wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. xfinity internet. made for streaming. amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff bennett is away. on the "newshour" tonight, on the campaign trail with only 90 days until election day, the candidates focus on the swing states that will decide this year's election. we speak with a mayor in one of

those battleground states about whether kamala harris can quell the concerns muslim and arab americans had with president biden. >> more than just being tough on rhetoric, we're hoping she pairs that rhetoric with tough policy. amna: and a crucial front in the ukraine war, how u.s. weapons are being used in the russian-occupied region of crimea. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by -- >> consumer cellular. this is sam. how may i help you? this is a pocket dial. well, somebody's pocket, thought i'd let you know that with consumer cellular, you get nationwide coverage with no contract. that's kind of our thing. have a nice day. >> a successful business owner sells his company and restores his father's historic jazz club with his son.

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station from viewers like you. thank you. amna: welcome to the newshour. rally with criss-crossing rallies, campaign cash hauls, and social media jabs, the 2024 presidential hopefuls made their cases to the american public today. for vice president harris, it was a chance to familiarize voters with her newly minted running mate, minnesota governor tim walz. meantime, former president trump and republican vice presidential nominee j.d. vance sharpened their attacks against their opponents. in battleground wisconsin, good -- vice president harris and minnesota governor walz hit the ground running on their first full day together on the democratic ticket. vp. harris: can we hear it for tim walz? to the people of southern minnesota, for 12 years, he was

a congressman. to his former high school students, he was mr. walz. into his former high school football players, he was coach. amna: the other, keep up the attack on the republican opponents. >> again and again and again, this guy weakens our country to strengthen his own hands. he mocks our laws. he sows chaos and division amongst the people. and that is to say nothing of the job he did as president. amna: that followed walz's debut as harris' running mate last night in pennsylvania. vp. harris: so pennsylvania, i'm here today because i found such a leader. amna: where a raucous crowd of more than 14,000, according to the harris campaign, showed the newfound excitement behind this ticket. the harris hq "truth social" account posted this photo of the event, juxtaposed with an image

of a trump rally held in the same arena in june. enthusiasm also came in the form of cash. the campaign said today it raised a whopping $36 million in the first 24 hours after walz joined the ticket. the events in pennsylvania and wisconsin are part of their whirlwind tour of several key battleground states over the next few days. former president trump, meanwhile, was on the offensive in a phone interview on fox - portraying harris and walz as left-wing extremists. mr. trump: nobody knew how radically left she was but, he's a smarter version of her if you want to know the truth. he's probably about the same as bernie sanders, he's probably more so than bernie sanders, she is more so than bernie sanders. this is a ticket that would want this country to go communist immediately if not sooner. amna: trump's running mate, j.d. vance began his own battleground-blitz. at a police station in michigan, he made the case for why a harris-walz administration would be bad for crime.

senator vance: we saw that of course in 2020, with the summer riots, with our new vice presidential nominee on the other side. as he was promoting rioters and looters burning down the city of minneapolis, kamala harris was helping to bail the rioters and looters out of jail. amna: he was referring to protests following the police killing of george floyd, some of which turned violent. as minnesota's governor, walz called in the national guard after several days. some say he was slow to respond. by the afternoon, vance was on to another campaign stop in wisconsin, landing as team harris was about to depart, and walking right up to the vice president's plane, air force two. >> i just wanted to check out my future plane. amna: on the stump, vance responded to the attack line coined by walz, that he and former president trump are weird. >> i think that the argument honestly came from a bunch of 24 year old social media interns who were bullied in school, and they decided they're going to project that onto the entire trump campaign. amna: as for team harris, a stop in michigan tonight, then on to

arizona and nevada later this week. for more on the latest developments in the race for the white house, i'm joined now by democratic strategist faiz shakir and republican strategist doug heye. good to see you both. let's talk about this newfound enthusiasm that we are seeing in the last 24 hours in particular. $36 million raised by this ticket in the last 24 hours on top of over 300 million that harris raised in july. there is an undeniable energy here. is that worrying for republicans? >> it should be. republicans should step back and be realistic about where things are. democrats are very enthusiastic. they are united now, no doubt about it. part of that is because they have moved from existential dread to happiness so if your team in basketball, you are down nine points, you have hit two or three baskets in a row, you feel like you have the lead even if you do or you don't. a lot of this fundraising that has come in, impressive numbers, absolutely. sort of low hanging fruit from people who were not going to give money if biden was at the

