gap?

Why are girls suffering so much?

SHARON HOOVER: There's a lot of speculation right now, now that we have seen this stark difference between girls and boys.

One of the hypotheses is that girls were more socially isolated and may rely more on their peers for self-confidence, for self-esteem, or just their general well-being.

And they also have been -- have -- more likely to actually spend time on social media, and not just spend time on it, but time that is excessive, and may reach the threshold of making them at greater risk for anxiety and depression.

STEPHANIE SY: The CDC, Sharon, so schools are on the front line of this crisis.

And that's your area of expertise.

What is the role of schools in addressing hopelessness?

And are they equipped for that task?

SHARON HOOVER: Yes, so I was pleased to see the CDC come out and say that schools need to be a really critical part of how we address this.

Many of us have said that we can't simply treat our way out of this youth mental health crisis.

There's not enough providers, and it really isn't the right approach.

I often talk about how, if we saw 60 percent of our young people being injured in car accidents, the solution would not be to simply hire more physicians in the emergency department.

Rather, we would take a public health approach.

We would take a look at, how can we better equip cars, how can we look at the driving age?

And, similarly, we really need to be taking a public health approach to what's happening with our young people.

And one of the most essential places to do that is in schools.

The CDC has long said that we need to be looking at efforts to promote school connectedness and belongingness.

And when we actually make a concerted effort and investment in those types of positive youth development approaches, we actually see improvements in school connectedness and impact on youth mental health.

So, I absolutely think it's the right way to go in terms of the fix here, or at least one part of the resolution to this.

STEPHANIE SY: I want to come back to what was most startling to me about this report, which is that 14 percent of teenage girls report being forced to have sex, that they are experiencing rape and violence at much higher rates.

Those things would obviously impact mental health.

But shouldn't the headline be, girls are being targeted and raped at alarming rates?

And what is being done about the perpetrators of such crimes?

It was odd to me to see that grouped in with mental health challenges.

SHARON HOOVER: Right.

Well, we know the two are related, of course, as you said.

If you're experiencing sexual assault, you're at much greater risk for mental health challenges.

But, absolutely, there needs to be a headline just calling out what's happening to our young girls.

We have seen a dramatic increase in their self-reported incidents of sexual assault.

And it is startling.

The numbers are really concerning.

And there are measures that can be put in place, again, many of those at the school level, to help our young people navigate relationships and to really prevent some of the sexual assault that we're seeing.

The numbers are striking.

STEPHANIE SY: Finally, Sharon, this CDC report enforces previous research that has shown how lesbian, gay and questioning youth are reporting substantially worse well-being, including also being more likely to experience violence.

Given how there are school boards that are literally fighting over gender identity curriculum, are they even less likely to get their mental health needs met today?

SHARON HOOVER: It's one of our greatest worries, that some of the controversy right now and some of the legislation and just discussion even at the school board level about making our environments and our schools less inclusive for LGBTQ+ youth could really negatively impact this group of students, who are already vulnerable.

We know that LGBTQ youth are much more at risk of suicidality, of depression and anxiety.

And we also know that there are solutions that can be put in place to help them with not only getting mental health supports, but also, at a more public health level, to really make schools a more inclusive, accepting place where they can feel that they belong.

And we're very concerned about some of the legislation that we're seeing, some of the actions by school boards to make their schools less inclusive, which we feel and the data would support puts them at greater risk of mental health concerns.

STEPHANIE SY: Sharon Hoover with the National Center for School Mental Health, thank you so much.

SHARON HOOVER: Thank you so much.

AMNA NAWAZ: Voters in the battleground state of Wisconsin will head to the polls tomorrow for a crucial primary race.

Geoff Bennett took a closer look earlier today.

GEOFF BENNETT: Amna, what would normally be a little noticed judicial election in Wisconsin is now a high-stakes battle for control of the state Supreme Court, a race that's expected to shape abortion rights in Wisconsin and could help decide the outcome of the 2024 presidential election in one of the nation's most closely divided battlegrounds.

Zac Schultz is a reporter for PBS Wisconsin and is following this race.

So, Zac, first, help us understand why this Wisconsin Supreme Court race is so critical.

Why does it matter on a national level?

