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. xfinity internet. made for streaming. ♪ amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the "newshour" tonight, north carolina enters the political spotlight, as former president trump and vice president harris both choose the swing state for speeches outlining their economic visions. amna: judy woodruff talks economics with jp morgan chase ceo jamie dimon. how it's contributed to political polarization, and what can be done to bring americans back together.

>> the equal opportunity wasn't there. income isn't there. hope isn't there. health wasn't there. all of us should look at that and say, what should we do to lift up society? geoff: and ukrainian forces push farther into russia, despite vladimir putin's efforts to counter the now-week-long incursion. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by. >> consumer cellular, this is sam. how may i help you? is this a pocket dial? somebody's pocket, i thought i would let you know know that with consumer cellular, you get nationwide coverage with no contract. that is kind of our thing. have a nice day. >> a successful business owner sells his company and restores his father's historic jazz club. a raymondjames financial advisor will get to know you.

your passions and the way you bring people together. life well planned. >> the charles f kettering foundation, working to advance inclusive democracies. >> judy and peter bloom cochlear foundation, upholding freedom by strengthening democracies at home and abroad. a™ ♪ the walton family foundation, working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people and nature can thrive together. supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org . and with the ongoing support of these institutions. ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by

contributions to your pbs station by viewers like you. thank you. ♪ geoff: welcome to the newshour. the top issue for many voters, the economy, took center stage today, as former president donald trump returned to campaign in a battleground state. amna: his north carolina rally followed a scattershot news conference at his mar-a-lago estate, and a meandering conversation with elon musk on x, in just the last week. laura barron-lopez has our look tonight at the latest. laura: donald trump, back on the campaign trail, trying to get back on message. the former president rallied in a battleground state for the first time in a week and a half. >> kamala harris won't end the economic crisis. she will only make it worse laura: in asheville, north carolina this afternoon, he talked about the economy, one of the top issues for voters. and he slammed his opponent, vice president kamala harris, for her economic record, even

-- >> if harris wins this election, the result will be a kamala economic crash, a 1929 style depression. 1929. when i win the election, we will immediately begin a brand new trump economic boom. it'll be a boom. we're gonna turn this country around so fast. laura: notable after the economy today got a bit of good news, inflation falling below 3% for first time since 2021. but it wasn't all economy, as trump repeated his list of grievances. trump was joined at the rally by far-right republican candidate for governor mark robinson, who has previously sparked controversy for his comments on religion, lgbtq rights, and civil rights. today, he stuck to the economic theme. >> what we see here with the weaponization of government, it does not jibe with being able to have a good economy. laura: robinson's presence, alongside trump's recent attacks on harris, has some republicans warning the party could alienate voters.

>> what donald trump needs to do is go out there every single day and campaign, telling the american people exactly what kamala harris has said. laura: former candidate nikki haley, and others, have criticized trump for veering away from the issues. >> the campaign is not going to win talking about crowd sizes. it's not going to win talking about what race kamala harris is. it's not going to win talking about whether she's dumb. you can't win on those things. laura: those gop alarm bells come as harris is gaining momentum, not only in north carolina, but in every battleground state but one. according to the cook political report. only nevada shows a trump lead. harris is even tied in georgia. and in the days leading up to the democratic national convention, the harris-walz ticket, closing the enthusiasm gap. excitement among democrats and independents for the harris versus trump contest has jumped double digits since june, when president joe biden was still in the race. >> being president is about who you fight for, and she's

fighting for people like you. laura: looking to keep the momentum going, the harris campaign today announced a $90 million ad buy that will flood the airwaves after the party convention next week. and prominent republicans, including former elected officials, and party leaders, even actor mark hamill, held a "republicans for harris" zoom to rally support. organizers said more than 70,000 people joined the call. >> kamala harris now is standing here in michigan, asking us for a promotion. i think it's time to say, "kamala harris, no thank you, you are fired." laura: and both running mates were on the trail. in michigan, republican v.p. nominee j.d. vance confronted criticisms that trump has been distracted. >> i think that donald trump has earned the right to run the campaign that he wants to run. and look, if you listen to what donald j. trump says, if you look at what i say, we are prosecuting the case against kamala harris on policy. laura: while tim walz, harris' v.p. pick, headlines fundraisers in both denver and boston.

