geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna nawaz is on assignment. on the "newshour" tonight, florida braces for impact as hurricane helene barrels towards the gulf coast. israel strikes hezbollah in lebanon for another straight -- for a third straight day, in

preparation for a possible ground invasion. kamala harris and donald trump continue campaigning in swing states, with polls showing the race is as close as ever. and the head of the u.n.'s nuclear watchdog on the precarious and potentially catastrophic situations in iran and war-torn ukraine. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by -- >> consumer cellular, this is sam. how may i help you? >> i thought we would let you know with consumer cellular, you got nationwide coverage with no contract. that's kind of our thing. have a nice day. >> a successful business owner company. restoring the jazz club with his

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building a more just and peaceful world. 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. geoff: welcome to the "newshour." in the span of 24 hours, helene in the gulf of mexico has strengthened from a tropical storm into a hurricane. over the next 24 hours, it's expected to grow even stronger, and it's barreling straight towards florida. floridians have been filling sandbags, preparing to hunker down in the face of heavy rains, storm surge, and floods. earlier today, florida governor ron desantis urged residents to act now. gov. desantis: you still have time to make the preparations and put your plan in place today, but that time is running out.

this storm, i think, as you know, is basically in the area of cuba and the yucatan peninsula. it's moving past that, and then it's going to have pretty much a clear runway in the gulf of mexico. geoff: current forecasts show helene will arrive as a dangerous category 3 hurricane -- as a dangerous category 4 hurricane tomorrow. jamie rhome is the deputy director of the national hurricane center, and he joins now from its headquarters in miami. thanks for being with us. where is helene right now and what will the next 24 hours look like? >> it is centered down here just to the north of cancun, mexico, now emerging out over the open waters in the eastern gulf of mexico, where conditions are severe, especially favorable for development, possibly significant development. we anticipate helene to go on and become a major hurricane before it tracks somewhere here over the florida panhandle, or big ben region, early on

thursday. geoff: what about the potential for storm surge and flooding? what does that look like right now? >> unfortunately, it has increased over the last 12 hours, with the wind increase and the size increase that we have been talking about all day, so goes the surge risk. we are looking at the potential for 15-20 feet, you read that correctly, of storm surge in the big bend region with significant surge extending basically all the way down the florida west coast. this is going to have a big and lasting impact for much of the florida peninsula. and unfortunately it is going to spread its impacts deep into the southeast, especially over southern georgia. geoff: so it is expected to land as a category 4 storm right now, what does that suggest in terms of wind strikes? >> for those in the path, it would be catastrophic damage.

they are capable of significant structural damage to the most secure and sound buildings. anything that is not up to modern building codes or modern standards will probably sustained substantial damage, widespread power outages, trees down, especially in and around tallahassee they've got a really big tree canopy. impassable roads, downed power lines. it's going to be a big mess for people in the path of the storm. geoff: so people in the path of the storm in the affected areas should heed those evacuation warnings i would imagine. >> absolutely. the evacuation orders are issued based off the storm surge forecast from the national hurricane center. we have been on the phone with the emergency managers all day trying to assist them in that evacuation decision. it's a hard decision for them to make but it's based off the best and most reliable forecasts issued straight from here. geoff: jamie rhome, we

appreciate your time this evening. >> thank you. ♪ israel's military said today it's preparing for a ground invasion of lebanon. u.s. officials are frantically trying to avoid all-out war between israel and hezbollah after more than a week of unprecedented is really a tax the militant group, which have killed hundreds and injured thousands more. nick schifrin is here now with details. how tense is the situation along the border? reporter: it is extremely tense. this has been the deadliest week on lebanon for decades and the violence continued today. israel said it struck some 350 hezbollah sites including some associated with the intelligence director to make it more difficult for hezbollah to produce an intelligence assessment, lebanese

authorities, saying the strikes killed 50 on top of the more than 550 killed the previous two days, meanwhile hezbollah continued to strike israel, hitting villages near the border, wounding at least two civilians. hezbollah also launched the first ballistic missile in tel aviv is relieved by israel your defense. but israel went further today than it has in the past, calling up two reserve brigades to deploy them to the northern area along the lebanese border. and the idf chief of staff warned today that troops need to prepare for "possible entry into lebanon." >> we are preparing the process of a maneuver which means your military will enter enemy territory and villages hezbollah has prepared as large military outposts, it will go in and destroy the enemy there and decisively destroyed their infrastructure, these are the things that will allow us to safely return the residents of the north afterward. reporter: that is what israel