top of the ticket and once joe said, i'm out, democrats were able to start doing that. they also benefited from a tremendous amount of almost exclusively -- exclusive positive media for harris and now for tim walz. the hardest thing and i am being literal when i say this, the hardest thing about kamala harris in the washington post today was she has an unorthodox leo slicing onion, but otherwise, she is an amazing cook. that was in the washington every campaign gets hit in the face so how do they react to that? is kamala harris a good candidate in a way she was not when she ran for president the first time and did not have much -- we are not going to learn that in the next two or three days but we will learn that in the next 90. amna: is this a honeymoon period? is that what we are seeing in the surge of donations and crowds? faiz: the tactics being employed by the harris campaign, operatives around them, they are

fantastic. from the moment that the 30 seconds after president biden put out his statements, saying i'm not running, and proceeded to endorse kamala harris, from that moment on, execution has been a level from the kamala harris campaign all the way through this vice presidential nomination. they have given confidence that the tone is sharper, she is prepared to get on the road and make an argument. the words about how they describe trump are very effective and persuasive and my only caution here -- i'm very excited like most democrats get i very happy about the trajectory of it. caution is that donald trump has been on the ticket twice before, 2016 and 2020. in each of those elections, he outperformed what people thought he was going to get on election day. the one that scares me most is 2020. we were in chaos in 2020. the country was spiraling downwards. things were not looking great. you look at the election turnout on that day, we are talking small margins in arizona, in wisconsin. he exceeded expectations with his turnout. i say to all democrats, you will have to have that $81 million --

81 million plus number of votes. >> i agree with all of that. the harris team, the job they have done in ceiling it up for the vice president very quickly, no leaks. they have done an extraordinarily good job as operators and the second point is if you are a democrat and you have this rush of enthusiasm, a lot of it seems that they have come home from halloween, ripped open the bags, and had all the candy and that sugar high is there, but to your point, donald trump can win this. this race is not only not over, it is so early to even be talking about it being over. amna: to that point that you raised that we are still in this really getting to know who he is phase in the first place, we have seen a very controlled message coming out. just today, there was this people magazine feature of him talking about his family, more personal side, sharing that his son has a nonverbal learning disorder and anxiety, something millions of americans can relate to. he and his wife have talked about using ivf to start their family. there's a lot of personal ties

to what they are doing but it is early so where is this ticket vulnerable? where do you see republicans most potent attack? >> what a huge asset. he is a unique political communicator and not because he's like barack obama, a unique political committed caterer. -- communicator. he start making you feel good. i'm interested in what tim walz has to say about icefishing, football. we know these people who are gregarious, outgoing, affable, who when in a room, care about everybody else in the room. it is weird in politics because we are so used to narcissism. i care how you are doing. i want you to succeed. that is tim walz so i am very fired up about it. the liabilities are of course that he is new to a lot of people and they are going to compare him to bernie sanders stuff, which are welcome. go ahead.

honesty and authenticity of standing up to power, particularly corporate power, on behalf of corporate people. if that is how they want to define tim walz, i agree. they are going to play some games to try to change how you view what is otherwise an amazing human being and amazing ticket. amna: we have not really seen a consistent line of attack against vice president harris. i think that is fair to say so far. does the addition of governor walz give the ticket a more organized strategy and what is that? >> it can because he is from part of the left of the party and he is not a blue dog democrat or even a moderate democrat but ultimately, vice presidential nominees can help in the margins. they can hurt in the margins to some extent and this is a race that certainly will be in margins here or there. we are talking about a few states but this should remind us that this is donald trump versus kamala harris. that is it. it is not j.d. versus tim. they may have a debate, they may not. we will see. we will all tune in and over analyze it but we know what the main event is and whether we

have a debate or not. it goes down to those issues that voters are telling us the most loudly that they care about and yes, the rnc has a big book on kamala harris. they are still compiling it on tim walz, the dnc, same thing, but voters care about what is going on in their daily lives. that starts with what they spend on things everyday and the anger they have when they buy a sandwich and decide they are not going to go to the movies because it is too expensive and all those things. they are upset about what is happening at the border and how that has affected their communities. some of them, as women, -- especially suburban women, are upset about access to abortion and that is where tim walz can be beneficial on ivf but it goes down to those core issues. the other things that we will distract ourselves with, they are just distractions. amna: the economy remains the most important issue. is there another event of some kind like a debate that you think could open this beyond what we know will be a very tight election? >> we have seen some signs in the market that a recession is

coming. that would obviously change the nature of the race. that said, i think the democratic ticket wants to debate about the economy. you want to privatize, you know, medicare. i don't think it is going to work but you have to engage that debate if those data come. amna: great to see you both. thank you. well, tonight, harris and walz are continuing their battleground state tour with a rally in detroit, michigan. when president biden was the democratic candidate, he faced intense scrutiny from many muslim and arab-americans in the state over his handling of the israel-hamas war. some of the criticism came in the form of a protest vote, with more than 100,000 people voting "uncommitted" in michigan's democratic primary. the city of dearborn is home to one of the largest population of muslim americans in the country many with middle eastern or north african roots, and its mayor, abdullah hammoud joins me now.

