>> good evening. >> 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. >> congress avoids a default on the nation's debt by passing ■ bipartisan bill to raise the debt ceiling with only days to spare. >> in the end, it has nothing to do with you and denmark at we are acting this way. it has everything to do with us wanting to move forward with our lives.

>> major funding for "the pbs newshour" has been provided by the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions, and friends of "the newshour," including jim and nancy copeland and kathy and paul anderson. >> actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life . yes, on legally blind, and yes, i am responsible for the user interface. data visualization. if i can see it and understand it quickly, anyone can. it is exciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward. i think that's the most rewarding thing. people who know know bdo. >> cunard is a proud supporter of public television. on a voyage with cunard, the world awaits. in a world of flavor, diverse

destinations, and immersive experiences. a world of entertainment and british style, all with cunard's white star service. >> the john s. and james l. knight foundation, fostering an and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> a with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs

station from viewers like you. thank you. >> welcome to "the newshour." president biden address the nation tonight to tout bipartisan debt ceiling legislation that congress passed earlier this week. the president hailed the measure in his first oval office speech. >> passing this budget agreement was critical. the stakes could not have been higher. if we failed to reach an agreement on the budget, there were extreme voices threatening to take america for the first time in our 240 seven-year history, into default. no one got everything they wanted, but the american people got what they needed. we averted an economic crisis and economic collapse. >> president biden will sign the bill saturday. the nation's job market has turned in ather strong showing. u.s. job growth in may was significantly higher than analysts expected. the labor department reports

employers added a net 339 1000 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 three point 7%, up from a 50-year low in april. in eastern india, a train disaster has killed at least 200 and injured at least 800 others. two passenger trains collided about 100 30 miles southwest of calcutta and at least 15 cars derailed. the 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 to counter russia. instead, national security advisor jake sullivan said today the u.s. will adhere to limits under the 2010 new start treaty so long as moscow does. >> the united states does not

need to increase our nuclear forces to outnumber that of our competitors in order to successfully deter them. we have been there. we have learned that lesson. nor does the united states need to maintain ever more dangerous weapons for deterrence. >> back in this country, texas governor greg abbott signed a bill late this evening barring transgender minors from receiving puberty blockers and hormone therapies. it is set to take effect september 1. the aclu and other groups have pledged to take legal action. former vice president mike pence will not face criminal charges over classified material found in his home in indiana. it is widely reported that the justice department informed him thursday, days before he announced his presidential bid. mr. pentz's lawyer searched 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 eight-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. fort bragg was renamed for liberty today. the north carolina-based was originally named in 1918 after a slave-owning confederate general. soldiers gathered for the ceremony. for liberty will still be home to the army's 82nd airborne division. the name change is the most prominent yet in a pentagon initiative to drop confederate titles. churchill downs announced today will temporarily suspend race operations in the wake of 12 recent horse deaths. the famed track said it will evaluate safety measures and the track surface. no single factor has been identified as a potential cause of death.

and this year's scripps national spelling bee champion is dev shah, an eighth grader from new york. >> p-s-a-m-m-o-p-h-i-l-e, psammophile. >> that is correct. >> the title comes with $50,000 in cash and prizes. still come, multiple attacks inside russia raise questions about the next phase of the war in ukraine. jonathan capehart and gabriel abernathy weigh in on the week's headlines. >> this is "the pbs newshour," from w eta studios in washington and in the west from the walter

cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. >> crisis averted -- that is the message from lawmakers as the deal to raise at debt ceiling makes its way to president biden's desk. i spoke earlier today to the senior advisor to president biden. welcome back. thank you for joining us. this deal does protect a number of key biden investments, infrastructure, semiconductors and so on, but some groups have called it a betrayal. for those people who do feel that betrayal, older food stamp recipients, folks who think this makes the climate crisis worse, what is your message to them? >> first, let's remember this past with large bipartisan majorities in that 160 five democrats voted for this in the house, 56 in the senate. they looked and saw overall that this was a strong agreement that protected these basic values of economic justice and climate change, so my response would be

