geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna nawaz is away. on the "newshour" tonight, a top hamas leader is assassinated in iran. the implications for the war in gaza and the broader middle east. donald trump and kamala harris

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geoff: welcome to the news hour. the top political leader of hamas, ismail haniyeh, was killed overnight in tehran, just hours after an israeli airstrike killed one of the top military leaders of hezbollah in beirut. taken together, after 10 months of war in gaza, the attacks escalated fears that a simmering regional conflict could explode into a new and more-dangerous phase. nick schifrin starts our coverage. nick: in the hours before his death, he met ayatollah ali how and pledged the victory he spent his life promising. it was his final public expression. overnight, he and his iranian bodyguard were killed in what was described as an israeli drone strike. iran immediately vowed vengeance pa he posted that it is our duty to

take revenge. they said israel will "face a harsh and painful response." threat of regional war was repeated today by iranian proxies. and in lebanon, by hezbollah and hamas which vowed to take the battle with israel to "new dimensions." it was met with defiance by benjamin netanyahu. >> we are prepared for any scenario and will stand united and determined against any threat. israel will exact a heavy price from any aggression against us on any front. >> never again is now! >> one week after his address to congress, netanyahu today suggested defying the u.s. led to israel's military successes. >> we achieved them because we did not give in, because we made

courageous decisions despite the great pressure at home and abroad. nick: israel did not make any formal statement today but the defense minister visited the missile defense system designed to protect from iranian missiles. >> your actions give us the confidence and space to make decisions. we do not seek more but we are preparing for all possibilities. >> he rose through hamas's rings and was an early advocate of hamas entering politics he became part minister after he won parliamentary elections for he nurtured hamas's connection with and support after handing power over to the current hamas leader, he moved to qatar where he led ongoing cease-fire talks that are hosted by the prime minister who asked today how can mediation succeed when one party and -- assassinates the

negotiator? in asia today, antony blinken called cease-fire talks the priority. >> the imperative of getting a cease-fire, the importance that it has for everyone remains. we will belabor that for as long as it takes to get there. >> lloyd austin promised to defend israel from iranian and hezbollah attacks. >> if israel is attacked, we will certainly help defend israel. you saw us to do that in april and you can expect to see us do that again but we don't want to see any of that happen. we will work hard to make sure that we are doing things to help take the temperature down and address issues through diplomatic means. >> across the region, diplomats tell pbs news hour diplomacy feels a long way off. hezbollah was already poised to

respond to israel's assassination of its most senior military officer. hezbollah confirmed his death and posted new photos of him next to hezbollah and iran's most senior officials so the risk tonight is that a war in gaza the u.s. was already trying to end would instead spread. for the pbs news hour, i am nick schifrin. amna: for more on the killing of the leader in iran, we get two views. nathan brown, professor of political science and international affairs at george washington university. and hanin ghaddar, the friedmann senior fellow at the washington institute for near east policy, a think tank. thank you both for being with us. a question about the timing and location, coming right after the killing of a top hezbollah commander in beirut and that this happened in tehran following the inaugural of iran's new president, what message does this send to iran? hanin: good evening. thank you for having me.

this is basically the main question. what is happening now? israel could have responded with one assassination on one attack on hezbollah after the incident but i think the message with the assassination in tehran also at the same time, there has been some u.s. strikes in iraq against the iran backed she a -- shia militants. what they see is a coordinated attack. this could be a message of pushing for deterrence, deterring iran, not necessarily inviting iran for war. i feel that today, hezbollah and the irgc are facing a catch 22 in the sense that they do not want to reach a full-scale war because this is not there war and not something they want to go for but at the same time, they have to respond. they have to walk a very thin

line in terms of what kind of response they have to achieve and they want to move from this episode as fast as possible because they want to avoid the full-scale war at all costs. the assassination of these two senior people -- this is a big blow and they want to stop bleeding all these commanders. they lost 400 militants since october 7 and they cannot afford to continue losing them so if it is done right, if diplomacy steps in today, if it is done right, diplomacy can actually force an agreement and deterrence for hezbollah rather than a full-scale war. they are desperate for this to stop. geoff: what impact does the killing have on hamas? does it degrade their ability to keep fighting in the occupied west bank?

