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narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. announcer: and now, "bbc world news". laura: i'm laun washington and this is bbc america. a dramatic rescue in ukraine for those trapped underground for those for months. those besieged in mariupol finally reach safety. >> hundreds more did not make it on this bus. they are thought to be trapped in the steel plant including around one dozen children. talks are still under to free them. laura: millions of women in the

u.s. could lose the right to one abortion is the current law might be overturned by the supreme court. and once hailed as the key to fighting climate change, we find out why treeplanting campaigns don't always deliver. welcome to world news america on pbs and around the globe. here in washington, a day of high drama after a leak suggested the u.s. supreme court is poised to overturn the right to an abortion. more on that later in the program. we begin tonight where more than 100 people have been trapped and have finally been rescued. this cease-fire that allowed them to escape was brief. the red cross has an unknown number of people still trapped in the city. our correspondent watched as the

first evacuees reached this afternoon. reporter: their journey from hell is over. catalina spent weeks hidden in the depths of the steel plant as russian bombs pounded the site. she tried to tell her children that everything would be ok. even when she didn't believe it herself. >> how we were living, to be honest, it was horrible. from morning tonight, we were bombarded. artillery workers, airstrikes, our children could not sleep. they were crying, scared, and us as well. there were several times that we were losing hope that we would never get out. we are extremely glad to be in ukraine. reporter: for more than 60 days, on rations handed down by ukrainian soldiers. it has been a difficult and complex operation to flee them -- to free them.

>> we lived every day and hope that we would go home to a peaceful mariupol but now it is nonexistent. >> this evacuation represents real progress, but hundreds more did not manage to make it on this bus. they are stuck to fill the trapped -- to still be trapped along with a dozen children. talks are still underway to free them. hours after the groups left the plant, the russian bombardment continued. smoke billowed over mariupol, a city already a charred shell. >> i don't know where to go it all. imagine everything is destroyed. everything is broken. where should the people go now? they are sitting with small kids, little ones.

i've got nowhere to go. >> for those that made it out, finally, there is fresh food and a little hope. lives have been saved today, but many more hang in the balance. laura: in germany today, the chancellor met the prime minister of finland and sweden as those governments consider joining the nato alliance. in response to russia's invasion of ukraine. we are joined by a former u.s. deputy assistant secretary of defense for europe and nato. welcome to the program. do you think nato really wants to admit finland and sweden given how much it enraged president putin? even the vague prospect of ukraine joining the military alliance? >> i think the alliance will welcome finland and sweden's application. i think it is very likely. i think discussions between the leaders of finland from sweden in germany are probably focusing

very much on that process. both the prospect of success and how to manage efforts by the russians to try to disrupt that process. laura: visited the absolute opposite of what president putin wanted? has his strategy backfired? >> it has completely backfired. part of the objective was to push nato away from its borders and the result is to bring nato closer to its borders. this is evidenced by increased swedish and finnish interest in joining nato and the likelihood of application to nato membership. it has been a complete failure. he has precipitated what would be the most significant expansion of nato territory membership since 2004 when several european nations joined the ranks. >> germany hosted that meeting today with finland and sweden.

what do you make of germany's position? has it transformed policy? or are there tensions to the historic ties to russia? >> i think we are seeing a profound and momentous change in german foreign policy. you know, the new strategy is reflecting a fundamental new approach to security. germany's strategy of economic engagement over the last two decades or three decades has not lemoscow's leadership shed those aspirations. so now they are focused on economic sanctions and economic decoupling. it features a new and robust military buildup to deter russian aggression. and also featuring deployments

from lithuania, romania, and slovakia. something that weeks ago, germany was refusing to do. this is a big change. laura: how do you see this war ending given all the assistance from the west? do you think victory is possible for ukraine or is a messy stalemate more likely? >> i think victory is possible in the long run. in the near term, i expect the stalemate to emerge. it will mostly become like a cold war like we had during the cold war in the previous century. something like the korean peninsula. the combination of robust security assistance to hol the line and sustained economic sanctions against russia will eventually wear down the russians, and i think ukraine will eventually regain territories seized in 2014 more recently.

