captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. he newshour tonight, in blow to president trump's immigration agenda, a judges ruat asylum-seekers in the u.s. cannot be held in detentioi indely. then, targeting refugees.e an air str libya leaves 44 migrants dead, in what the united nations is calling a poible war crime. plus, out of the ashes. after a california wildfire devoured his home, a graphic novelist channels his trauma into art. >> i realized that i was an eyewitness to an extraordinary event. ple i wanted to tell p about it. somebody else later said it was my way of bearing witness ani i don't thinn put it any better than that.

i'd seen this thing. i needed to tell this story. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the p newshour has been provided by: >> babbel. a language app that teaches ewal-life conversations in language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more. babbel's 10-15 minute s are available as an app, or online. more information on babbel.com. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> the lemelson foundation. committed to improving lives through invention, in the u.s. and developing countries.

on the web at lemelson.org. >> 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 viewersyou. thank you. te >> woodruff: the wouse is rejecting a federal judge's ruling that struck down part of esident trump's new legal asylum policy for immigrants. the judge, in seattle, found it is unconstitutional to detain asylum seekers indefinitely, without bail hearings, untilr

thurt dates. today, a white house statement charged the decision is "at war with the rule of law." separately, the president izsisted today he has not given up on adding a cship question to the 2020 census. the justice department said it's been ordered to answer the question in a way to satisfy the preme court. earlier president trump insisted reports of his own administration of the question being dropped were "fake." we'll look at this, and the immigrant asylum case, after the news sumr ry. demands international investigation swirled today, after an air sike in libya killed 44 migrants and wounded more than 130. the attack singled out a migrant detention center in tripi. the government blamed a rebel force, the libyan national army. that group denied targeting the migrant site.

israeli officials urged calm today after violent protests erupted overnight. they were sparked by an off-duty police officer fatally shootin an unarmed ethiopian-israeli teenager on sunday. crowds blocked roads across the aruntry, and some clashed with police and lit cand tires on fire.ha they charged tethiopian jews have long been faced discrimination in israel. >> ( translated ): the youngsrs are afraid, afraid about what happened, why should they be killed? why do the police feel that they are killing a terroris they are not killing a terrorist, they are killing a jew. psetting, we have to put an end to that, enough, this really needs to end, enough.>> oodruff: prime minister benjamin netanyahu said he is convening a ministerial group to examine poverty and otherel problems in is ethiopian community. the president of iraed today that his government will starenriching uranium to mor concentrated levels, as of

sunday. hassanouhani spoke in a televised address, while calling for europeantates to offset renewed u.s. sanctions. >> ( translated ): we will put this commitment to a cap on enrichment to one side. we will increase the cap to whatever level we deem is essential for us and to a level that we need. we say that the moment you the european signatories of the 2015 nuclear deal return to honoring your obligations, then we will also return the enriched uranium stockpile to below the limits. >> woodruff: earlier this week, iran confirmed its stockpile of low-enriched uranium now exceeds limits set by the 2015 nuclear deal. president trump pulled the u.s. out of that deal last year. in southern japan, days of torrential rain have prompted evacuation orders for more than one million people. heavy downpours have battered kyushu, the country's third largest island, since lastid fr. the result has been widespread

flooding. and forecasters are predictingo up t13 more inches of rain through tomorrow, raising anars oflides.ou back in thisry, lee iacocca was remembered today as a visionary in the american auto industry. he passed away yesten bel air, california, after a career that took m to the ranks of celebrity. >> if you can find a better car, buy it! >> woodruff: lee iacocca was a showman-- known as the famous face of chrysler on tv. the son of italian immigrants in pennsylvania, he got his start at ford motor company where he moved up after launching the mustang in 1964. a sports car that quickly became cultural icon.n steve mcquove it in the famous chase scene in the 1968 san francisco thriller "bullitt." iacocca rose throu the ranks and became ford's president.

but he campaigned ag airbags and other safety features. he also championed the light pinto sports car, later recalled after dozens of deaths. after a falling-out with ford's chairman, he left for chrysler to become its c.e.o. in 1979. just as the company was nearing bankruptcy. iacocca saved the automaker by securing more than a billion dollars in federal loans andor reg it to profitability. but his overhaul led to several plant closings and thousands of layoffs. >> no cars are perfect, but these come pretty close. gu woodruff: he became famous for his commercialanteeing the quality of chrysler vehicles. and he launched some of the company's most successful vehicles, from minivans to k- cars. what about the quality issue?

