JOHN YANG: Tonight on PBS News Weekend, a new kind of morning after pill now being used to prevent sexually transmitted infections.

Then the complicated life of French actress Maria Schneider, whose role in the notorious film "Last Tango in Paris" brought her fame but also haunted her life.

And graduating seniors give their brief but spectacular take on the future.

WOMAN: I think that we have the opportunity to change the world and make a really beautiful place.

But also, if we don't act now, I think we're not going to live very much longer.

(BREAK) JOHN YANG: Good evening.

I'm John Yang.

Meteorologist say July has been the world's hottest on record.

But they also say some relief is on the way for many Americans.

More than 100 million Americans are under heat alerts today in parts of the Midwest, Mid Atlantic and the Northeast.

The combination of heat and humidity is making temperatures feel between 101, 110.

In Phoenix, the high temperature has been above 110 for a record 30 straight days.

But there's a possibility that rain this weekend will end that streak.

On the East Coast, a cold front pushing south this weekend is forecast to cool things off next week.

But the South will continue to bake.

Former President Donald Trump made his first public appearance last night since three new felony charges were added to his classified documents case.

At a Republican dinner in Iowa Trump said the charges against him and the investigations that could lead to more charges are politically motivated.

Other Republican candidates also spoke at the dinner but avoided even mentioning the former president's name.

One exception, former Texas Congressman Will Hurd.

WILL HURD, (R), Presidential Candidate: Donald Trump is running to stay out of prison.

And if we elect, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know.

Listen, I know the truth.

The truth is hard.

JOHN YANG: Tonight Trump is to hold a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania.

And in eastern Ukraine, Russian missile strikes killed at least two people in Zaporizhzhia today.

In Dnipro overnight, nine people were injured including two children when an apartment building was hit.

Russian forces again targeted infrastructure for grain shipping today hitting a grain terminal in the southern city of Kherson.

Still to come on PBS News Weekend, a French journalist and an American actor collaborate on a memoir about "Last Tango in Paris" costar Maria Schneider.

And high school graduates, a brief but spectacular take on the future.

(BREAK) JOHN YANG: There's a promising new way to prevent the spread of some sexually transmitted infections and it uses an old drug, a cheap and widely available antibiotic.

Laura Barron-Lopez has more.

LAURA BARRON LOPEZ: A morning after pill for sexually transmitted infections.

A single dose of the antibiotic doxycycline taken in the hours immediately after sex could stop bacterial STIs like chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis.

It's a potential game changer in the fight against transmitted infections one that's more urgent now with a sharp rise in cases over the last decade.

But some health officials are raising concerns that wider use of the preventative antibiotic could breed drug resistance.

For more on the preventative strategies potential and risks, we turn to Washington Post journalist Fenit Nirappil.

Thanks so much for joining us explain this new protocol, which is known as DoxyPEP.

FENIT NIRAPPIL, The Washington Post: So it's doxycycline, which is a common antibiotic.

And it's used as a post exposure prophylaxis.

So the idea is that if you administer this antibiotic, and if someone takes the pills, up to 72 hours after having sex, it can reduce their chances of contracting a bacterial STI, like chlamydia, syphilis and gonorrhea.

LAURA BARRON LOPEZ: And so STI is have increased some 30 percent over the last five years.

Syphilis is at its highest level in the last 70 years.

So do public health officials really believe that this could totally change the game?

FENIT NIRAPPIL: So public health officials have been saying they really need new tools, promoting condoms, promoting abstinence, it can only go so far.

And so they've been looking for medical interventions as well, really, the big hope is getting something like a vaccine, but there hasn't really been much progress on that front.

So to something like DoxyPEP gives you an option to get it to the highest risk populations.

And then if people who are at the highest risk for STIs aren't getting it, you stop the chains of transmission early, and then you can prevent broader circulation of STIs.

LAURA BARRON LOPEZ: And a number of populations across the board are seeing an increase in STIs.

But public health officials right now are targeting the use of this DoxyPEP among transgender women and men who have sex with men.

Why just targeted on those populations?

FENIT NIRAPPIL: So those were the populations that were studied in the research that found DoxyPEP effective.