nathan: i don't think it does anything with regard to their fighting ability on the ground in gaza or in the west bank. the important thing to remember about hamas is this is an organization. he will be replaced. what it does do is remove perhaps the figure who was most representative of hamas, most experienced in politics, one of the most experienced people diplomatically, so it may set back diplomatic efforts a little bit but it does not change the logic behind the diplomacy but it does take out onef the key players in the negotiations about a cease-fire. geoff: when iran's supreme leader says that we have a duty to take revenge, what form might that take? what would that look like? hanin: there will be a response because israel hit the southern suburbs in beirut. the last time is when they killed the hamas leader at the beginning of this conflict.

this is not about the people. it is also about the location. the pressure of all these factors would push iran and hezbollah to respond. they both said from the very beginning and other statements that this is the palestinian war, not our war. i would imagine the response would be a little bit different from the former responses we have seen since october 7. because he was in charge of iran's precision guided missiles program, they might use one of these missiles to send a message saying that we can also cross certain red lines. they can hit deeper into israel, avoiding the north which is the usual territory for their bombings. they can hit some military facilities. i don't think that they will risk any civilian or residential areas. they do not want to kill israeli

civilians because they saw what happened when they killed children and civilians last week. they will respond but it will be very calculated because they want to respond in a way that israel can tolerate and move on from because they want this episode to be over. i would expect a response that is a little bit different but not too severe. geoff: there have been some optimism from the white house that we were in the closing stages of the cease-fire talks. what happens now and to what degree do these two killings elevate the prospects of a wider war in the region? nathan: in terms of the cease-fire, it is not clear that there was a deal to be had. it is not clear that israel really wants what would be recognizable as a cease-fire, certainly not a sustained one. it was not clear how much traction they would get. in terms of a wider conflict, i basically agree that what you

have in an oxygen -- it's an odd situation in which the various actors, israel and iran, hamas, hezbollah, really talk in existential terms about the nature of the other side being an enemy and yet they are fairly calculated in what they do. so the risk of a regional war broadening is very real. almost 10 months of war. mutual deterrence has worked to keep israel from attacking hezbollah and lebanon more broadly. a full-scale war or that kind of response, whether that can continue or not is unclear, but i would agree that the pattern of the last 10 months is both sides do things that will really strike out at the other side but are calculated to stop just short of sparking a full-scale conflict. geoff: thank you both for your

insights. we appreciate it. nathan: thank you. geoff: the israeli airstrike on a senior hezbollah leader yesterday came after 10 months of low-level conflict between the militants and israel. for insights into hezbollah's military and political influence, special correspondent simona foltyn recently travelled to its southern beirut stronghold, beginning at the funeral of another hezbollah commander assassinated by israeli forces. ♪ simona: even without an invasion, hezbollah and israel are already at work. hezbollah has buried some 350 operatives since october. that is more than in 2006 when israel last invaded. the death includes senior commanders, like mohammed nasser , who was killed in a drone strike in early july. the funeral is in hezbollah's

southern beirut stronghold. he did not want to give his full name. what kind of impact do you think and assassination of such a senior commander has on the organization of hezbollah? >> it is not going to change anything. those people, they believe that martyrdom is the way of life. he is still alive. he will awaken all the people to see whatever oppression is happening on palestine because the people there are suffering. families have been wiped out. children have been killed. parts and pieces of humans in front of our tv's and nobody is moving. nobody is saying anything. simona: it was hezbollah that started this round of fighting to show support for its ally, hamas. and it will only stop when there is a cease-fire in gaza. these targeted assassinations have not deterred hezbollah nor do they seem to have impeded its

ability to carry out operations. quite to the contrary, each strike prompts counterstrike and it is this gradual escalation that risks pushing the two sides to a war. i sat down with a member of parliament for hezbollah's political wing. >> there is concern in the region and internationally that lebanon and israel can light into another all-out war. how likely do you think it is at this stage? >> the possibility is always there. there is a possibility to happen. maybe netanyahu wanted this because he wants to drag the americans to the middle east but i believe the israeli military is not ready for that. the international community, the united states, does not want that. we don't want an all-out war. >> at the same time, there is no viable path to peace while hezbollah insists on a cease-fire in gaza.

