one giant leap for mankind. ♪ amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on "the newshour" tonight... the u.s. economy adds more jobs than expected in may, showing resilience in the face of inflation and interest rate hikes. amna: congress avoids a default on the nation's debt by passing a bipartisan bill to raise the debt ceiling with only days spare. geoff: and... greenland pushes for complete separation from danish control, casting uncertainty over the future of the north atlantic island. ms. høegh-dam: in the end it has nothing to do with you in denmark that we are acting this way. it has everything to do with us wanting to move forward in our lives. ♪

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like you. thank you. geoff: welcome to "the newshour." the nation's job market has turned in another strong showing. that's despite the federal reserve's efforts to slow the economy and curb inflation. amna: u.s. job growth in may was significantly higher than analysts expected. the labor department reports employers added a net 339,000 jobs for the month. the increased hiring came in everything from construction to restaurants to health care. at the same time, layoffs rose in other sectors, and unemployment hit 3.7 percent -- up from a 50-year low in april. geoff: now to the day's other headlines, starting in eastern india -- a train disaster there has killed at least 120 people and injured 850 others tonight. two passenger trains collided about 130 miles southwest of kolkata, and at least 15 cars derailed.

a chaotic scene unfolded in the dark, with hundreds of police, rescue workers and others trying to free an estimated 200 people trapped in the wreckage. the biden white house says the u.s. will not build more nuclear weapons -- for now -- to counter russia. instead, national security adviser jake sullivan said today the u.s. will adhere to limits under the 2010 new start treaty so long as moscow does. mr. sullivan: thunited states does not need to increase our nuclear forces to outnumber the combined total of our competitors in order to successfully deter them. we've been there. we've learned that lesson. nor does the united states needo ery epe ev deterrence. geoff: russia has suspended participation in new start, but it's still abiding by limits in the treaty, which expire in 2026. extreme weather plagued much of asia today. southern and eastern china sweltered in nearly 100-degree temperatures as heat waves arrived early. meantime, japan was hit with

heavy downpours and flooding from the same storm that lashed guam days earlier. more than one million people were under alerts. an internal review has found a -- back in this country, former vice president mike pence will not face charges after classified materials founded his home. it is widely reported that he was informed thursday. his lawyers search his home in january at his request and found about a dozen documents. the fbi found another one later. an internal review has found a border patrol nurse practitioner declined to review a migrant child's medical history before she died last month. the 8-year-old had heart problems and sickle-cell anemia and contracted the flu. officials previously said the girl's family did not share her medical records until after she died. one of the nation's best-known military installations shed its confederate name today and became fort liberty. it had been fort bragg since

1918. soldiers gathered for the ceremony at the north carolina base. the commanding general said there was no shortage of ideas about disposing of the old symbols and signs. lt. gen. donahue: this is the united states army, we received a lot of specificity of what to do with that. everything was collected up, every monument and everything, and that will go to the center of military history. geoff: fort liberty will still be home to the army's 82nd airborne division. its name change is the most prominent yet in a pentagon initiative to drop confederate titles. on wall street -- stocks jumped after the strong jobs report eased worries about a recession. the dow jones industrial average gained 700 points -- 2% -- to close at 33,726. the nasdaq rose 1%. the s&p 500 was up nearly 1.5%. and this year's national spelling champion is dev shah, an eighth grader from florida. the 14-year-old took the title at the scripps national spelling bee in washington last night. his winning word was

psammophile, an organism that thrives in sandy areas. >> psammophile. dev: p-s-a-m-m-o-p-h-i-l-e, psammophile? >> that is correct. [cheering] geoff: the title comes with $50,000 in cash and prizes. congratulations to him. still to come, multiple attacks and pressure raise questions about the next phase in the war in ukraine. we weigh in on the weeks political headlines. and we break down the major takeaways from the first game of the nba finals. >> 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: crisis averted.

