AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geo On the "NewsHour" announcing a path for membership at the alliance's ongoing summit.

AMNA NAWAZ: House Republicans interrogate the FBI director about claims of bias in the department and investigations into the president's family.

GEOFF BENNETT: And the Webb Telescope's images of the far reaches of space prom to reconsider their understanding of the early universe.

JOHN MATHER, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center: People are really inte surprises that we're getting out of the Webb.

The big answers are, the first galaxies gre (BREAK) GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "NewsHour."

President Biden is in Finl Lithuania.

AMNA NAWAZ: will celebrate that tomorrow.

But there was still much to do on this in the face of Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Our Laura Barron-Lopez was there.

JOE BIDEN, President of the United (LAUGHTER) JOE BIDEN: Y LAURA BARRON VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President: Thank you very much to all these days you are with us, I mean, you, and Americans.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: President Joe Biden for the first time publicly hinted that Ukraine's NATO membership could come sooner than previously thought JOE BIDEN: I hope we finally have put to bed the notion about whether o welcome in NATO.

It's going t We're moving I think it's LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived for summit meetings with a softer tone and clear-eyed that membership in the midst of war was off the table.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: What we hear and understand that we will have this invitation when security measures will allow.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: He did secure commitments that look ahead.

A joint decl itself against future attacks.

JOE BIDEN: We're going to help an d sea.

It will be a LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: That announcement helped cool tensions from yesterday, when Zelenskyy called the absence of a clear timeline for Ukraine to join NATO absurd.

But, today, Zelenskyy greeted NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg with a hug, the tw the summit sent a clear signal.

JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO Secretary- I look forward to the day we meet as allies.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY (through translator): I'm confident, after the war, Ukraine will be in NATO.

JENS STOLTEN LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: And they gathered for the inaugural meeting Council.

JENS STOLTEN LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: But the war is in its 504th day, its toll on Ukrainians evident in Zelenskyy's persuasion campaign for weapons.

He praised President Biden for the deci VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY (through translator): And this is about justice: We defend ourselves.

We're defending ourselves without using appropriate weapons on the territory of other states.

As for the rest of the aid, we need long-range weapons.

This deficit hasn't gone away.

And I will raise this question.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: While Uk steps to fortify its own members' borders.

JENS STOLTENBERG: Our security is interconnected LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: For the first time since the Co in case of an attack on NATO territory.

They reinforced a 2 percent of GDP defense spendi So far, just seven of the 31 member countries hit that target.

They also hosted Indo-Pacific leaders to deepen global ties against other adversaries, including China, and saw a deal struck for Sweden's NATO membership, though Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said today his country will not immediately vote on it.

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, Turkish President (through translator): Now we have a two-month parliamentary vacation.

Our goal is JOE BIDEN: Hello, Lithuania.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) LAURA BARRON-L downtown Vilnius.

JOE BIDEN: Str our shared challenges.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Continuing th travels to Finland tomorrow, his first presidential visit to the newest member of the NATO allia Moments before boarding Air Force One to Helsinki, President Biden said that -- President Biden said that they accomplished every goal that they needed to at the summit and that Ukraine now understands that it's more important for them to get military aid than to be concerned about the timeline for their NATO membership -- Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: Laura, that NATO summit began with and Zelenskyy.

That seems to ha two leaders post-summit?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: President Zelenskyy went from calling it absurd that there was no clear timeline for them to join NATO, also said that it was a sign of weakness that would encourage Russian aggression.

He said that on Tuesday, and then about 24 hours later, sitting alongside President Biden, praised the president, as well as Americans.

And President Biden also welcomed that praise and said that they were standing by Ukraine.

I spoke to Jake Sullivan today, Amna, about all this, and he said that, look, President Zelenskyy had the right to voice some frustration and to say that they wanted immediate NATO membership, but that, ultimately, it has to be agreed upon by all the 31 members of NATO.

AMNA NAWAZ: Laura, tell us more about the next steps now for delivering assistance to Ukraine.

What is the the long term?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: In the near term, Amna, mu nitions that we have reported on and that Zelenskyy was -- also said are something that is very important to Ukraine to have right now.

But President Biden again, right before he boarded Air Force One, said that h to potentially sending long-range missiles.

That's something that President Zelenskyy ha And he asked again at the summit, said that he was going to bring that up with President Biden in their one-on-one.

