amna: good evening and welcome. i'm amna nawaz. judy woodruff is away. on the "newshour" tonight, at the extreme. the death toll rises and millions are stranded after monsoons cause catastropic flooding in pakistan. then, fighting back. ukrainian forces launch a counter offensive to retake a strategic southern city from russian invaders, while a major nuclear power plant remains in the crossfire. and, a legendary career. serena williams competes in what could be her final major tennis tournament. we examine her impact on the sport and her towering legacy. >> on the tennis court, she's brought a new level of power into the game. and so she's been she's revolutionized power in women's tennis. amna: all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour."

♪ >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by -- >> it's the little things. the reminders of what's important. it's why fidelity dedicated advisors are here to help you create a wealth plan. a plan with tax sensitive investing strategies. planning focused on tomorrow, while you focus on today. that's the planning effect. from fidelity. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour, including leonard and norma clorevine, and koo and patricia yuen.

>> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world at hewlett.org. ♪ >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. amna: there's word that some of the documents seized from former president trump's home in

florida may be protected by attorney-client privilege. federal prosecutors reported that in a court filing today. it could bolster mr. trump's -- it could impact mr. trump's call for an independent special master to review the files. a federal judge said over the weekend that she is inclined to grant the request. the death toll in pakistan has passed 1,100 as monsoon floods reach historic levels. officials said today the growing disaster has affected at least 33 million people and done at least $10 billion in damage since mid-june. we will focus more on this right after the news summary. meanwhile, authorities in china have evacuated nearly 120,000 people in the country's drought-ravaged southwest amid flood alerts from sudden heavy rains. downpours are soaking sichuan province and the manufacturing hub of chongqing after weeks of extreme heat scorched the region. despite the flood danger, officials say the rain will help farmers and restore hydropower output.

a u.n. nuclear watchdog team headed out to ukraine today, hoping to quell fears of disaster at an endangered nuclear site. the zaporizhzhia power plant is under russian control, and there's been intense shelling in the area, with each side blaming the other. today, ukraine's foreign minister said he hopes the u.n. visit will show the truth. >> we expect from the mission a clear statement of facts, of violation of all nuclear safety protocols. we know that russia is putting not only ukraine, but also the entire world at threat at the risk of nuclear accident. amna: also today, ukraine's military said it has made gains in a drive to retake kherson in the south. it is the largest ukrainian city under russian control, and moscow said its forces blunted the attacks. the path to restoring the iran nuclear deal grew more uncertain today as iran's president issued

a new warning. ebrahim raisi said u.n. inspectors must stop investigating uranium traces at undeclared sites in iran. he tied the so-called safeguard issues being probed, to the nuclear negotiations. >> all safeguard issues must be resolved and this is a pillar for the talks. without the settlement of safeguard issues, it's meaningless to talk about an agreement. amna: raisi also dismissed any chance of meeting with president biden when the u.n. general assembly convenes next month. in iraq, shiite cleric muqtada al-sadr again announced he's resigning from politics, triggering violence that killed 15 of his supporters. crowds stormed the government palace and battled security forces. later, followed a rival militia. at least 15 protesters were wounded, in addition to those killed. al-sadr's party won the most seats in elections last october, but efforts to form a government have failed.

back in this country, a judge in georgia ordered republican governor brian kemp to testify before a special grand jury on the 2020 election. the panel is probing alleged attempts by then-president trump to alter the results. the judge did rule that kemp will not have to appear until after the november 8th elections, when he's nning for a second term. nasa's goal of returning to the moon hit a new delay today after last-minute problems scrubbed an unmanned test launch. a crowd waited as the sun rose behind the "artemis" rocket at cape canaveral, florida, but hydrogen fuel leaks and an engine problem halted the effort. nasa administrator bill nelson took the setback in stride. >> this is just part of the space business. and it is part of, particularly, a test flight. we are stressing and testing this rocket and the space craft in a way we would never do with a human crew on board. that's the purpose of a test

flight. amna: the next attempt to launch artemis could come friday. ultimately, nasa hopes to land astronauts on the moon in 2025 for the first time in more than half a century. on the pandemic, the wor's largest electronics market shut down today, in shenzhen, china to help slow the spread of a covid-19 outbreak. officials also closed off residential areas for 3 days, and suspended subway service at two dozen stations. the closures are expected to last until friday. and on wall street, worries about interest rate hikes kept investors in check. the dow jones industrial average lost 184 points to close just below 32,099. the nasdaq fell 124 points. the s&p 500 slipped 27. still to come on the "newshour", tamara keith and amy walter break down the latest political headlines. we examine the legendary career of tennis great serena williams as she prepares to hang up her

