amna: good evening, and welcome. 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, ukinian , forces launch a counter ofnsive 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.

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the full program after the latest headlines. some 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. a federal judge said over the weekend that she is inclined to grant mr. trump's request for a special master to review the files. 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'll focus 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 municipality 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 a major nuclear site. the zaporizhzhia power plant is under russian control, and there's been intense shelling in the area, with each si 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, of 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 read take the largest ukrainian city under russian control in the south. moscow said its forces led to 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: in iraq shi-ite 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, and later, fought 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, more than

375,000 people in michigan are without power tonight after a series of severe storm swept across the state in northern ohio. a woman died tonight in toledo ohio when she was crushed by a falling tree. judge in georgia ordered republican governor ryan came to testify before a special grand jury in the 2020 election. the panel is probing alleged attempts then president trump to alter the results. the judge did rule that kim will not have to appear until after the november 8 elections when he is running for a second term. nasa's goal of returni to the moon hit a new delay after last-minute problems scrubbed and unmanned test launch. a crowd waited as the crowd -- as the sun rose behind the artemis probe at hydrogen fuel leaks in an engine probe problem halted the launch. >> this is just part of the space business, and is part of particularly a test flight.

we are stressing in testing this rocket and the spacecraft in a way that you would never do it with a human crew on board. tha's the purpose of a test flight. stephanie: 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. still to come on the newshour, timber keith and amy balter breakdown the latest political headlines. we examine the legendary career of tennis great serena williams as she prepares to hang up her racket. officer -- arthur betsy griffith discusses her new book, and much more. >> this is the pbs newshour from wta studios in the west, from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of

journalism at arizona state university. amna: we return to pakistan which is reeling from the deadly monsoon floods. at least 1000 people have been killed since june. unicef says a third of them were children. 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 have 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 indus river, running the length of the

country from the tarbela dam in the north to the riverside city of kotri in the south. over the weekend, pakistani prime minister shehbaz sharif was seen dropping supplies from a helicopter, part of a military relief mission in the hard-hit balochistan province. he also announced a new relief package. >> from the central government i announce 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 world to 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 buildings. 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 extre 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 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. nothincould be saved. amna: roads a highways across the country have been rendered impassable, too. >> this flood devastat our

network at many locations. now our strategy is that initially we have to temporarily restore the traffic flow and then after that its permanent rehabilitation will take time. amna: pakistan is calling for international support. countries, including turkey, 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 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 the other 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. so in 2010 and pakistan 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 india in terms of scale and the kind of the devastation, that they are posing. amna: sara, 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: well, pakistan has made calls for aid and we have responses. the united kingdom, the united states, the united arab emirates have all offered aid and are sending it. turkey has sent relief workers there on the gund in pakistan right now working with the government and the army. everybody is donating whatever they can. organizations, companies, and the idea 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 of roads submerged entirely underwater. we've lost a lot of bridges. look, some parts of the country are literally severed. we cannot access them. amna: sara, 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? >> there has been some coverage of packets being thrown from helicopters. this is very inequitable because , when people are hustling to get to these packets, a trip, they fall, they hurt themselves to fight among themselves. and when food and aid is distributed from thrown from trucks, women never get them. so it's a very gender sensitive issue. there are reports of waterborne diseases, diarrheal infections that are coming from relief camps.

we need basic necessities. these people have lost everything. all they have is the wet clothes that they're wearing that are sticking to their bodies pretty much. and hygiene problems -- hygiene products for women those are , becoming a problem and the women are in desperate need of those as well. amna: we should mention, too, it's not just pakistan that's seen devastating floods so far this year. what, broadly speaking, is going on on the subcontinent? [10.2s] >> right. so definitely bangladesh and india have experienced floods, although bangladesh experiences routine flooding every year, one third of bangladesh gets submerged under water. in pakistan it 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 rht now is 1.2 degrees higher by the end of the century. we are expecting this part of the of the planet to be about 1.5 degrees warmer than than global average.

