geoff: evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz at the democratic national convention. on the newshour tonight. after the obamas make the case for a kamala harris presidency, minnesota governor tim walz prepares to formally accept the

nomination for vice president. >> we speak to members of the house and senate about the democrats' chances of winning majorities in those chambers on election day. and. while the world's eyes are focused on gaza, hard-liners ramp up efforts to expand israeli settlements and violently expel palestinians in the west bank. >> i fear for my family. every day people are being killed. i am afraid of the future, it may kill me at any moment. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour been provided by -- >> consumer cellular, this is sam. how matt help you? this is pocket doll. with consumer cellular you get nationwide coverage with no contract. that's kind of our thing. have a nice day.

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this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contribution to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. amna: welcome to the news hou tonight, here at the democratic national convention, minnesota governor tim walz will accept his party's nomination to be vice president, and introduce himself to the american people. geoff: last night it was former president barack obama and former first lady michelle obama who were centerstage, energizing the convention crowd and delivering scathing criticisms of former president donald trump's campaign and presidency. white house correspondent laura barron-lopez joins us from the convention floor, where she's been watching it all. laura: that's right, amna and geoff, the former president threw his weight behind harris' nomination last night, telling a packed arena here that a harris-walz ticket is, ultimately, the only choice.

with back-to-back speeches that lit up the arena, barack and michelle obama delivered a political one-two punch. >> i don't know about you, but i am feeling fired up! i am feeling ready to go! laura: firing up the crowd for kamala harris, and warning of a trump presidency. >> we have seen that movie before, and we all know that the sequel is usually worse. >> a familiar feeling that's been buried too deep for far too long. you know what i'm talking about. it's the contagious power of hope! laura: the former president and first lady captivated democrats with a message of hope. mr. obama compared the enthusiasm for harris to his rise 16 years ago. >> i am feeling hopeful, because

this convention has always been pretty good to kids with funny names who believe in a country where anything is possible. laura: but the obamas also took the fight directly to trump repeatedly calling attention to his privileged background. >> most of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forward. we will never benefit from the affirmative action of generational wealth. >> here's a 78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator 9 years ago. laura: and, this scathing response to trump's racist birther conspiracy theory that he continues to peddle. >> for years, donald trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us. his limited and narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of

two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who happened to be black. laura for michelle obama in : particular, who said this on the convention stage in 2016: >> know, our motto is, when they go low, we go high. laura: her tone last night was different. at one point firing back at trump's remarks falsely claiming that undocumented immigrants are taking, quote black jobs. >> who's going to tell him that the job he's currently seeking might just be one of those 'black jobs'? >> do we believe in the promise of america? and are we ready to fight for it? laura: vice president harris wasn't in the audience at the convention, like she was on night one. >> this is not just about us versus donald trump. this is about two very different visions for our nation. laura: taking a quick trip to milwaukee wisconsin with her

running mate tim walz, campaigning in the exact place trump accepted his party's nomination back in july. >> lil jon: we are here tonight to officially nominate kamala harris for president! another round of shots! turn down for what? laura while democrats held a : symbolic roll call to celebrate her nomination. >> california, we proudly cast our 482 votes for the next president, kamala harris! laura: harris beamed in on jumbotron. and returning from chicago she , watched her husband's speech from aboard air force two. it was second gentleman doug emhoff who showed the convention crowd the personal side of kamala harris. >> i got kamala's voicemail and i just started rambling. hey, it's doug. by the way, kamala saved that

voicemail, and she makes me listen to it on every anniversary. laura: also last evening, right alongside the party's most liberal leaders, like senator bernie sanders -- we are republicans who say they've had enough of trump, and plan to vote for harris, including mesa, arizona mayor john giles. >> i am a lifelong republican. so, i feel a little out of place tonight, but i feel more at home here than in today's republican party. john mccain's republican party is gone and we don't owe a damn thing to what's been left behind. laura: even former trump press secretary stephanie grisham spoke out against her former boss. >> behind closed doors. trump mocks his supporters. he calls them basement dwellers. on a hospital visit one time, when people were dying in the icu, he was mad that the cameras were not watching him. laura: as for trump, he held his first outdoor event since his assassination attempt.

