captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> nawaz: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. judy woodruff is away. on the "newshour" tonight, i protestohong kong bring one of the world's busiest airports to a standstill, as fears grow over a chinese military crackdown., inw threats of extinction as the trump admistration changes the rules of the endangered species act. and on the ground at the iowa state fair, where butternd sculptures020 presidential f hopefuls v voters' attention. >> i agree with what biden has to say, but i also agree with warren and with sanders has to y, so i'm right now i'm kind of conflicted.. >> nawaz: all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour."

>> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> babbel. a language program that teaches real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more.in babbel's 10-15e lessons are available as an app, or online. more information on babbel.com. >> consumer cellular. >> financial services firm raymond james. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better wod. at www.hewlett.org. >> 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 from viewersyou. thank you. c >> nawaz: air traf hong kong was brought to a ground stop after a fourth day of protests inse the international airport. more than 150 flights were canceled. thousands of anti-government demonstrators occupied the terminal, holding signs and chanting cls for democratic reforms. they're demanding the resiation of the territory's chief executive carrie lam, and an investigation into police usf ce. we'll have more on this after the news summary. the trump administration finalized rollbacks on the nixon-era "endanred species act" today. p"endangered speciotection

for those classified as "threatened." they'll also allow economic cost to factor into whether or not a species should be protected. conservation groups-- and at least n attorneys general-- have warned the move could put more wildlife at risk for tinction. we'll take a look at the impact of today's rollback later in the progm. in economic news: a sell-off in the banking and technology sectors caused stocks to plunge on wall street today. the dow jones industrial average lost 391 points to cse at 25,896. f the nasdl more than 95 points, and the s&p 500 slid 36. in eastern china the death toll from a weekend typhoon has now risen to at least 45 people. w resckers are still evacuating residents stranded in buildings after their streets were submerged by floodwaters. crews have been working to clean up debris left behind. meanwhile, in southern india, days of torrential rain and mudslides ve now killed nearly

100 people and displaced 400,000 others.st in the wit state of kerala, muddy water filled the roads as rescue workers in boats helped people evacuate. at least one crocodile foundre ge on the roof of a submerged home. >> ( anslated ): it has be at least five to six days. everybody is stuck in flooded villages, animals and others all are stuck there. people are fing a lot of oblems. water has come from all directions. ered all tent houses. >> nawaz: last year's in congo, two experimental drugs are showing promise in the fight against ebola. they're part of a clinical trial that began last november. the therapies are e first of their kind to treat patients who've already contracted the highly contagious disease. people who received the drugs shortly after becoming infected had a 90% survival rate. the ebola outbreak in congo killed more than 1,800 people over the past year. back in this country, a friendof

he man who shot nine people in dayton, ohio last weekend told investigators he purchased the body armor and ammunition uned in the rampage. federal prosecutoraled charges against ethan kollie today. but they emphasized there was no evidence kollie knew about the attack. >> in the course of th ongoing investigation into the august 4 shooting, anyone who is discovered to have any criminal culpability for any act that is ultimately discovered through the investigation or cuted in any way to the events on august 4 is going to be held criminally responsible. >> nawaz: kollie was charged today with lying on a federal firearms form used for an unrelated gun purchase. also today, lawyers for comedian bill cosby appeared before a pennsylvania appeals courtda in a bid to get his sexual assault conviction overturned. they argued a dge denied cosby a fair trial by letting additional accusers testify in a case that concerned only one allegation.

the 82-year-old is now serving a prison sentence of 3-10 yearsug for ng and assaulting a woman in 2004. a decision on the appeal is not expected for several months. still to come on the "newshour," protestors in hong kong shut dong a major airport-- riski retribution from the chinese military. yuestions and conspirac theories in the wake of billionaire sex offender jeffrey epstein's death. e e trump administration moves to radically rede amount of legal immigration to the u.sf democratic hops head to the storied iowa state fair anour politics monday team examines the state of t race. plus much more. >> nawaz: hong kong's airpor was shut down today, occupied by thousands of protesters.it the auths in beijing again struck an ominous note, comparing the mass protests to

"terrorism" and, as thousands of chinese security personnelmu ered on hong kong's border, beijing declared there should be "no leniency or mercy" for the protesters. jonathan miller of independent television news reports. ( screams ) i >> reporten air thick with tear gas idide an undergroun station, hong kong police last night resorting to ever-harsher tactics, these protestors had been attempting to flee. ( crying ) across the harbor, outside a police station, a protester was shot in the eye with a rubber from a police shotun. despite wearing protective goggles, her eyeball was ruptured and there are fears she could lose her eye. earlier in the same location, police fried tear gas fro inside the station.ba a ttle ensued, as protestors laid siege. then this:

( explosion ) a policeman inside suffered burns to his legs. today an infiated beijing lashed out, brandinghis terrorism. the state council, chinas cabinet, ratcheting up the ruthlessness of the rhetoric leaving no room now to back down. "these were serious and sinisted crimes," it sa"protestors reckless." things had reached what the spokesman called a critical juncture.ed >> ( transl ): such violent crimes must be resolutely cracked down on, in accordance with the law. no leniency, no mercy, we strongly support the hong kong lice as they enforce the law strictly to bring the criminals to justices soon as possible. ♪ ♪ there's been mounting alarm in hong kong, over whether chin might order military onto the streets. but today, communist party papers released footage complete with sinister soundtrack,

showing convoy of peoples police heading to shinjin on hong kong's northern border. ♪ ♪ these paramilitary under command of central military council headed by president xiimself have been used to put downot prest, often brutally, in other regions. growing outrage over police brutality leto thousands of namonstrators converging today on hong kong intonal airport, one of the busiest in the world. forcing the total cancellation of all flights in and out. olt's the protestors that were brutal today," thee said, exhibiting weapons they say were confiscat.ed most hong kongers wont buy tha now the trust is broken. there are 28 years stio go before china canake full control of hong kong. but beijing looks impatient to bring the territory under its

authoritian aegis. among hong kongers, nks and businesses, a quiet but rising panic. >> nawaz: attorney general william barr today sharply iticized the management of the manhattan federal jail where wealthy financier jeffey epstein was found dead in his cell this weekend.n as jng reports, epstein's death does not mean the end to the federal sex-traffickin investigation that led to his arrest. >> reporter: amna, in his remarks today the attorneyl geneso pledged that "any co-conspirators should not rest easy.s, the victbarr said, "deserve justice and they will get it." so where does the case go now? jessica roth is a professor atye iva university's cardozo school of law.

jessica roth, thanks. what do prosecutors in the case of the united states versusdo jeffrey epsteiow that jeffrey epstein is dead? >> well, the case agajest rey epstein himself will be dismissed because he's now deceased and y can't proceed with a criminal case against a person who's dead, but the overall criminal investigation will continue. over the weekend, u.s. attorney e southern district of knowledge jeff berman issued a statement in which he made clear that the criminal investi would continue and said his office would continue to stand up for the victims, and, in particular, he point to the fact that jeffrey epstein had been arged in one count of the indictment with conspiring wih others to engage in sex trafficking and that's significant because th law of conspiracy requires proof that two or more persons agreed to commit a c. what that means is mr. berman was prepared to prove in court that at least one other an ssibly others were engaged in

coopersy with jeffrey epstein. >> we know in the four that highly criticized florida's non-prosecution agreement, that were named fouro potential co-conspirators that were notd, charnd in this new york indictment, there were three people cited though not named who also participated in this. do you think we're likely to see indictments against those folks coming up in the coming days? >> i don't know about the timeline, but certainly from beverything thatn indicated by the u.s. attorney's office and what's been publiclyre rted, it would seem that they have significant evidence against other people. as you mentioned in the indictment, there are people identified not by name but in terms of the role that they played. clearly, the u.s. attorney's office has evidence against those other people and they will be pursuing that investigation and looking also at the evidence that was collected surgt search of jeffrey epsin's home on the day of his arrest to see what that yields at thenvolvement of co-conspirators and

complices. it's been rumored his pilots ha s beenpoenaed and questioned about who was involved in arranging the travel for the sex trafficking. so i think need to be patient while the investigators reorient to a case in which jeffrey epstein will not sit at the table but i mr. berman ma clear the investigation is ongoing. >> reporter:ven without a conviction can prosecutors go after his assets or, i guess, in this case, tehis es? >> yes. so there's still a process through which the u.s.to ey's office can go after assets that were used to facilitate the crimes that have been alleged here. so, for example, his manhattan was usedse, allegedly, as a place where some of the unlawful activity occurred. if his properties in thegi v island were involved, they could be sought but a civil forfeiture

troceedings and any assets recovered distri to victims for restitution through the federal government. it allows a proof by preponderance of evidence standard which is a civil standard of proof rather thane iminal beyond a reasonable doubt standard and allows the rrative of what unfolded in his crimes to be cold, because much of the proof to be offered would have been offered in a criminal trial against jeffrey epstein. >> this doesn't do anything to the civil lawsuits that might be coming from accusers? >> no, thosen proceed as well. the accusers have multiple avenues through which they can seek some measure of justice. none will be the same as actually confronting jeffrey epstein in a crimina case. through the civil lawsuits, they can pursue his estate. as i mentioned, the civil asset foforfeiture proceedings is