thanks for being with us. you spoke with my colleague. you said back then that there seemed to be no real difference between former president trump and current president biden who was then the democratic nominee, and back then, you refused to meet with the biden campaign staff. the ticket has now changed. how do you view this new ticket would you meet with it today? you abdullah: we believe the door has cracked open and there is now opportunity to have a dialogue, for us to understand, you know, how vice president harris will differentiate herself from president biden on the path for gaza. there has to be a course correction. we have seen thus far that she has demonstrated being tough on rhetoric as it pertains to the remarks she made following her meeting with benjamin netanyahu but more than just being tough in rhetoric, we are hoping she pares that with tough policy. amna: when you say that the door has been cracked open, is that based on just what you heard from her so far in the way of messaging or something else?

abdullah: we believe there's been good faith measures. the remarks that she made following her private meeting remarks where it was the first time in a long time that many in the community felt an individual such as the vice president humanize palestinians and recognize their suffering and even brought forth that palestinians deserve the right to self-determination and most recently as we have also seen with her vp pick in governor walz of minnesota, this is a governor who may be the only governor in the country who won the uncommitted vote. he congratulated the uncommitted voters and thanked them for participating and engaging pacifically, -- civically he recognized the situation in gaza is intolerable, that the party should be listening to them, and that should course correct on the issue. amna: if there is to be a meeting of some kind, what do you specifically want to hear

from harris that would help to lock up your support and that of your community? abdullah: based on the conversations i had with many constituents and many thought leaders in this space with the palestinian americans, arab-americans, muslim americans, and pro-justice americans, the focal points are the following. we want to anchor down on the idea of a permanent cease-fire being called for because we believe that is the only pathway to the release of all hostages and prisoners in this situation and the only way to get access to humanitarian aid and beyond. second, the upholding of international law. the icc and icj have litigated this issue. we believe this should be the shield for vice president harris and governor walz on this issue and we think that an arms embargo makes sense we can follow the lead of the u.k. in this situation. thirdly is a concrete timeline, a table of how we get towards a just palestinian state because a return to the status quo is no longer acceptable and also not feasible. u.n. is saying that at the earliest, it would take 15 to 20 years to clear any debris and

rubble from the destruction that the idf has done all over gaza and at minimum, two or three decades to begin the reconstruction of gaza to give palestinians a feeling of hope again. amna: mr. mayor, as you have seen amid all the discontent and frustration with the biden administration's policy in israel and towards gaza, we have seen the trump team conducting a lot of outreach in michigan. we know from a forebear cabinet official, he has been on the ground. is any of that outreach working? abdullah: there is no opportunity whatsoever. they have reached out to some members but the individuals they spoke with do not speak on behalf of the community in any regard. nobody who i have spoken with, even some of the conservative constituents that i represent, have also expressed great disdain for the trump advance ticket because they understand what it represents. this is an individual who is vocal about wanting to bring back a muslim ban. this is a president who moved

the embassy to jerusalem, who eliminated all humanitarian aid relief towards palestinians in the budget he passed during his time. this is somebody who recognized the annexation of the goal line heights and annexation of illegal settlements, somebody that arm saudi arabia and killed 30,000 people in yemen. we very much understand what trump represent as a president and that is not something wants to see this november. amna: mr. mayor, we saw that this issue, u.s. policy towards israel, the mounting death toll of palestinians, was enough of an animating issue for thousands of people to vote uncommitted back during the primaries. come november, do you still think it will be an influential factor? if people don't hear what they want to hear, will they vote for a third party? will they stay-at-home? what happens? abdullah: i look at the primary elections that just happened this week and the primaries here in michigan. you saw apathy. people did not turn out. they were not excited at what was at the top of the ticket and

the apathy and feeling of dehumanization from all of the talk that has happened at the podiums in the white house has kept people at home. what inspires and draws people to come out in november is hope. people want a hopeful message. they want to see that their principles are represented in the candidate who wants to seek the highest office in the globe and the issues we care about are not issues that only people in dearborn care about. these are issues that are popular amongst americans from coast to coast. the majority of americans want to see a permanent cease-fire so i think it prudent of the presidential candidates to listen to the new center of not only their parties but the new center of america, that times have changed, and being very hard line on israel is no longer good policy. people want international law upheld. i think it is time that we moved along with the people. amna: that is the mayor of dearborn, michigan, joining us tonight. mr. mayor, thank you. we appreciate your time. abdullah: thank you. ♪