And the reason you're looking at gay men are more precisely men who have sex with men and trans women is because rates of STIs are higher in that group.

And I also want to be clear, one of the reasons here is not just because of differences in sexual behavior, but because when you have a smaller pool of people, and a smaller pool of sexual partners, when one person has an STI, it's easier for that STI to spread.

So the idea here is that they want to limit DoxyPEP to people who are at highest risk, because DoxyPEP, as you mentioned earlier can also have unintended consequences and that's because it's an antibiotic.

In the medical profession, you want to try and limit the use of antibiotics, because it can lead to drug resistance, both for individuals and for the population as a whole.

LAURA BARRON LOPEZ: So could you explain that argument a bit more, because as you know, there are some doctors who are concerned about the use of doxycycline, more and more, and the fact that it could potentially breed drug resistant superbugs.

So what's their argument there, and what our public health officials saying in response to that?

FENIT NIRAPPIL: So the argument is that if you're using an antibiotic like doxycycline, dozens of times a year, you can be facilitating the rise of drug resistant superbugs.

Because as the bacteria that cause diseases like syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia are circulating, you might facilitate the evolution of bugs that can overcome antibiotics like doxycycline.

And then you might have a situation where people are contracting strains of these bacteria, and the frontline treatments are no longer effective.

And that's at the population level.

At the individual level, there's also a worry that using antibiotics regularly can make it harder for that antibiotic to be effective when you're sick with other issues.

Or it might harm your gut microbiome health, because there are healthy bacteria in our systems too that promote good health and antibiotic like doxycycline can really wipe that bacteria out.

LAURA BARRON LOPEZ: But doxycycline has been used in other for other reasons, right?

And have they seen any type of drug resistance when it's used for other treatments?

FENIT NIRAPPIL: Yes, and that's one of the really important issues here.

So doxycycline is not a new morning after pill.

It's an old pill that just has a new use.

This antibiotic is used for Lyme's disease.

It's used for long term acne treatment.

It's used for malaria prevention.

And so some of the promoters of doxycycline as STI prevention say that it's being held to an unfair standard.

And they're also wondering here if part of the discomfort is that this is really for gay sexual health.

And because it is allows people to have sex without condoms, without having to worry as much about STIs.

LAURA BARRON LOPEZ: Some doctors aren't comfortable with that?

FENIT NIRAPPIL: The concern here is our doctors being hesitant to help people avoid STIs because they see the antibiotic is unnecessary, because people who work in the sexual health field says we have to acknowledge the reality that not everyone is going to wear condoms.

And condoms also aren't 100 percent effective against STIs especially if you're not wearing them consistently or properly.

So in the sexual health field you have a real demand for alternatives to condoms and abstinence.

But in the broader medical field you have a real concern about antibiotics.

And the CDC is actually drafting guidelines for how to distribute DoxyPEP right now.

And that's the exact kind of conundrum that they're trying to address.

How do you deal with the problem of rising STIs and how do you also avoid the problem of antibiotic resistance and making it worse.

LAURA BARRON LOPEZ: Fenit Nirappil of The Washington Post, thank you so much for your time.

FENIT NIRAPPIL: Thanks so much for having me.

JOHN YANG: French actress Maria Schneider was launched into the spotlight at age 19, when she co-starred with Marlon Brando in the erotic drama "Last Tango in Paris."

The film and in particular, one rape scene made her famous but it also haunted her the rest of her life.

To cousin, Vanessa Schneider, she was more than just that one film.

She tells her that story in her memoir, my cousin Maria Schneider, I spoke with Vanessa and with actor and writer Molly Ringwald, who translated the book into English.

I asked them what drew them to this project.

Vanessa, I would like to start with you.

You write in the book that as a small girl, you collected articles and photos of your cousin in a red folder.

Why did you do that?

What -- why was she important to you?

What did she represent to you were when you were growing up?

VANESSA SCHNEIDER, Author, "My Cousin Maria Schneider: A Memoir" (through translator): When I was a child, I was fascinated by this cousin, Maria Schneider, who was very famous in France and in the world at the time, not necessarily for good reasons.

