geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. and i'm amna nawaz. -- amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on the "newshour" tonight, israel launches a large-scale operation in the occupied west bank, targeting what it says are palestinian militants. geoff: kamala harris begins a bus tour through the swing state of georgia, while the trump

campaign comes under scrutiny for clashing with arlington national cemetery staff at the sacred burial site. amna: and, in a new book, former national security adviser hr mcmaster recounts his time in a tumultuous trump white house. >> yeah, it was chaotic and less than harmonious i guess i should say, but i think we worked through a lot of that tension. >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by -- >> consumer cellular. this is sam. how may i help you? this is a pocket dial. well, somebody's pocket, thought i'd let you know that with consumer cellular, you get nationwide coverage with no contract. that's kind of our thing. have a nice day. >> a successful business owner sells his company and restores

his father's historic jazz club with his son. a raymond james financial advisor gets to know you, your passions, and the way you bring people together. life well planned. >> working to advance inclusive democracies. learn more at the website. >> the judy and peter blum kovler foundation, upholding freedom by strengthening democracies at home and abroad. >> the walton family foundation, working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people and nature can thrive together. supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org. and with the ongoing support of these institutions. ♪

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. amna: welcome to the news hour. israel launched what it calls a counter-terrorism operation in the west bank, with hundreds of troops raiding the flashpoint city of jenin and other areas of the occupied territory. geoff: at least 10 palestinians have been killed in the raids, either by airstrikes, or gun battles on the ground. israel has carried out near-daily raids in the west bank, since hamas' october 7 attack. but this latest operation marks a significant escalation. >> in the dark hours of the night, israeli bulldozers moved into the west bank by land tearing up roads in the city of , tulkarm and followed by an

armored convoy. across the occupied territory: israeli forces attacked by air. israel says, targeting suspected militant strongholds. and by the morning hundreds of , israeli troops entered on foot. nats: patrolling -- on foot. patrolling now-crumbled streets in the largest raid on the west bank in months. among the dead, two of masoud naaja's three children. from his hospital stretcher, he said an airstrike hit his family's home, in the al-fara'a refugee camp. >> in seconds, very fast, we felt like something came down on us from the sky and there was an explosion. i was unaware of what is going on. when i put my hand on my chest, it was all shrapnel and in blood. amna: the israeli military said its forces had begun the first stage of a, quote, "counter-terrorism operation" in three areas tulkarm, al-fara'a , refugee camp, and the city of jenin, saying they confiscated large quantities of

weapons, arrested five suspected militants, and killed at least 10 more. israel's foreign minister said the goal was to "dismantle islamic-iranian terror infrastructures established there." hamas, meanwhile, called for its followers to, quote, "escalate all forms of resistance and confront the occupation and its settlers everywhere in our occupied land." all this, against the backdrop of surging israeli settler attacks on palestinians in the west bank in recent months. just this afternoon, the u.s. government announced new sanctions against one israeli ngo for its support of that extremist settler violence. since the october 7 hamas attacks, when more than 1100, israelis were killed, more than 600 palestinians in the west bank have been killed, according to the u.n. humanitarian affairs office. that's in addition to the more than 40,000 palestinians killed in gaza so far. israel's campaign against hamas continued there today with , strikes in deir al-balah and

khan younis, killing 20, including 3 children, according to palestinian officials. and to the north, a third israeli front. the idf released footage today, claiming to hit hezbollah targets in lebanon, where border tensions have persisted for months. palestinians in beirut reacted to today's west bank raid, and what it means for the greater region. >> we see what is happening in the west bank as an attack on the palestinian people and their national rights, considering that the israeli extremists are trying to displace the population and making the palestinians live in a state of permanent tension. amna: for prespective on all of this, we turn to daniel byman. he's a professor at georgetown university and the author of "a high price: the triumphs and failures of israeli counterterrorism." professor, you heard the israeli foreign minister say the goal is to dismantle the islamic iranian infrastructures in the west bank. who is he talking about? what are the groups that we know are operating from there that threaten israel? daniel: west bank is home to a

number of different palestinian groups. islamic jihad, hamas, both have a presence there. but the biggest problem for israel in recent years have been smaller groups that are really not affiliated with any of the major organizations often composed of local individuals in places like jenin have been hotbeds for those groups. amna: are they able to launch strikes into israel? daniel: for the most part, they have not attacked within israel. their efforts have been concentrated on israeli troops, especially going after israeli settlements on the west bank. amna: what about the way in which israel has gone in here? we saw ground battles and bulldozing roads and communities. why those tactics? daniel: israel in the past has relied primarily on the palestinian authority. the government authority. the defective government in the

