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israeli forces target a high ranking hezbollah military leader raising fears of an escalated conflict in the region. vice president harris campaigns in georgia, a state that is now even more hotly contested than expected. and congress advances a bill aimed at protecting children online, but critics warn it could lead to censorship. >> major funding for "the pbs news hour" has been provided by -- the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of "the news hour," including kathy and paul anderson and camille and george smith. >> john s a dot and james l. knight foundation, fostering an informed and engaged

communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. geoff: welcome to "the news hour." israel says it has killed one of hezbollah's most senior officials in the southern suburbs of beit tonight.

>> u.s. officials have no independent confirmation of the death, but israel blames him for this past weekend's strike that killed a dozen children. he has long been on the u.s.' most wanted list, and tonight, his possible death is sparking fears of an escalating regional war. it was a strike in hezbollah's stronghold. an israeli missile destroyed an apartment building and rained debris in the middle of a residential neighborhood. the target confirmed by an israeli official, the u.s. specially designated terrorist. israel held him responsible for last weekend's attack on a soccer field that killed a dozen children and teenagers, a strike that israel's defense minister said crossed the line. an israeli official also called on the -- called him the head of hezbollah's military wing. he is also a wanted man in the u.s. for playing a central role

in the october 1983 bombing of the u.s. marine corps bearings in beirut, killing 421 u.s. service members. vice president harris said after arriving in atlanta today she supported israel and once a diplomatic solution. >> it has the right to defend itself against a terrorist organization because that is exactly what hezbollah is. all that said, we still must work on a diplomatic solution. >> senior american officials have visited lebanon and israel, hoping to calm tensions with a diplomatic agreement to move hezbollah back from the israeli border as the united nations security council long ago demanded. the two sides have traded fire for 10 months since hezbollah started launching rockets in 2008. after the strike, residents of southern beirut demanded revenge. tonight, a senior israeli official tells me that israel

wanted to send a "very clear message -- we will not tolerate harm to civilians, but we don't want to see this escalating into a wider war and if it does is in the hands of hezbollah." to discuss today's attack, we turn to the director of the conflict resolution and tractor dialogues program at the middle east institute. thank you very much. welcome back. how important was this man and what impact will his that have, assuming he is in fact dead? collects assuming he is dead because hezbollah has not confirmed his death. he is a senior commander, a member of hezbollah's jihadi council, which is a small group of a few men who are in charge of all military affairs of hezbollah. he is part of the first cohort of hezbollah fighters in the early 1980's, rose through the ranks to become senior commander and now a member of this elite

jihadi council, and as such, he works in close coordination with iran's revolutionary guard force. >> as you said, hezbollah has not confirmed his death. has hezbollah denied that he is dead? quick snow, and i have not denied he hesitated. the news out of hezbollah's headquarters was that he was hurt, but they have not denied he is dead. until now, they have not issued a statement. for me, it is an indication for the leadership to decide what kind of statement they will issue and how they will respond. >> an israeli senior official told me tonight basically that they don't want to see escalation after this, that they see this event as the end of the back and forth.

how is hezbollah likely to take that message, and how is it likely to respond, again, if he is in fact dead? >> in one of his recent speeches, he said that this war in a support of palestinians that they launched on october 8 on the border with israel is conducted according to a careful balance equation -- the way he put it. a careful, balanced equation. what he meant by that is a proportionate, tit-for-tat battle. we will follow this logic and apply it to the strike. the israeli strike took place and hit a major city, the capital of the country, and took out a highly valued asset for hezbollah. this is not the first hezbollah commander who was killed. until now, israel has targeted

more than 300 hezbollah commanders, but none of them is of the seniority of rank that this man was. taking that pattern of proportionality, we should expect hezbollah's response to follow that same pattern in terms of maybe hitting a major city and hitting a high ranking person. >> israel made it clear after the attack that hezbollah would pay a price "that it had not paid before." israel has had multiple options for how to respond. how do you rate its decision to respond in this way? >> it is a major escalation. the israeli minister of defense has said has crossed a red line when their rockets hit. hezbollah will look at this strike as israel also crossing a red line for them. we are now really on the brink

