♪ geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. fldwaters rage and dangerous heatwaves grow worse,posing serious risks to millions of americans. the end of a russian grain deal with ukraine raises fears about global food security. and police under new scrutiny for their use of tasers, less lethal than firearms, but a weapon that can still be deadly. >> the reality is we need an entire paradigm shift around when force is necessary for law enforcement. ♪ >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by --

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possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. geoff: good evening and welcome to the newshour. the nation remains at the mercy of nature tonight, but nature is showing no mercy. 100 degree heat stretches from the far west across the deep south. and a weekend deluge in the northeast has washed out roads and claimed lives. in bucks county, pennsylvania, standing water from intense flash floods over the weekend has all but dried up. but in the township of upper makefield, just north of philadelphia, a search and rescue mission is still ongoing. >> we have search teams that are assisting us from delaware, chester, parts of bucks county, new jersey, we also have deployed canine units, underwater assets, air assets, and the reason we have done that is weather conditions have permitted that today.

geoff: two children, 9-month-old corad sheils and his 2-year-old sister mattie, have been missing since saturday afternoon. upper makefield township police released these family photos today. officials said their family was driving to a barbecue when seemingly out of nowhere, bucks county was inundated with 7 inches of rain in 45 minutes. the downpour claimed the lives of at least 5 people including the 32-year-old mother of the missing children. scott ellis, a representative for the family, thanked authorities for their search effort. >> we are thankful they were able to save so many unprecedented by these floods -- save so many affected by these unprecedented floods. we are grateful that they were able to recover many who have been lost. geoff: the other four victims were 78-year-old enzo and 74-year-old linda dipiro, of newton township, pennsylvania. 64-year-old yugo love, also of newton. and 53-year-old susan barnhart, from titusville, new jersey. the damage reaches beyond state lines. in new jersey, roads were

fractured and washed over and cars, barely in tact, buried by debris. >> i'm shocked beyond words. geoff: today, new jersey governor phil murphy said flooding in the northeast is becoming more and more frequent. >> we've seen it but not at this level. i think we all fear that that's going to be the new norm and we can't be dragged by that. we gotta get ahead of it. geoff: from the east to the west where arizonans are sweating and splashing through their new normal. >> if you ever, like, stood next to an oven while you're baking something, it's like that but like, it's coming from every direction, and you can't escape it unless you go inside. it's very, very hot. geoff: a historic streak of heat continues to beat down on phoenix with no end in sight. today marked 18 straight days in a row with temperatures of 110 plus degrees. that officially ties the previous record, set in 1974. el paso, texas also shattered records, hitting its 30th triple-digit day in a row.

the el paso fire department said several park-goers were rushed to the hospital yesterday with heat-related symptoms. and nationwide, more than 70 million people live in areas where today's forecasts were dangerously high all the way from the florida panhandle, to the deserts of california. but not everyone is looking to escape it. in california's death valley keeper of earth's hottest temperature on record dozens of tourists posed next to an unofficial thermometer, hoping to see the number tick past the all-time high. a sight to see, but even more so, a foreboding reminder of climate change and its deadly impact as it pushes our environment to the extreme. california has been dealing with these extremes including the heat baking the state right now. we're joined by wade crowfoot, the secretary of california's natural resources agency. thank you for being with us. you have said global climate change is supercharging heat waves.

what is your stay doing to confront the long-term threat posed by climate change? but also the immediate urgent threat posed by these heat waves? wade: most of us across america are not a stranger to hot summer temperatures. however, in california and across the west, we are experiencing he waves that are altogether hotter and longer. parts of california that have never experienced this intense sustained heat are now suffering these he waves. in the near term, we are focused on ensuring people understand when this heat is coming and understanding what precautions they need to take, identifying where cooling centers are they can go to. and over the long-term, we are helping build community resilience to these heat waves through things like shading streets and schoolyards, expanding cooling centers, helping people get air-conditioned in their homes. geoff: on the point about resilience, how is the electricity grid keeping pace

with the demand? how resilient is the grid and what are you advising californians to do in the meantime? wade: last year, we experienced a far higher energy demand than we ever had during one of the sustained heat waves. more people had to use their air condition for a longer period over that week. we are bringing on more energy, and specifically, clean energy to ensure that there is enough energy, and even when everybody across the state is turning that ac on and using electricity, we have enough of it to ensure everybody can stay safe. geoff: california's wildfire season is ramping up amid these intense conditions. how is your state addressing the wildfire risk? wade: hotter temperatures deeper into the summer mean greater wildfire risk. we have upwards of 10,000 men and women out there protecting us from wildfires. we have been focused in recent years on creating fuel breaks around communities that defend communities, doing the work we need to across our forests and