that's the message from lawmakers as the deal to raise the debt ceiling makes its way to president biden's desk. for a white house perspective, i spoke with jean sperling, senior advisor to president biden. weome back. this deal does protect a number of key investments, infrastructure and semiconductors. some groups have called it a betrayal. for people who feel that the trail, older food stamp recipients, folks think this makes the climate crisis worse, what is your message to them? gene: this past with large bipartisan majorities. 165 democrats voted in the house and 56 in the summit -- the senate. they saw this was a strong agreement the protected a sick values of economic justice and climate change. my response would be understand the president completely

protected the inflation reduction act with a historic investment in climate change. he completely protected medicaid, education, medicare, social security. we realize when we made some changes, agree just changes on the work requirements for snap, there were some people, the 50-54 age that will be negatively affected and we will do everything to have their back. on that, this reduced hunger, increased snap and reduced the numberf people who would lose snap benefits due to work requirements. amna: let me ask you about those negotiations. for months, the president was repeatedly saying there would be no negotiation over raising the debt ceiling. he said it in january and at the state of the union in february. as late as late april he was saying the debt ceiling was

nonnegotiable. then he sat down with speaker negar the end a team of negotiators. why did he reverse course? gene: i would disagree on reversing course. what he did was pound home the basic value that default was not an option. that it was ok to negotiate with divided government on the budget agreement and even accelerate the negotiation, but that the idea of using the threat of default to extort extreme cuts was not something he was going to tolerate. i think this agreement overall is very close to the kind of a jet agreement that happens in divided government. i think his value that we are not going to default, we are not going to threaten to default, no one is going to use the threat of default to extort extremist positions, i think he held firm on that. i think it is worth us as a country trying to thin through

how we can prevent even the appearance of extortion due to a threat of default, but i think in many ways the president held onto that value and was able to get an agreement that met that basic principle. amna: coming out of the 2011 debt ceiling negotiation, the republican take away from that moment was it could be used for leverage. by negotiating again i wonder if you worry the president has emboldened republicans and the oppositi to do this again and again? gene: i was one of the negotiators in 2011 and that was a scary, difficult time. you sell the stock mket go way down, hurting retirements, we saw lost jobs and consumer confidence get hit. it was a very harmful period. i don't think we saw that happen this time. i think the president's values of not threatening on default or negotiating with people trying to take extreme positions did

take hold. i think the unfortunate thing is after 2011, up till now, all democrats and republicans avoided even getting close to this type of situation. i think we fought back successfully. i think it is unfortunate the republicans took that posture and tried to use the debt limit as the occasion for bringing things on the table that may not have fit. amna: it did not turn out the same as 2011. but it did come down to the wire. i'm wondering how you think we avoid this in the future or if this is just how it will be viewed gene: -- will be. gene: i hope not. speaker pelosi never did this type of high wire act when president trump sought to raise the debt limit three times. there has been consistent view from the democrat and progressive side and i think it's important that we think of

what policies we could do going forward to prevent this. it should be forbidden or so heavily discouraged and against norms that no one should take advantage of that a sick responsibility the president has to the people, to seek to extort or extreme measures. i don't think that republicans should have put this in this posture. i think at the end of the day, the president was able to get them to agree to something that was not fully but close to the type of i partisan agreement you would have in a budget in divided government. amna: gene sperling, thank you for joining us. gene: thank you very much. ♪ geoff: today's jobs report shows the labor market remains strong despite rising interest rates. that's good news for workers but

it complicates the federal reserve's efforts to curb inflation. economics correspondent paul solman looks at the connections between the labor market, wages, and inflation, and how they will inform the fed's next moves. paul: holy miller, what a -- >> holy holy, what a job market. on a plummet near a 50 year low and we keep creating jobs. economist keep underestimating the economy and it keeps outperforming expectations month after month. 14 months in a row. paul: but the unemployment rate went up based on the household survey so how does that square with the jobs added? >> we talked with all the big companies, with a large number of small companies, and as a result, a very accurate reading on the economy, that is the number economists emphasize.

