wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. the xfinity 10g network. made for streaming. ♪ geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on the "newshour" tonight, congress returns to washington facing a deadline to keep the government funded and concerns about senate leadership. geoff: the former leader of the far-right militia group the proud boys is sentenced for his role in the january 6 attack on

the u.s. capitol. amna: and, saudi arabia and israel move closer to normalizing relations after decades of animosity, but many questions remain. >> i think it's quite a high price and there's a lot of wishful thinking about the kind of gains that it could potentially bring. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour, including kathy and paul anderson, and camilla and george smith. >> pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymondjames financial advisor tailors advice to help you live

your life. life well planned. ♪ >> the john s. and jane l. knight foundation. more at kf.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. amna: welcome to the "newshour."

u.s. senators are back to work in washington today after a month-long recess. their return sets up the start of a high-stakes showdown to prevent a government shutdown by the end of the month. that will be a tough task. the democratic-led senate and republicans in the house currently don't see eye to eye on spending priorities. geoff: the senate gaveled into session days after senate minority leader mitch mcconnell appeared to freeze up for more than 30 seconds during a press event in kentucky, the second such incident in as many months. today while speaking on the senate floor, mcconnell referenced the episode, but did not discuss it in detail. >> now, one particular moment of my time back home has received its fair share of attention in the press over the past week, but i assure you august was a busy and productive month for me and my staff in the commonwealth. geoff: "the washington post's" leigh ann caldwell joins us now from capitol hill.

let's start with concerns about senator mcconnell's health. his office released a letter today from the capital's attending physician. what did it say in what is the level of concern among senate colleagues about his well-being? leigh ann: before the senate came into session, mcconnell's office did release this letter from the attending physician, trying to get ahead of the controversy and the questions swirling around his health. what the letter said is that there's no evidence of a seizure disorder. that there's no evidence of a movement disorder such as parkinson's or of a stroke. that was an attempt to tamp down on any questions. as far as what republican colleagues are saying, the are still some concerns about wanting to know more information about -- wanting to know the full story. i will say he has the support of his fellow republican leaders. the number to senator john thune

said today he has the full support of mcconnell, but it will be a topic of discussion among republicans as they meet for their weekly conference lunch tomorrow. geoff: when the house returns, the first order of business will be funding the government before the september 30 deadline or face a government shutdown. the two chambers are far from agreement, in large part because of far right house republicans are making their demands known. what is the latest? leigh ann: the senate did come back into session. and i spoke to senate majority leader chuck schumer in an interview that published this morning. he said it is up to kevin mccarthy, the house speaker, on if there is a government shutdown. that is because mccarthy can choose to go the bipartisan route and ensure there is no shutdown. but, mccarthy has not committed to that yet. but, it does seem like mcconnell and schumer are on the same

page. in mcconnell's floor statement today, the address the, saying the government needs to keep the lights on and also the government needs to fund money for ukraine and money to help all the people who have been impacted by disasters. this will really be a showdown but it will be up to speaker kevin mccarthy on if he's going to do it in a bipartisan way or appease his far right members that lead them to a shutdown. geoff: shifting our focus back to the upper chamber. senator tommy tuberville is facing new pressure to release his hold on military promotions. the secretaries of the navy, air force, and army wrote a rare joint op-ed, accusing him of putting national security at risk. is there any evidence based on your reporting that that will soften the hardline tub or veil has -- tuberville has drawn? leigh ann: there isn't.

there's a lot of pressure for months now coming from democrats, the leaders of the military, including defense secretary austin, including general milley who i spoke to recently. and said there is a real readiness problem with these holds. but tuberville insists he is holding a line, and it is the military and democrats who have to compromise. he thinks he has the support of alabama republicans, his alabama constituents. so, there's no sign yet that there's going to be any sort of breakthrough on these military holds. geoff: leigh ann caldwell of "the washington post," thanks for being with us. leigh ann: thanks, geoff. ♪ amna: in the day's other headlines, a panel of three federal judges struck down

alabama's second try at a congressional map. that's after republican lawmakers refused to create a second majority-black district despite a supreme court mandate. now, a special master will be designated to draw up new districts. ultimately, the case is expected to wind up back before the supreme court. prosecutors in atlanta unveiled and charged 61 people with racketeering today after two years of protests against a police and fire training facility. activists call it cop city and say it would militarize the police. prosecutors call them militant anarchists who burned equipment and threatened supporters of the project. republican attorney general chris carr said it amounted to a criminal enterprise. >> violence is not political speech and i will never understand how we got to where we are today. it's important to remember these acts of violence are in response to the fact that the residents of atlanta have rightly chosen to build a state-of-the-art