of maybe major escalatory scenario, but, hopefully, the two sides will remain interested in containing this war so we step away from the brink and prevent this all out war that everybody is expecting. >> the u.s. officials i talk to are certainly afraid of that. we heard this afternoon vice president harris saying she wanted diplomacy to work. will hezbollah listen to the messages that they will receive from the americans, from the region, and not escalate further ? >> i think we are in a new chapter of warfare between hezbollah and israel, with again, all red lines being violated. new rules of the game will start taking shape and taking place. in this new chapter, the outside parties will have limited impact

on the two belligerent parties. at this point, it will really be up to hezbollah to post benefit calculus about escalation. >> the conventional wisdom for that cost-benefit calculus recently at least has been that neither israel nor hezbollah itself, frankly, nor iran would want this to escalate into a further war, given the risk to israel that hezbollah rockets pose and given the risk to lebanon itself that a war that hezbollah would start, how unpopular that would be in lebanon. is that conventional wisdom right? is it still the case? >> i think it is still the case neither side wants war. as we have seen, maybe mistakes got committed, and then you had in escalation and now we might have counter escalation, but i think all israel and hezbollah

as well as the u.s. and iran are interested in containing this crisis and hoping that we will get to this cease-fire deal in gaza, which will then ensure total cessation of hostilities on the lebanon-israel border. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. stephanie: i am stephanie sy with "news hour." the day's other headlines began in california where the rapidly spreading park fire is now the fifth largest in the state's history. as of today, the blaze has scorched nearly 600 square miles. at a briefing this morning, governor gavin newsom said this summer's fire activity is already well above average.

he urged residents to heed official warnings. >> this is the beginning of a season. we are seeing significantly more activity, so i pray that people are mindful of these evacuation orders, they take them seriously. you can replace a home. you cannot replace a life. >> dozens of other large fires are burning in the west a bit hot and dry conditions. that is in stark contrast to the northeast where torrential rain soaked northern vermont again today. rivers washed out roads. authorities had to rescue some two dozen people. in southern india, landslides have killed at least 109 people, and many more are believed to be trapped under the debris. heavy rain sent mud and water gushing through the hills of kerala state. rescuers used zip lines over rushing waters to search for survivors. local media are reporting many of the victims were employees of the area's tea farms.

collect all the victims were sleeping last night when the disaer struck. the victims, including children, were buried in a landslide before sunrise. >> kerala is one of india's most popular tourist destinations and is prone to heavy rains. tuesday's landslides are the worst disaster there since flooding in 2018 killed nearly 500 people. the united states carried out a strike in self defense in iraq today according to an unnamed u.s. official speaking to reuters. earlier in the day blast were reported south of baghdad at a base for iraq's popular mobilization forces, killing 4. the base houses several iran-but aligned -- iran-aligned militia groups. last week, an iraqi base housing u.s.-led forces came under a rocket attack. no damage or casualties were reported. international pressure is growing on venezuela following the country's disputed

presidential election, which gave incumbent nicolas maduro another six years in office. the state department today called for a tabulation of the results, saying the election was "undermined by antidemocratic actions, political repression, and electoral manipulation." meanwhile in caracas, supporters of the opposition held a peaceful protest today to voice their anger at the official results. opposition leaders say they have proof their candidate defeated maduro in an landslide in a sunday's vote. protested a said the nation was ready for a change. >> we must find a way to have election speak respected. the people of venezuela spoke. they want political change. >> also today, venezuela's attorney general announced that more than 700 people had been detained at protests that took place monday. he said some will be charged with terrorism offenses.

an investigation into historical abuse at u.s. government-run boarding schools found nearly twice as many native american children died than was previously thought. at least 900 73 children are now known to have perished over a 150-year period that ended in 1969. an additional report two years ago indicated more than 500 children had died. the findings cited sickness and abusive schools that were set up to assimilate native american children into white society. the investigation was commissioned by interior secretary deb haaland and has led to calls for the government to apologize to victims of the abuse. facebook's parent company will pay out a $1.4 billion settlement to the state of texas over allegations it illegally collected facial recognition information on millions of users. big state-filed lawsuit said meta violated texas law that prohibits the capture or selling

of biographic information like fingerprint or facial recognition without consent. the agreement is the largest privacy settlement to date. william calley, the u.s. army lieutenant who led his troops in carrying out the meal i massacre in vietnam, has died. he actually passed away in april, but media reports only confirmed his death this week. he was the only officer convicted for his role in the most notorious war crime in modern american history. in 1968, he and his soldiers slaughtered an estimated 500 unarmed women, children, and elderly with machine guns, grenades, and bayonets. their actions were covered up in military reports for over a year. he was court-martialed and received a life sentence but only served three years under house arrest. he cap -- he had long maintained that he had just been following orders. william calley was 80 years old.

