>> Major funding for the "Pbs news weekend" has been provided by -- >> Consumer cellular, this is Sam, how may I help you? Nationwide coverage with no contract is kind of our thing. Have a nice day. >> Certified financial planner professionals are proud to support pbs news weekend. More information at let's make a plan.org. >> And with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. And, friends of the newshour. ♪♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcast
ing, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. John: Good evening. I'm John yang. Chaos in central gaza today after an Israeli air strike hit a tent encampment in the courtyard of al-aqsa martyrs hospital in deir-al-balah. Two Palestinians were reported killed and 15 others wounded. The Israeli military said it was targeting an islamic jihad command center and that the hospital was not affected. Among the injured were journalists who had been working nearby. >> T
hey hit the tent without any warning, we were staying in the tent as a group of journalists peacefully with no terrorists among us. We were preparing our cameras and all of a sudden the tent was hit, everything went dark with debris and rocks flying above our heads and there were flames. John: In Jerusalem, the biggest anti-government demonstration since the war began. Tens of thousands of people rallied outside the parliament building, demanding that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu get a deal
to free the hostages held in gaza and hold early elections. In Ukraine, today marked the second anniversary of Russian forces leaving the Kyiv region. President volodymyr zelenskyy visited a memorial site in bucha, where, Ukrainian officials say, two years, ago -- two years ago troops found mass graves and the bodies of men, women, and children littering the streets. The civilian death toll there passed 1000. Appeals for peace in both the Middle East and Ukraine were parts of pope Francis's Eas
ter message today. In St. Peter's square in Vatican City, the pope renewed calls for an immediate ceasefire in gaza, the release of all Israeli hostages, and a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine. He told worshippers, "Peace is never made with weapons." The pope made several loops of the square in his popemobile to greet the tens of thousands who had gathered for the culmination of Christians' holy week. King Charles attended an Easter service at Windsor castle today, his most significa
nt public appearance since his cancer diagnosis in February. Outside St. George's chapel, the king shook hands and chatted with well-wishers. The 75-year-old monarch is being treated for an unspecified type of cancer. And former seven-term democratic congressman William Delahunt of Massachusetts has died after a long illness. As a boston-area prosecutor in the late 1970's, he created what's considered the first domestic violence unit. Delahunt postponed his retirement from the house until 2011 t
o help pass former president Obama's legislative agenda. Delahunt was 82 years old. Still to come on pbs news weekend, how the state of Georgia is trying to expand medicaid coverage but with unique controversial program. And, a photographer captures the stories behind the vanishing structures of rural America. >> This is pbs news weekend, from weta studios in Washington, -- Washington. John: Today, Christians across America celebrate Easter, muslims are in the midst of Ramadan and Jews recently
marked purim and are preparing for passover in a matter of weeks. So it is very timely for the pew research center to be out with the results of a survey looking at Americans' attitudes about the role of religion on public life. 80% of the more than 12,000 respondents said religion's role is shrinking. That's the highest proportion in two decades of asking the question. Gregory Smith is pew's associate director of research. He helps coordinate the domestic polling on religion. A big proportion o
f Americans saying religion is losing influence. Do they say that is a good thing or a bad thing? >> Most people think it is a bad thing, they are disappointed to see it. The survey shows that most Americans have a positive view of religion. Most to think it decline is a bad thing. The smaller group who -- the smaller number of people who think religion's influence is growing, think that's a good thing. And if you put those things together, we see very clearly that most people in the united Stat
es have a positive view of religion's role in society. John: I was also struck by the responses to the question of whether the respondents felt that there was a conflict between their personal religion and mainstream American culture and whether they felt their religion made them part of a minority group. What did you find there? Gregory Smith: So the share of Americans who say they think there's at least some conflict between their own religious beliefs and mainstream American culture is up six
points to 48% since we last asked these questions. Similarly, the share of Americans who say they think of themselves as a minority because of their religious beliefs is up five points since we last ask these questions. Now, most people don't say they think of themselves as a minority because of their religion. Only 29% of Americans say that. Still, the trend is in an upward direction. John: What do you think that tells you? Does that say something about religious beliefs? Or does it say someth
ing about people's connection with mainstream American culture? Gregory Smith: It says a little bit about people's religious backgrounds. We know, for example, that jewish Americans and Muslim Americans, groups that make up small shares of the population, they are among the most likely to say they think of themselves as minorities because of their religious beliefs. But there's also an element of this that is about how people perceive things to be going in society. You know, we've done other pol
