♪ amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the "newshour" tonight, more lawmakers and big name donors call on president biden to exit the 2024 race. as a new batch of polling raises questions about his ability to win critical swing states. amna: michigan governor gretchen whitmer defends biden's candidacy, dismissing the idea that she could be a potential replacement.

>> a lot of people are playing fantasy football. they're coming up with i like this person, this person, this would be a great team. none of that is really relevent at this moment because the only person that decides whether or not joe biden stays in the race is joe biden. geoff: and as nato leaders gather in washington, we speak with the president of the czech republic about ukraine's path forward and what a potential second trump presidency could mean for the alliance. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> consumer cellular. this is sam. how may i help you? this is a pocket dial. well, somebody's pocket, thought i'd let you know that with consumer cellular, you get nationwide coverage with no contract. that's kind of our thing. have a nice day. >> a successful business owner sells his company and restores

his father's historic jazz club with his son. a raymond james financial advisor gets to know you, your passions, and the way you bring people together. life well planned. >> the judy and peter blum kovler foundation, upholding freedom by strengthening democracies at home and abroad. >> the walton family foundation, working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people and nature can thrive together. supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. more information at macfound.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. ♪ geoff: welcome to the newshour. there is growing pressure today from congressional democrats for president biden to step aside as the party's nominee. that's despite his repeated pledges to stay in the race. amna: earlier today, former house speaker, nancy pelosi, a longtime biden ally, praised the president but stopped short of embracing his candidacy. >> does he have your support to be head of the democratic ticket? >> it is up to the president to decide if he is going to run. we are all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short. >> he has said firmly this week, he is going to run. do you want him to run? >> i want him to do whatever he decides to do. geoff: george clooney, the actor

and major democratic fundraiser wrote an opinion column in the new york times calling for the president to end his reelection campaign. amna: lisa desjardins -- our congressional correspondent lisa desjardins and white house correspondent laura barron-lopez are here to discuss more. what is pelosi saying here and how much could it matter? lisa: this was a fireball when it first came out. from pelosi, what they say she was trying to do, they say she wanted to send two messages. one to the president and his team cannot dismiss concerns that are real among democrats on capitol hill. two, a message for democrats on capitol hill basically to hold their fire. in the interview, she said, until after nato is over, a sickly setting friday as a key date. the interpretation is different because pelosi is known as a master strategist. folks say this was planned way in advance because of the nato summit but others say she had to know, certainly knows the pressures around the president right now.

she clearly was going to choose her words carefully and this is being interpreted as a kind of deadline setting by pelosi and an indication that maybe she coulsometime call for the president to step aside. though all of that comes amid new calls from other democrats for the president to step aside. just a handful still but look at the folks on capitol hill who have said that either biden cannot win, as senator michael bennett did, or that he should set -- step aside. we have a tough election battle. at the same time, the biden administration says it will send three of the top campaign aide -- to talk to senators tomorrow in a private meeting. campaign manager for the biden campaign will meet as long as two senior advisors who are well-known on the hill but i have to tell you, one of the senators who wants biden to step aside told me they actually think that is dismissive because it is not biden himself. amna: you have been talking to democratic donors. what are they saying about this george clooney op-ed? laura: multiple donors say they

don't think the president's position right now is sustainable and when they looked at george clooney's op-ed, they said one line in particular stuck out to them and captured kind of their unease and that is that george clooney wrote "it is devastating to say it but the joe biden i was with three weeks ago at a fundraiser was not the joe biden of 2010. he was not even the joe biden of 2020. he was the same man we all witnessed at the debate." that was a recent fundraiser in california that joke -- george clooney cohosted. rob reiner followed that up saying that he agreed with george clooney and that joe biden needed to step aside. donors acknowledge this. the alternative is complicated but they really do believe, most of the once i spoke to, that president biden should step aside. the campaign of course thinks that right now, big donors are not as important to them. they are trying to put a focus on small dollar donations, saying they have had some of the best fundraising at the start of july that they have had so far. amna: lisa clooney said most

worry that biden cannot defeat trump. if most democrats are unhappy with biden as the nominee, why aren't more saying so publicly or forcefully? >> one, concerned that there is not a better option. others want to give him a chance to get out gracefully but overall, there's really kind of a lack of certainty and also lack of political conviction by many of these members. one thing i do know, on capitol hill, i have to tell you that they do not -- if they do not move soon, folks in the biden campaign say that every day is a win for him. it helped him secure the nomination. amna: what is the biden team saying about this publicly and privately to democrats? >> the biden campaign aides say they are not delusional. president biden has been holding calls, even some we don't know about, that have not been read out across party officials come across the board, trying to prove to them that his candidacy is still viable.