another avenue of potential release and as we discussed a moment ago, there's ari possibility ofnal proceedings against others who were his accomplices and co-conspirators. >> reporter: jessica roth of the school of law, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> nawaz: the trump administration announced today that it plans to implement new immigration rules and, yamiche alcindor explains, its one of the most aggressive steps yet to limit legal immigration. >> reporter: today's new rule from the trump administration limits who will be eligible to thapply for a green card i u.s. under current law, immigrants are already required to proveat hey are not what the government deems a "public charge." today, the acting head of u.s. citizenship and immigration orvices ken cuccinelli said any immigrants who usemight one day be eligible to use-- an expanded set of public benefits

may not be eligible for legal status. ⌞> the benefits to taxpayers is a long term benet of seeking to ensure that our immigration i systbringing people to join us as american citizens as legapermanent residents firs who can stand on their own two net, who will not reliant the welfare system, especiallgey in thef the modern welfare state which is so expansive and expensive frankly.nd >> reporter: the new rule, the benefits involved will include common services afforded immigrants under current law- - public housing, medicaid and food stamps. to breakll this down i'm joined by theresa cardinal brown. she is the director of immigratn and cross-border policy at the bipartisan policy center in washington. thanks so much, theresa, for being here. talk to me about how this will impactmmigrants and the legal immigration process in the united states and who will be most impacted by this new rule. >> sure. so the rule applies to those who

are applying to cget greenards in the united states. and, so, one of the long-standing issues i immigration laws as you mentioned is whether or not some beme a public charge. that has been broadly defined as somebody who has been mostly dependent on the govement. it's a criteria that has been, i'd say, used sparingly, especially over the last couple of decades but has been aty priof this administration to implement. so it would look whether or not peopleho are applying to be green cardholders arice je public benefits they might be eligible for. they are lking for privat immigs and non-immigrants who are looking to extend or change their status. >> reporter: what can you tell pin comparison to native bornits americans. >> whawe found is, in general, individual immigrants use benefits less often and a lower rates than u.s. citizens do, but

some immigrant-hded households, particularly with u.s. citizen children may use more because the children are eligible for benefits th maybe the immigrant parents are not. >> critics of the new rule say this is the trump administration unfairlyargeting immigrants. there are talks there are going this.legal challenges to how does this new rule really factor into how the trump administration has overall used its immigration agenda to target different gups? >> well, particularly its regulatory agenda has been about legal immignts, and one of the things that we have seen is that a lot of the regulatory changesn that have implemented have been about reducing eligibility for legal immigration, reducing the number of peopleho can qualified for legal immigration or slowing down th legal immigration process. >> reporter: you said the term public charge had been implemented sparingly. tell us about the history of pe telic charge and how certain immigrant groups have and subject to that ter what it's meant overall and in

the years coming. >> well, the ideaf preventing the poor or paupers from immigranting has been around basically since the beginning of the republic. initial why liwhen the united states was created states had control over who could immigrant and would look for people who could not work or support themselves. in the 1800s, congress passed the chinese escalation act that included this public charge rule, but, over the years, it has been very subjectively enforced. during the ellis island days, they would look r or not they thought somebody was physically able of performing work, did they have family members already here, sponsors, did they bring any moneyith them, so it was sort of on the fly. this has been a priority of this administration to gepublic charge rule published sie the administration came in. an executive order was issuedin earlhe presidency asking for this to be done. so it's new in that we don't know exactly how it's going to be ilemented. it's a relative standard especially the prospective

looking part is an immigrant likely to be become a publiatc charge, s more iffy because they're looking at is he going to he a work history, what's the education level, do they have health issues where they would become a publi charge. we've already seen come of this because consulates overseas have been implementinghithrough the review process over the last year, already. >> reporter: now i wan turn to a major story from last wimeek. 68grants were arrested at immigration raids in food processing cente in mississippi. what goes into such raids and what legal consequences if any do employers face? >> a raid of that size and scope has probably been in process for onths.many it probably was based on information at immigration and customs enforcement received and they also collaterally arrested undocumented immigrants they

found on the premises. now i.e. will go throughthe documents they found during the search warrants to see if they have another evidence to proceed with prosecutions of those employers, so when they see prosecutions historically it's been much more difficult to prosecute employers for knowingly hiring undocumented immigrants than it has been to arrest the immigrants themselves and see them deported. >> reporter: thanksor joining us, theresa cardinal brown of the bipartisan policy center. >> thank you.ix >> nawaz: withonths before the first-in-the-nation iowa caucuses, more than 20 presidential hopefuls ded on the hawkeye state this weekend. ng lisa desjardins reports, voters were navigarowds of people and the crowded candidate field. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: welcome to the iowa state fair. a mix of high political stakes and high blood sugar-- all on a stick, or on a soapbox.