a campaign stop with his running mate jd vance that was pegged as one on national security in asheboro, north carolina. but again heavily featured insults against the vice president. >> she's a radical left believer. she ruined san francisco, she ruined california. and, if she gets in, our country doesn't have a chance. this calamity is on comrade kamala harris' shoulders. laura: back in chicago, the center stage tonight belongs to vice presidential nominee tim walz, who many voters still know very little about. facing what is expected to be the biggest moment of his political career to date, governor walz will be able to introduce himself to more than just the party faithful during his primetime speech. geoff: as you say, it's a major moment for him tonight. what can we expect to hear from him? >> he will be introduced by a former student of his.

he was a former football coach and he is expected to talk about his upbringing in small-town nebraska. you will also be seeing videos throughout the night that highlight his service in the national guard as well as his time as a public school teacher. we're expecting he will be talking a lot about his middle, working class roots. that's been a big team here at this convention which we've also heard from second gentleman doug emhoff last night, when he talked about working at mcdonald's when he was in high school. very similar to the vice president working at mcdonald's when she was at howard, and that something the campaign has largely leaned into heavily as they try to relate to voters. amna: we expect another full slate of speakers on the convention stage tonight. who are some of the folks we would expect to hear from? laura: senator amy klobuchar

minnesota, as well as house minority leader hakeem jeffries of new york, former speaker nancy pelosi, and some of those vp contenders that vice president harris considered as potential running mates, like potential -- pennsylvania governor josh shapiro as well as transportation secretary pete buttigieg. but will also be hearing from or republicans like jeff duncan, that's a big play from the harris campaign as she tries to make sure she is keeping the and trump coalition together that biden was able to use in 2020 two win the presidency. geoff: what about the themes and prude lines tonight, what is on tap on that front? laura: we will condition -- continue to hear about the threats that project 2025 proposes, and we will also hear from more reproductive rights leaders, including one we interviewed on our special last

night. i'm also told that a number of speakers will be talking more directly about immigration and trying to on that issue which democrats have increasingly tried to do. as well as this will be a big knot of phone banking, alongside the convention for democrats, expected to have 400 phone banks across the mat around sates with some 4000 volunteers. amna: we know there's been some discussion about how much or how little vice president harris has worked to distance herself from biden. laura: a number of democrats i've talked to, delegates, operatives and party leaders, they essentially say i do not think that harris needs to differentiate herself dramatically from president biden. the only issue democrats i spoke to say they think she should carveout her own lane and a more empathetic lane is on gaza, and

making her own path on israel, her own policy positions on israel much more clear. on economy, immigration and abortion, they say she should simply just build upon biden's agenda. my producer spoke to a republican who spoke at the convention last night, a trump voter who said he just thinks that harris and walz need to be more adaptive and don't appear to be going after things like second amendment rights. another republican we spoke to here said that in states like michigan, in addition to those 100,000 uncommitted, he said harris needs to pay attention to the nikki haley volunteers of which there were some 300,000. amna: good to speak with you, laura. thank you. later tonight, before the convention house a ceremonial

vote to show its support for walz as the party's vice presidential nominee, minnesota senator amy klobuchar will deliver a tribute to her governor. and the senator joins us now. great to see you. you have known governor tim walz for very long time and will be speaking about him to nominate him for that bp slot -- bp slot tonight. who is the tim walz set many americans say they don't know much about? >> he is a dad i think everyone knows, when you see the video this week of his kids, not knowing they would be caught on camera doing rabbit ears behind their dad as he was going to be nominated for the vice presidency. he is a soldier who served for 24 years, he is the teacher, and you will hear from kids that he taught, whose lives he changed. he took a football team in minnesota, the town my husband grew up in, and turned it into a state champion, and then he ran

for congress in a red district that only two democrats held in 100 years. so this is a guy, when i think about michelle obama's words last night, where she talked about, not everyone gets generational wealth. not everyone is graced by that ifou go bankrupt over and over again. this is a guy from incredibly humble roots in rural nebraska then went on to serve his country and many, many different ways. so i think you're going to hear that story of his life, just from a minnesota perspective, as my mother and all that brought over a parmesan chicken dinner when their little boy gus was born, she said people did that for her when she had six boys. so she did that. it just shows you, i think you will hear a lot about neighbors helping neighbors. that's what tim walz is about. amna: i have a lot of questions about how he took that team to a winning record.

