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tv   PBS News Hour  PBS  June 21, 2024 6:00pm-7:01pm PDT

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wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. xfinity internet. made for streaming. william brangham. amna nawaz and geoff bennett are away. the supreme court upholds the gun control law that prohibits domestic violence abusers from owning guns. we take a closer look at the
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political fundraising at the biden and trump campaigns steve multibillion dollar donations from billionaires and following prime minister modi's third term in office, muslims in india continue to face discrimination and hate. >> we wondered why they demolishing or mosques and schools. they told me this is not your scoop, this is the government's land now. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of the newshour, including jim and nancy bildner and the robert and virginia shiller foundation. the judy and peter blum kovler foundation, upholding freedom by
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this program was made possible by the corporationor public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. william: welcome to the newshour. the supreme court today handed down a major victory for gun control advocates, ruling that domestic violence abusers can be barred from owning guns. in an 8-1 decision, the court rejected a second amendment challenge to the federal law that makes it illegal for people with domestic violence restraining orders to possess firearms. joining us is our supreme court analyst. so nice to see you as always. this, again, 8-1 decision but a lot of writing today. seven justices felt they needed to weigh in writing on this.
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remind us away this case was about and what the court ruleed? >> mr. rahimi was the person who challenged the federal law, the federal ban and he had a domestic violence restraining order against him. i think he's a pretty bad actor. he physically assaulted his girlfriend. threatened her and her child that they had. he threatened her with his gun on different occasions and in different places despite the restraining order. the challenge went all the way up to the u.s. court of appeals, fifth circuit. that court struck down the law. after the supreme court case in 2022 having to do with new york's open carry law asks that test is whether the gun regulation being challenged, whether there is a tradition, a history of gun regulation prior
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to 1900 that would support the current law, the fifth circuit said no, we couldn't find anything so they struck it down. the biden administration brought the case to the supreme court and today the majority said sorry, but we found there was historical support for this law and pointed to do two different sets of laws that had principles the chief justice said that support the principle behind or undergirding the federal law. the chief said that the bruin decision never meant that the law was tracked in amber. an interesting metaphor that really, instead of looking for an historical twin to the current law, you look at historical principles that could support the current regulation being challenged. william: the one dissenter today
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was justice clarence thomas and he was the one who authored that bruin decision and i want to read a little bit of what question wrote in his dissent. the question of whether the government can strip the second amendment right of anyone subject to a protective order, even if he has never been accused or convicted of a e. it cannot. the court and government do knot point to a single historical law revoking a citizen's second amendment right based on the possible interpersonal vinals. seems like he's in direct opposition with the chief justice. does this chip away at some way in the strict your that is bruin had set up? >> i think in a way it softens, maybe clarifies a little bit the second amendment test for the lower court judges. those judges have been pretty critical of the thomas test. they've complained that they're not historians. they don't have the time, the resources to do the historical
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research that's required so i think when the chief emphasized looking at historical principles it gives them a little more room. even justice barrett in her concurring opinion had mentioned that had historical regulations revealed principles, not molds so i think there is a little softening here but i have to tell you, honestly, that i think this conservative majority is still quite strongly in favor of the history and tradition test that they announced in bruin and it's clear that the three liberals, even justice jackson now, who was not on the bench at the time of bruin, made clear that they do not like this test at all, that they don't feel it's responsive to current needs. william: i want to ask you about the impact that this might have on lower courts. earlier today we spoke to gloria terry, the c.e.o. of texas council on family violence. a group that works with domestic
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violence survivors and she described tears of joy and relief with this ruling. here's a little bit of what she had to say. >> this ruling is exactly what the advocacy field and the thousands of survivors jazz the country needed to hear, that their lives matter more than the ability of somebody who has lost that privilege to own a firearm. it sends waves of relief. william: you mentioned what this might mean for the supreme court. any sense as to whether this ruling then ripples down into lower courts for other potential gun control challenges? >> i'm quite sure the judges will will be looking at this ruling and attempting to apply it and there are many gun challenges coming. there are some still penting in the u.s. supreme court. all different kinds of gun challenges and you know the bump stock case we had just last week, that wasn't even a second
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amendment challenge but i think there are many second amendment challenges coming and that guns, pretty much in a sense, like abortion, are going to continue to come to the supreme court and we'll have to wait and see how this supreme court, after the opinion today, is going to apply it to those challenges. william: and next week is the supreme court's last week but they certainly have a big backlog of major, major cases. what's the one you're really looking for, one or two for next week? >> i'm sure, like many people, i'm very interested in what they're going to say about former president donald trump's claim of absolute immunity from criminal prosecution. that's probably at the top of many people's list and also, i think there's a major abortion case and also two very important social media first amendment cases so you're right, william. there's quite a bit still left
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over and 9 tradition has been to finish it up by the end of june. william: gives me a strong spinx we're going to see you again next week. macchia coyle, as always, wonderful to see you. thank you. >> my pleasure. ♪ >> i'm stephanie with newshour west. the latest headlines -- health officials and emergency workers in nagata say that israeli air strikes on camps near rafah have killed at least 25 and 50 others were injured. israel's military released video of its continued ground offensive against hamas. in lebanon, recent israeli air strikes have left southern border downs in ruins near daily exchanges of fire between israel and hezbollah prompted the u.n.
