LISA DESJARDINS: Tonight on PBS News Weekend, a federal judge blocks in Iowa law that would ban some library books and forbid many teachers from raising LGBTQ issues.

Then, from sold out tours to the rise of new artists, we take a look back at the booming year in music, and the story of a former police officer who saw the chaos on January 6, that found peace and direction rescuing horses.

MAN: People say Oh, it's great what you're doing you're rescuing these animals but they actually rescued me from a career in law enforcement to COVID to not know where it was going these animals brought it all home to me and grounded me in.

(BREAK) LISA DESJARDINS: Good evening.

I'm Lisa Desjardins.

John Yang is away.

Israeli tanks pushed deeper into the 25 mile long Gaza Strip today, with residents saying airstrikes hit two urban refugee camps.

The Hamas run health ministry in Gaza reports at least 165 Palestinians have been killed since yesterday.

Israel has not responded to reporting that it attacked refugee areas.

This comes after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken approved a $147 million emergency weapons sale to Israel, bypassing Congress for the second time this month.

Russia says at least 14 people were killed today including two children in more than 100 wounded after Ukraine shelled the border city of Belgorod.

A car dashcam caught one of the strikes.

Plumes of black smoke were scattered throughout the city center.

This after Russian bombardments yesterday killed at least 39 civilians in Ukraine.

Tonight Russia struck the northern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, where the governor says apartment buildings were hit.

Several were wounded but no deaths are currently reported.

A rare break in a key passage from Great Britain to Europe.

Flooding has forced the closure of a rail tunnel between London and France this after unprecedented flooding around the British capital.

Eurostar which operates trains from London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam canceled all of its services in and out of the city leaving hundreds stranded in railway stations.

More travel chaos is expected.

A storm Garrett continues to batter the UK with high winds and heavy rain.

And in South Africa, the small town of Ladysmith is still reeling from the flash floods that hit on Christmas Day.

The water destroyed 1,400 homes and killed 21 people.

That death toll is expected to rise as the search continues throughout the weekend.

And a passing of note, British actor Tom Wilkinson died at his home today.

He is best known for films like "The Full Monty," "Michael Clayton" and "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel."

Wilkinsons career spanned film, TV and theatre earning him two Oscar nominations and six BAFTA nominations.

Tom Wilkinson was 75 years old.

Still to come on PBS News Weekend, a look back at the epic year in music, and the story of a former police officer rescuing abused and unwanted horses.

(BREAK) LISA DESJARDINS: In Iowa, a federal judge has temporarily blocked key parts of the law due to go into effect Monday that would ban books from school libraries if they depicted a quote sex act.

The law signed by Republican Governor Kim Reynolds also bars teachers from discussing gender identity and sexuality before seventh grade.

Judge Stephen Walker agreed with those suing, writing that the law was incredibly broad, banning crucial history books, classic fiction, and even guides to help students avoid sexual assault.

To understand more, I'm joined by Derek Black, a professor of law at the University of South Carolina, and Erin Murphy, De Moines Bureau Chief at the Gazette.

Derek, I want to start with you.

This is a temporary decision by the judge.

But how much does this tell us about the court fight ahead?

DEREK BLACK, University of South Carolina School of Law: Yeah, to win a lawsuit like this, you have to establish that there's going to be a likelihood of irreparable harm, and that you're likely to win if you go to trial.

And so this is quite common in these types of lawsuits.

So the judge said, Look, you're likely to win if you go to trial, and we can't allow this law to go into effect, because we can't unwind the problem once it starts.

So, you know, there's not going to be much second guessing at the trial court level.

Now, of course, you can appeal a temporary injunction to the higher court.

But right now, plaintiffs are in good shape and the trial court.

LISA DESJARDINS: A lot of issues here, Erin, including, of course, first amendment speech, but what do you know, from covering this about how widespread the effects might have been worse, they're expected to be many books pulled from the shelves in Iowa, widespread chilling of teachers speech.

ERIN MURPHY, Des Moines Bureau Chief, The Gazette: There actually already has been, and that's part of the case that was made by the plaintiffs in the hearing that was previously held, they had a list of districts across the state and had a combined roughly 500 bucks that have already been pulled from those schools library shelf.

It'll be interesting to make moving forward.

The state counter argued to that that some districts may be over applying the law and misinterpreting the law.

And I think that will be an interesting argument as this legal process continues to play out whether if the law is being interpreted properly by the schools.

LISA DESJARDINS: Derek, there has been in the past court cases, rulings on sex ed, but this is hitting also a gender identity and transgender, gay, lesbian, bisexual can discussions in the classroom, can you help us understand what a court said so far about what schools can regulate and what is free speech?