But for the scandalous film "Last Tango in Paris."

So she was my cousin, but she was also a bit of a star.

I admired her a lot.

And at the same time, I felt she was very fragile.

And I had a desire and a need to protect her.

JOHN YANG: Tell me why you decided to write the book, why you decided to tell her story?

VANESSA SCHNEIDER (through translator): Maria was older than I am a journalist, but I had already written novels.

And Maria told me one day that she'd like to tell her version of things, since she had already said in interviews that she had been abused in a famous scene in "Last Tango in Paris," this scene of sodomy, which had not been written in the script.

She wanted to say what kind of woman she was, what kind of actress she was beyond the scene in "Last Tango."

And she wanted me to write a book with her.

But in the end, she was a little afraid to do the book.

And when she died in 2011, I said to myself, it's my turn to tell this story, which isn't the book she would have written alone, necessarily.

It's my perspective, too.

It's the perspective I had as a child.

I also wanted to tell the story of the woman she was, the cousin she was to me, the girl she was in private, very funny, sometimes difficult, and who had a very adventurous life.

It's also about our family.

The Schneider family was not an ordinary family.

And she suffered a lot because she wasn't protected by her parents.

So I wanted to tell the story of who she was as a whole.

JOHN YANG: She burst onto the scene and became famous because of that notorious scene, as you describe, in "Last Tango in Paris."

How much did that overshadow her there the rest of her life, the rest of her career?

VANESSA SCHNEIDER (through translator): The film made her well known.

But at the same time, it was a real curse for her.

It was a curse because she felt raped and abused.

And at the same time, she was seen as dirty by the public.

The film was banned in many countries.

And she was never able to shake that image.

And after the film release, and a scandal that followed, she fell into drugs, heroin in a very bad way.

And those years were terrible for her.

I think she had a lot of trouble coming back from that.

JOHN YANG: Molly, how did you get involved in the project?

MOLLY RINGWALD, Translator, "My Cousin Maria Schneider: A Memoir": I had been asked to translate a book written by a French author named Philippe Besson.

And it was nothing that I ever considered doing.

You know, I'm first an actor, but I'm also a writer.

But I discovered that I kind of liked it.

It was really difficult.

It was really challenging a bit like, what people like about puzzles, you know, I can spend hours doing it.

It's -- I feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment.

And then they came back to me to do Vanessa's book.

And I was really intrigued, but I told my husband if I ever said that I wanted to translate a book again to kill me to not let me do it.

So, I said no at first and then I couldn't get it out of my head because I'd always been really interested by Maria Schneider.

JOHN YANG: Did working out the book resonate with you?

Did it make you think about your career, your experiences when you were a young actress?

MOLLY RINGWALD: Yes, absolutely.

I mean I was never in a situation that was as traumatic as what Maria had gone through.

But I certainly have been through, you know, situations where I didn't feel protected, you know.

But I did have a very protective family.

But, you know, show businesses is not for the faint of heart.

I mean, you have to be, you know, Maria says that in an interview where she said, you really have to be right in the head for this business.

Otherwise, it'll just eat you up.

And I feel like she really didn't have that protection.

It's really hard to go through that and to flourish.

JOHN YANG: Vanessa, do you feel that if she had never made "Last Tango in Paris," if her first starring role had been a different role, that her life would have been different?

VANESSA SCHNEIDER (through translator): I think Maria would have done cinema anyway.

Would she have had personal difficulties?

Maybe yes, because she had her fragile points.

She was someone who had a very complicated childhood with a mother who was not loving.

And with a father, she only met at the age of 16 or 17, who took her to nightclubs and introduced her to drugs, and didn't take care of her like a father.

So she was someone who maybe wasn't strong enough for the world of cinema as it was at that time.

JOHN YANG: Vanessa, I'm interested because you wrote this in the second person, you wrote this as if you're speaking to Maria.

And you saying you did this, and you were doing that?

Why did you make that choice?

VANESSA SCHNEIDER (through translator): There are moments in the book where I talk about her in the third person.

And there are moments when I say you because it felt necessary to me.