west bank that has run it in conjunction with israel. their security forces have become weaker. israel has ignored them. israeli officials are deciding to take action on their own because they feel the palestinian security forces won't do so. to be that, these groups are often deep in the west bank, in neighborhoods that are certainly hostile to israel and israeli forces are afraid of improvised explosive devices, snipers, so they often go in with these massive armored bulldozers that detonate ied's before they can hurt people. they are basically sniper proof that the same time, they are incredibly destructive. they shield israeli forces and destroy palestinian neighborhoods. the much larger israeli efforts are ways to control the territory more to go after the on caches to have a better chance of arresting or killing individuals. it is a far more destructive,

intrusive approach. amna: the increase in violence in the west bank has not gotten as much attention as israel's war against hamas in gaza but when you pull back, it is worth reminding folks the west bank has been under israeli military occupation for decades. it's home to some 500,000 israeli settlers in settlements largely deemed illegal or illegitimate by the international community. how does all of that factor into this increase in violence we have seen recently here? daniel: what -- when israel left gaza in 2005, it was something -- it was controversial but at the time, it was nothing like the controversy in the west bank. their political power has grown. you have members of the current government that are actively arming the settlers or otherwise supporting them.

the settlers themselves have been responsible for a lot of violence on palestinian communities, at times pushing them out of their land, at times simply harassing them. the dynamics are quite different than they are in gaza. amna: this is now essentially a third front for israel here. the war in gaza continues. we know they are trading fire with hezbollah forces across their northern border. can israeli forces sustain a fight on all three fronts? daniel: the violence in the west bank is far less in terms of the requirements for israeli forces. while still considerable, they are not comparable to their peak six months ago. israel does have some spare capacity. a lot of what has been used in the west bank has been police forces. obviously perilous or forces. they are not overwhelming. on the other hand, if there was

a concept with hezbollah and lebanon, that would be far more demanding than any of these conflicts in that it would be very difficult for israel to sustain conflict in the west bank, especially gaza at the same time. amna: that is daniel byman joining us tonight. we appreciate your time. daniel: my pleasure. amna: the day's other headlines take us to ukraine, where a russian missile struck president volodymyr zelenskyy's hometown of kryvyi rih. eight people were injured, as the city held a day of mourning for four people killed the day before. russia's stepped up aerial attacks this week come as ukrainian battalions push further across the russian border, into kursk, officials there are installing bomb shelters to protect against ukrainian strikes, and residents can't believe the war has come so close. >> life has changed

unexpectedly, like in a dream, you know? sometimes you even catch yourself thinking, is it really true? could it really have happened? well, it turns out that it did. amna: cia deputy director david cohen said today that russian president vladimir putin will try to take back territory in kursk from ukraine. but speaking at a national security industry conference, cohen called that, quote "a difficult fight." here in the u.s., the supreme court has left on hold a biden administration plan to cut billions of dollars in student debt. some republican-led states are also working to block those loan-forgiveness efforts. last year the supreme court rejected a proposal that would've canceled more than 400 billion dollars in loans. the administration countered with a more tailored approach. this new plan would cap the amount people have to repay:

from 10 percent of their incomes down to 5 percent. and loans of 12-thousand dollars or less would be cancelled after 10 years. sarah palin has won her bid for a new trial against the new york times a federal appeals court -- the new york times. a federal appeals court ruled today that a judge in her 2022 trial was wrong to dismiss the case while the jury was still deliberating. the former alaska governor accused the paper of defamation after it incorrectly linked her to a mass shooting in a 2017 editorial the times later corrected the mistake. this case could force the supreme court to revisit its ruling in the "new york times v sullivan" case, which set a high bar for public figures to prove defamation. a jury in nevada has found a former las vegas politician guilty of murder in the death of an investigate journalist who wrote critical articles about him. >> guilty of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon. victim 60 years of age or older. amna: he has been -- robert telles shook his head as the verdict was read in court. he has been jailed without bail

since his arrest in 2022, shortly after reporter jeff german was found stabbed to death near his home. telles had denied killing german, saying he had been framed. he faces up to life in prison, without parole. a suffocating heat wave that gripped the upper midwest earlier this week has moved east. a large chunk of the mid-atlantic was under a heat advisory today, while a more severe "excessive heat warning" was issued in philadelphia. humidity made it feel as high as 105 degrees there. dozens of schools closed early for a second day. meanwhile in michigan, crews worked to restore power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses after severe storms swept through last night. the nation's green energy sector added jobs at more than twice the rate of the rest of the economy in 2023. the energy department said today that employment in the clean energy sector, including wind, solar and nuclear power, rose by

