amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the “newshour” tonight, america's top diplomat and china's president agree to stabilize relations, while leaving daunting differences unresolved. amna: new reporting shows fbi leadership resisted investigating former president trump's role in the capitol insurrection for more than a year. geoff: and a group of young people find a unique clause in montana's constitution to sue over inaction on climate change. >> as i've learned about climate change and i've seen what our lawmakers have done promoting fossil fuel industries, i've realized that that is unconstitutional acts. ♪

>> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by. >> the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the "newshour." >> it was like an a-ha moment. this is what i love doing. early-stage companies have this energy that energizes me. these are people who are trying to change the world. when i volunteer with women entrepreneurs, it's the same thing. am helping people reach their dreams. i am thriving by helping others, every day. people who know, know bdo. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation, for more than 50 years advancing ideas and

supporting instituations to promote a better world. at hewlett.org. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. stephanie: i'm stephanie sy with “newshour west.” here are the latest headlines. search operations continue tonight for a submersible that was carrying tourists to view

the wreckage of the titanic. the five-person craft is owned by ocean-gate expeditions. canadian officials say the vessel was reported overdue sunday in the north atlantic. it disappeared 435 miles south of st. john's, newfoundland, near where the titanic went down in 1912 after hitting an iceberg. the u.s. and canadian coast guards are searching by air and sea, but it was unclear exactly how many more hours of oxygen the submersible has left. >> in terms of the hours, we understood that that was 96 hours of rescue or emergency capability from the operator and so, we anticipate there's somewhere between 70 to the full 96 hours available at this point. stephanie: the ocean depth in the search area is roughly 1300 0 feet. -- roughly 13,000 feet.

the deep south is grappling with a new round of severe weather. tornado strikes in central mississippi killed at least one person overnight. nearly two dozen others were hurt. more than 300,000 customers in the south were still without power after earlier storms. and the region faces heat indexes in the triple digits this week. an arizona community that's been cut off from its main water supply for six months may soon get relief. the state's governor signed a bipartisan bill today that will bring water back to rio verde foothills, a suburb of phoenix, next month. the community's plight gained national attention because it highlighted the severity of the ongoing drought, which compelled a neighboring city to cut off water access to protect its own supply. gun violence across the u.s. killed at least 10 people and wounded dozens over the weekend and today. the worst was in kellogg, idaho, where four people were found shot to death at a home on sunday. last night in san francisco, six people were wounded when shooters in two cars fired on each other.

in detroit, four teenagers were wounded in their car. and today, six people were wounded at a juneteenth celebration in milwaukee. a scorching heat wave in northern india has now claimed the lives of nearly 170 people. temperatures have hit 110 degrees, and power failures have knocked out air conditioning. that has hospitals in two of the country's most populous states overflowing. >> i visited the hospital last night to admit my relative suffering from heatstroke. there were no beds available so i came back to the hospital again this morning. the hospital staff advised me to spread a bed sheet on the floor to get treatment. last night, i saw people being treated on the floor. stephanie: northern india is knn for summer heat waves, but officials say this year's temperatures have consistently gone above normal. israeli forces and palestinian gunmen faced their fiercest day of fighting in years in the occupied west bank.

an israeli raid on a refugee camp in jenin killed five palestinians, including a 15-year-old boy, and injured at least 90 others. smoke rose as palestinians set off roadside bombs to disable armored vehicles. the israelis struck back with helicopter gunships, rarely seen in west bank raids. seven israeli soldiers were wounded. in ukraine, government forces say they've recaptured an eighth village in a counter-offensive in the southeast. but the latest gains appeared to be incremental, and ukraine's defense minister acknowledged the situation is difficult. british intelligence reported both sides have taken heavy losses. the jailed russian opposition leader alexei navalny faced a new trial today, this time on charges of extremism. journalists were barred from the courtroom and instead watched a video feed remotely. his parents were also denied access. >> for me, it's obvious, that all this is done to close this

process for political reasons, because the investigators, prosecutors, and the authorities in general do not want the public to know about the trial and how weak the evidential basis is. stephanie: a conviction on these new charges could keep navalny in prison for more than 30 years. still to come on the “newshour”" new questions about the greek coast guard's response to the deadly sinking of a migrant vessel. tamara keith and amy walter break down the latest political headlines. and the grandmother of juneteenth discusses what the holiday means for americans. >> 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: secretary of state antony blinken finished up a high-stakes visit to beijing today, the first visit by an american top diplomat to china in five years.