you mention his record as he was in the house. he was known as much more moderate, representing a very rural district back then. when he was governor he was known to push more progressive policies. how would he govern as vice president? sen. klobuchar: he has midwestern common sense. he will look at each problem and figure out how to fix it, just like he fixed the headlight of a car. then he will bring together coalitions, working with vice president harris, who has been in congress herself, and knows how to lead. i think what you will see is someone who will work hand-in-hand with her in getting things done. in terms of policies, as governor, he delivered the biggest tax cut in minnesota history, that at this time time he was able to make sure that kids had lunch and breakfast, way beyond covid. they get it now, no questions asked, when they are in school. he made sure that we had a really strong paid family leave

policy. he worked with our unions. just go through his policies, that i always keep in mind, and i want america to keep in mind, he has looked out for workers and families, but we have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country in minnesota and we are sixth in the country in doing business, according to cnbc just last month. amna: back when president biden was still the nominee, republicans were eyeing minnesota as a place where they could possibly expand the map. we worry about that, and has the worry gone away with the new democratic ticket? sen. klobuchar: i was not worried about that, just because i believe we are able to stitched together a coalition election after election of democrats, and we have a strong independent base. as well as moderate republicans, and of course jesse ventura is supporting this ticket. so we have been able to bring together a base of people that

wins elections, and the republicans have been dominating extreme people in our state. i think the results have shown, as well as in the presidency, we have voted democratic election after election. amna: in other places, republicans thought they had a chance. are you less worried now that republicans can do that? sen. klobuchar: it's still going to be tight, as the obama six plane last night, but in 30 days, harris has united us, filled arenas with 50,000 people, and is surging in the swing states. that is what is going on right now, and that is only in the first maybe 32 days. amna: you also heard michelle obama last night warned against what could be had, hinting at potentially racist or sexist attacks, potentially on a black woman running for president. do you share that concern? sen. klobuchar: yes, and i look

at the past. hillary clinton alluded to it as well, 2020 when i ran for president and elizabeth warren and others did. they are really unique attacks. they tend to be about how you look, how you dress, how you laugh. we have all learned a lot, all of us. some of it you ignore. you just don't act on everything they say. some oeyf it you take on when 's really serious, but some of it you laugh off. they are making fun of -- i will take brad sommer any day over kathleen hayes. amna: senator amy klobuchar, thank you for joining us. geoff: now let's hear directly from the harris-walz camp. michael tyler is the communications director for the campaign and i spoke with him moments ago. geoff: michael tyler, welcome to the newshour. michael: pleasure to be here. thank you for having me. geoff: well, in the months since the democratic ticket changed,

the harris campaign says the democratic map is expanding and donald trump's is not. the campaign says it's competitive in places like nevada, arizona, north carolina, georgia, what do you all see that gives you such confidence? michael: well, again, thank you for having me. i think number one, what you see is an incredible amount of energy and enthusiasm that's on full display here in chicago, but it's been on full display since the vice president took over at the top of the ticket, named governor walz as her running mate. they've been crisscrossing the country. but as a campaign, frankly, what we're more excited about is the fact that when people are showing up to those rallies, they're also signing up to volunteer, right? we're continuing to build our grassroots army because yes, the map is wide open. we have a path that is inclusive of the blue wall states, obviously pennsylvania, michigan, wisconsin. the southwest of nevada and arizona, the southeast where i'm from georgia, north carolina, but what we understand is that this is going to be a very close and competitive presidential election as all presidential elections are, right? it's going to come down to tens of thousands of votes in a handful of those states that i just referenced, and so what we are laser focused on is making sure that we spend the next 70

some odd days using every tool at our disposal to turn out our voters, right? geoff: so what does that work look like? i mean how do you sustain this momentum to build a broad enough backing to win. you say it will be a tight race. michael: so it's a multi-pronged effort, right? so number one, we just announced this week that we placed our first wave of fall paid media reservations. $170 million television advertisements, $200 million digital advertisements given the way that people consume their media now, you have to make sure that you're actually hitting voters, not just with the right message but across the on the right platform so that you're actually hitting them. so we're focused on that, but then we're also using moments like this, right, where you have a convention which is of course a moment where you can reach a wider swath of the electorate, but it's not just for television, right? we're also using this as an opportunity to grease the wheels on our organizing apparatus. we had 2800 events for our weekend of action, leading into the convention, making sure that again across all of the battleground states that were knocking on doors.

we are making phone calls. folks are having conversations in their own communities about the vice president and the governor's vision for where they want to take this country, of course, the choice that we have between their positive vision and donald trump and jd vance's extreme and dangerous vision, but we're making sure that we're using every tool at our disposal to do that. we made about a million voter contacts this past weekend alone , as we approach the convention. we are excited to keep building and mobilizing momentum. geoff: as kamala harris works to define herself and her agenda should we expect that she will break from president biden on some issues? how is her approach to the israel hamas war, the humanitarian crisis in gaza. how is her approach different from president biden, if at all? michael: well, yes, listen, i think it's worth taking a step back and looking at this whole cloth, right? i think number one, you look at the accomplishments of the biden harris administration. the vice president owns those accomplishments as well, right, so everything from the nearly 16 million jobs that were created under this administration, the 800,000 manufacturing.