racquet. author betsy griffith discusses her new book chronicling american women's fight for equality plus much more. >> this is the pbs newshour from weta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. amna: we return to pakistan, which is reeling from the devastating floods caused by monsoon rains. pakistani officials estimate that one in seven people in the country have been been impacted. at least 1000 people have been killed since june. unicef says one third of them were children. reporter: across pakistan, communities have been reduced to this. skeletal remains of buildings washed away by historic flooding since mid-june. in the southeastern sindh province, rehan ali and his family are among the millions digging through the debris of what was once their home.

>> i don't know how to rebuild my destroyed house. i don't ve anything to feed my family. i lost everything. i don't know where to go. god help me. amna: more than 33 million people have been affected by flooding this summer alone leaving one-third of the country submerged. higher than normal rainfall inundated spots along the river, running the length of the country from the dam in the north to the riverside city in the south. over the weekend, pakistani prime minister was seen dropping supplies from a helicopter, part of a military relief mission in the hard-hit province. he also announced a new relief package. >> from the central government, i announced a grant of 10 billion rupees for the baluchistan province. the national disaster management authority along with provincial government will plan relief works. amna: but even with more funding on its way, many people are feeling abandoned by their government. >> we are looking towards the

government to provide some sort of relief to us. we don't have food to eat, we don't have shelter to sleep in, no clean drinking water. i urge the worldo come save us. amna: nearly 300,000 homes have been destroyed in the deluge so far leaving millions scrambling for shelter. half a million people have piled into relief camps set up in government buildin. others have taken to staying on roadsides. the flooding is being fueled by a relentless monsoon season with rainfall measurements coming in at three times higher than the 30-year nationwide average. these extreme weather events are exacerbated by rising temperatures in the country. pakistan's top climate official is referring to the events as a "serious climate catastrophe" and warning about the road ahead. and the climate emergency's impact reaches further than just property causing large-scale damage to crops and infrastructure. economic losses could top 10 -- $10 billion, the country's

planning minister said today. that includes this date farmer, abdul lateef jagirani, whose harvest is a total loss. the date crop is harvested once a year. we worked very hard and spent a lot of money on the farm this year and hoped for a very good crop and to earn a good profit from it, but these rains ruined all our hopes. nothing could be saved. amna: roads and highways across the country have been rendered impassable, too. >> this flood devastated our network at many locations. now our strategy is that initially have to temporarily restore the traffic flow and then income after that, its permanent rehabilitation will take time. amna: pakistan is calling for international support. countries, including turkiye, have sent rescue teams. meanwhile, pope francis addressed the suffering during a sermon in italy over the weekend. >> i pray for the many victims, for the injured and the evacuated, and so that international solidarity will be prompt and generous.

amna: for more on the floods in pakistan, i spoke earlier today with sara hayat, a lawyer specializing in climate change and an adjunct professor at the lahore university of management sciences. i began by asking her who in pakistan is hardest hit. sara: well, pretty much all provinces are hit at some level or another. and the country itself, all of pakistan, really. one in seven pakistanis are sleeping out in the open these days. that is the scale of devastation, really. in 2010, pakistan is what we hit -- was hit with what we call the super floods. at that point, 20 million people were left homeless. the kind of destruction that we faced was unprecedented. but these floods are worse than those in terms of scale and the kind of the devastation, the -- that they are posing. amna: what can you tell us about the government response or any kind of aid? has that been able to make its way to anyone in the country? sara: pakistan has made calls for aid and we have responses. the united kingdom, the united

states, the united arab emires have all offered aid and are sending it. turkiye has sent relief workers , they are on the ground in pakistan right now working with the government and the army. everybody is donating whatever they can, organizations, companies, and the a dia is to collect it and get it into trucks to deliver on the ground. the problem there, though, is that because of these floods, we've lost thousands of kilometers of road, submerged entirely underwater. we've lost a lot of bridges. some parts of the country are literally severed. we cannot access them. amna: when so many people have been impacted to the degree they have, one out of every seven people, as you said, now sleeping out in the open. give us a sense of the need. what is it like there on the ground for people right now? sara: there has been some coverage of food packets being thrown from helicopters. this is incredible because --