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chief to issue a stark warning. >> one false move could trigger a catastrophe that goes far beyond the borders and frankly, beyond imagination. the people of the region and the people of the world cannot afford lebanon to become another gaza. >> state media in chin and report that had at least 47 have died amidst catastrophe risk flooding and downpours. one area saw more than 14 inches of rain in a single day. state television showed a riverside village completely inundated by floodwater. rescue cuers deployed to a major city after one river rose to 12 feet above its flood warning line. in the war in ukraine, russia says it shot down more than 114 ukrainian drones overnight.
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ukraine claims to have hit three oil refineries and a drone launch site in southern russia. today president putin said russia would prioritize military production, including itself nuclear program. >> we plan to further develop the nuclear triad as a guarantee of streamic deterrence and to preserve the balance of power in the world. >> the european union announced it will begin membership talks for ukraine and moldova on tuesday. the process could take years or even decades. this week's record-setting heath is set to carry into the weekend across much of the u.s. in metro phoenix where the high was 115, officials reported at least six confirmed heat-relat ed deaths this year with 87 others under investigation. 90 million americans were under heat alerts today, from california to the rockies and from the midwest through the ohio valley in new england
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temperature records were broner yesterday. in nevada, a judge dismissed the charges today in an election interference case against six republicans. they were accused of submitting so-called fake elector certificates to congress that falsely declared donald trump had won the state in is the 2020 election. the judge said the case was filed in the wrong jurisdiction. afterward nevada tees democratic attorney general told reporters the judge got it wrong and will be appealing immediately but attorneys said the case is dead since the statute of limitations for filing expired in december. the man who attacked nancy pelosi's husband with a hammer was convicted in day of court today on five counts, including kidnapping. the new convictions could mean he stays behind bars for life. the food and drug administration
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has approved the first menthol fared i-gets. all previous jets? had been tobacco flavored. the vaping brand enjoy was recently bought by marlboro. they claim their products can help blunt the toll of traditional smoking. advocates criticize the decision. promise in treating sleep apnea. according to a study published today in the new england journal of medicine, a new drug appeared to reduce the severity of the condition which afflicts 20 million americans. maker eli lily has asked the f.d.a. to expand the drug's use. to decision is expected by the
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end of the year. the fdic has approved new measures to handle misconduct in a statement the agency said two independent offices will hear claims of harassment, discrimination, other interpersonal misconduct and retaliation following feedback from fdic employees. this after an inquiry of sexual harassment founded the chairman of the board to announce that he would resign last month. and the celebratory duck boats were back out in force in boston. fans flooded the streets of beantown to honor the celtics for their record-setting 18th nba championship. star jayson tatum hoisted the larry o'brien trophy. amid growing scrutiny. robert gwinnett reverses course and backs out as the next top
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editor. brooks and capehart and recommendations on what movies to watch this summer. >> this is the pbs newshour. frommers eta stud studios in washington and in the west from arizona state university. william: the 2024 campaign was already shaping up to be the most expensive election of all time but anyhow several high-profile billionaires are dumping match amounts of money into the race. lauren has the details. >> thanks, william. new reporting shows two notable donations. businessman timothy mellon gave $50 impact to a daniel trump super pac the day after else convicted of felonies.