public safety training center. amna: activists accused the attorney general of using the case to build a campaign for governor. first lady jill biden remained at the family's delaware beach home today with mild symptoms of covid-19. she tested positive late monday. meantime, president biden was back at the white house today after testing negative twice. aides said he's being closely monitored. he's slated to travel thursday to the g-20 summit in india. in afghanistan, the u.n. food agency has announced it's cutting off aid to another two million people in afghanistan amid a major funding shortfall. that's on top of eight million afghans who lost food assistance in april and may. speaking in kabul, the world food program's director for afghanistan said the results could be catastrophic. >> wfp has to cut 10 million people from emergency food assistance, from 13 million to

three million, leaving us only able to support one out of five people who go to bed hungry every night. this is not sustainable. amna: the u.n. agency estimates afghanistan needs $1 billion in food aid for the next six months, but foreign donors have pulled back since the taliban takeover two years ago. russia is refusing to comment on reports that north korean leader kim jong-un may visit russia this month to meet with president vladimir putin. spokesman dmitry peskov was asked today if he could confirm that kim is coming. he said, "no, i can't. there's nothing to say." but, u.s. officials said plans for the meeting are in the works. they said moscow wants ammunition for the war in ukraine, while north korea wants weapons, food, and energy supplies. spain's soccer federation fired jorge vilda today from his job as coach of the women's world cup champions. he had applauded luis rubiales, the spanish soccer federation

president, who refused to resign after kissing a player without her consent. vilda later criticized rubiales, but today's firing brought general approval. >> the dismissal is not in time at all. it should have been done earlier when there were initial complaints. i think more could have been done because there is still a lot of change to be made in the federation. >> it's late and it's what had to be done, especially if the girls are unhappy with him, despite achieving a maximum level of success as a coach. amna: rubiales was suspended last month and is under investigation by the spanish government. china's largest property developer narrowly staved off default today. country garden told creditors it made an interest payment of $22 million just before a grace period ends. a real estate crisis in china in recent years has already swept dozens of other home builders into default. back in this country, president biden awarded the medal of honor to retired army captain larry

taylor. in 1968, the helicopter pilot braved heavy fire in vietnam to rescue a four-man reconnaissance team. today's ceremony came after the men waged a long campaign to award taylor the nation's highest military honor. he is now 81 and lives in signal mountain, tennessee. and on wall street, stocks were sluggish after the long holiday weekend. the dow jones industrial average lost 195 points to close below 34,642. the nasdaq fell about 11 points. the s&p 500 slipped 19. still to come on the "newshour," suspended texas attorney general ken paxton faces an impeachment trial on corruption charges. a new book gives an inside view on biden's presidency. and tennis legend billie jean king reflects on 50 years of equal pay at the u.s. open. ♪ >> 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: the former leader of the extremist proud boys group, enrique tarrio, was sentenced to 22 years in prison today for his role in the january 6 attack. laura barron-lopez has more on what this sentence means and the larger threat of far-right extremism. laura: enrique tarrio's sentence is the harshest punishment handed down to date for those convicted for their involvement on january. tarrio led the proud boys, a white power group that played a critical part in carrying out the insurrection. the group is just one part of a trend, an increase in white supremacist and far-right violence. those extremist movements, top u.s. law enforcement officials say, pose the biggest domestic terrrorism threat facing the country. to discuss this, i'm joined by kathleen belew, a historian at northwestern university and

author of "bring the war home: the white power movement and paramilitary america." and seamus hughes of the university of nebraska omaha's national counterterrorism innovation, technology, and education center. thank you so much for joining us. kathleen, tarrio was not at the capitol and january 6 because he was arrested a few days prior for setting fire to a back lives matter banner but he did direct is proud boys to attack the capital without him. what is the significance of this 22 year sentence and the mystic terrorism enhancement that was applied to it? kathleen: the domestic terrorism enhancement is important because it recognizes the intent of the january 6 event. when we are thinking about january 6, we should always be thinking about a broad group of people, not all of whom had plans to become violent and storm the capitol that day. in the case of tarrio and the proud boys and oath keepers and