understand the president completely protected the inflation reduction act with historic investments in climate change. he completely protected medicaid, education, medicare, social security, and we do realize that when we made some changes, agreed to changes on the work requirements for snap, for food, that there were some people in the 50, 54 age that would be negatively affected, and we will do everything to have their back, but this actually reduced hunger, increased snap, and reduced the number of people who would lose snap benefits due to work requirements. >> let me ask you about those negotiations in the first place. for months, the president was repeatedly saying there would be no negotiation over raising the debt ceiling. as late as late april, he was

saying debt ceiling is nonnegotiable, and then he sat down with speaker mccarthy and empowered a team of negotiators, so what worst the president to reverse course? >> i would disagree on reversing course. what the president did was townhome the basic value that default was not an option, that it was ok to negotiate with divided government on a budget agreement and to even accelerate that negotiation, but the idea of usi the threat of default to extort extreme cuts was not something he was going to tolerate, and i think that this agreement overall is very close to the kind of budget agreement that happens in divided government, so i do think that is value that we are not going to threaten to default, no one is going to use the threat of default to extort extremists positions, i think he held firm

on that. i do think it is absolutely worth us as a country trying to think through how we can prevent even the appearance of extortion due to a threat of default, but i think in very many ways, the president held onto that value and was able to get an agreement that met that basic principle. >> as you know, coming out of the 2011 debt ceiling negotiations, the republican takeaway was you could be used for leverage, and by negotiating once again, i wonder if you worry the president has emboldened republicans in the opposition to do this again and again. >> i was one of the negotiators in 2011, and that was a scary difficult time. you saw the stock market goes way down. you saw lots of jobs, you saw consumer confidence get hit. you saw us downgraded, so that was a very harmful period. i don't think that we saw that happen this time at all. i do think the preside's values of not threatening on

default or not negotiating with people trying to take extreme positions did take hold. i think the really unfortunate thing was that after 2011 up until now, all democrats and republicans really avoided even getting close to this type of situation, so i think we have fought back at it successfully. i think it is unfortunate that the republicans took that posture and did try to use the debt limit as the occasion for bringing things on the table that may not have fit at this point. >> it did not turn out the same way as it did in 2011. the consequences were not the same, but it did come down to the wire. i wonder how you think we avoid this in the future or if this is just the way it will be. >> i hope not. it is important to recognize that speaker pelosi never did this type of high wire act when president trump sought to raise the debt limit three times, so there has been consistent view from the democratic progressive side, and i think it is very

important that we think of what type of policies we could do going forward to prevent this, and it should be forbidden or it should be so heavily discouraged and against norms that no one should take advantage of that basic responsibility president has two all the people to seek to extort or extreme measures. i don't think republicans should have put this in this posture. i do think at the end of the day, the president was able with his leadership to get them to agree to something that was not fully booked close to the type of bipartisan agreement you would have in a budget in divided government. >> white house senior adviser to president biden, thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. thank you very much. >> today's jobs report shows the

labor market remains strong despite rising interest rates. that's good news for american workers but complicates the federal reserve's efforts to curb inflation. our economics correspondent looks at the connections among the labor market, wages, and inflation and how they will inform the fed's next move. >> holy moly, what a job market. >> is university of michigan economist really liked job numbers. >> unemployment near a 50-year low, we keep creating jobs. economists keep underestimating this economy and it keeps outperforming expectations month after month after month and has not done so 14 months in a row. >> but the unemployment rate went up based on the household survey, so how does that square with all the jobs added according to the larger payroll survey? >> we are talking all the big numbers -- all the big companies. we are talking a large number of small companies. as a result, you get a very

accurate reading on the economy, which is like that is the number economists emphasize. we got a much smaller survey when they go door-to-door and ask people if they are working. that's where the unemployment rate comes from because that is a smaller survey. i think the more important thing with the less reliable survey is look at the average run over a number of months. what we have seen is that the unemployment rate is hovering around about its 50-year low. >> also good news -- average pay last month rose by $.11, .3%, lower than inflation. >> wages have grown at a rate of around 4% over the past six months. >> which raises a crucial question -- how big it role have higher wages play in driving the inflation surge? a former chief economist at the imf. >> this comes from energy prices, food prices.