relations between the two preeminent global powers are at their lowest point since ties were restored 50 years ago. blinken's mission, to see if there's a way to right them. >> good afternoon. amna: a firm handshake, despite a shaky relationship. today, secretary of state antony blinken wrapped up his postponed trip to china, marathon meetings with several top officials, and a short visit with president xi jinping. both sides expressed optimism. >> i stressed that direct engagement and sustained communication at senior levels is the best way to responsibly manage our differences and ensure that competition does not veer into conflict. and i heard the same from my chinese counterparts. we both agree on the need to stabilize our relationship. >> the two sides have agreed to follow through with the common understandings president biden and i had reached in bali. the two sides have also made progress and reached agreement on some specific issues.

amna: president xi referring to a meeting with president biden last november in indonesia, where the leaders set an agenda to warm relations, but the winter brought frosty relations. in february, the u.s. shot down a chinese spy balloon over its airspace, the reason for this trip's postponement. blinken d xi did not publicly address the furor this weekend. several other issues went unresolved, most notably resuming military-to-military contacts, which secretary blinken confirmed china is not yet ready to do. >> it's a work in progress. amna: but in an interview with cbs news, he emphasized its continued urgency. >> we want to, at the very least, make sure that we don't inadvertently have a conflict because of miscommunication. amna: a potential point of conflict, taiwan. china has ratcheted up its military activity around the island that it claims as a breakaway province, while the u.s. has upheld a policy of strategic ambiguity, committing to a one china policy, while

also selling arms to the island. on several occasions during his term, biden has also said the u.s. would defend taiwan from chinese attack. also unsettled, the two nation'' battle for military and economic influence in the indo-pacific region. in 2021, the u.s. announced a security pact with australia and the united kingdom that would supply australia with nuclear-powered submarines. it garnered a strong rebuke from china. >> establishing the so-called trilateral security partnership will only trigger an arms race, damage the international nuclear nonproliferation regime, and harm regional peace and stability. amna: since then, president biden has made a trip to the region and has hosted several of its leaders. india's prime minister will visit washington this week. meantime, china has increased military exercises in the south china sea and its confrontations with the americans. just a few weeks ago, a chinese

fighter jet cut in front of a u.s. aircraft over the south china sea, which the u.s. military called a -- quote -- "unnecessarily aggressive maneuver." a week later, a chinese warship cut off an american warship in the strait of taiwan. although there were no breakthroughs on these major points of tension this weekend, secretary blinken struck a note of cautious optimism. >> my hope and expectation is, we will have better communications, better engagement going forward. it is critical to doing what we both agree is necessary. and that is responsibly managing the relationship. amna: and to decode secretary blinken's china visit and its ramifications for washington's relationship with beijing, i'm joined by ryan hass, a senior fellow at the brookings institution. he was the director for china, taiwan, and mongolia at the national security council in the obama administration. also with us is miles yu, a senior fellow and director of the china program at the hudson institute. he served as the china policy adviser to secretary of state mike pompeo during the trump

administration. and welcome to you both. thanks for being here. so, ryan, this was reportedly a relatively short meeting, about 30 or 35 minutes, right? what does it say to you that the meeting happened at all between president xi and secretary blinken? ryan: well, i think it was significant that president xi and secretary blinken had a chance to sit down, because it really accomplished two things. the first is that president xi was able to articulate in his own words the future direction that he intends to see the u.s.-china relationship travel. and this is a departure from the previous statement, which was his accusation that the united states seeks to contain, encircle and suppress china. so, secretary blinken succeeded in moving president xi on that. the second signal that it sent was a signal to the rest of the chinese government that president xi expects and is comfortable with his counterparts engaging directly with their american counterparts to seek to moderate tensions. so, all in all, i think it was a pretty productive day of diplomacy. amna: miles, productive? how would you rate it? miles: i think i will give you a

c-plus, a-minus. the third signal that ryan has not mentioned is that this is also very good optics for the chinese, because xi jinping sits at the head table. he talks like an emperor, talking down, showing his contempt for the american over approach. but i think this is in sharp contrast in 2018, last time a u.s. secretary of state visit china, when xi jinping sits side by side with secretary pompeo. even though he despised pompeo, but then at least they know he also has some sort amount of fear. this is a conversation that needs to happen, but needs to happen on equal terms. i think china right now is in a position to sort of challenge americans' not only goodwill, but also american strength, and by playing this sort of optical game. so i think it's important both sides sit down to talk about -- engage to avoid a crisis. and i think, also, it's very important for us to keep in mind what's at stake on the chinese side. amna: ryan, president biden has said that he believes u.s.-china relations are on the right trail. do you agree with that after these meetings? ryan: well, i think that the