says is the goal, returning the 60,000 plus residents who have been displaced from their homes since october 8 since has been opened fire into israel. geoff: what does de-escalation look like, what is the u.s. doing to prevent an all-out war? >> president biden admitted today that an all-out warwas possible and antony blinken called the risk of escalation acute. have been scrambling. they're all in new york with the entire international community. that makes it possible for them to have meetings with partners and allies and western officials, u.s. officials told me that those partners and allies have been europeans, arabs, alongside israel, and two u.s. officials confirmed the u.s. is proposing a temporary cease-fire along the israel-lebanon border. it's not ready to be announced yet. one official called it "pretty limited and short-term," but the idea would be to stop the violence again temporarily in order to try and have a

conversation that they have been having for months which is a diplomatic agreement that would push hezbollah back past the litani river which is 6 miles north of the border beyond hezbollah's antitank weapons, that is really what israel wants -- and that is prescribed by security council resolution 1701. has below was already supposed to be doing that. one of the leading partners helping the u.s. with this is france. they are hosting a security council meeting right now over lebanon. president macron said today he was ensuring he -- ensuring a diplomatic voice can be heard. >> we must not, we cannot have a war in lebanon, there cannot be a war in lebanon, this is why we urge israel to cease this escalation in lebanon and hezbollah cease this missile launch to israel. reporter: senior u.s. officials, they believe hezbollah and iran do not want an all-out war in

lebanon, but hezbollah has to respond in a serious way to those unprecedented attacks you mentioned at the top, especially using pagers that really hit hezbollah fighters where they are most vulnerable. u.s. officials also believe israel is willing to go to war and obviously is trying to make it clear to everyone that it is with this announcement today and the movement but that they are hoping prime minister netanyahu is willing to forgo an invasion but it is still not clear how any step israel could take could really get all of those relatives back. geoff: what would an invasion look like? reporter: it would be devastating to southern lebanon and the people who live there and lebanon's economy which is already in shambles. take a listen to lebanon's foreign minister talking to carnegie endowment. >> it is all destruction after destruction. the people are hurt. most people are hurt. communities are hurt. we can't find a solution.

the more we think about, the u.s. is the key to our salvation, i would say, i would use this would. reporter: that's an incredible word to use when the u.s. is giving israel the weapons, the bottom line is there hopes are on the u.s. and on the west trying to get some kind of deal that would push israel to withhold any kind of invasion and that would somehow get hezbollah to again -- who does not want a full-scale war but has to respond to those pager attacks -- that responds to be under the threshold that israel needs it to be and somehow move from that to the point where residents can get home. but that's a very difficult task. geoff: more to come. thanks for this great reporting is always, nick schifrin. reporter: thank you. ♪

geoff: turning our focus now to the 2024 presidential race, both candidates were out on the campaign trail today, laying out their plans to tackle one of the most consequential issues of the election, the economy. vice president kamala harris was in pennsylvania and donald trump campaigned in north carolina. that is where our lisa desjardins has been reporting. >> i intend to chart a pathway forward and grow the middle class. donald trump attempts to take america backwards. reporter: her speech came at the club of pittsburgh. her proposals largely include tax shifts and incentives such as a 50,000 tax deduction for

new small businesses. other ideas she says will pick up where president biden's economic agenda leaves off. >> a survey of top economists by the financial times and the university of chicago found by an overwhelming 70 percent to 3% margin, my plan would be better for keeping inflation low. reporter: hours earlier -- >> they have done nothing. why didn't she do everything for .5 years ago? reporter: former president trump outlined his economic plan, including tariffs and a push for american businesses to keep jobs here at a factory in north carolina. >> i will give you the lowest taxes, the lowest energy costs, i will cut your energy and have. -- in half. free access to the best and biggest market on the planet earth. but only if you make your product here in america and hire american workers for the job. reporter: it comes at a time

when the economy consistently topped the polls as one of the most important issues for voters. >> 41 days from now we are going to win the state of north carolina. reporter: the location is politically powerful. near the bottom of the state, mint hill is a suburb of charlotte between two powerhouse counties, mecklenburg, a population center that voted 67% for biden in 2020, but next-door is union, the largest county that trump won in 2020. and voted for him 61%. both counties are fast-growing on business centers and industrial parks keep popping up. : he was on his wife opened this coffee shop and mint hill over a year ago, a risk, but one that has paid off. >> we have not gone down yet in a month. last year this time we had four employees and now we have 10. for us, when i can speak on is how we are doing here and have friends are doing up and down the strip. things are going really well.