stephanie: the latest headlines. the effects of tropical storm debby are being felt as far north as the great lakes. the massive cyclone has collided with other weather systems, dumping heavy rain on highways and streets and stranding motorists in new york. it's also toppled trees into homes, like here in ohio, where more than 300,000 had lost power as of this afternoon. debby is out over the atlantic right now, but will move inland by tomorrow before marching north, towards new york and into canada. before that though, there's more rain in store for southern states, like the carolinas. today, north carolina's governor warned residents to stay ahead of the storm. >> so, preparation now means saving lives later. we expect this storm to continue its slow, gradual approach,

bringing multiple days of heavy rainfall and the potential for widespread and even severe flash flooding. stephanie: at least six people have died due to debby, most of them in traffic accidents or from fallen trees. new data show that the number of women getting abortions in the u.s. went up un the first three -- went up in the first three months of the year compared to before roe v. wade was overturned. that's according to a new report from the society of family planning, which supports abortion access. there were around 99,000 abortions each month from mark january to march nationwide. that's compared to a monthly average of 84,000 in the period before the 2022 supreme court thousand ruling. the increase is due in part to the rise in telemedicine, allowing doctors to see patients from areas that have banned the procedure. i the united kingdom is on high alert tonight, amid concerns i about a new wave of anti-immigrant violence. shops in north-east london were

boarded up, following recent protests targetting mosques and minority communities. more than 100 police officers have been injured in the clashes. the riots have been fueled by misinformation over a stabbing i in late july, in which three girls were killed in the town of southport. social media rumors falsely identified the attacker a muslim asylum-seeker. london's police commissioner says officials won't tolerate further violence. >> it is completely unacceptable, regardless of your political views, to intimidate any sector of lawful activity. and we will not let the immigration asylum system be intimidated. they're operating lawfully. the thugs and criminals who are targeting them are not. stephanie: police have made more than 400 arrests so far. three men have been convicted already for violent disorder among other charges. in the middle east despite soaring regional

your tensions in recent days, cease-fire negotiations for the israel-hamas war are "as close" as ever. that's according to white house official john kirby, who also said the new leader of hamas -- yahya sinwar -- is the 'chief dog israel decision maker' on any progress towards a ceasefire. that all comes as israel unleashes near-constant airstrikes in gaza and put forward video claiming to show attacks on hezbollah targets in southern lebanon. israel's defense minister had a tough warning for the iran-backed militant group's leader, hassan nasrallah. >> from the looks of things, nasrallah may drag lebanon to pay heavy prices. they don't imagine what could happen. i guess if they take a photo of gaza, they will understand, but reason doesn't always prevail. while stephanie: meanwhile, turkey has formally asked to join south africa in its genocide lawsuit against israel, at the international court of justice. hamas welcomed the move, saying it affirms turkish president recep tayyip erdogan's support for the palestinian cause.

back in this country, the environmental protection agency is using its emergency authority to halt the sale of a weed killing pesticide that harms the development of unborn babies. the pesticide also known as dcpa can cause impaired brain development in fetuses and low birth weight. the band comes after the manufacturer failed to provide the epa with vital health information. is the first time in roughly 40 years epa has taken this type of emergency action. the two astronauts who went to the international space station in june for a week long mission have been there for two months now and may not return until next year. that's because the spacecraft that took them, boeings starliner, is not safe to return home. it's plagued by thruster issues and leaks. nasa said if starliner isn't fixed, astronauts suni williams and butch wilmore could hitch a ride with the next space-x crewed mission when it returns

home next february. officials said they have until roughly "mid-august" to make a final decision. three taylor swift concerts in vienna have been cancelled due to security concerns. the music megastar was due to perform in the city's ernst happel stadium on thursday, friday, and saturday. but organizers called off the shows after officials arrested two suspected extremists. one of them is said to have been planning an attack on events such as the upcoming concerts. organizers say all tickets will be refunded. and in paris, it was a hot, eventful day at the summer olympics, but it began with some winter olympians getting there long overdue taste of gold. with the eiffel tower behind them, nine u.s. figure stater -- figure skaters were honored for their first place team finish in beijing 2.5 years ago. the international olympic committee delayed the ceremony until a major doping scandal -- which cost russia its title -- had been resolved.