at the olympics today in paris, and spoiler alert, we have some results to bring you. the women of american gymnastics reclaimed their olympic title. simone biles powered through the pressure and a tweaked calf from an earlier competition to lead a squad packed with olympic veterans to gold. in rugby, the u.s. women's team defeat australia for their first ever metal of bronze -- first ever medal of bronze. in tennis, the number two seed, coco gauff, is out of the singles competition after an emotional match that included a controversial line call. as of this evening, the u.s. leads the total medal count, 4 of them gold. france and china are positioned in second and third place. still to come, we examine the impact of the changing race for the white house on many critical down ballot races.

senators question the acting head of the secret service about the assassination attempt on former president trump. and i former hong kong bookstore begins a new chapter in upstate new york. >> this is "the pbs news hour," from w eta studios in washington and in the west from walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state diversity -- university. geoff: vice president harris is hitting the campaign trail in the battleground state of georgia today. she plans to visit several swing states in the coming weeks ahead of the chicago democratic convention. our lorber barron-lopez joins us now on the ground in atlanta. at least 10,000 people have registered for that rally tonight where you are. i know you have been talking to folks as they make their way into the stadium. what are they telling you?

how are they feeling? >> people have been lined up out here since before 10:00 a.m. at the venue in atlanta, and a lot of voters are incredibly excited. for some of them, it is the first time they have come to a big political rally. i also sat down with three black women voters earlier today to talk to them about the election cycle, and those voters, i ask them how they feel about all of the big changes that have occurred in this election just in the last week. >> prior to president biden dropping out of the race, how would you describe how you felt about the election in one word? >> i hate to say it, but i really felt this sense of doom and dread. >> nervous. >> i felt scared. >> how do yofeel now? >> rejuvenated. >> hopeful. >> optimistic. >> that mood matches what we have been hearing from voters here waiting to see harris, which is that they feel much

better now about democrats' chances in the presidential race than they did before. quickly vice president's speech tonight is expected to have a sharp focus on reproductive rights. how important of an issue is that for the voters with whom you spoke earlier? >> it is an incredibly important issue. vice president harris has been the face of the white house's messaging on abortion since the fall of roe v. wade. the vice president herself went in march 2 an abortion clinic. she was the first vice president or president sitting in that office that had ever visited an abortion clinic at the time. one of the voters i spoke to today said that she thinks that harris will be a much better messenger on abortion rights than president biden. >> if the president of the united states is a woman who is speaking for women's rights and women's reproductive rights, i

think that will sway some people more than even if president biden was saying the same thing. i think president harris saying the same thing will have a different impact. >> rachel as well as the other black women voters i spoke to said abortion is still one of their top issues, and they think that it is very salient for voters in georgia. geoff: vp harris has been the likely democratic nominee for more than a week now. how is her campaign strategy taking shape? >> vice president harris as well as former president trump are out with a new ad buys today, trying to define kamala harris. harris' campaign launched a $50 million ad by cover which is trying to define the vice president -- $50 million ad buy,

which is trying to define the vice president. they are also attempting to attack donald trump in that ad that will be playing across battleground states, specifically going at him on his attacks on the affordable care act. they harris campaign essentially says that they believe that now they have more than one pathway to 270 electoral votes, so that is ultimately -- they are focusing on states like georgia as well as the sun belt much more than just the blue all states. geoff: we are expecting the vice president to name her running mate in a matter of days. how is the vetting process shaping up? >> vice president was asked on her way here if she had picked a running mate yet, and she said not yet, but that decision will be coming very soon because by august 7, kamala harris will be likely named the democratic nominee, so she has to pick her vice president by roughly august 6, and the people close to the

