LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Tonight on PBS News Weekend, Pope Leo XIV calls for peace in Gaza and Ukraine and an end to war in the first Sunday address of his papacy.

Then, one woman's mission to help save endangered cheetahs, the fastest land animal on the planet.

And a new book explores the shared experiences of four women from around the world as they navigate their first year as mothers.

WOMAN: The woman in Nairobi, Kenya, and the woman in Salt Lake City, Utah, said almost verbatim the same thing, which was I can't believe I'm someone's mom now.

(BREAK) LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Good evening.

I'm Laura Barron-Lopez.

John Yang is away.

Pope Leo XIV delivered his first Sunday noon blessing as pontiff, calling for unity in a polarized church and appealing to the world's major powers for peace.

He delivered his message to an estimated 100,000 people from the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica, the same balcony where he was introduced as the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

The pontiff welcomed the uneasy truce between India and Pakistan.

He also called for an end to the violence in Ukraine and Gaza.

POPE LEO XIV, Leader of Roman Catholic Curch (through translator): I carry in my heart the sufferings of the beloved Ukrainian people.

Let every effort be made to achieve as soon as possible an authentic, just and lasting peace.

I am deeply saddened by what is happening in the Gaza Strip.

Let the fire cease immediately, let humanitarian aid be provided to the exhausted civilian population, and may all hostages be freed.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: John Allen has covered the Vatican for 30 years.

He's editor of Crux, an online site that covers the Vatican and the Catholic Church.

So, John, what did you take from the Pope's first Sunday message?

JOHN ALLEN, The Crux: Well, if there was any question about whether Pope Leo XIV would be a lesson political figure than Francis or for that matter, John Paul II before him, I think we have the answer to that question.

And the answer is clearly no.

Pope Leo intends to continue to address the global crises of the moment and try to be that voice of conscience on the global stage for humanitarian concerns.

You heard him addressing Foursquare, the conflict in Ukraine.

You heard him addressing the war in Gaza.

You heard him welcoming the ceasefire between India and Pakistan.

I think what that suggests is that he's going to try to pick up the megaphone that Pope Francis left behind and continue to use it to try to move the ball on social, political, cultural issues that are of concern to the Catholic Church.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: As you said, he is following in the footsteps of Pope Francis.

What do you see in his message for the traditionalists and the reformers in the church who are either looking for some appeal to them or are trying to figure out how he may lead the church?

JOHN ALLEN: Well, I don't think there was much in today's noontime Regina Chaley address that speaks to where he's going to position himself on the liberal conservatives divides.

I do think that the fact that when he stepped out after the Habamus Poppin to introduce himself as the new pope of the Catholic Church.

The fact that he was wearing more traditional vestments, that is not just the plain white robe that we saw from Francis, but the red sort of top, the mozzetta, and then the stole that Catholics call the pallium.

Those were sort of gestures.

Without saying a word out loud, he was, in effect, telling the more traditionalist and conservative wing of the Church, I'm not going to be your enemy.

I can tell you this, Laura.

I've known Cardinal Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV.

For some time, he is one of the least ideological figures I have ever met.

He's a pragmatist.

And my prediction would be that throughout the course of his papacy, however long or short that might be, there will be alternate moments in which he delights and frustrates liberals and conservatives alike.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: John, there was an American worshiper who was there at the Vatican today, and I want you to hear what they had to say.

ESMERELDA VARGAS: I hope that with the grace of God, he will be able to unite people from all over the world.

We come from a very diverse country that is made up of people from all over the world, and I feel that it's important to give everybody their place.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: That message of providing a place for everyone appears to be a part of what we've heard so far from Pope Leo XIV.

Do you think that he is going to really continue to spread that message and to also counter some political forces that he sees rising throughout the globe?

JOHN ALLEN: Well, you heard him in his very first message as pope when he presented himself on the balcony after his election, emphasized unity, emphasized the idea that there is space for everyone in the church, echoing that famous phrase from Pope Francis, who when asked who belongs in the church, his answer was todos, todos, todos.