past two days put us on a better pathway than we were on a week ago at this time. the reality is that it's important for the united states and china to have the capacity to communicate directly with each other. it's important to shrink space for miscalculation. it's important to explore whether there's mutual intents to try to moderate the relationship. and so, we're doing these things because they're in america's interests to do. and on the issue of seating charts, we can quibble over what the proper protocol is for a seating chart. the reality is that the united states is abundantly stronger than china in pretty much every material category that you could use to evaluate. and so i think that, from questions of military power, diplomatic partners around the world, alliances, the world reserve currency of the united states dollar, america's innovation ecosystem, we're very comfortable and confident in our capacity to engage china from a position of confidence. amna: the failure, though -- you mentioned the military capabilities. the failure to reestablish those military-to-military communications, that's a bit of a failure for the u.s., right? that was important in terms of bringing down the risk of miscalculation. ryan: well, let's take this as a

first step, amna. secretary blinken doesn't speak on behalf of the american military, and his chinese counterparts don't speak on behalf of the chinese military. and it's important that we get to a point where our militaries are able to reestablish connectivity with each other, but, secretary blinken's trip was the first step. and, ultimately, questions of war and peace will be decided at the leadership level, not between both militaries. and the fact that we were able to reestablish connectivity with china's top leader, i think it's an important step. amna: miles, there's the issue of china's faltering economy at this moment, right? you mentioned chinese leverage in these talks. but doesn't that give the u.s. some leverage? miles: ryan's right. you're absolutely right. the u.s. has tremendous leverage, the leverage we should have used, but we have not used efficiently. as you say, china's economy is in shambles. we have to understand, china needs united states much more than the uted states needs china. china's economy, china's technology, china's military depends to a larger degree on western technology and exports.

so it's in their best interests to engage with the united states. so i think that's why we have this advantage, the advantage that we can use, and i think we should have used more. secretary blinken's visit to china, for example, is based upon the assumption that somehow we could establish a direct military-to-military professional contact. that's a dream. we have tried for decades. and we have to understand the nature of the chinese party-military relationship. the chinese communist party would never allow its military to conduct independent communication with the western -- amna: never? that will never happen? miles: never. this is the -- that's right. we -- this show again and again in 2001 ep-3 plane incident. nobody from chinese military would pick up the phone call, and even though we had robust communication with them. the nature of the party-military relationship is totally different from the west. so, this is even worse than the soviet time, when the u.s. military and the soviet high command could have some kind of semblance -- some kind of

communication. no, this is not. amna: so, ryan, what are you going to be watching for now in the days and the weeks ahead to judge how these meetings actually went? what's the impact of these talks? ryan: well, we need to explore whether or not the mutual intent to lower the risk of miscalculation or miscommunication exists. and we will have a series of follow-up meetings in both washington and beijing in the coming weeks that will sort of bring into light how much progress is possible between now and november, when we expect that president xi will travel to united states to meet with president biden on the margins of the apec leaders summit. and so we have this window now over the next several months to see if we can shrink space for miscalculation, if we can establish a cooperative agenda that is based upon mutual self-interest, where we both take actions that are in parallel to each other that serve each of our respective interests. and, if so, the world will be a better place. but, if not, the united states isn't a confident, strong position to get caught trying. amna: miles, what are you watching for?

miles: china has to be responsible. chinese communist party, their actions and deeds are most important in deciding the nature and direction of u.s.-china relationship. so that's why i think i'm very, very satisfied that the new china policy paradigm that emerged during the trump administration more or less continue on to this day. the china challenge is not just a partisan issue. it's an american issue. so, for that, and i think i give biden credit -- administration credit. however, there are some misconceptions. there are some understanding of how the chinese system operates. we should have no illusion. for example, china always throw out this red herring called taiwan independence. there is no taiwan independence, because no political party in taiwan is advocating for taiwan independence. taiwan maintain -- wants to have status quo. status quo, in fact, is independence. there is no need for that. so china always force the united states to make a statement, say, u.s. do not support taiwanese independence.

this is red herring. it's basically an own goal which we should not have scored. amna: gentlemen, we will have to leave it there. i have a feeling we will talk about this some more. please come back and join us again. miles yu, ryan hass, thank you for your time. ryan: thank you, amna. miles: thank you. ♪ geoff: the u.s. department of justice initially resisted opening an investigation into former president donald trump and his associates' role in january 6 and efforts to overturn the 2020 election. that's according to exclusive investigative reporting by the washington post. it took nearly a year after the capitol attack for a doj inquiry to begin, and the fbi only opened its investigation into the fake electors' plot in april 2022. aaron davis is one of the reporters who broke this story and he joins me now. thanks for being with us. aaron: thanks for having me. geoff: two days after the capitol attack, the fbi started

announcing charges against some of the rioters, the so-called foot soldiers. what accounts for the doj's much slower, more cautious approach in investigating donald trump and his allies? aaron: we found that the fbi was very gung ho, ready to go out and get those who had broken into the capitol, the people who were on tv that day breaking the windows, going inside, threatening lawmakers. but they were much more hesitant to go after all of the incidents, the episodes, the activities that fomented the sediment that led to the rage that day. they wanted to seek direct connection between the violence and somebody via a phone record or something else to launch that investigation. you have to realize, this is an fbi that was twice stung with the investigation into russian interference with the trump election in 2016 and before that, james comey's decision to reopen the investigation into hillary clinton.

