captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, in a blow to president trump's immigration agendaa judge rules that asylum-seekers in the u.s. cannot be held in detention indefinitely. then, targeting refugees. an air strike in libya leaves 44 migrants dead, in what the united nations is calling a possible war crime. plus, out of the ashes. after a california wildfireis devouredome, a graphic novelist channels his trauma into art. >> i realized that i was an eyewitness to an extraordinary event.o and i wantedll people about it. tnmebody else later said it was my way of bearing s and i don't think i can 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. f >> major fundi the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> babbel. t teachese app t real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more. babbel's 10-15 minute lessons are available as an app, or line. more information on babbel.com. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> t 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 foundation.. macarthur committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world.re nformation at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. anbsby contributions to your station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the white house is rejecting a federal judge's ruling that struck down part o president trump's new legal asylum policy for immigrants. the judge, in seattle, found it is unconstitutional to detain asylum seekers indefinitely,th t bail hearings, until

their court dates. today, a white house statement charged the decision is "at war with the rule of law." separately, the president insisted today he has not given up on adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census. the justice department said it's been ordered to answer the question in a way to satisfy the supreme court. earlier president trump insisted reports of his own administration of theestion being dropped were "fake." we'll look at this, and the immigrant asylum case, after the news summary. demands for an international investigation swirled today,r af air strike in libya killed 44 migrants and wounded more than 13 the attack singled out a migranr detention cen tripoli. the government blamed a rebel force, the libyan na army. that group denied targeting the migrt site. israeli officials urged calm

today after erolent protests ted overnight. they were sparked by an off-duty police officer fatalhooting an unarmed ethiopian-israeli teenager on sunday. crowds blocked roads acrosthe country, and some clashed with police and lit cars and tires on fire. they charged that ethiopian jews have long been faced discrimination in israel. >> ( translated ): the youngsters are afraid, afraid about what happened, why should they be killed? why do the police feel that they are killing a terrorist. they are not killing a terrorist, they are killing a jew. it's upsetting, we have to put an end to that, enough, this really needs to end, enough. >> woodruff: prime minister benjamin netanyahu said he is convening a ministerial group to examine poverty and other problems in israel's ethiopian community. the president of iran warned today that his government start enriching uranium to more concentrated levels, as of

sunday. hassan rouhani spoke in a televised address, while callin ropean states to offsetan renewed u.s.ions. >> ( translated ): we will put deis commitment to a cap on enrichment to one we will increase the cap to whatever level we deem is essential for usthnd to a level 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 returthe enriched uranium wockpile to below the limits. druff: earlier this week, iran confirmed its stockpile ofu low-enrichnium now exceeds limits set by the 2015 nuclear deal. president trump pulled the u.s. .out of that deal last ye 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 last friday. the result has been widespread flooding.

and forecasters are predicting up to 13 more inches of rain through tomorrow, raising fears of landslides. back in this country, lee iacocca was remembered today as a visionary inhe american auto industry. he passed away yesterday in bel air, california, after a career that took him to the ranks of celebrity. >> if you can find a better car, buy it! >> woodruff: lee iacocca was a showman-- known as the famousfa 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. car that quickly became a cultural icon. steve mcqueen drove it in the famo chase scene in the 1968 san francisco thriller "bullitt." iacocca rose through the ranks and became ford's esident. but he campaigned against

airbags and other safety features. he also championed the lig pinto sports carlater 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 bankptcy. iacocca saved the automaker by securing more than a billion dollars in federal loans and restoring it to profitability. but his overhaul led to several plant closings and thousands of layoffs. >> no cars are perfect, but these come pretty close. >> woodruff: he became famous for his commercials guaranteeing 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 aain, you've got analysts