Everyone, everyone everyone.

I think that's very much going to be the message from Pope Leo XIV as well.

Now, let me be clear.

Leo is a bridge builder by instinct.

He's not someone who goes looking for fights.

So I don't think he's going to want to set himself up in opposition to anyone.

But I think he is in opposition to something.

And that something is a cultural tendency in our time to polarize and divide.

I think he sees that as toxic, and he's going to do what he can as pope to try to resist it.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: John Allen of the Crux, thank you for your time.

JOHN ALLEN: You're welcome.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: In other news tonight, the militant group Hamas announced it will release the last living American hostage in Gaza.

Israeli American hostage Edan Alexander has been held in Gaza since the attacks on October 7, 2023 that ignited the war between Israel and Hamas.

Hamas said his release is part of their efforts to establish a ceasefire that would include resuming aid deliveries to Gaza.

President Trump leaves tomorrow for a trip to the Middle East.

He'll make stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country will accept an invitation from Russia to attend direct talks on an end to the war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's invitation came just hours after Ukraine and European allies ramped up pressure on Russia.

The group proposed a 30-day ceasefire to begin Monday, which Putin effectively rejected in favor of direct talks.

If the talks move forward, they will take place this Thursday in Turkey.

The FAA is under fire after an equipment outage led to massive delays for those trying to fly today.

The agency blamed an outage for a temporary ground stop at Hartsfield Jackson Airport in Atlanta, the world's busiest airport.

Another equipment outage also caused a ground delay at Newark International.

In an interview today, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the number of flights will be reduced at Newark.

Duffy said he's concerned about the whole airspace, but added that it's still safe to fly.

The Department of Homeland Security released body camera footage that shows the Friday arrest of the Democratic mayor of Newark.

In the video, law enforcement officers warned Mayor Ras Baraka and members of Congress to leave the property.

Then, after the group returns to the public side of the gate, Baraka is handcuffed and arrested.

Other Democratic members of Congress are now standing with their colleagues.

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D) New York: And recently what they said is that DHS is allegedly looking into arresting members of Congress who were showing up for their legal and constitutional obligation to conduct oversight.

If anyone's breaking the law in this situation, it's not members of Congress, it's the Department of Homeland Security.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: In an interview on CNN, a Homeland Security spokesperson said an investigation is underway and said members of Congress may face charges.

Still to come on PBS News Weekend, how one woman's life mission is helping save cheetahs in Africa.

And a new book looks at the first year of parenthood in four countries around the world.

(BREAK) LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: The Israeli blockade of Gaza is now in its third month since early March no food, water, shelter or medication has been allowed into the embattled territory.

And aid groups on the ground warn of a worsening humanitarian crisis.

Earlier today, I spoke with Ghada Alhaddad, who works for Oxfam inside Gaza, and asked her about the latest conditions on the ground.

GHADA ALHADDAD, Oxfam: The conditions in Gaza is getting more catastrophic than before.

We are now seeing children are starving, hospital and health facilities are collapsing, families are wiped out due to Israeli airstrikes and Bombardment.

Now, since March 2, Israel has blocked aid flow into the Gaza Strip.

This closure of the borders, in addition to the resumptions of the war since March 18, have been worsened the conditions and have worsened the humanitarian conditions that we live through and experience on daily paces.

I mean, it's getting worse and worse, and it is getting more catastrophic every now and then.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: You say that it's getting worse and worse.

Are you seeing more cases of malnutrition and disease?

GHADA ALHADDAD: Many people that I've met told me that their children are experiencing acute malnutrition.

Many mothers, including the mothers in my family, they told me that their children are getting dizzy because they do not have the sufficient food, the sufficient nutrition that these children wanted.

Most mothers try to ration the food meals for their children.