And so it was significant that the pr Now, all of this, Amna, is with an eye towards the 75th summit, annual summit, next year in Washington, D.C., where the NATO members will be checking in on Ukraine's status on reforms.

But in the tim were going to give them more security assistance on intelligence-sharing, on military aid, and on another -- other host of aid, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is our White House correspondent, Laura Barron Lopez, reporting li Finland, tonight.

Laura, thank y Good to see GEOFF BENNETT: In the day's other headlines: Inflation in June cooled to its lowest lev since early 2021, helped by easing prices on gas, groceries and airline tickets.

The Labor Department reports consumer prices rose 3 percent from a year earlier.

That was down from a 4 percent rate in May, but still above of the Federal Reserve's 2 percent target.

Inflation at the retail level Th e flooding that ravaged Vermont this week was receding today.

In Montpelier, the capital, cleanup crews plowed through sludge as cars struggle maneuver on streets slick with mud.

At a briefing, FEMA Chief Deanne Criswell said it's at work and getting worse.

DEANNE CRISWELL, FEMA Admi right, records that have stood for decades or even a century.

And it's happening over and over again.

We have to start to think about what is this going to loo we can understand what those risks are going to be, because I think what we're facing today is not what we faced 10 years ago.

GEOFF BENNETT: Meantime, the National W to more than 108 million Americans today.

Forecasts called for the Southwest to break temperature records again.

The European Union's Parliament has approved a major climate change bill.

It would impose the world's most ambitious climate and biodiversity targets, including restoring at least a fifth of Europe's nature areas.

Today's razor-thin vote highlighted -- highlighted divisions over the plan, with cons warning it'll harm farmers and fuel inflation.

Microsoft reports a Chinese-based hacking group has breached e-mail accounts linked to government agencies in the U.S. and Western Europe.

The company says the intrusions went undetected for a month.

The State Department says it cannot confirm China was involved, but has no Mi crosoft's claim.

Beijing dismissed the accusations as North Korea is drawing fresh condemnation after firing its first intercontinental b missile in three months.

It blasted off near Pyongyang to Japan.

That's the l South Korea's president reacted in Lithuania, where he and the Japanese prime mini the NATO summit.

YOON SUK-YEO ballistic missile again.

This is a threat to peace and stability in It is also a provocation and an obvious violation of U.N. resolutions.

GEOFF BENNETT: The North Koreans had accused the U.S. of sending spy planes into their airspace in recent days and had threatened retaliation.

Back in this country, Hollywood actors could join striking screenwriters in walking out, as a deadline looms at midnight Pacific time.

The SAG-AFTRA actors union agreed to let federal mediator an agreement.

But they said they They're demanding better pay and safegu On Wall Street, the inflation numbers helped stocks gain a bit more ground.

The Dow Jones industrial average climbed to 86 points to close at 34347.

The Nasdaq rose 158 points and the S&P 500 added 33 points.

And a passing of note.

The Czech-born novelist Milan Hi s work explored humanity and depicted the struggles of living under totalitarian rule.

His best-known work, "The Unbearable Lightness of Being," was centered in Czechoslovakia after Soviet tanks crushed a pro-democracy movement in 1968.

Milan Kundera was 94 years old.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": Iowa Republicans pass one of the nati abortion bans; a podcast looks at the ongoing issue of sexual abuse in the substance recovery community; and New Orleans restaurants recycle oyster shells to help save dwindling coastlines.

AMNA NAWAZ: We return now to the NATO summit, what was and wasn't accomplished.

We get some perspective from Ivo Daalder.

He was U.S. ambassador to NATO during the Obam He's now the president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

Ambassador Daalder, what -- when you look at the summit and what was accomplished, was this a missed opportunity?

Should the alliance have Ukraine to join?

IVO DAALDER, And it was unrealistic, frankly, to think that there w Making an invitation to a country in the middle of war in order to bring it th at is committed to defending every inch of the territory of all of its members was just not in the cards and couldn't be expected.

What could be expected is a very strong statement and a very strong commitment to mo with Ukraine on multiple fronts, first of all, to provide new weapons, so it can launch the counteroffensive with the full backing of Western equipments.

And that was done by a whole variety of countries.

Long-range missiles, cluster munitions, and new tanks and the like.

Secondly, a long-term commitment that the United States, together with the G7 partners and others, are making to the defense and security of Ukraine, not only today and tomorrow, as long as this war goes on, but after that, to make sure that a war never resumed.

And then, finally, really an important indication that the issue of NATO membership is no longer a question of whether, but really a question of when and how.

