geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on the newshour tonight. hunter biden is found guilty of all three felony counts in his federal gun trial. geoff: hamas responds to the latest israeli hostage deal proposal, as the humanitarian

situation in gaza worsens. amna: and a ballot measure in north dakota seeks to block people over 80 from representing the state in congress. >> there is a lot of wisdom that comes with age. but of course, there's a limit to where, you know, we all face a decline of some kind at some point. and so we wanted to try to find the right balance. >> major funding for the pbs newshour been provided by -- the ongoing port of the individual and is, and friends of the newshour, including kathy and paul anderson and camilla and george smith. >> cunard is a proud order television world of labor,

diverse, and immersed experience. a world of leisure, and it is style. all with cunard's what dark nervous. >> the john s and names l night foundation, fostering informed, engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. amna: welcome to the pbs newshour. another first in our country's history. the child of a president was convicted today on 3 felony charges. joined by family and the first lady, hunter biden attended federal court in delaware to hear the jury hand down a guilty verdict in the trial around his illegal gun possession. geoff: the jury found hunter biden guilty on two counts of making false statements regarding his drug use when filling out paperwork to purchase a firearm, and guilty on one count of illegal possession of a firearm by a drug user or addict. the jury deliberated for just under three hours. special counsel david weiss, who prosecuted the case, spoke about the verdict earlier today.

>> ultimately this case was not just about addiction, a disease that haunts families across the united states, including hunter biden's. this case was about illegal choices the defendant made while in the throws of addiction. no one in this country is above the law. everyone must be accountable for their act, even this defendant. however, hunter biden should be no more accountable than any other citizen convicted of this same conduct. amna: hunter biden released a statement after the verdict saying. i am more grateful today for the love and support i experienced this last week from melissa, my family, my friends, and my community than i am disappointed by the outcome. recovery is possible by the grace of god, and i am blessed to experience that gift one day at a time. geoff: npr justice correspondent ryan lucas has been in the courtroom throughout the trial he joined us now every helpless

unders and how the arrived fiction on all three counts, because hunter biden lawyers are that he knowingly violate the law because he wasn't actively seeing drug at the time he filled out that form and purchase the firearm. quick remember this ace all revolve around october we a gun he owned for 28 84 was disposed of in an across heaters presented tech met just that hunt sent from the for in-nine talk that his rug coming to talk about buying rug, they also present is on martin to talk about is down spiral into a did to crack cocaine, all the dabble she the your he that hunter was indeed addict to drug. then what they did is they also brought in witnesses, there were couple of witness is in particular that drew the jury's attention. there were three women under was

a man in up with that one point or another, his big wife and a neck girl are in, and late brother widow -- this divide to hunter biden drug and quest to find hunter when he was cooking his own rugs. the jury heard on the gun sales sold him a gun, the cell the arm he will doubt when he bought the gun, including a question that asked whether you are a are of sub read all that evidence together convince the jury that the government had at its burden of proof beyond will doubt hunter biden certainly tried case saying that only a with a

very today is not enough. geoff: two of the gun count on it another will buy as much of five. give it since of the judge way as she considers. ryan: this in is totally up to the judge, was a from a point. the trauma i'm saying yes, the man sins and is upon all 25's, but the judge has discretion, will take guideline hunter biden has no iron tree, that was his favorite the judge said rate in the fact that hunter biden is no longer addict it to cocaine. she can take in consideration

that he is not deemed a danger to the community. those are things she can take in citrate sitters -- take into can iterate -- it will depend on exactly how it is calculated. she has a lot of possibilities on how ultimately she will decide to sentence this, but again it is in her hands, that decision. geoff: hunter biden is scheduled to face a jury in los angeles in september on tax charges, is that right? >> that's right, there are nine counts in that tax case there was also brought by special counsel david weiss. he was originally supposed to go on trial a couple of weeks from now but it got pushed back to september. he has another one in a couple of months. geoff: ryan, thanks so much. the verdict in the hunter biden

case comes in the middle of his father's presidential re-election campaign, and just two weeks after the presumptive republican nominee, donald trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts in his hush money criminal case. amna: to unpack what this means politically, i'm joined by our white house correspondent, laura barron-lopez. let's start with president biden. have we heard anything in the way of response from him publicly? laura: he issued a statement today that reiterates much of his past comments on the matter. in the statement, president biden said that, i will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as hunter considers an appeal. jill and i will always be there for hunter and the rest of our family with our love and support. nothing will ever change that. i spoke to a democratic lawmaker close to the president and i said that essentially president biden has approached this with

