♪ >> tonight, but will having vice president harris at the top of the democratic ticket help or hurt down ballot initiatives and candidates? fewer doctors are going into pediatrics, leaving parents desperate to find needed care for their children. >> the first available appointment was in june of 2025. you have to hope for somebody else to cancel an appointment to get your child the care that

they need. >> an artist to paved the way for americans with disabilities. ♪ >> major funding has been provided by -- >> consumer cellular, how may i help you? this is a pocket dial. i thought i would let you know that with consumer cellular, you get nationwide coverage with no contract. that is kind of our thing. have a nice day. ♪ >> with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the news hour.

♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your station from viewers like you. thank you. >> good evening. tonight, u.s. and other western diplomats are trying to keep israel and hezbollah fighters from escalating attacks along the lebanon border. israel said it hit a number of targets in lebanon in retaliation for a rocket strike that killed 12 children's and teens. while the response appears to be limited, the israeli defense minister bout today that hezbollah will pay a price. >> i moved to the northern command to see the response plans. this is hezbollah we are talking

about. they are committed. they will bear a heavy price for their actions. >> fighting in gaza continues. gaza health ministry officials say 15 palestinians are dead after israeli airstrikes. israel says they are acting to prevent hamas from regrouping. with just 100 days until election day, donald trump's running mate is stepping up attacks on vice president harris. j.d. vance criticized her on the economy, immigration, and policing. his attacks do not seem to be dampening democratic enthusiasm. the harris campaign says it raised $200 million in its first week. they say most of the donations came from first-time contributors. in california, the weather is helping firefighters combat the state's largest wildfire so far this year. cooler temperatures and higher

humidity are viewing -- bringing relief to butte county. the park fire has burned 600 square miles. nearly 2500 firefighters are battling the blaze and they say they will try to take advantage of the favorable conditions to make more progress. american women dominated in the pool at the parent of addicts. they won gold and silver medals in the 100 meter butterfly. simone biles made a triumphant return to the of the big stage after pulling out of the tokyo games. the most decorated gymnasts of all time overcame a minor calf injury she aggravated during warm-ups. her doctor checked her out. she was the top qualifier today and moves on to the final on thursday. irish writer edna o'brien has died.

she went from outcast to the pride of ireland. her debut novel told the story of young irish women struggling in an oppressive male-dominated world. it was banned in ireland but acclaimed abroad. her more than 20 boats challenged views on gender, sex, and religion. she recently talked about the treated for cancer. she was 93. still to come, how a shortage of pediatricians is putting kids at risk for a lifetime of poor health. and one woman's fight for the rights of americans with disabilities. >> this is pbs news weekend, from our studios in washington, home of the news hour. >> 100 days out from election day, the political landscape is drastically different than it was just a little more than a week ago. president biden is out of the

race and vice president harris is the presumptive democratic nominee. that has shaken up more than the race. affects are being felt in the battle for house and senate and the fight over big issues on ballots in many states, including abortion. the editor-in-chief of the cook political report is with us. what has this done, this change to the democratic ticket, to democratic chances of taking back the house or holding onto the senate? >> i think you have to look at it, state-by-state, district by district. what you had was a real lack of enthusiasm from the democratic base. now what you are starting to see is that enthusiasm is up. that will help a lot of lou district democrats who were worried about low turnout. if you are a democrat that is still sitting in a red or purple state, it is probably mixed.

there is something about how having biden on the ticket help folks who were and maybe more rural areas. they could make the case that while they disagreed with him on some issues, they were not going to have those positions on some issues that were a little too much for folks in those districts. i don't of it changes the race for the most competitive seats in the house. what it does to is help democrats not lose the seats that they should be winning. >> there is a competitive race for the senate in pennsylvania. we are seeing an example of republicans trying to define areas as she comes -- harris as she comes into the sprint for

the election. >> you have been rated as the most liberal senator. >> i prepared to get rid of the filibuster. there is no question i am in favor of banning fracking. >> what is the solution for voters in the fossil fuel industry? >> giving workers the ability to transition. >> raise your hand if you think it should be a civil offense set of crime. >> is not a physician you agree with? that >> one consist tell us about how rep cans are like the to not only challenge harris but balance democratic canada? -- candidates?