How do you bring in a country that is in the middle of a war with contested a security alliance?

That's now squarely on the As President Biden said, hopefull we're going to do that.

And that is a major step.

So I think President Zel alliance.

And that's a AMNA NAWAZ: There was another significant summit move in decision to allow Sweden to join NATO.

That was just as the U.S. announces that Turkey will get those F-16s t Is that what changed everyone's mind?

Help us understand what happened here.

IVO DAALDER: Well, reading Erdo I mean, he likes attention.

He certainly got it once again He does this all the time.

He goes to the brink of a of a Turks are around and are playing a big game.

Secondly, I think he's now realizing that, with the economy in troubl needs Western assistance, he needs a good relationship with the United States, with the European Union.

And, third, It now looks like the discussions betwee F-16 are proceeding, that Congress is moving forward with providing those F-16s, as long as Turkey commits not to use them against Greece or Cyprus.

And I noted that President Erdogan said that he would not do that.

So I think he's got a lot for what he wanted.

But the most important thing, Sweden is now going to be a member of NA And that's how it should be.

AMNA NAWAZ: As my co the first time since the end of the Cold War, they now have an approved military plan, a response plan, in case any of the NATO member nations are attacked.

Why is that significant?

IVO DAALDER: You k It's -- and NATO is sort of relearning its musc alliance.

So these plans, and one for the southern region, dictate what kind of forces are necessary to defend every inch of NATO territory.

And it really gives an It says you, Germany, need to provide 150 tanks in this place, and y to move them there within this time frame with the kind of ammunition that is necessary.

And that's the kind of planning that now will go on through the entire lines.

Think of it as an Excel spreadsheet, with the NATO countries on -- representing columns and the military capability representing the capabilities.

And they're now filling in exactly what capabilities are necessary to fulfill the requirement to defend every inch of NATO territory.

So it emerges and integrates NATO def of NATO capabilities in a much more significant way.

It's what we used to do during the Cold War.

We just haven't been able to do it, or found it that it would use force to change borders.

And that, of course, is something that NATO wants to pre AMNA NAWAZ: Ambassador, I have got less tha But I have to ask you.

Of course, U They're in the middle of a counteroffensive.

What's your sense of how that counteroffensi IVO DAALDER: So, I think the Ukrainians are tryi that they can then concentrate the forces that have been equipped and trained by Western countries and have a breakthrough.

It's probably getting a little bit more difficult It is a bit a little more difficult than they had anticipated to But I have no doubt that, at some point, you will see all of those forces that have been trained and equipped by Western countries massing and breaking through Russian defenses and making significant difference in where the front lines are going to be drawn.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is the former U.S.

Ambassador to NATO, now president of the Chicago Co on Global Affairs, Ivo Daalder joining us tonight, Ambassador Daalder, thank you.

Good to see you.

IVO DAALDER: Thank you GEOFF BENNETT: The director of the FBI sat on the other side of an interrogation today by members of Congress.

Christopher Wray faced some sharp criticism Congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins was there and joins us now.

So, Lisa, Republicans on the committee grilled the FBI director about the of law enforcement agencies against former President Donald Trump.

Tell us more about that.

LISA DESJARDIN They were talking about And this was a very dense hearing.

As you will hear, there were Threads of man When it came to that Republican accusation of weaponization by the FBI, th specific allegations.

They brought up me sort of implying that parents were the threat.

The Department of Justice has denied that that was their intent.

Also, a memo from the Richmond FBI that targeted what they Director Wray said that that was a single office and not at all what the FBI intended.

But one of those heated exchanges came around the case of a man named Mark Houck.

He's a Pennsylvania man who was arrested and charged after he protested or was standing outside of an abortion clinic.

And when he was arrested, his lawyer said he was instead the FBI sent over a dozen agents and held him at gunpoint in the morning before his family.

And Director CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI Director: I'm not going to s agents on the ground who made the determination.

(CROSSTALK) REP. CHIP ROY (R- Your job is to review what they do.

Your job is to protect the Americ an American family.

CHRISTOPHER And I think... (CROSSTALK) REP. CHIP ROY: Yo father's hom (CROSSTALK) UNIDENTIFIED REP. JIM JORDAN ( The witness (CROSSTALK) CHRISTOPHER They came to his door.

They knocked on his door and identified themselves.

They asked him to exit.

He did without incident.

LISA DESJARDINS: Now, that w He never lost his cool in this hearing.