this has completely eliminated the same. >> even to the point of scenes on tv. >> would you like some lemonade? >> i would love some lemonade. >> five dollars please. >> 5 -- what? >> supply chain issues. there's a shortage on women's. and have you seen the price of cups these days? >> truth be told, there was a lot of stimulus, and a lot of support that went to households and small businesses early in thpandemic. >> as well as corporations opportunistically raising prices of their goods beyond their costs instead of the so-called wage price spiral, wages driving inflation up and up. >> i have become enamored with what is called the price/price spiral. >> at first firms hiking prices because of higher costs, but when those prices go down -- >> businesses start raising

prices because they see last time i raise prices, it worked pretty well. theay a spiral would work is you have a certain level of inflation in a particular year. workers see that. they go back in and demand to have wages raised. >> with unions on the wane, some -- she does not see workers making demands, nor does she expect to. bottom line, she says -- >> i think we could get out of this potentially with people still keeping wages that are above average. >> but here, olivier blanchard disagrees. >> if the fed wants to go back to 2% price inflation, which is the target, they have to do whatever they need to do to get wage inflation to be a bit lower, and the only way we can dos heated labor market

. >> and this is the conventional wisdom, including the fed's, but given that rising wages have not 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 was something that did happen in the 1970's, but in real time, is have not been good indicators. >> when we get things wrong, would have to think a new but that's not one. >> so no called soft landing where no one gets hurt? >> we have to increase unemployment above where it is now. if you call it soft or not, it is semantics.

high unemployment is painful for some, so there's no such thing as a perfect -- i don't know what the word is. >> he later remembered and emailed us. immaculate disinflation. jay powell's strategy, do what we can to bring inflation out of the system, slows the economy, raises unemployment, and costs people jobs. it is a very blunt instrument, but it is also the only instrument we have. >> and instrument the fed might or might not stop using when it next meets in a few weeks.

>> for over a year, most of the attention has focused on pressure's invasion of ukraine and attacks inside ukraine, but in recent weeks, the work has expended two attacks inside russia. today, the kremlin reported further explosions and incursions in its homeland as pro-ukrainian proxy forces stepped upgrades along ukraine's border. the attacks have been sporadic and shrouded in mystery. some have struck the periphery of russia's western border with ukraine. 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 and footage of civilians fleeing a russian border region where officials reported two deaths. residents described chaotic scenes at the site of an alleged explosion. >> we were given two hours to

get through. we left without anything, without documents, and as we were coming back -- as we were coming out, we saw the explosion in front of our eyes. >> in recent days, belgrade has come under heavy bombardment. the last month has also seen 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. one group behind the raids 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 thereedom of pressure legion and fights 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 to divert moscow's troops.

>> one of our tactical aims is to draw a 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. >> russia calls anti-kremlin fighters terrorists. today in a virtual security meeting, russian president vladimir 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 that our ill wishes are still making and intensifying in order to stir up the situation inside russia. >> meantime, moscow has escalated its aerial assault on ukraine, this month launching more than 20 waves of attacks on the capital, kyiv. that carried into today as residents took shelter in kyiv's metro as ukraine fended off six

straight months of bombardments. >> for more on the attacks inside russia, why they are happening, and who is conducting them, we turn to a national security fellow at the institute for the study of war. when you look at these attacks, what do you see and what do you think are the objectives of the groups responsible for them? >> there are currently two separate lines of effort, both of which are applying pressure within russia that does have the potential to make conditions easier for ukrainian armed forces as they launch their major counteroffensive. the first line of effort are these cross-border raids. what's most remarkable is the scale to which russians are panicking and the scale to which it is dominating these narratives, which is much larger than the actual raids taking place on the ground, which are quite small and opportunistic. the second line of effort is the deep strikes it appears ukrainians are doing to target supply lines, things like oil depots, and other elements of

the resupply at the russian forces in ukraine argoing to need in order to mount their defense. that second line of effort is much more robust and much more directly supportive of whatever the ukrainian armed forces are preparing for their next group. >> what effects are these different attacks having on pressure and pressure's ability to fight in ukraine? >> the cross-border raids are having the effect of accelerating the panic essentially of the russian forces and some of those border towns and populations. it continues to support the broader narrative that not only has russia not won this war, but it is entirely possible that russia will lose this war. that is important. so, too, is the fact that these cross-border rates have started to draw russian military forces away. separately, we also are having this broader disarray in some areas with the russian ability