this is very inequitable because when people are hustling to get to these back, it's their trip. -- they tripped, they fall, they hurt themselves to fight among themselves. and when food and aid is distributed from thrown from trucks, women never get them. it's a very gender sensitive issue. we need medicines on the ground. there are reports of waterborne diseases, diarrheal infections that are coming from relief camps. then we need basic necessities. these people have lost everything. everything. all they have is the wet clothes that they're wearing that are sticking to their bodies pretty much. and hygiene products for women, those are becoming a problem and women are in desperate need. amna: it is not just pakistan seeing devastating flood so far this year. we've seen floods in bangladesh and in india as well. what, broadly speaking, is going on on the subcontinent? sara: it is scary, really. it is what we are seeing and what it is doing to people. climate change is definitely one of the driving forces behind the kind of floods that we received in pakistan this time, and the temperature rise in the global south, especially in india,

pakistan, bangladesh, afghanistan. this region is higher than the rest of the world. and unless we control or curb climate change or global warming at this point, the temperature increase will be -- right now, it is 1.2 degrees higher. by the end of the century, we expecting this part of the of the planet to be about 1.5 degrees warmer than than global average temperatures. pakistan gets monsoon rains everyear. and they are devastating. but we get about 3 to 4 monsoon cycles annually. this time, we have eight cycles already. we've had those and we're expecting more cycles. in the last 30 years, the average rainfall this year is about 400% more than the last 30 year average. so, i mean, you get a sense of what has happened. the second is glacial melt. as you know, this part of the world holds the third largest glacial ice mass on the planet, nearly 8000 glaciers in this part of the world.

those glaciers are receding because of climate change and global warming. and what that is doing is it is causing flash floods, it is causing glacial lake outburst, floods, and all that water is coming downstream. [12.9s] there amna: based on the trends you have seen, do you see more floods, more damage like this ahead? sara: pakistan is almost always in one of the top 10 most impacted countries by climate change. and because this region is going to be very hot and it is getting very hot, i think it is fair to assume we will be seeing more floods and more natural disasters themselves. that said, i do want to put it out there that pakistan is not responsible for climate change. the global greenhouse gas omissions from the country are less than 0.8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. that is negligible. that's nothing. the only problem is we are not contributing to it but we are facing the brunt of it, because of our own vulnerability.

we need the developed world to step up. amna: joining us from pakistan, thank you for your time. sara: thank you. ♪ amna: since march, russia has occupied the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and a large section of southern ukraine. a counter-offensive announced by kyiv today aims to seize some of that territory back. nick schifrin reports. nick: the images are grainy but the message is clear. ukraine is trying to liberate russian held territory. ukraine official said troops broke through russia's first-line of defense and seized abandoned russian ammunition. a spokeswoman spoke through an interpreter. >> our preliminary activities were successfully destroyed. -- successfully destroyed many of their work houses, lots of

their air defense. amy: ukraine's targets are russian forces which occupy 20% of the country's seven east. today's offensive appears to be focused on a region west of the nipper river. the city was captured during the initial invasion with the help of russian tanks that left occupied crimea. early on, hercog residents demonstrated and stopped at russian military vehicles with the power of their protest. but russian forces silenced all dissent and launched what ukrainian officials called a campaign of terror. many residents fled and became internally displaced people or idp's. as the mayor of a nearby area told us inmate. >> idp's who come here are running from hell. that information we have received from people in occupied territories, executions, tortures, and rape our standard practice. nick: for the last few weeks,

ukraine has been using long-range american weapons to strike behind russian front lines. bridges and ammunitions reused by russian troops in kherson to set the stage for toy's assault. >> at concentration of firepower and direct assault on front-line positions that marks the start of the actual ground offensive, taking advantage of those conditions in the rear areas, behind the front line, but ukraine has set so far. nick: denver is the national security fellow at the institute of the set -- of the study of war, a think tank that produces daily war updates. she says ukraine is trying to make progress before russia can run a repeat of the crimea referendum and declare southern ukraine annexed, and before high natural gas prices caused by the invasion could erode support and western europe. >> i need to demonstrate to the west that ukraine can launch a counteroensive, i think that is essential for continuing to bolster western resolve to support ukraine, heading into what will likely be a difficult winter for many in europe, given