142,000, up 4.2% from the year before, that's more than double the broader u.s. job growth rate of 2%. overall, the energy sector added 250,000 total jobs last year. more than half of those came from clean energy. on wall street today, stocks ended lower as investors braced for a major earnings report from a-i giant nvidia. the dow jones industrial average slipped nearly 160 points. the nasdaq gave back nearly 200 points, or more than one percent. the s&p 500 also ended lower on the day. and, it was 10 years ago today, that washington was rocked by a "sartorial scandal", prompted by then-president barack obama's choice of clothing. >> good afternoon, everybody. i want to say a few words on a number of topics and take a few questions before the law labor day -- long labor day weekend. amna: indeed, many had questions about mr. obama's tan suit. in a government town where dark suits seem to be standard issue, critics saw the outfit as fundamentally unserious. but the look has since made a

comeback, like when vice president kamala harris wore tan at the dnc. and then there's donald trump and the suit he wore to the june debate against president biden. trump is distributing pieces of the suit to supporters, if they buy enough of his digital trading cards. still to come on the "newshour", chicagoans work to counter the national narrative that their city is a hotbed of violence. the u.s. surgeon general warns of the increased stress parents are under today and the paralympic games kick off with much fanfare and increased interest from around the world. >> this is the pbs news hour from weta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: vice president kamala harris launched a two-day swing through georgia today. her seventh trip to the state

this year will end with a rally in savannah. amna: meanwhile, former president donald trump spent the past 24 hours posting across social media platforms, including various grievances and conspiracy theories. laura barron-lopez reports. laura: in their first joint visit to georgia, vice president kamala harris and her running m■ate, governor tim walz embarked on a bus tour through the peach state. the goal, hold onto the battleground state that biden narrowly won in 2020. before joining harris in georgia, he spoke to the international association of firefighters in boston. >> when republicans use to talk about freedom, they meant it. they meant it. not anymore. these guys over there, they want government to have the freedom to invade every corner of your life, from our union halls to our kids schools and even our doctors offices. laura: they have blasted donald trump for the project 2025 agenda, crafted by the former

presidents allies. >> donald trump trying to hide from that project 2025 plan. they are going to use it. >> in a new campaign ad targeting battleground states and trump's home market in palm beach, harris doubled down. >> donald trump may try to deny it, but those are his plans. >> revenge does take time and sometimes, revenge can be justified. >> jd vance hit the trail in pennsylvania today. >> was it a good idea to give kamala harris a promotion? no. we are going to do what donald trump loves to do to people who don't do their jobs. you are fired, kamala harris. laura: trump has limited his campaigning to friendly interviews. in a conversation with dr. phil mcgraw, he lied about the 2020 election results. >> i gave a speech i had a crowd so big, they mark it down if you

are a republican as a loss. you lose by 5 million votes. i said, 5 million votes? i guarantee if jesus came down and was the vote counter, i would win california, ok? laura: trump ranted on truth social that his own justice department appointees rigged the 2020 election against him. on monday, trump attended a wreath-laying ceremony at arlington national cemetery. an event which spiraled into controversy after npr reported trump's campaign staff had an altercation with cemetery officials over photographer access. npr reporter quil lawrence broke the news of the incident. >> well in advance of the visit, they have been told that there would not be allowed to bring personal or outside photographer to section 60 which is where most of the iraqi and afghanistan casualties are buried. when they arrived, an official

from arlington national cemetery approached them to say, no, you can't bring a videographer or photographer into section 16, and that person was verbally abused and pushed aside. laura: in a statement, arlington national cemetery says it can confirm there was an incident and a report was filed. federal law prohibits political campaign or election related ceremonies. trump team denied the characterization of the incident. he said the rules are in place for a reason. >> in one of the photos that is widely circulated, he is with family members of a fallen soldier but to the left and to the right of that soldier's grave, you can see two other tombstones and it seems fairly clear that neither of those families has given consent for the trump campaign to use these photographs and that is incredibly painful for these families that many of them are still grieving the loss of their

loved one. >> i am lorber loan group as -- laura perrone lopez. ♪ geoff: as the presidential campaign heats up, a new book looks back at all trump's first administration with a focus on foreign-policy and national security. it is written by h.r. mcmaster, a three-star general who served with distinction in the 1991 gulf war and the iraq war , and who also served for 13 months as trump's national security adviser. mcmaster's book is "at war with ourselves: my tour of duty in the trump white house." and i spoke with him earlier today. welcome to the news hour. what was your intention in joining the trump administration in 2017? what were you hoping to achieve?