ZAC SCHULTZ, PBS Wisconsin: Well, right now, the court is -- have a 4-3 majority for the conservatives, more of the Republican-leaning members of the court.

And they're -- this could flip it the other way.

If one of the liberal candidates running wins, then, for the first time ever, Democratic supporters feel they would have a good shot at winning some cases.

But why it may matter nationally and in 2024 has to do with 2020, as a lot of things point back to.

Wisconsin was one of the states where Donald Trump's campaign filed lawsuits to try and essentially overturn the results of the election.

They tried to throw out tens of thousands of absentee ballots from Dane and Milwaukee counties, two Democratic strongholds.

And if the Supreme Court at that time had decided to take that case and rule in his favor, then it likely would have flipped the outcome of Wisconsin, which was decided just by around 20,000 votes total.

So the court watchers are always looking at, what's the makeup of the court, how conservative are these justices, and what might happen down the road with some of these big issues?

GEOFF BENNETT: Tomorrow's primary will feature to conservatives and to liberals, as you well know, running for the seat of a retiring conservative justice.

And this race is nonpartisan, but the candidates have really staked out clear ideological positions, some of which they expressed in interviews with you.

JUDGE JANET PROTASIEWICZ, Candidate For Wisconsin Supreme Court: Obviously, I have to follow the law.

But people are very, very concerned about a wide variety of issues.

They're concerned about women's right to choose.

They're concerned about fair maps.

They're concerned about community safety.

They're concerned about clean water.

They're concerned about marriage equality.

FORMER JUSTICE DANIEL KELLY, Candidate For Wisconsin Supreme Court: if you think as a candidate that you should be virtue-signaling to attract the votes of a certain body of Wisconsinites, what you're telling them is that you are not -- you are not committed to the constitutional order.

And you're telling them that the politics should have a role in the court.

GEOFF BENNETT: Zac Schultz, tell us more about these candidates and what you learned from your interviews with them.

ZAC SCHULTZ: Well, there are two liberal-aligned candidates and two conservative-aligned candidates in this race.

And 15 years ago, they were a little more cautious and running for the court about being public about where they would stand.

And now we're pretty much nonpartisan in name only.

The parties are heavily involved in these races.

So, on the liberal side, we heard from Janet Protasiewicz, who is one of the liberals.

She's from Milwaukee County.

She's been very open talking about that Wisconsin's legislative maps are gerrymandered.

Conservatives say she's actively calling for that case to come to the court if she wins.

There's also Judge Everett Mitchell, who is from Dane County.

He's running on more of a social justice platform, trying to gain attention.

He hasn't raised as much money, so his profile is not nearly as high outside of his home area.

On the conservative side, we heard from Daniel Kelly, who is actually a former justice on the court.

He was appointed and then lost his reelection bid in 2020.

And he says that had to do more with Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders being on the same ballot the same day for the Democratic primary in the 2020 presidential race.

And then, finally, Jennifer Dorow is another conservative, and she gained a lot of attention by presiding over a very high-profile court case recently of a man who drove a car through the Waukesha Christmas parade a couple of years ago.

And so she gained a lot of notoriety from that.

So that's our four.

GEOFF BENNETT: One indication of how much is at stake is the outside money, the millions upon millions of dollars being spent.

And is it right that there is more outside money being spent in this race than the candidates are spending themselves?

ZAC SCHULTZ: By the end, that will certainly be the case.

Right now, there's still Wisconsin money that's been in play early on.

But Daniel Kelly, who we heard from, one of the conservatives, already has said that he's got more than $20 million in outside special interest funding lined up ready to be in play for him if he makes it through this primary.

We have seen heavy fund-raising by both the Democratic Party, which they expect to spend, and some other liberal line groups that they will be putting in play.

And, yes, some of the candidates are raising $20,000 at a pop from out-of-state people that, once they learn about this race, they're deciding this is where they want to invest their money this spring.

GEOFF BENNETT: The two top finishers will advance to the general election in April.

What's the level of awareness?

What's the level of enthusiasm among Wisconsin voters right now for this race in particular?

ZAC SCHULTZ: Well, for this race, it's starting to heat up.

Of course, for people that actually follow politics closely in Wisconsin, this has been on the radar, actually, for a couple of years.

For us political junkies, we have known this race was coming and that it had the ideological balance of the court hanging.