here again, you've got analysts who are supposed to be objective, these folks that do the surveys and studies and so forth. >> what cars are you talking about? we hme bert than them? they can't touch this minivan on equawvmes reports says it' miles ahead of the japanese. >> woodruff: iacocca retired from the company in 1992. he also wrote twbest-selling books and even flirted with a presidential run. in the mid-1990's he launched a failed takeover of chrysler. but eventually returned to the airwaves in the early 2000's on behalf of his old company. iacocca died yesterday of complications from parkinson's diseas he was 94 years old. in new york, former police detective luis alvarez was hailed today as a hero of 9/11. he spent months working at ground zero after the attacks,an he championed health benefits for first responders. today, hundreds honored alvarez at a funeral service in queens.

died saturday, of colo-rectal cancer. a was 53 years old. final preparationsre underway r president trump's planned fourth of july festivities in washington. heavy, armored vehicles were put on dplay today near the lincoln memorial as part of plans to highlight the u.s. military district of columbia officials warned they will bill the federal government for any damage to city streets. and on wall street, the maet closed early for the fourth of july holiday, but the trade truce with china sent major indexes to record closings. the dow jones industrial average gained 179 points to closet 26,966. the nasdaq rose 61 points, and the s&p 500 added 23. still to come on the newshour: what a judge's ruling on legal asylum-seekers means for the president's immigration policies. the bleak conditions for

refugees in libya after an air strike leaves 44 dead. the case of a u.s. navy sealge chard with war crimes in iraq, and much more. >> woodruff: we return to our lead story: the legal battle over presint trump's ntroversial immigration agenda.e our white horrespondent yamiche alcindor is here with the latest. hello, yamiche. to refresh everybody, it wasn backril the attorney general william barr issued this order saying that some migrants could not get out on bail, they had to more than po tt boney had to be detained indefinitely. but now you have thisederal judge in washington state issuing a ruling that casts what the strairlings did in doubt.

>> exactly. what we had was attorney general william barr and the president seeking to keep migrants who came to e united states illegally detained indefinitely. this is not the people to come to pos of entry but the ones who me between ports of entry. they want no one to get in bail. the presidenalr presidentls this catch and release. he essentially says we can't just bring people and let them go out into communities. the judge is saying that's unconstitutional, that these migrants actually have to have due process under the fifth amendment. >> woodruff: so this ruling, what more can you tell us about the argument that this federal judge made? because as you say, the house is pushing back. >> so the federal judge essentially said these mirants ve rights and they cannot just be put in detention centers and not be given bail hearings. most of the time bet 1we000 and 40,000 migrants get a bail hearing, about half are released

on bond if that's the case, and they'rable to come back whn their case is processing. thid judge essentially e need a new central decision-maker assessing whether or not tese imigrants should be detained or whether or not they can be released. the white house is takin a big issue with that. they're saying an unelected judge potentially going to war with the rule of law, that's a quote. they say judges opening borders is unconstitutional, though the judges are saying their ordis tconstitutional. i want to talk abo context. pictures yesterday from the office of department f homeland security, we saw overcrowding in the border facieil the context is the president seeeted today, i'm saying the conditions are better than the conditions these migrants would have been living in in their own countries and even if they'rein gettina adequate medical sore, they're not nurses or doctors. he president is doubling down hard on immigration statuce even in the f all these

issues. >> woodruff: and the administration is going to appeal. yamiche, the situation with the census yesterday, you d the administration saying we're goingaining ahead with the cens, the forms will be printed. but then today, you have the administration -- the president tweeting, no, we're not, and you have a judge in new york takin action. >> there is complete confusion. the president tweeted and upended everything whi could be the theme of this admiavstration. wethe president saying he wants to go forward with the census question and try to find a way. last week the spp supreme court said the citizenship questionco dn't be added to the census but the government could try to come up with a different explanation if they wanted toai try the president said we're going to do that. the d.o.j. representing the government in court today said this was going to be an issuea that essentially resolved, and now they're ordered to push this forwa. so the drop dead deadline is

october 30 for printing the census. we'll see a lot back and forth between then. >> woodruff: it's a marylan judge. again, we're watching in closely. it's not clear that's going to happen. >> a lot of cases moving through the court. this transcript is eye opening and the president is tweet ago lot of things and upending everything. >> woodruff: yamiche alcindor, thank you very much. >> thanks. woodruff: we return to the attack on a migrant detention center jn libya. n yang tells us, eight years of conflict andit instabthere are now enmeshed with the migrant and refugee crisis. >> yang: bags of clothing and fandoned shoes-- remnants life strewn throughout the blood-soaked debris of death. he early-morning air stri the tajoura migrant detention center in tripoli, housing some 600 people, mostly north

africans. emergency crews struggled to carry away body bags through the wreckage. rvivors said they had no warning, and no protecon. >> yang: libya's "government of national accord," recognized by the united natns, blamed the so-called "libyan national army," or "l.n.a.," which is trying to seize tripoli. the l.n.a. acknowledged carrying out attacks in the area, but denied targeting the migrants. >> ( translated ): we have not issued an order targeting this r, and the site that we are talking about is the site of a militia. >> yang: the l.n.a., under the command of general khalifa haftar, is supported by saudi arabia, egypt and the united arab emirates.tr it cs southern and eastern libya but has met heavy resistance from militias defending tripoli. yesterday, an l.n.a. commander warned of intensified assaults.