to serve the president. this was my sixth commander-in-chief and i had taken the oath of service when i was a 17-year-old on the plane at west point so what i wanted president disrupt what needed to be disrupted in the area of national security and in foreign policy. you know i have been on the receiving end of a lot of policies and strategies developed in washington that really made little sense to me in places like afghanistan or iraq and i thought this was an opportunity to help advance american interests and to help promote american security. geoff: you write about navigating the competing interests within trump's inner circle in the early days to include then white house advisor steve bannon who is now serving a federal prison term as well as jim mattis and rex tillerson and you say that they view trump as dangerous and seem to construe their roles as if trump was an emergency and that anybody abetting him was an

adversary. when i read that, that word dangerous stood out to me. dangerous in what ways? gen. mcmaster: they were afraid that the president would be overly disruptive and put into place policies that may be cut against u.s. interests but my experience was whatever you could give the president multiple options, best analysis and information but multiple options, it is in the comparison of those options that you could look at the long-term cost and consequences and make decisions oftentimes cut against his predilections. other members of the cabinet and other white house officials, what they really wanted to do was either controlled the president or in the case of some who came in with their own agendas, they did not want to give multiple options. they wanted to manipulate decisions consistent with their agenda. as an historian who has written about the vietnam war and how decisions were made in the lyndon johnson administration, i realized this was not unprecedented. this kind of infighting is not something new. i did my best to try to transcend it and i succeeded to some extent and i failed to a certain extent. geoff: you describe meetings in

the oval as exercises in competitive sycophancy. how did that undermine the functioning of the white house and the presidency? gen. mcmaster: that was early in my time as national security advisor. i looked around, like, this isn't going to work. i began to limit who is in the meeting based on the purpose of the meeting and to provide the president with information the way he and i to receive information and structure the venue. on one occasion, we went to camp david to get away from all distractions and help the president focused on a really important decision involving afghanistan and the south is a strategy. geoff: you had key differences with mr. trump on major foreign-policy issues which you eat numerate as the allies, the authoritarians, and afghanistan. trump thought that some u.s. allies were freeloaders. he embraced some authoritarian leaders that you despised and distrusted and he pushed for a more significant commitment in afghanistan. you have said that donald trump bears some responsibility for

that chaotic u.s. withdrawal, the same withdrawal that he attacks the biden administration for. gen. mcmaster: on afghanistan, this is one of the samples of the theme in the book of the president being capable of evolving his understanding of a situation and then coming to a completely different conclusion, and he put into place, i believe, in august of 2017, it's actually worth going back to read that speech that he gave. the first sustainable reasoned approach to the war in afghanistan and more broadly to south asia, but sadly, he abandoned that approach and i think actually re-created a lot of the deficiencies of the obama administration for the timeline of withdrawal and talking to the taliban without the afghan government present and that was kind of a set up for the biden administration's failures but the biden administration did not have to adhere to that. it said we had to adhere to terms policies. that might be the only area where they felt so obligated. exactly. geoff: you write about your perception that trump often

sought the praise and approval of strongmen, foreign leaders like vladimir putin, the philippines former president, dutere, so that he could be seen similarly as a strong leader. tell me more about that. gen. mcmaster: that first year of the trump administration, i related the story of imposing more sanctions on russian entities and individuals than the previous eight years of the obama administration. president trump really always had faith in his ability to make a big deal. i think he fell into the same kind of trap with putin that george w. bush did, president obama did with the reset strategy, and even president biden when he went to geneva and thought that maybe they could have a meeting of the mind. my message, and i relate this in the book, i remind the president, hey, this guy is the best liar from the best deceiver in the world. geoff: you say you observing the book that you wished trump could separate the issue of russian election meddling from the

legitimacy of his presidency. why has he been so unable to make that kind of distinction? gen. mcmaster: when he came into office, there was this cloud of so-called collusion which was proved to be false on the part of the campaign, and he had the muller investigation and that created a sense of d-league are meant for him. he would conflate three related questions of -- did they try to undermine our democratic process? heck yes, they did. that is what the russians do. there is a great book by thomas read called active measures. they have been doing this kind of thing, the soviets, going all the way back to the 1930's. do they care who winds? i don't think the russians give a -- who wins? i don't think the russians care. they want americans to doubt the legitimacy of the result. president tended to conflate those questions. i wish he had said, heck yes, they did, and we are going to

impose costs on them and defend our democratic principles and institutions and processes. at the same time, acknowledge that it did not affect the legitimacy of this presidency or his election. that is what russia wants. that is why the president's election denial was terrible in 2020 and that is why others on the others of the political spectrum who deny the legitimacy of the election in 2016, it is a gift to putin. geoff: this book arrives at a timely moment just as many americans are beginning to consider whether donald trump or kamala harris would make a better commander-in-chief. would a second trump term in your estimation be poised to properly address the range of foreign-policy challenges we face as we stand so close potentially to regional wars in the middle east and the south china sea? gen. mcmaster: that is for readers to decide and you have got the information in the book. in some areas where president trump has been consistent, yes, he would advance american interests. a great example is in the area of energy security.