they say that the voters, that the voters they are talking to, their internal polling shows that things have not changed since the debate. they say that the polls that we are seeing publicly are all wrong when you try to press them on that. this is going to be a big week for president biden the next two days he's going to have a solo press conference on thursday and all democrats i have talked to say they are going to be watching that solo press conference at the end of nato tomorrow, very closely, could set up a big moment for the president on friday where we could very well see if he performs poorly at that press conference, we could see more come out on friday, saying that he should step aside. amna: thank you to you both. >> thank you. amna: new data is now forecasting that an electoral map leaning more heavily towards donald trump, adding to those concerns about biden's candidacy. geoff: to walk us through these new numbers in the current electoral landscape, we are joined by amy walter of the cook political report with amy

walter. it is great to have you here. your organization is forecasting some major changes in six key states. they are all moving closer to donald trump including three battlegrounds dates that include arizona, georgia, and nevada. that leaves three concepts remaining. michigan, wisconsin, and pennsylvania. walk us through what is happening here and then help us understand how you arrived at this, especially given what laura reported what the biden campaign is saying, that the polls are all wrong. amy: even if the polls are wrong, what we know before the debate is those three states that we moved from being passive which in our parlance means anybody can win, it is so close, we cannot put a thumb on the scale either way, is that biden was trailing by a pretty significant amount in those three states. part of the reason that we kept it in that tossup category is we know how close the race had the

potential to become, especially postelection. i mean, sorry, post bait. the debate was going to be the opportunity, which we heard time and time again from the biden campaign, for them to make their case that once the voters, who right now, maybe they are leaning toward trump. maybe they are thinking about voting for a third-party candidate. once they see the contrast, once they understand what is at take, those voters are going to come home to joe biden. it is clear now that those voters, at least again at this moment in time, are probably at best stopped, and in some case -- stuck, and in some cases, moving a little bit further away from him. states that were problematic for biden, pre-debate, they sure looked a lot harder for him post debate so now, we talk about those three states had wisconsin and michigan and pennsylvania, those midwestern states that have always been critical for control of the white house. those also we are seeing, again,

trump has been ahead in some of those states but really by a closer margin. geoff: to further illustrate your point, if we look at the national polling average so far, the two candidates had been neck-and-neck for the most part but then you see the greatest difference after the debate. still, this is a contest that is on the margins. amy: that's right. our politics has been on the margins for quite some time but certainly since 2016. so when the biden campaign talks about, well, the polls have barely botched, and it is true. if you look at these national polling averages, which we put together, you will see that the race has basically move just two points in trump's advantage at the national level. but these last two elections have been decided at the electoral college level by basically less than a point in three states, right question marks 79,000 votes in 2016 in the three closest estates and 40,000 votes in 2020.

so two points is actually pretty significant. the real question, and what we are seeing in the polling right now -- again, there will be a lot more in the battleground states in the coming week, but at least in the national polling, the one bit of good news for biden is that what we are seeing is people moving off of biden but they are not necessarily moving to trump. so these are voters who basically are saying, ahh. if you asked them, are you going to vote for biden today? they may be reticent but they are not saying that this has changed my mind and i am now voting for trump. that is the group of voters that is going to be critical. geoff: our team heard from a group of undecided voters pick this is an undecided voter who voted for trump in 2016 and president biden in 2020 but this voter in particular has some reservations this time around. >> trump's is controlled so mentally, i don't think he can deal four more years.

we watched the debates in my household. we are still all undecided at this point. >> one guy is basically brain-dead and the other one tried to take over the capitol. it's not giving people a very optimistic view of the future, i would say. geoff: that is a fairly bleak assessment. how much does that reflect the electorate? amy: that is reflective of where the electorate is right now and this, actually, going into the next week, we are going into the republican national convention. we talked a lot about biden and how he talks to those folks. i'm curious to see how donald trump talks to those voters. does he convince them that the things they just said about him, he's power-hungry, the capitol met january 6 event, does he convince them that maybe that is not as big of a problem as their worries about biden or do they walk away from that convention saying, i just can't vote for either one? >> here is one more voter from this panel that sarah longwell convened.

this is a black voter in georgia who is supporting the president and she explains how she is thinking about the race. >> i don't really consider a vote for biden a vote for change. i consider a vote for biden a vote for continuity in the status quo, which is fine right now because the 2016 was just insane. i don't want to see that again, so i'm fine if the next four years, absolutely nothing improves or changes, i would not even care as long as it doesn't get worse. geoff: in some ways, this illustrates why the biden campaign was trying to make this an election that was a referendum on donald trump and how this debate performance really complicated that. >> exactly, made it much more about which is the riskier bat, going with biden, who looked very shaky, or going with somebody, as this woman said, who she knows has been more about chaos? geoff: amy walter,

thanks so much as always. amy: thank you. ♪ geoff: turning out to the days other headlines, israel is ordering all palestinians to leave gaza city in the north, as israel's military steps up air strikes. dozens have died in a wave of israeli attacks, even as u.s., egyptian and qatari negotiators meet with israeli officials in qatar for ceasefire talks. john yang has the story. john: across gaza today, mourning for loved ones, community members pray, and a father, nael hussein, weeps and trembles while holding the lifeless body of his son, odai. how many have gone, he says. how many have died? odai was killed yesterday in an israeli airstrike on the buraij refugee camp, just one of several during a deadly 24-hours in gaza.