landscapes so these fires, when they start, stay fairly small. our focus now is ensuring everybody is prepared for wildfires that may come this summer. geoff: california also has the largest variety of plants and animals of any state. it also has the world's tallest and oldest trees. how does this prolonged extreme heat affect biodiversity? wade: a lot of plants and animals historically have been pretty flexible and able to withstand big temperature vaations. but these extreme heat waves are almost unprecedented. they are getting hotter conditions in our rivers, which is impacting our fish, impacting ecosystems even into our mountains. we are focused on finding areas of wildlife connectivity in coming years, and places of climate refuge where animals can migrate to as it gets warmer. geoff: you have been doing this work for quite a while. have you seen at this that?

how does it change the work you and your colleagues do? wade: i have never seen it this bad. frankly, we are living on a planet that is not looking like the planet we have been living on as a human species for the last several thousand years. . it is not hyperbole to note we have had the driest conditions, the wettest conditions, the hottest conditions, the worst wildfires. we are seeing climate change accelerate and bring these extremes along with it. and there is so much we need to focus on in california and our country to combat climate change and protect americans from these impacts. geoff: what are the things you say we need to focus on? wade: one is we need to green our grid. we need to demonstrate to the world that we can reduce the pollution worsening climate change. thanks to the president's leadership and our state's leadership, we are focused on doing that. there is a lot we can do to build this resilience to these impacts. in the last, that means creating water systems that are more

resilient to these hotter, longer droughts. there is so much that is happening and our focus is show the world we can effectively combat climate change and protect americans in the process. geoff: wade crowfoot, secretary of california's natural resources agency, thanks for being with us. wade: thank you. geoff: as that heat wave hits parts of the u.s., southern europe continues to swelter as intense heat there shows no signs of abating. the culprit is a hot-air mass from africa called an anti-cyclone. in italy, officials stepped up heat warnings as temperatures in rome soared to 102 degrees. it could be even worse tomorrow, but many tourists seemed to take it in stride. >> we are young and healthy, i think we will manage the heat. we have water, nothing in the bag, just water. lots of water and we have air conditioning in the hotel. geoff: spain and greece are also enduring brutally hot temperatures, and the heat wave

is expected to last until wednesday. u.s. climate envoy john kerry met with his chinese counterpart today, pushing for a curb on coal usage and methane emissions. the beijing talks marked their first extensive face-to-face meeting after a year-long break as relations worsened. the u.s. and china are the world's leading polluters. russia is warning ukraine will answer for an attack that closed a key bridge today and killed 2 people. the kerch bridge links russia to and asked crimea. -- annexed crimea. it's a supply route for russian forces and was initially attacked and damaged last october. moscow released sometimes blurry images today, showing investigators at the mangled bridge and a damaged passenger vehicle. russian president vladimir putin warned of retaliation. >> i would like to repeat that what has happened is yet another terrorist act committed by the kyiv regime. it is also a cruel crime because innocent civilians have been killed. of course, there will be a

response from the russian side. the defence ministry is preparing adequate proposals. geoff: ukraine did not directly confirm or deny responsibility for the attack. an adjacent railroad bridge appeared undamaged. it handles more military traffic than the kerch bridge does. back in this country, a state court judge in iowa has temporarily blocked a law that banned most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. republican state lawmakers pushed it through last week, in a special session. today's action puts the measure on hold while courts decide if it's constitutional. another experimental alzheimer's treatment is showing promise. drug-maker eli lilly reports its medication donanemab slowed the disease by 4 to 7 months among patients in the early stages. a different alzheimer's drug was approved by the fda earlier this month. both come with a risk of brain-swelling and bleeding. on wall street today, hopes for improved corporate earnings outweighed china's report of weaker economic growth than expected. the dow jones industrial average

gained 76 points to close at 34,000 585. the nasdaq rose 131 points, nearly 1%. the s&p 500 added 17 points. still to come on the newshour, the case being made against third-party candidates. our politics monday team on the latest fundraising numbers for presidential hopefuls. and a look at britain's growing housing crisis. >> 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. geoff: today, moscow announced it will not renew the year-long deal that allowed ukraine to export its grain through the black sea. those critical food supplies, which were shipped to countries in africa, the middle east, and asia could now be cut off just at the moment when many vulnerable nations need them most. william brangham explores the impact of this decision.