campaign tell me she is still considering, including governor of minnesota, the governor of kentucky, the governor of pennsylvania, as well as arizona senator kelly, and that decision will be coming very soon because sources close to the campaign tell me that as early as next week, harris will be out on the campaign trail with whoever she picks as her running mate. geoff: thanks so much. in the 10 days since kamala harris launched her presidential campaign, she has racked up endorsements from some usual suspect -- former democratic presidents, party leaders in congress -- and she has won the support of enough delegates to clinch the nomination, but yesterday, the harris campaign announced the support of more than a dozen mayors in the critical battleground state of arizona. one stand out on the list was republican john giles of mason.

he wrote in "the arizona republic" -- "too much is at stake to vote republican at the top of the ticket." mesa mayor -- mason mayor john giles joins us now. why are you supporting vice president harris instead of former president trump in this election? >> as you mentioned, i am a republican, so it is an endorsement that came with a lot of thought, and also, i am elected in a nonpartisan election as mayor, so i don't go out of my way looking to inject myself into partisan politics when i can avoid it, but every so often, there are compelling issues that i feel like silence is not an option. silence would be acquiescence, and this is one of those important elections. i felt similarly four years ago. i wanted to vote against donald trump as much or more than i wanted to vote for president biden. this time around, similar

position. it is important to me that we not go through the chaos of another trump presidency, but i am genuinely excited about the prospects of kamala harris being our president. geoff: as you mentioned, you voted for president biden in 2020, but you had not endorsed him before he exited the race. why does vice president harris get your support now when president biden had not? mayor charles: i think ultimately i would have given my support to president biden, but i am very excited with the vice president's entry into the campaign. it has been fun to see the energy she has brought. i think arizona is very much in play where i'm not sure that it was before, and that is even before we discuss the possibility of senator kelly joining the ticket. there is generally a lot of excitement around the harri campaign.

again, she is a democrat, so there are absolutely some policy issues that she and i differ on, but in spite of that, what i do know about her is that the top item on her agenda is doing what is best for the united states, and i honestly cannot say that about mr. trump. geoff: immigration is a big issue in this election. what is your assessment of her record on immigration? mayor giles: i would not say it is an issue. it is the issue. that is something the vice president will have to come to arizona and convince the people here that she has a good policy and that she is going to work treating it as a problem to be solved as opposed to president trump's approach which is to treat it as an issue to be exploited. republicans are attempting to blame her for the surges in chaos at the border. i think there is blame to be passed all around, going back multiple presidential administrations, but in

particular, i am disappointed with president trump's decision to kill the bipartisan immigration act that senator cinema -- senator sinema and others worked so hard on. vice president harris will have to address this issue head-on, especially in border states like arizona, but i think when all the facts on the table, the majority of the blame for the problem there will go to president trump's attempts to derail a lot of work that has gone into trying to solve that problem. geoff: president biden won arizona in 2020 by fewer than 11,000 votes, the first democrat to win the state in over two decades. a poll out this past week had bp harris trailing donald trump by five points. can kamala harris win arizona in the cycle? what more does she need to do? mayor giles: she can. i think she needs to remind

people like me who four years ago, maybe we were republicans or moderate democrats -- we need to remind people how chaotic four years of donald trump was. we truly were referring to it is our national nightmare. people seem to for some reason have forgotten that experience. i think if she presents herself as a moderate person in arizona, someone who maybe has evolved on some of the issues that she was such a vigorous advocate for early on in her political life, the contrast between her and president trump is stark, and he does not compare well. geoff: mesa mayor john giles, a republican who is supporting vice president kamala harris in this election. thank you, mr. mayor. we appreciate it. mayor giles: thank you.

geoff: the dramatic changes in the presidential race could have implications for control of the house and senate. both chambers are up for grabs with democrats hopeful about flipping the house. our lisa desjardins has more with the lawmaker overseeing that effort. lisa: suzan delbene a represents a long stretch of western washington state in congress and two years ago became the chairwoman of the democratic congressional campaign committee. her job is to oversee democrat'' push to keep and gain seats in the house, and she joins me now. thank you for joining us. i have been speaking to your colleagues, as have many reporters over the past few weeks. they were very nervous about biden when he was the nominee. house democrats felt he would hurt them down ballot. now with harris as the presumptive nominee, has anything changed? what should she do for those down ballot races you care about so much?