-- manufacturing jobs the work , that she and the president have done to lower costs for americans, capping the cost of insulin at $35 for seniors. geoff: so then would a harris presidency be the continuation of a biden presidency? is that, is that what you're saying? michael: well, at the same time, so number one, we're proud of those accomplishments. the vice president is very proud of those accomplishments, but you'll also continue to see her increasingly lay out her vision for where she wants to take this country over the course of the next 4 years, right? she understands that for many americans prices are still too high, for example. that's why last week she went to north carolina and unveiled some of the first planks of her economic agenda, making sure that we actually do things like take on meat processors. they continue to jack up the price of beef. it's why she wants to build more housing in this country and incentivize more housing construction. that's why she actually wants to give the middle class a tax cut versus what donald trump wants to do via his across the board tariffs, which is a tantamount to $3900 tax increase on the middle class, so you'll increasingly see her as we move forward in the general election, lay out her own vision for a new way forward and how we continue to build on the progress that she made as vice president. geoff: what should we expect to

hear from minnesota governor tim walz tonight? michael: yeah, i think what you'll see tonight is sort of the capstone of what's been an introductory phase of this campaign for both the vice president and for the governor since she named him as her running mate, right? he'll talk a little bit about who he is, how he grew up, right? the fact that he began his career as a teacher and as a football coach, a state champion football coach, and how he took those lessons in the classroom and on the football field to a life of public service. they obviously served in the national guard but then served in congress, has served as governor of minnesota. and there's always, no matter where he has been, has always looked to bring people together to solve problems, and i think that's something that stands in stark contrast, not just to jd vance, but of course to donald trump, right, who looked to govern through fear, through division, through chaos. it's going to be a fundamental contrast, not just in vision, but i think in tone as well. this entire convention, you'll continue to see tonight and into tomorrow, one of the fundamental contrasts is, you know, joy and hope versus chaos and fear and hatred. i think that's going to be on full display for the american people to see tonight in the

governor's speech tomorrow night in the vice president's speech and for the continuation of this campaign. geoff: lastly, there are reports that robert f. kennedy jr. is set to end his presidential campaign and endorse donald trump. if that happens, how does that change the contours of this race and the harris campaign's view because rfk aligned voters are more likely to be trump voters than they would be harris voters? michael: yeah, listen, there are a couple of things i would say to that. i think number one, rfk was obviously funded by maga donors. a lot of maga talking points throughout his campaign, so it's no surprise to us that if you were to drop out, he might endorse donald trump's campaign, but what i would say to any of the undecided voters and many of the voters who were sticking with rfk at this time if you're concerned about the threat that donald trump poses if you care about the fundamental stakes of this democracy if you want to ensure that we continue to live in a democracy if you, when you look at your economic outlook and you're looking not just for the chance to get by, but to actually get ahead. there is one candidate in this

race who's actually fighting for you, and that's vice president harrison, so there's a home for you in the vice president's campaign. geoff: michael tyler, communications director for the harris walls campaign. thanks for being with us. michael: thank you for having me. i appreciate it. amna: immigration remains a thorny and top issue with voters this election year. i spoke earlier with representative veronica escobar, a democrat from the border state of texas. she has unique insight into the problem and ideas about how her party can address it. welcome back to the news hour. let's start with your race down in texas. you're facing a republican this fall that you have already defeated twice. this is in a district where issues like immigration and the economy remain top of mind for voters, and these are issues that republicans still have the trust advantage, nationally at least. how do you win again? what is the message? rep. escobar: thankfully my community knows me. i served in local government before i was in congress.

we work really hard to share with the community all the victories we've shared under the biden-harris administration. in economically disadvantaged community like mine, those dollars made a huge difference. major infrastructure investments, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, capping insulin, all of that helps. and as long as people know that democrats delivered and they know that we have a great story to tell, people are ready to listen. amna: what are the lessons the harris-walz ticket can learn from your district, and we know those jobs numbers since march of been revised downward. it's really tough. what is the best message for them to deliver on this issue? rep. escobar: they are doing it in a great job in their rallies and in these conversations, and oddly sleep the work the biden-harris campaign -- obviously the work they were doing on the ground, those conversations. the harris-walz campaign has been able to capitalize on it.