who are supposed to be objective, these folks that do the surveys and studies ando forth. >> what cars are you talking about? we have some bert than them? they can't touch this minivan oq wvment reports says it's miles ahead of the japanese. >> woodruff: iacocca retired from the company iwr1992. he alse two best-selling books and even flirted with a presidential run in the mid-1990's he launched a failed takeover of chrysler. but eventually returneto the airwaves in the early 2000's on behalff his old company. iacocca died yesterday of complications from parkinson's disease. he was 94 years old. in new york, former police detective luis alvarez rkiled today as a hero of 9/11. he spent months g at ground zero after the attacks, and he championed health benefits for first responders. today, hundreds honored alvarez at a funeral service in queens. he died saturday, of colo-rectal

cancer. he was 53 years old. final preparations are underway for president trump's planned f july festivities in washington. heavy, armored vehicles were put on display today near the ncoln memorial as part of plans to highlight the u.s. military. district of columbia officials t warny will bill the federal government for anyo damagety streets. and on wall street, the market early for the fourth of july holiday, but the trade truce with china sent major indexes to record clos toe dow jones industrial average gained 179 pointlose at 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 immigratio policies. the bleak conditions forge re in libya after an air

strike leaves 44 dead. the case of a u.s. navy seal charged with war crimes in iraq, and much more. >> woodruff: we return to our lead story: the legal battleer resident trump's controversial immigration agenda. our white house correspondent yamiche alcindor is here with the latest. hello, yamiche. to refresh everybody, it was back in april the attorneywi generaiam barr issued this order saying that some migrant anuld not get out on bail, they had to more thost bond, they had to be detained indefinitelye but now you his federal judge in washington state issuing a ruling that casts what the strairlings did in doubt. >> exactly. what we had was attorney general

william barr andhe president seeking to keep migrants who came to the united states illegally detained indefinitely. this is not the people come to ports of entry but the ones who come between ports of entry. they want no one to get in bailr thident r president calls this catch and release. he essentially says we can't just bring people and lethem go out into communities. the judge is saying that'sns untutional, that these migrants actually have to have due process under the fth amendment. >> woodruff: so this ruling, what more can you tell about the argument that this federal judge made? because you say, the white house is pushing back. >> so the federal judge essentially said thmigrants have rights and they cannot just be put in detention centers and not be given bail hearings. most of the time between 15,000 and 40,000 migrants get a bail hearing, about half are released on bond if that's the case, and

ey're able to come back when their case is pro this judge essentially said we need a new central decision-maker ass nsing whether t these immigrants should be detained or whether or not they can be released. the white house is taking a big issue with thatht. 're saying an unelected judge potentially going to wa with the rule of law, that's a quote. they say judges opening borders is unconstitutional, though the judges are saying their order il unconstituti i want to talk about the context. pictures yesterday from the office of department f homeland security, we saw overcrowding in the border facilities. the context is t pesident tweeted today, i'm saying these conditions are better than te conditions these migrants would have been living in in their own countries and even if they're getting ina adequate medical care, they're not nurses or doctors. so the president is doubling down hard on immonigratatus even in the face of all these

issues. >> woodruff: and the administration is going to appeal. yamiche, the situation with the census yesterday, you had theay administrationg we're goingaining ahead with the cens, the forms will be printed. but then today, you have the administration -- the president tweeting, no, we'dre not, an you have a judge in new york taking action. >> there is complete confusion. dhe president tweeted an upended everything which could be the theme of this administration. we have the president saying he wants to go foward with the census question and try to find a way. last week the spp supreme court said the citizenship question couldn't be added to the census but the government could try to come up with a different explanation if they wao try again. the president said we're going to do that. ththe d.o.j. representin government in court today said this was going to be an issue that was essentially resolved, and now they're ordered to push this forward. so the drop dead deadline is

october 30or printing the census. we'll see a lot back and forth between then. >> woodruff: it's a maryland 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 t lot ings and upending everything. >> woodruff: yamiche alcindor, thank you very much. >> thanks. >> woodruff: we return to the attack on a migrant detention nter in libya. as john yang tells us, eight years of conflict and instability there are now enmeshed with the migrant and refugee crisis. >> yang: bags of clothing and abandoned shoes-- remnants of life strewn throughout the blood-soaked debris of death. the early-morning air strike hit the tajoura migrant detention center in tripoli, housing some 600 pele, mostly north

