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. amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the "newshour" tonight -- pres. biden: the united states seeks a more secure, more prosperous, more equitable world for all people. geoff: at the united nations, president biden calls on world leaders to promote peace and stand with ukraine against russia's invasion, now well into its second year. amna: and we report from on the ground in ukraine, where u.s. support is bolstering the effort to retake land from russian forces. geoff: and the auto workers

strike enters its fifth day as a union leader warns of more potential factory shutdowns if talks come to a halt. >> major funding for the pbs newshour 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. the raymondjames financial advisor taylor's advice to help you live your life. life well planned. >> the john s and james l night

-- knight foundation, fostering informed and engaged communities. learn 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. geoff: welcome to the newshour. the annual united nations general assembly met today, with world, in the words of secretary general antonio guterres, at the

point of a "great fracture." amna: he was not the only one with an unsparing view of the myriad problems faced by many nations. president biden spoke this morning, and sought to reassure underdeveloped nations that the u.s. will help them through these tough times. but his most forceful words were reserved for russia and its war against ukraine. white house correspondent laura barron-lopez begins our coverage. laura: the general assembly gathered today under dark clouds of war, climate crisis, and inequality. secretary general antonio guterres was blunt. >> our world is becoming unhinged. geopolitical tensions are rising. global challenges are mounting. and we seem incapable of coming together to respond. laura: 145 world leaders were set to address the group. but leaders from britain, france, china and russia were absent. pres. biden: as president of the united states i understand the duty my country has to lead in

this critical moment. laura: making the united states the only permanent security council member with veto power to address the body. president biden drew applause after he denounced russia's war as ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy looked on. pres. biden: if you allow ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure? i respectfully suggest the answer is no. we have to stand up to this naked aggression today, and deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow. laura: yesterday zelenskyy visited wounded ukrainian soldiers at a hospital in new york. he criticized the un for still including russia and its ranks. >> in the united nations still, it's a pity but still there is a place for russian terrorists. it's a question not to me. i think it's a question to all the members of the united nations. laura: this year was zelenskyy's first in-person appearance at the general assembly. >> while russia is pushing the world to the final war, ukraine

is doing everything to ensure that after russian aggression no one in the world will dare to attack any nation. weaponization must be restrained. war crimes must be punished. deported people must come back home and the occupier must sinema -- most return to their own land. we must be united to make it and we will do it. slava ukraini. laura: even as biden pledged support in new york, back in washington, house republicans are rejecting more aid for ukraine. speaker kevin mccarthy was asked if more money was on the way. rep. mccarthy: is zelenskyy elected to congress? is er president? i don't think i have to commit anything. i have questions for him. where is the accountability in the money we already spent? what is the plan for victory? laura: at an air base in germany

today, u.s. military officials addressed reporters on the state of the war. defense secretary lloyd austin and joint chiefs chair mark milley took part in a meeting of the ukraine defense contact group. >> this counter-offensive has been going on for about 90 days and it is taking longer than planners in the war games, etc., with the ukrainian planners and the wargames anticipated. but that's the difference between war on paper and real war. there are real human beings in real vehicles moving across real minefields, getting blown up, killed, wounded, etc. laura: the flames of war burn on in ukraine. last night, russia launched a drone attack that set warehouses containing food and other supplies on fire, and killed one person in the western city of lviv. for the pbs newshour, i'm laura barron-lopez. geoff: with the war the topic of so many of the speeches today in new york, we turn now to nick schifrin, who's in ukraine on assignment, and has spent much of the last week with ukrainian forces. you joins us tonight from the southern city of dnipro.

nick, what did you hear in president zelensky's speech? nick: he tried to paint the war in global terms, warning that russian victory could lead to nuclear war. many countries had empty chairs at the u.n.. he called russia a terrorist state, accused it of genocide, and warned not to negotiate with russian president vladimir putin, using this zinger, a rash -- a reference to a former paramilitary group, who died in a fiery plane crash in moscow. >> people cannot be trusted. ask him about putin's promises. nick: the larger context of the speech is zelenskyy's desire to expand ukraine's support across the global south. he met with heads of south africa and kenya. many of these countries continue to provide economic or diplomatic support to russia. lenski knows that in a long war and this does appear to be