but we have to tell the story. vice president harris has been talking very specifically, not just about what we've accomplished together, but people also want to know what is ahead. she's talked about housing, and it really starts with empathy, understanding and people are still hurting, they still need help. so she's been talking about housing, about price gouging, about bringing down the cost of prescription drugs. that's where americans are feeling a lot of hurt economically, in the pocketbook. and there's response, we hear you, we see you, and here's our plan going forward. amna: on immigration, something your community feels in a very front-line way, we have seen border numbers come down dramatically this year. but i remember speaking with you when folks in your district were on the frontlines of a real surgeon how it was impacting your community there. we know part of vice president

harris's portfolio was to address those root causes down in countries where people were being forced to flee in the first place. folks will look at that in say it's only gotten worse in the last few years. is that a vulnerability for her? rep. escobar: it shouldn't be, but the polling is. you are seeing the harris-walz campaign lean in on immigration, on the border, pointing out the fact that donald trump essentially has told his party to run away from any solutions. and frankly, it's been a decade of that. we know that in 2013 and 2018, and obviously this year, 2024, there have been efforts in congress, and this is a congressional responsibility, there have been efforts in congress to address this issue, and each one of those years it's been republicans who have either obstructed or run away from a potential solution. but this year, donald trump actually embraced that language.

he said blame me if you get criticized for running away from it. he said openly, i don't want a solution, i want the problem. they exploit the border. they exploit immigration. the only person who is serious about policy are the democrats, and specifically, vice president harris. amna: specifically among latino voters, we heard they have seen a surge in support since the ticket switched for the democrats. vice president harris is still not to the same levels that president biden was in 2020. we have seen a drop in enthusiasm in presidential races over 10 or 12 years now among latinos for democrats. how do you get them back? rep. escobar: we get them back by meeting them where they are, by listening to them. as vice president harris says, by earning their votes. i have been going to the battleground states.

i been to pennsylvania, wisconsin, nevada, arizona, speaking directly with latino voters, having roundtable conversations, talking to grassroots organizers, and we, the democratic party, and the republican party, have taken latino voters for granted for too long. that was not the case with the biden-harris campaign. we started early with latino voters. we watched latinos going to biden-harris. when the switch was made and the torch was passed, vice president harris has taken that mantle and we are going into these communities, telling them they matter, telling them we care about them. amna: does that outreach make a difference here? rep. escobar: latinos have set for eight long time, not just about republicans or democrats, that they feel taken for granted. we are not taking them for granted.

they've got incredible power. we have incredible power in the latino community to influence the outcome of this election, and we are going directly to them to tell them we care about them and we want them to be with us. amna: congresswoman veronica escobar from texas, thank you for being here. we really appreciate your time. geoff: few democrats are as influential are powerful as james clyburn. he was quick to throw his support against vice president harris which help to consolidate the party support for her. he joins us now. most know you as the elder statement who -- elder statesman who saved joe biden's campaign. he called you moments before he dropped out of the race. what did he tell you? >> he told me he'd made a decision not to continue in the

campaign, and he read me the statement and asked what i thought. i told him i thought it was a good statement but it was missing something. and i said to him, i didn't think it would be the thing to do to leave the stage and not endorse the vice president. geoff: so the original statement did not have the endorsement of kamala harris? rep. clyburn: no, it didn't. he said i'm glad you said that to me. 30 minutes later he did issue a second statement and there was the endorsement. geoff: do you think he would have done that without your endorsement? rep. clyburn: i think he would. i told him what i did, and he

did what he said. geoff: last night we saw the obamas, in many ways affirm kamala harris as the rightful successor to the obama era. we heard former president obama invoke that slogan, yes, she can. that's how he rephrased it. how do you see that historical through-line in her role? rep. clyburn: i see it as a pass-through of joe biden. joe biden brought this country back from the brink. obama left trump a lot to work with. and he did through the obama era, through his father's money, lost it all, and he mismanaged the pandemic. nobody blames him for covid-19, but he could have managed it in a certain sense, but we got all foolishness. so it's up to biden to bring