affiliated groups who have now been found guilty, they were planning to do this. they were violent and they are part of a long, decade-long movement of white power activists and militant right activist to of waged war on the united states since the early 1980's. this is still not the maximum sentence. 22 years, the headlines are reading long sentence, but the prosecutors were asking for 33. in each case, the judge handed down below the recommended sentencing guidelines for these defendants. laura: seamus, broadening this out, as kathleen said, the proud boys are part of a larger movement and part of this web of increased threats. you and researchers at your university have compiled the data that shows in the last 10 years, there have been more than 540 federal arrests for people who violently threatened public officials. roughly 45% of those are

ideological, often antigovernment or racistn nature. 84% were for threats against election officials, candidates, lawmakers, and military. when you look at all of these threats, all of these arrests that your researchers have compiled, along with the sentences that we've seen in relation to the january 6 insurrection, do you have any hope that recruitment -- or that recruitment will die down for such extremist groups or people will stop believing in these conspiracies and ideologies? seamus: unfortunately, the trendline tells us no. you look at domestic terrorism arrests in the last few years, the fbi was investigating 850 people three years ago. now, they are investigating 2700. the trendlines of people being arrested for threats against public officials, that is going much higher. no, i don't think necessarily arrests are going to stop this.

it will be a larger issue on how to address this. it's important for us as a society to put the finger on the scale and say this is unacceptable. so, of course, some people will say you cannot arrest the way out of the problem but it is a first stop. laura: i want to run you through some of the recent threats, some specific details. all of the people have either been arrested or sentence this year. a texas woman using racist slurs threatened to kill a black judge in the trump january 6 case. an illinois woman threatened trump and his son. a new mexico men sent a transphobia threat to a congresswoman. an iowa man threatened to hang an arizona election official. what is the trend? seamus: that is all in the last three weeks, so the trendline is going up. we look at the capital police, they put out there threat assessment every year. it has been true for the last five years in terms of numbers.

federal arrests for the last 10 years have steadily been rising. this is unfortunately a real problem. we have normalized violence and violent rhetoric in a way that is concerning. when you look at the threats, a number of individuals that come from right wing or antigovernment extremists, but there is some bipartisanship. you look at threats against trump, congressman santos, a number of the federal judges covering the trump trial, this is unfortunately pervasive. laura: kathleen, when you look at tarrio's actions in his and sing, the race is killing of three people in jacksonville. a california woman who was killed for displaying a pride flag outside her store. are these all connected? kathleen: absolutely. we are talking about a broad groundswell of white power activity, militant right activity.

the proud boys have to be considered alongside other public facing groups like the oath keepers and 2-percents, other january 6 groups, and also alongside the violent underground of this movement which includes groups like adam waffen and the base. it may include other sorts of underground activity and other sorts of attack. it certainly includes the "lone wolf shootings" in jacksonville and buffalo and charlston and christchurch and el paso and pittsburgh. we can go on and on. this is all part of the same movement. it is an opportunistic movement. it will use this moment for recruitment as it always does. so, it would be a huge mistake to think these sentences will slow the activity of this movement. this is like cutting the head off a hydra. we are still very much under threat. laura: seamus, do you think americans are becoming

desensitized to this increased level of white supremacist, extremist violence? seamus: absolutely, unfortunately. it reminds me a lot of school shootings in terms of the ability for our public and media to move onto the next day. jacksonville was only a 24 hour story, for folks out there where it is real life and stays with the victims there forever. the problem when you talk about this, the normalization of violence. i worry less about the president, the former president getting threats, because there's a security apparatus to deal with that. my concern is the local election official who does not have that apparatus, does not know who to call when they get those threats. we look at the threats of individuals that have been arrested the last 10 years. there are plenty of examples of individuals who ran for city council, got a threat and said i don't want to do this anymore. it is the slow burn of democracy on this one. this does affect how we address and work as a society. laura: kathleen belew and shamus

hughes, thank you both for your time. >> thank you. ♪ amna: today, america's top diplomat called israel's prime minister and the president of the palestinian authority, and senior u.s. officials met their counterparts in saudi arabia. among the topics of focus, could two of america's closest allies in the middle east, israel and saudi arabia, normalize relations? nick schifrin examines the outline of a possible deal and its implications. nick: it would be a grand bargain and create a tectonic shift in the middle east. israel and saudi arabia have never had diplomatic relations. but today, both countries' leaders appear to want normalization and the u.s. is actively negotiating its details. the broad outline would be this