DEREK BLACK: Well, the root problem here is that when this law said no discussion of sexual identity or no discussion of sexual orientation, the court says look on the face of it, what it's saying is you can't discuss maleness, you can't discuss femaleness, you can't discuss heterosexual couples.

So this, you know, it may have been the intent of the legislature to target LGBTQ issue courts, and based on the language you are borrowing, basically, every single book known to man, woman and whatever other pronoun you might want to apply that there's always a character with some sexual identity, or it's in some form of relationship.

And this law, regardless of its intent, banned it all by its language, and so the court struck it down on that basis.

LISA DESJARDINS: Erin, what about that?

I mean, we're schools confused, where their schools saying we can't talk about husbands and wives, those kinds of things.

ERIN MURPHY: Yeah, that was an argument made all the way back to the legislative debate when the bill was being considered.

And that gets to what the judge was talking about when he used terms like wildly overbroad and the state argued that, no, it's very clear, it's seeking to regulate very specific things.

But the plaintiffs have been arguing and opponents of the law have been saying, ever since its legislative debate, and throughout its implementation here, that it is confusing, and then it's -- and it leaves so much gray area and educators say it paralyzes them and decisions they have to make and not knowing how they should make those decisions about what they can and can't discuss in the classroom, what books they can and can't keep in their libraries.

LISA DESJARDINS: Erin, how hot do you think this will be in the politics of 2024?

And then, Derek to you, what do you think is culturally at stake?

Erin first.

ERIN MURPHY: Yeah, well, I'll say here in Idaho we're already seeing evidence of it as the first in the nation caucus state.

We have Republican presidential candidates come in here.

And often they're talking about this.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is one of the leading candidates.

He passed a similar bill in Florida.

And so he talks about this issue and former Vice President Mike Pence when he was in, he talked about this issue.

So, I -- it certainly has been in play here politically in 2023 already in Iowa.

So it wouldn't be surprising to me anyways, based on that, to see it as part of the election discussion in 2024.

LISA DESJARDINS: Derek Black.

DEREK BLACK: There's no playbook going for about two years now to get people upset and excited about their local school.

So they'll come out and vote and midterm and what would be the next presidential election.

You know, the irony is that what's being taught or not taught at public schools really has nothing to do with federal policy at all, has nothing to do with who the president is or isn't but yet, this is, you know, this is a tool to get people excited and use overbroad terms that are undefined.

And I think the real fallout here that bothers me the most is that of our public schools themselves and the music of one place where we hope to bring people together, find common ground that, you know, our schools are not supposed to be political and what we ultimately have people injecting politics into the sort of last bastion of sanity, what I call a pillar of American democracy.

So I think that's the real loser here is public education.

LISA DESJARDINS: Derek Black and Erin Murphy, thank you so much.

2023 had it all when it came to music record breaking tours, unique songwriting and new artists on the rise.

Stephanie Sy looks back at the music that made 2023 STEPHANIE SY: 2023 was a year that gave us the post pandemic rebirth of sold out stadium concerts by artists like Taylor Swift and Beyonce, as well as the meteoric rise of artists like Noah Kahan and Ice Spice.

The year also shine the spotlight on more controversial issues and music from using AI technology to write songs to artists continued battle for fair pay with music streaming services.

To unpack the year on music, we've got Maura Johnston, a freelance music writer and critic and Candice McDuffie, a senior writer at the root.

The first question, I want to start with you, Candace, which is did you see any themes stick out in the music of 2023?

CANDICE MCDUFFIE, Senior Writer, The Root: I think for 2023, there was a big shift that really highlighted the complexity and the fullness of the black experience.

We have artists like Janelle Monae exploring sexuality and queerness and a really visual and bold way.

Andre 3000 stepped away from the mic to make a record replay just the flute.

And then artists like Killer Mike who explored his identity as a black man in America, who deals with struggles, you know, losing his mother losing his grandmother.

Me to heard these stories before.

But I feel like this year it was really just much more unapologetic and much more attention grabbing from these artists.

MAURA JOHNSTON, Freelance Music Writer and Critic: I think there was a lot of push for connection between people, certainly the increased visibility and popularity of large scale concerts and even smaller scale ones really helped that.

And also, I think that there were just a lot more songs that were coming from unexpected places, whether it was places outside of the U.S. or even the past.

Miguel, you know, he's a really great artists super innovative melding genres together.

His four albums are some of my favorites of the last 15 years.

And TikTok picked up his song Sure Thing and sped it up and turned it into a, you know, a sensation and got him kind of back making music again.

So that's great.

It's a nice success story.

STEPHANIE SY: Candace, I'm curious, were there any breakout artists that you would note and any favorite new artists of 2023?

CANDICE MCDUFFIE: I feel like Sexyy Red.

