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. geoff: good evening i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i am all none of oz. on the news hour tonight, israel kills another senior hamas commander in lebanon as the region sits on the brink of a wider war.

we travel to the border area where thousands have already been displaced. geoff: here in the u.s., a scorching summer is threatening americans' way of life, and life itself. >> the outdoor spaces are becoming uninhabitable now in places like the desert southwest. amna: and as the olympics near their close, the historic moments and remarkable images that have defined this year's games. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the news hour. the judy and peter bloom kohler foundation, upholding freedom by strengthening democracies at home and abroad.

>> >> the john s. and james l. knight foundation, fostering engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪ and friends of the news hour. ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. amna: welcome to the news hour. israel continued its assault in southern gaza today. it struck khan younis, claiming that hamas fighters still operate there. israeli airstrikes killed at least 21 palestinians, according to medics at the city's nasser hospital.

one airstrike killed a palestine tv journalist, his wife, and three daughters. another strike smashed into tents housing displaced people in al-mawasi, an area israel had designated as a humanitarian zone. geoff: israel also confirmed it killed a senior hamas commander in a drone strike in lebanon. meantime, diplomatic efforts intensified to head off an iranian retaliation against israel for the killing last week in tehran of hamas political leader and negotiator ismal haniyeh. the u.s., egypt, and qatar called on hamas and israel to meet next week in a bid to settle remaining disagreements over a cease fire and hostage deal. for some perspective on all of this, we turn to hussain ibish, senior resident scholar at the arab gulf states institute in washington. thanks so much for being with us. hussain: great to be with use. geoff: they are calling for cease-fire talks. these three countries have been trying to mediate the deal for months now. might this time yield a

different result? hussain: it is possible, even though prime minister netanyahu authorizing a hit on a hamas negotiator in the first wave of efforts you have to go through to get to hamas and gaza, killing him was not conducive to making a deal, let's put it that way. however, i do think both signs could -- sides could stand for a temporary pause in the war. both sides would enjoy getting their prisoners back. they would look for political benefit for that. as the war is morphing from the original israeli campaign to destroy everything above ground that is of value into an insurgency versus counterinsurgency that is open-ended, which i think is the war hamas wanted to begin with when they launched the october 7 attack, as that has been going on, both sides could use time to regroup their militaries, to

prepare for this next round of fighting, which both appear perfectly happy with, and both appear to want to go forward with indefinitely. geoff: this is the latest attempt by the biden administration to end the war in gaza, even as the region braces for a suspected attack on israel in retaliation for the assassination of the hamas political leader in tehran. what more do you know about how and when iran might respond? hussain: we don't know anything about it. what is really interesting is time is wasting in the sense that you would have expected something more prompt if it was going to be a direct retaliation. the reason you have not seen anything is probably the dilemma that iran and its ally hezbollah in lebanon, which also lost their most senior military chief of staff in a different israeli assassination, that is probably more of a significant loss to hezbollah than haniyeh is to

iran. the alliance is a bit shaky. but both sides are going to need to retaliate because iran was really humiliated by the way in which israel exposed its penetration of iranian intelligence by hitting hamiyeh in a safe house in tehran. the reason both of them have held back in all likelihood is they are dealing with a dilemma of wanting to be seen to strike back and restore deterrence and show their continued strength without giving israel either the reason for or an excuse for -- it could be either, depending on which israelis you are talking about -- to escalate even further because it is still true that neither iran nor hezbollah once a regional war with israel. it is not in their interests at all. they got caught up because of their own bad policies and their own mistakes in a series of tit-for-tat strikes with israel where israel now has the benefit

of escalation dominance. they are the ones always pushing things forward. it is a difficult thing for it and has blood to hit back without giving israel another -- hezbollah to hit back without giving israel another reason, to take the whole thing further toward a regional war that they do not want. geoff: are you suggesting iran and its proxies are coordinating their response? hussain: without a doubt they are coordinating. the hezbollah leader said in his last speech, we will either act together or separately. they are buying time and they are buying time because they are in a bind, because they don't want a bigger war, but they have to do something. there have been many israeli associations in syria and iraq that went unanswered. these could be other examples of that. hezbollah and iran will feel the need to do something. but they really don't want to give israel another opportunity to escalate even further because

they fear a broader regional war. and a minority in israel's cabinet does want a war for various reasons. they think they can restore the credibility of the israeli security state, and they think they can maybe deliver a strategic blow to iran and its alliance where so far in the post october 7 environment israel has suffered strategic setbacks. iran doesn't care about gaza or hamas particularly, that they do care about hezbollah, who is supposed to protect iran from an american or israeli strike, especially on iran's nuclear facilities. that is their role. so iran does not want to waste that trump card on a place they don't care about and an unreliable ally in hamas. geoff: thank you so much for walking us through it. hussain: you are very welcome. amna: the conflict between israel and hezbollah began the day after the hamas october attacks last year, with the militants striking israel's north with rockets and artillery. geoff: we have reported on the toll on northern israel, in