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and michael block berg is spending -- 20 million to help the president's re-election effort. the campaigns themselves are reporting huge fundraising hauls. in may the biden team raised $85 million but the trump team reported raising $141 million. let's explore where the money is coming from and where it's being spent with ana from open secrets. thank you so much for being here. the contributions from mega donors are eye popping. how unusual are these donations and whatle it do for the campaigns? >> multimillion dollar donations for super pacs are becoming run of the mill at this point but the size and the sources, particularly in the case of m melln where we haven't seen donations of this size from him really stick out.
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with mike bloomberg, he has a long history of giving. it is to be expected that he would give money to joe biden or a super pac supporting him but timothy mellon's influence is much newer. >> as you said a lot of people know who mike bloomberg is, they don't really know who timothy mellon is is who is he and how much of a big deal is it that he's contributing to donald trump at this point? >> it's significant. he's also given to a superpac supporting kennedy as well as now to trump which plays into the complicated dynamics of the kennedy's campaign influence on the two main campaigns. >> r.f.k. jr.? >> that's right. micah inc is run by one of the trump allies.
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superpacs can raise unlimited sums and it really opens the door for more billionaires to be able to pour money into the influence the elections. >> what about the impact of money with america yearn origins, so-called dark money? how prevalent is that this year? >> dark money is pouring into u.s. election. dark money critics to superpacs. while super pacs have to disclose the origin of the money donated, they don't have to disclose shell companies. they are able to skirt the disclosure requirement because the ultimate funder isn't known and that's something we're seeing. the cycle with money pouring
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into superpacs from dark money groups. >> president biden had a big cash week this week. he brought in 30 million at a hollywood fundraiser that the single biggest cash haul at a single event for the democratic party but president biden's cash advantage is slipping away and donald trump is starting to catch up. how significant is that and is it going to have a long-term impact? >> we're seeing the tables turn. for several months biden was outraising trump, had a larger cash reserve and the last two months we're starting to see trump catching up and this month exciting what biding raised. and the d.n.c., another important dynamic, not just for the campaigns but also for the parties and the money that's flowing in now, it depends how it's used. a big suspense that donald trump has that joe biden doesn't would be legal fees and so much of his
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money is being burned through for legal fees whereas biden is able to do note so much more funding to things like media and outreach. trump has less funding overall for that when you count the legal fees. >> how much money is going into organizations like heritage foundation, which is this blueprint for a second trump term. >> one of the things with outside organizations are they're not required to give details of who they back. in the case of the heritage foundation and heritage action, it's it's a 501c3 and a c4 so we won't know anything until their next tax return is due and even then we won't know who's funding that. >> thank you for reporting. >> thank you for having me.
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william: turbulence is swirling in the top rungs of one of the nation's media outlets. the "washington post" is again looking for an editor in chief at the british journalist who was set to take that position just withdrew. this after a year marked by staff cuts and mounting red ink that totaled in the millions. lisa has more on it all and why it matters outside the d.c. beltway. >> the latest issue surrounds a british journalist who was to take over as the top ed tour in november. he was tied to multiple instances of using practices in the u.k. seen as unethical in this country, including fraudulently obtaining february to and other data.
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today it was announced he is out. he was handpicked by another british journalist who is also facing scrutiny and calls for design. we're joined by a former columnist with the post. i want to point out what's been reported about robert win net. he is a long-time investigative journalist. he helped cover up some clandestine activity and he may have used illegal means in his reporting as well. he's not answered to these allegations. both men have long journalistic records. are these transgressionings enough to say they should not be leading the post? >> i think what we see is a history of prominent journalism. i think some of the practices that they have used, both
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winnett and lewis have been things that maybe fly in the u.k. but actually run counter to the standards and ethics to have big journalism in the united states. these are things the journal would not do. paying for a scoop. working with a source who has stolen material. these are practices that maybe they're kind of ok in tabloid journalism in the u.k. but they really seem to us to be very dicey. >> this is a statement about yourism in the united states but also the "washington post." why does it matter to folks outside of the d.c. beltway who is running the newsroom at the "washington post"? >> the "washington post" is one of the most important news organizations in the nation and really in the world and it has,
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as i think people may remember, a strong history of holding powerful people and institutions accountable. most notably during the 1970's when it broke the watergate story and helped to unseat a corrupt president in richard nixon but even in many cases since then, the kind of journalism that the "washington post" does, kind of investigative work it does has been extremely important and has resonated through all of the media ecosystem and has made a difference in our country. it's not just one newsroom, who cares? it goes far beyond that. >> we've seen billionaires have increasing influence directly on media. including jeff bezos, of course, the amazon founder and owner of the post. what does this say? >> i think that bezos has been a good owner for the post. when he took over, when he
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bought it for a bargain price of $250 million in 2013, don graham, who the graham family had owned the post for a long time told him the paper is going to scrutinize you and amazon and you need to be ok with that and bezos has really done that. he has not interfered in the editorial product. he hasn't messed with the newsroom and he has toll rated the post's own reporting on him and he's really celebrated the journalism at the post and been a supportive and good owner so now the question is which "washington post" does he wants to be the owner of? the one that he bought or something else that is -- seems to be on the horizon right now. >> your last column was the post was a warning and clarion call to journalists about the 2024 election year. the stakes are so high.