this country back, and he did it with some monumental legislation. his rescue plan didn't get the second republican vote, but it got businesses centered and it got our economy back in focus. then he did the infrastructure bill. we've been promised infrastructure every month for four years without one dime spent on infrastructure. the instructor bill included broadband internet that we needed especially in rural communities, to help children stay in school, the chips and signs that, the pact act, inflation reduction act, he did it. so we can't go from obama all

the way to harris if you are going to pass through joe biden. geoff: when you talk about the biden policies, does kamala harris owe voters more specifics and terms of what her policies would be, or is it enough in the moment to be buoyed i all this democratic enthusiasm? rep. clyburn: in the moment, it's enough. we will end this convention tomorrow evening and then we will go back to the business of campaigning. that's when she should lay out exactly how she plans to conduct herself as president. here you're trying to gin up support and then you will give them something to work with when they get back home. there are some broad themes tomorrow night from her, and that's as it should be. the specifics, she'll get into

tomorrow night. geoff: how might this campaign corral all this energy and momentum and turn it into actual vaux on election day? rep. clyburn: i'm glad you say that. you talk about the energy, and the atoms floated round in the atmosphere forever, nothing happened until someone figured out how to harness their energy. that's what we have to do. the energy here, you can feel it, you can hear it. but we've got to figure out how to harness that. in my opinion, you don't harness it by running television or radio ads. they just tend to generate energy. you've got to harness that and keep boots on the ground. we can talk all we want about hbcus, getting onto these

campuses and getting them out to vote, the masonic orders, get them involved in this campaign. we have got to get people through those organizations that already exist on the ground and get people to the polls. geoff: what do you want to hear from vice president harris tomorrow night when she delivers her speech and formally accepts the party's nomination as the presidential nominee? rep. clyburn: focus on the future. focus on the future. that's what this is all about. people need to know how it's going to look when all the conventions are done. geoff: thanks so much, we appreciate it. amna: we turn now to the middle east where israel and hezbollah have been trading strikes today. geoff: we turn to william

brangham in our washington studio. william: israel's ambulance service reported the projectiles hit several private homes and injured one person, causing alarm among community members. click some of the residents want to leave, others are patriots who want to stay but it cannot continue this way. this time it wasn't a door, but a serious boom that cost us a lot. william: hezbollah says the barrage was in response to israeli airstrikes deep inside lebanon. residents of one lebanese village held a funeral today for a man they say was killed in an israeli attack. it comes a day after secretary of state antony blinken met with mediators in the region to push a proposal aimed at bridging gaps in the gaza ceasefire talks. egyptian officials reportedly expressed skepticism today that

hamas would in fact accept that proposal. talks are expected to resume in cairo tomorrow. health authorities in congo say they've recorded more than a thousand m-pox cases in the last week amid an urgent need for vaccines. congo accounts for more than 90% of the cases reported in africa so far this year. last week the w.h.o. classified the outbreak as a global health emergency. african health officials say western nations and japan have pledged several hundred-thousand vaccine doses. but, congo's health minister says his country alone needs some 3 million doses to control the outbreak. in italy, divers found five more bodies while searching the luxury yacht that sank off the coast of sicily on monday. recovery crews unloaded body bags from a rescue vessel in porticello. they're still searching for one final missing person. 15 other passengers and crew escaped in a lifeboat and were

rescued. authorities say they believe the british-flagged vessel, seen here in file video, was struck by a tornado on the water, known as a water spout. but questions remain as to why the yacht sank so quickly. russian officials say that ukraine launched one of its largest drone attacks on moscow last night, since russia's invasion in 2022. russia claims to have struck down 45 drones, including 11 over moscow itself. there's been no independent verification of those figures. that comes as ukraine digs in to defend the city of pok-rovsk in eastern ukraine from russian advances. its capture would be an important victory for russia, as ukraine pushes forward with its own incursion further north, in russia's kursk region. in moscow today, a foreign ministry spokesperson said ukraine's military advances there undermine any chances for peace talks.