ling where we ask people whether they think their side is winning or losing on the political issues that matter to them. And big numbers of Americans, including majorities in both parties, say they think their side has been losing more than winning recently. So some of this is just a dissatisfaction, tension with broader society. John: Precisely on that point, you also asked whether people felt that either secular liberals or conservative Christians were going too far in trying to control govern
ment and public schools in terms of religion. What did you find there? Gregory Smith: What we see is that most Democrats and most people who aren't particularly religious themselves, they think conservative Christians are going too far trying to impose their religion in public life. The flip side of that is also true. Most Republicans and most Christians, including a huge majority of evangelical protestants, say they think secular liberals are going too far in trying to keep religion out of the
government and public schools. So it's sort of people on both sides think that the other side is going to extremes. John: And of course, this is a presidential election year. What did you find about people's attitudes toward or their feelings toward whether a president has strong religious feelings or not? Gregory Smith: The survey is really interesting. It finds that a huge majority of the public, including people across every religious group we're able to analyze and people in both parties, sa
y they want a president who personally lives a morally upstanding life. So that's something Americans can agree on. Fewer people say they want a president who is personally religious or who shares their own religious beliefs. But many people, most Americans, about two thirds, say they do want a president that they can count on to stand up for people with religious beliefs like their own. John: So it's not necessarily that they agree with the religious beliefs or have the same religious beliefs.
They just want the president to be standing up for them. Gregory Smith: That's exactly right. It's way more important for people to have a president who stands up for them than it is to have a president who shares their religious beliefs. And we can see, for example, that many of the people who have favorable opinions of Joe Biden and Donald Trump don't necessarily think that those two are very religious themselves. But the people who have favorable views of each candidate do think that their pr
eferred candidate stands up for people with their religious beliefs. John: You also asked a question about, a topic that's been a hot topic recently. Christian nationalism, the ideology that the United States should be a Christian nation. What did you find there? Gregory Smith: Yeah, the survey finds that a lot of Americans say they want the bible to have some influence on U.S. Laws and policies. But only 28% of Americans say that if the bible and the will of the people are in conflict, we shoul
d rely more on the bible than the will of the people in terms of making laws. John: When you put all of this together, what does it tell you about the state of Americans when they look at religion and how their views are changing? Gregory Smith: I'd say there's two main things that that jump out at me. One is that we know that religion, the place of religion in American life, is changing. The United States has grown gradually less religious in recent decades. And we see that in the growing share
of Americans who tell us they think religion is losing influence in American life. The other thing that jumps out at me in this survey is that Americans are divided on these topics, as they are on so many other things. People on both sides of the political and religious spectrum think that those on the other side are going to extremes trying to see their preferred policies and approach to life, enacted in laws and in and in the public schools. John: Very interesting. Gregory Smith from the pew
research center, thank you very much. Gregory Smith: Thank you for having me. ♪♪ John: Since medicaid was created nearly 60 years ago, it's been expanded many times and is now the government's biggest health insurance program. Tonight, a look at the efforts to expand it further with a visit to the only state with a work requirement for medicaid. It's part of our ongoing series, "America's safety net." >> Go for a walk? Come on. John: For shanan Allison, taking her emotional support dog, wolf, fo
r a walk in her Atlanta neighborhood can feel like an ordeal. The 48-year-old has limited mobility because of hip dysplasia and degenerative disc disease. Her biggest health challenge came in 2018, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She didn't have health insurance at the time. But the diagnosis qualified her for medicaid's women's health program for breast and cervical cancer. >> As an adult never having had private insurance, it was like a miracle. It was like, wow, finally somebody ca
n see about this symptom and somebody can treat that. And I can, you know, and maybe I can get back to work. John: The coverage also paid for a hip replacement in 2020 and for medication to treat a heart condition and bipolar disorder. So now your cancer's in remission? >> Yes, thank god. John: Well thank god the cancer is in remission, but what does it mean for medicaid? >> Well it means since I'm no longer seeing an oncologist that it's been 5 years and if you're not continuing to see an oncol