israel wants a buffer zone on its northern border. he has tried to bridge the divide and broker a deal to pull back from the border. >> under what conditions would hezbollah accept such a proposal? >> first of all, the united states is not an honest broker or mediator. two suggest they are a full partner with all of the genocide that is taking place in gaza and with all of the aggressions that are taking place in lebanon. we still have lands that are occupied by the israelis. it is the same enemy. it is the same hostilities. the first thing that should happen, they should make a cease-fire. they should stop the israeli killing machine. after that, when the cease-fire is enacted, there, it will be enacted here. >> hezbollah knows lebanon cannot afford all-out war. the country has been crippled by an economic and financial crisis for years with many lebanese

already struggling to make ends meet. >> you are a lebanese group. you are responsible primarily to the lebanese people and there are many lebanese who believe that this is not lebanon's war, that lebanon has plenty of other problems. >> the majority of lebanese support what we are doing now. it is a defensive war against the israeli aggression. when we come to defend ourselves, they want to hold us responsible and to make the calculations. if the international community addressed this properly, we would not have seen any simona: kind of resistance. simona:a cease-fire in gaza could provide an offramp but it would not address the roots of this conflict. the border was never demarcated. both sides lay claim to 14 disputed areas. this latest war has further deepened into most cities -- animosities. >> israel is an occupying force. it is a kind of cancerous existence that has been stored.

we will never recognize israel as a normal entity here. we are in a war of liberation to our land. this is something that will continue as long as this occupation, as long as the hostility continues. simona: previous attempts to mend the rift have failed. hezbollah was to hand over border security to the lebanese army which was never implemented. would you agree with me that hezbollah has not complied with resolution 17? >> we believe we have complied with everything that would respect our sovereignty, that would defend our people, that would keep our land intact. simona: hezbollah is deeply embedded in lebanon's south. he says international calls to remove its fighters are implausible. >> the hezbollah fighters are the sons of the families living in the villages.

if they had not been an attack or hostility, you would not have seen the sounds and the fathers and the brothers coming to find the occupation. >> it is the people of the south who are once again bearing the brunt. all along the border, villages have been laid to waste. >> some are saying that once there is a cease-fire in gaza, israel will have sufficient capacity to turn its attention to lebanon so what will be hezbollah's response if the strikes continue? >> they are welcome and they can try it. they are ready more than enough to deal them devastating blows. they are not going to be able to destroy or do anything to us without having a reprisal and retaliation that is not equal. simona: neither side may want all-out war but that is where the path could lead if a political solution remains elusive. for the pbs news hour, i am in

bayrou. geoff: a guilty plea stemming from the september 11th terrorist attacks leads our other headlines. defense department officials say khalid shakh mohammed and two of his accomplicies have agreed to plead guilty to all charges related to the deaths of nearly three thousand poeple. in exchange, they'll serve life -- the men have been in u.s. custody in guantanamo bay for more than two decades. they are expected to enter there pleas as soon as next week. in colorado, authorities say one person has been killed in a wildfire north of the town of lyons. the "stone canyon fire" erupted yesterday afternoon. earlier today it was listed as 0% contained, as 150 firefighters battle the blaze. to the north, the larger alexander mountain fire is also spreading. they are among the nearly 100 large fires burning across the western united states.

meantime in california, some people returned to their scorched communities after the massive "park fire" barelled through. that includes the town of now unrecognizeable. -- the town of cohasset, now unrecognizeable. >> this community is going to need a lot of support and a lot of aid. there are people that live up here with little to no means, and they just lost kind of everything that they owned or everything that they ever had. geoff: in the northeast, it is a very different picture. more storms are in the forecast in northern vermont as residents clean up the mess left by debilitating rain and flooding. the state's governor said today that crews are still rebuilding after severe flooding hit earlier this month. >> seeing all the progress they've made since the flooding three weeks ago being washed away again, it probabl feels -- probably feels much worse than a punch or a kick. it's simply demoralizing. geoff: and in georgia, one man is dead after a tree fell on his car during a round of severe thunderstorms last night. they also caused damage in south carolina, and left hundreds of thousands without electricity, though power has since been restored.