this was the third time the fbi stepped into the breach to investigate a president or a presidential candidate. and they really wanted solid evidence. they wanted something they could touch and feel, something we could hold onto and show this is why we are investigating donald trump. geoff: in this piece reported by you and your colleague, you quote an official who says of the current doj, you can work so hard not to be a partisan that you are failing to do your job. how widely held of a viewas that within the doj? that the garland doj was in many ways over correcting for the perceived ethical failures of the barr doj? aaron: there was a huge culture shift. in garland's own words, this was to try to get under regular order. under bill barr, there were many times the attorney general said this is a valid investigation. this is not a valid investigation. the attorney garland wanted to come in and say, i am not to make those decisions. the should bubble up to me from the bottom through evidence. the problem was there was such a culture that have been affected under the previous

administration where it was hard to go up the chain. there was not a mechanism to try and go up and make these cases. in very early on even before attempt to investigate trump's orbit. it was batted down in the early weeks after january 6, saying it is premature to do that, let's build up from the evidence and get there. the problem was at some point in time in this investigation, they realized there was no connection between the people entering the capitol and the people who had done some of the fake electors and more of the conspiracy type work leading up to january 6. as we quote in the story, there was no ladder to get from here to there to get to those other potential investigations. geoff: take us inside the decision by the doj to pursue the rarely charged seditious conspiracy against the militiamen who were involved in january 6. aaron: this is interesting, because a big part of the idea of, if you think about it,

investigating january 6 like an organized crime type syndicate. that you had your foot soldiers who went in the capitol and somewhere up there, there may have been an architect who designed and put this all into play. if you get this rioters and you get their phones, and you keep going up, the seditious conspiracy, the oath keepers, proud boys, who were a big part ed lihpn th et. ifould crgem wh co tnserraercyid, tht,at w carre ies decocades in prison. maybe they will be motivated to tell what they know about the planning. the problem is that took so long, it took months -- it was first brought up as early as february but it took until november to have a draft prosecution memo where they were debating it, and it took more weeks for a senior justice department official to agree on what should be charged and who should be charged. and then when they finally got an arrested stewart rhodes and oath keepers in january, they realized these folks were not going to turn or flip on someone. they just did not have that view of what had really been going on

inside the white house. geoff: so what then prompted the pivot within doj? aaron: we asked that many times, what changed in your worldview? so much of the evidence that ultimately, they began investigating, had been bubbling out in the public over the course of the year. there were identical versions of the fake elector documents that were obtained under freedom of information act. march 2021, just two months after the attack, john eastman and the memo about fake electors have been out there for weeks. you can't deny that there was a lot of pressure put on doj by the house select committee, and what they were turning up, by the wave of programs from critics around the country. there just was at that point in timem finally, a little bit of breathing room inside the department of justice, inside the u.s. attorney's office, where they are putting oath

keepers and proud boys, and those are getting ready for trial. they said, we still need to look at these other areas of investigation that we have. they brought in an investigator named tom windham, and he went to the fbi and said, will you help me investigate the fake electors? even then, 10 months afterwards, we fbi washington field director said no, you don't have enough evidence. i'm not going to subpoena the hotel. geoff: final question, based on your reporting, to what degree was the investigation, now overseen by jack smith, to what degree was it adversely affected by this delay by the doj? aaron: there really became such a split where you ha-- prosecutors had to turn to the u.s. postal service inspector, the national archives inspector agents, and they were the ones helping the prosecutors subpoena and do a grand jury work in the months of early 2022. all about work began a year after the fact. and in those early months, white house officials were not interviewed, records for

-- records were potentially lost, social media posts and private encrypted messages were potentially deleted. we just don't know what could have been done quicker. if we are destined to be in this position where trump is running again and his potential legal culpability from 2020 is still an open question. geoff: aaron davis with the washington post, thank you for being with us. we appreciate it. aaron: thank you for having me. ♪ geoff: as we reported, search crews are looking for a submersible craft that was taken -- taking tourists to see the titanic and ultimately went missing. for more on this effort, we turn to kristin romy. thank you for being with us. as we learn more about the search-and-rescue effort, help us understand the difference between a submersible and submarine, and what these vessels are typically used for?