heading to a long war, he needs more support at the united nations across the global south then he currently has, especially if the world will hold russia accountable and prevent russia from having the financial resources to continue to wage war. geoff: what does that long war look like on the front where you have been? nick: it looks very difficult. we have spent the last week in southern ukraine on the front lines, specifically in what ukraine calls its most critical front. an offensive south on the road to crimea to cut into russian occupied territory and threatened russian supply lines. we have seen very able special forces and drone units try and attack russian positions currently being for -- being reinforced in that area. we have seen national guard units fighting engine by inch despite not having many resources. we have also seen army brigades with shortages of ammunition and

army soldiers telling us repeatedly there are shortages of weapons and ammunition up and down the front. they describe incredibly challenging circumstances, especially what are the largest minefields in the world, hundreds of miles of minds that ukrainians are having to hand by hand try and explode and that they tell us russia is reminding after they have de-mined it from the air with small butterfly minds. ukraine vows and every soldier we talked to repeats this that it will continue to fight until victory. it defines victory as re-seizing crimea. the chairman of the joint chiefs said ukraine only has four to six weeks left of decent weather before it gets bogged down in mud literally and can't make much progress.

given the political context in the united states, doubts about support for ukraine at the top of the republican party, ukraine knows it needs to make progress in this counteroffensive in the next few weeks if it is going to continue u.s. support and get the critical global south support that it needs for this long war. geoff: nick schifrin reporting for us tonight from the southern ukrainian city of dnipro. nick, thank you. nick: thanks, geoff. amna: in the day's other headlines, the five americans freed in a prisoner swap with iran are finally back on u.s. soil. one by one, they stepped onto the tarmac early this morning at fort belvoir, virginia. loved ones welcomed them home with cheers and tearful embraces after years of separation. they were freed after president biden agreed to unfreeze nearly $6 billion dollars in iranian funds for humanitarian

purchases. a moscow court has refused to consider the latest appeal by evan gershkovich, the wall street journal reporter detained on espionage charges. his trial date has yet to be scheduled. gershkovich appeared in public for the first time in months, standing behind glass walls. outside the court, the u.s. ambassador said she won't rest until he and american detainee paul whelan are released. >> the plight of us citizens wrongfully detained in russia remains a top priority for me, my team at the embassy, and the entire u.s. government. it is unacceptable that evan gershkovich and paul whelan still languish in russian prisons on charges that are baseless. amna: gershkovich faces up to 20 years in prison. paul whelan is serving a 16-year sentence on similar charges. forces in azerbaijan fired on armenian military positions today, killing at least five civilians and wounding scores more. the shelling happened in the

long disputed nagorno-karabakh region that's under ethnic armenian control. azerbaijan's defense ministry released video of today's strakes. -- strikes. they called it an "anti-terrorist operation" launched after a land mine killed several soldiers and civilians. india expelled a senior canadian diplomat today, hours after canada did the same to an indian diplomat. the dueling dismissals come amid allegations that indian agents murdered hardeep singh nijjar in vancouver back in june. he was a canadian citizen and leading advocate for sikh independence. india has called the claims absurd, but canada's prime minister justin trudeau defended his decision to investigate. >> we are not looking to provoke or escalate. we are simply laying out the facts as we understand them. canadians have a right to know and need to know when things are

going on like this. and that's why we made the decision to do this. amna: canada has the highest population of sikhs outside of their home state of punjab, in india. in libya authorities have divided the flood-ravaged city of derna into four sections to create buffer zones to prevent the spread of disease. that comes amid reports that at least 150 residents have fallen ill after drinking contaminated water. meanwhile, anti-government protests erupted outside one of the city's mosques. demonstrators demanded a transparent reconstruction process. >> we ask that if there are any rebuilding efforts that no libyan company be involved. everyone in derna is corrupt, from the head of the municipality to city officials. derna should either be left as is, or a foreign company should be involved. amna: protesters also called for a thorough investigation.