to organize and mount a capable defense, and that disrupted this away -- disarray is a key objective ukrainians have achieved time and again. >> how is the kremlin responding to these attacks? >> the kremlin is reinforcing different areas and trying to signal essentially that they are treating this as primarily a threat in the information space. again, actual hard fighting on the ground is relatively limited, but the kremlin is taking pains to show its population that it is taking it seriously. what that means is the equipment is starting to make hard choices about where to allocate a limited number of assets, and that is exactly what ukrainians want. >> how much coordination is there among groups that are responsible for these attacks and between the groups and ukraine? >> if we are talking about the cross-border raids, we are not sure. these are actually relatively

small groups claiming responsibility for these attacks. there is reporting that links them to the ukrainian military intelligence. this is a small line of effort and certainly does not require a significant amount of ukrainian support or ukrainian coordination. some of the groups involved have problematic ideologies and are not the types we would like to see supported on the battlefield. >> how does ukraine contend with that, the fact that one of these groups is linked to neo-nazis? >> i think the ukrainians are in the position we have to keep in mind this is an existential fight for their ability to survive as a nation and as a people, and i fully expect there are those within the ukrainian government and ukrainian military intelligence that see that putin has domesc enemies,

right? sometimes the enemy of my enemy is my friend in war. i think there is a certain kind of logic to that. these groups that already exist. ukrainians from what we know did not create them. what ukrainians seem to be doing is exploiting, possibly with some small level of contact. >> thanks so much for your insights. we appreciate it. >> after six years of work, the world's budget -- biggest island has finally unveiled a draft for its constitution. greenland gained autonomy from denmark in 1979, but the former colonial power still has control of the island's most important

affairs as our special correspondent reports. green lenders are now seeking greater influence in the world and a future free of denmark. >> in galen's coastal settlements, the clamor to break free is intensifying. 200 years after greenland was dragooned into the king of denmark, its draft constitution reflects the frustrations of the predominantly inuit people. >> we are trying to break from the colonial chains. >> one of two lawmakers representing greenland in the danish parliament. >> in the end, it has nothing to do with you and denmark that we are acting this way. it has everything to do with us wanting to move forward in our lives. >> in may, she caused outrage by refusing to speak danish during a public debate.

>> let me once again encourage you to read your speech in danish. why did you do it? >> i did it to demonstrate the inequality of the systems that we have. people keep telling me that there is a community that is around where people are intertwined and connected and we have the same language, the same culture, and everyone knows that's not true. >> what sort of backlash have you had from that? >> i have received a lot of backlash for it. people are not used to it. especially people from denmark are not used to anyone speaking other than danish in the danish parliament. a lot of hate mails. a lot of harassment in general. >> with 80% of greenland covered in ice, it is a barometer for climate change, but as glaciers retreat because of global warming, the temperature between greenland and denmark's capital copenhagen is chilly.

>> we all live under the same sun. we have the same goal. we aim for the future of our children and future generations. >> the danish queen's realm includes greenland, which relies on an annual handout from greenland -- from denmark of more than $5 billion, but in the constitution, there is no mention of keeping the danish monarch as head of state. >> 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 your terms. you are welcome to have an opinion, but decisions must be made by us, the indigenous people and people who have the

arctic as their home. >> the nation is the most sparsely populated in the world. greenland has limited self-rule, but there's widespread resentment over being regarded as second-class citizens by the danes. for many green lenders, divorce cannot come quickly enough. >> i think this is inevitable. >> veteran diplomat who used to be denmark's ambassador to nato. >> i just hope we can find a model where it would not be like a hard brexit, where we could create a new community, a new commonwealth together. >> under the current arrangement, denmark is responsible for greenland's defense, foreign affairs, and monetary policy and is reluctant to cede control. are you concerned that if greenland does break away it may become vulnerable to so-called threatening states like russia and china? >> yes, and this is why i think it is so important for greenland but also us and the united states that we find the model

where greenland will not be just a battlefield for computing big powers but has us as the guarantor and remains a member of nato itself. >> the united states has had a strong military presence since 1943 when an air base was built in north with greenland. for decades, anti-americanism festered in greenland, not least because indigenous people were forced out of their homes to accommodate the base, but attitudes have changed following pressure's invasion of ukraine. >> the most important effect of the war has been to assure that we are part of the west. >> agreement expert at the danish exit -- danish institute for international studies. >> the u.s. can be reassured that what happens -- no matter what happens, greenland wants to be part of nato. >> russia's volatility means