as for this year's games, spoiler alert, we have some results to share. there was gold today for team u.s.a in women's track cycling, and for quincy hall, who surged to victory in the men's 400 meters. additional medals in weightlifting, skateboarding and artistic swimming add to the u.s. medal count, which currently stands at 94 overall. still to come on the "newshour", a controversy surrounding an olympic boxer highlights the debate around gender and sports. an arizona republican who fought back against false election claims is ousted. giant pandas return to the san diego zoo, and mh more. >> this is the pbs news hour, from weta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university.

amna: russia says it's fighting raids by ukrainian forces for a second straight day inside russia's border. the intense battles are said to be taking place in the kursk region, across from the ukranian region. it appears to be one of the largest incursions into russian territory since russia's full scale invasion of ukraine two and a half years ago. the ukrainian government has not claimed responsibility for, or acknowledged the attack. ukraine has been trying to intensify its fight against russia, not only across the 800 mile frontline, but also in territory russia has occupied since 2014, crimea. and that's where ukraine is achieving some success. here is nick schifrin with more. nick: in a war where ukraine struggles to hold the line, ukraine boasts with highly produced videos a theater of success. russian occupied crime era,

where russian boats have gone up in smoke. ukraine has zero warships but kyiv and washington say ukrainian sea drones have destroyed more than a dozen russian ships. and now, ukraine has unleashed on crimea its most powerful american weapon, the army tactical missile system. the u.s. has sent ukraine hundreds of missiles, each with a range of nearly 190 miles and a price tag of $1.3 million. >> i am announcing security assistance of $300 million. nick: after external pressure, the administration authorized it in mid-march and u.s. officials say ukraine first used them in mid april. this strike on a russian airfield in occupied crimea. >> they can help ukraine achieve the goal of making the crimean peninsula uninhabitable for a russian army, navy, and air force.

nick: ben hodges is a former commander of u.s. army europe and he has long argued the road to ukrainian victory runs through crimea, whose annexation is one of president vladimir putin's crowning achievements. and where the russian military has expanded ever since. >> now, ukraine has enough to be able to hit all the airfields and every ship in the harbor and other important facilities. that is the goal to make that place untenable for russian forces. nick: they helped sink a russian submarine and have damaged or destroyed russian airfields in at least a dozen batteries in crimea including some of russia's most advanced. and among the warships, one of the first sunk by a ballistic missile. ukraine attacks helped force russia's most valuable naval assets out of crimea into southern russia.

a feat first accomplished with long-range british storm shadow missiles that ukraine has been launching since last year. >> these hits matter a lot, partly because of the fact that the russians cannot replace them. crimea is a launching pad of all sorts of different missiles, rockets, drones, that are hitting civilian infrastructure and the ability to do that has been significantly reduced. >> these tactical gains help advance a strategic goal, keep ukrainian commerce flowing through the black sea. ukraine's food exports now match or even exceed levels from before the full scale invasion. and that income is critical to keep ukraine's government afloat so it can pay soldier salaries and to ukraine's long-term half $1 trillion reconstruction. >> over the course of this work, ukraine has gained an entirely new status in the black sea in this region will now always be

free from russian dominance. >> the u.s. and ukraine say it could challenge russian supply lines into crimea including via ferry. ukraine destroyed the third. those strikes penetrated one of the most fortified air defenses on the planet around the kerch bridge which connects crimea to mainland russia. ukraine set it ablaze in october of 2022 with an improvised explosive device that russia said was equivalent to 10 tons of tnt. in december 2022, putin took a drive to reassure her russians the bridge was solid. in july 2023, the ukrainian sea drone hit it again. u.s. officials confirm that russia has shot down -- including in late june when shrapnel from a shot down missile that was aimed at a military target instead rained down on beachgoers. russian media showed some

loungers used as stretchers and officials said the strike killed at least four people including children and wounded on hundred -- 150 more. if the u.s. and ukraine want crimean's to feel unsafe, tourists told local journalists it is working. >> we hope for the best but of course, deep inside, we have a sense of danger. >> the biggest danger to ukraine exists far from crimea. in the east, ukraine struggled to hold the line after shortages of manpower and munitions. some experts questioned whether crimea is the most battlefront -- most vital front for an american weapon in relatively short supply. >> this is of great significance but it doesn't critically affect the overall future of the war. >> he says it would be better saved for an expected russian offensive. >> it is a case for the

ukrainians conserving other weapons and ammunition for that moment. >> ukraine also wants to use it elsewhere instead russia, especially on bases with planes that drop devastating to thousand pound bombs but the u.s. restricts the use inside ukraine. >> we can protect our cities from russian guided bombs if american leadership stepped forward and allows us to destroy russian military on that basis. >> crimea is a concentrated target and an example of ukrainian success in a war of attrition with no end in sight. for the pbs news hour, i am nick schifrin. amna: the 2024 olympic games have garnered tens of millions of viewers, with jaw-dropping performances and compelling storylines.