lives lost and lives disrupted by evacuations and displacement due to the violent clashes. now, special correspondent simona foltyn takes us to the lebanese side of the border. [horns honking] simona: a race against time as fighting and flames engulf southern lebanon. we are with the lebanese civil defense in khiyam, one of the hotspots of a widening war between hezbollah and israel. since fighting began in october, there has been a sharp increase in fires here. during all of last year, this team responded to a total of 55 fires. now it's more than 20 per month. the vast majority have been caused by israeli bombardment. and as salem zaroush and his colleagues deploy, there's no guarantee that the shelling has stopped. >> we are afraid because we are going to a dangerous area, an area under bombardment. of course there's fear. maybe we'll come back, maybe we won't.

simona: they have to work fast and get out of what is an active war zone. we are about two miles from the closest israeli position, well within reach of israeli tanks. the plains around khiyam have been pounded with israeli strikes every single day, and the civil defense is the first one to respond on site, but they have very little equipment to contain the fires. no protective clothing to shield them from flames, no bullet proof vest to dampen the impact of incoming fire. the civil defense is lebanon's public emergency service, but their chief admits resources are scarce. lebanon's state collapsed long before this conflict flared. >> of course we need a lot of things. our cars break down a lot, they are more than 20 years old. we lack personal protective gear like body armor, vests and helmets. we are working with our bare flesh. simona: the broken windshield a reminder that first responders have not been spared.

the idf has killed more than 20 paramedics since the conflict began, according to a un tally. despite the risk, they persevere. -- per surveyor. -- they persevere. >> we have to answer the call and protect the people's livelihoods. the people trust us, they are expecting us to respond. simona: salem zaroush has a wife and two small children. >> our mission has become more important than our family. our families have stayed and they endure the pressure alongside us. simona: they spot another fire, further uphill. we drive towards it, passing residential buildings damaged in recent fighting. most of khiyam's residents have fled, leaving their homes, their beloved olive groves and pomegranate trees at the mercy of the bombs. the few civilians left are syrian refugees who have nowhere to go. once again trapped by conflict, all they can do is help the understaffed civil defense. >> we have become few.

the volunteers who used to help us have left with their families. so, we are forced to deploy in small numbers. simona: soon after we leave, the shelling of khiyam resumes. along with allied palestinian and lebanese armed groups, hezbollah uses these areas as a launching pad for attacks on israel. but israeli strikes on lebanon are far more numerous, and in addition to taking out fighters, they've killed dozens of civilians and destroyed civilian infrastructure. that day, this pharmacy was hit. hussain idriss fled khiyam months ago, when an airstrike leveled a nearby house. the shockwave ripped through his apartment. >> all the glass broke. i quickly packed my stuff, got into the car and drove off to beirut. simona: he has since rented this apartment in a neighboring village.

>> in my opinion, they target the civilian infrastructure so that people vacate these areas. of course a pharmacy isn't a military post. the same way israel has empty areas, they want us to have empty areas. the same way they've been displaced, they want us to be displaced. simona: this tit-for-tat has created a no-go zone for civilians. the only safe way to get there is with un peacekeepers, known here as unifil. we are headed for the un blue line separating lebanon and israel. as we approach, the gunner ducks inside and closes the lid. from now on, we're not allowed to leave the armored vehicles. >> we are not the target, but maybe one attack could fall close to the patrol. simona: lt. col. jose irisarri is part of a spanish battalion do you think that your presence and these patrols have any

impact in terms of calming the situation? >> it's the only way to avoid an open war in the south. if unifil wasn't here, the level of attacks and the kind of attacks would be much worse. simona: the destruction tells us we are getting closer to the blue line. on the other side of this wall lies israel. the lebanese village of kfar kila has become a ghost town. we haven't seen a single civilian except for a few paramedics. the village is entirely deserted and this not just kfar kila, this what the entire border areas look like. a quick stop at a un post, not far from the triangle where lebanon, israel, and syria meet. the official borders have yet to be demarcated. much of this land remains disputed, a matter that further complicates a resolution to this long-lasting conflict. >> there are so many factors, they have to get into agreement so many people.