william: geoff, the agreement, known as the black sea grain initiative, was brokered last year by the u.n. and turkey, after russia's naval blockade of ukrainian ports trapped millions of tons of corn, barley, and wheat. for the past year, russian forces allowed ukraine to ship more than 32 tons of those foods through the bosphorus strait and onto the rest of the world. the deal has been renewed three times, most recently in may. tonight was the deadline to extend the deal, but russia announced its suspension, complaining that western sanctions have restricted the sale of its agricultural prodts. because ukraine is such a major producer of grain and other foodstuffs, u.n. secretary general antonio guterres today said the end of the deal could have far-reaching consequences. >> participation in these agreements is a choice. but struggling people everywhere and developing countries don't have a choice.

hundreds of millions of people face hunger and consumers are confronting a global cost-of-living crisis. they will pay the price. william: for more on what this suspension might mean, we are joined again by david milliband, he is the president of the international rescue committee, a humanitarian organization that works in over 40 countries. as you heard secretary general gutierrez acknowledged that participating in this deal is voluntary. what do you make of russia's decision to not renew it? david: this is a callous move that has been condemned by the u.n. secretary general for a simple reason. it piles agony upon risk for some of the most vulnerable communities in the world. and the impact is twofold. one is obvious and direct. in east africa, one of the most stricken regions when it comes to food mom -- food malnutrition

, 80% of their grain supplies come from russia or ukraine. there is an indirect impact which is important for your viewers to understand. that is the impact on global food prices. we all know in the u.s. or the u.k., food inflation, food price inflation has been real. . it is twice as high 40% over the last year in countries that are most at risk of famine and malnutrition. given there are 50 million people in east africa alone who are at the highest levels of u.n. food insecurity, this is a really dark and dangerous moment for them. geoff: i want to touch on those impacts in a moment. first, russia's argument is they pulled out of this deal because it was unfair to them, that the sanctions were hurting their ability to sell their agricultural products, even though there are no sanctions on their particular products. one analyst we spoke to today argued russia's argument is not -- does not hold up to scrutiny. let's hear what she had to say. >> it's important to remember that russia is playing victim

right now to a crisis of its own making. it's actually ukraine that is suffering to a far greater extent than russia is right now. russia is simply doing what it can to stall the workings of this initiative, of the black sea grain initiative, that it understands that ukraine and many other countries around the world are benefiting from. which, of course, is to russia's own detriment in the course of this war. [00:12:44][28.6] geoff: do you share that concern, that russia's claims are illegitimate? david: my concern is for the people on the receiving end of this move. the international rescue committee is not a partisan or political organization. we are a humanitarian organization and we speak to the real needs we see. we can note that russian agricultural exports have gone up in the last year. our concern has to be with the fact that this grain initiative, which is so important for the global supply and demand of critical foodstuffs, but

especially important in some of the most vulnerable parts of that world, is going to hit them very hard. there was no quid pro quo between russian interests and humanitarian interest. thise ts n tsnddsra d bein folleaowed tlhrough on its own merits. geoff: are there specific nations that when you look at the global map in the nations you work with, but you worry most particularly about? we saw today nigeria declared a state of food emergency. what nations stand out as most in need? david: that is a great point. the burden of food insecurity is not shared equally. those most at risk are countries suffering from conflict and the climate crisis. the top five would include countries like somalia and ethiopia in east africa. they would certainly include northeast nigeria. i would also point you toward countries like vasso in the said hell region of africa. then ian wher we povertyou p is real and

malnutrition is rife. and even in the southern province of pakistan. there is evidence of malnutrition as well but our teens on the ground are working to tackle. all of this is not because there is a lack of food globally. it is because food price inflation, because of restrictions on the supply of food and interference with subsistence agriculture as a result of climate change, is hitting these vulnerable communities the hardest. william: your organization today called on the u.n. very specifically to beef up its efforts given the suspension of this deal. what specifically do you want them to do? do you think they will heed this call? david: i think there are two or three things that come to mind. first of all, the russian government, having in the past withdrawn from the deal, and then gone back onto it. clearly, step one is very active diplomacy, the kind you have seen from the secretary-general of the u.n. speaking out today. this needs to be resolved. secondly, i think it is important to hear the voice of

some of those communities who are affected. it is the leaders of those communities and the people on the ground whose voice need to be heard. thirdly, it is important that we underline that in the countries i've mentioned, u.n. appeals for humanitarian aid are massively underfunded. just to take one example, somalia, which is the epicenter of the global food crisis, its u.n. humanitarian appeal is only 30% funded. that is a recipe for the kind of malnutrition and hunger we are seeing on the ground every day. william: you are saying you run a major humanitarian organization, but many people will remember you where the u.k.'s foreign secretary and are well-versed in global diplomacy. what do you believe it will take to pressure vladimir putin to reopen the supply line? david: you used the word pressure. pressure is the critical element. this is a moment for countries around the world, many of which have tried to not take sides in