a smaller survey, when they go door to door and ask people if they are working. that's where the unemployment rate comes from. that's a smaller survey. it bounces up and down a lot. i think the more important thing with the less reliable survey is look at the average over a run of months. we are seeing the unemployment rate is around a 50 year low. paul: also good news, average pay last month rose by point 3%. -- .3%. which raises a crucial question, how big a role have higher wages played in robbing the inflation search? >> for the most part inflation hasn't come from wages. it's come from energy prices, food prices, shortages. this has dominated the scene. paul: even to the point of

scenes on tv. >> five dollars please. supply chain issues. have you seen the price of cups these days? paul: lots of reason for inflation and not just the supply chain snags we've shown you or the war in ukraine. >> there was a lot of stimulus and a lot of support to households and small businesses early in the pandemic. paul: as well as corporations opportunistically raising prices of goods beyond their cost, instead of the so-called wage price spiral, that is wages driving prices up. >> i've become enamored with what is called a price price spiral. paul: at first hiking prices because of higher costs, when those costs go down? >> businesses raise prices because they see when i rose prices, it worked well. paul: so lots of factors

affecting inflation or tha the wage price spiral. >> the workers demand to have was raised. paul: with unions on the wane, she doesn't see workers taking such demands nor does she expect to view bottom line -- expect to. bottom line? >> i think we can come out of this with wages above average. paul: but here, emile disagrees. >> they have to do whatever they need to do to get wage inflation lower. the only way we can do this is by having a slightly less overheated labor market. paul: this is the conventional wisdom, including the fed.

given that rising wages haven't been much of a factor -- why are so many economists worried about wage growth at some point driving inflation? >> there's a wide range of models used by macroeconomists when giving policy advice and some of the models, when you hear the wage price spiral, that did happen in the 1970's. but in real time these have not been good guideposts. >> i do think they are part of the economics. if we get it wrong, we have to think a new but it is not wrong. paul: therefore, a fed engineered slowdown is not a recession to prevent a wage price spiral. so no soft landing? >> we have to increase unemployment. whether you call that soft or not, it is significant. higher unemployment is faithful for some.

there's no such thing as perfectly -- i don't know what the word is. paul: he remembered and emailed us. immaculate disinflation. >> jay powell's strategy, do what we can to bring inflation out of the system. it's a very blunt instrument. but it's also the only instrument we have. paul: an instrument the fed might or might not stop using when it next meets in a few weeks. ♪ geoff: for over year, most of the attention has focused on russia's invasion of ukraine and attacks inside ukraine.

but in recent weeks, the war has expanded to attacks inside russia. today, the kremlin reported further explosions and incursions in its homeland as pro-ukrainian proxy forces step up raids along ukraine's border. the attacks have been sporadic and shouted in mystery. some have struck the periphery of russia's western border with ukraine while others have hit hundreds of miles within russia. the spillover of moscow's war inside russia intensified this week with pro-ukrainian groups releasing drone shots claiming to have destroyed russian military targets. today, moscow state tv aired footage of civilians fleeing a border region, where officials reported to deaths. residents described chaotic scenes at the side of an alleged explosion. >> we were given two hours to get through. we left without anything, without documents.

as we were coming up, we saw the explosion in front of our ey. geoff: in recent days, the area has been under heavy bombardment. other attacks have been reported in the neighboring region. but there's also been a spate of unconfirmed incidents far from the front line, targeting oil refineries, pipelines, ammunition depots and railway junctions. ukraine says the cross-border incursions are the work of anti-kremlin, russian fighters. last month they seized several frontier towns before withdrawing to ukraine. one group is known as the russian volunteer corps. its leader is a notorious russian nationalist with links to neo-nazi groups. the second group calls itself the freedom of russia legion and fight alongside ukrainian soldiers under a flag used by russian opposition groups. today, a spokesperson for the group outlined its broad aims to liberate russian territories but also divert moscow's troops. >> one of our tactical aims is

to draw russian troops from other parts of the ukrainian front, to force them to relocate substantial forces from the front lines of ukraine and get them to protect their borders. geoff: russia calls the anti-conlon fighters terrorists. today at a virtual security meeting, russian president putin alluded to the assaults within russia and vowed to crush the groups responsible. >> today we will deal with the security of russia, taking into account the efforts our bill wishers e still making and intensifying in order to stirr the situation inside the russian federation. geoff: meantime, moscow's military has escalated its aerial assault on ukraine, this month launching more than 20 waves of attacks on the capital. that carried in today as residents took shelter in kyiv's metro. for more on the attacks inside russia, why they are happening