And it's been waking up everyone else.

But it's starting to become more aware as you travel around the state to areas that kind of like to turn off once the presidential or the gubernatorial elections are done in the fall.

They're becoming aware.

The level of money from the outside is penetrating down to them through radio ads that they're not expecting to hear this time of year.

Television ads are starting to go.

So we're not sure.

This won't be high-profile, especially for a February primary.

But, by April, we're expecting pretty good turnout, especially for a Supreme Court race.

GEOFF BENNETT: Zac, is there a sense of who is leading this race?

ZAC SCHULTZ: Well, we can look at the dollars and we can say that Janet Protasiewicz, who is on the liberal side, is definitely way ahead.

She's been fund-raising.

She was first on the air.

And for a low-profile race like that, that's very important.

She's already lined up a lot of key Democratic Party endorsements.

On the conservative side, there's been a little bit of a battle between the two, with Daniel Kelly actually accusing Jennifer Dorow of not being conservative enough or saying that she could not be aligned with the full conservative interests if she made it to the court.

So there's been a lot of inner party fighting, which has made more Republicans aware, because talk radio in Wisconsin's gotten heavily invested in the outcome on that end.

GEOFF BENNETT: Zac Schultz with PBS Wisconsin.

Zac, thanks for sharing your reporting with us.

ZAC SCHULTZ: My pleasure.

Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: Over the weekend, Republicans in the key state of Michigan voted to make a well-known election denier their new party chairman.

Kristina Karamo ran on her doubts of the 2020 election process and her refusal to concede her own loss for secretary of state last year.

And she's not the only new party chair fanning those flames.

Our Lisa Desjardins joins us with more.

Lisa, good to see you see you.

LISA DESJARDINS: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, Kristina Karamo is not the only one.

Where else are we seeing election deniers run Republican state parties?

LISA DESJARDINS: Let's take you through the map.

And these -- each of these candidates is a little bit different, now party chairmen.

First, Kristina Karamo, as you said, in Michigan.

This was Saturday night that she was elected in a contentious election in Michigan.

But then, after that, let's look at Kansas.

There, a man Mike Brown is the new party chairman.

He was elected a week ago.

He ran ads last year in his secretary of state bid questioning the 2020 election and raising that debunked Dominion Voting idea.

That was part of his failed campaign for secretary of state, now the party chairman in Kansas.

Then let's go to two others who are not outright deniers, but someone -- these are folks who have raised doubts or allowed these doubts to fester.

There, you see in Florida the new Florida Republican chairman, Christian Ziegler.

He is someone who says he wants to move forward, move past 2020.

He was at the January 6 rally in Washington, but he condemned the actions that day later on.

Then in Arizona, another swing state, Jeff DeWit, similarly a former top Trump official, he was elected party chairman there three weeks ago.

He beat an outright election denier.

So, in some places, this is a question of how far right you are.

But he is someone who overtly has gone out of his way to not answer questions about whether 2020 election was legitimate or not.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tell me more about Kristina Karamo in Michigan, though, because she lost her race for secretary of state.

Why would Republicans put her in charge there?

LISA DESJARDINS: These are important races because, in part, of the 2024 election cycles.

This is a big swing state.

She ran specifically on a platform of not trusting the Republican Party, not trusting government.

I want to play a clip of her speech in the nominating contest this weekend.

KRISTINA KARAMO, Michigan Republican Party Chair: We do fight to secure our elections.

It's the reason I did not concede after the 2022 election.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) KRISTINA KARAMO: Why would I concede to a fraudulent process?

LISA DESJARDINS: Now, if you look at what was going on in Michigan over the weekend in that state party convention, there were three ballots, and it was described as, in part, chaotic, rowdy.

She raised not only questions about 2020 and 2022, but about this election also.

The process there in this weekend's vote was called into question.

They had to do hand counts.

That is part of this movement, saying all voting should be by hand and counted by hand.

And that won out with the faithful there in Michigan.

Now, I want to raise that she also really seemed to edge out another competitor who is also a very overt election denier by talking about Judeo-Christianity, by being a Christian nationalist, especially.

We reached out to her.

Her past claims have been debunked, including a lawsuit that was rejected by a judge, saying there was no evidence at all.