the course of this ukraine conflict, to point out that there are innocent victims not just within ukraine, but beyond as well. this is a moment when global voices will be very important, not just the obvious western voices. i think it is important that those western governments that are criticizing the russian move put their money where their mouth is and start fulfilling the pledges that is so much needed to meet those humanitarian funding appeals that are at the moment, not being properly heated. william:, thank --david miliband , thank you so much for your time. david: thank you for having me. ♪ geoff: a new bipartisan organization citizens to save our republic is opposing the effort by the group no labels to run a third-party candidate in the 2024 presidential race.

that's with concerns growing among democrats and republicans opposed to donald trump's candidacy that a moderate third-party candidate could serve as a spoiler in the race for the white house. ultimately peeling off biden voters and benefiting mr. trump, if he's the gop nominee. former house democratic majority leader dick gephardt is one of those officials teaming up against no labels, and he joins us now. thank you for being with us. >> could you be with you. geoff: no labels says it plans to run on democrat and one republican on the same ticket next year. you are leading a group of former democratic and republican lawmakers aimed at stopping that effort. tell us why. dick: if these are normal times -- were normal times, we would have no problem with. . we have always had third-party efforts. these are not normal times. we avoided having a broken election in 2020 by a whisker.

only because mike pence and six or seven state electorate officials, all republicans, stood up to major pressure from former president trump did we avoid a broken election. the president, at that time, was the one who tried to overthrow our government and overthrow our electoral process. as liz cheney said, he can never be near the white house again. the no labels effort, we believe, if you look at all of the polling data, all of the data you can look at would probably elect donald trump if the two candidates are trump and biden. geoff: how can you be so sure that a moderate candidate would peel votes away from joe biden and benefit donald trump, if he is the nominee? i asked the question because there are a number of republicans who would never vote

for joe biden under any circumstances, would likely hold their nose and vote for donald trump. couldn't a moderate candidate then end up peeling votes away from donald trump? dick: we commissioned a national survey and a survey inhe six or seven swing states that really determined national elections. it shows conclusively that if it is a two-person race, then joe biden wins by four points, which is precisely what he won by in 2020. but if you put a third-party independent bipartisan candidate, and that is the way we phrased it, to give it the best benefit of the doubt, then joe biden loses by five or six points. if you look at 2020, it was independent moderate voters in six swing states that stayed

enough with biden for him to win the race over donald trump. we cannot have donald trump back in the white house. he engineered an overthrow of the electoral process. he would do it again. we cannot allow that to happen. geoff: the founding chairman of no labels is the former senator joe lieberman who has said repeatedly that the last thing he would ever want to do is have a hand in returning donald trump to the oval office. one, do you believe that? in two, does that assuage any of your concerns? dick: i like joe lieberman. i served with him in the congress. he is a great person. but if that is what they are saying, why don't they say publicly that if the republican candidate is donald trump, they will not go forward with this effort? that's what i can't understand. they say they are forming an insurance policy in the case the

candidates are trump and biden. that is precisely the time they should not do this. if their goal is not to reelect donald trump. geoff: there is now a full coalition of political groups opposing no labels to include the progressive group moveon.org, the centerleft think tank a third way, the anti-trump group lincoln project. how will your organization be different? david: -- dick: we are totally bipartisan. we've got great former members of congress like jack danforth, chuck hagel, bill cohen, and others. we have great former democratic officers, like to fourth and others. and we are moving into this space, not to attack no labels, not to criticize them severely

for what they are doing. we understand there are a lot of really well-meaning people in that organization. we are just trying to get them to look closely at the facts. and when they are in the place where they are going to make this decision of what they are going to do about going forward, we hope they will understand that we cannot afford this risk of a third-party candidate if donald trump is the republican nominee. and our greatest worry is that campaigns take on a life of their own. if next spring they have raised a bunch of money and they have candidates who are announced and out there, it will be very hard to pull that effort down. that is our great worry, is that we will just blindly walk into a reelection of donald trump. geoff: understanding the worry

you have just articulated, tell me more about how you will do the work. how exactly will you stop them? dick: all you can do is keep hoping and messaging to everybody, including all their people, their funders, whatever, that this is too high of a risk to take. that if donald trump is the republican nominee, they should stop this effort and not go forward with it. so we are going to do messaging in every way we can, we are going to talk to everybody that is involved. and try to speak common sense to them that this is a risk we cannot take in this country. this democracy is fragile. it is always fragile. it can collapse. we can lose our ability to have elections.