simona: the blue helmets have been here since israel first invaded lebanon in 1978 and are supposed to help the lebanese armed forces, or laf, keep these areas free of hezbollah. but unifil has no mandate to use force. these bullets are for self-defense only. throughout the patrol, we see very little of the lebanese army. the international community and also the israeli government are pushing for the lebanese army to take over security in this area, but we don't see them with you. >> 20% of our patrols are with laf soldiers. simona: which isn't much. >> no, it's not much. we are pushing for patrols with the lebanese to participate as much as possible with us. simona: the ground truth is that hezbollah, formed in the 1980's to fight the israeli occupation of lebanon, has become more

powerful than the army. this latest conflict is bolstering its already strong position, and once again turning lebanon's south into a battleground. for the pbs news hour, i'm simona foltyn on lebanon's border with israel . ♪ vanessa: i'm vanessa ruiz in for stephanie sy with news hour west. here are the latest headlines, starting with severe weather. the east coast is experiencing heavy rains and flooding, as the last remnants of the post-tropical cyclone debby move north. flash flooding warnings stretch from the carolinas up through maine, with pennsylvania and new york potentially hardest hit. more than 150,000 customers remain without power across the region. in vermont, still reeling from flooding earlier this summer, officials today updated the state of emergency to include the impact from debby.

>> there will be damage, there will be various types of flooding. it will be a challenging next 18 hours, but we will get through it. stay safe and take care of each other. vanessa: at least nine people have died, most in vehicle accidents, or from falling trees. russia, meanwhile, declared a federal emergency today in the country's kursk region, where officials say they've evacuated 3,000 civilians. that comes four days after hundreds of ukrainian troops crossed the border in what's believed to be the largest attack on russian soil since the war started. also today, a russian missile strike on a shopping mall in ukraine's eastern donetsk region killed at least 14 people, injuring 44 more. the un reports that july was the deadliest month for ukrainian civilians since october 2022. an airplane carrying 61 people crashed in brazil's sao paulo state today.

brazilian airline voepass said the aircraft was en route to sao paulo's international airport when it came down in a residential area in the city of vinhedo. footage on social media shows a fiery wreckage just steps from people's homes. the airline has confirmed there were no survivors. the cause of the accident is not yet known. a california man was sentenced to 20 years in prison today for attacking police during the january 6 capitol riots. authorities say david nicholas dempsey, seen here at a tunnel entrance to the capitol, used flagpoles and other makeshift weapons to assault officers who were trying to hold back rioters. his sentence is one of the longest out of hundreds of prosecutions related to january 6. in austria, authorities say they've arrested a third person in connection with a foiled plot to attack fans outside taylor swift concerts this week with knives and explosives. two austrian teens were arrested wednesday.

officials say they were inspired by isis and al qaeda. austria's interior minister said today the third suspect is an 18-year-old iraqi citizen. >> he was in contact with the main perpetrator. but, according to the state of the investigation, he is not directly connected to the attack plans. but there was indication that he took an oath of allegiance to the islamic state group a few days ago. vanessa: though the concerts were cancelled, some fans decided to make the most of the situation. >> ♪ if you could see that i'm the one who understands you ♪ vanessa: hundreds gathered in vienna to sing taylor swift's songs and commiserate. swift travels to london next week for the final leg of her european tour. and in paris, algerian boxer imane khelif has won gold. she defeated china's yang liu in the women's welterweight division after facing false accusations about her sex.

and japan's b-girl ami won gold at the games' first ever breaking event. she spun, flipped, and windmilled to top her lithuanian competitor. still to come on the news hour, jonathan capehart and eliana johnson give their view on kamala harris' new running mate. how ferguson, missouri, has changed 10 years after mike brown's death sparked massive protests. and the photographs that have captured history at this year's olympic games. >> this is the pbs newshour from weta studios in washington, and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: bit has been a deadly summer. extreme heat from across the country has killed dozens of people. the biden administration recently announced new rules to protect workers and communities from extreme weather, but it may not come soon enough.

in maricopa county, arizona, which includes phoenix, there have been nearly 450 suspected heat-related deaths this summer. stephanie sy has this report from the valley of the sun. stephanie: summer steamrolled into phoenix fast and furious. noaa concluded it was the -- it was one of the hottest summers on record, and he was suspected in hundreds of deaths, including that of a 10-year-old boy on a hike. the outdoors can be dangerous at this time of year. living outdoors is even more so. at any given time each summer, some 9,500 people are unhoused in maricopa county. 49-year-old jerome lee is one of them. >> my head, i'm dizzy. i had a headache. this heat is hot over here in phoenix. stephanie: lee got a saline iv to rehydrate him. he'd been drinking. alcohol can increase the risk of heat illness. >> we're hoping we can help save

