♪ geoff: i'm geoff bennett. amna: i am amna nawaz. border officials prepare for a surge of migrants is title 42 immigration restrictions expire. we discussed with antony blinken. geoff: the epa proposes new rules that would force power plants to slash carbon emissions. amna: ukraine awaits tanks that could be a game changer in the fight against russia. >> it's like owning a ducati. it has expensive parts, gas turbine engine and a lot of proprietary systems. ♪

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york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement and the advantage -- advancement of international peace and security at carnegie.org. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. amna: welcome to the newshour. a deadline is at hand tonight for migrants hoping to enter the u.s. from mexico. the hours are counting down to

the end of covid-19 curbs on asylum-seekers. geoff: the biden administration is promising a crackdown on illegal crossings. that made this a day of desperation for many. >> massive lines and increasing tension at the southern u.s. border as both migrants and border patrol prepare for a major policy shift. the pandemic era restrictions known as title 42 have been used to deny asylum-seekers for the past three years on the grounds of protecting public health. those restrictions expire at midnight tonight. amid confusion, some migrants fear what that could mean. >> we don't know how it's going to be. maybe it's easier to enter here or maybe it's more complicated. we are here and we don't know what will happen. hopefully it will be easier for the migrant because at the moment it's very difficult. >> for months, concern has

mounted as migrants have rushed to the border in record droves. across from brownsville texas, crowds hoisted belongings overhead as they traversed the rio grande and stood face-to-face with u.s. troops separated by razor wire. yesterday overwhelmed holding facilities near the border began releasing detainees, telling them to return for processing within 60 days. the biden administration replacement policy will both crackdown on illegal crossings and foster legal pathways for migrants. secretary of homeland security spoke at the white house. >> we prepared for this moment for almost two years and our plan will deliver results. it will take time for those results to be fully realized and it is essential that we'll take this into account. >> no coincidence on capitol hill.

house republicans narrowly passed a sweeping secure the border bill. it would resume building a border wall, add more border patrol agents, allow for indefinite family detention and insist most asylum-seekers remain in their home country or be detained while their claims are reviewed. debate was substantive and sharp. >> i urge my colleagues to reject this legislation that would brutally harm children for the sake of political points. >> it gives our agents and officers what they desperately need and protects innocent children from harm. this bill is a step closer to helping others achieve the american dream. >> the bill isn't expected to get a vote in the senate, but the issue is expected to remain

heated in washington and across the country. amna: for more on u.s. immigration policy, i spoke with secretary of state antony blinken. welcome to the newshour. thank you for joining us. >> good to be with you. amna: we are speaking at a time of unprecedented global migration. our southern border is no exception. as title 42 ends tonight, we are already seeing eight 1000 9000 apprehensions a day at the border. 65,000 people are waiting in mexico to try and cross after it ends. we are facing an unprecedented test of our system. what are you worried about at this moment? >> it is important that this is unprecedented because we are facing around the world more people on the move than at any time in recorded history. displaced from their homes for one reason or another and that's

powerfully true in our own hemisphere. that brings them in our direction. we have been working on this since day one of this administration. the most important thing is getting a shared sense of responsibility across this hemisphere for the challenge of migration. president biden has been leading that effort. we brought countries together in los angeles at the summit of the americas and out of that came the los angeles declaration on migration. countries are stepping up to help us get control of migration in the hemisphere. amna: what are you worried about in the immediate term? >> some is long-term. we struck an agreement with mexico but is very important word mexico has agreed to take a 1000 people a day who don't have lawful status in the united

states from venezuela, nicaragua , haiti and cuba. we are working closely with other countries to be able to repatriate people who come across unlawfully, sending them back on flights and we are also sending the message out that the border is not open, and on the contrary, do not put yourself in the hands of smugglers. don't risk your lives because it won't work. one of the new programs that we are instituting and that you will see come to fruition in the weeks ahead are something we are calling regional processing centers. this gives people an opportunity in their own countries to make a determination about whether they are eligible legally to come to the united states by the various lawful pathways that exist. for example to get a work visa, to be reunited with family,