-- the u.s. provides the saudi arabia security guarantees, civil nuclear technology with enrichment, and advanced weapons. and israel provides what officials describe as "meaningful concessions" to the palestinians. here's how national security advisor jake sullivan described the possible deal late last month. >> between saudi arabia and israel would be a big deal. it would help create a circumstance in which the countries of the region could collaborate on everything from economics to technology to regional security. and that would benefit the united states of america in a fundamental way because we have an interest in a more integrated, stable middle east where de-escalation is opposed to escalation is the order of the day. nick: but, critics argue it could come at too high a price for not enough gain. to examine a possible deal and its implications, we get three views. robert satloff, executive director of the washington

institute for near east policy. bernard haykel, professor of near eastern studies at princeton university. and dalia dassa kaye, senior fellow at the ucla burkle center r international relations. thank, welcome to all three. bernard, let me begin with you. why is this important for riyaad, and what are the most important asks? bernard: it is extremely important because they would like to get certain guarantees from the united states. there is a fourth or fifth issue they would like which is a free-trade agreement with the u.s., in addition to the ones you listed. i think they are interested in stability and they want to move away from the ideologies of anti-imperialism and resistance to the u.s. and turmoil, which has characterized much of the history of the modern middle east until recently. so, it is very important for riyaad to normalize with

israel but under certain conditionss. nick: security guarantees from the u.s., advanced weapons from the u.s., a nuclear program with enrichment. are these things that prime minister netanyahu in israel and president biden are willing to give saudi arabia? robert: nick, so far, it looks like president biden wants to go big. he does not want to nickel and dime on what each side is asking the other. he's trying to make a big deal that each side makes big concessions to each other. as for the israelis, there is an internal debate. we are seeing within the national security establishment in israel on what types of guarantees and benefits to the saudis might have a negative impact on israel's qualitative military edge. but right now, it seems as though political and security

leaders are leaning towars accepting the big deal-- towards accepting the big deal outline of security guarantees and even a civil nuclear relationship between the u.s. and saudi arabia. nick: dalia, you recently argued this deal would not generally advance peace in the middle east. in fact, it can make things worse. why? dalia: normalization is a positive and the u.s. should welcome it, but as suggested, it would be a high price and mostly paid from washington. this defense path we are talk about with the saudis is the kind of agreement we don't even have with israel. we tend not have these arguments with undemocratic partners. the nuclear agreement on the table seems to go beyond the type of cooperation we have with other regional partners. so, i think it is quite a high

price and there's a lot of wishful thinking about the kind of gains it could bring. nick: staying with you, are there also concerns given human rights concerns about saudi arabia and its leader? there also concerns by critics in israel that certain steps that government is taking would erode the checks and balances. dalia: there's always concern about the saudi domestic record on human rights and continued repression. this will be a particularly big issue if this comes to congress, if this is a formal defense pact, it will require congressional ratification. there's also concern in some corners that the timing is quite awkward because it could potentially bolster the israeli prime minister when he's launching this assault on the independent judiciary in the country, when you have unprecedented protests for 35 weeks. that is another concern that comes up with the timing.

nick: bernard, address those arguments about concerns about the promises to saudi arabia, what it would come to especially enrichment, and what dalia referred to as the repression of the kingdom. bernard: the united states has come to the defense of saudi arabia in 1990 by an iraqi invasion. i think that the united states would come to saudi arabia's defense simply for geopolitical reasons and the oil reserves that are in that country and neighboring countries. on human rights, absolutely, the saudis don't have a good record. they have a pretty bad record. that is something the united states has raised in the past and should continue to raise. i don't see how a purely values-based foreign policy is going to advance peace in the middle east, or for that matter,

make the saudis behave better. if you link the saudis to a normalization agreement with israel, i think you have a better chance of getting leverage on that and many other files. on the nuclear agreement, the saudi position is the united states has effectively agreed to iranians being allowed to enrich, so why shouldn't they be allowed to enrich? nick: robert, can you respond to the concerns that dalia raised about the israeli government? they are being raised across israel every night through unprecedented domestic protests. robert: i think the answer here is very simple. you cannot choose moments of opportunity. i think we do a little of this service to the association to call this only a normalization agreement. i think what the biden administration has in mind is something much more transformative, which is yes, at its core, making a normal,