Democrats did do some defense work for him, in their attacks.

GEOFF BENNETT: Wha using data?

LISA DESJARD importance now.

Democrats raised their concern been collecting data on Americans.

They asked exactly what the FBI has done Republicans too chimed in.

They raised a in fact, broke the rules and how it was using warrantless wiretaps in some cases after January 6.

In both of these for legal reasons, ongoing cases, or he said it was just too complicated to get into.

But he -- the Republicans also raised this case of sort of a wide-ranging voluntary data ask, that Bank of America -- Republicans showed this e-mail that the FBI used to try and get a wide range of data from everyone who had a transaction with a Bank of America card between January 5 and 6 of 2021 or anyone who had purchased a weapon, potentially in the entire country, in the six months previously.

Republicans say that's an example of just a very wide FBI search of what th ey think should be private.

The director himself just kept GEOFF BENNETT: And hovering over all of this, Lisa, are some threats by Republicans, some Republicans on the committee, to defund the FBI entirely.

Did that come up today?

LISA DESJARDINS: And, indeed, some members who have said otherwise, that they would like to defund the FBI, did not say that today to the FBI director's face.

The closest they came was Chairman Jim Jordan, who, in his that the FBI should not get payment for its new headquarters.

Director Wray said, any defunding of the FBI would be catastrophic on a range of i and threats facing the country right now.

GEOFF BENNETT: What else stood LI SA DESJARDINS: Yes, there were some surprising On e was that, for the first half, I didn't really hea cases, the one with -- involving Hunter Biden or the one involving former President Donald Trump.

It was more One other surprising moment, Geoff, the FBI director was asked about the greatest that he sees, and, in particular, he was asked about China.

Here's what he said.

CHRISTOPHER threat to our ideas, our innovation, our economic security than the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party.

And, in many LISA DESJARDINS: That was a standout quote and, in fact, changed how we were reporting this segment with you.

It just shows how much the F as the director itself is facing very sharp political questions.

GEOFF BENNETT: Congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins.

Lisa, thanks, as always.

LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.

GEOFF BENNETT: Lawmakers in Iowa passed a bill late last night that would ban most abortions in the state after six weeks.

Iowa is the latest in a series of Republican-led th e U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe last year.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds is expected to sign the bill into law on Friday.

Joining us now to talk about the nation's patchwork of abortion laws is Erin Murphy, Des Moines bureau chief for The Gazette, and Sarah Varney, senior correspondent for KFF Health News.

So, Erin, as Here is a portion of the hours of debate.

STATE SEN. AMY SINCLAIR the most fundamental human right that is enshrined in both our state and federal Constitutions.

Neither the U.S. Constitution, nor Iowa's state Constitution provides any right to reproductive freedom.

And, frankly women's right to choose, what we find is the truth.

Those are nothing more than terms used in advocating for the willingness to kill a ba through all nine months of pregnancy.

STATE SEN. JANICE WEINE The question is, will they be safe and legal?

Because if they're not, women will be harmed.

Some may die.

Look, I guar pilot, or drilling on your teeth, because I never went to dental school.

We citizen politicians should know our place.

And it's not in the exam room.

GEOFF BENNETT: So, abortion in Iowa had been legal How did lawmakers there arrive at this legislation?

ERIN MURPHY, Des Moines Bureau Chief, The Gazette: So, this is a second attempt to pass this, what they call the fetal heartbeat bill, as you noted, what a lot of people believe can be detected at six weeks of pregnancy, so very early, often before the woman even is aware that she's pregnant.

They passed a very similar bill in 2018.

And Governor Reynolds signed it into law.

Then it was immediately blocked by t U.S. Supreme Courts in 2022 delivered rulings that sort of reset the legal landscape for abortion, obviously, the U.S. Supreme Court being the repeal of Roe v. Wade.

There was a very similar ruling at the almost the exact same time by t Once that kind of reset the legal landscape here, the governor asked its state courts to reinstate that 2018 law.

Just this past month, the Iowa Supreme Court declined to do that in a And so Republican legislators went back to work, called the special session to once again pass this law, with the expectation that it will get back to the Iowa Supreme Court again and, under a new kind of legal arena, will be approved this time, will be considered constitutional by the state Supreme Court.

That's the goal of state House Republicans.

GEOFF BENNETT: How have le gislature now passing this six-week abortion ban?