congresswoman dale bennett -- congresswoman delbene: folks are excited, and this election is a huge contrast. it is abt folks standing up for our rights, our freedom, over democracy, and our future in our democratic candidates out there, and folks who want to undermine all that, take away our rights and undermine our democracy, so there is a lot at stake, and people see that. they are very motivated and engaged and involved all across the country, and so we know when we can get our message out to voters and talk to them about standing up for reproductive freedom, making sure that we build an economy that works for everyone in this country, grope the middle class, we win, and we are continuing to get that message out, and obviously, their enthusiasm will be very helpful. lisa: after the harris

announcement and biden stepping down, the harris campaign saw a surge in fundraising. you also had a one-day record right after that, but has that continued back on line -- has that continued? >> we have been out raising our republican counterparts by a lot, and we have our candidates and incumbents running in tough reelections out raising their opponents, but we did see a pickup went vice president harris was announced as the candidate and had our biggest online fundraising day, but we continue to see strong support, and those resources are important because we have a lot of races across the country in the house and we need to make sure folks know who our candidates are, what they stand for, fight the misinformation and disinformation that will be out there. lisa: this house was famous for the close margin that

republicans were running by, which caused them problems and their leadership repeatedly. you have to flip a handful of seeds around the country in order to take the house. looking at the political report, they rate right now there's about 22 tossup races. of those, 11 are democratic-help right now. 11 are republican-held. if you look at the ones you all hold, i know the majority of those are in places like ohio, pennsylvania, michigan, manufacturing types of states. why is it that democrats are defending in those areas where there used to be such a poor constituency of working-class americans that democrats could count on? >> i think the reason we have those seats and will keep those seats is because our focus always has been on growing and strengthening the middle class, talking to people about the issues they are facing in their communities, making sure we are addressing affordability, the cost of housing, of food, childcare, and making sure we are focused on opportunities for workers, not tax breaks for the

wealthy and well-connected, which seems to be a top priority of republicans. that has been part of our message of making sure the folks know we are working to get things done in our communities. when we do that and folks see our authentic candidates who are fighting for them, they continue to support them. and these are purple districts, right? lisa: some voters hold you responsible and the biden administration for increased food and grocery prices and housing prices. what is your message to say we are going to make it better? >> i actually think this is about who is actually fighting for an economy that works for everyone. we absolutely have been, if you look at policies and the ongoing work that has been going on, and there is more to do. we are talking about addressing affordable housing across this country. we need more housing in every part of our country. if we are talking about addressing costs or looking at tax policy, it is about putting working families first. republicans have been all about

tax breaks for the wealthy and well-connected, and their idea of trickle down, that never works. we have been supporting policies like the child tax credit, that have been helping families pay for childcare, paper rent -- pay for rent. we can do much more to build on policies like that that help families, and we are talking about that and the work that would really make a difference on the ground, but first, we've got to have folks who are willing to govern. republicans have been chaotic, dysfunctional, extreme his entire congress. we got sent home early because they don't know how to pass any legislation. having folks who will focus on governing is so important to every part of the country i have been to, and we have folks who want to govern. lisa: while vice president harris is the presumptive nominee on your side, the republicans have someone new as well, j.d. vance, as the vice

presidential nominee. some tell me that is good for you guys. do you think he helps immigrants possibly? >> i think if you listen to what he has been saying when he is on the road, he continues to parent talking points of republicans, putting in place a nationwide abortion ban, taking away reproductive freedom, taking away our rights, undermining our democracy. if he continues to talk about that, that is part of the publican platform. we are going to stand up for our rights, our freedoms, our democracy, and build a strong future. lisa: thank you so much. i want to add, we have reached out to the national campaign committee as well to request a similar interview with them. geoff: one week after the resignation of the secret service director, her acting successor spent this morning acknowledging his agency's

failures and trying to reassure congress during a hearing that the secret service is capable and accountable. he was joined at the hearing of the senate judiciary and homeland security committees by the deputy director of the fbi. >> do you swear that the testimony you will give -- for the second time in just eight days -- >> somebody has got to be fired. geoff: members of congress will the secret service about the security failures leading up to the assassination attempt up presidential candidate former president trump this month. >> they are checking rooftops, looking around. there's two government snipers. how could they not see him? geoff: this time under oath, the acting director just a week into his tenure calling the efforts to protect mr. trump a failure on multiple levels. >> i went to the roof of the agr building where the assailant fired shots, and i laid in a prone position to evaluate his line of sight.