there are millions of americans now who believe the 2020 election was stolen. donald trump is still asserting that it was stolen. we are in a bad place. these are not normal times. and we are just asking the folks their senses and not do this if the risk is anywhere near what i think it is. geoff: former house democratic leader dick gephardt with the group citizens to save our republic. thanks for your time. we appreciated -- appreciate it. dick: great to be with you. ♪ geoff: for a mid-summer check-in of the presidential race including newly-released fundraising totals, we are joined by our politics monday team. that's amy walter of the cook political report with amy walter, and tamara keith of npr.

it is good to see you both. let's start with this controversy surrounding this group no labels. they say they are offering an alternative, but it is not clear what that alternative will be. joe manchin, former governor of utah joe huntsman, they were both in new hampshire at a no labels event today. it is not clear they would be the ticket if they -- if there is a ticket. amy, for the masses who say they are dissatisfied either two choices, do they really want a third alternative? do they want a third-party candidate? amy: this is what the difficulty is in trying to pull the question of a third-party candidate. in theory, of course. you get a choice between two people and you are like, i don't know i love this matchup, i would love another alternative, especially somebody who says they are centrist and moderate. my centrist and moderate may be different from yours or from tam's. my idea of the ideal candidate is difficult to poll. then you put the actual candidate in there, i see that

candidate and go, that person is too conservative or liberal. that is difficult to do. the other piece, i understand why democrats are as worried as they are. 42,000 votes separated donald trump from being reelected again that the electoral college margin was 42,000 votes. any sliver could take votes away from joe biden. at the same time, there are also republicans, many of them who continue to vote in the republican primary, they say they don't want trump to be the nominee. they probably voted for donald trump in 2020. those voters also might be willing to support a third-party candidate. if you are democrats and you see the last two times that the white house was lost, even though your candidate won the popular 2016, easy third-party candidate and you think disaster. geoff: how are democrats

planning to confront this challenge or is it too early? tamara: i asked the campaign and they had no on the record comment for me. which is to say, they have a lot of thoughts they are not publicly sharing. i think that's where they are, is kind of hoping this will go away. having friends who are putting together groups that are pointing out the concerns and challenges that could exist with this. if you look at history, george h w bush faced -- there was a third-party candidate in 1992, the incumbent ended up losing, prospero, certainly siphoned votes away from him. if you look into thousand -- in 2000, with al gore who was certainly like an incumbent, and there was a lack of enthusiasm out there. ralph nader got just enough

votes to help george w. bush win. third-party candidates are a concern for major party candidates because they can take away votes, they can destabilize, they can change the dynamic. but the thing a third party has not been able to do and it is not clear no labels is going to do this either is break the grip of the two-party system on american politics, which is what everybody who hates the two-party system like to do, but no one has found a way because of the way the system is set up to break that grip. geoff: let's talk about the money race. we are getting a first full financial look at the 2020 for financial race. i have to put my glasses on to look at the numbers here. on the republican side, look at this number. ron desantis, he raised a strong $20 million. his campaign is burning through cash at a rapid rate. his presidential campaign is shedding staff as it navigates

this cash crunch. less than 15% of his contributors have come from small donors. what does that suggest about the strength of his campaign? amy: for the desantis campaign, you have to look at how much money he is raising and spending, and he has a super pac. their reports are not due until the end of the month. there is a lot of money being spent regardless of whether it is in his coffers. and a lot of those are the big donors. they are not coming from small donors. the other thing campaign say, w, we are getting a lot of candidates, are candidate is not getting traction, we have to shake up our campaign stuff, it is usually the candidate that is the problem. it is very rarely the campaign is the reason you are not breaking through. should they spend less money? sure. maybe have lower overhead. to challenge the desantis campaign has now is the messenger and the message not the fact that they have too many people on the payroll.

geoff: on the democratic side, the president announced he raised north of $19 million. biden's campaign is a real bare-bones operation. he spent more than $1 million in the second quarter of this year. by contrast, barack obama,'s campaign at the time spent more than $11 million. president biden is taking campaign frugality to an entirely new level. tamara: what you have to say about these numbers is in order to make an apples to apples comparison, well, it is impossible. also, in order to make an apples to apples comparison to previous cycles, you have to look at both the campaign itself and the democratic party. or in the case of trump, the trump campaign and the republican party in the reelection year. in that case, president biden, the total with the joint fund committee and the democratic national committee is up to $72 million. that is not as much or trump