but in recent days, controversy surrounding the gender of one boxer has also consumed headlines. william brangham has the story. william: algerian boxer imane khelif was triumphant yesterday. she defeated her opponent from thailand and will now fight for gold on friday night. on the streets of paris, algerian fans rejoiced. >> it was an intense fight, worthy of a final. she gave everything. imane was able to represent her country. she was able to show the world what strong algerian women are, she came out victorious, and we are proud of that. william: but khelif's rise has also put her at the center of an international firestorm. it began last week, when she defeated an italian boxer, here in blue, who quit their match after just 46 seconds, saying she was in too much pain from khelif's punches. >> a man, from beating a woman

to death. william: immediately, social media and cable news were flooded with false accusations that khelif was male or transgender. former president donald trump and harry potter author j.k. rowling, both of whom have spoken against transgender people, lashed out at khelif's participation. >> the far left wants to let biological males beat the living -- out of women in boxing. william: khelif is not male, or transgender. but these recent accusations stemmed in part from her disqualification at last year's world championships. the international boxing association, or iba, a governing body for the sport, barred khelif and a taiwanese boxer after the iba claimed they failed unspecified gender eligibility tests. the international olympic committee, which called the iba's decision "arbitrary" and banned the association over corruption concerns last year, decried the vitriol that's been

aimed at khelif. >> the algerian boxer was born female, was registered female, lived her life as a female, boxed as a female, has a female passport. this is not a transgender case. william: amid the attacks, khelif's father came to his daughter's defense. >> this is our official family document. may 2, 1999, imane khelif, a female. it is written here, you can read it. this document doesn't lie. the people who are lying and leading a fierce campaign against her are the enemies of god. the attacks against her are immoral. it is not fair. imane is a little girl that has loved sport since she was 6 years old. william: algerian fans have been solidly behind khelief at the games. and this week, she spoke about the toll the criticism has taken. >> i send a message to all the people of the world to uphold

the olympic principles, to refrain from bullying all athletes because this thing has effects, massive effects. it can destroy people, it can kill people's thoughts, spirit, and mind. william: that was imane khelif a few days ago, describing what these accusations can do to people. for a deeper look at what we do and do not know and what this , says more broadly about the future of women's sports, we're joined by katie barnes, who's been closely for espn. katie is the author of "fair play: how sports shape the gender debates." katie barnes, thank you so much for being here. there are so many different threads in this story. who governs boxing, who gets to determine who competes where? all these misconceptions about her. she is born a female, lived her life as a female, competed as a female, and yet there is

this international boxing association test that allegedly disqualifies her. what do we know about that test and what it tells us? katie: the nature of the test itself is unclear. the association has said it was not a testosterone test. in a press conference, they clarified it was a blood test but when they were testing for and exactly what eligibility standards she did not meet, they have not been specific about and part of that is due to the fact that this information is private medical information so they are limited in terms of what they can say publicly without the consent of the players. william: there is this discrepancy between what the iba and the olympics say about whether or not someone has some unfair characteristics that allow them to compete or not. is that the core of this? katie: there is a tension around the question of who it should be eligible to compete in the

women's category in sports. in this case, in boxing. there is a disagreement between iba and ioc. we don't know the specifics of the disagreement but the iba has vigorously defended its decision to disqualify her and the ioc has vigorously defended its decision to include them both in the women's boxing competition in paris. william: how often are these tests used? have they been used for a long time? what can you tell us about the history of this kind of testing? katie: sex verification test ending -- sex verification testing, that has been around for a very long time. almost since women have been playing sports at the olympic level, frankly. so those tests have taken different forms from visual inspections to cheek swabs that are looking for dna tests or

chromosomes to hormone tests over time. they have taken different forms and in recent years, it has been cyclical in terms of how these tests are performed and under what circumstances. it is an ongoing discussion about how best to regulate the women's category. it is something that is unique to the women's category in the men's category is not under the same type of scrutiny largely because the nature of how women your began to get access to sports to begin with is derived from this idea that this is a protected category so therefore the there boundary that is set must is be policed from a regulation standpoint. how that has happened has changed over time but it has pretty much always been there. william: what do you make of the whole political firestorm that blew up over her successes? katie: i think of it as a consequence of imprecise language.