two distinct roles, as a father who is trying to support his son and comfort his son and make sure that he continues on the path of recovery, but also as a president who needs to respect the judicial system, respect the rule of law, and show that he is not involved in this whatsoever and this is an independent matter. then i also spoke to a long time a to president biden, a former aide who said that this has been weighing on president biden as well as jill biden, when it comes to the fact that it could have an impact, the verdict could have an impact on hunter biden specifically, and whether or not he is able to maintain his recovery. there is concern about a potential relapse, so jill biden was there in the court room for much of the trial, showing not just a public display, but trying to show hunter that she was there for him personally. amna: what about the response from president trump, from

republican lawmakers, what have we heard today? laura: a campaign spokesperson for president trump issued a statement saying, this trial has been nothing more than a distraction from the real crimes in the biden crime family, biden's reign over the family crime empires all coming to an end on november 5. again repeating baseless accusations against president biden, claiming he was involved in his son's business dealings overseas, which there is been no evidence to support those claims from former president trump as well as other republicans. it's important to note the difference from between the way republicans reacted to the verdict in trump's new york case versus the way democrats have reacted to the hunter biden verdict. republicans call the system rigged between the verdict came down and said they ultimately thought there was a conspiracy there. democrats by comparison have said the judicial process needs to be respected. amna: what about reporting in

terms of how voters are watching this trial and whether it matters to them? >> multiple democratic lawmakers said they don't have it will him -- have an impact in the 2024 election. when it comes to voters, the ones i've talked to as well as the ones i've witnessed in focus groups, they don't connect hunter biden's actions to president biden. often they will say things like hunter is not president, or they will express sympathy for hunter's addiction history and say that they have also experienced drug addiction in their family. so polling bears this out as well, which is that a majority of voters in polls have said that this doesn't impact them when they decide who to vote for president. amna: thank you. ♪

in the day's other headlines, just hours after his son hunter was convicted on gun-related charges, president biden addressed gun safety in a washington speech today. the president is looking to draw a line between himself and his rival, donald trump, on the issue of gun control ahead of the november election. at an everytown for gun safety action fund event, biden took aim at trump's lack of action on the issue when the former president was in office. >> more children are killed in america by guns than cancer and car accidents combined. my predecessor told the nra convention recently. he's proud that quote i did nothing on guns when i was president, and by doing nothing, he made the situation considerably worse. amna: for his part, trump has bowed to roll back any gun-control advances made during biden's presidency. the president of malawi confirmed today that his vice president died in a military plane crash, along with nine others.

authorities say saulos chilima's flight departed the capital of lilongwe yesterday morning. the plane disappeared after it was unable to land at mzuzu international airport amid bad weather. the president announced on state tv today that the aircraft's wreckage was found in thick forests, with no survivors. chilima was first elected vice president in 2014. he was 51 years old. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy drummed up military and financial support from european leaders today, at the start of a two-day conference in berlin. host nation germany promised to give kyiv new air defense systems. and italy pledged $150 million to rebuild ukraine's energy infrastructure targeted in russian strikes. the world bank estimates that ukraine will need $500 billion over 10 years to rebuild. german chancellor olaf scholz played up ukraine's bid for eu membership in making his pitch to the conference for more aid.

>> the reconstruction of the country will require massive investment. as a reminder, we are talking about the reconstruction of a future member state of the european union. amna: all this comes ahead of an international peace conference in switzerland this weekend. 90 countries are set to attend. russia was not invited. china has arrested a suspect in the stabbing of four americans on monday in what police believe was a random attack. officials say the 55-year-old suspect attacked the victims after colliding with them in a public park. their injuries are not life-threatneing. a chinese tourist was also wounded in the attack. the victims were instructors from iowa's cornell college who were teaching at a chinese university in jilin. china's foreign ministry said the incident wouldn't affect exchanges between the two countries. >> engaging in china-u.s. people-to-people exchanges is in line with both sides' interests. china has always taken effective measures and will continue to