>> hello iowa! >> you have a ve important choice to make. >> this is going to be a test for all of us. >> this is the moment we bring our people together. >> that's why i'm here asking for your support. >> reporter: the soapbox: where candidates each get 20 minutes-- has never held more presidential weight. 23 contenders, including one g.o.p. challenger to president trum will come and go throughout the fair. and with each one comes a p of s attention. none more so than former ce president joe biden... >> right here, right here! i gotta get there >> reporter: ...who barely had room at his own press conference. biden has been here before-- in failed runs in 1988 and 2008. but he's nev had the lead in iowa until now. and it's a large, nearly ten-. point lead >> go joe! reporter: his supporters feel they know him. they trust him. >> i like joe biden.

wii enjoyed him when he wa obama and stuff and so i think he would definitely be a good ondidate for sure. >> reporter: butonents question if biden sparks enougih passn. >> how do you do that? >> look at the polls. so far so good. d soit by being me. look, no one's ever including reporters cover me all the time. no one's ever doubted i mean what i say. the problem is sometimes i say all that i mean >> the fair is everything. >> reporter: matt paul has deep roots with the democparty in iowa-- he ran hillary clinton's winning iowa campaign in 201 despite biden's early lead, paul saor the state is still up f grabs. >> he's popular here, but he ha. work to he's got to be here more. i think he's got to talk about epe future. >>ter: some voters are more blunt about biden. >> if he were the primary candidate i'd still vote for him. but i don't want him to be the candidate. i want someone new and fresh >> reporter: among those angling

as new and fresh is californiato sekamala harris, third in iowa polls. her staff is energetic and her fair crowd was large, but she dipped in the last poll here, and admits she's still building. >> we have over 65 staff in iowa. and you know there are people in this race who have had national profiles for many years. i'm still introducing myself to people. >> 2020 >> reporter: quickly surging here is massachusetts senator elizabeth warren, now second in the iowa polls, and captain of what many see as the best- organized ground-game in the state-- wi fired-up volunteers like joie otting. >> i think it's important that we just take a new, almost radical-- not to call elizabeth warren radical-- but take a big change in direction.te >> repr: this is a problem for bernie sanders. >> let me make a major announcement: pretty good. >> reporter: the vermont senator is still popular in iowa, but losing the most ground to warren. over one million people will come to thiowa state fair. that is a prime political

audience, especially for thera many dem trying to break into the top tier. the problem: there are just so many candidates. and they're seemingly everywhere-- flipping pork,g pourbeer, and counting corn kernels. and voters are overwhelmed. >> i'm a registered democrat. i'm an open-ticket voter, but i have no clue what i'm going to do. >> buttigieg. um... biden. >> biden. i like beto, but-- but wll see how it goes with that. >> i agree with what biden has to say. but i also agree with warren and with sanders has to say so i'mm right now nd of conflicted. >> reporter: and thus, candidates are self-separating in groups. the midwesterners... how do you break out? i hink you do it the old fashioned way. you just keep reaching out to people and you meet pele. >> when people hr what i have to say, especially coming from raio and being in iowa, it's very similar cultuy and it's

resonating. >> reporter: those focused on personal contact. >> i've had a lot of town halls, lots of events at breweries, and it makes a difference because people can get to know me, i can get to know them, mali sure i'm ing up their voices. >> i'm really focused on is do what we're doing out here today really getting down communities here in iowa new hampshire and other parts of the country. >>e believe that as the rac gets smaller and smaller people pamore attention to the candidates. >> reporter: and the i-can-get- it-done policy folks... >> so the way we break out is by messaeep hammering the the american peoplethat we need solutions not soundbites and that it's not their imaginion. >> i think when that-- when the field shrinks they're going to start focusing on ideas, who's got the best ideas. who's the best person to beat trump. and that's when i think i can break through. >> i've just got to keep finding fresh ways to-- to talk about what we did in colorado. and most importantly how we brought people together. >> reporr: and then there's new jersey senator cory booker, who says he's already rising-- in less-noticed metrics like endorsements and staff. >> theeople that have gone on

are people more like me, the people like jimmy carter or barack obama or bill clinton. people were considered longs shis far out. but what were they were doing was they were buildingan incredible oations here in iowa. >> reporter: there's another issue for democrats in iow- beating president trump in a state he won by nine points. >> i like trump. t i limp. he's just... he's just a guy. he's not a politician. he's just a guy like me. >> rorter: here, democrats' move to the left for t primary is pushing some away. >> they're so liberal. they just don't en want to move on in this world. they want everything to be socialism. they want everything to be calm and nice and everybody loves everybody. but yoknow sometimes you got to get out and get a little aggressive. >> reporter: at the iowa state fair this week, scenes of whirling americana, rows of fried foods and some 40,000 prize ribbons. but, for candidates-- far less reward.