>> a submersible cannot power by itself, unlike a submarine, which can leave port, and come back. a submersible is reliant upon a mothership. currently, that mothership is some 900 nautical miles east of cape cod. geoff: as we understand it, rescuers are looking about 900 miles off the coast of cape cod. about 13,000 feet deep, they are searching through the water. how difficult, onerous of a process is this? kristin: when you consider that it is almost more difficult to travel to the bottom of the ocean than it is to space, everything down there is conspiring to keep humans out. if you think about it, 12,500 feet, where the titanic is roughly, you're talking about 380 times the pressure that is being expended upon you, versus at sea level. on top of that, you have extremely cold temperatures.

it is an inhospitable place. you are trying to find a submersible the size of a truck at the bottom of a vast expanse of north atlantic. geoff: what is known about the company that owns this submersible that is now missin kristin: oceangate has really been a leader in developing these deep-sea submersibles. i spoke to the ceo when he was actually developing this submarine back in 2016. the titan is very unique in that it is a carbon fiber and titanium submarine. up until now, most of the tourist rides to titanic have been on older soviet submersibles. so this is new technology, and it does come with a real-time monitoring system, which monitors the integrity of the hull. it is interesting we have not heard anything regarding that. if there was an issue with the hull, we would think there would be information being conveyed to the mothership. geoff: help us understand the increase in the number of people who have gone on these extreme

dangerous excursions post-pandemic. kristin: well, i mean, it began before the pandemic, but it is a combination of technology, and people who have the money to kind of create these bucket lists and achieve them. i mean, what they are doing with oceangate is very closely paralleling what we see in the commercial sce field, with blue origin as well as virgin galactic. so, this is a new emerging brave new world of travel. and it does not come without risk. geoff: understanding that you are learning about this case at the same time we are, what more is known about the five people who were on board this craft? have we heard from their families? kristin: right now, there are no discussions regarding who is on board. there has been a little bit in social media. i think the concern, before we identify who is on there, is getting them up. there is a limited amount of oxygen on this submersible.

roughly 96 hours, four days worth of oxygen. if this submersible did indeed leave around 2:00 a.m. sunday morning east coast time, as they estimate, they are halfway through that available oxygen supply. geoff: what will you be watching for as this search-and-rescue effort continues? kristin: it is a massive deployment of resources. canadian navy, canadian coast guard, u.s. coast guard. this is an amphibious mission. we have ships patrolling with sonar, we have airplanes flying over the north atlantic who are able to detect objects deep below. we hope they get to them in time. geoff: kristin romy, thanks for being with us with that reporting and your insights. we appreciate it. kristin: thank you. ♪ amna: there were recriminations, mourning, and anger in greece and other parts of the world today, as the search continued

for missing migrants in the mediterranean sea. they came from many countries, and hundreds are presumed dead in last week's sinking of the over-filled vessel. john irvine of independent television news reports from kalamata, greece on what is perhaps the greatest greek sea disaster since antiquity. john: they were missed by most cameras here today, but these itv news pictures show the suspected traffickers who the greek police believe are responsible for the deaths of the 500 migrants who drowned in this country's worst maritime disaster of the modern era. the nine egyptians, who all survived the sinking, were taken from the police station handcuffed in threes for the short journey to the local court where they appeared for the first time as the wheels of justice went into motion here. the nine egyptians face a litany of charges, including negligent

homicide, causing a shipwreck, and belonging to a criminal organization. the proceedings here today involve them being formally interviewed by the prosecuting judge who is building a case against them. their lawyers have indicated they will deny the charges on the basis they were just migrants themselves, rather than people smugglers. that the nine were all men was a reminder that no women or children were found among the dead or the rescued. when the trawler was abandoned, it was every man for himself. women and children were not even last, let alone first. they were not at all. in pakistan, the prime minister declared today a day of mourning for the dozens of citizens presumed dead in the sinking. at least 25 came from this village in azad jammu kashmir. robina bibi fears that her son shamrez has been lost, leaving

his children without a father. she welcomes the crackdown on traffickers just announced by the pakistani government. she said she wanted to caution parents the world over not to send their children abroad using people smugglers. in doing so, she had lost money and a son. here, greek officials, aid workers, and relatives of the dead have been honouring the victims with flowers. and as questions continue to be asked whether or not more could have been done to prevent this tragedy, the coastguard has again defended its conduct, saying it acted in accordance with maritime law.