qualify as a refugee. taking that available to people gives them an opportunity in their own countries to find out if they can come to the u.s. lawfully. amna: there is a new transit asylum going into effect that basically bars anyone from seeking asylum if they didn't first to seek protection in another country they passed through on the way. immigration advocates say this mirrors overruled the trump administration put into place that was struck down. what is the safe third option for people making this dangerous trek? >> this does go to the shared sense of responsibility that we are trying to build across the hemisphere. to the extent someone is going

through a country where there is an opportunity to seek asylum, we are saying they need to avail themselves of that opportunity. we are also working with these countries to strengthen their own asylum systems and opportunity so that people have something to go to and look toward. amna: what countries would you consider save options? >> i don't want to get into a list of countries, but we are working very close with mexico to help them strengthen their own asylum system. right now there are in parts of the country labor shortages they are interested in meeting through migration unlawfully. that may be one opportunity for people.

amna: mexico's murder rate is four times that of the united states and your own state department has issued several do not travel warnings for a number of states across mexico for u.s. citizens. why would that be considered a safe option for anyone making that journey? >> it's a vast country with big differences depending on where you are in the country. a lot depends what part of the country you are talking about. i cite that simply is one example of work we are doing across the countries even as we are working to expand legal pathways to this country. amna: today volodymyr zelenskyy said that the west had not delivered enough armored vehicles for them to launch a counteroffensive. a couple days ago you said you believe they have what they need to be successful in regaining territory.

who is right? >> from day one we have been working overtime to make sure ukraine had in its hands what it needs to defend itself against the russian aggression. with the stingers and javelins we provided they were able to repel the efforts to take the country. we have worked with now more than 50 countries to make sure they had what they needed and it's a process and we are working literally every single day with the ukrainian's and this coalition of countries to make sure they have support. if there are shortages they will tell us and we will make every effort to make good on it. amna: they have been requesting these longer-range missiles from the u.s., the u.s. has refused

those requests but british officials say they will send missiles with 180 mile range. that's the u.s. argument for refusing to send those to ukraine? >> precisely why we have a coalition of countries supporting ukraine. different countries will do different things depending on their capacities. other countries may do things different than what we are doing. the question is does the whole thing out up to what ukraine needs. >> you support the british division? there is no fear of retaliation with the british missiles? >> all of this is done through a coordinated process. secretary austen has been leading that for many months now. as i have said before, it's not only the weapons systems. it's the training. you can give someone a great weapons system and they don't know how to use it, it's not

going to do any good. it's the maintenance. and of course understanding how to use all of these things in a cohesive and effective plan. combined arms as it's called in the business. all of these things are what we have been working on. different countries take different pieces of this. amna: president zelenskyy criticized the u.s. after those intelligence leaks by jack teixeira in massachusetts calling them not beneficial to the reputation of the united states. do you believe the u.s. intelligence community fully has its arms around the extent of that leak? >> we are as always working overtime to make sure that we are protecting the information that needs to be protected, including in this instance and also more broadly. we have had conversations with partners around the world about making clear to them the importance we attach to it. in the many trips i have been on

since this incident, it has almost never come up from one of our partners. in fact i brought it up to reassure people that the information we have is protected. the other side of the equation is this. allies and partners around the world know the extraordinary value of the information that we are able to develop. they know how important it has been to them and they want to make sure we preserve. amna: secretary blinken, thank you very much. come back soon. >> i'm stephanie sy. here are the latest headlines. the end of the covid health emergency also put an end to vaccine mandates for federal employers and contractors.

extra food aid and automatic reenrollment in medicaid are expiring as well. the nation's covert death toll has topped 1.1 one million and the virus is still killing about 1000 americans each week. a second debt limit meeting between president biden and congressional leaders has been postponed from tomorrow to next week. both sides say the delay is a sign that staff negotiators are making progress. the supreme court back to a california animal cruelty law that requires more space for breeding pigs for pork sold in the state. the law requires space for salads to -- sows to turn around and lie down. the supreme court of pakistan has declared imran khan's arrest was illegal. his detention sparked some of pakistan's most violent unrest in years. at least 10 people were killed