>> who will negotiate with them after this, after the atrocities, the terror that they are committing against peaceful residents, the civilian population, civilian infrastructure and peaceful facilities? william: ukraine's military claims to have taken nearly 500 square miles in kursk since it first entered russian territory earlier this month. back here in the u.s., the economy added far fewer jobs last year and into 2024 than previously reported. in its revised data, out today, the labor department said that there were 818,000 fewer jobs created between april of last year and this march. that's an average of jobs per month, far fewer than 174,000 the 242,000 that was initially reported. this downgrade follows a disappointing report last month, and comes as the u.s. federal reserves considers whether to

cut interest rates next month. on wall street today, stocks ended slightly higher, after the fed raised hopes of an interest rate cut next month. the dow jones industrial average addded 55 points, inching closer to the point level. 41,000 the nasdaq tacked on more than 100 points, for a ninth win in 10 sessions. the s&p 500 also ended higher on the day. and we have two passings of note. new jersey congressman bill pascrell, jr. died earlier this morning. the 14-term democrat was a fixture of his hometown of patterson, where he had served as mayor before running for congress in 1996. pascrell was a longtime advocate for emergency responders, and sat on the house ways-and-means committee. no cause of death has been announced, but he had been in and out of the hospital for months. congressman bill pascrell was 87 years old. also today, nba hall of famer al attles has died. as one of the first black head coaches in the league, attles

led the golden state warriors to a champsionship in 1975. attles, seen here defending a pass in 1963, was known as the destroyer for his physical style of play. he spent six decades with the warriors, as a player, general manager and team ambassador. it's the longest stint by a player with the same franchise in nba history. al attles was 87-years-old. still to come on the newshour. on the ground in the west bank--where hardliners are building more israeli settlements in violation of international law. >> 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. >> gaza is enduring it's devastating war, and increasingly brutal battle is

being fought over land in another palestinian territory, the west bank. there, israeli solar's -- soldiers were attacking more frequently and ferociously than ever before. more than 100,000 palestinians have fled their homes and last year more than 1500 forced off their land. our special correspondent travel through the occupied west bank to meet the israeli settlers who are determined to expand their outposts throughout that contested territory. >> as war rages on, long before the dust has settled on thousands of destroyed homes in gaza, these israelis are calling to be allowed in to build jewish homes amidst the rubble. no israelis have been allowed to live in gaza since the government pulled out nearly 20 years ago. there was violent protest at the time, those who called it a mistake now feel vindicated by the october 7th hamas attacks.

and as the world watches the war in gaza, extremist settlers have taken advantage of the distraction. armed mobs have descended on ancient olive groves on multiple occasions burning them to the , ground. accelerating their harassment of palestinian villagers and violent land seizures, shooting palestinians who stand in their way. last week in a palestinian man was shot dead after a group of armed settlers stormed the village of jit, setting homes aflame. in late october, three of yasser audi's family members were killed when a group of young settlers stormed through their village of qusra on a shooting rampage. the next day, as they drove to the graveyard to bury them, their car was surrounded by armed settlers. 15-year-old yasser's father and brother were executed in front of him. >> when we leave the house, we do not know whether we will come

back home or not. when we go anywhere, we find settlers and soldiers in front of us. they may attack us or kill us. they don't care. >> suddenly the man of the house, yassar doesn't know how to protect his little sisters and brothers from the surging violence. yasser audi: i fear for my family. every day people are being killed. i am afraid of the future, it may kill me at any moment. >> israel's right-wing coalition, led by pro-settlment hardliners, has ignored western entreaties to intervene. last month, the israeli government announced it would officially recognise five more illegal settlements in the west bank, and says it plans to allow settlers to expand into a record amount of further west bank land this year. adding fuel to the fire, many reservists called up to fight from settler communities have joined idf units in the west bank, human rights groups have documented multiple cases of uniformed soldiers seen

providing military protection to the settler attacks. the idf says it is investigating the accusations. critics say the idf's past form shows it cannot be trusted to investigate itself, of over 1200 complaints of israeli soldier violence against palestinians from 2017-2020, fewer than 1% were charged. eiyar segal lives in one of those communities. giv'at arnon, built strategically directly above a palestinian village, as most settlements are. several months ago, two settlers were shot and injured on the main road here. more than half the residents here are fighting in the reserves. she wants immediate resettlement of gaza, and says palestinians should not be allowed to live there. >> people from gaza don't care about building their lives, instead, they are only focused on trying to destroy our lives.