reporter: but the economy here has not been as bright for everyone. she is a trump supporter. >> i lost my job during covid. things were getting good when trump was in but right after he went out, it's like everything started going south in my company. it had been a business for 80 years and went under. i had been at my job 25 years and lost my job after all that. reporter: she now works at a chick-fil-a. where she has seen customers cut back. adults buying kids' meals to save money. she has in on trump because she thinks the country is in a downward track. we asked her about the republican candidate for governor, mark robinson, and the bombshell report last week from cnn, that he previously posted a litany of offensive comments on a point site --porn site including he was a nazi and that

slavery should return and he enjoyed watching transgender porn. he has adamantly opposed transgender. rights he maintains the cnn report is false and these are not his words. despite pressure and resignations from top staff, robinson has stayed in the race. a candidate trump has vigorously embraced in the past, now the campaign avoids talking about robinson. he was not at the event today. so far the robinson story has not impacted either her vote for trump nor him. >> just from the little bit i know to be able to bring up a past from probably 10 years ago, it's not like i know of all that stuff is true or not. >> but at the coffee shop after our interview, she did confront a different doubt about trump from someone nearby. >> i don't see trump sacrificing anything he has for his country. reporter: she sees him as a villain who wants to continue tax cuts for the wealthy. >> he was born rich and

he is for the rich. geoff: lisa joins us now from charlotte, north carolina. great to see you. based on your reporting, how has donald trump's economic plan been received so far? reporter: republicans like a lot that is in this plan, lower taxes, most people like lower taxes. democrats say that he gives away too much to the wealthy. but something has happened the last day about a key part of donald trump's plan, that is tariffs. more and more conservative groups are saying they have concerns and they are saying publicly -- notably yesterday the top republican in the u.s. senate mitch mcconnell came out and said he's not a fan of tariffs and went even further and said tariffs add costs to american consumers, the opposite of what donald trump has been saying about his plan. mitch mcconnell or someone who trump supporters do not pay a lot of attention to but they may be paying attention to something else that happened this morning. the wall street journal editorial board came out with a

strong statement also about trump's tariff policy, writing, hard to believe but donald trump is giving u.s. companies a reason to think that kamala harris might be better for their business, the wall street journal there, talking about the idea that trump would penalize businesses moving overseas with tariffs somehow. as someone told me this morning, to paraphrase them, if donald trump has a problem with the wall street journal on the economy, he has a very big problem indeed. geoff:geoff: let's talk about north carolina, a battleground state. how much does the scandal involving the gop candidate for governor, mark robinson, hurt donald trump's chances of winning? reporter: it is a hot topic of conversation here, but people are having it in quiet ways in their home. republican officials here tell you on or off the record that they are trying to not be concerned but you can feel their trepidation. one republican official told me that they think ultimately no one can hurt donald trump,

including donald trump. that his fan base is so loyal, they are not worried about mark robinson taking him down. on the other hand, there are some more concern and part of it has to do with voters. i spoke to one of the voters at this trump event today. someone who says they are still voting for mark robinson. here's what she said. >> i think mark robinson is going through a lot right now. and i think these are just allegations and i believe there's a lot people can do with ai these days and we need to be careful who we listen to and what we believe. we believe and trust in jesus christ and pray for our politicians and hope that donald trump and mark robinson are on that path with us. >> i heard that from a number of people thinking that this could not really be something that happened to mark robinson, they don't trust the reporting, they think maybe it is ai -- there's no reason to think this was ai but some republican officials say that is also a problem. that there is a base that is supporting mark robinson, when they want him to drop out. they think as long as he's on

the ballot, there may be some voters who don't show up at all and they think that could ultimately hurt donald trump. >> as you have been speaking with voters across north carolina, what is your sense of where folks might be leaning? reporter: i really got a strong sense of place in the community, mint hill, where donald trump spoke today. the factory he was at has grown in the last year, a place where the economy is good. feelings are generally good, prices are the problem for kamala harris here. this is a community that honestly they are dealing with their divide together in a more gentle and, shall i say, civil way that i have seen in other places -- than i have seen in other places. some places don't like either candidate, they are not comfortable yet with kamala harris. i heard a lot of people tell me they are less comfortable with donald trump. there are more people who say i cannot vote for him. i'm not sure about her, but i can't vote for him. that is why democrats have so much hope in the state.

