JOHN YANG: Tonight on PBS News Weekend, why reproductive rights could end up on the ballot this fall in about a dozen states as the battleground over abortion shifts from the Supreme Court.
Then as air travel returns to pre pandemic levels, how airlines are cashing in on added fees and a declining trout population in Montana.
As fishermen businesses and officials are searching for answers.
MAN: We can't just sit on our hands we have to do something and we feel that it truly is an all hands on deck moment.
(BREAK) JOHN YANG: Good evening, I'm John Yang.
Arctic weather has settled in for a weekend visit across much of the nation.
At one point today a wind chill advisory stretched from parts of Montana all the way into Central Florida.
The Midwest was particularly harsh today as wind chills in some places plunged as low as 16 below zero.
Areas unfamiliar with cold weather now have to deal with it.
In Memphis, so many water mains broke that water pressure dropped city wide.
The cold snow and rice have been blamed for at least 61 deaths nationwide, many of them involving road accidents or hypothermia.
Tennessee alone recorded 19 deaths.
A potential thought isn't expected until next week when above average temperatures are forecast across most of the nation.
Across the Middle East today the fallout from Israel's war with Hamas is raising tensions.
U.S. forces carried out the seventh round of airstrikes on Yemen today destroying Houthi anti ship missiles they say we're being prepared to be launched into the Gulf of Aden.
Iran has accused Israel of a missile strike and a building in Syria that killed five Iranian advisors, including members of its revolutionary guard.
Several hours later in southern Lebanon, Hezbollah accused Israel of a drone strike on a car killing at least one of its members.
The Israeli military did not comment.
And in Iraq, U.S. personnel suffered minor injuries in a missile attack on the Al Assad airbase.
And Stanford University's women's basketball coach Tara VanDerveer has tied Mike Krzyzewski as the winningest coach in college basketball history.
Last night's victory over Oregon was win number 1,102 for VanDerveer, who has been a head coach for nearly 50 years.
She could surpass Krzyzewski's win total Army and Duke in tomorrow's game against Oregon State.
Still to come on PBS News Weekend, how added charges are making air travel pricier for many fliers.
And what's behind the significant decline of trout in parts of Montana.
(BREAK) JOHN YANG: Since the Supreme Court said that access to abortion services was not protected by the U.S. Constitution.
Attempts to use the ballot box to enshrine that right into state constitutions have proliferated.
Following the Supreme Court this isn't in 2022, voters in seven states some red, some blue have been asked to decide about abortion rights and every time they voted to protect abortion rights.
This fall, the issue could be on the ballot in as many as a dozen states, including some where abortion is either totally banned or severely restricted.
Mary Ziegler is a professor at the University of California Davis Law School.
She's written several books on abortion law, the most recent is "Roe: The History of a National Obsession."
Mary, for so long, the anti-abortion movement wanted to get Roe overturned, they get it overturned, and now they have state after state some of them pretty conservative states voting to put that right into the state constitution.
What does this tell us?
Or does it tell us anything more about Americans attitude toward abortion?
MARY ZIEGLER, UC Davis School of Law: Yeah, I think what we've seen post Dobbs has been lots of polls confirming that Americans support abortion rights.
And I think we've seen some increases in support for abortion rights, in part because I think the reality of banning abortion is a lot harder for Americans to digest than sort of abstract concepts might have been like the idea of being pro-life or pro-fetal rights, I think has struck Americans differently than the reality of living in bands and a large swath of the country.
JOHN YANG: And why are so many of the attempts targeting state constitutions amending the state constitution?
Do they think that's going to be harder for judges and lawmakers to circumvent?
MARY ZIEGLER: I think it's because ballot initiative processes go directly to voters, right.
So we've seen that state lawmakers in a variety of jurisdictions are continuing to cater to anti-abortion voters and anti-abortion advocates, even if that isn't in line with what a majority of voters in their states would prefer.
And they're banking on the idea that voters won't turn them out of office because of partisan divides gerrymandering and the rest.