reports allege authorities ignored warnings that the two dams that collapsed near derna during the storm needed maintenance. and stocks slid on wall street today as investors awaited tomorrow's federal reserve decision on interest rates. the dow jones industrial average lost 106 points to close at 34,518. the nasdaq fell 32 points. the s&p 500 slipped nine. still to come on the newshour, republican congressman ralph norman on critical negotiations to avoid a government shutdown. why crews regularly remove tons of fishing debris from the bottom of the gulf of maine. the newest state and local efforts to register more people to vote. and the first woman to lead texas's oldest hbcu recounts her remarkable life in a new memoir. >> this is the pbs newshour w eta studios in washington and in the west from walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: the united auto workers

strike is now in its fifth day, and while it's limited to a few plants now, the uaw president threatened to expand it starting friday. the battle largely centers on a dispute over wages, job protections and benefits. but as william brangham reports, the larger shift toward electric vehicles is also a major factor looming in all of this. william: this strike has brought some simmering, long-held disputes about electric cars into the spotlight. as automakers invest billions in the next generation of electric vehicles and as the federal government provides big financial incentives for doing so, autoworkers fear that electric vehicles, which require fewer parts and less servicing than gas-powered ones, will render some jobs obsolete. so how will this impact america's push toward electric cars and trucks? we're joined by david ferris, who covers this closely for politico and e&e news. so good to have you on the program.

before we get into the labor dispute itself, can you tell us how the big three are doing in this shift toward electric cars? david: it's an interesting moment because we are moving from the excited early adopter phase of customers to people who just want to have a new car and are interested in maybe saving gas, because they can plug in their car instead of pumping at the gas station. that is a pivot that is very expensive for the automakers. right now, especially gm and ford are poised to start pumping out brands that everyone knows, like the gm blazer, the gm equinox, the silverado pickup truck in the next year. they are doing that at the same

time as this strike. william: some of the incentives are coming from the government, but you are also saying consumer demand is a driver. do automakers believe this is the future and they have to be delivering electric vehicles? david: before the generous legislation passed that supercharged manufacturing of eeev's in the u.s., the big three automakers have been responding to demand not in the u.s., in china and europe where they can see those requirements are coming. they were also making them here because it is their home soil. now there are billions of dollars of tax incentives available, there are even more reasons to build them at home. william: the uaw from their perspective, they look at all of their employers, the victory, shifting to more electric vehicle production. what does that do to them?

why are they so seemingly perturbed by this? david: as you mentioned, eb is a simpler vehicle that is easier to make, requires less parts. you don't need carburetors, fuel injectors, mufflers. that's going to eventually probably require less hands to build those cars. right now those people are still employed, still a lot of internal combustion engines being made. in a tight labor market, the workers are in a good position to wring concessions from the automakers. they realize this is a good moment because if eeev's weaken the market, they will be -- this is a good time to set a new floor for how they expect to be treated. william: the big three argue that a lot of other electric car manufacturers operate in

nonunion plans and that creates cost advantage for electric car manufacturers. do they have a point? david: they do. there is analysis that if the uaw got everything it wanted out of the victory, the labor costs of making a four-door agm or a dodge or jeep vehicle might be twice what it is at tesla reminder that tesla sells 60% of all ev's sold in the u.s. today. it puts them at a cost disadvantage to tesla at a time when customers have communicated very clearly that they want cheaper eb is. it is not only tesla. all the automakers in the south, bmw, hyundai, toyota, are building their future ev factories in southeastern states

where there is not much of a union presence. william: we are only a few days into the strike, but if it goes on, do you have any sense what a prolonged strike would do in the shift to ev's? david: it erases the possibility that ev's from the big three are going to cost more. another possibility is as the strike goes on, these additional trucks and suvs that the big three rollout in big numbers are also the providence of the companies. those are what the automakers are using to bankroll ev investments. a long strike could sap the automakers' profitability and limit their ability to fund their ev efforts. amna: david ferris -- william: david ferris, thank you so much for being here. david: thanks for having me.

amna: in a sign of much larger problems ahead, house republicans today withdrew their potential plan to fund the government. the conference is divided and struggling to agree, with only 11 full days remaining until most agencies would be forced to shut down. congressional correspondent lisa desjardins has been at the capitol today and joins me in the studio. so the clock is ticking, you have been talking to your sources. where do things stand? lisa: we have been through this game before. i am usually an optimist. i am also leery of this situation because we know these lawmakers have ways of figuring this out by the deadline. given the dynamics, the conversations i am hearing on capitol hill, we are hurtling toward a government shutdown.