africans.er ncy crews struggled to carry away body bags through the wreckage. survivors said they had no warning, and no protection. >> yang: libya's "government of national accord," recognized by the united nations, blamed the so-called "libyan national army," or "l.n.a.," which is trying to see tripoli. the l.n.a. acknowledged carrying out attacks in the area, but denied targeting the migrants. >> ( anslated ): we have n issued an order targeting this shelter, and the site that we are talking about is the site of a milia. >> yang: the l.n.a., under the command of general khalifa haftar, is supported by saudi arabia, egypt and the united arab emirates. it controls 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 inye eight s of chaos in libya. the country has been torn between competing factions since 2011, when the u.s. and allies helped topple longtime dictatord moammar i. fighting has also made an already desperate journey for migrants trying to reach europe even more dangerous, and deadly. an estimated 6,000 languish in libyan detention-- at least half close to the front lines ofli co. elinor raikes is europe and north africa director for the international rescue comttee. >> in the last three months, you know, in tripoli and the neighboring areas around tripoli have become an activone. so now we have migrants who are in abysmal conditions in dention but on top of that they can't flee to safer areas of the city. >> yang:any of the migrants were rounded up by libya's coast guard, trained and funded by the teuropean union, to preveir crossing the mediterranean. >> the e.u. and several member

states of the e.u. have effectively begun crizing 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'sttack touched off fresh criticism of both libyan and european migrant policy. a spokesman for the u.n. human rights commission blamed the libyans for failing to protect them. >> this is a tragedy that was very much preventable. just where a couple of months ago, we called for the urgent evacuation of people from this specific detention center, after a similar air strike injured twt people inside. s >> yaneral u.n. officials branded the attack a war crime; all sides called for an

internatiol investigation. te today an l.n.a. spokesman lyid its forces carried out an air strike on the functioning airport in tripoli, rgeting the main control center for drones. fredic wehrey recently returned from libya. he is a senior fellow in the orddle east program at the carnegie endowment international peac 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? b >> it's alwaen that way because of its location just south of euope. it's a very short sea crossing across the mediterranean but, of course, since the 2011 revolution with really the collapse of state power in usbya, that's opened the gates, really, for this h of migrants northward. many of them are not counting on crossing the mediterranean but ey do so after the dimorable conditions and abuse ey fac in libya and, of course, the

europeans unfavortunatelya closed-door policy where they have been sending these migrants back to lib where they languish in these detention centers. >> reporter: and as you says, it's not exactly a safe haven? >> absolutely not.mo itts to a living hell. they're subjected the full o spectr unimaginable abuses, sexual toanture, forced labod on top of that you've got the recent conflict which only adds to the misery. >> reporter: the result of t gnr strike today is part of an intensifying campn the part of the arm the libyan natil army. why are they ramping up and making airstrikes? >> they've always been conducted airstrikes. nthis is a desely populated city. there are ammunition depot, headquarters interspersed with civilian homes. i saw the aftermath of two

airstrikes on civilian homes when i was there. in the last week, there's been an up tick in the airstrikes because the general of the force were ejected, they lost a key strategic base in the west and now they'vennounced that they're going to use all means, really. the gloves are coming off and, so, what you're seeing is a very reckless airstrikes pattish and the migrant center strike is the tragic result of that. >> reporter: and a lot of this turmoil was ugrt of bro on by the ouste of muammar gadhafi, an allied coalition led by the united states. u what's tted states' role been since then in trying to stabilize libya? >> unfortunately, hands off.r afhat 2011 revolution and the n.a.t.o. intervention, president obama really, you know, took a uck seat for.s. policy. he believed the europeans and the united nations should takead the le in stabilizing this