harris herself was off the trail, but plans to lay out her own economic message later this week. just like former president trump, also in north carolina. and for the former president, the spectre of his legal battles still clouds his election calendar. the manhattan judge who convicted trump said today that he will not step aside from the case. and for now, trump's sentencing is still set for september 18th, just a week after the first presidential debate with vice president harris. for the pbs news hour, i'm laura barron-lopez. ♪ vanessa: i'm vanessa ruiz, in for stephanie sy with news hour west. here are the latest headlines. breaking late this evening, columbia university president minouche shafik has resigned. effective immediately. she had held the post for just

over a year. her departure comes after months of criticism over her handling of campus protests over the israel-hamas war. shafik is the third ivy league -- the latest ivy league presidento resign in the last year. in the middle east, the u.s. says it remains committed to talks to end the fighting in gaza, ahead of negotiations planned for tomorrow in qatar. that comes after a top hamas official said the group was losing faith in the u.s. to mediate a ceasfire. it's unclear if hamas will indeed attend the talks in doha. meantime, in gaza, health officials say israeli air strikes killed at least 17 people. while in beirut, a special envoy for the biden administration met with lebanese officials, and emphasized the need for a ceasefire in gaza. >> there is no more time to waste, and there's no more valid excuses from any party for any further delay. the deal would also help enable a diplomatic resolution here in

lebanon, and that would prevent an outbreak of a wider war vanessa: the taliban marked the third anniversary of its return to power in afghanistan today. that included a military parade at the bagram air base, once the center of the american-led war. some of the military hardware on display, such as humvees and tanks, were left behind during the evacuation of u.s. and nato-led forces in 2021. taliban leaders praised their own achievements, but made no mention of hardships faced by the population. some afghans in kabul addressed those challenges. >> there is no work in our country, and many people are unemployed and they are forced to migrate to iran and pakistan. if there are good job opportunities in our country, no one will want to leave. vanessa: the world health organization has declared mpox outbreaks in africa a global health emergency. formerly known as monkey pox, the virus is transmitted through

close contact and can cause painful lesions all over the body. the w.h.o. says there have been more than 14,000 cases in africa so far this year, the vast majority of them in congo. scientists are concerned that a new version of the disease may spread more easily. the w.h.o. director general said today, the outbreaks could become a global threat. >> today, the emergency committee met and advised me that in its view, the situation constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. it's clear that a coordinated international response is essential to stop these outbreaks and save lives. vanessa: western countries have been able to control the spread of mpox with vaccines and treatments, but those have not been readily available in africa. atlantic storm ernesto has strengthened into a category 1 hurricane after it pounded the northeastern caribbean.

in puerto rico, floodwaters consumed entire streets, power lines toppled, tangled in knots. roughly 700,000 people, and more than 20 hospitals, were without power today. ernesto turned away from the caribbean today, and is expected to intensify as it crosses open waters heading north, towards bermuda. expectations are growing that the u.s. federal reserve will cut interest rates at its meeting next month, after the latest sign that inflation is cooling. data from the u.s. labor department today shows that consumer prices rose just 2.9% in july compared to the same month last year. that's the first time inflation dipped below 3% since 20. president biden seized on the cooling prices when asked about inflation at the white house today. >> has the u.s. beat inflation, mr. president? >> yes, yes. yes. i told you we were gonna have a soft landing. we're going to have a soft landing. my policies are working.

start writing that way, ok? vanessa: inflation consistently ranks as a top concern for voters. it's come down significantly from a peak above 9% in 2022. still to come on the "newshour", why baltimore has been hit especially hard by drug overdoses. new reporting details the perilous journey migrants are making across the land bridge between north and south america. and, nasa weighs its options for bringing two stranded astronauts back home. ♪ >> this is the pbs news hour from w eta studios in washington and in the west, from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. amna: in year three of russia's full-scale invasion of ukraine, kyiv has, over the last week, flipped the script on moscow with an audacious incursion into southern russia, catching moscow by surprise, and sowing chaos.

geoff: today, ukraine said it had blasted its way deeper into the kursk region of russia, where it has captured dozens of towns and settlements and taken russians prisoner. and the governor of the neighboring belgorod region declared a state of emergency. it's the largest cross-border attack since russia's full scale invasion, and the largest presence of foreign troops in russia since world war ii. here's nick schifrin. nick: for nearly 2 and a half years, ukraine has struggled on defense. today, it's on offense. for the past week, ukrainian soldiers have thrown aside russian president vladimir putin's claim the war wouldn't touch russia. they've trampled through more than 70 russian villages, raising ukrainian flags over small-town administrative buildings and changing russian spellings into ukrainian. the incursion has reached about 18 miles into russia, what ukraine says is about 390 square miles. ukrainian soldiers show off

their operation with video selfies, playing, and driving, heavy metal. ♪ they advance through territory thinly defended. but there has been a fight. ukrainians pull the flags off russian soldiers' helmets they just killed by the side of the road. and russian soldiers have been captured and driven back into ukraine, what president volodymyr zelensky calls an "exchange fund." >> we have proven once again that we, ukrainians, are capable of achieving our goals in any situation, capable of defending our interests and our independence. nick: ukraine says this is not an occupation, but its soldiers posted videos in control of a gas facility, even picking up provisions from a russian grocery store. none of this territory is particularly important, militarily. but the image of ukrainian soldiers patrolling russian villages, many emptied after the evacuation of 75,000 residents,