with more than two 1000 arrested. his supporters cleared the court's ruling today. they said it corrected a mistake that never should have happened. >> his release proves we knew the truth. if they hadn't released him, we would have spilled the last drop of blood for him. amna: there was no word on when he will be released pakistan's interior minister vowed to arrest him again. the fighting between israel and islamic jihad shows no sign of ending. palestinian rocket fire from gaza claimed its first israeli victim this week, a 70-year-old man. israeli airstrikes killed two more islamic jihad commanders. 29 palestinians have died. israel since several were killed by failed rocket launches. palestinians have fired more than six hundred rockets this week. prosecutors in new york said they are charging a man with

second-degree manslaughter in the chokehold death of jordan neely. the case gained national attention after daniel penney used the chokehold on jordan neely who was acting erratically on the subway. prosecutors indicted a las vegas man with nearly 100 federal charges for a shooting and attempted bombing at a time in southern california. one man was killed and five others injured. the indictment charges david chou with hate crime's. prosecutors say he was motivated by hatred of taiwan where he grew up. he has also been charged with state murder. more signs today that inflationary pressures may be easing. the labor department reports wholesale prices in april were up 2.3% from a year earlier, the smallest annual increase in two years. still to come, how new

regulations could force power plants to drastically cuss -- drastically cut emissions. how to cover former president trump and his repeated lies. state republicans worked to stymie constitutional amendments that aim to protect reproductive rights and much more. >> this is the pbs newshour mw eta studios in washington -- wet a studios in washington. geoff: title 42 will expire one minute before midnight eastern time as congress is up against another ticking clock with the debt limit impasse threatening the national and global economies. chip roy joins us now from capitol hill. welcome back to the newshour.

house republicans passed their immigration bill today. it's heavily focused on enforcement. not expected to get a vote in the senate which democrats control, but it does reflect republican immigration priorities. how does this alleviate the pressure being faced right now? >> it is in fact designed to be a border security focused piece of legislation. it is designed to force the administration to do what current law actually requires the president to do which is to maintain operational control of the border. i have gotten text messages from border control agents and members of dps telling me they are effectively at a broken arrow situation. they have overrun facilities, chinese nationals coming across. el paso has declared a state of

emergency. brownsville has declared a state of emergency. san antonio is preparing for overwhelming amounts of migrants in their centers. the reality is we have a crisis at the border that is getting worse and it is because the president has basically been using loopholes to force the releases of people into the united states which is causing the flood at the border and our legislation would end those loopholes. it would stop the abuse of asylum and other provisions of law to cause releases in the united states which is actually endangering the migrants in question. 856 dead migrants. 53 cooked in a tractor trailer in san antonio texas last summer. millions of immigrants coming to our border and 72,000 dead americans from fentanyl pouring into our communities because we are not policing the border.

geoff: can anything short of comparable incentive -- comprehensive immigration reform solve this problem? there are 20 million displaced people across the western hemisphere, which suggests to me there is no end in sight to this problem. >> of course there is. we are a sovereign nation. this is the problem. my democratic colleagues do not believe we are a sovereign nation. the bill that we passed today allows for asylum to be claimed and processed. what it doesn't allow is for people to bum rush hour border. the fact that there are lots of people in the world who would like to have a better job and come to this country, god bless them. i do not begrudge them. but we are undermining the rule of law that causes people to want to come to this country. we are empowering china. talk to the fentanyl moms that i

had brunch with. talk to the parents of the dead children in my school district who have lost their kids to fentanyl. talk to the thousands of grieving families that have lost their loved ones to fentanyl because we are allowing china to control our border. that's the reality. you can stop it now with our legislation. geoff: i want to ask you about the debt ceiling impasse. i spoke with hakeem jeffries on this program yesterday and asked if congress can raise the debt ceiling while democrats and republicans arrive at a budget agreement on parallel tracks. that way they aren't directly linked and everybody can claim victory. he says democrats are ready to have that discussion. our house republicans?