peaceful relationship between our closest middle east ally and perhaps the most important arab and muslim state, saudi arabia. it is bigger than that. and has to do with deterrence against a region of threats headed by iran. it also has to do with getting our partners on the same side with us in terms of the military security and high-technology approach vis-a-vis china. nick: dalia, are your concerns assuaged perhaps if this is a truly transformative deal as robert just said? dalia: what i am questioning is what gains we will get on the strategic level. when it comes to china, this notion that this agreement can kind of help move the saudis back into the u.s. camp is just not in touch with the regional realities today. countries like saudi arabia and other partners in the region don't want to take sides. they are playing all sides and playing them well.

when it comes to iran, we are not going to have some unified pro-american access confronting the iranians, as much as we might like it. saudis themselves are normalizing and resuming diplomatic relations with iran as we speak. finally, when it comes to these expectations of big wins in the palestinian front, what israeli government are we talking about? we are 30 years from oslo and as far as we've ever been from a two state solution. let's get a good agreement and make sure the u.s. is not paying an unnecessarily high price. nick: bernard, let's zoom into the palestinians and their request. when the united arab emirates normalized with israel, they agreed with the trump administration and the israeli government, that the israeli government would not pursue annexation for a number of years. will the saudis ask for even more than that? in general, how important are the palestinian requests to this overall conversation? bernard: i think the saudis will

ask for certain freezing of settlements and the removal of certain settlements that are deemed illegal, even under israeli law, i think. but to be honest, i don't think the palestinian issue is central to this agreement from the saudi perspective. saudi arabia is at the moment pursuing a policy where national interests of the kingdom are first and foremost in terms of strategic thinking. i do want to add one thing which is the saudis can and will do things that are deeply troubling for american interests, strategic interests. not just becoming closer to the chinese, but they can also start selling oil in currencies that are not the u.s. dollar. that would be a serious attack on the status of the dollar as a

global reserve currency. the saudis do have a number of cards they can play eventually if u.s.-saudi relations are not put on a much more secure footing, which they have not been under this administration. nick: rob, last word. what are the changes of this coming to fruition. as has been mentioned, can a deal get through congress if it needs to? robert: well, there's a remarkable effort by the administration for something which stands only about a 50-50 chance given all the moving parts of this deal. but, they are putting the white house -- the white house is putting a lot of effort into it. if they believe there is an israeli security component that goes with a saudi security component, that this is something they can bring to the senate and they believe they can get the two thirds majority in the senate for approval for treaties that would set a new baseline for our relations in

the middle east. nick: robert, bernard, dalia, thank you very much to all of you. >> thank you. ♪ amna: it was an historic day in texas as the state senate transformed into a court of impeachment for the first time in nearly 50 years. suspended attorney general ken paxton pleaded not guilty to 16 charges, including bribery, obstruction of justice, conspiracy, and abuse of the public's trust. the house impeachment managers and paxton's attorneys ea began to make their case. >> mr. paxton has been entrusted with great power. unfortunately, rather than rise to the occasion, he has revealed his true character. and as the overwhelming evidence will show, he is not fit to be

the attorney general for the state of texas. >> we are living on the wet end of democracy right now. is it up to the voters or is it up to politicians to see who stays in office? your decision is much bigger than ken paxton. your decision is literally about democracy in this state. amna: for more on the trial, i'm joined by tony plohetski. he is a reporter for "the austin american-statesman." he has been following today's proceedings. welcome back. always good to see you. let's begin with what exactly mr. paxton is being accused of. what are the charges related to? tony: so, this all dates back to 2020, and during the pandemic, a number of ken paxton's top aides -- we are talking about his first assistant and other people who worked in the executive

offices of the attorney general's office. they went to the fbi and they said we believe our boss, the attorney general of texas, is committing a number of federal offenses, including bribery and abuse of office. the allegations relate to ken paxton's alleged actions to aid a well-known austin investor by the name of nate paul, who himself was under fbi investigation. and according to the allegations, ken paxton took a number of steps in his official capacity as attorney general to assist nate paul and then received benefits allegedly from doing so. amna: we are part of what mr. paxton's defenseteam had to say. what else are they saying? what is the crux of their argument? tony: they are essentially saying that all of this has been misconstrued. that any alleged evidence or any allegation brought forth by