caught on eyewitness video, another attack late yesterday outside of achool near khan younis where displaced people were sheltering. one moment, boys play are playing soccer in the school yard. the next, they're running for their lives. at the scene today, witness ghazal nasser said the attack came without warning. >> everything was normal. people were playing. suddenly, a rocket fell over there. everyone started running. i witnessed this. people thrown around and body parts were scattered, blood. john: hospital officials say at least 29 people were killed, most of them women and children. the idf says they were targeting a member of hamas who took part in the october 7 attacks on israel. it comes amid the ongoing push a push by several nations for a ceasefire deal. today in jerusalem, u.s. mideast envoy brett mcgurk met with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. and in doha, qatar, cia director bill burns met with egyptian,

qatari, and israeli negotiators. but on the ground in gaza, fighting goes on. today, israel ordered all palestinians in gaza city to move south, perhaps in preparation for a renewed offensive there against hamas. it all adds uncertainty to the prospect of reaching a ceasefire agreement. earlier this week, hamas said that new israeli escalations could have "disastrous repercussions" on negotiations. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang. geoff: also today, what's left of hurricane beryl is pushing farther north, bringing severe thunderstorms across the midwest, and at least one tornado. the storm tore down trees and ripped off roofs in indiana, and drenched places like east lansing, michigan, with heavy rains and flash floods. in texas, where beryl made landfall on monday, nearly 1.4 million homes and businesses are still without electricity. no power means no air conditioning, and no refrigeration. and with the heat and humidity near houston hitting up to 106

degrees, some residents are growing desperate. >> i'm about to lose the resources that i have and i'm about to lose all the energy that i have trying to survive. geoff: dangerous heat spans the country, coast to coast, but especially out west. high temperatures are in responsible for at least eight deaths in oregon. and in las vegas, temperatures have posted a record fifth straight day above 115 degrees. lawyers in alec baldwin's involuntary manslaughter trial delivered their opening arguments today. the 66-year-old actor sat at the defense table, as prosecutors argued that he, quote, "violated the cardinal rules of firearm safety" when a gun he was holding went off during rehearsals for the film rust. the movie's cinematographer was killed. baldwin's lawyers countered that the film's safety experts were

to blame, saying he, quote, "committed no crime; he was an actor, acting." if convicted, baldwin faces up to 18 months in prison. he has pleaded not guilty. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken said today that f-16 jets will be flying in the skies of ukraine this summer. that comes after a joint statement from the u.s., dutch, and danish governments saying that the transfer of jets to kyiv is finally underway. meantime, ukrainian president volodymr zelensky has been making the rounds on capitol hill, drumming up support for his country's military effort. he's in town for the ongoing nato summit. earlier, he used his daily video address to say more deals are on the way. >> there will also be two new security agreements. these agreements include support for sanctions against russia, support for our accession to the

eu and nato, support for our defense, our soldiers, all our people, and reconstruction all of this is taken into account in the security agreements exactly as needed. geoff: as nato leaders gathered in washington to mark the 75th anniversary of the alliance, u.s. and european officials said today that ukraine is on a quote "irreversible" path to membership. but secretary general jens stoltenberg added that it's "too early to say exactly when that will happen." the house of representatives today passed a bill that would ban non-citizens from voting in federal elections. that's already illegal. today's measure would make states require that people present documents in person to prove they are a u.s. citizen during voter registration. it also calls for states to remove non-citizens from voter rolls. the bill passed with almost entirely republican support. it comes amid unsubstantiated claims from former president trump that people who cross the border illegally could cast ballots. it will likely hit a dead-end in the democrat-controlled senate. on wall street today, markets rose across the board. the dow jones industrial average

jumped more than 400 points, to close within sight of that 40,000 point level. the nasdaq posted its 7th-straight record close, adding more than 200 points. and the s&p 500 ended above 5600 for the first time ever. and, an update now on a longer-than-expected trip to space, two astronauts who should have returned to earth weeks ago , expressed optimism today that boeing and nasa will bring them back safely. sonny williams and butch wilmore were the first to ride boeing's "starliner" capsule to the eir test flight was supposed to last eight days, but a number of leaks and thruster issues delayed their trip home. engineers are still testing the spacecraft, but the pair remains optimistic. >> i feel confident that, if we had to, if there was a problem with the iss, we could get in our spacecraft, and we could undock, talk to our team, and figure out the best way to come home. yeah, like i've said, we've practiced a lot so i have a feeling, a real good feeling in my heart, that the spacecraft will bring us home no problem.