So if you bypass those legislators and you go directly to voters, you give voters sort of a straight up and down decision on whether they want to enshrine reproductive rights in their constitution or not independent of what partisan identity they may have an independently of what their state legislators may be willing to do.
JOHN YANG: On Friday here in Washington, we have the annual March for Life, the anti-abortion rally marking today that Roe was handed down.
Since that unifying goal of overturning Roe is now gone.
Is there any single unifying goal that's uniting the anti-abortion movement?
MARY ZIEGLER: There is.
So even before Roe, the anti-abortion movement school was the recognition of fetal personhood, right?
The idea that a fetus is a constitutional rights holder.
And so that will really preceded Roe, and it continued in the decades after Roe.
The problem, of course, is that we're a long way from the recognition of fetal personhood, I think either through the Supreme Court, much less through Congress or some kind of constitutional amendment.
So in the short term, I think you're seeing anti-abortion groups, either looking to shore up bands in the States or find a way a kind of backdoor way to get to a nationwide ban.
We've seen a lot of conservative groups rallying around the Hyde Amendment, which is a 19th century law that no one's thought much about since the 1930s, saying, in effect, it turns out that it is a nationwide abortion ban.
And the reason we're seeing that and I think a focus on both the courts and the executive branch is precisely because anti-abortion groups are realizing that they're struggling when they put the question directly to voters.
They're struggling with politicians who would have to enact new laws.
So they're looking for ways to avoid those two things.
JOHN YANG: On that you say they're looking at the executive branch, could the outcome of the presidential election in the fall affect abortion rights?
MARY ZIEGLER: Dramatically?
Right.
So I mean, I think it may not seem that way, in part because President Biden, for example, hasn't been able to codify Roe v Wade into law.
There are any number of strategies that conservative groups have outlines that for example, a second Trump administration could take, like removing the abortion pill mifepristone from the market, which is used in over half of the portions, reviving this 19th century law, the Comstock Act in a way that would allow prosecutions against doctors or drug companies in blue states or states that have been trying to abortion and reproductive rights in their constitutions, even making changes to access to emergency contraceptives.
All of these are steps that at least conservatives want to try, and they say that they don't need Congress to achieve.
So there's -- the potential of a lot of dramatic change in the direction of less access to abortion rights moving even further from Roe, depending on the outcome of the election.
JOHN YANG: And in the election, this is of course, a presidential election year.
The other ballot initiatives we talked about were in an off year.
Will that greater turnout in a presidential election year affect the outcomes do you think?
MARY ZIEGLER: I wouldn't expect them too dramatically.
We've seen pretty good turnout for ballot initiatives.
We've also seen in a variety of states that Republicans as well as independents are sometimes voting for abortion rights ballot initiatives.
It's not breaking down on clean partisan lines in places like Ohio, Kentucky, Montana, Kansas.
At the same time, I think the kind of interesting and complicated question is what will support for an abortion rights ballot initiative necessarily translate into support for Democrats?
For the same reason, right the fact but some of the people who are voting for abortion rights ballot initiatives are Republicans, some of those same people were voting for Republican state lawmakers or Republican gubernatorial candidates.
So I think the real trick for the Biden campaign in 2020 foreign for other Democrats down ticket is going to be to translate that energy for abortion rights into votes for Democrats, I think by explaining either what they can achieve if they are elected, or conversely, what a Republican could achieve if elected.
Right.
And I think that's the challenge is going into 2024.
JOHN YANG: But those initiatives aren't likely to draw, draw turnout, drive turnout up for either side or the other?
MARY ZIEGLER: Well, I think, based on the data we have so far, we would expect to see more turnout among Democrats or among abortion rights supporters.
I think Republicans and people who identify as pro-life or anti-abortion are a little bit I think, less excited one because there isn't as clear a kind of short term unifying goal, as you mentioned earlier, and two because they've already achieved bans in a lot of states.
And the tricky question is how to enforce them.
Right?
There's no sort of easy low hanging fruit solution to how do you enforce a ban when people can travel across state lines when people can order pills on the internet.