we have tremendous potential in our country to loosen the grip of authoritarians on energy supplies internationally and then i think where else he has been consistent is burden sharing. reciprocity in trade. i go through all these in the book. those are all positive. geoff: you said you would not serve in a second trump administration if he is reelected. why not? gen. mcmaster: i would serve in any administration where i think i could make a difference. we just got kind of used up in that process and i think i was at peace with that but you know, i think the main theme is that we got a lot done in that first year. remember, the word chaos was used in almost every headline and it was chaotic. it was less than harmonious, i guess i should say. but you know, i think we worked through a lot of that tension and we put in place i think some really important and long-overdue correctives to previous unwise policies. geoff: h.r. mcmaster, it is an

intriguing read. we appreciate it. gen. mcmaster: thank you. amna: chicago has one of the highest rates of gun deaths of any major city in the country. and some on the front lines say that's rooted in a history of racism, violence and inequality dating back generations. judy woodruff reports from chicago as part of her ongoing series america at a crossroads. >> this is where martin luther king lived and worked while he stayed here in chicago. judy: this 16-year-old is giving a tour of north lawndale, the west chicago neighborhood where he grew up. >> martin luther king was struck by a rock from a white mob and he stated that he never experienced so much hatred as he did here in chicago. judy: it is a different story from what is typically told of

this area where the life expectancy is roughly 12 years shorter than the wealthy downtown loop neighborhood where unemployment is nearly twice as high as the rest of the city and the crime rate is nearly three times higher than the citywide average. >> we have all heard the narrative of the violence that happens but once you get to explore and see the community more, you start to understand the rich history of the community. chicago is looked at as violent and that is not fair to the students and to the adults who are actually working against that narrative, who is pushing for positive things. judy: do you feel as someone who has grown up in this city that your concerns are heard by the politicians? >> national point of view, i don't think students from our community are heard at all. >> what is going on in chicago? judy: indeed, conservative media

and former president trump focus on the ongoing violence in chicago, an example they argue of the failure of cities led by democrats. and chicago -- >> and chicago turned into a war zone. 53 people shot, 11 killed. >> it is time to demonize them and send them to jail. >> they only broadcast the bat. north london is way more than they portray on the news. judy: lady sanders helped organize these youth led tours of north lawndale for a nonprofit called my block, my hood, my city. she says the tours introduce outsiders to this is understood neighborhood and give youth a productive outlet. >> they become more confident because it is there neighborhood and people are coming to see them talk about where they are from and what they see every day. judy: with 77 so-called community areas in all, neighborhood identity is a fundamental aspect of life in

chicago. the country most segregated big-city. north lawndale, like many south and west side chicago neighborhoods, is majority black. much of this segregation can be traced to the great migration of a century ago. black americans from the jim crow south move north, seeking greater opportunities, but what they found was not the segregation imposed by jim crow but new and different barriers. >> cited b wells, who was a noted activist, journalist, says chicago was beginning to rival the jim crow south in its treatment of the negro. judy: he researches the economic, social, and historic causes of gun violence in the city. he points to over a century of racist violence against black chicagoans and housing

discrimination that has helped create the situation today. >> you're talking about a wealth gap that is tied to the inability to develop equity from housing. judy: cozy because that in 1919, during the red summer when black americans across the country were terrorized, 23 black chicagoans were killed and hundreds more were injured in this city. 15 white chicagoans were also killed in the violence and between 1917 and 1920 1, 58 black chicagoans were firebombed in their homes. >> not one person was arrested for those house bombings. what we begin to see is that physical violence was being used to constrain the movement of african-americans. judy: in the coming decades, that physical violence would morph into discriminatory housing policies. restrictive housing covenants

kept black renters out so-called redlining by financial institutions in concert with the federal government limited black chicagoans ability to access loans for homes and businesses and unable to get mortgages, they were forced into predatory contracts to buy houses at exorbitant prices with high interest rates and harsh eviction clauses that made it nearly impossible for many to build equity or actually own their home. later, highways were built through black neighborhoods and then came the construction and later the demolition of tens of thousands of units of public housing. >> some of the fundamental things that help keep people safe are the ability to provide social support for each other, their ability to have beliefs on what they think their community should look like, and their ability to use their collective