traditionally just the top three fit shers in iowa are though have a real shot at the nomination. the fair marks the end of summer for the state, but it's the beginning of the real heat in the race for president. for the pbs newshour, i'm lisa desjardins at thiowa state fair in des moines. n az: of course, the iowa state fair stretches on until next sunday-- and there are still a few candidates for fair- goers to see, including but for now,his a good place to start our "politics monday" round-up, with tamara keith of "npr" and co-host of the "npr politics podcast," and shawna thomas, d.c. bureau chief for a lot of politics to talk about. >> yes. >> nawaz: the iowa state fair is sposed to be a opportunity for the candidates to break away from the pack, take a chance to shine or continue in the middle and fight for airport did anyone stand out in the last few days? >> i was there. i was technically onacation. i did eat fried foods but

also -- >> you played political tourist. can't turn it off. so what i saw is that candidates like kamala harris and elizabeth warren who are not at the very top in t polls drew very large crowds of very interested people who came ear and stayed late and watched their speeches. in fact, for warren, when she was speaking at the soap box you actually couldn't walk past the enti grand passageway or whatever it's called, the big road in the middle of the fairgrounds was completely congested with people who had stopped to watch her speak. and that sort of reflects what you've seen in the polls, which is that elizabeth warren, you know, taki as many selfies as she has to take at every event, has begun to sort of notch things up in iowa, i believe in latest iowa poll.

she's in seconds ined joe biden. >> every selfie matters at this stage but wort rinding people still over six months away before anyone in iowaasts a vote. how much does this matter, this cycle? >>uch does the iowa state fair matter in any cycle? what our correspondent on vice news was telling me and she out there as well was there was so much media there that she was confused as to whether the candidates were actually able to speak to iowans one on one. you have the registerwhoapbox h is a good way to get the candidates' stump speech out there, but historically they have been trying to have one-on-one interactions with iowans. one guy said all iowans are here it's not just a democratic party event or some special interest evt, you could run into anyone ubut it's hard tdo with the amount of media there. some took advantage of having

conversations with people who wouldn't necessarily want or be able to to see them at a democratic event. >> not all g attention isd. one of the story lines is how former vice president joe biden has done so far in some of these events. i want to play a couple of quick soun bytes from thursday, one from saturday, but these are the kinds of comments from biden that are getting attention now. take a listen. >> four kids who are just as brave and talented as white kids, wealthy kids -- (applause) >> i watched the kids from parkland when i was vice president. >> we're calling these as gaffes in the speech. he corrects himself later. is it fair criticism of him now? >> it is joe biden. joe biden called himself a gaffe machine. this is sort of a trademark. he does thi he's done this his entire

political career. whenhennounced he was running for president, you knew this was going to happen and it has continued to happen all along. one thing that's very puzzling is thiis weekend he weekend everyone is talking about, well, will joe biden's gaffes matter, and i think the way they could matter is if voters decide that it's an indicator of something larger, if it taps into a concern that voters have perhaps about hi age or some other thing like that. but that joe biden would say the wrong words or stumble is not >>new. ut i think when he says the wrong words and stumbled bostorically when w covered him before, it's uncle joe. it's, like, it's joehe biden great, whatever, like the awkward touching and that ki of thing. but when you are the frontrunner to be president and everyone thinks you may have a shot at getting the democratic nomination, everyone is going to

pay attention to every little stumble, and i think that is going to get worse. some of why this has beeghn ghted is trump's team is the one who pushed this narrative event. i am interesteato see i lower tier presidential candidate goes along this narrative. one who's actually on the democratic side, because, of course, president trump is going to push this. he wants to beat biden. he thinks biden o the guy beat. but to the cory bookers of the world or does someone else start trying to talk about joe biden's ag or play these gaffes, does it cause democratic and i think that's something to worry more about at this stage with biden. m> over the weekend donald trump retweeted a post f comedian linking the clintons to the death ofeffrey epstein, the accused sex trafficker in jail this weekend. we're not showing it here because it's a conspiracy theory that traces back years to far right conspiracyheies. of all the things the president could be tweeting about this weekend, w this?

>> because he -- i mean, i can't get into the president's head and b can't pretend to in the president's head, but he saw something, it attacked the clintons, he is still attacking the clintons, people still cheer lock her upis at campaign events, and, you know what? he pressed retwt, and this is just what he does. he has spread otherir cony theories. we can go all the way back to barack obama's birth certificate. he could have been tweetings things like hey, dshe bureau of prisons have staffing problems? there are real issues with epstein and will his victims be able to be ae to see justice, but this is what the president likes to do and now we're talking about it. >> tammy, with 63 million twitter followers, i have been in countries where conspiracy theories and misinformationca aigns are very active, it has an impact. are you worried about this here? >> we are also in country where conspiracy theories have been active in recenyears, especially with social media,

