amna: wt can you tell us about his situation in morocco?amily mentioned he is released, but moroccan authorities said they would investigate him on suspicion of committing terrorist acts. what is his current status? tom: i don't know exactly. i do know the family was told there was not going to be a lengthy investigation, which is not common. i had two other detainees released in the past, one to the sudan, one to algeria, and those investigations aren't usually lengthy. they are generally to get agreements from him that he will abide by certain conditions or what have you. amna: we should remind folks that your client was captured in afghanistan. he trained at an al qaeda camp, and in mayf this year, republican senators urged president biden not to release any more men from guantanamo, telling him the men who are there are all "high-risk." do you believe your client poses a security risk? tom:tom: that is an absurd, hyperbolic statement they've been using to justify guantanamo for years. it started with bush's statement that they had the w

thanks for the time. >> doctor: great to see you, amna. take care and be well. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, the u.s. justice department announced the formation of strike forces to target gun crimes. they will be based in new york, chicago, los angeles, san francisco and washington, d.c. deputy attorney general lisa monaco said the focus is on gun violence and gun trafficking. >> we all know that our job is to go after those who pull triggers and end up critically injuring, and in some cases murdering innocent people. but our job is also, of course, to go after the sources of those guns, the corridors that they travel in, and the networks that feed those guns. >> woodruff: later, attorney general merrick garland met with police in chicago, just hours after mass shootings in the city that killed three people and wounded nearly 20. fire crews in the western u.s. are finally getting help from the weather against the giant bootleg fire in southern oregon. as of today, some 2,200 firefighters had the huge fire about one-third contained.

roger, welcome back to the newshour. >> nawaz: always good to have you here. >> amna, what a way to endrth of july weekend, being with you. >> nawaz: so this obsession with all things america, where does it come from? >> i grew up in liverpool in the 1980s, it is a magnificent city, but back then it was in economic decline, the north of england, the coal mines had shut, the steel mills had shut down. if you watch billy elliot, you kind of get the drift. i didn't have belly dancing in my life, but what i did have was america. and as a teen, i inhaled every book, movie, television show, sports star, everything i could get my hands on. that's how i survived the darkness of liverpool in the 1980s. i was an american trout in an english news body. >> nawaz: you had some ancestors in your family who also dreamt about coming to the u.s. and never made it. did that influence your love for america? >> that is the gentleman over my shoulder, my great grandfather, harry. they left ukraine with thousands. he thought he was in new york city, and got off the boat thinking he was in the promised land.

and today's moderator is amna nawaz, or as we think of her in our house and as i told her she's the thoughtful and informed soundtrack to our evening every single evening. she's a senior national correspondent and primary substitute. anchor for pbs's news hour a foreign a former foreign correspondent who reporting also includes education and politics sports and culture and now i'm going to turn it over to you amna. the thank you so much. melody thank you so much for that. very kind introduction. i have to say i think my kids would disagree they have a different nickname for me in this household. i'm more of sort of a nagging annoying soundtrack to their lives, but i am so pleased to be here today. i want to thank everyone out there for joining us both on this webinar and on the webcast and i am just honored and delighted to be in conversation both with ken burns and with secretary lonnie bunch. thank you so much both for being here secretary bunch. how are you doing today? i am always doing well, especially when i get to hang out with ken burns. i love this new pairing by the way, ken burns. h

amna nawaz went to texas to meet some of those children and report on how one organization is keepingng girls connected with their mothers. it's part of our ongoing series, searching for justice. >> how was your day, mom? >> it was good. how was yours? >> it was good. >> nawaz: for one hour every month... >> nawaz: ...this is 12-year-old lila edwards' only contact with her mom, lena acosta. >> wow, you look beautiful today. >> thank you, mama. you too. >> nawaz: lila was only two in 2011 when her mom was sentenced to 40 years in prison for murder. lila now lives in dallas with her grandparents and nine other family members. her mom's prison is two hours away in gatesville, texas. she hasn't been able to visit at all during the pandemic. >> nawaz: do you know when you're going to see her next? >> no. >> nawaz: is that hard to think about sometimes? >> yea. >> nawaz: staying connected over video calls is hard, but on this day, lila was all smiles... >> you're excited, aren't you? >> yea! >> nawaz: excited to talk about a unique camp she's been attending for the last few years... >> i'm