So I think we would expect to see a driving turnout more amongst orders of worship rights than the other way around.
JOHN YANG: Mary Ziegler with University of California Davis, thank you very much.
MARY ZIEGLER: Thanks for having me.
JOHN YANG: The way we pay for air travel is changing.
There are fees for things like checking a bag, picking a seat in advance or getting something to eat.
What was once a budget airline tactic is now common practice.
Worldwide fees account for about 20 percent of airline revenue.
William Brangham has more.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Is concerned about COVID has diminished Americans are returning to the skies in force.
The number of people flying today has returned to pre pandemic levels.
And airline companies are cashing in.
Budget airlines like Spirit and Frontier have long been known for their litany of added charges, pay for a seat, pay for a carry on, pay for a drink.
But now other airlines have latched on to this same pricing model.
And customers are paying for it shelling out nearly $118 billion a year in these extra fees.
Oriana Pawlyk is POLITICO's aviation reporter and has been covering this.
Oriana thank you so much for being here.
Why is it that this Allah carte pricing model has taken over?
Is it I mean, is it simply because consumers are willing to pay for it?
ORIANA PAWLYK, Aviation Reporter, POLITICO: That's exactly right.
I mean, it's a trend that works.
As soon as people have more options, the more willing they are to buy into these options.
I mean, if people have to get from destination A to destination B, and they have to pay for a certain amenities, they will do it if they want to.
Now the bigger airlines are using that same exact model, because it's a business practice that is working.
And it's working for the ultra-budget carriers.
And now it's going to be working for the big four carriers.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And when you total up all of these things, you know, seat choice, snack choice, checking your luggage, do those things add up to that consumers are paying more for flights?
Meaning could you argue that this is deceptive pricing?
ORIANA PAWLYK: Well, that's something for the transportation department to look into whether or not this is a deceptive practice.
But I mean, it depends on what you're paying for a bag could cost up to $75 per bag.
And as you add more on, then you're going to be paying more.
So yeah, it's getting more expensive as these ala carte options are starting to trickle into other types of services, whether you want Wi-Fi on a flight, whether you want that drink, or whether you want food on a longer like flight.
You know, these are all these types of things that when it comes to pinching pennies on the budget airlines, you're still going to end up paying more for some of the services just to get you from that destination to destination.
But you're going to have a lot more to pay for once you get there.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Is anybody complaining about this in an official way?
And is it as you said the Department of Transportation is job to field those.
ORIANA PAWLYK: So the Transportation Department I think has had one of the largest volumes of consumer complaints over the last year.
They actually have dispatched a team to look into some of these complaints.
And of course, what their department looks into is whether or not the airline has unfairly charged a person for their flight in the event that it got canceled or delayed.
But of course, other consumers are going to be complaining about other things like what if that Wi-Fi didn't work on my flight and the airline refuses to pay me back for it.
Those are things that people are going to be asking the Transportation Department to look into and whether or not this could be under the, you know, definition of deceptive practices and whether or not they could use a regulatory enforcement to try to see what these airlines are doing unfairly.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: What is the industry's take on all of this?
I mean, I could see the argument that if you're a budget flyer and you want to take that middle seat and pack your own sandwich and just take a carry-on bag then you're saving some money so what is the problem here?
ORIANA PAWLYK: So this all started over a decade ago, as we said, because airlines wanted to save fuel costs.
I mean, weight is a big problem when it comes to how many bags are coming on board, how many people are coming on board.
And as airlines started to pack more people in, of course, the weight of the plane got heavier and heavier.
So when people started getting the bags on board, they said, well, you know, if you want to bring that you're going to have to get charged for it.
And it proliferated into charging for a lot of these ala carte services, because people are willing to pay for it.
So that's ultimately how this all started, just from the baggage standpoint.
And now it's trickled its way into other types of services.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I know that the Biden administration has been proposing rules to press companies to show the full price of an item or a service upfront, would that apply to airlines as well?
ORIANA PAWLYK: Yes, absolutely.