this is the latest calamity in eight years of chae in libya. thuntry has been torn between competing factions sincs 2011, when theand allies helped topple longtime dictator moammar gaddafi. fighting has also made an already desperate jourr migrants trying to reach europe anen more dangerous, and deadly. an estimated 6,000ish in libyan detention-- at least half close to the front lines of conflict. elinor raikes is europe and north africa director for the international rescue committee. >> in the last three months, you know, in tripoli and the riighboring areas around tli have become an active warzone. so now we have migrants who are in abysmal conditions in detention but on top of that they can't flee to safer areas of the city. >> yang: many of the migrants were rounded up by libya's coast guard, trained and funded by the european union, to prevent their crossing the mediterranean.

>> the e.u. and several member states of the e.u. have effectively begun criminalizing aid agencies who were providing search and rescue services in the mediterranean sea. and, in the absence of those search and rescue operations, people who continue to try to flee libya and cross the mediterranean sea are intercepted by the libyan coast guard, and are returned to libya, and are sent directly to the detention centers, one of >> yang: today's attack touched off fresh criticism of both libyan and european migrant policy.r a spokesman e u.n. human rights commission blamed the libyans for failing to protect dyem. >> this is a trahat was very much preventable. just where a couple ofs ago, we called for the urgent evacuation of people from this specific detention center, after a similar air strike injured two of the peoe inside. >> yang: several.n. officials branded the attack a war crime; all sides called for an

international investigation. late today an l.n.a. spokesman said its forces carried out an air strike on the only functioning airport in tripoli, targeting the main control center for drones. frederic wehrey recently returoedlibya. he is a senior fellow in the middle east program at the carnegie endowment for international peace. thanks so much for joining us. the fix in this air strike are migrants from sub-saharan africa. how did libya become a way station for them? >> it's always been that way because of its location just suth of europe. it's a very shoa crossing across the mediterranean but, of course, since the 2011 revolution with really the collse of state power in libya, that's opened the gates, really, for this rush of migrants northward. many of them are not counting on crossing the mediterranean but they do so after the dimorable conditions and abuse they face

in libya and, of course, the europeans unfortunately have a closed-door poicy where they have been sending these migrants back to libya where they languish in these detention centers. >> reporter: and as you says, it's not exactly a safeav? >> absolutely not. it amounts to a living hell. they're subjectedthe full spectrum of unimaginable abuses, sexual torture, forced labor and on top of that you've got the recent conflict which only adds the misery. >> reporter: the result of the air strike today is part of an intensifying campaign on th libyan nationalthe army. why are they ramping up and making airstrikes? >> they've always been conducted airstrikes. this is a den psepulated city. there are ammunion depot, headquarters interspersed with

civilian homes. i saw the aftermath of twon airstrikesivilian homes when i was there. in the last week, there's been an up tick in the aistrkes because the general of the force were ejected, they lost a ey strategic base in the west and atw they've announced th they're going to use all means, really. he gloves are coming off. and, so, whatu're seeing is ac very reess airstrikes pattish and the migrant center strike is the tragic t.sult of tha >> reporter: and a lot of this turmoil was sort of brought on by the ouster of muamma gadhafi, an allied coalition led by the united states. tes' rolee united st been since then in trying to stabilize libya? >> unfortunately, hands off. after that 21 revolution and the n.a.t.o. intervention, president obama really, you know, took a back seat for u.s. policy. he believed the europeans and the united nations should take

the lead in stabilizing this country an'd, unfortunately, s been hands-off ever since. we've had a very ambivalent policy about this recent conflict, although president trump has publicly endorsed general heftar's effort, but i'm hearing liya would like more united states ent to solvenvolv this crisis and put an end to this war. >> reporter: one side of this conflict is being backed by the united nations and the french. then as you say, mr. trump has sort of endorsed the other side, which is being spported by the saudis, the egyptians and the emirates. what do you make of mr. trump's intervention in this? we're told that he spoke to the general on the phone and has had things to say about it. what's going on? >> there are a number of ways to read that. i think in heftar, he sees a

fellow authoritaan but heftar is backed by the emirates and egypt and trump has close ties to those countries and there wae probably influhere. so i think it gave a real boost to heceftar's for but the real deciding factor has been the arms and weapons andma rial that's been coming into heftar's side from th united arab emirates and also egypt. >> reporter: frederiy wehrey from the carnegie endowment for international peace, thank youu soh. >> thank you. >> woodruff: after two weeks of testimony, special operations chief edward gallagher was found not guilty of murdering a suspected isis prisoner in iraq. the decorated navy seal had been accused of stabbing the wounded teenage captive back in 2017.