country and, unfortunately, it's been hanff ever since. we've had a very ambivalent policy about this recent conflict, although president trump has publicly ardorsed general heftar's effort, but i'm g libyans would like more united states i diplomatvolvement to solve this crisis and put an end to this war. >> reporter: one side o ths conflict is being backed by the united nations and the french. then as you say t, mrmp has sort of endorsed the other side, which is being supported 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.o what'sing on? >> there are a number of ways to read that. i think in heftar, e ses a

fellow authoritarian but heftar is backed by the emirates and legypt and trump has cose ties to those countries and there was probably influence there. so i think it gave a reastl boo to heftar's forces. but the real deincfactor has been the arms and weapons and material that's been coming into heftar's side from the united arab erates and also egypt. >> reporte federiy wehrey from the carnegie endowment for international pece, thank you so much. >> 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 corated navy seal had be accused of stabbing the wounded teenage captive back in 2017.gh

william br has the story. >> brangham: that's right judy. in addition to being found innocentn the first-degree murder charge, chief gallagher was also found n guilty of attempted murder of iraqi civilians, and of obstruction of justice. the only thing 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 scott, 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. gallagher always maintained his innocence, and on fox news thisk morning, f by his wife and lawyer, he reiterated his view that it was a group disgruntled fellow seals who tried to frame him. i just that this small group of sealsid that deto concoct this story in no way, shape or form

represent the community that i, you know, lo and gave my soul to. >> brangham: we explore this court martial further now with steve walsh. he's been reporting on the case for kpbsublic 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 a along. was your sense this verdict was a surprise? >> it was a surprise in the sense that, yesterday, when the verdict came out and hwas acquitted six of the seven charges and all six were the most serious charges, there was a great deal of jubilatn. 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 maximum sentence,

which isour months in jail, and he reduced him in rank from chief petty oficer to a petty officer first class. that's going to have implications on gallagher's retirement. in fact, we were expectingr gallag come out and talk to us after the sentencing, but, instead, he and his wife got in the r an they drove away.p >> rorter: gallagher was originally accused by felw al members of his own platoon which is in itself odd givheen t historically tight-knit nature of the sean.organizat they said he went 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 gallagher's team rebut those witnesses? >> well, gallagher's team said, essentially, they portrayed thi as an investigation that was out of control, that itte tar gallagher from the very

beginning. the lead invr estigator val investigations joe wapinski, he had only been with ncis two and a half years before he got this incredibly high profile war crimes case. they also portrayed the seals in gallagher's platoon. gallagher is40 years old no, the rest of his platoon was much younger. i derstand his attorney called them entitled young seals. >> reporter: so, in addition to having those sales, who i guess -- those seals, who theirdomtime was essentially not believed by the jury, this was also this piece ofe evide of text that gel gear sent to a seal. apparently he sent a photograph of the captive's body. one said i have a cool story when i get back, i have any knife skills on. and another said, good tore about this, got him with my hunting knife.

how did his team re tat evidence? >> honestly, they didn't. this is something that happened in iraq in 2017. they have no body in this case,t verye forensic evidence, but the one thing that they did have were the photographs that gallagher sent out to people in the united states and other members of the platoon with him posing with the knife up to thee detainee. so, in the end, that was what he was convicted ofep >>ter: but i guess the evidence citing, if gallagher has a text that says i 'tn wait to tell you the story about this, i got him with my niervetion how did gallagher -- knife, how gdallagher's team address that? >> they said this is dark humoro they haher texts where he threatens to kill his platoon -e he turned to t jury, of all members of the military, marines and one seal, as a matter of fact, and said, who among us has nod had their commander threaten to kill them at one point or

another? >> reporter: lastly, there wasa a piece of bombshell development where one of the prosecution's main witsses, this medic who was there, says after he saw gallagher stab the captive, it was he, the medic, who then killed the captive, not gallagher. i mean, that's got to do something to your case. if your key wiess sort of says, the guy youdi thindn't do it, i did it. >> exactly. this w a prosecution witness. so on cross-examination, that's dwhen thefense brought this up. it played into their overall narrative that this was sloppy investigation. they didn't ask the right questions to the right people at ohe right time. there wasnflicting testimony. one other marine raider who was there also said he saw no stab wounds on the dead body. >> reporter: lastly, we know gallagher is convicted of one charge of posing with the photograph.