these whistleblowers is just inaccurate. that they got it wrong, and that the house investigators who spent months digging into ken paxton's conduct, that they simply have it wrong. they are also contending that this is a weaponization of the impeachment process that ken paxton was duly elected last fall to a third term to service texas' top attorney. they say this effort is an effort to undermine the electorate and the voters of texas. amna: what would it take to get a conviction, and is that likely in this republican state senate? tony: so, really, it has been described as a trial for nine republican senators. the question is whether or not there will be enough republican senators to push this impeachment effort over the finish line. it requires a two third

majority. there is an assumption that all 12 democrat senators will in fact vote for impeachment, but then it would take an additional nine to get -- see the finish line the impeachment. i think it is an open question about whether or not that is going to happen. amna: it is worth noting ken paxton has been a staunch ally of former president trump this is a long time. this is all unfolding in a state president trump won handily back in 2020. how do texans feel about this impeachment proceeding? tony: to be clear, there is an effort that has been underway for several weeks now by a couple of political action committees. a couple of very well-funded political action committees. they have essentially launched campaigns to say to texas republican senators who they feel may be at risk for voting to convict ken paxton, they have set, look, if you do so, you

will face a primary challenger. when you look at other information, like a recent poll released by the university of texas just days ago, many republican voters according to the survey don't really even know, fully understand the allegations against ken paxton, but many of them also similarly said that they do not believe this impeachment effort should go forward. amna: we know it is day one of the trial. many more days ahead and we hope you check back in with you as these proceedings continue. that is tony polehetski joining us tonight. thank you. tony: thank you. ♪ geoff: when joe biden stepped into the oval office as

president on january 20, 2021 following his decades-long career in public service, he was perhaps better prepared and more equipped than other presidents in recent history to deal with the ways of washington and his fellow world leaders. "the atlantic's" franklin foer has examined president biden's first two years in office, which he writes about in fascinating detail in his new book, "the last politician." and franklin joins me now. thank you for being with us. franklin: thank you for having me. geoff: in the prologue of the book, you write that the electorate in 2020 turned to joe biden, that his victory was ascribed to the fact that voters wanted calm and decency and competency, even a bit of boredom after four years of the trump administration. you write that was not the view that joe biden had of himself and for his presidency. what was his initial vision, and how did it evolve? franklin: joe biden had not set around his whole life wanting to be president just to be a placeholder. he had grand and visions for

what he wanted to accomplish. he had a massive social spending program that he wanted to put in place. he wanted to redirect american foreign policy so it was oriented more to the challenges of a rising china. and he wanted to redirect a lot of the old orthodoxies of democratic party economics to steer it in a different direction, where it was warmer to unions. it took the problem of monopoly more seriously. it had some version of industrial policy. geoff: you also recount the untold timeline of the afghanistan withdrawal. president trump set that into motion with the doha agreement. it was president biden who decided to honor that decision. you're right he had a contrarian faith in the righteousness of his decision. how did that affect the strategy

and execution of that withdrawal? franklin: one of the most interesting qualities of the biden presidency and his whole career is he has a very complicated relationship to elites. on the one hand, he craves their respect and approval. on the other hand, he does not feel totally at home within the elite. he thinks to some extent that they are constantly underestimating him. biden, i think, believes he possesses certain qualities that allow him to be a contrarian. on afghanistan, he was a contrarian for over a decade. during the obama administration, he was calling for withdrawal. i think that he felt the impulse to get out so strongly, he was so intent to some extent on winning the bureaucratic wars over afghanistan, and so intent on focusing on the strategic redirection of american foreign policy that he lost a bit of track of the humanitarian questions that ultimately came

to the fore and was so vivid in those weeks in august of the withdrawal. geoff: there's a ton of reporting in this book about the president's domestic legislative achievements. i want to talk about abortion because joe biden's catholic faith is central to how he views the world. is that what accounted for what his critics saw as his flat-footed response to the supreme court overturning roe v. wade? franklin: as a devoted catholic, he has gotten complicated on his feelings about abortion. i think that biden came from this other era that the terms of abortion were different. i don't think he appreciated initially the radicalization of dobbs and the way it would be radically implemented straightaway. it took that 10-year-old girl from ohio who went to indiana to have to have an abortion in a way -- and the way in which the