>> if you get to the end result where we actually reduce spending and stop the fiscal insanity while we figure out the debt ceiling along the terms of the deal we throw out, certainly have one of our conversation gets us to that result. we are not going to negotiate against ourselves. they need to come forward with a proposal and figure out how we are going to get there. a short-term debt ceiling increase is going to do something, too. i'm open to ideas, but what we are not going to do is back away from what we have already put out as our proposal. the president needs to step to the plate as he did when he was vice president, as he did when he was a senator. he has been very clear that you need to come to the table without just raising the debt ceiling with a blank check and not actually getting fundamental

fiscal reforms. geoff: you were a leading opponent of kevin mccarthy's bid for the house speakership. can kevin mccarthy, could he ever bring a clean bill to the floor to raise the debt ceiling with no concessions and keep his speakership? >> that is not something republicans got elected to do. he's not going to do that. geoff: chip roy, congressman from texas. thanks for being with us. amna: ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy made a surprise statement today that his country had not yet received enough western armored vehicles to launch a counteroffensive. u.s. and other allies have said

repeatedly that ukraine has what it needs including 98% of promised armored vehicles. nick schifrin examines what the west says it has provided and what it still plans to deliver in the near future, including the most advanced tank in the world to help ukraine recapture occupied territory. >> the tank is described as a steel beast. it provides firepower, protection and speed. ukraine didn't have western tanks a year ago. it is now. british challenger tanks. and more than 1550 french, german, polish and other western armored vehicles enough for more

than nine armored combat brigades with some 30,000 soldiers. the u.s. has provided more than 1300 armored vehicles including bradley's, strikers and mine resistant troop vehicles. it will provide 31 abrams tanks set for delivery by the end of the year. >> it's the engineering marvel of the tank world. >> michael purcell has extensive experience with the tanks and is a russia expert. ukraine's upcoming counteroffensive will use what the u.s. calls combined arms. >> aviation, armor. a tank is hard to replace then of course infantry along with the king of the battlefield,

artillery. we talk about combined arms, we think about putting the opping force into a dilemma in the sense that if they move they are going to be exposed to artillery fires. if they stay put, we are pushing closer to their location to gain an advantage. the abrams to me as one of the greatest if not the greatest tank on the battlefield and has saved my butt more time than once. >> david gonzalez has 23 years of experience. he fought in iraq in 1991 and 2003 and 2004. he says compared to russia's best tanks, the abrams offers a gun that stabilized, providing firepower on the move and optics at night. >> you could see a cigarette several miles away and we could

see how many enemy would come out of their trenches at night to smoke and that's when we would pinpoint and maneuver against the enemy to capture large amounts. >> the ammunition is stored behind a sliding door. if hit, it is designed to explode upward through panels to channel the blast outside. it can be loaded in seconds. the abrams has faster acceleration and reverse speed. it's engine is both asset and liability. it gets one quarter of a mile per gallon. the turbine engine in the rear is similar to a jet engine and runs best off jet fuel. >> it's going to be a huge team effort to keep that thing functional on the battlefield and make sure it is successful. >> the abrams can be so difficult to maintain, senior

u.s. defense officials oppose sending them. >> the challenge with the abrams is it's expensive, difficult to train on, difficult to sustain. our assessment is just that the abrams is not the right capability at this time. >> today i'm announcing that the united states will be sending 31 abrams tanks to ukraine because it will enhance its capacity to achieve strategic objectives. >> it's like owning a ducati. it's got a lot of expense reports. a lot of proprietary systems that are inherent specifically to the abrams. >> paul was a tank driver and

created a defense analysis organization. >> the turbine engine is going to have special seals, it's going to need to be serviced continuously. it's going to require a specialized facility. it's got a phenomenal optics package, but it is expensive to replace. >> it sounds like you are worried about whether it's going to be sustainable for the ukrainians. >> indeed. there are a lot of sensors and proprietary systems that can fail. it's a robust tank, but it needs maintenance. >> it was designed to counter the soviet union but its first real test came in 1991 during operation desert storm when the united states kicked the iraqi military out of kuwait.