geoff: boeing hopes this test mission will lead to regular astronaut flights, following the recent success of its competitor, spacex. still to come on the "newshour", a neurologist addresses the concerns voters have about both presidential candidates' age. the president of the czech republic discusses the ongoing nato summit and the uncertain future of the alliance. how a nationwide competition is teaching students to think critically about history and its lessons for today. >> this is the pbs news hour from weta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. amna: michigan's governor gretchen whitmer has been a rising star of the democratic party, sometimes mentioned as someone who could occupy the white house bid i spoke with the governor earlier today about this presidential race and her book, "true gretch: what i've learned about life, leadership,

and everything in between." governor whitmer, welcome back to the news. thanks for joining us. gov. whitmer: thank you. good to be with you. amna: so let's start with the news of the day. i'm sure, as you have seen in your state and michigan, polls actually show the president biden is doing better over time and is now leading former president trump. earlier in the show, we did report on the fact that they've seen this shift post-debate in six states, including three battleground states away from president biden towards former president trump. you've also now seen folks like senator bennett coming out and saying he believes trump could win in a landslide, that the republicans could control not only the white house, but also the senate and the house. help us understand your position right now, which is to square the messaging to say beating former president trump is existential, to save democracy. but also, i'm continuing to back the candidate that seems to be losing by more as time goes on. gov. whitmer: well, listen, i am from one of the swingiest o states, the state of michigan.

and i can tell you, i don't get upset about polls where we're down a couple points. i do not celebrate polls that where we're up a couple of points. i know this is going to be a close race, always was. it will continue to be. so obviously the president did not have a good debate performance a couple weeks ago. it was pretty lousy. i think we all recognize that. and yet i've gotten time with him a few times since the debate. i've got confidence in this president that he's up to this task, and i am a co-chair of the campaign, and i'm going to work my tail off to help make sure that he and vice president harris are successful in november, and we do have our work cut out for us. but we can do this because president biden has receipts. president biden has delivered for people. we also know the contrast. someone who represents a real clear and present danger to our democracy, to our fundamental rights to our economy. and so i think this has always been a close race. it will continue to be. but it's real high stakes. and that's why i'm not wavering in my support. amna: governor, if you've seen,

though, it's not just necessarily one bad poll. it's a number of polls that show the trend moving the wrong direction, that a close race seems to be actually opening up a lead for former president trump. he's -- president biden is down six points in wisconsin in the latest poll. does that trouble you that it's trending that direction? gov. whitmer: president biden was up again in polls just two months ago in wisconsin as well. and i think that, you know, i'm not trying to downplay i think polls are an important data point. but we know that we're about to see the republicans go to convention. we still don't even know who donald trump's running mate is going to be. he was recently convicted of 34 felonies. he is a person that, when he was president, surrounded himself with a cabinet of of cronies and -- a cabinet of cronies and and some of them crooks. i think that it's important that we not forget that we got to remind the american voters what's at stake here. amna: set the polls aside for a second and talk to me and talk to the people out there who say that they actually want a different choice. i'm sure you saw the op ed from george clooney today who basically said he loves joe biden, but he does believe he

should step aside. and one of the things he revealed in that piece was that every single person he spoke to, every democrat, every governor, every senator, every member of the house has privately expressed to him the same concern about biden losing to trump, even if they're not doing so publicly. it sounds like privately, there's much more widespread concern than it's being expressed publicly. do you see that? gov. whitmer: i have a lot of respect for george clooney. but i will say this. i haven't talked to him, and i went to a meeting at the white house with a lot of governors, and, they came out and i think we were unified. and they did a press conference after i did jump on a plane, but i put a statement out in support of the president. so is gavin newsom. so has, you know, everyone from josh shapiro to andy beshear or jb pritzker, tim walz, etc. you see that there's a lot of support for the president. and we recognize, you know, there a lot of people are playing fantasy football. they're coming up with, i like this person, this person. this would be a great team. none of that is really relevant at this moment, because the only person that decides whether or

not joe biden stays in this race is joe biden. he's made his decision, and it's time for us to not wring our hands. but let's roll up our sleeves and let's do the work. amna: you write among the many lessons of leadership in your book about a lot of time you spent being one of the most powerful messengers on this key democratic issue of reproductive rights and abortion access. you write in the book, very personally about the time that you chose to share on the statehouse floor your own story of being raped in college when you were opposing a related bill, then repealing that bill ten years later as governor. the further we move from roe, though, from roe being overturned, i wonder, do you think the issue is still potent enough to mobilize that key voting bloc of women that democrats need this fall? gov. whitmer: i do. i recognize that we've had some great victories in michigan around reproductive freedom. we've seen the people of ohio and kentucky. i mean, this is a an issue that -- this is an issue that mobilizes people and that we find common ground with, folks who might not consider themselves democrats but recognize a woman's fundamental