what i saw made me ashamed. as a career law enforcement officer and a 25-year veteran with the secret service, i cannot defend why that roof was not better secured. geoff: he was at times more direct in his testimony than his predecessor, but he pushed back even harder, leading to heated exchanges with some republican senators, including missouri republican josh hawley. >> my question is why don't you believe everybody of duty who made bad judgment? you are right, i am zeroing in on somebody. i am trying to find somebody who is accountable. the former president was shot. this could have been our texas school book depository. i have lost sleep over that for several days. >> then fire somebody. >> i will tell you that i will not rush to judgment, that people will be held accountable, and i will do so with integrity and not rush to judgment and put people unfairly persecuted -- >> i can't believe you are --

>> texas senator ted cruz lit into the witness over previously denied requests from the trump campaign for additional protection. >> is it your testimony that in butler, pennsylvania, donald trump have the same number of agents protecting him that joe biden has at a comparable event? >> i'm telling you the close protection shift surrounding him -- >> that's yes or no. >> and i'm trying to answer it. >> you are not answering it. is it the same number of agents or not? >> there is a difference between the sitting president of the united states -- >> been what's the difference? two x, three x, five x? i'm not asking why you assigned more to joe biden. i'm asking is the difference two x, three x, five x, 10 x? >> i will get you that number so you can see it with your own eyes. >> the fbi deputy director laid out the most comprehensive

public account of the shooting yet, detailing several missed chances and lapses in communication between local law enforcement and the secret service. >> the first reported sighting of the shooter by local law enforcement was out approximately 4:26 p.m. >> but he says for more than 90 minutes, secret service snipers were unaware of the threat posed by the gunman, despite local officers trying to track him. >> officers lost sight of the subject from approximately 6:02 p.m. to 6:08 p.m. and at a proximally 6:0 8:00 p.m. come the subject was observed on the roof by local law enforcement. at approximately 6:11 p.m., a local officer was lifted to the roof, saw the shooter, and radioed that he was armed with "a long gun." within approximately the next 30 seconds, the shots were fired. >> ro called into question the performance of local law enforcement, who he said had a better view of the gunman.

>> this is from the second-floor of the agr building. this point of view is the point of view where the counter sniper team locally was posted. the gold arrow indicates where the shooter fired from. looking left, why was the assailant not seen it? >> we made an assumption that there was going to be uniform presence out there, that there would be sufficient eyes to cover that, that there was going to be counter sniper teams in the agr building, and i can assure you we are not going to make that mistake again. >> he also said the fbi was still searching for a motive but had uncovered a social media account potentially linked to the gunman. >> there were over 700 comments posted from this account. some of these comments ultimately -- if ultimately attributable to the shooter appear to reflect anti-semitic and anti-immigration themes to espouse political violence and

are described as extreme in nature. >> a number of senators also urged to ask for more resources and personnel. former president trump is said to be interviewed by the fbi about the shooting later this week. geoff: the u.s. senate today passed the kids online safety act by a vote of 91-3. if the bill passes the house, it will mark the first time in 25 years that congress has passed a bill aimed at better protecting children from dangerous online. stephanie sy has our coverage. stephanie: in a 2023 survey, 65% of kids in the u.s. reported experiencing an online risk, ranging from misinformation and graphic violence to hate speech. among other things, the act establishes duty of care. that is a legal term requiring