something dramatic has to change to avoid one. this is based on substantive issues, primarily that house republicans are concerned about spenng and the growth of the national debt. they want to curb spending. it's hard, but that's the easy part because republicans can't agree amongst themselves about how to do that. let's look at the list of things house republicans can't agree on. one, the size and shape of spending cuts. two, ukraine funding, something we talk a lot about on this show. immigration, border policy. . also and the shutdown itself. there are some republicans who believe the shutdown could be a good thing, believe it or not. they think it would force the issue about spending and national debt. others say that's ridiculous, we shouldn't be going toward a shutdown. that there are republicans like that is adding to this dynamic

and increasing chances of having a shutdown. on the other sidearm moderate republicans who say, this is out of control. here is mike lawler of new york. >> we are in a divided government. you have a democrat-controlled senate, a democrat in the white house. of course you need democrats. anyone who things otherwise is lying to the american people. lisa: house republicans cannot even pass a rule on the house floor tonight, a major defeat. kevin mccarthy is meeting in small groups with everyone to try and work this out. amna: if all the struggle seems to be within one conference, what are the off ramps to avoid a shutdown? lisa: the same as we always see, there needs to be a short-term funding bill. republicans are trying to come up with one but as long as they can't agree, the other way is to peel off a few democrats, bring together moderate democrats and republicans to come up with a simple, just fund the government

for a few weeks. the problem is democrats are unhappy with republicans over the impeachment inquiry they launched last week. republicans many think that being bipartisan means you are not conservative enough. these dangerous rifts and our cultural and political sensibilities in this country are hitting full force. if you are a government worker planning a trip to a national park, you should be watching this because we could have a shutdown soon. amna: lisa desjardins covering this incredibly important story. thanks for your reporting. let's hear now from one of the republicans who say they will not support the current deal to fund the government. joining me from the capitol is south carolina congressman ralph norman, a member of the house freedom caucus. welcome and thanks for joining us. how likely is a shutdown right now in your view? rep. norman: it's 100%. amna: and are you comfortable

with that? rep. norman: well, a shutdown is not the best thing in the world, but continued path toward bankruptcy is not an option either for me. it was put in perspective at a caucus meeting today when one of our members said he calculated that the debt every second is $20,000. every second. it's not business as usual. economic security is national security. in a perfect world, we would agree on everything and have bipartisan support, but that is just not the case. it is up to us, the majority by a slim margin, to come up with a budget that gets us on a downward trajectory. that's what we agreed to in january, a 10 year budget, which we will have, and other things. this isn't easy. when it comes to money, there is

an advocate for every dollar, so it's not easy but it's part of the reason we are elected to this office, to make decisions. amna: what about a short-term funding bill? i know some of your colleagues are part of a group that worked out a potential deal. you don't support that but what would you support? rep. norman: what i would support would be leadership agreeing to a topline number. we put on paper on july 10 1.471. i met with the speaker today and he, to his credit, has been open to talks. we need a topline number that the 12 appropriation bills won't over. one of the agreements in january was to operate a regular order, which would mean for the 12 appropriation bills to be hammered out in june and july. that just didn't happen for whatever reason. amna: do i understand correctly when you say you won't agree to anything unless it has that topline number of 1.471?

rep. norman: that's the number we have given. we are not going into this thing blindly giving a blank check. i have told the speaker this. we were burned on the debt ceiling to give this sitting president a blank check on the spending limit to january a play 25. we just don't do that. that's why we need to safeguard of a number, that he is going to go to work and get, as he did with the speaker vote. he did not have 218. we have almost put the cart before the horse, instead of working on each of the appropriations bills to cut things we know are not good for the country, in the republican'' opinion, and get consensus on. you have to go line item by line item. i am ready to do that. amna: it is striking to hear you

say there is a 100% chance of going to a shutdown permit we are just now digging out of the hole from covid and the hit the economy talk. inflation is coming down, unemployment at historic lows. why risk damaging the economy further with a shutdown? rep. norman: why risk borrowing more money at $20,000 a second that's going to add to the debt? amna: but you do agree a shutdown would also harm the economy? rep. norman: it harmed the economy when government shut the business is down for a virus, harmed the economy when children couldn't go to school. the government is going to have to go on a diet. a shutdown, if it happens, and i think it will, will encourage everybody to come up, particularly republicans. i don't think we will have much bipartisan support. the into the democrats continue to give, which is bizarre, is more taxes and more spending.