>> think you so much for being with us. earlier today, u.k. prime minister boris johnson became the first foreign leader to dress members of the ukrainian parliament since the russian invasion. mr. johnson said the west have been too slow to act in 2014 when russia invaded crimea that we were just talking about. too slow to sanction president putin. our correspondent has more. >> thi is ukraine's finest hour. >> for boris johnson, this was a virtual visit to ukraine's parliament. for volodymyr zelenskyy, the first in person since russia invaded. >> ukraine will win. >> there is genuine gratitude for support both military and moral. but there is criticism. had the west been tougher on russia, this devastating war

might never have happened. and today, the prime minister acknowledged that. >> and the truth is we were too slow to grasp what was really happening. and we collectively failed to impose the sanctions then that we should have put on vladimir putin. and we cannot make the same mistake again. >> ukraine is paying a huge price. >> it is when you see all this that youealize how fierce the fighting wars -- was around ukraine's capital and how close the russians came to kyiv. and even though they have been forced back, this war with all of its destruction is far from over. reporter: tonight, there were strikes in ukraine. >> bombed out playgrounds, schools, hospitals, trees, so

obvious that this was about hitting the ukrainian nation. reporter: nowhere says that more clearly then bucha. today, we found this crowd queuing hours for handouts. many here have lost everything. what the fighting did not destroy, russian soldiers often looted. inside, we met galena who says a missile came through her roof and hit her bed. i sang to get through, she tells me. under fire, i ask? she says it combed her nerves and everyone around her. it takes time to trust the quiet

again that the russian threat won't deter. it is now a crime scene, revealing stories of poor and that evidence. >> in the u.s., president biden has called for the preservation of the ruling that legalized abortion across the u.s. after a leak suggested it could be scrapped by the supreme court. the court has confirmed the draft is genuine but stressed it wasn't a final decision. reporter: outnumbered but vocal, antiabortion activists since victory. after 50 years of fighting the constitutional guarantee of abortion rights known as roe v. wade. >> is going back to the states in the states will come up with these great programs never to

support and give women a choice. a lot of women feel like abortion is their only choice. we want them to have real choice. you can stay in school and have a baby or have a job and have a baby. reporter: pro-choice campaigners say more than half the states will ban or severely restrict abortion in the next few months according to a leaked document. >> i thought this is devastating. the courts are undermining the american people. and we have a long road ahead, but we are not letting this fight go. we will keep going. reporter: nine justices are on the supreme court and five will vote to overturn abortion rights. justice samuel alito writing that the decades-old decision was egregiously wrong. the impact will be sudden. there are 13 u.s. states with so-called trigger laws in place that will lead to immediate ban on abortion. another 13 would move quickly to

ban or severely limit access. 36 million women with reproductive age. >> republicans have been working toward the day for decades. they have been plotting and cultivating supreme court justices so that they could have a majority on the bench who would accomplish something that majority of americans do not want. reporter: donald trump deliberately appointed three of the supreme court justices hoping to overturn the ban on abortion. >> i think i have been clear that i am pro-life. i've been clear about that from the moment i announced my candidacy. and i believe what we found during the campaign and even through today that there is a lot of common ground on this.

we want fewer abortions, not more. reporter: president biden says the right for women to choose is fundamental. everyone knew that the supreme court was due to rule on abortion, but such a dramatic change in the law has come as a seismic shock. one that will be felt throughout american politics. many have pledged not to be silent when the court issues its ruling. laura: joining me now for more on the latest is the bbc's michelle fleury. i was out there today and saw the anger and the anguish of the pro-abortion crowds. in reality, what can the white house do to try to codify abortion rights? >> i think you saw instantly that monday evening we had this leak that there were responses from the likes of senator bernie sanders suggesting it is time to

codify roe v. wade. but when you have such a divided congress, can you muster the 60 votes necessary? it is very unlikely. your hearing calls from some corners of the democratic party asking for the filibuster to be ended so that they can take advantage of the majority while they have it. we have the midterms coming up. laura: abortion is such a deeply personal decision. what do we know about the women who might be affected by this if abortion goes back to the states? how many women would it affect? 2 millions -- reporter: millions of americans affected because there are more than 20 states that have indicated they would instantly try to ban abortion. it is also an economic question because you look at the number of people that have abortions in

america and they happen to be from lowen come backgrounds. if they want to try to get abortion -- low income backgrounds. if they want to try to get abortions, it puts a lot of people at disadvantage. laura: it was noticeable today outside the supreme court that republicans were condemning the leak but they weren't saying that much about the actual ruling itself. do republicans want to be campaigning this november on restricting a woman's right to choose? reporter: you are going into the midterms and we thought the conversation would be around inflation and fighting crime. now this comes up and it is an issue that if you look, it has pulled well. most americans want some form of having access to abortions. you have already seen two republican women, susan collins

and lisa murkowski expressed dismay and that they feel misled by some of the justices, particularly neil gorsuch and brett kavanaugh. they approved their candidacy but they were misled and statements during the hearings and in private meetings. laura: when do we find out the final ruling? reporter: we have to wait to find out how much this is a roadmap and homuch of this exactly comes to pass. this is typically when the supreme court releases. laura: as the u.s. braces for the ruling back of abortion rights, colombia, argentina, and mexico have expanded access to abortion in the last two years. will joins us from mexico city. is it easier to get an abortion in mexico than it is in texas? reporter: yes, in a sense it is.