♪ amna: president biden traveled to swing state pennsylvania over the weekend as the 2024 races are gearing up. for analysis, we turn now to our politics monday team. that is amy walter of the cook political report with amy walter, and tamara keith of npr. good to see you both. thanks for being here. the 2024 race is certainly heating up on both republican and democratic sides. i want to play of what we have seen from president biden this weekend. here he is delivering his message to voters in pennsylvania over the weekend. pres. biden: under my predecessor, infrastructure became a punchline. on my watch, we are making infrastructure a decade headline. amna: tam, you got the first broadcast interview with mr. biden's campaign manager, julie chavez rodriguez, since she took on that role. what did you learn about the reelection strategy at this point in the campaign?

tamara: they are working hand-in-hand with the democratic national committee in a way that past democratic campaigns, and even the obama campaign, certainly did not. and that goes all the way down to, literally, i interviewed julie chavez rodriguez in her office, which was sparsely decorated in dnc headquarters. the way it was described to me is the d&c is the chassis and then the biden campaign will come on top of it as the race car going around the track. but right now they feel pretty confident in the way that this chassis is built. in part, because they did not go through the typical boom and bust cycle the party has gone through in the past. they have invested really heavily in the party infrastructure. and what does that look like? what does that mean? that means that they sent money and resources and were making calls, had democratic volunteers from all over the country making calls into wisconsin for that state supreme court race.

and the democratic party supported candidate won in that race. but also, they were able to test out the strategies they will be using in the presidential campaign, and in senate races and house races, and races up and down the ballot, testing strategies for reaching voters and reaching them and getting them to go out and vote. amna: amy, let's talk about those voters they need to reach. you had a look at one segment in particular, latino voters, the fastest growing electorate in america. how is the biden coalition doing there? amy: this survey of latino voters looking at how they voted in 2022 in battleground states, and then who did not vote in 2022. what do we think we know about those voters? that, to me, was the most interesting finding of the survey. those voters who showed up and voted in 2020, again, latino voters in battleground states, but did not vote in either

midterm, they are leaning a little bit more republican than they do democrat. on the issue of the economy, and this is what was really interesting. the president's speech this weekend in philadelphia, focusing a lot on the economy. these voters, they give, on the issue of inflation, the republicans a 13 point advantage. when asked, who do you think looks out for the wealthy and for working people? democrats have a huge advantage on that question of looking out for regular people or for working people. i think that is what you are going to see the biden campaign do with these swing voters. it is why in his speech he did not talk about donald trump, he did not talk about democracy, he did not talk about abortion. he talked about jobs and the economy. when inflation is still as high as it is, i don't think the biden campaign will be able to convince people they should not worry about inflation. it is going to be a top issue. what you do when the economy is not doing well and people don't think you are doing a particularly good job as the president, you make the issue of the economy about more than just the economy.

who is looking out for you and your family? and even if you are feeling a little bit stretched by the economy, versus this party or this candidate who is not looking out for you. amna: i want to look at the latest democratic polling. of course mr. biden is the incumbent, but he is not the only candidate. i want to get your take on this. of course marianne williamson has declared her candidacy, and also robert f. kennedy, jr., polling at 17%. still far behind mr. biden's 70%. but this is someone who has been pushing conspiracy theories when it comes to vaccine efficacy, on election fraud as well. what does it say to you that he is actually polling in double digits right now among democrats? tamara: what it says is something we have been talking about in this segment for a long time. which is that, there is a share of the democratic party who maybe likes joe biden but does not want him to run again. and it is very clear that they do not want him to run again. you throw a couple names out

there, kennedy is a name people recognize, they say, ok, kennedy. it is not necessarily that his campaign is taking off in any way. it is more of, a place for people to go who are concerned about president biden's age, who did not think he was going to run again, who don't want him to run again. and what i will say though, is, as we talked earlier about the democratic party and that whole party infrastructure, that is set up to make sure that president biden does not have a legitimate or real or anything to worry about primary challenge. because they are not going to be debates. amy: i would be wary of feeling as confident, if i where the dnc or the biden campaign, only and that your point is there is an incredible amount of ambivalence. it is in the polling we have at the "newshour," we see a significant portion of the democratic electorate saying, i wish there was somebody else. and so what i am sort of

surprised by is the fact that outside groups -- again, i don't think biden campaign will do this, but groups supporting biden have not gone out and tried to make a contrast with rfk junior, talking about some of the things you talked about, amna, about his positions on vaccines. but also the fact that he is being supported or showing up on podcasts of conservatives that i think many democrats would find not to their liking. amna: meanwhile on the republican side, we have a current field of declared major candidates of 10 people so far. at this point, they are chasing the front runner, former president donald trump, who has solidified his support, despite facing federal charges. and that is leading to a lot of uncomfortable and persistent questions of all of the other candidates, like this exchange with former vice president mike pence over the weekend. >> if you were president biden, would you pardon him right now? >> i just think this whole matter is incredibly divisive for the country.