pakistan gets monsoon rains every year and they are devastating. but we get about three or four monsoon cycles every year. this year we have had eight cycles already and we are expecting more cycles. the average rainfall this year is about 400 more than the last 30 year average. you can get a sense of what has happened. the second is glacial melt. this part of the world, the third-largest lay show ice mass on the planet, nearly 8000 glaciers. it is causing flash floods, glacial lake outburst floods, and all that water is coming down. amna: based on the trends and the action or inaction you have seen, do you see more of flooding, more damage like this ahead? >> it's one of the most -- one of the top 10 countries impacted

by climate change. because this region is going to be very hot and is getting very hot, i think it is fair to assume that 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 emissions from the country are less than 0.8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. that is negligible. that is nothing. 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: thank you so much for your time. ♪ 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. ukrainian officials said troops broke through russia's first line of defense, and seized abandoned russian ammunition. spokeswoman natalia humeniuk spoke through an interpreter. >> our preliminary activities were successful. we destroyed many of their warehouses of the ammunition, destroyed lots of their air defenses. nick: ukraine's targets are russian forces who currently occupy nearly 20% of the country's south and east. today's offensive appears to focus on the kherson region, especially west of the dnipro river, and the city of kherson. kherson city was captured during the initial invasion, with the help of russian tanks that left occupied crimea. early on, kherson residents demonstrated and even stopped

russian military vehicles with the power of their protest. but russian forces silenced all dissent and launched what ukrainian officials call a campaign of terror. many residents fled and became internally displaced people, or idp's. as the mayor of nearby khryiv told us intimate >> the idps who come here are running from hell. the information we received from people in occupied territories, executions torture, and rape are , the standard practice. nick: for the last few weeks, ukraine has been using long-range american weapons to strike behind russian front lines, at bridges and ammunition used by russian troops in kherson, to set the stage for today's assault. >> it's that concentration of firepower and direct ground assaults on frontline positions that marks the start of the actual ground offensive, taking advantage of those conditions in the rear areas, you know, behind the front line that ukraine has set so far. nick: jennifer cafarella is the national security fellow at the

institute 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 2014 crimea referendum, and declare southern ukraine annexed. and before high natural gas prices caused by the invasion could erode support in western europe. >> the need to demonstrate to the west that ukraine can launch a counteroffensive i think , that's 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 of russia will attempt to place on nato's 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.

welcome to the newshour. the iaea says it's going to inspect the physical damage and condition of the staff. had -- can they accomplish that just in a few days? >> well, obviously they won't be able to see everything theneed to see. but if divided the russians do not obstruct their msion, they should be able to get a very good snapshot of the plan at this time. nick: how much do you feel competent they can accomplish, this is a technical organization and the problem fundamentally is about russia's occupation of the plant and the ongoing fight around it. >> obviously in the -- the politil and military context will be difficult, but you shouldn't underestimate the importance of having this mission be able to travel to the site and succeed. even if they are not able to see everything they need to see her

go where they need to go, the information will be very important for the international community and may help turn the tide and increase the political pressure on russia to standdown from using the facility as a military shield. nick: let's talk about what they will be examining and the risk to the plant itself. late last week the plant temporarily lost electricity, forcing them to rely on backup generators. how dangerous was that moment, and in general, how dangerous is that risk? >> nuclear plants -- that's one of the worst things that can happen if they lose both on-site -- off-site power and their on-site backup power. the nuclear reactor could start melting down so the time limit is very short. any time these levels of

defense, multiple backup electrical system start to be challenged andour taking the plant closer to risk of crisis and that's why you have to avoid that at all cost and make sure those backup systems are functional and available. nick: mostly 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 power plant would be the safest and least risky option in the near term. what is your reaction to that statement? >> well, is certainly true that a nuclear reactor that shut down, especially after a few days, in the event that there is something like a loss of power, the time to react is longer, but of course you have to balance that against the potential need for the power reactors for ukraine, because not having electrical power is also a safety issue, so it's a tough

call, and probably at this point when tensions are at their peak, a temporary shutdown might be impossible. nick: let's talk about the physical risk to the plant. the u.s. says russia has used the plan as a base to launch attacks on nearby ukrainian forces. how much of a risk is there to the plant because of these ongoing explosions that we are seeing inside the plant? >> this is a very disturbing use of a civilian nuclear facility as a military facility and 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 russians free reign to use it as a launching pad for attacks that's a very dangerous game. now, the nuclear plants are resilient.