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how is journalism shaping up right now to deal with this? >> i think journalists have learned a lot since the mistakes of 2016 when they really didn't see donald trumpet coming entirely and they've self-corrected somewhat but i think what needs to happen is for journalists to emphasize, as my friend and colleague jay rosen says, not the odds but the mistakes. not the horserace or the polls and who's up or who's down but what are the consequences of this election so i would like to see newsrooms really stress that in the months ahead because american voters need to go to the voting booth knowing exactly what's at stake. >> margaret sullivan, thank you so much. >> you're welcome, thanks.
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william: this morning's supreme court ruling marks a major moment for a country divided over access to guns. with that and more, brooks and capehart. gentlemen, happy friday. so nice to see you both. jonathan, about this rahimi case that i mentioned. in marks really the first time that the court has affirmed a gun r control measurefter a long stretch of moving in the opposite direction. what are your takeaways on this? >> this is one of these cases where a sigh of relief i think could be heard throughout the country. especially for a court where people having so geared up waiting for the worst. and for this one particular, especially after the heller decision from i think it was 2022 which decimated new york
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city's gun safety laws the idea that people actually thought the united states supreme court would say it's ok to be a domestic abuser and keep your gun. the fact that medium thought that was a possibility shows you how far the court has swung to the right and how low in terms of esteem lots of people hold the court but the court made the right decision and clearly at an 8-1 decision it was the right thing to do morally but also legally. william: the heller decision that jonathan mentions. that was justice scalia, devito guns right activist but he also said in that ruling that governments can put restraint in place. do you think this opens the door that the court could be more open for the court? >> if you are a martian, you
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land and you say oh, the united states has decided not to have people who shoot into houses have a gun? it's astonishing to me that this is even a case. it shows how far we've gone. i'm a little disturbed by the larger precedents they're arguing over, the historical pattern? william: right, the gruen decision that thomas enshrined. >> there are a lot of prior decisions i don't like. so to say that the status quo has a preference seems to me like -- on stilts. would they have said that before the dobbs decision? there's been an historical pattern, a right to abortion. we're going with the historical pattern. it seems to me it's biasing the court to whatever is and that seems to me not the court's
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decision. that seems to be stepping beyond the bounds. william: preview 1900 the ideas of spousal abuse. the laws about this did not exist. this week we saw president biden issue an executive order that allowed some undocumented spouses and children of u.s. citizens to get a faster track to stay here in this curran. separate from what you think about this politely, does this feel like smart, sane policy to you? >> in absence of congressional action? yes. what we're talking about are families they call status discore dant where one is here either fully naturalized, green card or something and someone else or multiple people in the family are here as undocumented. the level of insecurity, instability, feature that runs through that household is immeasurable but also, we have
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to remember that those households are contributing to their communities. they're working, they're going to school. they're every much a part of the american fabric as if they were full-unsuitses so in absence of any kind of congressional action, i think it's right that the president moved to bring them fully legally into the fold. it would be great if congress were functioning and rationsal and able to have a nice substantive, rational debate when you could come up with a terrific expensive immigration bill that would fold all these folks in but when president obama was in the white house, the senate passed a terrific immigration bill and speaker john boehner just sat ott on it. william: we've seen that recently. republicans and democrats got
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together and president trump gotten to the phone and said killed it. do you think this offsets some of the opposition from president guiden's previous order that really closed off asylum status? >> i'm with jonathan on this one. it doesn't seem right to break up families. as for the politics of this, i just think the prosecute president -- the president is looking reactive. we're way behind in polls. we have to toughen laws on the border and now the activists are upset with us so we have to do this. the politics i think are self-destructive. the immigraton issue is one of the top issues in the world today and you have to have that simple rule -- i believe in immigration, we're going to control the border. that has to be it.