greenland's strategic role in u.s. defense is perhaps more important now than during the cold war. catastrophic russian losses in ukraine resulted in a solitary tank in the annual procession in moscow. the potential threat from rogue states is why the u.s. has been upgrading missile defense systems in recent years. in april, the base was renamed in recognition of greenland's contribution to american and western security. >> any missile coming in across eurasian vectors will be passing over the arctic region. so having a network of sensors as far north as possle is vitally important. >> the director of the polar

institute in washington and an expert in geopolitics and security. >> with the advent of new generations of intercontinental missiles and platforms, including hypersonic's, those far northern locations for early warning are even more important. >> she believes 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 x relating -- exploiting greenland's mineral wealth. >> too many relations in the past were not adequately made with the involvement of green lenders. they did not have enough agency. that is changing and we will never go back to the way things were. >> in 2019, president trump's offer to buy greenland was ridiculed. >> the u.s. could perhaps buy

greenland in the sense that if a lot of amerin investments arose, naturally greenland would hold itself closer to the u.s. >> if greenland does secure full independence, some experts believe denmark's importance in the world will diminish. >> instead of saying greenland needs denmark, denmark kind of needs greenland as well. then we say let's just create an equal society if we look at the systematics of it instead of just pointing fingers at each other. >> politicians would like to see independence secured by 2030, but that target could fall victim to long and difficult divorce negotiations.

>> big deal on the debt ceiling and the 2024 presidential race ramps up. at the end of this busy week in politics, we turn to the analysis of capehart and abernathy. that's a jonathan capehart, associate editor for "the washington post" and gary abernathy, also a "washington post" contributor. welcome to you both. we have avoided economic disaster with this debt ceiling deal. people on both sides of the deal do seem unhappy, which means they probably did something right, but from the democratic point of view, from the president's point of view, was this a good deal for the president? >> i have been calling it the eat pray love build a house passed as part of their debt

ceiling raising bill, had lots of drastic cuts to social programs. this deal does away with a lot of those things. they had to make some concessions, work requirements and some other things, but when you look at the details of the bill, particularly the one where it says that congress has to go through the appropriations process, past the 12 appropriations goes and if you don't do it by the end of the fiscal year, there will be a continuing resolution. that is a huge victory for a democratic president dealing with a republican house. >> what about from your perspective? was this a good deal for republicans to make? >> i agree it was a good deal for president biden. it was also a good deal for kevin mccarthy, but particularly president biden. why? not because necessarily of the

details of the bill, but because a deal was made, a truly bipartisan deal. think about that. a lot of times we call things bipartisan because they got one or two or three votes of the other party, usually republicans, and people say that was a bipartisan vote. this was by any definition a bipartisan vote in the house and senate across the board. that is something president biden can and will i think take a lot of credit for, and rightfully so. i remember when these things happen in congress more regularly. i was a very small child. but it was kind of nice to see it again. for kevin mccarthy, he delivered not just a majority of the majority of republicans, he delivered a super majority of republicans in the house, so pretty good day, i think, for both mccarthy and biden.

>> as you both know, there were a lot of questions about how speaker mccarthy would be able to handle the far right members of his party. take a listen to the moment. >> this is fabulous. this is one of the best nights i have ever been here. i thought it would be hard. i thought it would be almost impossible just to get to 218. now ind f a >> is that a man newly empowered, no longer worried about being removed from his speakership? >> i think so, and this is how i know speaker mccarthy is extremely happy. i don't recognize that voice. that voice is about three or four times higher than i have ever heard it, and you know what? let me give him his due. let me give him his props. the guy got the gavel after 15 ballots. everyone underestimated him. everyone said he was going to be led around by the far right folks in the house freedom caucus, and to garry's point, the fact that the bill passed

the house with a super majority of republicans but over 300 votes with more democrats voting for it then anticipated, than expected, that is a big win for bipartisanship, but i do think it is a political wing -- political win with a speaker that should put to rest the idea that this is a guy who is literally a boat away from being ousted. >> do you agree? he still has the same narrow majority. the same members who were unhappy with the deal remain unhappy with it. what do you make of this? >> i 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 is hard for other freedom caucus members, as upset as some of them were, to really mount much of a defense against kevin mccarthy. i agree. i think he strengthen himself,