and president trump has at timee red or trafficked in conspiracy theories. so that he'doing this now is not really out of character. it's something that he does. and i think that we are in a time in this country where conspiracy theories, for whatever reason, are particularly sticky, and especially on the right but notr eny on the right, also very much on the left conspiracy theories have taken hold. so this is sort of -- this is where we are. >> and the question really -- i mean, the larger question that comes out of this conspiracy thing is what do we do about social media, and are we going to hold social media companies accountable for the sproafd things thaare not true? and this is something that congress has been talking about and they have been trying to talk about'tit but they hav done anything yet. i think this reiterates thats conversationeally important. >> another conversation to have at another time. shawna thomas and tamera keith,

thanks to you both. >> you're welcome. >> nawaz: the trump administration is making some of e broadest changes in years to the endangered species act-- the landmark lawigned by president richard nixon that's been credited with saving iconics specke the bald eagle and the grizzly bear. william brangham explores what today's changes could mean. >> reporter: that's right, amna. the endangered species act currently protectsbout 1,600 species in the u.s. by limiting the activities that could s.rm those spec and it's been overwhelmingly successful in protecting those animals and plants. but the act has been a target for republan lawmakers and industry groups for years. they argue these protectionsco too many jobs and too much money. now, the trump administration is proposing changes that onecr deic lawmaker referred to as "taking a wrecking ball" to the act. joining me now is "new york times" environmental reporter lisa friedman.

lisa friedman, welcome back to the "newshour". >> thanks so much f having me. >> reporter: before the administration's proposed changes, what species can we credit are alive today because of the endangered species act? >> the endangered species act has helped to save from extinction some of the most well-known plant and animal species in the cntry -- the bald eagle, the grizzly bear, the hump-back whale are all species who owe a tremendous amount t p thetection of the endangered species act. >> reporter: as i mentioned before, the republican lawmakers for decades have hated this law, wanted to dial it back, industry groups said the same thing, too costly andt's not helping as much as it is hurting our industries. what is theat trump adminisn proposing with these new changes? >> there are a number of changes in the finales that were issued today. a number of them are oneshat environmental groups fear will

severely weaken protections for planand animal species. a list of just twof the big ones for now. one of them is a mdsure that wo weaken the ability of scientists to protect species against the threats of climate change. another is a phrase that would introduce the ability of the federal government to include economic about sees. >> reporter: an analysis that we're going to protect x species would cost us y ablght amount of money. >> exactly. currently the law reads scientists can consider only one thing when considering to issue a species as threatened or endangeredthe science, sit threatened, should it be listed. that language is going to be eliminated, and at replaces it will give the federal government

tto cseduct ana as you described to find out whether listing a species will c money and perhaps lost development. the interior department has insisted that this won't change anything, that decisios will still be made surely on the basis of science. they just want to have th information and be able to know the informati when these listing possibilities come up. >> reporter: these changes are coming amidst a lot of news about endangered species. we saw the u.n. a few months ago put out this report indicating upwards of a million plant and animal species globally could be threatened if we don't change our ways. help me understand what the administration is arguing. are t saying in the u.s. we are doing endangered species just fine or are they saying we can do it in a bett way? what are they arguing? i i think what we heard from the administratioit's

possible to both be stewards of the environment while also cutting red tape, and their argument is that that is what they're doing with this regulation today. >> reporter: is there a sense that if the changes go through, any particular species that might be impacted? >> you know, one of the ones we hear about a lot are species that are affected by climate change and, you know, one that comes to mind easily is the polar bear. the polar bear habitat is going to be affected dramatically by climate change. >> reporter: their seace and habitat disappears year after year. >> ethctly. some ose changes are far into the future. whether this new regulation hamstrings scientistst ability o take action to protect these species is something that theen envirol groups are very worried about. >> reporter: we know these are proposed rules,robably going be some lawsuits, right? what's the future look like?

>> today, we heard from the attorneys general of massachusetts and california, theyave vowed to sue senator udall you mentioned, he's going to be looking at legislative measures to block this in congress. seems with the makeup of this congress, it going to be very hard to pass anything that would block this legislatively. so i thinkhe -- some of these questions about whether this negulation will stand the test of time are goito be answered in theourts. >> reporter: lisa friedman of the "new york times," thank you. >> thank you. >> nawaz: gymnast simone biles, who won an all-around gold medal at the 2016 olymcs, keeps making history. she won a record-tying sixth straight national championship in kansas city last night. and some of her moves were unparalleled. >> reporter: simone biles isst setting dard that will be hard to top, reaching new

heights in her routines and dazzling viewers with acrobati feats, never done before. this weekend, she went a step further, becoming the first gymnast to successfully execute a triple double in her floor routine. that's two flips with three twists. ♪ her smiles yesterday were a dramatic contrast from her tears last week, when she railed against u.s.a. gymnastics. bis is one of hundreds of athletes who said larry nassar had sexually assaulted the >> i don't mean to cry, but it just-- it's hard coming here for an organization and having hadl them f so many times. and we had one goal, and we've done everything that they've asked us for, even when we didn't want to. and they couldn't do one damn job. you had one job. terally had one job and you couldn't protect us. >> reporter: biles will head too the o olympics next year as the favorite.