the ground game will matter here and turn out will matter but it's very much anyone's ballgame here it in north carolina. geoff: lisa desjardins, reporting from north carolina, thanks so much. ♪ geoff: we start the day's other headlines with efforts by ukraine's president to keep the world's attention on his country's war against russia. volodymyr zelenskyy's speech today at the u.n. general assembly comes as much of the focus has been on events in the middle east. he warned neighboring countries in europe and central asia that the war could come for them as well. he urged world leaders not to accept any peace proposals from russia or its allies to end the conflict. pres. zelenskyy: when some propose alternatives, half-hearted settlement plans, so-called "sets of principles," it not only ignores reality, but

also gives putin the political space to continue the war and pressures the world to bring more nations under control. geoff: shortly before zelenskyy took the stage, an official in ukraine said that a russian strike hit the town of kramatorsk. two people were killed and a dozen more injured, including three children. tomorrow, zelenskyy is set to meet with president biden in washington to lay out what he's calling a victory plan. details have been kept secret, but zelensky has said it's meant to be a bridge towards ending the war. a bipartisan senate investigation says secret service failures during the july assassination attempt on former president donald trump were preventable. the interim report from the senate homeland security committee found mistakes in planning, communications, and the use of resources. the report also found that the secret service was notified about an individual on a nearby roof about two minutes before the gunman opened fire.

and 22 seconds before the shooting, a local officer sent a radio alert that was not relayed to vital secret service personnel. mr. trump was wounded in the ear in the july 13th shooting. one rallygoer was killed and two others were injured. the house of representatives passed a temporary measure to keep the government funded just days ahead of next week's deadline. the measure passed by a vote of 341-82 this afternoonm, with republican speaker mike johnson relying on the support of democrats to supply a large number of the votes. the bill generally funds agencies at current levels through december 20. while after the november election. the bill also includes more than $200 million to support the u.s. secret service. it still needs to pass the senate but is widely expected to do so. turning to a series of stories from around the country, an evacuation order remains in effect in an ohio town following a chemical leak that started yesterday.

firefighters west of cincinnati tried to contain a leak of styrene, a toxic chemical used to make rubber. no injuries are reported. in los angeles, a gunman hijacked a city bus leaving one person dead. the driver was held at gunpoint and was forced to drive through downtown early in the early hours of the morning. police trailed the bus for an hour before it stopped and the suspect rendered -- the suspect surrendered beer but also in california and explosion injured two people at the santa maria courthouse today. authorities detained one person and said they believe the explosion was intentional. the court complex was closed for the day and all court business canceled. wall street today saw some stocks inch back from their all-time records. the dow jones industrial average lost nearly 300 points, falling back below 42,000. the nasdaq notched an ever-so-small gain on the day. and the s&p lost nearly 11 points one day after it reached

an all-time high. still to come on the "newshour" -- one family's journey to access gender-affirming care after their state banned it for trans youth. why missouri executed a prisoner even though the victim's family said his life should be spared. and a new book takes a hopeful view of the climate crisis, asking "what if we get it right?" ♪ >> this is the pbs news hour. geoff: ukraine's president teddy at the united nations warned that russia is preparing to attack ukraine's nuclear plant. at the same time, i officials have repeatedly stated they are interest in resuming nuclear diplomacy. nick schifrin is back to speak with an official essential to both challenges. >> central to both challenges

because the international atomic energy agency is responsible for monitoring and ensuring safe use of nuclear power around the world. and inspecting countries' nuclear programs. we have the inspector general of the iaea. welcome back to the news hour. as we said today, at the yuan general assembly, president zelenskyy accused russia of planning attacks on our nuclear power plants and infrastructure. . do you have any corroboration for that accusations? >> thank you very much, is always, a pleasure to talk to you -- as always, a pleasure to talk to you. we don't have that information. let me simply say, we have said very that nuclear power plants should never be attacked where they are. let me also say that as you