had. problems with apples and oranges and all of the comparisons. yes, the biden campaign is leaning incredibly on the democratic national committee. they are fundraising everything they are doing is being done in lockstep and in coronation. it really, more than former president obama, it really is one campaign. the only campaign style rallies he has done so far in this campaign were put on by outside groups and the democratic national committee. the biden campaign did not put on those events. it did not come from the line item of the democratic -- from president biden's campaign geoff: looking at these numbers, robert f. kennedy, jr., his presidential campaign included donors who typically contribute to republicans. that was clear in the campaign finance filings. he is someone who constantly courts controversy. is latest con -- comments about a conspiracy theory of covid are fueling -- here is part of what he said. >> covid-19 is targeted to

attack caucasians and black people. the people who are -- we don't know if they deliberately targeted them or not but there are papers out there that show the racial and ethnic differential impact. geoff: rfk junior said he was misunderstood, he was taken out of context. that aside, there was a time where that sort of thing would be campaign ending and career ending, and yet. tamara: and yet we are covering it. he continues to get a great deal of whether we want to call it oxygen, or maybe some of this donor support, because he is out there so much, even with controversy. we know that controversy pays. the one thing i'm curious to see as we come and see new polling

in the upcoming days is whether this controversy is taking the toll on his poll numbers. we saw some polling where he was as high as 20%. let's see if since we have had all of these discussions, is numbers with democrats are much lower. geoff: amy walter and tamara keith, we will see you back here next monday. ♪ ever since a police officer fatally shot 18-year-old michael brown in ferguson, missouri almost nine years ago, police use of force against people of color especially black americans has been under intense scrutiny. much of the attention is on firearms, but types of force considered to be less lethal like chokeholds and tasers, are also getting a closer look. as john yang reports, tasers may rank below guns on the spectrum of police force, but using them has resulted in deaths. and a note, some images in this

report are disturbing. john: sonya williams struggles with the death of her first-born child, darryl tyree williams. >> he was a good person. i'm not going to say he was perfect. he had his flaws like we all do. but he was loved by everyone. he didn't have no enemies. john: she's especially troubled by the way darrell died, in the custody of police who had used a taser on him several times. >> he didn't deserve this. not a day go by that i don't think about him. it's just hard. it's a hard thing to go through. john: the events leading up to daryl williams death began unfolding at about 2:00 a.m. on a january morning. williams was sitting in a parked car on raleigh, north carolina's southeast side. police were in the predominantly black neighborhood, on what they call proactive patrol, because they said, officers are frequently called to the area. in williams pants pocket, an officer finds a folded one dollar bill with a white

powdery substance. >> both hands behind your back. >> why? john: there's a struggle as williams tries to get away. the officer draws his yellow williams and deliver an electrical charge designed to temporarily paralyze him. williams momentarily breaks free and is tased again. with officers holding him down, williams pleads with them. >> i have heart problems. >> put your hands on your back. >> please. john: in all, officers tased williams four times. about an hour later williams was pronounced dead at a hospital. he was 32 years old. an autopsy concluded that williams died from sudden cardiac arrest in the setting of cocaine intoxication, physical exertion, conducted energy weapon use, and physical restraint. the death was classified as a homicide. >> darryl williams lost his life

because the raleigh police department apparently doesn't have anything better to do than to harass black and brown people. john: dawn blagrove is executive director of emancipate nc, a north carolina group that focuses on race and policing and mass incarceration. she's also one of the lawyers representing the williams family. she underscores the role of the taser in williams death. >> it can be a deadly weapon in the hands of raleigh police department officers, clearly, because darryl tyree williams is no longer with us. john: there is no authoritative database of deaths that follow the use of a conducted electrical weapon. but a 2017 investigation by reuters put the tally at more than 1,000 nearly all since the early 2000s. >> they classify them as less lethal today. because the lethality is still present. john: kalfani tura is a professor of criminal justice at

widener university and a former police officer. he says police shouldn't use tasers since officers can't know if a target has health problems. >> we're not trained as medical experts. when we train to use tasers, we simply train around the mechanical parts of it, how to deploy it. john: tasers are by far law enforcement's most commonly used conducted energy weapon. it's manufacturer, axon, wouldn't speak with us on-camera. but materials the company provided cite findings of independent studies that 99.75% of incidents in which a taser was used did not result in serious injury. and that of the tools available to police to exert force, a taser is least likely to result in significant injury, less likely even than unarmed physical force. the lead author of the studies is doctor william p. bozeman, an emergency medicine professor at wake forest university school of medicine. he says his work is not funded by axon. >> when it comes to cardiac

ef in the current estimate is one in two, to two and a half million. john: bozeman says decades of research on tasers have established that they are safe. even if there are rare instances in which they contribute to a death. >> a taser can absolutely kill you. whether it can do that by a cardiac means is still a topic of discussion. but there have clearly been cases where people were standing in an elevated position. and they were struck with a taser and the muscular lock up occurred and they fell and they had a major head injury and they died. but tasers are actually remarkably safe. >> we owe public safety and communities a better way to stop threats, without having to take a life. john: that's taser's key selling point. axon estimates that about 285,000 lives have been saved or serious injuries prevented because police used their devices instead of a gun.