>> nawaz: nancy armour is a sports columnist for "usa today." in her latest piece, armour said "simone biles isn't just best gymnast of her time, she's an athlete for the ages." she joins me now from chicago.ha nancy,s for being with us. so the tripl tdouble iswo flips with three twists. just how big a deal is this move? >> it is huge. it's the -- the physics of it alone are really unbelievable, almost. i mean, consider the fact that overs turning herself end end twice, but at the same time, she is twisting her body around three times. you have to have the physics of that exactly right or you basiirlly will stop in the and kind of plop to the ground. and she also has to know exactly where she is in the air, otherwise, she could do real da oge if she's at all. the power and the strength that it takes to do this is really nothing short of amazing, and,

obviousl this is why its taken so long for a woman to even try it let alone land it like she didna >z: she got so much hype that if there was an suv onhe floor she would have cleared it. ngh one of two record-brea moves she made, right? >> yes, she also did double-double dismount off a balance people which is a doublewisting double summersault, and what makes that so amazing is she's bically at a complete standstill before she does it. so imagine that you are trying to dunk a basketball from flat feet. it's not exactly comparable but. pretty clo so what she's doing, the power and the strength that sheo has t get these moves, it's unmatched, and not just gym enacts, but pretty much any sport. >> nawaz: the peace we heard from her days prior to her giving this performance, the facts she's out there still competing for joseph koenig forn

tics, speaking ought about her abuse and then giving this performance, what does say to you about simone biles? >> she's an amazing athlete and person. she's the best thing u.s.a. gymnastics has going haand has d going for years. she picks her spots and what and how she wants to say it, but she recognizes that she has an influence and that she c hold u.s.a. gymnastics' feet to the fire and u.s.a. team to congress. she is the best g in her sport and she has been failed and somebody has to answer that, and she continues to point that out and demand they do right not just by her but the oer hundreds of women who were abused by larry nassar. >> nawaz: nancy, there's a reason the move from this weekend has gone viral. yeople know they are watching

greatness when tee it go by. you compared it to mohamed's ali to the rumble in the jungle.se na williams winning the u.s. open when pregnant. tu mentioned simone biles being one of best gymnasts of all time. is it fair to say she's oof the best athletes of all time? >> i think so. i was suck last night -- and i've seen her do many spectacular things, buthohis is one of things that a pcade or two decades from now,ly be able tture it in my mind, if somebody says simone biles' tripple-trouble, this will middle east come to mind, and this is a mark of an athlete that transcended into sports and cross sports. 'tif she doeualify, i don't know who does. >> nawaz: we're lucky to watch the greatness in action. nanc armour, thank you so much. >> thanks for having me. >> nawaz: george lucas and

george r.r. martin have cited him as an influence on theirwo , helping them imagine what an adventure story might look like. now, n.c. wyeth gets a new look in an exhition of his illustrations and paintings. jeffrey brown reports for our ongoing arts and culture series, "canvas." >> reporter: the beautifuldy brne river valley in pennsylvania: inspiration and home to newell convers-- better known as "n.c." wyeth. today it's also home to the brandywine river museum of art, in chadds ford, which is giving wyeth a new look. it was robert louis stevenson who wrote the beloved adventure f le, "treasure island." but for millionsericans beginning in the early 20th century, it was wyeth who created the lasting images of pirates and much more. >> the personal paintings, the illustrations, he did mural work, he did advertising work.ac so, his into the different

aspects of visual culture is so broad. >> reporter: christine podmaniczky is co-curator of the exhibition, "n.c. wyeth: new perspectives." the goal here: to present a more well-rounded portrait of an tist who painted scenes of rural life here and in coastal maine, where he had a residence, but who remains best known for his book illustrations-- th smaller reproductions of his large-scale paintings for such classic children's stories asr"" n hood," "last of the mohicans," "king arthur." "wyeth's genius," sayswa podmaniczky,to find just the right moment in the story to bring to life." as when young jim hawkins first leaves home in "treasure island." >> i said goodbye to mothe.and the co that's all stevenson writes-- >> reporter: that's it? >> that's it, all he writes about jim hawkins leaving home, going off on this exploit where 's to search for treasure.