the pressure russia will attempt to place on native unity during those cold winter months. nick: northeast of kherson, fighting continues near the zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, raising concerns that the facility could be damaged in the cross-fire. to discuss the risks, we turn to ed lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the union of concerned scientists, a think tank and advocacy organization. thank you cash welcome to the newshour. the iaea says it will inspect zaporizhzhia, the physical damage, the plant's safety systems, and the condition of the staff. can they accomplish that in a few days? ed: obviously, they will not be able to see everything they need to see. they will have to sample. if provided t russians do not obstruct their mission, they should be able to get a very good snapshot of the plant. nick: how much do you feel confident that they can accomplish, given this is a technical organization, and the

problem, fundamentally, is about russia's occupation of the plant and the ongoing fighting around the plant? ed: obviously, the political and military context are very difficult. you should not underestimate the importance of having this mission be able to travel to the site and to succeed. even if the iaea is not allowed to see everything that they need to see or go where they need to go, that information that the russians are obstructing will also be important for the international community, and may help turn the tide and increase the political pressure on russia to standdown from using this facility as a military shield. nick: that's talk about what the iaea of examining and the risks to the plant itself. late last week, the plant temporarily lost electricity, forcing it to rely on backup generators. how dangerous was that moment and in general, how dangerous is that risk? ed: nuclear plants are very

vulnerable to lots of electrical power. that is one of the worst things that can happen. if they lose both off-site power and their on-site backup power, then an operating reactor could start melting down within hours. the time window is very short. any time these levels of defense, multiple backup electrical systems start to be challenged, then you are taking the plant closer to the risk of a crisis, and that is why you have to avoid that at all costs, to make sure those backup systems are functional and available. nick: mostly because of that incident, because of that risk you described to the backup systems, the spokesman for the national security council said today that a "controlled shutdown of the nuclear powe plant would be the safest and least risky option in the near term." what is your reaction to that statement? ed: it is certainly true that a

nuclear reactor that is shut down, especially after a few days, in the event that there is something like a loss of power. the time window to react, to provide cooling to the fuel, is longer. but of course, you have to balance that against the potential need for the power from these reactors for ukraine. not having electrical power is also a health and safety issue. . it is a tough call. but probably at this point, when the intentions are at their peak, a temporary shutdown might be possible. nick: let's talk about the physical risk to the plant. the u.s. says ukraine has used the plant as a base from which to launch attacks -- sorry, russia has used the plant as a base to launch attacks on nearby ukrainian forces. how much of a risk is there to the plant because of these ongoing exclusions that we are seeing inside the property of the plant? ed: this is a very disturbing

use of a civilian nuclear facility as a military facility. if russia is using it as a shield, essentially betting that the ukrainians are not going to directly attack it because of the risk, and giving the russia's free reign to use it as a launching pad for attacks, that is a very dangerous game. the nuclear plants are resilient . the level of showing that has already occurred is not apparent -- has not caused serious damage to the safety systems. that could cnge at any moment. the big issue here is uncertainty. when you are operating a nuclear power plant, you don't want to have uncertainty. you want to have the conditions as controllable's. it just violates that principle and makes it hard to predict how things will turn out. nick: the risk to the staff, ukraine state nuclear authority rep -- warned russia was

increasingts pressure on the ukrainian staff that are operating this plant. the staff that was already operating it literally under gunpoint. what kind of risk is it when you have a staff operati a nuclear plant literally under gunpoint? ed: you cannot underestimate the importance of having staff that is well rested, can operate without undue stress to be abl to carry out the activities both under emergency and normal conditions. these accounts of russian intimidation are very disturbing. hopefully the iaea will be able to get a sense of the truth behind these and the capabilities of the staff to carry out their duties. that is a critical issue. nick: ed lyman, thank you very much. ed: thank you. ♪ amna: there are just 70 days

until the november elections and as we head into the fall, the political winds seem to be shifting towards a tighter competition for control of congress than many thought just a few months ago. lisa desjardins has more. lisa: abortion, inflation, and investigations into the former president are all hot topics in this midterm cycle with the potential to reshape how voters look at their choices this election. here to assess and all our amy walter of the cook political report with amy walter. and tamera keith of npr. summer is ending, school is starting. it feels like we are moving into the next political season as well. the cook political report i noticed last week changed its overall forecast. your team sees more of a ripple and a wave for republicans in the midterms and the house. why is that and how much of that has to do with presidents, current and former? amy: you summed it up pretty