now it will supplement ukraine's mostly soviet era tanks that are more than twice the age of some of their tankers as we saw in february. >> they are old, and because they are old they break all the time. for us to advance, we need new weaponry. >> ukraine's military will have to achieve its most difficult task yet, overrunning well fortified russian soldiers across a huge front. >> napoleon supposedly said -- if you are you crying and fighting for your life and your family in your homeland, you've got the american flag, the swedish flag, the german flag represented by the equipment you are operating. that is a significant psychological boost in my mind. >> whether that translates into physical gains could help determine the war's fate.

geoff: the epa laid out its latest move to cut the greenhouse gases that are driving climate change, unveiling a sweeping new set of guidelines for the power plants that generate america's electricity. william has been covering this and joins us now. what are they asking utilities to do and how does this fit within president biden's climate agenda? >> this is the third major move the administration has made to cut the greenhouse gas emissions that are heeding this planet to a dangerous degree. the first was last year. last month the epa issued a very strict rules on auto emissions and today we have power plants. the issue with generating electricity in this country is that creates about a quarter of all of america's pollution.

the epa is saying to these power plants and utilities around the country, you have to cut those and use existing technoogy and do it quickly by up to 90% in the year future. the epa says if we do this, the air that we all breathe is going to be cleaner and we are going to make a significant dent in the emissions causing climate change. some environmentalists said the epa needs to do more, but many environmentalists today are cheering this move. i talked to the president and ceo of the natural resources defense council. here's what he had to say. >> the urgency of the climate crisis cannot be overstated. what we have seen in the past year finally positions the united states to take a leadership role in tackling the climate crisis. we have seen truly a historic triple play for climate action. >> he's talking about the urgency, but how will these

plants actually do that work? >> there are several different ways. in this conversation it is worth noting that there is a true revolution going on in clean energy technology. the cost of wind and solar and geothermal are just falling. the venerable wall street firm just did an analysis of recently and they said that large-scale solar and wind utilities can go toe to toe with the dirtiest cheapest energy sources. the economic argument is already being made. power plants can mix and cleaner fuels, burn clean hydrogen, if the plant is really old they can retire that plant or they can use what's called carbon capture and sequestration, a fancy way of saying you grab the carbon and stick it underground where it doesn't called any problems.

the tricky part is it is not really being utilized anywhere in the united states. the industry says, you are asking us to use this very aggressive rule based in part on a technology that we think it not ready for prime time. earlier today i stocked -- i talked to scott siegel. here's what he said about this. >> there is a very bright future for carbon capture and sequestration. there are some multibillion-dollar projects being constructed for example in the midwest to deal with the emissions that come from biofuel production. in the power sector there are very few applications. >> the epa points to a working ccs factory in canada that has been operating for 10 years very successfully. they say this technology is ready. >> the epa's climate moves have

previously been challenged in court. do we expect that this time around? >> 100 percent. most of those will be driven by industry and/or the republican attorneys general who very successfully sued the obama clean power plan and blocked that from happening. you are also seeing a lot of industry critics coming out and saying it's going to be too costly. there are also some criticisms within the democratic party itself. joe manchin whose state and personal fortune is very dependent on coal called this a radical climate agenda and said these rules are trying to regulate the gas plants out of existence. i think it is worth saying in this conversation that the epa didn't just capriciously decide to do this. this is their mandate.

the courts and legislation have held this up to say it is their duty to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. how aggressively they do that is what's going to be fought over. >> thanks for that reporting. oracle a fierce debate over how journalists should cover former president donald trump is unfolding. after a town hall where he spouted lies about the 2020 election, mocked the woman he was found liable of sexually abusing and dodged policy questions before a lively and supportive audience of new hampshire voters. joining us is former presidential speechwriter james fallows.