i am not using my boat to go along with that. a shutdown is going to be the result of i guess waiting until the last minute. amna: mr. mccarthy basically dared the freedom caucus to try to remove him from the speakership and you didn't. is that threat sort of empty at this point? rep. norman: you had one member mentioned that. it is not an empty point, it's always out there. who is to say if we don't move anything else what's going to happen? the reason we fought to keep that in in january is because anybody, if you are not doing your job in the private sector, you don't keep your job. kevin has done some good things but spending is the cancer in the country he has to focus on. hopefully he will. i am not going to go there with what i vote to vacate or not. i am saying let's get the job on the economy going, get spending under control, move this country forward.

amna: the republican plan does not include additional funding for ukraine defending itself from russia. you saw president biden at the u.n. ga today say the u.s. is going to continue to stand with ukraine. are you worried that calling that funding into question emboldens russia and its war in ukraine? rep. norman: what i worry about is this president not having any -- if he were legitimate saying he wanted to find ukraine, cut something on these programs. the green new deal, the funding for foreign countries, the $6 trillion that he gave iran. where is that coming from? why does iran, who would prefer to blow this country off the map , why does it deserve $6 trillion that this sitting president gave? amna: do you mean the money that

came as a result of the hostage negotiations? those were not u.s. taxpayer funds, those were frozen iranian funds. rep. norman: i understand that, it is still money that he agreed to give away, as he is doing with every agency he is under control. look at the executive orders that have had dollar bills attached to them. my point is if he was serious about it, let's examine the budget. this year we are going to run a $2 trillion deficit. that's not fair to the american people. i will argue that all day. to add that to existing debt, i don't subscribe to that theory. amna: last week you said you are considering running against senator lindsey graham, that you have not made a decision yet, but why do you believe he could be vulnerable in play 26? rep. norman: i like lindsay, but you get two different lindsays. in a six-year term, the first

four years he votes for mitt romney, votes to spend this country into oblivion. the last two years he votes conservative. lindsay has got a big warchest. an hour and politics is a long time. 2026 is a long way off. i was asked by the press what i consider it, yes i would because i am frustrated by his nonparticipation getting this country back on a firm financial footing. amna: that is south carolina congressman ralph norman, a member of the house freedom caucus, joining us tonight. good to see you. rep. norman: my pleasure. geoff: we've often talked about the enormous problem of plastics and microplastics in our oceans. one important contributor is lost or abandoned fishing gear that breaks down, often referred to as ghost gear. the issue is getting more

attention. there was a recent effort to get the united nations to enforce tougher regulations as part of an international treaty. and just last week, a coalition announced new funding to remove some debris in the gulf of maine. but as science correspondent miles o'brien reports, there's a lot more work to be done. miles: hard island is a rugged spit of land about a mile off the coast of maine. it is uninhabited, a natural refuge for seabirds, but humans are spoiling the landscape with an unending tidal wave of lost and dumped fishing gear. >> it is overwhelming and just keeps coming. it probably has not been trapped there very long. miles: linda welch is a wildlife biologist for the u.s. fish and wildlife service. it manages the maine coastal

islands national wildlife refuge , 73 islands home to thousands of nesting seabirds, some in danger or threatened. >> i don't think there is another industry that would be allowed that type of behavior, where trash from your industry accumulates on public lands and you have no responsibility to clean it up. miles: chicks seeking protection from creditors crawl into lost lobster traps, combining them inside. >> it looks like it has a piece of the trap wrapped around its foot and it died because it was not able to get free. miles: the tangled traps way at least 50 pounds apiece and the islands have no harbors, docs, or boat ramps. >> we have to come ashore in small skiffs, hand the traps into those boats, those boats shuttled the gear to offshore larger boats, and those transport back to the mainland. it's time-consuming. miles: the cleanup is largely