and who is conducting them, we turn to jennifer cafarella, national security fellow at the institute for the study of war. thank you for being with us. when you look at these attacks, what do you see and what do you think of the objectives of the groups responsible for them? jennifer: there are clearly two separate lines of effort, both of which applying pressure within russia that does have the potential to make conditions easier for the ukrainian armed forces as they launch a counteroffensive. the first line are the cross-border raids. what is most remarkable about them is the scale to which it is dominating -- russia is dominating the narratives. the second linda effort is the deep strikes that it appears ukrainians are doing to control elements of resupply the russian forces in ukraine will need to

mount a defense. that is much more robust and directly supported by whatever the ukrainian armed forces are preparing for. geoff: what affects of these different attacks having on russia and russia's ability to fight in ukraine? jennifer: che-blerorar ngor tsse id panic essentially of the russian forces and border towns and populations within russia. they continue to support the broader narrative that not only has russia not won the war but it's possible they will lose this war. that is important. so too is the fact that these cross-border raids have started draw russian military forces away from the lines and reinforcing border towns. separately we have broader disarray in some areas with the russian ability to organize and mount a people's defense.

that is a key effect the ukrainians have achieved time and again ahead of offensive operations. geoff: how is the kremlin responding to these attacks? jennifer: the kremlin is reinforcing some border areas and trying to signal that they are treating this as primarily a threat in the information space. the actual hard fighting on the ground is relatively limited but the kremlin is taking pains to show its population is taking it seriously. what it means is the kremlin is making hard choices about where to allocate limited number of assets. geoff: how much coordination is there among the groups responsible for visa talks -- for these attacks between the groups and ukraine? jennifer: if were talking about the cross-border raids, we are not sure. relatively small groups claiming responsibility for these attacks. there is reporting that link

them to the ukrainian military intelligence. i can't say from unclassified sources whether this is true, all i can say is this is a small line of effort and doesn't require a significant amount of ukrainian support or coordination. whatever level of contact is there, i expect it is minimal. i also hope it is minimal, as some of the groups involved have problematic ideologies and are not who we would like to see supported on the battleground. geoff: how does ukraine contend with that, that one of is linked with neo-nazis? jennifer: i think the ukrainians are in the position we have to keep in mind this is an existential fight of their ability to survive as a nation and people. the ukrainian government and military intelligence see that putin has domestic enemies and sometimes the enemy of my enemy is my friend in war.

these groups did exist, ukrainians did not create them. these are russians. ukrainians seem to be exploding at least in the information space and possibly with some small level of contact. geoff: thank you for your insights. ♪ amna: after six years of work, the world's biggest island has finally unveiled a draft for its constitution. greenland occupies a vital strategic location in the north atlantic and gained autonomy from denmark in 1979, but the former colonial power still has control of the island's most important affairs. as special correspondent malcolm brabant reports, greenlanders are now seeking greater influence in the world, and a

future free of denmark. malcolm: in greenland's coastal settlements, the clamor to break free intensifying. 200 years after greenland was dragooned into the kingdom of demark, is draft constitution reflects the frustrations of the primarily inuit people at the top of the world. >> we are trying to break from the colonial chains. malcolm: aki matilda hoegh-dam is one of two lawmakers representing greenland in the danish parliament. ms. høegh-dam: in the end, it has nothing to do with you in denmark that we are acting this way. it has everything to do with us wanting to move forward in our lives. malcolm: in may, høegh-dam caused outrage by refusing to speak danish during a parliamentary debate, just feet from prime minister mette frederiksen. >> let me once again encourage you to read your speech in danish.