raleigh attorney dawn blagrove says tasers may be a useful tool, but the issue is how police use them. >> the reality is we need an entire paradigm shift around when force is necessary for law enforcement, even if it is nonlethal weapons. if it is used with the intent to cause harm, to cause pain, to punish someone for not being -- punish someone that is always going to result in the people of raleigh and anywhere else being in danger of death for even simple interactions with law enforcement. john: in june, wake county district attorney lorrin freeman announced that she was not bringing criminal charges against any officers in connection with williams' death. >> this is one of the cases that, you know, i personally have struggled with more than others. john: among the circumstances she says led her to her conclusion, what she calls the limited uses of tasers on williams, none longer than five

seconds. the question of whether officers heard williams tell them about his heart condition. and the complications posed by the autopsy report, which cited a combination of factors contributing to williams death rather than a single cause. >> end of the day, the law enforcement actions, you know, while difficult to watch, while leading to a very tragic end, were lawful and in some instances were what were necessary at that point in time to bring a situation under control. so hopefully we learn from these situations kind of on both sides of that interaction. john: six officers involved in williams death were placed on paid administrative leave. the raleigh police department declined an interview request and wouldn't go beyond a written statement. it said it is department policy that "a conducted energy weapon shall only be used in response to active resistance." the statement adds "it is important to note that our officers are required to make split-second decisions in quickly evolving circumstances." >> darryl was not trying to harm

law enforcement. he did not pose a physical threat. he was trying to get away. he was trying to save his own life. ultimately, without the intervention of other human beings, namely the raleigh police department, daryl would not have died on that night. if this were some random non-law enforcement citizen who had committed a crime that resulted in the death of someone else, that person would be charged. john: the d.a.'s decision also frustrates darryl's mother, sonya. >> i don't have anything against tasers. i just think it's the way to use it. they use it excessively on my child. [00:04:04]until something be done about it, they're going to keep on doing it. john: now that the district attorney has decided not to do anything, sonya williams and her attorney say they are exploring their options in their pursuit of accountability for the police and justice for darryl

tyree's williams. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang. geoff: experts in britain are warning that a generation of young people may never be able to own their own homes because of a grave housing crisis. britain has a shortfall of over 4 million homes, the worst record in europe. pressure is growing to start building in england's rolling e, for decades, construcwhtion haser beecon outd special correspondent malcolm brabant reports, from east chiltington in southern england. malcolm: the bells signal that the tranquility is under threat from britain's housing crisis. the rustic landscape inherited by this congregation may soon be paved over to accommodate a small newtown. kelly penfold, born and raised here, has joined the local resistance movement.

>> personally, i'd like more housing because i'd like more affordable housing, but not at the expense of concreting over all of this. i think there has to be a compromise somewhere because once this is gone, that's it. we can't get it back. we can't replace it. we can't get back all of these trees. you know, planting a new little sapling isn't going to replace a two or 300 year old oak tree. malcolm: the farmland slated for urbanisation is on the edge of a national park, visited by millions each year. the proposed town will comprise at least 3000 new homes. >> the idea at the moment is, that where we're at now here and where this existing track is, this would probably form the high street and the sort of the center point of tthe new settlement. malcolm: damon turner's development company claims to champion the construction of attractive self-sustaining communities, where people's needs are no more than a fifteen minute walk away.

>> this is roughly where we've identified the secondary school would be located. but overall, it's a small market town with food and farming at its heart. malcolm: detailed plans are not yet available, but this similar sized town is an inspiration for the developers. it is poundbury, 125 miles to the west and the pet architectural project of king charles, an advocate of traditional design. the land being fought over is owned by eaton, one of britain's most prestigious boarding schools, with annual fees of $54,000. eton prides itself on teaching leadership and numbers twenty british prime ministers among its alumni. >> eton is a bastion of the british establishment. its critics believe this place perpetuates the inequalities of the british class system because the children of the elite come here and are taught how to exercise and maintain power. the development in this parish should yield huge profits, infuriating campaign leader marc