wh's next for chief gallagher? >> the way it works in military court, this goes ngto conve authority for the final approval of this sentence. then his attorys seem pretty eager to appeal this decision. they don't want this sentence of confinement on his record, if they could possibly avoid it. 'tso we probably wonee the final outcome for a while. in theeantime, he had only served eight months in the brig. that was basically good time. he served none of this four-month sentence so he was able to drive off right after his case was over today. >> reporter: steve walsh, thank you very much. >> thanks, william. e >> woodruff: man 35 states have laws on the books that classify a fetus as a ctim in a homicide or assault. those laws can lead in some cases to criminal charges against the pregnant woman.

a case in alabama involving a pregnant woman who was shot in a fight is casng a national spotlight on those issues and raising questions abou weighing the rights of the mother and the rights of the fetus.in lisa desjahas the latest on today's developments. >> desjardins: last december, marshae jones was shot in a fight near birmingham, alabama. shtwas five months pregnant the time. jones's story became national last week when a grand juryin cted her 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 sheon had a we the other woman involved fired a bullet that hit jones' abdomend e lost the fetus in a miscarriage. the police said the shooter acted in self-defense andal pointed crimlame only at jones, indicting her for manslaughter for endangering her fetus. but today, the district attorney heoverseeing the case said

woulnot prosecute ms. jones. an unborn child was tragically lost,nd families o both sides of this matter have suffered. nothing, nothing, nothing we do to in the future will change that reality. the issue before us is whether it's apopriate to tr to hold someone legally culpable for te actions that led to the death of the unborn child. there are no winners. only losers in the sad ordeal. >> desjardins: the decision over whether to charge jones has been widely debated. it irelated to the personhoo movement, which supporters say pushes for the rights of fetus to be recognized as equal to the rights of any person. but critics say it is dangerousg maoncern for the fetus outweigh and sometimes risk harm to the mother. mary scott hodgin is a health and science reporter with wbhm in alabama and has been

following this story. mary scott, i want to start by saying, since the grand jury was involved, we don't really have all the details of this altercation, b can you explain why police said that they believed the pregnant woman should be arged and wt law did they say was involved? >>hehis case came before grand jury in april of this year, and all the ence presented at that time, and the grd jury said the woman who shot jones was actg in self-defense was jones started the fight and would not stop. so they said we're going to drop the charges against the woman and charge hones, the woman was pregnant at the time, because she started to the fight that led to the deh of r fetus. in fact, they said that jones intentionallcaused the death of her fetus by starting the fight, knowing that she was five months pregnant. alabama law does recognize a

fetus as a person iacts of homicide or assault, and, , that's what they said in this case, that jones recklessly caused the death of another person, which in this 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 lanisein waon, elected a few years ago as the district attorney of th bessemer cutoff, and she is the first blackoman to hold fice of districts attorney in 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 lld said, you know, we're sti deciding. we respect the decision of the grand jury but it's up to us

whether or not 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, she didn't feel that the case needed to go any further but idditionally a lot of people were upset about and, as you've pointed out, it's brought up this debate about the personhood movement. should the fetus carry the same ghts as a person. >> you know, abortion is so political that i feel likes someti forget the very human issues and emotions on both sides of this debate. i know marshae jones naed the fetus that she lost. i'm curious what the people amof altell you they feel about this case and about her. >> the people that i've spoken inth mirrored some of the same sentiment that waon said today in her press conference which is that it's very sad, the whole situation. one woman i spoke with said jones, the woman who losher 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 r her fetus to be shot, she didn't intend for her unborn child to 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 hw alabama prosecute pregnant women who may have had unintended miscarriages as being responsible for those miscarriages? >> in this case, everyone pointed out it's unprecedented even in e state oflabama, alhoe the state does have a history of prosecuting prgnant women for "endangering their fetuses while pregnant." in 2006, alabama passed a chemical endangerment law which has since been used to prosecute pregnant women for using drugs during their pregnancy.

