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. amna: good evening. geoff: on the news hour tonight -- pres. biden: i decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation.

geoff: president biden addresses the nation for the first time since dropping out of the presidential race. amna: benjamin netanyahu calls on the u.s. to stand with israel in a speech to congress that many democrats boycott. geoff: as the country works to address its youth mental health crisis, a public -- a troubling trend emerges. black americans trying to take their own lives. >> they report hopelessness on an individual and structural level. >> major funding for the pbs news hour 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 would 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. a raymondjames financial advisor gets to know you, ur passions and the way you bring people together. life well planned. ♪ >> the judy and peter bloom kovler foundation. upholding freedom by strengthening democracy 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. president biden tonight explained his decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race during an address from the oval office. amna: he called his time in the oval office the privilege of my life but said it was time for a new generation of leadership. pres. biden: nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy. that includes personal ambition. i decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. it's the best way to unite our nation. geoff: mr. bidens vice president kamala harris is moving closer to locking up the nomination for president. amna: former president trump is

already on the attack, going after her directly tonight at his first rally since biden dropped out. laura baran lopez has been following this and joins us now. this address from president biden comes three days after he decided to end his reelection campaign. it was meant to explain what was behind that decision. what did you take away from his remarks? laura: he argued that his work merited a second term and he implied he wanted to stay on the job, but he appeared to acknowledge that his party had been fracturing in the last few weeks following his june debate and he said he needed to unite the country in this critical endeavor of saving democracy. he also said it was time to pass on the torch to younger voices, and he ultimately laid out the stakes for the electorate, saying the stakes are about

saving democracy. joining him were members of his family, including the first lady, his daughter ashley and his son hunter. amna: he only mentioned vice president harris once by name. this was not meant to be a political speech. he wants to pass the torch to the next generation of leaders. what should we take away from his support for vice president harris, how involved you might be in her campaign moving forward? laura: giving the speech from the oval, it can't be overtly political. he said his choice was made and he believes harris is tough, that she could finish the job, that she is experienced, and he presented a stark contrast between a harris presidency versus a second term for donald trump, asking the country if they could learn to disagree with each other rather than calling each other enemies and

asking if character still matters when they are looking to a president. posing big questions to the public. also a white house official said vice president harris watched president biden's address from houston, where she has been surveying hurricane recovery. amna: vice president harris was in indianapolis on official duty earlier today. her campaign has hit the ground running the last few days. they have had record-breaking fundraising efforts, rallies and events. what's the latest on those efforts we should know? laura: vice president harris was speaking to a historically black sorority today. she went on the attack against trump, saying his second term would take the country backward. she pointed out the project 2025 blueprint crafted by people who served in his last administration. her campaign is saying the electoral map is already expanding.

in a memo on the pathway to 270, her campaign chair said, in a polarized electoral environment, this shift opens up additional persuadable voters. the race is more fluid. the vice president is well-known but less so than president trump and biden, particularly among democrat leaning constituencies. the campaign chair saying they have an expanded universe of voters, compared to days ago when president biden was still in the race and that same campaign chair was saying they have to be focused on just the blue wall states. now other states are opening up to vice president harris, and she is gaining support with the same kinds of republicans that backed president biden, like the former lieutenant governor of georgia, a republican, who told me today he is endorsing kamala harris and will do everything he can to oppose trump. amna: former president trump also held his first rally since

president biden ended his reelection bid. we know they have to pivot their strategy to focus more on vice president harris. what kind of messaging are we seeing from them so far? laura: he held his first rally in north carolina and he was specifically attacking vice president harris on her record of immigration. mr. trump: kamala's deadly destruction of america's borders is completely disqualifying. she should not be allowed to run for president. no person who delivered these savage criminals into america should ever be trusted with power or to be the president of our country. if harris stays in charge, every week will bring a never ending stream of illegal alien rapists, bloodthirsty killers, and child predators to go after our sons and our daughters. laura: we should note it is

inaccurate that vice president harris was tasked to be the border czar. president biden never assigned that to her. instead he asked her to work with northern triangle countries to address the root causes of migration. but you are hearing the former president trying new attack lines on vice president harris. amna: laura, thank you. geoff: for more analysis of the rapidly changing state of the presidential race, we are joined by democratic strategist guy cecil and republican strategist kevin madden. there is an old saying in washing and that a presidential candidate will never have a better day than the day that follows their announcement. kamala harris, huge fundraising hall, lots of enthusiasm from the base. moving forward, how does she handle attacks on her record? >> most candidates when they are