take such measures to earnestly protect the safety of all foreigners in china. amna: the u.s. state department says it's in touch with local authorities about the attack, and is monitoring the situation. a federal judge ruled the florida law restricting gender-affirming medical care is unconstitutional. the 2023 law blocked transgender minors from receiving treatment like puberty blockers and hormones. it also limited the options for transgender adults to be treated. senior judge robert hinkle wrote, transgender opponents. are not free to discriminate against transgender individuals just for being transgender. governor ron desantis said his office will appeal the decision. johnson & johnson has agreed to pay $700 million to settle an investigation by 42 states into its marketing of baby-powder and other talc-based products. the deal resolves charges that the company told consumers the products were safe, while knowing they had links to cancer. in a statement, colorado's

attorney general -- who was among the plaintiffs -- said today's settlement sends a message that we will hold companies accountable for their deceptive and harmful conduct. johnson and johnson did not admit to any wrongdoing. on wall street today, stocks ended mixed, ahead of wednesday's inflation data and federal reserve meeting. the dow jones industrial average lost 120 points to close at 38,747. the nasdaq added 151 points to close at a new record. the s&p 500 also ended at an all-time high. and, a staple of the american summer is losing a key ingredient this year. joey chestnut will not be competing at the 'nathan's hot dog eating contest' on july 4th. the 16-time champion found himself at odds with event organizers over his decision to endorse the impossible line of vegan meat products. in a statement, major league eating said quote we are devastated to learn that joey chestnut has chosen to represent a rival brand.

mle also called chestnut an american hero, and said they'd welcome him back if he drops his other endorsement deal. still to come on the newshour, president biden courts black voters as polls show support slipping in the key voting block . how bird flu at of dairy farms raise concerns that the virus could spread more widely to humans and despite a major u.s. manufacturing push for semiconductors, companies struggle to find workers to build them. >> this is the "pbs newshour" from weta studios in washington, and in the west, from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: hamas formally responded to an israeli-backed ceasefire proposal, but did not fully approve it, mediators announced today. amna: hamas' reply comes 11 days after president biden revealed the three-phase ceasefire

proposal, that would begin with a temporary ceasefire. nick schifrin is here and is following this. what do we know about the reply? nick: a regional official tells me the hamas reply was positive. a statement was released tonight saying, the palestinian delegation voice needs to deal positively in order to reach an agreement, but also describe the necessity of completely stopping the ongoing aggression against gaza and the withdrawal of israeli forces from the entire gaza strip. that suggests that hamas is demanding text that matches what they are demanding in public, a permanent guaranteed cease-fire. the deal only requires israel to commit to a temporary cease-fire that would continue as long as the two sides are negotiating. so is john kirby the national security council spokesman said today, it is possible that hamas

has formally responded, but it's not clear is enough to bridge the two sides. today secretary of state antony blinken said prime minister benjamin netanyahu committed to this deal, it is of course an israeli backed deal, but netanyahu continues in public to bow to destroy hamas militarily. u.s. officials remain concerned that both sides are more interested in blaming the other for the failure of these talks then they are actually making progress. that u.s. mediation will continue, u.s. diplomatic pressure will continue, because frankly, u.s. officials think this is the only way to end the war that has devastated so much of gaza. today the us committed another $404 million humanitarian assistance, despite limitations on aid delivery that have left gazans, largely on their own. >> her stage is gaza's ruins and

her audience is gaza's displaced children. >> i borrowed my father's friends guitar to continue delivering my message. >> the 19-year-old was studying medicine before the war. now she tries to heal with music. >> to be alive, to play with each other. here we cannot do anything like that. they just want peace. >> there is no time to waste, given the hell that hundreds of thousands are enduring every day. nick: the un's humanitarian coordinator. >> there was a horror at the

destruction and serial displacement, trauma and deprivation suffered by the people of gaza in just nine months. nick: in the most vulnerable are gaza's youngest. this makes school in central gaza, southern gaza unicef says at least that re-thousand are at risk of dying and across gaza, 90% like enough food. hundreds of israeli sponsor trucks are entering. distribution inside gaza is limited because there are not enough trucks. the rafah crossing remains closed with aid trucks backed up into egypt. so an already overwhelmed hospitals, there's a shortage of generators and fuels, and power and supplies to save the sick. and to discuss the medical crisis, as well as the overall humanitarian situation in gaza, i'm joined by avril benoit, chief executive officer of doctors without

borders, usa. thank you very much, welcome back to the newshour. after this past saturday's rescue of four israeli hostages, hamas says killed more than 270 people, about 700 patients arrived at the hospital where you have staff. your team was working there, who did they treat, and what were their injuries? >> the injuries were horrific. at the hospital, there were 420 severely wounded that came in. dismemberment's, severe trauma, you had a lot of open fractures, shrapnel wounds, as you would expect, a lot of burn injuries, a lot arriving were already dead, wrapped in blankets or in plastic. 190 in one day alone were brought in. nick: you have some 400