Imagine like a child wanted to eat, wanted to have a full meal, and he or she cannot get it, not because their parents do not want to give it to him or her, but because they do not have it in their kitchens.

They do not have it in their tents.

So children and other vulnerable communities are the ones who bear the brunt of such starvation, who bear the brunt of the total siege.

I see lots of children who lose like a significant amount of weight because they have nothing to eat.

I met a woman, she told me her children ask her for egg and she couldn't find it in the market because simply it's not there.

It's not available in the market.

So essential item like milk, like egg, beef and fish are unavailable in the market.

And vegetables and the fruits also disappeared from the market.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: With the blockade now in its third month, do you have enough food and supplies?

GHADA ALHADDAD: We at Oxfam distributed the last food parcels on the 20th of April, and that was the last, last food parcel that we had at our stores.

And since then we didn't distribute any food.

But this blockade, it's also impacting water sector and it is impacting other, I mean, sectors in the Gaza Strip.

Fuel didn't enter the Gaza Strip and we use the fuel for the desalination units, for pumping the water and delivering them for the communities.

And we are using now the last drops of the fuel.

And if this is going to end, it means that we are going to also deprive people of the water.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Do you know when Oxfam may be able to have food parcels again to distribute to the community?

GHADA ALHADDAD: We have actually purchased food parcels and they are ready to be delivered to the Gaza Strip.

They are ready in our warehouses in neighboring countries.

Once the siege is lifted, once the borders are opened and Israel opens the border, we are ready.

And I think this is not the case for Oxfam, but it's also for all the humanitarian actors and organizations in Gaza.

We are not like, doing our jobs because Israel is putting more and more constraints in front of us and putting more constraints that hamper our like or our intention for reaching and approaching the people in need.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Ghada, I appreciate you talking to us.

Thank you so much.

Cheetahs are the fastest mammals on Earth, capable of accelerating from a standing start to 60 miles per hour in seconds.

But now they are in a race against extinction.

It's estimated that fewer than 7,000 exist in the wild.

Earlier, John Yang sat down with Laurie Marker, a woman who's already helped dramatically reduce one threat to cheetahs and is tackling new ones that have emerged.

She's the executive director of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is based in Namibia and the subject of our Weekend Spotlight.

JOHN YANG: Laurie, how has the threat to cheetahs evolved in the time you've been working with them?

LAURIE MARKER, Executive Director, Cheetah Conservation Fund: Mostly it's human wildlife conflict, loss of habitat, the illegal wildlife pet trade.

And as human numbers grow in Africa, and we're not addressing much around the poverty issues, we end up having more and more of these problems, not only for cheetahs, but all the other predators.

JOHN YANG: And when you first got to Namibia, it was farmers?

LAURIE MARKER: You'd call them ranchers here, but they are livestock farmers, and they were killing hundreds of cheetahs every year.

JOHN YANG: And how did you go about addressing that?

LAURIE MARKER: Going door to door, talking with the farmers, addressing their questions.

They wanted to know how cheetahs lived.

I wanted to know how cheetahs lived on their land.

I wanted to know about their farming systems, their livestock, did they protect them?

I learned from them what they needed to know in order to live with cheetahs.

And they taught me a lot about what they didn't know so I could make a plan.

JOHN YANG: And how much of a difference did that make?

LAURIE MARKER: Oh, I think it's made a huge difference.

They accepted me, I mean, obviously, as an American woman coming in, telling them anything, you don't tell anybody something.

You actually ask them questions and then try to figure out solutions.

And that became livestock guarding dogs, or our education programs, or we call it Future Farmers of Africa training programs, our science, you know, how far does a cheetah live?

They're one of the largest ranging animals on Earth, up to 800 square miles.

Nobody knew that.

We learned a lot about their biology, their genetics, and all of that was all through the cooperation with the farmers.

JOHN YANG: What are you doing to address the current problems?

LAURIE MARKER: A lot of what we're doing is continuing with our research.