Even though I was with her when she was sick, there are things I didn't tell her.

So it was also like a letter, a long letter to my cousin.

JOHN YANG: So in a sense, do you feel like you've gotten something off your shoulders that you wanted to say to Maria before she died, but never had the chance to?

VANESSA SCHNEIDER (through translator): Yes.

And I think there are things I wouldn't have dared say to her.

There were subjects that were a bit taboo, painful topics you'd be afraid to stirrup.

She was sober.

So she didn't want to talk about the drugs.

She didn't want to talk about "The Last Tango" period.

So I knew I could only bring it up once she was gone.

But at the same time, I knew that she had given me permission.

And she knew that I would be the one to do it.

She had entrusted me with this mission.

JOHN YANG: Molly, clearly this wasn't as personal for you, as it was for Vanessa.

But how did you find yourself being affected by working on this project?

And what do you take away from the project?

MOLLY RINGWALD: For me, just like when I'm playing a role, I feel completely a part of it.

You know, I felt very affected by it.

I felt like I knew Maria.

I felt like I knew Vanessa.

I mean, it was, I worked on it for such a long time that it really, I felt like I was a part of that story.

Vanessa talks about drugs a lot, because even though Maria didn't want to talk about drugs, when she had finished with that story, it was still a big part of her life.

And consequently, a big part of Vanessa's life, you know.

And I think there's not many of us who haven't been affected by drugs in some way, that don't know somebody who hasn't struggled, you know, with addiction.

And there's a scene that Vanessa wrote of being in line, and watching a young man, probably about the same age as her going through withdrawal.

And she's -- the young boys with his parents and she can see that the parents are trying to, you know, sort of have a semblance of a normal life.

And the boy can't do it, and he takes.

And the father lets him take his wallet out of his jacket.

And they know that he's going to go off and, you know, and do drugs and they don't know when they're going to see him again.

And that scene every time I would work on it, it would make me cry because I know what that's like to love someone and to not know if they're going to come back or how they're going to get through it.

And that was very emotional.

So it wasn't, it's not -- the book for me is not just the story of Maria, but it is also the story of Vanessa and watching somebody that she admires and that she loves, struggle with drugs.

And so that was something that was that was really good.

That was really important for me to get right.

JOHN YANG: Vanessa Schneider and Molly Ringwald, thank you both very much.

VANESSA SCHNEIDER: Thank you.

MOLLY RINGWALD: Thank you.

JOHN YANG: Three years ago, the members of the class of 2023 were high school freshmen, adjusting to their new normal, when suddenly nothing was normal.

For the recent graduates every year their high school careers was touched by the pandemic.

In spite of the challenges though, they never lost their perseverance and creativity.

Tonight, we hear from the graduating seniors at Sequoia High School in Redwood City, California for their take on the future.

BECCA ROSENBERG: My name is Becca Rosenberg.

And I'm a high school senior.

I'm 17 years old.

WOMAN: My favorite show is probably "Seinfeld."

WOMAN: "Friends."

WOMAN: "Euphoria."

MAN: Right now "Ted Lasso."

WOMAN: Honestly, probably "Stranger Things."

MAN: I like all kinds of music.

I get them.

MAN: Japanese jazz, something about it's very relaxing.

My news, try not to get a lot of it.

WOMAN: I get my news from social media.

WOMAN: Sometimes Instagram, maybe TikTok, and like sometimes Google.

MAN: PBS, of course.

WOMAN: I am very proud of my family.

MAN: Something that I like about myself is like, is to be proud of being Mexican.

WOMAN: I'm a really good listener.

MAN: I'm a little nervous at first may be quiet and introverted.

But once I get -- you get to know me more then I do want more.

WOMAN: When the pandemic started, I was 14.

I was a freshman.

WOMAN: I kind of had to like rewire myself into like a Zoom.

MAN: Socially, it was pretty rough.

WOMAN: I really thrived in online learning.

MAN: It affected my family more than anything because my mom, she got laid off in a way so then that caused me to like, pick up a job.

MAN: I think it helped me become like a better and more responsible student and like son.