may remember, the iaea has personnel deployed not only at the separation nuclear power plant but also it every other nuclear power plant in ukraine. south ukraine, chernobyl, we are present in all these sites. >> the context is russia's occupation at the power plant you visited weeks ago. as well as your presence at other nuclear power plants. ukraine and you have pointed out, for these nuclear power plants to stay safe, they need to have electricity. russia has deliberately targeted ukraine's electricity infrastructure. is there a higher concern today that the electricity the plants need to maintain their safety could be cut off? >> this is a permanent concern of ours. in reality, there have been

already a complete blackouts at the zhaporizia nuclear power plant and we are aware of the events and incidents on other parts of the electric grid and the infrastructure. we are also monitoring that. we have established an additional measure. a system to assess and analyze the critical substations to the nuclear power plants from of course a perspective of nuclear safety on all of them. geoff: let me switch to iran, you met iran's new foreign minister, well known to you, a former nuclear negotiator for iran. you said you see expressed willingness to reengage with us in a more meaningful fashion, why do you say that and what does that translate to? >> because i was told so,

i hard the foreign minister, who said that, and i also got a letter from the president during the summer indicating his willingness to meet with me. we are precisely -- one of the things we were doing with foreign minister arachi who i know very well and has a lot of experience in nuclear matters in negotiations, we are preparing the ground for that meeting which should be in their own interpretation, it should mark a clear progress -- a turning point,i have to see. there are lots of things we need to discuss. we are preparing for that. reporter: among the things you need to discuss is a problem you have had for years which is iran has failed to explain uranium traces found in undeclared sites. do you believe they are interested in finally providing

those excellent nations? -- those explanations? >> i have to continue, i should never give up. i am hearing a high official of the member state of the iaea. there's a history and we always have that in mind. we trust, but we verify. so we hope this will be the case and we will be able to -- like you say this has been going on for a long time, to move to a better place. geoff: what about restrictions on some of your inspectors iran has placed? do you think they will lift those? >> they will not do that. they indicated unfortunately the inspectors have taken out of our roster of and -- of inspectors visiting different facilities in iran which have been taken out of that list that

will not be restored to it. i am frankly frustrated about this. but, as i said to one of your colleagues, that ship has assailed, and we continue -- sailed, and we continue. we will do the best we can and certainly do. reporter: in the larger context, the turbocharging of iran's nuclear program and enriching rearing them -- enriching uranium up to 60% purity. adding 50 pounds of uranium, exceeding what it would need to create at least three nuclear weapons. do you understand the basement of iran's nuclear program and do you believe [indiscernible] negotiations? >> that is exactly what we want to do. >> we want to reestablish a credible baseline with regards to the material, with regards to the production capacity, in terms of centrifuges and other

things, which are truly indispensable to prepare -- i'm not talking about a final or a wide-ranging negotiation, i'm talking about preparing the ground for that. if they don't have the ability to say what is there -- what is present there, then the basic foundations for sound negotiations are simply missing. i believe my iranian counterparts understand this. so let us hope that this re-engagement/reestablishment of contact by my upcoming visit to tehran will be a positive one. reporter: director general, thank you very much. >> my pleasure. ♪ geoff: the political battles

over the rights of transgender americans have led to difficult decisions for a number of families, especially those living in states with restrictions on transition-related medical care for minors. laura barron lopez has this story about one family's journey to access that care. >> when are we leaving? >> 20 minutes. reporter: 14-year-old rhyan and his single mom, mia, have waited over a year for this day. they're getting ready for a doctor's appointment. >> can you put that away? reporter: but that appointment is in albuquerque, new mexico, more than 600 miles from their home here in austin, texas. it is a journey they are making because rhyan is trans. >> this is something that you didn't just decide one day. you felt this for a long time? >> yeah. i was really young. i was, like -- i was six, and i knew for sure that i was not a girl. >> he was always a little dude. before he came out, he cut his hair, and looking back on it

now, like, cutting all those curls off and everything -- like, i can see how he was starting to align. and just, in hindsight, makes it way more clear than it was at the time. but, yeah, he's always been who he's been. reporter: rhyan saw doctors and therapists for years before starting medication around the age of 10 to temporarily pause the effects of puberty. a few years later, he began testosterone treatments, which can lead to things like hair growth and a deeper voice. all those steps fall within guidelines for gender-affirming care, which is supported by major u.s. medical associations, including the american academy of pediatrics. but around the globe, medical experts and government health officials haven't been in complete agreement. gender-affirming medical care for minors has come under increased scrutiny. >> if they really feel that their best choice is to mutilate