announcing have a little more time to prepare. i think this is a great opportunity for her to introduce herself to the country. she has done so in the sense she has been vice president, but now it is time for her to present her own views, her own contrast against donald trump. she has been in indianapolis, she is headed to texas, she was in delaware. she was in milwaukee. you are going to see a strong contrast not just on the biden administration's record but also her entire career as a prosecutor. the contrast with donald trump is going to be pretty clear. one of the ways you know trump is in trouble is he projects. now we have, the harris needs be put in jail for crimes, and we know donald trump is a convicted felon, convicted 34 times. the other thing i notice is how unprepared republicans have been to take on harris. the last three days, they have

made fun of her laugh, her love of then diagrams, now created this false attack on her being the border czar. i am shocked. they have known for four weeks this was a possibility and they seem slow out of the gate. i think that gives her more opportunity to introduce herself. geoff: kevin, how do you assess the trump campaigns ability to pivot? the campaign had been calibrated. >> on beating joe biden. >> guy is right, i think they were largely slow. the last 48 hours has been inconsistent with the messaging. i think that changed today. former president trump only has one speed when it comes to taking on his opponents and that is attack, attack. i think the negative frame you saw from former president trump is going to be the same one threaded throughout this entire campaign from here to election

day. it's going to be a very negative frame. this is not going to be a race that it is now. the goal of the trump campaign disqualify kamala harris as she tries to reintroduce herself in the eyes of the swing voters. geoff: we expect the vice president to name her vice presidential pick within days, certainly by august 7, to ensure the ticket is on all 50 state ballots. what would a pick at to the ticket and who among the reported shortlist helps boost her political standing? >> for about a decade, democrats have bemoaned our lack of a bench. i think what we have realized the last four years with wins in 2018 and 2022 is we have a great bench. this is the most important decision she is going to make as a candidate and i think it will reveal a lot about her.

she has a lot of folks that have executive experience, great governors. she has people that have military experience, senate experience. it's her choice to make. there is always a lot of moving and guessing, but it's going to reveal a lot about the type of partner she wants. i think the other thing you are going to see is a new generation. that stark contrast against donald trump is going to be pretty clear. geoff: laura mentioned that campaign memo today from the former biden campaign chair who is now the harris campaign chair. it says the path to 270 electoral votes still runs through pennsylvania, michigan, wisconsin. she also says harris is doing better than president biden and donald trump with young voters, black voters, and with you know voters. democrats until this point had been concerned about losing support among the biden coalition.

>> i think they are right. these states we all think are going to be the battleground have largely stayed the same, but the opportunities that have emerged have changed slightly. , harris has to improve on where joe biden was in michigan. improve with the african-american voters, as well as with the arab-american voters that are concentrated in that state. she has to have opportunity in places like north carolina, georgia, arizona. i think the trump campaign has to focus on blue-collar voters that are going to be the backbone of their operation in those blue states, as well as a 30 mile radius around maricopa county in arizona and a three mile radius around atlanta, georgia. people still feel the country is going the wrong direction. he has to speak to those concerns. if inflation is too high, speak to those concerns.

that's the real key for the trump campaigns electoral map. geoff: was j.d. vance the right pick in light of what we now know, likely, harris as the democratic nominee? >> like the rollout of the message, the first 72 hours of j.d. vance on the campaign trail has not boosted a lot of confidence. i think there is still time to turn that around. the main goal of any vp candidate is, what we used to call bracketing, to undermine the other campaigns message every day three times a day, three different media markets around the country. i think he is still getting used to that. you take your toughest day on capitol hill, the presidential campaign is 100 times as tough. i think it will take a week or two to get used to that. more than a week or two, you can come back and say this might not

have been the best play. geoff: do you expect harris to distance herself in any discernible way from biden? >> she is going to run on the harris and biden administration 's record, which we are proud of as democrats, but she has her own person. when she agrees with the president, she will say so, and when she disagrees, she will say so. i think the president would expect that. geoff: thank you, we appreciate you. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu ended the war in gaza today in a speech to a joint meeting of congress amid protests and partisan politics that led dozens of democrats to boycott his speech. amna: netanyahu disparaged protesters who clashed with police outside the capitol and blame thomas for the tens of thousands of palestinians killed