MAN: I was 12 when I got Instagram, and then 13 when I got Snapchat, don't tell my mom.

I was supposed to be 15.

WOMAN: I was 11 years old when I first download Instagram.

MAN: I hate social media.

WOMAN: I'm kind of addicted to it honestly.

WOMAN: Personally, I find it healthy, to kind of distract myself and just see the TikTok dances.

WOMAN: When I wake up, I just turn on my phone and I go on TikTok.

When I'm going to bed I'm on TikTok.

WOMAN: I love that it's so easy to look at stuff.

I love how I can see what people are doing.

I love being nosy but I hate how it consumes my day, it takes over hours that I could be doing something more productive.

WOMAN: I just couldn't look in the mirror.

And like see myself as a person I thought I saw myself as like the number of likes I got and the number of followers I had.

And I just like couldn't -- I couldn't stand opening Instagram.

But it was like an addiction.

I couldn't help it.

MAN: Biggest source of stress, it got to be this one.

WOMAN: My family and I's immigration status.

WOMAN: Just the unknown of the future.

I am a planner.

So it's really challenging for me to not know what's ahead.

WOMAN: I feel very nervous for graduation.

I'm not ready for it.

I'm not even prepared yet.

MAN: I want to be a firefighter when I'm older or playing NFL.

WOMAN: I want to be a dentist.

WOMAN: I see myself being a social worker.

I've been through like abuse, like homelessness.

So I just hope to like help other kids I have like been through the same things as me.

MAN: I definitely see myself in sports medicine, I definitely want to be one of the people you see on the sidelines ready to help the athletes when they're injured.

That's going to be just me right there.

MAN: And I'm going to be majoring in business management.

MAN: I want to transfer to a four year and major in construction management and eventually, you know, have my own business.

The future kind of scares me.

MAN: I'm stoked.

The future makes me feel stoked.

WOMAN: A lot of people my age have a hard time thinking about what they're going to be like 50 years from now or 60 years from now because like whether or not society even exists at that point is up for debate, so.

WOMAN: I hope that in 10 years, I will be having a lovely family and I'll have a steady job and, you know, kids and some cats.

I think that we have the opportunity to change the world and make a really beautiful place.

But also, if we don't act now, I think we're not going to live very much longer.

WOMAN: It's just always been very impressive in our lives that like oh, the world is like kind of going to end unless you fix it.

They just make it our problem, even though most of us are like under the age of 25.

So like what are we supposed to do?

I mean, that can't even vote yet almost.

WOMAN: There's so many misconceptions people have about my generation.

MAN: That we are total phone zombies, and that we are not willing to work for stuff and that we're lazy and that we're soft.

WOMAN: That we're sad, that we're so greatly affected by the pandemic that we're these different creatures and human beings that were produced by COVID.

But in reality, it just gave us like an opportunity to become different people and to really find ourselves and our personalities and what we like.

WOMAN: I think our generation is really focused on creating and change now.

MAN: I would ask my future self how my mental health is doing.

MAN: If I still feel nervous and if how would I be able to overcome that.

MAN: Have you grown as a person, do you have any regrets?

MAN: How's your relationship with God?

WOMAN: What problems have you solved?

And how's it affected people?

MAN: Did you achieve all new calls?

WOMAN: Are you successful in the way that you want to be successful?

MAN: That's good.

That's really good.

MAN: You have your business.

Yes.

Like, are you making money?

MAN: Did you make it?

WOMAN: Did you make it?

WOMAN: My name is Marissa Savridredre (ph).

MAN: My name is Matthew Diaz (ph).

MAN: My name is Adrian McGear (ph).

MAN: And this is our brief.

MAN: But spectacular take.

MAN: This is my brief but spectacular take.

WOMAN: Brief but spectacular take.

MAN: On being high school senior.

WOMAN: This is my brief but spectacular take on the future.

JOHN YANG: You can watch more brief but spectacular videos online at PBS.org/newshour/brief.

And that is PBS News Weekend for this Saturday.

On Sunday, look at Haiti's worsening security and humanitarian crisis.

I'm John Yang for all of my colleagues.

Thanks for joining us.

See you tomorrow.