right to make our own decisions is crucial. i write about it in my book because i think it's important that people have some some light -- that people have some light and some inspiration in this really heavy, tough election cycle. i knew it was going to be heavy. i had no idea all the things that will confront us, and certainly there will be turns you and i can't anticipate right now. but the intent of writing this book is to share ten things from my governing philosophy that i have learned at a point in my life that i've utilized over the last six years to get through tough times, from a plot to a pandemic to threats on on my my -- to threats on my life and, incredible flooding events and challenge after challenge. how do i stay optimistic and positive is what the question i get the most is. and that's why i put this book out there. true grit is really kind of -- true gretch is really kind of hoping to give you inspiration or maybe a laugh at my expense, or maybe just some light reading at a heavy time. amna: you can't have known that this was the news cycle you would be releasing your book

into when you wrote it. i think that's fair to say, but it's also fair to say this is the kind of book that people write with a little bit of background story and laying out a declaration of values and get to know you kind of book when they are seeking some higher office, they want more people to know who they are. so i just wonder if you think whenever that time comes, do you think that you would make a good president? gov. whitmer: i haven't thought about running for president , despite my name showing up in some articles. that's not something that i've spent any energy on. i really am focused on the state of michigan. i've made a pledge to the people of my state that i will serve out this term. i've got another two and a half years and a lot of things that i want to get accomplished. and so, it's an honor to be listed amongst some of my incredible colleagues as potential future leaders, but it's certainly not something that i'm spending any energy on. amna: that is the democratic governor of michigan, gretchen whitmer, and the author of the new book, "true gretch what i've learned about life, leadership and everything in between." governor, always great to have you on. thank you for joining us. gov. whitmer: thank you.

good to be with you. ♪ geoff: while much of the attention is focus is on president biden right now, there have been concerns around the age of both biden and former president trump. many of those questions have focused on cognitive skills, memory lapses, and how they speak in public. stephanie sy looks at some of those concerns. stephanie: geoff, polls show that americans have been concerned about this throughout the campaign. the numbers have been worse for president biden. polls have shown up to 80% of voters think he's too old to serve another term. for former president trump, up to 56% of voters say he's too old for the job. we spoke to a couple of older voters with different perspectives this week. >> i admire biden for what he has done and what he is. but, see, my age is 93. 92, by the way. and i guess i have to be concerned. during the debate, it seemed fairly clear to me.

that he was having some difficulties from time to time. despite the fact that i sympathize with president biden and his health, the fact is he's -- just like me. he's nt getting any younger. >> he may talk slow, he may stutter, he may walk slow, but he does know what he's doing. and he is. he knows enough that he's getting good staff to compensate for any slowdown that he may physically have to get the job done. amna: let's talk about some of the questions voters have with an expert in aging, cognition, and memory. dr. brad dickerson is a neurologist at massachusetts general hospital and harvard medical school. dr dickerson, before we start -- thank you so much for joining the news hour. before we start the conversation, let's get out of the way that neither of us want to be making ageist generalizations, because we all know there are 95-year olds who

are sharp as tacks. having said that what concerns , and questions have come up for you about the abilities of the two presumptive nominees for president? dr. dickerson: i think you make a good point, which is as a neurologist, i have seen 60-year-olds who really have significant cognitive impairment and i have seen 85 euros who are sharp as a tack, as you said. i feel like the -- biggest issue is that as we all get older, it's more and more common that diseases associated with aging may start to take hold in the brain and they can often be very insidious as they first do that. stephanie: i want to play two clips. the first is president biden from the recent debate where he seemed to lose his place during an answer about the national debt. the second piece of sound is the former president at a rally back in january when he confused the names of former speaker of the house nancy pelosi and his primary rival nikki haley when talking about security issues tied to the january 6 assault on the capitol.

pres. biden: be able to wipe out his debt, be able to help make sure that all those things we need to do, childcare, eldercare, making sure that we continue to strengthen our health care system, making sure we are able to make every single solitary person eligible for what i have been able to do with the -- with the covid -- excuse me, with dealing with everything we have to do with -- look. if we finally beat medicare. >> thank you, president biden. president trump. mr. trump: nikki haley question mike do you know they destroyed all of the information, all of the evidence, everything. deleted and destroyed all of it because of lots of things like nikki haley is in charge of security. we offered her 10,000 people. soldiers. national guard. whatever they want. they turned it down. they don't want to talk about that. these are very dishonest people. stephanie: dr. dickerson, when

you hear those clips do you see , two men simply battling normal aging, and should that in itself be worrying, or do you see the potential presence of neurological disease, such as dementia or parkinson's which would, of course, be worrying? dr. dickerson: yes, stephanie, i think that we all recognize that it is common as we get older for our thinking processes and our movement to slow down and that can be particularly evident when people are trying to speak rapidly, especially in the setting of a debate so i don't necessarily think we need to read too much into isolated incidents like this, and it's also very common for fatigue or other things that make us all feel a little bit under the weather to magnify issues that people have as they are getting older. i think the question really is, how consistent are these changes relative to each of the candidates previous baselines? stephanie: we do have some idea of their baseline because they have both held office. trump, for four years, and biden for many years before that.