venezuelan president nicolas maduro has asked his country's supreme court to audit the results of sunday's contested presidential election. but international observers condemned the audit, saying the top court wouldn't be impartial. meantime, even maduro's allies are calling for more transparency. president gustavo petro of neighboring colombia called on the embattled leader to prove his re-election victory by releasing detailed vote counts. and brazilian president lula da silva has called for the same. u.s. officials today echoed that view, with increasing frustration. >> our patience, and that of the international community, is running out. it's running out on waiting for the venezuelan electoral authorities to come clean, and release the full, detailed data in this election, so that everyone can see the results. >> meantime, federal officials

have arrested a former u.s. green beret over a failed plot in 2020 to remove president nicolas maduro. an indictment unsealed this week in tampa, florida, accuses jordan goudreau of 14 counts related to violating arms control laws, smuggling and conspiracy. goudreau said at the time that he -- and others -- were acting to protect venezuela's democracy. the biden administration announced a series of proposals today aimed at pushing congress to do more to stop the flow of illicit fentanyl from mexico. they include legislation to create a national "pill press" registry. that's to track machines that could make the pills. classifying fentanyl as a "schedule one" drug, which would increase penalties for traffickers. and, tightening rules on small packages coming into the u.s. that would close a loophole often used to import the substances used to make illicit fentanyl. fentanyl overdoses are a leading cause of death for americans aged 18 to 45.

in south carolina, death by firing squad is now a legal method of execution -- after the state's supreme court ruled it is not considered cruel and unusual punishment. the ruling allows inmates to choose between that and the electric chair as alternatives to lethal injection. south carolina has executed 43 inmates since 1976, when the death penalty was legalized under federal law. but the state hasn't carried out an execution since 2011, and the state's supplies of drugs for lethal injections have expired. 32 inmates are currently on south carolina's death row. the federal reserve held steady on interest rates today -- as expected -- but noted that there has been further progress on tackling inflation. the central bank added that if prices continue to cool, an interest rate cut quote "could be on the table" at its september meeting. but, chair jerome powell noted that nothing is guaranteed. >> certainty is not a word that we have in our business. so, you know, we get we get a

lot of data between now and september and it isn't going to be one data reader, or even two. it's going to be the totality of the data, all of the data and not just the equipment. and then, how's that affecting the outlook and how's it affecting the balance of risks? that's going to be the assessment that we do. geoff: powell also said that "maintaining a solid labor market" will be part of the fed's considerations when it comes to any action on interest rates. the next u.s. jobs report is due out on friday. wall street welcomed those signals that a rate cut could be coming soon. the dow jones industrial average added nearly 100 points, inching closer to that 41,000 point level. the nasdaq jumped more than 450 points, as big technology stocks surged. and the s&p 500 enjoyed its best day in five months. still to come on the "newshour", how the news americans consume is contributing to political divides. and the latest on the athletes going for gold at the paris olympics.

>> this at arizona state university. geoff: republican presidential nominee donald trump and his new democratic opponent vice president kamala harris are sharpening their attacks against one another as they make their case directly to voters. but as lisa desjardins reports, some of mr. trump's comments on the campaign trail this afternoon are drawing new criticism. lisa: in chicago, a first for former president trump. mr. trump: -- lisa: it quickly turned combative with rachel scott. >> i don't think i have ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner. first question. >> she asked trump about other republicans who called kamala harris a diversity pick. trump didn't answer directly but

instead said. mr. trump: i didn't know she was black. until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black and now she wants to be known as black. so i don't know, is she indian or is she black? lisa: harris has never shied away from her black and south asian heritage. she attended howard university, one of the nation's leading historically black colleges. trump was later asked about remarks from his vice presidential candidate, j.d. vance who in 2021 blasted some , single women as "childless cat ladies" and suggested americans with children should get more votes. trump explained it this way. mr. trump: my interpretation is he's strongly family oriented, but that doesn't mean if you don't have a family there's something wrong with it. lisa: later, the topic was january 6 , specifically of assault -- the assault to 140 police officers, some brutally injured. he was asked if he would still

pardon those arrested for those assaults. mr. trump: absolutely. if they're innocent, i would pardon them. lisa: an aide with the harris campaign wrote on social media that the appearance was an "absolute disaster." the interview had already been controversial with journalists in the association given his attacks on the press and with black reporters in the past. karen attiah, a washington post columnist stepped down as co-chair of the nabj convention in part over this, posting on x that she was not informed of the decision. vice president harris isn't expected at the journalists' convention but is in talks to eak to nabj members in september. but at a rally in atlanta last night, she called out trump by name after he backed away from a scheduled debate. vp. harris: as the saying goes if you've got something to say, , say it to my face. lisa: the harris rally had plenty of star power including a performance from rapper megan thee stallion. harris took aim at trump and the conservative "project 2025" . vp. harris: just look at his project 2025 agenda.