some lives with the iv hydration. stephanie: perla puebla works with the non-profit organization circle the city, which this summer is trying meet the most vulnerable where they are. >> we did encounter a lot of patients last year. they needed iv hydration, but they didn't want to go to the emergency room. they didn't want to leave their belongings behind. stephanie: last year, 645 people died in maricopa county from the heat, the most ever recorded. almost half the victims were homeless, and over 60% had alcohol or drugs in their system. >> heat is the most readily observable and most attributable adverse health effect of a warming planet. stephanie: physician john balbus is the director of the biden administration's new office of climate change and health equity. how bad are things? has there been, like, a sea change in the risk here? >> the really disturbingly high

death tolls that we were talking about in places like maricopa county are saying that the outdoor spaces are becoming uninhabitable now in places like the desert southwest. the temperatures are getting so high and the heat waves are lasting so long, and those minimum temperatures are so high. the people who are suffering in our society, suffering from poverty, suffering from mental illness, are at highest risk. stephanie: another high-risk group, outdoor workers. filiberto lares' job involves ferrying food to planes around the tarmac of phoenix's main airport, where temperatures can run three to five degrees hotter than surrounding areas. his truck doesn't have air conditioning. >> we have to stay there in our cabin. think when you go shopping, when you go to the parking, how is your car? how hot it is. stephanie: he's done this job

for 11 years, but now at 56, he's working mostly at night to avoid the worst of the heat. >> i got problems with my feet. in the summer, i feel like my feet are burning. so, as soon as i finish my shift, i got to take my shoes off. stephanie: a new ordinance in phoenix requires employers to provide access to water, rest, and shade. the new rule also ensures access to air conditioning in vehicles but won't go into effect until next may, which means lares has several more weeks of extreme temperatures to sweat through. >> i was thinking if i'm gonna make it this year. now we are in july. so, i said, half of the season. i can make it. so, i'm fighting. i'm fighting to do it. stephanie: it's an occupational hazard that is getting worse every year.

for some, the risks aren't on the job, but at home. 73-year-old deanna mireau divides her time between playing piano in retirement communities and serving as president of the arizona association of manufactured home owners. she says she's an advocate for residents. >> 40% of all indoor heat-related deaths occur in mobile homes in arizona. stephanie: in her home, she added window treatments to block out the sun. outside, she's installed awnings and planted large bushes for shade. >> i said from the minute we moved to arizona, if people took the measures to keep your house warm and keep the cold out like they do in michigan. they don't seem to do that here in arizona. stephanie: and older mobile homes are heat magnets because they're not as well-insulated, she says. >> they don't have the dual-pane windows. they're not necessarily designed to keep the heat out as well as a site-built home. stephanie: just down the road,

trahnel and brian mays' mobile home was built in 1973. >> our last electricity bill was over $350 for this small trailer. >> when it's hot, i've got it set at 78, and it's running 80 to 83. -- 82, 83. sometimes all the way up to 85 in here, which isn't the end of the world. but when you've got, you know, your air conditioners running that long, you know it's going to hurt at the end of the month. stephanie: trying to stay safe from heat while conserving their limited finances is a challenge. >> we just, we don't go out to eat. you know, i try to buy everything on sale and stock up. we don't buy a lot of extra stuff, we don't treat ourselves. stephanie: and to make matters worse, trahnel is on disability, and brian was unable to work until recently because of a kidney transplant. their pre-existing conditions raise their risk for heat-related health problems. >> i have type one diabetes. and if i get to a point where i start getting nauseated, i know that it's gone too far and i'm

going to be dehydrated. and then once i start throwing up, i have to go right to the hospital. stephanie: but making places like phoenix safer outdoors and indoors in a warming climate is possible, says dr. john balbus. >> there's a difference between saying the temperature's increasing and saying that there's nothing we can do to help people, and that the deaths we are seeing are all because of climate change. it's that balance of the warming of the planet and our effectiveness of our measures to protect people. stephanie: in an already deadly summer, that protection can't come soon enough. for the pbs news hour, i'm stephanie sy in phoenix. ♪ amna: we're at a major point in the presidential race, as both

tickets are now set. on that, we turn to the analysis of capehart and johnson. that's jonathan capehart, associate editor for the washington post, and eliana johnson, editor in chief of the washington free beacon. david brooks is away. good to see you both. we have now just had our first full week with both tickets fully set. harris and walz have been on the battleground blitz. they have been bringing this message to voters. >> we believe and our country. we believe in each other. we believe in the collective. we are not falling for these folks who are trying to divide us, trying to separate us. amna: senator vance has also been on that better ground blitz, largely alone, but mr. trump held his first press conference at mar-a-lago, his first since the full democratic ticket was set. take a listen. >> i am leading by a lot, and because i am letting their convention go through -- she is not smart enough to do a news conference. amna: jonathan, from the walz