the october 7 terrorist attack. nick schifrin reports. >> his excellently benjamin netanyahu, prime minister of israel. nick: no other foreign leader has delivered as many congressional addresses or received as much state of the union style applause, but no other invited foreign leader has also driven such division. outside congress today, protesters burned israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu in effigy and spray-painted "hamas is coming." at one point police sprayed them -- pepper spray demonstrators after they became violent. dozens of democrats boycotted and some attending did not stand. but republican lawmakers and many democrats shouted their support as netanyahu portrayed iran as a mutual enemy. >> when israel acts to prevent iran from developing nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons that could destroy israel and threaten every american city that you come from, we are not

only protecting ourselves, we are protecting you. [applause] nick: as israeli soldiers continue to battle hamas fighters, netanyahu has resisted endorsing a plan for the day after the war. today he reiterated a vision that u.s. officials have previously described as unrealistic. >> gaza should have a civilian administration run by palestinians who do not seek to destroy israel. that is not too much to ask. it's a fundamental thing that we have a right to demand and receive. nick: there is enormous pressure on netanyahu to agree to a deal that would release israeli hostages. congressional police detained some of the hostages' family members today who rose during the speech to demand he "seal the deal." today netanyahu announced no breakthrough and once again about -- once again vowed to release all the hostages. >> we are actively engaged in intensive efforts to secure

their release, and i'm confident that these efforts can succeed. some of them are taking place right now. nick: netanyahu has spoken to congress before, in 1996, 2011, and 2015, when he criticized president obama's iran nuclear deal. >> it doesn't block iran's path to the bomb, it paves iran's path to the bomb. nick: but today he praised president biden. >> he came to israel to stand with us during our darkest hour, a visit that will never be forgotten. nick: as for the protesters, netanyahu denounced them as anti-semites doing the bidding of hamas and disparaged them with a term usually reserved for pro-soviet stooges. >> you have officially become iran's useful idiots. nick: since october 7, palestinian health officials say more than 120,000 palestinians have been killed or wounded. today netanyahu blamed their deaths on hamas. >> for israel, every civilian death is a tragedy. for hamas, it is a strategy.

they actually want palestinian civilians to die so that israel will be smeared in the international media and be pressured to end the war before it is won. nick: nearly 6000 miles away, the war continues in khan younis, now a shell of itself. gazans who were told it would be safe to come back here must now escape again, forced to drag their loved ones, too frail to walk, desperate for a safety that is not to be found. >> we demand the leaders of the world to look at us. we are being targeted while we are being displaced. nick: on monday israel issued evacuation orders to 400,000 gazans in parts of khan younis in a previously designated safe zone. their neighborhoods are flooded with sewage. this week the world health organization warned of the spread of the poliovirus. the u.n. says nearly one third of those killed have been children.

but somehow baby malachi came to life, born after his mother died in an airstrike on their family home. geoff: after netanyahu's speech, a senior administration official told reporters a hostage deal is in "the closing stages," but this official acknowledged there is no agreement yet between israel and hamas on the transition from temporary to permanent ceasefire. to delve more into what netanyahu said and did not say, we are joined by tom malinowski, a two-term democratic member of the house from new jersey, and a former top state department human rights official under barack obama. and kirsten fontenrose, who served on the trump national security council focused on the middle east, and was also an official in both the state and defense departments. welcome back to the news thanks hour. very much to you both. kiersten, let me start with you. what did you think of netanyahu's speech? kiersten: i think he hit the points he came to hit. he both thanked the biden r

-- biden administration for their support for his policy, which also makes it harder for a kamala harris campaign to deviate from that policy. he set the stage for what he hopes will be a successful meeting with former president trump this coming friday by thanking president trump for the work he did during his administration. he also linked his war in gaza against several fronts, including the who these and hezbollah, with america's confrontation against iran. essentially making the point, our war is your war, we are fighting them here so you do not have to fight them at home. i think that resonates on both sides of the aisle. geoff: tom, is israel's war the u.s.'s war? tom: the war against hamas was a fight that all americans and people all around the world were willing and happy to support israel in waging after the unspeakable evil of what hamas did to innocent israelis on that horrible day. but we often say that

palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. i think israel also missed an opportunity. there was an opportunity to build a truly anti-hamas, anti-terror, anti-iran coalition, but it would have required prime minister netanyahu to do something is unwilling to do, and that is to meet his potential allies halfway by presenting at least a pathway to a palestinian state, to a two state solution. what i heard today was he was less partisan than he might have been, he was gracious to president biden. but i heard no forward progress on the hostage issue for the families that were waiting for something. and i heard a vision for the future of the middle east and the future of gaza that is completely disconnected from reality. i could not help thinking as he was speaking, his own defense minister is telling us that netanyahu is moving, is sending israel into a very dark future. his own security establishment thinks he's placing his own political interests ahead of the

interests of the security of israel. i feel like if you are pro-israel as i am, how can you provide unconditional support and unconditional applause to a man who, according to his own security officials and most of the israeli people, is doing so much to hurt israel's own interests? geoff: kirsten, is benjamin netanyahu, as his critics say, extending the war in order to extend his own political power? kirsten: i don't think it is up to him. granted the knesset probably cannot dissolve his government while they are out of session, which ends this sunday. but this war is being extended by the parties on the other side as readily as it is by israel. you have the houthis who recently launched new attacks using drones. hezbollah sends about 150 rockets across that border every day. this war is being extended. it is being managed, but it is certainly already being extended. geoff: tom, the fact is has

-- the fact is hezbollah opened fire itself on october 8 and has fired hundreds of thousands of rockets into israel. hamas continues to attack israelis not only in gaza but also in israel. netanyahu's defenders are saying they are doing what they have to do. tom: they love this situation. i agree with netanyahu that hamas does not care about palestinian lives. hamas is happy to see palestinians in gaza died. hezbollah is happy to see this,hou this are happy to see this, iran is happy to see this. and this is why so many people inside israel, including members of netanyahu's own party who are responsible for the security of the state of israel, are urging him to take the opportunity to end the conflict is benefiting israel's enemies. i think he won't do it because there is a political dynamic at play and because he is ideologically against the one thing that is necessary to bring the world together to actually help him in gaza and to create a durable solution.

geoff: let's talk about the hostage deal itself. six weeks would pause the war, that would be the first phase, and release more than 30 hostages. we did not hear from netanyahu what these hostage families wanted to hear, some kind of full throated endorsement of that deal. benny gantz the opposition leader today accused netanyahu of stalling and not wanting that deal. why do you think netanyahu has not publicly endorsed this deal? and should he? kirsten: he did mention during the speech that even while i'm speaking, actions are being taken towards this deal. he is sending people to negotiate again on thursday. some would say that is too many days away from now, but it is at least in negotiation continuing there are so many questions left to happen. there are so many questions left unanswered. will that full withdrawal include the corridor? who will oversee the withdrawal?

there are a lot of concrete details that are not ironed out. who will be holding each party accountable? a lot of these answers still need to be provided by the international community as well as israel and hamas. it is argued that hamas was a spoiler for quite some time and now israel is dragging its feet, and there is truth to that. i think it's probably because of some of these unanswered questions. he cannot agree to this hostage deal without some of these questions being answered. otherwise, he doesn't know what to tell his idf soldiers who are sitting in rafa if he agrees to something that unequivocally pulls them at the end of what could be a definitive operation. geoff: let me ask you about the protesters. netanyahu called them "useful idiots for iran." are they? tom: if you look at the protesters who are flying the hamas flag and burning the american flag. geoff: you mean flying the

palestinian flag. tom: i would say if netanyahu had paid those protesters, they could not be more helpful to him. he wants to go back to israel and say the alternative to me is we give into people calling for the destruction of the state of israel. so then he doesn't have to listen to the two thirds of the israeli public that would prefer a hostage deal. he does not have to listen to the most pro-israel american president in history, joe biden, who has been trying to help him out of the situation. that said, i think he was unfairly disdainful to the many people in the united states, including people who are deeply committed to the defense of israel, who have legitimate concerns about the humanitarian situation. geoff: kirsten, you brought up vice president harris. today she was not there. her staff said she had a scheduling conflict.