malcolm: why did you do it? ms. høegh-dam: i did it to demonstrate the inequality of the systems that we have. so people keep telling me that there is a community, that it's a realm where people are intertwined and interconnected and we have the same language, the same culture, and everyone knows that's not true. malcolm: what sort of backlash have you had from that? ms. høegh-dam: i've received a lot of backlash for it. so people are not used to, especially people from denmark are not used to anyone speaking other than danish in the danish parliament. so a lot of hate mail, a lot of harassment in general. malcolm: with eighty percent of greenland covered in ice, it's a barometer for climate change. but as glaciers retreat because of global warming, the temperature between greenland and denmark's capital copenhagen is chilling. the prime minister, múte egede. pm egede: as we all live under

the same sun, we all live under different conditions, but have all the same goal. we aim for a future for our children and future generations. malcolm: danish queen margrethe's realm includes greenland, which relies on an annual handout from denmark of more than 500 million dollars. but in the draft constitution, greenland envisages complete independence, and there's no mention of keeping the danish monarch as head of state. pm egede: everyone is welcome to our beautiful country, if you respect and listen to us. when the focus is on greenland and the arctic, it must be on our terms. you are welcome to have an opinion, but decisions concerning greenland and the arctic must be made by us. the indigenous people and people who have the arctic as their home. malcolm: there are just over 57,000 greenlanders, making their nation the most sparsely populated in the world. greenland has limited self rule

and there's widespread resentment at being regarded as second class citizens by the danes. for many greenlanders divorce can't come quickly enough. michael: i think this is inevitable. malcolm: veteran diplomat michael zilmer-johns used to be denmark's ambassador to nato. michael: i just hope that we can find a model where it would not be like, you know, a hard brexit, but we could create a new community, a new commonwealth together. malcolm: under the current arrangement, denmark is responsible for greenland's defense, foreign affairs and monetary policy, and it's reluctant to cede control. are you concerned that if greenland does break away, that it may become vulnerable to so called predator states such as china and russia? michael: yes, and this is why i think it's very important for greenland, but also for us and for the united states that we find a model where greenland will not be just a battlefield for competing big powers, but

has us as a guarantor and remain a member of nato and so on. malcolm: the united states has had a strong military presence since 1943, when the thule air base was built in north west greenland. for decades, anti-americanism festered in greenland, not least because indigenous people were forced out of their homes to accommodate thule. but attitudes have changed following russia's invasion of ukraine. >> i think the most important effect of the ukraine war in the first place has been for all of the greenlandic political spectrum to kind of assure that we are a part of the west. malcolm: ulrik pram gad is a greenland expert at the danish institute for international studies. >> the u.s. can rest assured that whatever happens, independence or not, greenland wants to be a part of nato. so in that sense, there's been a shift of positions in greenlandic politics. malcolm: russia's volatility means that greenland's strategic role in u.s. defense is perhaps

more important now than during the cold war. catastrophic russian armored losses in ukraine resulted in a solitary second world war tank garnishing the annual victory parade in moscow. but russia's nuclear arsenal remains as strong as ever and in the hands of a leader who is more unpredictable than his soviet predecessors. the potential threat from rogue states is why the us has been upgrading missile defense systems at thule in recent years. in april, thule was renamed the pittufik space base in recognition of greenland's contribution to american and western security. >> any missile coming in across, you know, eurasian vectors will be passing over to the arctic region. and so having a network of sensors as far north as possible is vitally important. malcolm: dr. rebecca pincus is director of the polar institute in washington and an expert on

arctic geopolitics and security. >> with the advent of new generations of intercontinental missiles and platforms, including hypersonics, those far northern locations for early warning are even more important. malcolm: pincus believes that greenland is now entering a new era in which it can leverage its increased strategic importance to extract more financial support from western nations, anxious to prevent china or russia from exploiting greenland's mineral wealth. >> too many of the decisions in the past were not adequately made with the involvement of greenlanders. they did not have enough agency. that is changing and we will never go back to the way things were. malcolm: in 2019, president trump's offer to buy greenland was ridiculed. but ulrik pram gad has a suggestion. >> the u.s. could perhaps buy greenland in the sense that if a lot of american investments arose, then naturally the

greenland would orient itself closer to the u.s. malcolm: if greenland does secure full independence, some experts believe that denmark's importance in the world will diminish. >> instead of saying greenland needs denmark and saying, well, denmark actually kind of needs greenland as well. we can say, let's just create an equal society. if we look at the systematics of it, that how the democracy is. instead of just pointing fingers at each other. malcolm: politicians like hoegh dam would like to see independence secured by 2030. but that target could fall victim to long and difficult divorce negotiations. for the pbs newshour, i'm malcolm brabant. ♪