>> just the fact that it is the current two are in charge of the white house. the case will be made for republican both at the top of the ticket and the down ballot races that the vice president is even more liberal. positions sheets -- she took when she was running for the nomination. that is a different challenge if you are someone who is assuming the biggest challenge would be the economy and trying to separate himself. this is where democrats were feeling it was almost untenable.

the issue of his age. >> you talked earlier about excitement on the democratic side. can it be sustained at this level for the next 100 days or are we seeing a convention bounce? >> it is something of an enthusiasm boost. what we have known for months is the biggest challenge that president biden was having was with some of the tradional democratic groups. they just did not think that he was a good candidate. they were not excited about his candidacy. i think the fact that she has consolidated the democratic base is really important. i think the challenge she has is to win and states like pennsylvania, you have to do more than just consolidate the base. you have to win over some of those swing voters who are wavering right now. what is her pathway?

well will she be talking about when we get to the convention? those relate to the concerns of voters who are not poor democratic constituencies. she has completed step one switches get the base excited. or at least unified behind her candidacy. the next step is the convention and the work that we are already seeing from outside democratic groups. in which i'm sure we'll see from the harris campaign soon. messaging that goes directly at voters who are not partisan. but her who the ones who will swing this electio >> there are ballot issues in a dozen states. dealing with abortion. will this change have any effect on that? >> the folks who are trying to get democrats elected, whether that is harris or down the

ballot, have a different strategy in some cases than those who are trying to pass these ballot initiatives. there are going to be a lot of people who vote for donald trump a republican but also vote for an amendment to protect abortion access. we know there are a lot of pro-choice republicans out there. before biden dropped out, what a lot of democrats had hoped is even if he did not really get the base excited, maybe some of these ballot initiatives could. and ultimately people would come to the polls to vote for these referendums. and would end up while they were there pulling the lever for biden. now you have a more revved up democratic base that will, regardless. if you try to pass these

initiatives, you do not want them to be connected exclusively to democrats. you need to win over a lot of people who will though republican. >> thank you very much. ♪ >> this year, the number of medical school graduates applying for residency program set a record high. but the number of those choosi pediatrics went down. there's is already a shortage of pediatric specialists. that means long waits or long drives for specialized care. we asked you to tell us about your experiences. >> every year you have to take your child for a health physical if they want to participate in sports and activities and things like that in school. what we started noticing was we had to schedule that earlier and

earlier. >> the receptionist said i want to let you know there is a waiting list. it is not moved in a year. considering that one of my children is fast and needs, there are things i need to get going. having to wait that timeframe does not work out for me at all. >> we had an emergency happen with my daughter in january of last year. i found her having a full seizure in her sleep. we showed up at the emergency room and everything went according to plan exactly as you would wanted to. the trouble came when we called the next morning to get a neurologist. we were told this was january and the next available appointment was in april. >> my younger child has autism. we needed a neuropsych evaluation. that has an 18 month waitlist. >> i called eight different

practices and providers and they all said we are not taking patient. i finally got one on the ninth try. it would take new patients. ? ? it is not terrible you have to hope for some of the elsa canceled appointment to get your child the care that they need. >> some of the other options were to drive an hour and a half to another town. what that means that every time you see that doctor you have to make that drives. >> how did we get here? to the point that there is not a neurosurgeon to see someone who has been to the emergency room and is a candidate for surgery that should happen sooner rather than later? she was able to get a neurologist. she had successful brain surgery. but it opened pandora's box to ask questions. >> maybe i can get somebody who

is certified until i'm able to actually get an appointment. as a parent, that is another expense. so it is not the ideal situation but we are forced to think outside the box. >> the number of pediatric rents has been on a steady decline. this year's drop was much steeper. she is head of the pediatrics department at cornell medicine. and the pediatrician in chief at new york presbyterian children's hospital. why this decline in pediatric doctors? >> this is a really important issue facing a lot of american families. they have to think about the economics of paying off the debt while setting up a practice. it has been well established

that pediatricians are paid at a lower level. that is really facing them when they make this decision. >> explained that. why they painted a different level? >> children are generally supported by government insurance. medicaid pays at a lower level thanedicare. that leads to a lower level of reimbursement for pediatric services. and that translates into lower salaries. >> there are short-term consequences of not being able to see a doctor as quickly as possible. are there long-term health consequences? >> absolutely. investment in health and well-being and prevention of disease from the earliest time in life will pay off the most in the end. treating things early like