themselves, they better wait until they are an adult. reporter: as conservatives from local lawmakers to the republican presidential nominee have used it to mobilize their base. >> can you imagine you're a parent and your son leaves the house, and you say, “jimmy, i love you so much. go have a good day in school,” and your son comes back with a brutal operation? can you even imagine this? reporter: lies spread by former president donald trump and others in his party about things like surgeries on minors have helped fuel a wave of state legislation. in 2021, arkansas became the first state to ban transition-related medical care for those under 18. since then, restrictions have passed in 25 more states, home to 40% of the nation's trans youth, including texas. its law went into effect last september. it revokes the licenses of doctors who provide gender-affirming medical care to minors and requires anyone on treatment to be “weaned off.”

>> it was terrifying. like it was, immobilizing. -- like, it was immobilizing. i pounded the pavement. i knocked on doors, like, i did my best as, like a mom and as a constituent to like the plea my -- to plea my case and plead our family's case. i watched experts get disregarded and dismissed. i watched facts and evidence be ignored. and they voted for it anyways. reporter: what's your message to those lawmakers who passed that ban? >> you don't know the people you're affecting. you don't know how much of a like impact it has on them. how dangerous it is. reporter: as the measure moved through the texas legislature, rhyan and mia were told his doctor couldn't see him anymore. they lost access to his prescriptions and had to stretch the medicine they did have as long as possible. mia started looking for care in other states. but between the cost of travel, the appointment, and the

medicine, they couldn't afford it. >> there's no way. i'm already, like, barely, barely scraping by. i don't have -- if my car breaks down, i don't have extra fds. and there's days where i have to, like, i had to choose between, like, gas or food, and there's days i went hungry so my kid could eat. reporter: she ultimately connected with the “campaign for southern equality,” or cse, a nonprofit focused on lgbtq rights. its “trans youth emergency project” helps families cover the costs of travel for out of state treatment. mia got rhyan an appointment at a university of new mexico clinic in albuquerque. but she still didn't have enough money to cover the entire cost of the trip. enter “elevated access,” whose volunteer pilots fly patients living in places with abortion or gender-affirming care bans to out-of-state appointments for free. a pilot we're just calling “clyde” to protect his identity volunteered to fly rhyan and mia

from austin to albuquerque in his cessna. >> the biggest surprise for me is how i reacted emotionally, to this need. it just seems so political, so ridiculous because it was political. >> i think it's stupid. we shouldn't have to take a private plane to go to a fully different state for some little vials of medicine, a shot. and i don't think old men should be making laws about something that doesn't affect them at all. >> our pilot and the people that go out of their way to risk it. that are risking their livelihoods or putting themselves at risk for no reason. they're kind, and they understand what's at stake. and that's the part that they -- that gets to me. it gets me in my heart strings.

>> i'll see you tomorrow maybe. >> for sure, thank you very much. appreciate it. >> thank you. reporter: the next morning, rhyan and mia arrived for their appointment with dr. michele hutchison, a pediatric endocrinologist. about half her patients are now from texas. >> i hate that this is happening to my families. being transgender is hard. transitioning is hard. and then you're doing all of this in the background of everybody coming at you and telling you that it's wrong. how would you not have anxiety? how would you not have depression? this is -- it's just a mountain to overcome. reporter: and there are new obstacles. texas' attorney general has tried to access medical records of trans patients getting care out of state. trans texans can no longer change their gender on birth certificates or driver's licenses. meanwhile, the u.s. supreme court is set to decide whether bans like the one in texas are constitutional.

>> transgender insanity out of our schools. reporter: and mia says that if former president trump is re-elected, she'll move her family out of the country. >> the stakes are high. it is that scary. how could i do that in good faith and be a good parent? reporter: but for now, rhyan's care moves forward. dr. hutchison said rhyan was handling his treatment well, gave him a new testosterone prescription, and scheduled a follow-up appointment for six months. >> i'm excited. and now we have this plan set in place, and, like, resources available, i'm happy. >> i love you. yeah. today's a good day. i've been emotional all morning. but it's a good day. this is happy tears. i'm just overwhelmed with gratitude. reporter: they went to a pharmacy nearby to fill the prescription.