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the british labour party is hitting them from the rights on this issue. president biden's job is to get re-elected and to me it's simple -- secure the border, secure the border. william: we have seen from former president trump some rather strange missioned messaging on this. he has started to say, i am going to rounds up millions of people and throw them out of the country and just in past few days he floats the idea of green cards for everyone who's here illegally who graduates from college. what is going on there? >> if i understand it, if you are going to one of the elite universities or even not an elite university but you're in school and you graduated you should automatically get a green card with your diploma. buckle up, america because he is correct much he is absolutely right.
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it doesn't make sense that you get all of this talent coming in, m.i.t., harvard, stanford and then they graduate and they have to leave? donald trump is right but they don't believe him for one minute. for one minute. he made the same promise when he was president. did nothing about it and was draconian in his immigration views and policies so i don't believe that he is actually going to do this and i would love it if at the detective on thursday if they and him about that and see if he sticks with it. because i do not believe him. william: do you believe him? >> i sort of believe him. william: it feels like common sense. if you're educated here, be an american. >> that's not why i believe him, because it's common sense. i believe him because he's a business executive. he was in k at that moment with two tech executives and that's their number one issue.
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a, executive, immigration is good for business. b, he's a politician, even though he pretends not to be and he's stay saying the things the rich guys he's talking to as happy as they can be. third, i've observed the phenomena mega has moved a lot in the last several years. way further to the right than it was and way further to the right that donald trump is is that's true on immigration, abortion rights, a lot of issues. he's looking for flexible and i think this is a pattern we're going to see. >> one additional thing. let's say he tries the policy -- i would like to know from where. william: which universities? >> no, from which countries. because i wouldn't putt it past him to say if you're in asia, southeast asia, no, you're not a part of this.
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if you're from africa, no, you're not a part of this. if you're from latin america, this does not apply to you. there's lots of evidence, audio about how donald trumps feel about countries that are not european andpecifically northern european. william: there are a lot of democrats who are openly worried about how president biden is going to perform in this detective. van jones, commentator on cnn the other day said if biden blows it, the election is over. how important is this thability? >> it's much more risky for biden. he's really laying it all on the line. having said that, i understood why biden wanted to debate this early. i think he needs a momentum shift more than trump does and i'm surprised that trump went
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with all the rules he went with, like cutting off the microphones when it's not your turn. donald trump's m.o. is interpretation. we'll just see his mouth moving, i guess. i'm a little surprised that trump agreed to do this. william: something we'll all be watching for next week. david brooks, jonathan capehart. great to see you both, thank you. >> thanks, william. ♪ william: this month, indian prime minister modi secured a third term but his party lost its majority in parliament. he portrays himself as the strong leader of a rising india but his 10 years in office have
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been marked on a stiff crackdown on dissent. we traveled across the area to report on the impact of india's muslims. >> negligenced in northern india, this is a muslim majority village where the walls are patched by bricks and in forgotten hamlet suffered the unforgettable. >> i couldn't believe it but i had to come to my senses. i had no choice. we never thought something like this could happen to us. >> we spoke to her about herb husband and his friend, kill build hindu extremists last year. their car torched, their bodies burned. they had six children. that's their eldest, a 134-year-old with their youngest, a 4-year-old.