the level of shelling that's already occurred has not apparently caused serious damage to the safety systems, but that could change at any moment. in 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 controlled as possible. and certainly having this plant in the middle of the war zone just violates at principal and makes it very hard to predict how things will turn out. nick: and finally, the risk to the staff itself. today ukraine state nuclear authority rned that russia was increasing its 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 operating a nuclear plant literally under gunpoint? >> you can't underestimate the importance of having a staff that is well rested, can operate

without undue stress to be able to carry out the activities, both under normal and emergency conditions. so 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, so that is the critical issue. nick: ed lyman, thank you very much. ♪ 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 it all are amy walter of the cook political report with amy walter. and tamara keith of npr. hello to both of you virtually. ladies, summer is ending, school is starting, it feels like we are moving into the next political season as well. amy, the political report i noticed last week changed its overall forecast. now your team sees more of a ripple than a wave for republicans in the midterm in the house. why is that, and how much of that has to do with the presidents, both current and former? amy: you summed it up pretty well, lisa, by looking at the three topics that we think have the biggest impact, turning it into a much smaller way. and our house editor, david wasserman, has changed our forecast from one that was predicting republicans gaining somewhere between 20 and 30 seats to one now more 10 to 20

seats. and the big reasons are the ones that you mention, abortion, trump, and lower gas prices. on abortion, since the decision me down at the end of june that overturned roe v. wade, what 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 redder districts, where the republican turnout just didn't match what we had seen in 2020. so that is one factor, increased democratic -- democratic enthusiasm, and really the political scene, trump himself doesn't want to leave the stage. but it's also true that what

were seeing from candidates is that republican candidates specifically are embracing him and his theory, the big lie about the election. i think that starting off a bunch of voters, many of whom republicans had wanted to pick up in this election 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 weren't particularly excited about voting for joe biden. lisa: it so interesting, 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, and what is the political goal there? tamra: right, so he's 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 here is laying out a midterm message. democrats have the sense that they can 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 isn't pely a democratic motivator, but is also mauve it -- motivating some independent voters as well. and president biden with this speech is laying on his case, which is that people's rights are on the line. lisa: in recent years, political philosophy in this country has also impacted 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. sen. graham:: if there's a prosecution of donald trump for mishandling classified information after the clinton debacle, there would be riots in the streets. lisa: i have covered senator graham a long time. he is a man who likes exclamation points, literally puts those on his press releases every time. but i want to ask you about the temperature right now. words like that sound different now than they did 20 years ago. what is the temperature like now? our politicians acknowledging anger, or are they stoking anger? amy: we could have a multi-discussion about that that we can't get 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 believed that every single election is about saving the country, it's no longer just

about, i'm voting for the candidate i like or sending a message against the candidate i dislike. it is, if my side loses, that is a danger to what it means to be america and american democracy. both sides are believing this, but i think for republicans especially, this is why were seeing the winds change 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 charge, and right now, president biden, although his approval ratings have gone up a slight bit, he is still in very dangerous territory, only about 42% approval rating. his approval ratings on the economy are very deeply underwater. republicans are trusted more on the economy. when you talk to republican strategists who are in these tight races this year, 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. >> 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 beaver 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. and lindsey graham isn't just talking about this in the abstract. there was already january 6. he was in the capitol when that

happened. and there was also a supporter of the former president who posted on truth social as he was headed to a cincinnati fbi field office to try to get revenge for the search warrant being executed at mar-a-lago. so this is not abstract at all. lisa: in our last minute i'm going to attempt another important but complicated question. president biden is moving on student loans, extending and expanding, that loan forgiveness. what are the risks and rewards now? not every democrat thinks it's a great idea. >> there certainly are some moderate democrats who have some concerns about it. from the biden perspective, this was a campaign promise 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 wasn't

keeping. in the last month or so, thanks to the legislation on climate change and this, there are a lot of things for younger voters to be happy about, though i don't know that this will be anymore motivating than they already are motivated about abortion rights. lisa: what about non-college-educated voters? >> the risk is that it allows republicans to refocus the election back to where they wanted it to go all along, which is to say democrats are the party of reckless spending, the inflation is incredibly high because of their policies. we are in a very dangerous, fragile place, and this is a very dangerous economic policy to push through without a vote in congress. lisa: as usual, you did triple salchows in a cubicle for us on politics monday. thanks to both of you.