is a shock to russians, and a boost to ukrainian pride, and this state tv reporter. >> slava ukraine. >> heroiam slava! nick: in moscow, putin hosted a public forum this week with governors. anputin cut off the kursk governor as he detailed the size of ukraine's incursion. >> alexey, the military will report to us what the width and depth are there. you tell us about the socio-economic situation, and report on assistance to people. nick: to try and evict ukrainian soldiers from russia, u.s. and ukrainian officials confirm russia has redeployed some soldiers from inside ukraine to aid the defense. but ukraine had its own redeployment. u.s. officials confirm at least some of the soldiers who crossed the border into russia left the pokrovsk region, where they were fending off heavy russian attacks. ukraine is also trying to bring

the fight into russia with long range drones. today, ukraine said it had launched its largest drone strike yet deep into russia. one target was this russian air base, before and after the strike. to discuss the incursion into kursk and the overall state of the war, we turn to michael kaufmann, senior fellow in the russia and eurasia program at the carnegie endowment for international peace, a think tank in washington, d.c. michael kaufman, thanks very much. welcome back to the newshour. what significance does this incursion have? do you believe on the wider war? >> i think it's a very significant development, and it's already significantly lifted the morale of ukrainian troops and changed the prevailing narrative, which is that the war has been a negative trajectory. but we're still fairly on into the ukrainian operation. this incursion has been going on for over a week, and it's clearly a fairly sizable operation in terms of the forces that the ukrainian military has committed, and they met with initial success and were able to break through

russian forces early on when they entered kursk. nick: so let me, we'll go into the military details of what's happening in kursk. but let me just ask strategically. also, what's the political impact, on president putin himself or the overall narrative that comes out of the kremlin? >> well, obviously the incursion with ukrainian forces now being on russian territory is deeply embarrassing for the kremlin. and even though the russian military is still continuing to try to advance across the front line in ukraine, kursk now it -- is front and center stage. and that's, of course, going to change the external perceptions of many of the other countries looking at this war. i think russian leadership was trying to portray a huge degree of confidence prior to the ukrainian offensive, thinking that there was essentially maybe no way they could lose. but this has the potential to really change potentially their perspectives and those of others. nick: so zooming back into why

-- into kursk, why do you believe the ukrainians have had some success? why was this area, apparently, so thinly defended? >> so it's clear that the russian leadership didn't anticipate an attack across the border into their own territory. the ukraine military first encountered border guards who were surprised, and russian conscripts who weren't well prepared or equipped to fight them. and after the initial breakthrough, they have to some extent the run of the place for the first couple of days. the russian military has taken a long time to deploy reserves to the area, and typically ,russian military does not do well in a very dynamic situation. nick: all right. so what are the russian military reserves, who are there trying to presumably stop the ukrainians? but putin will have to evict these ukrainians. how difficult will that be? >> well, first, it's still not clear what the goal of the ukrainian military operation is. i think they hope the russian military will divert forces from ukraine to counter the incursion

but so far, the russian military has pulled some forces from the front line in ukraine. unfortunately, it's not the areas where they were conducting offensives. those are still ongoing. ukrainian advance has slowed down significantly after the first couple of days, although it is still making progress. russian military is trying to counter it and trying to stabilize the front. they still have not been able to do that. the ukrainian military is pouring more forces into this operation and taking more troops off of the front lines in ukraine, in order to try to push and expand into the kursk region. nick: ukraine decided to redeploy its troops. this fighting pitched battles with russia, move them into russia. is there any risk to ukraine's effort inside its own country? >> >> so there is a risk an operation like this actually comes with significant risk of overextension. the ukrainian military took some of its better troops, thinned out its defensive lines in donetsk. and other parts of the country,

in order to conduct this operation. ukraine does not have a substantial advantage in reserves or man shower -- manpower. now, there is an upshot, and it's clear that they can achieve some some significant gains potentially. but there's also significant downside and risk . within the lines, the russian military is making advances through other parts of ukraine. and a lot depends on what happens both in kursk and in the coming days with russian force deployment. so if the russian military is able to stabilize, stabilize this offensive without having to pull a substantial amount of forces from their operations in the rest of ukraine, the offensive might end up being a lot less successful than initially hoped for. and it still remains to be seen. nick: a u.s. official confirms to me that ukraine is using american weapons systems inside of russia. how significant is that? >> so it's good. ukraine is operating western equipment, western vehicles and has even been conducting strikes inside the kursk region against russian reserves. and it seems to have