♪ amna: a deal on the debt ceiling and the 2024 presidential race ramps up. at the end of this is a week in politics, we turn to the analysis of capehart and abernathy, jonathan capehart and gary abernathy. welcome to you both. we have avoided economic disaster with the debt ceiling deal. people on both sides of the deal seem unhappy in some way, which as the saying goes, probably means they did something right. from the democratic point of view and the president's point of view, was it a good deal? jonathan: it was in that the bill that passed as part of the debt ceiling had lots of drastic cuts to social programs and a

lot of the president's priorities. this deal does away with a lot of those things. they had to make concessions, work requirements and other things, but when you look at the details of the bill, particularly the one where it says congress has to go through the appropriations process, has the 12 appropriations bills and if you don't do it by the end of the fiscal year, there will be a continuing resolution and it will be set at fy 22 or 23 levels good that's a huge victory for a democratic president dealing with a republican house. amna: gary, how do you see this? was this a good deal for the republicans to make? gary: i agree it was a good deal for president biden. it was also a good deal for kevin mccarthy. particularly president biden. not necessarily because of the details but because a deal was

made, a truly bipartisan deal. a lot of times we call things bipartisan because they pick off one or two or three votes of the other party, usually republicans and people say that was a bipartisan vote. this was i any definition a bipartisan vote in the house and senate across the board and that's something president biden can and will take a lot of credit for and rightfully so. it's been a long time. i'm old enough to remember when these kind of things happening congress more regularly. i was a very small child. [laughter] but it was kind of nice to see that again. for kevin mccarthy, he delivered not just a majority of a majority of republicans, he delivered a super majority of republicans in the house. a good day for both mccarthy and biden. amna: there were a lot of questions about house speaker mccarthy would be able to handle the far right neighbors of his

conference. particular when you heard him bias touitdg teeptoftrsor aheert you everything you needed to know about how he felt in the moment. >> this is fabulous. this is one of the best nights i've in here. i thought it would be hard, i thought it would be almost impossible just to get to 218. there was a whole new day here. amna: is that a man newly empowered, no longer worried about being removed from speakership? jonathan: i think so. this is how i know speaker i don't recognize that voice. that voice is three or four octave higher than i have ever heard it. let me give him his props. the guy got the gavel after 15 ballots. everyone underestimated him and said he was going to be led around by the far right and the house freedom caucus, and to gary's point, the fact that the bill passed the house with a super majority of republicans,

that over 300 votes with more democrats voting for it than anticipated or expected, that is a big win for bipartisanship but i think it is a political win for the speaker that should put to rest this idea that this is a guy who is literally a vote away from being ousted. amna: do you agree? he has the same narrow majority, the same members unhappy with the deal earlier remain unhappy with it. gary: i've got one name for you -- jim jordan. he voted for this bill. when he gets jim jordan to vote for this bill, the founder of the freedom caucus, i believe, it's hard for other freedom ucus members to really mount much of a defense against kevin mccarthy. i agree, i think he strengthened himself and i don't think republicans have the stomach right now for the tour moral --

turmoil they went through in january when they elected him. amna: what does this say about the process more broadly when you take a step back? that's the big question now. coming out of 2011, a lot of conversations about lessons learned and the republican take away is this is how we have leverage and do this every time. did negotiating with republicans further empower the opposition to do this every time? jonathan: they might think so but you can't continue to hold the american economy and the global economy hostage to try to get through your fiscal priorities that you can get through in the normal appropriations process. amna: they came very close. jonathan: but they didn't succeed. i think going forward the president should investigate whether he can use the 14th amendment, do a filing. let's test the question. i also think after the next