social media companies and other platforms like gaming sites to reasonably mitigate harm. companies would have to disable addictive content and limit features that extend the time spent on platforms. it allows kids to opt out of personalized algorithm recommendations and limits others from communicating directly with children, but some are concerned the bill violates first amendment freedoms, could lead to censorship, and could prevent marginalized individuals from getting important information. for a closer look, i'm joined by ava smithing of the young people's alliance, which supported the passing of the bill. there are a wide range of threats to kids we have covered on this program, from sextortion to harmful content. what can we do to protect kids online? >> there's a couple of reasons i

think this bill will be incredibly effective. the first is one you mentioned with the duty of care that would place the onus on tech companies to design and implement teachers which are healthy for these kids. the second thing is a risk assessment and audit. we all have our taxes audited annually, and in every other industry before we put a product out, we make sure that that product is safe for consumption by and for minors, and that is another thing that this act will set up, to ensure that there is a third party audit and risk assessment on social media companies. >> what kind of accountability for tech companies does this bill include? for example, does it hold a social media company legally liable for content that reaches kids? >> no, social media companies are not held legally liable for content that reaches children. this is a protection gifted to them -- gifted -- this is a protection they receive under section 230 of the communications decency act, and this bill says internet service

providers such as social media companies cannot be held liable for content on their platforms. this bill does not interfere or impact with content on social media platforms but rather the design of the future and ensures the ftc can implement guidelines on how to safely design please. think about things like the endless school, -- endless scroll, which encourages addictive behavior. >> i want to play with the head of trans and ohio told us. >> what concerns me most about this bill and bills seeking to limit the scope of what is accessible on the internet is who decides what should be accessible and how it is accessible? being the head of a trans organization in a state where we have actively had legislators

tell us to our faces that they would like to see our website and the services that we provide to youth and adults across the state restricted, it is not a leap and a pound and is anything but hyperbole to see how a bill like this could lead to our website and other websites being limited in their access. >> what do you think about that? do you see how this law could be weaponized against certain communities, in particular the trans community? >> when i started advocating on behalf of social media reform, me and my organization did not endorse the kids-only safety act because we had similar fears about what the bill could do, as this organization does, but in february, a new version of the bill came out that not only limited the state attorneys general ability to voice concern but also added the word design feature into duty of care, which says companies need to exercise

reasonable care through the implementation design features, further proving that the bill is not in fact about content but rather about the design of these platforms. >> there is also some concern about the data collection and age verification requirements of the bill. i want to play for you what the electronic frontier foundation has had to say. >> platforms will have to start collecting a lot more information on all of their users to determine which of their users are entitled to this special protection or legally required to have this special protection. one of the things we have seen in our privacy work is that any time platforms collect type of information -- personally identifiable information at scale and have to hold onto it, that becomes a target for theft, for identity theft. >> do you agree with that? does the law leave data and privacy vulnerable at all? >> there's a couple of things to address.

first is that it is not subject to anything that was not in place with everything that came before it. the second thing is all these companies already know how old you two are, what you do, -- how old you are, what you do, where you are. this is no more data than what they collect in their reasonable course of business. privacy concerns are actually addressed by limiting the amount of data that companies are allowed to collect on young people in the first place. >> you were on social media as a teenager, and i understand it negatively affected you. can you talk about that and how you think having a law like this in place would have changed your online experience and maybe even your childhood? >> it would have certainly changed her childhood. when i was a young person, about 11 or 12, i first downloaded

instagram and was brought from bikini advertisements to diet culture posts because the algorithm understood that what i engage with most was what i looked at and therefore what they could make money from me on. if a lot like this would have been in place, i would have only interacted with content i deliberately searched for and that i wanted to be seeing online as opposed to the content they knew would keep me hooked at the cost of my well-being. i'm incredibly excited about the kids online safety act and the possibility it has to protect other people from being brought down that rabbit hole to extremism or whatever content they are looking at. >> thanks so much for coming on and offering your perspective. >> thank you for having me. geoff: two years ago, hong kong saw its biggest annual

population drop since recordkeeping started. tens of thousands residents left the asian financial hub because of strict covid-19 policies and a crackdown on civil liberties by beijing. special correspondent christopher booker spent some time in new york's finger lakes district with one american couple who were part of this exodus. his report as part of our arts and culture series "canvas." >> and unlikely transplant, bleak house books. inside, memories of its first life a continent away. >> this is the layout of the old store? >> yes. that's where i used to sit to do my work. >> from the mural overhead to the art on the walls, the owners pay tribute to the independent bookstores original hong kong location. >> we tried to bring a little bit of hong kong with us. >> it is an extension of our home and a sign of respect.