left to volunteers coordinated by nonprofits. >> you get an appreciation for how these things are made. miles: laura ludwick's manager of the marine debris and plastics program at the center for coastal studies. we caught up with her on a foggy morning in massachusetts. >> it's like a spiderweb. miles: after a long week of beachcombing by volunteers, the heavy equipment and the barge had arrived to finish the job. >> at its peak, i believe there were 3.2 million trap tags sold annually, anywhere from 200 to 300 traps lost annually. miles: that is a pretty stunning number. lobster man steam train has been fishing in the gulf of maine for more than 40 years. >> last year we had quite a few

storms and i lost 30 traps, a record for me. miles: the climate emergency will likely worsen that problem. it's not the only reason traps go missing. >> boats cut them off, ships cut them off. miles: there are not fishermen under cover of night dumping old nets and traps in the water because they don't want to deal with it? >> do i think that might happen? probably, but that is not the industry norm. miles: right around the time train began fishing, the industry started using steel traps coated with plastic and plastic lines. they replaced wood, which degrades naturally. this gear lasts forever. four buzz scott, the bigger problem is out of sight but not out of mind. >> clear? miles: traps that pileup on the seafloor, so-called ghost gear. >> ghost gear because we have lost them, they are ghosts to

us. they also are ghost gear because those traps are still fishing if they catch one animal a year that is eaten by another animal in that trap. we are wasting a lot of resources. miles: scott is founder and president of oceans wise, a nonprofit that educate students about the gulf of maine. his dismay over the mass beneath the surface has led to some action. over the past three years, he and his team have removed about 3600 lost traps from the bottom of boothbay harbor. >> we could have 100 drivers, 20 boats, and five rov's working in the gulf of maine constantly. it has taken four years to fill the ocean up so it will take us a lot longer to find these traps. miles: of course the problem is not limited to lobster traps in the gulf of maine. all over the planet, this caesar

littered with abandoned nets, buoys, death traps for all kinds of marine life, like these desperate crabs. >> fishing gear is the most harmful form of plastic marine debris in the ocean. miles: the ocean conservancy is seeking solutions to this burgeoning problem, part of the plastic onslaught on the oceans. pound for pound, is this more lethal for marine life? >> animals can get entangled in ghost gear, they can ingest it, it can break down. fishing gear can be incredibly light and float in the water column, where often marine animals live and play. miles: the nonprofit leads to global ghost gear initiative, fostering recycling products that lead to consumer products. they partnered with a company to make clothing, sunglasses, and skateboards out of fishing nets.

recycling any kind of plastic is problematic and the massive nets and heavy traps present an even greater challenge. most fishing ports do not even have a place for fishermen to recycle their old gear. >> all the gear i have comes from different fishermen in massachusetts. miles: caitlin townsend works for a nonprofit called net your problem, also trying to make it easier for fishermen to recycle plastic gear. she works mostly alone with her dog in a warehouse near the most lucrative fishing port in the u.s., new bedford, massachusetts. >> i take these nets and i will lay it out and essentially separate it into the different types of plastic. miles: net your problem has recycling sites in alaska, washington state, california, and maine, as well as this one. what is the big solution in your view? >> it would be to have an

operation like this in every major fishing port in the united states. miles: she has to send the plastic to europe because there are no recycling facilities here that will accept it. down east, buzz scott employs a hydraulic pressure to make it easier to recycle the lobster traps. to melt them down, he must truck them across the border into canada. about a month after our visit to hart island, linda welch led a cleanup effort. volunteers crushed more than 200 traps. a chartered barge is set to haul it away. the derelict fishing gear just keeps coming. for the pbs newshour, i am miles o'brien along the gulf of maine. geoff: today is national voter registration day, a civic

holiday for organizers to encourage and register americans to participate in elections up and down the ballot. it comes not just as the 2024 presidential race heats up, but as six states go to the polls this year for major races with broad implications for issues like abortion policy and voting access. the league of women voters is one of the largest, non-partisan, on-the-ground organizations signing people up. it's president is dr. deborah turner, who joins us now to discuss the effort. thank you for being with us. >> thank you, it's great for you to have me. very excited to be here. geoff: your organization is overseeing lots of events around the country to register voters. we spoke with a youth mobilizer, claudia, of move texas, a nonpartisan group getting people registered to vote. >> for us it is about making democracy accessible, exciting