So big issues around the illegal wildlife pet trade, which is started, you know, within a decade when we started realizing from the Horn of Africa, cheetah cubs are being poached from the wild and sold into the illegal wildlife pet trade.

And so with that, we've taken a lot of the programs that we've developed in Namibia and brought them into The Horn of Africa.

Community based programs where we're developing conservancies which are hopefully going to affect livelihoods and get the communities to live in harmony with the wildlife that's on the land.

And then if we could help them learn how to better live with a predator by protecting their livestock, having more wildlife, have good grazing, then they can all live in harmony together and the cheetah can live.

JOHN YANG: What do you do?

Do you have to rehabilitate the cheetahs you take out of the illegal pet trade?

LAURIE MARKER: Most of them have come in such bad condition for the last really seven years we've been on the ground and have brought them into a captive environment and have to get them healthy.

They're right now not necessarily ready for rehabilitation, but are developing programs around what that can look like.

And much of the work that we've done in Namibia has allowed us to make those plans.

You don't take a hand raised baby cub and put it back out in the wild, but if we get them at an older age, we can actually raise them up until they're about 18 to 20 months of age, which is when they would leave their mother and then be able to collar them and put them out.

It takes them a couple of months to learn how to hunt.

You have to supplement them and be there.

But they're not habituated tame animals.

We put cheetahs back India a few years ago and they're now breeding successfully.

So we're learning that we can put animals back where the cheetah was extinct.

And India they were extinct for over 70 years.

JOHN YANG: I've seen you quoted as saying, save the cheetah, change the world.

What do you mean by that?

LAURIE MARKER: Well, I think in order to save the cheetah, the world does have to change.

The people that we're working with are in some of the most arid landscapes.

They're very, very poor.

They all have livestock, they have no training and with that they have livestock losses.

And so I think in changing the world, we look at these community programs, the development of conservancies, integrating the communities into this, helping them with their livelihoods and ecotourism plays an important part of that.

And if you have wildlife on your land, people are going to come to Africa to see our wildlife and then the communities benefit from that.

And that's why these community based programs like conservancies play such an important role.

And Namibia has been a leader in this and we're now helping put that into many of the different countries where the cheetah lives.

But there are only about 7,000 cheetahs left in the world.

They're only found in about 20 countries in around 30 populations.

And 20 of those populations are under 100 individuals.

So the cheetah is also an interesting animal because it lacks genetic diversity.

And much of our research has actually identified that.

And with that, it's more susceptible to aspects around climate change, but also that of the environmental and ecological changes that are going on around them.

JOHN YANG: Laurie Marker, thank you very much.

LAURIE MARKER: Thank you.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Finally tonight on this Mother's Day, we explore how government policies and society's expectations shape the experience of new moms.

Ali Rogin spoke with journalist Abigail Leonard, whose new book, "Four Mothers" follows the ups and downs of the first year of motherhood around the world.

ALI ROGIN: Abigail Leonard, thank you so much for joining us.

ABIGAIL LEONARD, Author, "Four Mothers": Thank you so much for having me.

ALI ROGIN: You yourself became a mom while you were living overseas in Japan.

And in this book you profile women, mothers from there, from Finland, Kenya and the United States.

What inspired you to write this book?

ABIGAIL LEONARD: So I moved to Japan when I was six months pregnant, which in retrospect was sort of a bold move.

So I was sort of navigating all the challenges of early motherhood and also the challenges of sort of getting used to a new place, new culture and a new sort of approach to parenting than one that I had been raised with.

And then I came back to the U.S. after seven years.

I had two more kids in Japan.

And I sort of got to understand the American system of parenting and how it presented its own challenges.

And I just wanted to think about whether any countries sort of got this right, whether they supported mothers in an effective way and sort of what we could learn from them.

ALI ROGIN: And there are a lot of similarities among the experiences that these mothers describe as they're going through.

But there's also a lot of things that set each experience apart.