law fell down on her. for biden, that became immorality tale -- a morality tale that snapped everything in place for him. whatever flat-footed miss, whatever qualms he had at the outset melted away. i think he eventually came to not just appreciate what dobbs would mean for women, but it also came to appreciate the political benefit for the democratic party with the dobbs decision in a way which it took a democratic base and rallied them to the polls. geoff: what is the relationship between president biden and vice president kamala harris? franklin: their relationship was forged on the job. it comes with all the baggage that biden brought from the obama administration about his own time sitting in that chair. so, i think, harris -- kamala

harris, for reasons having to do with her own political sense of self, struggled to find her way. the truth is that obama needed biden because he saw certain holes in his own resume that he thought biden could fill. biden has a supreme sense of self-confidence based on his many years in washington. i think it was harder for him to see the space for kamala harris in the vice presidency. while the relationship formally, emotionally is a very healthy one, on a practical matter, it was harder for harris to find her legs. i would also say that my book ends with the midterm elections in 2022. i think harris has found a greater sense of political identity since my book closes because of the abortion issue where she's been the

administration's primary spokesperson. i think she has developed a more coherent political identity in the months that followed the close of my book. geoff: voters rain overwhelmingly think president biden is too old to run for president. that was the latest finding in a wall street journal poll this week. how was the white house planning to turn his age, his half-century of public service, turn that into an asset? franklin: it is a strange disconnect because in the course of my reporting, i depict a president who is deeply involved in the intricacies of policy. an extremely active commander-in-chief. he's got to find a way to explain what he's done and convey the sense of activity. and i think you are correct in saying they have not really leaned into his age as an asset, even though he was clearly elected because he was an experienced hand. we're navigating a proxy war

with a major nuclear power. our relationship with china is extremely tense. the ways in which those things can go off the rails. his experience actually does matter in navigating those conflicts. and he needs to show that it was his legislative skills, his political skills based on all of those decades of experience that yielded these accomplishments that he can rack up on his side of the ledger. geoff: the book is "the last politician." its author is franklin foer. it is a triumph of reporting. congratulations. franklin: thank you so much. ♪ amna: today, some women's tennis players are among the

highest-paid athletes in the world, but that wasn't always the case. equal pay was a years-long battle, hard-fought by the same women playing the game, including the legendary billie jean king. i met up with king at the u.s. open recently, as the tournament marked 50 years since it became the first sporting event in u.s. history to offer equal prize money for men and women. it's been decades since she played on these courts and literally changed the game for women. >> we're a microcosm of society sports are, so at least we're going in the right direction. amna: but billie jean king is still everywhere at this year's u.s. open, as the tournament marks 50 years of equal pay. and she's not nearly done pushing for change. >> women's tennis has always been the leader in women's sports. so, we have a responsibility and an opportunity to help make this world a better place.

amna: it was a different tennis world in which king made her name, winning 39 grand slam titles between 1961 and 1979 with a number one ranking for six years. it was at the u.s. open in 1972 when king clinched the women's singles title, then made a revolutionary demand. >> i just remember sitting in the media conference after i'd won. i don't know what came over me, but inside my heart and soul said i don't think we'll be back next year unless we have equal prize money. and i said it very quietly, i'm not ranting and raving. and the media goes, what? i said, i haven't talked to the women yet about it, but i'm pretty sure that they'll go along with it. t behind it?f the women don' i thought they would. amna: king made sure they did. rallying more than 60 other women players in london's gloucester hotel in the summer of 1973 to get them to band together and form the women's

tennis association. you told someone to literally stand at the door. >> betty staubel. yeah, don't let anyone out, lock the doors. amna: it was king and the so-called original nine who'd laid the foundation three years earlier, at a time when some men earned as much as eight times as the women. this groundbreaking group signed $1 contracts each to take part in the first women-only tournament. and in june, king and other wta founders returned to the famed london hotel where the wta first formed 50 years ago, forcing equal pay at the u.s. open. feels both like a long time ago and also not that long ago at all. how does it seem to you? >> it seems in some ways recent because i can remember everything clearly. in 1972, i got $10,000 for winning and our tour was only in