but when you look at these painting, yohow much n.c. wyeth has brought here in the form of emotion. first of all, the look on jim hawkins face.s but e of shadow, the sharps, lihe sort of cloud over the mother, posture, all sorts of things heightenhe sense of what's going on. >> reporter: wyeth'st breakthrough, in 1902, was a cover for the "saturday evening post," imary of an already past and mythic american west. he created magazine advertisements, including r cream of wheat. it was a time before television and our own screen-saturated lives-- the "golden age of illustration," and wyeth was at its forefront. the commissions allowed him to buy property here in pennsylvania and to support the other part of his life for which he became best known: as patriarch of an american art

family dynasty: father of five children, three of them painters, most famously the youngest, andrew. andrew wyeth would become one of the biggest names in 20th century american art, al focusing on his hometown of chadds ford and mmer home in maine-- including the celebrat"" christina's world"1948. andrew's son-- and n.c.'s grandson-- jamie wyeth, is now >> my father told me that he 73 and also a prominent painter, who rst learned to draw in t grand studio n.c. built here. jamie never knew his grandfather, who died in 1945, age 62, in a car accident at a railroad crossing. the studio is owned andywine museum.

he painted this giant mural for a wilmington bank. >> my father told me that he wo,d watch his father walk put a brush stroke o and walk all the distance back to see the effect that it had. >> up and back. pretty loosely done when you get up to it, but to do this expression and then get that knowing this thing would be 50 feet from the viewers, whatnot. >> reporter: all around, the collection of items he gathered for his book illustrations. >> coming to this stio was s gical to me because here i was, full of costud cutlasses and flintlocks and a lot of his illustrations were still in the back room here. so i'd go through them for hours. r orter: this was like the amusement park in a way. >> oh, my god, it was just magical.f my father,urse, i would pump him and ask him about n.c. wyeth and he said, "he wanted

the paintings to leap out of tht page as you rem, to grab you by the neck." and theyure do. >> reporter: as the show makes clear, though, n.c. also had rger ambitions: to be taken seriously as a "fine artist,"th than just a successful commercial illustrator.e much of hibition's second floor displays the more personal paintings wyeth created largely for himself, as well as veral from his late-in-life, first orsolo exhibition in a new gallery. among them: "island funeral," which uses paint wyeth made from dyes he received from the nearby dupont company >> that's how he gets these beautiful, deep, sort of jewel- like tones here that go for the ocean. there's a lot of tension going on here between the old- fashioned bird's eye view, the new cutting-edge dyes that are going on, the death of an island patriarch. , ll, n.c. wyeth is in his late

50's at this poi is already been publicized, if you will, as the patriarch of his own family, so there are thoughts, i think, of mortality here. psigns of wyeth, a traditional artist, flicking at some of the more mern painting techniques of his time-- >> i mean, he tried so many >> you are trying to capture the light on the chain or armor and this is a magnificent piece of painting. >> brown: grandson j so far to see in this exhibition an unusual kind of group show all by one painter. and grandson jamie goes so far as to see in this exhibition an unusual kind of "group show," all by ine painter. ean, he tried so many different techniques, so many different approaches, some are very cezanne-like-- broken color, impressionistic, tried them all and, whh is wonderful, i guess. there's a wonderful little self-

portrait of him looking. it's just teeny and just very delicately doneep. >>ter: "painting," jamie says, "has been the family passion." >> i mean, it was sort of like another world, the comparing the three generations and so forth. and i happen to adore theanir work, i hese two individuals, very different individuals, very different approaches to painting. i mean, what a thing to build on. >> reporter: the elder wyeth himself, thoh, never achieved the recognition he craved. >> he looked at it and thought his life had just been doing these children's books.r it was hard to conceive that, though. i mean, he had to have looked at-- i remember my mother, she said when she firstet him, she was very young and said, "oh, mr. wyeth, i love your illustrations, your 'treasure island!'" " and he sa"you'll grow out of that." >> reporter: really? >> and he was wrong. >> reporter: "n.c. wyeth: new perspectives" is at the brandywine river museum of art throh september 15. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey own in chadds ford, pennsylvania.

>> nawaz: thexhibit moves next to the portland museum of art in maine and, in 2020, the taft museum of art in cincinnati. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. join us on-line and again here tomorrow eveng. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> babbel. a language learning app that uses speech recognit aion technolo teaches real-life conversations. daily 10-15 minute lesy ns are voicedtive speakers and are at babbel. babbel.com. >> financial services firm raymond james. >> consumer cellular. >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century.

>> 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 the institutions >> this program was made possle by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs statiofrom viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> you're watching pbs.

hello everyone and welcome to "amanpour." here's what's coming up. >> i have a great relationship with the evangelicals. >> was donald trump's election a renaissance of white christian america or a death rattle? i talk politics and religion with robert key jones. hi then a few steps into understanding whatstory is about, you realize that we can't nell this story without a palestinian part >> the first time, israelis and palestinians come together as to film makerell the story of a devastating summer that ignited a regional war. we hear from the team behind hbo's ground breaking new series "our voice." and in her new book, new yorker