ERIN MURPHY: Well, what I can tell you is, just yesterday, during the sp a lot of people came to the Iowa Capitol.

It was a pretty remarkable scene.

I have been covering the Capitol for 10 years, and I can only thi that even comes close to what I saw yesterday, just thousands of people at the Capitol, the vast, vast majority of which were abortions' right advocates.

There were the so-called pro-life, the anti-abortion, crowd as well.

They were there demonstrating as well, but far, far outnumbered by the abortion rights people, demonstrated long and loud.

They were there for six or seven hours of the day.

It was pretty remarkable.

And we have seen public polling in Iowa th being legal in some or most cases.

So it'll be interesting to see as this law presumably plays out in the courts.

We have already just recently heard that a legal challenge has been entered alre this new law before it's even signed into law by Governor Reynolds tomorrow.

So this will go through the courts again, and it will be interesting to see how public reacts this time around and whether it affects the e GEOFF BENNETT: Sarah Varney, abortion is banned in almost all cases in most of the states bordering Iowa, but abortion is protected legally in Illinois and Minnesota, two states that are led by Democrats.

How might those states become And how are those states preparing?

SARAH VARNEY a state essentially passes a ban like this.

We -- this happened in Georgia recently.

We have a, map actually, we can pu health team, and you can really see this sort of sea of red.

And you can see what happens now with Iowa.

As you mentioned, we imagine that women will go One of the things that we have seen really is a lot of confusion about what's legal, so women even showing up at clinics in Minnesota or Illinois saying to OB-GYNs: I need an abor I know it's illegal.

And the staff at the clinics sa fe.

It's legal.

The other th So, women who may have been able to get an abortion at seven or eight weeks, now it' at 10 or 12 or even 13 weeks, and at higher risk in their pregnancy.

The other thing we're really seeing too, and this will affect these women in Iowa, is miscarriage, as we have talked about other times on the show, is incredibly common, and nonviable pregnancies.

So when Iowa -- when this it goes i want to end early unintended pregnancies, but also women with intended pregnancies that are not progressing.

So we have s when their fetus is not developing a skull, for instance, or has no kidneys.

And it's quite traumatic for these patients having to travel.

The other thing that we're going to see and we're already starting to see wo men actually giving birth to children that they did not intend to have.

So there's some statistical modeling out of Texas recently that found, after S.B.8 went into effect, which was the six-week ban in Texas, that there's about 10,000 additional forced births that were estimated there.

Just one thing to note, though, for women in Iowa and elsewhere is that medication abo remains legal.

It depends on sort of ho There's groups like Aid Access that are continuing to mail medication abortion into s where it's technically illegal.

GEOFF BENNETT: We have seen ho level after the Supreme Court overturned Roe.

What can you tell us about the legal challenges SA RAH VARNEY: Well, I mean, we have seen quite a number of successes from the anti-abortion groups recently.

One thing I will mention, though, is, just ye a lawsuit against Idaho's teen abortion travel ban.

So, this is a travel ban that went into effect on May 5.

We did a "NewsHour" segment about it, if anyone wants to go back and watch But these groups have largely work with women who are victims of domestic violence and sexual violence -- there's just an abortion fund involved -- they filed in federal court yesterday a lawsuit saying that this infringes on the interstate right to -- the right to interstate travel and infringes on the First Amendment right to free speech, saying that this law essentially chills speech around abortion.

The Supreme Court has held that moneys given to support speech also sho by free speech -- or by the First Amendment, rather.

So this is a new challenge against this teen travel ban.

And there's many state legislatures, Republican-led state legislatures, that are looking at doing this type of teen travel ban, because we have seen a -- we have seen model legislation come from the Right to Life Committee, which is one of the largest anti-abortion groups in the country, that is essentially really looking at, how can they limit travel outside of the states for women under 18 and for adults as well?

GEOFF BENNETT: Sarah Varney is senior correspondent for KFF Health News, and E Moines bureau chief for The Gazette.

Our thanks to you both.

SARAH VARNEY: Thanks, Geoff.

ERIN MURPHY: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: Today marks one year since the world first started seeing spectacular of the cosmos that were captured by the powerful James Webb Telescope.

But, as science correspondent Miles O'Brien tells us, getting those images, including the newest one released today of dozens of stars being formed, is only part of the important work being done by the $10 billion telescope.

MILES O'BRIEN: For the James Webb Space Telescope, the hits just keep after another, from the far reaches of the universe, to planets right here in our own solar system.