mental health problem, preventing obesity, getting vaccines. those are things that pediatricians do well. we don't have access to those. we will all pay the price as society later. >> are there areas that are more affected by this than others? >> absolutely. there are areas of the country who have fewer pediatricians. there are not specialists. there are rural areas where families have to drive longer or even have to go without specialty care. and then high cost districts. it i hard for us to convince pdf -- pediatrics with the

salaries we have available. it is the specialties that have the lowest ability to generate reimbursement that have traditionally had the lowest salaries. things that are chronic lifelong diseases such other new doctors for when they have those issues. those are the specialties we are having a long time filling. >> what drew you to this field? did you consider the question of lower pay? >> i was really drawn to pediatrics for the possibility to prevent disease from the earliest point in life. i was really excited to go into pediatrics. because of the opportunity to vaccinate, create new vaccines, and really generate immunity that will last lifelong. also, children have charm. but that is not enough anymore

to draw people into the field. >> are there other things other than getting rid of the lower medicaid reimbursement rate that can help this? >> yes. we should reconsider how we value services. we value a surgical procedure much more than preventative care. they may take a similar amnt of time we are funding them at a different level that is not take advantage of the opportunity to prevent disease rather than treating it when it becomes a problem. >> thank you very much. >> thank you for having me. ♪ >> scientists are uncovering the healing power of plants with the help of chimpanzees.

they have learned about medicinal properties. we have the story. >> it is all about the survival of the fittest in the jungle. to stay fit, you have to stay well. according to new research, while chaps are the champions of doing just that. over the past four years, scientists have been observing chimpanzee communities in the forest of uganda. they found chaps -- chimps who were injured were seeking out plants that had pain relieving abilities. >> the fact that they were seeking out these rare plants at this specific time, one can read intentionality into that.

>> they were sentenced to be tested in germany. >> we detected some antibiotic effects. it was actually from a tree. >> discovering more plants with healing properties could potentially have huge applications for the human species. chimps can help guide us in finding medicines we got a no ext. >> this will be incredibly important in the next few years as antibiotic resistance is on the rise. >> scientists say the findings are significant. and this proves there is an urgent need to preserve these forest pharmacies for future generations. ♪

>> finally tonight, on the final weekend of disability pride month, we hear about an artist who ended up at the supreme court and established the rights of disabled americans. >> her confinement lead to liberation for herself and all americans with disabilities. born in 1967, she grew up with cognitive and mental disabilities. her family found it hard to care for her. by the age of 11, she was committed to a hospital. she believes she would do better in a group home and started calling the atlanta legal aid society for assistance. they helped her file a lawsuit against the state of georgia. she claims that by keeping her

institutionalized time of the state was discriminating against her. illegal under the newly passed americans with disabilities act. the case went all the way to the supreme court, where the justices ruled in her favor. this landmark decision found that segregation of people with disabilities was a violation of the law. it paved the way f more ethical eatment not just in psychiatric hospitals but all institutions receiving state and federal funding. later in life, she turned to art. she once said she came along with her art came along. drawing pretty pictures is a way to meet god in the world that it is. her work appeared in several galleries and even the white house. she presented president obama with a work called girl in orange stress. even as she came to her own, she

struggled to find a place that felt like home. the computing -- community support she fought for took long to build. through the end of her life, she lives in her own apartment with an aide. she passed away in 2022. she was 55 years old. just as art freed her to fully express yourself, or fight for disability rights and powers millions of americans whose freedoms had once been denied. ♪ >> now online, however two groups -- advocacy group to try to fight misinformation and engage voters in michigan. all of that in moore's our website. that is news weekend for this

sunday. from all of my colleagues, thank you for joining us. have a good week. >> major funding for news weekend has been provided by -- ♪ and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. this program was made possible for the corporation for puic broadcasting and by contributions to your station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪

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♪♪ - [jeff] choosing where to travel after you've explored the must-see places on your list can be a little tricky. hitting popular destinations that are almost universally shared by wanderers around the planet would take even the most dedicated traveler years to discover. but for every travel hotspot you'll find the masses blogging about online, there are tenfold the places never talked about and rarely seen that will almost always leave