well i looking at the three topics that we think have had the biggest impact on turning what was looking like a red wave into, at this point, a much smaller one. especially in the house. our house editor, david wasserman, has changed our forecast from one that was predicting republicans gaining somewhere between 20 and 30 seats, to one that -- to one that -- 21 now that is more 10 to 20 seats. the big reasons are not -- are the ones you mentioned, abortion, trump, and lower gas prices. on abortion, since the decision came down at the end of june that overturned roe v. wade, but we have seen is an increase in democratic enthusiasm. we have seen it in special elections, specifically the special election in the hudson valley in new york that we talked about last week. but we have seen it in a number of other better districts where

the republican turnout did not match what we had seen in 2020. that is one factor, increased democratic enthusiasm. and you are right, president trump, ubiquitous president, on the political scene, he himself does not want to leave the stage. but it is also true that what we are seeing from candidates is that they, republican candidates specifically, are embracing him and his theory, the big lie about the election. that is turning off a bunch of voters, many of whom republicans have wanted to pick up in the selection on the issue of the economy. but instead, what they are seeing is more of the trump chaos that many of them voted against in 2020, even as they were not particularly excited about voting for joe biden. lisa: democrats are supposed to

be entirely on defense, but we are seeing some moves that speak of offense to me. president biden is going to have a primetime speech on thursday from philadelphia. why is he doing that now? what is the political goal? tamara: right, he is delivering a speech about the soul of the nation in pennsylvania. he has delivered speeches about the soul of the nation before, namely during his campaign for president, his successful campaign for president. part of what he is doing is laying out his midterm message. democrats have this sense that they could tie together several of the themes out there that are motivating democratic voters. fears about the state of american democracy, as well as fears about abortion rights going away. and the abortion rights issue is something that is front and center for many voters that is not purely a democratic motivator, but is also motivating some independent

voters as well. president biden, with this speech, is laying out his case. which is that people's rights are on the line. lisa: in recent years, political philosophy in this country has impact the psychology of this country significantly. over the weekend, we heard this from one of trump's staunchest allies in congress, senator lindsey graham of south carolina. >> if there is a prosecution of donald trump for mishandling classified information after the clinton debacle, which you presided over and did a hell of a good job, there will be riots in the streets. lisa: i have covered senator graham for a long time, going back to south carolina. he is a new and who likes exclamation points. i want to ask you, amy, about the temperature right now. words like that sound different now than they did 20 years ago. what is the temperature like now and what do you take about our politicians who are acknowledging anger or are they

stoking anger? amy: we could have a multi-our discussion about that. we cannot fit it into this politics monday. but it is a very important question. when we see where voters are today, with so many of them saying they believe that every single election is about saving the country, it is no longer just about "i'm voting for the candidate i like, or sending a message against the vote -- the candidate i don't like." it is, if my side loses, it is a danger to be in american democracy. both sides are believing this. i think for republicans especially, and this is why we are seeing the winds changed somewhat, it is dangerous to be continuing to hold on to the trump mantle. a truism in politics is that midterm elections are almost always a referendum on the party in church.

right now, president biden, although his approval ratings have gone up, he is still in very dangerous territory. only about 42% approval rating. his approval rating on the economy are deeply underwater. republicans are trusted more on the economy. when you talk to republican strategists who are in these tight races, they want to talk about that. they don't want to talk about donald trump. and they have been really caught flat-footed about talking about abortion where it is now republicans who are being cast as being on the extreme, changing the status quo. democrats defending the status quo. lisa: tam? tamara: i interpreted senator graham not as making a threat, but making a prediction, or issuing a warning, if you will. the temperature, as you say, -- the temperature of the nation is not in a good place. and in particular, in the right

wing thing -- right wing fever swamps of the internet, it is common practice to talk about violence against trump's opponents. to talk about wanting violence or otherwise glorifying violence. lindsey graham is not just talking about this in the abstract. there was already january 6. he was in the capital when that happened. there was also a supporter of the former president who posted on truth social as he was headed to cincinnati fbi field office to try to get revenge for the search warrant being executed at mar-a-lago. this is not abstract at all. lisa: can our last-minute, i want to -- in our last-minute, i want to touch on an important concept. president biden is expanding, trying to get the loan forgiveness. what are the risks and rewards to that? not every democrat thinks it is a good idea.