roll out to strong fundraising numbers, it has been a good week for the democrats. can this sustain for the next several weeks? jonathan: it has been a great week for the democrats after the last three months they have put themselves through with all the yelling and screaming at each other and pushing the president off the ticket. but enthusiasm is up. the fundraising is out. the spirit among democrats is up. and yet, all things that are up must come down. and the thing that rank and file democras have to prepare themselves for, the bad press that is about to come, the attack that might land, the punch that might land. but the thing democrats also have to keep in mind is that vice president harris is fully aware of that. she has been saying to her team, this might be a sugar high. we have to keep our focus on november. knowing that the vice president

is speaking in that way gives me confidence that when the momentum starts to slagged or they get punched really hard with an effective attack that they will be ready to parry it. i'm sorry, i just lost my train of thought. [laughter] there was another really good thing i was going to say. amna: let me know when it does. respond to that, the idea that trump and vance are adjusting a bit to this ticket. is it clear to you what the strategy is to go after that harris-walz ticket, and also why haven't we seen mr. trump on the trail? eliana: all of us following this race really close there right now, but the campaign doesn't begin in earnest until after labor day. the challenge for trump and vance is dominating in national news cycle, which given all the news, the harris campaign has been dominating. i can understand why he is not doing a ton of rallies right now. they are big events, very expensive. this time is probably better spent doing these press

conferences like you saw him do yesterday where he had the entire attention on the national media for an hour. his point was to draw can test with vice president harris, to say i doing press conferences, i am taking questions from the press. she is not. jonathan: talk about contrast. fine, donald trump has done rallies, but he is all upset because he has done rallies in the same space as vice president harris has done rallies and has not gotten the same size crowd, which is why when he was asked about crowd size, he went off the deeper end of the deep end. just because you stand before the press doesn't mean that what you're saying is doing you any good. and i am so glad you showed the vice president and followed by showing a snippet of donald trump's press conference because we saw two completely visions for the country, but also to different campaigns. vice president harris and

governor walz are happy warriors. theyare talking about we are in this for you, in this together. together we can move the country forward. donald trump is still stirring the grievances of the last eight years, if you want to go back to the start of his campaign. a heavy, dark vision for the country that i don't think it's going to sit well once we get into the campaign in the fall. amna: what do you make of that? also this idea that what we have seen mr. trump carrying on with personal attacks, we have seen senator vance focusing now on tim walz's military career. this is a of attack we have seen. we know mr. walz served in the army national guard for 24 years before retiring. we have heard vance attack him in this way from time to time. >> i did honorably and i am very proud of that service. when tim walz was asked by his country to go to iraq, you know what he did? he dropped out of the army and

allowed his unit to go without him. amna: this is so reminiscent of that swift voting attack on john kerry back in 2004. we know the same man is behind it, who is running the truck campaign now, chris luz evita. why run these attacks when there is no evidence for what they are saying? eliana: i think there is some evidence for what they're saying, but let's look at it on two parts. the issue on the merits, there is no question, tim walz has padded and inflated his resume. amna: in what way specifically? eliana: j.d. vance mentioned the timing of his retirement is suspect, and i think it would take longer to talk about the timeline of that. amna: he is alleging he retired because he was being deployed. eliana: right. he knew they were going to be called up. he had gotten a warning they were going to be called up, and he said in a press release for his campaign, if called up, i have a duty to serve. he didn't do that. it is clear he has inflated that and made it part of his

biography. by the way, this has been an issue in each of walz's campaigns. separately, there is a question of how significant is this going to be down the road? you mentioned the veterans. those attacks were effective, but they were levied against the presidential nominee of the democratic party, john kerry, different. at this rate -- this race, is not going to be won and lost on attacks made by either j.d. vance or tim walz. it is going to be about trump and the harris-biden record. i don't think this is actually likely to be a very significant issue down the line. amna: jonathan, please. your face says it. [laughter] jonathan: i'm sorry. it is a spurious charge. the man served his country for, what, 24 years? sure, this is a race between trump and harris. if you're going to talk about military record and military service, donald trump has none.

so let's just put that to the side. i remembered what i was going to say in that first part. vice president harris is not afraid of donald trump, which is why i think she has been very effective on the trail in terms of reacting in the most minimal way possible to the racism and sexism and misogyny he has been hurling at her sense she got to the top of the ticket. amna: at the same time, the criticisms being levied at the top of the ticket on the democratic side are valid. she has not set for an interview. we also haven't seen any kind of policy rollout, which leaves a lot of voters wondering if you are voting for harris-walz, are you voting for the same policies as biden-harris? jonathan: it is a legitimate concern. i think it is also one that the harris-walz team is fully aware of. we are a week out from the democratic national convention, which will be her opportunity and his opportunity, but