basically, a degree of tacit acceptance, if not support, from western countries to do that. i think it's a notable development since ukraine has been for a long time pushing for a change in policy and a greater tolerance and essentially a greater freedom to be able to employ western equipment and western capabilities, not just in defense of its own territory, but in being able to take the fight to russia. nick: and finally, michael kaufman, i mentioned before what ukraine called its largest long range drone strike into russia, hitting four russian airfields. how significant are these long range drone strikes that ukraine is able to do now that it wasn't able to do at the beginning of the war? >> it is notable because russia has had the advantage in long range strike capability, attacking ukrainian infrastructure for the better part of this war. but over the past year, ukraine has significantly increased its production of long range strike drones, has been concentrating them in these types of strikes, and they're showing that actually it may now hold the advantage, not in the overall strike capability, certainly not

compared to the number of cruise missiles the russian military can fire. but compared to the number of drones that the russian forces use, ukraine is starting to steadily overtake them in the size of overall strikes and is set to expand those attacks in russia, especially retaliating and inflicting damage on russian airbases or infrastructure. nick: michael, thank you very much. >> thanks for having me. ♪ amna: illegal border crossings into the u.s. from mexico have dropped precipitously in the last few months. but farther south, hundreds of thousands of migrants are making dangerous journeys through one of the world's most treacherous jungles. the atlantics september issue, titled 70 miles in hell,

traveling -- depicts migrants traveling through a dangerous area. a staff writer made several reporting trips into the jungle, following migrants during the crossing. she joins me now. welcome back. thank you for being with us. >> thanks for having me. amna: you and a photographer made a number of trips to the darien gap, this deadly, nearly impenetrable jungle that people go through every year. for people who have never been there and will never be able to go there, describe to us what it was like for you to make the journey, what stood out to you, what stays with you. >> the darien gap is this narrow strip of land that extends out of northern colombia and into southern panama. it is the only way to walk north out of south america. it is very dense, mountainous, and the list of threats that migrants who make the crossing are facing is very long.

everything from flash floods that are common because it rains on a daily basis, to falling, people have heart attacks from overexertion. there are deadly snakes, jungle cats and on top of the natural risk, you have bands of robbers who will attack migrants. migrants are very often robbed and unfortunately, frequently experience sexual assault on this journey. so it is grueling. that is the only way to put it. it was certainly the hardest thing i have ever done physically. that is something that sticks with me to this day. and the amount of desperation, people walk into the darien gap and it is almost impossible to be fully prepared. you don't know what you will run into. you might run out of water, you might run out of food. even if you are healthy and as prepared as you can possibly be, this is an incredibly treacherous thing to try to do. amna: you said that according to

the united nations, over 800,000 people could make the journey this year. that would be a more than 50% spike over last year's numbers. children under the age of five like this young girl who you met along the way. she is captured here by the photographer comforting her mother in this photo. children under five are the fastest growing group. from spending time with these families, tell us about them. why are the numbers surging so dramatically? >> i think the first thing i heard from most of the parents who had young children with them is they would rather be anywhere else. a lot of families, including hers, her name is susie in english, they had tried resettling in chile. they were originally from venezuela. they could not things work there. a lot of places people would prefer to resettle, economies

were devastated by the pandemics of the darien gap is the last resort option. smugglers who shepherd people into the darien gap mislead people about what they are in for. they make it seem like it will be easier. but most people who show up at the mouth of the jungle with young kids know that they are risking their lives and they know they are risking their children's lives. amna: we know many of those people are helping to make it all the way to the u.s.. the biden administration put tougher border restrictions into place in june, severely limiting who can enter and claim asylum. that has caused a dramatic decline at the u.s. southern border, from around 250,000 people apprehended in december to reportedly just 57,000 in july although official numbers are not yet out. you people know about those restrictions? -- do people know about those restrictions? >> not at all. there are many different factors that come into play.

when people decide to migrate, they aren't talking about u.s. policy because again, they feel like they are facing life or death circumstances. that is why they are willing to to his -- take risks like crossing the darien gap. the u.s. asylum policies have had impact, as has the pressure on mexico to crackdown and intercep people on their way to the united states. one policy people in the darien gap did know about was the cbp one app used to relieve pressure at the border so you can apply for permission to fly to the border and get an interview rather than having to take a more dangerous option. this is all playing a role. but it is not enough to eliminate the migration because of the circumstances that people are fleeing. so i always caution against saying that borger -- border crossings are down this month and it is all