i'm sure that you have seen sort of their previous performance in previous years, so what is your assessment of whether we should be concerned? dr. dickerson: i think that they have changed, both of them, relative to their previous baselines as we have seen. i think that is what is really getting everyone's attention. it seems a bit out of character for both of them in some ways, so i do think it is legitimate to be asking, should we be having cognitive assessments that we might use for any leader that is coming into a position of power or a position where they have responsibility? of course, in many business sectors, a candidate for ceo, or of course, as we know, pilots are examined and assessed for a variety of issues before they take over those jobs. stephanie: supporters of both mr. trump and mr. biden point to the accomplishments in their first terms. but the argument i've heard is what will a president biden be like in 2026? or a trump in 2026? is there a specific cognitive

test that both men could take to help elucidate that for voters? and what clues could a test provide us? dr. dickerson: yes, so the cognitive tests people talk about a lot is the montreal cognitive assessment and there are similar tests that are 30 point cognitive screening tests that take about 10 minutes and are often performed by primary care doctors to screen for decline in memory or language or other thinking abilities. healthy older adults typically score above a 26 but it is important to keep in mind that these tests need to be considered in the context of all the -- all the other information we know about people. they should not be interpreted in isolation. it is also common for patients who have a high level of education or occupational attainment to pass these tests even if they may have symptoms of cognitive decline. in that case, people would be typically referred for more specialized evaluations by a neurologist or neuropsychologist. stephanie: when we talk about

pot cognitive decline, i'm reminded of one of the voices we heard earlier who acknowledged biden is slowing down. he sympathized with him. are these lapses in being able to express oneself publicly necessarily indicative of one's cognitive abilities? dr. dickerson: i think speech and language is becoming a very clearly -- a market that we are investigating as an indicator of early cognitive impairment, but we also recognize that we have to compare people that we might be studying for that question with what we call age matched control, so people of similar age that don't have the neurological illness that we might be studying. i think we see that there are lots of variability in people's speaking abilities as a simply get older even if we know that they do not have neurological diseases. but we also know that speech and language changes can be early features of certain neurological diseases so i think it's very difficult to separate simply on the basis of speech and language alone. stephanie: dr. brad dickerson

with massachusetts general hospital in harvard, thank you so much for your expert opinion. dr. dickerson: my pleasure, stephanie. thank you very much for the invitation. geoff: it's the second day of the nato summit in washington, d.c., where leaders from around the world have gathered to address pressing international challenges. at the top of the agenda is how to sustain western military support for ukraine, and perhaps few leaders understand ukrainian challenges and the nato alliance as deeply as peter poppel, who previously served as chairman of nato's military committee and rose to the presidency earlier last year. i spoke with him in washington earlier today and began by asking him whether he thinks ukraine can expel russia from the ukrainian territories it now occupies. >> this should be not only ukraine's also our ultimate goal

. we all understand the reality on the battlefield is different from our wishes. it will be unrealistic to expect that ukraine, with all our assistance, will be able to liberate all the occupied territories in a short time. we should strive for full sovereignty, for full control of internationally recognized orders but it will most probably take time. geoff: how long should ukraine expect to have russia occupy some 20% of its country question are >> i believe first, we have to stop the war. at this moment, russia has no interest in fighting because they believe they can succeed on the battlefield. and once they realize that there is no chance of getting more ground, they will be only losing manpower and equipment. and then the time comes for negotiation.

we can provide ukraine support that will convince you russia that they cannot get any further success and that will move them to an understanding that the only way out of this conflict is at the negotiating table and of course, the result of that negotiation will depend in which position fighting countries will find themselves. and our interest should be that ukraine is in the best negotiating position as possible. geoff: the u.s. and other countries have given ukraine long-range missiles that allow them to fire on russian forces in crimea. should the u.s. allow ukraine to use those same weapons to fire deeply into russia? >> well, there was such an authorization. ukrainians may target military targets in russia. not deep but along the ukrainian