>> thank you very much. reporter: a moment of relief amid near-constant struggle. for the pbs news hour, i'm laura barron lopez. ♪ geoff: last night, the state of missouri executed 55-year-old marcellus williams over the objections of the local prosecutor and against the wishes of the murdered victim's spouse. williams was convicted of the 1998 murder of felicia gayle, who was stabbed more than 40 times in her home in suburban st. louis. as william brangham explains, he maintained his innocence throughout decades of incarceration. >> no physical evidence ever linked marcellus williams to the crime scene, and there was only one black person on the jury that convicted him. earlier this year, the st. louis county prosecutor filed a motion

to overturn the conviction, calling it "a manifest injustice." it cited a lack of credible evidence, ineffective trial counsel, and racial discrimination in jury selection. for more on this case, we're joined by jonathan potts, he was marcellus williams' lead trial lawyer. jonathan, thank you so much for being here. i know this has got to be an awful day for you all. i wonder if you could -- how are you doing, how is the defense team doing and mr. williams' family doing? >> thank you. as you can imagine, everyone is devastated right now. it's been a very emotionally draining past 72 hours. there have been a lot of efforts and support to keep mr. williams alive but obviously we failed last night. in when that failure happens, you take it personally and take it hard.

>> do you believe in your heart of hearts that the state executed an innocent man yesterday? >> yes. of course i do. we don't take these cases unless we believe in our clients and that's why we fought for him for years. >> i know just on monday you were even arguing his appeal in front of the state supreme court. one of the things you were arguing about was the dna that was found on the murder weapon in this case, can you tell us what was going on there? >> yeah, so, years ago, we found dna on the murder weapon, which was a bloody kitchen knife. that led one of the prior governors of missouri to halt his execution back in 2017. it's always been believed by us that that dna was going to belong to the true killer. we were systematically excluding everyone but we found out the dna on the murder weapon belonged to the original trial prosecutor. in a hearing last month,

the trial prosecutor admitted he had been handling the bloody kitchen knife without gloves five times before trial contaminating the evidence. >> how do you make sense of all of this? despite the objections of the prosecutor's office we did not want this to go forward, ms. gayle's own family, the tainted dna evidence, how do you explain that this execution still to lease? >> -- still took place? >> you have to look to leadership that is not being responsive to the communities they are supposed to be serving. to be clear, the local prosecutor's office recognized this was not a fair trial. they were the ones who filed the motion asking the court to throw out mr. williams' death sentence. we were locked arm in arm. the family said they never wanted a death sentence in the first place, yet here they were 20 years over and still having

to deal with this. the victim did not believe in the death penalty, the victim's husband did not want mr. williams to be executed. the rest of the family did not want him to be executed. it was state leaders pushing this through despite the public's concerns. >> the current governor of missouri mike parson supported the state's action and encouraging this execution go forward. he put out a statement yesterday, want to read you a part of it, he wrote, mr. williams has exhausted due process in every judicial avenue including over 15 hearings, attempting to argue his innocence and overturn his conviction, no jury nor court including at the trial, appellate and supreme court levels have ever found merit and mr. williams' innocence claims -- in mr. williams' innocence claims. what do you say in response? >> i see that he did not receive due process and that is exactly why the prosecuting

attorney's office was trying to correct this, there was an execution said a few months ago and everyone scrambled and trying to stop this. in a hearing that just occurred a few weeks ago, we heard for the very first time from the original trial prosecutor from 20 years ago, where he admitted he had removed at least one black juror from the jury because in part that person was black. you can talk about 20 years of due process -- but we did not hear about that until a month ago. >> every year, apart from this particular case, every year on average, i think it is four cases where someone who was on death row is found to be an exit -- the innocent and exonerated and set free. what does this case reveal about the broader system in our country to execute people when the evidence really can be questioned? >> i think the important message

that i hope he will take away from this is the public knows the justice system is not perfect. all those exonerations you are talking about, the public sees that and accepts ir. what the public wants to hear is when the system makes a mistake, it is going to admit that mistake and fix it and promised to be better. it's not what happened here. this is a typical scenario where there's a fear about admitting you were wrong, because you think it is going to undermine public trust, but it is really that resistance that is undermining the public trust. >> that is jonathan potts, the lawyer for merciless williams. thank you for talking with us. >> thank you, william. ♪ geoff: one of the global problems being addressed at this week's u.n. general assembly,