palestinian and ex-pat doctors, are they able at this point to deliver the health care that they want? >> no, certainly not, and there is in a miniature and that will tell you the conditions are acceptable. when you think back to the orders from the international court of justice back in january, imploring and insisting that israel make sure that humanitarian aid could reach people in order to prevent conditions of genocide, we have not really seen an improvement since the beginning of june, a deterioration. also unfortunately, the mass casualty influxes where you've got hundreds pouring into the hospital, even a major, well-equipped hospital in the united states that is properly staffed and has electricity, water, even they would struggle with the number of patients. nick: hundreds of trucks are getting into southern gaza as

well as inter-northern gaza, half of which are facilitated by israel itself. what u.s. officials and israeli officials i've talked to say is that the big problem is the lack of trucks that can actually distribute all of that aid inside of gaza. is that something you're specifically seeing, that some of this aid is arriving to the edge of gaza but not able to be distributed inside? >> without a doubt, you got the shortage of fuel, which is serious for the truck drivers who are willing to take the risks of going through so many volatile checkpoints were anything can happen, sometimes the violence is unpredictable and when there is a respect -- lack of respect for the delivery of humanitarian aid, the targeted violence against humanitarians, it makes for really difficult conditions and it doesn't help to be blamed by israeli propaganda saying humanitarians are not even doing their job.

ultimately they are responsible for creating conditions that will allow humanitarian aid to come in, in accordance with humanitarian law. and that is just not what we are seeing. nick: when you refer to religions, our use stash or he speaking about the israelis, hamas, or both? >> both, anyone who is carrying a gun that is engaged in this war, when you call for cease-fire, when you call for respective civilian spaces, it's inviting all the warring parties to respect the call for cease-fire. nick: israeli and u.s. officials consistently sleep say they see hamas fighters from schools and even hospitals. have you seen hamas fighters use these hospitals as command-and-control or the source of fire at israeli forces? >> we keep hearing these allegations, without much to substantiate them, in terms of

our own experience at the hospitals we are supporting, these are sometimes vast structures, they too -- they do sometimes have tunnels underneath for clinicians or health care workers who are dealing with hundreds of patients. what we see are just hospitals for love patients, and a reminder to those who justify these massacres, these attacks on civilian infrastructure, civilian spaces are being militarized by both sides in this. it is not acceptable to then suggest that the protection of civilians, which is enshrined in the geneva conventions, doesn't apply, if something is going on in the vicinity that is not in the control of those running the hospitals. there seems to be a disregard for civilians in this conflict that is shocking, and we would just remind all the belligerents that they should respect those

spaces, not attacked them, stay clear of them so they can deliver the a that people need. nick: thank you very much. >> you are welcome. ♪ amna: primary voters in maine, nevada, north dakota, and south carolina will set their partie'' respective lineups for november's general election tonight. but, in one of those states, voters may also amend their constitution. to keep certain candidates off the ballot and out of washington. lisa desjardins explains. lisa: across north dakota's wide landscape, an unusual test of democracy's boundaries. on tuesday's primary ballot, a potential age limit for the state's members of congress. >> every campaign, you're going

to have direct mail postcards. lisa political consultant jared : hendrix is leading the effort. >> we do think that there is a lot of wisdom that comes with age. but of course, there's a limit to where, you know, we all face a decline of some kind at some point. and so we wanted to try to find the right balance. we thought 80 was the balance. lisa: the result is measure one, an amendment to the state constitution which says, members of congress cannot be over 80 before the end of their term. meaning, to run for a full term, a u.s. senate candidate could be no more than 75 and a house candidate no more than 79. to get it on the ballot, hendrix, who is also running as a republican for the state legislature, and others gathered and submitted more than 40,000 signatures. how did you choose the age? >> the reason we picked the age of 80 was simply that the support is so overwhelming at that point. some of the diverse people i talked to her in their early 80's. i asked my dad, how do you feel about this? am i crazy? and

he said, you know, son, at my age, i've got no business being in congress. lisa national polls show broad : concern about age. in a recent pew research center survey, a whopping 79% overall, with little partisan divide, backed age limits for federal office. one factor may be the presidential candidates, in a february abc news ipsos poll, nearly 60% said that both president biden, age 81, and former president trump, who turns 78 this week, are too old for another term as president. measure one in north dakota does not apply to presidential candidates. hendrix says that was a practical, legal choice, but the candidates themselves have acknowledged age concerns. >> something the special counsel said in his description, you're a well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory. president biden: i'm well-meaning, i'm an elderly man, and i know what the hell i'm doing.