power to enforce those beliefs. what you're doing is that you are disrupting the very things, in terms of how people can support each other, which creates conditions for violence. judy: he says instead of addressing these root causes of gun violence within communities like north lndale, the city of chicago has tried to manage it mainly through more policing and that has not worked. >> it is basically a process that keeps repeating itself but has a new phase. the united states government in itself is complicit and we need to address that. judy: he worries about police interactions in north lawndale where 70% of men aged 17 to 45 have criminal records. have you had encounters yourself with the police? parks i had an encounter with an officer. it was not a good encounter. yelling in your face, push you around, threatening to arrest you if you don't listen to their orders. the police are set to serve and

protect but i don't agree with their model. >> you have a history of politicians, for years, who have downplayed or ignored these impoverished areas. judy: phil jackson runs the firehouse community arts center in north lawndale, an organization trying to reduce gun violence in the community and help the process trauma. >> a lot of companies and factories have left so it takes a politician to take a chance which might seem like a black hole to others to invest in a neighborhood. it seems like pulling teeth sometimes with different powers that be, you know, to make that happen. a lot of people try to make things happen but there's a lot of systems in place that seemed to pull back. judy: there are folks who look at what is going on in the inner city chicago and they almost throw their hands up. they have almost written off the spread of the country. correct folks who have been in this neighborhood 50, 60 years, they say that they weathered the

storm and situations, hurt in their own lives. so even though things look so repetitive and so notorious and so heartbreaking, there are people on the ground that are making a difference. >> i don't want to be killed but all my heroes doing the work that i do have been killed. robert kennedy. >> in 2015, jamaal founded the nonprofit, my block, my hood, my city, to try to deal with the epidemic of gun violence between young people here. he says he loves connecting with the community, including on his occasional runs. >> a lot of our students, they have been to 15 funerals by the time they are in ninth grade. judy: he was out running two years ago when he heard gunshots. >> i thought a tire popped. you think you are going to die. you ain't going to see your kids know more, your wife, your family. it is traumatizing. judy: his organization takes a

holistic approach, trying to build community through block cleanup events, expose young people to opportunities through field trips to parts of the city they have never seen. give scholarships to local students, and pay tour guides like tamari and spam -- like him. >> build relationships with youths and keep them alive and how can we wrap around you and make sure we get you to college? if it is health care, how can we help you with that? is it mental health? there's barely any counselors in schools. judy: what do you say to those folks who look at what is going on in inner-city chicago and say, yes, it's really bad. they need to stop using so many guns. you know, a lot of this is their own responsibility? >> i would challenge them to put themselves in a position of hearing gunshots every day. the position of having parents abuse drugs, the position of

being afraid. i'm going to get emotional thinking about it. it's not fair. it's not fair that people say that because it's like they don't know what it is like to be in these kids shoes. judy: do they have a sense that the country cares about them? >> that's what they tell me every time. the judge doesn't want to hear my story. how am i going to listen to a teacher when i am sleeping on the train? judy: he says this neighborhood needs help. more government funding, economic investment, and social services. but after generations of neglect, disinvestment, and this rumination, he acknowledges change also has to come from within the community. >> there needs to be 1000 things done to reduce gun violence in chicago and one third of that might be legislative. i think the best thing for people to do is to ask themselves, what a something simple i can do that will make a difference on my block? judy: he is trying to do that but says he also wants to do more to try to change the whole

system. >> i want to go to college and receive my degree in political science, eventually come back for the community. on more of a local level, and that i want to go to a federal level. presidential. judy: you might want to run for president one day? that takes a lot of self-confidence. >> a black boy is expected to do the very least so i want to do the very most, improve -- show them that it is possible. judy: for the pbs news hour, i am judy woodruff in chicago, illinois. ♪ geoff: as most parents can attest, raising children can be challenging. but today, surgeon general vivek murthy issued an advisory saying it's even more difficult now and it's time to recognize the stress and mental health toll

associated with parenting is a serious public health concern for the country. the surgeon general joins us now to talk about his concerns and his recommendations. it's so great to have you here. welcome back to the newshour. surgeon gen. murthy: well, thank you so much, geoff. geoff: so there is a baseline level of stress and worry that comes alongside the many joys of parenting. but what's different about the kinds of stress that you that you're warning about now? surgeon gen. murthy: well, parenting has always been challenging. and to be clear, and i say this as a parent myself, parenting is full of of joy and meaning and purpose, but it also can be quite stressful. and i've experienced that a lot myself as a parent. what really struck me as i was doing work on youth mental health and talking to families around the country, was recognizing how many parents were struggling as well. and as i dug into the data around this, i found that 48%, nearly half of parents are saying that most days they feel completely overwhelmed by stress. that is an extraordinary number that should raise alarms for all