We got our first taste a year St ephan's Quintet, and, spectacularly, this so-called deep field image showing thousands of galaxies stretching into the distant universe.

How much stunning science was in there as well?

JOHN MATHER, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center: Well, we're still work of what all those mean.

MILES O'BRIE He's been a senior scientist on Webb since its inception back in the mid-19 JOHN MATHER: Well, I think the people are really interested in what are the surprises that were getting out of the Webb.

First, they want to And then they say, well, what's new?

What did you And, of course, the big answers are, t and we don't know why their -- all the predictions were wrong.

MILES O'BRIEN: Webb is shedding light on the big an of seeing them.

It operates in t Invisible to human eyes, this part of the spectrum is the only way to see the most objects in space that are moving away from us as the universe expands.

Before Webb launched, astronomers used near-infrared instruments aboard the Hubble space telescope to see galaxies that date to about a half-billion years after the Big Bang.

But Webb can see a few hundred million years further back in time.

Astronomers hoped they might catch glimpses of the universe before stars and galaxies formed.

MARC POSTMAN time.

MILES O'BRIE in Baltimore.

MARC POSTMAN But what it does say is, we do have to learn new ways of getting stars and galaxies to assemble very quickly after the Big Bang, within a couple of hundred million years.

MILES O'BRIEN: But the most interesting findings for astronomers don't come from the eye candy the rest of us gobble up.

Case in point, Uranus.

HEIDI HAMMEL that's what these science observations were all about.

We have some images, and they're fine, but the spectrosco MILES O'BRIEN: Heidi Hammel is a scientist on the Webb team who focuses on solar system observations.

Webb's science instruments ge composition of objects in space.

If we were to train one on Earth, we would detect the different c on this planet.

For astronomers, HEIDI HAMMEL: We are seeing evidence of chemistry that we had hypothesized.

They're like laboratory textbook examples of chemistry of ethane and methane and acetylene and all this interesting, dynamical stuff in the atmosphere of Uranus.

And that is very interesting, because that's new chemistry that we hadn't thought about.

MILES O'BRIEN: Still, Heidi Hammel will confess to being wowed by a great image.

This is not processed at all.

And then you... JUDY SCHMIDT (CROSSTALK) MILES O'BRIE Three?

And is it al JUDY SCHMIDT MILES O'BRIE In Modesto, Californ Judy Schmidt describes herself as a celestial artist.

How many images would you say you have processed over the years?

JUDY SCHMIDT: Oh, God.

MILES O'BRIE JUDY SCHMIDT: Hu MILES O'BRIE OK. JUDY SCHMIDT She's a stay Over the years, she's made a hobby out of processing and c images in her home office, posting her work on Flickr and Twitter.

MILES O'BRIEN: You're trying to let us see something we can't see, right?

That's hard.

JUDY SCHMIDT So, even though it's infrared, I'm still using the same, I guess, formula to put together an image, where the shortest wavelengths will be represented by blue, and then the medium wavelengths get represented by green, and then the longest then in the red.

MILES O'BRIEN: Among her most celebrated work, Hubble images of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacting Jupiter in 1994.

So, when Webb scientists pulled down fresh images of Jupiter, a crack at those too.

JUDY SCHMIDT: I just tho And if I can make some astronomers' day by showing interest in their work and making a pretty image out of it, then I thought that was awesome too.

MILES O'BRIEN: So you're like the dean of the citizen science image processors at this point.

And do you i Or are you g JUDY SCHMIDT: I don't feel like it wil the sky.

MILES O'BRIE This is a special place if you care about astronomy and space telescopes, right?

JULIE MCENERY, Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope: Absolutely.

This is wher tested and made ready to go into space.

MILES O'BRIEN: I caught a glimpse of N the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Julie McEnery is the senior project scientist on the Nancy Grace Roman Space Te JULIE MCENERY: So if you were to compare us to Webb, Webb will look at a small region of the sky with exquisite sensitivity and sharpness, and it can tell you what's happening right at the beginning, right at the earliest times in our universe.

What Roman will do will tell you what happened between then and now.

MILES O'BRIEN: The team hopes to launch by 2026.

There is no doubt they have a tough act to follow.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Miles O'Brien in Greenbelt, Maryland.

GEOFF BENNETT: New Hampshire's largest substance abuse treatment network has helped tens of thousands of drug users loosen addiction's hold over their lives.