election if there is a democratic house and the president wins reelection and the senate remains in the house of democrats -- in the hands of democrats, there should be a debate about whether the debt ceiling should be done away with altogether. honestly i think it should. we should do away with the hostagetaking. amna: gary? should we do away with the debt ceiling? gary: it's an interesting question because it is such an exercise in brinksmanship every time we have it. let's be clear, nothing in politics is beyond dealmaking. some people want to say hostagetaking. that happens on both sides. every bill is an ability to horse trade and so on. republicans were very smart, i'm going to say mccarthy was very smart, in knowing how far to go. you could push it too far. who would have gotten blamed for this not happening? as always, it would've been the

republicans blamed for this falling apart and the debt ceiling not being lifted and all of these things that would have happened as a result of that. but listen, every opportunity, everything in politics is an opportunity to make a deal and this was good. republicans knew how far they could go. joe biden, a dealmaker from the senate, was never a verse from the beginning from saying we will have to make a deal. he had memos from his party saying don't deal with them at all, do a clean bill, and he said no. he likes the art of making deals and that is ok. amna: let's turn to 2024 because we expect more presidential campaign announcements on the republican side next week, including mike pence, chris christie and doug burgum. they will join the field of candidates that includes ron desantis, nikki haley, asa hutchinson, tim scott and donald trump.

jonathan, take a look at that entire field and how do the new candidates set themselves apart? jonathan: chris christie, easy. i know what lane he is in. he motorcade that is the demolition car. motorcades have a car on the lookout for anything trying to disrupt a presidential motorcade. that is the car that has for that destructive car. that is chris christie. he will be in the campaign and on the debate stage taking wacks at donald trump. as someone who knows donald trump well, ran against him, worked with him, did debate prep with him before, so he knows them really well. it's the perfect way to take him down. former vice president mike pence, i don't know what his lien is. he's running in a party that has been remade in the image of the man who is a cited

insurrectionist who ran through the capital screening hang mike pence. i don't know where his votes will come from. amna: gary, is there a lane for mike pence in this republican primary? gary: i agree that there is probably not. i also disagree that i don't think there is a lane for chris christie either. this week we were asked to look at the republican field. a lot of readers don't think they are right thinking but right-leaning columnists, but most of us agreed that the maga lane is the only lane. it's just a matter of can anyone other than trump be the guy standing at the end? i think it will come down to trump versus santos -- de san tis.

can desantis make the case that he is maga enough to build the following and move them away from donald trump? because desantis is definitely more electable in november. he's got to make the case, you may love donald trump, but he cannot win in november. i think that's what this primary is going to come down to. amna: jonathan, there is a long way to go, cannot say this enough. but gary is right and we've all seen it in the polls, trump and desantis made the front runners for now. how are the democrats looking at this, and in particular, how is the campaign of president biden looking at, as we've seen some of the presidential matchups so far, recent polls, how president biden would fare against former president trump, and there was one showing him against ron desantis as well. we should note that the margin of error is about 2.3%. how are democrats looking at that? jonathan: i think democrats are

still champing at the bit to run against donald trump again. i think the president is clear eyed and focused that no matter who his republican challenger is going to be, probably former president trump, the mission is to remind people about who we are as americans and what we stand for as americans, no matter republican or democrat. we stand for the rule of law and treating each other with respect and kindness and dignity and respect the freedom and liberty of all of us. i think as long as he stays on that message, no matter who he is running against, he stands a better chance of bei reelected. amna: jonathan capehart and gary abernathy, thank you for joining us today. ♪ geoff: in their first championship game in franchise history, the denver nuggets outscored the miami heat 104 to