♪ 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's already taken home 6 titles here at the 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's also repeatedly challenged the status quo, claiming her last major title while pregnant in 2017. a pregnancy that nearly killed her. then, she used to her voice to raise awareness for black maternal mortality. writing in elle magazine, quote: 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 terrible 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 >> 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's serena at 11. >> i'd like to be a tennis player. who would you like to be like? >> >> well 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 about serena. i think the legacy about her game is she brought power a new 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 tournament's 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, in new york city, williams, whose venture capital firm serena ventures has raised $111 million, 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's been she's revolutionized power in women's tennis. i put her right up there with muhammad ali and billie jean king and michael jordan. and as far as superstar. a superstar. amna: let's delve more into serena williams incredible career and legacy with william wh has long covered her as well as her sister venus and other tennis greats. bill, welcome back to the newshour. always good to have you here. we are talking about serena's next chapter, because of this essay she wrote en vogue. but she didn't say retirement, she said transition and evolution. what does that mean to you and what did you think when you read it? >> the first thing that got me, when she said the "r" word,

that's the thing that terrifies me. not doing something that you've been doing since you were 10 years old, an idea about retiring, and i know how terrifying it has to be for her, to come from compton to become what i think along with her sister -- i've been doing this now for 49 years. i think without doubt, the story of venus and serena williams probably is the greatest sports story in united states history, barring none. for her to finally wake up one day and look at her daughter and say, you know what, i just don't want to do this anymore. i know that has to be hard, and has to be pulling at her heart. but if there iany solace, it's that what she has accomplished for women, for black women, for equity, i think at this point in history it is unparalleled.

we are at the point now it is still fresh, but words can't really describe the impact that she has had at so many levels. i think about my black mother, my black sister, my black daughter, and what she has meant to them in terms of power, in terms of confidence, in terms of victory. it's just such mixed emotions, because i hate to see her go, but i'm still excited about these next chapters. amna: she is one grand slam title short of eating margaret courts record of 24. do you think there's any chance she ties that or breaks it before she says goodbye? >> as we identify as journalists, 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 tie margaret court at the u.s. open? that would just be unbelievable. like now i'm thinking as a journalist, and also with my heart, that would be another movie. amna: the big question 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. >> chris evert mentioned this too. just the introduction of power, and venus, by the way, was sort of a precursor to that. we had never seen anybody with that type of power before.

serena just took it to a whole other level, displaying a pure power game. i also think we have to talk about the intimidation factor. this was liberating to women athletes, you get up there and you can sweat, sometimes you can curse if you w wanted to. i think her competitiveness is what sets her apart. she is just such a ferocious competitor. so i think the power in combination with just being a ferocious competitor i think is really what has made her a timeless figure in that sport. amna: you had this grea line about her in your latest piece. you said she is the sports equivalent of beyonce in his her generations aretha franklin, singing loud and long and leaving no uncertainty about the

way she felt. what did you mean by that? >> if you've ever been fortunate enough to see aretha and beyonce , aretha was just this natural force. she's just this natural force of nature. you leave a concert with her and there is no mistaking how she felt about life. and i think that with serena, she left all her emotions on the court. when she confronted that poor line judge and told her what she was going to do with that racket, she was going to stick it down her throat. and serena is one of the sweetest people you want to meet off the court. but anybody at courtside, they were like, yikes. after a serena williams match, and i'm sure if that happens tonight, you will know exactly how she feels.

she's not going to sugarcoat it. that's what i love about her. it is so wrong what she leaves on the court. -- soraw what she leaves on the court. at she has done for that sport is phenomenal. there should be statues of venus and serena in australia, at the french open, at wimbledon, there should be statues that each of those grand slam was of what they have done for that sport. it is hard for us to take the meure of, but it's just immeasurable. amna: i think you and i will be among the millions watching and waiting to see what happens as she closes out this remarkable chapter. thank you so much for your time. >> my pleasure. amna: one more note, 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 title she has one at flushing meadows. but that is not all, her sneakers will feature 400 handset diamonds and solid gold elements too. going out in style indeed, we would expect nothing less from serena williams. the supreme court's decision to overturn roe v. wade 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. judy woodruff recently sat down with author elizabeth griffin who explores the history of women and the rights have sought to secure in her latest book, formidable, american women and the fight for equality. judy: betsy griffin, welcome.

you and i have known each other for a long time. you've written this rerkable, definitive book on the early women's rights activist elizabeth cady stanton. and here you are with this book on a hundred years, a century of american women. what did you want to do with this book that hadn't been done in other looks at american women? betsy: 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 didn't end there. that was not a complete victory. it took formidable women against formidable opponents taking a long time to reach these victories. the cast is huge and it's a much more diverse cast than most people understand. judy: much more diverse and in ways that hardly anyone had written about before. you spell out so many of the ups and downs, the obstacles, the movement confronted along the way. and you're very clear about the

cross-currents with the fight for racial equality in this country. i mean, in writing that even some of the early, best-known women's rights activists were outright racist. betsy had the biases of their : era. and it made it hard to create the coalitions that were necessary. it's really only in the immediate lead-up to the passage of the 19th amendment, they begin to understand the need for multicultural, cross-generational, multiracial coalitions. but they splinter again because black and white women and women had different agendas, had different goals. black women wanted all the rights that white people had, but primarily physical safety. they wanted to end racial violence and lynching, have access to jobs and all the discrimination they confronted. white women had a much narrower list. they wanted equal legal treatment, equal political access. and it took them a long time to understand that working together, they might gain more. so there were parallel tracks for a long time. it really isn't until after the