>> i said to the doctor, who was doctor ronnie jackson. i said, is there some kind of a test and acuity test? and he said, there actually is. and i got a perfect mark. lisa: aging in congress is nothing new, former south carolina senator strom thurmond served beyond his 100th birthday. but, the u.s. senate in particular is getting older as a group. current iowa sen. chuck grassley is 90 years old, and 21 senators and representatives are in their 80's. north dakota's congressional delegation is relatively young in comparison, 67, 63, and 47. >> we didn't want it to be targeting our current members that, you know, it wasn't about any individual. it's about the principle of the issue. so when people say that it's not a problem here, my response is, well, it's not a problem here yet. >> i did vote against it. >> and i voted for it. lisa: in grafton north dakota, dave and jo petersen are in

their 70s. they're very active, she chairs the local hospital board and he is running for municipal judge. >> it's probably not as rigorous, for example, as being in congress or anything like that. and, but yes, i'm, i'm older than i was five years ago. lisa: they agree on an urgent need for younger candidates, but dave thinks voters, not a law, should decide about age. >> i don't think you can automatically say someone because of their age is unable. it's true, but i think the voters need to decide that. lisa jo says the current : presidential race convinces her otherwise. >> i don't know if it should go as far as the voter. it's a frightening thing to me. when i look at our our two presidential candidates. i'm not sure in my heart if i could vote for either one of them, and a lot of it has to do with age. lisa: while the petersens are divided, tina matz and elizabeth kensinger experts with boston college's research on aging group are on the same page. >> overall chronological age is not a good proxy for almost anything. elizabeth: there's just a fascinating ebb and flow of what

we're best at at different points in our life, such that a 40 year old is going to have a different set of strengths and weaknesses than a 60 year old, than an 80 year old. lisa: their research suggests older workers can draw on a deeper knowledge base, and are generally more emotionally regulated than their younger peers. precision memory and processing do slip with advancing age, but matz and kensinger argue symptoms should concern voters, not years. tina: age is one of those last, isms that still tends to be socially accepted. and i think we stereotype ourselves in terms of age. we make jokes about people's age. and there's not a whole lot of credibility behind it. lisa: there is also, of course, a legal question. nearly three decades ago, the supreme court struck down term limits for federal lawmakers in 23 states. in its five-four decision, the court determined that states could not impose stricter qualifications than the u.s. constitution's.

legal experts we spoke with about the north dakota case are skeptical of its courtroom chances. jared: certainly not naive. i mean, i suspect it would be challenged legally, but i think it's a great question to ask, you know, do we have a right as states to apply additional qualifications? we hope the courts rule that way. but we'll see what they do. lisa: whether this survives a court challenge or not, the idea of an age limit for elected officials is broadly popular, and bipartisan. and increasingly a topic of conversation, not just in north dakota. for the pbs newshour, i'm lisa desjardins. ♪ geoff: the biden campaign says it's going all in to shore up support among black voters. that's with polls showing him underperforming with the key democratic constituency that helped deliver him the democratic nomination and the white house in 2020. president biden and vice president kamala harris hosted a juneteenth celebration at the white house last night. the

president promoted his record to black voters while painting a contrast with right wing republicans. pres. biden: they're all ghosts in new garments trying to take us back. well, they are taking away your freedoms, making it harder for black people to vote or have your vote counted. closing doors of opportunity, attacking the values of diversity, equity and inclusion. geoff: it's all unfolding as the trump campaign tries to make inroads with black men in particular, ahead of november. we're joined now by emory university professor andra gillespie, whose work covers african american politics. it's so great to have you here. starting with the caveat that the black community is no more monolithic than any other community, what is your assessment of the biden campaigns messaging to black voters in particular, both in terms of what they're actually saying and the jew -- the degree to which it is penetrating? >> african americans have

complained for a long time that there taken for granted. there is sometimes a tendency to ignore lack voters, to have shallow interactions with them in late october before an election season, and black voters have been demanding attention to their issues. the biden campaign has tried to do that, we've seen them engage earlier. there have been questions about this type of contact and is it reaching all black communities? perhaps once upon a time you could make a church visit or make certain types of overtures to black comedians that would be wide reaching, but the diversity of the african american community necessitates you have a multifaceted approach to varied types of black voters in all their concerns. geoff: polls show president biden losing support among black voters. the biden campaign says his narrative of this black exodus is overblown and the biden