its second year then. so, women's professional tennis had just gotten started. amna: king, too, was just getting started. off the court, a private war, convincing one corporation to help close the prize money gap. >> the tennis battle of the sexes. amna: on the court, a very public so-called battle of the sexes, taking on and beating bobby riggs in 1973. an estimated 90 million people tuned in. tennis' most-watched match to this day. king went on to rack up 12 singles grand slam titles. the other three grand slams followed the u.s. open's lead on equal pay, but that took decades. even today across women's sports, the pay equity fight rages on. the fact that it's taken 50 years to get to a place where this is not the norm. >> when you talk to ceo's or companies, do you invest in women's sports as you do men's

sports? they usually get very quiet. but a lot of times they will say, they haven't thought about it. so, just putting the thought in their heads is a start. amna: you have always, since you were 12, you have found a reason to speak out for what you think is right. do you see that same kind of leadership and willingness to speak out among this new generation, the younger players? >> oh, absolutely. venus williams fought through equal prize money through the years. one thing that we stress in the wta and the older players at that time when we started was this is a platform. we have an opportunity. we actually have an obligation to help make this world a better place. amna: mary jo fernandez, a former world number four, says king's contributions to the sport weren't without a cost. >> she had to sacrifice so many tournaments and her practices and her tennis career for something bigger than herself, which is why i think she's beloved. but now, i think there's so much more money. everybody's so much busier.

tennis is not just tennis. it's the physical part. it's the mental part. it's the nutritional part. a lot revolves around all these athletes. and i don't feel like the top top feel like they have the time to really dedicate themselves like billie jean did. amna: what do you think about that? >> i understand it. i totally understand it. but, i'm hoping down deep that if venus ever retires, she sort of takes a little bit of the mantle and takes that responsibility because she really helped women's tennis. amna: i asked 29-year-old american jessica pegula, now number three in the world, about how her generation views that responsibility. i wanted to get your thoughts of whether you individually feel pressure or responsibility as a leader in this generation of players to continue that work? >> i think when you are younger you're just playing and you , don't really care. you're just this is fun, this is my dream and all this stuff. and then, you start realizing how important it is to make an

impact on your sport and leave with some sort of legacy. it's a very exciting time for women's tennis and we'll keep pushing for what we believe in. amna: women's tennis is also grappling with other how and when transgender athletes can compete. king herself lost endorsements when she was outed as gay in 1981 and has been a champion of lgbtq+ rights. her views on transgender athletes competing, she says, are still taking form. >> i do think in certain sports, they have to take a hard look, especially time sports, track and field, swimming. each sport, i think, is making up their own rules. from what i understand, i'm trying to keep learning. i keep talking to scientists. please help me to understand, you know, what's the right thing to do. when they're young, let everybody have fun and play.

once you get to probably high school and you start having elite sports where it matters like going to the olympics to be a professional athlete. then, i think you really have to have rules. i'm still trying to learn more and more all the time. i'm not that emphatic. you know, i'm trying to figure it out. amna: you think that should change after high school. >> if a male gets to puberty, they have a bigger skeletal system, their hearts bigger, everything. so, these are the things you have to take into consideration. >> ladies and gentlemen, my friend, the incomparable billie jean king. amna: as her views and the sport continue to evolve, she is enjoying the spotlight put on the 50th during this tournament and turning her attention to the future. i asked king, who turns 80 this year, about the many ways conditions for women have improved since she stopped playing. does any part of you wish that you were playing today? >> yes. i would love to be able to play today. that would be fun, because

they're better than we were. and i would always want to get better. they're living the dream. that's exactly what we wanted. amna: her fight on the court locked in her place in tennis history. her work off tethered king's story to our nation's. in 2009, she was awarded the presidential medal of freedom by president barack obama. there is now an effort underway to award king the congressional gold medal. only 11 athletes have ever received the award, but king would be the first woman. geoff: i love that she says she still wants to play. amna: such a trail blazer, still going strong. geoff: great interview. amna: thank you. remember, there's a lot more online, including a story on what borrowers need to know now that student loan repayments have resumed. that's at pbs.org/newshour. geoff: and that's the "newshour" for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire "newshour" team, thank you for joining us. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> consumer cellular, this is

sam. how may i help you? this is a pocket dial. with consumer cellular, you get nationwide coverage with no contract. that is kind of our thing. have a nice day. ♪ >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.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.]

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