amy: there are some moderate democrats who have some concerns about it. from the biden perspective, this was a campaign promise that he made and it is a campaign promise that he is now venturing to keep. there was a lot of pressure, particularly from younger voters, he has, for some time, had younger voters quite frustrated that he made promises that he was not keeping. in the last month or so, thanks to the legislation on climate change, there are a lot of things for younger voters to be happy about. i don't know that this will be any more motivating than they are already motivated about abortion rights. lisa: what about non-college-educated voter they are democrats too, some of them. >> that is absolutely right. the risk is that it allows republicans to refocus the selection back to where they want it it to go, whereas -- where democrats are the party of reckless spending, inflation is

high because of their policies. we are in a very dangerous, fragile place. this is a very dangerous economic policy to push through without a vote in congress. lisa: you two did triple sow cow in a cubicleor us on politics monday. amy walters and tamera keith, thanks to both of you. amy: you're welcome. tamara: you're welcome. ♪ amna: tonight, serena williams takes the court at the u.s. open to compete in what is expected to be the last major grand slam of her legendary careeer. many consider williams, who is now 40, the greatest tennis player of all time, and no one denies that she's changed the game. let's take a look at the impact she's had, both on and off the court. with each swing, each step, each day, serena williams inches

closer to the end of an incomparable era of tennis. she has already taken home 6 titles here at the u.s. openabut -- u.s. open, but this time, she says, will likely be her last. over her 27 year pro career, williams has won 856 matches, and lost just 154. that includes an astounding 365 major match wins, the most of all time. and 23 grand slam singles titles the most in the open era. off the court, she has shattered barriers. battling racism and sexism, redefining beauty, and setting new bars for financial success. earning not only $95 million in career prize money, the most of any women's tennis player in history, but also superstar, big brand endorsements. she has also repeatedly challenged the status quo a“ claiming her last major title while pregnant in 2017. >> it is number 23.

amna: a pregnancy that nearly killed her. then used to her voice to raise awareness for black maternal mortality. writing in elle magazine "black women are nearly three times more likely to die during or after childbirth than their white counterparts. being heard and appropriately treated was the difference between life or death for me. i know those statistics would be different if the medical establishment listened to every black woman's experience." for the next generation - like 18-year-old tennis star coco gauff, williams set a standard to reach for. >> if she had 23 grand slams and was a terrib person, i wouldn't consider her the goat. i think for me, what makes her the goat is her personality and all that she's done off the court, to fight for equality, to fight for young players like me. amna: serena williams was raised in compton, california. her father, richard, coached her and sister venus on public courts. big things were expected, from an early age. here is serena at 11. >> i would like to be a tennis

player. >> would you want to be like? >> i want other people to be like me. amna: three years later, she turned pro. three years after that, she won her first grand slam title. at the 1999 u.s. open. she was just 17. injuries threatened to derail williams career. an ankle sprain forced her to withdraw from the 2002 australian open. but within months, she was hoisting trophies again. winning the french open, the u.s. open, and wimbledon, defeating big sister venus in each of those finals. serena williams had solidified her place as the number one player in the world. and her impact on the game, says tennis legend chris evert, is undeniable. >> there's two things abo serena. i think the legacy about her game is she brought power a new level of power into the game. and also venus too . the williams sisters have brought power. they brought fearlessness in and on and off the court.

amna: the williams sisters became fierce opponents and dominant teammates. becoming the first sister-duo to claim olympic doubles gold in 2000, 2008, and 2012. but their success didn't shield them from blatant racism . after the crowd hurled racial slurs at the family during the 2001 indian wells tournament in california, serena boycotted the event for 14 years. when she returned in 2015, she explained why in a time magazine op-ed, writing "indian wells was a pivotal moment of my story, and i am a part of the tournaments story as well. together we have a chance to write a different ending." another ending now nears, as williams hints at her next chapter in life. on friday, new york city, williams, whose venture capital firm serena ventures has raised 100 11 million dollars, rang the bell at the new york stock exchange. mere days before what's expected

to be her final major tennis tournament. >> i think that serena has contributed probably more off the court than on the court. i mean, i look at her off the court, i look at her fearlessness you know, body shaming to women of color, to mothers, you know, working. she's really spoken up for a lot of issues. i think the fact on the tennis court, she's brought a new level of power into the game. and so she has respite -- has revolutionized power in women's tennis. i put her right up there with muhammad ali and billie jean king andichael jordan. and as far as superstars. amna: let's delve more into serena williams' incredible career and legacy with william c. rhoden. he has long covered her, as well as her sister, venus, and many other tennis greats. he's been writing about her