of us. but the other thing that's important to recognize is parents are also struggling with disproportionate levels of loneliness and isolation. so about 65% of parents say that they are lonely. and that includes actually over 75% of single parents. and stress is tough on its own. when you compound it with loneliness, it can really take a toll on the mental health and well-being of parents. geoff: so what are the specific stressors? what are the challenges that this generation of parents are facing in particular? surgeon gen. murthy: so there are some of the traditional ones. and all generations have faced worrying about kids safety, worrying about how to manage their teenage years, which are uneasy, and financial worries as well. but there are some new ones that this generation is contending with that my parents, for example, didn't have to deal with. d phones?u manage social media how do you manage the mental health crisis that kids are facing in terms of depression and anxiety, as well as the ds particularly hard?t'hit we're also hearing that the scourge of gun violence is particularly affecting kids as well as their parents.

more than half of our children are worried about a school shooting taking place. but you compound all of this just with the fact that we are living in a time where the culture of comparison has become intensified, particularly by social media. and so parents are looking online. they're seeing parents who to their i have perfect lives who -- who to their eye have perfect lives who aren't struggling with any of the challenges they're dealing with, and they're feeling even more inadequate about their life. geoff: you mentioned how the mental health of parents and caregivers is inextricably linked to the mental health of children. what are the implications? surgeon gen. murthy: well, if we want to address the youth mental health crisis in america, part of that has to involve supporting parents when parents struggle with their mental health. that has negative implications on the mental health of kids. and all of us have a vested interest in ensuring that kids are, well, they are the future of society.

and so the work of parenting is directly linked to the future of society. it's why we all have an interest in investing in parental well-being. geoff: how much of this is tied to the pandemic and the way that we live now, where there's such a blending for a lot of people between work life and home life? surgeon gen. murthy: well, i think the pandemic certainly created an increase in stress in many parents lives. i so viscerally remember what it was like to have to homeschool our kids during that time on top of work, and how challenging all of that was. and i think we're still living with some of the after effects of that stress. but the pandemic also changed how we live our lives. i think in some ways, being able to do hybrid work was helpful for some parents, as it gave them the flexibility to be able to be there for mealtimes, for example at dinner, or being able to be there to pick up their kids or be there in the during the day if their child needed something. but, you know, i think being available all the time, you know, video or whatever remote

means, maybe your choice. that also creates additional stresses for parents because they can create this expectation that you're available all the time. and so one of the things that's it's really important in the workplace is to have a culture where we leaders understand what the stresses are that parents are managing, where they have policies that support parents, like predictable schedules, so that parents can schedule and balance, you know, work and home. and there's also some degree of flexibility so that if issues come up like a sick child, a parent has the ability to respond in that scenario and care for their family without worrying that they're going to suffer at work. what are some other big picture -- geoff: what are some other big picture recommendations? to address this crippling level of stress that so many parents face. surgeon gen. murthy: so fundamentally, we need a culture shift in how we value parenting. we need to see parenting for what it is, which is essential for the well-being of society. and we have to use that shift to then power change in three areas and policies and programs and in individual practices. these are some things that workplaces can do differently, and health care systems can also focus more on screening parents, in particular for mental health struggles.

at a policy level, we've got to do a lot more there. we've got to invest in paid leave so parents can be with a child who's sick, for example. we've got to make childcare more affordable, make mental health care more accessible and address the harms of social media, which is a major worry for parents who are navigating much of that on their own. but finally, i don't want people to lose sight of what we can do as individuals. i can say, truth is, all of us have parents in our life, most of us too. and when we reach out to those parents, when we help them with basic errands, when they are, when we offer to just babysit their kids, even for 15 or 20 minutes so they can just sit down and take a breath or take a shower or get a meal. those are incredibly important moments where we not only provide assistance, but we remind parents that they aren't alone. the truth is, parenting is and has always really been a team sport. it's only in relatively recent years that we've come to put this pressure on parents, where they feel that they've got to do all of it by themselves, otherwise they're failing as parents.

and the truth is, we need each other. we need fellow parents. we need friends. we need family. we need neighborhoods in communities that support parenting. and if we do, then kids, parents, and all of us will be better off. geoff: parenting is a team. -- a team sport is what i hear you say. surgeon gen. murthy: absolutely, absolutely. geoff: us surgeon general vivek murthy, thanks so much for being here. surgeon gen. murthy: thanks so much, geoff. ♪ amna: the 2024 paris paralympic games kicked off today with an opening ceremony in the heart of paris that featured aerial diplays, dancers and a major spectacle attended by more than 60,000 people. thousands of athletes with disabilities are preparing for what promises to be a stunning display of athleticism over 11 days. stephanie sy has more.