ogist, you're not qualified for women's health medicaid anymore. John: The only other time Allison had health insurance was when her pregnancies qualified her for medicaid. Physical limitations have kept her from holding a job since 2012 and before that she'd never had one that gave her coverage. And despite having no income, she does not qualify for Georgia's traditional medicaid program, which requires a participant to not only have a low income. But also be pregnant, have a child, or have a d
isability. >> See here, I was approved right there. There is a termination. So I applied for regular medicaid. Denial for medical assistance. John: No eligible people in your household. Not having medicaid. How does that make you feel? >> I'm scared. I need continuation of care for my hip, you know, and my psych meds, for instance, and it's just like you fall, I fall in a gap. I don't know, it's scary. John: Georgia is one of ten states that has not used the affordable care act to expand medicai
d to cover all adults earning less than 138% of the federal poverty line, or about $20,800 a year for an individual. Under the act, the federal government pays a generous subsidy for the additional cost. >> There's been a lot of momentum in our surrounding neighbor states. And I think that legislators are seeing how it is a good deal for Georgia. John: Leah Chan is director of health justice at Georgia budget and policy institute, a nonpartisan research group and a proponent of full medicaid exp
ansion. She says it would benefit the estimated 400,000 uninsured Georgians in what's called the coverage gap earning too little , to qualify for federal subsidies in the ACA insurance marketplace, but not qualifying for medicaid in the state because they are adults without a qualifying disability. Leah Chan: This is just an economic imperative. We can no longer ignore the financial benefits that we would get from closing the coverage gap. And I think we can no longer ignore the mounting pressur
e that many communities are feeling as more people fall into the coverage gap and as hospitals close. John: Since 2013, 12 hospitals across Georgia have shut their doors, including Atlanta medical center here in the heart of the city, which closed in 2022. One reason for the financial squeeze, unreimbursed care for people with low incomes and no insurance. Earlier this year, Georgia lawmakers signaled a willingness to consider medicaid expansion. But in February, legislative leaders said the iss
ue needed more study. Instead, Georgia has a new program called pathways to coverage. Brian Kemp: Georgia pathways provides a hand up and a way for our citizens to thrive. John: Pathways provides medicaid to adults who earn less than 100% of the federal poverty line , or about $15,000 for an individual, and spend at least 80 hours a month either working, going to school, participating in job training, or doing volunteer service. Georgia is the only state with a medicaid work requirement currentl
y in place. State officials estimated that 50,000 people would enroll in pathways in its first two years. But since it launched last July, only about 3,500 have signed up. Georgia's department of community health, which administers pathways, declined a N interview request, but in a statement said the program puts Georgia at the forefront of innovation and health care and serves as a new way to increase access to affordable healthcare coverage. >> I would hope that the critics those are calling f
or full medicaid expansion would actually choose to embrace this program and help raise awareness, because it does provide a pathway to health care coverage for the recipients. John: Chris Denson is the director of policy and research at the Georgia public policy foundation, a conservative, free-market think tank. The fact that you're asking, -- that you are asking people in order to get the coverage, you have to do you have to put in something. You think that's an important factor? Chris Denson
: We believe it's an important factor because these are able bodied, working age individuals. And so in order to not only receive the program, we think it's important for them to have some skin in the game. This is also a pathway to receiving private insurance and we want more patients on more private health insurance plans where it's easier to see a physician because the physician or hospital is paid more for seeing those patients. John: Nationwide, about 30% of physicians do not accept new med
icaid patients. In Georgia, according to one survey, it's 40%. But Leah Chan says research on medicaid, including from states that used the ACA to expand, shows that those on the program have better health outcomes. What's more, she says, Georgia taxpayers pay more for each pathways participant than they would under full medicaid expansion because the federal subsidy is smaller. You say that pathways isn't as good as medicaid expansion, but is it better than nothing? Leah Chan: So we have the op
portunity before us to bring billions of dollars to our state, create tens of thousands of new jobs, shore up the financial stability of our rural hospitals, and get access to health care for hundreds of thousands of Georgians. And instead, we have chosen this other path that is more expensive and covers fewer people. John: In addition, Chan says the existing pathways program has a big barrier -- every month, participants must submit documentation to certify that they're meeting the requirements
. That's impossible for people like Donald Crawford in rural toccoa, Georgia, northeast of Atlanta near the South Carolina border. Uninsured, he relies on the free open arms clinic for all his healthcare needs, including prescriptions. Donald Crawford: I've got high blood pressure, diabetes, breathing problems. John: Crawford hasn't had full-time employment since the thread mill where he worked shut down nearly a decade ago, now he -- decade ago. Now he does odd jobs just a couple hours per mont