accomplishments for the sports and culture website, andscape. welcome back to the newshour. always good to have you here. we're talking about serena's next chapter, because of this essay she wrote en vogue. she did not say retirement, she said transition, she said evolution. what does that mean to you, and what did you think when you read it? william: the first thing that got me is when she said the r word. that terrifies me too. just the idea of not doing something that you have been doing, in my case, since i was like 10 years old. in the idea of retiring. and i know how terrifying it has to be for her, to be eight years old, to come from compton, to become what i think, along with her sister -- i have been doing this for 49 years. and i think without a doubt, the story of venus and serena williams is probably the greatest sports story in united states history, bar none. for her to finally wake up one

day and look at her daughter, say, you know what, i just don't want to do this anymore, i know it has to be hard, it has to be pulling at her heart. but if there is any solace, it is that what she has accomplished for women, for black women, for equity, i think at this point in our history, it is unparalleled. i think -- we are at the point now where it is so fresh and words cannot really describe the impact that she has had at so many levels. i thin about my black mother, my black sister, my black daughter, and what she has meant to them in terms of empowerment, in terms of confidence, in terms of victory. it is just such mixed emotions,

because i hate to see her go. i hate to see her go. but i am so excited about these next chapters. amna: she is one grand slam title short of beating the record of 24. do you think there is any chance she ties that were breaks that before she says goodbye? william: as we can identify, this is journalism. [laughter] we cheer for the story, right? the great story is that she finds one more magical moment at the u.s. open. and we find her playing saturday. what better way to go out then to win, time margaret court at the u.s. open? that would just be unbelievable. now i'm thinking as a journalist, and also with my heart. but that would be another movie. amna: the big question that you mentioned briefly, it is legacy. it is impact. both on the court and off.

the game, if you just look at her impact on the game, it is different today than it was pre-serena. tell me about her impact just on the game of tennis. william: and chris everett mentioned this too. the introduction of power, and venus, by the way, i have to say, venus was the precursor to that. we had never seen anybody with that type of power before. serena just took it to a whole other level. just playing a pure power game. i also think we have to talk about the intimidation factor. this was so liberating to women athletes. hey, man, you get out there and you can sweat, you can be a sweat getter, sometimes it can curse if you want to. and i think that was just so liberating. i think that her competitiveness, to me, is what sets her apart. she is just such a ferocious competitor. i think the power in combination

with being a ferocious competitor, i think is really what has made her a timeless figure in our sport. amna: you had this great line about her and your latest piece. you said "she has been the sports equivalent of beyonce, and is her generations aretha franklin, singing loud and long and leaving no uncertainty about the way she felt." what did you mean by that? william: if you have ever been -- aretha and beyonce, but with aretha, aretha was this natural force. she was just this natural force of nature. and you leave a concert from her and you -- there is no mistaking how she felt about life. and i think that was serena. she left all of her emotions on the court. i know she is probably not proud of this, but when she confronted that poor line judge, and she

told her what she was going to do with that racket, how she was going to stick it down her throat, and serena is one of the sweetest people you would want to meet off the court. but anybody courtside, they were like, yikes! after a serena williams match, and i'm sure if it happens tonight, you will know exactly how she feels. she is not going to sugarcoat it. that is what i love about her. she really leaves -- it is just so raw. and she leaves it on the court. what she has done for that sport is phenomenal. and i will say, it probably won't happen, but there should be statues of venus and serena in australia, at the french open, and wimbledon, at the u.s. open. there should be statues at each one of those grand slams, what they have done for this sport. like i said,ight now, it is hard for us to take the measure because it is so new and fresh. but it is just a measurable.

amna: i think uni will both be among the millions watching and waiting to see what happens as she closes out this remarkable chapter. william roden joining us tonight, thank you for your time. william: my pleasure. amna: and one more note, as you might expect, serena intends to go out in style, beginning tonight. she will be wearing a figure skating inspired outfit for comfort and freedom of movement, featuring six layers, one for each of the titles she's won in flushing meadows. but that's not all. her sneakers will feature 400 hand-set diamonds and solid gold elements too. going out in style indeed. we expect nothing less from serena williams. ♪ amna: the supreme court's decision to overturn roe earlier this summer is the latest front

in the battle for women's rights in this country, a fight that goes back more than a hundred years. dy woodruff recently sat down with author elisabeth griffith who explores the history of women, and the rights they've sought to secure in her latest book, "formidable: american women and the fight for equality: 1920-2020". judy: you and i have known each other a long time. you have written this remarkable definitive book on the early women's rights activist, elizabeth cady stanton. here you are what this book on 100 years, a century, of american women. what did you want to do with this book that had not been done in other books in american women? elisabeth: i wanted to talk about in one place how women use the vote. so much hoopla about the 19th amendment getting the vote, but that was not a complete victory. it took from edible women