when people use terms like biological male and man to describe people who are competing in a women's sporting event, especially a combat sports event like boxing, that tends to bring out a lot of emotion from folks, and that is also happening in the wake of just a tremendous amount of emotional and legislative energy being put toward addressing some of these issues in the united state in terms of legislation passing around transgender athletes, so i really think that brought out lot of confusion and brought out a lot of emotions and sometimes command that was used inadvertently incorrectly, and sometimes folks i think weaponized that in that particular case. william: apart from these larger debates around who sets the standards, as we heard from her herself, the material that was directed -- vitriol that was directed towards her has got to be so dispiriting when you were

trying to compete at this level. >> i cannot speak for her of course but judging by what she has said publicly, and also how she just released so much emotion after winning her quarterfinal bout, it's clear that this has weighed heavily on her and other athletes who have been through similar difficulties when they run up against policy that disqualifies them and that becomes public, i think that is important to acknowledge as members of the public that these are real people who are wrestling with these things and perhaps learning new information about themselves and now, that is being parsed publicly in highly emotional and charged ways and athletes are human, too. i think we would do well to remember that. william: katie barnes, thank you so much for helping us wade through all of this. katie: thank you for having me.

♪ amna: the 2020 presidential i election was decided by a handful of states, none closer than arizona, where president biden's margin of victory was fewer than 11,000 votes. the close race meant arizona became ground zero for lies that the election was stolen and illegitimate. stephanie sy has this update on what's happened since. stephanie: in the last four years, the integrity of arizona's election system has sustained repeated attacks from conspiracy theorists and allies of former president trump. one of its staunchest defenders is an elected republican, stephen richer, who, as recorder, oversees voter registration and mail-in ballots in maricopa county. his pushback to election deniers angered many in his party. and last week he lost the gop primary as he sought a second term.

stephen richer joins me now. thank you for joining the news hour. you have faced death threats for your vocal defense of democracy in the 2020 election yet you decided to run for a second term and of course last week, you lost in the primary to a candidate backed by election deniers. how did you take that? does it mean the election fraud allies -- lies are still dominating the gop as we head into this next election? >> it is still a significant portion of the conversation and there's is still a lot of people who believe inaccurate information about the 2020 election and the 2022 election so there's a lot of work to be done. i'm going to continue doing it to the best of my abilities and i would love to instill confidence in the process. i am sad to be leaving my team to be leaving this important office but i am excited to be able to move on from some of the

unpleasant parts that you mentioned and try a new adventure. stephanie: your opponent in the primary, representative justin heap, was recruited by one of the arizonans behind the so-called fake elector scheme to try and change arizona's votes to the trump column in 2020, while heap avoided outright election denialism in his campaign, do you think he represent a big enough threat to elections that you are planning to actively support his democratic opponent over him? stephen: i have not made any determination as far as that. i don't know how he would govern or how the democrat running in this race would govern. my focus is going to be on the next four months in ensuring we deliver a fair, lawful, transparent 2024 general election and then they will be in someone else's hands to steer the office forward and that could take a different approach. if it is unlawful, then people will sue. if it is not as good, you know,

people will look back fondly on some of the transparent things that we did. stephanie: speaking of the law, he did support some of the election reforms in the state legislature that were proposed by election deniaists. have any changes to the election system in arizona happened that have helped or hurt election integrity in your view? stephen: for all of the talk, there actually has not been that much change to how elections are administered. there has not been any seed tied change in terms of you can't tabulate ballots by machine anymore, not doing early voting, or something along those lines although all of them have been proposed. stephanie: no drastic changes. in the remainder of your term, and you talked about wanting to safeguard voter trust, what are your plans in the next couple of months to build trust? stephen: to keep doing what i have been doing throughout this

past 3.5 years. we have put so much effort into explaining this process. we have done live streams, town halls, virtual tours of our facility, over 200 tours of our election facility. it is my sincerest wish that the average arizonan feel good about the election in terms of how it is administered and feel confident in the results paid we will keep working towards that with the only weapon we have at our disposal which is more and more information so we will keep doing that so i really hope there are enough people who can still be convinced by facts and logic. stephanie: allow me to zoom out to the national picture. a group of arizona republicans threw their support behind vice president harris. you have said in the past you would support biden over trump in november, should we assume you're planning to vote for vp harris, and if so, will you be actively helping in her campaign? stephen: i certainly won't be actively helping.