stephanie: more than 4400 athletes from around the world will take center stage in the french capital to compete for 549 medals in 22 sports including wheelchair fencing, blind soccer, and much more. the games are a testament to human ability and the capacity to thrive despite physical, mental, or intellectual impairments. and for the next 11 days, we will see athletes push their bodies and minds to their limits in the quest for gold. joining us to talk about the games is rudy garcia-tolson, a four time paralympian, five-time paralympic medalist and program manager at the challenged athletes foundation. it is a pleasure to have you on the news hour. so the opening ceremonies have concluded and now, the games begin. it seems like there has been a real effort in the messaging around these games to say, let's focus on winning and competition like we would with any other athletes.

are you seeing that shift? stephanie: absolute -- rudy: absolutely. the paralympic movement has grown tremendously. the understanding that although we may have a physical disability, we want you to pay attention to the athletic achievements that we are all here to watch. being part of a paralympic team, you know, there's paralympic athletes from around the world who have overcome a lot, especially with their physical challenge but when you're watching the games here this week, we want you to put aside the disability and focus on the achievements of sport and i think that is what we are here to do. stephanie: how is team usa looking going into these games? i know they have not historically been at the top of the medal count for the paralympics and the chinese are always a big rival for the overall medal count. stephanie: the chinese paralympic -- rudy: the chinese. the big committee has done major let's start with having one of

the best paralympic teams every summer for the past four or five paralympic games. the chinese have been number one in the middle counts by a lot. -- metal counts by a lot. the united states, we have a very young team. we also have a few veterans who have been around for five or six paralympic games and you know, we are looking good to be top three in the medal count but it still just shows you the amount of support that we have received as paralympic athletes here in the united states. one of the most popular stories is that the olympic committee changed their name to the u.s. olympic and paralympic committee which is something that us paralympic athletes have been fighting for for over 20 years and i really do believe that support and attention for paralympic athletes have a -- have tremendously increased. the benchmark will be when the

paralympics and olympics come to los angeles in four short years. stephanie: when it comes to the resources going into training paralympic athletes, the coaching, the facilities, etc., how does that support compare to the support given to able-bodied olympians? rudy: i would say it is a movement where we are always striving for better and although the united states paralympic team has one of the best support systems in the world, we are always looking to improve and the support that us athletes receive to train and have facilities has increased tremendously across the country. there are a number of training sites where individuals can go and focus on their training but i think one of the most important changes that we have seen over the last few years is the bonuses athletes will receive. now, paralympic athletes will receive the same amount

financially that our olympic teammates receive which really speaks volumes to how the public and organizations are coming around, understand that paralympic athletes train just as hard as any of our olympics teammates and i think we are going to see that here in the next weeks in paris. stephanie: more than 2 million tickets have sold in paris. that will make it among the largest paralympic audience is in his repair speaking of which, i & you yourself have competed and won in four different unload picks -- i understand you yourself have competed and won in four different olympics. what impact did it have on your life to train, compete, and win at the paralympics? stephanie: being in the pursuit of going to the paralympics has been a dream of mine since i was six years old, shortly after i had my legs amputated through

the knee. when i got my legs amputated and i got my first pair of prosthetics, the first sport i got into was swimming. i love swimming because i could take my legs off. i was known as the boy with no legs on my swim team. i wanted to prove them wrong so my first goal was to beat kids with legs and from that one goal, it set me on a path of competition and getting to the paralympic elite level and they think a lot of paralympians in paris today have overcome similar challenges where they are looked at as different but when they get out on the playing field or in the pool or on the track, they really show that they have amazing talents and that sometimes in life, we go through challenges, whether you can see them or not. we are all human. we are all the same. we have good days and bad days and i think the message we want to get across to the general

public is that whether you have a good day or a bad day, whether you are facing challenges, sometimes, you can't see them. sometimes, you can see them in my case. it is always important to remain positive and have the attitude of, yes, i can when you have a support team and individuals supporting and encouraging you, the sky is the limit. stephanie: a lot of us needed to hear that message. rudy garcia-tolson, thanks so much! rudy: thank you for having me. amna: we will have much more coverage of the paralympics online, on our youtube page. three things you need to know about this year's paralympic games including how they first began in the mid 1900s. geoff: 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. >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by the ongoing including jim and

nancy bildner and the robert and virginia schiller foundation. the ford foundation. funding for america at a crossroads was provided by -- 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.] >> you are watching pbs.

(dramatic music) - hello everyone and welcome to "amanpour & co.". here's what's coming up, (prime minister meloni speaking in italian) - [christiane] riding high on her election win, italy's populist prime minister giorgia meloni welcomes the world's most powerful leaders to puglia. we look at europe at a turning point. then. - i don't know what i am without you,