for young people. we have been handing out free pizza on campuses across the state, handing out popsicles to get the conversation doing -- going. when we begin the conversation about are you registered to vote, we are able to have meaningful conversations about the issues they care about. geoff: how is the effort going, making voting fun and accessible? deborah: it is going very well. one of the key things she said is engaging younger voters because they are one of the groups less likely to be registered. lining them up with reasons to vote and how voting affects their life is how we get them to the polls. most of us vote because something means something to us and that is what they are doing. kudos for doing that. geoff: there is a widely shared view that higher turnout helps democrats and hurts republicans. is there any evidence that turnout is correlated with

partisan voting choice? deborah: it depends on where you are who turns out to vote, but the key is that when everybody is registered and everybody bodes, the results will end up being what the people want. that has nothing to do with whether you are a democr or a republican. when we register voters, we don't even ask their party. we simply say be want you to vote, be registered, go to the polls and express your feelings so your rep that if -- so your representatives can represent you. regardless of party, race, religion, ethnicity. geoff: our team also spoke with nora, the executive deputy director of a nonprofit that works to engage young people in elections. our producers asked her what issues are motivating young voters. >> i think when you affect anyone in the day, what they can

read, where they can go, who they can love, all of that makes people feel a certain rage and confusion about why is happening. i think unfortunately we have culture wars and i also think it's a big motivator for young people to pay attention and to care. [:26] geoff: what are you hearing from voters about the issues they care most about and what is really engaging them? deborah: we are hearing voters are really interested in making sure democracies days strong. they are going to the polls to vote for things that shore up democracy. they are concerned about education, health care, bodily autonomy. they are concerned about the finances of the country. they are concerned about everything our elected officials take up. they have their own opinions and they want to voice them. for young people, one of the

other big issues is gun safety in the country. that's what we are hearing from our voters. geoff: today we saw pennsylvania enact automatic voter registration, the 24th state to do this. how does it work and does it boost the number of people that show up on election day? deborah: it does. when you engage with any governmental agency for any reason, you have the ability to register to vote. one of the things people will say about voting is, i never registered because nobody asked me. if you go to an agency, getting your drivers license for example , and somebody says, have you registered to vote, it triggers you to say, maybe i haven't and i can vote. it gives the opportunity to do it without pain and suffering and it becomes a natural activity. we are 100% in this fight for automatic voter registration at the league of women voters and we hope it becomes standard across the country. geoff: this is an off year

election year but six states are holding election for governor, state legislature, and supreme court. how can states close the gap between off your turnout and presidential election year turnout? deborah: one thing is talk about the issues, issues in your state that are important enough to vote for. gubernatorial races are very critical to people because their governors probably have a lot more power over what is going to happen in their lives than their senator or congressperson. there are other races that are really important and we spend a lot of time working with races around school boards, city councils. these are all critical to making your life better and what you want done in your community. that's what we want to encourage people to understand. politics is local, voting is local. those local people are going to

make a difference in your life. geoff: dr. deborah turner is president of the league of women voters. thank you for joining us. deborah: thank you for having me. make sure you are registered and vote. amna: she would become one of the country's most distinguished educators, president of three colleges, the first african-american to head an ivy league university. but ruth simmons' new memoir takes us to a time before all that, to the very different circumstances in which she grew up. jeffrey brown traveled to houston for our arts and culture series, canvas. ruth: one thing i have never forgotten is how to reach out to people. jeffrey: for ruth simmons, it was a return to hester house, a community center in houston's fifth ward that played a large role in her childhood. ruth: how to add value to other

people's lives, because that's what happened to me. jeffrey: "what happened" is the story simmons, now 78, tells in "up home; one girl's journey", which begins with these words: ruth: i was born to be someone else. someone, that is, whose life is defined principally by race, segregation, and poverty. that, in the end, i did not become the person i was born to be still, at times, confuses and perplexes me. i have always been looking back. jeffrey: you always have? ruth: i have, because imagine going from these circumstances to the presidency of an ivy league university and meeting powerful people and wealthy people. so i've lived in a world that was so different from the world that i was born into. jeffrey: that world was rural, deeply segregated east texas in