i haven't decided how i'm going to vote yet, but as i said before, i am a longtime republican but there are a number of comments and actions that the former president has made with respect to my office that have given me great pause and have h some very negative effects for the people working here in my office and for election administration throughout the country. those are unacceptable in my book and so it is an election that is causing me great anguish as a longtime republican voter. stephanie: stephen richer, thank you so much for joining the news hour as always. stephen: thank you. amna: the first pandas to arrive to the u.s. in more than two decades are about to make the big debut in california. it is the latest development in what is known as panda diplomacy and as william brangham reports,

the exchanges between china and the u.s. are not always black-and-white. william: it is a diplomatic journey that has not happened in over 20 years. two young pandas, a four-year-old male and three-year-old female, flew 7000 miles from china's mountainous province all the way to the san diego zoo. few foreign dignitaries get such an enthusiastic outcome. >> we know the pandas are here and it is pandemonium. william: while these two are expected to draw big crowds, they are being kept out of sight for a few weeks to let them acclimate. apart from atlanta, san diego is now the only zoo in the nation with these precious bears. san diego zoo received its first pair from china in 1996. over the years, six more were born at the zoo but under the agreement with china, all were returned to their native country in 2019.

>> we learned so much about giant pandas. william: the vice president of wildlife conservation science at the san diego zoo. >> the size of the habitat is quadrupled, maybe even quintupled. it is enormous. we integrated studies of behavior, physiology, and help to ensure we knew all we needed to know about their well-being. william: san diego is not the only zoo prepping for pandas. >> the pandas are coming back to d.c. william: the national zoo in washington, d.c. will welcome a new pair by the end of this year. >> there will be millions of people who want to see the pandas the day they are here. the entire planet is watching and there is no margin for error. william: national zoo and conservation director brandy smith. >> the fact that the conversations went that quickly, that was the exciting part for us. we already sent some folks to china to meet our new pandas so they can start to get to know them. they are having regular

conversations with our colleagues in china to find out more about them. william: giant pandas only travel abroad with beijing's approval. chinese panda diplomacy started in the 1940's, it way for china to bolster its image with the wider world and to help conservation efforts. in the 1970's, two pandas were sent to the u.s. during the nixon administration and they drew huge crowds to washington's national zoo. the practice has continued ever since and with several other nations as well. the exchanges are not always harmonious. in 2010, when president barack obama met with the dalai lama, whom beijing views as a tibetan separatist, china recalled two pandas. >> when pandas are withdrawn, china does not say this is a symbol of bad relations. some other excuse is always given. william: susan is a distinguished professor at the university of missouri, st. louis, and a member of the

national committee on u.s.-china relations. >> there has been this whole furor about pandas being sent back to china and not renewed as a symbol of a deterioration in u.s.-china relations. william: last year, amid heightened tensions between the u.s. and china, the national zoo had to say farewell to its three bears. the memphis zoo sent home its last bear and atlanta's four pandas are headed back in the fall. with no new returnees on the horizon, it seemed the u.s. would be panda free, but then last year, when president xi jinping met in california -- when president biden and president xi jinping met -- a breakthrough. >> we are ready to continue our cooperation on panda protection with the u.s.. william: in addition to the duos in san diego and those coming to d.c., next year, two more will head to san francisco but with

less than 2000 giant pandas in the wild, there are questions about whether captivity is humane. he is a senior vice president of wildlife conservation at the world wildlife fund. >> populations in the wild are getting isolated. that makes it difficult for pandas to breed and that is why their numbers are recovering so slowly. william: unlike with other vulnerable species, conservation agreements helped upgrade giant pandas from endangered to just vulnerable. but breeding the bears is incredibly difficult. despite their gregarious reputation, the bears are naturally solitary. females are only fertile once a year and only for about a day to 1.5 days. >> efforts to breed pandas have improved. there are more and more that are being bred in captivity. these long-term programs are required to provide funding directly to conservation of pandas in the wild. in that sense, the panda is

unique. william: this new duo marks the first time in over two decades that beijing agreed to send new bears to the u.s. and they are no longer considered gifts. the bears are officially leased and they are not cheap. each pair costs over $1 million every year. dan ash is the ceo of the association of zoos and aquariums. >> it is expensive for them. you think it brings a lot of visitors but it brings a lot of responsibility. you have to have specialized staff. it is an honor because what it does is that it shows that these are facilities at the top of their game. william: in san diego, they will be officially unveiled to the public this week, getting americans once again fired up for some much needed pandemonium. for the pbs news hour, i am william brangham. amna: that is the end of the news hour for tonight. on behalf of the entire news hour team, thank you for joining us.

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station from viewers like you. thank you. >> this is the "pbs newshour" and in the west, from the walter

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