Can you tell us about some of those top line similarities and differences?

ABIGAIL LEONARD: I thought it was really fascinating to see how just in the first sort of few moments of being a mother, it hit them in sort of the same way.

I mean, the woman in Nairobi, Kenya, and the woman in Salt Lake City, Utah, said almost verbatim the same thing, which was, I can't believe I'm someone's mom now.

And so there was this sort of universality to the experience of becoming a mom.

And then that transition that sort of happened throughout the year of accepting that new role.

What was different was just sort of the systems that they existed in and how much support they received.

So, for example, paid leave, the women in the U.S. and Kenya got three months, although in Kenya it was fully paid, in the U.S. it wasn't.

And in Finland and Japan, they had almost a year and so they had a lot more time with their babies in that first year.

And it really sort of impacted, I think, the amount of stress that they felt.

They didn't have to think about going back to work, about pumping, even, like, breast pumps, all these things that American mothers sort of think about.

And then childcare, of course, was a major one.

I mean, you could see how much it affected women, whether or not they had access to affordable child care.

ALI ROGIN: One thing that I found interesting was how these women's experiences were shaped not just by concrete government policies, but also by more amorphous societal expectations.

And I wonder, what was that like kind of unraveling that in these stories?

ABIGAIL LEONARD: I think a big part of it was gender roles.

And you could really see it in the comparison of Japan and Finland, which both have really robust social safety nets and policies for families.

But in Japan, there's a much more gendered approach to parenting.

So, you know, the mothers there are basically expected to do all of it.

They don't use painkillers very much in birth.

And there's this idea that pain bonds the mother and child and that the woman is sort of supposed to sacrifice for her child.

And it was a completely different way of thinking about things in Finland, where the comfort of the mother was sort of a priority.

Even if you have all sorts of services like universal daycare or like paid maternity leave, if you don't have that sort of foundation of equality between the mother and father, it just puts an enormous burden on the mother.

ALI ROGIN: I don't want to make you wade into U.S. politics, but there has been a lot of conversation lately about how to boost a declining birth rate.

And I'm wondering, given your reporting in this book, what do you think the mothers would want to see if they were contemplating growing their family?

ABIGAIL LEONARD: It is interesting.

Japan already has this sort of cash bonus thing.

And I, even when I was there, received it.

And there was no way that was going to make me, you know, have more children than I was already planning to have or that I could sort of otherwise afford to have and take on paid leave is huge.

Flexible return to work is also a really big deal.

I mean, the woman in Japan was transferred to a different department.

When she came back, there was sort of no job stability.

She ended up thinking, I'm not going to be able to have any more children, and she quit her job because it was too much.

ALI ROGIN: One quote that really struck me in the story was in the context of the Kenyan mom, whose name is Chelsea, and there's a quote here from an expert who says, quote, you're learning so many things fresh, and as you do, you're learning about yourself.

So it allows you to articulate your life how you want.

And in that way, motherhood can heal some trauma.

How did you see that play out with Chelsea and the other moms?

ABIGAIL LEONARD: Yeah, I thought that was such a beautiful quote.

And she had a really tough time.

Her parents died right before she had her baby.

And there was a lot of sort of mourning and grief that went on with motherhood.

Just her relationship with her own baby sort of helped her navigate what were otherwise very challenging circumstances.

I saw that for all of them.

I saw it with the American woman as well.

I mean, American motherhood is very hard.

It was hard on her parents who were taking care of her infant child.

It was hard on her, you know, because she couldn't afford childcare.

And so having this relationship with her baby, I think really did get her through.

And so, you know, if nothing else, there is some amount of hope there.

ALI ROGIN: Abigail Leonard, the book is for mothers.

Thank you so much for joining us.

And happy Mother's Day.

ABIGAIL LEONARD: Thank you.

You, too.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: And that's our program for tonight.

I'm Laura Barron-Lopez.

For all of my colleagues, thanks for joining us.

Have a great week.