and i just don't thk republicans have the stomach for the turmoil they went through in january when they elected him to begin with. i think it is a big day for kevin mccarthy going forward. >> what does this say about the process more broadly when you take a step back? that's the big question, right? there's a lot of conversation about lessons learned. the republican takeaway was this is how we have leverage. this is how we do this every time. did negotiating with republicans further empower the opposition to do this every time? >> they might think so, but you cannot continue to hold the american economy and the global economy hostage to try to get through your fiscal priorities that you cannot get through in the normal appropriations process. they came very close but they did not succeed, and i think going forward, i think the president should investigate if you 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 hands of democrats, there should be a conversation had, a debate had about if their debt ceiling should be done away with altogether. honestly, i think it should. we should do away with the hostagetaking. >> should we get rid of the debt ceiling? >> i think it is an interesting question because it is such an exercise in brinksmanship every time, but let's be clear, nothing in politics is beyond dealmaking, or some people want to say hostagetaking. that happens on both sides. every bill coming up is an opportunity to deal, to horse trade, and so on, and republicans were very smart. i'm even going to say mccarthy was very smart in knowing how fo would have gotten blamed for

this not happening? as always, it would have been republicans blamed for this falling apart and for the debt ceiling not being lifted and for all 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, and joe biden, a dealmaker from the senate, was never a verse from the beginning from saying, you know what, we are going to have to make a deal. he had members of his party saying don't make a deal. he likes the art of making deals. that's ok. >> we do expect more presidential campaign announcements on the republican side next week, including former vice president mike pence, former new jersey governor chris christie, joining this field of declared candidates so far including ron desantis, nikki haley, asa hutchinson, tim

scott, and donald trump. take a look at that entire field right now. how many new candidates coming in set themselves apart? >> chris christie, easy. i know what lane he is in. he's that car in the motorcade that is the demolition car. motorcades have a car that is on the lookout for anything trying to disrupt, say, and presidential motorcade. that's the car that leaves out and heads for that destructive car. that is chris christie. chris christie will be in the campaign and on that debate stage taking wax at donald trump. as someone who knows donald trump well, who ran against him, worked with him, did debate prep with him before, so he knows him really well and it was the perfect way to take him down. former vice president mike pence, i don't know what his lane is. he is running for the republican nomination in a party that has been remade in the image of the

man who incited insurrectionists to try to overturn a free and fair election, who ran through the capital screaming hang mike pence. i don't know where he thinks his votes will come from that would allow him to surmount and meet donald trump for the republican nomination. >> is there a plan for mike pence in this republican party? >> i agree that there's probably not, but i also disagree with jonathan. i don't think there is a lane for chris christie, either. this week, we were asked -- and a lot of leaders do not think they are right thinking they are right leaning colonists, and most of us think the maga lane is the only lane. it is just can anyone other than donald trump be standing at the end of it, and i think it will come down to a trump versus

desantis two person race. can ron desantis make the case that he is maga enough to keep the base happy, to build that following, and yet move them away from donald trump? because desantis is definitely more electable in november. he's got to make the case, he may love donald trump, but he cannot win in november, and i think that's what this race and this whole primary will come down to. >> cannot say this enough, there is a long way to go, many months to go, but gary is right. we have all seen this in the polls. trump and desantis remained the front runners for now. how are the democrats looking at this, and in particular, how is the campaign of president biden looking at this? we have seen some of the presidential matchups so far. we should note, the margin of error for these polls is about