specifically for the vice president, to lay out in some detail to the american people, the largest audience she will probably get during the campaign, her vision for the country more specifically. her campaign speech is fantastic in terms of rallying the nation and trying to unify the nation, heal the nation, compared to the other ticket. but there are gaps. what is her economic policy? what are some specifics of her international relations, her view of the united states on the world stage, what a harris administration would be doing? those are all legitimate questions, and i am confident we will find out. amna: the context is what we are seeing in the polls, that harris is rising. our latest poll says she is four points higher than she was about two weeks ago. she is now leading mr. trump 51-48. three battleground states move, georgia, arizona, and nevada

from leaning republican to tossup. when republicans look at that, not just talking about the presidential race, but worrying about down ballot implications here? eliana: i don't think so. the scenario before was the democrats saying this is a catastrophe. now what we have is a tossup race. there is no question harris is a more competitive candidate. the situation is not a catastrophe refer republicans now. we are back to a junkball race. -- a jump ball race. the candidate would keep in mind that he retains an issue advantage on the economy and immigration, and any day that he spends not talking about those two issues, which are of the utmost importance to voters, is a wasted day. amna: these are issues sure to come up in a debate, jonathan, which we now believe will happen on september 10, both vice president harris and former president trump have agreed to that. we saw the impact the last

presidential debate had on the contours of this race. could this one have a similar impact? jonathan: it could. it all depends on what happens. it depends on what donald trump says during the debate. it depends on how the vice president reacts to whatever donald trump said on the stage. it depends on what she says in terms of seeking out new policy positions or if the other has a gaffe. we will all be watching that debate with the same amount of anxiousness and anticipation we did the june 27 debate, but for different reasons. with these two tickets, they are both on firm solid ground, and the stakes now, folks can really focus on those stakes of november. eliana: the last debate was hugely important for joe biden. he had to show that he could perform, and he didn't. this debate is really important for donald trump because he needs to force kamala harris out of the controlled settings she has engineered for herself. she said she would sit for a debate this month at some

point. he has to get her talking. he has got to get her to force to answer why she has turned 180 degrees on issues from fracking to medicare for all. those are things i don't have a lot of faith in the media to press. i don't have a lot of faith in her setting for interviews. he has to take matters into his own hands. amna: one month to go before that debate will happen, and we will see. thank you so much. great to see you both. ♪ geoff: it's been 10 years since 18-year-old michael brown was shot and killed by a police officer in ferguson, missouri. his death at the hands of police sparked massive protests and put the city in the national spotlight. our communities correspondent gabrielle hays returned to ferguson to see what's changed a decade later. >> i was in my grandmother's room and we saw it on local

news, and i saw the tragedy, just the police brutality going on. i saw the protesters outside. i saw the rioters. and i remember asking myself the question, what could i do at such an early age to make sure that we can rectify those injustices? hello, everybody. my name is precious barry. i lived in ferguson my whole life. >> my name is michael hollis, and i've lived in ferguson over 20 years. i just remember us kind of being angry, kind of talking about it . we were young, man. we had no mature thoughts about it, i think. it just sucked. >> what i did notice is the way that my family and the people around me and the adults in my life started responding and reacting to me and the other little black boys and my family. they sheltered us a little more and kept us a little more for fear of something like what happened to him happening to us. my name is darius turner. i've lived in ferguson for about five to six years. >> my name is jamie dennis and i've worked in the city of

ferguson since 2014. this was a pivotal moment in our country. it kind of opened up the lid on, you know, implicit bias, the racism that that has affected our community. >> the murder of michael brown was the fire starter for a lot of the communities to begin to progress. i'm aaron harris. i have been employed by the ferguson youth initiative since december of 2016. >> i think it was really just -- we're done, you know what i mean? like, this is it. y'all been pressing us all this time, and you took took an innocent life, and -- yes, it's just, people were just sick of it. >> my name is melanie marie randels, and i've lived in ferguson for 10 years. i moved to ferguson three months before mike brown jr. was killed. i feel like that kind of catapulted me into community organizing. ferguson 10 years later is full of community. still full of a lot of questions. i think it's still promising for change that we hope to see. not quite there yet.