he story.rangham has >> brangham: that's right judy. in addition to being found innocent on the first-degree rder charge, chief gallagher was also found not guilty ofmp atd murder of iraqi civilians, and of obstruction of justice.hi the only he was convicted of was posing in a photo with the dead captive's body. late last month, gallagher's trial took a dramatic turn when one of the prosecution's witnesses, navy seal corey ott, testified that after he saw gallagher stab the teenager, scott killed the captive by plugging his breathing tube. scott claimed it was an act of mercy. follagher always maintained his innocence, and onews this morning, flanked by his wife and lawyer, he rterated his view that it was a group of disgruntled fellow seals who tried to frame him. i just want to make clear maat this group of seals that decide to concoct this

story in no way, shape or form represent the community that i, you know, loved and gave my soul to. >> brangham: we explore this court martial further now with g eve walsh. he's been report the case for kpbs public radio in san diego, and was there for the verdict today. steve walsh, thank you very much for being here. you have been following this trial all along. was your sense this verdict was a surprise? >> it was a surprise in the sense that, yesterday, when theo verdict cat and he was enquitted six of the sev charges and all six were the most serious charges, there was a great deal of jubilation. gallagher was hugging his wife, they were very celebratory. so there was a feeling today that maybe gallagher would serve no jail time at all. he wouldn't get a sentence of any jail time. but on this last charge, the least serious of the seven charges, the jury decided to

give him the maxum sentence, which is four months in jail, and he reduced him in rank from chief petty officer to a petty officer first class. that's going to havepl ations on gallagher's retirement. in fact, we were expecting gallagher to comout and talk to us after the sentencing, butd instead, he is wife got in the car and they drove away. >> reporter: gallagher was originally accus by fellow seal members of his own platoon which is in itself odd given the historically tight-knit nature of the seal organization.n they said he wt up in the sniper tower and shot at civilians. several of them said they saw him stab this alleged captive i.s.i.s. prisoner. how did galrelagher's teabut those witnesses? >> well, gallagher's team said, essentially, they portrayed this asn investigation that was out of control, that it targetedfr

gallaghe the very beginning. the lead investigator for naval investigations joe wapinski, he d only been with ncis two and a half years before he got this incredibly high profile war crimes case. they a tso portraye seals in gallagher's platoon. gallagher is 40 years old nowre, th of his platoon was much younger. i understand his attorney called them entitled young seals. >> reporter: so,in addition to having those sales, who i guess -- those seawho theirdomtime was essentially not oflieved by the jury, this was also this piec evidence of text that gel gear sent to a seal. apparently he sent a photograph of the captive's body.a one said i a cool story when i get back, i have any knife skills on. and another said, good toreth abou, got him with my

hunting knife. how did his team rebut that evidence? >> this is something that happened in iraq in 2017. they have no body in this case, very little foensic evidence, but the one thing that they did have were these photogrhs that gallagher sent out to people in ahe united states and other members of the ptoon with him posing with the knife up to the dead deaine so, in the end, that was what he was convicted of. >> reporter: but i guess the allagher citing, if g has a text that says i can't wait to tell you the story about this, i got him with my niervetion how did gallagher -- knife, how did gaagher's team address that? >> they said this is dark humor. they have other exts where h threatens to kill his platoon -- he turned to theury, of all members of the military, marines and one seal, as a matter ofsa fact, and, who among us has nod had their commander threate kill them at one point or

another? >> reporter: lastly, there was a piece of a bombshell development where one of the prosecution's main witnesses, this medic who ws there, says after he saw gallagher stab the caive, it was he, the medic, who then killed the cative, not gallagher. cmean, that's got to do something to yoe. if your key witness sort of says, the guy you think di do it, i did it. >> exactly. this was a prosecution witness. so on cross-examination, that's when the dehiense broughts up. it played into their overall narrative that this was a sloppy investigation. they didn't ask the right questions to the right people at the right time. there was conflicting testimony. one other marine raider who wa there also said he saw no stab wounds on the dead body. >> re lporter:astly, we know gallagher is convicted of one charge of posing with the