but she has been a little ahead of president biden in the past on the criticism of israel. let's listen to something she said in march. v.p. harris: people in gaza are starving. the conditions are inhumane, and our common humanity compels us to act and given the immense scale of suffering in gaza, there must be an immediate cease-fire. [applause] geoff: kirsten, israelis believe harris would push an end for the war in gaza more than president biden would. there will be a difference between harris and biden. do you think they are right? kirsten: i think they are right she might push for that, but even then president harris could only do so if she tied support -- tied american support for u.s. military activities to the

cease-fire, and that would require support of the senate. it depends on more than her own election. geoff: thanks very much. ♪ geoff: capitol hill is also where we start our other headlines of the day. fbi director christopher wray revealed during congressional testimony today that the gunman who tried to assassinate former president donald trump searched for information on the killing of president john f. kennedy a week earlier. wray was speaking during a house judiciary committee hearing, as lawmakers from both parties pressed for answers on why the july 13th shooting in butler , pennsylvania had not been prevented. he said the timing of the suspect's online search was significant. >> analysis of a laptop that the investigation ties to the shooter reveals that on july 6 he did a google search for

quote, "how far away was oswald from kennedy?" that is the same day that it appears that he registered for the butler rally. geoff: new bodycam footage from the aftermath of the shooting shows law enforcement on the roof where the 20-year-old gunman was killed by snipers. fbi director wray said the bureau believes he acted alone. and while his motive is unclear, wray says the gunman was interested in public figures more broadly. climate scientists say this past monday was earth's hottest day ever, breaking the record set just a day earlier. according to the european climate service "copernicus," the global average temperature on monday was 62.87 degrees fahrenheit. that was 0.1 degree higher than sunday. scientists say the timing of these records is especially troubling, given that the el niño climate pattern, which

warms the central pacific ocean, ended earlier this year. >> we've seen the signal come back to neutral and almost la nina actually. la nina means there's substantial cooling happening. and so then we would really expect the temperatures to come down. and so if that is not happening, then it means there's really, really, really something wrong happening in our planet. geoff: the heatwave has fanned the flames of summer wildfires, especially in the west. the largest blaze in the country is in oregon, which has burned nearly 400 square miles. other fires are scorching parts of california, washington and canada. authorities in nepal are investigating why an airlines flight crashed shortly after taking off from kathmandu airport today. 18 people were killed. the pilot was the lone survivor. rescuers rushed to the scene. airport officials say most of the passengers were mechanics or airline employees. witnesses described the moment of the crash. >> i came out and saw a plane

had crashed and there was huge plume of smoke and fire coming out. there was chaos and confusion. we couldn't even go near the plane to help because there was so much fire and even explosions. geoff: authorities say the aircraft was on its way to another nepalese city for maintenance. cybersecurity company crowdstrike is blaming a bug in an update for last week's global tech outage. it says the bug pushed out bad cybersecurity data to millions of windows computers, causing crashes that disabled airlines, hospitals, retailers and more. to prevent future outages, crowdstrike says it will stagger rollouts of updates, give customers more control over installations, and provide more details about future updates. among the most affected was delta airlines, with more than 6000 flight cancellations since last friday. the carrier's ceo said today that operations should return to normal by tomorrow. on wall street today, stocks

plummeted after some underwhelming tech earnings. the dow industrials fell 500 points, dropping well below the 40,000 point level. the nasdaq posted its worst session since late 2022, falling more than 650 points. the s&p 500 also tumbled, for its fifth drop in the last six sessions. and olympic officials have announced the hosts for the next two winter games, just days before the summer olympics in paris officially kick off. the international olympic committee said today that the 2030 games will be held in the french alps. and in utah, crowds rejoiced after news that the olympics will return in the year 2034. salt lake city hosted the games back in 2002. also today -- >> you have the honor of wearing this jacket during the opening ceremony and being the flag bearer with lebron james. [applause] geoff: team usa selected tennis phenom coco gauff to be a flag-bearer at friday's opening ceremony in paris. the reigning u.s. open champ had to sit out the tokyo games after testing positive for covid.

at 20 years old, gauff will be the youngest american to carry the flag at an opening ceremony. and still on the news hour, covid infections spike nationwide, raising concerns of yet another summer surge. and christine brennan previews the major athletes to watch in the paris olympics. ♪ >> this is the pbs news hour from w eta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. amna: a covid summer wave has spread across much of the u.s. and western states are seeing particularly high numbers of infections. geoff: with more people traveling for the summer, and gathering in large groups, public health officials are concerned these numbers won't be going down anytime soon. william brangham has the latest. william: across 45 states and territories, covid infections are rising.