mark is now the dean of communications school at hofstra university. he wrote last night that donald trump is demonstrably unworthy of the risk that cnn chose to take with their life town hall. i was not apparent to you ahead of time? >> when you stage a live event, he are taking a risk. you have built a relationship of trust with an audience and at least partially you are turning over that platform to the live guest who is going to say whatever they are going to say. it was completely predictable that donald trump was going to lie, mislead, obfuscate and tried to railroad the moderator and that was what he did and cnn gave donald trump a platform to do that. i think that is really not a transaction news organizations should be making anymore

particularly with this candidate. if someone comes in front of your camer and you are going to deliver your audience to them for uninterrupted lengthy fire hoses of lies and deception and in this case misogyny and worse, i don't think that is something a news organization should do if they are trying to serve an audience. geoff: donald trump is of course the republican front runner, among the few people who have a clear route to him -- to the white house again. the media has to cover him. how do we do it smartly and responsibly? >> i see it just the way he has laid out. the problem was the kind of event it was which was a gladiatorial kind of pro wrestling event and the fact that it was live, so there was no chance to catch up with the stream of falsehoods, even though caitlin collins did her best to be a fact checker. the circumstances did not allow it. we have seen the one bright side

of the cnn event is it shows us what not to do, but nobody should replicate that. if donald trump is going to be on the stage, it needs to be under circumstances where there is some rule of reason where there is somebody who is in charge who can say here are the rules, here are the ways in which people will answer, here is the time people will be allotted. that's the only bright side i see, everybody now knows what not to do. geoff: you have the experience of being a former tv news executive who is now the dean of the journalism school. are the conventions of traditional journalism good enough for the moment in which we live, where you have a candidate who seeks to exploit those journalistic standards for his own purposes? >> no, they are not good enough. i agreeith jim, but if we are honest with ourselves, we knew

what we learned last night four years ago and even eight years ago. i had the misfortune of being a producer of a forum that involved hillary clinton and donald trump and we were pilloried in the press after that event for not confronting donald trump live on his stream of lies. donald trump is more than just an unconventional candidate. he is a candidate who doesn't play by the rules of the democracy or the constitution as everyone saw on january 6. for journalists to play by the traditional rules and thank all of that is going to be fine is a problem. it's a real challenge. let's be clear, he is likely to be the nominee. we all have a responsibility to cover him. but do we turn over our platforms when we know what the result is going to be or do we say, you have disqualified yourself by repeatedly abusing our relationship of trust with our audience, so we will put

your interview on tape. geoff: i see you shaking your head. how should we in the media cover not just donald trump but any candidate who displays openly antidemocratic tendencies and says things that are demonstrably false? >> it's worth recognizing that donald trump is really a case of one. there are other people having what i might personally believe u.s. antidemocratic policies. trump is a unique problem for these journalistic settings in two ways. one is the stream of lies. the other is what we saw in trump's dealings with the crowd last night when he was intentionally appealing to the worst in them, having them laugh at eugene carroll, having them laugh when he was smoking at caitlin collins. there aren't other politicians who routinely do that when they are on the big stage.

dealing with trump is a problem for dealing with trump and dealing with the rest of the candidates we are going to have, a robust version of our normal rules can apply, then trump has his own set of rules which he has learned. geoff: donald trump often casts the pursuit of truth -- we saw from legacy media organizations this effort to play down his radicalism, find euphemisms to play down his radicalism so the organizations appeared neutral and objective. what are some best practices to guard against that? >> what you are talking about i think is normalizing. looking at things that are in our whole history of abnormal, out of the norm, out of the realm of expected behavior and

we in the press start to recognize those as regular features of the game. i think journalism does have a responsibility to democracy. we exist in a liberal democracy because of the norms and understandings and rules of liberal democracy. these are not easy questions and i'm not sitting here saying i have the answer to these because i don't. these are questions newsrooms have to wrestle with. >> this is something where i will say a case that applies to trump could also apply more broadly. it is comfortable for journalists to be in a central position, to say one side says this, the other side says that. there are certain things going on originated by trump that can't be fairly described as an other side standoff. i would put the current threat

to have the u.s. default on its sovereign debt in that category. the more that is portrayed as a partisan gridlock, the less clearly it is presented as a threat to the financial integrity of the united states. i think that is the kind of thing that's not just about trump but about other aspects of our politics. geoff: thank you both for the thoughtful conversation. amna: in the year since the supreme court overturned roe v. wade, voters in several states have shown up to overwhelmingly support abortion rights and ballot measures. future efforts to enshrine abortion access and state constitutions could soon face higher hurdles. look at the battle over what appears on the ballot.