He was saying that it was dramatically devoid of evidence.

Her campaign and folks did not respond to us.

But, in Michigan, this is something that I think we're going to have to watch, as she just becomes the party chairman just in the last couple of days and hours.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, you have been talking to strategists and lawmakers connected to all of these states, Republicans in particular.

What do they make of this?

LISA DESJARDINS: Republicans, it depends on the state.

In Florida, for example, they say they have made gains.

They feel good about where their party at - - is at in general, compared to these other states, where we have seen them lose races with these kinds of candidates.

Michigan, for example, we know of at least one congressional seat that Republicans feel they should have had, but they nominated someone who was a denier last time.

There is concern there.

One Michigan Republican told me even they're concerned this has become a cultlike atmosphere.

And that's coming from a real conservative from that state.

AMNA NAWAZ: What about Democrats?

They have long denied -- said this is a danger to democracy, this kind of election denialism.

LISA DESJARDINS: That's right.

AMNA NAWAZ: What are they saying?

LISA DESJARDINS: I think there's concerns about democracy from both parties, but Democrats are waiting to see.

They are wondering if perhaps Kristina Karamo, who was not endorsed by Trump this time around, indicates the base is moving even past Trump.

It's a little bit chaotic, but Democrats do have some more hope from the Senate races, because Michigan, Arizona, those are places that they don't mind weaker Republican parties.

AMNA NAWAZ: What about Republicans in Congress when it comes to these false claims about 2020 election fraud?

LISA DESJARDINS: Yes.

No one, I think, has been more concerned about this, but probably said less, than the Republicans in Congress, who arguably believe that they lost the U.S. Senate because of election deniers and should have had a bigger majority in the House.

Now, there are a few of them that are still denying the election.

There are a couple, though -- Paul Gosar just in December retweeted something from President Trump saying it was time to terminate the Constitution.

But apart from all of that, I think it's important to remind folks that the temperatures on the Hill are trying to turn down, even as we see the base temperatures continue to rise.

We saw it in Fulton County, Georgia, last week in that investigation that could include former President Trump.

The grand jury there came to this conclusion, which remains one of the bottom lines here, Amna.

"We find by unanimous vote," the grand jury wrote, "that no widespread fraud took place" in their case in Georgia 2020.

However, Republican Party chairmen now are still raising that false claim.

AMNA NAWAZ: Critical issues.

I'm so glad you're covering it all.

Lisa Desjardins, thank you so much.

LISA DESJARDINS: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: The film with the most Oscar nominations this year, "Everything Everywhere All at Once," became a surprise breakout hit for audiences and critics.

This weekend, at the Directors Guild of America Awards, the film's directors won for best theatrical feature.

The movie's star, Michelle Yeoh, has already nabbed a Golden Globe Award, and now has a chance to make history as the first Asian woman to win an Oscar for best actress.

Jeffrey Brown talks to Yeoh for our arts and culture series, Canvas.

JAMIE LEE CURTIS, Actress: Mrs. Wang,are you with us?

MICHELLE YEOH, Actress: I am paying attention.

JEFFREY BROWN: "Everything Everywhere All at Once," a wild title, a wild and hard-to-characterize movie.

It's part sci-fi, action film, comedy, family drama, in which a woman named Evelyn Wang, a Chinese American immigrant whose life is a string of problems, with her husband, her daughter, her failing laundromat and the IRS, suddenly finds herself the only person who can save the universe from disaster, and not just this universe, but an entire multiverse of alternative lives.

MICHELLE YEOH: It's weird.

It's wacky.

It's wonderful.

Just strap on your safety belt and go on this crazy ride with Evelyn Wang, because she's just going to blow your mind.

You still went looking for me.

JEFFREY BROWN: Michelle Yeoh stars as Evelyn.

And the role has brought her an Oscar nomination.

The movie, co-directed by Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan, together known as the Daniels, is up for best film and a slew of other awards, including best director and three supporting actor nominations.

And it's been an unexpected box office hit.

Speaking from London recently, where she's filming a movie version of "Wicked," Yeoh said part of "Everything Everywhere"'s secret is its playful twist on who gets to be the superhero.

MICHELLE YEOH: And it was what I found so charming about this movie was shining a light on a very ordinary woman that you would pass by on the streets, you would see in the supermarket.