But a three-year investigation undertaken by a local journalist uncovered evidence that the group's founder took advantage of his position and the vulnerability of his patients and staff.

Ali Rogin ha And a warning that elements of this discussion co ALI ROGIN: New Hampshire Public Radio investigative reporter Lauren Chooljian recently released "The 13th Step" chronicling her reporting over the last few years.

But the story didn't end with publication, as Chooljian found reporting on the alleged abuses left her, her family and her news organization vulnerable as well.

Lauren, thank you so much for joining us.

Let's first talk about the name of your po What does that refer to?

LAUREN CHOOL Anonymous.

It's kind of And, basically, what it means is that people who have later sobriety, who have been through the program, have years or months of sobriety are then, insert verb here, preying on or flirting with or trying to start a relationship with someone who is in earlier sobriety.

Now, our podcast digs into the times where that is very unwanted and very problematic.

And the reason why it can be problematic is because there's a really, really difficult power differential there.

Here's someone who has more I mean, that's an extremely vulnerable time.

And so consent is really tricky.

And I should say, like, if you have never hear you're not in recovery, because people in recovery will tell you, this is ju common thing.

I had someon In the history of addiction treatment, you will see it of Alcoholics Anonymous.

It's a thing that has be to see it.

ALI ROGIN: L His name is Eric Spofford.

He's the CEO of one of the larg Tell us about his story.

LAUREN CHOOLJIAN: He started bu t especially in New Hampshire, we really desperately needed help.

He started with one small sober home, grew that company to one of the biggest provid of substance use disorder treatment in New England.

And not only did he do it, but people really believed in him, our governor, he -- Eric Spofford was the first person he would call if he had questions about the opioid crisis.

And Eric off he said really was doing things right.

I think we have a little tape from Eric talking staff how different his company, which is called Granite Recovery Centers, was suppo to be.

ERIC SPOFFOR integrity.

We pride our We have always held a high standard of doing the right thing in a time where tr eatment, not everybody that does this work is doing the right thing.

And we put clients over profits consistently.

And we care about the people we serve.

LAUREN CHOOLJIAN very much another story going on here.

ALI ROGIN: And let's talk about that pri that really contrasted with the public image that you just talked about.

LAUREN CHOOLJIAN: Yes.

So, original This was in December of 2020.

And I got a tip soon after that that Eric misconduct, and that he was paying women to keep them silent about these allegations.

Obviously, that's a stunning e-mail to get.

And I started digging around.

And so one woman I heard fro Elizabeth told me that she was a client of one of Eric's treatment centers.

And the day after she left, she started receiving explicit pictures on Snapchat from Eric.

ELIZABETH, Former Patient: I knew in my court wasn't right, because I know that a CEO of a treatment center I left 24 hours ago should not be sending you pictures of his (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

He shouldn't That's just integrity 101, right?

I didn't -- I wanted a roof over my head and food in my tummy.

Like, I wanted to feel safe.

So I knew not to share it.

LAUREN CHOOLJIAN: Then I also sa ys that she also received these Snapchats while she was working for him, and that h sexually assaulted her in the office in the middle of the workday.

I found additional allegations as well.

And it just goes to show that there was a lot more that many of us, including NHPR -- we had Eric on as an expert source during some of the hardest times of the opioid crisis.

And so there was a lot, a lot of digging I on here.

ALI ROGIN: L so vulnerable.

LAUREN CHOOL or we talk about addiction, substance use disorder, we think about active addiction.

But we don't talk as often about, once that substance has ended, it doesn't mean like, OK, your brain is back to normal, and everything's fine, your life's back in order.

You're basically finding out who you are all over again.

And so to be -- have an understanding of consent, when trying to figure out the next phase and a healthier phase of your life, it's extremely difficult.

AA or the 12 of people, I learned through my reporting they can also be easily exploited, because of the way that the program is built.

And so I spoke with a writer, Holly Wh Here's a little bit of what Holly said.

HOLLY WHITAKER, Au Obsessed with Alcoho Like, do your work, keep yourself -- like, all of that, which is -- whe and extrapolate that into, like, the entire system, you understand why people with addictions are treated as inhumanely as they're treated and not trusted, and are perfect victims, perfect victims.

ALI ROGIN: E But I do want to ask about the retaliation that you and your family and your co-work have come under as a result of your reporting.

Tell us about that.

LAUREN CHOOL a month after that news story came out, my parents' home was vandalized on the garage door, a rock through the window.