photograph. what's next for chief gllagher? >> the way it works in military court, this goes to convening authority for th final approval of this sentence. then his attorneys seem pretty eager to appeal this decision. they don't want this sentence o confinem his record, if they could possibly avoid it. so we probably won't see the final outcome for ahile. in the meantime, he had only served eight months in te brig. that was basically good time. he served none of this four-month sentence so he wasi able to ve off right after his case was over today. >> reporter: steve walsh, thk you very muc >> thanks, william. >> woodruff: more than 35 ates have laws on the books that classify a fetus as a victim in a homicide or assault. those laws can lead in somes ca criminal charges against the pregnant woman.

case in alabama involving a pregnant woman who was shot in a fight is casting a national spotlight on those issues and raising questions about weighing the rights of the mother and the rights of the fetus. lisa desjardins has th tlatest ay's developments. >> desjardins: last december, marshae jones was shot in ami fight near bham, alabama. she was five months pregnant at the time.or jones's became national last week when a grand jury for the loss of her own fetus, but did not indict the woman who shot her. that altercation happened outside a dollar general store, where police say jones started the fight. there's no indication that she had a weapon. the other woman involved fired a bullet thahit jones' abdomen and she lost the fetus in a miscarriage. the policeaid the shooter acted in self-defense and pointed criminal blame oy at jones, indicting her for manslaughter for endangering her fetus. but today, the district attorney overseeing the case said she

would not prosecute ms. jones. an unborn child was tragically lost, and families on both sides of this matter have suffered. nothing, nothing, nothing we do today or ithe fuure will change that reality. the issue before us is whether it's appropriate to try t hold someone legally culpable for th actiat led to the death of the unborn child. there are no winners. l onsers in the sad ordeal. >> desjardins: the decision over whether to charge jones has been widely debated. it is related to the personhood movemeich supporters say pushes for the rights of fetus to be recognized as equal to the rights of any person. but critics say it is dangerous, or the fetusrn outweigh and sometimes risk harm to the mother. mary scott hodgin is a health and science reporter with wbhm in alabama and has b

folling this story. mary scott, i want to start by saying, since the grand jury wao ed, we don't really have all the details of this altercation, but can you explain why police said that they believed the pregnant woman should be charged and what law did they say was involved? >> this case came before the grand jury in apil of this year, and all the evidence presented at that time, and the grand jury saidhe woman who shot jones was acting in lf-defense was jones started the fight and would not stop. so they sad we're going to drop the carges against the woman and charge jones, the woman who was pregnant at the time, because she started to the fight that led to the death of her fetus. in fact, they said that jones intentionally caused the death of her fetus by starting the fight, knowing that she was five monthsregnant.

alabama law does recognize a fetus as a person in acts of homicide or assault, and, so, that's what y said in thisa case, tht jones recklessly caused the death of another person, which in tis case was her own fetus. >> on the other hand, we had a d.a. come out today, an elected official, decided not to prosecute. can you tell us why and what do we know about her? >> the d.a. is laise washington, elected a few years ago as the district attorney of the bessemer cutoff, and she is the first black woman to hold office of districts attor the state of alabama. she had come out over the weekend and said that -- you know, her office had received a lot of criticism about this case and, at that time, her office had said, you know, we're still redeciding. wepect the decision of the grand jury but it's up to usor

whetheot to take this case to court. today the district attorney washington came out and said she is not going to take the case to court. and i think that it was in response to, you know, one, shet didn't feel he case needed to go any further but additionly a lot of people were upset about this and, as you've pointed out, it's brought up this debate out the personhood movement. should the fetus carry the same rightss a son. >> you know, abortion is so political that i feel like sometimes we foget the very human issues and emotions on both sides of ths debat i know marshae jones named the fetus that she lost. m curious what the pee of alabama tell you they feel about this case and about her. >> the people that i've spoken with mirrored some of the same sentiment that washington sy d ton her press conference which is that it's very sad, thh e situation. one woman i spoke with said jones, the woman who lost her fetus, she lost the child in

this case, she's already been punished enough, and it's really sad in that she didn't intend for her fetus to be shot, she didn't intend for her unbton chil die in this case. alabam>> reporter: alabama is kn for leading the charge against abortion, even trying to ban it or restrict id further, but can you tell us how alabama prosecute pregnant women who may have had unntended miscarriages as being responsible for those miscarriages? >> in this case, everyone pointed out it's unprecedented even in the state of alabama, alhoe the state does have a history of prosecuting pregnant women for "endangering their fetuses while pregnant." in 2006, alabama passed a chemal endangerment law whch has since been used to prosecutn pregnant wor using drugs during their pregnancy.