and a report showed few years ago that between 2006 and 2015, over 470 women shall be prosecuted under that law. soitertainls unprecedented, the case of marshae jones, the charges brought against her, but it's not unprecedented in the fact that the state does have this history of prosecuting pregnant women for their actions during preancy. >> reporter: marh scott hodgin of wgbh, thank yoforining us. >> thank you. woodruff: most of the focus of the 2020 election so far, has of course been on the presidential race. but ras for the u.s. senate also present tough challenges for democratwho are trying to win back the majority from republicans. these concerns were ghlighted at the first democratic presidential debates last ek, when almost every candidate,

including sitting senators, struggled to answer how they would push through their agenda if republicans maintained control in the senate. >> i want to see us get a democratic majority in the senate. but short of the democratic majority in the senate you better understand the fight still goes on. >> gridlock will not magically disappear as long as mitch mcconnell is there, first. (applause) >> that is why it is so important for us to when not just the presidency to have somebody that can run in all 50 states but to-- but to win the senate as well. >> they need to campaign in places like iowa because we-we can win a senate seat there. this is about getting us back to having 50 votes in the senate. >> woodruff: for a closer look at the 2020 senate map and the challenges facing democrats, ish spoke t while ago with phillip bump. he is a national correspondent for "the 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, t if they do't win control bck to have the senate. >> it'a huge challenge. all the conversations had now in the democratic primary about policy issues that the candidates would like to advance, all that hinges on their being able to pass things in the senate. setting aside the filibuster which demands a 0 vote majority, even getting to the 50 vote count, they're down by four votes in the senate and need to pick the seats up if they pass any legislation at all.i so ts should be something of huge concern of the party. w odruff: where do you see the main observe stacks also for the democrats and where the best chpice of ackup are? >> the main obstacles, twofold, only a third of the senate is up in a given year. you carhn't ovel the senate all at once. the second challenge is a lot of the seats they could pick up, a lot of the incumbent senators on the ballot, are in pretty re states.

obviously the redder the state, the ougher it's going be for a democrat. if you look at the political report," they do general assessments of the state of the race periodically. if you lk at what they y now there are three states where the democrats could pick up seats, arizonaado, maine and 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 tose defend tht that they won the special election in alabama, doug jones' seat, and 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 short of getting to the 50/50 level in the senate which would essentially serve as a majorityo >>uff: so setting alabama aside where we know dug jones is going to be fihting to 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 him

because he wouldn't agree to leave the presidential race and run for the senate in colorado. >> right, there'soing to be increasing pressure on candidates from states with competitive senate races or potentially competitive senate ras to drop out of the 2020 races special if they're not pulling well. hickenlooper is a good example of that. for exaif beto o'rourke were to drop out of the presidential racto run for texas senate again, it's not clear how much his own political brand has been damaged by his so far not good presidential debate. in georgia, incumbent david purdue, stacey abrams is talked about as a potential candidate there. she's not announced what she's planning for next year. so there are flimmers of hope for the democrats in. maine the speaker of the state house in maine announced their candidacy against incumbent senator susan collins who has be under fire. ere are a lot of places the democrats could potentially pick

up seats, it's just a question to a large extent of what thet environmoks like next year. will we see environment like last year where republicans are 120 * so celebratoryf tru that it hurts the democrats. >> woodruff: what habit democrats trying to mount challenges against republican senators who right now seed to be in prey strong shape? >> it depends on the state. for example, there are stte like kentucky where senate majority leader mitch connell is on the ballot. is it possible the democrats win there? potentially, if p the national environment is so strongly democratic, it's possible mcconnell could lose, lindsey gruam in soth carolina, a lot of well-known republicans up foe ection next mereer whose elections are not slam dun they may have a tougher time tan they thivment if somdee crats whose national environment goes heavily against the demrat, gary peters for