for the pbs newshour, i'm amna nawaz in atlanta.udy: one of the more significant stories of these olympic games so far is not only who's winning medals, but why one of the biggest names in sports decided to step back. simone biles said it was concern for her own mental well being that led her to do so. this news has quickly sparked larger conversations around mental health, athletics and race. yamiche alcindor is here with our own. >> judy, shortly after simone biles made her decision, she talked openly about the need to protect her own mental health under intense pressure and a global spotlight. she has also talked about some of her struggles, her conflicting feelings about the games, and signs of depression. here she is yesterday at a press conference discussing the power of prioritizing her wellbeing. >> you are not going to enjoy your sport and succeed as much as you want to. it is ok to sit out the competitions to focus on yourself. it shows how strong a competitor and a person you really are. rather than just battle through it

what was it like in the room. >> thank you, amna.a public official, it is my responsibility to respond and show up and answer questions posed by the legislative branch and elected officials whenever summoned. and so i went to the meeting armed with the facts and the information pertaining to the rationale and the urgency behind the public health order issued recently. and so when i walked into the room, i noticed a growing crowd with a palpable sense of unease and anger that was-- that was seemingly boiling over. >> and tell me a little bit about how that message went over, as you talked about the need for the mandate, what was the case you were making? what have you seen on the ground there that tells you a mask mandate is necessary now? >> all indications are that the community transmission of the delta variant is at an all-time high in missouri. we are now showing up as a bright-red hot spot in the heat map of the region, along with the states of arkansas, mississippi, and louisiana. the crisis that erupted related to the delta va

as amna nawaz reports, this debate over how to tackle violence is playing out in atlanta. >> she was shot seven times in the back. and then they flipped over and they shot her one time in her head. >> nawaz: in the early hours of may 17, at this northwest atlanta apartment complex, 27-year-old alicia merrell was shot and killed. >> right in this spot where the sand is, right over here. >> nawaz: her aunt, vanessa cox-logan, said she had been throwing out trash at this dumpster, while helping a friend to move. >> it's the worst feeling of my life, and i could never get that back. >> nawaz: alicia's mom, sonya merrell, remembers the phone call with the news her daughter had been killed. >> i didn't want to believe it. i didn't want to believe it. one of my child is-- is gone. she was the first of six of my kids, and she just taught me how to be a mom. >> nawaz: alicia was one of six people shot and killed in atlanta that weekend alone. part of a spike in violent crimes the city's seen since 2019, with aggravated assaults up 20%, and murders up 52%. >> it was a historic surge in gun vio

in a moment, we'll have part of an interview amna nawaz did this morning with svetlana tsikhanouskaya. but first, here's amna with some background. >> nawaz: in august of last year, anti-government protests erupted across belarus following what many belarusians, and the international community, call a stolen election. president alexander lukashenko's government quickly cracked down on protesters, journalists, and anyone else who spoke out against his reme. that included belarusian opposition leader and presidential candidate sviatlana tsikhanouskaya, who was forced to flee to lithuania shortly after the election. >> ( translated ): i thought this whole campaign toughened me a lot and gave me so much strength that i can endure anything. >> nawaz: tsikhanouskaya, who had previously been a teacher, then a full-time parent, with no political experience, picked up the mantle left behind by her husband, an opposition blogger. he was arrested in may of last year, a few months before the election, and remains in prison to this day. widespread protests slowed last winter but lukashenko's crack

joined by pbs news hour's amna nawaz. clifford geerts once said that culture is the st >>> anthropologist clifford garretts once said that culture is the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves. what are those stories in the united states? how have they been shaped and told, sustained and valued? and by whom? and how do they affect our cultural memory and our future? this afternoon, we have an extraordinary group of three people who will engage in those questions and others. lonnie bunch is the 14th secretary of the smithsonian, the world's largest museum, education, and research complex. and he is the founding director of the smithsonian's national museum of african-american history and culture which has attracted over-4 million visitors and has become a pilgrimage for so manufacture us. ken burns is one of the preeminent documentary filmmakers of our time. his work crisscrosses american life from the brooklyn bridge to baseball to jazz to the civil war. to country music. and today's moderator is amna or as we think of