border. i think it is natural because pressure concentrates its forces and ammunition equipment just behind the border. and they should be allowed to make deep strikes to defend themselves effectively. geoff: part of the agenda at this week's nato summit is to advance ukraine's number ship into nato. is it realistic to expect that ukraine could become a member of nato so long as it is involved in this conflict with russia? >> it is hard to expect that ukraine will become a full member in the short time before the war ends. but all the alliances, the integration of ukraine into nato is a process so it will continue through bilateral cooperation and it will continue through meeting nato standards. it will continue through reforms

on the ukrainian side come about once this conflict is over, i believe that we should proceed as quickly as possible with full integration. geoff: is nato supporting ukraine enough in your view? >> nato is supporting ukraine increasingly as an actor. ukraine cannot get full guarantee as a nato member. it cannot be covered by article five. but those bilateral arrangements, the number is growing day by day and gives ukraine a predictable picture of what they can rely on in the case of hostilities or another crisis. it's a period that they will reach this time from today to full membership. i think that is a maximum what we can do today because raising expectations that ukraine may become a member of nato at this summit is obviously unrealistic. geoff: the czech republic is surrounded by hungary and slovakia, which, as you will

-- well know, are both pro-putin right now. what does that mean for you, for your leadership? and how do you fend off these populist trends? pavel: we're trying to be as open, as transparent as possible to our public and not -- and to let ourselves distracted by other narratives, that are quite often misleading. it's not the case in hungary and slovakia. these countries are probably more attracted by russian narratives in expectation that , there's some time in the future, they will restore good relations with russia. it should be in our interest to have good relations with russia on the condition that russia respect international norms and order based on rules. until then, it's hard to have any meaningful relationship with russia because it doesn't keep promises. geoff: how closely are you

following the u.s. election? pavel: well, with great interest, of course. the democratic world is always looking for a leader, someone to look at in times of crisis and difficulties, and the united states are naturally leading the democratic world because it is the most powerful country of this family. it doesn't mean that we should be all dependent on the united states. i think that it's about a true partnership. europe, it should be able to provide much more in terms of its own defense and capabilities. geoff: why hasn't it been able to? pavel: because it was comfortable. yeah, obviously, after the cold war, when everyone believes we are now facing times of cooperation and building prosperity, european countries had a tendency to spend less on

defense, unlike you guys. you see a number of challenges around the world were not so close to europe. decades ago, when the share was, let's say, roughly 50-50 between european allies and united states, over time, it was trying to do 75% for the united states and only 25% for europe. it's not fair. and we sure -- should come back to a reasonable share of our responsibility. geoff: in your view, what would donald trump back the white house in november mean for the future of the nato alliance and the security of individual nato countries? pavel: well, i believe, with the experience that we had from his term from 2016 to 2020, he had a number of strong expressions, but in reality, he pushed the alliance in the right direction. geoff: in what ways?

pavel: we may criticize the way how he presented the arguments but the arguments themselves were fair, because what he wanted was the fair share of our responsibility. a number of countries are now meeting the commitment to spend at least 2% of gdp on defense. number of countries are heavily investing into modernization, so i think, you know, his message came through. if donald trump gets elected again, i don't think it will mean a disaster for europe or ukraine because the united states are aware that they need europe the same way as europe needs the united states. geoff: is that of you that is shared among other nato countries? pavel: i believe so. i mean, there's a number of countries that understand the rationale behind, you know, these calls on nato come on european allies, because we were truly spending much less than was necessary and we all

realized that with russia being the most urgent and imminent threat to european security, we need to effectively to do more. so even without any strong calls from the united states, we are doing that in our self-interest. geoff: peter pavel, president of the czech republic, thank you so much for your time. we appreciate it. pavel: thank you. ♪ amna: every year for 50 years, some 500,000 middle and high schoolers from across the country have competed in a contest called "national history day", using arts to portray their researched stories. jeffrey brown spent a day with the finalists at the university of maryland in college park to see how this year, they defined the very timely "turning points in history." the story is part of our new series "art in action" -- exploring the intersection of art and democracy, and our ongoing canvas coverage.

>> people do it. >> ♪ 305 women answered the call marching, proudly standing tall ♪ >> welcome to the human genome research institute. jeffrey: it was history brought alive through performance such as this one, titled "turning the tide of hatred, the killing of vincent chin," through documentary films. and with eye-catching exhibits on the widest range of topics, including the birth of "children's television workshop" how the dust bowl revolutionized agriculture the manhattan , project. some 3000 students from around the country presenting work based on research topics that had taken the better part of a year to complete. >> the most important reason why we teach history and we believe that it is absolutely crucial, as important as stem education is is because it helps build

quality, thoughtful, engaged citizens. they want to do something a little bit different. they get to be creative and present that information in different ways and that's part , of the fun. and it is fun. >> how are you doing? >> pretty good. >> nice to meet you. jeffrey: historian cathy gorn, executive director of national history day since 1982, has developed the organization into an acclaimed international academic program, integrated into curriculum. >> the hat is a different story. jeffrey: throughout the year, students met with advisors and honed their skills, then competed in local and state contests before these national finals, where the competition and energy was most intense. as finalists gathered with their families and practiced their lines. and judges scored the displays. all following in the footsteps of thousands of previous competitors over the past half century, including alumni such as current national security