>> i will say things potentially are getting in a better place, but not necessarily off of natural progression. >> there are signs of progress in ferguson that i've noticed, within city council, within the city. we get new shops in, new shop owners. but as for every progress, there's always going to be those people trying to stunt the growth or stop the progression. i do believe that ferguson is progressing and will continue to progress. >> i feel like there's more, you know, that needs to be done because it's simply not enough. the disparity continues to grow. the attitude of the police department, it needs to shift as well, and also the attitude of the people in the community and kind of instill the pride that was once here, maybe 15 or 20 years ago. >> overall systemic change seems to be where we are in need of. there's definitely not enough of that. i do think about what happened

10 years ago. and what i would love to see more is more businesses in that community, more economic development that is going into that community, and just more people filled with love, filled with laughter, filled with joy all around, just being unified all at once. >> and i just want michael brown's legacy to being known as a young man who had a family, who had friends, who had a future. i think often times he was dehumanized. his character was assassinated a lot. and i just want people to remember him for who he was through those who loved him. >> and i think michael brown should always go down in history and not infamy, but, you know, remembered as a person that did get chosen for change. you know, because what happened could have been prevented. but since it didn't, we have to pick up our pieces and learn, you know, how we can prevent another mike brown from happening. >> we need to build the world to set up the world and change the world in a way where we can exist just like everybody else, and not have to monitor and watch ourselves so much. but until we get to that day, take care.

keep track of us. ♪ geoff: the paris olympics will come to a close on sunday, and team usa is eyeing a strong finish to these already golden games. amna: earlier tonight, and, some spoilers here, rain poured down at the stade de france. but a slick track didn't slow down sha'carri richardson, who anchored the u.s. women in the 4-by-100 meter relay, and earned her first gold. geoff: later, rai benjamin lept -- leapt to gold in the 400-meter hurdles, making it an american sweep after sydney mclaughlin-levrone's win in the same event yesterday. and weightlifter olivia reeves made history, taking home the first weightlifting gold for the u.s. since sydney 2000. amna: the 14th day ended with the u.s. once again, leading the field, with 111 overall medals.

for more on the ups and downs of the olympic games, i'm joined now by christine brennan of usa today. she joins us from paris. always great to see you. let's start with noah lyles. he won gold in that incredible 100 meter race. he had to be wheeled off the track after getting bronze in the 200 meter later, revealing he had a covid diagnosis. what do we know about how he is doing? christine: we believe he is doing ok. he is going to be fine. but who would have ever thought that after two straight covid olympics, tokyo, summer games three years ago, beijing 2.5 years ago in the winter olympics, that we will be talking about covid here in paris? something that people did not expect. he did come to the stadium with a mask on. he took it off and raced and won the bronze medal, then of course collapsed and we found

out quickly what happened and what was transpiring with him. he did not then run in the u.s. men's four by 100 relay. you mentioned sha'carri richardson leading the u.s. women to gold. the u.s. men once again made a huge mistake. this seems to be a problem with the united states. the best runners in the world, the best men's sprinters in the world, and the u.s. has not won a medal in the four by 100 relay since athens. 20 years of making a mistake, dropping the baton, not passing it in the timeframe they need to. just a comedy of errors. with out noah lyles, they failed to win a medal, and noah lyles's olympics is finished, and a very strange situation with the gold in 100, but with that covid diagnosis and certainly not performing as he had hoped in the 200. amna: big hopes meanwhile for the u.s. women's basketball team, which beat australia in the semifinals.

they will now play france in a gold medal game. what are their chances of winning an eight straight gold medal? christine: i think they are really good. i was at that game earlier today, the australia-u.s. game. the french know how to cheer, and they are loud and they have a great time doing it. i was at the swimming venue, and i don't think i have ever heard an arena so loud. the u.s. women have their hands full in terms of the french crowd and having to fight that. but the u.s. women should win this game on sunday. i think it is going to be tough with that home crowd of the french. amna: when you look more broadly, there have been some really outstanding female athletes for team usa these games. katie ledecky, simone biles, the greatest gymnast of all time. sha'carri richardson, you mentioned. what do we know about their futures? will we see them compete again? christine: katie ledecky, i

guess. simone biles, maybe. sha'carri richardson, i would think so, although she kind of stared off at the journalist when asked about that tonight at the stadium. richardson is 24, let jackie and biles are 27. katie ledecky will be 31 in l.a. if she is healthy, she is competing in the l.a. olympics. simone biles, she has said we will see. the allure of competing on home soil in los angeles is going to drive a lot of these athletes to stick around.of course, the won 58% -- the u.s. have won 58% of metals. the u.s. women will win more medals than the men, which is a total result of title ix. amna: women leading the way. indulge me if you can for a moment in my sport of choice, field hockey, which we don't get to talk about a lot here. not only did the dutchman's team take gold in an incredible dramatic game that came down to

a penalty shootout, the women's team today -- the dutch women's team took gold in a penalty shootout. you must see sea of orange clad supporters cheering for them. is that what you are saying? christine: i have seen a lot of orange. i was wondering why until i realized what the dutch were doing. they are great. they celebrate as any nation does, a smaller nation. and field hockey, it is a sport i played in high school as well. a different sport now. but for a nation to do that and win both, that is extraordinary. the u.s. wins a lot of metals, china wins a lot of medals, but for some of these nations, there's one or three goals and it is their entire olympics, which makes it more fun. if i opened my window, i could hear them screaming in paris late after midnight. amna: are there any big surprises, things that have stood out to you from these games? christine: beach volleyball, which i think most americans