attributable to a policy that came down from the white house. it is never that simple when it comes to a global issue. >> it goes back to the recent piece you wrote for the atlantic in which you said, trying to stop migration at the border is like telling someone they can't run a marathon when they are at the finish line. this was a piece titled, there is no such thing as a borders are. you were referencing how republicans have labeled vice president harris. she wasn't charged with the border, but she was charged with addressing root causes. sounds like from your reporting the root causes, forcing people to leave, have gotten worse over time. is that fair? >> it is, but the answer is complicated. when the biden administration came to office, kamala harris was given position, most people crossing the southern border were coming from central america. that is where she focused her efforts. she raised about five point $5

billion in private funds to support jobs and improve quality of life in central america and migration from central america is going down, but circumstances have worsened elsewhere. so we had increasing numbers of people crossing from venezuela, china, from haiti, ecuador, from throughout latin america. a single american diplomat or official can't change circumstances abroad on their own, but i think the changing dynamic underscores just how tough this is. you focus your efforts in one place and they get more difficult in another. amna: caitlin of the atlantic. her cover story, 70 miles in hell, is out right now. thank you so much for joining us. great to speak with you. >> thank you for having me. ♪ geoff: more than 100,000 americans are dying from drug overdoses

every year, largely from the synthetic opioid fentanyl. in recent years no city has been hit as hard as baltimore when it comes to overdose deaths. special correspondent takes a look at why as part of our ongoing series, america addicted. >> you have my number? ok. >> in this west baltimore neighborhood, everybody seems to know donna. >> do you have narcan? >> after years of battling drug addiction, she is now in recovery. she remembers how tough this life can be. >> they have to get resources for housing and stuff like that. reporter: today she runs a nonprofit. she provides support to families who lost loved ones to overdose. she helps those struggling with addiction find treatment. the process often starts with basic questions. >> how did you end up here? what can we help you with today? those are the questions that stimulate relationships so people can be open and say, listen.

i get high. put your hands on your eyes. >> when we joined her, she came with her seven-year-old granddaughter. >> i've got a big surprise to show you. >> she wanted her to see a new street sign named in honor of her son, cassidy's father. >> look at that. >> it was here in the summer of 2021 that the 32-year-old died from a drug overdose. >> i will never forget. i couldn't help my own son. it is right up here. >> a few miles away, mona is going back to her tragedy struck. >> he was funny. he always seemed happy. >> are 43-year-old son bruce was found dead of an overdose at this abandoned baltimore row house in 2022.

the last time she saw her son, he told her he was headed to a treatment program. >> i gave him a hug. we were ok and that is the last conversation we had. >> her son had likely been dead for about a month before his body was discovered. >> the day he left is the day i feel he died because i never heard from him again. i wasn't worried about it because i thought he went to rehab. people asked, have you heard from him? i'm sure he's fine. and after 30 days, i called the police. >> while the city has long struggle with addiction, fentanyl hit baltimore very hard. up to 50 times more potent than heroin, in the past six years almost 6000 people have died from an overdose, an average of three people every day. >> no major american city has had a drug overdose crisis as severe as baltimore. >> alyssa and nick are reporters

for the baltimore banner. >> they will have a speaker. >> for two years they have been investigating the overdose crisis in collaboration with the new york times. like something we have heard over and over again is that every day, we get a homicide tally but we don't get the same for overdoses. and numerically, it is a far greater problem. >> but getting the data wasn't easy. in 2022, after months of repeated work lasts for the city's autopsy reports, the banner sued the state office of the chief medical examiner. in january, the judge ruled in their favor. >> we knew these were public records and the public should know what is happening in the city in terms of overdose deaths. >> from the moment that data ended up on my computer, we started investigating. and you look, the entire city is colored with overdose deaths. blocks in some of the poorer

parts of southwest baltimore have lost upwards of eight, 9% of the population to overdose. >> the reporting found overdoses began spiking in baltimore about a decade ago. as fentanyl decimated the city grappling with gun violence and the pandemic. older black men have been hit hard. they make up 7% of the city population but account for nearly a third of overdoses. >> they die at higher rates from overdose than they did from covid. from all cancers put together. there is nothing statistically that kills this group of people more than overdose. >> how is the city response to your reporting? >> they were very defensive. they called our reporting misguided, victim blaming and they were saying our reporting should have focused on opioid manufacturers and their role in this because they are currently

litigating against pharmaceutical companies. >> the summer baltimore reached $90 million in settlements agreements. the first with a pharmaceutical giant. and last week they reached an agreement with cvs. september trial is set with defendants including walgreens and johnson & johnson. baltimore's mayor declined our interview request but his office provided the news hour with this statement. for years, manufacturers and distributors of prescription opioids targeted baltimore with hundreds of millions of prescription of you a pills. this reporting faults the city for its efforts to clean up the mess these companies made. >> i think we need to understand the problem. >> last month, this baltimore councilman who chairs the public safety committee planned a public hearing, looking into what the investigation found. >> has public officials we need as much information as possible if we are going to be over affected -- effective on the