The junk fees rule is something that they're taking very seriously.
Ultimately, when you buy the buy your ticket upfront, the price doesn't always reflect what you're going to be paying for it, you know, there's many taxes that go into airline fees.
But ultimately, once you get to that, you keep clicking that next button on the website.
And then by the end of it, you see what the total cost of the ticket is you realize, I'm paying for much more than I actually saw when I Googled the original price tag of that flight.
So they're trying to get that transparency issue right up front.
So people know, hey, am I buying a seat?
How much is that going to cost?
So when you're looking for that cheap flight, you know, you're going to want to hunt around to make sure you're getting the exact price point that you want and to know exactly what you're paying for when you start that process.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: If these practices are not found to be, quote, unquote, deceptive, technically deceptive, is this just something we're all going to have to live with.
Because this is what consumers are willing to do.
And airlines want to make that money.
ORIANA PAWLYK: As long as the options remain, and people continue to buy into that type of business market, then it's going to continue.
Ultimately, yeah, as soon as people are going to buy into it like a subscription based model, like you and I would purchase Netflix or anything like that.
It works and people are going to pay for it.
So it's going to continue.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Separately a judge recently blocked the merger of JetBlue and Spirit Airlines, arguing that that would be harmful to consumers.
Is that a relevant factor here?
And what does that tell us about the ongoing economics of airline flying?
ORIANA PAWLYK: For the last 20, 30 plus years, we've seen a, you know, big consolidation of the airline industry.
And that's not a secret.
Businesses want to grow, become monopolies and the airline market is no different.
You've seen partnerships.
You've seen cooperations from airline to airline overseas or domestic because they want to get these partnerships on board because ultimately, it gives their passengers fewer choices.
And that means they're going to have to fly these certain airlines.
But you know, as the industry has grown tighter and tighter, and as the judge this past week blocked that from having the industry consolidate two airlines into one larger airline.
You know, the variety is still there, but it's still a handful to only a few airlines than what it used to be back in the day.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Oriana Pawlyk of POLITICO, thank you so much for sharing your reporting with us.
ORIANA PAWLYK: Thanks.
JOHN YANG: JetBlue and Spirit Airlines are appealing the federal judge's ruling blocking their planned merger and the Justice Department is reviewing Alaska Airlines agreement to buy Hawaiian Airlines.
In Montana, fly fishermen are watching a bleak trend.
The number of brown and rainbow trout in some of the state's best known and most scenic fishing rivers is at historic lows.
And experts are at a loss to explain it.
State agencies, fishermen, businesses and concerned citizens are all trying to find answers.
Montana PBS is Joe Lesar takes us to southwest Montana for a deeper look.
JOE LESAR (voice-over): For the past 39 summers, Craig Fellin has run the Big Hole Lodge, guiding anglers on Southwest Montana's world class rivers.
This area is the state's fly fishing Mecca, and it's where Craig passed down his love of the sport to his son Wade.
WADE FELLIN, Co-Owner, Big Hole Lodge: For the past 17 years I've been a guide at Big Hole Lodge and working alongside my father, JOE LESAR (voice-over): Craig and Wade now co owned the lodge, which sits about eight miles from its namesake, the Big hole River.
Nicknamed the last best river.
It supports the last naturally producing population of fluvial Arctic Grayling in the lower 48 states.
WADE FELLIN: And it's beautiful.
Its pristine, with a river running through it with wild trout.
JOE LESAR (voice-over): Four Species of Montana's wild trout caught this river home drawing anglers from all over the world.
WADE FELLIN: You can spend eight hours and not have thought of anything other than where fly is in the water column in relation to where a fish might be.
JOE LESAR (voice-over): But something is happening to the fish.
This spring, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks released data showing that numbers of brown and rainbow trout are at or near historic lows in certain stretches of the Big Hole.
And the neighboring Beaverhead and Ruby rivers.
Fellin and other guides are seeing it firsthand.
Diseased fish covered in growths and lesions.
And these declines are not simply an environmental issue.