and look, i just think at the end of the day, it is saddening to me that we are now in this moment. amna: tam, we know this trial is not likely to wrap up before the election. can the candidates actually steer conversations back to policies and their priorities? tamara: some of them don't nt to. some of em want to defend trump, but then saying however, do you really want this drama? i think they are all still trying to figure out a way to run against him without actually running against him. because his voters are quite loyal. his voters feel that he has been mistreated. so it is almost like they want to be able to go out and say, trump derangement syndrome is real, but do you really want to have to deal with that four more years? amy: that is what they are trying to figure out. the difference for me in talking to republican strategists this

time around versus 2016, in 2016, there was so much confidence. don't worry, we have trump. we figured this out. now, they are saying, we don't know what is going to work. but i think essentially, the message will come down to this, from republins who would like to beat donald trump. it is not so much that he can't win the election. it is that if he wins the election against joe biden, he will not be able to get much done. because of all of these reasons. the deep state will come after him. the media is going to continue to go after him. the justice department -- it would be his justice department, but whatever. there will be other issues that will make it impossible for him to win. but the reason that these other candidates have not been able to break through is that they have not given a reason to voters who may be curious, they are not making a case for why they should be the one to be the nominee. that is the challenge going forward. amna: still plenty of time. it is very early. we cannot say this enough. amy walter, tamara keith, thank you so much. good to see you both.

♪ geoff: a first of its kind trial is underway in montana, where a group of young people argue the state's lawmakers aren't doing nearly enough to address climate change. montana is one of the nation's biggest coal producers, and the industry there has strong political support. william brangham reports how the plaintiffs are using a unique clause in the state constitution to try and force a change. william: it was back in middle school when claire vlases first asked some adults to do something for the environment. her middle school in bozeman, montana was undergoing a major renovation, and so she thought, why not put solar panels on all that new roof? she presented the idea to the project managers. >> i was immediately shut down. they just told me that the idea

wasn't feasible and it was way too expensive. went home, cried about it a little bit. then thought about it more. then i realized, if the only barrier to putting solar panels on the school was the cost, that was not a big deal. i could just raise the money myself. william: and this is middle-school-you, having this idea? >> yeah. it worked well because i didn't have any idea of what money was. i didn't know. i mean, i didn't know that $125,000 was a big amount. william: so the teenager and some other classmates held fundraisers, and they raised the money. those panels now supply a quarter of the school's power, saving the district an estimated $8000 a year. but vlases, who's now going to be a junior in college, has set her sights on an even bigger issue. she and 15 other young people from across montana, including multiple members of native american tribes, are suing their state.

they say, montana's support and permitting of oil, coal, and gas projects is polluting the atmosphere, exacerbating climate change, and harming the state's environment, which they argue, their state constitution explicitly prohibits. their case, known as held v. montana, is the first such state case to ever go to trial. >> one reason why i love montana is because in our constitution, it says that every person here has a right to a clean and healthful environment, which isn't in almost all the constitutions in the united states. william: right, that is pretty rare. >> it is not a political issue here in montana. we all are here because of the land, and we have a right to protect that. and so, as i've learned about climate change and i've seen what our lawmakers have done promoting fossil fuel industries, i've realized that that is unconstitutional acts. william: montana's constitution has this unusual clause because,

back in the 1970's, some citizen conservationists who were concerned with mining and clear-cutting wanted to enshrine a more overt environmental protection, right near the top of their constitution. sandra zellmer, who teaches and researches environmental law at the university of montana's law school, says these young plaintiffs are testing the strength of that protection. >> this allows the plaintiffs to put on evidence that the state's decision-making is exacerbating greenhouse gas emissions and leading to climate change. warmer, dryer, temperatures with all of the adverse effects -- heat waves, wildfires, depleted fisheries, destruction of the stability of our agriculture. so to be able to introduce experts and to get that before a judge in a courtroom at trial is really quite phenomenal. william: but the plaintiffs are facing strong opposition. this year, the republican super

majority in montana's capital and the governor's mansion passed a series of laws promoting further coal and gas development, and hampering renewable energy. it barred state agencies from considering the impact of greenhouse gasses when issuing permits. and it repealed the state's official energy policy, which narrowed the scope of the youth lawsuit. republican senate majority leader steve fitzpatrick, who supported these legislative moves, points out that montana already uses a lot of renewable energy and argues any further changes will have no bearing on climate change. >> just because there's something going on doesn't mean that we necessarily need to take steps that are going to be expensive, that are going to cause people jobs. we are one million people in a country with over 300 million people. we are one million people on earth with 7.9 billion people. i think there's very little that we're going to do at the state level that's going to have an impact on the earth's temperatures. william: the young plaintiffs are being represented by "our children's trust," an oregon-based environmental law