the 1940's and 1950's. simmons was the youngest of 12 children of fanny and isaac stubblefield, who worked as sharecroppers sharecroppers in the system of subservience and ever- potential violence that continued long after slavery ended. ruth: that was the world that my parents knew. jeffrey: and that meant bound to the land, bound to the farm. ruth: absolutely. jeffrey: no running moderate -- running water, a lot of no's. ruth: a lot of no's. no dignity, no rights to speak of, but a means of subsistence. in the book i describe my father and what this world did to him. and, you know, the prototypical shuffling and obsequiousness that are associated with the

worst of that period. jeffrey: which you saw in him. ruth: which i saw in him. and so i think we were all looking for a way to be proud and straight-backed. jeffrey: when simmons was six, her family moved to houston's predominantly black fifth ward, where she attended atherton elementary and walked across the street to hester house, which, seven decades later, continues to serve seniors -- chair volleyball, anyone? -- teens, here in a dramatic karate display, and children taking part in a variety of afterschool programs. hester house, simmons says now, saved her and other family members. ruth: there were few outlets for african-americans at that time. we couldn't go to certain places. we couldn't socialize outside of our area. and so here was this wonderful community center and one could come here as a young person and

meet other young people. jeffrey: and also pick up books off the shelves, which you write about. ruth: especially get books. that began a fascination with books and with literature which, of course, shaped my entire life. jeffrey: she credits a number of adult mentors, most of all teachers at nearby phillis wheatley high school, for opening up her world and showing her previously unimaginable opportunities. ruth: they were on a mission, these teachers, let's face it, because here they were teaching in an era when we all thought nothing was possible. their charge was to make sure they prepared us for the possibility that the world would change. the possibility. and that's what they were doing. jeffrey: one of the most interesting parts of this in my reading was in those years in high school, you describe making a conscious decision of how you were going to act, how you were

going to speak. ruth: yes. jeffrey: you were going to speak in a mannered, correct english. why? ruth: because, you know, once as a child people make fun of you, that's kind of an unforgettable experience. but that's just one element of it. the other element of it is that i had so little really as a child, and i was very aware of how little i had of my own. but when it began to occur to me that i could possess these words, oh, my god! these words were available to me. jeffrey: and you were going to make them yours. ruth: and i was going to make them mine. and furthermore, no one could prevent my having them. they could prevent my going into a department store, sitting at a lunch counter, but they couldn't prevent my taking hold of these words for myself. jeffrey: graduating from wheatley, she would go on to

attend dillard, the historically black university in new orleans earn a doctorate in romance languages and literature from harvard, and later become one of the nation's most prominent educators, president of smith college, the first black president of one of the all women's seven sisters schools. brown university, where she was the first woman president, and first african american to lead any ivy league school. and most recently, in a return to houston, the historically black prairie view a&m university, a public institution. jeffrey: you've achieved a number of firsts. when you look back now, what are you most proud of? ruth: i have to say, i'm most proud of the fact that i remain the same person. jeffrey: from this young girl that you're writing about. ruth: yeah, which is what i was desperately seeking to accomplish. i always tried not to think of myself as proving anything to anybody.

i didn't want to prove that i could be president of an ivy league university. i always wanted to be the best person i could be in the context of the values that shape to me. and i wanted to make sure that no matter what happened to me, i would still be that person who respected other people, who cared about difference, who listened to others. i cared more about those things than anything else. jeffrey: in fact, ruth simmons' memoir of her childhood ends well before the accomplishments that would would bring her renown. and so, of course, the only appropriate spot for family and friends to join her for a book launch party, here at hester house. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown in houston. geoff: and there is more with dr. simmons online. you can hear her thoughts on what the end of affirmative action in college admissions

could mean for higher education. that's on our youtube page. amna: join us tomorrow night for more. that's the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. thanks for spending part of your evening with us. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> consumer cellular, this is sam. >> this is a pocket dial. >> i thought i would let you know with consumer cellular, you get nationwide coverage with no contract. have a nice day. >> actually you don't need vision to do most things in life. i am legally blind and i am responsible for the user interface. data visualization. if i can see it and understand it quickly, anyone can. it's exciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward. that's the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo.

>> carnegie corporation of new york, supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security, at kearney gate.org. -- 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.]

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. hello, everyone, welcome to amanpour & co., here's what's coming up . free at last, the nightmare is ending for five americans detained in iran, i speak with u.s. national security spokesman john kirby about the deal to bring them home and who represents the longest held. the united nations has no power, there is no money but we have a voice