changing nature of overdoses. >> just hours before the hearing was scheduled to start, it was abruptly canceled. baltimore's mayor set a public hearing could endanger the city's litigation against opioid manufacturers. >> do not have transparent, open conversations about what we are dealing with because of pending litigation i think is a mistake. because we have decisions we should be considering right now. >> while the litigation continues, many baltimore families are still coming to grips with all that has been lost. >> i never thought he was dead. i never thought that. >> when mona finally got an update on her son, it was the kind of news that no mother wanted to hear. >> when they found him, the police called and said, can i come over? i was like sure. he didn't even tell me. he sat down and i sat down and i could see. i knew. please don't tell me that. >> today she wears a necklace that her son was wearing at the time of his death. she tries to remember the good

times. >> we did so many things that i am so grateful for. he made me so happy. i wanted a lot more years. but you have to be grateful for the time you are given. >> this is wellington way. you can come here whenever you want. it is your dad's street. >> donna is using her son's death to try to reach as many people that she can before it is too late. >> my son had to dive for me to >> mind -- my son had to die for me to live. he understood this was part of my assignment. for cassidy. >> for the pbs news hour, christopher booker in baltimore. ♪ geoff: nasa and boeing are grappling with how best to bring two us astronauts back to earth. originally planned to last just

8 days, leaks and other technical issues suffered by boeing's starliner spacecraft on its way to the international space station have delayed the planned return flight by more than two months. and that has left its two astronauts, butch wilmore and suni williams, stuck in space. to help us understand what it all means, i'm joined by our science correspondent miles o'brien. it is always great to see you. what went wrong? >> there were signs of trouble from the beginning. there were helium leaks on the launchpad. nasa and boeing huddled, it would have required a significant delay, a rollback to the hangar, to do the work and try to fix those leaks. helium is difficult to track down. but they still decided to launch. in retrospect, maybe that wasn't a great idea because once they got into orbit, the helium leaks persisted and as they approached the docking phase at the space

station, seven thrusters, which guided the cap -- the capsule through space failed inexplicably. at the bottom of the ledger here, the engineers are scratching their heads. they don't know if the helium leak is linked to the fit -- failed thrusters. they don't know the root cause. they have been throwing switches remotely in space and they still don't understand it. that is what has given them great paws on whether to put those astronauts into starliner and have them return to earth and it. >> one backup option as i understand, is that they could hitch a ride on the space x craft but that wouldn't be until next year? >> here is how this goes. the space x mission was scheduled to launch on sunday with four astronauts, two astronauts and two cosmonauts aboard. that has been delayed. it is quite possible the

scenario could play out where two of those individuals, we don't know who, could be told to sit it out, stay home. the space x comes to the international space station, carrying spacesuits required and two empty seats which butch and sonny would take home. but in order to do that, without disrupting things too much, they would essentially be drafted onto the crew and would be absorbed as part of the crew and thus, would stay up there until february as the two astronauts who remain on the ground would have. geoff: williams and wilmore are two veteran space explorers. has nasa said anything about how the two of them are holding up? and if they have enough supplies to sustain being up there for once longer? -- months longer? >> the space station is pretty well-stocked. i should point out that at the last minute, they put in a urine water recycling system and the starliner capsule, which

failed. they asked the astronauts would you mind not bringing additional clothing? so they would have had their suitcases but the recycler was in there. they have one set of clothes. there is a cupboard full of clothing so they are doing ok. there is plenty of food. there is no reason to be concerned about them on the station. geoff: what does this mean for boeing and their relationship with nasa? >> buildings relationship with nasa goes back to the beginning. if you look at the predecessor organizations, the company built the mercury and gemini capsules, the apollo and saturn, the space shuttle orbiter and the space station itself. so it is hard to imagine them reaching some kind of separation or divorce down the road. but this is a serious setback and nasa wanted to have two operative spacecraft from two separate contractors to get to

low-earth orbit. right now they can only rely on space x. geoff: so it is safe to say we don't precisely know when the astronauts will be able to return home? >> i suspect this time next week, towards the end of next week we will know and nasa will continue looking at this. they will create 3d modeling of these valves that are failing, trying to fully understand it. at this juncture it will be hard for them to develop the confidence they need to strap those astronauts in. boeing insists the tests have been done and the spacecraft is safe, but all of the people making the decisions here, nasa and boeing, lived through the tragedy of the columbia loss more than 20 years ago now. no one wants to repeat that. nobody wants to make a decision when the hardware is sort of screaming out to you, saying something is wrong but they don't know just what it is. geoff: miles o'brien, thank you.