and a report showed a few years ago that between 2006 and 2015, over 470 woen shall be prosecuted under that law. so certainly it' unprecedented, the case of marshae jones, thegh charges bragainst her, but it's not unprecedented in the fact that the state does have this history of prosecuting pregnant women for their actions during pregnancy. r porter: marh scott hodgin ng wgbh, thank you for joi us. >> thank you. >> woodruff: most of the focus of the 2020 election so far, has of course been on the presidential race. but races for the u.s. senate also present tough challenges for democrats who are trying to win back the majority from republicans. these concerns were highlighted at the first democratic presidential debates last week,

when almost every candidate, including sitting senators, struggled to answer how they would push through their agend if republicans maintained ntrol in the senate. >> i want to see us get a democratic majority in the senate.t ort of the democratic majority in the senate you better understand the fight still goes on. >> gridlock will not magicallyea disaas long as mitch mcconnell is there, first. (applause) t is why it is so important for us to when not just the presidency to have somebody that can run 50 states but to-- but to win the senate as well. >> they need to campaign in places like iowa becauwe can win a senate seat there. this is ab having 50 votes in the senate.dr >> wf: for a closer look at the 2020 senate map and the challenges facg democrats, i spoke a short while ago with phillip bump. he is a national correspondent for he washington post." phillip bump, welcome back to the "newshour".

so how much of a challenge is it for democrats? say they win the white house, but if they don't win control bck to have the senate. >> it's a huge challenge. all the conversations had now in the democratic primary about policyssues that the candidates would like to advance, all that hinges on their being able to pass thingse in theate. setting aside the filibuster ehich demands a 60 vot majority, even getting to the 50 vote count, they're down by four etes in the senate and d to pick the seats up if they pass any legislation at all. so thilds she something of huge concern of thear. >> woodruff: where do you see the main observe stacks also for the democrats and where the best chance of a pickup ar? >> the main obstacles, twofold, only third of the senate is up in a given year. you can't overhaul th senate all at once. the second challenge is a lot of the seats they couldick up, a lot of the incumbent senators on the ballot, are in pretty red

states. obviously the redder the state, the tougher it's going to befor a democrat. if you look at the "cook political report," they do general assessments of the state of theace periodically. if you look at what they say now there are three states where the democrats could pick up seats, in colorado, maine and arizona. none of those is necessarily a gimme, but two voted for hillary clinton in 2016. at the same time, though, the democrats will also need to defend the seat that they won the special election in alabama, doug jones' sead that's a challenge. alabama's a very, very red state. so they have to defend that, have to win the three states i just mentioned, and if they do that they're still one seat 50ort of getting to the 50/ level in the senate which would essentially serve as a majority. >> woodruff: so setting alabama aside where we know dug jones is going to be fighting hold on to that seat, how well are the democrats doing now at recruiting strong candidates? we saw this week governor hickenlooper's staff, five of them quit working for hi

because he wouldn't agree to leave the presidential race and n for the senate in colorado. >> right, there's going to b increasing pressure on candidates from states with competitive senate races or epotentially competitivete races to drop out of the 202ia races spif they're not pulling well. hickenlooper is a good example of that. for example, if beto o'rourke were to drop out of the presidential race to run for texas senate again, it's not clear how much his own polit brand has been damaged by his so far not good presidential debate. in georgia, incumbent david purdue, stacey abrams is taed out as a potential candidate there. she's not announced what she's planni for next year. so there are flimmers of hope for the democrats i maine the speaker of the state house in maine announced their candidacy against incumbent senator susan collins who has been under fire. therece are a lot of plathe

democrats could potentially pick up sestats, it's question to a large extent of what the environment looks like next year. will we see an environment like last year where republicans are 120 * so celebratory of trumpt thatrts the democrats. >> woodruff: what habit democrats trying to mount allenges against republican senators who right now seed to be in pretty strg shape? >> it depends on the state. for example, there are states like kentucky where senate majority leader mitch mcconnell is on the ballot. is it possible the democrats wi there? potentially, if p the national environment is so strongly democratic, it's possibleel mccocould lose, lindsey graham in south carolina, a lot of well-known republicans up for reelection next mereer whose elections are not slam dunk. tha may have ougher time tan they thivment if some democratwhose national environment goes heavily against the democrat, gary peters for