Angling on the three rivers accounts for the lion's share of the county's $167 million outdoor recreation economy.
WADE FELLIN: I had a client leave two weeks ago and say good luck with all of this.
I hope you figure it out.
I hope we can come back someday when it fishes better.
We really struggled this week.
JOE LESAR (voice-over): The Fellins believe they have a responsibility to help preserve these rivers.
WADE FELLIN: We can't just sit on our hands we have to do something and we feel that it truly is an all hands on deck moment.
JOE LESAR (voice-over): Jim Olson, a biologist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, says brown trout are typically Montana's most resilient trout species.
And the cause for their decline is still unclear.
JIM OLSEN, Big Hole Fisheries Biologist, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks: They should be the one that are doing the best and they're the ones that are our base basically crashing right now.
We don't have the information to be able to say definitively that's what it is.
JOE LESAR (voice-over): What they do know is that several stretches of drought in Montana over the past decade has stressed populations.
Less water that warms up earlier in the year is not ideal for trout, which thrive and strong and cold water.
Experts also point to the possibility of a new disease.
Brian Wheeler heads the Big Hole River Foundation, a nonprofit working to protect the river.
He also works as a fishing guide.
BRIAN WHEELER, Big Hole River Foundation: We're seeing open lesions on the heads what people have started to call that cheese grater heads.
JOE LESAR (voice-over): Wheeler says it would make sense to see sick fish at the end of the summer when water is low.
But that hasn't been the case in recent years.
BRIAN WHEELER: We're not just seeing it in October.
We're seeing it in June, when there's a ton of cold flow in the river.
That is really strange.
It doesn't add up.
JOE LESAR (voice-over): In June, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks announced an effort to find answers about the declines.
And in July, fish experts on the Big Hole River did some early electro fishing.
A method researchers use to help them study a sample of the population.
When the electrode hits the water, it creates an electrical current that the fish are drawn to.
The goal is to find sick fish when they're still alive, and collect samples immediately after they're killed.
The quickly preserved samples are sent to specialists to look for signs of disease at the microscopic level.
WADE FELLIN: No one organization is responsible for this and no one organization can quickly solve this.
JOE LESAR (voice-over): This summer, Wade Fellin announced the launch of Save Wild Trout, a privately funded group made up of guides anglers and businesses.
WADE FELLIN: And what save wild trout hopes to do is identify what we feel are gaps in data collection, and privately fundraise bring that data together with expert scientists that can wrap it up in a bow and bring it to the state to help inform their management decisions moving forward.
JOE LESAR (voice-over): And the hope is that all of this research will help protect the larger ecosystem beyond the big holes trout population.
Brian Wheeler runs the Big Hole River Foundation's Water Quality Program.
He's studying how water quality affects trouts main food source.
BRIAN WHEELER: All these issues that we're seeing are not just impacting trout population levels, they're impacting the bugs as well.
JOE LESAR (voice-over): Like the trout in the big hole River, certain aquatic insect species are also in decline across the West.
BRIAN WHEELER: This is like baseline food chain stuff.
And so when you start to see these declines and shifts, you know, it affects everything from there on up.
JOE LESAR (voice-over): It will take a year or two to know for certain if this year is good water conditions helped to reverse the trouts decline.
But further down the road questions remain about the human effect on and responsibility for these fish.
And for Montanans like Craig Fellin, it's a task they're happy to take on.
And one he's confident the next generation will embrace.
CRAIG FEELIN, Founder, Big Hole Lodge: Where it is going to take over here and I'll be able to go fishing a little more.
JOE LESAR (voice-over): For PBS News Weekend, I'm Joe Lesar in Wise River, Montana.
JOHN YANG: Now online why 2023 is record breaking high temperatures, shock researchers and scientists.
All that and more is on our website pbs.org/newshour.
And that is PBS News Weekend for this Saturday.
On Sunday, the state of the Republican presidential race as New Hampshire prepares for its first in the nation primary.
I'm John Yang.
For all of my colleagues, thanks for joining us.
See you tomorrow.
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