munier. eton doesn't pay tax because it's a nonprofit, or charity. >> if they were really a charity, you know what they do? they they'd give it to people, they'd give it away. they would rewarded it for society. or even if they had to build on it, give it to people. how many homes could you just give away? and it wouldn't cost them a penny because they're a charity and that's what they're supposed to do. but they won't do that because it's not about helping houses. it's about making money for the people that are already incredibly privileged and wealthy in our society. malcolm: eton says its charitable works include subsidising pupils from poorer backgrounds and creating new schools in deprived parts of britain. eton's director of development is justin nolan. >> i think all responsible charities that have ambitions to do more work need to find sources of funding from a variety of different places. that takes money that goes beyond the fees that we charge. malcolm: the developers hope this video will help win the approval of the local planning authority. >> i don't think myself or any

of my friends or contemporaries expect to be able to buy a property in our lifetimes. it's pretty impossible to buy on a regular wage. malcolm: besides being expensive, much of britain's housing stock is old and tired. most experts say this overcrowded island needs to build a medium sized city every year for decades to come. >> we've got to build more homes, not just to alleviate inequality and to address social challenges, but also to get the economy going as well. malcolm: planning expert anthony breach warns that an entire british generation may be denied their version of the american dream of a home with a picket fence. >> that route is now really closed off for pretty much every young member of british society. so there's millions of young people who are denied the opportunities available to their parents and who aren't able to move onto the next stage of life and enjoy better quality housing and cheaper housing as they get older. malcolm: the housing crisis is becoming britain's most

important domestic issue. with an election less than eighteen months away, prime minister rishi sunak is locking horns with opposition leader kenoir staatrm wer've seen is te highest number of first time buyers in 20 years, mr. speaker. that is twice the number that the labor party ever managed. >> he must be the only person in the country who thinks that enough houses have been built in the last 13 years. and whether it's those dreaming of getting the keys to their first home or those already with mortgages, the ambitions of families across the country have been crushed by his failing tory government. malcolm: if elected, labour says it will lift a longstanding ban on construction on the greenbelt, a ring of countryside around london. centre for cities has identified enough greenbelt sites close to railway stations where a million new homes could be built, including hildenborough, thirty miles from the capital. >> we think that's a crucial starting point where the infrastructure is lined up. environmental benefits already

clear. the climate benefits are really obvious. but releasing land from the green belt is kind of breaking that big taboo on building the greenbelt is really essential if we want to tackle this. malcolm: kelly penfold runs her online cake business from a tiny rented apartment. home ownership is beyond her means. >> it's very difficult if you're a young person and you're on a low income to be able to afford to live where possibly you grew up. my only chance of getting my own home was to go on to the council social housing list, that took five years. malcolm: kelly penfold's dog walk takes her past a small social housing project, she has this question. how many affordable homes, promised by the developers, will be in a similar category? >> we want to come up with a model that works for local people here, people who are really struggling to get onto the housing ladder or even to be able to rent because of the 4 million homes that were short of

it in this country. malcolm: the future rests with the local planning authority which has to decide whether the region's historic market towns will share the landscape with a new neighbour. >> what we're very committed to is making sure we have a strong design code so that this community actually does fit into the landscape. it'll undoubtedly be a change to the landscape, but we don't think it will be as destructive as some people fear. malcolm: but first, eton must overcome the powerful so-called nimby lobby. not in my back yard. >> are you a nimby? >> absolutely, yeah. and you should be grateful that i'm a nimby, because i'm the one that's protecting which greenfields for you and your family. once this is all bulldozed over, it's gone forever. and we don't want to turn into l.a., and just a sprawling metropolis in the southeast of england. malcolm: this is a battle for the soul of national traditions. an englishman's home has always been his castle, in a green and

pleasant land. for the pbs newshour, i am malcolm brabant in east shillington. geoff: and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. thanks for spending part of your evening with us. >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by -- >> architect. beekeeper. mentor. a raymondjames financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. >> the kendeda fund. committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. more at kendedafund.org. supported by the john d and catherine t macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org

. and with the ongoing support of these 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. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] ♪ >> you

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one giant leap for mankind. ♪ hello, everyone. welcome to amanpour & company. here is what is coming up. the story of russia's oppression and ukrainian resistance. i speak to russian journalists about his new book on a painful journey. we have the power to choose what work looks like for black women. we don't have to exhaust ourselves and work ourselves to death. >> taking back the innocence of youth in a time of brutality. poet rachel eliza griffiths works -- about her dawn of the civil rights movement. and discussing the attack that almost killed her husband. >> the technology is just buckling under the weight of all of that policy and pr