[crowd booing] vp. harris: i take it you've seen it. lisa: this after the head of project 2025 working with the conservative heritage foundation stepped down yesterday amid criticism and calls from the trump campaign for it to end. heritage says the work started by project 2025, and the dozens of former trump administration officials who shaped it, will continue. but in atlanta, harris deployed another rhetorical weapon a new adjective hurled at the trump campaign more and more in recent days. vp. harris: by the way, don't you find some of their stuff to just be plain weird? lisa: across the country in nevada last night, trump's vp candidate, vance, tried out a counter-response. >> we don't want a wacky san francisco liberal serving as commander in chief. we don't want kamala harris. lisa: as voters think about both campaigns, harris has virtually sewn up the democratic nomination. the party announced last night she is the only candidate who qualified to compete for the nomination. that vote will be virtual, starting tomorrow and ending monday.

both parties and campaigns are heating up, with trump is harrisburg, pennsylvania tonight. for the pbs news hour, i'm lisa desjardins. geoff: and joining us now from former president trump's rally in harrisburg, is laura barron lopez. thanks so much for being with us. as we saw, donald trump started his day in chicago for what was and at times intense q&a at the convention. how was his campaign responding to the criticism he is now facing for his comments about vice president harris's racial identity and what to his comments reveal about how he is approaching running against harrison's president biden? laura: former president donald trump and his campaign are defending themselves in the way he is going after kamala harris, despite the fact that some republicans in his party think they should refrain from talking about her race and refrain from attacks calling her a di hire, but largely, trump's campaign has not changed it strategy when

it comes to its attacks on kamala harris. they are using a lot of the same attacks they used on president joe biden, namely attacking her on her immigration record as well as on inflation to one big difference is that they -- donald trump is trying to define kamala harris as being much more to the left of joe biden on issues like climate and guns. i talked to two republican sources today, one who is close to trump world he says they believe the campaign is still struggling to figure out how to undercut the momentum that kamala harris has right now and another gop strategist in a swing state told me that they think the campaign has not found their footing against harris and that the strategist admitted that it really feels like obama level enthusiasm for harris right now. geoff: this is donald trump's first rally back in pennsylvania after that assassination attempt. you have been talking to his supporters today. what have they told you?

laura: walter voters -- multiple voters said they wanted to be here because it was his first rally since the assassination attempt and like a number of tramp allies -- trump allies, the voters i spoke to echoed conspiracy theories about the assassination attempt including two voters that i spoke to from nearby pennsylvania counties. >> it was all rigged. i can understand how the secret service left all that evidence to slide by them. >> rigged by whom? >> rigged by the democrats. >> i firmly believe -- i am not a conspiracy person at all -- but i believe the secret service is covering up a lot of stuff and i think somebody should, and pay the price. laura: we heard a lot of that from voters and we also heard -- voters also told me that they believed the lies from donald trump that 2024 will be a rigged

election. when it comes to the policy issues, any of them said that border security, immigration, as well as the economy are there issues. when i asked them about kamala harris becoming the likely democratic nominee, they said they did not think harris would be harder for donald trump to beat then joe biden and they were not necessarily concerned about her becoming the democratic nominee. geoff: what about j.d. vance? how are his supporters --how were they responding to that? laura: despite the fact that j.d. vance has been criticized lately and democrats have been attacking him specifically about his comments about the government being run by childless women and questioning whether people who don't have children actually have a stake in the future of the country, a lot of the voters here either said that they did not know much about j.d. vance, that the jury

was still out, and others said that they were, like this better from new york, said that they were looking to trust donald trump on his pick. >> i did not know too much about j.d. vance. i am doing my research. i don't take anybody at face value anymore. there's a lot of rhinos out there -- rinos out there. i hope that president trump is working from a higher place and picked the best man for the job. the verdict is still out as far as i am concerned. laura: a lot of the voters here did not necessarily think that j.d. vance was a drag on the ticket but that gop source is booked earlier did say, and other republican sources i talked to, think that j.d. vance could ultimately harm donald trump. geoff: donald trump is trying to distance himself from project to a 25. this is the blueprint for a second trump term. the architect of that proposal, a guy named paul vance, he was pushed out of the heritage foundation by the trump team.