according to the latest data from the cdc, more than half of those regions are showing high or very high levels of covid in wastewater samples. this rise is partly due to a number of new variants with particular mutations that make it easier for the virus to spread. for more on what can we expect for the rest of this summer, we're joined by epidemiologist katelynn jetelina. she's the author of the invaluable substack column called "your local epidemiologist." so nice to have you back on the program. help us explain this uptick. is it, as i mentioned, new variants? is it our summer behaviors? what is driving this? katelynn: there is a combination of three things that drive our summer waves. one his behavior change. it is really hot outside. people move indoors. viruses love to spread indoors. two, covid just keeps mutating. it is mutating about twice as

fast as the flu. every time a virus mutates, it finds a way to start chipping away at our immunity wall. three is waning immunity. there is this gradual decrease and protection at about six months after a vaccine or previous infection. all three of these things means the virus has found plenty of people to infect this summer. geoff: in addition to the number of infections about, is this wave driving hospitalizations and driving deaths? what is happening with wave? -- with this current wave? katelynn: right now the wave of infections is higher than we saw last summer. we have a pretty big wave of infections right now. thankfully, while severe disease like hospitalizations and deaths are increasing, they are starting at really low levels and not increasing as quickly as infections. this is thanks to population level immunity. these severe disease rates are

not as high as we saw last summer, even the summer before. william: let's talk more about that vaccination issue. does the current booster that's available protect against these new variants? so if people have not gotten one in a long time, should they consider that or should they wait? katelynn: covid vaccines continue to provide additional protection every year. right when you get the vaccine, they are imperfect and suboptimal, maybe about 20% additional production. the big bang for the buck is severe disease. protection against hospitalization and i see you is about 60% additional protection. but again, that wanes over time. what we are seeing, especially among those over 65 and immunocompromised, if they have not gotten a vaccine in the past six months, you may want to consider one right now. i would get one pretty quickly, because the fall is coming. we are going to have an updated vaccine, and we want at least

four months between each vaccine dose to work its best. william: let's say somebody does get infected. are the current tests available in drugstores accurately able to identify current infections, and what about the rules vis-a-vis isolation? katelynn: covid-19 at home antigen tests are still a really great tool. they are very good at telling you when you are very infectious. what i think antigen test are the best at is telling us when we leave isolation when we are not infectious anymore. according to the cdc, you can leave isolation before hours after your fever and your symptoms are improving. but after that time period, then it is recommended for about five more days, you still wear our mask, you still test, because there is definitely some infectious virus that may still be hanging around.

william: anecdotally, a lot of people i know have been getting it, and it seems this new variant is making them quite a bit sicker than past variants. it seems most people treat this as a cold or flu, sort of a passing thing that people are not that concerned about. from your perspective, is that a good idea? is it ok that people are starting to view covid this way? katelynn: i think it is a good sign. it is great that our hospitals are not overwhelming. it was exhausting back then. but it is important to realize that covid-19 is still more severe, more deadly than the flu. about 30% to 40% higher. i really worry about those that are older or over 65, even over 70, those in nursing homes, those with a lot of comorbidities, because among those, your immune system is weaker. when your immune systems are

weaker, it is harder to fight. we are still approaching with this as it is best to prevent infection in the first place through masks, through ventilation, but if you do get infected, to really isolate so you don't continue spreading it to other people in your community. william: katelynn jetelina. of "your local epidemiologist ." always good to hear from you. thanks so much. katelynn: thanks for having me. ♪ geoff: for years experts have warned about a growing mental health crisis among america's young people. but within that trend, there are important signals about racial disparities. between the years 2018 and 2022, the suicide rate among black youth rose by more than 50%, for the first time surpassing white youth, who saw a 17% decline. special correspondent fred de

sam lazaro has this story from chicago, the first of two reports. it's part of our race matters coverage. and a warning -- this story discusses topics of suicide that may difficult for some viewers. >> he had a personality that was so contagious. he was so in love with being a good person. fred: from an early age, jamal clay wanted to be helpful. >> some of my fondest memories of jamaal is remembering him waking me up early in the morning so we can get to school a little bit before the kids so he could take the chairs off the desk and help the teachers, you know, prepare for school. fred: he looked everyone in the eye and gave them his undivided attention. as time went on, however, rafiah maxie-cole noticed changes in her son. he drew into himself, grew quieter, spent more time alone.