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she seemed sick, depressed and wouldn't speak much. her mother said she's been like this since her father's murder. >> she has never recovered since her father was killed. we are trying to get her treatment. she had an attack after her father's death. >> she truly never recovered. just weeks after we met her, she died. it's not clear how. the family blames heartbreak. the whole family is heartbroken. the husband's cousin visits this gravesite often. the two men were so brutally beaten and burned their remains were beyond recognition so each gravestone bears both names. >> to this day people fear. the way in which they were abducted in broad daylight, people are still scared. >> and people don't trust police who turned the two away after
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they had been abducted but before a mob burned them alive. >> how could the police just sends them away when they saw these men were on the verge of dying? had the police done their job, they would have been alive today. >> why do you think your husband was targeted? >> because he was muslim. he had no enemies, nothing. only because he was a muslim. >> the alleged killers belong to a far right hindu extremist group which the u.s. wants labored a militants religious organization. they allegedly smuggled and killed cows, considered sacred but many hindus. india has seen rising anti-muslim violence by self-styled vigilanties.
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these sites are all too common. human watch groups reported in recent years doesens of muslim men have been killed and hundreds injured in hailed crimes. the prime suspect in this case is in man, a local hindu right leader often seen with assault rifles. he uploads video of his own crimes on social media and has been seen in the company of top government leaders. months after the murders he called for a provocative hindu right rally in the same state where they were killed. the rally turned violent as hindus and muslims built. at least six were killed. a mosque burned and its young imam stabbed over a dozen times. the local news' request for an interview went unanswered.
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in the months after, the state government run by modi launched a investigation not against the perpetrators but against the victims. the government says it was targeting illegal construction here but activists and civil society experts say that this is part of a larger trends and that india's hindu right government has legalized demolition of muslim properties. >> the idea that it is just these particular habitations that are big targeted is i think symptomatic of the broader issue of minorities big targeted because of their beliefs. >> this is the director of the south asia program at the caron guy program for international peace. he says india has condoned
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violence against their minorities. >> the state is giving a strong per mission structure. >> he sat at the white house next to president biden. when he was asked about anti- discrimination. he answered strongly. >> there's absolutely no space for discrimination. >> but modi's election campaign was filled with anti-muslim hate speech. he referredded to india's 200 million muslims as infiltrators and within weeks of his re-election, three muslim men have been killed, allegedly in a hate crime. and over a dozen muslim homes have been demolished in states ruled by his party. >> this is not something that one election at the national
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level will do away with. i think it's fair to say we can expect for more of this in the months and years to come. >> in january he launched his promise of a grand temple where a site where a sixth century mosque was demolished. his government flattened a 1th century mosque without notice. the government said it was an encroachment and illegal structure on forest land. for these children, many of them orphans, that historic mosque was home. it is where they lived, studied and prayed and they were made to watch it fall. today they're sheltering at another smaller mosque. he is 10 years old. >> i want to build robots so we can send them to protect my country and save the lives of
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our soldiers. my dream is for my country. >> but they feel their country is stifling their dreams. >> we felt terrible. we wondered why they were demolishing our mosque and school. they told me this is not your school. this is the government's land now. >> he loves to play sports and it is designated trouble maker in the group but on that day he felt cold and hopeless. >> no one was allowed to come in or go out of the compound. we were asked to get out of our room and we had to stand in the cold for hours. >> er in lying on the floor on a single bed sheet. they did not have shoes. seeing me there, they started crying. >> their teacher accused the government of going out of its way to bring down the mosque in a sudden and secret manner. why do you think that mosque was
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targeted? >> they were demolishing the constitution of india. an ideal of india. >> an ideal of india where these young muslims seek equal rights and won't fear for the future. ♪ william: it's officially summer, which means it is a great time to go to the movies and not just to get out of this heat. jeffrey brown learns what's headed to the big screen for our arts and culture series "canvas." >> what do we want? when do we want it? >> now! >> last summer, hollywood strikes -- -ñ >> and the block buster
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barbenheimer phenomenon. >> this summer, a slow box office start with furioso, a mad max saga and the fall guy underperforming expectations. i recently spoke with aisha harris of npr and mark olson of the "los angeles times." >> i am definitely looking forward to or at least curious about "a quiet place: day one. you may web a quiet place, the original film when was john cruzinski's directorial debut and it was all about a family struggling to survive in a world where the apocalypse has come, giant aliens who are hungry are lurking and waiting to kill and eat them. but this stars lupita nyongo.