give us a reality check here. laura: donald trump campaign yesterday claimed again that they have nothing to do with project 2025 and they said that project 2025 -- would be greatly welcome. kevin roberts issued a statement saying that "project 2025 was built for any future administration to use." it will continue our efforts to build a personnel apparatus for policymakers of all levels, federal, state, and local, and that last part is key because a lot of the leaders that were in charge of crafting project 2020 five, including paul dan's, said over and over again that this blueprint was created so that way, conservative warriors could then be ready to enter into a second trump administration. a lot of the people that authored project 20 25 worked in donald trump's administration.

geoff: lebron lopez -- laura lopez, thanks so much. laura: thank you. geoff: despite having access to more information than ever before, americans trust in the news media has been declining in recent years. nearly three quarters of americans say the news media is making political polarization worse. judy woodruff investigates as part of her ongoing series, america at a crossroads. judy: -- >> i listen to fox news. i listen to newsmax. i will go to cnn, to see what they are saying. judy: jeri levasseur is a republican committeewoman in haverhill, massachusetts. >> do we want to do heavy traffic time like 4:00 to 7:00 again? okay. judy: on a hot evening this

july, she and a handful of fellow republicans were working on their plans to show support for former president trump, while fox news played in the background. >> -- -- attempt to enforce their vision for america but it is not based off meritocracy. it's based off racism, and it's based off neo-marxism. judy: -- >> i think that president trump gets a -- not that fox is pro-trump -- but i think he gets a better interpretation of his values and what he stands for from fox. msnbc is much more likely to insult republicans as opposed to insulting a democrat. >> the supreme court is a clear and present danger to their entire political agenda. judy: across town, demet haksever who immigrated to the united states from turkey in 1975, is watching msnbc. >> in the morning, i start watching msnbc. morning joe. cnn sometimes, pbs, other sources, bbc.

and at night, i tune in to msnbc. judy: haksever is a retired economist who's now involved with indivisible, a grassroots political group dedicated to opposing the republican party. and why do you prefer msnbc, you say? >> well, i like that they're focused on the issues that are important to me. judy: what about fox? >> no, i gave up on fox a long time ago. judy: haksever and levasseur are not unique. a 2023 survey by the associated press found that 26% of democrats and 60% of republicans have little to no trust in the news media. and research by yougov in 2024 showed democrats were more likely to trust a wider range of

sources than republicans, who were far more inclined, like levasseur, to primarily trust fox and newsmax. >> the national news is more polarized certainly on broadcast and cable and it is much less reportage and much more opinion. judy: martha minow is a professor and former dean of harvard law school, whose book "saving the news" looks at how the news media has been transformed under declining government regulation and increasing economic and political pressure. >> political parties funded newspapers in the 1840s, 50s, 60s. the journalism that developed in the 1880s into the golden age of the 1960s was the first time that objectivity was elevated as an ideal. that really recognized we need multiple sources.

we need to be transparent. we need to actually document. we need to have a counterpoint. >> here is a bulletin from cbs news. judy: that also just happened to be good business. to advertise to the most people -- which paid for publication -- newspapers and broadcasters had an incentive to aim for objectivity. >> this picture has just been transmitted by wire. judy: in the 1950's, 60's and 70's, television news reporting was primarily limited to the three major networks: cbs, abc, and nbc. with only a handful of channels available for broadcast, the government issued licenses to the networks and also put regulations in place to ensure fair treatment in their coverage. like the fairness doctrine, enacted in 1949. >> the fairness doctrine was part of the entrance of the federal government in the regulation of access to the airwaves for television, radio.

you have to have balance. if there is, presentation on one point of view, you have to have a contrary point of view. if a public official were attacked, they had a right to reply. >> good evening, i'm david walker. >> and i'm lois hart. now, here's the news. judy: but as cable tv grew in popularity and dozens of new channels came on air, all viewers had to do to get a contrary point of view was -- -- contrary point of view was change the channel, in theory. so, the fairness doctrine was phased out by president ronald reagan's fcc in 1987, setting the stage for a radical transformation in the way americans got their news. >> i think a lot of people now turn to the media to be reinforced in what they believe, rather than to learn something new. judy: minow says cable networks like msnbc, fox news and others now pursue smaller audiences on the left or the right -- sometimes called narrow-casting -- by leaning into opinion coverage that those viewers will agree with.

hannity: kamala harris has a horrific track record, even worse public persona. psaki: she has different superpowers, and different areas she'll need to work on than president biden. >> opinion media is more successful than news media, than journalism. i think it's related to this lack of curiosity. people looking to be reinforced. also, it's more expensive to actually interview people, to look at documents, to, actually explore without knowing ahead of time. what is your story? being able to convert, a story into something that's very simple, digestible, and maybe even outraging, is more successful. it attracts attention. it's what people talk about. >> breaking just now, an illegal immigrant from ecuador arrested, apprehended, under arrest, suspected of sexually assaulting as you said a teenage girl in a new york city park.