h. The 58-year-old says even if he had the hours to qualify for pathways, there's no way he could do the reporting. Donald Crawford: This phone right here, I'm old school. I had a flip phone. My daughter got this phone right here. And, you know, she kept working with me and working with me and everything. You know, all this technology ain't no way. You know, ain't no way. John: Clinic executive director sherry beavers is one of only two paid employees. Everyone else, including the doctors, are v
olunteers. Sherry beavers: You know that little room in your doctor's office that they take you to and they give you a little sample? This is our sample room. John: Beavers says in the absence of full medicaid expansion, clinics like hers fill a vital need for low income adults in Georgia, helping them manage chronic conditions like diabetes. Sherry beavers: That's over $1 million worth of insulin right there. The difference between life and death for a person with diabetes. John: Pathways is ai
med at some of the people who use the open arms clinic, but she says not a single one of the clinic's patients has enrolled in the program. Sherry beavers: The qualifications are just too steep. You know, I have patients that I have to put "A" on the pill bottles if they take them in the morning and "P" on the pill bottles if they take them at night. And you expect these people to be able to upload documents and renew their health insurance monthly? It's not gonna work. John: For shanan Allison
in Atlanta, the documentation isn't the problem. The problem, she says, is actually doing the required activities. Shanan Allison: If I could do part time job, I would do it for money, you know, for medicaid, either one. Love to have I take the medicaid over the money. But the point is I can't do it. John: Recently, she was turned down for social security disability benefits. But a recent mammogram spotted something that requires additional testing. It could be another serious health challenge.
But ironically, it could also give her coverage again, qualifying her for women's health medicaid. How does this make you feel about this whole system? Shanan Allison: I feel cheated, and anyway, I feel discriminated against. I'm just confused as to why Georgia did this and some places didn't. It almost makes me want to move, you know? Because I need the care that badly. ♪♪ John: For more than two decades, vermont-based photographer Jim Westphalen has documented old farmhouses, barns, churches,
and homes that have fallen into disrepair. He calls it finding beauty in decay. He's collected his works in a book and a film, both called "Vanish: Disappearing icons of a rural America." Tonight, Westphalen shares his brief but spectacular take on the vanishing structures of rural America. >> Just taking a portrait of a person, when I'm looking right at the face of the building, I feel like it's looking back at me and I can really look into the soul of the building. Looking through the windows
or looking into a front door, that's what I'm looking for to evoke that emotion. ♪♪ so this structure I happened upon a couple years back down a lonely little dirt road in Vermont here. These vines that are on the outside of the building, they're actually growing from inside. So it looks like the building is weeping. In 1996, we moved to Vermont. As a photographer, it was just heaven. I'd be out roaming the countryside with my camera, and I realized that a lot of the structures that I was passin
g, they were starting to decay, fall into disrepair. And as a visual artist, I was drawn to what that meant visually, the rusted patina of a roof, or old barn sides, or faded clapboard on the old farmhouses. And I spent every free moment out there, photographing these old structures. And without knowing it, I was building this body of work. So I loosely started this project about 20 years ago, and it was without intention then. I would just travel the countryside, photographing these beautiful o
ld buildings. Because I was really attracted to them. And as the body of work grew, I realized there really was this tangible message here. These structures are so fleeting. And we're in this period of history where we're experiencing this profound loss. It's more than just documenting it, it really is depicting and capturing the soul of the structure in a way that really honors what it once was, and also honors the people who spent their lives there. Of course, I would stop and ask permission t
o be on somebody's property before I went and photographed it. Once I tell 'em a little about what I'm doing, they just love to share their stories. They tell me how they're sixth generation farming on this land struggling to keep it going now. You know, there was this rich history to be told behind the visual beauty of the structures as they sit today. And if I can just ignite a little bit of a spark in people, and maybe ignite a spark in those who can tangibly do something about the loss that
we're experiencing, to maybe restore and if not restore, at least maintain these old structures, then I have done my job. Because once the structures are gone, and once that generation who are connected to those structures are gone, the stories go with it as if they were never there. I'm Jim Westphalen, and this is my brief but spectacular take on the vanishing structures of rural America. ♪♪ John: And that is pbs news weekend for this Sunday. I'm John yang. For all of my colleagues, thanks for
joining us. Have a good week. ♪♪ >> Major funding for the "Pbs news weekend" has been provided by -- >> Certified financial planner professionals. Cfp professionals are committed to acting in our clients best interest. More information at let's make a plan.org. >> And with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. ♪♪ [captioning
performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] ♪♪
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