93 in game one of the nba finals. the finals matches up two of the most dynamic players in the bur on theikola jokic of the scene as a star, and jimmy butler of the miami heat, one of the great playoff performers in the nba. david aldridge, senior columnist for the athletic, joins us now. this is the first time the denver nuggets have made it to the championship stage. safe to say they did not disappoint fans last night. you are in denver, what is the mood like and what does this ascension mean for the nuggets? david: the first time city or team makes the finals, it's always kind of fun and exciting. it is something new they haven't experienced, the whole international media contingent comes to the city. it's a different experience, and the team is winning come of most important thing. the nuggets have been the best

team in these playoffs by far so far in the postseason. they have really dominated every series they have played in. they've certainly dominated game one against miami. the sense is that this team has arrived. you get has been a superstar in the leak, the leak m.v.p. twice, he finished second in the voting this year. he's a known quality but his team has never had the success he's having now and that's a testament to the organization putting really good players around him and some of the key players coming back from injury. geoff: let's talk more about jokic in his performance last night. most people may not know who he is. tell us more about his back story and how he helped turn the nuggets into a championship contender. david: it's a great story. jokic was the second round pick

when he came into the league. he was 300 pounds, heavy, out of shape, but he could always play. he just has an incredible innate gift and ability to see everything on a basketball floor. what he can do better than just about everybody in the league is anticipate. it's a very unique skill. only the best players of all time like magic johnson and larry bird had the skill at this kind of level to me. that means he sees plays before they start. he can play in a way that he is never sped up, he never makes bad decisions with the basketball. you cannot get him out of his rhythm. he plays the game like he is playing in a park. he plays it at such a high level. he confounds the best defenses in the nba with his ability to pass and see where his teammates

will be. geoff: let's talk about the miami heat. that team, no strangers to the championships back when lebron was there star, but now they are relying on jimmy butler, who had a tough time last night. what do they have to do to turn it around? david: they missed a lot of three-point shot. they shot the ball very well during the playoffs from the three point line and they missed way more than they normally do. you expect they will start to play a little better and make some shots going forward. defensively, they struggled to keep denver from getting where they wanted to get. part of that they can't do much about. denver is a bigger team than miami. game one, they did a great job of exploiting physical mismatches. miami can pay -- play harder with more effort and connectivity, and that will help. you mentioned butler. he didn't shoot any free throws

in game one and that never happens. as a team only shot two free throws. they have to be more aggressive in getting to the basket and forcing referees to call fouls. without free throws and making three-point shot, they were constantly having to get back in a scramble situation. even when they were set jokic picked them apart. murray had 10 assists as well and you can't win when the two best players are creating that much offense. geoff: good point. you've covered the nba for 30 ars. what excites you about the current matchup between the nuggets and heat and what will you be looking for is the finals progress? david: the best thing to me is this is kind of the nba almost on a phd level. i know most casual fans look at

the superstars and what they are doing, lebron james or steph curry, some of the best players in the league. and you have a great players in this series, don't get me wrong, but this really is about basketball. it's about how well the game can be played because both of these teams play at an extremely high level. they make good decisions with the ball, they don't turn the ball over a lot. they are just fun to watch because the play the game so well and they are both very well coached. michael malone coaches the neck it's and's coaches the heat. they really know how to play for it if you like basketball played at a high-level, you will love these finals i think. it could go four games or five or six. i don't think it will go seven but we will see. i think while you're watching it you will see best about played at a high level. geoff: david, thank you for speaking with us. david: my pleasure. ♪

geoff: there is much more online, including a story about why louisiana shrimpers say they're in danger of losing their business to imports. be sure to tune into washington week later tonight right here on pbs. amna: and don't forget to watch "pbs news weekend" on saturday for a look at what's next for congress after passage of the debt limit deal. that is "the newshour." i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. have a great evening. >> major funding for "the pbs newshour" has been provided by -- ♪ >> moving our economy for 160 years.

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that'one small step for man. one giant leap for mankind. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> good, welcome to special coverage of president biden's speech to the nation from the oval office. the president will tout the bipartisan agreement to suspend the debt ceiling regarding an economic disaster. for those expecting the newshour, we will join the program following the speech. stations will return you to regular pbs programming at the conclusion of the president's remarks. >> the agreement suspends the debt ceiling for two years in the president will expect to sign it tomorrow days before the u.s. would have round of money to pay bills. let's go to laura baran lopez.

what are we expecting to