appreciate it. ♪ amna: many u.s. corporations are navigating a divisive political climate on a range of issues that impact their businesses, from trade to diversity to immigration. geoff: the ceo of the nation's largest bank, jamie dimon of jp morgan chase, has been speaking out about it. judy woodruff spoke with him in bentonville, arkansas, for her series, america at a crossroads. judy: every summer for the past 14 years, jamie dimon has spent a week traveling through different parts of the country on his annual bus tour, visiting bank branches like this one, opened just last year in bentonville, arkansas, meeting with employees & clients, and asking and answering questions.

dimon is one of the most powerful figures on wall street, at the helm of jp morgan chase for the past 20 years. and every year he writes a letter to shareholders, outlining his top concerns, including on issues beyond his immediate role as a banker, things like education, dei, and the conflicts in ukraine and the middle east. with former president trump charging the u.s. economy is "shattered," dimon's view is striking. >> it is the most prosperous, most innovative, best economy the world has ever seen. this world, we lifted billions of people out of poverty. there are negatives, you know, we should focus on that. but to give you a couple of focal points. european gdp per person was very close to ours something like 20 years ago. it's now like 65% of ours. so you compare us to the rest of the western world, quite good. and we need to continue. and we i think we could continue to do that. judy: you wrote in your letter to shareholders, in the spring

about our, you called it polarized electorate, and you said we need to find ways to put aside our differences. why do we find ourselves in this situation? >> i'll give you my theory and a bunch of things that caused it. we had this financial crisis that hurt a lot of people, you know, discredited a lot of wall street and that i think, you know, was part of it. if you look at the income levels in america, we had very slow growth for 20 years. and if you look at the bottom 20%, they didn't have a pay increase for 20 or 30 years. so, and those are people making less than $20 an hour. they also have worse health, but less, you know, less insurance. they're dying ten years younger. their schools are failing in a lot of cases, rural schools or inner city high schools, not all of them, but a lot of -- 50% of kids don't graduate. so the equal opportunity wasn't there. income isn't there. hope isn't there. health wasn't there. all of us should look at that and say, what should we do to lift up society? there is that, and then there's

also this constant degrading of fellow americans because of what they believe. if they don't believe what you believe, they are immoral and i think we should stop insulting each other. judy: dimon recently wrote an opinion piece for the washington post aimed at the next american president, stressing the need for national unity and equal opportunity for all, warning that "the american dream is disappearing for many, because opportunity is not shared equally." and so what's the solution? >> i'll give you a bunch right here. earned income tax credit, okay? right now if you're a single mother with two children making $14,000 a year, the government gives you $6000. a lot of people don't avail themselves of this, and they may not know about it. i would get rid of the child requirement. i would make the benefit $10,000, so that anyone working would make $24,000. that money would go to the families, it would go into their communities. it would be spent the way they think it should be spent without government interference, i think it would be exceptional. and jobs create dignity. so you incent jobs. jobs create

dignity. jobs create better outcomes for families, less crime, less drugs. and you just send people back in the workforce. if i was the federal government, i would tell every high school i start in the high schools and community colleges that we want to measure you on the outcomes. how many kids get jobs making $40,000, $50,000, $60,000, $70,000? and that would that would incent them to locally. what do we need to get jobs? coding, automotive, aviation, program management, financial management, you know, compliance. it is doable bc i -- because i can point out tons of schools in tons of communities doing that. judy: we talked about income disparities, how people in the top 1% of income brackets earn over 100 times more than those in the bottom 20%. some people are going to listen to what you're saying and, and have the the view that the big financial powerhouses in this country have played a role in continuing and exacerbating our divide. what role has the private sector

played, the financial sector played, in creating this inequality that we live in? >> i think, you know, there are obviously, there are good companies and bad companies, and good politicians, bad politicians. are there examples where the ash they are the ones who made it worse in some cases? sure. that they abuse their position? sure. most of the banks i know have special programs for minority mortgages, vets, we have programs to hire disabled, you know, and all these things work. so a lot of companies try to do their part but they can't do the part the government needs to do. we can help. and, you know, when you, there are examples like corporate ceos i tell, they should be embarrassed about what they did. so there's truth that they aren't always perfect. i think a lot of companies, when they go to washington, d.c., they should worry more about what's good for the country than what's good for their company. that's true for a lot of special interest groups. but i have to be very clear. it's not enough if the federal government doesn't do its part, because you really push , sometimes you are pushing the rock uphill. judy: and how do you get the