>> republican legislators have proposed measures that would make it harder for voters to change state constitutions. that includes ohio where lawmakers scheduled in august special election for a resolution that would require future amendments to receive 60% of the vote to be adopted. at the head of a pro-abortion rights effort heading to the november ballot. a similar bill is moving through missouri's legislature. i'm joined by karen casler and gabrielle hayes. thanks for joining. currently ohio requires 50% of the vote for ballot initiatives to be reached. this measure would change that to 60% of the vote for the state constitution to be changed. it also requires a number of other things like increasing the signatures from 88 counties -- from 44 counties to 88 counties. why are republicans doing this right now knuckle -- right now?

>> they say it is to protect ohio's constitution from big money out of state special and stressed -- special interests. but one of the sponsors made it clear to his fellow republican lawmakers that this was about possible amendments coming forth related to abortion and gerrymandering. this november election on that reproductive rights amendment is definitely something they are looking toward and they want to get that vote. >> missouri is also pushing through a similar measure that would raise the threshold for ballot initiatives to 57% of the vote that would have to gain support to make it into the constitution. republicans say that the state constitution should not be

malleable. >> i hold the constitution as something sacred. i don't think it should be an ever-growing document and i personally think statute is a good place to put a lot of things but our constitution is pretty sacred. >> how likely is this effort going to make it onto the november ballot? >> i think voters have voted on ballot members in the last couple of years. we have seen voters use their voices to pass certain pieces of legislation or policy that did not make it through the legislature. we have voters who may be voted against those ballot members so we are talking about marijuana there it medical or recreational among other issues. there are also plenty of voters who are not very happy about

this being something the legislature is looking at. critics argue that it is antidemocratic and taking away the people's ability to share their voices, to participate in the democratic system. it is not something that missouri's voters are taking lightly. >> republicans have admitted in ohio that this goes beyond abortion to redistricting. democrats say this is much bigger than that. >> this is not about democrats or republicans. this mood is about democracy. those that respect it and those that do not. it's about whether or not you truly want to the people of ohio to have power. >> what are voters in ohio saying about this? >> it depends on which side they are on. the number of supporters tend to

be aligned with conservative groups, antiabortion organizations, gun rights groups. they say that it should be difficult to amend the constitution. democrats are saying this is about these big money special interests because it's actually republicans that have been using that big money out of state special interest money from a republican billionaire from illinois to push forward this vote and they say this really takes away voters voice. 60% means that 40% of voters can actually dictate what's going to happen for the rest of the state. they are very concerned about how this takes away essentially the voice of each person for each vote. >> are you expecting any legal challenges in ohio? >> there is always the possibility of a legal challenge. last month a law took effect

that eliminated most august special elections. the argument is there had to be a lot to create a new august special election for this to be voted on and that's not exactly what happened. i imagine there will be litigation because it seems like there always is. >> you mentioned that previously voters legalize recreational marijuana, expanded medicaid coverage. does your reporting showed that a majority of voters may be opposed to this initiative? >> i can definitely say that it seems voters are concerned about it. when recreational marijuana passed last year, that garnered 53% of the vote. these three things you mentioned , all of these things were passed by ballot initiative in

the recent couple of years. with that said, voters are concerned that they would not have the ability not only to participate in a democratic system but also to essentially be a check on their own general assembly if they feel as though they are not passing laws that they want to see past. >> since the fall of rome, a number of voters have supported initiatives that increase access to abortion. are republicans aligned with their base here? >> republicans really believe this is going to happen. hundreds of groups are opposed to this idea. there is certainly a prediction that this might not go as well as republicans think it might. >> thank you for your time.

amna: there's a lot more online at pbs.org/newshour including a look at a global challenge for citizen scientists to document and share the nature in their cities. geoff: tomorrow night we will have a conversation with actor tom hanks about his debut novel. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. thank you for joining us. >> major funding has been provided by. the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of the newshour including leonard and norma corbin. >> a proud supporter of public television. the world awaits.

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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," lawman makes transylvania goulash, jack takes a deep dive into heirloom beans, i talk all about a favorite bitter green escarole, and christie cooks a pennsylvania classic -- beans and greens.