You probably wouldn't even give her a second glance.

But then, at the end of the day, she finds her superpowers, which we all have, which is kindness and love and compassion.

JEFFREY BROWN: Not to mention a pretty good punch.

Yeoh, now 60, has had a storied career for decades, first attracting international attention in 1992's "Supercop" with Jackie Chan.

She took a memorable little motorbike ride with Pierce Brosnan in the 1997 James Bond film "Tomorrow Never Dies."

And she soared and fought in courtyards and across rooftops in 2000's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."

Born in Malaysia and trained first as a dancer, she's a rare combination of grace and power, elegance and action.

Coming up in the Hong Kong film world, she says she learned firsthand to do her own martial arts and other action scenes.

MICHELLE YEOH: It was very, very risky, because all the stunts were done real.

When they say jump off the roof, they jumped off the roof.

And then I will never forget when the stunt coordinator said to the stuntman who was bouncing off the railings and stackings, and he said: "That was too comfortable."

I'm like: "How did bouncing off the staircase look comfortable?"

But what he meant was like, it didn't have that boom, boom, pow!

And I wanted to show that women needs to be strong and independent and physically capable to do this.

JEFFREY BROWN: You know, you have you have spoken about, as you age as a woman, as an actor, the roles perhaps change.

They might become more limited.

MICHELLE YEOH: What I was most opposed to much, as I love my superhero guys, is like, why do they get to rescue, go out and save the world?

And they will do it with my daughter, and not me.

So it's like, no, no, no, no, no, I refuse.

I don't want -- I would like to be given the opportunities.

JEFFREY BROWN: Yeoh has also helped lead the way in a change in Hollywood that has brought Asian actors to the forefront, notably in the 2018, blockbuster "Crazy Rich Asians."

MICHELLE YEOH: When "Crazy Rich Asians" came out in 2018, it sort of lit a fire and say, please look at us.

We can be leading men and actresses.

We can be funny, and we can be this and we can be that.

It's just like, embrace us and give us the opportunity.

JEFFREY BROWN: You now have the opportunity to become the first Asian woman to win the Oscar for best actress.

How important would that be for you?

MICHELLE YEOH: You know, when I was told, I think I sort of ping-ponged against being shocked.

Like, no, it can't be.

I mean, all of a sudden, I'm like, are you serious?

Because I know of such amazing, great actresses that came before me.

So how is that even possible?

And it's like, why have we -- is -- all we want to know is that be given the privilege to compete.

But we can't compete if the roles have not been forthcoming in that way.

I mean, my ideal world is -- after this,is to see that, when -- for example, "Wicked," I'm playing Madame Morrible, a role that has always been a Caucasian woman's role.

And our dream is, there will be no more roles written only specifically as an Asian, as an African American, as a this, as a duck, but if you are capable of doing it, you should be given the opportunity to have that privilege.

And I hope -- I hope this just changes everything.

It has to.

JEFFREY BROWN: It's a complicated moment.

Even as "Everything Everywhere All at Once" and other films begin to change the cultural landscape, violence against Asian Americans has grown in this country, and global tensions between the U.S. and China rise.

If you think about how long it has taken, as you say, for recognition for an Asian actress like yourself, do you see Hollywood really changing, diversifying in the storytelling, the faces, the people telling the stories?

MICHELLE YEOH: Well, if they didn't change, I wouldn't be here today.

I wouldn't be here having you say Oscar-nominated.

I wouldn't -- we wouldn't have a movie that was so authentic in -- for an Asian immigrant family and so loved and embraced today.

So, yes, I believe that we have made leaps and bounds in change.

And -- but we can't just sit back and say, OK, we have done it.

We have to keep evolving.

We have to keep pushing the envelope, and we should do that together.

JEFFREY BROWN: Michelle Yeoh is now saving this and other universes in movie theaters around the country.

She vies for an Academy Award on March 12.

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

AMNA NAWAZ: Rescue shelters are feeling the pressure these days, too many potential pets, not enough people adopting them.

Inflation has made owning and caring for a pet more expensive, leaving some owners struggling to afford rising costs.

Our deputy senior producer of national affairs, Courtney Norris, and associate producer Dorothy Hastings have this story.