2.3%. these are tight spaces. >> i think democrats are still champing at the bi rt gainun 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. we stand for the rule of law, we stand for treating each other with respect and kindness and dignity and respect the freedom and liberty of all of us, and i think as long as he stays on that message, no matter who he is running against, he stands a better chance of bein reelected. >> jonathan capehart and gary abernathy, thank you both for joining us today. always good to see you. >> thank you. >> in their first championship

game in franchise history, the denver nuggets outscored the miami heat in game one of the nba finals. the championship matches up two of the most dynamic players in the league -- a nickel or joke which of the nuggets, who burst onto the scene as a star -- nicola jokic on the denver nuggets, who burst onto the scene as a star, and jimmy butler of the miami heat. 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 is this ascension mean for the nuggets? >> the first time a city or team makes the finals, it is always fun and exciting. it is something new they have not experienced. it is a whole -- i whole international media contingent comes down into their city and it is a different experience and

their team is winning and that is the 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 that they played and certainly dominated game one against miami. the sense is this team has arrived. jokic as been a superstar in the league the last three or four years. he has been in m.v.p. in the league twice. he finished second in the voting , but his team has never had the kind of success it is having now, and that is a testament to the organization, putting really good players around him and some of the key players coming back from injuries. >> let's talk about his stellar performance. 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. >> this is a great story. he was a second round pick. when he came into the league, he was 300 pounds. he was heavy. he was out of shape, but he could always play. he just has an innate gift and ability to see everything on a basketball floor. what he can do better than just about everyone in the league is anticipate. it is a very unique skill. only the best players of all time like magic johnson and larry bird had this skill at this kind of level to me. that means he sees plays before they start. he sees where guys are going to be five or six seconds before they get there, and he can play in a way that he has never sped up. he never makes bad decisions with the basketball. you cannot get him out of his rhythm. he just plays the game like he is playing in a park and he plays it at such a high level. he confounds the best defenses

in the nba night in an night with his ability to pass and see where his teammates are going to be. quickly miami heat, that team, they were no strangers to the championships when lebron james was there sta, but jimmy butler was the main guy last night. what do they have to do to turn things around? >> they shot the ball very well during the playoffs from the three-point line and they missed way more than they normally did. you expect that they will start to play a little bit better and make some of those shots going forward. defensively, they just struggled to keep denver from getting where they wanted to get. part of that they cannot do much about. it is just denver is a bigger team than miami. denver did a better job finding physical mismatches and exploiting those. miami can play harder with more effort, more conductivity so thathat will help, but you

mentioned jimmy butler. he did not shoot any free throws in game one, and that never happens. as a team, they only shot two free throws. they have to be more aggressive getting to the basket and forcing referees to call fouls and shoot free throws because that allows them to set up their defense. without free throws and without making three-point shots, they were constantly having to get back in i scramble situation -- in a scramble situation and even when they were set, jokic just picked them apart. he's so good. you cannot win when the two best players are creating that much offense for their teammates. >> that's a good point. you have covered the nba for some 30 years. what excites you about this current matchup and what will you be looking for as the finals progress? >> the best thing to me is that this is kind of the nba on almost a phd level.

i know most casual fans look at superstars, what they are doing. lebron james and steph curry are some of the best players in the league and you have great players ins this really is about basketball. it is 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, and they are just fun to watch because they play the game so well. both very well coached. michael malone coaches the nuggets. they are just two teams that really know how to play, so if you like watching basketball played at a very high level, you will love these finals, i think. it could go for games or go five or six games. i don't think it will go seven, but we will see. i think while you're watching it, you are going to see basketball played at a very high level. >> thanks so much for speaking

with us. >> my pleasure. >> enters much more online including a story about why louisiana shrimpers say they are in danger of losing their business to imports. be sure to tune in to "washington week" later tonight. >> and don't forget to turn in a saturday for a look at what's next for congress after passage of this debt limit deal. that is "the newshour" for tonight. >> have a great evening. >> major funding for "the pbs newshour" has been provided by -- ♪

moving our economy for 160 years. bonnes us. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. an friends of "the newshour" including kathy and paul anderson and camilla and george smith. the walton family foundation, working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people and nature can thrive together. the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world at hewlett.org. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions.

and friends of "the newshour." this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. this is "pbs newshour west," from weta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university.

introducing a technological achievement so advanced... it rivals the moon landing. wow! ok. rude. that's one small step for man. one giant leap for mankind.

tonight on "kqed newsroom," we speak with our top education official tony thurmond about the future of education in california , and we continue our technology series with a look at the safety of driverless cars, plus generative artificial intelligence has roared onto the scene. is this truly a moment of historic change for humanity? bloomberg's emily chang joins us with her perspective. coming to you from kqed headquarters in san francisco this friday, june 2nd, 2023. welcome to the show. i am