campaign says have an infrastructure in place to keep black voters on their side, effectively, that it would not necessarily linden opening to donald trump. how worried should the biden campaign be? >> there are two sides to this. i think the biden campaign is correct, there's been a lot of attention on black voters, we're talking about margins of error and very noisy data. just because you have a survey where 200 black voters might say 30% of voting for donald trump doesn't necessarily reflect the larger black community. pew recently released one where the number was at 18%, something democrats would be concerned about, but they can do outreach in these communities. the question is, do you sit on

your laurels? no democratic campaign wants to get 77% of the african american vote when they are used to getting 90%. part of it is recognizing that you still have time to invest in these communities and temper going to be responsive in terms of crafting a message that's actually going to resonate with these voters. geoff: let's talk about donald trump, he is also trying to appeal to lack voters. he held a rally in the bronx late last month, here's a bit of what he had to say. >> african americans are getting slaughtered, hispanic americans are getting slaughtered, and these millions and millions of people that are coming into our country, the biggest impact, and the biggest negative impact is against our black population and our hispanic population, who are losing their jobs, losing their housing, losing everything they can lose. geoff: more recently, he has

talked about his criminal indictments, his felony conviction and a said that in some way would be appealing to black voters. >> he sometimes pulls on threads that are accurate with african-american communities but then he usually takes it out of context, so he's missing an opportunity to craft a message to black communities. there are african-americans who have concerns about undocumented immigration. a friend wrote a great book about this. but their reasons for opposing immigration are not the same. you have to be sensitive to the message. the concerns trump is trying to raise about criminal justice reform are so personalized to himself that it ignores the larger structural problems that he could address and use his own story to talk about effectively, but he's not doing that. he's not talking about what he

didn't do during his term as president in terms of dismantling certain types of structural aspects of the criminal justice system. that would be a more effective message. instead he plays to tropes and intends to offend more voters than they attract. geoff: what about the notion of the black voter turning away from president biden and turning toward donald trump? >> context is important here. there has long been a gender gap in african-american communities. we can trace it back to 1972, the only time where you don't really see a gender gap is in the 2008 election with barack obama. while it ebbs and flows and gets bigger over time, they have always been more democratic than their counterparts.

it is true that republicans have tried to reach out to african-american men, and there's a possibility that trump might ask would be effective in being able to have some success at the margins. but it does not constitute as of right now i see change realignment. it will take decades of erosion in black support overall for us to say we are seeing a realignment of lack voters. geoff: thanks so much for that context, we appreciate it. ♪ geoff: the h5n1 virus -- also known as bird flu -- is spreading rapidly among dairy cows. it's been found in over 85 herds across 12 states. at least three farm workers have now been sickened by this virus, and while public health officials say the risk to humans remains low, concerns are growing. william brangham has more.

william: so how serious threat? and, are we doing enough to keep our eyes on this evolving virus? to answer that, we're joined by rick bright. he's the former head of barda, which is the u.s. government's lead agency for developing countermeasures for public health emergencies. thank you so much for being here. you have called this a dangerous inflection point that we are in right now. and you recently wrote quote, that if we keep ignoring the warning signs, we have only ourselves to blame. what are the warning signs that you're seeing right now and how are we ignoring them? >> well, william, thanks for bringing more attention to this crisis, this situation. we're seeing more and more animals, mammals in particular infected with this virus and clearly a sustainability to infect dairy cattle and spread from cow to cow. and we know that people are really in close contact with these mammals and the more

mammals are infected, more contact we have with them the more risk we have of infecting people. and we're starting to see that happen over the last couple of months. with three human cases. william: so we've seen the several farmworkers that you mentioned, the cdc mentioned that this most recent farm worker, the one in michigan, exhibited somewhat different symptoms than the others had. why is that particularly troubling? >> well, it's really important to understand that to spread this virus efficiently from person to person that's going to have to get the respiratory tract and this latest infection and this patient showed that the patient had respiratory symptoms, meaning he was coughing for example, the two prior cases only had an eye infection. it's much harder to spread the virus from an eye infection than it is from respiratory infection when you're coughing, and so that is really an important development, causing great concern. william: and we have not yet seen any transmission from a human to a human. all these cases have thus far been one or more animals to one