example, he'll probably end up running against a guy who ranio prly 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 uphill climb enate.ms of retaking the s >> woodruff: what about the message wes no coming from the atnate candidates, demo run in red states versus the message that a democratic presidential candidate is going to be havl,g. >> whis is a key question and potentially key problem for the party. so there are certainly indications that, had the democrats done a better job of turning out their base in 2016, there were some 4.4 millionho obama 2012 votse didn't cast a ballot in 2016. if those had been encouraged to te with some strong national message from the democratic party, they could have wonhat year. hoarvetion in this year, 2020, you will have a lot of democts competing in potentially red states who will have the battle to have the national political environment. so far the democratic primary

contest has led to a relatively liberal and progressive set of messages from the democratic party which as that floods out the message of a red state democrat could be problematic for that candidate. in 2016 we saw mccaskill and donnelly both complained their message in their red states wasw drowned out at the matter s saying nationally. >> woodruff: cross currents of all kinds. phillip bump of t "the washingtn post," thank you. >> thank you. >> woodruff: bing announced today it will pledge up to $100 million to families and communities affected by the two crashes involving its 737 max planes. the accidents were both found to share silar software problems. boeing is now thying to solve e technical and engineering issues.

but it is struggling wh other big questions too. that's the focus of our "leading edge" segment with jeffrey brown. >> brown: lion air flight 610ta went down afteoff in indonesia last october, killing 189 people. a second crash, ethiopian airlines flight 302, occurred in march, killing all 157 people on board. boeing now faces numerous lawsuits, as well as regulatory challenges 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 m $1lion 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 nogt a hue amount of money. it's about the cost of a 737 max, perhaps, coincidentally. put it in the realm of publics, relatihis is a company that, in the wake of these two

accidents, tried to point the finger at the flianght crewsd that did not go over well, given the evident design problems that were a part of the 737 max, and this money will go for educatind for the children of the victims and some money for the ymilies. but u do the malt, it's a small amount of money per person. no one whoakes this money is precluding themselves from further legal action, i should point out. >> reporter: and these lawsuits are still out there. while this is another acknowledgment of some kind of financibility, the liability is still out there. >> there's the lawsuit liability, the fact you've got o of very unhappy customers, there's a loss of good ll and future business, potentially. it's a big mess for boeing. >> reporter: given what we know about the cause of the crashes, where is the focus for boeing now in tryg to fix the problem? >> well, it begins with the

software that was at the core of the issue. this was a system, an anti-stall system. when we saystl, aerodynamic stall, a system designed to keep the nose from pnting toogh and the airport losing aerodynamic lift. the software that was put in to ensure that the nose was putdo was determined to be flawed and, so, part of the proencess s o reexamine that and rewrite that software. addition, they added 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 sircle. these aft are so complex and the systems so interrelated, they actuay stumbled across another problem in the related system in the anti-all function which requires another fix which might even require a hardware x. there are 500 of the aircraft out there that might need new

computer chie. as they l away the onion, it gets more coplex. >> reporter: you just referred to another regulatory hurdle. is there a forecast for when they might fly again? >> what has been said publicly september but, given the fact that as they go deeper and deeper into the problems and trying to fix them, it's li squeezing a balloon. it creates other issues at the other end because to have the complexity and int arelatedness l. this and you have a public relations issue. will the public be cfortable in getting on a 737 max given all that has transpired in that's a big open question. >> reporter: andbe there have recent investigations looking at larger problems for boeing. what is the potential impact for the company and its futur >> it's hard to measure it right now, when you consider the legal c ability, the pubelations liability, the fact that the technical issues have not been