maxie-cole knew clay was teased at school over his body type. at one point he tried to take his own life and was rushed to the hospital. >> a social worker, mother, traumatized, figuring out which role i have while my 12-year-old is in an isolation unit. fred: clay was ultimately released from the hospital, but in the years that followed, his struggles widened. >> many of the struggles my son dealt with was of course being a product of a single-parent and not having the closest relationship with his father. trying to be the man of the house, because he was. there was no male and not knowing how that goes. i remember him telling me "i learned how to tie my tie, mom, by going on youtube." and that broke my heart. fred: on may 27, 2020, jamal clay died by suicide at the age of 19. >> it rocked my whole foundation.

how do you go to work when one of your main jobs is to keep people safe, and you ain't got nobody safe at your home? i have so many questions and he has all the answers. fred: between 2015 and 2021, more than 360 black people died by suicide in chicago. according to a university of chicago study, the trends in that time largely mirrored what happened nationally. black residents were the only group to experience significant increases in suicides among both men and women. meanwhile, suicides decreased among white men and women. there was also a higher proportion of suicide deaths among black teens. and the youngest person to die by suicide was an eight year old black boy. professor janelle goodwill co-authored that research at the university of chicago. dr. goodwill: i have had the opportunity to directly ask

people, particularly black young adults, why they've considered ending their life. and one of the primary reasons they've pointed to is feeling hopeless about the future. hopelessness on an individual level, but also hopelessness on a structural level. fred: chicago has been called one of america's most segregated cities and the disparities are striking. even though blacks account for fewer than a third of the city's population, they make up nearly half of those living in poverty , 70% of people living in jail , and three quarters of victims of gun violence. how much of those contributing factors, how much of those are at the baseline of, you know, the cumulative problem that you have? dr. goodwill: i think it's a really important word that you use is cumulative. there's rarely one reason that leads someone to consider suicide. it's not just individual factors of sick -- of stigma, but there are these larger systemic or structural level factors that are shaping an individual's ability to have access to clean air, to quality schools, to adequate health care. do they have access to quality

foods? and do they have a strong social safety net and support? there -- and support? fred: in 2019, the congressional black caucus released a report on the national crisis with recommendations for tackling it -- including increased funds to research the rise in black youth suicide. the national institute of mental health has since granted millions of dollars for the effort. >> as a black person, as a youth , you must have these blinders on, just like a horse in a race, because you can't look left or right. you just have to keep forward. fred: maxie-cole knows her son died just two days after george floyd was murdered by police in minneapolis. she says living in a society rife with systemic and structural racism is like having a headache that never goes away. and, she says, a stereotype of endless resilience within the black community can be taxing. >> i'm so sick and tired of being black and got to be strong. be black and be a strong woman.

you can survive. i'm tired. everything in this house represents struggle. it represents somebody who came from up and under. and i get that. i lean on that. but sometimes you get mad because it feels unfair. it's like, my child is dead. well, i still gotta be strong, you know? i will never see my son do those things. fred: after her son's death, maxie-cole created an organization, "soul survivors of chicago." she advocates for suicide prevention and mental health awareness, hoping to tackle what she sees as enduring stigma in the community. "soul survivors" also provides support for people of color who've lost loved ones to suicide. >> welcome to the show. breaking the silence provided by soul survivors of chicago. fred: maxie-cole hosts a public access talk show, where she

speaks to guests about mental health. >> you can see my life and what i'm doing with it to normalize the conversation about this happening and what happens when this happens and what we feel. i take on the charge and wave the flag. does it hurt? hell, yes. do i like it? not always, but i'm here to say i will stand in that place so that you don't have to imagine. fred: earlier this year, on an episode of "breaking the silence," maxie-cole interviewed noah boynton, a 17 year old from chicago's south side. boynton spoke about his own mental health struggles and the help he eventually received. tomorrow night, we will share noah boynton's story and explore how a shortage of mental health providers is exacerbating this crisis.

for the pbs news hour, i'm fred de sam lazaro in chicago. geoff: fred's reporting is a partnership with the under-told stories project at the university of st. thomas in minnesota. ♪ amna: the 2024 paris olympics are here. the opening ceremony isn't until friday, but events are officially underway today, including men's soccer and rugby. millions of fans will descend on the city, as will athletes from around the globe, including american superstars like simone biles, sha'carri richardson, lebron james, coco gauff, and katie ledecky. to preview the summer games, i'm joined from paris by christine brennan, columnist for usa today. great to see you. thanks for joining us. christine: great to be with you. amna: before we dive into this game, i have to ask you about some olympics related news out today.