She's a female hip hop artists had a ridiculous hear the success of Pound Town, the success of SkeeYee and her receiving backlash for being so lewd.

Even though male artists and her genre have been doing that for decades.

It was a problem as she did it.

So it's interesting to see her represent her sexual agency with her platform and receive the reception that way that she did.

STEPHANIE SY: Maura, what about you any breakout artists that you want to know?

MAURA JOHNSTON: Noah Kahan is one for sure.

He's a Vermont singer songwriter.

He's been around for a while, but he had a huge year, also Peso Pluma was a big breakthrough artist.

He's from Mexico.

And he was on the first music and Mexican single to crack the top 10 ever.

And it's really you know, bringing together traditional Mexican sounds with ideas borrowed from hip hop and modern R&B.

STEPHANIE SY: Were there any other unusual trends that stuck out to either of you in this year as music?

MAURA JOHNSTON: I guess for me seeing the American charts kind of becoming more globally influenced.

You had Jung Kook and other members of BTS having a lot of success via streaming.

You had Tyla from South Africa having a hit with song Water.

And those are just a few of the artists that, you know, weren't just from other countries, but we're using the music inspired by where they're from to make the top 10.

And I feel like that's part of the function of the loss of gatekeepers, and people kind of elevating songs from the bottom up via streaming.

CANDACE MCDUFFIE: I think it was great to see black women kind of explore, you know, darker themes and their music.

SZA's biggest hit this year was about a revenge fantasy Kill Bill killing her ex-boyfriend.

Doja Cat is dressing up as devil during her shows and paint the town red just seeing this different kind of image we see for black women who aren't afraid to kind of go to those places that other artists have gone.

STEPHANIE SY: When you listen to a song like Kill Bill by SZA or, you know, when you see the sort of sexual brazenness of some of the music videos that came out this year.

How does that land with you as a black woman consuming the content?

CANDACE MCDUFFIE: I love it.

I feel like we need to see that representation.

We need to kind of explore these places we haven't previously, need to embrace our fullness when you take risks.

If Lady Gaga can wear a meat dress, I mean he says it'd be a character as well so and the dialogue that comes from it and making people uncomfortable.

Let's talk about it.

Let's get into why this resonates.

STEPHANIE SY: Maura, what were some of the most interesting music releases you heard.

MAURA JOHNSTON: I'd say Chappell Rowan, who released an album called The Rise and Fall of Midwest Princess, which is probably the most fun pop album of the year.

And it's really audacious and daring and very sexual, and it sort of follows her on her journey discovering her sexuality.

I really love Kali Uchis's Red Moon in Venus, which is just this really gorgeous sounding, thoughtful meditation on love and what it means.

Zack Bryan is another artists who had a big year and I thought his self-titled album was great.

He kind of brings together Heartland Rock and Americana and Country with a little bit of just like indie rock scrappiness in this really fun way.

And I really love the Paramore album, super spiky, super confrontational, you know, sort of shaving off all of the poppy or parts of their last couple of records and just getting really post punky almost.

CANDACE MCDUFFIE: I think Victoria Monet's debut album Jaguar II very powerful, very popular all over social media On My Mama, you cannot escape that song.

STEPHANIE SY: I loved that song.

MAURA JOHNSTON: So good.

CANDACE MCDUFFIE: And to see her transition from a songwriter running for artists like Ariana Grande and Black Pink to kind of having her own spotlight showing that she can do this.

She can dance and sing and write songs and have this stage presence that is just really impressive.

I think to BoyGenius, the record I got to see them earlier this year at reset.

And there was so much acclaim around the record and I was like I'm not going to listen to like whatever and I saw them and I was like, oh, I get it now like yeah, these three women you know, just so really what they do writing songs I didn't just really tight biting melody.

CANDACE MCDUFFIE: Just -- it was a great record overall.

STEPHANIE SY: Last question.

What was your favorite song of the year, Candace?

CANDACE MCDUFFIE: I like Killer Mike's album Michael a lot this year there's a song on it called Down by Law with CeeLo Green and it's very powerful opens the record.

It just catches your attention it's very grounded his baritone, it's just embraces you and it kind of set the tone for this exploration of his identity.

STEPHANIE SY: Good answer.

Maura.

MAURA JOHNSTON: I think it has to be Bad Idea Right by Olivia Rodrigo.

I love how she uses the gnarly textures of 90s alt rock to kind of musically encapsulate the sticky feeling she gets from seeing an ex after a long time.

I just think that she's a really great artists that's you know, obviously hitting my nostalgia sweet spot but at the same time, she's doing it in a way that feels very natural.

STEPHANIE SY: Candace McDuffie and Maura Johnston.

What a pleasure to have you.