human, correct? >> william, that is where i'm really concerned why it's , talking about we're not doing enough about it is we really don't know how many humans have been infected with this virus. and today, there has been very limited to almost no serology testing done among any of the cases like close contacts on the farm or their family members. so it's really hard for us to know how many people when exposed and if there really is any human to human transmission or not. william: and how do you explain that? why is it given that there are certainly enough researchers like yourself within the federal government who understand the potential here? why isn't that we're not doing more testing? >> well, we're finding that is not always the case of not having enough tests in this situation. we have tests at the cdc, for example, but the problem is getting access to the workers to test them, so there are a number of issues and barriers that we're encountering and some of

those have to do with the workforce itself. a large part of the workforce on the dairy farms are undocumented immigrants. and there's concern among those workers about being tracked or traced by the government and they might have to face immigration issues. there are also concerns of the farmers and the people who own the farms. if the federal government or even state government were to come onto the farm, find a widespread outbreak and animals or people have to shut down the farm, perhaps lose their workforce and lose their income. and there's not enough incentives to really break through those barriers right now. william: and what would those incentives be? i mean, i understand the farmer not wanting to have a scarlet letter put on their herd or on their farm and i understand what you're saying about the workers as well. but how do we incentivize people to do the right thing to keep us all safe? >> we're going to have to put some measures in place to ensure that the workers to get tested have the right care that they

need the right health care because many of them don't have health insurance. if they lose work because they're sick and we want them to not go back into that environment, then there should be compensation for sick leave. and for that lot those lost wages. if a farmer has to put down a cow or keep more cows out of the commission longer instead of , putting it back on the milking line while they might still be infected, then we have to compensate the farmers for the loss of that cow or for the loss of milk production. william: so the government says that the milk supply is safe. the pasteurization kills the virus. they say that the human cases we've seen don't indicate that the threat to us as humans is severe. how worried are you that this could become the next pandemic? >> well, i'm more worried right now believe about the information and the data that we're missing the the data that we have, so if you just looked on the surface, and that's really all we're seeing right now, there may not be too many immediate players of concern of a forest fire. so if you look beneath that surface, if we do more testing, we might see that this virus is

changing in remarkable ways. that would give it an advantage if it were to really infect people and transmit easily person to person. since we're being blindfolded in this battle right now, i'm really concerned that the virus is winning the game and getting ahead of us. william: thank you so much for being here. ♪ amna: the chips act, passed in 2022, has led to a surge in funding for semiconductor manufacturing in the u.s. and a real demand for qualified workers. these chips power everything from our phones and cars to advanced fighter jets and artificial intelligence. now, some colleges and universities are trying to help fill those jobs, and create the workforce of the future. stephanie sy has the story for our series, rethinking college.

stephanie: before becoming a manufacturing technician at intel's campus in chandler, arizona, tarji borders didn't even know what a semiconductor was. tarji: i had no idea. all i knew was chips. stephanie: borders had a background in software development but after a year of being unemployed, the single mom was looking for new opportunities. tarji: i saw the advertisement. a fresh start semiconductor program, specifically for women. stephanie: it was for a two-week crash course in becoming one of the technicians responsible for the machines that make chips a partnership between a local community college and a non-profit, fresh start women's foundation. tarji: and so in two weeks, if you can go from unemployed, you know, trying to raise a family to, you know, employed, it really is a life changer. stephanie: after the intensive training program, she got a job at intel on the night-shift allowing her to balance parenting and work. semiconductor techs make on average about $48,000 a year

according to the bureau of labor statistics. tarji: for a lot of people who may not have degrees or may not have a lot of experience, work experience, or maybe somebody that just wants to change careers, that opportunity is there in the semiconductor industry because it doesn't really matter what your background is, you know, if you're willing to work and learn the basics, you can get work. stephanie: one industry report predicts 115,000 additional semiconductor jobs will be added nationwide by 2030. but based on current degree completion rates, more than half of those jobs, including most of the technical roles risk going unfilled. we recently obtained limited access to the sprawling manufacturing facility built by tsmc in phoenix. it will eventually have three factories or fabs producing semiconductors. greg jackson is director of facility operations. greg: we have high paying jobs