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great to see her star in a big-budget franchise. i'm also curious about "fly me to the moon." it's a space rom-com directed by greg vilante. it's set during the space age. it stars scarlett johansson and channing tatum. >> nasa needs a marketing specialist and you are the best. >> what are you doing here? >> i tracked you down because i felt we had a connection. >> and they are working together to try to create a version of the moon landing in case the actual moon landing doesn't work. >> mark, some big films you want to call our attention to? >> i think since the summer has had a bit of a slow start at the box office with movies underperforming it's kind of putting a lot more pressure on
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the movies far coming out. i'm thinking of the movie "twisters." >> whatever is in there is big and moving fast. drive. >> directed by lee isaac which you know. he's homing this big budget summer action sequel that's a reboot of the movie from the 1990's. another movie is "dead pool wolf recently." another one of ryan renod's dead pool superhero universe but adding hugh jackman's wolverine character. >> how about a couple of smaller independents films programs you saw on the festival circuit. aisha? >> yeah, the first i want to recommend is "thelma," the directorial debut of josh margolin and this is the movie i-saw at the sundance film
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festival earlier this year. it stars june squibb in what i believe is her first leading role in her 90's and she plays a grand mother who finds herself on the end of a scam and she goes on the hunt to find the scammer and get revenge. >> mail $10,000 to this address. >> $10,000! >> how did you think they was real. >> oh, my god. >> it's a fun action comedy about aging and also about just trying to live your life and enjoying life at that age and features a really love live performance by richard rountree. one of his final performs before he passed away last year and a film which was at sundance in 202 is fancy dance. that stars willie glad stone, directed by ricka trembley and she is playing a woman who is
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taking care of her niece after her sister goes missing and she has to figure out how to both bond with her niece but also bonds with her sister. >> i'm calling about my sister. i did call the sheriff's office. >> i'm very excited for that. >> mark, some smaller films? >> one film that premiered on the festival circuit in the fall is called "janet planet." the writing and directing debut from the celebrated playwright eddie baker and stars julian nicholson as a single mother kind of raising her 11-year-old daughter after a summer in kind of rural massachusetts. >> and i think maybe it's ruined my life. >> can you stop? >> stop what?
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>> stop trying. >> and it's a very tender mother/daughter story that i think is really exciting. >> have you ever been to -- before? are you nervous? >> yes. >> another film from sundance was called "didi" a featured directing debut from sean wang. a tender coming of age story of an asian american family and it's got a real energy to it. the young actor who plays the lead is really thinking to watch. >> a year after the strikes, where do you see the industry today? >> we are still very much in transition/trying to figure out things mode. barbie and oppenheimer, that was such a phenomena you could never duplicate. i'm hopeful we'll continue to steve sort of a mixture of films
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far both very, very big budget in theaters but also smaller. the problem is streaming just complicates everything so people are just like, you know, i can wait a couple of weeks or a month until it goes on streaming and i think that's been an option that's been way more enticing for the age move goer than ever before. >> mark where do you see the industry today? >> i think to aisha's points that movie going is a habit and people have fallen out of that habit, for a number of reasons. streaming is certainly one of them. a lack of predict. the strikes last year impacted things. studios are much more cautious in what they want to spend money on. it doesn't feel like there are as many big movies as there could be in a typical summer. you look at the price for the movies, especially with premium format, a lot of people are waiting to watch at home exempt
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for those movies where you don't want to see it with a crowd and a here and right now hollywood is struggling to deliver those impact films to audiences. >> much still in flux but much still on the screen. thank you very much. >> touch. >> thank you. ♪ william: be sure to tune into washington week with the atlantic tonight for a look at what to expect in next week's historic presidential debate and on tomorrow's pbs news weekend, a look at what's behinds the lack of affordable rental units in austin, texas. that ises newshour for tonight. i'm william brangham. on behalf of the entire newshour team. thank you so much for joining us. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of the
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newshour, including kathy and paul anderson and camila and george smith. the walton family foundation. working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people and nature can drive together. the william and flora hulett foundation. for more than 50 years advancing ideas and supporting ideas to promote a better worlds, and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions -- and friends of the newshour. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by critics to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.
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♪ >> this is pbs newshour west from weta studios from washington and from our bureau at the walter con kyle school of university at arizona state unfortunate.
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wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. xfinity internet. made for streaming. jeffrey: we are just days away from watching joe biden and donald trump, two men whose combined age is 159, debate in front of a television audience of millions and a live audience of not one single person. tonight, a close look at what we can expect when these two rivals take the stage, next.

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