And when I called my boss to tell him what had happened at my mom and dad's said: "Oh, my God, Lauren.

That happened to my house."

And then I later find out About a month later, we did have security camera footage capture that my house al was vandalized, and my parents' home was vandalized again.

Same thing at my parents house, the C-word on the garage, brick or rock thrown out the window.

But, at my h my living room.

And the word It was obviously a pretty harrowing thing.

At the time, I didn't know what really had happened or why, but my instin it was in response to the reporting.

I have never in my 10-plus years in And it was -- it was -- it has been quite difficult.

ALI ROGIN: Well, the podcast is "The 13th Step."

It is a riveting listen.

Lauren Chooljian, thank you LAUREN CHOOLJIAN: Thank you so much.

GEOFF BENNETT: And we sh ties to Spofford in connection with the vandalism.

Spofford did not respond to the "NewsHour"'s multiple requests fo But in a since-dismissed defamation suit he filed against Chooljian and NHPR, his attorneys wrote this -- quote -- "From top to bottom, both the article and the podcast falsely state and imply that Eric sexually harassed one woman and sexually assaulted two others.

Each NHPR defendant knew or recklessly disregarded that these claims were false."

AMNA NAWAZ: In the last century, more than 2,000 square miles of Louisiana's coastline have been lost to see.

Tribal lands in the state 's southeas As our New Orleans communities correspondent Roby Chavez reports, one is gaining attention in the fight against coastal erosion with an unlikely tool, recycled oyster shells.

ROBY CHAVEZ: of the state's quickly disappearing coastline.

It's a swathe of land that includes important cultural sites.

Trees anchor tribal mounds, some older than Stonehenge.

By some estimates, the state is losing at least two mounds per year.

Theresa Dardar is a member of the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe.

For years, she felt helpless watching parts of the tribe's sacred land fall in the wat To help protect the land from rapid erosion, the tribe partnered with the nonprofit coalition to restore coastal Louisiana and used recycled oyster shells from local restaurants to build artificial reefs.

THERESA DARD want to save.

It makes you feel so what's happening.

They're here becau ROBY CHAVEZ: The coalition used nearly 400 tons of shells now cover 800 feet of coastline near the tribal mounds.

So far, their project is working.

The coalition's reefs have withstood Hurricane Ida in 2021 and slowed as much as 50 percent.

JAMES KARST, C get sent to the landfill, but is very useful in slo back into the water, where it belongs.

ROBY CHAVEZ: James Karst works He says the artificial reefs are designed to mimic nature, pro for years to come.

Once these reefs are in place, JAMES KARST: Life begins to grow on them.

Baby oysters are attracted to the old oyster shells, begin to grow.

And that is why they are To me, it is sort of the ultimate sustainable seafood.

It's really a win-win-win, because oysters also filter the water.

They can help to minimize storm surge during hurricanes and tropical storms, and they slow the rate of erosion by a significant amount.

ROBY CHAVEZ: In one of the largest shell recy so far built five oyster reefs protecting 8,000 feet of disappearing shoreline.

In all, 13 million pounds of shells have been recycled.

Louisiana is the nation's top oyster producer, and nearly 50 restaurants now participate in the recycling program that keeps their oysters out of landfills.

James Clesi is the co-owner of Clesi's Seafood Restaurant.

He says signing up for the program was a no-brainer.

JAMES CLESI, Co-Owner, Clesi's Seafood Restaurant: We go thro I want to say thousands and thousands of pounds.

And it's really cool to know that they're going right back to the water to help the oyster lifestyle.

It gets really eas really know where they came from.

And it gave us an opportunity for us t it is to the Louisiana coastline and the way of life for everybody that lives down there.

ROBY CHAVEZ: Back on the water, Theresa Dardar and her husband, Donald, know the oyster reefs won't be a cure-all.

They're also fight But, for now, it no longer feels like they are alone in the fight.

For the "PBS NewsHour" in New Orleans, I'm Roby Chavez.

GEOFF BENNETT: And join us online right now to watch the 15th annual Congressional Softball game, where members of Congress take on the press, whose team features our own Lisa Desjardins, Amy Walter, Tamara Keith, and other "NewsHour" staffers.

Watch starting at 7:00 p.m. Eastern on our Web site, PBS.org/NewsHour or on our YouTube page.

AMNA NAWAZ: And join us again here tomorrow night for more on the writer strike and potential actors strike in Hollywood.

And that is the "NewsHour" for tonigh I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: A Have a