associate with the women's team as winning the gold, both of our u.s. teams did not make it to the medals. that surprised me. i was there watching that, especially a sport that is now an ncaa sport and americans have come to know that the u.s. women are terrific at it. that is a surprise. and simone biles, as great as she was with all of her wonderful performances, not being able to medal, falling off the balance beam and not winning the gold on the floor exercise. a terrific olympics for simone biles, but a little bit of disappointment on that final day. amna: christine brennan joining us from paris, covering these olympic games. always great to speak with you. thank you so much. christine: my pleasure. thank you. amna: the last two weeks of olympic competition have brought us record-breaking athleticism on a global stage like no other. geoff: now, we take a look back at the iconic images that defined this year's olympic games and talk to the photographers at getty images

about what it was like to capture them. >> i am mary baker. i am covering gymnastics here in paris. they are such incredible athletes, and the power they have, you take simone, the height she gets, it is just unbelievable. what you can show in your photos from what they do is an amazing opportunity to have. >> i am a photographer based in ireland, here in france for the paris olympics. this is the first time i have ever shot the olympics. in some respects, i was going into it with fresh eyes, which is quite a good thing sometimes. >> i am a sports photographer with getty images. i am at my 12th olympic games. the reason i was so attracted to filming sports was the beauty of light mixed with water, and the unpredictability. you can shoot swimming for 20 years and you still don't know exactly which way the water

is going to fall, what is going to happen. it is that unexpected element that makes a beautiful sports picture. >> i am the vice president of global sport for getty images. the summer olympics are by far the biggest sporting events that we cover in the four-year cycle. we cover every single day of competition, but it is over 10,000 athletes. you have 35 venues. we will shoot over 5 million images during these games. it is important because everyone has a camera nowadays in their pocket. what is important for us as photojournalists is to capture those moments in a way that other people can't really show the power of sport through a still image. >> there are so many athletes and in gymnastics anything can happen. for me, simone is the first big athlete i photographed. i would say the number of photographers, simone was on the beam, i think it was 160 in one position, and you are one in

that, so what are you going to do that is different from everybody else next to you? she has all that pressure around her, but when she does something, it is like it comes so natural. it is amazing to watch, and i feel like in that photo, she looks so poised and makes it look easy. >> some people may be familiar with my photographs of a korean shooter, which went viral during the olympics. >> quite methodical, a slow process for the athletes to shoot. it is not an action-packed packed sport, per se. so we revert back to what i know, which is trying to capture faces more than the actual shooting. that is what happens with kim, because straightaway to me, she was instantly striking. she had a nonchalance, a kind of coolness you could see straightaway. i said to one of my colleagues she looks like a movie assassin. >> swimming underwater is a big

challenge -- photographing swimming underwater is a big challenge. in paris, we have a new underwater robotic camera, and it basically gives you full control over that camera as if you are underwater. at the olympics, you record history, like a world record. i want to get the best picture i can of that. you have to be pretty knowledgeable of the sport and athlete. we watch the athletes finish a race, and it is often maybe a 10th of a second between first and last. so you really have to pay attention to see who has won. then it is tough to read the reactions. sometimes you are on someone not reacting and you think, they mustn't have w won, then you go off them and they go crazy. you have to pay attention to who is actually winning the race. that is the way you get some of those great pictures as well, when they explode with emotion. >> you see emotion at the olympics you don't always see in other sports. i think it is that for certain disciplines this is the top place you could ever be.

if you are a badminton player or table tennis player, these athletes train their lives for these moments, and i think they deserve to be seen. amna: it as a whole story, everything a one of those images. be sure to tune into washington week with the atlantic tonight with the democratic and republican presidential tickets set. jeffrey golberg and his panel look at the state of play in the 20 four matchup. >> and watch pbs news weekend for a look at an intervention program helping people quit smoking e-cigarettes. and that is the news hour for tonight. amna: on behalf of the entire news hour team, thank you for joining us, and have a great weekend. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪ and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the news hour. including kathy and paul anderson, and camilla and george smith.

the walton family foundation, working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people and nature can thrive together. the william and flora hewitt foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote about a world, at hewlett.org. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪ and friends of the news hour. ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪

>> pbs news hour west from weta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪ >> you're watching pbs.

jeffrey: both the democratic and republican presidential tickets are finally set. kamala harris and donald trump are a month away from facing each other on a debate stage. it's clear that trump would rather be facing joe biden and that he doesn't know quite how to counter harris' surge. next.