the international olympic committee announced that the 2034 winter games will be hosted by salt lake city, but there has been controversy around that decision. explain that to us. christine: exactly. salt lake city is really the only city that wanted the 2034 games. very controversial, cost a lot of money. we expected this to be a slamdunk. instead the ioc, several members brought up basically a demand, demanding the local officials in utah and salt lake city, including the governor, cede to their wishes to shut down the federal investigation that is going on involving the chinese doping controversy that i am sure many remember involving swimming. the fbi is investigating. there is a law that allows the united states to investigate doping schemes that affect u.s. athletes, which this one certainly does, and may be deprives them of medals.

surprisingly, shockingly, the u.s. officials said yes, we will sign this agreement with the knowledge that we have been told by the ioc that we have now been told by the ioc that we should try to shut down an investigation that would impact the ioc, because if they come into the country, as has been the case with one official, where they get subpoenaed when they land in the united states. these international olympic committee people think they are royalty and untouchable and they don't want to deal with u.s. laws. truly stunning development that they caved into the ioc in this manner. amna: not the headline they wanted to kick off these games. let's turn to the summer events. we are featuring some of the biggest u.s. stars folks will know, including gymnast simone biles, truly the goat. we have to remind folks team usa took the silver last olympics. remember biles had to pull out amid extreme stress that was putting her in physical risk. how do we expect her to do and the team this year? christine: this is the story of

the olympics, at least for u.s. fans. and gymnastics fans. simone biles is a survivor of the worst sexual abuse case and scandal in olympic history and sports history, the larry nassar saga. she has been so vocal as a survivor in supporting others, hundreds of women who were horrifically abused. she is a survivor, the greatest of all time. she is coming back after a terrific olympics in rio eight years ago, and a difficult olympics three years ago in tokyo. she had the twisties, a word we didn't know and now we all know covid she withdrew to take care of that, physically and mentally, and won the bronze medal in the balance beam. i would not be surprised if she wins the gold and team u.s. gets that gold back and she is able to win gold in floor exercise, balance beam, maybe vault as well.

she's 27, but she's on top of her game. she really feels great coming into these olympics and obviously is going to be the one to watch over the next 10 days. amna: also one to watch is katie ledecky. she is swimming in her fourth olympic games. looking to add to her six individual gold medals. what should be watch for here? christine: i think she will win two more individual gold medals in the 800 and 1500. the longer she swims, the better she does. she is great at those distances and has dominated the mile, the 1500 and 800. the 400 will kickoff the olympic competition on saturday. there is an australian who won the gold three years ago. katie got the silver. katie has won gold in rio in this event. silver. and now the question is will she win a medal at all? there is great competition, all these young swimmers that grew up idolizing katie ledecky are now competing with her.

she, like simone biles, is 27. they were born in the same week in march of 2027, amazing. katie is such a superb athlete, so good, and loves this so much. i would not be surprised to see her win four medals, one in the relay, and three in the 1400, 1500, and 800, with gold in those last two events. amna: what about track and field? we know superstar names. how is team usa expected to do? christine: this is one of the marquee events and it is the second week of the olympics after swimming is done. americans love their sprinters. going all the way back to jesse owens, to carl lewis -- i'm sure florence griffith joyner, evelyn ashford, gail devers, now she kerry richardson. if she gets the chance she did three years ago. i'm sure people remember the positive drug test for marijuana. it broke everyone's heart, but it is a banned substance so she

did not go to the tokyo effects. -- tokyo olympics. she is back, expected to do great, and i think win potentially the 100 meters. noah liles on the men's side, the same. the sprints, the 100 and 200, he won the bronze in tokyo and has been dominating at world championships. those two, those names i mentioned earlier, we always look for the next one. we look for the next superstar in the sprints. i think richardson and liles are going to fit the bill. a lot of pressure but i think they are ready to do it. amna: christine joining us from paris, covering the olympic games. thank you so much. we will check back with you soon. christine: take care. ♪ geoff: 40 million people depend on the colorado river, which irrigates some of the nation's most productive agricultural land. but that vital resource is in

peril. amna: science correspondent miles o'brien looks at the problem and some solutions in a special livestream tonight. watch "tipping point: colorado river reckoning" now on our youtube page. that is the news hour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. have a good evening. >> major funding for the pbs new s hour has been provided by the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the news hour, including jim and nancy and the robert and virginia schiller foundation. the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide. 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.

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