that are extremely interesting, the manufacturing side of it is not what you would have seen 30 or 40 years ago from the term manufacturing. this is not put plug in hole and move product down the line. there's a lot of advanced skills that come in place to not just operate facilities, but operate the manufacturing side of it as well. stephanie: at intel, cindi harper, vice president of talent planning and acquisition says the company has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into workforce development over the last five years. cindi: across arizona, new mexico, oregon and ohio. that will create about 10,000 jobs for intel. and a majority of those are all in the factory. 70% of our factories are technicians. that is the bread and butter of intel. stephanie: here at rio salado college in tempe, it's the last day of the micro electronics and nano manufacturing certificate program. the course is specifically designed for veterans and it's

free. only 12 weeks long, for graduates like former army avionics mechanic daniel moreno. it's a quick path into the semiconductor industry. daniel: i've already to apply out to intel and next to all the big manufacturers. stephanie: rick vaughn, faculty chair of stem initiatives says the community college offers a low barrier to entry into the field but he says until recently semiconductors jobs have flown under the radar. rick: when you say, i can go work at google or i can go work at microsoft, my daughter works at microsoft. you know, that's a tangible thing and they see other people working in that industry. so i think we need to change that a little bit by giving them role models, tours, opening the doors a little bit. stephanie to make semiconductors : sexy somehow. rick: right, exactly. stephanie: to fill the massive

need for technicians, experts say the industry also needs to train and recruit a diverse applicant pool more women, and under-represented racial groups. two-thirds of the students in the maricopa community college system's semiconductor programs' are people of color, helped by rio salado's college without walls motto, which combines online with in-person instruction. rick: the more that you can meet the student where they're at to give them those flexible learning opportunities, the better you are to appeal to not just the general population, but specifically to those diverse populations. stephanie: jessica hoover immigrated from ecuador. she recently completed the introduction to semiconductor manufacturing certificate at rio salado. so this is a microchip that you made. jessica: we created it in the lab. i am from a southern country, different country. and it's so difficult sometimes to find these kind of,

opportunity. what's great, the magic starts from here. stephanie: the labs where the magic actually happens are a quick drive away at arizona state university. trevor thornton is an electrical engineering professor here. trevor: we're facing a shortfall of 50,000, 70,000 semiconductor engineers and technicians. so even a school like asu, if we carry on with our traditional approach, you know, 7000 students graduating isn't going to make a very big impact if you need 50,000 or 70,000. stephanie: so what are you doing to change your approach? trevor: we found we've had the biggest impact if we work with community colleges. stephanie: asu provides the advanced labs community colleges can't afford, this research lab allows students, and for a day, our newshour team, the chance to experience working in a so-called clean room. the bunny suit protects equipment and materials from dust. here at the nano fab clean room at asu, students have the opportunity to handle the actual raw materials that go into making semiconductor chips.

the vast majority of chips start with a single crystal of silicon, not unlike this. so this is called the clean room. trevor: that's right. and this is where we take those wafers, and we bring them in here to finish the manufacturing process. stephanie: whether the area's training programs have scaled up quickly enough to meet the demand for labor remains a big question. eventually, tsmc will need 6000 workers to operate their three fabs. greg jackson says they're piloting the state's first registered apprenticeship in semiconductors to build their own pipeline. greg: the apprenticeship will reach into those high schools and bring in people from all those different pathways that may not have ever thought about being in the semiconductor industry. stephanie: competing for skilled workers has been described in the region as a sort of arms race, but it's also a renaissance, not only for the u.s. semiconductor industry, but for people like tarji borders.

tarji: my nine year old was on the phone with one of her friends, and i heard her say, you know, your phone and your computer. my mom makes the chips, it just warmed my heart because she was so proud to tell her friend about what her mom does. so that was really cool. stephanie: borders is now working toward a master's degree and hopes to one day become a manufacturing engineer. for the pbs newshour, i'm stephanie sy in chandler, arizona. ♪ amna: remember there's a lot more online including this instagram story about a project that aims to decode the communication of whales with help from ai. geoff: and join us again here tomorrow night, when judy woodruff travels to pennsylvania, to hear from people with opposing points of view on the israel and hamas

war. and that's the news hour for tonight i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire news hour team, thank you for joining us. >> major funding for the pbs newshour been provided by -- >> consumer cellular, this is sam, how matt help you? i thought i'd let you know that with consumer cellular, you get nation mine coverage with no contract. that's kind of our thing. have a nice day. ♪ >> carnegie corporation of new york, working to reduce political polarization through philanthropic support for education, democracy, and peace. more information at carnegie.org. and with the ongoing support of these institutions. this program was made possible

by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] ♪

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