1970s that there's much coalition at all among these groups. judy: describe, if you will, just a few of the of the frankly overlooked black and hispanic women activists that you write about. betsy: black women, in some ways, purposely kept themselves behind the scenes. they wanted to put black men up front. they'd been so discriminated against for so long that allowing ministers and civic leaders to take the public roles. so black women worked behind the scenes but women like ella baker, daisy bates, septima clark, slowly supported, were able to support the people in the front. ella baker is an excellent example. she was a longtime member of the naacp in north carolina, then in new york city. and then when the montgomery bus boycott starts, she says to martin luther king, i'll send you money. and then when it succeeds and he just wants to be a parish rector, she and the women in his congregation say, no, no, martin, you need to do more. he founded the southern

christian leadership conference, and she's his first employee. judy: and then there were hispanic, latino women as well. betsy: there were. the first woman to run to really come to public notice in the 1920s, became secretary of state in new mexico, soledad chacone. but most of those women grew up from farming roots having to be agricultural workers. dolores huerta, of course, is the splendid example of of lifelong leadership in that regard. judy: we think of the women's movement as all about equal pay, that it's a democratic party movement. but in fact, there are so many prominent women, of course, that on the conservative side of the ledger, from phyllis schlafly today to the marjorie taylor greens, the women prominently supporting donald trump. this is a much broader picture. betsy: let's backtrack a minute, because the early women's movement was primarily republican. for both black and white women. but the republican party was much more supportive because the democrats were dominated by southern democrats and white supremacists.

so the equal rights amendment is first introduced by republicans. black women don't change to the democratic party until late into the new deal, encouraged by mary mcleod bethune. so within the parties you have issues about women's rights and then the parties divide over women's rights. judy: what do you make of the fact betsy griffith, that 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 what does that say to us? betsy: well, that's a pretty good demonstration of the diversity of political opinion among women and leadership. but it also shows the power of of politics and presidential appointment and issue-driven elections. the supreme court is critically important in the history of women in the sixties, seventies and partly into the eighties. many of their decisions advanced women dramatically. but then, as the appointments become more coervative during the eighties, the tenor of the court changes.

you see it most dramatically in the abortion decisions, but you see it in other restraints being put on women. judy: is possible to even write a comprehensive history of women anymore? i mean, women are everywhere in virtually every walk of life right now. betsy well, one could say, : except the oval office. judy: this is true. betsy: what's frustrating and in my conclusion, i was i mean, clearly, enormous progress has been made for women in this last century. but it's not enough. we haven't gone far enough. women are underemployed and underpaid and in lowest paying jobs. women are undervalued and domestic roles. women are victims of domestic violence. maternal and infant health has not improved dramatically since 1920. and women, more than the majority of the population, more women are registered, more women turn out, and the largest percentage of women in any political office as the state legislature, and we're under 30%. so i wouldn't say we were making

progress too quickly. and among those women, of course, there's all that division. judy: and indeed, 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 book is formidable american women in the fight for equality 1920 to 2020. thank you. betsy thank you. : amna: and on the newshour online, 11 men in india 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 theountry. that's at pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newshour for tonight.

i'm amna nawaz. join us again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> for 25 years, consumer cellular skull has been to provide service that helps people connect. to learn more, visit consumer cellular.tv. >> the kendeda fund, committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. more at kendeda fund.org. supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building more just, verdant, and peaceful world. more information at mac found.org. and with the ongoing support of

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♪♪ -"cook's country" is about more than just getting dinner on the table. we're also fascinated by the people and stories behind the dishes. we go inside kitchens in every corner of the country to learn how real people cook and we look back through time to see how history influences the way we eat today. we bring that inspiration back to our test kitchen, so we can share it with you. this is "cook's country." ♪♪ today on "cook's country," christie makes julia woodman's-style clam chowder. jack has tips on enjoying oysters at home. adam reviews inexpensive blenders. i join the discussion on how best to "consider the lobster."