it is certainly harder in texas then in mexico city where abortion up to 12 weeks has been legal since 2007. there are plenty of other states that are moving in that direction. pro-choice campaigners, women's reproductive health campaigners are also able to help people obtain either abortion pills in mexico and all come to mexico city. we see the direction of legal traffic and moving in opposite directions. states are pushing harder to restrict access to abortions. controls are being steadily lifted and others. laura: in the u.s., which up away at abortion rights. how is it that in conservative

catholics, abortion rights are being expanded? reporter: some nations have made strides, decriminalizing abortion restrictions. argentina, colombia, chili -- chile. all of those are relaxing decades-old laws. we have seen the catholic church's grip over this issue that has eased slowly, taken away from the evangecal groups and in the hands now of younger people, women's reproductive rights groups having more of a voice. slowly and surely, steps toward full decriminalization are being taken in several nations in latin america.

laura: in the states, abortion is a real wedge issue but it's not the case in mexico? reporter: it is still very controversial. there is a long way to go before the decision by the supreme court to knocked down the decision. in a way, that decriminalized and it was sort of implemented across the nation. there are very powerful groups that want to see that supreme court effort failed. there are individual doctors, grapple with their own ethical issues. the services are available. the law may change. it has a ripple effect and the rest of the country. while things look like they are changing in the united states, we mail -- may well see more

american women coming south looking for abortions as they did in the years before roe. laura: in other news from around the world, turkey's president erdogan says he is organizing a voluntary return to syria of one million refugees living in turkey. 500,000 refugees returned to turkish control safe zones. resentment has been growing in turkey to the more than 3.5 million syrian refugees in the country. antonio guterres arrived in nigeria. do to meet families affected by the islamist insurgency. united nations has said more than 2 million people displaced in northeastern nigeria as a result of attacks by boko haram and the splinter group. they are pushing for stronger african peace initiatives. the italian prime minister mario draghi has called on the

european union to act over surging energy costs which he said could lead to food prices on the continent. he said the block should divert money away from covid financial relief to the impact in the war in ukraine and rising energy costs. deforestation is having a dramatic impact on our environment. carbon dioxide, one of the main causes of climate change. treeplanting schemes have been announced over the years, but are there many forests to show for all that money? >> it is part of the philippines program, a plan to point -- plant 1.5 hectares and fight climate change. an official audit found 88% of the program failed. but mangroves can grow well when planted with care.

>> what we have here is a successful non-world plantation. they are successful bause of a number of factors. it's the correct species. much with the correct site. however, this species is not the favorite species for government programs like the national greening program because they are difficult to find in the wild. science was sacrificed for convenience in the planting. reporter: local authority which planted a field of mangroves said they got better results with the species and other locations. many force planting and restoration programs have been launched in recent years. mainly to tackle climate change. i have investigated more than 10 projects. india has signed up for a global

forest restoration project. they have planted tens of millions of trees. many have died. mozambique is part of the 100 forest landscape. it will be harvested after a few years. often, it is unknown how big these forest programs are. laura: what happened to all those trees? before we go tonight, we are

used to recycling bottles and cans. t what about rockets? the booster reenters and falls towards earth, helicopters fly in to catch the parachuting objects. this is how you recycle. 'm laura trevelyan. thank you so much for wahing bbc world news america. narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided ... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: fuing was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪

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judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight, reversing course. a leaked opinion shows the majority of the supreme court would overturn roe versus wade, a move that would trigger widespread restrictions on american women's reproductive rights. then, the potential impact. lawmakers in blue and red states respond to the supreme court's expected ruling on abortion and discuss what it means for their residents. and the invasion grinds on. fighting persists in eastern ukraine and on a visit to an alabama weapons factory, president biden reaffirms his commitment to ukrainian victory. this, as civilians continue to bear the heavy burdens of war. >>