federal government to do that? the two parties are at each other's throats on so many issues right now. >> yes, but, you know, they came together for the infrastructure bill. you know, they come together for certain things. and that is work. i mean, that is hard work. but i tell people, don't get frustrated. just do it. there are a lot of parts of my job i don't like either, but i have to do them. judy: you, in your column, you talked about reducing the debt. you talked about encouraging investment, which you just referred to, lowering inequality, strengthening the military. how do you do all that and bring the debt down? >> i think it is doable. i would spend the money that helped make it a better country. so some of those infrastructure, earned income tax credit, military, i would have a competitive international tax system. and then i would maximize growth. and the growth isn't just about all of that. it is about permitting. and then you'll have a little bit of deficit, and you would maybe just raise taxes, a little bit like the warren buffett type of rule. i would do that, and we would be fine. judy: the buffett rule states no household earning over $1

million should pay a smaller share of their income in taxes than middle-class families. we are in the middle of a presidential campaign. do you think because of that, things could get worse? or could they get better? what do you think? >> well, i'm hoping not. you know, i don't know. and i hope, you know, both presidential candidates realize the jazzing up the american people, making the american people angry is not a good thing to do. judy: and yet that language persists on the campaign trail. >> you know it, you feel it. these guys are creepy, and just weird as hell. that is what you see. judy: but much of the vitriol is coming from donald trump. >> so now we have a new victim to defeat, lyin' kamala harris. lyin'. lyin'. judy: do you think it's time for people like you to say to to him and to others, let's stop this. >> i don't like any of that stuff. i'm not going to talk about particular people. i personally don't like it, and i don't think it works.

even when you use the term maga, you are insulting 74 million voters. they have different opinions. take a step back, be honest. he was kind of right about nato. kind of right about immigration. judy: early this year, in an interview with cnbc at the world economic forum in davos, switzerland, dimon says he was trying to make that point, when he lauded some of trump's policies on immigration, china, and nato. >> that's why they voted for him. judy: some took that as a signal of support for trump. but dimon says it was a warning to democrats. >> i think this negative talk about maga is going to hurt biden's campaign. i blame myself, i didn't say it artfully. i was making the same point i made my op ed, that 74 million people voted republican, and they voted because they thought that there was partial truth, that immigration was a problem, which i agree with. the -- that china is a problem a

, problem i agree with, that nato was a problem, not leaving nato. i don't want to leave nato. i'm a strong supporter of nato and our military allies. but i said he was right about, partially about nato. partially about the funding of nato. but i was making the point that people voted for other reasons and it -- he should -- he should stop insulting mega. judy: in his april letter to shareholders, dimon called for strengthening diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives,even as many dei policies are on the chopping block in more than 30 states and as other corporations pull back. i mean, you're saying all this at a time when we're hearing a lot of ugly language about dei. that has become a pejorative term. >> i don't think most people are against, when you say diversity, reaching out to different communities and doing a better job. and the word equity means equal opportunity. you know, if you mean the word equity to have equal outcomes, i'm against that too. that simply won't work. and so i understand the pushback when it comes to all of these things. j.p. morgan, we know what we want to do. we do it our way. we think about it. we're human beings. we take care of people.

we take care of our communities. we're going to try to help lift up parts of the society. and most that's for profit. just like a lot of the companies, you know, they also sell goods and services to low income people, too. judy: as for the major party presidential nominees, dimon knows them both. in 2012, he engaged in tense negotiations with then-california attorney general kamala harris over a multi-billion dollar settlement related to homeowners hurt by predatory lenders, including jp morgan chase. more recently, former president trump suggested dimon could serve as his treasury secretary in his next administration but then quickly dispelled that idea. whomever wins in november, dimon says he's hopeful the country will find a way forward. given all this, given this polarized atmosphere, can the united states move ahead on the great challenges facing this

country in the, in this next administration? >> i believe it will, you know, in that some, it may be a president or a leader or someone else who just kind of just bends that curve a little bit and, you know, does it respectfully. remember abe lincoln? i think there's one of those famous quotes where abe lincoln said, someone said, mr. lincoln, god's on our side. he said, no, son, let's hope were on god's side. there's a little humility with an abe lincoln, one of our greatest presidents. and so things come along or people change. and it might be the leader, might be a leader himself who changes. they realize that they're going in the wrong direction. they have to go in a different direction. so let's all hope. i'm an optimist by nature. and i think when warren buffett talks about the great resiliency of america, i believe that and something will change it somewhere and sometimes have to go through difficult times to do it. for the pbs newshour, i'm -- judy: for the pbs newshour, i'm judy woodruff, in bentonville, arkansas. ♪

geoff: there's a lot more online, including a look at where vice president kamala harris stands on reproductive rights issues. that's on our instagram. amna: and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. for all of us here at the pbs newshour, thanks for spending part of your evening with us. >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by. the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour, including jim and nancy, and the robert and virginia schiller foundation. the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide. funding for america at a crossroads was provided by. ♪ 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 station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ >> this is pbs news hour west, from wbt i studios in washington and our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪

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