as amna nawaz reports, they face daunting challenges. >> nawaz: judy, rescue efforts resumed late yesterday, after a 14-hour pause over concerns that parts of the building that remain standing could fall and endanger workers. weather issues, including heavy rain and lightning storms, have also slowed or halted work in recent days. and now, as we reported earlier, hurricane elsa is on course to reach the florida coast this weekend. all this, as rescue workers continue their mission around the clock. we turn to michael fagel. he served as a safety and logistics officer after both the oklahoma city bombing in 1995 and the world trade center attacks on september 11, 2001. he now teaches disaster management and has written a number of text books on the subject. welcome to the newshour, thank you for being with us. we are on day nine now, the terrible news they pulled the body of a seven-year-old daughter of a miami firefighter from the rubble there. help us understand for the rescue workers doing the work right now, what is it like? what's going through their minds? >> they are on pure adrenalin

. >> woodruff: join host amna nawaz tonight at 10:30 p.m. please check your local listings.ou won't want to miss our five-part series, "raising the future." each night next week, we explore one of the most critical issues facing families: child care. here's a look. >> reporter: essential for families everywhere. but for many... out of reach. >> our child-care landscape is broken. >> reporter: one major issue? cost. >> if i worked, i would be working to pay child care. >> reporter: a fragile system laid bare by the pandemic. >> what ppens when there's not enough child care? >> it's going to be a moment of reckoning. >> reporter: sparking a national debate, which could impact families for generations to come.“ raising the future: america's child care dilemma.” starting monday night, on the pbs newshour. >> woodruff: the issues don't get more importnat than that. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. thank you, please stay safe, and have a good weekend. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> fidelity wealth management. consumer cellula

amna nawaz has the details. >> nawaz: judy, the c.d.c. examined a covid outbreak in provincetown, massachusetts around fourth of july weekend. within weeks, that outbrk spread to at least 469 people around the state-- a state with nearly 70% vaccination rate among adults. three-quarters of those infected had been fully-vaccinated. nearly 80% were symptomatic. so far, there have been no deaths, and just five people were hospitalized-- but, four of them were fully vaccinated. and, provincetown had low levels of virus transmission when the outbreak began. in fact, an internal c.d.c. document about the delta variant obtained by the "washington post" said officials must recognize that "the war has changed." we look at key questions coming out of all this with dr. ashish jha, the dean of brown university's school of public health. >> dr. jha, welcome back to the "newshour". always good to have you here. people will look at the study and say this tells me if i'm vaccinated, i can steel still get the virus, feel sick, and transmit it to other peo

as amna nawaz reports, it's an effort to decrease the population, and eventually shut dow the prison complex nearly two decades after its opening. >> nawaz: judy, the biden administration says its goal is to close the u.s. military prison in guantanamo bay. today, they began that process by releasing abdul latif nasser. he was never charged with a crime but remained detained for nineteen years. today he was repatriated to morocco, where he will remain under tight security measures. nearly 800 prisoners have passed through guantanamo since detainees first arrived there in early 2002. now, 39 remain. to discuss this move, i'm joined by thomas durkin, the lawyer for abdul latif nasser. welcome to the newshour and thankers for making the time. tell knee, what was your reaction and his when you learned he was going to leave guantanamo today after nearly two decades? >> well, i can't speak for him, yet i did speak to his brother who was absolutely ecstatic. i am told he has been released in morocco but i haven heard from him yet. he probably has more important people to see than me at this

now, i'm going to turn it over to you, amna.nk you so much. >> melody, thank you so much for that very kind introduction. i have to say, i think my kids would disagree, they have a different nickname for me in this household. i'm more of sort of a nagging, annoying soundtrack to their lives. but i am so pleased to be here today. i want to thank everyone out there for joining us, both on the webinar and on the webcast, and i am honored and delighted to be in conversation both with ken burns and lonnie bunch. thank you both for being here. secretary bunch, how are you doing today? >> i am always doing well, especially when i get to hang out with ken burns. >> i love this new pairing, by the way. ken burns, how are you today? i want to make sure i can hear you. >> i'm great. do i have to say mr. secretary the whole time? >> let's defer to him. >> he's been a friend for so long. >> i'm just some guy from jersey trying to make it in the big city. >> a yankee fan from jersey named lonnie. >> absolutely. >> we're going to get into the