this went on for a long time without any military or intelligence capability to combat them effectively. >> eiyar insists the violence is caused by palestinians refusing to accept what she sees as her biblical right to live on this disputed land, which they call judea and samaria, and that the only solution is for as many israelis as possible to move here. >> we do not apologize for defending ourselves. the army cannot maintain a prolonged presence without jews living here. >> these settlers are breaking international law, which prohibits israelis from building in the west bank or parts of east jerusalem. more than 3 million palestinians live in the occupied west bank. in 1993 it was ruled 60% of west bank land was off-limits to settle in hopes it would one day form the bulk of a palestinian state. but in the decades since, it collapsed into memory, and

settlers have slowly and increasingly publicly, expanded their outposts, despite its national outcry. some 700,000 israelis now live on this land. a frustrated president biden has slapped sanctions on several known violent settlers, and organisations that fund and support them. he even threatened to sanction some idf units that have been repeatedly accused of abuses of power and violence against palestinians, if they did not reform. there have also been palestinian attacks on settler communities, but they are far less frequent. in april, 14-year-old settler benjamin achimeir disappeared and was found murdered, a palestinian man from the nearby village of mughayir was charged. in the following days israel settlers rampaged through surrounding villages, burning homes and shooting at least four palestinians dead. according to the un, 5 settlers have been killed since october 7th, at least eleven palestinians have been killed and 230 injured

by settlers in that time, with more than 1250 settler attacks recorded on palestinian villages in the course of the war. in that same period, nearly 600 palestinians, including 137 children, have been killed in the occupied west bank by israeli security forces. hebron is the site of the ancient tomb of abraham, making it equally holy for jews, muslims and christians. some of the most hardline settlers live in this area, alongside palestinian communities, making it a constant flashpoint for violence. >> in the settlement of maale hever high in the hebron hills, settler activist binyamin shinberg has long used his expansion on political and religious grounds. >> so we have here a weapon room within our community, and usually it's full with weapons because they are reserved for emergency, which has come now. so all the weapons inside are now distributed.

>> for him, october 7th made this an existential battle. >> a look at them as a national energy -- enemy. >> like many who opposed israel pulling out of gaza, he believes the hamas terror attacks were a direct result of that decision. >> we said we cannot leave that because it's the jews, the jewish country and the holy land. and we said it will be dangerous. there will be rockets there will be terror attacks. and they didn't listen. but i think we do have to learn from our mistakes. leila: many people say that if palestinians had their own state, that would stop the violence because they would then have their own land. >> the reason that the palestinians hate us and fight us is not because they don't have a state, it's because we do have a state. they will not rest until they destroy the jewish state. so it's either us or them. >> but some believe there's another way. shaul yudelman is an avowed expansionist.

from a secular family in san francisco, he moved to israel after graduating college, learned hebrew and moved into a settlement in the west bank. shaul and his wife believe it's essential for jews to live in every part of the land they see as wider israel. but they also believe they can share it. >> i often say that there's really just two opinions on this conflict. it is a peace process or there's an existential struggle for survival. so this two totally different visions of what life could be here going at the same time. leila: how do you feel when you see young extremist settlers picking up guns, going and shooting palestinians, terrifying children, pushing hundreds of them out of the villages that they live in and may never be able to go back to. how do you feel when you see that? >> it's horrific. it's a shame. and at the end of the day this conflict went when diplomacy and peace and all those things fail. it's a fight over the land. and that's what people are doing. i think it's a failure to make another political path. >> for years, shaul has worked to build bridges with palestinian neighbours in the

area. as tensions spiral out of control, he's now using those connections to try to restore trust. >> so i have a whatsapp group with palestinians from the south, everyone else and a few israeli activists there. >> using sympathetic contacts within the idf and local authorities, shaul and his allies have been arranging to help local palestinian farmers harvest their olives and graze their livestock without harassment. he knows israeli-palestinian relations couldn't be worse right now. but keeping the channels open gives him hope for a better future. >> we're in a time right now we're at home watching the news, seeing what this horror is doing. to get a phone call from someone on the other side saying, how are you doing? is everything okay? what can i do? is very powerful, very real. we're not there yet. but that's going to be the work when this when the fighting stops. >> in this shattered region, its devastated communities torn further apart each day, few now dare to cling to such hope for the future.

for the pbs newshour, i'm leila molana-allen in tekoa settlement, the west bank. william: we now hand it back over to amna and geoff in chicago for a preview of what we can expect from their coverage tonight at the democratic national convention. geoff: thank you, william. be sure to join us again shortly for live coverage of tonight convention, including governor tim walz speech accepting the party's nomination, plus interviews with top democratic leaders, including senator elizabeth warren. our pbs news special begins at 8pm eastern. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire newshour team, thank you for joining us. we'll see you back here shortly. >> major funding for the pbs newshour been provided by -- the ongoing support of these

individuals and institutions. the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.]

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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. hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & company." here's what's coming up. >> thank you, thank you. thank you. >> it's done. the torch is passed. we examine the emotions and look beyond