advisor jake sullivan, and pulitzer prize-winning classical composer caroline shaw. high school sophomores emma hua josephine calzada, and chloe crayble from needham, massachusetts, produced a documentary on the infamous tuskegee syphilis study. >> their malicious intent was never revealed to the subject and some were never even told they had syphilis. jeffrey: from 1932 to 1972, the u.s. government conducted research on nearly 400 african american men with the disease. the men weren't informed of the nature of the experiment. more than 100 died who could have been saved. the students found echoes to today. >> tuskegee instilled a lot of distrust in black americans and marginalized communities in general of the government given -- so there is still this idea that vaccines, for example, which there's a lot of concern now, that there are nefarious purposes behind it. >> as we did further research, i think the primary sources we saw

were really like a lot of images of doctor's handwriting, doctor's notes, and the correspondence between doctors and officials. it was really like eerie. and it was really uncomfortable to see. and i think that's something that shocked us all. jeffrey: you know, you're also, all growing up at a time of incredible divisions in the country and a lot of people are , fearing for the future, the future of democracy in this country. and i wonder how this project, did it offer any special insights into that? >> looking at what happened in the past and i guess just applying it to what's happening today to, like, avoid making the same mistakes. i think that's one of the main points of studying history. >> knowing that us as like high school sophomores, as 15 year olds can just do that and make an impact in people's lives. i think it brings me hope that knowing that, like, everyone can kind of make an impact in the world. jeffrey: that's music to the ears of gorn.

>> they found out that people can make change. ordinary people can find triumph out of unspeakable tragedy, that they'll look for compromise. they learn that we're all in this together. and that's what democracy is about. that's what history teaches. in the process it's teaching , empathy. and right now, we need a lot of empathy. >> 13 year-old hayden washegesic of rural south haven, michigan, is part of the little traverse bay bands of odawa indians. we saw him as he performed before a roomful of judges, family, and fellow students: "aim: the natives fight back." it tells of the founding of the "american indian movement" in 1968 to address poverty, discrimination, and police brutality against american indians. an actor from age five, hayden sees performing as a tool for conveying history. >> i really feel like it can be

more powerful because it changes every time. it's that one set show. and with acting, i just, i can kind of walk around, i can yell, i can change it up based on how i feel like it'll fit the room. you can be different people. i can be, and i can change different people a lot better. and i really feel like just performance gives a way more powerful, a way of showing that and conveying the message. >> they see those light bulbs go off in their classrooms. >> they choose something that is of interest to them and they have to show its connection to other parts economic, social and political causes, impacts and changes, which allows them to learn about other parts of history. they learn about different parts of the world, when they look at -- of the world. >> in history, a lot of times, we say here's what happened. now tell me what happened. excellent. you get an a. that's not doing history. so these kids are digging for sources.

this is the tool that not only gets them engaged in history, gets them engaged to be deep readers, these are all skills they are going to be using no matter what path they take in life. >> you all represent a kind of front line in all of the work that we're doing. jeffrey: also on hand, filmmaker ken burns. >> we are trying to tell a true, honest, complicated past that's unafraid of controversy and tragedy, but equally drawn to those stories and moments that suggest an abiding faith in the human spirit. jeffrey: students eager to learn about the art of filmmaking peppered him with questions. >> how do you figure out what to include and not to include in order to convey a cohesive story? >> how do you research when you have to look at what isn't being mentioned and draw a conclusion about a time period from that? jeffrey: i asked cathy gorn if the study of history can bring us together, why is it so much under attack today? >> why is that happening now? because we're not teaching enough about how we overcome our issues and our problems. we think that there are

solutions that are just so easy, and there are single answers to things. and history teaches us that life is complex. we are helping to create informed citizens, informed patriots. not blind patriots. ♪ jeffrey: in the end, there were winners in many different categories. >> taking home the silver, from st. paul, minnesota. jeffrey: the larger hope, the research and performances and other work shown here will have lasting impacts on these students and the rest of us for years to come. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown at the university of maryland. amna: congratulations. and that is the newshour for tonight. geoff: thanks for spending part of your evening with us. ♪ >> 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 schiller foundation. the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. and with the ongoing support of -- funding for america at a crossroads was provided by -- 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. ♪ >> you are watching pbs.

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. ♪ hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & co." here's what's coming up. leaders gather in washington for the 75th nato summit amid growing challenges from russia and concerns around a potential trump presidency. i'm joined by victoria nuland, who served as u.s. ambassador to the alliance. then -- >> we can save ukraine if we step up and do it, and that's our duty as