example, he'll probably end up running against a guy r whan previously and did fairly well. these are the sorts of things that depends on where the country is going. all things being equal, the democrats have an uhill climb in terms of retaking the senate. >> woodruff: what about the message wes no coming from the senate candidates, democrats ru in red states versus the message that a democratic presidentialnd ate is going to be having. >> well, this is a key question and potentially key problem for the party. so there are certainly indications that, had the a democrats doetter job of turning out their base in 2016, there were some 4.4 million obama 2012 vote horse didn't cast a ballot in 201 h if tho been encouraged to vote with some strong nationalom message he democratic party, they could have won that year. hoarvetion in this year, 202 you will have a lot of democrats competing in potentially red states who will have the battle to have the national political

environment. so far the democratic pri contest has led to a relatively liberal and progressive set ofag mess from the democratic party which as th o floot pre message of a red state democrat could boblematic for that candidate. in 2016 we saw mccaskill and donnelly both complained their message in their red states was drowned out by what te matter was saying nationally. >> woodruff: cross currents of all ki phillip bump of th "the washingn post," thank you >> thank you. >> woodruff: boeing announcedto y it will pledge up to $100 million to families andct communities af by the two crashes involving its 737 max planes. the accidentwere both found to share similar software problems. boeing is now trying to solve those technical and engineering

issues. but it is struggling with other big questions too. that's the focus of our "leadied " segment with jeffrey brown. >> brown: lion air flight 610 went down after takeoff inne ina last october, killing 189 people. a second crash, ethiopian airlines flight 302, occurred in march, killing a board.eople on boeing now faces numerous lawsuits, as well as regulatoryg chal to clear the plane for flying. here to tell us more is science and aviation correspondent miles o'brien. miles, welcome to you. this latest move first, the $100 million fund, what is it intended to be used for and how will it be administered? >> well, in the grand scheme of things, jeff, it's not a hug amount of money. it's about the cost of a 737 max, perhaps, coincidentally. put it in the realm of public relations, this a company that, in the wake of these two

accidents, tried to point thet fingere flight crews, and that did not go over well, giv the evident design problems that were a part of the m 7x, and this money will go for education funds for e children of the victims and some money for the families. but if you d the malt, it's a small amount of money per person. no one who takes this money is precluding themselves from further legal action, i should point out. >> reporter: and these lawsts are still out there. while this is another acknowledgment of some kind ofli responsi, the financial liability is still out there. >> there's the lawsuit liability, the fact you've got a tomers,very unhappy cus there's a loss of good will and future business, potentially. it's aig mess for boeing. >> reporter: given what we know about the cause of the crashes, where is the foc for boeing now in trying to fix the problem?

>> well, it begins with the software that was at the ce of e issue. this was a system, an anti-stal system. when we say stall, aerodynamic stale a system designed to k the nose from pointing too high and the airport losing aerodynamic lift. the software that was put in toe ensu that the nose was put down waeds determino be flawed and, so, part of the process has been to reexamine that and rewrite that software. in addition,y theded a dual path of sensors that feed the information to that system, redundancy being a great idea. but as they've gone forward in all this, it hasn't been so simple. these aircraft am so coplex and the systems so interrelated, they actually stumbled across another problem in the related system in the anti-stallfu tion which requires another fix which might even require a hardware fix. there are 500 of the aircraft out there that might neewd ne

computer chips. as they peel away the onion, it gets more complex. >> reporter: you just referred to aeotherulatory hurdle. is there a forecast for when they might fly again >> what has been said publicly is september but, givaen the fct that as they go deeper and deeper into the problo s and tryingx them, it's like squeezing a balloon. it creates other issues at the other end because to have the complexity and interrelatedness of all.ha this and yoe a public relations issue. will the public be cometfortable inng on a 737 max given all that h transpired in that's a big open question. >> reporter: and there have been rect investigations looking at larger problems for boeing. what is the potential impact for the company and its future? >> it's hard to measure it right now, when u consider the leal liability, the public relations liability, the fact that the technical issues have not been

ironed out, and you look at some of the problems that have been documented in a systemic fashion for this company, you know, what you haveere is a company that is in the business of making money, profit off of airplanes. there's always an opposing force when it comeafety. safety costs money, safety hits the bottom line. boeing doesn't want tild an unsafe aircrat in a very competitive environment, trying to move quickly trying to get a pl market like with the 737 max, there is pressure to cut corners and we may see evidence of too many corners cut. >> reporter: is there an impact we're sing on the consumers on the airlines we fly? >> withthe 737 max grounded, there's no indication people arn staying hom note getting on aircraft. it will be interesting to see when the day comes that the 737