the climate crisis. multiple wars and other geopolitical tensions have cast a particularly sobering shadow over whether nations can meet meaningful pledges they have made. but tonight, a more optimistic conversation about what individuals can do. amna: thanks for joining us. the title of your book reframes the entire conversation around climate change and forces us to imagine success and set a failure, white frame it that way? >> i don't know if it is success so much as possibility, what if we get it right? has a? at the end of it. getting it as right as possible absolutely matters. this is not apocalypse or

paradise. it's how close can we get to paradise? >> you say you are often asked that parties, how screwed are we? with do you say when people ask you that? >> pretty screwed unless we roll up our sleeves and do something. the place where i learned to swim, the waters off of southern florida, reached 100 degrees fahrenheit last year. those are literally hot tub temperatures. coral reefs cannot survive that. all species on this planet are evolved to have a pretty narrow range of temperatures, salinity, humidity, comfort zones, we are getting to be out of the comfort zone of current modern life on earth, including humans. there are places where it is too hot for normal human life now, so we will have to figure out how to adapt to be more resilient to things. getting it right is not just

about stopping things from getting worse but about, how do we adapt to this world that is already changed and is going to continue to change? >> there's a short passage from your book that captures your approach, you write, humans have evolved to not leap into a void, that is dangerous. so we need something firm to aim for, something with love and joy in it. and we need the gumption that emerges from an effervescent sense of possibility. when you talk about getting it right and the possibilities, what are the possibilities? >> i think it is really important to understand that we basically have all the solutions we need. we already know how to make energy that's clean and renewable. we know how to be more efficient with our energy. we know how to do public transit and high-speed rail would be amazing to have in the u.s. and composting and bike lanes and regenerative

agriculture and restoring ecosystems. i just want people to understand we have the solutions we need. it's the implementation of those solutions that is really not up to the pace that we need. there's a lack of political will holding us back and cultural change that needs to happen in order to shift the status quo. but it really is possible. there are so many possible futures that are better than the trajectory we are currently on. i love that word, gumption, and possibility is the thing that i hold onto even though i'm not an optimist, per se, i'm a scientist and realist. there's a lot we can each be doing to make sure we have the best possible future. >> speaking of the lack of political will, that's where the finger-pointing goes, political divisions feel that lack of action and enough people who don't believe climate change is real or human action could

change the directions right now. how do you look at that? >> first i find it, like, most jarring once you learn a lot of those politicians are just pretending they don't believe it, because it is politically expedient. they know the science is r eal. it is just a game be a good answer play that game with the future of life on earth is unbelievably reckless. but i think the opportunity in there is, we don't really have to talk about the climate crisis in order to agree on the solutions. for example, it is iowa and texas that have the most wind energy in the u.s. that's not because there's a bunch of hippies running around but because it makes economic sense. because there are good jobs. the same with the inflation reduction act, it is mostly red states benefiting from the surge in manufacturing. for example, batteries for electric cars and things like that. i think that is what is missing in a lot of this conversation. >> what about at the individual

level? from all the conversations in your book, what do you take away in terms of what is standing in the way of people acting at an individual level to do what they think they need to to address climate change? >> i think some people think their part of it does not matter. some people don't know where to start. and to those people, i would say, it absolutely matters. our actions add up. we are voting with our dollars and time and how we spread the word and use what ever influence it is that we have more broadly. i have sketched out something i call a climate action venn diagram. that is three simple circles, the first one is, what are you good at? what are your skills, resources, networks -- what can you bring to the table? the second one is what is the work that needs doing? there are hundreds of solutions. pick one and get moving. the third circle is, what brings

you joy or satisfaction? what gets you out of bed in the morning? and finding in each of us that sweet spot in the center, that's what we should be doing. >> the book is called, "what if we get it right?: visions of climate future." the author is ayana elizabeth johnson. thank you for speaking with us. >> thank you. geoff: that is that he for tonight, i'm geoff bennett. from all of us here at the pbs news hour, thanks for spending part of your evening with us. >> major funding has been provided by -- >> on an american cruise line's journey, travelers experience the maritime heritage and culture of the maine coast, and new england islands. our fleet of small cruise ships explore american landscapes, sea side villages and historic

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