>> recently, there was a 13 year old girl, little girl in new york that's been raped by an illegal that's crossed into this country. he tied up the little boy that was with her, gagged them, and nothing comes out of the white house about how horrible this is. >> according to new analysis from nbc news, quote, "despite several horrifying high-profile incidents, there is no evidence of a migrant-driven crime wave in the united states." in fact -- united states. >> they are just cherry picking a couple of terrible crimes by immigrants, which, of course, -- but they don't mention, ever, the positive contributions of the immigrants to communities, to this country. judy: but is partisan news media in fact creating more division in the country, or are partisan viewers now finding their way to more friendly outlets? >> i've been focused on polarization almost my whole

career. judy: professor matt levendusky is a political scientist at the university of pennsylvania. his research shows that watching certain channels does have an impact on viewer's political opinions. >> we showed people the fox coverage, the msnbc coverage, or the mainstream news coverage, and what we found was that people tended to move in the direction of the source, right? especially if it was a source that was congenial to them. judy: how do you see the role of the news media and any bias or slant in the news media in affecting the way most people think about issues? matt levendusky: well, there's certainly an effect. i think people who are actively involved in politics tend to be quite polarized, but the country as a whole still has room to come together and find common ground. but the factor working against that is that politicians often have an incentive to divide people. judy: levendusky says both the

news media and political leaders -- who are often recruited from the political extremes during primaries -- have played a role in deepening our divisions. mr. trump: venezuela is releasing thousands of people. criminals, gang members, drug dealers, the worst. >> they are trying to control women's bodies quite explicitly . >> if you look at studies about the kinds of people that run for congress, they're increasingly being drawn from people who are more on the extremes rather than the middle, because the people who are in the middle sort of look out at congress and they say, where am i going to fit in in? so it's pushing people and kind of stretching them out a little bit more towards the extremes. >> well, the thing is, early voting starts in september. judy: jeri levasseur has felt the impact of this growing polarization in her own community and even her own family. >> well, i do have a brother who is very liberal. so we just don't talk politics at all. ever.

judy: and what about where they get their news? >> they would never watch fox or newsmax. it's msnbc. >> right, this is how we make it in turkey. judy: but 10 minutes down the road, demet haksever sees an even greater threat in the coverage coming from fox, especially its promotion of conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election: . >> the disinformation, they spread it about the validity of the election results 2020. it poses a great risk to our democracy. i come from turkey and we lost our democracy because of the same divisions. judy: what happens to a democracy in a situation like that? >> well, democracy dies in that case. judy: harvard's martha minow says there is no easy solution to this problem more nonprofit media, funding local journalism, and fighting disinformation could all help. but she remains deeply concerned

about how these divisions are affecting our communities. >> the lack of a shared reality is a crisis in america right now. and you can see this depending on what your preferences are, you flip channels or whatever, you see different topics, and when it's the same topic, there's no relationship!nd if you don't share a reality, and indeed you think the people next to you are out to get you. it's not just democracy that's at risk. it's peaceful coexistence. judy: in an upcoming installment of america at a crossroads, we'll look at how the internet and social media have only accelerated this concerning trend. for the pbs newshour, i'm judy woodruff in haverhill, massachusetts.

geoff: at the paris olympics, katie ledecky finished nearly half a pool length ahead of her competitors. as she dominated the pool, others swim in the seine. triathletes took their first plunge into the river following basic concerns about water quality. coco gauff olympics were cut short. the team usa flag bearer lost two doubles matches today. overall, the u.s. remains on top of the total medal count with 30 overall. france and china are second and third. it all comes as the u.s. gymnastics team celebrate their historic performances yesterday and get ready for their individual finals, still to come. for more, i spoke earlier with christine brennan. welcome back to the news hour. christine: thank you. geoff: let's start with the u.s. women's gymnastics team because they have named themselves the