max is ack in service, assuming that day will come, will people be hesitant, could this be not unlike in th 1970s the dc10 and the difficulties from that aircraft, never fully recovered from the fundamental technil design flaws it evidenced and it ultimately did not surve. >> reporter: miles o'brien, thanks as always. >> you're welcome, jeff. >> woodruff: as the wildfire season gets underway inli rnia, memories of the devastating losses of the last two years are still fresh. in a new book, a writer tells his experience in a format that might surprise you. here again is john yang with a port that is part of our continuing coverage of arts and culture, canvas. yang: in santa rosa, in northern california, it's moving

day for award-winning writer and cartoonist brian fies and his wife, karen. they're leaving this rental their very own-- for the first time since october 9, 2017. that was the day their home was devoured by the tubbs fire. it destroyed more than 5600 structures over 37,000 acres anp killed 22 . at the time, it was the most destructive fire in california history. >> you know, it's a dividing line on our lives. our lives will always be split into before the fire and after the fire. >> yang: one of fies' first chores after the blaze was buying things he needed.es >> shosocks, a shirt. >> yang: and? >> and art supplies. >> yang: cheapaper, sharpies and highlighters. and you started drawing the story of what you'd just been through. why?

>> i felt compelled to i realized that i was an eyewitness to an extraordinary event. and i waed to tell people about it. somebody else later said it was my way of bearing witness and i don't think i can put it any better than that. i'd seen this thing. i needed to tell this story. >> yang: he quickly produced 18 pages and posted them online. in the week after the fire, it had more than 500,000 views. pbs station kqed i francisco produced an emmy- winning animated version. and now it's a 154-page hard cover book-- "a fire story." published by abrams comicarts, it chronicles the first months of his rise from the ashes. >> comics excel at metaphor and symbolism. so you don't have to use wheks to explainetaphor. you just draw it and show it to

people. i don't have to say another word about it. >> the same simple direcheess >> yang:ame simple directness is in fies' favorite drawing in the book, showing him searching through the ashes of his house. >> we'd really gone through the entire house, had more or less lost hope of findi anything else. but felt we had to finish the job beca just one more shovelful is going to turn up that thing you really treasured. i'm standing ithe middle of this blankness. the caption on this page says," i am uprooted." >> yang: "a fire story" tells more than just fies' own talin >> we're comup here on the right on the house of my friend jerry dunn, whose fire story i told in the book. >> yang: the book recounts the experiences of some of the others who lost their homes and also explains the science of wildfires. >> you can see into a valley, e valley that the fire came up

looking around, everything you can see, for 360 degrees around, you can do a complete circle-- everything you can see burned that night. >> yang: fies says writing thede book helped hi with his trauma, but may have had an unintended consequence. >> you work on a boo this for a year, or two, or three, and you sort of have to stay in that headspace. you have to keep thinking about the fire, you have to keep it fresh, you have to keep reliving it in order to write and draw about it >> yang: do you think you've held onto it for too long? >> well, and you know, for example, now i'm doing a book tour, so now i get to talk to people every night ay house burning down. and i don't mind that, i'm honored to do that, i understand that's also part of the job, but it kind of keeps you thinking about it in a way you might not otherwise. th>> you're right there, i moment with brian. >> yang: one of the stops on th book ts the cartoon art museum in san francisco. some original drawings for the book are on display there through july 15.

museum curator andrew farago. >> being the show is really important to us. it's hard to come to grips with it or put it in terms you can understand. this is something wonderful about comics-- the healing power of it, where you can talk about things that are very persona that have happened to you. >> yang: fies says the heart of his family's story is told in four panels. f >> tst panel is karen and i in bed, and i'm sleeping awayn and i'm sn karen ops her eyes and she says, "i just want to go home." and i reply, "yeahoo." i mean it's so simple, it's such a simple thing to want to be ho. and it's really all we wanted. and it's the one thing that we couldn't he. >> yang: after a year of construction, prolonged bynd materialabor shortages, brian and karen fies have a new house.

it's built on the same lot as their old one, but meets new, tougher, fire-resistant building standards. now they say their task is to make it a home.fo r the pbs newshour, i'm john yang in santa rosa, california. >> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorral evening. foof us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> ordering takeout. >> finding the west route. >> talking for hours. >> planning for showers.o >> you cane things you like to do with a wireless plan designed for you. with talk, text and data. consumer cellular. learn more atns ercellular.tv >> babbel. a language app that teaches real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more.

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>> hello, everyone. and welcome to amanpour and company. today we are looking back some of our favorite interviews from this year. so here's what's coming up. across america, tens of thousands of teachers are walking out of their classrooms. we look athat is driving them to strike. then gillian anderson in a cutting edge role written 70 years ago. >> fasten your seat belts. >> taking on the character betty davis memorialized on screen in "all about eve. >> and bruce sp man talks to our walter