>> the store's journey began in 2016 when the couple said goodbye to their home in atlanta. smith, a historian, had a job waiting for her at a hong kong university, and her husband, a former attorney, decided to change careers. >> the goal is to have a viable business as a bookshop. >> the store's name comes from a charles dickens novel of the same title about a long-running court case, and as a reminder he says of the legal career he left behind. once he had a name, he had to find a space for his new business in hong kong's notoriously cramped and expensive real estate market. >> we ended up renting an 800 square feet space in an office building on the 27th floor in a semi-industrial area. >> business in the out-of-the-way spot was slow at first. >> our store specialized in english language books, pretty

niche in hong kong. i felt it was a market we had to cultivate and then follow. >> were spread on facebook and instagram, and the little shop on the 27th floor developed a loyal following. >> wen yu walk into the bookshop, you see books old and new. you will always find something that you did not expect to find. >> she says the store became the perfect venue for her literary journey of readings and talks. >> it is really an unusual place and space in hong kong were so many different writers can meet and readers as well. could access the store's community was growing, so, too, was beijing's influence over hong kong. their economic and political pressure, the chinese communist party was stepping up efforts to erode civil liberties. when did you first notice the change?

>> i think it happened gradually. there was never a turning point. >> before a talk commemorating a writer and critic of one-party rule in china, they were warned it may put the family in danger. >> i never envisioned that i would have to deal with that sort of feedback or commentary just for having an event at a bookshop. >> in 2019 political tensions erupted when hong kong's government introduced a law that would allow it to extradite hung congress to mainland china, sparking off the largest demonstrations in city history. bleak house books became known for its support of hong kong's democracy movement. >> it was an amazing way to connect with the readers who came in. it was meaningful to be part of that. could extend the pandemic and a chinese national security law which ushered in a crackdown on free speech, the free press, and

free association, but through the other people, bleak house books stayed open, one of a few places that continue to sell books that were considered clinically sensitive. >> for example, this protest book documents the protest. he would not be able to buy it in hong kong. >> in the summer of 2021, even though the store was doing better than ever, they began to reassess their future. >> it's like, they are not cracking down on bookshops and now, but they are cracking down on these freewheeling newspapers and things like that. freedom of the press is not going to be the same from here on out. bookstores might not be next, but they will be soon. >> that fall, they made the difficult decision to leave hong kong. >> it would not help the kids if we ended up getting arrested. it was really a matter of priorities. our family comes first.

>> the couple eventually moved their family to new york's finger lakes district. was the idea to open up a 2.0? >> yes. there was never any doubt. >> it was something we had to do. if we did not try to reopen, it would be like they had won. >> they renovated this long empty shopfront, and bleak house books reopened its doors last june. while business can be quiet, the store has brought new life to downtown, which was decimated by the pandemic. today we visited, and then drove 45 minutes to pick up a book he ordered through the store. what you get from an independent bookstore? >> i cannot claim to be an eligible citizen without supporting this kind of business. >> asked bleak house books slowly grows a new community, hong kong and its people remain

central to the store's mission. >> we are part of a diaspora of people who are trying to make a difference from outside the country. >> do you see a world where books help to provide an antidote to those forces? >> books matter. if they are not important, there's no point in a them, right? >> it is now almost 8000 miles away from where it started and that is a belief bleak house books continues to embody in its second chapter. geoff: remember, there's a lot more online. our lisa desjardins spoke with a number of voters both before and after vice president harris replaced president biden atop the democratic presidential ticket.

that doesn't for us tonight. thanks for spending part of your evening with us. >> major funding for "the pbs news hour" has been provided by -- >> consumer cellular. this is sam. how may i help you? this ipocket out. i thought i would let you know that with consumer cellular, you get nationwide coverage with no contract. that is kind of our thing. have a nice day. >> carnegie corporation of new york, working to reduce political polarization through philanthropic support for education, democracy, and peace. 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. >> this is "pbs newshour west" from weta studios in washington and the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.]

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