COURTNEY NORRIS: America's animal shelters are in crisis.

Many are at capacity and understaffed, with adoptions lagging.

In fact, animals are sitting in shelters for longer stints of time than they have in four years.

At the Humane Rescue Alliance in Washington, D.C., CEO Lisa LaFontaine has seen a dramatic decrease in adoptions over the last three years.

Our LISA LAFONTAINE, CEO, Humane Rescue Alliance: intake of animals is up 4 percent, but our adoptions of animals are down 10 person.

COURTNEY NORRIS: And, like many other shelters, Lisa LaFontaine has seen some owners return dogs, cats and even bunnies.

She's had to get creative to ensure pets don't come back here.

LISA LAFONTAINE: If your animal has a minor medical condition and you can't get a vet appointment or can't afford it, you can bring the animal to us.

We have wonderful -- a wonderful hospital here.

And our doctors will treat your pet and you can pick them back up.

And, last year, we were able to keep 642 animals with their people with the families who already love them.

COURTNEY NORRIS: Roughly two animals currently await adoption at the Humane Rescue Alliance, like this dog, MacCabe (ph), who thought our microphone was his new chew toy.

At a recent adoption event they hosted, Taylor and her boyfriend, Nicholas, welcomed the newest member of their family.

TAYLOR EVANS, New Dog Owner: I work from home, so that makes a huge difference.

Yes, I feel like we can make sure that she feels comfortable and just be around all the time, which we -- I just love that.

COURTNEY NORRIS: But many Americans are returning to the office, making it a difficult time to own a pet; 23 million us households adopted a pet during the pandemic.

But, as inflation continues to squeeze the wallets of Americans, rescue shelters and organizations are tasked not only with getting more animals into homes, but keeping them there.

And it's a national problem.

According to a recent Forbes survey, 44 percent of pet owners in the past year have had to pull out their credit card to pay for their pets' expensive.

MATT SCHULZ, Chief Credit Analyst, Lending Tree: There's no question that pet ownership is getting more and more expensive, and some folks on the lower end of the income spectrum are just going to get priced out.

COURTNEY NORRIS: Matt Schulz is chief credit analyst at Lending Tree.

According to one of their surveys last fall, a quarter of owners are struggling to afford the cost of their pet amid inflation, and nearly one in four have taken on debt from pet care.

And less populated areas are hit even harder.

In Dumfries, Virginia, an hour outside of D.C., Sherry Turner runs the Humane Society of Northern Virginia.

Lately, the requests from owners looking to rehome pets is exceeding the number of adopters.

This pup, Ellie, was recently surrendered.

Her owner could not afford to pay for her medical needs.

SHERRY TURNER, Humane Society of Northern Virginia: Rescues are expected or shelters are expected to go and pick up that slack and pay for whatever wasn't done medically and to work with the trainee, just so that they can be adoptable.

Those are some of the impacts that we see and we feel.

COURTNEY NORRIS: Virginia-based rescue Lucky Dog has no shelter.

They partner with organizations like PetSmart to host adoption events.

Lucky Dog director Mirah Horowitz has seen some adopters struggle.

MIRAH HOROWITZ, Lucky Dog Animal Rescue: Maybe they have lost their job or something has happened and they're asking us to take the animal back.

We always try to help people find a solution before we actually do take the animal back.

But, sometimes, there's just, unfortunately, no other thing they can do.

COURTNEY NORRIS: For Horowitz, the goal is to keep animals out of kill shelters.

And the stakes are high.

In 2021, for the first time in five years, the number of dogs and cats euthanized in the U.S. actually increased.

And that trend continued last year.

But, despite the setbacks, shelters and rescues continue to save countless lives, volunteering their time to give these furry friends a new beginning.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Courtney Norris.

AMNA NAWAZ: It's enough to make you want to bring another dog into your home.

Just kidding, honey.

And you can learn more about those pets and the challenges animal shelters are facing online at PBS.org/NewsHour.

And, tomorrow night, be sure to tune in.

Geoff Bennett will be in East Palestine, Ohio, speaking with Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw, in one of his first national interviews, to talk about the train derailment that's caused havoc for residents for more than two weeks.

And that is the "NewsHour" for tonight.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

On behalf of the entire "NewsHour" team, thank you for joining us.