ironed out, and you look at some of the problems that haveeen documented in a systemic fashion for this company, you know, whyt have here is a company that is in the business of making ney, a profit off of airplanes. there's always an opposing force when it comes to safety. safety costs moneyty hits the bottom line. boeing doesn't want to build an unsafe aircraft, but in a very competitive environment, trying to move quickly trying to get a plane to ma wrket liketh the 737 max, there is pressure to cut corners and we may see evidence of too many corners cut. >> reporr: is there an impact we're seeing on the consumers on the airlines we fly? >> with the 737 max grounded, there's no indication peoplare staying home and note getting on aircraft. it wil when the day comes that the 737 vice,s put back in ser

assuming that day will come, will people be hesitant, could this be not unlike in the 1970s the dc10 and the difficultiesrom that acraft, never fully recovered from theta fundamtechnical design flaws it evidenced and it ultimately did not survive. >> reporter: miles'brien, thanks as always. >> you're welcome, jeff. >> woodruff: as the wildfire seon gets underway in california, memories of the devastating losses of the laste two years ill fresh. in a new book, a writer tells his experience in format that might surprise you. heregain is john yang with a report that is part of our continuing coverage of arts and culture, canvas. >> yang: in santa rosa, in northern california,t's moving

day for award-winning writer and cartoonist brian fies anhis wife, karen. they're leaving this rentalop ty to live in a house of 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 and killed 22 people. at the time, it was the most destructive fire in california history. >> you know, it's a dividing line on our lives. our lives willlways be split into before the fire and after the fire.g: >> yne of fies' first chores after the blaze was buying things he needed. >> shoes, socks, a shirt. >> yang: and? >> and art supplies.an >> cheap paper, sharpies and highlighters. jud you started drawing the story of what you' been through. why? >> i felt compelled to.

i realized that i was an naeyewitness to an extraor event. and i wanted to tell people about it. somebody else latesaid 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 need 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 vis. pbs station kqed in san francisco produced an emmy- winning animated version. and now it's a 154-page hard cover book-- "a fi story." published by abrams comicarts, it chronicles the first months of his rise from the ashes. >> comics exl at metaphor and symbolism. so you don't have to use works to explain the metaphor. you just draw it and show to

people. i don't have to say another word about it. >> the same simple directness >> yang: the same simple directness is in fies' favorite drawing in the book, showing him searching through the ashes of his use. >> we'd really gone through the entire house, had more or less lost hope of finding anything else. but felt we had to finish the b because you never know if just one more shovelful is going to turn up that thing you really treasured.st i'ding in the middle of this blankness. the caption on this page says," i am uprooted."an ie y "a fire story" tells more than just f own tale. >> we're coming up 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, the 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 the book helped him deal with his trau, but may have had an unintended consequence. >> you work on a book like this for a year, or two, or three, and you sort of have o stay in that headspace. you have to keep thinking about the fire, you have to keep it fresh, you have to keep living it in order to write and draw about it. >> yang: do you thk you've w,ld onto it for too long? >> well, and you kor example, now i'm doing a book tour, so now i get to talk to people every night about my house burning down. , d i don't mind that, i'm honored to do thunderstand that's also part of the job, but it kind of keeps you t inking about a way you might not otherwise. >> you're right there, in the moment wh brian. >> yang: one of the stops on the book tour was the cartoon art museum in san ancisco. some original drawings for the book are on display there through july 15.

museum curator andrew farago.>> eing in northern california, 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 ry it, where you can talk about things that are ersonal, that have happened to you. >> yang: fies says the heart ofs his famitory is told in four panels. >> the first panel is karen and i in bed, and i'm sleeping away, and i'm snoring. ren opens her eyes and she says, "i just want to go home." and i reply, "yeah, me too." i mean it's so simple, it's such a simple thing home.t to be and it's really all we wanted. and it's the one thingcohat we dn't have. >> yang: after a year ofuc conson, prolonged by material and labor shortages, brian and kan 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. for 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 tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see u soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> ordering takeout. >> finding the west route. >> talking for hours. >> planning for shower >> you can do the things you like to do with a wireless plan designed for you. with talk, text and data. consumer cellular. learn more a consumercellular.tv >> a language app that teaches real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more.

>> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station om viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productns, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

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