golden girls, the oldest team since 1952 and they are still winning gold. they finished nearly 6 points ahead of the silver medal winners, italy, with brazil grabbing the bronze. what does that say about the changing nature of the sport and its athletes? christine: you know, jeff, this has been a national conversation, a cultural conversation in the us about how we look at young women, uh, body image, the issue of, of eating disorders, anorexia. these are conversations that we have had at the very top elite level of sport, but we've also had those conversations in our kitchens with with our daughters and nieces and granddaughters and, and just on the, you know, having uh much more awareness, frankly, of those issues over the last, say, you know, 10 or 15 years, and look at the result. a team that america cares and the world cares so much about, led by the great simone biles, the gymnastics team. we were so used to seeing them look so thin, we'd hear about

the injuries, the horrors, of course, of the larry nassar, the sexual assault scandal, the worst sex abuse scandal in sports history, including simone biles, the survivor in that from those horrors. we've dealt with all of this and look at the result now. you've got these women, as you said, the golden girls, perfect name for them in their twenties, simone biles is 27. this is an age that would never have been on the radar screen 20 years ago in gymnastics, and yet here we are now. so not only are they the greatest in the world, uh, athletically, but they truly are a symbol of what we have been discussing as a nation in terms of how we look at women and young girls. geoff: the men's gymnastics team also made history this past week in a different way. that team earned bronze, making it the first time in 16 years the us men's team finished on the podium in olympic competition. you've also got stephen naderasi, the america's pommel horse hero. uh, how big a moment is this for the men's team? cb [pm] it's fantastic and it's terrific

-- the men's team? >> it's fantastic and it's terrific and then rosick, my goodness, the, the clark kent, right, with his glasses on, the, the memes and the and the photos that have gone viral of him waiting for his moment picked just for the one event, the palmel horse, he goes out there and he nails it and he then of course ensures. uh, the bronze medal for the us men, extraordinary moment and these are the, the moments, jeff, that really i think attract people to the olympic games, even after the competition after someone has finished competing. so here he is now. he has entered everyone's home or on our devices on social media. you've seen him, you know him, you want to find out a little bit more about him, and he's the one that is, is going through and doing the rubik's cube and like, you know, 1520 seconds, -- in 15, 20 seconds. and he's online now showing those videos so i love that for him and the entire team, uh, so deserving of the accolades after all of these years where the men have just been completely out of the headlines. geoff: we're also paying close attention to american swimmer katie ledecky, who continues to make waves.

she almost lapped her competition in the 1500 m race. talk to us about her goal of becoming the swimmer with the most medals. christine: yes, katie ledecky, is already seen as the greatest female swimmer ever, and only michael phelps in terms of just dominance and being decorated with so many medals, only michael phelps is, is bigger than that. the longer she swims, the better it is for her and the 1500 is the longest and she has just once again shown that she is just the greatest in, in the endurance races. the 1500, the 800 comes later in the week, and um, it's just a delight to watch her, of course, and, and not only is a great role model, uh, but again, such a great swimmer. there are 7 other swimmers and you don't see any of them because katie's so far ahead of everyone else. geoff: and christine, let's talk about the us women's rugby team which dramatically grabbed the bronze medal. what should we know about that team and their monumental win? christine: you know, this is fun. this is what the olympics really is all about. i mean, i'm over here and i'm, i'm not covering rugby, but i've

had so many friends and family say, what about the rugby team? and they're incredible uh -- their incredible victory over australia to at the very last second, so people haven't seen it, you know, go and watch it. 90 yard run in the very last seconds for the united states to snatch the bronze medal away from australia. and win it themselves, and this is a team that has been all over social media. and what's really fun about that, and i think it's, it's informative, and in many ways kind of groundbreaking is that 1520 years ago, whenever we -- 15, 20 years ago whenever we , didn't have social media, that when the olympics ended, most of these athletes went away. well, now with social media and these women are rock stars, and they have got in some cases, just hundreds of thousands of followers, and that their story now can continue and their brand, they can sell their brand themselves, and they can continue to be a part of

american consciousness. we know that the olympic games is very much alluring to those of us who, who you don't see these sports very often and so once every 4 years you tune in and you're enchanted and delighted. geoff: sports writer and columnist for usa today christine brennan. christine, thanks so much. christine: thank you. geoff: and we have more coverage of the olympics online, including a look at team palestine that's competing in the games. that's on our instagram page. and that's the news hour for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. on behalf of the entire news hour team, thank you for joining us. ♪ >> 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 jim and nancy build there and the robert and virginia schiller foundation. the ford foundation, working

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