against formidable opponents taking a long time to reach these victories. there were -- the cast is huge, and it is a much more diverse cast than most people understand. judy: much more diverse and in ways hardly anybody had written about before. you spell out so many of the ups and downs, the obstacles the movement confronted along the way. you are very clear about the crosscurrents with the fight for racial equality in this country. in writing that even some of the early bus known women's rights activists were outright racist. elisabeth: have the biases of their era. it made it hard to create the coalitions necessary. it was really only in the immediately up to the passage of the 19th amendment to begin to understand the need for a multi-racial coalition. they splinter again because black and white women had different goals. black women wanted all of the

rights that white women had, but primarily, physical safety. they wanted to end lynching, have access to jobs, and all the discrimination. white women had a much narrower list. they wanted equal legal treatment, and it took them a long time to understand that working together, they might gain more. there were parallel tracks for a long time. it is not until after the 1970's that there is much coalition at alamong these groups. judy: describe just a few of the overlooked black and hispanic women activists that you write about. elisabeth: black women, in some ways, purposefully kept themselves behind the scenes. they wanted to put black men upfront, they had been so discriminated against for so long, that allowing ministers and civic leads to take the public roles. black women work behind the scenes. women like alan baker, d.c. bates, septum apart, slowly were

able to support the people in the front. ella baker was a good example, she was a long member of the naacp. then when the montgomery bus boycott starts, she says to martin luther king, i will send you money, and when it succeeds and he just wants to be a parish rector, cheat and the women in his congregation site no, -- she and the women in his congregation say no, you need to do more. judy: and then there were hispanic latino women as well. elisabeth: there were. the first woman to run -- to really come to public notice in the 1920's became secretary of state in new mexico. so linda should come. most of the women should -- grew up from farming roots, having to be agricultural workers. a splendid example of lifelong leadership in that regard. judy: we think of the women's movement as all about equal pay, that it is a democratic party

movement. but in fact, there are so many prominent women on the conservative side of the ledger. marjorie state -- marjorie taylor greene, supporting donald trump, this is a much broader -- elisabeth: let's backtrack a minute. the early women's movement was primarily on the republican party. they were more supportive because the democrats were dominated by southern democrats and white supremacists. the equ rights amendment is first introduced by republicans, like when you do not change to the democratic party until late into the new deal. encouraged by mary macleod buffoon. within the parties, you have issues about women's rights. then the parties divide. judy: what do you make of the fact -- you look at the supreme court, all three of the liberal members of the court now are women. one of the six more conservative members is a woman. what does that say to us? elisabeth: that is a good

demonstration of the diversity of political opinion among women in leadership. and also shows the power of politics and presidential appointment and issue driven elections. the supreme court is critically important in the history of women. in the 60's, 70's, and into the 1980's, many of their decisions advanced women dramatically. as the appointments become more conservative during the 1980's, the tenor of the court changes. you see it most dramatically in the abortion decisions. you see it and other restraints being put on women. judy: is it possible to even write a come brands of history of women anymore? women are everywhere. they are in virtually every walk of life. elisabeth: one could say except the oval office. judy: this is true. elisabeth: what is frustrating and in my conclusion, clearly enormous progress has been made for women in this last century. but it is not enough. we have not gone far enough. women are underemployed and

underpaid, in lowest paying jobs. women are undervalued in domestic roles. women are victims of domestic violence. maternal and infant health has not improved hermetically since 1920. and women, more than the majority of the population, more women are registered and more women turn out in the largest percentage of women in any political office is the state legislature, we are under 30%. i would not say we were making progress too quickly. among those women, there is all that division. judy: as you say in the book, the fight for equality goes on. the baton has to be picked up by each generation. elizabeth griffith, thank you very much. the group is "formidable: american women and the fight for equality: 1920-2020". thank you. elisabeth: thank you. ♪ amna: and on the newshour

online, 11 men in dia were recently allowed to walk free after being convicted of raping a young muslim woman in 2002. we look at how the case has sparked a new court challenge and brought increased scrutiny of the treatment of muslims and women in the country. that's at pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. join us back here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you for joining us. we will see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service to help people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of plans and our u.s.-based customer service team can help find one that fits you. to learn more, visit consumercellular.tv. >> the kendeda fund. committed to advancing restorative justice and

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