firm that has tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to bring similar cases in every state, and against the federal government. montana's being represented by its attorney general, austin knudsen. his office described the suit as a meritless publicity stunt and in a statement to the "newshour," said these young plaintiffs are being manipulated. quote, "our children's trust is a special interest group that is exploiting well-intentioned montana kids, including a four-year-old and an eight-year-old, to achieve its goal of shutting down responsible energy development in our state." >> even though i'm a younger person, it doesn't mean that i'm manipulated or that i don't know the decisions that i'm making. he knows the decisions that he makes every day, and i believe it is our decisions that define us as people. and so, there shouldn't be a question to my decision just because i'm a couple of years younger than him. >> you spend a ton of time moving around outside, apparently. william: last week, claire

vlases took the stand at the courthouse in helena, testifying how a shrinking snowpack impacted her job as a ski instructor, and how smoke from wildfires made it hard for her and her cross country team to run in high school. >> knowing that there is something i can do to protect the landscape in the world that's given so much to me and allowed me to be a strong individual, that's the most important thing. william: vlases and her fellow plaintiffs hope the judge will rule that the state's support for fossil fuels is harming the environment, and thus is unconstitutional. and even though that kind of ruling won't immediately change montana's energy or environmental policies, they see a longer term goal. >> we hope that it will be the check that our legislature needs to keep them back on the right track. but it, moreover, would set an example to the other states that this is something that people want, especially young people, and that we can make a difference. william: the trial is scheduled to finish by the end of this

week. for the "pbs newshour," i am william brangham in bozeman, montana. ♪ geoff: 158 years ago today, union army general gordon granger arrived in galveston, texas to inform the country's la eved ophat ey had been freed under the emancipation proclamation. the day we now know as juneteenth was formally recognized as a national holiday two years ago, due in large part to the activism of a 96-year-old retired texas school teacher. opal lee first gained national attention in 2016, when the then-89-year-old walked more than 1400 miles from fort worth , texas to washington, d.c. in a campaign to convince lawmakers to recognize juneteenth as a federal holiday. >> i just wanted it to be a holiday.

and i didn't know what else needed to be done. i don't know if i would have tried to stand on my head and make somebody aware. geoff: juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the u.s., even though president abraham lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation in 1863, texas enslavers deliberately withheld the news. on june 19 1865, union general gordon granger led some 2000 union troops, many of whom were black, into galveston bay, where they announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state were free by executive decree. the day came to be known as juneteenth, a combination of june and 19th. now 96 years old, lee says the message of juneteenth is a simple one. >> it's not a texas thing and it's not a black thing. it's freedom for all of us.

and we are not free yet. we have got too many disparities. i mean, the joblessness, the homelessness, the health care that some of us can get and others can't. and climate change that we are responsible for. we're not free yet. geoff: as part of her walking campaign, lee trekked 2.5 miles each day, representing the 2.5 years black texans remained enslaved after the signing of the emancipation proclamation. it didn't take long for word to spread and countless others to join her march. and the campaign picked up momentum in the wake of demonstrations for racial equality after the killing of george floyd. pres. biden: we are blessed to mark the day in the presence of ms. opal lee. as my mother would say, god love her. geoff: in june of 2021, president joe biden signed a bill to recognize juneteenth as a federal holiday, and acknowledged opal lee's singular

mission. pres. biden: she's walked for miles and miles, literally and figuratively, to bring attention to juneteenth, to make this day possible. i ask, once again, we all stand and give her a warm welcome to the white house. [applause] >> to be in the white house with the president and the legislators, and all of those good people. i could have done a holy dance, but my kids say when i drive, i'm twerking, so i didn't. geoff: asked about the best part of realizing her dream for juneteenth, the retired school teacher is quick with an answer. >> to see how eager the children are to learn. and i think it's a travesty taking books out of the school. we should be able to teach the good, the bad, the ugly. so it doesn't happen again. geoff: opal lee says we should

honor our country's second independence day by reflecting on our shared history and future. >> if people can be taught to hate, they can be taught to love. it's not going to happen in a day. you are going to have to work at it. but i do believe when we are all on the same page, we are going to make this the greatest country in the world. geoff: it is worth emphasizing that ms. lee started her walking campaign in her late 80's. in the interview, she said that she was not sure she would live to see the day where her dream was finally fully realized. and that is one of the reasons why she is so grateful. amna: such a great interview. talk about an american hero. that is the "newshour" for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: i'm geoff bennett. thanks for spending part of your evening with us. >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by.

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♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -today on "america's test kitchen"... dan makes bridget choux au craquelin, lisa reviews piping sets, and bridget makes julia gnocchi à la parisienne with arugula, tomatoes, and olives. it's all coming up right here on "america's test kitchen."