Thank you.

MAURA JOHNSTON: Thank you.

CANDACE MCDUFFIE: Thanks for hanging out with us.

It's so much fun.

LISA DESJARDINS: For more than two decades, Mark Kirwan served as a police officer in Washington DC, but a few years ago feeling lost amid COVID and after the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

He made an unusual choice moving from fighting crime to rescuing horses with a mix of purpose and poetry.

He told us his story.

MARK KIRWAN, Former Washington D.C. Police: I should gather up all the lost souls that wonder desert all the ones that are alone.

All the ones that are broken.

All the ones that never really fitted in I shall gather them all up and together we shall find our home.

So we've already fed our barn horses.

We start feeding them around 5:36 o'clock in the morning.

I'm Mark Kirwan.

I'm from a very small town and County Tipperary called Ross Gray.

And I came to the States, initially in the early 90s, to work on a horse farm here in Virginia, ended up getting involved in law enforcement and working in law enforcement for 21 years, but I was keeping my foot in the door with horses and the equine business.

Chloe is getting upset, hasn't had his feed yet.

Three years ago, I bought this magical little place in Culpeper County, and as you say, in the foothills of the Shenandoah, it's beautiful.

It's a little slice of heaven.

And you know, I filled it with rescues that I've rescued over the last three years.

Aiden was electrocuted.

But when he wouldn't pull the equipment, what they used to do is they would tie dye and a wire from a car battery into his mouth, and they would shock them.

So they damaged all his nervous system.

We also have donkeys, alpacas.

It's a menagerie of animals here on the farm.

And then, you know, there's great solace here.

It's beautiful, it's peaceful, it's quiet.

And it allows the animals to enjoy their last years of life after losing trust in humans who have neglected them and mystery to them for so many years.

It was 9/11 triggered sort of the law enforcement thing after being here in the States and witnessing such a catastrophic event.

So I decided to joined up the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, DC.

January 6 was instrumental in me deciding that I was going to leave the police department.

You know, when a group of extremists raid and attack the head of democracy, the building that represents the United States and what it was built on.

It's a very sad day.

And it has certainly had just a huge effect on everyone who wore a uniform and everyone who was who was there that day.

COVID is the reason why I bought this farm.

I had a restaurant in Washington, DC, had a restaurant in Arlington, Virginia, just a few miles across the bridge.

And I really thought I was going to lose everything.

It was this tsunami of illness that hit the world that shocked us.

Head wasn't in the right place.

And I thought, well, what can I do and luckily, my dad's a great sounding board for me back in Ireland.

So I called him up and he just said, go back to what you're used to what you love, go back to horses, go back to farm.

And the chestnut there is Quinn.

And he was beaten severely, and they damaged his eye.

So he's actually almost blind in his left eye.

So unfortunately, that affects him with coming up on him.

And you have to make sure you're on his right side.

So that he can see and he's comfortable with you because otherwise he gets a bit nervous.

Most of the animals I've rescued specifically the draft horses come from the Kilpin and Pennsylvania.

So what we do as rescue people is we will go and we will outbid the meat buyers.

So they have a set amount they'll pay for a horse going on body weight, and then we'll just go above it and then bring that horse back on a trailer.

Every week then they get a special treat, they get each one gets a bottle of Guinness in their mash.

And that's sort of an Irish trait because Guinness is known to give horses a great call to great sheen under (inaudible) helps with hoof growth.

It's like a Friday treat for the animals.

They love it, you know, so it's really good.

And I enjoy battle myself as well.

It's just me and my girlfriend Abby.

We bandage, we soak the hooves, we do everything.

And, you know, it's like I said, it's tough.

It's hard work.

It's seven days a week.

365 but we love it.

And a lot of people say it's great what you're doing you're rescuing these animals, but they actually rescued me from a career in law enforcement to COVID not knowing where it was gone.

These animals, brought it all home to me and grounded me and seen the condition they're in now knowing that they don't ever have to pull a plow again that they don't have to be beaten.

No one leaves here when they come here.

That's it.

We don't sell them in my rehome them.

It's important for them to know that when they're in the green pastures here, the next pasture they're going into his God's pastures.

To walk out into the field the horses have rescues or animals that all they do is just rest their head and your shoulder and give you great joy and it's fantastic, it's lovely and it makes it makes getting up in the morning better, and it makes any negativity that comes into your life.

It's like voiding it and making things positive again.

LISA DESJARDINS: And an update before we go, a federal appeals court cleared the way for California's ban on carrying guns in most public places to take effect Monday.

Earlier, a lower court judge ruled the law was unconstitutional.

And that's it for our program tonight.

I'm Lisa Desjardins for all of my colleagues.

Thanks for joining us.

See you tomorrow.